Not So Near Death Experience

However it was close enough to make me think about dying. For those of you reading my rubbish that live under a rock or on another planet the source of my livity for the past 11 years and 3 months has been as a bike messenger in Charlotte North Carolina(the Jar). Yesterday morning while on the 5 client 3 building schedule I was turning left off of Tryon onto 3rd Street for One Wacky Fargo when all of a sudden I completely lost cockpit control. My front wheel still in the fork dove hard right then left, then right again sending me out of the turn wide in a direction that had me straight away for the curb. The harder I tried to keep the bike turning left the more it forced itself to blow the turn sending me right towards the curb, a big cement column and the random pedestrians who were stopped in their tracks watching me head right into a crash. At 10 feet and closing fast these were some of the thoughts flying through my brain housing group in no particular order: you are gonna hit, you will be off the bike, lift up at the last second and ABOVE ALL DO NOT HIT ANY HUMANS!!!! Impact over the bars and off the bike air born. I hit the side walk in a heap, like sheep in a jeep 5 feet from the street after ricocheting hands first off of one of the columns. My lock shot out of my pack strap and my glasses flew off of my helmet. I heard a beautiful black woman still chanting, "Oh Lordy, Oh Lordy" as I came to a hard stop on the floor. Whew, I am Okay I thought and I did not hit anyone. WTF happened to my bike??? "Are you alright?" came out of the blur, "Yes, I think I am okay" I replied to the strangers. Light shining on one spot on Tryon reminded me about a brave courier event past. After I gathered my belongings off of the sidewalk I discovered that my front Dura Ace Axle had snapped in two causing the hub which normally rolls tightly on cones and bearings to flop around in between the fork legs only held together by the compression of my track nuts.

Loss of cockpit control is a very scary feeling, no wonder why you have to be so smart to be a pilot. Above all I am very glad to report that this incident did not happen while I was going down hill or in between 2 buses. I walked to my next stop and called the J who was close enough to drive uptoon in the team car and drop me a wheel to use for the rest of the day. Last night I grabbed my back up wheel from the barn and am ready to roll a Stay Alive here in a few. I also called the fine folks at Ultimate in Mathews who have ordered the new Axle and cones for me.

For all y'all in the 'Industry' do these photographs represent a warranty claim with Shimano?


The left hand turn off of Tryon and onto 3rd.
The column that I bounced off of.

The Unibiker (The Unibiker started Couriering in the Jar around the time of the Civil War long before any of us) was there with his pocket camera to document the mechanical failure.

Clearly a manufacturer defect.

Plenty of grease however more than half of the bearings were rolling down 3rd Street.

Check out semi veteran rookie courier Paschal in the back ground trying hard to understand what he was seeing.

Neg 1 exposure here at the house shows the rip clearly.

The other side.

No Bomb After All *LATE EDIT*

Late Edit: Upon just consulting with a local social engineer I have discovered through my browser the two articles that I read last night that I used as part of source other than my own honest observations and photographs to write the post below. Article 1 came from the Charlotte Observer posted last night. Article 2 came from WBTV posted last night as well. I apologize for any confusion you may have when you read, compare and contrast the three stories of what really happened in the Jar yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon the J called me saying that there was a police lock down on 3rd and Caldwell that looked like it went across to 5th and Brevard. Just as I hung up the phone I was in front of the Corporate Center and I over heard some police traffic on the radio. There was a suspicious cylindrical device on an above ground utility box. I asked an officer who for the sake of his own dignity requested that I not mention him by name on my blog, "What's going on down there?" "They think they have a pipe bomb on a box", this honorable deputy of the law replied.
The first thought I had reminded me of when a suspicious device was found near a flower pot on the sidewalk in front of the Hearst Tower back in July of 2008 . That one turned out to be a real pipe bomb minus the charge. So, I jumped on my bike with camera in the bag and rode down 3rd Street until I was stopped by 3 policemen at the Brevard intersection. Nothing really to see here except the helicopters lined up in the sky waiting their turn to get right on top of the scene. After talking with photographer Hannah from Oslo Norway for a few minutes I rode around and went down 4th to Caldwell where I met the J and we watched the following:

The bomb robot.
I am pretty sure that this dog is a Belgian Malinois being handled by an Officer from the US Federal Reserve which is across the street off camera just to the left of this picture. Notice CMPD's Chief of Police Rodney D. Monroe second from the left on scene. It is good to see that the Chief is out there on the street actually involved with helping the Indians. In this case there was only one Chief and plenty of Indians.

