On Wednesday, I rolled out to retrieve my bank card from the bank (I left it in the ATM on Monday) and, since it was grey and rainy and about darned time, to hit the shop for some fenders.
After hanging out at Fourth Street with Tony and installing a pair of Planet Bike Speedez (review to come, but in short, my legs are dry, and -- perhaps more importantly -- so is my butt!), I headed to Rite-Aid to buy some cough medicine, then stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch. While I was dining, the sun came out, the clouds rolled away, and I realized that it was turning into the kind of day on which not riding the bike just for fun would be a sin.
So, predictably, I went home, dropped off my cough medicine and my now-unnecessary (and highly wind-catching) rain jacket -- there was a fierce headwind on the homestretch! -- then headed back out for a jaunt around the neighborhood.
Perhaps predictably, my jaunt took me up to Iroquois Park. I didn't turn on iMapMyRide+, and I stopped a bunch of times to take pictures -- so I have no idea what my average speed was or anything like that (I did ride a pretty nice pace up the hill, though, just for fun). Surprisingly, for someone who hasn't done any serious riding in a couple of weeks, I felt really strong.
Perhaps I'm experiencing the post-off season boomerang effect that I've noticed a couple of times before; perhaps it's just that I was having fun and not worrying about statistics at all, since 'cross season is a non-starter for me this year and it isn't really time to seriously train for 2012 road season by a long shot. I pushed a little here and there, and slacked off a little in other spots, and I felt as good on the bike as I've felt in months and months. I also didn't cough much, though I've been coughing my brains out since I got home -- I seem to cough less outside.
Uppill Road is now closed to auto traffic for the season (except for folks dropping off their leaves), so I had a nice quite ride, sharing the road with a few walkers and dog-walkers and two other bikes. The roads in the park past the tennis courts atop Iroquois Hill were strewn with leaves that still smelled crisp and new. I had fun sailing through them, and I rode slower because of them, which made it impossible to skip the step of stopping for pictures (please forgive the grey lines on these guys; they're artifacts of the fact that I interrupted the upload process by mistake -- I'll fix 'em later).
The overlook was actually pretty impressive today:
...and even the airport managed to look idyllic:
This pine, meanwhile, looked serene -- very Japanese-- with its black bark and graceful limbs and the golden leaves of the deciduous trees scattered at its feet:
On the backside of Toppill Road, I felt like I could've been all alone in the middle of nowhere:
...Nothing but me, the grass, the trees, and the wind.
Oh, and the dog poop. Apparently, once they close the Hill for the season, people stop picking up after their dogs. Meh. It's all good. I made a point of not rolling through any of it. Don't want to have to scrape the tires before I bring the bike in and stick it on the trainer!
As I was banging out the last stretch of the climb, I even saw an dashing young white-tailed buck who bounded, leaping, across the road and disappeared on the far side. He had a nice pair of two- or three-point antlers and looked strong and healthy. I never really get over spotting deer in Iroquois Park!
Unfortunately, I am far too slow with the Inspire-Cam to grab pix of deer. Maybe I should get a helmet cam?
There are a million reasons I absolutely love the fall. I hope these pictures make at least some of them clear :)
Showing posts with label Hg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hg. Show all posts
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
My Frustrating Machine
I think you've probably heard some of Hg's Crankarm Saga -- the one that induced me to spend a ridiculous sum of money on a ceramic bottom bracket (okay, so I could've just bought a normal bottom bracket, but sometimes the bike-shop-employee discount induces madness, and when the stars align correctly I do have to admit that the ceramic BB feels awesome and works beautifully and it's supposed to be more durable and ) that we hoped would solve the crankarm-coming-loose problem.
It didn't -- and, as before, said problem has grown worse, slowly, over time.
This led to the purchase of a tube of Locktite XTREEEM! or whatever it's called -- the vibration-resistant, high-and-low-temperature resistant, big bad brother of everybody's favorite threadlocker (curiously, regular Locktite was not available at the World-O-Wally store where I bought the Locktite XTREMEZOMGWFTBBQ!).
That worked for a couple of days -- which is to say, it worked for two days of very easy riding on the flat. The minute I put it to the test hammering my way up a hill, I found myself feeling quite grateful that I'd had the foresight to leave my hex wrench set in my seatpost bag. Did I mention that it was also raining on that day?
Anyway, it's been a while since I've been able to ride for more than, say, 15 minutes at a stretch without stopping, dismounting, screwing the darned bike back together, and then having to elbow my way back into traffic (which is more convenient in some places than in others).
Needless to say, for someone who enjoys riding the bike rather more than fixing the bike, this has become ... well ... frustrating.
As such, I've decided that the beginning of Spring semester will bring with it a new crankset for Hg, at which point Hg will be -- outside of routine maintenance -- 'finished' for the time being, or at least until I get a hankering for a nifty new saddle or something like that. Certainly, I will be done making expensive Hg-related purchases until such time as he should require new wheels or something like that.
