Cycle 365

Here I am again–your friendly neighborhood Youtube Influencer. Today I was lucky enough to hear some more sounds for the monthly challenge. “NOT AGAIN,” you may be thinking! But this time it isn’t just a bunch of mindless words and pictures. Oh no! In this post I’m going to answer one of history’s most puzzling … Continue reading "THE SOUNDS OF WATER"

I think my enormous success with this month’s “Colorful Sounds” challenge can be attributed to two things: My acute sense of hearing and my incredible luck. I’m pretty sure the hearing thing comes from many years of exercising my eardrums at rock concerts, in the Greg Room in front of my loudspeakers, and blasting loud … Continue reading "MORE SOUNDS: Planes, Trains, Trucks, and More Trains"

The End Post Views: 28 gregbloodHi. My name is Greg and I ride my bike a lot. That is to say, I ride my bike almost every day. I go on long rides and short rides. Sunny rides, cloudy rides, and rainy rides. I like commuting, errand-running, day-tripping, overnighting, and touring on my bike. I … Continue reading "The Sound of Wind (From Three Perspectives)"

Another month, another challenge. I like this month’s “Colorful Sounds” challenge not only because it should produce some interesting results, but also because it really will be pretty challenging. I tried to record quite a few sounds during my ride today, but my phone didn’t pick up most of them. (Songbirds singing from high up … Continue reading "The Sounds of April 1st"

And now for something completely different, let’s bring a new sense into the challenge: sound.  My apologies for those who are hard of hearing or are unable to create an audio file, but it’s only fair – we didn’t make special provisions for the color blind amongst us when we announced the Kodachrome challenge or … Continue reading "April 2021 Challenge of the month: colorful sounds"

Well colour sure beats black and white, I am old enough to remember when televisions became colour, wow, it was amazing. I used to ride my bike to my grandparents down the coast to look at their colour TV in amazement. Then later came digital photography, just after I bought a fancy SLR camera too. … Continue reading "Colour, Farbe, Color"

What a week it’s been for yours truly! And, of course, I’m going to tell you about it, whether I think you’ll be interested or not. The first event came on Monday when my dad called to say he just got his second Covid shot. He was feeling good and also pretty cocky about feeling … Continue reading "Playing With Kodachrome"

It was a long day at work. A very long day. Most of them are that way now. I dread logging in each morning. So after a day of meeting after meeting, and phone calls in between, while planning logistics, talking to people about data extraction, deciphering legalese and organisational liability, and negotiating procurement documents… … Continue reading "The pictorial guide to Paul Simon’s Kodachrome (as covered by the Muppets)"

PART TWO: The Kodachrome of Alien Art I sure left you hanging yesterday with my promises of mind-blowing colors, didn’t I? When you see the things I saw, I’m quite confident you will agree that it was worth the wait. I thank all my Cycle365 friends for your kind comments about the rock formations and … Continue reading "The Conclusion Of “My Colorful, Kaleidoscopic, Kodachrome Day In The Sun”"

PART ONE: Like St. George, Utah’s Color Country, Zen Trail, and Virgin River Canyon All Rolled Up Into One . . . Only Better My Colorful, Kaleidoscopic, Kodachrome day in the sun was SO colorful and kaleidoscopic and Kadachromatic that I’m going to have to separate it into two posts. Otherwise, I’ll certainly exceed the … Continue reading "My Colorful, Kaleidoscopic, Kodachrome Day In The Sun"

I’ve claimed to be an expert on so many things here — from psychology, to storm chasing, to cooking, to biking in the snow, to wine tasting, to snowman building, to head-standing, to bird-languages, and to basically every aspect of life in between — that I probably have no credibility at all when I write … Continue reading "I’m A Color Expert!"

As Suzanne tactfully noted, we’ve been tardy in posting the challenge for the new month.  Those of you down under have been in March for several hours already and are undoubtedly champing at the bit, impatient for your marching orders.  Well, your long wait is over.  Champ no longer, champs. In our defense, we’ve been … Continue reading "Challenge of the month, March 2021: Kodachrome"

Last month, most of us Minnesotan’s were getting pretty darn cocky about our winter weather. I can’t tell you how many times I participated in some form of the following conversation with dog walkers while out walking my own dog: “Nice day, isn’t it?” “Yes, it’s a GREAT day. In fact, this whole winter has … Continue reading "Smoking May Be Hazardous To One’s Health"

Most weekends of the year so far were taken with packing, moving, cleaning the old place, cleaning the new place and unpacking. I spent so much energy on the weekends, I didn’t have much energy to ride on weekdays after work, as that has been crazy busy, too. I guess the greatest hazard for me … Continue reading "Hazards of NE Victoria"

The sunshine was brilliant out the front window of my Greg Room this morning. A light dusting of fresh snow on my car, the mail box, and the streets, made the world look clean and pure and incredibly white. Gentle wisps of wind occasionally blew glistening snowflakes from tree branches to the ground, and each … Continue reading "A Disney-Like Day With Only One Hazard"

From the looks of it, we are in for two weeks of below freezing daytime temperatures. So today might have been my last ride for a while. And it was cold enough for me at around 4 C / 39 F. We had some sun but I’m getting fussy now. We encountered some hazards on … Continue reading "Into the deep dark woods"

I am so, so sorry for my last Cycle365 post. It’s not my nature to be such a negative, woe-is-me, crybaby. Usually I can put a positive spin on ANYTHING — even hazards — but for some reason the impossibility of a bike ride sent me over the edge. Had I been able to CHOOSE … Continue reading "Back to the Good Times"

Not wanting to compete with Bill or anything, but this was a close call for Janos. Hazard is putting in mildly. But he was and is a strong pedaler and escaped the jaws of this dinosaur still roaming the earth back in 2009. I can’t believe that trip was 12 years ago! Or that I … Continue reading "By the skin of his teeth"

Today I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn’t ride. Roads are covered in snow after yesterday’s storm, and I no longer have my mountain bike to negotiate those conditions. To compensate for my cycling inactivity, I shoveled. I walked Diggity. I hosted a contractor to give us an estimate for repairing the many … Continue reading "Pedal Through The Pandemic"

This confession might or might not be a shocker to you, but at least half the time I don’t actually have to go randomly searching for picture opportunities to meet the various Cycle365 Challenges. I’ve ridden the streets and nearby rural highways so often that I know exactly where to go to capture many of … Continue reading "I Know Where To Find Them"

Yesterday I made the mistake of saying I wouldn’t post such obvious Minnesota hazards as ice, snow, and frigid temperatures for the February Challenge. Unfortunately that led to a whiney, yet vehement, objection from my cartoon alter-ego. G-2 demanded equal time. He insisted that winter is ten times more hazardous for a dude who is … Continue reading "A Different Look At Wintertime Cycling Hazards"

Well ever since Scott came up with the theme of ‘Hazards’ things have been going pear shaped around here. First the news came out that a security guard from a Quarantine Hotel had caught the virus and then moved about in the community for a couple of days which means that we’re having our first … Continue reading "Hazards everywhere."

Another Month, Another Challenge, and Another Ancient Story Way back when I was in the third grade, I became a Cub Scout. Pathetically, I only lasted about six months before washing out of the program. I never advanced beyond “Bobcat” which is the lowest rank in all of scouting. I never earned a “Wolf” badge … Continue reading "Like Life Itself, Cycling Involves One Potential Hazard After Another"