Rubber Side Down

Things I Learned About B.O.B.

1: The warning about not exceeding 40 kph is especially relevant when you're hauling 60 pounds of textbooks. I felt like an inch-worm on fast-forward and speed when I was barelling down Edworthy Park Road.

2: Trackstanding is impossible and not recommended in traffic.

3: Tight spaces become really tight when the length of your bike is 50% longer than usual.

4: B.O.B. is awesome

Today, I hit the Rona in Westhills to get some painting supplies with B.O.B. in tow.  I was definetly quite the contrast to the dudes pulling up in their Chevy Crapalanches just to buy a pack of assorted sandpaper.

I thought I'd rub it in further to all the lemmings in this souless outlet mall I call hell, by hitting the liquor store on my way through and buying a case of Kokanee and then zipping past the gridlocked traffic. I really wanted to crack one of those Kokanees in the parking lot and chug it as I rode past everyone, but I figured it was torture enough to be stuck in your car while the person in front of you is waiting for that perfect parking spot 30 feet from the store they want to get into.

Tomorrow = certain chaos

I'm going to  christen the B.O.B. tomorrow by barrelling down the hill to work with the trailer loaded up with textbooks and course notes. There must be close to 60 pounds worth o' crap. I figured a good way to test how this was going to work was by riding a couple of easy laps around my block, since this is the same as heading down an icy, 20% grade in the dark. Weaving in-and-out of downtown traffic should be easy too. If you see a binder on 3rd Street titled "DST Interpretation", that's mine, and the commute didn't go well.

Improvisation

What do you do when you're an old dog and someone steals your bed for a much needed wash?

You take what's left of two dog beds.

B.O.B. has arrived

I finally got around to getting a BOB trailer. I had to put the Xtracycle on hold due to a lack of space for another bike. It took me a little while (and a little sawing) to get mounted correctly, but its good to go.

Cruisin to the Ship

Sunday was 17c and a perfect day to cruise down to the Ship and Anchor's patio. Screw gears and light frames it was a day to take bikes with big tires and baskets.

Monday night it was back to reality, 6 inches of heavy wet snow. The downhill into Edworthy Park was a riot,  I was fish-tailing through the deep snow the whole way down. Once I got onto the Pathway, a familiar scene unfolded, me flying past all the cars stuck in traffic on Memorial Dr.

Another Day on Bow Summit

I spent a day last weekend getting some turns in on Bow Summit, the snow was crusty but still awesome.  Especially awesome, was the lack of crowds, I'm starting to really understand the appeal of backcountry skiing. Here's some photos. No skiing this weekend, highs in the high teens are sometimes better spent on patios.