A Hell Of A Weekend

Ok, so I figured I would take my bike to the shop. Get my rear tire looked at and then spend the rest of my weekend doing some much needed cleaning before my big date on Sunday. Ok, the date wasn't all that big, but I am crazy about this guy, so even if it's just a dinner out, I'm uber excited. :D

I sleep in on Saturday, watch a bit of telly and don't get out of bed until noon, when I am hungry enough to attempt breakfast (pumpkin pie, FTW). I find that my rear tire is totally flat. :( So I get my stuff together, put some air in my tire, moisturizer on my face, grab my tea cup and leave. I had to stop once to pump more air into my tire on the way to the Red Line station in NoHo, but I get there in one piece. Two trains later, I drop the bike off at FPLA and walk around Figueroa while Josef gets to work. I come back and while I let my jasmine green tea steep, Josef explains that there was a tiny staple like sliver of metal that was embedded in my tire. He said that I patched the tube well. He trued my wheel, I rode the bike around the back of the building and when nothing seemed out of the ordinary, I was on my merry way home.

(goodbye FPLA!)


When I got off my last train in NoHo, I rode a couple of blocks (Colfax and Chandler) and my tire was nearly flat again. I stop and put more air in tire, as I'm trying my hardest to twist off my skull cap off my tube, two little boys (10 yrs old?) stop with their bikes and ask if I have a patch kit. They both have flats. They help me twist off the cap and I help one fix his flat but the other kid's tube is frakked beyond repair, it will not even take air at all. I do what I can for them and give them my extra patch kit. I always carry 2 patch kits, which reminds me, I need to get another one next time I'm at the shop, just in case I give this one away. They only live a block or two from where we were so I'm not worried for them.

I start riding again, but my tire is totally flat after another block. This time I cannot get the cap off my tube at all. So I walk home. From North Hollywood to Van Nuys. It's only 5.5 miles but I am not a walker. I always do my best to look on the bright side, I tell myself "At least the weather is really nice" "At least it's not raining" "At least you have your Converse on and not wearing heals like you usually do" (Sorry Enci, I read your twitter, that freaking sucks!) "At least you can listen to that kick ass Charles De Lint audiobook" I do my best to count all my blessings but at some point I just crack and say "Dude, this freaking SUCKS!!" I get home, watch a little TV, speak to my awesome boyfriend and fall asleep knowing that I will wake up and go back to FPLA first thing in the morning. This time, I will get my rear tire and tube replaced!

I get up and walk to the Orange Line, which is about a mile away, my legs are hurting bad at this point, I am so not a walker. As I'm waiting for the bus, I see this:

I am uber paranoid about someone stealing my bike, or parts of my bike. This person was using a U-Lock, which, in my opinion, is one of the best types of locks you can get. But this person locked only their spokes. Their SPOKES! The only thing left is a rim! OMG!! I mean, carrying a U-Lock can be a pain because they are heavy but every bicyclist should look at this picture to remind them WHY they carry their U-Lock. My goodness, I would be beside myself if I came out of work, or the store and found that all I had was a tire rim and spokes left. :(

So as I get off the train platform behind FPLA, I see that Josef and the rest of the bicyclists are already leaving on their normal Sunday Dim Sum bike ride (no Dim Sum today, I think I remember Josef saying they were going to Rueben's in LA). So I tell Adam all about my last couple of days and how much trouble I had last night after leaving FPLA. He fixes up my bike in no time. I got a new tire, a new tube and all is right in the world. :D

waiting for the train


on the train, yay



I did have one near death experience outside the train station in NoHo. We were all waiting for our green light and when the signal finally told us it was safe to go we went, and then this white SUV came speeding in front of us, running the red light and nearly killing us. The SUV missed my front tire by inches. INCHES! I freaking hope that the camera got him and they make him freakin' pay. The asshole. Yeah, running that red light was so important, you had to nearly hit at least 3 people to get to where you needed to go 5 seconds early. Asshole, what goes around comes around but I am wary of wishing karma to come back on a person such as this because it would mean that somebody may get hurt. :( I'm glad that most of the major intersections such as this one (Laurel Canyon) have cameras that take pictures of red-light runners like this dude. I can understand running a yellow light, I've done it many a time (until I got a ticket at a camera intersection). But this asshole had no excuses for running, he had to have seen the 30+ pedestrians and cyclists trying to cross the street.

