Saturday, February 19, 2011

A Perfect Day

I had Friday off and decided to keep it a car-free Friday even though I had several errands to run. So I set out through the neighborhood. The weather was perfect. No, really. PERFECT. It was perhaps 60 or 65 and almost no wind. I was able to ride in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Tooling around on my single speed, I didn't even really break a sweat.



Hello to my adoring fans.



I came out at the south end of the Wedgwood neighborhood onto Wedgwood Drive. This is kind of an unusual situation- Wedgwood, a local neighborhood street, runs right alongside Granbury Road, a 45 mph multi-lane highway. So in the picture below, I'm safe on the side street while highway traffic buzzes past on the other side of a median.



As I approach Hulen Street, though, Wedgwood dumps into Granbury, so I have to jockey with the traffic.



I planned to stay in the traffic lane when I turned right onto Hulen Street. But I got caught at the traffic light and looked around. I wimped out- I noticed a sidewalk and jumped on it.



The credit union was just up ahead so I just followed the sidewalk.



Now here's a poser: I know we had a lot of ice a little over a week ago, but temps have been mild pretty much all week. So why was there still ice on the sidewalk?



I looked at my cell phone... 8:50...



I guess it's the drive-through for me.



Next stop was the eye doctor. There are no pics of the ride down to that stop because I was actually out in the traffic lane with the big boys.



Having taken care of my eyes, my next stop was at the LBS to exchange a part I'd picked up on the way home earlier in the week. It was a shifter cable, but it was a little too short for the way I wanted to use it. I ended up having to buy one for a tandem bike! Anyway, since City Cyclist closed, Bicycles, Inc. is the closest one to my house.



Guess what? I got there at 9:50 and the don't open till 10.



I must be traveling too fast on the bike. Bicycles, Inc. is a good shop. Unlike City Cyclist and nowadays, Trinity Bicycles, it's not exactly a place to hang out. They are very professional and do good work, though.




The four pictures above are a real good illustration of why Fort Worth is a great city for cycling. Sure, there are few bike lanes and paths, but you can cut through near-deserted neighborhood streets to get where you want to go. I was able to cut through the South Hills area, then Westcliff, Ryan Place, and finally got to Fairmount where my next stop was, to pick up some coffee. I had to pop out of the residential areas for just a few blocks.

I love riding through Fairmount; the homes are old and beautiful. I hope to move there eventually.




Finally, my Locally Roasted coffee source.



What? You don't see it?



There it is, behind the potted plant on the front porch. I had already paid for the coffee online so he left it out for me to pick up.



I've been riding all morning and haven't breakfast yet. Where to eat?



I know! Paul's Donuts!





I was pretty close to Trinity Bicycles so I stopped in to say hi.



Hi, Nelson!



Time to head for home. I slowly rolled down Magnolia...



...and noticed a few interesting things, like this license plate:



The new Avoca Coffee shop should be open within a month.



So I rode back through several southside neighborhoods and got home. By the afternoon it was starting to get a bit warm, so maybe the day wasn't quite perfect, but boy it was close.

12 comments:

Pondero said...

Looks like a grand adventure. All of the wind that was missing down there was up in Sanger. I spent 5 hours out in it.

I had to laugh at the coffee pickup. I have similar arrangements with a roaster in Denton.

Anonymous said...

I like the proof-positive shot of you in your TShirt... just in case we thought you were exaggerating! I also love the coffee-to-go! Does he setup tables on the porch in the summer? I like neighbourhood shops in converted houses, I think they are neat. Looks like it was a nice ride.

Doohickie said...

You misunderstand, PaddyAnne. That's his house. He roasts coffee and sells it to friends to support his own habit. It's not a restaurant.

Big Oak said...

You folks in Texas take your coffee seriously down there.

I'm glad the weather is nice down there. It'll start getting hot soon, won't it?

Doohickie said...

Yes... all too soon!

Steve A said...

I've been tempted to roast my own coffee, but have not run across an air popper to perform surgery on as of yet. I presume this guy's got something a little more robust.

Doohickie said...

I think a gas grill is involved.

Apertome said...

It sure does look like a beautiful day, great to do a bunch of riding. Some of those quiet side streets look great. The Cutter looks like a really fun bike, by the way.

Avus said...

Thanks for letting us join in the ride, Doohickie (and showing a Limey around your town!)
I loved the coffee pick-up.

PennyCandy said...

The cutter was a Christmas gift from his lovely wife and sons. That would be me. :-)

Ben said...

i love shadow photos of bikes...
i've also made sketches of the same subject, which are somewhere on my blog from last Fall

Doohickie said...

I did a whole post on bike shadows some time back.