StupidHurts

I spent most of the morning and part of last night working on this.

http://criticalmass.wikia.com/wiki/Birmingham%2CAL

The Critical Mass rides meet at 6:00pm, Pedals turn at 6:30pm,  on the last Friday of the month near The Story Teller Fountain. In Five Points South in front of the Highlands United Methodist Church where 20th Street South, 11th Court South & Magnolia Avenue South converg.

[Google map link]

Please help start this event! Copy and distribute the flier below.

World pillow fight day was April the 4th.

Someone came to me for this picture, and published it on their site.

http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/world-pillow-fight-day-april-4th-grab-your-pillows?import_id=49d7f0cdb73717.67711901

Which is pretty amusing, that’s the second or third time someone has come to me about that picture in particular. It is also a bit surprising because I don’t think it is my best picture from that event.

Unfortunately since my drugs have been adjusted, it has been a bit obvious. For one my seizures have gotten worse.  I went from one a day up to three a day. It could easily be stress from the upcoming court date, but that seems a bit unlikely. We will see how things work out.

I am rubbing neosporin on my face like it is lotion now. But honestly I don’t think this all will scar once I am healed up and my tan evens out. Aside from that I actually realized one of the fingers on my left hand is broken, once I let the drugs wear out and I tried to open a bottle.

I had purchased new a bike on Monday but I was reminded why I don’t like aluminum bikes. The first being road noise. Second the vibration it was a bit uncomfortable. There is a long list of others I will not get into here. The specifications read of the bike read carbon fiber seat post. When I got home it was bad enough the seat post didn’t have assembly lube on it, but it was actually a carbon fiber sticker wrapped around an aluminum seatpost. It was listing as having a carbon fork. The bike actually had an aluminum fork installed. I think with a fair amount of upgrading it would be ok, but I was offered a new steel bike that had most of the parts I wanted already for the same price. So I returned the first bike today and I will pick up the new one tomorrow.

Now time for a new messenger bag.

Progress.

The ironic thing is that I was bitching that my week was boring earlier. Actually I have meant to update my website several times this week, but from about tuesday up till now things kept coming up. Since now I am lying in bed and the morphine is wearing off, it seems like the perfect time to blog.

Friday evening I had just sat down in front my computer, getting home from a party I went to on Wednesday, when I got a phone call and an email at the same time telling me that the Critical Mass for the month starting in thirty minutes. It seemed like my presence was requested. Since I had been off my bicycle for the few days previously I was pretty excited to get out and ride with a group. About 20 people met in Linn park, and we had a really interesting mix of cyclist, few mountain bikes, few fixed gears even a tandem.

The highlight was getting to see the couple on the tandem do a trackstand at a traffic light. We rode around downtown Birmingham for about an hour before the group split up and some people went home leaving the more hardcore guys to rode hard and climb hills. That lead to Jp inviting me to go inter tubing with him and a group of people on the Cahaba river the next day.

So Saturday morning found several car loads of people lost in rural Alabama. Apparently the Google directions are very, very wrong. We should have been clued in when they used a cow as a reference point. Eventually we did make it to the river and get everything situated. Considering how far out we were and the fact I really didn’t want to bothered by the outside world. I left all my electronics at home and in the car. It is a shame in retrospect. We saw a lot of really cool wildlife. There were lots of fish in the river with us, several people got bit by turtles, and we saw an armadillo waddle by at one point. The part that amazed everyone was when ten cows ran and swam through the river in front of us. Two of the guys got close enough to touch them. I had enough cow from where I was, so I neglected. Now this next part is a plot device.

Someone was curious how deep the river was. So I offered to dive down to the bottom. I hand my glasses to a guy name Fred and dive down. I determine it is a little over 15 feet down and then come back up. When I ask Fred for my glasses back, he didn’t have them. He said that he sat them in his lap and he thought they would float, but they didn’t. We tried to look for them, but it was deep dark moving water. So I am now out of a pair of glasses until further notice. No big thing, I didn’t need them to float in the water, and I had my contact lenses at home. So we floated and drove home without further incident, and honestly between the rope swing and diving off a 25-30 foot platform into the river I had a great time. Now on the way back Jp talked me into going on the bicycle ride the “Tour the Cahaba” with him because he needed moral support. Originally I wasn’t going to go, Mostly because of the 7:00 am start time, and the fact that of the 60 mile route 40 miles was uphill.

