commutist

Scottish Drivetrain

2009-05-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

A year ago I put a new chain on my Marinoni. It skipped ike mad over the cassette so I just put the old chain on (and committed the sin of re-using the chain pin) and figured I'd squeak a few more miles out of the whole works. Then winter came and went (along with the abrasive road grit). and still the drivetrain worked well. When Spring hit, I started wondering how much life it had left, but things were still very smooth with pedalling and shifting. There was one gear that it consistently missed on the downshift. No big deal.

On my way to work a few weeks my chain decided enough was enough. "I'm outta here." It said. "I'll be inside grabbing a Coke."

There I sat, outside the Richmond Coca-Cola factory removing the broken chainlink, shortening my chain and getting good and greasy. 10s of thousands of miles I've carried a chainbreaker. Today I got to use it on the side of the road.

The original Campagnolo Veloce drivetrain lasted me 10000+ km (I reckon 12) before it decided to pass. And yes, if you are curious, the pin that broke was the pin that I re-used.

Ride Locally. Shop Glob...Locally?

2009-04-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

An interesting set of articles and opinions regarding shopping at your LBS vs Online Retailers are popping up on the blogosphere at the moment. The argument has been had or will be had in every industry buy it online for cheap or locally for more, but (hopefully) get better service. Its a tough choice to make as a consumer - but, then again, why should it be hard for consumer?

I spread my bike related dollars out to some degree. Local shops get the majority of my money - I can walk in, they remember my name, know what I like, give me trustworthy advice and don't BS me. I'm lucky that there are plenty of LBSs in Vancouver and that I've found one (plus a few backups) that I can count on for goods.

I've bought some things online too. Generally I have researched the bejeepers out of said part online and found a good deal or some other perk that makes it make complete sense to buy from the Interwebs. I've yet to go to a physical shop, ask a pile of questions about doohickey X (and or Y) and then go buy it online. If I thought I was getting screwed on price at LBS, I'd see what wiggle room there was, but I wouldn't appreciate being kicked in the junk like that if I were the LBS. Sometimes buying things from the US, as a Canadian gives you the benefit of a favorable exchange or the ability to take advantage of lower prices due to better distributor pricing.

In Canada there exists a not-to-be-named group of active, outdoor stores that sell some cycling related gear. Tools, consumable type parts, clothing etc. I buy from them too, at least some bits anyways. Over the years they've made more things available to their members/customers, probably because they kept getting requests for more parts. Because of their size and business model the stores have some items for prices that I am sure are below wholesale cost to most shops. I don't go their for advice or for maintenance, but I'll go grab a few things that I don't need to be sold to me and continue on my way.

So-called brick and mortar stores of all types have a lot of hard work ahead of them - haven't they always? Be savvy, but try to get comfortable with some local shops. Chances are you need them more than your other options than you may realize. At the same time, appreciate that you have several choices. There is a balance to be had with relationships and value. The cost of something can be more than just the price.

New Route

2009-04-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

On Sunday when Eileen and I were traipsing around the city - me trying to determine if the asthma was going do me in - we stumbled upon a new route for me to take to work. Ironically the route is really just an extension of the bike route that passes down our street! I've only taken it so far...until Sunday. I've been using it all week so far and it is pretty quiet. There's one spot where people seemed to be rather stunned, but its really only one block, better than the several blocks of the other route.
One of the bonuses of cycling to work (or anywhere) is the ality to mix up the route every now and then. For a year now I've missed an entire neighborhood, complete with sleepy streets. I wonder what else I am missing?

soundtrack 2009-04-08

2009-04-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

Interesting mental playlist today.

Biohazard - Judgement Night
Biohazard - Tales fromt the Hard Side
Drive-By Truckers - Outfit

On the way home:
Jill Barber - For All Time

soundtrack - 2009-04-06,07

2009-04-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

David Myles - When it Comes My Turn
...went to see Jill Barber on Saturday night. David Myles was the opening act. Phenomenal, both of them.

Snuffleupagus

2009-04-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

Last week I put the bike away and dealt with a allergy-related cold. For the first time in many years my asthma kicked in to gear to make the matters worse. I haven't needed to use my inhaler like that for, no-joke, 15 years.

