Whoa! Has Ckucke been by the shop recently? Note that it is twisted in the tightening direction! I tried replicating this by cranking another 6mm key in a vise, but it cammed out of the jaws before it could twist.
Archive for the 'bike' Category
Having just gotten back to Hawaii from Japan on Saturday the 24th. and having exploded my lower back on my first day back at work, I wasn’t quite ready to do anything other than lie down until Wednesday. The weather was not bad, so I took a spin on the bike. I tried pushing some intervals, cycling through “hard”, “harder”, and then recovering on “easy”. Along my circuit, there was a black polyethylene cloth construction barrier along the sidewalk. Each time I passed, a little mongoose was poking his head out from the corner, watching for doves or chickens to prey on. Never saw him get anything. Didn’t run his head over either (not like that squirrel in Whistler). The ride actually did my back some good – loosening it up and stretching it out.
D = 11.86 km (7.37-miles), Vavr = 17.5 km/h (10.9-mph), Vmax = 48.1 km/h (29.9-mph), T = 41-minutes
Even after doubling back to get something I forgot at work, I managed to get home in time to take the bike out once again on Monday. The weather wasn’t as nice as last Wednesday with thick, opaque clouds crowning the mountaintops, but it didn’t appear like rain was imminent, so I took a chance on taking a spin. The weather held, but there wasn’t a single moment where the looming overcast parted to allow even a spot of sun to reach my path. Again, the limiting factor was a matter of seating, so the duration of the ride coincidentally ended up being almost exactly the same. I managed a couple more kilometers this time out. The two rides bracketed this month’s full-moon night hike, so I’m not sure how all the pain/fatigue dynamics work out, like whether Wednesday’s ride set me up for more pain on Friday night, or Friday’s hike left me drained for Monday.
D = 12.68 km (7.88-miles), Vavr = 17.7 km/h (11.0-mph), Vmax = 38.5 km/h (23.9-mph), T = 43-minutes
Bike? What is this “bike” you speak of? This word is unfamiliar to me…
Actually got out and rode around on Wednesday. The old saying, “it’s like riding a bike,” definitely holds true – it always hurts, it always kicks your ass, and it’s always somehow fun (even if it hurts and kicks your ass). The tires were covered with lint and dog hair on the bottoms from sitting immobile for over half-a-year. The fuzz patches stayed in place even through the fast sections, clinging between the lugs of the sticky Rubber Queens even against the wind and rotational vectors. It was a little distracting, so I rode through the grass to remove them. There was some construction going on my normal loop, so I had to make some adjustments to the routine. I didn’t push hard since I didn’t want to break anything (on me, not the bike) as I haven’t been riding in like forever, so the numbers will reflect this. During the ride, the knees hurt, the legs burnt a little, and the lungs and heart weren’t quite up to the task, but the limiting factor really was the ability to sit on that little seat for an extended period of time. One day later, the back of my neck was sore, and my calves were tight. Even so, the discomfort paled against the feeling of the afternoon wind and the pure, simple rush of speed.
D = 10.86 km (6.75-miles), Vavr = 15.4 km/h (9.6-mph), Vmax = 39.9 km/h (24.8-mph), T = 42-minutes
Derek had given me some leftover rubber diamond plate sheet material earlier in the week and the idea was to use it to make extended mudflaps for the rally FX. Friday evening before the next event, I decided to start on the project, should be an easy thing. I then remebered I had stashed in the floor of my closet, a set of Toyota pickup truck mudflaps. Wait, I’ve never had a Toyota pickup, you say. Yes, this set was scavenged from back in the day when we used to ride mountain bike, a lot. If my memory serves me right, this was even way back in the days when Tantalus was open and we rode it. We’re talking at least ten years ago. And if my memory through old geezer colored glasses hasn’t fogged it too much, I’m pretty sure this was the late afternoon ride with me and Dave where we explored down an undocumented trail and found an abandoned wrecked Toyta truck. This was the event that made the phrase “it’s easier to go down than up” famous with Dave and me. We kept riding until it got too narow and grown in, and then continued on foot. We had a good idea where we were, and eventually we got to a point where we knew where the Makiki Valley trail was. But now it was serious hiking, no bushwaking, with bikes. We decended the steep valley side, Dave occasionally having to cut vines loose with his pocket knife and passing the bikes between the two of us to get over rock drops, and finally dropped onto the valley trail, just as the sun was close to dipping below the valley top. Anyway, these flaps are the bounty from that adventure. Continue reading ‘Flap Neglect’
Needing a cure for the letdown from last weekend’s failed ride, we headed out to the Ditch on Saturday afternoon. Kona weather brought thick, hazy air and almost nonexistent winds. On the drive to Waimanalo, it didn’t feel so bad, but once the ‘Cruiser stopped, the true depth of the humidity became apparent. Nobody was around, which surprised me, since I’m usually not the first to show up (although usually not the last either – that’s Root’s job). I got my stuff ready while watching three recently abandoned kittens going about their daily routine. When Jeff, Sara, and Danny showed up, they said Root had texted them to say that his brake pad had delaminated, so was off to find some epoxy to remedy the situation. Since it was clear that Root would be late, they took their time. Thanks for letting me know, guys! Continue reading ‘What?’
