I know a few things about fixing a bike, and slowly learning more and more on my own time.
One thing everyone needs to learn is how to handle a flat. It doesn't matter if you're on a bike, or in a car, or on a damned ATV, you need to learn how to handle a flat.
I got a flat today coming home, right as I was getting home. I was kind of surprised since I haven't had a flat since switching to my schwalbe marathons (except for the first day when I had slightly pinched a tube and blew the tire off the wheel), but luckily it was right as I was pulling into my driveway I noticed my pressure was way way below the 85psi I normally run.
I also had to fix a roomies flat when I got home, since a buddy busted her valve core last night by accident.
I like fixing flats, that is all, if you want to know how to fix a flat, leave a comment, maybe I'll tell you how. . . Although if you don't know how I doubt you're reading either.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Night owl ride, and why I shouldn't stay up till 6 am
So I had originally rode down to the night owl ride just to root on a few friends, give them some courage to stay up till the sun rose. This isn't how it ended up going down.
Shortly while sitting the sidelines talking to some traffic control cops/military that were hanging about one of my buddies rode by on his beat up single speed telling me where the "stop for free beer" and "stop for pay beer and omlettes" spots were on the route. What he didn't tell me was there was a rule for "official riders" that required a helmet. While I'm all for helmet safety, I normally don't wear one.
Eventually the main person I came to root on passed by, and she was looking a little spent 3 hours in, so I decided to tag along beside her, give her someone to talk to. We did a few laps, hit the free beer spot and caught up with some old friends, had a few cheap beers, and watched for a few minutes. Eventually another buddy came by and yelled an insult as we do, and since while I'm slow, so is he, so i chased him down for a circle around the route. The climb was a much pain with a front fork I couldn't lock out. Oh the bounce bounce. I hadn't felt like that since riding in some friends trucks with hydraulics back when I was 15.
We kept doing rounds, eventually decided to hit the for pay beer spot since they also had free massages, free water/gatorade and junk like that. I was thirsty as could be since I hadn't brought a water bottle so I figured not a bad idea.
We didn't stay there too long, and the wonderful gal I had been riding with said she was pooped and ready to go. I figured it wasn't even midnight yet, but the watch read out 2 am. "What the hell?" I said, so we rolled the mile or so back to my house, but not before I got screamed at quite loudly by an event official for not wearing a helmet, or shirt(I tend to bike shirtless in all my flabby glory, so sue me).
We got back to the house, went to the store to pick up wine and beer, had a drink or two. I wish I could say that's how the night ended, but it's not. That's also not what you're here to read about, 4 wheeled transportation is for another blog.
Shortly while sitting the sidelines talking to some traffic control cops/military that were hanging about one of my buddies rode by on his beat up single speed telling me where the "stop for free beer" and "stop for pay beer and omlettes" spots were on the route. What he didn't tell me was there was a rule for "official riders" that required a helmet. While I'm all for helmet safety, I normally don't wear one.
Eventually the main person I came to root on passed by, and she was looking a little spent 3 hours in, so I decided to tag along beside her, give her someone to talk to. We did a few laps, hit the free beer spot and caught up with some old friends, had a few cheap beers, and watched for a few minutes. Eventually another buddy came by and yelled an insult as we do, and since while I'm slow, so is he, so i chased him down for a circle around the route. The climb was a much pain with a front fork I couldn't lock out. Oh the bounce bounce. I hadn't felt like that since riding in some friends trucks with hydraulics back when I was 15.
We kept doing rounds, eventually decided to hit the for pay beer spot since they also had free massages, free water/gatorade and junk like that. I was thirsty as could be since I hadn't brought a water bottle so I figured not a bad idea.
We didn't stay there too long, and the wonderful gal I had been riding with said she was pooped and ready to go. I figured it wasn't even midnight yet, but the watch read out 2 am. "What the hell?" I said, so we rolled the mile or so back to my house, but not before I got screamed at quite loudly by an event official for not wearing a helmet, or shirt(I tend to bike shirtless in all my flabby glory, so sue me).
We got back to the house, went to the store to pick up wine and beer, had a drink or two. I wish I could say that's how the night ended, but it's not. That's also not what you're here to read about, 4 wheeled transportation is for another blog.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
oh in others news of me breaking my bikes
The front fork lockout boned last night as well, so now climbing is slow and bouncy. . . Might see if I can get it fixed later this week.
