busy busy busy busy busy busy busy busy busy...
No post this week.
Sorry!
- M.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
So I guess blog posts...
really happen every 7.5 days or so, as opposed to a set week. Whatever. There really isn't a whole lot to to talk about anyways, as the area has been (and apparently will continue to be) in a perpetual thunderstorm that dumps gallons of rain at a time. That, and I have yet to true the wheel I built a week ago; I am planning on completing that particular project today.
As far as workout regimens go, I haven't been keeping to any, per se. I have not been eating very much though, and drinking at least a litre (English spelling because, dammit, I like it) every day. But get this:
I'm over halfway there.
It's been a month, almost, and I have already closed the gap on my goal by more than half. I've been beating my average by over 2.5 lbs a week! ON TOP OF the set goal!!! If I can keep up half of this pace, by Christmas Eve, I will weigh around 160 lbs.
If any of you need me, I'll be rejoicing here for a good while.
M.
As far as workout regimens go, I haven't been keeping to any, per se. I have not been eating very much though, and drinking at least a litre (English spelling because, dammit, I like it) every day. But get this:
I'm over halfway there.
It's been a month, almost, and I have already closed the gap on my goal by more than half. I've been beating my average by over 2.5 lbs a week! ON TOP OF the set goal!!! If I can keep up half of this pace, by Christmas Eve, I will weigh around 160 lbs.
If any of you need me, I'll be rejoicing here for a good while.
M.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Baltimore...
I'm here! And it's been pretty great thus far. Maybe next week I'll do a post about transitioning, as I've only been here a few days.
Soo biking.
I wouldn't say this is a bike friendly city such as Boston, but I took my first ride yesterday and it wasn't too bad. It was in the middle of a weekday, but still... The other thing is the hills, oh the hills. The gradient isn't impossible, but they last for blocks at a time! And when you have only one gear, and a high one to boot, that suuuuccckks. I meant to buy a scale, but I currently have very little monies.
VERY little monies.
I did something awesome today: I rebuilt my rear wheel using a new spoke pattern! It's called a '3 leading, 3 trailing' pattern, and I saw it the other day here, and decided to try it out today. Well, here it is!
Holy crap, right!?
So now I have to true the wheels horizontally, then vertically, then put the tube and tire back on. Then I have to ride it and hope it holds up: there isn't exactly a consensus that this spoke pattern can withstand the same stresses as your typical 'Cross 3' wheel.
Wish me luck!
Until next week,
- M.
Soo biking.
I wouldn't say this is a bike friendly city such as Boston, but I took my first ride yesterday and it wasn't too bad. It was in the middle of a weekday, but still... The other thing is the hills, oh the hills. The gradient isn't impossible, but they last for blocks at a time! And when you have only one gear, and a high one to boot, that suuuuccckks. I meant to buy a scale, but I currently have very little monies.
VERY little monies.
I did something awesome today: I rebuilt my rear wheel using a new spoke pattern! It's called a '3 leading, 3 trailing' pattern, and I saw it the other day here, and decided to try it out today. Well, here it is!
Holy crap, right!?
So now I have to true the wheels horizontally, then vertically, then put the tube and tire back on. Then I have to ride it and hope it holds up: there isn't exactly a consensus that this spoke pattern can withstand the same stresses as your typical 'Cross 3' wheel.
Wish me luck!
Until next week,
- M.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Older Raleigh bottom brackets...
are an enormous pain in the ass. The reason for this can be found here, or summed up in two words:
proprietary threading.
In short, since Raleigh apparently gave not a single fuck, they decided that almost everything on their bicycles that involved threads (like on a screw, for all of you who aren't mechanically inclined) would be super duper special and not fit any other manufacturers components. In technical terms, Raleigh used threading that was 26 T.P.I (threads per inch), whilst most other manufacturers adhered to 24 T.P.I. This continued until frighteningly recently, but as the late great Sheldon Brown (to whom I owe my entirety of cycling knowledge) said, "Since Raleigh made virtually every part of these bikes, there was no compelling need to match standards used by other manufacturers. (We shouldn't be too hard on Raleigh about this. Making the change would have been very, very costly, and wouldn't have benefited the shareholders in any way.)"
As you may or may not know, Margaret is a Raleigh. Made in the 1970's. So, she has this 'special' proprietary threading all over. Which is extremely, extremely unfortunate; it basically meant that I was going to have a hell of a time updating her components. At first, since I didn't want to deal with all this horse-puckey, I simply cleaned the original bottom bracket components, regreased them, and put new bearings in. Luckily, the cranks I purchased from Eighth Inch fit the taper of the original spindle!
Unfortunately, this slipshod solution proved impermanent. I was riding around the block this summer and the non-drive crank arm simply fell off. Upon further investigation, the threads on the ends of the spindle had become stripped because, get this, the crank didn't really fit after all.
So Margaret was out of commission while I had to find a solution to this problem. I could...
Basically, it has metal sleeves that press into the threads in the frame, which wedges the bottom bracket in place. AND IT WORKS! AND THE TAPER IS CORRECT!
So now Margaret has a modern, sealed bearing bottom bracket with an appropriate spindle length for a fixed gear.
