The Stella Scorcher and other Bicycle Projects

2011-12-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

My life without drinking lasted for 2 months, until I felt like I actually wanted a beer, rather than "this is the time I would usually have a beer, so I'll have one". Fine distinction but one with which I am comfortable. I'm making some changes to my life gradually, shifting out of my comfort zone to make my self more comfortable.

Farewell

2011-09-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago, I gave up drinking. I don't know if its going to be for the rest of my life or a little while but I had gotten to the point where it just didn't appeal to me anymore. I was drinking some when we were in Estes Park, some good, very good beers, and it almost felt like a chore. I'm not sure what precipitated this feeling. I know it has been coming for awhile.

Part of it is my dietary switch to the Engine 2 diet awhile back that has helped me lose weight and makes me a lot more sensitive to the second and third beer I was drinking. Without all the carbs and grease in my system, the sauce just hit me a lot harder, leaving me feeling lousy and I don't want to do lousy anymore. I want to soar. I want to run and bike and ski and be at my best. So like Dean Wormer said, "Fat, Drunk and Stupid is no way to go through life, son."

I talked to a co-worker who quit drinking and he is half my age. I didn't talk to him in depth about it. (Not that I'm capable of in-depth conversation about anything, with anybody, without squirming.) I did ask him if he attends AA meetings, though and he said, (I may misquote) "My problems are my own, I don't need to share them with anyone." Pretty much my sentiments, too. I've had more than 30 years of drinking and I may be done, now. I've really honestly never felt like it was doing me any good, though.

Sometimes, it's brought me out of my shell. My shell is thick. On the other hand, things that I've done under the influence, have made me feel ashamed. There was a time I was driving the wrong side of the highway and the only thing that saved me from being banned from driving was the then lax enforcement and a murder not too far from there at Kansas University Medical Center. Countless stupid drunken escapades and scrapes mark my life. I don't want to be that guy anymore.

So, I'm taking it one day at a time, like the cliche' goes but I think those days are behind me. The mystery that concerns me is what's ahead.

2010-12-26T17:37:00.000-08:00

Late to the party, I purchased an iPod last month. After much consideration, I determined that the Classic 160gb best met my needs. As much as I'd like the internet connectivity of the Touch, I need the capacity of the Classic because our long term goal is to decumulate, to coin a word, so much of our stuff that takes up space. The beauty of it is that I can upload CDs seemingly at random and the iTunes interface will organize it for me.

Getting close to another year's end.

2010-12-05T14:40:00.000-08:00

Lord, is it cold! It always comes as a rude shock when winter starts to come around here. I've ridden to work twice in the last week but come into the store with my hands barely functioning. Laurie has taken a knife to a couple apple juice bottles to make fairings. She's also modified a worn pair of wool socks to make hand covers. I'll get the Bully Porteur going again and be on the road.

My new position at Whole Foods entails being there in the morning, often at 6AM which means getting my ass on the road before 5AM. I'm going to try to make that work because I actually do enjoy riding that early and very much enjoy the ride home at 2 PM.

I made it.

2010-05-01T12:20:00.001-07:00

Finally, in the big time.

2010-02-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

I have been a fan of Patagonia for a long time. I like their environmental stance and general integrity. I love their catalogs but all the good publicity and green work is pointless unless the merchandise is good. I purchased some Capilene shirts back in 1987 that I can still wear regularly and a fleece hat that remains in constant use about the same time. Patagonia gear is expensive but easily a good value in the cost per wearing and per use equation.

About 5 years ago, my in-laws gave me a Critical Mass bag for a Christmas gift. I used it daily on my commute, on trips. It held at least 2 grocery bags full of stuff, beer, books, dog food, what have you. I liked it because it rested on my backside for bike rides, not on my shoulders or my back.

Tossing it in my car one day, I neglected to buckle the buckles on the thing. (Yet another reason to avoid driving.) The plastic buckles were slightly cracked but still worked. When they finally gave out, I contacted Patagonia via chat about getting replacement buckles. They offered to ship them to me but when I considered trying to restitch the straps and so forth, I decided to mail the bag back and have their repair department handle it. I emptied my bag and put my daily needs into my Lowe Alpine daypack, which I love for hiking but was too small for riding and uncomfortable when biking.

I printed and completed the repair form and packed it up at the UPS store.3 weeks later, I got a call from Patagonia that they had received my bag with only the UPS label on the package, no instructions, no idea what to with it. I called them and explained that I sent it in to have the buckles replaced.

A few days later, it occurred to me that, if they didn't have the form, they didn't have my payment method. So I made another call to them.

They told me that the record showed they were sending a new bag out Monday at no cost to me. It wasn't my old bag or a new old stock version of my bag, but a brand-new updated bag. My old bag had a small pocket in the back so that objects inserted in there would sit at my back. It didn't have pen slots so that pens floated around the bag. There was no place for my phone. It had a built-in laptop pouch.

The new bag has a phone pouch attached to the shoulder strap. It has slots for 3 pens. The small zipped pocket is in the front of the bag. The new bag has a detachable, padded laptop pouch.
Despite constant improvements in bags, I was committed, in my mind, to using the old bag until it wore out. I'm thrilled, though, to have a newer, nicer bag and where I'm making a choice, I'll buy Patagonia.

Of Dog Food, Human Food and such

2010-02-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

We had a moment of truth, an opportunity, last winter. Our longtime dog, Chester, who we've had since he was six weeks old and who has never lived anywhere but our block, had trouble walking one icy morning. It looked like a harbinger of a long decline. We took him to the vet to see if he'd had a stroke or something. Looming was a conversation that neither of us wanted to have, the one where we have to decide to spend a lot of money or to have him put down.

It turned out that he was fine, just old. A friend told Laurie that her dog had gone through the same thing and found help through Dr. Linda Faris. She is a veteranarian, and an accupuncturist.

Her other recommendation was to start feeding him Urban Wolf, which we bought at Brookside Barkery. In my years at Whole Foods, we had sold the ground chicken necks and backs to customers for years but I had been skeptical of them. There was something of the Flat Earther about the raw diet. I gave it a try or rather had my dogs try it.

It was an instant success with them. As I prepared the first batch, they watched with great interest. Both Chester and our other dog, Mocha got a great deal more efficient in eating. Chester began waking us up, hungry at 6:30 every morning rather than laying about in his bed until 8:30. Their meal time took about 45 seconds max after eating. Also reduced was their weight. Chester went from 77 pounds to 61 pounds. Mocha went from 80 pounds to 62.

The villain, in this piece, was corn. Anyone who has read Michael Pollan's recent food writing will be familiar with the nefarious grain, grass, whatever. The fine documentary, King Corn, puts the origin of this back to Earl Butz. Corn is so heavily subsidized that we have to put it in everything. We feed it to cows. We brew it up to run our cars. We put it in dog food. The last use was killing our dogs. They were fattened up by it, just as cattle are but not getting the nutrients they needed so they were hungry all the time and overeating, just as we have been.

About this same time, I heard about The China Study by Dr. Colin Campbell, or it became part of our curriculum at Whole Foods. The nascent Healthy Eating Initiative was coming together, so, being the company man that I am, I read it and Laurie read it. It's a profoundly life-changing book. Following that I've read Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and the Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn.

Being a Foodie, it's hard to accept that "Everything You Know Is Wrong". Olive oil is as much empty calories as white sugar and white flour. It's going another step further than we had been. We've had some intense discussions at the store among the team members and it's just begun.

Nevertheless, I am enjoying the changes in my life. I turned 50 this past year and I want to be as strong or stronger than I've ever been. I've failed to be as disciplined in my eating as I've forced my dogs to be but I've reconsidered my relationship to food and I'm going to get back to the body I once had when I was running 50 miles a week.

Pump it Up

2010-02-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

For years, it seems, I have fought with our bicycle pump. It's a decent pump, a Joe Blow Pro from Topeak. The top part of cylinder where the piston pulls up against is plastic and keeps popping off. It didn't screw on to the cylinder but was attached with a couple plastic tabs and the top of the cylinder was two parted that continually had to be snapped together. I am getting to a state in life where I don't want to make do with things that don't work on a regular basis.

When we rode the BikeMO last fall, I had an opportunity to use a Lezyne pump. It felt solid, well made.Velo-Orange sells them, which I find a reassuring recommendation. So, using a birthday gift, I bit the bullet and bought the Lezyne. I haven't been disappointed. The only thing it's lacking is a dual head. That is, you have to open up the pump head and switch around the mechanism to use the pump on a Schrader valve, a small amount of bother.

I still have the problematic Topeak pump for those bikes of mine that use Schrader.

