Another milestone

I am a huge fan of spreadsheets.

It all started back in the dawn of my law practice when I realized computers were the key to the future. Shortly after buying my first computer, I discovered the magic of spreadsheets, and I have used them to solve some of the most daunting challenges ever since.

For the last few years, after reading James Clear's brilliant Atomic Habits, I started a spreadsheet that tracks my daily habits. It's amazing what you can do on the road to continuous improvement when you pay attention to the things you do every day by tracking them.

As I logged the 9.11 kilometre bike ride I took yesterday morning at the crack of dawn, I realized that I had officially reached just over 3,500 kilometres on my Brompton wonder bike. 

It's not a big deal. I mean, many who will read this will find it a puny accomplishment. And to be honest it doesn't feel like a big deal to me either... but still... THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED KILOMETRES!! 

Art and music

Susan and I share an appreciation for art.

We only end up buying the works that speak to both of us.

Our tastes are not identical, but we do agree on general aspects that allow us to coalesce on a purchase now and them. For instance, we tend to prefer abstract to figurative art, and we lean towards abstract art with a figurative element. Imagine an abstract rendering of flowers. Looking at the work, you see the flowers, but the element of abstraction means that the rendering is far from what you might call photographic.

In Amsterdam we wandered into a little gallery called Carré d'artistes. It only took twenty minutes or so for us to settle on a work by Christian Raffin entitled Bien être, depicting a couple cycling, but in the abstract style that we love.

When we are in a gallery looking at art, we are often asked about where we plan to hang the painting in our home. Invariably we each say that considerations like that never play into our purchases. We buy a work that we like, that speaks to us. Finding where to hang it can take time, and trial and error.

This work is no exception. We tried two or three spots until it found its way to its new home.

When it first settled into that spot, I sat opposite the wall where the painting sits, and I had a silent conversation with the work. I see our relationship in the colours, the movement, and the artistic language the painting speaks. It speaks of the love Susan and I share for each other, of our love of our travel adventures, and of our fledgling love affair with our Brompton bicycles.

The imaginary conversation was drifting along assisted by the melodies and lyrics of one my favourite playlists that I call French by English. 

I feel that if you are to have a little bit of a chance of coming to a fair understanding of the conversation I was having, of the relationship of that little painting to its new home and to our shared love of each other, and our art, I had to find a way to share that playlist. 

I can't actually play it for you, but, with quite a bit of fiddling between Apple Music, Microsoft Excel, and Blogger, I have managed to share the content of the playlist with you.

  

Song title	Artist	Album name
C'Est Si Bon	Abbey Lincoln	Paris For Lovers
Quand le soleil dit bonjour aux montagnes	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Petit matin	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Chez moi	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Des croissants de soleil	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
C'est si bon	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Ces bottes sont faites pour marcher	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
La plus belle pour aller danser	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
La belle dame sans regret	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
T'es pas un autre	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Jardin d'hiver	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Seule ce soir	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Les yeux ouverts	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Comme je crie comme je chante	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
C'est merveilleux	Emilie-Claire Barlow	Seule ce soir
Le Premier Bonheur du Jour	Halie Loren	Simply Love
Dream a Little Dream of Me (Les Yeux Ouverts)	Halie Loren	Simply Love
Les Eaux De Mars	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Raconte-Moi.	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
L'étang	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Mi Amor	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
T'es Pas Un Autre	Emilie-Claire Barlow	The Beat Goes On
Petite fleur	Jill Barber	Chansons
J'attendrai	Jill Barber	Chansons
Mélancolie	Jill Barber	Chansons
La javanaise	Jill Barber	Chansons
Sous le ciel de paris	Jill Barber	Chansons
En septembre sous la pluie	Jill Barber	Chansons
Je cherche un homme	Jill Barber	Chansons
N'oublie jamais	Jill Barber	Chansons
Quand les hommes vivront d'amour	Jill Barber	Chansons
Les feuilles mortes	Jill Barber	Chansons
Plus bleu que tes yeux	Jill Barber	Chansons
Adieu foulards	Jill Barber	Chansons
Ces Petits Riens	Stacey Kent	Breakfast On The Morning Tram
La Saison Des Pluies	Stacey Kent	Breakfast On The Morning Tram
Jardin D'hiver	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
La Vénus Du Mélo	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Au Coin Du Monde	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
C'est Le Printemps	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Sait-On Jamais?	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi
Les Vacances Au Bord De La Mer	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Le Mal De Vivre	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Désuets	Stacey Kent	Raconte-Moi.
Give Him The Ooh-La-La: Plus Je T’Embrasse	Blossom Dearie	Four Classic Albums Plus
La Mer	Avalon Jazz Band	Avalon Jazz Group
I Wanna Be Like You	The Hot Sardines	Jazz Loves Disney
Medley: Comes Love (L'amour S'en Fout)	The Hot Sardines	French Fries & Champagne
La Fille Aux Cheveux Roux (Weed Smoker’s Dream)	The Hot Sardines	French Fries & Champagne
Petite Fleur	The Hot Sardines	Wake Up In Paris - EP
C'est Si Bon	Eartha Kitt	The Very Best of Jazz 50 Unforgettable Tracks
Chez Moi (feat. Kim Richardson)	Fuat Tuaç	Chez Moi

