I didn’t get any blue sky today, I was out too early. Later in the day I might have had more luck. This morning I was on the way to the gym and at kilometer nine, just two kilometers before I got there, I realized I had forgotten the lock for my bike. I can’t … Continue reading "Happiness is … (17)"

At least I don’t have to sit and ponder to think up a title for my posts this month. Yesterday I got a call from the bike shop – the faulty suspension has been repaired, I can come and pick up my bike – very happy. So this morning I took the city train in … Continue reading "Happiness is … (16)"

Another dry day, although it wasn’t exactly sunny. Rain had been predicted but in the afternoon some blue broke through the clouds. Who wouldn’t be happy? 15/30, I’m half way to my goal.

Happiness is another sunny day, and that I rode to the gym today. I haven’t been there all summer and I am really happy to get started again. I have a good program with exercises for strength, balance, coordination, cardio – boy, I need it all. I guess I’m not so happy about the red … Continue reading "Happiness is … (13)"

So I was trying to think of the things that make me happy or sad. There are lots of things that might bring a smile to my face when I ride, but does it truly make me happy? Probably not. I think happiness isn’t as shallow as that for me. I think happiness transcends pleasure … Continue reading "Pondering happiness"

It was real easy to get down into the canyon — like, 40 mile per hour easy — and it was easy to ride in the canyon. Maybe that’s why I’m so happy. But possibly the happiest part was the 10 mile, 2,000 foot climb out of the canyon on a road that I can … Continue reading "Happiness Is Being In The Snake River Canyon. Sadness Is Having To Leave It."

Another wonderful time with Rachael and Scott. They met us half way on our way to meet them at their hotel in Starnberg. Pedaling doesn’t offer a lot of occasion for conversation so before we set out on our morning ride we stopped at a cafe at the edge of Lake Starnberg for some more … Continue reading "Happiness is … (10)"

After my usual run out the Greenway, I detoured downtown for a quick spin around Old Courthouse Square. Then I ran into Jeff. That always cheers me up! By the way, that’s not him in the photo.

Happiness is finding cows out to pasture in the late afternoon sun, and having eight consecutive days of good weather.

. . . the first day of a bicycle trip makes me happy. You can tell by the ‘thumbs-up”. I’m especially happy because it’s my first real tour in over two years and I get to start it out in the beautiful Palouse country of Eastern Washington. The only thing that made me sad today … Continue reading "I’ll Tell You What Makes Me Happy . . ."

Happiness is discovering a new path that I hadn’t ridden before, and a very nice path it was. Happiness is having seven nice days in a row. Happiness is a field of colorful gladiolas waiting to be picked.

Happiness is seeing that progress is being made on the new bicycle path from Gauting to Munich – it seems to be going kind of slow, though.

Happiness is a field of sunflowers in the late afternoon sun and to have the fifth sunny day in a row.

Happiness is when we have a blue sky and I can ride my bike and don’t even need a jacket at five in the afternoon, and when Janos waits patiently while I tramp through the field for a picture.

Happiness is having sufficient health and gumption to pedal out the Greenway on a lovely day in September with no immediate threat of wildfire on the horizon.

What a fun ride, but I almost had to post something sad. When I got home my computer didn’t recognize the memory card. It seems to be damaged but Janos coaxed it into showing its contents on his computer. I would have been so sad to lose my fun pictures for today.

Happiness is riding into town to meet my oldest grandson and his girlfriend for a walk and lunch. The picture is in front of the main buildings of the Ludwig Maximilian University where we met up. They came by bike, too. Why didn’t I get a picture?!

