On Becoming "That Guy"

Housekeeping note first. In "Heretic Homer," (season 4, for the true junkies) Homer Simpson decides he's had enough of church on Sunday. His effort to start his own religion (with virtually every form of sloth you could imagine) fails, but God tells him as the credits roll, "It's ok, Homer, 9 out of 10 religions fail in their first year." I suspect you could say the same about blogs.

As a blogger, I'm not particularly reliable. The six month gap since my last post here makes that clear enough. Alas, as I read regarding the demise (after far more than a year) of one of my favorite blogs, life always wins. So it has for me for a while. But I'm back. At least tonight. And probably not again for a while.

So I'll cross the first of 22 topics I have jotted down off my list: Lycra.

It's "that guy's" uniform. Up on Canada Road, Skyline, over in Sausalito, and especially on CalTrain. Always with the lycra.

I resisted. At some level I agree with the good people at Rivendell who suggest that the implicit snobbery of requiring a uniform to mount a bike ruins the experience -- or at least cheapens it -- for everyone else.

Up to December, I didn't own any. But I'd gone on a couple of rides where, frankly, I felt out of uniform, and a handful of friends I respect sport it from time to time. Lo and behold, Christmas left me with a nice pair of riding shorts from velowear.

So I waited for the rain to clear and hopped on the road bike to head to work. It was as though karma was after me for my hypocrisy (karma seems to figure heavily in my experiences here). Less than a mile into my ride, I had a flat. I walked home, changed, grabbed the commute bike, and headed to the train (not wearing lycra shorts for the first time on the train. Not. Gonna. Do. It.)

Undeterred, I tried again the next day. And here's the thing: I really liked the shorts. Really. A big improvement over my shorts. That was it. I'm officially that guy.

Jersey? Check.
Clipless pedals? Check.
Lycra shorts? Check.
"That guy?" Check.

Any sense of moral superiority is gone. I've become what I mock. And sure, I'll point out that nothing I wear has any big, fancy team logo, or psychedelic colors, or what have you, but if you see me out there on my road bike (still won't wear that stuff on the train in the morning), I'm him and he is me. And it's gotten worse, but that's a topic for another day.

And I'm ok with it. Turns out there's a reason for all the lycra. It's really quite comfortable. What's a guy to do?

Hetchins On Parade: A Guest Post

A guest entry from that serious-biker brother of mine. Thanks Josh!

The pedals haven’t hit yet. No scratches can yet be found on the new bike – a custom built Hetchins frame decorated with Phil and Schmidt hubs, a chromed lugged Nitto stem, a green Brooks swallow, Miche cranks with a TA chainring, and shiny black fenders. That one spill taken while trying to maintain a trackstand with the other foot forward merely bruised the ego, not the bike.

Commuting on a fixie is a blast. Every corner has a certain thrill, and the off camber traffic circles are better than coffee in the morning. Speed is easy to precisely regulate on the mixed use path to the boat house, and track stands are easier (with the accustomed foot forward). Brakes are a must when dealing with unpredictable traffic (like pedestrians running lights, cars backing blind out of parking spaces, off leash dogs, and cell phone obsessed teenagers), and it’s simply cool to be able to slow down no-handed. Riding one of the area’s most beautiful bikes stokes the ego too.

One of today’s highlights was trading smiles with the lady crossing (with the light) an intersection where I was balanced and awaiting a green light. Riding the fixie makes me smile, and smiles are best when shared.

Ed. Note: I'm not sure why it took me 30-some odd years to figure out what my dad and my brother were onto with this biking thing. I'm still not likely to ever become the biker my brother is (or has been, as he might point out), but it really is a superior form of transportation.

P.S. The Hetchins in question is Beeeautiful:

The Helmet Lock: A Useful Tool

http://www.thehelmetlock.com/

I've had a Helmet Lock for about two weeks now. I like it. I've used it a few times and it's convenient and effective. As advertised, it fits easily around a u-lock when not in use.

If you're looking around for a way to conveniently stow your helmet when you lock up your bike, this is a good option.

Need to Lock Your Helmet?

Can't say I've ever felt compelled to lock my helmet up with my bike, but I can see the utility in it (motorcycles often have built-in helmet locks). Just haven't done it. Anyway, Blake, the maker/inventor (?) of this device contacted me below, and . . . why not?

http://www.thehelmetlock.com/spread_the_word.php

Looks like a handy device. Wouldn't necessarily stop a really motivated helmet/bike thief, but how many really motivated helmet thiefs are there, really? Probably not many (a truly motivated bike thief? If your u-lock isn't good enough, you'll have bigger complaints than the loss of your helmet). Seems like a pretty good idea. Good luck, Blake.

