Hey... Remember Bicycles?

I moved out of Philadelphia before the spring 2013 became real. Since then, I've ridden a bicycle about twice. Less than two miles each time. I've done a fair amount of thinking about bicycles... but not much pedaling.

I couldn't put it off any longer. My bicycle begged me for new shifters and cables. I got some old Suntour XC Pro thumb shifters at the swap meet, and resale-value-be-damned, I put them on my own bicycle.

I added cables, shifters, Nitto northroad handlebars, and most importantly: a new-old-stock "tall cool" quill stem with the longer extension. The Hoopty "Tall Cool" Bicycle is ready again.

In order to ease myself back into mobility, I set a small loop of a few miles with rolling hills. Short and sweet. I rode the loop, and got back feeling like I'd been chased by a vampire.

Riding a bicycle again literally makes me want to puke. I've grown incredibly weak and slow, but my brain forgets. My brain yells "PUSH!," and I do. Minutes later, my stomach gets annoyed because it can't talk.

I rode the same loop today, and the first thing I noticed is that my buns hurt where they meet the saddle. Right. I have a thousands-of-miles broken-in Brooks saddle with springs - and my butt was a tad sore.

I intend to get back into reasonable shape. I don't need to be the Tarzan of bikes, but I'd like to stand up and assault some hills again some day. That's the goal here.

Editing. And winning.

I'm editing complicated thoughts, and I eventually delete everything and quit.

(Since 7:21 wasn't interesting, here's something that happened about seven hours later.)

I'm gonna get her. (Shit! the chase is on). I'm two turns into my post-uptown-drinking bicycle loop. I'm on Cypress Street after leaning a hard turn to cut across from State St (the main drag). The streets are empty, and I fly down the middle taking all the space I want. I didn't slow much at all through the second turn, and leaned as far as 8 pints and an iPod playing Dredg would take me. I kept momentum as Cypress Street takes the form of a long incline heading back into town. Right after Wawa, I got some company. A big furry mass cut into the road ahead of me. A young deer with a spring in it's step, looking like it needed to be somewhere fast. When a cycler in spandex pulls a fancy move like this in front of me, I feel compelled to respond with speed. I goose it up a step. When this crazy agile deer appeared on the scene, my reaction was no different. She was running right up the middle of the street. With no further thought, I instinctively scooched into a good low-zippy gear and hit my pedals hard. It was directly after this that my mind was able to soak in the big picture. I'm chasing a mad fast deer up Cypress St. And gaining! We both sped up, but I was able to close the gap by at least ten feet. Given just a little bit more time, I'd be even. That's when the deer decided it was best to bow out. She cut into someones front yard, and stared at me as a rode away. Narrowly avoiding a flank slap and, as I imagine it, confused. It was nice to have some friendly competition on the street at around 2:15am. The burst took a lot out of me, and I used the rest of the incline to recover in a slightly lower gear.

Sales, touring, boozy situations

I'm selling a red Panasonic bicycle that I got for free when I worked with 1-800-Got-Junk. I got several free bicycles, and I'm finally getting around to selling this one. All I had to do was inflate the tires, and adjust the front brake - and I got $80.

Right at 7:21, I was standing on the corner of 16th and Chestnut.

Minutes previous, I was headed into the city with a load of bicycles that I'd advertised on Craigslist earlier in the day. On the way in, I got a call from a girl who lived at 16th and Chestnut, and wanted to check one of them out. To more easily close the sale, I said I'd just drop it right off. As I was standing there, she called me from the opposite corner. I said "I'm the dude with the mohawk," and we waved. She brought her boyfriend, and we all chatted for several minutes, mostly about bicycle trips. Selling bicycles in Philadelphia is a good way to meet cool people. I never forged any lasting friendships, regrettably. Opportunity was surely presented. When selling a bicycle, it's nice to have something to instantly talk about. Bicycles. They need a bicycle, or need to know about one. I can handle that conversation all day. That's one thing I sorta miss about the full time Philly based bicycle business I was running for a time. It feels great to sell a bicycle. Every time I sell one, I get a significant profit. Motivation is the key factor in keeping me from getting more money and having real success at this. I have little motivation to get the bicycles and fix'em.

