2012 Walnut Valley Festival

For this year's bluegrass festival, I set my tent up on Monday next to my friend, Karen's RV and left it there until I could get off work later in the week. My friend, Angelique, drove in from NM and we headed out to the festival on Thursday. As it always does this time of year, the rain moved in that afternoon, stayed throughout the night, drizzled all of Friday and it was cold. But in all, the rain didn't stop me from having a good time. I just layered more clothes, put on my rainboots, knitted in my tent at night by the lantern light and by Saturday the skies cleared and we really got to take full advantage of the many band acts, bicycle ride around the campground and roam around the campgrounds at night. I'm already looking forward to next year's festival.
The Festival

The Campsite

The Knitting

Good Friends, Good Times

Giant Bicycle

I'm riding my bicycle much more and have the need for more performance features than my 1968 cycle provides for long rides. After purchasing a Schwinn from a box store this week and finding the gears locked up on my first ride, I returned it the very next day and headed for a bicycle shop. Heartland Bicycle fitted me with a perfect 21 gear, aluminum Sedona(S)Giant that includes the service and warranty I need. An added bonus, they are located right in the middle of my commute.

River Festival 2012

I so look forward to our River Festival every year. There's the parade, live entertainment and food court over lunch, and activities on and surrounding the river. Today, Jackie and I met up on our bicycles for breakfast, rode to the Farmer's Market and then to the river to cheer on the runners in the River Run.

Welcome Fall

Today is the first day of fall. It's about time our weather cools down so that I can ride my bicycle to work after a summer of 52 days of at least 100 degree temperatures. Talk about being robbed of summer, bike rides, tops off of the Jeep and golf...it was just too hot to enjoy much of anything outdoors.

Memorial Weekend

It was a long holiday weekend at home filled with friends and family. Saturday morning I took off early on my bicycle in a light drizzle to meet up with a friend for coffee and a walk around the Farmers Market. That night we had a BBQ and stayed up late chatting with friends on the patio. Sunday brought breakfast with family and the drive-in that night with hubby and mom. What a windy, cool night that turned out to be but always a relaxing, good time. Basically all the good stuff a holiday weekend should be.

Art of the Bicycle

I attended the bicycle swap meet at the Go Away Garage during the Art of the Bicycle annual art show and set up a booth to sell my necklaces (with my trusted Schwinn in the background). I made the necklaces with bicycle clip art and sold a total of six. There was a lot of vintage bike swaping going on and it was fun being in the middle of it all.

KC Adventure

Husband had a work meeting in Kansas City so I took the day off from my job and loaded Hoolie up in the truck. He went to the office in Westport and I headed towards the Plaza. A man was playing frisbie with his dog in the fountain and I had him snap a picture of me and my ride. Oh, how I love my Schwinn and the places we go. Besides shopping on the Plaza (Anthropology and Urban Outfitters!) my main destination (as always) was to Brookside. There's a running path down Brookside Boulevard that leads to my most favorite shop in KC and the bling creations of Amy Labbe. Just another pretty handmade bauble to add to the collection.

Angelique Rides

I borrowed mom's bicycle for Angelique so that she could ride around with me for the day. It was already hot and humid at 7:00 a.m. when we took off for the Donut Whole. Then to the farmers market where I found a great handmade pottery flower vase. Our last destination for the majority of the day was at Twist for Worldwide Knit in Public Day. There were contests and drawings while we knitted the afternoon away. I think it was close to 100 degrees when we had to make our way slowly back home. I sure enjoyed spending time with you, A!

Mom's Western Flyer

Both of my parents have been talking about restoring their old bicycles. Mom's Western Flyer (remember Western Auto?) was sitting in her garage with flat, crusty tires and the metal was just covered in rust. I picked it up and took it to Tom Saywer for new tires, tubes, tightened spokes, chain lube, etc. It cost about $130 for a complete overhaul. They said vintage bikes are their specialty and many people are choosing to restore over buying new. In fact, they referred to the rust as a nice shade of patina. You know, vintage cool and that made me smile. When I brought it home and started washing it in the driveway, husband came out, grabbed an SOS pad and started rubbing the rust away like magic. Not long after that, I took over and now Mom's old bicycle sparkles like new.

