You ever notice how some weeks seem to produce more learning experiences than others?
ACT ONE, SCENE ONE
Earlier this week, Dangerous Shopper Dale wanders into a local grocery store and thinks, 'Hmmmm, maybe I should get some of that fancy, snooty, gourmet coffee and see what the big deal is all about.' So Dangerous Shopper Dale disses his lifelong morning buddy, the Folgers can, and picks up a fancy, snooty, gourmet looking bag of fancy, snooty, gourmet coffee.
The next morning Half Awake, Stumble to the CoffeePot, Dangerous Shopper Dale with one eye still shut, struggles to finally pull open his brand new bag of fancy, snooty, gourmet coffee to discover that Shopper Dale picked up a bag of WHOLE BEANS!!! Of course you will know that since Dangerous Shopper Dale has spent the better part of 35 years with a Folgers can, that DSD does not own a COFFEE GRINDER!!
Now then, anyone with a decent caffeine addiction will appreciate this, but you have to put the image in your mind of half awake Dangerous Shopper Dale, in the shock of discovering he has no coffee, other than a bag of WHOLE BEANS, valiantly dumps a handful of WHOLE BEANS into a ZipLock Sandwich Bag and earnestly ( spell that , IN PANIC ) begins pummeling this little ziplock bag of WHOLE BEANS with a pepper shaker in hopes of "grinding" enough to make that first cup!!!
Lesson for Dangerous Shopper Dale.....LABELS ARE FOR READING!!!! :)
By the way, Dangerous Shopper Dale in the process of becoming Upscale, Snooty, Fancy Coffee Drinker Dale has FIRED his FOLGERS can AND is actually contemplating the notion of SHOPPING for a COFFEE GRINDER!!!
I N T E R M I S S I O N
ACT TWO, SCENE ONE
Later in this story I will explain the Roaring Mice thought.
Yesterday, my bike pal Lisa and I did our pretty much usual Saturday morning bike ride but with a slight twist. Friday afternoon, Lisa suggests in an email, a slight change to our usual Pt. Defiance loops by offering the thought of a slightly longer route outside the park. (Read carefully as there are several lessons to be learned in this story).
This new route took us, essentially, along the entire west end of Tacoma. Starting at the park we pedalled south to the Chambers Creek area south of town.
Then returned to the park by a route farther to the east. Basically a long narrow loop.
Later in this story I will explain the Roaring Mice thought.
Yesterday, my bike pal Lisa and I did our pretty much usual Saturday morning bike ride but with a slight twist. Friday afternoon, Lisa suggests in an email, a slight change to our usual Pt. Defiance loops by offering the thought of a slightly longer route outside the park. (Read carefully as there are several lessons to be learned in this story).
This new route took us, essentially, along the entire west end of Tacoma. Starting at the park we pedalled south to the Chambers Creek area south of town.
Then returned to the park by a route farther to the east. Basically a long narrow loop. Lesson One for Dale was another reminder of just how quickly one adapts to strenuous exercise. Two months ago, if anyone were to suggest getting ON a bike, I might have done so with the intentions of a nice, easy FLAT ride around the block. However, if anyone would have suggested spending a couple hours, conquering at LEAST a half a dozen hills on a twenty mile ride I would have stared at them with a bewildered, lost gaze! Today I approach those hilly challenges like a mighty Thor, charging from the clouds on his magnificent steed with giant, thundering, hammer raised in defiance.........(Uh Dale, lets not get too carried away here!)
Our weather here in Western Washington is the usual unsettled early Spring stuff that one would expect, EXCEPT for the last week or more, WINTER has not been leaving quietly! The entire ride we were threatened by very dark, saturated clouds moving in from the west, (more than a few times we felt those cold wet raindrops, with the added exhilaration of FROZEN CHUNKS!!! The coming week however hints at a more Spring-like pattern with partly sunny skies and temperatures nudging the mid-to-high fifties!!!
