Bike Photos

Here's some photos of the new bike.

New (used) bike!

I bought a new road bike a couple of weeks back from my co-worker. It's a 2006 Specialized Roubaix Comp (double), in Team Gerolsteiner colors. He's maintained it well and always stored it indoors. Got it for a good price, plus the upgrades from stock, including:
-Carbon handlebar
-Dura-Ace chain
-Ultegra cassette 10-speed.

The blurb from Specialized's website;
"Roubaix Comp Double

EXPERIENCE: ENDURANCE ROAD
Developed and named for a 165-mile suffer-fest run across 500 year-old cobbles, the Roubaix is perfect for anyone who wants to go faster and longer.

Tested and tuned on the toughest roads by members of the Gerolsteiner team and thousands of enthusiasts, the Roubaix--with its dialed geometry, lightweight, high efficiency, supple ride and tuned ergonomics--is regularly first across the line in mountain stages and Saturday morning rides. While most riders won't be seeking UCI points on a Roubaix, everyone will be glad to have a steed that lets them go longer and faster than ever before."

She rides nice and smooth, absorbs a lot of vibrations due to the Zertz inserts in the forks, seatpost, and seatstays. The goal is to build my ride mileage up to attempt a century.

Here's a stock photo for now, until I get the camera and snap a few shots.

Albuquerque Photos

It's been a busy couple of months, but here's some pix from my Albuquerque, NM trip from work.

You can view them at http://picasaweb.google.com/aamehta/Albuquerque#

Albuquerque, NM

Last Friday my manager asked me to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to fill-in for a colleague who has a long-term illness. It's only a 3 week gig for now.

I've been in ABQ, or as the locals call it, the Duke City, for 6 days now. Very pleasantly hot, not very humid. Lots of good food and good adventure to go with it.

Hiked a trail in the Petroglyph National Monument today. Will post photos soon of Native American carvings from days of yore.

One ride wonder

A week ago the west-coast retailer from where I bought the Scott Speedster S10 asked if I wanted a complete refund as Scott were taking too long to respond to the cracked frame issue. After much delibration, I accepted the offer and got my $1500 back. So, all that hassle and one good ride out of it. I've got a bad taste of Scott bikes in my mouth.

It's now time to get a replacement locally, and it won't be a Scott. To top that, Karma hit the Saunier Duval-Scott team in the 2008 Tour de France with the doping issue.

I'm looking for a bike with at least a Shimano 105 gruppo, and double (compact) crankset. Bikes coming to mind are:

Cannondale CAAD 9 5
Felt F85
Trek 2.3
Bianchi Via Nirone 7
Specialized Roubaix Compact

I'll be hitting the local bike shops in a couple of weeks.

Vintage is back!

My new bike got a crack, on the integrated headstem. Dang these new-fangled new-age materials. That's what happens when you have an integrated frame. One crack and the frame is done.



Fortunately, the Speedster came with a 3 year warranty on the frame and Scott parts (handlebar, saddle, etc.). So the bike's on it's way back to the retailer, and then they'll take care of it with Scott USA. I've been told to wait 4-6 weeks.

So it's back to my vintage 1985 Trek 400. Old is gold.

Killer Bee!

I've got a new name from my co-worker, because of the new bike being black with yellow trim. "Killer Bee". It's a smooth, fast bike. I did a quick 10-miler last Friday evening. Amazing... I was speechless. Planning to ride a longer 20-miler this Friday after work. And more on coming Monday as it is Memorial Day. No work! WooHoo!

I bought a new bicycle, a '07 Scott Speedster S10, that weighs 8.6 kg or 18.7 lbs, stock. I removed the Shimano R-540 road pedals from my '85 Trek 400 and screwed them on the Speedster.

It started like this: A few weeks back on the trails, I couldn't shift into some gears on the Trek. So I took it to the local bicycle shop (LBS in bike-speak) for a tune-up. I go back a few days later to pick it up, and they tell me they couldn't do a tune-up. The wheels couldn't be trued as they were very old and the spokes were at max tension. Any more, and they would break, and then the LBS would have to replace the old style 27" wheels (wheels are now 700c metric). They still adjusted the rear derailleur, lubed it up, gave it a sfatey check. Still, the ensuing ride wasn't that smooth.

And then a co-worker sent me an email about a bike shop in California that was having a close out. Thank you, Tim. So I popped open the wallet and splurged big-time and ordered the Speedster, which is a full Shimano Ultegra gruppo, with carbon seatpost, forks, and seat stays.

I had a nice, short, 10-miler ride on it last Friday evening. Here's a photo courtesy of my co-worker. Well, he insisted on it.






















