Sheldon Brown, Ride In Peace

Like so many others, I was stunned and dismayed by the news of Sheldon Brown's passing when I heard of it on Monday.

I first 'discovered' Sheldon in July of 2006, when I did a web search, of what I do not recall, and one of the returns was his article about "Igor" and included his winter use of packing tape on his helmet vents. At the time, I just thought this was some random site of somebody's cycling stories, and amused myself with his "Silly Hats" article. A couple months later I searched for something technical, and Sheldon's site had the answer. I was bowled over. So much info, all in one place, with just about every question one could possibly have answered. I became an instant Sheldon fan. Most days that I went online included a visit to Sheldon's site. Since I don't access the internet at home, sometimes I would be anticipating going to work (????) just so I could look up something by Sheldon.

I grew up at a time when kids cycling for fun/transport was the norm. Most of us had single speed bikes with coaster brakes, some had fancy 3-speeds, and only adults might have a 10-speed. I rode bikes a lot as a kid, stopped for awhile in my teens, started back up in late teens, off again in early twenties, started back again in very early thirties (but only occasionally), and for the past 9 years have been cycling 'full time' as a self-propelled person. So I've ridden lots of different types of bikes of varying quality, and while I'm no expert, I can say I like just about all bikes. Bikes are fun, as well as utilitarian. Biking is even more fun if one can do one's own repairs, especially minor ones. Who wants to be afraid of being unable to fix a flat tire? There are people who are afraid to ride a bike because of the fear of a flat tire. Yet this is the easiest of repairs that anyone can do. Six year old kids can do it. Now how does this relate to Sheldon? Well, since I can do some really minor bike repairs, I wanted to do ones a little more complicated that naturally arise from being a high mileage commuter. Enter Sheldon, Bike Guru Extraordinaire.

This is very rambling, but let me just say that Sheldon made my cycling life better. He really was inspirational in a low-key kind of way for me. While he had a vast knowledge, he wanted to share it freely for the betterment of all. He truly will be missed, and his spirit will most definitely live on in the hearts of cyclists.

Bikes Inside 2008 & more

It is so hard to keep with this at work, so I'll try for a very brief recap.

Feb. 1st was R.A.D. (Ride-Art-Drink), which pretty much sums up what we did. The bicycle themed art at the gallery was pretty cool stuff. I didn't take any pictures of it as that would be de trop, not that that stopped others from doing so. The DJ & music was pretty good, and as I have posted before on the "Six Drink Rule", I actually danced, or some unreasonable facsimile. I'm sure that the "Sparks" which Jeff Lost gave me (reimbursement for a previous consumption) added to the energy level. I left about 23:55 in order to catch the 351, and got home about 01:15. Prepped some stuff for going to work (wakey wakey time 03:00 for 04:00 departure) and cooked & ate some food.

Feb. 2nd wake up was reaalllllly hard. I was almost out the door at 04:10, but I forgot a couple thiings and had to get my mini trailerised. After all, one cannot "microcross" without a mini, and I hadn't take it to work ahead as I had previously intended. So, it ended up that I finally left at 04:30, Oopps! Now normally that would just mean a hard ride to arrive 5mins. late, no biggy, but towing a bike trailer loaded with another bike (because although it is a mini, kids' bikes are made way too heavy- cheap materials) takes more effort. I bungeed it on as I hadn't rope handy (I should have taken the 5mins to get it. In the long run it would have been faster). I had to keep my pedalling very smooth or the trailer would lurch (cause: bungee). Another "haste makes waste" factor was forgetting to check the tire pressure on the trailer (when I got to work I found that the trailer tires were almost airless, maybe 5psi). I was completely drenched when I got to work (no, there was no precipitation) and my legs were about to fall off. My right calf started to cramp a couple of times during the ride. (work was the usual). After work I reconfigured the mini/trailer set-up so it was more stable, then rode to Expo Bld @ Carrall St for Microcross. Again I was hurrying as the reconfiguration took much more time than I had expected. I should have expected that the race would start late, but it was even late by Biker Time (variously expressed as VBT - Vancouver Biker Time; BST - Biker Standard Time; PBT - Pacific Biker Time; ZT - Zoobomb Time). Now my legs were truly bagged. It was cold waiting for the action. There were 20 racers, and about 40-60 spectators (umm, somewhat fuzzy re: #'s, but there were way more than I expected. It was really cool having such a good turn out). (The racing contingent and spectators include many Portlanders/Zoobombers up for the festivities. Quite a few of us took it as a warm-up for Mini Bike Winter V.) We had to go through a tricky course, winding asphalt path, up & down hill in soggy slippery grass, though a sand pit, up stairs, across a pond via cement flagstones, and it was dark by the time we started.

