The Ink-Pot and the Palette

It was dry and very cold (23F/-5C) this morning, so I put on pretty much all my clothes, wrapped my face in a pashmina, stuffed my helmet on over that and a wool cap, put on three pairs of gloves, two pairs of socks and some furry-lined boots, and headed out on Eleanor.

Now, my newly insulated house (about which I cannot say too many great things!) is comfortable on an icy morning, so I wasn't pre-chilled before going out, and when I stepped out the back door bundled like the Michelin Tire Woman, I didn't feel a thing.

I brushed the ice crystals off Eleanor's saddle, broke the slight ice-seal on the left brake lever, tested for stopping and shifting power (all systems go--yay Dutch bike engineering), and set off.

After two blocks I was wishing I'd buttoned my cuffs a little more securely, but it wasn't bad. After about six blocks, I was sniffling and teary-eyed, and I could feel the chill through the airholes in my helmet. By the time I rounded the corner of 9th and Multnomah, the lack of fingertips on the third pair of gloves was beginning to tell on me.

I was sailing along Waterfront Park, my face-covering pashmina a bit damp with breath, when I had a hot flash.

LOL! Suddenly, I'm freeze-roasting. I honestly can't tell whether I'm too hot or too cold. Weirdest thing.

I'll say this, though: if you gotta have hot flashes, there are worse moments for them than outdoors on a 23-degree morning.

NEWS FLASH: Going back to work after almost three full and glorious weeks of relaxing vacation is...underwhelming, to say the least.

I'm rested, I'll say that much. Just before I left, I learned that I'm to be the last domino in a domino effect of task reassignments that will result in my taking over "Norm"'s job, while passing nothing on to anyone else, so yesterday, when my boss shifted one of my little projects off my plate, I was kind of relieved. Even though it was the project I was most interested in.

So now "Norm" is all gung-ho to get me trained. I have a funny feeling there will be some more Norm posts in my future.

Meanwhile, we have the glory days of early fall to enjoy here in Stumptown: Days (like today) of glorious cool sunshine and wild, cloud-sculpture skies, interspersed with monsoon rains, the threat of which keeps a lot of fair-weather bike commuters out of my way, ha-ha! And your little dog, too.

Every summer here, there's a day where you can suddenly feel fall coming--the light and shadow ratio is just-so and the air has a cool edge to it.

Usually that day is a little later in the season, but this year it was today, and it is splendid out. So I thought, hey, perfect for a relaxing lunchtime bike ride. I decided to go to the closest Trader Joe's and stock up on chocolate healthy gourmet treats.

Holy shit, that was stressful! I don't know whether I just chose the wrong route, or if every single car downtown was from out of town, or what, but I had four separate brushes with vehicles scooting past me in the same lane, with inches to spare (not the legally required three feet--and my shouting, "Dude! Three feet!" had little impact, but at least there was no other impact, which is good).

Then I saw a stupid-ass bicyclist try for death by SUV right in front of me, and thank the FSM the driver wasn't on the phone and was quick on the brakes or it would have been ugly.

Then I got stuck in traffic. I sat through four red lights at one intersection, exhaust pipes all around me.

Mind you, it was still way better than riding a bus to Trader Joe's, and I do now have several weeks' supply of chocolate, but it gave me a keen appreciation for the views of people who live in less bike-friendly places than Portland. I would not want to take that particular ride every day, or even ever again, and if that were my only route option I wouldn't be riding a bike at all.

BikePortland, a bike blog I read daily, had some good coverage today of an unplanned bridge closure affecting a whole bunch of bike-riding commuters (including me). The post elicited lots of comments, many of them straying into broader issues of city streets, traffic management and transportation.

Someone said "All of this insanity, just to put in a street car that's slower than walking and poses a major hazard to its faster and cheaper counterpart, the bicycle. But I understand though, fat people need a way to get to Next Adventure [a sporting goods store]!"

( Cue the fuming. )

Pedalpalooza Daily for June 21 says:

The hottest new Dance/Aerobic craze of 2010. Hammercise is street performance combining MC Hammer and all that great early 90's style and music, with Aerobics and Exercise! The Audience then becomes the Hammercise class, and everyone learns how to move it like Hammer

The Hammercise Instructors, as well as the Hammercise Street team, will be leading a ride around town, with stops all over town to Hammercise up the public. Meeting at the NAITO fountain, under the west side of Burnside bridge. Wear something shiny, flashy, colorful, dancy and amazing. Hammerpants/Spandex/Sweatbands encouraged.

( I happened by just as they were winding up their first stop. )

Hallelujah! We finally had a day of sunshine!

Yesterday morning, I met some lovely people from Shift2Bikes, who were serving coffee at the foot of the Steel Bridge. Since I was half an hour late for work already, and the Rose Festival was forcing me onto a longer route, I said what the hey, and stopped for a cup and a chat.

( The day got better and better )