4/30/09 MIssion Trail

It turns out that it's light at 6:45 am this time of year.  I had no idea.

4/29/09 Mission Trail

The only nice thing about fighting a headwind all the way out on a ride is getting blown all the way home (that's what she said... actually, I doubt she'd say that because only a "he" would say that).

4/26/09 Comfort

What a weird weather day.  It was misting and wet when I left the house, and it just kept getting wetter as I headed to Comfort.  By the time I got to 1604, it was raining convincingly.  Mark called me and asked if I wanted to give up on the ride, but I said we might as well go to Comfort and see if it was wet there.  As we kept heading north, it kept raining.  It was still raining in Boerne, and it was still raining as we passed Po-Po's.  Then, out of nowhere, it stopped.  By the time I exited for Comfort, it was dry.  Somewhere in the 10 miles between Po-Po's and Comfort, we passed the magic line.

There was a strong headwind from the south, and still the threat of rain blowing in, so we opted for the shorter 30 mile route (which turned out to be only 25 miles).  Still, strangely, it was a great day to ride.  The temperature was nice, the humidity was low (don't ask me how), and the wind never really blew in our face.  It just goes to show you should never call the ride until you're actually at the start.

4/25/09 McAllister Park/Mudcreek Park

Just when I think I'm in some kind of decent shape, I go ride with someone that kicks my ass.  This time it was Jens, Richard, and Anthony.  Not only are they faster than me, but they had gotten in a good warmup before picking me up cold.  Needless to say, it hurt.  It's still a lot of fun, though, and I'll do it again as often as I can.  I just eventually explode and have to limp in on my own.

4/23/09 From Work

This was my last "From Work" ride for a while.  I'm going out on my own to try out some business ideas I have.  Since I'll be working from home, my commute is getting greatly compressed. Now I'll just walk out the back door and to the garage apartment, a distance of less than 100 feet.

It was time to leave for a number of reasons, but foremost is the fact that I've gotten bored with the commute.  I'm a creature of habit, and I tend to ride the exact same route to and from work each day.  I now know every pebble, pothole, and crack in the streets from my house to downtown where I work.  I know that it would be easier to just change-up the route, but my OCD prevents me from doing that.  The only real option was to leave my job and free myself from the tyranny of repetitive cycling.  Now, instead of commuting, I'll be able to do short rides from my house in the mornings before starting work.  My only fear is that I'll have to move in a year or two when I've gotten bored of all the streets around the house.

4/23/09 To Work

I've been doing an overhaul of my mountain bike this week.  I've pulled everything apart and cleaned it; I've re-greased all the bearings I can get to; and I fixed a broken axle in the rear wheel.  All's good there.  Now, the road bike is making creaking noises in the bottom bracket, so I guess that's next.  Still, this is a lot better than it was before we had good sealed bearings.

By the way, I always vaguely knew that the Little 500 was a real race, but I'd never heard the details before.  This is unlike any bike race I've ever heard of.

Bike Chatter

This looks interesting. It's a Twitter follower for cyclists.

http://www.bikechatter.com/

4/19/09 Fiesta Wildflower

I must be getting more attuned to the wind, because it blew like hell today but didn't really bother me.  Part of that is the fact that it was at our backs for about 2/3 of the ride.  But the return leg had a head wind pretty much all the way back. 

I think it's kind-of like climbing.  I used to really hate to climb, but these days I actually like it.  I don't like the wind, and probably never will, but I don't hate it anymore.  This makes rides much nicer. 

4/18/09 Mission Trail

It's so nice riding a bike that doesn't make noises.  It's been years since I was able to do that on the road.  Up the hills, over the bumps, sitting, standing, any way I ride it, no extra noises. I'm glad the creaking is finally fixed.

Of course, when you fix one thing, something else immediately breaks.  Right before the ride, I decided to adjust the alignment of the stem, because I noticed it looked a little crooked during my last ride.  I loosened the bolts, got it adjusted where I like it, then tightened the bolts.  The top one promptly snapped off.  Not what I was wanting to have to deal with.  So, I used my drill, my bolt extractor, and a small pair of vice grips to get the old bolt out.  Of course, I broke two small drill bits in the process.  Then, I managed to find a bolt that would fit.  I somehow got it all back together and got going in time to not be late for the ride.

4/15/09 To Work

I hate riding with a sore throat.  I've had a cold coming on since yesterday, and this morning my throat was a little sore.  I didn't give it much thought until I start riding in and breathing a lot (usually I only breathe once an hour or so - it's my super power).  That always dries my throat out and makes it hurt.  It doesn't hurt badly, but it is a constant irritant and makes the ride un-enjoyable.  I think I'll not do my normal long Wednesday night ride tonight and just head home after work.

4/14/09 From Work

ZOMG!¹  The creak is gone!  I finally figured it out, and it's a weird one.  The bolt in the clamp securing the handlebar to the stem was creaking when the bars got wrenched on and the clamp shifted.  I should have guessed this earlier, because I have a similar problem with my seat-post clamp bolt.   I pulled the bolt out, covered it in ti-prep, re-assembled it, and everything's quiet now.  FINALLY!!!


