ouchie

i hit a bump on bluebonnet going south....broad daylight totally sober. i just didn't see the bump and wasn't expecting an asphalt bubble in the middle of the bike lane. it knocked me off my bike and i totally superman-ed. i skinned the left side of my chest and my left knee through my clothes. hands and elbows par for the course i suppose, skinned and goopy with blood and road grit. all in all it's the kind of thing that you don't need to go to an ER for but that totally sucks...and hurts.

motherflip

dudes

today i met with a prosecutor who told me that bargaining for community service was not an option for my running-a-red-light ticket. i had three options:
1) have the ticket not go to my record by paying $150 to the city and taking a defensive driving course.
2) plead guilty and do community service.
3) continue to contest and go to trial.
i chose option #1 for some reason. but who the fuck cares if i have a conviction for running a red light....i was scared that if i ever want to become a pedicabber i wouldn't have a clean "driving record"....

lame.

i hate giving the city money for this type of shit. AND I HATE TAKING A DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE FOR A BIKE TICKET.
i have one month to pay the 150 and three months to take the course and i can't get a moving citation for three months.....
i'm so angry with myself for giving up so early in the process, but to me it feels like it's been going on forever. it's already been three months since i was cited, i don't want this bullshit to go on infinitely.

also, last week i found out my road bike has a cracked head tube!

also also, did i tell you that i got jumped! the other week while on my bike. on red river between 4th and cesar chavez....i got knocked onto my fucking face and then i hit the dude with my u-lock in the gut....


these past thirty days get the big "WHATEVS...."

Book of Lenny

I recently saw Jonathan Marshall's work at AMOA, a video with accompanying installation called the 'Book of Lenny' a chronicle of one survivor of a fictionalized apocalyptic-scale weather phenomenon called El Nada. Lenny the protagonist, builds among other things, this cycle-boat. It's a converted Schwinn Varsity married to a floorbase of salvaged fenceplanks on top of pontoons. Attention to detail is in no small supply: for example, rudder functions are taken into consideration, by connecting guidewires to the bike's front fork.

The amazing thing about this cycle-boat is that it is not all fiction. From the video, we see that it actually functions on water.



There is a certain way in which the contemporary cycling community values itself as a DIY bastion. "If the shit hit the fan, we could fix things ourselves." Or at least we could fix our bikes ourselves. If everything ran on bike principles then we could fix everything. The bike rider and the survivalist are not so distinct in society, Marshall brings attention to that connection through his fiction.

Peticab

here's a photo of Comrade and me during Critical Mass.....it's not the best shot of Comrade but you get the idea. my pedicabbing friend timothy remarked on our setup saying, "oh look. it's sort of like a little pedicab for dogs." and i, who am usually the last person to make a pun, said, "yes. you might call it a 'peticab' mightn't you?" harharhar....

ANYWAY, there had been a call for people to "pup their rides," but i was the only one with a critter on this particular ride. i was a little worried about being able to maneuver through traffic and whatnot downtown but we managed just fine.

i think i will try to organize a doggie ride cuz doggies are cute and they like to ride around town too....maybe sometime in the late summer, in the evening. we'll stop at dogparks and waterholes/ponds/pools/fountains to keep the pups cool. it'll be so much fun....

May is bike month

And I want to take it really seriously this year. I want a partner in crime, though. Roncal and Arwyn won't work because they already are both allstars at not using cars.

Here's the deal, I want to bike and bus more and I would love to even bus a ton more this month. The obstacles to overcome: being at the bus stop by 5:55 am and riding the bus/biking 1.5 hours each way if I want to avoid using my car. BUT i can do it and it sounds more horrible than it is. When my car was at the shop, I actually enjoyed turning my brain off completely and getting on the bus. Recreation: I run late. all the time. cedar tardy sexton. that's me. in order to bike/bus on the weekends, i need to step up my organizational/scheduling skills by about 50%. or more.

Sooo, I am hoping there's someone out there who will enter a challenge with me to bike &/or bus blank days a week to work and we can offer each other moral support. If we surpass our goals, we get to do something super fun (could be go out of town, alcohol, chocolate...some cool something) and if we miss a day we were supposed to bike/bus we owe the other person money or we have to contribute a few bucks to a bike org...

