City (e)scapes

Perhaps its the leaves on the ground or the roadies in Central Park, but I'm longing to get out into the forest. The city has a lot to offer, but I feel like I need the soothing blanket of leaves under my tires on an autumn day. I'm not exactly sure if I've been infected by mountain bike fever, or if I'm just restless.

I've set up the Spicer in a new 'City commuter hybrid' mode for now. Summer is over, so its time for fenders and a brake. I can't really justify the risers though, other than I wanted a change. They're cut to about 46cm wide, which is just wider than my bullhorns, the only difference is that a plastic bar end cap is the first point of contact, instead of my hands. Regarding whether or not they're versatile, I did a 50km ride to Orchard Beach yesterday, and suffered no discomfort.



Speaking of City bikes, the winner of the City Racks Design competition has been announced. I tested these racks out a little over a month ago, and am happy to find that one of my 'finalists' made the cut. Congratulations to Ian Mahaffy and Maarten De Greeve. Hopefully NYC will find a reliable manufacturer of these racks, and have them on every block soon.

I'm sick of hearing stories of signposts bent down to the streets. I want to ride where the signposts aren't.

Rat Pack Hustle

Last night I attended race #2 of 8 in a sprint series fittingly titled RAT PACK HUSTLE.

I had found the blog the day before, and realized how close it was to my place in Harlem. It would be silly of me not to attend really. Its organized by a guy named Dan Bones, and takes place on a somewhat deserted bike path down by the Hudson river. I guess they started this last year, and since it went over so well, they're doing it again. They do it right too. One guy brought one of those walking measuring stick things, so they could mark out the course length. Timing was done by FRS radio and two stopwatches started at the same time. About 20 guys showed up. Some with road cleats and spandies, some on their street bikes. Most people were pretty relaxed, and a handful of guys shot photos of the action.

Oh,.. and get this, instead of trackstand starts, they use holders.

I won both of my races, with 250m times of something like 21:43s and then 21:67s... However, this was just a bit shy of the final elimination cutoff. Its alright though. I felt good about it. I knew going into it that my 172.5mm crank arms turning a 42/15 gear wasn't going to be the fastest combo out there. I think one guy laid down a sub 20s time even!

Once I was out, it was a bit of a relief, because that meant I could lighten up my bag a bit for the ride home, by downing some tall cans of bud (yuck). I basically hung out at the finish line helping Dan do timing for the finals.


(Photo Credit, Alan S.)

It was totally fun overall, and I'll definitely go back for race #3 next week. I might switch up the Spicer a bit though. Possibly to my new shorty cranks, possibly to a smaller cog.

Hallow's Eve / Critical Mess / Devils Night

Almost got taken out tonight at my favorite intersection.

A car pulling out of the canadian tire parking lot, looking right while turning left under throttle. I made it around them and my pant leg brushed the front bumper while I slapped my hand down on their hood.

Not even 50 meters later, a group of three people, (two girls and a guy) walk out in mid block, from in between parallel parked cars without looking. I shout "Hey" as I swerve around them, and only one of the girls sees me and stops.

The guy starts yelling "FUCK YOU!" and chasing after me. He's basically trying to start a fight with me because I warned his dumb ass to pay attention. His girlfriend is screaming at him and pulling on his arm. I'm loud as well, but don't resort to name calling. A crowd gathers around as we stand in the middle of the street yelling at each other.

What is wrong with people?
Could he really be that pissed off that Canadian tire was all out of inflatable lawn pumpkins?

East Van is a war zone tonight.


I suppose I should take this time to write about the Halloween Critical Mass as well.
This was really well attended (300ish?), and went over pretty smoothly (I think).
There were so many people in costume, it was incredible. This is probably why the motorists were so happy to wait. We were much more entertaining than usual.

People at bus stops would high five us. Couples trapped in their cars would smile and wave. The really interesting thing, was that lone men stuck in the traffic would be on their cell phones, reporting on the mass.. Whereas lone women (mostly in silver SUVs) would have the glazed over death look. They looked the unhappiest. I would make sure to smile extra big to them, waving, and sometimes commenting on how much I loved their Pathfinder, Murano or whatever. Not one smiled back.

The Negatives:
-Someone along Burrard, just up the hill from the bridge was thowing eggs at the mass from their condo.
-A pedestrian felt he shouldn't have to wait, and shoved Morgan with two hands while barging through the mass. When Morgan stopped, he tried to pick a fight.
-A motorist on Robson, nudging a corker, then getting out and claiming that he wants to move his vehicle so it won't get scratched, and inspects the front bumper on his Delta88 for damage!

The Positives:
-sexy costumes abound
-pulling mad wheelies along Hastings
-ESL students continuously photographing the mass
-Sealab Jumpsuit getting recognized by all the right people 'I LOVE SEALAB!'

Oh.. and this is both a positive and a negative.. The Brinking.
I feel that I shouldn't cork traffic with a beer in hand.
I'm not going to do that anymore.
It looks and feels unprofessional. I only had 2 beer over the course of the evening, so I was probably alright, but still. It doesn't help the cause.

I got what was coming to me after I broke off from the mass though. I was riding solo up Union, on my home, and decided to practice wheelies some more. That went pretty well, until I crashed. I basically bunnyhop flipped the bike, as a result of being stuck in the cleats. I landed on my shoulder with the bike still on my feet. Damage to the bike included: Stem misalignment, ripped bar tape, gouged saddle, and my rear wheel was knocked out of true. I made myself fix it that night as punishment.

Speaking of Punishment (segue). I did not participate in the Devil's night alleycat. I had decided before I saw the manifest, and when I did see it, it concreted my decision. What a mess. It looked like a full day of messing, starting at 8pm. I'll let Morgan report on that one. I rode around town a bit, then helped carve pumpkins.