The racing was pretty fun, and surprisingly tiring. Thrills, Chills, Spills, for what more could one ask? Afterwards we (OK, not everyone, but a large group) went for dinner at a sushi place on Main just S. of Broadway. Then we went to the Bikes Inside party itself. More silly bikerness, dancing, indoor biking hoonery (a mini-tall crashed into me, and one of its brake levers jabbed me in the ribs painfully hard, but no actual injuries). We finally left about 3am, a group of us headed for kits. Jeff Lost, Kimmers & I were heading for Kimmers' UBC dorm, so were went along the False Creek bikepath to kits with the others. After a while at Kits Beach, a few crazies decided that is was necessary to go skinny-dipping (temperature was barely above freezing by this time). All said and done, we spent about 1/2 hour at the beach. The main posse headed for The Naam; Lapis/Tackler, Shawn F & RevPhil went back to their crashpad, J-L, K & I sojourned westward. After some tiring hill-climbing with icy winds, there was 1 more adventure: trying to get into the elevator at Kim's. Kim went ahead, the Jeff got in the second car (with MTB), then the trailer & mini (still conjoined) vertically, then me & the BRC. It was 04:15 by now.

Sun. 3rd - Woke up ~ 09:45, got up a bit later. Had tea & toast after a bit of re-hashing the previous events. I left for work @ 11:37, about 1/2 an hour later than I intended. It appeared that I added some entertainment for several posses of roadies while I travelled SW Marine Dr.

Facebook

Don't send me invitations to do quizes, tests, compare this that and the other thing, blah blah blah. I only set it up to see how fast the "virus" would spread. I don't use it except in that I know a couple addicts that I can contact through it rather than a regular e-mail. I only check it when I get notification e-mail to my regular e-mail address that somebody sent me something. Unless you are the particular "addict", don't expect any reply at all. (Oh, addict #1, this wasn't directed at you, but to everybody else, but I still don't want invitations).

Ecological Footprint, Carbon, Electrical Power-Plants &c.

Before my previous post, oh so long ago, a was going to post this link and blog about it, but didn't get around to it, so here is a brief version. CARMA, CARbon Monitoring for Action, has an extensive listing of all the world's electricity plants and rates them, and power companies and other related things. I found it very interesting. So now people can find out how "green" their power is, and quite frankly most peoples' power is "red", and once people know how bad their power is, they can change things by taking appropriate action. That action may be to switch power suppliers, if able in the particular circumstances, lessening consumption (which should be done in any event), or making their views known to the power Co.'s and governments to effect a change. I encourage every to do so. It doesn't take long to send out an e-mail (less time than it does to blog!). Calculate your Ecological Footprint too, and figure out more ways to lessen your impact, and then do it. It doesn't do anybody, including yourself, any good not to lessen your impact, and it is easy to do.

My Bad

Ummmm...... pictures from the Craigslist ad. But it is reaalllly nice. Deep 6 the BRC BioPace experiment. Who needs a really heavy spare when there is a light Brodie. Too bad about the colour though.

One Never Knows

Checking my "site meter" is quite interesting, especially when someone has found my blob by doing a Google search. The search parameters that people use are funny at times. The latest one "finding out which neighbour has unsecured wifi", from Surrey, BC, using Shaw Cable internet, and computer particulars include: Keyboard language, UK English; OS Windows XP; browser, Firefox; monitor resolution 1280 x 1024 and 32 bit colour. With the search parameters including "neighbour" spelled properly, its no wonder my blob came so high on the results. But what would be really interesting is to know what other 'hits' this person decided to visit.

Ha! One of the search hits is quite funny, read on.

So I've been riding the BRC for just over a week now. I decided to test it out further. I just couldn't resist 'testing' empirically my BioPace® crankset. I'd heard (read) some pro- some anti- stuff about BioPace, and Bec mentioned a friend of hers who will spout off a big dissertation (anti) at the mention of them, but I really need to find out what my knees think of them. So far no difference from round chain rings, and high cadence spinning seems to be no problem, even fun. The claim that BioPace rings cause chondromalacia made me look up the affliction, and most of it is rather dull. Mainly because most of the sites I checked just say it is ...bla bla bla... joint pain in the knees... bla bla.. soft cartilage..., but one site was different. Pretty funny actually because it states that chondromalacia (soft cartilage) patellae is a misnomer, because the cartilage under the knee is the thickest and softest in the human body in order to cushion the knee, and other details. More on this story as it unfolds...... Nothing more noteworthy to note. "Research" consensus, use BioPace if you like it, don't if you don't. Those who claim it hurts the knees are just saying that they heard its bad, didn't even hear it from an actual source, no actual evidence of it doing so.

B.C. Lions vs. Saskachewan today. Making for limo silliness. Thankfully the rest of the limo biz is slow today, AND my shift is over soon after the game starts. Its alway the mess afterwards that is really annoying.