Anyways I claim to be mostly through all of that. I still have a lingering cough and my sinuses still enjoy be clogged most of the time (that's typical for the spring) but my energy is up and I'm back on the bike.

On Sunday Eileen and I took a tour around the city for a few hours, I was hoping to ride the 100km Pacific Populaire this year but didn't want to push my luck. Dang.

As of yesterday I've recommenced riding to work, flinging snot rockets as I go. Today I was thanked by a guy on a recumbent for 'shoulder checking before unleashing', No problem.
Its been very sunny out the past few days - its great being able to get some much needed vitamin D.

Footwear

2009-03-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

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.

NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!

2009-03-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

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/

MMS - Monkey Maintenance Session

2009-03-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2009-03-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

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

Soundtracks

2009-03-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

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.

rail trail

2008-05-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

My daily ride to work runs near a pretty long stretch of abandoned railway track. Last year a fellow commuter suggest that I try riding it as part of my route. I rode parts of it a few times and didn't give it much thought. A few weeks back I was feeling my lack of off-road riding and figured some gravel trails would be good medicine. The bike has skinny slicks on it these days so they are not the best for off-roading it, but they are holding up fine. On the way to work I stick to the roads, but on the way home I manage to sneak in a several km stretch of singletrack. The singletrack route, if anything is faster than the roads because there is not a lot of road crossings and you don't always have to be on the lookout for vehicles. At the moment I am considering putting some bigger tires on the bike to take the harshness out of the ride, but I am happy being able to spin along on the road and do quite well on the trail.

braking news - Avid BB7

2008-02-24T15:47:00.000-08:00

So I'd heard a lot about the Avid BB7s and there relative cats-arsedness when it comes to mechanical disk brakes on bicycles. When I had my Marinoni built up I made sure I spec'd them (they were the spec anyway). The bike came fully assembled for me so I played no part in the installation. The brakes worked out of the box with no problems, no squeeling. They were awesome. Last summer when I crashed the rear caliper was loosened. I played around with them a bit and got them re-tightened on my own without putting much thought to it. I figured they were fine.

Really, by all accounts they were fine but I didn't line up the pads perfectly so I ended up wearing down the pads a wee bit unevenly and they wore out prematurely. My rotor seemed to be fine thoughout this ordeal, I was a bit concerned that I had wrecked it too. So far so good.
Instead of dumping the bike at the shop to have them change the pads, I figured I might aswell learn how to change the pads myself. I'd read that it was an idiotproof process. Enter me.
I had the old pads out, purchased a new pair and figured I was 5 minutes away from having aligned and full strength braking once again. Not quite. What I didn't realize was that I had bent the pad retention clip (not the spring, but the little clip inside the caliper) and it was forcing the outboard pad to be off center). I fiddled around with the caliper, the spring, the pads for a few hours before I took everything apart and started from scratch, complete with the help of the manual from SRAM (I find there website to generally be horrible, but they do have a good service section). Oh, I opened a beer too. That always helps, though never really speeds the process up any.

Eventually I got it, got the pads in properly then trued the caliper to the rotor, tightened the cable and I was laughing.

I have no problem getting my LBS to do work on my bike, but I really try to do as much work on my bikes as possible so that when I am stuck miles from nowhere and something breaks, I'll have an idea how to fix it. Disk brakes were a new thing to me so much like figuring out how to adjust the pads on my cantilever brakes in my early teens, I needed to take the time to figure out the BB7s. Now that I have been through it once I am confident that future pad changes and adjustments will take minutes.

The Avid BB7 disk brakes really are a dream to use. The power is excellent, the wet-weather performance is great. They pair well with my Campagnolo Veloce levers, and they really are dead easy to adjust, install and maintain, at least after you get a chance to learn how they work.

More on Sheldon Brown

2008-02-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

Grant Petersen over at Rivendell has a great story about Sheldon Brown up on their news page. I have read countless postings this week with everyone's personal message about him. There is no doubt that the cycling community has suffered a tremendous loss.

Ride some miles for Mr. Brown

2008-02-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Eileen and I were traipsing around the neighborhood in search of avocados to make some guacamole. She pointed to the rear wheel of an old Raleigh and noted it was kind of different looking. I explained that it was an old internal geared hub and thought about telling her about that 'guy' on the internet that raved about them and still sold hard to find parts to keep them ticking.

