Bikes, Code, and Food

Pass the Love Along

2009-06-27T12:58:00.002-04:00

Passing along some clipless pedals. I traded these for a six-pack of the recipient's favorite beer.

Spread the bicycle love!

Moreover, I have been playing with my new camera and trying to get some semblance of bokeh with a lens that only opens up to f3.5 at the best of times. Yeah, I know, that's not bokeh and I need a faster lens.

And Now for Some Food...

2009-06-13T12:58:00.003-04:00

Food, travel, sex... I crave experience. The food aspect here has been a little lacking. As has the coding, but I am going to remedy that. I am trying to get my employer to allow me to open source some of the solutions I have developed. And I don't cover sex here because... well, I haven't actually thought about why I don't talk about sex.

Oh yeah, food.

My end-all, be-all favorite food is sushi. I seriously can, and have, eaten it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some people might be familiar with conveyor belt sushi. For those that aren't, the customer sits at a bar and a moving belt brings different plates of sushi. It is the Dim Sum of sushi. The tab is calculated based on the number and color-coding of the plates.

It's also the fast food of sushi. The quality can vary wildly, and ironically the sushi tends to be more plentiful and of higher quality when the restaurant is more busy. But when it's good, it's good. Sometimes, I just don't have the patience for Saburo's, which is seriously the best sushi I have ever had anywhere in the US. Unfortunately, there is always a wait there, usually an hour or more.

There is Umenoki Kaiten nearby (9738 SE Washington St Portland, OR 97216), which definitely can be godawful at the wrong time of day. Last night, the sushi was pretty good at 6:30PM. You have been warned.

The Dim Sum of Sushi

There is a decent selection of nigiri, but the maki is usually the better choice at conveyor belt sushi bars. The quality and quantity of the fish on nigiri is just not nearly as good as "real" bars like Saburo's. The nigiri is disappointing whereas at real bars, the quality is just so much more evident. But Umenoki's rolls are quite respectable.

Soft Shelled Crab Roll with Eel

Rainbow Fever Roll (California roll with six kinds of fish on top)

And a meal of sushi is not complete without sake.

Hakatsuru is okay, but it's no G Sake. Seriously the best sake I have ever tried, albeit a touch spendy. And if anyone wants to serve you warm sake (without plum wine), run. Sake is served warm in order to mask bad sake.

Eating nourished the body; eating well nourishes the soul.

Sometimes, You Just Gotta Jump

2009-06-08T21:07:00.011-04:00

This is a long one, but hopefully worth it. I included lots of pics for people who, like me, need something to hold the attention. There's boobs in there somewhere. Okay, not really.

View Larger Map
There's an odd balance between going off half-cocked and being a go-getter. This applies to so many things, although the most obvious examples that leap to mind are... bikes, coding, and cooking. In software engineering, it's easy to shoot from the hip. Don't plan, just do it and get some code down. The rest of the application will just fall into place. Yeah, right. We call those jerks "cowboys." And that is not a complimentary moniker. We have all worked with someone like this or replaced such a coder. Or worker, depending on your career. It's pure hell to clean up such messes.

On the other hand, some other places seem to get project management paralysis. You know, plan, plan, meet, plan, meet some more, and by the time you have anything in place that resembles a spec, you forgot what the hell the project is. The schema or metadata model takes so long to develop by committee that it's obsolete before the first lines of code are written.

I have been planning out how to ride to every city and township in Oregon. I figure it would be a good way to see this fine state in which I live and still get in a lot of riding while not being able to take off a lot of time from work. But the plan has been tricky. The first challenge was finding every single city and township. Here, I relied on good old Wikipedia. This will just have to be Good Enough.

Then there was documenting my trip, which usually means gear. I figure GPS and photographs should about do it. I have a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx with the City Navigator maps. But there are fiddly bits with the GPS process. I was trying to make an automatic upload process whereby I could just drop a file in a folder on my web server and have a Google Maps overlay created without having to do anything else. That might still happen, since I have my own ASP.NET server (it's probably down right now, at least for you), but it has taken a backseat for now.

And photographs... I like my Olympus Stylus 790SW because it is water- and shockproof and nicely portable. But it can be very tricky to get a decently exposed picture out of this camera. The flash is epically bad. Everything within 15 feet of the camera is blown out and everything beyond 15 feet is underexposed. How does that happen?!

Less than 10 feet, you can use this flash for suntans and x-rays. From etc

Then there's the chromatic aberration on this camera. Just about anything 15 degrees from center looks out of focus.

My camera came with a free "soft focus" feature. Too bad I can't shut it off. From Sutra

I did not want to attempt to document my journey with this annoying camera. But this is Oregon. And it rains here sometimes.

To add more uncertainty, my best friend decided she wanted to join me on this romp through Oregon. On the tandem.

From Bicycle Travels

I once read, "No matter where you're going on a tandem, you'll get there faster." It's difficult enough to plan this with one person on one bike. Adding another person doubles the personal variables. And we're both human, at least the last time I checked. We disagree, we have moods, and my body just doesn't work as well as it did when I was younger. Also, on the tandem, the maintenance issues are increased by at least 50%. When it was just me on my touring bike, I had to keep the touring bike in good working order because I use it as my main transportation.

I'm also trying to figure out what our pace should be. Are we going to randonnee out to distance locations or are we going to meander? I wanted to be able to cover lots of ground fast, but I don't think that will be particularly reasonable for when we need to carry camping gear or water. And we will need to carry water throughout much of Eastern Oregon.

I have to get our tandem into good fighting shape. I tend towards the retrogrouch side of things, without being totally Luddite. I don't trust things like STI for any kind of real distance riding. If it breaks in the middle of nowhere, we're screwed. Even if it breaks in town, we're screwed because we can't put the tandem on the bus or train. Because of this paranoia, almost all of my bikes end up looking the same.

Furthermore, the added torque of two riders chews through drivetrain components in short order. An aluminum 26T chainring was not up to the power we were putting down, and we're not even that strong. We would get about 50 feet and then it would start skipping. I turned it around, we would maybe get 75 feet, and then same thing would happen. Turns out the teeth were getting bent as we pedaled up hills. So I had to hunt down a stainless steel 26T chainring. eBay to the rescue! Problem solved. But the middle and outer chainrings on the tandem also need to be replaced.

