I am an ELK, hear me...

If you are not aware, any cyclist over 180lbs is referred to as a Clydesdale. While that description is very accurate I would say for those running the scales from 180 to 240. But what about those of us that tip the higher end of the scales, were strong, large, tend to drink to much, eat to often, make to much noise and tend to from time to time do something stupid on a bike. Clydesdale is just not accurate, for this I propose that we take the monicur of ELK.

For I am ELK, hear me roll.

2 Pictures...

No this is not my cat, but I think they are close consins. Would this count as a Muffin Top?



Anyone want anymore reasons as to why you NEED to wear a helmet?

Geek Report Friday...

I'm in geek heaven today. My little feed crawler brought me so many wonderfully gifts while I was sleeping I find it had to keep my mouse still, but enough of my rambling on to the nerdy stuff.

Anyone a fan of Blizzard Entertainment Games?

If you are, and have been checking out the Blizzard splash screen you know that they have been teasing us, all. It is believed that they will be announcing a new game this week, so each day the splash screen changes a little bit to kind of give you a hint of what may be to come...

Yesterdays Splash Screen.

Now I could be wrong, but those are two eyes showing through the center. I know there eyes cause I looked at todays splash screen before making this blog post.


Todays Splash Screen.

Two more days and will find out, they also added new rune to the ice field, I don't have the foggiest but after they make the announcement Ill be sure to figure it out:)


See, told you, eyes. Now for all the speculation that is going on the web at the moment as to whom these eyes belong, your guess is as good as mine, but if I could make a suggestion, or a plea. Diablo III, Lost Vikings, or for a really happy Shami, StarCraft 2. But if I was a betting man, I would have to go with Diablo III.

New Spock Ears!!!

WTF...
Now I'm as much of a Star Trek fan as the next guy, well no hold on there just a minuet. I'm not nearly as much of a fan as this guy--->
To this UBER fan I say "Knit Long and Prosper"

Ratchet and Clank...
My household is a HUGE Ratchet and Clank fan, meaning my fiance is a big fan, she loves the games, spending hours on the sofa digging into to them. So when I heard today that Sony Entertainment Corp. was going to be releasing a new game in the series I knew it would be on our GameFly list before the release date. Well now I find that it might be released only on PS3, oh darn, looks like we are going to have to buy a new console...

Data Dock...

Are you a data storage monkey? do you have more USB devices they you know what to do with,
Well Unitek has come up with a item that may solve your issues. Running about $60 US, this compact doc will hold all of your data needs.

Specs:
4 Slot muti-format memory card reader
2 port USB hub
Red Back up button that when pressed backs up you data to the on board hard drive.
Os and MAC compatible, "Back up supports Windows only"
2.5 or 3.5 SATA docking port, with access via a USB connection

Hu???

Ever go to post something and just know, down deep in your geeky little heart that your probably going to be a A#$ hole for this? Today is that day for me. I'm sure this came about for all the right reasons, but WHAT THE HELL??? Has this really become a problem? I'm sure that I have about the beefiest laptop for any commuter, I can prove it, I ride my bike to work and it kicks my butt lugging this beast up the hill. But that was the choice I made when I bought the thing, I wanted the power, I wanted to full keyboard with num pad, i wanted the 4GB of ram with dull 2.8s and a 256M vid, GRUNT, GRUNT,GRUNT...oh sorry. But if you are a able bodies geek and find your self looking at this and saying 'Hey, thats not a bad idea" I have three words for you "GO OUT SIDE"

Every OS Sucks...
Don't get me wrong, I like Windows, and Mac, Mint is fun, Pocket PC is abysmal. But I could never understand why in todays market place, with cross-compatibility being at its hight of function that OS standards are all or nothing. Wouldn't it make more sense to let users use the OS that best suits their needs?

Laugh at work...

Can you laugh at your self at work, I really hope these men can.



And finally...

How you know when you bought the wrong Cell phone

Bike Report Friday...

Bike Report:

Working at Job: 14days
Riding bike to job: 13days

Hellyea...

Numbers:
Time: 22:42
AVG: 12.4mph
Max:25.3mph - I was traffic today!!
Trip: 4.7miles
ODO: 121 miles

Good ride, made some adjustments to my controls last night, moved some of the levers around, just trying out some new things.

A Good day...

