Errandonnee one two and three

I seem to be having issues with the new tube I put in the front tire, I rode to two different repair stations to use the pumps. At first, I thought the pump downtown was defective so I rode to the one at the Bastille which I've used many times without incident... still couldn't get air into this tube. I can get a respectable amount in with my handpump, but not the Dero pumps. I still don't get Presta valves... not yet.

Errand #1 was the repair stands

I should mention this was the first time I'd been out on the bike in over 3 weeks. It felt really good. I again crossed paths with PaulB working the lunch hour rush and we waved was we passed.


Errand #2 was for goodies in the Strip District:

You have to get there early for the pepperoni rolls and raisin bread.

I hadn't run to the Strip for groceries in months and I was really jonesing for a pepperoni roll.

Some feta cheese too.

Back on the road

 Errand #3 was some impromptu birdwatching.
I was heading the PNC Park to see how the field is coming along, but the gates were closed. Instead, rare birds caught my eye!

 I happened upon a raft of gorgeous red-headed ducks and tried getting some shots, but the phone takes lousy pictures.

I wasn't sure of the species but I saw a woman behind me with binoculars. This was a dead giveaway that she was here to see the migratory waterfowl. I asked her what kind of ducks they were and she was delighted to tell me they were Canvasbacks. Then she pointed out other rare species: a Long-tailed Duck as well as a Red-throated Loon. She has said that there was an alert posted on a local birding site that announced the arrival of the visiting birds and she raced down here.
Wow, 3 new species to add to my LifeList in one day!

There was also a Mute Swan: not so rare, but still stunning.

I really need to keep the binoculars in my pannier from now on.

There's still some ice cluttering the RiverWalk, but Winter is on it's way out. Good riddance.

Bend it like Red (part II)

I'm not really having much luck with my wheels.

I tried to to get to my bike today and get some Errandonnee-ing in, I ran an errand in the car before and had noticed that the back tire I'd hit pretty hard on a pothole about a week ago was quite low. I went to get some air in it and the air started hissing out as soon as it was filled. Long story short, the rim is bent and will run several hundred dollars and 4-5 days to fix. Wow, that's an expensive pothole.
*sigh*

I need to stop bending valves and rims.

I'll have to wait until Monday for Errandonnee. Yeesh. The good news is that Spring appears to be here, finally.

Bend it like Red

I keep getting bike-blocked.

Here's my list of excuses for not riding in the past few weeks:

• knee/arthritis flareups
• extreme cold
• snow
• tunnel closures

Today, while the temperature was hovering in the mid-20's I decided to try and run an errand to the Strip before work. I got all layered up and when I got on the bike, the front tire was rather low on air. Long story short: I bent the valve. Why? Because I'm still a moronic noob with these presta valves.

I spent my lunch hour changing my ruined tube, this was a first-time experience for me to change tires on Fizz with really tight beads and disc brakes. I wrestled a great deal and ripped some skin off my hand but eventually got the change completed.

So, with my inability to ride, I've been making progress on a wool blanket. The colors remind me of a sock monkey.

Back in the saddle

I ran an errand on the bike today, I rode to my orthopaedist's office to have my stitches removed.
Parking was an exercise in creativity. Racks are located out on the street, in the elements and in sight of potential thieves. The nice, dry garage had this fence I locked to.

The stitches came out easily. The young man who took them out noticed my helmet and we started talking bike: he commutes by bike from Bellevue on a 1953 Schwinn. Sweet.

Doc came in and showed my the photos he took during the operation.

One of the chunks of loose meniscus

Another chunk

The chunks, extracted and laid out next to a ruler

I'm told the bottom photo is my ACL, which he said looks good.

 He mentioned how bad my kneecap was, apparently this shows the back of the kneecap, completely devoid of protective cartilage.

On the way back I noticed this poor "Yield to Pedestrians" sign had been run over so many times that it now lay in pieces along North Shore Drive.

This is how the sign is supposed to look.

Winter commuters and beaver barriers

Ten miles. I rode ten miles today.