Now it was 3:00 am on Saturday night and I remembered telling the lie “I have to go home early tonight because I have an early start tomorrow.” When I was up at 5:45 servicing my bicycling I was cursing several names and hoping more than mildly that Jp would back out so I could go back to bed. Well he didn’t and I didn’t. So we met up and got started. The route was planned for 60 miles and like I said 40 miles of climbing, some of those hills were steep. There were several groups riding and normally I riding with the fast group, but I rode with the medium group because this was Jp’s first long ride and my first long one in a couple of months. Our group was something around 60 people. It is still always amazing to see and hear that many bicycles riding in close formation. The group all stayed pretty close together the first 20 miles from Homewood to the Summit. I found out here Jp and I were about the middle of the “B“ group with about 17 mph and the ”A“ group was pacelining and averaging 30 plus mph the entire time. The next leg took us down to Pehlam.
I got lost when I dropped my keys and had to go back for them and then had to catch back up. I caught up with a different group than I was riding with originally, and they were riding at a faster pace than the last one. The sun was also coming out at the point to. I made it to Pehlam high in the ”B” group somewhere around the 45 mile mark and I was pacing 14 mph there had been lots of hills and these had done a big job of splitting the groups up. I pulled off my jersey while waiting for Jp and realized I had a truckers tan. The next leg was Trussville. That leg hurt. It was all uphill and we got missed our turn and had to re-climb several hills. Jp and I got really separated so I went ahead and rode with a group that was riding my pace. It seemed like at the top of every hill there was another hill. The Trussvile stop was golden for several people I was out water and I had to pee really badly, And there was a train coming.I could see the Trussville stop, so I just put my head down and went for it a little bit after the gates dropped. Luckily I made it with time to spare. I thought I was way behind the “B” group for some reason since I was lost several times. Apparently I was following the route better than most and was still just in front of them, but there was another group that took a shorter route and was just in front. Also at this stop a guy was pulling in and dropped a water bottle and some how it bounced up and into his rear wheel breaking a few spokes and pulling out spoke holes destroying the wheel. He got a loaner wheel and got to finish. Then another guy pulling into this stop dodging a pot hole, ran into the curb head on and flipped of his bike. Wasn’t pretty from what I hear. He bent his fork and broke the head tube on bike. That means new frame, but he did finish the ride once he replaced the wheel. At the point I was at 58 miles already and ready to be back at Homewood. So I chose a fast group and left with them. From what I understood the route back was mostly flat and fast, with a few technical parts. We set out and were hauling balls. Our average speed was 22-25 miles a hour through the neighborhoods. It had been a long day at this point. We hit Highway 78 in Irondale and since we had a long straight section we decide to setup a paceline. We did that for a few miles and where averaging 30 mph for a bit and we chew up a good bit of highway 78. And you remember that plot device I was talking about. I was riding in contact lenses all day. At 30 mph they dried out and one blew out.

Don’t know what I hit, but I crashed face first at 30 mph in the middle of the highway. I was a mess. It took three water bottles to get me to stop bleeding and we realized I was bleeding from the mouth to. I was ready to finish the ride until I realized my bike was unridable, my day was pretty much done.

We had the sag wagon come get me and load up my bicycle and take me back to the bike shop in Homewood. While cleaning myself up I started with arms, they were easy, it was when I got to my face and I realized the hole in my lip was about half a inch wide a 1/8 of a inch deep and I could feel it inside of my mouth with my tongue.

They ended up giving me a lot of stitches across my lips and recommended a plastic surgeon. I also have lots of Vicoden. I am not sure what condition the bike is in, I am hoping for the best, but I am sure it is bad. Considering that my left eye was swollen shut and I missing a lot of skin, looking for the sun glasses seems kinda pointless.

