It seems a little odd to post 8 days after the fact, but I haven't had much chance before now, or when I did have the time, I didn't feel like it. So, as per usual I headed for Critical Mass on Friday last (Jan. 26th). But what wasn't usual was that I had done a day shift (0600 -> 1400) as somebody was away on holiday. Plus, since I didn't want to be lugging around all my workday impedimenta and I had left behind something I wanted to bring to CM with me, I went home after work. The problem was that I got delayed leaving work (an unfortunate trend. Newbies!), and the bus was 25 mins late after I got to my stop. So it ended up that I only had half an hour between getting off the one bus, and getting back on another to town. What especially annoyed me was that I could not find the item I had left behind!
Ah well. So I got to the art gallery and began to look for a guy with a Montreal Canadiens tuque. Oh yeah, at the last Bike-Bee meeting somebody accidentally took my left bootie, and left his right bootie behind, so we had arranged for a swap. I got to the VAG about 15 mins later than anticipated (again, the bus. I got back on the same one I had been on, but after its turn-around. So he was only 15 mins late now as he didn't take his break @ Crescent Beach). Anyway, I was scanning the crowd for said same tuque from the steps overlooking the fountain, occassionally calling aloud "Andrew" (that's right Kreskin, the left-bootied one was named Andrew). Plus I was conversing with some of the regulars. At last, a minute before 6, the swap was consumated.
The ride itself was mostly like the others, see some regular faces, chat with them; see some new faces, chat with them too. Unfortunately, one of the regulars and Bike-Bee'er, Skyler, had a crash on his fixie (wrecked the front wheel, did a bit of a number to his face from what I hear), and the ambulance had to be called (he's OK now, I hear). Of the people with whom I chatted, a guy in a kilt (he was cheating. He had bike shorts on beneath it.) and a young woman in trews (after all Jan. 25th was only the day before), another young woman ("Britney") from Colorado (attending UBC. She's been here 2 years now) was riding an old Girls bike (pink, woven wicker basket, banana seat, streamers in the hand-grips. The bike cost $5, ditto the basket, and $6 for the streamers), and une jeune fille française très enchantée qui s'appelle "Anne-Sophie". She was on a unicycle. It was quite a big one. The wheel looked like it was 36". It also had a looped handle which went from beneath the seat to somewhat infront of the seat. On this handle was a brake lever! It was equiped with a V-type brake. So I asked A-S about it. She told me it was for going down steep hills. She had only been in Vancouver 2 weeks at the time, and was staying in a hostel. The funniest part was that I was able to guess her hometown (Aix-en-Provence), and the next place her family lived (Grenoble) before they moved to Paris. And the only clues she told were that she was from SE France and she had also lived near the Alps (first she said she was from the SE, and then said she came to Vancouver because she missed the mountains. I asked "the Pyranees?" She said the Alps. So I took a stab at Aix, and asked if when she was in the Alps if it were Grenoble. Well, after that I was in like Flynn (or perhaps it was my linguistic brilliance, my dashing white hair, my charming personallity, or the loan of an Allen key). Anyway, it was fun talking with her (she understood my French perfectly well, but wanted to practice her own English) and I wished I could stay longer after the ride ended @ the ANZA club. But I had been up since 0400 (it was 2045 when I left), had to be up @ 0300 2 more days. A-S said she had been riding a unicycle since she was 6yo (I would guess she was 22yo). In the summer she and a group of 11 others (of whom she believes only 2 are bicyclists) are doing a big unicycle tour in Southern Europe. Starting in Slovenia, going into Italy, Corsica, France and Spain. Oh Oh. Blogger to be down soon. Gotta stop now!!!!
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
WiFi's Back, for now at least
So I have some intenetting of more import than blobbing to the world. So just check out the latest from my lynx.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Emergency Repair
So the past few days riding with the wow in my rear wheel has been driving me nuts, itching to get a chance to try to fix it (earliest opportunity will be Wednesday). I was on my way to the bus stop, trying to get in a bit early to have a chin-wag with my "supervisor", when I hear 'ssssssSSSSSSssssssssssssSSSSSSSSSsssssssss' repeatedly. A tear had developed in my sidewall (thanks again to that pothole) and now the tube had ruptured there. Changing the tube would be pointless, so I hoofed it to O'Hagan's to get a new tire. No dice. All out of 26x1.5 tires, not just the slicks I wanted. No narrow 26"ers. A batch is arriving in the AM, but not much help now. I didn't feel like going a bit further on to S.Sry Cycles and trying my luck there as I would now only have enough time to effect some MacGuyvering, change tubes, inflate, and get on the bus (the earlier one I wanted to get pulled away just as I got to it on my way to O'Hagan's). I headed for the garbage cans by the bus stop for materiel. I was hoping for something like a plastic/foil wrapper. But before I got to the garbage, I found in the parking lot behind it a plastic cap from a bottled water carbuoy (an 18L jug). This was just the thing (well, maybe a little too skookum, but it would work). So after installing the new tube (as I always cary a spare), I wrapped the plastic strip around the tube at the point where the tire was ripped, and re-levered the tire into place. Re-inflated the tire to 40psi and headded for the bus. It arrived about 9 mins later. In Ditchmond, at a gas station, I put in another 10psi. Not as much as I would normally have in it, but it would not be good to have the full 65 in such a situation. Now I have TONS of bike stuff to do tomorrow!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Wow
AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday I figured out why my bike felt funny to ride. The rear wheel has a "wow" in it. I hit a small pothole the other day (there are so many new ones from the recent snow/freeze etc). The wow almost caused me to wipe-out yesterday morning, part blame also to the black ice. On its own the black ice gave me a few episodes palpitations.
Default
No, the title has no significance to the content of the posting.
