alex chiang: web 6.0

chainring detail

I’ve been obsessed recently with the 100 Thing Challenge. I don’t think I’ll ever actually make it down to 100 — home ownership means you accumulate stuff like crazy — but I’m trying my damnedest.

Every time I post in the “for free” section on craigslist and watch someone come take yet another Thing away, I’m lightened and exhilarated. Truly, it’s amazing.

If you want to play along at home, you can periodically check in on my flickr set that shows what I’m giving away: alex’s for sale.

Today was a bittersweet day in my quest. I saw a beautiful fixie for sale and I couldn’t resist. The $350 asking price seemed a bit steep so I turned my creative juices on, and proposed a trade: I gave the guy 3 of my bikes + $100 cash in exchange for the new bike. The two cruisers I traded were great bikes, very unique, but surprisingly, the hardest bike to give up was a hidden gem.

Trading away my venerable Trek 7600 commuter makes me wistful. I’ve put 7,200 miles on that bike since 2001 and she’s never treated me wrong. She was the ultimate commuter, outfitted with a great light kit, rack, panniers, burly 700×35c puncture proof tires, an Alex rear wheel, SPDs with a platform on one side for sandal riding, and a corncob rear cog that was perfect for zooming around town. I’ll miss you, milady.

And now? I’ve got a new yellow fixie that’s heaps fun to ride. And a realization that a man does not need 6 bicycles. (He only needs 4.)

137 miles in a day. 10,000 feet of climbing.

In the end, the anticipation was killer; the ride was not.

I spent the leading week riding a few mellow rides, just getting miles into my legs, and eating a lot of yams, but other than that, nothing special.

I really only felt bad once, while climbing out of Buena Vista (pronounced “byoona viss-tah” by the locals) on our way to Trout Pass. The sun roasted us while we pushed the pace slightly, and I overheated quickly. Luckily, I am wily and I managed to recover by controlling the pace with extra long pulls at a slower speed. Whew.

Everyone did great, and our biggest problem as a group was our collectively sore junk-al regions. Ouch.

Overall, we were able to maintain a 14.3 mph moving average for a total of about 9 hours, 30 minutes of riding time and something like 12 hours from car to car.

• Mike’s pictures

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Bicycle helmets can get pretty full of stank. In my case, the ripeness seems to come from the little liner pads that are velcroed in there and soak up sweat and grease. Removing them for cleaning is pretty easy, but I haven’t had such great success with hand washing in the sink. Plus, that requires effort.

On the other hand, simply throwing them into the washing machine just about guarantees they’re gonna get lost. And being a dude means I don’t own a linen bag for my “delicates”. What to do?

The solution is simple — throw the pads into a jersey that has a zipper pocket, zip the pocket closed, and then throw the jersey in with the rest of the wash. Done.

Brooks B66 saddle for my newest project — a 1972 Raleigh Sports. The paint job on this guy is a little rusty, but I’m gonna keep the original, and perhaps just refinish the fenders. Also on the TODO list: adding wire baskets, finding some nice lights, oh, and perhaps rebuilding the hub to get rid of the little bit of skippage in there. Ho hum.

As always, Sheldon knows the answer:

• Servicing English Three Speeds
• Older Raleigh Bicycles