Where we stand at the end of the Oughts

2009-12-30T14:17:00.000-08:00

Or rather, where I stand. I went in to get my blood pressure checked this morning for my application to an immersion program for the Health Eating Initiative.110/54. My blood was drawn for my cholesterol, which was at 163 when I had it checked in May. According to the information I've read, 150 or below is best to avoid cardiac events. In the past, I've had it as low as 112. Anyway, I've read The China Study , Eat to Live and The Engine 2 Diet and we're on board.

So, I'd like to be one of the 300 team members selected. I'd like to be the ambassador for that lifestyle change. I'm not certain about giving up the occasional hamburger (once a month) but maybe I'll more often exchange the weekly fries for a green salad.

I also want to learn to sew with a sewing machine so that I can make some bike bags.

I need a goal for 2010. With no stated goal, I can't accomplish things. So, I'm aiming for 1000 running miles.
2000 cycling miles.

That's it.

Getting close to another year's end.

2009-12-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

This is the deal, right now, my deal, at least.

Unfortunately, the Stella met an untimely demise a couple years ago, just after I'd gotten it right. I hit a parking lot wheel stop one night riding home in the dark and bent the frame. She awaits some sort of art project.

I replaced her with a curbside find, a Peugeot UO8

From My Pictures

My Picturesthat someone abandoned on 41st Street. Just the frame was there, along with a Raleigh and a Gitane and a Schwinn Mountain Bike. Anyway, I built up the Peugeot with the parts from the Stella and continued on fixedly.

In February, Laurie and I visited Indianapolis for NAHBS, guaranteed to incite gear lust in any red-blooded bicycler. The only catch is that there is so much great stuff, I could hardly fixate on any one bike. A 20 inch wheeled cargo bike from Hunter Cycles came close but I lacked $1500 to buy it so I bought a wool cycling cap from them.

A few weeks later, my friends at Acme Bicycle Company called me in and told me that it was time I rode an Acme. They had a handmade track frame in my size. I told Christi that I wanted to be able to use a rack like one of those from CETMA. We talked for awhile and I thought about it.

2 weeks later, Christi called me in to see something. There was a built-up track bike with a custom front rack. She had me ride it around the block. I took it up the alley to 17th Street and came downhill on Locust before I realized it had no brakes. No problem.

The plan was the have it painted whatever color the painter was using that day. Fortunately, it was bronze, about the color of a beer bottle. It took awhile for it to get done but it is definitely my bike now. I could not be happier.

Same story, different location

2009-12-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here

Sad Day

2009-11-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

I heard about it awhile back and it's like someone cut the heart out of our bicycle community. We're tough, we're resilient and we'll keep growing. Sometimes a business is like a play. You have a good run and then it's time to do something else. Sarah and Christi at Acme Bicycle has made a great difference in my life, connecting me to a new community, guiding me through the baby steps of fixed gear, teaching me to fix my bike, giving me a place to drink beer, and most importantly building the perfect bike for me.

When I should be thinking about something else.

2008-11-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

I have to think if it's worthwhile to bail out GM.

On one hand:

All the jobs, GM, the steel companies, the tires, the freight people, the sales people, the service departments and those that depend on them for their living.

On the other hand;

We don't want their cars anymore. We're never going back to the days of buying a new car every year and might be better off if half the cars in the country were raptured or something.

They seem to think a bailout would just maintain the status quo. Not for R&D for better, more fuel-efficient, cars but for more of the same cars that we don't want anyway.

Couldn't we just pay them, like farmers, not to make anything?

Tag

2008-07-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?
Probably my Panasonic Touring Deluxe, I can't imagine a better bike.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?
I suppose if I went to Christi and Sarah at Acme with my bikes and tried to figure out what would make me like it better. Maybe disc brakes or a Rohloff hub, or the SA Three Speed Fixed Hub.I can't imagine.

What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride to to do for the rest of her / his life?
Probably someone who holds the purse strings. I can imagine worse fates.

Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrowminded?
Yes,
Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.
I've ridden someone else's, around the block. They just seem inelegant to me and hard to see in traffic.

Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?
I tried a couple times and I freaked in the swim. Training for a Triathlon is too much like a job.

Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why? Ice Cream.
Could I still have Gelato?

If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?
I can't even ride the same route to work 2 days in a row. Forget that idea.

You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do?
Ride faster than the people with me.

Now, tag three biking bloggers. List them below.
Ok, I tag anyone reading this who has not updated their blog in more than two weeks. Everyone else, ignore this.

So Long Captain Bike

2008-02-04T18:41:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful afternoon to ride home and I had time to think about Sheldon Brown. What a wondrous time we live in now! I feel the loss of a cycling friend with whom I never got to ride, or to drink a beer or even talk face to face. Yet due to the internet, I was able to be friends with Sheldon Brown, through his postings on the BOB list, on the Bicycle Restoration List, on the KOG list and more that escape me right now.

If you ever had a bicycle question on the internet, you had to have encountered Sheldon and you couldn't help digging deeper and getting distracted from what you had come to look up. If you ever posed a bicycle question on a list or newsgroup, you stood a pretty good chance of getting an answer from Sheldon, directly and a reference to his page. His few podcasts about English 3-Speeds and recumbent bicycles were informed without a hint of condescension.

Left hand drive? Done it.

Build a tandem from two old bikes. Sheldon had done it.

He made it clear, for me, at least, that bicycles existed to be ridden not hung on a wall. His 1918 Mead Ranger was all the evidence anybody needed.

And to ride a fixed-gear, one couldn't build one up without consulting Sheldon once or twice.

He was opinionated, informed and I would have loved to have met him and drank a beer or two with him. He was also generous with his time, energy and knowledge, answering most of the 500-1000 emails he received daily. I recall he responded one time to a question about buying bikes at the Salvation with a diatribe about "monotheism" and had to be restrained by the moderator. His home page included these 2 lists, along with every book, movie and television show he watched or read.

Some Things I Believe In

* Democracy
* Duty
* Equality
* Exogamy
* Family
* Freedom
* Justice
* Kindness
* Law
* Love
* Loyalty
* Mathematics
* Science
* Space Exploration
* Truth

Some Things I Do Not Believe In

* Angels
* Astrology
* Death Penalty
* Devils
* Elves
* Faeries
* Faith
* Gods
* "Intelligent Design"
* Leprechauns
* Luck
* Magic
* Racial Purity

I often say that I don't, myself, believe in eternal life, physically, at least as religious people describe. I do believe that good people live on in our memories or in the good deeds we repeat after learning from one another. Sheldon will live on, everytime someone needs information about fixed gears or rebuilding a 3 speed hub.

Searching for The Holy Grail

2008-01-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

There is always one more part that will make my bike perfect. For the Twenty there are several. Some day, all that might be left from the original bike is the frame and fenders. The most pressing is the fork. The original Raleigh-built fork will not fit a fatter tire that I want to use for winter commuting. Actually, it's a studded tire but the bike will not fit a tire over 20 by 1.75 inches. So, what I need is a BMX fork with a 7.5 inch steerer that also has cantilever bosses.

There is not such a thing out there or at least not easily accessible. I am beginning to search.

New Jerseys, Cycling Jerseys

2007-06-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

Like nearly everyone else who has ever touched a bicycle, I get a weekly catalog from Nashbar or Performance, less often from Terry or Title 9, REI and Sahalie. So I'm aware that the cycling manufacturers want to put us in spandex jerseys with classic album covers from the Rolling Stones, KISS (of course, available on any flat surface, the KISS logo), The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynrd, Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd.

I'm a little jaded, I guess. I'd wear jerseys with less mainstream albums like Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention's Weasels Ripped My Flesh or Todd Rundgren's Utopia or the wonderful Little Feat's Sailing Shoes originally titled Thanks, I'll Eat it Here, along with the Zappa album, artwork by the wonderful Neon Park. Maybe some of the classic Santana or Mahavishnu Orchestra would make some sweet jerseys. Or Ian Hunter's first solo album.

I don't wear the jerseys that I own now all that much, save for a wool Fox Riders jersey and and a solid orange from Ground Effect. I've tired of having advertising all over me and I don't especially want it across my backside. Maybe if they'd make some with albums I actually liked.

The Best Critical Mass I've Been On.

2007-05-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Does it take a death to learn what a life is worth? - Jackson Browne

I got to Westport about 6:30 after carrying a bag of dog food home and getting a set of housekeys made. But I wanted to be at Critical Mass, tonight, especially.

I had met Lewis Bailey a few times, first after my first Critical Mass in July of 2005. A bunch of us were sitting in front of Cave Dave's in the Crossroads, drinking cheap beer and telling stories and Louis came by with his knapsack, saying that he had an alchemy textbook from the 1870's. He may have even shown it and passed it around. I would see him at Acme from time to time and he had something going, comic books that were going to net him a fortune. According to others, he was a drug addict but he made his living, such as it was, salvaging flowers and reselling them. He was a character, the kind that makes a city into a collection of human beings, that makes life interesting.

