Cyclic Tendencies

Smoothies and knobbies

2010-06-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is hitting in a big way. The kind of days where nothing beats an ice cold fruit smoothie after a solid bike ride. In the last month I have pretty much finished up the XtraCycloMountainTouringCruiser it's now got a new 26" wheelset, an 8speed drivetrain with 11-34t cogs in back, a disc brake up front, fenders and the cargo bags attached and tested. First mission was a 40 lb bag of dog food. It's since been grocery shopping several times and has even transported a casserole dish of 7 layer bean dip safely to it's destination across town. I love this bike, so much fun. If we had rail service that was actually practical for getting between here and Maine, I could legitimately see getting rid of one of our cars. This thing rocks the socks off a regular trip to the grocery store for a week's worth of groceries.

New to the stable is a tandem! Liana and I have been married for a year and for our anniversary she suggested a tandem so she could keep up with me on rides. I love this woman. We found a basic townie style tandem with a swoopy cruiser style frame on Craigslist for a pretty good bargain of $140! It's a Kent "Dual Drive" which sells new for around $300 at places like Amazon.com and other big box online stores, ours is only a year old, but looks like new thanks to a couple hours I spent cleaning it and tuning it up (and peeling off the ridiculous number of stickers it came with). It only needed a longer seatpost for Liana since most tandems assume that the rear rider is shorter and Liana and I ride the same height seat. I was pleasantly surprised to find Shimano components on the bike, it's decked out with Tourney derailleurs and Revo shifters, basic, but reliable. 21spd drivetrain, big cushy seats and a not terrible paint scheme. The bike would be well worth the $300 price for new. Adjusting to tandeming does not seem that difficult, we've been cruising around the neighborhood on it and are looking forward to actually putting some miles down with it soon.

Parts just arrived for my next project: Reincarnating my Bridgestone BB-1 as a moustache-barred, single speed 26" monstercross bike. It's currently been stripped of parts again for various other builds. Nashbar was having a sale on a bunch of random parts, how could I turn down $8 for a moustache bar? I believe I have all the other parts kicking around for the build though I may actually upgrade its canti brakes and slap a fresh chainring on it. I can picture it in my head and I think it's gonna look sweet. Red frame, silver components, brown saddle, and cork tape...

2010-05-01T05:01:00.000-07:00

I started one of those rides last night where you realize you just shouldn't be on a bike, except it's too late and you're already fully committed. The weather was far too nice to let the day pass without riding so I headed to the Rez for a ride after work. For the first ¼ of the way around I felt pretty good. I even felt pretty good on the 1½ mile slow burner up the ridge. As I got up to the higher ground, then I started feeling funny. About that same time, I caught up to the rider I had seen ahead on the climb. We chatted and decided to ride together, but as we started going, I found that I wasn't clearing any of the usual features, my balance was off, my legs and arms started feeling really sluggish, and I wasn't able to respond to the trail. I was dehydrated, my nemesis had returned. Twice I had to stop and sit down. The second time was rather urgent, it was a "sit down before you fall down" kind of moment. Al (the other rider) hung with me, saying he was feeling slow too, but I'm pretty sure he just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to pass out. This brings me to the point. A camaraderie exists in mountain biking that is largely absent from the road biking side of things. Two bikers in the woods are far more likely to just randomly chat, join up, and then finish a ride together and even take on a little responsibility for the safety of a stranger. Mountain bikers will offer tools, spare parts, and general help quite freely. I didn't need anything more than just to just chill for a few minutes while sucking down a bunch of water, but if I had been in more dire straits, there would have been someone there, and that's really awesome.

After I got my legs under me again, I started feeling much better. As we rode on, my balance solidified and I felt generally stronger. Turns out Al is a hell of a rider and also knew a bunch of little side trails I'd never noticed with some fairly ridiculous features. He rolled one of the biggest drops I've ever seen another rider land in person (he was on a full-sus DH bike). We also know some of the same people through Crankfire which is always fun to learn. After getting over that trouble at the top of the ridge, I felt great and finished the last ½ of the ride fairly strong.

Jon Watts - Two Wheel Tour

2010-04-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night I had the privilege of hosting Jon Watts as he passed through Hartford on his tour. Jon is a Quaker spoken word/lyrical hip-hop musician and now also a long distance cyclotouriste. He left Richmond, VA in March and has been riding up the coast with his Xtracycle Radish, playing shows in the big cities as he goes. He carries all the gear he needs with him, including his guitar, amp, laptop, and banner, in addition to all the camping gear he needs to be self supporting. In short, he's not doing this halfway. Icing on the cake is that he was not an experienced cyclotouriste, he just decided to do this and made it happen in a relatively brief time. Well he's got some experience now.

I encountered him a while back on the Roots Radicals email list, a resource list for Xtracycle riders mostly. We chatted a little about a route through Connecticut for him to take and it looked like he'd be passing right through here so I offered up some hot meals, a shower, and a bed. Luckily for me he was coming into town on the later end of the day, so I was able to ride out to greet him and then ride in the last 10 miles together. I was impressed. Piled high with gear, 8 speeds, and platform pedals, and he still knocked out a really solid pace, with enough lungs to chat. We unloaded his gear, pointed him to a hot bath followed by dinner and some more conversation. Once he had recovered from the day, we took a look at his bike, since he mentioned a few mechanical complaints, despite having just paid for a complete tune-up 2 days previously in Brooklyn. Shifting was all out of whack, kickstand was ready to fall off, and his rear disc brake pads had worn down enough to actually not work at all! So we:

Gave the frame a good wipedown
Cleaned & lubed chain and cogs
Cleaned & lubed derailleur
Adjusted front and rear brake cables, deglazed pads, and snugged up the calipers
Tuned the derailleur
Tightened crank and chainring bolts
Adjusted saddle position
Adjusted lever and shifter positions for better ergonomics
Aired up tires

In short, it was an awesome shop session. When we finished around midnight, he said, "This is a happy bike!" After plotting out the rest of his route to Boston it was definitely time to turn in. In the morning, he was excited for the last 100 miles to go, so we saw him off, well fueled with pancakes and tea. I was very much wishing I could trade in my day of work for a day of touring.

