I Stop At Stop Signs

This morning on the commute to work, I was cruising along on Stinson Blvd and stopping at all the stop signs in a residential area and near a private school. There are several stop signs in a short distance. I must be a dope since I stop at every bleeping sign. Other cyclist blow by me on a regular basis. I used to get my blood pressure to skyrocket by getting angry with the morons. I figure when I get harassed by a car, its because there are more cyclist like them then me. My choices are to join them or ignore them. I find it so hard to ignore them, but I'm trying to so very hard.

Today I stopped like any other day. I look at the cars that stop beside me, but only to see if that tell tale blinker is working and I'm about to possibly get cut off. I also look to see if they actually stop to see if they are in that "its all about me" hurry and I should again beware. Otherwise I try to ignore the predominance of SUV versus modest sized cars.

I do always listen for that telltale sound of an electric window. I don't try to figure out if its going up or down, my adrenaline level goes up as I go into avoidance mode trying to prevent the possibility of getting something thrown at me. I've gotten empty cans, cigars, cigarettes, and half eaten hamburgers and sandwiches thrown at me. Sometimes its just the invective that spews out the window and I always find it hard not to retaliate in kind so I try to avoid hearing that too. Again, avoidance maneuvers are on order.

So, I do a track stand at a stop sign and a car is beside me. I see it is blue, and the turn signal is not on. I go through the intersection like normal about the same time as the car. The car does not zip past me and my senses heighten. Then I hear that window motor and I stand on the pedals ready for anything. As the window goes down I hear what I think is talk radio. Great, some conservative right wing nut. And I hear that first word I always expect to be followed with the insults. "Hey!" I resist looking, its bad to make eye contact. So the guy continues, "Did you know I was a copy next to you?"

Now I look. It is an Officer in uniform in unmarked squad car. I tell him no, I stop at stop signs because its the right thing to do. He yells, "Great job, keep it up!" I figure this is the end as the window goes up and I realize the radio is radio chatter from a squad car not talk radio.

Several blocks later, there seems to be a significant snarl to traffic. I hang with the car I'm next to, and don't piss the cars off by blasting past. When I get to the cause its my cop, along with three others running speed checks. Speed limit is 30, and it appears under 35, you get a warning. At some point they hand out pre-printed, pre-signed tickets. The cop walks in front and writes the license number, gets the drivers license, runs it through a car thing on his belt and the ticket is set.

I love it.

Button for today. I first heard this comment on a Simpsons' show. Bart says it, and I don't remember why. It appeals to me for this reason: I do not find clowns funny or amusing. The one word I consistently associate with clowns is EVIL. As in Stephen King's It evil. And since I have plenty of trouble sleeping clowns are as good a source to blame for my struggle as anything. Done. Happy Friday? 

Anonymous? Maybe not

Someone left an anonymous comment. I didn't mind the comment or the opposing opinion regarding Neil Young's latest record. They were polite or non-threatening and didn't use any foul language.

Still, I don't like the ability to hide who you are and leave comments.

So, I've turned that feature off. Sorry. Register and show yourself or go away. If you feel strongly enough to leave a comment at least own up to it. If I read your blog and saw something worth commenting on, I would.

Its my blog and its the way I feel. Suit yourself on your own blog.

A Week Ago Shopping Expedition

I got a pal. He is really interested music, even more than me. He owns a couple of guitars (Fenders!), amps (Fenders! tube!), and more recordings than me. Okay, maybe four times the number of recordings that I own. And I own a ridiculous number, no I won't admit to how many. I've been collecting for thirty years and I'm too bleeping anal to toss any away. In desperation I sold a few as well as traded a few. Serious mistake. The really bad ones remind me of mistaken choices, or whom I should never take advice from.

At any rate when Rocking Mr. Tom shows up, we usually go shopping. And when I talk shopping I'm talking the Fetus. An institution in the area for a long time, they have a great selection of blues, rock, and more. I can't speak for country as I can't stand that crap. Okay, I don't mind the quality country; Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and serious old school artists. Not that putz Garth and Wynonna.

