Milestone

Most of my riding comes in the form of commuting. On the weekends Heather time becomes the priority. Of late, the priest at the Church where I assist has needed to be out of town much more than planned so my Sunday morning rides there and beyond have also been curtained. Of course, there was also the issue of Billie's chain. Anyway it was beginning to seem the 10,000 mile mark was never going to be reached.

Sunday I did my preachy thing and the other errands that needed to be done. It was rather hot here. It was only 95F but the heat index was over 110F. This was a bit high for us to load Heather's bike and my skates in the car and head for a trail. Ah, but it was the perfect opportunity to see how my hot weather gear stacked up.

When it gets this warm my gear changes a little bit. I leave the textile pants on their peg and take down the vented cordura pants instead.

Yep, these are snowmobile racing pants. I wear a set of hip pads and strap on knee pads underneath them. I have an insulated pair made by the same company that I wear during the colder months and liked them so well, I bought these.

Vents open.

I use an evaporating cooling vest when I'm not commuting. When I commute it gets things too wet.

I'm still learning how to use this. I think I've padded it dry but then it takes two days for it to hang dry after my ride. Oh well, better that than . . .

I wear a long sleeve wicking shirt under the vest.

No big name brand, but it does its job.

The goal was to visit my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter out in St. Charles. I took a photo of the odometer before I began.

I planned my route so I could stop at Creve Coeur Lake and drink a liter of water.

Then it was over the Page Avenue Extension to St. Charles and my heart's destination. This was the fastest I've ever rode on Billie. Before the chain change I was lucky to hold it at 40smph*, but at one point I was holding 50+smph while moving up a slight grade. Once downhill I breached 60smph. To say I was pleased would be a major understatement.

Alma likes her shoes.

The cutie.

After a nice visit it was back over the Missouri River and home.

And how did the gear do? Excellent. I suspect I wouldn't be able to convince all the riders I saw wearing cut-offs and sleeveless tees that I was quite comfortable.

Now I can stop saying Billie has almost 10k miles on it and begin saying she has over 10k miles. Yay.

*Symba Miles Per Hour. I've never done an actual check of the Symba's speedo, but suspect it is optimistic. That said when I go past those "Your speed is:" things I'm always at or above what it indicates I'm going.

Finally

After waiting a long time for SYM to get their act together with parts, I gave up. Now Billie, my Symba, has an O-ring chain and brand new SunStar sprockets . The O-ring chain is no doubt overkill since I have a covered chain and now know how to take care of it. I don't care. Overkill sounds just fine by me.

I've been very pleased with the difference the new sprockets and chain make. It is almost like having a different bike. It is much more responsive off the line and cruises at 45mph+ easily. I am very happy. Because the chain was pretty well cooked, I've been staying close to home this summer. I haven't even been riding Billie over to see granddaughter. Now, I not only suspect this will change, but that there may be some longer adventures on tap. We shall see.

Since riding a 101cc motorbike puts me somewhere between a touring bicycle and a motorcycle I decided to add a flag to increase my "being seen" factor. It's not a traditional orange triangle, but the dots are reflective and the green is hi-vis. I figure what can it hurt? And, besides I think it looks almost cool.

His Garden

There are two intersections on my evening commute that are just too exciting for my taste. In the morning they are fine, but after work the traffic is heavier and this can create situations I'd rather avoid. So, now I have a new route home.

My new route led to the discovery of a house with a yard that is nearly all vegetable garden. It was obvious this was the home of a serious gardener. I had an uncle who was such a gardener. He was always out in his garden doing something. On Grant's trail I inline skate by a couple of gardens that remind me of his, but the garden I now pass on my commute home has a different feel to it. I think it has to do with it literally saturating the lot the house is on. It is a marvelously intense garden.

I kept hoping to get some photos of the garden before it had grown to the point where it would be difficult to get anything other than the vines growing up the fence, but either the weather kept promising rain and my camera isn't waterproof or I'd just forget to take the camera with me. I, also, really felt I wanted to ask the owner's permission before I took any photos.

Finally, one day I noticed a man weeding the garden. I stopped. He was delighted that I was delighted in his garden. Somehow it came up that I worked at the Courthouse Downtown. He asked me if that was where he would come to take the oath. It took me a moment to figure out that he was talking about becoming a citizen. He is originally from the Philippines, but was going to become an American citizen in just a couple of days. I told him that would be the Federal Courthouse, the one with the green dome. I work in the State Courthouse. We chatted for a while and as I prepared to leave he told me to feel free to stop and take as many pictures as I wished anytime I wished.

Last Wednesday I was able to stop by and not only take some pictures but congratulate my new gardening friend on becoming a new citizen. I was going to take some pictures from the outside, but he would have none of that. No, I had to come in a take lots of pictures of his garden. So, I did. He made me promise to come back when he was harvesting the fruits of his labors. I told him that I would. I suspect I will from time to time post photos of his garden. I'm looking forward to paying attention to how his garden grows.