We also really could use a new rear wheel. This one is cursed. We once had four flats in 40 miles.

Cursed rear wheel.

The rear brakes (v-brakes) do not completely clear the fender (). Don't get me started on the battle to get comfortable on the tandem.

So. The cockpit on the tandem is not what I want it to be. I don't have the camera I want for this. My process for displaying GPS tracks is rough around the edges. There are many, many uncertainties in the whole process.

All these details are still unanswered or unaddressed.

But screw it. In software, it's never the right time to upset the situation. When cooking out-of-season, we must improvise or use dried or frozen or something sub-optimal. If I wait for all the lumps to be beaten out of this journey, it would never happen. So, off we went.

It's gotta start somewhere.

Sometimes, you just gotta jump.

There are plenty of nearby places to check out so that we can shake down the entire process. For the first trip of our Oregon Survey, we took the route I ride to work everyday. I figured it was a good idea to ride on a route that I knew well, especially this early in the game. We hit Hillsdale, Beaverton, Multnomah Village, and Tigard. Scratch them off the list.

Suprisingly, taking pictures is one of the hardest parts of this. That and, getting all the fiddly technical issues smacked down. The first time I passed the Hillsdale sign, we forgot to take a picture. And I passed the Tigard sign. Rose was kind enough to hop off, run back, and catch a picture. I returned the favor by not rolling away without her. After all, she had my camera. Hopefully we'll get better at this part (the pictures; not the part about ditching each other) because remembering a sign a quarter mile up a huge hill is not fun.

My plan (I think) will be to use the Olympus Stylus for quick snapshots in motion and to mark which places we want to visit again. The DSLR I want will have to wait. And the tandem will just have to get refitted as we go along.

The best part? We started. Now we just have to finish.

My First Bike Move

2009-06-06T20:13:00.004-04:00

I did my first bike move today. Not my move, but moving someone else. I found out about the move via the Shift Calendar.

It was quite a bit of fun and I got to meet some cool people. And it is interesting how quickly moves go when there are many hands. From start to finish, including doughnuts, coffee, pizza, beer, loading and unloading, we were at it for less than four hours. That included a 5 mile ride from NE Portland to SE Portland.

From Bicycle Travels

The BOB trailer is actually ill-suited for moving lots of stuff. From Bicycle Travels

Another view of the load I carried. From Bicycle Travels

That's an arcade console in the Super Bakfiet. From Bicycle Travels

No good deed goes unpunished though. No, actually it was a case of PEBCAK While loading up my trailer, bike and trailer fell over. The trailer arm hit my derailleur and bent the hanger rather severely.

Nice dent in the derailleur. From Bicycle Travels

The carnage. The red lines approximately indicated where the derailleur cage should be. From Bicycle Travels

I officially hate my BOB trailer now. It's going on Craigslist as soon as I am done posting this.

08 Jun 2009: Even more pics of the bike move can be seen at Bike-Junkie's (Aaron) flickr account.

New Bike!

2009-05-17T19:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, this post is so old and crusty, but that's just a measure of how busy I have been. That's a lie. I am a horrible procrastinator. But I am working again and it is really amazing how much one can get done when there is a lot of stuff to be done and not nearly as much time. I was going back through the half-written posts and found this one languishing. Since this a leadup to other posts, I figure that this one should see the light of day.

I have a new bike. A brand new 2008 Kona Sutra.
This bike was the result of much agonizing and contemplation, and a whole bunch of hunting around.

Some basics: I test rode the 54C frame, which is Kona's odd size naming scheme for this frame. With very little adjustment, this frame fit me quite well. Stock, it has a lot of what I was looking for in a bike: Avid BB7 Road disc brakes, steel frame, bar-con shifters, and a full complement of mounts. Some added bonuses were three bottle mounts, outboard bearing crankset, Deore XT Shadow rear derailleur, front and rear racks, and 36h wheels on ISO Deore hubs. As such, there was little that I would want to change upon getting my bike home.

But there were still things that needed changing. The brake levers were definitely not my favorite as they did not fit my hands well. I am not a big fan of panniers, so the racks had to go (but I like having options). Narrow saddles don't fit my wide hips too well, so the really nice saddle got replaced by my Brooks B17.

Because I would be logging serious miles on this bike, I figured I should spring for the full fitting. I had the cockpit fitted to me with a wider set of Salsa Short & Shallow 44cm wide bars, Tektro R200 levers (my favorite!)(and an incredible value!), and a slightly shorter stem.

Among the other changes are higher Q-factor on the left crank, cleat positioning, and saddle positioning. It's all a bunch of subtle little changes that add up to a really custom feel on the bicycle. I highly suggest a full fitting; save room in your bike budget if you think you can't afford it. The fitting can make a $1200 bike feel like a $3000 bike.

And then there's my ongoing bag fixation.

The bag fixation continues. Stay tuned.

Now that I have been logging miles, I am actually not such a big fan of the B17. That is going to get replaced with a Selle Anatomica this week. There are three kinds of people when it comes to Brooks Saddles: those that love them, those that hate them, and those that haven't tried them. I am now a few thousand miles into this saddle and it's just not for me.

This bike is going to be my weapon of choice for my upcoming adventure. Stay tuned for more on that...

Somebody Shoot Me

2009-05-03T11:07:00.001-04:00

Those of you who know me, know that I really despise the hipster fucks that snootily ride their fixies while looking down their deliberately unwashed pimply noses at anyone who dares to ride a bicycle with derailleurs and (*gasp!*) brakes. When I see some tight jeans-clad dipshit slide into cross traffic because he's too cool for anything so gauche as brakes, I secretly wish that the dumbass gets smeared. And what's with the damned spoke cards anyway? Are you really that desperate for attention?

Now, before any fixie riders get their panties in a bunch (and I can see you're wearing panties under those painted-on jeans), it's the elitist snobs that really frost my liver. I once walked into a cafe after busting out 125 miles on my loaded touring bike. The woman behind the counter asked me what I rode, and turned up her nose when I told her a touring bike. "Oh, I only ride fixie. Without brakes." Right. Then there are the buttheads that try to blast past me, only to be unable to keep up their pace 50 feet later and now I have pass your punk-ass that is attempting to labor up the 2% grade. But it's funny how a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch. I guess that is how perception works. I'd say that 99.99% fixie riders are cool folk, and they probably even still bleed red and have a kitty or pooch at home waiting for them.

