Tuesday, February 26, 2008

book reading


so last year I was completely illiterate. I only managed to finish one book the entire year -- "The Rules of Attraction" by Brett Easton Ellis. A fine nasty little book. This year I started off with an easy travel yarn -- "Road Fever" by Tim Cahill. A fast read, laugh-out-loud funny at parts, especially the bit about them leaving their truck bed stinking of rotten milkshakes and split diesel fuel to dissuade military checkpoints from wasting time going through their supplies. Next book on the list -- "Against the Day", considerably a tougher read..

Monday, February 25, 2008

weekend rides - waco

Saturday, I did a short solo Mt. Bonnel loop for about 18 miles, saving my energy for Sunday at Cameron Park, Waco. First time to Waco, the park is a diamond in the rough, to say the least. Waco is a total shithole from what I saw. But Cameron Park is worth the drive. Nice tight singletrack, very hilly. I believe the main loop is about 8 miles and we did 2 loops for about 15-16 miles. It would be very difficult to race there -- very few places to pass. Could be pretty interesting. I rode with Bob,Chris, and Kathy, all of whom are in far better shape than me. I had a hard time with it on my singlespeed, I was running 34x19, going to 32-19 or 34-20 might be better. There are very few flat spots, so I dont have to worry about spinning out much I would spin out on the downhills anyways,so going to a very low gearing is probably a very wise idea. 32-20?

Friday, February 22, 2008

avant


nice nice nice nice nice..

Thursday, February 21, 2008

new tires


IMG_0800
Originally uploaded by tylernol
I finally received the cross tires initially spec'd for my bike and put them on before heading out to big bend. I have done two commutes on them, the Vanilla looks pretty bad-ass with them on it, rolling resistance it not too bad and their quality is evident. Plus the brown sidewall matches quite well!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

mas o menos 2008


IMG_0557
Originally uploaded by dmennega
I did not plan to ride singlespeed, but there I was. It was a fun time, lots of beer and steak and cheescake, but the race was frustrating -- I have not been riding singlespeed much in the past year, which showed this year, I was lagging in the uphill sections compared to 2 years ago. I did feel more fit, because I have become 80% roadie. Getting rear-ended and knocked over by a moron with no bike-handling skills did not help, nor did getting a flat with 5 miles to go.
I always get flats out here -- I am going to have to convert to tubeless.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

so singlespeed it is

the piston was totally siezed up, flushing the fluid does not help, and I chipped the piston when I tried getting some leverage on it. So off to Hope it goes. I think I am going to switch to Magura, I have had several stuck piston issues, not of them as bad as this one though. As a result, I polished up my singlespeed, put on the Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.1 tires I got in the mail the other day. I still have to repair or replace the left time pedal, the bearing on it seems to have loosened, I'll move one over from my groover. And I want to dial in the seatpost height, I think it sank, no blowing out my hamstring this year, thank you very much.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

my obama impression

"we will change the country ! We will change things! yes we can! yes we can! we will change the world! There is a moment in the the life of every generation where we decide. This is our moment. We will win. yes we can. yes we can! Together we will change the world"


like it? It's dead on I think.

WHERE'S THE BEEF?

mas o menos 2008


oops
Originally uploaded by tylernol
t-minus 28 hours. Big predicament right now is that my groover rear caliper piston is seized up, hopefully I can fix it, otherwise I am riding singlespeed. Just thinking about that hill/mountain on a SS makes me poop my pants.

Monday, February 11, 2008

weekend rides

just managed one this weekend. I rode the Austin Tri-cyclist ride on Saturday morning..still friggin' cold in the morning. I kept up for the first 6 miles or so, and then got dropped as they sped up on the hills while I started wheezing from some allergies or a slight cold I had. I was pretty tired after that. I then proceeded to walk Gizmo around town lake at a good pace, making me more tired. Sunday I did yoga in the morning, where I felt really sore -- I think I never rehydrated Saturday -- cold dry days always throw me off.I was planning to ride my groover on a short ride in the afternoon after I tuned it up but I ended up having to replace the drive side bearing, which was quite crunchy, and the rear piston was seized, sending me on a chase around town for some Valvoline synlube brake fluid , which was sold out everywhere I searched. So no bike ride. Terilingua is this week, I am not in shape for it, but I'll have a good time. There are snow reports for this weekend out there. That would be a blast.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

recent rides

oh yeah, this weekend I did manage rides both days. Saturday I had to work all day, so I only managed a 17 miles Mt. Bonnel loop on my Vanilla before it got dark, I tried to keep the pace up as much as possible. Bike feels better every time I ride it.
Saturday, I went off to Reimers, my geared 29r was in pieces, I had taken apart the cranks and was bleeding the rear brake,so I brought my singlespeed. A singlespeed at Reimers is suicidal, and I had to bail after about 20 miles of the expert loop and part of the beginner loop, my legs had nothing left. Left me totally famished for the superbowl food and beer later in the day.

caffeine

random song day on itunes. I had not heard this one in a while. From back when metal was good..

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Sunday, February 03, 2008

best superbowl ever?

two of my favorite teams in the superbowl ..first and last time that will probably happen. Felt weird rooting for the Giants after years of rooting for the underdog Patriots, but the Patriots are not exactly underdogs anymore, and I will always be first and foremost a New Yorker. Great game, extremely close, brilliant defense played by both teams, but it just seems like the Giants hungered it more and they deserved the win. GIANTS!

Saturday, February 02, 2008

i feel the need..

I feel the need... the need for singlespeed.