2008 has been a pretty life-changing year. As a matter of fact, I'll probably consider it among the most memorable years of my life someday. Heading balaclava-clad face first into the fourth real winter of my life, I'd like to reflect on what happened, not necessarily in chronological order:
1. I dated a hot mom (that might have been all last year, my memory is a little fuzzy)
2. I lived in a posh apartment in the Rich Whitey District of Pittsburgh
3. I moved to a new apartment across the street from a tow lot, in a neighborhood thought to be one of the city's most dangerous
4. I built and sold two bicycles of very different styles to people new to the idea of riding, and ran into both on the road months later
5. I stormed out of a job I didn't even realize I didn't enjoy, causing a crippling period of financial difficulty for myself that I'm still climbing out of, which made me happier than I've ever been
6. I started living for myself, instead of living to make meals for strangers who rarely appreciate it
7. I worked in a mall, whitening peoples' teeth on commission
8. I got my first office job, and love it
9. I made my longest bike ride yet, and hope to triple it next year; I raced seriously for the first time and won a prize; I learned to trackstand and skip stop; I learned to true a wheel, install a headset, remove and attach cranks, overhaul a hub with cup-and-cone bearings, and properly adjust chain tension
10. I bought my first bottle of wine, which was a Beaujolais; I bought a much better one weeks later, which was a Malbec from Argentina
11. I worked harder than I've ever worked in my life, and then hardly worked at all
12. On the first day of my vacation early in the year, I was hit by a car; months later, I was physically shoved off the road by a Mercedes; even more recently, a city police officer nearly hit me from behind and yelled at me to "get the fuck off the road"; I realized most people have their foot on the wrong kind of pedal and started doing what I can to advocate alternative means of transportation
13. On the subject of politics, I was charged almost $900 for a two-block ambulance ride and $400 for a bandage and a neck brace (and that's with a 15% uninsured discount) and became way more aware of ridiculous American issues that put us 30 years behind the rest of the world
14. I voted
15. I became ecstatic when gas prices reached record highs, and was pissed when they dropped again
16. I met someone I'm so fond of that I went to mass with her mother on Christmas morning
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
I want to learn to weld. I've been looking at low-output stick welders on ebay, and I think I could get started for about 90 bucks. Maybe if I liked it I could move up to MIG welding. Building bicycle frames is a big dream of mine.
I'm one of about four people at the office right now, and most likely I'll be the last one to leave. Since I'm still a temp until mid-January or so, I don't get benefits or paid holidays, so I need all the hours I can get. There's actually a lot of work to do, since people try to get in here in great numbers towards the end of the year before their insurance deductible restarts.
In any case, my experience at the office does get continually better. I won a 50 dollar gift card to a grocery store at the office party, and drank a bunch of free Yuengling; at the office gift exchange yesterday, I got a case of Dogfish Head IBA, which is both delicious and challenging to carry home on a bicycle. People around here look at me like I'm nuts when I ride in here and the wind chill is ten below--I now work in a place full of the kinds of people who are completely unaware that bicycles are legal on the road. And that's great, really. I'm all for raising awareness that we who don't rely on combustible fuel to get from point A to point B aren't just athletic hobbyists, or kids who are taking longer than others to grow up and start driving, or homeless criminals for that matter; we're normal people that don't believe Wal-Mart should be the center of a community 50 miles wide.
On that note, Pittsburgh recently got a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, a position this city should've filled a long time ago. It's nice to see bike lanes popping up in a place that's still stuck in its industrial heyday from thirty years ago, and not just as a political movement for once. Some of Pittsburgh's most terrifying byways that cyclists risk every day just to get to work are finally being rethought, and I'm very excited to be merging onto fewer highways in the future, especially when I think about all the drunks in this town. Of course, the Liquor Control Board is another issue entirely that most people fail to realize has a huge impact on public health...
I didn't do a ton of Christmas shopping this year, but I have picked up some essentials for the bike for myself by taking advantage of the ridiculous consumer-fest of the season. For one thing, I quit being a cheapass and bought four nice tubes to keep around. About a week ago, I left work and had a valve stem explode at the seams on my front wheel; the tube was so worn out from being patched seven or eight times that it was just starting to decay. I also bought a new set of pedals, some Wellgos with clips and straps that I'm not entirely happy with, but do the job, a new KMC chain that isn't stretched out by a full link, and some pre-glued patches, because there's nothing worse than scuffing and cementing a tube with numb fingers. I switched to wax-based lubricant for the winter, too. I'm not an expert, but in my opinion it does a good job of sloughing the salt and grime off while the chain is in motion, and it lasts awhile before needing re-application. Gave the inside of the frame a good coat of Frame Saver, too. 32 years is a long time for a piece of steel to be around, but there's no reason it won't be around for another 60.
I'm one of about four people at the office right now, and most likely I'll be the last one to leave. Since I'm still a temp until mid-January or so, I don't get benefits or paid holidays, so I need all the hours I can get. There's actually a lot of work to do, since people try to get in here in great numbers towards the end of the year before their insurance deductible restarts.
In any case, my experience at the office does get continually better. I won a 50 dollar gift card to a grocery store at the office party, and drank a bunch of free Yuengling; at the office gift exchange yesterday, I got a case of Dogfish Head IBA, which is both delicious and challenging to carry home on a bicycle. People around here look at me like I'm nuts when I ride in here and the wind chill is ten below--I now work in a place full of the kinds of people who are completely unaware that bicycles are legal on the road. And that's great, really. I'm all for raising awareness that we who don't rely on combustible fuel to get from point A to point B aren't just athletic hobbyists, or kids who are taking longer than others to grow up and start driving, or homeless criminals for that matter; we're normal people that don't believe Wal-Mart should be the center of a community 50 miles wide.
On that note, Pittsburgh recently got a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, a position this city should've filled a long time ago. It's nice to see bike lanes popping up in a place that's still stuck in its industrial heyday from thirty years ago, and not just as a political movement for once. Some of Pittsburgh's most terrifying byways that cyclists risk every day just to get to work are finally being rethought, and I'm very excited to be merging onto fewer highways in the future, especially when I think about all the drunks in this town. Of course, the Liquor Control Board is another issue entirely that most people fail to realize has a huge impact on public health...
I didn't do a ton of Christmas shopping this year, but I have picked up some essentials for the bike for myself by taking advantage of the ridiculous consumer-fest of the season. For one thing, I quit being a cheapass and bought four nice tubes to keep around. About a week ago, I left work and had a valve stem explode at the seams on my front wheel; the tube was so worn out from being patched seven or eight times that it was just starting to decay. I also bought a new set of pedals, some Wellgos with clips and straps that I'm not entirely happy with, but do the job, a new KMC chain that isn't stretched out by a full link, and some pre-glued patches, because there's nothing worse than scuffing and cementing a tube with numb fingers. I switched to wax-based lubricant for the winter, too. I'm not an expert, but in my opinion it does a good job of sloughing the salt and grime off while the chain is in motion, and it lasts awhile before needing re-application. Gave the inside of the frame a good coat of Frame Saver, too. 32 years is a long time for a piece of steel to be around, but there's no reason it won't be around for another 60.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Before you read this, I just want you to watch this clip from Blue Velvet.
