After a period of despair over the state of Swift's wheels, I realized that anyone who owns three or more 700c bikes has an easy fix on hand for wheel problems: all you have to do is steal the wheels from one bike and put them on another bike.
Obviously, stealing the Aksium Race wheels off Hg wasn't really an option, so yesterday I stole Quicksilver's wheels and popped them on Swift. Then I shot a whole bunch of grease into Swift's sticky head tube, adjusted his brakes, popped on a rack and rear basket, and -- voila! -- instant grocery bike. We then rolled on down to the grocery store, where groceries were fetched forthwith. Turns out a lot of Swift's weight came in the form of his ancient steel wheelset; he's actually a much lighter, nimbler bike now.
After Burning Man, I decided that Turtle isn't going to be an ideal grocery ride unless I make some major improvements -- and Swift is first on the list for major (though not enormous) improvements. Turtle is a bit on the heavy and sluggish side. When riding in traffic, I want the option (or at least the illusion) of speed, should I need it. Now that I've resolved his major problems, Swift is a better choice in that regard.
QS's rear wheel isn't in great shape, so I will probably snag Swift a new rear wheel. I also plan to (if possible) transfer QS's crankset and derailleurs to Swift, as well as (possibly) adding an inexpensive replacement fork and a set of North Road-stylie bars (yes, I'm still on about them, ever since that gravel ride). The last bit I'm doing partly to make a more comfortable ride for DD. You know, he'll already be sort of in that sit-up-and-beg/pray position, so it will be easier for him to whip out the Hail Marys when I make him climb big hills ;)
Oh, and of course, if I do get the North Road bars, I will also add a big, obnoxious front basket, because it will look awesome and be at least somewhat useful.
Meanwhile, Turtle and DD's Desert Bike (which I hereby arbitrarily dub Priscilla, since DD doesn't name his bikes) are due a good, thorough cleaning to get all the playa dust out of their various bits before they get hung up in the garage, to be used hereafter as guest bikes and playa bikes. Between still being surprisingly sleepy (mono is a drag), having a bunch of classwork to catch up on, and needing to prep for a weekend camping trip, I didn't get to do them last week.
Life is slowly returning to normal here at the Dawson-Taylor (Bicycle) Ranch. I am still not at my best, and I'm debating whether to try to race this fall at all or just concentrate on being well enough to race in the spring. At very least, I won't be racing 'til next month.
I still simply have less 'go' than I'm used to having. The house is now about halfway clean, however -- tolerable, by my standards -- and improving slowly but surely. I'm looking into acquiring a little bike trailer for grocery-gettage. I have not lost any more weight, but I haven't gained any, either, so that's good, too.
Life is generally good. I will probably be posting less throughout the semester, but I will be riding more as I build my endurance and so forth back up.
Hope to see y'all out there :)
Showing posts with label bike love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike love. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Back in Action, Again. Sort Of.
Today I woke up feeling somewhat like a human being for the first time in quite a while.
Normally, I would address this very development by jumping on my bike and riding until my legs fall off. However, I have decided to try to treat my body a little more kindly than that. As such, my goals for today include getting the two desert bikes tuned up and taking a little spin. I just need to figure out what 'a little spin' actually means.
What I'd like it to mean is rolling a mile or two, grabbing a coffee at Sister Bean's, and rolling home, on pleasant, quiet streets.
Where my neighborhood is concerned, though, one of the things I'm not really keen on is the fact that to get to the pleasant riding, you first have to escape the neighborhood by traversing a number of narrow, busy roads with poor visibility on which people routinely exceed the speed limit by a significant margin . The nearest really pleasant rides are Iroquois Park (so not doing that today) and Southern Parkway. The nearest destinations where one can sit and have a snack (unless you count the hospital, which probably has a coffee shop of some sort) are only mile or so away -- but it's a stressful mile, rather than a relaxing mile.
Right now, I really miss living in the Highlands, where even if I wasn't feeling too hot, I could easily go out and spend and entire day doing short flights from shop to shop, enjoying used books, ice cream, and other such pleasures. I didn't like riding on Bardstown Road* -- and still don't -- but the Highlands offers plenty of parallel routes and is dotted with neat retail and service venues.
Here, we are not completely without neat little shops to visit, but this part of town was definitely designed around the automobile. This 'goes double' for my neighborhood. Even Iroquois Park, which is almost literally in my back yard, is not directly accessible from Arling Court, or from Arling Ave. Walkscore.com rates my current address a 25/100 -- car-dependent, in their eyes, though I do fine without a car most of the time. My old address rated an 82 -- really quite high, for any address in the United States. The city's average stands at 48/100, almost twice as 'walkable' as Arling Court.
I don't know how or even if we could really transform my neighborhood into a truly walkable one. The Highlands (and its sister neighborhood, the Frankfort Ave/Crescent Hill corridor) works so well for walkers and cyclists because it was built before the private auto was a primary means of transit, and is zoned accordingly. Neighborhoods like mine, on the other hand, were deliberately designed to create a sense of separation between residential and commercial districts -- so even when they're close together as the crow flies, one can only make a direct trip by trespassing in people's yards, hopping fences, and so forth.
