Large Fella on a Bike

Assorted Items...

Where to begin...

A few days ago I hit 43 years on this planet.  Great day too... hung out with Amy & Chloe, had a great Birthday lunch with whole grain bread, sprouts, whole grain french mustard, beefsteak tomatoes and some of our very garlicky hummus-all made up into one glorious sandwich!  Mine even had candles poked into it [4 on the left half... 3 on the right]!

Got a couple B-Day cards, and my Gals made me a beautiful leather bracelet with some miniature pewter chainrings and a couple little pieces of teakwood.  Very nice.

What else?

'Nother flat rear tire... urgh.  This time a staple from a Chinese carry-out joint [had to be... happened right in front of it, and I pulled out a nice, shiny, silver staple].  Somehow it managed to puncture my tube in 6 different places, yikes.

On a ride the other night, Chloe and me were riding along [Amy had to work] and we were going through an area with heavy construction, actually Donald Trump's newest towers-which are being built about 4 blocks from our house, and the street goes down to one single lane with concrete barriers on either side.  Naturally, we take the full lane so that no one in an auto can make the assumption that we would prefer they pass us.  So, behind us is a one of those super-duper HUGE Caddy SUVs and they are driving quite close to Chloe's back tire... we get through this area, and when the street goes back to normal width, they move over into the left lane to get around us.
Right when they are directly beside us, one of the 4 late Teen/early 20-year olds in the backseat, rolls down his window, and at the top of his lungs screams: "Hey!!  Look at that!!  It's a little kid being pulled by a big, huge, fat, motherfucker on a bike!!  HAHA!!".  Nice, thanks.
Chloe is furious and yells back:
"Hey you, Mister Man!!  I'm almost 7 years old, and that's NOT a little kid anymore... that's a BIG GIRL!!"  Bless her, she's the BEST!

In closing...

I'm thinking, seriously, about starting a bicycle advocacy group over here.  Maybe get involved in some local govt. nonsense about the possibilities of bike lanes and such... or at least, some cyclist/motorist awareness.  Also thinking we could have a weekly ride with a 'No Drop' policy similar to what Beth H. has done out in PDX with the fantastic Slug Velo organization.  Maybe also do some workshops in basic safety, bike maintenance, setting up ones bike for maximum comfort/rideability and tips on riding in an motorist-dense area.

Riding next to The Lady...

While America and Americans did their individual thing on 9/11 we did what we know best...

went riding.

A few pics:

The Steed.


The Steeds.


Some kid dropped a large rock on Chloe's hand... ouch!


Mom to the rescue.


The City [NYC].


The Lady.


Looking West... 9/11 Memorial.


BBC's and Ellis Island.


Coffee & Tea near Bayonne [yep, we plunked our rides right into a spot-front & center].


My Crew...

Peace & Blessings.

Get on your Bike, and Ride, Ride, Ride.

The Cool, The Really Cool &...

The Utili-Kool:

1st.
The Brooks B.17 CS is still rockin' my Houze.  That said [and I knew it would come to pass]... my ass is killin' me.  And to think I actually made it through the haze by completely breaking in my formally beloved Brooks B.67 only to then, get 'nother Brooks.

Guess dropping out of school in the 2nd Grade was a missteake.

2nd.
Got some of my first gifts in for my Ladies [Amy & Chloe] who both have upcoming B-Days.  Probably shouldn't out what the gifts are as Amy has access to the I-Net at work and I could be inserting wee-wee into mouth by mentioning them here.
Oh, what the fuck... why not?
So far, Chloe will be getting a slick upgrade from her [rather shitty] SRAM pistol-grip 6-speed shifter on her Burley Piccolo.  Gonna trick it out further with a SunRace friction thumbie.
Some cool Pink cork bar tape as well as a very neat [and rather cute, if you ask me] BeeHive bell.

Amy?  She gets nothing.
Kidding... on her B-Day Menu:
A brand spankin' new Nigel Smythe 'Country Bag' in green plaid.  I thought hard about this, as initially I thought I would not be caught dead with one nor riding near [let alone next] to someone styling one.  But, she wanted one, she rocks all, she does more for me than oxygen and they actually look great [once you give them a LLOONNGG minute's chance].

Also, Amy gets a very cool Teapot bell:

3rd:
My brother [literally] my brother, who frequents this very blog *probably to keep an eye on me since I suck dog balls about keeping in touch with anyone-everyone* sent me this link for UTILIKILTS which have to be one of the coolest items I've seen in a minute.  Apparently he got one too.  Me thinks to meself, "Wonder how they'd do on me bicycle?"
You man enuff to style this?

Perhaps with some yeasty refreshment?

Completely Bad-Ass!

Brooks B.17 CS...

How I do love thee!