Last Friday on my way home from work I had a bit of an adventure. My 8 hrs was up @ 4pm, although the stuff I do now on Fridays doesn't have a precise time like the dispatch schedule, but I got held up by a last minute item that cropped-up. So by the time I change my clothes and headed out the door it was 4:45, got to the bus stop just a few mins after 5pm (I didn't ride quite as fast because my bike felt wierd. Something wasn't right, but I put it out of my mind for the time being). I just missed a bus, but being Rush Hour I knew another would be along shortly. I hopped on the 354, but not too far along after Hwy 17 I could see a lot of traffic. We were only going about 80km/h because it was starting to back-up. Not a good sign. By the time we got to the Hwy10 overpass I could see the 99 was a parking lot just ahead, and the bus was pulling off the freeway (but was in a long line to do so). I wondered what was up as the 354 does not pull off @ "Matthews" like the 351. After the bus got to within a couple lengths of the traffic lights he told us that the 99 was closed up ahead and that all the busses were being diverted.
We got over the overpass and I could see that traffifc was heavy, but moving. But VERY Shortly afterwards slowed down to 20 km/h, and then became stop & go. Darn! I could have got off the bus and ridden, but now there was no place for the bus to pull over "safely" to let people off it. After crawling along averaging 10 km/h, we got to Scott Rd, and he let a bunch of us off there. I misplaced one of my gloves, so it took me quite a while to find it in my gear, and then hook-up my lights and pannier. As the traffic on this part of #10 was a bit better, by the time I caught up with the bus I had been on it was at 132nd St. A few few 10's of metres later traffic slowed down to a jogging pace at best. I passed several busses, of particular note were the two 351's. the 2nd one would have been the one for mee if I had left work on time. And with the mess he still had to crawl along in, he would have made it to my stop about an hour after I arrived by bike! Hah! It was really fun passing all those miles of almost stationary cars. And to top it off, some idiot cabbie tried to by-pass the King George "parking-lot" by leaving it at the southbound foot of Woodward Hill to get to Colebrook Rd. His ill-advised, through the remaining snow, Cross-Counrty adventure ended about 30metres from KGH and about 10metres short of the gravel access road (the old KGH before the Colebrook overpass was built) that leads to Colebrook. Hah Hah!!
Last Friday on my way home from work I had a bit of an adventure. My 8 hrs was up @ 4pm, although the stuff I do now on Fridays doesn't have a precise time like the dispatch schedule, but I got held up by a last minute item that cropped-up. So by the time I change my clothes and headed out the door it was 4:45, got to the bus stop just a few mins after 5pm (I didn't ride quite as fast because my bike felt wierd. Something wasn't right, but I put it out of my mind for the time being). I just missed a bus, but being Rush Hour I knew another would be along shortly. I hopped on the 354, but not too far along after Hwy 17 I could see a lot of traffic. We were only going about 80km/h because it was starting to back-up. Not a good sign. By the time we got to the Hwy10 overpass I could see the 99 was a parking lot just ahead, and the bus was pulling off the freeway (but was in a long line to do so). I wondered what was up as the 354 does not pull off @ "Matthews" like the 351. After the bus got to within a couple lengths of the traffic lights he told us that the 99 was closed up ahead and that all the busses were being diverted.
We got over the overpass and I could see that traffifc was heavy, but moving. But VERY Shortly afterwards slowed down to 20 km/h, and then became stop & go. Darn! I could have got off the bus and ridden, but now there was no place for the bus to pull over "safely" to let people off it. After crawling along averaging 10 km/h, we got to Scott Rd, and he let a bunch of us off there. I misplaced one of my gloves, so it took me quite a while to find it in my gear, and then hook-up my lights and pannier. As the traffic on this part of #10 was a bit better, by the time I caught up with the bus I had been on it was at 132nd St. A few few 10's of metres later traffic slowed down to a jogging pace at best. I passed several busses, of particular note were the two 351's. the 2nd one would have been the one for mee if I had left work on time. And with the mess he still had to crawl along in, he would have made it to my stop about an hour after I arrived by bike! Hah! It was really fun passing all those miles of almost stationary cars. And to top it off, some idiot cabbie tried to by-pass the King George "parking-lot" by leaving it at the southbound foot of Woodward Hill to get to Colebrook Rd. His ill-advised, through the remaining snow, Cross-Counrty adventure ended about 30metres from KGH and about 10metres short of the gravel access road (the old KGH before the Colebrook overpass was built) that leads to Colebrook. Hah Hah!!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Darn that freekin' WiFi neighbour
For the past couple weeks my interneting has been limited to the 4 days a week at work. The unsecured network of the witless neighbour has not been available. The signal is too weak to connect. The network shows up for a few seconds and is gone. Very frustrating when you try to use someone else's internet but can't! I think the person must have changed the router's location, and something is interfering with/blocking the signal.
I've started working another day per week. (Egad! 5 days a week! you say, How on Earth can one survive with only 2 days off per week? I don't know, but I'm starting to find out.) It wouldn't be so bad if things/people didn't keep cropping up to use up my valuable down-time. And this weather! It has been a big time-sucker-upper. All the de-salting, re-lubing, packing around extra clothing/gear, not to mention the extra travel time required to get from A->B.
I've started working another day per week. (Egad! 5 days a week! you say, How on Earth can one survive with only 2 days off per week? I don't know, but I'm starting to find out.) It wouldn't be so bad if things/people didn't keep cropping up to use up my valuable down-time. And this weather! It has been a big time-sucker-upper. All the de-salting, re-lubing, packing around extra clothing/gear, not to mention the extra travel time required to get from A->B.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Untitled
Arrghh! After some 15hrs or so of sleep, woke up to a sore throat, sinus congestion, and other nasty symptoms of a cold. Went to work (oh joy), browsed the net, and found this funny video
http://tvinjapan.com/blog/2007/01/06/the-long-tail-of-bicycles-over-lakes/
Back soon.
http://tvinjapan.com/blog/2007/01/06/the-long-tail-of-bicycles-over-lakes/
Back soon.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
The Pressure Is On
Well, it has happened. My blog has been noted by a "member" (as "membership" is not defined) of the velogencia. I have handed out a few of my cards which had this blob's (sic) URL, and I thought I had told her about my blob, but I guess I was mistaken. I assume she found it from the lynx on the Midnight Mass blog. OK, I know this is a little convoluted, if Midnight Simon listed it, wasn't it "noted" before? Perhaps, but since I know for sure that I gave him my card ( & KatieJ), he could put up a link without actually checking the blog itself. So now it's been noted, I'll have to "produce" a little more regularly.
