I'm in the neighborhood anyway, right?
I called the Houston Red Cross earlier to see if there were any volunteer needs (there are, of course). Apparenly, a "volunteer cooridnator" is going to be giving me a call back. When the phone bank operator asked if I had any special skills (doctor, nurse), I should have said I was married to a doctor, but instead said I had "computer skills". Man, if you don't want to have to lift heavy things, just say you have "computer skills". I bet I'm stuck at a desk. :)
At the very least, it'll provide some good blogging fodder, right?
And just in case I've picked up any Houston-area readers (yeah, right), the local Red Cross hotline number is (713)313-6727. I guess this is a temporary phone bank they set up specifically for the Katrina hurricane relief.
Oh, and I'm scheduled to go to an official Red Cross orientation session next Thursday.
-M
This is a depiction (thanks, Google) of how to get from my house to the Astrodome, where all the Katrina refugees are going to be relocated over the next several days.
It's about to get really crowded around here...
So I'm reading our paper this morning (OK, it was this morning's paper, but I was reading it this afternoon. Stop picking nits.) and the headline: Poll: 64% favor teaching both creationism, evolution caught my eye.
So I go on to read the article. There's a handy little graph accompanying the article that you can see here (along with some other images that came up on my google search for something appropriate), that kind of caught me by surprise (less so than the headline, admittedly).
OK, I can accept that 42% of the people that The Pew Research Center called for this survey responded by saying that humans and other living things have "existed in present form only." If they called me, I wouldn't have answered (our listed number doesn't even ring a phone).
EDIT: OK truthfully, I can't accept this. I think it's udderly ridiculous. I think people who believe that God put dinosaur skeletons in the rocks to fool us, or test us, or WHATEVER THE FUCK THEY THINK have their heads up their asses. And should, for the benefit of us all, keep them there. Don't worry. You can safely remove them after the Rapture. Go sell crazy somewhere else.*
I can accept that 18% of respondents think that we've "evolved over time", while "guided by a supreme being". I think it's a sensible, reasonable way for people to find common ground between science and their faith. Personally, I would have been a part of the 26% that said we "evolved over time...through natural selection." And I can absolutely respect the people who believe we evolved over time but "don't know how life evolved", and those who just straight up answered that they "don't know".
But for the Chronicle to report,
In all, 64 percent said they were open to the idea of teaching creationism in addition to evolution
And somehow come up with a headline saying that 64% of people are in FAVOR of teaching it? Umm.. No.
I probably would have said I'm "open to the idea" of teaching creationism in addition to evolution; I think that people - even (especially!) children - have a right to make up their minds for themselves. But that doesn't mean that I FAVOR it. I may be "open to the idea" of having oriental food or pizza for dinner, but it doesn't mean I want them. I'd rather have a fucking cheeseburger. But I'm not the only person who eats around here.
These polls are ridiculous. Especially when you consider that any poll these days is going to be fundamentally flawed. How many people you know don't even have landlines?
And for the 38% of people who favor "replacing evolution with creationism" - you probably think I'm a godless wank, but at the very least it'll mean something when I tell you to go to hell.
My weekend collage. Dana got me sick (thanks, hon!), so all we did was lie around the house all weekend and watch movies. Then Sunday I decided I had to be productive, so I backed up all our music to DVD (it took NINE of them). We watched our first three Netflix rentals and are ready for more.
Also, as far as productivity goes, Dana definitely beat me this weekend: mucho laundry, lots of reading (I'd be surprised if she doesn't finish Harry Potter by the end of the week), did the dishes I was supposed to do, cleaned up the damn packing peanuts we had sitting in boxes (so we can bring the boxes to the recycling place).. Just an overachiever, that one.
We also went grocery shopping. I guess during the week, cooking dinner is how I pay her back for the laundry and dishes, huh?
Next three movies on the Netflix queue: Appleseed (guess who's pick), Casablanca (neither of us have seen it!), and Closer (my not-so-secret crush on Natalie Portman has nothing to do with our renting this movie. NOTHING!).
This Thursday is Dana's first football game coverage (already?), but since it's basically in the ghetto there's no way for me to get there unless she can pick me up on her way (I want to go, but it's not like I'm going to whip out the PSP while I wait). Also, this weekend she has her first TSU game. Apparently they had a great season last year.
Yes, that's eleven straight losses with three shutouts. TSU is like the Clark W. Griswold of football. At least they'll be playing this game at Reliant. That should allow me to hide with the PSP since I'll probably have to get there like three hours early with Dana.. Hopefully by the time the game happens I'll be able to downgrade my firmware and start running some homebrew and emulators..
