Thursday, May 11, 2017

Bike to work day 2017

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Bike to work day for me is pretty much like every other day, except I get a free bag from the nice folks at YouCanBikeThere and Bike East Bay. But the commute still has the same amount of weird stuff and odd people. Oh well.

Sunday, April 30, 2017

#30DaysofBiking complete!


Yep. I made the pledge and I kept it. Sure, one ride was a late night beer run to the corner store  just to keep the string alive. But note there's a little tick mark for every day. There's really only one "real" ride — a metric century, and the rest are commutes. But still...

Tricia also made it. At the start of the month they were trainer miles as she worked on wrist recovery. But the organizers say that counts, so we counted it.
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Ceramic cycling and a short ride


We visited Davis, California for the The California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art and we amused to see a ceramic bicycle by Anthony Madrigal of San Jose State University among the many treasures on display. It's really only about a foot tall, so you wouldn't mistake it for an actual bike But it's nicely done and sure made me smile.

We stopped in Martinez to ride the Carquinez Scenic Loop on our way home for Tricia's first "away" ride since she broke her wrist in January. It's only 20 miles and 1400 feet of climbing but it was harder than we remembered it being. I guess we haven't been riding as much lately. Gotta fix that!
 

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Jersey unveiling and March for Science

I'd been waiting for a chance for Tricia and I to wear our new East Bay Regional Parks jerseys together. I didn't want to go solo with it.

 Our Saturday ride to Walnut Creek for the March for Science (OK, we took BART part way) was that chance. It was also Tricia's longest post-broken wrist outing, 38 miles.

We walked, and rode, in support of facts and scientific method. We enjoyed getting to wear the EBRP jerseys our son Eddie managed to get for us. They're really nice! A good day indeed.



Sunday, April 16, 2017

She's back a little more


Look! An actual bike ride. Her wrist still hurts when she rides, but she's out there anyway. Yea!
The world is so happy it offered a rainbow on my bike commute the other day.

Sunday, April 09, 2017

She's back. Kind of.


Tricia took a wrist-test spin on her road bike today. She said she can still feel pain up the back of her wrist, but, hey, still she persists. It's her first road bike appearance in months. YEA!

Friday, April 07, 2017

She persists


Tricia says she's not ready for the road yet. She wants her wrist to be strong enough to handle the bumps as well as squeeze the brakes. But she's back on the trainer. She read that even trainers count for #30daysofbiking, so that's what she does. She persists.

Thursday, April 06, 2017

Sidi replacement parts! Yea!

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I bought my shoes in 2009 and fell in love with them. Sidi apparently had me in mind when they created their Ergo Carbon magic cycling slippers. They've been good to me.

In 2015 I broke a strap and was pleased to find I could replace it. I did, but went with on-sale white straps.

I broke a buckle this week and was again happy to find it was replaceable. It's a bit different, and I think I like the old style better. But it may well be a gram or two lighter, and came it white, so what the heck. All hail Sidi, best bike shoe ever. I hope they last another eight years or more.

Sunday, April 02, 2017

30 Days of Biking with wrist recovery


In honor of the first day of 30 Days of Biking, Tricia mounted her trainer for the first time in ages and ages. She's been off the bike (and rather grumpy about it) since breaking her wrist in a skating tragedy in early January. She's tough, but hasn't been a happy camper. She's been forced to drive a car to work for months. Here's hoping the swelling goes down, mobility and flexibility go up and she's back doing what she loves really soon.

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I started #30daysofbiking with a short ride on the American River Bike Trail in Sacramento. I had to wake up early to slip away from Journalism Association of Community Colleges conference I was attending but I managed. I even had time to stop to make a photo for a Facebook group, "Look at my bike leaning on stuff."

Monday, February 20, 2017

New titanium parts plus healing

If you haven't seen much cycling news on the blog lately, there's a reason. I'm still a daily bike commuter, but my favorite riding partner, Tricia, is busy recovering from a badly broken wrist.

Nope, it wasn't the bicycle that did her in. It was roller skating. After having a great time on the rink at her grandson's birthday party she left the floor only to be done in by the carpet outside the rink.

She had hoped to avoid surgery, but after wearing a wrap for two weeks she had an X-ray and  discovered it hadn't improved. The medical team operated and installed an impressively large titanium plate.

After two weeks in a pretty pink cast her arm is now free, but isn't fully functional yet. She misses her daily bike commute and hopes to at least get on the trainer soon.

As for me, solo fun rides just aren't as much.... fun. That, and all the rain, has made the start of 2017 a sub-optimal cycling year thus far.







Sunday, January 15, 2017

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Which bike camera should I get?

RIDEYE
My Rideye camera started only focusing very close. Too close to be useful. I tried to contact the company, but to luck. Word on the web is that they are having issues...

Here;s the video of my problem. I tried to take the camera apart. I removed every screw, but no matter how hard I pull I can't slide the circuit board out.

 What should I replace it with? Not another Rideye. The Fly12 costs too much and I don't need its light, or the other features.

I'd like a small, simple camera with a GoPro mount that cycles like a security cam, overwriting old footage. I'd like reasonable battery life. I'd like it to be affordable (I mean cheap,if possible.)

 Hints?

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Partial band reunion tour


Lancd Oldstrong gathered Steve, Tricia and my own bad self together for a reunion tour. We haven't ridden together in ages, and it sure was about time.

We got in 75 miles, from Concord up to an obscure wine region in Suisun Valley.

The most dramatic thing all day was the amazing California November weather. It was prefect. I did get a bottle of wine and managed to fit it in my water bottle holder.  Tricia and I may have to go back with our trailer and do some more serious wine shopping.

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Giro di Vino 2016

We had another fun year riding the 2016 Giro di Vino on Lodi. We pedaled from winery to winery, tasted a little and bought a lot. It was all delivered to the ride start so we didn't need to carry it.

In years part the ride has been windy or foggy or raining. This year was perfect.

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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Bike names and tilting at windmills





Giant photo on Adventure Cycling van


We thought we were going to the Marin Headlands Hostel to meet up with a tour heading from Canada to Mexico and see the Adventure Cycling trailer with Tricia on it, but it turns out we got a van. I guess we're still on the lookout for the trailer. Still, pretty darn cool. Maybe we should do the same thing to our Subaru.

Sunday, October 09, 2016

Bicycle birthday present, part 1


My wonder-full colleague, Jaime, designed a poster of a bicycle made entirely with type. That's right, everything in that bike is from the keyboard. It's too hard to read in my photo, but she also added a key, explaining each bike part, typeface and letter she used. 

Then, for my birthday, she had a shirt made. 

Talk about niche design. It's the perfect tee shirt for a type-loving bicycle junkie. Be jealous, all my designer biking friends.

Hey! It's available for everyone now! You can buy one right here!

Monday, September 12, 2016

My killer weekend

Maybe this post needs more bike content, but I had such a great weekend I'm posting the while thing.

It started Friday night at Los Medanos College where Tricia and I saw "the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" I laughed so hard my face hurt.

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We followed that up with a local bike ride and then headed to Auburn where we had a beer at "Crooked Lane" brewery.

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We followed that fine beer with a "Crooked House" concert featuring Walter Salas-Humara. What a blast!

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This folks are so cool they even have a wind up record player and a 78 Hank Williams record.

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Then the next morning we rode a wonder route around Auburns back but hilly roads that we found on ridewithgps.com



Life is good. We finished the ride in time to hit a local pub and see the Raiders win their game. I even got home in time to do the laundry.

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Sunday, August 21, 2016