Here he is, about to depart for the last two days of riding:

It was really a blast to get to know him a bit. Hopefully our paths will cross again. This has thoroughly given me the itch for a tour again.

Why an LBS can rock your socks

2010-04-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

I treated myself to some new SPD pedals for the Monocog 29er using some coupons online. In removing the old cleats and attaching the new cleats that came with them, the threaded plate that the cleats screw into had corroded and the threaded section popped right off. Major bummer, I really did not want to ride with my flats tonight. I called Central Wheel, over in Farmington, to see if they had the part and they did. 20 minutes later I was back in the basement screwing my cleats into new plates, which they didn't even bother charging me for! That kind of local, immediate service is something you can never ever get from the national chain catalogs, not to mention the occasional free nut or bolt. So major thanks to Central Wheel, they saved my ride today.

I did it to myself, really

2010-04-06T18:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went for a ride out on the Reservoir. Feeling invincible after receiving my 5 pack of 29er tubes in the mail yesterday, I was going to be prepared when the inevitable flat were to eventually happen. I got a late message that there was a group going out in the Rez, so if I was going to catch them I'd need to ride fast. I tore into the trails like I meant it. Eventually, around ¾ of the way around I caught up with them. Except they had decided to ride counterclockwise and were actually headed the way I'd just come. I was quite well warmed up and feeling good so I turned around and rode with them back the way I'd come, never having down the loop counterclockwise. It was a neat ride, I like that way and I'm likely to hit it up again that way to mix things up a bit. After clearing a rock ledge climb that's usually a drop, I heard the SSSSS that means your ride just got less fun. But I was prepared! I had my tube! With no way to inflate it... My pump had been stashed safely in my road bike bag and apparently my CO2 inflator had discharged in my bag at some point. Even though I didn't know it, I definitely caused this flat, simply by not having my pump in my bag. This is where the benefits of actually riding with people come in. 2 borrowed cartridges later, rolling away. Much thanks to Bill. Overall, it was a great ride for me about 1.5 times around the Rez since I doubled back, I'm feeling my lungs come back a bit and my legs have more to give than they did last week. Looking forward to riding with the Black Sheep (and my pump) again tomorrow night

There may be hope for roadies yet

2010-04-04T05:19:00.000-07:00

Figuring that the Reservoir could stand people taking it easy on the trails yesterday but knowing that they wouldn't, I went out for a road ride. This was actually the first time I've gone for a road ride here, I've basically been mountain biking most of the time. I figured I could make a nice loop by taking a route around the Reservoir. After wrapping fresh bar tape (oh baby, nothing like fresh tape), I headed out. I took roads I was generally familiar with going clockwise around the loop to start, but about half the ride would be pure exploration, and should have been around 12 quick miles. About ¼ of the way around, I came to an intersection at the top of a brutal little hill where I really didn't know which way I should go, so I stopped for a moment to get my bearings. While I was orienting myself, another cyclist came up the hill and slowed to say hi, which is the first unusual bit. We started chatting and I asked which way I should got for a loop around the reservoir and he said that he was actually rising the same loop but he took different roads cause the loop I was intending to do ends up being not a good set of roads for riding. Then he offered to show me around! Never once in riding a road bike, have I actually met another cyclist who stopped to chat, then offered to ride together without having any sense of my pace. I hate to say it, but roadies tend to come off as elitist jerks. It's typically the mountain biking world where people are known for being more social and open to interacting with strangers while riding.

So as we set off together, I tried to make it clear that I didn't want to slow him down, since I had ridden hard on Friday afternoon, and was generally out of form, and he seemed to take that. It ended up being a gorgeous ride. I saw a bunch of places I haven't been yet like a little airfield for RC planes, a river that may be paddlable, and the parking areas for Penwood state forest, which I haven't been mountain biking in yet but want too. I hung on as best I could, he was definitely a quicker rider than me but I was mostly able to hang with him till the base of a spanker of a hill that goes up and over the same ridge running through the Rez. He actually took a break to let me catch up near the top, which was really nice, since I still had no clue where I was. Eventually, we diverged to head home in different directions, all in all it was a sweet ride. A few more miles than I was looking for and I'm a little tight today (Happy Easter!), but it was good to push it a little and it was really nice to have someone show me around.

