Not quite as hot on Saturday as in past days, only 98 °F, but the air quality slipped to an orange day. It had been running yellow all week, strange though, because there was a south wind all day. Usually, air quality suffers in Saint Louis when the wind dies. When we first moved to Saint Louis, we would routinely get red days, but it has been years since we last had one of those. It could be that those pesky gasoline vapor recirculation nozzles at the gas stations have made all the difference, of it could be that the red air days were mysteriously disappeared in one of the Republican administration. I don’t know, but I suspect that the EPA air quality regulations were jimmied with, rather than the air actually being cleaned up.

I always like to start off a post with a good political rant; it clears the throat for the more important things to come. I rode in the Park this morning, and took the pictures of the green heron and purple flowers. I got 16 miles. I spent the afternoon, rebuilding my bike, overhauling and prepping it for our big Michigan bicycle ride. The new parts list includes the following: wheels, cassette, front and rear derailleurs, brake and derailleur cables and housings and a new bike computer that does altitude. I have a new crank, front rings and bottom bracket that I could install, but I don’t have the special Shimano tools necessary to install it. At this point, only the frame and the bottom bracket are the only two original pieces to the Litespeed that I bought in 2001. The frame will last forever, but I do want to replace the bottom bracket. Maybe I can convince one of the bike stores to do it?

Finally, a bit of chest thumping due to my son Dan, he passed along his mentor’s report from his first year at CalArts. A more glowing report you could not find. He asked me, when he forwarded the report, not to publish it and this request I will abide, with one exception. The final question on the mentor’s report asks, “Are there areas to improve on? Are there specific recommendations for next year?” The answer was, “No areas to improve on regarding the functioning of his practice; Daniel is kind of a model student.”