If you like the site and can’t wait for it to open for public beta, shoot me an email and I’ll get you an invite.

Today Jobie is busting out his single-speed road bike, and we’re going to do a climb up Mt. Lemmon. The plan is to ride at least twice a week until the ride, and I’m hoping I don’t turn into a complete jellied mess today given how much time I’ve had off from hard exercise.

If I don’t pick up a bike between now and then I’ll be using Jobie’s Rig again, but with the swap meet coming up this weekend I’m hoping to be able to find something.

We went out on about an 18 mile loop around the park. It was easier than some of the rides that Jobie usually goes on (he’s pretty accomplished), but there was still some pretty technical sections. At first I was just trying to stay alive; whipping around tight turns inches away from very scary looking cactii or plummeting down into rocky washes isn’t something I’m used to with road biking. After a little while I started to get the hang of it, and started to think that I wasn’t going to die, and then it started to get really fun. The huge tires on the bikes just swallow up rocks and other irregularities, but the steel frame still let you know where you were and what you were doing.

About halfway through it started to actually feel like exercise, but I didn’t mind. Riding through the desert scrub, cresting turns around giant saguaro; it was beautiful scenery for the ride.

Along the way we met a few other mountain bikers, and they were all really nice. They all wanted to talk gear and trails; you know, shop talk. Jobie has some other really good trails in mind for us to go on around town, so it looks like I’ll have to start budgeting for a bike. Apparently there’s a swap meet next weekend, so I’ll have to have him keep his eye out, because I’ll be out in L.A. Damn you mountain biking, why did you have to be so fun? I thought I already had enoug hobbies!!!

20.9 miles
29.9 mph max speed
12.8 mph avg speed
1:37 ride time

27.0 miles
27.2 mph max speed
15.1 mph avg speed
1:47 ride time

19.85 miles
24.7 mph max speed
15.2 mph avg speed
1:18 ride time

27.49 miles
28.5 mph max speed
13.7 mph avg speed
1:59 ride time

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

24.96 miles
24.7 mph max speed
13.8 mph avg speed
1:48 ride time

18.05 miles
31.1 mph max speed
14.8 mph avg speed
1:13 ride time

20.05 miles
25.4 mph max speed
14.9 mph avg speed
1:20 ride time

16.38 miles
30.7 mph max speed
14.9 mph avg speed (less than last time! boo hiss!)
1:06 ride time

Finally ordered a cyclocomputer for the fixie to start keeping track of my riding so I could measure progress. Went out just as the sun was getting low, went down Old Spanish Trail past my usual turn-around point of Saguaro East, and made it almost all the way to Colossal Cave. The ride gets much more interesting further east, with lots of rolling hills(!), including one nasty one that nearly equalled some of the steeper ones on my Pittsburgh commute. I turned around after that one (it’s uphill on the way back), and made it back just as it was falling dark.

15.68 miles
27.9 mph max speed
15.1 mph avg speed
1:02 ride time

The ride up was lovely, although I was almost out of water by the time I got to the rec area. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when it gets even hotter; either put more bottle cages under my seat, or start carrying some full Nalgenes in my messenger bag. I’m just now getting over a cold I’ve had since my doctor’s appointment last week, and all that stress wore my immune system down to a nub, and I immediately caught a cold from Kim, who had caught one from Zachary, who probably caught it from some germ-factory at his school. It felt good to ride, to be out sweating and having to work to keep cadence. I saw some bikers out, and I always feel vaguely silly that I’m riding some sort of middle ground between the guys riding the Lance Armstrong Trek bike (with the Lance Armstrong USPS clothes and the Lance Armstrong testicle removal plastic surgery) and the guys riding a beat-up mountain bike clearly going to school/work. I’m out there usually in baggy mtb shorts and a jersey without all kinds of gaudy logos and such over it, messenger bag on, riding my fixie.

Considering how cycle-mad this town is, I’m suprised that I haven’t seen more serious fixed riders; although I did see a guy on a single-speed mountain bike the other day (shades of old bmj). There is a decent site out there, (“the home of ASS”), but the events don’t seem to be updated all that frequently.

