Last night at work I pulled a muscle in my right hand. Probably no biking (among other things) for a little while. Today I cleaned about 100lbs of dust out of my room and am eating a lot of donuts.

looking for parts/bikes online... building frankenstein

Haha, I was hoping nobody would say that! You're being pretty persuasive... ;)

I guess I can try out fixed, and if I don't like it or want some flexibility, I can always install a freewheel later. Guess we'll see.

I originally converted my bike because I wanted a singlespeed, not a fixed gear. But I bought something with a flip flop hub just to try out riding fixed for fun, I even told myself I'd probably never use it. However I switched around the wheel one day just to try it for fun, and the freewheel on the other side hasn't touched a chain since then, which was about 2 years ago.

Just do it, it's fine to be scared. And clips get super easy, as in you can get both in before a full pedal rotation.

I've done a bit of fixed riding before (but not a lot), just not totally sure I want to go all the way quite yet, as this will be my first time commuting in NYC. Lots of other things to worry about besides pedaling.

As long as you know how to use a brake it'll all be fine.

Some people just like to coast...it's my favorite thing about riding my road bike, personally.

Today I:

1. During a casual browsing session, found something I wanted on ebay and bid on it :innocent: .

2. Skipped my usual ride on the rollers because it was 94F INSIDE when I got home. This was after spending the day wearing a jacket to keep warm in the 68F office.

Today I finally fixed my drivetrain issues on my bike, and took it on a 7 mile ride but shhh... don't tell my doctor :x

I've broken my collarbone 3 times, once on one side and twice on the other. In all cases I was back on the bike in 3 weeks and racing in 6 weeks. Unless you've had complications or some medical condition that affects healing, I can't understand how you still need to be so careful after 2 months. The collarbone is probably the least important bone you can break as it doesn't carry any load, so even if it isn't fully healed it doesn't matter. Sounds like maybe you've got one of those nanny worry wort doctors.

Today I found a old Trek 600 in my friends backyard. Shimano 600, Campy derailers, tubeless mavics to record hubs, cinelli bars and stem. All manner of fun stuff, time to restore.

Well at 4 weeks, my bone had barely began to reheal, both pieces were separated a good centimeter or so, even at 7 weeks the space between both halves of my bone wasn't completely filled. It doesn't hurt anymore, which is why I've been riding recreationally along with commuting (the doctor said I could do that though). One thing I did notice, which I don't know if its just me, is that I cannot wear a backpack anymore, the straps go right over the break and I get a sharp pain from it.

Nice find! Sounds like a good project.

OK. In my case the bones weren't separated that much. They were offset and formed noticeable bumps. Maybe in your case you should have had surgery to reset the bones. The pain you are feeling is probably from scar tissue that has formed around the break. Have they given you any rehab exercises to do ? It's very important to keep that scar tissue from getting too big or you'll continue to have pain for a long time.

Today was my second cigarette-free day in a row. It's not much but it feels like quite a victory as I made it through a 10-hour shift with only about two cravings.

Awesome!

You are a non-smoker the moment you truly decide to quit.

Understand that you will have yearnings for years. Be prepared for them and deal with them accordingly and you will be fine.

That bite I had yesterday has turned into a swollen red lump - definitely a spider, hope it goes away soon. It's really awkward itching the inside of you thigh...

Thanks for the kind words. My issue is that I don't really want to quit. I'm young and active enough to not feel like ****, and a lot of my friends and a great deal of my co-workers (the restaurant industry is full of smokers) smoke too. I smoke(d) nice cigarettes, etc. I just know that one day I'm going to wake up 40 years old still smoking and that's when it'll really suck and it will kill me. Forcing myself to get off the train now (and posting about it on here and Google+ feels helpful).

Speaking of which, does anyone want a Google+ invite? Just pm me your email address and I'll send you one.

It sounds like you've already got a handful of excuses lined up for why you aren't going to really quit and that you are merely on a "break" from smoking.

I think you should take a more serious approach to quitting.

Quitting is not easy, but it is well within your reach.

Accept and appreciate the support, but do not rely on others to get you through this. No one is going to hold your hand.

Just think how awesome your cardio would be when you cut the habit!

Good luck with quitting, bro. You can/should do it!

I was told that if needed, I would have to do rehab exercises after it was completely healed, just to relieve some stiffness in my shoulder (which I don't have). At this point I'm pretty sure its healed completely, my next appointment isn't until the 28th though. This was taken 5 days after the accident, yum! http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._6202118_n.jpg
Maybe this is just the universe telling me I should buy a blicks bag instead of using my old backpack... haha

Today is my "Friday", because I'm taking tomorrow and Friday off of work... mostly to watch the first Pyrenees stages of the Tour (and burn some vacation days).

We are planning to ride our bikes to the Bristol Renaissance Faire on Saturday, but there are no bike racks there and we're worried about locking up. (There apparently is a motorcycle parking area with sturdy wooden posts and I think heavy chain.) Should be fun though - 50+ miles each way will make for my first official century. Worst case scenario I guess is we walk around with our bikes and head back home.

Yesterday I coached the some young whipper snappers at swim practice like I always do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some kids were being jackasses and were made to regret it (I LOVE POWER).

Then I watched Netflix Instant and played Baldur's Gate 2 all day. Decided not to make the drive to Marymoor Velodrome due to the heavy overcast with 50% chance of rain. Kinda disappointing but my legs haven't fully recovered from the one day STP yet.