So a funny story on my ride tonight. Stopped in Tim Hortons at St. George around 11:00 for coffee, locked up my bike and enjoyed a nice coffee and a smoke. Went to unlock and realized I lost the key for the crappy cable lock I use. Phoned the wife, no key there. No spare either. Went home and grabbed a hammer, screw driver and a hack saw. Waited until one of Torontos finest drove by (figured it wouldn't take long, being a donut shop and all....) and told them I had an unusual request. Watch as I broke the lock, so that no one would call the police on me. After convincing them it was my bike, giving them my name and address in case someone reported the bike stolen, as if anyone would want a bike that ugly, and by describing the bike in detail. So I then peoceeded to bash the crap out of the lock. Took a few good whacks. Faces from inside were curious to say the least. Thanked the officers and decided not to offer some donuts, but coffees instead. They declined and off I went. Nice night for a ride.

Ah yes, spare keys. Like a 1-up.

the William Gibson-esque thumb print proximity bike alarms that deliver a stunning ZAP!!! through the frame is what I'd love. It even tells people to back off. Powered by the micro-electrical generators in the hubs. mmmm one day. Funny story smackin a lock to death with the police watching, good plan getting them on board first.

Yeah if we had the gibson bike lock we'd all be riding paper core bikes made by the japanese. Though he definately got one thing right in the bridge cycle by basing all of that in a future frisco

*wes gives big nerdy hugs all around*

I want the radio bike before the alarm though. OH and the light up rims.
dibs on converting the DVP subway bridge into loft living once the fall comes.

Word to NERD!

*sobs*

... as I sit here watching my documentary on the Altair 8800 ...

It's all true!

hi everyone. newbie from the east end here. been riding my first fixie ever for less than a month now. she's a lemond filmore. really happy about the bike. new to a lot of this fixed gear/road bike thing. had a flat the second day of riding. am a bit clumsy on the road. used to ride my ss unibomber on the road.
am really really freaked out about downhills. started riding clipped in for a week now. started learning how to skid but not really that great yet. would love to learn from pros on this forum. i'd like to move my rear wheel all the way to the inside of the dropouts. because i hate to always have to make sure that i have proper tension whenever i put the rear wheels back on for what ever reason (flats would most likely be the most common reason). is there any disadvantage to doing this? i also like the fact that fixies look way cooler that way.

East end, eh? Stop by Cycle Therapy - 1114 Queen East. I'll take a look at that tire for you (maybe you've got something embedded in it that's causing repeated flats) and give you some tips on skipping/skidding.

- Mike

PS. I'm in every day except Monday/Tuesday.

The key to skidding is practise, you have to find the perfect body position on your bike to get it too work. Took me awhile but now I can hold it for pretty much as long as I have speed and a safe place to do it. The same thing with going downhill you have to figure out just how fast you can spin for how long. Just work up hills in progressions, I find Russel Hill Road works well because it provides curves, a one way street, quiet area and a good run off so you can go as fast or as slow as you want.

Anyone riding today??

And Keith you going to be open? I need to come chat with you about a few things

Back to your old schedule now, post-rally?

Also: I vote for a crit.vac. ride next week.

... for the rest of the month (Tomas is selling his house, so he's at home most days getting it fixed up).

thanks mike. will do so. have some errands to do today and will try and stop by. that's close to carlaw isn't it?

Just east of Queen and Pape.

oops..sorry, i just realized you already gave me the address on your post.

Would this be Dino?

Anyone know a messenger who rides a sky blue brakeless cyclops track bike? Just saw the dude go across traffic at front and bay, looked like he had a "the messengers" jersey on or something.

Also, I have been noticing that when I ride with no hands occasionally the front end of the bike will start shaking and flexing back and forth and the handlebars will start twitching. It gets worse the faster I go and I have to grab the handlebars when they start to really flail around. Is this a problem with the bike or a fact of life? i don't seem to remember this happening before, its more of a new occurence. When I lean forward with no hands it seems to help the problem somewhat. Front end seems nice and solid and I did a full maintenence of it a week or two ago.

High speed shimmys are fun.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/shimmy.html

Virtual Light?

yup.... that's where we first meet Chevette and her messer friends

I think i saw this messenger guy yesterday up by Davisville and Mt Pleasant. Is the Cyclops one of those super agressive forward sloping toptube track bikes? He looked really tired when he got up to the top of mt pleasant.

Nice bike though.

And I thought I was the only cyberpunk freak here.
You mean there is more of Chevette in other books?
Neuromancer is still my favorite of the two I've read.

Virtual Light is part of the bridge cycle which is 3 related books, Virtual Light, Idoru and All Tommorow's Parties. All are worth reading.

That is all.

whew.. finally past the page of death (444).

Interesting! I guess being tall makes you more prone to speed wobbles, because you need a bigger bike with longer tubes and you're sitting up higher. Maybe my long heavy stem and bullhorns mounted with a big light and a mini soccer ball, a bell, 2 oury grips and cork tape are also adding to the problem. It is cool to watch the front of my bike virbate like a guitar string though. Maybe its time for some handlebar mounted bottle holders. Kick it old school while getting the most out of my speed wobbles.