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

KC Bike Week 2008 Day 5 - The Wrap Up

This week was a huge contrast to 2007 Bike To Work Week on many levels:

• The weather cooperated every day, with only a few mornings in the 40°s and no rain.
• I am in better shape now
• I live 9 miles closer, making my round trip more feasible. 30 miles instead of almost 50.
• I helped plan this one.
• I got to ride with friends every morning and most evenings. I only encountered Chris once and Karen twice last year during Bike To Work Week.

It's worth mentioning that I met both Chris and Karen during Bike To Work Week last year. Not only that, I met both of them BECAUSE of Bike To Work Week. I really have to pay homage to last year's Bike To Work Week event. It was pivotal on many levels. Not only did I meet two people would eventually come to be my favorite commuting buddies, but the event itself flipped a switch. That switch was one that made me look forward to the days when I could avoid the bus by riding my bike all the way. Prior to last year's event, I would bus to work, and seldom but occasionally ride all the way home. After that event, and after I moved, it was a frequent thing to ride the whole route. One year later, the permanent effects of that moment are still evident.

This is technically the last day for Car-Free Challenge. This is the main thing I was participating in. It's completely possible that people haven't finished logging their miles yet, but I am done with my miles for the Car-Free Challenge. Here's how things stand.

• 182 miles of bike commuting and errands
• 15 miles (7.5 mile points) worth of bus riding from my trip to waldo and back.
• 8.7 miles on a slow-paced group ride monday (not counted)
  

This puts me in 13th place for bicycle transportation, and 20th place among all alternative transportation users.

I am a wee-bit grumpy about some participants this year who seem to fail to understand the "spirit" of the Car-Free Challenge. Epic thousand-mile interstate road trips don't keep congestion off the road, even if you're car-pooling. Logging recreational rides as commuting isn't fair. Riding a mile to school with 3 kids doesn't entitle you to 4 commuting miles because there were four of you on the road. And stopping at a convenience store along that 40-mile training route you were going to ride anyways? That doesn't make the entire training ride's miles count as an errand.

In discussing the rules with other Bike Week Committee members and some of my Convoy Crew, it's apparent that some verbiage needs to be added. Care should be taken, however, to not exclude those of us who for one reason or another either already choose to or are forced to use a bicycle as a primary mode of transportation. I'd rather avoid phrases like "trips that you'd normally use a car for"

Guess what, though? I'm not in it for the competition, nor am I bitter. I just did what I'd probably have done this week anyways, and logged my miles accordingly. My commute wasn't going to score me a place in the top ten; I knew that already. I already have my rewards: increased health, money saved, and many friends made over the past year and a half thanks to bicycling. This includes finally meeting some more people this week who know me from the blogosphere and took the time to say hi. You know who you are.

Aside from the car-free challenge, I hit the following Bike Week events:

• Family Bicycles pit stop on the Trolley Track Trail
• Mayor Funkhouser's LAB/BFC Platinum press conference

What's next this weekend?

• I'll be riding my bike to the PHP User's Group meeting at Daily Dose tomorrow afternoon
• I'll ride to my place of Worship on Sunday
• I'll also ride to my Birthday party after church, at a local park.

To me, though, This pretty much wraps up Bike Week.

Here are some pics from the homeward commute this evening.

My new shifters. Thanks, JR! Compare to my old grip twisties.


Karen and Chris behind me on Turkey Creek Trail




Karen and Chris ahead of me going through the 79th St. Industrial Park


Eight braze-ons. Count them. I checked, and there are at least 8 more on the back. If you count all the eyelets on my three bikes combined, I have the same number as Chris has on this one touring bike.


Yes, I have some bike envy.


Oh yes. I'm finally a Flickr Pro. I didn't think I would take the plunge, but I simply have too many photos up there to not go for it. Of course, it will take about a year for the ads on this site to recover the $25 I spent on it. Some people collect stamps. I pay someone to host my pictures and keep them organized. Mostly (but not entirely) so that you guys can make fun of my photos. Whatever.

Soak it up, this weekend. It looks like we're in for a continuation of the nice weather.

Random Tunage:
Orbital - Lush 3-2
Fragma - You Are Alive

KC Bike Week 2008 Day 5: Lunch with Chris

JR told me he could fix up Hybridzilla while I got some lunch. I swung by his shop and watched him go to town. He installed some new RapidFire shifters and also turned my 21 speed Hybridzilla into a 24 speed. I was already running an 8-speed cassette on it, but the old shifters were only 7-speed. The 8-speed rapidfires work pretty well but I'll need to adjust them a bit.


JR Also lent me a bike. I chose the folding Land Rover bike. I don't know how ye-olde this relic is, but it behaved pretty well, although the rear fender was loose and rattling in the seat stays.


Chris' Touring bike locked up with the Folder.


Mmmm. Chef Burger.


