Christmas Lights

Last Sunday evening, the bike club and many of the bike commuting community in Ft Wayne area met downtown for the Christmas lights ride. It was a 16 mile ride that weaved through downtown, then out to Franke Park for the Festival of Lights drive. Unfortunately, my camera battery again died before we got out there. The cold seems to quickly drain what little life remains in it.


It was fun taking to the streets, being a part of a large, courteous mass of bikers.


This is the Santa that has adorned the side of the old Fort Wayne National Bank (now PNC) building since it was built in 1970. Before that, it was in storage for many years in a barn north of town.

Jump ahead to today, Christmas day. This is the much-anticipated trainer Santa brought me.


And this is the Big Oak Bikes Fitness Center. It's located right next door to the Big Oak Bike Shop.

I also got a new jersey. I tested it today in 43 degree weather. Very warm for this time of year, and sunny, too. The jersey worked great, with a long-sleeved undershirt and a light windvest on top.

I hope all of you had a great and peaceful Christmas Day.

What to do

It's officially that time of year. The time when I find myself desperately searching for something to do. The short days seem to trigger a desire to do stuff besides watch tv. Not that I have anything against tv, and I watch it often, but when I sit in front of the tube lately I think about all that conditioning from a spring, summer, and fall of riding leaking away.

I don't have a bike trainer, but I did put in a request to Santa for an inexpensive one. I had a trainer in my triathlon days, 25 years ago, and I've almost forgotten the misery those things induce.

I brought in a box off the porch the other day from Bike Nashbar, but it had Alex's name on it. What on earth is she buying now?

For exercise, I've got disc golf on Saturdays, which is great. And I still bike commute occasionally to my new office but it takes maybe 15 minutes one-way, if I ride slowly. But during the evenings when it gets dark, I get rammy when we're done with supper and it's only 6:30, but feels like 10:30pm. This morning, I picked up this brochure at the hardware store, and it re-kindled my desire to make something.


The last time I carved, I ended up with this:


That was back in my duck-hunting days. I was going to carve a whole raft of ducks, but that's the only one I completed. It took a little longer to carve than I thought it would (by a factor of 10).

Anyway, we'll see what develops. It's all a mystery to me.

Happy riding!