your daily bicycle log

for some reason i really, really want to build a wheelset

like right now

if you were nearby id let you rebuild my rear wheel. cause im not feelin it, mself. partly because putting that nexus hub up in my liteweight stand is pia.

What do people think about Pitlock locking skewers. Will I still have wheels if I use them?

http://www.pitlock.de/en/pitlocksrange/index.html

this week i've transferred my training over to the evening hours because of my new job.

last night i did 2 hours:
3x12 minutes in Z3 (2 mins 80rpm + 1 minute 100rpm x 4)
8x20 second sprints at 53x14

the weather was wonderful for winter night riding. i really was hammering the sprints. also this week marks the end of my strength training (today is last day in gym) and long, slow, base miles--now the intense shit begins. i am getting re-tested on monday and will see where my zones are at.

tomorrow, my last long ride (5 hours with 2x30 minutes at Z3) and on sunday probably some light spinning to keep me fresh for testing on monday.

2 FLATS.....2 DIFFERENT BIKES...SAME DAY...SAME TIRE (FRONT)..WEIRD.

Was riding in the park today and a guy cycling towards me on my side decided, for some reason, not to move across the path as I came by and basically put his bike immediately in front of me. We had a low speed collision, and I was thrown out of my saddle onto soft grass. Problem was the wrench of the bump pulled my right shoulder out of its socket. OW.

So a couple of nurofen and back on with the old sling (this isn't the first time it's happened). Grrr.

eek

didn't work today, and cycling was limited to going to the bike shop to buy a new lock cuz i lost mine on friday (lol :-/)

while i was there i took out a jamis nova CX bike for a spin

swoooooooooooooooooooooooooon

i havent been a bike shop to look at bikes for a long long time, but i was pretty surprised by specialized's cross offerings. they were very, uh complicated looking. wonder how they ride

i was also nauseated by specialized's array of kewl langsters. plz.

ugh, those things are terrible

I gotta start waking up earlier for bike commute.

Earlier? Wouldn't commuting by bike be quicker? It knocks 10-20 minutes off my journey.

So I don't have to bike home in pitch dark cold.

my commute is 30-35 minutes by train, 20-25 by bike

So awesome, you guys.

SF innercity commute (4.57 miles)

walking: 60 minutes
public transit (rush hour): 35-45 minutes
driving (rush hour): 20-30 minutes
cycling: ~12 minutes

How is walking only 15 minutes longer than public transit?? I am not understanding something about SF transit, maybe?

Biked with my GF for the first time she has let me. Was good then sped off into the city on errands. Still need to get her a lighter bike but she has gone cold on the idea. Looks like I am schwinn polishing tomorrow.

"schwinn polishing"

According to my computery thing my commute this morning was 29 mins, about 28 of those actually in motion. Now I did have a pretty good run but that's crazy, I demand a recount.

From where to where do you commute? There is a decent SW breeze today - I can get into Soho (7.2 miles) in under 27 (moving) minutes with a helping hand from the wind, and I'm not particularly fit.

(And there is hell of traffic/lights on the Fulham Road/Kings Road)

waterloo > hamersmith. 9k aka under 6 miles. I go at top whack for my singlespeed (about 30 kph) all the way except for a couple of "hills", traffic usually isn't too bad, it's just the lights which slow me down.

Biked with my GF for the first time she has let me.

Don't understand this...? Does she bike on her own in NYC?

i want to bike in london!

You know how narrow our roads are, right?

Scary moment on the ride back. There's quite a sharp 90 degree corner that I always take at speed because otherwise you always get overtaken by a taxi just before, which then slows down for the bend and cuts you up. And whenever I go round I think "I really have no idea how fast I could take this before skidding out". So I did it again today, didn't really consider that the road was wet... and then my front tyre skittered out from under me... and then came back under control. Phew.

Still at least I know now how fast to take it. No I don't! I still have no clue! How are you meant to figure that out?

How is walking only 15 minutes longer than public transit?? I am not understanding something about SF transit, maybe?

good point, half of that commute is walking because my office is pretty remote.

drifting yr front and recovering is like impossible ime, so good on you ledge

Don't understand this...? Does she bike on her own in NYC?

