and i think i've figured out why off-the-shelf fixies come with a 48-18 ratio. 72 gear inches (exactly). oh and 51 also divisible by 17, deon.
3 December 2008
72 gear inches
i like this so much i stole it, from someone else who stole it...
and i think i've figured out why off-the-shelf fixies come with a 48-18 ratio. 72 gear inches (exactly). oh and 51 also divisible by 17, deon.
and i think i've figured out why off-the-shelf fixies come with a 48-18 ratio. 72 gear inches (exactly). oh and 51 also divisible by 17, deon.
20 November 2008
a while ago
a little bike project happened... when it was still sunny in amsterdam. wow that was a while ago :-D
18 November 2008
the skinny bridge
so eventually u stop fighting it and just let people take photos of you. often theyre kind enough to send them to you. this was a marvellous place to spend my lunch break...
Grotere kaart weergeven
kinda like this one: "When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race... cycle tracks will abound in Utopia." H.G. Wells. i stole it from here.
15 November 2008
13 November 2008
fixies and maths
when youre picking your next chainring or cog, its important to know how many skid patches the resulting combination will leave u with... ok im assuming two things here: firstly you dont have all the money in the world and enough time to go with it to keep changing your back tire, and secondly that you use your back tire to stop, not your front rim or something similarly silly. so here is a list of relevant prime numbers
2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 47 53 59 61 67 71
currently i ride a 51-19. jees i thought 51 was a prime number..? noddy badge for anyone who can tell me what it is divisible by (other than 1 and itself). apparently it still gives me 19 skid patches (according to the application on my mate's iphone that is). thats kinda cost effective, no?
found this on an irish forum, so im not the only one talking about it:
"You will never get more skid patches than the number of teeth on your sprocket, (you may get less, depending on the chainring) so more teeth is always better in that regard. You can get up to the max skid patches with a non-prime sprocket, you just have a wider range of possible chainrings with a prime sprocket (and vice versa.) A 47T chainring will give you the most possible skid patches with any rear sprocket, so it could be a very good choice."
why do almost all off the shelf fixies come with a 48-18 then? only 3 skid patches, unless ur an ambi-skidder... i guess they also come with brakes
2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 47 53 59 61 67 71
currently i ride a 51-19. jees i thought 51 was a prime number..? noddy badge for anyone who can tell me what it is divisible by (other than 1 and itself). apparently it still gives me 19 skid patches (according to the application on my mate's iphone that is). thats kinda cost effective, no?
found this on an irish forum, so im not the only one talking about it:
"You will never get more skid patches than the number of teeth on your sprocket, (you may get less, depending on the chainring) so more teeth is always better in that regard. You can get up to the max skid patches with a non-prime sprocket, you just have a wider range of possible chainrings with a prime sprocket (and vice versa.) A 47T chainring will give you the most possible skid patches with any rear sprocket, so it could be a very good choice."
why do almost all off the shelf fixies come with a 48-18 then? only 3 skid patches, unless ur an ambi-skidder... i guess they also come with brakes
2 November 2008
29 October 2008
5degrees and raining
makes u feel pretty alive. well afterwards. like quite a while afterwards, after the shower and much toast marmite cheese and eggs. like when u get the feeling back in your toes. im finding out that warm dry toes is pretty much the holy grail of being a bike messenger in a wet northern hemisphere winter. speaking of the wet northern hemisphere: u recognise anyone here?
now i gotta go look for an outfit for the berlin halloween alleycat race. apparently its gonna be fast. like crazy fast. but the real winner is the best outfit. so in 24 hrs ill singing karaoke in berlin with crazies from all over europe preparing a good german beer hangover for the next morning's festivities. speaking of germans
didnt watching die fetten jahre sind vorbei make u want to join a radical left wing political movement? or just start your own... whats the most radical leftist organisation you can think of? do u have to be mexican to join the zapatistas? i think we should tell all the stinking rich people that they have too much money and their days of plenty are numbered
now i gotta go look for an outfit for the berlin halloween alleycat race. apparently its gonna be fast. like crazy fast. but the real winner is the best outfit. so in 24 hrs ill singing karaoke in berlin with crazies from all over europe preparing a good german beer hangover for the next morning's festivities. speaking of germans
didnt watching die fetten jahre sind vorbei make u want to join a radical left wing political movement? or just start your own... whats the most radical leftist organisation you can think of? do u have to be mexican to join the zapatistas? i think we should tell all the stinking rich people that they have too much money and their days of plenty are numbered
5 October 2008
msngrng
so i tried to go big corporate (again) and it seems this time they even saw thru my suit and my old boys tie. or maybe i was given away by the glint in my eye that came from riding in the rain for nine hours the day before. ill be honest, i thought of quitting the messenger dream more than 9 times the day before the big interview cos it was cold, frikken cold, and still early days in the european winter. but when i arrived back to the office at the end of the day and saw the looks on the faces of guys from cold countries like finland and um well, the netherlands, it became a little clearer to me what had just happened. this was one of those special days, u dont get many of them in a year. they suck. normally when its that cold, it doesnt rain so much here. on tuesday it was cold and it rained all day long. then there was friday, blue skies and sunshine, no wind, it was good not to be stuck in an office again. oh, and to be paid to ride a bike!