Edit, 8/12/08: So after writing this yesterday I took my bike to the ballgame. Not wanting to leave my road bike parked outside at PacBell/Cingular/AT&T (can we just call it "Giants"?) Park and with a heavy load to carry in to work, I road my mountain bike (and took CalTrain). So I get to the game, but did I really want to bring my helmet with me inside the stadium? Of course not. So there I am thinking about how handy Blake's product would be, mere hours after stating that I don't generally have a need for such a thing. Ironic.

Anyway, it turns out my u-lock was just big enough to fit through my helmet, my frame, and the wide front MTB wheel. So I got away with it. Nonetheless, I would've preferred one of Blake's helmet locks.

In Honor of the Departed

(Warning: Wince Inducing Photos Below)

The Departed:

I've been at this bike commuting thing for roughly 5 years now. I think I can safely say I'm a fairly competent cyclist, seeing as how that adds up to somewhere north of 1000 days I've ridden my bike in the recent past. But accidents happen. And my first did a few weeks ago, as I recently alluded to. I wasn't hit by a car, wasn't doored, wasn't run over by an errant elephant. Nope. Something strange happened while I was all by myself and over I went.

Luckily I was moving pretty fast at the time and didn't have much time to react before I hit the ground. That kept me from getting my hand out to brace for impact (which invariably leads to a broken wrist or collarbone, and maybe serious elbow injury). Instead, I hit the fleshy parts . . . and that's a good thing (mostly).


Once upon a time I went through Army Airborne training. They spend two weeks teaching you how to fall, then the third week they push you out of the plane a few times to see if it took. The basics of falling are your points of contact: (1) Balls of your feet; (2) calf; (3) hip; (4) butt; (5) shoulder blades. That's the idea. Your head isn't supposed to hit and they spend a bunch of time with you lying in the dust wearing your heavy ballistic kevlar helmet while the instructors scream at you to keep your head up. This helps build muscle memory and strength. Then they drop you a bunch of times from about 10 feet -- before sending you up in a plane -- to test how well it worked. Most of the time it works pretty well.

Well, here's how it worked out on Townsend (evil incarnate): feet in pedals, so no balls of feet first. Calves? Maybe. Hip? I think that was the first point of contact. Shoulder blade? Yup:about the same time as the side of my elbow (in Airborne school they don't drop you on asphalt): Then the back of my head. And it hit hard. No two weeks of fall training leading up to this one.

And that's where the Bell Corporation came in.
See those cracks along the bottom right (you can't see the hairline one on the left side)? I much prefer cracks in my helmet to cracks in my head. I assume most people feel the same way.


Let's face it, you don't wear your bike helmet because it looks cool. But if I hadn't been wearing mine I was in the hospital for sure, and maybe for a long time. So folks, take the helmet off your handlebars, rack, panniers, whatever, and put it on your head, securely fastened. Most days it will just mess up your hair. Someday, and you never know which one, it may just save you a trip to the hospital (or worse).

New Bike Computer

The last few months have seen a rapid change in my commuting decor. First, the new (used) bike. Second, bike jerseys. Now, a computer. There's no getting around it, I'm very nearly "that guy" everyone else rolls their eyes at and wants to pass.

I've never really cared to have a computer on my bike. I had to get to work and would get there when I got there, whether or not I knew exactly how fast or how far I was going. But when Performance Bike opened their new store in San Mateo 10 days ago and was giving away $20 gift cards, I wasn't going to turn that down. On top of the $20, my daughter gave the prize wheel a spin for me, and voila! She hit "the big prize." Looking at the "big prize" table, a bike computer was the obvious thing.

This isn't too fancy; it's not wireless, won't do my heartrate, no GPS. You know, about what you'd expect for $44.99 (or free, in my case). Last weekend I hooked it up. One false move with a ziptie (wireless does have a certain appeal); I've got one wrapped around the rear brake cable housing at the top of the down tube, but the brake still works fine, so for now I'm leaving it alone.

I admit it's kind of fun to have the computer. It's interesting to know what my top speed is, what my average speed is, and what my cadence is. I know now that my commute to work (when I ride all the way in) is very nearly exactly 17.5 miles. It's kind of fun to keep track of my total miles on the odometer. It's interesting to see what my speed is like on the flats, up hill, down hill, into and with the wind. All interesting.

A concern I started with, that I'd be distracted by the computer, hasn't materialized. I generally know what I'm looking for before I look down and can get the info in a hurry.

The biggest thing I think I'm feeling the computer do is speed me up. I want the speed I'm looking at to come up. I want that average speed to come up. Overall, I think the info the computer gives me pushes me harder. That's probably a good thing. Stronger, faster, and in better shape all sound pretty good.