I am, on the balance, extremely happy with Hg, who is now my go-to bike for everything, since I ganked the wheels off of Quicksilver and Swift's bottom bracket has seized. Flipping the stem solved the last of my fit conundra, and it's awesome to have a stiff, light, fast bike that you're not afraid to simply ride everywhere, to everything, in all conditions, for any and all reasons or none at all. I am in every way looking forward to resolving the crankarm problem for good, so I can enjoy riding Hg even more.
Moreover -- shock of shocks -- I am rather considering going compact (gasp!).
The advantages to compact gearing are -- well, frankly, I think we all know what they are. Simply put, compact gearing allows those of us who are less than godlike to feel more awesome on the hills. (Admittedly, when Hg is actually working and I am actually healthy, I often feel pretty awesome riding up the hill in Iroquois park -- but that is a long, steady, not-very-steep climb: the kind I seem to like next-best after big rollers -- and on a long, steep climb, standard road gearing can be a bastard).
Likewise, compact gearing allows those of us whose health is -- err -- shall we say 'inconsistent?' -- to ride a little more effectively when we're feeling just a hair under the weather.
This decision owes in part to the fact that, thus far, I have spent this entire semester feeling at least a hair under the weather -- just as I was starting to really feel like myself again after that whole mono thing, I caught the Cold From Hell, which is remarkable primarily for its doggedly tenacious cough and bizarre, itchy throat sensation, and which has plagued me for the past eight days. I think I'm recovering from that now, thankfully. Once I'm well and truly ... er ... well, I plan to go get a Flu shot and a Pneumonia shot. I'm done screwing around with my health. But, anyway, feeling puny makes the standard double seem a little daunting, sometimes. There are days that I know I have to go somewhere, and I know I have to go uphill to get there, and I look at Hg's chainrings and cluster and think, "Why do I punish myself this way?" and dream of a grocery-getter with 36/50 up front and 12-32 in the back (or at least 12-28).
The downside, of course, is that I'd have to move and adjust my front derailleur, which currently works like a charm. The other downside is that my self-respect as a Mighty Conquerer of Hills would take a hit, and that I would have to make up for the topmost of my toppity-top gears with sheer awesomeness. I'm not sure I actually have that much awesomeness in the first place, and frankly I'm absolutely certain I don't have very much awesomeness at all right now.
That said, I might be lying through my teeth, and I might not go compact at all. I might, with spring looming around the corner and the days beginning to grow longer, smell racing season in the water and harbor delusions that I could actually get around to putting together a team at IUS and doing a little collegiate racing, or actually manage to make it to the Five-Spot Crit series, since I'll be in Indiana all the danged time anyway in the Spring (the era of cushy two-days-a-week scheduling has been great -- but it had to end some time).
At any rate, one way or another, I am rather tired of dealing with frustrating crankarm issues, so I plan to resolve them shortly. The end of fall semester will probably find me riding on the trainer a lot, where it probably won't kill me to stop every now and then to tighten up the crankarm. Of course, I'll still be using the bike to go to and from various places, but I plan to couple it with the bus as much as possible. It's simply too frustrating to ride in traffic while worrying about the crankarm. I also plan to determine how salvageable Swift is at this point, and to acquire (if necessary) a replacement grocery-getter.
In other news, the house is now winterized (insofar as we winterize -- we have pulled the air conditioners from the windows and cleaned them, done the once-every-five-years recaulking thing, and turned the furnace on to make sure it still works), school is going well, I'm exploring new and challenging pieces on the organ, and even after eight days with very little exercise I'm sitting at 172.6.
That said, I should probably go finish painting the trim so we'll really feel like we're done.
And then it's time to find a trainer and enjoy riding the bike while watching movies until it's time to buy a new crankset.
It didn't -- and, as before, said problem has grown worse, slowly, over time.
This led to the purchase of a tube of Locktite XTREEEM! or whatever it's called -- the vibration-resistant, high-and-low-temperature resistant, big bad brother of everybody's favorite threadlocker (curiously, regular Locktite was not available at the World-O-Wally store where I bought the Locktite XTREMEZOMGWFTBBQ!).
That worked for a couple of days -- which is to say, it worked for two days of very easy riding on the flat. The minute I put it to the test hammering my way up a hill, I found myself feeling quite grateful that I'd had the foresight to leave my hex wrench set in my seatpost bag. Did I mention that it was also raining on that day?
Anyway, it's been a while since I've been able to ride for more than, say, 15 minutes at a stretch without stopping, dismounting, screwing the darned bike back together, and then having to elbow my way back into traffic (which is more convenient in some places than in others).
