A dry day
The sun broke through this morning between some puffy clouds. It was in the 30s when I left the house. I had to stop at One Hip Chic Optical to get some work done on two of my three pairs of glasses. Tamra was envious that I was out riding and she couldn’t.
I rode from there to the post office then to breakfast at Jim’s Restaurant. They’ve gotten so used to me locking up in front and hanging my helmet on the hat rack, that it doesn’t cause any comment any more. And Fay has a hot mug of decaf waiting for me when I sit down at the counter.
I was running a bit early and faced the choice of lingering over a second cup after breakfast, or tooling around the neighborhood. I chose the latter.
I went up and down, back and forth through the Browncroft neighborhood. Built up in the early 20s, Browncroft is one of the nicest sections of the city. This is due, in part, to the restrictions in place when it was built-up. No two houses could be the same. Every house in the tract was custom-designed. Landscaping was done the same. If your neighbor had an oak in the front yard, you could have any other kind of tree except an oak.
The mayor lives in Browncroft, as do some of my clients, co-workers, and many of our patrons at the library. I tried to remember some addresses, but gave up and just enjoyed the scenery and the ride on quiet residential streets on a sunny autumn morning.
Bike club dinner
Last night was the annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for the Rochester Bicycling Club. I still get a kick out of being the only one at a bike club meeting who arrives on a bike. Nearly all the members are sport, recreation or exercise riders—in other words, typical American cyclists—so they fail to see the irony of driving to a bike club meeting.
Now, there was one other bike there, but it had no lights or reflectors. And mine was the only helmet on the coat rack. So I’m assuming the other bike was simply a prop.
In any event, there was a nice catered dinner, followed by door prizes. Everyone got a water bottle from Full Moon Vista Bike & Sport. Nearly everyone got a door prize in the drawing too. Mine was the first chosen. A copy of ‘Round Lake Erie: A Bicyclist’s Tour Guide by Harvey Botzman, published by Cyclotour Guide Books. Harvey was sitting right at my table and inscribed it for me.
Also at my table was the guy I battled it out with over the summer before I took the lead in miles for the Rochester Bicycling Club on BikeJournal. Unfortunately, the penny didn’t drop for me until this morning. I’m not sure if he knew I’m the guy who currently leads him by 623 miles.