Well, never one to let my street cred falter (ha!), I have joined the ranks of the fixie-riding pseudo-elite. Oh, I am kicking it poseur-style, for sure. I bought a Kona Paddy Wagon. With brakes (poseur alert!). No elite conversion kit for me. No overpriced, hand-crafted frameset. Just a basic steel frame.

It handles nimbly, has a decent component set, durable tires, fits full fenders, has clearance for a transverse saddle bag (in my frame size), and is fun to ride.

It's not as revolutionary as everyone says. But then again, my spin is pretty good to begin with, and my stroke is quite round. It is impressive how well it climbs up mild grades because the inertia of the bicycle carries the pedals over TDC/BDC. When it comes to the serious hills on my commute, some churning and major spinning are required. But overall, I am quite happy with the experience. The simplicity of it all is quite pleasant. There's nothing quite like being able to abuse the drivetrain on the bicycle and know that it is still going to be there for you.

Is it for everyone? I'd say no. I can feel the stress in my knees, but as long as I spin and don't skid stop,my messed-up knees should be okay. I am rather surprised how much of a non-issue my 36 mile commute is on the fixie, even toting all my work gear up 2800 feet of ascent and down another 2800 feet. It is most certainly worth a try, though.

A Really Important Tip for Bike Commuters

2009-04-30T22:38:00.002-04:00

Don't forget to bring your pants to work with you. Especially if you have important meetings that day.

Some Mapping Foo

2009-02-11T23:30:00.004-05:00

View Larger Map

Don't reinvent the wheel. Unless you're Joel Spolsky or Fog Creek. I am niether of these entities, in case you didn't know. So when I want a solution, I first check to see if someone else has done it already. And then I check to see if I can do it better. Usually I can't do it better in a reasonable amount of time because I would rather be doing other things. Like getting on to the next problem, cooking a killer meal, drinking too much wine, or riding my bicycle.

I have mentioned My Oregon Adventure. Part of the plan is to show you, dear reader, the places I have been and how you too can randonnee a la mode allure libre and still have a verifiable record of the journey. And with a little luck, I'll have a couple nice pics along the way.

A large part of the planning thus far for My Oregon Adventure is just finding all the places in Oregon. This is not as easy as it sounds, and I think I am missing some townships. The next step was to stick some virtual pins in the incredible Google Earth. But then I needed to find a way to display that in Google Maps for easy display here.

Lo, some rocket scientist has already solved this problem. In Google Earth, export your Place (or list of Places) to a .KML file. Post that .KML file somewhere online. I am currently using Google Pages. If you have a Google account, you have Google Pages, too (username.googlepages.com). Now all you need to do is point Google Maps at the .KML file. In my case, the file is at http://waynemyer.googlepages.com/OregonSurvey.kml. And you can embed the map anywhere using their convenient link (just above the map image on the right). Simple stuff!

My Oregon Adventure / A Different Allure Libre

2009-01-11T02:26:00.013-05:00

I have this idea. My opportunities for serious bike travel might be somewhat limited for the next couple years, for a variety of reasons. But that is not going to keep me from logging a lot of miles and seeing the sights. I am going to ride my bicycle to all of the cities and towns in Oregon.

View Larger Map

I am going to use my GPS unit to map the rides and hopefully have some good pictures for you here.

I am a somewhat asocial person. I used to think that there was something wrong with me, considering how much I just prefer to be by myself. I am not into group rides. There is only one person with whom I enjoy riding. And no, I am not just saying that because she reads this.

And that leads me to a thought that has been rattling around in my head. Why can't brevets be done any time? A real allure libre. Even permanents have their limitations. But we have the technology to track brevets electronically. Oh, sure, those uptight French don't even like permanents and won't accept them as qualifying rides, but we in America tend to be a little less stick-up-the-ass about these kinds of things. Brevets should be able to be ridden without checkpoints, ridden anytime randonneurs want, or are able, to ride, and can very easily be verified.

I suppose some people might think, "What's the point?" Some people think that riding brevets are all about the camaraderie. And who am I to argue with them? I suppose everybody brings their own reasons to the table for why they would subject themselves to such misery.

I personally see randonneuring as a test of the rider and the bicycle. Did you build up your platform properly? Did you train your body, mind, heart, and soul to pull off this ride? These tasks are hard enough in and of themselves. Now, scheduling my work life to coincide with the qualifiers in the series AND hope that nothing catastrophic comes up with a software project right before the only 1200km brevet I can attend? I suppose that is part of the trial, part of the test of one's mettle. But some of us have lives.

Now, there are indeed additioal requirements in riding unsupported. A GPS unit and/or a GPS tracker is necessary. In my case, I also want to carry a decent camera. Sleeping space, water, and other needs will now be solely the responsibility of the rider. But isn't living off the land part of the reason of allure libre? Everyone can be their own randonneuring governing body, but there would be a certain amount of "in the spirit" of it all.

What do you think? I am writing and gathering a set of software tools that will allow for translating and overlaying GPS tracks on Google Maps. If you have any feedback or ideas, sound off.

An Open Letter to Princeton Tec

2009-01-06T23:26:00.003-05:00

Dear RC and Princeton Tec,

I will refer to you as RC here. Although you are a client-facing employee of Princeton Tec, I am not sure that you want the millions of my readers to know your name and therefore start harassing you.

I recently returned my broken Switchback lights, both an SB1 and SB3, for service. I am reasonably sure that my lights were out of warranty, but I wouldn’t know because my warranty card is probably somewhere in a landfill or, with a little luck, been recycled into somebody’s grocery bag. At any rate, my two lights both broke within a week of each other. I won’t go into gory detail for my readers because it really doesn’t matter. They stopped working, one in comprehensible fashion and the other in an unknown mysterious way. What matters is the level of service I received.