¹This is the only internet acronym I've found that no-one can explain to my satisfaction. The "OMG" part means "Oh My God", but no-one can give a good explanation of what the "Z" stands for. Urban Dictionary defines ZOMG, but I'm not sure I believe their explanation for the "Z".

4/14/09 To work

There's this old building on St. Mary's street that used to be empty, but now has a boxing gym in it.  They repainted it before moving in, and it was clean for a while.  Today I noticed that there's graffiti on it.  I wonder who tagged a boxing place?  I assume they made sure there were no boxers there, so they wouldn't get their asses kicked.  That's really only a step or two down from tagging a gun store or a mafia restaurant.  I guess some taggers just like to dance with danger.

The Poo Chronicles: Sidebar

"Poo?  That's disgusting!  Why would you want to write about that???"

Well, you're right, poo IS disgusting.  Very.  And it's also not very interesting.  But poo isn't the point of these stories.  These are stories of embarassment.  These are stories about the dumb things poo makes people do, and the interesting ways they handle it.  So, keep in mind that I'm not talking about poo; I'm talking about the crazy things it makes people do, especially the things they're embarassed to talk about.

With that said, let me re-introduce you to the original stories (and be expecting more):

The Poo Chronicles: Part 1
The Poo Chronicles: Part 2
The Poo Chronicles: Part 3

4/10/09 Easter Hill Country Tour Day 1

Sometimes on a ride, no matter which direction you ride, the wind is in your face.  Today was one of those days.  No matter which way the road went, there was a headwind.  I think this happens because the direction of the wind and the direction of the roads conspire against you.  This was bound to happen, since I've had the opposite luck on the last few long rides, where the wind is at your back no matter which way you go.  Luckily, it wasn't blowing very hard, so it was just a very minor annoyance.

Otherwise, the ride was great.  The rest stops were well stocked and frequent, so I felt like I was getting something for my money.  There were also a lot of nice people on the ride and I had groups to ride with for the whole ride.  All in all, it was a great day.  Year in and year out, the Easter rides are good ones.

4/8/09 Mission Trail

My nipples really got rubbed wrong tonight.  I'm looking at them right now, and they aren't chaffed or raw, but they definitely bothered me on the ride.  I have this problem occasionally, but I can never pinpoint an issue.  The bib shorts I had on I have worn probably a hundred times, with no memorable problems.  The jersey I had on has no particular history of pain.  I don't understand why, on occasion, they just get rubbed wrong.  I've considered keeping some bandaids around, but it's so inconsistent, and my chest is so hairy, that that's not really an option.  I tried to move around the suspenders and the jersey, but that didn't help.  I think that the next time I have this problem, I'm going to stop, pull off my jersey, re-adjust my shorts, and put everything back on carefully.  It works when my socks are rubbing my toes wrong, so I guess it's worth a shot here.

Just in case this happens again any time soon, I was wearing the black Castelli KISS shorts and my jersey from work.  I'll keep track of that in case I can find a pattern.

4/8/09 To Work

When you ride bicycles, you spend a lot of time staring intently at streets.  Streets that look pristine from a car can look like a Swiss cheese moonscape when you're trying to navigate through them and not pop a tire or get beaten to death.  Actually, there are very few streets that are really smooth and not full of holes.  Even when they re-pave a street, someone else comes along and digs a hole in it almost immediately.  And when they patch the hole, the patch never lasts very well.  They should make street repair engineers¹ ride around on bicycles.  Then they'd have more appreciation for their work.



¹I mean the people who come up with the guidelines for how to repair streets, not the ones that do the actual work.

4/5/09 McAllister Park

Today I did a dumb thing.  While I was getting ready to ride, I left my GPS sitting on top of the car so it could sync with the satelites and be ready for the ride.  In my haste to get going, I forgot and left it there, on top of the car, for the entire ride.  Luckily, when I got back it was still there.  That's a miracle. 

I cannot believe that I left my GPS sitting on top of my car for over an hour and a half and no-one took it.  That almost restores my faith in humanity.

4/4/09 Pedal Power Wildflower Ride

There aren't many wildflowers out this year, thanks to the drought (I think).  I saw a few on the Willow City loop, and a couple on the median of 281 as I was driving south out of Johnson City, but that was about it.  I was kind of bummed by that, because I really like looking at the flowers this time of year.  Still, it was a great day to ride a bicycle.  It was sunny and warm, without being hot, the wind didn't end-up being a factor, and my legs felt good.  I need more days like that.

4/1/09 Mission Trail

There is no way that there are fish in the creak they call a river down by the missions (also known as the San Antonio river).  No way.  The water levels go up and down, it sits stagnant for long stretches of time, and there's no telling what kind of wastes run into it from the surrounding areas.  Yet, every time I ride by it, there are people there fishing.  Sometimes not a small number of them, either.  I have never seen anyone pulling a fish out.  If by some miracle someone DID catch a fish, I hope they'd have the good sense to throw it back or incinerate it, NOT eat it.  Ugh.

4/1/09 To Work

Well, no matter what I try, I can't get rid of the creaking in the headset area of my bike.  I think the next thing I'll try is to put a different stem/handlebar set on there and wrestle it around to see if it still creaks.  That'll at least eliminate one more potential problem.  So far, I'm pretty sure it's not the fork, headset, spacers, compression cap, or handlebars.  The stem is the only thing left.  If that doesn't do it...