Back To The Big Dummy

Loaded. Recycling Cycling

So, we do some recycling now days to help out as we can with keeping things out of the landfill as much as possible. I'm not trying to shame anyone here, or pat my own back, but we felt led to do this so that's what we do. Anyway, since we've been doing this we've reduced what is going directly to the landfill by a huge amount by my estimate. We used to fill our garbage can up weekly. Now we're having a rare week if two bags are in the can. Most weeks it is one bag.

So, the point being here is that the rest of that stuff is going.....somewhere. All I know is we take a bunch of cardboard, glass jars, plastic milk jugs, and cans to a recycling area across the Cedar River from where I live. Maybe a mile or two at most away. Typically I use my Big Dummy for this trip, but recently I have been lazy, forgetful, or a slave to convenience, (all three?) and the "Truck With No Name" has been the recycling vehicle. Well, with Spring breaking here I figured it was high time to put an end to that scene.

It had been so long since the Big Dummy had seen the light of day that the tires were nearly flat. Thankfully they have tubes and only air was necessary to bring them back to life again. 20psi in those 2.4" tires is plenty on the 47mm wide rims. Rides so smooth.......

I have been keeping a selection of bungee cords in one inner pocket of one of the cargo bags and the flat repair items and a glass sweep up kit in the other inner pocket on the opposite side. I was inspired by a Des Moines area cyclist named Dori that keeps a dust pan, hand broom, and plastic bags in her cargo bike in case she sees broken glass on a bike path. We see a LOT of broken glass on sidewalks here in Waterloo. Especially so since there are what....three or four liquor stores within a square mile area here, and that does not take into account the two convenience stores in that same area. So, lots of street drinking and yeah.....lots of smashed beer and liquor bottles. So, I sweep that up when I come across it on my Big Dummy now. Hand sweep, scoop with the dust pan, dump it into the plastic shopping bags, and dispose of it later. But that hasn't been happening much since I was using the truck.

Unloaded, heading back home. The Cedar River is in the background.

So, anyway, using the Big Dummy for recycling and errands is a good thing in many ways. I don't get as angry either, because, well.....traffic. It's a calmer way to travel, and I get a chance to slow down and think some. Lot's of great reasons to own this bike, but they don't matter if I don't use it. So, I look toward using it more now. I got lazy, yes. It's easy to do, ya know? But this is just a much better way to go, and I am glad I was reminded of such yesterday.

Back To The Big Dummy

Loaded. Recycling Cycling

So, we do some recycling now days to help out as we can with keeping things out of the landfill as much as possible. I'm not trying to shame anyone here, or pat my own back, but we felt led to do this so that's what we do. Anyway, since we've been doing this we've reduced what is going directly to the landfill by a huge amount by my estimate. We used to fill our garbage can up weekly. Now we're having a rare week if two bags are in the can. Most weeks it is one bag.

So, the point being here is that the rest of that stuff is going.....somewhere. All I know is we take a bunch of cardboard, glass jars, plastic milk jugs, and cans to a recycling area across the Cedar River from where I live. Maybe a mile or two at most away. Typically I use my Big Dummy for this trip, but recently I have been lazy, forgetful, or a slave to convenience, (all three?) and the "Truck With No Name" has been the recycling vehicle. Well, with Spring breaking here I figured it was high time to put an end to that scene.

It had been so long since the Big Dummy had seen the light of day that the tires were nearly flat. Thankfully they have tubes and only air was necessary to bring them back to life again. 20psi in those 2.4" tires is plenty on the 47mm wide rims. Rides so smooth.......

I have been keeping a selection of bungee cords in one inner pocket of one of the cargo bags and the flat repair items and a glass sweep up kit in the other inner pocket on the opposite side. I was inspired by a Des Moines area cyclist named Dori that keeps a dust pan, hand broom, and plastic bags in her cargo bike in case she sees broken glass on a bike path. We see a LOT of broken glass on sidewalks here in Waterloo. Especially so since there are what....three or four liquor stores within a square mile area here, and that does not take into account the two convenience stores in that same area. So, lots of street drinking and yeah.....lots of smashed beer and liquor bottles. So, I sweep that up when I come across it on my Big Dummy now. Hand sweep, scoop with the dust pan, dump it into the plastic shopping bags, and dispose of it later. But that hasn't been happening much since I was using the truck.

Unloaded, heading back home. The Cedar River is in the background.

So, anyway, using the Big Dummy for recycling and errands is a good thing in many ways. I don't get as angry either, because, well.....traffic. It's a calmer way to travel, and I get a chance to slow down and think some. Lot's of great reasons to own this bike, but they don't matter if I don't use it. So, I look toward using it more now. I got lazy, yes. It's easy to do, ya know? But this is just a much better way to go, and I am glad I was reminded of such yesterday.

