Dave’s Good Stuff

I’ve thought about this before (yeah right, you say), but wouldn’t it be great to have “Bike There” on GoogleMaps?

Sign this petition if you think so.

I can’t imagine it would be easy to implement, but they some bright folk, them Google folk are.

I’ve hardly ridden the Kona since I had the center pull brakes replaced with linear brakes, but the little I have ridden proved that it was worth every penny.

In short:

I opted for Kool Stop Tectonic pads (mainly b/c that’s what they could order in time), and Shimano brake arms. The levers had to be replaced as well. The cables too. I have a nice new cable guide on my top tube to replace the nearly worn through guide that came with the Kona back in ‘93.

The end result is that my forearms are no longer aching by the time I get home from the extreme pressure applied to actually stop the bike from a 5mph slow roll. In fact, I almost endo’d at my first stop sign. That’s how strong those little contraptions are, and how weak my skillz are. Furthermore, I no longer alert everyone around me to my presence with the ear piercingly loud squealing from the rear pads rubbing the rims. Come to think of it, that might actually be a downside. Who needs lights when you have built in sonic weaponry?

They aren’t disc brakes, but given my experience with disc brakes, I’m not complaining. Maybe when the Dr. Dew comes to town, I’ll see how disc brakes work. Until then, these will do nicely.

Taking this week off to recover from sinusitis, I’m planning on getting out on Saturday and riding. It’ll be a shorter route, between 30 and 40 miles, but with the weather shaping up for the 50’s, it’s an opportunity that I can’t afford to miss.

So, Saturday I’m thinking about a ride in Lenexa, anyone care to join me? It’s not that long, but there are several good (if short) climbs. Map is behind the cut…

Read the rest of this entry »

Though I hate driving to work these days, I have to face the fact that riding to work yesterday wasn’t a good idea. I’m still too deep into being sick to stress the immune system the way I did. Had the weather been fine, I would have been also, but between the cold and the stiff headwinds I faced going both ways, I felt as bad last night as I did during the worst of last week. The morning headwind that turns around to give me an evening headwind was funny at one point. Now it’s just tiresome.

So today I drove, though I hate it. I’m hopelessly behind on my mileage goals for the month… being out of town for a week was one thing, but being sick for another entire week, with the aftermath this week is just too much. There is no way I’ll make any decent headway this last week of February. I may just rest up again this week and hit it hard this weekend (weather permitting, of course). I’m confident that once the weather improves, so will my riding frequency. Unfortunately, good health dictates I stay out of the cold and wind for now.

I know I’m not the only one who tires of winter around here. We’re all ready for some persistently decent weather.

This morning, on my first day back to work after being out sick for a week, one of the first things I noticed was a woman on Craig’s List selling her Triple Bypass Registration. It was with high hopes that I sent the reply saying I would *love* to buy it from her. I waited for the reply, afraid that someone had beaten me to the punch. The reply didn’t take long, and she had the glorious news that it was mine for the taking!

My brother and I are riding the TBP together after all!

Sunday, the GF and I painted the ceiling in my basement flat black. We used a 2200psi Wagner airless sprayer, and it worked like a champ - far better than I thought it would, to be honest.

I have very low ceilings down there, and when I bought the house, they were dropped and tiled. That made the very low ceilings that much lower. More than that, they were badly tiled, with nasty tiles, and had some obvious and poorly done patching in a few locations.

A few months back, I tore all that down. It was filthy work worthy of Dirty Jobs. Mice had taken residency above the tiles in years past, and they left all manner of proof of their existence behind. When I was tearing the tiles down, I had everything from little corpses and hundreds of thousands of droppings, to cigarette butts and old light bulbs fall on me. Very unpleasant, I tell you. Once the tiles were finally down and bagged up, I had to tear down the framing for the tiles. That wasn’t as nasty, but it was considerably more difficult. Whatever else might be said of the previous owners, they knew how to put up ceiling tile framing. Even so, the tearing down was easy compared to the cleaning up. All that lumber full of nails had to be discarded, and I didn’t want to hand over a bunch of rusty tetanus to those who would take it away from the curb. It took me hours to clean up after the demolition, but I like to think it was worth it.

That was months ago, like I said. Since then, the ceiling has been bare joists and exposed ductwork. From the outset, my plan has always been to simply paint it all black. I didn’t want to drop the ceiling any lower, but I didn’t want to call attention to the exposed whatnot, either. Motivation being what it is, it’s taken me this long to finally get the painting done. I have to say it wouldn’t have been done yesterday but for the insistence of the GF. She really kept me on task. Partly sick, and party just malaise, my heart just wasn’t in it. Now that it’s done though, I’m extremely pleased!

