Of watches and minimalism

It was barely a month ago I got a new watch, an automatic "Waterbury" watch from Timex. This is the nicest watch I've ever owned. Yet barely a month later, I've purchased another watch. It's another Timex, one of their "Weekender" watches. It's one of the least expensive watches they make. I paid $35 for...

Tracking the miles, finding the loop

The Bantam at Mount Tabor, 4 September 2022. Olympus XA2/Fujicolor 200 At the start of the year I decided to track the miles I rode. This was done primarily to have some sort of metric of the riding I do. If I want to "ride more", I need to know how much I already ride....

That melancholy as seasons shift

Summer is over. Well, it's not technically over, according to the calendar, as autumnal equinox is not until September 22nd, two weeks away. But here in the US the feeling of summer definitely dissipates when Labor Day weekend (first Monday of September) is over and done. Kids go back to school. People's vacations conclude. Now...

25 Years of Vegetarianism

Old US Customs House, Portland. Ricohflex Dia/Ilford XP2+ Another milestone for me to process: 25 years ago I stopped eating meat. I don't remember the exact day my vegetarianism went into effect. I just know that I had some burgers on Labor Day 1997 (which would have been Monday September 1st) at the family barbecue,...

Revisiting the idea of practical bikes in the year 2022

Tony Hunt in St. Paul, 2016 Last week I was alerted to a new blog, The Complete Bicycle. I've known its author, Tony, for several years, meeting up with him in St. Paul when I was there in 2016. He elaborates on "What is a Complete Bicycle?" in this blog post here. For me, a...

New watch day

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52297789288_b597ea2c7c_b.jpg Last time I checked in with you folks about things that go around my wrist that tell time, I had decided to do some DIY battery replacement. It didn't go so well for my Timex Scout watch, the face was cracked. It still worked, but it was quite ugly. I had an easier go...

Can Portland style bike fun culture take hold elsewhere?

The poster I drew for Pedalpalooza 2006. This was the third PP poster I made. Recently Filmed By Bike founder Ayleen Crotty created a compilation zine about Portland's bike culture. This was in honor of twenty years of the event. She asked me to contribute, and I obliged, contributing a page about my interaction with...

Exhaustion and frustration

A lovely view (at Open Meadow). 1 July 2022. Ricohflex Dia/Ilford XP2+ I just finished a week where I led three different bicycle rides. Three! They weren't all back-to-back, but there was only one "off" day separating the rides. (Ride-Off-Ride-Off-Ride) And I don't know why I decided to do it this way. Was it because...