OK, let's get it out of the way: yes, I'm a (recovering?) theatre geek.
That being said, how is this not on DVD? Dana and I just got a Netflix subscription as an AWESOME gift, and we took all of one day to build our queue up to about 55 movies.
I've wanted to see this since it came out. Jesus, I almost skipped seeing STAR WARS [again] to go see this film (but my sense - and my friends - got the better of me). And say what you will about Kenneth Branagh (come on, put yourself in your own movie of Hamlet as the titular character? A *tad* pretentious), but as things go there really isn't a contemporary Shakespearean who's more accomplished in bringing the Bard to the silver screen (no, Laurence Olivier does not count. Sorry. And whoever says Mel Gibson gets a swift kick. And "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" was not, as it asserted, actually William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet).
But this film did pretty well, considering - and was critically a huge success.. but no DVD, 9 years later. What gives?
First of all, let the record show that I've already fixed my first major problem at work today. So I AM getting real work done.
That being said, I had to go back to The Sneeze to get my morning fix (so quick to become addicted), where I found this little gem. See, there's this online videogame called "City of Heroes", where everyone gets to play a superhero. Well, dude from the sneeze just walks around and says funny things. Ha! Read for laughter.
No pictures, no commentary. Just follow. I could read the sneeze all night long. Awesome.
OK.
Yes, I know I've probably broken some personal blogging-record with all my entries from today. But this could not be passed up.
I have recently e-reunited (would that be rEunited?) with my little from the fraternity, and been catching up on his blog. Where I read about this.
I mean, how do more people not already know about this?
I'd vote for creepy Walken any day over our creepy (not to mention videogame-hating Limbaugh-fat-roll-kiss-upping) Senator from New York. How can you say no?!?
I am a blogging fool today.
I followed a link from here (thanks, Scott) to this story. Awesome. Someone should make a movie.
Oh, hell yeah. A watch whose background is animated "Asteroids"? Somebody buy me this for Christmas.
OK, so I did get that done yesterday, at least. Brought my pedals in as well, and the shop went ahead and threw those on for me (and threw in two bottles as well, how swell!).
So today (at least, before Saturday's inaugural ride), I have to get the computer on. And bottle cages, and take off the damn reflectors. Honestly, I don't understand why they're bound by law to sell bikes with reflectors. And does anyone really need that many stickers on their bike? Seriously - on the insde of the fork, on the seatpost, bottom bracket, downtube, seattube - there are big obnoxious yellow stickers everywhere...
What else? While I'm screwing around on it I probably SHOULD install the cadence sensor as well, but that's such a long, ugly wire... I'll consider it, anyway. She's living inside now (doesn't have a name. Come to think of it the only bike I have with a "name" is the Moto, only because that was a pretty easy one to come up with).
Still have to get my drugs. will probably leave here when I'm done with work to get that script filled - especially because last night I ran out of my NON prescription meds as well, and today I'm a sneezy, whimpering mess.
We spent a while dialling in my position on the bike yesterday, and I can honestly say I already feel a difference - notably that I'm farther away from the pedals and bars than I used to be. The stem is pretty long (and lower than I'm used to), but I told the shop I'd give it a try for a while to see if I could get used to it - the stem has four separate positions (well, for the angle anyway), but it is pretty long and may need to be swapped for a shorter one.
It'll take some getting used to - any new bike will - but I'm liking it so far..
Also on my to-do list: grocery shopping (with guests here this weekend that never happened on Sunday, as it usually does), book my next flight to Chicago (actually, flying into Indy to head down to the alma mater for Homecoming before my work week in Chicago immediately following), and mail that stuff to Scott.
This would be a great opportunity for visitors to come on down to TX. Just a thought. Hopefully D doesn't have to work any games that weekend.
So after my post calling everyone out for not posting this week, I must say I have met with great success. Of the people I pointed out, Dana, BJ, Scott and Pablo all posted.
But wait, isn't there someone missing? Aah yes, Hutch.
Hutch has a problem where he kind of goes in spurts (keep your comments to yourself), and this must be a kind of time for him to "re-load" his thoughts. Either that, or he's so incredibly busy stretching his IT band that he just doesn't have time to blog.
I have decided that for every time I realize Hutch hasn't posted, I'll divulge a secret of his.
Number one: Hutch has "run" the Chicago Marathon for the past two years. But because he doesn't take care of himself, or, say LISTEN TO HIS DOCTOR (or his friends' wives who are doctors), he has NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FINISH*. Kind of sad, isn't it? And he thinks someday he'll qualify for Boston. Not like that, he won't!
*OK, he technically finished, but only if the definition of "finish" contains "was able to limp to the end".
