Bikes

Went riding at Mount Herman again, this time with some decent tour guides.. There are a lot of trails out there, and some are good while others aren't so good. So all the ones today were on the good list. I need to remember that for next time I ride alone out there after work. Riding flat sandy trails in the blazing sun isn't usually worth it..

I got a new dérailleur and shifters last week, the dérailleur has more clearance for things like rocks and stuff (sits closer to the spokes). It works well, but I still beat it up a bit at palmer last ride. I haven't had a new dérailleur and shifter in a long time, it's pretty sweet to be able to use all my gears again.

A bit of information from the late great Sheldon Brown about the funny words above:

Traditionally, in U.S. usage, the gear-change mechanism we all know and love has been called a "derailleur." This is actually a French word, but it is commonly pronounced in an anglicized manner, as "de-RAIL-er" or "de-RAIL-yur." The actual French pronunciation is more like "day-RYE-EUH" but nobody says that when speaking English. The proper French spelling is "dérailleur," not "derailleur."

The French Ministry of Culture has been on a campaign to purge the French language of the "impurity" caused by the introduction of foreign, (especially English) words into French speech and writing. In an attempt to combat "cultural imperialism", or "franglais" the Ministry has been attempting to banish such terms as "le week-end", "Walkman" (which they mistakenly think is English), "FAX", "Computer", etc. and replace them with special made-up French words. ("fin-de-semaine", "baladeur", "telecopieur", "ordinateur"...)

When you consider how many French words are already in the English language, as the result of real imperialism (William the Conqueror, 1066!) I think it is time to defend the "purity" of the English tongue; you have to draw the line somewhere, and I have drawn it at "dérailleur."

So I s'pose I'll call it "derailer" from now on too, I mean why not? Nobody likes the French anyways, might as well not use their stupid word either.. Yeah, I showed them..