Coffeenuering Parts 6 and 7

This has been a great deal of fun. I had forgotten how pleasant going out for coffee can be. One of the more interesting aspects of the challenge is my realization that the staff at all the various coffee houses have one thing in common: they are extremely pleasant. Given that they can't make much in the way of money and that the tips have to be divided among so many, their pleasantness is a bit of a surprise. Who knows maybe it's the result of the precariatization of the work force or maybe it's that the world of peoples, as opposed to the world's climate and the sociopaths that run the political and corporate worlds, is getting nicer.

In any event, on Saturday I went to the ZuZu Cafe
 by the Zoo -- while this is neither here nor there, I really cannot stand Zoos. Who on earth decided that the proper place for animals is in prison? -- about six miles on the meandering route I took on the Trucker:

The BarMitts really do work. I rode without gloves on a blustery and cool day. Actually, I used them all last winter and they really do keep the hands toasty. On days between, say 15 and 45 no or at least only thin gloves are necessary. They are, it's true, spendy but worth it.

So I had a Macchiato, a beer, and roast beef sandwich:

All were very nice, although I am not sold on pita bread the sandwich was very nice and had some kind of an olive tapinade or a Giardiniera on it for extra zest. The place is more than reasonable priced; the staff was extremely pleasant and there were three, I think, sets of bike racks. It's just off of the Wingra/Vilas path and on one of the bike friendly streets. Oddly, given is Monroe Street locale and vaguely left-wing vibe, they had college football on the box. As we all know college football is next but one to the devil.

Today I went about five miles, again on the Trucker, to the Indie Cafe. I had a Macchiato, Spruedel, and a waffle:

Everything was great. The coffee, the Spruedel, and the waffle were all very nice. The place is on Regent so not especially bike friendly, although it is located right next or across the street from 2 of the 4 Budget Bikes.

I also learned that Cello Fury will be there on Monday with a 5 dollar suggested donation. Cello Fury may be the coolest bunch of celloists ever assembled;or, conversely,laughable. You decide:



I kind of like them, in an ironical way -- as is the fashion.

All in all this was lot of fun and thanks to the fine folks at Chasing Mailboxes for the opportunity.

Coffeenuering Part Five

This past Saturday I rode about 3 miles to the Froth House on Allen. There was a small bike parking area where I left the Xtracycle:

 There was a family with a very small child who insisted on flinging his bike in the parking area when the, I assume, dad tried to get him to hold on to it.

How was I dressed? Knickers, of course.

 What did I have? A Macchiato, of course. Too much foam and the coffee was undistinguished.

I also had a BLT which was pretty mediocre. The staff were generally pleasant and the environs pleasantly quirky. I doubt if I'll go back; however, if I lived over there I would probably go more than once.

As by the way, the post is late because the computer died and I only just now got the new one.

Coffeenuering Parts Three and Four

So yesterday I rode about 3 miles to the EVP by the Sequoia Library. Lovely fall day breezy but not cold and on the ride home the sun came out and it was actually warm and extraordinarily fall. I had a macchiato:

They put it in a large cup because the new barrista almost ordered a carmel macchiato. The coffee was nice the place was nice on the whole a double good time was had by all.

Today I rode about 6 miles to Collectivo on the Square. This is one of my favorite coffee shops in the world. Back when it was Alterra in Milwaukee, I lived on Farwell right around the corner from one of the shops and, oddly enough, one block from the Comet Cafe, which was ground zero for Milwaukee Hipsters well before hipsterism became a commodity, where the Red Eye, I think it was, was my drink: a shot of espresso in a coffee, which -- when you think about it -- is a pretty stupid drink. I used to drink Kick in the Head or Punch in the Head, which ever it was. I was even on the buy 10 lbs and get a free birthday pound. When I moved to Syracuse, my folks kept the free bag, drank it, and - so they informed me - didn't enjoy it at all.

In any event, the staff are terrifically pleasant, the weather was blustery but not at all cold, the coffee was great. I had, guess what?, a Macchiato, grilled cheese, and a One Tun beer:

Everything was a-okay; this is my favorite Macchiato in the world. The beer glass was so nice, it required an act of will to keep from nicking it. On the way home I took the elevator back to the path:

The picture doesn't really do it justice but it is one of the nicest views in town.

If, by the way, you wonder how best to dress for the changing fall conditions the answer is knickers:

Knickers are not only freedom, in the sense that aren't as binding as trousers and that those of use who wear them make our own kind of music, sing, sing our own special song even if nobody else sings along because we are free spirits or, possible, just tacky, but they are also just the right length for the lovely fall weather.

