riding the bulls

last sunday's ride was my first real test on using the bullhorns. there was a little pain again on the palms near the thumbs at the start of the ride but it went away on the third of the ride. i am assuming its my hand position on the new bars.

i was used to holding on to the brake hoods when i had the drop bars and, compared to the width of the handles, the brake hoods were thicker and therefore more comfortable. so now i'm toying with the idea of thickening that part of the bullhorns which i use more often with bar tape to make it more comfy.

i also adjusted the horns a tiny bit more to point up and this made things a little more comfortable while i'm on the "wings". i still have to get used to that sloping part of the bars nearest the stem but they are, more or less, the same when i was using the drop bars.

one advantage i found out was that i have a better and stronger grip on the brake levers. this is good especially in those moments when you need to suddenly use the brakes

and, somehow, i find it easier to climb with the horns. i don't know why.

i have to ride some more...

tidbit 2007.02.26

never underestimate the determination of stupidity

sunday ride

this sunday was my first "long" ride in manila in a long while. the route was from mendiola - left to legarda - onto ayala bridge - ayala boulevard - across taft towards manila hotel - along roxas boulevard - passing the cultural center then right to world trade center and then left to macapagal then finally to the mall of asia. that's around five to six kilometers i think. i was riding with a friend of mine — lito.

when we got to the mall grounds there were already a large number of cyclists there. there was even a group that numbered around 200+ all gathered in one big bunch. must be a big ride. there's lots of bike traffic. wow. we went around a bit and i decided to rest. we still have to go back. lito went on to ride some more with a group that went around the mall.

the ride back was uneventful and we arrived home safely.

good ride for me. i had real good fun just riding — smiling while pedaling. rides seem to be easier when you ride with friends.

to cyclists who know the area, this would be considered a short ride but to a person going back to cycling from a long lay off, its a long ride. my target was just to get to the cultural center, have some coffee, ride back and i'd be happy. i went beyond that target.

and i want to ride some more.

50% off on utilities ?

i just read this tidbit from the 24 february 2007 edition of the philippine star:

senior citizens also enjoy ... 50 percent discount on bills and utilities such as water, electricity and telephone, and other services.

is this friggin' true? i know several families will benefit greatly from this. i will have to make calls next week.

50% off on utilities is a large amount of money.

kikay the bull

i got time a couple of days ago to switch from the drop handlebars to bullhorns. i didn't want to spend for new bar tape so i just used the old one. the only glitch in the switch was that i had to replace the rear brake cable because it was too short.

so far she looks awesome (to me at least). remember beauty and the beholder.


i tried her out on a short ride and it was fun! i don't know if its because there's something new on my bike or the ride itself or the new position. i went from mediola to the national museum and back. my palms near the thumbs developed some slight pain but it was gone on my ride going back. just to be on the safe side, i tilted the horns up just a little.

oh, and half of ayala bridge was closed for repairs so traffic sucked bigtime.

suzue hubs

one of the bikes shops that i visit gave me this pair. sweet. they're oldies but unused. i think it even predates the suzue juniors or the basic. there was some binding when i turn the axles so i have to disassemble the thing and check the insides.

the pic was taken after i cleaned out the hubs of the old grease and repacked with new lithium grease. the bearings and the races were still intact. it just needed a bit of re-adjustment to take the binding out.

i did some measurements and it seems these things are pretty old. the over locknut distance of the front is 96 mm, the rear is 125 mm (114 without the axle spacer).

they're not really fixed gear hubs but i got them free so i can't really complain. i'm not sure i'm comfortable about putting a fixed gear sprocket there. let's see.

strike one off the list, i think.

baby ruth

my bro just mailed me that our dog — baby ruth — just died. she was around 9 years old which is really up there in dog years. the last time i saw her she looked really tired already.

she's half (or was it a fourth) japanese spitz and local dog; furry crazy; could jump/climb over a five-foot fence; barks loud; playful and malambing.

i'll try to find pictures and post them somewhere.

makes me sad.

