The bike route was different this time out. It was more around Park Avenue and we didn't have that many hills to compete with. The 89 degree temps and 70 degree dew point was bad enough that we lost 10 bikers due to heat exhaustion. I didn't plan well but did take about three bottles of Gator Aid provided by the hosts and they were luke warm by the time we got done. However they did come in handy. I didn't cramp up till later when I went up to State Street after the bike ride.
For the most part I started out early but ended up staying holding up the rear as they say. More or less riding around 10 to 15 miles an hour and taking it easy. If you need to know, I did strip down for the whole bike ride but the hot weather and humidity made me sweat to the point I was sliding off the seat of the bike. That's why people have a towel on the seat. Even with SPF 50 suntan on, I still got burnt to a crisp.
This was my third bike ride and there were the usual suspects there. The bike ride was over two hours long, longer than the one last year. Outside of the heat exhaustion from a few folks, no incidents happened. The downtown whooped and hollered, I high fived a few folks taking pictures and made some casual talk with some bike riders but I didn't chat with many others. Once we finished there was the group photo, to which by then I dressed myself up, I did take my t shirt off so I didn't stand out like a sore thumb. Once the bike ride is over, there's not much left to do but wish everybody the best and ride out into the daylight, off to the next record store. I'm sure there's pictures of this trip is up somewhere, perhaps I'll go investigate them when I get time.
If last November was the one of the best finds of forty fives, this year was a different story. I found 8 at the St Vincent De Paul, but the pickings were slim. A lot of good forty fives were too scratched up and Half Price Books and Mad City Music X didn't have much to make me invest in any. The grim realization is becoming clear that I'm reaching to the end of what I can find. I did find some cool CDs that made the trip somewhat better.
Anyway-the 45's of note
1) I Can See For Miles-The Who
2) Mister Can't You See-Buffy Saint-Marie
3) Hot Rod Hearts-Robbie Dupree
4) Old Kentucky Moon-Jim Weatherly
5) Floy Joy-The Supremes
6) Burning Bridges-Mike Curb Congregation
7) Do It Again (Just A Little Bit Slower)-Jon And Robin
8) Jimmy Olsen Blues-Spin Doctors
This probably due cause for me to finally call it a day on the search for 45s. There were some I thought about, I Found Someone Of My Own-Free Movement, Butterfly-Charlie Grace come to mind, even Solo Flight from Cat, with the b side We're All In This Together but I don't look at those songs are essential. Charlie Gracie's 99 Ways does step in Marty Robbins' rockabilly territory but in in the final analysis, I could live without that song. Nobody needs any Mike Curb Congregation in their collection but I do have a fondness of Burning Bridges. And it's hard to find anything by the Supremes that isn't chewed up but Floy Joy was their final decent single, which Smokey Robinson produced. Jimmy Olsen Blues is the most interesting song from this batch, since singles from the 1990s were regulated to jukeboxes and it is my favorite Spin Doctors song. But the overall find was I Can See For Miles, everything else doesn't come close.
The weather was hot, and we had a major monsoon Saturday Morning which gave Madison about 2 inches of rain in two hours and caused some flash flooding, by the time the bike ride started the creek was high and there was standing water in low lying areas but it was a normal ride.
It was road construction hell in Wisconsin, and the trip didn't start out very well. 151 became a two lane road around Ridgeway and some farmer pulled out in front of me in his tractor and caused a big traffic jam for five miles. That put me in a real good mood. It didn't get much better when my Cracker Barrel order was 30 minutes late while they were cooking up chicken and dumplings but they did give me a free dessert. And then I had to deal with some bimbo hogging the computer at my hotel, which gives a great argument about finally getting a smart phone and avoid the tie ups. Then the hotel didn't serve Sunday Breakfast. Between that and the old lady at Hardees trying to pass off an expired coupon made me decide that perhaps I should have stayed home or support my girlfriend's band efforts.
