Chasing Legends

another cycling video to inspire me to get off my ass


trailer

Two face

never ending climb
it did end, cause I'm here . . .right?. . . typing . . .
. . . . unless I gave up and turned around and came home

Like I said before, all my symmetrical clothing needs are labeled.
Right?
You are correct.

left side: 20 mins into ski - you might say feeling 'fresh'
right side: 45 minutes later - you wouldn't say the same thing

beauty night for a ski
late afternoon/early evening, hardly anyone in the park
the snow was bitterly cold making skating very, very, very, very, very slow
it was even slower considering it was my legs and arms flailing about to keep me choreographed to the beat of my rapid pulse

go no gas commute crotch shot

a little commute to the grocery store the other day in minus 24 degree weather

to test out the first ride on the new/old build 'go no gas' bike

my crotch for your viewing pleasure

in the hood - bad ass

If it weren't for acid junkies I'd be a nobody

I was over on Stat Counter the other day, you know, checking my stats . . . seeing how many people love me.

They should really call it something else. Something more related to a tracking mechanism that provides a sense of worth to low self-esteem ridden individuals, like me. Really, why would I need to keep track of how many people come to my site? So that I can adjust my marketing team to better represent Dearborn, Michigan residents in my sales ads in order to increase revenue? The only reason anyone with a blog has a stat counter-type-dealie is to check on how many people visit their site so that they can feel good about themselves and decide whether or not it's worth getting out of bed in the morning to sit in front of the computer to hammer out some sort of drivel that might keep lesser educated minds entertained for a fraction of a minute with the daily ongoings of their mundane life.

Some pathetic lonesome souls who don't have stat counter/tracker things use Crackbook and Titter accounts. It's all the same.

Someone had to say it.

But it's true. It's true for me at least.

clicky clicky for just how awesome I am

So what I've discovered that most of my hits that I get to my blog are from first time viewers, specifically searching out one image that I happen to put up about two years ago. Let's do a little experiment. In your search engine, type "LSD". After getting your responses, click on images.
Here, I'll do it for you you lazy sods. Clicky clicky (read the fine print url address under the first image).

That's right. The first image you get in the list of LSD photos is directly linked back to me. How? Why? Probably has to do with me stealing that same image from somewhere else a long time ago and used it as a half assed humorous attempt at being funny to describe a "long, slow, distance" ride.

Depressing really . . . that the reason my stats are so high is because dope heads, tweeters, users, stoners, crack heads, burnouts and druggies world wide are looking for images of acid (LSD for you unedumicated) to try lick off their computer monitors. I don't dare take it off of my blog because it'd most likely cause me to take a nose dive off a high building.

If I put it up twice on the blog, will I get twice as many visitors?
Shameless.
Are you licking your computer monitor?

WTB Rocket V Saddle

WTB Rockey V saddle - it's been my favourite saddle for a few years now being the only saddle that I've ridden on all my mtn bikes. (I've also got a Silverado on my CX bike which I love)
It's light, uber duber comfy and durable.
Best part, no weight restrictions for hefty fat guys.

Alas, nothing lasts forever. I've gotten my money's worth from this saddle twice-over, so I have no complaints.
Well, maybe one.
When will a saddle company begin to make rail replacements for their saddles? Seems like a no brainer to me. I've never had the saddle, padding part of one break - it's always been the rails. How hard would it be to make and provide replacement rails? It's a shame really . . . the cushion has shaped into the curvy'ness of my buttocks and now I'll have to search for a new one to replace and break-in.

There could be the answer: "Made in Taiwan".
I'm joking. Seriously. It'd be easy to say that just because it's made off shore and in a factory probably by some little hands being totally underpaid, over worked . . . and so on and so on. However, being a mass made product with complete control over their assembly line and materials, it seems to me that there would most likely be better control over quality.
So I'll save the jokes.

Notice the grey crap around the break? Being cheap, underpaid, over worked, and cheap I attempted to fix it myself. A little J.B. Weld. I've had some really good success with it in the past, however, it wouldn't hold this.

