I always come across quotes I like but I never have anywhere to put them.  So, I'll collect some here.

Once again, someone (Larae H) challenged me for another run. So, I ran the Boulevard Dash yesterday to get Thanksgiving Day started. The run was 5 miles, starting on Belle Meade Boulevard near Harding Road. We turned around near the park entrance, and then returned to the end of BMB. Out of about 20 people that met us at the start, Larae and I were the only ones that ran. Our time was about 47:11, not bad since I haven't put one foot in front of the other faster than walking since the 2008 Country Music Marathon.

I am so sore today. I'm having trouble walking DOWN stairs! My quads are killing me. I'll never go run without working up to it again. And I'm going mountain biking tomorrow at Lock 4 on a borrowed single speed. I haven't been mountain biking since the 2006 HBC Ocoee trip. This holiday is full of stupid things to do. Oh well, I'm having fun anyways!

I voted early. I was pretty much convinced of who I was going to vote for.  And I didn't care if they suddenly found Bin Laden in a hole somewhere.  Or if some video emerged of my candidate saying something back in the70's.  People change their thoughts over the years about things.  They become more open minded, evolving from hate and fear, to tolerance, and eventually acceptance.  It's a personal growth that I hope Americans can go through over at least the next four years if my candidate is elected, which it looks like he will.

I rode my bike over to my early voting location at the Green Hills Library.  It's funny to get the "are you riding a bike"?  Of course I'm standing there in tights, bike shoes, "superhero" jersey holding my helmet.  I digress.  As I approached the voting booth, I began thinking about who I was going to vote for - thoughts like: 

Am I making the right choice?  Do the paranoid people I know have it figured out?  George Bush won the election last night through a campaign of fear.  I couldn't accept fear as a motivator again, and I hope we as Americans never do that again. 

I believe my choices shape the future of our country.  Our forefathers bravery, patriotism and belief in a better future for their children, grandchildren and beyond give us the opportunity.  Voting is the most American thing we do.  It's humbling but also uplifting - an experience that touches me.

This is an historic election - a black man as president, or a white woman as vice-president?  With either choice, when you select your choice on the machine and finalize your vote, it's this feeling that you're part of a new era in America.  You're making history - it makes me feel like I'm making a difference in our future.  I'm enthusiastic for young black people to have a role model in the highest position in the world, to show that anything is possible for them.  I hope if Obama wins, he reinforces that it's not an entitlement - success is earned through education and hard work. 

I'm a chronic over-analyzer and it's a big thing for me to make a decision and commit.  Once you push that button, you can't go back and change your mind.  Not that I wanted to, it's one of those small (but hugely important) events in life where you have to make a one or the other decision and commit.

For those of you that monitor my website daily for updates and find this article on November 4, and you haven't voted yet, back away from the computer and go vote.  (I think my website gets about 4 hits a day, peak, so it's not likely!)

Off to work...

I'm sitting here surfing, my usual thing before work, listening to the news.  One major news story was a possible $500 billion or million or something injection of money into the mortgage market.  The very next story was about a convenience store armed robbery.  It seems like every day I hear about a robbery.  It's a hunch, and it's probably an obvious characteristic of crime in tough economic times, but it seems like the numbers of robberies are on the rise in sync with the economy.  In good economic times, there are still desperate people, barely scraping together the components on the bottom of Maslow's Pyramid.  Or, maybe the stress of the economy on people drives them to do drugs, get addicted and continue into a downward spiral of crime in their life.  Anyways, economy is down, is crime up?  Or is it simply paranoia?  Do violent crimes make better news in tough times than in good times?  Or am I just paying more attention to those stories, hyper-sensitive to hunting evidence to back the theory?

Anyhow, I have a 'couple' acquaintance.  She has a very dominant personality, easy on the eyes.  He's a easy-going super-nice country boy hard working pushover.  They have a couple of kids.  Their life has been a continuous sequence of new cars and new houses.  One time they were in a big house in the suburbs with a big pool.  She got bored with that house after a few years, so they moved into a different one.  This happened several times over maybe 6-10 years.  She gets tired of their new car after it quits smelling like a new car, so they trade it in.  They have to be completely upside down.  And I know about what he makes, she doesn't work, and they can't afford their lifestyle.  I think it's the classic model for the mortgage crisis.  The bank shouldn't have loaned them so much money.  If my assumptions about their economic condition is true, I wish people like them could lose their house without crashing people's retirement accounts.