Aah, google images. Always happy to put a smile on your face when searching for something else entirely. Like "pink slip". What can you do? I found plenty of more appropriate images, but this one just makes me smile (and on so many different levels).
So I was told earlier (after I made my bike pick-up appointment) that we would have a meeting this afternoon about our imminent outsourcing to IBM. Drat! I have to get more information about being laid off instead of picking up my bike. Some exchange.
Basically, it was a 15-minute info session telling us that on Friday the company will be sending out "WARN Notices", some federally-mandated notice that you're going to be laid off, basically. WARN, of course, stand for "Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification". They make it sound so pleasant.
As of now, all bets are off whether or not I'll actually be able to maintain my current job, working remotely from Houston for my employer in Chicago. Apparently, the jerks STILL haven't signed a contract. Oh well. Rest assured, you'll hear about it here if I am still employed or not.
More info about WARN here and here.
OK, so I DID call the bike shop (I'll be going at 4:30 today), but will not be leaving to run errands at lunch. Just too much to do here (work-wise), and I realized that I have leftovers from our local Thai place from the night before last.
Oh, and I just had to restart my IDE to recompile. Perhaps that's why it was throwing those errors? Either way...
OK, so I must have recompiled this app at work about a dozen times in as many minutes last night, but one simple change this morning and it takes a half hour to finish. So, while I wait, I'll update the blog (since nobody else this week seems to be taking the time).
So yesterday I couldn't really escape the cage because of problems at work, and also because of said problems, we weren't able to really go grocery shopping or out to dinner, so we went and picked up some wraps at a local chain deli. Today, however, I have other plans. After I finish blogging this, I'll call the bike shop and set up a time to come for my new bike. (though getting there BY bike and somehow bringing two home may be a bit of a challenge. Perhaps I'll just garage my fixie there until later in the evening).
...still compiling...
Anyway, on our trip to Galveston this weekend I picked up a pretty sweet gift for Scott, only because I saw it and immediately thought of him (or did Dana? I think it was her, actually). I also stole something from my sister's room the last time I was in Chicago to mail to him, so I'll try to do that at lunch today. We're also out of coffee (don't worry - got my fix this morning), and so need some of that, and since the only food we have is pantry-stuff (mac and cheese, rice, etc), I'll be heading out for lunch today. Oh, and I haven't had my drugs for a few days now, and, as with every time I undertake this experiment, I am paying the price. I like to stop taking them every now and then to see if I really need them. I guess I do. (The Good Doctor argues with this method, but I've been kind of sub rosa about the lack of drugs lately).
Off the bike for a couple weeks now, and with the trip to Chicago interrupting my home workout routine, then with our guests in this past weekend, I am feeling like a blob. I must get exercize.
OK, I'm going to quit the compiler and restart (again). Wish me luck (in all my endeavors. I'll probably get about 15% of all mentioned actually done today).
So, as a part of what happened this weekend, we didn't take many pictures. The current state of our digital camera is such that taking pictures is actually quite the chore, and asking others to do so is next to impossible. So, after uploading the SIX pics I took this weekend, I decided to search for a new shutter button for our Canon S500 (the button ran away and currently resides somewhere in Ireland).
I've asked camera shops about repairs before, but they tell me that they have to send it to Canon, a service for which they're charged a minimum of $150. For a button, that's kind of pricey, methinks.
So I found these two sites today. The two options look the same to me, so I sent off an email to the place selling the part for half of what the other one is. I'll keep you up to date on any progres.. At the very least, I'll be able to add "digital camera servicing" to my resume when this little project is complete.
In other news, my bike came in to the shop Saturday. But with our guests this weekend and the shop being closed Sunday and Monday, my fit and delivery will have to wait until tomorrow.
A fond farewell to Dave and Keri, our first official visitors to Houston. We had a long weekend and I expect it will take Dana and I a majority of the week to recover. I'm sure D will want to detail what we did this weekend, but I'll wrap up.
Friday night: My flight arrived at about 8:00pm (flew standby on an earlier flight than ticketed for), came home, changed, and went to Two Rows (local brewpub) for some dinner. Stopped at The Ginger Man for a drink, came home, and all passed out.
Saturday: made some breakfast (w/homemade banana bread), hung around, and tried to figure out what to do with our day. Ended up going to Otto's for some BBQ (yummy!), then driving to Galveston, TX (on the gulf) for some exploration. Took a Duck tour, walked about a half mile in the heat, grabbed some seafood, and headed back home. After playing at home for a little bit, went and picked up some Star Pizza (yum!), came home, drank more, and passed out.
