Thanks for not laughing, but also, I’m a little concerned that no one asked if I was all right.

I biffed it pretty well on my way to work today. So far, only the second time I’ve done it on my way to work, and the first time wasn’t even while I was on the fixie. Today, however, that old remember-you-can’t-coast adage was forgotten, and I basically dove over the front of my handlebars trying to coast while boosting myself over a curb. I got up, laughed it off, and got back on the bike for a half-block more till I got to the office. It feels good to know you can still take a slight beating; my arms are a little sore, but okay, overall.

I’m riding Critical Mass today. Are you?

Stark’s article – ESPN.com Under the microscope is oddly annoying in its condemnation of the Houston Astros and Lidge’s blown save last night.

Really, though, this is getting blown way out of proportion. Of all the lineups in the postseason this year, the heart of that particular order is the one I would have most expected would pull out something like that. Lidge blew 4 saves on the year. It does happen. He isn’t invincible.

But again, all sample sizes and all the “same spot as last year” talk is bullshit for stat fans. I mean, all that talk will play a role psychologically, but I think taking one game of three is a lot easier when you have Roy Oswalt pitching. I don’t have any real insight here, but I’m still pulling for the Astros, and here’s why:

Berkman, Biggio and Bagwell have been waiting for this for a long time (granted, maybe not as long as the White Sox, but they also haven’t been around that long). Pujols will have plenty of chances to get WS ring.

I like Berkman, I like Oswalt and Lidge, I praised Dan Wheeler’s ability to get people out this year in the bullpen, and Morgan Ensberg bounced back from last year and had a career year. The team is young and were down 17 games out of first at one point of the season. An underdog from the start, and as an expansion team, much like the Mariners, I’d really like to see them get to the World Series. I think we’ll see them do that tonight.

That’s right, I said it.

I’ve been quarter-century hump for nearly a month now, but this last weekend Owl and friends threw me a party that was great fun. Thanks to everyone that came out and drank beer, ate cow (mostly me), and kicked ass at Trivial Pursuit. It was a close game, with wits matched pretty evenly on both sides (powerhouses brl and rbw matched up fairly well), but we still lost, sadly, and I blame that on bad guesses of mine. Great cake, great decoration, great fun. Hooray!

Also: thanks for stopping by before going to Sweden, man.

brl rode the fixed gear around Ballard while I coasted along on the Marin on Saturday night. He confirmed the truth about my brake: it sucks. Well, fixed that yesterday with a new dual-pivot long-reach Tektro from Recycled. The dude there broke up a set for me, which was nice of him.

I also picked up some rim cloth for my tire, which popped in the middle of the night on Saturday and hissed like crazy. i jumped up out of bed and was looking around for someone’s ass to kick or a fire to put out. I’m a light sleeper.

I haven’t actually been able to really test the Tektro yet, but I did figure out how to eliminate squeaks on brakes. For real, I can fix your brakes now, ben.

Tips for squeaking brakes:

• I think the most common problem is that the rim and/or pad are wet. Don’t clean your rims with water, use something not water soluble, I’ve read acetone or lacquer thinner works. That was unavailable for me, so I used a tiny bit of Tri-Flow and it seemed to do the trick.
• Toe them in so the forward part of the brake hits the rim before the back.
• Rough up the pads with some sandpaper or emory board

That concludes the bike tip for the day. I got nothing else for you.

I just finished watching the unfortunate (for the Angels) call tonight in Game 2 of the ALCS. Full disclosure: I hate the White Sox. Not just because they beat the Red Sox, which is just a minor atrocity in my book since I don’t think they were a great team this year, but also because I’m not a big fan of A.J. Pierzynski or Ozzie Guillen.

Regardless, the White Sox starting pitching is what will make them beat the Angels. Well, that and botched calls by umpires. Buerhle was spectacular tonight, and if Freddy Garcia has good stuff tomorrow (see his game against Johan Santana earlier this year, where he lost while only giving up two hits) and the Angels manage to shut down Joe Crede and keep Paul Konerko contained; I hear he can’t catch up to fastballs inside, but I’d like to see some stats on the 40 pitches he jacked out of the park this year, because if he started turning on those pitches and cranking them out, that would explain his jump in BA this year.

But when it all comes down to it, the St. Louis Cardinals have the best team and it’ll be a shame if they don’t take it all this year. All-around, they have the best pitching, offense, and defense up the middle. Their pitching is better up and down the line than the Astros, although the Big Three of Clemens, Pettitte and Oswalt I’d certainly take over the Cards starting three. That said, since I think Houston is the underdog and the most surprising team in the playoffs, I officially endorse them as the IR World Series Champs.

Not that that means anything especially since predicting winners in the playoffs is like flipping a coin; the sample sizes are much to small, luck plays a big factor in plays and there are severe extraneous factors like bad calls that prevent any real predictions. Tonight’s Angels/Sox game is a perfect example of that.

I found a bunch of pictures from New Year’s last year that I don’t think anyone has seen except for me. Couple that with the fact that I just wanted to try out flickr and see what all the fuss was about and maybe get some pictures up here and voila! Pictures!

Motobecane Grand Touring frame, mid-70’s, maybe.

Back wheel is a black 32-hole IRO flip/flop hub laced 3x to a black Mavic ma-3 rim, with a 16-tooth Surly track cog. Dudes at Recycled hooked me up with a $1 tire.

The crank is what was on it when I bought it, it’s currently running 42t.

I found a Scott AT-2 cowhorn for cheap and wrapped it with some Cinelli corkwrap on a Nitto Technomic stem I got down at Elliott Bay Bicycles so I could jack the bars up since the bike is a little too small for me. May end up going back to drop bars as soon as I can lay down some cash for those Noodlebars from Rivendell.

I’m pretty happy with my bike light, which is Serfas SL 200, which has five (5!) white led bulbs in it. That’s four more than one.

Still on the wishlist: Steel toe-clips or possibly some Crank Bros. Egg Beaters, eventually a new front wheel, possibly a Sugino track crank to fix the slightly crooked chainline. I’d also like to fit a different brake lever on there, maybe a reverse lever or bmx lever, and I definitely need a new front brake, possibly a cheap Tektro long reach so I can fit some fenders on it for the upcoming rainy season. I hope you’re not as bored as I think you are after reading this.

I took the bike out last night and did some hill climbs; climbed up to 85th from Market and really huffed and puffed until my quads couldn’t take it anymore, then rolled down 8th and really gave the insides of my quads a workout slowing myself down. I need to probably take it easy and make sure I don’t hurt myself. Too bad it took brl’s injury to get that through my head.

In any case, it’s been a long time since I took my bike out and just cruised around listening to music. I rode around a turnabout 7 or 8 times, which was dizzying but fun, and just enjoying the quiet neighborhoods was a really good time. I highly recommend it.

DeLay Vows Return to House Leadership Role

The House ethics committee is investigating whether DeLay’s airfare and other expenses, including golf outings, were charged to an Abramoff credit card.

“Look, we were friends, just like I am friends with many lobbyists in this town. I have no clue as to his inner workings of his business,” DeLay said. “People are trying to make me responsible for Jack Abramoff’s actions if he’s guilty, and I’m not convinced that he is.”

Since when do you use friend’s credit cards to buy airplane tickets and vacation cruises and shit? Yo, anybody wanna lend me their card so I can chill in the Bahamas for a week? I don’t play golf, but I can hit the shit out of the ball.