2011 Artcrank submission

Last year, after moving from a storage locker in Washington County, I moved into an apartment on Grand Avenue. I didn't ride my bike there, or cart my belongings in an xtra-cycle through the streets, or receive sponsorship to live there, or in some way benefit in any way from having a bicycle on my wall that I also rode on occasion. With no job and no income, I had little to rely on and often found myself scrounging for bus fare or vegetables from the Farmers Market, things I might have taken for granted months earlier. In December, after selling parts off of a decommissioned cyclocross bike, I was given a re-built 58 cm Centurion road bike, circa 1980, with new tires. Salvation from the bus lines and a way to get to work as a seasonal Nordic ski instructor with the city of Saint Paul. Bent handlebars, Suntour barcons, bent wheels, bent frame and one purpose. After the epic winter, the massive snowfalls and the spring season that wasn't, I kept riding it until September, when the frame was replaced with a Schwinn steel frame. The parts are all the same and it rides well, but I saved the frame after being told it was a previous wreck, and having ridden it so long without total failure was commendable in and of itself. The barcons lesson was fun, when I lost a camming action nut that keeps tension in the shifter, and rode around town, trying to find parts. Riding on the ice cube quality ruts of Summit avenue, not so much. I now have three frames, dating back to 1987, that each carry the burden of some hard earned lesson, yet no longer carry the burden of my velocentricity.

Tweets

I participated in a project put forward by two Minneapolis based cyclists in 2009, called 30daysofbiking. I copied and pasted some of the tweets from my second 30daysofbiking experience, this April, 2011. I also added pictures of the bikes I have ridden for the 30daysofbiking projects I have participated in to this point, a Centurion Le Mans, a Specialized Allez Sport and a Schwinn Super Tour. I am currently tweeting another round of 30daysofbiking, as well as taking an occasional photograph, plotting the maps and distances on Mapmyride and trying to ignore how nice it would be to load a mountain bike on a car and drive to a Regional park...as I have no car and no mountain bike. So, sometime early next month I'll post the thirty tweets on another blog post....

These are from March, 2011.

milomck: getting an early start #30daysofbiking

milomck: #30daysofbiking Nice thing about riding through puddles is clean shoes.

milomck: I rode my bike in the wind and the rain and all, but Fred Armisen was all I could think about. #30daysofbiking #bikerights #portlandia

milomck: #30daysofbiking Ice, slush, heavy wet powder, car, ice chunk-a-chunk-a-chunk, slush, car, irate motorist, ice ice, slush.

milomck: #30daysofbiking Sunny day to ride.

milomck: #30daysofbiking Snow kiters on lake calhoun, visible from the greenway. photo currently unavailable, use your imagination.


The rest of these are from April, starting with April 30th and working backwards.

Dodged the rain and got a short five miles in the sun...with a stop for a late lunch. #30daysofbiking #herecomesthesun

Day 29, guesstimate 20 miles, windy. #30daysofbiking

sorta got lost on the way to the library, now waiting for summer with a muffin and some coffee. #believer #30daysofbiking

17.5 miles. Meh. #30daysofbiking

A short five miles in the rain, and the wind, and the cold. #trifecta #30daysofbiking #hatsofftoroyharper

60 miles on Sunday, 40 miles today, nearing 400 miles...Sort of wish I had a cyclometer though. #30daysofbiking

Minnesota nice, in an unironic kind of way. #30daysofbiking

...something kind of cool about living in a metropolis near a river, 4 river crossings in less than a ten mile loop. #30daysofbiking

"Hon, you're really hard to see at night! Be careful, you guys have had a tough week!" Concerned motorist on Snelling. #30daysofbiking

#30daysofbiking and the sun has returned.

Day 20. Short ride after two yesterday in the not insignificant wind. #30daysofbiking

I can't believe it's snowing in april. I can't believe I'm biking in it, again. Mostly, I can't believe it's not #butter #30daysofbiking

#30daysofbiking Short ride over the river to the Hennepin Central Library.

