Friday was a bad day. Loud bang, drive train suddenly became very crunchy, carried on for another ten yards before some guys shouted out, "hey, your back wheel". Looked behind me to see wheel no longer mounted in the fork and a missing quick release mechanism. Stopped, walked back down the road bicking up various bits of bike, including an axle that had cracked in two. Apparently the hub is destroyed. Good times.
― caek, Sunday, 20 April 2008 01:05 (sixteen years ago) link
20 miles today and I hated every minute of it. Why does it sometimes hurt and sometimes it's brilliant?
― Mark C, Sunday, 20 April 2008 18:06 (sixteen years ago) link
Went on an mtb skills course today. Learnt a new technique for unweighting/lifting the front wheel - instead of pulling on the bars, you push! Well that's oversimplifying but basically it was a fucking revelation. I've never been happy taking jumps 'cause pulling just never worked for me, this changes everything. Also had three spectacular falls. Hey, shows I was challenging myself, right?
― ledge, Sunday, 20 April 2008 22:49 (sixteen years ago) link
Apparently the hub is destroyed.
£90 later I have a bike on which pretty much everything except the frame, front wheel and brakes are new. Expensive, but it feels like a new bike. Incredible. I can't believe I let it get that bad.
― caek, Monday, 21 April 2008 18:41 (sixteen years ago) link
amazed that i'm not sore from saturday.
― Jordan, Monday, 21 April 2008 18:46 (sixteen years ago) link
did 40 minutes after work, enjoyed the evening, saw some wild turkeys.
― Jordan, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 03:12 (sixteen years ago) link
Found : one of Pashmina's dad's frames
― Ed, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 15:10 (sixteen years ago) link
so cool.
very low mileage due to owner's severe myopia.
― Hunt3r, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 16:31 (sixteen years ago) link
60mm though. wish i was 6'5". ;_;
― Steve Shasta, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 16:46 (sixteen years ago) link
You could be shorter if you use a more oldschool frame sizing methodology. (My grandfather, bike shop owner, not nearly as estemed as pash's dad, pretty much went with the biggest frame your nuts didn't touch when standing flat on the floor, my surly is a 60 and I'm only 6'1", I like it that big)
― Ed, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 17:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Got honked at by a livery car on DeLancey who approached me from behind right after the light changed to green. I decided it was good time to ride as slow as I could for the next block. When I pulled on Bowery, I called him a dickhead in his side window.
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 16:18 (sixteen years ago) link
murder this morning--
started off with 1x15 tempo at 80rpms
then did 4x6minute intervals with each minute constituting 20seconds at 380 watts (90rpms), 40 seconds at 300 watts (80rpms)
obviously the only person who cares about this is hunt3r and maybe w4lter/wilter
― cutty, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 16:34 (sixteen years ago) link
well its your daily bike log.
to mssger guy who just dropped at my reception: why u wear sidi ergos for ur job, why?
― Hunt3r, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 17:31 (sixteen years ago) link
I got hit by an SUV on Friday night. I apparently did some "crazy Spiderman leap" according to 10 yr old eyewitness which resulted in me not ending up under this lady's fucking Suburban (she didn't stop until like 5 seconds AFTER she hit me). I'm fine...a couple bruises where I hit the street, but my rear wheel got run over. My neighbor is replacing it, in the meantime I am riding the fuck out of this poor tiny Huffy.
― nickalicious, Friday, 25 April 2008 21:23 (sixteen years ago) link
I didn't get any of the lady's information, I was so pissed when she actually got out after 30 seconds to check on me all I could do was shout GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND LOOK WHERE THE FUCK YOU'RE GOING NEXT TIME.
― nickalicious, Friday, 25 April 2008 21:24 (sixteen years ago) link
31 road miles today - four laps of Richmond Park. It felt great, and I was definitely using tougher gears at certain points. My god, progress!
Desperately need new shoes though. Do these look like a decent compromise?
