My invisibility cloak (a.k.a. my bike with flashing rear light and forward head light) struck today. Riding home from work after dark, in the approximate 2 blocks of road I have to ride (luckily I have an almost entirely trail commute to work) near the end I got cut off by a buick trying to cross a busy road (which I was riding on) from a side street.
I figured he'd do it about 50 feet ahead of time, and sure enough there he crept out. So I took my out and turned right (causing me to be heading in the same direction he was in front of him). He slowed as I turned and I gave him a friendly wave (seriously, no middle finger, just a wave).
This kind of driver error actually doesn't make me mad. It's the jerks who come up on me with their horn blaring at a steady 45mph that make me mad.
But it sure would be nice if everyone would spend a week riding a bike on the roads: Maybe it'd teach them to see cyclists.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Derailleur Adjustment
Since one of my original goals in getting the bike was to become mechanically inclined with the bike and be able to at least adjust my own dérailleurs and hopefully be able to fix most anything but the frame.
So I decided to clean up my drive train and adjust my rear dérailleur tonight. As usual it takes quite a while to clean (I lack a garden hose and a place to use one), and it took me 45 minutes to adjust my dérailleur but for once it works well after (the last time I tried I just made things worse and couldn't get it better).
I also decided I'd take and upload a picture of my clean bike. Unfortunately the only digital camera I have is my laptops webcam, so the quality sucks.
Great birthday it was ;).
So I decided to clean up my drive train and adjust my rear dérailleur tonight. As usual it takes quite a while to clean (I lack a garden hose and a place to use one), and it took me 45 minutes to adjust my dérailleur but for once it works well after (the last time I tried I just made things worse and couldn't get it better).
I also decided I'd take and upload a picture of my clean bike. Unfortunately the only digital camera I have is my laptops webcam, so the quality sucks.
Great birthday it was ;).
Freds
I've been listening to FredCast for almost a week now, catching up on old issues. I also listened to a Two John's cast. I was already a bit of a fan of FredCast, it's really very good. And I heard on Two John's a user comment about "freds" and realized this was a bit of slang I didn't know.
So I looked it up later: This is apparently a term for people who spend too much money on their equipment and not enough time on it.
Yay for the childish name calling which seems to be a requirement for every subculture. In the Linux world we had our "newbs" and now in the cycling world Freds.
A special thanks to David Bernstein for making fun of the people who feel they need to diss others who just aren't "as into it." I've got news for you guys: Those "Freds" are why you have a dozen kinds of high end bikes to choose from ;).
Now I wonder how many people will call me a "Fred." Grow up kids.
So I looked it up later: This is apparently a term for people who spend too much money on their equipment and not enough time on it.
Yay for the childish name calling which seems to be a requirement for every subculture. In the Linux world we had our "newbs" and now in the cycling world Freds.
A special thanks to David Bernstein for making fun of the people who feel they need to diss others who just aren't "as into it." I've got news for you guys: Those "Freds" are why you have a dozen kinds of high end bikes to choose from ;).
Now I wonder how many people will call me a "Fred." Grow up kids.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
The first 600
Since this is just another blog from another cyclist, and that's not very exciting; I thought I'd list out some realizations from my first couple of months cycling.
Today is November 18th. I purchased my bicycle around September 5th and since then I've logged about 600 miles.
I'd been envying cycles for about 3 months before that and had gone from thinking I wanted a mountain bike to a flat bar road bike (one of the higher end ones which is actually more road bike than not) to a straight up road bike.
So I finally had the money and it was time to buy the bike. I went to the shop and fell for an 07 trek 1500. One of the early ones which shipped with dated ultegra components. I always hated red bikes too, until then.
The first couple of rides felt a bit unnatural (not uncomfortable) and were difficult: Every hill was a battle no matter how small. I hadn't been in good shape for 5 years or so.
That weekend I went on a 55 mile ride with my brother, who'd been cycling for months. I could barely ride the last 3 miles home. The last 5 miles took something like an hour.
After about a hundred miles the bike started to feel more natural and easier to control and the seat stopped causing minor pain (or at least I stopped noticing it). After about 300 it felt very natural. And after about 500 the hills that used to kill me and I used to dread I began to look forward to.
When I first started the mention of something like San Fransisco and its famously hilly streets would make me think "if I moved there maybe I'd give up cycling." Now I think "I should visit there, I wanna ride those hills."
