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Locked on 07/12/2005 8:00:14 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
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Posted on 06/01/2005 7:12:04 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
New verse:
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Upon the hearth the fire is red, |
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Still round the corner there may wait |
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Home is behind, the world ahead, |
Heh...the very few times I went out when there was still ice on dirt trails, I went down on each and every patch, I think. Bike went one way, I went the other.
I did NOT get good at it.
Rode to work in the spring, summer and fall in Germany, but ice and snow didn't like me. That ride was nice, though. Sembach is built on a hill, and the way to work was ALL uphill, but that was in the morning when it was cool. In the afternoon, I just had to peddle around the one-way circle at the top of the hill and coast down from there.
Heh, I never had to worry about ice and snow, but it would get down into the 40s in the winter; at least it felt cold to me. I laugh now when I think of the temps down there when I'm up here and most days in the winter don't even go above 20, much less above freezing!
You can control a bike on ice as long as you don't have to turn or stop ;~D
I remember staying home from class one day.... because all I had was my bike and with wind chill it was in the two digit negatives.... like 20 below...
My mom calls in the morning and says "What are you doing home?" I said "Why are you calling if you weren't expecting me to answer?" "I called because I just heard how cold it is there." "That's why I'm home."
Heh... For some reason at the time, it cracked me up that she was calling me, and yet surprised and mad at me for answering. This is in the days before answering machines, of course ;~D
I think I'd panic as soon as I hit it...I just remember going sideways several times, and the guy I was with laughin' at me for being such a doof. ;-) I got REALY good at falling off a bike without getting tooo badly hurt. I managed to fall a lot, so it was a good skill!
And as soon as I'd mastered that, I fell off into a patch of nettles. *sigh* You can't win.
I only crashed and fell when we'd been out at the bars and biked home.... and sometimes, I didn't remember crashing, only waking up with scabby knees and hands ;~D
BUI?
;~D
Ugh, ice... not thinking about that for a loooong time yet. Right now the heat's the problem.
You can get snow tires for your bike (I had 'em in college). They look like regular tires but they have little metal studs worked in with the tread.
I've seen those...seems like they'd be rough riding on pavement, but they could do the trick!
Also knew a guy that, in the days before you could get snow tires for bikes, made his own somehow using old tires and a bunch of small nails or tacks, but now that you don't hafta do that...why?
I guess we'll see where I end up working. If it's close by, it might be worth commuting by bike at least most of the year. I dunno that they get that many really subzero days here, unlike Vermont.
Nah, not that many. And it gets warm once the sun's been up a while.
We had one of "those" types in our metro-area too; on the radio, dispensing his vast knowledge of the human condition all the time. Everyone was really shocked when they found him in his car, at the hospital, after he'd blown his brains out.
I felt the same way about the bike maintenance stuff. I have a co-worker who considers any and all bike projects "therapy," so I am very spoiled. However, when I went to a bike maintenance class at our local REI, I was amazed at what I could do with someone there to show me how. The nice thing about those classes, too, is they know all the shortcuts and easy ways to do really quality work on your bike. I haven't taken all the classes yet, but I hope to. The one thing that really worries me is learning how to adjust derailleur cables...it seems like it takes WAY more patience than I ever hope to have! The REI classes cost $10 and you get a "Park Tool" book that shows everything you covered in the class plus some other bonus instructions.
I am feeling very lazy and yucky today, and I was supposed to put in an 80-mile ride this weekend as part of my STP training. If I don't get some energy here pretty soon, it's just not going to happen today. About the most I feel like doing is an REI run for my "emergency" supplies: clif bars, mojo bars, etc...
We have an REI nearby...I should see if they have something like that. There's an EMS too - I'd think one or the other might have a good class. I know they both had event schedules up...I just didn't look very closely.
..or go uphill... ;)
The one time I tried riding in the snow, I lived at the bottom of the hill. I spun the wheels about three times trying to go up it and figured I'd just have a nice walk in the snow instead. Snow is for skiing or sledding, ice is for skating, that's my philosophy!
Ooh, lucky, you have an REI. Actually, that can be a bad thing, at least it is for my bank account! See if they have the "Park Tool School", which has about a 4-class series: brakes, drive train, derailleurs, and headsets. There may be more than that, I can't remember.
I took the drive train class, and loved it. I can now dismantle the drivetrain down to the bottom bracket. I'm hoping to take the derailleur class sometime and the brakes class. The books are deifnitely worth buying too, so that you can always refer to them if you forget how to do it. It was so nice to be able to work on my bike on a repair stand for a change!
Now, speaking of REI, I'm off to go dump a chunk a change at their big Seattle store. See y'all later...
Ya know I'm bored when I'm poking at trolls in the religion forum. *sigh* Surely it's time to go home now?????
REI is one place I supppose I could work if I don't manage to get a tech job soon. At least on a temporary basis.
Maybe they give nice employee discounts!
This troll is funny. We should keep him for awhile.
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