I know the biggest obstacle is breaking out of my routine, I really think the rest can be fun.

Anyone in or know anyone who would be in?

ps-I use bike/bus interchangeably because either way, you are leaving a car at home and to me, that's the most important goal.

resources

My prius has sort of eclipsed my bicycle but I'm headed back around. The weather is so gorgeous, why would I want to be in a car if I don't have to? I'm really looking forward to a full night of riding for Roncal's birthday--it was such a marvelous time last year. Here's a few resources for all (two) of us. I'm looking forward to ordering my hard copy of the most recent Austin bike map since I have yet to successfully make it from work to home without dangerous highway crossings and spontaneous dump-outs on the deathly roads I was trying so hard to avoid.
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle/bikemap.htm
A friend sent this one...
http://www.bicyclecity.com/

astrid

for fuck's sake

re: fixie

i should remember to tighten the bolts that connect my chainring to my crankarms regularly.....that way i won't bend my chainring and derail my chain randomly one day while riding down congress ave. like i did on tuesday....sheesh.... whatevs.....i took the opportunity to gear it up. i am now riding a 46 in the front and 15 in the back.....

sweet.

tabitha? astrid? emma?

so i finished building up my fixed gear bike. it's a converted schwinn sprint. beautiful. the frame is a color somewhere between shit and champagne. a little rough looking (hopefully theft retardant in that way). 40t in front 15 t in rear (i might need to gear it higher cuz it's sortof not giving me the kind of gain i would like). although i tried to find as many used parts as possible (frame, fork, brake, seat, seatpost, headset, handlebars) the drivetrain (bottom bracket, pedals, cranks, gears, chain, wheelset) is all brand new. thus, the drivetrain is nice and shiny and makes me proud in that way that new car owners are (commodity fetishism much?).
it's my first attempt at fixed-ly riding. i'm loving it so far although i'm having a tad bit of trouble getting into the left toe-clip since i don't usually ride with one on that side. also my saddle (a salvaged yellowbike find) is a bit uncomfortable so i'm tracking some leads to find a more comfy saddle. i also need to find a wrench to carry around so that i can take off my wheels (bolts, not quick-release) when i need to. i feel like i'm graduating to something here.

and i don't know...i (since i'm silly) feel like this bike needs a name. something dignified but sporty? something utilitarian and political? something homely but sturdy?

pic coming soon....

Drunk Drivers

on saturday night, a stupid person in a stupid mini-truck accelerated to turn left from oppposing traffic, in front of me at congress/barton springs road and almost killed me. i pulled my brakes and tried to skid-stop but hit the ground. my bike continued forward under the truck, and the truck ran over the rear tire of my motobecane. the driver didn't stop. he knew he ran over something: a bike, a person, possibly both. and he chose not to stop. where do such people come from?

whatever.
i'm fine. but angry. and a little disappointed in "people."

the damage: i paid 60$ for a new rear wheel, tire, and tube. luckily the frame wasn't cracked. it was bent by about 4mm but the (hot) mechanic said "meh." i tried to take this opportunity to upgrade my wheels to 700c's but ran into ca$$ette/derailleur$ compatibility problems. so we kept the 27's. and the bracket for my bike lock broke off my bike, so now i have to carry that in my bag. i've got a minor bruise on my left inside elbow, left hip, and right inside knee, but no blood and no broken bones.

before this all happened i signed up for health insurance at work, but it doesn't go into effect until feb 1st. hopefully i won't need it until then.