We were joined by a fendered, racked, and front-loaded cyclocross bike. I didn't see the rider, but the bike was gone when we left.


This is the wind-powered clock tower in the Power & Light District.


This is a meal. A good meal.


Obligitory Panda Portrait of me on the Folder.


Random Tunage:
Tri Bowl Nuts - Trapped
Barenaked Ladies - One Week

KC Bike Week 2008 Day 5: Keep on Truckin'

... Long Haul Truckin', that is. Chris finally scored his current idea of a Dream Bike, the Surly Long Haul Trucker. Likewise, I am also truckin' right along, with a non-stop bike-only commuting week looking all but inevitable.

It seems like everyone's getting on board with the Trucker, or at least The Clemonator is the second one I've seen this year who succumbed to its charms. The first was Doug.


With a motto of "Fatties Fit Fine" -- in reference to wide, fat tires as much as clydesdale riders, I'm assuming -- who can resist? The cantilever brakes can take some beefy 29er Mountain bike tires, and the stays and fork have adequate clearance for them as well. This came equipped with 700x37 Continental Contacts. The wide tires, high spoke count and all-steel frameset combine to form a really smooth ride, according to Chris.


All kinds of refinement has gone into the Surly LHT. For starters, there are THREE sets of fork braze-ons (fore and aft of the axle, and midway down the outside of the fork), two sets of seatstay braze-ons (one boss threaded all the way through providing two mounting holes, and plenty of other finesse items, including a bracket on the NDS Chainstay that holds a pair of extra spokes for those middle-of-nowhere roadside mishaps.


It was a quick ride in this morning with a total of four convoy riders. I don't think I've ever had 5 days in a row riding with more than one other person. This week has been awesome.


This is a crappy photo, but the motion blur really does emphasize the experience.


Hybridzilla did pretty well today, even with her gimpy shifter. The grip shift's ratcheting mechanism is all kinds of messed up. It's basically a friction shifter without any friction to hold it into a gear.


Here are some pics from last night. This is the original uncropped photo that I used in yesterday's evening post.




















Bikes at the drug testing lab across the street from where I live. These bike racks are ALWAYS empty. This is a first.


Not bike related at all. I just like it. Dora is batting at the gerbils through their glass cage. She's really cute.


The guy at the trek store told me about "The Dime Trick" to remove spline and ISIS cranks. The bottom bracket is hollow on this bike, so my crank puller doesn't have anything to press against. The end result is that I had a mushroomed dime stuck in the hollow bottom bracket and my cranks were STILL stuck on the bike. I eventually devised a solution to remove them.


Random Tunage:
Milky - Be My World
Notorious B.I.G. Ft. Puff Daddy - Mo Money Mo Problems

KC Bike Week 2008 Day 4: Another round trip

I've gotta jet. No, really. I need sleep.


I took that over my shoulder on SW Blvd while riding at about 20 MPH. I can't believe it stayed in focus as well as it did. Flight fascinates me. And riding a bike, I think, is the closest I'll get to flying while staying on the ground.

I only have time for highlights.

• Another full round trip convoy. Karen was waiting for me when I got to the brewery.
• The bike racks at the drug testing lab across the street from my apartment had bikes (two of them!). This is a first as far as I've ever seen.
• Now Hybridzilla is on the fritz. These cheapo grip shifters suck. XTR Replacements? :P

I'll upload more pics tomorrow.

Miles today: 30
Miles this week: 150
Miles for May: 354
Miles this year: 1,347

Random Tunage:
Kevin Saunderson - Powerbass
Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko

KC Bike Week 2008 Day 4: A New Beginning

Not really. Just a different bike, but it felt good to ride something that didn't sound as if it were falling to pieces.

I didn't get much sleep last night, so combined with this week's mile-fest, I had a lot of trouble getting any momentum this morning. I didn't have time for a proper breakfast, so I lashed a pair of bananas onto my rear rack along with my clothes.

Hybridzilla's rear rack is seatpost-mounted and doesn't have a good way to hold my panniers while keeping them out of the spokes. I had to wear a backpack, but I loaded as much stuff as I could onto the rack with its integrated tie-down bungees.

Hybridzilla's treadless slick tires really do roll almost as well as my road bike's narrow tires. I'm constantly amazed at how well behaved this bike is for the mere pittance I've spent on it so far. If I didn't have to carry a backpack when commuting on it, I'd probably use it more often. Unfortunately, buying another cargo rack and set of fenders is an expenditure for a later time. This bike is pretty minimalistic, and I like that.

Look Maww! No Hands!


Approaching 79th and Quivira, I saw John C's tail strobe. Already ravenous, I started working on a banana while watching Karen's LED headlight glisten over the hill near Monrovia, still a minute or two away. Karen wheeled through the intersection. John and I followed along. I was still munching. Somewhere along Nieman, I found a storm drain, where I jettisoned the banana carcass.