Anywho… on the way back I noticed a blur of a chunk of something stuck in my front tire, just left of center. Thinking that I probably didn’t want to put my weight on it making a leaning left turn, I slowed down and stuck my glove over the tire to brush it off. Big mistake. “fwip” “sssssssssssssssssssssss” Yup, I flatted right on the Tanque Verde Wash overpass. Changing the tire was quick and uneventful, but my handpump doesn’t seem to be worth a shite. I could only get the pressure up to about 60 without putting the little pump lever all the way through my hand, so I limped on it to the LBS. While there I picked up a replacement tube (David told me to always keep two on hand) as well as one of those universal CO^2^ cartridge pump dealies. Still need to get a computer to start keeping track of my rides, since I seem to only get around on the fixie these days, as well as a slightly more comfortable split saddle. More toys, more toys.

dusty, originally uploaded by feralboy.

Because of the recent posts floating around from friends about their rides, I’ve realized that I’ve not been riding nearly as much as I should be, especially considering that Brian is fighting through slushy 20-degree mornings while I have the luxury of riding in “75-degree sunshine”:http://www.weatherunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=tucson,%20az.

This week I’ve found a new favorite riding loop for after work. Down Houghton, and then ride down Old Spanish Trail to the Saguaro National Park and back. It’s a beautiful ride, with smooth tarmac and gently rolling hills. You go past all sorts of beautiful desert landscape, as well as some fantastic homes. I’ve gone twice this week, and I’m planning on going again today, and this time I’ll bring the camera so I can share a bit.

Recently I made a few modifications to my fixie; namely I took off the rear brake and put in a quick-release axle on the front in case I need to put it on my bike rack (dropping the car off in the morning for servicing comes to mind). Few more things left… I’d like to get a better seat instead of the stock one, maybe the same split seat I have on the road bike. Also, I need to pick up a cyclocomputer to have a better idea about my speed and mileage so I can know when I’m slacking.

Fixies, Coney Island, originally uploaded by Lasagna Boy.

Awesome picture

I think I was more worried about the planning for the trip, and remembering to bring all the right things than I was about the actual ride. David was very helpful and sent a list of what to bring, what to eat, what to drink, etc.

I got to the start point Saturday morning, and it was insane! I have a bit of a problem with large crowds of people, or anything feeling a little too feel good, so I was really close to hopping right back in my car and heading home, but I didn’t. Found Lauren, who at the last second decided she could do the ride, dropped off our luggage at the truck that would bring it to Allegheny College, and we were off!

The riding was easy, and went through lots of pretty countryside on 2-lane roads. We did our best to stay away from packs of people, as a lot of them didn’t know how to ride well (there was this one woman we called “Dizzy” that we kept seeing who would swerve all over the place. When I saw her at the end of the day, I half expected her to be completely cross-eyed, but she wasn’t). There were rest stops set up every 10-15 miles with water, snacks, porta-potties, bike maintenance and medical attention, if you needed it. I actually needed to stop at the first rest stop and get some band-aids to cover my one nipple. Ever since I’ve had them pierced (going on 10 years now) my one has always been a little more sensitive than the other, and my shirt flapping in the wind against it was making the jewelry move, and was going to make it really really unhappy. A bit of tape to hold it down solved that problem nicely.

By the end of the first day, I was feeling pretty good. No muscle fatigue, but my knees were singing. I have bad knees anyway, and after all the riding going from bent to straight was really uncomfortable. A whole bunch of “Vitamin I” helped out with that, and sleeping wasn’t bad Saturday night.

Sunday I was a little stiff, but some more ibuprofen and a leisurely breakfast got me going. The riding this day was even easier; more flat, less hills and decent road surface. There was one interesting thing that happened; midway through the ride Lauren and this fellow Bob that we had met were riding about 20 feet or so ahead of me, and a guy had pulled off to the side of the road (but not on to the shoulder) ahead of them. He was repeating something like “go around” or “go left” or something as riders came up on him, but Lauren didn’t move around him until the last 5-10 feet or so. As she passed by, I heard him say “Crazy bitch!” as I was passing by, so I turned around and started screaming at him: “Excuse me?! You don’t fucking talk to my friend like that!” He had some Canadian flag stuck in his helmet, and I wish I had the quick wit to say something like “Take your universal healthcare, bacon and Celine Dion and shove it up your ass, eh?!”, but I always think of these things 30 seconds too late.

The last half of Sunday I was alone, and just pounded out the miles. I wish my commute was more like that, but I guess the hills are fun in their own way. At the finish line there were some people with MS applauding the riders as they crossed the finish line, so that was pretty cool.

Thanks to everyone who wished me well, and especially to everyone who sponsored me.

