CYSIN: Whirl Wind Wednesday (4/27)

What good would a biking blog be without discussing food!

At least that is what the culinary experts I hang around with, called Team ROMEO, would say.

And, those ROMEOs have also taught me a lot about "dreaming". 

Pick a destination.  Dream about it. Get out your maps.  And, make a dream come true by riding your bike to that chosen destination.

Dang!  Those ROMEOs are so deliciously romantic!

Marie Catribs is a little romantic place for big dreamers!

Today's post is about a little dream trip:

Destination:  Grand Rapids, MI
Distance:  316 Miles from Stow, OH
Anticipated Weather:  Crappy!  Winds,
                                    Thunderstorms and only God knows what else!

....

CYSIN: Traumatic Part III Tuesday (4/26)

As an "inmate biker" ...I want to be treated in a very humane manner!


My google search for a movie title, that popped out of my head, generated a great find.
Even though this flick is actually titled "The Green Mile", the review name provided the hit!

Let's face it.  We are all on death row.  It is just a matter of time.

And, as bikers, we should all know the "odds" are sometimes stacked against us.  That's why it is imperative to: Ride Safe!

Spinning further...another quick google search for "cycling deaths 2010" produced an OHIO "death column" reference...pointing to the past six years:

Being a spreadsheet geek, if I had time I would have applied a pivot table to convert the "death column" to a "death row" format.  Hopefully, just you knowing that I am thinking it will be sufficient to make my point!  

Nobody wants to be a statistic...in any column.  However, in my first year of riding, I made two of the columns...crashes and injuries (more to follow on my June 7th "bus crash").  Accidents can happen...but they can also be avoided!

Hopefully, I am seeking to steer clear of this data set in 2011 and beyond! I hope and pray the same for you.

FYI, below you will find the reference to the web source of the above data table of Ohio Bicycle Crashes.

I don't recall ever seeing "The Green Mile" (Mrs. thinks I have... and then I learn son Andy has it in his dvd collection) ...but it is now on my "must watch list"...even if it was not a block buster hit!  I like Tom Hanks (and also ABC's Tom Wilson...come to think of it). 

Visualization of a "thought" popping out of my mind!

Best of all, I like the name of the movie review!  It fits perfectly with Part III of the Traumatic Tuesday!

In context, here is "the longest mile" (actually 1.1 miles) that provides the landscape for this blog entry.  I wish there was a nifty quick way to change the google maps "blue route" to a "green route"...but you just knowing I am thinking it will be sufficient! 

Portage Trail...a climb option out of Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Part III primarily covers the identified route above...from green point A...UP TO... green point B.

Below are points of interest from "the longest mile"...which occurred a long the way:

•  The Fix!
• The Fall!
• The Walk!
• The SAG Rescue! 

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CYSIN: The Traumatic PART II of Tuesday (4/26)

Which of the above "pics" is highlighted in Traumatic Part II Tuesday?



When the sun is shining and skies are blue it is hard to imagine categorizing such a day as "traumatic".  However, that is exactly what this Tuesday gets classified as.

Two of the six pictures above relate to Traumatic Tuesday.  One is highlighted in "Tuesday - PART II" of this post,  The other will be highlighted in "Tuesday - Part III" in the next post.

You will just have to select "more" to "see" a part of the full story!

CYSIN: Reflecting Back on "Mooo-n Light Monday" (4/25)

Okay...so the "CYSIN" reference in these series of post titles, each dated April 30, 2011, might be a little confusing.

Let me explain the mechanics this way....

In the processing of "focusing my telescope" for the mission of this "one month old" blog, which is intended to simply be a personal journal, I have made the following discoveries:

• Setting the "context" of my blogging background is challenging.  I should have started blogging a year ago...when I began my bike riding activities.  If I had, I wouldn't feel compelled to explain stuff all the time.
• It seems, in this world of blogging/journaling, that it is difficult to stay current.  Biking, working, thinking, creating (and other stuff I should be doing), all seem to demand time and attention.  I am working on finding the right "gear" to ride it...to keep my pedal strokes smooth. However, I am loving the ride!
• Steering is a problem.  "Stay between the lines", is one of my favorite TV commercial quotes...that I need to more consistently apply here.  Sorry if I get distracted and roll off the path occasionally (okay...most of the time). 

Repeat after me, COW intends to write about making "positive connections" on the cycling trail!  The CYSIN preface, is my attempt to get caught up on "connections" that I have made in April, before moving on to the merry, merry, month of May!

So...if I am filled with such merriment, "WHY the SAD Moon Face?"

On the 26th day of the "moon's cycle", one can see
...old man in the moon!

