This past weekend I completed my holiday shopping with a two hour adventure ride through the streets of Providence. I was searching for a specific gift for my mother. Online sources couldn't get it here in time. As it turns out, only one store in Providence had it. I had a blast riding all over the place searching, but it was only later that I realized the significance of what I had done. All of my Christmas shopping was done either by bicycle or on foot. Zero driving! On top of that, (I'm pretty sure nobody in my family actually reads this...) I bought carbon dioxide offsets from Carbonfund.org for each of my family members.
Now to be fair, I should think about this further before I claim carbon neutrality. I will be driving my car 40 miles each way to go be with my family for the actual holiday. My family members will be driving quite a bit as well. The gifts themselves involve carbon emissions in their production and transportation to market. Making my bicycle created carbon emissions. There's no such thing as a free lunch and there's no such thing as truly carbon neutrality, at least yet. I think it can be done, though, with more use of offsets.
I have also been lucky in terms of the weather this month. It's easy to ride a bike all over town when it's 50 degrees out. Had it been a snowy, rainy, cold, nasty month, would I have had the dedication to shop this way? Who knows, but I'm proud that I did complete all my shopping without using my car. Sure was a lot of fun...
Monday, December 18, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Snow!
Just a quick one today...
After a 65 degree day on December 1st, we've got snow today, December 4th. Hooray for climate change and destabilized weather patterns! Anyway, being the toughguy I am I rode in to work today. I dressed poorly, however. I thought that snow would simply bounce off of me and I would stay relatively dry. This was not the case. The snow, in fact, stuck to me, particularly my pant legs. I wasn't as wet as the time I rode home in a downpour, but I was pretty damp. But who cares, right? Commuting to work by bike on a snowy Monday morning is a pretty good adventure... although I'm not sure what that says about the rest of my life right now. Hmmm, riding my bike in the snow is an adventure? Sheesh, I need to get a life.
After a 65 degree day on December 1st, we've got snow today, December 4th. Hooray for climate change and destabilized weather patterns! Anyway, being the toughguy I am I rode in to work today. I dressed poorly, however. I thought that snow would simply bounce off of me and I would stay relatively dry. This was not the case. The snow, in fact, stuck to me, particularly my pant legs. I wasn't as wet as the time I rode home in a downpour, but I was pretty damp. But who cares, right? Commuting to work by bike on a snowy Monday morning is a pretty good adventure... although I'm not sure what that says about the rest of my life right now. Hmmm, riding my bike in the snow is an adventure? Sheesh, I need to get a life.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Reality catches up...
As I said in my last post (I think it was my last post, anyway...), my chain tensioner on the SST bit it last week. I also, way back in February, predicted the demise of the cheapo Nashbar tensioner, but that's not the point. The point is that last night I ordered a snazzy new Surly Singleator to revive my rig. Thanks to the miracle of ebay, I scored one for $31. Not too shabby. Hopefully the thing I ordered is actually what I'm expecting, but we'll have to wait a few days to see. If, in fact, a Singleator actually turns up at my door, and also includes the "pushing up" spring, I'll be able to rig up a much smoother, more stable drivetrain than what I was running before. The shorter chain I've got going wraps at least twice as far around the cog as it used to (before the link removal last week) and so the bike is pedalling significantly more smoothly. Remember the idea of building a singlespeed on the cheap? Yeah, me too. And soon I'm going to need to buy a wheelset for it...
Thanksgiving is coming up, so it'll be a short work week. I'm travelling with my Kona for Turkey Day, so hopefully I'll get some good, fun riding in towards the end of the week. The life of JZ has been somewhat, uh, confused lately, so I'm looking forward to four days of family, food, riding, hopefully some surfing, and most importantly, no work.
And in other news... At last, a comment on my blog that's not from a machine! How exciting! Anyway, I've received a gentle reminder that the "mission statement" (ha!) of this blog includes consideration of stuff other than bikes... Right. I had forgotten. No, that's not true. I've not forgotten, but I definitely have not motivated to write about much else. I'll get on that soon...
Finally, anyone want to donate a digital camera to The Cycle? It sure would spice up the content here...
Thanksgiving is coming up, so it'll be a short work week. I'm travelling with my Kona for Turkey Day, so hopefully I'll get some good, fun riding in towards the end of the week. The life of JZ has been somewhat, uh, confused lately, so I'm looking forward to four days of family, food, riding, hopefully some surfing, and most importantly, no work.
And in other news... At last, a comment on my blog that's not from a machine! How exciting! Anyway, I've received a gentle reminder that the "mission statement" (ha!) of this blog includes consideration of stuff other than bikes... Right. I had forgotten. No, that's not true. I've not forgotten, but I definitely have not motivated to write about much else. I'll get on that soon...
Finally, anyone want to donate a digital camera to The Cycle? It sure would spice up the content here...
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Cheap crap...
This past weekend I thought it would be a good idea to take a link out of the chain on my singlespeed. I've been having problems with the chain skipping and it looked like the chain wasn't grabbing enough teeth on the rear cog. The other reason for this project is that I can't leave well enough along. Anyway, seems simple enough, right? Just take a link out of the chain and off we go. Not so easy, as it turns out.
Shortening the chain meant I needed to fiddle with the spring on the chain tensioner. Since I've been using a cheap NASHBAR tensioner that came with no information on spring adjustments, I was working somewhat blindly. Well, let's just say that I'm really lucky that my newly shortened chain fits perfectly with my 36-16 chainring-cog setup with no tensioner needed. At least for now. In trying to adjust the chain tensioner I managed to totally break it such that it exerts no pressure on the chain. Great. For now, and at least as long as it takes for the drivetrain to wear further, I'm running no tensioner. It actually feels really nice, somehow crisper to ride. Unfortunately, as the parts wear it'll start to get sloppy and I'll have to throw a new tensioner on there. This time I think I'll lay out for a Surly Singleator, not least because they provide much better tech support for their products than our friends at NASHBAR.
