tibikefor2

Cigtech:

That is really nice work.

Newbie: Sorry, I do not mean to taunt anyone

tulip

Spring sun rises cold
An empty road--no busses
An osprey soars

* * *
I took a new route today, much more direct. Leaving very early (6:30), the cars are not so much a problem. I would not want to leave later, though. For those of you who are familiar with the area--I took Rhode Island Avenue from the Maryland line to Logan Circle (four miles) and then caught Vermont Avenue to Thomas Circle to 14th Street NW and down to the river, then to Alexandria on the MVT. It took 20 minutes off my commute. It's a little shorter distance-wise, but a better workout since there are many fewer stop-and-goes.

I would not ride this route later in the morning, nor if I were not comfortable in traffic. It's definitely not a route for beginners. But I made to Alexandria in 1:06!

Marylandnewbie

Velo - If you get a late start with that route you may be on the verge or redefining extreme! Congrats on the time.

Just another uneventful ride for me this morning. I need to find another pair of sunglasses, now that the sun is actually rising in the morning ride. Nice not to have any serious wind for the ride.

tulip

Hey y'all! Today was my first round-trip commute of the year! It did get dark on me, and I did have to go through some rough patches, and there are those armed robbers roaming around Catholic University, but I got home unscathed. When I got home, I noticed my blinkie was really dim, so I'll have to change the batteries. But with my Nite Rider headlight and all my obnoxious reflective hi-viz yellow gear, I think I was okay.

My time was 1:20 (the long route), which is not bad considering I have not ridden both ways since the time changed.

26 miles today. Yipee. I'm going to now have a beer and put in a snazzy new faucet in my downstairs bathroom with my new basin wrench. I love endorphins.

Marylandnewbie

Velo -- Bike Commuter by Day, Plumber by Night!

I had a nice ride home with only a short section facing a little headwind. I fell prey to some competitive grandstanding on the way home. When I was stopped to cross a street this older guy who've I've seen riding recreationally off and on since last spring passed me. I simply could not let this duffer on a fat tire mountain bike pass me. So I passed him and spun along at 17mph to maintain a childishly comfortable lead almost all the way home until he turned off. Obviously, he has gotten faster than when I first saw him huffing and puffing along last spring, but then again so have I. I was pretty pleased that I could still pull off that burst of speed at the end of my ride. Oh well no harm done in my little competitive fling.

Mars

Velo, congrats on your commute times and excitement! NIce haiku, by the way.

Maryland: good job schooling that guy on what it means to mess with a member of the XCC!

Mars

Forty miles today
Under early spring sunshine
My bike knows this path.

CigTech

Hey Guys, I just got home from a nice day of commuting. This morning I had to much on my mind. All I could think about was what I needed to do on the Bent bike and how it was going to be riding it. So my ARTS was only 14.69 MPH for the ride. A co-worker stoped and tired to give me a ride. I just waved and said thanks, but no thanks as I rode pass him at 20 MPH into a head wind. At work he was telling every one that I was flying and that it took him a 1/2 mile to get back on the road and pass me again.

But on the way home I was flying. I just got off the bay bridge run at 21 MPH (about 5.5 miles into the 17 mile ride) when I see a cop pulling over three bikers. So I decided to put on the speed to get as much distance between me and the cop (just in case). I looked down and found that I was running at 26.7 MPH. I held this speed till I got 9.5 miles into the ride and turnd north on to the next road. Then I keep the speed up at 22.5 MPH till I turned on to the next road (12 miles into the ride). Then I droped down to 19.5 MPH for the rest of the 17.81 mile ride. I had so much fun just knowing that he was back there checking all the gas station for a sing of me.... LOL.

CigTech

Thanks for all the support on the bent project. If it rides as good as it looks, when it's done. I well make a set of plans for any one on here that what's them. If you'r not 6'2" like me, all you'll have to do is shorten the beam and back rest to your size. It is really eazy to make the frame. the hardest part is making sure the tire track true to the frame.

Thanks again

CigTech

gears griding in my head,
wheels turning and burning,
road long running.

tulip

okay, the endorphins have worn off. Getting those rusted-on supply lines off were a b****. And the gunk in the trap, yuck-ola. Now I can't get the new faucet to seat right. The silicone sealant does not want to seal. I'm beat so I'll let it sit over night. If it doesn't work, I'll take it out and use the heavy duty plumber's putty that I bought as backup. The new faucet does look nice, though, and I've learned how to plumb a sink. This is my first sink. Up to now I've only fixed my bathtub and shower. That was out of necessity because the faucet handle broke (when I was taking a bath--it broke as the water was running and I could not get it to stop...). The sink project is pure aesthetics. I think I like fixing things.

Newbie, if you need plumbing help, just let me know, as I live not too far away from you, I believe. At the very least, I have the right tools for sinks and bathtubs.

CigTech

Watch it Velogirl, next you'll be building a bent bike too. I work at home depot. If you need any advice just let me know. I fix every thing, I think it drives my wife crazy sometimes. Like when she just wants a new one of what has broken.

Cyclaholic

Way to go 'newbie - you dropped him with great vengance and fuuuurios anger!!!

I somehow managed to score 4 flats on the way in yesterday... and at the end of the day I came out to another flat... that's right folks - 5 flats, a new personal best (worst?). The worst was the 4th, it was a chunky 3" nail through the sidewall, about 50 yards down the road from the 3rd flat. I was this close to calling the missus to come pick me up, arrived at work over an hour late instead.

jur

Whoa.

