Saturday, May 17, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Bike Bike Bike...
...was Rad Rad Rad. (Anglo/German pun). Saturday May 10th. OK, I didn't go to all the events as my elbow was acting up. But there was polo and bike games, specifically mini-bike games. I really wanted to be there, but discretion is the better part of valour. So I prepped myself for the movie night/dance party at The Chair Factory. The said same Chair Factory of other bike events, most notably the Mini-bike "Thunderdome" of Velomutations 2006 (see "Six Drink Rule" for more details, & check youtube for videos).
As usual, The Chair Factory didn't disappoint. First it was the bike movie shorts, as compiled by Ranae. There was quite the mix of older and newer stuff. Those old 'public service announcement' 'educational' ones are funny, in a bizarre way. I really liked "Tag" with (now "our own") Khaled Ben-Rabha, and of course the B:C:Clettes vs. Sexy Back video. I've seen their "Sexy Back" routine before, but the video has a new twist to it. Really cool.
Now, the dance party. I suspended the "Six Drink Rule", and when the dancing started I had only had one 'Spark', and was starting on my second. I don't recall when the dancing started, but I didn't stop until 03:15-ish. I spent the next 1/2 hr (abouts) casually picking up cans & glasses (and there were a lot of them!!!). Then I left. I checked my watch just before I went to get my bike, and it was 03:45. Then I very slowly rode to work (both because I didn't want to get there too soon and because my legs were bagged from jumping about almost non-stop for some 5.5 hours, or whatever it was).
Riding the bike route on E 10th Ave west of Clark Dr was pretty cool. The cherry blossoms were falling like giant pink snowflakes. They were all over the road and cars, and in the air.
I arrived at work an hour & change early. The morning was mostly OK. I had periods of chipperness, and some periods of extreme exhaustion, but I got through it without any mishaps or errors.
As usual, The Chair Factory didn't disappoint. First it was the bike movie shorts, as compiled by Ranae. There was quite the mix of older and newer stuff. Those old 'public service announcement' 'educational' ones are funny, in a bizarre way. I really liked "Tag" with (now "our own") Khaled Ben-Rabha, and of course the B:C:Clettes vs. Sexy Back video. I've seen their "Sexy Back" routine before, but the video has a new twist to it. Really cool.
Now, the dance party. I suspended the "Six Drink Rule", and when the dancing started I had only had one 'Spark', and was starting on my second. I don't recall when the dancing started, but I didn't stop until 03:15-ish. I spent the next 1/2 hr (abouts) casually picking up cans & glasses (and there were a lot of them!!!). Then I left. I checked my watch just before I went to get my bike, and it was 03:45. Then I very slowly rode to work (both because I didn't want to get there too soon and because my legs were bagged from jumping about almost non-stop for some 5.5 hours, or whatever it was).
Riding the bike route on E 10th Ave west of Clark Dr was pretty cool. The cherry blossoms were falling like giant pink snowflakes. They were all over the road and cars, and in the air.
I arrived at work an hour & change early. The morning was mostly OK. I had periods of chipperness, and some periods of extreme exhaustion, but I got through it without any mishaps or errors.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Not Missing
Just in case you checked here to see if I am missing or not, no, I'm not missing. (Although some people missed me, I was missing to them...... whatever). What is missing is my free-spirit. OK, it isn't actually "missing", but it is being depressed by the weight of all the people asking me what happened. It is tiring me out. I went away to recharge my batteries, and all this nonsense is making me want to go away again! So. if you read this, don't ask or e-mail me anything about it! I will recommend as an alternative that you watch the "Bat for Lashes" video "What's a Girl to Do?"
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
I too have a cunning plan.
