Bikes

Some of you might already know, I was building up my old mountain bike frame to be my commuter. I had made it into a single speed since I used my derailleurs for my new mountain bike frame. I got some used parts cheap on craigslist and from a shop cleverly called "Re-cycle" which buys and sells used parts. I had a old set of handlebars from a friend.

With this mish-mash of parts and pieces, I made my franken-bike, and it worked, but it was far from nice. Granted, "nice" wasn't really high on my list of priorities, I just wanted it to ride to work and back in the city. But the system just wasn't cooperating. The chain was too fat, the tensioner was mediocre, the bottom bracket was rough, the fork was heavy, and I could go on.

All together it just left me wanting more. There's loads of bikes to choose from nowadays. More than I had ever imagined. But I didn't want to spend any more money on top of the parts I had already bought. So I sold some wheels and other parts and ended up buying The Hounder from Nashbar on a deep discount for a great price.

I stayed with a single speed because in my opinion, the city is pretty flat. I think I may have an elevation change of 80 ft over 3 miles. I don't feel like gears are necessary. Plus it's simpler and less prone to breaking or needing adjustment. I do enough of that with the mountain bike.

I replaced the pedals with some big flat ones I had from the previous build and the bike in general has been really good so far. Bigger tires make for faster riding, as well as a better gear ratio with the front chainring being bigger.

I've ridden it for a week now and things are great. A little grease on the bottom bracket and minor brake adjustments is all that was needed. Now I just need to get back on the mountain bike since the Buttermilk trails are so close. Here's a couple more pictures for Peter and Kirk and anyone else interested. But probably just Peter and Kirk. Ha!

And one which I thought was kind of funny, as the minimalist commuter bike makes my burly mountain bike look small...

Moving day

June 4th was moving day. It started with U-haul calling me the day before saying they weren't going to have my truck ready. But they gave me their 50 dollar truck reservation guarantee, so instead of having a truck at 8am, we got it at 10:30 along with 50 bucks. Not too bad a deal. It gave us a chance to get some breakfast at IHOP.

Both my dad and my friend Chris came over Friday night and watched The Fighter. We then got a good night's sleep in preparation for the next day. I don't think we knew how much we'd need it.

We were under a bit of a time constraint since Comcast was supposed to come over between 2 and 5pm . We got all the big stuff and boxes and bikes and important things in the truck. With more time and patience we could've fit more, but we headed over to the new place without much trouble just before 2pm. As we pulled up to the apt, the Comcast guy was getting ready to leave, but I flagged him down and luckily got internet set up first thing.

The unloading went pretty quickly up until we tried to move the couch. I had parked the truck in the rear parking lot because the stairs up to the back door were wider and less turning involved to get inside. I didn't really think getting inside would be an issue. Little did I know the door frames in older places are smaller than I had realized. We physically couldn't fit the couch through the doorway.

We had to carry the couch back down the stairs, put in back in the truck, drive the truck around the block to the front of the building, take the couch out and carry it up the sidewalk. Then we had to get it up a narrow flight of stairs (but it was wider than the door frame so it fit) and through my front door which was like solving a logic puzzle. After finally getting into the apartment, we realized it still wasn't going to fit into the room I wanted it in, because that doorway is just as narrow as the back door. Such a shame.

It was left in the common room, which is how most people set up their apartments when they have a roommate who occupies the second bedroom. Since I don't have a roommate, I wanted my "living room" to be in the larger bedroom. The plan at the moment is to give the couch to my parents and get a new couch. Possibly a futon so guests can have a proper place to sleep, as well as being able to take it apart which would help getting it into the proper room, and moving next time. For the time being though, the TV and couch are in the wrong room, and there's a bunch of random furniture in the big room.


On a better note, I rode my bike to work on Monday which was awesome. It took about 20 minutes and I think I can get there faster once I don't have to stop and make sure I'm going the right way and am a little more comfortable riding on the road. Madison seems to be getting used to the new place. I'm sure he's missing the woods to go to the bathroom in, but he'll get over it.

Memorial Day weekend

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend, as you might have heard. A time for long weekend vacations and car trips. I had a couple options and I chose neither of them. I could've gone to the New River Gorge in WV for some awesome climbing, or I could've gone down to my aunt and uncles new beach house with my cousin in Rodanthe, NC. Instead I stayed home and packed.

I did get out for a ride and finally figured out how to get my phone to track my ride, which I've attached there as a picture.  Maddog and I played some disc golf and I went to the pool a couple times for some vitamin D, but for the most part I hung out and got stuff ready to move.

I got the keys to my new place today. I really had forgotten the floor was all tile minus the bedrooms. Real tile, not vinyl or linoleum, so I think Maddog will like their cool-to-lay-on feature. Tomorrow I'll put most of the rest of my stuff in boxes so when my moving help arrives, they won't be too worried about all the work that still needs to be done.

This weekend in Richmond, there's several food festivals so I think that'll be a good thing to check out once we're done moving stuff in. I just hope it's more likely a late lunch than a dinner time event. The weather should be nice, and not as oppressively hot like the last few days. Wish us luck and a speedy move. I'll be downtown close to some interesting things, so you should come visit.