― Mark C, Sunday, 27 April 2008 18:10 (sixteen years ago) link
They look just fine, much like my Adidas, however check you can walk in them without too much heel lift , the one complaint with mine is that my ankles get shredded if I walk too far in them.
― Ed, Sunday, 27 April 2008 21:30 (sixteen years ago) link
kids who yell out the window of cars to startle you are annoying.
its a good thing i have my mp3 on and cant hear them.
― Hunt3r, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 21:34 (sixteen years ago) link
not as annoying as kids who pull nines on you (<---- happened to my roommate)
― gbx, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 23:48 (sixteen years ago) link
also, another cyclist got killed here a couple weeks ago.
apparently made a last-ditch try at a left hand turn at Western and Logan Blvd and got broad-sided by an oncoming car who was also trying to beat the light. No helmet, 1am, 22 yo, DOA.
― gbx, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 23:52 (sixteen years ago) link
not as annoying as kids who pull nines on you
oh, kids will be kids
― Hunt3r, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 16:01 (sixteen years ago) link
So I realize I'm kind of lazy and lame about upgrading anything or being fancy, but I just put a new chain and freewheel on my Dunelt last night and it's gorgeous and rides so beautifully for the relic that it is. Am actually looking forward to having winter ass kicked by upcoming 50m Sunday.
― Laurel, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 17:25 (sixteen years ago) link
Another run in with a livery service
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 17:35 (sixteen years ago) link
Now I need a pretty, shiny new front wheel.
― Laurel, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 17:55 (sixteen years ago) link
-- gbx, Tuesday, April 29, 2008 6:48 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link
happened to mine too
― dan m, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 22:42 (sixteen years ago) link
Ticketed by Brooklyn cops in my own lobby for riding my bike up onto the sidewalk to get inside.
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Thursday, 1 May 2008 00:35 (sixteen years ago) link
literally 10 feet
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Thursday, 1 May 2008 00:38 (sixteen years ago) link
yet another one, this time two blocks from my house: 24 yo school teacher, at 2.50pm. driver not charged.
― gbx, Thursday, 1 May 2008 13:25 (sixteen years ago) link
I know Chicago is not that bike friendly (or at least drivers seem very un aware in my limited experience) but two death in a week is awful.
― Ed, Thursday, 1 May 2008 15:21 (sixteen years ago) link
-- Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Wednesday, April 30, 2008 8:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link
wtf! cops hate you
― sleep, Thursday, 1 May 2008 16:27 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh please. On my first day ever riding a bike in NYC, a cop pulled over in front of me and BLOCKED THE BIKE LANE and then yelled at me for moving onto the sidewalk to avoid them. Which I wouldn't do now, but I was feeling shaky and nervous and unused to traffic and fuck them, anyway.
― Laurel, Thursday, 1 May 2008 16:30 (sixteen years ago) link
Don't oh please me!
Yesterday: biked with sleep to commonwealth in park slope and back
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Sunday, 4 May 2008 18:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Around 35-40 miles, mostly as part of the 5 Boro but with some freelancing in between because we started late and skipped parts, and then rode extra in other places. Expected rain but got sun, now my hands are crazy burned.
Does it mean my bike fits poorly if after riding all day my legs aren't even stiff but my shoulders and neck are killing me?
― Laurel, Monday, 5 May 2008 14:46 (sixteen years ago) link
Also when I did the same ride last year I was the slowest rider in my group and felt lousy and killed myself keeping up. This year felt much better, even though I don't have a lot of miles on this season!
― Laurel, Monday, 5 May 2008 14:48 (sixteen years ago) link
Laurel, were you wearing a backpack?
― Ed, Monday, 5 May 2008 15:09 (sixteen years ago) link
A msgr bag, but it only goes on one side and both shoulders hurt equally.