Dancing in the Mooo-n Light!

Hey didle didle, the cat and his fiddle,

The COW jumped over the moon!

Sorry if you think this post is just utterly ridiculous...

I'm just trying to "milk" this old nursery rhyme for all its worth!

Actually, here is a challenge for all you poets out there! This also includes "you who are poets and don't knose its!!!"

I dare you!  Nope, I double dare, triple-dog-dare, quadruplle-cat-dare you to use the comment section below to craft a few verses of lyrics about the "COW jumping over the moon".  C'mon man! You can do it!

And please, don't make me say it, "What's the matter? Cat's got your tongue?".

Like I said above, the cat ain't got your tongue!

... Music please mistro… KC and the “Sun Life” Band:

The "cats" got the "fiddle" and...

That's the way (uh-huh uh-huh)

COW likes it (uh-huh uh-huh).

Or, how about another “Sunshine…please sunshine…hit!"

So let's do a little dance

Make a little love

Get down tonight (moo, moo)

Get down tonight (moo, moo, moo, moo)

Hit “moo-re” below if you have your “groove on” and want to catch one of COW’s shortest posts to date, "Say WHAT"?  Honest, less than 600 words!!!  It‘s a “disco” Progress Insurance thing to do!

Just ask “Flo”…she’d say, “Flow with it!”

...

CYSIN: Sunday's Simple Message (4/24)

The following two pictures were first displayed in my Easter Sunday post called Pedaling "Peeps" .

You can click the link above to read about my day...which included a "Holiday" bike ride.

And, three of my favorite "peeps" were pictured in "Holy COW's Holy Saturday" post (next post down).



How are these two pictures related?
Yes, they both display Holiday candies.
But, there are a few reason for capturing these images.



The "green box" reminds me of Calvary's story from Good Friday...in the city of Jerusalem.  Three "peeps" were brought there, to Golgotha, to be crucified under Pilot's ruling decision under Roman law of the day.  It was a mucky mess, but when it was all said and done, two dead bodies remained (those of two criminals) behind, but the "centerpiece" did what no one has ever done before.  God's Son, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead.

By tradition, we hide Easter Eggs and munch on jellie beans as a reminder that when His "peeps" went to find him in the cavern of his grave, He could not be found.  He had RISEN from the grasp of death.

Within the "red box" are the elements of a "data analysis" I am conducting...about biking foods and blogging.  "LBS Jimmer" has me looking at an anti-bonk remedy. 

More to follow!     

Still not much displayed so far...any guess on the phrase

that is represented by the letters : CYSIN

Leave your guesses in the comment section below!

2 of 8 slices have now been revealed...more to follow!





Pedaling “Peeps”

One CASE = Price of 3 ROMEO Lunches!

Wow COW! I wish I would have known where to get a case of the “sugar free” peeps.

One case, with 24 unit packages, and 3 Peeps per unit equals = 72 Peeps!

Its funny how math works, 72 Peeps reminds me that the average age of my ROMEO biking buddies is 72 years old…go figure!  In either case, they are both “good peeps”.

If you are starting to wonder if this post is going to be about “peeps”…I can only say go back to the top and read the title one more time.

After reviewing the “title”, I don’t want to hear one more “peep” out of you!  Oh, I just remembered…that is what my Mom would always say to me when I told her I wanted to grow up and be a bike blogger!
...

Doppler Doo Doo!



Cake Anyone?  You Betcha!!!
Feast your eyes on this ROMEO!


When you have a craving to ride your bike and a craving for food, there is no better group to “feast with” than Akron’s based ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out!).  They are a “Wiley” group of eaters and riding machines!

The ROMEOs follow the guiding ways of their Fearless Leader, none other than the shooting for the moon (234,000 life time miles), Dr. Tom Schulter, who selects their weekly Tuesday lunch rides and generates the needed “cue sheets” …  occasionally fraught with directional flaws – worthy of a good ribbing from “the gang”!

Always check those details, West versus East references, right turns versus left turns!  And, if you are not careful, Dr. Tom might even plan a route using one of his ancient collectible 30 year old maps…where roads no longer exist today.  But, DO NOT FEAR!

Dr. Tom…the best ever “Cluster Chaperon” for great group rides!

Obey the good doctor’s prescription,

“Don’t get lost…just “follow me” to the moon!”

The cue sheets and map references, however useless, are not necessary for ROMEO rides.  All you need to do is follow behind “his behind” and his rear end watcher…Sponge Bob.  Dr. Tom has never “lost a sheep” in the flock that he so skillfully shepherds!

I would follow this guy anywhere…and have!

