This was just funny. I have never had a tube "plunk" and pop out with out popping. It grew slowly too while we all stood around watching it, with our ears covered of course.

...wasn't much of a pirate ride. Captain E and I had our dashing Crimson Permanent Assurance getup (which results in spontaneous conversation at bars, by the way) Steve had a t-shirt with a wee pirate ship and Tom had a Jolly Roger spoke card.

I should have used my new keyboard to type up the announcement:


Otherwise, it was a fun night. Drink some beers at Spectator's, ride waaaaay to fast on the Sourdough Nature Trail, wreck, ride slightly more sanely to 317, drink more beers. All in all, a good night.

And for something completely irrelevant, things seem to be quiet across the pond.


-DNA

Hardcourt bicycle polo breaks PVC mallet heads with extremem ease.  ABS plastic is the recommended material for the production of mallet heads.  McMaster-Carr is the recommended supplier of said material.  Cost + shipping per 5' length is $0.79 / inch ($47.40 total).

Now for maths.

Current polo mallet stock in John's quiver: 11 mallets
Average mallet head size: 7.5 inches
Individual requests for material thus far: 9" (Alex), 7.5" (Sam), (total 16.5")
Material left after individual requests: 43.5" (enough to fix 5 public mallets)

I am going to order 5' of material next week.  Some will go to Alex, some will go to me and then the rest will go to fix five of the public mallets.  Donations to cover this cost will be appreciated.  Better yet, contact me in advance with how much you'd like to donate before I order to offset the cost of purchasing more than 5 feet so we can replace all the mallet heads with ABS.

samh [at] samh [dot] net

Ok, just so everyone can keep it all straight...actually, just cuz I myself keep forgetting stuff, and I want it all written somewhere so I can check and see what's going on for the next few weeks...here's a rundown of cycling related events coming up in the BZN

Saturday 9/27 Stupid fun ride. Meet at Specs at 8pm. If you can't be at Specs at that time, keep an eye on DNA's twitter feed or my twitter feed. We'll tweet with where we are. PIRATE THEME PEOPLE!!

Tuesday 9/30 Bozeman Bike Kitchen tuesday work night. Pretty soon, we're going to wrap it up for the season (depending on the weather) so if you want to join in on the fun, this may be one of your last chances.

Wednesday 10/1. Bike Polo at the Hawthorn School on the corner of Rouse and Mendenhall, 7pm. Keep things that need to be discreet, discreet. D effing L.

Thursday 10/2 Fixed only group ride/Fixty60 training ride. Meet by the physics building at MSU at 5:30 (we'll run out of light if we do it any later) on the corner of Grant and 7th. Tom and I did the route tonight and it was fricken sweee-eet.

Friday 10/3 I will be getting drunk somewhere, not sure where yet, but I guarantee that if you see me on Friday after 11 pm I will be not-sober.

Sunday 10/5 Fixty60 fixed only mega-cat. Meet at Rockford Coffee at 10 am. Bring IT!

And last but not least...

Saturday October 11th, there will be an EVENT. As next week unfolds you will see fliers for this event. I will say that it will involve lots of stupid bike fun, and lots of beer, and lots of beer and bike fun together. Keep Saturday, October 11th open!

That's about it, I think...leave comments if there's anything I forgot.

Ride safe out there.

C-Note

Well, that Wiley is at it again.
Proof that not everything that is meaningful and bike related is currently in Las Vegas right now, he put together a great wiki directed towards bike commuters everywhere. If you ride a bike (and I assume you do, since you're reading this...unless you're looking for transvestites) it's worth your while to share a little of your hard-won experience with others. Or write a little story. Or post some pictures.

convivialcity.com

-DNA

From the Bike Polo listing on wikipedia.org:

...Hardcourt polo started in Tallahassee roughly four years ago. One of the original Tallahassee crew, a gentleman by the name of Magic Juan...Lopez...

The article then goes on to describe some of the people involved with the roots of Tallahassee Hardcourt Bike Polo.  The paragraph concludes with this statement:

...Juan Lopez wears womens undergarments.

I have absolutely no idea how that pertains but I got a kick out of it regardless.

