Just got off the phone with my dear friend Puc Puggy, who is also 50% of the readership of the readership. I had just cracked open a Pugsley's 4 X pale ale (Portland, ME), which sounds almost like Puc Puggy, especially if you're drinking a 9+% big bottle of beer. It is also the name of the bike that you'll need to ride offroad right now around here, now that the snow and ice are here. So, I guess it is now officially ski season up here, which is fine with me. The problem is, even with snow coming pretty regularly, the ice wins. I just checked the web site of the X-country ski area that I was planning to go to tomorrow, only to learn they had closed because "We barely got half an inch of new snow and the high winds today have blown all that powder away to the east somewhere. We are left with a 4" to 6" block of ice everywhere." So, I'll try things out on the fire roads up around mt. wachusett after ducking into the fancy ski area for a couple of hours. I have to say, that I continue to enjoy things up here, and I don't completely exclude from that the 3 months of insane commuting I was doing to Boston. That was a crazy ride (that is something that 1000's do for years on end all over the US, I guess) and I did some interesting work with smart people, but I am happy to be back to something that keeps me local, even if it means missing out on daily rides along the esplanade (photo above). Worcester ain't Boston, but there is plenty that still needs to be check out here. I think I'll start with something simple, like the more bizarre flavors of Polar sodas., then move on to the local kielbasa.

I've been reading David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries for the past week or so and really like it. Honestly, it's not very well written and amounts to not much more than informal essays that sometimes relate to biking, sometimes to urban and transportation planning and sometimes to art / music. But since I love bikes and music and have long been a fan of David Byrne, I have no complaints about paying a few bucks to read his thoughts about various things. Not required reading, but if you don't, then at least go out and ride a bike some place you wouldn't otherwise.

Later on dudes - KES