Benjamin J Newland

This past Thursday, enroute to other obligations, I ventured north to Recycled Cycles. Upon the illicit bike rack (Owner's Manual: “It’s a freaking Prius! Why would you put a trailer hitch on it?!”) rested the Raleigh frame I started on earlier in the week.

I was a little trepidatious, since the last time I visited this bike shop I met with a Disdainful Hipster. This visit possessed a greater level of fortuitousness, and I was met with a less-common sub-species, the Friendly Hipster.

I had intended to order a set of their hand-built wheels, but the Friendly Hipster guided me to a pair of used wheels with higher quality hubs, spokes, and rims than the standard they build with, and for substantially less money as well. Plus, these wheels come with tyres (yay, English spelling!) that, while used, will last me awhile and put of that expense unto a later date. PLUS! The wheels have baby blue rims that match the two-tone blue of the frame’s original paint. How groovalicious is that? I picked up a golden coloured (again!) chain (not pictured) that will also look hella sharp once this project is completed.

I still need three main components to finish this build. 1) A saddle. The budget is busted for this pay period, but when new cash flows in, I’m planning to get a Brooks Saddle. 2) A set of handle bars. I’m thinking moustache bars are the way to go. And 3), a crankset. The existing pedal/crank/hub set up could be made to work, but I’d have an extra chainring cluttering up the aesthetics to no useful purpose. The Friendly Hipster guided me towards Go Huck Yourself, a bike shop that started with BMX only and has branched out into mountain bikes and fixies. I’ll stop in the next time I’m headed that way and see what can be had at what price.

Stay tuned.

During the second week of October I’ll be attending a week-long professional development conference called CREDO. Sponsored by the Church Pension Group (official motto: “And You Thought Apple Had a Large Cash Reserve”), CREDO is a multi-faceted vocational retreat, including financial, spiritual, health, and educational components.

CREDO is fairly involved—there are plenty of tasks to complete before the conference even begins. One of those tasks is to collect and submit several pieces of health data. I went into the lab last Tuesday to donate a small amount of blood for testing. Later that evening I checked my email and had a message from my doctor. Apparently I failed the blood test.

High Cholesterol is a fairly common problem. I’m sure many of you have dealt with it. I’m told I have too many LDLs (the bad kind): you’re allowed 100 of these bad boys and I have 191. I can either start taking cholesterol controlling medication or I can radically change my diet. I don’t like the idea of taking a pill every day for the rest of my life, though obviously I will if I have to. I’ve decided to try fixing my eating habits first, and getting more exercise. The exercise part is easy for me; I actually enjoy many kinds of physical activities—it’s just a matter of making the time.

The food part is very much more difficult. I’m not on a specific diet, I just have a set of rules that I have to follow very strictly until those LDLs stop having a party in my veins. 1) minimal to no cholesterol. 2) minimal fats in general. 3) minimal sugar/simple carbs. And 4) less salt. Essentially, I can eat chicken or fish, steamed vegetables, and whole grains.

The new regimen is seriously annoying, but has led to two interesting developments this past week. First, in an effort to make steamed chicken and broccoli more appetizing, I went through my collection of recipes and pulled out all the low-fat sauces I could find. There were actually a great many of these. I am compiling a personal recipe book which I have dubbed The Sauceonomicon. I will be sharing these recipes occasionally here on this BenZen.

Second, to motivate myself towards more exercise, I’ve entered a race at the end of October called the Gladiator Rock & Run. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Warrior Dash? Same idea. It’s a 5k run with 14 different obstacles along the way. You run awhile, you climb over a giant pile of old tires. You run a bit more, you scale an 8 foot wall. More running, and a scramble over cargo-netting draped shipping containers. Finally, a mud crawl over the finish line. It’s like an obstacle course for adults. Adults who are a little crazy.

If you, like me, are a little crazy, come join me! I’ve set up a team (The New Land Manifesto) so we can all test the course together. Shoot me an email and I’ll send you the details.

A friend recently purchased a garage-sale bicycle for himself. Looking to recoup the exorbitant cost ($25) he sold me his previous garage-sale bicycle ($20).

It's a sad thing, this old Raleigh. Someone drove a car over the back tyre (yes, we're spelling in English today), yielding a the profile of a Pringle potato-based-chip. The seat is mouldering (see, there I go again), the cables missing or askew, and neither of the brakes perform in a manner that you might hope they would. Not that you can build up much steam on the deformed wheel.

I've long been an admirer of human powered vehicles (HPV in the parlance) of all sorts, the more esoteric the better. Bicycles--being the dominant species of HPV on our planet--have generally played a prominent role in that admiration. I've owned all kinds of bikes over the years: BMX, 10-speed, mountain bike,  cargo bike, triathlon bike, and Dutch bike, to name those which I can recall in specific.

It would feel something like completing a set to own a fixie. I'm puzzled by the intentional dis-utility of them while simultaneously intrigued by their simplicity, to say nothing of the compulsion/revulsion of the hipster ethic that goes along with these machines.

So. Piffling concerns aside, here is the instigating opportunity, in this old frame and fork. Yesterday I stripped it down to the constituent elements I think I can save and/or will need.

Thursday I will have occasion to visit Recycled Cycles, and will inquire of the hipster mechanics therein how to go about this resurrection.