Across Taylor Boulevard (or New Cut), a similar neighborhood has dealt with this situation by creating easements to allow shortcuts for pedestrians and cyclists. My guess is that the neighborhood in question had no choice; kids walking to school follow the path of least resistance, and it only makes sense to codify that path, rather than punishing the kids. As a result, the neighborhood in question feels much more pedestrian-friendly, and if you're feeling lazy on your bike, you can use the cut-through paths to get from Point A to Point B without wandering from -4 to 4 and back to -4on the corresponding Cartesian grid in the process.
However, my neighborhood is triangular and is laid out across three rather forbidding hills. Its design doesn't really allow for neat little commercial spaces -- to incorporate them, some of the residential-zoned area here would have to be converted to commercial, and even then, the kind of commercial venues I'd really love to see here -- quirky Mom-and-Pop businesses -- would find it difficult to survive, hidden as they would be in the hills. Likewise, significant changes to infrastructure would have to be made to make those businesses accessible to the folks within the neighborhood: for example, sidewalks would have to be added (they should be anyway, but that's another fight), and speed limits would absolutely have to be enforced (they should be anyway, but that's also another fight).
It's not that I really believe this stuff couldn't happen -- but I live in a low-rent kind of neighborhood. We don't add a great deal to the city's tax base. We don't attract tourists. We have no commercial presence to speak of outside of a couple of small places that front on Taylor or Bluegrass, and I doubt anyone associates those businesses with my neighborhood. Technically, we don't even have a school; Hazelwood Elementary and Iroquois High School are, respectively, across Bluegrass and Taylor, and thus not really in my neighborhood, since those roads act as neighborhood boundaries.
Essentially, what I'm saying, is that while I live in the kind of neighborhood that most needs small businesses and improved infrastructure, it is also, by its nature, among those least likely to attract businesses and least likely to receive infrastructure updates from the city.
As someone who believes deeply in starting where you are and also in the power of just up and doing it, I'm not sure how to approach the problem of my neighborhood. We have seriously discussed moving, but part of me thinks that's the wrong answer -- not to mention throwing the baby out with the bath water.
While we don't really know anyone on Arling Ave, Arling Court is a neighborly place. It's a village-within-a-village. I like and trust my neighbors, and we're all on friendly terms. It's the kind of neighborhood where you could throw a picnic in the middle of the court, and everyone would come (in fact, I should really think about doing just such a thing). Yes, there are little things we grumble about, but we also overlook most of those little things in the interest of neighborly peace. We don't have an official neighborhood watch because we don't need one -- everyone looks out for everyone else anyway, and that's how it should be. It is, in these ways, very much like the place where I grew up.
If we could encourage that kind of neighborly atmosphere to spread throughout the Arling Ave area in general, and add some little businesses, we would have quite a thing going, here. That seems like a better plan than moving, especially since DD has lived here, in this house, for some twenty years. The thing is, I don't know if we can make that happen. I'm an optimist about many things, but not pulling the area surrounding my lovely little cul-de-sac up by its bootstraps.
Anyway, I've now spent way more time writing this than I intended to. Basically, what I've been trying to say is something like this: being unwell, and feeling puny and weak as a result, makes it much easier for me to remember why people are afraid to try riding their bikes and walking for transportation in neighborhoods like mine. Poor infrastructure coupled with an entrenched car-culture (which is, in part, responsible for the poor infrastructure) make for unfriendly streets, especially for people on foot (lack of sidewalks isn't a problem if you're on a bike, but is a huge problem for pedestrians and creates unfriendly-looking neighborhoods).
My goal, when I leave home, is to escape from my neighborhood to places where I can relax on the road (once I cross Taylor, or proceed up Taylor, I have achieved escape). Normally, I rely on a combination of stupid, youthful bravado and proven physical prowess to do so; right now, I don't feel like I have either of those.
I would love to find a way to transform this neighborhood so it is no longer somewhere people want to escape, but instead a pleasant escape from the outside world, complete with pleasant places to spend time away from home.
Notes
*This is partly a lie. There are times that I like riding B-town Road: specifically, those times when I am feeling really strong, and keeping up with traffic, and I have the legs and the lungs to sprint like a cheetah.
Right now, though, is definitely not one of those times, and the thought of riding on B-town Road is up there with, you know, hanging from a cliff by my fingernails with a churning horde of hungry sharks a hundred feet below.
Normally, I would address this very development by jumping on my bike and riding until my legs fall off. However, I have decided to try to treat my body a little more kindly than that. As such, my goals for today include getting the two desert bikes tuned up and taking a little spin. I just need to figure out what 'a little spin' actually means.
What I'd like it to mean is rolling a mile or two, grabbing a coffee at Sister Bean's, and rolling home, on pleasant, quiet streets.
