[Orestes Munn]

@Let It Be 102257 wrote:

Thank you for the kind words. My bike is totaled and one arm is not working as well as I’d like, but as soon as I feel physically capable of taking a test ride I will get a new bike and get back on the road.

As for the circumstances of the crash, I was heading east on Columbia Pike near the bottom of the hill on a section of road that is fairly bumpy because of recent construction when my handlebar broke off at the stem. I remember thinking “Oh no” and that’s about it until I woke up in the hospital. Traffic is generally heavy there during rush hour, but luckily there were no vehicles close behind me.

Columbia Pike is not my favorite. Given the volume of traffic, though, the number of times I’ve felt endangered by a driver is probably not all that high.

Oh, no is right! Glad you’re doing OK. Pardon the unsolicited advice, but take it easy for a week or two after that concussion and don’t even think about riding until a professional who knows something about TBI clears you.

[Orestes Munn]

@chris_s 102210 wrote:

I nominate this thread for “Great Moments in Pedantry”.

Hey, you all told me you were 22!

[Orestes Munn]

@DismalScientist 102183 wrote:

No, accuracy is more important.

Yes indeed. Error can have zero variance.

[Orestes Munn]

Handheld GPS units have told me I was going up and down (small) hills when I was out on the Bay in a flat calm. I do have a good, fixed one, but it has the intelligence not to read out elevation.

[Orestes Munn]

@kwarkentien 102048 wrote:

So how come there’s no MAWIL? or MAWIS? I’m feeling discriminated against here.
😎

Some of us angels fear to tread there.

[Orestes Munn]

@Crickey7 102021 wrote:

I wouldn’t get too excited. “Muffin top” made the Oxford dictionary, too.

The terms have intersecting extensions, one notes.

[Orestes Munn]

You know you’re emerging from the long, dark tunnel of middle age when your accounts recover from the drains of child rearing, you start to feel happier for no apparently reason, and crapping supersedes napping as a priority.

[Orestes Munn]

@dkel 101966 wrote:

Couldn’t you just call a locksmith? Or do they not stoop to bike level?

You can get a very nice cordless grinder for the same money or less and that’s a lovely tool to own.

[Orestes Munn]

He does need to shed a few lbs. if he wants to live the dream. She, by contrast, might look very nice in some stretchy “kit.”

So, at what age does one become an EMIL?

[Orestes Munn]

Any opinions on the accident rates in the paper and how they compare with local experience?

[Orestes Munn]

I am proficient at fixing flats, but my big fear is flatting in the cold and being unable to work with numb hands, which has happened to me. Therefore, I rely on people asking if I need anything and will readily ask if I can warm my hands in their armpits.

[Orestes Munn]

@dasgeh 101766 wrote:

Would you say the same thing about offering to help someone tie their shoe?

I am so going to have the urge to do that now. Daughter’s boyfriend is an ideal first subject.

[Orestes Munn]

I find nothing to object to in the St. Sheldon article; my original comment contained merely an observation that I think (he hedges subtly here) I wear my rear pads out faster; and my response to dkel was not meant to be prescriptive. Nevertheless, my habit of some five decades, and it may be inefficient or flat out wrong, is to apply both brakes and, generally, to squeeze harder with the right hand, essentially because a whole lot less happens when I squeeze that side.

I have never gone anywhere near over the bars on any sort of bike, but in a panic stop I like the feeling that my central nervous system will put out braking force to both wheels and maybe delay a complete front lockup by a few milliseconds. Cornering on dry pavement is generally not a problem, but you don’t always see the gravel, leaves, etc., and it’s nice when it’s the rear that lets go. That’s my excuse, anyway.

[Orestes Munn]

@dkel 101690 wrote:

This is why I went to discs. Riding in the rain either destroys rim brakes, or takes up all your time wiping down the rims after every rain ride, or both.

You get most of your stopping power from the front brake; some would argue the rear brake is virtually useless (like Sheldon Brown) except for specific bike-handling circumstances. Whe I was commuting with rim brakes, my front pads would burn up much faster than my rear pads, because I almost never used the rear brake.

Correct about the relative stopping power, but I try to avoid locking my front wheel in hard stops or having it let go on corners. Therefore, I use my less effective rear brake a lot and it sees more wear.

[Orestes Munn]

I don’t think I get any more than 1500 mi out of a rear set on the commuter. I echo those who say this is an easy job.

Now, I want to know why the hell I can’t get more than half that out of a chain, these days.

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