Desperation

Nobody Left a Yellow Card on this "Locked" Bike

Right now I'm in Ocean Shores, Washington. Thankfully, it is a low theft area and John Romeo Alpha is not lurking around with his little yellow cards. I knew my parents had no real bike pumps so we forked out $10 at the Wallyworld on the way in, but I didn't imagine there'd be no bike locks.

So I took the cheapest bike available and improvised with the bungy cord that looked most like an inadequate bike lock. In my own defense, there's no bike rack at the IGA anyway even though there are lots of people that ride bikes to go there. If I'd been serious I'd have brought the bike in with me or locked it to their "cart corral."

It worked this time.

Securely Locked Beach Cruiser

Hot and Not So Hot

It's been a bit seasonably warm around here lately. Today, we hit 31 consecutive days where the high was 100F or higher. It also hit a record high for the day of 107. Since our streak continues and the forecast over the next week is for more of the same, the all-time 100F streak of 1980 looks vulnerable. Kowabunga!

HOT Brake Levers

Pondering things, I considered something that is hot on the bike, and something that is not so hot. First, the hot. Aluminum or steel brake levers can burn one's fingers if gloves are not present. Buddy has aluminum cross top levers, shown above.

ON THE OTHER HAND, on a day such as today, the finer points of carbon brake levers are truly appreciated. In this case, Buddy's main brake levers. It made me want to stop all the more, just to experience the cool-to-the-touch carbon levers. Just sayin'.

Carbon Levers are Cool to the Touch on a Day Such as Today

For anybody with any curiosity, I'll say right up front that I haven't driven my bike to work every day this month. I missed the 4th of July. The last time I drove to work was the the week after the picture at the bottom of this post.

This Picture Looks Pretty Sweet Just About Now!

Not Just an Italian Thing

Limon, at The Flat Tire, noted here and here that the drop bars on his new, Italian Bianchi were a bit narrower than some bars he experienced in the past. Well, he's not alone. Last August, in a post here, Rat Trap Press noted his narrow bars on his Japanese Takara. Finally, I concluded "enough is enough" and I decided to join the refrain and show a comparison of my wife's Nishiki Kokusai. Now to get them all in one post, I decided to shamelessly steal bandwidth and ask for forgiveness after the fact. So, for your viewing pleasure, are three bikes, all with narrow bars. First, shamelessly stolen from Flat Tire, is the new (new to Limon) Bianchi. He's not got the celeste bar tape fitted yet. Next up, shamelessly pinched from Rat Trap Press is the "as purchased" drop bar on the Kuwahara. Finally, proving even the really lazy occasionally have to take a photo, is my wife's Nishiki. Amost as interesting as the comparison of handlebars is the comparison of gloves. The Bianchi and Nishiki both are held by Specialized gloves, while the Takara is steadied by a Performance glove that looks like a virtual twin of the bottom glove.

BTW, I think my wife's bar might actually be the narrowest of the three. Either that or else the other guys just have petite hands. If y'all look carefully, you'll also note the advantage of taking the photo in North Texas in January by comparing the hairiness of the three arms.


Narrow Bars on Bianchi - Shamelessly Used Without Permission Ahead of Time



Narrow Bars on Takara - Shamelessly Used Without Permission Ahead of Time



Narrow Bars on Nishiki - Shamelessly Used in Conjunction With the Two Photos Above