Shortening the chain meant I needed to fiddle with the spring on the chain tensioner. Since I've been using a cheap NASHBAR tensioner that came with no information on spring adjustments, I was working somewhat blindly. Well, let's just say that I'm really lucky that my newly shortened chain fits perfectly with my 36-16 chainring-cog setup with no tensioner needed. At least for now. In trying to adjust the chain tensioner I managed to totally break it such that it exerts no pressure on the chain. Great. For now, and at least as long as it takes for the drivetrain to wear further, I'm running no tensioner. It actually feels really nice, somehow crisper to ride. Unfortunately, as the parts wear it'll start to get sloppy and I'll have to throw a new tensioner on there. This time I think I'll lay out for a Surly Singleator, not least because they provide much better tech support for their products than our friends at NASHBAR.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Just made it
I rode in to work today just as the rain was arriving... I could see the gray line slowly approaching as I travelled North Main St. But now I'm here and hopefully it'll stop raining by the time I leave.
There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. I think jeans count as bad gear... that's why I'm lucky today.
As I walked into the office, one of my co-workers saw me with my bike and said "You're brave today!" My response was something along the lines of "Yeah, well, we'll see what happens later... hopefully it won't rain all day..." I'm so clever and erudite early in the morning. Upon further reflection, I think I'm brave every day I ride my bike to work. So there was a little sprinkle of rain today. Whatever. It's water. Otherwise it was a really easy ride. Traffic was light, nobody cut me off or honked at me, I made all the traffic lights. But most days are not like this. I would estimate that people in cars do stupid things near me on about 90% of my trips. Bravery is not riding quickly to dodge an approaching rain storm. Bravery is getting back on the bike every single day, knowing that there's a strong chance that I'll have to use my skills to compensate for the ignorance, obliviousness, stupidity, or even downright negligence of my car-bound fellow commuters. And who knew being brave could be so much fun?!
I do not believe that we, as cyclists, will ever win the battle to convince automobilists that we have a place on the roads. There's just too many of them, they're just too fat, and the car centered world view is just too deeply ingrained in their collective psyches. But we have to keep trying...
But seriously, I hope it stops raining by 3...
There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. I think jeans count as bad gear... that's why I'm lucky today.
As I walked into the office, one of my co-workers saw me with my bike and said "You're brave today!" My response was something along the lines of "Yeah, well, we'll see what happens later... hopefully it won't rain all day..." I'm so clever and erudite early in the morning. Upon further reflection, I think I'm brave every day I ride my bike to work. So there was a little sprinkle of rain today. Whatever. It's water. Otherwise it was a really easy ride. Traffic was light, nobody cut me off or honked at me, I made all the traffic lights. But most days are not like this. I would estimate that people in cars do stupid things near me on about 90% of my trips. Bravery is not riding quickly to dodge an approaching rain storm. Bravery is getting back on the bike every single day, knowing that there's a strong chance that I'll have to use my skills to compensate for the ignorance, obliviousness, stupidity, or even downright negligence of my car-bound fellow commuters. And who knew being brave could be so much fun?!
I do not believe that we, as cyclists, will ever win the battle to convince automobilists that we have a place on the roads. There's just too many of them, they're just too fat, and the car centered world view is just too deeply ingrained in their collective psyches. But we have to keep trying...
But seriously, I hope it stops raining by 3...
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The Road Back
I rode 15 miles yesterday... First time back on a bike since my wreck on Wednesday. I took my hardtail mountain bike the length of the Blackstone River Bikeway. I was a little worried about my shoulder since it's still pretty sore, but it worked out o.k. After a few days of recovery, most of my muscles are back to normal, but there are definitely a few REAL sore ones right around the top of my shoulder. The area by the outboard end of my collarbone and my clavicle is tender. All this did not, however, stop me from riding a little bit, and it was good. I don't think I'll do anything off road for a few more days, but I'll be back soon.
Perhaps most importantly, I'll be back riding the SST to work on Monday...
Perhaps most importantly, I'll be back riding the SST to work on Monday...
Thursday, October 26, 2006
A bad run...
Not a good week on the bike...
This past Saturday afternoon I rode out to Lincoln Woods for a quick spin. It's funny because I was too lazy to put my roofracks back on my car, but not so lazy that I wouldn't actually ride my bike the 5 miles to get out to the Woods. Anyway, the ride went well for awhile, but then I got a pinch flat and lost my momentum and motivation. It was also getting late in the afternoon. No problem, I though, I'll fix this tube up and head for home. I shot through the pedestrian tunnel and out on to old 146 and was riding down the hill towards North Providence. As I was cruising along, some kids drove past me in a car and beaned me right in the back of the head with an egg! Assholes... I was actually pretty lucky, I think, because the egg hit me on my helmet. There's a cool looking circular dent with egg shell embedded in it... but it also stinks like egg now. As does the shirt I was wearing, as does my bike. Anyway, I was sort of hoping they'd be stuck at the red light at the bottom of the hill so I could drag them out of the car and beat them senseless, or at least get a license plate number, but no such luck. I'm sure the karma police will catch up to those douchebags... so watch out for maroon Jeep Grand Cherokees when you're in Lincoln. Crazy, no?
And then yesterday I went back up to ride Lincoln Woods yet again, although this time travelling to and from by car. I rode for awhile, just like Saturday, but then IN THE EXACT SAME PLACE I FLATTED ON SATURDAY, I crashed off a drop. Now I haven't actually crashed my mountain bike in awhile, so I think this one was designed to make up for lost time with its sheer bone-crunching force. This might be the hardest mountain bike crash I've ever had. I hit a drop I've never actually done before and got too far foreward. The landing is less steep than the takeoff, so you really have to get the front wheel up. I failed to do this, bottomed the fork out, and got catapulted over the bars. It all happened so fast I'm not really sure of the sequence... but I felt the bike bottom out, I heard a loud bang, and then I was on the ground.
