Congrats to Erik and Libby for an awesome half-marathon today! And they raised quite a bit of money for a good cause, too!
SPDCA:
Riding my bike up Government Hill's blind-corner sidewalk, came across one of the regular walkers, an Asian man with a red windbreaker and white gloves.
"Morning smile!" he said as I rode past.
I gave him a nod, a "Morning," and a smile, and kept up the hill.
SPDCA:
So I'd convinced myself that I'd forgotten to lube up the rear axle the last time I was putting my rear tire back together. I was convinced of this because the bike was getting harder and harder to pedal, and it seemed like I was slowing even going down hill. This confirmed by the fact that half of my "usual" gears were slipping when I put too much force on them, and that people seemed to have little trouble passing me on the bike trails.
At 11:30 last night, the neighbor kids decided to throw a ball onto my roof, and get it stuck in the gutter, and then continue to throw other things at it hoping they could get the ball out of the gutter. After blearily walking outside and asking what the hell they were doing, I walked back in and failed to get back to sleep. I randomly decided to look at my bike.
I turned it upside down, and tested spinning the wheels. Sure enough, the front wheel spun freely and for much longer than the back wheel. Listening closely, I could hear something lightly scraping against the wheel as it spun. Came to find that the brakes had migrated a bit, and the slight wobble of the wheel made the brake pad touch the rim. Adjusted the springs slightly, and the brake pads stopped touching.
The situation was improved. However, the rear wheel still spun more slowly than the front. After staring at it for a bit, I looked more closely at the axle. For quick release bike wheels, there's a small handle that says "Open" on one side and "Close" on another. As the bike was, in what I thought was the closed position, the outside of the level read "Open."
After puzzling a bit, and then remembering a video I'd seen on the subject, I remembered them saying "Don't over-tighten the quick release clamp." I also seemed to recall my dad saying about the same thing. I screwed the quick release handle back on, and made sure I hadn't tightened it too much such that I could close the lever and still see "Closed" on the side of the lever.
I spun the wheels again, and the back wheel spun faster and longer than the front wheel.
The bike to work this morning was pretty damn nice. I felt like a destroyer of worlds.
TL;DR; Through my ignorance and misrepair, I secretly activated "challenge mode" on my bike.
Biking to work, some guy just asked "Really?" as he passed me. I apologized, and let him pass.
Whatever he was referring to is going to bug me for the rest of the day.
Today is the start of bike to work month. Give it a try even if its only a couple of days a week or even a couple of days a month.
I personally am using this month to drop my warm fatty winter coat.
/mild rant/rave/blabbering/ So last night I really had a need to go outside and enjoy the outsidiness. I went the other day to Westchester Frolf course but it is currently down for another week. Also they seem to really be jacking it up by modifying where the baskets are at and adding 2 baskets per hole. Those darn kids!
Anyways, I haven't tried any of the other ones, has anyone else checked them out yet this year? I asked Josh if he wanted to toss some disc around, but he had "family time." So then I checked out my bike but the tires are flat. I ended up going for a walk for about 25 minutes. It was a decent evening so that was good and felt better afterwords. I think I'm going to miss the ultimate games and might just join the real league. Anybody interested in checking it out with me?
/end blabbering/
Weighed my backpack this morning. Between my laptop, assorted cords and widgets, bike tools, locks, spare tubes, work clothes, a book, and my lunch, my backpack weighs in at just over 20lbs.
I need to see if they can let me leave my laptop at work. Not like I don't have machines at home.
Then again, sure makes it a challenge to get up Government Hill.
Anchorage Bike trail report (east side): Thurs. April 21, 1500 hrs. Russian jack is a mess, avoid at almost all costs. Lots of snow, but very soft on the verge of slush, pretty much unbikeable in places. After walking my bike through most of russian jack, rode west on 20th street, through a couple neighborhoods and then picked up the Chester Creek trail just west of lake otis. Chester creek was clear and dry until just east of goose lake where you pick up small patches of snow and some puddles, but still very good conditions for April. Rode CC to university lake and back to Bonifice and 20th along the road. Lots of blowing grit once you get out of the protection of the trees, but nothing a pair of glasses can't handle. Nice first ride of the season - it would have been nice if the sun came out though...total ride time ~45 minutes, 6.5 miles.
