Cooler
I kept an eye on the weather radar last night and jumped inot the shower a little before a cold front and accompanying thunderstorms hit. Blissful was the rest of the evening and sleeping overnight.
We didn’t break any records in the previous three days, missing the mark my a degree or two each day. Still, it was much, much hotter than folks around here are used to.
It made me glad I voted for the new mayor. In the spring he bgan the process that this led week to the official opening of a beach that had been closed for 40 years. Last month, he got the fire department to open “spray parks” in a couple of the city playgrounds. This week he expanded that to around ten parks. Kids and adults were loving it.
He also waived the fee to use the city pool at Genesee Valley Park, and extended the hours to 9:30pm. Finally, he ordered that the city rec centers and the neighborhood branch libraries open longer hours so people could enjoy the A/C. I got three extra hours Tuesday night, which was fine by me too. The joint was packed too, BTW.
I can’t remember a mayor doing that kind of stuff for the ordinary citizens. Previous mayors have all kow-towed to big business, real-estate developers, special interests and so on. Even the previous mayor, a former president of the local Urban League, never did anything like this. He’ll be remembered mainly for his ego-building ferry project, which turned into the biggest fiasco in decades. The State, the DA and the FBI are currently investigaing that.
Ulike former mayors, who made excuses over budgets, unions and stuff, in the spring, this mayor organized “Clean Sweep” weekends that got Public Works, neighborhood groups and volunteers together to literally sweep and pick up the entire city. Hundreds of tons of garbage and debris was swept up from a different neighborhood each weekend. The place has never looked so good.
So three cheers for Mayor Duffy! He’s a man who really seems to give a shit about the people he shares the city with.
The high temps kept a lot of people off the roads the past few days. Traffic has been really light, and the drivers who have been out have been extra courteous to the “poor guy sweating his ass off on a bicycle.” That’s a good thing too, because I wasn’t at my sharpest and twice on Tuesday, put myself in dangerous situations I could easily have avoided had I not been focused on staying moving in the heat. Lived, learned and moved on.
Arriving at work on Tuesday, soaked after my 2.2 mile, eight minute commute, one of the librarians asked incredulously, “You rode your bike today?”
“Yeah, and I’m grateful for it,” I replied. “I sure wouldn’t want to have to walk in this weather.”
I had adjusted my schedule on Tuesday, BTW, and decided to shift my time at Presbytery from Tuesday to Wednesday, rather than follow-through with the plan I’d outlined in Tuesday’s entry.
I also shifted some funds around in went to Full Moon Vista Bike & Sport on Tuesday instead of today. I bought the new saddle, non-suspension seatpost and pedals. (Which reminds me I have to shift funds back today.) I still have to tweak the adjustments, and I have only a handful of miles on it, but already this new saddle is a dream come true.
Despite the fact I’ve been bitching about the original saddle for four months, I found that, although I was trying to pay attention to the new one so I could make adjustments to it’s position, several times I became completely unaware that it was there at all. It’s that comfortable. I’d been wrestling with myself thinking an $85 saddle was an extravagance I couldn’t afford. Now I’m kicking myself for having waited so long.
It’s a beauty too. The pictures, and even looking at it in the package, didn’t do it justice. It looks like it belongs on a much faster and much more expensive bike. And between it and the new seatpost, I’ve removed about a pound—maybe more—from the bike. I can’t wait to see how I do with it on the group rides this weekend.
Next Wednesday is my fit appointment. I can’t wait for that either. The goal fix those last few adjustments and hopefully change my position a little to reduce my wind profile too.
