brrrban warrior

[topaz]

brrrban warrior
Originally uploaded by qwrrty.

It turns out that riding a twelve-speed bike is a lot like riding a fixie, when your DERAILLEUR CABLES ARE FROZEN.

Rar.

Comments

[pumpkin-pi.livejournal.com]

You friggin' rode in this?!?!?! You Da Man! Or just plain nuts. :)

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I have been told both of those things, on many occasions. :-)

[nooks.livejournal.com]

Conversation with henrygrosvenor upon seeing this picture:

"Hey, that's my daddy?"

"No, that's a friend of mine called Tim. He's getting ready to ride to work."

"Google-work?"

"No, not exactly..."

And so forth.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Ha! No, just tell him I work for That Other Company.

(There's so much Google envy around here...)

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

Oh no! But at least it's a really cute picture!

[inseriatim.livejournal.com]

Tim, you rule.

What do you wear? (My boots aren't holding up.)

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

On my feet? This morning I just wore my Merrill mocs and wool socks. (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=19325)

Torso: t-shirt, fleece pullover, light winter jacket and a reflective commuter vest.

Legs: jeans. I really need long johns.

[ceo]

Go you!

I'd have worn roughly that, plus ski pants (which zip up the legs) and ski goggles. What I really need is a helmet liner or cover; last time I rode in serious cold was actually painful.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

The HeadSokz (http://headsokz.com/) I bought a few years ago seems to be serving nicely for this. It's like a balaclava with a very long neck that you roll up to cover as much or as little of your face as you like.

I wore it today and had almost no windchill discomfort. For a few minutes I did have serious GNARR SINUS ACK STOP, when I was riding directly into the wind, but I see now from the picture I took that the top of the hood wasn't really covering my forehead. I suspect that properly adjusted I would have been fine.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

Dude, you look totally cute in that picture! It does not properly convey the idea of "freezing one's ass off."

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Dang! What do I need to have, more icicles?

[lcohen]

no, more ass! duh.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

NICE! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

Also: Jesus, your CABLES froze? That is NUTS. I don't think that's ever happened to me. Do you store your bike outside?

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're not putting anything in the garage 'til we're done fixing it.

So the bike was under the eaves, albeit outside, during the freezing rain and thereafter. Not surprised that the cables froze (I'm guessing a little water in the cable housing). At any rate, couldn't budge 'em. Wacky!

I did test the brakes to make sure they worked before I set out on this fool's errand. :-)

[cinnalynn.livejournal.com]

What time did you arrive in Kendall? I saw a cyclist go by Windsor and Broadway 9:15am or so and I thought to myself "That's crazy" and "I wonder if Tim is riding today". The picture in my head of that person is compatible with your picture above.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Hee! No, I didn't get to Kendall till about 10:15. I did see a few other cyclists yesterday, but just about all of them were bundled up in roughly the same way. :-)