Packed And Ready

Somehow I got all this...

Onto this...

One thing I learned on a fully loaded test ride is that the LHT (yeah you know me) rides a lot smoother when fully loaded.

All ready to roll, I just need a good night sleep first.

Have a good week everybody.

Event: Feet In The Street

I always miss the good stuff says the guy with his eyes closed. This Saturday (both mine and Michael Jackson;s birthday), goDCgo is throwing a street party over at Ft Dupont and it sounds like a stinkin' good time.

Talkin' Bout Mudflaps: DIY

Spinal Tap? Anyone?

I found out on a training ride the Continental Contact tires that come with the LHT (yeah you know me) spew out a ton of dust on dry dirt trails like the C&O Tow Path. After a 55 mile ride I was covered in dust and annoyance. After consulting with the LHT&CC google group I decided that a mudflap was just what I needed. However, for something so simple they can be pretty expensive, and I thought I could make one ten different ways out of stuff lying around the house. One way rose to the top, making one out of old mountain bike tubes and glue.

It was pretty simple, I cut open a tube and lay it flat cutting out two sections of similar length and gluing them together. I used one of those dual compound super glues and it seems to work fine. Once it was fully dry I cut the jagged messy edges off and it looked pretty good. Another option might be to use tire patch glue.

Next up, using my Dremel I drilled two small holes in the fender to attach the mudflap. I made the holes as small as I could and far enough from the edges that they wouldn't weaken the fender itself.

Finally I fastened the mudflap to the fender with a small zip tie. I made sure to face the mudflap outward so the curve of the tubes matched that of the tire.

After riding it in this morning I think I may add third or maybe even forth layer of rubber to stiffen the mudflap. It was flapping a bit at high speed.

UPDATE:

I added two more layers of rubber and it seems to work perfectly.

What did the hand say to the Monday?

SLAP!

Happy Birthday Joe Strummer... RIP

Friday Artwork

These come to us via TWGE. It's common knowledge that since the dawn of Flash, the animated gif has become the pager of the web graphics world. In a truly inspirational move the folks at Three Frames have revived this relic of the 90s and created something great. The idea is the replay a scene from a movie using 3 frames in a gif animation.

This creates some very cool effects but often just makes people look like their humping.

SKS Fender and Continental Contact Tire Lessons

A little while ago I put SKS P45 fenders on my new LHT (yeah you know me) and was happy about it. After some time has passed and I've put a few hundred miles on them I realize that the P45s are just too narrow. My bike and legs still get filthy after a wet ride. Don't get me wrong I love the fenders, I just wish I had gotten the next size wider. Another problem on that front is that when riding on dirt, the stock Continental Contact tires spew dirt and dust everywhere. By the end of a 55 mile ride I looked like a character out of Mad Max and my fenderless buddy riding a mountain bike was all clean. The only explanation I can come up with is that the tires pinch up dirt in the grooves as the contact the ground and toss it back against the bike. Has anyone else come across these issues?

Beer And Berts

First off I think everyone should know that we are in the second day of the Inaugural DC Beer Week. That means we're already a day behind and have some catching up to do. This sounds like a pretty sweet event with tons of participating local bars and breweries. Any excuse is a good one people.

Next up is how ahead of the curve I am. I recently procured an Ibert for my one year old and am pleased to announce that Tori Spelling and I have one more thing in common. We both have fetching blond hair, both of us starred on hit 90's television shows that happened to be produced by our fathers, and now we both rock the Ibert. I took the little one out for a few rides over the weekend and I am working on a product review.

Happy Monday everyone... Happy Monday Tori Spelling.

5 Day "Mancation"

At the end of the month I and going to do a five day solo ride up the C&O canal. My goal is to ride the whole trail to Cumberland MD and back, 190 miles each way. That works out to around 76 miles a day. This is probably not going to happen but it's fun to say. I haven't had time to do any training besides my daily commute. Tomorrow I am taking the day off to ride 7 hours on the trail and I'm sure that will be a big eye opener as to the possibility of my goal. The other challenge is that I will be doing it solo. Finding motivation on a solo ride can be a struggle, but the more I read Jill Homer's blog the better I feel about it. We'll see how this translates out on the trail.

This will also be the first tour I do on my LHT (yeah you know me) and I couldn't be happier. If you aren't familiar it's pristine canal tow path that runs from Washington DC to Cumberland Md along side the Potomac river. I did a smaller version of this ride a few years ago where a friend and I rode from Cumberland back to DC. It is quite an experience to watch the river change as you descend out of the mountains.

Here is a link to a great Flickr photo pool.

Very very excited...

It's Really Not That Hot

So everyone has been freaking out in anticipation for today's scorcher but I think it's pretty nice out. It doesn't seem that humid today and there is a nice breeze without which it would be hot for sure. This morning I put a second water bottle cage on the LHT (yeah you know me) and pounded the fluids the whole way in. It was nice. I didn't push it too hard and tried to stay in the shade at stop lights. There is something about temperature extremes that pose a nice little challenge for the bike commuter. I was looking forward to some plus 100 agony and it just didn't happen. There's always the ride home. :)

A Site To See

If you haven't been following the exploits of Russ Roca and Laura Crawford you might want to check it out. Here is a pretty insightful interview with Russ on planning and implementing a long distance tour.

Who Summoned The Fail Whale?

I don't twit, I have never twatted, maybe that's why I love when things go wrong in the twitterverse. After reading the article about this mornings attack that brought down twitter for a few hours I noticed a big steaming pile of irony, top right, on the WIRED Epicenter page.

Although you've probably seen it before it seems only right to post this video again.

Friends Of Fatty

A sad day for an inspirational blog.

I'm A Contender!

Last week I entered the prestigious BSNYC/RTMS Fat Cyclist Knuckle Tattoo Tribute Contest. I am happy to announce that I have made it to the finals with my Larry King submission! The votes run for the rest of the day so take a gander over there and vote... (for me)

Thanks be to Snob.

Tuesday Link Fest

Today I am going to "bounce" cool posts and links from other sites to you mostly because I'm lazy.

Cool T-shirt of the day: Chewy on a fixie...

via TWBE

Greatest inspiration of the day: Jill Up In Alaska...

Take a moment, or a bunch of moments and read through Jill's wonderfully written account of her odyssey in the Tour Divide. A race along the continental divide from Canada to Mexico.

Best bike related furniture of the day:

via DudeCraft

Best Weber grill upgrade:

Best all around green living heros: Holy Scrap Hot Springs Prickly Pear Party

Enjoy...