This morning's ride to work was marginally better than yesterday's. - Yesterday I had a late start due to an unforseen drive-train problem I noted while re-installing my patched tube I had left to cure. So I was hurrying, which of course slowed me down (the usual Haste Makes Waste scenario) and I left @ 0416. I had been hoping to leave early, not 15mins late, because of the wind. But I wasn't worried as the wind was from the South last night as late as 2300. Imagine my surprise to open the front door to get a direct blast from the WEST! The worst direction of all!!! While travelling North, I was fighting a vicious cross-wind, and Eastbound into the headwind was a leg-killer. I had to walk half the distance across the Alex Fraser because it was too dangerous to ride. I got to work 30 mins late, my legs were about to fall off, and my back was killing me. Good thing I keep an emergency supply of Robaxisal as work. By comparison this morning was a breeze, because the "breeze" was from the South. At first I was worried when I got up. I was a half-hour behind, I could hear heavy rain and the wind was howling (there had benn NO wind at 2300 when I went to bed), and I needed to fix my rack. I was getting a little panicky when I was again 15 mins behind and starting in on rack repairs. Then my phone's alarm started sounding. Exasperated ofer another delay, I pulled it out of its pouch on my knapsack shoulder-stap, and flipped it open while cursing the snooze function I had not turned off. The Time, 0330??!!?? WTF? Crap! I had thought it was 0330 when I got up, but it had to have been 0230. And I thought that I was awakened by my alarm, but must have imagined that. Ah well, after a few deep breaths to settle down from my anxious state, I dealt with my rack and braved the elements at the confirmed time of 0347. And thank goodnes the wind was mostly from the South, with a small Easterly component. The highlight of the ride was zipping along the Hwy91 shoulder @ 55km/h. The low point being the excess 20lbs of rain I must have absorbed along the way! Hard to do when wearing regular cycling togs under raingear. I had to change gloves 2x, my knapsack was sogged, and the rain had managed to permeate my rainpants to my shorts (i.e. the padding inside. soggy bum, yuck) and leggings.
Oh well. I survived. I have my Penguin calendar to cheer me up. The one I brought to work is called "Penguins at Play". The other 4 are hanging up at home.
This morning's ride to work was marginally better than yesterday's. - Yesterday I had a late start due to an unforseen drive-train problem I noted while re-installing my patched tube I had left to cure. So I was hurrying, which of course slowed me down (the usual Haste Makes Waste scenario) and I left @ 0416. I had been hoping to leave early, not 15mins late, because of the wind. But I wasn't worried as the wind was from the South last night as late as 2300. Imagine my surprise to open the front door to get a direct blast from the WEST! The worst direction of all!!! While travelling North, I was fighting a vicious cross-wind, and Eastbound into the headwind was a leg-killer. I had to walk half the distance across the Alex Fraser because it was too dangerous to ride. I got to work 30 mins late, my legs were about to fall off, and my back was killing me. Good thing I keep an emergency supply of Robaxisal as work. By comparison this morning was a breeze, because the "breeze" was from the South. At first I was worried when I got up. I was a half-hour behind, I could hear heavy rain and the wind was howling (there had benn NO wind at 2300 when I went to bed), and I needed to fix my rack. I was getting a little panicky when I was again 15 mins behind and starting in on rack repairs. Then my phone's alarm started sounding. Exasperated ofer another delay, I pulled it out of its pouch on my knapsack shoulder-stap, and flipped it open while cursing the snooze function I had not turned off. The Time, 0330??!!?? WTF? Crap! I had thought it was 0330 when I got up, but it had to have been 0230. And I thought that I was awakened by my alarm, but must have imagined that. Ah well, after a few deep breaths to settle down from my anxious state, I dealt with my rack and braved the elements at the confirmed time of 0347. And thank goodnes the wind was mostly from the South, with a small Easterly component. The highlight of the ride was zipping along the Hwy91 shoulder @ 55km/h. The low point being the excess 20lbs of rain I must have absorbed along the way! Hard to do when wearing regular cycling togs under raingear. I had to change gloves 2x, my knapsack was sogged, and the rain had managed to permeate my rainpants to my shorts (i.e. the padding inside. soggy bum, yuck) and leggings.
Oh well. I survived. I have my Penguin calendar to cheer me up. The one I brought to work is called "Penguins at Play". The other 4 are hanging up at home.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Back In the Saddle
Well, another month, another Critical Mass ride. I was planning on doing the Midnight Mass on Thurs. 28th, but my belated Christmas dinner at Frances' went a little later than anticipated, and I didn't feel like riding with a full stomach, so I didn't go.
During Critical Mass, a cop decided to cause problems while we were on Commercial Drive. Normally they just ignore The Mass, but this guy for some reason decided to block half the road, and when the majority had gone by, he picked one of the stragglers out and stopped him for not wearing a helmet (it turned out to be the guy's 1st day in Vancouver, moving here from Montreal). So Ifny, who happened to be near the back as well, turned back to see what was going on. Although the cops did not see her actually riding, they decided that they would give her a ticket too for being helmetless (she was, however, wearing bunny-ears and an Elmer Fudd cap and was riding a 14" mini, so it was a farcical sight). When she refused to give her name (as they actually had no grounds for detaining her, since they did not see her riding), they called for a Paddy Wagon, hand-cuffed her (she's 5'3" tall), and hauled her away. They later let her out at Clark Dr & E Hastings St. All this nonsence took over 1/2 an hour, "requiring" 4 cop cars, the Paddy Wagon, and 7 cops.
