Sierrabear

Sonora, Ca – Four long years we have waited since that mysterious sign went up, touting the strange combination of waffles n' ribs. Oh, and what an arduous four years it was; it felt way more like eight. A presidential election, bank failures, foreclosures, job cuts and a faltering economy, made Jeb's at least one glimmer of hope on the horizon. It promised jobs and best of all, the unique marriage of waffles and ribs. The long vacant eatery became a boon for wild speculation and gossip mongers – yours truly. The name itself sparked the imagination and helped 42.25% of Tuolumne County to remember, “Yes, we can.”, and the other 64.24% 54.88%  to believe in “Change we need.” , giving T.C. locals something fun to look forward to, a hope that something new and better was just about to come our way.

One has to be a real bike-geek to get excited about internally geared bicycle hubs. Those CAD drawings showing an exploded view of the planetary gear system are like porn to some. I had wanted to lace up a wheel for years using one of these hubs, but just never got around to it. Finally I decided to take the plunge and purchase the Shimano Nexus-7.

There are many different manufacturers of internally geared hubs I could have chosen, including Shimano, Sturmey-Archer, Rohloff, and others.

I selected the Shimano hub for several reasons: reputation, reasonable cost, and gearing. If money were no object I would have chosen the Rohloff 14 speed, but the hub would have been more expensive than every other part combined. I just couldn’t justify spending over $1200 for one component of a utility bike.

Bill Maher’s documentary Religulous is an irreverent and sometimes pretentious look at the world’s major religions. He travels across the United States, Europe and the Middle East interviewing people about God and religion. The film’s main premise is to examine the illogic of religion by asking the question: How is it that an individual can embrace the cognitive dissonance required in order to believe, yet not be considered insane?

Soulsbyville, Ca -- Years as a bicycle messenger have taught me plenty about being as comfortable as possible when the weather gets yucky. Over that time I’ve learned that it’s hard to beat polypropylene thermal underwear for biking in inclement or cold weather.

Tuolumne County has always had its share of ‘sit down’ style Mexican restaurants. And while we are lucky to have some truly scrumptious places to have tortillas, beans, and cheese, chips and salsa, enchiladas, tamales, fajitas, and even burritos, there is a noticeable dearth of true Mission style Mexican fast food.

Sonora, Ca -- Sometimes we’re lucky enough to have that rare experience of getting a hold of an album that strikes us at just the right time and in just the right way. Sometimes it’s the music that grabs us, or maybe it’s the lyrics, or maybe it’s the overall feel that does something to us.