In 1986, I was a working-class guy, six years into marriage to a wonderful bride, and with two young kids - another on the way.  We lived on the (Boise) Bench.  Up 'til '85, I worked just a couple blocks from home.  I walked to work - quite often I even walked home for lunch.  But then I changed jobs - the new destination was downtown.  With one car between us, suddenly we were competing for the wheels.  Occasionally I drove to work; more often I took the bus, or Robin dropped me off and kept the car. Betty, a friend at the office, rode a bicycle... and she live ..read more

For a couple years, I've dreamed of fabricating a couple boxes that would hang on the sides of my front rack.  The only reason I never got around to it - lack of hardware to connect 'em to the rack. The rack is a Surly "8 Pack" rack.  It's come in handy on numerous occasions - just right for a load that's too big to lug in my hands, but not so big I need to trailer it.  And - I already have a box that attaches on top of the rack.  I'll probably use these boxes more often, because I can mount 'em in 1 minute. The boxes are "30 caliber ammo boxes" from Harbor Freight.  ..read more

A friend, Crystal, who lives in Grand Junction, CO, brought this to my attention. Gay Hammer was the original project coordinator for the Boise River Greenbelt.  Her obituary calls it "the adventure of her lifetime."  Her obituary can be read HERE.  I wasn't familiar with her name, but I honor and admire her for the work she did.  Surely she must've been friends with Bill Onweiller, the city councilman who was one of the visionaries. From her obituary: "Gay fondly told the story of the Greenbelt committee's first, harrowing effort to buy land along the river. As they ..read more

Way back in 2011, I posted about my new favorite bicycle tire... a Vittoria Randonneur.  And with good reason!  I had logged 4016 miles on a back tire, which was way above average.  My typical mileage up until then was usually around 2000 miles.  (In addition to the good mileage, I only had two flat tires in all those miles - amazing!) That review can be seen HERE. Well... in the last 10 years, the Randonneur has declined in my estimation.  Particularly in total miles.  I believe they must've modified the construction/compound, because mileage has declined me ..read more

Wow!  Can 2021 already be in the rearview?  Well, GOOD RIDDANCE! I'm happy to report that I hit the 5000-mile mark for the year, just days ago.  (I was motivated by the odometer... put the fat, treaded tires on the mountain bike to get some miles in, on the snowy/icy roads I was dealt for the past week or so.)  Also significantly, I did it over 319 "riding days."  (Went on several out-of-town adventures over the course of the year.  Including being away for most of November in New Jersey, attending to the birth of my twin granddaughters, Betsy and Bria.) Since I r ..read more

 Satisfaction ... and Frustration Ten months into 2021.  I'm a survivor - you're a survivor!  I'm also about 30 months into retirement... and I can confidently say it's underrated! Of course, more than half of those months have been with the Covid-19 shadow looming.  But even that is only a minor quibble for me, since as my T-shirt says, "I WAS SOCIALLY-DISTANT BEFORE IT WAS COOL!"  Some family and friends have been impacted much more than me... but none in a serious or permanent way. Satisfaction? I'm still bicycling every day that I'm in town.  Seriously!  ..read more

Another rare "Bike Nazi" post.  (Apparently I'm content to not blather on quite so much.  I said it and I stand by it... no point in re-wording and re-posting.  I would like to do some better organizing by topic, etc.) Today - May 23, 2021 - is a good day to post, because I hit 2000 miles for the year.  Yeah, big deal.  There are probably 100 other guys and gals IN BOISE who have done the same and more.  2021 is the 36th consecutive year I've ridden at least 2000 miles; that might put me in more rarefied company. It's conceivable that I could hit 200,000 miles on ..read more

 Milestone on the Achilles Journey No posts in a long time!  Not sure anybody has even noticed.  (I've been a little more active on the facebook since the pandemic struck; that's been sapping me a little.  But I'm going to work harder at it... I've had some notions bouncing around in my head.  I may post stuff here AND on the facebook.) Update on the Achilles injury... - Injury occurred on July 24th - It was a month before I sought professional advice - X-rays, MRI (my first-ever), scheduling, etc... - Surgery to repair it on November 17 Dr. Kaitlyn Neary told me to wa ..read more

THE TIMES WE LIVE IN! I doubt it made much difference to anybody, that I haven't posted anything in 6+ months.  I've definitely lost some steam, when it comes to advocating, I must admit.  I'm still trying to practice what I very occasionally preach... but it has become very obvious that there are bicycle advocates who are considerably more "zealous" about it, than I am.  (I have been occasionally submitting something to the Facebook "Boise Bike Lanes" group.) Part of that may be due to how long I've been at it.  I've been what I call a "dedicated transportation cyclist" si ..read more

Some SAFETY philosophy for my bicycle and motorcycle-riding friends. NOTE: I wrote this a couple days ago and posted it on a couple social-media (bicycle and motorcycle) groups I pertain to. But since then, I've thought about it... and a simple name for all of this, that to me is very meaningful: SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. Let's talk about modern fighter jets. Built into the pointy nose cone of every one, is a powerful radar. It constantly scans back and forth, up and down, sending out a radar beam. It has two modes - "search" and "track." Most of the time, it is "searching." If the beam bounce ..read more