Been status quo the last few days. I can tell fall is coming and it wont be long before i'm on the cross bike for the commute.
As much as we all LOVE summer as a cyclist, fall has its own feel.
It feels like off season, it feels like cross season, it feels like time for Hilly, and all that jazz.
I like having to pull on the arm warmers in the AM only to have a super comfy PM ride home.
The sun is much lower in the sky, and if i had to guess, id say that by mid September, i will need the light for the first 20 minutes and last 20 minutes of the ride in and out.
I usually switch to the cross bike around this time, again it FEELS like fall, i run pretty beefy commuter tires in anticipation of spending more time in the gutter as the sun gets lower and more in the drivers eyes. I do enjoy the feel of fall when its checkout time at work, and i can roll home with the sun having just set, the last glimmer of light and the Nite Riders in full glow. Something kinda fun about rolling the rig in the dark.
Hope all of you are enjoying the fleeting days of summer, getting your MTB ready for Chequamegon, and blowing the caked on dirt off the cros rig for some fall fun!
Ciao
Old Skool
Downers Grove - 1990
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
That didnt take long
it was what - 12 hrs ago i was posting about how its been kinda bland and boring and appologizing that i didn t have much to say??
well after almost getting hit on the ride in this AM - i do..this post is gonna go Brad Davis style..
Now the city of Chicago is a dangerous place to be on a bike, its high alert at ALL times, helmet snugged down tight and Spidey senses working on HI..
but this incident happened in the suburbs.. not that the burbs are any safer, but this incident - WTF?
I have discovered that Ford has a new money saving tactic to help their profits, they do not equip their cars sold in lower class neighborhoods with turn signals.
I am heading eastbound on washington in River Forest - a pretty quiet street at this time of the morning. Some chick is heading westbound and about to hang a left to go south right in front of me. now i know she sees me cause we make eye contact and she pauses, but then the fucking 'Can starts to go again, and not in a big hurry to get out of my way, but just going along, so i yell something like HEY, YO YO, she looks at me and kinda flips her arm up like she was gonna flip me off or somethin and she pauses again; so now that she almost hit me, i am forced to put a foot down cause she wont clear the freakin intersection!
Now fortunately The Enmark is the Prince of Personal Protection ( yeah i though that one up after the fact) and has showed me how handy and how easy it is to use a collapsing baton.
I always have mine strapped to my bag, so this 'Can was lucky enough to have me plant it square in her back quarterpanel, and i think that finally got her attention properly, and at that point she proceeded to take off.
Now i was a bit nervous about the situation because there were 2 or 3 other cars around and i didn't want to seem like a vigilante, but the guy in the car that was behind this lady yells out - 'You OK? crazy lady! good for you for yelling at her' I think he missed the baton part.
Other than that, todays ride in was good. Nice and almost cool in the AM's, but beautiful on the ride home.
well after almost getting hit on the ride in this AM - i do..this post is gonna go Brad Davis style..
Now the city of Chicago is a dangerous place to be on a bike, its high alert at ALL times, helmet snugged down tight and Spidey senses working on HI..
but this incident happened in the suburbs.. not that the burbs are any safer, but this incident - WTF?
I have discovered that Ford has a new money saving tactic to help their profits, they do not equip their cars sold in lower class neighborhoods with turn signals.
I am heading eastbound on washington in River Forest - a pretty quiet street at this time of the morning. Some chick is heading westbound and about to hang a left to go south right in front of me. now i know she sees me cause we make eye contact and she pauses, but then the fucking 'Can starts to go again, and not in a big hurry to get out of my way, but just going along, so i yell something like HEY, YO YO, she looks at me and kinda flips her arm up like she was gonna flip me off or somethin and she pauses again; so now that she almost hit me, i am forced to put a foot down cause she wont clear the freakin intersection!
Now fortunately The Enmark is the Prince of Personal Protection ( yeah i though that one up after the fact) and has showed me how handy and how easy it is to use a collapsing baton.
I always have mine strapped to my bag, so this 'Can was lucky enough to have me plant it square in her back quarterpanel, and i think that finally got her attention properly, and at that point she proceeded to take off.
Now i was a bit nervous about the situation because there were 2 or 3 other cars around and i didn't want to seem like a vigilante, but the guy in the car that was behind this lady yells out - 'You OK? crazy lady! good for you for yelling at her' I think he missed the baton part.
Other than that, todays ride in was good. Nice and almost cool in the AM's, but beautiful on the ride home.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
yes.. im still alive
Summer has been lackluster for me..
i have had a great vacation, work is going well, family is good..
but the bike.. well the bike has taken a back seat again.
Its that time of year where all bike racers either forget how to ride their bike, and they pack up the season, or that they toughen up and have a great last month of the season.
Seeing that i have not been much of a bike racer, it was easy for me`to fold up like a house of cards!
After taking several weeks of sporadic rides at best, i am happy to report i am back in the groove, and at least getting the commute to work done on a regular basis. I need to get ready for the last few events of the fall.. Chequamegon is just under a month away, and my loaner MTB has been repo'ed of its wheels, so im having a tough time getting any dirt rides in. Hilly Hundred is just under 2 months away, and despite it being the annual slow race of the year, it still need a small level of fitness to get trough all the hills.
All is well, nothing else to report really. Im sure now that i have good thinking time on the way in and out of work, i will have something good again soon
Peace out
i have had a great vacation, work is going well, family is good..
but the bike.. well the bike has taken a back seat again.