I went to the after party for a while at the Anza Club, but left a few mins after 10pm as I needed to get up early for work.
I got up at 3am (OK, the alarm went off then. I didn't actually get up till 0330. I think my Christmas present from one of the drivers had only just worn off as I was woke up, because I was really tired). I left just about 0403, and the ride was mostly uneventful. I did get a puncture just before getting to the Alex Fraser, so that took 15 mins to fix. This made me 5 mins late (mainly because my tire wasn't fully re-inlated so I couldn't ride quite as fast. My shoulder still doesn't like using the mini-pump. I guess I'll have to do some re-hab type excercises). And upon arrival, the surprise waiting for me was that the schedule got changed (as somebody quit, and things are in a state of flux for a while) and nobody informed me to come in the afternoon shift instead. Ah well, the company will have to recompense me for the error, and I will leave shortly (as the buses are just now starting to run for Saturday service) and do some errands.
The really annoying thing about the new guy leaving, is that he did it just before New Year's. Now I have to work the afternoon/evening of NYE. But the good news is that afer the new new guy is trained, I will get some different shifts so I won't have to ride in if I don't want to. At least that is the plan. Oh well, enough for now.
During Critical Mass, a cop decided to cause problems while we were on Commercial Drive. Normally they just ignore The Mass, but this guy for some reason decided to block half the road, and when the majority had gone by, he picked one of the stragglers out and stopped him for not wearing a helmet (it turned out to be the guy's 1st day in Vancouver, moving here from Montreal). So Ifny, who happened to be near the back as well, turned back to see what was going on. Although the cops did not see her actually riding, they decided that they would give her a ticket too for being helmetless (she was, however, wearing bunny-ears and an Elmer Fudd cap and was riding a 14" mini, so it was a farcical sight). When she refused to give her name (as they actually had no grounds for detaining her, since they did not see her riding), they called for a Paddy Wagon, hand-cuffed her (she's 5'3" tall), and hauled her away. They later let her out at Clark Dr & E Hastings St. All this nonsence took over 1/2 an hour, "requiring" 4 cop cars, the Paddy Wagon, and 7 cops.
I went to the after party for a while at the Anza Club, but left a few mins after 10pm as I needed to get up early for work.
I got up at 3am (OK, the alarm went off then. I didn't actually get up till 0330. I think my Christmas present from one of the drivers had only just worn off as I was woke up, because I was really tired). I left just about 0403, and the ride was mostly uneventful. I did get a puncture just before getting to the Alex Fraser, so that took 15 mins to fix. This made me 5 mins late (mainly because my tire wasn't fully re-inlated so I couldn't ride quite as fast. My shoulder still doesn't like using the mini-pump. I guess I'll have to do some re-hab type excercises). And upon arrival, the surprise waiting for me was that the schedule got changed (as somebody quit, and things are in a state of flux for a while) and nobody informed me to come in the afternoon shift instead. Ah well, the company will have to recompense me for the error, and I will leave shortly (as the buses are just now starting to run for Saturday service) and do some errands.
The really annoying thing about the new guy leaving, is that he did it just before New Year's. Now I have to work the afternoon/evening of NYE. But the good news is that afer the new new guy is trained, I will get some different shifts so I won't have to ride in if I don't want to. At least that is the plan. Oh well, enough for now.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Posting Again
Well, it has been nearly 2 months since my last post, not that there hasn't been anything happening, but I haven't felt like blogging. So I went to Midnight Simon's blog the other day to see what was up there (as I haven't amassed myself midnight-wise in a while, allowing my shoulder extra recovery fro too many long rides), and I note that he has me linked as a blogging biker, so I had better not disappoint those lusting for bike related "news".
I found an orphan bike frame recently, but to make sure is was truly an orphan, I left it for 2 weeks before I took it home. In the interim, somebody else had helped him/herself to the front wheel (it was already sans derrière when 1st spotted). So I now have a mixte frame for the next Bike Bee. I shall take a pic of it soon. I'll post more soon.
I found an orphan bike frame recently, but to make sure is was truly an orphan, I left it for 2 weeks before I took it home. In the interim, somebody else had helped him/herself to the front wheel (it was already sans derrière when 1st spotted). So I now have a mixte frame for the next Bike Bee. I shall take a pic of it soon. I'll post more soon.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Bye Bye Bikes
Today Red Sara & Midnight Simon came over to pick up the bikes for the Bike Bee. There were 14 frames in all, with only 3 of those not having wheel(s) attached. A nice haul to clear out some of the under-deck area and allow these bicycles' spirits to go free. They will be reborn as choppers, tall bikes and refurbished regular bikes.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Philosophical Point: Are Vegans Allowed To...
So the East Van Bikerazzi was making an appearance at a do sponsored by the Work Less Party. So I had to make an appearance too. Not only do I Work Less (i.e. a 4 day week), but the bike posse's purpose was to raise some loot for the Bike Bee (see lynx if you haven't done so, it has been updated with its latest bikinfo) to which I'm donating some chopper/frankenbike materiel, and it was a costume party. Three guesses as to mine, and the 1st 2 don't count. I liked my pink chenille socks best (and so did some of the gurlz). All in all it was a prety good party, a bit lame on the beverage choices (perhaps all the Less Working addled the organisers' minds). I tried each of the two beers (yech, at the best of times) they had on tap. If I hadn't seen the tap actually connected to the beer supply, I would have assumed it was directly linked to the settling tanks on Annacis Island. There were some amateur dance troupes performing (one of them the B:C:Clettes) in a sort of contest. Later on I saw at the Propaganda table where the WLP had stuff on display, there were several vegan themed buttons. One of them said "meat tastes like ass", so I got to thinking, are vegans allowed to eat pussy?
Friday, October 13, 2006
MM Oct 12
So I headed out as usual, and arrived arround midnight. It was a pretty big turn-out. I guess everyone thinking this would likely be the last good weather ride in a few months and decided to make the best of the chance.
