Saturday, January 31, 2009
a midwinter mountain ride
A bright blue sky stretched over beautiful Brown. I hung out at the top with Big Yellow Butterfly, feeling the warm sun and cool breeze. Ceanothus flowered white all around. Already, Rattlesnake’s tracks cross the path. A sliver of golden Pacific sparkled far away…
Friday, January 30, 2009
evening run
Went out for a 9-mile run this evening. I did the same run last Friday evening, too. Maybe I should make it a routine. As I recall, I think I had something like that going several months ago and liked it then, too. At the very least, it’s a nice way to delay the weekend lineup of beers.
My running miles have been pretty low this year, but it’s picked up a bit this week – 22 miles so far (with two days left – I put Sunday at the end of the week.) I’m not planning on doing much more running this weekend though – maybe an easy three.
Tonight I ran up the Arroyo path as the sun was setting. The temp dropped from 67 to 59 through the course of my run – perhaps the perfect running temp range and direction.
There were a dozen or so geese flying south in v-formation. I wonder where they were headed. They probably spent the day hanging out by the ponds at the golf course. Maybe they were headed to another pond or the lower Arroyo watershed.
At my turnaround point stands Sycamore. Tonight Sycamore and I saw the inverted sunset across the purple mountains. I say inverted because it always seems strange that the shadow crawls up the mountains. Dusk in the arroyo, light on the peaks. I high-five Sycamore’s trunk and head back down the arroyo.
Lots of people were out running and riding this evening.
I learned a little something about wave etiquette. I used to try to make eye contact with other runners or walkers first, at about 10 meters, to see if they were up for a wave, but I’ve found that people don’t want to hold eye contact that long and avert their gaze. I interpret that as not being up for the wave. Sometimes I’ll wave anyway, but if they’re not looking anymore then they may miss it. So, tonight, I threw out the wave and the eye contact at the same time and seemed to get better responses.
There’s a pink bike that I see riding around sometimes. I saw it tonight. Pink Bike Rider has great form. There’s something so beautiful about great cycling form. I actually saw a number of good form riders out tonight. They always have the accompanying soundtrack, too – the perfect whir of the chain around the gears…
My running miles have been pretty low this year, but it’s picked up a bit this week – 22 miles so far (with two days left – I put Sunday at the end of the week.) I’m not planning on doing much more running this weekend though – maybe an easy three.
Tonight I ran up the Arroyo path as the sun was setting. The temp dropped from 67 to 59 through the course of my run – perhaps the perfect running temp range and direction.
There were a dozen or so geese flying south in v-formation. I wonder where they were headed. They probably spent the day hanging out by the ponds at the golf course. Maybe they were headed to another pond or the lower Arroyo watershed.
At my turnaround point stands Sycamore. Tonight Sycamore and I saw the inverted sunset across the purple mountains. I say inverted because it always seems strange that the shadow crawls up the mountains. Dusk in the arroyo, light on the peaks. I high-five Sycamore’s trunk and head back down the arroyo.
Lots of people were out running and riding this evening.
I learned a little something about wave etiquette. I used to try to make eye contact with other runners or walkers first, at about 10 meters, to see if they were up for a wave, but I’ve found that people don’t want to hold eye contact that long and avert their gaze. I interpret that as not being up for the wave. Sometimes I’ll wave anyway, but if they’re not looking anymore then they may miss it. So, tonight, I threw out the wave and the eye contact at the same time and seemed to get better responses.
There’s a pink bike that I see riding around sometimes. I saw it tonight. Pink Bike Rider has great form. There’s something so beautiful about great cycling form. I actually saw a number of good form riders out tonight. They always have the accompanying soundtrack, too – the perfect whir of the chain around the gears…
Friday, January 23, 2009
Ripple effect
Having just heard about a long awaited show coming up at Shoreline on May 10th, I took a look around for my hacky sack to brush up on my skills. I think if I could start kicking that thing around again it could provide a significant boost to my all around fitness… seems like a great way to cross train…
Thursday, January 22, 2009
gears, thoughts and updates
Dan and I went out on a night ride last night. Will this be the first of many Wednesday Night Rides? It was a perfect night for a ride. Rain had been in the forecast but it was clear and about 60 degrees. There was just enough moisture in the air to soften the starts a touch. We rode up the Arroyo and around the Rose Bowl a couple times. We mostly avoided typical car routes so it was nice and quiet. There were many moments when I was just tuned in to the whir of my gears. I love that sound when everything is lined up just right – it makes me feel like I could spin forever.
Lat week, “Totally Eighties” road bike got a replacement small chain ring. When I first got that bike it was set up with a pretty tight gear ratio. I changed to a bigger freewheel a couple months ago, but that still wasn’t enough for the hills. Up front, the small chain ring was a 42-tooth. Just the other day I changed that out to a 39-tooth. (Note: when removing the cranks, don’t forget to remove the washer after the crank bolt or you might strip off some threads from the crank when trying to pull it - like I did - but luckily not too many threads stripped and it all still works.)
