the past 10 days...or so.

Been very busy @ work, no time to blog. I get about the 1st hour Sat & Sun AM that is slow enough to do other internetting, but I'm not usually inspired at that time to blog. If the Muse does not make her presence felt, no blog.
June 28th. Went in to E Van. to watch "Bike Shorts", after the show was going to get something to eat before Midnight Mass, while chatting afterwards with Jeff Lost, we were going to go together, started to ride with Red Sara just to kill a bit more time. Ended up Jeff, Robert, myself & Sara @ her place chilling, listening to the rain. Around 23:30 Jeff & I put on our rain gear (it was pissing out) and rode of to M. Mass. When we got to the park, the few who were there were across the Drive under a store awning. We waited till 00:15 to see if any more latecomers would arrive (a few did just @ Midnight, but not later), and the 16 or 18 (I sort of counted them) of us left. In that number was Shawn Granton from Portland. (He came up for a break after Pedalpalooza, & was also @ Bike Shorts, and wanted to see first hand our Critical Mass). I wasn't too rainy by then, but enough to be noticeable. After riding for a while, we stopped for pizza. After some postprandial peripatetic pedalling, we ended up at one of the little plazas by False Creek in Yaletown, and chilled some more. It was no longer raining, and the time was 03:00ish (I think, my recollection is a bit fuzzy, with cause). Jeff and I were the last ones to leave, and he invited me to crash at "his" place (really Kim's UBC dorm). So we head that way. Thanks to some last minute ingestion of Wiser's, Jeff was having an exceedingly difficult time remaining upright. And it got worse as time went on. It was a slow ride, with multiple crashes (once he crashed into a parked car. Despite the blood and the scrapes, no serious injuries). Unfortunately Jeff had not told me pre-imbibing our 'crash' destination, and we followed one of his "realisations" of where we should be going. Not being able to do any fine manoeuvring, Jeff hit a pothole, and got a pinch flat. While he lay in the wet grass at the roadside, I attempted to repair it. The light drizzle didn't help. The patch didn't take, I didn't want to try again, so we walked (continuing in the wrong direction). Jeff (you see why we call him Jeff "Lost") suddenly realised, correctly this time, where we should be headed, and was able to give, for him, precise directions. Turn around, head back where we were, and continue on westward. While doing so, I noted Jeff's rear tire was going flat too. The pothole got the rear as well, but not as hard. It took a long, long, long time to get to the dorm. Jeff had to rest periodically, including a 45 min nap in the grass at the corner of NW Marine & West Mall. We finally made it to Kim's residence at 06:05 (she was away on a field trip). What a babysitting job that was. Jeff, you owe me big time, buddy! ( and Kim, my sympathies. I know you get stuck doing it too).

June 29 - At 09:05 an upstairs acquaintance stopped by to see if Jeff wanted to go for a ride, needless to say Jeff was comatose.
Noon, Jeff gets up and makes pancakes. Between then and 4pm I eat 4 of them. A bit of batter got on the burner, so burnt starch smoke did its usual trick on me, instant migraine. I still had it when we left @ 16:50, heading for Critical Mass. I was hoping to get there by 5pm (wanting to leave sooner, but with a migraine I couldn't focus on speeding up Jeff) for the "Blessing of the Bicycles" at the Cathedral, but no luck. Jeff had to take his "pretty bike" instead of the fast one (the flats from the early morning still awaiting repair) so it was a slow go, and then I got a puncture while we were going down Burrard St. We got to the Art Gallery at 17:30. There was already a massive horde there, and it continued to grow until we left about 18:15. I'm sure the unsettled weather kept quite a few massers away. Needless to say, it was a huge ride, being bicycle month. I took a bunch of pictures. They are on my Picasa page. I didn't hang around for the after party this time.

June 30th - Slept in a bit. left home 0428, arrived at work 0600, 1 hr 32 mins. My best recent (last couple years) time, but boy did I ever have to hammer it.


July 1st, Dominion Day. left home 0358, got to work 0540, 1 hr 42 mins, a veritable cruise. It was a great ride. After work went down to Crab Park where the Bike Bee had been invited to do another Velo-Deco as part of the festivities there. We packed up around 4pm, but didn't actually leave till about 4:40, and stopped by Pidgeon Park, where there was some musical entertainment. We hung around there for a while, then went to David Lam Park in Yaletown for some more music. It was part of the Jazz Festival (I didn't know that's what it was until we got there). The music was pretty good, but most certainly wasn't jazz.

The rest of the week has been pretty much as usual. July 7th, a very leisurely ride in to work. The weather was fantastic. I really took my time, at least it felt like it, 1 hr 45 mins. It sure makes a difference when the load is light and the sun comes up early. I love riding in like this. We'll see what the rest of the day holds. See you soon Jenn.