The Ride Against Ignorance
Fairfax Bike Trail
I had a job interview today in an area I’ve ridden through several times since moving here. There is a short bike trail called the Fairfax Bike Trail that runs from the east side of Hyde Park to Mariemont. I love Mariemont for the architecture reminds me of the new parts of old (rebuilt) cities in Germany. It’s also a vital link to getting to the Little Miami Trail. Anyhow, today I didn’t have to take the trail because my job interview was off Murray Road. This is the reason why I attached the map at the top. Before I tell today’s story though, let me vent some feelings about cycling every day.
For the first several years of biking I took safety more seriously than I do today, but don’t let that discount how much safety I still put forth to keep my own buns intact. One safety measure I’ve opted to let slide is I listen to music through earbuds about 95% of the time. The safety experts will tell you need to have your ears to increase your perception of what is going on. That car you may not see could be heard first, or heard before it hits you. Cars do run red lights by the way, and will do more harm than a bicycle running a red light. On that note, I do not run red lights (even though my pedicab passengers think I can). But, I love my music and I feel it contributes to the number of miles I crank out in a year. Doing 1,500-2,000 miles used to seem so difficult, but when I started listening to music it seemed that I could ride forever. One other benefit of listening to music is I don’t hear all of the (I’m guessing) ignorant drivel motorists yell at you when they’re driving by. I’ve learned a number of things, given this happens almost daily, about yelling out the window at a cyclist.
1. Most of it is inaudible. You’re driving by fast and have an 8th grade education. You’re a jerk.
2. Chances are there is a red light ahead. Don’t underestimate how fast I can actually travel. When I pull up beside you I’m going to give you a look that clearly says… You’re a jerk.
3. Generally the same person who doesn’t want to share the road with me is the same ignorant asshole that doesn’t support bike trails. You’re a jerk.
4. I’m sure there are about 20 more scenarios that if you’re yelling at me it will lead me to believe that. You guessed it. You’re a jerk.
Usually when there is something I can’t understand I blame it on Hollywood. Since I generally can’t hear nor understand what these jerks are saying I can’t confirm this. I’ll assume anyhow. Sorry.
So anyhow today since I only had a 2.5 mile ride to my interview I left the music at home. Upon leaving the interview I was on Murray Road parellel to the bike trail. I couldn’t access the entrance to the job interview via the bike trail since the median between the trail and the road is actually rather wide, steep, and above all grass. Not that is should matter, but I was only on the road for like 500 feet from where the trail meets the road. So a car passes with me with a driver and a passenger. The passenger says, as they drive by pointing, “there is a bike trail right there”. I’m certain more ignorant things have been said to me while on a bike, but this one was loud, clear, and above all ignorant.
The reason why this bothers me is somewhat in regards to what I listed above; the importance of bike trails. We want cities to incorporate bike trails so we don’t have to compete with cars. I’d rather not have to just as much as you don’t want to push your gas pedal and slightly turn your wheel to go around me. So in this case a neighborhood has a bike trail (the passenger noted it), but it’s not a magic bullet. Regardless of how many bike lanes, trails, and magic carpet rides the city and Feds will leave us in the scrap heap will not take me off every road and street (or, I’m sorry, out of your way). Please remember this above all. You own a car. YOU DO NOT OWN THE ROAD.
Given that cyclists aren’t as common in Cincinnati I’ve had to become much more vigilant. This means taking the whole lane, and not giving in to the ignorance and bullying out there on the road. Defensive, but assertive is what I like to say. In all, I’m thankful for moving here and dealing with what seems like a new, swift, and promising future of cycling advocacy in Cincinnati. I hope to be a bigger part of it. Slow down one day, and maybe I’ll tell you more about it.
The Germany beer list
This is not just overdue, it’s well over a year overdue. This is the notes directly from my iPhone that I took while in Germany. I woke up in a cold sweat last night, as I restored my iPhone (I think it’s on its last leg) and was terrified I had lost my notes. I hadn’t, but I’m preserving them here finally in case my phone chokes this week. Enjoy, and comments (preferably on Facebook) are suggested.
