Posts

Showing posts from April, 2011

Riding and Writing

Image
The weather has not been good for riding my bike lately but I have been out riding every day for 30 Days of Biking. Only three days left. Hard to believe! After days of rain finally tonight the sun came out and Owen and I headed out on our road bikes for a quick 5.25 mile ride at almost a 13 mph pace. It felt great to get out and ride with some speed - at last! Quite a change from riding on the gravel in the rain . Shadows - proving the sun was out today The weather has been good for writing, however. And I've been doing a lot of writing in the last few weeks. And editing. Lots of editing. In the last two weeks I've been working on a travel piece for the Star Tribune . This story, on the town of Cannon Falls, will be my second for the Star Tribune. It's due out on Sunday. Look for it! The Oxford Mill Ruins - near Cannon Falls It was great fun checking out the sites in Cannon Falls , talking to people who work at various business, learning about the town's history

Loving the Team Loving the Bike

Image
It's Day 21 of #30daysofbiking and, despite the crazy Minnesota weather, I don't think I'll have any trouble finishing my third round of 30 Days of Biking. I certainly am not logging many miles this time around but I am, save for one day when I rode a stationary bike on vacation, getting outside every day and riding a bike. That means that when it snowed last week I was out on my bike. And when it rained yesterday I was out on my bike. And today, even though I'm kind of grumpy, I'll get out on my bike. Why? It would be easy to quit and think that no one is paying attention to whether I ride or not. But people DO notice if I don't ride. Gravel road I rode on yesterday's ride. Because I'm part of a the 30 Days of Biking community of people. And for this round of 30 Days of Biking I am also part of a team - Team Loving the Bike. Darryl of Loving the Bike created a challenge with a group of bicyclists at Bicycle Radio . The deal is team members r

Island Time

Image
Even though I loved the surf and the sun of Anna Maria Island the thing I'm missing the most, I think, is Island Time. Yep, time just didn't seem to matter much while we were there. What's Island Time? It's more a feeling than a thing. It's all about forgetting about time and trying to get places. It's about forgetting you have a cell phone or clock. Its, well, a lot of things and probably something different for everyone. Perhaps I can explain what it is to me, at least somewhat, in pictures. Island Time = Single speed bikes and pedaling slowly around town. 90% of the bikes I saw on Anna Maria Island were single speed bikes. I only saw two road bikes and rarely saw anyone pedal faster than 10 mph. I liked wandering around on my rental bike. I liked getting lost. I liked moving slowly. It was relaxing. It was fun. Island Time = Reading Time (or DS Time, in Ryan's case). Sitting Still Time. It stormed the first full day of our vacation. And while the ra