A more definite photo of Mr. Monroe that I swiped from the google/images dot com. Photographer unidentified.

Off in the distance a block away there is a police car parked on the left hand side. The suspicious cylindrical device was found just behind where that car is parked.

Another day at the office for the robot.

The officer in the green 'bomb proof' suite had the most exciting responsibilities of the operation. Getting him geared up was a team effort.

The robot rolled past the scene at first because it smelled hot dogs cooking on 2nd street.

The bomb squad officer in Green made his way to the scene. He came back once, was given a black satchel and then went back to work. Within a minute or two he appeared again facing the command vehicles and gave 2 thumbs up. Then he crouched behind that tan'ish wall.

Next the sirens started wailing and there was a verbal warning that repeated itself three times, "Fire in the Hole". 10 seconds later pressure charged water blew the device to bits with a report that sounded like a muffled hand grenade and all involved seemed happy. High fives, hand shakes and I think I even saw a slap on the back. According to the local news media the suspicious device turned out to be nothing more than a piece of electrical garbage.

Sweet Shooting

I am truly starting to enjoy the photographic perspective from the roof of the UN Montero. On the way up to the mountains Friday we drove past this sign on 181 just before the dirt mounds at FR196. This State DOT sign was put in place in an effort to remind motorists to share the road with those on bikes who are riding up the long climb of 181 which tops out at the park way miles above. I have ridden this climb on both my road and mountain bikes before and will again one day in the future. After seeing this sign I got the warm fuzzies all over realizing that it could also be interpreted by the elusive North American Redneck as a reminder that folks on bikes are actually good targets. I mean look at the accuracy of the trigger man above. My question is, was the witty fellow who shot the sign leaning out of the passenger window of his friend's F150 while they were going up the road ? 12 gauge shot gun, right? Perhaps double barrel with number 6 bird shot. Or maybe the shooter pulled over and stood 10meters away when he pulled the trigger. The angle of the impact from the roof of the Montero made it appear that the shooter was higher off the ground. Maybe he was in the back of a pick up truck with the gun over the roof of the cab for something to lean on. To shoot the sign, an impulsive decision or premeditated idea formed into actualization by a group of bike hating rebels? Day time or night time shooting? Either way I bet ego is at the core of this action. Hurt ego and jealousy manifested into shots fired by an individual who prolly has never climbed 181 or looked deep inside of themselves while spending hours on a bike. Share the road and share the bullets!

Friday Mountain Transfer in Pictures

This past Friday Ms. Arcen, Zoo Zoo, Danger and I had a pastoral Mountain Mental Health day. There was no school due to teacher's work day and I did not have to ride around on the job because my senior rookie had my shift covered so we headed up to Wilson Creek Recreation Area on the eastern edge of the Pisgah National Forest. Out of Morgantoon we headed up 181 and parked at the Upper/Lower Falls trail head. We hiked down in the Upper and came out on the Lower Falls trail after exploring the top and bottom of the falls. At the lower end of the falls there was kid and yellow dog swimming. After 3 and a half hours at this locale we headed back down 181 and at the mounds made a left onto FR196 for the dirt track over the Sink Hole Saddle and down to the top of Wilson Creek proper. The sun finally came out and warmed the air and spirits a bit just as we found a perfect spot for the afternoon swim session that I even took part in. As always the mountain water was refreshing and rejuvenating to mind and body. We hung out on the big slab down to the water for the rest of the afternoon before making the 104mile drive home.

Between the trees right in front of you and the far ridge is the cut that we walked down into to get to the falls. The hike started to the left of this frame and ended by coming out on the far right. A nice down in and up out loop indeed.
Zoo, Ms. Arcen and Danger lead the way down.

