aphids in the air…

(exchanging glances?)

Alas, I don’t ride fast enough to splatter them onto my jacket, just get ‘em to stick.  So, when I go into the house… htey fly around.  Blecch. Hey, I’d rather have aphids than floods. (Interesting that the Weather Channel didn’t give a Promo Name to the flood event in Atlanta.  Is it because the new owners don’t want them to, or because it’s jus ttoo close to home?)Rather have aphids than dust storms a la Sidney.

Monday, as I cruised by the bike shop at 10:00 at night, I shifted gears… and they wouldn’t cooperate.  Serious floppage aroundage of hte chain.  Had me hobbling the bike along enough to inspire a motorist to turn back and make sure I was okay.  Then I found a gear it would ride in and didn’t change it.  I figure the puir wee cycle was trying to get into the bike shop nad was simply informing me that no, I really should NOT do just a thousand more miles and wait ’til “off season” to get the maintenance that, um, I didn’t get three thousand miles ago.

So I stuck the Dahon on top today and cruised it in. That kid who passed me in the alley gave it several glances…

Must also decide what to do about its original wheel… the one with the drum brake and generator hub that simply devours bearings in a year.  Time to hit ye olde bike forum and see what opinions are lurking out there…

Xtracycle N+1

Forgot to mention that yes, there’s another Xtra in the C-U community (in the process of being built).  Glad to hear that one of the “fewer than 40 left” sale versions landed here!  Looking forward to the conversion tales

Mine is running a little rough, though… think I’ll drop in at CHampaign Cycle and check out the status of The Other Wheel… ’cause perhaps I’ve run these bearings into the ground, too.  Is it a karma thing?  I’m just a frictional soul?

They’re back :)

And it’s not just more auto traffic.  Scads more cycles.  I was led into temptation by playing accordion with a lady on a Trek — I’d pass, then hit a stop light and she’d be gaining… at First Street, I didn’t wait all the way to green, then reconsidered the example I was setting… it’s tough to be an introvert in the morning   Then a fella caught up to me on Church Street on his sleek old  Schwinn and was all over the Xtracycle concept.  In both cases I thought maybe I should grab soem maps to hand out… but Mr. Schwinn seemed to know exactly where he was navigating.

Back to making maps…

il peut, il peut

OK, it’s *pouring.*  I got here before it did, though.

Here’s a testimonial for Xtracycle — and I have to add that unlike your favorite late-night weightloss product, these results *are* typical.  From http://www.cogandchain.com/?p=20

“For a racer who is used to light weight, responsive bikes, it’s quite a shift. Even so, the BD has become one of my favorite rides and the one I reach for on a daily basis. The magic is that it has turned cycling from a hobby into a utilitarian, integral part of my daily life. Instead of rushing through grocery shopping and errands so that I can take a bike out for a ride, I do the grocery shopping and errands on a bike. Since getting the BD at the end of March, I’ve only used my car a dozen or so times, usually when I travel and have to go to the airport. Everything else has been by bike.

The BD isn’t the most fun bike I own, but it is the most life-altering, useful, and purposeful. In fact, if you told me that I had to get rid of all but one of my bicycles . . . I would keep the Dummy.”

magic engine killer rays…

… on a tangential search, I found a News-Gazette article describing Champaign’s decision to up the fee for getting a car out of impound. Prob’ly not so many SUVs or trucks, since more expensive vehicles are somewhat mroe likely to be driven by people who coudl afford the extra.

Notable quote, tho’ at least from an attorney, whose job it is to spin reality so hard it skewers itself:

“You’re taking somebody’s home when you take somebody’s car,” Dobrovolny said.”

Do what now?

Riding the folder today because it begged me to.  The completely nasty pavement is so nice and bouncy Made me ponder studding those tires, tho’ the *big* drawback is that man, the Gazelle is so encapsulated that I don’t have to do cleanup after every ride, even in execrable conditions.  Still, I feel nekkid and vulnerable without a horn or at least a bell… but I can holler real good.

This news is  from Asheville NC about an off-duty firefighter, “concerned” about a dad riding on a busy road with his toddler on the bike behind him, shot him in the head… the helmet deflected the bullet so there was no injury.  It sets stereotypes of Southern Good Ol’ Boys etched too deeply, especially when the comments reveal that there was a similar smelling incident very recently involving a deputy sheriff.    However, the fact that there were no more than the normal “cyclists are pigs” comments speaks well of said southern culture and, in general, there were more than the usual number of untrolly comments.

Saw my video!

Don’t get too excited, but I watched all 38 minutes of yesteray’s commute, as shown by the camera I taped to my Snapdeck.

Okay, I fast forwarded a fair amount.

Okay, I grabbed hte mouse and dragged the little pointeer thingie a few times…

It’s a zen thing.  Do you know how much traffic there isn’t on an early morning of a summer day? It’s rather calming.  Soon as I figure out how I’ll post it for your narcosis needs.

I felt a tad invisible today, though, even on the Xtra.  It’s a summer thing, I think – since there is so little traffic, people aren’t looking for it.

Xtracycle clone

http://www.cicle.org/cicle_content/pivot/entry.php?id=2248

It isn’t even that hard… I dare anybody.  Hacksaw and wrenches; not even welding.

xtracycle clone

Loong way

The long way got a little longer, ’cause Bradley Rd. was closed. Not closed-but-a-bike-could-get-through, but clsed with large trucks hauling dirt and piles of dirt for at least a half a mile.
I had 7 minutes to spare… so I had to sprint back to Springfield and then take that in. It wasn’t as nasty as I feared, being as it’s the morning, not the afternoon rush, and the road is very fresh asphalt.
Ducked onto the sidewalk at Duncan (nobody walks it) to get over the interstate. Got an approving honk from a Known Person who only honks after he’s passed me so he doesn’t freak me out
Got to work a minute late but not in too much of a lather since there was a strong South wind blowing me in.
Since Howard’s gone and done a century, I am COMPELLED to get the gap between us back under a hundred and thusly went for a three lap lunch for 4.2 extra miles towards that end. Tooted at OFC 57 who came closer than I liked, and liked that observable slowdown. (Laid on horn last night at driver who overtly ignored me at the 4-way stop, tho’ I didn’t have my Spokelits going so I’m not sure whether side visibility was a factor or not.)
Have another 70 cans to feed teh Goat with.

xtracycle is looking for you :)

they’re hiring… the ad is one Dilbert would be proud of.

http://getabikejob.com/jobs/view/711

… c’mon!  You want to organize and dream, too?  (if you just want to *organize* something, give me a call… I have this desk…)

“detachable” Xtra?

   I don’t think so… but this guy’s blog is one where a persn would have to log in to comment. http://visforvoltage.org/blog/reikiman/4852 

    He was suggesting cycling and Amtrak, and noting that Amtrak has a max length of 80″ for bicycles, and said there was a detachable version of the Xtracycle… but I suspect not from a knowledge base. 

  Much nicer weather today than last Sunday   Grey… but the “barely grey” in the sky that has the sun still casting blurred shadows, not an oppressive gloom.  It’s September, tho’, when such days come between bright and blue, and that’s the forecast for prety much the whole upcoming week.  

   Will hindsight make it look like I missed history happening?  That economy stuff is starting to get into *everybody’s* chatter.  Last night I mispunched the remote and got 46 instead of 45 – so instead of the Weather Channel, I tuned into Suze Orman doing an apparent special pre-show sermon.  Now, perhaps that’s the regular form, but she was exhorting the masses not to make a run on the banks and try to keep their money in their houses, since, logically, if the house burns down or you get robbed, you’re hosed and in the bank your money’s probably FDIC insured and there was a website to go check if you weren’t sure.   I watched the whole show and it gave me pleasure that at least one flavor of “live drama talk show” has a serious … dare I say anti-consumerist theme?    As in… no, looking pretty is *not* as important as being financially sound…

  Saw an email with a somewhat ancient picture of a guy with a bike trailer that was a sleeping shelter.  So.  How ’bout it, Xtracycle engineers… how about a way of making the snapdeck a fold-out bed?  Time for brainstorming!  Or, could be something for a reg’lar shortbike… haven’t plastics come a long way?  Recycled, perhaps?  Consider an inflatable mattress in there somehow … or, how about making a camper setup where the blender option is used?  So that the back becomes a bar?