What tyres do you run? Was this on your Surly?

CigTech

I thought I had it bad with 3 flats in one day. I did end up pushing it home about 8 miles the rest of the way home. Beter luck today Cyclaholic.

tulip

I think I would have run out of patches! You must be very prepared to handle 5 flats in one ride. I hope you don't have to do that again any time soon.

CigTech--so I have this little container of Plumber's Putty. Can I use that to seat and seal the faucet to the sink, or should I go get a fresh tube of silcone sealant? Everything else is working great, and I've learned alot. I do want a whole new sink, but that will have to wait until I redo the whole bathroom with new tiling, shower and all (involves moving the hot water heater to the basement, which will have to be coordinated with replacing the 1963 furnace...big job that will have to wait).

What about repointing bricks? How often does that have to happen? My house is 97 years old, and the bricks have never been repointed. I don't even know if they need to be.

Okay, back to my bike.

Marylandnewbie

A last couple of offerings for the week of the haiku.

Sweat trickles, short shorts
Warm wind. Cool down, towel off
Summer rides feel fine

MUP nannies, Tsk! Tsk!
Dog leashes, kids everywhere
Summer weekend Argh

I feel somewhat silly for dropping the duffer last night -- a pointless exercise in competitiveness, but fun nonetheless. I was more contrite this morning. Of course, it helped that there were very few people out this morning. An uneventful casual commute this morning. I did see a crew fishing downed trees out of the canal this morning.

Velo -- thanks for the plumbing offer but after rehabbing a DC rowhouse and now a MD suburban rambler I've done almost every plumbing task from replacing water heaters to rerouting sewer stacks to faucet repairs. In short, I've seen more plumbing repairs and issues than I care to remember. In some ways working under the sink is one of the more difficult aspects of plumbing. Good luck with your faucet.

Hopefully I will finish my light rig this weekend, although painting a hallway might interfere. Have a good weekend, everybody.

Marylandnewbie

Velo -- quite an ambitious house plan you have. I would think you could use plumber's putty on the faucet, but you might find silicone easier to work with. As for brick repointing I would suggest only doing it where necessary. It is very likely that only areas that stay wet will need work. Best way to check is to buy a fairly thin, cheap straightblade screwdriver and use that to probe suspect mortar joints. If you can push the screwdriver into the joint or the mortar crumbles out easily, then it needs repointing. I would start with joints low to the ground where water splashes up, also any place where there is mold or moss on the brickwork and finally anyplace around openings. These are all places where mortar joints can fail.

The good news is that a bag of mortar, a regular trowel and a pointing trowel are about all you need to do the repair. If you search on line you'll find instructions on how to repoint brick work. It is laborious work, but not difficult to do. Enjoy your secondary career as a mason!

Bike Forums -- not just for biking anymore!!!

Cyclaholic

Yeah, on the Surly. I'm currently running Schwalbe Marathins in 700cX37 with Mr Tuffys, all the flats were on the rear.

The odds finally caught up with me because I hadn't had a flat in something like 7,000kms. I carry 2 spare tubes and a topped up puncture repait kit with 2 tubes of glue, 3 rougheners, and 1 doz. patches. I managed to patch the first tube 3 times untill the nail did too much damage, so I swapped out the tube. When I came out of work and found the rear flat again I found a tiny sliver of wire they use on steel belts (from shredded truck tyres on the freeway shoulder) that caused it.

Cyclaholic

I really like this one, for some reason

CigTech

Velogirl, It sounds like you have a soap biuld up on the snik, That's way the silcone sealant won't seal. If you clean it with alcohol then it should seal just fine. If not then it's just not a good adheres sealant. The plumber's putty will not look good at all. and will never seal right. Plus it will crack as it dries.

As for the repointing bricks. You can repair deteriorated joints by tucking mortar into them with the point of a trowel -- a process masons call pointing or tuck pointing.
So if the mortar joints are cracked, cracked a way from the bricks, or missing mortar then you need to repointing. If this is not the case then "leave it along".... LOL.

Time
1 to 2 hours to repoint an 8x8-foot area.

Skills
Moderate masonry skills.

Tools
Hammer, cold chisel, brush, pointing trowel, hawk, joint strike.

CigTech

Well today on the way home I wiped out on a drive way. I was only going 10 or so but just feel right the hell over when the 20+ Mph cross wind hit me.... I jumped up real quick and acted like it never happened. LOL. This guy setting at the red light asked if I need help or a call to 911.... I just said that I was fine and thank you for asking.

The 20+ head wind made it real hard to get over 13 MPH. So I just put it into 7 gear and enjoy the ride home. it took 104 min to go the 17.86 miles. So it was the slowest commute as of yet.

oilfreeandhappy

That doesn't sound like Florida weather - more like Colorado. I've fallen over from wind before, but it's been a while. I've got to do a good clean-up on my bike after all the snow, ice and slush this week. Tomorrow it's in the 50s though!

CigTech

It's 53 deg right now with a 13 MPH win form north. I thought we where out of winter.

rykoala

CigTech, sorry to hear about your wipe out! That stinks. I have yet to crash on a commute, hopefully I won't for a long time.

This morning, the wind was brutal. 20mph headwind with gusts to 30 or so. VERY difficult, especially on a fixed gear. I got to work 15 minutes late because of that and having to stop to put my rain gear on.

Of course, last night that same wind was a tailwind that had me going over 25mph for extended stretches. I don't think my legs have ever spun so fast, even on big downhills!