So, even though I usually don't post anything when I am on the hinternet, I do check the blog stats. One thing has piqued my interest is the number of people who find this blog by Googling "ways to lessen my ecological footprint", or words to that effect. However, these people don't seem to be that interested in following through with their searches, because most of them click out after just a few seconds, and don't check out the link on ways to reduce it nor the link on measuring one's carbon/ecological footprint. Most unusual. Thus I have decided I need to come up with some eye-catching way to get them to look at that for which they are looking. (Isn't proper grammar fun!!). Perhaps some racy pictures with overlaid text. I'll have to work on this one for a bit. I'm also working on a piece about cycling clothing, that is to say clothes one wears whilst cycling. Some people think spandex/lycra wearers scare away average people from riding bikes, thinking that they too need to wear the stuff and they might not want to do so. I say this is bullshit, but more on this later. What I'm writing will be fairly lengthy (I've already started it) when finished.
How about a floodplain map of the Lower Mainland, for a start. OK, just for fun, here is a Sasquatch mask (Bukwas).
How about a floodplain map of the Lower Mainland, for a start. OK, just for fun, here is a Sasquatch mask (Bukwas).
Monday, February 25, 2008
No Real Change
So, work is the same, unfortunately, as no new trained dispatcher. I had 2 days off the week before last, but only 1 day last week, and this week will get only 1 day off. This really is a drag. Too tired to do much of anything else, missing Mini Bike Winter (I had to wait until Saturday to check the interweb to see what people had put up about it. Too PO'd about missing it all). From all the accounts it appears that it truly was an epic year.
On Saturday after work I went to Kits (well, Broadway & Balaclava) to get coffee for David, then decided to ride East. Hah! Racing traffic is fun. But cripes! I hit nearly every traffic light/pedestrian controlled intersection on the amber too late to blow it, so it was more of traffic leap-frogging. But I still was faster than the cars. This one particular Honda Element was trying to beat me (I could see it as the guy looked at me as he went by, and then I looked at him as I past him 2 blocks later. This was repeated several times until I left him for good at Willow. A little later I stopped in at MEC, as I thought there was something there that I wanted but could not remember. I saw Ted at the bike counter and he invited me to his "Beerbecue" that evening. I accepted (a little R&R never hurt), plus I remembered the items & purchased them. Later on at the beerbecue some of us were looking at some MBW pics on the web. Yeah, I really missed out. It sucks big time. So I hope to get lots of time off after a new dispatcher is hired/trained so I can do some fun stuff. Perhaps the PDX'ers will go to Maryhill WA soon, that would make a good road trip.
Tried to watch a travel show (while working) on Melbourne (thinking of you BN) on TV. Of course that is when things got busy so I couldn't see much of it.
On Saturday after work I went to Kits (well, Broadway & Balaclava) to get coffee for David, then decided to ride East. Hah! Racing traffic is fun. But cripes! I hit nearly every traffic light/pedestrian controlled intersection on the amber too late to blow it, so it was more of traffic leap-frogging. But I still was faster than the cars. This one particular Honda Element was trying to beat me (I could see it as the guy looked at me as he went by, and then I looked at him as I past him 2 blocks later. This was repeated several times until I left him for good at Willow. A little later I stopped in at MEC, as I thought there was something there that I wanted but could not remember. I saw Ted at the bike counter and he invited me to his "Beerbecue" that evening. I accepted (a little R&R never hurt), plus I remembered the items & purchased them. Later on at the beerbecue some of us were looking at some MBW pics on the web. Yeah, I really missed out. It sucks big time. So I hope to get lots of time off after a new dispatcher is hired/trained so I can do some fun stuff. Perhaps the PDX'ers will go to Maryhill WA soon, that would make a good road trip.
Tried to watch a travel show (while working) on Melbourne (thinking of you BN) on TV. Of course that is when things got busy so I couldn't see much of it.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Energy Level
Energy Level IIII In words, going down. I'm really bagged from doing extra work. Week 3 of six days/week as somebody got fired (for misconduct). The really bad part is this might effect my plans for attending Mini Bike Winter V!!!! I'll probably have to find my own relief instead of just getting the time off as before.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
R.A.D. (Ride Art Drink)
No, this is not a recap, but just saying that my pictures are up on my photobucket album RAD. You can follow the link to the right, or if that is toooo hard, just click here.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, December 10, 2007
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.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, November 12, 2007
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.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
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.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
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!.
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!.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
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.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
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)
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)
Saturday, October 27, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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 .
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 .
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