internets

blogging by phone hard. flickn' by phone easy. set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinosaur1/sets/72157620631693794/

Washington Bridge

We're regrouping after riding across the big bridge to NJ. Had to hike
up and down about two dozen flights of stairs. It's been about 20
minutes of waiting, and everybody is fighting boredom by eating Luna
bars and bananas, drinking water, adjusting their saddles, blogging,
etc.

caffeine

Drinking instant coffee in a hotel bathroom in NJ, because in 30
minutes, I'm putting the bike in the truck and we're going to Columbus
Circle to make media appearances. At 9, we ride back to NJ.

bmx doubling

buddies on a bmx zip past me in the rain as i walk to pauls to give
him his key. i note this and do it myself oftener than before.

At the Newark Holiday Inn

Finally meeting all the other riders and support staff in person.
Learning logistics for daily schedules, purity of New Zeland and its
vodka, parties, etc.

east coast time

adjusted to the time difference with the aid of espresso, coffee, and
french toast. music was campy but tolerable. sat on the porch and
watched a cute NYU summer-schooler argue vehemently on her bluetooth,
turning back and forth on the sidewalk, gesticulating and shaking her
head. off to chinatown to pick up my jambox.

I (polo) NY

Relaxing at Paul's apartment after a busy day out yesterday. Sporting
my new tee from the polo tourney. I didn't have a team, but got a pickup
game in. One of the organizers, Fiona Ryan, also makes nifty caps. I plan to
buy one of the poker-visor jobs through her website when I get my first 42
Ride check. Check her stuff at fifocycle.com.

bff

at the festival for program 13

polo

@ the pit!

bike is ready

eating a snickers before loading gear and boarding PATH

my ride

arrived safely and will assemble at baggage claim. my "tool chest" is
hanging on the chainring

public transit

Noah helped me lug the bike box to the bus stop.

precious cargo

Well the rain didn't let up, so I walked to Powell's, bought a poncho, asked nicely for three large garbage bags to protect my cardboard bicycle suitcase.

Molly, the owner of Velo Shop, made a valiant effort to talk me out of my plan, but nonetheless allowed me to use her shop space to attach box to bike, bags to box.

Jordan rode with me to his house from downtown. It took twice as long as usual, but we made it without incident.

Looking forward to a quiet night in, playing board games. Then it's up early to break down the bike and get to the airport.

Airport

I'm about to go to velo shop to pick up a bike box and pack up the bike. Alaska/Horizon says it needs to be shorter than 63 inches and lighter than 50 to check as regular luggage without an oversize/overweight charge. I think I'll have to put the racks and fenders in another box with the wheels, then distribute my personal effects among the two so that they're both exactly 50 pounds. I'm not exactly thrilled by the challenge.

On the other hand, I am excited to be using public transit to get to the airport. Google maps tells me it can be done in 52 minutes and cost $2.30 (vs. $7.48 driving!).

Sorry for the ugly screen capture. I blame Microsoft.

I'll walk five minutes to the bus stop, ride the 70 bus for ten, wait another ten, then transfer to the MAX light rail Red Line, which takes 24 minutes to get to PDX from the Lloyd center station.

It's all figured out, thanks to Google maps' "by public transit" option. It even factors in the three-minute walk from the rail station to the terminal. I'll be championing a social program, and I don't have to sit in traffic or ask a friend for a ride, which is good, because I don't think I know anybody with a car in this town.

Salem-PDX via 99E

Halfway up 99E, I stopped to rest my toes at an exemplary wood-carving museum, Pearson's Art Gallery. You see a lot of folky wood carvings on the roadside in rural OR, but how often do you see a 12' moose? Not very, thankyouverymuch.
Though the "open" sign was off, I was uploading the first shot to my flickr when this fella popped out from behind the fence. He said his name is Ken Williams, and before though the sign says "est. 1934," it wasn't always a kooky carving museum. It was a way-station for logs, moonshine and other commodities. He also said it's haunted.

This is Elias. I caught him somewhere near Lake Oswego. I asked if I could trade drafts with him for awhile, but he sort of shook his head, so I just passed him. After awhile, he caught me and apologized, saying he didn't understand, his English isn't so good. Turns out he's originally from Chile. Five years ago, he came to Portland to visit his mother, met a woman, married her, and stayed.

Marcus was the first to call me back when I arrived in town. He offered me his sofa, and I accepted.

Here's the bike, finished, with luxury item: a Toshiba RT-80S AM FM radio stereo casette recorder (made in Japan). I think it's an '82. Friend, film-maker/editor Irvin Coffee gave it to me for driving him to Portland about about a month ago. He also gave me fifty bucks, which really came in handy at the time.

But I like the radio more, and I'm taking it on the 42 Ride instead of a laptop.

pit stop

Watering up at Java Jo's in Salem.

up at dawn

To finish the bike.

Running errands...

...on the basket bike.

Post Pista Per Strada

At One Cup.

Hooray!

I finished the 'cross race...Dead last.

Being such a nice guy, I trailered Garrett's polo bike to the event 'cuz he's coming straight from work. This made me late, and I forgot to take some air out of my tires.

After the first lap, I over-deflated and promptly pinch-flatted. On the bright side, there's a flat-fix comp soon.

Done!

And ready for the free 'cross race at Bike Day, with just under an
hour to spare. Also bringing toeclips for polo.

Playing last-minute mechanic...

...with the 'cross Univega.

Oops

Painted my cranks and stem white to match saddle. Put them in the
toaster oven to bake the paint. Burnt 'em.

Bike mechanic party

In my garage. Kimchi swaps his two-piece cranks for Origin8 forged
singlespeed stuff, Garrett tunes up a friend's commuter, Taylor
tensions up his touring wheel. I'm stripping the paint off my cranks
with a belt sander to rattle-can them white.

Heat!

Started doing Bikram's Yoga to prepare for long, sultry days on the
Southern Route of the 42 Ride. It's hot.

Whoops

Thought I was going on the Northern route. This is false. I'm goin' down South. Here's the route in a google map. Not the exact turn-by-turn route—just an ordered list.

Protip:

Expander bolts in Shimano bar-end shifters tighten *to the left.*

Arriving By Bike...

...is the name of friend Paul Moore's new shop. Opens soon.

Blogrollin'

From jfortytwo

Through the magic of the internet, I've discovered weblogs from a handful of other 42Riders.

These bloggers will be braving the mountains on the northern route:

...Well, it's irrelevant.
Be Extraordinary.
Inside the Mind of the Wombat
jfortytwo
Mikey Wally
ride it like you stole it

And these will suffer the heat with me in the south:

Cladnin
Hardcourt Bike Polo

That's all for now. I'll add to the lists on the right ------------->
as I find more.

Track for street

Drag to the crit course for legit track events on a paved oval. Also with typical alleycat sideshows, polo, and of course tasty beverages.

Go fast. Turn left. Win a prize. Bring your own container.

Ups to Colin for putting this one together and to Eilif for the art.

Black beauty

Borrowing a cruiser from the UO Outdoor Program for the Tour de Franzia.

One bike, two riders, two drinks,, One Cup

Last ride with Karissa for awhile. She'll be riding with her other
"manstress," Luke Demoe while I'm touring, so he's taking over before
I leave and doing some serious group rides with her starting Thursday.

Dream wheel is done!

Finally!
I've wanted to lace a wheel this way for over a year now.

It was tricky to bring up to tension and true, but it's so pretty.

I mean, look at it. For bigger versions of these snaps, check my flickr. I've added them to the "wheel" set. This one's my favorite, and it would make a great desktop background.

Now I just have to finish the rest of the bike...

