tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post7865901348735339744..comments2024-03-27T05:14:23.738-04:00Comments on Lovely Bicycle!: Red HerringVelouriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-2273335698813004422012-09-15T18:53:41.228-04:002012-09-15T18:53:41.228-04:00Oh yes! Trolls! Tell us some about trolls! And goa...Oh yes! Trolls! Tell us some about trolls! And goats! Goats and trolls and bicycles are an excellent combination! <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-37317775084599449362012-09-15T18:50:50.553-04:002012-09-15T18:50:50.553-04:00Oh come ON, lucky birthday lottery numbers from a ...Oh come ON, lucky birthday lottery numbers from a strange woman on the street? You gotta do better than that.<br /><br />SpindizzyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-52338276195883483112012-09-15T18:48:56.001-04:002012-09-15T18:48:56.001-04:00No spooky abandoned properties in the North?No spooky abandoned properties in the North?Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-5367574294371450672012-09-15T16:23:33.317-04:002012-09-15T16:23:33.317-04:00Sure it's juvenile escapism. And most of us wo...Sure it's juvenile escapism. And most of us would be lying if we said we never experience any. <br /><br />We ride bikes and the darnest things go through our minds. For me, lately it's been memories of all kinds of things from when I was a teenager. I think that's because we always rode our bikes through the woods back then, and it seemed normal, and that was the last time until recently when I really rode on trails. So now I'm riding on trails and it takes me back to those times. That's really all there is to this post. It wasn't intended to be scary, or an example of my "writing." <br /><br />Mushroom picking witches... Now I'm tempted to tell about the woman who grabbed my hand and told me some lucky lottery numbers - which ended up being my birthdate. Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-69101448377975458742012-09-15T13:28:43.165-04:002012-09-15T13:28:43.165-04:00I showed this post to a friend at work, he just so...I showed this post to a friend at work, he just sort of harumphed and called it juvenile escapism(which more or less just pissed me off).<br />Whats wrong with giving your imagination a little leash? It gives context to what we decide is reality and can truly create a little reality in those ways that the world still gives us latitude to choose. Why do all the little red shacks peering out of the underbrush have to be rusty toolsheds from Sears? Somewhere one of them HAS to be the gingerbread home of a cannibalistic shrew-herd. <br /><br />There's a stretch of singletrack on the North River Gorge Trail that I think of as the place where the "Brujas" live because I once saw 2 women, one elderly and the other middle aged, out gathering mushrooms and stuff in a huge spit oak basket. They definitely weren't wearing the standard local wardrobe for women of a certain age and my "hello, lovely day" was returned with a cheerful response that was more Central Europe than Central Virginia. When I came back down the trail 15 minutes later they were GONE! Probably off in a thick spot or maybe there's a side trail along there somewhere I don't know about you say? Right? HELL NO! There's only one plausible explanation. Witches.<br /><br /> I do so want those nice ladies to be something equally mysterious and special as one of my very favorite pieces of trail. I want them to live in a nice little stone hovel 10 feet square outside and 3 stories high and 17 rooms inside, with a front door that opens onto some back street in Prague, a backdoor in Tibet and a coal chute that connects with one of the old abandoned mines out here in the woods. Ideas like that make my neighborhood seem more interesting, engaging and worth spending time in. <br /><br />I don't go out on my bike to see if the forest service has bulldozed another nice trail into one more bad road, I go out with the burning desire to see Bigfoot. Or at least a hundred year old Moonshiner dragging a 6 foot long Kentucky Rifle and a 7 foot beard behind him. Enough with the convenient refuse barrels and the placards giving longitude and latitude in the middle of nowhere, I want hollow trees full of those crazy mythical Mexican half human half bird things, trolls under footbridges or eery floating lights bobbing in the distance. Hell, I'd settle for Mitt Romney with a cloak and staff muttering about immigration policy. I've had a belly full of reality. <br /><br />Nice story. I want more of them,<br /><br />Spindizzy Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-7306076564998184562012-09-15T00:33:33.310-04:002012-09-15T00:33:33.310-04:00Vampires is what this blog is missing. Thank you!Vampires is what this blog is missing. Thank you!Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-11193959622642531572012-09-14T23:38:41.815-04:002012-09-14T23:38:41.815-04:00yeah, and you can add vampires and then the studio...yeah, and you can add vampires and then the studios will buy the rights to your book and make a movie out of it, possibly a trilogy........Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-17911305436476850472012-09-14T21:53:07.721-04:002012-09-14T21:53:07.721-04:00Great story! Reminds me of the movie "Stand B...Great story! Reminds me of the movie "Stand By Me". As always, it's the journey, not the destination that one savors. Thank you.The Bubbleguynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-68032664324353966482012-09-14T17:19:41.302-04:002012-09-14T17:19:41.302-04:00Big country.
You lucky things.
