Stolen from Liza Danger’s flickr page.

It has been 6 years since we fell in love, and 1 year since we were married.

It has been a rollercoaster thanks to some love, loss, and sickness. I wouldn’t change a second of it.

I think this pretty much sums it up.

…and yet I am still too chicken to learn how to trackstand properly.

A driver on my commute home must have realized my superior bicycle handling skills today because he attempted to pass my bike within millimeters. I say “attempted” because what he actually did was side swipe me as I ground my Sidi into the side of his door. Since I have the bike handling skill of a … good… bike handling… thing… I managed to stay upright while he sped off around a corner.

The entire incident took me a minute to process. He gave me enough time to yell “What the f*ck” but not enough time to catch up and/or remember his license plate. I am pretty ambivalent as to how police would actually treat a case like this anyways. As dangerous as he may have been driving, my status as a bicyclist is most definitely seen as second class.

The entire incident was not a loss however. Myself, my bicycle, and my shoes are all 100% alright. His car had a gouge from the front to the back wheel well. Since I was riding fixed (possibly what kept me upright), it was in a nice wavy motion to remember me by.

Update: I realized last night that I didn’t really set up the situation properly. I just wanted to make it clear that I didn’t get caught in the Suicide Slot. I clearly had the lane and I am pretty sure the guy wasn’t even going to take a right, he decided to do it after our little incident. I’m not sure why it matters, but I am pretty picky about trying to be a safe bicyclist and still assert my rights on the road. I am positive he saw me because I was directly in front of him after a red light. His intention (or so I hope) was to try and nudge me over off of the road and/or give me a scare. I’d be scared to think he meant to hit me, but I suppose that is possible too.

The tour is well in the mountains and I am excited. I’ve been sneaking a look at the live coverage in the mornings to see if the Schleck brothers are able to shake off Cadel the muppet.

I have no shame in admitting my love for the spandex and carbon. It doesn’t mean I have to use them myself. Play safe boys.

After a relatively short life, my (left) Crank Brothers Quattro pedal kicked the bucket this weekend. I found myself on an un-ridable pedal while on my way to our local bike shop. The shop didn’t have a whole lot in stock, but I opted for a pair of Speedplay Frog pedals. They look a little goofy, and have a LOT of float, but first impressions are pretty good so far.

This brings up a problem with my other pair of Eggbeaters though. I was able to ride both bikes off the same set of cleats previously. Now I’m finding myself looking for a pedal alternative for the (currently fixed) IF bike. I am running platform pedals on it right now, but I feel my foot slip around while spinning downhill. I’ve lots contact with the pedals on a regular downhill bump that I have to hit every day, so I am pretty uncomfortable without foot retention. I kicked around getting toe clips/straps so I can just ride my “regular” shoes. I have very limited experience with them and am afraid that they will make my bike a rolling death trap (especially with the fixed wheel). I am probably overstating the learning curve, but it makes me nervous to drop any money on something that I can’t test out before hand.

Option number two is buying a second set of Frogs. I haven’t put enough miles on the first set to know if I am going to be happy with them. I’d hate to have 2 sets of pedals that I don’t like. This is a viable option if the pedals hold up to my 200k this weekend though.

The third (and possibly most expensive) choice is to buy a new pair of shoes. Sure, I could buy some cheaper shoes… but I am probably too vain to do that. There are a lot of ugly bike shoes out there. Besides, I am sure that I’ll need another pair of SIDI’s some day.

I suppose if this is the worst of my problems right now, I have it pretty good.

Thanks for wasting your time with me.

p.s. Le Tour is getting good. Doping be damned.