I make more money than him.  His house is brand new, probably $350-400,000.  We're outgrowing our house, the washer and dryer is downstairs (narrow steep stairs) in the basement.  Our closets are 50's house size.  Our cat boxes dominate one of our bedrooms.  We're living well within our means, and that's bringing us great comfort right now.  I'm not jealous - I'm just pissed that they'll probably get 'bailed out' somehow and stay in his house.  We've been talking about building on to our 'small' house, but we're afraid to take the risk right now.

I think I'm gonna buy some stock in Corrections Corporation of America (CCA.)  If my theory is correct, it's bound to do well in the next few years.  We'll need good cheap housing of prisoners.  Maybe I can sell it and make a nice down payment on our addition.

I rode my bike down to the Walk Bike Nashville  10th Anniversary birthday party and annual member meeting at the Farmers Market tonight.  The weather was quite mild and I was overdressed with leg warmers, long sleeve shirt and wind vest.  When I arrived, I'm so disappointed at the number of people that drive to a Walk Bike advocacy meeting.  I'd park my car around the corner and ride a block over just so I didn't have to show up in a car.  

Last year, the meeting was downtown.  It was the first time I had ever ridden a city bus in Nashville, and it was a great experience.  I met lots of interesting people downtown late at night waiting for the bus.  Using the bus is in the spirit of an organization like WBN.  The bus is an amazing way to get to downtown Nashville.  After hours, the return trip isn't so good, as the buses start running every hour instead of every half hour.  Maybe if demand increases, they'll run them more.

On the note of buses, Mayor Karl Dean spoke at the event tonight.  He has participated in Bike to Work days.  It was announced tonight that he got a new bike for his birthday, so I hope he can get out there and ride some.  He's also known for riding the bus in to downtown.  He spoke of budget problems, basically warning the walk bike community that money is tight.  We understand Karl, but please don't miss out on opportunities to do something easy.  While the economy sucks, please don't let the the city government slide into a culture of indifference towards walkers and bikers.

The ride home was great!  Traffic wasn't so bad, and I took 8th back across to catch Demonbreun.  I had a brief thought that if I were run over, maybe I would become kind of a martyr - maybe Karl Dean would remember meeting me tonight and make big changes in laws, facilities, ensuring safety of bicyclists in Nashville.  Again, after thousands and thousands of bicycle miles, I made it home safely. 

I even caught Donna coming out of Angel's on Music Square West, having her hair done.  She rode behind me for a half mile to inspect my night rig.  I have a Nathan reflective triangle strapped around my trunk bag, a Planet Bike flashing light on my helmet strap (thanks Todd Nordmeyer for the idea) and my reflective Nathan ankle bands moving up and down.  I have a LED armband and reflective stuff all over, but the previous stuff really stood out according to Donna.

PS - congratulations Shannon on her wedding coming up next weekend!  I met her fiancee' who moved from Austin to marry her.  He seems like a good guy.  He'll like Nashville.  I visited Austin once and I think they're a lot alike, but we have mountains.  Shannon did a great job speaking tonight too.  I think she's really growing professionally.

I just got back from a bike ride - yes, almost 10pm.  I met a couple of friends down in Hillsboro Village where we had a few beers.  From there, we headed over to Belmont where the presidential debates were occurring, hopefully to catch a glimpse of the candidates as their motorcades arrived.  

What a circus!  At Belmont, we witnessed the most sincere form of patriotism - dissent.  So many protesters were down there protesting so many issues, it was hard to keep up with what everyone was protesting for.  A big group were promoting Green Jobs at powervote.org and they gave me a sticker that I wore.  I still don't know what it is exactly.  Another big group wanted 3rd parties in the debates, and got in a big argument with some Obama supporters.  Everyone was yelling something, so I decided to yell to give cyclists 3 feet when passing.  It was pretty funny and my friends got a big laugh, and so did most semi-neutral people in the crowd.  We heard the candidates came in somewhere else and never saw them, but we did see the independents occupying the audience.

A cute little bald girl wearing a dress was there with a woman.  I guess she's been having cancer treatments and her hair was barely growing back.  She noticed the rubber chicken on the back of my bike and went for it.  I assume her mother turned her around, but I stopped her and encouraged her to squeak the chicken, so she squeaked away, smiled and laughed.  She was so cute and so thrilled with the chicken.  I told her it used to be a dog toy and she really thought that was funny.  She did finally knock my bike over, but I didn't care considering the joy I got from the whole experience.

