More Cakes

No, I didn't ride to work today.

But . . .

I did ride.

I took my supervisor's advice and took an Annual Leave Day. I made it a point of doing those things with a track record of clearing my head. Riding is on the top of the list. Inline skating is also on the list. I did both. I started the day with a 14mi/23km skate. I swear I was skating into the wind both ways. It was a really good workout.

Then I went in search of more Cakes.

This one was easy to find. It is only a couple of blocks from where I live.

I thought this one would be easy to find too. It is in Carondelet Park one of my favorite riding destination for Billie. The list I printed out said it was near the Boat House. I looked all around the Boat House and couldn't find it. I was giving up and putting my helmet back on when I looked up and there it was.

Yes, it was close, but it was on the opposite side of the street. I've not gone back to look at the list to see if it actually said it was across from the Boat House and I misread it. I'd rather feel indignant than mistaken.

My next stop was in the Bevo Mill neighborhood. It is a very interesting area. You can read about it by clicking here. I couldn't figure out a way to get Billie in the photo. She's parked back around the corner.

The next Cake was in Tower Grove Park. This is a grand old Park and is near the Botanical Gardens.

I had to get a photo of the Cake in front of Luvy Duvy's.

And a great Cake it was.

I know not everyone likes cake so I found a couple of other options while I was riding.

How about some ice cream? This is an ice cream shop called the Filling Station. It hasn't been open long.

Truthfully, I find the wiener a little disturbing.

Or, maybe you prefer a hotdog?

I took Billie home, but there was more riding to be done.

After Mike replaced the solenoid it was the Red Fox's turn.

Yes, he is in short sleeves. Today's high was 77F/25C

It was night ride time.

I have come to the conclusion I didn't get the naming right on the Kymco. From now on she will be known as Kit the Red Fox. Kit ran flawlessly on our 60+mi/95+km jaunt. A wonderful beginning.

Possessed

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

The temptation is to think the Kymco is possessed. Last night I was on cloud nine. I had a new battery. The bike was riding fine. I was looking forward to riding it to work today and taking my time on the ride home. Everything went according to plan until I pushed the start button. It turned over immediately, the engine started right up, but the starter just kept cranking away. I turned off the key. The engine stopped running, but the starter just kept going and going and going. After two trips back upstairs to get the right tool, I finally got the battery disconnected. The cranking was pretty anemic by the time I got the battery out. I wasn't sure how much the noise stopping was my doing or the battery going dead.

If I could have figured out how to call in sick I think I would have. It had taken lots of cognitive energy to figure out taking out the battery. I was pretty confused. All I knew to do was push the Kymco back in the garage and take off on the Symba. Of course, since I leave insanely early for work I was at my desk a good twenty minutes early. After I took off my gear I went I and did my best to explain to my boss what had happened. He told me I could leave if I needed to. I told him when I got to a place where I was able to make a choice I would let him know.

By four o'clock it was pretty obvious I was going to make it through the whole day. I was even decently productive. I left work with the okay to take tomorrow off and I probably will. We left it this way. If I'm not there I'm taking the day off. I can, also, go in late. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow. Often the day after an extremely cognitive challenging day brings bone weary fatigue and cognitive fragility. We'll see.

After work, Mike T. came over and diagnosed the problem. Some of you probably already have it figured out. The solenoid failed. Mike says its the first time he'd had one fail in the "on" position instead the "off" position like the Symba's did recently. I know it sure would have been much quieter and a lot less stressful if it had been a "normal" failure. I suspect the neighbors would have liked it much better, too.

Mike is 95% sure he has a new solenoid at the shop. I'll give him a call tomorrow. He's at the shop alone, but is willing to come back out to my place after he closes the shop and stick the new solenoid in if he has it. If he doesn't have it, it will be next week.

Mike still assures me the bike is not bewitched or a lemon. He tells me solenoid failure is a common malady and probably not tied to the other issues I've had. I'm really trying to believe him.

How am I doing? I'm still experiencing some aphasia when speaking. As usual it doesn't seem to effect my writing, but I guess you are a better judge of that than I. If it is just me and the cat I'm experiencing myself as 100%, but I struggled to get the words out when I was with Mike. I suspect I will struggle some when Heather gets home.

Overall I must say it was a very successful day. There was a time not so long ago I would have been rendered completely helpless by the events of the day. Instead, I took a battery out of a scooter, worked eight hours, met with Mike, and wrote a blog. Yay!

• 37F/3C with a few clouds for the ride Downtown.
• 69F/21C and a wee bit cloudy for the home ride.

I Think It Is Time

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

I rode to work yesterday, too. It was just too full of a day and I ran out of time to make a post.

