Trashing my body and my garbage can

About two weeks ago I crashed on a routine ride before work in the Berkeley hills. The road was wet and as I came out of a turn, my front wheel slipped out. I slid across the road, painting it red with my elbow.



A nice woman who saw me on the ground drove me to the ER in her Mercedes which I bled all over. I had to get eight stitches in my elbow and and about ten in my lower lip which looked (and tasted) like raw hamburger. And some other scratches here and there.

Blake took this the day of. He was riding with me but about 30 seconds back because he'd stopped to talk to guys coming off a cross trail. When he rolled up, he thought I'd been hit by one of the cars on the scene.



I bought a new trash can and have to throw out the old one. I'd gradually covered it with visitor stickers from my messenger days. Everyday I'd stick on what was left in my pocket. It will be sad to toss it but these things always are.

Lately I've been seriously considering going back to messengering part time. I miss it.

tandem skitch up Steiner

After work today I had to ride up Steiner. Blondie said he'd come along. As he turned onto Steiner from Fillmore I heard him yell "card board pirates, cardboard pirates!". (The pirates are the dudes that stop by the shop in trucks, top heavy with their catch, to pick up bike boxes and other cardboard we've left in front, playing their part in the retail eco-system. )

photo taken from Brian_Brooks on flickr. actual SF cardboard pirate.

Instinctively I looked back towards the shop expecting to see some after-hours piracy but he kept yelling. When I looked ahead I saw him sprinting up to one of their vast ships.

Long story short, we both ended up epicly skitching all the way up Steiner hanging onto the same cardboard truck. You should have seen it. I thought about taking a picture, but didn't want to die.

Keep Tahoe Blue

I rode around Lake Tahoe last weekend with Blake and Oliver. Towards the end I started yelling at them to get a photo of me skitching something. Thanks guys.







Very good times.

A flat

Riding home from work, flying out of the Broadway Tunnel. Turning onto Columbus I got a flat. I decided the best thing to do would be to stop at a bar and fix it as I sipped a beer. It worked out well.

I met an interesting character who loaned me a pump that was kinda broken but gave me enough air to get going. Can't believe I didn't have a flat repair kit on me. I sell them all day.

All I had was a sticker patch kit. No extra tube.

Always love this view, riding down this street. I'm flying down Columbus.

Crackhead cyclocross course on my beater

Went down to the marina this afternoon to "work" on the super secret Kling Clang Cross course with Blake. Hard to ride out there on my old messenger road bike with SPD-SL shoes and pedals. I'm thinking about getting a cross bike so I can race this year. I heard they cost money though, which sucks. I'll need to get some of that.



Got fourth place in the crit a few weeks ago. It was fun to get out there. I could have raced a little bit smarter at the end, but oh well.

some things in my life
are going to shit
but i just got
thee best skitch

five minutes ago down telegraph at 50 miles per hour on a perfect truck.

old speed limit

I finally hit 55 mph going down South Park drive in the Berkeley Hills the other day. I wonder how much faster I can get in that straightaway without changing my cassette.



I'm working every day this month. It's weird. Trying to mix up my commute.



Washing my glasses the night before the Berkeley Bike Club Criterium which I did Sunday morning before work. Got fourth place. Out of 18 though. I should have tried harder at the end. Did win some socks and a pound of coffee.

Another alleycat

This year Blake did all the work. While I was in Peru he put together the "Rad Massaker", a name his friend in Switzerland told him would be appropriate. Rad means bike over there. All I did was email Superfly about five times trying to score us both another personal stash of caffeinated energy tablets but they were lame and didn't even send so much as an envelope with Superfly dust...*

I spent yesterday driving around with Blake in his truck, blasting drum and bass and picking up stuff as it fell off the back into traffic. Had a great hanging out in the sun. Almost 200 people showed up and 100 finished. More than last year I think, and it was a hard course.

The start:





*Bevology, if you're reading this, for the record we only kept enough to become dependent before we ran out. We gave the rest away at the race. So next year, please hook us up again, ok?

Things I've missed

The weekly Port of Oakland ride on Tuesdays. I was riding around the Port this afternoon with Blake. It's a totally different place during the day - full of trucks, some that I skitched simply because it was too easy. He took this video yesterday of the POO Ride

It looks fast, doesn't it? I hope I can hang on next Tuesday.

And this:

lame duck

My trusty camera phone is busted and I more or less ride the same route day in and day out, so not much has been going on here.

I'll be out of the country for a month. Maybe when I get back I'll get a new phone and inspiration.

Skitched a car for half a second this morning on the way in to work. I haven't been doing much of that lately, mostly because I'm on my ridiculous cruiser with Dura-Ace pedals and carbon rail seat. It was a green pickup with a back cover, making a left I quickly found out, so I had to slingshoot off in the intersection.

Getting bored.

Popcorn / Bart Rope

Apparently the economy hasn't gotten so bad that you still can't find free popcorn in the dumpster:



I marveled at the BART art again the other day at Embarcadero station:

They cleaned the Broadway tunnel

I ride back through it most days after work. I saw the sign mentioning it was going to be cleaned the week before.



When I entered the first night, something was off. It was so much brighter. Then I put it all together. I love that tunnel.

Wrist Keys

Bike messengers all have certain lock and key systems. After trying a few out, I settled on the popular key on a bracelet one.







It was momentously sad when I moved my Kryptonite key to my keychain.