This moment, the sale and chat, is a turning point toward a highly enjoyable evening in contrast to the honestly kinda depressing day. Not anxiety - I was actually kinda depressed. I'm feeling more ready to start the bicycle journey now. This is good. I still haven't set a leaving date, but I'm wrapping things up around this area. Can't be too long. Bolted cranks onto the touring bicycle. I still need some last minute logistical stuff. I need to get all loaded up and look at my gear. Few more errands. Hopefully I'll feel some relief when I set out, along with the uncertainty that I know will be present. For now, I've given up coffee and soda (except in whiskey). Not buying and consuming this stuff is saving me money now - will save money on my tour - and will make me drink much more water, which is important. I didn't stop swilling booze. Booze always levels out when I just quit for a month or something like that. How and why I start drinking again is a little confusing. I quit for a month, and everything manages to get healthy and happy. Then, at some point, my mission is accomplished and I drink again. It goes back and forth. I'd "quit" for the bicycle tour, but I don't think that rule is necessary. I suspect consumption will just naturally dwindle from lack of convenience and interest. It's nice to seek out and participate in random boozy social situations, but I don't think I'm gonna get five random pints before looking for a place to lay my bivy sack.

3 speed / internetting

I've been really not doing anything. That includes lots more internetting. Right at 7:21, I searched for "Bee Thousand" which is a Guided by Voices album that I don't have. It was referenced in an article at Phawker, which was linked to from Meg's blog. Glad she linked to that. Now I'm keeping an eye on it.

I finished that bicycle that I was going on and on about on May 21. It took just shy of two hours to build this thing up from the frame. I consider that to be pretty good when you factor in replacing cottered bottom bracket spindles, and pulling all kinds of random parts out of the woodwork. If it's really enjoyable to ride and I feel like upgrading anything - the cranks are outta there first. Then the brakes. But I won't get to that any time soon if ever. This is the flashiest and most mechanically wacky bicycle I have ever made. I'm really happy that everything worked and I didn't hit any dead ends.

Here's a picture of that bicycle. I don't know why it's blurry, but maybe dusk has something to do with it. It still beats a thousand more boring ass words.

Sleeper Cycles

7:21 - I'm putting some more shit up for sale on my Sleeper Cycles blog. I was gonna reserve that blog for actual sleeper cycles - bicycles that are all hooked up, but low key - but now I'm just using it for any bicycle thing I have for sale. I like the format.

I still have all of my tools, work bench, charging phone and iPod/boombox sitting outside. That's a product of laziness, and I'll address those items after I get another black and tan. I did manage to make a really cool fixed gear for tall guys who like pink. It totally whips. I'm out of practice, and it's a good thing I put on some pedals with toe clips. Got my ass lifted off the seat a couple times.

7:21 also found me doing all of this stuff on a laptop that my parents got for me, pulling pictures off the SD card from the digital camera which they also got me. It's not my birthday, I think my lazy simplicity just filled them with pity. In any case whatsoever, I'm super happy with this setup, and I'll take it.

Mobile blogger / Jazz bat

I've been sitting around with a laptop on my lap for hours. I've been looking at official videos and live videos from bands. I've been interneting, basically. Which is boring. To type about. But: at 7:21 I was sending a txt message to Google to set up a way to have my camera phone pictures appear online. Mobile blogging. 7:21, dude. That's what I'm up to.

I did manage to finish a bicycle. It was a pretty cheap-o bicycle, but it's running smooth for my $99 asking price. I truly believe someone could enjoy using the hell out of it for a long time. Especially in Philly: park this thing outside and you're set to go. With a u-lock and this bicycle you could get anywhere in Philly any time - smooth and easy, no problem, no worries, no need for Septa or a motorized vickle.

That's how I did it when I was in Philly. Cheap bicycle, tuned up, crushing the world. And by "crushing the world" I mean flying into center city like a bat out of hell. And by "bat out of hell" I mean over-adrenalized clown with a pink piggy helmet cover. Here's a link to the Jazz Latitude. Seriously.

endless wipe down / 3wks till tour?

Pizza jobs are an endless wipe down. They are for me. The clock is running while I slowly make zero dollars and no cents. To make the clock go faster, I focus on wiping down everything in the restaurant constantly. That way I look busy and I'm focused on something. It works. I figure I can't just go on wiping stainless steel, counter top veneers and glass forever - it'll get old. So today I put in my two week notice. My job here lasted longer than I expected it to. I got a paycheck for $185 today, and I ate for free, and worked and accomplished very little. Not so bad.

