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CNN reports on some of Trek’s new chainless offerings:

Aside from the whisper-quiet ride, the lighter and longer-lasting carbon-fiber composite belts won’t rust, can’t be cut, won’t stretch or slip and won’t leave grease marks around your ankles. A guard over the belt-drive and the construction of the system makes getting your pants stuck an unlikely scenario, Bjorling said.

My Sawzall begs to differ.

Note: I think belt drives are very, very cool. I’d be very interesting in setting my bike up with a belt and an internal hub.

It’s getting on winter, and in southern California that means rain. Well, it means the ominous if not particularly realistic threat of rain. Not even that: there is definitely a possibility that some time between now and next summer it may rain. And as you all know, rain means the opportunity to buy new gear for your bike. SKS fenders in my case.

Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of working on my bike after work, and the muse to wrench often strikes after particularly trying days. This leads to calamity more frequently than I’d like. This was definitely the case with the fender installation.

My first attempt was actually at the end of a very pleasant Sunday and got the front fender on without difficulty. Unfortunately I was a little overzealous with the rear fender, broke one of the little plastic guards that goes on the end of the v-brace and snapped a spoke on the wheel.

I have no spare spokes, nor do I know how to properly true a wheel — this has to change. I wonder if the bike kitchen still does wheelbuilding classes? — so I imposed upon my gracious wife to take it down to Stan’s and have it fixed.

After that was done I put the rack back on, rode it to work, had One Of Those Days, got home and decided that it would be a dandy idea to give the fenders another go. Not five seconds passed before I snapped one of the bolts holding the rack on — it was also to hold the fenders on! — right off the bike.

My best efforts to extract it with a locking wrench weren’t that hot. In fact they made the situation worse, breaking off what little was left of the bolt.

I consulted some friends and my dad and decided to invest in a left-hand drill bit to try to either drill the damn thing out or turn it out. A trip to Osh, one 5/64^th” bit, one 7/64^th” bit and twenty minutes with a drill later and I had a 7/64^th” hole through the still very immobile bolt.

My next attempt involved a trip to the Home Depot and the purchase of an Alden Pro Grabit damaged screw extractor. It’s basically a left-handed screw built on to a drill bit. It’s also not at all designed to take bolts out of bike frames: it lasted maybe half a second before it broke right the damn off.

It’s still wedged in the frame of my bike. I imagine that it will take an act of God to remove it.

At this point I was done with the whole thing. To hell with the fenders. I live in Southern California where it never rains. Off to REI for one of those dumb looking racks that just attaches to the seat post.

Unfortunate — or fortunately, depending on how you look at things — the dumb looking racks are way more popular than the old school racks that need 10,000 mount points and braze-ons and what have you, so they start about $50. Which was just enough to make me look around a bit more and discover a $5 pair of Delta Rack Mount Clamps.

These things are awesome. They hook on to the seat stay or the chain stay and let you pretend like your frame has all the mounts you need. It also lets you forget that you destroyed the perfectly good rack mounts that you already had. Anyway, about ten minutes after I got home I had both rack and fender attached.

(Pause for a moment and bask in the majesty of my high-tech bike work stand)

So now I can ride to work with my stuff, and I can avoid getting water sprayed all over me if it ever rains. Braggable. Here’s a closeup of the fully awesome Delta clamps.

Perhaps the best thing about getting the rear fender on is that I got to use my awesome reflecty tape. The night commuting is still sort of unnerving for me, so any chance I can get to be visible is appreciated.

So there you have it. cp: 1, broken bolt: 0. Also, there will from here on out be a house rule against screwing anything in to the frame of a bike without grease.

Sad news for Monrovia from the Pasadena Star News:

City officials and Vroman’s representatives had been having discussions about the bookstore’s possible expansion into Monrovia for months and had been close to an agreement, according to the city’s website.

“…While we were very close to reaching an agreement to purchase the newly renovated building at 601 S. Myrtle Avenue, the more recent economic conditions and variances have caused our Board of Directors to adopt a more conservative approach regarding expansion at this time,” Vroman’s president Joel Sheldon said in a statement.