Ouch, I thought. Let's see. The bike is over there, check. Let's see if all my parts work. I can move my hands and feet, my legs appear normal except for the road rash on my right knee. Hmmm, my right shoulder is numb, better check the collar bone. Tap, tap, tap, nope, doesn't feel broken. Range of motion? Uh, sorta. Hurts to take a deep breath, but not sharp pain. Let's try standing up. I think I hit my head because my teeth feel funny... they're all there, but let's take a look at the helmet. Scratches and dirt, but no cracks or dents. Still smells like egg. Owee! Shoulder's no longer numb, now it just hurts. Recheck collar bone, seems o.k. Gotta get out of here.
Let's have a look at the bike... Hmmm, the bars don't line up with the wheel. Maybe that's what the banging noise was from... Wheels are still true, not flat, chain is off, seat is still there, brakes work, we're in business!
I straightened the bars, tightened the pinch bolt on the stem, reset the chain, and cautiously remounted. I rode the rest of the way down the hill, but boy did it hurt. Pushing on the bars? Not good. Nonetheless it feels like it's all muscular, not bones or anything else. I managed to struggle my way back to the car, riding mostly on trails. This was maybe not smart, but I made it. Also able to put the bike in the car, drive home, carry the bike upstairs, and take a shower. Painful, but I could do it. I considered going to the hospital, but eventually decided against it.
I'm still trying to decide about seeking medical attention because this morning I thought I might throw up when I woke. It feels a little better now, a little looser. Now I'm just pissed off because I couldn't ride in to work today, I won't be able to climb this evening, and I should probably take at least a few days off the mountain bike. Maybe I'll set up the indoor trainer early... The climbing thing especially bugs me because I've had two good days in a row (Sunday and Tuesday), sending some boulder problems I have never even been close to getting. Damn! Oh well, I'll rest, try to rehab, and hopefully be back on it soon. My goal is to be able to ride to work on Monday... and climb by Tuesday. But we'll see. I still don't know how screwed up I am.
This past Saturday afternoon I rode out to Lincoln Woods for a quick spin. It's funny because I was too lazy to put my roofracks back on my car, but not so lazy that I wouldn't actually ride my bike the 5 miles to get out to the Woods. Anyway, the ride went well for awhile, but then I got a pinch flat and lost my momentum and motivation. It was also getting late in the afternoon. No problem, I though, I'll fix this tube up and head for home. I shot through the pedestrian tunnel and out on to old 146 and was riding down the hill towards North Providence. As I was cruising along, some kids drove past me in a car and beaned me right in the back of the head with an egg! Assholes... I was actually pretty lucky, I think, because the egg hit me on my helmet. There's a cool looking circular dent with egg shell embedded in it... but it also stinks like egg now. As does the shirt I was wearing, as does my bike. Anyway, I was sort of hoping they'd be stuck at the red light at the bottom of the hill so I could drag them out of the car and beat them senseless, or at least get a license plate number, but no such luck. I'm sure the karma police will catch up to those douchebags... so watch out for maroon Jeep Grand Cherokees when you're in Lincoln. Crazy, no?
And then yesterday I went back up to ride Lincoln Woods yet again, although this time travelling to and from by car. I rode for awhile, just like Saturday, but then IN THE EXACT SAME PLACE I FLATTED ON SATURDAY, I crashed off a drop. Now I haven't actually crashed my mountain bike in awhile, so I think this one was designed to make up for lost time with its sheer bone-crunching force. This might be the hardest mountain bike crash I've ever had. I hit a drop I've never actually done before and got too far foreward. The landing is less steep than the takeoff, so you really have to get the front wheel up. I failed to do this, bottomed the fork out, and got catapulted over the bars. It all happened so fast I'm not really sure of the sequence... but I felt the bike bottom out, I heard a loud bang, and then I was on the ground.
Ouch, I thought. Let's see. The bike is over there, check. Let's see if all my parts work. I can move my hands and feet, my legs appear normal except for the road rash on my right knee. Hmmm, my right shoulder is numb, better check the collar bone. Tap, tap, tap, nope, doesn't feel broken. Range of motion? Uh, sorta. Hurts to take a deep breath, but not sharp pain. Let's try standing up. I think I hit my head because my teeth feel funny... they're all there, but let's take a look at the helmet. Scratches and dirt, but no cracks or dents. Still smells like egg. Owee! Shoulder's no longer numb, now it just hurts. Recheck collar bone, seems o.k. Gotta get out of here.
Let's have a look at the bike... Hmmm, the bars don't line up with the wheel. Maybe that's what the banging noise was from... Wheels are still true, not flat, chain is off, seat is still there, brakes work, we're in business!
I straightened the bars, tightened the pinch bolt on the stem, reset the chain, and cautiously remounted. I rode the rest of the way down the hill, but boy did it hurt. Pushing on the bars? Not good. Nonetheless it feels like it's all muscular, not bones or anything else. I managed to struggle my way back to the car, riding mostly on trails. This was maybe not smart, but I made it. Also able to put the bike in the car, drive home, carry the bike upstairs, and take a shower. Painful, but I could do it. I considered going to the hospital, but eventually decided against it.
I'm still trying to decide about seeking medical attention because this morning I thought I might throw up when I woke. It feels a little better now, a little looser. Now I'm just pissed off because I couldn't ride in to work today, I won't be able to climb this evening, and I should probably take at least a few days off the mountain bike. Maybe I'll set up the indoor trainer early... The climbing thing especially bugs me because I've had two good days in a row (Sunday and Tuesday), sending some boulder problems I have never even been close to getting. Damn! Oh well, I'll rest, try to rehab, and hopefully be back on it soon. My goal is to be able to ride to work on Monday... and climb by Tuesday. But we'll see. I still don't know how screwed up I am.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
The streak is broken...
