Monday, July 23, 2018

This Just In: I Typed Words and Outside Put Them On Their Website!

What better way to start out the week than with an Outside column by ME?



Well, there are probably many better ways, but tough shit.

One thing we're not starting the week off with here in New York is good weather.  In fact it's supposed to rain pretty much forever:


I'm sorry to report this is entirely my fault.  See, recently I got this sweet new bike and I was looking forward to riding it all this week on a variety of different unpaved survaces:


So of course the Great Lobster On High has seen fit to punish me by unleashing an eternal rain and forcing me to stick to the roads, and the rest of you are collateral damage.

I'm also sorry to report that after enthusiastically watching the first week of the Tour de France I've now slid irretrievably off the back and have no idea what's happening--sort of like how I enthusiastically returned to racing this year, slid irretrievably off the back, and have no idea what's happening.

Funny how that works...



28 comments:

Anonymous said...

You must be getting the rain that we ain't! Watched a Tour day last week, that's all though.

hey nonny mouse

Skidmark said...

Rest day.

Chazu said...

Podium. (?)

Anonymous said...

As usual, the first week of the tour was a bit boring. Unless you like failed breakaways and crashes. The second week was pretty good though. I've been impressed by how long it takes the peloton to catch Sagan when he goes in the break, even on the big mountain stages.

Been there, done that said...

Pododioyumyumyum?

What? I'm loving the TdF. Breakaway, Sky follows with 6 GC wannabees, catches break. Rinse and repeat.

Anonymous said...

I tried kissing a bike lane once, but the glass chards punchured my inflated lips.

HDEB said...

Bicycle lanes caused the 2008 financial crisis and they are about to cause another one.

WhenLifeGivesYouLemons said...

"...recently I got this sweet new bike and I was looking forward to riding it all this week on a variety of different unpaved survaces. So of course the Great Lobster On High has seen fit to punish me by unleashing an eternal rain and forcing me to stick to the roads..."

One of (maybe the main one) points of this "sweet new bike" is it is nice to ride on the roads to the trail? So will we get a review of how it handles on road, particularly wet ones?

Chazu said...

Yes! Thoid place.

WhenLifeGivesYouLemons said...

A wet road review of the 1894 Trek 720 I saved from Craig's List last year:

Like Tan returning to racing after swearing it off for several years, I returned to rain riding this weekend, both days. 32 mm Continental Ultra near slick on the rear, 28 mm Panaracer Pasela on the front. Going 18-20 MPH downhill in the middle of the lane with a car behind me, approaching a curve when I realize I'm going too fast. Light touch on both brakes, steering wide into the flow of rushing water against the curb, and the Great Lobster On High saw fit to keep me upright. Whew.

bad boy of the south said...

Visiting family in NY State this week.rain.rain.rain.rain.rain.rain.....and rain.

BikeSnobNYC said...

WhenLifeGivesYouLemons,

Bike handles well on the road, but it also really makes you want to leave the road, so doing a 100% road ride on it would be kind of frustrating.

If I'm going to do a pavement-only ride I'm going to go for the Fred Sled.

--Wildcat Etc.

Billy said...

My brakes started squealing today and I noticed my front left brake pad has toe out instead of toe in. Woe is me; I hate adjusting break pads. There's no point to this story; I just wanted to type some words in the box too.

I want to take the bus when it rains, but it gets stuck in traffic and takes 3X as long. Or I have to walk a mile to the subway stop. It's still satisfying to cruise past all the stopped cars on my commute home even if it's raining.

BamaPhred said...

Welcome back Tan Tenovo

Vertically stiff and laterally warped said...

Does the rain also prohibit you from riding the wooden fred bike?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the rain fucker!!

Drock said...

If it’s rainin’ I’m trainin’

Foghorn Leghorn said...

Gianni Moscon needs some bitchslappin’ lessons. That was pretty weak.

wishiwasmerckx said...

The mountain stages in the Alps made for compelling TV, but the 2 flat stages which followed challenged Phil and Paul"s considerable ability to fill the airtime with idle chatter.

When someone who is an hour behind on GC gets up the road by 11:00 with another mountain stage looming, the peloton gives a collective shrug, and somebody you've never heard of and will never hear of again wins a stage at the Tour.

Things should look up again tomorrow in the Pyrenees.

And that concludes your TdF update for today's rest day.

wishiwasmerckx said...

All politics is local.

So, has the proposal to install a bike lane through the middle of the Trump Tower lobby gained any traction up there in left-leaning NYC?

Anonymous said...

Update; rain has arrived here too. (Embra)

Pure pishin' it doon....

First first, I think.

hey nonny mouse

wishiwasmerckx said...

So it's 114 degrees in Phoenix right now, and you crybabys are complaining about a little drop of rain in NYC?

Anonymous said...

Here´s something to make you happy: Amsterdam Reggae, weed and bicycle seats, by the inmense Jango Edwards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=430&v=ai5YBKon0Pw

cyclejerk said...

PODIUM? Sorry. Late to the party. No rain here in the Midwest. Lot of wind. Riding sucks e'en when you're being blown. Along.

Ze Cherman said...

Meanwhile over in Meerssen, Dutchland, bike lanes are kissing EACH OTHER:

https://goo.gl/images/Ka6hYg

The broken line means motorists can drive over them, but (and this is key) have to yield to cyclists while doing so.

Alabamans, on the other hand, have never heard of bikes by the looks of things:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/young-man-walked-miles-day-work-car-ceo/story?id=56642518


Kevin Love said...

So you are having what the Dutch call "a dry spell."

See:

https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/cycling-in-the-rain/

leroy said...

Made some adjustments late Sunday on my road bike so of course I had to see how they felt.

And of course it was raining when I started out and of course it poured for a bit of the shortish ride.

Getting rained on when it's in the mid-70s isn't so bad. In fact, after the heat and humidity, it was kind of nice.

But it still doesn't seem right that you have to wash your bike after it gets wet or that your dog tells you not to jump on the couch.

Anonymous said...

I see your Tan Tenovo, and I raise you one Bamboo Bicycle.

Calfee Bamboo Bike