Besides shepherding the flock, and his awesome cartography skills, and his to “drool for” model train collections, that consumes the entire massive basement of his Bath Township abode, Dr. Tom is the group’s lead weather forecaster. (Oh…and he is also a real cut up…but that is not surprising…since he is a retired surgeon.)

He is like NASA’s Control Center, and provides the “Go!  No Go!” decisions for both the weekly lunch rides (Tuesday) and the daily group rides (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday).  And, he is NEVER wrong! 

 Go figure!!!

On Tuesday morning, April 26^th, he issued a “NO GO!” decision do (or is that…a doo doo decision) to his interpretation of the “Doppler”. 

Dang it!

 

Rain, rain go a way!

Come again another day!

...

 

CYSIN: Holy COW's Holy Saturday (4/23)



It's probably not normal for Shrek to show up for a "photo opportunity" at an Akron Bike Club group ride...but that is exactly what happened!  I would like to say that I had nothing to do with this surprise appearance, but that is exactly not the "truth".

The "truth" is that Jim Bowker's hi-tech phone camera made me do it.  But, I don't know how I did it.  It's a mystery to me.

You can read the entire account of the ABC's "Unofficial Think Spring" group ride...it was a fantastic day to be on bike!  It's a long post, so I will say, "Holy COW...that's a long post!" for you.  Here is the post link: Getting a Peak of Sunshine.

After "commuting" back home from this group ride, I took a two hour nap and got gussied up for a special evening celebration...
   
...

Getting a Peak of Sunshine!

With morning birds chirping this Easter morning...could this be a second consecutive day of delight? Time will only tell.  However, based upon the Saturday (4/23/2011) ride update that is spinning above my finger tips, I can say that one "Day of Sunrise" is surely enough!


To walk the beach.  Hear the surf. Feel the breeze. See the sky lighten...
...all but dreams in NEO. Yet, on this "Day of Hope", all vision is possible! 


There are bike glove "red circles" the back of my hands.  Forearms of pinkness, from yesterday's "shine", are already turning to tan.  But, those helmet air vent openings, allowing a "singe" to the forehead and to the "top of my dome", will require the all day wearing of a ball cap this Holiday!

Regardless of these spots of "sun burns", what a great Saturday bike ride we had....

....

Going “shoeless” did not work so well…

It’s been a “hectic” week

Squeezing “rides in the trenches” during this streak of “COW droppings” bad weather has been tough!

Pulling an “all nighter” (my favorite way to study in college) to clean house before the “Mrs.” arrived home Tuesday morning, from her three week visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil to see our first grand-daughter, is still issuing its payback pain.

Planning, soliciting, and running to meetings to strategizing my impromptu CFalls to Sandusky “road trip”…that is circling in a holding pattern until our weather breaks…still requires more “focusing” effort to finalize the details.

And spinning, crafting, dicing, and re-writing the “EPIC Post” that I started last Wednesday has…while trying to keep blog activity rolling...been consuming and numbing.  Maybe this blogging stuff is not for me!

...

Works in LA! What About Your "BIG" Hometown?

I have only been to Los Angeles a few times.  Had no previous desire to ride my bike there, but then I watched a short three minute video about "CicLavia"...which was held in LA on 4-10-2011...and thought..hey this is pretty cool!

Beside...it is refreshing to see people riding thier bikes in "sunshine" in contrast to NEO #@$%!@%^!!

Here is the link to a blog write up about the event that has the 3 minute video:  http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04/ciclavia-los-angeles-2011-take-back-streets-video.php

Here is the web site link for "CicLavia" if you want to check this out more:
http://ciclavia.wordpress.com/

In the mean time...I am working on posts!  More to follow.

Please leave comments about "Circla Via" if you have a chance.  Thanks!

...

Monday Night Baseball...Step Up To the Plate

Who is on first...
What is on second base...
I Don't Know is on third base..

And, you all, the best readers in the blogosphere...are at the plate.

Swing Away!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, leave a comment below. Any comment..

You Can Do It!!!

You can be as straight forward as:

• Just saying " Hello"
• Identify where you are reading this blog from
• You can write about your biking highlight from this past week
• You can ask a biking question - like as in an open forum
• What about your plans for riding this coming week?

I am going to be off line..crafting some blog entries for the week...so it is your baseball game until I post again tomorrow night at 4:30 pm.

If you don't feel like commenting, you can always watch Abbott & Costello utube clip

Remember: Ride Safe!

Don't Leave Home Without it....Your "CULT" Reflection!