Billie, my SYM Symba, waiting patiently as my new gardener friend shows me his garden.

Trying to keep the varmints out.

Maybe a fake snake will deter some critters.

And, as I took pictures he went back to work.

Once again, I'm grateful for another gift my commuting to work on the Symba has given me.

Ride To Work Day 2011

It is 78F and Fair this morning. There are scattered thunderstorms possible, but that is pretty common this time of the year. The high is forecast to be in the mid-90'sF. It will be hot and humid. Scoot! Scoot!!

There will be no snow today, it is June not January.

Commuting in June is warmer . . .

But, it is all good even in January.

Before I started riding to work everyday St. Louis was just a place where I lived. Now it is my hometown. This is probably the thing that I am most grateful for as I ride to work today.

Be safe everyone and remember to ride your ride!

A Beautiful Day in the Lou

I walk everyday during my lunch hour. Today I took the camera with me.

You can tell I'm walking and not riding because the light is green.

Citygarden is wonderful. During the Summer it is full of kids climbing on the sculptures and . . .

. . . running through these dancing fountains.

This is the Wainwright Building. This building is an international treasure. Louis Sullivan was the Architect. This is the building that is credited with being the first modern skyscraper design. It is a beauty. 

Do I smell barbeque?

The Courthouses. The Civil Courthouse is the tall one with the columns on top. Carnahan Courthouse is the shorter one. It was originally the Federal Courthouse, but when the new Federal Courthouse was built the City took over the building. I work in the Carnahan Courthouse.

These are the four bikes that are most often found parked behind the Carnahan Courthouse. The Vulcan doesn't let a little rain stop him, but he doesn't ride when it's real cold. The cyclist rides when it is nice. She admits she is a fair weather rider.  The bike furthest away seldom misses a good riding day, but he too, likes his weather fair and on the warm side.

And, that's what my lunchtime world looks like on a beautiful day in the Lou.

I Was Hoping For A Better Story

A window of time opened up for me to ride on Monday morning. It seems difficult for many to believe that most of my riding happens during the week or when it is raining. When the weekend comes or the weather is fine my first priority is Heather time. As it turned out she had some errands to run. This gave me some time to wander around the City a bit.

First on the agenda was to get a few pictures of the rehab project I've been following.

There has been a lot of progress since I last posted.
(  http://crcleblue.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-still-falling-down-and-another.html )

Now work has begun on the other building in earnest.

When last I posted about these building one comment reminded me that not only do buildings have a front, but they also have a back. So, I pulled around in the alley and sure enough . . .

Brand new garages and lots of interesting stuff.

This is the back of the first building. It does look like it is going to take a lot of work.

Next Billie and I just wandered around a few alleys and a couple of streets

We ended up next to this old beauty that is getting a new life.

Over the front doors is the word "Loretto". I suspect this property has been in the Dominican family for some time. I'm delighted to see it is going to be put to use.

Next door to the future Priory is a house that my daughter has always admired. So, even though it is still on tough times I had to get a picture of it.

It would be nice if the development next door led to the reclaiming of this grand old home. It seems to be having an effect on the building on the other side of the Dominican Priory development.

I mounted back up and almost immediately found myself on a part of the Saint Louis University campus I have never been on before. I parked up on the sidewalk to take a couple of pictures. As I dismounted I looked up to see a Police car coming down the street. I was sure I was going to get a "talking to", but instead we just waved to each other as he drove by.

On my way back toward Manchester Ave., which is one of the routes that Route 66 took through St. Louis, we came across an urban farm.

I've been wanting some photos of the murals that are showing up in The Grove. The Grove is a neighborhood seeking to reinvent itself. I'm told that in the 1850's this area was one of St. Louis' first subdivisions. As Manchester is a street that I often take when I'm riding Billie, I have found myself keeping an eye on the progress.

Billie and I found a Dragon. We also found Bob . . .

Of course, at the time I didn't know we'd found Bob. I was aiming my camera at another mural when I notice this guy striking a pose. So, I took his picture and walked over to show it to him. When he saw himself in the viewer he laughed. He thought he looked pretty damn good. He said his name was Bob Dixon and told me to not forget his name. It's not likely I will.

Yep, I'm in The Grove.

It was time to make my way home. I've been keeping another eye on a particular house with a rather large gargoyle in front. It certainly looked like it had a story. I've been hoping to catch someone out working in the yard so I could ask about it. As luck would have it, as I passed by the house on this day a couple were just pulling up to the house on their bicycles. It turned out they were the proud owners of the house and of the giant gargoyle.

The story? It seems the couple likes to ride their bicycles around the Holly Hills area. One time when riding through that neighborhood the guy saw a house with a gargoyle in front of it. He thought it was so cool and from that time on he wanted one. "Where did you find one?" I asked, "Tell me you didn't find it online."

"Actually, I did," he replied.

I will admit I was hoping for a better story, but I figured the story was good enough to post the photo.