role models

an ex-intern stopped by today. he actually stops by about twice a week, just to hang out or whatever. we enjoy his company (a lot more now, especially since he's just there for the hell of it, and we don't have to put up with his 23979383498 questions if we don't feel like it).


youth: "i got a suit today. it was free, from this program at the place i'm staying."

me: "FREE?"

youth: "yeah, and they have these counselors that help you find a job and stuff. . ."

me: "damn, i never got a free suit . . . you should sell it. and buy. . . . stuff."

youth: "what?! why? it might be useful for finding a JOB, you know?"

me: "oh yeah, thats good. get a good job, then sell it."

youth: "boy, you really are a good role model for at-risk youth."

me: "well, you're no longer an intern, so we aren't required to be good role models for you anymore. just regular role models."

youth: "you don't have to worry about that, i've got plenty of 'regular role models' in my life. . . "


that made me laugh.

supermarket street sweep 2008

we did this charity alleycat race yesterday, to collect food for the SF food bank. 5 checkpoints(grocery stores) throughout the city, with a manifest listing what specific items to pick up from each store. it was SO fun.

clare and i decided to do the entire course backwards, which ended up tacking on 8 extra miles to the loop. oops. the cool thing was, as always, we got to explore parts of SF we'd never been before. we rode a total of 29 miles, lots of climbing. the farther we rode along, the heavier our bags got. it was fun. i typically only ride about 2 miles with a full bag of groceries. . .

i did it on my track bike, she took the fuso. it was fast and fun. when the afterparty wrapped up, we grabbed dinner in the tenderloin, then i slept for 11 hours straight. seriously.

wheels, rims, and tires. . . not the same thing

rim= the rear hoop of a wheel, the outer aluminum ring.
wheel= the collective build of a rim, hub, and spokes.
tire= the rubber part that mounts on the outside of the wheel.


guy: "hi, i wanted to see what the price of a rear rim would be."

me: "just the rim, or the whole wheel?"

guy: "uh, i guess the whole thing."

me: "ok, what kind of bike do you have?"

guy: "uhhhh. . . ."

me: "is it a road bike, mountain bike, hybrid?"

guy: "well, its wider than your average tire. like if you cut it in half, see, it would be like 2 feet.""

me: "uhhh. . . .tires are measured by width, in millimeters. not by diameter. if its a road bike, there are 2 diameters of wheels, one is called 700c, and the other is 27 inches. you can tell by reading whats on the side of the tire. the price differs between them, as well as you choices of options."

(somewhere in there, the dude hung up. he probably resorted to yelp to write a bad review. fuck.)

white zaffiro tires

a guy called today with a typical fixed-gear-parts-related-question, followed by a question so absurd that i thought he was just fucking with me.

guy: "hi. do you guys carry the white zaffiro tires?"

me: "yes. they are. . . let me see. . . $30. we also have the gran compe white tires for $60 each."

guy: "ok. um. . . do you have any experience with these tires? i mean, do they get dirty easily?"

me: (at a loss for words)"well, um. . . .they are white. they get dirty pretty much as soon as you leave your house. you could clean them, i suppose, but that would be sort of a losing proposition. unless you just like your tires to be clean. . ."

guy: "ok, thanks. bye!"

wtf, i DID vote NO on prop 8?!

hi A,

some resident keeps posting stickers on the front door that say "vote NO on prop 8."

1. not that it has any relevance whatsoever, but i did vote NO on prop 8.
2. unfortunately, prop 8 passed on election day.
3. election day was 3 days ago.
4. i've scraped off 3 stickers already, and another one is now posted.
5. i don't know if some resident has a personal vendetta against an unknown person in the building they believe to be a proponent of prop 8, but thats just not the case. i'm removing the stickers because they are vandalism, and its my job.
6. can you please print some letter advising them not to do so, i'd rather not make a sign and get personally involved in this pointless banter.

thank you!
ken

aerospokes

SF is a mecca for track bikes. it is the heart of many trends that have swept the nation and/or world, for better or worse. "fixie kids" (i loathe this word, along with any other forms or plays on the word "fixie," but i'll save that for its own separate entry some day) in other US cities and even other countries look to our fine city by the bay for inspiration. SF was the first to release a track bike specific video, setting forth an explosion of "crews" and various other videos documenting riders and their locales. its great.

one of said often-mocked trends is the re-introduction of the aerospoke wheel. its a five-spoked, carbon composite wheel made for aerodynamics. messengers used to buy cheap old carbon wheels from roadies because they were cheap and cool looking. cheap because they were yester-year's technology. they look cool while rolling, and are easy to put a beefy NY chain lock through them when locking up. anyways, aerospokes are HEAVY. like 5 lbs per wheel heavy. any aerodynamic advantage gained is null and void compared to the extra weight you are bolting to your bike. but they do look cool rolling.

my shop has recently started carrying these candy-colored products. the weird thing is, most of the customers coming out of the woodworks to buy them are either out-of-towners (this is a dying trend in SF, it boomed in 2005), or weird roadies from god-knows-where. one roadie removed his ksyrium SL (suuuuperlite wheel) to bolt on a black composite colored aerospoke. why? "aerodynamics," he said proudly after scoffing at all the hipster track bike riders in the city who are rocking THE EXACT SAME PRODUCT HE JUST BOUGHT.

here is a snippet of a conversation i had with a hyper, excited intern the other day.

intern: "wow, cool! so what are those aerospokes are made of again?"

ken: "carbon composite."

intern: "so thats a carbon weave, right?"

ken: "well, sort of. its carbon, but not woven. its mixed with glue and made in a mold, like plastic. basically, its like plastic."

intern: "so its super light, huh?"

ken: "no."

intern: "its not? why not? i thought it was supposed to be light??"

ken: "here." (i grabbed an aerospoke and a 27" cheapo spoked wheel and hand them to him.)

intern: "WHOA, this is really heavy! (he hands them to another intern) so why do people want them, because they are aerodynamic?"

ken: "people want them because they look cool. if they tell you its because they are aerodynamic, its because they don't want to admit that they look cool. they are aerodynamic under certain conditions, but not just riding around the city."

intern: "so these don't have to be trued, right?"

ken: "its not that they don't have to be trued, its that they can't be trued. (i grab the aerospoke and lead both interns to the truing stand, put the wheel in, and spin it. the wheel is rubbing both arms of the truing stand, totally out of whack) does that look true to you?"

intern: "oh my gosh?!"

ken: "exactly."

mission path alleycross race

sunday 10/25/08.
organized by dirtydave and friends, with tons of sponsors.

40+ riders, 7 were girls. most checkpoints had a dirt off-road type of path, and we jammed all over the mission, dogpatch, financial district, and potrero hill. clare got 20th (3rd girl), and i got 21st. it was SO FUCKING FUN!

here are some pics i lifted from other peoples flickrs(thank you if they are yours!), will update as more pop up.