Sunday: woke up, hung around. Went to lunch at Baker St ($6 pitchers of Shiner), caught a movie (40-year-old Virgin), came home. Later, went for dinner at Guadalajara, came home, put in South Park the movie and had some Fitzgerald's Famous Irish Coffee. Passed out.
I have a headache. Blech.
Thanks for coming, guys. Now Dana and I can get back on our schedule of eating healthy stuff and not going out every meal.
In case you didn't know...
(Picture linked remotely from Pablo's travelblog. Yep, stole it without asking permission)
So totally weak. I commented on Pablo's post of this (and other) pictures about his and his buddy Beau's "flatmate" while they are travelling around, and made a sarcastic comment (as I am wont to do) about how she's a total dog, as I remember most Brazilian women are, and how Beau must be hating it. I go back, a day or two after making the comment to see how others have reacted, only to find MY COMMENT UNCEREMONIOUSLY EDITED. Boo, hiss.
At least his dad had a chance to see it before The Man brought me down. And to think I was nice and didn't say anything about how much Pablo must be flirting with her. At least I have control over my own blog's content. I suppose that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Note: for those of you who couldn't decipher my meaning: She's a fox. Most Brazilian women are downright foxes. So, for that matter, are most North Dakotan women, but that's a story for another time.
So I'm in Chicago this week, and at my parents' place I inevitably have to cleanse them of more spyware than you can possibly imagine. My mom always insists that it's my dad or my sister, or a visiting aunt twice removed, but the very fact that she has no idea how to use a computer (not to mention the fact that she's the only one that uses it) implicates her easily enough.
Seeing as how I work with/use computers all day, every day, and somehow avoid to be massively infected (as they always are) tells me that either (1) I am extremely lucky, (2) they are extremely unlucky, or (3) they are nincompoops. (Who here knows how to spell that?).
Anyway, today I finally went into drastic mode. I uninstalled everything (even Java!). I ratcheted IE's security settings so high they couldn't get to google without clicking past a warning, and then I removed it (well, any easy way to access it, anyway). Firefox has been installed for ages, but now it's got the icon from IE. (Oh yeah, I'm that good).
OK, so it's sickeningly easy. Doesn't matter. From now on (I do this often), whenever I fix someone's computer (because they inevitably have way too much spyware), I'm not training them to use Firefox, I will simply replace IE with it. What could be easier?
There is no way they're going to F up this machine any more, unless they really try. I'm convinced that they keep getting duped because of all those pop-up-ad "error messages" that tell you you REALLY NEED to install some porn search engine if you want to secure your computer against evildoers.
The internets are a vicious place. One's parents should not be allowed to tread lightly.
I should tell them I did this for someone in Houston for 2 40-yard line tickets to a Texans game (I did). One more time and I'll just unplug the computer. See how long it takes them to figure that one out. Or - better yet - just unplug the DSL modem.
People like my parents are why there are so many exploits for IE still. Sigh.
Being back in Chicago makes me want my bike. If there was a decent one at my parents' place, i would consider riding in to the city, then showering at a buddy's or something...
I love this shit.
If I ever get our website up and running in as complete a way as I want, I'll add a sidebar feature (more for us than for you, really) that helps us (me) keep track of dinners we've made. How difficult they are to make, how good they come out, etc.
Since we got here, I've been looking for a good seafood place (fishmonger) and butcher shop. Well, yesterday we found our fishmonger. (D and I agree that "fishmonger" is a WAY-underused term)
Had some swordfish steaks - not too big, 2x 1/2" steaks that came in at about 7oz. each - and I prepared a recipe from a grilling cookbook that Dana's mom gave her/us a long time ago (when I was no longer with grill). SO easy to make. SO tasty. So anyway, I would give the "Swordfish with balsamic butter" or whatever recipe a 2/10 for difficulty (I had to improvise a double-boiler, but that's about as hard as it got), a 2/10 for prep time, and probably a 7/10 for taste. Next time around (mental note), we'll use less butter, and cook the balsamic vinegar down so it's more concentrated. The fish took about 3-4 minutes on each side, and was (thankfully) done perfectly. And the only ingredient we didn't have was the fish! All it took otherwise was balsamic vinegar, butter, olive oil and salt and pepper! Yum!
Note: I totally just realized that the female equivalent of a fishmonger is fishwife. Awesome.
OK, I know I promised more later. We'll say I'm on lunch now so I don't feel guilty about posting this while working.
I came in the shop yesterday looking for the Roubaix Pro frame. It's a substantial upgrade from my Allez (much better suited to my style of riding as well), and the price was right (again, for the frame). I go in with this in mind, and lo and behold they shop guy I'm working with happens to ride a Roubaix. He loves it. The problem is, he's not sure about the price of the frame alone, so he goes in back to check things out (all the while, I ensure him that I'm very willing to try other frames/bikes, and give him an idea of what I was looking to spend).
