Jumping choo choo

I had to hop through the choo choo again today. Apparently this is a 5 something train that stops and dumps a load at Recycle America. I'm glad they are participating in the act of recycling, put they block my route home. I think that this train actually blocks three consecutive intersections while it's stopped, so it's a pretty long ride to get around it. It stops for close to 30 minutes as well, although I believe it's a bit different each time, but it's a long wait no matter what. Dependng on what cars actually stop in front of you, it can make hopping through hard or easy. Today luckily it was about as easy a climb over as it could be. I didn't realize how off balance I would be with the bike in one hand and climbing over with my other. Half way up I had to toss the bike onto my shoulder, which is really uncomfortable, and use both hands to pull myself up. Next time, I think it is probably better to just place the bike up on the walkway, and then climb up. I don't mind this whole climbing over the trains thing. It's kind of exhilirating and fun. But - a) it's against the law and b) probably not a really safe thing to do. So, my goal is to find a way around this train or start regularly hitting the crossing either before or after it gets there. I'm smarter than the choo choo.

and you think the stock marked burst.....

I was running late today when I realized I had a flat. The first thing that occurred to me was that this is the first flat I've had on my front tire. The other four flats I've had were all on my rear tire. The second thing that occurred to me was that I was going to be really late for work. I looked at the clock and decided my best option was to take a mulligan and drive in to work. It's kind of strange driving to work when it's not in your normal routine. It seems like you have to spend so much more time reacting to elements that you don't feel connected to, because they're outside of your car. I don't usually ride my bike in the lane of traffic so I speed up or slow down as I see fit. Some times I just dope along, other times I feel like launching off a couple of bumps in the road. Driving a car you are just in line with everyone else. They break, so you break. You break, so they break. They break again, you give them the finger. They speed up, you slam on your breaks, they give you the finger. 

September Critical Mass

Critical Mass in Birmingham was 18 strong this month. We rode for roughly an hour Downtown > UAB > 5 Points > Highland Avenue > Bottle tree. A couple of people bailed along the way. Those who were remaining went to Bottletree to watch Pedal - a documentary about bike messengers.I split to go watch the presidential debate. Next month critical mass falls on Halloween so I'm hoping there will be a really big turn out for a super spooky ride in costume. Totally unrelated is the picture here of Sloss Furnace taken from 4th Avenue on my way home.

Brocycle > Critical Mass

Another Birmingham bike blog. Looks like these guys have been around for a bit more than a year, check it out when you get a chance http://www.brocycle.com/. Also don't forget that tonight is the Critical Mass ride. Meet at Lynn Park at 6:00 followed by after party at Bottletree and after after party with pizza and beer for the Obama vs. McCain debate.

Donkey Diet update #3 (Like taking candy from a baby)

I'm down another 3 pounds this week - 205. My fellow donkey diet participant remained the same, so I take home the prize. My plan was to post a photo of the poem I was given after the first week's win, but (as seen in yesterday's post) my camera is dead and I haven't charged it yet. So here is a scan of the poem instead. Actually I've never tried to do a color scan of anything before, so it's nice to know what it looks like. Now that this is up. I'm owed a poem AND a drawing for this week. When all is said and done I expect I will have quite a little collection of poems and artwork.

dead battery

What a drag, camera battery dead again when I want to take a picture. I was sitting in traffic and the morning sun was casting my shadow across the "left turn only" arrow in the turning lane. It looked fantastic in the early morning sun. Then, not only did I get stuck for a ridiculous amount of time waiting for a train, but another train started coming the other direction behind me, so I ended up in a train sandwich with no camera. oh well, just a couple of photo ops down the turlet. I suppose I need to charge it more often.

altura de bicicleta

I spoke to my mom this weekend. After reading my blog she asked "what's a tall bike?" Well, der, I thought to myself, it's a bike of somewhat larger than normal, or recommended, stature. After explaining what a tall bike was to my mom, I decided it was time to get moving on my project again. So, here's what I have after working on it this weekend. note: welding in sandals can give you a condition I now refer to as "hot foot." I plan to avoid this in the future. There's still a whole bunch of work to be done here, but the tall bike is ridable at this point. No breaks of any kind yet either, so it's not really a good idea to ride it yet. Here's what I have left: connect the two neck tubes. Install a hand break (the lever is already on the handle bars, I just need to go get a long cable) or preferably, find a coaster or fixed gear real wheel. Either lop off the two support tubes on the back, or use them to mount some sort of flourish. Weld the neck to the forks (they are just stuck together right now). Then take it all apart, sand blast it, paint it, re-assemble and ride. My original goal was to have it out for critical mass next week, but that doesn't look like it's gonna happen. Maybe October.

