Wendsdee Jooon Twenteee Sixth

Exactly one year ago I posted a picture of the Kenmore Square bus station construction. I got almost the exact same shot today, but I don't think the guy on the bike is the same. If it is the same guy, then he lost some weight. Unless maybe that white t-shirt made him look big. Anyway, kudos to him, although I don't agree with that particular combo of blue shorts and blue t-shirt.

But the real story here isn't this gentleman's weight loss, it's the bus station. An amazing amount of progress in a year, isn't it?

Warming up to the fixed-gear

It's been 2 and half weeks riding in fixed-gear mode. I'm pretty much OK with not coasting. I didn't touch my brake once this morning. I say 'brake' because I removed the rear brake. Sheldon Brown says that "a rear brake is quite unnecessary on a fixed-gear machine."

I'm not sure I agree. In fact, I might say that riding a fixed-gear machine is quite unnecessary. I'm all for going overboard with safety. I usually ride with two rear lights, and for a while rode with two front lights as well. But I went ahead and removed the brake anyway. It definitely gives the bike a more simple appearance, and anyone in-the-know recognizes it as a fixed-gear. And if they have any doubt, they can just ask me as they're helping me up off the pavement.

Fixed-Gear Dismount Lesson

OK, so it has been two weeks riding fixed-gear, so I consider myself somewhat of an authority on the subject. I've read some stuff about proper dismount from bikes and from fixed-gear specifically, but I want to show you a more effective method.

First, if you're like me, you roll your pant leg up on the right. When I roll up my pant leg, I end up creating what is basically a pocket at the end of the leg.

Step 1: I dismount by standing on my left leg and swinging my right leg over the saddle. Midway through this motion I catch my pant leg "pocket" on the horn of the saddle.

Step 2: I stagger and wobble as I attempt to free my pant leg from the saddle.

Step 3: The frantic pulling and jerking motion causes me to collapse on the ground.

Voila! I am now in a position to safely separate myself from the bike.

Stay tuned - more fixed-gear tips and tricks coming up!

Fixed Fear

So I've made the switch to riding fixed-gear.

For those who don't know what that is, here's the definition from Sheldon Brown: "A rear hub in which the sprocket is rigidly connected to the hub, without a freewheel. The pedals of a fixed-gear bicycle revolve whenever the rear wheel turns; coasting is impossible."

I made the switch last Monday, and it has added a whole new level of fear to my daily ride. Like Sheldon said, coasting is impossible. If you forget for even a split second to keep pedaling, the pedals slam your feet off of them. Getting on and off the bike, starting and stopping (especially stopping)are all brand new challenges.

Why do this? A lot of people have great things to say about fixed-gear riding. Sheldon Brown wrote "There is an almost mystical connection between a fixed-gear cyclist and bicycle, it feels like an extension of your body to a greater extent than does a freewheel-equipped machine."

I can't say I agree with that yet, but I definitely agree that coasting is impossible.

As Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, "In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of getting back on the bicycle." Yes, indeed. And when the repair man at International offered me either the plain chain or the gold chain, naturally I had to go for the gold.

I'll Be Back

OK, so this is just a brief (and unprecedented) break in my riding. I'm going to India tomorrow for a week (true land of the Suicide Bicycle Ride) and when I get back I'm going to get a new wheel/tube/tire/bottom bracket/freewheel right away. "Bloodied but Unbowed", that's my New England winter bike riding motto. Unfortunately that may not apply to these bikes along Beacon Street.

Out of Commission

This is the second day all winter that I didn't ride to work, and that's not because of today's snow storm (a little over 6 inches). Last Monday someone backed their car into my bike (I'm guessing) which was locked to the bike rack in the parking lot where I work. The rear wheel got bent. I rode it the rest of the week because I had NO time to get it replaced. I must have been cutting quite a figure wobbling down Beacon Street. By Friday morning I was getting pretty good on it. I was thinking "Jeez, this isn't so bad. Maybe I can make it through March and then get a new wheel and fix all the other stuff that's falling apart." Then the rear tire blew out about 3 blocks from work. I didn't know a bike tire could make a noise that loud. Anyway, it looks like I wasn't the only one walking.

Gettin' Slapped Around by the Flakes

Man, I can't believe it, it's snowing AGAIN. Big wet flakes slapping me in the eyes like small dripping wet kitchen sponges.

From Boston.com: "The snow pushes the total this December up to 21 inches, an amount almost three times the monthly average of 7.8 inches. Last winter, Boston only had 17 inches of snow the entire season. Temperatures are expected to dip into the 20s overnight, refreezing the lingering snow pack that finally started to melt."

Sweet! "Refreezing the lingering snow pack..." Aye carumba!

The real misery in all this is that the roads get so squeezed by the snow that there's no margin for bikes. Yesterday I was literally stuck in traffic, standing in a line of cars waiting at a light because there was absolutely no room at all on either side.

Check out my angled parking job in front of the Wine Press on Beacon St.