He was killed this past Wednesday,just after midnight, by a motorist. I can't call it murder but I have to wonder how much of our humanity that we're willing to sacrifice for our cars.

Due to work commitments, I was unable to attend the vigil on Thursday but I did find my way to Critical Mass. We took a long time getting out of the Sun Fresh parking lot and made it into the Plaza with what seemed to be a hundred of us, completely filling 2 lanes on the Plaza and looping around for awhile then heading into downtown KC and across the ASB Bridge where we looped around the site of Lewis' death, the intersection. I set one of the empty PBR cans next to the plastic flowers and drew a breath. We headed back to Acme.

Sarah, at Acme, had lights from Planet Bike, one of our successes for the Kansas City Bicycle Federation. We gave them out to a lot of people who had no lights. I took a couple sets for people who work with me at Whole Foods. It seemed an appropriate way to remember Lewis. I hope someone else's life will be spared.

The Twenty is on the Road

2007-04-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, Matthew on the Kogswell Owner's Group list posted about how building a new bike made him appreciate the thinking that goes into a Schwinn Suburban.
Having the Twenty all built up, I get some of the same feeling.

The front fender is really well designed. That's my Reelight added on the Front wheel, a Nitto Technomic stem, Nashbar Moustache bars wrapped with Salsa Cork Tape, old DiaCompe quick release levers. I put on some 20 x 1.75 Kenda Tires, this past weekend and it rides much better. A Brooks B5N saddle completes it, along with a Live Free or Drive sticker from Prescott Alternative Transportation.

Twenty is on the Road

2007-03-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

I've got the Raleigh Twenty up and running. The final bit of business was replacing a cotter pin on the left side this afternoon. I stuck a washer under the L-Bolt and it seems to be steady. I put a new gold chain on it and a used BMX rear wheel with a fixed cog and a bottom bracket lockring and it's rideable. In my stash of stuff was a package of Salsa Cork tape that really ties the bike together on the cheap Nashbar Moustache bars I put on the ginormous Nitto Technomic stem. It seems to have a slightly taller gear than my first fixie, the Stella Scorcher but still quite rideable albeit a little more compact. I'm due several photographs which I'll take tomorrow but I've put about 30 miles on it and it's fun.

One thing that really impresses me is the set of fenders. When I look at the front fender and see where it comes down to keep any off me, I just smile. It's really an amazing achievement to build a nicely integrated bicycle like that.

My own hinge

2007-03-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

What does the bushing look like that goes here?

Raleigh Twenty

2007-03-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

What part goes inside the yellow box?

The stable, as it stands now.

2007-01-30T18:54:00.000-08:00

I have to chime in on all this, too. I suppose if somehow I never got another bicycle (and that may well be a good idea), I could be happy with the ones I have. These are the ones I have to ride

Panasonic Touring Deluxe - As nice as any production bicycle I've seen. With a coat of new paint, it might be perfect. Nice long wheelbase, cantilever brakes. and soft ride, suitable for a long tour. Like Sarah, I have to tinker with my bikes so I might convert this one from 27" to 700C, just so I can switch my dynamo wheel between bikes and I'll probably put bar-end shifters on it when I'm ready to take of the cork grips.

Stella Fixed Gear Mock Porteur - Currently sitting over at Acme Bicycle Company a couple miles away while we try to get the stuck stem to move, but it's comfy and fun to ride.

Sam Benotto Cazenave Three Speed Derailleur Model 650B- This one is like a stray cat, that I just wonder how it came to find me. It has a sticker from a bike shop in Ames, Iowa (World of Bikes) that doesn't seem to exist any more, at least under that name. I just use it for Coffee Shop rides and such.

Bridgestone MB6 - Adequate for my trail-riding needs. I think I'd like it better as a single speed or a touring bike. I have this one but haven't decided what to do with it yet.

Cannondale 1988 SR500 - The only new bike I've ever purchased new. I keep thinking it may find new life as a 650B conversion but it doesn't really meet any of my bicycle needs anymore.

A New Year

2007-01-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

As I sit at my desk, evaluating the last year and taking droppersful of Kick Ass Immune Activator from Wish Garden, wishing that I could go for a short ride or something, these are the thoughts I have.

1. I love riding fixed. Stella has seen so much use that I need to overhaul the bottom bracket and rebuild a hub and headset so I've been riding the Panasonic lately, which I also love, but I miss fixed gear.

2. I love working on bikes. Not enough to try to make my living at it, but it is what I think about enough. I also like seeing other people take up riding, at whatever level they can.

3. Bikes are not inanimate. They respond to love and use. Just as our human bodies were built to be exerted, bikes need that, too. The Peugeot Mixte that I've been tuning up for Rebecca needs to be ridden. It has some bad mojo for a derailleur I tried to install. After I got that set up properly, with much assistance from Mis Chief, I took it home and then took it for a short test ride. I stopped at the end of the block and it felt like the brake cable wasn't tight enough and had slipped from the cable hanger.
No, it was much worse. The brake shoe had broken off the shaft.

A New One on the Way

2006-11-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

Well, new to me, that is. Since reading Sheldon Brown's page extolling the virtues of the Raleigh Twenty and finding others, like Tarik, I have coveted one. So last night, tooling around on eBay, I found one with a $49 bid on it and an early morning ending time. I looked before leaving for work this morning and after calculating freight, put in a bid that I found comfortable. These things have been going for $200 - 300. I got to work and did a few chores, then checked my email. To my shock and excitement, I won. Now I get the fun of making it work for me.

The appeal of these bikes, I find, is the "hackability" of them. Certainly, there are lighter, more advanced folders out there now but Bike Fridays and Dahons and Airnimals don't take on so readily the personalities and whims of their owners.

Doesn't take a Lot.

2006-11-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

We visited my family last week in North Carolina. The weather was pleasant and we relaxed. I didn't have any particular agenda, other than to relax and recharge my batteries before the holiday season.
We managed to get in a bike ride although we didn't take our bikes. My sister-in-law has a Schwinn, which we chose for her from Bikes and Trikes a couple years ago. My parents have a pair of Pinnacle bikes, 15 speeds, which I suppose would get me kicked off the BOB list for riding them. Maybe not, they have crowned forks and are steel, gaspipe steel, but steel. Nothing special, they have the cheap stamped brakes that make me cringe.

It's been awhile since my parents rode. When I tested the bikes, I realized why. The run up the driveway would tax the Polka Dot Jersey winner, much less a couple in their late sixties. Dad's bike wasn't able to shift out of the small chain ring, or more precisely, stay there once shifted, making the severe incline that much more difficult.

So, we went off on Saturday, loading 5 bikes in John's Honda Odyssey to Todd. 2 for the boys, aged 6 and 9, and one each for Laurie and I and my brother John. Starting around 2 in the afternoon, we rode until 5, the younger of the boys going with waning enthusiasm, as the ride on a single speed BMX style bike wore on him. Sammy did well though and recovered quickly once in the van, particularly after his father purchased him a set of novelty teeth.

When riding someone else's bike, I remarked later to Laurie, I begin making mental notes of what I'd do to make it work better, usually a set of Albatross bars. She felt the same way about the borrowed bike she had.

Democracy Now and Thoughts

2006-10-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I went to see Amy Goodman from Democracy Now speak, along with her brother David at a benefit for KKFI, my favorite local radio station. They have just published a book called Static I also attended a potluck, pre-show, for the Planned Parenthood of South Dakota at a friends house.

As we have sold our truck recently and are going "car-lite" I rode the 4.7 miles on my bike, carrying the cheese and crackers I was assigned as an appetizer in my basket. Laurie was going to a party out south so I didn't have the car available. No big deal for me and to get to the show from Trudy's, I was able to throw my bike into another friend's Toyota Highlander and ride over. I wouldn't have had a problem riding over but she offered so I accepted. I find it amazing how many folks think it's a major deal to ride a few miles on a bicycle, not for exercise but for transportation.

What I found a little more disturbing was that I was the only bicycle there at Community Christian Church unless there's a bicycle rack in the back somewhere. For all the rhetoric, facts, about America selling our collective souls for oil, everyone there was feeding the beast which we say that we're seeking to slay.

Amsterdam

2006-10-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam, the city of bicycles, pictures of which I have yet to massively load to Flickr or otherwise edit. But this was done in 73 minutes.

Not suffering enough, I guess.

