What a crazy end to February!

My chain's been skipping a bit on The Goat. Friday morning, I found out why. It wasn't my cassette like I thought. It was the chain. Kinky.


There's a shard of metal in the link, no amount of chain flex is working the kink out. I'll have to cut the chain. Fortunately, I kept some of the excess links, so I can keep it the current length. I know you're not supposed to cross-chain, but The Goat's gearing is set up so I can if I want to. It comes in handy in snow and mud... but the chain has to be the perfect length.

I am the go-to-guy at work for pretty much anything even remotely technology related. One of my co-workers brought me a camera that her kid dropped. It looked fine except the lens wouldn't retract because something broke inside. This caused an error with the camera and it would turn off without allowing pictures to be taken. I told her I'd look at it over one of my breaks. It looked like this for a while:


I got it all put back together, but there's physical damage that requires a new part... a part I'm pretty sure Kodak doesn't just sell to the masses... it's the silver lens barrel in the center of the photo above.

While I'm talking about fixing things... let me introduce to you my new Mavic Aksium Race.


Aero spokes aren't usually my style, but thanks to the hook-up from a very good friend and reader I got a great deal on it, complete with Mavic's MP3 protection plan. No questions asked, Mavic fixes or replaces this thing if I damage it. I'm not big on "protection plans" but I've heard how this one works and I think we can all agree that if there's one guy who can break a bike wheel, it's me. As you can tell from the photo, I already had it stealthed out before I put the tire on. No gawdy rim stickers for me.

The ratchet pawls are firm and crispy. The rim is laser-true from the factory. When I fired it up and looked down at the rim straight-on, I couldn't even tell the wheel was moving. I'm not sure why Mavic went with blade spokes on their entry-level wheel, but I'm not complaining. Although my front wheel is okay (it could use new bearings but otherwise it's solid) I'll be saving up for the matching front wheel soon.


I haven't ridden The Twelve in months. I don't get caught up on looks, but even with the mismatched spokes, the wheels don't look too off. Black rims and spokes. They're close enough for me for now. I'll just be happy to get some full commutes and group rides in as the weather gets nicer! I also needed a chain and cassette to get The Twelve up and running. Those are present as well.


Unfortunately, the weather did this to us today. 5" of snow, and it was 70 degrees a few days ago!


I really hope it clears up in time for Monday's commute.

My wife and I went to Sakura again. Here's a motion-blur photo of the train rumbling towards us.