The iPhone Duo For The Win

Posted on September 9, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

Sipping coffee, reading this. Already watched some initial impression vids. I know what’s going to happen. So does “ChromeAce” who started his day by dunking on MacFan782020.

People are complaining mightily about the price. But they will buy it. Because it will be aspirational and it will signal success. If it makes my iPad superfluous, I might Duo myself. However, I will wait for the dust from a few key reviewers to settle before deciding.

And good news. Mine will be free. Because your buying it will raise the price of my shares. Thank you in advance.

Day Four—Southwest

Posted on September 9, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

Today our nucleus divided into four parts. Chip, Alex, Tom, and I had a tale of two rides.

If you’re a route leader, know that I will grade your route planning. Once an educator and all. On today’s 40-miler (64 kilometers), Dennis had a “D” after our first 17 miles. The four of us had to choose to bounce on the semi-rough sidewalk/bike path or deal with speeding traffic on the very edge of buttery, but busy roads.

And come on Dennis, you know a headwind is going to completely feck up your grade.

Spirits lifted at mile 17 when we finally found ourselves on rural roads. We took advantage of a tailwind through small village after small village. We exhaled, loosened the shoulders, enjoyed the scenery, and made better time. Lots of cool houses sprinkled throughout the villages. Dennis easily ended up with a passing grade. Even at the University of Michigan.

Fast forward to mile 37 where we were bombing a smooth, tree-lined, truly beautiful but narrow road. That had been lightly traveled. I looked down at my computer and saw 35 mph. When I looked up I saw a giant garbage truck barreling right towards us. Skip dove into the gravel shoulder in front of me. I rode the white line and turned my torso to the right and easily had at least 12 inches. Alex, behind me, said he also opted to stay on the road and had one inch.

The rural roads are trippy. Very lightly traveled, but when you least expect it, all of a sudden a large tractor or a speeding luxury car will be barreling towards you. So people, don’t lose focus and live to ride another day. Like us. Peace out.

Durbuy-Tohogne-Jenneret-Borlon-Etc.

Posted on September 8, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

A very nice recovery ride is in the books. A malaise fell over a large swath of the group this morning. The surviving quintet—AY, SL, MG, DP, and I spent the morning leisurely spinning up and down farmland vales.

So leisurely I learned a lot not only about World War II, but the history of CPUs. I don’t know who was the bigger nerd in the late 70s/early 80s, Dennis or Mark. Tie for first I suspect. They got emotional discussing their first calculators. LOL.

Beautiful scenery that didn’t hit quite as hard on Day 3 such is human nature. We adapt. Dare I say I’m getting used to the beautiful, bucolic, Belgian countryside. There are still surprises though. Like endless bike paths, with “Z” would be thrilled to know, excellent signage. And the Belgians have figured out how to avoid tree root bumps, their tarmac is, like Barbara Streisand’s voice, buttery.

I’m not sure AI will be much help with today’s question. I asked it yesterday, after traversing through some very wealthy enclaves. “Where do the poor people live?” “There aren’t any,” was the duplicate answer I got from a few knuckleheads. Someone, anyone, please do better. Thank you in advance.

Postscript. Click on images for captions.

Bokrijk Nature Preserve

Posted on September 7, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

There are twelve of us altogether. Three went long from the house today. The elite top 25%. The other nine of us, the proletarian 75%, drove just over an hour each way to “ride under the water”. Which meant four to five feet under the surface of a lake on a bike path that divided it. Supe cool.

The driving was not fun, and our parking plan had to be altered due to the setting up of a carnival, then Bob got kidnapped inside Aldi, or so it seemed, so patience was the name of the game. We didn’t get rolling until just after noon.

I managed to fix my computer connection glitch and got the route pre-loaded which meant I was able to drive the train. Which I did. All day. I kept it steady and did my best to keep the group together. It’s always a little tricky given people’s different ages, levels of fitness, and general preferences. No one got too mad at me. I don’t think.

From now on, I think I’ll ride from the base camp. It literally took all day for a shortish/flatish ride. And the last thing I want to have happen twice is getting stuck in the car for more than two hours with Dennis. My Olympia homeboys will understand.

Avelin as Moses. His commandments are still forthcoming.

Wow Wow Wow

Posted on September 6, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

The inaugural ride from base camp in Barvaux to Huy and back (via different roads) was off the hook.

Props to Dennis for plotting the route. And Belgium for the scenery. So beautiful. We rode through smallish farm after smallish farm and saw very large cows, lots of corn, windmills, groovy modern stone and glass homes topped with solar panels, and luxury German cars. Happy to report that Belgium’s farmers are doing alright.

We stopped a lot to debate whether to turn right or left. Dennis said if we pay for his trip, he’ll come over a month early and pre-ride the routes so we won’t get lost as often. I said I’d contribute.

