A Decade of Fat Miles and a Dying Giant

I've been mostly sidelined from outdoor riding and even some indoor activity since taking a nasty fall on our icy driveway nearly 3 weeks ago. I fell such that I landed on my left arm which pushed hard into my left ribcage. I have a history of rib injuries from cycling crashes so I knew what I was in for—sort of. I've never experienced a rib injury quite like this one, tho. I still can't take a full deep breath, nor can I cough or sneeze without significant pain. I was trying to push the effort on my indoor trainer last night but the muscles surrounding my injured rib area were tightening/spasming to the point where I had to stop pedaling several times. There's really no point in going to a medical doctor as there's nothing they can do for it. I saw my chiropractor for a routine appointment this morning and she was able to work on freeing up an area along my spine that was very tight. I have a pair of shoes by our front door now sporting Yaktrax.

Ten years ago this month I bought my first fat tire bike. I made a special trip to Freewheel Bike in Minneapolis (at their West Bank store) one December night to have a better look at these intriguingly cool-looking bikes with huge tires that I'd only seen from a distance until then. Steve approached me and asked if I'd like to take one out for a spin. The bouncy tires were like nothing I'd ever ridden but they spoke directly to the boy in me. I was 13 again as I jumped some curbs and rode fast through the streets near the shop in my running shoes on the bike's platform pedals as the tire's tread sang out against the pavement. I was immediately hooked! It was a total impulse buy and one made with not even a millisecond of buyer's remorse afterward.

My first ride on it took me to my mother's home where my brother Tim met me with his cellphone in hand to grab some video of me as I rolled up. From there, I ventured down to the river bottoms where I would get a feel for my new ride in its element. I still remember the feeling of being a few miles into the trails and stopping to have a look around. It seemed so odd to have an area of such peaceful tranquility in the shadow of MSP airport and surrounded by suburban sprawl. No doubt, routine springtime flooding has kept the area from being developed.

Cycling for me had changed that day in a way I had never imagined it would. But I knew it had.

(Blog continues below the video.)

Burnsville Center is our nearest mall, only a few miles away from our home in Lakeville. Tammy and I have noticed its decline over the last several years to the point now where it has become a mere shell of the robust shopping hub it once was in its heyday of the late '70s and into the 2000s. When Mall of America opened in 1992 it was a gut-punch to Burnsville Center, causing them to expand their hours in an effort to compete with the shiny new, much larger mall 15 minutes away. Online shopping and the pandemic have all but ended Burnsville Center's run. It's sad to witness. I was in the mall last week and took a few photos. I would guess store occupancy is at around 35% and not trending in a good way. Last fall, the Burnsville city council approved plans to allow the mall's owner to divide the mall's land and sell it to potential buyers for possible restaurants, office space, and housing. It's unclear about the future of the mall itself.

I finally made it back down into my studio last week to fabricate a new stained glass design for my Etsy site. The design looks simple enough but those teeny-tiny pieces that make up the tulips are labor-intensive to get right. The sun-catcher measures 2 1/4" x 8 1/2" (5.7 x 21.6 cm).

Tammy's sister Cindy from Babbitt was in town with us for a few days over Christmas. It was nice to spend time with her again. The first night she was here we drove about 40 minutes south to near Medford to check out a lighted tree I had seen featured on the news. The tree's owner has adorned the tree with 45,000 lights making it quite an attraction as you drive past it on I-35W. We sang loudly to '60s music in the car on the drive home. It was a fun time!

Tammy and I have no plans for ringing in the new year other than to share a finer bottle of wine we have waiting for us. Maybe I'll make a run and bring us home some takeout food. With the omicron variant of the coronavirus ravaging the country, laying low seems like the right thing to do. 

Best wishes to you all in 2022!

That's all I've got.