Proper attire for cycling?

I realized one day cycling in my fave pairs of Levis jeans and Adidas athletic shoes is still the same joy as cycling with the special shoes attached to the cleats for the clipless pedals, that sky-blue organic wool jersey and the nothing screams "bike-dork" pair of spandex bike shorts!

the rare post and again on cycling

Taking advantage of some lovely weather, oh so conducive to riding I pull out the Bridgestone, my cycling gear including the jersey, shorts, gloves and of course that pair of bike shoes with the cleats you cannot walk in. Packing as well my toolset and patch kit I take a short ride to Ridley Creek Park in Delaware County with the lovely 4-mile biking/walking trail along the creek of the same name.

The ride itself is pretty uneventful until I pull out from the park to break for water and check over the bike. Hmm... the tires could use some air I think and pull out the pump, and reinflate the rear first to the PSI listed on the tire. Works well even with a handpump until I see the tire bulge from the rim. So, deflate tire, reseat and inflate the tire. Okay so far, so good until I work on the first one, a minute later I look back, tire is bulging from the rim again, it looks worse and before I could hit the stem to deflate it goes POP! It's done for, no way to fix it now, and if you noticed in reading the first paragraph the one thing I did not bring with me: my cell phone.
So, instead of whining about it, off go my bike shoes (you really can't walk in road bike shoes with cleats) and start walking back to my house. Think positive, this can be an adventure, yes indeed shivering in bike clothing, walking barefoot on a paved road, getting a perspective of the wealthy Delco suburbs unseen until now. And for good reason, there are few shoulders, much less sidewalks.
Pride gets the better of me as after a half-hour of walking on pavement, discovering that walking on the white lines is a little easier on the feet, I refuse to bother anyone despite the number of houses I pass, and initially hesistant to signal someone for help. Acquiessing when a man in a sedan stops and we load the bike into the car for the last couple miles to go. Thanking the man, even offering money for the favor, he declines the money but still drives me back to the house.

So what is learned from such an experience? never forego riding without a cell phone for starters.

biking stuff...

The other night, 27 de Julio 2009...

Pulling from the basement a 59cm Bridgestone RB2. Built in Japan around 1992, mostly unused since than, a good thing for budget conscious cyclists looking for well made steel framed bikes, vintage not the concern, but rather price when 1000s are not available for the latest and greatest but rather a few hundred for quality and value.
The only change to this Japanese thoroughbred on 2-wheels, a computer and one pair of pedals inspired by ski-binders, LOOK clipless pedals made in France hold the shoes to the pedals allowing the rider to climb hills faster than climbed before. Or go faster than ever before.

To shift gears, maintaining optimal and efficient speeds no matter the roads the rider uses the well crafted Shimano Exage, Excellence Age? groupset, two chain-rings upfront and 7-cogs in back for 14-speeds in all.
Shifts are precise and fast thanks to indexing to keep the rider focused on the road, not fidgeting with friction shifters so picky in how you use them.

In the future I will replace the old down-tube shifters with an example of that most ergonomic and performance oriented of shifting technology for multi-speed bikes, the Shimano Total Integration, or STI, generically known as "brake-shifters". Initially put off by the cost of a whole groupset, plus installation and modification to put on 9-10 speed casettes and state of the art shifters, I found during an eBay search 7-speed shifters of the Shimano RSX variety popped up. They're on the low end, but not the bottom of the barrel for quality. In short, they'll work just fine.

The mere experience of riding, any time, any day, just such a rush, no matter the bike and no matter the place, feelings of happiness whenever I get on one, so long as the parts all work together of course!

During a downhill descent, the Cateye Velo5 computer told me I went 36mph! wow! sure an automobile goes faster, but to do so on a bicycle, through the strength of your own two legs, that makes it all the more satisfying.

No longer a TV-consumer I speaketh

Television is not evil, it is merely a communication medium used to transmit pictures and sound simultaneously, and for some it is mesmerizing to just sit and watch it. It can put people in a dream state satisfying a need to go from our own reality to another so wrote Buhner.

I do not hate television, I choose to watch very little of it, and having lived in a house with no television, much less satellite hookup and video game consoles, to not have another one around is much more satisfying then any premium TV-subscription can offer.
How about my favorite shows? Netflix and other streaming sites satisfy that 'need'.

Here's a post I wrote on my 43things about watching less TV:

I paid attention to the idea I may just be watching TV without much purpose. It's one thing to schedule time for something you love watching, it is another to sit there and flip through channels hoping against hope something good is on. When I noticed I did to much of the latter for comfort, I avoided turning on the TV and found other things to do, like read books, organize get together time with friends, write, ride my bicycle, or other things I loved doing. In short, I would make time for shows I liked to watch, but made much less time for just channel surfing. And in time, once noticing more and more the repetitive patterns TV shows often share. I did not even tune in to watch my favorite shows after awhile, I had seen enough episodes to get the point, and I had outgrown quite a few of the shows I loved as a kid, giving me less incentive to watch.
Never much of a video game player, foregoing TV is certainly easier when you do not play video games much.