The bookstore has not ruled out the possibility of coming to Monrovia in the future.

Which is too bad. A bookstore is the only thing that Olde Towne Monrovia really lacks.

On the up side: maybe this means the rumors about the old Crown City Brewery being the new tenant are true. That would be cool.

Meet my new project bike. It’s a 1985 Bridgestone 300, 23″ (~59cm) in Burgundy Red — an eBay special (I rated a “AAAAAAAAA+++++++++” feedback message. eBay is so weird) from far-away San Pedro. I’m going to try to restore it to a more ride-able condition, although probably not to original components.

My current plan is:

• Disassemble the whole thing
• Throw out all the wear and tear items — tires, tubes, cables, housings, chains, tape, etc.
• Figure out what I have to do to the frame. I’d like to keep the original paint, but if there’s too much surface rust I may have to sand it down and repaint it. (Which sounds like an adventure in and of itself.)
• Clean the drivetrain parts — derailers, crankset, cogs, etc. — and see what all needs to be replaced. Hopefully as little as possible.
• I’m probably going to replace the current 27″ wheels with 700c wheels, just for practical purposes. (Tire/tube availability, mainly.) There’s enough play in the brakes that this doesn’t seem like a big deal.
• I’d really like to put a new stem and handlebars on it, along with new brake levers and some bar-end shifters. We’ll see how that works, budget-wise, though.
• Stephanie got me a nice saddle that would look quite lovely on this sort of a bike. Especially along with some shellacked cork bar tape.
• Reassemble and ride in to the sunset.

After I took these pictures I tried to raise the saddle up a bit to ride it around before I start working on it. Unfortunately the bolt that holds the seat post in place decided to give up the ghost, so it’s officially a non-functional project bike now.

I’d really like to be done with this before next summer. Not quite sure how ambitious that is, given my almost complete lack of free time. I’ll try to post pictures as things progress.

Pat tagged me for some dumb alphabet meme. Rules available on his site or on the meme’s originator. My fivetags: Jill, The Canadian, Sarahliz, Gavin and Kitty.

A is for Animal House

B is for The Big Lebowski

C is for Caddyshack

D is for Dr. Strangelove

E is for The Evil Dead

F is for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

G is for Good Morning Vietnam

H is for Harold and Kumar go to White Castle

I is for I’m Gonna Git You Sucka

J is for The Jerk

K is for Kingpin

L is for Lost in Translation

M is for The Mouse that Roared

N is for No Country For Old Men

O is for Office Space

P is for The Princess Bride

Q is for I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN A MOVIE THAT STARTS WITH Q

R is for Rushmore

S is for Super Troopers

T is for The Thin Man

U is for The Usual Suspects

V is for Vertigo

W is for What’s New Pussycat?

X is for X-Men? (I’m painfully short on “X” as well.)

Y is for Young Frankenstein

Z is for Zoolander? (Oh my. What an ending.)

So get out there today and make democracy work.

(Unless you’re voting for prop 8, in which case maybe you should stay home and not screw up California’s constitution. I’m just saying.)

Everybody agrees that Greg Popovich is one of the best coaches in the league. Now he can lay claim to the league’s — if not the entire universe’s — best sense of humor. To briefly set the stage, The Big Nickname has gone on record of late being incredibly chappassed about the Spurs playing “hack-a-shaq”, calling the technique “cowardly.” Pop has a little fun with this in the first game of the season.

If that’s not the greatest thing ever done in the context of sport, I’m not sure what is.

Happy anniversary, Stephanie! What an amazing two years. I love you!

2008-2009 NBA Preview

It’s that time again. The glorious fall marking the end of the dark, sportsless time between the tour and the NBA season. Sure, there’s baseball and American football to watch, but I don’t.