The Inevitable Ride After Not Riding

2010-04-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

Every year at some point, I end up traveling for work, not working out, and then getting sick. In February I went up to Maine to work at our HQ for a few weeks, then traveled to Houston and London. Because of the weather up in Maine, riding was out. I did get to build up my Xtracycle though. The build came all from the bin, except the FreeRadical itself and a new chainring:

Trek Cruiser Classic aluminum frame
Nashbar Chromoly cyclocross fork
Xtracycle FreeRadical
700c Touring wheel (front, not as pictured)
26" MTB 7spd wheel (rear)
Linear pull rim brakes (front and rear)
Titec Jones H-Bar
Brooks B-17 saddle
32t Surly chainring
7speed 11-30 cassette
Shimano Exage Mountain rear derailleur (controlled with a Shimano friction thumb shifter)
175mm cranks (2 different crank arms)

After a trip to Bath Cycle and Ski for some small parts, I cobbled her together on Saturday afternoon. I still have some tweaking to do, like actually getting it it's own wheelset for disc brakes, but it's pedal-able right now. With the super long chain there's a fair bit of slack in the system, when I backpedal the chain drops down onto the chainstay before taking up the slack. I'm going to have to do something about that for sure, hopefully the derailleur pulleys just need to be lubricated. For the drivetrain, 32 teeth in front by 11-30 teeth in back will give me a very serviceable low end of 27.5 gear inches up to about 75 gear inches. That should be plenty in both directions for hauling a load. The long wheelbase definitely feels different when riding. I haven't done any real road riding yet, but turning feels very strange. I'm looking forward to giving it it's first real road test. The next thing I've got to figure out is how to modify my roof rack to carry the thing back down to Connecticut, alas it is still in Maine. Given it's parts make up, I have decided to call it: The Xtra-CycloTouringMountain69erCruiser

Fast forward two months to now and I've just gotten over a nasty cold that has left me with a diminished lung capacity and set me back a ways in terms of general fitness. I've been running a few times, but I haven't put a leg over a bike since January other than test riding the The Xtra-CycloTouringMountain69erCruiser. Yesterday afternoon we closed up shop early so I hit the trails at the West Hartford Rez. There are still some very messy parts but the ridgeline is pretty sweet. After not riding for a couple months, of course my lungs were burning and my legs questioned the benefits of the initial climb up the ridge. By the time I got up to the top, I had a pretty good idea of just how much cardio fitness I've lost. It took a good break at the top to get some air back and then had a really nice ride along the ridge. I was surprised how many people were up there. I guess it's Spring fever for everyone.

So this ride was a good reality check, and now it's time to get those legs back. I think I'll stay out of the woods today since everybody and their brother is going to be out there, I haven't done much road riding down here yet, so I think I might go explore a loop that I can do some hill climbs on for another dose of suffering.

A little cool

2010-01-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

Being the last weekend I'll be in CT for about a month, I was itching to hit the trails today. I met up with Stitch from the Crankfire boards and headed out into the West Hartford Reservoir. At 9am, it was 3°F. We tentatively headed out for a ride 'round the outer loop; The cold was close to putting a kibosh on the ride at a few points. Once we had reached the top of the main climb that starts out near the main parking lot that goes up onto the top of the ridge, we had finally warmed up along with the air enough to keep on going and commit to the full outer loop.

With very little melting having taken place, the trails were coated with about 2" of light fluffy powder. The cold had convinced me to switch to platform pedals for the day along with regular winter boots. This was a good opportunity to try out my Crank Bros 50/50 XX pedals that haven't seen much action yet. A couple weeks ago, I added all of the extra traction pins they came with in addition to raising up all the pins that were already in place. This made an amazing difference. They moved over from being pretty parts to being functional pretty parts. I still haven't gotten fully used to riding with free feet, I definitely like being clipped in for hoisting the rear end up and over logs, but these pedals are great. They were extra convenient during an extremely quick endo... Other gear for the day confirmed for me that the combo of a Panaracer Rampage 2.3 out back and a WTB Stout 2.3 up front is the perfect combo for my riding style. I'm glad I have an extra Stout in reserve since WTB isn't making them anymore.

It looked like there were at least a couple other fools out riding, we followed a pair of tracks most of the way around. About a third of the way around I actually had to ditch my softshell jacket in favor of a fleece vest over my wool longsleeve jersey. It never got close to being above freezing, but we were able to at least stop for a few chat breaks and remain comfortable. Here's me, post ride with major beardcicles:

Next time I ride here, I suspect there may not be any snow left. I'm headed to Maine, Texas, and maybe London for about a month (or more) where I'll be hopefully snowboarding and doing some riding too aside from work. Some good shop time is coming my way though. I'm taking the parts to build up my cruiser into an Xtracycle cargo bike. Big time looking forward to the build, I picked up a FreeRadical kit after Xmas that's been patiently waiting for me. Hopefully I'll be able to get in some time in road riding it and my fixed gears that still live up there too. Sadly, I will be tearing my BB-1 down to the frame to steal it's components for the build, it won't be the first time I've done that though. It's going to be a frankenbike like no other; Curvy cruiser frame, cyclocross fork, Titec Jones H-bar, 700c tour bike front wheel w/32mm tire, 26" atb rear w/ 2.3" balloon tire, and 1x7 drivetrain. She gonna be purty, oh baby. Long term it'll get more normal as I pick up some new parts but till summer, it'll stay freaky. If anyone is still following my progress on the BikeGen, progress has stalled but have been making 3.2 amps (38.4w) steadily while riding each night.

