… and for public transportation. It’s snowing like crazy today. So I walked. I also used the Bear Line to get downtown, so I didn’t miss my Tuesday/Thursday appointment to hang out and read the newspaper at the Mudhouse. A short conversation this morning in the kitchen: Wife: I’m happy to give you a ride, [...]
Well, not much snow. We might get a couple of inches. There was just a dusting overnight, but it was enough to keep me off my bicycle. I just don’t like riding in slick conditions. So I walked to school today. A nice lady pulled up beside me while I walked along Grand and asked [...]
They sure do look pretty. But fallen leaves on the road are a hazard for cyclists — especially when wet. And wet they will be beginning tomorrow. The forecast is rain. Fallen leaves can also cover road hazards such as cracks and holes. Let’s be careful out there. Technorati Tags: bicycle safety, cycling, weather
Two things this morning that haven’t happened in a long time: It’s raining, and I drove a car during rush hour. I didn’t drive to work. It was another matter. But I got a good reminder why life is so much better on a bicycle or on foot: When people get behind the wheel of a [...]
So it’s raining like crazy this morning. Dark. Thunder. Lightening. The streets are babbling brooks. Just awful. So I decide to walk instead of ride. I think cars change who we are. We sometimes do things behind the wheel of a car that we would not think of doing face to face. A car provides [...]
Jason Peters continues to meditate on the virtues of walking at Front Porch Republic (re: Walk, Damn It!). This week he writes about what it means to walk in the cold. And by now this walking has become habitual enough that, if for pressing reasons I do not or cannot walk, I feel that an [...]
There’s still an uncomfortable amount of snow out there, so I continue to walk to work. Here’s the dreary scene from my office window this morning. A wintry mix is on the way — due by noon. Yuck. But not to worry. I wear on of those wonderful Carhartt jackets that are large and roomy [...]
Serendipity is cool. Yesterday I read an interesting essay on one of my favorite blogs about the virtues of walking. Some people apparently assume that a walker is in some distress, i.e. in need of a car or in need of rescue. Jason Peters writes: The change in private behavior that I should so like [...]
It’s a whole 3/4 of a mile, but it’s mine — my daily commute. The spring semester began today. There’s snow on the ground, so I’m on foot. I just don’t like riding a bicycle in slippery conditions. Not that walking is any safer. I had to go downtown for a couple or errands. On [...]
The key is your head and hands — and layers. Temperature at departure time this morning: 19 F. So, the usual stuff: I wore leather sneakers, athletic socks, blue jeans, and a shirt. (Professors can be a bit more casual than your average professional, but the point, however, is that I’m not donning anything particularly [...]
It’s a gray, cold, yucky day. Luckily, I dress for riding a bicycle in cold weather. I find lots of appropriate bicycling attire in my closet — called clothes. Here’s what’s happening: I see no precipitation from my office window. But apparently it’s coming. Current conditions (1:30 CST): N wind @ 22 mph, 40 degrees. [...]
It was a dark and drizzly afternoon. I left for the STAR Team meeting at about 5 p.m. The meeting spot is slightly less than 3 miles from my house along residential and city streets — streets that were now filled with rush-hour traffic. The drizzle made the streets slick and cut visibility because it [...]
I’ll publish some fall color pictures soon. There are some spectacular scenes on my short ride to campus. Today is one of those blustery, damp fall days that tell you the corner has been turned. Summer is a memory. That’s OK. Fall is my favorite season. The bicycle racks on campus were rather empty today. [...]
There’s never no weather. That, BTW, is an appropriate use of the double negative in English. The S – V- O word-order structure of English demands a subject or a place holder. We say: “It is raining.” What is “it”? It is nothing at all. Well, OK, it’s a pronoun, but it “stands” for nothing [...]
The 10-day weather forecast is looking pretty good. We’re going to top out in the high 70s today — unseasonably warm (or the new normal?). And the forecast is for mostly mild temperatures until the middle of the month. But, this is Missouri. Things can change fast. And drastically. Although I’m good to go even [...]
