Publius & Co.

Thank you, God!

Or Kevin Smith. Whoever. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the trailer for Clerks 2.

And there's plenty more at You Tube.

First Ride of the Season and Victor Builds a Bike, Conclusion

Hey, anybody else remember a post I did just under a year ago where I talked about my building a bike? I finally finished it. The bike, that is, not the post.

I built the bike in three days...I just put a lot of months between the days. Sometime last...October, I think, I installed the handlebars, fork, front brake, and rear derailler. Sometime last month I installed all the cabling and I got the brakes adjusted fine, but the derailler adjustments were kicking my ass, so I went to my local bike shop for that, and to ask them check over my work to help make sure I probably wouldn't kill myself due to sloppy workmanship. Oh, and the wheels were a touch out of true, so they took care of that as well.

They said I did a pretty good job except on the pedals (didn't tighten them in enough), and as far as getting the deraillers adjusted, I made a newb mistake. All in all, I'm pretty proud of the job I did and I kind of want to do it again but not anytime soon. I do hope to put a ton of miles on it this year, which should present me with plenty of opportunities to teach myself some more basic maintenance.

You know, like adjusting deraillers.

Sadly, I can't show you a picture of the completed bike just yet because I'm standing right behind it dressed in tight spandex and I look about fifteen or twenty pounds overweight. I'm sure the fact I really *am* about fifteen or twenty pounds overweight has nothing to do with it. Trust me, you don't want to see that picture--not if you want to keep your lunch down.

I started my quest to put a ton of miles on the bike today with my first ride, a couple of loops on the main roads at Seneca Creek State Park. I did really well on the first loop, grinding slowly but steadily up the hills...but on the second loop I got cocky, went all out, screamed down hills at well over 20 MPH (and probably over 30, which is a lot of fun) but died completely going back up those hills. Too much, too soon, but it was still fun to be on the bike.

This bike definitely fits me better than my old one, but the smaller size and racier geometry make it a twitchy handler. I've no doubt my butt is gonna be sore tomorrow.

Last thought: On my last lap, I passed by the main parking lot and noticed this poor parking job. I figure the guy forgot to put on the parking brake.