Okay, so i went out on my first "ride" today. I am not totally sure how many miles i covered, because i don't have a computer, yet. I was also just wearing pretty average clothes, shorts and sleeveless t-shirt. No gloves, no toe clips. This was kind of an experiment, since i wanted to see what was effected by my lack of cycling attire. Here are a few things i learned...
-Gloves would be a good idea, especially ones with padding on the bal of my hand right under my thumb.
-Toe clips(and eventually clipless pedals) would also help me maintain a more even cadence
-a computer on my bike would be nice once i start trying to figure out how fast i can do a certain amount of miles, right now i like the idea of doing the same route and trying to go farther using landmarks.
-no matter how dorky it looks, i need water bottle cages, carrying a bag was sweatier and more work then it was worth

The ride itself was nice, the route i had picked was blocked by severe construciton. An entire bridge i needed to take was gone! Amd there were a couple of crappy narrow two lane mostly truck traffic roads becasue of the detours. And there was one very smelly spot out by the dog food factory! But besides that i thorughly enjoyed. Here are some other things i learned.
-stopping to rest cramping muscles is nice, but letting your heart rate fall back down to a resting position makes it hard to start up again
-I still have some smokers lung issues. I stopped smoking a little over two years ago...but it still burns like it used to.
-Do not try and sneak up on cows, they startle easily!
-I may need to leave about half an hour earlier( 6:15am instead of 6:45 if i want to beat some of the heat
-Leaving early to beat the heat is good, but it's still damn hot no matter what i do, so bring plenty of water.
-If i time it right, i can run into dave on his school bus route.

I think that's it for now. I am going to try and figure out a better route and the mileage, and then give it another shot on friday. And maybe next time i will actually wear some more appropiate attire

So i don't really write in this anymore. Times are busy as of late and i barely have enough energy left to eat a full meal, let alone write my thoughts down here. The two most important things to me right now (and have been for a very long time, and will be in the future) are my politics, and bikes. Now, my politics is such a huge topic, it's everything i do, that it just doesn't fit here. It doesn't seem apropiate to babble on about the organizing i am doing, or the protests or any of it. There are other mediums for that.

What does fit here are bikes!!
that's right, i want this to be a blog about my journeys into the seedy bike world. And i plan to start training soon, for what? I am not sure, let's just say the rev.

I want to catalog how many miles i am going each ride, how i use diet to extend my ride and any changes i make to myself and my bikes. It might not be very exciting for most folks, and that's okay. But i want a space to publicly keep track of my progression.

I am hopefully going to start riding at around 6:45am on a 15 mile loop to Eudora KS and back. Shouldn't be too hard. I am going that early because i can get up with Dave when he goes to work, and so that it won't be over 100 degrees yet.

But i will let everyone know as soon as i have completed my first ride!

Here;s a post with pretty much no content to it.

Except to show off my pretty
( new bike! )

45" Salsa Frame aand Fork
Salsa "Short and Shallow" Bars
90mm Ritchey Stem
Red Chris King Head Set
Shimano SLR Brakes
Ultegra Hubs on Mavic Open Sport rims
Shimano 105 Front Der. and a Ultegra rear one
Shimano bar end shifters
And SG Cranks

all and all not too shabby. But i guess that's what being a bike mechanic is all about.I can't wait to actually get it out on some real rides.

Things besides that have been great really. Summer is in full swing and i am working to much, but that's okay for the moment. I wish i had mroe time to do all the things i want to be doing, but that's okay. I go back to NYC for sept. 11th(i'll explain later) and then to Denver, for the first time in october.

I wish i had more to update at the moment, things are just very steady. But definetly reaching that crescendo point. A spiral is the same up or down.

The movement grows here all the time. And i can feel it onmy finger tips on these muggy kansas nights. We can't lose now, at least not yet.

>> Monday June 25th. 7pm</span>

Sir! No Sir! energetically reveals the untold story of the GI movement to end the war in Vietnam. This is the story of one of the most vibrant and widespread upheavals of the 1960s – one that had a profound impact on American society, yet has been virtually obliterated from the collective memory of that time. This hidden history combines fast-paced archival footage with thoughtful interviews, "perfectly timed with new doubts about the Iraq War" (Variety).

Presented by Films for Action, Kansas Mutual Aid, and the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice.

Go to: www.filmsforaction.org & www.sirnosir.com for more info.

Thursday June 7th
Doors @ 8pm and show at 9pm
the solidarity center
1109 Mass St downtown lawrence KS
$5-$10 sliding scale

BenchPress Burlesque is a radical multi-gendered, sex-positive, queer-positive, feminist feast of political performance art. The event features The Tin Lizzies, BenchPress Burlesque's very own house band, along with an exciting array of skits that encourage and challenge their audiences.

The troupe seeks inspiration from the historical roots of burlesque as a variety show of political satire and class critique and aims to merge a contemporary feminist viewpoint with the sexy performance art of burlesque. As their name suggests, they push the limits of expectation and show a tougher side of fishnets and corsets.

xoxo
Jordan
This should be a really cool event and all the lawrence folks that cna make it should!

okay...so here is the first real "article" or report back i have ever written. Comments and critiques are greatly appreciated...

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20070519214547463

xoxo

It's been a while...but for those that care...
I have been working 40 or more hours a week at the bike shop.
Being a bike mechanic rules in a lot of ways and sucks in a lot too.
The other day at the shop i slipped while using a giant peddle wrench and embedded my left thumb into this guys front 3 chain rings. Lots of blood later i got three stitches, my first ones ever.

Life has been a lot like that recently, totally weird things happening that have never happened before. But it is turnign out all right.

I am about to go do tornado relief in Greensburg KS, lets hope they let us in. There are some really huge big plans to work with the folks who lived/are living there(97% of the town was absolutely destroyed in the tornado) to help them rebuild there city and make sure FEMA doesn't fuck them over too much. So that has been crazy.

There has been lots of other organizing going on. and i have felt way more confident in my dealings with the rev. It's going to be a good but busy summer.

Matt from CoMo did more of my sweet tattoo. I ahve to go to CoMo to get the rest finished though. He's holding it ransom so i will finally actually go there since i've never been. Speaking of traveling...i think i'm hitting the east coast in July, just need to figure out the dates. I will keep everyone up on that though!!

I feel like there is so much to say, but i have been way to tired to say it.
Call me sometime. i proimse i'll call back...eventually.

( Read more... )

So i spent a really long time trying to figrue out an image for this flyer, i know it isn't great. But i tried i really did. It seemed like there was no good way to "visually represent" the queer and trans communities in Lawrence cohesively, who would have thought!

so the weather is getting a little warmer...ad i am in a really good mood.
I had my first day at the bike shop yesterday.
They had me fix flats for about a million hours...
but that's cool.
Somehow i am again working for an old punk guy. But i guess it is Lawrence, where old punks come to die.
My hands ache right now though...but in that good way.

I feel really great eve thought evrything is a little stressful right now.
I guewss i feel okay since i am generally not the one causing the stress. But i do have to fix it...
Last night me and poopsticks sat on the porch eating pretzels and everything just seemes perfect.

For the first time ever, i can't wait for it to be summer.

xoxo