Ploafmaster General

Related: I have the worst luck with tires.

Using a GRTC bike rack for the first time time since I caught an unpluggable slit in my rear tire on the way back into the city 🤦‍♂️

Trampoline parks, especially for kids’ parties, are overwhelming.

Some seriously loud bangs in the Northside a few minutes ago, like…shotgun blasts? Backfiring car? Seemed louder than a gunshot, but not sure what it is/was.

Ugh, is there really no bike route out to/past Mechanicsville that doesn’t put me on a 4 lane road for a segment or two?

Trying to string together something like Northside > Mechanicsville > RIC > Cap Trail back into the city, and all options look kinda crummy.

Not me trying to play it cool standing behind my congressional representative while waiting for a Girl Scouts event to start 😜

I’ve always enjoyed James Hoffmann’s videos for their information and instruction, delivered with enthusiasm, entertainment, and no judgement. His latest is quite different—an artful, visual contemplation of what makes a “great” cup of coffee: youtu.be/IkssYHTSp…

Slowly, sporadically formulating a working theory in my head about how our perceived bright spots in creative media mask and/or distract from things we normally dislike.

E.g. instrumental skill covering up Ben Folds’ off-pitch vocals.

I know I’ve somewhat cartoonishly become a local “bike guy”, but in reality I feel like I’m becoming somethingng worse, something darker.

I’m becoming outdoorsy.

Rode a little on the new contra-flow bike lane on Norfolk Ave. in Scott’s Addition this afternoon. So glad to have that, but would be much happier if it at least had pylons or better, given the high speed one-way traffic in the other direction.

How am I a magnet for local media? Just had to politely decline an RTD reporter who knocked on my door asking about traffic on Chamberlayne.

I’ve been in the paper for comments on Scott’s Addition, CBS6 talking about my council person, and several other times in the past for a variety of reasons :-P

Man, I’m glad I have an indoor trainer so I can keep up my riding fitness/saddle toughness, but this rain has me starting to haaaaaaate indoor riding. No amount of variety in Zwift can replace even the most mundane route around town.

If you look really close, you’ll notice a li’l skelly riding in the back.

I figure I should start posting some of my ride photos on here, too.

So…turns out there’s overwhelming support for the Richmond Ivy women’s soccer team on its opening night. I’m super happy to see this level of enthusiasm, but kinda bummed I underestimated it because we couldn’t get in 🙃

Crossed 3000 miles for the year (so far) on the ol’ bike this week.

Thinking of riding up to/beyond Ashland tomorrow morning.

Okay, I know I only just posted about it, but here’s the result. So what the heck am I up to?

Basically, I’ve had this 2015 Fairdale Coaster sitting around in storage at home since I was hit by a truck in 2022. I was fully compensated, got my current bike to replace it, and after $35 to Wheel Simple, the frame and fork were fixed. So now I have a backup bike, but it had no front wheel and still only a single speed in the rear. I’m happy it got me back into bikes, but I want more than one speed for this hilly city of mine if the bike is to have any utility.

I picture this bike one day serving as a comfy errand/grocery bike. I have a number of spare parts as I’ve tinkered with my Space Horse, learning what’s comfortable and useful to me over the past year and a half. Most of what’s still on the Fairdale is plenty useful, including some cheap but effective rim brakes and cruiser-style bars. As long as I get some kinda derailleur hanger adapter I can throw some cheap rear mech on it with a friction shifter up front and I’ll be good to go!

Well the thing is, the Fairdale has track fork ends since it was designed for that single speed. That also means the rear spacing was pretty narrow: around 110mm. So I took a bike axle and nuts, and little by little cranked the nuts until the rear spacing was spread out to around 130mm after spring-back. The picture you see at the top of this post shows the rear wheel from my wife’s bike fit into the Fairdale! This whole process, for those unfamiliar, is called cold setting, and I was only willing to risk it because the bike was essentially a write-off. But no cracks! Not too much strain! Gotta love a steel frame (even if this one is high-tensile instead of something nicer)!

I still need to wait until I have a shed before I can really build this up into something rideable, but it was so rewarding to try something new and have it work out. The geared wheel spins perfectly right in the center of the frame - so I kind of got lucky there with the frame and dropout alignment. Or perhaps that’s just the advantage of working slowly with an axle and nuts, alternating sides. Can’t wait until I can take the next steps with this thing!