4:20

haha. you thought this was a blog entry about smoking pot. but it's not. in fact this in a record of the fact that comrade and i went on our first trip to the vet via bicycle/trailer. trailer trailer trailer. our appointment was at 4:20 and we were late by about 15 minutes due to traffic and the fact that hauling a dog and trailer takes significantly longer than hauling just myself through south austin.

whatever. we did it. and on our way out of the office some crazy old lady with a white haired poodle asked if i always carried my dog in "that thing." i lied a little bit and said "yes" thinking that "i always carry my dog in this thing" is pretty much the same as "i will always carry my dog in this thing." she wrinkled her nose a bit and observed, "it doesn't look very safe...." off the cuff i made up a statistic, "more people die in car accidents in austin every year than in bicycle accidents." just to shut her up. i'm pretty sure it's true even if i don't have the NHTSA report to prove it.

let me tell you, cars give a bike+trailer much more space than they give just-a-bike. and most people (who are not old ladies) love seeing a dog out and about in the city. we got a lot of expository "A DOG!"s yelled at us. i mean, my dog is super cute, and now she's got a trailer to make her look even cuter. and i am her homely, sweaty rickshaw driver.

french connection

hiya

i got a new (used) bike. a good condition older motobecane super mirage. steel, french, vintage. my favorites. attention to detail is amazing on older bikes. seam-stitched (faux?) leather grip tape. amazing, i say.

the only thing that isn't ideal about it is the gearing which is a bit too easy to be entirely useful. i can't really accelerate the way i would like to down hills. i talked to tom and he said that changing out the rear cassette is pretty easy unless it's a high-end french monster, which of course it isn't.

w00t!

ow.
i just crashed. i might have been drunk. my hand hurts.
bleedy bleedy.

harvest moon bike ride

wow.

last saturday at 2am i went on the harvest moon bike ride here in austin. It was pretty amazing....we met on the lamar pedestrian bridge like always but there were a lot more people there this month than last month. i would guess about 500 or so. you could see the bridge undulating under the weight which sort of distressed me a bit, but no one else cared.....

we went up exposition blvd which has some crazy hills, and we passed the restaurant i used to work at which is still nothing in its stead.....the gaggle of kids i found myself riding with sped past the first pit stop cuz we thought we were behind everyone else when really we were in front of everyone else.....silly......

the ride went all the way up to anderson lane and came down burnet/guadalupe and ended up at the top of a parking garage near the capitol downtown.....pretty amazing......i got back home around 6am and was pretty exhausted.....i saw the cute boy i flirted with last month but chickened out when it came time to walk up and talk to him. and by the time i got my nerve back, i realized he had left the ride (to go home i guess).......oh well....

i love these rides. they are empowering (i can ride to anderson lane and back) and community reinforcing (look at all my friends that i know who are here) and superfun.....

moving on

well well well

so i am feeling modertately anxious about this whole "getting money out of ups" thing because i found out the other day that my claim has been contracted out to a group called Galligar&Co which i don't think is a good sign. i felt better when i was dealing with Liberty Mutual, which was at least a name i recognized.....whatever....i'm still waiting to see what will happen. after consulting bicycleaustin.info i found some lawyers (all of whom were very eager to call me back after my initial phone call to them), none of whom were willing to take my case, since my injuries were negligible, in terms of $$.

and i had been borrowing a mountain bike from my friend tom, but i couldn't really get into the way it felt. so i tried harder to buy a road bike and i found one in san antionio for $95 which will suit me until i can get a better one. it's nice. older, steel, light, basic. bikes in SA are much cheaper on craigslist than they are in austin, which is good to know. the dude i bought this bike from is almost exactly one hour from my door. so that's not bad. the picture above is my new bike. i like it ok, but i feel like i will never get over the loss of my first road bike and her untimely demise.

i was almost run over by a ups truck yesterday. coming north on congress, downhill. the truck made a right hand turn into me and i had to ditch my bike to avoid getting run over. the truck rolled over my bike a few feet from my face....i am mostly ok, except for a few scrapes, but my bike is totally FUCKED......i just met with the insurance adjuster, and he took a statement.....i need to get some insurance money from them ASAP so i can get a new bike. it's hard to say yet how skeezy these people are gonna be.....it'll be a learning experience......

moonlight

oh my goodness

i went on the moonlight bike ride this past monday and it was totally awesome. it was my first critical-mass-ish activity (this was not technically critical mass, but i'm sure there was a lot of overlap), and it was super-fun.

