So the biking has been going relatively well so far. Only 3 flats since I started the trip just over a month ago. Not too shabby, considering my prior record of roughly 8 miles per tube....
Anyhow, I've been doing quite a bit of thinking (mostly when pedaling uphill) about how to cut some of the weight. Ollie's looking a bit more curvy than when we first started. I seem to be acquiring things more quickly than I can shed them: a pretty cool beer can camping stove from the Hoadleys during my sojourn in Shepherdstown, a second (and incidentally much-needed) sweater from my Aunt Barbara in Cumberland, some good hand lotion from Pam (I had developed dry and cracked "farmer's hands" from all of the field work which was just too inefficient when I tried to use gloves so I worked without them) while staying at her home in Bedford one evening on my way east....
Now, I've tried doing a bit of thinking outside the box (or outside the pannier, if you will) and kicked around some ideas: combining the spice kit and first aid kit, for example. Each has its own merits: the traditional first aid kit's space blanket doubles as a shiny cape for costume parties, while the culinary emergency kit would come in handy if I were to, say, run into Michael Pollan at a state park and he wanted to talk about the burgeoning local mushroom culture and asked what I was making on the camp stove and so I invited him to stay for dinner and then as I was handing him a plate of macaroni I became suddenly paralyzed with an overwhelming fear that the food around the campsite was lacking the appropriate level of epicurean sophistication and was just crying out for... oh, I dunno... herbes de provence. (It could happen. Luckily I have a stash of it with me, along with about 25 other must-have seasonings.) But then, I don't know that curry powder or spanish saffron would have helped much with the bangs and scrapes along the way, so perhaps I should keep the Band-aids and Neosporin and Aspirin and... okay, the whole first aid kit. Shoot.
The hills I've made it up thus far along the way are going to make way for mountains pretty soon. Anyone out there have tips on what to scrap to shave some weight off the bike? I've already sent the full-size pepper grinder and whisk home....
(What's really sad is that I'm serious about the grinder and the whisk.)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
...Swine flu the economy and how cycling saves all..
So... we are all sick of it, maybe I should say we're all fed up with it. The news coverage on the swine flu. Anyways, the recent media coverage may be the best thing to happen to the country at this time. Think about it, would you rather listen to media coverage talk about the swine flu or report stock markets like baseball box scores... The other point why swine flu is beneficial to the county is it is helping to jump start the economy... Again, during a recession spending, not saving is a good practice but everyone goes about it backwards... but with swine flu people are going out and BUYING hand sanitizer, something no one would spend money on 2 weeks ago. I believe I ending up at this conclusion at the end of a short ride, as most of my thoughts are materialized in the saddle... Maybe the government even introduced swine flu to take the public mind off the economy- OK that is a stretch... Here is another stretch, rain is bad for the bike business.... but good for malls. The last few rainy weekends have been driving people to the malls where they SPEND MONEY. Can the government control the weather too... Anyways the last rant I have is riding your bike gets you outside, being outside exposes to you germs, these build up your immune systems making your body stronger. The fitness thing also helps health too. Besides health benefits and mental sanity that cycling provides it also boosts the economy. If you are riding your bike you will need stuff, tubes, tyers, lube and parts, this pumps money into the economy... This is still cheaper than maintaining a car. And better for green fitness. (A gym uses lots of energy to power tread mills and all the other stuff that goes a long with it...)
Not sure if I've made any sense but ride your bike it will make you happier....
Not sure if I've made any sense but ride your bike it will make you happier....
Pet rocks
So a mechanic friend of mine once told me that there are 2 types of bike owners. I got into a discussion about this with a couple of guys from Anapolis over lunch at a corner store a few days ago.
The first are "dog" bike owners. These are the people who ride their bikes into the ground. They will not bring their bike into the shop for a tune-up until the handlebars have been zip tied back on at least three times. Their bikes are covered in mud and make odd creaking sounds sometimes. The brakes mostly work. They love to ride, but don't have the patience or finesse to keep everything rolling smoothly. If the wheels turn, that's what matters.
Then there are the "cat" bike owners. These types are very in tune with their machines. They know every nuanced sound change and notice slight shifts in performance. They regularly tune things up, cleaning and lubing the chain after a ride in the rain, checking the bolts and cables before each big ride. They love their bikes as much as the "dog" owners but are borderline OCD.
On my trip, I have also run into a 3rd category: "fish" bike owners. These are people who ride a bike a few times a year or less. They don't know why the bike would be creaky after sitting in their parents' damp shed for 8 years. They bring it into the shop when they get a flat tire, perplexed by the whole idea of changing a tire themselves. (These are the same people who come back to the pet store with the belly-up goldfish they'd gotten their 4-year-old a week before but forgot to feed. The fish, not the 4-year-old... I hope.)
I am not an elitist. Hardly. While I like to think of myself in the "cat" group, I am some hybrid of all of these, to a degree. Heck, up until a few months ago, I would have been in a 4th category: "pet rock" bike owner.
