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June 20, 2008

The cycling week in review

I rode to work each and every day and also took longer rides at lunch.

I played The Game for the first time this season and likely for the final time ever. And I'm going out on top with this year's score being me with one and hoodlums zero. The reason we're done with the game is I've decided boys can't help themselves and just shout things for no reason other than they're guys. I caught up with the "yelling guy" today and we had a pleasant chat at a light. He wasn't trying to be an ass; he was just a guy.

I hit 37 mph coming down the side of the overpass that I hit 33 on last year. I'd have made 40 but as I was coming down the hill doing about 30, in a 35 zone, a white van eased by me as he couldn't bear to be behind a bicycle doing 30. You'll note he didn't race by me; it wasn't like he was in a hurry. He pulled away from me for a bit as I continued to accelerate to 37 at which point I was gaining on him but still had plenty of room to hit 40. Until he got on his brakes because he thought the upcoming turn was his. As it happens his turn was a mile down the road at the light.

I have received more than one suggestion that I'll never have sex again if I continue to wear my underwear on multiple days.

A deer ran out of the woods about 20 feet from me as I sat at a stop sign.

Tonight as I pedaled home I came around a sweeping curve and there were six baby bunnies in the mowed part of the grass. I'd swear if you could have measured the distance between them they'd have been space equally at 15 feet or so apart.

A very large truck cut a corner as he came at me and would have hit me had I been a car. He didn't come close to hitting me but that's because I saw him.

I returned the wireless cyclometer I bought. It kept recording my MAX SPEED at 59.6 mph which is a good deal faster than I've ever gone. Even with a tailwind. It also had me going 5 mph as I sat in my recliner with it reading the instructions. Cadence never worked.

I picked up a Cateye Strada wired cyclometer and installed it.

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Posted by delmer at June 20, 2008 11:21 PM

Comments

Cateye's a good company. A had a Cateye headlight when I was in Korea, and wrote the company in Japan asking if I could buy some spare bulbs. They sent me a couple of bulbs, a bar-end mirror and some other swag. Didn't charge me a cent.

Posted by: Bill at June 21, 2008 2:58 AM

When I go for a walk/jog in the morning I wear the previous day's jocks and socks. I don't see a problem with that, it's good for the environment.

I wouldn't wear the same underwear to work or going out for dinner.

Posted by: Michael at June 21, 2008 5:22 AM

How do you like the Strada?

I've got a wireless Sigma that is works intermittently at best. I like the idea of wireless (who doesn't?) but I'd sort of like the cyclocomputer to work, too.

Posted by: Thomas Brock at June 21, 2008 7:07 AM

"I have received more than one suggestion that I'll never have sex again if I continue to wear my underwear on multiple days."
Suggestion? Would we call shouting a "suggestion"? ;o)

Posted by: Lady P at June 21, 2008 7:50 AM

Bill: That's a sweet deal. The instruction sheet for my computer starts out with a sentence similar to: "Before installing the light." It looks like they took the layout template for the lights and changed it for the computer instructions. The French and Spanish (at least, probably the others) all say "Before installing the computer." (I have a Cateye LED light that is very good -- Oh, and the Cateye computer I bought in 1987 would probably still be working had I not broke it two years ago.)

Michael: I'll admit that environmental concern wasn't my first thought when I put my plan in motion -- but you'd think people would give me some "green" credit. I wonder if I can turn my multi-day underwear use into carbon offset credits.

Thomas: So far the Strada has been great. I did the bit where I measured the roll of the wheel and converted it to MM and it come in pretty close to what my GPS says. The Strada also lets you preserve the Odometer data between battery changes. In the end I figured since my wireless computer had wired cadence (which I rarely check anyway) the one extra wire for speed wasn't all that bad. (I was originally going for a tidier look.)

Lady P: Concern about this one threw me. I'm normally totally naked when I'm playing snugglebunnies and can't see how underwear comes into play at all. However, generally speaking, I wrestle so infrequently that it's unlikely to be an issue.

Posted by: delmer at June 21, 2008 9:10 AM

You call it "playing snugglebunnies"? That's the cutest thing I've ever heard! I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

Posted by: Ginger at June 21, 2008 5:13 PM