Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Saturday, December 20, 2014

All Over Again

So.
Finally.
Winter Break.
Time to relax.
Except.
I've got that kadomatsu thing going.
I still have to go in and do semester grades.
Etc.
Well I did have some time off today and that new to me bicycle has been sitting over in the corner glaring at me for well, letting it sit in the corner.
I've ridden it few times and it's on the squirrelly side, I don't know if it's the stem or the head tube geometry or it's just that it's a new bicycle I have to get used to.
I also need to outfit it so it's you know, more than just a bicycle.
I need to make it my bicycle.
I needed a rack and some other things to off I went!
To the bicycle place:

























I was going to order a rack but racks are sort of particular.
I mean they have to fit nice and most important, they have to look good.
Image is everything, don't you know.
This Axiom rack might even be the same rack I had before.
It's good for 150 lbs, not that I plan on packing that much hardware, but it's better to be safe than well, sorry.
If you know what I mean.
I also ordered a new bracket for my Cygolite Expillion:



















That set me back twenty bucks, a bit expensive, but I needed it.
For some odd reason, I also lost the on/off button, a little rubber thingy that goes on top.
It's odd because it was there the last time I used the light and well, I haven't used it since.
The folks at Cygolite were kind enough to send me two new ones, no charge:



















That's what I call customer service and standing by your product.
My Expillion 600 is a couple of years old and I've been eyeballing the newest version, the 850.
After all, two is better than one.
I think.
Anyways, thanks again to the Cygolite folks!
I also got the newish Turbo Super Blinky thingy:



















I tried some others at the bicycle place and that's probably the best for the buck tail light.
Yeah that rack is the same as I see now that I have to modify it to mount the blinky.
Finally, I learned my lesson:

























I have stubbornly heeded the wise advice of the sage over on One Speed: Go!; no stinkin cards for me JRA!
I gotta say though, that freakin thing weighs like ten pounds and may exceed the weight limit of my new rack.
I may need a separate trailer to carry it around.
Or something.
Okay, now I just gotta put all that stuff on and I'll be good to go!
After I change them grip shifts to levers and change out the handle bars and stem and get a new seat and seat post and get some new pedals and maybe some wider tires and get a new pump and tool bag...
You get the idea.
Stay tuned.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

It's New!

Sort of.
I mean it is new but I already sort of used it.
So it's not really new but used.
If you know what I mean.
Anyways, a while back I started thinking that I needed a new hat.
Not just any hat, but like a new high tech version of that bicycling favorite well, the bicycle hat.
Or cap.
Or whatever you prefer.
So off to the eVilness I went and lo and behold I found this:



















The Headsweats cycling cap is cap just like a well, cycling cap only the visor is bit longer.
It also has a reflective strip on top and under, you know, for those after dark excursions.
It's made of some new high tech moisture wicking fast drying head conforming stretch material and I gotta say that I like it.
You can really feel the wind blowing on yer head.
Well what do you expect when you're Super Sonic.
Or subsonic.
Flat Tire recommended.
I was quite the hat wearer way back when, now not so much.
Well since I got this newfangled bicycle cap, I thought why not a non bicycle hat?



















A really flat hat.
I've always wanted a beret.
I don't know why.
Well now I have one.
Not sure how I feel about it.
Yet.
So then while I was on the hat site, I couldn't help but take a look around.
Just browsing don't you know.
Well I didn't browse for long:



















I've never wanted a porkpie hat, but now I have one.
I sort of like it, but the brim is way too small so that's right, you guessed it, I'm now on a Quest For Hats (QFH!)!
It's like now that I'm wearing one, I kinda like it.
Besides, a hat will soon be requisite wear as I groom myself for the uh, Kojak look.
I also need a new helmet since I broke the visor off my old one.
It's still wearable and I suppose I should use it since I got that new bicycle cap.
Speaking of bicycles, I picked this up today:



















Oh yeah baby!
Back on two wheels!
New to me bicycle at the scene of the crime.
More on this later.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Sunday Early Edition

