Making, baking, and (un-)breaking things in Southeast Michigan.
 |
When I went to get in the car after lunch (to drive to another building) I found that my front bike tire is flat. While I’d found my front tire flat last night, I changed the tube and thought I’d fixed it as it held air all last night and while on the car en route to work. Now I need to investigate further, which likely means a stop at home en route to meeting up with the group I’m riding with. Darn.
Leave a Comment |
One of the biggest difficulties I had with going to clipless pedals on my bike last year was that the requirement for bike shoes made it difficult to use my bike for a short trips, such as those up to the store. It’s not hard to slip my bike shoes on, but they aren’t exactly comfortable for walking around in. While it would be possible to buy something like Keen’s Commuter cycling sandels / hiking shoes, that would be expensive and overkill.
Thanks to
When my set of Decksters arrived today, I decided to fit them with the cleats and deal with the cold / wet weather and give them a try. Installation of the cleats was very simply, and after being torqued to ~44 inch-pounds, I snapped them on the pedals and took a couple quick rides around the basement. Due to the plastic blocks on the bottom of the pedals (mandatory for using the Decksters with TIME or Eggbeater pedals) the Decksters fit very snugly on the pedals, and didn’t move.
While I could pop them off by twisting them with my hands, during a test ride around the neighborhood, intentionally rotating my feet on them, they didn’t seem to move. They also felt nicely solid, like a good pair of reasonably sized platforms. Initially I thought that pins or sharp points on them would make them a bit better, but I think this would lead to them popping off more easily, and may encourage their use in situations where they just don’t belong (BMX, DJ, FR, etc.).
If you’d like to see more photos of these pedals, here is my album of the Winwood Decksters platform pedal adapters, and here are the photos which can be found in there:
Leave a Comment· Boxed Winwood Decksters, as received from Alfred E. Bike.
· The Winwood Deckster platforms themselves, along with nuts and screws for mounting the cleats.
· Pair of Crank Brothers Eggbeater cleats, ready to mount on the bottom of the Winwood Decksters.
· Yes, I made sure to torque the screws to the recommended ~44 inch-pounds.
· Bottom of the Winwood Decksters pedal with Crank Brothers Eggbeater cleat attached.
· Winwood Decksters platform pedal clipped into the Crank Brothers Eggbeater C pedal on my multi-speed bike. This feels very stable for riding around the neighborhood and to the store.
· Detail of the underside of the Winwood Deckster pedal, clipped to an Eggbeater C pedal. Note that the plastic blocks rest against the pedal and ensure that it doesn’t move.
 |
Last week I purchased a barely used Race Face Deus XC crankset, with brand new bottom bracket for a really good price. After a bunch of thinking about building a new bike I ended up using it on my currently multi-speed bike.
As they can be a bit fiddly, I had Rochester Bike Shop mount the external bottom bracket, then I took it home and finished putting everything else together. With just a little bit of front derailleur adjustment everything was nicely in place, and a test ride today (before that photo was taken) shows that the new rings really are working better, as everything just worked.
There’s still a bit of seal drag because the BB is brand new, but that should clear itself up after a bit more riding. If only it wasn’t going to rain and snow tonight and tomorrow I might be able to get out this week on trails. Ah well, maybe next weekend…
Leave a Comment |
Today while Danielle and her friend Sarah went for a walk around the lake at Stony Creek preparing for the Breast Cancer Three Day Walk my friend Bob (photo of him today) and I met up for a bit of a ride around Stony Creek. We started out on the single track back at the point where I fell, finished the Roller Coaster, rode back through up to the top of Mt. Sheldon, then down the full length of the Roller Coaster.
It was a good ride, with no falling, no almost-falling, and lots of really good exercise and experience climbing hills without the ability to shift. It’s really different, but fun.
One thing I found interesting was that, as seen above, the park seems to have done some controlled burns to clear out some brush. This section is right at the end of the Roller Coaster, the common meeting point for everyone towards the end of the Wednesday Night MMBA Group Ride.
Leave a Comment |
One week after falling, and one day after the stitches were removed, I finally was able to shave. In this photo you can see that I’d become very, very, terribly, uncomfortably scruffy, but with stitches and a bit of scabbing on my face I didn’t want to risk shaving.
After getting home from work I took a shower, shaved all of my head and face save for my upper lip, fitted a new (and very sharp) blade to the razor, then started shaving shaving my lip. While I was particularly cautious, it all went very well with only a bit of pain coming from the inside of my mouth as my face moved around. There are still some painful cuts on the inside, but those are healing quite quickly.
I then applied some Target-brand Moisturizing Scar Lotion which claims that it, if used multiple times per day for about two months, will help ensure that scars appear softer and smoother. I’d compared the Target brand version to the bigger name brand version, and as the only ingredient difference was the type of polyethylene glycol, I opted for the 50% cheaper Target brand. It has a somewhat bothersome fragrance, but dealing with that will be worth it to help things heal better.
