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Wednesday, December 09, 2009 Definitely A Disappointment (Thanks, Bloomberg, You Fuck) I haven't been on my bike much in the past month due to weather, work and shit in my life, but i'm still shocked that somehow I missed this. jazzwick: so Jeffrey I have to ask, are you repainting all the bike lanes that the Hasids painted over in Williamsburg? JeffreyBeaumont: ummmmmmmmm, what??? jazzwick: wow, you mean I'm breaking this news to you?? jazzwick: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/bike_war_paint_g7EizkFEZktV3IlNUJosQM JeffreyBeaumont: what the fuckjjjjj. last summer there were complaints raised by hasids JeffreyBeaumont: but i didn't think this would actually happen jazzwick: i just can't believe the city did it JeffreyBeaumont: it's certainly no surprise that they waited until late fall when the weather is bad and people aren't biking as much JeffreyBeaumont: so that people like me don't notice JeffreyBeaumont: i haven't biked that route in about a month jazzwick: yeah, I'm kind of disappointed to learn you haven't been arrested over this yet, Ben JeffreyBeaumont: well, give it some time jazzwick: please keep me posted on your police record Labels: biking, fucktactics, videos posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 12/09/2009 11:30:00 AM 1 comments Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Autumnal Grace: 2504 And Counting  Richard Serra, "Schunnemunk Fork (Part II of four)", from Storm King Arts Center The last day of summer concluded last night with the setting of the sun and it's now autumn. And now, finally, after riding 35 miles today I have reached and passed my goal of riding 2500 miles by the end of summer (more or less). All it took was 115 bike rides (to and from work counting as one "ride") since March The best part, honestly, is that I'm not suddenly "done" now either--nothing, in fact, is any different for me tomorrow than it was today or last week: just keep on rolling them tires until winter makes me housebound. I guess I'll just have to see where I am at then too on the mileage front. But, for a man who most of his life has lacked profoundly any internal drive resembling the term "discipline", this feels like a pretty solid life victory. HOLLA! Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, Hyperliving, plans, VICTORY, YEZZIR posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 9/23/2009 11:37:00 PM 1 comments Tuesday, September 15, 2009 2410 And Bikes And Shit I'm vacationing in New York this week to spend time with a friend in town visiting. She went off on her own yesterday and so I started my day with a fast-paced 40 mile ride (or 64 kilometers, as I told her) before heading into the office for a few hours for some unavoidable meetings. Those 40 miles put me over the 2400 mile threshold and I'm now 90 miles away from my "goal" of 2500. As my friend will be here from now until September 22, I'm not sure there's any way I'll be able to reach 2500 by the end of summer, but it's nice to know that I'm so close and I'll be there shortly. I feel like, just as I "came a long way" from the beginning of 2008 through the end, the same can be said for my "progress" in 2009, as a human and of course specifically as a human who also enjoys channeling his life-energy through the pedaled wheels of a bicycle.  On the crazy/ok/"New York I hate you and love you" front, on Sunday I received a call from Lil' Beau that her bike, a 43" 2007 Fuji Track SE had been stolen from outside of her friend's house in Manhattan in broad daylight. It was of course locked, but not with the kind of heavy duty security that I use to prevent theft. I've had seats and lights and fenders and even Presta-to-Schrader converters stolen, but never (yet) a whole bike... gone! And one that poor Lil' Beau had just purchased last fall. It was a real bummer, and especially so since she's still an impoverished student just trying to get by in the world, to whom a purchase such as a new bike is a huge financial commitment (ok, the same is true for me but that's probably due more to my own financial irresponsibility than the impossiblities of adult purchasing). And of course, beyond the dollar damage, there is also the issue of the fact that the bike--as I mentioned, a 43" track bike--is of a rare size that almost literally NO other bike manufacturers produce. Lil' Beau is only 5'1 and let me tell you that finding a nice bike for a girl that size is a challenge and I half--I probably took her to 15-20 bike shops last year looking for a bike, desperately leaving my card with requests to call me if anything even in the remote similarity of size appeared. She finally found her Fuji champion on, of all places, the List of Craig, where she was able to snatch up a more or less brand new 43"er for $400 from a girl who'd realized she hadn't actually wanted to commit to a track bike after all. With this in mind, it was with heavy heart that I came home to console her on Sunday night, with the thought that between dollars and inches, it would be some time before Lil' Beau would be mounting a new chariot. So convinced was I that she wouldn't be riding anytime soon that my Visitor and I began cruising Williamsburg for open pet shops in the hope that if I brought a new cat home it would distract her from the sting of the lost bike. Yes, desperate measures, times etc. But, of course, this is New York and fuck yes, I underestimated her beastly resolve to remedy any situation within moments of becoming unperfect. By the time I got home, Lil' Beau had already gone straight to The List and BOOM, sure enough found a 2008 version of the exact same bike she'd just had stolen [see photo above]... for the exact same discounted used price she paid for her last one. What the fuck, right? Though she was nervous about how she might pay for the bike, she set up an appointment for last night to go check the bike out... and then, of course, BAM!