2006-09-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

I was coming home from work on Friday afternoon through Mission Hills and noticed a long line of cars parked along Indian Lane, one bearing a license plate marked "Senator". Traffic along State Line Road was bumper to bumper and I made my way across State Line Road and through the Carriage Club parking lot. Ward Parkway was blocked off so I walked my bike across to the median and I was whistled over by a cop.

"Where you headed?"

"Just trying to get home."

"Well, I can't have you going that way. The President's going to be rolling through in a bit."

So I carried my bike across the Parking Lot that was Ward Parkway leading to State Line Road and onto the campus of Pembroke Hill.

Some driver asked me, "What's going on?"

"The President"

"(a bunch of curses)"

"Haven't we suffered enough?"

Turns out it was a fundraiser for Jim Talent, a Missouri Senator and stooge of the Religious Right, in Mission Hills, Kansas. Go figure.

I know, the President rides a bike. Just wish he'd been riding one at that moment, somewhere else than on my way home. Laurie's plane was delayed coming in while Air Force One was taking off. Who's working for who here, anyway?

What does it take?

2006-09-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

This week I have yet to ride my bike. It is, of course, only Tuesday, but I feel as if I betrayed something by driving to work twice this week. With my wife out of town, I hate to make the dogs wait an extra hour.

At the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation of late, we've been discussing "appropriate" transportation. There is, in Eugene, Oregon, a Center for Appropriate Transport. We don't seem to have that sort of mentality here in Kansas City. Or it's not visible, as it is in Chicago. Are we more spread out than other cities?

The hip quotient of cycling in Kansas City consists of these sort of groups:
Racer types, in spandex and Team Kit (Replica of the TDF jerseys)
Messenger outlaw types, riding in jeans, rolled up at the ankle, worn Chuck Taylors and ironic T-shirts.

Where are the regular riders, people riding not specifically for fitness, but for transportation? The people who I see in other cities, like in Amsterdam, as seen here with a group of folks or rather their bicycles parked in front of the Museum of Sex, IIRC.

Cargo Bike, Car Go!

2006-08-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

Would that it was quite so simple but almost 2 months ago I put the Wald Giant Delivery Basket on Stella. Since then, I carry my messenger bag almost daily, a few occasions bags of dog food (40 and 20 pounds), a 12 and 6 pack of beer, 2-6 packs plus picnic fixings and a gallon of water and a melon. It's very stable and it makes the bike mega-friendly.

A Sacrifice to the Gods of Petrol

2006-08-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a great deal about the automobile this summer, with preparing to sell our truck, "An Inconvenient Truth" (Laurie and I rode our bikes to the theater to see it.) and now, 3 cyclists killed by drivers. We seem willing to accept an inordinate amount of collateral damage in order to keep driving.

The death of Audrey Lindvall seems metaphorical in this context. A young beauty is killed by a fuel truck. As Americans, we are willing to sacrifice the most precious parts of, well, America, to maintain our way of life. We send our young people to die in the desert. Our children suffer from an epidemic of asthma and obesity. We lose our sense of community, our humanity, just so we can keep driving.

In preparation for going "Car-Lite"

2006-08-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the final version of the trailer, inspected by our good friend Kenneth Walker.

Bad News

2006-06-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

As I rode home tonight, this was happening. Someone that I might know, someone who might have ridden with me the other night, gone now.

Another one on the Road

2006-05-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

So I have the nickname of the "Bike Angel" at work now. A couple weeks ago, Owen came to me or told me as I went through his register that he bought a bike for $5 at a garage sale in Sioux Falls. I told him to bring it by and I'd see if could make it work for him.

Everything was in good working order except the tires which were dry rotted and nearly illegible to ascertain the size, all the gum sidewalls having been eroded by age. I finally determined that they were 26 by 1 3/8 or 590 BSD, which was fortuitous as I had just rebuilt a "Made in England" Huffy which turned out to have been screwed up beyond my repair skills (another post). So I put it up on the rack and took off the wheels. They worked fine on the Rangor. I could only find that this company also made a line of superhero bikes but it has a lugged frame and a nice color so it should make a decent bike. All Owen wants it for is to run errands and get to work. The 590 or 650A is a good tire size, time-honored on English 3-Speeds.

So, I put on some nice Weinmann Centerpull Brakes with new brake levers and a set of riser handlebars and seat I had in the parts stash and the bike is reborn.

It seems much friendlier now, more useful as a city bike for commuting and trips to the grocery store.

LA Gets It.

2006-05-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

Not in our paper here in KC, but we did have a record number of folks in the Bike Commuter Challenge or what might henceforth, be called, the Car-Free Commuter Challenge.

Ride of Silence

2006-05-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

The only thing worse than politics is church politics, or so my father conveyed to me, at least, indirectly. It is "Bike to Work Week" and we are beset by so much baggage that I often forget why we do it. How do these institutions arise so quickly?

It's like this to me: I have to work. I have to get there. I try to do so with the least amount of expense and strain. A great deal of the time that is to ride my bike there. In a day filled with "I-need-this-yesterday" and "Can-you-squeeze-this-in?", my bicycle time is an oasis of sanity. So I ride, a fixed-gear` because it offers the fewest complications.

And here it comes, teams, and calculations and riding-the-bus-counts and walking-counts-but-half-the-mileage and we-need-prizes and I'm-not-getting-enough-recognition and then, I put my ass on the saddle and move my feet up and down on the pedals and everything is all right. I am riding.

And we get together to remember those who were killed while riding their bicycles. A simple good thing we do and someone dies for it. Robert Osborn, murdered for sport, riding home from work. Jake Clough, missed a stop sign. Andre Anderson, run down by some remorseless asswipe. Toni Sena, as good a person as I would ever hope to meet, killed by some jerk chased by the police. We have to organize to remember them, or it just adds up in the rolls of the dead, the senseless killings we can't seem to remember, for there are so many that only the families can remember. Yet, we must remember and do more, make the roads better, take a stand for cycling. A simple good thing that we do and love, complicated by politics and governments, distracted by special interests and
wars and hunger and all we want to do is be on the road, unmolested, quiet, at peace with ourselves and the sound of our gears turning.

Peace

In which yet another follows me home.

2006-03-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

My garage is bursting at the seams. Well, not quite but between the garden tools and so forth, it's quite full. So we went to the MS150 Bike Fair on Saturday and I found yet another bicycle for only $25.

I don't know what tubing was used in building this but it has some wonderful details. Long pointed lugs, heart shaped cable stop guides.(Is that what these things are called?)

I'll work on the brakes and replace the tires so it might be awhile. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Ready for Travel

2006-03-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

A month or so ago, I bought a pair of rigid Raleigh Mountain bikes for $60.00. One of them went to a co-worker as his commuter bike, his only bike, in fact. One of my goals is to get as many other people riding to work as possible and Charlie says he'll use it to ride to work, to church and the coffee shop.

The other bike, I decided to keep, at least for awhile. We're planning a European trip this summer and I wanted a bike that I could ride over there and sell on the way out. With approximately $50 invested in it, I can take it over there, not worry about bike theft. (Very prevalent in Amsterdam, where we're headed first.) Of course, I also love tinkering on bikes.

One of my thoughts, last summer in Chicago, while riding my brother-in-law's old Specialized HardRock, was that this bike was a great city rider, if only it had a set of Albatross Bars. The straight mountain bike bars just weren't comfortable for all day riding. The Raleigh M-60 has comparable geometry, tons of braze-ons for racks and great clearance for fenders and huge tires. We had a set of smooth Panaracer 26 by 1.5" tires we got as door prizes from the KCBC banquet.

Just changing the tires delighted me. The fat smooth tires just made me smile when I put them on the bike. I took it to Acme along with the other one and found a set of used Wald upright bars, which I installed upside down. I had also cut and filed off the shifter pods off the brake levers and replaced them with thumb shifters.

Things got even more interesting when I found an abandoned AMF Nimble 3-speed along the road. It had fenders, a chainguard, and a set of upright handlebars. I've added them to the bike for free fenders and they do coordinate nicely with the champagne gold of the bike frame.

The bike has assumed a new personality. I may hate to leave it in Europe.

Finito!

2006-03-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

After a long week at work, I wanted nothing more than to get back to work on the bike, where I couldn't get the shifters to perform properly. So, I rode off to Acme again for some assistance. I corraled Sarah on her way in and got some much-needed assistance. The derailleur cage was bent. The shifters were assembled backwards. Thanks be to Karma that they had another set just like them as a reference. And then Sarah discovered the rear hub needed a rebuild. So I got to learn about rebuild a hub, taking out all the bearings, degreasing the interior and wiping it down, degreasing the bearings and wiping them all down, putting in a new batch of clean grease and putting it all back together. We reinstalled the rear derailleur and got it all going.

