Yee Haw!

When I got home from work today I was greeted by a white Priority Mail box with my name on it. Like a kid on Christmas morning I got excited, opened it up, and with great joy looked upon what was inside: A set of brand new toe clips with straps for bicycle pedals. After about 15 minutes and a test ride I had them fully installed and ready to go for whenever I go out for a ride on my GT. Now if I can just get my hands on a decent seat from my favorite local bike shop.....

Laboring away

So today at work someone asked me if I knew how Labor Day came into being. I paused for a few seconds, fried my brain, and said the only thing I could think of: "I don't know". So I got curious this evening and visited the U.S. Department of Labor website this evening and found out some basic history. According to the U.S. DOL:

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

I still find it funny that a day that has been set aside for some people to be off work is called "labor". Click here to read the page I got the info from.

Rollin'

I am a car guy, and I also like bikes (pedal powered), so I guess my first post in forever will cover a little bit of both. My newly acquired Sentra is doing all right, and I especially like the fact that I have been averaging about 32 miles per gallon (and that is about 95% in town driving under 45mph, boo ya!). I am having a hard time keeping it clean however, last time I got it washed it rained ever so slightly about 2 days later. The beach cruiser I have, nicknamed "manana", is back under the knife and stripped apart getting repainted over the next few weeks, flat black primer again. My 04 GT Avalanche 3.0 got some new platform pedals and a Promax stem to replace the adjustable Zoom stem that has been creaking and worrying me. My wish list for this bike has two items on it, but realistically I can only have one. I need a new seat, and for around $25 - $30 that is doable. I would love to have a Hope Pro II rear hub installed to get better engagement when I pedal and to scare anyone within a block radius as I freewheel (thing can get loud), but at almost $200 I think that is more of a dream than reality.

That is all for now, thanks for reading and God bless ya mucho. :-)