cara and lindz

i had a good weekend. it started off with dj'ing at marz on a friday night, which is always pretty fun but especially so when friends come down to hang out. cara and lindsey rode down to kick it for a while. afterwards we rode to get something to eat. lindsey was on her newly repainted and rebuilt lemond cross bike, and she put it through it's paces as we went through a few alleys on our way to our favorite afterhours eatery... el chaparro!

monday sun

i have a lot of work to do this spring, as i've been pretty lazy when it comes to any type of 'real' riding. so after putting some fresh cinelli bar wrap on the corsa i headed out for a few hours just before sunset. i was just gonna spin but ended up going all out. the wind was pretty bad and to make things even harder i turned off on a gravel road for a while. it was dry but too soft and the wheels started to sink in and made keeping the bike upright a challenge. going south into that wind on a road like that shelled me. i was bonking toward the end and had to eat something, so i stopped at a gas station as i got back to town and devoured a slim jim :-P

classica saturday

to celebrate the arrival of spring i should be out on a long road ride in homage to milan - san remo which is held today and is the longest one day race (185 miles) on the pro calendar. but after the snow last night, well i felt pretty lazy so instead i chose to do something a bit more low key. i rode to the cup (which is only a few blocks away... i said i was feeling lazy remember?) for a latte and freshly made cinnamon roll. i then went back home to watch the conclusion of la classicisima.

it's not spring yet

of course with yesterday being so nice out, it being march in nebraska means that today would have to be so crappy. geez... it's really driving me crazy. i needed a beer so i called up janna and we rode down to the usual friday-after-work locale for a slice, some garlic bread, and a few glasses of la terrible. oh man, i didn't feel so bummed about the snow after that, so good!

finally

with the cold and cloudy weather these last 9-10 days, everyone was down in the dumps. but today... wow, sunny and 65! boy did we need it! i posted up on one of the benches downtown for a bit to drink a jarrito and people watch. yeah yeah, i know it's suppost to snow tomorrow but what the heck, that's march in nebraska for ya.

riding green

i don't usually go out on st. patty's day... but last night ryana, erin, and kaitlyn convinced me otherwise. after meeting up to prime with a few rounds we then rode down to knickerbockers for the killigan's show. thanks ladies, i had a great time!

mixte redux

last week alexandra had told me that she got a new bike and that it was on it's way to her local shop. it finally arrived and she rode it to work tonight. she's pretty happy with it and i must say it's a real pretty machine. it's one of electra's new ticino bikes (the 16d model) which is the classic 80's ladies mixte redux. the hammered alloy fenders are a nice touch. i think i should do a series on just barista bikes.

mellow monday

it was cloudy all weekend. and today it was more of the same... bummer. oh well, a few brews with some bros cheered me up. the true blonde ale by ska brewing was especially good.

phở sure

after a crazy friday and saturday nights i was in recovery mode all day. late in the afternoon i got a call from melissa... she suggested we meet up for some phở at vung tau's on north 27th. heck yeah! a nice big bowl of that stuff is just what i needed. thanks for the call melissa, and nice hat.

bob's

it was a good show with pharmacy finishing up the night. afterhours wasn't too bad either, with bikes, beer, and of course a danceparty.

the white lotus

when i head to the coho for my nightly double latte i can always tell who's working by which bike is parked outside. tonight it was the white lotus. it's a classic touring/cross do-anything bike from the 80's and i've always thought that it is one of the coolest bikes in town. along with the black headtube i really dig 1x6 setup with the single suntour rachet bar-con shifter mounted on original lotus branded flared drops. it's been around lincoln for a while and has been dubbed 'Bikey Mcbikerton' by it's current owner, courtney. she's one cool chick. when she isn't moonlighting as a barista she's the drummer for pharmacy spirits and sat in what (i think she plays in one other band too but i can't remember the name). their shows are always pretty damn good. pharmacy spirits and a few other bands are playing this saturday night at bob's tavern in havelock. i just might have to ride out there and catch the show. oh and courtney makes a pretty good latte too.

what up janna?

it got a bit over 40 today and what a cure for the winter blues it is. last night wasn't too bad either, as i was riding around i caught a nice moon rise from the sunken gardens. earlier this evening i met up with janna downtown for some tacos. she invited me to go ride some gravel this weekend. i have to take her up on it as i seriously need to start loosing my winter pounds.

rachel and her kona

people that work in my building know me as 'the bike guy'. rachel rode to work in the brisk 24 degree temp this morning. waytago rachel! keep it up and perhaps you'll soon be known as 'the bike girl'.

famoso

i think i'm already known around town as that tall nerdy mexican dude that's always on a bike (aka el ciclista valiente by some) but now i'm really famous. i don't know why taura would want to use a picture of me in her pecha kucha presentation but i feel special now, thanks taura :) her photos and presentation were really cool. lis's presentation was really good too, so props to them both. the first pecha kucha night in lincoln was a succes and i look forward to the next one.

afterhours snow

ryana loves her portland.

six more weeks they say

more snow... but atleast it's the fluffy kind which makes it fun to ride through. here's to coffee and first fridays! there should be some good openings tonight.

hoping for spring

shadow or no shadow, i'm going to get started on one of my spring projects.