I'm a believer now. You do start to like the hills. And it seems that the more I used to resent a particular hill the more I love it now.
Now I just need to find bigger hills!
Today is November 18th. I purchased my bicycle around September 5th and since then I've logged about 600 miles.
I'd been envying cycles for about 3 months before that and had gone from thinking I wanted a mountain bike to a flat bar road bike (one of the higher end ones which is actually more road bike than not) to a straight up road bike.
So I finally had the money and it was time to buy the bike. I went to the shop and fell for an 07 trek 1500. One of the early ones which shipped with dated ultegra components. I always hated red bikes too, until then.
The first couple of rides felt a bit unnatural (not uncomfortable) and were difficult: Every hill was a battle no matter how small. I hadn't been in good shape for 5 years or so.
That weekend I went on a 55 mile ride with my brother, who'd been cycling for months. I could barely ride the last 3 miles home. The last 5 miles took something like an hour.
After about a hundred miles the bike started to feel more natural and easier to control and the seat stopped causing minor pain (or at least I stopped noticing it). After about 300 it felt very natural. And after about 500 the hills that used to kill me and I used to dread I began to look forward to.
When I first started the mention of something like San Fransisco and its famously hilly streets would make me think "if I moved there maybe I'd give up cycling." Now I think "I should visit there, I wanna ride those hills."
I'm a believer now. You do start to like the hills. And it seems that the more I used to resent a particular hill the more I love it now.
Now I just need to find bigger hills!
Book Review: The Art of Cycling
I finished reading Art of Cycling today. It's a good quick read book, and in my opinion a must read for beginning cyclists. The book isn't filled with detailed advice, it's really just filled with lots of scary information about how you can wreck, how you can get hit by cars, etc.
And while most of the information is fairly obvious most readers should find something they didn't realize. For me it was railroad tracks.
The book also takes up difficult topics like helmets: While the conclusion is wear one, because it's easy and better than nothing, the book does an excellent job of explaining how little the devices do for adult cyclists.
And there's some brief and wasted space on parts.
Mostly though this book is defensive driving for cyclists. As I read it I kept thinking back to drivers education classes (because much of it was the same advice): Always assume drivers will error and have an out planned. It highlights some of the most likely errors for a driver to make, especially the ones which are most likely to put you in an emergency room.
I must warn you though. While the author is a talented writer the book is not a pleasant read: It's downright disturbing. However, it's intended to be.
And while most of the information is fairly obvious most readers should find something they didn't realize. For me it was railroad tracks.
The book also takes up difficult topics like helmets: While the conclusion is wear one, because it's easy and better than nothing, the book does an excellent job of explaining how little the devices do for adult cyclists.
And there's some brief and wasted space on parts.
Mostly though this book is defensive driving for cyclists. As I read it I kept thinking back to drivers education classes (because much of it was the same advice): Always assume drivers will error and have an out planned. It highlights some of the most likely errors for a driver to make, especially the ones which are most likely to put you in an emergency room.
I must warn you though. While the author is a talented writer the book is not a pleasant read: It's downright disturbing. However, it's intended to be.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Saturday's Ride
Appx. Distance: 42 mi
Appx. Time: 3:30 hours
Today was a good day to ride, about 10 degrees to cold for normal cycling wear. I really need to get out and do more highway and street riding though, trails here just slow you down too much.
Appx. Time: 3:30 hours
Today was a good day to ride, about 10 degrees to cold for normal cycling wear. I really need to get out and do more highway and street riding though, trails here just slow you down too much.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Sunday's Ride
Appx. Distance: 25 mi
Appx. Time: 1:47 hours
Trails used: Boosalis, Rock Island, Billy Wolfe, Antelope
Today was a great day to ride. Warm, sunny, and not very windy! So I just had to fit a ride in at the end of the afternoon.
All I have to say today is: If you walk the commuter trails in Lincoln, don't apologize to passing cyclists. You have every right to be there. Especially if you're respectfully only occupying the right half of the trail!
Appx. Time: 1:47 hours
Trails used: Boosalis, Rock Island, Billy Wolfe, Antelope
Today was a great day to ride. Warm, sunny, and not very windy! So I just had to fit a ride in at the end of the afternoon.
All I have to say today is: If you walk the commuter trails in Lincoln, don't apologize to passing cyclists. You have every right to be there. Especially if you're respectfully only occupying the right half of the trail!
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