I put in my two weeks here, and that sets a timeline in motion. I'll finish up in Pennsylvania, and probably (maybe, hopefully?) leave on my bicycle trip in three weeks. Let's say June 12. I'm not ready. I'm physically ready, and the bicycle will be ready after I bolt some cranks on. I've got my gear figured out. I don't know if I'm ready mentally. More specifically, the trip feels like nothing but a foggy notion. I know very well that pedaling out of the driveway will be a surreal foray into outer space. I'm going to check out Jupiter's moons.

Past the initial squeamish surreal churn into action, I suspect I'm going to have a great time. I don't feel like accomplishing anything else right now. A month or two of riding north and hiding in the woods seems to make sense. Technically, in my over-romanticized version, I could do this forever while scavenging and making just enough money to eat food and ride to new places - exploring, and seeing microscopically close every single detail. A major aspect of bicycle trips is the rose-smelling: meditative, contemplative, coffee consumative, sitting time. Unless you're going ultra-marathon, there's an abundance of time. You can think about endless hypothetical scenarios, and laugh at how ludicrous it is to be where you are when you are. I'm not looking for an epiphany. What I hope to gain won't strike quickly. I'm looking for a perception shift. I want to be happy with less, and comfortable existing at a moment in time rather than in a series of convoluted goals and worries. I'm going for survival on-the-fly; where you need almost nothing and experience almost everything. I want to spend time sitting and observing and being satisfied with just that.

Reclining, or Rudge cranks

I just got back from Perkins where I got an asinine breakfast including fried chicken on biscuits with biscuit gravy. No slacking - it also came with two strips of bacon. I couldn't drink my coffee. I'm not at all picky or 'elitist' - it was actually just that bad. Now I'm taking a break from all that to sit on the recliner couch while my mom reads, and my dad stays busy with something for a minute before turning on the end of Jeopardy.

I'm trying to make a decision about whether to keep a blanket on my legs, or go try to put some Rudge cranks on my bare Panasonic frame that I took on my tour last June. I wish I kept up with the 7:21pm project during that tour. I don't think I did. Did I write shit in that little notebook I bought in Quebec? I actually think I did. I'll look into this. In any case, here's more about Rudge cranks and Panasonic frames.

Possible accuracy: Back in the day - before all English 3 speeds were getting made in the Raleigh factory - 3 speeds often had ornate designs in the chainrings. Phillips and J.C. Higgins had their names carved in there. Rudge had a cut out hand, their logo, held palm out. Like "stop." At one point, I bought a set of these cranks off eBay. They're all pitted and rusty, but I got 'em. They're cottered cranks, so I haven't bothered to use them for anything. Aside from the cool hand design, cottered cranks are a considerable downgrade from sealed bottom brackets and square taper. They're way more of a pain to deal with, and you really kinda need a cotter pin press, which nobody has. Except me. I have a cotter pin press because I've nerded out on a lot of 3 speeds. I got mine from BikeSmithDesign in Minnesota. A guy in a basement. Mark. I have never been unable to install or remove a cotter pin since. It's great.

In my spread-out mass of random bicycle stuff, I also have the frame and fork of a Panasonic bicycle that I set up for my tour last June. I rode it from Philly to Val D'or Quebec. It's chromo-4130 double butted. It's great quality, but not in-your-face at all. This frame, as you would expect, has a standard English threaded bottom bracket shell.

Some years ago, I followed directions on Sheldon Brown's website to replace the cottered spindle in the bottom bracket of a Raleigh Twenty with a square tapered one. Now I'm thinking about doing the reverse. I'm considering using a cottered spindle with English threaded cups and installing my Rudge cranks on the Panasonic frame. Completely odd-ball, but that kind of thing appeals to me. It's all just sitting around anyway.

It's also noteworthy that I have a hand built set of 700c 3 speed wheels with a new Sturmey Archer SRF3 hub, and Salsa Delgado rims. I also have a really old Strumey Archer quadrant shifter, alloy northroad handlebars, and probably everything else right down to brand new cotter pins and Sturmey shifter cable. It's been running through my mind for a few days now. If it comes together, it'll be a great goofy bicycle. An elite 3 speed machine, showing respect to the old and the new. The tires shall be 37mm wide - and a radical goofy set of these do I have.