Big Daddy Patch

well it's now obvious to me why you should not continue to ride after finding a nail embedded in your tire. After patching the obvious nail hole, I inflated the tube only to hear air pouring out from another spot. There were 6 0r 7 additional exit wounds directly across from entry wound. I was able to get them all covered with the super size patch in my kit, but I imagine this tube's days are numbered.

Donkey Diet update #2 Carne Asada!!!!!

Week two, I dropped another 2, so did my competitor, so it's a tie. I'm at 208. Nobody owes nobody nothing this week. However we did adopt the skins game rule. Double down for next week. Loser owes the winner a poem AND a small drawing. Although, I still don't have a poem from my first win. I suppose if I really put my mind to this thing I could drop some pounds pretty quick. My dinners last week went like this: Thursday: Mexican food and margaritas Friday: chez fon fon grilled ham and cheese and fries Saturday: greek festival lamb kabobs and beers Sunday: mexican food and margaritas monday: veggie spaghetti with my honey bunny Tuesday: Music snop trivia night > tacos and beer Wednesday: Todd's birthday > Mexican food and margaritas I feel a little weird after going through that exercise. I obviously have a taco problem.

initiation

I think of today as a hazing ritual all bike riders must go through at some point. I ran over a nail today after leaving the ABC store with a birthday present for Todd. It's amazing how denial immediately kicks in. There was the very distinct sound of air coming out of the tire. However, I kept thinking through all the things it could be other than a flat in progress. I stopped and saw a nail fully embedded in my tire, heard the air escaping, and decided to see how far I could get before it went flat. About 10 more feet. So I looked for the nicest patch of grass and started the process of changing the tube. Luckily a while back I started carrying a spare tube and a pump with me, so I was actually prepared. The only bummer was that my camera battery had died. It would have made a great photo. The tube, the tire with the nail sticking out of it, bike upside down, and Todd's bottle of Patron sitting in the middle of it all on this little patch of grass. Anyway the change went off without a hitch. It couldn't have been a nicer sunnier day and I kept thinking how lucky I was that it wasn't a crappy rainy day. One guy on a bike, Steve, stopped by to see if I needed anything. Customer of Lucy's. Just a bunch of good eggs there at Lucy's, I swear. Thanks for stopping.

Donkey Diet update #1

The donkey diet has now turned into the donkey diet competition. A challenge has been brought before me. Who can lose the most weight by December 25 (two days before D-day). We are checking progress every Thursday. The loser for the week, not the one who lost the most weight but the loser of the contest for the week, must write the other a poem and post it on the winners blog. I won the first week, having lost 2 pounds as compared to their 1. So, you can look for their poem posted here in the coming days. At that point you will also know who the challenger is.

Banksy, Banksy, Banksy

Now that all the dust and fuss has settled over Banksy hitting the gas station in East Birmingham, I thought I would take a moment here to post up one of the stencils I pass almost daily. This has been up for a pretty long time on 1st avenue south under the 24th street bridge. So here is one of our very own to make some fuss over. Best part is no one has covered it up or stolen it yet.

YAY!

Okay, alright, okay, okay. I haven't written anything for a bit. There's good reason for that. I haven't been on my bike for about two weeks, until today. Looking back over the last two weeks it's seems like there are a lot of good excuses, but in the end they are just excuses. So I'll just say YAY for being back on my bike. One important update is that we have booked a trip to the Grand Canyon for December 26th through the 31st. As part of our adventure, we are taking a mule trip down to the bottom of the Canyon, spending the night and riding out the next day. We are super excited and I think it's going to be an outstanding trip. So why is this an important update? They won't let you get on the mule if you weigh over 200 lbs, fully dressed, in winter gear. Apparently they weigh you before you get on the mule, so there is no sucking in your stomach and sneaking past. Problem is, I weigh about 210 right now with nothing on. I figure I need to get to about 190 or less to be safe with several layers on, plus boots. So - Ta Da - today starts the "donkey diet." Not sure what this is going to entail, other than losing 20 pounds. It seems like good fodder for some funny posts. Maybe I'll make myself some list of rules and post them here. Post script - I hate diets, especially ones that restrict you to or from certain categories of food, or food that tastes good.