sweeeeet shifter setup. Pretty picture, too. Alex brought this to my attention.
Author: philip
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*ALL CITY* space horse complete bike
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Fixed over Pressley Road
I had mistakenly marked this as Crane Creek, but that’s an adjacent road.
Next time I will come down it, I think – I didn’t like the descent on Sonoma Mountain Road. Narrow, high-traffic, and one SUV almost grazed my elbow with his mirror. I yelled “WHOA!” and extemporized an “I have the right of way” gesture (not that one): right hand like a blade, extended from my chest straight out. Usually it means “I’m going through this intersection.” The driver did pull over, and rolled down his window with a goofy gnome-like smile. He was either going to apologize, or ask for directions. I just said, “that was really close, dude,” and kept going.
Anyway, aside from that, it was a great ride. I rode out Petaluma Hill Road in my 42×15 gear, and then figured I’d try climbing without the second ring. As I was flipping the wheel over to my 42×21 Dingle cog, I was passed by a pair of riders. The riders passed me again as I was pouring a small bottle of Guinness into my bidon. “For strength.” Two sips of that, and the fluttering pre-cramp in my thigh muscle went away. I don’t at all recommend drinking while riding, nor admitting to it on a blog post.
At the summit, I geared up to the 42×17 and heavy-legged it down the hill. This is a good hill to freewheel down. Two hours out, 1000 feet of climbing, 23 miles or so. In the bottom-most rung of Strava riders for every segment on the ride… :^) Success!
When I got back to town, I tried out a new cafe and went to the bike shop to order new Koolstop pads.
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officebeam
officebeam, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.
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testing the commute route
testing the commute route, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.
I’ve been riding part of my projected commute, in order to see the danger zones, and also just get fit enough to do the whole thing. There are some sketchy intersections on Sonoma Mountain Parkway, where whole lines of cars are turning right.I’m just as slow on my bigger fixed gear as my normal one, but I need to make up 10 seconds between each light in order to not get caught by the red. That’s a goal. 10% faster. I’d like to be 10% lighter, too. I think those are attainable goals, maybe by July.I’ll keep you posted. -
Moscaline Scoops NAHBS
Go here, read this, it’s funny.
http://tsaleh.blogspot.com/2013/02/nahbs-bad-press-review.html
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Hillbubba’s rack rack and rack hack
Platrack on a mini rack, with a hub area rack prototype attached.
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Thanks Eagle Scouts of Troop 73
From Manny. Totally cool bike repair box on Mt Tam. Stash caches like this would be pretty great all over.
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Spacer light mount.
It’s a decaleur of sorts… In that you could mount a bag on there with a couple problem solvers handlebar cage mounts. -
meeting of the minds
That’s me in blue, talking to Gino at the West Point Inn. I’d never met him in person before. Photo taken by Cyclotourist, who was visiting from Redlands.
Riding my Bontrager for the first time in 8 months, and the first time back in California in 7 years made me realize that compared to the Privateer, my Gravel Roadster is a waste of time to ride.
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Mt Tam with Cyclotourist and Gino
Mt Tam with Cyclotourist and Gino, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.
I went for a ride on Mt Tam today with my friends David and Gino. I’d met David twice, and Gino never, in real life.
I grew up in Mill Valley, but lived in Santa Rosa for years before moving to Oregon, so it’s been a long time since I rode up Railroad Grade. The Bontrager was an Annadel machine – I’m not sure it’s ever been up Tam.
I loved it. David seemed to enjoy it, and we rode Hoo Koo E Koo simply because there’s a bike named for it. “A great bike,” said David. His wife had one.
I had started out with a “yeah this town used to be nice,” attitude after a dog walker gave us a dirty look after we gave him a friendly greeting. Later, though, EVERYONE was nice! Man do people like an ‘on your left’ or a friendly bell-ring.
At Avatar’s Punjabi Burrito (no photo, but this phone takes terrible pictures anyway), a woman stopped, and said, “are either of you from here?” Expecting a request for directions, I said, “I grew up here, but I haven’t lived here for years.” Deniability, right? In case she asks after some boutique that’s cropped up in the last 15 years.
She said, “you two are having the Perfect Mill Valley Experience, with the bikes, and this kind of food.”
We were like, “we just rode up Mt Tam, so I think you’re totally right.” -
Light Rack in Action
That… Is a cool idea.
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Gryphon w Dugasts
Fantastic looking setup from Singular’s Flickr stream.
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kung fu panda
I miss Kung Fu. I wish I had a fresh pair of these shoes, too. On the other hand, I can see the stars most nights, and I don’t need-need fenders on this bike, even in winter.
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Fall Cleanup
I tuned up the Google Doc for the Tire Pressure Calculator. I added Triathlon bikes, linked the title back to the explanation page (which I cleaned up), and put in a big Black Friday ad for the Android Tire Pressure App.
I also cleaned up the right column here, moving the PS graphic up where it belongs. I need to review everything else over in the right column. If there’s a relevant blog I should check out, let me know – my blog reading has been severely limited in the last 6 months.
Now, off to play Thanksgiving video games with my newly 12-year-old son!
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Front bag conversion on Problem Solvers
I bought a cool seat bag on the Riv list from someone who had hacked it to be a handlebar bag. I liked it so much I wrote it up for the Problem Solvers blog.
