Well I have been riding to work about three days a week for since my dad brought my fixie to Seoul. I have been enjoying it more than I thought. My Tucson commute was about the same mileage as my commute here in Seoul. My main commuter bike in Tucson was a fixie as well but I wasn't able to ride to work along a beautiful river.(complete with ducks)
Sometimes when I was feeling lazy or my legs needed a break I would ride my road bike which provided the luxury of gears. My roadbike was light, stiff, comfortable and fast. It was practically effortless compared to the fixie. Why then you may ask do I ride a fixie? Well riding a fixie is a totally different experience. Different bikes provide different riding experiences. Just imagine the disparity between a Ford F-150 pickup truck and a Lexus sedan and you may begin to understand the difference in the ride characteristics of different bikes.
There are many variables that go into the "ride" of a bike. Geometry is of course a big determining factor as is material. If you want a super stiff unforgiving ride you would get a bike made from aluminum. Having said that, you have many options in what type or mixture of aluminum make up the tubes of your bike; ultimately depending on what your "ride" goal is. Different compounds can be mixed in with the aluminum to make the metal more or less flexible or forgiving. Another material used to build bikes is carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is stiff yet absorbs and dampens vibrations while being extremely light. Steel is forgiving and springy, yet a bit heavier. Titanium is tough, light and flexy which can be used to its advantage when a bike is designed correctly.
When it comes down to it I have preferences for each type of bike that I ride. For a full suspension MTB I want the stiffest material I can get. There are many pivots on a full suspension MTB and that is going to provide opportunity for the frame to flex. I want the frame to be as stiff as possible on a full suspension bike because the suspension can soak up all the bumps for me.
A hardtail on the other hand must be made of steel or titanium. These metals would provide enough forgiveness. I would actually go so far as to say that there are specific steel tubes that I would prefer over others. Different grades of steel provide a varying range of ride qualities, some of which I prefer over others.
Road bikes for me have to be a mixture of aluminum and carbon. That way you get the best of both worlds. Stiff and compliant all at the same time and in the right ways.
For a fixie I would definitely have to say steel. I have had some fixies that have been too flexy but I would still stick with steel. Specialized has released an aluminum fixie recently and which looks like no fun to ride. My current fixie is fairly stiff but at the expense of being a bit of a dead fish. The tubes are beefier which is nice because it cuts down on flex (when a bike flexes it sucks the power away from your pedal stroke) but the steel is low grade so the ride quality is nothing to write home about. (even though I am right now) Having said that I enjoy riding it immensely.
The only time I feel it flex is when I'm pulling Q's trailer and I'm climbing the hill up to school. The hill is very steep. It is not easy to climb even on days when I am feeling good. It is a nice way to start the day though. Riding it on a fixie you have to push as hard as you can because if you go too slow you will loose your momentum and when that happens your up a creek without a paddle.
The other reason I like riding a fixie is that you can't stop peddling while your moving. It demands total concentration. I normally don't ride with breaks but since I have Q in the trailer and I would be coming down the hill from school(in traffic) I installed a front break. It helps to control speed.While riding a fixie if you want to slow down you have to push back on the pedals as they come up and pull up on them as they go down. It not only takes work to start but also to slow down and stop.
The ride to work is along a really nice river where other biker are out as well as runners, Rollerblades, walkers etc. I have been meaning to bring the camera and snap a couple pics on my way in but I always forget. I'll try and remember in the next couple weeks.
This morning when I left it was 39* F. Just a taste of what's to come I'm sure.
Enough about bikes I need to go to bed.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Random
I got the most random email tonight on my school account. Here it is:
Dear Mr. Sheridan
Hello, I changed your chair due to original your chair was fixed by our vendor so, if you have any questions let me know. Did you lost your name tag next to front door? Let me know about this and thank you.
I have no idea what the heck he is talking about. I can't wait until tomorrow to see 1) what he was talking about and 2) who he thought he was talking to.
Here is a pic of the Q-man.
I'm tired so I'm off to bed. More later.
Dear Mr. Sheridan
Hello, I changed your chair due to original your chair was fixed by our vendor so, if you have any questions let me know. Did you lost your name tag next to front door? Let me know about this and thank you.
I have no idea what the heck he is talking about. I can't wait until tomorrow to see 1) what he was talking about and 2) who he thought he was talking to.
Here is a pic of the Q-man.
I'm tired so I'm off to bed. More later.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Leap of Faith
Of course another busy week. Our new/used car was delivered to the school at the end of last week. It arrived without incident and was more or less in the exact shape as when we bought it. I was half expecting to have the car arrive with a different motor, a seat missing, four bald tires or something of the sort. But it arrived, it started when I turned the ignition, and Q and I drove it home without even getting lost. Overall it was a success.
J had an overnight V-ball trip on Friday/Saturday. It was the first time she has been away from Q overnight since he was born. The team did really well. J will tell you all about it I'm sure. She has a couple games this week and next before leaving for a week long tournament. So in essence this past weekend was just preparing her for the week-long hiatus from Q.
On Sunday we decided to load the family in the car and head out for some excitement. We went to our neighborhood Mexican restaurant and had treated ourselves to some Korean style TexMex. It was actually better than it sounds. The chef went a little overboard with the cinnamon but I still enjoyed it.