But all that worrying soon left my mind when I was riding so smoothly home. My rear tire had 60 pounds of air in it and my ride was wonderful. It felt so good. :)

I got home in time to take a long shower and buy a couple of grocery staples at the market. Mr Awesome (because he is) picked me up and we ate at Jerry's Diner and he gave me this comfortable scarf. It's long, warm and soft. Shades of Grey and black and it's perfect.

And now he's calling, yay! Laters loyal blog readers, Mr. Awesome calls.

A Black Friday Ride

um, yeah, so I haven't been blogging lately. What can I say? I've been busy. But today, OMG, today was Black Friday. I vow to either stay home or get the hell out of town for the next Black Friday. I mean, I don't go out and shop, I've never been that type of manic shopper, I value my life too much. But I did go to work. So, I'll tell you a little about my day. I got wine, I got pumpkin pie and some music is playing so I'm set. :)

So, seeing as how it's the day after Thanksgiving, nearly everyone at work decides they want to come in early to leave early to continue their holiday weekend asap. So I leave at 6 AM. While I was getting ready, was listening to and warned by KPCC that the San Fernando Valley was enveloped in some wicked fog. So I bundle up good and leave.

(Gratuitous bike porn)


I figure a little fog wont hurt really, while it's quite freaky driving in it, I'm of the opinion that bicycling in it could be no worse. And it wasn't really, it was just a big colder and wet. Really WET. Like so wet that about a half hour into my ride my glasses were so soaked and foggy that visibility was better after taking my glasses off. (embarrasing fact, when I stop at a red light, my glasses fog up pretty bad, it's like my tear ducts exhale sometimes) And I rarely do anything without my glasses.

Visibility was about 30-40 feet at times.





Yeah, so next time I do this, I'm wearing wool. I still need to get a rain cape though. It's on my list. I'm dropping subtle hints with loved ones that all I want for Christmas is proper rain gear and wooly/warm mufflers and gloves.

(more gratuitous bike porn)


So, the morning was overall uneventful, if not very wet. Until I realize that it's taken me a lot longer than usual to get to work. It usually only takes me 90 minutes to ride the 15 miles to work (yeah, I'm slow). But I've noticed that it's been taking me an extra 15 minutes to ride the 15 miles lately. I've recently had to have Josef from Los Angeles Flying Pigeon work on my bike. Actually, the real story is my cardigan got caught in my rear wheel cog and fucked up my bike chain and Josef, being the Knight in Bike Grease that he is, came all the way to my apartment in Van Nuys to work on my bike, when he found that he forgot one vital tool, he took my bike to his shop and fixed it. Really saved my ass, I cannot thank Los Angeles Flying Pigeon enough.

But ever since I got my bike back, I've felt that it was just a bit more harder to ride. Maybe it's the weather? Maybe I'm lazy? I don't know. But today's trip was 24 minutes longer that it should have been. I couldn't even ride up the hill to work, it was pretty sick. My bike didn't feel different, my tires didn't look different, but something was different. I spoke to Josef in the afternoon and told him what I was sensing (maybe the chain was too tight, I don't freakin' know, that's why I called the experts). He gave me a number of reasons why I would be having this problem. I vowed to bring the bike in on the weekend.

I get out of work and get my bike ready to roll and I realize my rear tire is flat. I'm thankful that I have all my tools needed to fix the flat and I work on it. Thanking the gods that the sun hasn't set yet as I find the itty bitty hole in my tube and patch it right up. As easy as it was getting the tube out from under the tire, it's as hard to get the freakin' tire back into the frame. grrr

But someone believed in me <3


I got that sucker on and pumped and was ready to go.

I realized that there was so much traffic. Black Friday is no joke to these people and they will straight run your ass right out of the road if you dare try to take the lane. Which is what happened to me soon after making my normal Friday night stop at Trader Joes. I decided that tonight was not the night to battle it out with these people so I rode on the sidewalk and looked at all the pretty/tacky Christmas displays in peoples' yards. There are some homeowners who will persist in watering their yards even though it's been so wet lately that they would be just wasting their water and I made sure I yelled my thanks loud enough as I cycled past. I will never understand why these people feel the need to not only water their lawns after a rain but water their sidewalks as well.