--after getting to the office, an envelope appeared on my desk for her (sent to me for security reasons) from her summer internship... with a check for $500. And now, here it is on Tuesday, a mere 36 hours since her bike was stolen, and there's a new, prettier version of the exact same bike in our house. New York, You Fucking Dick, I Love You. Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, fucktactics, VICTORY posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 9/15/2009 10:20:00 AM 2 comments 2
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Friday, September 11, 2009 Victory! I'm still kind of in post-Montauk recuperation mode so there hasn't been much blogging from me, but this video is just too too too too awesome to pass up. Please watch. And, if you're bored, this one below too. And really, you should check out all of Remi Gaillard's videos here. Labels: biking, lolgore, VICTORY, videos posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 9/11/2009 02:02:00 PM 0 comments Saturday, August 29, 2009 Too Tired To Type In A Subject
duration of this hellacious and nearly joyless exhultation of masochistic athletic activity. I have completed 120 miles and have 25 to go--of course the toughest Beer and burger, please take me away. Labels: biking posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/29/2009 02:23:00 PM 0 comments Friday, August 28, 2009 Oh, Brother  Not looking good tomorrow... Labels: biking, fucktactics posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/28/2009 12:00:00 PM 0 comments Three Down, Twelve To Go With the least auspicious beginnings I've had yet, here I am now, awake at 3:08am after a measly three hours of sleep, getting ready to head off on the longest bike ride of my life. Or at least strongly considering it. It's also the beginning of a day that, according to Weather.com, is sure to be rife with rain and 20mph headwinds. Dudes have already bailed and so if I ride I'm all alone. Decision-making time.... Here goes. Labels: biking, lolgore, plans posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/28/2009 03:09:00 AM 0 comments Thursday, August 27, 2009 Got Nuffin (To Lose)  Strange days, lately. End of summer always brings odd tidings. Sometimes I get really sick, sometimes depressed, something things just don't seem to add up. Sometimes it's nothing more than a strange wind that keeps me looking over my shoulder and a little more restless than normal. On Saturday, bike pal Mike and I are completing a summer of high RPMing with a second 2009 ride to Montauk, this time not the 100 but in fact the full 145 New York City to Montauk bonanza. I have never biked more than 115 miles at once (the Montauk 100 last May) so I truly have no idea what I'm in store for, but it should be interesting to say the least. Sadly, while the heat looks to be not a problem, I guess we're expecting a little rain now: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Yeah. As you know, I don't mind a little rain, but eleven straight hours of rain will push the boundaries I set before myself between fun and masochism. Let's hope it don't come to that. ------- Finally, if you haven't listened yet, please do. Cannot for the life of me get "Got Nuffin" out of my head. And that's a good thing. Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, quickthoughts, Spoon, thoughts posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/27/2009 02:16:00 PM 0 comments Tuesday, August 18, 2009 80 Percenter I have tonight reached the threshold of 2000 miles biked in my ticker of 2009 cycling. According to Dr. Gabe Mirkin--who I have never heard of nor know nothing about--this is equivalent to approximately 575-625 miles of running*** (as far as calorie consumption goes). Mille bourn, deux fois. 2000 miles is of course eighty percent of my goal to hit 2500 miles by summer's end--now just 500 miles to go. My body right now is feeling a little worn down--my right knee hurts, my hamstrings are still tight, and my back is sore. I'm also not totally sure I'll be able to do the rest by September 22 (and I have a friend visiting me for a week right before then, so it'll be extra hard), but I'll do my best, which is ultimately all that matters. And either way, my hope is to continue biking to work every day until late October or early November, so I'll reach my goal eventually. What seems to matter to me most now is that--my broken body excepted--I feel pretty great right now. NOTES: *** -- Derived by using Mirkin's format; see link above Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, exercise, plans, VICTORY posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/18/2009 01:42:00 AM 0 comments Thursday, August 06, 2009 Chooglin' and Chooglin'  It's August 6 and my 2009 bike odometer is now up to 1840 miles pedaled since I began pedaling March 14. For various reasons, this number feels simultaneously large and small. Certainly it represents a significant amount of bicycling--probably 1300 more miles than I rode in all of 2008, and 1800 more than any other year--but it also feels like not so much. I couldn't bring the bike to New Hampshire, and then I've been sick for nine days and didn't bike to work four times last week, and my weekend rides recently have been light....yeah. At this point my summer goal of hitting 2500 miles is looking more likely to happen by late September rather than the end of August. Which is obviously totally fine, and certainly if I haven't biked more because I've been busy with other things then that is great, but I can't help but dwell a little on the degree to which I feel generally unfocused and like I'm struggling to "stay on track" in life (not just with biking, but everything). I know everything is relative and so I know that, for example, I have way more good stuff going on that at any other recent point in my life, but still I would like to somehow streamline and focus my all-over-the-place brain better than I do. It's still cool though, and all good--I'm taking it slowly and waiting patiently for my brain to settle down and begin chipping away again. Labels: biking, empty promises, quicksnaps posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/06/2009 01:33:00 AM 0 comments Sunday, July 05, 2009 Countryside Rolling  The resting place of an old Metro North train I have been enjoying my time upstate for sure--I haven't done much, but it's all been terrifically relaxing. I have 1) spent time with family, 2) shot many rolls of film), and 3) taken a nice bike ride. The exciting development with Two is that a number of rolls were shot on my step dad's early 80s Nikon FM2n camera, a beautiful and hardy mechanical SLR that not only adds depth to my film options--the only lens I have for the Pentax K1000 is a 50mm F/2 prime and his FM2n has a 28-70mm F/2.8-4 and a rad 105 mm micro F/2.8--but also to my digital, as both of his lens work on my digital Nikon thanks to Nikon's slavish obsession with keeping their longtime fans happy. He is lending it to me for a while and I'm looking forward to continuing my recent film experimentations.  The last of these items, the bike ride, was naturally the highlight of the weekend. I did the ride yesterday afternoon and it was a pleasant 31 miler that involved a number of stops to shoot upstate oddities with the K1000. Though, of course, pleasant is a funny way to describe it given that it felt more like 50 New York miles--the terrain here at the foot of the Catskills is all small mountains and rolling hills and definitely tired me out a lot more than many 50-65 mile NYC rides would. As you can see from the map below, the first half of my journey--14 miles or so--was very hilly, including starting the ride going up the rest of my hill (yes it goes even higher than where my house stands). Overall though, the ride was great and the weather was nice and I had a great time. Now we just had homemade breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon and I'm about to head to the links to play golf with my dad before heading home. I'm happiest of all to know that I'm already ready to look forward to the next time I get a chance to come up here too. Labels: biking, exercise, maps, memories, old flames, photography posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 7/05/2009 09:10:00 AM 0 comments Thursday, July 02, 2009 1420 Miles Down, 1080 To Go  Few realize that the secret to a winning athlete's diet is eating lots of these. It's July 2 today and I'm pleased to report that I've now ridden approximately 1420 miles since March 14, taking place over 65 days of riding*** ranging from 5 to 118 miles. This leaves me with 1080 miles to go to hit my end-of-summer goal of 2500 miles. I won't stress if I don't reach it, but I'm feeling pretty good right now that I will. Can't stop / won't stop / what not. Das Leben, es ist sehr gut. NOTES: *** - I say days of riding because on my chart I'm keeping I count things like "a ride to work and the ride home" as one ride. In total "rides", I guess the number is probably more like 100? It sorta definitely doesn't mean a goddamn thing, any of it, of course. Labels: biking, exercise, plans, quicksnaps posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 7/02/2009 01:14:00 PM 0 comments Saturday, June 27, 2009 Flat City  It's a beautiful sunny day and Mike and I are riding to Long Beach. Been great so far except that Mike has just gotten a flat, but it's certainly better flat changing weather than my experience last weekend on the way to Boston. Viva viva. Labels: biking posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 6/27/2009 10:37:00 AM 0 comments Sunday, June 21, 2009 The Eyes (And Spokes) of Boston  The little feller above is a groundhog I chased under this barn. We are in the middle of a 5 minute staredown. I've had an amusing and quaint weekend