Our second oldest son, Andy (27), was getting ready to head out for a "gusty" Sunday morning (4/17) softball practice.  Upon popping back in through the back door, he uttered a belly laugh and this proclamation, "You have some crazy creative biking buddies."  I smiled.  He has always been very perspective.

He then proceeds to loft a projectile through the living space of our den to the adjacent kitchen table where I was...well duh...blogging!

Immediately, everything seemed to down shift into a hyper-slow motion (not warp speed...more like ROMEO speed) as I intently watched the "projectile" being 'hurled" my way while thinking through these concise "flighty" thoughts...in a Jason Borne sort of way:

...could I catch this missile?  Duh..once a goalie always a goalie...go Cager!

...could this projectile be of any danger to us?  Always thinking safety first!
...another ABC devious plot? Could this be a "Steampunk Bomb"?
...or, what of a ROMEO retaliation? Maybe a can of "whoopass"?
...Holy COW droppings!  THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS!!!

When projectile lands safely in my hands, I think to myself, "I have some crazy creative biking buddies!"
...

You are about to enter a "NO PUKE" Zone...

Conclusion:

If you don’t care about your local bike club,

I don’t care too much about you!

The local bike club that I belong to has a wonderful affiliated blogger.  Brenda Greathouse has only posted two entries on the official club web page to date, but she told me yesterday, at ABC's Think Spring event, "More are coming!"

When I read her first post on the ABC site,

 The Akron Bicyclist: What's His Flavor?,

I learned a number things: 

• People have great care and compassion for our club
• Blogging seems to be a fun and rewarding activity
• The word "steampunk" is a real word  (I don't get out much)
• And, "Steampunk Chuck" is a marvelous and descriptive flavor

Fine Print WARNING:

 Please don't read this post if...

1.) You have a queasy stomach

2.) You already read too many COW posts (droppings?) this week

3.) You care nothing about the growth and development of your local bike club

....

O Romeo, Romeo! Perché sei tu Romeo?"

This post discloses a scheme of intrigue, rage, lust, and something better than the world's most passionate lovers. 

None of the names within this account have been changed in order to fully implicate the guilty parties.  Only the fractural facts have been presented, with no known material alterations unintentionally made.

The story you are about to read is most truly TRUE!

EPIC Post...it is coming along.

Saturday UPDATE:   EPIC SMECKIT!  There will be no complete release under this post because I am breaking the planned post into a number of stand alone parts:

1. O ROMEO, O ROMEO, Wherefore art thou ROMEO? Posted Sat 4/16
2. To "B" or not to "B"...that is the question! (PENDING)
3. Puking and other Fun Bike Club Activities! (PENDING)
4. ABC's: Thinking Spring Highlights from a COW perspective (PENDING)
5. First Year Anniversary of first new/used bike purchase (PENDING)  

As I mentioned in comment below...60 degrees, sunshine, no winds...blogging takes back seat.  "Stan the awesome one" drove up from North Canton shortly after noon and we rolled out on a "Figure 8" ride from CFalls to Kent to Stow and back to CFalls.  Here is the launch pic.

COW and Stan Purdum getting ready to leave
the farm for 41.4 miles of CFalls "Figure 8" ride.

Stan shared a story that is going to make you puke.  Well, maybe not...reverse that.  His story was about going on his "first club bike ride" that made him puke.  Same difference I suppose. 

  (Prior Post)

If you have been looking and waiting...I will be posting my "first" EPIC post tomorrow...on Thursday April 14th.  If you need a distraction from doing your taxes...I hope this will be a good read for you. 
Talk at you soon.
Ride Safe!

Cager on Wheels

 ...

It's Official...I'm under a gag order!!!

Sometimes it is hard to figure out who your friends are....

 Would you agree? 

I am taking a "time out"...counting to ten.

Will just leave you with this:

Going “buy” the Book

Confession time.  I am not an avid reader.  I am more of a thinker and creator.  I love walking the isles of a local based, non-big box, hardware store.  It just gets my juices flowing. Same holds true for local bike shops! 

While rehabbing after my initial heart attack, I walked for 60 minutes (at a good clip) at my local Home Depot during the cold winter months.  The “big box” experience did not inspire me all that much, but the store layout is pretty much lasered in my memory!  It is often hard to find an employee to help there, so my constant circling went undetected.

So, what does “hardware stores” and “book buying” have to do with a cycling blog.  I’m thinking, “HARDLY nothing”.  However, like the cinder blocks you can find in the home and garden section of the Orange Box, a few books make for a good foundation.

There are three guys on the Yellow Shirt list that need to be revealed more as we explore the books I have listed in my “Book Shelf” and on the “Works In Progress” tab.  One is a “sharer”, the other is an “author”, and the other is a “gifter”.