Unconquered

Well, I didn't take out the Vainqueur today. With the wind storm howling away last night I didn't feel like working on the bikes. I thought that I would get the chance this morning, no such luck. The wind was even stronger (ah well, there'll be lotsa free firewood lying around now), and combined with rain the conditions were hardly ideal for working outdoors. But the worst part is; now that I've decided to get on with reducing the pile and not get more bike stuff, I see all kids of cool stuff out there (Craigslist &c.). The rain stopped in time for going to work.

Not an Epiphany

I've been meaning to do something about my bike "collection" for a long time. It wasn't even intended to become a collection, but it has. The original intent was to resurrect the rescued bikes (a scene just came to mind: in a parody of Life of Brian, when the Roman governor is prepared to "welease" a prisoner, a bicycle mechanic rushes forth and yells out "welease waleigh". I know its weak, but 7:20 of work can addle the brain), and then get rid of them (or keep a nice one or two). It has only worked with one, mainly because it didn't need resurrecting. So Friday afternoon I took a look at the pile, dragged out a likely 'victim' and attended to it. A Giant Rincon mountain bike, an older one, CroMo tubing, 21.5" frame, 1" threaded steer tube with quill type riser stem and straight handle bars. The wheels & tyres were good, I checked the tubes (three pin-prick punctures which I patched). But for the real test, I rode it in to work Saturday. Ow my back pretty-well describes the result, but that is only because my back doesn't like such an upright riding posture. For any other 5'10" to 6'2" person it would be fine. The gears are reasonably smooth (21 speed, indexed rapid-fire). Round 2, Saturday evening I hauled out victim #2. A much smaller MTB (haven't measured it yet), "BRC" make, "Gonzo" model, also 21 speed,but with a BioPace triple crankset. Alas, its tyres' sidewalls are thrashed, but I pumped it up nonetheless for a test ride (whilst air seeped out). OK so far. So I swapped out my Brodie's wheels for further testing. Not too bad, kinda fun. A very road bike like posture required due to the size, but much closer to what I normally do. But by the time I was half way to work I really wanted different bars. All in all a satisfactory performance (1 hr 43 mins ride time). Oh yeah, I did have a boo at a weird old French bike (Vainqueur Type Normandie), quickly repaired the rear brake and contemplated riding it with the Bridgestone's wheelset, but changed my mind. That test will come later.

Not an Update, just the usual.

( Oct 26th, late afternoon) Suffice it to say I arrived in Blaine after the flight, but did not quite get back home in time to make it down to Critical Mass. Too bad. Went down to the Anza Club in time for the after party, but there weren't too many people there. I had forgotten about the SkyTrain Party that was happening as well, and a bunch were on it, I hear. After chit-chatting for about an hour (freezingly cold outside), I bussed it back home. Work in the morning, the usual stuff.

Saturdays ride in was pretty good, despite the cold, until I got to about Knight St & Westminster Hwy (I figure it was) where I got a puncture. Front tire, for a change. I noticed it as I was about to go over the 99 overpass. The tire was a little squishy. However I was just able to make it to the gas station @ No.5 Rd (the pressure went down quickly), and made a quick tube swap (and removed the offending shard of glass plus a sliver of metal that would have become a puncture in a day or two). With the air hose handy for re-inflation, I was on my way. Work was pretty much the usual, but I didn't really feel like working. Its surprising how a little break makes one feel like not working.

Sunday was pretty well a repeat of Saturday, only I got the puncture in the rear tire, a little bit further down the road before it happened and the leak was slow enough for me to "limp" in the rest of the way without the repair job (but I did that at the end of my shift).

Monday was Simon's return (as I mentioned before)

Tuesday I worked (bla bla bla)

Weds came in for the special task at work, and left shortly before 4pm. In my hurry to make the bus in to work, I neglected to tighten the cleats enough on my new SPD shoes, and consequently lost one of the little Allen wrench bolts. So I headed to a bike shop in Richmond to get one. That took a little while, the guy scrounged around for a while, but he found one. I rode to the bus (98 into town) and put the cleat on while on the bus. I was on my way in for the Hallowe'en Alley-cat, but I needed to get a Roman Candle (as part of the entrance fee). I didn't think I would have time really to shop around, so I hopped off in Marpole to hit up a store I previously saw selling fireworks. The Sally Ann store is there too, so I quickly perused its wares (got a pair of Primal shorts with built-in cycling shorts for $5, but didn't see anything else which tickled my fancy). Then I bought 2 roman candles; the plain-jane 8-ball for my fee, and a fancy schmancy bigger one for Guy Fawke's Day (please to remember 5th of November...)

(running out of time here)... so the race was really fun. I'll do a recap later, but for now if you want to read a little about it, you can check the thread on the Fixed Vancouver Forum.

