Bikes

Watched a woman fly through a stop sign on a bike, almost get hit by a car, ditch the bike, and the car drove off. Me and Peja (in her bike trailer) stopped, and I got the lady and her bike off the road. Alright, so flying through a stop-sign is a pretty fucking (sorry mom) stupid thing to do on a bike (who's in this car that doesn't stop?), but it got worse. Now, first, it was an Ebike, which pissed me off, and second, she had a cast on her right foot. A walking cast, but not a riding cast - since those don't exist. I asked her how far she was from home, to see how big of a situation it was (she was claiming to be in great pain), and she responded "I'm not going home right now", got on her Ebike, and rode off.

The other Ebike I've seen around town is riding up and down the sidewalks (I believe it's a geared motor, they have more torque), which is pretty insane considering the weight and speed an Ebike can reach. Would you let someone drive a dirt-bike or a vespa down the sidewalk? An Ebike is lighter than a gas bike, but it's also nearly silent, so you don't hear it coming. The extra weight of the battery and motor (35lbs) also makes it a lot harder to maneuver. There's really no reason for anyone to be riding a bike on the sidewalk, but when you can do 40 km/h, and you're a 180lb man on a 50 lb bike, it's pretty insane.

New dangers seem so much worse than old ones.

I breathe the smog, dodge the cars, but this entry complains about people using a fantastic new form of transportation that I strongly support.

Rain rain rain rain rain rain rain

It's official -- the Ebike works in the rain.

It was coming down like a bastard (sorry mom) when I left for the music school yesterday. It reminded me of a couple of times I got caught up the lake in a big storm -- the rain felt more like spray, stinging and blinding. But I'm not complaining -- it was pretty fun; like being a little kid again. I had rain-gear on, so aside from my face, I was keeping pretty dry. The lights were helping me out, and I made it there in 20 minutes.

It's funny, parts of the bike are so laughably cheap -- the fuse box holder has broken about 50 times, but at the same time, because it's so simple, fixing it just involves jamming the wires back into the box, knowing they'll make contact somewhere. The parts that really matter; the motor, and the controller, are both totally sealed, and everything else just has to hang on.

Hey, remember that comic? I'm not sure what happened to that. The band got together, so that was the thing for a while, and then the Kyra and Tully thing. . . I'm starting to feel a glare coming from my drawing stuff, on the top shelf of the bookcase, slowly buried under waves of clean-ups.

Rain Barrel and The Uncle Jim Ebike

Everything I Need. . .

Is it raining out? Maybe. . . hard to tell. . . I'm watching the leaves. . . I could tell if I had my glasses on -- they were a big hit, and then I got the Ebike and stopped driving the car. Oh, I think it's raining.

T and D-town came down for a short visit -- Peja was gifted, pizza was eaten, and ceiling fans were advertised. Tara just told me of a big storm heading East from Windsor -- the real Barn Flyz'll will be happy, the crops are thirsty.

Peja just walked over with a large plastic bag, pulled out 2 tupperwares, 1 cup, 1 plate, and then walked away saying "you've got everything you need". Hmmmm. . .

Rehearsals should start again this week (actually, they should've started last week, but "someone" forgot) with Kyra and Tully. We're playing the Elphin Roots Festival (I don't have the link handy, but that's why God invented Google) in the near future, so I guess I should get my brush-hands back.

Oh, there's the first thunder clap -- "Giants!" yells Peja. Well, I guess going to the park is probably over.

Today's Lyrics:

The girl I love
loves 4-track
tape hiss
and vocal cracks

End of Today's Lyrics.

Quick shout-out to the long-lost Christopher James Martin Scott, who's birthday is in the summer, and since it was 90 out today, I must imagine it is soon. Happy birthday buddy!

Take care,

Jay.

No More Purple Bike. . .

I'll get a picture up soon, maybe with some more details and stuff, but I switched the Ebike motor over to my Uncle Jim's old bike. As much as I liked rocking the purple girls' bike at 40 km/h, this bike fits me better, and it's a bit lighter and better designed, leading to a better top speed, better acceleration, and the throttle actually fits properly, so I don't have to have it resting on the front brake lever. Also, when I have to lift it, it's a lot nicer having the horizontal bar of a men's bike, as opposed to the sloping women's bike design.

Sienna and I are talking about switching our electricity to this service that effectively buys enough wind power to make up for you use -- which would mean that I'd be biking to work on wind power. It's around 3 extra cents a kilowatt hour.

I really want to sell the car. It's just a big fat mountain of hypocrisy sitting in my tent-garage. Anyone want to buy a low miles '95 Ford Contour?

Music news -- new rehearsals with Kyra and Tully are starting up next week, in preparation for the Elphin Roots festival at the end of the month, and a gig at the Inverary Playhouse. I'll be playing a few songs to open that show, which will also feature the Lady Racers -- a band I saw last year at the Wolfe Island Music Festival; they're cool.

Peja wants to go to the park. I want to eat lunch. The battle begins.