Poor man's Big Dummy
Date: June 7 Sat
Mileage: 20(LHT)
Mileage: 5 (LHT)
Mileage: 2 (Crosscheck)
June mileage: 128
Year to date: 709
What a fantastic day on the bike, and none of it "training". With the wife and younger gone, I have the responsibility of the elder. With that, no epic road rides or off-road slam fests. What I instead did was use the bike for every bit of transportation possible, and to great effect.
My first trip was to the house of my tennis Booster president and team captain (same house). We had to look at some catalogs b/c we'll be getting celebratory team jackets. Their house is a 7-mile trip towards the Brownsboro/Watterson area. It's part of the common club loop leaving Seneca, up Rudy Ln., down Blankenbaker and down River Rd. I felt pretty good early on and tried to actually ride semi-fast for a change. Granted, I was on the Hog (using the pannier for the catalogs), but it was a great, functional ride. After the meeting I returned home via the same route, but did an extra loop through Cherokee giving me 20ish miles. Once home, I made sure the 'dauphin' was fine and then suffered from a terribly bright idea. I needed to get some tomato plants potted but didn't have enough potting mix. Tadah! I dug out the old Burley kiddie trailer out of the garage. 'L' is 9 now, so it's been at least 4 years since it's been of any use at all. Since the small children are from days past (let's hope), I decided to use it to haul stuff, ala the Big Dummy or the Xtracycle. The carrying capacity on those is 100lb., so why no? I've thought before of doing big grocery trips with it, but today's trip entailed going to the local nursery for potting soil and a pot. That's only 2 miles away. I couldn't use the Burley with the Hog b/c of the panniers, so I used the Crosscheck instead. Like a T.
The dauphin and I had discussed eating at Qdoba, which we both love. It's one of those modern mexican-ish burrito places that the 'Ville seems to have plenty of. With only the men here, I managed to talk him into going on the bike like we did to my mom's last night. Steering clear of the busy Bardstown, we worked our way through the Deer Park neighborhood and arrived at Qdoba for a man meal. He was surprised how easy it was. Yet again I've had a troubling event take place. As his brother did a few days ago, he beat me up the Lakeside hill (towards Kroger). It's a bit disconcerting to have these little people just float up while my fat ass seems to go backwards. On the return I got a running start and beat him up the other side of Lakeside with ease. He claimed that he was too full. I didn't care. I took my trivial victory with much pride.
3 trips on the bike. 3 car trips averted. 27 bike miles on the legs. 1 fake Dummy hooked up for future use (Actually I unhooked the trailer after I got home).
er, Big Dummy-ish. It the perfect use of the Burley now that the boys are on their own.
plastic pot and large bag of potting mix
Time ATAC pedals and rubber mallet (no hex wrench)
I'll put the pedals back on if I decide to 'cross in the fall.
Updated Crosscheck with Paselas and new (old) trap pedals. It will be ridden.
Crankarm and cheap-ass pedals. I love biking in Keens in the summer. They're my most favorite ever. I've yet to test them for long mileage, so we'll see in a few weeks, but they give me no probs on 30-milers.
This is neighbor Mike's Electra. I saw it sitting there not doing much, so I went over to inquire. Note back tire. Apparently, his soninlaw works at the LBS Bicycle Sport. They bought Mike this Electra for tooling around, something he doesn't do much. His foot pump (those suck) didn't pump up the back tire, so I came to the rescue. What I was very surprised was the weight of this machine. Very light given it's beefy nature. I took a short spin and it's like no bike I've ever been on. Hands very high. Head very up. Pedals out in front of butt. I guess it's in between a traditional and a 'bent. I liked it and can see it being a very viable design for the masses out there. 'Alberto' was looking at one last year. I think they're out of his price range, although I think he was more affected by the "old lady" nature of them. Here are some other reviews.
And finally, this is a Knog. It's a cheap little blinkie tail light for a bike that doesn't have one. I thought of using one the other evening when I was out late on the C'dale. I would never put one of the commuting blinkies on it, so this seemed like a good, inexpensive idea. They have front white blinkies too. The name brand may be in a law suit. I'm not sure.
That's it. A full day. And I tweaked the front mudflap on the LHT and it's much better. I'm filthy, but very satisfied. Hope everyone else's Saturday was as good. Peace to all beings.
Mileage: 20(LHT)
Mileage: 5 (LHT)
Mileage: 2 (Crosscheck)
June mileage: 128
Year to date: 709
What a fantastic day on the bike, and none of it "training". With the wife and younger gone, I have the responsibility of the elder. With that, no epic road rides or off-road slam fests. What I instead did was use the bike for every bit of transportation possible, and to great effect.