Anyway, enough complaining, on to brighter things...OK I can't really think of anything.

Make it Stop

12 degrees this morning. Bitter, icy. The sidewalks are horrendous. Man, I can't believe this. Last year on this date it was 55. We've been hit early and hit hard. Had a snowstorm last Thursday that started around 1pm. I rode in, but had to walk the bike back. Everything was gridlocked in the city. I mean NOBODY was moving. See the bus in that picture? It wasn't even running. He was sitting there with the engine off. And that silver car in the lower left side was honking his horn! I couldn't believe it. Then we got socked again on Sunday. I'm telling you, it's not even Christmas yet, and I feel like it's February.

Winter Light

Well it's not winter yet, but it's almost the beginning of December and this is what the ride looks like in the morning. It's all riding straight into the low sun that just gets lower every day. I need to get prepared for the dead of winter riding but I keep putting it off. Need some new tires, new chain, new freewheel, new bottom bracket. I'm sure I'll have that all squared away by April.

This is one of my favorite biking hazards.

Tooosday Jooon Twenteee Sixth

Here's a pic of Kenmore this morning (and a random cyclist). This construction has been going on for eons. So check out the new link on the right hand side there - rightride.org. Pretty good. You can contribute your own 2 cents on all your favorite horror-show intersections etc. All the usual suspects have been added already. I have one or two that I'm going to add.

At least I don't have to carry a load like this.

So I haven't been posting, but I have been riding every damn day. The weather has been getting better, so it's nice. Yeah, very nice. My route sucks though. And I can't seem to find a good one. I've been over every road from Brookline to the South End and NONE of them are good. I even rode out to Melnea Cass Blvd on one trip home. But enough complaining, because at least I don't have to haul the stuff that this guy in the picture is hauling. This picture is from India in March.

The True Suicide Bicycle Ride

I'm in India right now, right outside of Delhi, and let me tell you, this is the land of the true Suicide Bicycle Ride. First of all, there are a ton of bikes and bicycle rickshaws. Second, there are a ton of everything else on the road: motorcycles, scooters, pedestrians, cows, cars, camels, donkeys, push-carts, tractors. And, most importantly, everyone drives as fast as they can, and uses both sides of the road. This applies to ALL roads - regular city streets as well as on the highways.

OK

Yeah, this is quite alright with me. 50 degrees, the sun is still up when I leave work at 6pm. Yes, this is OK.

The Winter of My Discontent is Waning

The good thing about today was that it was the LAST extremely cold day of 2007. I believe this with all my heart. Saturday is supposed to be 50 degrees and everday after that will just get warmer. I know it, I am sure of it. It was about 9 degrees on the ride home and once again the tips of my fingers were stinging with the cold when I got home. The picture is Comm Ave in the gloaming.

I Don't Care

It was 10 degrees on the ride to work, and 15 on the ride home. I don't care. That was nothing. At least I wasn't the white car in this picture - broken down and stopped dead on Mass Ave just south of the Boylston St intersection in Wedneday night rush-hour traffic. Cars behind him were laying on their horns, no mercy, cause they couldn't see his flashers. Sad sight. For all the crap that cyclists take, I'd ride a bike any day over a car or public trans. (Temp last year on this day: 35)

Number 9

Jeez, what a day. Ride in was about 10 degrees, ride back was 9. The ride in was good for the first half - rode/raced with a guy from Beacon to Comm to the Mass Ave underpass where he bailed to Mass ave and I took The Plunge.

Then I was on Clarendon and almost got hit by a black BMW guy making a right from Clarendon (and driving RIGHT BESIDE ME) on to St James. He came within about 2.5 inches (I had my nuclear yellow jacket on - can't miss me). I yelled, passed, and looked back to see him giving me the "not my fault" shrug - plus he yelled that he had the right lane. I flipped and went mental - besides unleashing a torrent of vitriol at him, I turned around and raced up St James after him to where he was ultimately stuck at the light.

Friends, my words to this gentleman were not honorable or right, but sometimes the fear that a near-injury experience produces makes me act in injudicious ways.

The ride home was, as I mentioned, in 9 degrees of frigid pain (wind chill = -14). When I got home I could not feel the tips of my right-hand middle and ring fingers.

I took a similar route home as I did last night. The picture is at the whole Christian Science complex. The trees look the way my fingers felt taking the picture (I had to take off my gloves), spindly, brittle branches.

Monday, March 5, 2007 Batten Down The Hatches

Great ride into work (nice weather, sunny), but a crazy ride home. There's an arctic front coming down on us like a hammer, and it's causing quite a bit of wind. I rode up from the South End via Fromaggio's Kitchen and biked around the Christian Science center. The wind was really bad here, but I'm sure it was worse at Copley. I was almost stopped dead in my tracks a couple of times from the icy gusts. Tomorrow morning is supposed to feel like -13, with the whole wind/arctic-front thing reaching a crescendo.