I can safely say that while I'm still a bit wobbly mounting the bike... I'm back to baseline. I can ride again. I fully expected to out of commission for much longer, so I couldn't be happier with my post-surgery progress and recovery despite being forced to take way more ibuprofen than I'd like.
I get the stitches out in 2 days and I can't wait. They poke out from underneath my bandages and get caught in my clothes: a total nuisance.
I'll be delighted to bike to the appointment rather than drive as I have been, the parking at my orthopedist's office is five bucks. I hate paying that much to park.

In the morning, I lazily rode into town and up and back through the Penn Ave bike lane. It was cold and damp, not ideal riding weather... but there were so many commuters! I think I counted somewhere between 15 and 17 in my travels. This is as many as I'm used to seeing in fair weather. "Feh!" to those that think bike commuting in Pittsburgh is seasonal. I even saw one woman wearing the same houndstooth Cleverhood that I own!

On my lunch hour, I went down to the Bastille to get some air in my tires and find another piece of ClohnArt cubist/paper artwork that I was alerted to some time ago. I had looked for it previously, but was unsuccessful. I found it today.

I also noted much beaver damage to the newly planted trees that didn't have plastic beaver tubes protecting the trunks. *chomp*

Dam beavers.

Note to self: don't Google "beaver tubes".

By the end of the day, I had reached and surpassed my 10K steps goal on the FitBit for the first time in almost 8 weeks. I can start working off the 10 pounds I gained.

First post-surgery ride

It was just a mile. Only a mile.
Let me rephrase that...an ENTIRE mile. Pretty damn good for having been in an operating room just 5 days ago.

Pre-surgery: "Here, let me show you how to use the cameraph..."

My surgeon wanted to be sure he operated on the correct limb.

Post-surgery ginger ale (I get barfy from the anesthesia)

24 hours after surgery, I was no longer using the crutches and back to work 5 days later. It went very well despite accidentally yanking out the vein port they'd inserted into the back of my hand and drizzling blood all over my recovery area.

The doctor's special purple surgical ink refuses to
wash off without a fight.

a gorgeous day with single digit wind chill temperatures.

Everything is falling back into place. Soon, the ice and snow will melt and I will be able go for longer rides.

However, I was rather annoyed to see the building employees had moved the bike storage racks AGAIN. Fizz's front light mount and her bell were bent or loose from some rough handling. Grrr.

Currently convalescing with crocheting

I need stuff to do while I don't have the ability to ride the bike. 
I can only read and clean the house so much and DVDs are only 1-2 hours long.
After seeing Tin Lizzie's post about reflective fabrics and yarns, my interest in rekindling my hatred for knitting was re-ignited. I re-learned the steps for crocheting and practiced a bit. I was still lousy at this. It took a few tries to gain enough confidence in my remedial skills and I ordered some of the reflective yarns. Neon yellow, neon green and safety orange.
This would be the ugliest damn scarf.
Ever.

I figured out how to chain-up!

Some subdued colors for a less hideous version too.

One color on.

Almost finished!

Pudge is my scarf model

When I started chaining on the third and final color, I became concerned: it looks like a flag. Whoa, what country was this? Would I be wearing the National Colors of some despised entity? Would I find myself cycling past someone and get harassment if they didn't agree with the politics of this nation?

Thankfully, the closest these colors come to an official flag of a sovereign nation is:

Mali (green, yellow, red)

Guinea (red, yellow and green)

Ireland (green, white and orange)

I think I may rip out the orange and use that yarn in another scarf.

1-22-15
UPDATE: I ripped out the orange with plans for the orange in another scarf.

Here's the finished (orange-less) product:

Not bad for a noob.

 I'm delighted to have this new interest... it keeps my mind off the bad things and the worsening pain in my knee. I bought a few more non-reflective yarns and a new larger needle with plans for another project.
I have an exaggerated limp from the increasing pain and I'm glad to be sitting, and also sad to be sitting. I'd rather be on the bike.

Someone said to me today when they saw my difficulties in walking: "I bet you'll be glad to have this surgery."

Yes, yes I will.

1/28/15 Project 2 is finished and project 3 is underway:

#2 Reflective orange with non-reflective black

#3 A cowl that uses the reflective olive/green