It Is What It Isis

I didn't get much sleep last night.  It was another late one, and we once again set our alarms to take advantage of hotel breakfast.  This time, all three of us helped ourselves to some free grub.  We had prearranged a noon checkout, so as the boys hung out back in our room, I unfolded my Brompton and headed downstairs for a final ride in Knoxville.

Once again, the Best Western front desk hooked me up.  They told me about Victor Ashe Park, so I biked there and enjoyed some of the walking/bike trails.  I have found that tucking my iPhone into the "tech pocket" of my Wrangler cargo shorts and using just the right ear bud allows me to receive GPS directions and still keep an ear out for motor vehicles and other potential threats to my safety.  Plus, I'm able to use Siri and talk-to-text to hear and respond to messages while I ride.

During my text conversation with my Dad this past Saturday, we had discussed, among other things, our mutual tendency to assign names to things like vehicles, instruments, etc.  I know there is no rational reason to do this, but I still do.  My Kay bass is called Kay, my Toyota Corolla is Ron (Burgundy), Brett's van is Mini Pearl.  Dad summarized it well when he wrote, "We used to be immersed in an animistic world where every person, object, tree had a soul and we related to them as subject rather than object.  We are getting back to the necessity of that for our survival."

On a related note, I had been kicking around names for my Brompton folding bike.  I had a couple in mind, but during today's Knoxville ride, I asked my bike to think it over and let me know what it would like to be called.  A few minutes later, as I was coasting downhill and enjoying the sound of the breeze, the bike's name was revealed to me: Shadowfax (as in Gandalf's steed in Lord of the Rings).  Do I really believe that the bike told me its name?  No, but I hadn't been thinking about Gandalf's horse before that moment.  The more I thought about the name, the more perfect is seemed.  I know it's silly to think such things require names, but I don't care.

Shadowfax is born!

I enjoyed my second ride in as many days with Shadowfax, and I was starting to get the hang of switching gears and other nuances, but near the end of my ride the right-hand shifter completely stopped working.  I was pretty discouraged since I had just purchased and received the bike.  I was afraid I had broken it.  I was still able to ride the short remaining distance back to the hotel by only using the left-hand two-gear shifter.  I didn't have time to further investigate the matter; we needed to check out and hit the road once more for Asheville. I folded up my bike and loaded in into the van to take care of later.

When we arrived back at Bobby Miller's house a couple hours later, I called NYCeWheels, from whom I had ordered the bike, and reported my dilemma.  They explained that, although they give their Bromptons a full tune-up before shipping, some parts may be jostled in transit and knocked out of whack when first ridden.  Since there is no Brompton dealer in Asheville, they said any reputable bike repair shop should be able to identity and fix the problem.  So I googled bike repair in Asheville and found Liberty Bicycles.  Their website looked legit so I decided to take my bike there.  For some reason I chose to ride my bike (stuck between two higher gears) to the shop rather than ask Brett if I could borrow Mini Pearl.  It was a little over an hour ride by bike.  I discovered two things: 1) the Google Maps app is much better at providing bike-friendly directions, and 2) the hills of Asheville are very challenging to bike up without access to the lower gears.  My sister would have been proud of me if she could have seen me standing up out of the saddle and digging into the climbs; it was very reminiscent of the spinning classes she's so fond of.

I eventually reached my destination, and a young man named asked if I needed help.  Tristan quickly found the problem and fixed Shadowfax right up.  He showed me how I can adjust the gear mechanisms myself should they require maintenance.  He checked to make sure everything else looked good on my new ride; it did.  While I was in the bike shop, I figured it would be a good idea to stop flirting with disaster, so I purchased lights (for night-riding) and a quality lightweight helmet.

Liberty Bicycles to the rescue!

The ride home was still tough, but much more manageable now that I had access to all gears.  I'm starting to get the hang of my new Brompton after three plus hours of total riding today.  My journey to the bike shop and back allowed me to enjoy some beautiful Asheville neighborhoods and a segment of the French Broad River Greenway.  By the time I got back to Bobby's house, I was dog-tired, but couldn't rest for long.  I had just enough time to eat something and get ready.  Then we left to sound check for our gig at Isis Music Hall.  It's an old movie theater turned into a cool, modern restaurant and music venue.  This place has a lot of history!

Isis then

Isis now

Isis hosts a bluegrass night on Tuesdays.  We were scheduled to play two 45-minute sets before an open bluegrass jam.  The venue has more of a "listening room" feel than that a rowdy bar, and all instruments were mic'd except for the bass which I plugged into the house DI box.  The sound man told me that my magnetic pick-up wasn't sending a hot enough signal, so I used the new piezo pick-up I had bought on the way up from Jacksonville.  The gig went well.  We were well-received.  I was happy to see several familiar faces in the audience.

This is a good sign!

Sound checked and waiting to start the show

Between sets

After our two sets,  I enjoyed meeting new folks, listening to the bluegrass jam, and catching up with friends.  We closed out the evening by returning to the stage and playing a few more tunes, this time with our good buddy Mark Schimick joining us on mandolin.

Maybe they're related!

Enjoying the bluegrass jam

These two good friends of ours came to see us; and they brought their parents, too!

Always a pleasure pickin' with Mark Schimick!

We returned to Bobby Miller's house to find a pickin' party in progress.  I hadn't had much of a chance to work on my blog throughout the day today, other than pictures, so I sat out on Bobby's deck and wrote this post while I enjoyed the cool night air and the music springing forth from the house.  I'm tired, but I feel good.  We're off for the next few days, and the plan is to spend some time hanging out with our pals The Corbitt Brothers on their family's farm.  I reckon it'll be one helluva good time!

Cheers, y'all!

- Jon