So here is the list of what I bought this time. It had been quite a while since I had last shopped for recordings:

Death By Sexy - Eagles of Death Metal
Separation Sunday - the Hold Steady
Flashback - J. Geils
Showtunes - Stephin Merritt
Biggest Prize In Sport - 999
Elan Vital - Pretty Girls Make Graves
Broken Toy Soldiers - the Raconteurs
The Repulsion Box - Sons and Daughters
Songs and Other Things - Tom Verlaine
Dumbing Up - World Party
Living With War - Neil Young

So far I've listened to several recordings, but not enough of all of them. I have listened to these four in depth enough to make a review.

Biggest Prize In Sport by 999 is old school New Wave from the early 80s. I've had a vinyl copy for over 20 years. I loved it then, its pop, its catchy, it has wonderful guitar licks, and its completely meaningless from a seriousness angle. Its a guilty pleasure at its finest. When I saw it in the used bin for $7, I couldn't pass it up. I've rarely seen them in the new racks much less in the used rack. Embarrassed? Nope, its a band which has sentimental value as well as entertainment value. They might be the Bay City Rollers of the New Wave or Punk era, but nobody's hardly heard of them, so maybe its okay? You mileage might vary.

Separation Sunday by The Hold Steady is quality rock and roll with a twist of anger. Some might call it Power Pop or even Punk, but its just all rock and roll isn't it? I heard a cut off this disc on the The Current. The first thing that grabbed me is the vocal similarity to Mark E. Smith of The Fall. I also found the lyric about "your rat faced friend" hilarious. Great biting lyrics about a wide range of stuff. The disc just demands to be played loud. Lots of good crude guitar work and just solid rock and roll. The disc has been well reviewed elsewhere. I find it highly recommended if you like things like the Fall, the Clash, the Jam and other intense music.

Dumbing Up by World Party was a pleasant surprise to see in the record shop in the "new" bin. Its a bit short compared to his (Karl Wallinger of course) other recordings, but it holds up well just the same. If you remember the early days of The Waterboys, then you should consider checking out World Party's back catalog. Personally I suggest you start with Bang! as well as Egyptology. The man has a mind for hooks and catchy lyrics, but he also knows his sound. He always surrounds himself with great players and his recordings sound the same over his 20 plus years of discs. He likes lush production and smooth vocals that may not appeal to everyone. I really have always liked the sound of World Party since Karl was a part of the Waterboys. I thought that was partnership that broke up and each carried a solid portion of the musical ability and later recordings prove that Mike Scott and Karl Wallinger have the chops to carry off their own careers with ease.

Living With War by Neil Young was the biggest disappointment so far. Where was Neil's angst when he made Prairie Wind? I don't know where Neil was, but Shrubbery (its a nickname for George W. Bush by a Texan newspaperwoman you should know even if I can't remember her name at the moment) and his administration have sucked for a long time. I really thought this disc showed Neil's age. Too little, too late. What? The last five or six recordings have left me very unexcited. I don't think I've really enjoyed anything since Arc Weld and before. I expect more from Neil and frankly, I've not found it. Its begun to piss me off. Not bad enough like with U2 where I won't be buying anything new of theirs, but I'll be thinking long and hard before I buy another Neil Young recording. I'm so freaking disappointed.

Commuting in the rain

There was a couple of days a few weeks ago where it rained all the time. Just ride in it is my opinion. I use fenders. They keep a lot of the rain off your feet, legs, and off the chain too. Properly set up of course. That takes some work to get the fenders close and then to add a mud flap so it hangs down low enough to do a good job. Next I use chaps and a rain cape. The cape keeps the rain of you, and lets you get plenty of air underneath. The spats keep the muck off your calves.
Once set up, its no big deal to ride in the rain. I've done it lots and I'm sure I'll do it again.

So should you. Don't let rain scare you off. I think its fun. It makes you feel tough, you feel special, capable of anything, able to persevere against the odds. Cars tend to leave you alone since they are in awe.

For shoes, I use good old Converse All-Stars or Chuck Taylors. The canvas gets wet, but dries fast too. And you look cool wearing them instead of like a goof ball in click-ity clack shoes. This of course requires normal shoes so it means normal pedals. Add toe clips and straps if desired.

Or not.

Saw this on Bike Satan's blog and loved it. Take it where it counts you SUV owners! 

Movin' On Up!

I'm proud of myself.