Thank you.
The office job I interviewed for came through for me, and right now I'm at the end of my first week. That's right. Yesterday was casual Friday, I wore jeans and a t-shirt to work, and when the clock struck five, started the first normal two-day weekend I've had in a very, very long time. Right now I'm chilling in a clean, newly decorated house (yeah, I finally unpacked and made this place look like home), enjoying a cold beer, with a pot of pinto beans on the stove. The beans are for me, but Alayna will be here later and I'll roast a couple of chicken legs, and stew some peppers, potatoes and tomatoes in cream and stock with some saffron; we'll have aioli as a condiment. We can do whatever we want tonight, because we're both off tomorrow. And from now on, I'll be off every single Saturday and Sunday, and I'll be free anytime after five on the weekends. I'll have paid holidays, and eventually health insurance. Although I'm not making a fortune, it's more than I've ever made cooking, and I anticipate these next few days of waiting for my last check from the mall gig to come in the mail to be the last time I'm broke for awhile.
Speaking of the mall gig, last Saturday was my last day, instead of Sunday, which I'd expected. The boss's business partner showed up with one of his people who helps with trade shows, and told me to help break down the kiosk and load it into the van. With absolutely no notice at all, they shut the place down and left nothing but a pile of dust in the middle of the mall. Is that shady as hell, or what? I knew business was going badly for them (I started doing embroidery to pass the time), but wow.
The new job is at a big medical company called Lifeline, a treatment and diagnosis center for people with sleep disorders, mostly obstructive apnea. I'm essentially doing data entry, compiling a bunch of separate files from patients' charts into final reports and then faxing them to doctors, although the work is more interesting than it sounds. I'm actually learning a lot about the healthcare industry, which is something I've never really had a thorough understanding of. Also, I'm good at the work, so I expect to do pretty well there, meaning I should be paid better eventually, and get on the company's payroll after the temp agency's 90 days. Somehow I forgot somewhere in the depths of my culinary career that I'm real fuckin' fast at computers.
Thank you.
The office job I interviewed for came through for me, and right now I'm at the end of my first week. That's right. Yesterday was casual Friday, I wore jeans and a t-shirt to work, and when the clock struck five, started the first normal two-day weekend I've had in a very, very long time. Right now I'm chilling in a clean, newly decorated house (yeah, I finally unpacked and made this place look like home), enjoying a cold beer, with a pot of pinto beans on the stove. The beans are for me, but Alayna will be here later and I'll roast a couple of chicken legs, and stew some peppers, potatoes and tomatoes in cream and stock with some saffron; we'll have aioli as a condiment. We can do whatever we want tonight, because we're both off tomorrow. And from now on, I'll be off every single Saturday and Sunday, and I'll be free anytime after five on the weekends. I'll have paid holidays, and eventually health insurance. Although I'm not making a fortune, it's more than I've ever made cooking, and I anticipate these next few days of waiting for my last check from the mall gig to come in the mail to be the last time I'm broke for awhile.
Speaking of the mall gig, last Saturday was my last day, instead of Sunday, which I'd expected. The boss's business partner showed up with one of his people who helps with trade shows, and told me to help break down the kiosk and load it into the van. With absolutely no notice at all, they shut the place down and left nothing but a pile of dust in the middle of the mall. Is that shady as hell, or what? I knew business was going badly for them (I started doing embroidery to pass the time), but wow.
The new job is at a big medical company called Lifeline, a treatment and diagnosis center for people with sleep disorders, mostly obstructive apnea. I'm essentially doing data entry, compiling a bunch of separate files from patients' charts into final reports and then faxing them to doctors, although the work is more interesting than it sounds. I'm actually learning a lot about the healthcare industry, which is something I've never really had a thorough understanding of. Also, I'm good at the work, so I expect to do pretty well there, meaning I should be paid better eventually, and get on the company's payroll after the temp agency's 90 days. Somehow I forgot somewhere in the depths of my culinary career that I'm real fuckin' fast at computers.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
my life is a comedy
My professional cooking days are over.
Or at the very least, my professional cooking days are taking a long hiatus. Following the pattern of my previous cooking job, I became sick of Eleven and its disorganized atmosphere pretty quickly. I was being paid well enough, sure; but within the first two weeks I felt the familiar dread of going to work, looking for any opportunity to escape having to stare at a salamander for ten hours straight and cook with faulty equipment bought by the same cheapass corporation I made stir-fry for two years ago. As I quickly moved from the entry-level "hot apps" station on the line of the behemoth 150+ seat restaurant to saute, I realized that while I was getting good at my job, becoming a valuable member of the crew, I just didn't enjoy cooking at a restaurant level anymore.
You see, when I cook at home, it really is to make people happy. I can stand around, relax, and use the skills I've learned over the years to astonish people and generally improve my quality of life. Cooking is about friendship, to me, in a very literal as well as a metaphorical sense. Through the making of meals I get to know myself, I get to know my friends, and the food that I work with in a very intimate sense. It's perhaps an overly sentimental way of putting it, I know. But if growing up in coastal Texas taught me anything, it's that you really ought to take the time to sit down, cover the table with old newspapers, and eat twenty or thirty pounds of boiled crawdads with the people you love, taking all day to do so if necessary.
When I'm on the line at a restaurant, chef barking orders from behind a heat lamp (during my stay at Eleven Contemporary Kitchen, he threatened to burn a cook's house down with his children inside), my entire life, the meaning of my existence, seems like an endless list of tasks that will never finally be accomplished. I do not exaggerate when I say that I began to lose sleep and started having lucid nightmares about being at work, feeling the same maniacal urgency I did at the restaurant while in bed, unable to realize that the checks fluttering in the window (filet, rare! lamb saddle two times! chicken, sub roasted potatoes for risotto! where the fuck is that tomato app?) were a part of my imagination. I never got the four day weeks I requested when I started cooking there. Aside from the physical exhaustion I was experiencing, commuting 20 miles a day via bicycle in a city built in a river valley, drinking and sweating gallons of water on the line at night, I had no mental energy left whatsoever.
Ramblings about the nature of professional cooking aside, I am 21 years old and I have spent enough hours over a grill, in the dark, ultra respectable fine dining or not. The simple fact about it is this: there is no god and no afterlife, and I only have one short period of time to enjoy. I will not look back twenty years from now and remember nothing about my personal life because of all the time I spent working for money.