Clearly, I'm more interested in day dreaming about un-marketable yet awesome bicycles than I am in building marketable and smart ones. But I have the parts for both, and I plan to be putting them all together.... soon.... you know.

Kennett. Laptop. Newspaper.

I'm sitting at the laptop that lives in the kitchen of my parents'es house in Kennett Square Pennsylvania. I'm trying to find out how many bicycle the Paris bicycle sharing program has. I'm doing that because I just read an article in the Daily Local about the effort to start a similar bicycle sharing program in Philadelphia. My folks kept the article for me.

I just ate chili with soup crackers, and explained to my parents how badass I am. I rode a 63mi cancer-benefit ride with Nat earlier, and I'm all pumped up and feeling great about it. I was worried that I'd fallen way out of shape, and I'm glad to know that that is not the case. I'm fine, and I'm decent on climbs sometimes. For this ride, I finished my KHS Professional 531 tubes & fork blades racing bicycle. It's a racing bicycle for sure, but a far cry from what 99% of the other riders were using. I was baggy shorts and a soccer jersey with wide 32c tires and convenient friction shifters. They were all expenso-carbon cycle spandexy clacking around with cleats and slim-tire-bumping trying to frustrate a derailer into position. In many ways, this is a rude and unfair characterization. Life continues. My bicycle is King of Bicycles.

Ringing up pizza

I'm hitting buttons on a cash register. The buttons have names of pizza slices. Some dude just got 'chicken bacon' among other things. So I captured this sacred little moment of my life here. Recorded for all time is the fact that I'm standing around pushing a button that says 'chicken bacon' on it.

I think I'm just about ready to start working on all these bicycles I have leaned up outside. A week's wages in one day is starting to look more appealing. I'm almost ready to leap (crawl) into action. I even started another blog that's going to have pictures and information on the finished bicycles. Blogs are good for organizing such things.

Chicken fucking bacon...

Sitting on a porch in Philly

I'm sitting on the porch that's attached to Shelly and her roomates'es row house in West Philly on a side street. It's in the same neighborhood that I used to inhabit when I lived two blocks away with Shelly. Shelly is a couple blocks closer to 40oz beer now, and the porch is nice. There's low key BBQ, and people sitting around, including Jonas. I'm a little out of it, but I'm having a good enough time. Good enough, because I'm doing something rather than nothing.

I arrived a couple hours ago after racing from the bus stop at the 69th Street terminal. The adrenaline was pumping. It's been too long since I've goosed all out in this area, shooting right through traffic down the middle of the street. I'm the kind of guy who does that thing where he tries not to put a foot down when traffic requires a stop. I inch forward and pause until I eventually run out of real estate.

This morning I got up extra early and rode the Diamondback City Bike to work in West Chester from Kennett. This moderately hilly and thoroughly familiar 13 mile route was way more tiring than it is when I'm in decent shape. After I got back to this area last July, I crushed this route. I was still used to 70+ mile days every day. I'm riding 65 miles in a charity event on Sunday, and I'm thinking it might not be so easy. I might only be able to crush some of the route. I'll probably have to crawl for part of it too.

After work was done at 3pm, I took the Diamondback City Bike on the 104 bus to Philly. The Diamondback got to see it's former parking spot - locked to a sign at 46th and Locust - as we whizzed by at a furious pace. I used to leave this same bicycle locked outside 24/7 in an area where bicycles definitely get stolen. That went on through all seasons and all weather. This was my first specifically outdoor bicycle. If it got stolen, I'd only be out about $20-30. I locked it through the frame and the front wheel. The rear wheel was unlocked, but had a bolt on hub. I think the only remaining part from my initial setup is the original (7spd SIS!) rear derailer and a blue piece of cable housing that goes to it from the chainstay cable stop. The original heart is the same. Northroad handlebars on a mountain bicycle with a rack and a milk crate. Friction shifting, bulletproof. Now everything is just nicer. Until two days ago, the DBCB never had a front derailer. I took it off the first time I fixed it up for myself, and decided I didn't need it. If I hit a big hill, I could push the chain to the small ring with my foot. When I got around to it, I could reach down and shift back up with the tip of my index finger. No need to stop. The need for this action was rare. Now I have a Shimano 105 derailer that I got for $10 at the Trexlertown swap. Now that I can shift - I do more. It's nice to pop it in the big ring sometimes, I'll admit. The Shimano bar end shifters in friction mode are awesome on this bicycle. I'm really happy with it.

