Commuting as before

In article <[email hidden]>,

Eric S. Sande said:

No operational problems to report. The Contis are working well.

I'm snowed-in. I ain't walking, let alone riding on
the horrid stuff. On the local radio they're saying
it'll stick around for at least another week. And
the temperature is hovering around the freezing mark,
so the ice gets pretty wet & slippery on top. Dunno
how I'm gonna get to the laundromat. I wish it would
rain real hard for a couple of days.

cheers,
Tom

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Sat, 8 Jan 2005 05:43:59 -0800, <[email hidden]>,

(Tom Keats) said:

Eric S. Sande said:

No operational problems to report. The Contis are working well.

I'm snowed-in. I ain't walking, let alone riding on
the horrid stuff. On the local radio they're saying
it'll stick around for at least another week. And
the temperature is hovering around the freezing mark,
so the ice gets pretty wet & slippery on top. Dunno
how I'm gonna get to the laundromat. I wish it would
rain real hard for a couple of days.

Hey! don't start wishing this stuff gone just yet. I finally got my
"studs" mounted so at least wait until the scabs heal, please.

The unplowed, unsalted streets are sweet at a night. They're all
packed and frozen smooth. The slushier stuff it terrible for starting
off but not too bad after you're rolling.

I was thinking of a few new words the Inuit don't have for snow.
--
zk

In article <[email hidden]>,

Zoot Katz said:

Sat, 8 Jan 2005 05:43:59 -0800, <[email hidden]>,

(Tom Keats) said:

Eric S. Sande said:

No operational problems to report. The Contis are working well.

I'm snowed-in. I ain't walking, let alone riding on
the horrid stuff. On the local radio they're saying
it'll stick around for at least another week. And
the temperature is hovering around the freezing mark,
so the ice gets pretty wet & slippery on top. Dunno
how I'm gonna get to the laundromat. I wish it would
rain real hard for a couple of days.

Hey! don't start wishing this stuff gone just yet. I finally got my
"studs" mounted so at least wait until the scabs heal, please.

I just went out and bought a flat shovel. So together we've
probably already signed the death warrant for this weather.
Except I can use the shovel for work, too. But I really
wanted a pick-mattock instead. I'm trying to decide whether
to claim the shovel as a work expense, or put it against my
rent as a 'house' snow shovel. Somebody buying a bunch of
top-dollar Gortex stuff would probably clinch the deal, as
to making the snow, ice and coldness go away.

Quoted message said:

The unplowed, unsalted streets are sweet at a night. They're all
packed and frozen smooth.

I guess I have a psychological issue about riding on
surfaces that I don't have much confidence in walking on.

Quoted message said:

The slushier stuff it terrible for starting
off but not too bad after you're rolling.

I've seen a few slo-mo, soft wipeouts already, adjacent to Main St
and also along 41st.

Quoted message said:

I was thinking of a few new words the Inuit don't have for snow.

Mine would include adjectival salty blasphemies.

cheers,
Tom

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Zoot Katz <[email hidden]> wrote in news:41e026f4.3771283
@news.individual.net:

Quoted message said:

I was thinking of a few new words the Inuit don't have for snow.

Yeah me too but they are essentially unrepeatable. Here I am with my
new fixie, a mint Miyata 10/4 (?) triple butted frame and can't ride. I
am looking forward to selling the VG condition 600 STI shifters in the
spring and recouping what I paid for the bike. Will sell my old fixie
too.

You guys got the snow, but we didn't. Just a light dusting last night, now
all melted.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to go with the whole family on a short club ride. The
only problem is "ice/snow cancels". If it's snowy, we wouldn't ride anyway,
but if it's just ice, we'll all be disappointed.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
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Tom Keats said:

I'm snowed-in. I ain't walking, let alone riding on
the horrid stuff. On the local radio they're saying
it'll stick around for at least another week.

i'm in australia. spent yesterday at the beach, a lovely 27C. winter's due
back in a week. i'll comiserate then with renewed vigor.
--
david reuteler
[email hidden]

In article <[email hidden]>,

David Reuteler said:

Tom Keats said:

I'm snowed-in. I ain't walking, let alone riding on
the horrid stuff. On the local radio they're saying
it'll stick around for at least another week.

i'm in australia. spent yesterday at the beach, a lovely 27C.

Lucky [censored] :-) :-) :-)

Enjoy it while you can (don't get stung by any jellyfish),
and have a Frostie or two (or more) for us.

Quoted message said:

winter's due
back in a week. i'll comiserate then with renewed vigor.

