Category: Uncategorized

I decided to try getting up early to ride before work. It’s fine, but having a hard deadline means I can’t extend my ride.

Also: I know it’s just sweat, but there’s something wonderful about coming back from a ride two pounds lighter.

When someone talks about a bike’s geometry, they’re talking about how the bike is set up to fit the rider. Frame size is a huge part of it, but other things like seat height and handlebar position make a big difference as well.  People who like to go fast tend to set up bikes aggressively so they can hunker down and be really aerodynamic. People who are just riding for fun (and old fat folks like me), usually prefer a more casual, upright style.

My new bike originally belonged to someone much taller than me. Everything was set to “Big… no, BIGGER.” Today’s lesson (yes, it’s my lesson, not yours) was “if your handlebars are too far away from you’re body, you’re not going to be comfortable.” My stem (that’s the piece that holds the handlebars to the top tube of the fork) is way too large. I did most of the ride with the middle of my fingers on the handlebars. Not comfy.

But other than that the bike rides well. I just need to replace that stem (part is already ordered!) and figure out where to mount a lock and a pump. Then she’s ready for a proper long ride!

I took the new bike out today. It was hot, so I just did a quick run through to make sure everything is working. Other than the saddle needing adjustment, it seems to work mighty well. Happy!

Bike: fixed. What I thought was going to be the biggest expense turned out to be a stiff chain link. Time to wheel around on that bad boy!

• The clipless pedals are set a lot tighter than my old bike. DIDN’T FALL DOWN!
• If you don’t tighten the bolts on the handlebar stem, it can and will turn independently of the fork! DIDN’T FALL DOWN AGAIN!
• The seat was way too high! NO HIGH-SEAT GROIN DAMAGE!
• The chain is slipping like crazy! Could be the chain is too long, or it could be a worn cassette. HOPING FOR A TOO-LONG CHAIN!

So, back to the shop tomorrow for fine tuning.

Also: It’s mighty pretty.

There’s a bicycling subreddit. One of the things they have is posts titled NBD – “New Bike Day.”

I’m putting together my bike. It’s nearly done. It won’t be 100% for a bit, but it will be mostly done Wednesday, when I plan to post it. I was excited because I did a custom yellow-to-orange gradient paint job. Looks pretty spiffy with the black trim and bar tape.

Yesterday, darkshizzle posted this:

SO much cooler looking than my bike!

I AM NOT ENVIOUS AT ALL.

I mostly put the bike together today. As I was slapping parts on it, trying to get it done this weekend, I realized lots of stuff needed to be replaced, and that I really have no idea how to properly set up a derailleur. So, I put it together as much as I could, threw the rest of the parts in a bag, and dropped it off at the bike shop.

Wednesday (or possibly Thursday): I ride!

Random things:

• I forgot it was Supermoon Day until I was riding home and thought “Hey! That’s a big moon!” Riding under a full moon always makes me feel like Tom Cullen from The Stand.
• I managed to get a decent ride in on a Monday after work, which is always a pleasure.
• While I’m still below my best pre-century months, as of today I have ridden farther, longer, and faster than I did for all of last month.
• I saw a co-worker while I was riding. I yelled to her, then realized when I saw her freaked out face that yelling at women on the bike path could be taken the wrong way.
• Today’s ride looks a little like a boat facing northeast and a not-at-the-same-scale outboard motor facing west.

I love my bike. It’s a great way to feel closer to the world and be healthy. It also gives me perfect thinking time: No conversations, and enough stimulation to keep my mind active, but not so much that I’m overwhelmed by distractions. It’s just me, the bike, the road, and whatever song my phone decides to shuffle into my right ear (California law won’t let me listen in both ears while riding). Today I got about 40 miles in, which gives a pokey rider like me about three hours worth of thinking. Here are some things I thought while riding today, in no particular order. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of election-related brou-ha-ha.

• I’m a middle class heterosexual white guy in good health and with a good job, living in a nice neighborhood in a big city. It’s really easy to forget how many layers of privilege that I have.
• There was a man on the edge of the bike path, arms raised, shouting his messages to the world. I thought he might have been praying to Mecca, but he was pointed in the wrong direction. Maybe he was praying to Manitoba, or the LAVC Finance Office. As I rode past, all I heard him say was “Ultimately, Ultimately…”
  Social media can be like that guy shouting toward the college. It’s easy to post something, feel like you’ve made your statement, and move on. I need to do more than shout. I need to do.
• It’s always a bit exciting when the guy at the bike shop says he likes my bike. He wasn’t trying to sell anything to me; he just liked it.
• We need to stay friends with people we disagree with. We need to challenge each other to defend our beliefs. We need to call out our friends when they are wrong.
• Fighting is good, if it’s a good fight.
• I do not have all the answers. Some of my beliefs are wrong.
• I need to ride more.
• Liberals need to work like hell over the next two years.
• Trump is probably a one term president, if the Democrats pick the right candidate.
• My iPhone has a sense of humor about the election; it decided to play this song.
• It also played this song right when I nearly got clipped by a car.
• American sexism and racism means that “the right candidate” is probably a white guy, even though there are women with incredible qualifications.
• Riding to my parents’ house and back is a nice enough 40 mile trip, but it sure is flat. I need to start doing the ride around the valley thing again.
• I should adapt those Art of Photography youtube photo assignments as class lessons.
• I wonder who I know that’s going to the protest rally tomorrow.

So yeah: mostly political stuff.