I managed 42.8 MPH on Hybridzilla down the 67th street hill. This high-cadence endeavor actually woke my legs up quite a bit, and made the rest of the ride seem a bit easier. As slow as I thought I'd be, we made good time. It's been nice having a daily convoy all week.


I was alone at *$ this morning for a while. Eventually, Lorin and JR showed up. Here's Hybridzilla, all geared up. The second banana is still strapped to the rear rack.


Bungees cause hell on bananas.


Random Tunage:
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus (Pump Mix)
POB - Boiler (Humate Remix)

KC Bike Week 2008 Day 3: Finally Over

It's been a long day, with some odd results.

Here's what the plan was (kinda)

I had a meeting at the Central KCMO Library at 6:00 PM. I get out of work around 4:00 PM. Rather than go home and drive back downtown, I got my wonderful wife to let me kick it in KCMO for a few extra hours.

I figured since I was going to miss the memorial ride of silence, I could at least go down and see Family Bicycles and maybe put a few miles on the trolley track trail, and stop by the refreshment booth Family Bikes set up. Without knowing a solid route, I took Jeff's advice and just used the MAX.

Here's where I got sneaky. I saw the L bus, which I occasionally take to get back home. I haven't ridden it in about a month. I swung by and asked the driver for a transfer, then quickly darted back off the bus without even pretending I was going to ride it. I have a monthly pass for The JO, and The JO transfers are good for a free ride on any metro bus. I could have ridden the L bus to Union Station, but I could beat it there and in the process cut almost 45 minutes off of my trip to Family Bikes.



For what it's worth, I did make my intentions clear to the bus driver before asking for the transfer.

I got to Union Station JUST in time to see the MAX pull out. I decided I'd race it to the next stop. Upon reaching the stop, my panniers jammed against my fender, and my rear fender hit my wheel, bent up, buckled, and locked my rear wheel up. Without delay, I cyclocross-carried The Twelve, ran to the MAX, and racked it up on the front of the bus. I'd assess the situation once I got down to Waldo.

I inverted my bike on the side of the road and got the fender un-mangled, but still not properly attached. I walked the bike to the Family Bikes refreshment station, and asked where the main shop is. About 1/10 mile down the road. I walked my bike to the shop, and was greeted by Theresa, Bruce and Kat. Theresa and Bruce know me from the Bike Week committee. I also saw another cyclist I know, who occasionally rides with my Monday crew. Kat had all but sold him on a Dahon folding full-size mountain bike by the time I was leaving.
Meanwhile, Bruce gave me some hardware to re-attach the mounting bracket for my fenders, and let me use a pair of channel-locks to bend things back into some kind of workable shape.


No folding bikes shown, this is mostly redline and surly stuff. Family has a TON of accessories, most of which are geared towards beginners and commuters.


I lost track of time and missed the Northbound MAX to get to my meeting. There are two "flavors" of MAX. One goes to the Plaza and turns around. Every SECOND bus comes out to Waldo. In other words, if I could get to the Plaza, I could catch a MAX bus to get me to the Library quicker.

I followed the Trolley Track trail for a few miles.


After that, despite Jeff's advice to steer clear of Brookside Blvd, I rode Brookside all the way into the plaza where I found a bus that had just stopped.


Here's the American Century building (one of two). Yes, I black and whited it.


Come on, hurry up!


At the library at last!


Riding home after 7:00 PM, my commute has a completely different... timbre. It's not just a feeling. It's a shift of ambiance and attitude.


I HAD to stop and take a picture of this duckling. Then, I had to restrain myself from throttling a pair of evil Canada Geese for the transgressions of their foul-feathered relative in Springfield, MO a few weeks ago.


I swung by Trek Store to see what the Bottom Bracket situation was going to cost me. They say for $15 they'll take the thing apart and lube it up to see if that helps. I kind of told the guy to piss off. But I wasn't quite that mean. I can take the thing apart myself and re-lube it. Duh. If that fails, I'll probably go somewhere else to buy a replacement bottom bracket.

This red light means that my DiNotte has been running more than 3 hours and is on "Limp-Home" mode. It certainly was a nice day for some extra miles. Quivira (shown below) is really nice after 8:00 PM.


So, this ends another day. The Twelve? Well, she's in the dog house for a few days after what she's put me through this week so far. Hybridzilla came down and got geared up for the morning ride in, and The Twelve joins my wife's Townie on the wall. This is where bikes go when they won't be ridden for a while.


Miles today: 40
This week: 120
May so far: 324

PS: I'm only 4 miles from the most miles I've had in a month this year, and I think I'm on course to clear 600 miles pretty easily this month.

Related:
All of 2007's Bike To Work Week posts (I think I've come a long way since then)
All of 2008's Bike Week posts so far

Random Tunage:
Third Eye Blind - How's it gonna be?
Ian Van Dahl - Will I