10 Things I've learned about weight management

2010-01-13T19:45:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of people with the usual "get in shape" New Year's resolution. I've made the same resolution for the last few years of once again achieving my pre-college weight. I've gotten close before but I always end up sliding back up in the fall and winter. I work at a computer, sitting all day. With cycling being my main activity, it really slows down in the winter, it can sometimes be hard to get that motivation to get on the trainer and go nowhere fast. So here's a list of bits of knowledge I've learned over the years that actually do help me (disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or anyone even remotely qualified to give advice on an exercise/diet plan. What?! No really, it's true. This is stuff I've read, heard, or come up with myself. I won't cite sources, find them yourself. Talk to a doctor before trying anything, yada yada):

Portion control. If I simply think about how much I put on my plate, I put less on. If I put less on and finish it, I wait a few minutes before giving myself the option for seconds. There's a delay between your stomach and your brain, your brain needs a few minute to catch up. Most of the time my brain catches up and I'm actually full, but I've eaten less than I would have.
You don't have to burn more calories exercising than you eat in a day. If you do, your body will freak out and start eating muscle rather than fat. Bad thing. There's a thing called Basal Metabolic Rate, don't forget that you actually burn calories sitting still, keeping your body working. This accounts for most of your calories. So all you've got to do, is burn up the surplus, and then a little more, if you want to actually lose weight. For most people, this is a few hundred calories, not that bad.
Counting daily calories is a pain in the butt and doesn't help. But being generally aware of how calorie rich a food is is still a good thing. It helps to know how full of garbage your meal is so you can think about maybe a healthier alternative, or just eat less of it.
Sweet things are addictive. Any sweet things, especially artificial sweets. Seriously, I read this and I didn't believe it. I had already stopped drinking sugar soda. I thought I was being smart and avoiding all that sugar. Then I read somewhere that the sweetness in artificial sweetener triggers your body to start pumping insulin, which shows up to the party only to find that the sugar isn't there. Your stomach then tells your brain it had better send some damn sugar down or it's gonna get ugly, you then crave sugary things. I quit drinking soda altogether, and suddenly, I didn't want nearly as many sweets. By not eating sweets, it got easier to not eat sweets. I never realized how much sugar I was actually eating till I stopped.
I love coffee. A cup of coffee a half hour before a workout can help you push a little harder and a little farther than you might. Make it a straight up coffee or espresso, not some sugary "coffee drink" from Fivebucks. Put a spoon of sugar and milk in it if you like. Real sugar has about 15 calories per spoonful. You'll burn that off again and then some during your workout. Watch out for dehydration though, caffeine makes you pee...
Dehydration can kick your butt. You've really gotta watch it. Get a little dehydrated and you can suffer through an average workout. It actually increases your perception of fatigue, that sounds fun doesn't it? Don't rely on sports drinks to stay hydrated, they have more sugar than you need. If you're working out less than an hour, drink water. Otherwise your sports drink can negate your workout. Too much water can kill you though, careful...
Fiber. Yeah, I'm going there. Fiber is hard to digest, so you actually burn more calories when you eat more fiber. All kinds of awesome food has lots of fiber. Kashi breakfast cereals are delicious, and full of fiber and protein. Careful though, prunes and apricots can be dangerous... in ways that lead back to dehydration... Prunes and apricots have about the same fiber, and also have potassium which is something you need when working out to help prevent cramping.
Excercise is an appetite suppressant. If I eat after a good workout, I'm less hungry, get full faster, and I eat less. Uh, win, win, win, there.
Don't start working out too hard. You're all psyched to work out and get fit again, it's been a few days (maybe weeks, months) since you really got to it. You work out, you work long, you work hard. In reality you didn't go that long or hard, you're out of shape. But you kicked your own butt and now you're in too much pain to do it again the next day. Days go by, you keep waiting to feel "ready" again. You may never. Start easy, easier than you want to. Then ramp it up as you find your limits.
Sleep is good. Your body needs to repair when you are asking it to change. You don't build muscle while working out, you build it while you sleep, AFTER you workout. Getting solid Z's helps you rebuild, gives you more energy to start fresh, and makes you feel better in general, you can't fool your body, it's not stupid. It knows when you aren't getting enough sleep and it retaliates by making you too tired to workout again.

BikeGen, Stage 1: Increasing Output

2010-01-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well, my idea that decreasing resistance on the alternator output line from the 3Ω would increase output seems to be valid, though I still don't understand why. I went back to RadioShack and picked up four more 10Ω 10w resistors. I put them in parallel on the output line and started pedaling, as soon as the alternator's field cut in, 1.75A flowed out and I was still pedaling easily. With my ultimate target of about 100w captured, this level of output was about 21% of the way there. To get this I put six 10Ω 10w resistors and one 8Ω 20w resistor all in parallel for a total of ~1.38Ω of resistance and up to 90w of power dissipation. So far, no one has been able to explain to me why this reduces the load on the alternator and I haven't found anything that helps me make sense of it.

Turns out that the rheostat that I burned up was only half burned up. I was able to wire up the other pole on it and get dialable resistance the other way. This way actually makes more sense anyway, clockwise decreases resistance (Ω) and increases how hard it is to pedal. With the rheostat in place, I was just about to commence testing when one of the connections shorted out. This caused the wires to go red hot almost instantly, burning all the coverings off in the process. Oops.

Luckily, I didn't fry the alternator, or myself. This did serve as a good reminder that I'm dealing with a very powerful source of electricity, and that it really was time to clean up my wiring and reduce the number of exposed terminals I had. Also, I really should get around to putting some more fuses inline...

