Icy the old year sliding away

December 24, 2018

I trust that you have been enjoying some festivities and/or powerful emotion over the holiday season.  I have been eating a lot, and also trying to stay moderately active to help with the digestion and metabolizing.  Before I really got started with the celebratory activities; however, I had a chance to patch a tyre tube that was punctured by a small, tack-like item.  

Although I’m not really sure where it came from, the hole it made was small and easy to patch.  It allowed me a chance to pause, turn on some holiday tunes and take a selfie with my festive attire.  

Dunce cap and/or Santa hat?  You decide!

It also brought my attention to the fact that my beloved Maxxis Overdrive Elite tyres are getting pretty worn.  

Since it is the time of year when I like to have plenty of traction whilst bicycling, I will be looking around for a new set of tyres.  First I will try my local bike shop since I’ve got some bike vouchers that are burning a wallet-sized hole in my desk drawer.  

Recently my friend Rich invited me out to a group bike ride to view some Christmas lights.  

So last night we met a gregarious group of people at Bike Masters to spin around some of the local neighborhoods.  On the way out there we encountered some slippery icy spots on the north side of Fort Street where the shade prevailed.  Once we started our group ride, Mike even rode around on this cool toy for awhile –

 

https://onewheel.com

We eventually made it to Tanner’s for a few beers and fried pickles.  

December 28, 2018

After taking a few days off work to sit around and eat and drink a lot, last night I decided it was high time that I set out for a bicycle trip.  It felt nice to ride, but unfortunately I did slide and wipeout on an icy spot – lost gription on my front tyre.  The chain tensioner must have hit and bent the derailleur hanger in a bit because the chain would no longer fit on all the appropriate cog/teeth/chain ring.  So I sheepishly guided my steed back to a hill, coasted, and walked some more until I was home.  Then I got the Bastard up on my work stand, assessed the situation, then carefully grabbed the chain tensioner and jerked it back out as hard as I could, which seemed to bend the derailleur hanger back into general alignment.  Good enough for the chain to spin things around as well as it usually does anyway.   

I also stopped by the Bike Rack where I did not find a tyre that I felt would be suitable for me and the Bastard.  So I might check over at the Bike Way, since I’ve got a gift card, otherwise I’ll probably just order some new Maxxises.  They've been good tyres, lasted 4 years (probably about 15,065 kilometres [9,360 miles] or so).  Although I didn't remember that by myself, I just checked my bicycle journal and found that I purchased those tyres back in December 2014!

As we approach the beginning of a new year, I’ve decided that I would like to be more aerobically fit. Although I still consider myself moderately active, my range of activity is almost entirely bicycling.  Whilst sitting at Tanner’s eating fried pickles and drinking beer, Chris suggested doing some burpees to increase cardiovascular fitness.  I burped loudly, and then inquired “What is a burpee?”  Chris accurately explained the process and said that she felt much fitter after doing the 30-burpees-a-day-for-30 days-challenge.  “Great idea!”  I said. Then I actually tried doing a few the other day.  After 10 I was wiped out.  Not only that, my legs are still sore, and I don’t think it’s from my bike ride yesterday. I think I might start out with a 10-burpees-a-day-for-10 days-challenge.  I’ll let you know how that works out.  

In the meantime I hope you enjoy the remainder of 2018 and have a happy new year! Now if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna bust out a few burpees before I eat the rest of my Christmas cookies.

Moderately yours,

BSO

Recovering the soul of cajones

December 10, 2018

Hi guys.  What is going on?  I know, I know.

I, on the other hand, have been taking it easy.  One aspect of my ease taking included watching a movie called America Recycled on Amazon Prime.  As I understood it, this movie is basically about two brothers who set out to find the true soul of America.  At first it seemed a bit grandiose, but these two bicycling brothers put together what I feel is a real masterpiece.  These intrepid young men, I’m guessing they’re in their mid-20s, left their comfortable North Carolina home and spent two years bicycling from one commune-like group of people to the next.  They made real connections with the people they met and shot a ton of striking video footage.  The people they meet are outside the mainstream, people you will be fascinated with. At first I thought the narration seemed pretentious, but after I realized the scope of what these guys were up to I realized it was truly heartfelt and profound.  Here is a sample from near the end of the film:

Life peacefully transitions to death, offering its seed to the wind

America, the land of our birth, the promise that a new life awaits those who brave the unknown

Are we resigned to watch it hollowed out into an empty cliché?

For two years this road has been our teacher, patiently told us its story

It seemed to me reminiscent of the beat writers, but more earnest and relevant.  Maybe that’s just because the beat generation grew up and settled down and now it’s time for the next generation to seize the helm and see if they can keep this starship from becoming a wreck.  We just need a good Captain Picard, or similar, to be able to make some well-considered, rational decisions.