Closest call on my bike in several years happened last night. Guy makes a right turn without signaling pretty much as I'm riding just off his tail and on the right side. Even with hitting my brakes as hard as I can I crash into the car and the bottom of my drop bars get hooked in his right rear fender. I'm scared as shit as I get drug around a corner and into a parking lot.
Amazingly without falling or crashing I unhook. The guy had no idea what had just happened by the look on his face.
I was a little shaken and decided I didn't want to confront the guy so I left. It was awkward.
I'm getting restless.
I've watched 18 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation since I acquired it in the middle of last month. And I've made it a point to only watch ST:TNG when I'm on my exercise bike (which slows down my consumption considerably, but at least lets me feel halfway productive).
I'm restless because it's damn near biking season again. And while the exercise bike is nice, it's not the real thing. My bike is currently in the shop, being worked on by diligent and trained professionals (who told me that through overuse I'd effectively ruined the chain, cassette, and cables that are generally pretty critical to bike function). Once it's in better shape, I will have to venture out, even though 40F and muddy mess is less than ideal. But I'm looking forward to it.
I understand biking isn't everyone's thing. But it's a kind of exercise that I can do for hours and not get bored, angry, or frustrated. And granted, I've now been biking regularly for at least 3 years now, and whatever pains I suffered from a bicycle seat have long since faded from memory. Despite this, repeatedly, whenever I end up biking with other "cyclists," I end up being completely outperformed by people with even the slightest hint of athletic ability. But I still go.
I mention biking here at all because I wish more people would do it. You don't need a fancy bike, or fancy shorts. You just need a cheap bike and a helmet, items which often lay covered in dust in people's garages or crawl spaces. Anchorage has tons of trails, most of which connect conveniently to larger neighborhoods, and most thoroughfares have reasonable trails alongside them. You don't have to worry about looking stupid, or like you're new: everybody looks stupid and awkward on a bike. You also don't have to spend tons of time biking. It takes about half an hour to ride across town, and you generally don't have to deal with traffic. It's just a matter of deciding that you're going to bike to a place, rather than paying $4 a gallon in gas.
Also, just to be clear, I'm not asking for somebody to bike with (though I'm happy to go if anybody wants). You're free of any guilt for going biking. You're also free to manage your own time: if you have jobs, sports, whatever else that make biking an impossibility, so be it. What I'm saying is: if you've ever had plans to:
...Here's your reminder. Summer is coming.
Bought a new bike on Sunday. It's a Redline conquest sport, a cyclocross style bike.
I'm going to make some mods in the next couple of days like adding fenders and maybe a rack on the back and possibly some new handle bars (these seem way too narrow). This should be a pretty commuter friendly bike. I might also throw my current commuting skinny tires on there as well as disc brakes (for which the bike is already compatible).
Today was my first real ride on it and my second longish ride in a long time, a distance of almost 11 miles in just over 35 minutes or so. The ride is pretty flat with 1 big long uphill at the end. It feels way different than my other bike but its not bad, I just have to get used to it.
Cost of a guided Denali expedition is $6300 depending on guide service (estimated climbing time up to 28 days, average of 18 days actually on the mountain)...
Anyone up for a little 2012 awesome action???
Fur Rondezvous will premiere "Yukigassen" (probably spelled it wrong), a team snowball fight/capture the flag. 7 players a side. Who's with me?
Any good tips for shin splints treatment and prevention? I warm up and stretch, but dancing and running are hard. Should I wrap them when they get painful? Ice or heat? I'm looking especially at you, CapitolZebra.
I'll be biking in my first century ride tomorrow, with another 70 miles on Sunday. Kinda wishing I had an actual road bike for this and not just a mountain bike with skinny tires.
I and several other members of the IDKFA community are Coed D league soccer champions for the summer season. I would like to thank everyone who came out and supported us, especially in the sideways rain and wind.
Today I ran my first ever 10k race - well my version of running is more like a slow jog for most people. I'd only ever run 6 consecutive miles two other times in my life, and today I was able to finish 6.2 miles in just under 1 hour at a 9:38 pace! I'm SO excited and impressed with the slow but steady progress I've been making at running. My goal was to do a half marathon this year, which most probably won't be happening, but I'm well on my way to doing a half marathon next year...
