Perplexed Orange Independent Biker

We are in a deep freeze, and the road conditions resemble what I encountered in Novosibirsk a few years ago: mostly ice or black ice, partly covered by snow, patches of pavement.

I sent my postcard in for the Almanzo 100 so I need to ride. I was successful in dressing for the weather, but not in bike prep.

Head to toe I wore fleece hat, headband, sunglasses, face mask, neck gaiter, poly tee, wool long-sleeve base, wool sweater, heavy winter shell, heavy ski gloves, cycling shorts, heavy tights, poly wind pants, wool socks, winter boots. I should have worn ski bibs instead of my lightweight poly wind pants, and I need to buy a pair of mittens or equip a bike with wind protection for my fingers.

Bikes were a problem. The IRO Mark V fixed gear has no brakes, so flat pedals are out. But my Adidas cycling boots are not warm enough for 0 deg F. I wanted to ride the BoSS, but I found that the brakes were frozen in place from the freezing rain and grime of our road trip home. I departed optimistically on the ExtraSpesh, after swapping pedals from the BoSS. All went well for about 5 minutes, when a 20-second hiss drained the air from my front tire.

Of course, I raided the ExtraCycle’s usual tool kit when we left for our road trip, so I was without tube, wrench for lug nuts, and tire levers. I briskly walked the bike home. By avoiding a stop at the coffee shop I was able to call it “some exercise,” plus the boys are dying to go skate later today.

There’s a slight thaw in the forecast so I’ve put off bike maintenance until I get back from Atlanta…

Daily update

Originally uploaded by dansteeves68.

Yes the rumors are true. I got my hand run over by a red London bus, Thursday morning on my way from home to the office.

The good news is that I’m absolutely fine except for my left hand, I didn’t lose any range of motion, and the x-ray showed no broken bones. There is some risk of nerve damage or wrist problems that didn’t show up yet. I see a specialist this week to check that out.

Today I rode half a mile to Odd Bins for a bottle of Chardonnay and things weren’t too bad. I hope to start commuting the middle of this week. I can also type reasonably, tie shoes, and drink tea already.

I got a very interesting gash where the skin between my thumb and index finger popped open like a chicken breast when you pound it thin to make chicken scallopini. 5 stitches, the scar will be pretty cool.

I passed the bus on his right (outside) as we were moving through an intersection in a right turn. I was trying to move around a truck to move through stalled traffic. That truck braked, I brushed its back left corner with my right arm, which knocked me off balance. I fell left, arm sprawled out, felt fine but scared in traffic, then I felt the bus tire move onto my hand… Thankfully it was entirely below the wrist, and kept moving instead of stopping on my hand.

Don’t know about you but I can’t stand to think about it much more for tonight. Darcie is starting a pool for guessing how many different colors my franken-claw will turn, and bonus for how many fingernails I lose.

My wife and kids left to visit her parents for four days last week. I was alone with no car, and I had a great time. Went to two movies, the grocery store, liquor store, hardware store, bookstore, lunch downtown, too many coffee shops. And then there were rides for exercise and fun. I never once thought “If only I had a car this weekend.”

I’m lucky that before I became obsessed, we bought a house in a neighborhood where this is possible. But seriously, most residents of the twin cities and their first-ring suburbs are in a similar position to me.

Ride your bicycle.

Boing boing reports Fixed-gear (track) bikes illegal in Portland. This is so wrong.

I safely ride my fixie all the time, without an additional brake.

There isn’t enough of this kind of analysis on the web, in English, for the tour. Thank you, cyclingnews.com. How do the GC contenders stack up?

My IRO Mark V is sporting a set of QBP pre-built wheels. Surly New Hubs laced with 32 spokes to Mavic Open Sport rims. Mounted with my size 28 Panaracer T-Serv Messenger tires, this is one sweet ride.

I’ve experienced a couple urges to take this out for a spin instead of taking the BoSS off-road. What is the world coming to?

So, George has another promising but anti-climactic week. I’d like to be a reporter who could get answers to these questions.

* George, why were you so far from Boonen when Hoste made his move in Flanders?
* Team Discovery Channel, did Hoste have a green light to make a move without Hincapie? If not, was he disciplined by the team?
* Trek, will you analyze George’s steerer tube and tell us why it failed today in Paris-Roubaix?
* Team Discovery Channel, why weren’t Hoste and Gusev ordered to give George a bike and pull him back?

I’m getting a bit sick of all the GH talk, without some obvious strategy to back it up.