I like to think of myself as a rather picky customer, but even I find myself slipping into apathy when I receive crappy service. It’s not worth confronting some lame employee who obviously doesn’t care that the service meted rated barely a half-step above torture. Even the cranky, picky, curmudgeonly types such as me are being beaten into submission by customer service standards that are inexorably sliding into the tarpits of the special circle of hell reserved for people who bring their babies to evening movies. Sure, I talk a good game about being picky (and there’s no pretending about my crankiness), but I often just keep my mouth shut and sulk away, committed to taking my money elsewhere. Imagine my shock when I received from Princeton Tec service above and beyond any reasonability.

I returned to Princeton Tec an SB3 and SB1, along with their batteries, both reasonably well-used but no longer functional. I fully expected a bill or at least a “yer lights are broke, go away.” I went to the UPS depot to pick up my package yesterday. It was huge. Inside of this box were two brand-new, shrink-wrapped boxes containing an SB1 and SB3. WHAT?! Someone call 911! My old, broken lights were stolen and replaced with shiny, new ones! And how am I supposed to carry this package home on my bike?! And someone stole my bill!

Now, let me give a little background on the SB3. Shortly after I bought it, it somehow managed to take in water while I was on tour. In that downpour, I took in quite a bit of water myself. I had to open up the SB3 when I stopped somewhere dry in order to get out the water so that I could continue. Princeton Tec still replaced that head unit. Wow. Somebody at that company believes in their products. There's a lot of context that I am leaving out, but it's unimportant. What is important is that PT has bent over backwards to keep me happy about these lights. And I didn't even want them to be flexible.

How is it that a company that sells hard goods (good ones, at that) still dishes out shockingly good service?

In these difficult economic times, more companies would do well to learn from your lead. But then again maybe not. Customer service such as yours makes it that much easier to identify companies that care.

I am overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of your service. I noticed immediately that there are some definite improvements in the plug setup, which seemed to be a weak point. So Princeton Tec is clearly paying attention and improving their products. I am going through the entire Princeton Tec catalog as I write this, trying to find every item that has any utility for me. And I plan to buy every single one of them. You have a customer for life and I am going to chew off the ear of anyone who will stand still long enough for me to rattle off my spiel of the awesomeness of Princeton Tec. I seriously cannot say enough good things about Princeton Tec, so I will post this and just keep voting with my wallet.

Sincerely,
Wayne Myer

The Real Reason for Bottle Cages

2008-12-18T04:12:00.002-05:00

...is to put a proper bottle in it, of course!

This is an old pic I came across. I grabbed a snapshot using the lame camera on my phone after returning home from a cold, rainy ride from an Oktoberfest celebration. You gotta have proper hydration on those late fall rides.

Worst. Chinese Food. Ever. EVER.

2008-12-18T00:54:00.000-05:00

I teased you, my dear and loyal readers (even though I don't even have 16 loyal fans), about the worst Chinese restaurant. I'll get the critical information out of the way right now: New China Garden at the corner of SE Powell and SE 148th.

I first went to some Chinese restaurant on Division and approximately 160th. I locked up my bicycle and walked inside. Upon entry, I was smacked in the face with a heavy stench of cigarette smoke. There was also a plethora of posters for lottery games, specially designed to be alluring to people who are extremely bad with math. Nobody acknowledged my obviously mathematically-capable presence for about two minutes. As a matter of fact, I didn't see anyone for those two minutes. If the cook was dead behind the counter, I really did not want to find out because, dammit, I was hungry.

So I jumped back on the bicycle and the first place I came across was the aforementioned New China Garden. I don't know what they grow in this garden, but it is definitely not tasty Chinese food. I think this is more one of those gardens that have been forgotten, and the local cats use it as their litter box.

This place also stank of smoke, but not nearly as bad as the first place. Lottery ads were similarly projectile-vomited all over the place. Just about every available square inch of window space was covered with an ad for some stupid lottery game. But this place had a promising look to it. In most cities where I have lived, this look of greasy hole-in-the-wall pretty much guarantees excellent food. This rule does not hold true in the wilds of outer southeast Portland.

For starters, I ordered "General Chicken."

That should have been a clue to me, but hey, we all have our Engrish and Chinglish moments. Some people make a living of it. Although you'd think some proofreading might be in order for something as restaurant mission-critical as the menu. I also ordered the "Shrimp Noodle with Vegetable." I was really hoping that this did not mean I would be getting one noodle and one vegetable.

They had no clue what I requested, despite the fact that I was standing there with their menu and pointing at the items I wanted. The guy who took my order looked like he not only just got off the banana boat, but forgot to bring pick up his brain when he got off. So then a woman came out of the kitchen and asked me what I wanted. And again, I pointed at the menu and they looked at me like I was asking for the same lobotomy with which they were infected. This form of lobotomy must be contagious because I cannot imagine more than two people in such a small radius having the same brand of stupidity.

I am waxing vitriolic here and I realize it. But if you have ever craved that certain food when no other food would do, and then got utterly let down, you probably understand why I am filled with so many bad things to say. It's my own little "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle." Except I never got to my own personal White Castle, dammit.

The chicken was burned to a nasty crisp. See that black stuff?

It's not carmelization. It's carbon. How does that happen? I didn't order blackened chicken. And how does so much get burned? Don't you think the chef would have realized that the food was burning? And it tastes much worse than it looks. Why is it, when I want a picture to show how bad something is, it comes out looking good? And when I want a picture to show how great something is, it looks like hell.

My "shrimp noodle?"

That's not sauce in which the noodles are drowning. It is water. With a hint of corn starch. And nothing else. About the only saving graces of this entire meal were that the vegetables were not overcooked and the food was so bad that I had no guilt in throwing it all away.

This expeirence has resulted in Wayne's Rules for Take-out Food.
If lottery ticket sales seem to be pivotal to the business model, the lottery ticket is probably more palatable than the food. Buy the lotto ticket and eat it. By eating it, you're just about guaranteed better flavor and much better value.

The bouquet of old cigarette smoke is not a good accompaniment for food. Much as I enjoy a Nat Sherman or a fine cigar after a good meal, I don't want to have to smell others' stale smoke. The key word here is "stale." I suspect that most people feel exactly the same way. As such, if eau de fumee is the overarching olfactory note upon entering an establishment, the food is probably going to suck. Eat the leavings in the ashtray; it has better flavor and much better value.

