2 Wheels Maybe

(Another lunch-time lesson in dirt and humility.) I raced BMX as a kid. It was only four decades ago. I should still be good at it. Right? The local weatherman told me a cold front was passing through -  it wouldn't reach 90 degrees until lunch. My brain instantly dreamed up the next micro-adventure: BMX, baby! Flora and Fauna Report Local Flora Local Fauna: I'm gonna need a longer lens, a longer lunch, and more patience to post fauna pics, but I did see two great blue herons, one great egret, two burrowing owls, a few dozen prairie dogs, a black-tailed jack rabbit, and a half-dozen kids on Razor scooters (at the skate park). How about the ride? Four laps on the BMX track Did I get air? No. Did I need oxygen? Absolutely. It's been a dry summer, so all of the low ground is sand trappy and killed any speed I built up from berms and backsides of jumps. I spent the whole time in second gear pedaling hard. Bring your fat tires. Bring your vi...

It's that day again - the last day of bike commuter nirvana. Yep, the Lubbock Independent School District is flinging its doors open to welcome in the chaos kids tomorrow. The sun, it rose. The best part of summer for me is the relaxed traffic. The college students all go home to the metroplex. The locals get to sleep in a bit. And the bicyclists can relax a bit more and not adjust their routes away from schools. Morning commutes in summer are the stuff dreams are made of! (We won't discuss the triple-digit afternoon rides home, but even those are more relaxed.) At coffee - I had the place to myself. Tomorrow - it'll be noisy and crowded. Unlimited Routing This is the last day I'll cruise carelessly past Jayne Ann Miller Elementary. This morning I pedaled past three public schools and cut through the parking lot of one private school. My commute was 4/10 of a mile shorter than it'll be tomorrow. Commuting is for the Birds At ...