man vs. computer

The dates on here are a little screwy, as I'd written some of this stuff prior to posting it here. I can't figure out how to change the posting date, and I'm probably the only person that gives a crap about it in the first place, so I'm trying to not care. But there is it.

let's get 'em

Apparently the average cyclist either has skinny little feet or is okay with constant pain, because most cycling shoes are stupidly narrow. Fortunately the Italians still give us fat-footed folk the opportunity to spend absurd amounts of cash on very single-minded footware. The ones in the picture are Genius 5 Megas from Sidi, and they fit mighty nicely. They're not the most expensive shoes I've ever bought, but that's only because the most expensive ones are designed to let me wreck a motorcycle at high speeds and still walk to the ambulance on my own.

They do work (and fit) quite nicely, though I had forgotten the particular joy of trying to walk in road biking shoes (which by design have a stiff, unbendable sole). For simulation purposes, you could strap a couple saucers to the bottoms of your feet and then try to walk around your kitchen. Now imagine a whole crowd of you skating through a convenience store and you'll have a good idea of what it's like when a ride stops for a break. Hilarity ensues.

I picked these up for the Ride For the Feast, where I'll be spending a couple days on a bike. If you'd like to donate some money to sponsor me, I'd surely appreciate it.

going places for good reasons

Last year, when I was bugging friends about riding the Allegheny Passage, a couple friends reverse-bugged me about doing the Ride For the Feast, a two day, 140 mile charity ride in May that raises money for Moveable Feast. Moveable Feast gives food to people living with HIV/AIDS or breast cancer. I am in favor of food. I have friends stuck with all those bad things. Sign me up.

So now the idea of riding from Rehoboth Beach to Baltimore is starting to sink in, plus the idea of parking my tender ass on a saddle for 24-odd hours. Sounds like fun! But first I need to do some stuff, like finding some bike shoes that don't mush my ducklike feet (which hasn't been a problem for trail riding so much since I'm rarely on the bike non-stop due to hills, trees, rocks, gravity, etc.), finding some new bike shorts (since I've killed most of my roadie spandex by stuffing it under motorcycle leathers and frying it across South Dakota), and either sorting out the chain path on the seven-speed so it doesn't barf at random intervals or finally putting the Cannondale road bike back together (and pre-dosing on painkillers because the super-rigid aluminum frame will beat me to death over 140 miles; maybe I'll just stick with the steel frames). (This makes it sound like I just might have too many bicycles. I assure you, that's not the case, and you shouldn't listen to anything Brian says about it.)

Oh right, and I'm supposed to raise some money. I'm riding with Team Atomic (sponsored by Atomic Books), and here's where you can go to give me some moneys. Er, give the Ride some money. You get it. I'm totally open to pimping myself out for this, so lemme know what I can trade sponsorship dollars for–some humiliation options are already laid out. It's unfortunately not set up in the old Bowlathon style, i.e., some money per pin, or mile, so you'll just have to take my word that I'll finish. (My car will be in Baltimore. I'll finish.)