Adios, tree

Cut in half and loaded on the Big Dummy for a ride to the collection pile for mulching.

It's just starting to snow here. I know I'm getting weirder as I get older, but for some reason I'm really enjoying the snow this year.

Some things I've discovered since last we connected

Ten years on with my green Surly Cross-Check, it continues to perpetually morph into the next great thing.

Wearing a suit while riding a Denver B-cycle on icy streets is logical, and oddly comfortable.

Movie theater lobbies are now apparently infested with enormous, squirrel-like, wisecracking, hipster rodents.

In related news, this is Scout, our new dog. A canine willing to let squirrel-like rodents run amok, she is not.
Not pictured: The squirrel who met a gruesome end after mistaking Scout for a typical, non-hardscrabble-fend-for-yourself-former-stray type dog.

FYI: Circa '80s vintage, Canadian-built, steering-wheeled sleds found for free on the curb during the summer are worth strapping onto the Big Dummy. Who looks silly now? Just saying...

Not much beats the combo of a well-groomed sled hill and no school over winter break.

Just because science has advanced to a point where pancakes can be made with M&Ms and sprinkled with "elf dust," it will never emerge as the wisest formula for a nutritious breakfast.

Lastly, this view still comprises the extent of my world most of the time. But not for long.
Happy 2012, everyone!

Yes, this is exactly what you think it is

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Feet, seen from the bottom side.

Thumbs up!

That's right. It appears as though I've been granted Daddy duties for a second go around. That means I'll likely be making some modifications to the Big Dummy, so as to better accommodate a younger passenger. Such modifications will occur a bit down the line of course, as the due date is in early March of next year.

We don't know the gender, and haven't nailed down any names yet. If you're the prognosticating sort, you can submit your baby-related guesses here, or take a look at guesses made by others.

An artist's concept illustrates some Big Dummy mods. A blonde big sister and a little pink piggy show how it would work.

Speaking of the numeral two, I happened to check out Denver B-cycle number 002 a few days ago for a snowy ride. Riding in snow and all types of weather is part of what makes riding in Denver so great.

Denver B-cycle number 002.

A B-station chilled with a blanket of morning snow.

I shuttled a basket full of snow across downtown Denver. The red bikes ride quite well on loose snow, packed snow and patchy ice.

An intrepid parent was out and about doing morning errands on this nicely equipped rig.

It can't be Halloween. Where's the snow?

A couple of creatures sporting big, toothy grins

It seems as though Mother Nature's timing was off by a few days this year. The final bits of snow from last week's storm had withered away by this afternoon. Historically, it seems more likely than not that the weather around here is foul and cold with the occasional blizzard, just in time for trick or treating. However, this year the weather couldn't have been finer.

Joan Jett loves rock and roll. And Smarties.

In our gluttonous cruise around the neighborhood, we collected far more candy than we need. In fact, it's far more than any mortal human needs. So, we're leaving the excess out for the candy fairy. The candy fairy, for those who may not be aware, brings gifts to good little girls and boys in exchange for candy on Halloween night. I'm grateful for the candy fairy for reducing the presence of sugar, an uncontrolled but potentially dangerous substance when in high concentration in the bloodstream of young humans.

Slimy pumpkin guts

Happy Halloween! Oh, and don't forget to brush.

183rd riding day for 2011

I don't keep track of many personal statistics regarding bike use, such as miles ridden and the like. It's just not that practical for me, as only one of my many bikes has a cycle computer. However, I was curious to examine my riding habits in some quantitative manner, so late last year I decided to record every day that I use a bike to make at least one trip that might have otherwise been made by car.

This past week I logged my 183rd day of riding a bike to displace car use during 2011. The number 183 is significant, because it passes the 50% threshold of the number of days in the year. So, regardless of how many more days I ride between now and the end of the year, I have already ridden a bike to replace a car trip for at least half the days of 2011.

Looking at the chart above, it's noticeable that riding days in January and February are fairly low. What can I say; it was cold. I will note that I did ride on several exceedingly cold days during that period. May was also lower than expected, during which I had a nasty case of bronchitis. July has a dip too, as I was hiking in the mountains for a week. I'll chalk up the lower numbers in September and October to work on my dissertation, during which I've rarely left my house. I expect that October will grow a bit during its final week. I'll likely have an update at the end of the year.

Seeing the chart made me think about the days that I didn't replace car trips with bike trips. Sure, some of those days I drove somewhere or for whatever reason did not have a bike available. However, maybe a third of those days I didn't go anywhere. Perhaps I'll devise more data categories for next year to capture some of these items.

In any case, it's been an interesting exercise, for me at least. If you are interested, you can log your own bicycling days by using my bicycling days counter template at Google Docs.