Needless to say, for someone who enjoys riding the bike rather more than fixing the bike, this has become ... well ... frustrating.
As such, I've decided that the beginning of Spring semester will bring with it a new crankset for Hg, at which point Hg will be -- outside of routine maintenance -- 'finished' for the time being, or at least until I get a hankering for a nifty new saddle or something like that. Certainly, I will be done making expensive Hg-related purchases until such time as he should require new wheels or something like that.
I am, on the balance, extremely happy with Hg, who is now my go-to bike for everything, since I ganked the wheels off of Quicksilver and Swift's bottom bracket has seized. Flipping the stem solved the last of my fit conundra, and it's awesome to have a stiff, light, fast bike that you're not afraid to simply ride everywhere, to everything, in all conditions, for any and all reasons or none at all. I am in every way looking forward to resolving the crankarm problem for good, so I can enjoy riding Hg even more.
Moreover -- shock of shocks -- I am rather considering going compact (gasp!).
The advantages to compact gearing are -- well, frankly, I think we all know what they are. Simply put, compact gearing allows those of us who are less than godlike to feel more awesome on the hills. (Admittedly, when Hg is actually working and I am actually healthy, I often feel pretty awesome riding up the hill in Iroquois park -- but that is a long, steady, not-very-steep climb: the kind I seem to like next-best after big rollers -- and on a long, steep climb, standard road gearing can be a bastard).
Likewise, compact gearing allows those of us whose health is -- err -- shall we say 'inconsistent?' -- to ride a little more effectively when we're feeling just a hair under the weather.
This decision owes in part to the fact that, thus far, I have spent this entire semester feeling at least a hair under the weather -- just as I was starting to really feel like myself again after that whole mono thing, I caught the Cold From Hell, which is remarkable primarily for its doggedly tenacious cough and bizarre, itchy throat sensation, and which has plagued me for the past eight days. I think I'm recovering from that now, thankfully. Once I'm well and truly ... er ... well, I plan to go get a Flu shot and a Pneumonia shot. I'm done screwing around with my health. But, anyway, feeling puny makes the standard double seem a little daunting, sometimes. There are days that I know I have to go somewhere, and I know I have to go uphill to get there, and I look at Hg's chainrings and cluster and think, "Why do I punish myself this way?" and dream of a grocery-getter with 36/50 up front and 12-32 in the back (or at least 12-28).
The downside, of course, is that I'd have to move and adjust my front derailleur, which currently works like a charm. The other downside is that my self-respect as a Mighty Conquerer of Hills would take a hit, and that I would have to make up for the topmost of my toppity-top gears with sheer awesomeness. I'm not sure I actually have that much awesomeness in the first place, and frankly I'm absolutely certain I don't have very much awesomeness at all right now.
That said, I might be lying through my teeth, and I might not go compact at all. I might, with spring looming around the corner and the days beginning to grow longer, smell racing season in the water and harbor delusions that I could actually get around to putting together a team at IUS and doing a little collegiate racing, or actually manage to make it to the Five-Spot Crit series, since I'll be in Indiana all the danged time anyway in the Spring (the era of cushy two-days-a-week scheduling has been great -- but it had to end some time).
At any rate, one way or another, I am rather tired of dealing with frustrating crankarm issues, so I plan to resolve them shortly. The end of fall semester will probably find me riding on the trainer a lot, where it probably won't kill me to stop every now and then to tighten up the crankarm. Of course, I'll still be using the bike to go to and from various places, but I plan to couple it with the bus as much as possible. It's simply too frustrating to ride in traffic while worrying about the crankarm. I also plan to determine how salvageable Swift is at this point, and to acquire (if necessary) a replacement grocery-getter.
In other news, the house is now winterized (insofar as we winterize -- we have pulled the air conditioners from the windows and cleaned them, done the once-every-five-years recaulking thing, and turned the furnace on to make sure it still works), school is going well, I'm exploring new and challenging pieces on the organ, and even after eight days with very little exercise I'm sitting at 172.6.
That said, I should probably go finish painting the trim so we'll really feel like we're done.
And then it's time to find a trainer and enjoy riding the bike while watching movies until it's time to buy a new crankset.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
How to Work an Interval Workout Into a Busy Day
Downtown Louisville.
Broadway.
Rush hour traffic.
Why was it I thought I wasn't going to get my intervals in today? ;)
Today's riding was the kind of solo riding I love -- intense, focused, fast. I also like long solo cruises, but they need relaxed roads (and a relaxed mood). Today, I was downtown at the shop (drooling over Hg's new bottom bracket), and needed to be in the Highlands stat. Broadway was the quickest route, so Broadway it was.
I had kind of forgotten how amazing it feels to pilot a bike in those conditions. Fast, intense riding in traffic rockets me into that beautiful zone where you really feel like one with the bike, and you forget that failing to trust the bike and your body is even a possibility. You're alert but focused; the monkey mind turns off, and it's cycle-induced serenity all the way. There is no room for anything else. This, too, is why I ride.