Leave a CommentThis morning the stitches were removed from my face (photos later), and while initially painful from the jostling and tugging during the removal it already feels quite a bit better. I’m going to wait a few more days before attempting to shave, but I think that it’ll go well. After the doctor’s office visit this morning I ended up having a rather busy, but good day at work.
This evening I did some work on my multi-speed (Specialized) bike, fitting a new crankset (more on this later) and ensuring that shifting was working as it should. I then set out for a ride through one of my typical local routes on the single speed (Bianchi), just to get back into the swing of things. It was nice to get back out and ride some after almost a week of not doing so, and the route up through River Bends Park and on some dirt (and single track) stuff went very well. It was a nicely uneventful ride; one which I hope to follow up with a ride through Stony Creek this weekend which, hopefully, will not be eventful in any way which causes me (or others) injury or pain.
This evening was then capped off with some Pirate Booty clone stuff from Trader Joe’s and a bottle of New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk while watching most of the second season of the US version of The Office. I’m actually finding that this US version is quite a good adaptation of the UK series. I think I’ll try and watch all of the episodes currently available via Netflix‘s streaming stuffs.
And now? Bed.
1 Comment |
Today after work I spent some time cleaning up my bike, as last Saturday while getting a new helmet I’d picked up my unbroken bike wheel from being fixed. This was returned to the bike (the Specialized Rockhopper), drivetrain bits cleaned up, and a new pair of CrankBrothers Eggbeater C pedals were installed. These are practically the same as the pedals I’d put on the Bianchi D.I.S.S. (during the issue-causing cleat removal), varying only in color.
At first I wasn’t sure of these pedals, as I had a hard time getting clipped/unclipped from them. However, after installing the new-style cleat and a set of shims to raise the cleat slightly I think they’ll be okay. This evening I took a test ride around the parking lots here and found that both clipping and unclipping was much, much easier. I still can’t get in or out of them as fast as I could with the SPDs, but that’ll likely come with time.
For now I just need to wait until the stitches come out (Thursday morning, most likely) and for the inside of my mouth to stop hurting, then I can go ride more. Hopefully that will be Saturday or so.
Leave a CommentWhile doing research on bicycle helmets, and specifically my old Specialized helmet and new Giro one, I found something interesting. It seems that the Snell testing standards for bicycle helmets are more stringent than those legally mandated by the CPSC. Additionally, the CPSC standards are tested against by the manufacturer, while the Snell standards are independently verified.
Making things more interesting, none of the Giro or Bell helmets conform to the Snell standards. The only name I recognized on the Snell-provided list of helmet manufacturers is Specialized, the company which manufactured the helmet I was wearing when I fell on Friday.
At this point I can’t help but wonder if I should return the Giro helmet I purchased and get something like the Specialized Instinct instead. I believe that Bell and Giro both make good helmets, but I just wonder if the bit of extra certification is worth it.
Leave a Comment |
Thanks to last night’s fall, my helmet is (as seen above) a bit damaged. Typically one should replace a helmet after a crash deforms it, because after that it’s not quite as strong as it was, has harder spots, etc. When I stopped by Fraser Bicycle & Fitness to pick up my repaired rear wheel they happened to be having a spring sale, including 20% off all accessories. So, while there I picked up a this Giro Phase helmet in Matte Gunmetal. Hopefully this one will work out nicely as well, protecting my head if / when I crash the next time.
Here’s another image of the damage to my old helmet. I wonder if that crease-ish line there was caused by the mounting post for the visor, or something else. If it was the mounting post, it may explain some of the cuts on my face, as it’s directly in line with my nose and upper lip. Tomorrow I may be heading out to Stony Creek with some folks to help pick up downed trees / improper log piles (such as the one I ended up on), so maybe I can find the visor from the old helmet and figure it out.
I also need to destroy my old helmet so that no one else ends up using it. I’m not sure how I’ll do that yet, but I have a feeling that it may involve my bandsaw, if I can get the helmet to fit in there. Or, can any of you think of any uses for a should-not-be-worn helmet? I will not donate it to charity / a thrift shop, regardless how amusing it is to think about doing wrong things. That does force me to ask how immoral it is to try and pawn it, though. Pawn shops are particularly caveat emptor.
Leave a Comment |
Danielle suggested I take a photo today, as the bruising from last night’s accident is a bit more pronounced. I’ve also got a bit of a bruise on my left thigh, left shoulder, and right upper arm, combined with a sore lower back (surface, from the seat hitting me, I believe), and a quite sore calf.
All said, I’m quite thankful that this is apparently all the damage done. I still feel a bit out of it, but likely is also from not sleeping well last night. Or, maybe I caught some cold from one of the people in the Urgent Care. I hope not, as blowing my nose will be terrible right now.
Thanks to everyone for the nice comments, good wishes, and stuff like that. While I am feeling quite well, it makes me feel really nice to hear from everyone. Thank you.
Leave a Comment
