This person has awful taste in music, even if this was only used for workouts. Lots of Nelly Furtado.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Found: iPod. Slightly Flattened and generally F'd.
Found an iPod mini on the road today... all busted up but still kinda works.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Today's Parts Casaulty
Rode "the commute" with The Car Whisperer this morning, taking his preferred route. Just north of Devon/Milwaukee he takes the North Branch Trail/Bikepath. As we started out, he mentioned that there was an oily patch on a turn that was a little slippery. Not able to remember which turn it was, he mentioned that he had lost traction on it several times and had almost gone down. I thought we were in the clear after making the rather sharp left prior to the Caldwell Ave bridge approach... I was wrong. Just after coming down from the bridge there's another sharp left. Brian's about 30' in front of me and cautiously takes the corner... my wheels slip out from under me and I immediately recognized that I was going down.
A few choice profanities later, I get up and realize that the bike's ok aside from a few new scratches... my hip's not so fortunate. I've got a 4" diameter ground beef strawberry just below my hipbone, and I tore some serious holes in my bib shorts.
As we're heading West on Lake Ave in Glenview, I start to hear some rattling... maybe the crash knocked something loose. Thinking it's a bottle cage, we continue on. When we got to the office, I got off the bike and found that I had popped a spoke in my rear wheel. I've had problems with this wheelset in the past, and had just gotten it back from Alex. Since it wasn't wildly out of true, I solicited some ibuprofen from the kind ladies at the health center, and then continued on to the Old School route and back to the city. At the Winnetka 7-11 I stopped to refill my bottles and checked the wheel again. Another spoke. Both nipples are rattling around inside the wheel. Whee.
I open my rear brake and hobble home through the remainder of the North Shore and Evanston... must have been quite a side, bloody and dirty with a wobbly rear wheel. Not bad for 9:30am on a Wednesday.
A few choice profanities later, I get up and realize that the bike's ok aside from a few new scratches... my hip's not so fortunate. I've got a 4" diameter ground beef strawberry just below my hipbone, and I tore some serious holes in my bib shorts.
As we're heading West on Lake Ave in Glenview, I start to hear some rattling... maybe the crash knocked something loose. Thinking it's a bottle cage, we continue on. When we got to the office, I got off the bike and found that I had popped a spoke in my rear wheel. I've had problems with this wheelset in the past, and had just gotten it back from Alex. Since it wasn't wildly out of true, I solicited some ibuprofen from the kind ladies at the health center, and then continued on to the Old School route and back to the city. At the Winnetka 7-11 I stopped to refill my bottles and checked the wheel again. Another spoke. Both nipples are rattling around inside the wheel. Whee.
I open my rear brake and hobble home through the remainder of the North Shore and Evanston... must have been quite a side, bloody and dirty with a wobbly rear wheel. Not bad for 9:30am on a Wednesday.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Anti-Dooring Campaign
Ok, so check this out. People are dying because drivers aren't paying attention when opening doors. Not cool in the least.
When you're getting in/out of your car, YOU have a legal duty to do so in a manner that does not interfere with other users of the road. Period. That dump truck is a hell of a lot easier to see than a kid on a bike, but they'll both rip the door off the car.
Be smart. Look before you open.
Riders - we need to be smart about this too. Drivers have other stuff on their mind, and it's unlikely that all drivers will suddenly have an epiphany about checking for cyclists. Stay out of the "Door Zone" and keep your eyes peeled for the telltale signs that a door might open... movement inside the vehicle or brake lights suddenly switching off.
hipsternascar has a post up with all the details, but the idea is to get ~$600 raised so a bunch of these stickers can be printed up and spread around Chicago.
If you've got some extra cash laying around, you might just save someone's life.
http://www.hipsternascar.com/2008/07/anti-dooring-campaign.html
When you're getting in/out of your car, YOU have a legal duty to do so in a manner that does not interfere with other users of the road. Period. That dump truck is a hell of a lot easier to see than a kid on a bike, but they'll both rip the door off the car.
Be smart. Look before you open.
Riders - we need to be smart about this too. Drivers have other stuff on their mind, and it's unlikely that all drivers will suddenly have an epiphany about checking for cyclists. Stay out of the "Door Zone" and keep your eyes peeled for the telltale signs that a door might open... movement inside the vehicle or brake lights suddenly switching off.
hipsternascar has a post up with all the details, but the idea is to get ~$600 raised so a bunch of these stickers can be printed up and spread around Chicago.
If you've got some extra cash laying around, you might just save someone's life.
http://www.hipsternascar.com/2008/07/anti-dooring-campaign.html
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