Did nothing Thursday the 1st. Friday did some shopping.... and got another flat! Work was slow Saturday, did some internetting. Today the same, I even got another puncture! Oh Joy! But I was able to make it in without having to do repair work while on the road. Hit the gas station again in the nick of time. And now it is 8 minutes to my shift's end. Repair time!.

The Un-Update

I said more to follow, but then I decided to take Monday off work so I could greet Simon on his return to town after his European tour (see Midnight Miles for details). So no update yesterday. Then today I got sidetracked at work (something about having to work, I'm not too sure about it, then other internetting has to be factored in), and I'm going to have to work a bit tomorrow, but not the kind where I have time to do personal internetting, so the real update will have to wait, if I do it at all.

Homeward Bound

Fri. Sept. 26th - Ate breakfast and spent the morning visiting and being sociable (rather than going to a store and buying my 48hrs alcohol limit. I saw 8.o% "Tilt" for $1.49). I intensionally didn't bring anything to eat for lunch as I was unsure of what my stomach's reaction would be for the upcoming flight ~13:00. Went to the Bend Municipal Airport (KBND) east of town (not far). The pilot arrived right at 12:50 as arranged, and we went out and I watched as he did his pre-flight inspection. When that was done & bags (1 his, 2 mine) loaded, we taxied to by the end of the runway, waited a short while for another craft to land and exit the runway, then turned onto the runway itself, opened the throttle, a very short acceleration and we were in the air. The plane, a Cessna 172S (tail N326ME), rose quickly, the ground dropping away.














Then we started rolling and yawing with the wind. I did not like this part. I wondered if I were in for 3 hours of roller-coaster-like terror. Its bad enough on the not-amusing amusement park ride where one can see what motion is coming, but these jumps up & down and side to side, rolling and pivoting unexpectedly are not what I like.

We climbed up, and up, and up some more. Finally the motion settled down. KBND is 3,456' above MSL, and IIRC, the buffeting stopped around 7,000'. We still went higher, for better fuel economy. The view was pretty cool. I couldn't look down for about half an hour, but ahead and to the sides was OK. The volcanoes in the area looked more impressive from the air, but were still quite a ways away. We were soon cruising along at 11,000' altitude and ~100knots (varying with the slight tailwind we now had. Airspeed fairly constant 90 knots, groundspeed 105->115 knots. (more to follow, shift ending soon. check "CBP's Picasa" link to the right for pictures, lotsa pictures)

Walking Around Bend

So Thurs 18th I spent the afternoon walking from the east side (stopping here and there) to downtown, and to the west side (getting back to base around 18:30). Stops included:
1. saw a store called "Longboard Louie's" - I thought it would be a board shop (duh) but it turned out to be a Mexican food café (go figure). (Later on saw another one. Must be a franchise)
2. Humane Society Thrift Shop - scored a really cool penguin T-shirt, brand new from Christ Church, New Zealand.
3. a bicycle/snowsports goods consignment store - got a couple items and dropped off a Momentum Magazine.
4. looked at a municipal bus stop pole/schedule ($1.00 per trip, no transfers. $2.00 all day pass. Only 6 routes for the town, but most of it pretty well covered. No Sun./Holiday service, only half service on Sat.)
5. the local Visitors' centre (got a couple brochures).
6. had a smoothie (bought at a store before my walk began) sitting on cement wall during my downtown wandering.
7. lunch in a crêperie (but it was a bagel with lotsa filling stuff. Really good).
8. a record shop (got a Nick Cave double CD).
9. the public library (1hr on the internet).
10. walked though a park on my way to...
11. ...a bicycle shop (a pretty good shop, cool stuff, didn't buy anything) chatted for a bit and dropped off another Momentum.
12. decided it was time to return to base, but spotted another bike shop 2 blocks later and went in.... lotsa snooping on the bargain table (got some deals), got some free stuff (but weight prohibited me from taking more), handed out another Momentum and had a good conversation with the guy there.
13. a bakery beside the bike shop (got a couple raspberry scones. Mmmm... yummy).
14. ...another bike shop (1 block away) beckoned, but I resisted due to time (it was 17:50), and returned to base.

Had dinner, the usual evening visiting stuff. Then to bed.