I Bike Douglas

Several of my bicycle friends were tied up today so I ended up going it alone to all of the I Bike Douglas events. That's okay, I made friends with several of the Coasters and had a kinda vagabond day hanging out in downtown. There was an antique bicycle show at the Farmers Market and I sat on a bench in the sunshine listening to live music and knitted. It was fabulous and I couldn't have wanted to be doing anything other than that all morning. Then I rode around for a while, made a quick stop into Twist, then to Mosley Street Market to hang out with Sheryl to work on another stained glass pendant. A final stop at the Anchor for yam fries and a Woodchuck was the power I needed to finally make it home.

Bike to Work Day

Today was National Bike to Work Day and I did my part in participating although all of my coworkers chose to drive to work. Maybe this thing will take a while to catch on. I'm also going to do my part in trying to encourage others to ride to work on Fridays when possible. At least there's more bicycle awareness going on in Wichita and talk of more bike paths. In the meanwhile, I'm stuck with bumpy sidewalks and a not so treacherous intersection across our Higway 54. The weather was beautiful and I was excited all day knowing I'd have a pleasant ride home.

Ride to Work

I've got to give it to cyclists who pedal to work. It takes some fearlessness in this city. I experienced that today with my first 14-mile (round trip) sidewalk ride to work. In addition to maneuvering around rough sidewalks and inattentive drivers I learned:

Thought is required for clothing and shoes that transition from riding to the workplace

I need to allow a full hour to make it to my office on time

A pant leg flapping in the wind will invariably end up in the chain!

Bicycle Thursday

I've been working to get my coworkers to bring their bicycles to work and Alisha brought her bike (Stella)
today so we could ride to lunch. Wouldn't you know we were under a wind advisory but that only added to the calorie burn factor as we climbed up and down the Arkansas River.

After work, Laurie, and I met up to ride around downtown and went to dinner. It's such a good way to get exercise and have fun with friends.

Lunch Hour in Riverside

On days that I don't have appointments out of the office I'm able to ride Hoolie around on my lunch hour. It's a nice break in my day. Sometimes it's to Riverside Cafe for lunch or on a day like today, I just rode around the river and park.

St. Patrick Parade in Delano

I had some high hopes of riding my bicycle from home to downtown for the parade at high noon in Delano but it was too cold. So, instead, I loaded Hoolie up in the truck and unloaded at the stadium. Rode to the Vagabond for some coffee then over to Twist to find my spot facing Douglas Avenue. Jill and Shelly's kids kept me company as the parade passed by us throwing candy and beaded necklaces at the crowd. My favorite was the salon girls crazy, green balloon hair and hats. Then I rode down to Bicycle Xchange to take care of legal matters: a bicycle license, head/tail LED lights and a bell. Now I'm in full compliance with the city's bicycle laws.

Maiden Voyage

The temperature rose to 54 degrees today so I threw on some knitted mitts and scarf and took "Hoolie" out for her first ride over to Harrison Park. I made several passes around the park and discovered I need to get a bicycle bell. Pedistrians just don't have a clue when you say, "Passing on your left". I stumbled a couple times taking off after walking her across busy intersections, but come on, I haven't rode a bicycle since junior high. Then when I came upon a slight hill coming home I was thanking my lucky stars I have more than one gear. I'm in love with a bicycle...

Schwinn Homecoming

I was soooo happy to get the call that my (new-to-me) bicycle was ready for pick up. Big Al at Hooligan Hot Rods did an amazing job on the rebuild complete with flat black powder coating, custom pinstriping, new red cables, stainless steel spokes, new tires, new pedals and new seat all the while keeping true to the original design of my 1968 Schwinn Breeze. She's a beauty and I can't wait for warmer weather to do some cruz'n around town.