Not everyone was OK with Olive and I riding off into the sunset together.

..but us? we were positively thrilled about it!

I knew my man could rock way before it was cool.

Some kids you just know are gonna be rock stars. I hear he has his own ax.

new flier

If Sarah Hoyt doesn't mind standing in the path of a car to get a good shot then I don't mind not telling her it's there. :)

Rocking the Laurelhurst Cafe

Some folks are fascinated with darkness and melancholy.

..to me those things are like an old shopping cart slowing you down. Even if everything you love is ripped from you as long as you keep trying at least you can enjoy the journey...and have a good excuse to trick out your cart.

Something amazing happened today .

We biked to North Portland for a kid gig. As I helped Olive make balloons I noticed something that struck terror in this clown. Two ponies! My job was giving bike rides, how the hell am I gonna compete with that?

The kids were bright and a lot of fun but they were not in the habit of mincing words. My balloons kept popping! Two kids and a mom asked me in my face "Is You a professional?"LOL! I was worried they would make me start doing yard work after I saw those damn horses.

Turns out the Tall bike TROUNCED the ponies for popularity (my opinion) In the time it took one kid to get a sedated pony ride up and down the street I would have taken one or two at a time, while in character, being funny and fun and my bike has a sound system. When we got there I had my bike shooting showers of sparks!
It's a safe bet that I made some friends today but this trip starts across-ed town.

But first we gotta get there. It's really far from SE Hawthorne all the way to N. Dekkum. We got our bikes going and hit the road an hour before. This is Olives first trip carrying a big trailer. We both keep a close watch on each others rear ends to make sure the load is carrying well and the ropes hold...plus we are huge fans of each other's rear ends.

Sometimes I simply call her "Fantastic"..she earned it.We are both so happy to be riding long distances again after a long winter. All through the cold season we only made short trips so we were all stiff and achy.

She really is what a lot of people dress up as.

We were lost for a while so eventually we called and found we were WAAAAY off course.

There it is!!! Olive went first to soften them up, I showed up with the sound system blasting Balkan Beats while the fireworks went off. I like making an entrance.

Step right up madam! I brought a helmet but I couldn't bring myself to use it. For one thing all the kids had headfuls of braids, beads, pogs, trinkets so the helmet wouldn't fit...also it's my daughter's helmet. I was in the neighborhood I raised my baby in..and I took her everywhere on this bike with that helmet. I'm doing my thing so I suck it up, I got a long ride home to cry about it. for now it's three kids birthday party and I'm ready to ride!!!!

Ok lets see you get in the back cuz yer bigger, hold her tight ok? ...I didn't grow up using helmets. You will find zero concussions on my record of thousands of rides given. The birthday girl did really well sporting her safety tierra and her friend used a braid bag..

Here is a new take on the pinata...candy cannon!!!!all the kids load the cannon so Dingo can shoot you with it!...sounded great on paper...i should stop listening to paper.

Back at it, I didn't want to stop. I gave many many kids rides many times over.

A kid was on the pony as I rode by and he was looking at me and my passenger saying "Maaan that's a cool bike..I wanna be NEXT!". I was as cordial and professional to the pony lady. I wanted her card and Olive wanted a pony ride.

Candy Cannon!The rules are simple, The kids must gauge the mass of what they just put in the cannon vs. the pounds per square inch of air pressure vs, the angle of the barrel and the trajectory plus factor in that I'm screaming like a banshee! The candy flies out and the kids attack!I never put candy in my pockets or the kids tear them off! well not this inspired batch of youngsters.

I made a friend...I had no idea I was sporting so much chest hair!