I have no idea why the gears in the front of a bike are called chainrings. The set of gears on the back of a bike are often referred to as sprockets, and a collection of integrated sprockets as a cassette. They are all gears to me, but if you call them by special names the mechanics at the bike shop will take you more seriously ( Read more... )

Taught by Prof. Gorman Beauchamp, University of Michigan, Fall 1995

• The Republic, Plato
• Utopia, More
• "Of the Cannibals", Montaigne
• Gulliver's Travels, Swift
• Looking Backward, Bellamy

Apparently that's a trend now: camping trips that take less than a day.

Anyway, inspired by a co-worker who biked to Duluth this week, I decided I needed to bike somewhere too. It was time to load up my bike with tent and sleeping bag and head back to the Carver Park Reserve and find the bike camping site.

I left on Wednesday night at about 7 P.M. ( Read more... )

After a miserable hot and humid Friday and Saturday, it rained Sunday morning and the weather cooled. The sun came out and it was a beautiful afternoon. I was inspired to go for a ride. Looking at a map, I picked Excelsior, on the southern shore of Lake Minnetonka.

I took the Cedar Lake Trail/North Cedar Lake Trail to Hopkins, and missed my turn to ( Read more... )

This ride was recommended to me by my doctor, who is also a cyclist. Usually I head west, where you can get out of town in just a mile or two. Instead I headed east, through St. Paul.

The Route:

• Dinkytown Greenway to Transitway
• Transitway to Como Avenue
• Como to Avon (?)
• Avon to Wheelock Parkway
• Wheelock Parkway to Gateway Trail

This was my first visit to the Fine Line. This venue is 3 blocks from my apartment, and it's charming inside. Exposed brick, streetlamps along one wall to make it look like an outdoor cafe. I bought the slightly pricier reserved table seating in the balcony. You walk upstairs, and there is a table that literally has your name on it, a carafe of ice ( Read more... )

Like your Thanksgiving leftovers, here's a hot take served cold: I just saw Inception for the first time, and it wasn't a very good movie.

First of all, have you seen Dreamscape? From 1984? Just so we have that out of the way.

OK, so now we have layers or levels, dreams-within-dreams. So what? A big part of my problem with the movie is that the ( Read more... )

I had been indecisive about whether I was going or not--did I feel like showing up?--but the day of the concert I went out to see if tickets were still available.

I made it about 2 blocks before I turned around and went back for a jacket. It was cold! A benefit of living downtown.

The line to get in went down the street and around the corner. I ( Read more... )

Reading over the Star Tribune, I found an article describing all the traffic woes for this weekend, including numerous road closures for the Minneapolis Bike Tour. I mean, I just did the St. Paul Classic last Sunday, and the weather was looking good, so why not?

Somewhere within Theodore Wirth Park, I heard a hiss-hiss-hiss sound and realized I'd ( Read more... )

Last weekend I participated in the St. Paul Classic, an organized bike ride around the more easterly of the Twin Cities ( Read more... )