Bend OR

So We left ~23:48 (some 'about', eh?) and arrived 07:45, with only 1 gas stop & 2 pee breaks (all that tea, water, & energy drink I had). It sure does remind me of Kamloops and some other Okanagan places (as it should, pretty much the same geography but further south). Especially the pines. The weather is great today. Nice and sunny, about 20C outside (I guess). Rode around a bit on Marc's road bike (nice & smooth, very light). Tomorrow I plan on walking around, now that I get the general layout of the place. Maybe pick up a beater that I don't have to worry about, and ditch when I'm done, as I'll be coming back the day after tomorrow. I met a South African woman just after she fell of her bike (I saw her getting up slowly, and another woman not on a bike was there), so I went over to see if all was OK. She was on a Kona "Jake the Snake" that she got a couple days ago (also with a Chrome messenger bag which she said had some beer & wine bottles which surprisingly survived the crash. She had a good sense of humour. The crash would have been really bad if any bottles were broken). So I wished her & the Springboks well after a little chat.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that a little west of Bend (west of "Warm Springs" too) there was this plateau (btw, it was completely dark at the time, the moon had set too) sort of area that stank like cat pee. Some weird local flora, I assume. The stretch of road which smelled was several miles long .

On a Bender

...or make that, Off to Bend, OR.
So, I won't be at Midnight Mass on Thursday, but should make it to Critical Mass Friday.

Helen Brown/Evelyn Woods version

(if you don't get the reference, Google-it)
Sept 23 - the entourage arrives atop Mount Seymour, the road is 11km long and the elevation change is pretty good for bombing (but presently I can't recall how much). We all get out, several of us water the bushes, we get our bikes ready, ride around a bit, scope things out, take pictures, passers by watch us amusedly, get one of them to take a group picture. When we are pretty close to doing the 1st run I remember that I have my cheapo digital video camera & mini-tripod with me. So I duct tape it to my handlebars and video run #1 (very bumpy footage). The run was fantastic. A 15 min bomb, sharp corners, other bombers passing & passing still others, some bumps which were a bit tricky/hazardous, a few cars passing dangerously (especially a trio of them from California, I almost ran into the rear of the 3rd vehicle), some passing relatively safely. When most of us reached the bottom someone said we should the van/pick-ups to block for us next time. Then a minute later the last ones arrive at the bottom, followed by our 3 'support vehicles'... and then a long line of cars...hahaha. But they didn't get delayed too much. The speed limit down the hill is 60km/h, with the corners much slower, so if someone were doing the legal maximum it would take longer than 11 mins to reach the bottom, and we did it in 15 mins (OK, some faster, some slower, but not by much).
We climb back in the vehicles and go up again, shuffle who is driving down, I pass my camera on to Morgan who mounts it on his bike, and we go again. Just after we start, I stop as a piece of duct tape had managed to stick to my rim (potential braking hazard). Just as I get going again I see & hear some confusion in the pack, and someone goes down. I get there, one of the Portlanders (Julie, although I didn't know her name at the time) had done a face-plant. Nasty. Broken teeth and quite a bit of blood (but at the time she thought her teeth were knocked right out. We spent a while in vain looking for them), and no insurance. Much of the pack was in front of the accident and carried on down the hill. Of those who stopped, some went went downhill in vehicles and a few by bike (as I did). I took it easy for the 1st little while, but hen I decided it was silly to go slow (the extra drag from sitting upright) as the vehicle with Julie was behind me. I thought they might go on ahead so we could take Julie to a doctor right away, but they were staying behind me. Soooo, I crouched down low and went full out, did nice technical cornering, and picked up quite a bit of speed. I caught up to a bunch of them (bikes and vehicles, 'ours' and others) and passed them.
At the bottom, we decided to go to a clinic in E Van, but it closed at 6pm and it was now 7pm, so we went to VGH. Julie was in a confused mental state, so it was just as well we went to hospital, who knows what unknown injuries she sustained. Had the clinic been open, they probably would have suggested the hospital too.
I went with the group to VGH, which included Maitland & Portlanders, & others went home (my mini with them). After a while of hanging around emerg., all but Julie & 1 friend went for pho. After eating and walking to VGH, I carried on to the bus home. For news on Julie, check here.
(so much for this entry being a speedy finish)

Since then, usual Critical Mass on Sept 28th (what is up with the cops hanging around now! July, August & September now, but they always stayed away. Now they are riding at the back of the pack, about 6 to 8 of them.). Some of us went to The Naam instead of the after party, some went home, rode back DT and dropped off one of the group, and carried on to Katie G's place. Crashed there for the night (thanks KG!).
Had a Thanksgiving dinner @ Frances' a day early (Oct 7th) as I had to work on the real Thanksgiving Day, found another bike on the way home the night of the 8th (put out with the garbage collection but with a "free" sign on it), a nice old Raleigh in excellent shape (only missing a QR skewer up front, and I have since garnered a buyer for it).
Went to Midnight Mass Oct 11th (when I found the prospective buyer) and the monthly MC3 ride Oct12th (and finally after a few aborted attempts picked up my mini from Lyle).
The weather was good Sun. 14th, went riding with Bec, spotted a cool mini at a 2nd hand shop (she tried it, I tried to try, but my SPD shoes were too slippery on the plastic pedals), ended up going to dinner with her and one of her housemates, and then over to a friend's for drinks. It was quite the multi-lingual affair. Much much later we went to catch the bus home...Oops! Sunday Service = Super Suckage. Bec & friend missed the last bus back (cab time), and I missed the last SkyTrain (and didn't want to wait 1 hr for the 1st Night Bus, 1hr to Whalley plus 45mins ride home) so I rode straight home (2hrs 10 mins. Tired + under the influence = slow time, but still not bad.).
Tues 16th went back to town before going to work to buy the mini (overpriced @ $20, but why not. It'll be worth it in fun later on).

