Monday Musette

Why don't you tell me 'bout the mystery dance?

Before yesterday's Mother's Day festivities, I went out and cut the grass in our front yard. Then I ran the weed eater and cut up some brush for the yard waste can. My son mysteriously disappeared. Imagine that. But being a considerate father and all, I saved the worst part of the mowing – the back yard – just for him. Part of it has a steep slope. My knee was already hurting from waltzing the mower around the front yard. It would have been extremely painful if I'd done the back too. For some odd reason, I found myself humming “Waltzing the Mower” which is just like the Australian “Waltzing Matilda”. I could have been singing it, but then again, the neighbors think I'm a little nutty already. Dunno why.

I spent some time in the garage, working on a bike for the Community Development office and re=taping the handlebars on the Bianchi. The new tape is Celeste! It looks very nice with the dark green frame and its Celeste decals. I'll post some photos.

I was on my feet most of the afternoon, cooking hot wings, making bread, and cleaning up the kitchen. We used the 'good' porcelain china rather than the everyday stoneware with all its chips and scars. I almost wrote 'melmac' but I was afraid I'm the only one old enough to remember that stuff. I bought this porcelain for Mary years ago. She wanted white dishes with gold rims. Naturally, the ones I found weren't dishwasher safe, so I made a pledge to wash them whenever we used them. That means that I get to do dishes after special family meals. I really don't see this as a chore. It's just another way of saying, “I love you.” Doing dishes added to the discomfort in my knee. It wasn't truly painful by then, just tender and sore. I could feel some swelling.

This morning, I rolled the Bianchi out of the garage and promised that I'd ride only in the middle ring. My legs were stiff and clunky. I actually felt awkward on the bike because the pedaling motion just wasn't smooth. That went away after the first couple of miles and by the time I started climbing out of the Bird Creek valley, I was feeling normal again. I hoped that no other commuters caught up to me along the way because I was embarrassingly slow. But I stuck to the pledge and remained in the middle ring.

It helped. The knee has been remarkably cooperative this morning and my legs feel good, not heavy and stiff. The real test will be going home this afternoon with a tail wind. I may not be able to resist trying to go fast, but with temperatures expected to reach 90F (32C), I may not want to work hard for long.

Travel plans

I'll be flying to Pittsburgh soon to bring my mother-in-law out to Oklahoma. She's in a bad situation there and I know she'll be better off living with us. It'll certainly be better for her, but I'm not entirely certain it will be better for me. I like my in-laws in small doses. Mom is a good-hearted woman but she likes to micro-manage. I suspect that once she settles in, she'll have long list of things that I should do. It's just how she is. And I expect that my way of dealing with it will be to go on longer rides. So there is an upside!

Bike To Work

The Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) is hosting the Tulsa Bike To Work event on Wednesday from 7AM to 8:30AM at the Blue Dome Diner, 313 Second Street. I'm thinking about taking a vacation day in order to attend. There's something very perverse in that thought.

Bike to Work (Forwarded from TulsaNow)

From Patrick Fox, Pedestrian and Bicycle Planner at the Indian Nations Council of Governments:

Hello there my fine TulsaNow friends,

This forum has long provided a great sounding board for a lot of ideas on how to make Tulsa a better, more attractive place to live. It has also prompted a few of you to say "Let's stop talking, and do something about it." Well, now is your chance: The 2007 Bike to Work season is upon us.

Why? There are so many reasons. It's healthy. It's one less car on the road. It's gallons of gas not bought and burned. It's less smog in our air. And, in this persons opinion, among the many elements that make up a "great" city, being a great place to ride a bike is one of them. Bottomline, Tulsa needs to be a bicycle friendly community.

You can do your part! I won't pretend to speak for you.... Maybe you don't give a flip about bicycling, or you just don't have any of those super-attractive tight outfits those hardcore riders are always sporting, or your bike is so old that you still have coaster brakes and playing cards in your spokes. Not to worry! There is no dress code for Bike to Work day, and in case you didn't know, that old Sting-Ray is back in style. And if you don't care about bicycling yourself, that's ok too. More bikes on the road just means more room on the road for your Hummer. I digress.

SO....lube up that chain, hop on, and ride to work with us to our kickoff event on Wednesday, May 16th. We are meeting down at the Blue Dome Diner from 7:00 am to 8:30 am. And breakfast is on us. Well, at least those delicious, homemade breakfast sandwiches they make at the Blue Dome are on us.

Let's make a statement! Everyone who can, ride and join us in solidarity. Should Tulsa be a more Bike Friendly place? You bet it should. How is that going to happen? We have to be a loud voice for change. We have to organize. Mostly, we have to ride our bikes. The more riders we have, the more visibility we have, and the more likely it is that those who can make the changes will notice.

I hope we can make this the largest Bike to Work event in the State. OKC is having their event on that Friday, as is Norman. So help us make sure that we remain the biking capital of Oklahoma on Wednesday May 16th.

More info at http://www.green-traveler.org/


P.S. For those who plan to ride with us all season long (May through Sept 15th) the Bike to Work Tracker is back in business. Track your bike to work miles weekly and be entered to win monthly prizes. All participants will receive a report showing how many miles you have peddled.

http://www.green-traveler.org/tracker.asp