Gas prices were around 2.74 a gallon. Surprisingly I didn't have much issues with the Madison drivers. The thrift store finds at Goodwill didn't impress me much. Strictly Discs had better used stuff, even the new Essential Eric Andersen was in the used section already. Pre Played has focused their act on vinyl to the point that I wondered if I wondered into a museum. I just don't see the need to pay 20 dollars for used LPs, or 24.95 for the Moby Grape Omaha LP that Harmony sold for 3.98 years ago, or 39.95 for 20 Granite Creek. The problem with the vinyl revival: the stores have jacked the price up big time. Still I find it annoying to pay high prices for what used to sell for 5 or 10 dollars new. I didn't check the PrePlayed east store but I did pick up the Steven Wilson remastered Thick As A Brick and Iron Butterfly Heavy and was disappointed that Thick As A Brick remains a two part CD and not the whole 43 continuous song. Oh well, the way it goes.
Anyway, my life is changing more since the last time we touched base. I found myself missing Julie and wishing she could have join me on the bike ride. It seems when you find somebody who changes you and turns your world upside down that you find you can live without the bargain hunts. The record stores are different now, most are dying, Best Buy don't sell CDs anymore. And what is found at Shopko or Wally World are meh. While Strictly Discs and Mad City Music X and B Sides still put out new releases, I tend to find if I need the latest, Moondog Music in Dubuque has most of them. Last time Barnes And Noble had plenty of Wounded Bird 3.99 cutouts to check out, this time out they only had Show Of Hands (formerly Anthrax, no relation to the thrash metal pioneers) , Jay Boy Adams, Thirty Days Out and Rose Royce and I had the Jay Boy Adams and Thirty Days Out. I toyed with getting The Who At 50 and Show Of Hands but decided against it and hearing the You Tube stuff, I made a wise decision. I also thought it wasn't cost effective to buy the 2 cd Who Live At The Fillmore at thirty one dollars, which is why nobody buys CDs anymore. 31 dollars for 2 CDs??? Universal's greed is boundless. From here on out, this life will revolve around Julie and where we'll go from here.
The World Naked Bike Ride 2018 Madison Style is over. I had fun, I got sunburned and I got heat cramps and roasted nuts and I got to ride along with other naked strangers for another year. At this point, I have run my course of biking in the nude to promote body positive and promote more bike riding and less dependence on fossil fuels. I don't think I made any difference but for two and half hours in the biking sun, I burned myself for the cause of the good.
Whatever that means.
Madison Bike Ride Photo from Douglas Otto.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/papa_razzi/albums/72157696445981831/with/29012628708/
2018 write up.
We started promptly at 11:00 AM and rode for 2.25 hours. Our official count was a maximum participation of 144 riders with about 87 percent fully nude and a male/female ratio of 80/20. This once again edges out our attendance record for a new high.
We hadn't fully checked the route in advance, so there were a few unanticipated minor problems. The section of Blair that we traversed was local traffic only, all gravel and torn up. Those on bicycles had little difficulty, but our skateboarders presumably had to get over onto the sidewalks. Later, as we crossed Regent on West Washington, road construction made it necessary to go through the crosswalk instead of the street.
Our regulars and newbies once again came from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa. The farthest we know of that anyone traveled this year was from Cleveland.
The big news was the heat. It was a hot and humid day, with a high into the nineties, the least comfortable weather we have ever had. In addition to the twelve-packs of seltzer that I usually bring, I brought along seventy bottles of water, and all had been drunk by the time we started. As it turned out, there were a few who were unable to complete the route, dropping out somewhere within the last mile (our thanks to those who stopped to help them). There was also at least one who had to spend some time resting after finishing. It is our hope and belief that all were able to recover from any heat-induced malady by the end of the day.
The route was once again similar to those of previous years, with a concentration on areas where people were likely to be out and about. We got lots of positive reactions from bystanders. I was, however, a bit amused by the woman on State Street who I noticed covering her toddler's eyes.
Hoping for more comfortable weather next year, we look forward to another glorious ride in 2019.