It seems simultaneously like yesterday and like a really long time ago that the climb up Broadway into the Highlands used to kill me. At some point, I started taking a different route -- Stoneware Alley to Mercy Way -- because even though the climb up Mercy Way is way, way punchier than the one on Broadway, traffic was rare, and I could take as long as I wanted spinning up it and not feel intimidated (it so happens that when I'm heading for destinations east on Bardstown road, that route is generally more efficient anyway).
I was thinking about this while I was cranking up Mercy Way today. It was rush hour still, the sole time of day one is particularly likely to encounter traffic on that route at all, and I wanted to get out of the way -- so I got my butt up off the saddle and hammered, and it actually felt really good. The funny thing is that a year ago, I probably couldn't have done that -- and almost certainly not on QS, whose smallest gear isn't really all that small.
On Sunday, Tim and I talked about riding rollers; I realized I like rollers in part because I can simply pound up them. Right now, I'm less effective on long climbs than I'd like to be, but I like the way shorter climbs feel. Likewise, I've realized that the term 'shorter climbs' is relative -- there are climbs that I now consider 'short' which felt really, really long a year ago. I wonder what the climbs that feel long now will feel like a year from now?
I am grateful for today's ride -- grateful that I lingered in the shop far longer than I meant to, so I would have to really punch it getting up to the Highlands.
I'm grateful because it reminded me that it's good to appreciate the now.
Lately, I've been spending too much time thinking ahead -- thinking about 'cross season, or next spring, and whether I'm actually going to manage to take off some poundage or which water-stop's closed-circuit television security display was more accurate -- the one that makes me look like a lycra sausage, or the one where I just look kinda chunky, but not totally ridiculous?
It was nice to be reminded that I've come a long way since I started riding again, and that I'm actually riding pretty darned well right now (I 'climb well for my weight,' I guess ^-^). Especially for a (still) overweight asthmatic in the Asthma Capital of the Universe, in the dead of summer. Lately, I've really lost sight of that fact.
More importantly, it was really good to be reminded of the singular role that riding the bike plays in my life as a vehicle for meditation.
My mind has never been quiet during a session of sitting meditation. I suspect I could sit for a solid week and my mind would still be busy chattering away like a deranged squirrel in an espresso factory (also, my face would be horribly, horribly itchy). But somehow, on the bike, in those moments of fierce, fast grace, it happens as if by magic: I clip into my pedals, drop into high gear -- and my mind is silent. It's just the bike, the wind, the world around me, and I am wholly in the moment.
The best moments of Sunday's ride were like that, too. There was one point at the bottom of the last gravel descent where I let go of brake levers and trusted the C'dale to do its thing -- and, amazingly, we did not end up rubber-side up, nor did I crash out the entire group ... and for a beautiful, blissful moment, my mind was totally quiet.
In those moments, I can see why so many people seek Nirvana with such dedication. That particular kind of being is bliss.
Anyway, Hg should have his new bottom bracket installed tomorrow (huzzah!). I can't wait to try it out. We sprung for the fancy ceramic one, since it should last a long time and I plan to ride the bejeezus out of that bike. From what I've heard, it probably won't feel terribly different than the original, but it'll be nice to ride without fear of imminent crankarm ejection.
Broadway.
Rush hour traffic.
Why was it I thought I wasn't going to get my intervals in today? ;)
Today's riding was the kind of solo riding I love -- intense, focused, fast. I also like long solo cruises, but they need relaxed roads (and a relaxed mood). Today, I was downtown at the shop (drooling over Hg's new bottom bracket), and needed to be in the Highlands stat. Broadway was the quickest route, so Broadway it was.
I had kind of forgotten how amazing it feels to pilot a bike in those conditions. Fast, intense riding in traffic rockets me into that beautiful zone where you really feel like one with the bike, and you forget that failing to trust the bike and your body is even a possibility. You're alert but focused; the monkey mind turns off, and it's cycle-induced serenity all the way. There is no room for anything else. This, too, is why I ride.
It seems simultaneously like yesterday and like a really long time ago that the climb up Broadway into the Highlands used to kill me. At some point, I started taking a different route -- Stoneware Alley to Mercy Way -- because even though the climb up Mercy Way is way, way punchier than the one on Broadway, traffic was rare, and I could take as long as I wanted spinning up it and not feel intimidated (it so happens that when I'm heading for destinations east on Bardstown road, that route is generally more efficient anyway).
I was thinking about this while I was cranking up Mercy Way today. It was rush hour still, the sole time of day one is particularly likely to encounter traffic on that route at all, and I wanted to get out of the way -- so I got my butt up off the saddle and hammered, and it actually felt really good. The funny thing is that a year ago, I probably couldn't have done that -- and almost certainly not on QS, whose smallest gear isn't really all that small.