HOLY crap what a geek day it was,





You know its a good feedcraw day when I get more then two blog posts out...

And this, well this is just something, I'm not sure what that something is, but its something alright.

"Female Storm Trooper"

Danger, Danger, Danger, Turning biker...

Anyone who commutes to work knows the dangers involved, do you ride sidewalks and paths and risk the possible brutal bone crushing impacts with pedestrians? Or do you hit the streets, kick up the gears and pray to gods that those moving juggernauts see you, or that no one pulls out in front of you thinking oh, hes on a bike, he can stop...


Well during todays feedcrawing I came upon this,

http://www.instructables.com/id/turn-signal-biking-jacket/

They give step by step instruction on how to light up your own garments. I'll let you all know how well it woks, I'm going to put flashers on the back of my backpack.

In the event that the site goes down I have placed a full set of materials needed bellow;
Get your supplies. You need:

-- LilyPad Arduino main board
-- LilyPad USB Link
-- mini USB cable
-- LilyPad power supply
-- 16 LilyPad LEDs (note: these aren't available from SparkFun yet, but will be soon)
-- 2 push button switches
-- a spool of 4-ply conductive thread
-- a digital multimeter with a beeping continuity tester. This is the one I have.
-- a garment or a piece of fabric to work on
-- a needle or two, a fabric marker or piece of chalk, puffy fabric paint, a bottle of fabric glue, and a ruler
(Available at your local fabric shop or Joann Stores.)
-- a pair of scissors
-- double sided tape (optional)
-- a sewing machine (optional)

If you interested in knowing more about wearable electronics, check out the good folks at "Talk 2 My Shirt"

Also for a very cool, micro/sub electronics site, check out Spark Fun (they also sell all the stuff for the jacket project)

-conductive thread- HOW FREAKING COOL

1oo & Rolling...

So today was the big day, sort of misting, but I got on the peddles and rode into work this morning. Kind of a slow ride as the numbers will show, audio book was fanstastic and my kness just felt a little tired.

Numbers on the day:
Time: 23:39
Avg: 12.2 mph
Max: 23.9 mph
Trip: 4.8

I have started to take a slightly different route home, adding about 2 miles over all to my course.

Side Note of the day:

My FeedReader brought me this jewl today

My, my, my, how the boys and girls at Microsoft have changed in 30 years.

Whew....

Ride this morning was fine, knee a little stiff, and my audio book was far to good accounting for my slower speeds but all in all a good morning.

Numbers on the day
Time: 23:10
Trip: 4.9 Miles
Avg: 12.8
Max: 44.6??? Computer stroke

On the ride home tonight I'm going to break 100 miles riding to work.

Now for the real reason for the Whew.....

We took Ozzy, Beatrix and Maggi all to the vet last night. All check out fine, and Oz has nothing that could pose a health problem for the girls. So last night we got to make a REALLY happy kitten and let him run about for a while.

G33k Link of the day

Want to work in an office building that rotates so you can see the entire landscape. then all you need to do it work here

I just cant stop...

Over my lunch today I downloaded a Open Source feed reader, called oddly enough Feedreader 3.13. After the download and install it rewarded me with this image. I am still laughing about this one.

They can be found at The Feed Store

Also on a geek note today, for all of you with Wii game platforms, you can now hack them via software. If you have been keeping up with the current events for the ground breaking platform, up until now you had to crack the case to make any changes.

Now there is a hackable WiiHomeBrew channel coming to Wii.

If....

If your fat and you know it get a pinch flat,
If your fat and you know it get a pinch flat,
If you fat and you know,
Then you bike will shorly show it,
If you fat and you know it get a pinch flat.

I didn't have a pinch flat today, but it was the song I was humming all the way to work, Over all it was a good ride, little wet in spots, but a good morning for it all in all.

Numbers on the day:
Trip: 4.8
Time: 23.52
Avg: 12.3
Max: 109.4 (Computer had a stroke while taking it off the bike, I think it was about 22.8)

Aside from the typical 'Hey I'm here safe and sound" post, I would like to also bring up two other items central to commuting and full figure folks

1)Bike Component Munity
I think my bottom bracket is starting to hate me, now I'm not sure if it was hagging out with the rear spokes or what but there is some funky noise coming from down there. Last evening Dave H. and I tried to pull the crank arms off the bike to see if maybe it was loose. After taking the mounting bolts out we could look at the end of the spindle and see that it has been rounded over due to peddle force. I can't wait to take this one into the LBS and see the look on their face.