I rode it home to tape the bars and complete the Azuki project and found I couldn't shift into the big ring so I started tinkering with the front derailleur and broke the screw that holds down the cable. So this time, I loaded into the truck and took it back to Acme where Mis Chief found another front derailleur for $5 that works just fine. She showed me how to set it with the high and low limit screws.

Now it has really nice Serfas tires. I cut down the bars and removed the suicide levers. The seat came from a Raleigh Mountain Mike I bought from Craigslist and I'll take to the Low Countries this summer. But that's another project.

Stella, as she is now.

2006-03-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

Rather spectacular, I must say. Actually, I'm amazed at how much fun it is to ride this bike. I love carrying stuff in the basket from work.

Here's my filthy homemade burrito wrap from dropping the chain and having to dig out my 15MM wrench a couple times. In the fall, I'm going to install a new bottom bracket with square axles and shorter cranks that will accept clipless pedals and a single chainring, perhaps one a little smaller. Until that time, I have the chainring cobbled together with nuts and bolts and I'll ride along.

Latest Reclamation Project

2006-02-15T16:24:00.000-08:00

Here we go. I picked this one up last Friday from a County employee in Leavenworth, who met Laurie at a regional meeting, noticed her Nishiki (which I need to put on here) and offered her this one. It's an Azuki rather than a Nishiki but it has the twin lats and lugs and it seems nicely made. It needed a new set of tires, rim tape and tubes.

I cut down the handlebars after a consultation with Mis Chief and I'm lubing the hell out of everything that moves right now. The chain is starting to move. More pictures as we go.

All Time Faves

2005-12-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

My buddy J. came up with a proposition that I found irresistable and also a good blog post too start a flame war. Here is the proposition.

"I forgot to mention to you on Sunday that my latest project is to
recruit my musically astute friends and ask them to provide me with a
list of their top 20 or 25 all-time favorite rock tunes, in approximate
order. I would love to receive your selections, in this regard. Here's
the bribe: I'll do the heavy lifting. All you need to do is put your
list together. I'll burn your selections to a CD and get a copy to you,
along with my choices (if you're interested - and bearing in mind that I
turned my radio off in 1974 and never turned it on again). Other than
the Official Rules, set out below, the only thing to keep in mind is
that your selections should be songs which have stood the test of time
for you, personally (I tried to think of songs that I seem never to tire
of hearing). OK, get to work (and thanks).

Rules of the Favorite Rock Tunes Project:

1. No legitimate rock song is unworthy, as long as they're your
favorites. I know how much you'd like to be writing for Rolling Stone
but this is not yet another tedious effort to catalog "the most
significant rock and roll songs of all time".

2. Although the definition of "rock song" is intended to be
liberal, it is not unlimited. Just because a song hit the pop charts
during the last 50 years does not make it a "rock" song. For
example, the following songs should be avoided, no matter how much you
love them:

The Green Berets - Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler
Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto
Abilene - George Hamilton IV
Dawn of Correction - The Spokesmen
Ballad of Paladin - Duane Eddy
Dominique - The Singing Nun
Alabama Jubilee - The Ferko String Band
England Swings - Roger Miller
Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley - C Company Featuring Terry Nelson
Call Me Mr. In-Between - Burl Ives
James (Hold the Ladder Steady) - Sue Thompson
1432 Franklin Pike Circle Hero - Bobby Russell
Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast - Wayne Newton
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands - Laurie London

3. No song by Neil Diamond will be permitted.

4. OK, some songs by Neil Diamond will be permitted but only if they
are performed by other people. For example, "I'm a Believer" by
the Monkees is acceptable. Nothing actually sung by Neil Diamond will
be permitted. If you'd like to apply this rule to Paul Anka, too, I
won't argue with you. Or Barry Manilow. Or Nancy Sinatra, for that
matter.

5. Ballads are definitely okeedokee, as long as they are "rock"
ballads, at least arguably. "The Tracks of My Tears" by the
Miracles is certainly acceptable (an excellent choice, actually), as is
"Don't" by Elvis Presley, "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy
Sledge, or "Ferry Across the Mersey" by Gerry and the Pacemakers.
On the other hand, "Just for Old Times Sake" by The McGuire Sisters,
"The Second Time Around" by Frank Sinatra, and "My Coloring
Book" by Kitty Kallen should not be considered. I don't care how
high they charted.

6. By the same token, we all know that way too many country songs have
appeared on the pop charts over the years. That does not turn them into
rock songs, for the purposes of this project. The following are
examples of songs that should be avoided:

Wolverton Mountain - Claude King
Crazy - Patsy Cline
He'll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C. Riley
Stand By Your Man - Tammy Wynette
Take This Job and Shove It - Johnny Paycheck
Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn
Okee From Muskogee - Merle Haggard

Marty Robbins is a toss-up, as is Johnny Horton, I suppose. And Brenda
Lee. And Conway Twitty. And Glen Campbell. And Johnny Cash, too, at
least his work during the late 50s. I mean, "Ballad of a Teenage
Queen" and "Guess Thing's Happen That Way" seem pretty much like
early rock 'n' roll songs. But "Don't Take You Guns to Town"?
"Folsom Prison Blues"? "A Girl Named Sue"? Don't make me
laugh.

7. Folk songs - uh... no. "Cotton Fields" by the Highwaymen? Sorry.

8. Finally, the USA PATRIOT Act requires me to advise you that any
artist from any country outside of the United States, not allied with
our effort in Iraq, is disqualified from consideration. My apologies to
you fans but the law is the law."

Here's my list, in no particular order.

1.Ballad of El Goodo – Big Star
Usually, when I pick up something years after it was released, it doesn't seem to move me like it may have when it was new, particularly when it has been touted for years. I wasn't able to find a copy of Big Star's Number 1 Record, until the re-release of this along with Radio City.

"Gets so hard at times like now to hold on
Guns they wait to be stuck by
And at my side is God"

2.Surrender – Cheap Trick
Another great pop song, by one of my favorite bands.
"When I woke up, mom and dad are rolling on the couch.
Rolling numbers, rock and rolling, got my kiss records out."

3.My Back Pages – The Byrds
Not the first song that comes to mind when I think of the Byrds but one that I love to sing along.
"I was so much older then, I'm younger than that, now."

4.Honey Hush – Big Joe Turner
A list of great rock songs should span the entire history of rock. This is one of the earliest.
"Don't make me nervous, I'm holding a baseball bat"

5.Overnight Sensation (Hit Record) – Raspberries
Overblown but beautiful. A perfect record and a fitting finale to what must have been a frustrating career for the Raspberries.
"Well if the program director don't pull it
It's time to get back the bullet"

6.Positively Fourth Street – Bob Dylan
All the bile of Buddy Holly condensed and sharpened. Love is hard.
"You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that's winning"

7.All the Young Dudes – Mott the Hoople
I heard this listening to WNCR in Cleveland on headphones while my family was getting ready to move away from Ohio. I was crying by the time it was over.

"Is there concrete all around me or is it in my head?"

8.Suffragette City – David Bowie
Another perfect rock and roll record and the crunchy guitar riff.

MMMM, wham bam thank you, ma'am.

9. Red Neck Friend – Jackson Browne

I know, it's a dick song. Jackson Browne did at least 2, "Rosie" beign the other. But this one rocks.

"Pretty little one
How has it all begun?
They’re teaching you how to walk
But you’re already on the run"

10. Gun – Uncle Tupelo
I heard Jeff Tweedy say this was the song where he found his voice.

11. Will the Wolf Survive – Los Lobos

12. Badlands - Bruce Springsteen
I know Born to Run gets all the acclaim but I think Darkness is a better record. The guitar playing has never been better on his records.

"Poor men wanna be rich, rich men wanna be kings,
And a king ain’t satisfied till he rules everything."

13. Fall on Me – REM
REM, probably the best band of the Eighties, at their most distinct and it bears repeated listenings. Layered harmonies, guitar hooks, great metaphors in the lyrics.

14. The Ledge – Replacements
If not REM, the best band of the Eighties. It's a song about suicide that I find life affirming.

15. Lola – The Kinks
The Seventies had begun.

16. Roll Over Beethoven – Chuck Berry
Rock and Roll is here.

17. Oliver's Army -Elvis Costello
Combining hooky melodies with brilliant lyrics.

18. Couldn't I Just Tell You -Todd Rundgren
Post-Beatle Power Pop at its absolute best.

19. That's When I Reach for My Revolver – Mission of Burma
Some deeply buried perfectly crafted rock and roll. Mission of Burma was one of the bands that caused everyone who listened to form a band.

20. Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix
Hendrix took the blues swagger and drove it further.

21. Fools Gold – Graham Parker
On his first two albums, Parker and the Rumour put together some great songs and performances. This song of longing and love hits it.