I bet you will. By then, though, we might be back to
balmy normal. I hope.

Bring back a nice, even tan.

Are you getting any touring/riding in, there?

cheers,
Tom

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Sat, 08 Jan 2005 20:52:43 GMT,
<[email hidden]>, Mike Latondresse

mikelat@no_spam_shaw.ca said:

Zoot Katz <[email hidden]> wrote in news:41e026f4.3771283
@news.individual.net:

Quoted message said:

I was thinking of a few new words the Inuit don't have for snow.

Yeah me too but they are essentially unrepeatable. Here I am with my
new fixie, a mint Miyata 10/4 (?) triple butted frame and can't ride. I
am looking forward to selling the VG condition 600 STI shifters in the
spring and recouping what I paid for the bike. Will sell my old fixie
too.

The worst is that stuff the colour and consistency of light brown
sugar except greasier.

Miyata! Lucky you! Nice bikes.

This is the first year I've ridden a fixed gear in snow. WOW!
There were a few times tonight I figure I'd have been down if it had
been a freewheel. The control is superior.
--
zk

Zoot Katz said:

This is the first year I've ridden a fixed gear in snow. WOW!
There were a few times tonight I figure I'd have been down if it had
been a freewheel. The control is superior.

I don't follow why this would be so.

Is someone more likely to crash while coasting?

SMH

ZK wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

This is the first year I've ridden a fixed gear in snow. WOW!
There were a few times tonight I figure I'd have been down if it had
been a freewheel. The control is superior.

While I generally prefer freewheels and handbrakes,
it's true that the fixed gear is superior
for slowing the bike in slippery
conditions. It is very nice to apply the brakes
while sitting up and otherwise motionless,
whereas on the typical road bike you will
be forced to reach forward and "assume
the position" to slow the bike if you've
been riding with hands on the tops, an
unsavory shift of body mass.

That's to say nothing of the friction
brake's notable lack of friction in
the snow.

Robert

In article <[email hidden]>,

(R15757) said:

ZK wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

This is the first year I've ridden a fixed gear in snow. WOW!
There were a few times tonight I figure I'd have been down if it had
been a freewheel. The control is superior.

While I generally prefer freewheels and handbrakes,
it's true that the fixed gear is superior
for slowing the bike in slippery
conditions. It is very nice to apply the brakes
while sitting up and otherwise motionless,
whereas on the typical road bike you will
be forced to reach forward and "assume
the position" to slow the bike if you've
been riding with hands on the tops, an
unsavory shift of body mass.

That's to say nothing of the friction
brake's notable lack of friction in
the snow.

I'm in the throes of winterizing my bike (c/w freewheel
and V-brakes.) I just now stuck on some old mismatched
knobbies inflated to 20 psi for now, and rubber pedals.
Next I'll lower the saddle so I can do seated dabs.
Then come the test rides in the back lane and around
the block. I'm not going to bother with the homemade
studded tire trick (I say that now ...)

cheers,
Tom

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Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

David Reuteler <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

i'm in australia. spent yesterday at the beach, a lovely 27C.

I didn't need to know that.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Kevan Smith said:

On 09 Jan 2005 18:36:29 GMT, [email hidden] (R15757) from AOL

urlhttp://www.aol.com/url said:

While I generally prefer freewheels and handbrakes,
it's true that the fixed gear is superior
for slowing the bike in slippery
conditions.

I've had a couple of spectacular wipeouts on my fixie on slippery surfaces. In
general, locking up your wheels on ice or slick concrete is bad.

I note the riding-on-ice experts advise to only use
the rear brake. During my forthcoming experiments
I intend to heed that advice, using a light hand and
avoiding locking. Maybe doing a bunch of jake-braking,
too.

An 'ice fixie' (if there is such a thing) would
already have a rear brake built-in anyway --
hand brakes or no.

cheers, & here I go into the great klahanie,
Tom

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I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

In article <[email hidden]>,

Claire Petersky said:

You guys got the snow, but we didn't. Just a light dusting last night, now
all melted.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to go with the whole family on a short club ride. The
only problem is "ice/snow cancels". If it's snowy, we wouldn't ride anyway,
but if it's just ice, we'll all be disappointed.

It's tomorrow now. I thought I heard mention
on the TV of Seattle getting snow, but I was
in the other room stuffing my rear tire bead
back onto the rim hook.

So, how'd it go? Do I get to celebrate that
you got to ride, or is it comiseration time?