2) Baby Wipes
Several people at work have now asked me, for fear of the olfactory system I believe, how do I get cleaned up after my ride in. And the standard answer is baby wipes. While that answer does drive the point home, it really does not give light as to what the real process is. Being that this was one of the things I was wondering about before I started commuting, allow me to shed some light on the subject.

A typical morning in the life of me:
Human Dream- "Getting picture taken at weight station with record Drum, Sail Fish ,Trout, Striper, Tuna, Marlin or Tarpon"
5:30a.m. - Alarm goes off!
Cat 1 Dream - "Is all this soft kibble for me?, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!!"
5:31:04a.m. - Cat 1 uses its extrasensory perception and wakes up before the alarm clock leaves my hand
5:31:05a.m. - Alarm flys across bedroom and disturbs cat 1 sleeping on ironing board
5:31:06a.m. - Cat 1, using a move that would make the director of the Matrix envious, jumps from the ironing board in an effort to avoid the wailing missle flying towards its head, causing the ironing board to tip, causing the iron to fall, which lands next to cat 2 sleeping peacefully at the foot of the bed.
5:31:07a.m. - I'm getting the slightest twinge of regret at this point over throwing alarm clock
Cat 2 Dream - "I wonder if he is going to give me any of that fish he getting his picture with?"
5:31:08a.m. - Cat 2 launches it's self through the air, landing on my left thigh, demonstrating that not only can she move grate distances Immediately after waking up (Something I can not do) but that she can also extend her claws at least 3 inches further than proven physically possible by feline science.
5:31:09a.m. - Wide awake with a full on case of guilt over throwing alarm clock, wondering if I am going to need stitches
5:35a.m. - Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5:39a.m. - Cat 1 and Cat 2 are feed, watered and purring nicely, press "Go" on coffee pot, wonder why coffee pots don't have a "NOW" button
5:41a.m. - Off to the basement for a nicely washed shami and bike clothes, and to grab replacement work clothes
5:44a.m. - Place pan on stove, burner to HIGH, 1 slice of bacon in microwave, 2 min on high, and toast in the toaster, down lever.
5:46a.m. - Try to figure out why the coffee is not done yet!!!!!!
5:48a.m. - Break, scramble, season and cook egg, fat dab bacon, catch toast. Eat breakfast!
5:55a.m. - BEP, BEP, BEP, BEP, BEP, BEP
5:56a.m. - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, coffee
Cat 3 Dream - " I have the hole house to play in, YIPPPPYYYYYY!!!!!!!"
6:00a.m. - Dawn my chain mail gloves and get Cat 3 out of the bathroom (8 week kitten)
6:01-6:10a.m. - Play with cat 3 while drinking last of coffee cup 1, catch a bit of morning news
6:11a.m. - Place Cat 3 back in his jail, feed, watered and purring nicely
6:12a.m. - Stuff replacement clothes into panniers, place all bags by front door
Fiance Dream: "Getting picture taken at weight station with BIGGER record Drum, Sail Fish ,Trout, Striper, Tuna, Marlin or Tarpon"
6:13a.m. - Kiss fiance good by, wish her a good day and remember all the reasons I'm marrying her
6:14a.m. - Grab my bags, scratch Cat 1, and 2 on the head, grab keys and head out the door
6:15a.m. - Start blazer, back out, reach for travel mug of coffee........ 'Oh for F^%)S sake"
6:16a.m. - Go back inside and grab coffee cup
6:30a.m. - Arrive at Dave H. house
6:32a.m. - Unload bike from rack, panniers loaded, laptop case, helmet, and gloves go inside for cup of Hazzlenut coffee.
6:33-6:55a.m. - Carpet Bagging, Drinking coffee, try to figure out what is exactly wrong with his dog
6:56a.m. - Pen up Dave H's Dog, QWERTY. and pack up
7:00a.m. - Have Dave H. turn me on (MP3 player that is)
7:01a.m. - Roll out, tell Dave H. to have a good day, and that I'll see him tonight
7:02-7:25a.m. - It's all downhill, breath
7:26-7:35a.m. - Arvie at work, lock up bike, take anything that could walk away off the bike and head for the front door
7:35-7:36a.m. - Enplane to the replacement security guard why I do not have ID (no pockets), that I'm not the notorious spandex terrorist, and that I didn't ride my bike to the building so I could create some terror and then have a speedy getaway.
7:38a.m. - By the grace of the elevator gods, arrive at desk, unpack, hook up laptop, fire up desk top. Check both email accounts and check schedule for classes, meetings, conferences, seminars or any other items that generally tend to keep productivity low
7:39a.m. - With work clothes and toiletries in tow, off to the mens room, and my "Carry On Luggage" size bathroom stall for my Supper Man impersonation
7:55a.m. - "It's a bird, It's a plane, its Office Man" Bust out of the stall, clean, good smelling and work ready, fill the water bottled and back to my desk.
7:56a.m. - Follow my nose to a running coffee machine for a fill and dash, ahhhhh, next to last cup of the day.