Also saw a man in a wheelchair start crossing the street in oncoming traffic because they modified the street lights to work differently. I motioned for him to turn around so he didn't get hit by all the drivers making left turns (in our brand spanking new left turn signal light). He saw me and paid attention, in the knick of time. He ignored me when I caught up and tried to talk to him. (did I smell?)

There were so many people out that I had to be so very cautious, you'd be surprised how many drivers outside the malls don't give a damn about paying attention to the traffic cop directing the lines of traffic. That was the scariest part of the first 5 miles of my ride.

Then I got to the Orange Line Bike Path and it was smooth sailing until the next tangle of traffic. Which was about a mile from home. I ride the bike lane up Woodley (because I don't have the balls to ride on Sepulveda) and there was a three car accident on Woodley and Sherman Way. Now I usually take a little detour behind/between the 7/11 and Toys-R-Us but there was no way in hell I was going go near Toy-R-Us so I decided to cut through the drive way in front of 7/11. As I do this I see this huge freaking black SUV coming towards me, the driver is looking at the snarl of the 3 vehicle accident on the corner, she comes right at me, I make a sharp left to get out of the way and nearly fall off my bike, she makes a right and parks in front of 7/11. I'm freaking irate with drivers at this point and I go up to scream bloody murder at whomever it is and I discover it's my coworker Christina, the one I carpool with when I'm too achy (lazy) to bike to work (rarely). She gets out of the car and I explained what happened and she's just so shocked and scared because she knew she was too preoccupied with looking at the three car accident just feet from us. She's constantly apologizing as she's terrified of hitting cyclists (she's had bad experiences in her past). We talk for a bit, I rant about some of the other stuff I dealt with tonight and we vow to talk more about it at work on Monday.

I ride the last mile and arrive home a bit frazzled but in one piece. Watch some Family Guy and give The Gritty Kitty some lovin' (she knows when I need some extra attention).

So, remember that WSJ article I was in?

You can read about it here

A few nights ago I get an email from the reporter who wrote the article.

Some one from the LAPD got in touch with her and asked her for my information. The Seargent has been tasked with attempting to find out more information regarding the streets mentioned in the article. The guy is in Charge of the Community Traffic Services Unit, Valley Traffic Division, LAPD. He asked for me by name specifically. I told her that of course she could forward my information to him as soon as possible. The Seargent called me the next afternoon. He went into great detail about ways that the LAPD want to improve conditions for cyclists. And I offered to answer his questions and help out whenever I could (if my schedule would allow it of course). They are hoping to get a lot more info and once they identify the problem areas, they have plans to set up some task forces like plain-clothes officers/cyclists and some sneaky media coverage to note problems and catch offending drivers. All this to make bicycling a bit safer and to educate the public in how to deal with us on the road and how to bike safely.

I'm very excited about this. It looks like there is hope for the valley...

I visited Los Angeles Flying Pigeon again last Sunday

My light stopped working and a lugknut fell off my seat so they needed to do a little fixing. They were cool, of course, I drank some good tea and talked with the other patrons while they worked on my bike.

I took a couple more pictures, the men's version and a flock of Flying Pigeons out on the street.




I'll have to go again this weekend to pick up some spare tubes. I might go attend the Dim Sum Ride.

Today is shipping up to be interesting...

Left for work at my usual time, was about 5 miles on the bike path when the smoke got unbearable and I took a detour and went to a friend's house. Decided to hitch a ride with her.

Watched the news about the fires in The San Fernando Area.
The Santa Ana winds kicked my ass on my way to my friend's house. Dodged branches flying, dirt in my eyes and was nearly knocked off my bike a few times (I'm a heavy broad and on a heavy bike). The Santa Ana winds are horrible alone, especially to bike in, but you couple it with a fire and all hell breaks loose. (ya rly)

2 hours into work, they decided to have us pack up and calmly evacuate the building, the fire was getting too close to us. Ash was starting to fall and cover everything outside. I made sure I got the other cyclist a ride home (coworker with a truck) and got the hell out of dodge.



The ride home from my friend's house was uneventful, and the smoke didn't bother me too much as I was wearing a mask. The wind may die down in a little bit. It will get worse tonight. I am not sure whether or not I will have to go to work tomorrow, we were all told to call the company's emergency number first thing in the morning.

Now that I am out of work for the day, I planned to just chill out, get some stuff written for www.soulgeek.com/. I got word that there is a neighborhood council meeting tonight in Sherman Oaks where they will be voting on The Cyclist's Bill Of Rights, so I am going to totally have to go to that. Besides, I want to show Stephen and Enci Box (soapboxLA) my new Flying Pigeon.

Christ on a bike!! The Governator (Ah-nold) declared an emergency just now...

I've made a decision about my Raleigh

I've decided to take my Raleigh bike and sell it for parts. I will just take it apart and post the items on craigslist. Toss the frame into the recycling bin.

I attended an interdepartmental meeting today, I'm on the safety committee, I represent the billing department. I have a friend on the safety committee who represents Microbiology. She also rides, and whenever we see each other, we talk bikes. I told her about my Raleigh frame breaking. She told me that's the same bike she rides (down to the same model). She also told me she's gone through 4 Raleigh bikes in the past 10 years, that she get's them for comfort but they fall apart after two years or so. She's on her fifth Raleigh, and after six months, she's already worn out one gear. And she only rides 6 miles a day. She also get's regular maintenance, she just doesn't let them fall apart without doing anything. I put 16-17 miles on my Raleigh a day. I was just shocked.

I've been thinking about this a lot today. Even if they are able to replace the frame on my bike (I still do not know yet), it would only buy me a few more months until something else breaks or falls off.

I have a great all steel single speed Flying Pigeon that is simple, comfortable, beautiful and fast. In a comment in one of my latest blogs, Tiago, from the Ride N Desire blog, told me that if I buy a Flying Pigeon, I have a bicycle for life. The Flying Pigeon HE owns is 60 (SIXTY) years old.

I've been riding 30 miles a day on my Flying Pigeon since Monday and I feel great. I have never been able to ride this many miles on my Raleigh in this short of a time.

Trying to fix this Raleigh would be stressful, costly and a waste of time (good time I can use going out and riding my FP). So screw it, I'm eating this loss.

Learn from my mistakes boys and gouls, don't by a Raleigh (unless it's an all steel vintage that has stood the test of time).

My bike frame cannot be repaired. So I got a new bike!!!

Yeah, Craig at Boulevard Cycles told me that he will see if getting a new frame under warranty is possible, but not to hold my breath. He looked at the broken pieces and said there was very little hope (kept repeating, "no bueno" I think that's the only spanish he can speak LOL).

I wasn't surprised really. I had already decided yesterday that the next time I get paid (two weeks from now), I will just take a few trains up to LA Flying Pigeon up in Highland Park and buy a Flying Pigeon. Like I mentioned in a previous post, it would be just a few bucks cheaper than the piece of crap Raleigh that I had. I said as much to my coworker/friend who happened to show up at the shop while I was there and my brother who gave me and my doomed bicycle a ride to the shop. They were both there with me to hear Craig's grim prognosis.

While my brother and I were on our way home, I muttered a few times "just two more weeks, just two more weeks, just two more weeks". Bro told me that he can lend me the money and I can get the bike now and pay him back in two weeks. So I took that money and got on the train from the San Fernando Valley to LA. I don't usually borrow money from my bro, and vice versa, but I couldn't pass this up. I hadn't riden a bike since Tuesday and the prospect of two weeks with no bike felt horrible.

Flying Pigeon Los Angeles is AWESOME! The guys were really nice and I cannot suggest them enough! Their bikes are pretty sweet. They let me take a few pictures of the bikes. They asked about my blog so I told them all about it and I told them that I heard about them from SoapboxLA (link to the left). I also let them know that I was going to do a little write up about them.

I just wanted to post some pretty pictures.

The Pink is a work in progress





That last one is the one I bought (outside the burrito shop near Flying Pigeon LA). I was *this close*to buying a red one. But I decided on black, it is my favorite color after all.

