Another month of spinning my wheels has hit the books.
Riding
The month began with a bang as I rode 67 miles on Big Nellie to reach 54,000 miles. My riding comfort and efficiency was greatly increased by the use of pedal extenders married to big Catalyst platform pedals. I bought new pedal extenders and platform pedals for The Mule. The Mule and I rode my 17th 50 States Ride with a posse of veteran 50 Staters. It was nice to have Timothee and Domitille back in the fold. Too bad Domitille and I had to do the ride without our granny gears. We survived.
I rode to Friday Coffee Club each week and watched the sunrise creep toward 7 pm.
After the 50 States Ride I fiddled with the saddle position on The Mule to get the most out of my new pedal set up. After a couple of tries I hit the sweet spot.
I need The Mule for one more event ride, The WABA Cider Ride in early November. Its chain is pretty much toast after a season of riding so I switched back to Big Nellie at the end of the month. My plan is to do the Great Pumpkin Ride in late October on the ‘bent.
For the month I clocked in at 864 miles. My year-to-date mileage is 7,790. I’m 311 miles ahead of schedule to reach 10,000 miles, for 8th consecutive year.
Reading
The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishisawa. As in any Agatha Christie novel, a murder occurs amid a large gathering of people. The protagonist re-lives the day of the murder, stuck in a time loop like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Who done it? Can the protagonist use the time loop to undo it? A fun romp reminiscent of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. For me it was a pleasant turn of the page so to speak from a month of Mark Twain. Birthday book #1.
You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue. A bizarre re-imagining of the day Hernando Cortes entered the Aztec capital complex of Montezuma. This one’s got it all: hallucinogens (mushrooms, cactus, tomatoes), ritual human sacrifices, murders, beheadings and dismemberments, cannibalism, rape and sodomy, and palace intrigue out the wazoo. Birthday book #2.
The Sweet Forever by George Pelicanos. My fifth or sixth Pelcanos book of the year. This one is set in DC during March 1986. Len Bias is blazing through March Madness on his way to being selected 2nd in the NBA draft. Mayor Marion Barry is coking and whoring all over town as his city government becomes overwhelmed with graft. And the pre-crack cocaine trade on U Street NW is disrupted by a stolen pillow case filled with drug money. The lives of two corrupt cops, an honest record store owner, and a drug kingpin become intertwined. Depressing as hell but the best Pelicanos book that I have read so far.
Watching
Thunderbolts – The latest dud from Marvel. Really made me long for Robert Downey, Junior in a cave.
Elbow at Club 9:30. This is at least the third time we’ve seen this band at the 9:30. They were a bit jet lagged but put on a great show as usual. My unfamiliarity with their last two albums meant that the first half of the show dragged a bit but they finished strong and had the crowd singing in harmony to their last few numbers.
Elvis Costello and the Imposters at the Warner Theater. I don’t own a single record of Costello’s but he’s as good as it gets at making rootsy rock and roll. The audience looked like it was bussed in from retirement homes. So much gray hair. The concert itself was meh. Oddly the best song was the last and not one of Costello’s: Slow Down by Larry Williams.
The Washington Nationals. I attended a few more games. Long story short, they stunk. It was fun to watch the emergence of Daylen Lyle as a budding superstar though. The highlight of the season and the last game was the spontaneous farewell the fans gave the White Sox Michael A. Taylor, a former National and 2019 World Series hero who retired.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 