On Sunday, Tim and I talked about riding rollers; I realized I like rollers in part because I can simply pound up them. Right now, I'm less effective on long climbs than I'd like to be, but I like the way shorter climbs feel. Likewise, I've realized that the term 'shorter climbs' is relative -- there are climbs that I now consider 'short' which felt really, really long a year ago. I wonder what the climbs that feel long now will feel like a year from now?
I am grateful for today's ride -- grateful that I lingered in the shop far longer than I meant to, so I would have to really punch it getting up to the Highlands.
I'm grateful because it reminded me that it's good to appreciate the now.
Lately, I've been spending too much time thinking ahead -- thinking about 'cross season, or next spring, and whether I'm actually going to manage to take off some poundage or which water-stop's closed-circuit television security display was more accurate -- the one that makes me look like a lycra sausage, or the one where I just look kinda chunky, but not totally ridiculous?
It was nice to be reminded that I've come a long way since I started riding again, and that I'm actually riding pretty darned well right now (I 'climb well for my weight,' I guess ^-^). Especially for a (still) overweight asthmatic in the Asthma Capital of the Universe, in the dead of summer. Lately, I've really lost sight of that fact.
More importantly, it was really good to be reminded of the singular role that riding the bike plays in my life as a vehicle for meditation.
My mind has never been quiet during a session of sitting meditation. I suspect I could sit for a solid week and my mind would still be busy chattering away like a deranged squirrel in an espresso factory (also, my face would be horribly, horribly itchy). But somehow, on the bike, in those moments of fierce, fast grace, it happens as if by magic: I clip into my pedals, drop into high gear -- and my mind is silent. It's just the bike, the wind, the world around me, and I am wholly in the moment.
The best moments of Sunday's ride were like that, too. There was one point at the bottom of the last gravel descent where I let go of brake levers and trusted the C'dale to do its thing -- and, amazingly, we did not end up rubber-side up, nor did I crash out the entire group ... and for a beautiful, blissful moment, my mind was totally quiet.
In those moments, I can see why so many people seek Nirvana with such dedication. That particular kind of being is bliss.
Anyway, Hg should have his new bottom bracket installed tomorrow (huzzah!). I can't wait to try it out. We sprung for the fancy ceramic one, since it should last a long time and I plan to ride the bejeezus out of that bike. From what I've heard, it probably won't feel terribly different than the original, but it'll be nice to ride without fear of imminent crankarm ejection.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Fits and Starts
My 2-week stint as a courier is done, the Mayor's Hike, Bike, and Paddle is behind us (DD rode with me this year -- very different experience from hammering it out with the fast group!), and summer is unofficially officially here. I guess it won't be officially officially here 'til somewhere around 21 June, but if you live in Louisville, you know it's summer already.
You know that because the streets are only a few degrees cooler than the surface of the sun and the trees and grass look all jungly, because only like one person in your 6,000+-bike group ride is wearing tights, and because you've already seen the first firefly of the year (woot!). Also, you know it's summer because every time you set foot out of your front (or back) door, you are tortured by the delicious scent of BBQ (OMG BBQ!) or smoking meat wafting from somewhere nearby ... a scent that follows you as you roll through the city, eventually forcing you to buy teriyaki beef* jerky in the middle of your semi-epic-ride-of-the-moment in a meager effort to overcome THE CRAVING, which might otherwise cause you to tear open and chug the nearest bottle of BBQ sauce (OMG WTF BBQ!) ... or maybe that's just me.
In other news, the bikes are currently not very happy. Hg is waiting for a new bottom bracket -- which should permanently correct the loose crank issue -- after I attempted to hammer it home ahead of the Doomsday Storm last Monday and managed to exacerbate its existing problems. Fortunately, DD came and rescued me just in the nick of time (I love him for many reasons, among them, the fact that he bears a startling resemblance to a modern day fairy-tale hero, at least in terms of ability to show up just in time and rescue me from whatever danger currently threatens my bodily, psychological, or bike-o-logical well-being).
QS also really needs a BB overhaul as well, but Hg will probably be done first. I haven't yet determined what kind of BB QS needs (OMG, WTF, BBQS?). I think QS will hold out a little longer ... at least, I sincerely hope so, since it's....
Short Track Racing Time Again!
