The Bike

Here are some close-ups of my new cross-continental conveyance.

Ze whole ting, mit fore and aft cargo racks. The frame is made by Surly and is called The Long Haul Trucker. 54 cm.

Shimano SPD Clipless pedals and Shimano 105 3-ring crankset

Shimano Deore 11-34 megarange cassette, Deore LX rear Derailleur

Jannd Extreme Front Rack, Planet Bike Fenders, Mavic Crossride wheel, Serfas Barista City Tire
Axiom Odyssee Tubular Alloy Rear Rack


The Cockpit: Planet Bike Lite, bell, Cat Eye Microwireless Computer, and Shimano Dura Ace bar-end shifters.

Arrival

Maybe the delay was due to the JFK fuel depot "terrorist" scare or maybe it's because of Paris Hilton going to jail...all I know is that it took 11 days for the new bike to be shipped from NYC to Seattle. In any case, it's here and I'll be picking it up tomorrow morning--at which time I'll share more photos--of both the bike and of all the equipment I'll be carrying with me. So...Hooray! Now that the bike is here, I'll be able to take it on a few shakedown rides before leaving this weekend. I'm a little anxious--you don't normally switch ponies before the big steeple chase--about getting used to the new set up. The adage "It's just like riding a bike" does not apply in this situation.

Tonight, I'm playing poker with Chris and some of his buddies. It sounds like it's something he does on a regular basis with a regular group of people, so I don't know exactly what I'll be getting into. He says it's small stakes (a $10 buy-in) so it ought to be a relaxed friendly game. A full report will follow.

Oh...and an elaboration on my statement "Chris acted honorably, I did not." from my last post. The Blue Moon Bar, where we spent the last part of the evening, is festooned with a large decorative library of technical manuals, out-of-date encyclopedia sets, etc. I walked out of the bar at the end of the evening with a copy of The New Comb Honey Book by Dr. Richard Taylor. It's a how-to bee keeping book that caught my attention and I was so enamoured of it, that I just walked out the door with it. Tonight, I plan on returning the pilfered paperback to its proper owners.

I Have the Hiccups

It is June the 2nd and I am still bereft of a bicycle. No matter, I have a much more interesting situation. Said sitch is 13 pounds and 100% pure joy.

Chris and I took the evening and shattered the peace at a number of pubs. Let it be known that Chris conducted himself with honor. I cannot say the same for myself.

It is late in the evening and I must soon to lay my head to rest. A Friday night in Seattle is, after all, a friday night in Seattle.

T-minus 8 days until my departure...hopefully.

Seattle, May 26-30

The second day in Seattle opens with me meeting Nicholas. He's two months old and (despite what I might have been expecting based on my bias against infants) quite a blast to hang out with. The little dude quite fairly rocks the house. On the surface, you don't think that he's actually doing much, but if you pay close attention, you'll realize that those un-coordinated kicks and wild arm flashings...along with his facial expressions and occasional coo are part of an ongoing massive physical and mental adjustment. In a way, it's like he's creating the world around him.

It is interesting to observe the differences in Chris and Maureen's behavior around Nick. I've known them for about 10 years and it's like I'm meeting new people. Don't get me wrong. They're still as badass as they've always been. It's just that their quite formidable attentions are now both focused on the same thing and it's an impressive sight.

Later that day, Chris tells me that he and Maureen took part in this birthing group and that they've been having this regular dinner thing with two couples since the births of all of their children. "Oh...and tonight is our turn to host the dinner."