in Boston. I knew it was set to rain for much of the time but I brought my bike anyway--the forecast on Friday evening in Boston was looking like I would have a window of a few hours with either little or perhaps even no rain and I felt like chancing it. It turned out to be a good move, as there was no rain at all and the weather was in fact quite beautiful. Of course, it wouldn't have been a Fung Wa adventure without something unexpected happening, which in this case turned out to be that the bus driver decided to drop us all at the Prudential T stop rather than the South Station terminal 1.5 miles away. 1.5 miles isn't necessarily a big deal on a bike, but it's a little more so when you've been dropped off in a city with which you are entirely unfamiliar and your iPhone battery is nearly dead. I had taken the time to print out maps of a specific route i'd chosen to take me from South Station to my grandparent's house in Holbrook, taking care to avoid highways and certain other roads. But I had to sort the first part of the trip out the window since it made no sense to trek all the way east to South Station just to have a map to follow. Instead I just headed off on my own and made my way, missing a few turns and rolling through a sort of less than great hood or two, but overall it turned out ok. The route I took, about 16 miles long, is below: Map #1 Prudential T Station (Boston) to Gram's (Holbrook) View Larger Map The next day we went to my Uncle Tom's house in Rochester, MA. I hadn't planned on biking but the weather turned out to be nice and my mom encouraged me to roll, so I sat down with my phone (no computer internets) and planned out a 34 mile trip taking me from Routes 139 to 18 to 28. The ride was pretty great minus a headwind for the first 10 miles, but for the last 24 I think I was riding about as fast as I've ever ridden, as the whole trip took me about 1 hour 45 minutes (an average of around 19mph). I had emailed my bike bro Mike D right before I left to let him know I'd be biking down in his homeland and texted me minutes after I arrived in Rochester to give me advice on a better course than the one i'd chosen... Haaa, yes, of course. Next time, I guess. Map #2 Gram's (Holbrook) to Uncle Tom's (Rochester) View Larger Map I wanted to bike back to Holbrook too but it was 7 when we left and starting to rain and I figured I was probably more tired than I wanted to believe, so I rode in the car with the fam. I fell asleep that night around 11:30 (also so the previous night) and woke up this morning at 7:30 to pack my things and say goodbye to the grandparents before heading on my way to my other uncle Rob's house in Easton. I found a route on my phone that looked good, said Adieu, and set off on the 14 mile journey. Map #3 Gram's (Holbrook) to Uncle Rob's (Easton) View Gram's to Rob's in a larger map The ride was pretty nice--there was a very very light rain but the air was warm and part of the trip went through a pretty park loop so I was happy. When I got to my uncle's, I was invited to drink a cup of coffee while relaxing in his new hot tub and my unfamiliarity with such things made the experience feel rather luxurious. We shot the shit for a few hours and he made me an omelette and then I got ready to leave around 11:15 to ride from there to Back Bay Station in Boston where I planned to catch my 2:30 bus back to New York Of course, as I was putting my still-damp bike clothes back on, I realized that their new puppy Toby had found my stuff and had his way with one of my socks and one of my flip flops:  This dog was incredibly cute and, on the plus side, the hole was in the top part of the sock and the sandle straps are still attached, so it wasn't the end of the world, but it was still silly. Unfortunately, right after I left the house it started POURING rain and continued to do so the entire 24 miles to Boston. I had put my computer inside of a garbage bag within my pack, but I was concerned for its safety, and of course the bag--with my camera and clothes and books--was pretty heavy. Worst of all though was the fact that about 7 miles into the ride I blew out the back tire tube on an empty stretch of Rt 138 and had to stop and change it (photodocumented on-the-go here). Thankfully I made sure not to be an unprepared idiot before I left NYC and brought along a spare tube, my pump and tire levers, and was able to make this the first and only time I've ever been able to change a tube on this bike without popping one first or having great assistance from others nearby. After changing the tube I hopped back on my bike and got on my way again, enjoying an otherwise uneventful--albeit very wet--ride into Boston. Map #4: Uncle Rob's (Easton) to Back Bay T Station (Boston) View Larger Map I finally made it to Back Bay Station around 1:40 and I very happy proceeded immediately to the nearby restroom to change out of my wet stuff and wipe the sand and dirt off of me before putting on some (relatively) dry clothes. I then called Cabbie for help on finding the exact location of the bus pickup (thanks Cabbie, you always make winning easier when life confuses me) and went out back to stand in line for the bus... at which point the ticketman approaches me and informs me that there ain't no bikes