22. Badge - Cream
George Harrison co-wrote this, IIRC. The guitar parts bring a shiver to me.

23. Marie Marie - Blasters
The story I heard was that Dave Alvin thought they had to start writing their own material and this was the first thing he did.

24. Big Time - Neil Young
Neil Young and Crazy Horse at their best. A song that draws you in. Slobberbone did this one live which blew me away.

25. I Can Hear Music - Beach Boys
As the demons drove him deeper into himself, Brian Wilson made some music with more depth and still kept those incredible harmonies.

Critical Mass - October

2005-10-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

For the second time this year, I made Critical Mass. Not to say that I made Critical Mass, as if my presence could create an event. I joined the group circling the Mill Street parking lot and went out and made our presence known. Resplendent in my Spot jersey, I was hardly the grandest tiger in the jungle. Michelle Kegley had sewn herself a Victorian or Suffragette style cycling outfit that she wore on her vintage Schwinn 5-Speed Mixte and there was a woman named Cory or Laurie who was wearing a vintage coat and tweed jacket. We're getting there but we're not a big city yet in Kansas City.

It was a fun ride. We cruised through Westport and the Plaza with Sarah's iPod blaring Beck and Radiohead. Definitely, someone needs to find some better bicycling music. And not Queen's Bicycle Race, it just reminds me how a once great rock band descended into Novelty. Luka Bloom recorded one, the title cut from The Acoustic Motorbike and Otis Taylor has one about Major Taylor on Double V.Anyone, anyone....

BikeMO

2005-10-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

I finally took the Stella out for a long ride this weekend. I did the Metric Century at BikeMO, an event put on by the Missouri Bike Federation. Ordinarily, I don't do pay rides but I am married to the vice-president of the organization. Actually, I have done 2 pay rides this last month but I don't do a LOT of them. Anyway, I arose extremely early and drove halfway across the state for this ride. I hadn't ridden too much after fighting a cold for a week. (Thank God for Zicam!) Now, I'm healthy again.

It didn't prove to be much of a handicap. Here I am at one of the rest stops,resplendent in my attire from Rivendell. The long sleeve seersucker shirt kept me cool and the MUSA pants were ideal for a fall ride when you couldn't be certain what the weather would be and I liked walking into the coffee shop in Fulton, Missouri at lunch and not having my package out there for the world. What I had forgotten, though, was a change of underwear. Fortunately the start/finish area was at a shopping center which housed a Dollar General store where I ducked in afterward for a package of Fruit of the Loom boxers and a package of Junior Mints. For the record, I actually did ride the 62 mile route. I told someone that Monday morning would be the test for it, whether riding a fixie would hurt me and I was fine. I've learned that riders overestimate the advantage a derailleured bicycle gives them. I can climb about as well on Stella as I can on my Cannondale go-fast bike or my Panasonic granny-geared touring bike. And it's so much FUN!! Who could have thought that forcing myself to pedal all the time could be so enjoyable? After all, though I am a runner first and cyclist second or maybe I'm just an athlete.

The only thing that was missing was beer. I'm a believer in rewarding myself with a beer after strenuous exercise. I settled for a 24 ounce Busch from the gas station rather than the craft beer I would have loved. Of course, ideals only exist in heaven.

After the ride, the officers and organizers of the Missouri Bike Fed discussed the ride. Most riders thought it was a very good event. Levie, one of the officers, told Laurie, my wife that "some of the riders on the 32 mile did not seem like very experienced riders and one of them was YOUR HUSBAND!" Guess some people don't get the sensible rider look. I do ride in spandex, too and I can ride fast if I want, too.

Talk like a Pirate Day

2005-09-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

Basket Woes

2005-08-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

I've spent about 100 miles on the Stella, maybe more and I can't seem to get comfortable with the Moustache Bars. Part of it is that the basket interferes with using the brake hoods for a hand position. The basket should be lower.

There are some other solutions. Ahearne makes a wonderful rack, as does Paul. I put out a question to the BOB list and the estimable Kent Peterson sent this. I'll have to check with Acme to see if they can do anything.

That aside, I'm having so much FUN riding this bike. I just seem to become one with the bike. I love riding it. It's been a tough week, three morning of getting up before 5 AM and getting out on the road but when you get off work and see Stella there waiting for you, it all seems worthwhile.

What kind of bike

2005-08-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Jim at Oil is For Sissies writes about someone wanting to know what type of bike his Atlantis is. Reminds me of a conversation I had on the "Slow Ride" last week. I was riding the Stella and happened to mention I couldn't coast to a guy on an Aegis yellow carbon fiber thing.

He said something like, "Nobody makes bikes for this kind of riding, the kind of riding we do."

I said, "Well, there's Rivendell, Surly, Kogswell. They make sensible bikes."

"But those are niche producers, small. You have to get a Rivendell over the internet."

"Well, not exactly. They have dealers."

My point is that there are plenty of sensible bikes. As a category, "Sensible Bikes" is probably as attractive as sensible shoes. Maybe not, Birkenstock and Keen and Doc Marten sell a lot of shoes.

Here it is, 95% complete,

2005-08-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

I've ridden it 4 times, tweaking it a little more on each ride. I think the brake levers are where I want them and I'll tape it after a couple more rides, commutes to work perhaps. The other thing I need is a freewheel and I'm not sure what size, most likely 18 or 19 tooth.

Before installing the basket, I should have taken a picture. But I'm going to ride with the basket so here it is.

In building it up, I found that the original brakes I had picked out weren't going to reach far enough. So I dug through the parts bin at Acme and found these Weinmann Centerpulls at Robert's suggestion. Robert is the former owner of SouthSide Cyclery. I installed Scott/Matthauser salmon pads on them. I'm told this originally had 27-inch wheels on it so check out the great clearance.

The handlebars are Nitto Moustache Bars, that I acquired from an i-Bob, along with the Nitto Technomic Stem, sanded down to fit the headset. Brake levers are Dia-Compe, unknown models that have a quick-release, also acquired through the i-Bob list. It has a 1/2 inch chain and the original, or at least the ones that it came with, crankset and gear. With the Surly 16 tooth, it has about a 67 inch chain. I'm using the larger of the pair as a chainguard. Down the road, I may install a newer bottom bracket. Petals are Lyotard, that Acme had available to fit the French crankset. Down the road again, I may install PowerGrips or new pedals, as wear and tear merit.

The City of Big Shoulders

2005-07-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

Visiting my wife's sister and her husband in Chicago, I made it my goal not to get into a car. I took the L from Midway to meet all for dinner but was stifled by the rain so we rode back to their house.

Yesterday, we did hit it on 2 wheels. I borrowed Joe's 19 inch unsuspended Specialized Hardrock. (Wonderful bike that. Just some Albatross bars from perfection. I'd love to trade my 16 inch for it.)

Rode down to Uptown Bikes/Urban Bikes for a new saddle for Laurie's Giant Nutra. (What does that name mean? I'd prefer Nutria, like those water rats down in Louisiana.)I found a basket that easily transfers from one bike to another, only it rests on the brake cable and bought some TriFlow for the unattended HardRock.

What really impressed me was the way the shop and the city accomodate bikes much more so than my fair city of KCMO. Singlespeeds, old Schwinns (they were once built here) and all kinds of mixtes and sensible handlebars. And cheap,cheap bikes! I rode along, watching the sidewalk and racks for all kinds of old interesting bikes.

Millenium Park has a bicycle parking garage, for heaven's sake.

Out on the Streets

2005-07-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

So I took the dogs for a run around the neighborhood yesterday, after spending about 2 hours reinstalling the OS on this computer. Fortunately, I didn't lose any data this time and I didn't have to rebuild my browser.

Anyway, I'm standing at the crosswalk, two dogs tethered to my waist, sunglasses and bandana on my head. Some dork, driving a pickup truck full of lawn mowers, yells "FAGGOT!!"

Oooh, I'm scared.

Closer

2005-07-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

So maybe this week, the Stella Scorcher will hit the road. My Suzue finally came in to Acme last week and I got Sarah to build up a beautiful wheel with it, Mavic rim and all.

I chose some Michelin tires with reflective sidewalls, kevlar belts and knobbed shoulders for off-road use. Digging through my closet, I found some self-repairing tubes in the right size. These wheels will be bomb-proof and ready for anything.

On to putting the other parts together. A French headset requires a French-sized stem, so I spent an hour sanding down a Nitto stem to fit in the headset. It made my hands look like the Tin Woodsman from the Wizard of Oz.

Centerpull brakes with quick release levers, cork grips on Mustache bars and a Brooks saddle of some sort (I have 3 to choose from, a plastic messenger B-18, a B17 Narrow, and a Conquest that I bought for Laurie but is too narrow for her.) All I need is a chain and surely some other expense.