I have always had insomnia. You can work it to your advantage if you want to, and I have learned to work with it over the years. When you learn to sleep only when your body allows you, and fight through that plastic wrapped feeling you develop after being awake for a few days. You can get a lot more done. Now I was reading the side effects of the medicine I started taking last week Zonegran. It causes insomnia and drowsiness in most people, what a combination.

Sunday when I woke up midday and stretched I decided to lie there for a bit. I felt good, that usually doesn’t happen when I first wake up. So I thought about my situation for a little as I relaxed. Then something struck me as odd. I realized I wasn’t at home, I was lying on the side of the road in heap with my bicycle. Unfortunately I didn’t know how long I had been there. That meant I had another seizure, I had crashed, and my memory was screwed up again, but I did get a good nap, there is always a bright side.

My bar tape was actually so bad to the point I had taken it off and re-wrapped it backwards to cover up some of the holes. Since I was replacing my tires and adjusting every thing else it seemed like time to replace the bar tape. I have been putting off new tires on my road bike for some time, because while it gets tires are 1/12th a often as my fixed gear. Spending $100-150 bucks every blue moon vs. $20-40 dollars every other month still sucks.

But, I got my road bike taken care of, and just when I thought I was done working on it for it a bit. I realized pretty much the entire drive train needs to be replaced. The chain rings are bent, the cassette is just old and replacing all that will necessitate a new chain.

I guess that’s just whats happens when you play with your toys hard

My Letter to VirginAmerica Airlines Regarding Bicycles as Baggage. I have sent it to a few other airlines to.

Hello,

It seems that you all are trying to create a different kind of airline that exceeds customers’ expectations. For all the folks out there that are trying to live a green lifestyle and minimize their use of cars, bringing your bike with you when you travel is ideal. However, most airlines — yours included — charge $50-60 each way to check a bicycle. In contrast, checking oversized ski equipment is often free. Bicycles are primary modes of transportation for many people particularly people with limited means, whereas skis are a luxury item.

Please consider allowing cyclists to check bicycles onto your planes for free, or for a reduced price such as $10 each way, which would be comparable to what trains and buses charge. You would immediately win the loyalty of all the cyclists and green-living folks out there and would likely get a lot more money in ticket sales from those types of travelers.

Thanks for listening!

…I encourage every cyclist to write a similar letter to any and all airlines. Email VirginAmerica about this, you can copy and paste my text if that helps.

virgin customer service

Flying with any of my bikes has always been a hassle. Since I almost never check any other baggage. and I have to assume they bent my wheels.

I would like to say it has been a slow news week and that’s why I haven’t updated the site, but honestly it hasn’t. Most of the time I have just been juggling more things than usual. Mostly lawyers, case workers, and medical issues right now.

Last night I walked into a bar where I used to work but I still drink for free so I could eat dinner and hang out for a bit and speak to a few people I knew. The owner saw me and asked me if I was working tonight. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and pointed out the fact I don’t work there anymore. He looked at me unphased and asked if I wanted a new job. I had been trying to figure out how to repair my bicycles so I went ahead and took it.

Lets see how that goes.

Well, today I am helping mom getting prepared for Play-on con She found today that she is teaching a class on costuming in only a few hours. She is pretty exciting about it and, through that we were both offered work positions at Dragon*con. Looks like I get to go for free this year.

For the second time I had a seizure while diving into a swimming pool. I managed to get myself out of the water both times which is fortunate I guess.

I have basically been home sick for the past four days, that is part of the reason there really hasn’t been much going on in my world or on the site lately. I did make it out to Food not Bombs to help cook and feed people. But most of the nights this week my arms have draped over my toilet while I lamented how much I hate my life. Luckily I feel much better now, and hopefully this will last a while.

One of the more useful things I got done this was to re-write my Tour de Stupidity. I had been putting it off for some time, but honesty it was pretty embarrassing. So I took the time to take care of grammatical errors, make it much clearer, and add pictures.

After the wreck. I ended up with a mark on my right cheek about two by four inches. I hope it won’t scar. We will see.

Looking at my bike. Looks like I did a bit more damage than I thought I did.
The handle bars are bent.
My front wheel actually is bent, and I impacted the hub.
I have to rebuild the front end again.
I twisted the seat.
And after all that time saying how awesome Soma toe clips are, I broke one.