We need to go riding

[zourtney]

No...no, that was to my mom's house. The route I linked is almost complete flat. Which would make it a much easier 9 miles.

[Nick]

Nice.

[zourtney]

This weekend is beckoning for a bike ride. Everyone and their dog will probably be out of town this weeekend. So I plan not to be. I say we go ride somewhere close by. Any takers?

[Brad]

I'm probably up for a bike ride this weekend. Might need to take another look at my bike first, but otherwise I should be able to go.

[Nick]

We can look at it, yeah! I have had mixed results with trying to fix bikes in the past though.... I have one you can borrow if nothing else works though.

[zourtney]

All hail Misery Ridge!

[Nick]

Oh, the misery!

[zourtney]

So, are we up for a ride tomorrow (Sunday)? Brad sounded like he would. I'm up for it.

[Nick]

Just let me know what time.

[Nick]

I just got a camelbak for $2. Its  used (but looks like it was only used once or twice) and smells of a smoky garage It looks brand new, asside from the missing drinking valve.  Its a 2l classic style.

I have thoroughly cleaned it by soakeing the reservoir  in mild bleach water for a few hours and running the same though the drinking tube. I also washed the pack to try and remove the tobacco-smoky smell. That only partially worked. Now it has been sprayed with some oder-killing stuff and left to hang dry.

After I got back the oogy idea of a used water pack it seemed like a good deal. And after thorough cleaning it should be good as new.   

[zourtney]

Cool. I've looked at those from time to time, but haven't ever used one. Eve and I went on a bike ride last night. We clocked it afterward and I was surprised to find it was about twice as far as I thought it would be -- 6.5 miles round trip. I'd like to start biking more. Or running...but biking is more enjoyable and is still very good for my lazy cardiovascular system...I'm guessing (I don't really know anything).

Regarding the used water pack: isn't it strange how we've been taught that anything which touches the ground or has been in someone's mouth is hopelessly contaminated and must be discarded to some far-off trash heap? I try not to get "oogy" over such things, but it's still stuck in me sometimes. And, as you said, most things can be cleaned and become good as new. So good job finding a good deal. Where did you find it?

[Nick]

Richard wanted to check out a garage sale, so I went with him. Then he saw another and another and another.... I found a few things on the trip. The camelbak, and nice desk lamp for a dollar, a cool $5 retro blender (that I spent 2 hours cleaning back to its original copper shine) for making a iced mocha at work, and a big bucket of gold balls for another $2. And a 50c (rather nice) stainless water bottle.

And as far as used items go; If you have ever rented bowling shoes or eaten at a restaurant (or worse a buffet.. where stacks of glasses only get steamed before being sent back for use) you have worn things or placed things in you mouth that others have used.  As long as things are cleaned properly, there is nothing wrong with them. The oogy complex is probably the result of corporate conspiracies to convince the public that only new items are fit for use. Just use the magic of bleach. Or the magic of vinegar and baking soda (it makes a bacteria-killing foam) to clean whatever you like. Or even good old dish soap will do the job.

[Nick]

So when should another biking excursion take place?

[zourtney]

Brad, Eve, and I ventured out last night (as he might have already told you).

Herein lies a map of our route. Google pegs it at 9.2mi. It was a nice little ride with pleasantly little (amounts of) traffic. I might try it again soon. We can go elsewhere, too, of course. And also of course, the map's URL is longer than the text of this post.

[Nick]

Wow, that is a long URL.

I head about the ride after inquiring about his gluteus pains. And it sounded more fun then what I did. (I read about the HTML canvas tag and how ti work it in javascript)