one cyclist's adventures through the urban jungle

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Footwear

After 3 years in service, many miles, too many soakings, not enough thorough dryings I have retired my Sidi shoes as the top shoe for my feet. They smelled like death. They are rotting, I'm sure of it. At the moment, I have them perched in a windowsill to hopefully get exposed to the SUn's bleaching rays. In a few days I think I'll soak them in a hot water + baking soda then air dry (with a fan) and back in the Sun. Bombarding them with some rubbing alcohol might be good too as it will stop future generations of bacteria from getting started. Obviously, I'd like to keep the Sidis around as option B. They've given me a lot of miles, I'll give them some love.

One of my flaws is that I often ride bare foot. Not having the sock in there to act as a barrier between foot and shoe . With the new shoes I vow to ride sock'd.

After trying on a few different shoes I opted for a pair of Diadora X-Trail Evos, a mountain biking shoe with a sole that has very thick tread. The shoes were quite comfortable, and seemed to be well made. They've got a ratchet adjustment that keeps things nice and tight to your foot. I've steered clear of the ratchet before in fear of getting stuck in it, but I've never heard any stories about it so I figure I'm safe. The thicker lugs come in handy when I'm off the bike and wandering around as my cleats won't grind on the ground non-stop.

I've only just got the cleats on the new shoes today so I don't have much of a review so far. Once I get a few rides in, I'll see how it goes.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!

Outside of bicycles and beer, lurks something else that is very important. It's not love, or bail money, rather its food. Amy of trithinkingpink fame has allied with some of her triathlete friends to form a new blog centered around food. There are plenty of delicious recipes to come, I'm sure. Rumor has it that some of mine will be transposed. While I can't condone triathleticism, I do enjoy a good meal. Czech it out: http://www.racing4waffles.blogspot.com/

Sunday, March 22, 2009

MMS - Monkey Maintenance Session

I did a Monkey Maintenace Session yesterday and installed the Sugino XD cranks. Old BB was right size and still had lots of life (long live the UN-52 or was it 53) so it stayed. After 4 years of one 170mm and one 175mm crank arm that stuck out differing lengths, I can now say that everything matches and sticks out equally!

The other part of the maintenance was to begin operation dinglespeed. I kept the 38T Surly SSSS ring (stainless steel single speed) and used the 36T ring from the Suginos. On the stern of the bike I have an 18T and 20T freewheel so a flip of the flip-flop (bustin' out lyrics straight from hip hop) results in not having to adjust the brakes. With the Nanoraptor tires in place those combos are pretty good.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

soundtrack 2009-03-17 - 2009-03-19

Typical few days, with music across the map. I've realized I don't know the name to a lot of songs so this may turn into band listings. For the past few days:

Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
No Use For a Name - Loaded Gun
Josh Ritter - Minds Eye

Monday, March 16, 2009

Soundtracks

I think I threatened in the past to start doceumenting the mental soundtrack that goes through my head as I ride (its not just screaming, honest). Lets see how long I can make it. Let's see how often certain songs repeat - I know there are favorites.

home: The Yoko Casionos - Cameras On

the grass has almost ris

I'm saving the "It's been a long time..." post.

"blah blah blah"

Spring is in the air - most of the time - these days in Vancouver, but I'm not convinced its here to stay. yet. It feels as if any given day it will just start snowing, and yesterday it did. Today I rode in a light rain the whole way to work, on the way home it rained and blowed off and on - I felt threatened with snow. It was good though, no snow, not that wet when I got home.