If you want a 40oz in West Phila, and you are me, you're going to go to Pasqually's. If you want a falafel, you're going to the truck. I didn't go to the truck, but I did make a stop a 'Squally's to make sure it still existed after my absence.

Perkins, personal cycles DONE.

I'm sitting at Perkins across from my parents. This is my second meal today, and both were at a diner with egg-based meals and coffee. I ordered an omlette with "lots and lots of broccoli." It turned out great. There was lots and lots of broccoli, and the primary flavor was best case scenario. A whole lot of broccoli spilling all over the omlette, and packing a fat tight tube of gossamer scrambled egg around even more broccoli. Well, now the omlette is done and me and my folks are talking while I continue to drink a carafe of coffee.

Before getting to Perkins I finished my road bicycle. A few things might change or get tweaked, but the KHS Professional is ready to roll. It has Rivendell "Silver" friction shifters mounted on Kelly Take-offs that I purchased a couple years ago when I was living in Boca Raton for 8 months. These takeoffs first graced my custom (used / eBay-bought) Hollands 531-tubing lugged racing bicycle. I talked to Chris Kelly himself on the phone to order them, and we chatted, and he's really nice. Now - after not selling them, and holding onto them for this long, they are on my new 531-tubing lugged racing bicycle. Appropriate to the core. I can't say anything nice enough about these Silver shifters. If you need some good friction shifters for anything - splurge, go for it. They're worth it for a bicycle you care about.

And YO - I finally finished up all the changes I wanted to make to my Diamondback "City Bike" (ride everywhere, do everything bicycle). Right now this bicycle is at it's finest. I'm relieved about this, because I'm probably going to ride it really far relatively soon. Quebec again. I swapped the handlebars for cheap 'Pyramid' brand steel northroad handlebars. These cheap steel handlebars can fit bar end shifters. That's more awesome than anything else I can think of right now. To get the bar end shifters to fit, you have to line up the internal wedge section so that the space between the wedge-pieces lines up with the internal seam that sticks up along the inside of the handle bars. You also need to lubricate the inside of the handlebars with grease and smack the whole deal in with a rubber mallet. It isn't too complicated, but it required some fooling around. Running cable housing under the grips wasn't the easiest thing either. There's a trick for that too, which I'll briefly describe: use a 4th hand tool to squinch the housing into place. So my City Bike (touring, conquering bicycle) now has bar end shifters. I also swapped out the bottom bracket and cranks, replacing them with the same BB and cranks that I used on my (and Nat's till Montreal) tour to Quebec last June (Philly to Val D'or for me). The cranks are Sugino XD-300 (like the XD-600, but with cheaper steel chainrings vs. alloy - same forging). And the crowning jewel, if that's a real term?: A double kickstand by Plescher. These are expensive, but you probably only need to buy one to last your whole life. If you decide to plunk down for it, you probably won't cry about it too much. When both legs of the kickstand are flipped down, the bicycle is held straight up at a 90 degree angle to the ground. No leaning - the front of the bicycle is lifted off the ground, and the support is super strong with no hairy leaning that can get a bicycle knocked over when you even think about breeze as a general concept. This is a sturdy kickstand. Try using a normal kickstand with a loaded bicycle. I don't want to, because falling bicycles are boring and I'm a busy man.

I'll try to post some pictures when I change the basics of who I am and how I typically operate.

Emailing

I'm emailing Lydia who has a blog at this link: Freedom Van She moved into a van on March 3 '08. A mere few months after me. Based on her blog, which I read straight through, it sounds like her reasoning was similar to mine. Since our rationale and actions seem similar, I emailed her. I'm compelled to email people who have things in common with me. I've emailed people with the last name Harne, and I've emailed people because one time they made a cool bicycle. I'm emailing Lydia because her van is fucking awesome.

Earlier on today I made an expensive order of lots of parts from J&B (bicycle parts wholesale supplier) to try to fix up all those bicycle that I haven't been working on. Hopefully that was a great idea, and I'll get all these bicycles fixed and outta here, and then be rich. You know: not very rich.

