Monday Muckier
i carefully studied the Sunday p.m. forecasts and saw that we were in for a deluge today, so i neglected to commute today. the a.m. looked clear, but the p.m. was full of 'straight-line winds' and 'heavy rains' and 'stone-cold weather shit'. and as forecasted, the majority of today, Monday, was miserable, funnily (sp?) enough brought on by unseasonably warm weather. the a.m. commute probably would've been great. i just knew somehow that 'sheryl' was riding though.
which brings me to the 2nd part of the story, which is the image of 'sheryl' heading out, bike in hand, with 'lance' after school looking for a ride in his van. seems she didn't want to complete the deal and pussied out for some dry accommodations home. i guess if i'd known that pussying out in the p.m. was an option, then i would've driven too.
well, i've been closely looking at things, and i've just about decided on a Carradice Longflap/shortflap something or other bag, with the appropriate Bagman support. that's a "Lowsaddle Longflap Saddlebag" off of peterwhite's site. i'm just worried that the next size down is going to be a bit small for me, in case the shoes or 6-pack needs to go in there as well as the commuting gear. the two pieces juntos will cost be $150, but what can i do? oh, and i'm going with one of the new lights. the whole package will get me for well over $200, but you only live once. over the long term, i'm going to tweak the LHT to perfection, eventually going with moustache bars or road bars instead of the flat ones. it'll mean some brake lever swapping, but i see the package in the end as one having road bars. do i need this Carradice bag? hell no!!, but i think it will make for an asthetic set-up. i think i've accepted that i have NO aspirations for racing. since my greatest mileage, and cycling mojo, come from commuting and various errands, then that's the direction my attention needs to lie. eventually, for the LHT, i'll have new bars and probably lighter wheels, but hte bag and light right now.
have i listed all the wheels?? in order of approx age:
'86 Trek 410 Elance- black and red- Clarksville Schwinn- repurchased from my uncle
'88 Cannondale criterium road bike- blue- PA bike shop
('91 C'dale mtn bike-black- turned into great commuter- stolen)
('94 or so C'dale mtn bike- purple- stolen)
'93 Bridgestone RB-1- yellow and white- used personal
'94 or so C'dale hybrid- marroon- tricked out for commuting pleasure- Clarksville
('94 C'dale mtn bike- orange- sold to law student in OK)
?? Trek hybrid- white- piece of shit originally for baby hauling
'99 Litespeed Blueridge- titanium- Clarksville
'00 Surly CrossCheck cross bike- darker puke green- Clarksville
'93 Rans Rocket recumbent- Danville Bicycles
'94 Redline singlespeed mtn bike- Clarksville
'95 Surly Long Haul Trucker- puke green- ebay
the ones i couldn't part with are, in order, the:
1. Litespeed
2. Surly cross
3. Surly LHT
4. Rans
5. Redline single speed
I used to be in love with the Bridgestone, but i can't push racing gears anymore. the C'dale commuter is tired but functional. the original C'dale road is aluminum rung out. the original Trek is too big.
Oh, given the rain, I took a walk today, 35 minutes total is the dark. i like the skeletal nature of the trees against the shadows and the glow of the sky, shadow, cloud, glow. on the bike tomorrow for sure!
which brings me to the 2nd part of the story, which is the image of 'sheryl' heading out, bike in hand, with 'lance' after school looking for a ride in his van. seems she didn't want to complete the deal and pussied out for some dry accommodations home. i guess if i'd known that pussying out in the p.m. was an option, then i would've driven too.
well, i've been closely looking at things, and i've just about decided on a Carradice Longflap/shortflap something or other bag, with the appropriate Bagman support. that's a "Lowsaddle Longflap Saddlebag" off of peterwhite's site. i'm just worried that the next size down is going to be a bit small for me, in case the shoes or 6-pack needs to go in there as well as the commuting gear. the two pieces juntos will cost be $150, but what can i do? oh, and i'm going with one of the new lights. the whole package will get me for well over $200, but you only live once. over the long term, i'm going to tweak the LHT to perfection, eventually going with moustache bars or road bars instead of the flat ones. it'll mean some brake lever swapping, but i see the package in the end as one having road bars. do i need this Carradice bag? hell no!!, but i think it will make for an asthetic set-up. i think i've accepted that i have NO aspirations for racing. since my greatest mileage, and cycling mojo, come from commuting and various errands, then that's the direction my attention needs to lie. eventually, for the LHT, i'll have new bars and probably lighter wheels, but hte bag and light right now.
have i listed all the wheels?? in order of approx age:
'86 Trek 410 Elance- black and red- Clarksville Schwinn- repurchased from my uncle
'88 Cannondale criterium road bike- blue- PA bike shop
('91 C'dale mtn bike-black- turned into great commuter- stolen)
('94 or so C'dale mtn bike- purple- stolen)
'93 Bridgestone RB-1- yellow and white- used personal
'94 or so C'dale hybrid- marroon- tricked out for commuting pleasure- Clarksville
('94 C'dale mtn bike- orange- sold to law student in OK)
?? Trek hybrid- white- piece of shit originally for baby hauling
'99 Litespeed Blueridge- titanium- Clarksville
'00 Surly CrossCheck cross bike- darker puke green- Clarksville
'93 Rans Rocket recumbent- Danville Bicycles
'94 Redline singlespeed mtn bike- Clarksville
'95 Surly Long Haul Trucker- puke green- ebay
the ones i couldn't part with are, in order, the:
1. Litespeed
2. Surly cross
3. Surly LHT
4. Rans
5. Redline single speed
I used to be in love with the Bridgestone, but i can't push racing gears anymore. the C'dale commuter is tired but functional. the original C'dale road is aluminum rung out. the original Trek is too big.
Oh, given the rain, I took a walk today, 35 minutes total is the dark. i like the skeletal nature of the trees against the shadows and the glow of the sky, shadow, cloud, glow. on the bike tomorrow for sure!
Comments