fool me once, shame on you
fool me twice, shame on me
so my sister and i were having a few afternoon beers today and when we came out of the bar, my brooks saddle was gone off my bike. fuck. that's the second stolen b.17 i've had in under half a year. i know, i should have had it on quick release or locked it to the frame, but what sort of a world do we live in where these are even concerns? seriously, fuck crackheads and fuck bike thieves. no more "blaming the victim" shit. fuck that. i'm pissed. off to the lbs to by a new one tomorrow (which will be PERMANENTLY locked). it's not the money, it's the time invested working it in and the feeling that you've been kicked in the gut when you see your bike with a naked seat post and the utter lack of faith you have in humanity after it happens.....
goodnight sweet prince.....
see you on the road (and if you've got my saddle, you're fuuuuuuucked....),
vv
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
New CM
This has been on TV lately and it's making wish I could leave the living room. Although my web surfing skills are at an all time high.
http://www.sho-ri.jp/cm/9ways.html
http://www.sho-ri.jp/cm/9ways.html
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
fright night
with the air getting cooler, the leaves falling and the smell of woodsmoke in the air, it's hard to deny that hallowe'en is just around the corner. this is my favourite time of year, and hallowe'en is my favourite holiday. here is a topical (both to the season and to the blog) painting by one of my favourite artists, jose posada (mexico, 1852-1913), and it's probably one of the very few works of art to combine cycling with the supernatural......oooooooooo-eeeeeee-ooooooooooo!!!!!
i'll post pics after next wednesday when vampires, witches, ghosts, and skeletons ride.....on all hallow's eve.
see you on the road,
vv
i'll post pics after next wednesday when vampires, witches, ghosts, and skeletons ride.....on all hallow's eve.
see you on the road,
vv
4 days off
because I am sick. I have Saturday and Sunday off and was looking forward to riding to Tachikawa or someplace close by. Then I came down with the cold that has been going around and I want to cut my head off, pour out the snot and stitch it back on. So now I am stuck at home in the living room and I came across this on the web and thought I would feel better if I put other people in agony. I hope I'm right.
Monday, October 22, 2007
trippin' in the fall on the toronto islands
sorry to be such a friggin' cockroach around here lately, but i wanna get this shit done before i forget. so today, pocahontas and i took a little trip over to the toronto islands. for those of you who don't know what i'm talking about, toronto is a city in the canadas and there are a series of islands (3 big ones and a bunch of really tiny ones that suck) in the lake just south of the downtown core, accessible only by a magical ferry-boat helmed by none other than charon! really? i don't know..... so, anyway, i had the day off work and the weather was absolutely and unseasonably beautiful (26 deg. on oct. 22? we're in deep shit......), so i went to the eye-lands. grabbed a couple delicious empanadas in kensington market beforehand and took half a dozen apples with me so i wouldn't die from hunger in the wilds. below are some random images taken throughout the day......(dai?)
off the ferry and onto the island, charon paid and onward to freedom.......
weird/cool bike sculpture thing at a tree on ward's island
at the same "sculpture" - look closely, there's a bike hanging in the tree......bicyclynched?
big sky country.....amazing cloud formations
the end of the world
blair witch/wickerman gateway to paradise....all woven by hand from twigs and small branches. beauty.
feeding satan an apple core.
no shit!! duder nearly took a chunk out of my brooks.....maybe he sensed that my saddle was his dad. there's now a small tooth mark where he got it. awesome. seriously, i'm stoked.
ontario autumn.
rollin' along.
on the boardwalk.
wall behind the bathrooms (closed for the season? well, guess that means i'll be micturating on the wall). someone put a single stone/potsherd/clay piece on each of the protruding bricks. neat.
another wood-woven gateway to the beach. awesome, actually.
look at that gear ratio!!!!! like the millennium falcon and shit......
pocahontas nestled amongst the birches.
a nice reward at the end of the day.
see you on the road, vv.
off the ferry and onto the island, charon paid and onward to freedom.......
weird/cool bike sculpture thing at a tree on ward's island
at the same "sculpture" - look closely, there's a bike hanging in the tree......bicyclynched?
big sky country.....amazing cloud formations
the end of the world
blair witch/wickerman gateway to paradise....all woven by hand from twigs and small branches. beauty.
feeding satan an apple core.
no shit!! duder nearly took a chunk out of my brooks.....maybe he sensed that my saddle was his dad. there's now a small tooth mark where he got it. awesome. seriously, i'm stoked.
ontario autumn.
rollin' along.
on the boardwalk.
wall behind the bathrooms (closed for the season? well, guess that means i'll be micturating on the wall). someone put a single stone/potsherd/clay piece on each of the protruding bricks. neat.
another wood-woven gateway to the beach. awesome, actually.
look at that gear ratio!!!!! like the millennium falcon and shit......
pocahontas nestled amongst the birches.
a nice reward at the end of the day.
see you on the road, vv.