-Frankfurt:
Binding
Henniger
Sion Kölsch
Kulmbacher
Schöfferhofer
-Shimborn:
Schlappe-seppel
-Aschaffenburg:
Weisener
-Würzburg:
Keiler Land-Pils
Wurzburger Hofbrau
Kulmbacher Mönschof Kellerbier
Wernecker Laurentius
-Bamberg:
Spezial-brau Rauchbier
Brauerei Sonne- hefetrüb
Fässla Bier-Radler/Some lightass crappy cider for cyclists
Kitzmann- hefeweizen
Bamberger Mahr’s Kellerbier
Weiherer Weisse
Privatbrauerei Fässla Bamberg Gold-Pils
Schlenferla Heller-Bräu Rauchbier
Keesman Bräu (Bamberger)- Herren Pils
Mahr’s Bräu-Keller bier /wood cask
Fässla Bier- zwergla
Brauerei Simon- lauf
-Munich:
Spaten dunkel
Hacker-Pschorr dunkel Weiss
Hofbrau original
Saanwald hefeweizen
Saanwald hefeweizen dunkel
Augustiner Lagerbier (hell)
Augustiner edelstoff
Augustiner dunkel Weiss
Weihenstephan dunkel
Ayinger jahrhundred
Ayinger Weiss
-Rothenburg ob der Tauber:
Kloster Scheyern dunkel
Zirndorfer kellerbier
Jever Pilsener
Landwehr-Bräu- Toppler-Pils
Gutmann Hefeweizen
Brauhaus Leikeim- Leikeim Premium
Tucher- Weizen
Tucher- Altfränkish Dunkel
Tucher- pils
Landwehr-Bräu- dunkel
DAB (Dortmunder Actien Bräu)- Pils
Schneider Weiss- dunkel
-Frankfurt x2:
Hamaste- Premium lager
Schmucker Meister Pils
Schmucker Schwartz Bier
Schöfferhofer- Weizen
Paulaner-export
Paulaner- dunkelweiss
Beck’s. Yes Beck’s
Look up when you’re feeling down
I have a sad bastard story with a happy ending. It begins after I returned from Easter and setup a date for the following Tuesday. I was so certain the date was going to happen that I had mom pack up the last of our morel findings for me to bring to the potential date. I did this because over Easter weekend I shared some of my experiences from the weekend including not only the morel explosion, but even some pictures of wildflowers. I was rather smitten.
Tuesday evening arrived and I got to the venue early to play trivia. This was doubly exciting since I hadn’t played trivia since moving to Cincinnati. The place was packed and I was fortunate to get a seat, let alone two. It worked out, she arrived in time, and we began to play. I alone gave us a perfect score till we hit the Harry Potter category. We knew nothing about Harry Potter (and proud of it), and the host even made fun of our horrible answer. That’s OK. Still it kinda went downhill from there and we ended in last place. That’s OK, we finally began to enjoy our company now that the pressure was off. We ended up talking (and drinking) for another two hours, and even ended the evening on a few kisses (yes, I kiss and tell I suppose). I was ecstatic (she loved her morel gift by the way), and out next date was going to be Saturday at her singing debut with a bossa nova band. Sweet!
From there the communication began to wane. Then came the excuses. Long story short; the Saturday date was off. Lame.
To make matters worse I still hadn’t been back to work in a couple of weeks, then I pinched a nerve or pulled a muscle in my back. It was so bad I couldn’t even roll over in bed, let alone get up. Once I did manage did get upright, I still couldn’t let a beautiful day go by so I still got on my bike. Strangely enough the biking helped my ailing back, even though it took a few nights of agony before I was sleeping comfortably. On a side note, I actually crashed my bike for the first time in like two years when I hit one of those road plates wrong. Fortunately all it did was take some hair off my knee. It may have aggravated my back a little more too. It’s mostly better now.