You may not know this, but the Navigator was once a bona-fide kitchenhand working in a commercial kitchen. So we present Kitchenhand M’s credentials to Chef G in hopes of earning a Cycle 365 certification in food preparation. We’ll start with previous experience and then present some current resume examples. Please note that Kitchenhand M … Continue reading "Kitchenhand M’s last minute entry"

It was a cloudy and cool day, perfect for a ride in the hills. My mission was to find the perfect picnic spot and assemble some sort of edible food items and enjoy the great outdoors thus wrapping up this challenge. My culinary skills were tested before the ride as I made my famous ‘cheapskate … Continue reading "The picnic spot"

The crew got out for a few nights in the tent last week before the latest lockdown. There was some picknicking involved for lunch/snacks/dinner each day. I chopped up some veggies that, in the past, I would have put in a wrap or sandwich. But since I can’t do gluten anymore, I’ve been putting sandwich … Continue reading "Multi-picnic ride"

A couple of days ago I read that a huge new mural had been completed on the back (alley-facing) wall of the downtown parking garage in Petaluma. That was enough to get me to saddle up this morning and pedal down to Petaluma to check out the new art…. Read more at Bill Bikes

The Feeshko and I took our time driving out to Spokane, WA for her niece’s wedding, dividing the 1500-mile drive into four days and three nights. The first night was spent in Bismarck, the capitol city of North Dakota. You might recognize the capitol building pictured in the featured photo. Once I wrote extensively about … Continue reading "Food Related Pictures From Our Road Trip"

I had no idea Had heard this is a pretty nice place, but never been there, in addition to wine and coffee they have a menu worthy of a High Tea, or at least something similar. My record stays intact — if there is a 1% chance of getting it wrong, I’m  master at it. … Continue reading "Here is one for Nancy!"

One of the sub-challenges to my August food challenge was to take a picture of yourself having a little picnic while on a bike ride. I had forgotten about that sub-challenge until today. So I quickly packed up my picnic food, threw it into my pannier and headed down to MY Town’s park down by … Continue reading "I Submit To You My Picnic Ride"

Discarded Oreo cookie package An estimated 450 billion of them produced since 1912 Twist or Dunk: the debate rages on Clover Im told if you pull an individual petal off the flower head, there is a sweet liquid in the lower part. A Black WalnutA bad idea to park under a walnut tree this time … Continue reading "More August Challenge Items"

  SOMEBODY HELP ME!!  I SPILLED ALL MY CORN PUFFS!!! If you have nothing better to do, and hopefully you do! Here are some photos from a couple of rides today.  

You’ve got to hand it to me: Not only is the title of this post an example of reckless redundancy (all mish-mash’s are mix of miscellany) but it’s also an example of awful alliteration. Anyway, I’m back from my third trip down to Iowa in the last month. My dad seems to have recovered fully … Continue reading "A Mixed Mish-Mash of Miscellanea"

Hi folks, Chef G. here, and welcome to another episode of The Chef G. Cooking Channel The Cycle365 Food Challenge. I’m glad to have been invited back even though bicycling isn’t exactly my area of expertise. But I AM a big shot chef, and that’s why my alter-ego asked me to show you HIS Town’s … Continue reading "Cyclist’s Favorite Treats, And Where To Find Them In GREG’S Town"

Orange peel segments Discarded pizza crust While photographing the pizza crust, I noticed a pick up approaching the bridge I had just crossed, moving very slowly. It stopped at the bridge, guy gets out carrying a grocery type bag, and carefully drops it along the stream bank.  He passes by me, smile and a wave, … Continue reading "August Challenge — Food Detritus"

Santa Rosa has been incredibly lucky. Despite all the wildfires raging in northern California, the prevailing winds have prevented smoke from drifting our way. That was expected to change today, with temperature into the 90s, smoke, and unhealthy air quality in the forecast. What to do? Jeff and I headed for the coast…. Read more … Continue reading "Elephant Rocks with Jeff"

Hi folks, Chef G. here. Today I’m taking a break from my duties as host of The Chef G. Cooking Channel in order to substitute for Gregblood here on Cycle365. The man known as The Czar of the Monthly Challenge is a great guy and a natural born leader. Like many natural born leaders, he … Continue reading "The Ethnic Restaurants of GREG’S Town"

