I heard a crunch, immediately got up, and limped around for a bit. It honestly seemed fine. A bit sore, but nothing extreme. I was even able to finish out that game AND do another one. When I woke up this morning though, it was still swollen and was turning some fairly interesting colors.
So no biking for me today. It still doesn't feel awful, and once I got up and was walking around for a bit it felt much better, so I don't think this'll be a serious problem, but I do seem to be getting banged up a lot lately. I've never thought of myself as particularly fragile (don't confuse that statement with me being stoic or anything though, if I get hurt I will do nothing but bitch and moan for days) so it's a bit disconcerting that I'm feeling constantly banged up somewhere.
So I spent today doing some home bike repair 101 type stuff. Currently I know how to change/patch a flat tire, do a quick-fix for a slashed or otherwise destroyed tire, kinda-sorta adjust a front and rear derailleur, and fudge with the brake and shifter cable tension. Friday however, I noticed my old Trek 7.3 had a busted rear spoke.
I don't really understand how it broke, the bike hasn't been ridden in over a week. Maybe it tried to kill itself out of shame. Maybe it was killed by ninjas for knowing too much, a la David Carradine. (I know it's way too early for that joke, but it's not really a joke. Ninjas are no laughing matter, young people.)
So I learned how to replace a spoke today (fairly difficult) and also did some futzing about with my saddle. The saddle's been a sore spot on the new bike thus far (GET IT!?!?!?!?) but the initial effort seems worth it. For those not in the know, i.e. anyone with normal societal tendencies, Brooks saddles are formed from a complex process that binds high quality leather with pure liquid pretentiousness. Want to see the box it comes in?
It's a fucking BICYCLE SADDLE. My favorite part was the faux-1880's style newspaper that explains in detail all the of the various ways people have changed the world for the better with Brooks Saddles. I shit you not. Because I already have my camera handy:
No but seriously, the Brooks Bugle is a great newspaper. It's informative, edgy, and isn't afraid to get the tough stories. I'm not sure about their journalistic integrity, it seems like maybe Brooks Saddles, Inc. in particular seems to get positive coverage most of the time, but I still found it less slanted than Fox News.*
Where was I? Oh yeah, so it takes a lot of adjustments and finagling to get a Brooks saddle to feel good, because it's made of leather. Not leather like a leather car seat though, or like a leather baseball glove. It's the hardest leather ever. You rap it with your fingers and it sounds like plastic. And the first 30 or so miles on it were horrible. It felt like I was sitting on Anne Coulter's face.
However after some tilt adjustments, and some indentations finally being made, it's already 1000% more comfortable. It's now got about 150 miles on it, and it's perfectly comfortable, comprable to my old squishy saddle. What makes Brooks saddles great, and is why I'm willing to completely embrace the dark side of bicyclist douchebaggery, is that it never gets UNcomfortable.
The knock against squishy saddles is that they're great for short trips, but after a long time in them with your jubblies all sunk in, stuff starts to go numb and cramp up. What you want is something that comforms to your shape like a squishy saddle, but ALSO is firm and supporting. That's what leather saddles do. People who I've spoken with that tour all swear by this thing. They say it's virtually the only way to stay comfortable in a bike saddle for 6-8 hours a day. I wasn't sure about all of that (and God dammit this paragraph reads like that time I was explaining the difference between solid top guitars vs laminate tops and FUCK YOU for not stopping me back then, Stew) but I DID know I'd tried two different normal saddles and they were definitely starting to make certain anatomical bits start to feel a bit cramped and oxygen-starved after an hour or two, and with this thing that's not the case. Instead of gradually progressing from "ah this is comfortable" to "Oh shit it's turning purple" to "Oh SHIT it turned black and fell off" over the course of 3 hours, the Brooks saddle simply starts at "Hmm, not bad" and stays that way. So I'm sold.
* It's okay Conservatives, I voted for McCain in the primaries before he tapped that shrill, disagreeable retard as his running mate.. Also HELL YEAH asterisks are back!!!
edit:
I think Jill must've stolen my camera at some point, because I certainly don't remember shooting this. Man that thing's a beast! And by "that thing" I mean Asaf, he's totally spooning on that bed.
I was enjoying watching you obsess about guitars too much to try to stop you! That's what my ankle looked like the day after our totally awesome frisbee toss at CSU when you came to visit. The nice thing is that biking is one of the things you can do almost right away after twisting your ankle. Especially since you have clips, there's probably no chance of turning it again when riding.
ReplyDeleteKudos for trying some cross-training even though it ended horribly. And also kudos for the air mattress pumping video - I knew there was one out there!