Coffeeneuring '26

Briefly, the rules have been announced here.  Starts October 10th, runs thru November 25th.  Give or take; there seems to be some play in the rules with "Early Bird" this and "Secret Bonus Day" that.  Eight rides of at least 2 miles each, eight cups of coffee.

My "probably not" thoughts here.  OTOH, maybe I will this year.  You never can tell until these things happen, or they don't.  Maybe start it and fail to complete.  That sort of fits the mood of life these days anyway.

On This Rainy Saturday

Go read a book.  Which book?  See previous post.

Four Your Consideration

Through following links from an email I received yesterday, I stumbled across this some-months old article:

4 Sci-Fi Books Veterans Say Every Service Member Should Read Once

TLDR, from the closing paragraphs:

Starship Troopers asks what duty is worth.  The Forever War asks what war takes from those who survive it.  Armor asks what repeated combat does to the mind.  Old Man's War asks what happens when the military rebuilds a person for its own needs.

To be clear, the last time I swore an oath and wore a uniform was in the Boy Scouts.  (I did get kicked out for fighting though, so there is that.)  Nonetheless, I've read Starship Troopers many, many times and have read Old Man's War and even reviewed it here.  Armor and The Forever War however have thus far escaped me.  Will get on these two over the winter.

On The Beach

And from an isolated, undisclosed location.

BTW, those objects nailed to the piling are decorated palm frond bases.  Seems to be a thing now.  These were also all over some old pier pilings on the way there.  Not my thing, but it does liven it up a bit.

The concept, the bike, my legs & lungs: all worked great.  I was able to average 8 mph over a 15 mile out-and-back route.  The pace was deliberately moderate today because I had no idea how little or much energy it would take, and I didn't want to run out on the way back.  I needn't have worried.  Could push it and maybe averaged 10 mph.  A lot will depend on the tide, and whether the hard-pack down by the water is covered.  If I have to ride up in the soft part above the average tideline this could drop to 5 mph.

One more thing: Yes, it was probably wise to go with these fatter 4.8" tires vs. the narrower (but still mighty wide) 3.8's on the more all-rounder Wednesday.  Down on the hard-pack it probably wouldn't have made any difference, but when traversing the loose stuff I was wanting all the tire I've got (and maybe a tad more a couple of times).

Anyway, success!  I'm looking forward to the coming cooler weather, but today's 85º was entirely tolerable.

Cheap-o Helmets

Article about these cooler-styro-grade POS's at Singletracks.

TLDR Takeaways from the article:

1. Know the helmet brand.
2. Look for safety features / safety technology.
3. Expect to pay at least $50 for a safe helmet.  (added: at least $50 – but realistically, budget more for $100, and be pleasantly surprised if it comes in lower.  I mean, what's a whole bunch more comfort and safety worth?)

Those are good, but if you're new to bikes, knowing the brand and knowing what tech to look for may not be in your realm of knowledge.  Here, let me add a few more:

• Buy your helmet from a local bike shop, because you can try it on, and fit really matters.  For that matter, so does supporting your LBS.
• If you don't have a LBS and have to order online, buy from a bicycle-specific vendor.  Amazon's getting crap-tacular lately, being flooded with cheap garbage.  And don't even get me started on some of the more general merch sites.  Anyway, my two go-tos these days are Cambria Bike and Modern Bike.  YMMV.
• If it has a goofy name like "GuudLuk," well, you already know.

Graphics?  No, not really today.  The linked article has some though.  On second thought, here's an oldie-but-a-goodie from this 2012 post:

Not pizza sauce.

Kunstler Ruminates

On suburbia, the somewhat thwarted promise of New Urbanism, and how a decentralized project to re-make American towns into places worth living in has gone off the rails.

The Late, Great Debate about Suburbia, an Apologia

It's a worthwhile if slightly depressing read.  I have my own thoughts on these and related matters but will keep them to myself for now, being in the middle of various situations.  However you can glean that I'm largely in sympathy with Kunstler's views on these matters simply from that fact that I'm posting this link.

Learning to Shift for Yourself

A two minute video on a school that teaches how to drive a manual transmission, from CBS News via youtube.  One of those little trials we all should pass.