That 'guy' was none other Sheldon Brown (aka CaptBike), one of cycling's greatest resources. It was with much sadness that I learned that Sheldon Brown passed away yesterday. We'll miss you.

been a long time coming

2008-01-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

I have never been much of a person to make new years resolutions and I am not really about to start. I have been thinking a lot about the blog, or lack thereof, for a while now. I have composed many posts in my mind. Titles like "I can't believe I rode without decent lights for so long", " I (heart) messenger bags", "Rain Gear: friend or foe?", "Care and feeding of your mechanic". The list goes on. I suppose it is time to get off my arse and start typing.

I have been doing a lot of riding though, that is good. My girlfriend has been getting plenty of miles in aswell. Her trusty Jake the Snake is doing quite well. This year, along with getting in more miles than ever, we are planning on doing some light touring. The idea of spending several days on the bikes is appealing to both of us. In the meantime, the daily spin to work is pretty nice too.

Back on the horse!!!

2007-08-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

My Karate Monkey might not appreciate being referred to as a horse, but it suits the metaphor. Plus, I consider it a noble steed.

Last week I got back to riding to and from work on a regular basis. Since my accident I had been using a combination of buses, driving and sneaking rides from coworkers. Not no mo'. Until then my shoulder (which took the brunt of a minivan hit) was too sore to ride for very long on. I have been slowly rebuilding the strength in it and the stiffness is going away.

As my new bike (that I received around the same time as the blog went on hiatus) is in the hospital still, I am back to my tried, tested and true Surly Karate Monkey and its one speed. When the new bike arrived I still rode the KM off and on, but I was starting to get used to the non-single life. Getting back to the SS reality has been a welcome change. Not riding SS for very far in the last two months coupled with a further 3 weeks of no riding, the rather low 38x16 gearing on the Monkey has been whooping me back into riding form quickly. I passed a roadie going up a hill today, that is always a good sign.

bikes are replaceable

2007-08-16T21:08:00.001-07:00

Cyclists are not.

I am just going to pretend like nothing happened to the blog. Pretend like I didn't miss posting for 3 months.

I'd really like to pretend that one of my closest friends, Amy, didn't call me last weekend to tell me that she was okay but just got out of emergency after going over the bars , cracking her helmet and getting some not so tasty road rash.

I'd like to pretend that I didn't get hit by that minivan 3 weeks ago when a driver failed to give me the right of way in a traffic circle (blog irony perhaps) and hit me.

I can't pretend that any of the above did or did not happen, whichever is the case. I am happy to still be riding, I could have been killed. Amy is happy to be healing up too. Neither of us are happy that our bikes are both possibly ruined.

I am happy to be back on the blog too.

Ride of Silence

2007-05-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

In cities all around the world cyclists gather for group rides. Vancouver has all sorts from the international, to the local, to the specific and local. If I ever get my new bike, I may even try to get my own going.

As cyclists, we all love to ride. As commuters, we all ride on the streets with cars. This bike-car relationship can be rocky sometimes. Sometimes people get hurt, sometimes people get killed. Enter the Ride of Silence, a group ride that exists to remind the world that roadways are here to be shared, to remind people that cyclists can easily be hurt or killed on the road by motor vehicles.

The Ride of Silence has spread its wings to cover many cities in its 5 year tenure, a list of locations complete with information is is provided on their site. In Vancouver, the local site is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rideofsilence/ and the details for the ride are:

Meet at Grandview Park at 7:00 on Thursday May 17th 2007. The riding pace will be easy and last about an hour, ending downtown the way it will start: in silence.

Some new literature

2007-04-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

I have a hard time finding good bike mags. Dirt Rag and Singletrack are about the best 'big publications' that I'll read. I long gave up MBA and Mountain Bike. Bicycling never really did it for me. Matt Chester has been taking forever to get out all of the first edition of 700See so I haven't bothered sending him any money. Cranked looks like a worthwhile publication, I intend to send a few dollars down to Washington State to find out - looks like a safe gamble to me. Otherwise I stick to the web for my dose of bike-readin'.

Today on commutebybike they mentioned that Urban Cyclist has just released issue#1. Limited edtion of print, but, are you ready, for this? You can download the whole issue for free. PIYIYW (print it yourself if you want). I have given it a quick read, it looks good. Check it out. Also let me know about Cranked if'n you've read it.