Yeah she does, since she moved here we had to find a happy way of doing this as there is such a mismatch of speeds. She bikes fine on her own but initially wanted to build confidence without having to watch me nearly getting doored etc.

drifting yr front and recovering is like impossible

I know! Fuck knows how I managed it. Sheer fluke probably.

i want to bike in london!

-- cutty, Thursday, 21 February 2008 18:45 (4 hours ago) Link

sooooooooooooo fun. esp busy roundabouts!

Off to the park later for the first time since doing my shoulder (8 days ago). It still aches but the sharp agonising pains have pretty much gone unless I try something over-ambitious. Is this dumb? I guess I'll find out within a few minutes if it's a bad idea.

First time on the bike, I mean. I have a hangover too so it's not going to be big laughs I guess.

Btw, thanks porkpie for lending me this book - it's great and very funny.

http://www.bookreporter.com/art/covers/140w/0312316127.jpg http://www.lovereading.co.uk/gardimg/00/0097b956.jpg

Last night rode with username sleep to noise show in Bushwick. First night time + snow riding on a road bike! On the way home stopped short to avoid running a light in front of a cop and vaulted the handlebars. Got laughed at by a bodega full of fat asses, but got home fine. Wrists sore but feeling ok.

20 miles today around the North Downs and M25. We never get the route quite right, this time we saw a sign saying "Steep hill, cyclists are recommended to dismount" and thought wahey! 100 vertical metres of fun and indeed steep descent later, and a couple of miles of cycling along the road in denial, we realised that yup that was actually the wrong way, and we would have to go all the way back up it.

oh lord jon. be careful.

rode 3 hours today in prospect park. majority of the ride was with a group of 20 or so riders--by the end our tempo was fast and only 4 of us were left.

race season starts next week. i am going to kill!

I should have just run the red instead of trying to stop on a wet road.

Had a short ride around the neighbourhood - lost my back wheel big time on a hill (rear braking? on a corner? In the rain? Well done Mark) but managed not to fall off. The arm was aching after 20 mins but the action of riding is pushing the joint the right way, if you see what I mean). Did a bit of vague interval work on the little local hills. Was fun.

i spent 4 hours putting a new rim on my rear wheel (1.25 hours) and fucking endlessly with a diabolical chain and messed up chain tool that put me on the edge of insanity.

dint even get to ride on the nicest day since october so sad

dawdled around for about an hour in the new neighbourhood, looking for decent takeaway places; came back empty-handed. DISAPPOINTING.

so i was heading down market street behind this other guy this morning into this intersection:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2110710455_0c2cd83ce1_b.jpg

and this dipshit in a brand new black bmw makes... a sudden right hand turn! cyclist in front of me (later found out his name was Zach) smashes into front door of the car and goes over the hood. i hit the back of the car and superman over the trunk.

Zach was cohherent, legs looked bloody and gnarly though. paramedics and cops called and show up, take Zach away to SFGH. i give my report to cops/traffic investigator. apparently the driver claimed that we were riding on the sidewalk and ran a red light while traffic was congested and he had no other choice but to make an illegal right turn. LOLZ0RZ. Traffic investigator actually laughing when recalling his account of the story which was nice touch.

i'm pretty banged up (cheek bump/abrasions), wrenched back, and sore/bloody left knee.

zach's front end is totalled. i have pics. i got zach's bike at my place, took pics. i have never seen handlebars in this position.

my damage: fork got super bent back. hopefully my front tube is not out of round so that i can salvage the frame. front brake was pretty ugly and twisted up. amazingly the deep v's and phil hubs are still true...

be careful out there folx.

sorry to hear it steve. good luck w yr bike.

race season starts this sunday. also just got my powertap wheelset this week. WATCH OUUUUUUT.

Riding on the sidewalk? When there's a delightfully clear bike lane RIGHT THERE?

Sorry, Shasta. RIP your perfect complexion. ;_;

Steve, fuck the BMW driver. I hope he gets what's coming to him. Can you and Zach get compensation?

ILX bikers hella accident prone.

either that or you live in BFE.

my guess is the latter.

Get a lawyer!!!

btw me upthread not being sympathetic to shasta = we already spoke about it on IM