Chain of Events

Sometimes it seems like so much happens so quickly one does not no where to start; what with the classics in full swing. Cancellara seems to be killing it; making for rather dull finishes for the Tour de Flanders and Paris Rubaix (unless you are Fabian Cancellara). It also leads to speculation on the "training" he might be doing. In fact I was on the way home yesterday and who was zipping past but "the Blue Rider". I called out "hey, it's you!" He slowed and we took the last couple of miles home through Manhattan and Hermosa Beach talking bike talk. He turns out to be Swiss and a Cancellara sceptic. I agree, it is hard to know how one guy can just get that far out alone, just dropping the whole field of the world's best pro racers. If they are going to juice maybe they should share it with a few other guys so it makes for a better end to these races.

So there's that, and then there is Bike Snob NYC coming out with his true identity and we are all shocked that he is a clever guy from Brooklyn, who is a writer and writes witty and sometimes wicked stuff about cycling. I know I was stunned. Still the guy is very funny and I have to admit to ripping off some of his blog style in a major way.

It turned out that this past weekend's celebration of Earthday in the Southbay was somewhat bike-centric. Along with a bike ride to the annual event held at Pollywog Park in Manhattan Beach, there where several cycling groups with booths. I also took note that when my dear friend Ann Barklow was receiving a lifetime achievement award for environmental service to the community, two other guys with yellow safety vests and those little rearview mirrors attached to their glasses also got recognized for getting a grant for $240,000.00 for cycling infrastructure improvements in the Southbay. I am not sure if that is a lot of money for that kind of thing or not. I do know that in spite of the economy it still would not get you a 2 bedroom apartment in this part of LA County.

And then of course there is my chain. My beautiful noisy SRAM Powerchain II made a louder than usual plink noise on the way in to work the other day, and I happened to look down at it the next morning (to enjoy the lustrous nickel plating set off against the matte black inner links no doubt).

The "speed" or masterlink had snapped and somehow I managed to make it to and from work with the chain in this condition. As I had kept the old chain I just put it back on and road to work. On the way home I stopped at my LBS and Chris flipped me a new speed link free of charge. I asked about the overall noisy effect of this chain and he said it may take some time to break in. Well the chain is working fine but the noise is still driving me nuts.

Ehh…what a Dork.