food, art, not bombs

around 6pm on a friday i'm usually inside yia yia's having a beer and a slice or two of pizza but this last friday i opted to go on the critical mass ride. i hadn't attended one since last fall. i thought very few people were showing up consistently anyways because it's been pretty darn cold, but this time i had heard someone was going to bring hot chocolate so despite the 17 degree temp i went. there was a good turn out with about 20-30 peeps. there was no hot chocolate but little did i know that something way better awaited us at the end of our ride. after doing a few loops through downtown we regrouped at the campus union to enjoy some vegan burritos that someone had made and brought in a cooler in an old burley trailer. man, those warm burritos were damn good! shout out to the dude with the trailer and whoever did the cooking, you guys rock! they hit the spot let me tell ya. after stuffing ourselves we went inside where there was an undergrad art opening going on. we had some of their free cookies and checked out the art. while looking like a spelunker to all the other opening attendees, dane noticed the cool bike print on the blouse of the girl in "girl no. 3, by ella weber, charcoal". i located ms. weber and asked her if the bike pattern was her own addition, but she said she drew it exactly from a photo of her aunt as a young girl, probably late 70's. cool blouse indeed.

misty

it's a misty monday morning to start out the week. i hope everyone had a great weekend. last week included some bike building and more than a few lattes (some of which can be seen in lis's weekly vid), capped off by some fun at the races on saturday. now it's back to the grind.

finally

it got up to what, 38 degrees today? what a wonderful change compared to last week.

cabling on a sunday

almost done... just have to finish routing cables on lis's new steed.

a cold start to 2010

even a short jaunt down to d'leon's for a burrito is testing. hell, at this point i'd be happy if it would get above 20.

another snowy coffee run

taken from inside the coho downtown. cofi (named after the black dog in amores perros) waits outside.

snow on marz

i personally like the snow, it's fun to ride in, but the cold windchills i could do without. anyways... saturday night i rode down to marz to spin some latin stuff as i've been known to do on occasion. while i was there nader the owner wanted to show me the xmas present he got from his bar manager (we all know jason, but few know that he's kind of a bike nut too). down in the basement i got to see nader's bianchi that jason refurbished. i had seen this bike a few days before when it still had it's original purple paint on it and all the parts were in a box. in just a day and a half jason had stripped it, torched the tubes a bit for some color and refinished it in a clear lacquer. then he got it built back up in time for nader on xmas. that's damn fast. i like how it came out. it's a pretty cool lookin' 80's vintage bianchi i must say. the new brooks saddle is a nice touch.

blizzard commute

i rode to work tonight. it really wasn't that bad, the worst part was the wind. i was eager to try out the gazzas, and i must say... those finns sure do know their stuff when it comes to snow tires.

bustin' out the skinny tires

just for fun i picked up some super narrow kenda kwick knobbies to try out on felina. they are listed as 30c but actually measure to about 27-28c, so they'll probably fit on a lot of road bikes out there. on my bottecchia there's no room for a fender but still decent clearance nonetheless. i was out running around sunday morning enjoying some sun and they handled the snow and slush pretty good.

postcard from cairo

i got a postcard from my friend dominique who is doing a fulbright stint in cairo. she misses lincoln and misses riding a bike too. she has gotten the urge to get a bike while she is there but she said there is no way, it's too dangerous. but she does see people on bikes everyday, mostly men delivering bread. from what she has told me of the traffic, delivering bread via bike in cairo must be quite a dangerous profession. a few months ago she sent me this photo of one she saw one morning on her commute. props to the breadmen of cairo! i wouldn't last 2 minutes.

brown & blue collabo

i've had my t-check since the spring of '08, and mark at the shop got an '09 model earlier this year. since then we've been giving each other a hard time as to whose is cooler. well... what do you do when you have two t-checks in the same 60cm size and you're hanging at the shop on a saturday? with a crazy look in his eyes mark suggested we throw our bikes up in the stands. it didn't take long and... wah lah! what do you all think of the new color combo?

vi friday

nothing like unwinding on a friday with some peeps. after hanging at a party, and some time after 3am... lis, ryan, and i rode to village inn. ryan was rocking his old ten speed on the snowy streets and he didn't fall once. impressive indeed.

it was about - 4

in these extreme temps people look at a person on a bike in disbelief. earlier tonight during my late night lunch break i rode over to d'leons for a few burritos. while in line at the drive thru these two african dudes in a minivan behind me asked more than once if i needed a ride. the same thing happened last night too only it was a vietnamese guy. another minivan and another driver shocked to see someone on a bike. it's nice to know people will offer you a ride though, if i had had a flat or something i definitely would have taken them up on it. in these condtions i would have to agree that it is almost too effing cold to be out on a bike, but if you dress properly it's really not that bad for short distances. though i must say it can be very dangerous in the first day or two after a heavy snow if you're not careful and don't have the right equipment. until the snow plows can get out everywhere it's way safer to drive, take the bus, or even walk if it's not too far. fortunately i can ride because my commute is pretty short and i also live right on a bus route so they plow it right away. i can also avoid heavy traffic because at the late or early morning hours of my commutes there are hardly any cars out so i pretty much have the streets to myself. i can take my time and pick the best line through the dicey sections without getting in the way of cars. along with very bright front and rear lights, good snow tires are an absolute must. i just ordered some nokian studded tires for my 29er but they haven't arrived yet so i've been using the BUSS instead. it's been my snow bike for the past several seasons. with innova studded tires and snow chains mounted, it does just fine in packed snow or ice with no slipping or sliding. i can't go very fast with the chains but they dig into the ice and snow real good. i'm running a 34x18t gear. it's adequately low, but a 19t or 20t freewheel in back probably would be more ideal.

snowy coffee run

my love of coffee is tested in these snowy conditions.

alfred's machine

while in denver at the tattered cover, i picked up a new bio of stieglitz. in 1897 he would declare "photography is a fad well-nigh on its last legs, thanks principally to the bicycle craze." perhaps he found the younger set of that time disinterested in lugging around a heavy graflex SLR like he was and were opting for another hobby instead. how convenient that cameras are now so small that we can do both!