P.S. I know when they’re horizontal fork ends on a track bike/single speed they’re not technically “dropouts”, but I couldn’t resist a dumb play on lyrics in the post’s title.

Trying to get to do something a little extreme here this afternoon…

Today is my younger kid’s 8th birthday! He’s goofy, a video game addict, and the sweetest, most sensitive kid I know.

Happy birthday little dude. I love you so much.

I feel like Dragon Prince’s writing went downhill in S4, and S5 isn’t really changing my mind.

One final elementary school bike-to-school day for my daughter, and a first for my son.

I kinda want to make a bike check video with everything I’ve done to my Space Horse, but I don’t want to be a whole bike YouTuber guy. I worry too much about what other people think, but I should probably just do it.

I’ve got electric guitar, I play my stupid songs I write these stupid words, and I love every one Waiting there for me, yes I do, I do

Last year I swapped out the cheap, stock hydraulic disc brakes on my All-City Space Horse for some mechanical Growtac Equal calipers. I just didn’t ever want to have to bleed brakes on a dang bicycle, and I have found periodic pad adjustments to be straightforward and not too much of a pain (at least for my brakes).

This weekend I did something I’m sure contemporary cyclists would find even more ridiculous: I swapped out the Microshift Advent X shifter for a Dia-compe friction shifter. I know, I know, it’s all the rage with retro-grouches and cool alt-cycling folks. And I’m not immune to what looks cool in the publications I read and bits of culture I consume. But I gotta say, it took almost no time at all to get used to friction shifting. I don’t race, and I don’t depend on instant, precise shifting, but I do want to comfortably and easily shift up and down as terrain and riding conditions change. I had no trouble adjusting to climbing hills or speeding up on the flats, and never had to think about tuning my derailleur or shifter barrel adjusters to tune my shifting performance.

Additionally, while I’ve been pretty happy with my 10-speed Advent X cassette and Microshift Sword derailleur, I now have the flexibility to experiment with any derailleur and cassette combination that I want. This shifter can pull a shifter through a wide-range 11-speed cassette (the Advent X is a 10-speed that runs 11-48), so if I wanted to try out a big ol' 11-speed Deore when the current cassette wears out, I can go for it. Ultimately, though, I’m just happier with the simplicity, and the fact that it’s still also simple/enjoyable to use.

My family was heading to Lakeside for an errand on Sunday that was expected to include a visit from the Kona Ice truck. The kids were looking forward to it, but it never showed—likely because of the on-and-off rain in the Richmond area throughout the day. On the way to our errand, however, we noticed a sign for a new gelateria in The Hub shopping center at Hilliard and Lakeside Ave. We decided to check it out, and found ourselves at Davvero Gelato. They were technically operating a pop-up out of their front door since they’re not yet open for business, but they do expect to open up shop in the near future.

SWEET FANCY MOSES this is delicious stuff. I wouldn’t say I’m an aficionado or anything, certainly no expert, but I’ve had my fair share of tasty Italian ice cream both here in The States and in various Italian cities. I know what I like in flavor and texture, and Davvero has it absolutely dialed in. I had my go-to pistachio, and I think it may be some of the best I’ve ever had? The gelato had just the right amount of salt to put it over the top. Glad I didn’t gorge on even more of it!

I tasted all the other available flavors except my daughter’s mango (I’m one of those folks who thinks it tastes like cleaning solution, unfortunately), and they were fantastic. My son’s cookie dough and my wife’s strawberry—another absolute standout. And then we found out everything they produce is vegan - not a drop of dairy milk! I’m not vegan, but I don’t need to be to enjoy food that is simply delicious. And I’m finding, increasingly, that there are vegan and dairy-free ice creams out there that are at least as good as many dairy counterparts (including the frozen magic happening with some of the vegan flavors at Ruby Scoops).

Anyway, great stuff. I’m told by Layne (the owner) that the best way to find her for now is by checking out the biz on Instagram. She’s frequently at Libbie Hill Park, among other locations, and sells her products (including nut butters and gianduia) in various local shops, such as Stella’s Markets and Outpost.