Here is a little PSA I sent to the folks at work....
It is good information to be shared.
I am certain that not everyone has been alerted to the vuenerability of the U-Lock with the circular key....nor do many people know about the opportunity for return.
Share this with your people (family, friends, co-workers, fellow students....anyone with a bike)

This message is directed to those with bicycles....

Most any and everyone who owns a bicycle also owns a Kryptonite Lock.
It has recently been discovered that the U-locks with the circular keys can be picked quite easily with a Bic Pen!Kryptonite is responding to this with a chance to return the locks.

Do not take the risk of locking your bicycle (or anything for that matter) with a lock that has this circular style key!

here is a news report on the lock issue, USA TODAY


here is KRYPTONITE'S RETURN PAGE


and here is a video showing someone pick the lock


please share this information with friends and family
(or take action for your kids and their locks)
thanks
happy trails
and
share the road
joel

THE SMOKING GUN

I could lose a whole day to this stuff
Smoking Gun Mug Shot Collection
worth a look
see your heros at their best!

REFRESHING!
The removal of this BLACK CLOUD is a process that has started to steamroll!
Just as the negative aspects of life can join and gather strength to create an over welming force the same goes for the positive forces....

The NEW CAR ('04 Honda Element.....SUPER FUN!) carries a wide variety of positive side effects.

First, it is a new car....so many things that my '84 Landcruiser is not....the Landcruiser is not all that dependable, not all that comfortable, not all that luxurious, and not all that safe to drive (the headlights are dim, the wiper blades do not clean the windshield, no airbags, no ABS, no independent suspension, and on top of all that the stereo is not loud enough to be heard over the engine.....and the car is old and although it runs now....it runs the risk of having issues down the road....a new car is a new car and with that New Car Smell come other new car things! Old cars need repairs and new cars need payments.)

Along with the new car I was able to come legal and clean. Having lived in the District for over a decade I have always had a Maryland driver's lisence, even though I lived in Colorado and California (with a Colorado DL) in between my life in Maryland and my life in DC. It just was easier to use my parent's address for the cars I opted to own....before the Landcruiser I had a '66 Nova which I was able to by pass inspection by getting it registered as HISTORIC! And with the Landcuiser I took advantage of the single inspection for purchase vs. the DC inspection every two years! There is no way that the Landcruiser would have passed the DC inspection every two years without some sort of random repairs that seemed less than vital to get me from point A to point B (the trails or the race.)

But now I have a new lisence and I will have DC tags....a little less SKOFF LAW behavior for this father of two.

Another thing....VOTING!
My voter registration seemed to have lapsed. Last election I had my father check the polls in Montgomery County the morning when he voted, I was not on the list in either DC or in Maryland. So I wanted to be registered to vote in time for this year's election. I wanted to be able to say.....

DON'T BLAME ME I VOTED FOR THE OTHER GUY!
That asshole in the BMW with the W Sticker voted for our current president.

So not only do I get to vote. But I do not have to worry that my car is going to get a ticket from the friendly neighborhood meter maid! I will have DC tags and DC parking permits!

YEEEEE HA!

the list goes on
and
I need to get back to work

more later

all is good
the family is healthy and whole
got the PERMIT for the deck
got a new car
now....need to sell the old Landcruiser and finish the deck!

