But don't quit the day job

Glass class was fun.

Old bike: fixer-upper or moneypit?

Three months of bike commuting and my legs are loosening up for the daily ride--okay, okay, I blamed my initial slowness on the vintage of my commuter bike and its parts, but most of it was me. But, there was that bit that was the 10-year-old bike.

A 10-year-old mountain bike: hardtail steel frame, no disc brakes, a suspension fork with a whole 2.5" of travel (they don't make those anymore, I checked), cheap wheels that I'd bought when my net worth was below zero.

And yet...

If the bike fits, ride it, right?

Well, there's not much to be done about the fork and brakes, but it's a commuter bike. New brake pads at least; a new, less-slumpy saddle bag; new tires (slicks), new wheels (and those make a world of difference), and someday soon even a new bottom bracket (square taper!).

The set of decent wheels alone probably cost more than the bike is worth as a whole, so the sceptic would say I'm throwing good money away that I could be spending on, oh, I don't know, braces? Or a new toy with actual easy-riding capability like Option A or Option B. But those would look pretty silly with a pannier rack on the back...

You're shitting me

Went to a new dentist this morning for regular checkup and cleaning, and I have come away feeling like I was being scammed. I mean, sure, you have to poke around and see if there's decay, but this guy was ramming into teeth as if he was trying to make holes--not a gentle touch. Younger guy, with way too much gel in his hair. One cavity found, so that'll have to get fixed, but then:

"So, your top front teeth are slightly intruded."

"They're slowly wearing the lower front teeth."

"You should consider orthodontics."

"It would cost about $6,000 to $8,000."

"We could do it right here."

What the fuck? I'm 32 years old and not one of my previous dentists--who I trust far more than this guy--have ever mentioned anything about getting friggin' braces. Gee, isn't it convenient that Mr. Dentist would recommend a few thousand dollars' worth of work that he could do--not covered by insurance, of course, it being a cosmetic procedure?

Now, I do think of teeth as being a worthy investment; hey, here I am scheduling appointments without my mother telling me. And I've donated generously by having rotten teeth, then having mercury amalgam fillings to be replaced, which will someday degenerate into crowns and the whole deal. But I'm sorry, you cannot sit in front of me after seeing me once for a matter of minutes and get $8,000 from me.

Learnin' the roads

I'm finally coaxing myself out for decent road rides on the weekends, with the first step being to figure out how to get up Tunnel Road to reach the other side of the hills to the east. It turns out that Tunnel falls into a black hole of sorts on most maps: Google Maps is car-centric; the "West of the Hills" map by East Bay Bike Coalition is out of print; Tunnel falls at the 4-corner intersection of the varying-scale pages of the scanned-in online version of the EBBC WotH map; and my Berkeley bikeways and walkways map doesn't reach far enough east to make things clear. Finally, the text directions from Missing Link for a loop ride out to Pinehurst Road made things relatively clear (points for the bike co-op).

It's a little funny to get back on the road bike after riding the commuter bike pretty regularly for three months. I think I should get out a measuring tape and see what the BB-to-seat and seat-to-handlebar distances are; my legs didn't seem to be extending and my arms didn't seem to be reaching as far (caveat on the BB-seat of different pedals/shoes/cleat stack height). Huh.

So let's see:

Tunnel Road. What a pussycat of a climb. The road must've been laid out with horse-drawn carts in mind, as it doesn't seem to get much over 5% grade--similar to the San Jose approach to Mt. Hamilton, though only up to what, 1200 ft?, instead of 4000 ft. Which is nice, because climbing Tunnel seems to be necessary to do any other East Bay rides if you want to ride from home in Berkeley or Oakland. Plus, it has great views.

Pinehurst Road. Um...is Pinehurst an up road or a down road? I was going down, and everyone else coming up seemed a bit surprised to see someone descending such a narrow road. It seems to have been repaved recently, but it is rather narrow. Pinehurst does carry you past Canyon, CA, which seems to consist of the post office, a school, and not much else. And riding under the trees is good for the soul.

Moraga Way. This 5-mile, two-lane highway connects Moraga (quaint, hoity-toity community to the south) to Orinda (quaint, hoity-toity community to the north), with plenty of room on the sides for shoulder/bike lane--nice! Um, except no one told me that the pavement is currently grooved. Not knowing any alternative routes, I plowed over the grooves for what, 3 of the 5 miles? Not fun, though it was good practice for relaxing my grip on the handlebars. I hope that the repaving is imminent.

Wildcat Canyon. Another pussycat climb--more of a traverse, really. No shoulders, so it's narrow and things have to be negotiated with all the cars driving up to visit Inspiration Point and Tilden Park, but the road is twisty enough to keep those cars from doing 50, which seems to give everyone time to figure things out.

Euclid Road. Having climbed back over to the west side of the hills, Euclid is a traverse to match Wildcat Canyon on the east side. Going down, it seemed to be an efficient through-way for a bicycle with a minimum of stops and not much traffic to deal with.

Past that, there was the messiness of finding my way back to Oakland. Some of Berkeley's bikeways work, and others are just complete nonsense. I think I forgot to wipe a bike commute (~4.5 miles) from my computer before starting, as it's telling me almost 35 miles while Missing Link claims a 29.5 mile distance from the shop. Anyway, if I know a 30 mile, a 50 mile, and a 70 mile route to ride, that oughta keep me occupied.

Another note to self: cut toenails. Road shoes fit tighter than commute shoes.