Downtown Library 3rd Floor (not so) View Windows

Ok this has nothing to do with bikes, guitars or mandos, except the library does have bike parking in the garage.

Our downtown Spokane Library has huge view windows on the second and third floors that overlook the Spokane River and Monroe Street Bridge and offer a great panoramic view of north Spokane.

Or they used to.

What did they do?  They (whoever they are) moved 6 foot tall magazine racks in front of the windows, cutting off the nice clean wide angle view the windows used to offer.

I like to head over here sometimes on my lunch hour if I need a relaxing getaway, so I was shocked when I stopped by earlier this week and saw the tall racks in front of the window.  In this semi-circular area there used to be only low desks that didn't block the view.  The magazines were in a couple rows of 4 foot or so tall magazine racks in front of the desks.  I could sit down at one of the desks, look out over the falls, flip through the Business Journal (I like to keep up with goings on) and surreptitiously eat my lunch.

I think in an effort to make more room for tables with computers, the powers that be at the library took out the shorter racks and moved the magazines to these tall racks in front of the windows.  They achieved there purpose, but they also succeeded in obstructing the view, and blocking off some of the light coming in through the windows.

This just seems like a bad idea.

Fargoing about

I haven't been out biking on the weekends much lately, but managed to get a quick ride in this weekend in between other goings on.  My Fargo has been hanging up in the garage for a couple months now, and decided to take it at the last minute.  I figured the sealant in the tubeless tires was all dry now, but didn't want to take the time to put in fresh goop.  So I gambled and just aired up the tires.  Headed off without a garmin or lights on the bike.

I had a vague idea of going up Houston Rd and wasn't sure after that. I didn't feel like riding either Gov't Way or the Centennial Trail so instead I veered off onto Trail 100 at the TJ Meenach Bridge and followed it.  I had an option below the Military Cemetery of climbing up and connecting with Houston Rd, but instead I stayed on 100 until it ran into Trail 25 (of course).  Then to the Bowl and Pitcher and back home via the Merkel Trail.  There's a little meandering single track trail behind the baseball and soccer fields I like to take, then continued on a trail between the Joe Albi parking area and the cemetery to get to Wellesley Ave.  Turned out to be a good loop.

Returned with all the air in my tires.  I really like the Fargo setup tubeless - smooths out the trails a bit.

A few pics.  A ride in Northwest Spokane just isn't complete without going by the wastewater treatment plant.

2015 Honk! Honk! / 2014 Mileage Post

it's been kinda quiet here in wileydog blogland (like a certain foosball player) but it's time for me to do my required duty and spout forth some officially sanctioned blog content. And I am wearing only Blogger approved logos as I type this, no unofficial wileydog merchandise here.

I have a a few draft posts that I never finished, but here's something fresh not-so-fresh-now from the wileydog backyard:

2015 Honk! Honk!

Its seems like not too long ago I wrote about how I didn't get honked at much in 2013 (Honk! Honk! 2013).  And I'd been thinking there was hardly any honking directed at me in 2014.  Then I'm riding home a couple weeks ago, heading north on C Street approaching Rockwell Ave (just before the Driscoll One Stop).   It's almost dark.  A car is heading east on Rockwell and we approach the intersection about the same time.  It may have got there a little bit sooner because it was moving faster than me, but they slow down and stop.  I slow down and check my right hand and determine I am indeed on the right and have the right of way.

Now my experience in this neighborhood, unlike some other neighborhoods, is that when motorists think they have the right of way they don't slow down and let some poor schmuck on a bike go first.  Which is fine.  So I'm real careful in these uncontrolled intersections.  But this occasion I had the right of way (I double checked again to make sure - maybe I should label the right side of my handlebar), the car was stopping, and I thought might as well go first.

I clear the intersection and they proceed forward.  Then I hear a honk behind me once they're through. What? everything seemed fine, I thought we had an understanding and the motorist/bike dance went off smoothly.  Maybe they were honking at my awesome studded tire bike.  Maybe they didn't like my flashing light.  I had the Cygolite on the SteadyPulse mode which is a steady medium beam with a brighter flashing.  It's not terribly bright, at east not like the airplane landing lights some folks use.  Maybe it was just a friendly honk.  But it sounded like an irritated honk. Darn biker slowing me down type of honk.  I've heard all types of honks, and this one didn't sound like a friendly tap.  Weird, too, how it was delayed.

Well this year is starting out great in the honking department.

Ok, enough ruminating on one silly honk.

2014 Mileage Post

 (complete with recycled image from last year's mileage post ).  This is turning out to be a lazy blogging year.

Again, it's hard to tell how many miles I racked up last year.  Not a whole lot, but I like to think it's respectable.  It's not the quantity, it's the quality, right?  Had some good rides last year.  Did I mention I'm a year round commuter?  Seems like I should have more.  I was without a bike computer the first month or so of last year, but got the Garmin Edge Touring device around this time. It shows around 2500 now.  It's missing a few rides so I think I can round up to 3,000 for last year. I've always been a little fuzzy with math.