― Laurel, Monday, 5 May 2008 15:11 (sixteen years ago) link
i would say if anything is sore other than legs, it is a bike fit issue
― cutty, Monday, 5 May 2008 15:12 (sixteen years ago) link
I was afraid of that. Highland keeps my legs built, my pedaling muscles are fine if a tiny bit fatigued. Will eventually have to solve the fit problem but not without about $900 and a new bike.
― Laurel, Monday, 5 May 2008 15:17 (sixteen years ago) link
the messenger bag won't be helping especially if you are leant forward and it's pushing into your spine.
― Ed, Monday, 5 May 2008 15:32 (sixteen years ago) link
Unfortunately, the feeling of my Ulock digging into my thoracic vertebrae is a whole different kind of annoying.
― Laurel, Monday, 5 May 2008 15:36 (sixteen years ago) link
if its a very sharp pinching sensation right between yr shoulders, its more like a chamois-time issue imo.
― Hunt3r, Monday, 5 May 2008 15:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Yessss, that's more like it. Should I assume that "chamois-time" means "time spent in the saddle", or is there something else I'm missing?
― Laurel, Monday, 5 May 2008 16:06 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah riding time. ive always suspected its from holding up yr head for so long while leaning forward. it is a position-related thing, but not necessarily a fit issue. i guess if yr body doesnt adapt, it officially becomes a fit issue. i dont think it does much damage, and it never has persisted ime- the next ride its gone.
my first long rides of the yr, more than 4 or so hours, im prone to this, and my road bike set up has been the precisely same for 12 years. im gettin pretty old tho.
― Hunt3r, Monday, 5 May 2008 16:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Thanks, that sounds right. I def have the stiff neck from looking up. I'd like to spend less time leaning on my arms but it was stop-and-go yesterday due to crowding and road construction; I think I may have officially ridden at my slowest speed ever without falling over.
im gettin pretty old tho.
That's okay, we can't all be spring chickens like cutty.
― Laurel, Monday, 5 May 2008 16:52 (sixteen years ago) link
ha, how old do you think i am?
― cutty, Monday, 5 May 2008 16:56 (sixteen years ago) link
Younger than me.
― Laurel, Monday, 5 May 2008 17:04 (sixteen years ago) link
So I was in Paris this weekend and made half a dozen journeys on a Vélib. I'm sure most of you know what a Vélib is but just in case, it's the system they have where anyone can pick up a bike from a large number of bike stations around the city, pay a Euro and ride it to wherever you need to go, where there'll be another station for you to drop it off. The bikes are fantastically abundant, easy to use, cheap and massively popular - it felt like every second bike on the road was a Vélib at times.
http://www.notre-planete.info/actualites/images/transports/velib.jpg
The bikes are hugely heavy, deliberately styled in a way that means you wouldn't want to steal them (and if you do, you lose a €150 deposit - you have to have a credit card to use them). They have a 3 gear Nexus hub - the hardest gear can allow you a fairly comfortable 15 mph at best, but since they don't come with helmets I don't think it's a problem.
In a city like Paris, it makes huge sense to have a scheme like this - cyclists are so much more part of the fabric of the city, and there are excellent (for the most part) bike lanes (though I don't know if I want to go round some of the bigger roundabouts on a bike ever again). I wish we could have something similar in London, but practically, it's not going to happen. And the almost total lack of helmets feels worrying too.
― Mark C, Tuesday, 6 May 2008 11:05 (sixteen years ago) link
There is a similar scheme is london but the coverage is poor and the bikes always seem to be vandalised.
― Ed, Tuesday, 6 May 2008 11:55 (sixteen years ago) link
xposted from the Chicago thread, but I thought maybe someone here might be intersted in this:
http://www.biketraffic.org/htmlmail/legislative_alert_5_6_08.html
― dan m, Tuesday, 6 May 2008 18:29 (sixteen years ago) link
We had a yellow bike thing here for about 6 months last year - you bought a key from the city, which unlocked any of the bikes...problem was they were decent bikes and got stolen the fuck out of.
― nickalicious, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 20:10 (sixteen years ago) link