I think you should.

The last time I went to see the dermatologist, I rolled my Brompton right into the surgery with me. She asked nearly as many questions about it as she did about my skin lesions. :lol:

I would... I mentioned it to the clinic I used to go to and they did install one. They even asked me which one I would suggest they put in. At that point there were 2-3 of us that rode there regularly and we would just lock to the hand rail on the outside of the handicap ramp.

Aaron :)

Today ... Rowan and I decided to do some sightseeing from the campground where we are staying this weekend.

First, we walked through the historic town to a lovely little old bakery where we had breakfast (French toast with maple syrup ... one of my favourites, and very naughty given the diet I should be eating these days).

Then we walked back through town, looking at the historic buildings, and browsing through the shops. We also stopped in the Tourist Information Centre/Museum/Wool shop to have a look around. The sheep industry is big here, and they had an interesting display of the different types of wool, as it comes right off the sheep before processing. We could pick it up, touch it, pull it apart, etc. and feel/see the differences in the wool between one sheep and another. Merino was, of course, the finest grade and softest wool.

We returned to our campsite, and got set to go for a ride. We had a marvellous tailwind all the way to the next town up the road, and found our destination quite easily ... the sheepdog trials!

Very interesting! I had never seen the sheepdogs in action before. It is something I'd go to see again ... I find the working dogs fascinating.

And then we cycled back to the campground again ... into a headwind.

I spent some time walking around and taking photos, then we walked into town for dinner.

All in all, a good day ... and the only use we made of our van was as our accommodation.

I love the working dog trials. We see a sheep dog demonstration every year at the local Highland Games. The ones from Australia that have always intrigued me are the ACD (Australian Cattle Dogs) I have seen videos of them bailing off a 4 wheeler at 20mph to go chase cattle, they hit the ground and roll then come up on the full run. We had one here on the farm for a while, very high energy, intense dogs.

Aaron :)

Second day of taking public transit to work this winter season, as I don't bike on icy days. It's usually a 3 leg commute: bus, subway, streetcar. However, I left the house early enough that I had time to walk 1.2 km to the subway instead of taking the bus; and I got off the subway one stop early to take the street car that runs parallel to my usual route, and misses my office by several blocks, because I wanted to walk 800 m down the cross street to my office, to grab a coffee at a hipster place along that strip. So I got in about 2 km of walking as part of my commute, that I otherwise wouldn't.

That's going to look beautiful.

Parents house for thanksgiving.

To the Arkansas Revenue offices to renew my driver's license. Then stopped by Kroger's on my way back. It was very busy for 7:30 in the morning.

To work. Last week I missed some days due to snow and ice, but it's melted now. Temps varying from 0C to 8C so far this week (around 32F to 45F).

We had snow and ice all over the ground here in Arkansas and ice pellets were raining down. I managed to get 15-miles in and only slipped once. I guess it was pretty fun.

Yeah, I was watching weather.gov all day. The northwest part of the state was getting pounded, but Little Rock was staying pretty nice. Stay dry and warm.

It was getting pounded alright

Nice sunny day with a brisk northerly wind. Temps at 2F. I was stopped at a major intersection (on my bicycle of course) and noticed a lady on an Electra Townie cruiser stopped on the sidewalk waiting for the light. Woo hoo!! Winter commuting hits mainstream!!

Today I rode in the Big Jingle Jubilee Holiday Parade. It was cold, in the low 40's with a wind chill factor that drove it into the high 30's. I rode my Giant Stiletto chopper, which is the perfect parade bike. Kids love it and it does wonderful low speed donuts in the street so I can continue circling in the street for the whole length of the parade.

This year the parade got rescheduled, it was supposed to be last weekend, but we had about an inch of sleet, followed by days of freezing weather, so the ice didn't melt. Even a week later, when riding to the parade route there were places where I had to tread very carefully because the ice was still thick and could not be avoided. The ride there and back is about 10 miles each way. Coming home, after being outside for hours, my fingers were frozen so it was hard to keep a grip on the handlebars, as I lean backwards on that bike, and I actually looked forward to the section where there is a 300 foot climb, because the Stiletto doesn't do climbing and I had to push all 50 lbs of it up the hill. That gave my fingers a little respite. A hot shower and a nap was the best way to cap off the day. :D

We got about six inches of snow while I was working the midnight shift last night. I trudged home on foot as the sun was barely starting to rise. A couple people were already shoveling at 7:30 on a Sunday morning, but most sidewalks were uncleared. I was wearing low cut shoes, so my ankles got cold. But it was still a beautiful walk.

