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May Miles: 501
Percentage of Monthly Goal: 300%
2009 Miles: 1,309
Percentage of 2009 Goal: 65%

May was, far and away, the biggest cycling month I’ve had. The stars really did align in terms of great weather, not too many “business casual” days at work, getting the bike situation straightened out, and a couple of opportunities for longer weekend rides. I also did my first metric century (100km) in May, and it wasn’t that bad at all. Stephanie and I are talking about doing a 100 mile ride in September and are doing 90 miles for the Livestrong ride in October, so that’s something to work towards.

This was my first full month on the Surly. It really is a great bike. Riding it feels like driving a giant Caddy with big comfy bench seats, but still a good suspension and a reasonable-enough gear box. I was a little worried about moving up to 700×37 tires as opposed to the 700×25’s I’ve been riding for the last year, but if anything that seem to roll better than what I’m use to. I am also slightly ashamed to admit that I quite like the indexed shifting for the rear derailler. Sure, it lacks the flexibility of friction shifting, but man is it a lot easier. (I’m not changing out the silvers on the Bstone, though.) Perhaps most importantly, I bought the biggest frame that would plausibly fit me. This, more than anything, is likely why it feels quite so nice to ride. I recommend buying big to everybody. Anyway, I’m quite happy with it. If you’re looking for a commuter bike or an around-town bike or a touring bike (which is what it’s built for), you’ll be hard-pressed to do a lot better than a Surly Long Haul Trucker.

If it’s like every other June, next month should be pretty ideal for riding as well. Fletcher’s scout troop has a couple of rides planned for the month, and Stephanie and I really want to find time to ride out to Claremont for lunch at the Back Abbey. Should be another great month!

Today is Bike To Work Day. There are bike “pit stops” all over LA, all doing different things. My goal this morning was to check out the three Pasadena stops.

I rolled in to the REI-sponsored stop at the Allen gold line station at about 8:30. They said that they had talked to a lot of riders today.

Gift bags and free mechanical checkups were the order of the day. Also picture taking, it seems. I declined the checkup, but gladly accepted the gift bag.

Quite excited about the REI coupon — new helmet? wheel truing stand? — and the water bottle/patch kit/sun screen. We get out to Claremont often enough that I’ll definitely be able to use the Jax coupon. Those Clif bars look yummy as well. I’m not at all sure what to make of the TMZ-branded combination pen/bottle opener.

The Pasadena city hall pit stop looked pretty mellow from the street.

Inside, though, it was much more of a scene.

They seemed much more geared towards letting city and other very local employees know about alternative transit options. Metro and Fuller had tables set up. I think Pasadena Cyclery was holding a drawing for some sort of Gary Fisher city bike. I really wanted to hit the South Lake pit stop before it closed, though, so I grabbed the nice shopping bag they were offering and was on my way.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the South Lake stop. I rode up and down the street from Colorado to just south of California and back. Nothing. I guess it was getting on towards the end of the time they were to be there. Perhaps they packed up early?

Most disappointingly, this is what I saw when I got in today:

Oh well. I guess we won’t be getting those new bike racks after all. (We were running out of room pretty regularly last summer, and “there isn’t enough space” is a much more compelling argument than “these are crappy stands and they scratch up my down tube so I don’t want to use them.”)

Either way, though, a fun ride this morning. There were definitely more bike commuters than usual out on the road today, and it’s nice to see the city and local businesses help out cyclists. (Even if it is just marketing.)

April Miles: 167
Percentage of Monthly Goal: 100%
2009 Miles: 808
Percentage of 2009 Goal: 40%

April was a rough month, riding-wise. My commuter finally bit the dust, and I was without a bike for the better part of two weeks. After that we were out of town for spring break — we had a lovely trip to Monterey — during which I picked up an ugly head cold that kept me off the bike for another week. Good times.

Either way, and despite missing the troop ride, I was able to make it to within 1/10^th of a mile of my monthly goal. Which is pretty spooky if you think about it.

I’m set to get back on track in May. I finished the Bridgestone, and Stephanie bought me a new commuter bike. (More on that later on this week.) So even if I completely destroy one in the name of “fixing” it, I’ll still be able to ride to work.

My other big cycling acquisiting for April is a Road ID, also courtesy of my loving wife.

The general idea is that if I get hit by a bus and can’t account for myself, the EMT’s or whoever have a few people they can call to figure out who I am. Given that one of Stephanie’s riding buddies was in an accident and was only identifiable because of his Road ID — his bike was crushed under a bus and the EMT’s cut his jersey away (he came through everything just fine and is back on his bike again!) — it seems like a more than fine idea. (P.S.: Carter: if I get hit by a bus and they can’t get a hold of Stephanie, expect a call.)

The Pashley brand is new to me. I think I saw it first on ecovelo. Some of their bikes — especially those in the “classic bicycles” range — are gorgeous.

When I looked in to how much they cost, I was shocked to see a huge difference between the UK prices and the US prices. The Guv’nor, for example: GBP795 (USD1167) in jolly old, and USD1795 here in the states through Gold Country Cyclery. (And nobody else seems to carry them.) That’s more than a 50% markup. I can’t imagine that shipping cost makes up all of that. Maybe there are onerous import duties on British bicycles? Who knows.

Either way: amazing looking bikes.

Auspiciously timed, I finished building up the old Bridgestone that I’ve been working on since November last night. Calling it by its decals, I give you Resurrectio:

Here’s the original, for compare/contract purposes:

A quick note regarding the name: Riv sells decal sets for old bikes made new. There’s lots of resurrection and phoenix motifs in them. Here’s a closeup:

And the seat tube decal:

I quite like them.

