Danger Pandas

For years I've been using the phrase "panda portraits" to describe self-portraits while cycling.  Several randos clued me in to the phrase, and a Flickr group contains thousands of photos.

Imagine my surprise when I happened upon a Flickr group called Danger Pandas, which raises the bar with a few extra rules.  See if you recognize any randos in the photos.

Ride safe when you start snapping and contributing.

PS:  I wonder if they accept videos...

Tornadoes in Raleigh

A rash of tornadoes did major damage across the southern US the last few days.  They hit NC on Saturday afternoon/evening.  The 300K RUSA brevet planned for Saturday was wisely postponed to Sunday.

A friend lives in south Raleigh, directly in the storm's main path.  Several of us helped clean up fallen trees in the back yard.  The house was fine, but many neighbors were not so lucky.

Photos by Mark.

Lutefisk for Endurance

When I was a kid (age 11) my Norwegian grandfather dug us a hole for a swimming pool.  He was a retired construction worker in his late 60s.  He dug a flat spot into the slope of our back yard until it was 24 ft wide and 4 ft deep (7.3m x 1.2m) to perfectly nestle a round above-ground pool into the hillside.  He used a shovel.

He dug every day for maybe 6-8 weeks.  He started every morning before we went to school.  He sang to himself in Norwegian, "Yah yah this, Yah yah that."  He continued digging and singing that same song until dark, when he went home to Grandma's dinner of lutefisk, sardines, and other vile delicacies.

I can only dig about one hour per day before everything hurts.  But it's amazing how I can clearly hear my grandfather singing along with me as soon as I start.

So maybe I should try eating lutefisk too.

NC Bike Club 200K

There was no rain. There were no loose dogs. There was "some wind".

One passerby threw a cup of home fried potatoes at us. The wind blew half back into the car window.

Riding buddy Jayjay did some acrobatics when we hit crosswinds on the Haw River bridge. At first, I thought she was having a spasm in front of me. Then I rode from the protective woods out onto the high bridge and I got slammed.

I started smelling the barn at mile 90 (145km). Then I realized the wind was blowing it away from us.

Kudos to all 40 randos who started and finished. Thanks to Rando Joel for waiting for us at the turnaround point, and thanks to Rando Jerry for checking up on things.

Random photos