Busy Week Report

The "car replacement" for the week: The Dorado Sherpa.

 Since wildfire smoke has reached levels again that are not conducive to activities outdoors which require lots of deep breathing, like cycling in the country, I decided to nix any riding except that which I had to do to get to work Saturday. 

So, instead of a great "Country Views" post, I give you a report on cycling centered activities from over the past week. And there were plenty. I had a very busy week. 

I won't bore you with all of it, but since being hired on at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, I have had a lot less hours than I used to have of working during a given week. (Not complaining here) But this week I was busy with something for six days straight, which maybe sounds okay to many of you, but that's a lot for me in terms of where I am at right now. 

That meant that most of my cycling was for getting around. That's good, but not really all that interesting to report on here. I will say that the old Dorado Sherpa might just be the best, curb-hoppin'-est rig I've owned yet. Very comfortable to ride. The only issue I have with it right now is that I need to mod the front and rear fenders for a bit more clearance at the brake calipers. That's probably going to be a Winter project. 

(L-R) Kyle, Kristine, Amber, GT, Eric. At the Collective.

The highlight of the week was hosting four John Deere engineers at the Collective where they volunteered and were helping disassemble bicycles for parts and scrap. 

It was fun to help teach them the principals of leverage and how to use tools. See, due to Union clauses in their contract, the engineers don't get to use tools at work, and so this was a bit of a fun outlet for these folks to get their hands on tools and learn new things too. 

It was a good reminder to myself that (a) bicycle mechanics have special skills and knowledge and that (b) some of the things I was taught are good to pass along to others and those things can be useful to others in their lives. 

Speaking of passing along knowledge: I held my second to last class in my maintenance program for the two students going through that this session and I taught at a clinic on flat tire repair on Friday evening. Lots of tips and tricks were shared. That was fun and the folks that attended seemed to get a lot from what was presented. 

All that on top of my regular work hours, recording a podcast as a guest on another show, meeting for a Community Action Team where I hope to influence the City to do more for cycling and peds, and doing life with my family in between. That didn't leave much time this week for country outings. Of course, the weather was perfect throughout this time. Why wouldn't it be? I had a Sunday off and then wildfire smoke happens. 

Bah!

I'll be back out there soon......

Busy Week Report

The "car replacement" for the week: The Dorado Sherpa.

 Since wildfire smoke has reached levels again that are not conducive to activities outdoors which require lots of deep breathing, like cycling in the country, I decided to nix any riding except that which I had to do to get to work Saturday. 

So, instead of a great "Country Views" post, I give you a report on cycling centered activities from over the past week. And there were plenty. I had a very busy week. 

I won't bore you with all of it, but since being hired on at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, I have had a lot less hours than I used to have of working during a given week. (Not complaining here) But this week I was busy with something for six days straight, which maybe sounds okay to many of you, but that's a lot for me in terms of where I am at right now. 

That meant that most of my cycling was for getting around. That's good, but not really all that interesting to report on here. I will say that the old Dorado Sherpa might just be the best, curb-hoppin'-est rig I've owned yet. Very comfortable to ride. The only issue I have with it right now is that I need to mod the front and rear fenders for a bit more clearance at the brake calipers. That's probably going to be a Winter project. 

(L-R) Kyle, Kristine, Amber, GT, Eric. At the Collective.

The highlight of the week was hosting four John Deere engineers at the Collective where they volunteered and were helping disassemble bicycles for parts and scrap. 

It was fun to help teach them the principals of leverage and how to use tools. See, due to Union clauses in their contract, the engineers don't get to use tools at work, and so this was a bit of a fun outlet for these folks to get their hands on tools and learn new things too. 

It was a good reminder to myself that (a) bicycle mechanics have special skills and knowledge and that (b) some of the things I was taught are good to pass along to others and those things can be useful to others in their lives. 

Speaking of passing along knowledge: I held my second to last class in my maintenance program for the two students going through that this session and I taught at a clinic on flat tire repair on Friday evening. Lots of tips and tricks were shared. That was fun and the folks that attended seemed to get a lot from what was presented. 

All that on top of my regular work hours, recording a podcast as a guest on another show, meeting for a Community Action Team where I hope to influence the City to do more for cycling and peds, and doing life with my family in between. That didn't leave much time this week for country outings. Of course, the weather was perfect throughout this time. Why wouldn't it be? I had a Sunday off and then wildfire smoke happens. 

Bah!

I'll be back out there soon......

Being A Teacher

I've never been one to shy away from public speaking. (Image by someone at T.I.v4- Thanks!)

So, about every year this time I end up teaching a mechanics class for the shop where I work. It is a small thing, only two sessions, and maybe eight to ten folks get in to it total. It isn't that big of a deal. Not too intimidating, well.....for me, anyway. I can't speak for anyone else.

Ironically, back in my youth, I was strongly considering becoming a teacher. I likely would have ended up becoming an art teacher, although back then I wanted to do Industrial Arts. Then I got into college without any clear plan, found out about beer and bands, and that I could skate through school without much effort. I didn't think anybody cared, so I left the whole teaching thing behind.

I probably wouldn't have made a very good teacher anyway. Not one a "school system" would have liked, at any rate! But that's all old news and water under the dam now. One thing I always did have going for me was a willingness to "step up to the mic". I remember when I kind of realized this about myself.

It was on a group ride very early in the Spring one year when the snow wasn't melted yet. A TV crew was talking to people about the break in the weather, and they asked some of our party to talk. They all came running back to where I was, asking the rest of us if anyone of us would talk to the TV people. No one really felt like doing it and were in "cowering mode". I thought they were all just being silly, and I said, "I'll go do it! They are just people, ya know!"

Anyway, so that was when I realized I didn't mind speaking in front of a camera, mic, or to a big crowd of people. Whether or not I am "informative" and give folks value for their money spent to take a mechanics class is anyone's guess!

Being A Teacher

I've never been one to shy away from public speaking. (Image by someone at T.I.v4- Thanks!)

So, about every year this time I end up teaching a mechanics class for the shop where I work. It is a small thing, only two sessions, and maybe eight to ten folks get in to it total. It isn't that big of a deal. Not too intimidating, well.....for me, anyway. I can't speak for anyone else.

Ironically, back in my youth, I was strongly considering becoming a teacher. I likely would have ended up becoming an art teacher, although back then I wanted to do Industrial Arts. Then I got into college without any clear plan, found out about beer and bands, and that I could skate through school without much effort. I didn't think anybody cared, so I left the whole teaching thing behind.

I probably wouldn't have made a very good teacher anyway. Not one a "school system" would have liked, at any rate! But that's all old news and water under the dam now. One thing I always did have going for me was a willingness to "step up to the mic". I remember when I kind of realized this about myself.

It was on a group ride very early in the Spring one year when the snow wasn't melted yet. A TV crew was talking to people about the break in the weather, and they asked some of our party to talk. They all came running back to where I was, asking the rest of us if anyone of us would talk to the TV people. No one really felt like doing it and were in "cowering mode". I thought they were all just being silly, and I said, "I'll go do it! They are just people, ya know!"

Anyway, so that was when I realized I didn't mind speaking in front of a camera, mic, or to a big crowd of people. Whether or not I am "informative" and give folks value for their money spent to take a mechanics class is anyone's guess!