Just Missed! and Other Oddities

I just missed Obama yesterday.
Really.
He stopped off at Island Snow to get some shave ice in the afternoon. I ride past Island Snow like three times during my ride. Near as I can figure, I missed him by about a half hour.
I was home by the time his shave ice began to melt.
Today, I find out he was on the beach at the Marine Base and I just happened to ride out to the Mokapu Gate. I was wondering what all the extra guards were up to.
I thought about asking a guard if the President was around but I figured the chances of him answering a guy on a bicycle were slim to none. Based upon my previous encounter with armed guards, perhaps it was better that I got out of there anyway.
Still, I'm kinda bummed I missed the dude. You'd think that with all the time I spend riding around Kailua, I would have at least caught a glimpse.
So anyways, I was riding around, trying to get in some extra miles so I decided to check out the area they are re-paving:



They started to pave the road back around the middle of December and they are almost done. I noticed something about the bike lane while driving past the area at night and wanted to see what was up.
See, the bike lane has no lines yet. At night though, it is lit up with what I thought were those reflector thingys they put in the street.
Instead, they are lit up by these:




Just what exactly those things are I have no clue. It looks like some plastic molding with a reflector strip on it that was cut and glued to the street. The plastic is soft enough that when you step on them or run them over, they bend and lay flat.
How odd.
I guess it's cheaper than that reflective tape they lay down before the permanent paint goes down. I have to say that at night, the bike lane stands out because of them.
Well, I had to head on home for I had more mugs to glaze up. Believe it or not, someone liked the mugs I made and ordered a couple.
I had left my ceramic tool box out and it got wet when it rained so I had to take everything out to dry.
I found some pieces I had forgotten about in the mess that is my tool box.
Whenever people get into wheel throwing, the first thing they want to do is go big. Don't get me wrong, it takes skill to throw big pots but big pots are just well, big pots.
I went in the opposite direction:



I used to hear "you spend way too much time in the studio" quite a bit.
There's more goofy stuff around but I'll save it for later.

Reset, Getting a Grip, Schwag

Okay.
Time to reset those odometers back to zero:



If you are following along at home, you know that's not the real odometer. That's the odometer on the Beach Bike. In case you were wondering, there was only 119 miles on it. Seems low given all the times I took it out, then again, the run to the store is only about three miles.
Here's the evil computer and only odometer that counts:



As you can see, I went out today and logged a ginormous twenty four miles.
I wasn't going out at all, but I remembered the part about getting things done and not sitting on the couch to watch Law & Order so off I went.
I only wanted to ride so I could try out my new gloves:



I'll tell you, I gotta stop walking into the bike shop with cash in my pocket. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, but I can't freakin help but walk out of there with something new. They must put something in the air conditioner for it's like I am compelled to purchase something. The bike shop is real close to making the List of Evil Things(LET).
Anyways, the Giro Monaco gloves are okay. I mean they're gloves, what can I say? They have a little less padding in the palm then the Specialized Gel gloves I usually use, and the palm area is crafted from real leather which makes it a little more tacky on the grips. We'll see how long they last.
I also bit the bullet and got a new cell phone:



If you read about the old one here, you know why. It was getting so bad that everytime someone called I would end up yelling into it so they could hear me.
Basic phone, no camera. Don't need anymore pictures of the inside of my pocket.
I also got a new helmet and some new grips from Evil Hoku:




These are the new style BG grips; I have the old ones on the Beach Bike. The new ones are made from a softer compound and have a different texture on the surface:



As you can see, the locks are also inboard on the new grips as compared to outboard on the older models. I'm going to try em out this weekend.
These ergo grips are the best thing since sliced bread. The only thing about them is you must be careful when adjusting them. The slightest change in angle makes a world of difference. Once you get them dialed in though, they sort of dissappear and you forget they are there.
I'm thinking about changing the grips on my other bike too. It is currently equipped with Ergon GC2 grips which I like, but I'm comtemplating a handle bar change so I might change out the grips at the same time.
Oh, and the handle bars ain't the only thing I'm changing.
Oh? you say. What else am I changing?
I'm not telling.
Yet.
Gotta save the good stuff for later don't you know.