Mid-ride we lounged for a long time in the center of Huy mostly so that Griffin could get his latte. Shortly after halftime, we split up because only a small subset wanted to do the famous climb. I found myself at the front of the chickenshit subset. I stopped after cresting a longer but less steep climb so that we could regroup. One problem. No one came up from behind. Oops, I missed a turn. My mistake. I had no business being on the front since I couldn’t get the route to upload to my computer.

I descended a wee bit, followed a local through a turn, a total Hail Mary, and looked a kilometer down the road and saw Greg’s flaming yellow jersey. Reunited and it feels so good.

Things broke up on the return. Greg, Skip, Alex, and I rode together. Them boys be strong.

If someone said to me, sorry, you can only ride that loop the rest of the week, I’d say, “Cool, let’s go.” Epic start to the week.

This badass bike belongs to A Young rider named Alex.

Fetterman, Be Better Man

Posted on September 5, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

Hobson and Hughes with a technical knockout of John Fetterman. Their haymaker in the opening seconds of the first round.

“One morning in June, three paralyzed military veterans in wheelchairs from rural Pennsylvania arrived at the office of Sen. John Fetterman for a long-awaited meeting to discuss legislation that would improve their care.

Fetterman’s staff greeted them with bad news: The Pennsylvania Democrat had to cancel. He’d told his staff he may have eaten something bad and wasn’t feeling well, according to people familiar with the matter.

Less than an hour after his staffers met with the veterans in his place, Fetterman walked into his office, showing no signs of illness. He had an appointment he didn’t want to miss, he told staff: an interview on Fox News to discuss Israel and the war in Iran.”

Ron Swanson of Parks and Recreation fame could have learned a lot from Fetterman.

“Our Teams Are Working Hard”

Posted on September 5, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

So says British Airlines. Dammit BA, what did I ever do to you? I was hoping to have started including you dear reader in my Belgium cycling adventure by now, but major baggage feck ups have delayed that. It started in Seattle when someone apparently sent 85 people’s baggage to arrivals instead of departures.

First world problems of course. I am coming to you from a warm apartment, drinking coffee, and I have quality company, so I will be A-okay. I even have my bike, contact lenses, and a change of clothes since two of my three delayed bags arrived yesterday.

Still missing . . . cycling kits, all bike tools and other accessories, among other things, so I will be the only no show at today’s shakeout ride. The loneliness epidemic.

I do have lots of reading material. Yesterday, I read a long New Yorker article about the kidnapping crisis in Nigeria. Kinda put my British Airway “problem” in perspective. Long story short, it’s mostly in the Northern Muslim part of the country and it’s fueled by economic desperation which is a fancy phrase for poverty. Nigerian police don’t have anywhere near the resources to fight kidnapping and it is working in the sense that most people pay ransoms. Brutal numbers, stories, scenario more generally, with hardly any hope for improvement any time soon.

Meanwhile, I wait for my expensive cycling kits, computer, radar, etc. And you wait to come along for the ride. Boohoo for you, boohoo for me.

Sentence To Ponder

Posted on September 4, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

“Five of Spain’s hottest summers have been in the last five years.”

More here.

Going Against Type

Posted on September 3, 2026 by Ron Byrnes

My mom was famously antisocial on planes, which is a bit odd since she was quite personable. She’d literally psych herself up not to talk to her neighbor(s). And she had strategies. Other people in my lineage lean anti-social.

So on my way to London yesterday, I decided to blaze a new path of airplane neighborliness. My next-door neighbor was a young, East Indian man with two phones. Uber courteous when I first sat down, he took my man purse and stowed it for me since there were no seats in front of us. An hour into the flight I dishonored my mom by asking him, “Are you from London?” He smiled and said, “No, I’m from Seattle, but I travel to London frequently for work.”

Definitely the most interesting dude I’ll meet on my two week Euro sojourn. When I told two of my friends that in Heathrow, they were hurt, but I clarified “most interesting new dude”.

Can’t believe I didn’t get his name because I’d love to follow his career. 33 years old. Ohio State grad, but let’s not hold that against him. Got a PhD from Rice University in Oncology at 26. Works for Eli Lilly doing “small and large” drug development deals. Was on his way to Barcelona for a conference.

I knew he had serious science chops when he was familiar with Multiple Systems Atrophy. We talked about Lynn’s passing and his grandfather dying in India right before his 90th birthday. And him, afterwards, moving his parents from Chennai to Lynnwood, WA.

He met his wife when he was 19 and she was 18. Despite him spending the next 10 days in Barcelona, they’re trying to get pregnant. They’re vacationing in Japan in October.

He speaks English, Tamil, Hindi, French, German, Arabic, and Spanish poorly. He learned Arabic while teaching English in Cairo as a part of his high school education.

We bonded in ways my mom would never understand. So much so, when British Airways informed half the plane, him and me included, that our bags didn’t make it on our flight, he felt comfortable bitching about it. “What am I going to wear out to dinner tonight?” First world problem for a high flyer, figuratively and literally.

Pressing Pause

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