echappist

You mean Jungleland.


I think another Springsteen song expressly refers to the Linden refineries. They are a sight to behold at night. Western NJ is quite nice for road cycling. Few drivers and miles of roads without traffic lights; some even have decently wide shoulders.

globecanvas

I happen to really like Son Volt but covering any song off Nebraska is like, I don't know, photocopying a painting.

scheibo

Rode by where I mysteriously crashed on my TT bike on Saturday. I previously thought I crashed because of oil on the new roads + cross winds + switching from bars to brakes, and that could all have contributed, but I now know exactly why I crashed: I went over one of the most horribly filled in potholes I've ever seen. It's about 3 feet in diameter, new pavement, and its filled in so poorly that theres a huge lip on one side and a raised 'wave' of pavement that is about as large as a speed bump on the other, sort of like:

I don't think I would have stayed upright on my road bike unless I was paying attention, let alone in the sticks on the TT rig. I don't know how the city could have possibly made a pothole I don't really remember existing into a death trap, but they have succeeded.

caloso

Strava giveth and Strava taketh away.

A former pro just Gaimoned one of my KOMs.

mattm

Where is this death trap?

scheibo

head south on Grant towards Foothill and its in the bike lane about 30 ft from the intersection with Fremont. 'death trap' is perhaps too harsh, its more 'something you probably want to be aware of and steer around'. one time up on skyline (where it ends and turns single lane near Los Gatos) there was a full on *trench* with no signage whatsoever on a small descent. *that* was definitely a 'death trap'.

miyata man

Heal up scheibo, I won't reiterate my treatise on safe and professional road surface repair. Whoever, contractor or government employee, performed that work should be involuntarily removed from that capacity.

Zurichman2

I guess you have never been hit by a car then. I was hit back in Jan.(my 2nd time) by a drunk's mirror. I was lucky in that he only clipped me on my left waistline. I can't help but think a few more inches and I might not be typing this. The only mistake I made was not calling the cops on him. I was on an out and back and it was starting to rain and I was 35 miles from the house and just wanted to get home.

I decided to give gravel grinding a try.

Zman

Zurichman2

[QUOTE=echappist;19538552]well, there are all sorts of stories of how parents or adult rec league players go after referees. Just imagine making an incorrect offside call and getting an earful

Who cares about the earful in some tournaments I use to ref and the parent would have been barred from the field and politely escorted off. The most problem I had was in the adult leauges and especially soccer refs. They would do dirty stuff and as long as they could get away with it(no blood no foul) but as soon as somebody did it to them they would cry. The worst I had was a Spanish/American game and after a goal is scored you turn your back and take the ball to mid field. One player cold cocked(knocked out) another player. Game over and thankfully I collected the money before the game instead of after.

Zman

Ygduf

I think when they fill that **** in it's flat but then as cars hit it, they hit the softer patch and push asphalt up on the far side, like a super-slow molasses wave. Then as the whole at the front edge gets deeper it just exaggerates the impact from the car and viola- you're ****ed.

carpediemracing 

+1

Using a cheap filler will do that.

A better, plastics based filler will harden quicker and more permanently. Not only that, since the resins are pressure activated they stay somewhat pliable for years in the bag. I used this stuff at the Bethel Spring Series to patch up stuff. The patches there that look amateurish, that's me. Works under water (like in a water filled pothole), etc. Immediately ready for use, just sprinkle some sand on it to keep it from sticking to tires.

Bags are about $10 for the cheap stuff, about $22-24 for the good stuff. The good stuff I know is Perma Patch.

miyata man

CDR, this has nothing to do with what petroleum substrate is used in driveway crack filler. This is about the laziness of someone driving around a $100k dedicated commercial truck with only one purpose in life.

topflightpro

Made my second to last car payment today.

And next week, I get to make the second payment on my wife's car.

Harlan

I got sick of paying for my car so I sold it and got an e-cargo-bike (I haul 150# of mutt to work on a daily basis). Life is good, unless I'm sick and it's raining. Then it sucks.

mike868y

^how do you get to races?

Harlan

I failed to mention my wife has an '07 Prius we take to races.

It sits in the driveway all week and we rack up the miles driving on the weekends since she commutes mosts days on a solo bike as well.

I've been envious of the Zipcar folks that can just take one to races.

topflightpro

I unfortunately live in an area where cars are a necessity.

Transit is not an option. Though the nearest bus stop is 0.6 miles from my house, I would have to take three buses to cover that 3.3 miles, which would take 1 hour and 10 min.

While it is only 3.3 miles from my home to my office, and there are bike lanes much of the way, I have seen too many motorists use the bike lanes to pass motorists on the right. Also, the distance is too short to bother changing into cycling gear, but far enough that riding here in my work clothes would mean arriving very sweaty - especially in the summer heat.

