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Notes from the bicycle seat
Oct. 30th, 2025 02:24 pmOn my coffeeshop/writing bike ride (trust me, it makes sense) this morning I passed a whole flock of meadowlarks right by the Concord airport. They must be migratory because I don't think I've seen one in town before. Also an acorn woodpecker darted out to grab an acorn from the path right in front of me then dodge out of the way of the wheels. (I would have stopped, really I would.) I sometimes fantasize about the birds and critters layout acorns out on the path so that passing humans will step-on/run-over them and crack them, but the truth is that there are just a lot of oak trees along the rec paths.
I'd been avoiding the trail that goes past the airport for a while because they were doing various bits of road work. I spend a lot more time on surface streets for that route than the others, but drivers are incredibly courteous about waiting to pass until they can swing wide. I think it always amazes me because drivers were never that courteous in the east bay.
Another reason for sticking to the canal trail recently is that too many things have gotten in the way of a daily ride, so when I do ride I want to do the Walnut Creek loop (Canal Trail + Iron Horse). If I'm going that far, I'd rather avoid excess surface streets.
I seem to have solved the "tire slowly going soft" issue by means of getting another puncture that clearly required repair. The new tube is holding pressure solidly, so my worry that there was a hidden thorn or wire that I hadn't discovered yet seems to have not panned out. Or if there was one, then maybe it worked itself out. The other option is that that particular tube had a manufacturer's defect and I should have just replaced it immediately. Thus do we second-guess ourselves.
This morning the airtag hidden in the bike seat cheeped sadly at me that it needed a new battery, so I've taken care of that. As far as I can tell, placing airtags is simply a magic charm against things getting stolen because over the decades I've had bikes, cars, and bags stolen but never since I've started using airtags. Or maybe I've just gotten generally more paranoid. (Although I'll note that the one time I used Find My to locate a stolen iPad, the police literally said, "So what do you expect us to do about it?" I think I'll stick to the magic charm theory.)
I'd been avoiding the trail that goes past the airport for a while because they were doing various bits of road work. I spend a lot more time on surface streets for that route than the others, but drivers are incredibly courteous about waiting to pass until they can swing wide. I think it always amazes me because drivers were never that courteous in the east bay.
Another reason for sticking to the canal trail recently is that too many things have gotten in the way of a daily ride, so when I do ride I want to do the Walnut Creek loop (Canal Trail + Iron Horse). If I'm going that far, I'd rather avoid excess surface streets.
I seem to have solved the "tire slowly going soft" issue by means of getting another puncture that clearly required repair. The new tube is holding pressure solidly, so my worry that there was a hidden thorn or wire that I hadn't discovered yet seems to have not panned out. Or if there was one, then maybe it worked itself out. The other option is that that particular tube had a manufacturer's defect and I should have just replaced it immediately. Thus do we second-guess ourselves.
This morning the airtag hidden in the bike seat cheeped sadly at me that it needed a new battery, so I've taken care of that. As far as I can tell, placing airtags is simply a magic charm against things getting stolen because over the decades I've had bikes, cars, and bags stolen but never since I've started using airtags. Or maybe I've just gotten generally more paranoid. (Although I'll note that the one time I used Find My to locate a stolen iPad, the police literally said, "So what do you expect us to do about it?" I think I'll stick to the magic charm theory.)
