North Austin Social Bicycling!

Austin is a pretty unique city in many ways. People like to compare it to a lot of other places (Portland springs to mind), but we definitely have our own vibe down here. One of the things I love most about this city is how easy it is to find like-minded people to do stuff with, ergo - Social Cycling (or social kickball, or ultimate frisbee, or underwater basket weaving. Whatever floats your boat, really). But that said, Social Cycling Austin's rides are usually focused around the downtown area, east side, and south side of town. Meanwhile, I live up in the north. There ain't much going on up here, not because there's not stuff to do, but because people from south of the river like to refer to north Austin as "South Dallas," among other equally unwelcome and snarky remarks.

Enter North Austin Social Bicycling, the most welcoming bunch of people I've had the pleasure of riding bikes with in a hot minute! Their rides meet within a few miles of my house, which is an intensely pleasurable sensation. As I've been in recovery recently, I'm really not as fast as I once was and it's nice to know that IF I have to bail, I'm not 25 miles across a shitload of hills from my house.

The NASB has a Tuesday Night Ride that meets at Balcones Park at 12017 Amherst Drive, 78727 around 7 o'clock. It is no-drop, and they really, genuinely mean it. The ride we did was a total of about 12 miles, and the whole ride periodically stops so that everyone can catch up.

Because these are smaller rides than the biggies done by Social Cycling Austin, there's a bit more of a local feel, but all are genuinely welcome. There's a lot of cross-pollination among social cyclists in Austin and even though my first time riding with them was a couple weeks ago, there were familiar faces.

Ready to roll out.

The rides themselves follow a familiar formula - meet at a park, hang out, bike to a park, hang out, then head to a local watering hole for some beers and camaraderie. It's a good time, everyone's nice, and the rides are fun. If you live in the north Austin area and like to bike, there's no reason NOT to come chill with the Hammerheads.

Gettin' some dranks at the Hideout

All photographs provided by the awesome folks of the NASB. If you want to come out and ride some bikes, more information can be found at their Facebook group, here.

Caught out!

Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons by a longshot, but they're fraught with error every single year. They're basically opposite syndromes - in Spring, I wear clothing that is a hair too warm for the temperature, and in Fall I have real difficulty letting go of wearing shorts and sandals everywhere. At some point am invariably caught out in the weather with clothing that is just all wrong. That was me, Monday.

There's a saying here in Texas that there are a lot of places in the world where it can be tough to go outside because of the climate. But we don't have "climate" in Texas, we have WEATHER. The state of things can change incredibly fast, and no more so than during the transitional seasons. Monday, I rode into work and it was just lovely out. All day, I watched clouds roll in and out and with a 30% chance of rain, felt my paranoia rising. I went and put a plastic bag on my bike seat. On my last break I went outside to take the photos of my lock for my last post, and seeing that it was a bright and sunny day, said to myself, "Oh, you're just being paranoid again!" and removed the bag. 

The Surly, enjoying the new bike rack at work, immediately before the monsoon.

About 30 minutes later it started to monsoon. I had a wet leather saddle, no rain jacket, and it was rush hour. I called for a ride. Which made me feel like a huge sissy until from the perspective of my friend's dry car, saw what I'd have been riding through to get home. The drivers were acting insane, and the whole right lane of my main artery home was flooded.

That said, a little more preparation and paranoia would have saved me the embarrassment and inconvenience of getting caught out. But this time of year the weather can be hard to anticipate. And I hate carrying everything but the kitchen sink "just in case," so sometimes one will misgauge things. It's just something to take in stride and handle the smartest way possible, I suppose.

When Things Wear Out

Welp, I need a lock. Here's what happened - over the last few years I've been rocking an OnGuard Pitbull in Medium (they've since drastically updated their product line). It's the lock featured in damn near every picture of my bike I've ever put on this block, mild-mannered, doing it's job without drawing attention to itself. Considering the thing has worn out before someone successfully managed to get through it and steal my bike, I'm considering framing it.

Here it is, faithfully securing my steed.

