Nite Rider

So the whole bike commuting thing is easy during the summer.  The days are long, the trails are clear of most debris, for the most part the biggest worry is rain.

But then fall and winter arrive and a new obstacle shows up.  It's dark.  What I used to use as a light is the Cat Eye light you see on the right.  It runs on three AAA batteries, and is a fine being seen light.  As far as being able to see though, even the freshest batteries give a dim patch 5 feet away to work with.

A little more than a week ago we picked up the Nite Rider light you see on the left.  It has a USB cable for the rechargable battery pack and it ran a whole week's commuting without significant dimming.  On Saturday I went on the Night Ride with the folks from Hiawatha Cyclery, and with just an hour's charging it went the whole trip.  The Nite Rider light casts a beam about 12 or 15 feet wide and about 20-30 feet down the trail depending on how it is aimed.

I still carry both because the Nite Rider light does not have a blinking function, but for seeing I recommend the Nite Rider.  Also, I think having a backup is always a good idea.

I hope there are more night rides or rides on Sundays because it is a fun group to ride with, and Saturday mornings line up tragically with my work schedule.

yeah, I know, what the hell.  The ISO was set to 200 and I didn't feel like fussing.  this is from the spiral thingy by the Gutherie.

Wolfninja!

So word has it we bought a new car.

And it is a newer car than the van, but not exactly "new."  Not that I wouldn't think of it as being new.  Since it is new to us.

Many things about it are new to us about the car.

like the size. compact.

Wicked cool how much space is left in the parking space with a compact car.

And then there is the driving experience...

The Gimpy the Wonder Taurus always had a smooth ride.  The van also.  But neither gripped the road like this car does.  On curves the van tried to pass itself, and Gimpy couldn't get up to a dangerous speed.

What I would like to tell the car salesmen we didn't buy cars from is this: consistency.  We dragged everything over a couple days and every one of them changed their stories in some horrible inconsistent way.  Like the guy in the Honda dealership.  His wife went from staying home with year and a half old baby and their single car, to 15 months ago he bought an Avalanche for a second vehicle because he just "needed a truck."  Now he might have shared the stories in a way that was confusing.  Perhaps when the baby was born they only had one car and now they have two, but he didn't say that.

I have a few stories that I share with customers, and what I try to do is keep the important details always the same.  Maybe I am more accustomed to seeing a customer more than once?

Learning to drive a stick has been getting easier as I deconstructed the way I was used to driving and inserted my control of the shifting.  I'm still rough; I dumped the clutch with my Grandmother riding shotgun.  But really like driving the car.  Did I mention Frenchie still fits in the trunk of the compact car?

BWAHAHAHAHA