Business math

Performance carries Campagnolo, believe it or not. And they regularly put it on sale. So whenever their email arrived with a sale on Campy stuff I usually ordered via the web and had it delivered to their local store, which is a 5-min walk to my office. They offered free shipping to their stores as a way to get you into the place - which I thought was good business sense.

Anyway, they stopped doing that. I found it out when ordering a clamp-on ring for a braze-on derailer. Half price? Excellent. But what's this: shipping that's more than 50% of the price of what I ordered? Five dollars and 63 cents on a ten-dollar order? No thanks. Cancel.

I know they've been bought out but, jeeze, I've never understood the logic of screwing over long-term customers. That's MBA thinking, the kind that had Ford losing Volvo customers after Ford canceled many (if not all) outstanding Volvo warranties after acquiring the makers of the Swedish brick. Let's face it - Volvo used to be known as a expensive, but reliable, auto. Now it's just expensive.

A slight breeze

One drawback to flat-bladed spokes: in a 40-kt quartering wind, it turns your wheels into wind vanes.

There was exactly one hour of riding yesterday in between the rain stopping and the wind starting. I called it correctly and got in a quick ride, doing the last mile or so headed west as a hellacious NW wind came on.

The Dawn Patrol

Usually I ride after work. I like to save the best part of the day for last and besides I can usually score a nice sunset most days. In the winter I usually ride the trainer after I get home. With the horridays upon us, an accumulation of chores and duties has tied up my evenings.

So I got up at 5 this morning to ride the trainer before work. The dawn patrol is nothing new to me, it's a staple of the surfing life. What's weird is that you get all pumped up and then you get a big mental letdown when you realize that the best part of the day is over and all you have to look forward to is eight hours or so of staring into a monitor.

I need a new hobby. Heroin looks good.

The Val Kilmer film festival

My friend Catherine hipped me to the fact that Val Kilmer didn't vanish off the face of the earth after his much-ballyhooed attempt at superstardom. Apparently he settled back into making some very nice indy movies in between the usual Hollywood fare like Heat and Red Planet (although I liked both of those). He's a much better actor than I previously thought. Here's a few I've been watching while riding the trainer. They are all interesting enough to keep you from thinking about how nice it would be if you were riding outside.

The Salton Sea - Kilmer is Danny Parker, meth head. Or is he Thomas Van Allen, jazz musician? A twisted plot and some fine performances by Peter Sarsgaard, BD Wong and Adam Goldberg.

Spartan - It wasn't until the third time I watched this that I figured out what was going on. Script and direction by David Mamet, which explains the complexity. Contains one of my favorite quotes: "You've had all your life to prepare for this moment. Why aren't you ready?"

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - A fun movie with a non-sequential storyline. Very entertaining with a cynical take on the Hollywood experience.

Wonderland Sort of a murder mystery, sort of a view into the porn industry with Kilmer as porn star John Holmes, and his alleged part in a notorious drug murder.

OK, I know that Kilmer sucked in Alexander but everyone sucked in Alexander.

Score

A Campy Daytona group was advertised on Craigslist for $150. Fully expecting to find a handful of worn-out junk, I was surprised that it was in excellent condition. And not only did it come with the shifters and derailers, but it came with a crank, BB, cables, chain, and cassette.

Yay!

Missed it by this >< much

So I get an email today inviting me to join a Critical Mass ride.

The ride was last night.

But I'll mark next month's on the iCal.

Join.

Riding the trainer

Yeah, it's not so much the cold but the dark. That's where winter really bites it for the cyclist.

So I've set up the CAAD 3 bike on a trainer. Now, what's the worst thing about training? Yep, it's boring. Boring. Boring. To relieve this I had been sitting the trainer in front of the TV. But, honestly, TV has gotten boring. Boring. Boring.

In a fit of inspiration I got an old laptop out of the closet. I set it up on a barstool in front of the bike. I've set it up with a copy of the excellent multi-media software VLC and loaded the laptop with AVIs of movies, documentaries, and other items downloaded from teh Intrawebs.

Man, that's the ticket. I've found I stretch my time on the trainer if I get really involved with what I'm watching.

The search for sort-of cross tires

I have a C-dale CAAD-3 frameset I'm building up as a winter bike. I got the frame off Craigslist a few months back, everything else I need I had lying around the shop. Mission - a bike I don't mind riding over roads that are wet and/or muddy.

And, incidentally, I want to add a few gravel roads to my list of local routes. These are county roads, not rocky driveways, but they are indeed paved with "crusher run" pea gravel. This has the combo effect of riding on a road covered in ball bearings, and some of those bearings have edges sharp enough to cut my regular road tires. The trick is that I have to ride several miles of regular paved road to get to the gravel roads.

So I need something with a bit of tread, but not so much tread it's like riding on a vibrating bed at a cheap motel. Plus the CAAD frames are kinda narrow where the chainstays meet the BB, so I'll guess that 30 is the max width.

Suggestions gratefully welcome.