I, of course, will not be racing in the Short Track Series, because I continue to not own a mountain bike ... though I am fighting a mighty temptation to ask a friend of mine if I can borrow his and give it a go. Ahem. I do, however, plan to ride over to help set up and so forth tomorrow night. That should be fun. I am debating whether or not to wear my team kit. I probably won't this week, since I'm absolutely, definitely NOT RACING this week, and also because I am back to thinking I look like good ol' Sta-Puft in said team kit (though I did wear it on Monday for the Hike&Bike, because I left home wearing that and the wind vest, and the wind vest got to be too ridiculously hot). That said, though it should be no surprise at all, two weeks of couriering have done wonders for my fitness level, assuming I haven't blown it all over the weekend pigging out at an amazing BBQ (OMG BBQ!) thrown by our friends K (with whom Swift now resides) and J (her husband, owner of the mountain bike I'm itching to borrow for the short-track series).
The goal, of course, is to not look like Sta-Puft by September. The problem being that I have become rather a decent cook, and am generally rather surrounded by tasty food, since I like to feed said tasty food to DD and our housemate, LT. I hope that an almost-totally-blank summer schedule, which provides ridiculous amounts of time for doing nothing but Riding The Bike, will ameliorate the effect of said tasty food on my figure. Because, really, that's pretty much what it's about for me: I am decently fast when I want or need to make an effort, and not expecting to get a whole lot faster by 'cross season, but I'd really, really like to look better in my team kit.
Sad? Perhaps.
This concludes today's rambling and hyperactive update :)
Notes
*or soy, or turkey, or whatever
You know that because the streets are only a few degrees cooler than the surface of the sun and the trees and grass look all jungly, because only like one person in your 6,000+-bike group ride is wearing tights, and because you've already seen the first firefly of the year (woot!). Also, you know it's summer because every time you set foot out of your front (or back) door, you are tortured by the delicious scent of BBQ (OMG BBQ!) or smoking meat wafting from somewhere nearby ... a scent that follows you as you roll through the city, eventually forcing you to buy teriyaki beef* jerky in the middle of your semi-epic-ride-of-the-moment in a meager effort to overcome THE CRAVING, which might otherwise cause you to tear open and chug the nearest bottle of BBQ sauce (OMG WTF BBQ!) ... or maybe that's just me.
In other news, the bikes are currently not very happy. Hg is waiting for a new bottom bracket -- which should permanently correct the loose crank issue -- after I attempted to hammer it home ahead of the Doomsday Storm last Monday and managed to exacerbate its existing problems. Fortunately, DD came and rescued me just in the nick of time (I love him for many reasons, among them, the fact that he bears a startling resemblance to a modern day fairy-tale hero, at least in terms of ability to show up just in time and rescue me from whatever danger currently threatens my bodily, psychological, or bike-o-logical well-being).
QS also really needs a BB overhaul as well, but Hg will probably be done first. I haven't yet determined what kind of BB QS needs (OMG, WTF, BBQS?). I think QS will hold out a little longer ... at least, I sincerely hope so, since it's....
Short Track Racing Time Again!
I, of course, will not be racing in the Short Track Series, because I continue to not own a mountain bike ... though I am fighting a mighty temptation to ask a friend of mine if I can borrow his and give it a go. Ahem. I do, however, plan to ride over to help set up and so forth tomorrow night. That should be fun. I am debating whether or not to wear my team kit. I probably won't this week, since I'm absolutely, definitely NOT RACING this week, and also because I am back to thinking I look like good ol' Sta-Puft in said team kit (though I did wear it on Monday for the Hike&Bike, because I left home wearing that and the wind vest, and the wind vest got to be too ridiculously hot). That said, though it should be no surprise at all, two weeks of couriering have done wonders for my fitness level, assuming I haven't blown it all over the weekend pigging out at an amazing BBQ (OMG BBQ!) thrown by our friends K (with whom Swift now resides) and J (her husband, owner of the mountain bike I'm itching to borrow for the short-track series).
The goal, of course, is to not look like Sta-Puft by September. The problem being that I have become rather a decent cook, and am generally rather surrounded by tasty food, since I like to feed said tasty food to DD and our housemate, LT. I hope that an almost-totally-blank summer schedule, which provides ridiculous amounts of time for doing nothing but Riding The Bike, will ameliorate the effect of said tasty food on my figure. Because, really, that's pretty much what it's about for me: I am decently fast when I want or need to make an effort, and not expecting to get a whole lot faster by 'cross season, but I'd really, really like to look better in my team kit.
Sad? Perhaps.
This concludes today's rambling and hyperactive update :)
Notes
*or soy, or turkey, or whatever
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Back in Action
Let me state, for the record, that I actually managed to forget, somehow, how awesome it is to get to ride my bike all day while still earning money. That's pretty sweet. This has been a phenomenal week for me thus far, if not as great for our other courier, C, who had a run-in with a car and is laid up with an arm/shoulder injury (he plans to be back soon, even if it means rollin' one-handed: that's what I like about this dude; when he gets knocked down, he just springs back up, usually without even spilling his coffee).