Reasons to love Mondays...

Mountain bike - $600.00 dollars
Bags, packs, tires, annual repairs - $300.00 dollars

Passing a cop on Forester st due to an accident - PRICELESS
Getting to the Monday morning meeting before everyone else but your boss - PRICELESS
Being one of three people at the meeting out of the usual 15 people - PRICELESS
Not thinking about how much gas my car is burring sitting in traffic - About 4.05 a gallon

Cars can get you there faster...sometimes, of all the other times theres peddle power.

My best times in so far

Dis: 4.04
Roll Time: 22.30
Max Speed: 21.6
Avg: 11.7

I found a really nice resource this weekend, want to know how to fix something on your bike, just check out this website and they most likely have a video on how to do it.
http://bicycletutor.com/

5 Days...

Making the assumption that I can make it home tonight, I have now ridden to work five days in a row. The ride in this morning was fantastic, the new spokes held wonderfully, and the tire is now straighter then it has ever been thanks to the boys at the LBS.

Why Dave H. Rocks
1) He has all the tools needed to maintain your bike
2) While adjusting your front derailer, he brings you a beer
3) He has a keg in his home...
4) He just over all a good person, willing to do anything to help
5) He helped me clean my chain rings, and chain last evening
6) No really, its a freaking nasty job, no one wants to do it

I happy to report that the cleaning effort worked fine on the way in. I did suffer a little bit of chain suck, but that was more my fault then the bikes. GPS is dead, needed battery's, combined with me getting to Dave's house 29 min late I did not have time to record my ride in today.

Had a office breakfast, of Mrs. Smiths muffin, a pack or cheese of wheats, and a coffee cup of instant oat meal that was left in my desk from the previous cubical monk. Oak meal was good, but needed a little bit of brown sugar.

Brand: Quaker
Flavor: Regular

Something my commuting buddies have started to do when we get to work is send a group email that we are all OK. Just a quick note that we all in, alive and well.

Equipment Review.

When this blog started I talked about the gear I had purchased to facilitate the commute. I am happy to report that I would buy it all again if give the chance. The panniers are a little bit big for what I need but it is nice to have the extra space.

Have a wonderful weekend.
~Jason
"Its all downhill, breath"

PING! SNAP!...Oh Dear Lord what was that...

On the ride into I head a dreadful "PING/SNAP" from the general area behind my butt. At which time the bike decided to become impossible to move forward. After a close inspection of the back tire/wheel/hub area the epicenter of the SNAP sound was discovered. What was going to be the good day of the week has been brought down by the one bike part that everyone takes for granted.

Its not really this parts fault, bikers in general just take it for granted, and there are some compelling reason as to why;
1) It has no moving mechanical parts
2) There are more of this one part on your bike then anything else
3) They are critical for the bike to work at all
4) They are under enormous amounts of stress, rotational force and content flexing

Your guessed it, the lowly spoke. Now I am not enough of a bike geek to know how many there are on my wheal, but I do know (now) that I need every one of them. That back tire had the looks of a potato chip that just hit the fire. After disconnecting the rear breaks, I was able to complete the ride in to work without any other incident.

On my lunch break I made a quick phone call to the LBS to see if they would be able to take care of me if I brought the wheal in this evening. They said it was a solid maybe, and that we would go from there.