So, back to Hillsboro Village for more beer.  From there, we rode across Vanderbilt to Centennial Park (where the Parthenon replica is.)  The AARP hosted a debate broadcast with a big screen, but the rest of my friends got lost and went home, so I watched by myself in the crowd.  Most of the audience were Obama supporters and we cheered and clapped every time Obama said something good, and boo'ed McCain when he said things that sounded like Bush, which was almost everything.  A few of us yelled "friends' every time McCain said it - probably could make a good drinking game for the next debate.  A very small number cheered opposite, a very small number.

During the debate, the rain started really coming down.  Right before it was over I decided to beat the traffic, since I was on my bike the whole way.  It poured rain - I mean poured.  But, thank goodness no McCain supporters were out there driving or I surely would have gotten run over.  My rain cape kept everything dry except my feet and the wrists of my long sleeve t-shirt.  A short ride in the rain is a fine way to end an entertaining night.

Tonight, I drove to Murfreesboro after work to join the Murfreesboro Bike Club for the Jim Benson Memorial Ride.  Jim was killed while he was wearing his helmet, riding legally on what appears to be a fairly safe place to ride.  I think the driver must have cut the corner off while making a left turn.  She must have been hauling ass because she was taken to the hospital with injuries from htting him.

At the start, Jim's widow Sandy Benson showed up.  They gave her a bullhorn and addressed the crowd of about 100 riders that showed up.  She talked about Jim riding a bicycle when he was 3 years old.  He was a swimmer.  He loved all kinds of things athletic.  He always worked in time to ride his bike.  She talked about the last time she saw him - preparing his bike, inflating his tires, adjusting his helmet.  She told him to have a great time and told him to be careful. 

Weeks before the ride, I wondered what it would be like if I was run down and killed by a car.  First, it's better than a heart attack at work, or an aneurism while going to the bathroom.  But, seeing Sandy talking about Jim makes me think about what Donna would look like standing there talking about me to a bunch of sympathetic cyclists.  I suppose she would say good things, but Sandy choked up at the end.  I hate to imagine Donna doing that.  I hate to imagine the next surviving family member addressing a bunch of people. 

That's why we have to keep working to make cycling safer for everyone.  That's why people need to quit driving along chatting on their cell phone about bull$hit.  Wrap it up and get off the phone.  That's why we need more bike lanes and shoulders.  That's why we need more legislation to protect cyclists and make drivers do what they already have to do with current laws.  If you're a driver or a cyclist, be careful out there.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=12406

http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=12857

http://www.wgnsradio.com/man-riding-bicycle-killed-in-sulpher-springs-road-wreck/2014/

One of my favorite verses:

Ezekiel 25:17 -  The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish, and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers, and you will know my name is The Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon thee.  

(actually, it's fake - from Pulp Fiction!)

If you have 18 minutes, this is pretty good. Left brain and right brain.

CLICK HERE

WWW.TED.COM

I went out and rode the HBC Tuesday night ride. I'm the ride coordinator, and lately I rarely ride on the club rides, and it's pretty pathetic I know.

Last night, I rode the new Tuesday location. The start is right off I65 by Cool Springs Blvd to the east, and the route heads south through McKay's Mill, Arno Road and all that. Pretty neat ride once you get away from Cool Springs Boulevard. Fortunately there's plenty of room for cars and bicycles because the roads around Cool Springs on the east side are basically wider than what's needed for traffic.

Anyhow, I was contemplating cars that speed around out in the country in such a big hurry. A bicycle that slows them down in a blind curve infuriates many of these country-dwelling soccer mom's. They're in such a big hurry to get home from work, or whatever it is that's so urgent that they pass bicycles unsafely. Why in the world did these people move out into the country in the first place? The peace and quiet? The slower pace and relaxation? Seems like the very nature of the infuriation induced by a bicycle is exactly the opposite thing these people are looking for when they make that choice to move out there. I see fewer angry drivers when riding through downtown Nashville! Maybe angry people in the country actually moved out to the country to get away from city bicycles? I just don't know.

After the ride, about 20 of us stopped by a Mexican restaurant for food and drink. Everyone toasted the great new route and ride. The next toast a few minutes later was to "Pat Clements - our ride coordinator who actually came out and rode with us!" And everyone cheered and toasted, including me. I'm not likely to get out for too many Tuesday rides, but I guess I need to ride more or I'm gonna get fired! Hmmm...I'll have to think about whether that's good or bad! (-: