Happy Valentines Day




Art by Elena, photo by me, treacly feline played by the rarely photographed Dee(pleted Uranium).

Sick of the holiday, single or otherwise looking for something else to do? Go to your local book shop or amazon and pick up Geek Love for a dark and intensely enjoyable carnival freakshow based love story.

A few more recommendation for the day

I did go and see Brokeback Mountainlast week and found it incredibly moving. It is a very good love story, schmaltz free even. It is very beautifully shot, the acting was excellent, and prety much everything was really well done. Heath Ledger was spectacular, and despite my Donnie Darkobased aversion to Jake Gyllenhaal, he also was extremely convincing in his role.

Given the "controversy" this movie has caused, I was expecting to be disappointed. I was expecting something a bit more flashy and cheezy as I thought Ang Lee would have gone for a return to the impressive, but maybe not all that satisfying style of his last success, Crouching Tiger blahblah blahgon. But no, this was good all around. I hope it makes a bazillion dollars and shuts up certain moronic knee jerk reactionary pundits.

One of the first things I did with the incredibly useful and excellent Complete New Yorkerwas to read the original Anne Proulx story. For me the short story flowed nicely but was not nearly as powerful or as interesting as the movie. Much of the dialog and scenes were lifted verbatim from the story, but the screenwriters and Ang Lee did an admirable job fleshing it out a bit. So there, I wrote a bit more than I wanted to , but the summary here is great love story, go see it, unless you can't handle it, then do not, sheesh.


Some other interesting love between men movies to check out:


Hollentour, nice bike documentary, lots of love, see more here
I Heart Huckabeesnicely paced movie, Marky Mark and Jason Schwartzman, unlikely pair? Hardly, deeply in love by the final scene.
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou so much love here, it is hard to know where to start, not quite up to Wes Anderson's previous movies, but damn good. Great soundtracktoo, especially if you like Bowie, in portuguese.

Wow wow, love, now go ride your bike and kiss your special friend or something.

Chinese Bike of the Day Seven

Here is a nice street scene taken two minutes after the baloon bike on Day six right outside the gates of ShuanDa.


click for big.

The older woman is riding what appears to be a pedicab. Everyone else is riding dead typical chinese bikes, older ralleighoids, newer bikes that range from 70's bike boom mixte like thingies to other crappy big box like MTB's. All bikes have some sort of plastic or metal baskets on the front, very strong rear racks on back, and fenders.

Ok, for real, vendor bikes starting tomorrow. Unless I put up some other bikes, then you will still have to wait.

Enjoy.

Can You Hear the Buzzing?

Whooooo


It took a while, but I finally got some serious buzz going from the new coffee machine:



It was a lovely and much appreciated gift from Paul and Sooze, mosca's parents, in thanks, one presumes, for delivering a kicking yowling mosca after a long 4 months of exciting vet visits, seizures, and pillings.

The machine is a slightly different than the steam driven productivity engine at mosca's house that kept me awake even when I did not want to be. There was a bit of break in, cleaning and learning curve involved, took a bit longer than I had hoped, but now I will never sleep again.

Click for the big foam-eating infant-scaring longshoreman.

Temporary Cat Break

Wink 256 investigates the moldy stuff from the back of the fridge. I believe it was lasagna.



Click for high resolution mold.

Sixth Chinese Bike of the Day

Not too much going on here, two guys ride up on a cargo bike and start unloading, unfolding, and hanging velvety celebration globes.



Not to much else to say. I think these were up for calendar new year, as it was near the ought four to nought five switch.

More chinese bikes rolling along tomorrow.

Again, taken in Chengdu at SichuanU.

On the Fifth Day of Chinese Bikes Tarik Brought to Me...

Greeen crapped out cargobike:

Click for big.

Ok, much more typical cargo bike than yesterday. The bike is not much of a rider, more like a tricycle wheelbarrow. Note:
Headset sitting loose in the head tube (very common even on riders, headests held on by the threads on the fork, not the pressed in cups)

Pedals are spindles

Front wheel basically rubbing on the fork.

What I think are the springer fork reinforcements, just hanging there attached to nothing.

I recall checking to see that the rear hand brake was attached and seeing it end in nothing under the rear wheels.

Blah blah blah, anyone still reading? Any requests? I have one more similar cargo bike from Cheng Du and then will go through vendor bikes, delivery bikes, street scenes and some more typical riders, ralleighoids and more "modern" bikes.

Later Potaters

Tyler upheld

Somewhat anticlimatic, but Tyler Hamilton's suspension was upheld, meaning no racing until September or so, and no pro tour team until 2008. This is a consequence of them taking 17 months to get through the appeal process. Which is a ridiculous amount of time for a 24 month sentence. Tylers take here. The official verdict here, 29 pages of a badly scanned fax, boring. Velonews and Cyclingnews articles. Check mountain bike's website next week in the Boulder Report for a summary by Joe Lindsey who consistantly writes the most level headed doping articles in the cycling press

I am skeptical that he was clean. Given the lack of hard proof that Tyler had a in utero absorbed twin, I think it is very likely that he and his teamate (Santi Perez, the only other procylist to test positive for blood doping) were blood doping with their own blood, but got their blood mixed up and thus both tested positive for blood doping with someone elses blood. Thats an opinion, but it is a moot point, really. Tyler did not admit guilt and fought it till the end as an innocent man, frankly he comes off alot better looking than the powers that be. The testing system is suspect for sure, Hamilton undoubtedly was tested non-anonymously and specifically and he also was publicly damned by WADA cheif Dick Pound. It leaves an ugly taste of witch hunt doping rules rather than impartial scientific tests. This needs to be fixed ASAP. I care more about this than being heartbroken about Tyler being guilty. Dick Pound needs to be suspended.

So Tyler sits out until September and either joins a US based team (and wins damn near everything) or a second tier Euro pro team. Either way, I say he wins the Tour de Langkawi next year and maybe podiums in the Giro or the Vuelta once before he retires. Blood doping or no, he is a stud, he will have served his time and I welcome his return to pro cycling.

Good luck Tyler, make me proud of you again.

Fourth Day of Chinese Bikes

Ok enough with the raleghoids for a tiny bit, cargo bikes:


Click for big.

This is an older style cargo trike that was very common in Chengdu. The front triangle has an elegant wavy toptube with a wavy upsidedown U for Chuck Norris like strength. Usually there was a linkage brake on the front wheel and a down tube mounted hand brake for the rear of the bike. Although crappy plastic brooms were everywhere, some of the maintnance workers/gardners still used these nice bamboo and straw brooms, sweeping into dustpans and transferring trash into huge woven baskets.

This bike is in pretty good shape and was a rider, I will show youse a closer view of a more typical cargo bike on campus Saturday.

The picture again is on campus of Sichuan University in Chengdu. copyright me.

Day three chinese bikes

Propane hauler


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Here we go, rear rack set up to carry four or more propane tanks. They are held on by simple hooks and just lift off for quick delivery. The delivery man rode up with three and picked up two and ran inside, faster than the speed of my camera. Again, typical raleighoid dealy, with custom rear rack, beat saddle and linkage brake which might sort of stop the bike loaded.

In the big pic, note the rider passing by on a typical raleighoid commuter. With front basket and rear rack basket. Full chain case is/was stock on these bikes. many older/working bike have lost their chain case. Typically the cheesy rubber block pedals bend and are replaced with cheezier $1 US versions or are left as bent precessing spindles. Linkage brakes are often repaired with spokes, hammers and pliers. The masses ride sub 10 mph, by riding 15 mph I could easily outdistance everyone including most of the battery mopeds.

Check the Pollution mask as well, coal is king and it really is nasty between the crappy cars and coal fires, etc. etc. etc. The sun rarely shines in chengdu it seemed. Probably not a SARS bird flu mask. Also barely visible rider is wearing little slip on ear covers, for warmth.

Most big roads in Chengdu have divided bike lanes in each direction with fairly large dividers as seen here. This does not mean taxis will not zip in and out of them to drop off fares and go around traffic jams. They are nominally one way, but many people ignore this on their bikes.

Maybe some cargo bikes on friday.

chinese bike of the day 2, electic boogaloo

Worst bicycle based job EVER.


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This guy rode (yep rode, no walk the bike with the load that is also common) through the city collecting what, based on the rancid oil smell, appeared to be used cooking oil/grease from little eateries throughout the city. He used the bucket to hand carry the crud to the large oil drums and then rode off slopping tiny bits of noxious liquid in his wake. I presume he was recycling it somewhere. I saw a number of motorcycle derived versions of this, but this was the only cyclist I saw. He was remarkably clean given his job description and barely spilled anything. There was a distinctly unpleasant odor that trailed behind him.

The bike stood on its own as the drums were so close to the ground. I am not sure if he could have crashed it if he wanted, the drums were like stabilizers and bore the scrapings to prove their utility.

Typical raleighoid bike, linkage brakes, single speed, fenders, leatheresque seat etc...

Again taken in Chengdu, near the university, by me, early 2005. Copyright, Tarik Saleh, 2005.

Chinese Bici del dia

Mixing things up a bit, I will have a chinese bike of the day up each day for the rest of the week.


Click for really big.

Yeah baskets. Taken whilst awheel in early '05 on a bike path around Chengdu. Pretty typical, never found a place that made the baskets, but lots of nattily dressed chain smoking old guys had beautiful big wheeled (at least 700c) traditional bikes festooned with big wicker baskets. Nice. Most bikes were in the 26" family, even the new traditional bikes, but the olduns were classy looking. Seat on the top tube, bars even with seat, bikes with drop dead beautiful patina, probably raleighesque oven baked enamel finish gone 50 years and a revolution worth to pot. The posties had some stylie green bikes with gold lettering and great bags, but never found a place to get the bags.

By the way, image copyright Tarik Saleh 2005. Do not steal it for profit, dig?

Some more linkses

Adding a couple of more links on the side bar, in the not bikes nor baseball category.

Chris Knipp is a good friend from my Bay Area days, he writes extensively, thoroughly and excellently on movies and politics. He probably has seen every movie you want to see and is a great resource for making your Netflix list a mile long.

Also Wenmei is a long time friend and her blog is my top referral aside from JimG's bike dork abblogeration. I also have jimg to thank for the bontrager sweater below circa '99.

Enjoy.

Beards and Babies

For as long as I have lived in cold places (boston and NM, Knoxie and Berkeley don't count) I have grown a beard-like object when the winter has come. It is really not so much the warmth of the face hair, but more of the not shaving and suffering wind/coldburn on top of razorburn when you are running and biking in the elements. In my XC and track running college days in boston I would grow a scraggly goatee every january when we had a month off from classes and all I did was run and sleep. Now that I am slightly more aged, I can actually grow a full beard and now I routinely scare the crap out of babies, children and puppies. Ah well, I can now put a check mark next to "scares small children" on my lifetime to do list.

Speaking of babies, my brother and sister-and-law are proud parents of a little girl as of this week. I am uncle. I am also really happy and excited about this.

As I have not catposted in a bit, here is my own personal lazy sunday pic:
Me, the sweater I probably will elect to be buried in, my beard, the paper, coffee and Wink256 getting his scratch on. Click for big.

Winter?

Last year at this point there were feet of snow in the hills above Los Alamos with town going through its usual snow-thaw cycle. This year we have had maybe three inches total in town and not much more than a permanent dusting on the shady sides of the mountains. I did a canyon-perimeter trail loop on my MTB yesterday and it was one of my faster times on the backwards loop ever. Last year at this time it was faster to run it as there were many places on the trail that were glare ice and most of the steep bits were unrideable for the snow and ice. This year there was the merest hints of ice in the dark recesses of perimeter trail and it was a bit dusty, but otherwise fast and traction was great. It was in the mid forties with the temp dropping a bit toward dusk with a nasty wind that made it perfect to be off road.

I bought some really nice nokian studded MTB tires from a friend in colorado with visions of snowy commutes and icy MTB loops this winter, but no dice whatsoever. Kind of a bummer for the xc skiing and the drought but hopefully we will get some salvation before spring arrives in earnest.