Bike me Amadeus

"So," I sez to myself, "self," I sez, "you're woefully out of shape, it's a hot humid day, and you haven't seriously ridden your bike in two years. Why not go for a seven-mile ride to somewhere you've never been?" So, being a wise person full of self-knowledge, I did.

As it turned out, though, it was quite a pleasant journey, in part because I discovered that Rt. 50 has bike lanes along most of my route. I was vanquished by one deceptively steep hill, and had to sit on the verge in front of a trucking company until my heart slowed and my stomach settled, but seven miles isn't actually very far on a bike. Someone had thoughtfully constructed a Stewart's next to my destination, so I was able to swig a cranberry juice in the shade before heading home. I passed a rather surprising sand dune along the way; how did that get there?

The shop I biked to was staffed by two cute and chatty young ladies, two extremely friendly cats who demanded I skritch them, and a ginormous golden poodle. Good day all 'round.

(Bike maintenance update: tirerim advised me that my saddle should be set so my knee is slightly bent on the extreme downstroke of the pedal. When I first got on, I discovered I could just barely touch the bottom pedal with my tippy-toes, so I lowered the saddle a couple of inches, and things felt fine after that. I suspect they forgot to lower the saddle after extending it to fit it in the tuneup clamp.)

Truthiness followup

thankyoustephencolbert.org is collecting virtual appreciations for Stephen Colbert's ballsy Presidential roast—over 15,000 in the last day or so. Since I posted mine (on page 710) there've been an average of 17 posts per minute.

I don't usually sign up for these pointless internet petition things, but a) this seems to be a legitimate way to give a pat on the back to a guy who did something pretty damn cool, and b) I'm frustrated enough with the media's non-coverage of the Colbert part of the evening (while falling all over themselves to cover the Bush-and-his-double preapproved gag) that I want to help boost the internet buzz to something newsworthy.