The child noticed that someone had put an acorn in the hole in the tree. When she pointed it out to me I wondered if the Ghost of Jerry Reed had been here and was responsible for such acorn placement.

Once we made the falls the kid insisted that the Husky be put on leash. There were drop offs everywhere and she wanted to play it safe.

The cold mountain water was up a bit. The creek crossing went without incident and no human or dog was swept away.

Before leaving the upper and proceeding across creek and down to the lower I made this parting shot.

This was as close a I felt comfortable looking over the abyss with the camera held high in the sky over my head pointing down.

On the back side of the falls and down the trail this was the view back up from where we had just been.

Further on down the trail that ran along side of the creek.

Continuous rock ledges, a virtual chute that provides the water with a direction to flow. The sound at first overwhelmingly constant and strong. As time past the noise became part of our existence on this mountain slope.

A while back Ms. Arcen(Rondaletta) saw pictures of Rondal and I doing this like 16 years ago so she decided to give it a try.

Pro level rock sliding

and into the pool.
Up a little higher on a big rock gives a bit of scale to this spot.

Dried off and warmed up the kid and Danger pose just above a huge granite Cathedral that smelled of black bear.

The hike back out and up the Lower Falls trail was very different than the walk in just a few miles away. There were more Rhodos on this side plus I think something large was close by in the woods. The kid even noticed the smell as we crossed back center on the mountain out of the switch backs. I heard a loud thump once and some sticks breaking.

A nice trail.

On the side of 181 on the roof of the UN Montero I made this picture of Brown Mountain seen as the far off sloping hill in the center right of the frame under the line of puffy clouds.

Same spot pan left and see Chestnut Mountain, dead center.

WILSON!

Swim approach semi flat rock.

Climb up and

over.

Keep your eyes on the target.

Air born with thumbs up.

A joyous water landing in October. A great day in the Mountains was had by all.

Garden Report III-C'est Fini

Earlier in the summer I gave you Garden Reports I and II clearly showing the vegetable production success that we were having this year. Well, it is officially the first day of October and the last of the tomatoes are still coming off red, while the green and yellow peppers are still on the vine giving us weekly pickings. All of the outdoor side garden herbs except for the green Basil are doing well and will be picked before the first freeze at which time they will be dried and stored to season winter meals. Purple Basil and Cuban Oregano are my favorites. There are several reasons why this year's garden has done so well. First off I moved the main garden from where it had been for the past 7 years from the way out back closer to the house in newly turned by my hands soil. The new spot had much better sun plus it is under a large fluorescent light mounted on the top of a telephone pole at the end of the 'drive' way. In theory the plants were getting light 24hrs a day. The sun providing them with source energy and at night when the lamp kicked on with the setting sun they received some low band energy that they did not see in the day. I have never grown tomato plants like the ones we had this year. In July and August they were well taller than me, almost hand over head tall. I know that is not saying much considering that I am a towering 5'6". Another reason for such verde productivity was the rain. Over all a good average fell which was supplemented by rain storage in four 35 gallon containers around the roof drainage. Now that the garden is over for the year I will miss the reds the most.

Toonmorrow I will not be working but instead I am headed to the Mountains with Ms. Arcen and at least one dog. We will be leaving early for Upper then Lower Creek Falls trail off of 181 for a day of it. There will be no post in the am but I will surely update with pictures and words at some point in the future. Until then have a look at the end of this year's garden.

Red holding on.
Red and the dryness of dead.

paste?

Still Green the day before October. Breaded and fried with oregano goes well with rice.

Curious Inspection

Grape Cherries in a cluster about to be picked for a side on Ms. Arcen's diner, that's right DINER.

A closer look.

Yellow Peppers in Number II side Garden.

Green Peppers in umber II side Garden.

A closer look. Had one of these uncooked last night on the pizza, very crisp and full of life energy just off the vine.

Lamb's Ear on the left never gets eaten but the Greek Oregano on the right is amazing.

Purple Basil

Lemon Mint

Live happily side by side.