Here we are, post-cleanup:

With this arrangement and my trusty wife assisting by turning the rheostat, I was able to dial the power output from 1.75A, all the way up to 9A. This was major, major progress. However, the high output quickly fell off down closer to 5A. My theory on that is that I'm still overheating the rheostat, causing the resistance to increase. I was able to dial in the resistance to a level I could sustain for a good workout this morning though. So my final numbers at this point are sustained output of 2.35A or 28w, enough to power a big CFL light bulb and 28% of my hopeful goal. The total theoretical resistance on the line now is about ¼ Ω, but I think that's increasing with heat so I don't have a great way of measuring that yet. I'm feeling good about the resistor situation, once I get the resistance dialed in, or adjustable to reliable levels, I'll rewire everything up into a control box I can mount on the handlebars. I also see the need to minimize the mechanical loss coming on down the line, so I've got some thinking to do there too.

BikeGen, Stage 1: Measuring Output

2010-01-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

After testing the current with the fuses last night, I figured there was no way I could possibly be producing more than 10 amps of output from the alternator with those resistors in place, so put my multimeter inline (ammeter mode) and started cranking. I worked out for about a half hour keeping my heart rate at about the 85% level again. Throughout that time I produced no less than 0.85A of current. So in sum I was able to harness about 1/10th of what I should be able to produce, or about 0.425Ah. At this rate it will take forever to recharge the car battery. I was however able to charge my iPod while riding. Producing enough juice to rock out was definitely cool, even if the amount of juice was tiny.

Next up, decreasing the resistance by adding more resistors in parallel. RadioShack, here I come. I totally love that RadioShack is also sponsoring Lance's team this year. It makes buying parts for this project extra fitting. I'll probably pick up a few more of these, which will get the total resistance down into the low 1Ω range and should also help to cool the dissipation of the heat (even thought he three that are on there now don't seem to get hot). I also need a way to wire these up a little cleaner, I've got these resistors seriously kludged together right now. Hopefully they will have some euro-style terminals at The Shack too.

BikeGen Stage 1: Is there an EE in the house?

2010-01-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

I'm just gonna put it out there that I didn't do so hot in Physics at college. I did get B+ the second time around though... In my flailing around, I ended up finding that placing resistors on my alternator output (rather than the field charging wire) would allow me to pedal with a low resistance level on the nearly dead battery. I still haven't had a chance to charge it up full to try pedaling it at full charge. In one attempt to find the proper level of resistance (Ω) to put on the line, I did burn up a rheostat, which was kind of cool in the setting-fire-to-electronics sort of way. So what I've got right now is a set of three resistors, two 10Ω 10w and one 8Ω 20w all wired up in parallel on the alternator output line. With this setup, I was able to ride for a full hour, keeping my heart rate at at about the 85% mark where I like it, and was able to increase the voltage measured at the battery during that time. It went from 12.0v to 12.5v with no load other than the battery and the resistors, this of course started dropping as soon as I stopped pedaling because I really wasn't putting out that much juice so I was just affecting the surface charge.

Now back to those resistors. I am a smart enough cookie to figure out that in parallel they make 3.0769Ω of resistance. And I think they are capable of dissipating a combined total of 40w. What I don't get at all is why in the hell that works to make the load easier. I would have thought that increasing the resistance on the alternator output line would make it harder to pedal by causing a voltage drop that would be sensed by the alternator which would then try to work harder to make power. But I guess this just demonstrates that there's something I definitely do not understand at work here. I put the rheostat in the resistors' spot yesterday, that's when I burned it up, it could only handle 3w. Burning electronic components smell really bad. I think what I need is less resistance on the line. With the rheostat I found by placing higher resistance on the line I could pedal easier, and with low resistance, there was a point where all of a sudden it was like hitting a brick wall. So it seems a low ohm, resistor capable of dissipating something less than 40w is what I need, maybe. I definitely don't know how to calculate what that is exactly. I tried putting a small incandescent bulb inline to see what would happen, and the answer is absolutely nothing. The bulb lights up and then the system never makes power. So at the moment I'm stuck with my resistors. Here's what it looks like now:

Just for kicks, I removed the resistors from the line, and replaced them with a 5a fuse, just to see if I was able to put more than 5a down that line. The answer was definitely yes. As soon as the alternator powered up, POP. I replaced that with a 15a fuse which is more than I should be able to produce and it was, the 15a fuse remained intact. If I had a 10a fuse I'd try that, cause if it worked, then I would be safe plugging my multimeter into the output wire to measure the current outflow. Can't guarantee that yet though so I don't want to risk the meter. Though I probably should wire some fuses into this thing...

So I'm kind of stuck, a little. Another site I've come across says that that a 25Ω 25w rheostat on the field charging line will work, this I am skeptical of because the 25Ω 3w rheostat I tried didn't do anything at all, it was like it wasn't even there. I'm more wondering what a smaller Ω rheostat with that higher wattage would do on the alt output line side. Another diagram I found shows a fixed 0.47Ω 25w resistor on the alt output with a switch enabling a second one in parallel. This is more along the lines of what I am wanting to try. I would definitely appreciate some help in making sense of why the resistors seem to work where they do.

Stage 1: Tweaking

2010-01-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

By "tweak", what I really mean is flail around trying random crap I find on the Intarwebz till something works. The resistance problems I've got are so far pretty significant. By resistance, I don't mean electrical resistance measured in Ohms (though I've been learning about those too), but rather how hard it is to turn the alternator when the field is powered up. To which the answer is very. I actually slightly strained a hamstring trying to crank it over once the field juices up and starts making power.