We headed S on Commercial, then E on 1st, S on Victoria, E on Vanness, S on Nanaimo, E on Kingsway to Central Park (the kids playground). Hah, it was funny watching all (well, many) of these city riders exerting themselves going up mild grades. Huffing and puffing, swaying side to side like a bunch of flatlanders.
I don't know if it is further evidence of the obesity epidemic in today's society, but all the hookers on Kingsway were, shall I say, large. At one of the intersections (either Joyce or Earles, I wasn't paying that much attention), after the lead group I was in got separated from the 'peleton' and was waiting for them to catch up when the lights change, some guy pulled up in the centre lane beside our group (the rear part, as we were in the right lane), got out of his car and ran across Kingsway. He left his female passenger in the car with its motor running. I think he went to an ATM . It was kind of funny, a group of hookers on the sidewalk, 6 or 8 cyclists on the road, and a driverless car.
After socialising for quite a while in the play ground we decided to leave (a significant portion, perhaps half, had already left in ones, twos, and threes). We bombed down Boundary past The Boot ont on to Grandview, headed west, took the cycle route on N. Grandview. When we got to Victoria and the group amassed, the concensus was 4 Brothers pizza on Commercial. Some lined-up straight away, some hung around outside. By the time I got too the head of the line, all the awaiting slices were gone, and there would be a 3 min wait for more. Some of the outside group heard that all the pizza was gone and did not want to wait for more, so they went to another pizza place. Kind of odd, considering the amount of time to go to the new place and having to line up again, they would have been better off waiting. Oh well. Two slices, $3, and conversation time later, I decided to hit the road. Stopped for a bit to watch the outdoor entertainment. Some drunken crack-ho on a (stolen, no doubt) mountain bike was trying to get leftovers from a few of the guys. One of them said he would give her his drink (a can of Five Alive) if she could read what it said on the side (he had the French facing her). She couldn't. Probably couldn't focus- she was swaying and weaving about. How she managed to get there on the bike will forever be a mystery. The guy eventually gave her the rest of his drink, after the entertainment value ceased. She had been trying to sell the bike for $15, but nobody would take it.
I thought I had allowed enough time to get back to Main & Kingsway to catch the bus to Whalley, but I spent too long on my good-byes. I had neglected to account for some drivers' treatment of "Timing Points" as irrelevant. The Fraser and Coquitlam night buses went by the other way on Broadway when I was halfway between Fraser and Kingsway, and the Surrey one is the last to leave downtown. Yet I did not see it cross Broadway, and I got to the stop right at 0300 the timing point. After waiting 5 mins I knew it had gone already and was debating whether or not to head to meet the 0309 departing Howe & Dunsmuir bus, wait for it, or just ride south all the way. I decided to wait. At 0310 a bus approached, but it was not an articulated one as the last N19 is, then I remembered that there were other N19's that operated only as far as Metrotown, and this turned out to be one. So I took it, figuring I could decide my next step en route. I decided to ride on from Metrotown, figuring the 20mins head-start would make a Queensborough/Alex Fraser route faster. I was almost right. Other variables came into play.
Anyhoo, got off the bus on Willingdon (so close to where we had been in Central Park! Oh the irony), rode to the "BC Parkway" bikepath under the SkyTrain and went East to Griffiths, down Griffiths/Ruble/19th/20th to the Queensborough Bridge, through the residential area to Boundary Rd to the cycle route of the Annacis crossing, swith to the right side on anus island to cross Alex Fraser, along the bike path to by the weigh scales, almost have an accident due to about a dozen bricks pulled out of the path paving, spent a few mins replacing this hazard, carried on by zipping down 91 to 72nd, up the hill (when I got to 116th St, it was 0419, the ETA for the N19 at Surrey Central), carried on my usual route (in reverse) to 128th and then Hwy 10 to KGH etc.
Weeeellll, that darn construction at hwy10 & KGH is always a wrinkle. So I'm going along the shoulder (a designated bike route) when suddenly there are barriers blocking the shoulder and those 4ft tall orange plastic pipe/pole markers right at the very edge of the traffic lane's left and right. Since the motorised traffic here tends to travel rather quickly and there is only one narrow usable lane available, I decided to reclaim the shoulder after the cross-wise barriers are past. I did so and had only been on that portion of the road (the shoulder had expanded in width to be that of another full lane plus the shoulder) for about 10 seconds when for some reason unbeknownst too me, my bike went left and I carried on straight. We went down very hard. I sure am glad I always wear full-fingered gloves at night and I had my leggings on. Otherwise the roadrash would have been nasty. I have a huge bruise on the heel of my right hand, a couple of strawberries on my right knee, and a scrape on my hip. My wrist, elbow, shoulder, ribs and back are very sore. After I managed to recover the odd item that departed company from my bike, figure out why my handle bars wouldn't staighten (they were turned almost completely around, so the cabling etc was binding), I decided to find out what had happened. The fresh asphalt was so black that all my lights couldn't reveal the change in the surface. There was a 2nd layer of it to my right (as I was travelling) and it went left to where the right hand side of the current single lane was. The height difference of these two layers was 4", with a nice sharp edge. It was like angling into a sidewalk. I carried on as per Newtonian laws of motion, as did my baby. Too bad we were following different aspects of the laws. I got the continuing in motion part while my bike was influenced by an external force. So the rest of the ride was much slower as I had to do it mostly with one arm/hand. Got home only 15 mins behind schedule, had some tea and two 222's and stuggled to bed. Of course Mr Cat had to jump on my ribs. Ow! Ow! Ow! Getting up in "the morning" ( just before noon) was difficult. Had to roll out. Couldn't sit up.
We headed S on Commercial, then E on 1st, S on Victoria, E on Vanness, S on Nanaimo, E on Kingsway to Central Park (the kids playground). Hah, it was funny watching all (well, many) of these city riders exerting themselves going up mild grades. Huffing and puffing, swaying side to side like a bunch of flatlanders.