Anyhow, I just got a little (very little) riding
in, myself -- my first tentative attempt at ice
biking, up & down the back lanes. I didn't wipe
out, but I didn't like it much, either. I miss my
toeclips, and I caught myself instinctively going
for the front brake. And the low saddle feels
funny. Then, with the low tire pressure there's
the worry of the bead rolling off the rim. So now
I'm mentally assimilating the experience, and then
I'll check the tires and go out and have another
stab at it. Maybe I'll make it to the laundromat
after all.

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Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Anyhow, I just got a little (very little) riding
in, myself -- my first tentative attempt at ice
biking, up & down the back lanes.

Sorry Tom but that was really just a waste of time.

If you're going to insist on living so near to the
Arctic circle then you must hang up the bike and
work out in the gym.

Look at guys like Jan, he doesn't ice bike down to
the freaking local German laundromat, rather he's
doing quality kms in south Africa.

Now do you realize why Jan will win the TdF this
year and not you?

Fabrizio Mazzoleni said:

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Anyhow, I just got a little (very little) riding
in, myself -- my first tentative attempt at ice
biking, up & down the back lanes.

Sorry Tom but that was really just a waste of time.

If you're going to insist on living so near to the
Arctic circle then you must hang up the bike and
work out in the gym.

Look at guys like Jan, he doesn't ice bike down to
the freaking local German laundromat, rather he's
doing quality kms in south Africa.

Now do you realize why Jan will win the TdF this
year and not you?

If Jan Ullrich had spent more time at German laundromats,
and less time at other, undisclosed locations, he might not
have accumulated the "dirty laundry" that has marred his
career, e.g.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/209118
2.stm>

--
Mike Kruger
Too many people spend money they haven't earned
to buy things they don't want
to impress people they don't like. -Will Rogers

In article <BdlEd.38434$Xk.12246@pd7tw3no>,

Fabrizio Mazzoleni said:

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Anyhow, I just got a little (very little) riding
in, myself -- my first tentative attempt at ice
biking, up & down the back lanes.

Sorry Tom but that was really just a waste of time.

If you're going to insist on living so near to the
Arctic circle then you must hang up the bike and
work out in the gym.

As it turned out, riding with a top-heavy load of
laundry in the milk crate was an exercise in futility.
If I can't pack stuff, riding just ain't worth it.
I ended up slowly hoofing it to the laundromat with a
heavy gunny sack pulling my shoulder out of its socket.

Ugh.

Gym!? I don't need no stinkin' gym. My job is my gym.
I get to haul plywood 4x8s up several flights of stairs
and hand-bomb gravel backfill and stuff. And get paid
for doing it.

So I'm waiting for everything to melt before I set foot
to pedal again. I can survive a week or two without riding.

Quoted message said:

Look at guys like Jan, he doesn't ice bike down to
the freaking local German laundromat, rather he's
doing quality kms in south Africa.

Actually, the proprietors of the laundrymat seem to
be more Asian than Teutonic. The main thing is,
washing machines # 8 & 9 take all quarters, no loonies.

Quoted message said:

Now do you realize why Jan will win the TdF this
year and not you?

Yeah, I'm too busy concocting my Tugboat Annie screenplay.
I'd offer the role of Horatio Bullwinkle t' yuh, but I've
already settled on Nick Nolte. (Bette Midler for the
title role.)

cheers,
Tom

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I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Hi Tom, new poster here.

Welcome, c'mon in :-)

Quoted message said:

I spent a couple of car-less years in Lethbridge Alberta, and rode in
all weather. The only way I found to ride safely in winter with ice on
the main roads, and unplowed side streets was to use studded tires.

Yeah, I seriously thought about them, but here it's just
not worth it for me in my situation -- the ice & snow is
typically gone in a matter of days, and that'll be it for
the year. Really, it's not that far off before the cherry
blossoms do their thing. And the japonicas, forsythias,
crocuses, etc. I guess maple syrup time is coming up
fast, too. Vancouver winters can last into March, but
they usually peter-out around January/February.

cheers,
Tom

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"Mike Kruger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

If Jan Ullrich had spent more time at German laundromats,
and less time at other, undisclosed locations, he might not
have accumulated the "dirty laundry" that has marred his
career, e.g.

That was a couple of years ago and it was only just
some baby recreational drugs.

Did you see how fit Jan was looking last week in
Scherzingen? Jan is now at Mallorca with the
rest of the T-Mobile guys for a training camp.

Lance does not have any hope of finishing in yellow
this July with the way Jan, Vinokourov and Kloden
are looking.