I drove my car to work today. Sorry. I'm not even sure when I last drove, but it only took one trip to remind myself of how much I hate it. I had to actually wait in line at red lights rather than ride right to the front. A woman with a sticker on her car ("My soul was removed to make room for all this sarcasm") cut me off, but at least she used her turn signal. I had to walk from the parking lot to the office, no door to door transit here. No wonder everyone is all bitter on the road, driving to work in your car sucks. Tomorrow I'll be back on the bike.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
This is rich...
This has never happened to me before:
On my ride in this morning I came to a stop in the left turn lane at the intersection of Doyle and N. Main. Nothing new, I always take the lane there. I was earlier than I usually am, so traffic was much lighter than I'm used to. The traffic signal at that intersection has a sensor in the road so it knows when to change. If I'm sitting there by myself, I don't trigger the sensor and the light never changes. For this reason it's actually helpful to have a car pull in behind me to set the thing off. The light will change and we all go merrily on our way.
Today, as I waited for the light, a woman in a blue-ish BMW pulled up behind me and stopped. After 10 seconds or so, I heard her engine revving, so I looked back to see what was happening. Revving engines usually don't mean happy things when I'm on my bike. She was in the process of backing up the hill to gain some clearance so she could then speed past me in the right lane. Hurry, lady! The light, of course, changed halfway through this maneuver, allowing her to rip on through the intersection as I turned left. She was easily doing 35 by the time she had exited the intersection. I can almost hear her saying "Goddammit! Get your friggin' bike out of the road, idiot!" I hope she feels better this morning, sitting at work knowing she got there .7 seconds faster. I feel great this morning, knowing that I got here under my own power, thankful that I got to see the sunrise, and glad to have shared the road with such a 'considerate' driver... after all, she could have sped past me without changing lanes.
On my ride in this morning I came to a stop in the left turn lane at the intersection of Doyle and N. Main. Nothing new, I always take the lane there. I was earlier than I usually am, so traffic was much lighter than I'm used to. The traffic signal at that intersection has a sensor in the road so it knows when to change. If I'm sitting there by myself, I don't trigger the sensor and the light never changes. For this reason it's actually helpful to have a car pull in behind me to set the thing off. The light will change and we all go merrily on our way.
Today, as I waited for the light, a woman in a blue-ish BMW pulled up behind me and stopped. After 10 seconds or so, I heard her engine revving, so I looked back to see what was happening. Revving engines usually don't mean happy things when I'm on my bike. She was in the process of backing up the hill to gain some clearance so she could then speed past me in the right lane. Hurry, lady! The light, of course, changed halfway through this maneuver, allowing her to rip on through the intersection as I turned left. She was easily doing 35 by the time she had exited the intersection. I can almost hear her saying "Goddammit! Get your friggin' bike out of the road, idiot!" I hope she feels better this morning, sitting at work knowing she got there .7 seconds faster. I feel great this morning, knowing that I got here under my own power, thankful that I got to see the sunrise, and glad to have shared the road with such a 'considerate' driver... after all, she could have sped past me without changing lanes.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Mmmm, fenders
It rained last night, a lot. CSO anyone? This morning "dawned" humid and warm, wet roads all around. Hooray for fenders! Fenders are a relatively recent addition to my commuter rig and they're the best. I always kinda knew that you got wetter from your tires than from the sky, but I didn't understand how true this was until now. I was perfectly dry when I got to work today. A couple weeks ago, shortly after the retrofit, I rode home in the rain and barely got wet at all. Cool beans.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Fall is even more here...
This morning was the first sub-50 degree morning ride of the season. Beautiful! I love the cool weather... allows me to ride at a normal pace without getting all nasty.
It occurs to me that I have been riding my bike to work for several months now and I haven't written anything about my routine. O.k., admittedly I haven't written much about anything for the last few months, but nevermind that. So here's how it works:
I aim to arrive at work at around 7:30 in the morning. This requires me to leave the house at around 7:15, roughly. I keep my bike, the SST (which I plan to rename "Sexual Intercourse: The bike" Dinosaur Comics), at the bottom of the stairs in my apartment so I don't have to deal with carrying it up and down the stairs every day. So, I wake up, eat, pack my bag, and hop on the bike. Newly installed fenders means I don't have to worry about wet roads...
The ride takes me on a route designed to be as flat as possible. It's all about preserving one's elevation as much as possible... and this also keeps me off of busy streets for about half the ride. There's no way around the left turn by the McDonald's at Doyle and North Main, though. Take the lane! This intersection presents an opportunity for a challenging downhill track stand. I'm pretty good on an uphill or level, but downhill is tough. Some mornings I have it, others, well, not so much. If I'm lucky the light is green when I get there.
On to North Main, watch out for the buses. Rear engine vehicles, like RIPTA buses, are scary because it's hard to hear them coming and they occupy a lot of road width. Traffic in general depends on the exact time I'm riding. It's amazing how ten minutes earlier or later can make a huge difference in the number of cars on the road.
Sketchy intersection and merge onto Water St., then up onto Smith Hill. I like riding my bike past the RIDOT building, as though I'm showing them that there is, in fact, another way...
A left towards the Foundry, sometimes sketchy, sometimes not, again depending on the traffic. And we're here! I keep my bike in my cubicle because it's more convenient and I like my coworkers seeing a bike at the office. Maybe it'll make them think about riding. Or maybe not. Anyway, I start unpacking and begin my day before I change into work clothes. A few minutes of cool-down keeps me from feeling nasty all day.
Work, work, work.
At the end of the day, I change back into my grubby commuting clothes and hit the road. The ride home is uphill, so I'm grateful to have a lighter bag (lunch has been eaten, water consumed or dumped on plants). Ride home is a reverse of the route in and I do my best for zero-dabs. Once again, some days my balance is on, some days not so much...
And that's it. Door to door it doesn't really take any longer to ride, and it makes my day.
