| Another day, another broken bicycle frame |
[Apr. 25th, 2008|08:15 am] |
Last month I had wheel problems, this month it looks like frame problems are on the agenda.
I broke my Crosscheck frame again in pretty much the exact same location (on my way home from work). I didn't have time to finish putting my sunny day bike together from pieces, so I dragged my fixed gear out of the shed to ride to work this morning.
I really should just shell out for a sturdier frame. |
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| Bow before me puny Surface Dwellers |
[Oct. 5th, 2007|02:39 pm] |
 First time on land? Terranaut, the robotic exploration vehicle art project by Seth Weiner, is definitely the way to go. A Blood Parrot fish gets his first taste of life on land, wheeling around in this luxurious fishbowl-on-wheels. A camera mounted above the tank captures a stream of images; this information is worked over by the onboard computer. Finally, the direction of motion is determined and the wheels move in the direction that the fish is swimming.
Granted, I think most of the people driving on the roads today have the awareness of a fish. Now, with this new technology, we really could have a fish driving along the roads! |
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| A Plague on Parking |
[Oct. 5th, 2007|01:59 pm] |
Being someone who lives in a large (but not huge) city, I've become interested in urban planning in a small way. Especially as I cycle most places, it affects me more intimately than the average person stuck in a car. One thing that has struck me is how much hassle it is to park a car when you're going anywhere in the city, and how easy it all is on a bicycle.
Salon has a good article that talks about the real cost of parking. I knew most of the things they talk about, but I like that the article talks a little bit about the history of parking minimums. Why they started, how they spread, etc. I thought it was interesting that Great Britain has banned any similar laws after they saw how destructive they were.
It's a nice article; short, succinct and not terribly preachy. |
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| The Road to Recovery |
[Jul. 25th, 2007|05:13 am] |
Well, I'm about 94.44% recovered from my recent injuries. A scar on ny chin is the only visible reminder of the accident currently. Although I do still have some swelling, but it's only really noticeable to me or if you see my profile right.
I've resolved to pay better fucking attention to what I'm doing in the future. Especially on poorly lit trails that have unpredictable debris on them.
Also, I picked up a ridiculous new light for my bike. I'll post a review a little later. My only comment right now is that I wish someone made decent fork mount brackets. This last one broke in less than 24 hours. They appear to be made out of cheese pot metal.
Edit: Oh, and when I went to the Maxilo-Facial doctor, I talked to him about my non-responsiveness to the hydro/oxycodone family. He said next time to ask for Darvocet instead. Evidently people who are non-responsive to one, generally do well with the other. So next time I need pain medication (which hopefully won't be for a long time) I'll ask for that. |
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| Ow! That smarts! or Faceplant: The Hurtening |
[Jun. 24th, 2007|09:43 am] |
I went out on a bike ride with some friends to Issaquah Thursday. We went to a restaurant and had some food and what-not. Afterwards about half of us went to a park and the other half split off to ride directly back to Seattle. We hung about for a little bit and chit-chatted on the beach and admired the moonlight over the lake on the shortest night of the year.
After an hour or so we decided to also head back and got back on our bikes. As we were riding (not fast) down the paved trail back to the road, I completely lost control of my bike. I'm guessing I hit a nice round branch or bottle or something [0]. I went down with no warning and did a face plant.
I landed on my chin quite nicely. My friends pulled out a first aid kit and taped some gauze over my injuries and gave me some Advils. Given we were about 20 miles from my home, they called a cab, tried to keep me warm and cheered up.
I got home, dropped off all my things and told my SO I was headed to the ER. After that was the longest night at the ER I've ever spent. Stitches internally in my chin, another layer of stitches on top of that, stitches inside my bottom lip [1]. No concussion, no fractured jaw bones, etc.
My only real kvetch with the hospital is that they prescribed me hydrocodone. My brother and I are the unlucky 3% of the population that a lot of opiates don't do jack for (I don't even get a tiny buzz or anything). They are pretty much exactly like taking 2 tylenol... because they use tylenol as part of the mix.
I mentioned it to the physician but was too tired to argue with her. I know she thought I was trying to argue for a 'stronger' drug or something. No you silly bint! I was trying to argue for a different drug family.
Bah.
I do have some dental damage. Two teeth are chipped on the edges and I expect (hope) she can just build them back up. The middle one... not so good. I had a Saturdady appointment with the dentist, in which she really helped me out. She's temporarily capped them and laid out what we'll do to fix me up Tuesday morning. It looks a little better and eating is easier.
I <heart> my dentist.
Especially since she does Saturday appointments.
[0] We had lights, but there were a lot of us, and I was chit chatting with the people I was talking to. I'm going to say the main cause of the wreck was inattention on my part. :-(
[1] The Maxilo-facial doctor at First hill Swedish was awesome. The regular ER guy at Cherry Hill Swedish was okay, but they were slow as dirt. |
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| If I could walk 500 miles |
[Jan. 9th, 2006|01:24 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | bike | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Angels and Agony - Forever | ] |
My bike odometer ticked over 25000 miles sometime before the new year. It's kind of amusing thinking that I've cycled the equivalent of once about the earth. Granted not anything like to the moon and back. But not bad for someone who has been very very overweight for most of their life.
I've been cycling for about 3 1/2 years now. It's been a lot of fun, I've lost quite a bit of weight, saved a lot of money [1], and generally thought it quite worthwhile. I've also become disgustingly healthy (at least in the cardiovascular sense). Plus all that smug self-righteousness us granola-crunching indie music[2] environnazi cyclists are entitled to is just Simply Fabulous!!!
[1] A second car for the household is expensive
[2] Just kidding |
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| Another day, another broken bicycle part |
[Sep. 28th, 2005|04:04 pm] |
This is just not my week for cycling.