Where my neighborhood is concerned, though, one of the things I'm not really keen on is the fact that to get to the pleasant riding, you first have to escape the neighborhood by traversing a number of narrow, busy roads with poor visibility on which people routinely exceed the speed limit by a significant margin . The nearest really pleasant rides are Iroquois Park (so not doing that today) and Southern Parkway. The nearest destinations where one can sit and have a snack (unless you count the hospital, which probably has a coffee shop of some sort) are only mile or so away -- but it's a stressful mile, rather than a relaxing mile.
Right now, I really miss living in the Highlands, where even if I wasn't feeling too hot, I could easily go out and spend and entire day doing short flights from shop to shop, enjoying used books, ice cream, and other such pleasures. I didn't like riding on Bardstown Road* -- and still don't -- but the Highlands offers plenty of parallel routes and is dotted with neat retail and service venues.
Here, we are not completely without neat little shops to visit, but this part of town was definitely designed around the automobile. This 'goes double' for my neighborhood. Even Iroquois Park, which is almost literally in my back yard, is not directly accessible from Arling Court, or from Arling Ave. Walkscore.com rates my current address a 25/100 -- car-dependent, in their eyes, though I do fine without a car most of the time. My old address rated an 82 -- really quite high, for any address in the United States. The city's average stands at 48/100, almost twice as 'walkable' as Arling Court.
I don't know how or even if we could really transform my neighborhood into a truly walkable one. The Highlands (and its sister neighborhood, the Frankfort Ave/Crescent Hill corridor) works so well for walkers and cyclists because it was built before the private auto was a primary means of transit, and is zoned accordingly. Neighborhoods like mine, on the other hand, were deliberately designed to create a sense of separation between residential and commercial districts -- so even when they're close together as the crow flies, one can only make a direct trip by trespassing in people's yards, hopping fences, and so forth.
Across Taylor Boulevard (or New Cut), a similar neighborhood has dealt with this situation by creating easements to allow shortcuts for pedestrians and cyclists. My guess is that the neighborhood in question had no choice; kids walking to school follow the path of least resistance, and it only makes sense to codify that path, rather than punishing the kids. As a result, the neighborhood in question feels much more pedestrian-friendly, and if you're feeling lazy on your bike, you can use the cut-through paths to get from Point A to Point B without wandering from -4 to 4 and back to -4on the corresponding Cartesian grid in the process.
However, my neighborhood is triangular and is laid out across three rather forbidding hills. Its design doesn't really allow for neat little commercial spaces -- to incorporate them, some of the residential-zoned area here would have to be converted to commercial, and even then, the kind of commercial venues I'd really love to see here -- quirky Mom-and-Pop businesses -- would find it difficult to survive, hidden as they would be in the hills. Likewise, significant changes to infrastructure would have to be made to make those businesses accessible to the folks within the neighborhood: for example, sidewalks would have to be added (they should be anyway, but that's another fight), and speed limits would absolutely have to be enforced (they should be anyway, but that's also another fight).
It's not that I really believe this stuff couldn't happen -- but I live in a low-rent kind of neighborhood. We don't add a great deal to the city's tax base. We don't attract tourists. We have no commercial presence to speak of outside of a couple of small places that front on Taylor or Bluegrass, and I doubt anyone associates those businesses with my neighborhood. Technically, we don't even have a school; Hazelwood Elementary and Iroquois High School are, respectively, across Bluegrass and Taylor, and thus not really in my neighborhood, since those roads act as neighborhood boundaries.
Essentially, what I'm saying, is that while I live in the kind of neighborhood that most needs small businesses and improved infrastructure, it is also, by its nature, among those least likely to attract businesses and least likely to receive infrastructure updates from the city.
As someone who believes deeply in starting where you are and also in the power of just up and doing it, I'm not sure how to approach the problem of my neighborhood. We have seriously discussed moving, but part of me thinks that's the wrong answer -- not to mention throwing the baby out with the bath water.
While we don't really know anyone on Arling Ave, Arling Court is a neighborly place. It's a village-within-a-village. I like and trust my neighbors, and we're all on friendly terms. It's the kind of neighborhood where you could throw a picnic in the middle of the court, and everyone would come (in fact, I should really think about doing just such a thing). Yes, there are little things we grumble about, but we also overlook most of those little things in the interest of neighborly peace. We don't have an official neighborhood watch because we don't need one -- everyone looks out for everyone else anyway, and that's how it should be. It is, in these ways, very much like the place where I grew up.
If we could encourage that kind of neighborly atmosphere to spread throughout the Arling Ave area in general, and add some little businesses, we would have quite a thing going, here. That seems like a better plan than moving, especially since DD has lived here, in this house, for some twenty years. The thing is, I don't know if we can make that happen. I'm an optimist about many things, but not pulling the area surrounding my lovely little cul-de-sac up by its bootstraps.
Anyway, I've now spent way more time writing this than I intended to. Basically, what I've been trying to say is something like this: being unwell, and feeling puny and weak as a result, makes it much easier for me to remember why people are afraid to try riding their bikes and walking for transportation in neighborhoods like mine. Poor infrastructure coupled with an entrenched car-culture (which is, in part, responsible for the poor infrastructure) make for unfriendly streets, especially for people on foot (lack of sidewalks isn't a problem if you're on a bike, but is a huge problem for pedestrians and creates unfriendly-looking neighborhoods).