So, for the past two weeks I've been working at the Monroeville Mall, in a kiosk. The hours are easy and short I have time to read--I finally finished Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey and am almost done with What is the What by Dave Eggers. It's still evening hours for me, but I generally work from four or five to nine-thirty. I have a lot more free time. My girlfriend and I carved a pumpkin and I cook us dinner more often. In the mornings we go to Nancy's Diner, a genuine truck stop-style American spot in my modest neighborhood, for bacon and eggs. I harvested wild grapes on the Southside again this year and now I've got a bottle and a half of homemade wine aging in one of my dark closets in Wilkinsburg. I'm making pumpkin-infused vodka with various spices. My arms aren't covered in blisters, and my feet and back aren't killing me. And currently, my commute, while still a formidable distance, takes me through a nice space of suburban Pittsburgh, under the changing leaves of Autumn.
They're not paying me a ton there and I plan to find something better very soon, though I've finally climbed out of the hole I was in after quitting Legume. Tomorrow I interview downtown for some light office work at the Frick Building, which might be nice. I'm slowly getting it figured out, but I'd like to be working daylight hours. I'm doing research on choral groups in the area; if I'm not occupied from twelve to midnight for once in my life, I'll be able to attend rehearsals. Today, while I sit around at the mall which is constantly dead, I'll be brushing up on music theory.
Or at the very least, my professional cooking days are taking a long hiatus. Following the pattern of my previous cooking job, I became sick of Eleven and its disorganized atmosphere pretty quickly. I was being paid well enough, sure; but within the first two weeks I felt the familiar dread of going to work, looking for any opportunity to escape having to stare at a salamander for ten hours straight and cook with faulty equipment bought by the same cheapass corporation I made stir-fry for two years ago. As I quickly moved from the entry-level "hot apps" station on the line of the behemoth 150+ seat restaurant to saute, I realized that while I was getting good at my job, becoming a valuable member of the crew, I just didn't enjoy cooking at a restaurant level anymore.
You see, when I cook at home, it really is to make people happy. I can stand around, relax, and use the skills I've learned over the years to astonish people and generally improve my quality of life. Cooking is about friendship, to me, in a very literal as well as a metaphorical sense. Through the making of meals I get to know myself, I get to know my friends, and the food that I work with in a very intimate sense. It's perhaps an overly sentimental way of putting it, I know. But if growing up in coastal Texas taught me anything, it's that you really ought to take the time to sit down, cover the table with old newspapers, and eat twenty or thirty pounds of boiled crawdads with the people you love, taking all day to do so if necessary.
When I'm on the line at a restaurant, chef barking orders from behind a heat lamp (during my stay at Eleven Contemporary Kitchen, he threatened to burn a cook's house down with his children inside), my entire life, the meaning of my existence, seems like an endless list of tasks that will never finally be accomplished. I do not exaggerate when I say that I began to lose sleep and started having lucid nightmares about being at work, feeling the same maniacal urgency I did at the restaurant while in bed, unable to realize that the checks fluttering in the window (filet, rare! lamb saddle two times! chicken, sub roasted potatoes for risotto! where the fuck is that tomato app?) were a part of my imagination. I never got the four day weeks I requested when I started cooking there. Aside from the physical exhaustion I was experiencing, commuting 20 miles a day via bicycle in a city built in a river valley, drinking and sweating gallons of water on the line at night, I had no mental energy left whatsoever.
Ramblings about the nature of professional cooking aside, I am 21 years old and I have spent enough hours over a grill, in the dark, ultra respectable fine dining or not. The simple fact about it is this: there is no god and no afterlife, and I only have one short period of time to enjoy. I will not look back twenty years from now and remember nothing about my personal life because of all the time I spent working for money.
So, for the past two weeks I've been working at the Monroeville Mall, in a kiosk. The hours are easy and short I have time to read--I finally finished Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey and am almost done with What is the What by Dave Eggers. It's still evening hours for me, but I generally work from four or five to nine-thirty. I have a lot more free time. My girlfriend and I carved a pumpkin and I cook us dinner more often. In the mornings we go to Nancy's Diner, a genuine truck stop-style American spot in my modest neighborhood, for bacon and eggs. I harvested wild grapes on the Southside again this year and now I've got a bottle and a half of homemade wine aging in one of my dark closets in Wilkinsburg. I'm making pumpkin-infused vodka with various spices. My arms aren't covered in blisters, and my feet and back aren't killing me. And currently, my commute, while still a formidable distance, takes me through a nice space of suburban Pittsburgh, under the changing leaves of Autumn.
They're not paying me a ton there and I plan to find something better very soon, though I've finally climbed out of the hole I was in after quitting Legume. Tomorrow I interview downtown for some light office work at the Frick Building, which might be nice. I'm slowly getting it figured out, but I'd like to be working daylight hours. I'm doing research on choral groups in the area; if I'm not occupied from twelve to midnight for once in my life, I'll be able to attend rehearsals. Today, while I sit around at the mall which is constantly dead, I'll be brushing up on music theory.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
my name is john, and I'm a workaholic. i've been sober for a month.
I wonder if anyone still reads. I know I'm the kind of person that checks old friends' abandoned blogs every once in awhile, just to make sure. I'm not much of a writer anymore. Although, I've been thinking of starting a work of fiction. Fiction has traditionally not been my thing, but I think my priorities in life have shifted. I've quit reading food (read:work)-related non-fiction all the time and started to pick up stories.
I quit Legume. I lost my mind and walked right out just before dinner service. It's not really like me to go insane like that, and I tell myself that it maybe had something to do with working on little sleep after Alayna was in the hospital for a few days and I spent my time visiting, but it would've happened anyway. That restaurant, as all the restaurants I have worked in eventually have done, made me unhappy. I was overworked and exhausted all the time, and while I felt good about the work I was doing, I realize now that I honestly didn't give a shit. Or, I should say, I take pride in good work, but only when I have a life to enjoy aside from it. And I no longer want work to be the biggest part of my life. I'm 21, and this is not a time to waste sweating in front of a broiler sixty hours a week. There is never a time for that.
So, during a week of unemployment, I looked for jobs outside the culinary field, but it wasn't exactly a good time. Seasonal labor in things that I wanted to get my head into, like jobs at bike shops and road construction, and even landscaping, is over right now. It's about to start getting cold. I even put myself on the list to ride for Jet Messenger, but that season hasn't really started yet.
