Bikeshop

Welp, Pittsburgh officially has the coolest bikeshop....ever.

So in devoted laziness, I have been riding my trusty Surly with a sole break for the past month (not so trusty Oryx cantilever breaks. Don't ever buy them!) Needless to say, I have been able to make all required stops...except when it's raining out...or I'm on a really steep hill. I live on a really steep hill. I knew it was time to change out the breaks when my routine homecoming campaign consisted of coasting past my road, making a right into the next street down, and then turning around and biking back up to my street (yeah it got that bad).

I decided to get new breaks from this crusty old bike shop down the road from my house: Kranx. From the exterior, the place looks like it has been out of commission for about a decade, but inside a cyclists paradise awaits. Kranx stocks troves of new/new retro frames, wheels, seats, chains, well basically anything a bike shop would typically carry. And the creme on the berries: an entire room outfitted with tools and bike stands available to fix and tune for hours!

And that is what I did! You don't get much help/advice on fixing your bike, so be prepared to learn everything there is to know about the mechanics of a bike. Which is probably the coolest part about Kranx. A few hours there, and you will be stripped of your nincompoopsy and revel in divine self-cultivated cycling wisdom. Ahhhhh, them some sweet berries!

-The Velodict

MacGyver

I love being resourceful. There is nothing more satisfying than using the tools in the immediate surrounding to rig up little solutions to life. Cycling often presents opportunities to demonstrate the inner MacGyver (a show I've never actually seen, but now feel I should).

A few days ago my roomie and I were high on springtime, and decided to do our grocery shopping on bike. This is normally not a problem. I can't really afford more than will fit in my panniers, and so cycle-shopping typically balances my inner urges to buy unnecessary groceries.

While browsing the aisles (no harm in looking), I remembered that our house was down to one roll of TP. Excited with my efforts of pro-activism, (I can think of no better area to display pro-activism about than bathrooms) I grabbed the mega pack of Scott TP. Is it one t or two? The brand doesn't really matter. ANYWAY.

The roomie and I made our purchases and began stuffing them into the panniers. It quickly became apparent that the baby-elephant size package of TP was not going to fit in the saddle bags prompting operation MacGyver. We rounded up some extra plastic bags, and strapped the package onto the rear rack of my bike. I can only imagine how I looked cycling home, a block of TP weaving throughout the streets of Bloomfield.

Also: cool article. Take note Pittsburgh.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/18/most-new-yorkers-support-_n_837751.html

-The Velodict

My Own Slice of the Reef

No more Penn Avenue for me! That's right! No more over driven, potholed, mole-bumped satanic street biking for this chickadee! I was tipped off the other night about a much calmer option to my typical chaotic ride on Penn. My own little slice of the reef, if you will. Coral Street.

And things have been as calm as the waters over the Great Barrier ever since (this is where I assume, the waters over the Great Barrier Reef are calm. They could be their own little version of hell for all I know). The road is lined with uber nice brick houses, trees, roads as smooth as butta', and best of all, not a car in sight. So if you are sick of playing frogger on the highway to hell, please, come join me on my commute on Coral. Unless you are a driver. Then forget you ever read this message. What message you ask? Good question I say!

-The Velodict 

Party On Thor

Gosh darn we are so close to spring! All signs point towards better days: more daylight, temperatures above freezing, birds-a-chirping, and thunderstorms! The burgh experienced its first thunderstorm the other day, and of course I was cycling in the thick of it.

I awoke nice and early (time doesn't matter, all you need to know is that the sun was not up yet) the other morning to some misty weather. The air was thick with heat and moisture, and despite the fact that I can't drink coffee before yoga (no bathroom breaks), I was super energized to bike. Luckily I was so excited for the exterior conditions, I decided to deck out in full rain garb, you know, the dorky rain pants over real pants, swishy jacket, and, as little cherry on top, a plastic bag over the saddle.

Upon exiting the yoga studio exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes later, I was surprised to find the heavens had opened up into a typhoon-ous downpour of blustery soakage. If you can't tell by now, I like to be a bit melodramatic about the weather. ANYWAY. I could barely see anything, the wind prevented me from moving but a mere few millimeters forward with every pedal. Oh yeah, and it was LIGHTNING! This may sound like a complaint, so let me stop and correct you right here. I effin love lightning. Maybe not while mounted atop tubes of metal, but at this point in the year, I'll take whatever Papa T-Storm bolts at me.

Happy March Y'all!

-The Velodict