Coffeenuering Part The Second

There is, I believe, no one who doesn't like a fall day in Wisconsin. The sky is a not washed out but rather a blue that isn't trying to prove a point; the Sun is shinning pleasantly down on a wide array of happy folk; everyone is aware that around the corner lurks subzero temperatures, snow, and the long tunnel of darkness yet this underlayment of sorrow is well-tempered by the gloriousness of today. So the ride to Lakeside Coffeehouse really couldn't have been better. The wind, as Shane McGowan might say, was gently laughing, the view across Mendota Bay was outstanding. The coffee, alas, was forgettable. I honestly can't recall what it tasted like. The sandwich was equally memorable and the coleslaw bland. The beer, however, was just the ticket and the staff were pleasant and cheerful.

The cafe is right by the bike path and it has two bike racks but at least one rider has no idea  that it is wrong to take up five or six spaces.

I saw this sign on the way home and I wonder why Edgewood decided to ban Pleasure Drive Trucks and, just as important, what one would look like.

 I rode the Xtra-cycle with its new hand built fight deck. Pretty snappy, if I do say so myself.

I figure the ride there was around 10 miles, I meandered, and, despite the forgettable food and coffee, I rate the experience double plus good.

Coffeenuering 2014

This weekend is the start of the Chasing Mailboxes Coffenuering Challenge. Yesterday I rode 4 miles give or take to go to the Zoma Cafe on Atwood, actually I was going to Revolution Cycles but this challenge is all about the coffee. I had a Macchiato and it was perfectly okay.

Zoma is pretty cycling friendly; its backyard abuts the bike path, they have two or three racks along the bike path and so forth. I noticed that the local beer tours are, however, not cycle friendly. The Hop Express, or what ever it is called, passed me unsafely and the all bike brewery tour took up every inch of the corner of Willy and John Noland. Still a good time was had by all, which is to say me, because 1) the new generator hub is on its way, 2) One Barrel Brewery  had a nice small batch sour ale

 and decent Penquin * Sausage pizza

, and 3) the coffee was perfectly fine. The weather, on the other hand, tended tword the bluster and cold.

*No Penguins were injured:
.
The Penguin sausage is regular Italian sausage made using their Penguin IPA.

Errands in Wintertime

Recently the crackerjack staff over to Chasing Mailboxes issued the world's pleasantest winter bike challenge: run some errands, take some pictures, write down you mileage and win some kind of an unstated prize. So I did. I have one more errand to run to get to twelve.

Given that I ride my bike everywhere anyhow I decided to use Friday errand running for most of the trips.  My theory of errand running is that as bicycles have wheels and as wheels are, ideally, round all trips ought to be circles and one ought to try not to use the road out as the road back. All of the errandees below were essentially counterclockwise circles and, with the exception of the road in front of the abode, none use the same street twice.

First Friday first leg on a blustery day was to the National Mustard Museum to get mustard. I was looking for a specific sweet Norwegian mustard the empty jar makes a really nice pilsner glass and the mustard is perfect for weisswurst:

From there I went to REI to get some bike camping stuff. The roads were still sort of icy from the recent snow/rain/sleet but perfectly rideable:

You can sort of see another bike there but from the looks for things it hasn't been anywhere for a while.

  After this I went to the Sequoia Library to get a couple of books:

One of them was Richard Starck's The Hunter. Starck is a pen name for Donald Westlake and this book, the first of a series, is the basis of three movies, "Point Blank" with Lee Marvin; "Payback" with Mel Gibson, and "Parker" with Jason Stracham. I have seen the first two and the Lee Marvin is the best; although, the first bit of "Payback" where Gibson steals his way into respectable clothes, a steak dinner, and gun is nicely done. But his sadism really marred the film. Anyway the book isn't really any good.






From there I rode over to a niece and her husband's house to figure out what size my fork is (one inch) for a planned bike upgrade this spring.  Along the way I passed the world's greatest little library:

You have to look closely for the nifty factor:

It is a mise en abyme. Beats the hell out of the other versions. Sorry Ben. Got to the niece's and the kids had clearly been indoors too long:

Although everybody was remarkable good natured.  Had  a beer and smoke with Bear; measured and adjusted the head set and set off for the Grocery:

Bought some stuff and went home.

 Night rides are required so I included two trips to the job from Hell about which the less said the better:

It didn't show up in the picture but the Garmin changes its characters to white on a black background with red bars between the various data boxes at night.


