Photos From the Saddle

Manged to commute by bike every day this week. Achilles is feeling tweaky, but good. Almost all the bits of the Karate Monkey have arrived… the timing couldn’t be better, as it appears that our dry October is making way for a typical November.

I’m still amazed that these people have put up their Xmas lights already…

Speed walking zone…

The morning commute had two distinct characteristics: first, it was effing cold and unexpectedly so (36F), second, it was very peaceful/quiet on the roads. The fog was also nice. Oh, and a freight train happened to block all the traffic along The Gauntlet… so getting run over wasn’t much of a concern this AM.

As I rolled in to work, I noticed that my (new) chain was skipping forward a little bit when I was really cranking hard. It’s likely just the interaction between the new chain and the “old” chainrings/cassette, which probably have ~3,000 miles on ‘em (and should be replaced).

A freak mishap landed us an early dismissal from work, which meant I got to ride at a very leisurely pace along the trail down to the next train station. In short, it was awesome. At no time did it ever occur to me that I was commuting.

Though the city had gone to quite the effort to discourage people/riders from using the trail along one section. Off-camera there’re two more signs and a guy leaning against a city truck looking mightily bouncer-like. He wasn’t too thrilled with these folks:

The rest of the afternoon commute was about as good as it can get. I’m looking forward to riding more and more.

Running a little bit with Matthew Modine’s play on the Rifleman’s Creed…

This is my bicycle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My bicycle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My bicycle, without me, is useless. Without my bicycle, I am useless…

My bicycle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weakness, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its frame and its gears. I will keep my bicycle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will…

I misjudged the start of Fender Season and had a soggy ride home from the pub earlier this week. Funny thing is, I didn’t really care that I was getting soaked… I was riding.

Monday and Tuesday I was able to commute, and I think they were probably the last two great days of the Non-Fender Season. Crisp air, turning leaves, dry roads. Hard to beat. I do need to give some love to the Double Cross, though… it’s had a long year.

Monkey pieces have continued to trickle in and I’m starting to get antsy for its completion. It is Fender Season now, after all, and I got the frame with the hope that it’d replace the One Way as my winter commuter. I’ve affectionately started to think of the Karate Monkey as “The Tank”, which I imagine it’ll likely look like… but with giant pink fenders.

I could do a better job of timing my visits to Portland… I was there for four days earlier this week and had to leave before I could check out Manifest. It was a similar case with the Handmade Bike Show. In any case, I still enjoyed my time there… especially being able to soak in the bike scene.

Having been out of town and entertaining family for a week, I’m eager to get out and ride today. Perhaps later, when the fog clears up a little. The fall riding around here is pretty rad, especially when there’s fog. The water takes on a velvet texture and the air’s crispness reassures you that it’s a good time to be outside… the occasional waft of woodfire smoke is a special, yet common treat and the rains mercifully temper themselves for just a couple weeks before the Wet Season starts in earnest.

Yes, I think I’ll go for a long ride today.

The Karate Monkey is getting pieced together bit by bit. I’ve been taking pics as I add pieces and will post those soon.

In closing, here are a couple great vids from Daniel Leeb (Cinecycle), including two of PUMA’s i-cycle clips and a Hutchinson spot that Tim is rightfully excited about:

Out of curiosity… how much stretching, if any, do you do before and after a ride?

If you do stretch, how long do you do so? What do you stretch?

If you don’t, is there a particular reason why not?

• Miles Ridden: ~250
• Miles Driven: 298 (136,113)

So far, so good. Commuted on the Double Cross 3 days now, with a bit of riding happening last weekend as well. Getting back into the groove.

With sunrise happening later and later, I’ve been employing one of my favorite new pieces of gadgetry: MiNewt Mini USB.

As you can see, it’s still tiny. Given that it offers up 110 lumens and the battery pack tucks comfortably onto the top of my stem… it’s perfect for “casual” lighting needs, like mornings a little bit before sunrise or heading home from the pub after trivia night. Even better, it comes with both a USB charging cable and an AC charger… meaning I can charge it at home AND at work. I’m still going to rely on the TriNewt for my winter/rainy lighting needs, but this thing is pretty freakin’ rad. The BEST part? Under $100. Well done Nite Rider.

So I took an old route home the other day, just to see how things looked after a bit of construction. The good news is that there’s now a bridge over the train tracks that I used to loathe. On top of that, they put in a bike lane, albeit just a couple blocks long… but check out those weight sensors (the little diamonds) in the bike lane. Rad.

That pic above cracks me up, as the boxes have “3D Explosions” all over them… ’cause, y’know, those 2D fireworks are pretty lame and upgrading to 3D is worth the extra cost.

On my way home today, I had a couple of reminders that it wouldn’t hurt to be more paranoid on the bike. The biggest was a car door being flung open just as I was approaching. It’d been a while since I was that close to being doored. Oh, and don’t assume that some people will heed general traffic laws when walking their dog.