Like anyone that started out in the culinary industry, I desperately turned back to the stove and now I'm working for Big Burrito again at Eleven, a gigantic clusterfuck of a restaurant downtown that employs four sous-chefs. The schedule is three pages long and we did 220 covers on my first night. Two weeks in, they put me on the saute station, so here I am, riding 20 miles a day to commute to work, cooking my ass off until late at night. And while it might be a much more fast-paced restaurant with a menu eight times the size of my last gig's, it's about twenty hours less than what I'm used to. So now, I'm sleeping enough. And on top of that, I asked to only work four days a week. Usually that happens; last week it did, and this week I'm working five days. But eventually, since the company is happy to give out less overtime, it should be a regular thing for me. The idea is to actually enjoy life, not have burns all over my arms constantly, and not burn out. And, although I'm still in a period of some financial turmoil due to the unemployment, I should be fine on 35-40 hours a week with the wage I negotiated when I got hired. Things are looking up.
I quit Legume. I lost my mind and walked right out just before dinner service. It's not really like me to go insane like that, and I tell myself that it maybe had something to do with working on little sleep after Alayna was in the hospital for a few days and I spent my time visiting, but it would've happened anyway. That restaurant, as all the restaurants I have worked in eventually have done, made me unhappy. I was overworked and exhausted all the time, and while I felt good about the work I was doing, I realize now that I honestly didn't give a shit. Or, I should say, I take pride in good work, but only when I have a life to enjoy aside from it. And I no longer want work to be the biggest part of my life. I'm 21, and this is not a time to waste sweating in front of a broiler sixty hours a week. There is never a time for that.
So, during a week of unemployment, I looked for jobs outside the culinary field, but it wasn't exactly a good time. Seasonal labor in things that I wanted to get my head into, like jobs at bike shops and road construction, and even landscaping, is over right now. It's about to start getting cold. I even put myself on the list to ride for Jet Messenger, but that season hasn't really started yet.
Like anyone that started out in the culinary industry, I desperately turned back to the stove and now I'm working for Big Burrito again at Eleven, a gigantic clusterfuck of a restaurant downtown that employs four sous-chefs. The schedule is three pages long and we did 220 covers on my first night. Two weeks in, they put me on the saute station, so here I am, riding 20 miles a day to commute to work, cooking my ass off until late at night. And while it might be a much more fast-paced restaurant with a menu eight times the size of my last gig's, it's about twenty hours less than what I'm used to. So now, I'm sleeping enough. And on top of that, I asked to only work four days a week. Usually that happens; last week it did, and this week I'm working five days. But eventually, since the company is happy to give out less overtime, it should be a regular thing for me. The idea is to actually enjoy life, not have burns all over my arms constantly, and not burn out. And, although I'm still in a period of some financial turmoil due to the unemployment, I should be fine on 35-40 hours a week with the wage I negotiated when I got hired. Things are looking up.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Monday, June 09, 2008
holy writing time
So, things haven't changed too much for me in the great north. Or, I suppose, they have a bit since I last posted roughly three months ago. Sorry about that, guys.
First of all, and I forget if I mentioned this, I'm with a lovely girl whose name is Alayna. She lives six miles away from me in Forest Hills and so I've been doing a lot of riding lately. Right now, unfortunately, she's in Mexico until the 19th of next month, so I miss her terribly.
Second, here's what I've done with the garage. Now I've got three sturdy bikes that are fully built in case I have mechanical issues one day or I need to ride off-road:
Alice, of course, the '79 Super Le Tour track conversion. I've got a setup that I feel comfortable riding at least 60 miles a week with now. Recently I salvaged a very old Raleigh touring frame that came with a few beautiful components such as the chrome fork and Bulletproof crankset. The crankset lets me run a 42t wide chainring with a 14t cog in the rear, so no more disparate cog widths grinding about in my drivetrain. I put a fresh set of Wellgo track pedals on as well, and finally got a pair of DP18 aero wheels with sealed cartridge bearings so I never have to grumble about tightening my hub and leaking grease all over my apartment again. I also lost the Brooks and the dual bottle cage. The cage, honestly, is poorly constructed and needed constant tightening to keep it from rattling about on the poorly maintained streets of Pittsburgh. For me at this point, it's better to just have water in my bag. Or a cup of coffee in my hand, which is usually the case on the way to work anyway. The Brooks was beginning to drive me nuts. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautifully designed saddle and it's going to get a lot of use from me someday, but it's not ideal for my riding style, which is fairly aggressive. It also weighs about two and a half pounds, and if you ever, ever get it wet it's just a saggy trash bag with copper rivets. Way too high-maintenance for me, so I put it on the Raleigh that I mentioned:
First of all, and I forget if I mentioned this, I'm with a lovely girl whose name is Alayna. She lives six miles away from me in Forest Hills and so I've been doing a lot of riding lately. Right now, unfortunately, she's in Mexico until the 19th of next month, so I miss her terribly.
Second, here's what I've done with the garage. Now I've got three sturdy bikes that are fully built in case I have mechanical issues one day or I need to ride off-road:
Alice, of course, the '79 Super Le Tour track conversion. I've got a setup that I feel comfortable riding at least 60 miles a week with now. Recently I salvaged a very old Raleigh touring frame that came with a few beautiful components such as the chrome fork and Bulletproof crankset. The crankset lets me run a 42t wide chainring with a 14t cog in the rear, so no more disparate cog widths grinding about in my drivetrain. I put a fresh set of Wellgo track pedals on as well, and finally got a pair of DP18 aero wheels with sealed cartridge bearings so I never have to grumble about tightening my hub and leaking grease all over my apartment again. I also lost the Brooks and the dual bottle cage. The cage, honestly, is poorly constructed and needed constant tightening to keep it from rattling about on the poorly maintained streets of Pittsburgh. For me at this point, it's better to just have water in my bag. Or a cup of coffee in my hand, which is usually the case on the way to work anyway. The Brooks was beginning to drive me nuts. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautifully designed saddle and it's going to get a lot of use from me someday, but it's not ideal for my riding style, which is fairly aggressive. It also weighs about two and a half pounds, and if you ever, ever get it wet it's just a saggy trash bag with copper rivets. Way too high-maintenance for me, so I put it on the Raleigh that I mentioned:
This frame represents what I've learned about building, and more importantly, restoring bicycles. I should've taken a picture of this poor bastard when I picked it up in Bloomfield; covered in green latex paint, sporting a 700c front wheel and 27 inch rear with cheap 35c knobbies, steerer tube wobbling around inside the headtube, handlebars loose, a lone brake cable draping from an ancient, clawlike Dia Compe lever through the main triangle to a rusty rear brake like a curtain. You can imagine. Apparently it used to be a singlespeed and someone completely butchered it trying to turn it into a geared reincarnation of its former self.