The return

2007-04-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

S oI hopped on the fixed monkey today after about a 10 day hiatus from riding (...out of town see below) Ugh, I wasn't the fastest Johnny on the bike route this morning but it felt great to be out in the morning air. I was up a bit earlier today so I headed to work about a half an hour earlier than usual. To no surprise I didn't leave any earlier...
On the way home I ran into one of my usuals, well at least a guy I see every 6 months or so. Until today he had a Johnny-name, the name I give to people who I don't know. The format is like Johnny Red-Shirt, such that the last name has to describe the person. Anyways this gentleman always comments on my singlespeededness and I usually ask about his efforts in doing the Trans-Rockies race which he has told me about. He met some fellas that did it singlespeed last year, that's nuts. The race is something obscene like 600km in 7 days in the rockies. Today we talked shop - racing mainly (a bit of work talk too), but he gave me the heads up on a local race that is starting this summer. One that looks really cool, cause it starts in my back yard, the BC Bike Race, a race from Victoria to Whistler. That looks pretty sweet, I'll have to keep my ear to the ground about its goings-on. I ain't been racin' fer some time, I just might have to do a cross race this fall though.
Back to the commuting aspect of this post - ahem, where was I - so the cool part about this was that although I took my sweet-arsed time getting to work this morning, on the way home I got to ride and talk about 2/3rds of the way home and it seemed like no time at all, plus I took the long way home. Time flies when you are talking bikes.

whoa, what happened there?

2007-04-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Sweet, so I made it about a month before disappearing for two weeks, that was longer than I expected. I'll just have to start blogging from work. ha.
Actually, I was out of town for about a week - just got back from the Souther US. Tucson AZ to be more precise. Before I left I learned that Tucson is a pretty bike-friendly city. With 360(!!!) sunny days every year, it'd be hard not to ride in that town. My first morning out in the city I was wayyy early for my appointment so I took a drive around town to check things out. FIrst bike I saw was a Surly 1x1. I knew that Tucson would be a cool town from that moment on. There were bike lanes all over the place in the city and on secondary highways out of town. A friend I made during my stay showed me the UofA Campus; it was loaded with bike racks and a multitude of bikes showed that they were well used.
On one of my adventures through the area I took a drive (sucks that I didn't have a bike) out of town towards Saguaro Natl Park East which involves taking a trip over a small mountain pass. The road seemed to be pretty popular amongst the roadies, I saw many packs of them out in the hot sun. Where there weren't painted off bike lanes there was signage to remind drivers about what was going on.

I don't know how they do it in that temperature, I'd be dead. It was well over 30deg C and it was only the end of April.

All in all, Tucson seems like a pretty good place to ride a bike.

car door'd, pain you can't afford

2007-04-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

I have had a few close calls with car doors, never been hit. In all cases myself or the driver has corrected the problem before things got messy. Always keep an eye open for signs of a driver about to escape. Watch for lights turning off, check for heads in drivers seats - anticipate their movements. Slow down if you aren't sure. If the lane is free, move over a bit don't ride in the door zone.

In BC it is the person swinging the door that is at fault if a cyclist gets hit. When a cyclist gets hit by a door, it doesn't matter who's fault it is - the cyclist is already hurt, or worse. Try to avoid the problem. If you do get hit and feel fine, don't be quick to brush yourself off and ride away. Get the drivers info, file a police report, see a doctor if need be. You may feel fine in the present, but that might change when the adrenaline wears off.

trouble a brewin'

2007-04-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

The Karate Monkey got wind this week that, probably within the next few weeks there would be a new bike in the apartment. The Karate Monkey isn't too happy about it. "Gears!?" it says. Then it came back with this image and rode off into the darkness.
It is going to be a rough few weeks when the new bike arrives. It'll mellow out after a while - I hope.

I am not a messenger

2007-04-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

nor am I a posenger, but I don't really care about what I am not.... anyways.

