Commute

Posted on January 12, 2009 by Bone

Today was my first ride with the studded tires on this season. I am suddenly aware of how much of my bicycling fitness I lost while I was off the bike hiking for the past 2 months.

Evidently, hiking and bicycling use entirely different muscles.

The sloth has proposed riding our bicycles to Washington DC this spring to visit the new president.

It’s pretty far to the White House from here. I will need to get my ass back on the bike with more regularity to make that trip possible.

Today: 10 miles
January: 20 miles
2009 Utility Miles: 20
2009 Total Miles: 20
Departure Temp: 25° F

Posted in Random Bullshit | 3 Comments

Commute

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Bone

As I was going through my boxes of bike stuff to find my gloves and whatnot this morning, it occurred to me that my collection of bicycling paraphernalia is worth a lot more than my car.

That’s almost ridiculous.


Update: I walked over to the empty cubicle my bike parks in to get a snack from my pannier. I have a flat tire!

I found a 1.5″ nail sticking into the tread near the valve stem. I bet it was long enough to stick into the rim tape.

Turns out the topeak alien tool’s built-in tire levers actually work. (I didn’t have my normal kit with me). Keeping a floor pump in your cubicle makes lunchtime bicycle repairs more pleasant. Maybe I should stash tire levers and a spare tube in a desk drawer, too.

Today: 10 miles
January: 10 miles
2009 Utility Miles: 10
2009 Total Miles: 10
Departure Temp: 29° F

Posted in Cycling, Ride Reports | 5 Comments

Walden Pond in OSM

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Bone

After reading Walden the other day, it occurred to me that Walden Pond might not be in OpenStreetMap.

I found it in the Yahoo! aerial imagery and traced it in.

Walden Pond

See for yourself.

Posted in Geekiness, Maps | Leave a comment

Mahayana

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Bone

Pure comedy genius. After a rough week (sinus infection and a dead car) this made me laugh.

Mayahana Bicycle T-shirt

Click the link if you don’t understand the pun.

Posted in Blasphemy, Cycling | 3 Comments

Mein Volkswagen ist Kaputt

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Bone

After 8 years and 150,000 miles of faithful service, my trusty Volkswagen has abruptly shit the bed. It’s going to cost me almost a month’s wages to get it back on the road.

Bummer. But, it’s still cheaper than buying another car. They say it will take at least until next Wednesday to fix it, so I’m back to being a bicycle commuter for at least the next several days.

I’ve kind of been all obsessed with hiking and backpacking lately, and I’ve been neglecting my bikes, so this is as good an excuse as any to get back on the bike.

Posted in Cycling | 2 Comments