Tuesday, February 28, 2006

fixed gear


new issue of 63xc is out. for some reason i really like bikes like this. probably the dirt bag mentality in me that likes things pieced together into functionality. for some reason links aren't showing up lately when i post 'em but here's a try



some good stuff to check out. how to reverse, a skill i haven't even tried to learn yet. author makes a point for its practicality on the trail. stop, stall, reverse, re-aim, go. 90rpm cadence, wha?

how to braze your own track ends. i'll leave that for the skilled like wills to learn.

oh yeah, i almost forgot. steve potts is in there and matt chester reviews the midge bars.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Louis Armstrong

Check it out. On Best of Public radio tomorrow morning NPR is playing a program called Louis Armstrong's New Orleans. I know it on at 11 am on Austin's KUT. Maybe playing on other NPR stations, but if not you can alway check it out online:

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Trips for Kids

Talked to some folks at Trips for Kids tonight. i am signed up to help tutor students at the school tara is working at as prep for the state of texas exams. its a charter school for kids on their last chance to get a highschool diploma. throught it would be a good idea to find a way to get some bikes and see if any of these kids are interested in going for a ride. trips for kids is totally set up for helping get a program started at a school like this. the founder, maryln is sending me some info to help get me started. pretty big work to do that, talk to principle, get school to put program on insurance, sign copyright laywer jargon, find the interest, get some help, and plan two trips. that's the easy part. planning trips. there are a bunch of great rides we could do super close to town. stoked.

gityer pod cast on

I love public radio. Pacifica Radio on the west coast was pretty good. lots of good music and programs, not just the occasional jazz program and classical music. KUT here in Austin is sweet. Lots of news in the morning and afternoon followed by Market Place, but in the evening and weekends they have great music programs. Lots of jazz, blues, soul, and on Saturday its American Roots and folkways. Listen online or gityer pod cast on

just filling out wedding invites. yahoo!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Frio




Cold ass weekend in Austin. Freezing rain Saturday night. Ice in bowls Sunday morning. My parents were visiting from New York. Bummer for them. One good day of temps in the 80's, but cool the rest of the visit.

Dropped 'em off this morning for their 6:45 flight. Decided to go ride Walnut Creek. It was sweet. Don't know if was the early hour or the cold temps, but had the place to myself. Wool long sleeve, short sleeve, wool arm warmers, leg warmers, wool cap under the helmet, and carhart knickers. Perfect amount of clothes, light shells over my cycling gloves. Bottles had ice in them by the end of the ride and there was a thin layer of ice on the windward parts of the bike. Coldest ride of the year. Purdy good though and I'll take it cause I am sure to have a lot of hot ass rides the rest of this year.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

DICK




So, accident or divesion tactic to take America's attention off the domestic spying program? You decide.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Late Night Blog

4:3o AM. Went and saw Grupo Fantasma at the Parish. Young group of guys, latin type jazz. Good music to dance to, salsa and more. Parish gets a bit crowded and its hard to dance amongst people standing still.



After Tara and I went to our friends Nick's and Pete's birthday. Kegs, dj's, and people making music come out of Mac's. Pretty sweet. Some dude's rappin' on top of the beats. Too bad the mike kept on cutting out.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Sweet Ass Bike


My feelings for the cross-check were reaffirmed Thursday. Wanted to ride some dirt, but the front tire on the 1x1 is giving me problems. Damned stan's tubless. Guess that isn't really the problem. Air is coming out of the valve stem and having trouble sealing. I think its because the shop installed a regular liner when they should have installed a Sun Rhyno Lite specific strip, which they didn't have. Love it when mechanics err, makes me not feel so bad when I screw up wrenching my own bikes.

While Tara was getting a haircut I took a ride towards downtown to meet up with her later and grab dinner at Whole Foods. Rode down Congress, dodging and passing traffic at rush hour. Definately a rush on a bike, splitting lanes and making a hell of a lot more progress than the cars. Eventually made it on the Greenbelt about dusk and that's where my love of the cross-check came to light again. For a trail where the standard is a fs rig, that thing hammers. Maybe its the steeper gear, 42x16 (versus the 34x16 or 34x14 on the 1x1 free or fixxed), but it felt like I was flying through the rock gardens and around turns. The 38c tires fit through the rocks better and bumps just feel smoother on that ride for some reason. The bigger wheels, longer wheel base, and more streched out position don't make it as quick handling as a mtn bike, but its pretty damn good. The speed is definately real slow through real technical rock gardens, but real low speed through obsticles with your peddles just barely coming around is pretty radical on a fixxie. If you ride fixed but haven't tried it on your most technical local trail, you don't know what your missing. Granted, you may think it sucks once you try it, but now you know. You also know the feeling of riding and worrying about your peddles smaking everything. But odds are is on that first ride, you'll have that small moment of clarity, where you're just hammering, your bike seeming to maintain momentum on its own, and nailing those slight cadence stalls combined with a lean that allows the peddles to somehow snake their way through the rocks clean. Then reality strikes as your peddle smacks a rock at the lowpoint as your front tire nails a tombstone. One foot unclipped swinging out wildly as you try to hold on and keep the rubber down.

And back to the cross-check. The do everything bike. I take this on road rides with buddies. Granted since its fixxed they lose me on the downhills and I usually have to catch them going up if I want to continue to ride. Off-road, not as good as a mtn bike, but a different style ride that offers variety to your everyday trail. Gravel, and all day road rides. Around town. Tours. The only thing this bike might not be great for is racing. Jack of all trades, master of none? Don't know, probably depends on whose peddling the bike. Put the right rider in the cockpit and I sure its a master of all trades.

So if your in the market for a new bike and not looking for a bike to handle a specific task. You should think about going to your lbs and look at the cross-check. Such a fun bike to ride in almost all situations your other bikes might get to feeling a little neglected.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Wow, have times changed.

My uncle sent me this quote. Something to think about when you throw a leg over that 27 speed cadence micro-manager that you call a bike.

Paul DeVivie invented the first derailleur gears in 1905, but Henri Desgrange (founder of TdF and bicycle racer) said they're "fine for invalids or district nurses, but not for true champions."

Elaina Ozitte Carpenter



Some of you may have heard, Carp and Allison are parents! Elaina came into this world on Jan 29 or 30th. Carp didn't give me the exact date only how many days old she was so it would put here being born on the 30th

Sunday, February 05, 2006

PUMPING IRON




We took the keg over to our house for a little after party. My new buddy Moshu isn't too into dogs. Bit of a different culture in Saudi I guess. There is the universal language of beer though. Interesting talking to a person from a place where beer is illegal. Fuck that. Fuck religo-fascist states. I'm not into it, but it's probably not too PC.

http://www.hydeparkgym.com/

Pumping Iron. What a funny movie. If I had seen that movie before Arnold became Gov. of Cali-fuckin-fornia, I wouldn't have been so suprised he was elected. What a funny mother fucker. Hyde Park Gym. They have a website. Check it. Pump up pussy.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Another day in paradise

Got cold last night, but today its another toasty day and blue skies. Too much honey dews to ride, but shits gotta get done. Going by a place to get a couple of rings too. Unfortunately Tara ain't into me getting a 44T stainless steel ring for the wedding.

A gb recently purchased Hyde Park Gym. Its a big muscle head place, but there is a lot of normal people that work out there. Last Friday night we tore down a bunch of walls and opened that back of the place up. Tonight he's having kegs, a bbq, and showing Pumping Iron on the wall beside the parking lot.