Rachel has a party

Best laid plans

8 miles out and my chain blows. This is the first time that's happened to me in my 35 years of riding. I guess the new narrow chains are more fragile. Here we are, waiting for the sag wagon.

Social Networking for Cyclists

A new site, Out For A Ride says:

We know that while you’d love to spend your time on a bicycle 24/7 this just isn’t always possible. Our main goal for Out For a Ride is to provide you with an internet based community where you can connect with other bicyclists while you aren’t on the road or trail.

Here is a list of some of the features that we provide on this site:

• Bikes — Add, manage and review bikes. Keep track of how many miles you’ve ridden on each bike.
• Gear — Add, manage and review gear.
• Routes — Map your bicycle routes, share your routes with others and view route elevation graphs.
• Rides — Track your bicycle rides and which route and bicycle you used.
• Stats — View detailed stats about your rides, bicycles and routes.

http://outforaride.com

Finally got on my bike!

So many things conspired to keep me off my Mercian this spring – weather, travel, parental duties and good ol’ sloth. Today I finally threw a leg over the bike I worked so hard on over the winter and put down the first 20 miles of the season.

It wasn’t as easy to leave as it ought to have been. I pumped the tires, then I switched saddles. I had it in mind to see if my old Brooks Pro was any more comfortable than the Specialized I got last season. After I changed the saddle, the front tube blew. Apparently the rim strip had shifted, exposing some of the drill holes for the recessed spokes, and that pinched the tube. So I put in a new tube, and off I went.

Lovely day on Long Island today, in the mid-60’s. If I’d had more time I would have ridden to Locust Valley but I cut it short and swung back east in East Norwich. I averaged almost 15.5 mph, not bad for an middle-aged guy’s first ride.

Overall the bike absolutely feels lighter and more responsive, and these are among the best wheels I’ve ever built. They feel nimble and seem to track dead-on true. No handed riding is straight and easy. I’m glad I went to a stem with a shorter reach, my physiology has changed and I was more comfortable. The saddle was no more comfortable, but no less either. So I’ll probably go back to the Specialized because the Brooks wins style points but it’s heavy as a brick. The components performed great, it’s striking how silent the bike is now. I suspect I have a sticky chain link because I got a few random skips at the outer ends of the cassette. During the build I cheated at one point and removed some links the old-fashioned way instead of using the special breakaway rivets. I’ll look into it after I switch saddles again.

Voice activated posting….

Cremation, walk in service?

Turbo Jesus

T-shirt seen at Raceway Park at a car show.

Pimping my company for Sapphire

Visit my company, Logical Design Solutions at booth #872, and say hi. Tell ’em I sent you and be sure to see our three presentations:

• The Enterprise Portal Success Story at Colgate-Palmolive
  Session 1800, May 5, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• Best Practices for User Experience Design for SAP NetWeaver® Portal
  May 6, Consumer Industries Theater, 12:15 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
• NetWeaver® Microsoft SharePoint® – Strategic Content Management
  for the Enterprise Portal Session 1808, May 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m

It’s all about Me(me)

Wes tagged me with the “8 Random Things About Me” meme. I’ll come up with ’em but I won’t bother tagging anyone else, woe betide me.

1. I throw out chain letters.
2. I love cooking and don’t use recipes, much.
3. When Nixon resigned I was working as a counselor at a camp for the mentally disabled in upstate New York.
4. I have shrunk at least a full inch over the last 30 years.
5. The longest distance I have bicycled in a single day is 120 miles.
6. It rained on that ride.
7. If I could, I’d probably sleep for 11 to 12 hours every night.
8. As an art student my favorite medium was intaglio.

That’s it folks, the buck stops here.

On the beach at Sanibel