Whoa, maybe it's being a touch more bent lower [due to the new bars] or the weight I've lost, or both [?] but fucking A B and C is this B.17 comfy!

Threw down the xtry greenbacks for the CS model [purchased from Bill and his amazingly fine shop Wallingford Bicycle Parts with their outstanding service, pricing and warranty]: black leather with big, lovely nickel-sized copper rivets & rails... and, ez-peazee, installed her and rode for a glorious 19.57 miler last night!

Yes, my sitbone area feels a touch like Amy turned me upside down with chained ankles splayed apart and had at me with an Easton aluminum baseball bat for 7 or 8 good whacks to my South O' The Sack area, but... it's comfy nonetheless and I know it's just the newness of the saddle and not the shape or design that is the cause of my general feeling of touchiness down there presently.

Quite pleased...

Ernesto, I Mock You...

Second day in a row I've ridden into the Eye of The Storm, Ernesto that is.  Well, actually not really a hurricane anymore, it's really a Nor'easter.  One nasty Nor'easter at that.

I've been slapped with side-winds coming off the Hudson River yesterday and earlier tonight [just got back from my ride a few minutes ago] in excess of 40mph.  And that's some weird & scary shit to get hit with coming at you from the side.  Makes you feel like you are going down no matter what you do.  I quickly learned... lean into the mother but be ready to lean out if the gust stops speedy quick!

The last 2 days of riding have made it abundantly crystal clear to me that I NEED, no MUST get some wet weather riding gear.  Yesterdays combo of Seersucker shirt and poplin/hemp jacket, and then tonight's of Seersucker shirt and semi-sorta-water resistant outer shell jacket... ain't making it.  I was wet last night and tonight, fucking soaked.  Ab-fucking-so-lutely Dreeeeenched.  I'm putting in my request to Mama Amy for some gear for my B-Day.  I need it.  Of course, I'll probably get something and it won't rain again.

Still really digging the Scott bars, very nice change and addition.  Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, so perhaps I will change up the Brooks B.67 for my new B.17 CS.

Me Thinks I Likes & Summers End

So yesterday I found a NOS [New Old Stock] Scott AT-2 bar and swapped out my beloved Nitto riser bar.  So far, very different and very nice [in an improved sorta way!].

Bike feels lighter, snappier... as the engine/passenger, I am a touch more bent over [feels good actually with some of the xtra-me that I've lost], oddly though... I feel really exposed.  Exposed in a... well, I'm not sure kinda way.  All I can figure is, with the old setup-the width & height of the bars and bar ends made me feel [without me knowing it at the time] like I had more of the bike in front and beside me.  Now it feels like everything is, in fact, proportionate, but in theory [until I become used to it]... disproportionate.  Jesus, does that make any sense?  It's really a feeling more than much else.

I even got fancy and ordered some Brooks leather bar tape for them [it'll be here Monday].  I think this setup will become a 'keeper'... in the meantime, I was so low on bar tape I had to splice some together w/electrical tape from odd & ends of black cork tape in my toolbox. 
Ghetto Fabulous-style.

 

I had Amy ride it to try it out... now SHE wants the same setup.  Man, what is it with her anyway?  She's always aping my ass with this bike shit.

Also I, somehow, got talked into becoming the designated Piccolo-Puller.  Not sure how this happened: one minute Amy seemed happy and into the title... and the next, she's yapping about "Riding solo feels really great, wow I feel so strong" and shit like that.  Yeah, whatever.  Actually, it's my turn in all fairness [Amy has pulled Chloe for nearly 2 years without so much as a word of complaint] and second, I gotta admit it's fun!  I feel like it's not only the fair thing to do but it's hilarious [and occasionally maddening] hearing Chloe's non-stop chatter about everything to everything *before pulling her-I would just ride away and leave them back there to chat when things became too chatteresque*. 

Once I got notice that my riding-solo days were numbered I decided Chloe's Piccolo needed some new bling, so I threw on a new Brooks Conquest saddle with springs & rail color of Chloe's choosing:

She loves the saddle!!

Summers End:

So here we are at 9/1/06 and even though it isn't technically the end of Summer, to those of us that-in some small way-disliked school as kids... it is.

So for my End O' Summer Recap here are the numbers:

June:
30 days long.
Rode 27 of those days.

July:
31 days long.
Rode 29 of those days.

August:
31 days long.
Rode 28 of those days.

Totals:
Rode 84 days.
839 miles.
Longest ride was 19.76 miles [without stopping/resting].
Shortest ride was 5.10 miles [huge monsoon downpour w/zero visibility].
Average ride was 10.21 miles.
36.9 pounds of "Me" lost from June 1 to August 10 [my last weigh in].
Urinated on one delivery automobile.
Got hit in head with one 2-liter Coke bottle [3 quarters filled].

10000000% Pure Joy!!!