Saturday, April 28, 2012

Fun Charity Ride!

Blackie here with an update about the End Hunger charity ride I was talking about in my Last Post.  It was chilly (upper 40's to low 50's all day), cloudy, and rained/sleeted on us in the last few miles- there's a story there, but we'll tell it in good time...
Here was the route we took:


It was scheduled to be a Metric Century (100km or 64-ish miles), but our riding buddy, Bob, missed a turn and Buttercup had to go find him.  So it turned out to be more of a 71 mile ride.  Good Grief.  *Sigh*

But it was a good ride- as I've been documenting here, Buttercup has been working on his leg strength a lot so far this season and this was another good opportunity for a workout!  On all the hills, I stayed in the Big Ring so he had to get his rear out of the saddle and work for it.  I don't think I quite had his legs feeling like jelly, but I watched from the rack as he was walking to the truck after the picnic and he was looking a little tired.  So I think it was success!

Here's a picture of me and Bob's Bianchi at one of the rest stops...

Taking a Break
And, the getting lost story: We were on a part of the course with some pretty big rolling hills- so I had BC out of the saddle since I was Big Ring-ing him.  That had us going a little faster pace up the hills so we were ahead when we topped one hill where there was a turn.  And Bob wasn't far behind, but we stopped to take a picture or two shortly after the turn and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  We went back to the turn and waited a while longer.  Then Bob called and said he missed the turn.  So we went and met him part way as he was making his way back to the course.  No big deal- but a fun opportunity to pick on him.  "I hear Deale is nice this time of year..." *snicker*.

Speaking of pictures!  Here are those two shots BC took!

The Road Ahead- into the woods!

Just a nice farm/tree shot :o)
Anyway- to finish the "lost" story- so we're now a little later in the day than we were planning on, right?  Two friggin' miles from the finish?  It finally rains.  Wait, no that's sleet.  No, no... that's HAIL.  Are you serious?  Really?  Oh well, it only lasted for a bit.
Then the nice volunteer police man stopped traffic so we could cross back to the starting point, I got racked and they went to the picnic.  Then home.
Since it was supposed to rain today, BC didn't bother to do my tear down maintenance work (of course then it didn't rain other than for those couple of minutes...), so watch for that coming up this week!
But a good ride, a good cause, and a good time.  Sweet.

Oh- and here's a picture that one of the nice photographers took of me and BC on the course.  Good thing I'm so darned good looking!


Friday, April 27, 2012

Friday Fuel Injection 4/27/2012- Charity Rides

Happy Friday!  It's me, Blackie Bike, here with this week's Friday Fuel Injection.
Buttercup and I are going to have a wet and chilly ride tomorrow in the End Hunger Calvert County charity bike ride.  We're doing the metric century (100km- 64miles) route.  This is always a great ride that is VERY well run and a lot of fun.
So let's take just a minute to focus on charity rides!

Fundraising!!
These rides help to provide more information and visibility to whatever cause they are supporting.  Hunger, Diabetes, a local shelter, animals, blindness, Veterans, and the list goes on.  Heck, there's even one put on every year in Boston from the Brain Tumor Association that we're going to go up and do some year!  But here's the deal- for a lot of them, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS RIDE.  There might be a small registration fee.  Some of them have fundraising goals- those run the gambit from $100-over $1000.  Just pick one that suits you.
Do you know somebody with a disease that has a prominent charity ride?  Dad has Diabetes?  A friend or co-worker has MS?  MD?  TB?  AIDS? Cancer?  Some guy who rides a bike who has a blog has/had a brain tumor?  Go ride.  Get them on board for support- maybe your co-worker will help you fund raise?  Maybe they'll come out and ring a cowbell for you?  Cheer?  Hold up embarrassing signs?  SWEET!
And use your social media connections for fundraising.  You'd be amazed at how much closer you can be to your goal with just a little ask.  Maybe your company will help out by letting everyone know?  Or matching donations?

All good stuff.  So we'll be out there in the rain and cold tomorrow morning (BC will be bundled up and I'll have those damn fenders on) out to help the members of our community who just need a little extra help!

So sign up for a charity ride for something that will provide some more incentive for you to GO RIDE YOUR BIKE!!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Full Maintenance and More Commuting Discussion

Hi Again!  It's me, Blackie Bike, here.  Boy do I have a lot to talk about today- so let's get right to it.
First thing- a quick update on our last post and that nasty cut I had on my back tire.  Buttercup used the SuperGlue trick on the cut and it healed right up!  The extra glue on the surface will wear off with time- no biggie.