my body hurts....
the local trails hurt more
yesterday was a comedy of errors (as described in the previous post)
after work I went for a quick cross town spin on the Karate Monkey Single Speed
there had been a sprinkling of rain that day,but the earth was still bone dry.....go figure
in my travels on the way home I linked dirt to asphalt to dirt to asphalt dirt to asphalt always being aware of oncoming trail users and respectful of their right to a placid good time
knowing when to expect a horse
never screaming at top speed around blind curves
well, maybe a low level scream... it is mountainbiking and not touring
never going out of control
well, maybe testing the limits a little as I like to feel alive
always familiar with the trails and the obstacles ahead
and even recoginzing the some of the regular trail users
the dirt was hard and dry with a thin coat of dust on top
the local hiking trails have really seen some serious pounding in the last few years
the number of hiker and dog walkers and the frequency of use has really increased
and the wear is showing
each day as I hike my dogs or when I make my occasional cross trail trip I daydream about starting my own NOT-FOR-PROFIT... TRAILHEADS.org .....because trail repairs always start with the TRAILHEADS
I daydream about getting a long list of joggers, dog walkers, then the hashers, and the hired dog walkers to come out on a weekend day and volunteer their time
in assistance to the volunteered time I imagine getting the NPS involved with a few hired hands
a few seasoned workers with knowledge of trail maintenance (or some of my friends from MORE would be helpful as well....Mike and Joe of MORE have each said some very simple things about trail maintenance that should be implemented on our ever eroding trails) But more than anything I imagine having the National Park Service drop off earth....the trails need EARTH!
the leashless dogs along with the rain and the indigenous animals have stripped the land of its top soil
if Earth is not added things will only decline more
so I imagine that I we have two types of earth delivered
a brownish orange earth for the trail/path and a brownish black fertile dirt for the area around the path
in this daydream I have made a rectangular box out of 2X6 about 8 feet long maybe 12 inches wide
the orangish dirt is used to fill this wooden rectangle and packed down
the fertile earth is put on its sides
logs are used as anti-erosion barriers to guide runoff and to keep the rain water from stealing all the new earth
the orangish dirt is selected to aid in guiding the hikers to stay on a more narrow track of path
the surrounding dirt would be seeded with an indigenous grass....my Latin and Science is not existing...so I will not try to fool you with any false names
I also would not mind adding an occasional indigenous tree....maybe a few more firs (but placed no more frequently than they would naturally appear in
on this same trail maintenance day I imagine some over zealous volunteers rushing deeper into the trails with wheel barrows full of earth to repair trail cross roads
to make the trails there more clear and to aid in keeping the hikers from bisecting trails and cutting corners....as such actions end up killing all the vegetation and making the trails unnecessarily wide (and unattractive)


I do realize that there is something great about how ROCK CREEK PARK is kept in its "natural state"
but the current natural state is DECLINE
if this momentum is not reversed we will have a large bald plantless patch of land
perhaps I will act on bringing this daily fantasy to a reality level
currently I try to do my part
it seems easy enough if everyone did the minimum then the trails would be in better shape....
the minimum....Stay on the trail and do not leave any trash.
I try to take it to the next level by picking up trash and by trying to keep the trails clear of fallen trees and by also adding an occasional natural anti-erosion barriers with a fallen tree that create a natural steps

if everyone did the minimum plus the occasional trash pick up we would see the trails maintain instead of decline
then on top of that if we could add some earth at each trail head....perhaps the plant growth could stretch from trail head to trail head filling in all the trail in between
but remember
it all starts at THE TRAILHEAD

are daffodils and tiger lilies indigenous?

who do I talk to to get this earth delivered to the trailheads
if I just started on the trails closest to my house in Mt. Pleasant....
I could witness its effect and see if such an effort could hold
and perhaps inspire people to take positive control of other urban trails that are in decline

what would be the best time of year to make such an effort?

(I once wrote a childrens book on a napkin, Dean and Dad go Hiking....it covered the experience of a father and son going hiking well prepared and respecting the trails and the wildlife as they hiked.....much like most of my ideas....it faded away)

unrelated question....if a spaceship goes MARS to get a sample of dirt....is that dirt called Mars? Dirt on Earth is called Earth....

ouch
my fucking arm
went for a great post work ride in the woods
was waiting for a space between cars as I traveled from trailhead to trailhead
while stalled in a track stand I antipated that it was clear
nudged forward
then an SUV, the mother of all SUVS came roaring around the corner
I altered my momentum and started to turn around
to dodge near death I made a turn too sharp and too fast
AND SLAM!
was able break my fall by nearly breaking my forearm

gotta roll
still need to walk the dogs
just BLOGGING while they process my auto insurance for the new car.

New Car.....New License

okay
I took the plunge
went ahead and bought a new car
dam that was easy
they want you to take that car off their lot
no money down.....and here are the keys
very odd....very very odd
the simplicity of it all explains why there are so many cars on the road

here is my car.....well....minus the surboard and minus the cool

The Element has Landed!

that was easy.....
100% financing!
no wonder there are so many cars on the road
they want you to take the cars off the lot

walked in shook hands
drove the car of my choice around
signed some papers
and
drove it home
now it is parked across the street from the Land Cruiser
crazy!
never thought it was so simple

shockingly I got better financing from Honda than my insurance company