Why I like Japanese bike sites.

I visit and link to bike enthusiast sites in Japan pretty regularly. One of my friends asked why, since I don't read Japanese. Today Mr Akuta put up a post which defines why I check them out.

1. Any ride report which autotranslates out to "The 3rd time Stomach destructive tour series" has got to be a good report.

2. All bikes welcome. MTB, skinny tires, minivelos (small wheeled folders) are all represented.

3. All manners of attire. Helmets optional.

4. Multisurface routes. Backroads, bike paths, trails.

5. Walking hills is OK.

6. Good Scenery.

7. A worthy destination. FOOD.

8. Speaking of which, there are almost as many photos of the food and festivites as of the ride. I like the balance of priorities.

I think I'd fit right in.

This is the kind of biking that lends itself to a lifetime activity.

That's all I'm trying to say.

No bikes weekend

I've been talking about building stairs from our deck to the backyard since we bought the house. I finally did it this weekend. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to lay out the stringers. I finally gave up and did an online serch which took me to http://www.shalla.net/. I spent the 13 bucks and downloaded the spreadsheet. Worked great. Wish I'd done it first and saved myself the aggravation. Finished late enough both days to not be interested in a ride.


On a side note. Riding a bike is not good fitness preparation for digging post footings, throwing lumber around or holding stair pieces over your head while trying to line up and bolt them. Today is my sore day.

Hopefully I can find the time this week to get the handrails built. After that, powerwash and repaint the deck, followed by a retaining wall and patio down below.

Date Set - Fix26

OK, I finally got around to picking a date for the Fix26 TT. 26 miles. Pavement and gravel. Sunday, April 9th, 10 AM. Rain or Shine. I'm going to hold it to about 6 or 8 riders for this inaugural event. TT to be followed by Lasagna at my place plus whatever you folks bring potluck. Spouses, SOs and kids welcome to hang out during the TT and enjoy lunch with us. E-mail me at empathytest@att.net for directions to the start.

Weekends

I like weekends. Saturday was one of the rare ones where we weren't committed to some kids sport or another (between seasons), so I was able to get out to the Frederick Pedaler ride and meeting. The guest for the meeting was Jill DiMauro, owner of Proteus Bicycles in College Park, MD. It was a good talk, about local bike shops and their community involvement. I always like to hear anmated and interesting speakers.

The whole family went bowling Saturday night. My sister in law and her husband are in town and thats what they wanted to do. One local alley had league night and no lanes, but the duckpin alley had lanes and we had a good time.

Sunday was yardwork day, but the weather was still nice enough to work without a coat, so my daughter and I cleaned up some brushwood and I began the task of rototilling the pasture area which will be this years garden. I ought to track down someone with a plow or tractor mounted tiller to ease my work, but haven't yet.

Gaansari

Looks like one of my favorite Ohio destinations, (after my parents home and Youngs Jersey Dairy) Cycles Gaansari is closing their doors. Bummer. I visited them last July and wrote a report. Gary, Jean and the kids are nice people, and I wish them the best on their relocation to the west coast. I sure am going to miss the ride from Xenia to their shop though.

Famous Friends

My friend Jimi got a nice writeup in the local paper. Jimi is in Ronnie Ray and the Coolers, a local blues band. Believe it or not, he taught me to play bass in 15 minutes. Congrats Jimi!

Weekend Fun

It was nice to actually get outside on a bike for once. I can't imaging that posting about riding the trainer would be very interesting, so I haven't had much on here lately. Saturday was eaten by basketball again (end of the season), but Sunday morning I got out for a nice ride around Thurmont. I initially headed east, and when I turned around at the county line it was a fight against the wind heading back. Warm enough when dressed for it though, so its all good. Full photo report here.

NAHBS

Last weekend was the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Unfortunately for me it was out in California.I was going to do a post with links to the various sites with photos and reports, but Adam at Twisted Spokes already did it for me. There was some neat stuff there. One peeve I have, a minor one, is that it appears to be to be the North American Handmade Bicycle FRAME Show. There were some compenent makes there with some pretty cool stuff, and several makers are really starting to get to the constructeur ideal with very careful thought about how the components fit together into the whole, but I didn't see any examples of a complete handmade build. Of course that would be nearly impossible (I'm thinking wheel rims particularly) and stupidly labor intensive (drawing your own spokes anyone), but I think it would be cool.

For a different opinion about the show, visit Bob Brown's Blog.