The first thing I did was strip the frame of every single component and carefully sand it down to the bare Reynolds tubing. I put a few coats of black spraypaint on, and then added the messy 700c track LP18s from the Schwinn, the crankset from the aluminum roadbike I still have, with a 42t Sugino chainring in the front and a 13t cog in the back. The chrome drop bars, brake and lever, and Wellgo pedals come from my parts bin, along with the seatpost and of course, the Brooks. The stem and fork are actually from the Schwinn - I stripped the original paint from the Schwinn fork to reveal a beautiful chrome plating. The amazing thing about so many bikes from that time period is that they were first lugged, then polished and chromed, then given a white primer coat before the final paint color was selected. What I ended up with is a track bike with a fairly high gear that looks high-end but is anything but.
Finally, this might as well be considered a cyclocross frankenbike. 35c knobbies on 700s that barely clear the frame, a Shimano drivetrain with a Deore rear derailleur and Tiagra crankset, a brand new 105 rear brake and a 30 year-old Dia Compe front. This bike is a monster. It crushes small children in its path. The aluminum frame can be a little jarring at times, but it's not as bad as it could be due to a straight blade steel fork, and of course, the big tires. I took it through the park the other day and was pretty happy with the way it performed. The shifting is as smooth as I'd expect with the low quality setup, and the rear cluster gives a pretty wide range of gears. The only thing I'd like to do to this bike at this point is lose the drops and put on some big ol' riser bars, and maybe a shorter stem. My reach right now on this thing really does make me feel like I'm a cyclocross racer.
Otherwise, it's hot as hell at the moment, which makes water taste really good. Also, the restaurant's hours are extended for the summer so I'm sticking around a bit later in the evenings. I also have a new telephone number, one appropriate for someone living in Pittsburgh, so if you don't have it yet please let me know.
The first thing I did was strip the frame of every single component and carefully sand it down to the bare Reynolds tubing. I put a few coats of black spraypaint on, and then added the messy 700c track LP18s from the Schwinn, the crankset from the aluminum roadbike I still have, with a 42t Sugino chainring in the front and a 13t cog in the back. The chrome drop bars, brake and lever, and Wellgo pedals come from my parts bin, along with the seatpost and of course, the Brooks. The stem and fork are actually from the Schwinn - I stripped the original paint from the Schwinn fork to reveal a beautiful chrome plating. The amazing thing about so many bikes from that time period is that they were first lugged, then polished and chromed, then given a white primer coat before the final paint color was selected. What I ended up with is a track bike with a fairly high gear that looks high-end but is anything but.
Finally, this might as well be considered a cyclocross frankenbike. 35c knobbies on 700s that barely clear the frame, a Shimano drivetrain with a Deore rear derailleur and Tiagra crankset, a brand new 105 rear brake and a 30 year-old Dia Compe front. This bike is a monster. It crushes small children in its path. The aluminum frame can be a little jarring at times, but it's not as bad as it could be due to a straight blade steel fork, and of course, the big tires. I took it through the park the other day and was pretty happy with the way it performed. The shifting is as smooth as I'd expect with the low quality setup, and the rear cluster gives a pretty wide range of gears. The only thing I'd like to do to this bike at this point is lose the drops and put on some big ol' riser bars, and maybe a shorter stem. My reach right now on this thing really does make me feel like I'm a cyclocross racer.
Otherwise, it's hot as hell at the moment, which makes water taste really good. Also, the restaurant's hours are extended for the summer so I'm sticking around a bit later in the evenings. I also have a new telephone number, one appropriate for someone living in Pittsburgh, so if you don't have it yet please let me know.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
I've been AWOL for awhile and I'm sorry for that. I've been devoting my literary efforts to my weekly (sort of, so far) column over at Blue House. Every Sunday I write about food, or cooking, and try to keep the profanity to the lowest level I'm capable of.
I just saw a Rastafarian guy walk by with a little white rat sitting on his shoulder. Holy shit. This is both the reason I hate it when it gets warm and the reason I love it--all the people start coming outside again.
It's definitely nice out. All of a sudden, there are cherry trees blooming and daffodils in peoples' front yards. Also, my plants are all growing! I have a big plot to grow things in this year, so I've gotten a lot of seeds started, including pumpkins, squash, collard greens, a lot of different herbs, carrots, and rhubarb (for next spring). I think, since I'm a little more experienced with it this year, that things will turn out nicely. My space also has a lot more sunlight than my previous one. I'm going to have big rows of corn and sunflowers!
I just saw the hottest girl ever ride by on a really nice old-school GT BMX bike.
Speaking of bikes, riding is amazing right now. It was good in the winter too, but the act of getting on the bike and going somewhere is much less of a project at this point, since I can leave about ten pounds of clothing at home. Also, my Brooks is finally broken in and perfectly adjusted. It's like riding a bicycle on a tiny leather couch, all the time.
Right now I'm actually taking a break from spring cleaning. Today I bought (at my most favorite store, Home Depot) a real mop (just had one of those stupid TV commercial rag on a stick things before) and a bucket, a scrub brush, lots of chemicals, and a new shelf to put up in the kitchen. I've done the shelf and the bathroom floor so far, but I haven't gotten to the hardwood yet, which I have a big jug of Murphy's oil soap for. I guess I'm in the middle of one of those phases where I realize I actually have a really nice place, and it looks even nicer when you can see the true color of the tile on the floor...
Just saw somebody stall at the light, and a bunch of people wearing yarmulkes pushed her car off the road.
I just saw a Rastafarian guy walk by with a little white rat sitting on his shoulder. Holy shit. This is both the reason I hate it when it gets warm and the reason I love it--all the people start coming outside again.
It's definitely nice out. All of a sudden, there are cherry trees blooming and daffodils in peoples' front yards. Also, my plants are all growing! I have a big plot to grow things in this year, so I've gotten a lot of seeds started, including pumpkins, squash, collard greens, a lot of different herbs, carrots, and rhubarb (for next spring). I think, since I'm a little more experienced with it this year, that things will turn out nicely. My space also has a lot more sunlight than my previous one. I'm going to have big rows of corn and sunflowers!
I just saw the hottest girl ever ride by on a really nice old-school GT BMX bike.
Speaking of bikes, riding is amazing right now. It was good in the winter too, but the act of getting on the bike and going somewhere is much less of a project at this point, since I can leave about ten pounds of clothing at home. Also, my Brooks is finally broken in and perfectly adjusted. It's like riding a bicycle on a tiny leather couch, all the time.
Right now I'm actually taking a break from spring cleaning. Today I bought (at my most favorite store, Home Depot) a real mop (just had one of those stupid TV commercial rag on a stick things before) and a bucket, a scrub brush, lots of chemicals, and a new shelf to put up in the kitchen. I've done the shelf and the bathroom floor so far, but I haven't gotten to the hardwood yet, which I have a big jug of Murphy's oil soap for. I guess I'm in the middle of one of those phases where I realize I actually have a really nice place, and it looks even nicer when you can see the true color of the tile on the floor...