A friend of mine from college suggested that I may not have a functioning diode in the alternator, which made sense to me, but I was able to disprove that using the diode test mode in my multimeter. My next idea was that the load being drawn by the battery is very high due to the battery being mostly discharged. The voltage in my Battery is so low that it's was basically flat. Connecting it to my car's battery in parallel to charge it up got me up to around 75% charge. The load is still too great to sustain pedaling. This is a major problem since part of this idea is that I would be able to at least partially discharge the battery and recharge it. If this theory is correct, I would only be able to draw as much as I could put out instantaneously, since recharging the battery grinds me to a halt. So I need a way to limit the load.

I found some kids at MIT that tried to use an Alt driven by bike wheel deriving the cranking power from a Ghatta, which is a type of water driven millstone in Nepal. They found they needed to modify the field current with resistors in parallel to bring the current to the Alt field down. That didn't seem to do anything useful with the resistors I tried. These guys also made me realize I'd been driving my alternator backwards... I fixed that, and still no love (and I hope that didn't mess any of the internals up). Then I found some Brits that say you put the resistors on the Alt output line to bring down the load, though I have to admit, I don't see how that would do it at all. But that's my next try. Also, I will attempt to further charge my battery up to full to see if a full battery lightens the load.

Stage 1: First Serious Test

2010-01-02T05:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I've already broken some guidelines. I did pay $0 for the alternator and the battery, that's a major component of the expense of this project. But in order to drive the thing, I needed a belt, a long belt. It had to be up in the neighborhood of 83" and be able to fit in the skinny little pulleys that were stock on the alternator. Getting a free belt didn't seem very likely to me so I decided to just choke down the cost. After describing what I needed to the dudes at Pep Boys, then explaining what I was building out of the alternator, and how I was not actually crazy (not sure if they bought that one from the looks I got), they helpfully sent me to Napa, where you can get get belts for ride-on lawn mowers and other machinery type equipment. The guy at Napa was very apologetic that they didn't have an 83" belt in stock, and hesitantly offered me an 84" belt, I told him that the precision of the length was not that important since the machine it was for, hadn't been designed yet! The $25 cost was actually covered by some earmarked cash I got for Christmas. The expensive part was the wiring bits and bobs I got at Pep Boys. I got a few rolls of 10g and 14g wire ($5 a piece), a couple switches ($4 a piece), some marine battery clamp terminals ($4) and several boxes of wire terminals in various sizes and gauges. This added up pretty quick. I will only actually use a fraction of the wire and terminals, but if I was going to wire cleanly and for the long term, I needed to source these. So oddly enough, I spent more on wiring parts than I did on the Battery ($0), Alternator ($0), and Belt ($25), combined. The devil is in the details, as it were.

Next came the base. I needed to firmly mount the alternator on a tensionable hinge. Using a couple small piece of scrap plywood and a scrap 2x4, I came up with a mount that would butt up against my existing stationary trainer, would use the weight of the battery to keep it down, and a turnbuckle to keep tension on the belt. Luckily my alternator has an integrated mount designed to be a hinge for tensioning, so this was actually pretty easy. I first tried to use just the weight of the alternator to keep tension, but quickly found that this was no good.

It resulted in voltage spikes and drops as well as extremely uneven resistance at the pedals in some preliminary testing. The addition of the turnbuckle was key.

So with the base unit pretty much in place, I wired everything up. I used the wiring diagram from P2cycles.com as a guide to put all the connections in place, my thanks to them for providing such a clear diagram. Hopefully, I will eventually have all of the trick connections in place down the line to measure power and have the bar mounted switches as they did in their very sexy implementation.

Then it was time for a test. As an afterthought, I wired up some leads that would allow me to more easily read the multimeter while pedaling, and also hooked up some leads to an inverter, to which I plugged in my iPod. The iPod's battery was completely flat, as a bonus.

Here's the test:

It's a go! I was able to get voltages up around 14.4v while pedaling. What you don't see in the video is my heart rate, which I do have a readout on my handlebars for. Unfortunately, my pulse quickly hit 180, which is basically my max output. I was only able to sustain a cadence >90rpm for about 5 min, and I was completely juiced at the end. I think this is the result of the car battery being almost completely flat, I initially charged it just enough to be able to power the alternator's field. I think the voltage sensor in the alternator is detecting that the battery is low, and putting a heavy field in place to charge up the battery. I'm not sure about this and I need to do a little more research. While I look into it, I'm going to charge the battery up to a higher level, just in case.

New Project: Bike Powered Generator

2009-12-14T11:18:00.000-08:00

So here's my new 4 stage project: Take some bike parts and some car parts, and put them together to make some electricity. This is not a new idea. It's not even that original. Pretty much everything I aim to do, has been attempted and done before, just not by me. Hopefully, Stage 4 will be where it really opens up into new territory, if I make it that far. Jim and I have been talking about doing this for somewhere close to 2 years now. In that time, a lot of the things we've talked about have been done by other people. Each time we come back to the topic, we learn a little more and it gets a little closer to reality. This time the topic came up, something sparked in my brain and it's time to execute on it. I have come up with some basic guidelines to take me forward:

Spend $0 on new bike-specific parts. My bin runneth over already.
Spend as little as possible on the electrical parts.
Stage 1 must be completed before messing around in Stage 2, and so on.
Power must be usable, to get out of Stage 1, the system will have to measurably produce full power for an hour of riding.