Besides lugging my clothes to work day in day out, I don't often carry much else (what I carry is another post). Today I had to make a few stops so I had to do some hauling. First I packed my lock, which I don't usually carry as my bike sits in the machine shop at work, then headed out. First stop was my 'old' office with which my company is now separated from. We still like to borrow tools from each other though and I was in search of a 1/4" NPT die which I did not find. weak. So after a few minutes of chit chat with old friends and coworkers I was on my way. This stop was on my way, but I got to take a different route for a while -always a nice change. I rode by my LBS and shook my fist at it for not having my bike in yet and continued past a friend headed in the opposite direction. Stop 2 was at Home Depot for some plumbing supplies. Have you ever tried to find a place to lock your bike at Home Depot? No, didn't think so. I ended up using some temporary fencing as an anchor. I guess they don't get too many people in there buying drywall and loading it onto their xtracycles. After Home Depot it was off to work via some previously unexplored territory.

Using my bike as my vehicle to run errands for work is particularily liberating. Most of the things I deal with comes from afar or in great quantity so the chance to pick up a few wee things here and there is nice.

On the way home I noticed a friend's truck parked on the road near his house - a sign that he was back in town. A quick call revealed that he was not home, rather at school finishing up a paper. My attempts at extorting beer from him had failed. I could have resorted to B&E and theft I suppose. Instead I continued on. A handful of blocks from my house is a liquor store. I figured since I was hauling my lock around I would stop in for a visit. Ten minutes later I left with a bottle of red wine, a 6-pack and a 'big beer' (the essentials) which I proceeded to stuff into my messenger bag on top of my clothes. It all fit. Sweet.

All in all a great day for riding. The differences that a lock and a few places to go can make....

Side note: posting title provided by shirts that used to be available from Dustin at Cadence.

MEC merino wool longsleeve lovin'

2007-04-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

My early childhood experiences with wool scream itchiness and fullblown states of discomfort.

So what?

For Christmas of 2005 my parents bought me a pair of MEC merino wool lightweight long underwear bottoms. I had a sneaking suspicion I that I wouldn't use them, so I brought 'em back and exchanged them for the same garment, only in upper form. It's been 15 months of bliss.

I have worn the shirt year round, it regulates temperature really well. In the winter I wear it sometimes under a thin fleece (perhaps another review) but often I can get by with it just under a jacket; my windbreaker when it isn't pouring rain, or my rain-jacket when it (almost always) is (as if it will NEVER stop). In the summer i wear it on its own; its perfect for the early morning chill and in the afternoon I just hike up the sleeves. There is just the right amount of elasticity in the very fine wool fibres, that it doesn't feel too tight when I bunch up the sleeves to my elbows, and they stay put.

Another, most excellent, feature of this shirt (and anything made out of wool in general): ZERO STANK. It takes a fair bit of abuse to get this thing smelling bad. If I wear most of my wicking tops for more than 2 days, the smell factor approaches unbearable; after 1 day they usually hit anti-social. My wooly little friend, on the other hand, can be worn for days without any sign of stink. I am not too easy on my stuff, but I do hang it up to dry at work and most of the time it gets hung up or draped over something at home at night. It wicks moisture incredibly well, I have watched beads of water form on the outside surface on a few occasions, it look like the fibres pull the water out. In anticipation of this post I wore it on my daily (45+ minute each way) commute for 7 days, generally under a windbreaker, always with my Chrome bag there to make for some moderate back-sweat conditions PLUS I wore it on a 10 hour hike/snowshoe trip over the weekend. After the first 4 days (before hiking) it still smelt fine, I could even smell detergent in some areas. I eventually gave up, but after all of that it still wasn't any worse than a regular synthetic shirt after a few hours of use.

The garment is pretty bare bones, which I like. No neck zippers, no pockets front or back, no extra length in the back to cover your stern; just a basic crew cut fit (wear them on the snug/tight side otherwise they don't wick or keep you warm).

As you can see, I love this garment. Year-round functionality, able to go the distance between washings, very nice cut (I find MEC stuff to be very hit an miss on garment fit) and fashionably neutral (I gots the black one). The price is right too; under $65 for something of this quality is cheap, err.. I mean inexpensive. Highly recommended and easily one of my favorite pieces of clothing, cycling specific or otherwise.

...

Baaaaaaa

If there ain't brakes...