Grab Your Swim Suit...Lets Hit The Beach!

This post title "clicked in my head" when I double checked Yellow Shirter "Pastor Stan's" cold weather riding list and proclaimed, "Say WHAT?".  (You can check on Stan's Wears here or on the page tab above)

No snow boots, long underwear, winter bike tights, two pair of wool socks, two long sleeve jerseys, balaclava head gear, or long finger gloves, and no jacket!  All that's required is bike shoes, short socks, bike shorts, short sleeve bike shirt, fingerless bike gloves, and a helmet.

I have been so use to riding in 20 to 30 degree weather that Stan's recommendations for a 75 degree day seemed like I was wearing a bathing suit!  It's all I could think about as I pedaled out of the driveway...unclear as to where I would head on this ride.

I pondered what graphic image I would be able to locate to reinforce my joy of wearing next to nothing for this April 10th ride. Upon returning home, I found the perfect swim suit image.  You doubt me?  This guy did not!

Etymology of Cager

Congratulations!  You have successfully navigated to the blog Cager On Wheels.

If your fingers typed an extra "s" at the tail end of Cager, you might have found the google reference of a December 1972 article from Ebony magazine.  Here is a screen shot of that article:

Documenting the Dirge

Biking statistics tell us any Friday afternoon is one of the worst times for riding your bike on the roads within any city…especially between 3:00pm and 6:00pm.  You never know when an over zealous driver, anxious to get home or on the way to celebrate TGIF, will try to get you with a “Right Hook” and you certainly have to be constantly on the lookout for a deadly “Red Cross”.  Wish I had more time here to talk about these ever present biking hazards, but I am short on time for the moment.  I’ll leave you with this one tip, if the roads are a little crazy; PLEASE AVOID riding on the sidewalk instead…that’s just as hazardous. 

Getting Personal

Somewhere, during my first week of blogging, I wrote that COW would be somewhat of a personal journal.  After my initial posting activities, I can say that it has been therapeutic.  Studying and learning the backroom activities of the blogosphere, in terms of getting started and figuring things out, has been consuming but again therapeutic none the less.

So here is some raw truth.

Around the World!

This morning, when I was doing the dishes and cleaning up, the blog title "Around the World" popped into my head. I then created a new blog tab to capture my cycling goals for 2011, but there are not many SMART objectives recorded there yet.  For the moment, I am trying to recall a husband and wife team from Stow, OH (the Wickershams ?  once upon a time Akron Bike Club members? Ah com'on lurking ROMEOs...help me out here and leave a comment about these folks!) who tandem-ed around the world a few years back, but I could not get any specifics about them after several minutes of google searching.  In the process of searching, I did come across another "connection" which has now been added to the Yellow Jersey tab...the list has now been expanded to "36 Connections" to write about.  Here is what the Stow Sentry (Seven Day Bike Trip) wrote about, my newest addition, "The Vantrease Family" last Fall...they all for sure deserve a Yellow Jersey.  I can't wait to connect up with them...especially wife/mother Patti who is a cardiac rehab nurse at Summa (my two cardiac rehabs took place at Akron General...the Number #1 Yellow Shirt listing).


FOR THE RECORD: Riding around the world will not be one of my goals for 2011.  Maybe next year?  I doubt that too!!!  

Capillary Action

COW Blog Entry #3:  If you are reading here, you have to be asking yourself what do these two pictures have to do with cycling?  If your'e thinking they would better belong in a "how to do a seventh grade science project blog", I would agree...but let me explain!

When I was a kid (in 1962-ish), we would often watch the afternoon TV showing of Art Linkletter’s House Party.  You know…it’s the show where “Kids Say the Darndest Things”.  If you have no clue what I am talking about, you might want to check out this utube link: Art and his Kids!  (you might want to check it out even if you do know what I am talking about…it was well worth the 7:14 time investment to reminisce). 

Holy COW!

Holy COW!!!  Cager On Wheels (COW) has started this blog to share personal connections to cycling.  Cager On Wheels might be a strange blog name but lets just say that strange, odd, and peculiar are adjectives that I fancy.  Be sure to check back to learn of the evolution of this blogname, tidbits, and hopefully other useless facts. 

In reality, COW might be a misleading blog acronym since it does connote the female gender of cattle and that’s no bull.  In terms of collective cycling experiences, I am very much a newbie or what might consider a baby.  So for cattle call purposes, a reference to CALF might be a better genderless reference.  Before any experienced cyclist (older cattle) seeks to make me a veal cutlet, my actual adult bike riding experiences only got rolling last March (2010).