mucho vino

stopped at meier's for a few botellas of spanish wine. i hope everyone has a fun night. ¡felíz 2009!

service course sunday

i was quite productive today. janna's been wanting to learn how to ride rollers and she FINALLY came over to get the set that i've had in the basement for years. and while we were at her place getting them setup i noticed how shot the tires were on her san jose cross ss/commuter. with the ice and snow we've had this last week or so, janna has been braving the uncleared bike paths with worn out 30c tires. i thought she need something more substantial so we loaded up her bike and headed back to my place for some workstand time at the csc (or conrad's service course... ala mavic), or also known as my kitchen. contrary to what some might believe i do get my hands dirty sometimes, but my services don't come cheap (thanks janna for buying me breakfast... and lunch!). we put on some big 45c wtb mutano rapters to replace her worn tires. remember kiddies; if you ain't got clearance you don't have much versatility. very few cross bikes can take a 45c knobby but the san jose can, though just barely. after a short spin janna liked the feel of the big tires right away, it's the closest a cross bike can get to being a 29er. the mutano raptor is the perfect tire for this but it's unfortunate that wtb no longer offers it in a 45c size. anyway, it's a good thing janna came over because she rides the hell out of this bike and it was in serious need of some tlc. i cleaned it up and got everything running smooth, and while i was at it i got a little carried away with the prolink.

nebraska borealis

61 degrees

yes! may the ice melt melt away.

christmas crash

i go down hard on the ice every winter at least once, and this time it was on this morning's commute home. oh well, no big deal. i still had jose singing in my head as i picked myself up and continued on my way. merry christmas a todos.

ice ice baby

ice ice... rain? it's bizarre to have a thunderstorm in december. the streets are a mess but it's not a problem if you have chains! it was fun having the streets to myself as i rode downtown for a double latte.

el hombre preparado vale por dos

i'm busting out the studded tires, the forcast says possible ice storm tomorrow afternoon.

let it snow

i hope we get more snow, because that means it will have warmed up a bit. riding in these bitter single digit temps is testing to say the least. break out your facemasks.

3 degree latte run

this weather is really testing my love of coffee.

enjoy it...

while it lasts. high of 50 today, monday it's suppost to be a high of like 8?

wild kingdom

my friend taura just bought a house and is looking for a cat. i think i found one. as i was heading back to work on campus after picking up a latte downtown i spotted a little black wild kitty. he was really cute, but elusive and no doubt very dangerous. we stared each other down as i pondered a move.

some oso and roy

it was quite brisk as i rode downtown, 27 degrees... brrrr. i stopped in to oso for a burrito and as i ate, jessica who works there was listening to some roy orbison in the back. very nice.

mira la luna

i rode out on the overpass to check out the spectacle tonight... it was quite a show. even my weak cameraphone could capture a bit of the dance that was taking place.

black friday spin

i went out to wilderness park with nicol and gravy. we had a fun time crossing creek beds, railroad tracks, and dodging thorns.

yo janna

i hooked up with janna this afernoon for a spin down south to meet up with nicol and gravy for a ride. janna has had the san jose for two years now, and she says it's her favorite bike. i bought it back in january of '06, and it was the first san jose the monkey wrench sold. i should have went with one size up cause this one was a bit small for me, but i still liked riding it. later on that year i upgraded and passed it on to janna. whether commuting or racing it, i'm glad to see that she continues to ride the hell out of it.

that's not going anywhere

like in nyc and other places, lincoln too has it's share of unnecessarily vulnerable bikes. someone has put some time and cash into converting this old miyata to a fixie, but yet when it comes to locking it up overnight on campus they really go all out with security. it's just one or two spins with a crescent wrench away from finding a new owner.

cross

taking in some cross racing at pioneer's park over the weekend.

if these shoes could talk....

like any avid cyclist i have a number of pairs of cycling shoes (four pairs of sidis) in my inventory. but for running around town i prefer sneakers, and for me that usually means old school adidas soccer shoes. they make great cycling shoes if you use quill track pedals and toeclips like i do on my street bikes. of the dozen or so pairs of adidas i have, my green suede sambas have been my favorite pair by far. they are 80's vintage and have been in my shoe rotation for at least 10 years. oh the memories... the rides, the parties, the rendezvous. but finally they are done, the soles are wafer thin where i pedal and there's a hole too. the old kicks have served me well and so i bid them farewell. and now... it's time to break out my 80's vintage green suede pair #2! (i always have a backup) :)

morning sky

bike parking

lots of bikes downtown, even on a cold night.