My goal, when I leave home, is to escape from my neighborhood to places where I can relax on the road (once I cross Taylor, or proceed up Taylor, I have achieved escape). Normally, I rely on a combination of stupid, youthful bravado and proven physical prowess to do so; right now, I don't feel like I have either of those.
I would love to find a way to transform this neighborhood so it is no longer somewhere people want to escape, but instead a pleasant escape from the outside world, complete with pleasant places to spend time away from home.
Notes
*This is partly a lie. There are times that I like riding B-town Road: specifically, those times when I am feeling really strong, and keeping up with traffic, and I have the legs and the lungs to sprint like a cheetah.
Right now, though, is definitely not one of those times, and the thought of riding on B-town Road is up there with, you know, hanging from a cliff by my fingernails with a churning horde of hungry sharks a hundred feet below.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
What Have We Done?
Once upon a time, DD bought me an aluminum-and-carbon-framed bike so I could use it as my winter bike. A little while later, I brought it into the shop, and BW and I started sketching out a build.
I didn't get it built up in time for winter, and besides, it looked like too nice a ride to just use as a winter beater ... so we decided we'd build it up as a fast tourer. He had some nice Aksium wheels that would be just the thing -- light and solid, just like the frame. We stuck 'em on. A carbon seatpost with a little grey-and-white chevron pattern topped things off.
We began to plan for a nice black-and-silver palette. BW threw on a purple brake caliper and some drops. A little while later, some sweet bar tape and another purple caliper appeared.
Then something happened. I believe it occurred at the confluence of the bar tape and the front brake caliper. The black wheels definitely didn't help. Suddenly, what we had intended to be a genteel touring bike started looking more like a mean, lean speed machine.
We vetoed the barcons and brifters sprung up in their place. We adjusted them for a more aggressive position. Soon there were brake cables in sleek black housing and a racy little saddle that picks up the bike's grey and white accents.
Suddenly, I started saying things like, "Yeah, I think this might be my race machine next year." Even though I'm not actually at all certain I'll be road racing next year, and I am almost sure I won't be this year (never say never; you will always be forced to eat your words -- at least, if you're me). Even though I think I'd better put some serious work in if I'm actually going to race, ever, at all.
What have we done?
This is what happens when bike geeks and nice components get together. Sometimes, things just get away from you.
Let this be a lesson. The bike leads the way. You may think you have a nice little touring bike, but if the bike has other plans, there's no stopping it. Like cats, bikes don't have owners. They have staff. We're just here to help them bring their nefarious plans to fruition.
We must remember this. The cog turns, and we're powerless against its mighty will.
Resistance is futile.
:)
I didn't get it built up in time for winter, and besides, it looked like too nice a ride to just use as a winter beater ... so we decided we'd build it up as a fast tourer. He had some nice Aksium wheels that would be just the thing -- light and solid, just like the frame. We stuck 'em on. A carbon seatpost with a little grey-and-white chevron pattern topped things off.
 |
We began to plan for a nice black-and-silver palette. BW threw on a purple brake caliper and some drops. A little while later, some sweet bar tape and another purple caliper appeared.
 |
Then something happened. I believe it occurred at the confluence of the bar tape and the front brake caliper. The black wheels definitely didn't help. Suddenly, what we had intended to be a genteel touring bike started looking more like a mean, lean speed machine.
 |
We vetoed the barcons and brifters sprung up in their place. We adjusted them for a more aggressive position. Soon there were brake cables in sleek black housing and a racy little saddle that picks up the bike's grey and white accents.
 |
Suddenly, I started saying things like, "Yeah, I think this might be my race machine next year." Even though I'm not actually at all certain I'll be road racing next year, and I am almost sure I won't be this year (never say never; you will always be forced to eat your words -- at least, if you're me). Even though I think I'd better put some serious work in if I'm actually going to race, ever, at all.
What have we done?
This is what happens when bike geeks and nice components get together. Sometimes, things just get away from you.
Let this be a lesson. The bike leads the way. You may think you have a nice little touring bike, but if the bike has other plans, there's no stopping it. Like cats, bikes don't have owners. They have staff. We're just here to help them bring their nefarious plans to fruition.
We must remember this. The cog turns, and we're powerless against its mighty will.
Resistance is futile.
:)
Monday, March 07, 2011
Blog-O-Versary; Also, Hg Update (Again)
Edit: I just realized I missed my own blog-o-versary. Funny. I've now been writing this blog for over a year.
Funny, also, how over the past year my life has stabilized (sort of, anyway). I have been going to the same church for a year. I started hanging out with DD almost a year ago (though we didn't start dating, officially, 'til May). In a couple of months, I will have completed a year at IUS. I have been reading the same blogs for a year and more.
I've also left a lot behind. My old bank job is a thing of the past. I don't move in the same circles as my old roommate any more. I miss his cats, which were also my cats, and his turtles. I no longer see myself as someone who will never race, nor as someone who is not a real cyclist (though I may not, perhaps, be a Real Cyclist (tm) just yet). My Little Voice no longer sounds like an angry Frenchman. At least, not at the moment.