Sure, MY state’s biggest university has a world renowned agriculture program, but I really think it would have been sufficient to simply call it the “Farming Department” — just as my alma mater had simple names like “Political Science Department” and “History Department.” Instead of simplicity, however, the University of Minnesota seems to have gotten … Continue reading "More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About the University of Minnesota’s “College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences”"

July is almost finished. It’s been a very wet and cold July here with twice the average amount of rainfall. I’ve been kept off the bike not only by weather but also by a lot of pain. I can’t breathe deeply or my diaphragm seems to squish things that hurt. So no biking at the … Continue reading "Finishing with a smile"

“They tell me you’re a man of true grit.” -Mattie Ross to Rooster Cogburn in the film True Grit. It might seem as though the featured photo, the title of this post, and the movie quote have absolutely nothing to do with a bicycle ride, but before you click the X in the upper right … Continue reading "Greg’s Got True Grit"

I’m not a natural like Greg when it comes to finding face like objects but here’s a few I’ve seen along the way. The featured image has two bright eyes with a swirly hairdo. (For some reason the caption on the featured photo never work) I knocked up a video when I went for a … Continue reading "Pareidolia everywhere"

Judging by the barn’s red face, it must be either very sunburned or very embarrassed.

Bright-Eyed Fuzzy Mouthed Face Some Cool Photos Here

What started out to be a an impromptu three-day, two-night trip to see my dad after his auto accident, turned out to be a week-long visit. Luckily I decided at the last minute to bring my bike. Even more luckily, I am a bike tourist so I have no problem wearing the same clothes day … Continue reading "The Iowa Wrap-Up"

Accompanied my 26 year old granddaughter on her way home from visiting us and on my return trip home, I slowed down and looked for some faces.

Stop sign at 1550E/4000N (where 1550 stops for 4000) What one person referred to as a ‘Stoptional’ sign — stop if you feel like it On one ride, a lady in a red Buick was coming north on 1550E, in an obvious rush.  A Ford Explorer was coming east on 4000N.  Buick lady decides to … Continue reading "July Challenge — 3"

I’ve been happy to see a few July “Face” Challenge posts already. I must say, the pictures have all been worthy of the fine grades I’ve given them. It makes me feel like I succeeded in making the challenge not too impossible, but it also makes me feel like my students are smarter than ME. … Continue reading "I’m Trying To Do The Best I Can In My Own Challenge"

Hi folks, Czar Greg here, and today I am pleased to announce my very first monthly challenge. I am confident you will find it to be fun, interesting, and — most importantly — goofy. So, without further fanfare, here is the challenge: Ride your bike down to your local river and take a video of … Continue reading "SPECIAL REPORT: Czar Issues the July Challenge"

We’ve been challenged with 80 Scavenger Hunt items and today I hunted down the last one. I went to great lengths to do it though — something like 35 miles in length. Yup, I drove 35 miles to downtown Minneapolis where I knew there existed a brick road. Quite a long and impressive brick road … Continue reading "BRICK ROAD–THE GRAND FINALE"

I’ve still got three more items to find for Round Four of Rich’s excellent Scavenger Hunt – – a brick street, a mini liquor bottle, and a stack of bricks. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find them here in MY Town. Therefore, I’m thinking I’ll have to make a trip over to … Continue reading "SCAVENGER HUNT: Major Bore Has More That You Can’t Ignore For Round Four"

Not only was it a fine day for a bike ride, but it was also a day in which I found a bunch of scavenger hunt items which led to bonus items. In the following two pictures you will see the bonus item was literally right next to me. In the next set of pictures … Continue reading "DAY ONE OF ROUND FOUR: Bonus After Bonus After Bonus"

Round 4 The final round of the Scavenger Hunt   A Picket Fence    Giant Tubes    Sports Scoreboard     Brick Street     Barn Quilt     Dog House House with a Turret     Foot Bridge    Water Feature    Gas Station     Mini Liquor Bottle     Electric Substation    Red Flowers     Lake/Pond     Road Hazard    Water Tower Teeter … Continue reading "June Challenge Round 4"