art walk

it was a really cold first friday art walk, winter is here. my friends supah G and linz were troopers though, braving the wind as we rode around to the galleries. among them was a new space at 21st and Y. there was an light & music installation with projected images on a nearby wall, and a bike in the middle (which i'm thinking wasn't part of the piece). industrial art i guess? we then headed downtown to peruse more art and say hi to friends (nice dress taura) and a little canine model at the various gallery spaces and boutiques.

o is for oh what a feeling

more pics from monday's rally by a local photog.

bikers for obama

i towed the mpu (a stereo in a yak... aka mobile party unit) downtown for the obama rally tonight. more pics and video from elisabeth. afterwards we rode around a bit to spread the word.

biker chicks

after the festival i was heading downtown for a bite with lindsey. we ran into tasha on her new mini-peugeot, and then petra pulled up on her hybrid. it seems everyone was out on two wheels enjoying the day. later i rendezvou'd with elisabeth and lindsey at the bread & cup for dinner.

dia de los muertos

saturday afternoon after my radio show i rode over to campus for the dia de los muertos festival at the sheldon gallery. this was the second year they've put one on and it, like last year, was a success. there was the excellent musica from mariachi luna y sol and a wonderful performance by the xiotal and nayare ballet folklorico, both out of omaha.

happy halloween

i was accompanied by three lovely dead spirits as i rode downtown for night of fun. (jennie's photos, and more from elisabeth).

critters

it got over 60 today, and i should have gone for a long road ride earlier this afternoon but i had some errands to do. luckily while at the post office downtown i ran into elisabeth. she wanted to get out and enjoy the perfect weather too, so we decided to ride out to pioneer's park as the sun set. on the way we saw a rather peculiar looking critter on the path. lis wanted to pet him because his fur looked so soft, but i advised against it. he looked quite rigor mortis, but just in case he was sleeping i flicked him into the grass with my tire so that no one else would disturb his rest. on to pioneer's we went, and we ended up hanging out at the pillars as night came. what a gorgeous nebraska evening, i hope everyone got out on the bike today.

crazy hair

i don't wear red, but i was riding my red bottecchia (aka felina) on saturday. i was having a gyro at ali babas and watching all the red-clad fans going by and noticed a few interesting hairdos to say the least (i don't think the person getting into the car is wearing a wig, and it's your guess if it was a chick or a dude, i wasn't sure).

tgif

the sun finally made an appearance today.

ladies' man?

nah, ofcourse not. i'm certainly no leon phelps, but i have been known to spend a sunday afternoon riding with the ladies. last sunday jennie and i went for a spin, and today i went on a post-coffee ride with lindsey. we went out west over the O street overpass , south over the A street bridge, and then through many nice neighborhoods along van dorn. later on in the afternoon cathleen and i rode to la mex for some dinner.

fashion points

soup night at lindsey's, and cara was sportin' a new blue bag. i'd say it compliments her ensemble very well.

blow the horn

i've ridden past this sculpture many times. it sits at the end of 8th street on the north side of the haymarket where the pedestrian bridge starts, and never did i realized that it's actually a real horn that you can play. i'm told that it was done by a UNL art student for a public art project, and with the right pair of lungs it can be heard for three blocks.

mini peugeot

i spotted this little peugeot in a local pawn shop and called up tasha. she's been looking for a bike, and at 5'0 (give or take) she needs something 'tasha sized' as she put it. she got a really good deal on it and then we took it over to the wrench to have it tuned up. it's going to need new tires which is no big deal, or so i thought. at a glance i assumed the wheels were 26" or 650c but it turns out they are an odd 24x1 3/8" size, which is common on wheelchairs but not on bikes. i wonder how many other 'juvenile lightweights' of this vintage (late 70's/early 80's?) were spec'd with wheels this size? thankfully tires are still available, but just the basic road style tires and no knobby treads like she had hoped. anyways, once it's tuned up and shod with new tires, brake hoods, and barwrap it should be good to go.

bring your lights

it was a small group on the monday night ride, but we had fun riding laps at pioneer's as it got dark. it gave me a chance to test out the new light. i've been wanting to get the minewt mini-USB for a while now, and man is it wicked bright for such a small light. it's perfect for a road bike, as it weighs so little and straps to the stem easily. now i can do laps in the dark.