Cincinnati Observatory
So, back to my Saturday night and the happy ending. Saturday evening I was watching the news, and they reported the Cincinnati Observatory was having a viewing from 8-10 in celebration of the 167th anniversary of their first telescope. Bingo, my night was salvaged. This telescope is special for a number of reasons. Back in the 1800′s, astronomy was popular in Europe and had 100′s of telescopes in most cities for the public to view. The United States had none. President John Quincy Adams was an advocate to bring an observatory to the States, but given that well, the individual States had more power back then it was shot down. Finally, Ormsby M. Mitchel, a professor at Cincinnati College organized the Cincinnati Astronomical Society gathered enough funding to bring the first telescope to the US. The telescope was purchased in Munich, and at the time the 1843 Merz und Mahler 11 inch refractor was the 2nd largest telescope in the world. It is also believed that it is the oldest continually used telescope in the world.
So, with your history lesson there I was obviously stoked about checking out this telescope. It only got better.
I arrived to the history lesson inside the foyer of the observatory underway. This is where I got the above history lesson, and was surprised to find out that a newer (yet still old) telescope was in the main observatory building that we went upstairs to check out. This one was installed in 1904 and has a 16″ refractor. The most amazing thing is both were installed before there was any electrical power, therefore everything is counterweight or manually powered. Amazing. We did not get to look out of the “newer” scope since the “old” one was the honorary scope for the night. That’s cool. 
1904 "new" telescope
- 1904 “new” telescope
Before we left the observatory they mentioned the International Space Station was due to flyover soon so we were heading outside. When we got outside there was another surprise. Someone (and not just anyone) had placed a portable scope outside pointed at Jupiter. We all took turns to look at the largest planet sitting oh so small in the west. Upon further inspection not only did we see the big planet, but a few of its moons even appeared. How cool! In the meantime, that person who had setup the portable telescope, and telling us when the ISS was going to appear was Dean Regas. Who the hell is Dean Regas you ask? Well, to flashback, my love for astronomy is likely most credited to the late Jack Horkheimer. If you have to ask who he is well you may have never watched PBS late night. He gave a highlight about some astronomical event of the week whether it be a meteor shower, eclipse, or even a rare comet in a 5 minute segment. If I was up late enough to see his segment, I was happy, and sometimes stepped outside to see it. Anyhow with Jack’s passing, many other astronomers took his place to educate the PBS public about the stars. The most common co-host has been well, Cincinnati’s Dean Regas. While the ISS passed I had pulled out my ol’ trusty iPhone and began talking to the other onlookers about how the ISS is powered, why it is lit up, and when and how the ISS was going to disappear. One actually asked if “I worked there”.
I talked to Dean briefly about astronomical smartphone apps, and if he knew about the Iridium 45 communication satellite passing over. He did not, and expected to be around later when it was due to pass. I was excited about this since I had never seen one myself. But first, I had the join the rest of the group to check out the historic honorary telescope.
About 30 of us packed into the smaller observatory where the old telescope is housed. Its mahogany veneer and chuckwagon wheel really made it look something that belonged in a museum. The first target was Venus, which I didn’t learn till I watched the aforementioned PBS segment last week that has phases, and all of its beauty. They made a mention of Venus eclipsing the sun on June 5th and to mark our calendars. Next, they pointed it at Mars. Not as impressive in my opinion, but again, to look at something in more detail millions of miles away is still cool. Meanwhile they had setup another portable scope outside with Saturn in its marks. I headed out right away though not to see Saturn, but look for the Iridium flare. I was hoping to meet Dean to see it, and shortly after getting into position Dean came out and we both watched together for the flare. He was amazed of my iPhone app called Sputnik! that tells you the trajectory of the satellite, and even beeps when to look. This normally would have made my night, but still much was ahead.
The "old" 1843 telescope
At the portable scope I got to see Saturn up close for the first time, and see a little dot next to it which was likely one of Saturn’s moons, Titan. They told me the view in this scope would likely be better than the old scope inside. Oh well. I went back into the observatory anyhow as the setup to view Saturn. A bit of patience had to set in as a cloud deck began to move over. Finally, I got to step up onto the platform and look at Saturn through the old scope. I wasn’t disappointed as the view was actually better, and could see the distinctive space between the rings and planet. Wow!