I love these songs so much, each and every one of them. If there is one thing that this collection evokes in me, it's my love of Paris.

I can only offer you one among the many to actually listen to, and it has to be C'est Is Bon performed by Eartha Kitt. It never fails to make me smile. Make sure you listen until the very end when Eartha ad libs musing about what she thinks is tellement bon... that's when she makes me smile. 

 

A milestone

Today I took a bike ride that has eluded me for more than a year. The last time I did this ride was on August 31 of last year.

I overworked my right leg on that ride last year, stupidly forcing my way up a hill. I posted it about it here and here,

It has taken X-Rays, ultra-sounds, two talented physiotherapists, and some acupuncture, including dry-needling. The pain and constant discomfort, difficulty handling stairs, discomfort and pain driving or even just traveling in cars, and all the associated angst, has been an ordeal. There were times when I honestly thought I was never going to return to what I thought was normal.

And yet, I am almost, almost there. This morning was the first time I considered tackling that longer ride. Nine+ kilometres is certainly not that crazy, but in my situation up until recently it was unthinkable. Until today.

Our recent trip to Amsterdam and Copenhagen with long walks, contributed to the recovery. I was concerned it would set me back. Thankfully it did the reverse.

I recently read an article by Danielle Friedman in the New York Times published on May 14th of this year entitled "Muscles in Knots? Here’s How to Loosen Them Up", that described perfectly the challenges I was having, as well as paths to a cure, including the dry needling that has worked wonders.

Riding a bicycle is a great way to exercise. The reason is that the nature of pedalling and its circular motion avoids the kind of joint and soft tissue stress that other forms of exercise may lead to. That said, the nature of the cranking motion, when you overdo it, and over-stress your leg as I did, magnifies and multiplies the damage, impacting, in my case, pretty much every muscle and tendon in my right leg.

Treating the resulting cold-spaghetti-mess of angry tissue is a huge challenge. Everything hurts. Diagnosing the injuries and treating them is a significant challenge. You treat one, and anger another. And the work and therapy goes on, and on, and on.

The good news is that progress happens. Eventually, as some issues are resolved, it becomes easier to diagnose and treat the remainder.

And that brings us to today. I am so close to a complete recovery I can taste it.

I take pictures on my morning rides when I see something worth saving. I had to take a photo today.

I feel like an island of normal is emerging from a year-long fog of misery.

Brompton DIY hub cleaners

I have never been a workshop kind of guy. I would say I am more of a MacGyver kind of kind of guy.