Okay it really isn't a big achievement, but still, I feel I have a right to be proud. I cycle commuted to work three times this week. First time was Tuesday when I met the crew, Jon, Tom, Curt, and Tim at Al's Breakfast in Dinkytown. We meet there about once a month for breakfast at 6 AM when they open. For those that haven't experienced the loveliness that is Al's there are only 14 stools, sort of like a diner. If there isn't room, you stand behind someone and wait sort of staring vulture like over their shoulder while they eat. They have these blueberry-walnut whole wheat pancakes that are big and fluffy and well, two is plenty for most. That is a short stack is two cakes. You can get real hot maple syrup too. And all the coffee you can drink. Delicious.

We meet there, talk bikes, bike porn, bike assembly problems, bike customers, bike news, and so forth. Its fun for a bike geek like me. Tiny drag to this is to ride there I get up at the unholy hour of 4 to be on time. Heck, I was early this time! Yikes. I'll never live it down.

Wednesday I had to do some parent taxi duties for Thing 3 (he's not a thing, I just don't share names over the web; Thing 1 is the eldest, Thing 3 is the youngest.) After we got our act done, and I dropped him off at school I went to work in the car. Discovered I had a flat tire when I got out. So that was the loud noise? At lunch I swapped the spare on. After work I tried to get the tire fixed. Nope, no can do pal. It was ruined as the hole was in the sidewall. Rats. I ordered another and it will be here sometime next week. So, I hate driving with that dopey small spare on, so I'm pretending to be car free. This means I had to ride to work Thursday and Friday.

Thursday wasn't bad. Cool, windy on the return trip, but overall okay. I was tired, but I do like how the fixed gear QB forces me to work the entire trip.

Friday was another story. Welcome to Yooper summer. Raw, cold, windy and wet. It was near 40 in the morning and stayed there all day. It rained almost all day too. Yow. SO both directions it was full rain/cool gear. Wool jersey, thin woolly under, wool tights, wool knee warmers (I'm old, I need warm knees), wool gloves, Carradice rain cape, and Carradice spats. The spats cover the front of your leg and the cape keeps the falling water off of you. Under you can get ventilation.

Worked great. I have to say I had a hard time motivating to ride in the morning. I had to talk myself into it, as I could have taken the bus. Just didn't seem right. The ride in was okay, but I seemed slow. Really slow. My normal ride took about 40 minutes to do 10 miles, and it was easily over 45. The return was worse with the headwind at about 15 MPH.

It took awhile to figure out what was up. It wasn't all me being out of shape. I'd lost a nut on my rear fender. It was rubbing on the rear tire constantly. I had no way to repair and no close hardware or other type of shop to get something to fix it. So I just rode it. Painfully slow. And no way to gear down. So it was an energy zapping struggle. All the time worried that I was going to get a flat from the rub.

The ride home took an hour. Man was I tired. I ordered a pizza, and got into the shower. By the time I was out of the shower the pizza dude arrived in a few minutes. Great timing. I was famished, but I held off eating too much. I felt like eating all durn night. I mean just hunger pangs the entire night.

So, today I fix the QB, finish a friends bike, and enjoy movies with Thing 3 who showed up with Sparky the Wunderbeagle. I was thrilled to have them come over unexpectedly.

This Week in Geek Cycling

I rode this past Friday to work and back. That's it for about the last two weeks. It started about two weeks ago when I agreed to aerate the lawn for the town home association. I knew I shouldn't. I have bad (weak?) wrists. I've had carpel tunnel problems for years on and off.

So I did the aeration thing and paid for it. For four nights I'd wake up with my hands on fire from numbness. Even when I wore splints meant to prevent it. I was using ibruprophen like candy. It took a week for it to get mildly better. Last week I spent four days being a taxi driver for my youngest son. I also had the birthday party of good touring pal Jon to attend. So Friday was my only open day and I did ride.

I also have finally repaired my Carradice rain cape. I got a tool wrap from Rivendell and cut two sections from one. I then used iron on patch adhesive to bond them to the cape where the wrist loops attach. I had already tore one. I then used strong cotton thread to sew the around the parameter of the patch. This took four nights. I then used Carradice wax to seal the blazes out of the repair. It shall be interesting to see how it holds up.

Friday my hands seemed okay. Not great, but I'm trying to ice them and stuff to improve them. I'm hoping to ride all I can this week other things considered.

