20 Miles

broderic on August 28, 2010

I haven’t ridden my bikes all year.

Only twice. But those 20 miles don’t count considering I used to do 600+ a year.

I had promised myself a century before I am forty. That leaves one last year. I plan to do it, but most good (read easy) century rides happen later in the fall.

Here’s a few rides that may happen again next year that I should be targeting:

Back Roads Century
Seasons Change Metric Century
Shenandoah Fall Foliage Bike Festival
Between the Waters Bike Tour
Civil War Century
Save A Limb Ride

Eventually, I’ll do my century at least before I die.

Link of the Day [11.23.09]

broderic on November 23, 2009

I’ve lived in Baltimore all my life. Probably will die here. You’ll miss it once you’re gone. But I haven’t been everywhere or seen everything. Too much city for me. I still don’t know Baltimore. This may come in handy.

http://www.baltimanual.com

Memories are made of this

broderic on November 13, 2009

I was watching a night of Grace Kelly on TCM. I can't get enough of her and of watching TCM. There's something I really like about the old-timey movies on that channel. Is it the uncomplicated innocence of the era? Is it the actors before there was an idea of celebrity? Is it the stories? Or am I just nostalgic about things?I am nostalgic and sentimental, but this post isn't about movies on TCM. It's about a dream this morning. *Groan* I know I've trod this path before. And I know I promised not to. But you know what? I like to make Google index my brain. So I'll write this dream down, let Google store it in its hive mind for eternity.This dream was probably driven by Grace Kelly She's from Philly. The girl I dreamt about is from Philly. The Phillies lost the World Series. I lost contact with this girl.So S., I meet her somewhere. I forget where. We did stuff around and end up at my Mom's. My Mom's house, circa 1995 around the time I met S.. Next, thing I know I'm waking up and dressing for something important. I'm wearing something a little more adult and I pull on a blazer. My brothers are dressing up as well. I'm thinking, "Where's S.?" Where did I leave her? She came home with me? Is she still asleep? Yes.She's still asleep in my brothers room. I'm getting changed as she wakes up. Now, S. was super pretty: brunette, hair to her shoulders, freckles — enough to see, but not enough to get in the way. She's just getting up. Naked, but wrapped in the bed sheet. Like this doesn't make me happy. She takes a shower. She's dressed.The dream moves forward in the disjointed way dreams do. We end up at some wedding shower! Hosted by my Tita! How does she know S.?! Of course, she knows S. She knows everyone! And the wedding shower is for her. I'm saddened by it all. There she is sitting front and center, looking pretty and amazing. She's seated next to a picture of her with curls! Curls? Is G. getting in on this dream?I'm thinking, "She's been in Baltimore all this time?" How come I didn't meet her againg? How come Tita didn't mention it? This is just awful to meet the girl in your dreams again on the day that she is celebrating being betrothed to another. Que lastima!Anger for missing this opportunity. Sadness for missing this opportunity. Resigned that this is my life. In a dream, I still don't catch any breaks.

Replace broken spoke on Campagnolo Proton wheels

broderic on July 25, 2008

As you know, I’ve been riding my Kona PaddyWagon as my Gios is on the bike stand. I broke a spoke on my rear wheel. It was a Campagnolo Proton wheel so changing the spoke out is somewhat difficult because Campy uses some proprietary spokes when they build their own wheels. You can’t just go down to your bike store to get new spokes. You have to get a set of replacements. I got my from Brandford Bikes out in Seattle. Somewhat pricey, but the shop was charging me $20.00 for the service, before they had to go an order a the set.

You’ll also need a 5.5mm hex nut driver as it makes it easier to reach the nipple top. So to replace the spoke, remove the tire and the rim tape to expose the top of the nipple. The Protons have been discontinued but you can find the steps in the Neutron manual which are very similar wheels.

I broke the spoke on the cassette side. The spokes are straight pull at the hub that’s why you need specialized spokes. I also broke the spoke that use to reside closer to the center of the hub. The spokes cross over each other so I had to loosen the spoke that the broken spoke shared the slot in the hub. You then replace the spoke as normal. Put the other spoke back. And start tightening things up. True the wheel before you start putting the rim tape and tire back on.

That’s all you need to do. (I’m not done as I’m still trying to figure out how to true the wheel.

Good luck.

Link of the Day [5.15.08]

broderic on May 15, 2008

So, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve started a new daily (!!) feature to the site, Quote/Link of the Day. It’s tough to keep that up, especially the quotes. So here’s a site for all software engineers to reference. They got some choice nuggets in there.

Read it and you’ll come to understand the profound difficulty that software development is.

http://www.softwarequotes.com/

Pipes now clear

broderic on April 1, 2008

Posted without comment:

25.04% 9:28PM 3/26/08
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40.51% 10:37PM 3/27/08
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56.30% 4:43PM 3/28/08
52.06% 11:31PM 3/28/08 [Don’t verify download]
60.84% 11:36AM 3/29/08
70.89% 1:03AM 3/30/08
76.76% 8:38AM 3/30/08
81.50% 6:24PM 3/30/08
85.65% 11:09PM 3/30/08
91.40% 6:13AM 3/31/08