8 posts tagged “bike”

So. I hurt today.  Not as bad as I was expecting, but every muscle and bone cries out. Especially on my right side, where my range of motion is limited.

Now, I'm waiting for the cop to call me back so I can file a report, and then I'll go to the chiropractor for an evaluation. Oh boy!

I took the bus today, naturally. I just wasn't up to riding.

Pinky should come back from the shop tonight. 

So, I wrapped up my mom's christmas presents, and jumped on the bicycle to go to my beloved's work. It's only about a quarter mile, but I had other errands to run: buy stamps and send off a package, get lunch, etc.

Two blocks from work, I wait for the light to change. It does, and I cross, slowly, after checking that the traffic is stopping. Except, only the traffic in the near lane stopped. The guy in the far lane was hightailing through. Luckily, I saw him coming, but I couldn't entirely get out of the way, and he hit my front wheel. And then he just kept going.

I'm not sure what happened to the bike beyond the fact that the front brakes no longer work, the tire felt like it was going flat (but wasn't), and to go straight ahead, you have to turn the handlebars about 30 degrees. I rode it, sorta, to MBPOW, and after finding no bike racks at the front or rear of the building, I took it up into the parking structure. I was planning on looking for bike parking, but I saw my beloved's truck, so I decided I would just put the bike in the back of the truck. Which took some doing.

Meanwhile, I was being watched by a bunch of smokers. They all went inside, one by one, until one came over and offered to help me with the bike.  He kept insisting that I needed to call my beloved, and I kept insisting there was no way I was going to call my beloved, I was fine, thank you very much.

I did go in, and I did call him, and la-ti-da.

Why did I trust a traffic control? Why wasn't I thinking about the fact that all cars are out to get me?

I was in shock then. I think I'm coming out of it now. And I'm freaking out. 

There is nothing like commuting to work on a morning where it's 30 degrees out there to make you feel like you can do anything.

I rode Pinky, my three-speed. I had a lot of stuff to haul today:  christmas paper, gifts to be wrapped, my usual cache of clothes to change into, etc.  So I felt rather festive, riding around with christmas paper rolls sticking out of my pannier. And since it was cold, there weren't so many folks out on foot or on bike.

I read something over the weekend that has reverberated over and over again: Grant me the grace to go slow. Especially at this time of year, everything seems feverish. But does it need to be?

Riding Pinky is one way of going slow. It's also just a fun bike to ride, as it's pink with lots of chrome, and a big front basket that I've attached silk flowers to. And the ride in went without much happening. No one threatened me with their car, I chatted with lots of folks as they were on their way whereever it was they were going, and I managed to not fall over on the ice. That last thing is huge, really.

I just had a bad day on Wednesday, who knows why, and so I am cycling home, and I am still fairly miserable.  The ride home is a maker or breaker: usually, I feel better after the ride, but there are just some days, infrequent, where I feel much worse.  

Where we begin our story, I could really go either way. I'm on Wheeler Ave, which is a bus-only road with a bike path, heading up the hill. Wheeler always has a lot of debris in the bike path, and while I have the number to call, and I have a cell phone, I'm always too wanting to get home to actually stop the bicycle, find the number, and find the cell phone.

I'm riding, and I hear my keys hit the ground. Wha? So I go to stop the bike, and somehow manage to get a tree branch in the chain, and then somehow I end up on the ground, still on the bike. It was one of those slow motion falls, so I have a few bruises but it didn't really hurt anything really but my pride. And of course, there were a number of people who saw it, so I could feel good and mortified.

So I get my keys, I zip up that pocket (honestly!), and get started again. And there, 10 ft later, is a big pile of glass. I look over my shoulder to see if I can pull out into the bus lane, and I see the cops, barrelling up the hill. So I stop again.

From that point on, I felt kinda shakey on the bike. I brought it in to the bike shop on Friday for its annual maintenance, and they fixed it all up, but they adjusted the seat, and I tried riding with the seat as they had set it. Way too high, I could barely reach the pedals! It took several tries to get it back where it was supposed to be. And that whole ride home, I was cautious; not because of others, but because I was afraid my balance was just off.

But on Sunday, I finally went for a long ride on Pinky. It was good, and I regained my confidence.

As I think about going slow, it seems I should also think about going small. I've got so much stuff, I'm overrunning the house. And there's only two of us there. It's nuts. So I've been slowly tossing things. I filled a couple bags over the weekend, and I've spent the morning cleaning the office. I just want to get the slate clean, is that too much to ask? 

My ride into work is generally serene. Generally.

If you check out the map on the side, that's part of my route, the treacherous part, in the orange.  On Vancouver, there's a bike lane that goes south all the way to Broadway. At Broadway, there's nothing.

And so the two blocks on Vancouver south of Broadway, from Broadway to Weidler to N. Center Ct. Drive, are a little too exciting.

I ride in the rightmost lane, the lane that can't turn right at Weidler, and can only make a right at N. Center Ct. Now, if I were in a car, and I saw a bicycle in a lane, I could think, I'm not getting in that lane because the bicyclist will slow me down (even though I am going the prevaling speed of traffic through these intersections. But hey, someone could think that). Or, I have an engine, I'm just going to blow past that damn bike.

But I've found, more than once, that the automobiles get behind me, and as I pull into the crosswalk to let them go past me, that they will try to force me into the traffic or drive slow enough to force me into the sidewalk.

Obviously, I'm causing some animosity just by existing, just by thinking that I have a right to not be killed.

So this morning, I'm at the light at Vancouver & Weidler. I'm in the right most lane, in the groove where a car's right tire would be.  I look, and right along the curb is a broken beer bottle. It's not just a pile of glass though; about a third of the bottle is left, the bottom third, sitting up on its flat bottom.

The light turns green, and I'm off, and into the crosswalk to let the cars behind me pass me. And seconds later, I hear a horrible noise— and a moment later, I realize it's the car behind me. They've driven over that partial beer bottle.

I know it's wrong to feel shadenfreude, to rejoice in someone else's misery, but as these people threaten to kill me with their automobiles, I just don't feel a lot of sympathy.

Why did they run over the bottle? Was it because they were planning on forcing me into the traffic on Weidler? Give the cyclist a good scare? I can only assume they were out to get me. Jeez, I'm just trying to get to work.  

Okay. There are times I'm thankful that I'm not filthy rich, and this is one. If I were filthy rich, I would spend all of my money on Vanilla bicycles.

I saw this commuter outside MPOW, in pink, with narrow wooden fenders. I couldn't believe that the owner parked it outside. I mean, if I owned a Vanilla, I'd probably hang it on the wall in my living room so I could just gaze at it lovingly, and I'd never be able to ride it because I'd be too afraid that it would be stolen, and it would break my heart.

 And just now, on Todd Fahrner's blog, I just saw this: a Vanilla Longtail. Are cargo bikes supposed to be this sexy? OMG. I'm just a sucker for a nice mixte.

How am I supposed to work now, knowing that this is out in the world??

height 37cm x depth 15cms x width 44cm wt1450g, capacity: 26 litres Cotton Duck version available in left handed or right handed model 100% Natural cotton canvas; waterproof; black or 1000 Denier Cordura nylon; black A bike pannier specifically designed to cope with the unique demands of the office based bike commuter. Lots of pockets help organisation of office and bike equipment Large internal laptop pouch included. Mobile phone holder and keyring included Zipped pocket in the foldback lid allows the user to store wet cycle gear separate from office items.

http://www.carradice.co.uk/commuter-bike-bags/bike-bureau.shtml

it has hooks for your bike rack, and a shoulder strap.

US companies, why is this so hard for you? I'd pay good money to have a stylish-ish messenger bag/satchel that doesn't scream, hey, I just got off a bike!, that would have some pockets in it, and that would hook right onto the bike. Easy-peasy. Why the hell isn't it then? Do I need to make one myself?!?!?!

Anybody know where I could get one of these?
 (Oh, Wallingford Bike Parts has them. Whoa! I wonder if CityBikes might have them?????)

Oh. And an overly thorough review. Cool!

It's 8:50pm and the sky is already darkening. It's dusk. How can the summer have gone so quickly? Isn't it supposed to be light until 10pm?

I had a nice lazy morning this morning, and dorked around the neighborhood for a long time. One of the highlights was watching three frilly chickens scratching for insects in someones yard... that obviously wasn't theirs. They were in their own custody. Not something you always see in NE Portland.

I stopped the scooter and took off my helmet. The chickens didn't care about me. They strutted and scratched and chased each other around. And then, suddenly, a skinny woman walked up the sidewalk, looking a little embarrased. She walked up the lawn after one of the chickens, and the other two did a divide and conquer. The sought chicken sat as if she were laying eggs, as if if she got low enough to the ground, she would disappear entirely. The woman scooped the chicken up. The chicken didn't look like she really minded, and the other two fell right in line behind the woman holding the hen.

I bought the Trek T80 Navigator today. I went into the local bike shop and tried to ride other bikes, but I had a lame salesman who wasn't really interested in selling me anything. He showed me a cute women's bike with a frame that was too small, then showed me another bike that was quite an attractive hybrid. But since he didn't bother adjusting the seat or doing anything to try to fit it to me, test riding it was terrifically unpleasant. I probably should have pushed to have had it fit to me, but at that point, I was just annoyed, and so I took the T80 out again, which had been fit to me when I was last in the bike store.

I pedalled it up the hill and to a parking lot where I practiced hopping on and off the bike. Sometimes, it went really smoothly and easily, and other times, I thought I was going to hit the ground. My hitting the ground doesn't bother me so much, but doing that with a bike I don't yet own did bother me. Finally, I decided, I would buy it, I'd hold off adding the basket and the computer yet, and I'd do some riding on my own to see how I liked it. They have a 30 day guarantee, so as I long as I don't really mess up the bike, I can bring it back.

I went back tonight to pick up said bike, and riding it home was a mixed bag. I think I now understand why people don't stop at stop signs. I slowed way down but really did everything possible to not stop, because I didn't want to do the hop off the bike and then the hop back on. Hop off easy, hop on sometimes so maddeningly hard.

And when I would do the hop off, hopping back on... there was no telling whether it would be seemless and easy, or if I would end up tipping the bike, looking drunk or worse.

I try to remind myself that tipping over going 0 miles an hour really isn't going to hurt. It's not going to be dramatic, and as long as I don't get all drama queen about it, no one is probably going to notice. But I'm still scared of tipping over, of hitting the ground. VJ, chicks dig scars. Don't they?

But the 60-plus block ride along the Alameda ridge was fairly pleasant. I never got out of breath. It felt very doable. The sun was in the exactly in the right spot to blind me as I headed west, everything a shock of bright light and dark, and the washed out colors of the flowers. I'd get under a tree and then everything would come into a flash of color: green grass, green leaves, beautiful flowers, reds and oranges, bamboo and bananas. People'd be sitting on their porches, watching their children play, drinking beer. Sweet!

So I went last night to the local bike store to look at the T80 again. And I took it on a test ride.

It's super light. Like, lift with one hand, light. My townie is like picking up a bag of puppies: totally unwieldly, and surprisingly heavy and unbalanced. Gear shifting did not seem terribly smooth and I'm not sure if that's something that just needs to be tuned up, or. Standing on the pedals seemed great, very solid.

What gives me pause is the height of the thing.  If I'm sitting on the seat, and I have to stop, I have to tip over the bike to get my feet on the ground. It's really unnerving.  The salesperson suggested that it's something I need to get used to, but now I am just super unsure.

I love the idea of buying a bike, and not having to fuss with adding all the racks, fenders, etc., but I'm wondering if I should be doing some more shopping?

Opinions, comments, help, please?!?