Saw this morning that the latest Tom Cruise movie didn't hold up to expectations monitarily. I'm very cool with that. Geeze the man is a whack job and a half. Chicks half his age that can't make any noise while delivering a child? Look I'm a guy and can't possibly know what it feels like, but I've been there for three births and I think a woman should get to say anything she likes including, "This is all your fault Mother F**ker." For the record, my ex delivered children like a champ. She worked hard at being healthy, preparing herself mentally and physically and went through labor like it was something done by millions of other women across the world. Yes, its special to those intimately involved, but it is also routine too. Yet, silent, she was not. She didn't screech like a monkey, but she made noise like any normal humans working at something hard.

Hey, would you look at that. The MN Twins actually beat the Tigers twice. The Tigers are a pretty good team and Twins don't seem to be. Their pitching and hitting seems to be something absent without leave. I'm surprised they won those two games. I'd like them to be more contenders. Only time will tell, but I don't see it as a World Series type of year.

What I Think Of Our President

This is what I think of our President and his administration. 

Here once more to break up the bike action is Sparky The WunderBeagle. He resides with my kids and my ex as he's a very social dog. I have him over only when I plan to stay home and not stress him out by putting him in the kennel all the time. He has his peculiarities, but I love the boy to death. He's about nine years old in this photo, taken about the same time as the QuickBeam build. 

This is the finished bike as I've been riding it. I like the Moustache bars a lot and the tape once shellaced is okay. Not perfectly happy. I've since upgraded the saddle to a honey B17 Champion from Hiawatha so the B17 can go back to my tandem. Yes, I added a dirt drop stem to the M-bars. And if you look carefully there is a ToPeak frame pump under the top tube. I love my QuckBeam! 

This is midway through the wrapping. You can see in the background that the right side of the dashboard is complete and this is a photo of the left side, with only the white electrical tape (instead of blue) over the padding only. This allowed me to compress the padding in place so it stayed evenly on the top of the bar. I liked how this came out. 

This was my first attempt at running the bar padding under the bar tape directly. Look closely and you see that as I went along it seemed almost impossible to keep it from sliding in the direction of the bar tape. The truth was it was compressing in one direction and not only looked funny, it felt funny. I was disgusted at this point and quizzed others for ideas. Note: The grey tape has made an appearance rather than the medium blue. 

Second fender photo that didn't get there the first time. Now back to our regular scheduled assembly. 

Fender photo that didn't get onto the blog the first time. 

A shot of the first attempt at the ultra thick handle bar padding and the sweet gum Crane Creek break levers. I used blue electrical tape on the white and yellow padding still thinking I'd go with the blue handlebar tape. You can just see the Berthoud leather mudflap on my mudguard. Oh, and the Hiawatha watter bottles in the cages. Thanks boys! Patronize them too please!! 

There should show three photos in one entry here. All are to show the nearly final installation of the fenders. I fiddled a lot with them and am not quite satisfied. They came with button allen wrench scews on the stays for one thing. Since I have to remove them to get the rear wheel out for gear changes, I want something a little more robust in terms of regular removal. I think their idea was to reduce applying too much torque and crushing the snot out of the plastic stay holders. I think that makes good sense. I'll just have to be careful. 

This shots shows some more of my cotton handlebar tape work with the ends trimmed with Hemp twine and then shellacked. In this case it is more medium blue tape with clear shellac. I was disappointed at this point as how dark it became. I had intended to use it on my handlebars, but changed direction after this point. You can also see the rear fender poorly installed at this point. 

Here is the inside of the Hoss to give an idea of how huge it is. Later I added leather thong (coated in Proofide of course) to help close the inside when needed. This shot was to show the piece of cardboard I shellacked. Yes, I cut it from the original box and managed to get the entire word "Quick" from the QuickBeam box. Oh the silly things I find fun and entertaining? 

Here is a shot with the original saddle (borrowed from my tandem) and the big ole Hoss saddlebag. this is a later step as you might be able to see that the saddle post has blue shellacked cotton bar tape on it to cover its blackness. No, I don't ride with the saddle at this ridiculous angle. Adjustment came later. Under the saddle bag is the Bagman Expedition saddle support direct from my pals at Wallingford. Please patronize them.