Which one are you?
The first are "dog" bike owners. These are the people who ride their bikes into the ground. They will not bring their bike into the shop for a tune-up until the handlebars have been zip tied back on at least three times. Their bikes are covered in mud and make odd creaking sounds sometimes. The brakes mostly work. They love to ride, but don't have the patience or finesse to keep everything rolling smoothly. If the wheels turn, that's what matters.
Then there are the "cat" bike owners. These types are very in tune with their machines. They know every nuanced sound change and notice slight shifts in performance. They regularly tune things up, cleaning and lubing the chain after a ride in the rain, checking the bolts and cables before each big ride. They love their bikes as much as the "dog" owners but are borderline OCD.
On my trip, I have also run into a 3rd category: "fish" bike owners. These are people who ride a bike a few times a year or less. They don't know why the bike would be creaky after sitting in their parents' damp shed for 8 years. They bring it into the shop when they get a flat tire, perplexed by the whole idea of changing a tire themselves. (These are the same people who come back to the pet store with the belly-up goldfish they'd gotten their 4-year-old a week before but forgot to feed. The fish, not the 4-year-old... I hope.)
I am not an elitist. Hardly. While I like to think of myself in the "cat" group, I am some hybrid of all of these, to a degree. Heck, up until a few months ago, I would have been in a 4th category: "pet rock" bike owner.
Which one are you?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Flats
Flats, they are part of life... you are riding around and POOOOF! A lot of people ask me if 6 flats a year is a lot, honestly no I don't think it is a lot. Sure there steps you can take to lessen this. Inflate your tyres before every ride. Ride with a tyre that has good puncture protection a high TPI and pay attention to what is in front of you. Yes, even all these things can still not prevent punctures, its just a way of life. This winter I was riding 'brand S' tyres with a hard shell desert animal on them and still punctured a few times. It just happens, or does it... A few years ago on a March ride I wused out and rode around the final climb, this particular route though flat went down a main road. I had a bad collision... Anyways, that was not fun, so maybe I'm a little superstitious now. Maybe those 3 flats I got in 2 days was something telling me not to ride my bike... i didn't. Maybe getting the puncture at the waterfront caused some traffic to pass, missing me... I guess its a positive way to spin cracking your hands because it is under 30 degrees outside and you can't change a tyre with winter gloves on! So look at flats as a blessing. They cause you to think..... am I lucky or UN-lucky?
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Come be a part of A Bikeable Feast
So there's nothing like a little shameless self-promotion.... The events below are somewhat related to my work at Capitol Hill Bikes... inasmuch as they involve a bike.... sort of.
THURSDAY: 23 April
For the non-bikers in the group, you can still come be a part of the Bikeable Feast festivities. Come and bid farewell to Ollie and Ibti over a pint of good beer at one of our favorite neighborhood watering holes! Meet at the Wonderland Ballroom for happy hour on Thursday, April 23rd. (Right on the corner of 11th and Kenyon, just a few blocks from the Columbia Heights metro.)The happy hour special ($2 off all draft beer and a few other goodies, including $6 Delirium Tremens) runs from 5-8pm. I will likely be there well past 8pm, but the cheaper beer may not be. There's food, too, including some veggie options. More details are here.
SUNDAY: 26 April
For the bikers/picnickers in the group, come be a part of this semi-historic event at a legitimately historic place. We'll be setting off on the first few miles of A Bikeable Feast together, biking the first 15 miles along the historic C&O Canal before stopping at Great Falls for lunch.
Date: Sunday, April 26, 2009
Time: 9:00am - 2:00pm
Location: C&O Canal: Milemarker Zero (Georgetown)
Bring your own bikeable feast: a picnic, sunscreen, and lots of water. (I'd also throw in a few tire patches and a pump, just in case our luck rubs off on you.) I suspect the rest of the group will be heading back together after lunch as I continue toward Cumberland.... More details are here.
I'm sad to be leaving CHB, but you'll still hear from me from time to time via the blog. (And god help anyone who walks in without a helmet while I'm still here. You daredevils better stay away until at least Friday.)
THURSDAY: 23 April
For the non-bikers in the group, you can still come be a part of the Bikeable Feast festivities. Come and bid farewell to Ollie and Ibti over a pint of good beer at one of our favorite neighborhood watering holes! Meet at the Wonderland Ballroom for happy hour on Thursday, April 23rd. (Right on the corner of 11th and Kenyon, just a few blocks from the Columbia Heights metro.)The happy hour special ($2 off all draft beer and a few other goodies, including $6 Delirium Tremens) runs from 5-8pm. I will likely be there well past 8pm, but the cheaper beer may not be. There's food, too, including some veggie options. More details are here.
SUNDAY: 26 April
For the bikers/picnickers in the group, come be a part of this semi-historic event at a legitimately historic place. We'll be setting off on the first few miles of A Bikeable Feast together, biking the first 15 miles along the historic C&O Canal before stopping at Great Falls for lunch.
