When you think you're having a bad day...

Ughh. Greetings from Maine. The bighairscientist had quite a travel adventure yesterday/today. It was supposed to be an easy flight into Portland, ME via Atlanta, GA. The remnants of Hurricane Fay flattened any hope of that. Long story longer, I missed my connecting flight by 15 minutes, but they (Delta) hooked me up with a sweet, three-leg journey the next day (ATL to DCA to LGA to PWM) departing at 10a, arriving at 5p. There was no option of hotel reimbursement in Atlanta because the delay was due to weather, which basically meant that I would have to stay in the airport overnight. So as I was weighing my option(s) in the ticketing line, I noticed a 9:15p flight to Boston... It was 9:04p. I ditched the ticketing line and ran to the gate hoping that I could get on the Boston flight. As I was RUNNING there, I could hear the last boarding call. Even though this flight was the most unanticipated part of my journey, it was probably the smoothest. I arrived Boston at 12:03a, 26Aug08.

After arriving Boston, I made a few phone calls back West to my lady who was working the keyboard trying to find me some alternative travel arrangements. The warm and fuzzy feeling of finally arriving wore off quickly when I discovered that the last bus to Portland was at 11:25p, and the last train to Portland was at 11:20p. I'm thinking, 'Well, I'll get my bags and see if I can stay at my sister's place down by the Fens.' Of course, my checked bags were on a different flight... to Portland. At this point, I was ready to go Greg Focker on a ticket agent. ("By the way, your airline, you suck at checking bags. ...I'm finished with the checking-of-the-bags conversation.") Actually, I wasn't going to freak out, I just wanted a voucher or some type of credit for the big mess up. Not gonna happen folks. First the ticket counter was empty, gone for the night. Second, they only give you vouchers if there's a mechanical issue; they can't control the weather. After a few phone calls while walking between the empty ticket counter and empty baggage claim, they finally caved and gave me my voucher.

So there I am in Boston. I could get a cab to my sister's place, next day take the T (or cab) to South Station and hop the bus to Portland, or I could bite it and get a rental car. The rental car option prevailed, and I arrived Portland at 3:55a, 26Aug08. I found a local IPA in the fridge (gone at 3:57a) and hit the sack.

What the heck does this have to do with biking? Well, one of the last things I did in Cali was visit a friend who I've wanted to see for months. I've been saving this one in the back pocket for a while. Like I wrote in an earlier entry, I try to keep things light, and this is something that I have only recently come to terms with. Back in June, around the last day of classes at UCSC, a friend of mine went down in a bike accident while riding home on the campus bike path. I know a lot of people who have had bike accidents or who have been hit by cars. Shattered wrists, broken collarbones, trashed knees... You may never get back to 100%, but you get back on that bike. My friend, Ian Mackay, suffered a C2 spinal cord injury and is paralyzed from the neck down. http://caringbridge.org/visit/ianmackay

Every time I put on my helmet and throw a leg over the bike, I think of Ian. I don't think of what happened, I think of his positivity. It goes beyond that though. Whenever I feel like I might be under it, when flights get screwy and bags get lost, I think of a friend who despite being in a horrific accident still smiles and treats everyone like his best friend.

Ride safely and happy trails.

I must have had a tailwind.

I don't top 50MPH very often. I'm not out trying to set 'High Scores' anymore. I've gone faster (mid-50's) descending on different hills, but on this one road, I'm usually going a bit slower. Is it scary going that fast on a bicycle? Well, it's loud from all the wind. I'm never really aware of how fast I'm going because I'm looking at the road, not at the speedometer. I can, however, tell the difference between 45MPH and 50+MPH. It kinda sounds different. By the way, I've never even been close to 60MPH.


I'm a lightweight; my weight ranges between 125-129lbs, depending on how much beer and ice cream I've been consuming. Speaking of ice cream, I've been killing it on some local stuff from Marianne's (if you like coconut, try the Macapuno). The scoop shop is just a few blocks away from where we live, but they also sell quarts in some of the local markets. The only 'problem' with the quart is that it lists the ingredients on the top. Ingredient number one: butterfat. Awesome... I love that stuff.

Anyway, unless I've been eating a lot of ice cream (and I have been), I don't carry as much momentum downhill as someone heavier than me. From General Physics, P = M x V (momentum = mass x velocity). Supposedly, I'm at an advantage going uphill, but some days it sure doesn't feel that way. I do really enjoy climbing (see Alba entry). When you hit the summit or get to the end of a long climb, there's a sense of accomplishment. Besides, it's you working against gravity, so you've got an excuse for riding slowly!

Ride safely (uphill and downhill) and happy trails.

How to avoid the long walk home...

It was my birthday a few days ago. I got some teaching materials together in the morning, but I decided to take the afternoon off and go on one of my favorite rides. I won't disclose it's precise location, but it's a 45-mile loop: road out, 12-mile fireroad up (ascends 2500+ft), singletrack descent, road home. The cyclocross bike is perfect for this ride.

After you leave the pavement and hit dirt, there are no services until you get back to the road. I like to pack light (no Camelbak), and two water bottles are sufficient for this ride. I also pack a granola bar, a spare tube (or patch-kit), a CO2 pump, and a multi-tool, which all easily fit into a couple of jersey pockets. It seems that whenever I leave something behind, I need it.

Anyway, on the trails back down, I dropped my chain but didn't think too much of it because I was going over bumpy stuff. I did think a lot about the (expletive deleted) poison oak that I was (expletive deleted) standing in. A little later, it happened again. Just like the previous time, I was in (bleeping) poison oak. I put the chain back on, and as I started to pedal, I heard the "schplank" of a broken chain. (See photo below. By the way folks, pack it out.)

Like I wrote before, whenever I leave it behind, I seem to need it. However, this was one of the rare occasions when I was actually prepared!!! I packed my Crank Bros. Multi-17, which is probably my favorite multi-tool of all time. I've had it and carried it for more than 6-years (and you can probably guess where I bought it, see Engin 650B entry below). This multi-tool has certainly seen better days, but it has outlasted bikes. One of the really nice features is the chain-tool, and thanks to this thing, I avoided a 15-mile walk home on my birthday.

Now, having the bare minimum for a repair doesn't make you invincible. Sometimes there are things that you cannot prepare for...
That was a singlespeed cog. When you only have one cog and it fails miserably, you're walking (or riding the 5 teeth that are left). That happened a few years ago, and I keep it around as a reminder of what can happen when I don't use steel singlespeed cogs. (In a weird way, it's actually a point of pride.) Aluminum alloys are less expensive and generally lighter, so that was reassuring as I was walking my bike home.

Ride safely and happy trails (and pack a multi-tool).