Saturday, September 27, 2008

September Critical Mass

Finally. I was finally able to do one of these. And let me tell you, the wait was worth it.

Around 4:45pm on friday afternoon, there was a slowly growing number of cyclists gathering at what I will refer to as the "hipster trees", just west of the OSU student union. The gaunt, bearded figures mostly spent their time milling about, riding each other's bikes/longboards, and gawking at the few brave hippies deeply engaged in slacklining.

Not too much to say about the ride, really. We took a winding path through town, bothering cars and pedestrians (read: raising cycling awareness). There was a short break about half-way through, we stopped at the local coffee shop to have a drink and round up any slackers.

Another interesting turn (bike pun? wha?) of events is that we started with around 15 people, but by the time were were turning onto the final lap, there were only five of us on road bikes left. Most of the rest had either turned off along the way to go home, or were left behind (sorry, Cassandra, we didn't notice you go) Unencumbered as the last five of us were, we booked it back to campus, five brave cyclists taking up two lanes of traffic and generally having a blast of it.





We finished the ride, laid our bikes down to rest under the shade of the hipster trees, and the sound of nicotine and caffeine pumping through hipster veins could be heard throughout campus. All in all, a good day.


On a more serious note, though, before the ride got started, there came some news that a female cyclist had been hit by a truck pulling out of a parking lot. Details were slim, but bearers of the news reported seeing the girl, standing, but with quite a bit of blood on her forehead. The ride was declared in dedication to this girl. If I learn any more details about the situation, I'll post.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Vegan Recipe of the Day

This installment will teach you how to make bread.

It's simple, I know, but it's also a very good skill to have. Luckily, I've found an instructional video on the subject. Watch it here. And now I'm making bread in this way at least 5 times a week.

See? Easy as 3.14159. Have a nice day.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Construction Worries

Here's my beef with construction.

Even though you can't see anything in the photo due to its cool artsy nature, this is a blockage around one of the key intersections in Stillwater. It also happened to be directly on the route I ride to and from campus every day.

This has forced me into a pickle.

(Note the second food-based synonym used in this post already, I'm on a roll) (aah! that's number three! lookout!)

For the last week, I've been forced to find different routes to school, which, as a creature of habit such as myself can tell you, is a bit unnerving. I've nearly been killed twice, trying to cross 6th at strange places, and that's two times too many. Worse than being killed, though, is my other experience: being stuck for ten minutes behind a letch in a rusty car, going ten miles an hour around campus, failing miserably at trying to surreptitiously check out sorostitutes walking home from class. It was sickening, and worse yet, only served to shed light on my own surreptitious letching.

The construction and subsequent detours wouldn't bother me that much if I knew that the intersection was going to be better off when it's done. I pay my taxes, I'm all about building bridges and sidewalks and whatnot. But that's the thing. It looks like they're just tearing up concrete for the fun of it. (Although, to be fair, I would imagine that it would be a lot of fun) And you know as well as I, that even though they tore the place up in the space of an afternoon, it's going to take at least two years for them to fix the thing. Whatever the thing was that needed mending.

But for now, I'll continue to risk my life for the sake of my higher education--weaving in and out of rush hour traffic, dodging cars and pedestrians, riding my 25 pound piece of aluminum and rubber down the mean streets, waiting for fate to deliver up a delicious plate of destiny. (FOUR!) Or I'll just take the bus.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Vegan Recipe of the Day

This is a very special installment of the recipe of the day, and I'll tell you why.

This is the first time this year (except for the cold bits at the beginning) that I've been able to see my breath outside. I know, it's amazing. It's especially cold right now, about 50 degrees, and I had popped outside after finishing my astronomy homework when I noticed this.

I felt that I ought to celebrate this occasion with a bit of fine cuisine. So, without further ado, let the recipe begin.

Ramen Noodles and Coffee

Ingredients: Ramen noodles and coffee

Directions: First get some "oriental" flavored ramen, which happens to be the only kosher flavor that I know of. Then, crumble the noodles into a bowl...oh, you know how to do it. It's 3am and I'm tired. Enjoy.




Thursday, September 11, 2008

Just a few things.

I've been super busy this week...but in the meantime:

here are a couple of links detailing how much McCain and Palin hate rape victims.

Article One - McCain
Article Two - Palin

Despicable People, both of them.

Well wait, I guess I understand...those damn rape victims! When will they learn?!

UPDATE: I read on the dailykos blog a very plausible explanation for this type of despicable behavior. The article postulates that the reason that these two (Palin, in particular) are against government funding for the rape kits is because contained within each kit, is...a "morning after" emergency contraceptive. There it is. And because of their adherance to a bronze age understanding of biology, in which stopping a small bundle of cells (half of which are from a rapist, mind you) from growing is tantamount to murder. And god says that's bad. Again, I'd like to state clearly that there is not solid evidence to support this, but it's certainly the best explanation I've heard.

Monday, September 8, 2008

I freakin told you!

Basically, there was a climate study done for the UN that found that the impact caused by the consumption and production of meat in the world was greater than that caused by ALL transportation exhaust. I think it's interesting, though, that the climate chief delivering these results is vegetarian. Conflict of interest or perspicacity on his part? I'll let you decide.

But, as a vegan cyclist, all I've got to say is, "Nyah!"

Here's a link to an article from the BBC on the subject.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

End of August (Sort of) Critical Mass!

Alright, here it is. Critical Mass is a week late, but it's worth the wait! Can you feel it?

[No Photo Available]

I can't. I missed the ride.

I thought it started at six, okay? Sue me.

So instead of riding my bike about town in a carefree manner with 16 other hipsters on fixies, I got to sit under a tree, and talk philosophy with my good (and shirtless on this occasion (yep, better not to ask)) buddy, Tim, until the rest of the hooligans returned.

Note that the only bike left upright is Lucy, featured in the foreground.

At which point we talked not of philosophy, but of old Pete and Pete episodes, and we laughed. And there was much merriment to be had. But alas! The merriment which I experienced, sitting there among the others, was nothing more than a pale mirror of its pure form.

But, there was a dude doing some fixie trixies...that made me feel a bit better.


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Labor Day Half-Century

I know this is a couple of days late, but I don't care.

Lucy and I went out early early (7:30am) on Monday morning on a ride to Perkins, OK, just south of Stillwater [the route I took can be found below]


The morning was beautiful; it was just the right time to see the soft morning mist rising up over the fields, brilliantly backlit by the rising sun.

Of course, I don't have a picture of any of this because the batteries in my camera died just minutes before I left. Trust me, it was awesome.

The ride went fairly smoothly, although I took a road south of Perkins which dead-ended about five miles in, so I had to do a there-and-back to get back to town.

When I had finally gotten back to Stillwater, I realized that I only needed eight more miles to make this ride an even fifty. So I milled about town in a very boring, haphazard way until I got to the desired mileage.

All considered it was very fun, my longest ride yet, and a pretty good way of putting off homework on labor day.

Date: 9/01/08
Distance: 51.16 mi
Time: 3:02:14
Avg Speed: 16.8 mph
Best Speed: 36.8 mph