I have no idea when it happened, but at some point between the beginning of this blog and now, I went to sleep a guy who just rides bikes and woke up a cyclist, or something like that. Bikes got under my skin, under my nails, and into my blood.
At some point, without even realizing it, I made a commitment. At some point, I decided that bikes were a big deal in my life, and that was good. I blew up my leg, then kept riding. I got a proper road bike. I got a bike shop job. I got some clipless pedals. I decided -- without really deciding -- that it might not be so bad to hang out in Louisville a bit longer, after all. I joined the LBC's Touring Committee, though I continue to fail to make group rides due to scheduling problems.
Writing this kind of puts things into perspective. In some ways, I think of myself as a shiftless, wandering kind of person; someone who just goes where the wind blows. I've never thought of myself as a particularly committed anything. Looking back over this blog, it looks like I'm a lot of things -- silly, goofy, sometimes stupid, sometimes arrogant, sometimes ignorant, even brilliant once in a while -- and one of those things is committed.
I feel pretty good about that.
Recently, I wrote a post semi-mourning the possible potential loss of the use of my much-beloved road bike, Quicksilver, to Stuck Seatpost Syndrome (yes, I do mean possible potential loss, since as yet QS is still rolling along well enough).
This strikes me as a bit ironic, considering that, lately, I've been trying to convince myself to loose my fevered grip on some of my attachments (I was never a very good Buddhist, when I was a Buddhist) -- but my feelings on the matter remain quite unchanged. I hope that QS will be with me -- and usable -- for the rest of my life.
That being said, just in time to torpedo my attempts to dial back my obsession with Bike Shinies in a Lent-inspired attempt to kickstart a slightly simpler life than the one I already had, Hg has sprouted a front brake lever, a pair of brifters (we ultimately opted against the barcons), an 11-25t (or is it 11-28t???) 9-speed cluster (yeay!), some brake cables, and some bar tape. Oh, and also tires, which make the wheels look much more complete, somehow ;)
By 'sprouted,' of course, I mean that our awesome mechanic, BW, used his mad wrenching skillz during a down period to apply said appendages to Hg's personage. He was still fiddling with the bar tape when I headed out to school today, so I didn't get a new weight yet. Also, I am trying hard not to become too much of a weight weenie.
We're now one bottom bracket, one crankset, two pedals, one derailleur hanger, a chain, and a couple of derailleurs away from Bikeness. Plus maybe a couple of lockrings. Oh, and some derailleur cables would probably help, too, I suppose.
So, of course, just in time for Lent, I am now unintentionally committing the sin of Bike Lust, which is to say, I am itching to ride the new bike. With each new component, the itch grows more violent -- just as a previously-unnoticed nose-bridge itch does the moment your hands are full.
BW is turning Hg into one fierce-looking little bike. I'm actually kind of surprised how much I like the look -- by which I mean 'I absolutely love it' -- considering that, historically, I've been much more of a 'classic steel' kind of guy. In particular, the black-silver-black-black-black color scheme is pretty rad on this bike, and the anodized purple brake calipers give it just a little kick. I never would've imagined one of my bikes having anodized purple calipers, but there you go. They look pretty awesome. Especially with the black wheels. It all looks very clean, which probably just means I'll spend a lot of time obsessively washing this bike when I'm not riding it, or something like that.
Anyway, I'll try to get a new picture up on Wednesday. I'm not sure why I'm even writing about this now, except that I have a wicked headache (didn't get too much sleep last night -- partly due to dry, dry, dry, drydrydry air, and partly due to staying up way too late like a grand-champion moron) and thus can't think of much of anything else to write about.
I'm looking forward to riding my would-be winter bike all spring and summer and on into the fall ... and then probably finding a 'cross bike to ride all winter, because I don't think Hg is going to turn out to be much of a winter bike after all. Um, you know. Not enough clearance for fenders-plus-studs, and all :)
Funny, also, how over the past year my life has stabilized (sort of, anyway). I have been going to the same church for a year. I started hanging out with DD almost a year ago (though we didn't start dating, officially, 'til May). In a couple of months, I will have completed a year at IUS. I have been reading the same blogs for a year and more.
I've also left a lot behind. My old bank job is a thing of the past. I don't move in the same circles as my old roommate any more. I miss his cats, which were also my cats, and his turtles. I no longer see myself as someone who will never race, nor as someone who is not a real cyclist (though I may not, perhaps, be a Real Cyclist (tm) just yet). My Little Voice no longer sounds like an angry Frenchman. At least, not at the moment.
I have no idea when it happened, but at some point between the beginning of this blog and now, I went to sleep a guy who just rides bikes and woke up a cyclist, or something like that. Bikes got under my skin, under my nails, and into my blood.