Well, he comes back with bad news - Specialized is sold out of the '05 Roubaix frames, and they're not sure if they're going to be selling the frames alone next year (other than the S-Works Roubaix frame, S-Works being the Specialized tip-top of the line - it's literally what the pros ride). Keeping that in mind, I try all the aforementioned rides - Kestrel, Carbon Bianchi, Carbon Colnago, Alu Colnago, Steel Bianchi. Then I start to ask some more questions about the Roubaix - what's the difference between the different models (short answer: components only - the frames are exactly the same, save the paint differences)? What's the availability of complete Roubaix bikes, and at what price? (Short answer: Specialized has 20 Elites left in my size - 58, and the price has just been reduced, to my incredible pleasure, to only $50 more than what I expected to pay for the frame alone).
At that point, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Of all the rides I tried yesterday, the Roubaix Elite was tied as my favorite - the Kestrel and carbon Colnago were too twitchy (too race-oriented), the alu Colnago handled great but was too jittery (after riding three carbon bikes I could really tell the difference getting back on an aluminum one), the steel Bianchi handled great but was just too heavy, and I really liked the carbon Bianchi. But the carbon Bianchi LOOKS weird. It's a higher-priced bike, and for that one I would have gotten just the frame, but I would have felt weird riding it. For no "real" reason other than I just would.
And here's the best part: the Roubaix Elite ships with better components than I was going to put on the frame anyway - so for $50 more than I was planning to spend, I get FSA carbon cranks, full Ultegra drivetrain, and two more wheels. I get the saddle and seatpost, brakes, handlebars and stem. Becuase I'm buying a complete bike, I get a professional fit for free (this shop is widely known as the best for fitting in Houston), they'll swap out any parts that don't work for my fit (need a longer/shorter stem? No problem - they'll swap it right out).
I'm on all new components, I don't have to pay them to build the bike (which I would have had to do if I bought just the frame - including paying for the fit), and now I've got pretty much a complete bike for the trainer - so I don't have to worry about screwing up my primary ride when doing indoor training (which won't happen until we move somewhere with seasons, likely - but still).
I left them yesterday saying I had to talk it over with my wife (first time I've ever had to say that!), and she saw it as the no-brainer that I did. I told them as I left that I would probably call first thing when they opened, and that's exactly what I did - 30 minutes after they opened today (about 45 minutes ago), I called and placed the order. It may take up to two weeks, he told me, but since I'm in Chicago all next week it wouldn't have mattered much anyway.
Yay for new bike!
Well, I'm working now so can't post too much. I'll get to the details later, but I've got good news. Yesterday I spent a little over 2 hours in the bike shop a coworker of Dana's recommended (Boone's Cycles), and didn't buy anything. Now THAT'S self-control.
But I will be buying something today.
I test rode about seven bikes: a Kestrel (in red, though), two Bianchi (one Carbon, one steel), two Colnago (one carbon that they knew I wouldn't buy but wanted me to ride anyway - I was the third person to ride it, one aluminum), and the Specialized Roubaix. Unfortunately, they didn't have any SEVENs for me to test-ride. Sigh. That's probably for the best, though. :)
Details later.
-M
Also, today D had most of the day off, so she spent some time at TXDOT getting our new plates. We wanted to get the plate that (seriously) says "Texas - it's like a whole other country!" but I'd rather support cycling-friendly roads than get the hilariously funny license plate. Maybe if we get bored sometime we'll get the other one ALSO. :)
Here's the rear tire after the incident (described in this previous post):
Here is the derailleur (obviously, no longer attached to bike):
And here, the seatstay:
I thought it might be nice to review what my ideas were for the weekend and see what I actually got done. So, from last week's post:
"Riding, Saturday or Sunday": Rode Sunday. More on that later.
"Tax holiday clothes shopping": Nope.
"See a movie D has no interest in": Done and done. Rented instead of going to the theater.
"Work on website, Google Maps, or Phidgets": nope.
"Hang pictures or straighten up place more": Well, not to the extent I wanted to, no, but I did get some cleaning/straightening done. And hung my rear speakers (finally) for the movie-watching.
"Play with PSP": Absolutely.
"TiVo to PSP": Done. Tres simple.
"DVDs to PSP": About halfway there. Found a good freeware ripper, haven't figured out yet how to encode in the format I need.
"Wrenching on the bike": Oh, would I had made the time for this. (again, more soon).
"Watch a lot of CSI": You know that I did.