I should probably outline what I'm hoping to accomplish before I get too far down the line. Stage 1: Working stationary bike that is capable of producing usable 12v electricity and storing it in a battery. Looking to create a sustained 80w of power at this point. Hopefully 100w, but we'll have to see how efficient of an alternator I can get for cheap. This will require some parts and materials some of which I have, so I will have to scrounge:

12v DC alternator
12v deep cycle battery
Wiring in various gauges and terminals to connect them
Drive belt
Nuts/bolts and some parts to mount this up to my stationary trainer
Ammeter to quantify the output

A few days ago, I pulled an alternator and battery from a junk 1988 Dodge Caravan that my dad had sitting in the farm yard. It's a 3 wire, 75 amp aftermarket alternator for that van, so I'm hoping it's good and efficient. The battery is not a deep cycle battery, but it was also an upgrade for the van, a Die Hard that will do 800 cold crank amps. Eventually, I'll need to swap the battery for a deep cycle version so it can take repeated charges and discharges. Last night, once I figured out what the heck the wires were all for, I hooked it up in about 15 minutes, with some seriously half-assed connections.

My brother-in-law Jared helped me hold the alternator pulley against the rear tire on my trainer while I pedaled. I had a multimeter set up to show voltage. While powering the alternator field without movement, the volts were down just above 2v (battery had been sitting for a long time unused), I started pedaling, got it up over the 1800rpm range, and the voltage spiked up to a full 14.4v which means the alternator was then successfully powering itself and beginning to charge the battery. So with Stage 1 solidly underway, now comes the more serious business of cleaning up the wiring and mounting the alternator solidly to produce a constant level of power output. So here we go.

Snow biking

2008-12-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day for a ride. The first somewhat serious snow of the year, where the snow actually sticks to the ground. Riding a trainer indoors lets you pedal when it's cold and dark, but it's never the same as getting a good ride outside, in fresh air. This is the time of the year when riding after work basically means riding in the pitch black so I'm not big on it.

It was a bout 30°F, I set out on the trails I grew up riding on the high tension powerlines down the road. Those trails have gotten really bad over the years. Many sections are impassable because they are submerged in too much water and mud to pedal through and are lined with thick bushes. I did find some promising new trails though. The snowmobile/atv trail network crosses those powerlines and so I hopped onto them. Never having explored those trails I wasn't really sure what I was in for but they ended up being really nice riding.

I'm not sure exactly how far I went, but I am guessing about 12 miles. On the mechanical end of things, these linear pull brakes have got to go. They got so caked full of crap that I had to stop and unpack the snow and leaves from them quite often or the drag would be unreal. I have a set of Hayes 9 Carbon discs in a box waiting to be installed. I'm waiting for some IS to post mount adaptors to come in to mount them up.
A number of places provided for some interesting riding, in this place the trail had been long since washed out and there was a long technical descent down what had evolved into a streambed. I saw a huge flock of turkeys at on point, they didn't quite know what to make of me. Eventually I came out onto another smaller powerline and I thought I was heading in a different direction than I actually was. I thought I was on a trail I had never been on before, but it turns out that I was actually on a trail that I had been on several times, the snow just made it look different. Granted, it was also about 15 years ago the last time I was there. It was a great ride today, made me feel pretty good. Hopefully the ground will freeze up a bit more without lots of snow falling here quite yet so I can get out on the trails here a few more times before winter really settles in.

New Bike, New Turf

2008-10-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

N+1=10! WOO!

I finished the build of my new Redline Monocog 29er. Cane Creek 110 headset, Hope Pro 2 hubs, WTB Dual Duty rims, Panaracer Rampage 2.35" tires, Sette Venn seatpost, Jamis Stem, Easton EA70 Monkeybar, Ritchey True Grips, Bontrager Race saddle.

I took said bike on a ride:
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ma/-montague/424974972176"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;10/04/2008 Route&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/ma/-montague"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Bike Rides in Montague, Massachusetts&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Needless to say, it was a pretty long ride for a single speed. The trails I found were smooth and fast, so the relatively tall gear (32x18) I have on it right now is OK. Didn't really get the bike dirty. The trail entwork I got into is aparently quite extensive. I met a guy out in the middle of it that told me if this was my first time out there, not to get lost cause it is big. So I explored lightly and am looking forward to going back again. Looks like there's a good bit of single track available out there in addition to a bunch of double track with some fun little whoopty-doos.

So that was last weekend. This weekend, I revisited the powerline trails I grew up mountain biking on. I haven't been on them for probably a good ten years now. They've changed a bit, some parts were moved, some parts washed out, some permanently flooded. The 32x18 drive is too tall for this area. I have a 20t on order to try out. Some parts of teh trails are very technical. But on the whole the present state of the trails could be described as "muddy."

After:

I learned a few things about the bike:

It will roll over just about anything.
The tires, though reviewing well for mud, well, not so much.
I need to lower the gear ratio.
I want to try lock on grips.
The brakes I have suck in mud.

Tomorrow, hopefully riding some trails I've never been on with some buddies. Oh yeah, I turned 30 on Friday, woo.

Two flats and a Challenge

2008-09-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

So today's lunch ride was via my tour bike due to the crappy OEM rim tape on my road wheels that I never bothered changing when I bought them. I blew two tubes while changing over to the Vredstein Fortezza Tri comps I had on my fixed-gear. I've been looking forward to having these on my road bike, I loved riding them on my fixed-gear. 140 psi rolls so smooth but aparently is too much for the OEM shrink tape, which puckered under the load and allowed the tube to blow out in the nipple holes. Arg. Need to pick up some good old Velox or Pedros. Up until my road tires blew, I actually had all nine bikes in rideable condition at the same time, a rare occurence. Also, N wil soon equal 10. I am currently building up a single speed 29er. More on that to follow...