My office is 95% devoted to reading and writing of one variety or another and that's what it looks like. That said, the other 5% is devoted to puttering and MacGyvering.

For almost as long as I have owned my Brompton bike, I have wanted hub cleaners. So far I haven't bought any. That's because the Brompton's small wheels won't accommodate the usual leather strap hub cleaners. The spokes will prevent them from working properly.

That means it's a challenge for MacGyver-me.

My first attempt used a leather lace looped around the hub with a bolt sewn to the lace loop to provide a target for the forces of gravity. It was not by any means attractive, and it kind-of worked. It worked really well on the front hub, but the one on the rear hub would occasionally get caught in the spokes, and I would have to stop when I heard the clicking, release the bolt from the spokes, and carry on. It was annoying. Ultimately I sliced it off. That was some time last year.

I happened to be at our mechanic's workshop picking up our car. On the window sill there was a leather strap that looked like it might do the trick. I asked if I could have it.

When I got home it turned out that the strap was too short. I tossed it into a plastic bag in my office cabinet where I store odds and ends. I have an impressive collection of odds and ends. I collect all kinds of stuff that might eventually be useful. Like when I discard a torn shopping bag, I cut off and keep the straps. Same goes for plastic buckles from backpacks, strapping, plastic cinch-things, and the list goes on, and on. Same goes for screws, nuts, bolts, washers... you get the idea. My collection is such that I know from experience that I have the right hardware for almost any little fix-it.

That leather strap I got from our mechanic was held together by a gold-coloured stub-thingy, like the fastener on some purses. It was a screw-on type. I picked up a set of 15 on Amazon for $10, and as soon as they were delivered, I went to the odds and ends collection.

I found some black straps. They were too light for the project but they had a channel on each side. I thought "... if I had some little ball-bearings I could fill the channels...". As soon as I thought of ball-bearings, I remembered that among the odds and ends were the curtain ball-bearing-esque chains that I rescued from curtains we discarded. Wonderful, they fit the channels perfectly and provided the weight that was needed.

The rest was scribbling out a plan in my notebook...

...measuring the Brompton hub diameters with my Vernier caliber, doing the math to get to the circumference, cutting some paper strips based on my guess for the straps, taping the strips on the hubs as a test, deducting some length to get to the right length...

Hub cleaner math

Front hub radius 27/32”

Front hub diameter 1  21/32” 1.65625”

Front hub circumference 5.21”

Front hub cleaner test length 7”

Front hub post test length 6”

Front hub total length including 1 inch for double clasps 7”

Rear hub radius 1 6/32”

Rear hub diameter 2 6/16” 2.375

Rear hub circumference 7.47”

Rear hub cleaner test length 10”

Rear hub post test length 9 1/2”

Rear hub total length including 1 inch for double clasps 101/2”

... cutting the straps and the ball-bearing chains to the right lengths, threading the chains into the channels in the straps, burning holes for the studs with my little battery-powered soldering iron, putting it all together, sewing the channels on each end of the straps to prevent the chains from escaping, fitting the straps to the Brompton, and there you have it... TADAH!!    

It was fun in a weird way. We'll see how they perform in actual use.

Oh... and by-the-way... despite appearances, I'm a lawyer, not a doctor. It just so happens that over time I have collected things like a clamp, a scalpel, a dentist's pick... I love those tools.

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ed. 20241019: The rear one is too small, and the weight is too well distributed so it doesn't stay put, but rotates with the hub so it doesn't actually do the job. That one is for sure a do over. What I really need are more traditional leather straps. 

ed.  20241101: I bought a half-inch wide 72 inch long leather strap on Amazon. I used the same little gold-coloured stub-thingies to fasten the ends of the straps, one for each strap. It turned out that 7 inches for the front hub was fine, while 12 inches for the rear hub works well. The only tweak needed was to insert a little brass nut where the two ends meet for the rear hub cleaner to give it a little bit more weight. Now I have fully functioning hub cleaners front and rear.