The flat black ceiling retreats far more than I thought it would. Though it’s as dark as it can be, it doesn’t make the space smaller like I was afraid it would. Instead, it disappears and leaves you with the impression that you have a lot more room than you really do. The huge I-Beam and ductwork that stretches down the middle of the room, effectively dividing the space in two, similarly retreats now that it’s all black. I may hang some fabric between the joists to break it up a little, but honestly, that doesn’t seem nearly as critical now than before we painted. I really do like it a lot.

I still need to paint the register covers, and get some good light fixtures, but once that’s done, the ceiling will be finished! On to the walls, the fireplace, the bar and the bathroom after that!

I’ve missed two full weeks of riding. The first week I was out of town on business. I did get some gym time in, using some old stair climbers, treadmills and stationary bikes, but it just isn’t the same. The second week was a completely sedentary week due to having succumbed to a really nasty bug going around. Sunday night a week ago I was running a 104.5°F fever. While that was an exceptional spike, I was pushing between 101 and 102 from Saturday through Wednesday. Thursday it finally broke, and Friday I was better… still weak and wobbly, but better.

I debated riding in this morning. I’m definitely not 100%, but I’ve been off saddle for so long, I just couldn’t stand the thought of driving in this morning. So I bucked up and got on the bike. Taking it real easy, I made average time, but the time off the bike is obvious. Two weeks off does make a difference… thank the Maker it was nice and warm this morning in the mid 30’s. It should be fantastic this afternoon!

No ride report aside from that this morning… I don’t have any of my data cables on me to upload the activity from the Edge.

The fever of last week was a 24 hour deal.

On the way to the airport Monday night, the GF and I dropped the Kona off to get the brakes replaced with linear pull, rather than center pull brakes. I’m hoping they help me stop better in wet conditions, and don’t squeal so much in dry.

The flight to Chicago Midway wasn’t bad, but the drive to the hotel was long… I love the fact that National rental offers Garmin GPS devices with their cars. That saved me a lot of trouble that night. By the next morning, I was feeling fine. No trace of fever, or illness at all, in fact. I came back to KC Thursday night, and a bit tired from the trip, I worked from home, on Friday.

Saturday, however, what little bug I had on Monday, either came back with full force, or something else came in it’s stead. I was feverish and exhausted all day. Between 101°F and 102°F all day. Sunday (yesterday) was the same story, but last night my fever spiked to 104.5. Too much more of that and I would have taken myself to the emergency room… or tried to. I don’t remember much of last night. It’s all a bit hazy. I know I talked with the GF; she offered to come in from Lawrence, but confident that the fever would break, I told her to stay put. The gamble paid off, and some time around 3, the fever broke. Now, I’m still struggling with sinus issues, but the fever is gone.

I did get the Kona back, and though I can’t wait to try out the new brakes, it might be a few days before I put myself back in the weather. This thing is clearly not a 24 hour thing, and has kicked my butt for days now. Though it means missed miles and training days, I’d like to make sure it’s gone before I stress the immune system again.

By way of keeping track, I’m running a 101 fever today, just in time for heading out to Illinois by plane to help a colleague. I plan on sleeping the afternoon away until I get on the plane. It’s too late to cancel, or I would. I’m hoping that by the time the flight time comes, my fever will be under control, and that this is just a 24 hour or less deal.

Fatty rocks. He has such a good and solid (not like a rock) head on his shoulders. Check out some really fantastic thoughts on being a rider vs. a driver in his post “Both Sides of the Windshield.”

When I started commuting, all of two months ago, I mentally prepared myself for all manner of flak and hooliganism from the barely controlled jackals driving around on Kansas City’s roads. So far, the worst I’ve had are cars passing within the 3′ boundary. They’re just a *little* too close for comfort, but I’ve never been crowded off the road. Furthermore, in every case, I’ve been able to understand, if not excuse, their reasoning. The honking has always been polite (a quick beep vs. a long blaring bray) or well after they already passed (a greeting vs. a warning or a poor excuse for a joke). All in all, I’ve had a fantastic experience, especially when compared to others who report hideous atrocities with alarming regularity.

Happy and safe riding all! Think of my on my hamster wheel all week…