When September Ends

Day 26

Road to and from work with a jaunt home for growlers and fills at SunKing.  Stacey's bus landed at 10:10pm and I road to meet her with coffee just how she likes it.

We ended up driving to Broadripple to meet up with friends before promptly turning around and driving back to Mass Ave.  You think Paul would have mentioned that when I called and asked "will you be going to Mass Ave?"


Day 27

Day on the town!
Pure Eatery
Hotel Tango
Chatham Tap
Lisa's party - single speed Trek 29er was leaning against the garage, took it for a spin on the towpath.
Deck's party - no bikes were here.
Old Point

Trek Marlin: 29in wheels, single speed, disc brakes.

Shortest bike to date, around the block while Stacey was getting ready.

Day 28

Road to TCA to meet students, ended up having to drop them off and bike to Touchdown Town.  Had an extra ticket to the game and Stacey to biked down on Bruce to join me.

Titans 17 Colts 41     photo by gamblerspalace.com

Day 29

Road to work, then Dunkin' Donuts for free coffee!  Road with Stacey towards White River.  A flat cut our ride short.  Walked to the Bike Hub to get Tom fixed up and stopped by Tomlison Tap ... damn.

Great location, knowledgeable staff, pricey!

Day 30

To and from work on Bruce due to errands that needed ran.  Stopped by the post office to pick up shoes that were the wrong size, after work dropped off Kay's coat she left behind Monday night, then road out to UPS distribution center.  This was a nice ride even though they didn't have my package! Try again tomorrow.

Week 4

Day 22

Road to and from work.  Basketball in the evening... still haven't figured out how to bike there and back yet.

Day 23

Took Bruce to work today because I had to run an errand for the upcoming CDPI Conference.  Picked up a big box from corporate and road it down to Tim at IUPUI.  He was grateful and impressed that I got a box that size on a bike.  Wish I snapped a picture!

Day 24

Road to and from work.  Headed up the Monon later to SoBro Cafe.  Unfortunately, none of my favorite waitresses were working, but wine Wednesday was in full effect!  Took College home after dark and stopped by TrendyMinds.  They had ladies on stilts, and a hot air balloon, and music, and fun!  Pleasant surprise.

Day 25

Road to and from work after an AM jog.  Met dad for dinner on the northside.  Could have taken Tony up there but Harry and Izzy's is upscale enough that I didn't want to sweet through my britches.  Bus would have taken 1.5 hours!

This just in:

The City and IndyParks has  proposed changing the hours of operation on all of Indianapolis' Greenways from the current hours of 5am-9pm to 5am-Midnight. We support this change and we see it moving in the right direction.  Remember, just 2 years ago, the hours of all the Greenways were Dawn to Dusk and then last year we worked with the City & IndyParks to change the hours of just the Monon to 5am-9pm. If this change is approved by the Indianapolis Parks Boardtomorrow night, we will have access to all of the Indianapolis' Greenways from 5am-Midnight. While this is not the 24/7 access we were originally pushing for, we are happy with their decision and consider a mutual win for both sides. Furthermore, we will continue working with the City and IndyParks to open all of Indianapolis' Greenways 24/7 in the future. 

Thank you for signing the petition and we will keep you abreast of the current and future status of this campaign. We couldn't have succeeded with out you!

Sincerely,

Kevin W Whited

Executive Director

Windy City

Day 20:

Enjoyed a fantastic weekend in Chicago!  It was great to be able to utilize reliable public transit.  The trains go by "so often you won't even notice it."

15% battery, story of the weekend.  Presslite.com

Saturday's Lineup:
Blue Line - Took Blue Line to Wicker Park before exploring in the rain via Divvy Bikes.  Ended up with Bloody Marys at this diner-ish lounge.
Sheffield's - Took our Divvys into the teeth of the Wriggly crowd to meet up with Jon and Maria after the Cubs game.  Large bar divided into rooms with a nice beer garden.
Parlor - Delicious pizza, beer, and ping pong.  Took a city bus and cab to meet with Stacey's crew in the West Loop.  Walked from there.
CH Distillery - After convincing Stacey to stay through the end of dinner, we walked to meet with Jon's crew.  Enjoyed "Baron Takes Tea" and a  "Bombardier."  The latter was not necessary but delicious.

Bird's eye view of Sheffield's beer garden: sheffieldschicago.com

CH Distillery's shiny pipes!  chicagoreader.com

While the busses, trains, and bikes were fun, they did make us a bit late everywhere we went.  We were informed by Chicagoans that we were on "weekend time".


Day 21:

Megabus back from Chicago after enjoying The Glunz Tavern.

Original wood floor and tin ceiling.  Full of booze related history. -edibleinkpr.com

Once back in town road Tom to rent Bad Words.  Not a great movie, seemed hurriedly/cheaply made.  Entertaining nonetheless.  Rohan Chand is a great young actor!