If you aren't familiar with the process, here's what he did:

  • Do a quick wipe down of the tire with a damp rag and inspect it- that way you're sure you've found all the cuts.  Clean any debris out of the tire.
  • Over inflate the tire by about 5-8 lbs.  This will spread the cut or hole opening up a little bit extra.
  • Clean with a little rubbing alcohol.  This gets any grease cleaned out- it also will displace any water that's left and it will dry quicker.  Wait until cuts are dry.
  • Squirt just enough SuperGlue into the cut to coat the whole thing well.
  • Deflate the tire completely- no need to clean off excess glue (and risk gluing your fingers together) since it will wear off when you ride!  Leave at least overnight to set up is best.
That's it!  Done.  The excess glue will wear off in time and it will probably be just fine.  If it opens back up, it might just be too bad to fix- but as expensive as tires are, you might as well try.  Right?

I'm doing a charity ride this weekend with Buttercup.  It's a super fun one and it's for a good cause: The Ride to End Hunger in Calvert County.  It's always really well organized and fun and helps out the community!  BC is even giving up going sailboat racing for this one.  Good thing- us bikes hate having to compete for his time with those dumb boats.

To get me ready for the ride and a lot of training for May and June, Buttercup is going to give me a complete overhaul over the next day or two.  I'll make sure he takes pictures- you can see me in pieces!  I saw a new set of handlebars come in the mail, so I think I may be trying them out for him.  Updates a-plenty!  But you might be hearing from Blue Bike if I'm in too many pieces to type... 

Next discussion: Bike Commuting.  Since it's still that whole Earth Day thing, and gas prices are still crazy, and May is going to be some sort of "Bike to Wherever" month- let's keep up the discussion about bike commuting!

First, the trailer that Buttercup ordered (shown in This Post) arrived yesterday from www.mayacycle.com.  The ordering process was ok, their status updates on the order were bad, but it arrived in a timely fashion.  So overall- an ok purchase so far.  I'm sure BC will have pictures and we can talk about it more once it's up and running... But hopefully it will have him riding all of us more, and using the car less!

And then, what a Cool Article from the U.K. about a guy with a coffee shop who is also providing bicycle parking for commuters!  What a cool idea for peeps who don't have a parking option at work-- and they can get a cup of Joe!  

Last thing- a while back I had posted the front of that really bright and loud jersey that BC had worn one day...  here it is again:


And I had mentioned that it got even gaudier on the back of it, right?

Check this out *snicker*:


One thing is sure- nobody is going to miss us in THAT!!

All right- I'll talk at you later!  Until then, Get on your Bikes and RIDE!!!!

Monday, April 23, 2012

New Training Route!

Hey!  Blackie Bike here!  So Buttercup and I took advantage of the nice weather on Saturday and went and did some more exploring on some roads up a little further north than we usually ride.  Perfect!


If you add that to some of the stuff we were exploring last week, we've got training rides a-plenty as we continue to get ready for the Total200 ride.  I felt kinda sorry for Buttercup on Saturday, though.  I got the impression his legs were feeling pretty tired afterwards- but that's perfect, right?  He needs those bad boys to be doing some hurtin' so he's strong enough to get me to the finish line!  Can't wear that jersey you ordered if we don't friggin' finish!  C'mon you pansy, push it!

Oh- and we ordered that trailer we showed in the picture last week in the post about being Greener (is that the right word? Greener? oh well...) but it seems like the company is one of those that is a little on the slow side about shipping stuff.  *Sigh*
BC and Ingolstadt went to the grocery store last week- and the poor old guy woke up with a flat yesterday.  First one of those he's had since last year when Buttercup got him the T-Serve Protex tires.  That's on the maintenance schedule for this week.  I think BC's going to get him those SLIME tubes like he got for Blu Bike...  Oh, and I got a nasty cut on my back tire we've been using for training.  He set a new tube of SuperGlue on my saddle yesterday- so I'm guessing he's going to see if it will patch up and last a while longer.  You can see it just above the "Kenda" there where it's got some threads showing...

Nice thing about being shod with a durable tire is that they hold up well, not exactly a "supple" road feel- but far better than stopping to fix a flat!

It's hard to tell if the weather is going to clear up today- if so, maybe Blu Bike and BC will go out for a ride. I prefer not to take my pretty little self out when it's all wet and icky...