The staff, especially the cook and owners, should probably demonstrate extensive knowledge of the menu. We can overlook typos and minor grammatical errors. Major grammatical and translation errors are the realm of the Engrish sites. But I should not have to sing and dance to explain the menu to the cook. If the cook does not understand the menu, eat it; it has better flavor and much better value.

And finally, always, always, always look at your take-out food before leaving. Sure, they package it up in that delightfully Asian manner that guarantees you can never properly close the package again. But it was going to leak everywhere in your [pick one:backpack/car/waterproof pannier/best friend's new leather seats] anyway. It doesn't matter how hungry you are to eat that food. Imagine the compounding on your pissed-ratio when you're bitch-hungry and the awesome food you just got home turns out to be a dud. This has been a public service announcement by your friendly neighborhood Wayne.

Much Belated Update

2008-11-13T05:50:00.001-05:00

Wow, did I ever screw up that post about choosing a new bicycle. There was supposed to be all manner of links in there, not to mention that the post got out without being complete. Way to go, Wayne.

Normally, about this time, I would probably start blaming the software. But I have a little more insight on these things: computers only do precisely what I tell them to do. That goes the same for you, too.

I was eyeing a Brodie Romulus (despite the fact that it is aluminum), because it has a 135mm rear OLD. I could not find one to buy, much less test ride. It would seem that Brodie dealers have a hard time getting hold of the company. The wet dream bike is the Seven Vacanza, but I did not have $8000 for my dream bike. The final bike on my list of considerations was the 2008 Kona Sutra.

Why a 135mm OLD? This is important because in talking with a local wheelbuilder and in reading some reviews of 130mm OLD disc-brake bicycles, there can be issues in finding good hubs with 130mm OLD. I have heard that there are also issues in lining up the brakes and getting the dish just right. Whether these are rumors or not, I actually don't care. Let's assume it was vicious rumor: the fact that someone went through the trouble of making up a rumor about this is enough to put me off of 130mm OLD. And if it is merely anecdotal evidence, then one master wheelbuilder's anecdotal evidence is definitely reason enough to stick with a 135mm OLD disc-brake frame.

I went with the Kona Sutra, not just because it was available, but because Kona really knocked it out of the ballpark on this one. I had read that the previous generations' adjustable rear dropouts were fidgety. And those models cost more, without full racks, and had STI shifters. Tune in next time (and it will be sooner, I promise) for the exciting conclusion of bringing the new baby home. And its ongoing adventures.

Why Do People Have to Suck?

2008-10-18T04:30:00.003-04:00

Oh sure, there are many kinds of suckitude, but I have had two run-ins with a particularly insidious kind of asshole.

Tonight, some jerk threw rocks at me and hit me as the car drove past. Well, surprise asshole! I got your plate, I got your description, and I know you drive a piece of shit Ford. One of Portland's finest happened to be nearby. I flagged him down and the police officer was kind enough to chase down the aforementioned asshole.

Not too long ago, another fuckwit pegged me with large chunk of ice, almost knocking me off my bicycle and leaving me with quite a few bruises. If I find this schmuck, it won't be pretty.

When this happens, I contemplate all manners of revenge and/or justice. Personally, I would love to use an air pistol and shoot out the rear windshield. Big target, pricey to replace, and would you be inclined to stop and accost someone if your rear windshield just got shot out? Well, I am probably assuming too much in terms of reasoning skills of these people. Maybe a .45ACP would be in order. But this is just escalating the issue and would allow such assholes to rationalize assaulting and accosting cyclists.

I am buying a helmet cam for this crap. I think an affirmative record of some drivers' unique brand of assholeness needs to be created. I know I am not the only one that feels this way and I am certainly not the only one that is going to be sporting a helmet cam. Also, always notify the police if something happens. At the very least, tonight's featured asshole has a note on his record that his car was involved in something untowards. If it happens again, a trend has been established.

Asshole drivers, you have been put on notice.

Disc Brakes and Road Bicycles

2008-08-20T06:04:00.000-04:00

I was all prepared to bitch about the absolute worst Chinese restaurant I have ever experienced, but it is going to be a topic for later. Something else has caught my attention. Let me just ask, though, how does that happen?! Here in Portland OR, fully 7/8 of the population must be slant-eyed. Before you get your tits in a twist, I was born with one of those slanted views on the world so STFU with your PC BS. So despite the rampant slanted view, somehow the absolutely most suckass Chinese joint I have ever encountered manages to exist. I'll let you have a little bit of a spoiler: it's New China Garden at 14908 SE Powell Boulevard. Don't go there, even on a dare.

So I am day-dreaming about a new bicycle. My poor little Bike Friday has been my bitch... errr, I mean my do-everything bicycle since moving here. My other bicycles are currently stranded in Vermont. That is worthy of another blog post, but I am withholding judgement pending the resolution with a specific internet-based company. Poor little Friday has really been manifesting the wear and tear under the stress of being my daily commuter, heavy hauler, grocery getter, and joy ride. I broke a spoke last week and my bottom bracket was making apocalyptice noises on Saturday. Just in time for a ride to Multnomah Falls.

Bike Gallery right down the street changed out my bottom bracket on the spot last Sunday. Cayley was on that shit like white on rice. And she is a serious cutie, to boot. My infatuation meter goes all aflutter when I talk to her. Bike Gallery, for being a chain and having that generic "big bike shop" feel, gets my vote. It certainly helps that Bike Gallery is right nearby. And did I mention that Cayley is a serious cutie? Oh, the mad skills help too. Reviews of other shops to come.

I have some specs for my next bicycle and I am seriously thinking Touring Bike. I mean, another touring bike. Insofar as utility bikes go, touring bikes are pretty much the funky shit. I could do a hybrid and put drop bars on it, but there is a false economy there. I have two Trek SU200s, but adapting one of these to my spec brings the cost up to about the price of a decent touring bike.

What's my spec, you ask? There are some things that I really want. A steel frame would be preferable, and titanium crosses over into wet-dream territory. As well as out-of-my-budget territory (there is a Seven in my future at some point). A triple crankset is necessary because I most likely will be hauling heavy loads. Sometimes up mountains. A full set of braze-ons are key; I need to be able to mount fenders and maybe racks. Drop bars on the stock configuration would be nice, but I can retrofit better bars and levers onto most frames. Foremost, though, disc brakes are an absolute must.

