National Bike Month / Welcome Roy

OK, so I've gotten bike repaired @Dick's Sporting Goods (the problem was a stripped freewheel, about 5$ to fix!), and have gotten up to riding 8 miles per session. The problem? My shift at work starts at 7am during the summer. I'd have to leave around 5:30am to make it to work, and the sun doesn't rise until 6:30am. Also, it's supposed to be raining all day Friday. Soooo, despite my best efforts, I probably won't be participating in Bike to Work Day.

However, I have been really getting into biking because of my training, and have been stocking up on necessities to turn my Cheapie Mountain Bike Special into a decent commuter machine. Some of the upgrades:

• Nice cushy seat cover
• Properly adjusted brakes
• new freewheel
• freshly lubed chains, gears, and brakelines

And some more upcoming upgrades:

• Front and rear fenders
• LED Headlight and taillight
• frame pump
• some nice city tires to replace the knobby ones

In other, more exciting news, K and I have gotten a kitten! His name is Roy, and he is 2 1/2 months old. We adopted him from the Indianapolis Humane Society, and he is a handful. He is very active and "meow"-ey, and has gorgeous eyes, one blue and one green. They are having a special for the month of May, where if you get two kitties, you only have to pay one adoption fee (Roy is more than enough kitty for us!). He loves playing, spazzing out, and napping for hours on end. He also seems to be (cautiously) getting along with our bunny, Georgie.

 Well, that's about all for now. Not much new art news, I'm looking into an art fair in Anderson, IN, and possibly some projects with Art House Co-op coming up. I've gotten started on the new painting for the office, but have changed my mind a few times on the composition, so still have a ways to go.

-Joe

Biking set-back

Of course, as soon as I post about Bike to Work Day, my bike dies on me. I was out riding around the neighborhood the other night, and all of a sudden, the pedals just let loose. They would move, but would just spin in place, not moving the wheel. After looking into causes online, it seems that I have an issue with my freewheel on the rear wheel of my bike. I bought it from Walmart a few years ago, and it's kind of rusty from spending a year outside (d'oh!), so I'm deciding whether or not I should invest in fixing it, or getting a newer, nicer bike.


I don't feel comfortable enough working on it to fix the issues myself, so will likely pay $50 or so to have a shop look at it, rather than buy another "disposable" wal-mart bike, or save up for a 'low-end,' but still expensive bike. I'd like to have the situation figured out by the 21st, so that I can participate in Bike to Work Day, but who knows if this will be possible. Oh well!


In art news, I've gotten the canvas for the office painting stretched and primed, the piece will be 30" x 48," so pretty visible on the wall. I'm putting together some compositional sketches, and will probably work more on this tonight. Will update with progress as soon as I can. Oh, also had some interest in some of my older works, so I may be listing more in the Etsy storefront soon. Just posted two pieces, "Jukebox Man" and "Damocles."


-Joe