Last Wednesday I broke my handlebars.
Friday, Saturday and Monday I rode my Crosscheck like normal. As I was coming up the last little hill home Tuesday, I stood up to climb it and something was wrong with my bike. I stopped immediately, thinking at first I'd popped multiple spokes, or broken my axle. If only that were so.
I somehow managed to pull/snap my drop-out off of the driveside of my bike. This leaves the stem, crank and actual brake mechanism as the only things on the frame that I haven't had to replace. I'm 99% sure that this is from a crash I had last year. The handlebar probably also got damaged at the same time. I am a little disappointed in the bike shop (Recycled Cycles) that did the repair work at the time, in that they didn't spot either problem. OTOH, it may very well not have been noticeable then.
:-/
( Pictures behind the cut ) |
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| No! The pedals. They go round and round. |
[Sep. 12th, 2005|10:11 am] |
So, I adjusted the seat angle on the fixie since I had it tilted back way too much. Which made it a touch more comfortable. But the important/amusing thing is I found out why one of the pedals refused to engage.
There was a bloody little disc magnet stuck in the front clip on one side of my SPD pedals. No wonder only one side would clip in.
I suppose I should go take some pictures and post them. |
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| Mmmmm, 42/17 |
[Sep. 10th, 2005|10:41 pm] |
So, I finally got my new crank put on the fixie and fiddled the rear wheel into passable shape. After a quick ride around the neighborhood, I've determined I need a better left pedal on it. It's going to kill me (sooner than later) if it takes forever and a day to clip in like it currently is. I think I might ride it into work this week, just for giggles.
And now to lull you to sleep here is 53x11's album Rouleur, Beats To Ride a Bike With. |
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| Genius or Madness? |
[Sep. 8th, 2005|04:46 pm] |
As one of my co-workers pointed out, the work laptop fits almost perfectly into my Carradice SQR Touring bag. I use it carry my lunch/clothes/etc to and fro work. So if I could use it carry my laptop, that would be great. Otherwise I've been using a crappy backpack, which is rather nasty in my opinion.
I don't think the curb-hopping will be too great for it though... |
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| (unprintable exclamations redacted) |
[Aug. 3rd, 2005|07:52 am] |
God I hate Mavic rims. Another fucking spoke pull through. A hand built 36 spoke wheel with less than 3000 miles on it. GGGgrgragggaghhhh! |
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| Just like a circle baby |
[Aug. 2nd, 2005|04:25 pm] |
It's amazing how much better the bike shifts and behaves after you:
- Replace the derailleur cable
- Tighten down the bar-con shifter so it's not sliding around
- Replace your chainrings
- Replace your cassette
- Replace your chain
Everything was getting a wee bit worn... |
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| All roads lead to madness |
[Jul. 25th, 2005|12:50 pm] |
So I finally finished putting my fixie together and went out for a ride around the block. A little weird, kinda fun, and I was really glad I put a front brake on it. So, of course being the masochist I am, I decided to ride up to Dilettante and pick up some Passionfruit parfait. I was doing really well, though I was having some problem on clipping in the left pedal. It's double-sided and I think one side is not working right.
( Random bike content ) |
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| /headdesk |
[May. 5th, 2005|02:15 pm] |
I can't believe I packed *two* right shoes. My cycling shoes that is. Bah!!! |
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| Newsflash: Water wet, Fire hot! |
[May. 4th, 2005|07:22 am] |
I try my hardest to ignore most of the whining about high gasoline prices and not post any pointed articles about how SUV's are evil and the work of The Devil. Frothing at the mouth is rarely attractive. But this was some nice news to hear:
U.S. vehicle sales show SUVs losing appeal
The decline was the sharpest at General Motors, the world's largest automaker. GM's sales fell 7.7 percent from a year earlier, primarily because of weak demand for SUVs.
/zuvembi cackles to himself quietly.
General Motors has long maintained that gasoline prices do not affect the way consumers approach buying a car or truck. But on Tuesday, the chief industry sales analyst at GM, Paul Ballew, appeared to retreat somewhat from that position, saying that gasoline prices probably were playing some role.
This reminds of how the number one complaint of Hummer owners is (drumroll please)... The gasoline for it is expensive. What kind of imbecile spends $50,000 for a huge vehicle and the doesn't realize it's going to guzzle petrol? I suppose the answer is "The kind of superficial wankstain who wants a Hummer in the first place."
Ah well, time to cycle off to work. |
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| Some people need less attention than others |
[Feb. 8th, 2005|09:12 pm] |
I suppose it was unnecessarily cruel to post about flickr and nude bicyclists and not cough up any photos. Most of the things I've posted to flickr I took at the Fremont Solstice Parade this last June. I had a sub-optimal spot and too many other things going on to get great shots, but some of these are fairly good.
( More images behind the cut ) |
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| Ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike. |
[Feb. 8th, 2005|03:53 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | bike, maintenance, wheel | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  upright | ] |
| [ | music |
| | White Zombie - Supercharger Heaven (Adults only mix) | ] |
On a more bicycle related note, I replaced my derailleur, derailleur cable, chain and fixed my spokes on my rear wheel. The index shifting is precisely on now, doesn't squeak, and is marvelous. Of course, now I realize that one of my freehub pawls is sticking, so I need to get the thing opened up and flushed out. Which I'll have to have a shop do, since a freehub cracker is not one of the standard bike tools.
I think I'm just going to buy a new wheelset, so I can drop this one off at a shop and let them take care of it at their leisure. Then I can use it as a spare wheel. I've lost count of the number of times I've had to pop out my rear wheel and use a substitute. |
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zuvembi's journal
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