Friday, April 20, 2012

Friday Fuel Injection

Hi Again!  Blackie Bike here with a new weekly column designed to get you revved up for the weekend!  Blu Bike and Ingolstadt and I figure if we can offer a little bit of inspiration each week, you'll ride your bike more!  Then we'll all be happy.  Right?

Who's ready for the first one?  Me me me me me!

Friday Fuel Injection 4/20/2012:  Today I'm going to tell you about a cool place that needs your help.  They help both people and us bikes to try to make the world a better place.  Remember when we talked about finding Passion?  Well these guys have it!  We have no affiliation with them (I'm thinking they won't mind these 3 bikes promoting their cause), but how friggin' cool is the Bicycle Kitchen?
I say pretty cool!  Buttercup is going to be in L.A. for a short trip soon, so he's going to try to get time to stop by and visit them.

Their Mission?
Our mission is to promote the bicycle as a fun, safe, and accessible form of transportation, to foster healthy urban communities, and to provide a welcoming space to learn about building maintaining, and riding bicycles.


They are currently raising funds to purchase a better space where they can better help their community members.  Can you help?  I think we can all spare a few bucks for these guys, right?  Maybe G+, FB, and Tweet their website?




Awesome.  Nice work, Bicycle Kitchen.  You guys rock!

Now...  Let the cool work this group does inspire you to get some good miles this weekend!!!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Making it easier to be Green

Hi.  It's the Green Monster here- a.k.a. Ingolstadt.  In recognition of the upcoming Earth Day, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to talk about being Green... Classic Scwhinn 70's Campus Green is the best shade, of course- but whatever.  What did you say, whippersnapper?  I need to what?  Fine.  That young punk of a Blu Bike says I need to introduce myself.  Ok then.


I was born in the Schwinn Factory in Chicago, IL in December of 1973- mind you that was the same year that Buttercup was born, though he wasn't born in Chicago.  I'm Campus Green, and originally had 5 speeds and weighed 42lbs.  I was given to Buttercup by his Father last year when my sibling Metro Cycle made me an extra bike sitting around his garage.  Buttercup "upgraded" me with a new Shimano Nexus 7 speed internal hub group, 700c wheels, a modern riser bar, and campus pedals.  I lost 8 lbs in the process.  Since that photo I've also gotten a rack, panniers, a modern 1 1/8th stem, and a new saddle.

But enough about me.  I want to talk about some things we're working on to help save money and be more healthy and environmentally friendly.  I figure that every mile the Pudgemaster rides on one of us, that's a penny or two savings in the overall health care system, right?  And it's saving him $0.20/mile in gas.  Given where we live, that's pretty much a bare minimum of $5.00 per trip.  Hell, that doesn't take long to add up, does it?

Things we already have to make it easier?

  • The racks, trunk, and panniers.  I wear a traditional bolted on aluminum rack and panniers.  Blu Bike wears a quick release clamp-on rack when needed.  He has a daypack size pannier set.  We share the trunk bag for the racks.  It's a handy bugger.  Blackie considers himself too fragile with all that carbon for any kind of rack- so it's a rucksack if he needs to take anything anywhere.
  • Lights.  We share 2 Niterider Phazer Max super bright LED headlights, and two different superbright LED red tail flashers (one Blackburn Mars, and one Sette).
  • Fenders.  I came with nice fenders from the factory.  The other boys are sharing a set of clamp on  fenders.
  • And BC just ordered us a dynamo generator.  Boy, have those come a LONG way since I was young.  I originally had a bottle generator that powered incandescent headlight & tail light.  They now make front hub generators that seem like a good idea.  But the one BC just ordered is a chain powered model with a battery and USB connection.  We'll let you know how it works when it gets here.  Check it out:

Things we're looking at adding in the near future?
  • a trailer.  there are all kinds of bicycle trailer models out there from home-built rattletraps to $600 models with electric motors (pretty cool).  We've found one we think we can all use with ease and will be very useful.  It's a single wheel model, it's lightweight, it has a bag that goes with it, and it has a kickstand to help hold it and us steady when it is being loaded or unloaded.  The $250 it costs will take 1250 miles to have it pay for itself, but we're not sure that's really the point- is it?  It's not all just about $$$- some of it is about taking steps to do the right thing.  Here's a photo:

  • another thing we're thinking about is LED flashing gloves from Brite-Strike to offer just one more safety advantage to riding at night.  It's a cool idea- since how is anyone going to know you are signalling in the dark?