The Challenge
Jim wants me to do the Cadillac Century with him. So I have 2.5 weeks to get ready for my first century. Ouch. Basically, I'll be trying to get as much saddle time as I can spare between now and then. I foresee a big tube if icy hot in my future...

2008-07-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

Holy bloody Hell it was hot today. Bad ozone too. At least my tan is improving. Today's lunch ride was nothing special, but on the 4th, I had a great ride. I was in Williamstown, MA for the weekend visiting Liana. Williamstown is at the extreme north west corner of the state, so it borders NY to the west and VT to the north. There's a 30 mile loop that follows up over the Taconic Trail that lets you ride through all three states on a pretty route. Lets try this thing:

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ma/williamstown/314594565"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;07/07/2008 Route&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/ma/williamstown"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Bike Rides in Williamstown, Massachusetts&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
Holy crap it worked. It's MapMyRide.com, and it'll have to do till someone figures out how to use the real road data for non drivers, the mileage is a little low because you have to draw your own straight lines on the map. Anyway it was a gorgeous ride. Several mile climb right out of Williamstown up to the border of NY, then also several miles of downhill on the other side, WHEEEE! One thing is confirmed, my ass can tell the difference between an aluminum seatpost and a carbon one. New aluminum post, say hello to your replacement, a new CF post.

Still awaiting some parts for the John Deere, but I rode it fixed the other day, I think it'll shape up nicely. Hopefully it will look acceptable for the contest.

N=9

2008-06-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

So I picked up a black John Deere "racer". It's destined to be a fixed gear road bike now that my Trek Cruiser frame is sporting big fat whitewalls on coaster hubs. I've actually entered it in the Fixed Gear Gallery Open Design contest, in which I will no doubt get an absolute spanking. Whatever, the entry fee is for a good cause. I'm presently on the hunt for a decent stem and a seatpost, and debating color schemes. At the same time the old Schwinn will finally see some action via some transplanted parts from the Deere. Getting sort of excited for Le Tour this year. I still wish Astana was allowed to ride, but I'm squarely behind Slipstream, not that they stand a chance.

This weekend will find me riding in the Berkshires I'm looking forward to that, it's gorgeous out there.

Spring!

2008-04-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Yay! Winter is going! Two rides this week, one painful ride last week. I think if someone took a good close look at my rear end they would find a little imprint that says "Flite Ti". I love my saddle. It's the best darn saddle I've ever ridden, but that first ride out last week, it felt like it was going into me. Luckily, that has passed and I am now in the general constant soreness phase till I build up tolerance again. Note to self: Get a damn trainer for next winter!

New 0 offset seatpost coming to get me a little more forward on the bike, I think I'm too far back on my road bike. That will pair up with a longer Ritchey WCS stem I've had for a while but needed to find a decent seatpost to mate up with to avoid getting bunched up. Also I picked up a new set of cruiser wheels for the Trek frame that is currently my fixed gear bike. Red rims black hubs and big fat whitewall tires. Might put the track wheels from the fixed gear onto my Dad's Schwinn? Dunno, I kind of want to maintain a somewhat sport geometry fixed gear bike and the Schwinn ain't that.

In other news, what the hell is up with the ASO and the UCI anyway? I'm sick of the lot of them.

Astana? Are they kidding?

2007-11-05T17:39:00.000-08:00

So I just don't know what to think about this; Johan Bruynel is taking Contador, Leipheimer, and a good bit of the discovery squad on over to Astana. Yes, Astana, the team created to support Vinokourov, one of few riders I actually loathe. When I heard that the team unit itself was disbanding, that was a slightly down day, I have enjoyed rooting for the various versions of the team over the years. I do miss the Postal days. Anyway, I don't know if I can get behind Astana. Seems like it was a pretty dirty squad. Maybe the Disco boys will clean it up. We'll see. Other than them, I'm not sure who I can get into.

Last week I found a bike in the bushes at work. Somebody had taken a cheap BMX frame, put a 27" wheel fork on it with a 27 inch wheel, and put a cruiser bar on it. Like a little BMX chopper. If it had been done a little differently and maybe painted, it could have been pretty pimp. In any case, I now have an extra set of platform pedals. :) I am considering seeing if I can resurect the frame using the mag wheels from the folder.It would need a fork and new bars too.

Also on the funmobile side of things, the rack I ordered for my Jeep (in August!) finally came in. This enables me to haul my bikes and gear around again. Between the Thule Velo Vice trays my bro-in-law gave me last year and the my massive roof box, I can finally carry anything I need in/on the Jeep. I can potentially carry up to 5 bikes and gear and four people. Or more likely 5 bikes and just me... I am looking forward to riding in Shutesbury, MA again. There's a wicked hill there, 2 miles of perfect S-turns on recent pavement. Last time there I was coasting at 35mph for over a mile and three quarters. It is a ridiculous amount of fun. I'll be riding there in 2 weeks again.

France 3

2007-10-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

Ah Hell, it's October. Look at that. So anyway, stages, 12, 13, and 14, were really cool. For 12, we caught a spot near-ish to the finish in Montpellier. The caravan starts coming through waay before the riders. Van after van and car after car one by one. And flying past! There were some rather drunk fans that looked as if they had been having a grand old time most of the day, standing beside the road. