Recently in Bike Category

I got tagged again on saturday on my way home from work, four blocks from home. That's not actually a taco in the photo, it's my rear wheel (bad joke). If you've been wondering why any email correspondence has been brief, late, lowercase, and misspelled, its because my right wrist has been hurt. When I went to the ER that evening, it was mainly just scrapes and bruises, and a sore wrist. They called it a contusion and sent me home. Four days later, it's more swollen, it's not purple like the rest of me, and I still can't move it. I went to a specialist today, more x-rays were taken, and it turns out I've got a broken hand. Funcidentally, I was hit this time only three days after I settled over the first one.

So here we are again with me being useless for 1-3 months (I'm a righty).

Previously: The first one and More of a road rage assault, really

Jon from Bikescape was on Resonance FM's The Bike Show this week. That would be the bicycle radio equivalent of having Santana and Liriano in your rotation. Speaking of bicycles, I'm just waiting for my new handlebars to arrive in the mail and for my new matching cranks to be installed and I'll finally take a picture of it so people can recognize me (it happened twice with the last one!).

The kid has had sippy cups from three different brands of sippy cup for at least six months, and she's never figured out how to use a single one. She has no idea what to do with a straw. She's mainly just been drinking out of a glass, which she can usually do without dropping by now. We've taken to just asking for an adult glass at restaurants for her (another reason is they're glass and kids cups are almost always chewed up off-gassing death traps of low-grade plastic).

Enter the new Camelbak bike bottle. I bought one on Tuesday at Boehm's (I had a coupon and we wanted to explore St. Paul for it's relative awesomeness) for starting my training this spring. Bethany let Eliot try it. She figured it out immediately. Now she just walks around all day in pigtails with my Camelbak helping herself to water and juice whenever she feels like it. She honestly looks liberated.

When that car hit me last month, I only broke my leg and got a concussion because I jumped straight up off my bike when I saw her coming, landing on her hood, instead of getting run over like my bike did. Her insurance sent a check for a replacement bike. Last sunday, I went to the Twin Cities Bike Swap.

I loved the swap. I picked up a Black Osell custom track frame from a guy sharing a table with Super Rookie, a guy I happened to meet a few months back while our ladyfolk were having tattoos done. The frame is just beautiful. Lugged steel, black, aggressive track geometry, fits me like a glove. I love it times three. I got a real cool black quill stem by Specialized and a pretty Ritchey seat post to go with an old-yet-comfortable Fizik saddle. Now all I need to do is rebuild my wheels and I'll be ready to go. The leg is almost healed enough to ride it. I took my comfort bike out the other day and had no problems.

The only thing is: with a black frame, stem, chainring, cranks, bag, and work uniform (and now helmet), I'm going to look like a ninja. I'd better get another light.

Cannot wait for weather to get back above 30° F.

C'mon, fixie kids. Forget lopping the ends off your old road drop bars. Bullhorn is out: roadkill is in. This is Minnesota after all. Represent, etc.

Design: Jenny Nordberg

[Via Pan-Dan]