Getaway/September

Wednesday night's Turtles show was fantastic.  They no longer sit on stools, but stand the entire time!  I was more like the 7th or 9th wheel (definitely not an even number), but the ride there and back was perfect.

Day 18

Road to and from work and final ran those errands (some of them).  Saw Danny and Kay on my way back from the library and Kay suggested GAP jeans.  She was right on as the GAP had good jeans at a fair price with a cute sales clerk... sold!

Day 19

Two trips to and from work (forgot my phone) and O'malia's for some Deep Eddy.  Heading to Chicago tonight via Megabus.  Nineteen day streak is in danger tomorrow as I have no known access to a cycle in the Windy City.

Morning shadows: (left) heading West on Market (right) South on Park.

MNF: Home Opener

Day 15

Colts played Eagles in the home opener.  Rain kept ticket prices low so Chef Ben and I haggled to get $100 tickets down to $10.  Good time, rough game.

Road to and from work a few times, walked to the game.

Eagles 30 Colts 27   photo by gamblerspalace.com

Day 16

To and from work 2x.  Had plans of running some errands, library, Circle Center, and O'Malia's, but drifted off on the couch instead... score one for couch.

Day 17

To work in AM, still have hopes of getting those errands.  Trampled by Turtles play tonight at Old National, Paul and Kelley want me to join them... time to grease my third wheel!

photo by NPR.org

Golden Domers

Day 13

Notre Dame and Purdue battled it out in Lucas Oil Stadium which meant Indy was charged.  Road pedi-cabs noon-1am and had a blast interacting with tailgaters out-of-towners.  The most common trip of the day was taking tailgaters to the nearest liquor store a 1 mile away.

BigRed bike/cooler. Always locked out front, never see it on road.

A lot of people were out, traffic was predictably terrible, and bike usage was through the roof!  This posed a possibly dangerous setting, but the IMPD , including three enthused bike mounted patrolmen, did a fantastic job of keeping people safe from themselves and each other.  It appeared as though one women was receiving a ticket if not an OWI for unsafe cycling on the roadway.

Day 14  September 14th

Road the last hour of cabbing in this day, so I'm counting it!  Also road Tom around the Cultural Trail between games.  Played a lot of cards with Matt and Kristin!

Imperfect Timing

Day 12:

The plan to retrieve the bike and belongings from the good folks at Indy Hostel was nearly perfect. Take the 17 line up, bike back. The issue was timing. It would take 45 minutes on the bus just to get there! Typically that time would be welcome spent reading or doing kegels, but family was on their way into town and errands needed ran.

Instead today's riding consisted of the commute and a trip to the beautiful Lucas home for Aaron's birthday. Four attendees rode. Maybe this biking thing, while not always convenient, is catching on!

Busting ghosts, terrorists

Meanwhile in Fort Wayne...
My brother commemorated the anniversary of 9/11 by hosting his 2nd annual Freedom Run.  This 9.11 mile run campuses the Fort's several memorials and monuments dedicated to those who served.  He even encouraged those intimidated by the distance to ride!  Congratulations to Sam for hosting another great and active event, and to my sisters for pedaling in support.


Day 11:

Aside from the daily commute, this evening I rode up to Indy Hostel to help welcome their new interns.  We enjoyed food at HopCat and after a certain number of drinks decided it was the perfect night for some ghost hunting!

Paul DDed 7 of us to Indy's West side where we began to explore the allegedly haunted Central State Hospital, better known as the abandoned insane asylum (it has a hauntier ring to it).

The buildings were fun to explore.  We investigated basements, tunnels, and even made it to a rooftop.  we talked ourselves into feeling "different energies", but ultimately we proceeded without haunting.  Granted we didn't have a PKE Meter with us, "one of our little toys."

Paul was gracious to drop me at my apartment so there was no need for a 3am ride back home.  I am grateful for having the extra rides so I can get to work this morning!

Haunted bicycle found.  

Stormy Weather

Day 10:

Road to work and eventually brought the bike inside as a tornado warning moved in to Marion County.  What to do while waiting for the weather to pass?  Practice track stands with Tom!

Rode to O'Malia's on Bruce for some basic groceries and drop off some recycling.  Got a bit wet but didn't blow away.

To tour...

Day 9:

Today's ride was to work and back on Tom.  Brief, uneventful, but during an hour long conference call, it was decided what I need to do: tour

Paul gave me an excellent book on bicycle touring for my birthday and it would be a shame to waste.  It would be a bigger shame to spend much more time sitting in a cubicle.

Within the year is a fair plan.

Full Moon Ride

Day 8:

Tonight's full moon was the 3rd and final super moon of the year.  This made for an excellent Full Moon Ride.  Around the Circle, down the dark winding sections of the Wapahani Trail, and off to the Fountain Square.  I eventually broke off from the group to celebrate a friend's birthday on Mass Ave.  The only downside was my camera takes terrible photos in low light!

