First, one of Surly HQ's favorite regally letarded window lickers Zito, aka The Milwaukee Mouthbreather, has been riding around a lot and finally got a Flickr photoshare account, so he's been sending updates. For instance, he made a new acquaintance while visiting his old stomping grounds: Yikes. While there, he and Rollin' and Teabag rode Pugsleys "on" the beaches of Lake Michigan. See photo. Also on his photostream, we find Zito and Teabag and H*Wood H*nderson back in Milwaukee for the Fat Tire Tour. Group cup check? Check. Subtextual cup check? And check. I'm pretty sure every single person in this photo is high. *** Pull on your Pumas, the self titled Mayor of Funkytown has brought another installment of the All City Chamionships back this summer. Billed in a recent email as "BIG!", this is the third year for the All City and the Mayor promises not to win the event and keep the main prize (again). Is that original artwork on the posteur? It feels about 83 in here... *** In local news, Pavlicra saw this in the paper: Bicyclists get a break: They will have priority on a dozen miles of local streets By JIM FOTI, Star Tribune In another boost for the Twin Cities bicycling boom, more than 12 miles of local streets will be revamped to give priority to bikes. The metro area is creating a "more benign version of the interstate highway system" for bicycles, said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who visited Richfield on Thursday morning to join bike advocates, other public officials and a representative from Best Buy in announcing the $1.8 million "bike/walk street" program. Under the federally funded effort, streets in Richfield, northeast Minneapolis, St. Paul's Highland Park and the Roseville-Falcon Heights area will get special pavement markings, new off-street bike paths, bike lanes and crosswalk improvements. In Richfield, nearly 2 miles of Oliver Avenue S. will be designated as a bike/walk street to give bicyclists an alternative to busy Penn Avenue, parts of which see upwards of 19,000 vehicles a day compared with Oliver's 300 to 500. Best Buy's headquarters is at the southern end of Oliver Avenue, and Carol Hanson, manager of corporate services, praised the program for giving employees better commuting options. Richfield Mayor Debbie Goettel said families also appreciate designated routes for bikes, and "even our older residents bike considerably and do a lot of walking." Cars will still be able to use Oliver, but drivers may opt to take other streets when there are a lot of bikes in the road, Goettel said. The $1.8 million is part of a $21.5 million federal grant being administered by Transit for Livable Communities. Kay and Pat Elliott, who live on Oliver, were surprised to see Thursday's news conference just down the block -- it was the first they'd heard of the program. But bike clubs and people they know regularly cycle past their house. "This is a great idea," Kay Elliott said. I agree, that is a good idea. Anybody with a pulse around here has noticed a sharp rise in bicyclists in the Twin Cities area the last year or two, and this city wasn't suffering from a lack of cyclists as it was. *** Anthony Calek, an American abroad, gets it all terribly right by maintaining a healthy cynicism in describing on his travel journal our Long Haul Trucker: "[It] was recommended to me by my local bike shop, a heavier frame that had made a name for itself amongst the cykelturen community for its rugged construction and horrid color choices." He goes on to describe it as heavy, and also as being very stable and not hard to pedal. Anthony's excrement sense of humor is revealed in post headings like "Sun is shining, and no rastafarians in sight" and "Norwegians remind me of Americans, they just have more money." Follow along with his narrative, or don't. I'm guessing he couldn't really care less. *** Lastly today, words of wisdom from the black godfather, musical Mount Olympus Andre Williams: -----