Magical Singer Feet - not!

Since I have the day off, I decided I would try to figure out how to use the attachments that came with my new 1947 Singer. I'm having no luck at all. I started with the hemmer foot, which at least doesn't have any moving parts. All you have to do is feed the cloth into it. I cannot get it to work.

Is there anything more hateful than instruction books that say things like "hold it in a straight line and you will find it quite easy to make a perfect hem?" If I'm not finding it "quite easy" then I must be pretty stupid, huh?

Happy Birthday, USA

For a change of pace from old Powderhorn, we went to the Saint Anthony Falls fireworks show. Pretty exciting, but not something I want to do every year, at least not from that venue. Four of us vanned our bikes to a starting point in Northeast (a little west of Central) and biked through the rapidly increasing mob of people to the river. Biking through jammed traffic is both terrifying and liberating. You can zip past the stopped cars, dodge around police barricades, ride up the sidewalks. On the other hand, sometimes you have to sit in the middle of a lane of traffic surrounded by chuffing cars and irritable drivers, and thread your way through torrents of pedestrians. Peds talking on cell phones are even more inattentive than drivers on cell phones, and will walk right into you head on if you don't engage in some pretty fancy evasive maneuvers. Nonetheless, we made it to the Stone Arch Bridge, spent about 5 minutes trying to chain up 4 bicycles with only 3 locks, then discovered that the bridge was completely and absolutely FULL. Not only the bridge, but the entire downtown side of the river over by the Mill City museum, packed like a New York subway car at rush hour. So we made a last minute dash along the river bank as the fireworks started, and managed to find a perfect vantage point by a break in the trees where we could see pretty much everything.

It really is a more exciting show than Powderhorn, lots more firepower but so much faster paced that it is over in half the time. Just as well, since you have to stand to see it. By the time the amazing finale came along, I was ready for it. We stuck with the riverside road on the way back, which meant no cars but lots more people spilling out of the night clubs along St. Anthony Main. It was a little unnerving dodging around them, but basically fun. Our friend Ed was having so much fun that he kept saying, "I don't want to stop! Let's keep on biking! Nancy, let's bike home and come back for the car!" I think he hasn't done much city biking and was a little overstimulated by it all. The rest of us just kept loading bikes into vehicles and we all headed for home.

Thinking about a new bike

Although barely 13 years old, my bike has gotten to that state where every time it needs a little repair the bike shop suggests helpful improvements, like a new wheel instead of a new spoke, and so on. Apparently after a certain point the spokes just start breaking spontaneously due to metal fatigue. Who knew? Similar issues with the chain and gearset.

Anyway, replacing the bike one piece at a time is clearly going to be way more expensive than buying a new one, and I'm riding enough that I can't have spokes breaking and gears not shifting right. So, I think when the fall sales kick in at the bike shops, I'll be buying a new 2-wheeler.

Richard and I spent a lazy afternoon biking to nearby bike shops to get things like bike maps and headlights, and I browsed the bikes. As I've noticed before, there seem to be two basic types of bike shops - Trek shops and the other kind. Well, actually, Calhoun Cycle is a third type, but since I don't want a recumbent or folding bike that visit was more for entertainment than anything. I don't want a Trek bike either, so that cuts out Penn Cycle. However, I have noticed a new (to me) brand of bike at a couple of places (including, but not limited to, Alternative Bike and Board at Lynn-Lake): Marin. They make a bike that meets my 4 criteria:

1) Clicky-shift levers (as opposed to the twisty-wristy type of shifter).
2) Jointed handlebar stem, allowing the handlebars to be adjusted upward and backward.
3) A bike topology that is amenable to riding upright (shorter top bar).
4) Price less than $500.

Anybody know anything about Marin bicycles? Or know of another brand of bike that meets the criteria above?