With E on vacation in Ireland and C temporarily out of commission, I've been running my behind off for the past couple of days. Today QS's bottom bracket started making odd noises, so I decided to run with Hg for the afternoon stuff. I pulled off a sub-30 minute round trip to American Printing House for the blind, including a blazing outbound run, which actually surprised me. Apparently, I need to drink tea before taking runs more often. I am pretty sure I have never actually ridden as fast on the flat as I did on that run, and I am not actually sure I ever will again -- at least, not unless I'm riding with a group, or racing, or something. Putting out that kind of speed, in my case, apparently requires some serious motivation. Besides, it feels almost reckless to ride that fast in traffic.
I was surprised to find that Hg makes a really phenomenal couriering bike. There is no way you could mount a standard rack on him (though one of those seatpost-mounted ones could go), but he's cat-nimble and handles brilliantly at high speed. I think I'll probably do the same routine tomorrow -- take QS out for the big mail run in the morning, then switch to Hg for the lighter stuff. And carry an 8-mm allen wrench for those random moments when his left crank gets loose (apparently a 'known issue' with the early SL-K cranksets).
In other news, not long ago, I ran into Dave, the 'Fa(s)t Guy,' on the way home (don't worry, I didn't literally run into him!). It was nice to get a chance to ride with one of the RCCS guys and chat for a while, especially since it happened totally by chance. It was also pretty impressive watching him sprint for the light when he peeled off at his corner!
It's funny how that sort of thing happens -- one moment, you're sitting at a stoplight, admiring bike in front of yours; the next minute, you're rolling along in the company of a fellow bike nut, talking shop and so forth.
It's a lot harder, I think, to make that happen in a car. Plus, it annoys the drivers behind you way more than two bikes rolling along together and still leaving them room to pass.
This Friday is Bike to Work Day proper, and I'm looking forward to the festivities. Here's hoping that the demiurges in control of weather will favor us!
With E on vacation in Ireland and C temporarily out of commission, I've been running my behind off for the past couple of days. Today QS's bottom bracket started making odd noises, so I decided to run with Hg for the afternoon stuff. I pulled off a sub-30 minute round trip to American Printing House for the blind, including a blazing outbound run, which actually surprised me. Apparently, I need to drink tea before taking runs more often. I am pretty sure I have never actually ridden as fast on the flat as I did on that run, and I am not actually sure I ever will again -- at least, not unless I'm riding with a group, or racing, or something. Putting out that kind of speed, in my case, apparently requires some serious motivation. Besides, it feels almost reckless to ride that fast in traffic.
I was surprised to find that Hg makes a really phenomenal couriering bike. There is no way you could mount a standard rack on him (though one of those seatpost-mounted ones could go), but he's cat-nimble and handles brilliantly at high speed. I think I'll probably do the same routine tomorrow -- take QS out for the big mail run in the morning, then switch to Hg for the lighter stuff. And carry an 8-mm allen wrench for those random moments when his left crank gets loose (apparently a 'known issue' with the early SL-K cranksets).
In other news, not long ago, I ran into Dave, the 'Fa(s)t Guy,' on the way home (don't worry, I didn't literally run into him!). It was nice to get a chance to ride with one of the RCCS guys and chat for a while, especially since it happened totally by chance. It was also pretty impressive watching him sprint for the light when he peeled off at his corner!
It's funny how that sort of thing happens -- one moment, you're sitting at a stoplight, admiring bike in front of yours; the next minute, you're rolling along in the company of a fellow bike nut, talking shop and so forth.
It's a lot harder, I think, to make that happen in a car. Plus, it annoys the drivers behind you way more than two bikes rolling along together and still leaving them room to pass.
This Friday is Bike to Work Day proper, and I'm looking forward to the festivities. Here's hoping that the demiurges in control of weather will favor us!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Rubber ... Side ... Down.
It has come to my attention that, recently, I've developed a new cycling skill ... one I didn't really want.
Lately, I have become rather good at falling off my bike.
For most of my cycling life, I managed only one fall every few years, generally when doing something dumb, as I am wont to do.
This year, I have managed to find myself rubber side up, like, four times that I can think of, if I count the three falls on the ice on the way in to work one morning as only one incident (I think falls on ice don't quite count, though they are also the direct product, generally, of me doing something dumb).
Recently, I fell over twice in the span of a week. There was the levee trail incident, and then on the following Thursday -- six days later -- I got my wheel into a storm grate I hadn't seen (I was looking for cars) and took a header. Ouch. Every time something like this happens, I thank my lucky stars for the deeply-ingrained 'tuck 'n' roll' reflex imparted by untold numbers of gymnastics teachers as well as my riding instructor (as a sidebar, I know at least one person who thanks judo for the same thing -- so it sounds like judo and cycling probably go well together).
