Charley's BBQ open mike night

I played two songs earlier tonight at Charley's BBQ on West Harvard Avenue. The first was one of mine, Early Morning Hours. Then I played the Beatles song Help! Both were well-received. A little later I rode and played in the parking lot next door while some people watched from the windows.

Last month I noticed a shimmy in the front wheel when I was going down hills, even though the tires were inflated properly. So yesterday I dropped the "Minstrel Cycle" off at the Local Bike Shop to have them true both wheels. It turns out the front axle had a little play and the rear wheel was way out of shape, so it's a good thing I had this done. I picked up the bicycle from the bike shop at 4 p.m. and the music started at the BBQ place at 5. I had to wait a while for my turn to play.

The "Minstrel Cycle" of The Bicycling Guitarist

Yesterday I joined "velospace, the place for bikes" and posted some photographs of the Schwinn I have ridden for decades now while playing guitar. Details of my ride are online at The "Minstrel Cycle" of The Bicycling Guitarist. I edited the description on that page today, giving more information about the specifications of Schwinn Sportabouts compared to the better-known Varsity and Continental bicycles.

I don't actually call my bicycle "The Minstrel Cycle." If I refer to it at all by any name, I just call it Schwinn. I made this pun decades ago. It was a natural joke to make considering I have been called a traveling minstrel and the bicycle is red. Okay, I will make no more jokes about menstruation, period! The joke is even funnier since someone called Lijemtu added "only if you play ragtime" (May 21, 2009 at 11:01 a.m. in the Welcome Wagon thread of Tunesmith songwriting forums).