i have new found respect for the cold and the wet. luckily the boss gives us good clothes to wear. now all i need is some shoe covers and i can test my theory that winter is worse when ur indoors...
i have new found respect for the cold and the wet. luckily the boss gives us good clothes to wear. now all i need is some shoe covers and i can test my theory that winter is worse when ur indoors...
2 October 2008
amsterdam alleycat
http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=7980879
click about half way. ignore the dutch if u cant understand it. look out for the pink handlebars.
click about half way. ignore the dutch if u cant understand it. look out for the pink handlebars.
23 September 2008
i wish i had given this speech
This is a speech made by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Anna Quintile at the graduation ceremony of an American university where she was awarded an Honorary PhD.
"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know.
Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living.
But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk or your life on a bus or in a car or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank accounts but also your soul. People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've received your test results and they're not so good.
Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I am a good friend to my friends and them to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cut out. But I call them on the phone and I meet them for lunch. I would be rotten, at best mediocre, at my job if those other things were not true.
You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today:
Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon or found a lump in your breast?
Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first finger.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough.
It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the colour of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again.
It is so easy to exist instead of to live.
I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination.
I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get.
I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with the sun on your face.
Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".
"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know.
Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living.
But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk or your life on a bus or in a car or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank accounts but also your soul. People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've received your test results and they're not so good.
Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I am a good friend to my friends and them to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cut out. But I call them on the phone and I meet them for lunch. I would be rotten, at best mediocre, at my job if those other things were not true.
You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today:
Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon or found a lump in your breast?
Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first finger.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough.
It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the colour of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again.
It is so easy to exist instead of to live.
I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination.
I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get.
I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with the sun on your face.
Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".
3 September 2008
this song reminds me of u
ever had someone say that a song reminds them of you? well it happened to me today for just the second time (as far as i can remember). its kinda of a weird feeling... as it turns out both are pretty intense, quality tunes. here is the most recent one, thanks kuki, good tune, video and thought provocation. this is the other one which is still kinda smells of beer and mercury, nice, 'ey davo?
20 August 2008
fair
the video is over a year old but i guess it sums up the work that oxfam novib and other people are doing and what fuels it. sit thru the 6 minutes odd, note the solutions suggested, its not all negative!
fancy a slightly more light hearted approach? or just a snack from the FEBO? mmm mmm mmmm
fancy a slightly more light hearted approach? or just a snack from the FEBO? mmm mmm mmmm
18 August 2008
catch up time
have u read einstein's dreams? i just did and its pretty special! just a few days later i get an email from me mate marco in switzerland telling me he saw me on tv. as i read his email it all unfolded in my head... i remember that night at the waiting room. kinda. well i definately remember the obnoxious german film crew. i think i was rude to them. past that i took very little notice of them and got on with the evenings activities: you know what happens where they serve erdinger and play fat freddies drop...
these are me mate marco's words:
well, you can find it on www.zdf.de. the you look under "search" and wright in there "traumstädte". then you will find Kapstatt witch means capetown :). click on it an look the video. an i think after 34 minutes you can see you an sara shaking hard!
this is super! how small the world is.....
but the connection to the book... well. there i was just living my life and on the other side of the world, in another language, some friends from an almost previous life see me and get back in touch. little loop in space time created? anyway. good book. read it.
these are me mate marco's words:
well, you can find it on www.zdf.de. the you look under "search" and wright in there "traumstädte". then you will find Kapstatt witch means capetown :). click on it an look the video. an i think after 34 minutes you can see you an sara shaking hard!
this is super! how small the world is.....
but the connection to the book... well. there i was just living my life and on the other side of the world, in another language, some friends from an almost previous life see me and get back in touch. little loop in space time created? anyway. good book. read it.