I saw only one other bicyclist this morning. Over the past couple of weeks I've been seeing at least a couple other cyclists, but I'd expect that to end as the weather gets colder. Too bad, but to each their own, I guess. I almost never see other riders on the way home.
It occurs to me that I have been riding my bike to work for several months now and I haven't written anything about my routine. O.k., admittedly I haven't written much about anything for the last few months, but nevermind that. So here's how it works:
I aim to arrive at work at around 7:30 in the morning. This requires me to leave the house at around 7:15, roughly. I keep my bike, the SST (which I plan to rename "Sexual Intercourse: The bike" Dinosaur Comics), at the bottom of the stairs in my apartment so I don't have to deal with carrying it up and down the stairs every day. So, I wake up, eat, pack my bag, and hop on the bike. Newly installed fenders means I don't have to worry about wet roads...
The ride takes me on a route designed to be as flat as possible. It's all about preserving one's elevation as much as possible... and this also keeps me off of busy streets for about half the ride. There's no way around the left turn by the McDonald's at Doyle and North Main, though. Take the lane! This intersection presents an opportunity for a challenging downhill track stand. I'm pretty good on an uphill or level, but downhill is tough. Some mornings I have it, others, well, not so much. If I'm lucky the light is green when I get there.
On to North Main, watch out for the buses. Rear engine vehicles, like RIPTA buses, are scary because it's hard to hear them coming and they occupy a lot of road width. Traffic in general depends on the exact time I'm riding. It's amazing how ten minutes earlier or later can make a huge difference in the number of cars on the road.
Sketchy intersection and merge onto Water St., then up onto Smith Hill. I like riding my bike past the RIDOT building, as though I'm showing them that there is, in fact, another way...
A left towards the Foundry, sometimes sketchy, sometimes not, again depending on the traffic. And we're here! I keep my bike in my cubicle because it's more convenient and I like my coworkers seeing a bike at the office. Maybe it'll make them think about riding. Or maybe not. Anyway, I start unpacking and begin my day before I change into work clothes. A few minutes of cool-down keeps me from feeling nasty all day.
Work, work, work.
At the end of the day, I change back into my grubby commuting clothes and hit the road. The ride home is uphill, so I'm grateful to have a lighter bag (lunch has been eaten, water consumed or dumped on plants). Ride home is a reverse of the route in and I do my best for zero-dabs. Once again, some days my balance is on, some days not so much...
And that's it. Door to door it doesn't really take any longer to ride, and it makes my day.
I saw only one other bicyclist this morning. Over the past couple of weeks I've been seeing at least a couple other cyclists, but I'd expect that to end as the weather gets colder. Too bad, but to each their own, I guess. I almost never see other riders on the way home.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Fall is here
Fall arrived last night. O.k., the autumnal equinox was almost two weeks ago, but nothing felt different until 3:30 this morning. I wasn't on my bike at 3:30 a.m., but I was at 7:30. I point to the brisk northwest wind and the steely gray clouds as evidence of the new season. Beautiful weather for riding to work.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Lincoln Redux
Yesterday I returned to Lincoln Woods for the first time since Decemburr. Today is a blizzard. It seems my pattern is to get on the mountain bike and ride in Lincoln the day before a major snowstorm. The riding was mucky, even though most of the water in the park was frozen. Most, but not all. There were also many areas where I broke through the frozen crust to the soft goop underneath. I don't think it would be rideable if it was any warmer, and after this snowfall it's going to be out of the question for several weeks, at least. I didn't fall much yesterday, but I also didn't ride that much hard stuff, or for that long. I was having eyesight issues and glove issues. Now that I have health insurance I should go get some glasses or contacts or something. I also need to replace the 15 year old, lobster claw style gloves I have. I'm used to one-finger braking, which is impossible with these gloves, so I end up death-gripping the bars until my arms get all pumped. Not good. My last problem, other than lack of skillz, of course, was just remembering where I was going. There doesn't seem to be many other riders up there right now, so most of the trails are covered with leaves. I don't remember every part of every trail, so I spent a lot of time sliding to a stop after missing a turn. This particular problem will get fixed come springtime, along with my skill deficit. Practice makes, uh, better, or something.
For something completely different, project SST is slowly coming back to life. Thanks to the good people at the IRS, I'll be getting an infusion of cash in the near future, cash that will fund the completion of the bike. The reductions in car travel will also serve to fund ongoing operation of the rig. Nashbar now sells, for a mere $30, a singlespeed conversion kit that includes a bunch of spacers, three different size cogs, and a tensioning device. You have to wonder about the quality of the tensioner, since the whole kit costs less than half of what a Surly Singleator costs, but we'll see. I need all those parts, and if the tensioner breaks, I'll buy a better one later.
For something completely different, project SST is slowly coming back to life. Thanks to the good people at the IRS, I'll be getting an infusion of cash in the near future, cash that will fund the completion of the bike. The reductions in car travel will also serve to fund ongoing operation of the rig. Nashbar now sells, for a mere $30, a singlespeed conversion kit that includes a bunch of spacers, three different size cogs, and a tensioning device. You have to wonder about the quality of the tensioner, since the whole kit costs less than half of what a Surly Singleator costs, but we'll see. I need all those parts, and if the tensioner breaks, I'll buy a better one later.
Monday, January 02, 2006
1/2/06
First ride of the new year. I found myself outside this morning and thought "Huh, it's actually kinda warm today. Maybe I'll go for a ride." Went home, got myself together, and set out for Barrington. There's a nice little 18 (or so) mile route down the bike path, around some neighborhoods, and back up to Providence.
Turns out it was NOT actually warm. Not warm. Yeah, those earlier reports were misguided. It wasn't bitter, but there was snowmelt all over the place so I was pretty wet before I even got out of the city. I couldn't stop working, though, or I'd really get cold, so I just hammered the entire time. The only way out is through. It was a good ride, nice to not feel like a candy-ass little baby and actually go outside.
