Take That Werner!

Now that I am obsessed with the idea of re-working the Easton for in town fun, I decided to make another visit to the parts box and see if I still had a spare set of road-brake levers. I do, and they are not Dia-compes, but Suntour! I also found an old 7 speed, LX rear hub, which is probably worthless, and a box for a rear cassette. I opened the box, expecting to find some battered old mountain cassette, and instead found a brand-new 7-speed road cassette. Holy Shit! I need a new cassette for the Red Trek, and here in my box is the thing I actually need? Heisenberg has failed! I need the part, I have the part... Will the world start spinning backwards? Will cats and dogs live together? Will Menudo get back together? My trip to Recycled Cycles will be more frivolous, and less stressful!

I will blog with aplomb when I return.

A Rash of Flats

The Jeunet has decided to behave very French lately. Two flats in a row, which is frustrating in the extreme as the Jeunet was intended to be a low-maintenance commuter. Oh well, I will have to buy an IRO I suppose. Pity me people, pity me. I was digging in the parts box Sunday, trying to sort out what's what, as when I am in Seattle I am making a pilgrimage to Recycled Cycles. I found my old Look pedals. They were a Recycled Cycles purchase many years ago, along with a pair of Look road shoes that were about a half-size too small. I mounted those pedals on my Cannondale m300 as the finishing touches of a winter road-conversion. Fun times were had that winter, riding around the City of Subdued Excitement on the Blue Bomber. As the winter wore off I remounted my knobbies and m525's, but kept the drops and rode cross for a while, a terrifying hoot of a time. In the midst of my sentimental trip, I am beginning to get crazy thoughts. The ones that result in strange things happening in my basement. The Easton is rusting on the vine (literally, the chain is a lovely shade of iron oxide). I have a spare set of Diacompe road levers and these bad-ass black Look pedals. All I need are some skinny tyres, a seat (don't ask), some wd40, bar-end shifters and some drop bars and I could be indulging in truly weird behavior. Now if I can just figure out how to attach a laser...

Its Hotter Than...

As my Pops would say "Its hotter than the hubs of hell".

I am worried that I am going to go out and find the tires on the Trek melted onto the pavement. What is the stopping performance going to be like when its so hot that the brake pads are like soft-serve? How much crankier are the drivers going to be now that its super hot?

Pray for me.

or send ice.

Fix Me Up

Two straight days of training rides on the fixie have left me with a sore back and seriously sore legs. There is just nowhere to hide when on the fixie. Hill a little too steep? Stand up and grind, wussy boy! Got a nice little downhill? Coasting is not an option, loser! The results are quite outstanding. When I get on the road bike, I find myself pedalling all the time, and switching gears a lot less, which is probably for the best.

I am so enamored that I am contemplating another fixie, wether its a franken-bike, or a purpose built ride (hard to resist the fine work of IRO or NYC Bikes) is irrelevant, as it will be set up for fun and speed. Not that I am discounting the possibility of owning another roadie, or a cyclocross rig, but for in-town hyjinks... you get the picture.

Piss and Vinegar

Somehow I managed to go running this morning. Yesterday was a forced rest-day, I woke up at 5:30, and my body just said no... I still rode the Jeunet to work, but I was very tired. This morning felt like a repeat of yesterday, but when I started in on my jog, I felt pretty strong and had a nice time of it. The Jeunet has been a welcome companion this week, its amazing how much harder it is riding fixed, even with pretty weak 42x16 gearing! Part of it is the total neglect of my health. I don't even want to know how much weight I have gained, I know its too much, and there was no reason for it, other than my own moodiness. For reasons already gone over in too much detail, I just haven't wanted to be happy the last two months, and its been an ugly thing to witness. This morning the piss and vinegar were back, don't ask me why, don't ask me how, I cannot explain it. I'm going to just chalk it up to riding fixed... its the only way to be free.

Paucity, Paucity, Paucity (i just love that word)

The paucity of recent posts has been a result of both my foul mood and too much work. As is my usual way of living, I started to neglect myslef very badly, and at the same time work started to exert real pressure. My relationship with my boss has reached some sort of low shelf, any further descent will result in bad ugliness. Thankfully she is out of town for a couple of weeks, and I actually went running this morning, although at the goddawful hour of 5:30 am. It was a pretty cool morning, and I guess it will be good to get into the early run habit for July, when the day time heat and humidity will be prohibitive to physical activity. The Jeunet is still at Big Shark having her new Ritchey Logic headset installed. At the end of the day, it just wasn't worth it to put in a Chris King. If the Big Shark boys keep it on schedule, I should be fixed tomorrow, and I cannot wait. I am hoping to take her to the Misouri Botanical garden for the night-time Chihuly in the Garden as well as having the pleasure of hauling her stiff gearing back and forth from work. I have been listening a lot to Jim Guthrie's Now More Than Ever, and it is seriously good.