And for the gearing on the fixie, I’ve decided to move from a 14-tooth cog to a 15-tooth cog. Hooked up to a 39-tooth chain ring, this will change the gear inches from 75 to 70. I think this will make it easier for around town rides when I don’t really feel like punishing myself. (Or maybe I’m just getting old.)
Lately, I’ve been noticing that a lot of the higher end road bikes around have really noisy cassettes. When the rider is coasting it sounds like they’ve just landed a marlin that’s taking out line. Which got me to thinking… Shimano makes bicycle cassettes and fishing reels. They’ve even got a reel called Tiagra. I wonder how much technology overlaps between fishing and biking…
Lat week, “Totally Eighties” road bike got a replacement small chain ring. When I first got that bike it was set up with a pretty tight gear ratio. I changed to a bigger freewheel a couple months ago, but that still wasn’t enough for the hills. Up front, the small chain ring was a 42-tooth. Just the other day I changed that out to a 39-tooth. (Note: when removing the cranks, don’t forget to remove the washer after the crank bolt or you might strip off some threads from the crank when trying to pull it - like I did - but luckily not too many threads stripped and it all still works.)
And for the gearing on the fixie, I’ve decided to move from a 14-tooth cog to a 15-tooth cog. Hooked up to a 39-tooth chain ring, this will change the gear inches from 75 to 70. I think this will make it easier for around town rides when I don’t really feel like punishing myself. (Or maybe I’m just getting old.)
Lately, I’ve been noticing that a lot of the higher end road bikes around have really noisy cassettes. When the rider is coasting it sounds like they’ve just landed a marlin that’s taking out line. Which got me to thinking… Shimano makes bicycle cassettes and fishing reels. They’ve even got a reel called Tiagra. I wonder how much technology overlaps between fishing and biking…
Saturday, January 17, 2009
mostly riding
Rode up to Brown this morning - 75 and sunny. Lots of other recent rides, too. Hardly any running yet this year. I have no real goals at the moment. Just floating.
Signs of addiction: I’ve been dreaming about riding a lot lately. Yesterday I woke up in the morning still wearing my ankle reflector. Today I cooked lunch in spandex shorts and clip-less cycling shoes.
Signs of addiction: I’ve been dreaming about riding a lot lately. Yesterday I woke up in the morning still wearing my ankle reflector. Today I cooked lunch in spandex shorts and clip-less cycling shoes.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
closure
I sanded down the sidewall of the rims on Mindful Mule today - desperate times call for desperate measures. Used a pretty fine sand paper – the green stuff – worn out 80-grit. No more squawk. (Toe-in is bogus.) Sleep well neighborhood.
Friday, January 9, 2009
not cold feet but blinded
I rode for a couple hours last night. It was about 50 degrees and I didn’t get cold feet. This is pretty amazing. I usually get cold feet anytime it dips below 72 degrees (joking, but not far off.) So, what was different? I wore my bike shoes around for about an hour before the ride. I also didn’t tighten the straps down as tight as I usually do (I think this is what made the difference.) I also moved my seat forward to compensate for raising it months ago (3 out of five seats moved forward now – 7mm each – why wait so long???) What does the seat have to do with my feet? Well, I think it’s a circulation thing – blood flow, you know… Also, I wore thin wool socks. It’s really nice to ride with comfy feet.
A friend of mine recently pointed out to me that my red blinky light wasn’t very bright. I looked at it and it was still blinking so I figured it was fine. Blink is blink. Last night my front headlight ran out of batteries (on a foggy night on San Fernando Rd – I know that name is meaningless to all of you, but let’s just say that it’s not a very bike friendly place – not the place to lose your lights.) When I got home I recharged my headlight batteries and decided I might as well change the blinky light batteries while I was at it even though I could see the lights blinking in the lighted kitchen just fine a few inches from my face. I put in freshly juiced batteries and hit the switch again (holding the light in the same position in front of my face as before – finally a good control for one of my experiments.) Red! Blinky! Light! Oh, my god, that’s bright in the eyes. Apparently not all blink is blink. I guess I’ve been too invisible for the last few weeks, months…
A friend of mine recently pointed out to me that my red blinky light wasn’t very bright. I looked at it and it was still blinking so I figured it was fine. Blink is blink. Last night my front headlight ran out of batteries (on a foggy night on San Fernando Rd – I know that name is meaningless to all of you, but let’s just say that it’s not a very bike friendly place – not the place to lose your lights.) When I got home I recharged my headlight batteries and decided I might as well change the blinky light batteries while I was at it even though I could see the lights blinking in the lighted kitchen just fine a few inches from my face. I put in freshly juiced batteries and hit the switch again (holding the light in the same position in front of my face as before – finally a good control for one of my experiments.) Red! Blinky! Light! Oh, my god, that’s bright in the eyes. Apparently not all blink is blink. I guess I’ve been too invisible for the last few weeks, months…
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
little differences in running and biking and living
Often (the last couple years) my first trail runs of the year, or my first trail runs in a while, come after receiving Trail Runner magazine in the mail. That is why I subscribe to it - it gets me out there. Today, I got two copies at the same time – issue 56 and 57. I’m not sure why they decided to send out two magazines at once, but I interpret it as some kind of double challenge from them. Luckily for me, by the time I got to my mailbox to discover the magazines waiting for me, I had already made it out for a great trail run on El Prieto. I beat them to it. Ha!
