Fritz
November 18, 2017 § Leave a comment
Day 3 – Way back in my young adulthood I got this idea to ride my bicycle across the country, which I did during the Summer of 1981. I started in San Diego, and rode North where after some weeks and some time in San Francisco, we (My roommate Frank joined me) headed North for some Highway 1 scenery. On our second day out we met a cyclist named Jim, who was riding across the country as well, however there was a difference, and that difference was that his equipment was not really the kind of cross country equipment you should be riding across, but one look at him, and you knew he was riding what he could. That was near the end of the day, and when we found a State managed biker campground we pulled in, and to our pleasure we had company. That was where I first met Fritz Knochenauer.
Realization Dawns Too Late
November 17, 2017 § Leave a comment
Day 2. As I said in Catching The Monday SFCC Train, I had plans to get together and ride with an old acquaintance on Tuesday, so I didn’t make any real attempt to figure out where the Tuesday SFCC ride actually started. The web page for SFCC says simply
TUESDAY – FAT CAKE HEADLANDS // 0615 GGB PLAZA
and when I google GGB Plaza, expecting to get some kind of public square somewhere in the city, google drops a point right smack in the center of the Golden Gate Bridge, which I then reasoned, was wrong.
Catching The Monday SFCC Train
November 16, 2017 § 1 Comment
I knew I was going to San Fran Cisco, and I knew I wanted to ride my bike. Where to start? I could describe my first forays into exploration, however I should just cut to the chase. I finally googled “San Francisco Cycling Club”, and the top hit was SFCC, or San Francisco Cycling Club. What better name exists for a 100% hit, I know not.
Going Solo – Just The Bike & Me
October 27, 2017 § Leave a comment
Two years ago I started this write-up about a solo ride I did in the Harriman/Bear Mountain areas of NY state. It sat as a draft now for these two years, and I decided to finish it. Much of the story was still pretty fresh in my mind. As they say among cyclists, “The worst day on the bike is still better than the best day at work”, and so I took a Friday off work and had some me time.
Fall Cycling Epic
October 8, 2017 § 4 Comments
On Monday August 14th at 9:27PM I received a text from Cliff.
The Text that Started the Ball rolling.
Magical Princeton
September 3, 2017 § 1 Comment
The Princeton ride has been a magical ride for many years. My earliest rides were with the Colts Neck crowd, and that made Princeton a round-trip of roughly 60ish miles. You could do that in a little over 3 hours and make a bagel stop downtown, all then followed by a hard hammer pace home.
It was awhile after I started riding with what IS now the Pronto Crew, that one day Larry, Mark and I decided to go to Princeton. It was an early Fall day, and the conditions weren’t the best, but we were the only ones who showed up to ride. I don’t think there was a plan to go, but seeing how it was just the three of us, after we each confirmed that we didn’t have any time limits, Princeton became the target location.
State College Instead of Mallorca?
May 29, 2017 § 2 Comments
It’s not the Mediterranean; There aren’t gorgeous ocean views, or even gorgeous ocean villas! However, in my mind at least, some of the best riding I have ever done was in and around State College, Pa during my tenure at Penn State.
Fleche Buffoonery 2017 – “Just can’t say Thank You”
April 29, 2017 § 1 Comment
Me: “Hey Tim?”
Tim: “Yeah Bird?”
Me: “If Fools Classic was the hammer and I was the nail, what is Fleche Buffoon?”
Tim: “A bigger hammer Bird. A much bigger hammer.”
Fools Classic 2017 – Who’s the Fool Now?
April 15, 2017 § 2 Comments
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a person lacking in judgment or prudence Only a fool would ride Fools Classic without knowing what thy got thyself into.
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a : a retainer (see 1retainer 1) formerly kept in great households to provide casual entertainment and commonly dressed in motley with cap, bells, and bauble: The designers of Fools Classic are entertained by the motley fools who sign on for their event.
b : one who is victimized or made to appear foolish : dupe History has made fools of the many who ride Fools Classic. -
a : a harmlessly deranged person or one lacking in common powers of understanding That fool must be MENTAL and has no idea what Fools Classic is going to do to them.
b : one with a marked propensity or fondness for something a dancing fool, a fool for candy, a cycling fool
In some ways it seems pretty simple to apply each of these to the participants involved in the 2017 edition of the Fools Classic.
Recovery
March 27, 2017 § 2 Comments
“Recovery from what?” you might ask. As a word we have
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A return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.
synonyms: recuperation, convalescence -
The action or process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost.
synonyms: retrieval, regaining, repossession, getting back, reclamation, recouping, redemption, recuperation
I am referring to the first definition, and more importantly to the “strength” part. I have dealt with the first part in more than simply the common cold, but the third part I encounter fairly often
Big Bird's Adventures 
Meriam-Webster provides the following definitions of fool, slightly modified for this print edition