Word
Word
riding all night
I went and hung at the night owl bike ride for livestrong last night, lots of fun write a full post after I get a bit of sleep. . .
Otherwise I'm starting to wonder if globe is ever going to contact people about their experience project even to say "nope you're boned"
Otherwise I'm starting to wonder if globe is ever going to contact people about their experience project even to say "nope you're boned"
Friday, September 4, 2009
call me a lazy bastard, come on, cause it's true
Works been hell, so I haven't been riding in the mornings (that and the newb I train hasn't been up for riding therefor not waking me up on time to bike). . .
Anywho. Cyclecenter replaced the cable on the crosstrail, got the front derailleur readjusted, and ridded me of that awful click I was dealing with. Makes me happy, and late afternoon rides are now much more quiet.
I must also say something here, even though I sincerely doubt anyone is actually reading this, and if they do, I don't know if they bike at all, nor do I care. I'm really just ramblin on.
On chain lube, screw expensive frou frou boutique lubes. Go down to your local auto parts store and grab a quart of bar and chain lube. The shizzle is awesome, will run you at worst 5 bucks, and last you at least 5-6 chain lifespans to run out of a quart of it. This lube is made for chainsaws, and I'll be honest, if I'm ever spinning my pedals as fast as a chainsaw can spin, I've got other issues ahead of me.
Just do it if you bike, go do it now, throw your 25 dollar 3oz bottle of fancy smancy lube out the window, and get the good shit.
Word
Anywho. Cyclecenter replaced the cable on the crosstrail, got the front derailleur readjusted, and ridded me of that awful click I was dealing with. Makes me happy, and late afternoon rides are now much more quiet.
I must also say something here, even though I sincerely doubt anyone is actually reading this, and if they do, I don't know if they bike at all, nor do I care. I'm really just ramblin on.
On chain lube, screw expensive frou frou boutique lubes. Go down to your local auto parts store and grab a quart of bar and chain lube. The shizzle is awesome, will run you at worst 5 bucks, and last you at least 5-6 chain lifespans to run out of a quart of it. This lube is made for chainsaws, and I'll be honest, if I'm ever spinning my pedals as fast as a chainsaw can spin, I've got other issues ahead of me.
Just do it if you bike, go do it now, throw your 25 dollar 3oz bottle of fancy smancy lube out the window, and get the good shit.
Word
Thursday, August 27, 2009
On derailluers and other such bullshit
So on the ride home tonight my bike started riding a funk. What ever could be wrong? I limped, scraped, and burnt myself and the bike home, only to find out my front derailleur cable had went slack.
Oh bloody hell what to do!
SHELDON BROWN TO THE RESCUE!
Lest to say, I know *how* to fix it, but I don't exactly have people around me that can assist in the actual crap I have to do to do such things(limited by things that will seem petty, and well one sadly being too short, even though knowing what I was getting at doing). The cable stop on it had actually come loose, releasing the cage to it's own devices. I got it tightened down enough to ride weak ass gears long enough to get it to the shop and yip at them, and ripped off the cable end in the process, c'est la vie or something.
I'll hobble it to the bike shop tomorrow, express my frustration with various problems I've had with this bike (improper original adjustment preventing riding in either the granny gear, or the hardest gear properly) and the fact I've already got a nice little knock in the bottom bracket with the bike being less than a year old and very little in the pouring rain riding going on.
The bike itself is a great bike, I might not like it being pure aluminum, but it's a pretty decent frame, and rides pretty good, but shit like this can just ruin your day ya know.
Oh well, it will get fixed, and I will ride again, even if I have to buy a repair/service stand, and all the other goodies I want to actually do this kind of work.
Now I'll continue wondering if globe is actually gonna get up ons this project they started, cause for reals, even though I want the bike primarily for my wife, this would be an excellent time to have an extra spare hanging around, especially with training a newbie who is riding my beater to beat all beaters (ok it's not that bad, but it's pretty bad, but it rides, and has a decent set of tires on it).
Ok, I'm out, need a beer or two or three to soothe my nerves.
Oh bloody hell what to do!
SHELDON BROWN TO THE RESCUE!