Ha, ha, ha.
Still joking.
Actually I have a second complaint - which is nothing really, nothing that would keep me away from buying another one, but something that I've seen in the bike industry. Faux Carbon.
Check out the carbon fibre detailing. This little bit of 'carbon fibre' (there's a reason why it's in quotation marks), will supposedly give me 3.6% weight savings to get up hills faster. True.


If it was real carbon fibre wouldn't it be visible in the holes that the screws go into? It also wouldn't be pliable and easily bent, like the plastic piece of faux carbon fibre it is.

Meh. When will the bike industry leaders come knocking on my door to have me help them improve their products, give me loads of free shit and pay me buckets of dough?

Race Across The Sky

The '09 Leadville 100 Race

Watched this last Wednesday night.

Sunday ski

Death of a winter beater & gastrointestinal disorder

My purple winter beater died. Died it did. Done up and died. It's gone to the glue factory.
To be honest, I'm not commuting to work this winter due to the nature of the job and sketchy long hours - getting off at 3:30 in the morning, or having to do five extra hours of overtime and riding home is not my cup of tea.
Whimp you say. Whimp I am.
I'm waiting for warmer temperatures for sure.

Back to the topic at hand . . . the death of a winter beater. Inevitable isn't it? Salt, road grime, freezing temperatures, thawing, warming and repeating. Harsh. Winter deaths come early to machines made of steel.

In my grief, and my day off (the snow sucked to go skiing, so inward bound I was today), I started a new commuter project of left-over parts and my old road bike. The result:

Taa -daa

I dropped the drop bars for some comfy mtn bike bars. And they aren't all narrow hipster style either. I make my own fashion statements thank you. Notice the purple bell resurrection.

notice the custom decal job?
"no gas" . . . petrol or gastrointestinal you ask ?
"go" on the top tube
all together now: "go no gas"
I was limited to what I could spell with the decals that I had.

ghetto single speed conversion - an old worn out derailleur makes a great chain tensioner

incomplete without a little death and destruction

Still Fat & Special Needs Cycling Shoes

Noth'in on but my socks - lucky you.
Left & Right
I figure that I actually probably weigh 195 lbs as I my socks, I reckon, weigh about 3 lbs each.
Makes sense to me.

Two things:

First - I'm not as fat as I was a month or so ago. I'm down to an unrespectable 201 lbs. Down from 207lbs. And if my finger math serves me correct . . . that's . . . 1-2-3-4-5-6 . . . . 6lbs lost.
I don't think that I can hit my ideal riding weight from couple years ago of 186lbs. Too difficult and probably not safe to get down another 15 lbs over the next two and a half months or so.

Let's say another 10 weeks of do-able weight loss time left before the season kicks off when it will be a little unrealistic to try and lose weight. It's healthy and safe and reasonable and realistic to lose a pound a week. So I am looking at, if my finger math again serves me correctly . . . 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 . . . . another 10lbs. Which would put be at about 191lbs.
Meh. Close enough.

Second - all of my socks are labeled with a "L" (for 'left' - dummy) and "R" (for 'right' - dummy).
Dat be true.

I've been told that I am a 'special kind of guy' who has some 'special needs', and I wouldn't argue that for one minute. So with the connections that I have in the cycling community I've been able to pull some strings and work in conjunction with a major cycling shoe company to develop a custom pair of cycling dwags for me for this upcoming season.

I am awesome.

Rideau

Had some the day off last week (before the weather turned to crap) so we took advantage of the glorious weather and took The Peanut downtown for a stroll on the canal.

Rideau Canal Skateway - no longer the 'world's longest' skating rink, but now the 'world's largest'.
Pffffft, Winnipeg.

The Peanuts first time on the canal.

(Look closely)

Getting outside on the canal does have it's benefits: fitness, socializing, family time, fun in the sun . . . . and . . .

. . . . bacon.
The two go hand in hand - Rideau Canal & bacon.