From the Mind of Trevor Stone

For what is likely the last time, I rode down Wagonwheel Gap to work this morning.
Eight months of tricky Driveway access have led to some pretty extreme washboarding, so I play it safe and don't get the big gravity head start I used to.
A few grasses are settling into the bare dirt wall at the property edge that September's erosive flood carved.
The dirt sections along Wagonwheel, constructed in November, were recently touched up so the ride was pretty smooth.
The curve on Lee Hill is one lane as they build up a creek wall with cement Legos. It looks like a pretty fun gig.
The Fourmile Canyon Creek bike path finally connects to Violet from Broadway again, sporting a new bridge from the developing apartment complex to the New Urbanism of "NoBo" mixed use lofts.
There's no more mud on the street near 26th and Topaz, though there's still plenty of yard and ditch work waiting.
The Iris underpass for Elmer's Two Mile has been open for months and the rushes by the creek are starting to stand up again.
A rainbow-clad Happy Thursday cruiser ride diverted just once for high water in Boulder Creek, not atypical for late June.

As I rode along creeks and ditches to our new place in Cherryvale I reflected on how well Boulder rode out the flood. Thanks to farsighted geography and diligent planing work from folks like Gilbert White, Boulder's network of trails and paths fulfilled their buffer mission. And with the help of heavy machinery and construction crews the bike paths are springing back to life like the canyon vegetation, nourished by the damp earth.

The Anne U. White trail, appropriately named for Gilbert's wife, will take longer to regrow, with work starting next year at the earliest. The absence of that trail in the weekend experience is one reason we're moving on: walking the footpaths and quiet streets of Cherryvale is a lot more refreshing than a stroll along a dusty road that still tastes of chaos. As stressful as moving is, I'm feeling pretty good about not having owned property over the past year.

I just rode my bike across town in the snow at 11 PM with a laptop and two grocery bags of tea.

Apparently I'm one of THOSE people.

I'd forgotten how fun it is to ride around in circles. (Apparently I also forgot how to get into the mood for blogging.)

I got back from Guanduras two months ago (wow!). Since then, I've had some fun out-of-town adventures, but the time I've spent at home has consisted mostly of recovering from being somewhere, preparing to be somewhere, and dicking around on the Internet. While I enjoy all of those things, I didn't feel like I was being as awesome as I could.

This past weekend, I went out garage saleing looking for a cheap cruiser with a basket I can take to Burning Man. Instead, I found a custom-built in-tune 7-speed town bike with three baskets, bright yellow mud guards, and an orange flap with Chinese characters for pain and pleasure. At $150, I realized I could get a lot more value out of it than I'd gotten out of my mountain bike lately. Not only would it be a good bike for Burning Man, it would encourage me to take it to the store instead of driving.

Since this purchase, I've spent several hours fixing bikes. First I used a vise to bend back the fork I bent getting the new bike home (oops). Then I installed a replacement front derailleur for my mountain bike. Then I tried to patch mollybzz's tire before discovering self-patching goo tubes won't hold a patch. Then I tried to true my mountain bike's back wheel in place without much luck. Then I joined Community Cycles so I could use their truing device and get reminded what I was doing. Then I spent a long time tweaking the brake position and shifter tension for my mountain bike's front gears and lubed my chain (I think it still shows signs of Burning Man '04). Then I installed a new tube on mollybzz's bike, lubed the shifters, and adjusted the gear tension. *whew*

While going through old Burning Man mailing list posts this week, I saw a couple references to the Happy Thursday cruiser ride. I'd heard they stopped riding a few years ago due to excessive chaos and police concerns about violating traffic laws. It's going again, but they're being cagey about the location. Poking around a bit, I found the Happy Thursday twitter page, which announced a goths vs. vampires theme and a location of "EGF." I racked my brain for a few minutes thinking though Boulder locations that would have those initials before Eben G. Fine Park popped into my mind. Of course!

