Ploafmaster General

So uh…yeah. New bike day, I guess? Check out this bright orange, sub-16 lb., 2013 (I’m pretty sure) Motobecane Immortal Team road bike.

MASSIVE shout-out to my friend Ross for giving me this bike that he was otherwise going to leave in the alley. Of course, I’m not a carbon road bike dude, so I’m not going to keep the bike as-is. But this thing has a full 2x10 mechanical Dura Ace group, Mavic Kyserium wheel set, Ritchey WCS carbon seat post, and butted Ritchey WCS road bars.

I’m planning to keep at least the brifters (I mean, seriously, 2x10 mechanical DURA ACE!?) and front derailleur. The BB feels good and has outboard 24mm cups in silver. The rear mech is maybe too short for my needs. I’ll have to check whether the bars are too narrow (they probably are). So here’s what I’m probably going to put up on Marketplace:

• rear derailleur
• wheel set
• carbon seat post
• handlebars, probably
• stem (not original, but still Ritchey adjustable angle stem)
• I love the rim brakes—beautiful color, Dura Ace, quick release, maaaaybe mid-reach? but I think they’re too narrow to be useful for me
• probably the crankset (52/39, outer ring not changeable)
• the rear cassette, if it’s in decent enough shape and cleans up okay
• the frame itself, as long as it doesn’t have any cracks

I’ve now bought quite a few things on Marketplace, but haven’t sold anything yet, so I’m going to be pretty slow getting around to that, but I’m hoping I can offload some of these things and maybe set the proceeds aside to get me a proper wheel truing stand :-D

Astonishingly good weather, loads of #bike riding, bagel sandwich, coffee, lunch with my friend, more coffee, and the ding-dang onset of the weekend.

Today was the first day in 2026 that the sun set at 8 PM in Richmond, Virginia.

I know it’s not an original thought, but I can never get over how much Kash Patel looks like Amazing Larry from Peewee’s Big Adventure.

Gotta love how our president is so shitty that famous charisma vacuum King Charles doesn’t want any of his meetings with Trump on camera because it could be awkward.

Dude just rolled into the coffee shop dressed and hair-styled like hobo Bob Dylan.

Just grabbed the last two 700x38 Torreno Dry gravel tires from Outpost for $35 a piece! I’m guessing they were on clearance since Vittoria just renamed and re-jiggered their gravel lineup. But these are nearly identical to the “new” T30 tires. A steal!

I hope this morning’s humidity isn’t a preview of the next few months in RVA…

The only bummer about riding my #bike to the coffee shop is having to watch 5 other people who arrived after me walk in and order first while I lock up my wheels.

On a positive note, I did have a helluva #bike ride today in wonderful weather. I really can’t wait until we get some more of the Fall Line Trail.

I love it so much when I get a great review at work followed immediately by “no bonus because your division underperformed” and “maybe you’ll be lucky to get a raise at all”.

I love that I’m starting to see articulated Pulse buses in Richmond now.

Naming facilities and streets after people is a risk for tomorrow’s revelations. I can understand RPS considering funds wherever they can find them, but paid naming rights seems especially problematic.

Starting to hit that time in the school year where everything feels as if it is accelerating toward the finish line.

Head…spinning…

Two #bike rides today…can I make it three?

I love our goofy, delightful voting stickers here in #RVA.

When did Velo Orange start selling star ratchet rear hubs!? I think these may be some of the most affordable star ratchet hubs you can get from a reputable brand. Cheaper than DT Swiss, and available in silver! Disc and rim brake versions! Up to 36-hole!

Nobody who’s been aware of Spanberger for more than the past year should be surprised, but it’s still enraging to see her fall back into the same “moderate” bullshit that party establishment types favor. What a dummy.

Skipped riding my bike today in favor of working on bike stuff. I trued the front wheel (enough) for the grocery bike, did the same for a wheel I will use on the purple Raleigh, and did the initial build on the rear wheel of the grocery bike. Productive!

For reasons known only to the content gods, I have seen a lot of recent recommendations for videos/articles/live performances of the rock duo Angine do Poitrine. I’ve listened to a few tracks here and there, but tonight I listened through both albums: 2024’s Vol. 1 and this month’s Vol. II. I feel internally conflicted about all of this.

I’m going to ignore the visual performance aspect for now except to say that I think it rules. I cannot imagine how long it takes to apply the makeup, and performing with those crazy-large masks seems like a serious challenge. Hats off.

The music is where I need more time to digest. Their overall sound makes me think of a neo-psychedelic jam band, but shouting, “Now, with microtonal fretboards!”. The second album adds a bit more prog rock flavor, yet both albums feel somehow melodically shallow—ironic, given the microtonal strings. On the other hand my enjoyment of electronic music helps me, I suspect, appreciate the undulating and modulating looped nature of their tracks. Loop decks are fundamentally an electronic music technique even when used with acoustic or electric guitars, and the resulting performances/recordings often share those layering and building qualities. I also find their music makes me want to dance despite the frequent use of odd and/or shifting time signatures. They may be pretty fun to see live.

Conclusion: needs more research. I like what they’re getting at, but I could use a little more variety. I’d love to see them in person, but the closest they’re coming to Richmond is Washington, DC. On a Tuesday. During the school year.

It doesn’t matter how much I listen to EDM or 90s hip hop or abstract Hong Kong jazz, something about my musical taste reads so strongly as “middle aged white guy” that Apple Music just served me up some Steely Dan.

It doesn’t matter who they put in the photos. When a Virginia political flyer refers to “Richmond politicians” I know it’s from some mostly/all white conservative group.

I am so happy about the election news coming out of Hungary.

It only recently occurred to me how much popular conceptual aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes may have primed people to accept and use LLMs instead of actually researching (to say nothing of declining search engine quality).

I just saw an incredible bumper sticker that said, “my bike takes me places the cops would never go“.