Allen Gathman

This morning I decided to take the long haul trucker into town for groceries. Actually, mainly beer, since I bought most of the other stuff we needed yesterday. I still don’t have panniers, so I hooked up the trailer. And as long as I was getting beer, I figured there’s no sense in getting crappy beer, so I went into Cape to Schnucks, which has the best selection.

The closest beer to home would be in Fruitland at one of several convenience stores, about five miles away. But about the best you can expect there would be Corona. Their business is mostly Bud and Bud Light, I’d say. Then if you want to go further, about 12 miles away would be the Jackson Wal-Mart, but their selection is about the same, just cheaper.

Schnucks is about 17 miles, but has lots of imports and mini-brews. Like Schlafly, which is a mid-sized St. Louis brewery. Besides, I hadn’t been to Schnucks in a while, so we were out of things that you can’t get at Wal-Mart. Soy Butter. Go ahead, make fun. Peanut butter doesn’t agree with me; soy butter is okay. Decaf tea. I’m a total hot-beverage wimp — no caffeine, and coffee also doesn’t agree with me. Schnucks also has Le Petit Ecolier cookies, which are my favorite.

So I bought a bag of ice, stuck it in the bottom of my cold-bag (I got this one at Sam’s Club — it’s insulated, zips shut, has handles so you can carry it over your shoulder), put in the milk, some frozen bake-and-serve rolls, cheese (oh, yeah, Schnucks is also the only place nearby where you can get Manchego), and the cookies (don’t want the chocolate to melt) and a couple of beers to chill for when I get home. The rest of the stuff went in outside the cold bag, in the dry-sack on my Yak trailer. Here’s the bike on the way home with everything loaded.

I took the scenic route coming home, and went on County Road 618, past the 5-H ranch. They have various sorts of exotic animals.

Such as camels.  They also have emus, and one of them was running after me for quite a distance — I was glad they had a tall fence.  I don’t know what an emu does to you when he catches you, but I don’t think I want to find out.

Anyway, a nice ride — including some detours and wandering around, just under 40 miles.  Now I have to get ready for the Altenburg Fair.

Today was the SEMO District Fair Parade, and I volunteered to ride my bike with the SEMO Climate Protection Initiative group. So, I rode in to work this morning on the Surly — first time commuting to work since getting out of the hospital. Riding in was okay, not too much traffic.

About 4:30 I rode over to Capaha Park to get in line for the parade. Alan Journet, my colleague who’s a leader of the SEMO CPI, showed up shortly with his Prius. All told, we had three Priuses (Priae?) and three bikes. Not a huge contingent, but bigger than the one in front of us (Second Place, Miss Junior SEMO Fair) and the one behind us (Show-Me’s Restaurant*). The Priuses sported signs saying “GO Hybrid” and “45+ MPG”. I made a sign for my bike:

I’m not sure exactly per gallon of what. Maybe chain lube.

I’d been thinking the parade actually started around 4:30, and that I’d easily get home by 7 (sunset at 7:15). This was optimistic. We actually didn’t get onto the parade route until after 6. Then the parade moved at a pace set by the Clydesdales, marching bands, and SEMO Homeschoolers with babies in strollers. Since we were moving so slowly, the other cyclists and I spent much of the time circling the cars and weaving in and out. Kind of like the Shriners with those little Go-Carts.

That’s Glen Williams on the bike, wandering about. Anyway, we got through about 7, and I headed for home. It’s an hour ride, and it wasn’t that dark most of the way. I’ve got nice bright front and rear flashers, so I’m visible to traffic. By the time it was really starting to get dark, I was on county road 543, and there’s no traffic there anyway. Still, a bit darker than I prefer to ride in. Fortunately I know the route well enough to ride without being able to see it.
*”Best Tails in Town”

So I got the new bike, and this morning I put on the aero bars, rear rack, and computer. Here it is:

And another view:

In answer to the obvious question, yes, it weighs a ton.  35 pounds as shown here, including seat bag full o’ tools.   As opposed to 22 pounds for my Giant OCR1.  However, it’s exceedingly comfortable to ride, and the wheels are fairly light, which means that the rolling resistance isn’t bad.   And that rear rack is rated to hold 80 pounds.   I plan to be using this bike for my commute to work, as well as any long distance ventures that are coming up.

I had a 20 mile ride on it yesterday, but today it’s raining, so I’m going to have to wait.  Besides, I have a splitting sinus headache from allergies.  Aargh.