Ugly, But Functional

A nice day in June. I remained somewhat knackered and since my biking goal for the month has been attained (no bad falls), I took a rest day to water the crunchy lawn, wash my dirty laundry, and indulge in some photo scanning. I made a trip to the Friday Farmer's Market at St. Luke's and bought locally grown, aggresively priced veggies - tomatoes, cukes, and broccoli from farmers of a variety of ethnicities. There will be tennis tomorrow in the morning with the gang of geezers.

This is another ugly building that I'm entering in my own contest. It's ugly but functional. It's the route from Pierce Butler Road over the railroad tracks to St. Paul's Energy Park. One can ride across the bridge and take the back and forth switch-back to get down to ground level and continue on to Como Park. It fits the stereotype for structures near the railroad - rundown and rusty. I've used this route many times in the last few years. One's speed on the structure is severely limited by the sudden and extreme turns, but it keeps one off Lexington Parkway.


I scanned this old photo from 1961, partly as a gift to MM who commented on the Tousan's blog (and who is in the photo), and partly to try to figure out who was in it and where it was taken. I think I know almost everyone, and I'm pretty sure where it was shot. Suggestions of identities and location -> comment box.


Wimby update. Milagros Sequers is eliminated by Queen Serena 6-1, 6-0. Serena has too much power for the youngster from Venezuela. Matina Hingis also was eliminated today. Roger Federer took down Marat Safin in three sets. See ESPN for scores.

KG is still a T'Wolf.

Adam Fall Down

It seems like a bad karma day in lotus land. First, Santini has a flat for the first time in 2500 miles or so, then Adam falls off his bike and injures his elbow. He was on lunch break at work and his front wheel got caught in a crack and down he crashed. He landed on his right elbow and it started to swell up at work. He called me and I drove over to pick him up (and his bike). Once home, he went to the doctor to get X-rays. More bad karma. The x-ray technician wasn't there so he has to go back in the morning. They gave him a sling and advice - take 3-4 ibuprofens before bed. He's trying to get some sleep without disturbing the limb. Other than his elbow and grease on his leg, he is fine. So is the Trek.

I had tennis scheduled tonight. It started out as a hot night, but cooled off enough to be pretty much ideal. I played at Somerset Country Club on clay. I haven't played on the dirt for quite a while and it was a treat. The tennis was competitive, but friendly, and we played three close sets, changing partners for each set: 9-7, 6-4, 4-6. And then the sun was getting dim, so we swept the court and I came home for veggie burgers, guacamole, and sweet red cherries. Yum. I earned my big appetite.

So, a couple of days ago I threatened to post a photo of the most ugly structure I've seen on rides lately. This one is pretty ugly. It's an old abandoned structure down by the big river on Randolph Avenue. It used to be functional - about a century ago. Are there uglier buildings anywhere?