For my needs, it was the perfect U-Lock, an ideal combination of size, weight, and security. But it lived a long, brutal life. It's been hot, cold, wet, blasted with dusty wind, and dragged through every conceivable condition and it's just kept on trucking until this past week. I was out social riding, like you do, when suddenly the rotating plastic dust cover bit suddenly decided it no longer wanted to rotate. Meaning I couldn't put the key in the lock. I'm just really glad it wasn't locking my bike to something at the time.

My poor, jacked up bike lock.

I spent a while fucking about with it, and handed it to a friend to have a try. His solution was to smash it on the ground until the plastic covering the shackle came off. So it works now, sort of. It locks. But I probably should replace it, and I haven't lock shopped in a really long time.

Still faithfully limping along

When lock shopping, let's face it, the array of choices is dizzying. Being that I live in a metropolitan area with a lot of bikes, we also have a lot of bike theft. So cable locks are laughably inadequate. I need either a U-Lock or a chain and I'm not sure which direction to go. The newer version of the lock I had is now goofy looking as hell:

I'm also not sure what the difference is between this one and their "Brute" series, which apparently features the same locking mechanism but costs $25 more. 

There's also multiple brands! Kryptonite has an excellent reputation, as do Abus (though I know next to nothing about their products). While I enjoy getting new stuff, the act of locking up my bike is such a part of my routine that it's almost irritating to have to change it up. So, I'm looking for a lock that's a good combination of weight, security, price, and durability. So I guess, into the depths of Amazon product reviews I go!

And there it has sat.

Ongoing medical drama is a huge pain in the ass. Both physically and mentally speaking, it's draining and painful. Consequently the last 3 weeks have been a no-fly zone in the world of my cycling. So my bike has been chillin' out in the garage, and there it has sat, forlornly staring at the door to the outside world. And since being out on my bike is my inspiration for this blog, as my bike has sat, so has the blog.

This past Friday though, was my last doctor's appointment for what is hopefully the next many, many months and I am cleared for takeoff! It is time to get back to normal. Again. So, who wants to go for a ride?!

Things No One Tells You: Roadkill

This morning on my way into work I nearly ran over an armadillo so freshly killed and intact that from a distance in the dark it looked like someone had dropped a large purse in the middle of the bike lane. I then spent the next mile or so unsuccessfully trying not to throw up. And it got me thinking - no one tells you about roadkill when you start cycling.

In the US the majority of bike lanes aren't segregated from the roadway - it's a stripe of paint, and the shoulder of the road. The fanciest ones look like this:

All the detritus of cars ends up in the bike lane - this includes the wire bead of car tires, shattered glass, and whatever bounced out of the bed of a pickup truck. Many of these items present a pretty significant hazard, especially for punctures. Street cleaning helps, but to a point there's only so much they can do. But roadkill is fairly unique because it's not an actual feature of cars, but a consequence of them. And it's WAY more common than you think until you're out in the world without any separation from cruel reality.

I know this is a fairly morbid train of thought. But it's unfortunate cruel reality, and I can't think of an animal that's exempt from becoming potential roadkill, from tiny squirrels all the way on up to deer weighing hundreds of pounds. And if you bike for long, you're going to see it. But....it's definitely one of those things no one tells you.

Rolling Averages

I think I actually rode more before I was ever a bike blogger. You see, when I lived in California, I got into cycling basically as a way to spend time with the guy I was dating at the time. But, then we broke up and two weeks later I was back in Texas. I was heartbroken, depressed, and my entire life had vanished in a blink. Life was pretty much sucking, and that would have been a great opportunity to say screw it to cycling.

But instead, I decided that I was just going to ride until my heart stopped hurting and life was good again, so that's exactly what I did. Over the course of the next year, I put in many, many long days in the saddle on my Cannondale, and as sure as the sun rises, my mental state improved. I also lost a ton of weight and got into amazing distance cycling shape.

Time passed, I moved to Austin. Since I've lived here I've converted from a skinny-tire road cyclist to riding the Surly just about everywhere in a mostly utility function, and stopped tracking miles. For one thing, I don't have a bike computer any more. I also hate a lot of the roads here, which have high speed limits and TONS of cars (lookin' at you, 360. And you, Parmer).