The Work-Less Party masquerade ball is tonight.

Trying to Finish It Off

...(meanwhile, back at the ranch) Sept 22 sometime after 9pm and we all had our prizes from the alley cat race, we headed to the Velomutation party at 2nd & Manitoba (the party was supposed to be at Pedal Play's place, but somehow the fire dept. heard about it and came for a surprise inspection of the venue. They nixed it. So it had to be held somewhere else.). The good news about the new venue was that it would be better for the performances and more room in general, the bad news that this place would be keeping ALL the monies generated by the bar. Since it was a PEDAL fundraiser, this was bad news indeed (at least the gate receipts wouldn't too bad). The idea hatched by many was a significant BYOB element and bar boycott. Unfortunately the venue operator had other ideas. We got the word shortly before heading to the party that there was a bag-check at the door. After socialising for awhile without, I went within. There were 2 different rooms with music, one of them was the one with the bar. The other was dance/performance area for our purposes, but it was just a big empty warehouse area, decorated with bike-themed items. There really isn't too much to say about the party, other than it was great, so were the performances, and I was struggling to stay awake as I had been up for about 40 hrs. Ok, it was about 39.5 at the start of the party, and 44 when I left. I rode to Anna's place to crash for a bit before riding to work. When she saw that I came on the mini, she was shocked. Anna (and a belated thank-you for the concern) had been trying to get me to come back with her for about an hour because I looked about to collapse (so she said, and I have no reason to doubt her). I think she was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it to her place (near Knight & Kingsway) without some serious mishap. But we did, in quite good time, and I zonked out promptly (arrived 0240, lights out 0245, and I guess asleep 0250). I was a little worried about waking up as I had forgotten previously to charge my phone and thus the battery was dead. My only working alarm (ever since I changed the battery in my watch, its alarm won't work?) had no juice, I was seriously sleep deprived, and needed to be up in 2 hours. I figured I would need an hour to get to work, the extra time due to lethargy, the cold, not being able to ride quickly for fear of irreparably damaging my seatpost (which bent a bit during the Alley Cat), plus I was going to go Oak St rather than Knight St bridge (less elevation climbing). Amazingly enough, I woke up just at the right time, and was out the door at 0500. I didn't have my jacket, nor arm nor leg warmers, and it was chilly and the air damp outside. I snitched a plastic bag from Anna's recycling and put it inside my jersey to cut down on the wind chill. I really wanted a newspaper for the job (insulation as well as windbreaking), but all I could see were the damp/wet ones outside. Not what I wanted. After stopping at the Mohawk in Richmond for milk for my breakfast cereal, I arrived at work right on time.

After work, which was the same old stuff, and fairly busy but not too bad, I headed North again on the mini. Unfortunately I was delayed a little leaving, by about 25 mins (I forget why), and was going as quickly as I dared considering the seatpost. I stopped at Himalaya Restaurant on Main by 49th for some samose (plural of 'samosa') for my afternoon's food supply. I did have some fun on the ride, zipping down Main northward from about King Ed, past stopped traffic and such, bombing down the hill from 12th to 2nd. When I got to the vicinity of the Via rail station I made a few phone calls to contact those going on the "Alpine Bombtastic" down Mount Seymour. No luck. Just hope that they are sufficiently behind schedule to catch them

(more tomorrow)

irRegularly Scheduled Update Delayed

Umm, sorry, but I still haven't finished the story of September Bike Fun, and CM has occurred again, I have more pictures to upload (maybe tomorrow), and I still haven't done anything with the "Mountain Bombtastic" (AKA "Sey-Bomb") video. And I haven't written up my 'incident report' for Sunday (Yes, there was an 'incident'), I blogged instead.

Thugs for Cancer

So, on Saturday the 29th I had to work in the afternoon. I leave the house and just 10 seconds before I get to 16th, a trio of motorcycle cops (RCMP) with lights flashing blocks the intersection, and two of them then proceed westward. I look down the road to the east and see a mob of motorcycle cops, bicycles, vans/trucks coming up the hill by Earl Marriott, very slowly I might add. The cop gestures to the east, to ask if I were turning that way. I shake my head, then point west. He does nothing. So I start to turn, and he barks out "NO! YOU'VE GOT TO WAIT!!"

