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Phantom’s Feaste 2007, The Bordello of Blood
Posted On Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 By David Veatch
Ok, for all my friends who are getting tired of so much mindless cycling drivel, I’ll tell you a bit about our Sunday evening at the
On Walking Steep Paths and Near Injury Experiences
Posted On Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 By David Veatch
After the ride to Siouxsan, Dennis and I made plans and preparations for the next day. We weren’t sure exactly what ride we’d take, but some friends of his were running the show and had assured him that they’d take my (lack of) experience and fitness into consideration. So, that night we worked on the bike I was to ride. It was in good shape, but the brakes needed some work. He had disc brakes installed, but the lines needed bleeding and the brakes some general tuning. It took a few times, but we did the best we could with what we had. After an hour, maybe two, we settled down for the evening and went to bed. The next day, we woke early again and, with some coffee and breakfast in us, hit the road. Our first stop was a bike shop to rent a bike for Dennis. I was to ride his, and he would ride the rental. It was a while ago, but I have a smattering of memories of the shop. It was a smaller one, with, oh, maybe a few dozen bikes all told. Nice ones, if I remember right, but my idea of “nice” more »
Short Ride, but Good ‘n Hilly
Posted On Monday, October 29th, 2007 By David Veatch
I got out yesterday, around noon, to get some riding in. Because I didn’t make it out much last week, I extended my route out a bit. Instead of making a little loop at the far end of the route, I made a big loop. This really didn’t add as much mileage as I thought it would, but it did add three damn fine hills to conquer. I tell you what, the hills on Prairie Star Parkway, Woodland Drive, that little neighborhood detour up to Pine St., 83rd St, Johnson Dr and the Renner/I35 flyover, and finally on southbound Renner around K10 are fantastic. Nothing like what I’ll be facing next July, but they’ll do for now. I used to hate hills. I used to hate wind. I approached every ride as trying to get to the destination, and anything that prevented me from doing so was *bad*. Anymore, I approach every ride as a workout. The more hills and wind, the better. Anything that makes me work harder to cover the same distance is a good thing, be that external like winds or hills, or self-imposed, like moving down to a smaller cassette ring or up to a larger more »
Art Cycles
Posted On Friday, October 26th, 2007 By David Veatch
There’s a post over at Fat Cyclist today about “alluring” bicycles. His call for links resulted in (as of right now) some fantastic referrals. As of right now, this is what I’ve picked out… Vanilla Bicycles Guru Bikes Badger Cycles Richard Sachs Cycles Jonny Cycles Pereira Cycles Black Sheep Bikes Jones Bikes Columbine Cycle Works Independent Fabrication Vendetta Cycles Calfee Design Just spreading the love.
You’re OK! You’re OK!
Posted On Thursday, October 25th, 2007 By David Veatch
“You’re OK! You’re OK!”, said my brother as I tumbled down the side of a mountain in Oregon. I’d gone up to Portland, Oregon in September of ’05 for a long weekend. The idea was to hang out the first night, hit a good entry level mountain biking trail the next day, and a longer more advanced trail the day after that, and finally head home the following. It worked out… mostly like that.
RIP: Brett Jarolimek and Tracey Sparling
Posted On Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 By David Veatch
Check out the thread here… I put my $0.02 in as well. My brother commutes to work by bicycle in Portland, and so I have a vested interest in the police out there doing their job and doing it right. I’d like to meet Steven Resnick. My favorite bit from him is Yes there are bad drivers out there too, but the bicyclist are one more distraction that takes people’s minds off the road and not being able to pay attention to what’s actually going on in front of them. (quoted without permission) Nevermind the fact that cyclists are PART of what’s going on in front of drivers. All the other distractions are, I guess, OK, b/c driving is a right and can be taken for granted. But nooo…. Not cyclists. That’s just too much. B/c he is driving a car, it’s apparent that this irresponsible miscreant believes that he doesn’t have to give the level of attention he demands of cyclists. Crossing the street get off the bike and cross in a crosswalk, ride single file, if you see a stop sign, stop don’t run right through it and also get off your bike and cross the street with more »
Why Do I Ride?
Posted On Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 By David Veatch
Some things stick with you. Good or bad, they become part of you, and no matter how much you might care one way or the other, they aren’t going anywhere. When I’m riding, I remember things. I remember the cars that have shown me respect, and I remember the cars that haven’t. I remember well organized rides, and rides that lacked something. I remember the grueling hills, the long flats, the wind and rain, and moments that make me wish for bike mounted guided missiles, and moments that have filled me with such joy and life that I had to laugh out loud. Two things I should have written about a long time ago finally find their way to my site…
Halloween Approacheth
Posted On Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 By David Veatch
I have only one hard and fast rule for Halloween (actually, the entire month of October). It’s not my rule actually. It’s Stu’s rule that I’ve adopted as my own. If a movie is to be watched during the month of October, it damn well better be a horror/thriller movie. Scary is best, but oddly discomforting will work as well. Laughable is fine as well, so long as it’s lampooning the horror genre. So far this month, I’ve seen…
Give me your best shot. I can take it.
Posted On Monday, October 22nd, 2007 By David Veatch
I went to bed last night to thunder and lightening. Never a bad thing. However, I woke up to steady and solid rain. Not always a good thing. Especially on those days that I’d really like to get out and ride. Checking the weather, it looks like it’ll be raining on and off all day. While there’s still a chance it’ll clear up, I’m not holding my breath. I might have to figure out how to use the Edge on the rollers. Stationary training doesn’t really take advantage of the GPS portion of it, but it does have a standalone mode for those moments one doesn’t have satellite connectivity, so perhaps it won’t be a total washout.
Commute Route
Posted On Saturday, October 20th, 2007 By David Veatch
Kansas is not flat. At least not the route I’ll be taking when I start cycling to work. It’s very pretty though. There are only a couple places, and not very large places at that, where the traffic is likely to be heavy. Aside from that, it’s through quiet middle and upper-middle class rolling neighborhoods. I’ll have to watch for the inattentive driver pulling out of driveways on their way to work, and possibly the rogue basketball bouncing into the street from kids playing against their driveway hoops. There is one roundabout that tends to confuse things a bit, especially given the prevalent attitude that I am, by virtue of being on a bicycle, not a legitimate vehicle. Other than that, it shouldn’t be too bad, and I’m looking very much forward to it! On my Torelli, it took me just over 30 minutes to get here. Traffic really didn’t have an impact on me one way or the other, so I expect about the same with the Kona (I’ve decided to equip it with hybrid tires and better wheels, rather than deal with the downtube shifters of my Giant). But with the Kona’s triple cranks, it’ll be a bit more »