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Sauvie Island Sun Flare

Sauvie

It’s quite rare that you end up on a completely shoulder-less road with so much traffic anywhere near Portland, but the second the weather turns warm you can bet the roads of Sauvie Island are going to be swimming with young people desperate for the beach. And most of them will be in cars. In cars full of coolers. Full of beer. This afternoon, I swung by on my bike to pick up my man. It’s Earth Day and it’s our one year anniversary. Since I hadn’t been riding much I told him to “take it easy on me,” and he assumed it’d be a short ride. When I got there I found he’d even put platform pedals on his bike. Oh, no, boy! Not that short. Not that easy, but still… “take it easy on me, I already just continue reading…

Driving to Toulouse

Today we woke up in Cap d’Agde on the Méditérranean and drove all day to Toulouse. It’s Easter Sunday. The roads were pretty quiet and it was rainy. Only in one town did we see anything that looked like an Easter celebration. Mostly just quiet, narrow roads. And grape vine after vine after vine growing on roadside plantations. I now really understand how everyone in the world is able to enjoy wine with practically every dinner. Until you have driven through the south of France, it might not be conceivable, but once you have driven through the south of France, it all makes sense. The entire countryside is planted with grapevine, maybe like the midwest is planted with corn. It’s mind-boggling. In fact, I got a little overwhelmed and hazy from the repetition of scenery. Here are some photos from continue reading…

Thomas Voekler Contador etc Col d'Aubisque

Col d’Aubisque

Our drive today, from Pau to Bagnères-du-Luchon, France: View Larger Map Long day in the car. Probably the most incredible mountain car trip I’ve ever taken, and that’s saying a lot, given I’ve driven in northern Norway and through Alaska. Average 7.2% grade, 1190 meters up. Except for our huge detour back up around Lourdes, it will be a hors-catégorie climb stage in the Tour de France on the 18ème Juillet 2012. Wild. We missed driving the Tourmalet, but feel satisfied anyway. A bottle of wine later, a cute hotel, things are parfait!

My Guest Post on the Sewaholic Blog!

This week was I featured as a guest writer on someone else’s blog! It was pretty cool of Tasia of Sewaholic to invite me to write about my experience sewing a waterproof jacket. I was anxious to share more details and photographs about DIY waterproof outerwear because when I went hunting on the web I found only breadcrumbs of information. But what made it even better is that rather than sharing it here (a virtual Internet dead zone, ha), I got to share it with lots of interested readers on one of my very favorite sewing blogs. I love Tasia’s enthusiastic and inquisitive writing style — it is so friendly and engaging. Not only that but she sure can sew and draft a pattern, and is percolating one of the most exciting independent pattern lines yet. Click over to read continue reading…

Me on the Circulus

Circulus

Ugh. So hung over. Last night was a bit crazy. I finally got to ride the Circulus. Not just ride it, but race it. Yeah, I went straight from test-riding it (crash!) to organizing a spontaneous women’s race (thanks to Stevil and Murph), to winning said race (crash!). Racers were not allowed to drink, but since I wasn’t a racer until I set up the impromptu race (6 women volunteered, I think), there was by then a lot of beer in my system. So of course I ate shit. And it was captured on video. That’s me handily catching up to my opponent and crashing as soon as the win bell is rung. Good fun. More about all that here: http://bikeportland.org/2011/07/25/circulus-provides-thrills-for-racers-spectators-alike-56750 And this great video about the origin of the Circulus: http://vimeo.com/12844053 (Long story short, Sam Starr turned a library at Pomona continue reading…

Juki HZL F-Series Sewing Machine User Manual

This is a machine I own and use daily. I believe what the local dealer says about this machine needing several hours on it when new to “break it in,” as I had tension issues for the first week or two. Since then it’s been dreamy. I do have a problem though, and maybe someone else will chime in with a similar issue (though I’ll probably have it professionally fixed by then). When rolling along I get a loud buzzing sound issuing from the bobbin shuttle, which vibrates intensely at anything above a medium speed (when machine is set at full speed). I may have damaged the

How (Not) To Lock Your Bicycle

Just like the old hammered iron puzzles and such used to grab my attention as a child, now the impossibly stupid ways people manage to (not) lock up their bikes fascinates me. I realized other people like to take pictures of this phenomenon as well, so I started a Flickr group. Do you have any humorous or sad photos you can add?

