Biking Frenzy

[pphaneuf]

Tour de Fat
Originally uploaded by Pierre Phaneuf.

After my recent trip to San Francisco, which included attending Tour de Fat (I won't say "participate", because neither morethanreal or I could wake up early enough for the ride proper), I've been re-energized about cycling. Going up the Wiggle in the middle of a foggy night, and still having other people riding the same route, seeing all of those fixies and also the pretty city bikes, it's quite the sight.

So when I came back, I decided to reconfigure my bike slightly, to make it more practical. I got safety skewers to replace the quick-release ones, so that I wouldn't have to disassemble my bike anymore, got myself a mini U-lock that is just enough, small enough to easily fit in my bag, and lighter than my big one. I want to get fenders, but apparently, that's rather tricky for my bike. In any case, the point is that I want to remove any friction to my bike being a day-to-day vehicle. And I think it's going well.

I did get a flat by accidentally riding on broken glass on Ste-Catherine Friday, which I got fixed at Belleville Cycle Co-op, and after getting that fixed, I figured that I'd go check out Revolution Montréal. On my way there, on Maisonneuve at the corner of Aylmer, a mother and her daughter were crossing on a red, not paying attention to either cars nor bikes, while I was going on a streak of green lights at 40 kph. I braked hard enough that my rear brake cable snapped (I think it was iffy already), after having left a good deal of rubber on the pavement already. Stopping about six inches from the daughter, the only casualties were thankfully only my right ring finger and the cable, of course.

I should get myself a cycling icon... :-)

And, finally but not least, we celebrated ayria's birthday and triumphant return to Montreal! It was quite fun, although it is weird observing my own behaviour. I seem to be much less expressive about my feelings (not just with ayria, but in general) than I used to be. I think I might have said this before, but being away for a while seems to have hardened me in a way that I don't really like. Maybe I was too expressive before, I don't know, but this is certainly too much the other way. In any case, I did enjoy myself a great deal, even if someone's definition of "footsie" seems to be "stomping on my toes vigorously"!

Comments

[tygrbabe.livejournal.com]

I seem to be much less expressive about my feelings

indeed... still, it was good seeing you today

[morethanreal.livejournal.com]

On the topic of fenders, there's a Caltrain bike car regular who has beautiful wood fenders. Apparently you can order them from a shop in Portland, but I'm not sure if they match my bike or if I need fenders seeing how it doesn't rain a lot here. I'm not sure how wood fenders do in the snow.

Is your bike too fancy to have fender mounts? :)

[pphaneuf.livejournal.com]

Likewise!

[pphaneuf.livejournal.com]

My bike is indeed too fancy to have fender mounts, and due to too little clearance between the tires and fork/frame, even though there are some fenders that do not require mounts, they would have to be partial fenders, which wouldn't help all that much in actual rain. I'm told they would keep the worst away, but it'd still be pretty wet.

Don't you have fenders on your bike already?

I think I'd still want it lightweight enough, and wood might be a bit vintage for my taste. I'm more the "Danish design from the future" kind of person. :-)

While I still generally love it, I found out today that the plastic protection covering on the new parking markers in Montreal are bare millimeters too thick for the Mini! Argh.

The Wiggle

[(Anonymous)]

Come back and cycle it with us sometime!
Kristin, Velo Vogue