I don't know if it is further evidence of the obesity epidemic in today's society, but all the hookers on Kingsway were, shall I say, large. At one of the intersections (either Joyce or Earles, I wasn't paying that much attention), after the lead group I was in got separated from the 'peleton' and was waiting for them to catch up when the lights change, some guy pulled up in the centre lane beside our group (the rear part, as we were in the right lane), got out of his car and ran across Kingsway. He left his female passenger in the car with its motor running. I think he went to an ATM . It was kind of funny, a group of hookers on the sidewalk, 6 or 8 cyclists on the road, and a driverless car.
After socialising for quite a while in the play ground we decided to leave (a significant portion, perhaps half, had already left in ones, twos, and threes). We bombed down Boundary past The Boot ont on to Grandview, headed west, took the cycle route on N. Grandview. When we got to Victoria and the group amassed, the concensus was 4 Brothers pizza on Commercial. Some lined-up straight away, some hung around outside. By the time I got too the head of the line, all the awaiting slices were gone, and there would be a 3 min wait for more. Some of the outside group heard that all the pizza was gone and did not want to wait for more, so they went to another pizza place. Kind of odd, considering the amount of time to go to the new place and having to line up again, they would have been better off waiting. Oh well. Two slices, $3, and conversation time later, I decided to hit the road. Stopped for a bit to watch the outdoor entertainment. Some drunken crack-ho on a (stolen, no doubt) mountain bike was trying to get leftovers from a few of the guys. One of them said he would give her his drink (a can of Five Alive) if she could read what it said on the side (he had the French facing her). She couldn't. Probably couldn't focus- she was swaying and weaving about. How she managed to get there on the bike will forever be a mystery. The guy eventually gave her the rest of his drink, after the entertainment value ceased. She had been trying to sell the bike for $15, but nobody would take it.
I thought I had allowed enough time to get back to Main & Kingsway to catch the bus to Whalley, but I spent too long on my good-byes. I had neglected to account for some drivers' treatment of "Timing Points" as irrelevant. The Fraser and Coquitlam night buses went by the other way on Broadway when I was halfway between Fraser and Kingsway, and the Surrey one is the last to leave downtown. Yet I did not see it cross Broadway, and I got to the stop right at 0300 the timing point. After waiting 5 mins I knew it had gone already and was debating whether or not to head to meet the 0309 departing Howe & Dunsmuir bus, wait for it, or just ride south all the way. I decided to wait. At 0310 a bus approached, but it was not an articulated one as the last N19 is, then I remembered that there were other N19's that operated only as far as Metrotown, and this turned out to be one. So I took it, figuring I could decide my next step en route. I decided to ride on from Metrotown, figuring the 20mins head-start would make a Queensborough/Alex Fraser route faster. I was almost right. Other variables came into play.
Anyhoo, got off the bus on Willingdon (so close to where we had been in Central Park! Oh the irony), rode to the "BC Parkway" bikepath under the SkyTrain and went East to Griffiths, down Griffiths/Ruble/19th/20th to the Queensborough Bridge, through the residential area to Boundary Rd to the cycle route of the Annacis crossing, swith to the right side on anus island to cross Alex Fraser, along the bike path to by the weigh scales, almost have an accident due to about a dozen bricks pulled out of the path paving, spent a few mins replacing this hazard, carried on by zipping down 91 to 72nd, up the hill (when I got to 116th St, it was 0419, the ETA for the N19 at Surrey Central), carried on my usual route (in reverse) to 128th and then Hwy 10 to KGH etc.
Weeeellll, that darn construction at hwy10 & KGH is always a wrinkle. So I'm going along the shoulder (a designated bike route) when suddenly there are barriers blocking the shoulder and those 4ft tall orange plastic pipe/pole markers right at the very edge of the traffic lane's left and right. Since the motorised traffic here tends to travel rather quickly and there is only one narrow usable lane available, I decided to reclaim the shoulder after the cross-wise barriers are past. I did so and had only been on that portion of the road (the shoulder had expanded in width to be that of another full lane plus the shoulder) for about 10 seconds when for some reason unbeknownst too me, my bike went left and I carried on straight. We went down very hard. I sure am glad I always wear full-fingered gloves at night and I had my leggings on. Otherwise the roadrash would have been nasty. I have a huge bruise on the heel of my right hand, a couple of strawberries on my right knee, and a scrape on my hip. My wrist, elbow, shoulder, ribs and back are very sore. After I managed to recover the odd item that departed company from my bike, figure out why my handle bars wouldn't staighten (they were turned almost completely around, so the cabling etc was binding), I decided to find out what had happened. The fresh asphalt was so black that all my lights couldn't reveal the change in the surface. There was a 2nd layer of it to my right (as I was travelling) and it went left to where the right hand side of the current single lane was. The height difference of these two layers was 4", with a nice sharp edge. It was like angling into a sidewalk. I carried on as per Newtonian laws of motion, as did my baby. Too bad we were following different aspects of the laws. I got the continuing in motion part while my bike was influenced by an external force. So the rest of the ride was much slower as I had to do it mostly with one arm/hand. Got home only 15 mins behind schedule, had some tea and two 222's and stuggled to bed. Of course Mr Cat had to jump on my ribs. Ow! Ow! Ow! Getting up in "the morning" ( just before noon) was difficult. Had to roll out. Couldn't sit up.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Last Midnight Mass
Midnight Simon has blogged his account of our last ride (the one I started, then interrupted, and final recounting while on bus disappeared into nothingness, and I didn't redo fully). So check out the Midnight Mass blog from my Velolove links. He has posted pictures and a short video clip (I appear at the 4 second mark, screen left. Recognisable by the left-rear pannier on my baby, blinkies under my saddle and on my knapsack, and I'm the only one with bare legs).
here is a little video Simon shot of Bicycle Polo in East Van
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTIQX2rNYlQ
to see some of his other clips, search YouTube for "midnightmass" (his youtube user name), and you will also find 2 "thunderdome" ones, from the minibike madness party.