You can’t win against the weather. In an attempt to beat the arrival of a consolidated band of heavy rain arriving from the West, we hit the ditch at 13:00, but instead of arriving at the forecast 16:00, the rain arrived a few minutes after we started up Government Road. Hit it perfectly while trying to avoid it. Didn’t even have to destroy any stars – Dr. Soran would be proud (tell me where this comes from, geek!). After circuiting the side loop, Jeff suggested we ride up to the end of the road. We were already muddy and wet, so there really was no harm in riding more. Jeff was pretty much off the front from the start, but Sara, Danny, Paul, Root, and I were variably clumped up in a loose pack. On the way back down, Root and I went down the side loop a second time. The roots on the upper traverse were critically slippery. On the road back, I laid it down on the greasy-slick hard clay. I didn’t get hurt, but ended up with all the Java plum stains on my jersey and gear, as the runoff groove where I went down was where the rain was collecting the fallen fruit. After an early dinner at the Kailua Town Pub, it was home for a couple of hours of hosing off and washing the bike and gear. Continue reading ‘Defying the Strand’
The hunger…
The Ba-Le sandwich I had for lunch wasn’t enough to carry me through to tonight’s late dinner, so I grabbed a snack when I got into McBike. I didn’t want to eat something big and spoil my appetite, so this smaller bar looked like the ticket. At about half the physical size and caloric count as most standard energy bars, this snack-sized bar had the added benefit of being made from recognizable whole grains and fruits – more like a Clif Bar rather than the weird extruded robot food I’ve come to expect inside a PowerBar wrapper. The flavor was mild and easy to take, sort-of like a lower-sugar version of the more common mass-marketed cereal/whole grain bars. The packaging was easy to open, and the bar was gone in about four bites. These would probably be pretty good as ride food, since I have the tendency to eat only half of a standard bar per break. On the negative side though, you’d be generating more trash to keep track of, and the dollar value is a bit lack – it’s about half of a standard bar in content, but not at half the price! That’s the price of convenience and healthy content. Continue reading ‘PowerBar Pure & Simple Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bar’
The last dirt ride of 2010!
Sunday, 05 December 2010
The weather on Sunday was too nice to not ride, so the few of us that were able to ride met out at the Ditch for a little exploration. I saw some new tracks when we were out there several weeks ago during the muddy weekend, so this was a good opportunity to do some exploring. For a while, I had been thinking that it would be nice to cut a gentle new fully-rideable switchback trail from the Ditch up to the plateau so we didn’t have to bust our nuts going up the cardiac climb. When I saw the lines in the rain, I figured someone had beat me to the punch. Continue reading ‘Meander’
The base at Sapporo Kokusai had been steadily shrinking from the 50cm on opening day with no resupply in sight, so instead of blowing cash to ride out there on the bus and risk injury on the concrete-hard refreeze, I decided to head for the hills in a different way – on foot. I loaded up my pack with foul weather gear in case the forecast rains did arrive, and headed intop the hills above Sapporo. As a warm-up, I went up and around Maruyama. The trailhead for this 3km loop is just down the road from the Maruyama Zoo. There were about a dozen other people out on the trail with me that morning, along with a bunch of crows that followed said people, waiting for them to drop potentially edible things. On the return to the trailhead along the stream that runs down alongside the zoo, I found an Ezorisu that was hoping for a handout. Making squirrel noises kept him hanging around, even if I didn’t give him anything. I’m not sure if MTB riding is prohibited, but the amount of wooden steps would make this about 30% portages. Continue reading ‘No Snow? No Bike? Hike!’