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Getting Out Of Town
Mar. 24th, 2009 08:13 pmSomehow I've managed to get out of town in all three of the last weekends. Not bad for a guy who rarely strays outside of Zone 1 :-)
( Cut for image intensity )
( Cut for image intensity )
Mar. 24th, 2009
Riding To Work
Mar. 24th, 2009 09:39 pmI've taken to riding to work, as of late January. Partly to get fit, but also largely to avoid Connex. Since roughly the Australia Day long weekend, I've ridden just over 600 kilometres! Jeepers. And yet I'm still not managing to lose weight. Hmmm, maybe I should stay off the bubble tea...
I've had Ninja Bike for nearly a year now - well, ten months anyway. I didn't realise what constant maintenance a bike needs. Compared to, say, my newish car. I've never opened the bonnet on my car, and indeed wouldn't even know how to refill the window washing reservoir.
Ninja Bike, on the other hand, has already snapped one gear shifting cable. Plus I need to pump the tyres every four days or so - which really makes a difference, it feels like riding through treacle if they're even a bit flat. Soon it'll need new brake pads, and I need to oil the chain...
I've also been modifying him (him? OK, so, my bike has a gender) fairly constantly. The most recent addition was a set of bar ends. I bought the fattest ones I could find - black of course, to match my bike. And Louisa from Bike Fix, who happens to be my girlfriend's housemate, attached them for me, which involved cutting the handle bar grips a little to expose enough of the bar to attach them too. I was also amazed to discover the number of different kinds of handlebars out there...
Said bar ends, and moving the rack back a little so I don't kick my panniers quite so easily, made Ninja Bike almost like a new bike. Because I can put my feet on the pedals in a slightly better position, thus taking advantage of my impressive calves, and because I can lean further forward on the bar ends, I actually ride faster.
Well, faster being relative! I can maintain about 25km/h on flat level dry ground. I still get passed by lycra lizards on light weight racing bikes. Bah, give me my solid hybrid any day.
Another excellent addition: a planet bike bicycle computer. This is how I know I've done 600Km/h, and how I can find out that I'm riding on a day like this:
I also want to get some decent mud guards, to prevent the spraying of water all up my back. And I've got a ball-type compass I'm trying to attach to the handle bars. And that's about it - I'm reluctant to add any more crap to my bike, since it all adds weight, however tiny each item might seem to weight...
I've had Ninja Bike for nearly a year now - well, ten months anyway. I didn't realise what constant maintenance a bike needs. Compared to, say, my newish car. I've never opened the bonnet on my car, and indeed wouldn't even know how to refill the window washing reservoir.
Ninja Bike, on the other hand, has already snapped one gear shifting cable. Plus I need to pump the tyres every four days or so - which really makes a difference, it feels like riding through treacle if they're even a bit flat. Soon it'll need new brake pads, and I need to oil the chain...
I've also been modifying him (him? OK, so, my bike has a gender) fairly constantly. The most recent addition was a set of bar ends. I bought the fattest ones I could find - black of course, to match my bike. And Louisa from Bike Fix, who happens to be my girlfriend's housemate, attached them for me, which involved cutting the handle bar grips a little to expose enough of the bar to attach them too. I was also amazed to discover the number of different kinds of handlebars out there...
Said bar ends, and moving the rack back a little so I don't kick my panniers quite so easily, made Ninja Bike almost like a new bike. Because I can put my feet on the pedals in a slightly better position, thus taking advantage of my impressive calves, and because I can lean further forward on the bar ends, I actually ride faster.
Well, faster being relative! I can maintain about 25km/h on flat level dry ground. I still get passed by lycra lizards on light weight racing bikes. Bah, give me my solid hybrid any day.
Another excellent addition: a planet bike bicycle computer. This is how I know I've done 600Km/h, and how I can find out that I'm riding on a day like this:
I also want to get some decent mud guards, to prevent the spraying of water all up my back. And I've got a ball-type compass I'm trying to attach to the handle bars. And that's about it - I'm reluctant to add any more crap to my bike, since it all adds weight, however tiny each item might seem to weight...