WWII Orkin bike

An Orkin man serving the Fort Benning area used a bicycle to keep going in spite of wartime gasoline rationing. It was bright red. The smaller front wheel allows for a large front basket. From Margaret O. Kirk, The Making of the World's Best Pest Control Company (Rollins, 2005).

Happy with Tersano again

I am pleased to report the replacement Lotus sanitizer that Tersano sent me is working after two months . . . It is such a neat technology and I am very happy to have it back online. The rainwater smell is very nice in itself. I am still figuring out ways to use it; it is such a paradigm-shifter.

Dumpster bike 2

Not the best picture . . . recovered a bike from a Dumpster near the tennis courts. Apparently the local pro chucked it due to the rusty drivetrain. But nothing looks bent on it and there are hardly even any scratches. Check out the silver handlebar tape and retro shifters. I haven't checked it out thoroughly; it seems to be some kind of iron Bianchi from the 1980s or 1990s. Interestingly, all the bikes that life sends my way appear in shades of silver.

Green a.m.; Black Bike

Compare to my earlier "Gray a.m." What I see in the morning these days on the Black Bike, which I am renaming "Bête Noir" as a nod to its urban sophistication.

Salad days

Not much to report. I still have a few leftover projects that seem to carry on of their own accord.

I am pleasantly surprized by the onions out back. After many attempts, they finally took hold and are now growing most vigorously. It is so nice to have green onions at one's disposal. I also got a nice snow pea plant going, but its pod are almost woody. Maybe I should pick them earlier.

I lost some purple plants, the sweet potato :( and the little ornamental peppers. But a couple of the poblano plants survived, just from being kept next to the window inside. They are in a big pot now; can I expect big things?

I have a couple of plants thriving in the aquarium. One is a prayer plant from a cutting I got from work. The other kind is doing so well it actually bloomed, though it doesn't get any direct sun.

The AeroGardens are all growing some type of lettuce. Only the AeroGarden classic has had any sign of spider mites so far. I will have to watch that as temperatures increase. I also planted some leftover herb pods but only a couple of them germinated successfully. The mighty basil I had going for 18 months is now just a dried out twig.

Success

I am now firmly established in the habit of riding my 2.3 miles to and from work each day via electric bike. It is such a joy. I am pleased to report the overhaul has been a great success. It rides so smooth now and it is just so much fun. After six months, the routes I take in and out have been refined so that I am usually physically separated from any traffic, and I have figured out how to cross the intersections in a harmonious fashion. In fact, it feels safer to me than driving a truck in the midst of all the snarling vehicles. The warming weather (trees are already starting to bloom here and the high is supposed to be 78'F today) and lengthening daylight make it that much nicer. The ideal commute, at a cost of $1 per month.

Reelights

I am reely excited to have gotten a set of Reelights. These are Danish bike lights that run without batteries. Instead they use induction energy from magnets mounted on the spokes.

It is fairly advanced technology. There are a couple of practical features that make them attractive to me. The kind I got flash only while the bike is in motion. Because they are mounted on the hubs, they extend the light profile beyond the battery-powered lights mounted on handlebars or saddlebag.

The front wheel hub on my electric bike is too big to allow for even their extended version bracket, so I got the basic set (SL100). The front light is going on my trail bike to provide emergency get-home-past-sundown light and perhaps to provide a visual warning to hikers. The back light goes on Black Bike.