Last year

Briefly, let’s review what I guessed last year:

Individual Awards

I guessed KG for MVP, which was incorrect yet not a horrible guess. He did win defensive player of the year. Corey Brewer, my pick for rookie of the year, barely played. Oops. Andrew Bynum was definitely on track to win Most Improved before he blew his knee out. I feel pretty good about that pick. Pop was robbed of coach of the year, per usual. Mullen turned out to be an asinine guess at Executive of the year, as the Warriors self destructed.

Teams

Easily the worst of my team picks was the Hornets finishing last in the Southwest. I assumed that their 2006-2007 season was a fluke, but they moved in the exact opposite direction and finished second in the West. Next up was the Bulls and my guess that they would win the Central. However I think that was more a case of the Bulls underperforming than me just being stupid. They certainly had the players to finish much, much higher. (Although maybe not first.)

It’s worth nothing, though, that I did have the Celtics in the finals, which they did end up winning. (We’ll ignore that I had the Spurs beating them.)

So, on to this coming year.

Western Conference:

Southwest:

1. Hornets
2. Rockets
3. Spurs
4. Mavericks
5. Grizzlies

Previously the strongest division in the league, and, well, probably still the strongest. The Hornets were a young team last year and didn’t lose anybody, and Chris Paul is my pick for MVP. I think they’re the favorites to win. Houston is probably a bit of a gamble on account of the Ron Ron, but he usually keeps things under control for the first season or so with each new team. I think they’ll work things out. If the Spurs don’t come in third they’ll come in first. The only thing going against them is their age. The Mavs sure do have a high payroll, although that’s about it. Memphis may have three or four exciting games.

Northwest:

1. Jazz
2. Blazers
3. Nuggets
4. Timberwolves
5. Thunder!

Utah is a popular pick to win the West. Deron Williams is an amazing point guard — I like his game more than Paul’s, although I don’t think he has the flash to make MVP — and they’re one of the best coached teams in the league. The Blazers have a whole lot of talent but even more youth. They’ll probably do well this year, but not great for another two or three years. After that, watch out — provided they can keep the team together. The Nuggets won’t make the playoffs after giving Camby away. The Timberwolves traded away one of the most exciting rookies in this year’s class (Mayo) but may win a few more games for it. The “Thunder!” left one America’s nicest cities for Oklahoma and picked what is by far the worst name in the league. Maybe they’ll win 20 games.

Pacific:

1. Lakers
2. Suns
3. Warriors
4. Clippers
5. Kings

Last year’s conference champs add in another 7-footer (Bynum), have possibly the best bench in the league — if Lamar Odom is coming off the bench for your team, you’re in great shape — and have the league’s best player. I’ll be surprised if the win fewer than 60 games this year. The rest of the division… yeah. Not so good. The Suns traded away one of the league’s best two-way player for a mummified Shaquille O’Neil, they’re planning on starting on of Golden State’s former bench players, and their new offensive system will have Steve Nash running mostly half-court sets. I’d say that they aren’t playing to their strengths, but then they really don’t have too many strengths. That said, there are a lot of very good players on the Suns, so they’ll do well enough. The Warriors, Clippers and Kings aren’t really worth talking about. They’ll all be pretty bad.

Playoffs

1. Lakers
2. Jazz
3. Hornets
4. Rockets
5. Blazers
6. Spurs
7. Suns
8. Mavericks

The Lakers, Jazz and Rockets all win in the first round without trouble. San Antonio continues to have New Orleans’ number. Unfortunately, we don’t get another Lakers/Spurs conference finals, because those really are fun. Instead we get to watch Jerry Sloan and the Jazz lose to the pre-season favorites.

Eastern Conference:

Southeast:

1. Magic
2. Hawks
3. Wizards
4. Heat
5. Bobcats

What an amusing division the Southeast. You’ve got the young, talented and pretty-well coached team (the Magic), the even younger, even more talented, and sort of well coached team (Hawks), The not-so-young, incredibly talented, mildly-coached yet always injured team (The Wiz’), the tragically injured ever since they won that title team (The Heat) and the just plain bad, don’t-you-know-this-is-what-you-get-with-MJ-as-an-executive team. (The Bobby “Bobcat” Bobcats.) The thing is, three of these teams will probably make the playoffs. What is with the East?