A Little Too Wet To Plow

We visited the first farmers market of 2018 and brought home some things to plant.

Here in the Mid-West there is an old farmer's saying that goes, "It's too wet to plow", meaning that conditions are not right for something.That or this was the general excuse for goofing off. Choose which, it doesn't matter.

This past weekend was like that. Rain, sort of, made riding kind of not appealing. It wasn't a full on rain, just annoyingly moist. The temperatures were in the 50's and the wind was enough to make it jacket weather. Besides this, we had a lot of things going on within the family. Kid's activities, work, and whatnot. Teenagers can keep you busy!

So me and Mrs. Guitar Ted took my daughter before she had to go to work and visited the local farmers market, the first of 2018, and we purchased some plantings which we turned right around and put into the ground. Plus, my hot peppers, which I have nursed through the Winter, were finally placed outside in the Earth where they belong.  I'm hoping for some nice hot peppers soon.

The boy had a can drive, which is the local highshool's way to generate extra funding for things. We provide cans and bottles for redemption and they do the labor of sorting and taking them to the redemption center. I like this arrangement better than when they try to make little kids and young adults into door to door salespeople. Besides, the local grocery store which I used to redeem returnable cans and bottles at has closed up and the other stores are using those machines which never work right. Kind of bogus, so the kids doing can drives is cool with me.

Loaded down and truckin'

Speaking of recycling, my other recycling had been really piling up since I was gone at Trans Iowa and then I got busy catching up on other stuff and well.......a big pile happened! 

That big pile took some effort to get on to the Big Dummy without anything wanting to jump ship on the way down to the recycling bins. I managed only to have to stop once for an errant piece of cardboard, so it went pretty well considering how poor of shape our roads are in these days.

It's pretty fun to ride the Big Dummy, but I just don't get it out enough. It has been mostly used just for recycling duties, so, what? A glorified garbage bike? Yeah, you could say that, and it would mostly be true, which kind of makes me sad. I'll have to start using it for other errands as well. I've finally got the lock situation figured out so I can actually leave it outside for a few minutes without fear of it disappearing on me.

Of course, Sunday was Mother's Day, so I did lunch along with my son so Mrs. Guitar Ted could just relax and take it easy. It also was kind of a crappy, wet, cool day, despite the forecast saying it was supposed to be warmer and partly cloudy. So much for that......

I need to get going on a lot of riding here for several reasons, not least of which is a big 100 miler in mid-June. It's going to be tough on weekends with my support day at Almanzo 100 Saturday and then a few weeks later going to cover events at the DK200. I'll have to start doing some odd time rides to fit in the work, so that should be something.

A Little Too Wet To Plow

We visited the first farmers market of 2018 and brought home some things to plant.

Here in the Mid-West there is an old farmer's saying that goes, "It's too wet to plow", meaning that conditions are not right for something.That or this was the general excuse for goofing off. Choose which, it doesn't matter.

This past weekend was like that. Rain, sort of, made riding kind of not appealing. It wasn't a full on rain, just annoyingly moist. The temperatures were in the 50's and the wind was enough to make it jacket weather. Besides this, we had a lot of things going on within the family. Kid's activities, work, and whatnot. Teenagers can keep you busy!

So me and Mrs. Guitar Ted took my daughter before she had to go to work and visited the local farmers market, the first of 2018, and we purchased some plantings which we turned right around and put into the ground. Plus, my hot peppers, which I have nursed through the Winter, were finally placed outside in the Earth where they belong.  I'm hoping for some nice hot peppers soon.

The boy had a can drive, which is the local highshool's way to generate extra funding for things. We provide cans and bottles for redemption and they do the labor of sorting and taking them to the redemption center. I like this arrangement better than when they try to make little kids and young adults into door to door salespeople. Besides, the local grocery store which I used to redeem returnable cans and bottles at has closed up and the other stores are using those machines which never work right. Kind of bogus, so the kids doing can drives is cool with me.

Loaded down and truckin'

Speaking of recycling, my other recycling had been really piling up since I was gone at Trans Iowa and then I got busy catching up on other stuff and well.......a big pile happened! 

That big pile took some effort to get on to the Big Dummy without anything wanting to jump ship on the way down to the recycling bins. I managed only to have to stop once for an errant piece of cardboard, so it went pretty well considering how poor of shape our roads are in these days.

It's pretty fun to ride the Big Dummy, but I just don't get it out enough. It has been mostly used just for recycling duties, so, what? A glorified garbage bike? Yeah, you could say that, and it would mostly be true, which kind of makes me sad. I'll have to start using it for other errands as well. I've finally got the lock situation figured out so I can actually leave it outside for a few minutes without fear of it disappearing on me.