Just saw somebody stall at the light, and a bunch of people wearing yarmulkes pushed her car off the road.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
aren't you gonna hold your hands up to the light
I've gotta say, I'm having a pretty good time these days. The business is picking up at the restaurant, which is a constant challenge. The food is on an amazing level, although I don't know if I can keep it up the way it is. The menu has been big, and occasionally somewhat elaborate, so it's a big machine to keep running. In the summer, it'll be hectic... I'm just speaking this way because I'm sleepy right now. It's really as easy as it's ever been, and I'm not working such rough hours these days.Mom drove in from Cleveland to visit and eat at the restaurant Saturday night. It was nice to show her what it was all about, in the sense that I'm sort of a grown-up with a job and apartment and everything. My parents are so seperated from my life these days that I have a great desire to get them to experience some of the things I do in Pittsburgh. We started with Pamela's.
Pretty soon it'll be time to get plants going for my garden. My neighbor, who used the backyard last summer is moving out, so it looks like I get to go nuts with it. I'm definitely going to start a lot more seeds indoors this year, that's where I had the most success in Squirrel Hill. And I'm just going to buy the tomato plants again. This year I'll actually have ample sunlight for some fun things.
I'm also still having fun with home improvement. I put up a shelf recently. I missed the stud in th wall the first time, the mounting bracket was torn out, and I had to move it over. So there's a nice shelf on the wall with two big holes underneath it. A lesson in stud finding: just buy the fucking electronic thing for ten bucks.
Also, I met a girl. Her name is Alayna, she's completely beautiful, and I like her. I built her up a bike and we've been riding together. I cook us dinner and she gives me music to listen to. I'm pretty happy with the arrangement. She's my hip hop career counselor.
I love music, so much. I've been listening to the best stuff recently. Stars, Rufus Wainwright, The Kooks, Pedro the Lion, Badly Drawn Boy, Neutral Milk Hotel, Rodrigo y Gabriella.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Which Existentialist Philosopher Are You? created with QuizFarm.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as Albert Camus You are Albert Camus, so you are one sweet absurdist. He built largely upon the framework of existentialists before him, but introduced the concept that life is absurd, but that we should continue living anyway. You have strong liberal leanings, although you annoy the Communists. You are susceptible to driving fast, and possibly crashing into a tree.
|
Monday, March 03, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
ouch
My legs are pretty much numb right now. Gunning it on Liberty Ave. plus all the other riding I did yesterday has taken its toll. As nice as it is to chill out on the roads, sometimes it's more fun to just fuckin' fly.
Speaking of riding, I ordered a Brooks. It should be here Friday, and it's pretty much going to pimp my ride. Also, my butt will feel better after long trips.
And also on the subject, I'm planning to begin buying old steel frames, restoring and converting them, and selling them. My toolbox is pretty complete now when it comes to bike maintenance; with the exception of being able to (easily) install and remove headset cups and crown races I can essentially remove any part of a bicycle, clean it up and repack it with grease and reinstall it. I did the Schwinn's bottom bracket the other day, which I'm pretty sure hasn't been serviced in its 30-year lifespan. Gross.
Holy crap, I need another day off. I am just not yet fully regenerated. At least next Sunday and Monday are all mine...
Speaking of riding, I ordered a Brooks. It should be here Friday, and it's pretty much going to pimp my ride. Also, my butt will feel better after long trips.
And also on the subject, I'm planning to begin buying old steel frames, restoring and converting them, and selling them. My toolbox is pretty complete now when it comes to bike maintenance; with the exception of being able to (easily) install and remove headset cups and crown races I can essentially remove any part of a bicycle, clean it up and repack it with grease and reinstall it. I did the Schwinn's bottom bracket the other day, which I'm pretty sure hasn't been serviced in its 30-year lifespan. Gross.
Holy crap, I need another day off. I am just not yet fully regenerated. At least next Sunday and Monday are all mine...
Monday, February 25, 2008
man
That was a long week. Worked on Sunday due to a special dinner. I am exhausted. Also, I just climbed up Liberty Ave. in Bloomfield on my fixie, which is always a chore. When I was descending the hill on the other side, some jackass in a Jeep peeled out from the parking lane and tried to make a U-turn right in front of me. It's moments like that I'm thankful for reflexes and fairly steep frame geometry.
I was going to write a lot, but now all I want to say is that I'm so happy right now.
I was going to write a lot, but now all I want to say is that I'm so happy right now.
Monday, February 11, 2008
ohio pyle/seven springs/i'm still fucking drunk
The trail. Really beautiful in the winter.
And now, for a shot to send to fixedgeargallery...
Snow tubing.
Carnage Carl, in his natural habitat.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Went for a great ride today. The weather was beautiful, the bike was rolling smoothly (note to self: lubricate like every day instead of every week, the difference in feel is AMAZING), and I actually brought tools in case I got a flat this time. Riding long-distance is becoming more and more interesting to me... being somewhat flush with spending money at the moment, I bought things like a double bottle cage that mounts on my seatpost, a new frame pump that will actually put tires at 120 psi, spare tubes, patch kits, a bright-as-fuck headlight. The kind of touring I want to do is light, light, light. Like, messenger bag with a few tools and some food. I just haven't decided yet if I literally want to take my messenger bag to, say, Cleveland or Greensburg to start, or if I ought to get a cheap rack and panniers.
The Birmingham Bridge.
Gutted building, Market Square. A guy came up to me and asked what I saw in this photograph--I said I loved seeing a window through a window, that it reminded me of the way we're taught to be constantly dissatisfied, how as soon as we achieve something we want, we don't give a shit anymore and look to what's next, what's better, what's more expensive. Americans are all about getting that promotion, that bigger house, better car, sexier girlfriend, better body, and the lifestyle that causes is so empty.
Construction on a new skyscraper downtown.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
happiness is a warm gun
Holy moly. This morning we went from this...
...to this. In a matter of about half an hour.
All I can say is hell yeah. It's not even all that cold out, but all this snow gives me a seriously excellent opportunity to play with my studded tires. That guy on the bike down there definitely had em. He was just cruisin, balaclava, fenders, lobster gloves and all.
I didn't go back to sleep. It was pretty much impossible. Instead, I had a repeat of my last bout of insomnia, and went out for a lovely walk. Ate some donuts, too. Then I came back, cleaned up the kitchen, and baked cornbread.
Actually, last time I woke up really early for no reason, it was a Tuesday, and I got hit by a stupid car. Maybe that means something really good will happen today...
...to this. In a matter of about half an hour.