Its that time of year where all bike racers either forget how to ride their bike, and they pack up the season, or that they toughen up and have a great last month of the season.
Seeing that i have not been much of a bike racer, it was easy for me`to fold up like a house of cards!
After taking several weeks of sporadic rides at best, i am happy to report i am back in the groove, and at least getting the commute to work done on a regular basis. I need to get ready for the last few events of the fall.. Chequamegon is just under a month away, and my loaner MTB has been repo'ed of its wheels, so im having a tough time getting any dirt rides in. Hilly Hundred is just under 2 months away, and despite it being the annual slow race of the year, it still need a small level of fitness to get trough all the hills.
All is well, nothing else to report really. Im sure now that i have good thinking time on the way in and out of work, i will have something good again soon
Peace out
Friday, August 8, 2008
Spiking the Ball on Retards
About 6 weeks ago, i was writing about how i almost felt like a bike racer again, all was well, i think i may have had a glimmer of fitness even. Now - well now i don't think i would even make the cut in the tryouts for 'fat guys with remote controls' Olympics. like how i worked in the Olympic with some form of electronic device there? wauka wauka?)
So everyone that was asking where i have been, i thank you for the concern - but i have been busy with birthday parties, vacations, and post vacation laziness.
Back in the swing again now though, a few good days of commuting, and of course that brings some stories.
Anyone that rides their bike to work, or has done so in the past knows that although the ride is enjoyable, it is usually done solo, and usually pretty monotonous. Anytime you have the chance to ride with someone else for even a small portion of your commute, its a good day. As a whole, cyclists generally waive, now, lift a hand, etc to acknowledge another biker on the road.
I have mentioned in the past that the city brings all sorts of genres of cyclist out on the roads, and each has a hierarchy of waive-ability to another rider. Today, i am less then 5 minutes from my house, out in the suburbs, where commuters are a much less common site. Some dude on a mountain / city hybrid comes rollin past me so of course i take note and say MORNIN!, loud enough that if he was on the other side of the road, he would have heard me. NO RESPONSE. wtf?
so i take note of the rider, bright yellow jacket, gortex / rian pants of some nature, and realize its a goober. Man its like 67 degrees and even myself as the most overdressed man in the peloton is wearing a jersey and shorts. Now the funny part, so he is riding down the middle to left hand side of the road, not just to pass me, but riding there.. kinda strange. The first time he looked over his shoulder at me i thought nothing of it, but the second time he had to look bit more and it was then i realized i could Spike the Ball on a Retard. The dude swerved and almost bashed the curb, he was proud to roll past a fellow biker on the ride in.
The Enmark has long been a great resource for wit, cynicism and generally fun sayings. Some of my Favorites include 'You can't fix Stoooopid', Douche nozzle and one of my recent favorites, that when you beat up on some guys that are lacking in ability - to "dont spike the ball when you beat up on retards", or for short Dont spike the ball on retards.
Back to the commuting story - so after yellow jacket mas has about taken himself out in an effort to get past me, i decide im going to crush his dreams, shift one gear, lift the rpms's to about 100 and roll past him. The overpass for 290 was all i needed to bust out a whopping 250 watts, and ditch rain pants man.
Gotta love spiking the ball on retards - sometimes!
So everyone that was asking where i have been, i thank you for the concern - but i have been busy with birthday parties, vacations, and post vacation laziness.
Back in the swing again now though, a few good days of commuting, and of course that brings some stories.
Anyone that rides their bike to work, or has done so in the past knows that although the ride is enjoyable, it is usually done solo, and usually pretty monotonous. Anytime you have the chance to ride with someone else for even a small portion of your commute, its a good day. As a whole, cyclists generally waive, now, lift a hand, etc to acknowledge another biker on the road.
I have mentioned in the past that the city brings all sorts of genres of cyclist out on the roads, and each has a hierarchy of waive-ability to another rider. Today, i am less then 5 minutes from my house, out in the suburbs, where commuters are a much less common site. Some dude on a mountain / city hybrid comes rollin past me so of course i take note and say MORNIN!, loud enough that if he was on the other side of the road, he would have heard me. NO RESPONSE. wtf?
so i take note of the rider, bright yellow jacket, gortex / rian pants of some nature, and realize its a goober. Man its like 67 degrees and even myself as the most overdressed man in the peloton is wearing a jersey and shorts. Now the funny part, so he is riding down the middle to left hand side of the road, not just to pass me, but riding there.. kinda strange. The first time he looked over his shoulder at me i thought nothing of it, but the second time he had to look bit more and it was then i realized i could Spike the Ball on a Retard. The dude swerved and almost bashed the curb, he was proud to roll past a fellow biker on the ride in.
The Enmark has long been a great resource for wit, cynicism and generally fun sayings. Some of my Favorites include 'You can't fix Stoooopid', Douche nozzle and one of my recent favorites, that when you beat up on some guys that are lacking in ability - to "dont spike the ball when you beat up on retards", or for short Dont spike the ball on retards.
Back to the commuting story - so after yellow jacket mas has about taken himself out in an effort to get past me, i decide im going to crush his dreams, shift one gear, lift the rpms's to about 100 and roll past him. The overpass for 290 was all i needed to bust out a whopping 250 watts, and ditch rain pants man.
Gotta love spiking the ball on retards - sometimes!
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