Why do so few road bikes have disc brakes? Oh, I get the economy of it. How many people can be bothered to ride their bicycles in rain, snow, and ice? But from a marketing standpoint, there is serious eyeball appeal. Disc brakes are fully sexy. Nevermind their utility. I will gladly get into it with anyone who wants to say disc brakes are overkill. If you ride in the rain, snow, or ice, disc brakes are an absolute must. The modulation alone offsets all of the cons of disc brakes.

But if you needed more pluses, the pads are long wearing. The maintenance is much lower. Disc brakes are more fault-tolerant than rim brakes. As long as the wheel still spins and is not at risk of going taco-style, full braking power is maintained. Heat dissipation is much better. There is less risk of blowing out a tire on long descents.

Great Quote on Access-specifiers

2008-08-19T11:32:00.002-04:00

I just heard a really great quote and memory aid for access-specifiers in C#/C++.

Your friends can touch your privates. Your children cannot.
Children and friends know your protected stuff, strangers do not.

Not to get on too much of a tear about my animosity towards the collegiate education system... but how is it I went through about six years of software engineering classes and never heard this wonderful tidbit? No, instead professors would have students jump through hoops of fire trying to initially get their heads around certain concepts when a simple, concise, albeit somewhat ribald, distillation would suffice.

Proper Priorities

2008-08-03T01:05:00.002-04:00

Now that is a proper hydration system. I need to fill two out of three of my bottle mounts with such gear.

Time to Blow Out Some Cobwebs

2008-07-28T22:57:00.002-04:00

Wow, sorry to all two of the readers of my blog (I know where you are)(thanks, BTW). Thanks for checking in. It has been a whirlwind time for me and my best friend. I have recently moved to Portland, Oregon and what an adventure!

Keep an eye out because I have a crap-ton of content coming. And finally some of that coding stuff because I am up to my eyeballs in issues these days with my new job. There's bicycle stuff coming. And there is definitely food stuff coming. 'Cause I'm crazy like that.

"Stay tuned. I'm gonna do it again." (Sorry about the stupid commercial before the cartoon greatness).

Caring for the Environment

2008-06-10T15:37:00.003-04:00

I really don't give a damn about the environment.

I often get comments about my bicycling lifestyle, complementing me on my concern for the environment. These comments really bother me because I don't care about the environment and it is presumptuous of people to think that I do.

What I care about is not being wasteful. I don't pollute, because it's ugly and inconsiderate towards others. I don't have cable TV (or any channels for that matter), because I refuse to pay to have endless advertising pumped into my home. I got rid of my car when gas still cost less than a first-born child and a left testicle. The wastefulness of driving my car was galling. Maintenance, insurance, fuel, and, worst of all, being under the thumb of the government. "Uh-oh, a cop is following me closely. Is he going to pull me over for no reason? Am I going 3 MPH too fast?"

And then there is the sheer inefficiency of driving a car. For the sake of math, I weigh 200 pounds and my car weighed 3400 pounds. Too haul my mass from one place to another, I brought along 17 times my mass from place to place. That is a transportation methods that only has the purpose of delivering 5.8% of its mass to a destination. Wow. My bicycle, fully loaded with a week's worth of lunch and clothes weighs a little over 50 pounds. So I bring 80% of my mass to my destination with a bicycle. When you go on vacation, do you bring, let's say, even 10 times more than you need to bring? Maybe pack 10 days worth of clothes for a 1 night trip? Maybe that's a bad analogy. I'll accept that.

Regardless, the automobile is wasteful for most of the transportation situations out there, but most Americans cannot be troubled enough to shift their mindset away from their wasteful ways. It's part and parcel of the human condition, really. I am just as guilty, although in other aspects. I recognize that, but I am working on it.

So back to caring for the environment... I don't care. I care about being wasteful. Caring about the environment is one of those touchy-feely, ill-defined goals, such as "Give Peace a Chance," "Help the Homeless," and "Compassionate Conservatism." It makes people vulnerable to marketers and propaganda. Political candidates pay lip service to helping the environment. Propaganda machines on both sides of an issue spew their toxic vitriol. And short of going out there and conducting your own environmental survey, it is hard to know where the truth is. Don't start with me on this one. It is hard to know where the truth is because I have been there (physical locations) and seen the propaganda and lies of both sides, sometimes on the same matter.

Do you really care about the environment? Kill yourself now. Or at the very least, raze your home, quit your job, and become a hunter-gatherer, living in a tree. Actually, skip the hunter part. Just be a scavenger and gatherer. But we can't do that. We are now ill-suited to live strictly off the land in a traditional sense.

But by consciously and methodically eliminating wastefulness, you are probably doing more for the environment than you would if you bought a hybrid car. We need to reach a balance with our world, in all matters. Reaching a balance is very difficult because people need homes and food and leisure. It is very easy for us (as Americans) to sit in our comfortable home, which we already have, and spew dictums such as, "No more clear-cutting forests!" or "Save the spotted owl!" or "We need to drill ANWR to reduce our dependency on foreign oil!" or "The politicians need to do something about the cost of energy!" BTW, top-down solutions are a bad idea. The greatest changes start with the person reading this post.

Try examining your life a little more honestly. Are you living as consistently as possible? I'm not, and I really, really try.

And while I am at it, actions don't exist in a vacuum. Bicycle advocacy is not the panacea for the world's problems. Yes, it will resolve many problems, but moving to a bicycle infrastructure is going to create other issues. I personally look forward to a lot of those problems, but other people are going to be seriously hurting. And people who are in a bad position tend to have negative effects on society (just look at the subprime lending market).

There is no simple answer and I wish people would stop acting as if there was. As deeply and sincerely as I love the bicycle lifestyle, it is not for everyone and it is not a fix-all answer, even though I am frequently guilty of acting as it it were. I would like to remain optimistic about our chances, but I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get any better. Although I suppose that is just the nature of it all...

</rambling></rant>

"You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess"

2008-05-19T20:32:00.003-04:00

All things in moderation, including moderation.

