How Many Danzigs Is That?

I just stumbled upon this DANZIG calculator over at TCMTG. I have spent the morning trying to figure out exactly how many Danzigs I cover a week on my bike.

That's a lotta Danzigs.

After that I measured how many Danzigs it would take to fill up my water bottle.

... nice

A Craptastic Commute

I feel exceedingly fortunate while I'm bike commuting. I feel this way when I see traffic backing up or people slumped behind the wheel fighting to gain a few more feet. Rain or shine my mind is racing; one side of my brain is having fun riding the bike while the other side wanders happily from one thought to the next.

This is what happens during the ride.

Before the ride things are different. I am busy getting ready; the usual three S's, make lunch, let daughter help make lunch, find my bike clothes, play with daughter, get daughter and wife out the door, find the rest of my bike clothes... etc.  It's in this frantic pace that I sometimes forget how fortunate I am, especially on a crappy day like today. I have already acclimated to the warmer days and this 40 degree rainy shitfest isn't very inspiring.  I bitch and moan to myself and sheepishly ask my wife for a ride into the office, she calls me a pussy... point taken.

After they leave, I bitch and moan some more... I'm gonna get soaked and cold and when I get to the office I'll be soaked even more so. I'll have to set up the shanty town, ring out my socks in the parking garage and hope everything dries for the ride home... there's nothing worse than putting cold wet bike clothes back on, etc.

I finally get ready and force myself to push off from the front porch. One side of my brain immediately started having fun while the other thought about pollen, then bees, then if Hesher is going to be any good and if Osama was wearing shoes when they got him and when will chanterelles come back and so on and it seemed my craptastic commute ended the moment I started pedaling.

Morel Mushrooms 2011

I've been taking a little break from blogging for a few weeks to rest my brain among other things. I am back with a spring post about one of the many things I geek on. Morel mushroom season is coming to an end here in the mid-atlantic and I give this season a big thumbs up.

It's quite ugly but very tasty... #TWSS

Normally I find a handful of morels about the size of my pinky but this year while on a lunchtime walk from my office I lucked into a hillside of huge grey and yellow morels and a few small blacks. They were so big I had to return to the office with a shirt full and spent the rest of the day with morel spore prints all over my banjo brothers t-shirt.  **highly professional**  

The geek part is that I'm attending tonight's MAW Spring Wild Food Tasting. Last year it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about what it edible in our area, also my chicken of the woods curry went over pretty well so I thought I'd check it out again this year. 

Paris-Rubiax - Mavic Behind The Scenes

A Touch Of Evil! -or- The Packaged Package

Got a package from the fart knockers over at Evil Cycling today. 

I excitedly opened the package and confirmed that it was indeed the jersey I ordered and not a pile of entrails or steaming poo, or any other type of pile for that matter. 

Why the rubber gloves you ask? The buttholes at Evil Cycling have a strict handling policy which they detail here, here, and here... and to rule out any confusion regarding their intentions, they said this and finally drove the point home here.

After unpacking the jersey it was off to the patented Cycle Jerk Centrifuge where any particles or wiffs of sackage will be removed before it's ready to wear.

I think it's rather fetching, brings out the black in my eyes.

A Cyclist's Guide To Impressing Your Coworkers

My first and only rule on how to impress coworkers in to occasionally take your work shoes home and forget them the next day.



Nothing says "I'm a take charge kind of guy" like wearing Specialized mountain bike shoes around the office.

Also, turning your office space into a shanty town doesn't hurt either.

Yep the next few rungs on the ole' corporate ladder just got a little closer.

Friday and I have not reached an agreement but will continue to negotiate.

Wrecked: Walking Speed Wipe Out

In my last post I mentioned that the LHT was out of commission and I would be commuting on my road bike for the time being. I've put thousands of miles on my road bike and have never come close to falling off... until this week.

I was waiting to cross over Georgia Ave. on Forest Glen and if timed right I can get across before traffic from the oncoming turning lane entered the intersection. When the opportunity arose I mashed down putting all my force into the pedals. I hadn't gotten past walking speed when on my second stroke the chain slipped off the ring and I was sent over the bars and onto my back in the middle of Georgia Ave. I was stunned, in less than two strokes I had managed to launch myself out of the saddle and over the bars. WTF?!

I rolled out of the fall, grabbed my bike and sprinted out of the intersection. Before I could make it to the sidewalk a gaggle of pedestrians had gathered to see if I was ok, which was cool. However I was still pretty shocked and trying to figure out what happened and if I damaged the bike. As people commiserated and recommended holistic solutions for cuts and scrapes I noticed I bashed the shit out of my shifters.

This combined with a rear blowout the next morning was enough to make me yearn for my LHT.

Maybe I can find some cheap replacement shifters at the Pedal Pushers Swap Meet in Eastern Market tomorrow.

Lastly, it's April 1st, 2011 and we all know what that means.

Happy Friday mother fuckers!