Speaking of which, I finally have my donation page set up! I only want to raise the minimum to ride, so if you feel like donating $5, be my guest! It’s for a good cause, really… it’s not funding my poker habit at all.

And hey, if anyone wants to donate money for the MS ride, I need to raise $200 to enter, and I’ll probably only hit my family up for half of that.

Saturday was an alleycat race around Pittsburgh. An alleycat, for those of you who don’t know, is an underground bike race, organized and mostly run by messengers] Everyone met at The Point downtown around 2, we each paid $5 ($6 if you didn’t have a helmet), and we were off at 2:30. The format of this race was a little different than the one I did last time the previous one laid out your route along with your checkpoints, but this race you were just told what your 15-odd checkpoints were, and your final destination, and you had to figure out the most efficient route yourself.

Brian was there, which was good, because I had someone that knew parts of the city that I didn’t, like the North Side. Also, he was riding his fixie, which meant that me riding my bike with all the gears had at least a chance of keeping up. There were checkpoints in all of the neighborhoods near downtown, so we hit them in this order: South Side, back Downtown, Strip District, North Side, Bloomfield, Squirrel Hill, and then ending in Oakland.

We got a little lost on the South Side, and ran into a messenger from Columbus named Randy. He had gotten separated from his buddies somehow, and was totally lost in an unfamiliar city, so he came along with us. Actually, it was Brian and Randy leading, and me gamely puffing along behind. Randy also provided me with the heart-stopper moment of the day. While going over the 16th St. bridge he was riding no-hands and hit a pothole and veered right into the bridge guardrail. Somehow he managed to straight-arm the guardrail and snap himself back upright, but I had visions of him getting splattered all over the road.

The rest of the checkpoints were uneventful, and it was a nice tour of the city, going from the “historic” adult Garden Theater on the North Side up to the beautiful campus of CMU, and everywhere in between. I guess our route wasn’t the most efficient, because there wasn’t anyone there to give us paper slips at the last two checkpoints, so we just headed to the finish, which was in South Oakland.

The finish was at someone’s “house”. I use quotes around “house” because it was a “house” only in the sense that it had a door, walls and a roof. Inside it was the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen. “Utilitarian” would be way, way too kind. There was a half-assembled bike on the living room floor. That was the only furniture. The back porch had about 5 trashbags full of empty PBR cans. The stove was beyond description, which is why I took a picture. I braved a trip inside to get us some “victory” beer. The “victory” was in that we didn’t come in last in any of our particular categories: fixie, regular, or out-of-towner. (BTW, pounding a beer as a water substitute is a Bad Thing™)

Yesterday Brian, Jen, Seb and I went bouldering at Pioneer. It’s not my favorite place to climb, but the weather was so beautiful for a change that it didn’t matter at all. Didn’t do anything exceptional, save for a cool V5 cave problem that involves doing a long throw to a small crimp edge and pulling off of that, pretty much one-handed. I was feeling the effects of the race still, so a pretty low-energy day. Stopped at Sheetz on the way home (MTO, baby!), and then settled in to watch Sopranos and Deadwood. I’m still not convinced about Deadwood… the characters are really starting to develop, but I don’t know if the underlying story is going to be enough to hold my interest.

And finally, I slept like utter poo last night. I think the stress of last week finally caught up with me, and I had fun sinus issues Saturday night and all day Sunday that finally turned into a cold last night that kept me up most of the night. Argh. I can’t wait for spring to be here for good. Every year I have sniffles pretty much from October through April, but I’m hoping that the clear Boulder air will do me good. Oh, I have news on that, too… but that’s for another update.

¹ If you want to see some alleycat footage, check out this guy’s site. Of particular interest are the “drinking and riding” and “NYC” videos. The NYC one especially is some of the scariest footage you’d ever want to see.

It was hard. All those months of not biking came back to bite me, but I guess I’m still alive, right? I only stopped briefly to take off a layer or two, so I’m pretty happy that I didn’t need to take a “real” rest break. Everything took longer that I thought, tho; got up a little late to begin with, then putting air in the tires, finding my colder weather clothes, and the ride itself took a little longer than I remembered, even with my new shorter ride (and this is only the 2nd time I’ve done it!), so I rolled in around 9. Oops.

Shock Jocks Urge Motorists to Hit Cyclists

Awesome. I got wind of this through the Fixed Gear mailing list yesterday. You expect this sort of behavior from shock jocks, but to hear that people are actually taking them up on it? Words fail me. Best part of article:

In the course of the program, listeners flooded their telephone lines to vent about cyclists, including one woman who boasted that her father intentionally hit one while they were on the way to church. One of the DJs promoted the joys of hitting cyclists with Yoohoo bottles.

