:: c a u t i o n :: Bike-pr0n/image-heavy ::

Feast your eyes, friends, on my amateur of the fleet, the half-skank, half-virgin, barely legal, fixed-gear bicycle of questionable history and experience
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Ellipses!

Her red chain will seize you by the pant-cuffs and tear your jeans right off, throwing you over the handlebars and flat onto your back, dominating and humiliating you in front of gods and passersby in the street ... but only if you're into that careless, I-forgot-to-roll-up-my-pant-leg kinky shit
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The feel of her thin, no-frills, what-you-see-is-what-you-get red cotton handlebar tape feels like business mixed with pleasure: getting the job done with smooth, efficient, old-skool, straight-forward techniques
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There's that chain again, from a different, more enticing angle
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Our first happy customer, taking her around the block once or twice, indulging in her maiden voyage (sorry, you probably couldn't afford that ride, anyway) the happy never-ending that is the lovely Miss Ellipses
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The Transformation: Phase I

Saturday after work, I raced to the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, arriving minutes before closing. I went in looking for a bike or frame in my size (56-58 cm I reckon). None were exactly right, but the one I settled on was close enough ... 60 cm, good for short-distance riding around in Midtown, but uncomfortable for anything longer.



In my head, this whole Build a Bike process was gonna take like, 3 weeks. And I was gonna be all showing each individual step, and yall were gonna be all wowed cause Look how DIFFERENT she looks from the LAST session!! However, it has been concluded that my bike will be finished, um, tomorrow. It turns out that these simple machines are actually simple machines. And when I'm in a Maintain It Yourself workshop dedicated to making regular people understand the mechanics of their bicycles, and surrounded by super-cute & willing (to explain stuff, you pervs) volunteer mechanics, with all the bike-building/maintaining tools you could ever dream of at your fingertips, building a bike is easy. And fast! AND all of the components I'm using have been salvaged from donated bikes (unsealed bottom bracket, "fancy" crank arms for $10 (vs. $5 for the other average used stuff), seat post, pedals with holes for a later addition of toe clips, and many options for seats and wheels). Actually, tomorrow I'm going to buy a new fixed rear wheel (cause those are hard to come by in a place with strictly donated items), a size 46 chain ring and chain, hopefully in red, and some pretty handlebar tape or grips.
My old bike first had chopped bullhorns with pink tape, then later it had mustache handlebars with blue & white star grips. I'm thinking back to the bullhorns, because they feel nice. Suggestions?

Tomorrow! Get ready for greatness.

TwentyTen, I will make you my bitch.

The List

1. Build a bike from the frame up (and out).
2. Blog more. About building a bike.
3. Finish knitting my cousin's Christmas present, black & grey fingerless gloves.
4. Participate in a beach Ultimate tournament.
5. Deactivate profile from world-conquering social networking site.
6. Move to Seoul.
7. Learn Korean.
8. Explore Bali, Sumatra, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.
9. Learn bomb ass break dancing moves.
10. Finish a half Olympic distance triathlon.
11. Roll a perfect cigarette.