a little disappointed..

The season has not even started yet, and I am already a bit disappointed....

• It's been cold cold cold and wet wet wet. Sure, I know this makes me a pussy, but I still crave a nice long warm ride day...
• My Surly has been giving me fits. I finally got the rear brakes to stop squeaking... by toeing them in severely. The rear wheel has a spoke that loosens, not enough to warp the wheel, but... come on! And, the most annoying thing, the chain-ring bolts are loose and cause the front end of the drive train to creak a little... Gotta get this bike under control before putting serious miles on her.

Just got back from a visit to Recycled Cycles in Seattle. Picked up a chainring bolt tool, hopefully this will help me tighten them up. I'll keep an eye on the spoke and toe in the brakes slightly. I still really like this bike, but I expected a little less worry out of the gate.

My Mercier up for sale

Had it for a couple years... just a bit small for me and I'm trying to free up some funds.. Interested? Jump in the comments

Update: 12/2/2009 - I've decided to keep this bike as decoration for the new shop I'm opening.

Back at it again

Another bicycle season is upon us. I've already started riding again. Over the past few months, I've logged roughly 2 days a week coming in to work. It's been a cold winter here in Seattle-land. I actually slipped while riding slowly on the concrete bridge over the Mercer Slough in Bellevue one morning and went down. Pretty sure it was partly black ice and partly the fact that I had knobby tires on the Surly. Didn't get too hurt, but I was upset the bike got a little more scratched. Character, right?

I did the Chilly Hilly in February. My goal this year is to do all the Cascade Bike Club rides - Chilly Hilly, Summer Century, STP and RSVP. The Chilly Hilly was a fun ride. A bit rainy in the AM early, but it cleared up a bit by mid-ride. I was so far ahead of the game that the snack stops and end of ride party were not even set up. I made one stop over the course of the ride - 10 minutes. Most of the hills were smaller and had a ramp up to them. The biggest hill was just a long 8% grind. There were a lot of walkers and a couple people got sick at the end. All in all, pretty fun. I've never seen so many bikers all in one place - thousands.

Been sick for a bit, but plan to get back in the saddle next week.

Fixie Heaven

Well, it is basically done. I stopped by Recycled Cycles yesterday afternoon and picked up a St.Etienne handlebar and Shimano Deore mountain bike brake handle (left side) with the cables. I stripped off the old handlebars, brake cables and back brake block. With the new handlebar, I measured off the distance and cut off the "ram horn" ends, flipped it and its a set up bull horns! Got it all mounted and ready to go. My only misstep was thinking I could re-use the handlebar tape. No go, it shredded when I took it off.

So, I rode in to work today with bare bars. The bike looks like Twiggy! So spare and minimal - it's beautiful. I'm planning on riding in to Gregg's Cycle this afternoon and picking up some bar tape and a longer bolt to hold on the brake handle. This handlebar is a bit wider than the mountain bars the brake handle was made for.

Riding a fixie is going to take some time to get used to. I chickened out last weekend and didn't ride the whole of Mercer Island for fear I couldn't make it. I'll spend next week riding and build up to it. The bike is so light without all the stuff on it

Finally, a fixie

Well, I finally made the jump to a fixed gear! Here is the story...

I have had a Faggin Tre Tubi from 1985 for many years. The bike has been through a number of moves and had to be turned into Frankenbike a couple years back when I had a chain disaster that sheared off the spokes on the back wheel. I was contemplating turning it into a fixie back then but the cost was too much. The new derailluer and cluster were very finaicky and the bike would drop out of gear at the drop of a hat, especially when pushing hard up a hill... BAD. I finally sickened of it.

The thing that turned it was when I got a Trek 8000 from a neighbor and turned it and a few spare parts from the Faggin into $90 at Recycled Cycles. I also sold a couple bikes from the PBs garage for $100 on craigslist. This basically meant that I could "fixify" the Faggin for about $20 out of pocket. Well worth it!

So... the Faggin has a "flipflop" hub on the back now with a fixed 40/16 and lockring on one side and a freewheel 40/17 on the other side. It is a bolt on setup, and I need to carry a wrench to actually change it out.

I pounded up Mercerwood the other day with the 40/16 fixed. I was huffing pretty hard at the top, but I made it!! So I know it can be done. The fixie only attempted to buck me off once when I forgot I was riding fixed. All in all a pleasant experience, but I need to ride more to get used to it.

Long time...

Well, the summer has basically passed, it seems. Much has happened and biking has been the only common thread running through it all...

I came to the realization that I am NOT a long distance "event" rider... I am a commuter. Not that I wouldn't like to do this, I just don't have a life that will allow me to do it. These "event" rides require that you train consistently and I just don't have the time to do that and keep up with everything else. "Let some things go" you might think... well one of those "things" is my marriage, so I don't think THAT is going to happen!! I commute. I can fit that in.

SO here is to commuting!! Nothing wrong with being an avid cyclist... on the way in and from work.

Glorious days ahead!

OK, so it's been a whole month of Sundays since the last post, but let me assure you, February in Seattle is nothing to write home about as far as cycling goes. I logged a measly 56 miles all month due to bad weather and the fact that I have been on the road. New Orleans for a whole week. I was very tempted to ship a bike down and ride, but I'm glad I didn't as my time was pretty much consumed by working and being sick.... no not like THAT! I got the flu down there. Nothing worse than being sick on the road. Literally.

Back to cycling stuff. Hats off to Michael at Velographics. The decals for my Mercier Bordeaux-Paris arrived a few days ago. It was really a breeze to put them on. While they look awesome, if I had to do it again, I'd place them a little "higher" on the tube. I centered them on the tubes, but since you are usually standing over the bike, it looks like they are underneath it in places. Still, they make the bike look brand new. It is going to be very difficult to part with this girl. It is basically done now so the time is coming to hit Craigslist. I rode her in this morning as it is going to be another great afternoon. Ran perfect. I was a bit rough shifting in spots due to inexperience with this bike, but otherwise flawless. One thing I love about this bike is that it is almost silent when free wheeling. No clicking.

Cascade Bike Club is holding an expo this weekend at Magnuson Park that I will be attending. I'm going to see if I can take in the Mercier to the vintage area and show it. Should be fun regardless.