Nearing the end of our ride, we changed our planned route to a more bike friendly path... ( Hmmmm, 'bike-friendly'? OK, the rest of the story is coming soon ) We found a bridge that crossed high over the freeway and into quiet West End neighborhoods. So we start roaming through these side streets in search of a route to reach the nice, easy, anticipated, two mile or more COAST back into the Park.
Pedaling up a fairly easy incline, I begin to sense a certain mushiness in Glinda. ( Yeah Ive become such a bike freak that she actually has a name now!!) Next thing I find myself uttering the dreaded words, "Hey, I got a flat tire here!"
ACT TWO, SCENE TWO
(Where Dale learns embarrassingly painful lesson on bike ride!)
When you have a neat little bag under your seat designed to carry flat tire fixes, you don't empty half of it into the trunk of your car to make room for pointless things like wallets, and cellphones!!
So there we were, two miles from the finish and no spare tube! I DID have the patch kit, but with approaching weather Lisa makes the wise suggestion that she ride ahead to her truck, and come back for me n Glinda. So off she goes.
At this point Dale is swallowing a combination of Male Ego and Gentlemanly Notions about Letting the Lady Ride Ahead Alone. But Dale reminds himself that at this point former paramedic/rescue person, Lisa is in her element.
I start walking with Glinda towards the park to lessen Red Rescue Ranger travel distance and soon after, Red Rescue Ranger arrives. Glinda gets loaded in back for the ride back to the park and THEN Dale is inundated with hysterical laughter from Rescue Person Lisa with a well placed, well deserved, "I cant believe you left your tube in your trunk...NO ONE leaves their tube in the trunk!!" And to make matters worse, I had to remind myself that I missed out on that nice, long, fast, coasting cruise DOWNHILL for the last two miles. So in the end, Lisa does twenty-one miles, and Dale only manages a bit less than nineteen. Still not bad for a middle aged guy who began riding 6 weeks ago!!
Tomorrow, after today's day of R&R, we do THIRTY MILES!!! (One should remember that while I am doing this in the pursuit of a fun new leisure time hobby, my bike buddy is in serious training for a 200 PLUS mile event coming up in just a few short months!)
Oh about the "Roaring Mouse" I mentioned. I learned yet another lesson on this trip. Bicycle tires are not quite as durable as semi truck tires!! The culprit that brought my ride to an end was a VERY, VERY small shard of glass. Smaller I'd say, than a grain of rice!
So there we were, two miles from the finish and no spare tube! I DID have the patch kit, but with approaching weather Lisa makes the wise suggestion that she ride ahead to her truck, and come back for me n Glinda. So off she goes.
At this point Dale is swallowing a combination of Male Ego and Gentlemanly Notions about Letting the Lady Ride Ahead Alone. But Dale reminds himself that at this point former paramedic/rescue person, Lisa is in her element.
I start walking with Glinda towards the park to lessen Red Rescue Ranger travel distance and soon after, Red Rescue Ranger arrives. Glinda gets loaded in back for the ride back to the park and THEN Dale is inundated with hysterical laughter from Rescue Person Lisa with a well placed, well deserved, "I cant believe you left your tube in your trunk...NO ONE leaves their tube in the trunk!!" And to make matters worse, I had to remind myself that I missed out on that nice, long, fast, coasting cruise DOWNHILL for the last two miles. So in the end, Lisa does twenty-one miles, and Dale only manages a bit less than nineteen. Still not bad for a middle aged guy who began riding 6 weeks ago!!
Tomorrow, after today's day of R&R, we do THIRTY MILES!!! (One should remember that while I am doing this in the pursuit of a fun new leisure time hobby, my bike buddy is in serious training for a 200 PLUS mile event coming up in just a few short months!)
Oh about the "Roaring Mouse" I mentioned. I learned yet another lesson on this trip. Bicycle tires are not quite as durable as semi truck tires!! The culprit that brought my ride to an end was a VERY, VERY small shard of glass. Smaller I'd say, than a grain of rice!