A couple of weeks ago, some of us were at a party. Like most parties we go to, this one consisted of mostly bike geeks. There was a nearly full moon, and the night was cool and clear, and we had bikes and were a bit buzzed on good beer.
Naturally, someone says, "Let's go for a ride!"
So a few of us hop on our bikes- a fixed gear, a single speed, and a multi-speed townie- all with smooth road tires- and we head out to ride some trails on the south side of town in the moonlight.
And that was one of the most fun rides I've ever done. Slick tires skittering across the trail, struggling to keep Captain E in sight (more difficult with my headlight off) and laughing my ass off.
After that I figured that this is WAY too much fun to not make a regular event.
So this Saturday night, at at 8pm meet at Spectator's by MSU. We'll have a few drinks, then ride, then head on into town and probably go someplace else. Kinda like a pub ride, but a bit more riding.

See you there.
-DNA


PS: Pirate theme.

DNA has thrown the gauntlet down in front of BZN and all of Southwest Mt. Yeah, I'm talking to you too @Helena, @Billings, @Butte, and @Missoula, I know you guys have your respective fixie scenes.

I want to bring it during this race, and as such, I've been trying to do some fixed laps after work whenever possible. Tonight, I pieced a new route out of a couple of other ones. It was a great ride, and I found myself thinking how much fun it would be as a group ride. I've talked to a few people who want to do the F60, but don't feel prepared, so let's put some miles on folks.

Meet on the south end of campus (at the corner of Grant and 7th, right by the physics art thingy) at 6:00 pm on Thursday 9/25 and we'll bust out twenty or so. BTW, this is a group ride, not a race, I'm not saying we're gonna go slow, but we also want to have a good time.

Oh, and you can bring any bike you want, as long as Henri Desgrange would approve.

No Impact Man has a very interesting post up. It's an open letter to a New York State senator that nearly squeezed said blogger with his car, and then calls the guy a F*&*ing A$$hole for objecting to being hit by a car driven by someone not paying attention to what's going on around them.

Hopefully this turns into an impassioned and intelligent discussion about responsibility on the road. You can drive your car, that's fine. But if you take that route, there are certain responsibilities, accept them, or take the bus. I personally would invite our legislators to join us in the pedal powered revolution, but...well, whatever.

Check out NoImpactMan's post. Engage in this discussion. The fundamental viewpoint about the bicycle and it's place in our transportation infrastructure is changing albeit slowly, but if we don't speak, it goes nowhere.

C-Note

Since it's getting dark pretty early now it would be nice to have a polo ball that lit up. I checked out a few different ones that will work and I'll front the cash to buy it but I want everyone's opinion on which is better. So, take the poll below and tell me which kind of balls you'd prefer to get your dirty hands on - ya' dirty s.o.b.'s.

View the following links to check out each ball and then vote below (fyi, the links will open in a new window or tab):

Meteorlight:
http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=32&product_id=162

Luminator Mini-Sportball:
http://tealco.net/luminator_balls.html

Luminator Light Jam:
http://tinyurl.com/4dwdpq

Polo tonight. Starting at the Hawthorne School on the corner of Mendenhall and Rouse. 7pm.

-DNA

Sometimes, I get a bit down on myself when we put on an event and (almost) nobody shows up. Then I remember that nobody finds out about something because I wait until the day before to put up a note.
Well, this is how the second Clunker DH afternoon went this past weekend. Greg and I talked about it Monday, I forgot repeatedly until Saturday to put up a notice. Even though I know that nobody looks at this on weekends (which means I cause Hours of unproductive time at work for people!).
So this time I brought a little, inexpensive video camera with me. C-note and I took some video footage while we rode with Alex and Greg. And, well... here's the result:

It's really a lot of fun, and we'll be doing this again before the snow flies.

-DNA

Sorry for the late notice, but we'll be having another Clunker DH this Sunday (tomorrow) at Moser. Meet at Spectator's at 1:30pm, we'll load up cars and head on over.

-DNA

Today I add no value to the internets. I am merely shuffling some sequences of bits over here. Those bits happen to be really funny, though.
Over at FARK there's a little thread of jokes in honor of the Large Hadron Collider. Here's a select few:

• A neutron walks into a bar; he asks the bartender, 'How much for a beer?' The bartender looks at him, and says 'For you, no charge.
• A proton walks into a bar and says "I left my wallet here". The bartender says "Are you sure?"
  "I'm positive."
• There once was a tachyon named Bright
  Whose speed was much faster than light
  It set out one day
  (In a relative way)
  And returned on the previous night.
• Johnny was a good boy
  But Johnny is no more
  For what Johnny thought was H2O
  was H2SO4
• A priest, a doctor, and an engineer are playing a round of golf behind a particularly slow group of golfers. Becoming quite angry and frustrated, they call the ranger over.
  
  The doctor asks, "What the hell is with these guys? They're the slowest golfers I've ever seen!"
  