The reeds give way to the wind and give the wind away. -Ammons #30daysofbiking... http://soc.li/edn4Qzh

stayed in all day and read about meteorites and glaciers and NASA in a vain attempt to figure out snow in April. #fiction #30daysofbiking

Windy, cold fifty miles on the gateway trail. #30daysofbiking

a few more miles, a couple avoided potholes, a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Not so bad, after all. #30daysofbiking #centurion

Riding the Steel Frame Centurion today, with knobby tires and retro-fitted parts. Always a good day to ride. #30daysofbiking

Windy enough for tacking upwind. #30daysofbiking #REI #Caribou #vivacapitalista

Squirrel! #30daysofbiking. A ride mapped on 04/11/2011 in St Paul, MN | Bike Map | MapMyRIDE: http://soc.li/cgTIcRN

Missed a couple days at the start, opened a new twitter and rode again today. #30daysofbiking

"that sat down like a butterfly with sore feet". #themasters rode today too #30daysofbiking

Sunny with the moon visible. Gotta be spring. #letsgoflyakite #30daysofbiking #intothewind

Another beautiful day in Saint Paul. #30daysofbiking

#30daysofbiking All of a sudden, Spring Fever has a lot more to do with gear ratios, clipless pedals, tubeless tires and monocoque frames.

...to lunch. #30daysofbiking

...to the library. #30daysofbiking

An inevitable post about bicycle logistics

So, if I haven't blogged about this, up until this point, I apologize. Facebook has monopolized about 85% of my online habits, and taken that rare naivety I possessed which may have been charming in small doses, but at 85%, gets a little nauseous.
This Centurion bike frame, the tan bike seen in seven of these nine photos, is a late model Centurion Le Mans, with a lugged frame and original components. I rode it from Mid-December 2010 until last week, mid-August 2011. for the Marvel and DC crowd, and for the sake of preserving naivety as generic innocence and not malignant ignorance, I'll offer a quick creation narrative: I'll admit I saw the frame, and stripped its parts about 6 years ago, thinking I could make it into a single speed, "Horizental Drop-Outs". However, that never happened, and I was left to pursue other courses of action.
the bike was re-assembled in Mid-December of last year to use as a getting around town, commuter bike that could also be willingly sacrificed if one were to be chased by wolves. As one of the the baddest snow seasons in history descended on the Metropolitan Twin Cities area, large roving gangs of wolves were rumored to have made the journey from the Northwoods to feast on slow cyclists caught in the mountains of snowbanks lining the sidewalks.
The original parts included Suntour Barcons, which held throughout the eight months of riding, despite having never been cleaned or adjusted. Parts replaced on the bike started with the wheels, then on to the rear derailleur, the headset, brake cables, chain, (x3), tires, new lights, handlebars, crank and on the barcons themselves, a lost washer and spring.
After being told the frame itself was a salvage, and rendered unusable by damage done in a previous accident, I was told by a mechanic that riding the frame was a bad idea. Such a bad idea that he would not work on the frame, in lieu of feeling responsible for my imminent destruction, I assume.
I proceeded to make my face recognizable, albeit more recognizable, at a variety of local bike shops who specialize in used parts, used frames, experienced mechanics and knowledgeable service. I had been down this road, last year, at the same time, and would have liked to avoid following my own footsteps, (although, as the unfortunate sand people can attest, storm troopers are really good at hiding their numbers by doing just that), but found myself again navigating the waters of the used steel frame marketplace.

*Editors note- last year I went to a bike shop with specifically used, re-built and re-cycled bicycles, looking for a bike that could last through the winter and maybe perform as well as the SlushPuppy did. I put money down on a frame, wheels, components and had a completed, vintage, Specialized Allez, steel frame, build-up, singlespeed. However, the tight geometry of the cockpit, the small size of the frame and the inflated tires rubbing on the frame itself determined that the bike was not for me. I went through the ringer with the shop owners and a couple of said shop's employees to get my money back, ("NO BIKE RETURNS" was printed in block letters on their sign, somehow, I managed to swim upstream on that one), because, frankly, I couldn't afford to have a bicycle that wouldn't work for specifically what I had paid for. The completed project failed that standard. Back to present day.

I found the replacement frame quickly enough, and was indecisive as to the next course of action- re-build from my own components and the new frame, or leave it in the hands of somebody who knows what's what? I went with the latter and found time to write this amazing blog post. Pictures are all property of me. Enjoy.
As I sit writing this entry, the bicycle is a work in progress, in a local shop, nearing completion. The new, (used) frame is a Schwinn, steel lugged, the right size, with clearance in the frame for knobby winter tires, is a deep blue color, has the right geometry and lacks only a few hours with a good mechanic.

Bicycle shops vaguely connected with this blog entry:

Art Doyles Spoke and Pedal
Express Bike Shop
The Hub
One on One
Re-Cycle
Sibley Bike Depot
Freewheel
Sunrise Cyclery
Now Sports
Boehm's Skate and Cycle

Big thanks to all who helped make it possible.