Stubborn Snake!

     I had to be rescued the other day (Q would say there are many days I need rescue!)  I have a very cute lock that Molly, my fellow instructor gave me a while back. I don't know where she got it-it's definitely not something you would find in a bike store. Its probably the lightest weight bike lock you can have and still call using it locking your bike. But we don't have professional bike thieves around here (at least we didn't until recently, I will write about that soon), just thieves of opportunity so even a flimsy lock is of deterrence and this one is so cute. I am sure Mr. Snake scares all would be bike thieves.



My Viscious Bike Lock

   Of late, it has been harder and harder to unlock my lock and the day after the first rain we have had in over a month, I found myself locked to a fence unable to get myself unlocked.

  So who do I call?  Who do I know who can wrestle with an ornery snake and get it to open its jaws? Q, of course, and he showed up in short order with WD40 and if that didn't work, bolt cutters.

Luckily, one squirt of that magic solution and my little snake gave up all its fight. Its been opening easier than ever since. Thank goodness. I would miss my little snake friend if we had had to snip it to its demise.



Q, the snake handler

Sunrise over the Tennessee River

  I have missed several Breakfast on the Bridge-blogging at least.  I haven't missed any to attend, so some Fridays my visits have been short and quick.    But I am here to catch you, dear reader, up with some images from the Brieakfast. 



Jeffry, a breakfast regular talking with an new resident-a new,Chattanooga resident and a new doctor resident.  I now know several doctors riding their bikes to the hospitals.  Can  I get my nurse daughter to do the same?



Preston Tyree of the League of Americn Bicyclists.  He was in town for the Pro Bike Pro Walk Convention in town and came by for breakfast.

m

Another gorgeous sunrise

Randy Larson looking dreamy on the bridge



<>

Randy Larson's dreamy bike



Randy and his bike together, totally color coordinated

  Randy seldoms ride less then 100 miles at a time but this Friday he did a quick short ride (with his keds, no less) just to have breakfast with us.

As for this morning's breakfast, this was the picture for the day:

Q, ever quick thinking, with an unexpected cold and windy morning, modeling his makeshift windbreaker. Offering it to any bystanders taht was looking cold, he had no takers.  But several of us fought over his coat he was also sharing!



Moving Lisa by Bike

  When Q heard that Lisa needed to move to a new apartment, he was immediately inspired to offer to move her by bike.  But who could blame her for being dubious?  Q convinced her he could pull it off, but then he had to convince others to join his moving crew.  It was, as our Lady Jane friend called, a hard sell.  But I have written before how stubborn Q can be and eventually he had rounded up a crew of 5 movers, strong riders all with trailers.  These movers found that saying no to Q wasn't an option!

  So early Saturday morning, in the fruitless effort to avoid the heat, they gathered and  moved.  This was the ideal bike move-the distance between the two places was only about a mile and a half, there didn't seem to be any hills (but of course on a heavily loaded bicycle, the hills appeared!) and while there were big items, the over all amount was modest.  It took five movers three trips to do it all.

  Watch the slideshow to see the fun!

More Bike Racks

Speaking of Bike Racks, Russ of the Path Less Pedaled captured Q as he was installing the bike racks at Stone Cup.  Stone Cup, which attracts many cyclists was in dire need and Q had been working with David, the owner, about getting new racks. 

  I love this picture of Q.  Russ, with a true photographer eye, caught the essence of Q, the bike rack man!

  And these are the bike racks installed.  I am loving these artistic racks!

Thanks, Q!

Bicycle Bike Racks

The Q-man has taken it upon himself to get more bike parking in Chattanooga. The city and businesses have been very slow about providing bike racks in sufficent quantiy and quality to accomadate the ever growing number of bike riders.

This was where bikes were parked on the outside of Q's daughter apartment building. Q set his sights on remedinying that and after meeting several times with the apartment building manager, new bike racks were installed. Here is Q doing the installing

Summer Games Round II

  This is my entry for the second round of the Summer Games at Lets Go Ride A Bike.  The first event I chose for myself was carrying a load, something I do it all the time.  I am ever amazing myself and others on how much I can carry on a bike.  I often go shopping without that very crucial question that bike riders should always have-how exactly am I getting this home?  When I make it out to the bike with my purchases, reality hits me, as though the bike was a complete surprise.  But I found with a little bit of ingenuity that I can fit it all and even ride it home.

  These pictures are from a typical Sunday shopping trip.  First a trip to the Chattanooga Market to get my produce, then a trip to Greenlife for all other grocery needs.  Usually that overloads me to beyond capacity.  But on this trip home, I by passed the 2 Bridges Art Festival and I was taken by the bright, big and cheerful flower.  My little garden corner is shaded and dark and it is hard to have colorful flowers. I thought this would brighten things up.

  Of course, I committed to buy it before I had a plan of getting it home.  No problem.  The stem went between me and my backpack.  I was quite the picture it seems, because several of the vendors stopped me to take their own picture of me.

Carrying Flower Home

"Planted" in my garden

For my second event, I had every intention of doing a maintance task but I didn't get around to it.  I am ashamed to admit that doing maintance on my bike is an extremely rare event.  I keep regular dates at Suck Creek Cycle for the guys there to keep me running but rarely do any on my own.  So while I have done enough to know I am perfectly capable, it just is not a thing that comes naturally to me. 

  So under pressure to get something done, I reached for something that does come naturally-reading.  I read Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne(Q, I bet you didn't notice that I had taken your copy)  Q had read it and greatly enjoyed it-telling me choice bits from the book.  He had forbidden me from reading it until he had had finished with it because he didn't want me ruining it for him with me telling him those choice bits of othe book.  While the book felt familiar because of this exposure, there were still delightful surprises for me to discover on my own.  A very enjoyable read.

n

Rain Barrel Workshop

I am constantly challenging myself to expand the range and use of the bicycle as transportation. I sometimes feel like riding a bike around is like a puzzle. The pieces are not automatically there like they are with cars. instead, it can be a matter of independent putting together those pieces in order to make riding a bike feasible. When people tell me of the reasons why they don't ride bikes, what  they are telling me is that a piece of the puzzle that is missing. Until the infrastructure is put into place as it has been done in many places in Europe, there will not be immense numbers of riders in any given place.


    I think I was an early adopter of bike riding because I love to bike and I enjoy puzzles. Every new application requires a figuring out. Its fun, interesting and beneficial, if not always easy.

    An area of biking that Q is working on is how to haul things around. He has ordered a trailer and is eyeing the possibilities of riding to his construction jobs. Unfortunately, his trailer was not here for us to try it out when we went to a rain barrel workshop. This was at the Chattanooga Food Bank on Amnicola and can be reached so easily and beautifully by bike on the River Walk had so of course we had toride our bikes.

    But with no way to get them home on our bikes, Q went later in the car to pick them up. But soon we will be looking to do that sort of thing by bike. I think...or at least Q is...these hills with a loaded trailer? A piece of the puzzle that will keep us busy for a while!

Rain Barrel Workshop

Q, master rain barrel maker

Mollie, wonderful pilates teacher, was also at the workshop