allowed on the fancy double-decker Megabus. Thankfully I managed to plead ignorance with the man and convinced him to let me take the bike and now, here I am typing this lengthy post. Challah. Hi, Jess. Labels: biking, fucktactics, lolgore, maps, travel posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 6/21/2009 04:19:00 PM 1 comments Megabus Is Nice But They Don't Allow Bikes  Finally made it to Boston after all the rain and silliness but got to Back Bay Station and found out the Megabus doesn't allow bikes because it's a double-decker and has no underneath storage. Gah! Hilariously on Friday morning I called both Boltbus and the Fung Wa Chinatown dudes ahead of time to confirm that they would let me bring my bike; after being reassured by both that, "Yes, duh" I didn't bother calling Mega since I assumed the same would be true. WRONG! PLANNING FAIL! Whoops! Luckily I was able to sweet talk the PT Barnum ticket-taker by telling him that i'd called and they said I could bring the bike, but I had to take the wheels off and load it on after everyone's else's stuff and reassure the man that under no circumstances was anyone but me liable for the care and safety of my cycle. Not a problem, I assured him, and now here I am on the bus sending emails on blogging on my laptop courtesy of the Megabus wifi. Would I recommend Megabus? Yes, to anyone not bringing a bike it is completely awesome--wifi w/power outlets, healthy legroom, tables for laptops, very clean. Just don't bring yr whip. And now, homeward bound. Labels: biking, fucktactics, travel posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 6/21/2009 04:13:00 PM 0 comments Pains of Biking Too Long In The Rain  Got a flat in the middle of a very rainy ride from Easton MA to Back Bay Station in Boston. Not fun. But at least i was able to change it, so certainly could have been worse! Labels: biking, fucktactics, lolgore, travel posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 6/21/2009 11:57:00 AM 0 comments Friday, June 19, 2009 Bikes Forever  Starting yesterday and running until Sunday is the New York Bicycle Film Festival. I'm going out of town this afternoon and will sadly miss everything, but you should really check it out if you get a chance. Details below but also available here. 6:00 PM | 6:00 PM | FRIDAY JUNE 19 7:00 PM | Program 1 - Where Are You Go - World Premiere - BUY TICKETS 9:15 PM | Program 2 - Repeat of Program 1 - BUY TICKETS 11:15 PM | Program 3 - Repeat of Program 1 - BUY TICKETS SATURDAY JUNE 20 12:30 PM | 1:00 PM |1:00 PM | Program 4 - Mountain Bike Screening - BUY TICKETS 3:00 PM | Program 5 - The Third Wheel - World Premiere - BUY TICKETS 5:00 PM | Program 6 - I Love My Bicycle - The Story of FBM Bikes - World Premiere - BUY TICKETS Labels: biking, exercise, la cine posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 6/19/2009 10:38:00 AM 0 comments Saturday, May 30, 2009 All Back Together Again My bike has been fixed, at the very relatively minor cost of $29, which, while adding to the evergrowing "Idiot Penalities" column, is a hell of a lot better than I was imagining it might be. Additionally, on the definite 'good/bad simu' tip is that the dude also tightened my shit up and explained how cleaning everything down will do me wonders (via the miracles of Simple Green); however, he also warned me that the battered and dirty state of my bike has me due for a full tune-up/clean down in the imminent future. At $125 I'm not entirely prepared to cover this cost, but worse was his added thoughts that I will probably end up needing a new drive cassette (anywhere from $60-$120) due to the excessive wear placed on my steed. I have taken his tidings to heart and spent part of the afternoon cleaning everything down with Simple Green, but it's definitely also a testament to the incredible sloppiness with which I seem destined to live my life. Amusingly enough, Mark J-J made a comment to me today while playing basketball that,
And he is right, and I don't know (yet) how else to live. Labels: basketball, BEAUMONT, biking, exercise, fucktactics posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/30/2009 09:09:00 PM 2 comments 2
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Thursday, May 28, 2009 Bike FAIL / Life FAIL  While riding through Long Island City on the way to work today, I swerved to avoid a car but got bumped and then crashed my bike. Unfortunately I fell onto the derailleur of my bike and it snapped off, leaving me with a fucked bike, some bruises, a still-bleeding elbow and an unfortunate $12 cab ride back to my apartment to clean up, drop off the bike, and head to work. I THINK right now that it might just need a derailleur hanger replaced, which will only run me $25 or so, but I've never had to replace anything like this and I was in too much of a hurry to spend much time inspecting the bike. I am tired and sore and not feeling psyched about the world.  Labels: biking, disappointment, fucktactics posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/28/2009 11:14:00 AM 2 comments 2