2007-04-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

Karma may have caught up to me today. During my ride to work, into the Sun, i heard a 'tink' as I rode over a metal object. The glare was great enough that I wouldn't have really seen anything on the road to begin with so I just kept riding - uphill. Eventually I got to a major intersection requiring some stoppage.

whoa nelly

My rear brake lever engaged - pas de problem. My front brake lever seemed to be AWOL though. &^%$! the bolt must have loosened, fallen out, leaving my lever to just plop out.

so that's what that noise was 8 or so blocks back.

Needless to say, I turned around and went on the hunt. I have Magura HS33 brakes, so the lever is pretty much only attached by the one bolt. There are obviously no cables to hold onto it. Thanks to the little red, pad adjustment knobby, I found it pretty easy. The bolt was nowhere to be found though. I pocketed the lever and rode on, wounded. Luckily, I ran into a buddy a few minutes later, who invited me over for some beers - that is a bonus that would not have come if my decellerator had not come apart.

I managed to rig up a fix for the brake at work (thank you bag o' mixed screws) and was fully repaired for the ride home. Having only a rear brake sucks, I would much rather have the front (which gives you loads more stopping power) if I were to only have one. For a while on my singlespeed I used only a front brake - it was fine. When I ride fixed, I sometimes use a rear, but it s not at all necessary. I just use my legs and a front brake for fixed. Sure, there is always the chance of doing the fear'd over-the-bars journey, but I highly recommend getting to know your front brake. Find out how hard you can brake before endoing. Find that combo of speed and body position (the further back and lower you are the less likely to go over the bars). It may come in handy when some Johnny cuts you off in his racecar.

On a side note - I have been listening to a lot of Silversun Pickups recently. It may be that I am pumped for their concert in a few weeks, but they are a wicked band. They were my mental soundtrack on the ride home, fully braked. Listen to them, they are good. Check out the bassist too, she is wicked cute.

guilty pleasures

2007-04-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

My commuting bike at the moment is a singlespeed, it's been the bike that I've ridden for 99% of all my kilometers (that's like 99.5% of all my miles) in the past two years. Obviously I am a big fan, but I must admit to having a geared bike on order. Not as a replacement, but as a compliment to my stable.

This week while riding I will admit to smiling at two things that maybe I shouldn't have:

On one occasion I saw two cyclists at a traffic light, one all singlespeeded up (perhaps fixed?) the other geared to the heavens. Both of them were itching to take-off at the first sight of green light. As the light turned green, the geared fellow clanked and thumped as his chain stumbled to engage on his cassette. In the meantime, the one-speedified chap pedaled smoothly through the intersection. Yeah....
On Friday during the ride home I passed a guy on an electric scooter/moped contraption.

With singlespeeds, you never miss a shift and with 38x16 gearing you don't win too many drag races on flat, paved roads.

ears back

2007-04-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

This probably isn't the only cycling website that you read, so this may very well be old news. I've seen it in a number of places, but I am not regurgitating it because I have nothing else to talk about. I will repeat it because it concerns everyone, especially those of us that ride our bikes.

A few weeks back a City of Toronto Councillor made a comment regarding bicycle lanes that just happens to be the most asinine, ignorant thing I have heard in a long time.

"I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day."

-Rob Ford,Toronto City Councillor

I had to bang my head against my desk for a while when I read this.

Apparently this isn't his first statement devoid of reasoning. It looks like there are more. That is not my concern at the moment. Right now I am concerned that someone in Mr. Ford's position has not only no idea of the laws of his own Province, but also that he can assert guilt to cyclists that are killed on the road. Mr. Ford, my heart bleeds for people like you who do not have a care in the world for the rights of other humans.

Rob Ford's email address is plastered all over the Internet. If you're concerned, do let him know how you feel. It would be easy to send him a sting of profanities, but don't do that. We're more intelligent than that.

if you have to ask

2007-03-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

The weather in Vancouver continues to eat at the soul of its inhabitants. Thursday and Friday were particularily miserable with lots of wind, rain and chilly (for this time of the year) temperatures. I won't lie, I opted to NOT ride. I wasn't emotionally ready for it so I resorted to other means. Call it weakness, I call it spending quality time with my iPod on the bus.

A few months back in Dirt Rag, there was a wicked one-pager titled Bikakure: The Book of the Commuter. It states:

"The Way of the Commuter is found in riding. When the question is whether to ride or not, the answer is always to ride. The Way of the Commuter places emphasis on many qualities, including loyalty, self-sacrifice, justice, sense of shame, refined manners, purity, modesty, frugality, commuting spirit, honor and affection."

This online version of it seems to date back to 2005, I am glad they finally put it into print. Anyways on Thursday/Friday I didn't even ask myself whether or not to ride, I just said F it, and went on my way. I adopted the if you have to ask... policy in January, I like it. You just have to be weary about when you ask yourself whether or not to get on your bike cause it isn't always what you want to hear!

To make up for a few miserable days, I went out on a good ride today to blow some steam off and get some vitamin D from my friend the Sun. More on that ride later.

It's a hard rain

2007-03-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

It was damn cold today, considering spring is supposedly sprung. It was spitting rain on the ride home, except for the parts of my journey where it was &^%$ing hailing. It wasn't very big hail, I guess it was more like freezing rain. It stung though. damn.

Nothing to note during the ride yesterday unless you count the two dudes (I am assuming teenager, I am assuming mildly intoxicated) sitting on newspaper boxes at Granville and 10th who were waving to cars, trying to get big trucks to honk, by doing the proper hand motions, and belting out the lyrics to Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back. That's right - All you other brothers can't deny. That was fitting, my mental iPod has been playing lots of rap and hip-hop during the rides. The Roots being the major plaver.

I have talked to a few more people about the group ride and started a draft email. I should get that out in a few days. I figure I'll do a write-up about a piece of gear that I like soon too (ideally to become a regular occurence) I teenk I'll start with my Chrome bag or my MEC wool longsleeve.

Weekend group ride

2007-03-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days I have been talking to some people's about trying to set up a group ride for a bunch of us cyclist-types that are not affiliated with any serious riding clubs. Weeknights are usually packed for any one particular person so we have been thinking a weekend ride. Weekend rides can easily interfere with hangovers so I am thinking a ride a bit later in the morning, maybe 10:00ish, ride for a few hours (pace to be moderate), then hit up food (pints) afterwards. The routes will be decided on the fly, people can ride at their own pace, the night before can be sweat out. Yeah, something like that.

To be honest, unless I could think up a good title for a ride like this, I wouldn't even mention the idea here. I spent my entire ride home trying to think up something witty. What did I come up with? I am sort of thinking Tour De'toxification or as the Italians would say Giro De'toxification. If this ends up being the name, I fully expect someone to show up with detox in a bento box (triathletes I am pointing at you).

Stay tuned.

ready to come out

2007-03-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

I am not sure that I am ready to open up about this. Posts so far aren't all that brilliant and aren't exactly plentiful. The layout has made leaps and bounds and is good enough for now, but looks only go so far. Maybe if I put the word out, I'll get some feedback, some "cool"s some "wtf"s. Will my non-bike-nerd friends understand? Will my bike-nerd friends care?

I have made attempts at blogs with friends before. We never made it that far but we talked about it a lot. For some time I have thought about starting a plain and simple, how-to-fix-your-bike when 'x' happens website - a directory of sorts, something to take the fear out of riding and maintaining your bicycle. I think I'll incorporate that idea into this blog, do some step-by-steps and when necessary provide links to those that have already done it and documented it (no doubt with more gusto than me). I also intend to share my stories of the daily grind and other bicycle related shenanigans. This is my soap box, complete with clipless pedals mounted to it. There will no doubt be posts about music and beer too. These items go hand in hand with cycling as it pertains to my life.

Cycling has been a major part of my life for some time and I believe that any bike that gets people out riding and allows people to enjoy the sport in any facet is a good thing. My take on cycling will be different from others, perhaps different from the norm and maybe occasionally beyond what you think is sane.

I think I can do this.

But I am not ready to tell my parents.

the (traffic) circle of commuting life

2007-03-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

The city of Vancouver has a pretty big hard on for putting up traffic circles (aka mini-roundabouts) all over the place. They especially love them on bike routes. Personally, I appreciate them. I don't have to stop or blow through ye ol' stop sign if no cars are coming.