My wonderful grandson shoveled us out while I slept. This is the first season he has been big enough to do all the shoveling by himself. My son, meanwhile, was out looking for shoveling gigs all day before he went to work. He likes to pick up some extra income with his strong back. My son's MIL, who lives with us, was nervous about driving but had the courage to go to her Christmas party anyway.

The snow affects our lives a lot, but overall it's a benefit and a blessing for my family.

No cycling for me in ice and snow. I'm relegated to walking to the bus stop. I walked about 3.5 km all told, and used six transit tokens ($2.65 each) going to two different job sites, plus a restaurant and a hotel for two parties. One of my most expensive commutes!

There was no one out on the MUP when I get there to jog/walk the 3 miles around the lake. I timed it so the light snow would have a start. I love being outdoors when it's snowing... there is so much elbow room. A mile down the path I see some traces of footprints in the snow going my way and the further I get the fresher they look. I continue along zoned in on what am I seeing. I am the tracker! It's a woman and she is walking briskly and even as I clomp along at a 12 minute pace I think I can catch up. I'm fired up now.

Coming up to the first long straight away, I'm thinking that I should see her ahead, and yes there is the outline of my quarry :-) only minutes away. Just ahead I notice a disruption in the almost seamless pattern of her footsteps up to now. I slow to a walk to study and determine what happened (I am the tracker) and lucky for me I did, because there was black ice under the snow, and I almost went down as she had, in the same spot. Whew.

So, now I straighten up and fly right for the big pass coming up. As I pull along side, I ask her if she was OK after slipping down and she turned to me peering out from behind the hood of her parka, face burning from the 12 degree cold, big smile on her experienced face and announced "Oh yeah, I'm fine."

She loved playing in the snow too.

December 27 ...

I decided to visit the local shopping centre to see if there were any Boxing Week sales on. And since I didn't have the van (Rowan needs it for work), I opted to walk. :) Up and over the hill to the shopping centre ... back and forth and back and forth in the shopping centre looking at things (not particularly impressed with the sales ... they weren't very impressive) ... and then up and over the hill back home again.

All up ~5 km.


I've wanted to walk there for a while to see how difficult it might be ... and it wasn't bad at all. The hill is a little challenging, but I took it slow.

I did a ride on Christmas day, down by the Arkansas River, through Two Rivers Park. Few cyclists, lots of pedestrians. Several kiddies on their new bikes. One kid thought I was going to bump his bike as I was coming up behind him. I assured him that I wouldn't and that was why the path was so wide so I could go around him. I didn't see any deer. I guess they had the day off.

I had to work the 24th and 25th. The damn deer must have a better union than I do.

There is just a touch of humorous irony in this.

We had a bad ice storm on Saturday. There are still many without power, six days now over Christmas. Traffic lights were out all over the city. We had single digit temps after the ice storm, which made it very bad for those who had no power--about half the homes and businesses in the area. Today it went up to 33F, which had everybody outdoors to enjoy the "warm" weather. My grandson and I walked downtown to the Grand Traverse Pie Company, and took a bus home.

The power outage actually made bike riding easier on the main streets, as all traffic stopped at the intersections. Side streets were almost impassable for bikes, so I pushed my bike for a few yards to the big street near my house. So it wasn't a big deal. As soon as the cars could get out, I could too.

December 24 ...

I left work early (so did everyone else) and took the opportunity to walk up to the library to drop off a book, then I walked to a fresh fruit and veg market where I picked up some veggies for Christmas, and then I walked home.

I have been thinking about the possibility of walking home from work for a while ... and it would take me about an hour, but it can be done without too much difficulty.

The whole walk on Christmas Eve was 6 km. If I just walked home from work without the trip to the library and trip to the market, it would be about 4 km.

December 31 ...

Rowan and I wanted to see tonight's New Year's Eve fireworks, the early ones, and so ... we walked! The fireworks took place across the river from where we live, so we walked down to the river and found a quiet little bench along the cycleway. It was a perfect view!

And right in the middle of it all, a large seal swam past. :)


Happy New Year!!

I rode to meet with the realtor at the house I'm in the process of buying (a whopping half mile from my apartment), then to the bank and home again. I remembered to take my ski mask and goggles off before entering the bank. Maybe three miles total, and a nice excursion in the snow/ice and 2F temperature. I somehow stay upright better on wheels than feet in this kind of weather :P

Happy New Year!

Found some dirt to ride on.

Walked ... 4.2 km round trip to my church and back. Most of the walk was along the cycleway (MUP) on the edge of the river. Very pleasant.

Rode downtown to the coffee shop, then to the post office (I used the drive-through mail drop off!), then to the food co-op to get some tea. It was very windy - I got a nice tailwind on the way home!

Got groceries so
I won't have to go, out in
the snow tomorrow.

Oh ho! I'm digging your haikus. Do you make them up while you're riding?