Ride Report

So I finally got clear weather to ride my bike. We're between storms and the pavement is dry, finally. Rides the same, even with the extra pounds from new pedals and bike lock. Can't even feel it in motion. Still goes up hills. No real changes till you step off and see the lights flashing. So that's good. I'd ride it further but both parents are sick and need me tending to them.

A little history. You know those before and after pictures? This was the before, from about 3 years ago when I got ambitious about biking in traffic.

Knobby tires, rust on the chain and sprockets, and its been out in the rain. The bag over the seat protected it from being moldy and spoiled. So, what now?

Cleaned off the chain and relubed it. Installed lights and a mirror. A bell so idiot drivers and pedestrians won't cut me off with a right or left turn into my lane. Mirror turned out to be pretty useless, and the straight handlebars were painful.

Replaced the tires with slicks for about 5 mph speed gain, lube the bearings and replace the handlebars, which required replacing the cables. A fair bit of work BUT, made it WAY more comfy to ride. I don't seem to have pictures of that, but whatever. The latest updates, as Thursday and Friday is this:

Flashy LED dynamo pedals.

Blinky taillight and new lock. The lock will spend most if its time at work, probably. Chained to the back fence.

Fairly elegant solution, actually. The lock doesn't hit my legs, and the light is just the right height to be above the bike rack but below my @$$. This of course means that drivers will be staring at my @$$. I hope I don't think about that. Also, the seat is designed to save my prostate from being crushed and rendering me both impotent and sterile. Isn't modern technology great?

This is a spoke light. It blinks whenever the motion sensor detects its being moved. It stops about 30 seconds later. A great tool to attract the eye of drivers at intersections.

The headlight. I may someday use it for lighting my way, but mostly its going to flash so oncoming drivers see me and don't turn left at the wrong moment. You can also see my good handlebars here. Very traditional bend to them.

The rear of the bike and pedals. The rack and fender are also an install from a couple years ago. Looks good right? I also replaced the brakes, since the prior ones snapped due to critical parts being PLASTIC instead of aluminum. The tires are self-sealing, btw, which means I can get them through crappy roads and bull thorns and not get stranded. Its missing something though. Its a little too black. What to do?

Yes, that's it! Extremely reflective yellow stripe. Ridiculously expensive, but will make me visible to cars using headlights from 1000 feet away. Repeat on the front fork for oncoming car visibility.

Also a good look at the slick tires. This thing is fast. And resists tire pops. The tires are 2.5 inches wide instead of .75 inches. They run around 60 PSI instead of 100 PSI. Which means a tiny piece of glass? It just rolls over it and no problem. This is the wisdom you need to remember, friends. Lower pressure means 1 mph slower, but far fewer stops for flats. And yes, I'm still wishing I had the time and inclination to repaint the frame, but that means tearing the bike apart, carefully, and disassembling it all, and then paint it properly, allow it to dry properly, wax it or polish it so its smooth and really properly hardened enamel, then rebuild everything again. Possibly with new cables or bearings. And then a thief would steal it because it looked nice. Even Mormon Missionaries have to deal with that.

I still have the knobby tires. If I must, I'll switch back to them. Its not that big a hassle changing the tires. It'll slow me down, but it will grip on gravel, sort of. Maybe. This is a damn site less expensive than a motorcycle. Its a shame I can't do that, but oh well. This is life, right now.

Maybe someday I'll get a touring motorcycle and ride it to Sardine Lake for the day. Maybe camp there and get thoroughly cold like everyone else. Meh. Such things are possible.