So, now I need to get some parts and tools:
-Bottle cages
-Multi-purpose tool
-Frame pump
-Bike jersey (yellow with black trim)
-Gloves
-Cyclo-computer (with cadence function)
-Saddle bag (for the tool and patch kit)
-Lights (for eventual night rides)

I'll post later some nicer photos of the Speedster, sans yours truly.

Cooking and Music

So I've been cooking for a little bit more than a year. By that I mean, at least one night a week, mostly two, when my wife has night classes.

I'll admit that before that, all I knew how to cook was spanish vegetarian omelettes and other varieties off egg-based breakfast dishes. And baked beans too, that's just re-heating the canned beans, so maybe it doesn't really count.

But then when we moved to South Tampa, it was hard for my stomach when my wife had either night classes or was working late. So, in conformance with Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection, I started to help out in the kitchen and observe her cook. Then, I started with a few simple dishes, mostly gravyish curries like lentils, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, etc etc. She didn't insult my cooking, just gave a bit of positive criticism. And the occasional compliment.

I've noticed I cook better when I'm listing to good music, like Pink Floyd, Kula Shaker, BBC Asian Radio's weekly chart, West African singers like Salif Keita, Fela Kuti, Habib Koite, etc. I'm much more relaxed and love smelling the food as it goes through the various stages of cooking. It's like chemistry lab back in high school.

So wish me luck, I'm cooking bhinda (okra) for the first time tonight (actually while I'm blogging).

Pedal Power

In the latter half of 2007, a co-worker gave me his old Trek 400, made in 1985-86. It has the old-style friction shifters and it's only a 12 speed (2x6) but it works flawlessly. That's the great quality of Trek's technology. I recently upgraded it by replacing the 27x1 tires with 27x1&1/4 (the local bike shop didn't have any 27x1s), replaced the original pedals with Shimano's RD-540 road pedals.

I've been riding with another co-worker every Friday evening (ok, we haven't rode the last two Fridays due to really bad weather) on the Friendship Trail (parallel to Gandy Bridge) and the East-West Trail from Safety Harbor to Clearwater. Each trail is different: Friendship is completely flat with a hump offset from the center and it's 5.2 miles roundtrip; East-West is 8.8 miles round trip but you can do an extension into Safety Harbor upto the spa.

It's quite funny to see motorists stuck in traffic on the Gandy bridge while you cycle parallel to them. What a waste sitting in traffic and doing nothing productive. Which is why I go to work late (relative to others) and come home late. I tell everyone that traffic conditions determine my working hours. Fortunately my boss is cool about it.

Before I forget, here's a photo of the bike taken before I installed the new pedals.

















Happy cycling!

State of Mind

Just to let you know how mental I am (I leave the wife out of this, I'm the crazy one - el loco):
On my honeymoon in South Africa, we did the world's deepest bungee jump (I don't say highest because you go down, not up. Do you say how 'high did you dive?'). This was the Bloukrans Bridge, which is a national highway on the famed Garden Route. (photo by Thomas from our Bokbus group.)

Another beautiful place we hiked was up a hill in Tsitsikamma National Park, by Storm's River Mouth. (photo by Thomas from our Bokbus group.) That's me taking a photo. The picture does not truly reflect the beauty of the area.









And finally, penguins having a 'good time'. (photo by yours truly.)



















Just proves that nature is good for adventure, beauty, and procreation.

What does this blog's URL mean?

Before anyone asks that question, here's the breakdown:

andy: my nickname from days of yore - Andy Boy (from my uncles'), Bad Andy (college nickname after the pizza advert 'Bad Andy - Good Pizza'), Hollywood Andy (after I was on a news clip when interviewed at college if I felt safe on campus, what???), Handy Andy (wife's name for me as I'm useful around the house and skilled with tools).

kelele: Swahili for 'Shout'. Yes, I'm loud, ask anyone who knows me well. Too damn loud.

why andykelele? that's because all the other ones were taken.

Q: Why the swahili name for your blog, andy, when you're indian?
A: Well, buddy, I'm of Indian descent, but I was born and raised in Kenya (my paternal grandparents were born there too), and I'm an American now. So, I have an identity crisis and henceforth call myself a 'human'. What are you?

Hey Hey Hey!

Hey!

It's me! Since I have too many musings and no time to write, I thought I may as well write a blog. My wife rants that I spend too much time internet-ting, so I better do something productive, hence this blog-thing-a-ma-jiggy.

I'll try and write every couple of days, no guarantees, warrantees, or any other such legal BS.

Eat, drink and be merry.

And give a few moments to think of those less unfortunate around us, globally as well.

Peace, Love & Unity - for my brothers and sisters in Kenya. Let's get 'nchi yetu' (our country) back on track.