The new hotness

After tooling around on the velodrome, it became clear that the old Peugeot wasnt going to cut it. I picked up an actual track frame on ebay on the cheap and swapped over a few of the parts from the Peugeot to get it ridable.

Over the winter I'm going to be on the look out for parts so I can restore the Peugeot back to it's full glory.

Here she is:
The spec sheet:
'09 Bianchi Pista frame (59cm)
Chris King headset
Nitto Ultimate Ideal 2 120mm stem
Nitto drop bars w/ track grips
Origin 8 Pro Light carbon set post
Origin 8 Uno seat (from the Peugeot)
Origin 8 165mm cranks (from the Peugeot)
Tang 68x103 BB
41/15 gearing (from the Peugeot)
Eightinch Julian wheel set w/ formula hubs (from the Peugeot)

Raven, Meet Velodrome

Imagine you're the kind of guy who loves whistling along to Otis Redding's Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay (who isn't?), and all of a sudden you come to find that the very dock that Redding wrote the song about is only 10 miles (give or take) from your house. Now you're thinking: "huh, maybe I should go over there and give wasting time a try... maybe do some whistling" and why wouldn't you - sounds like fun, right?

Maybe you're also into riding bikes. Maybe you've been riding a track/single speed conversion around for a while and have been thinking, if only there was a track around here - maybe I'd give it a try. Would you believe there is a velodrome less than 10 miles from my house? Why don't people tell me these things???

This morning Micah came over and we took a good ride on the fixies. The total trip was just under 23 miles, destination: the Velodrome at Bloomer Park... and maybe some lunch and a beer or two at Rochester Mills brewery along the way.

We were really hoping something was going to be going on at the velodrome; a race, some people practicing, but when we rolled up no one was around.

Cautiously (shit is steep) we made our way into the infield. The very center portion of the infield was paved. The only provision for bike storage were two long red bar sets to hang bikes by their seat, canopies were set up with chairs under them for the racers, and a low metal fence circled the inside of track.

At first the banked turns were extremely intimidating, standing at the base of the 44 degree sloped turns (it's like looking at a wall) your asking yourself, should I really do this?

Why not - starting out at the bottom of the track, building up speed and carefully venturing higher and higher around the turns, I was starting to get the hang of it. After a few times around I found my self leaning deeper into the turns and wishing for a taller gear to go faster. It was fun, really fun. I couldn't help but smile as I gasped for air and prayed for traction along the steepest part of the bank.


According to the track's website there's an intro to riding class. I'd really like to do this (not to mention it's free). Also, I really want to watch a race - and maybe someday participate in a race.

edit for video of intro to riding class: youtube

Clinton River Trail Ride

Matt met me at my house and we rode south a few miles to meet up with the Clinton River Trail. We followed the trail all the way up into Rochester and stopped for a beer and a sandwich. Had two more beers and then rode home in the dark, this time, taking the more direct way. Here's the GPS.

Total Distance: 19.23 mi
Elevation Gain: 796 ft
Ave Speed: 12.6 mph
Max Speed: 25.0 mph

The Giant Slip and Slide

Going down all at once was a bad idea. Everyone got up holding a leg, or a an elbow, or a forehead, ouch.

We made the slide out of 10'x25' 6mil vinyl sheeting, cutting it down the middle so that the slip and slide was 50' long, and staked it pointing down the slight grade in the back yard. It was a good time - and probably the only way I was able to survive the 92F/90% humidity.

More fixie pics

Photo credit goes to Matt Denner.

This Morning Joe

"Do you want me to make coffee?"
"I will not leave here with out coffee."
"Well, then I'm not making any." Lisa said, as she started to grind the beans.

Lisa has a way of being both endearing and difficult at the same time.

Down hill in traffic is scary

I did just over 13 miles on the fixie today. My plan was to go all the way to Rochester Mills Brewery and take these awesome paved bike trails that parallel the roads in this area, but when the route I had planed out turned out to be a dirt road I detoured a little and then turned around.

The dirt road is marked in red above, and is part of a state wide bike trail system called "Rails to Trails." The 'X' marks the location of the brewery.

There was a lot of elevation to deal with. On one hand uphill is hard (single speed), on the other hand down hill is scary (no brakes), and down hill into traffic is even scarier (no brakes!).