Of course, Sunday was Mother's Day, so I did lunch along with my son so Mrs. Guitar Ted could just relax and take it easy. It also was kind of a crappy, wet, cool day, despite the forecast saying it was supposed to be warmer and partly cloudy. So much for that......

I need to get going on a lot of riding here for several reasons, not least of which is a big 100 miler in mid-June. It's going to be tough on weekends with my support day at Almanzo 100 Saturday and then a few weeks later going to cover events at the DK200. I'll have to start doing some odd time rides to fit in the work, so that should be something.

Changing Times

Well, a week makes a big difference. One week ago we were just crawling out of the depths of a wicked cold snap and now we are flirting with 50°F and thunderstorms! Talk about "weather whiplash"!

Last week, I drove to work on Monday due to the below zero degree windchill and my just coming off being sick. Tuesday I didn't have to be to work till 10:00 am, so I took the long way into work on the still snowy trails. Granted, there was barely any snow, but there was still something to scrunch fat bike tires over.

Then the weather started getting warmer, and warmer. The Sun shone forth, and the snow retreated. Since there wasn't much snow to begin with, the trail conditions were pretty much toast after Wednesday. Then it was a watch to see if we might get lucky enough to get in on this storm we are having now and get snow. Well, you can see the radar for yourself. It's raining here.

But between then and now we had one, glorious, Sunny January Saturday, and I got out and had a three-fer: Two bike rides and a long walk. Yes, I made the most out of my one good day! 

On the way into work Tuesday last week.

Recycle by bicycle! A gloriously Sunny Saturday downtown along the river in Waterloo, Iowa.

I also got in some time on the Black Mountain Cycles "Orange Crush" testing out some mushy road.

So, Sunday went all dreary, misty, and then rainy. Despite the news of the big blizzard, we aren't even close to getting a whiff of the white stuff. The ground is bare in almost every sense, and the forecast for the rest of the month is bleak for snow lovers. Oh well! I can always try my luck on a local gravel road, as long as the winds aren't crazy and the temperatures hold up somewhat.

So, as of now it looks as though we are going into February here with zero snow and the prospects for any kind of "Winter" are pretty much washed up now. Sure- we could have four weeks of Winter yet, but all that would do now is make people mad. It's too late. Once you reach February with no snow you are thinking Spring, and it better come quick. Any additional jabs from Old Man Winter now are just going to put that off. It won't be anything but a sucker punch now.

That said, I'd take a few more weeks of decent snow and fat biking. The likelihood of that happening is pretty low now though! The times- they be a changing, and maybe now this is what our Winters will be like, more often than not.

Changing Times

Well, a week makes a big difference. One week ago we were just crawling out of the depths of a wicked cold snap and now we are flirting with 50°F and thunderstorms! Talk about "weather whiplash"!

Last week, I drove to work on Monday due to the below zero degree windchill and my just coming off being sick. Tuesday I didn't have to be to work till 10:00 am, so I took the long way into work on the still snowy trails. Granted, there was barely any snow, but there was still something to scrunch fat bike tires over.

Then the weather started getting warmer, and warmer. The Sun shone forth, and the snow retreated. Since there wasn't much snow to begin with, the trail conditions were pretty much toast after Wednesday. Then it was a watch to see if we might get lucky enough to get in on this storm we are having now and get snow. Well, you can see the radar for yourself. It's raining here.

But between then and now we had one, glorious, Sunny January Saturday, and I got out and had a three-fer: Two bike rides and a long walk. Yes, I made the most out of my one good day! 

On the way into work Tuesday last week.

Recycle by bicycle! A gloriously Sunny Saturday downtown along the river in Waterloo, Iowa.

I also got in some time on the Black Mountain Cycles "Orange Crush" testing out some mushy road.

So, Sunday went all dreary, misty, and then rainy. Despite the news of the big blizzard, we aren't even close to getting a whiff of the white stuff. The ground is bare in almost every sense, and the forecast for the rest of the month is bleak for snow lovers. Oh well! I can always try my luck on a local gravel road, as long as the winds aren't crazy and the temperatures hold up somewhat.

So, as of now it looks as though we are going into February here with zero snow and the prospects for any kind of "Winter" are pretty much washed up now. Sure- we could have four weeks of Winter yet, but all that would do now is make people mad. It's too late. Once you reach February with no snow you are thinking Spring, and it better come quick. Any additional jabs from Old Man Winter now are just going to put that off. It won't be anything but a sucker punch now.

That said, I'd take a few more weeks of decent snow and fat biking. The likelihood of that happening is pretty low now though! The times- they be a changing, and maybe now this is what our Winters will be like, more often than not.