The last time I rode with Happy Thursday, everybody was decked out in kitsch and glam and gay with some impressive custom cycle and decoration jobs. I haven't had time to put together a crazy lighting scheme for my bike yet (a safety feature at Burning Man), but I figured I'd take my new cruiseresque bike out for a spin. I wasn't sure when the ride started, so I showed up at 7 and sat by the creek for awhile (another Boulder activity I forgot I missed). Around 7:30, cruisers started arriving, including one with a sound system on the back. (Mobile tunes are key to a successful cruiser ride.) Some folks had some potluck food, pens for drawing moustaches, and name tags for declaring what sort of snob you are. I decided to be a code snob, beard snob, blog snob, and snob snob :-) With folks drinking PBR and Key Light while listening to an upbeat party mix and tight-rope walking on webbing straps it didn't seem much like a goths vs. vampires theme, but whatever.

We biked around down town, periodically stopping to ride around in circles in parking lots and socialize on top of parking garages. As we passed amused diners, we cheered out "Happy Thursday!" Boulderites responded in kind 'cause they know what's up; folks from out of town (dropping their kids off at college, perhaps) gave some bemused looks. After an hour and a half or so, the small group that remained reached the ride's terminus and played glow-in-the-dark frisbee in a daycare playground. Just as it was splitting up and the leaders heading to a bar, another Happy Thursday group rolled up the block and ascended the parking garage. With red corsets, black fairy wings, white makeup, and long capes, and Sisters of Mercy on the bike stereo we'd found the goths vs. vampires version of the ride. I heard there was a third group riding around somewhere, perhaps with a different costume theme. I suppose that's one way to keep it from getting too big -- tell different people different starting times.

That was the most pure fun I've had in quite a while. There's a thrill I get on an easy bike ride, even if it's just around in circles, and being in a crowd of people having a similar good time amplifies the effect. Riding back home, I was a little more pressed for breath than when I biked to school every day, but I still came home feeling super energized. Heck, I had enough energy to write my first blog post of the month!

I depart for Dragonfest tomorrow early afternoon. I'll be back (but tired) on Sunday afternoon, and will be out of touch in the mean time. I'll probably check my email tomorrow morning and hopefully won't misclassify any important messages as spam when I get back.

Recently...

On Thursday I ran into Boulder's Bicycle Freak Parade (AKA Happy Thursday) as they were circling the Buffalo outside Folsom Field. The crowd was full of guys in drag, bikes with crazy lights, and other absurdities. A guy had a pink flamingo in a pink boa attached to his helmet, another guy had a stereo system on a trailer behind his bike playing stuff like YMCA and Wild Thing. There were some pretty funky bikes, including a tricycle with two large chariot wheels under a bench where two people sat side-by-side and pedaled, turning the back bicycle wheel with a crank. Most folks had a horn or a bell. The best I could muster was turning my headlamp to red and pointing it at my face while ringing my bell. It was one of the few occasions I've been one of the most normal looking people in a crowd of people. Calling lots of attention to ourselves, we rode around campus, the Hill, and downtown before folks dispersed at Connor O'Niels. It was quite definitely the most gay thing I've done in a while.

Next time I meet up with them I should be on a unicycle. With several false starts, I'm able to mount and ride my unicycle for a couple blocks now. I'm taking it to DFest so I can do one-wheeled heraldry rounds.

After a bunch of Internet research I couldn't find much of a compelling reason to prefer one brand over another in a similar-featured camera. I went to Mike's Camera and talked to a sales clerk, who hooked me up with a Pentax Optio 33L. It's 3 megapixels, 3x optical zoom, and compact flash (which I think I prefer). It's one downside is it lacks an optical viewfinder, but the LCD panel has serious swivel action, and I can probably take steadier pictures without my nose next to the camera. I also got AA batteries and a recharger, 128MB of CF memory, and a carrying case, totalling $446 even with tax. I'm glad I went to Mike's because (a) I got to talk to someone who could explain the subtle differences between similar models, (b) I didn't have to deal with shipping and hence (c) I can take it to Dragonfest and, (d) if I don't like it, I can exchange it in a week for a similar camera (assuming I can keep it in mint while camping). Since (e) the price was competitive with online vendors, I didn't spend too much and (f) felt good about supporting local independent business, keeping money within the Boulder economy.

It seems I indirectly paid for pizza. If that's one of the ingredients of Cat and Girl, I'm down with it.
The end.