Cold loch

February 22, 2015

Hello again!  What is new?  Oh my goodness!  Well, I’ll be!  

My old-timey u-lock holder broke the other day.  I believe that the coldness made the plastic brittle.  

Or it might just have worn out.  Although the Bastard has had a u-lock attached to his frame for most of his existence, I may just switch to a cable lock if I can’t find a u-lock holder that will fit.  I’ll be sure to let you know how that all turns out!  Oh the suspense!

Here are a few of my fellow bicyclers I’ve seen around the past week or two.  

I’ve also experienced increased gregariousness with fellow bicyclers and pedestrians as we greet one another.  I took a photo of the new green machine, after which the owner offered to sell it.

The countdown towards a bicycle-related movie here in Omaha is on!  That’s right, we can all meet up down at Aksarben theater on Wednesday to watch Chasing Legends.  It is sure to be a blast!  I am not sure what this movie is about, but it I am picturing a combination of Chasing Amy and I am Legend, which should be a lot like Zombieland, but with more bicycling.  

Hey did you know that bicycling may encourage your already creative spirit!?  It’s true.  Here’s a video that was made about a song that was inspired by a bicycle ride one of the band members experienced.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkbi9F7GnkI

This video is my favorite video that was not made by my favorite artist, who is, of course, Badly Drawn Boy.  The only thing that would make this video better is if they were wearing druid robes for at least most of the video.  I would also like to have a druid’s robe modified for practical bicycling wear.  I will get back to you on this!  More suspense!  Hopefully less chafing!

Andrew Dunn - http://www.andrewdunnphoto.com/

Glasnasty!

February 10, 2015

I do not presume to be all that knowledgeable about bicycling.  But I do ride my bicycle more than some.  Occasionally someone asks me about the possibility of riding their own bicycle to their place of laboriousness.  To which I attempt to hide my inner scoff and reply straight-facedly:  “Oh, yeah?”

I then relay to them my various habits/methods to make bicycle commuting feel fun, safe, and happy la-la.  I try to be brief so as not to bore:

1. 1.     What route would you take?
2. 2.     I suggest riding the route on a non-working/non-busy time of day before riding to work to allow some time to familiarize and identify some potentially difficult intersections/areas.

I followed that 2^nd bit of advice last weekend because of the snow and ice that had taken up residence on many of the areas between me and my work at the lathe refurbishing co-op.  It was sloppy and there was some snow and icy hummocks to ride through/over.  It reminded me of those carefree days I used to spend bicycling up and down the unpaved paths of dirt.  From hither to thither to yon and back and forth again!  Ah.   

We have undergone something of a warming here in the Midwest as of late.  It is similar to the warmer relationship that the Soviets (or Sovs in Judge Dreddian parlance) and we USians experienced during the heady years of the 80s.  This is the opposite of what many Ukranians are undergoing, which is more of a horrific look into the future by the great Ukranian visionary Nostradamus.  A glasnostrodamus will hopefully one day bring the sweet Babooshkaish side of Putin out to dance gaily with a harmonious eastern Europe and northern Asia.  During this glasnost, I found the following items that appear to have been until recently frozen in snow like a wooly mammoth on the steppes of Siberia. 

I also received an e-mail advertising this bicycle-related film that is being shown here in Omaha on February 25.  There is also an exciting cajun-style bicycle swamp-eat shedyoualled for March 8, 2015.  

So let’s all enjoy the warm glow of the screen and/or the vodka fueling our love of Russian women, if not their ambitious leader and unmarked military vehicles.

Peddle your PM-pedal-power towards the Peace Train Putin!  

www.dailymail.co.uk

Wool Socks!

January 14, 2015

This morning I was riding my bicycle down the hill when my feelings became cold.  Mostly the feelings in my facial sensory receptors.  I had forgotten my safety glasses!  I went back and got them.  My feelings were still cold!  That’s because it was cold!  

Now it is nice and warm, and I am drinking a seasonal beer as is my wont. 

I’ve been enamored with my new bicycle taillight that I received as a gift from my friend Nick.  You are a saint, Nick!  My backside is now as well illuminated as Rudolph’s feral eyes.  They gleam in the dark like angry dolphins stranded in an Antarctic calving glacier.  The taillight 

provides some lines on the pavement as a kind of mobile bike lane in addition to a normally flashing taillight. 