For scale, that is a magnum of wine next to the glass.

"I swear, all I had was one glass of wine!"

There is nothing quite like being able to pour one glass of wine and read a book all afternoon. I received a pair of these glasses from my friend for Christmas. Your friends know you best!

Roasting Veggies Without Fire

2008-05-19T20:11:00.000-04:00

I have the world's crappiest kitchen. Okay, it's not as crappy as some that I have had in the past. But it is bad. At least the worst kitchen in my past didn't have carpet in the kitchen. Who the hell thought putting carpet in a kitchen was a good idea?!

Why do kitchens in studio apartments always categorically suck? If you find this post and have a studio apartment with a great kitchen, please let me know. And let me know when your lease is up.

Crappy Kitchen

Given my limited kitchen resources, I have to juggle and improvise. I have approximately three square feet of usable counter space I have one of those crappy apartment-sized ranges. Whoever thought this up needs death by bunga-bunga. The oven temperature varies wildly; sometimes a setting of 350° results in 275° or 425° in the oven without any consistency. It does not fit two pans side-by-side. As much as I love cooking, this stove drives me batshit most of the time. I suppose it is just one of the costs of engaging in one's joys.

Nothing fits

So I don't have a gas stove. I have a small electric stove. And a small oven. So small it does not even fit normal baking pans. I think having a small oven must be worse than having no oven. It's a culinary cock-tease, a gastronomic siren. But yet I persist with this silly delusion that I should be able to cook decent meals.

One of the key reagents in many good meals is Roasted Vegetables (cue *heavenly choirs*). Baba ghanouj and squash soup are just two recipes that realize massive increases in flavor complexity by putting a little char on the veggies before proceeding with the Creation. When carbonization is involved, there are even greater gains in simple, yet delicious combinations such as vegetable wraps, fajitas (which truly require fire), and just about anything non-dessert that comes from the kitchen. Every savory meal benefits from caramelized onions.

Corollary to a proper range is an exhaust fan that vents outside, rather than projectile-vomiting the smoke back into one's domocile. Guess which one I have. Seldom is the entree that fails to set off my smoke alarm. Why do so few residences have externally vented exahust fans?! The bathrooms vent outside (toilet lines require vents). How hard is it to also vent the kitchen, too?

Putting a char on vegetables with this stove is tantamount to using a Yugo in an F1 race. But somehow I still manage to place in that race.

I go through a rigamarole to roast vegetables. Depending on the vegetable and the dish, I roast either in cast iron, directly on the burner, or under the broiler. Sometimes, the greatest works are accomplished within te confines of the greatest limitations. Okay, I am not enough arrogant to think that anything that comes out of this kitchen as the greatest works. Or even my greatest works. But it is still better than anything from most restaurants.

In general, most vegetables get a two-stage roasting. Sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions, for example, get a sear on top under the broiler in a cast iron pan. Then I put them on top of the stove (still in the pan) on the highest heat until the fire department is kicking in my door. By this time, the veggies should be properly caramelized and done.

For bell peppers and eggplant, I turn the largest burner on high, putting the item directly on the burner. As the skin burns, I keep turning the piece with tongs until it is burned all around. Then I wrap it up in aluminum foil and pop it in the oven at 350° for an hour. Peel off the burned skin, save the juices, and you have a great roasted veggie.

If you have any other tips for dealing with lesser kitchens, leave it in the comments.

Garlic and Apples Don't Store Well Together

2008-05-07T19:49:00.003-04:00

Note to self: don't put garlic bulbs and apples in the same fruit bowl. I think this is akin to putting garlic bagels in the same bag as any other bagel; they all turn into garlic bagels. The same thing happens with apples and garlic bulbs, too.

Montpelier and Back

2008-05-06T21:55:00.002-04:00

I'm still getting around to parsing the XML to present a Google Map of my rides.

At the Winooski River, near the intersections of I-89, 2, and 117.

I dropped my mirror when a bug flew into my glasses. I thought it was a good moment to catch a shot in this area with neat rock formations. Not that you can see those formations.

I tan quickly.

Bag Fetish (Carradice SQR Slim)

2008-05-03T07:59:00.004-04:00

On the heels of my last Carradice adventure, I figure I would write about the other Carradice bag that I have and use.

I have a bag fixation. I'm going to descend into a stereotype here: I should have been born a woman. I love bags and shoes. I need the right bag for the occasion and the right shoe for the activity. I have bags galore. No Chrome bag yet, but give me some time and I will remedy that. And I love to shop for bags and activity-specific shoes. The right bag and the right shoe for the job!

A friend gave me the Carradice SQR Slim saddlebag as a gift last November. Wow. I have lots of issues with different saddlebags, and most small saddlebags have severe delusions of adequacy. I have cycled (NPI) through legions of such bags. Broken zippers, not enough capacity, not even vaguely weather resistant, floppy mounting, incompatible mounting systems for my saddle (Selle Anatomica)... you get the idea.

I have tried different racks with different panniers, seatpost racks, backpacks, and trailers. I despise seatpost racks because they produce a very odd moment effect in bicycles, especially when the load is past the rear axle. I'm short, so I ride smaller frames, and I get heel strike on the panniers. Plus racks and panniers are a whole lot of mass to carry when all I usually need are my laptop, lunch, and a change of clothes. I have bought and/or tried almost all of the cargo options out there. About the only ones that I do not yet own are a Bikes@Work trailer, BOB, and Xtracycle. But I am getting there! I'll quickly mention that I do like my Burley Nomad; while not perfect, it is very useful.

But now I have an SQR Slim in my cargo-carrying arsenal. The SQR Slim fits under my seat and does not hit the rear fender of my 18" Trek SU200 (I am ~171cm/5'7" tall). It yields 16L/976cu. in. of very usable cargo capacity with a maximum advised load of ~10kg/22lbs).

The SQR Slim fit my laptop well (14" widescreen Tablet PC) in a rigid laptop case. All told, that was about 5kg/11lb of mass. There was no noticeable slop in the SQR bag while cornering and going over bumps. Because almost all of the mass was ahead of the rear axle, I was still able to corner as hard as I am accustomed without any oddness in the handling of the bike. Other seatpost/tail rack configurations have pulled the tail of my bike out under hard cornering, especially in wet conditions.

