gpbmike's Boompa Blog

Believe in karma for me

Well some @(*&(@#& knocked my bike over on Saturday in front of my house. It's a heavy bike, hard to knock over unless either you really want to or you're in a car. When I'm at home I park in on the sidewalk in front of my house. That part of the sidewalk is painted red so there SHOULDN'T be any cars right up next to it.

I get home after driving around in the jeep for something and as I'm walking up to my door I notice my bike is a little off. Hmmm... I wouldn't park it that close to the curb because I wouldn't be able to put my foot down on that side. So I go closer to investigate. Sure enough the side of my bike is scratched up, the windshield broken, the brake lever curved way too much now, and the right handlebar is bent in toward the bike (more so than before). Well hell. Now I'm pissed. I look around like the person is just going to be standing there and then I scrutinize my bike a little more before storming off into the house.

Since it was not laying on the ground I assume whoever knocked it over didn't mean to. It would take a lot of effort to get it back upright. But at the same time I don't really care if they meant to or not if they're not going to pay for it. I wish I believed more in karma so that I'd know this punk is going to get what's coming to him. Like he'll come out of a store one day and his car will be on its side. Yeah... that's right fucker.

Cycle Hunters

Something my brother sent around in an email the other day. Thought I'd put it up since some limo pulled out in front of me this morning at an intersection and I had to swerve around it.

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Welcome to the newest addition of……Cycle Hunters, the place where you can learn to hunt cycles like the Pros.

Motorcycle
season is slowly coming to an end and it’s been a bumper season for
bagging motorcycles. Today we’re going to look at a few of the weapons
and tactics used this season:

>> Sedan - main use is basic
transport. It is the weapon of choice for elder hunters due to the
comfort. The elder hunters, while having slow reflexes and poor eye
sight, are extremely proficient with this weapon. Their favorite take
down move is the faint or diversion. They will signal to go one
direction and at the last second change coarse crossing as many
obstacles as necessary to get to their objective (Wow! that’s seasoned
greatness folks).

>> Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) - main
use is mall assaults. This vehicle is a heavy armored weapons platform.
It’s slow, handles poorly, and needs massive amounts of logistical
support (fuel), but has armor that rivals the M1A1 Abrams main battle
tank. Because of the size and protection a great number of female
hunters like this vehicle although it has great popularity with both
genders. Hunters have two main tactics for cycle take downs. The first
due to the weight and poor braking of the vehicle is called the steam
roller. This move is best used at traffic intersections when a stop
indicator is present or when a cycle is spotted at close distance and
appears to be slowing and changing course. This move requires speed and
maximum braking at the last second to create a skid (squish). The
second tactic is called The Blind. The hunters use the volume of the
vehicle to shield their vision from the surroundings. The primary uses
of this tactic are in traffic while changing lanes, backing out of
driveways and mall parking spaces. They tend to shriek after the take
down “I didn’t see it, I didn’t see it, I didn’t see it….!” with great
pride of accomplishment (That‘s perfection, great job).

>> Minivan – a small lightly
armored vehicle mainly used for troop transport from front line actions
(soccer, baseball, school, doctor, etc.). Hunters generally use the
same tactics as the SUV but with an additional a variant of the Blind
tactic called the Brain Scramble. This is put into play when all of the
personnel being transported start different war cries all at the same
time and then the hunter starts their own war cry prior to the cycle
take down (Mmmm brutal).

>> Sports Car – a quick and highly maneuverable vehicle with extremely
light armor mainly used as a mating lure. Not normally used for cycle
hunting except in rare cases where a young hunter in the middle of
mating season is trying to draw attention and prove his hunting skills.
The Big Cock tactic requires the hunter to exceed the limits of the
weapon and personal skill for an out of control take down. Although
this can be an effective and dramatic tactic it is highly unsuccessful
and usually results in taking down something other than a cycle (such
as their pants).

Next time we will examine take down tactics in the exciting world of cycle hunting.

“Remember even if you can’t ride one, you can still ride over one!”

1st gear 6000 RPM all the way home

So I was riding my motorcycle happily through the hills, not a care in the world. And I see two other riders behind me so at the approaching intersection I let them go first. I'm not that fast and they looked like they wanted to do some leaning in the twisty hills. I accelerate behind them thinking about whether or not I can keep up. The engine revs to the happy "time to change gears" tune and I flick my foot. Only... I don't touch anything. Hmmm... maybe my foot is out of place. I move it around a little and explore. I feel a foot peg... but no gear shifter. Interesting. I look down and sure enough, the peg that I shift with is nowhere to be seen. @()#*&@(#*&

So after coming to a stop, reaching down and shifting into neutral with my hand, I spend the next 15-20 minutes looking for that stupid peg. Several inquisitive looks and a few concerned motorists later, I hop back on the bike and ride home in first gear.

It's been a couple of weeks since then and I haven't gotten a new peg yet. I discovered that I could painfully switch gears with the side of my foot if I tried hard enough. I also went to Home Depot to see if I could rig something up. But the method the helpful employee suggested seemed like too much of a hassle for the price. I have since switched the peg from the right brake side to the lef shifting side and that seems to work as I can still step on the bar to brake if I need to.

Yesterday I went to my parents house to see if I could dig up the old rearset kit that came with the bike before my brother replaced it. I was successful but then my brother looked up the price of the peg and it's only $10, so I'm just doing that now.

Geez, what a hassle. Moral of the story: make sure your bike is screwed together tight.

More pictures

Went along Grizzly Peak today which overlooks the SF Bay from the Berkeley/Oakland hills today with the sole purpose of taking more pictures to win the battle against Ethan. I ended up only stopping at one point. I was hoping there would be some other riders up there to take my picture with the bike on the ridge but alas it wasn't meant to be. So this is only picture I took up there today.

I'm an idiot

I almost dropped my bike today. I was riding down San Pablo on the way to my teammate's apartment when it started chugging along. Although I had never run out of gas before (I've only been riding for a week and a half), I figured that's what was going on. Every stop I came to I tried to find the switch that changes the fuel to the reserve tank. Even though I had seen it before when I had looked, I couldn't seem to find it while I was on the bike. So sure enough after a few blocks my bike chugged to a stop.

After looking around a bit more from on top of the bike I decided it would be easier if I got off the bike. So I got off and whoops, forgot to put the stand down, luckily the bike was leaning to the side I got off on and whoa man that thing is heavy. But I managed to get it back upright again. Phew.

Lesson learned.