Speaking of the poles, it is the time of year when my thoughts turn to my favorite book – Endurance by Alfred Lansing.  As you may know, it is the inspiring story of a gang of bearded explorers who become stranded in an ice floe down Antarctica way.  During the first 20 pages or so they are aboard a vessel named the Endurance.  The Endurance was designed to cut through ice with a strong, sharp, narrow hull.  Other vessels, such as the Fram, 

were designed with wide flat hulls to pop up and stay above ice floes as a means to maintain it’s freewheeling ways.  These vessels are similar to the two views on winter bicycling tyres:

1.     Heavy bike with well-inflated tyres with studs or at least an aggressive tread will maintain contact with the pavement below the snow or the texture of the ice to keep you stable and moving in the right direction.

2.     Bike with wide tyres rises above the snow/ice yet maintains a large surface area of contact with snow/ice/pavement and allows you to stay afloat above the treacherous conditions that lie beneath like a lurking leopard seal.

This analogy is also similar to the 2 questions I imagine people asking me when they learn of my cold bicycling feelings:

1.     Wha?!  Why?

2.     What kind of booties were you wearing?

The answers to these questions are “Whhoooowwwiiiee!” and “None!”  I still recall the mild-mannered Englishman who sold me my last pair of Shimano shoes.  In response to my concern about my feet during winter riding he stated, “You just need a good pair of wool socks.  A good, thick pair of wools socks.” 

I think Shackleton and the boys would agree! 

January 17, 2015

This is quite a heat wave that we are currently experiencing! 

Here (at ModeShift Omaha) is a summary of a new bill (LB39) that is intended to promote bicyclists’ safety and options.  The following sentence stood out to me as a scary possibility under current Nebraska law:  

Under current laws, a person on a bike that is riding lawfully in a marked crosswalk could be ticketed for failure to yield if hit by a person in a car.  This is especially problematic for multi-use trails that have at grade street crossings.

The MSO site has a lot of things you can do to support the bill - contacting senators and attending the hearing among them.  Say, that reminds me.   I should probably be using my time more productively! I'll be back!  Ride safely!

Old lights, new sights!

January 5, 2015

Hello homebots.  How is your data processing in this new year? 

If you enjoy bicycling in the robust mid-section of North America we call US, you may have noticed that technology is not merely for those piloting 4-wheeled crafts.  That is right, you can incorporate the joys of electronic device ownership into your bicycling habits!  

http://www.bikehype.net/tagged/bikeporn/page/4

I have enjoyed many technology-based products manufactured primarily for bicyclers and/or pedestrians.  One item that I enjoyed for a couple years was Planet Bike’s Superflash taillight.  It is bright and noticeable.  Unfortunately it is now dead.  For a while I suspected it was just dead batteries due to cold weather.  This suspicion of mine led me to investigate a bit, which resulted in my discovery of the Icebike website and this ancillary review of the NiteRider 6V.  Apparently there are some pretty sweet taillights that you can power with your Li-ion Niterider battery!  This seemed like an alluring option for a while.  But after actually considering the situation for several days, I realized that I already have several taillights in my collection and that I often used them in cold weather with generally acceptable results – sure they burn batteries a little quicker, but if I was able to remember to carry a few batteries in my inside jacket pocket I was fine.  It's like my buddy Sting always used to say, "When the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around."  

My dead Superflash also reminded me of why I generally prefer to have 2 lights up front and 2 down behind. 

And speaking of rock gods from the vicinity of Wales, I was informed quite a while back that the lead songster of U2, one Bono McBonnie, was out bicycling the other day when he was struck by another bicycler!  It is not funny.  He may not be able to play guitar anymore.  Luckily Edge will be able to carry the band onwards with his funky Irish riffs of gloriousness.    

Did you know that bicycling has the ability to improve your health?  Also that kids like to ride bicycles?  Yes!  Here is an article about both of these!  The article touts the benefits of providing inexpensive bicycles to a community through a local initiative.  There is one of these here in Omaha!  Here is the website.  They've got bicycles for sale!  When I was a kid there were places like this too.  They were called things like "Dan's" or "Tom's" and they were advertised in the local newspaper.  That is where my dad bought me a sweet blue Huffy that I painted black.  

