101 things update

[juliet]

Full list.


006. Make a cushion cover for the spare cushion in my room - still stopped on this.
007. Finish all currently ongoing sewing/knitting projects - still slowly ongoing. Distracted by Interesting Other Project, whoops. Started on the silk dress though.
027. Keep track of my reading for 3 months. - still stopped. Possibly using the Treo to track on starting rather than finishing is the way forward.
036. One evening a week college work for 3 months - this will finish next week!
038. O'Reilly blog entry once a week for 3 months - Done as of 26.04.2007! Missed one week due to Easter & not being at work but decided this was legit as it is really work-related, so did an extra week to make up for it.
047. Rearrange bike storage to get 3 bikes in - Done 04.04.2007.
049. Shelves in kitchen cupboard under fusebox - Done 04.04.2007, and very nice they look too. Also useful.
051. SR series - 300k done 08.04.2007. 400k on Saturday; 600k a fortnight after that.
053. Build up a fixie - Done 06.04.2007 (it still doesn't have its very own front wheel, or a rear brake, but I've been riding it for nearly a month now so I think it counts as done.)
067. Phone parents weekly for 3 months - Nearly 2 months now. Won't be able to phone this week as they're in Morocco but think that is legit :-)
070. Take Wendy out to dinner Done 12.04.2007.
084. Go to Purr. - didn't go in the end. Prob not till Sept now.
096. Stick all my old photos into a scrapbook(s) - up to 1996, post-1996 sorted & scrapbook for them acquired.

120/1001 days, 11/101 things done, 8/101 things in progress.

Comments

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Oh lummy I have forgotten about mine! I will do a review this afternoon.

Incidentally, I am now no longer at all sure I know what a "fixie" is! I assume it's "a bike you make up yourself from bits" - but you haven't got a front wheel? But you've been riding it? FOR 300 KILOMETRES??? Woman you are mad, in the nicest possible way! (I ran over 4km for the first time today and these HUNDREDS of "k"s you talk about put me to shame :))

[juliet]

Fixie = fixed-gear bike. On a normal bike you have a selection of gears, & a freewheel (so you can stop pedalling downhill, for example, & the wheels keep going round). A fixed-gear bike has only one gear, & the chain connects the pedals directly to the wheels, so there's no freewheel (a bike with freewheel but only one gear is single-speed). i.e. you have to keep pedalling downhill. And, indeed, at all other times. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html has more info if you're interested.

(the advantages are: cheaper & easier to build up & maintain (which was the prime mover in my instance, because I wanted a road-type bike for commuting to replace my hybrid, & I am a bit broke); more connection with the bike; good for your legs; LOTS OF FUN.).

It does *have* a front wheel, just not its own front wheel - I'm borrowing the front wheel from the Cheviot (shiny expensive Audax bike).

I'm not doing the long-distance stuff on fixed, it would kill me :-) I use the Cheviot for that, which has very many lovely gears. (I do know folk who do long-distance on fixed, but they are even more mental than all you lot reckon I am :-) ). I ride the fixie for trips round London, commuting, etc.

I couldn't run 4km, though. Knees are bolloxed, & I've never been any good at running. Bike fitness != running fitness. So I am impressed by yr gym exploits also!

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Good heavens!! So I have been under the WRONGEST IMPRESSION EVER of what you were doing! One learns something new every day. Gosh can you imagine me on one of those? I would totally fall off in about 2 seconds - I would probably do this on ANYTHING that wasn't yr classic "sit up and beg". Ha, I tried to have a go on Bec's bike but couldn't actually sit on it, the perils of being a short arse.

To be honest I am not quite sure how gears even work, I just know the higher gear you're in, the steeper hill you're going up (all I know abt bikes is wot I read in Tim Moore's French revolutions book - l'aubisque! disinfect your bidons! etc). Do you have a bell that goes "ping", etc etc...

[lovingboth]

Other way round: lower gear = the rear wheel goes round fewer times for every rotation of the pedals = easier to go up hills.

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Oh you're joking. I even got THAT wrong? I bleddy hate bikes. But am SURE he talks about the despair of clicking down into gear 27 on the steep hill and having nowhere to go... perhaps that is why he was suffering so much!

Gah! I am going to kick passing bikes in the SPOKES on my WALK home :)

[juliet]

You know, I don't think there's really an accepted way of numbering them. I suppose it probably *ought* to be the same way as cars (1 is low, 4 is high) except going up to 27 or whatever. But mostly people talk about the bottom ring (lowest set of gears) / top ring / etc.

Or I am iggerant, which is always possible. I did read Tim Moore recently but it was a loan so don't have it around to check any more :-)

[lovingboth]

He's possibly being precise: 27 is the size of his lowest gear.

(The number is something like how many inches the back wheel moves, and it depends on the ratio of the teeth on both ends of the chain)

If so, his other gears will be higher numbers.

[lovingboth]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_gearing

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

haha, i thought exactly the same as you, that fixie was short for "fixer-upperer" or similar, so i have learnt something too :)

[juliet]

Katie thought that too. I really should have elaborated for the benefit of the non-cyclists on my FL :)

[brrm.livejournal.com]

On the subject of fixies, have you seen this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0AFpq6jFok)?

I have vaguely been pondering turning my Raleigh (http://www.photonhunter.co.uk/~art/photos/raleigh/IMG_0736.JPG) into a fixie - is it difficult? (I've skimmed Sheldon Brown's page on the subject, but I'm curious as to whether a mere mortal could manage it. ;-)

[juliet]

No; neat :-) About the only bit I can do of that (other than pedalling in a straightish line ;-) ) is riding no-hands. I don't really get the mechanics of skip-stops & suspect it'd be bad for my knees...

Assuming you have front-facing dropouts on that: you'd need to get a rear wheel with a fixed hub (ideally one with a thread on each side, so you can put 2 different rear sprockets on & have a choice of gears), & you'll need a chainwhip to get the sprockets on. That's prob the most difficult bit (I didn't do that initially, although geared down this week & watched my friend do it so am confident I could another time. With the right tools it's not tough.). Adjusting your chain tension is a bit of a hassle but not that bad; you already have brakes.

Short answer: no, not difficult at all :-) I didn't do the stripping down bit because I got a frame rather than disassembling an existing bike. But in general taking things *off* shouldn't be too much of a challenge. Putting it together again isn't difficult at all - there's really not much to do, tbh (which was one of the appealing features for me!).

Note: you should get either clipless pedals or toestraps. I wouldn't recommend trying to get to grips with those at the same time as learning to ride fixed, so possibly best to stick 'em on whatever bike you regularly ride first & get the hang of it (can't comment on toestraps, but clipless doesn't take that long. Reduce the tension on the pedals initially, they're pretty tight when they're new.).

[htfb.livejournal.com]

I still owe you that wheel. It is sitting in a box waiting to be posted, unforgettably in the middle of the sitting room. I am just very crap.