bullhorns

i got these profile horns over the weekend from christy's. its cheap at 300 pesos (around us$ 6). i'm not even sure if its 2nd hand because there's no nicks or dings or scratches. i think its a good buy.

and since i was there already i had my wheelset double checked by jun — the bike mech i've known for about 10 years already. he's pretty good at it too.

so scratch one off the list. and i'm a happy cat. i'm even thinking of swapping my drops for this thing. but not yet.

more hunting then...

btw, i dropped by one of the nearby lbs and i saw a pair of suzue hubs for 350 pesos. they're high flanged and they looked used because there's no shine in them. i'll investigate further when i get some extra cash.

bullhorn measurements: 26.0 / 400. i'm not sure how much the drop is.

privacy

yesterday while robin and i were heading home from school, we were called by a couple of his classmates — lawrence and janet — to hitch with them. after a few seconds of goading, we agreed. it was a short trip since we only live a few minutes from school.

this morning robin said, "dad, don't pick me up today okay?".

i gave my fatherly perplexed look and robin said, "i want to ride home with lawrence and janet today."

me, not really sure if he made arrangements already, said, "okay, you can hitch a ride with la (lawrence) but i will have to be there."

and robin indignantly said, "dad, i want my privacy."

and he's just eight.

the pick-up

i don't really know if this would make sense to the non-pinoys who are reading this but i'll put translations in parenthesis...

i was fetching robin from school a couple of weeks ago and i noticed that they have new guards. the guards were not suppose to let any grade schoolers out of the premises without a fetcher or someone to pick them up — be it a school service, a yaya or maid, parent or grandparent. so here comes robin going out through the gate and the guard doing his job:

guard: "boy, boy. teka. nasaan sundo mo?"
(boy, boy. where is your fetcher?)

robin keeps on walking, not noticing the guard.

guard's supervisor: " 'pre, inglisin mo yan. hindi yan nakakaintindi ng tagalog."
(partner, talk to him in english. he doesn't understand tagalog.)

guard: "boy, boy. where is your pick-up?"

dang! i just had to laugh.

first ride

after i trued off the wobble in my rear wheel, i rode for a few kilos today in manila. this is something i haven't done in several years and it felt good.

the streets are a little more crowded with cars and jeeps than i remember but it was still manageable. there are certainly more bikes these days which i think is pretty good.

i'll try to ride longer within the week. i want to drop by jun at christy's to have my wheels double checked. my truing skills are rusty.

measurements (kikay)

list of measurements that would be good to know (for my reference):

frame:
top tube: 52 mm center to center
seat tube: 49 mm center to center
bottom bracket length: 68 mm
fork spacing: 100 mm
rear dropout spacing: 130 mm

seat post: 26.6 mm (weird; today's standard is 27.2)
stem: 26 mm
stem length: 110 mm center to center
handlebar: 42 mm (it says 52 - 42. i don't know what the 52 is)
crank length: 170 mm

did i forget anything else?

project fixie: the list

and now, here's the begging list:

1. road frame
2. fixedgear hubs/flip-flops
3. 700c rims (*)
4. pedals (?)
5. headset
6. bottom bracket (?)
7. cranks (?)
8. seatpost
9. saddle
10. front brake caliper
11. front brake lever
12. handlebar
13. did i forget anything else?

if you'd like to donate a used item that on the list to this project, send me mail. i'll try make it worth your while.

notes:
2007.02.20: i got a set of suzue freewheel hubs for free. not a fixed gear hub but they're free.
2007.02.13: got the handlebar already last sunday — black profile bullhorns. nice.
2007.02.04: it took me a couple of hours searching but i couldn't find the items with a question mark. they must be in another storage area which i haven't look yet. but i did find a saddle that looks like a flite but isn't and an extra ultegra 53t chainring.
(*) i have two araya 27" rims — one has a big taco and the other one has a tiny little taco. i'm not sure if the first one can still be fixed but i think the second one still has a life. i have to check with the lbs.
(?) i know i have these but i have to hunt them down in the house in san pablo.

i like: (or something similar)