A gear wheeled complaining device

Jamming Gear / free demo from So KANNO on Vimeo.

Seeing the jamming gear live is pretty cool and I wish I were smart enough to make stuff like that but no go there so I end up doing stuff like drinking beer and riding a roller while the Cub naps. The humidity was 87% that day because it had been raining all before the sun broke through the clouds. I didn't mind the fact that the past two weeks had been overcast because it meant that everybody would be riding the train not their newGarneu road bikes. It makes you wonder how may track frames there are rusting to death on verandas. The only thing wrong with commuters leaving their bikes at home is that I actually going to run into people who ride all year long so I have to race. This is where I have to question the eternal pissing contest that is being a man. When do you know you're racing and when are you just commuting? For me the answer is simple: I am racing when I pass someone and I am commuting when they pass me. Sounds alright in theory but what if other people have the same point of view and they change into race mode when someone passes them, as most guys do. Now that I have passed them we are racing but if they pass me then I am commuting until I catch them again. Maybe I have thought about this a little too much but it came down to tactics. You both know you are racing when you start to employ "tactics". Now I am sure you are wondering "what the fxxk kind of tactics can you have on a 25km commute, riding on 700x32?!?!?!". And that is a very good question but there are several aces, or as like to call them TURBOS(!), you can drop.

The trap you do not want to fall into is running reds because it is a dead give away that you are racing the other guy and he will know that you don't have legs to race so you are riding like a dick. It's like slapping a wolf with red meat. Once he has the scent of blood you are done like linner. This was the case in Sanja when the road bike kook ran through the crowded crosswalk and the other night when the fixster ran a crowded 3 way. I knew we were racing and reacted appropriately by passing them while coasting picking my nose. It's the Gee glove slap.

Another, slightly more innocuous, trap you can never step into is taking the sidewalk. This has been the downfall of my last two opponents. On my last two rides home I have been racing and the fallen opted for the sidewalk as we came through the construction heavy Seijo area. Their momentary indiscretion told me two things about them. One was that they were keen to get ahead of me and the the second was that they weren't used to commuting by bicycle or that they were unfamiliar with the area. By taking the sidewalk they had to go in front of a 711 in front of a campus, always crowded at night and that they had to wait people coming out of the apartments that just went up. They were trapped and I was very happy to wait the extra 30 seconds for my turn to go because it gave me a full two minute lead. Lead to what, I am not sure but a lead is a lead and I was like Colombo in this race s I took it.

The more disturbing of the two rides was the one against the TREK rider because, at the slightest hint of traffic slowing down, he would veer off onto the sidewalk in hopes that I would be caught and he could speed by. The only reason I am sure of this is that he was checking where I was when passing. My decision to remain on the road and stay in same gear proved to be sensible while I could hear him frantically changing gears and looking over his shoulder.

It was super to have someone to race against but I had to drop one of my TURBOS to maintain my lead. The TURBO had been building for some time and it came in an audible BROMP almost forcing me out of the saddle. Ask the lurker and he will testify to the potency of my TURBOS. Noxious gas dispelled and I was raring to go. Unfortunately, as we were nearer to home his strength began to wane, no doubt the effect of my TURBO had taken it's toll and he just plain gave up. I looked over my shoulder and was just in time to see him stop and check his cell phone in an attempt to look nonchalant.

The next day was a good chance for me to refill my TURBO reserve.