Also, in the nine years we've lived here, the area has blown up, so I am no longer comfortable riding my bike near my house after work. So, I end up doing all my mid-week training on the rollers. On most weekends, I can get out of the house without a problem, except for in the fall, when one of the local colleges have a noon kick off.

hack

Was there last year .. my car is paid off, wife's car is now 12ish payments in. Losing the second payment is a nice treat.

Harlan

A data point: my work is 7.5 miles straight shot. No bike lanes besides ~100ft of lane through one newly paved intersection. Busy as hell roads. The e-assist allows me to use it as a car. I wear street clothes and can haul whatever load without getting sweaty (depends on the assist level, of course) and making pretty good time. Sometimes there's so much traffic I am moving the same speed and I act like a car. Cars see my rig (it's wide), several lights, and give me plenty of space. There are always people not paying attention wherever you go, I've had one or two incidents (always by the McDonalds) where people use the shoulder to pass. I take the lane there now. I guess my point is it's doable if you feel comfortable on the roads.

grolby

Conventional wisdom would hold that cars are necessary on the Cape.

caloso

I realize that this is not feasible for everyone but we do everything possible to pay cash for our cars.

topflightpro

There are two boys down the street from me who are always out riding their bikes. They're about 6, I'd guess. They don't wear helmets and have no fear or inhibitions. A few months ago, I noticed one had a flat tire, so I bought a tube and replaced it.

About a month ago, I was installing the tow hitch on my wife's new CR-V, and they recently decided to come over and strike up a friendship. (I wasn't really in the mood as I was once-again having a harder time installing the hitch that I had anticipated and hit my head more times than I would have liked, but I digress.) They saw the bikes in the garage and started asking questions. They are quite infatuated with my wife's mountain bike, and ask to ride it every time they come over. I then explain each time that it is too big for them and I cannot lower the saddle enough.

Now they routinely come over and ring the bell to see if I can come out to play with them. If I'm out riding and see them, I'll ride around with them for a few minutes.

I had to buy another tube to fix another flat on Monday, which then turned into me fixing the bikes of 5 or 6 kids on the street. They again asked to ride my wife's bike and asked how her races went - they ask me the same questions over and over again, but seemed to remember that she was away at collegiate nationals.

Anyway, my wife came back yesterday after being gone for about 10 days for travel and as she was unpacking the car, the two boys rolled up, and the more vocal one asked: "He know you're here?"

She responded. "Yeah, I live here."

"Oh ok." And then he rolled away.

When my wife told me the story, it was pretty damn funny. I'm not sure I've really been able to convey the humor of the situation through this story though.

Wylde06

There is a new crit next weekend. If I go I was planning on doing the 4/5 and the 3/4, with like 3.5 hours between races.


I just realized there is a 30+ masters field between the 2 other races. And now for some reason I can't seem to figure out, I am really thinking about signing up for it. Would be great for some laughs (after the fact) at least.


I race with a bunch of 2's and 3's in our club series, but never outside the club races.


Hmm..

globecanvas

I get it. When we moved in to our current house 20 years ago, I spent the first summer replacing all the windows and re-siding the house. There were a couple of ~8 year old kids who would come over every day. One of them would just talk non-stop, giving me useful advice like "don't fall off that ladder!" and asking me over and over and over about our 69 GTO (long since sold, now). That kid's family was sort of notorious in town for being trouble, and I used to really wonder if the kid's older brothers were like "keep that new guy busy in the front yard while we rip off his stuff out the back door!" I always thought the kid swiped a garden gargoyle that was here when we moved in (not that I cared, we're not the garden gargoyle types) but coincidentally my wife just happened to dig the gargoyle out of the compost heap just last week and I said "wow I thought the neighbor kid stole that 20 years ago."

Actually the kid's older brother was later arrested for breaking into houses, but I don't think they were organized enough to use the little kid as a decoy. Anyway, a few years later the kid's whole family packed up and abandoned their house in the middle of the night and moved to North Carolina to live with some relatives. Which is where you live, right? The chattermouth kid would be almost 30 now but maybe it's the second generation? Wouldn't that be something.

Heathpack 

Haha. two doors down from us is a family whose youngest kid is a very frightening delinquent, maybe 18ish now but sometimes he scares his parents so much with his threats of violence that they leave the house (and then call a mutual neighbor to ask him to 'keep an eye on things'- I know, great parents).


When we first moved into our house (which had been a foreclosure) this kid was around 10. Every time he'd see me out front gardening or whatever, he'd come by and strike up a conversation and offer to help me. He knew we'd done some remodeling and one day he asks to see the house.


First thing he says when he steps in the front door is "I LOVE the new floors!" lol just like a 40 year old woman. Then he proceeds to give me a tour of all the places in the house he and his brother damaged when they broke into it over and over when it was abandoned. Lovely.


However the good news is the people across from us with the heroin-dealing son sold their house and moved out yesterday.


Sounds like I live in some kind of bad neighborhood, but I in fact live in Mayberry, one of the 10 safest cities in California. This kind stuff is just "normal" now I think, even in Mayberry.