The only negative was the coating of sand and crap that splashed up all over my rig. The bike is amazingly effective at transporting all that stuff into my house, particularly since I don't have a hose. Half an hour of cleaning later and we're good to go for next time. Sure, it'll more than likely be on the trainer, but whatever.
Turns out it was NOT actually warm. Not warm. Yeah, those earlier reports were misguided. It wasn't bitter, but there was snowmelt all over the place so I was pretty wet before I even got out of the city. I couldn't stop working, though, or I'd really get cold, so I just hammered the entire time. The only way out is through. It was a good ride, nice to not feel like a candy-ass little baby and actually go outside.
The only negative was the coating of sand and crap that splashed up all over my rig. The bike is amazingly effective at transporting all that stuff into my house, particularly since I don't have a hose. Half an hour of cleaning later and we're good to go for next time. Sure, it'll more than likely be on the trainer, but whatever.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Inside
So I went up to LincolnWoods for a little while a couple weeks back, the day before the snow. I am completely out of shape for mountain biking! I wrecked twice on easy stuff, and once on a hard section. I sort of forgot that newly fallen dry leaves are a zero traction surface. Sure, that's my excuse... My skills atrophied in the months I was away from actual challenging riding. Short of some stuff in Arcadia, there just isn't anything like Lincoln in the southern part of the state.
I think I only rode for 45 minutes or so, but I was shot... my lungs were burning. It was fun, though. I had a grin on my face the whole time, until the check engine light came on in my car on the way home... Gonna need to do something about that. That'll teach me to drive my car to go bicycling...
I set myself up with an indoor trainer yesterday, so hopefully I'll have better fitness by the time the ice goes away from the woods. I took my first indoor "ride" today, and it's definitely a workout. More sustained effort than outside, where you can coast. It's pretty boring though, so good tunes or a DVD or something are definitely in order.
I think I only rode for 45 minutes or so, but I was shot... my lungs were burning. It was fun, though. I had a grin on my face the whole time, until the check engine light came on in my car on the way home... Gonna need to do something about that. That'll teach me to drive my car to go bicycling...
I set myself up with an indoor trainer yesterday, so hopefully I'll have better fitness by the time the ice goes away from the woods. I took my first indoor "ride" today, and it's definitely a workout. More sustained effort than outside, where you can coast. It's pretty boring though, so good tunes or a DVD or something are definitely in order.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Project SST is underway
The project to turn my old mountain bike into a singlespeed has officially begun. I spent my spare time during the last week stripping off the old shifters, grips, brakes (that didn't work anyway) and levers, deraileurs, cogset, and cables. That was the easy part. Disassembly is free. While I was at it I cleaned and regreased the hubs. I'll also need to replace the crankset and BB, but I haven't been able to bring myself to actually do that part yet. It seems the idea of keeping the bike rideable during this process has been abandoned, but I don't feel so bad. I've got a couple other rigs to ride, and the parts I took off were either shot or sucked to begin with.
Now that the bike is broken down, it has been put back in the corner of my "shop" for a little while. No further progress can be made without parts, but that'll have to wait for some money. I'm excited, though, to see an old bike on its way to new life...
And now for something totally different...
Check out some cool, wooden surfboards, made here in the Northeast.
http://www.grainsurfboards.com
Now that the bike is broken down, it has been put back in the corner of my "shop" for a little while. No further progress can be made without parts, but that'll have to wait for some money. I'm excited, though, to see an old bike on its way to new life...
And now for something totally different...
Check out some cool, wooden surfboards, made here in the Northeast.
http://www.grainsurfboards.com
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Time + humidity= sux
So my mountain bike spent a great deal of time by itself over the last few months. What's worse, it spent time by itself in a humid basement... Today I thought I would lube the chain, check the pressure in the fork, check tire pressures, all in anticipation of actually riding this weekend. I gave the brake levers a sqeeze and the front one worked... The rear (an Avid cable disc brake) didn't. I took a look at the cable, it's shot. Nice and rusty. Turns out steel expands when it rusts... who knew. I did, but that's not the point. Having discovered this shocking evidence of poor maintenance, I kept looking. To my relief, nothing else was really wrong, except for a frozen link in the chain. Damn! Here's the problem, though. Now I'm thinking about all the stuff I want to fix up on the bike. New brake cables? Screw that, I should put some Juicy's on there! Headset is a little rumbley, why not upgrade the fork while I'm at it? Huh, the left side pedal axle is messed up. It still spins, but it's days are numbered... and these cranks are hammered. See how easy it is? Suddenly I may as well pick up that long travel trail bike (mmmm, Nomad...) I've been thinking about.
Yeah, with all my spare money. I calculated the money I'm saving by commuting on my road rig, turns out it's a whopping $60 a year. That's not why I do it, but it's also not going to pay for a new mountain rig...
Yeah, with all my spare money. I calculated the money I'm saving by commuting on my road rig, turns out it's a whopping $60 a year. That's not why I do it, but it's also not going to pay for a new mountain rig...
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Back to the City
Soon I will be starting a new job in Providence. I'm excited about this development because it means I'll once again be a productive member of society, in sharp contrast to my two (and a half) years as a poor graduate student. A job in the city means I'll be moving out of Narragansett and back to Providence. This, in turn, means I'll be able to ride my bicycle for transportation and that (finally!) means I'll have a reason to finish my single speed project.
The patient is a 1990 Trek 830 mountain bike. I got the bike when I was in high school, it gave me my introduction to mountain biking. It's currently set up in more or less stock form. I replaced the headset, bottom bracket, and crankset a couple years ago, along with the seat. To turn it into a single speed urban transport rig I'll need to do some more work. First, the crankset sucks and will need to be replaced again. I don't feel bad because I only spent $15 on it. The bottom bracket spindle is way too long, so it'll need to be replaced too. I'll excise the derailleurs, but it has integrated shifters and brake levers. I'm not sure how I'll deal with that. There are a bunch of other little issues like that. My goal is to spend as little money as possible, so I'll probably end up slowly but surely making changes to the bike. It works now as a 21 speed bike, so the idea is to keep it rideable all the way through the conversion.
