Lady Bike and Me

I took advantage of the cooler weather this morning.
And when I say ‘cooler’, I mean less than the typical two thousand degrees it’s been outside, as of late.
My Lady Bike and I partook of a speedy adventure out of doors.

Lady Bike definitely has a personality all her own. She participates in the biking action, for the most part.

However, Lady Bike sometimes forgets that she is the mechanical aspect of the whole deal, causing a lot of grinding and whirring noises to announce my upcoming arrival to anyone else on the path.

But, I love her and her quirky ways. Plus, she was a bargain when I found her and I won’t complain.

I like to take Lady Bike to romantic places, although we are usually accompanied by Bicep’s ‘Man Bike’. Today, we were flying solo.
This is the ‘Kissing Bridge’, which had been dubbed years ago when I was in college for various unknown reasons….

This happens to be one of Lady Bike’s favorite views of downtown Tulsa. And mine, too.

This forgotten park on the west side of the river always cracks me up.
Nothing about this park looks fun to me.
But, maybe I should ask the opinion of a child that has burnt their behind from the blazing hot metal stage coach, or the one with the splinter in his hands from the ‘town’.

Lady Bike and I swung into the skate park and practiced our skills. This skill in particular, is called ‘resting’.

This skill here is called, ‘What was I thinking?’
I do love that my train case stayed attached.

We sailed past the ‘Space Needle’ towards one of my favorite spots on the trail-the magical arching tree.

Take a gander at this tree. It arches perfectly over the trail, not a limb in sight, until it is safely on the other side.
Lady Bike ushers me under the archway and we enter into our magical dreamworld where french fries are good for you and where cats are never squished by cars.

About the time I pass ‘Little San Francisco’, I begin to ring my bell.
The path is pretty deserted at this point and I love the way it resounds against the cement overpasses close by. I keep ringing it for as long as Lady Bike will let me.

The bell’s a little rusty and sticks from time to time, but she gets the job done. Runners cower in fear when they hear the ‘Cuh-RRRRRING!, Cuh-RRRRRING!’ coming their way.
The bell ringing might be my favorite part of biking. But don’t tell Lady Bike-she is already extremely temperamental.

ABOT’s, Bruder and Popcorn Balls

Bruder, Biceps’ and brother’s band, was nominated for two awards this year:
‘Best Indie Rock’ & ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’ at the ABOT’s.
(The ABOT’s are given to those considered the Absolute Best of Tulsa and are based on city folk voting for their fav thing.)

Biceps couldn’t attend, so I tagged along with brother & his wifey solo. Aren’t they the cutest couple?
Yes, that is a cage behind them for cage dancing. And yes, baby brother did get inside of it and strut his stuff for a moment. No, I won’t show you the photographic evidence that I have of said dance.

We had a limo ride that lasted .006 of a mile. But, it’s always fun to be escorted in a limo anywhere, no matter how short the ride…

This year, the ABOT’s were held in the historic Cain’s Ballroom in downtown Tulsa. I love Cain’s-it’s a venue where time has stood romantically still.
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys played here. The Sex Pistols played one of their very few American gigs here.
I held hands in public for the very first time with Biceps at Cain’s, while watching Weezer perform. I love Cain’s for oh so many reasons, but this one is the most important reason.

About halfway through the night, the announcer called out the nominees for ‘Best Indie Rock’. The winner was announced.
It wasn’t Bruder.…it was ‘Scales of Motion’.
The band is super talented and it was right that they won. We were neighbor’s with the guy on the far right-he and his wife are pretty stinkin’ cool.

While sitting somewhere in this general picture area, waiting for the second category Bruder was nominated for, I noticed that my ‘swag bag’ contained a cookie and a popcorn ball. The popcorn ball was gone in ten seconds flat. The cookie soon followed. After my gluttony subsided, they announced the nominees for the Best Newcomer of the Year. My heart stopped…

Bruder won! Baby Brother waltzed onto stage, accepting the award, sans his other band mates.

He thanked his fans and what-not, saying very cool and debonair things I am sure…I was just too excited to really listen.

He looked so much like the rock star that he is. My sweet baby brother is all grown up.
I needed chapstick after smiling from ear to ear for so long.

The only thing that could have made this evening any better was if Biceps was able to be there.
Wait…what is this?…

What in the world? I guess he was there….
Congratulations guys, I am so proud of you!