N30 - 1974 = 39
November 30, 2022
ignorance is bliss bro
November 30, 2022
![](../../../images/ignorance_is_bliss_bro.jpg)
Oh do you speak the lingo?
No no
How far does your road go?
Oh no, you don't know?
“Truckers Atlas”
modest mouse
talk the talk
talk it up bro
talk louder
keep talking
you don’t know
what you don’t know
blowhard windbag
bullshit through it
don’t sell yourself short
Dunning-Kruger in full effect
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infinitely variable turkey soup
November 29, 2022
![](../../../images/on_a_day_like_this_and_that.jpg)
the algorithm feeds me an endless stream of earwax removal solutions punctuated by J. Mascis covering Mazzy Star
if the shoe fits wear it waiting for the other shoe to drop walk a mile in my blownout Sambas daddy needs new shoes
I prefer not to
scan the QR code
jettison
something
anything
psychosomatic
side effects
may include
one way
or another
wouldn’t want
your job
on a day
like this
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only in Wisconsin
November 28, 2022
![](../../../images/spotted_cow.jpg)
Saturday evening after the Beavers beat the Ducks but before the Huskies beat the Cougars, I heard a faint knock at the door. When I got the dog to calm down I went to the porch and discovered a rather heavy box. Opening it I found a piece of Wisconsin --covered in bubble wrap and strategically placed foam-- had arrived intact, hand delivered 1,995 miles plus the final fifty feet to my door by a trusty UPS driver.
Shaggy sent me a 12 pack of Spotted Cow.
Thank you Shaggy.
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it's the water
November 26, 2022
![](../../../images/kegerator_cats_cat.jpg)
Rewind just about a year and this cat here who likes beer was left unattended. Some time in the evening, he pulled the tap handle open and drained the entire keg all over the floor killing the CO2 canister as well.
Fast forward to the summer time, when the old faithful kegerator died and was replaced by a 12 years-younger-model in a seamless transition ceremony. With the first sticker stuck marking that first beer poured (see photo below) The stickers continue to stick and the beers continue to pour, but not in a one-to-one ratio.
![](../../../images/first_beer_first_sticker.jpg)
The new model features several upgrades, higher quality materials and updated interfaces. Perhaps the greatest improvement is the spring-loaded-antigravity-beer-loving-cat tap handle, which I didn’t even know existed until it was in my hand. If Smokey is strong enough to flip the tap handle at least it will not stay open all night because it springs right back to its closed position.
Just last night I watched Smokey enjoy a few drips from the tap and I took his picture knowing he will not be draining the keg.
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mull things over in your mind
November 23, 2022
pickled veg ± 5 years
November 19, 2022
a surer, firmer shift
November 17, 2022
![](../../../images/surer_firmer_shift.jpg)
Yeah, we're running a little bit hot tonight
I can barely see the road from the heat coming off it
I reach down between my legs and
Ease the seat back
–David Lee Roth
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Tuesday's on the phone to me
November 16, 2022
![](../../../images/crow_knows_wtb_saddle.jpg)
didn’t anybody tell her?
didn’t anybody see?
the WTB Pure saddle:
"an excellent all-mountain and distance saddle, the Pure features a drop nose design that prevents hang ups, as well as enough padding for all day comfort. The Pure is a sure bet for almost any rider and an even better bet for bikepackers!"
this saddle is on all my personal bikes and last week the State of Washington bought one for my work bike too. I believe a saddle works well when I don't notice anything about it and it disappears.
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clowns to the left of me ± 17
November 14, 2022
thought it was a rental
November 11, 2022
![](../../../images/thought_it_was_a_rental.jpg)
Yesterday after delivering a bundle of mail the final fifty feet to the office of a building on campus, I lingered in the lobby lounge to look out the window and get a little HVAC. My work bike was parked just a few feet from the front door and locked with a cafe lock through the rear wheel. When a dude approached the bike I thought he was just looking at the campus map on the cargo box because that happens a lot. Then the dude walked around the bike, looked under the bike at both wheels and proceeded to push the bike forward off the kickstand. That’s when I quickly stepped outside, grabbed the handlebars and said “what the fuck are you doing?” Surprised to see me, he said “oh, I thought it was a rental”
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Occam's combover
November 9, 2022
![](../../../images/cannondale_elegant_solution_no_bro.jpg)
When you say “Cannondale”
I say “cheater bar”
elegant solution:
a solution to a question or a problem that achieves the maximally satisfactory effect with minimal effort, materials, or steps. In terms of theories or models of behavior, an elegant solution would be one that satisfies the requirements of the law of parsimony. See also Occam's razor.
An elegant solution, this is not. There is no chain tensioner in a truly elegant solution. We could clean it all up with a hacksaw, destroying the bike creating two or three cheater bars. Cost-benefit analysis this.
I appreciate enthusiasm for cycling. I also appreciate anyone that rides their bike to school. It occurs to me that this undergrad might be riding her mom’s bike to class. The Cannondale her mom single-speeded out in 2003 with hacked off inverted drop bars, cute little interrupter levers and colorful mismatched rims.