I figured I can cut my ride 1/2 by taking more direct roads, ride light and I should be OK. So i got on after work, rolled down the side walk from the bike rack, down the ramp to the street all was well. I'm thinking to my self I can do this, then that sound again "PING!!!!!" followed closely by "o for F&%$#@ sake. You have got to be F&*%&@% kidding me." Its a spoke munity, they have given up, get off us you fat bastard, no way, no how, not today, or ever. My back wheal is now starting to take the same geometric shape as your grandfathers wallet, and rides about the same to.

Off to the LBS

I arrived at the LBS and felt good about my chances, only one car in the lot, four guys working the shop. When I walk in I instantly figured I was screwed. 3 guys in commuter gear, all with broken something or other, I would have bet you a bucket of bait that it was going to be drop off/pick up for this one. One of the guys came over and asked what I needed, and after making a few arrangements for a six pack he took care of me. After about 3o min, and one really funny joke about a guy that looked like the buzzard from bugs bunny I was back in business.

When disaster strikes...

The ride in today was not bad, again I put some air in the back tire at Dave's this morning, it was not until I got out of work did badness start to happen. I felt the back tire and could crush it completely between my fingers. On the big list of things that are no fun, its pumping a tire up 3 times on the ride home to 60psi with a "cheap, I'll not spend allot of money on that cause I'll never use it" frame pump.

Also during all of this, there was a storm moving in, so I was VERY motivated to get back to the truck. Missed the rain by about 15 feet.

Fastest return home ride so far.

So off to the LBS, oh crap their closed, the sporting goods store it is then. they don't have any 26" schraders in stock. Except for a slim tube..................OK give me the slim tube.

I installed it last night, I can tell I don't like these things from the start. I also put my Hutchinson city slicks back on to reduce some rolling resistance and just to make things a bit easier for now. The valve stem plate was so big that it would not allow the tire to set in the channel locks. It also seems that you cant put air in these things and then CHECK THE DAMM pressure, cause the green crap will come out and clog the nipple and your pressure gage. I got about 60psi in it before all hell broke loose, I'll head over to the LBS this week and get things straight.

Numbers on the day;
Millage: 8.9 (I changed to take on a bigger hill)
Moving Time: 23.52
Max Speed: 20
Average Speed: 11.5



~Jason
"Its all downhill, breath"

Leekygas...

No, not the Tour De France team, my back tire. It must be loosing some pressure over night cause when I got to Dave's this morning my tire felt a little soft. So I pumped it up a bit and made the ride in. The ride in was good, legs felt strong, I jumped up on my big chain ring for a while, things went well. I even chased another commuter for most of my ride in, but just could not catch him.

Numbers on the day;
Millage: 9.9
Moving Time: 24.14
Max Speed: 21.5
Average Speed: 11.1

Ride home,

So I guessing I'm loosing air while the bike sits at work, so the ride home was a little bit harder then I think it should have been. I'm going to have to go to the LBS and get a new tube and make the change. (I hate changing tubes)

`Jason
'Its all downhill, breath"

Start of a new week

Monday,

So the goal for this week is to not drive the car in at all.

Day 1

Good ride in, felt good. seems that roofing is good exercise for biking to work.

Numbers on the day;
Millage: 9.9
Moving Time: 25.26
Max Speed: 21.5
Average Speed: 10.9

Lunch:
Subway chicken, and soup

The ride home SUCKED, just seems that I don't have the energy to make it there and back. I am sure that after make the ride for some more days it will not be so bad.

There is one REALY nice feature or ridding next to front street in Harrisburg, I get to pass cars that are stuck in traffic and just keep telling me self that its not my gas that's getting used up going no where.

My Friends Dave and Elaine are celebrating their 20th year of marriage this week, so very cool, and Dave is also celebrating his 42nd birthday, so old. After thinking about it, isn't getting old the goal. If you don't get older, then you dead... Hell yea, we are going to do some celebrating...

~Jason
"Its all downhill, breath"

What tims is it...

I am sure most of you are familiar with the old adage;

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise"

I changed it this morning at 5:30am when my alarm clock went off

"Early to bed, early to.........F&#K what time is it?"

As I'm sure you can figure out by now I am not really a morning person, I like getting up early, no scratch that. I like being up early, I just don't like getting up early.
After coffee and carpet bagging, I felt great coming into work today. I could peddle longer then in the past, and even set some new personal bests

Numbers on the day;
Millage: 9.9
Moving Time: 24.2
Max Speed: 19.6
Average Speed: 11

Lunch

Melissa made me dinner last night
Weight Watchers (Sort of) chicken Parmesan

Recipe for the chicken
Take chicken breasts or tenders and remove the tendon; season 1 cup of corn starch with salt, pepper and chipolata power to taste. Coat chicken in starch, then in an egg wash, then cover with Panko bread crumbs. Place on a baking sheet treated with non-stick cooking spray and bake a 400 deg till the chicken reads 160 internal.