  The ranger replies, "Oh, they're a group of blind firefighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year. As thanks, we let them play for free anytime."
  
  The three golfers fall silent for a moment.
  
  The priest says, "That's very sad. I will say an extra blessing for them at mass tonight."
  
  The doctor adds, "I have a good buddy who's an ophthalmologist. I'll ask if he can do anything for them."
  
  The engineer asks, "Why can't they play at night?"
• A particle lay bound in a box
  Aspiring to Great Paradox.
  Since no one could look
  It got off the hook
  And appeared some place unorthodox
• Heisenberg is out for a drive when he's stopped by a traffic cop. The cop says 'Do you know how fast you were going?' Heisenberg says 'No, but I know where I am."

You're welcome.

-DNA

Ruben, Sam, Alex and I did a little cleaning tonight.



See you at polo, usual place, usual time. But we might move once the sun goes down.

C-Note

I just got back from riding the F60 route on my Langster, as promised. I'm not divulging the details yet, but it is primarily pavement with a few gravel/dirt sections, about four miles worth (total). Most of the dirt is very hard packed. One mile is soft gravel, hurts like hell, and has a hill. Oh- and it's near the end. But we don't do this because it's easy, right?
Then get ready for October 5th. That's plenty of time.
And for the record, this 215 pounder managed to complete it in 3.5 hours on 23mm tires. 42x16 gear.

Bring it!!!


-DNA

Last week I got a nice little surprise in my Fixed Gear Gallery email:

"DNA:

I'm in Bozetown all week. Just helped my GF move here for Grad School. Any action around town I should know about. I'd love to do a piece for the FGG website....

lostgears"

Lostgears (aka Bill) was in town from Traverse City for a week and got a first-hand introduction to the riding around here. After doing the obligatory hikes and meanders about town he swung by the Bike Kitchen to see C-Note and Sam "No Nickname Yet" H in action. Wedesday I took him to South Cottonwood for a quick mountain bike ride. More accurately, I went mountain biking, as I was riding one. Bill took his 80's Trek touring bike with 700x38s and a monster (for off road) 42x18 gear ratio. And he managed to clean all but maybe three short pitches on the way up and all but one on the way down.
I had, since taking my first fixie off road about ten years ago shied away from fixed off-roading. My perspective has always been from a mountain bike purist's perspective and the qualities of a good off-road ride were unattainable when you must pedal incessantly- fast turns, downhill speed, air (not too much for me). But watching Bill clean the same rocky sections I was with the extra challenge of having to be more cognizant of pedal placement gave me a fresh view. I'll likely be building an off-road fix in the next few weeks.

After the ride we enjoyed a cold PBR as some younger guys gave us props for riding our old bikes without gears or suspension. We then chatted about the Bike Co-op in Traverse City he helped start with Dennis, Grand Poobah of Fixed Gear Gallery. I won't bore you with a transcript of the conversation, but some of his insight will be making it to the Bike Kitchen.

Later that evening he made it by for polo. Unfortunately we were unable to cajole him into playing. Next time.

Here's some links to pics he took:

Bike Kitchen

South Cottonwood

Polo

And his blog

-DNA

Keep October 5th open. I've been working this morning on the route of a race I've been thinking about for awhile. I'm not divulging too many details yet, but it will be hard, long, rough, and for a few hours you'll have a hard piece of leather or plastic between your legs.

I'm talking about the Fixty60, a sixty-mile fixed gear ONLY alleycat. The structure will be a bit different; the number of stops being less and the distace MUCH greater than a traditional alleycat. It'll be tough, but greatness does not come easily.

Meet at Rockford Coffee on Sunday 10/5. We'll start at about 10, so get there a bit early. It will be a closed manifest, so stops will have to be done in order. Instead of getting signatures or stamps you'll be taking pictures along the way.

Required equipment:

• A Fixed-gear bike.
• Digital Camera (a phone is fine)
• A map might be helpful, since you'll be headed well outside Bozeman city limits.
• $10
• Moxie, gumption, grit, guts, spunk, fortitude, and/or valor.

Any other details will be posted here.

See you then.





-DNA

Only a few, since I spent more time riding than taking pictures. Words will be along shortly.

A quick note-
There's polo tonight. I've got some mallets to repair and word on the street is we've got some out-of-towners coming by.

Portland write up will be forthcoming in a few days.

-DNA

Would you like to play a game? At Powell's Geek (technical) book store.

One more place to check out tomorrow before leaving. The vintage computer selection at Powell's Technical Bookstore. Chock ful-o-geek right here.