Living near the beach has been fun because I've been able to surf and ride often. Moving to Providence will mean less surfing, but hopefully more riding...
The patient is a 1990 Trek 830 mountain bike. I got the bike when I was in high school, it gave me my introduction to mountain biking. It's currently set up in more or less stock form. I replaced the headset, bottom bracket, and crankset a couple years ago, along with the seat. To turn it into a single speed urban transport rig I'll need to do some more work. First, the crankset sucks and will need to be replaced again. I don't feel bad because I only spent $15 on it. The bottom bracket spindle is way too long, so it'll need to be replaced too. I'll excise the derailleurs, but it has integrated shifters and brake levers. I'm not sure how I'll deal with that. There are a bunch of other little issues like that. My goal is to spend as little money as possible, so I'll probably end up slowly but surely making changes to the bike. It works now as a 21 speed bike, so the idea is to keep it rideable all the way through the conversion.
Living near the beach has been fun because I've been able to surf and ride often. Moving to Providence will mean less surfing, but hopefully more riding...
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Cash money
Apologies, once again, for the intermittent writing.
Yesterday, for the first time since Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast, gasoline prices fell below three dollars a gallon. This price reduction helps me because I have been commuting to Newport this summer. There's no bike access to the Jamestown or Newport bridges, so I've been at the mercy of Nature's whims and the resultant increases in fuel costs. Yikes, that's a loaded sentence if ever there was one... Anyway, our noble senator, the Honorable Lincoln Chaffee, has secured several million dollars (it's in the transportation bill that went through a month ago) to create bike access on the Jamestown bridge. It's a start, but the results will obviously take time, and I'd be suprised if the Jamestown NIMBY's let this just slide right through. I don't want those heathen bastards riding their bikes right onto my island! The point of all this is that I can't ride my bike to work, and as a result I've been really smacked by the expensive gas.
Lately my road rig has been plagued by gremlins. More accurately, it has been repeatedly plagued by one, very specific gremlin. The spoke nipples on my front wheel have been exploding. The spoke doesn't break, rather the nipple snaps off right where it passes through the grommet on the rim. It has happened four times in the last month, I haven't noticed any connection to hitting bumps or anything else for that matter. Upon closer inspection of the nipples themselves (uh huh huh, nipples...), I noticed they are corroding, as though they have been exposed to salt water. Ah ha! This is a possibility since I rode all last winter on wet roads, and also road often on Ocean Road, exposed to salt spray. The repair is easy, but it's annoying and it has caused me to lose confidence in my front wheel. It's radially spoked, so when a nipple breaks the wheel goes waaaay out of true and sometimes won't even fit in the brakes. I suppose I should motivate to just change out all the nipples...
Yesterday, for the first time since Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast, gasoline prices fell below three dollars a gallon. This price reduction helps me because I have been commuting to Newport this summer. There's no bike access to the Jamestown or Newport bridges, so I've been at the mercy of Nature's whims and the resultant increases in fuel costs. Yikes, that's a loaded sentence if ever there was one... Anyway, our noble senator, the Honorable Lincoln Chaffee, has secured several million dollars (it's in the transportation bill that went through a month ago) to create bike access on the Jamestown bridge. It's a start, but the results will obviously take time, and I'd be suprised if the Jamestown NIMBY's let this just slide right through. I don't want those heathen bastards riding their bikes right onto my island! The point of all this is that I can't ride my bike to work, and as a result I've been really smacked by the expensive gas.
Lately my road rig has been plagued by gremlins. More accurately, it has been repeatedly plagued by one, very specific gremlin. The spoke nipples on my front wheel have been exploding. The spoke doesn't break, rather the nipple snaps off right where it passes through the grommet on the rim. It has happened four times in the last month, I haven't noticed any connection to hitting bumps or anything else for that matter. Upon closer inspection of the nipples themselves (uh huh huh, nipples...), I noticed they are corroding, as though they have been exposed to salt water. Ah ha! This is a possibility since I rode all last winter on wet roads, and also road often on Ocean Road, exposed to salt spray. The repair is easy, but it's annoying and it has caused me to lose confidence in my front wheel. It's radially spoked, so when a nipple breaks the wheel goes waaaay out of true and sometimes won't even fit in the brakes. I suppose I should motivate to just change out all the nipples...
Friday, November 26, 2004
Time Passes
So I'm not very good at updating this thing, am I... Today is November 26th, the day after Thanksgiving and the 24th day after election day. Hey, at least it's half over... I haven't written since August because of, um, well, I don't know. I'm lazy. Or maybe I've been paying attention to the things I'm supposed to be doing, like schoolwork. Nah!
Speaking of school, I've been commuting to class on my bike two or three days a week (I only have class three days a week). My house is 9.7 miles from school, so it's a nice 45 minute ride if I don't hurry. I think my fastest time was 33 minutes, but that was busting my ass and not carrying a pack. It makes me feel good to be doing something real about the parking problem at URI. As with most colleges where the majority of students commute, parking is a disaster here. You lay out $100 a year for a parking permit, but the school oversubscribed them so it's tough to find a spot within 15 minutes walk of my building. There are easily twice as many cars as there are parking places. If I don't arrive by 7:30 in the morning I have to park WAY far away. So far away, in fact, that it is about ten minutes faster to ride my bicycle to school than it is to drive if you consider door-to-door times. That's not really the reason I ride, but it is a fun fact to share with my car-burdened friends.