That evening was a whirlwind of babies, and talk about babies, and the changing of babies, and babies being fussy and babies, and babies, and babies. There was Sarah and Paul and baby Miles, Jacob and Carine and little Joris, and Chris, Mo, and Nicholas. Then there was me. Over the course of the evening, I observed all three couples performing a delicate balancing act who's sole purpose was focused on a baby. Talk about teamwork. Paul bounces Miles while Sarah eats. Carine feeds Joris while Jacob goes for seconds, Chris holds Nicholas as Maureen gets ready to feed him. Then Sarah burps Miles while Paul eats. Jacob changes Joris while Carine has some dessert. Maureen feeds Nick and Chris sets up the bouncy chair. And on and on and on and on. There's very little talk between the partners while this is going on, eveyone knows their job and they do it. In a way I guess you could say that at this point in the babies development, both parents will lose their identities at certain points during the day and (seriously) become this single entity working to aid and abet their child. Aaaaanyway...
All of the babies were pretty cool. Nick was, of course, the cutest. But then I'm pretty biased.

Dinner was, by the way, excellent. Chris made a superb Thai inspired meal and Carine brought an excellent tossed salad with Chicken in it. The main course was a red shredded chicken curry with snake green beans, a Masama with yellow curry, fried morning glory greens and rice. Paul and Sarah brought a key lime pie. It was excellent.
By the end of the evening I was strangely tired and so went off to bed.

On Sunday, the four of us hung out for a while and just chilled. Maureen's dad came over briefly with a piece of furniture for the livingroom. Nice guy. I continued to read Discarded Science: Ideas That Seemed Good at the Time, and tried to find out some info on whether my bike had been shipped out here yet or not. It hadn't. Chris and I did some walking around and checked out a couple of bike shops. Chris and Maureen told me they were glad I was at the dinner the previous night. Apparently, I helped keep the conversation moving along. Hey man, I haven't got any problems talking about myself, especially my upcoming trip. "It was the best get together yet," both Chris and Maureen declared.

Memorial Day was also quiet. Chris's parents and his brother Rob came over to visit with little Nick. I decided to go to downtown Seattle and check out the REI superstore and explore a little. The REI homestore is a retail behemoth. Beyond huge, the only piece of outdoor equipment this place was missing was Mt. Rainier itself. I managed to make my way to the waterproof jacket department and purchased a very nice (and surprisingly cheap) rain jacket for the ride. The jacket is made my Marmot (same as my tent). I also bought a couple of dry sacks, and a biking jersey (on clearance sale, woo!) and then headed out to explore the rest of the town. I found myself having a late lunch in the Panther Lounge at this place called Cyclops. When I told Chris about it, he was incredulous. It turns out he works directly beneath the restaurant I chose to eat in. Fancy that. I made my way to the Olympic Sculpture park and was blown away by the view of Mt. Rainier from there. It was also pretty cool to see Caulders "Eagles Flying" up close.

One Tuesday, I didn't do much of anything for most of the day except sit around the house. I did find out that my bike had been sent from NYC the previous Friday, so I made plans to go down to Recycled Bicycle on Wednesday and check things out. Chris and I went down to Capitol Hill to have a few beer with poet Doug N. He's also a cyclist and we chatted about my upcoming trip and his trip from Seattle down to San Francisco. He warned us against ever carrying smoked salmon with us on a bike trip. "I had to dump over a pound of smoked salmon," he said. "Yeah. One night I woke up and found out that I had a serious chipmunk problem." I certainly hope that my upcoming trip is chipmunk free. No salmon for me. No sir.

On Wednesday, I borrowed Chris's mountain bike and rode down to Recycled Cycles. My bike still hadn't arrived, but they said they'd call and let me know when it did. I picked up a Seattle biking map and decided to go for a little ride. I took the Burke-Gilman Trail from the shop up to this spot called Swamp creek. It was about a 13 or 14 mile ride up. I stopped at a park next to beautiful Lake Washington and watched sea planes land and take off for a while before heading back It was a short 30 mile ride, but was the first ride I had had in over a week. It felt good. I should have used some sunscreen though.
When I got back, Maureen and Nicholas were off for a doctors appointment. This appointment has something to do with (shudder) vaccinations. We're talking needles here. When they got back, I spent some time playing with a surprisingly happy Nick. Man, for a 13 pound critter, he sure gets heavy pretty fast. I was talking to Chris about this after he got home from work and he pulled back his sleeve to show me his "Papa Guns." Note to self: baby as workout method.