2005-06-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

I awoke from my nap

to hear the speech and was reminded of this. Maybe, he does believe this malarkey. That might be even more frightening than my cynical response.

2005-06-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

Who are they selling?
I was reading the latest issue of Progressive Grocer the other day and saw a full page ad for flavored cigars. Now, I'm as "laissez-faire" as the next guy but who are they marketing these things to? What adult wants to smoke a grape flavored White Owl? I'm not that disingenuous.

Real Project Bicycles

2005-06-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

I had thought I was really building some Frankenbikes until my mother-in-law brought me a copy of the Chicago Tribune with this in it. I'm just trying to restore and make useful the bikes I've got, not so much trying to create art.

2005-06-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

On the road to Cottonwood Falls

2005-06-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

Laurie passes the Schoolhouse at Z-Bar

2005-05-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Brakes placed but hardly ready to ride

2005-05-30T19:35:00.001-07:00

Hemp twine to guard the chainstay

2005-05-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

Head tube, Stella

2005-05-30T19:34:00.002-07:00

Where they've been

2005-05-30T19:34:00.001-07:00

the Stella Frame

2005-05-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

Where I shellaced the first bit

2005-05-30T19:33:00.001-07:00

Another bit of hemp twine at the ends

2005-05-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

A round of Bar Tape

2005-05-30T19:32:00.001-07:00

Hemp Twine, New Belgium Bell

2005-05-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Three Speed Derailleur

This is one of the unusual features of this bike that drew me to it. I've never seen a 3 speed derailleur before. Usually 3-speeds will have an internally geared hub like this. I am totally unable to comprehend how these work.

2005-05-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

Wright Saddle

2005-05-30T19:30:00.001-07:00

Bottle Generator

2005-05-30T19:29:00.001-07:00

First bit of Hemp twine

2005-05-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

Head tube Sam Benotto

2005-05-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

the Sammy in all its glory

2005-05-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

May Hem on my bike

2005-05-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

On my C'Dale

Fendered, At Last!

2005-05-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

So I had some bad news at work, about which I shall vent in another forum, and I needed a fix of some sort. Getting drunk would have just ruined me and other forms of substance abuse were out of easy reach.

It was pouring rain at my quitting time, preventing me from making the 10 mile ride home, so I caught a ride with John, in his BMW and rode home from the Nelson.

"Fenders," I thought, "I need fenders."

So off to Acme where Sarah and Christy were working.

"What's wrong with your bike today?" (I had been in earlier in the week having the bottom bracket rebuilt."

"It just needs fenders."

"Have I got the fenders for you!", Sarah said, picking up a wrapped package of Honjos, "Only a hundred twenty bucks."

"That's more than the bike cost", I laughed. "No, I want those old ones we looked at on Monday... with the fins." I went to the shelf and looked through the old fenders. They were still there, chromed and cool.

By no means did they snap right on the bike. Originally built for a 3-speed, they required 3 tries at extending the stays. And the fronts, they needed to expand their radius to avoid rubbing the tire.

"Nasty chain, Jeff. You really need to replace this. When they get this greasy and gritty, you can't clean them. You're just pushing the dirt into them." I'll have to do that soon.

Anyway, it took an hour and a half, a couple beers and a trip across the street to pound the fender on a round table sitting on the side walk at the Vintage store but we made it fit.

2005-05-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Thought for today

A journey is like marriage.The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.
- John Steinbeck

2005-05-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

So I did a few things.

Donna's bike is in a "first draft" stage. New Tires. New Bars. Actually the original bars that came with my Sam Benotto 3-Speed. Much more upright now but it still needs a taller stem.

I had some tires in my garage that fit this thing, 700 by 25's. God Almighty, the fork and the seatstays are tight. There's barely enough room for typing paper there, (Does anyone still use typing paper anymore?) let alone a fender. It's definitely a candidate for 650B conversion like the Bluebird with a Technomic or a Periscopa stem. Maybe I'll call it the Blackbird.

There's an article in this month's Rivendell Reader about fork dimensions that demonstrates how poorly most current forks are designed, notably carbon forks. It seems as if manufacturers have worked hard to make it difficult to change to a more comfortable tire, as if we're all going to be triathletes or time trials riders forever.

2005-05-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Tired-Ass Blues

I slept in until 6:15 this morning. Compared to the 4:20 AM I've been doing all week, that's luxuriating. Part of it was participating in the Bicycle Commuter Challenge and getting to work at 6:00 AM. What am I? Fucking Crazy? I made a commitment to do it, mainly to myself. As Christy told me awhile back Gandhi said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world."

As we fight wars for oil to continue the ridiculous "American Way of Life", someone has to say in some small way, "Stop this!" So I ride my bike. At 5:00 in the morning. In the dark. Through Mission Hills. Through the Plaza. Down Metcalf Avenue. With flashing lights.

And on Wednesday night, we rode the Ride of Silence. Laurie, or someone that apparently resembles her got her picture in the Star. Anyway, I noticed a rather pronounced squeak in the bottom bracket on my Panasonic Touring Deluxe. Off to Acme for a rebuild. So, on Thursday and Friday, I rode my Sam Benotto Cazenave 3-Speed with the 650B tires. One note, they ride much better with 55 pounds of air pressure than with 15 or 20. But it's a load of steel to carry.

My Best Week Commuting Ever

2005-05-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

I sat on the front porch after I got home tonight, nursing a Red Stripe or two. My regular bike needed some serious work on the bottom bracket, more than I could deliver with
Van der Plas and my toolset. So it went off to Acme for a rebuild. My other commuter, the Specialized HardRock had been loaned out so it fell on the Sammy for the Thursday and Friday rides. I don't want to cast any aspersions upon myself but it rides much better with 60 pounds of air in the tire than 20. Still a lot of bike work and still fun but man, am I tired. MARC doesn't have me on their rankings yet but I have 80 miles in this week.

2005-05-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

Pissed On and Off

I feel like I've lived through Hell this week, although, compared to people I know, it's minor. I mean, last night, we had dinner with a friend who, in the last 3 years, lost his wife (killed in a police chase while riding her bike) and just completed chemotherapy after lung cancer. So, I suppose, my troubles are small but they are mine.

I feel as if I've been scapegoated for difficulties in the department at work. I took this position at other's encouragement, not realizing the steep learning curve to learn a whole new department and purchasing, also under a new team leader. So as the difficulties mounted, blamestorming pointed to me, as the weak link. So, I was told to step down or get out. I'm applying for another position within the store but I feel that if I don't get that, they want me out or something. Maybe I'm misreading it but it sure feels that way.

2005-05-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Where we start. Item 1

2005-05-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

Schwinn Left side Before

Don't take me too seriously

2005-05-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

Here we go. I've got 4 bikes of my own. There are 10 in our garage, including the latest. 4 belong to my wife and one to our friend, Donna.

This is where I'm starting. Donna's bike is an old triathlon model, an aluminum Schwinn and the plan is to make it a more friendly, comfortable touring bike or, in the recent spiel of Grant Peterson, a "country bike", one suitable for daylong rides. It should be fairly simple but what is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and men?

The other project is my fixed gear/single speed project, the Stella Scorcher. Ever since I heard a report on NPR's All Things Considered about fixed gear scorchers. So I talked to my friends at Acme Bicycle Company and I'm getting started with the Stella. I'll post as that comes to fruition.

Anyway, Donna's bike, or Project Dervla, as I'm referring to it, after Irish travel writer and cyclist Dervla Murphy who rode a single speed Armstrong Cadet from Ireland to India and chronicled the journey in her Full Tilt, which I've read recently and enjoyed immensely.

First thing, the tires need replacement. I'll take the ones off my Cannondale SR500 and put new ones on the Cannondale that I've got sitting in the garage. It also needs less severe handlebars that can be raised up to allow an upright position as well as a taller stem.

Down the road, I'd like to put 650B tires on it to allow room for fenders and so forth. Maybe it can be saved and rehabbed.

2005-04-26T06:16:00.000-07:00

Wonderin'

They used to say that $0.05 of every slice of pizza went to the Mafia. Parenthetically, I don't know which "they" to which I am referring. And what would happen when you had a pizza cut into 8 slices rather than 6. Did the Mob get an extra dime? How they keep track? I read this in a book of Urban Legends awhile back. Anyway, I wonder how much of the price of each gallon of gas goes to Al Qaeda.

Another thing I'm wondering about is this thing with the new Pope. "Joey Rats", as Jon Stewart called him the other night. He was referred to as "God's Rottweiler". Which makes me wonder why an omnipotent, all-knowing, all-powerful Supreme Being needs a vicious guard dog. Can't our heavenly father do his own smiting and stuff?