Where the madness begins is that people don't know how to use them. I firmly believe that most drivers haven't a clue about how to properly or safely use said traffic circle. In fact, I am more likely to see cars come to a complete stop in a traffic circle than I am at a stop sign, I see it all the time. At one traffic circle I routinely see gridlock (I just ride around the chaos). I have literally seen gridlock from a block away, ridden through the offending traffic circle (cheating I know) then ridden another full block before one single car has made it through. Absolute mayhem.

For those of you that are confused when using a traffic circle in BC:
• Slow down as you approach the circle.
• Yield to any traffic in the traffic circle. If another vehicle arrives at the traffic circle at the same time as you do, yield to the vehicle on your right.
• Go around the traffic circle to the right (i.e., in a counterclockwise direction).

I suppose that a lot of confusion is had when 2 vehicles arrive at nearly the same time. Generally there is a bit of a whizzing contest to get to the circle first to have the right of way. Just suck it up and give the vehicle on the right the right of way.

I am blown away by the number of people that make lefts by going the wrong way in the traffic circle too, but I cannot cure the stupid. That is another story, I'll stop before rant mode kicks in.

If you want to know more:
ICBC roadsense manual

a good read

2007-03-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

This comes from a Torontonian blog. I originally read it back in the fall and it has sat in my bookmarks folder waiting for a chance to brought out. It really is required reading for anyone that commutes to work via any means. We are all just trying to get somewhere, most of us to work - that ain't worth getting hurt for nor is hurting someone else in the process. Give it a read, it will make you think.
Things a non-cyclist might not understand

thank you time change

2007-03-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

Gone are the days of riding to and from work in total darkness (can't escape total dorkness yet). Thank you daylight savings time. I can get by with much less lighting and get some very welcome personal photosynthesis which, in Vancouver, is a necessity during the first few spring days.

Next topic:
I haven't quite figured out how to present it yet, but I am going to start posting the soundtracks of my rides. I don't listen to music while I ride - that is a bit of a death trap if you ask me (illegal in some parts too) but I often have songs playing in my peabrain that keep me pedalling. Sometimes it is pretty sappy music, sometimes it is just a blast beat from a metal song. I suppose it depends on how hard it is getting up the hill.

Total Drivetrain Replacement

2007-03-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks I have replaced the entire drivetrain on my bike (real pics to follow someday). That is usually a daunting task, but not when you ride a singlespeed! One chainring, one freewheel and one chain - no problem. If you have all the parts it is about a 30 minute task with plenty of time for beers mid-process. My setup is a Surly 38T Stainless steel chainring, a SRAM PC-48 chain (no need for anything fancier on a bike that doesn't shift) and an el-cheapo Dicta 16T freewheel (not %100 on this purchase yet, but it works, so....).

Yesterday I also swapped out the brake pads on my Magura's and took a stab at truing my rear wheel. It's been years since I trued a wheel (a testament to how well my wheels were built) so I was a bit apprehensive. I remember teaching myself when I was in highschool - I really screwed up a few wheels learning. Yesterday I done good though [my blog, my grammar]. Patience is the key to getting it right, knowing how to do it properly gets you the rest of the way.

lay out

2007-03-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

Oh, boy! Time for some fun with layouts. Hopefully this template is not as - W I D E - as the last one. I suppose there will be a few tweaks as the blog matures.

rock on.

It's not about riding with who you know...

2007-03-08T20:55:00.000-08:00

...it's about riding with who you don't know. I ride past people all the time (yeah yeah, I get passed by a few too). Most of the time I give, at the very least, a 'hello'. Sometimes a comment about the weather or something else. Every now and then I will actually get talking to someone for long stretches of road.

Take today, for example. I rode with Johnny Biopace (I never asked for his name, but he was talking about his Biopace chainring) for about 15 minutes and he showed me an alternate route through the urban jungle. I'd talked to him before - about building singlespeeds, gear ratios etc. Today we talked city riding, detours because of the new Skytrain route, and mangled Aluminum cyclocross frames. Oh yeah, and Biopace chainrings and how they are probably a bad thing for singlespeeds, but worth a shot if you accidentally bought one.

Shooting the breeze with someone on the way home is great - it makes a great ride that much better. I have a few 'regulars' that I see every so often, but its the lone road warriors that you really only see once that really keep it interesting.

in the beginning

2006-09-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

The space for those that are passionate about riding their bikes to work is now open.