-
Two Fish Bikeblocks
I’m finishing up October with 14 rides, tying with July and April. In keeping with this somewhat off-year of riding, it’s fewer rides in October than I had in 2008, 2009 or 2010. I’m at 130 rides on the year. My goal for the year is 150, which should be doable. A couple weeks ago,…
-
Sub 40
Today was my first sub-40° ride of the season, and my first ride since last spring where I had to wear something to keep my head warm. Usually I’m good without anything extra on my head (other than my helmet) down to around 45°, give or take a couple of degrees depending on wind, precipitation,…
-
New Bike Swag for Winter
Normally, I’m all about getting rid of “stuff.” However, my one weakness is stuff for my bikes. I get a strange thrill out of buying stuff that promises to make my year-round, all-weather bike rides safer and more enjoyable. I’m sure it secretly drives my wife nuts. Just over a week to go before “dark…
-
Rain Gear
First ride in full rain gear in awhile this morning. It was nice and mild, so I took the opportunity to ride for 11.5 miles, including a loop through Patapsco State Park. Most of my rain gear is the same as last year, including Novara rain pants (REI house brand), Patagonia TorrentShell rain jacket, and…
-
Text Effects with GIMP
As part of my fledgling hobby/future side career doing game development for the iPhone, I’m becoming sort of an inadvertent GIMP expert. I’m not a graphic artist, and I don’t do any original artwork for the games I code. However, I often need to edit and re-touch existing artwork, which is where GIMP really shines.…
-
Cage Rocket
I was in the bike section of my local REI the other day and noticed they were stocking a gadget called a Cage Rocket. The Cage Rocket is a water bottle-sized pod with a hinged opening, meant for carrying gear and designed to fit in a bottle cage. There’s a standard version and a slightly-more-expensive…