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Biking in the Cemetery

I mentioned in my previous post that I probably will not be biking to work since it would involve riding on streets like Lisbon, Burleigh, or Capitol… Those are streets you somewhat risk your life on even in a car! So where I can I ride? Well, I used to walk in the cemetery by my house quite a bit. It’s a lovely space, quiet, lots of nature and best of all (almost) no cars! In my dozens of walks I probably saw just a few cars in the cemetery. So my plan was, bike in the cemetery.

I mentioned this to a bike friend and he said “Well, check that it’s allowed… I know some cemeterys do not allow bikes.” So the first thing I did was searched for “riding bike in cemetery” and got this AmItheAsshole post… (Worth a read, but I still hate Reddit.)

So I did a bit more searching and found this brochure for the cemetery I planned to ride in.

The highlighted bit says “Walker, runners, riders and the like should remain only on roadways.” Hey, I’m a rider (or an “and the like” whatever that means) so it should be all good. I have no plans to ride on the grass or anywhere else that isn’t the roadway. So I set out for my first ride…

… and it was a little bumpy! I realized that on the main road from the entrance the road has these “cracks” every 50 feet or so, and you get a good “cuh-chunk!” riding over them. It’s a very noticeable bump. I wondered if this was by design, since it would be noticeable when driving a car and might make you more aware of your speed. Luckily it seems these bumps don’t persist through all of the roads.

On my second ride I spotted a coyote! It saw me and started to run off and I (sort of) followed it, in the hopes of getting a better look or a photo. I did manage to get a phone photo, so it’s super tiny since I was so far away… As the coyote ran through the cemetery I kept an eye on it and tried to keep track of it while I was in motion. It was actually pretty fun! I’m hoping I didn’t freak it out too badly. I had heard about coyotes in the cemetery before but never saw one on any of my walks, so that was pretty neat!

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Back on the Bike

Back in 2021 I became a walking guy, and I walked a lot in 2022 and 2023, and then in December 2023 I had an extremely bad case of plantar fasciitis so I had to take a break from walking. I managed to get a bike trainer stand thing and put my bike in the basement and tried riding it for exercise while I was suffering from extreme foot pain. I missed walking outside but it was also winter so basement biking was… okay. I’d usually listen to music or NPR or watch some streaming show.

As December 2023 rolled around I had a new issue, a neck injury and some weird foot/toe pain so I took a break from walking and any other exercise for a bit to do physical therapy (thanks Erin!) and now that’s all done. I still have the weird foot/toe pain so I was concerned about walking so hey, it’s back to the bike!

First things first, I had a flat tire which wasn’t an issue on the trainer but would be on the road. The last real ride I did was the Black is Beautiful ride in… 2020!? I took the bike into Emerys for a tune-up and tire repair. They did a good job, though they did call me to ask why there was a 7 gear sprocket instead of an 8 gear, and asked if I ever had issues shifting. I answered “I don’t know!” and “Yes…” so we got that fixed. I got the bike used, so someone must have done something weird along the way. Well, it shifts better now!

It’s been a long-ass time since I biked to work and I lived in the “country” then, and since my commute to work now would probably include Lisbon, Burleigh, or Capitol, I’m pretty sure I’d be risking my life so for now I’ll stick to the car for getting to work.

Anyway, to make a long story short (which is probably too late) I’ve started riding again. I’m typically out around 7am most mornings and doing a few miles, and it feels good. I’m doing this for health and fitness since I hate going to the gym and without the daily walking I just don’t move enough.

Oh, and remember my post about reporting potholes to the city? Well, guess what? Biking into a pothole is even worse that driving over one! So if I’m out on the road and see a pothole I hit the brakes, snap a photo, and submit it.

(Oh shit, did I become and urbanist!?)

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Fixing Potholes

I read a great Milwaukee Record article titled Mandatory Milwaukee: Potholes! and learned about the MKE Mobile Action app which allows you to submit a pothole to the city! So of course that’s what I did…

I walked down to Lisbon Avenue which is about a block from my house, and a road I drive on every day, and snapped a photo of the first pothole I came across. Tap, Tap, Tap… Submitted!

And hey, I can use the app to check the status of the submission, or this URL to publicstuff.com. I submitted it this morning and when I checked on it this afternoon it was marked as received.

According to Milwaukee Record this is what the Department of Public Works (DPW) has to say:

“We currently have four crews city-wide working on potholes. That number will increase to six in March. That is the time of year we see the most potholes because of thawing. Yesterday [Monday, January 29], we received 48 pothole requests and we are basically caught up with requests. Our current response time is 1-3 days. In the cold months we use cold patch. Once about April hits, we have hot mix available which is more flexible and stronger.”

