n_maher

Condolences, Todd.

Paypal sent.

Not that anyone was following this saga, but this is exactly what I ended up doing. Thankfully I was able to find someone selling a nearly new Dura-Ace crankset with integrated 4iii dual-sided power meter for half price and my shop charged me like $30 to install the whole thing. I think I'll be able to recoup a couple hundred from reselling the old Stages PM. Now if the weather would just allow for me to get the bike back out on the road.

MOT MOT MOT MOT - wait, what trade are we talking here? Regardless, I'm in and Paypal will be on the way shortly for 2lbs.

In for 2lbs here. How are you planning to roast, Dan?

There are plenty of commercial products (and DIY for that matter) that take a line-level signal and use passive components to create a differential signal. My first thought would be that if you're going to do that, it'd be something I'd argue is worth spending some serious $ on.

Thanks all. Crap day at work fighting dry dock struggles but making up for it in Boston tonight - heading to Celtic's game shortly. First, an Old Fashioned with dinner.

happy belated birthday, Craig!

This. Have been through something similar, but shorter, and it is no fun.

Happy Birthday, Naaman. Here's to hoping your day is filled with ping pong and family fun.

Yup, my commute home was pretty much dead into it. Strava was fun to look at. Fun to pull nearly 270W average for an hour plus to go 17mph.

The ride home was painful. Mother Nature decided that she gave no fucks about the forecast, which had called for strong but not insane winds shifting from WSW to NNE later in the day. When I left work at 4:15 for the 20 mile ride, it was ripping WSW at 19MPH with gusts up to 32MPH. By the time I got home the temps had dropped into the mid 40s and I was thanking the good lord that I remembered arm warmers.

Seriously, what the shit is that?

^^^ Yup, it was 55F at 5AM so I said fuck it and rode my bike to work only to be greeted with a winter storm warning (for Friday). It is 65 and sunny currently. Tonight it is supposed to drop to 19. This shit is bananas. B A N A N A S.

Sorry to hear about the loss of a family friend, Dan. Your closing paragraph is pretty much spot on, in my opinion. My fear/concern/not-sure-what-to-call-it is that I don’t know what it takes to just get people back to being reasonable? Maybe they were never reasonable but I didn’t see it because there was not single dividing line like Trump and COVID both have been? At this point I’m ready for half of America to try to convince me that the Ukraine just invaded Russia.

Happy birthday, Dan. Here’s to hoping you’re up to some roasting or paddling or whatever makes you happy today.

Yup, tried it three different ways recently for my Dad as he migrated to a new Macbook. Utter fucking failure.

It hit 50 today and with the full-squish back from repairs I decided once more, into the woods, was required. Studded tires were a must, with mixed conditions of glare ice and then surface mud. Huge fun.

Happy Birthday, Al!

That's certainly an option I'm evaluating, thanks. Problem is, I run a matched Stages power meter so if I convert to Shimano crank I have to give some thought to how much I care about continued power data.

😂 The rear shock just came back from being rebuilt on Friday and is not wearing the right shoes for winter duty at the moment. No reason I can't swap the studs on and likely will, but I was feeling lazy yesterday and just wanted to get out. Honestly, on the terrain out back, especially when snow/ice has smoothed things out a bit, the hardtail is great. But variety is the spice of life so the full-squish will make a triumphant return shortly.

At this point I mostly mix my own rubs, probably 90% of the time anyway. For pork: 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2T of salt, 1T each: black pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder (I usually go light on the onion powder). Naaman will tell you, and I will agree, for beef (brisket and ribs anyway) equal parts salt and pepper is a good place start. Throughout the years I've lessened the amount of rub I use on briskets, a lot of commercial BBQ joints and YouTubers go way too heavy in my opinion. When I do use someone else's rub I like Meat Church's stuff.

1. Found out yesterday that the drive side crank arm on the Synapse is cracked. Frick. I guess the SISL2 cranks are known to do this, carry a special two year warranty as a result, and of course mine is 7 years old so that doesn't mean squat. Bike parts are, of course, out of stock everywhere because 2022 is a joy just like 2020 and 2021. 2. Coped with #1 the only way I know how and rode one of the other bikes. It was hovering in the low 30's and snowing lightly and was a perfect day for studded tires.

So life is good, no?