Yes, things wear out just like 2014.  Now we must bravely look onwards towards this new land of 2015.  Yes, this new year has safely overtaken me despite my lack of a Superflash taillight.  So carry on my wayward son.  There'll be peace when you are done.  Blessed be the souls of the youths and say hello to those two new tooths!?  

http://www.powderbluephoto.com/2011/07/22/hoguefife-family/

Yule Love this Tyre!

December 24, 2014

Dear Reader,

What has been happening lately in this world of ours?  Hmmmm.  I see.  I did not know that.  I am blissfully unaware of most events that are outside my immediate vicinity, you see.  This outlook is common during this busy time of year here in the USness of Mexico’s piñata con tilda.  Why just the other day I was bicycling carefreely down the multi-use trail and across an intersection when I noted several vehicles bustling along several seconds after the traffic signal had clearly indicated that the time for restful sitting still had befallen!  "What mayhem is this!?" cried I to my faithful steed, who did not reply but instead stood soggily and stoicly blinking multudinous Christmassy colours of glad tidings.  Yep.  People be crazy.

Well, if you are reading this, it is my understanding that you have probably survived the Christmas melee (avec accent!) and are likely to succeed in reaching the coveted New Year of 2015 and possibly even the much sought after Year of the Female Wood Sheep which will begin on February 19, 4, 3,  2015 early February.   Congratulations! 

As I struggled to convey to you in my most recent post, there is a way to receive virtual credit for your bicycling expeditions here in the town of Om.  Aha!  Yes, you can simply access this website and begin logging your miles for the Omaha Winter Bicycle Challenge and making yourself feel that feeling!  Yep.  That’s the one! 

Hey have you heard that there are now portly bicycles with front forks so that you can mushily ride over and through brambles, brush, belligerent badgers, and broken branches with aplomb and a buzz and without the usual possibility of flying in a predictably unpredictable direction upon encountering these former obstacles?   Here it is, and soon it is my understanding that it will perform appropriately at temperatures below freezing, which is important for those drivers of plentifully proportioned Pugzies. 

At this point you might well be asking yourself, why is this man still typing?  And that is a good question.  Tough, but fair.  Hey, look at these tyres!

One is old, one is new.  One is also the Maxxis Overdrive Elite!  The other is the humble Maxxis Overdrive.  Yes, I have finally always embraced the USian strategy of elitism.  My tyre must be superior to those other lowly tyres which might allow riders to become dehorsed at awkward times and places and possibly flattened by a plump bicycle, bicyclist, Clydesdale, and/or Hummer. 

Here is my review of the original Maxxis Overdrive.  I will further bombast the blogging sphere with my notions as to why the Elite is so much better than you or your flimsy, unreliable tyres upon which you have lavished so much trust, affection, and unrelenting Turtle Wax.  My first impressions are the following:  

1. I nearly had a fit trying to mount this tyre upon my needy rim.  It was a Rhyno Lite rim, which is a full-figured rim.  I cursed.  I muttered.  I pinched a hole into my tube.  I bitched to Mrs. Snot who acted concerned.  I read this pearl-for-swine of wisdom:  The crucial point he makes on the video is that the tire bead doesn't stretch and is the limiting factor in getting the tire on. Thus you need to push the bead into the well of the rim on the sides opposite to the last bit you're trying to get on.  I also set the tyre inside for a day and tried to calm down.  
2. It seems to be quite grippy upon cold and wet pavement, which is what I was hoping for.
3. It has an especially thick center part of the tread, which hopefully means good puncture resistance and long wear.  Especially since it was such a bitch to get on the rim that I left off my usual Mr. Tuffy tyre liners.

Hey!  Shouldn’t there be a bicycle movie at a local theater!?  Let me look into that.  Nope.  Not that I have been able to discover.  Possibly a bicycle event of some other sort?  Nope.  C'mon!

Here is a blog about "transportation bicycling" here in Omaha, that I have not until recently witnessed.  

Well, now it is Christmas and I wish you a very happy and fulfilling one.  Let's bicycle!

BS of O - yeah!

http://hedgy.com/photovbv/Kool-Aid-Meme.html