"Order some pizza": Done. Fuzzy's. I didn't want to go for "the best Houston Pizza" without Dana here, so I went for this local option instead. And a 12er of Shiner. Don't worry - I didn't go on a binge - there's plenty of Shiner left.
OK, so the story you've all been waiting for. I'm looking for a picture to go along with the one above, and I just don't think anything short of taking pictures myself and uploading them will do justice. Yes, it's that good.
So I wake up at 5:45 on Sunday morning (yes, much earlier than I usually wake up on weekdays) to head out on my ride. I had mixed my Accelerade the night before (it always gets foamy and takes so long, and I wanted to refrigerate/freeze the bottles), gotten the cooler together, and some Clif Bars. All I had to do was wake up, get dressed and go. So I wake up, get dressed, and am out the door with bike in D's car in all of about 15 minutes. I'm on the highway by 6:10 and well on my way, though it's at least an hour long drive to where the ride begins (hence my early morning start).
I did this ride last week - 40 miles with 2077ft of climbing (if I had my google maps/topo integration stuff done I could just LINK to the route. Sigh). But I was going to change it around this time and add about 50% of the distance over again - to make it a 60 miler with (approximately) 3k feet of climbing (having to get ready for the Hotter n' Hell in three weeks).
I'm pulling into the area where everyone parks to go on the ride, and I'm the second car there (last weekend I must have been the last car there), and four or five cars pull in as I'm getting ready. I worry about being the first to go and having people catch - and overtake - me, but go ahead anyway. There's one guy in front of me.
About five miles in, I'm about to catch him when he turns around (dude didn't want to be overtaken himself, I guess), and I'm feeling pretty strong - something that bodes very well 5 miles into a 60-mile ride. So I head up the next climb, careful to pace myself so I don't burn up early (nothing like being stranded in TX heat with 20 miles to go and no energy to climb!), and I'm topping a slow, gradual climb.
Now I should take this moment to explain what the road surface is like here. We're not talking Chicago pavement. We're not talking Barrington buttery-smooth newly surfaced roads. I like to describe it as if the DOT laid down a surface of glue (or tar as the case likely is) and then spread a thin layer of gravel over the tar. Press it down, and voila! You've got a level surface that is jittery as hell on a road bike. But it builds character, I guess.
I imagine falling on this stuff and having the skin ripped right off my body with amazing efficiency. Think: giant cheese grater. On 30+ mph descents, dodging TX pickups (OK, not really dodging them, but at least having to be very aware of them), NOT a pleasant idea. But also a very effective skin-removal device. It's like they DESIGNED the roads for this purpose. That's the best way I can describe them.
Now having put that vivid picture in your mind's eye, let me assure you that I'm totally OK - not a scratch. But that's a miracle. Add a car into the mix of what I'm about to tell you and I'm a gooey road-pancake. Seriously.
Ok. So where were we?
I'm just about to "summit" this long, slow (very gradual) ascent, and shift into a higher gear. I start to cruise along on the following flat (I guess you could call it a "plateau", if you're the kind of person who likes words that end in "-eau"), and I'm picking up my pace. I'd have to guess, but I'll say I'm going around 15 mph and accellerating - when all of a sudden I can no longer pedal. Imagine the jarring effect of no longer being able to move your legs after just having finished pushing your way up a hill - a tad unsettling. Now add to that complete loss of motion in the rear wheel - I started to skid out.
It's all kind of a flash (they always say it happens in "slow motion", but for me everything loses clarity and I get tunnel-vision) - all I can tell is: (1) my legs won't move, and (2)I have no control over the bike.
Somehow - I don't know how this happened - my left foot has clipped out of the pedal (don't forget, non-cyclists - we use a mechanism that locks us into our pedals. Man and machine are one, for better or worse. Usually, it's for better. Not on Sunday it wasn't). I won't claim that it was my split-second thinking or training or innate - I think it was just lucky. But the problem was (use your visualization skills, here), My right leg was down, probably at about 6:00 (meaning my left leg, before it unclipped, was at 12:00). So now all my weight is on my right foot (and, of course, the saddle), I'm skidding out of control, and the bike starts heading into the road (Again, I have no control. At this point, speeding TX pickup = instant pancake transmogrification). I somehow maintain my balance, stop about midway into the lane (mercifully there were no trucks, and even more mercifully there was nobody on my wheel to crash directly into me), and remain - miraculously - standing. Some inner ear on this guy.
I'm totally shocked, adrenaline rushing, and (since I'm already headed in that direction) pull over to the RIGHT side of the road (besides, with what just happened I can only imagine it's time for me to start heading in the other direction - 6.3 miles back to my car).
