Long overdue update...

Dobo posted a little while back, "to blog or not to blog?"  Well, I find myself in a similar situation, limited time, more important demands, etc.   I do not want to stop documenting and sharing some of the happenings of my cycling life however.  With that in mind, I'm conducting a new experiment and have started a tumblr where I can post pictures and short updates/stories.  For longer stories, I'll continue to try to document those here.  For the handful of people who actually still look at this blog and want to follow my tumblr, you can find it here:

http://nyclifeontherivet.tumblr.com/

I'll be adding some of my favorite pictures from various trips over the past several years.  Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, Lake Tahoe, upstate NY, etc.  I'll also be posting photos of cycling life here in the NYC area.  Very different, fun, challenging, rewarding, and vibrant when compared to my roots.  Don't get me wrong, I will always love my "home" roads and you may even see a photo or two from back home.  Trust me, you can't beat a 1 mile (or less) ride to get out into the country.  But there's also nothing like coming back across the GWB into the city and taking in the NYC skyline.

Horner...the boss!

OK, so apparently someone is going to have to explain this "road bike disc brake" thing to me because none of the reviews I have read make any sense to me...even as a former race car driver where brakes are extremely critical!  Take this review of the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL4 Disc Red C2 Blady Blah Blah:

"The braking doesn’t necessarily offer any more power than a standard setup. What it does improve, however, is the feel at the lever – being able to feed in just the right amount of pull to scrub speed makes it a faster bike to descend on.

It enables you to get your braking sorted with absolute confidence and then get straight back on the power..."

  
I think this is all a bunch of bike industry marketing bullshit to convince everyone that they have to run out and buy disc brakes (actually even worse, pretty much a complete new bike!).  The lever feel on my rim brakes is more than adequate and I certainly can get "just the right amount of pull to scrub speed" and descend at the max when needed.  To improve "feel at the lever", maybe they could add some ribs or bumps to the lever for my pleasure?  As for the confidence, maybe they should just learn how to descend better!

So until they sort out all the downsides that most everyone fails to discuss in their glowing reviews  (which are not trivial for road bikes), I'll stick with my sub-par rim brakes.  The last thing we need is even more de-standardization in the bike industry.

Some days this is how I feel...

OK, maybe it's most days.

New York's finest...

...my ass.  This is waaaay more representative of the real NYPD, not all that heroic bull crap you see on those NYC cop TV shows.  Parked IN the segregated bike lane for a doughnut run!  The worst part is that you'd probably get a ticket for leaving the bike lane to go around them.

Shhhh...

...don't tell my surgeon!  8 more days until I'm allowed to do this haha.  Whatever, I've got bikes to ride.