Alliteration Trifecta

It was a cycling-kind-of-weekend… and a gorgeous one at that! Saturday, FAB launched its first of several Sioux Falls Bike Trail Helmet Usage Surveys. Morning dawned earlier than most anticipated…the fog made it appear to be about a half-hour earlier than it really was…

I met BRiMaN and the Hooterville Mayor at the South Minnesota Avenue Bridge for some synchronous semi-serious sunrise surveying…the only problem, BRiMaN and I were coffee-less and the Mayor was drinking the previous day’s leftovers—Aaacck! The bike trail was a little slow at 7:00 am, but it allowed us to exchange some childhood stories on how our fathers formed and reformed us; and, how we have or might be doing the same to our own children.

My most sincere gratitude is extended to the FAB survey team volunteers for taking a half-hour (or more) of their weekend to assist in the collection of helmet use data from 377 bicyclists at four locations during four different times of the day. Let's see, that’s four times four…carry the three…aaaah… 480 person-minutes or approximately 0.79 data points per person-minute (my statistical methods will be substantially more impressive than the aforementioned—never, ever, do public math). The affable volunteers were -- the Hooterville Mayor, BRiMaN, the Prez, Hellimat, Kari A., DyAnn W., Chuck W., mytzpyk, Harold C., Tammy W., Gregg D., Larry H., Tony P., Beth P., John N. and Rocket.

Thank you for your genuine interest in the safety of Sioux Falls bicyclists and this study. Watch for our release of the survey results and the next activity coming September 6th to a City Park near you!

I spent some ‘saddle-time’ on the trail traveling between survey sites until I bought a flat front tire…the first I have had on a bike-in-motion. Although I am not greatly disappointed, it was not as spectacular as I thought it would be. It was inconspicuous, innocuously incapacitating and insidious; more like going up a steep grade—bogging your progress to a dead stop (whilst still “clipped-in”, of course).

As I promulgated my pending "pump-less" predicament I found it somewhat perplexing that the plentiful passersby were not particularly pleasant. I even received a sinister syncopated snobbish snort or scoff from a gaunt gal, garnished in garden green gabardine, grinding the gears on a gauche gray Giant Glory DH.

Conveniently, the resulting gapping avulsion gave me a reason to charge on down to my LBS and change out the OEM tires with some Continental Grand Prix 4000 Black Chilies (Pell said they would give me another 12 mph without pedaling…12 plus 9.5…aaaah…carry the one…divided by 2...that’s still 9.5 mph, still my average)!

Below are a few pictures of our surveyors and some of those we surveyed. Particularly take notice of the trailer occupant…it caused us to take a second look. No offense intended…you can pick your seat (at the theatre), but not your genes.

Ride Into the Wind!