WTF??!! I'm in no danger of mowing down the slow moving peloton, and he and his cronies have to block the road 1/2 mile & more ahead of them. The next intersection over is a main one with traffic lights, the bulk of the time it is green for the direction the thug posse is heading, and when there is cross traffic, the lights change briefly. Now there is a bunch of cross traffic (both ways) wanting to go through their lights but are being blocked. Eastbound traffic which could have proceeded before the lights changed, but are being blocked from going through in the OPPOSITE direction (and obviously the other side of the road) as the thug posse and could not possibly interfere with them, yet these dumb fucks think they to cause disruption before their mass ride gets close to actually "needing" to be escorted.

I could see that these slow-pokes were not arriving any time soon, so I hoofed it to the next intersection (blocked), went the only non-blocked direction, cut through the hospital access road to get past the blocked bit, but now more of the goon troupe has pushed west past my new position so I have to go west on foot on the sidewalk again to the next intersection (also controlled by lights and blocked by cops, well ahead of the cyclepack), turn left again and ride 1 block south, ride 2 to the west, 1 north again, and I get to Johnson & 16th just in time to witness the latest move of thuggery to the big traffic centre to block it off prematurely. Everybody sat for 3 minutes before the 1st wave arrived. More motorcycle cops. A van. A pack of 10 cyclist in matching gear/bikes. A large truck. A car. More motorcycle cops. Then they turn right and head north. What could have been a minor traffic delay became a big snarl because there was nowhere for anybody to go. Now it is true that it was a minor inconvenience (I was in danger of missing my bus until they decided to block 152nd so it couldn't arrive either), but when it needed not be any disruption, nor did it need as much escorting as a visiting Head of State with a risk of assassination.

Plus, what on Earth possessed these morons to call their ride "Cops for Cancer"? Which cancer are they promoting? Lung? Colon? Or just their self righteous attitude that it is OK to shoot unarmed prisoners in the back of the head, whilst in a jail cell, and say that it was in self defence? I say "Cancer for Cops" like these.

On another tack. In the August issue of Momentum Magazine, there is an article by Sheldon Brown along lines I have believed about bike-a-thons. I don't support them because a long distance bike ride is fun, not a "penance" like the bike-a-thon promoters seem to think. Read the article (it is a short one, just takes a minute or two).

The Fun Continues

So, to update/continue the weekend wrap-up...
Friday Sept 21 - The Bike Porn event was a scream. After work, it was raining, so I waited a bit for it to improve before heading to the W.I.S.E. hall. I went catch the 98, but instead of the 6-10 mins frequency Translink claims, no bus for almost 1/2 hr. I was about to ride away when it finally approached, I could see that it had only 1 bike on the rack, good, but it was not in the curb lane, bad. It was jam-packed and just kept on rolling, so I saddled up and rolled myself. The reason I didn't just ride initially was that I was carrying a lot of stuff with me. Some for me, some for Bryce.

I arrived in time despite the bus, to see a large group of cyclists outside the hall milling about, many of them Portlanders & Seattlites. I locked my bike and went inside. Hanging out before the show, taliking to lotsa peeps, having a couple drinks, then on with the show. The presenters were RevPhil & Ifny, who were in very good form. The live performances were great. I especially like "The Creaking Planks". I've seen them before (but they're never the same. I mean that the performers vary a bit, not just the material). The songs are absolutely hilarious, not to mention good music. Then came the headliner, RevPhil's movie "The Pornography of the Bicycle" ( see bikeporntour for more blogging of its travels). Ummm, how to describe it.... I can't really. There were many bike short films, some by Rev Phil, some by others, and almost all involved bicycles. The one that didn't, about the San Fernando Valley Illegal Soap Box Derby, was pushing the edge of technicalities, as some of the 'soapbox' racers were made with bicycle wheels. But it was good. OK, so there was another that to the untrained eye might not have appeared to be about bikes, but the fist was just the warm up for the saddle. I leave it cryptic intentionally. OK, I can't resist, it was bikeporn. After that there was an auction, and I outbid, Turbo I believe it was, for a pack of Portland goodies, but I lost out to a combined effort for another one that included a bunch of legal papers from RevPhil's arrest/trial etc from last years World Naked Bike Ride (Portland edition). Then we did a little clean up (other volunteers did the real clean up) before the Naughty Negligée Night Ride. Nobody was naked, a bit to cold, or not enough fortification. I wore (besides my helmet, gloves & cycling shoes & socks) my thigh-high cycling leg warmers, underwear, & back-pack. I think it had the right effect because I did get a few comments/looks/shouts from some passers-by.
We ended up at Trout Lake after a while, socialised, some people went in the lake (what else would one expect when there are Zoobombers present). Later we went for pizza @ Commercial & Broadway and hung around there for a while. I had 2 full cans still in my pack, and not wanting the extra weight on the ride home, I gave them to Morgman, put on my duds, and rode.