For the final push of getting it from assembled to “no really: ready to ride”, I had some help from Ken down at Stan’s Monrovia Bicycles with the bar tape. I wasn’t sure how to wrap the end of the bars such that the shifters would still fit in (turns out that you just don’t tuck the tape in to the bars), was impatient, and knew that Ken help me put a bullet in the project.

The blue tape is, I think, an extra-nice touch. Thanks, Ken!

The other thing I’m rather happy about is finally getting to use the saddle that Stephanie gave me for our anniversary last year.

Overall, I’m just really, really happy with the way the bike turned out, and I’ll probably do another sooner or later. (Definitely not until I get the garage cleaned out and tools organized such that I can avoid taking over the entire garage. No really: cars go there. It’s true.)

Building up a bike from parts — especially an old bike — was a really educational experience. I got to learn all about the difference between 27-inch and 700c wheels, and between recessed brake caliper mountings v. nutted mountings, and which parts screw in left-handed, which parts really, really need grease before you install them. Etc. It was a lot of fun, but I think I’d do a few things differently next time. (In particular, I’d not paint it until I was 100% sure that all the components fit. Trying to MacGyver in brakes on a freshly-painted frame is more angsty than I’m down for.)

I was able to take it for a short ride this afternoon. You know, shake down the components, make sure it’s adjusted correctly, etc. The seat is angled a little far forward, and I’m going to have to make a new shim (the first one is too thin) for the seat post. Also, I really don’t need a 52t chainring. I’ll never use it. So probably I’ll swap it out for the 42t “small” chain ring and put a 34t or something on as well. (I know that I forfeit any roadie kred by doing this. Oh well. I can still hang out with the touring crowd.)

Without question I would be remiss if I did not thank the people who helped me out with this project:

• New Belgium, for the best seat-post shim stock on earth
• Rivendell Bicycle Works, for a gang of parts and inspiration
• Sheldon Brown, for an endless stream of maintenance and repair tips
• Stan’s, for more parts, advice and making Monrovia a cool town to ride in
• My parents and in-laws for helping me avoid tragic technical errors along the way
• Fletcher, for being a shop hand without comparison
• Stephanie, for limitless inspiration, creative consultation, support and that just-right amount of ass kicking to get me to finish the damn thing. I love you!

Day VI!

Top Six Gender-Appropriate Outfits I Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead Wearing In Public (pics required)

Ok, this one I think I could do. First off, I can’t see myself wearing a dashiki.

I don’t know. Just not my thing. For similar reasons, the Canadian tuxedo doesn’t really work for me, either.

Sorry, Jay.

Since I’m not European, I’ll say that the speedo is right out as well.

I’m beginning to think that the Euro Speedo Dude is a myth, as they only Euro Dude beach frolicking stories I’ve every heard involved beachgoing au natural, which in its own way is better than the speedo. More honest, at least.

I can never remember the Safe Word, so the Gimp look is out.

Perhaps the most regrettable look ever — that I would not for a moment consider rocking, unless it was really, really funny, in which case maybe — is the frat-boy multiple collars, some popped, some not look.

What on earth are those guys thinking?

Finally, I’ll call upon the good doctor to let me know what not to wear:

“I’d like to get hold of some priests’ robes,” I said. “They might come in handy in Las Vegas.”

But there were no costume stores open, and we weren’t up to burglarizing a church. “Why bother?” said my attorney. “And you have to remember that a lot of cops are good vicious Catholics. Can you imagine what those bastards would do to us if we got busted all drugged-up and drunk in stolen vestments? Jesus, they’d castrate us!”

So I’ll not be dressing as the Pope, either.

Day 5.

Top Five “Top Ten Lists” That I Found Outrageously Wrong

No. Just… no.

The madness continues. The weekends are tough, because I don’t have that “at work, waiting for the coffee to kick in” time to think about what to write. Oh well. Onward!

Top Four Things I’m Really Bad At Doing

1. Golf. Lord almighty am I bad at golf. Often I give up scoring with numbers and use symbols. One time I made the 7th hole in lightning bolt after making the sixth in pentagram. I attribute this to the fact that 95-99% of the time I’m golfing is at bachelor parties and I’m three or five beers in to things by the fourth hole. Or at least the fourth hole for me. I usually hit six or eight or whatever the maximum is on at least half the holes, so it takes me eight holes to actually sink four. Anyway, yeah: I’m awfully bad at golf.
2. Corresponding. You’d think what with the email and the basically free VOIP and the atomic hover video chat, it’d be easier to keep up with the people I’d like to keep up with, but I just don’t do it. So everybody who doesn’t live in Southern California who wonders why I never write/call/atomic video yell, it’s just because I’m bad at that sort of thing.
3. Crossword puzzles. I just don’t have the patience/mind for remembering trivia.

Patmeme ho! Day three!

I’m tired this evening, so I’m not really going to try. Sorry.

1. Rockport
2. Vasque
3. Adidas

Wow that was lame.

Continuing on from yesterday’s Patmeme kickoff, we’re now at Day two:

Top Two Pets I Won’t Let My Children Have

1. A cat. I’m violent allergic to cats. Plus I just don’t like them. Sorry, Fletch.
2. A parrot. This aversion is probably shared by much of the San Gabriel Valley. We’ve had a feral parrot problem for at least ten years. The damn things set up shop in a tree outside your window — dozens and dozens of them — and just squawk and squawk and squawk…. I hate them. I really do. I’m not a fan of guns at all, but I’d be all for issuing a shotgun to every home in the SGV that agreed to shoot at these damn birds whenever possible.

Extra bonus question: What one animal would I definitely let my child have?

A falcon, to hunt the parrots.