I look down and there's my rear derailleur (example pictured at the top of this post), hanging by its cable. Not attached, as it should be, to where the wheel mounts to the bike (I'll spare any technical jargon I can). It had broken off.
Not being able to think straight, I can't possibly imagine how this happened. I think, simply, that some kind of tension on the chain just ripped the thing right from its mount. (again, I'll post pictures later)
I realize it's time to start walking home and hope beyond hope that some Christian soul will stop his or her speeding pickup to resuce me. There's no way I'm taking my shoes off to walk 6.3 miles on the razor-pavement, but I know that walking in my metal cleats leaves a lot to be desired. I start thinking to myself, "well, at least I can coast downhill!". Right.
I try to walk the bike towards home but the wheel is stuck on the brake - rear wheel TOTALLY out of true (at this point I haven't figured out why the wheel simply stopped cold - it should have freewheeled - coasted - instead of locking up). Still not thinking analytically, I realize I have to cut the dangling derailleur (how's that for alliteration) free from it's tether - the shifting cable.
I pull out my multi-tool and grab a knife (wow - did my other multitool have a knife?), and it's sharp enought to cut through the steel cable (nice!). But now I've got a dangling steel wire coursing the length of my bike. Not a great idea for the coasting I envision doing down the rolling hills.
So, I cut the cable towards the top of the bike, release the rear brakes (so the out-of-true wheel can roll), and start to walk.
Not long after this, the big group that was assembling in the parking area starts to ride by, and as good roadies always do, ask if I'm OK/need help. As they're riding by I tell them that unless they've got a car they're not going to be much help, but thanks, and they keep riding. Really, I didn't think there was any way they could help me.
But they turn around (of course), and offer to ride back to the parking area, pick up a car and come get me. One of them goes off to do this while I wait with the rest of the pack (probably 6-8 of them). With their inspection, I start to realize what really happened. While one of them is telling me I should put the chain on my big ring and largest cog (to minimize chain sag), another notices a sizable dent on my drive-side seatstay (OK, you get a picture for this one). And all of a sudden, it becomes clear what happened.
The derailleur arm was (somehow) sucked into the wheel (spinning at god-knows-how-many RPMs) and jammed up against the seatstay, preventing the rear wheel from rotating, and locking it up. (I'll post a picture of the chewed-up tire along with the rest of them). This served a number of functions: (1) Stopping the wheel from rotating; (2) Denting the frame easily beyond what can be repaired; (3) tearing the derailleur from its mount and destroying it in the process; (4) Chewing up the tire with razor-pavement; (5) ending my ride about 53.6 miles short of my goal.
And, after further inspection, I also came to relized that my skewer (basically the wheel's axle that connects it - with the quick-release lever that makes bike wheels so easy to steal) was also bent in the process. Do your best to try and bend a skewer with your hands. Not gonna happen. There was a lot of force involved here. Any physicists out there that can tell me how much force it would take to stop 230 lbs (approx. me + bike) moving at 15 mph would be helpful.
Ok, this is getting really long. Award for longest blog update ever goes to....
Anyway - I realize that, basically, I now need a new bike [frame]. This is not a good realization to come to. Bikes are not cheap. Frames are not cheap. And while my first inclination would be to re-use the parts that I currently have (to save money), I'm also at the point where I know that to really excel, and to do things right, I need a professional fit - again, not cheap.
And it's difficult to get a professional fit on a frame with different components. In all likelyhood, I guess, I'll have to swap out at least my stem, at most my stem and handlebars (and seatpost). While I want to go the eBay route, I know that's not advisable unless I'm content getting the same frame I had (or at least one with the same geometry - all bikes are different), and not knowing it's actual condition until I receive it. And getting the same frame would only make me content - just that. To be happy I need an upgrade. It's not like this is a passing fad for me..
All of this just means $$$ adding up. Add on to that a new rear derailleur (and it only makes sense to get Ultegra as that's what I upgraded my cranks and front derailleur and cassette to over the winter), and that's MORE money. At least it'd be Ultegra9 (as opposed to the newer, more expensive Ultegra 10).
So I don't know what to do. Or rather, I know what to do but am hesitant to do it. I need to go to a shop and explain my situation, and spend enough time with them to get a proper fit, find the right frame, and see if I can swap my components...
AND I have to figure out how the hell this actually happened. Is it my fault? Is it unavoidable? Is it a faulty derailleur?
Oh, and is my ($175-$200) rear wheel salvageable? I'm thanking my lucky stars that at least I took the time to retension and true that wheel a couple weeks ago - if I hadn't there would have been spokes ripped out for sure, and then what would have happened?