14 August 2008
who knows this one, yes, WHO knows THis ONE!?
swift anyone? davo, how do u actually spell 'mampy'?
lets do some web 2.0 stuff. yeah i just figured out what those people in their IT ivory towers were on about whenever they say two point owe! honestly guys. get over it. its just sharing. so because the idiots at universal music wouldnt let me embed 'their' video in this posting, i got it from some other guy who spliced it together with some random clips and stuff. i think this one is better anyway. good old hoobastank.
i couldnt help but connect the video above with the video below. yeah papa roach its a real blast from the year 2000!
u gotta love guys in white suits playing golf in the grounds of a mansion. at least it diverges from the cliche of chicks and cars. actually i think it may well have preceded the cliche.
share more
lets do some web 2.0 stuff. yeah i just figured out what those people in their IT ivory towers were on about whenever they say two point owe! honestly guys. get over it. its just sharing. so because the idiots at universal music wouldnt let me embed 'their' video in this posting, i got it from some other guy who spliced it together with some random clips and stuff. i think this one is better anyway. good old hoobastank.
i couldnt help but connect the video above with the video below. yeah papa roach its a real blast from the year 2000!
u gotta love guys in white suits playing golf in the grounds of a mansion. at least it diverges from the cliche of chicks and cars. actually i think it may well have preceded the cliche.
share more
20 July 2008
walking around de pijp
i was just walking around de pijp looking for the fietsfabriek shop that was rumoured to have the best new €100 bikes available in amsterdam. the closest i got to said bike was an offer of a cup of coffee from the owner of the fietsfabriek shop who enjoyed hearing my attempts to speak dutch. turns out these fabled bikes were (a) not made by the fietsfabriek whos cheapest bike is around €800 and rather stylish (if you live in amsterdam), and (b) sold out.
really tho this post is just for my mom who is probably the only person who will appreciate the fact that i found a meditation centre called shambala (while walking around de pijp) and took photos of it with her old phone
i did get a bike in the end tho. its purple. and a sticker says it was made in holland. no one is quite sure when tho.
really tho this post is just for my mom who is probably the only person who will appreciate the fact that i found a meditation centre called shambala (while walking around de pijp) and took photos of it with her old phone
i did get a bike in the end tho. its purple. and a sticker says it was made in holland. no one is quite sure when tho.
12 July 2008
poor kids
according to a postcard here in the netherlands: 'arm zijn is uit. rijk zijn is in.' basically thats saying that being poor is out and being rich is in. i agree, being poor is so last season. unfortunately i feel like im still adhering to last seasons fashions.
but being poor does have its advantages i guess. before that gets taken the wrong way im just trying to figure out why i fix what others throw away. and enjoy it so much. yes. thats a lot of white saddle. the middle one is enjoying its 4th incarnation while the other two are infants in the cycle starting only their second lives as saddles. i guess moving up the saddle wheel of fortune can only take a saddle so far. but i reckon being a white saddle has to be pretty near the top. too many potential mixed metaphors to safely continue. gonna go ride now.
but being poor does have its advantages i guess. before that gets taken the wrong way im just trying to figure out why i fix what others throw away. and enjoy it so much. yes. thats a lot of white saddle. the middle one is enjoying its 4th incarnation while the other two are infants in the cycle starting only their second lives as saddles. i guess moving up the saddle wheel of fortune can only take a saddle so far. but i reckon being a white saddle has to be pretty near the top. too many potential mixed metaphors to safely continue. gonna go ride now.
16 May 2008
2 March 2008
honestly
whats the problem? after a big night to say cheerio/bugger-off to our mate duncan who succumbed to the pull of joburgs gold, we decided to go jump off some high things into the hermanus reservoir. good times. the water level was pretty damn low, so i'll freely admit we didnt even attempt the big guy. we reckoned it was like.. too high. dunno how high that is in metres, but probably over 20. but there is still something special about hiking up into the bush on a (mid-summer) winters morning until u cant see any people or their houses and then jumping into a dark dark full-of-tanins dam. it was probably the same temperature in the water as the air. now it was raining right, so both my walking clothing and my cleverly brought along separate swimming clothing got wet. so my original plan to protect the old man's nice leather seats was foiled.
anyway, i still dont think there is anything wrong with driving home in your boxers. some hermanus grannies did tho and they voiced their disapproval quite clearly through their hooter. hence the photo. nice one deon.
anyway, i still dont think there is anything wrong with driving home in your boxers. some hermanus grannies did tho and they voiced their disapproval quite clearly through their hooter. hence the photo. nice one deon.
28 February 2008
back in black
deep dark africa huh? is it really all that dark? well negativity can make things seem pretty dark. the threat of no electricity dims things a little. zuma being on trial however may provide a little light at the end of the tunnel. its sure not boring to be back in cape town! i went to a super-insightful lecture by clem sunter and chantell illbury last night at UCT's graduate school of business, well, dawson fabrications had to sent a representative. i guess i was (naively) wondering why the zuma trial and eskom being morons was making such headlines before this lecture. i mean sure we need electricity but right now i'v got it and president shmeshident woe woe what is he good for anyway..? clem put it pretty succinctly when he said (and i dont quote him) that the economy wont grow until we have power, and if there is political violence related to the zuma trial we will become another kenya, plonkers... so im back to watching the news i guess. that is when im not riding with the boys, plum pudding, yeah welcome back!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)