At that point most of the crowd had left and I felt like I had the energy of a 10 year old. I was grinning ear to ear on my bike ride home. I will undoubtedly become a member soon. I kinda want to buy a scope, but with membership I can actually access a scope for 30 days at a time! Look out nieces and nephews, Uncle Jeff will be turning you onto our solar system.
I was so glad the date never happened, and at that point I was still optimistic we were going to meet for another trivia night this week. As my night winded down I asked her how her debut went; I didn’t get a reply. The next day she mentioned how well the night went, but never cared to ask about my night, or my back, or anything much actually. I hid blocked her on the dating site. There are more stars in the sky for me to see.
My Easter Weekend 2012
I haven’t been home for Easter in many years. Many years on purpose, and others because it was simply too far to travel. 10 or 15 years ago I decided I shouldn’t observe religious holidays anymore simply because I felt it was hypocritical to denounce organized religion, yet celebrate their holidays. Christmas had been the only exception, and really even through this past year I still looked upon it as a Winter Solstice celebration. I haven’t observed gift giving aside from the family calendars I produce every year. In all actuality is probably a really nice gift now that I pay for them. 
Easter though for me in the past was mostly about ham, hard-boiled eggs, coconut, and lots of chocolate. I could get behind the chocolate, but for the most part I really was OK with buying up the discounted candy the following week.
A year ago I spent some money I shouldn’t have on plane tickets, and saved even more that I shouldn’t have spent on spending in Germany for 10 days. The week I was there was holy week, and the country was colored for Easter. Real eggs displayed everywhere, including trees of homes on the countryside, and chocolate was given out to us at breakfast everywhere we stayed. It was quite spectacular.
The trip really didn’t effect me per se religiously, but a month or so ago I found this link on Facebook about German Easter traditions. It was a great article, but what struck me was the tradition about burning last year’s Christmas tree in a bonfire Easter night. From there, among a few other reasons, I conjured up a plan and called my sister about the bonfire idea. We didn’t have it Easter night, but the night before they had located there disposed Christmas tree, and burned in the fire after having large pastel colored marshmallow s’mores.
Not sure if there is any relation between Easter egg hunting and mushroom hunting, but the latter is certainly a religious experience. The weather was gorgeous all weekend, and after a long trip home Friday I just wanted to enjoy the last bits of sunlight so I went out to the back pond for a quick walk and take a peak where I typically find a mushroom (or two). In my short trip I was excited to find one, but I had no idea what it foreshadowed for the weekend. The next day Dad and I decided to take a trip deeper in the woods for the elusive morel mushroom. The first hour we came up empty handed. The second hour I discovered the first one, and immediately six more appeared. I summoned dad from across the way and brought over his eye to the dotted landscape. They were so plentiful we stopped counting. An hour later you had two full grown men giggling over our finds. I couldn’t wait to get home first to have a beer, and second to find out who found the most. The final count; 29 each. We found 58! I told mom I had the tiebreaker with my lone shroom from the night before.
Mom sliced them up, and before the bonfire I took my nieces and nephew out for another mushroom hunt. We had so much fun and scored another 17 delicacies. Smiles abound!
Before the end of the weekend we found nearly 100 edible fungi; enough to feed the masses at our Easter dinner. My niece who is a picky eater even approved!
I also got to hide some Easter eggs, which is actually more fun than looking for them, and I made Easter baskets for all of my nieces and nephews. They all scored opera creams from Papas in Covington, KY and some jellybeans. Nothing says lovin’ like a big ol’ sugar buzz!
So lesson learned is I need to partake in more holidays of Pagan origin and not feel bad.
Comparisons
One of the things I had to do before moving to Cincinnati was to assure many of the things I loved in Milwaukee could be replicated. Now that I’ve been here for over 2 months it’s time to report on a few of my findings. Some are wonderful, some are acceptable, some of ‘em suck.
Milwaukee v’s Cincinnati.
1. Vintage. Vintage is likely the one thing that won’t be replicated. The only bar I’ve been to a number of times is called The E(stablishmnet). They have $2 Yuengling’s, a cute bartender, an OK patio, and food. Seems a bith ‘douche-y’ at times. Score = Suck.
2. Sassy Cow Milk. I loved the Sassy Cow. It was $2.45 for a half gallon at Beans n Barley. It never let me down. The small dairy equivalent here is Snow Valley Creamery. They do not homogenize the milk so it needs shaken before pouring. This leads to a problem since the $3.69 half gallons are in paper cartons which splashes out when you shake it. It’s a green thing, I’ll give ‘em that. Score = Acceptable.
3. Razor in Bayview. I left the best barber ever! The two ‘barbers’ I’ve been to here have not even come close. Score = Suck.
4. Cory the Bike Fixer. The 2 years free service and a half mile from home was awesome. The suggested shop here is Reser in Newport. They are 8 miles away, but a great shop. They have lifetime free tuning on new bikes. That’s an incentive. Score = Acceptable.
5. Whole Foods. Milwaukee had a comfy cafe, with an excellent barista, and a friendly overall neighborhood atmosphere. The Cincinnati Whole Foods has none of that. Score = Suck.
6. Alterra/Anondyne/Roast, etc. The coffee shops in Milwaukee were OK. Alterra on Prospect sucked by the way. This is why I went to the aforementioned Whole Foods. Coffee Emporium in Cincinnati (I go to the Hyde Park location) is everything a coffee shop should be and more! I haven’t even hung out very long on their gorgeous patio. Holy crap! Score = Wonderful!
7. Biking. You still can’t beat the Oak Leaf Trail, and riding along Lake Michigan. Plus lots of bike lanes in Milwaukee. I was a little hesitant about Cincinnati, but they are moving quickly in the right direction. Bold plans, commitments, decent system, great advocacy groups, lots of activities, and so on. The hills suck. Score = Acceptable.
8. Radio Milwaukee. You know how much I loved it. I still listen to it. I am falling out of love with it since the community spots are irrelevant to me and have seemingly become more persistent. I might be going back to Pandora soon unless I can find a local alternative I don’t know about yet. Score = Suck.
9. Baseball. Milwaukee gets crazy for baseball. Cincinnati is about the same, BUT, we have an Opening Day parade (that I’m attending tomorrow). Am I going to throw my loyalty back to the Reds? Score = Yes
10. Transit system (bus). Milwaukee, still awesome. Cincinnati? Score = Suck.
11. Pizza. Milwaukee likes the cracker thin. I like the thicker, spicier pizza in Cincinnati. Score = Wonderful!
12. Bread. Le Campagne from Mequon, and Peter Sciortino’s are like the Fuck yeah! of bread. In Cincinnati, I went from won over to not buying again the Shadeau Bakery after it began molding quicker and quicker. Looking for an alternative for the bread mainstay. As far as brat/sausage buns, mmmm, Ferrari’s Little Italy has got some damn good ones. Score = Acceptable.
Overall score? Lots of sucks, right. Not so fast. I’m really happy here. Score = Wonderful!
By the way, I’m back to drinking orange juice even though I have to strain the pulp out. It’s called Natalies Orchid Island Juice Company. As of this week you can find it at Pick N Save. By the way. Pick N Save v’s Kroger. Kroger wins! Yay Cincinnati!
Wind Map
I’ve been reloading this every hour that I’m awake on my browser since I found this earlier in the week. I’m just so fascinated by it. The wind in fact is an important part of my being given it will predict how hard or easy my ride is going to be, or which way I’m going to go when I need a destination. Now I can see how it all flows in functions nationwide. I’m truly a weather geek.
The Lost Year
I realized this when I began re-blogging last September, and again reminded me when the calendar feature became available on my WordPress design, that I didn’t blog from November 2010 to September 2011. It’s not exact math, but I’m going to call it ‘the lost year’.