I’m excited to see when it gets resolved, which is why I am posting this now. There’s this thing where it’s really easy to complain about something, but it might take actual work to do something about it. This seems like a pretty easy thing to do to improve the city… if it works.

Check this out… you can view the map and see other issues submitted. I feel like if you got your neighbors together and all submitted the same issue (like potholes on your street) they might even get dealt with quicker… who knows?

The mobile app (and web site) does have all sorts of other city services you can request or check on, so if you live in Milwaukee (or a city that has this app) install it and give it a try. I figure the worse thing is you might waste a bit of time setting up an account and submitting an issue, but hey… I still have some hope left in this world!

Update: Holy Wow it’s fixed! On the same day… But wait!

I drove home around 5:15pm and noticed the street, and it looked like it was filled in. It was. I walked over to get a photo of it and on the way home ran into some neighbors. I told them I submitted it this morning and my neighbor said she saw a crew out there around 10am. That is 3 hours after I submitted it. Yeah, this works. Go at it, people!

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Printmaking Registration Pins

Here are my pins and tabs used for registration of multi-color relief prints. They are heavily inspired by the Ternes Burton system, and I’ve found a similar design on Thingiverse but as usual, these are mine.

Print at least two pins and then as many tabs as you need to do a print run.

When printed the tabs should fit tight into the pins. This is by design. Depending on your printer the tolerance may or may not make a good fit. I print the tabs and then if they are too tight I just give them a very small swipe inside the hole with an X-ACTO blade.

Once shaved down the tab should fit the pins slightly tightly but not too tightly, and not too loosely obviously. Welcome to 3D Printing!

If you need a quick tutorial on how to use these check out How to get perfect registration with Ternes Burton pins.

With my latest batch of handmade paper the blue painters tape I use tends to pull up a lot of the paper when removing it, but the typical printmaking paper you can buy (this is some Strathmore paper) holds up just fine.

You can get the STL and .scad files from Printables.com – Printmaking Registration Pins. Note: These are very thin prints! I printed mine at 0.1 layer height. But hey, print them if you need them!

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Pizza Steel – First Attempt

I got a pizza steel. It’s a 16″ x 16″ x 1/4″ thick piece of steel for baking pizzas on. I thought about getting one nearly a year ago. put it off, told Dana it would be a good Xmas gift, then told her not to get one, then thought about it again, then got convinced by a friend to get one, and here we are.

I was originally turned off by the thought of having to heat it in the kitchen oven for 45 to 60 minutes, but damn… I just made some pizzas and yes, yes, it was totally worth it!

I ended up getting a Thermichef 1/4″ Deluxe Version, 16″x16″. (Okay, I actually got a Factory 2nd item, which was $10 cheaper, but same thing. Supposedly it has some blemishes but I didn’t notice.) The one mistake I made was that I should have maybe got a 16″ x 14″ because the 16″ depth sort of makes it ride up on the angled back part of the oven rack. Not a huge deal I guess. And damn, that things is heavy!

I had planned on screwing around with it over the weekend but honestly I could not wait. I had dough I put in the freezer about two weeks ago, and I put it in the fridge before I went to work, then put it on the counter when I got home for about 45 minutes while the oven heated up. I had grabbed some cornmeal at The Outpost (as I could not find semolina flour) but didn’t use it because someone recommended parchment paper. I should also note I don’t have a pizza peel. The parchment paper worked well. I just made the pizza on the paper then slid it (from a cutting board) onto the steel.

I’ve since read a tip that you can bake on parchment paper for a few minutes then pull it out so the pizza is directly on the steel. I may try that next time. The parchment paper makes “Launching” the pizza onto the steel easy, especially if you don’t have a peel.

Oh, I divided the dough into three small crusts, one Dana and I ate, one I ate, and one I packed for my lunch the next day. I should also note that Dana declared it the best crust made in this house that she ever tasted. (And she can be pretty particular about her crusts!) And yes I threw these together quick and haphazardly so they are not beautiful looking.

I was able to grab the parchment paper to pull the pizza out when done as well, so that was all good. I still need to figure out exact baking times. I did about 4 minutes, then turned the oven to broil on high for another few minutes.

And the results? Damn, that crust was the best I’ve ever made, and I’ve been making pizza crust at home for nearly 20 years. Seriously, it was good. Why the hell did I put this off for so long!? I’ve been reading The Elements of Pizza: Unlocking the Secrets to World-Class Pies at Home and there are a ton of tips and tricks for better dough/crust, but my regular old recipe on a pizza steel turned out amazing.

And I mean, I’m not done… I still have a lot to learn, and a lot more experiments, but I had no idea my first attempt would turn out so well. Cheers!

Just one more note about the photo above. The cutting board was a gift from my dear friend Maks and the pizza cutter was given to Dana from the husband of a colleague who turned the handle on his lathe. Neat!

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