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Tuesday, May 26, 2009 1005 And Counting  Small, arbitrary, and meaningless accomplishments though they are, I am nonetheless pleased to announce that I have crossed the 1000 mile marker of biking this spring. I am now up to 1005 miles since I began tabulating on March 14, and my even more arbitrary goal of 2500 miles by the end of September continues to seem very doable, provided that I am not injured or that my bike does not collapse (both of these things seem increasingly possible). Truthfully, this is one of those situations where to non-bikers 1000 miles may as well be a million miles, while for real hardcore bikers 1000 miles--or even 2500 miles--is just kid stuff. For me, it feels nice a nice move forward, and it's really fun. The best thing about biking is that only very rarely do I get to the end of a ride and think "wow, so glad I'm home"; I pretty much always finish up thinking, "I could probably go a bit further, couldn't I?" That, more than anything else, seems like probably the best measure of success I could find. Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, exercise posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/26/2009 12:19:00 PM 0 comments Monday, May 25, 2009 Break My Body  There are some great changes going on these days in the mind and body of one Jeffrey Beaumont. For a variety of reasons that I understand and some that I don't, I have been attempting to beat my body into some kind of submission over the past month. Right now I am pretty exhausted. I think I have been feeling lately that many years of stagnance, physically and mentally, have made me feel increasingly weak and unprepared to handle the brutal world around me, and that my desire to get tougher, coupled with my general high-energy/low-need-for-rest attitude have set me on a crash course of some hyperathleticism. Of course, I also have a tendency to overdo things, and that's probably where I'm at right now. At the moment, every part of my body is aching, from a somewhat punishing schedule of biking, basketball and rockclimbing. On Saturday I biked 50 miles; yesterday I played two full games of basketball; and today I'm going rockclimbing again. The biking I am able to do these days without experiencing much post-ride soreness; the other two activities, however, have been making me hilariously tender, and when coupled with the biking, I feel like I'm 70 years old as I walk around the office. And topping it all off, I will be adding yoga to the fold this Thursday, which I hope will reduce and not add to the aches and pains I'm feeling. I think of a part of this hyperactivity is my growing restlessness with (at least a part of) the life I've been living, which has been increasingly great on many fronts, but increasingly tiresome on the work and routine front. I have mentioned this to nearly all of my friends recently but right now the thought of working in an office seems like one of the worst things I could imagine doing, and I am beginning to consider any and all escape route possibilities for non-office alternatives. For the time being though, I still do work in an office, and so I am making due by pouring every ounce of my extra-work energy into whatever kind of mind and body activity I can come up with. After so many mental combustions over the years, perhaps I'm just trying to see if I'm capable of physically combusting. Either way, this stream of thought ends conclusively with "To Be Continued..." Labels: basketball, BEAUMONT, biking, exercise, plans posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/25/2009 12:17:00 PM 0 comments Saturday, May 23, 2009 $188.76, Added To My Mint.com "Idiot Penalities" Category  So after last night's deprarious lock/key snafu, I'm :-/ faced to report that I have acted quickly and today purchased a replacement lock for my treasured Kyptonite "Fahgettaboudit Chain" (seriously, that is what it's called). Thankfully--with the chain on its own worth $75--I only needed a lock and not the full lock-chain set. Which was nice to not have to spend another $100 for a new set... but unfortunately, even replacing the lock alone is quite expensive, as Kryptonite cuts you a deal by buying the chain and lock together. I hemmed and hawed for a bit about going with a less nice lock to save money, but ultimately I decided that a little savings now wasn't worth the longterm bummer theft posed, and so I purchased the black lock above known as the Kryptonite Series 4 for $45 plus tax. This is a serious lock--the same as what I owned previously and had cut last night--though it is, amusingly, not Kryptonite's strongest--only registering a "9" on a scale of "11", with their strongest lock having the simple and pretty-deprarious-when-you-think-about-it name "New York Lock"***. Still, after watching a locksmith spend 25 minutes last night trying to cut through it with a mini-disc drill--he ran through two discs!!