This is a joke right?

Ok, it's April 15th. It was seventy degrees yesterday. I woke up this morning looking forward to a nice, warm, even leisurely ride to work. :)

I then look outside to this :(



Awesome. And by the time I met my girlfriend for lunch it looked like this.




Awesomer. I think, in fact, that this was one of the least pleasant commutes I've had this season. The snow was not so much snow as it was crystallized rain that turned instantly to slush once it hit the ground. Fenders aside, my feet were still soaked when I got to work.

Now, I realize it sounds like I'm whining right now, and the reason for that is that I am whining right now. But seriously, I rode all winter, religiously, through below zero temperatures in the dead of night.



And damnit, I'm sick of this.

mmmm...Statistics

So Trek has started an organization called 1 world 2 wheels, it's all about getting people to ride bikes as transportation and fun. Now, granted, Trek is a corporation, and therefor I'm sure their intentions are not quite benevolent. In fact, I'm sure what happened is that they have market research, which shows that now is a good time to push bicycle commuting as a new market they can tap into. But hey, that doesn't mean that it won't do some good for the world. Besides, I'd rather trust the benevolence of a bicycle company than GM trying to ram how green their Suburban hybrid is down my throat.

1W2W is also partnered with IMBA, and in their most recent newsletter they posted some interesting stats, which I will now bequeath to you.

- The average person loses 13 pounds in their first year of commuting by bike

- In 1964, 50% of kids rode to school and the obesity rate was 12 %. In 2004, 3% rode to school and the obesity rate was 45%

- More than half of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively.

- About 40% of all auto trips are made within 2 miles of home. (Think about that, how often do you drive 'just to pick something up')

- A 140-pound person burns 476 calories per hour while mountain biking. If you're 195 pounds you'll burn 664 calories. (If you're an American, you're prolly a fatty, go ride your bike)


- More Americans work in bicycle-based recreation than are employed as lawyers. (I'm not really sure what the hell that one means)

There are others, but those are my favorites.

And, there is of course the best reason, in my opinion. It's a lot of fun.

Rediculous Dichotomy

Ah biking to work. I woke up to roughly four inches of fresh snow today...IN APRRIL! And I was still sweating like crazy when I got to work.

But it's April

So after a 'healthy' night of drinking with Mr DNA I woke up this morning (afternoon) frikkin stoked to go for a mediumish road ride. Of course this being Montana, even though it's April, I looked out the door to this.



Great.

Well, I do still need to rebuild the rear wheel to my Langster. So, with a little help from the late Sheldon Brown's Wheelbuilding page I set down in front of the TV to do just that.



Of course since I am going to the trouble of building my own wheel, I like to give it some flava that it wouldn't otherwise have. So for no particular reason I went with anodized purple spoke nipples.



As big of a pain in the ass as it was to deal with having one of my bikes out of commission because Specialized put a cheap-ass hub on their fixed gear, it is nice to have a warranty replacement Surly track hub.



People sometimes ask me why I like riding fixed. I really have no tangible reply (even though it does, in fact, feel much better than any other bike I've ever ridden) other than it is the only style of bike that I own completely redundant copies of.

So now my two favorite bikes can finally meet. Biantchi meet the Gangster. Gangster...Biantchi.

LIverdance Trois

John has a couple, soon to be a threepeat, posts up about our trip to Boise for Liverdance. It was quite the trip, as I have never been there and having knowledge about the city is a key factor in doing well in an alleycat. We returned exhausted, with more friends and some good stories, so I'd say that equals success. Just don't drive through Jellystone in a beat up Toyota Corrolla when the park cops are training their nubes. The tend to freak out about things such as not looking like suburban families of fourpointtwo.

Hopefully I'm going to get into the park for a road ride this weekend...mayhap I'll get some good pictures to post...

The nice thing about being me

...is that I laughed when I read this

Have fun with your SUVs America!

The first step is admitting you have a problem

I have a disease. There I said it. The bikes in my garage, in no particular order, are as follows:

Full suspension mountain bike
Single speed mountain bike
Xtracycle
BMX bike
Cruiser with big 'ole whitewall tires
Roadbike
Fixed Gear, factory built
Fixed Gear that I slapped together from an old Bianchi


That's eight. Eight beautiful steeds that I love dearly. And enough bikes that my roommates, family, girlfriend, and most friends, all think I am completely insane. To top matters off I just got off the phone with my buddy John who works at a local shop. The reason I am talking to a friend of mine who works at a shop is that I am thinking about obtaining yet another bike. And the thing is, I'm already convinced that I can't live without it...something is definitely wrong with me!!