There is another ride tonight, and it looks like we'll have good weather. So I'd better stop and get some sleep. I have to change my chain and do some work on my rear derailleur. Oh, and I have a NEW light. A really bright 3watt LED. It is actually a very small aluminium flashlight (about 4" long) that I have mounted on a removable handlebar bracket. Now if I could rig up some other mount for the 55watt halogen spotlamp from Canadian Tire (it's just as bright as a car headlight), then I could really surprise some unsuspecting motorised-death-agent-on-wheels. HaHaHa, maybe soon. But not for a MM run, too much light would spoil the atmosphere.
here is a little video Simon shot of Bicycle Polo in East Van
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTIQX2rNYlQ
to see some of his other clips, search YouTube for "midnightmass" (his youtube user name), and you will also find 2 "thunderdome" ones, from the minibike madness party.
There is another ride tonight, and it looks like we'll have good weather. So I'd better stop and get some sleep. I have to change my chain and do some work on my rear derailleur. Oh, and I have a NEW light. A really bright 3watt LED. It is actually a very small aluminium flashlight (about 4" long) that I have mounted on a removable handlebar bracket. Now if I could rig up some other mount for the 55watt halogen spotlamp from Canadian Tire (it's just as bright as a car headlight), then I could really surprise some unsuspecting motorised-death-agent-on-wheels. HaHaHa, maybe soon. But not for a MM run, too much light would spoil the atmosphere.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
Stupid Bus Patrons
There is a reason some people call the bus "The Loser Cruiser", it surely does have more than its share of idjits. Like the ones who line up blocking the exit doors so people can't get off the highway coaches 'cuz they're standing in the way. Just step back a pace or two. Or the ones who think that a cyclist who was at the stop before them, but must put the bike on the rack before getting on (it would be rather hard to do otherwise, methinks) is in the line behind them. It usually makes no difference, but it is really annoying. And the people who pull the bell one or two stops too soon, or only 30 feet before the stop they want and blame the driver for missing the stop. Or the ones who stop bus#XXX, then ask the driver how long till bus #XYZ arrives. How about those who stand at the stop for over 5 mins, then get on the bus and say "it'll just be a minute for me to get out my change". WTF!!!! Get your F-ing money out while you are waiting you F-ing moron! Arrrrgh!
Pirate Quiz Sucks!
Red Harry Kidd. WTF!!! What a dull name for a pirate! And it's not that I don't have any Pirate-like qualities. I've even been involved in pirate sea-battles, weilding a cutlass and all. OK, true that was in a dream, but it was very real. I even got stabbed in the chest with a sword (and it was very painful. Hot-burning sensation).
Thursday, October 05, 2006
The Planet You Save Could Very Well Be Your Own
Every day in the news (Tv, web etc) is another story containing more proof that Global Warming has started. It is no longer an "if" or "perhaps" nor any other variation of "might happen". G.W. is here, it upon us, has already started affecting people/ animals (especially in our own Arctic). It is imperative that everyone do what one can to halt it. Now one might believe that there is little that one individual can do, but think, the current situation is upon us due to individuals. Whether one joins a group to fight it or acts alone, act one must. The planet is depending upon you.
- e-mail your environment minister (national & local), nothing worries a politician more than losing the next election. Don't say you don't have time, skip a blog one day, nobody will mind.
- recycle everything possible, not just what you aquire, but pick up stuff of the road that other morons toss aside. That plastic milk container that bottle pickers don't want is recyclable. take it home and put it in the blue box. Ditto for other things such as newspapers, nails/nuts/bolts and lots more.
- don't flush the toilet for just a pee, let it be. (OK, not forever, but every 3rd time is ok. While water may be plentiful in some areas, the processing of sewage uses a large amount of energy and chemicals. A bucket of sludge gets the same treatment as a bucket of pure water).
- dry laundry on the line whenever possible (yes it can even be done partially when it is cold. Every little bit helps).
- turn off the 'puter when not in use (they really do use a lot when left on, and no, turning them of and on a few times a day does not wear them out any faster. That is a myth). A study in Britain found that Brits leaving electronic equipment (TVs, stereos, computers etc.) on "standby" (which includes things turned off but plugged into the wall, because they are the biggest electricity users in this category), used the energy equivalent in one year to fly the entire poputation of Glasgow to New York (& return) on jumbo jets.
- just because it is garbage/recycling day does not mean you have to put something out on the curb. If your blue box is not full, don't put it out. The truck stopping for your unfilled box is a waste of energy and is counter-productive. Ditto for the garbage. If it is not smelly (and it shouldn't be most of the time), wait till next week. If you have so much that if you waited a week to put it out that you would be over the limit, shame on you! and I mean it. No houshold, no matter how large (even 8 people) should ever in the course of an average week produce more than a small bag of garbage.
More Planetary rescue measures to follow when the spirit moves me. I only include measures which I have done or currently do.
- e-mail your environment minister (national & local), nothing worries a politician more than losing the next election. Don't say you don't have time, skip a blog one day, nobody will mind.
- recycle everything possible, not just what you aquire, but pick up stuff of the road that other morons toss aside. That plastic milk container that bottle pickers don't want is recyclable. take it home and put it in the blue box. Ditto for other things such as newspapers, nails/nuts/bolts and lots more.
- don't flush the toilet for just a pee, let it be. (OK, not forever, but every 3rd time is ok. While water may be plentiful in some areas, the processing of sewage uses a large amount of energy and chemicals. A bucket of sludge gets the same treatment as a bucket of pure water).
- dry laundry on the line whenever possible (yes it can even be done partially when it is cold. Every little bit helps).
