More Max

My wife says no one cares about my dog sittin on the couch.  I beg to differ...  So this afternoon he decides to sit awhile.  Here are a few of the photos I got.  I have more....

I think he is watchin TV now

musta been boring cause he is asleep now

something under there?

Sittin Purdy!

I'm a little perturbed

That looks a little off kilter to me

Been a cold rainy couple of months.  Today's 10 mile ride on the Dynamik (road like bike) showed me just how much out of shape I have become.  I'm all fired up to get back into riding shape and lose a little weight and it is finally warm enough this afternoon to ride the Bumble Beast without bundling up so much. I head out across the yard.  I hear a popping noise coming from behind me and the bike feel like I just slammed on the brakes.  I stop immediately but apparently not fast enough.  I get off to look for whatever caused the noise and survey the damages. I see that my chain has almost come apart, but instead of separating completely, just one side came loose and it grabbed the whole derailleur.  It's hard to tell how much damaged it did to the derailleur and it also bent the derailleur hanger pretty much beyond repair IMHO.  So, gonna have to order another hanger and hope I can straighten the derailleur enough to get back on the trail.   I'm pretty sure the chain separation is my fault.  I tried to save a little money and only bought 2 chains and then used the old chain form my MTB to make up the needed distance.  Yes, recumbents use about 2 1/3 chains.   Only the new chain was a different type and we (my personal bike mechanic) had a hard time just getting the pins in where the two different type chains connected.

I am frustrated right now but to tell the truth, it's no big thing.  Sure it is gonna cost me some money, perhaps more than I saved by going with mismatched chains. And I will miss a week or more of prim riding opportunities.  However, there are folks with a lot more to worry about than a bent bike. bent bike...git it...  I'm also thankful I was not going downhill on my MTB when this happened.

PS: I had several folks asking me about the mismatched chain so here is a closeup.

forget saving the planet

My wife called needing me to bring her something at work.  She works about 5 miles from the house so instead of jumping in my truck (a 4 cylinder stick shift for the record)  I decided to ride my bike.  It was a chilly (48 F) and windy ride but I managed to work up a decent sweat.  I figure the exercise is good for my health and by riding my bike I'm cutting down on the pollution caused by burning fossil fuel.  Imagine my chagrin when I learned I was in fact doing just the opposite.  You see, I got home and was surfin tha intraweb (BentRiderOnline message boards to be exact) when I ran across a thread about bicyclist polluting the air, or at lest according this republican state representative from Washington St.  Click here to read the article.  Hmmm, funny how that link all of a sudden don't work.  Big Brother?  Try this one before they take it down as well.  A good friend has informed me of slashdotting.  Google it if your not familiar ( I had to, too)

Editing to add, he has since apologized, admitting that his comparison of humans emitting CO2 was way out of line. Read it here.  And while I can not judge whether he is truly sorry or just sorry it caused such a stink (and possibly votes) I can at least let it be known he has apologized. 

Now I myself vote pretty much republican, so when I see things like this it makes me cringe a little.  Sorta like when I hear about another mass shooting. These folks need to wake up and quite rurning..ruining my life. I won't debate the science or politricks because I'm not a scientist or a politician... but the last time I checked, humans and animals put of  CO2 when we breathe, and plants breathe it in and convert it to oxygen, so at least some CO2 is needed.  I think the problem stems more from the industrialization of the human race which has only been around for a few hundred years.  And just to be clear...industrialization (not humans) has only been around a few hundred years.  I'm also not against industrialization.  In fact, I like being able to watch NASCAR, washing my clothes in a machine and taking a hot bath once a week...but I was curious to see exactly who/what contributes the most CO2 but could not find a good graph to illustrate what humans and animals produce.  Is it so low compared to things like transportation, industry etc (all human related of course).  I did find  this one in this article.