Today, I got up early and went to Alt 'n' Bach's ostensibly to braise the ribs for tomorrow's special but really to eat a second breakfast.  I switched bikes, which was somewhat of a mistake as the roads around the abode are clogged with 4 to 6 inches of ice and I immediately fell forgetting the the Sojourn doesn't have studded tires.

Then down to Budget to get some jockey wheels and brake pads.

Then back to sequoia to return Hunter and get something new to read.

Nice to see that the youngsters are taking the errandee challenge as seriously as they should.

Off to the grocery to get the makings for chicken in a pot with housemade sausage:

Back home to cook. I think I'll finish tomorrow either with coffee run or a ride to One Barrel Brewery to fill the growler and see what is on tap.

I will update when I finish and when I find out what the prize is. There is still plenty of time so off you go to ride around and take a picture or two.

UPDATE:

I rode to the Brassiere V and had lunch. Rounding out the 12 rides in 7 categories. First time I have been there since the remodel. I had the burger, perfectly fine, and the beet soup, so-so.  Beer was great; next time, though, it moles and frittes. The day was a bit on the blustery side and fairly chilly. It really is something of disgrace how badly some streets in the city are covered with ice.

As By The Way Repetion Isn't Funny

George Carlin was a funny man. For evidence



He did the same bit more than once but had he done only the same thing he would have been ungodly dull. Indeed, if he had only the one schtick he'd of been Sarah Palin. He had other jokes, for example:



 So to all you dimbulbs out there who think that asking a cyclist if the bike has a heater or if it's cold enough for them, let me just say you are more like Sarah Plain and Dumb than you are like George. Just because it's the first time you told the joke doesn't mean it's the first time I've heard it.

First

First ride in the fall's dark through rain slick roads. Great time. All you kids, get some damn lights.

He's Right, You Know.

via

Bicycle Miscreants

Recently, a city bus struck and killed a pedestrian here in the city by the lakes' weeds. The story isn't over but by all accounts the bus drive was in the wrong. One would think that the various responsible officials would have been drilling it into the bus drivers' heads that they need to be more vigilant in pursuit of not killing people. Indeed, you might think that motorists in general might become more introspective in terms of their need to be more vigilant in not killing people. And yet, events, as they often do, prove your, which is to say my, expectations wrong. Last Sunday not one but two buses tried to get me, one forcing me to slam on the bike's brakes. And when  I had a civil discussion with motorist later that same day, he ridiculed the notion that he ought not pass with six inches to spare. Today, two more, actually three now that I think about, tried to get me by ignoring my and several pedestrians existence and legal right of way and just now a car tried to roll slowly through the cross walk while I and some random kid on a bike were crossing, again with the right of way.

During my civil discussion with the motorist concerning  proper passing distance, he used the non sequitur of the lack of law abidingness of all or nearly all cyclists, while I denied the universality of cyclists as malefactors of great lycra, I did point out that motorists drive equally like maniacs.

Today, however, I ran across an example of the stupid cyclist to whom, I assume, the motorist referred.  First example: a busyish road with a t crossing and three stop signs. The bike lane is on the right, I was turning to the left and signaled then moved across and stopped as a car was already stopped. Just before the car moved off and I got ready to turn left, some crazy person on a semi-commuter bike swerved behind me took a left turn into the wrong lane and proceeded to ride wrong way for over a block.  I was laughing and trying not to shout out some kind of invective in hopes forestalling more of the same. Eventually, the rider got back on the right side of the road but did the exact same thing at the end of the street, that is cut across into the wrong lane 100 feet or more prior to a stop sign and turn left without paying the slightest attention to traffic. Crikey, I said, a crazy person on a bike.  After a bit more normal riding, the cyclist did the same thing only this time riding the wrong way up a hill on a well traveled road approximately in the middle.

So, I can see where some motorists get the idea that we're all a bunch of maniacs and it would have been nice had I decided to heap abuse on the miscreant, or at least to try and engage in some civil conversation about the mental unbalancedness of thinking that the rest of the world cares if you live or die, hint: it doesn't, but at the same time the only life, we'll leave aside psychological scarring, the cyclist risked was her own. Later that same ride, two cars attempted to sneak across a counterflow bike lane green and mosey through a crosswalk filled with pedestrians just down the street from where the bus hit the pedestrian. Had the first motorist not slammed on her brakes, causing the second in line to toot angrily his horn, they total could have been two cyclists and four pedestrians killed or wounded.