Parkway Scenery I

Down the Blue Ridge Parkway

Today we mostly rode downhill for about 40 miles, and camped on a stone ledge at Chestoa View. I suggested open air camping because the ledge was pretty and I was lazy about pitching a tent but this back-fired when something bit my lip while I slept. I woke up with Angelina Jolie lips — on ONE side of my face. But for the record, I slept like a baby. It was a super yoga spot, though, aside from the faint piss smell and all the flies in the morning. Also, we had to hang out quite a while in the evening doing nothing and pretending like we were just there to enjoy the view, not camp. We ruined the spot for a lot of couples who obviously trooped down there to make out. It was regal to have such continue reading…

All Aboard Amtrak Express!

The other day at City Bikes I mentioned I was shipping bikes and the really affable long hair redhead guy with black goggles alerted me of Amtrak Express. I’m so glad he mentioned it! Just having gotten back from the gorgeous Portland train station (aren’t all American train stations fairly well-kept quaint relics of rail travel?) I can say: so far so good. I’m a bit nervous, but I did take out $5500 of insurance (ha). At $180 for two bikes and a 45lb. Bob Ibex manufacturer’s box packed with touring gear, with all that insurance, it’s an affordable alternative to FedEx and UPS for shipping bicycles, and having said it will take 5-7 days (days, not business days), it’s quicker, too. The boxes are huge. One just loosens the stem at the handlebars, the star nut, takes off the continue reading…

Husqvarna Viking 6440 Sewing Machine User Manual

You can download the Husqvarna Viking 6440 / 2000 manual here for. In November 2016 I re-scanned this manual and meticulously created a PDF version of this manual superior to anything else you will find on the internet: full-color, compressed, print-ready, and zoom-able. Also visit a great online (Yahoo!) group discussing pre-1980 Viking machines for even more information! These are great machines!

Me and Team Beer John Howe Tina Brubaker Fuck You

This is Cyclocross

That’s what I’m talking about! I’m still coming down off the caffeine I guzzled before the race today, think: “mud” down the hatch then mud up to your shins. Epic. Painful. My feet were so cold it felt like I was running on stumps. Gross! But I felt fast, and I passed a few boys who started two minutes ahead of me in the Men’s B race. One whimpered, “You won’t laugh at me if I puke, will you?” My bike clothes have been through three rinses in the bathtub and still excrete opaque mud water. I love mud and cold, and for me that’s what cyclocross is all about. Great times!

Track Lessons

Wednesdays this summer, Alpenrose hosts fairly informal $5 track cycling lessons. I recommend them! Tonight was my first time on a fixed gear (track) bike for any substantial length of time. The fluidity of rolling your legs is lulling, and zen-like (“I am pedaling, I am pedaling, I am peda…”), and immediately nearly anybody could fall in love with riding up and down, around and around. I see why people go ga-ga over track. I crashed my mountain bike on Sandy Blvd. on Saturday night, banging up my right side and destroying my suspension fork. It struck a little fear into my heart! So the first few minutes back on my bike after two weeks of light riding were tentative, but then next thing I knew I was screaming down Sandy going 29mph – on the way to Alpenrose. Just continue reading…

Jim and Patty’s Sour Cream Coffeecake

This recipe was printed in the Oregonian today. You can try to make this yourself, or you can just be reverent and pick up the untouchable, ineffably good real deal at Jim and Patty’s, 4951 NE Fremont Street, Portland. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 9-by-13 inch deep baking pan. TOPPING: 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (1/2 sticks) 1 cup finely chopped roasted hazelnuts CAKE: 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks) 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 4 eggs 1 1/4 cups sour cream TO MAKE THE TOPPING: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar and continue reading…

30% More Work for the Same Pay!

There was a memo in my box at work (Hooper Detox) this morning. The first three paragraphs stated something to the effect that management appreciated the hard and good work …bla bla bla… of admiting nurses. Bla bla bla… The fourth paragraph started with a “But -“ (emphasis my own) and went on to say that since auxillary staff were not performing the search/shower procedure satisfactorily, nurses are now expected to search and shower clients. Nurses are also expected to bring clients upstairs and show them to their bed, locker, and give them a tour of the unit. The primary reasons for auxillary staff being relieved of this duty are that they are supposedly less comfortable with naked bodies, are less knowledgeable in body mechanics, and less familiar with the facility and operations and give incorrect information. Ah, hell no!

When Will It End?

These last two days at work have left my brain floppy. A mixture of doggedness, confusion, passion and apathy have left me in a hazy rage. “One” person totally fucked it up for everyone else this week. She decided to smuggle quite a bit of heroin in in her person and then shared it with other clients, creating total chaos. She got kicked out, and now she’s royally fucked (if it’s true she stole the heroin to begin with). It’s amazing that one person and a stupid decision can create such a tortuous web of destruction and insanity for so many other people. Who did this start with? When will it end?

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