"Obviously you're not a Golfer" - El Duderino

*you're

Nice, that looks pretty nifty. I have seen it on the internetz but wasn't sure if it was going to look decent and durable enough.

i hate how played out the dude is now.

I'll be driving out to Death Valley tomorrow. I've been looking forward to heading out to the desert and having some real solitude since being on the union job. Gotta sweat out all that stress and anxiety from the last few months.

today i put a nitto fairweather bullmoose bar on the space horse and it's perfect. i love this bar...it's been great on everything i've put it on.

I was there many years ago.

Rented a truck the second day and went around the back way, up dirt roads and got as high up toward Telescope peak as I could.

Watching the sunrise, the layered colors of minerals in the rocks, seeing coyote come out at dusk... One of the most memorable times of my life.

I'm very envious and hope you have a great time.

I didn't know about this peak and now it will be my goal. Thanks! Honestly, I didn't have anything planned because I have just been desperate to get some alone time and I don't even know how Death Valley entered my mind. Social anxiety sucks.

But Death Valley rules! Enjoy it!

The forecast for Death Valley for Wednesday, June 21st 2017 is a balmy 115° F with a nice low of 70° F. I hope that you get a chance to ride in that if you were planning on it.

Today I rode my bike and loved it.

Anyone here a Wabi subscriber? If so, how frequently do they dole out coupons?

I just subscribed to their email blasts in hopes of finding a discount on a Wabi Classic frameset within a month or two.

Sounds like a good ride. Why not just wear a jersey and put the bottles in your pockets? I'm with 50volt on the bike and bars too.


Man I need to get out West. Sounds great.

I don't have a jersey. lol. I just wear a Tshirt and some liner shorts underneath athletic shorts. I know the benefit of tech pieces for riding, and I am all for it. I just don't have the means to justify that expense yet.

Today I had a conversation with a jerkoff on my commute to work

On my ride to work, I get out of the park and ride the sidewalk for about 200 yards until I get to a side street, at which I cross and continue through the neighbhorhoods. I do not ride in the "bike lane" on this road because it is very busy in the morning, and like most of the "death gutters" it is full of debris, rocks, glass, and sewer grates - even for that very short time.

This morning there was a man walking his dog over the bridge. I announced twice very loudly as I approached from behind. After the 2nd time he stopped, turned, and had a confrontational tone from the get go. It was at this point that I realized he probably heard my first call out, but ignored it. I could tell by the look he made as he turned around to talk to me. I don't remember every word he said (I do remember what I said), but it went something along these lines:

*Man points to road*: You've got a lane right there, you should be
there."
ME: "Yes sir I know, but it is unsafe so I do not ride in it."
Man: "It's a city ordinance, get on the road. (he kept going for a little longer...)
ME: "Sir, it's not a city ordinance, I can use the sidewalk if I feel unsafe."
Man: "It's a city ordinance. There's the lane right there."
ME: "Sir, I just want to go around you."
Man: "No, it's a city ordinance," ---something something I don't remember
ME: "Sir, it's not a city ordinance. It's unsafe to ride in that lane."
Man: *begins to turn around* "I'm not moving." *walks away*

So I stepped my bike down off the high curb onto the street, and rode past. There is a ramp in the curb at the end of the bridge so I used it to get back on the sidewalk in front of him. As I am doing this he yells "I'm calling the Constables Office!"
I shouted back "Good luck!" - I should have added: "They'll tell you the same thing I told you!"

I make it a point to always be respectful when talking with people like this (this includes motorists). I never raised my voice nor took at argumentative tone. I will admit that after he turned and started walking away and I was stepping down off the sidewalk onto the road I said "Fine, if you want to be a dick about it." under my breath, but that was mostly out of frustration, and he had already ended the conversation.

And of course he was wrong.

Next time just ignore him back and ride around him however you have to. Some (most) people just aren't worth dealing with. As long as your conduct yourself safely and respectively he can go **** himself.

Today I rode my TriCross down to the shop and removed the cranks and bottom bracket for a visual inspection. Been getting a weird creaking noise, and after the issue with my fixed cranks, I decided to just get it over with. Completely cleaned, inspected, greased and torqued everything down to spec. Creak is gone from what I can tell so far. Thankful that the shop I use/work for has a customer repair stand and all the tools you will need. As someone that is still in the learning stages, this has been absolutely invaluable along with the knowledge of the owner/manager/mechanics.

According to Bike Houston, bikes are permitted on sidewalks but not in business districts.
Where I live a bike with >20 inch tires is a vehicle and vehicles can't legally be operated on sidewalks.

In NYC they will ticket for riding on the sidewalk. I've seen a cop chase a cyclist on foot with peds voicing encouragement.

Personally, I'd rather ride in the road and take the lane but I've no idea what Houston is like. I've only been there once on business and remember extremely heavy traffic.


-Tim-

Yeah I'm really active with Bike Houston and with our local district. I know all the ordinances and laws. I never doubted he was wrong and just being a huge dick.
Houston is so broad that cycling is different everywhere.

This sounds great. How does it work--Do you have to buy stuff/time? Does the staff help out with inspection/advice?

It's pretty common to see customer air pumps that you can just roll up and use, but I've never heard of a full on repair stand.

There are no requirements to use the mechanic grade Park Tool stand, or the full set of Park Tools that are there for the customers. We just need to be open for regular business hours. We have people that stop in and do everything from air up their tires to a full bike build and everything in between. We encourage our customers to learn how to swap a tube themselves if they have time so they can save money. Mechanics are always there to answer questions, but the customer turns the wrenches and does the work and gets dirty. It is a one of a kind thing that I have never seen a shop do before. We have grown a great customer base because of it and they are now solid regular customers. They come to us before another shop or even go online. Business is not affected by it in the negative, in fact I think it adds a nice atmosphere in the shop and makes the customer feel part of the process. In turn, they may buy an extra tube, some lube, or new bar tape or whatever.

I love absolutely everything about that. Thanks for sharing.

When people see that a tube is like $7.50 and the labor is $7, they quickly see that if they do it themselves, they save enough to buy another tube. Since we are located across the street from a college campus, we get a lot of students on a tight budget. This helps them out quite a bit, especially since so many ride to class and home.

The owner is pretty genius for doing this. Not many people would think that it would work, especially in a market that is already tough to make a buck. It is definitely working for him. The other day there were a few people waiting to use the stand and one guy just working on his bike right on the floor.

To be clear, I wasn't challenging. Sorry if it came across that way.

I just found it interesting that Houston would allow bikes on the sidewalk at all given my experience with the big northeastern cities. These are very ped-centric, especially NYC. One would have to pretty much be a nut to ride a bike on the sidewalk in Manhattan.


-Tim-

:o :o :o