Sun, 08 November 2009
Testing new webserver
This is just a test. Move along now.
Testing new webserver
This is just a test. Move along now.
Sun, 31 July 2005
Nishiki Fandom
I used to own a 1990 Nishiki Ariel. It was my first raceable MTB and absolutely loved it. I had it for ten years and used it for everything. I regret the day I gave it away. Up until lately, I assumed I was the biggest fan of the old Richard Cunningham designed Nishiki bikes of the early 1990s. However, I recently received an email message from someone who puts my fandom to shame.Continue reading "Nishiki Fandom"
Thu, 05 May 2005
Homemade Bicycle Repair Stand
For a long time, I had wanted a repair stand in order to work on my bikes. These stands are meant to support the bike by one of their tubes in an elevated position so you can freely turn the wheels and easily access parts. However, many high quality stands are expensive. They range anywhere between $150 to $250. After reading a thread in BikeForums that was started by a guy who did the same thing, I also decided to build my own using parts from Home Depot. My goal was to keep it all under $50... preferably closer to $30. I knew I wasn't going to end up with something that has all the features of a quality Park Tool stand or anything but I at least hoped to build a solid and functional workstand.
Continue reading "Homemade Bicycle Repair Stand"Thu, 28 April 2005
Short Ride
My intent today was to take my roadbike to Marymoor Park where the Grouphealth Velodrome is located and play on the track... maybe ride around the Sammamish River Trail back and forth a couple of times too. However, after getting the bike loaded up onto the Jeep, I went to turn the key only to be greeted by one crank of the engine before the instrument panel went dark. Because I'm rarely driving it and some of the onboard systems continually draw power, I usually keep the trickle charger hooked up to the battery. I guess I forgot the last time I drove it. I didn't have time to wait for the battery to even get enough of a charge to start.
So instead of doing the same tour of my plateau I did yesterday (no thanks) or going down the hill and fighting the traffic coming off the major expressways during rush hour, I instead opted to leave the roadbike on the hitch rack and hop on the MTB. I of course selected my favourite local trail (right outside my doorstep) and did a quick 5-mile loop. I decided to stick to mainly the open areas and hardpack because a thunderstorm rolled through last night and there were portions that were still a little too wet to ride on responsibly. It turned into a fast but short mainly XC ride. Oh... I also did a couple of poseur loops around my block to cool down.
My ride was only around a half-hour but it was it nice little workout.
Tue, 19 April 2005
Average speed differences between MUPs/bikepaths and road
I've been sort of monitoring this phenomenon for a while now and I notice a 2-3 MPH drop when I'm on a path as compared to when I'm on the road. This seems odd because many of the paths around here are fairly flat and the roads have some hills. Disregarding the 15MPH speed limit and even on very sparsely populated days my average speed on a bikepath is somewhere around 18MPH whereas on the road it's somewhere between 20 and 22 or even higher if the roads are flat. And yes, there's the issue of peds and slow cyclists on paths but even on those days where I encounter absolutely no one, my average seems lower. I wonder if it has to do with the surface grade differences. Maybe paths use a softer surface thus there's more rolling resistance.
Tue, 05 April 2005
Testing blogging from my phone
I have decided to download a blogging client for my phone. This is a test to see if it actually works.
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This post was made with a trial version of BlogPlanet, a photo blog client for mobile phones. For more information visit www.blogplanet.net.
Mon, 28 March 2005
Reformatting Lyrics
Following in the tradition of this guy's LiveJournal entry (and the resulting flurry of comments), who reformatted a song into list format, I decided to follow along by creating my own reformatted lyrics of Queen's Bicycle Race.
Continue reading "Reformatting Lyrics"Sun, 06 March 2005
Back in the saddle and it hurts
I just returned from my first real ride since returning to cycling after a three month lapse. Here's some lessons I learned.
- It's not a good idea to "ease back into things" by going out and doing a 38 mile offroad (albiet gravel fireroad) ride that involves 4000 feet of constant climbing.
- The Selle Italia Flite is a wonderful saddle and I love it dearly but when you've been off the bike for a while, your butt has "lost that loving feeling" and spending hours on a narrow saddle bouncing over rocks is no better than going out to the construction site and sitting on the business end of an operating jackhammer.
- After getting used to being the one who's able to ride away from your pack of friends on the hills, once the table gets turned, you better get used to that bitter taste of humble pie.
- If your goal is to ride through the tunnel at the pass, better check the schedule to see that it's actually open during the winter so you don't have to lug that friggin 2 lbs. light setup for nothing.
- No matter how much you're suffering, the beauty of nature and the outdoors never gets lost.
- It's a good feeling to be riding again.
- It's easier to stay in shape than to get in shape.
Sun, 03 October 2004
The Best Bib Number Ever
This morning, I went to register to ride the Kitsap Color Classic and check out the bib number they gave me!
