Thursday, November 20, 2008

First Winter Ride & New Lens

It began snowing Wednesday afternoon and I did not notice until I left my department in the evening. It wasn't too heavy so I decided to try and commute home on my fixed gear. I took it slow at first since it was my first winter commute home (and no a fixed gear bike, no less) and it wasn't too bad, I had cycling tights under my clothes so I was all bundled up. At one red light I decided to start off by pedalling out of the saddle but quickly learned that having no weight no the rear means no traction on the rear! The rest of the 7km ride wasn't bad at all, that is, until I was at the last turn, just a few meters away from my apartment. I took the turn too sharply and my front wheel slipped right under me. I slid on the ground and did a slight roll landing on my left hip and head first. Aside from being covered in snow and the slight headache I was fine (Thank God for helmets). I think I will switch to my single-speed mountain bike for now until I get tyres that are winter worthy (Unlike my 700x23 contis).

I found an old lens on Craigslist for $20 and couldn't help but pick it up. It's entirely manual so it is tricky to use sometimes but I'm getting the hang of it.

Here are some example shots:

An old Shimano chainring I found lying around.

This is a TX Quando fixed-fixed hub with a 16t track cog. I also tossed in a 14t and 15t single speed sprockets for a Shimano freewheel.

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