So get out there and ride your bike to work, or the store, or the gym, or wherever.  Save yourself some money, be more healthy, make your bike happy, and have fun!!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Summer weather Sunday 60 Miler

It's Blu Bike here again!  Boy, we've been talking to each other a lot lately, huh?  Well, not really.  None of you bother to comment, which is ok if you don't feel like it- but feel free.  So anyway, I've been talking to you a lot lately, huh?
Today's topic is Sunday's ride that I got to do- that's like 3 rides in a row for me!  Yayyy!
Buttercup got a message from one of his riding buddies to see if we wanted to grab 40 miles as one of their training rides for cool event coming up at the end of this month.  She's doing the Face Of America Ride from Washington DC to Gettysburg, PA.  Good Luck to all the participants!
So Buttercup and I headed down to meet her, then we did a nice 43 mile ride together.  That had a total of 60 miles for us- just about perfect at this point in our training for the 200.  His legs felt like they were slowing down by the end, so I think that many miles in my 1 gear was a good leg strength workout!
Here's a picture of the ride route:


The weather was just amazing- so nice to not be freezing my aluminum bits off anymore.  And no mechanical issues.
Here are a couple of cool shots from the Contour along the way...

Both today are from the "Victory Lap" that we all do anytime we ride with an endpoint on Solomons Island. Here is a great shot looking out onto the river and the Chesapeake Bay...


And you can always tell it's spring in Solomons- when the biker crowd makes their return...


And our cheering for the Capitals paid off!  They won in overtime!  So we're going to try again, ok??

Goat says, "Let's Go Caps!!"
And the weather is supposed to continue to be nice this week- so we'll see you out on the road!


Saturday, April 14, 2012

Fun Friday Ride

Blu Bike here.  Seems we liked that last post, huh?  Some time when Buttercup isn't looking, I'll find the piece of paper he was using to curse out the nurses when they tied him to the bed and post it.  It's pretty funny.  Unless you were his wife trying to hide it from the nurses...
Anyway.
Nothing quite so dramatic or inspiring today.  Just a quick report about a fun ride on Friday.
It was a nice, cool day out.  Buttercup got a call from one of his riding buddies to see if he wanted to take advantage of the nice weather.  Sure.  And he picked this Blu Bike, thank you very much.
We got in a fun 47 miles with a few miles of "where the hell are we" thrown in just for fun.  Luckily, Buttercup usually takes his phone these days and uses the "My Tracks" free app to record the ride.  And it has a nice map function.  Yayyy, we're going the right direction!  Here's an image of the route...


Here is a cool shot of a nice scenic bit of road.  And a great little hill ahead.  Love those with the 42/16 he's got on me these days.


There was discussion of him abandoning us all today to go work on the boat again.  But I think I've got him convinced to let Mrs. BC drive the truck down and let him ride (hopefully ME!) down and back.  That way we can grab another 35 or so today.  The trip down seems like it may be a bit "headwindy".  But it should make for a nice downwind cruise on the way home.

Oh, and did I mention:
and:


Gotta be said...

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Finding Passion

Hey all- Blu bike here.  I'm guessing most of you bikes and riders out there sometimes struggle to find the passion.  You read the magazines, or pine for scenic roads, or order all kinds of go-fasters... But where's the passion?  The sunrise 'til sunset rides?  The rides when it's colder or hotter than hell?  Or riding the mountain roads on the volcanic island?  The daily commute?  The stuff your spouse complains about?


I'm going to try to put you in Buttercup's story.  Maybe it will help you understand why he thinks the passionate stuff is fun?


Imagine: The hearing in your left ear is getting bad, and there's this weird pressure that you can't fix in your ear.  Kind of like if you were on an airplane and just couldn't get your ear to pop?  All the time.  You go to your doctor.  She's convinced it's allergies and puts you on all sorts of allergy meds.  Doesn't fix it.  You chase it around for a year before you finally get to the right doctor.
He sends you for an MRI.  And guess what?  You have a brain tumor.  Well, shit.  No wonder the allergy meds didn't work.  He shows you your MRI scan results with kind of a "well THERE'S your problem" feel to them.  That big white blob pushing on your cerebellum?  Yeah, that would be bad.  