The one thing that we did with this is make the pieces of chicken small so they would cook faster, about the size of a chicken mcnugget.

SOOOOOOOO GOOD

On the Ride home something goofy happened, I felt fantastic on the way in, but on the way home it felt like I hit a brick wall. Just did not have any power in my legs. Well I guess it is to be expected, seeing that I just rode 30 more miles in three days then I have in 2 years.

On a side note:

I helping a friend of ours put a roof on this weekend, Mondays ride could heart a little bit

Also HUGE KUDOS are due

My good friend Joe H. has driven his car exactly the same number of miles to work as today's date this year. Only 13 days has he driven so far, the rest was all peddle power.

~Jason
"Its all downhill, breath"

OH, the agony

When I got home last evening I felt fine, When I woke up today...... well not so much.

Still I got in the car, drove to Dave's House, drank some coffee and make it into work today. My legs are killing me, my rump feels like the Shami is broken and my lower back is REALLY pissed off at me at the moment. Oddly enough I'm more active at work them I used to be.

Numbers on the day;
Millage: 8.96
Moving Time: 27.05
Max Speed: 19.5
Average Speed: 9.9

Lunch:
Turkey and Swiss sandwich, Apple and Peppermint patty
Water: 34oz


The ride home today, in a word "SUCKED" There was a 10-15 mph head wind along the river bike path tonight, it felt like I was dragging a bag full of wet Nerf balls behind me.

~Jason
"Its all downhill, breath"

First time...

Did it..
Can't speak..
Must breath...

Was a fun ride, painful, but fun.

Arrived at Dave's house by 6am, we drank some coffee and Capet bagged for a little while. It was also a good time for him to go over my set up, he has been bike commuting for about seven years now and I value his inpute. After some coffee and plenty of BS, I left Dave's house by 7:00am. The ride was smooth, my back side heart almost instantly but made it here with plenty of time to spare.

Numbers on the day;
Millage: 9.9
Moving Time: 25.25
Max Speed: 19.5
Average Speed: 10.5

Lunch today:
Turkey wraps, apple and a Peppermint Patty
Water: 34oz


The ride home was a little bit harder, there is a hill that I have to go up before i get back to the truck. But all in all I was very please with my self.

~Jason
"Its all down hill, breath"

First Day of Work

No ride in today, although I am all jazzed up about tomorrow. I figured it would not be a good idea to show up for the first day and have to get cleaned up.

"Hi I'm the new guy and I smell funny"

So lets take today to go over the man, machine and plan

The Man:

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 340lbs (ouch)

Current Athletic Ability Level: Basset Hound

The Machine:

Brand: Gary Fisher

Frame: 05 Marlin

Add-On: Eggbeaters Peddles (Crank brothers)

Add-On: Climbing bars (I have no idea)

Add-On: Rear Rack (Blackburn)

Add-On: Lights (Front & Back)

Add-On: Two bottle Cages

Add-On: Bell

The Plan:
Riding the bike from my house to the office is no feasible to two reasons at this time;

1) I would have a stroke

2) I would have to leave at about 3am to get there by 8am

So the idea is I'm going to park a good friends house that lives close to the Greenbelt in Harrisburg. I have mapped out the rt, I can take side streets to the green belt and then follow the bike path the hole way to Forester st in Harrisburg. From there Its three blocks to the office, piece of cake.

Over all millage is .1 miles short of 10 miles a day. Good starting point I think.

Well tomorrows the big day, stay tuned

~Jason

'Its all down hill, breath"

Bike Shopping!!!!!!!!!