At some point, without even realizing it, I made a commitment. At some point, I decided that bikes were a big deal in my life, and that was good. I blew up my leg, then kept riding. I got a proper road bike. I got a bike shop job. I got some clipless pedals. I decided -- without really deciding -- that it might not be so bad to hang out in Louisville a bit longer, after all. I joined the LBC's Touring Committee, though I continue to fail to make group rides due to scheduling problems.
Writing this kind of puts things into perspective. In some ways, I think of myself as a shiftless, wandering kind of person; someone who just goes where the wind blows. I've never thought of myself as a particularly committed anything. Looking back over this blog, it looks like I'm a lot of things -- silly, goofy, sometimes stupid, sometimes arrogant, sometimes ignorant, even brilliant once in a while -- and one of those things is committed.
I feel pretty good about that.
* * * * *
Recently, I wrote a post semi-mourning the possible potential loss of the use of my much-beloved road bike, Quicksilver, to Stuck Seatpost Syndrome (yes, I do mean possible potential loss, since as yet QS is still rolling along well enough).
This strikes me as a bit ironic, considering that, lately, I've been trying to convince myself to loose my fevered grip on some of my attachments (I was never a very good Buddhist, when I was a Buddhist) -- but my feelings on the matter remain quite unchanged. I hope that QS will be with me -- and usable -- for the rest of my life.
That being said, just in time to torpedo my attempts to dial back my obsession with Bike Shinies in a Lent-inspired attempt to kickstart a slightly simpler life than the one I already had, Hg has sprouted a front brake lever, a pair of brifters (we ultimately opted against the barcons), an 11-25t (or is it 11-28t???) 9-speed cluster (yeay!), some brake cables, and some bar tape. Oh, and also tires, which make the wheels look much more complete, somehow ;)
By 'sprouted,' of course, I mean that our awesome mechanic, BW, used his mad wrenching skillz during a down period to apply said appendages to Hg's personage. He was still fiddling with the bar tape when I headed out to school today, so I didn't get a new weight yet. Also, I am trying hard not to become too much of a weight weenie.
We're now one bottom bracket, one crankset, two pedals, one derailleur hanger, a chain, and a couple of derailleurs away from Bikeness. Plus maybe a couple of lockrings. Oh, and some derailleur cables would probably help, too, I suppose.
So, of course, just in time for Lent, I am now unintentionally committing the sin of Bike Lust, which is to say, I am itching to ride the new bike. With each new component, the itch grows more violent -- just as a previously-unnoticed nose-bridge itch does the moment your hands are full.
BW is turning Hg into one fierce-looking little bike. I'm actually kind of surprised how much I like the look -- by which I mean 'I absolutely love it' -- considering that, historically, I've been much more of a 'classic steel' kind of guy. In particular, the black-silver-black-black-black color scheme is pretty rad on this bike, and the anodized purple brake calipers give it just a little kick. I never would've imagined one of my bikes having anodized purple calipers, but there you go. They look pretty awesome. Especially with the black wheels. It all looks very clean, which probably just means I'll spend a lot of time obsessively washing this bike when I'm not riding it, or something like that.
Anyway, I'll try to get a new picture up on Wednesday. I'm not sure why I'm even writing about this now, except that I have a wicked headache (didn't get too much sleep last night -- partly due to dry, dry, dry, drydrydry air, and partly due to staying up way too late like a grand-champion moron) and thus can't think of much of anything else to write about.
I'm looking forward to riding my would-be winter bike all spring and summer and on into the fall ... and then probably finding a 'cross bike to ride all winter, because I don't think Hg is going to turn out to be much of a winter bike after all. Um, you know. Not enough clearance for fenders-plus-studs, and all :)
Sunday, March 06, 2011
The City of the Future
When my parents were kids, the world was still imagining flying cars in the year 2000. At least, I think they were.
Now, we're not sure if we're going to have any petrol to power those flying cars by the time we get around to inventing them. Instead, we're scrambling to try to figure out better, more cost-effective ways of doing things like getting from point A to point B and generating electricity.
We're scrambling, that is, if we haven't already figured out that there's a better way, and that the Way rolls on two wheels and burns coffee and carbs for fuel. That Way is called 'Bicycle,' and -- from its humble beginnings as a plaything for the idle rich -- it has become a fine and wonderful machine that really may contribute a great deal to saving the collective bacon of humanity as we know it.
For those of us who follow the traditional Christian church year, Lent is nigh upon us -- a time of penitence, reflection, and re-dedication to our faith (some other traditions probably do that kind of thing this time of year, too). Rather than observe the rather tired 'give x up for Lent' formula (which rarely seems to achieve its objective of creating a sense of reflection, penitence, and spiritual focus), my particular church has decided to undertake a neat program called 'Lent 4.5,' wherein we focus, rather than on simply depriving ourselves of some or another enjoyable indulgence, on trying to live simpler, more-Christlike lives: lives in which we reduce our own footprints to afford a little more breathing room for everyone. I think this is a pretty good thing, and -- of course -- I think that riding a bike is a good place to start. Likewise, using less non-renewable fuels.
