The Twelve is ALIVE

When I took Hybridzilla to JR, he hooked me up with the 8-notch tool I needed to take The Twelve apart. I wasn't sure what was going to happen with my bottom bracket, but I tore into it last night.

It turns out that a good cleaning and my usual application of waterproof boat-trailer axle grease did the trick. The bottom bracket is smooth as butter. This is what the Trek Store was going to charge me $15 for. With the right tool and some ingenuity getting my square-taper crank puller to work for my ISIS-drive splined cranks, I got the bike apart, fixed, and put back together very quickly.

Today, I rode to the KC PHP User's Group meeting (a.k.a. "The Pug"), where half a dozen web development geeks descend on a monthly basis to discuss current projects, get advice, and trade knowledge.

On my way to the meeting, I had an interaction with a motorist who saw fit to come from around me, then cut a few feet in front of me with a nice double-lane-change to get in the right turn lane, when he could basically have just changed lanes to the right. He did it just to be an ass.

So, now stuck at a stop light behind others waiting to turn right, he is directly next to me. I look. His passenger window is down, but driver side is up. I motion to roll it down. He flips me off. I laugh. I knock on the window. He looks ahead. I knock again. He looks at me and says something. I can't hear it. I shake my head.

People are all sorts of big and strong when they're driving their cars that can bully cyclists around and get away at speeds approaching 100 miles per hour. They're a bunch of cowards when their car is helpless, powerless, and stranded in traffic. I wasn't going to read this guy the riot act or get in his face. I would have just told him to watch out for cyclists, and that he cut it kind of close. I was having a nice ride, and my road rage was at a minimum.




Two other KCPUG attendees ride the Lenexa Midnight Ride every summer. I think we might try to get sequential numbers, or perhaps ride together. Who knows? Computer nerds seem to like bicycles. I like to tell myself it's because we're smart. Haha.

I took the back way home, and I took it really, really easy. I actually made a point to ride in such a way that I didn't have to breathe through my mouth. The weather was perfect and I just felt like cruising. I rode through some construction zones -- new streets that aren't open yet, which run adjacent to some big arterials. I took the MUP adjacent to the road for a while, up the big hills. I'd usually stay on the road but I was really more of a pedestrian on my ride home. It was nice, relaxing, and fun. Here are the pics.





















Miles Today: 14.5
This week: 201
May: 405

Random Tunage:
Rob Zombie - Dragula
Orbital - Pants