When I got home Lisa thought the brewery was a great idea, so we ended up going after all. This time by car though. So here's some pic's from the brewery.

Hard time deciding?

They were out of IPA, so I got the Wit, so did Lisa.

Every time we go here it makes me want to build something with bricks.

My Fixie

I've determined my bike is a 1977 UO8 Peogeot. I'm all done upgrading it now, lets go ride bikes!

E-Bay Irony

I shit you not. Unable to find the seat I wanted on the shelves of my local bike store, I found the only one available online on ebay. Today I get the shipping information for the item I purchased and to my disbelief the freaking seller is my local bike store.

Detroit Alleycat

Pictured left is my new obsession and the latest excuse for the lack of blog content here. It's a huge(double xl!) mid-70's Peogeot frame that I picked up for cheap on craigs list; I've ditched the old chrome wheels in favor of a pair Deep-V Eighthinch wheels and torn all the 10 speed and braking gear off. With the wheels came an Origin 8 fixed hub and black spokes. I've still got a few more goodies on order to spruce up the looks and further reduce the weight of the bike. As it stands now it's probably one of the lightest bike's I've ever owned.

I've been riding the fixed gear for about a week now and I absolutely love it. Emergency stops can get a little sketchy but otherwise it's a very relaxing ride - you get up to cruising speed and just ride.

Last night we met up with a couple other riders for the Detroit Alleycat bike race. An alleycat is kinda like a scavenger hunt on bikes - the theme for this one was Scatagories. We had a list of destinations around the city with a category and we had to ride to each destination to find the letter. Overall I'd say we did about 15-20 miles zig-zagging across the city, it was an absolute blast and I got to see parts of the city that I never knew excisted. A++++ would do again.

Number 6 is Blue

Synesthesia is a neuralgic condition where numbers and/or letters are associated with colors or sounds. How fantastic would that be? One would almost have to become an artist for the sole fact that they would owe it to the rest of us to show us the beauty they see everyday. Word on the street is Jimmy Hendrix had this gift.

Check out this article, Hearing Colors: The Unusual World of Synesthesia, By: Kathryn Williams

When Carol Steen, now in her sixties, was a girl growing up in Detroit, she used to walk home from elementary school with a friend. One day, perhaps after a lesson in spelling or an exercise in handwriting, seven-year-old Steen asked her classmate, “Isn’t the letter ‘A’ the prettiest pink?” Her classmate, in the way only kids can, wrinkled her nose and pronounced Steen “weird.” [continue reading here]

Happiness

Talking religion in the work place is a bitch. If a Jehovah's Witness comes to my door asking me if I'm happy with my life and the way the world is headed, I take it as my responsibility to tell him to fuck off and slam the door in his face. When a co-worker who I greatly respect quotes the bible during conversation I feel just as uncomfortable. The urge to slam a door in her face burns in the back of my mind and my finger tips tingle as I mentally reach for an imaginary door. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view) cubicles have no doors. So I sat, and listened - shifting in my seat like I had to poop.

In the end it wasn't so bad. For example, here's one of a couple that was quoted to me:

2 Peter 1:5-7
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

What this has anything to do with work, or spreading nasty rumors of lay offs and bankruptcy blithe - I don't remember (thats normally the kind of thing we talk about around here these days). Normally I scrutinize the passages and marvel at how out of context their taken, but this one is pretty harmless.

The thing I like to take away from this one is you don't (and shouldn't) have to believe in God or read the bible to see the value in adding goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, brotherly kindness, and love to your life. These are all attributes of happiness; they are actions you can take to add to happiness in your life; happiness being the most important feeling of content and self achievement... and if that's not working for you there's always hookers and blow.

Save Biodiesel!

Add biodiesel to the endangered species list; sign the petition; demand biodiesel compatible vehicles! Get all this and more at savebiodiesel.org.

While true that oil dilution is a known issue in diesel engines, it's hardly "a great threat to the future of biodiesel." Whats more, to say "Most OEMs (including Volkswagen, Ford, GM, and Dodge) are currently using biodiesel-incompatible technology, and they won't change that without public pressure" is a stretch.

At any rate, I recommend having a read. The website is blunt about the effects of biodiesel on engine oil dilution and the suggested remedy is interesting.

Hungry

It's not even 11am yet and I'm starving. Lunch cant come soon enough.

Guess the cars

There are four cars in this picture, can you guess make and model on all four?