In short, while the world would be a better place if all of us played by the rules of the road, the motorists amongst are more likely to kill and/or maim and to the powerful goes the need to  build hedges, as E.P. Thompson put it, to limit the dangers of their greater power.

Stop Doing That

Seqway riding guy, please stay off the multiuser path you are going too fast and taking up way too much space. Woman driving your car with no hands so that you could read the paper, stop doing that.

How Not to Walk on a Multiuser Path

Hey two guys walking one on either side of the yellow line with large shopping bags filling most of the rest of the path.  I dinged the bell and you didn't respond, you were lost, no doubt, in contented contemplation of the contents of your really large bags.  I had to say something to get your attention so lost in thought were you.  Next time, you might stop and think about the multi aspect of the multiuser path before you begin to amble contentedly while taking up 80% of the space.

Tit for Tat

Hey older guy on the bike path, I didn't cut you off and what were you sorry for?  Line jumping?  If you knew it was wrong, why do it? And, for the record, if you think the world is a giant game of tit for tat, which it isn't, if you don't tit no one else will tat; however, if someone tats because of your tit, you really can't complain, can you?

Multi Users

By the way, it was really nice day today and  as a sign that the rules I posted recently are having a positive effect, with one glaring exception every single person on the path regardless of mode of use was a peach.  Even the joggers. 

The one exception was Seqway riding guy who is a jackass not just because he bought one, I mean really, but because he rides it down the pathway way to fast. The rules are clear on motors and this case is also covered under and by Paragraph 12 section 8 subsection 22, which clearly states that no idiotic means of  transportation are allowed on the pathway.  Segways are idiotic q.e.d..

Multi Use Path Update

From today on the Capital city. If you squint you can see the mythic Land of Lincoln. This is the lower branch

This is the upper branch.

This is were I stood when I took the lower picture.

I was off the path for the other picture as well.  Why do I include this?  Neither picture took longer than 2 mins to take and, I'd guess, considerable less time than that.  I got off the path, even though there were no other users around and the only reason there might be is because lots of other people use the path and, it is just possible that if, say, four users came one way and six came the other, my standing on the path would have inconvenienced them all.  Consequently, I reasoned, the extra 10 seconds it took to exit, unclip and then clip and reenter was insufficient grounds to cause some potential irritation to some potential number of people.

When I had completed the task and started to ride onward, I ran into two people with two bikes each towing a baby buggy.  They were stopped on the path blocking the whole of my lane.  Coming the other direction were four cyclists, unrelated as far as I could tell, in longish line in the middle of their lane.  I had to stop.  The two in my lane weren't there for a quick stop.  They had taken one kid out of the buggy and were talking about something or another.  Just off to their right there was a shady spot.  Leaving aside the moral and ethical considerations, it was in their own self interest to move into the shady spot's cool.

At first I thought that this was an example of failing to think about the world around you in Kantian fashion and was an intentionally selfish act.  However, I have recently learned that

It seems pretty obvious that "thick questions" lead to more satisfying answers. Although I couldn't find the giant book of why people act like jackasses, I did, like the kid in the poster, let my mind wonder.[1]  It occurred to me that the problem was thinking or more precisely unthought.  The two people engaged in unthought.  No thinking being is going to stop his or her car in the middle of a road, for example, to get the kid out of the child seat.  The two weren't  consciously jackasses. They were jackasses because they had never thought about what a bike path is and is not designed for.  I am pretty certain that it was not designed so that you can pause in your travels and block other users from using the path.[2] It also seems to be the case that because no law intervenes, the police might give a cyclist a ticket for running a stop sign or a red light, while letting cars stop in the crosswalk, they are scarce on the ground off campus and it is unlikely that they are going to bother folks who stop for a quick chat. In short, you get to break the law and be a jackass and no one is going to legally punish you.

In the interest of limiting unthought, I offer some simple rules.  The easiest to follow, because it is valid in cases, is Kant's but that really is asking to much for people to think of other people as people instead of props in some Randian distopia, it would seem.

Over arching rule:

Most people don't know you and consequently most people don't particularly care if you live or die. So for god's sake stop acting like the opposite were case.

Five simple rules[3]:

1) Be marginally aware of what is going on around you.
2) If alone ride/run/walk/rollerblade/etc as far to the right as in practicable.  If there are more than one of you, never ride outside the yellow line; if there is no yellow line pretend that there is.
3) Never do anything requires that people follow or assumes that anyone follows rules 1 and 2.
4) Consequently be in control of your mode of transportation.
5) Get off the path if you have to stop.