the route was ten relatively flat miles that started at the lamar bridge and then went east on cesar chavez through downtown, then west through downtown on 6th, then north through the capitol to 51st, then east, then south to long branch on 11th.....just in time for last call....w00t!

anyway, i met some kids from nuage days of yore and some new friends as well....everyone was happy & amicable, and i learned that not only does "green mean go" but also "red means run it!"...which is to say: when there are 100 of you, it really doesn't matter what color the light is.....

the one next month is gonna be at 2am....which seems a bit too late for me but we'll see....the one for OCT is on the 25th and at midnight so i'll probably do that one for sure.....

summertime in the city

oh jeez

it was a wet summer in austin..... very very wet.....i think it rained every single day in june....and what did i learn from it.....well for one.... is that i need to get some fenders if i intend to ride in poor weather conditions. otherwise, i get splattered all up my butt and back. i read somewhere once about stealing one of those plastic "we buy houses" signs that people put at intersections and cutting that into strips and then attaching that to my frame as a fender using zip-ties......i meant to do that all summer but instead i just ended up driving a lot.....hmm.....matt tells me that if i want to keep my feet dry while biking in the rain i should put a plastic bag (like from a grocery store) on over my socks and then put my shoes on over that.....i guess i also need a ziplock bag for my cellphone....

and man, i still haven't rigged up comrade's trailer b/c i still haven't had the money to do so.....i think i'm gonna apply to be a pedicab driver. my friend james from the thriftstore gave me the contact info for capitol pedicab which is what he works for. he said that capitol doesn't require you to use your own bike, which is good b/c my bike would die under the strain.....james said that he makes good money but is occasionally groped uncomfortably.....

but nowadays it's sunny and hot as fuck. and so i'm trying to compile a list of drinking holes that are easily accesible and free and preferably cool, here in austin.
some places that have a water cooler around town for public consumption are:
jo's coffee, little city, and runtex.

finally!!!

I haven't seen chris in days but I have seen his car, so he's doing a good job of staying on two wheels. My big news is that yesterday I biked home from work for the first time (from this job)! That's over [pant] sixteen [pant] miles but it was worth it. It actually wasn't very enjoyable for a bike ride but it was more enjoyable than driving. For several hours before I left work, I tried to find a route that wouldn't take me on the roulette roads. Jeez, I'm not sure I succeeded. Mapquest crashed on me twice; google maps, yahoo maps, and some Austin bike maps I found to be a bit unwieldy. Anyway, I wrote down a rough route but never found a key backstreet and rode Metric to Rundberg to N Lamar. Metric is the quietest, traffic-wise but some fucking asshole got pissed I was on the road and revved up his engine to what sounded like 100mph and screamed past me, narrowly missing a car in the other lane. Where's a cop when you need one? On North Lamar I did something I really never advocate (aside from a few bridges over highways). I rode on the sidewalk. Bike research shows that riding on sidewalks is more dangerous than the road because drivers don't notice bikes in driveways when they are turning into businesses (in fact, I just heard about a guy that got hit in that exact situation in S Austin.) But my fear of the busy street with no bike lanes convinced me to take sidewalks until I got to this side of 183. The whole ride took an hour and a half. Notes for next time: change into shorts & tank top, ditch bag or bungee it to my rack, and if I want to do it frequently--get a road bike. Anyway, it was the longest direct ride I've done in Austin. The only bike ride that tops it was a 20 mile journey I had to take in Brazilian sands to track turtles--on an ill-fitting bike.

i can has bike to work day?

so i haven't updated lately because, when i started this blog i wanted it to be entries of only success stories, and my latest bike project was outfitting my dog's trailer. BUT i royally fucked up the retro-fitting and, well, have run into snags in fixing it. but whatever, i'll fix it, it'll just take some time. i'm moving right along. the best thing, bike-wise that has happened to me in the past two weeks is that i lost my job and got a new one much closer to me that doesn't care if i arrive all sweaty. yes. doggy day-care is the best bike thing to happen to me in a while. even despite the ridiculous early hours and the constant poop-scooping and the poor pay, doggy day-care is fantastic.

(dot dot dot) lest it go unsaid. (dot dot dot)