All I can say is hell yeah. It's not even all that cold out, but all this snow gives me a seriously excellent opportunity to play with my studded tires. That guy on the bike down there definitely had em. He was just cruisin, balaclava, fenders, lobster gloves and all.
I didn't go back to sleep. It was pretty much impossible. Instead, I had a repeat of my last bout of insomnia, and went out for a lovely walk. Ate some donuts, too. Then I came back, cleaned up the kitchen, and baked cornbread.
Actually, last time I woke up really early for no reason, it was a Tuesday, and I got hit by a stupid car. Maybe that means something really good will happen today...
wow, insomnia.
It's five. I am wide awake. This is a problematic way to start off a six-day work week. At the same time, I don't get a ton of sleep these days anyway, so it shouldn't be much different than usual...
Took the bike out for a big ride today (new Michelin Speediums, there's nothing like new tires). Enjoyable, but cold as hell. I also ended up getting a flat right before I got on the Smithfield St. Bridge. I was waiting for the light to turn, looked down at my wheel, and saw a thumbtack sticking right out, as if somebody was going to hang a picture. Who drops a thumbtack on the road?! Needless to say, I reached down and took it out, instantly letting all the air out of the tube, instead of riding as far as possible on it. Tonight, I resolved to NEVER go out without patches, a spare tube, and a frame pump. I think I'm going to use some of my insurance claim cash to buy one. And maybe some tire liners. Flats are a total bummer. Seeing Pittsburgh via bicycle is wonderful, though. There's something exhilirating about going over a bridge with no windshield in front of you...
Anyway, here's a list of things I really want to do with my life:
Make a risotto cake using pork stock with smushed up pinto beans and chilies (I just think this would be TOTALLY delicious).
Be a bike messenger.
Someday quit cooking, go back to school for music, and get back into choral music, maybe professionally.
Race in a velodrome.
Learn to TIG weld. I would love to build frames someday. You can get a pretty basic kit for around 1500 bucks.
Find true love.
Find plenty of other love.
Actually pick up this damn guitar and learn to play.
Try being a breakfast cook. Or any other job that would allow me to see what a normal person's work schedule is like.
Use my 35mm more. It's a beautiful old camera.
Build more things. Tables, chairs, cabinets, etc. Get much better at carpentry/home improvement, honest crafts in general.
Go on a really, really long bicycle tour. Seriously, I'm talking save up some money, mount some serious panniers on the bike, sublet my apartment, and be a drifter. I really, really, really want to do this.
Own a gun. I was such a good shot in Texas, and regardless of what all my ultra anti-gun readers think, they are extremely fun. Also, get good at archery.
Get back into weightlifting. Preferrably at a place where I can do it at home. Gyms are expennnnnsive. Honestly though, I just wanna see how much I can leg press these days...
Learn to box. And I mean old school, jogging at five AM, Rocky boxing.
Make wine again. Make a ton of it. Also, get wine and save it.
Do all this before the end of the world. When the end of the world comes, be on the high ground so I can live a really cool post-apocalyptic life like in the movies.
Travel overseas, preferably with a bicycle.
Continue to be oddly happy even though I'm a fatalist and a nihilist, and have an extremely bleak outlook on the way the world works. Make fun of the shit of society.
Took the bike out for a big ride today (new Michelin Speediums, there's nothing like new tires). Enjoyable, but cold as hell. I also ended up getting a flat right before I got on the Smithfield St. Bridge. I was waiting for the light to turn, looked down at my wheel, and saw a thumbtack sticking right out, as if somebody was going to hang a picture. Who drops a thumbtack on the road?! Needless to say, I reached down and took it out, instantly letting all the air out of the tube, instead of riding as far as possible on it. Tonight, I resolved to NEVER go out without patches, a spare tube, and a frame pump. I think I'm going to use some of my insurance claim cash to buy one. And maybe some tire liners. Flats are a total bummer. Seeing Pittsburgh via bicycle is wonderful, though. There's something exhilirating about going over a bridge with no windshield in front of you...
Anyway, here's a list of things I really want to do with my life:
Make a risotto cake using pork stock with smushed up pinto beans and chilies (I just think this would be TOTALLY delicious).
Be a bike messenger.
Someday quit cooking, go back to school for music, and get back into choral music, maybe professionally.
Race in a velodrome.
Learn to TIG weld. I would love to build frames someday. You can get a pretty basic kit for around 1500 bucks.
Find true love.
Find plenty of other love.
Actually pick up this damn guitar and learn to play.
Try being a breakfast cook. Or any other job that would allow me to see what a normal person's work schedule is like.
Use my 35mm more. It's a beautiful old camera.
Build more things. Tables, chairs, cabinets, etc. Get much better at carpentry/home improvement, honest crafts in general.
Go on a really, really long bicycle tour. Seriously, I'm talking save up some money, mount some serious panniers on the bike, sublet my apartment, and be a drifter. I really, really, really want to do this.
Own a gun. I was such a good shot in Texas, and regardless of what all my ultra anti-gun readers think, they are extremely fun. Also, get good at archery.
Get back into weightlifting. Preferrably at a place where I can do it at home. Gyms are expennnnnsive. Honestly though, I just wanna see how much I can leg press these days...
Learn to box. And I mean old school, jogging at five AM, Rocky boxing.
Make wine again. Make a ton of it. Also, get wine and save it.
Do all this before the end of the world. When the end of the world comes, be on the high ground so I can live a really cool post-apocalyptic life like in the movies.
Travel overseas, preferably with a bicycle.
Continue to be oddly happy even though I'm a fatalist and a nihilist, and have an extremely bleak outlook on the way the world works. Make fun of the shit of society.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
the garage
I know, it's tilted to the left. But now my apartment looks like a bike punk's place, for sure.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
pictures interest people!
Working on some tripe.
Yep. You guys have seen that mug before. The finishing touch to the ultimate commuter. I rode her to and from work today in some pretty icy conditions. The handling was like riding on dry pavement with Alice in the summertime. I'll be beating this thing up in the snow with hot coffee for months to come.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
the finished project
Here it is: my cyclocross/cruiser/fixed-gear/mountain bike/commuter/snowmobile.
Basically, I could change the tires and bars on this and make it a racer. Or a straight up cruiser. It's awesome. I bought a Dura-Ace lockring and the proper tube to fit the studded tire to the front wheel today. Swapped the road stem out for a straight one, and fitted those cruiser bars to it, with a single Tektro front brake lever and some grips. With a pair of old toe-clips, it's ready to ride. I did some trail stuff in the park today and it was awesome. Next week it's going to get icy and I'm gonna take her to work.
This bike definitely deserves a name now. I'm thinking.