Central:

1. Cavs
2. Pistons
3. Bulls
4. Bucks
5. Pacers

I’ve read this year that LeBron is now as big as Karl Malone was when he played. Considering that LBJ moves as well as any guard in the league, that’s pretty astounding. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a team around him. On the up side for the Cavs, the Pistons aren’t getting any younger or less complacent, the Bulls are still basically in disarray, the Bucks don’t have any players (Richard Jefferson and Michael Redd are their go-to guys? Really?) and the Pacers will be happy to just stay out of trouble with the law this year.

Atlantic:

1. Celtics
2. Sixers
3. Raptors
4. Nets
5. Liberty
6. Blue Devils
7. Shawnee Mission East Lancers
8. Monrovia YMCA 7-9yo Achievers Basketball
9. Nicks

Far and away the best division in the East, the Atlantic has last year’s champ, the twin-towers in Bosh and O’Neil up in Toronto and the league’s most underrated power forward in Philly’s Elton Brand. Any one of these teams could win the East. I would really like to see Philly win, but I think Boston is just too good. The brand of tough, defensive basketball they play is crazy hard to beat; they manhandled the Lakers in the finals last year, and the Lakers played pretty good basketball. Boston was just that much better of a team. Now that they all have rings they might not have as much fire as they did last year, but they still have more than enough to repeat as champions. The Nets should be awful, but they’re rebuilding and trying to clear cap for LeBron, so that’s OK. Amazing all NBA observers, the Nicks will lose 84 games this year.

Playoffs

1. Celtics
2. Cavs
3. Sixers
4. Magic
5. Raptors
6. Pistons
7. Hawks
8. Wizards

I’m thinking a Boston/Philly conference final in the East, with the Cavs and the Raptors losing out in the semi’s. To nobody’s surprise, Boston wins.

Individual Awards

Sixth Man of the Year

Laram Odom: L.O. assumes Ginobli’s role as America’s favorite bench guy who would be starting if not starring on nearly any other team in the league. He’s in a contract year and he’s contending for a title, so he definitely has something to play for. Also, I’m a Lakers fan, so I allow myself one obvious homer pick per year. This is it.

Other possibilities: Ben Gordon, Ron Artest.

Most Improved

Al Thornton: The biggest obstacle to this happening is the Clippers and the general derision that’s always heaped (deservedly) their way. Al had a really strong rookie year, and the players he was backing up are gone now. He should start at small forward and have more scoring opportunities than he knows what to do with.

Other possibilities: Al Jefferson

Rookie of the Year

Derrick Rose: A great college player and first overall pick on a team in a major media market without any other big stars? Can’t miss. Greg Oden seems to be the pundit’s pick for this one, but I can’t see him making it through the whole season after missing all of last year.

Other possibilities: Greg Oden, OJ Maoy.

Defensive Player of the Year

Kevin Garnett: If Boston is half as good defensively as it was last year, this should be an easy pick.

Other possibilities: None.

MVP

Kobe “Bean” Bryant: This award is Kobe’s to lose. He’s far and away the best player in the league, and he’s on what’s likely the best team in the league. He’s obviously the Lakers leader, and now that he’s stopped shooting for that single-tripple he’s making the rest of his team better. I just don’t thine LeBron, amazing as he is, is going to win enough games to take it away from him. Chris Paul might, but he’d have to have an even better year than last, and that would be tough.

Other possibilities: Chris Paul, LeBron James.

Coach of the Year

Jerry Sloan: Call it a lifetime achievement award if you want. His team is going to be great this year, and their success is always attributed strongly to his coaching.

Other possibilities: Greg Popovich, Mike D’Antoni if the Nicks are able to win more than 10 games.

Finals

Lakers over Celtics in 6.

Hola, Amigos!

Here’s a couple of old SNL videos that I find rather amusing. Please enjoy.

And then a more modern remake:

I am very much hoping that Elvis and Sarah Palin team up for yet another “Radio Radio” this weekend.