December 14, 2018

Yesterday I enjoyed a fund-raising and socializing event put together by the kind people at the Community Bike Project down on 33^rdand California.  After some clumsy parallel parking, I clumsily entered the California Bar and parked myself on a barstool for the next several hours of enjoyable bike-related camaraderie.  I met Adam, Jacob, James, and Sam and we chatted about the following:

• the Gifford Park neighborhood demographics and the number of kids participating in the Earn your Bike program.  It seems that some gentrification has brought in more single people and/or younger couples without kids.  Some regular houses were demolished and a few expensive townhome-type dwellings have replaced them.  But there is also a new elementary school that may attract more families with kids back to the area.

• Jacob talked about some of the bicycling trips that are put together by Ponderosa Cyclery.  One is from Peru down to Indian Cave State Park.
• Sam explained how bikes brought her and her husband together.  Specifically his appreciation for her trustworthy Huffy.

December 17, 2018

Today there was an article in the newspaper about commuting in Omaha.  1% walk, 1% public transit, and 0.2% bike.  Well, I am happy to that 10 days after my vasectomy I rejoined the 0.2%.  Feeling pretty good, just a little itchy due to the testicular stubble.  So that's enough of that subject.

My friend Rich has mentioned a wide range of bicycling expeditions that we could partake in. And my cousin invited me to go on RAGBRAI.  All this stuff sounds great, but I’m not quite ready to commit to anything specific. Thank you for thinking of me; however, and hopefully we’ll get together soon for something awesome! 

See you then!

BSO 

Slick and severed

December 7, 2018

Today, on Pearl Harbor Rememberance Day, I am sitting and remembering my recent vasectomy.  It was a few hours back, and it seems like I could have used some extra anesthesia from the get go.  They may have been a bit concerned about my deep breathing exercises I employed to handle the pain and calm myself, because they kept giving me more anesthesia and also applied some oxygen.  Now I am enjoying some opioids, an ice pack, and a sunny spot in the house.  

If Cliff Burton were alive, I’m pretty sure that he would eventually have come out with a new version of (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth, called (Anesthesia) - Vasectomy.  

Maybe I can work on that myself whilst convalescing.  Mrs. Snot is sympathetic to my plight, so I might be able to talk her into getting me a bass amp for an early Christmas gift.  

Yesterday I had a nice bicycle ride, even though I slipped and fell down in an icy parking lot on my way back home.   I figured I needed to get out and enjoy some activity before I was out of commission for approximately one week.  The ride to my work place at the exotic pet store was smooth and uneventful.  In fact it was smoother than usual.  It felt as if my rolling resistance had been significantly reduced, possibly by a thin layer of frost on the road, so that I was partially gliding as I swooped down the neighborhood hill on my way to the multi-use trail.  I had scoped out the multi-use trail for a few days and had noted that it was cleared by some kindly individual, likely in the employ of the city.  Thank you, good people, thank you very much.  Please contact me and inform me if you or someone you know is responsible for these beautifully cleared multi-use paths, I would like to buy you a drink and talk multi-use trails with you for a while.  I did not, however, scope out my return route very well.  Whilst homeward bound, I decided to ride straight down a snowy hill, using my brakes to attain a comfortably slow speed.  Unfortunately, the brakes seem to have compressed the damp snow onto the rims of my wheels.  

As you are unlikely to be able to discern from this photo, that was a slick rim!

Fortunately I noticed this whilst in a parking lot away from traffic. My stopping power had been reduced to a range somewhere between slim and nil.  The cold and moisture which had caused a reduction in rolling resistance on my way to work had now become my enemy by reducing my braking friction!  I tried to remove some of the glazed ice with my thumbnail and Snot rag, which seemed to help somewhat.  Next, I elected to ride along a sidewalk that had been partially to completely covered by slush/snow/ice windrows/splash.  When the sidewalk became difficult to negotiate, I reluctantly veered into an icy parking lot where the plethora of smooth ice soon predictably removed my precarious traction, leaving me to tip and fall onto the ice.  The rest of the ride home was slow and uneventful.    From this ride I developed the following maxims which I hope to be able to recall as appropriate:

·     Whilst riding down snowy hills, use the snow and/or your angle down the hill as brakes instead of your actual brakes.  This may prevent compression of snow/slush into ice and onto your rims/rotors.       

·     If you don’t have your route completely scoped out, it is preferential to choose a motor road (which are generally cleared off pretty well) instead of a sidewalk or parking lot (which are frequently neglected).

Of course, by the time I’ve convalesced, conditions may be quite different, but I think the maxims will be relevant again at some point.

I hope your December is going well so far.  I would love to hear about it sometime soon.  Preferably over a nice glass of brandy.  Here is a song by the Decemberists that I think is probably your favorite, and for some reason seems personally relevant to me today.

Bless you, your friends, family, and pets.

Bonjour,

BSOut (of commission [for now])