having the two wheeled hankering again

I have been a lazy bum for the last few weeks and have hardly biked at all. By hardly, I mean haven't at all.

I don't know what has gotten into me except for being stupid busy and being in a situation where I am working too far from home to realistically cycle to work.

Thing is, I miss it.

It is time to ramp it back up again even as winter rears its ugly head once again.

To that end, New Year's Day will see me biking one city over on my winter bike for some needed repair work. I am not the best at repairing my bicycle. A good friend of mine is. He lives one city over. So...

The winter monster needs a new drive train. Specifically, chainrings, chain, cables, rear derailleur, and cassette all are due for a replacement. I am feeling cheap though, and am planning on digging into my pile of spare parts and will be converting the monster into a single speed.

It should look hilarious. The frame is a too small for me 2011 Kona Lana'i with about what feels like 1m of seat post sticking up. It is almost a step through. However, it is perfect in the snow and handles being loaded down quite well.

So imagine that too small frame with a single speed drive train, studded tires, a rear rack and fender, a front rack and frankenstein fender, and a skid plate like splash guard over the bottom bracket.

It should be fun.

A change is as good as a new bike.

stream of consciousness

I have a new way of displaying some of my photographic work. There is no theme, no pattern. It is a collection of what I happen upon (both in the archives and out in the world) as I happen upon it.

Feel free to wander over and take a look. It will be updated on a fairly regular basis.

Stream of Consciousness

the curious relationship between us and fur

There is something about furry creatures which appeals to us at a very deep level. Even when we try to resist it, the furry out there win us over.

In this case, there is no hope.

Why even try?

these wheels are different

I got a new car.

Definitely, it is cute.

Here are some things I like about it:

• It is cute
• I hides the dirt well - yay for grey
• The seats are surprisingly good for an inexpensive car
• The car is small and easy to park
• The steering is very light and aids in making the car more maneuverable at low speeds
• The turning circle is absurdly tiny
• My family fits in it, including my teenage daughter
• The shifter is notchy enough that I can feel it go into gear - it is not numb and loose and lacking in tactile feedback
• The fit and finish is what one would expect from a Japanese car - about perfect
• It is shockingly good over bumps for such a small car
• It is nimble (not to be confused with sports car like)
• The fuel economy is stellar and not at all what the official mileage numbers or most online reviewers would indicate - I am pulling 5.8 L/100km and am doing nothing special
• The view out of the car is great and lane changes are easy
• The fact that I can see past the end of the wipers and know where the hood ends
• The six way adjustable driver's seat
• Heated mirrors - winter, you see
• The traction control OFF button!!!
• The BlueTooth phone connection
• The huge glove box
• It drives like a bigger car than it is due to it sharing the underpinnings with a larger car
• It is the Tardis - larger inside than out 
• How buzzy and quirky the engine sounds
• Assuming that nothing got left off of the maintenance schedule, how cheap this car will be to run (no timing belt service - chains for the win!!! I think, anyway...)

Here are some things I don't like about it:

• The roof is a tad thin
• The steering is overly light on the highway
• The car, like all small cars, is not a fan of heavy crosswinds
• The clutch is a pile of mush (easy to use, light, but a pile of mush)
• No heated seat option - yes, I am a wimp
• No A/C with a stick shift available for the super base model which meant I had to order the SV car with power stuff and spend more money - are you listening Nissan?!? Strip car WITH A/C next time please and thanks
• The key - the opening for the keychain is absurdly small - for real
• The signal and windshield wiper switches are about 5mm too far away from the steering wheel for someone of my hand size (or finger length)
• How buzzy and quirky the engine sounds

Here are some things which amuse me about it:

• The reviews which slam the lack of "soft touch" plastics in an inexpensive car as if "soft touch" plastics actually matter after the initial oooh ahhh of the new car wears off - I mean, really... who cares? Does anyone really fondle their dashboard? This car is about functional transport and not about impressing your neighbours with how fancy your pants are with your special "soft touch" plastics - if hard plastic on the interior of the car bothers you, buy something else
• The reports of poor mileage from the car - what are people doing? Doing every shift at 5000rpm and accelerating at full throttle every time they move it? Drive it like it is designed to be driven and the mileage is quite good
• The way the car feels just a little bit French which is likely true since Nissan is owned by Renault which is a whole lot French - it reminds me in some ways of my family's old Peugeot
• How cute it is
• How much fun it is to tootle about in
• How buzzy and quirky the engine sounds - really, it is neat, strange, and amusing to me all at once

Here is another picture of it:

après crash report

It has been sixteen days since I crashed.

On the way to watch a race in Montréal, I zigged when I should have zagged and a friend zagged when he should have zigged and I hit the ground.

Hard.

On asphalt.

Mid fall, the bar end shifter on my Sutra connected with the meaty tissue directly below my kneecap. I was very lucky. North of that, and the shifter would have hit the kneecap itself, and potentially done serious damage. South of that, and the shifter would have connected directly with the front and side of my shin bone.

So the result of the crash was a chunk torn out of my leg, an infection that could have gone bad but didn't, some road rash, and something I was not expecting.

I am now spooked. 

I was not expecting that.