Here in England w...Big country.<br /><br />You lucky things.<br /><br />Here in England we have to go abroad to Scotland at least to get this kind of thing.petehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09988347024466013018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-45199282819306708542012-09-14T17:08:22.231-04:002012-09-14T17:08:22.231-04:0020 plus years generous agriculture subsidies for c...20 plus years generous agriculture subsidies for corn and soy beans and ethanol production has driven 99% of midwestern agriculture to huge corporate owned largely automated farming.<br /><br />As a result, farming areas have seen a significant population decline with former farmers and farm hands moving elsewhere in search of work. The last couple of years I have done a number of quick tours where I take my bike on Amtrak to Central Illinois and then ride back home. <br /><br />Ride down many a small and not so small rural road and you will find similar abandoned properties. I tell myself I'm too old to believe in mysteries behind the doors but when it is just the cyclist, the open road and the abandoned property, the mind can wander ...Matthew Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10408057524387021992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-26841539388840108022012-09-14T15:47:31.364-04:002012-09-14T15:47:31.364-04:00Interbike will have to wait. I would haunt this sh...Interbike will have to wait. I would haunt this shop:<br /><br />http://onespeedgo.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-first-visit-to-bisbee-bicycle-brothel.html<br /><br />(there's maybe dozens like it in USA/Europe?)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-61264878656406368062012-09-14T15:27:03.780-04:002012-09-14T15:27:03.780-04:00AaahAaahVelouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-4611624840386976532012-09-14T15:26:40.450-04:002012-09-14T15:26:40.450-04:00"Young Adult", or teen fiction. You'..."Young Adult", or teen fiction. You'd be a hit!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16155140034387389140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-80887612874715749482012-09-14T15:20:21.333-04:002012-09-14T15:20:21.333-04:00Young Adult.Young Adult.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-53445906382644814632012-09-14T15:02:41.450-04:002012-09-14T15:02:41.450-04:00What is the YA world?...What is the YA world?...Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-48457619482004222732012-09-14T14:44:11.052-04:002012-09-14T14:44:11.052-04:00Yes. This.Yes. <a href="http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2012/08/weekend-with-rawland-nordavinden.html" rel="nofollow">This</a>.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-37131177073504637792012-09-14T14:43:19.783-04:002012-09-14T14:43:19.783-04:00Yes, you would be wrong : )Yes, you would be wrong : )Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-91519454845328858252012-09-14T14:33:25.174-04:002012-09-14T14:33:25.174-04:00Fantastic post!
I think that nurturing curiosity i...Fantastic post!<br />I think that nurturing curiosity is an integral part of nurturing the spark of life, and you've illustrated so well how satisfying exploration is (even when what you find seems everyday).Coreenhttp://breakingchainstakinglanes.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-52364017161708286402012-09-14T13:11:06.524-04:002012-09-14T13:11:06.524-04:00Seems someone is stretching out as a writer more l...Seems someone is stretching out as a writer more lately. Good stuff. Would I be wrong in thinking part of you maybe wants to a book?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-37345338396783028242012-09-14T12:48:30.298-04:002012-09-14T12:48:30.298-04:00What a fantastic post!
You've managed to cram ...What a fantastic post!<br />You've managed to cram many of my favorite things in here: Bikes, intrigue, stories, creepiness, childhood... and tiny red houses, one of which lurked in the very woods behind my childhood home. I must have invented a million stories about that house. (Nothing as frightening as your reality however!) <br />Love the 'Don't Look Now' reference. One of the finest chillers ever.<br />Ever considered writing fiction? The YA world could use your voice!<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16155140034387389140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-43042055886103588622012-09-14T12:06:34.571-04:002012-09-14T12:06:34.571-04:00Wonderful story, and so well written. Thanks.Wonderful story, and so well written. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-75340213699192616472012-09-14T09:32:12.806-04:002012-09-14T09:32:12.806-04:00Rawland?Rawland?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-9859197410628861422012-09-14T09:30:37.974-04:002012-09-14T09:30:37.974-04:00Ha this trail was a far cry from the slickrock of ...Ha this trail was a far cry from the slickrock of Moab! [Shudder]Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-84746546169875423522012-09-14T09:09:51.029-04:002012-09-14T09:09:51.029-04:00When I read Stephen King as a pre-teen/early teen,...When I read Stephen King as a pre-teen/early teen, I interpreted it as social realism as opposed to a horror genre : ) Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-35229468621967853892012-09-14T08:57:05.595-04:002012-09-14T08:57:05.595-04:00Reads like a Stephen King novel. One of those sto...Reads like a Stephen King novel. One of those stories in which the heroes are kids who face their greatest fears. And what could be a greater fear than the one we imagine. It's good for us as adults, especially parents, to stay connected to what it's like to be a kid. I honestly believe that time spent on my bike helps me with that connection. Thanks for the reminder.RickFnoreply@blogger.com