Oh, I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of the men's Flying Pigeon. But yes, they do have a men's version, in black only.

I decided to stop by Trader Joe's on the way home. The bag fits perfectly in the basket.


I just need some new pannier bags on the back, because the steel is a bit thick and my old pannier bags do not fit on them. Any suggestions? Remember, go everywhere on my bike, so I would need something suitable for work and shopping.

Also, I need some help naming my bike. Any suggestions?

There is hope on the horizon...

I still miss my bike. I miss riding so bad.

I spoke to my trusted shop, Boulevard Cycles, earlier and they made me feel so much better. Craig was the one who worked with me when I attended Boulevard Cycles' free bike maintenance class and saw first hand how bad my bike was. I told him some horror stories about my experience with the guy I bought the bike from. I told those same horror stories to the guy who answered the phone at Boulevard Cycles today. I asked him to please help me out and PLEASE don't make me go back to the crook I bought the bike from. He told me to bring my broken bike in and they'll do what they can for me. <3

It made me feel so much better, because I really didn't want to go back to that crook. I just knew he was going to try to screw me out of my warranty.

I miss riding, soon I'll be back in the saddle again. This bike was an extension of myself. I didn't just ride it recreationally, I rode it to work, to the store, to the movies, running errands. I rode this bike EVERYWHERE. It was a great way to express myself, relax and relieve stress after a hectic day. Being without a bike is like missing a limb. :( I feel so EMO without it (I still listen to better music though).

And to avoid anything like this happening again, when I get enough spare money, I'm going to buy another bicycle. Thanks to SoapboxLA, I found a shop in Los Angeles that specializes in Flying Pigeons and surprisingly enough, the Flying Pigeon Bicycle costs a little less than the bike I own right now (only because the crook I bought it from overpriced it).

And the Flying Pigeon so purty!


So in the future, if something happens to one of my wonderful bikes, I will not have to go without riding while it's being repaired...

My bike broke

I was trying to straighten out my rear wheel this morning on my way to work and I just could not straighten it out right, it would sit crooked in the frame rest. It got so bad that I just walked the rest of the way to work. I wasn't far, just outside the campus so I was still on time to work.

The other bicyclist here at work (see previous blogs) came out to help me set my rear tire straight and it was an EPIC FAIL. He was trying to set the rear hub into the cradle and parts came off in his hand.



That part circled in green is what broke off the frame. The rear wheel cannot even sit in the bike, that whole back area is totally frakked. I cannot roll it home or put it on the bus. My broken bike and I are hitching a ride with a friend who drives a truck.

My bike is a Raleigh Venture and I just got it in May 2008, it's not even 6 months old yet. According to Raleigh's website I have to get in touch with the dealer (the guy I bought the bike from) to see about getting it fixed before I contact them about my warranty.

I'm not even sure the guy I bought it from is a Raleigh dealer. He has so many different bikes there. Usually dealers deal in only one or two brands and stock their stores in only those, right?

But that's besides the point, the guy I bought it from is an ARSEHOLE (excuse my language but I have no other way to describe him). When I bought this bike I had already taken my old clunker bike to him a couple of times for repairs and he would refuse to allow me to watch him make repairs (I wanted to learn) and he CHARGED me to adjust my seat height (I was such a n00b). He even messed up my gears when he put the kickstand on the bike and it took me two months to figure out how to fix it (because I refused to take it back to him, because I knrw he would charge me).

When I took my bike to another shop for a free bike maintenance class we found that my tires were on backwards, the brakes were adjusted incorrectly, etc. When I left I felt I had a new bike, it rode better then when I bought it back in May.

And now I have to take my broken Baby back to this arsehole?!

I don't know what to do :( does anyone have advice for me?

(PS, I gave my old clunker bike away to a friend so I have no other bike now. I don't care that I have to take the bus to work and walk, I am extremely thankful that I can carpool with coworkers. I'm just REALLY sad that I cannot ride. I miss my bike already.)

"I don't cater to commuters...

my main business is the recreational cyclist."

Um, I got told this by two different bicycle shops. That they don't really have anything for the bicycle commuter because they sell recreational bicycles/accessories. They say they can still order stuff for me online though.

Why even bother when I can order items online myself? Ugh, so frustrating!