Both days were "breezy". The canyon effect Downtown was particularly challenging yesterday. Today not so much. Billie stayed upright both days.

After work I came home and started up Isabelle, my Kymco. I rode her over to Mike's. We put in a new battery and checked over the electrical system. We all were pretty sure it was the battery and everything we found today seemed to confirm that hypothesis.  We also looked at how we might add a larger windscreen. There seems to be windscreen people and not windscreen people. I've come to the conclusion I am a windscreen people. The one problem with Kymco's People 250S is finding after market stuff for them. There's stuff for the People 200, but not for Isabelle.

While I was there a man came in. He asked me, "Is that your 250S?." I said it was. And Mike said to him, "You sold it to him." Turns out he is the owner of Scooterworld. Mike had arranged the deal, picked the scooter up in Kansas City, Overland actually, and delivered it to me here. My brain is playing with me and I can't remember his name. I think it may be because his name is Mike, too. Even if I can't remember his name we had a great chat and he loved what I'd done to "personalize" Isabelle. He especially liked the hand guards. He liked them so much he took a photo of them. Now both he and Mike are on the hunt to find a windscreen to my liking. Stay tuned.

The weather is supposed to be incredibly nice tomorrow and I may just ride Isabelle to work. It has been a long time since I've trusted the Red Fox would start after sitting outside all day. I think it is time.

• 50F/10C and partly cloudy for the ride Downtown.
• 50F/10C with some haze and clouds for the home ride.

You Think?

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

We are definitely on the Springtime in St. Louis roller coaster.

Saturday Heather and I were hiking in our shirtsleeves. Yesterday we had sleet. Today? Today begins another warm-up.

The sun has moved far enough to the north to be out of my eyes in the morning.

A little more about the wind and Billie, my Symba. I always put her on the center-stand when I park her in the morning.

I looked at the thingys they have for the bikes and once I figured out how they worked I discovered ...

... she doesn't fit.

I think she'll be okay as long as I park her in the little nook between the stairs and the wall.

Seems pretty much out of the wind.

You think?

It's supposed to be "breezy" the next couple of days. We'll see how it goes.

• 21F/-6C and clear for the ride Downtown.
• 49F/9C and cloudy for the home ride.

No Real Harm

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

The day started off with a gorgeous sunrise.

There didn't seem to be much of a breeze when I rode in, but later the wind came up. I hadn't parked Billie in her little nook and I guess that was a mistake. It appears she blew over again. The maintenance guy who used to keep an eye on her has retired. I'm going on the evidence of her not quite being where I parked her, dirt on the left Hippohand, and all the contents of the top box being all to one side when it wasn't in the morning. The left mirror was out of adjustment, but not as bad as I'd of thought it would be. Oh well, whatever happened I think I will just make it a practice to park her in the nook everyday.

There appears no real harm was done, and it was great weather for the ride home. I'll take that.

• 48F/9C and cloudy for the ride in.
• 68F/20C with fewer clouds and some wind gusts for the home ride.

A Good Day

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

The temperatures this morning had me wondering where the warm went. But, by afternoon it was back.

On the way home I took my first Cake photo. This year marks the 250th Birthday of St.Louis. One of things going on is the Cakeway to the West. There are going to be 250 of these cakes located around the City. This is the only one that has showed up on my usual commute. Stay tuned there is a good possibility you will be seeing more cakes as the weeks go on.

I been complaining about the time change all week, but tonight I did something I couldn't have done a week ago.

I had my first after work land paddle of the year. I paddled for 40 minutes and there was still a little daylight left.

It was a good day.

• 29F/2C with a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 64F/18C and fair for the home ride.

Not So Windy

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It was windy, but not so windy. I didn't face any 50 mph gust. Officially the highest gusts during my ride times was a little over 30 mph.

I missed the heaviest of the rain as well. I rode Downtown in a steady, but light rain. A couple of times I thought I saw a snowflake hit the windshield. I'm 99% sure I didn't imagine it.

Just in case the wind did increase, I parked Billie where she would have some protection.

With the extra light in the evening, I decided to putz around a neighborhood or two rather than come straight home.

I spied these two on a street I've been on many times. I'd never seen them before. I don't think they are new. I think it just hasn't been my time to notice them until today. It's wonderful how many discoveries are waiting for me. It's why I keep returning to the same neighborhoods over and over again. It isn't so much that I'm looking for something new as it is my coming to really see what is already there.

Also, today was my first really good brain day since the time change. I'm grateful.

• 36F/2C with light rain for the ride in.
• 45F/7C and mostly cloudy for the home ride.