Bikes zipping around the Circle at the speed of light.

Stopping to take in the site and to reapply moonscreen. 

Filling up the racks outside Brass Ring.

Garfield Park

Day 7:

Out the door by 11am to relax in Garfield Park before filling up growlers from Fountain Square Brewery and winding up at the Piccadilly Penthouse for Dan and Kay's cookout.

Later that night I fired up the auto for it's weekly drive.  Wings from KSR... worth the fossil fuel.

Flat black Specialized 29er MTB, first appearance.

Disc brakes.  Almost flew over handlebars the first time experiencing them.

Colts 2014 opener is this evening, 30 years ago these beautiful trucks fled Baltimore to greener pastures.

Fort Ben

Day 6

This morning was overcast and dreary.  The news men insisted it looked worse than it actually was outside so we through with plans to ride.  Though I wouldn't call it rain, Courtney and I were greeted with a the steadiest of mists.  We road the Fall Creek Trail and cruised the loop at Fort Ben.

CT's Specialized and my Bianchi.  Soggy Saturday.

Pierre, the cocky French Pastry Chef, informed me of the 7 minute challenge to complete the 2.3 mile loop.  Definitely doable in less wet conditions.  Pierre admitted he couldn't quite make it.

runkeeper.com,  2.3 mile loop around Ft. Ben to be completed in 7 minutes or less.

Later rode Tom a couple blocks to Flat 12 and then to Al's place for the ND game (great times)!

Morning Loop

Day 5:

Using the 1/2 hour before work for a quick zip around Indianapolis via the Cultural Trail is a great way to start the day.  Showing up to work with a distinct sweat lines left from my shoulder bag creates an opportunity for ridicule.  Try to remember that after a 45 minute commute in a minivan that doubles as a toy box, I too may be ready to lash out.

You're not stuck in traffic, you ARE traffic.  photo from peci.org

Today debuts the latest addition to my fleet: 2002 Bianchi steel frame.  This was bought somewhat impulsively while mourning the loss of my 1984 Fuji (which was thankfully recovered, full story to come).  This is the lightest of all my bikes thanks to the carbon fork and Campy components.  While the paddle shifters make for smooth riding, the handlebars are a bit too wide for my taste.  This and possibly a Brooks saddle are the only adjustments I foresee.

Ride and Shine!

Day 4:

 7am trip to doctor's office to get a physical for work.  5 minute appointment.  Lost 3 hours of sleep...

Indy skyline from Highland Park on near East side. 

Daily Commute

Day 3:

Rode to work and back.  Student said she liked my style, unsure if she was making fun of my rolled up dress pants or my helmet hair.

bicycling.com

Midnight Rider

Day 2:

After returning home from Broadripple I fell into a fast slumber fueled as much by the ride as the cocktails.  I woke up at 12:30am after only a couple of hours of shut eye.  I've always heard that after processing the alcohol your body can shock itself into alertness.  This is exactly what I experienced and nothing could coax me back to sleep.  After an hour of reading, guitaring, and laying perfectly still in a dark room, it was obvious: time for a ride.

One mile to Monument Circle, one mile back.

Also rode to work and back, then Sun King for a delicious growler.  Used car for first time of challenge to get to South side.  Threat of rain made me not want to risk it!

Labor of Love

Eleven days ago I turned thirty years old.  This is just a number, but to a surprising number of friends, family members, and acquaintances, this is a fairly significant number (which is not the same thing as significant figures).  I was repeatedly asked how it feels, which to be honest, wasn't different at all.  Unfortunately, as much as I would like the opinions and thoughts of others to not impact my thoughts and opinions of myself, it seems almost unavoidable.  Whether from media or loved ones, the subconscious is incredibly vulnerable to persistent messages.

In order to combat these messages I developed a couple strategies, one of which, and the purpose of this blog, being to ride a bicycle everyday for one year.

I have committed to a number of monthly challenges in the past.  Some of which were successful, others I've come up short.  Success in this challenge is not in riding 365 consecutive days, as I will likely fail, but to make a concerted effort to participate in activities that make me feel young in mind, body, and spirit.  Cycling is simply the most easily identifiable of these activities to date.


Day 1:
Today I rode my fixed Tommasso approx 15 miles up and down the Monon, first to the Indy Hostel and then to HopCat, a new eatery/drinkery featuring 130 brews on tap.  Rain threatened consistently, but the day ended up being pretty nice.  After an elaborate scavenger hunt for Deep Eddy and drinks with a new friend, it was time to return home just before dusk.

Indy Hostel - photo by tripadvisor.com

HopCat "Crack Fries" (not as good as actual crack) - photo by Indystar.com

Weather will certainly be a concern for this challenge, but a bigger challenge will be my own motivation and ability to look past set backs.