UPDATE: About 150 people came out for the ride, I led it, and some deputized citizens ran sweep and kept things on track. I want you to think about stepping in and making something happen when you see a need.
Unity poster for Alex Pretti courtesy of Angry Catfish and Champagne Rodman(more…)
5: Brifters! My first ever brake lever shifting bike. Maybe my second ever even riding one. I thought they were genius when they came out, I was just too poor and riding fixed all the time.
I broke my wrist right before New Year and spent some time in the hospital for surgery intake, and they did a bunch of blood tests. The results show up in your phone app in about 20 minutes!
Turns out my iron levels and hematocrit were abysmal. Like “no wonder I suck at bicycles” bad.
Call Dr Ferrari! It’s blood-dopin’ time!
Kaiser had said, “oh your iron is a little low we might look at that in a year or two” United said, “dood you’re anemic here’s what we will do.” And then they did it.
Check me for internal bleeding. “Bloods gotta be going somewhere.” Ick. This is an involved, unpleasant process. Double ick. Turns out I have Barrett’s Syndrome.
Take a pill every morning, and come back in three years to get scoped again.
Take iron, but not too much, since it can “irritate the stomach.” I’m pretty sure this means “make you bleed internally which defeats the whole point.” I won’t go into why I think this is the case.
So if you feel weak and asthmatic riding bikes and your poops are often almost black… talk to a doctor about anemia!
Normal (not great) non-anemic bloodworkChange in hematocrit and hemoglobin after treatment
I have a terrible sense of direction and it takes me repeated visits to understand the spatial relations of a place. So I tend to go places I already know. Having a phone/map mount where I can see it and follow the map is a huge help for me to get around and try new routes.
I use it more in the car than on the bike, but I hope to change that in 2026.
Not a map
Overall, Quad Lock is good, it needs a dedicated case, and I like the ring back thing because it aids in holding the phone easily and securely.
The only downside is that it smooths out the movement of the phone on the bike so I don’t get “steps” in my activity app.