 Feel free to add your own in the comments; but I think this may pretty much have saved Western Civilization.

[1] Heyoh
[2]You may be saying "Oh good gracious me oh my, shut up already."  But consider this, this was the only time the two, so far as I know, impeded anyone so from their perspective it was no big thing.  For me it was the fourth or fifth time today and the twelfth of the last seven days.  Or something like that.  Straws and camels backs, in other words.
[3] Obviously it is never go to happen but take out the damn earbuds and take off the damn headphones.  I mean really, its bad enough that 10% of everyone doing anything on the path is clearly incapable of thought but why should those of you blasting Helen Reddy or rockin' on to the driving beat of Olivia Newton John's latest hit want to make yourself even less alert.  Goodness knows what the combination of the rocktastic rockatude and exercise created dopamine might do.

Nice Guy Eddies and Kantian Idiots Part I

In one or another of Tarantino's films, he named a character Nice Guy Eddie, Eddie wasn't particularly nice but I think he was supposed to be. People who do the right thing are Nice Guy Eddies. After all, Eddie was concerned not so much with who did what to whom but who it was that was pointing a gun at his dad, which -- if you think family matters-- is pretty nice. Kant argued somewhere or another that it is wrong and immoral to treat others as means to an end instead of ends in and of themselves. He meant, more or less, that you ought not ever do/will something happening someone else that you wouldn't do/will as happening to yourself in the same circumstances; this means, I think, that you ought respect other bodies as being as important to themselves as you are to yourself and, consequently, recognizing that no desire or end you might have is any more important that a desire or end that the other bodies might have. This position is, ultimately, the basis of western liberalism's constant insistence that, as Jesus put it, we respect the least amongst us.

Well every day, as cyclists and as bodies moving through the world, we find others fucking with us in ways the fuckers wouldn't want to be fucked with and, if we're honest, we fuck with those other fuckers in ways we wouldn't want to be fucked with, which -- taken all in all -- makes the whole bunch of us a bunch of fucked fuckers. I propose that as we move forward we seek to be idealized Nice Guy Eddies, which means avoiding his penchant for robbing and murdering, and avoid being Kantian Idiots, where the meaning of the last noun is Grecian.

Today I run through the various and sundry interactions with others and divide the world between Nice Guy Eddies and Kantian Idiots.

Adult dad guy on the bike path thanks for telling your kid to get back inside the yellow line, seriously. 

Jogging woman with dog, thanks for pulling him/her and keeping him/her inside the line with a complicated behind the back leash system.

Putz training your dog on the path, wtf. The damn thing was all over the place.

Three guy pace line belling guys, thanks for bellling; you belled I belled back, we laughed, we cried, it became part of us.  Bells are much better than on your left, which often sounds suspiciously like on guard.

Three guy pace line belling guys, for shame on the passing the comfort bike woman on a blind curve and almost crashing into fully team-kitted hard racing bike woman and for riding in both lanes and belling the pedestrians who didn't need belling because you guys were useing 100% of the path when you should have been using 50%.

Jogging woman who started on the far right and then listed to the far left, returned to the far right and began the whole process all over again while ignoring my belling and, when that failed to elicit a response, my on your lefting .

Jogging guy with headphones kudos for running the right way, i.e., toward on coming traffic; for shame for not paying any attention to what was in front of you; although, when your eyes bulged out in panic when you moved from the grass onto the path directly in front of me was worthy of Cantiflas when he was forced to work in English.
.
Doctor/Nurse/Person who likes to wear scrubs, for shame for stopping in the middle of the path and staring and turning round and about consequently making it nearly impossible to pass you on either side and for the professional level of frowning my belling received..

Adult dad SUV guy with the two kids in the back, wtf with the stopping on the crosswalk when you were at a right turn light on the busiest part of the multiuse multiuser path. Did you think that by making it impossible for peds, runners, bikers, etc. to get safely across would cause the light would change quicker?

SUV guy who stopped to let me cross when I was stopped when the SUV behind you shifted lanes and sped up.  If I am stopped you get to go.  When you control all the other cars on the road, either through some kind of ESP or whathave you and when you and yours stop every single time, stop.  Until then let me decide when to cross the street, I've been doing it for decades. This kind of behavior is known as false Nice Guy Eddieism.

Finally, me for not stopping when my getting across was bit on the dicey side.