Nothing like sharing a little Christian love on your way to church.

Anyway…thanks Matt!

The new offices look really good, and I think the space turned out pretty well. There’s still some glare issues to be worked out, and right outside the window is a radio station transmitter tower that’s kicking out so many watts that it forces itself as our on-hold muzak, as well as filling up cell phone dead air. Kinda makes me wonder if I’m going to have a brain tumor in a year. But, my new desk is comfy and ergonomic, so everything else is a pretty minor quibble.

This was on top of the fact that I shaved a good 5-10 minutes off my normal time, probably due in part to my smooth new chain/tires. (But mostly I think it was the shorts)

I was changing my bike tires last night. Changing the front one was very straighforward… got that one back on in record time. The back tire requires you to take off the chain, since the cassette is attached to the wheel. So, I break out my chain tool, pop the link, and like a dumbass I push the pin all the way out. Apparently I don’t have anything in my toolkit to help you get a pin back in once you’ve pushed it all the way out, but I sat for awhile and tried in vain to just “line it up” and make it work. This obviously did not work, so then I thought I’d just shorten my chain by one link. That was going alright, until the new link I put back together wouldn’t really bend right. Then I don’t even know if I had it going through my derailleurs right, because it was making all these awful sounds and jumping around.

So, I’m going to do what I always do in these situations, and just throw money at the problem. I don’t want to ask my friend who totally helped me set it up last time, because I feel like I wasn’t a good student, and didn’t learn all the stuff he was showing me while he was doing it.

It just frustrates me and makes me feel like an idiot to not know how to do basic operations on my bike, especially because it’s become a more prominent part of my life in the last year. (sigh) And it would have been a beautiful day to ride today, too. Instead, I’m sitting at my desk, feeling fat and unsatisfied, and I still have grease all over my hands, repeated scrubbings and all.

Update: If you check the comments you’ll see that I have the Greatest. Friends. Ever.

A few caveats:

1. The mountain bike I have is old, and fairly crappy. Heavy, no disc brakes, and pretty slick road tires (when I bought it, I really only planned to ride it on the road).
2. In case you haven’t paid attention to my bitching, the last few weeks in Pittsburgh have seen a lot of rain. A lot.

1. I haven’t really done any off-road mountain biking before. (I think you see where this is going…)

   My bike and I engaged in some Hot Mud Wrestling Action™, to be sure. It wasn’t really all that bad, once I figured out how to get around with very little traction. I didn’t break anything, and I had a good time, although I think I slowed the pack up considerably. A few things to fix for next time:

2. Knobbier tires.

1. I need to learn how to bunny hop.

   After the riding was done, one of the guys and I went to the Squirrel Cage to grab a beer. I found parking on Forbes, but my friend didn’t, so he went around the corner and turned into the parking garage. The parking garage with the low roof. While his bike was still in the roof rack. I didn’t see it happen, but apparently it just ripped the bike clean off the roof (putting some nice gouges in the trunk on the way down) and maybe bent the locking mechanism… no other apparent damage.

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/06/16/down-n-dirty/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/06/02/critical-matt/ http://feralboy.com/2003/06/02/critical-matt/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2003 16:33:19 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=517 After the arrests at last month’s Critical Mass ride, I decided that I should take part in the next one, which took place on Friday.

   Everyone started gathering at the dinosaur in Oakland around 5, 5:15. I went in to work early that day so I could get home, get changed and get to Oakland before the ride started. It was an eclectic bunch, to be sure. Actually, since “eclectic” implies “diverse”, it really wasn’t. It was a bunch of new bohemian quasi-gutterpunks and bike messengers. Nothing but dreadlocks, wallet chains, and ironic t-shirts as far as the eye could see. Everyone saddled up, and we were off, heading down 5th Avenue. I’m guessing there were at least 100 people, and it was a pretty amazing sight to see.

   As we went down through the SouthSide and downtown, we hit some red lights that turned midway through the pack, and it was interesting to watch some of the more experienced rides (messengers, mostly) pull to either side and block the oncoming traffic; hands raised, sheparding safe passage for the flock of stragglers as they went through the intersection.

