With Gail and Walter, to the north with a few ups and downs. Nice day for the solstice, mid-30s, not much wind. Pace was a little more mellow than usual because the conversation was so good.
The roads were wet, yesterday's inch or two of snow gone, credit the efforts of the highway crews, though their weapons against the white stuff (sand and salt) were still hanging around. At some point in the ride we asked Walter what he would do when he got home with regard to cleaning off his bike.
He is the expert in such things. I was expecting an answer that would certainly be good advice, also complicated enough that I would ignore it all, quite happily just putting the bike in the garage as is. But his advice was not so impossible -- spray it with some warm water to wash off grit and salt, then shake it a bunch (or bounce it) to get rid of as much water as you can, and then put it someplace where it will dry. He did add that he preferred to take his bike in the shower with him.
Hmmm, we could do that (except the shower part). Especially since a recent discovery would be just the gizmo we needed.
Good karma seems to generate good karma, something I expect Phil would quibble with, karma getting the same lack of respect from him as omens do. But that doesn't mean it's not true. The initial good karma in this case being the slow but steady pace we are making towards cleaning and organizing and simplifying (and often discarding) all the stuff in the garage and basement.
Obviously it has a positive effect on one's mental health. Plus, of course, you find things you never knew you had, or why you have them. In this particular case it seems the need was to discourage the woodpecker that insisted on trying to make holes in out siding.
So Gail had gone and procured a pair of Super Soakers, 5 nozzles, range up to 10 meters, and apparently legal thanks to the Second Amendment. And while the jury is still out on how they would do against woodpeckers, the Super Soakers still being in their original packing, there is no doubt that they are just about perfect for washing off a bike. Took about two loads per bike. Then bounced the bikes a bit to shake off the water. Then plenty of room to get by Gail's car in the cleaned-out garage, plenty of room for the bikes in the warm, dry and partly cleaned-out furnace room.
Good karma just about everywhere, though perhaps not yet in the rest of the basement which is in need of some major TLC. That is still to look forward to.