All of my runs start out on sidewalk. At about 1.3 miles I feel comfortable running in the street – asphalt is softer than concrete. Then at about two point something miles it switches to a dirt path – softer still. On my long runs, this is where I spend most of my time – the dirt path. My actual trail (mountain) running is generally limited to a dozen or so runs per year. I’m not sure why there is such a noticeable difference between dirt path running and trail running but there just is and it’s not just the steeper inclines.
I rode “Totally Eighties” today to the trailhead. I haven’t ridden that bike in a long time. I added 100 psi to the tires – that’s how long it’s been. There’s something very special about that bike. I’m not sure what the right word is to describe it (her) - delicate, maybe. But it’s a strong delicate – spry, lithe, lovely – like a violin - totally different from my other bikes - as different as dirt path running is from trail running.
I saw a lot of Mugwort (Artemisia douglasiana) on the trail - a cool plant. I heard once that you can collect its dried leaves and roll them up into a nice tight ball (smudge) that, once ignited, will smolder, flameless, for many hours – long enough to travel to ones next destination – just give the smoldering Mugwort a little breath at your next fireplace and you’ve got the magic of fire – the breath that reminds us… of ancient knowledge.
On the way down the trail I was trying to keep my stride as normal as possible without altering it to avoid trail obstacles. This was interesting and freeing, actually. It helped to maintain a good flow down the hill. Although, it did make me feel a lot like Bigfoot – big long strides that seem to melt into the surrounding terrain – not a bad dude to take trail running lessons from.
Anyway, it was a good day - glad to spend some time with the mountain.
All of my runs start out on sidewalk. At about 1.3 miles I feel comfortable running in the street – asphalt is softer than concrete. Then at about two point something miles it switches to a dirt path – softer still. On my long runs, this is where I spend most of my time – the dirt path. My actual trail (mountain) running is generally limited to a dozen or so runs per year. I’m not sure why there is such a noticeable difference between dirt path running and trail running but there just is and it’s not just the steeper inclines.
I rode “Totally Eighties” today to the trailhead. I haven’t ridden that bike in a long time. I added 100 psi to the tires – that’s how long it’s been. There’s something very special about that bike. I’m not sure what the right word is to describe it (her) - delicate, maybe. But it’s a strong delicate – spry, lithe, lovely – like a violin - totally different from my other bikes - as different as dirt path running is from trail running.
I saw a lot of Mugwort (Artemisia douglasiana) on the trail - a cool plant. I heard once that you can collect its dried leaves and roll them up into a nice tight ball (smudge) that, once ignited, will smolder, flameless, for many hours – long enough to travel to ones next destination – just give the smoldering Mugwort a little breath at your next fireplace and you’ve got the magic of fire – the breath that reminds us… of ancient knowledge.
On the way down the trail I was trying to keep my stride as normal as possible without altering it to avoid trail obstacles. This was interesting and freeing, actually. It helped to maintain a good flow down the hill. Although, it did make me feel a lot like Bigfoot – big long strides that seem to melt into the surrounding terrain – not a bad dude to take trail running lessons from.
Anyway, it was a good day - glad to spend some time with the mountain.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
brake thru
The brakes on Mindful Mule have been squeaking for months now and it’s driving me crazy. It’s getting worse. Is that because of the cold – the pads hardening? I tried cleaning the rim with toothpaste – that only made it worse. I’ve tried all sorts of angles and approaches to toe-in the brake pads but nothing worked. It’s gotten to the point where I won’t even stop at stop signs because my brakes are too loud – I don’t want to wake up the entire neighborhood.
Finally, today, a dark, cloudy, ominous day, holed up in a darker garage, I had a stroke of genius (queue maniacal laughter.) This definitely goes into the category of things I wouldn’t recommend to anyone including myself, but desperate times call for desperate measures. What I’m about to say may make some of you want to puke and could even be considered sacrilege. Feel free to post your hate mail in the comments, but don’t say I didn’t warn you…
You know the old saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease...” well... I greased my brake pads. There, I said it. And, you know what? I’m not ashamed because it worked… It worked! Silence is golden…
Finally, today, a dark, cloudy, ominous day, holed up in a darker garage, I had a stroke of genius (queue maniacal laughter.) This definitely goes into the category of things I wouldn’t recommend to anyone including myself, but desperate times call for desperate measures. What I’m about to say may make some of you want to puke and could even be considered sacrilege. Feel free to post your hate mail in the comments, but don’t say I didn’t warn you…
You know the old saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease...” well... I greased my brake pads. There, I said it. And, you know what? I’m not ashamed because it worked… It worked! Silence is golden…
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