Date: Sunday, April 26, 2009
Time: 9:00am - 2:00pm
Location: C&O Canal: Milemarker Zero (Georgetown)
Bring your own bikeable feast: a picnic, sunscreen, and lots of water. (I'd also throw in a few tire patches and a pump, just in case our luck rubs off on you.) I suspect the rest of the group will be heading back together after lunch as I continue toward Cumberland.... More details are here.
I'm sad to be leaving CHB, but you'll still hear from me from time to time via the blog. (And god help anyone who walks in without a helmet while I'm still here. You daredevils better stay away until at least Friday.)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
First Ride
So I finally road my new bike today... I've had it for quite some time. Even had the honor of having the only one in the U.S. People are like 'you must get to ride all the time, since you work at a bike shop' FAR FROM IT. The truth is I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they ride as much as they want. Anyways, today I was out on my new bike, it was rainy and gross but hey, it was warm. The second I got on it was like being reunited with an old friend, well designed bikes have a way of feeling good right out of the gate. The route I went was one of the sections of road you can ride with your eyes shut. You know where every pot hole is and the 'bad sections', you also know exactly where to attack. In the saddle the bike was amazing, I was trying to take it easy as I haven't been on a bike in a while, yet the bike was so balanced it was pushing me to go faster in the turns... After a warm up I decided to go explore some new roads in DC, getting across town was a little hairy but the bike snapped to attention when I needed it to respond. Getting to the new roads I found a little loop with a slight rise and slight descent, and VERY FEW CARS. I road easy the first time, the second time I wanted to push it a little... Once again the bike was so fluid and balanced it just wanted to go faster. It is such a hard thing to describe, the feel of a bike, how responsive a bike is... it is even harder to describe how balanced it felt under me the first time. True, I measured the heck out of my old bike before moving parts over to the new frame, so the fit was mainly there, saddle may have to move a little... But the ride was awesome. And I'm looking forward to being in the saddle again tomorrow, which I guess is the other part that makes a bike great, you want to ride it.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Hard headed
I feel like a parent. A broken record. That "wah wah wah wah" voice on the Charlie Brown cartoon.
What can I say, it's my personal soap box: wear a helmet.
Today, I counted at least eight people who were subject to my mini lecture on the need for a helmet when they came to pick up their newly repaired bicycles and strolled out of the shop and toward the invariable chaos of rainy, cab-mobbed, DC streets without protection. (Keep it clean, people, I was just getting tired of writing "helmet" seventy-five times in a row. But maybe some folks need to read it seventy-five times before they will get around to buying one and wearing it.) There were probably more who escaped my mild mannered but insistent tirade when I was dragging bikes around and showing people bottle cages on the other side of the shop. I'll get to you.
Why don't people wear helmets? Some, I am convinced, have a death wish. Others just don't seem to think about safety and at least politely lower their eyes and act sheepish when I ask if they somehow left their helmet outside. (Obviously they didn't -- I realize this -- but I'm trying to give them some kind of out. You know, like, "Oh, yeah, um, my girlfriend who doesn't want to visit me in the ICU is waiting outside with my extra-protective helmet.") Some have actually told me that they don't want to mess up their hair. Really? Well, I suppose you won't be so worried about your carefully mussed coiffe when it's wrapped under layers of bandages... or worse.
I'm not trying to increase the CHB profit margins by selling more helmets. No. And I am not your mother. But I am really a stickler about helmets. So if you come by the shop with a plan to ride your bike out of the shop without a lecture from yours truly, bring a helmet... or plan on buying one while you're here.
What can I say, it's my personal soap box: wear a helmet.
Today, I counted at least eight people who were subject to my mini lecture on the need for a helmet when they came to pick up their newly repaired bicycles and strolled out of the shop and toward the invariable chaos of rainy, cab-mobbed, DC streets without protection. (Keep it clean, people, I was just getting tired of writing "helmet" seventy-five times in a row. But maybe some folks need to read it seventy-five times before they will get around to buying one and wearing it.) There were probably more who escaped my mild mannered but insistent tirade when I was dragging bikes around and showing people bottle cages on the other side of the shop. I'll get to you.
Why don't people wear helmets? Some, I am convinced, have a death wish. Others just don't seem to think about safety and at least politely lower their eyes and act sheepish when I ask if they somehow left their helmet outside. (Obviously they didn't -- I realize this -- but I'm trying to give them some kind of out. You know, like, "Oh, yeah, um, my girlfriend who doesn't want to visit me in the ICU is waiting outside with my extra-protective helmet.") Some have actually told me that they don't want to mess up their hair. Really? Well, I suppose you won't be so worried about your carefully mussed coiffe when it's wrapped under layers of bandages... or worse.
I'm not trying to increase the CHB profit margins by selling more helmets. No. And I am not your mother. But I am really a stickler about helmets. So if you come by the shop with a plan to ride your bike out of the shop without a lecture from yours truly, bring a helmet... or plan on buying one while you're here.
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