Huzzah!
In other news, I'm three weeks ahead of schedule in the weight loss department, which is pretty decent (although I'm sure I'll plateau at some point and it will even out). Basically, I've been drinking a lot more water and not eating so much. Seriously, that's pretty much it. I'm glad I'm getting back into this blog; it's a way to keep myself honest over a long period of time.
Have a wonderful evening,
M.
proprietary threading.
In short, since Raleigh apparently gave not a single fuck, they decided that almost everything on their bicycles that involved threads (like on a screw, for all of you who aren't mechanically inclined) would be super duper special and not fit any other manufacturers components. In technical terms, Raleigh used threading that was 26 T.P.I (threads per inch), whilst most other manufacturers adhered to 24 T.P.I. This continued until frighteningly recently, but as the late great Sheldon Brown (to whom I owe my entirety of cycling knowledge) said, "Since Raleigh made virtually every part of these bikes, there was no compelling need to match standards used by other manufacturers. (We shouldn't be too hard on Raleigh about this. Making the change would have been very, very costly, and wouldn't have benefited the shareholders in any way.)"
As you may or may not know, Margaret is a Raleigh. Made in the 1970's. So, she has this 'special' proprietary threading all over. Which is extremely, extremely unfortunate; it basically meant that I was going to have a hell of a time updating her components. At first, since I didn't want to deal with all this horse-puckey, I simply cleaned the original bottom bracket components, regreased them, and put new bearings in. Luckily, the cranks I purchased from Eighth Inch fit the taper of the original spindle!
Unfortunately, this slipshod solution proved impermanent. I was riding around the block this summer and the non-drive crank arm simply fell off. Upon further investigation, the threads on the ends of the spindle had become stripped because, get this, the crank didn't really fit after all.
 | ||
| Are you fucking kidding me? |
- Find another replacement spindle, which would have been somewhat difficult AND I would run into the same problem again
or... - Purchase a Phil Wood 26 T.P.I bottom bracket, which I would have to start selling crack or my body to pay for or...
- Look into this special bottom bracket that Velo Orange makes, that's used for bottom brackets with damaged threads.
Basically, it has metal sleeves that press into the threads in the frame, which wedges the bottom bracket in place. AND IT WORKS! AND THE TAPER IS CORRECT!
 |
| It took a lot of sweat, a towel, and a enormous pipe wrench, but I finally got it to almost seat correctly. |
Huzzah!
In other news, I'm three weeks ahead of schedule in the weight loss department, which is pretty decent (although I'm sure I'll plateau at some point and it will even out). Basically, I've been drinking a lot more water and not eating so much. Seriously, that's pretty much it. I'm glad I'm getting back into this blog; it's a way to keep myself honest over a long period of time.
Have a wonderful evening,
M.
Tomorrow...
is when I will post what I supposed to do today. It's been a bit of a whirlwind as of late, saying goodbye to old friends before I ship off to Baltimore, so I haven't had time to sit down and write about anything. I'll be documenting the pain in the ass that are old Raleigh bottom brackets, and the solution I'm on at the moment.
Until then,
M.
Until then,
M.
Monday, August 1, 2011
I'm fairly certain...
that I won't be able to move tomorrow.
In a fit of a combination of boredom and my body getting frustrated with my inability to actually use it, I went for a bike ride that was a decent 5.6 miles. I got that figure using this...
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/
After returning, I did some strength training and really challenged myself with added weight or reps. I also did this crazy thing called the Tabata protocol, or High Intensity Interval Training. Basically, you go all out for 20 seconds, rest for 10, then repeat that 8 times. I know that doesn't sound very difficult, so here:
You don't have to do straight burpees, although they are a fantastic aerobic workout. So, aside from my neck absolutely KILLING ME right now, I feel really, really good. It's so funny what a little motivation can do. And that is exactly what I have been missing all this time. I can only hope that I keep at it when I begin to see results. Speaking of results, I'm going to weigh myself tomorrow morning and every Sunday morning after, and see how close I come to my goal of 1.5ish pounds per week.
Wow, there was very little bike related tomfoolery in this post. I was not expecting that. Well, you all should expect much of that come next week!
Have a pleasant evening,
M.
In a fit of a combination of boredom and my body getting frustrated with my inability to actually use it, I went for a bike ride that was a decent 5.6 miles. I got that figure using this...
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/
After returning, I did some strength training and really challenged myself with added weight or reps. I also did this crazy thing called the Tabata protocol, or High Intensity Interval Training. Basically, you go all out for 20 seconds, rest for 10, then repeat that 8 times. I know that doesn't sound very difficult, so here:
You don't have to do straight burpees, although they are a fantastic aerobic workout. So, aside from my neck absolutely KILLING ME right now, I feel really, really good. It's so funny what a little motivation can do. And that is exactly what I have been missing all this time. I can only hope that I keep at it when I begin to see results. Speaking of results, I'm going to weigh myself tomorrow morning and every Sunday morning after, and see how close I come to my goal of 1.5ish pounds per week.
Wow, there was very little bike related tomfoolery in this post. I was not expecting that. Well, you all should expect much of that come next week!
Have a pleasant evening,
M.
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