In the late 80’s at the finest liberal arts school in the country I met a guy from Charles City, Iowa that had a Cannondale he was really proud of, telling me of oversized tube diameters and various engineering aspects as I stared off into space glazed over.
In 1995 I single-speeded an undersized Cannondale mountain bike that never had anywhere near proper chain tension. I once dropped the chain and went over the bars landing on my back with a copious cushion of red wine after a Thanksgiving dinner in the Central District. In 1995 I didn’t know shit about chain tension or lack thereof, horizontal dropouts or lack thereof and cheater bars were off in space, glazed over for later.
Maybe that’s why this undergrad’s bike speaks to me. It’s not Occam’s Razor, it's Occam’s Hair Club for Men, Occam’s receding hairline, Occam’s pattern baldness, Occam’s combover.
Shave that shit.
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on the continuum
November 9, 2022
![](../../../images/on_the_ship_canal_bro.jpeg)
On the park bench
On the ship canal
On the Burke Gilman
On the continuum
On the sunny side
On the other other side
On the other hand
On the down low
On the up & up
On the contrary
On the verge
On the average
On the fence
On the other side of the fence
On the first day of christmas
On the spectrum
On the fucking spectrum
On the count of three
On the tip of my tongue
On the edge of my seat
On the run
On the air
On the dot
On the dotted line
On the phone
On the internet
On the job
On the clock
On the sly
On the house
On the wagon
On the whole
On the label
On the lam
On the road
On the nose
On the mend
On the flip side
On the dark side
On the bright side
On the pill
On the juice
On the outside
On the inside
On the wild side
On the invoice
On the affidavit
On the way
On the replay
On the cutting edge
On the decline
On the bias
On the beep
On the cheap
On the rebound
On the horizon
On the hypotenuse
On the X axis
On the bottom line
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black is the new black
November 9, 2022
![](https://res.cloudinary.com/rapha-cc/image/upload/ar_16:9,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto,w_1920,dpr_2.0/archive/amplience-image/h218_location_commuter_berlin_01_01_DSC5071)
I wasn’t looking for a Rapha rain jacket but it found me at $100 less than MSRP, basically brand new except for a 1.5cm slice in the shoulder that I sealed up neatly with a cute little square of tent repair tape.
I enjoy thrift store shopping. Seeing what’s out there. Open to outcome but not attached to outcome.
My new-used Rapha jacket was on the rack at Recycled Cycles, which back in the day was a great bike-like thrift store. These days it’s just another bike shop with some used stuff for sale.
Rapha inspires some shit talking, mostly because I can’t afford it. But also because of the bros that wear it and wear it all, including the shoe covers. And their brick & mortar retail spots, like the one on Capitol Hill, are Portlandia episodes.
Here and now, I own exactly one Rapha item and I don’t just wear it ironically. Although most Rapha chuffers don’t wear cutoff thrift store golf pants in their getups.
Back in the day I got my hands on Sally’s Rapha winter hat only because I traded him the one Burberry-DANK coozie in the entire world. The hat has since faded away. The coozie traveled through hell and back before Sally returned it a couple years ago.
I like the rain jacket. But if I was paying full Rapha-Retail I think I’d buy another size up so I could layer more under it on a cold day.
Is it raining?
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protected bike lane
November 7, 2022
it's not about the bike bro
November 7, 2022
![](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/mIoAAOSwwXdjZ~IT/s-l500.jpg)
It’s been about 20 years since I sold anything on eBay. Now I remember why. When I put this vest up the other day, there were all kinds of restrictions and fees and limits and too much horseshit. When I finally got it up there, I looked for a way to delete it and I couldn’t find one. So I’ll wait this auction out and never do it again.
I have some rain pants to sell because I hate rain pants, and I really hate big dumpy ill fitting rain pants. But they’re going on craigslist. No bullshit. No restrictions. No fees. Just a few stupid questions from potential buyers.
I started this site in 2005 because I was selling t-shirts one-at-a-time on eBay and paying fees on each one. So I sold a few t-shirts and seventeen years later you’re reading this. I’m still making shirts here and there but I’m not selling them or taking random orders from consumers in obscure zip codes and coughing up 15% to the man.
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sharrow this
November 4, 2022
![](../../../images/sharrow_this_bro_3.jpg)
![](../../../images/sharrow_this_wwtfd.jpg)
barking up the wrong tree
misdirected energy
misaligned
misunderstood
burning up the battery
spinning
hamster wheeling
treadmilling
trying too
hard to
look like
you're not
trying to
it’s not my problem
that’s my problem
attention to detail
doesn’t mean shit
if nobody’s paying attention
like a sharrow
overblown in the cyclist’s mind
completely meaningless to drivers
![](../../../images/sharrow_this_too_bro.jpg)
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the road more or less traveled by
November 2, 2022
Land Shark
November 1, 2022
![](../../../images/land_shark_messenger.jpg)
the other other day I spotted some evidence in the 98195 to support the theory about a few real bike messengers still rolling in Seattle
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