Basically, I could change the tires and bars on this and make it a racer. Or a straight up cruiser. It's awesome. I bought a Dura-Ace lockring and the proper tube to fit the studded tire to the front wheel today. Swapped the road stem out for a straight one, and fitted those cruiser bars to it, with a single Tektro front brake lever and some grips. With a pair of old toe-clips, it's ready to ride. I did some trail stuff in the park today and it was awesome. Next week it's going to get icy and I'm gonna take her to work.
This bike definitely deserves a name now. I'm thinking.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
alice, post-crash restoration
Weinmann LP18 rims laced to Formula track hubs.
Ritchey Logic headset. Let me tell you, these things are a total bitch to replace. Now, though, instead of loose ball bearings, I've got 'em mechanically sealed. Smooth steering.
New saddle--carbon shell, titanium rails.
This bike is completely silent now. No rattle in the head tube, no noisy drivetrain, no rickety dented rims. It's perfectly tuned and perfectly geared. Definitely the first bike I've had that has nothing rigged up dangerously just so it can stay on the road. Bar tape looks like hell though, gotta get that fixed up.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
alice's new shoes, breathing new life into the concord
Yesterday, I bought new wheels. New, perfectly trued, double-wall Weinmann rims laced to Formula hubs. It's like riding on a kitten. The road vibrations are lessened, my acceleration has improved incredibly, climbing hills is a breeze now. I rolled up Greenfield Avenue last night from the South Side to Swissvale, and while that's meaningless to most of my readers, Pittsburghers will know what the fuck is up. It was a climb.
That bit of touring around the Eliza Furnace trail followed some racing. At the beginning of the night, I met some messengers under a bridge near Polish Hill to do some sprints. Seriously hardcore people, only me and one other non-messenger among them. It was cold. But I actually did pretty well. Out of three sprints, the first with three people and the second against one opponent, I came in second, won, and lost, respectively. I actually outsprinted a Pittsburgh bike messenger. With Alice, no less. It makes me feel really good that not only am I not a bad rider, but my ride--the red Schwinn with the red and green bow on the headtube--is a competitive piece of equipment. I am hooked on racing people, and sadly, these sprints are going to start happening every Friday at 5:30 PM. Once again, I'm shit outta luck as far as actually participating in the local bike culture goes.
My other project the other day was taking the Concord--my first bike since I left home--and converting it. I stripped off the rear brake and lever, shifters, cables, derailleurs, computer, and the bars that were on it. I put an 18 tooth cog and my Innova studded tire on the post-crash rear wheel and fitted it, and put together a BMX chain with some spare links. I put drop bars
in the stem and fitted a single cross lever to them for the front brake.
Then, I took a hacksaw to the crankset, turning it into a homemade singlering crank.
As soon as I get a lockring for the rear hub, and a tube to fit the other snow tire on the front, it'll be a low-geared off road/inclement weather fixie. I'll upload pictures of the completed project soon, though it won't be ridable until I get those parts next week.
That bit of touring around the Eliza Furnace trail followed some racing. At the beginning of the night, I met some messengers under a bridge near Polish Hill to do some sprints. Seriously hardcore people, only me and one other non-messenger among them. It was cold. But I actually did pretty well. Out of three sprints, the first with three people and the second against one opponent, I came in second, won, and lost, respectively. I actually outsprinted a Pittsburgh bike messenger. With Alice, no less. It makes me feel really good that not only am I not a bad rider, but my ride--the red Schwinn with the red and green bow on the headtube--is a competitive piece of equipment. I am hooked on racing people, and sadly, these sprints are going to start happening every Friday at 5:30 PM. Once again, I'm shit outta luck as far as actually participating in the local bike culture goes.
My other project the other day was taking the Concord--my first bike since I left home--and converting it. I stripped off the rear brake and lever, shifters, cables, derailleurs, computer, and the bars that were on it. I put an 18 tooth cog and my Innova studded tire on the post-crash rear wheel and fitted it, and put together a BMX chain with some spare links. I put drop bars
in the stem and fitted a single cross lever to them for the front brake.
Then, I took a hacksaw to the crankset, turning it into a homemade singlering crank.
As soon as I get a lockring for the rear hub, and a tube to fit the other snow tire on the front, it'll be a low-geared off road/inclement weather fixie. I'll upload pictures of the completed project soon, though it won't be ridable until I get those parts next week.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Parents asked me to put up some photos of the damage. As you can see, I'm probably going to pull through.
Car to the face. Luckily, your chin is some of the hardest bone in your body!
Pedal gouged a piece of my ankle out. This is the part that has me limping.
And, just because it deserves to be on my internet journal, here's a really myspacey picture of what I look like these days. Or rather, what I look like when I'm on vacation, and have time to make coffee at home.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
brush with death
Hit by a car today. Pulled right out in front of me, no left turn signal, into a shopping center while I was cruising down Centre Ave, in the middle of the lane, in broad fuckin' daylight.
Some people just forget sometimes that they're driving a few thousand pounds of metal around. "I didn't even see you, the sun was in my eyes," she said. Well, maybe you ought to get some fucking sunglasses, and learn to use that set of brakes that costs as much as my entire vehicle. I AM TRAFFIC.
Anyway, I win on this one. I have several witnesses, the woman's phone number, and the police report puts her at fault for not yielding to me! Woohoo, legal upper hand!
Oh, and I am fine. Little scrape on the ankle, nasty-looking bruise on my chin. Alice is completely unscathed. I locked her up, got into the ambulance, then walked back to the crime scene two hours later to ride home. Here I am now at the Coffee Tree, with the leg up on a chair and a nice hot cuppa joe.
Anyway, you could totally die tomorrow. Get the number of that barista you like. Eat some truffles and foie gras. Shoot a gun, get drunk, have lots of sex. I could've been pushing daisies 1500 miles away from home today. That is, if I weren't such a tough motherfucker.
Ride hard, it keeps you warm.
Some people just forget sometimes that they're driving a few thousand pounds of metal around. "I didn't even see you, the sun was in my eyes," she said. Well, maybe you ought to get some fucking sunglasses, and learn to use that set of brakes that costs as much as my entire vehicle. I AM TRAFFIC.
Anyway, I win on this one. I have several witnesses, the woman's phone number, and the police report puts her at fault for not yielding to me! Woohoo, legal upper hand!
Oh, and I am fine. Little scrape on the ankle, nasty-looking bruise on my chin. Alice is completely unscathed. I locked her up, got into the ambulance, then walked back to the crime scene two hours later to ride home. Here I am now at the Coffee Tree, with the leg up on a chair and a nice hot cuppa joe.
Anyway, you could totally die tomorrow. Get the number of that barista you like. Eat some truffles and foie gras. Shoot a gun, get drunk, have lots of sex. I could've been pushing daisies 1500 miles away from home today. That is, if I weren't such a tough motherfucker.
Ride hard, it keeps you warm.