Seattle Images

Here's Nicholas. The newest addition to the Chris and Maureen's household. He's an Aries, likes long walks on the beach and if the other day was any indication, Godzilla movies. I gave him a primer on how the big lizard's radioactive breath turned against him in the lovely 2002 masterpiece Tokyo S.O.S. Godzilla vs. Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidora. He seemed to get the idea, even if he was asleep. Nick is pictured here in the magic, bouncy, vibra chair. If this thing were available to adults, I believe society as we know it would collapse. We'd all be asleep.

This hangs above my bed. No. I don't have nightmares about it. I'm not sure if that is a good thing.




A picture of Mount Rainier. It was a beautiful day in Seattle. The mountain was, as they say, "out."



An obligatory Seattle picture. The girl who took the photo for me wouldn't stop until she felt she got it right. She got it right, I guess, except the top of the Space Needle is missing.

Nick and me. Two baldies chillaxing on the couch. Do note the trucker onesie. Rad!












Fight the power...against bedtime. Note skeleton leg warmers. They make leg warmers for wee ones!

Seattle, Day 1: A Recap

Day 4 in Seattle and so it is time for an update. My lovely hosts Chris, Maureen, and Nicholas have seen to it that my time spent here has been a perfect blast. A little bit about the trip out here before I get to them.

The car arrived on Friday afternoon to pick up Coltrane and I. Our first stop was to drop off Coltrane at Jen and Allison's place, where he's staying the first week I'm away (more about Coltrane Fat Boy Burger Buns in a bit). Then we headed to JFK. While I was handing off the dog to Allison upstairs in their apartment, the driver was busy moving my luggage from the trunk of the car to the back seat. When I came back down, he motioned for me to ride in the front with him. GYPSY CAB!!! Oh no.

Well, I got in anyway (I had used this cab service before and there had been no problems) and we took off. In short order I learned that my driver's name was Omar and that he was from Moracco. Since it was Memorial Day Friday, he suggested that we take only local roads, so we did. The ride to the airport was a clinic in close calls and near misses, but it was interesting to ride through neighborhoods I knew nothing about. Brownsville is especially interesting.

So about 5 minutes away from the airport, my good buddy Omar opens up the storage compartment (you know, where you keep your 8-tracks and cassettes) next to him and asks me to deposit the fare in there before we get to the terminal. Dum-dum-dum! "So...you aren't legally allowed to take passengers to the airport?" I ask. "JFK requires special permits. We can't afford." Omar had been an affable cabbie and I felt for his situation in a way. We didn't hug or anything when I got out of the car, but it was a pleasant ride.

American Airlines Flight 246 to Seattle, however, was another story.

I landed at SeaTac last Friday around 10:30--2 full hours later than I was supposed to. I was hungry (no in-flight dinner during the trip) and just a little cranky. The in-flight movies were the Diane Keaton made for Lifetime TV movie travesty Because I Said So. *Shudder* I arrived at Chris and Mo's around 10:30 and we chit chat for a little while. I was excited to meet little Nicholas, but they had just put him to bed so, I would have to wait until the next day. I ended up going to sleep the first night at 1:30. Do the math, it was really 4:30 in the morning for me. Some of y'all are aware that for me, to be up until 4:30 isn't that uncommon, but after a trans-continental flight that took six hours, I was beat. And I was already thinking, it took me six hours to get here, it's going to take me more than 60 to get back. Oh boy.

Back on Track

At left: The Bike That Love Built

Last weekend's poetry reading raised over 800 dollars! More than enough to get this show back on the road. There is much thanks to go round but alas, my flight to Seattle leaves shortly and I still have some serious house cleaning to do. I'll address all of those lovelies who helped with the new bike from Seattle. See you on the left coast!