My first trip was to the house of my tennis Booster president and team captain (same house). We had to look at some catalogs b/c we'll be getting celebratory team jackets. Their house is a 7-mile trip towards the Brownsboro/Watterson area. It's part of the common club loop leaving Seneca, up Rudy Ln., down Blankenbaker and down River Rd. I felt pretty good early on and tried to actually ride semi-fast for a change. Granted, I was on the Hog (using the pannier for the catalogs), but it was a great, functional ride. After the meeting I returned home via the same route, but did an extra loop through Cherokee giving me 20ish miles. Once home, I made sure the 'dauphin' was fine and then suffered from a terribly bright idea. I needed to get some tomato plants potted but didn't have enough potting mix. Tadah! I dug out the old Burley kiddie trailer out of the garage. 'L' is 9 now, so it's been at least 4 years since it's been of any use at all. Since the small children are from days past (let's hope), I decided to use it to haul stuff, ala the Big Dummy or the Xtracycle. The carrying capacity on those is 100lb., so why no? I've thought before of doing big grocery trips with it, but today's trip entailed going to the local nursery for potting soil and a pot. That's only 2 miles away. I couldn't use the Burley with the Hog b/c of the panniers, so I used the Crosscheck instead. Like a T.
The dauphin and I had discussed eating at Qdoba, which we both love. It's one of those modern mexican-ish burrito places that the 'Ville seems to have plenty of. With only the men here, I managed to talk him into going on the bike like we did to my mom's last night. Steering clear of the busy Bardstown, we worked our way through the Deer Park neighborhood and arrived at Qdoba for a man meal. He was surprised how easy it was. Yet again I've had a troubling event take place. As his brother did a few days ago, he beat me up the Lakeside hill (towards Kroger). It's a bit disconcerting to have these little people just float up while my fat ass seems to go backwards. On the return I got a running start and beat him up the other side of Lakeside with ease. He claimed that he was too full. I didn't care. I took my trivial victory with much pride.
3 trips on the bike. 3 car trips averted. 27 bike miles on the legs. 1 fake Dummy hooked up for future use (Actually I unhooked the trailer after I got home).
er, Big Dummy-ish. It the perfect use of the Burley now that the boys are on their own.
plastic pot and large bag of potting mixI also undertook a mechanical adventure as well. The CC has/had Time mt. pedals for 'cross purposes. It's a big limitation, b/c I don't often wear cycling shoes that much, and these pedals rope me in to either an old pair of Shimanos (15 yrs old?) or new Sidi winter boots (not good for summer). These Times are also strange in that they don't have threads/faces/sides/?? for using a pedal wrench; they only have the hex wrench head at the end of the pedal axle. The early efforts to remove these proved quite fruitless. After talking to Bob at local LBS, I tried again. The left one (non drivetrain) came off somewhat easily. The right one proved more difficult. I couldn't get good leverage b/c the chainring was in the way. I tried a bit, but to no avail. Finally, I used a Bob idea and used the rubber mallet to beat on the hex wrench until it loosened. It was a bit dicey. If the wrench or the pedal strips, whoops, deep doo doo. It came off though.
Time ATAC pedals and rubber mallet (no hex wrench)I'll put the pedals back on if I decide to 'cross in the fall.
Updated Crosscheck with Paselas and new (old) trap pedals. It will be ridden.
Crankarm and cheap-ass pedals. I love biking in Keens in the summer. They're my most favorite ever. I've yet to test them for long mileage, so we'll see in a few weeks, but they give me no probs on 30-milers.
This is neighbor Mike's Electra. I saw it sitting there not doing much, so I went over to inquire. Note back tire. Apparently, his soninlaw works at the LBS Bicycle Sport. They bought Mike this Electra for tooling around, something he doesn't do much. His foot pump (those suck) didn't pump up the back tire, so I came to the rescue. What I was very surprised was the weight of this machine. Very light given it's beefy nature. I took a short spin and it's like no bike I've ever been on. Hands very high. Head very up. Pedals out in front of butt. I guess it's in between a traditional and a 'bent. I liked it and can see it being a very viable design for the masses out there. 'Alberto' was looking at one last year. I think they're out of his price range, although I think he was more affected by the "old lady" nature of them. Here are some other reviews.
And finally, this is a Knog. It's a cheap little blinkie tail light for a bike that doesn't have one. I thought of using one the other evening when I was out late on the C'dale. I would never put one of the commuting blinkies on it, so this seemed like a good, inexpensive idea. They have front white blinkies too. The name brand may be in a law suit. I'm not sure.That's it. A full day. And I tweaked the front mudflap on the LHT and it's much better. I'm filthy, but very satisfied. Hope everyone else's Saturday was as good. Peace to all beings.
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