   That’s not to say that all drivers were as accomodating. One of the main problems with the ride where people got arrested is that they weren’t keeping to one lane on multi-lane roads, and this time was no exception. Of course, being the fuck-all hipsters that they were, the messengers took great glee in having cars honk at them, and would slow to a crawl just to piss off Joe SUV behind them. One woman became very agitated, and started screaming at all of us “white muthafuckas”, which I didn’t think was very fair since there were some black muthafuckas in the group as well.

   It was certainly a fun ride, although I tend to cringe at anything that feels too granola-y and activist-y (which this certainly was), and I think I’ll probably do the next one, too.

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/06/02/critical-matt/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/04/04/ride-update/ http://feralboy.com/2003/04/04/ride-update/#comments Fri, 04 Apr 2003 15:33:40 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=563 The ride home was much easier than the ride in; it was mostly downhill. I think once I’m in a bit better shape I can manage to do it twice a week.

   Also, let me just reiterate: I see what you’re searching on. You know who you are.

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/04/04/ride-update/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/04/03/puff-puff-gasp/ http://feralboy.com/2003/04/03/puff-puff-gasp/#comments Thu, 03 Apr 2003 15:44:03 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=565 Maybe it wasn’t that bad, but I did ride in today. It winds up being about a 14-mile hike up Mt. Royal Blvd, which is a bit of a roller coaster, but I only had to stop once or twice to recover along the way. I’m not sure which way will suck worse, coming or going, but I’m sure I’ll find out this afternoon. Oh, one other thing: Mapquest sucks my butt, because they don’t allow you to easily add intermediate destinations. Maps On Us rules.

   

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/04/03/puff-puff-gasp/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/03/25/my-so-called-life/ http://feralboy.com/2003/03/25/my-so-called-life/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2003 17:25:59 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=571 Man, so much stuff going on I don’t even know where to begin.
   • First off, as Brian alluded to, I have indeed found new gainful employment, and I’ll be finishing up here this week. Tons of stuff left to do, lots of little projects to clean up, documentation to write, knowledge to transfer, paradigms to shift, etc. I’m pretty stoked about the new position. It’s a pure .Nizzle development job, although they work mainly with VB.Nizzle (ick.) Pehaps I will convince them of the beauty and love that is C#.
   • One of the cooler things about the new job is that it’ll be a longer bike ride, up to about 14-15 miles from my current 8. That will be a nice healthy run… I’ll probably do it just once or twice a week and feel great about it. I was worried that the roads I thought I’d have to go on were too dangerous, but various people have told me that there’s ways I can go to get there without getting my brains splattered all over the road, so sometime soon Dave and I will probably do a dry run in the car. In order to get ready for the longer ride, I’ll be picking up a mini-pump (“This sort of thing ain’t my bag, baby”), a spare tube, and a patch kit.
   • I’ve gotten it in my head recently that I’d like to have a new digital camera that actually takes half-decent pictures. I’ve settled on the Olympus C-4000, partly because it gets really good reviews, and partly because my current camera is an Olympus, which means my SmartMedia cards will work in that one, too. I really don’t want to spend the money on a new one, so I’ll just sort of troll eBay and see if I can find one for around $200-250, or a little more if it comes with a case/SmartMedia card/NiMh batteries/etc.
   • One of the features of MT(Movable Type) that’s turned out to be the most interesting has been the Activity Log. One of the things it shows me is what people are searching on, in a more real-time way than my weekly stats. It’s neat to see what people are looking for, whether they’re trying to find out info about my best friend, or just doing some straight narcissurfing (Hi Paul Fontana! ).
   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/03/25/my-so-called-life/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/02/21/cold-much/ http://feralboy.com/2003/02/21/cold-much/#comments Fri, 21 Feb 2003 18:36:20 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=595 I removed the panties from my mouth, and rode in this morning. All that cold weather gear I bought seemed to do the job, but by the time I got in my hands were numb from not having windproof gloves on, a problem that is two shipping days away from being fixed. All in all, it wasn’t a bad ride. I did turn down one side street that was pure ice and wound up flat on my ass, but I was going slow at the time and I don’t think anyone even saw me. In any case, I feel very good that I’m getting some exercise today, so of course I’m going to balance that out by getting some lovely greasy lunch.
   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/02/21/cold-much/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/02/19/bike-pictures/ http://feralboy.com/2003/02/19/bike-pictures/#comments Wed, 19 Feb 2003 20:35:18 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=597 just a couple of quick pictures of the fruits of mine and Paul’s labors from the weekend:

     

