May
17th
Tue
17th
Apr
26th
Tue
26th
New work series
Archetypes, based on http://www.tigoe.net/blog/category/physicalcomputing/176/
Perpendicular Eye Stalk is the archetypical version of Scooby-Doo Paintings
Mar
10th
Thu
10th
Potential route
Long Island to Orient Point, Ferry to Ct, up through RI, overnight in Boston, points north
Mar
9th
Wed
9th
My favorite gym people
The guy with the mohawk, tattoos, and arms+legs that are too thin for his torso that uses the elliptical machine.
The guy who smells like he smoked a carton of cigarettes 2 minutes before coming in.
The woman in the NORML shirt that looks crazy fatigued.
Mar
5th
Sat
5th
Ethiopian Yrgacheffe Koke Farms
1lb, Profile P5, Program D, added one time increment at the beginning
Feb
28th
Mon
28th
books this year
With the hope there are 2 a month
- freedom : meh to ok
- number 9 dream : i quite enjoyed this one
- broom of the system : re-reading old dfw
- girl with curious hair : also a re-read
on deck or already there : a couple tufte books, game of thrones, and a whole lotta data viz books
via booooooom.com
Feb
27th
Sun
27th
exercise
feb was all cardio, lots and lots of running.
now running/spinning alternating with weights every other day.
new Bike! Beginnings
I have an obsessive habit of looking at frames and bikes and gear online. Dan M. calls it “cyclobating”. He gets full credit for that one.
In the course of cyclobating, I found
- the old touring bike (a Jamis Aurora, which I loved except when it had a heavy load, too much shimmy)
- the current commuter (a Raleigh One Way, which I love, except the hub)
- the touring bike I would like as a replacement, a Surly Long Haul Trucker
When I was measured for the Aurora at the Bicycle Station, we all had a good laugh at how I have “short legs”. Even though I’m 6 feet tall, a 53cm frame was the right fit. And It fit gloriously. So, armed with that knowledge, and a few additional self measurements, I set out looking for a 54cm LHT frame.
Which I found! On Ebay. An older model that was hanging on the wall of a bike shop in VT for a year or so. Which means when I won the auction, I got a nice olive colored frame. And a black fork. Which looks awfully weird, but as far as I can tell, they work just fine together.
New Bike! Backstory
August 2010 my bike was stolen. It made a local news channel and I was interviewed on the teevee. No mean feat given the number of bikes pinched in NYC on a given day.
However, this was my primary means of transportation and recreation (I enjoy going on rides where I strap an extra 35lbs to the bike and ride for 500 miles). While I took the whole thing in stride, or as much as I could muster, I did need a new bike.
I didn’t have much in the way of savings, and our insurance was questionable at the time. I was presented with few options 1) get a commuter bike and give up centuries and touring for awhile, 2) build a bike up from a frame, 3)find a cheap road bike and try and retrofit the whole thing for year-round commuting and touring, 4) not get a bike.
Scouring the bowels of craigslist for a week or two in vain hopes of finding my stolen bike, I realized there was jack shit out there for me in the way of a reasonable commuter bike (fixed/single with full fenders). I started looking around at different shops and what they carried. I had sort of gravitated to the Raleigh One Way and the Redline 925 as potential bike to get. Unable to find a dealer on the phone with a Redline in stock, the decision was made much easier. Roy’s in Sheepshead Bay had a One Way, assembled, in my size, for about $300 less than MSRP. Score!
The bike is perfect for winter city riding (except for the rear hub, more on that later). It’s also a really pretty piece. I continually get comments on it from hipsters, roadies, and even yesterday from an older gentleman in a minivan (“That sure is a right pretty bike you got yourself”).
Now, however, the snow is melting and I have my eyes set on a century in July, and hopefully a ride to Maine in June. So I find myself needing more than the One Way can supply