--I feel satisfied that only the most dedicated thief will crack my shit. Far more likely, if my bike is ever stolen, it will be due to my own negligence or idiocy. Anyway, the sad end result is that I am now out $188.76, which is about half the amount I had been hoping to spend on the shitty track bike for commuting (so that I might be able to cease spending days at my office in constant fear that my bike was being carried off by thieves while I tarried on spreadsheets and CMS backends. This is the life of Ben Scheim. He apologizes to Jeffrey Beaumont on a daily basis for making him deal with this constant bullshit. C'est la vie. ---- If you're curious about what kind of lock to buy, check out the following: a 2008 NY Mag article, 2006 Slate article here and another here. And a simple Google query will result in many more hits as well. NOTES: *** - Interestingly (or deprariously) enough, while most bike locks carry some kind of anti-theft warranty, many of them have warranties that are specifically voided if the bike is stolen within the state of New York. Basically, New York is fucking sinkhole for theft and its denizens of the underworld have both the desire and know-how to steal just about anything they want. Rad! Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, deprarious, fucktactics, lolgore posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/23/2009 01:47:00 PM 0 comments Friday, May 22, 2009 Montauk 2009: Ninety-Nine And A Half Just Won't Do  Me, happy, after 112 miles of riding Got to have 100. Or 118, to be exact (106 miles from Babylon to Montauk, plus 12 miles to and from Penn Station). Here's some photos my amigo Mike took to recap our trip last Sunday during the Montauk Century that we rode. As you can see it was pretty dark and kind of bleak for much of the day. But also definitely fun and hollatastic with victory. I ain't complaining. At least I didn't get a sunburn.  This was one of the bleakest stretches, with rain and winds that I heard were up to 40mph (me up in yellow)  It definitely rained... for about four or five hours. Me again, up ahead  Resting during one of our handful of stops. Love the graffitti on the bathroom here.  This photo was taken shortly after the rain stopped, the sun came out, and I took my yellow jacket off while riding (without stopping) to celebrate the mock-warmth  Mike, after finishing his 112  Yep. Jeffrey Beaumont, out. Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, lolgore posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/22/2009 11:21:00 AM 0 comments Saturday, May 16, 2009 No Sleep Til Montauk  It is 11:45 pm right now and in exactly four hours I need to be at Penn Station to check-in and board a train for Babylon, Long Island, from whence Mike D and I shall ride forth on our 100 mile bike journey to Montauk. Which means that in only three hours and thirty minutes I need to get on my bike and leave my house--at an hour that many of my friends will surely still be out and about from their Saturday night festivities. I am about to hit the hay for an attempt at 2:45 of sleep, but I am incredibly excited. Despite the calls for rain most of the morning--please! please! pray for me!--I have a good feeling about tomorrow. Here we go. love Jeffrey Me after finishing the 65 mile version last year:  Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, CRAZY posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/16/2009 11:45:00 PM 1 comments 1
Comments:
Friday, May 08, 2009 Please Sign This To Better The Life Of Me And All NYC Cyclists  My friends, a request: please do me and all your amigos that bike in New York a favor and sign this petition please to help make it easier for all of us to ride our bikes to the office so we can save money and be green. As you may know, I try to ride to work as often as possible, but I am currently required to lock my bike up outside the office--which mean that as a result I have had almost every single item not bolted down stolen from me, including my seat, my seat post clamp (!!), water bottles, water bottle cages, lights (3), even the tiny .85 Presta-to-Schrader valve converters on my tube stem. The only way I am able to avoid anything else getting stolen now is by undergoing a daily 5 minute ritual of taking my bike apart and carrying it inside with me--take the seat bag off, get out allan wrench, unscrew seat from stem, remove seat post clamp, remove front wheel, water bottle(s), and head and tail lights and then carry everything inside the office with me. It's enough to make a grown man bonkers. What makes it most frustrating for me is that we have plenty of space here in my office building to store my bike and many others, but the rule just exists out of reflexive ruledom. And therefore my bike sits alone, unmanned and barely protected, just waiting for some crazy dude to show up with bolt cutters to snap apart my allegedly uncrackable Kryptonite chain lock. Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, fucktactics posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/08/2009 02:09:00 PM 0 comments MASSIVE NERDCORE FRIDAY  So I am hilariously banged up right now--between the semi-frequent spills resulting from my clipless pedal newbieness, two rain-induced bike crashes, and having just begun playing semi-competitive basketball again--I am at the pathetic point that walking at the moment is a hilarious and somewhat painful chore. I have bruises and scrapes all over my body, making me look "like a little kid who spends too much time outside" (thanks, Kate), and my muscles are aching. The walking part is the worst though--after playing basketball for 90 minutes on Wednesday, I then biked to a friend's birthday party in deep Bushwick with sneakers instead of bike shoes. Excuse me while I get all nerd-analytical on you, but I think that the height diff without the cleats on my bike shoes, coupled with my general exhaustion from first biking for two hours (yeah, that) and then 90 minutes of basketball put my calves in a vulnerable position to get overstretched. Oh, and this was the day I stayed home sick with the flu... The end result is that my thighs are really really sore but my calves are literally not stretching at all without me stretching them out for 20 minutes first, and even then it feels pretty rough. I feel like I'm out of shape and 60, basically. Strangely enough though, right now biking actually feels easier than walking--perhaps because I only have to move my hips?