In that vein (and because both DD and I are currently in end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it mode, because we keep watching movies about the impending end of the world's oil supply), DD and I have recently been kicking around ideas for various bike-powered machines: one that would power a washing machine, for example; another that would generate electricity so we could watch movies after the end of the world (at least 'til all our DVDs and so forth wear out). Thus inspired, DD stumbled upon this neat resource full of bicycle-powered machines that a fellow in Guatemala has designed to help smooth life in an area where electricity and gas power are already pretty unusual (URL, just in case: http://mayapedal.org/machines.html).
I think it's full of pretty inspiring ideas, and I also think it's a great way to celebrate the life-changing power of two wheels and a bunch of cogs.
My 'City of the Future' is powered by bikes (even the washing machines). How about yours?
Now, we're not sure if we're going to have any petrol to power those flying cars by the time we get around to inventing them. Instead, we're scrambling to try to figure out better, more cost-effective ways of doing things like getting from point A to point B and generating electricity.
We're scrambling, that is, if we haven't already figured out that there's a better way, and that the Way rolls on two wheels and burns coffee and carbs for fuel. That Way is called 'Bicycle,' and -- from its humble beginnings as a plaything for the idle rich -- it has become a fine and wonderful machine that really may contribute a great deal to saving the collective bacon of humanity as we know it.
For those of us who follow the traditional Christian church year, Lent is nigh upon us -- a time of penitence, reflection, and re-dedication to our faith (some other traditions probably do that kind of thing this time of year, too). Rather than observe the rather tired 'give x up for Lent' formula (which rarely seems to achieve its objective of creating a sense of reflection, penitence, and spiritual focus), my particular church has decided to undertake a neat program called 'Lent 4.5,' wherein we focus, rather than on simply depriving ourselves of some or another enjoyable indulgence, on trying to live simpler, more-Christlike lives: lives in which we reduce our own footprints to afford a little more breathing room for everyone. I think this is a pretty good thing, and -- of course -- I think that riding a bike is a good place to start. Likewise, using less non-renewable fuels.
In that vein (and because both DD and I are currently in end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it mode, because we keep watching movies about the impending end of the world's oil supply), DD and I have recently been kicking around ideas for various bike-powered machines: one that would power a washing machine, for example; another that would generate electricity so we could watch movies after the end of the world (at least 'til all our DVDs and so forth wear out). Thus inspired, DD stumbled upon this neat resource full of bicycle-powered machines that a fellow in Guatemala has designed to help smooth life in an area where electricity and gas power are already pretty unusual (URL, just in case: http://mayapedal.org/machines.html).
I think it's full of pretty inspiring ideas, and I also think it's a great way to celebrate the life-changing power of two wheels and a bunch of cogs.
My 'City of the Future' is powered by bikes (even the washing machines). How about yours?
Friday, February 18, 2011
Is This Normal???
Today, I was surprised to learn that the new bike, Hg, had sprouted wheels on my day off. Billy popped the Mavics on there. They look, in a word, awesome (even without tires; I haven't decided on a set of tires yet).
I weighed the bike (which -- with wheels, stem, and seatpost installed -- now weighs in at 9 pounds, 11 ounces: looking good so far). Then I hung it back up and snapped a picture, thinking I could post it here so the whole innertubes can see my shiny new bike.
And then I did the unthinkable.
I set the picture as my phone wallpaper, bumping a shot of Quicksilver, who has been my phone mascot since ... well, since I though, "Duh, I can put a picture of MY BIKE on my phone desktop!"
Immediately, I began to feel ... well, a little dirty. A little unfaithful.
You know ... kind of like I had just bumped a picture of my loving spouse and replaced it with one of some new paramour (a younger paramour, to boot!).
I justified the move by telling myself it's a pretty cool picture -- a row of bikes, all neatly hanging out in the shop -- and that the shot of QS, while interesting to me by virtue of the fact that it's, you know, a picture of Quicksilver, is not as good. I told myself that I'd switch back, once I get a comparably-awesome shot of QS (preferably in action, preferably without me looking like the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man). Yet, deep inside my heart of hearts, I knew that at least part of my motivation was simply that the new bike looks hot. Period. As Billy said, "Aero tubing is just sexy."
I began to fear that somehow, mysteriously, Quicksilver would know. I am firmly of the opinion, after all, that bikes have feelings (speaking of which, QS seems to have grudgingly accepted The Rack ... for now).
Perhaps this is why, upon arriving home around 1:30, I immediately took QS out for a good, fast spin around the neighborhood (flat and close to home, like I promised DD).
Perhaps this is why, immediately upon arriving home again, around 3:00, I disassembled my beautiful steel steed and cleaned the bejeezus out of him. If I'd had a chain tool, I would even have taken off the chain and properly de-greased it, but I don't have one at home, so instead I just ganked the kitchen sponge, rinsed it really, really well, and scrubbed the chain as best I could with the sponge and one of my bike brushes. I even got most of the schmutz off the small ring, which is a pain in the neck with the array of cleaning things I had handy.
...Oh, remind me to buy a new kitchen sponge...
Admittedly, the QS needed the frenetic cleaning job. Even though I'm pretty religious about cleaning QS, I had noticed some spots that could get cleaner, and the roads are still salty, so it was warranted. Also, I am likely to ride with Other Cyclists this weekend, so it wouldn't do to ride a salty bike.
None of this changes the fact that somewhere, deep inside, some part of me feels seriously guilty for two-timing on Quicksilver.
Billy's plan is to fit up each of my bikes to serve a specific purpose (we've decided that Swift is really too heavy to be competitive as a 'cross racing bike, so 'Swift is going to be a 'cross training bike, guest bike, and fire-road bike). Perhaps knowing that Hg is to be purpose-built (for now) as a light, fast touring mount will assuage Quicksilver's ego.
Perhaps not. QS does seem to be a bit of a prima donna. We shall see.
That's okay, though. I love that bike more than anything I have ever owned. I love the new bike too, but honestly I don't think anything -- anything -- can ever compare to your first really good road bike.
In other news, it felt amazing today to ride in shorts. I went out in shorts and my long-sleeved neon-green jersey (which is technically a running jersey, but works really well on the bike) and breathed the Spring-scented air, which smells like thawing earth, and reveled in the feel of it running over my (disturbingly hairy) legs (time to shave -- I've let it go long enough to be noticeable). I kicked the bike into 53 x 17 and did a few sprint intervals. I felt like a colt gamboling in the new grass. It was, in a word, awesome.
Oh, and in case you want to see it, here's the picture of my paramour:
I weighed the bike (which -- with wheels, stem, and seatpost installed -- now weighs in at 9 pounds, 11 ounces: looking good so far). Then I hung it back up and snapped a picture, thinking I could post it here so the whole innertubes can see my shiny new bike.
And then I did the unthinkable.
I set the picture as my phone wallpaper, bumping a shot of Quicksilver, who has been my phone mascot since ... well, since I though, "Duh, I can put a picture of MY BIKE on my phone desktop!"
Immediately, I began to feel ... well, a little dirty. A little unfaithful.
You know ... kind of like I had just bumped a picture of my loving spouse and replaced it with one of some new paramour (a younger paramour, to boot!).
I justified the move by telling myself it's a pretty cool picture -- a row of bikes, all neatly hanging out in the shop -- and that the shot of QS, while interesting to me by virtue of the fact that it's, you know, a picture of Quicksilver, is not as good. I told myself that I'd switch back, once I get a comparably-awesome shot of QS (preferably in action, preferably without me looking like the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man). Yet, deep inside my heart of hearts, I knew that at least part of my motivation was simply that the new bike looks hot. Period. As Billy said, "Aero tubing is just sexy."
I began to fear that somehow, mysteriously, Quicksilver would know. I am firmly of the opinion, after all, that bikes have feelings (speaking of which, QS seems to have grudgingly accepted The Rack ... for now).
Perhaps this is why, upon arriving home around 1:30, I immediately took QS out for a good, fast spin around the neighborhood (flat and close to home, like I promised DD).
Perhaps this is why, immediately upon arriving home again, around 3:00, I disassembled my beautiful steel steed and cleaned the bejeezus out of him. If I'd had a chain tool, I would even have taken off the chain and properly de-greased it, but I don't have one at home, so instead I just ganked the kitchen sponge, rinsed it really, really well, and scrubbed the chain as best I could with the sponge and one of my bike brushes. I even got most of the schmutz off the small ring, which is a pain in the neck with the array of cleaning things I had handy.
...Oh, remind me to buy a new kitchen sponge...
Admittedly, the QS needed the frenetic cleaning job. Even though I'm pretty religious about cleaning QS, I had noticed some spots that could get cleaner, and the roads are still salty, so it was warranted. Also, I am likely to ride with Other Cyclists this weekend, so it wouldn't do to ride a salty bike.
None of this changes the fact that somewhere, deep inside, some part of me feels seriously guilty for two-timing on Quicksilver.
Billy's plan is to fit up each of my bikes to serve a specific purpose (we've decided that Swift is really too heavy to be competitive as a 'cross racing bike, so 'Swift is going to be a 'cross training bike, guest bike, and fire-road bike). Perhaps knowing that Hg is to be purpose-built (for now) as a light, fast touring mount will assuage Quicksilver's ego.
Perhaps not. QS does seem to be a bit of a prima donna. We shall see.
That's okay, though. I love that bike more than anything I have ever owned. I love the new bike too, but honestly I don't think anything -- anything -- can ever compare to your first really good road bike.
In other news, it felt amazing today to ride in shorts. I went out in shorts and my long-sleeved neon-green jersey (which is technically a running jersey, but works really well on the bike) and breathed the Spring-scented air, which smells like thawing earth, and reveled in the feel of it running over my (disturbingly hairy) legs (time to shave -- I've let it go long enough to be noticeable). I kicked the bike into 53 x 17 and did a few sprint intervals. I felt like a colt gamboling in the new grass. It was, in a word, awesome.
Oh, and in case you want to see it, here's the picture of my paramour:
|
| From CyclingStuff |
I'm thinking either all black-and-silver, or red saddle and tape, to match QS.
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