Lest to say, I know *how* to fix it, but I don't exactly have people around me that can assist in the actual crap I have to do to do such things(limited by things that will seem petty, and well one sadly being too short, even though knowing what I was getting at doing). The cable stop on it had actually come loose, releasing the cage to it's own devices. I got it tightened down enough to ride weak ass gears long enough to get it to the shop and yip at them, and ripped off the cable end in the process, c'est la vie or something.
I'll hobble it to the bike shop tomorrow, express my frustration with various problems I've had with this bike (improper original adjustment preventing riding in either the granny gear, or the hardest gear properly) and the fact I've already got a nice little knock in the bottom bracket with the bike being less than a year old and very little in the pouring rain riding going on.
The bike itself is a great bike, I might not like it being pure aluminum, but it's a pretty decent frame, and rides pretty good, but shit like this can just ruin your day ya know.
Oh well, it will get fixed, and I will ride again, even if I have to buy a repair/service stand, and all the other goodies I want to actually do this kind of work.
Now I'll continue wondering if globe is actually gonna get up ons this project they started, cause for reals, even though I want the bike primarily for my wife, this would be an excellent time to have an extra spare hanging around, especially with training a newbie who is riding my beater to beat all beaters (ok it's not that bad, but it's pretty bad, but it rides, and has a decent set of tires on it).
Ok, I'm out, need a beer or two or three to soothe my nerves.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
In liue of other junk to do
Columbia has just decided it randomly wants to scrape and retar roads. I wish I had know they were doing it to rosewood before last night.
Schep described a ride down on of these like his own personal "paris roubaix" (spelling? actual race? cause I am tired and honestly don't give a flyin. . ) and I got to experience this exact same thing last night.
Now me, I'm no great cyclist. I use one for transportation a good bit, and a little dicking around on the weekends when I'm stressed. I was stressed last night (was reminded it was the anniversary of my brothers death) and instead of doing what I'd normally do on a night such as that, I decided it would be much better to rock the bike to a party I was invited to. You know, throw combichrist in the ear, and abuse the living hell out of my legs. Rosewood has one hell of a climb starting it off, I am no great climber, and greatly underestimated that hill, along with it being recently scraped. Oh god I wish I would've just looked for a better route, hindsight is sometimes a bitch.
So, I finally hit Rosewood, and the first bit doesn't look to bad, roads been scraped, that sucks, no way to effeciently ride the sidewalk (it's just as cracked, and the drops to the road have increased to about a 2-3" drop), but the initial start didn't look bad. It looked long yes, but I was certain I wouldn't have to drop it to granny and be a pansy. I come around the small curve that starts the climb and notice how enormous this hill looks when not in a car. I had to drop to granny, but I'm not ashamed because I didn't stop pedaling. It took a good 2-3 minutes to get to the top of it, but hell yeah, I did it. I doubt I'll be wanting to do it again, until they repave that road though.
Ok. . . seriously I'm just rambling now, I'm gonna cut this short because my head is stating that my blood sugar is low and requires some food.
Schep described a ride down on of these like his own personal "paris roubaix" (spelling? actual race? cause I am tired and honestly don't give a flyin. . ) and I got to experience this exact same thing last night.
Now me, I'm no great cyclist. I use one for transportation a good bit, and a little dicking around on the weekends when I'm stressed. I was stressed last night (was reminded it was the anniversary of my brothers death) and instead of doing what I'd normally do on a night such as that, I decided it would be much better to rock the bike to a party I was invited to. You know, throw combichrist in the ear, and abuse the living hell out of my legs. Rosewood has one hell of a climb starting it off, I am no great climber, and greatly underestimated that hill, along with it being recently scraped. Oh god I wish I would've just looked for a better route, hindsight is sometimes a bitch.
So, I finally hit Rosewood, and the first bit doesn't look to bad, roads been scraped, that sucks, no way to effeciently ride the sidewalk (it's just as cracked, and the drops to the road have increased to about a 2-3" drop), but the initial start didn't look bad. It looked long yes, but I was certain I wouldn't have to drop it to granny and be a pansy. I come around the small curve that starts the climb and notice how enormous this hill looks when not in a car. I had to drop to granny, but I'm not ashamed because I didn't stop pedaling. It took a good 2-3 minutes to get to the top of it, but hell yeah, I did it. I doubt I'll be wanting to do it again, until they repave that road though.
Ok. . . seriously I'm just rambling now, I'm gonna cut this short because my head is stating that my blood sugar is low and requires some food.
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