Category: obscure pursuits

Now that I have some idea how far and fast I am going on my bone shaker, I took a quick spin today: 13.6 miles. I used the speed information to gauge what cadences and gear combinations felt comfortable. I found 14/15 mph to be pretty easy to ride along at, but I couldn’t push myself much faster than that. I could have the cyclometer set wrong as well. The wheel size is 26 x 1.5 and the tire size is 26 x 1.95. While I think it makes sense to use the tire size, I’m not sure if I’m right.

But in any event, an hour’s steady work can’t be bad. I’ll worry about the finer points as I go.

I ended up returning my cycling computer/odometer this weekend and getting a new one. I have the Sigma BC 400, a really basic one.

It turns out the first one may have been OK, but Sigma evidently cuts corners (and costs) on the parts. The salesguy at REI mentioned that sometimes the magnets are duff, so when this one worked when I tested it, but didn’t on the bike, I simultaneously figured out how it worked and why it didn’t, if that makes sense.

I pulled a super-powerful ceramic magnet from a box I had on hand from another project (doesn’t everyone have some of these?) and lo, it worked fine. The new magnet has about the same dimensions as a hearing aid/button battery, so some packing tape to hold it in place on top of the other one (it has a fitting to clip onto a spoke) and all is well.

I’d include a URL but the folks at Sigma are so clever, their site is all Flash-driven: must have used all the cash they saved on useless magnets . . . .

The way it works is simple: the computer is about the size of digital watch and connects to a little sensor mounted on your front fork. Once you set your wheel size, the magnet passing the sensor sends a signal to the computer which then calculates speed, records distance, etc.

it’s so %&*)(*(^( hot, I am sitting outside in the deepening dusk . . . first time I have tried networking outside the house, and how sweet it is.

83º at Boeing Field (so says gkrellmweather) and about that in the house. If we have too many summer days like this, I may have to get that attic fan installed. Air conditioning would be silly, but some way to cool things down would be fine.

According to Yahoo, my inaugural training ride was 16.2 miles. The mile markers along the route suggested it was more like 20, but still that seems like a pretty good ride. I covered the outbound leg in 30 minutes, and the return in about 45. I had the wind against me coming back and I was starting to feel the distance by the end of the ride.

I added some more lift to my saddle and that made a lot of difference. The few small inclines I came to were easy to do without even changing my cadence.

That felt really good.

My cycling exploits being as non-competitive as they are, a simple white T will suffice, to be peeled off and tossed in the laundry as soon as I get home.

Another short ride today. Something I learned from yesterday’s ride: getting a bike fitted can’t be undersold. I found I had a much easier time after I raised my seat a couple of inches. Of course this means when I stop, I have to keep my toes en pointe, but it makes all the difference to the riding experience.

I still may need a couple more inches of lift . . . . I find myself scooting back to get more leg extension.

Even with as little riding as I am doing, I feel better each time, and can do more each time. Keeping my pulse out of triple digits would be nice (my resting pulse is about 60), but that should come.

Of course, for real cycling fans, you’d better head over here.

Nothing special for people who know all this stuff already, but I’m pleased. pointers and headers and functions, oh, my . . . . I hope I can keep this up.

Children’s Writing, Writers Course & School Writing Correspondence Course.

So in a moment of lightheartedness, I sent off for the information from this outfit. They dutifully sent me the writing test, which I forgot about. So they sent me another, with an extended deadline. This one, I half-completed, more from chagrin than with any real purpose.

Today a third missive arrived, telling me to forget the writing test and just send a couple of pages of writing samples.

The worst that can happen is they tell me I have some aptitude: with no income, I can’t take their course. But what the heck: if they do say that, I’ll take it as some kind of validation.

if you make new entries in a weblog with no internet connection, is that akin to one hand clapping?

Google Search: related:www.paulbeard.org/movabletype/

I somehow seem to have weaseled my way to the top of Google’s results for the word ‘quotidian.’

And look who Google thinks this blog resembles. I’m flattered.

What a miserable slob I must be. This is the shortest ride I can take, and it’s all I can do sometime to get through it.

It’s just over 2 miles, so it only takes about 15 minutes, but none of it’s flat. There are grades going both ways on both the in and outbound legs. I am re-learning how to pedal standing up (even with 18 gears, it’s no fun trying to stay seated and crank up these grades).

If this was the Burke-Gilman trail, I could do all 12 miles in no time at all: I share the locomotive’s disdain for hill-climbing. If I had a bike-rack, I would do just that. The 70th street access point to Tracy Owens station in Kenmore is about 6 miles, less than an hour there and back.