2005-03-17T09:08:00.000-08:00

Blarney

I just heard the current occupant of the White House use the words "Courage and Honesty". How can he do that with a straight face? Or does he ever do anything with a straight face?

Just wondering.

I'm trying to track my reading like David but I'm behind, not in the reading but in the blogging. Will get it back together today.

2005-02-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Again, I ask you, "Where's the Outrage?"

I don't get the NeoCons at all. I've said before, perhaps not here, that I felt as if I had found out the neighbors were practicing infant cannibalism when Bush got elected by a majority of voters this time not simply the majority of the Supreme Court.

It seems to me, if Bush is "your Man", than you'll tolerate any incompetence, any drug use in his past, his AWOL time in the Texas and Alabama guard, and even his reprobate daughters.

But this Gannon stooge?

2005-01-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

From awhile back

Emptying the crap vacuum

Why is it that I can recite entire Monty Python routines that I've seen maybe twice?
Yet I can't manage the Java windowing toolkit.
Or the types and keywords.
Lyrics to songs I don't even like.
But not things I have to do every day.
Jerry Seinfeld routines and bits of shows.
Movie quotes.

We were discussing this phenomenon the other night at my Anne and Joe's (Anne's and Joe's? My brother-in-law and sister-in-law)and Joe introduced to me the theory of the Crap Vacuum. That is, the place in one's brain where the useless stuff goes and resides. Some people have large butts or thinning hair; I have a large crap vacuum, a veritable ShopVac for the small-penis set, The equivalent of a Hummer in vacuum. Some people are equipped with the equivalent of a Dustbuster or one of those gizmos you buy to get dust off your keyboard. For me, pop culture trash, no matter how stupid or insignificant, gets written to memory and saved right away to hard drive.

On our trip to Chicago Thursday night, my tiny little Swiss Army Knife turned up in my backpack. I must have just emptied my pockets into it when I got home. I make it a point to put all my pocket change in the front pocket before I head for the airport, along with my keys, thus simplifying my trip through the metal detectors at the airport. But in my haste to get out the door, I inadvertantly put my tiny little Swiss Army knife in the pocket. The security people looked for about 5 minutes and then found it.

"Oh."

I had the choice of checking my backpack or surrendering it or renting a locker to leave the thing in while we were gone or handing it to my co-conspirator outside the gate area, a person who didn't exist. So I surrendered it. It was imprinted with LewerMark, my former employer. One more piece of them is out of my life. So long, Chuck.

2005-01-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

Here we go. A week into the new year as I listen to the sound of the floor polisher go and go and I am running more. We have had an ice storm which wasn't as bad as they warned us.

I did about 12 miles this morning, from Einstein Brothers in Prurient Village to Kellys.

I'm trying to run 1500 miles this year, an average of 30 miles aweek and the weather is uncooperative, to the largest extreme.

2004-12-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

When Life comes to a Standstill

To light a fuse

We could use

A hand full of wheel

And a day off

And a bruised road - Jeff Tweedy

I love my job but I was looking forward to getting away for the holiday and seeing my family but Laurie got sick. Now, I've got a day off. I slept late but I'd rather be running or riding my bike. Working until late and taking an hour or so to wind down doesn't lend itself to early rising.

Finished reading Heartaches by the Number yesterday and of course, I'm thinking in the melancholy that is Country music. Of course, as I get older, I'm more drawn to that. It speaks to me. You just get to realize that Hank Williams had the truth. I've been listening to Elvis Costello's Almost Blue in the truck on my way to work. It brings back so many memories of the vinyl version plus getting to hear Johnny Cash and George Jones. My in-laws also sent me a copy of the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo which I have yet to play. But I, for some reason, really respond to Gram Parsons songs, which Almost Blue introduced to me.

2004-12-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

Another Thought

Looking at my email, it struck me how many of them are not specifically for me. It often has less that catch my interest than the newspaper, which seems to take more time sorting out than actually reading.

2004-11-11T09:37:00.000-08:00

A Few Brewskis and I become Bobby Darin

We had our taste fair for the Holidays at the store last night, followed by a few drinks across the street, not at the store like last year. Anyway, it went really well until someone submitted my name to sing "Mack the Knife" at the Karaoke. Don't think it'll replace "Stand By Your Man" in my repertoire.

Laurie sent me this which captures my feelings exactly and apparently many others around the world.

2004-11-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

Wake Up and Smell the Constitution Burning

I feel like I've been kicked, hard. I honestly don't remember feeling this bad after the attacks of 9/11; this feels worse. It's as though this country doesn't make sense to me anymore, like it's not the place where I was raised to believe I lived. I don't see Bush moving to the center, if anything, he'll go farther to the right. I just can't believe he's been elected. Before, I consoled myself by believing his presidency was not legitimate, that it was stolen, and real Americans didn't really want him. Now, I feel like I'm in some alien world, full of people who hate gays, racists, plutocrats, people who aren't like me. It's as if I've woken up to find myself living in a world of monsters.

Fear Uncertainty and Doubt proved to be the effective marketing strategy in this campaign. Cheney warned audiences that if they picked wrong, another terrorist attack could be imminent. It appears they believed him, not bothering to note under whose watch the worst terrorist attack on our soil came about. Vote for me or else.

And in 3 years, Cheney will appear again, making a speech where he says, " I know I said I had no ambitions for higher office but I believe now that I am the best candidate and I must enter the race." Or we'll be under Martial Law and the constitution will be gone.

2004-09-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

Best Campaign Sticker Yet

Here

2004-09-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

In Which I am mistaken for a Third World Denizen

So today I went to Costco to shop for household items. On the list was:

Cheese

Fruit

Cereal

Kleenex

Bread

Pita

Chips

I decided to take my Specialized Hardrock with the basket and netting. It was a beautiful morning and I rode through Hyde Park, enjoying it so much I almost went past Costco.

I had everything carefully loaded into the basket. Flat bread and Pita on the bottom. 2 bags of Quaker 100@% Natural on top of the Flat bread and next to the Pitas, 2 pounds of Provolone Cheese stacked on the Flat Bread. Eight boxes of Kleenex, or rather Kirkwood Select tissues stacked on top of the food (Costco only sells things in big bunches). On top of it all, a 2 pound flat of peaches, I wrapped the cargo net over the whole thing, stretching it to its limit. The only item that I didn't purchase was the bag of chips, which I could have carried if I only had a handlebar bag.

I got out of the parking lot and decided that the peaches might well fly out through the netting. Taking a plastic bag from my pocket, I covered the peaches and replaced the cargo net and rode carefully home. I was so proud and should have taken a picture.

2004-09-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

A Perfect Moment

Today we went to the sale at Bikes and Trikes for Tykes. I was looking for a serviceable touring bike frame that I could build up for a travel bike and eventually install S and S Couplings™. What I found was a wonderful Panasonic Touring Deluxe, perfectly fitted to me, with nice Araya rims, a lugged steel frame, Shimano 600 components, cantilever brakes and even a rack. It did also have a Brooks type leather saddle and some Shimano toe clipped pedals, neither of which I wanted. So, it was $120 and I am thrilled.

Back to the house, I put my own Brooks saddle, new tires (the old ones were dry-rotted to hell) and some Cinelli cork handlebar tape. It's getting wonderful, rides smoothly. I just need a saddlebag for it.

2004-09-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

A Bold New Day

Having found these in the Rivendell Reader, I went to their website and became intrigued by their philosophy. It takes me back to the old days of running before there was so much stuff between me and the road. I just fly down the road now.

The insoles, of course, are crap. You don't get good insoles in a $200 running shoe, let alone one that costs 1/3 of that. What really amazes me is that the laces are exactly the right length. Every shoe I've bought in the last couple years, running, work, whatever, has laces at least a foot too long and they come untied and I trip on them. Well thought out, Vitruvians!

2004-09-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

Best Cartoon Ever

2004-09-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

Mocha likes Cicadas

Walking the dogs this morning, I heard a semi-familiar buzz from the sidewalk below me. Mocha, the one-time foundling dog, came running, pulling Laurie behind her. She leaped onto the struggling cicada, lying on its back, devouring it. She found another later, eating it with a relish previous reserved for scraps of steak or chicken thrown from the table.

2004-09-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

Why does the phrase

"Crazier than a Shithouse Rat" come to mind whenever I hear or see

Zell Miller?

And where do they get the name "Zell"?

2004-09-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

What Everyone Needs

This.

I got these in the mail today after ordering them like, a month ago. Because of the delay, the artist (not The Artist)sent me 15 of them, more than I possibly could ever use. So I shared them with people at work.