Deer cull at the state park

After a one year pause, hunters will return to the Dunes State Park to thin the deer herd this fall. I can tell that the herd has already been thinned. I rarely see more than two or three deer while running in the park. Several years ago I routinely saw 12 or more on the same trails. Of course as the areas around the parks become more developed, more deer are likely to migrate to the park as a source of food and cover. For the hunters it's kind of like shooting fish in a bucket!


NWI Times article

Bike Commuting #4

The price of gas is down to $2.03 at the local cheap station-just in time for the elections! Twelve more round trips to report-another 300 miles and another $20.30 saved. Totals so far:

$116.30 Saved
1150 miles

Last Friday when I rode to work, the temperatures were in the 30's. I'm going to have to seriously rethink my bike clothes for the colder months.

Invasion of the Insects

The Emerald Ash Borer has been found in Westchester Township.

Bike Commuting #3

Eleven more round trips! Another 275 miles of biking.

Totals so far:

$96.00 Saved
850 miles

Gas has dropped to about $2.43 a gallon. It may take a bit longer to "pay off" the bike. I attached my Planet Bike Freddy Fenders in anticipation of wetter commuting. I also purshased a set of panniers so I won't have to keep bungie-cording a gym bag to the rear rack. Onward!

By the way, according to the calculator I found on the Bicycle Garage Indy site, 566 pounds of CO2 have not been released into the atmosphere by my car because of those 850 bike miles.

Cross Country, Chess and ADHD.....

Fall is fast approaching and that means cross country. Every fall for the past eight years I have acted as the assistant coach for the local high school boys cross country team. We go to camp in August to run, play all variety of competitive games, and generally get to know one another. This year I played a couple of games of chess while at camp. As I do often, I got enthused and have been spending many hours playing chess against the Shredder Classic Demo I got off the internet. Many times I latch on to a new activity only to have my interest wane as something new comes along to take it's place. For example, I have a controller for my flight simulator gathering dust in my closet. I chalk this up to undiagnosed ADHD. We'll see how it goes.

Bike Commuting #2

Eleven more round trips to work. That's another 275 miles and another $33.00 saved. By the way the cost of gas is up to about $3.10 a gallon. So my totals so far:

$63.00 saved
575 miles

I bought a rigid front fork to replace the suspension fork the bike had on it. When I swapped forks I also overhauled the threadless headset-my first time! I've ridden in the pouring rain, got my first flat tire, and ridden home from work in complete darkness. It's been an interesting experience so far.

L'Alpe d'Huez

Tomorrow (Tuesday, July 18, 2006) the Tour de France stage climbs the most famous route in cycling, L'Alpe d'Huez. The last time the race included the mountain, in 2004, Lance Armstrong won an individual time trial there. There were an estimated 900,000 spectators watching him from the sides of the road. That's a bit misleading because the spectators are actually IN the road. In some places there's barely enough room for one rider to get through. One year an eager camera-toting fan actually knocked the eventual winner of the stage off his bike because he didn't get out of the way in time. Several riders from the 2004 tour are in the current race. If your a fan of cycling, or even if you're not, this stage is worth watching.