If I set myself far back on my seat, my thighs would slightly touch the pack, but nothing that caused any issues and not enough to be problematic even after the longest rides. Another potential drawback for some: the pack also makes its presence known when I get out of the saddle. There is an obvious mass back there and the bike really cannot be flicked. But you don't flick a loaded bicycle anyway.

The bag is made in England, so I suspect they might have some experience with keeping out the rain. It does certainly hold up to the elements well, having been through salt, winter and spring mud, and all manner of weather. The top and bottom of the inside of the bag is a hard plastic shell. This comes in handy for cleaning up lunch container leaks.

There is also a hard plastic "stripe" on the bottom of the bag to help make cleaning the bag easier if you rode in the rain. The shape and size of the SQR slim helps protect your back from the skunk stripe if you are too lazy or too prissy to install fenders. Yeah, that's right; I called you prissy. In case you're feeling some indignation, I have two bicycles without fenders. So there.

I think that the only drawback of this pack is that mount has five exposed bolts on the inside of the bag. The very slight protruding ends of the bolts have worn holes in items that I put in the saddlebag. If I was terribly concerned, I supposed I would put epoxy or something over those bolts. Maybe eventually, or if I have a long ride planned.

It is not a drawback for me, but it could be for others: there is a requirement of a minimum amount of exposed seatpost. On my Bike Friday New World Tourist, there is approximately 7.3cm/2.875in of exposed seatpost. The SQR block fits in there snugly. The block is rather nicely designed to take into account the seatpost binder bolt.

I could not find a torque spec for the bolts that tension the stainless steel binder rings. But hand-tight with a basic allen wrench holds the saddlebag in place when leaning the bike against walls.

Overall, I am very impressed and this bag is well worth the money. I mean, if I actually paid for it. And I would totally buy a couple more of these, but fortunately they are quick-release so I only need an SQR block to attach the same bag to multiple bikes. If you need a little more capacity than a normal saddlebag, don't want to wear a backpack or messenger bag, or don't need the capacity of panniers/trailers, this bag is for you.

Bag Fetish (Alcohol Makes Everything Work Better)

2008-04-28T19:36:00.006-04:00

I have a bag fetish. You will hear lots about this as time goes on.

For now, suffice it to say that I enjoy having the right bag for the occasion and I like having it slung on my bicycle properly. I have been quite fixated as of late with English saddle bags, namely the Carradice transverse saddlebags. You know, the ones that conveniently match the nice English saddles like Brooks. I have the Nelson Longflap which is an excellent bag. As Peter White says, it can carry just about everything you would want on a bicycle outside of a tour. A touch spendy, but the reputation of Carradice bags is that they will outlive your bike and probably you. So I would rather spend a little extra dough up front.

I have a Selle Anatomica Titanico LD with the watershed coating. This is a perfect saddle. It is their permutation of a Brooks saddle with a more anatomical design (read: penile nerve cutout). Right out of the box, it fit incredibly and was comfortable for the long haul. The saddle needed retensioning after about 70 miles, but that was no big deal. They even use a standard allen bolt for their tension mechanism. If you are on the fence regarding one, stop hesitating. This saddle is perfect.

I stitched mine, following a hypothesis that a narrower nose and stiffer seat might enhance the perfection. The stitching did firm up the saddle a little and narrow up the nose, but the improvements were not worth the effort. The saddle was just fine as is. The folks over at Selle Anatomica simply knocked it out of the ballpark with this design.

Oh, and the watershed coating really lives up to its name. I have done one full year of riding in Northeast weather (rain, humidity, ice, snow, salt, sun: we have it all in spades). The leather has not been treated with anything other than abuse and crotch sweat. Even where I have torn up the saddle (damned brick walls), the leather is still holding up, albeit in scuffed fashion.

My one beef with the saddle, however, is how the saddle does not like to like to play with the Bagman QR saddlebag supports. The Selle Anatomica does have bag loops, but the rails are set in such a way that they interfere with the QR mechanism on the Bagman QR. I am sure that the normal Bagman support would work just fine. I run a lot of errands with my commuter bike and I like to be able to take the bag off when I lock up my bike in shadier areas.

I got it into my head today that I would attach the female portion of fastex buckles to the bag loops on the saddle and then run the bag straps through the male part of the fastex buckles. Instant quick-release design! I don't know if this is original, so I don't claim it for my own, but these are the odd ideas that occur to me when I am riding.

First and foremost: a drink. Along with the ability to have a lot more of them if necessary. Box wine kicks serious ass in the "lot more of them" department. There are decent box wines out there. And while they are not the best in terms of quality, the wines are palatable and they more than compensate in quantity. All DIY projects require alcohol to work properly. The amount of alcohol consumed on a DIY project is exponentially proportional to how much fun the project is.

From my math minor days, I believe the formula is:
"Fun = (Alcohol Consumed * Project Complexity)^3."

Of course the corollaries of that formula are:
"Project Success = 1/(Alcohol Consumed)^5"
and
"Probability of Injury = (Coeffiecient of Power Tools)(Alcohol Consumed * Project Complexity)^13."

Pretty daunting odds. But I know what I must do in order to make this project fly. Drink more.

Here are the key components:

Oh wait, here are the real parts for the project (.75" fastex buckles and .75" nylon webbing):

Then the alcohol starts serving its real purpose. Why the hell can't I fit that QR mechanism under the saddle?! I know, I'll just jam that shit in there! With a hammer, if need be. I'll make it work! And what do you know? It does work. I didn't even need a hammer. It was a challenge that resulted in much alcohol-fueled profanity, but that QR bracket fits in there.

Note that the top part, the QR portion, does not sit entirely flush with the rails. Maybe with a little grinding from a Dremel tool, it would fit. But my patience just wasn't there tonight. Also note that the mount is pushed almost completely to the seatpost clamp.

So, score another hit for the Selle Anatomica! And score a hit for red wine! You can indeed use these saddles with the Bagman QR supports, but they just require a little cajoling to fit in there. What's more, you can still use the QR mechanism easily enough. I will warn you, however, that if you have your saddle positioned way forward, the Bagman bracket won't fit on the rails anyway.