Laundry day

Since Garrett built their anniversary bikes, Andrea's commuter has
become the grocery/laundry hauler.

It weighs about 65 pounds unladen, but dig those wire panniers, eh?

Crazy wheel build

Just about there...

Hunting in dad's garage...

...for his Mac Mini OS disc, I found my old thermarest!

We like bike

The 42 Ride has an official webspace of its own:

http://welikebike42.com/

For now, it's just a placeholder, but click through and bookmark it now, eh?

Bill from Jersey

Bought a junker from BRING recycling for $15 and paid me a few more to get it going. I brought it back to him as he was shopping for herb-garden starts at the Down to Earth on Willamette.

He's here visiting his daughter, who works at the especially bike-friendly Roosevelt Middle School and borrowed a bike to do a West Eugene Wetlands tour. He had so much fun riding around, he wanted something to ride while in town. A mutual friend put us in touch, and I was happy to help him out.

Bill, you're a hep cat, and I'll be looking you up when I fly in to Newark in a few weeks.

Lacing 3-lead/3-trail...

...is tricky.

Trans-Am

Picked up Jeremiah's touring bike today. It looks like I've made the cut, along with 41 other riders, to represent the Bicycle Film Festival and its sponsor, 42Below vodka on an expenses-paid, cross-country cycling tour called the 42Ride. I'm kind of a little bit excited. Maybe.

The bike is a truly excellent tourer, but needs a little work; the rear wheel was hastily built with inexpensive spokes, so I'll be re-lacing it with DT stock, possibly with a fun pattern. I picked up a new-old-stock 7-speed freewheel from CAT to go on the SACHS rear drum hub. I can probably find a seatpost to mount the new leather saddle I just ordered (It's the white one, to match my new helmet). I'll be repacking the front hub, but that's about it. The Schwalbe Marathons still look nearly new, and I'm really excited to use the Click-Stand.

Other than that, all I need are a few extra pairs socks, bike shorts (I have my Chrome winter knicks, some silly novelty shorts from Italy, and a set of bibs, but one can't have too many pairs of shorts on a tour), a pup tent, and a thermarest. Maybe a small dSLR or quality point-and shoot. Oh, and a huge bottle of Dr. Bronner's.

I plan to ride the bike to Portland on the 18th or so to see friends and for Pedalpalooza solstice ride on the 20th. Then on the 23rd, I'll break down the bike and take the MAX to PDX. I'll fly in to Newark, find the hotel in The City, receive some PR training. The morning of the 25th, we'll kick off the ride with a quick tour to Philadelphia. After that, the 42 riders will split into two groups; one taking the northern route, the other the south. I hope to take the more mountainous, less hot northern route:

NJ
PA
OH
MI
IN
IL
MO
NE
CO
UT
NV

We'll camp between media events in cities, and then meet in Los Angeles for the BFF and a big 'ol party on August 21. I'll stick around there for a day to visit my grandmother, then fly directly back to Eugene on the 23rd.

And then it's back to real life. Sigh.

I can't imagine getting this amazing opportunity without the support of so many people.

I need to thank my family for supporting me and trusting the purpose of my every endeavor, no matter how absurd.

I owe so much to all the people who have piqued and fostered my interest in the bicycle, including everybody from polo, especially those who were there from the beginning. Thanks to Sue at Blue Heron for answering all my stupid questions and cutting me a deal or two when I was trying to build my first bike, and all over again when I laced my first wheel. Thanks to anybody who's ever turned a wrench with me or showed me anything about the way anything mechanical works. I think I learned the most from Jeremiah, Big Jon, Garrett and Mikey-Mike. Thank you, Jan, for your vision of a sustainable lifestyle, and for creating institutions to realize that vision. Thank you, Irvin, for making me think big and introducing me to Karissa, who's taught me a lot about how to be a stronger rider.

Finally, thank you to anybody who I've ever met in any circumstance, because you're all a part of who I am.

Thank you.