It turns out to be a non-cancerous type of tumor called an Acoustic Neuroma.
People tell you how lucky you are that it isn't cancer.  Fuck them.
So the surgeon explains what they will do... "we'll start by cutting off your ear" THUNK!  You pass out.
But they get you scheduled for surgery.  You treat it all with a very light attitude, until they are about to wheel you into surgery a couple of weeks later- then they have to sedate you.  
You have 14 hrs worth of brain surgery.
You wake up the next day: blind, you can't breath right, you panic.  You can't talk because of the breathing tube they have still shoved down your throat and you realize you can't see because of the bandages.  Now you're pissed (it's mostly a reaction to the anesthesia).  They bind your arms to the bed.  Oh yeah, that makes things SO much better.  You end up having to fingerspell and blindly scribble your feelings.  Learning to curse in sign language fingerspell is a great skill to have, by the way.  You discover later it was your wife that was trying to keep you calm...  You barf all over the ICU nurses for a couple of days.  More fun.
You spend a week in the hospital.  Then you go home.  The recovery you thought would take a week or so?  How about a couple of months... and still not quite right.  Dizzy, nauseous (barfing all over), and you end up back in the Emergency room with a spinal fluid infection (meningitis).  Your birthday gift this year?  A spinal tap.  And?  A tube they shove in a vein in your arm that goes all the way to your heart.  Blech.
"Temporary" facial paralysis?  You discover that "temporary" means 6 months of the left side of your face looking like a stroke victim.  When it finally starts to move, your physical therapy consists of electrical shocks and painful exercises.  About 70% of the movement comes back.  You're thankful you can blink.
Everywhere you go, people stare.  Nice.  Thanks.  That makes you feel so much better.
Oh- By the way?  You're completely deaf in your left ear (though they did sew it back on).  Fun.
Your friends and family are very supportive, your wife is awesome.  She buys you a new bike (that's me!).


Here's where you find passion.  Don't feel sorry for yourself.  Don't immerse yourself in chocolate and Oprah.  Your bike doesn't care what your face looks like.  All that anger and frustration you feel?  Put it in the pavement.  Every hill that sucks the breath out of you?  Remember that hospital bed.  Ass & legs hurt?  Remember the nice smile you'll never get back.  Keep pedaling.  Keep pushing.  Sign up for a century ride- you're friends come out in droves to do it with you.  Cool.  Sign up for a Double century.  People tell you you're nuts.  Whatever.  You're bike still doesn't care what your face looks like.  And now, almost 3 years later?  Your face is still fucked up.  You keep pushing.  There are more miles out there... more hills to climb.


What can you find in your life to help you find that passion?  To keep pushing?

  • Lose weight so you look & feel better?  Are more healthy?
  • Religion?  Faith?  Spirituality?  
  • Friend or family member suffering?  Cancer?  Alzheimer's?  Some brain tumor nobody's ever heard of?
  • Babies in need?  Animals in need?  The environment?
Find it.  Embrace it.  Bring it.  

What gives you that passion?

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Deer! on a nice ride.

It's me, Blackie, again!  Buttercup and I went for a fun ride on Monday.  48 miles with a lot of Big Ring Riding where we could in the wind and on shallow hills, and some good climbs part way through.  All with the wind blowing 15-20 with gusts to 25mph.  Making for a great leg strength workout.


It was a good route, too- lots of options of shorter or longer.  I'm guessing I'll be seeing a lot of these roads over the next couple of months.  Speaking of seeing the road--
I wasn't wearing the Contour (tough to mount with the wing style bars) so he was resorting to just taking a picture with his phone of some of the rolling hills we were working on.


I was pissed I didn't have the Contour running, though- we almost hit a deer!  We were hot footing it down a hill close to home at a little over 30mph when we heard a rustle and 3 deer jumped out in front of us.  Luckily: Einstein was paying attention and eased on the binders (I've been telling the cheap prick I need new pads...), the third deer we were most likely to hit scrambled across the road a little faster, and we managed a nice swerve to avoid.  Nice!
So far this year now we've had a family of goats and now a family of deer jump out in front of us... I can only imagine what the rest of the year will bring.

Here was the colorblind jersey sported for the ride... can't really miss us with this one either- huh?

the back is even worse- there's pink mixed in!
Good news?  Buttercup continues to lose weight slowly but surely.  His first digit on the scale is a "1" now!  Seriously good news for my aching back wheel and seatpost!

Oh, and one of our favorite rides is scheduled for a day we can actually go-- I was worried we were going to miss it due to a schedule conflict.  It was raining for the ride last year, but it was still a LOT of fun.  And the ride is only $25, and benefits the local community center which features a great program for low income senior citizens.  Win/Win/Win and... Win!



Lastly, the maintenance schedule for the next day or two includes poor Blu getting that brake lever fixed, I think Monster might finally get that new rear sprocket, and I'm due for getting those deraileur cogs cleaned.

