Is This a Bike?

The definition of what is a bike came up when I put together this contraption pictured above. My wife had a bone spur remove from her right ankle last week and can't put any weight on the foot for a few weeks. Originally I thought she would use crutches to get around but because they had to cut her achilles tendon to get to the spur the doctor recommended the knee cart as it would be safer and make it easier to get around.

Of course after I put it together I had to take it for a spin. It has wheels, handle bars and brakes so it felt a little like a bike. After testing it out on a ramp I built to be able to get up and down the three step to the kitchen and garage I realized the brakes weren't adjusted correctly. I almost took a nose dive off the ramp as I glided down it.

No problem as I had the tools and knowledge to tighten the brakes. Now that my wife has used the cart for a week I can say that it actually is a lot better than crutches. With her knee on the seat she can easily get around the house with out the fear of tripping over a crutch and falling. It is also a lot less strain on the body overall. I guess it is officially a scooter but its close enough to a bike that I will consider it a new member of my fleet. Its got wheels, handle bars and brakes and is actually kind of fun to ride.

My wife bone spur was pretty bad. The doctor said her bone spur had a bone spur and it mess up her achilles tendon pretty bad so she will be scooting around on this contraption for the next 5 weeks.

Between the rain and getting the house ready for my wife to scoot around I haven't done much riding over the past couple of weeks. Until my wife is back on her feet I will probably keep my riding shorter and local and won't be able to do any really long rides until July.

Bugs in the Bonnet

We finally have some spring like weather so I have been able to get out after work and start building miles. Spring also brings the bugs back out again. For some reason during the last two years I have had a lot of bugs get stuck on my helmet. During Wednesday nights ride I had to stop twice to remove my helmet and release a bug. The second time is was a bee that almost stun me.

I knew there had to way to keep bugs out of the helmet. I thought about adding some screening to the helmet myself but found this helmet cover on ebay that is exactly what I wanted. Its a simple nylon net that easily fits over the helmet and should keep the bugs out with out blocking the normal air flow.

Today I lead a ride from Yardley to try to work on getting my hill legs back. Jack, Laura, Bob and Ken actual rode in where Ricky, Jim and I joined them. We did this route. It was a mildly hilly route. There were no real tough climbs except for a short but steep section on Holicong. It was a little busy getting out of Yardley and on a couple of short sections of 413 but most of the rides was on quiet roads.

This ride had a lot of ups and downs but nothing really long or steep and I felt a lot better than I did a couple of weeks ago so I didn't have a problem getting up the hills. It also helped that is was 70 degrees and almost no wind.

The rest stop was at Carversville which was crowded with other bikers. The way back was a little easier with a little less climbing and a 4 mile flat stretch at the end. It was a good ride in good weather and I plan to do a few more hilly rides this month to get back into hill shape.

Tour de Barbecue

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We didn't plan to spend five days sampling the best barbecue in Missouri and Kansas but that's what happen on our trip to St Louis. Our reason for taking a vacation there was to spend some time with my wife's niece and husband which we did. St Louis is kind of a empty city. Most of the industries that supported the city during the 40s and 50s have left and nothing has really replaced them. The city isn't run down like Detroit but there isn't a lot of life in the city or a lot to do. The main attraction is the Gateway Arch, the Anheuser Busch brewery and the Busch stadium where the St Louis cardinals play.


We were only in St Louis a couple of days so we found enough to keep us busy. One of the better things we did was go to Grant Park which is zoo/park. They have the Budweiser Clydesdale which are big and beautiful horses and we were able to get up close and pet them. We also made friends with some goats.

Besides the zoo/park we did visit the Gateway Arch. Its a hollow stainless steel structure that is 630 feet high. You can actual ride up to the top of the arch and see the skyline which I did. I got a few cool pictures of from both the top.

and a from the ground using the arch to block the sun.

St Louis is know for jazz and barbecue and we indulged in the latter. If you like tender melt in your mouth beef or pork you can't beat Pappy's in St Louis. It was definitely some of the best barbecue I have ever had.

We did take in a baseball game while we were there since we are baseball fans. The stadium is a nice modern venue with some of the most courteous fans I have ever met.

From St Louis we drove to Kansas city in search of more barbecue and to take in another baseball game. On the way we stopped for dinner at a Bandana's barbecue chain and for a chain restaurant the food was amazingly good.

In Kansas City we spent the day visiting some of the local landmarks including the surprising good Negro League Baseball Museum. We are baseball fans and like to explore the history of the game. I didn't know a lot about the negro leagues which existed in one form or another from 1920 through the late 40s. There were some amazing stories about the stars of the league most of whom were actually better players than the ones in the major league. One of the most colorful player was Satchel Paige who had these 6 rules to live by.

   1. Avoid fried meats, which angry up the blood.
   2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
   3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move. 
   4. Go very light on vices such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain't restful.
   5. Avoid running at all times.
   6. Don't look back, something may be gaining on you.

There are a lot of cool stories about him so you should check out some more of his quotes.

The negro league had a different style of play than regular baseball. They stole more bases, bunted more and were more aggressive at the plate. In general it was a more exciting game and when these player were integrated into the major leagues the game of baseball became better.

The other highlight of Kansas was more barbecue. We went to a place called Slaps which was even better than Pappy's in St Louis. The thing I like about the barbecue from this area is that they don't put any sauce on the meat. The rub on the meat and smoking process make the meat tender and tasty with out anything else. All these places have barbecue sauce if you want but in my opinion its better with out it.

We had to go back to St Louis to fly home and on the way we stopped at the Truman library. It was a small place but did a good job of showing the history of the man and his presidency. Harry Truman was president at an a very turbulent time in history. Between the end of WWII, the atom bomb and the establishment of the state of Israel he had a lot to take care of over his 8 years.

It was only a short trip but it was enough time to have some fun and get my fill of some good barbecue.