Saturday, February 21, 2009

PSSSHHHHHhhhh.....

So, originally, this post was going to start a different way, but last night, while I was getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth, I hear a quite loud hiss of air escaping a confined space from inside my closet... where I park my bikes. It turned out to be Bi's front tire deflating. Bi had been parked in the closet for a good 12 hours, meaning 12 hours since I had ridden it. Ahh, spontaneous deflation, something that I've been reading a lot of on Bikeforums. It happens for a lot of reasons, though in this case, it turned out to be a small tear forming from the tube rubbing against the rim tape at a spoke hole. Note to self: get better rim strips. I patched it up this morning, and it appears to be holding air fine.

In other news, meet Henry.

"I'm Henry!"

Henry's my latest ride, and is the mash-together of two different bikes and only two truly new components. Exegete's old Trek 820 frame and wheels, Spork's (my road bike) drivetrain, handlebars, and shifters, and a new Surly 1x1 fork. Basically it's my versatile road/trail bike that I've wanted to build. It will eventually have full fenders, front and rear racks, less agressive tires, and will be used as my distance riding and cargo bike.

I took it for it's first ride around town yesterday, and it is a surprisingly nimble bike on pavement. At slow speeds it's twitchy and responsive, and at higher speeds, it's nice and stable through turns. It's fun! I'll try it's dirt handling sometime soon, when it's not all muddy.
Mileage: 13 (Yesterday's mileage)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

BURRUH!

As I sit here writing this, it is 7 degrees outside.  No, not 70, 7.  Glad I wore that extra pair of pants today, or I might not be able to have children.
Mileage: 7
Weight: 368.1

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Too cold?

So I don't think bicycle companies expect people to ride in this kind of weather.  This morning when I left the house, the thermometer outside showed 21 degrees.  I was curious if I would find myself with frostbite on my thighs, but I still went for it.  A few minutes into the ride, I passed under an overpass where I could see my cycle computer, so I glanced down only to realize it was off.  Clicked it back on, rode a few more miles, peeked again:  Off.  Now this thing isn't a slouch, it seems to work very well, but I don't think it works in the cold.  This has happened a few mornings in a row.  Anything under 32 degrees and it gives up on me. 
So this begs the question, do roadies not ride in the cold, or is my computer just slacking?
Mileage: 7

Monday, February 9, 2009

Splortch!

I had heard the term "splortch" used to define things before, bu this morning my office is filled with that wonderful sound as snow melts from the Pugsley.  It was a great ride in.  Had a spot of trouble early on where the Flagstaff Urban Trail System hadn't been plowed.  Lazy bastards.  But I tried it anyway.  For future reference, when you're up to the pedals in snow, it's better to go around.  But it was worth a try.  ^_^

 

Mileage: 7

Friday, February 6, 2009

Mud!

So yesterday and today was a day of exploration and train watching.Yesterday TC and I rode out along the railroad tracks west of town, and ended up turning around after getting pictures of a pretty sunset. It was a fun ride.

Today, we decided to try to ride out to Bellemont, but we were thwarted by very muddy roads and a lack of Pugsleys for said mud, and people with guns target shooting in ways I didn't trust. (They were shooting roughly parallel to the road I wanted to take, and it didn't look like they were using a proper backstop.) We were both beat by the time we finished the ride anyways, so it was probably a good thing anyways. I blame the mud.

Yesterdays pictures:

Yesterday's sunset. It was weird... 10 seconds after I snapped this, all the colors were gone.


AHHH!

Mileage: 28.9

The Spirit...

Yesterday afternoon I took down the Christmas wreath, I decided that next year I need to make one. I've decided to use a bicycle wheel for the base, circular, shape and adorn it with pine bows, Christmas lights, and as many plastic bicycle figurines as I can find.

So if you'd like to help, or just randomly come across any of the following, please let me know:
  1. Battery powered Christmas lights, and enough of them to wrap from the handlebars to the wreath, and wrap it a few times.
  2. 2-4" tall bicycle-related figurines or decoractions.
  3. A spare wheel, working or not.
It should be a blast.
Mileage: 21 (a few commutes added up.)
Weight: 372.5

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Aww.... he's cute! And stinky lookin'!

On my way in to work this morning, 5:40 AM. Stars were shining, the sky was dark. I'm cruising down the hill to the first stop sign of the morning, and I see this little black and white rug waddling out into the intersection. Around about the time I stopped, the rug was making a left hand turn on the far side of the road, going the same way I planned to go.

That's when I realized it was a skunk!

So I rolled out, made my turn, and stuck to the center line of the road as I passed the skunk, who was happily trotting along the curb. I passed him right under a street light, and as I did, he looked over at me as if to say " 'Sup, man?"

That was a cool skunk.

Mileage: 7

Monday, February 2, 2009

Bottle opener?

So along with the new rack and panniers, I've also purchased fenders. Batty has fender mounts, all that fun stuff, but the space between the rear wheel and the frame is too small to fit the fender. As a result I went out and got some Surly Tugnuts. The Tugnuts basically take the bicycle's horizontal dropouts and turn them into motorcycle style dropouts, which I'm by far more familiar with, so they seemed a perfect fit. Though Evan almost had me convinced on some Surly Monkeynuts, but they would have to order those.
At any rate, one of the things I love with these is that they turn my bicycle into a gigantic bottle opener. This isn't a "Oh, hey, they also work as a bottle opener!" thing. It's right there in the instructions to use it as a bottle opener. I love bicycles.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Cargo racks! (done!)

Construction of the rack for Batty is complete! Even with some of the funky design I had to do, (When you look at it from the back, the rack has almost a 3/4 inch lean to the left) it supports my weight with no issues.

Hey, now that looks better.


Batty makes the rack look small...


Woo panniers!

Just so you can get a size reference on the wheels. The Pugsley next to my KLR 650. The Pugsley's tires are bigger than the KLR's!

Mileage: 2