I have crashed before, both on road and off. Many many times in fact. But never have I been completely spooked. I remember one very bad road crash a long time ago which took a while to recover from physically, and longer to recover from mentally, but I don't remember feeling spooked like this. I remember wanting a break from riding, but not feeling spooked.

I desperately want to resume riding, and did last night for the first time since crashing, but while I did not show how nervous I was, I felt like a spider dancing on a hotplate when the bicycle was in motion. I was very aware of the shifter. Very aware of the tightness in my knee. Very tense in turns on gravel paths. Very aware of every bump and shifting bit of dirt under the wheels. I did not want to fall.

Normally, I don't think about this stuff, and normally, the bicycle just does its thing while I ride and I don't fall. Falling does not even enter my mind. The bicycle and I act as one.

Last night, the bicycle and I felt like complete strangers, and while I know it will pass, the transition from strangers back to good friends is something of a painful process.

They're taking the Hobbits to Montreal(sengard): a photo essay

Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal: a photo essay

This is the fifth year that the race series has run. One race in Quebec City, and one in Montreal.

Our initial plan was to see the Quebec City race, but due to scheduling conflicts, we attended the Montreal one.

Here is a smattering of the race, in pictures.

an alternate view to the project bike

I tell my wife that I am going to have a mid-life crisis.

She rolls her eyes.


Being an avid cyclist (what a cliche that is), I am, like so many who ride a lot, somewhat of a bicycle collector.

N+1

Although, for me, it is in my head N+2.

Trouble is, we don't have room for N+2, or even the more modest N+1.

My mid-life crisis, I assure my wife, has nothing to do with trading her in on a pair of twenties...

She smacks me.

It has to do with the realisation of the ultimate N+1.

She rolls her eyes and stops listening at this point. I don't blame her. I do go on a lot. 

Being an avid cyclist, I am riding all of the time. When I am not riding, I am thinking about riding. When I am not thinking about riding, I am thinking about bicycles. When I am not thinking about bicycles, I am asleep.

Occasionally, this gets me smacked. But with love.

No really, I tell her, I have a modest mid-life crisis planned. I am planning it!

I am not like some in our youth obsessed culture who go for hair implants, younger women, fast cars, and other expensive things in an effort to recreate a youth that never existed for themselves in the first place!

I am enjoying getting old! And enjoying it with you, I tell her.

She knows I mean it. I am not just saying it. She is wonderful.

Lately, I have been thinking in a more focused manner about a project bicycle that I would like to build for my birthday. Not just any birthday, but my 50th one. I am not quite 45 now, and with the realities of modern life - a family, teenage daughter, and other things more important than bicycles - I have to save for a while to make this project come true.

What this all leads to is permission.

I am allowed my mid-life crisis.

It is going to be a project bicycle.

An evolution of a current theme in my riding.

I am going to build my project bicycle, and can do it with my wife's blessing.

I am lucky, and I know it.

The plan is to take my Kona Sutra and evolve it into another bicycle all together over the next five years. A dyno lighting system here, a Chris King bottom bracket there. Make changes as they are needed or desired. It would become a journey of a sort. Me and my bicycle. Going places and experiencing things together. Evolving together, if you will.

You see, for one in love with bicycles and riding them, the bicycle changes them as much as they change the bicycle. Cycling is a journey.

Is it possible that cycling can be a metaphor for a great marriage? 

I think I can hear eyes rolling...

A bicycle reborn: 1998 Specialized S-Works M2 HardBike

Dateline June, 1998.

A new bicycle enters the fleet.

The Specialized S-Works M2 Hardtail.

Since then, the bicycle has been ridden and ridden hard. It was showing signs of serious wear, but I could not bear to part with it. The fundamentals of the bicycle though, remained sound.

The most worn part was the suspension fork. After 16 years, the seals were mostly gone, and the fork was not functioning properly. To replace it, even as a bicycle store employee, was prohibitively expensive. Why? To do it, I would need the fork, a new front wheel, a front disk, calliper, and brake lever. Why? There are no good forks which work with my XTR v-brakes so I would have to switch to disk brakes on the front.  I could likely get a new bicycle for the price of all of that stuff, which I can not afford to do right now.

So enter the HardBike.

The HardBike in all of its glory.

The HardBike has no suspension.

The solution to the bicycle's suspension woes was to do away with the suspension.

One seriously stiff unsuspended fork.

The M2 frame designation.

S-Works and Chris King.

The bike is a mix of the new (and old new).

Matching Easton cockpit. The stem and bar are older, but fully serviceable and give a nicer riding position for me. Note the old school extra long stem.

Old school again - XTR Rapid Rise derailleur and SharkFin.

The original Specialized S-Works strong-arm crank with brand new Shimano XT pedals.

My old Mavic Cross-Ride wheel set with a new no longer made XT rear cassette.

So, enter the antics of the HardBike.

in the coffee shop

I like coffee.
Yes I do.

The sight.
The smell.
The taste.

The variety.
The warmth.
The cup.

The ponies.
The quirky.
The space.

The people.
The chair.
The table.

The food.
Oh yes, the food.
Some Yum.

And last.
The atmosphere.
Oh baby, the atmosphere.

Coffee.

The stuff of passion.