I declined having a TV in my bedroom, also chose to spend less time in parts of the house where TVs were usually watched.

Living with others who love TV make the goal a challenge, but it is still worthwhile. You can set an example, only watching favorite shows together, or just not watching at all.

Figure out first off, what are your favorite shows, or any specials you think you will find interesting and make time for them. Just limiting TV time to only your favorite shows will help you watch less TV. Overtime, you might watch those shows less and less especially if they are reruns.

last minute thoughts before missing the bus...

One more semester I endure at the Lancaster state school where Marauders dwell, with a class schedule, one 3-hour literature class a week, allowing the freedom to work an actual job, allegedly, and engage in more creative pursuits.

Originally taking two classes, dropping one when moments of stress created dire visions that foreshadowed the rest of the semester, and all I could think, "T-S (not Eliot) I'm not engaging with stress, I'm done with it." A higher level sociology class I no longer needed when my real passion guided me through the rest of my degree plan, and that is the simple art of writing, long my strength, my art, and my aspiration to be a vehicle I can use to make my mark, no pun intended, on the world.

Ever questioning the desire to continue on with my degree plan, my education will go on despite how I engage myself with institutes of higher learning.

Nostalgia Critic

Once upon a time, not so long ago, you had to be a well known and good looking personality to have your own show, or segment of a show that showed your own critique of something. Those days are over, thanks to inexpensive video camera, some editing software, and a domain space with a lot of bandwidth. But you still need one thing: talent. And while criticism of recent publications, productions etc. still goes strong, how about critique of old movies and shows from the days of kiddom? Welcome to, http://www.thatguywiththeglasses.com, one popular segment of his website, especially if the culture of the '90s is a fond memory for you, is his section, The Nostalgia Critic, where some guy called Doug offers his critique on older movies, TV-shows and even commercials.
Using methods of criticism no professional critic could ever use such as dropping the smart weapon version of f-bombs and yelling incessantly about this or that.
Offering no loyalty to any particular network or enterprise, he trashes, or commends them all at some point. Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. Works for me! I had mercifully forgotten how bad some of these shows really were, after I stopped watching most of them 10-years ago or so.

what's not wrong with coal?

Papers and papers show why using coal is unsustainable. Worse than nuclear power, natural gas even petroleum, the mining and burning of coal is an environmental disaster blah, blah, it's evil, the rock of the devil, blah blah.
Such points are one thing in a paper, they are something else in reality. Let's look at the recent environmental disaster courtesy of that enemy of the human race in Tennessee, where over 50-million tons of coal fly ash spilled into Tennessean waterways, creating an ecological nightmare for not just the flora and fauna of this area, but also the people that live here. For many years, their water will still be contaminated, their land values will decline, and life will never be the same.

How could this happen? Coal plants are put aside waterways to use water to create steam, spin turbines etc. And at each of these coal plants, huge ash piles from burning this evil substance are created. The one in Tennessee is 40-acres in size. Now, we all should ask, what is being done to keep this from happening else where? I live in Pennsylvania, coal has been part of the state's economy since the 18th century. There are several mines and thus many coal fired power plants, with their accompanying coal slurry ponds. Only when the world stops burning coal, as in not burning it any way shape or form, will these slurry ponds no longer be an environmental threat. That day cannot come soon enough.

In time, sooner rather than later, using coal must stop, it is unsustainable, not just because it is a foul, evil substance that asks so much more of us, our health, our livelihoods, our environment, than it gives us, "cheap" electricity, material for cinder blocks, and some industrial by products, one day we will run out. Yes, run out. And oh yes it might be over 100-years from now, well 100-years from now people will still want electricity, but they will still need clean air, soil and water. New technology to make "clean coal" is not the key, it is a PR-ploy by the coal industry well supported by their lobbyists on K-street.

Here's hoping under the new atmosphere of change in the U.S. and abroad, no longer will we burn coal. The cleanest coal is that which remains in the Earth, where it belongs, buried and dead like the dinosaurs and ancient plant matter it was created from.

This is not a treehugger, or lefty issue, this is a global issue affecting everyone. No matter the color of your skin, language you speak, the religious symbols you worship (or do not) or you call yourself liberal, conservative, fascist or socialist, every human needs clean air, soil, and water. The three things the burning coal is a threat of, thus a threat to humanity.

For more:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/tennessee-coal-ash-slurry-spill-48-times-bigger-than-exxon-valdez-spill.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/aftermath-tva-coal-ash-spill-get-ticket-for-water-samples-video.php

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/releases2/greenpeace-calls-for-criminal