'nother frock coat

 I haven't sewn much recently (I made another of those vests that are basically a cell phone carrier, but nothing else), and I've been wearing the frock coat I made over the summer. I like it a lot, and have gotten a number of compliments, but I also know all of its flaws, and wanted something better.

A week ago, I went to the fabric store and found some nifty grey wool-and-acrylic blend, and they had real lining fabric in bright red. I'd used bridal satin to line the first one, which is luxurious, but the satin has some body to it, and, since the suiting fabric was so light, the satin affected the way the coat hangs. The outer fabric for this one is heavy enough that I could have used satin, but the lining will do.

 

The pattern only has two outer pockets, so I add inside pockets myself; three on this one. I'd thought of two, but they weren't big enough to get a wallet into easily, so I added a third. You can see two of them on the inner facing at right above. At left, the right front panel with the pocket flap.

I learned a lot on the last one, and this one's going together a lot easier. The lining is mostly done; I've got to do the outer back and sleeves, and assemble on the sewing machine. At that point, the jacket is about 60% complete; there is an amount of hand hemming and buttons/buttonholes that take far more time and attention than one would think. 

But I expect it will be together by Christmas. Perhaps it will be part of my Scrooge costume.

first cold ride of the season

So, after missing two weeks (the Fall Foliage Weekend, and Laura OLPH's ride to see the Lambertville Halloween decorations), I finally got it together to post a ride for this week. It turned out that there was frost when I got up, and the temps only got to about 50ºF by the end of the ride... but there were still ten of us; some regulars, and some new (at least to me).

We did one of my regular routes, and came in at an average much more reasonable than recent rides (the pace had been creeping up). It was a beautiful day. And it was good to see folks, some of whom I feel like I'd been missing for months and months.

I did have my usual cold-weather response: I couldn't feel my fingers for the first five miles or so, and by the time feeling came back in my hands, my toes were numb until about mile twelve. And, of course, by the end of the ride, I was sweaty and overheated.

At Thomas Sweet:

Yeah, not much news and no funny stories. I was just glad to be leading a ride with people who seemed to be having a good time.

That was enough.

i still think they're wrong, but...

 I got to thinking this morning about the food pyramid, and how we got bamboozled by the sugar-and-grain folks a couple of decades ago, into thinking that dietary fat was the main cause of overweight and obesity. It turns out that sugar and grain are much more at fault than fat.

So if we got lied to about that, I can see why folks might have thought that we were lied to about COVID-19 and the vaccine. The science for the vaccine was better, and more easily available (and more of us know how to read it), but if you're been lied to once, you're more likely to be suspicious of stuff coming from the same source, especially if you've been otherwise fed an information diet heavy in conspiracies and suspicion.

As with so many other things, I need to think about that.

halloween ride

 Yeah, I didn't lead a couple weeks ago because I was on the Fall Foliage Weekend hosted by the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia... and I didn't lead last week because Laura OLPH led her annual "Let's go see the Halloween decorations on Union Street in Lambertville" ride.

Yeah, not a lot of love for Republicans in Lambertville.

What did I say about Republicans?

It started out looking like it was going to be wet.

It turned out not to be a problem; some of it was gorgeous.

After judging the Halloween stuff, we repaired to Union Coffee, which I think I like better than anybody else does (certainly better than Laura does). I can't tell good coffee from bad, and the sweets are better than at Rojo's... also, there's a certain alternate-sexuality vibe here I like. When they find out I'm a cisgender Caucasian boomer, they're never gonna let me back in. (Martin G sent me this next picture.)

Ride page. More climb than you would have thought.

I've got a ride posted for this coming Sunday. It's time to go be responsible again.

bcp fall foliage weekend

 Well, Regina and I thought it was great. It's true that there was not enough masking going on, but we found that easy enough to avoid. We decided to forego most of the group events; Tom H, who had more-or-less convened us, had rides for us to do, and the four of us - Tom, Laura OLPH, Jack H, and I did those. They were beautiful rides on new (to us) roads, and Tom's done this event enough to know where much of the coolness is.

The rides we did were not especially long, but they were hilly, and they were certainly challenge enough for each day.

From Friday's ride:

I really liked this stop... as well as the circle it was on. More below.

Tom said we'd see the elephant. It was way off the road, and I had to depend on the camera zoom to get it... but we did.

Saturday, there were a number of groups (some quite large) going out early.

The four of us took a ride to Gettysburg.

Above, the view from Little Round Top, held by Union soldiers, down to a rocky bit called Devil's Den by the traitors who had such a bad time there.

We got a bit of rain, and took refuge inside the bridge.

I find the battlefield sobering. 

Later that day, Regina and I had dinner on our own, and then met up with Tom and Laura later.

Sunday, a similar shape-up to the previous morning for the various rides going out.

 

We went to Lake Marburg (?).

Regina did her own rides, at her own pace, and was apparently happy with that. We're already planning to go back. (Although we hope the pandemic lifts, and we can do some of the group stuff next time!)