I continue to feel drawn to a different area. I still need to tie up loose ends, but I think Vermont might be calling me. I don't know if that's the type of call that I'll answer. I might just bide my time here and try to relax until I leave. I'm out of shape with bicycling (relative to how I was), but don't know if I'm particularly worried about that. I think my body would like more exercise though. Seems to me that I lack motivation to accomplish simple tasks. I'm going to have to figure out how to do even less, and make that rewarding and sustainable. I think I just need to learn how to torch work some glass.

Updating my other blog, blabbing about bicycles

I have a blog that I have all but abandoned. It describes my transition toward living in a vehicle. It's at truckhouse.blogspot.com. I have new information there about my feelings concerning where I am and what I'm up to - and also what I plan to be up to. I'm trying to find the right words to type as my watch beeps to tell me I should be freezing a mental image to form a description here later.

Unrelated to what I'm doing at the moment of 7:21pm: I heard Mates of State (a band), and really like it. I'm reading "Under the Banner of God" by Jon Krakaur, and really like it. I'm still not working on bicycles much. I did, however, work on my Trek 800 bicycle and ride it, and I don't like it. It was a roll of the dice: whatever. I also got my KHS Professional in a ridable form, and I do like it. My position is comfortable, but I want better parts. Better wheels, different shifters (bar end or Kelly Take-Offs that I have). Technically I'd like better brake calipers, but that's where I tell myself to shut up and relax. If I ever have a bicycle that I love and don't want to change anything, I'll be surprised. This KHS is getting close though - it's a nice bicycle for being fairly light fast and comfortable. It wouldn't work for touring though, 'cause it's not made for that. I'll likely do my tour on the Diamondback City Bike. I just keep liking that bicycle. Gotta get those Nirve cruiser bars off and switch to some good ol' northroad bars. Gotta swap the cranks and put a front derailer/shifter on too. The good news is that it's already got fenders and a rack which are both awesome. Upgrades and changes will not be difficult.

Going to Philly, White Dog, Trexlertown

At 7:21pm I'm driving toward Philadelphia on route 3. I'm picking up Nat and Caroline, and together we'll head to Trexlertown for the spring bicycle swap meet at the velodrome. The swap is tomorrow: we're camping out to avoid a bleary-eyed early drive.

Before all that, I'm going to see Shelly. If you don't know who she is, I'll fill you in. She was my girlfriend for a thousand years and we narrowly missed getting married. It's fine and friendly to talk, but seeing her setup in Philly is seeing a vestige of something familiar that was once also mine. The good thing is I'm actually happier now, and anti-jealous of the living situation. The tripped out and warped part is seeing all of the shit that we owned collectively. The worst is the bed and the dog, and the familiar feeling of laying on the bed with the dog. No: the worst is seeing the dog's face as you walk out the door. Penny. My 9-year-old puppy.

Next I went to a get-together with beer and people who I haven't seen in a little bit. I stayed for a short period, then it was time to hit the road. Nat drove my house while I sat in the chair and Caroline had shot. We heard some NPR. We got to the grass covered field adjacent to the velodrome parking lot around 2am. This is where the overflow parking will be tomorrow when people arrive in a massive influx. Already here are about twenty cars and the tents of other people who came early to avoid a tired A.M. drive. A bunch of hip skinny bicycle dorks, more or less. Nat and Caroline had a tent; I slept in top-comfort inside my mansion. There's nothing like an awesome parking spot and waking up right where you need to be in the morning. Van living: seriously really good.

Fking around in Kennett forever.

I just dipped a chip in some Athenos roasted red pepper hummus. I'm in Kennett at my folks'. They got me some really good hummus. I've been sitting around here doing nothing and feeling very slightly sick. Sick if you're a wuss, but perhaps "on the verge" of real sickness.

I'm not working on my huge stack of bicycles that I've stacked outside in front of the garage. Not a bit. I'm thinking about putting together for myself something that I actually want to ride: how about a really nice Trek 800? KHS Professional 531 racing cycle? These are works in progress, floating around half-assed and waiting for parts to materialize from thin air.

