Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Bikes on a Ferry
The ferry left Angel Island at 12:15 Saturday and stopped off at Tiburon, where scores of cyclists boarded. Many were getting off at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, where we were headed. The bikes were stacked in two rows in no particular order. I expected it would take fully half an hour to sort out the people leaving from those staying, but I was wrong. In defiance of all odds, exiting the ferry with our bikes was straightforward and calm.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tired tubes
After 20 years of riding and repairing bicycles, I'd never seen a tube fail with a pattern like the one in the top photo. It turns out, this is how a tube will fail if you have a poor-quality nylon rim strip that is tearing imperceptibly.
The second photo shows the inner wall of a tire in pre-failure mode. I noticed that the sidewall felt a bit irregular when the tire was at full pressure. So I unmounted it, and lo! Not sure how it got that way, but I suspect the tire may have been manhandled a bit sometime in the past either during mounting or unmounting. It is good to inspect your equipment regularly!
The second photo shows the inner wall of a tire in pre-failure mode. I noticed that the sidewall felt a bit irregular when the tire was at full pressure. So I unmounted it, and lo! Not sure how it got that way, but I suspect the tire may have been manhandled a bit sometime in the past either during mounting or unmounting. It is good to inspect your equipment regularly!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Westside Pavilion
Photo from my recent trip to L.A. at the Westside Pavilon. The mall has shrunk a little; the section west of Westwood Blvd has been replaced by movie theatres. It was a little weird, anyway, to have the mall divided by a Nordstrom in the middle. The Barnes and Noble is the only other store west of Nordstroms.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Friday, May 09, 2008
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Brake wear
Ride them hard for a winter, wear the pads down to nothing, then complain that "these brake suck."
On a slightly unrelated note, I notice on the cycling forums from time to time the topic of descending comes up. People think they want to descend faster, and they think there is some secret technique they are missing that would allow them to descend quickly and with confidence. Really, the only way to learn how to do this is by doing it. Like everything else in life.
The fastest descender I know is a woman I used to ride with in Berkeley. I remember the year she first got into cycling. She was a strong rider, and she enjoyed it; but that first year, she crashed a LOT. We were riding in the East Bay, so there were plenty of technical descents. She crashed on Tunnel Road a few times, Redwood Road, Pinehurst, Mount Diablo... People avoided following her downhill. We thought she was nuts.
But after that first year, she figured out where the limits were. Nobody could touch her on the descents any more -- we just didn't have the guts to keep up. If you never crash, you never know if you can go faster. She knew exactly where the line was.
On a slightly unrelated note, I notice on the cycling forums from time to time the topic of descending comes up. People think they want to descend faster, and they think there is some secret technique they are missing that would allow them to descend quickly and with confidence. Really, the only way to learn how to do this is by doing it. Like everything else in life.
The fastest descender I know is a woman I used to ride with in Berkeley. I remember the year she first got into cycling. She was a strong rider, and she enjoyed it; but that first year, she crashed a LOT. We were riding in the East Bay, so there were plenty of technical descents. She crashed on Tunnel Road a few times, Redwood Road, Pinehurst, Mount Diablo... People avoided following her downhill. We thought she was nuts.
But after that first year, she figured out where the limits were. Nobody could touch her on the descents any more -- we just didn't have the guts to keep up. If you never crash, you never know if you can go faster. She knew exactly where the line was.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
New Stevens Creek Trail Underpass
The newest section of the Stevens Creek Trail extends the trail from Yuba Drive south to the south side of El Camino Real, just west of the entrance to Highway 85.
After some thought, I've concluded that this new section may be useful for pedestrians, but is nearly useless for bicyclists. Bicyclists heading east on El Camino are better off exiting the trail at Dana and riding down Bernardo; they would get a light at El Camino, and avoid the treacherous overpass over 85. If they were heading west on El Camino, or south on Grant, they'd be better off taking Yuba.
But the trail is not just for bicyclists.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Made in USA!
These blades were on sale at Long's for $3.79 per 10-pack. There is no information on the outer packaging regarding the country of origin. It was not until I had actually taken a blade out of the dispenser that I saw they are made in the USA.
My initial reaction was, my gosh, somewhere, someone in the United States is still manufacturing something!
My delayed reaction was, my gosh, there is so little demand for double-edge razors that Long's is still selling off backlog from the days when razor blades were still made in the U.S.
My initial reaction was, my gosh, somewhere, someone in the United States is still manufacturing something!
My delayed reaction was, my gosh, there is so little demand for double-edge razors that Long's is still selling off backlog from the days when razor blades were still made in the U.S.