However, in the aftermath of my most recent ridiculously traumatic event (the whole pulmonary embolism thing), I seem to be back to tracking miles, and my rolling average has been going up ever since I got out of the hospital. I hit a new milestone in the last week, 50 miles. While admittedly I used to ride that much in a day, 50 miles in a week is far more than I've done in a long time. So I'm pretty happy with myself!

Next week I intend my "recreational" ride to be a bit longer, around 20 miles, bringing my weekly total up to around 60 miles. Then just add a bit at a time, and by Wurst Ride, I should be able to cruise right through the 40 mile distance in high comfort and style. I'm not training for anything, but I'm not NOT training for anything. Just seein' where my legs take me.

A-Tisket, A-Tasket, I've Got A Couple Baskets

I'm must confess, when it comes to bike baskets, I turn into a consumerist version of Mary Poppins. I love bike baskets. I own a couple, and actually bought them for the same purpose before settling on the one I prefer.

Here they are. On the left we have the Linus Farmer's Basket, on the right is the Wald 139 in size "Huge", procured from Rivendell Bicycle Works. They are both awesome, but for totally different reasons.

Now, in the wide world of bike baskets you have as many choices as there are ways to weave rattan. I tend to prefer rectangular baskets, because I can shove more stuff in them. My rack does not offer any integrated systems, so I do have to get a bit creative. I originally started buying baskets because I was getting a small dog and wanted to go on Puppy Bike Adventures.

The first basket I purchased was the Wald, both for the price and because I've never bought anything from Rivendell that was unreliable. And indeed - it's an awesome basket. The dimensions are 13" x 18" x 6", large enough to hold a case of beer or two large grocery sacks side by side. When it's empty the loose mesh allows air to pass right through it and it provides no discernible wind resistance. It's sturdy without being overly heavy.

It looks really good on the bike and is easy to mount with zip ties (though this does mean that putting it on and removing it involves cutting zip ties). However, for the purposes of putting my dog in, there were two limitations. The easily surmounted limitation was the bottom - I cut a piece of stout cardboard in the proper dimensions, then put a towel over it and created a solid floor for the dog to stand on. However, the 6 inch depth of the basket is too shallow to provide an adequate enclosure and even as a tiny puppy Shiner was prone to jumping right out. I was unable to locate a similarly constructed basket that was any deeper and so had to move on to another option.

My search led me to the Linus Farmer's Basket, an excellent compromise of dimensions and price. I didn't realize when I got into this, but wicker baskets are DAMN expensive. This one wasn't cheap, but the picture on their website showed an adorable puppy having bike adventures, and the dimensions were as good as I was able to locate, so I forked over the cash. I'm easily sold.

Earlier in the summer, I've posted a picture of Shiner rocking out in his new basket, here. In case you forgot how adorable it is.

It's taken a bit of training but this basket is both more "solid" and deeper than the Wald and he'll stay in it quite nicely. Puppy bike adventures are a go! That said, this thing currently lives on my bike full-time and does need to function in more practical situations and it performs admirably in everything I've asked of it. The wicker has some flex to it, and it's amazing how much stuff this basket readily swallows - yesterday afternoon I had both of my locks, my backpack, and two largish tupperware containers in it with room to spare. However, the fact it's more solid than the Wald does catch the wind some so it is a bit more noticeable in windy situations. But it's quite lightweight and when empty, you don't really notice it's there.

See?! Practical!

One thing I am realizing about baskets has nothing to do with the individual basket and more with it's placement on the bike. The back rack is not the best place for a basket (which, I guess, is why they're traditionally mounted to the handlebars). If I can ever get the cash together, I'd like to get a front rack and move the basket to that end of the bike. For one, this will enable Shiner to have the wind in his ears, and for two it will free up my rear rack for panniers, etc.

That all said, a basket is a super-utilitarian accessory for getting around town. The permutations are nearly endless, and they can always be removed so I'd definitely recommend giving one a go.