I got a Trek 800 21" frame in Burlington last June. 8 bux. I recently made a purchase of an old Raleigh "Mountain Tour" - from a response to my ad placed in the Wilmington News Journal. The Mountain Tour has SunTour friction thumb shifters, and some real simple DiaCompe cantilever brakes that I like. I could strip that stuff off and earmark it for me. I should. But the Northroad handlebars that I'm using have been drilled out to accept bar end shifters. Incredibly unique and badass. So I should get some bar end shifters. Instead, I just ordered some Silver Down Tube shifters from Rivendell last night. That's an aside - they won't work. But Rivendell has bar end 'pods' that fit them. Maybe I'll get them in the future when I'm rich again. Then I can have nice friction shifters for all my rides.

I'm also working on a really tall 63cm KHS Professional (w/ 57cm TT). This will be my road bike. It struggles to fit 700x32c Pasela tires. It's made to be race-y, and has very simple but thinned lugs (good craftsmanship). It also has forged SunTour dropouts, and full 531 tubing for the frame and fork. It's nice. I put a nice quality Campagnolo-hubbed wheelset on there. I bought that from another response to my ad. 8spd cassette included. Throw your hands in the air for friction shifting. Throw'em!

But I'm out of shape and I don't ride my bicycle much. Haven't ridden an inch since returning from Key West, except for the Peace a Pizza delivery bicycle. I don't have a bicycle I'm in love with, and I find any excuse to be a slob. Gotta work on that. Especially since I'm a nerd, and pre-7:21 today I spent a very considerable amount of time geeking around on the internet looking at the Furnace Creek 508 website, some "Rough Riders" website, and one I haven't seen before: The 3 Speed Adventure Society. Wow. 3 Speed Adventure Society... someone has been sneaking into my room and reading my diary!

Also: I didn't sleep in my van last night. I slept inside in a bed. That breaks the Dec 1 to Apr 25 streak of enjoying my sleep in a vehicle. Streak broken.

Let me continue to talk about how I spent $41 at bars in Kennett getting really drunk on Hop Devil. Completely ridiculous. Some lady was trying to prod me to 'smile' and seem real happy. I was reasonably happy, but my catatonic expression did not spell this out clearly enough. I told her I was being 'fucking introspective and shit.' I was sitting alone - obviously - right in the middle of the bar. She was flirting with some golf pro fuck across another lady. Maybe he wasn't a fuck - to be fair, he just looked like it. Well the joke is on her, 'cause I ended up smoking weed in my van with a girl from Scranton who knows Mike Quinn. Mikey. Life is not to be taken very seriously.

Two days after that, I saw Matt Emerson. Speaking in terms of physical appearance, the Army has turned him into an imposing figure. Always good to see childhood neighbor friends. Kennett is a fucking trip, g. I talked briefly with those who I have not seen in some time, then spent a lot more time drinking up a good tab alone. I think the combination of meat, beer, and weed has hurt my typically fantastic immune system. I blame meat the most. I think I was a lot healthier when I didn't eat meat. But that might have more to do with riding a bicycle.

Well I'm no scientist, that's not what I went to school for
And I'm not a doctor, so I don't know much about medicine - EL-P

Bicycling by the Obama rally

I'm riding the City Bike fast on Market Street in Philly between 6th and 5th. There is a crowd all around - everyone is waiting for Obama to speak. I was waiting with Nat and Caroline, then I left to get a burrito and two beers with Jonas. Now I'm coming back to sit and wait some more.

Ordering business cards

I'm on the internet in the upstairs room - what we refer to as the 'back room' - and I'm on the internet. But this isn't just screwing around. This is business. I'm ordering some very snazzy business cards. "Chris Harne Used Bicycles Wanted. 'I get dormant machines back on the road'" They're going to be glossy and thick with a stock bicycle graphic. You've just gotta see it. 8 cents a piece after shipping and all. I can swing that.

Gonna leave Key West soon

I'm walking through the parking lot of the La Concha Hotel toward the movies. On my mind: bicycles; leaving the island very soon.

Seatpost removal attempt

I'm running a hacksaw blade into the cut-off seatpost of the Trek that I bought yesterday. I've tried everything else suggested by Sheldon Brown (passed away, but never forgotten). This is the second slit I've cut inside the seatpost along the entire remaining length in the frame. I'm afraid of cutting the frame, so I may not have quite gotten through far enough. I do not want to concede defeat here. I want to be able to handle such situations and emerge victorious. I'm not there yet.