As always, I love my solo rides home in the wee hours. They are great. I would love to share them with others (1 person at a time). Everyone should do a solo night ride. 1 minor glitch this time. I misread my watch, and didn't realise the implication until I checked it when I got to Whalley. 03:05, 50 mins more to ride, no time left for a pre-workbound-ride nap. And the wind picked up when I had another 15 mins to go. So, after getting home, I fed & watered the cats, had a big drink, changed to fresh cycling togs, and was gone again.

The ride to work was not too bad despite the wind and my very tired legs, until I hit the Alex Fraser. I had a really tough battle to stay upright. The cross-wind was almost the worst I've had to fight going across a bridge (the worst time was when going over the Patullo a couple years ago. I almost ended up on the road infront of heavy truck traffic). When I got to the Westminster Hwy,the wind was head-on. The best I could manage was 19 km/h, as low as 12 km/h at times, instead of my usual 28->32 km/h. So, I ended up 30 mins late.

Sat Sept 22 - Work was the usual. Went to Pedalfest riding the mini, saw some people, but it was just a pause on my way to CARcass, which was already in full swing. I got there in time to see some events ("tubes of despair", "panty racing" [no, that is not racing panties]) and participate in the "Balloon Smackdown". I came pretty close in the smackdown. I was in the last three going when I got body-checked off my mini (while going pretty fast I might add) during the 'audience participation' part (we 3 were finding it hard to get at each other), and decided to rescue my partly broken helmet blinky rather than remount my bike and carry on before someone popped my balloon. It was lots of fun, even with the bloody knee & elbow. CARcass isn't CARcass without blood. The "main event", CARcass itself, was injury/blood free this time, oddly enough.

After CARcass came the "G'Day Mate! Almost All Aussie Hustle Alley Cat". It was my first Alley Cat style race, and I did it on the mini (of course, only having the 1 bike with me), and it was fun. I missed one check-point. I mis-understood the instructions AND my passport style manifest. There was a small-wheeled exempt check-point, and I thought it was that I could miss 1 of the 6 check-points, my choice. Oh well. I still got a prize for my paper airplane making skill at one of the check-points. I picked a reaallly cooooool high pressure 700c tire from the goodies pile when my turn came.

(more to follow, gotta go)

September = Fun

Well, bike fun at any rate. Work is slowing down as the tourist high season winds down, so now the new computer system is being tweaked for implementation soon (it has been pushed back a few times for technical reasons). So work isn't fun. Tedious, yes.

Sept 13th was Midnight Mass. A bit of a fiasco. Didn't get very far before a newbie drops his chain. I stop to help out, his buddy stopped, the pack didn't. Called "hold-up", they didn't, not the protocol. After chain is back on, we start to boot-it to catch-up, the chain breaks. He says go on ahead, I'll switch bikes at home, & then phone to meet. Well now the pack is truly gone. We can find no sign of them, and the destination was a little vague, namely "let's hit some parking garages downtown". We cruise around looking for garages which have hoots & hollers emanating forthwith. Nada, niente, rien. Not at the usual spots. Oh yeah, besides me, the other 2 are also newbies (friends of broken chain), and are from Squ'ish (you know, up the coast a little, before Whistler), so I'm having to lead them, and the couple times the crew did parkades, I wasn't there, so I have no idea as to the most likely spots. Anyhoo, we decide to hang out by the former Plaza of Nations (no more roof, sigh) down by the water til the chainless one calls. Eventually he does show up, and after a bit more we go riding along the bikepath, under Cambie Bridge, then over it, along the False creek path to Granville Island. The suggestion is made to go to the "Granville Island Mountain" (yeah, that's what he called that lump of dirt. Kinda funny). So we do. And Lo and Behold... the missing Massers (OK, most of them, it had a few other splinter movements before we got there, I was later told). So a few cheers and story swaps and it is getting late (if we didn't find the main pack when we did, I was about to head for the 02:09 nightbus. As it was, I left shortly with some of the Eastward rollers and caught the same bus when it got to 10th & Kingsway, made it home for a 1.5 hr nap before getting up for work.

Fri sept 14th, worked extra, MC3 ride after going home to change bikes (to the new blue Norco). The ride ended up at Kits Beach in the dark. After chill time, Siegels Bagels, rolling eastwards to a burrito shop on main, more chill time, I just barely made it to the last 351 Granville & Broadway, and another 1.5 hr nap before riding to work again. And guess what. I felt great both days despite the lack of sleep. Mind you, I forgot to set my alarm next night, and overslept. But I only slept a total of 8 hrs

(YVR not co-operating, it's busy & I am having to work)

Fri 21 sept - the party/fun/games begin, the kick-off for Velomutation/Velofest etc. was the "Bike Porn" night. (add more later)