- turn off the 'puter when not in use (they really do use a lot when left on, and no, turning them of and on a few times a day does not wear them out any faster. That is a myth). A study in Britain found that Brits leaving electronic equipment (TVs, stereos, computers etc.) on "standby" (which includes things turned off but plugged into the wall, because they are the biggest electricity users in this category), used the energy equivalent in one year to fly the entire poputation of Glasgow to New York (& return) on jumbo jets.
- just because it is garbage/recycling day does not mean you have to put something out on the curb. If your blue box is not full, don't put it out. The truck stopping for your unfilled box is a waste of energy and is counter-productive. Ditto for the garbage. If it is not smelly (and it shouldn't be most of the time), wait till next week. If you have so much that if you waited a week to put it out that you would be over the limit, shame on you! and I mean it. No houshold, no matter how large (even 8 people) should ever in the course of an average week produce more than a small bag of garbage.
More Planetary rescue measures to follow when the spirit moves me. I only include measures which I have done or currently do.
A Crazy week-end
Sat 30th, ride in as per usual, but left about 10 mins later than I wanted, so I only picked up bottles/cans for the 1st half of the ride, not enough time for the whole trip. 1.5 miles from work I got a puncture. I didn't hear it, but I could feel it right away, my rear tire all squirmy when I leaned to make slight turns. A couple 100 metres and I was changing tubes! Argh! Arrived 10 mins late. When I get in, the graveyard guy tells me of all the 'fun' that happened the previous morning (around 03:30 and on for a couple hrs). One of the morons (who thinks he is some kind of Bindy Johal) and his other drunken/doped up buddies arrive in the parking lot, mill about for a while, and then he takes a handgun out of the car. He and one guy mildly dispute posession of it and the magazine. The other guy fires it into the air 2x. Then they continue their usual partying behavior as if nothing had happened. They were quite surprised when the cops arrived (about 10 cars by the time they all arrived). The morons spent about 2hrs lying handcuffed face-down on the parkinglot. Some of them even passed out/fell asleep. All captured on security cameras.
Sunday, left 8 mins early. 2 miles dow the road I'm changing tubes again. In my haste the other morning, I had forgotten to check my tyre's wounds. The embedded piesce of glass, while not an immediate threat while the tyre was under inflated, had made a new puncture in the replacement tube as I had stopped by the 24hr Esso to pump up to 65lbs. Unfortunately, the spare tube I grabbed as I left was not up to snuff. I thought it was ok, but after installing it and pumping madly, I discovered the error. Not knowing the exact nature of its flaw(s), I went back to the 'original' tube, found the puncture, and patched it. And yes, I removed the shard of glass, and checked for other hazards. When it was all done, I was some 30 mins behind. I could not catch up fully because the patch would not be fully cured yet and unable to take full pressure. Underinflation = more resistance = late again. 17mins. All that crap on the road is next to impossible to see in the dark, even when I have all 3 lights on. I'm going to build some sort of extra bright lighting system, but the negative side is the extra weight. I lug around enough as it is.
Sun/Mon/Tues all crazy @ work due to "limited" fleet size. All limos now 2003 or newer, but the morons didn't believe that the company would stick to it (YVR gave them a 6mo extention, Sept 30 was IT). So now there are so few cars it causes several problems, and the effects all trickle down the the dispatchers. Work is busier now for me than during the height of the cruise season. I have to go in Fri Day-shift while the other guy is at an LRB hearing (about stuff the morons did in July). Groan. I've seen what was in the system so far, and it will be a very crazy, stressfull day. I don't think the other afternoon guy will last much longer. He is actively seeking employ elsewhere.
Sunday, left 8 mins early. 2 miles dow the road I'm changing tubes again. In my haste the other morning, I had forgotten to check my tyre's wounds. The embedded piesce of glass, while not an immediate threat while the tyre was under inflated, had made a new puncture in the replacement tube as I had stopped by the 24hr Esso to pump up to 65lbs. Unfortunately, the spare tube I grabbed as I left was not up to snuff. I thought it was ok, but after installing it and pumping madly, I discovered the error. Not knowing the exact nature of its flaw(s), I went back to the 'original' tube, found the puncture, and patched it. And yes, I removed the shard of glass, and checked for other hazards. When it was all done, I was some 30 mins behind. I could not catch up fully because the patch would not be fully cured yet and unable to take full pressure. Underinflation = more resistance = late again. 17mins. All that crap on the road is next to impossible to see in the dark, even when I have all 3 lights on. I'm going to build some sort of extra bright lighting system, but the negative side is the extra weight. I lug around enough as it is.
Sun/Mon/Tues all crazy @ work due to "limited" fleet size. All limos now 2003 or newer, but the morons didn't believe that the company would stick to it (YVR gave them a 6mo extention, Sept 30 was IT). So now there are so few cars it causes several problems, and the effects all trickle down the the dispatchers. Work is busier now for me than during the height of the cruise season. I have to go in Fri Day-shift while the other guy is at an LRB hearing (about stuff the morons did in July). Groan. I've seen what was in the system so far, and it will be a very crazy, stressfull day. I don't think the other afternoon guy will last much longer. He is actively seeking employ elsewhere.
Critical Mass Sept 29th
On the way in, there was another person on the bus with a bike, and when she got of at Broadway I thought 'too bad she's not going to CM'. It is good to have more people, but not too many from The Rock, otherwise we all end up competing for the same 2 rack spots. After I got to the VAG, met lots of recent aquaintances, socialised as usual, and we left about 18:15. As I hit Howe St, there she was, the other WRer. Said hi etc. She got off the bus early to go to the dollar store. All in all it was a pretty good turn-out, thanks to the weather. The ride included 1 naked (weell, almost. he was wearing socks and shoes) man and 2 topless women (all 3 regulars. I've seen them before). It was a little frustrating at first, as the head of the pack kept making turns so we were rather bunched up and going so slow. Eventually we went for a few longer straight stretches. Ended up at the Anza Club around 8 for the after party. Stayed for a couple hours, mostly outside as I had a headache) briefly tried a fixie. Left about 22:00 to catch the bus home.
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