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/02/19/bike-pictures/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/02/15/fast-fast-fast/ http://feralboy.com/2003/02/15/fast-fast-fast/#comments Sat, 15 Feb 2003 07:54:11 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=602 my clothing order is already here! one day! with 2nd day shipping! i guess that’s what happens when the place is right in ohio.
   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/02/15/fast-fast-fast/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/02/14/bike-stuff/ http://feralboy.com/2003/02/14/bike-stuff/#comments Fri, 14 Feb 2003 16:39:33 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=604 it’s gonna be spring next week no matter if the weather wants to cooperate or not.

   i ordered a bunch of cold-weather clothing yesterday from nashbar, a balaclava (so tasty!), tights (faggy!) and some weatherproof socks. my nizzle paul was over last night helping me put all my new components on the bike. should be finished up tomorrow, so when the clothes get here and the weather is downright balmy in the mid 30s middle of next week, i’ll be riding in. i really want to start binge eating again.

   in other news, i see that brian has updated his weblog to Movable Type. gotta change my sidebar link. i also see that he’s trying out proper cApiTalZaTioN. i think i might go that route myself soon, because i’ve heard from more than one person that my weblog kinda looks like one big (and hard to read) lump o’ shite.

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/02/14/bike-stuff/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2003/01/24/bidding-on-my-very-first/ http://feralboy.com/2003/01/24/bidding-on-my-very-first/#comments Fri, 24 Jan 2003 15:40:15 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=623 bidding on my very first ebay item, a slightly-used set o’ brakes (thanks to brian for the heads-up). i’ve actually consciously stayed away from ebay for a long, long time, because all of my friends who shop on ebay are like addicts, and i already have enough addictions in my life right now. but, the idea that i could get a set for around half of what it would cost me new was too good to pass up. i’ll have to keep checking back periodically for some of the items i’m looking for.
   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2003/01/24/bidding-on-my-very-first/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2002/10/02/on-the-ride-out-of-town/ http://feralboy.com/2002/10/02/on-the-ride-out-of-town/#comments Thu, 03 Oct 2002 03:53:39 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=706 on the ride out of town today, i was at a light when i looked back and saw another person on a bike behind me… it was a messenger, a girl. she said “hi”, and then the light turned green and we were off. as we rode, i asked her about her job, and how she learned to ride in traffic. she was greasy and cute; with a nosering and a little engineer’s cap instead of a helmet. she had been a messenger for about 7 months, and obviously loved her job. she told me that “it sounds silly, but you just feel, like, one with your bike, you know? you just learn to sort of move and groove.” i asked her about the travis culley book, which apparently is like a bible to her and her ilk. as we got near the end of the strip, she told me that she had to turn off there because, (as she lowered her voice) “i drive to work. don’t tell anyone.”

   she turned off and i continued on my way… struggling up the hillclimb on liberty. as i was coming down the other side and getting into bloomfield, she pulled up even with me in her car. her passenger-side window was down, and she smiled and said “hey.” i felt so cool; validated.

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2002/10/02/on-the-ride-out-of-town/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2002/09/04/new-pedals/ http://feralboy.com/2002/09/04/new-pedals/#comments Wed, 04 Sep 2002 23:00:01 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=733 got to try out the new pedals this a.m.

   have to learn to “pedal in a circle, not a square”

   but, other than that… very cool. my knee ligaments might not agree, but f-’em.

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2002/09/04/new-pedals/feed/ 0 http://feralboy.com/2002/08/20/rode-my-bike-downtown-today/ http://feralboy.com/2002/08/20/rode-my-bike-downtown-today/#comments Tue, 20 Aug 2002 15:33:59 +0000 mattcomroe http://feralboy.com/?p=739 rode my bike downtown today! it felt quite good to be doing something so healthy, although it felt not quite as good to be getting up a half hour earlier. i took a more lengthy route down, because i’m still getting used to the idea that i can ride on the road without getting hit by every car that passes me. took maybe an hour, but only because i was riding very slowly so i didn’t turn into a puddle by the time i got here. i might have to find out where the more direct routes are to go home, scary as that will be.

   and in other exciting news, i got a check from the insurance folks yesterday!!! the woman who cut me off was trying to claim that she saw me the whole way; that i sped up when i saw her getting over, etc. the claim rep i talked to a day or two after sounded like he didn’t buy it, and i guess they didn’t. got my car back on saturday, so now all is right with the world.

   ]]> http://feralboy.com/2002/08/20/rode-my-bike-downtown-today/feed/ 0