So what's up with that bicycle track?
I've been watching them install that thing and I've had a few thoughts.
One more picture:
























It's on the left hand side of a one way road.
Reason is the buses use the right lane.
If you notice it's separated from the road by them parking bumper thingys making it a dedicated bicycle lane.
The parking meters are still there, how long I don't know, for there are still parking stalls on the outside of the parking bumper thingys.
Eventually they say, it will run in two directions; they need to install special bicycle traffic lights at the intersections.
The lane runs for oh, I'd say a couple three miles or so, from downtown to the university area.
Lot o'folks have voiced displeasure about it, but that's to be expected, I think it's a good thing.
More on the track later.
Anyways, after I took them pictures, instead of riding with the other folks I headed off to the beach.
I needed to clear a couple of cameras of film, film that's been sitting for a week or so:
























Some pinhole shots using my home-brew camera.
I was actually out searching for lunch, but I was sort of in a hurry cause I had to get back to school.
There were a couple of things happening like basketball and soccer.
Oh yeah, and a snack bar.
I had to bust out the ole Super Sonic:























Well okay I admit, I haven't been riding hard in a while and I'm not so super.
More like sub-sonic.
Or sub sub-sonic.
Well okay I'm really slow.
Make that slow-er.
I did manage to get back in time to catch some basketball:

























Boy's won their third in a row.
I also got to see the girls soccer win their first game:

















I was so pumped up I had to get back to the Flat Tire Command Center (FTCC) to do my own training.
World class laziness drills!
It felt good.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

It's Open!

Finally!
They've been working on it for months now and today they held an official ceremony.
Huh?
The bicycle track!
No, not like a velodrome, but a dedicated lane for bicycles on a major road that goes through Honolulu:

























Folk gathered at the park up the street from me to do some bicycle stuff and see the Mayor and ride the track.
There were also some bicycle related booths and things:




















Of course they had to bless it.
The track I mean:

























Here they come!


























There they go!

























I got to meet up and visit with some bicycle folks I worked with on that cyclovia thing and I talked to some other folks about starting up a bicycle club at school.
Again.
Maybe this time we get it going.
I got a call from Hincapie Sportsware the other day, they got my number from USA Cycling and they said they were willing to help out anyway they can.
Maybe that will bring some kids together.
Anyways, I rode around a bit, not on the track but at the beach and now I gotta go watch some basketball.
Get some lunch too.
Mostly get some lunch.
Full report on the track later.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Do I Really Need Another Camera? or Monday Final

I' ve decide that I don't need all these cameras.
When I got into this, I said I wasn't collecting and I would use all the cameras I have or they would have to go.
So, off they go.
Hopefully.
I'm trying to lighten my load by five or six cameras, but it's been hard.
For one thing, cameras like this keep coming along:



















Contax II.
I tried not to, really I did, but when the seller lowered the price by fifty bucks the temptation was just too much!
Well.
What's done is done.
Might as well go out and take some pictures.
The Contax II was first made in 1936 and the serial number on the my lens dates to 1937.
You can read more about the camera here.
It's a lot older than my Nikon even though they look similar:















The Contax has wider rangefinder windows for more accurate focusing and it's a bit larger.
You can even swap out lenses, although only the short focal lengths like the 50s.
The Contax though has that stupid Zeiss viewfinder:



















Looking through it is like perpetually squinting so the view is about a stop or so dimmer than nekkid eyeballs.
Advancing the film also feels like you're crushing rocks or grinding pepper.
Or something.
The film transport needed sorting out so I haven't been able to get a whole roll through it.
Here's the test  shots:





























The pictures look pretty good but in my opinion nothing real special.
The real test comes when the sun goes down.
Then again with that viewfinder I'm not sure it's a good idea.
The Contax is a pretty iconic camera, much more so than my Nikon S2.
I'll probably be keeping it, you know, for grins and giggles; my main rangefinder will still be my Nikon.
This is just about the last stop in rangefinderland, only the L word is left.
Oh and that Nikon SP.
Oh and that Kodak Medalist.
Maybe.