6footsix

step one in:

Marcia Baugh of AWP Butcher Block is an amazing innovator and was able to construct this awesome raised counter top for me to use in my kitchen.  I cook a lot and was getting tired of bending so far over.  Check it out!

Marcia can make this chopping block in a range of lengths and widths and to fit people from about 5'9" to over 7'0".  At colleen-i-fying the world we've worked out how you can measure yourself so the vertical fit will be ergonomically perfect - after all, we're all about vertical here.  So far one has been made for me and another for Steve who is about six foot one and both are excellent!

Check out my colleenify blog if there are any chefs of altitude in your kitchen. You can see how to measure yourself here. 

Mention "colleen-i-fication" for a discount and ask her how to get measured!

'tis the season!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Glædelig jul og godt nytår from Jheri in København!

Glædelig jul og godt nytår!  

This is Colleen's friend Jheri from København and this is my guest post.  

We don't have much light this far North, so we light candles starting around the first of December to shatter the darkness and invite people to smile and dream.   I ride down the streets after dark and see candles in all of the windows.  A bit of gliding along and I pass windows with candles flickering and adding motion and warmth to my motion. It may be cold, but I grin.  Sometimes after a few kilometers of this, there are tears streaming down your cheeks from the beauty.  Something very deep is singing to you. 

Christmas here is very old and even goes before the Christmas you may know.  It is Jul and that is the old nordic for feast.  Danes are masters at feasts.  If you go into one of the houses you will see a tree with decorations like fruits, sweets, maybe little Danish flags, straw goats, drums, horns, and real candles and there will be a lot of food.  I can't imagine a tree without goats and real candles! If it is Christmas eve the candles are lit filling the room with warmth and even more if the tree catches on fire.  We are mostly careful and not that many homes burn.

This is the perfect season and I love gliding along a quiet street on my bike soaking in the candle light.  Sometimes you find a other people doing the same thing and then more and more join.  I have seen them start to sing and pretty soon there are a hundred or more bike carolers who may not know each other.  It is a very beautiful thing. 

Bikes are wonderful.  Here we see them as transportation rather than a toy or something for sport.  We can use them for sport, but that is not the point.  We use them all year and this season is special on one.  

They are a way to have free movement with your own body.  Many people use bikes rather than cars and I do not own a car.  I have two bikes. One is a Batavus and is made in the Netherlands.  These are sane bikes that are made for errands and commuting.  Mine goes in the rain and the snow and I use it for groceries, laundry and many of my trips. I have racks and regularly carry up to 30 kg with me.  When I need to carry something heavier I rent a cargo bike like a Christiania.  These have two wheels in front and a huge basket that you can carry a few people in if you like.  It is very common to see a young Danish woman riding a bike like this with two young children in the basket in front of her. 

I call my favorite bike Kirsebær She is bright red and fits me perfectly. My legs are not long like Colleen's but are still long enough, so she had to be specially made for me by Sögreni.   Just thinking about her makes me smile.  She is only one speed and that is my flying speed. We know each other very well and if the weather is good, we are together.  Sometimes I am am even wearing a beautiful dress and heels because I am proud to mix the beauty of my motion with what bit of prettiness I may have.

Most countries are not as friendly for bicycles as much as Denmark, but that should not stop you from using one.  Danish women have the best butts and legs in the world and that is because so many of us ride bikes to get around. There aren't many fat people either.  Come and see if you don't believe me!

But now it is December and the Solstice is soon. You don't need a bike for that, just your soul and those who are special to you.

You should enjoy this Winter holiday no matter your religion or even if you have none.   Find a dark place and watch the stars.  You can do this for your own spirit or better with other people that you love or even perhaps those may not even know well yet.  Listen to their stories and laugh and sing with them.  The starlight and their words will bless you.   With time it will get cold, so invite them in and make something warm like hot chocolate and have it with cookies and fruit and continue the stories.  Do not watch the clock as this is a special time where time should not hold.  If you go past the dawn that is fine because special times like this are rare.

Smile until it hurts, laugh too much and dance until you can dance no more. 

I will think of the people I love who are a long distance from me and I will do a special dance for them.  This is my Jheridance and it feels like a warm hug to me.  You can do your own special dance for those you love too.  It is sad to not be with them, but it is good that you will have extra chocolate and fruit to yourself.

Light some candles for me.  Ride your bike through the evening quiet or walk through it.  Leave some good things for the animals.  Look to the night sky and find some pieces of ancient light.  Cry tears of joy even though you are too old for that and smile so much that it hurts.  Dance!

Remember that candle

Jheri out

introducing the 2nd member of The Big Green Road Trip: a guest post by Chris Carlson

This is the start of my blogging adventure, but I don't want to talk about that, I want to talk about biking.

At the moment, my front wheel is in many pieces on the floor of my garage.  A few weeks back, I noticed that my front axle was not spinning freely, and being a perfectionist, this bothered me.  I took it to the local bike shop, Anthony's Cyclery, in Riverside.  Anthony, the master of bike knowledge, told me I needed to take the hub apart to find the problem.  I recently purchased a full bike tool kit, so I was fully prepared.  

Cleaning was the next step.  Grease is really greasy.  It gets everywhere: all over the sink you used to clean it off and all over your hands and finger nails.  My mom would never let me clean bike parts in her kitchen, but I have my own kitchen with a perpetually dirty sink, so when I was finished, the sink was just as dirty as when I started.

After all the parts were cleaned, it was obvious which one was worn down.  It was the cone, which is the bottom most part to the axle.  Anthony ordered two new ones for me and now I'm waiting impatiently for them to arrive.  I didn't realize how much I would miss my bike, until I couldn't use it.  This is the first time since I was 2 that I don't have a working bike and it's killing me; it feels like my wings are clipped.

My big goal is to bike across continents, namely all of them.  My intermediate goal is to have an amazing Big Green Road Trip, and be the official bike mechanic and boyfriend, preferably in the other order. Before I do these, however, I want to know everything about bicycle repair, so starting with this repair, I am doing them all myself.  Of course, I will consult with the professional on major repairs to be sure I'm on track.  I also have 'Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance to guide me with tons of illustrations and tips.  So far, taking the hub apart was a breeze.  The tough part will be getting it all back together, as always.  That will be the subject of the next post.