Machka 

A couple more lunchtime walks, and I've compiled my outfit.

cooker

Now you need a vintage bike to go with it!

Machka 

Oh yes!! Definitely!!


In February, we did a little hub-and-spoke tour in northern Tasmania ... Evandale ... for the purpose of exploring the area and also attending the National Penny Farthing Championships.

We cycled from the place we were staying into Evandale and then spent hours watching the races and events. It was great!! I loved every minute of it. It was mostly penny farthings, but also several other old bicycles.

Evandale Village Fair & National Penny Farthing Championships - Home


The next day, we did a longer ride around the area to get a feel for cycling in that area, and on the way back, we found ourselves in among a number of the penny farthing riders who were just out for a ride too. And I had the opportunity to chat to one of the ladies about her penny farthing and how she got into it while we cycled along together.

I'd love to have one ... or just about any older bicycles.

no1mad 

No rain today

jade408

Thanks for the tips guys. It will take awhile for me to keep the hills on my route. They are incompatible with not getting sweaty.

gerv 

Gearing! That's wear a hills away to nothing.

jade408

Lots of little rides today since I worked from home.

First this morning I needed to drop off a package at the post office. The first time I carried a package on my bike. Lesson learned, make sure you scoot the box to the edge of the rack otherwise you don't get a comfy sitting position. The post office is only 1/2 to 3/4 miles away so I survived.

For my afternoon stop, I went out to lunch downtown. I had a very specific flirting mission with the owner of the lunch spot . That is a story for another day. Didn't quite achieve my mission, but I did get some flirting in and also got a offer for a consulting gig while at lunch. The verdict: there are still positive signs from the target, but we didn't cross over into the next step. Maybe next time I stop for lunch. I did get a free drink, so I have a 100% success rate of free stuff from the owner.

As I was leaving a couple (and cyclists) complimented me on my bike. They mentioned they hadn't had a chance to stop over at the shop (which was about a mile away from where I saw them) but they have some friends with my bike. (bike twins!) They were avid sports riders and hit the hills a lot. Me an my city bike would suck for those hills, my hills home are steep enough and nowhere near the steepest in town. The wife (?!?!) joked that every girl needs several bikes and I said...of course! You need a happy hour friendly one too.

And then I rode my bike over to happy hour to have an informational meeting about a volunteer project I am working on. Good meeting, and she invited me to a networking party nearby. I loaded up on cheese, chicken satay, shrimp cakes and spankopita before riding the hill home! Now it is my 3rd time up that hill, but it wasn't a charm! It felt extra hard. As for the last 2 blocks? Well I decided to pedal on the sidewalk for one block, unfortunately a truck gave me the death stare as it was driving on the sidewalk and I was in his way. Yes I said he was driving on the sidewalk. My street and the adjacent ones are one-way. There are also gas stations on the corner of the busy intersections, with 8 driveways each (I am only exaggerating slightly). Cars are always doing psycho maneuvers to avoid having to take the long way around with the one way streets. Some of the detours are pretty far, but many drivers are careless and don't really care about the pedestrians or bus stops.

And that would be my bikey day.

jade408

I probably need 2 more gears to adequately cover my hill range. I've got 7 on my internal hub. The range is almost good, but there are a few steep hills where I would want one more gear for uphill and one more for down hill. I would take one more lower gear, particularly for the days my legs are extra tired. Like today!

Roody

A recumbent trike might be the best bike for happy hour!

wahoonc

In my old age I have come to the conclusion that low gears are better than high gears.. I can ALWAYS coast down hills. I did just recently swap my 7 speed hub on my city bike for an 8 speed and drop the gearing a bit more by putting on a larger rear cog, huge improvement for me.

Aaron

no1mad 

Trip to the Credit Union to see about refinancing our new car in about a year.

enigmaT120

Can you fit a smaller front sprocket? I, too, coast down hills.

wahoonc

Maybe, the rear are easier to swap out on an IGH bike. If you have a multi speed cluster in the rear, swapping chain rings is the way to go.

Aaron

Sixty Fiver

The starter quit in my car and my Jeep needs to have the brakes done... most folks would be in a panic but I have been enjoying the extra riding and in the summer the cars can stay parked for weeks at a time anyways.

The other night I took a bunch of tyres and wheels to the co-op.



Today we went and did the banking downtown and then stopped by a little garage sale in a close neighbourhood we have not ridden in before and found a great little Cuban market.

Machka 

Today was my 1930s costume party at work. I gathered up my courage and donned my outfit. And it was all good. Several others dressed up too and I got to know some of my coworkers better while we all stood around and chatted.
And then ... they announced a winner of the costumes ... and it was me!!! I didn't expect that, but it was very nice.


And I had a really nice 3 km walk at lunch today. It's the longest walk I've done in a while. The weather at lunch was just beautiful, so I kept walking and walking. The walk started with running a couple errands, and then ended up being a stroll through an area I haven't walked in a little while.

Roody

Congratulations! Did you wear the costume on your walk?

Machka 

Thanks!

And no ... the shoes are not conducive to walks of any length. At least not for me. I've got arthritis in one foot, and I burnt the other foot to the bone back in 2001 so it doesn't bend well because of the scar tissue. Since November 2001, I've rarely worn high heels. I was just pleased I could stand in the shoes for an hour!!

cooker

Excellent.

cooker

Wednesday I got caught in a deluge on my commute home and everything got soaked through. Usually my wallet in my pocket stays dry, but the rain even soaked through that, so I have been paying for stuff with soggy bills the last two days. I have a file card of password hints in my wallet and that got soaked and some of the ink ran, but it's still legible. Anyway I rarely need to refer to it. I only had a light jacket, not a cape, but I didn't bother with the jacket as it's only water resistant and the rain would have soaked through it.

I didn't mind at all. It would have been a bigger nuisance if I was on my way to work instead of home, but I do keep a complete change of clothes at work, and I would have taken the cape if I thought it might pour like that in the am.

Machka 

And one of the nice things about it, was that I acquired much of the costume without a car ... walking around at lunch and picking up a little bit of this and a little bit of that.


Oh and ... on today's long walk, I stopped in at a little shop along the way. I've seen that shop before but thought it was just books. However a dress in the window caught my eye. Turns out, not only do they sell old books (some well into the antique phase), they also sell vintage clothing, and some really nice stuff. I'll have to go back!! Amazing what you find when you're just strolling along.

cooker

Yep, there's no doubt you notice more stuff biking than driving, and even more when walking.

no1mad 

Switching things up a bit...
QT to Home- a la 'Family Circus' | Walking Workout | Endomondo

jade408

You guys just went over my head.

cooker

One way to make your bike more hill-friendly is to change the size of the large cogwheels the chain runs on, often called 'chain rings', at the front between the pedals, and 'sprockets', at the back by the rear wheel axle.

If you only have one sprocket at the back because you have an internal gear hub (IGH) or a single-speed bike, you can easily replace it with a larger one. However, if you have a cluster of 7-10 sprockets at the back, because you have derailleur gears, then it might be easier to replace a front chain ring (front sprocket) with a smaller one to achieve the same effect. In both cases you end up with a lower gear range that makes it easier to go up a steep hill.

Machka 

But those long gloves I'm wearing ... we're talking about adding some grippers to the top and I could wear them as arm warmers.