Strangely enough the blog in Nov. 2010 was both the realization, and denial, that my time in Milwaukee was over. Ironically, though the Sept. 2011 blogs speaks no word of it, the restart was I took the first breath and decided to move to Cincinnati. The thing is though in that lost year many things happened and they deserve a place here as I hope this blog becomes a history book of my life.
I definitely had lots of time in this period and it was when I reached a few heights in my life. This period was the growth and peak of me being a trivia show host. It’s the point where I realized that my so called Twitter network (albeit a few exceptions) wasn’t going to support me, and I didn’t need them to succeed. My struggling show in ‘the lost year’ finally got out of the 25-30 player range to selling out week after week (the capacity was about 75-80). Of course as time would tell, this was the ONLY thing keeping me in Milwaukee and the hardest thing to let go.
During the cold Winter/Spring of 2011 I found myself going to Madison for weekends on end to protest the Republican takeover of Wisconsin. It was amazing to see a movement unfold and then fold myself into it. Recalls have occurred and success of righting a wrong is almost complete there. Though distant, I’m still cheering on the sidelines for my fellow Wisconsinites and hope to come celebrate when you finally topple Scotty Douchebag Walker and take the Senate back as well. Then hopefully we can all breath freely and I’ll slowly let you guys get back to normalcy (whatever that is).
The biggest height was my lifetime dream of making it to Germany. Though I posted several pictures on Facebook and Twitter it never made it here. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year and I’ve been pining to go back. My goal is to go back in 4 years, yet I don’t think I can wait that long. I hope if and when it happens I get to take a family member or two with me. To help matters my new job has a fellow co-worker that listens to language courses throughout the day and for my benefit we’ve been listening to German. Perhaps I will not have the language handicap on the next trip.
The most unique landmark in my favorite German city, Bamberg
Easter in Rothenberg od de Tauber
Double bridge down in the valley from the walled city up on the hill, Rothenberg od de Tauber
Late night at a Madison Protest
It’ll be hard to make up on here what I did and what was missed in that long year, but I think I became to reliant on micro-blogging on Facebook. I may need a self-review. Either way, it’s good to be back.
“About”
I changed my blog theme earlier this week from the perhaps Cincinnati appropriate orange and black to the design you’re looking at today. Turns out the “About” portion that I wrote back in April 2008 wasn’t visible in the old design. I was pleased to find what I wrote, and wanted to share it here before I revamped it to reflect my new place. My motivations haven’t changed much, and I ended up doing 5,000 miles in Milwaukee. In regards to the cheese, why is it way more expensive in Wisconsin? All I know is goetta is the new cheese here. Can’t wait to cook some up in the morning.
About, April 7, 2008 (5 months after I moved to Milwaukee)
I think this blog is a result from being single and will probably only continue to thrive as long as I can bike to a new place and have room in my backpack. I’m not a recreational biker so I need a destination usually to point me in the right direction. Usually something interesting such as a local shop that has goods such as apple cider (at least when I was in Indiana), beer, wine, bakeries, and now I can add Wisconsin cheese. Plus the shear beauty and the challenge to go to new places will keep me pedaling in hopes of going two or three thousand miles this year, maybe even to Michigan via the Lake Express.
So I guess this is supposed to be about me, not my blog. In short I lived in Indiana my whole life till I was just a month short of my 34th birthday. I uprooted and moved myself to Milwaukee, WI. This has just opened a new sense for adventure because finally my surroundings by afar are completely new to me. Plus I have a penchant for quality over quantity for several products but it has to be a good value as well. I prefer craft beers, local wines, the darkest succulent chocolates, and the art of cheese and a great tasting milk. It’s a good thing I walk to work, bike, and even workout because i have a feeling Wisconsin can make your girth potentially immense.
On edit, I never did make that Lake Express trip. 
The Oatmeal
If you are visiting here, and have never see The Oatmeal; well get in on that shit.
Melting butter is indeed a science.