OK. Long enough post for now. I'll take pics later when D gets home (the derailleur is in her car right now) and put them up for y'all to see. (She, by the way, is more behind me buying a new frame than I am... I'm just worried about the money - WE HAVE SO MUCH DEBT!).
I actually read the TiVo subscriber newsletter for some reason, and saw something of note that I thought the good folks at Engadget would like. They posted it and even thanked me. I rule.
Excellent. I've found this program which will help convert my proprietary DeLorme route files (which I've created in TopoUSA, mainly to get profile information) into useful data.
So I guess maybe this weekend I'll spend some time working on my Google Maps stuff. I'd love to get some kind of customized route database integrated with Google Maps. Both for myself and the good of all cycling-kind. Mostly to please the inner geek, though. I'm relieved to have found this - I was beginning to think that I couldn't get at DeLorme's underlying data. Now I know better. :)
OK, well to be honest I'm not really getting at *their* data - more like the data that I created in there framework, utilizing their tool. TopoUSA has a cool feature, though, where you can view the elevation at any point in your route. I guess if I upload the elevation profile and can figure out how to track my way through the route, I could represent where in the route I was as a percentage (eg: 20% of the way through the route, display some kind of overlay 20% of the way across the total width of the elevation profile).
"Patent Pending!"
Ok, so I need to post more. Granted. And I need more interesting posts about whatever it is I do with my life here in Houston. Consider it done.
I'll start right now with a survey (vote in the comments below): Dana is leaving town this weekend for a conference (I take her to the airport tomorrow morning, bright and early). What the heck do I do with myself for three days in a (mostly) strange city with no wife around?
I will be riding, probably Saturday AND Sunday. I may ride in the city one day (short route) and out of the city another (which pretty much means the whole day before noon is gone). This weekend is a tax holiday in Texas, so I'll possibly do some clothes shopping (no, I have never heard of this either). I originally thought the holiday was just Saturday, but it appears to be Friday through Sunday. Maybe I'll have to wait for D's return to take advantage of this one.
I would go see some movie Dana has no interest in, but there don't seem to be any in theatres around here right now.
I could continue work on our website, or my Google Maps experiment, or my Phidgets stuff (though I'm still kinda stuck on the phidgets stuff).
I could hang pictures and generally straighten up our place some more (this might have to happen), or play with the PSP (this will definitely happen). Perhaps I'll spend time figuring out the most simple way to get recordings from TiVo to the PSP, and from DVDs I own to the PSP.
I also need to do some wrenching on the bike (rear derailleur needs adjustment, have to read up on crank installation and service - I'm still getting some creaking, re-install my cadence meter, adjust cables and housing, etc.).
So you see, it's not so much that I don't have stuff to do, it's that I can't decide *what* to do. Most likely I'll watch a lot of CSI on TiVo and order some pizza. But the rides will happen. Maybe I'll hook up my surround speakers finally (this long without surround! Can you imagine?)....
Decisions, decisions...
My new toy - thanks to Mom for my birthday present. It's my first PS3 peripheral! :)
Unfortunately, shipped with 1.51 firmware - unexploitable right now. But I can play Lumines! And Wipeout (once I exchange the other game I got) - and UMD movies OMG! :)
I do plan to rip a DVD or two for my trips back to Chicago - this puppy's screen is just as beautiful as everyone says. And the best part? No dead pixels! SWEET!
I also got a SWEET tote bag from my lovely wife. That is more practical, but sadly much more difficult to play with. It is, however, just as pretty. Victorinox, red - just a phat bag. (did I just say 'phat'?)
Also, she bought me our pots and pans as my wedding present (holy jeez did we get a good deal!). Those will last much, much longer than the PSP, that is certain. And I'd like to see the PSP COOK SOMETHING. I mean, come on. It's only so useful.
Though I heard it can smoke the DS. ;) Tasty.
So D and I were out for some beers at our new favorite bar in town on Saturday night, and I ran into what was quite obviously a cyclist on his way back from a ride (still wearing his spandex, cycling shoes, etc). He was obviously alone, so I asked how his ride was. We got to talking (he was alone and latched on to us, sadly - he was kind of a big tool), but I was able to pick his brain about routes in the area. I asked him where I could find some hills (above see the profile of the ride that I generated today - 2,077 feet of climbing!). I guess he was telling me the truth.
Feeling better today about my "performance" yesterday. I felt pretty sluggish, but this does make me feel a little better about myself.
Eventually I'll get a lot of these maps (or try, anyway) on one of the domains I have registered - likely cyclingstats.com.
Right now I'm playing with Google Maps (got my developer API!), so if you're interested in any progress I may (or may not) be making, you can check that out at www.cyclingsoft.com/gmaps.
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