Nonetheless, I continue to feel rather sheepish every time this happens, and I am left wondering if I'm just A) clumsier than I used to be, B) more distracted than I used to be, C) more reckless than I used to be (this one I'll have to say is probably true -- I get a little giddy on a fast road bike sometimes), or D) a combination of the above.
That or else it all boils down to the fact that the put-a-foot-down reflex is faster than the clip-out reflex, which sometimes fails to come off in time. Perhaps I would've fallen over just as frequently in the past if I'd always ridden clipless.
I have not mastered the particularly embarassing but visually amusing sort of fall in which the rider goes straight off the back (of the saddle) whilst the bike continues forward for a bit, suddenly says to itself, "Oh, I'm riderless, I'd better fall down now," and proceeds to do so. I think it is actually quite hard to fall in this particular way while riding clipless; indeed, it may be difficult to fall in that particular way when riding sober, as well.
Which reminds me. Apparently getting buzzed and riding bikes is a bit of a thing. Seems odd to me, but I'm a profound lightweight. I am done for the night after two beers, and in the rare event that I actually do have two beers (or their salutary equivalent), I am probably too busy talking nonstop to consider hopping on my bike anyway. Alcohol activates my Scottish genes.
In other news, I am finding myself much more tolerant of the heat this year (which is good, since it rather snuck up on us). My ride home tonight was delightful, even in the steaming swampiness of mid-May Louisville. I clocked 28 minutes, which seems like a respectable enough time (oddly, I think I might have made better time if I'd made less effort -- I hit a looooot of stoplights!), and still felt relaxed enough to enjoy the scenery.
Well, relaxed except for the part where I'm constantly a bit worried about my left crankarm, which is having some issues probably related to a dodgy washer (I really just wanted to type 'dodgy washer,' I think). Hg is still riding fine, and when I disassemble it, his left crankarm looks good and all the related threads and whatnot seem fine, but the washer in question is wavy. I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be wavy. It makes funny noises when I ride, sometimes.
Anyway, that's it for now.
Happy riding, everyone.
Lately, I have become rather good at falling off my bike.
For most of my cycling life, I managed only one fall every few years, generally when doing something dumb, as I am wont to do.
This year, I have managed to find myself rubber side up, like, four times that I can think of, if I count the three falls on the ice on the way in to work one morning as only one incident (I think falls on ice don't quite count, though they are also the direct product, generally, of me doing something dumb).
Recently, I fell over twice in the span of a week. There was the levee trail incident, and then on the following Thursday -- six days later -- I got my wheel into a storm grate I hadn't seen (I was looking for cars) and took a header. Ouch. Every time something like this happens, I thank my lucky stars for the deeply-ingrained 'tuck 'n' roll' reflex imparted by untold numbers of gymnastics teachers as well as my riding instructor (as a sidebar, I know at least one person who thanks judo for the same thing -- so it sounds like judo and cycling probably go well together).
Nonetheless, I continue to feel rather sheepish every time this happens, and I am left wondering if I'm just A) clumsier than I used to be, B) more distracted than I used to be, C) more reckless than I used to be (this one I'll have to say is probably true -- I get a little giddy on a fast road bike sometimes), or D) a combination of the above.
That or else it all boils down to the fact that the put-a-foot-down reflex is faster than the clip-out reflex, which sometimes fails to come off in time. Perhaps I would've fallen over just as frequently in the past if I'd always ridden clipless.
I have not mastered the particularly embarassing but visually amusing sort of fall in which the rider goes straight off the back (of the saddle) whilst the bike continues forward for a bit, suddenly says to itself, "Oh, I'm riderless, I'd better fall down now," and proceeds to do so. I think it is actually quite hard to fall in this particular way while riding clipless; indeed, it may be difficult to fall in that particular way when riding sober, as well.
Which reminds me. Apparently getting buzzed and riding bikes is a bit of a thing. Seems odd to me, but I'm a profound lightweight. I am done for the night after two beers, and in the rare event that I actually do have two beers (or their salutary equivalent), I am probably too busy talking nonstop to consider hopping on my bike anyway. Alcohol activates my Scottish genes.
In other news, I am finding myself much more tolerant of the heat this year (which is good, since it rather snuck up on us). My ride home tonight was delightful, even in the steaming swampiness of mid-May Louisville. I clocked 28 minutes, which seems like a respectable enough time (oddly, I think I might have made better time if I'd made less effort -- I hit a looooot of stoplights!), and still felt relaxed enough to enjoy the scenery.
Well, relaxed except for the part where I'm constantly a bit worried about my left crankarm, which is having some issues probably related to a dodgy washer (I really just wanted to type 'dodgy washer,' I think). Hg is still riding fine, and when I disassemble it, his left crankarm looks good and all the related threads and whatnot seem fine, but the washer in question is wavy. I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be wavy. It makes funny noises when I ride, sometimes.
Anyway, that's it for now.
Happy riding, everyone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)