L8!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

You're going WHERE???

Not happy bikes.  All 3 of us are ready to go  It's going to be a beautiful, sunny day.  And Buttercup is leaving us all at home to go work on that stupid boat.  Seriously?  When was the last time any of us got a nice wax job?  Or had our propeller painted?  Wait.  Nevermind about the propeller...

Maybe I can convince him to take me out for an hour or something before they leave.  Wax the boat... sheesh.


And here's today's Article for your enjoyment.  Bikes are happy to help with any anti-obesity campaign!  I know we're all glad that Buttercup is slowly but surely getting some of those extra pounds off... my back wheel was starting to get sore!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Fridays Ride and Stuff

Hi Again!  Guess who got chosen for Friday's ride?  THIS BIKE!  It's me, Blackie (the carbon bike), and Buttercup and I had a nice ride yesterday.  Even though he looked like an effeminate road construction worker in his black tights and longsleeve top with this jersey over top of it:


Good Lord, that's bright!!

A nice reader suggested chatting about all the dumb fixes that get done to us- and yep, we've got a plan for a regular "maintenance" *cough, cough* section.  Friday's Maintenance?  Well, he finally got those rags off my wheels.  They were nice tires, but they were pretty well worn out.  So what did he put on me?  Cheap Kenda's!  Really?  I'm sure Kenda makes some nice tires, but these bad boys ain't it.  But they are durable- and I think the goal was to spend more time riding and less time fixing flats so I'm ok with it, I guess.  But I can't wait to break out the new Pro Race 3's that I saw arrive in the mail last week!
Then he had done a real nice job cleaning and lubing my chain.  Though we must have missed that part in the process about cleaning the rear deraileur cogs... 'twas a bit noisy for the first couple of miles.  But that went away and we had a great (and silent) time after that.
Where did we go?  We just had a nice 37 miler out and around the area.  We took some of the back roads, which I LOVE.  I don't mind riding on the highway since it's a bike route and we're safe on the wide shoulder, but I love to get out on the country roads and cruise.
Here's a picture of our map:


And one last thing.  Check out this Article on how bike commuting is playing a role in saving people in Detroit $$, carbon pollution emissions, and time in conjunction with car and van pooling.  Cool stuff.  I'll have to get the grumpy green Monster to read it.  Him and those fancy panniers of his...

You're still here?  Good.  I can complain then about us not getting used.  So Buttercup had to go to sailing practice last night, right?  Does he take any of us?  Nope.  Now, he did only drive a few miles to meet up with Mrs. Buttercup and they carpooled, but why not take us?  Cold?  Bah.  Dark?  Hmph.  A jedi fears not these things... Maybe it will get better once it warms up some more.  I hope so!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

A Wednesday Ride!

Blu here.  And Buttercup picked ME to go for a ride today.  Wearing his favorite beer jersey, of course...


  
We had a nice 30 miler.  Nothing too exciting, but being a Single Speed, I can give him a little challenge on hills.  He'll need that for all the riding he wants to do this summer.  Poor bastard is training for a Double Century.  Good on him... I won't be there- we'll send Blackie for that.


He even took a nice picture of me out in front of the Chesapeake Bay.  Wasn't that sweet?



And I was wearing my Contour camera, so I got this idyllic pic for him.  It's a quaint little downtown that we ride through...


Fun ride on a nice sunny day.  I hope he picks me again tomorrow...

Later,
Blu

Hello, I'm a Bike


You all remember that old trucking song called "Hello, I'm a Truck", right?  Well.  I'm a bike.  My rider was writing some boring ass blog whining about how he was overweight and blah, blah, blah... How do you think I feel??  That fat-ass sitting on my mile after mile.  One flat after another.  Maybe we should lay off the peanut-butter cups there, Buttercup...
There are 3 of us that he rides.  I guess maybe Blu (the Single Speed conversion) will chip in here at some point and I'm sure Monster (the 1973 Schwinn Suburban resto-mod) will let his thoughts be known- the poor old guy.
I wonder if I can get that sorry slob to get out on the road today since it is BEAUTIFUL out.  Let's hope.

Anyway.  This is my story.

I figure ol' Buttercup will probably work on me in a bit.  It's about time- my chain is all dried out and I need some replacements for these worn out old tires.  Maybe then he'll hop in the shower and sausage his royal fatness into spandex and we can get some damn miles in.

I'll let you know.
B.