--and so I actually biked to work today. It was just too beautiful to not do it, you know? And so, major major nerdage approaching. Like of the level that perhaps not even The Father of Beaumont might tread: So... the weather was so nice and warm and breezy that when I got to the office I decided that, Fuck it!, Today would be the day I finally wore shorts in an office. Hence the photo above. Which is ridiculous not only because, well, it's pretty definitely work-weird, but also because it's a relatively un-fly look that I wouldn't really rock "on my own". But I work in a fucking office in midtown, and it's a Friday in May, and so what the fuck? Let the people laugh and point--I was easy breezy comfortable all day long. Yep. That's the holla action. And now I am going home to enjoy the weekend: Bro Action photo day tomorrow to Jerzy Shoah and then basketball game on Sunday. Plus some other particular excitement in between. All adding up to a win-win-win-win for me. June, here we come. Love Jeffrey Labels: BEAUMONT, biking, lolgore posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/08/2009 12:03:00 PM 0 comments Saturday, May 02, 2009 4 Bridges, 3 Boros, 2 Parks Today's ride(s): View 4 Bridges, 3 Boros, 2 Parks in a larger map The map above is of ride one of two, both detailed below: 1) A long and snakey ride from home to DUMBO, over Manhattan Bridge to Central Park up Ave C > 1 Av, then 2 loops around park to 59 St greenway, south down to Brooklyn Bridge via Warren Street, down Henry St through Cobble Hill to Congress/Wyckoff, east to Prospect Park, 1 loop around park, then up and over Williamsburg Bridge, north up 1 Av to 59St Bridge, then through Queens to Walgreens on Union, then to Affinity where I bought clipless pedals, then home. Totally 51 miles. 2) Since they didn't have any bike shoes at Affinity, I then headed back into to the city over the Williamsburg Bridge to Bicycle Habitats on Lafayette between Prince and Spring. I found shoes, bought them, had the pedals installed and BOOM, on my way back home north to 59 St Bridge. I fell over TWICE on Park Ave (at 15 and 19 St intersections) because I forgot to unclip my right foot before coming to a stop. Stayed on Park on 32 St, then over to 3 Av and took that north to 58 St to 59 St Bridge. Then through Queens to home. 12 miles. Ahhhh. These are the shoes and the pedals I bought below. The best part is that I realized that their total cost of $180 is less than what I would have paid for two Metrocards this month and next had I bought them! Holla!   And now... the rest of my life. Labels: biking, fucktactics, love, VICTORY posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 5/02/2009 06:56:00 PM 0 comments Monday, April 27, 2009 It's A Nice Day For A Bike Wedding?  Someday I will marry a Starbucks-loving nurse...erm? So the weather is still great (two more days) and I am about ready to head home and enjoy the rest of the day. I am contemplating going for a quick spin around Prospect Park tonight, but I'm still pretty sore from a longer ride on Saturday. To be honest, I've been pretty sore a lot lately, and feeling like I'm not "recovering" as quickly as I think I should be. I realize this may because mostly a confused brain has been expecting my body to work as efficiently as it did the last time I worked out this hard (when I was, ahem, 17) .As i'm still relatively new to the world of intensive biking-for-life, I decided to go to Google to look up "what to do after a long bike ride?" to try and see if there are any things I should specifically be doing to help recuperate after I've pushed my body to the limits. There I found this amusing bit: the eHow.com guide to "How to Propose on a long bike ride". !!!! The existence of this page--especially given its authorship not by wikifolks but by the "eHow Weddings Editor"--flabbergasts me. It includes such helpful advice as: Step 1: Be sure a long bike ride is the right time to propose. If your girlfriend is more New York City than Green Acres, you may need to rethink your plan And Step 6: Confirm that the day you have chosen is convenient with your girlfriend. If not, reschedule your bike ride. Wow. Yes. Ok. Life is weird. And....  Labels: biking posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 4/27/2009 07:16:00 PM 0 comments |
GET BEHIND ME DEAD MAN
So it turns out that was felipe's his roommates. Felipe chose the music. then the next night the Hassids had people arrested. my anger cannot be described but may solve the energy crisis if harnessed.
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