building pocahontas
capt. dordai has been ever so gracious as to extend an invitation to me so that i might "contribute" to this blawg. his express desire was that i chronicle (with ample photographic supplementals) the creation of a legend. well, kind of. i wanted to build a fixed gear bicyclette and was searching high and low for a suitable frame with which to begin the process. one day, biking to work, i came across an abandoned tange-tubed norco frame lying at the side of the road. it looked pretty garbagey - no front wheel, rear wheel taco'd, whole babycakes covered in sludge, but i saw - I SAW - the pure steel fire hidden beneath the ooze, and took 'er home. sadly, i didn't have the foresight to document the arduous tearing apart and cleaning and hand sanding the frame, but below i have included pics of what i did after all that. primed, painted, clear coated, built back up like a phoenix from the ashes. why pocahontas? well, who among us doesn't like the story? the myth? the legend? the neil young song? the name is native american in origin and means playful one, and that's exactly the feeling i get when i hop on board. sorry, haters, she ain't fixed......she's free........but what she really is, is a BICYCLE.
- the original colour (which was mainly scratched and dinged) is on the steerer tube. the new colour, the one which was lovingly applied by mine own hand, lays upon the fork.
- more frame paintage, coat 3, shit seat post inserted to keep paint from slippin' inside that
seat tube.
- oh yeah, baby, cream stripes applied by hand. don't look too close though. old glove stuffed in bottom bracket shell to prevent paint from etc, etc.....
- it's called hobo single speed. double chainring, and a regular ol' 5-speed cassette rear-wheel. that a straight chainline just happened to work out nicely with the gear ratio i wanted was pure chance.
- classic cloth bar tape tied down with a nice wrap of twine. kind of tricky to do, but oh, so worth it. beauty, eh?
- and the requisite b.17 to top it all off. pretty much the only thing i bought on the whole bike. and i loved it so much, i even bought a second one! that's cuz some beautiful person thought they needed my first one more than i did. anyhow, the second one i bought is now worked in nicely and has an accompanying lock.
- and here's what she looked like this afternoon, on the toronto islands (post about that ride to follow). fenders added for the upcoming wet months, new nitto technomic stem (the old one that my brother tap gifted me was causing great neck strain - hey, beggars can't be choosers), new set of conti ultra sport tires, and new cork bar tape with a couple coats of amber shellac that give it the look and feel of leather at about 1/10th of the cost.
information/inspiration for this build came from sheldon brown's site(natch) and grant peterson's (rivendell bicycle works) special place on the net. it's surprisingly easy to do all this stuff yerself - let's dispel the myth that the shop is required for every little adjustment. i did 95% of the work on her in the summer sunshine on my balcony, and the other 5% in my kitchen. thanks to my understanding partner for putting up with that part. if i can do it, you certainly can. take charge.
every night, and every morn, some to misery are born
every morn, and every night, some are born to sweet delight
- wb
see you on the road, vv
- the original colour (which was mainly scratched and dinged) is on the steerer tube. the new colour, the one which was lovingly applied by mine own hand, lays upon the fork.
- more frame paintage, coat 3, shit seat post inserted to keep paint from slippin' inside that
seat tube.
- oh yeah, baby, cream stripes applied by hand. don't look too close though. old glove stuffed in bottom bracket shell to prevent paint from etc, etc.....
- it's called hobo single speed. double chainring, and a regular ol' 5-speed cassette rear-wheel. that a straight chainline just happened to work out nicely with the gear ratio i wanted was pure chance.
- classic cloth bar tape tied down with a nice wrap of twine. kind of tricky to do, but oh, so worth it. beauty, eh?
- and the requisite b.17 to top it all off. pretty much the only thing i bought on the whole bike. and i loved it so much, i even bought a second one! that's cuz some beautiful person thought they needed my first one more than i did. anyhow, the second one i bought is now worked in nicely and has an accompanying lock.
- and here's what she looked like this afternoon, on the toronto islands (post about that ride to follow). fenders added for the upcoming wet months, new nitto technomic stem (the old one that my brother tap gifted me was causing great neck strain - hey, beggars can't be choosers), new set of conti ultra sport tires, and new cork bar tape with a couple coats of amber shellac that give it the look and feel of leather at about 1/10th of the cost.
information/inspiration for this build came from sheldon brown's site(natch) and grant peterson's (rivendell bicycle works) special place on the net. it's surprisingly easy to do all this stuff yerself - let's dispel the myth that the shop is required for every little adjustment. i did 95% of the work on her in the summer sunshine on my balcony, and the other 5% in my kitchen. thanks to my understanding partner for putting up with that part. if i can do it, you certainly can. take charge.
every night, and every morn, some to misery are born
every morn, and every night, some are born to sweet delight
- wb
see you on the road, vv
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Benus 4
Tatsuo and his crew have been working hard all summer and came up with this. I saw them in Nogawa before they were out to watch Keirin at Keiokaku. BTW tonight is the GOLD CUP race.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Odds
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
やばい!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Pinch team PROFRAMER
Monday, October 1, 2007
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