Thawing a Dragon

After yesterday's plaster and primer session in the living room I needed to get outside when the thermometer hit 50 degrees. By noon I had the Flyte ready to roll, until the rear hub told me otherwise. The Hayes Superlite was overhauled the other night and I thought the wear on the serrated interface might be fine. Nope, it still slipped and popped my knee forward. So rather than pull the King rear wheel off the Fe2+ and put a 17t on it, I just grabbed the Fe2+ and went out the door.

A quick roll down the street and onto the bike path had me feeling happy.

The Thai Temple is very serene in all the snow.

The residential streets suck on a bike. Ice skates would have be better. It was a bit like riding a trail. The roughness paired with the sudden slowing due to pockets of slush.

I rolled around the south side of the lake through Monona and over to the Arb. By the west side of the Arb I was done trying to stay dry. I just started hitting the puddles if there was no dry line. Dry being relative. As I came to the Campus bike path I saw a guy riding just ahead of me.

Finally, someone to chase down. I pinned it and reeled him in easily as he was trying to stay dry. He must have though the path was a "no wake zone." After splashing past him I headed down Regent to the John Nolan path. All the times I passed the boathouse during the winters I was bike commuting I never understood the attraction of ice fishing. Still, it keeps them off the roads after all that drinking.

A bit later I saw the 2008 edition of Dick's Lake Monona Art. It varies most years. He's had the US capital building, the Statue of Liberty, but this year it seems like it's "the March of the Penquins." The 5 I saw in the haze looked like they were goose stepping, but maybe the snow is deep on the lake too.

By the time I neared a warm shower I was momentarily distracted by the smell of Cafe Zoma's coffee. It was nearing 3 so I passed on a taste as I had plans.

Madison public schools may claim to be stellar but they are sorely lacking funds. I don't know where my $3600 in property taxes goes, but it didn't go to the schools. Once a year Sephie's PTA has a fund raiser at a local bar with a stage, the Harmony. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for kids with the proceeds being used for events and other stuff. They had two bands, The Deitz quartet and the German Art Students. The Deitz's are a school family so it's cool to hear their music.

The German Art Students are more polished and Sephie was feeling the beat on the floor.


After a couple of Nutbrowns I was ready to call it a night and hit update the blog before sleep. Where'd I put the pillow?