what did i do to break your heart

got a specialized toupe saddle for the tarmac. it came with some bar tape.

stairs need a good sweeping.

ned is visited by..

last friday we went to eat at this mexican restaurant called cancun's. sometimes during the work week i'll go there once or twice for lunch because it is within walking distance of the office. well, when shea and i went for dinner there might have been two other tables besides us. the place was dead. we ordered and our food was perfect and the margaritas were good. the staff didn't really have anything to do once the other two tables left and we were just hanging out drinking our drinks. across the room was the bouncer/seater and the cashier heavily engrossed in what appeared to be a mexican soap opera on television. to us it was quite amusing.

the names they give themselves

it's a mammoth

warm woolen mittens

margaritas, longboards, and a parking garage.

big bob's ball bearings

those are my sunglasses you're wearing

got one of these yesterday. still trying to figure out all of the options and settings. it's cool because it has manual focus and extra/different lenses are available for it. hopefully this one will last a little longer than four months.

finally..

cadence clothing. they made some shoes, so i ordered some shoes. one day they showed up at my house in a nifty little sack. i was excited so i put them on. then i was not so excited.

they looked pretty good and had some nice reflective bits but for me these shoes don't work. they seemed to be a little larger than a size nine for some reason. i took the insoles out of a pair of nikes i had lying around and added them on top of the insoles that were already in the shoes. this worked a bit, but not really. it wasn't the length of the shoe that was off, it's the heel. it dawned on me that there is no padding or anything like that around the foot insertion opening and thus let my heels flip flop up and down in the shoes while walking or riding. this is about the point that i got a bright idea. since the cadence shoes looked good, but were underperforming and had a "cheapish" feel to them i decided to head for acadamy sports. this is where i found a pair of slip-ons that were pretty close to the ones cadence supplied. i opted for the khaki instead of the blue just for fun. i took them home, broke out the masking tape and began some painting. it turned out kind of crappy, but that was half the fun. the one major difference between the cadence shoes and the crap painted acadamy shoes is the padding around the shoes opening. it makes all of the difference in the world.

you can tell from the pictures that the khaki ones have seen a little more service than the cadence ones. also, the ones i "made" have no reflective material on them, which i think is a plus on the cadence side. i have not notified cadence about my gripes and i do not intend to for one reason: winter. when it gets cold and i start wearing socks again the cadence shoes will work just fine, i tried it already just to be sure.

that chair's just not safe

been back from vacation since last monday i guess. time is flying by this year.

in the closing decades

i have been on vacation. we did some changing of rooms in our house during this vacation period. during this changing of rooms i stumbled upon a plastic bag containing sixtynine stickers that i created in 2003 and 2004. as soon as i get my next group of things to mail out i will include these stickers.

during my vacation i have also been riding, but not much, and doing a little painting as well. i got a deal at the work clothes store up the street from house on three pairs of shorts and twelve t-shirts for $21.50. not a bad score. anyway, so i have been painting some shirts... and one pair of shoes. but that is another story for another time.

oh yeah, and i shaved my beard off.

you catch a few bullets through your hat

i put some stuff in this here envelope to be mailed out. i would have sent it out today with some other things but i didn't have any stamps at home last night because i left them in my desk drawer at work.

i mailed about eight or ten packages this morning.

gonna say i ain't ever been much impressed

sketches and a shot of some of the trail signs i have been working on.

migrate the data

we'll have to spray

getting some stuff ready for mailing.

i'm calling for backup

i just read a thread on the fixed gear gallery's forum about riding brakeless. some logical arguments i guess.

the one thing i am concerned with is how much time people spend debating on the "do's" and "don't's" and whatnot. the source of angry protests i guess. why can't some folks just ride what is comfortable for them and leave what is comfortable for the rest of us alone?

for the longest time i rode with a front brake on my fixed wheel bike, and if i ride another century fixed i will definately do it again with a brake. but as i got more and more comfortable and more skilled with using my legs to stop the less i used my brake until finally it came off. when i ride my track bike i don't typically ride for speed, i commute and when i am on my way to work i'm not in a big hurry generally. i reserve riding for speed for my road bike. i'm not confused to the purposes of the bikes i own, but sometimes i might use them beyond their intended purpose, hence riding a track bike to commute.

the basic miscalculation is made by unexperienced riders. people who know their limits know what they should do in a typical situation. however, those who are new to the "scene" if you will see experienced riders riding a certain way and try to imitate it.

like when a little grom skater kid sees some older or otherwise more experienced kid doing some kick ass tricks. the little grom goes home or to his local skatepark and tries that trick. that is the experience of being new to something. isn't it? isn't that how things are learned?

all these folks who are experienced enough to know what they are doing are being immitated, and on some occasions i'm sure people who don't know what they are doing are being immitated. but it should be left to each person to determine their own personal limitations, right?

so my request to all who might read this who ride bikes of any fashion is to give the new person a little bit of good advice instead of being retardedly critical of what the other person is doing. it's dumb and it's very devisive. if you're going to be that critical about people riding bikes you need to be driving an s.u.v. because you're an ass.