The weather is getting cold now, what with it being November in New England. As a result, I've invested in all this roady commuter crap I swore I'd never get. I have a windbreaker, but that's no big deal except for it's all trim fitting and bright orange. It's the shoe covers I'm talking about. I always believed that only dorks and racer-head poseurs wore shoe covers, but now I have them. What does that make me? Dork for sure. It's worth the self inflicted humiliation, though, because my feet really do stay warm now. Combined with my lobster-claw gloves and my skully, I'll be able to ride to school all winter.
The down side to where I live now is that there isn't anywhere within easy riding distance to go mountain biking. When I lived in Providence, it was a quick 15 or 20 minutes up to Lincoln Woods. Lincoln is a great place to work on skills, not so great for XC cruising. Anyway, it was easy to ride up there and rip around for an hour or two, then ride home. No driving, no feeling of guilt or absurdity over DRIVING somewhere to ride a bike. In Narragansett, there are no such easy opportunities and as a result I haven't ridden my mountain bike much. This makes me a little sad because I know my mad Lincoln skillz have atrophied. Yeah, skillz with a "Z." I was getting comfortable with winging myself off of two or three foot drops at the end of the summer, but I'm pretty sure it will be back to square one on that. I actually drove my bike and myself out to Arcadia back in early October, right before hunting season, but it felt weird. It takes 40 minutes to get there because of traffic, and once there I always get lost. I'm sure there's cool, challenging stuff in Arcadia, but I don't feel I can justify that much driving to access it.
After some thought, I've decided to deal with the skill atrophy issue by setting my mountain bike up for trials riding. I bought a pair of Kona Jackshit pedals from Cambria Bike online, and it's easy to drop the seat. I've also put some fat-assed tires on, a Nokian NBX 2.3 in the front and a Specialized Enduro Pro 2.3 in the back. I'm slowly turning my bike into a freeride hardtail... Actually, if I put a decent fork on it I think it would be o.k., but that's money I don't have right now. Where was I... Oh, trials. There is a park full of benches and ledges and stairs a half mile from my house. There is also a natural boulder area nearby. I plan on taking advantage of these spots to rebuild my skillz so I'll be able to ride for real when I move back to Connecticut.
Well, that's all for now. Keep riding, for this is the best way to subvert the machinery of the AutoOilRightWingNutJob Complex that the other half of the country has put in power. You can clearly see what a clusterfuck they've gotten us into when you're riding along, wind in your eyes, trailing an H2 with a "Pray to End Abortion" sticker on it. Yeah, you understand how the world works, and you are right to feel obligated to extend your middle finger to the idiot in the wannabe assault vehicle. Visit www.FUH2.com for inspiration, and have fun.
Speaking of school, I've been commuting to class on my bike two or three days a week (I only have class three days a week). My house is 9.7 miles from school, so it's a nice 45 minute ride if I don't hurry. I think my fastest time was 33 minutes, but that was busting my ass and not carrying a pack. It makes me feel good to be doing something real about the parking problem at URI. As with most colleges where the majority of students commute, parking is a disaster here. You lay out $100 a year for a parking permit, but the school oversubscribed them so it's tough to find a spot within 15 minutes walk of my building. There are easily twice as many cars as there are parking places. If I don't arrive by 7:30 in the morning I have to park WAY far away. So far away, in fact, that it is about ten minutes faster to ride my bicycle to school than it is to drive if you consider door-to-door times. That's not really the reason I ride, but it is a fun fact to share with my car-burdened friends.
The weather is getting cold now, what with it being November in New England. As a result, I've invested in all this roady commuter crap I swore I'd never get. I have a windbreaker, but that's no big deal except for it's all trim fitting and bright orange. It's the shoe covers I'm talking about. I always believed that only dorks and racer-head poseurs wore shoe covers, but now I have them. What does that make me? Dork for sure. It's worth the self inflicted humiliation, though, because my feet really do stay warm now. Combined with my lobster-claw gloves and my skully, I'll be able to ride to school all winter.
The down side to where I live now is that there isn't anywhere within easy riding distance to go mountain biking. When I lived in Providence, it was a quick 15 or 20 minutes up to Lincoln Woods. Lincoln is a great place to work on skills, not so great for XC cruising. Anyway, it was easy to ride up there and rip around for an hour or two, then ride home. No driving, no feeling of guilt or absurdity over DRIVING somewhere to ride a bike. In Narragansett, there are no such easy opportunities and as a result I haven't ridden my mountain bike much. This makes me a little sad because I know my mad Lincoln skillz have atrophied. Yeah, skillz with a "Z." I was getting comfortable with winging myself off of two or three foot drops at the end of the summer, but I'm pretty sure it will be back to square one on that. I actually drove my bike and myself out to Arcadia back in early October, right before hunting season, but it felt weird. It takes 40 minutes to get there because of traffic, and once there I always get lost. I'm sure there's cool, challenging stuff in Arcadia, but I don't feel I can justify that much driving to access it.
After some thought, I've decided to deal with the skill atrophy issue by setting my mountain bike up for trials riding. I bought a pair of Kona Jackshit pedals from Cambria Bike online, and it's easy to drop the seat. I've also put some fat-assed tires on, a Nokian NBX 2.3 in the front and a Specialized Enduro Pro 2.3 in the back. I'm slowly turning my bike into a freeride hardtail... Actually, if I put a decent fork on it I think it would be o.k., but that's money I don't have right now. Where was I... Oh, trials. There is a park full of benches and ledges and stairs a half mile from my house. There is also a natural boulder area nearby. I plan on taking advantage of these spots to rebuild my skillz so I'll be able to ride for real when I move back to Connecticut.
Well, that's all for now. Keep riding, for this is the best way to subvert the machinery of the AutoOilRightWingNutJob Complex that the other half of the country has put in power. You can clearly see what a clusterfuck they've gotten us into when you're riding along, wind in your eyes, trailing an H2 with a "Pray to End Abortion" sticker on it. Yeah, you understand how the world works, and you are right to feel obligated to extend your middle finger to the idiot in the wannabe assault vehicle. Visit www.FUH2.com for inspiration, and have fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)