After lunch we scooted (that is what you do in our car because it's so small) over to Yuldong Park to meet up with friends for some bungee jumping. For some reason or another it was a very busy day for the bungee jumping operation. We ended up waiting to jump for quite some time. (By quite some time I mean like over 2 hours) This was tempered by company and the fact that people were making occasional beer runs. It was blast as those of you who have bungee'd know. The jumpers ran the gamut of age and gender. It was fun watching everyone get really nervous but still take the plunge when it came time to leap off the edge. Here is a comic I made of a couple of the jumpers. I left the "thought" balloons blank and posted a hard copy of this in the staff lounge and asked people to fill in the balloons with what they think was going through the minds of the jumpers at the moment represented in the photo.
Here is what we look like standing on the ground.
We got our tickets home this past week as well. We will be arriving on the 13th of December and staying through the 1st of January. Drop us a line and let us know if you'll be around.
I got a great email from Bryan about some motorcycle riding he's been doing which planted the seed of a short moto trip in my mind during our time back home. Now I just need to figure out where to go. Somewhere warm I'm thinking.
We need to name our car and are open to suggestions. I know it is hard to name a car without ever seeing it but just imagine a small silver hatchback. I'll try and get some pics up soon.
Adios,
J had an overnight V-ball trip on Friday/Saturday. It was the first time she has been away from Q overnight since he was born. The team did really well. J will tell you all about it I'm sure. She has a couple games this week and next before leaving for a week long tournament. So in essence this past weekend was just preparing her for the week-long hiatus from Q.
On Sunday we decided to load the family in the car and head out for some excitement. We went to our neighborhood Mexican restaurant and had treated ourselves to some Korean style TexMex. It was actually better than it sounds. The chef went a little overboard with the cinnamon but I still enjoyed it.
After lunch we scooted (that is what you do in our car because it's so small) over to Yuldong Park to meet up with friends for some bungee jumping. For some reason or another it was a very busy day for the bungee jumping operation. We ended up waiting to jump for quite some time. (By quite some time I mean like over 2 hours) This was tempered by company and the fact that people were making occasional beer runs. It was blast as those of you who have bungee'd know. The jumpers ran the gamut of age and gender. It was fun watching everyone get really nervous but still take the plunge when it came time to leap off the edge. Here is a comic I made of a couple of the jumpers. I left the "thought" balloons blank and posted a hard copy of this in the staff lounge and asked people to fill in the balloons with what they think was going through the minds of the jumpers at the moment represented in the photo.
Here is what we look like standing on the ground.
We got our tickets home this past week as well. We will be arriving on the 13th of December and staying through the 1st of January. Drop us a line and let us know if you'll be around.
I got a great email from Bryan about some motorcycle riding he's been doing which planted the seed of a short moto trip in my mind during our time back home. Now I just need to figure out where to go. Somewhere warm I'm thinking.
We need to name our car and are open to suggestions. I know it is hard to name a car without ever seeing it but just imagine a small silver hatchback. I'll try and get some pics up soon.
Adios,
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Auto-update
Julia had a very buys week. She had a weekday game and didn't get home until late. Of course she had to go to work the next day which included practice of course. She had a game Friday and Saturday as well. The team won the game on Saturday which was cool. She was also able to visit with our friends Stu and Sheree for a short bit on Friday while at their school.
While she was at her game I went car shopping again. Our friends Lauren and Sarah were kind enough to babysit for us. Car used shopping here is very different than what I've experienced in the states. As you pull up to the lot (more on this in a minute) you are immediately surrounded by men trying to get your attention and your approval to let them show you around. We already had someone lined up; someone at the school had a cousin or something of the sort. We drove around back and found a spot. A person from the business office at our school was assigned to take us and help us out. He told us to hop out so we could find the office meet our cousin salesman.
We exited the car and stood staring at what was sort of a stripped down parking garage. It was constructed almost entirely metal. The main girders were sprayed with what looked like fire retardant. We climbed the stairs (which looked temporary) to the fourth floor. There in a corner of the structure were about 25 tiny offices crammed with about 6 or 7 desks. We negotiated our way to the very back corner and entered an office. We were greeted and our "guide" spoke with what appeared to be the head boss and a salesman. After a couple minutes we were off and hunting for cars.
There were three separate parties looking for cars. None of the cars have prices posted on them. They all have the year make and model posted along with the number of kilometers they have. The salesman has to call someone to find out the price for each car.
In many places the cars were stacked 4 or 5 deep. If you wanted to look at one of the cars in the back you had to shimmy in between the cars and try and get the door open without smacking the car beside. As you can imagine it was quite an ordeal if you wanted to test drive one of the cars in the last row. All of the cars in front had to be moved in order to allow the back car to exit. At one point we even went across the street to an identical "lot". There literally hundreds if not thousands of cars packed into every nook and cranny of these structures.
I'll spare you the details and just tell you after two weekends, many phone call and a couple trips back and forth across the street everyone found cars. The other two parties found their cars last weekend and went back to pick up their new used cars as I tagged along with hopes of finding one for myself. As luck would have it I found a car the exact car I was looking for this weekend. They even offered to deliver it to the school so I wouldn't have to go all the way back to the lot.