Well here is the way I see it, if I am going to;


1) Ride a bike to and from work
2) Survive that ride with/out a stroke and or heart attack
3) Be asked to come back into the office after the first day
4) Carry a laptop and office "stuff" each day


I need to go bike accessory shopping. After a very quick and expressive trip to my favorite Local Bike Shop (LBS)

Pedal Pusher
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&channel=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=B4i&resnum=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=pedal+pushers&near=Harrisburg,+PA&fb=1&view=text&latlng=14072021090692125367

3798 Walnut St. Harrisburg, PA 17109
(717) 652-7760

I came home, in the car sadly, but with these items;

1) Shimano SH-MT31
These shoes are wonderful, as comfortable to wear and walk in as a good pair of New Balance running shoes. Two years ago I made the investment to go with clipless peddles (Eggbeaters, by CrankBorhters) at the time I purchased them they had a deal running where you got the peddles and a pair of shoes for something like $100.00. I have since that day, HATED the shoes, and LOVED the peddles. These shoes are a totally different creature, I have worn them around the house, cooked in them, hardwood floors, tile, never with out a slip, fall or having to resort to the goofy bike shoe walk so I don't fall on my back side.
http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/shoes/mtb/product.-code-SH-MT31.-type-.html

2) Giro Atlas II, Black

This one was a little frustrating, I had a Trek something, and the small plastic connector on the back snapped at some point. So in all truth I was buying a new helmet due to the failure of a 15 cent part. On a good note, it is stated somewhere??? that a helmet should be replaced about every three years.
Again, solid piece of head gear, it was designed to be comfortable on larger skulls.

http://www.bellhelmetstore.com/Other/bellbicycle/Atlas.html



3) Avenir Excursion Large Panniers
Now these took a little bit of adjusting, I had a Blackburn rear rack already installed on the bike, but when I first hooked these bad boys up my heals would hit the bags... After a little adjusting of the rack and the bags, I was golden.

These bags are water resistant, (proff) for all I can tell and have a mechanical clip on the top that attaches them to the rack so the CAN'T fall off. The only think about them I do not like at this point is the side pockets. They only have one small section of Velcro holding them shut. Just seems like something might work its way out. But time will tell.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00165Q4QM


The last item that I got today was a little bit trickier, I'm a consultant so it is almost always required for us to bring our own computer to the office. And since it is my computer and not my office I'm always a little twitchy about leaving it there over night. When driving back and forth you can just throw it in a messenger bag, or brief case and all is well. The thought if ridding 10 miles with a 17" Dell Vostro 1700 (Pictured Left by a 21" LCD) just makes my back heart. So off to the office supply store.

Where I scored:

4)Swiss Army Wenger GA-7306-06F00 Pegasus Computer Backpack



There's not much I can say about this one aside from I should have gone to this type of bag for my computer years ago. Wonderfully made, comfortable to wear, weather resistant, well balance, fits a bigger guy. I can find only one missing feature and that would be a MP3 player pocket on the shoulder strap for easy access. But that can be solved with a add on.

Over the course of the next few weeks I'll be sure to let everyone know the success or failure of my recent acquisitions.

Back to WORK!!!!!!!!

Thankfully, Happily, Wonderfully, what every "lly" word you want to use I'm a contributing member of society again. Back to work after four months off, now I relies that some of you might say. "wow four months off would rock", well not so much. I am completely sure I have looked at the Internet, the ENTIRE Internet. Twice.

To make things even better, my new contract is with a PA based firm, for a State run agency in Harrisburg. (not listing any company names so that I can STAY employed) With the rising cost of gas, by the way Is everyone else sick of that catch phrase yet? "the rising cost of gas". With gas prices at all time, and ridiculous levels I have decided that I'm going to ride my bike to work. I'm sure this is going to suck for a while, but in any event it will save money, and offer some MUCH needed excises.

In an attempt to shed some light on bike commute from a fat guy point of view, and also to test some of the hundreds of thousands posts on the web offering instructions on the "proper" way to get to work on your bike. I can tell you, in one easy sentence, the proper way to get to work on your bike. "Get to work with out getting injured, on a bicycle"

So here's the goal, I am going to try to post something every work day, what my ride was like, if I tested something new, a new route, a new accomplishment anything. I'm not naive and relies that most likely the only people that will read this post will be my friends, but if you find your self reading it and like or hate something let me know, leave a post. If your a Harrisburg, or just a bike commuter in general, i would love to hear your story. If there is something you want to know about, questions anything really leave a post.


One last thing, I'm a dyslexic so I relies there are going to be typos, miss-spelled words, and just stuff out of place. I'll do my best to clean it up, if you want to point something out please feel free. If you have a good dyslexic, or dyslexia joke go for it I'm always up for a good laugh.