I'll get some pics up as soon as I get the car home.
While she was at her game I went car shopping again. Our friends Lauren and Sarah were kind enough to babysit for us. Car used shopping here is very different than what I've experienced in the states. As you pull up to the lot (more on this in a minute) you are immediately surrounded by men trying to get your attention and your approval to let them show you around. We already had someone lined up; someone at the school had a cousin or something of the sort. We drove around back and found a spot. A person from the business office at our school was assigned to take us and help us out. He told us to hop out so we could find the office meet our cousin salesman.
We exited the car and stood staring at what was sort of a stripped down parking garage. It was constructed almost entirely metal. The main girders were sprayed with what looked like fire retardant. We climbed the stairs (which looked temporary) to the fourth floor. There in a corner of the structure were about 25 tiny offices crammed with about 6 or 7 desks. We negotiated our way to the very back corner and entered an office. We were greeted and our "guide" spoke with what appeared to be the head boss and a salesman. After a couple minutes we were off and hunting for cars.
There were three separate parties looking for cars. None of the cars have prices posted on them. They all have the year make and model posted along with the number of kilometers they have. The salesman has to call someone to find out the price for each car.
In many places the cars were stacked 4 or 5 deep. If you wanted to look at one of the cars in the back you had to shimmy in between the cars and try and get the door open without smacking the car beside. As you can imagine it was quite an ordeal if you wanted to test drive one of the cars in the last row. All of the cars in front had to be moved in order to allow the back car to exit. At one point we even went across the street to an identical "lot". There literally hundreds if not thousands of cars packed into every nook and cranny of these structures.
I'll spare you the details and just tell you after two weekends, many phone call and a couple trips back and forth across the street everyone found cars. The other two parties found their cars last weekend and went back to pick up their new used cars as I tagged along with hopes of finding one for myself. As luck would have it I found a car the exact car I was looking for this weekend. They even offered to deliver it to the school so I wouldn't have to go all the way back to the lot.
I'll get some pics up as soon as I get the car home.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Whilst
I have a few friends who use the word whilst. I have never used the word whilst before because if I did I thought I might have to beat myself up. I thought it was time to "face my Vader" and have used this word three times in the past three minutes and I can say that I have not yet kicked my own ass. I feel as though I'm pushing my luck so I better move on.
Tomorrow I'm doing something that I'm not all that happy about. I'm going to look at used cars. It's not that I'm unhappy about the process, I'm just not happy about owning another car. Although we have been doing quite well without one we have felt the limitations every now and then. Now that the temperature is on the downturn it might make it a bit more inconvenient to sit and wait for a bus. From what I hear it can get pretty darn cold and I just think it would be easier for all of us to hop in a car and head directly to our destination in heated comfort.
Even if we do buy a car we actually don't plan on using it daily or even on a weekly basis. But there will be times when we want to visit friends who live an hour or so away and we would rather jump in a car and head on our way.
From what I hear you can get a good used car for under $2 grand US. I know someone who actually drives a car they bought for $400 US. Your options are basically Hyundai, Kia, and Daewoo.
J is at another V-ball game tonight. Her team won!! She has to wait for the boys team to play before they can all get on the bus and take the 2 hour trip home. That should put her back around 10ish. Brutal.
I'm working on some video of Q, or some Quideo if you will. (now you understand why we chose the name) Or more truthfully I'm thinking of working on some video of Q. I have some raw footage I just need to edit it down. Anyone who has ever edited video knows what a labor intensive and time consuming process it is. Add a little man constantly trying to get at and poke the computer your working on and it gets clost to impossible to make much progress. But sometime soon I hope to get some video up.
Adios,
Tomorrow I'm doing something that I'm not all that happy about. I'm going to look at used cars. It's not that I'm unhappy about the process, I'm just not happy about owning another car. Although we have been doing quite well without one we have felt the limitations every now and then. Now that the temperature is on the downturn it might make it a bit more inconvenient to sit and wait for a bus. From what I hear it can get pretty darn cold and I just think it would be easier for all of us to hop in a car and head directly to our destination in heated comfort.
Even if we do buy a car we actually don't plan on using it daily or even on a weekly basis. But there will be times when we want to visit friends who live an hour or so away and we would rather jump in a car and head on our way.
From what I hear you can get a good used car for under $2 grand US. I know someone who actually drives a car they bought for $400 US. Your options are basically Hyundai, Kia, and Daewoo.
J is at another V-ball game tonight. Her team won!! She has to wait for the boys team to play before they can all get on the bus and take the 2 hour trip home. That should put her back around 10ish. Brutal.
I'm working on some video of Q, or some Quideo if you will. (now you understand why we chose the name) Or more truthfully I'm thinking of working on some video of Q. I have some raw footage I just need to edit it down. Anyone who has ever edited video knows what a labor intensive and time consuming process it is. Add a little man constantly trying to get at and poke the computer your working on and it gets clost to impossible to make much progress. But sometime soon I hope to get some video up.
Adios,
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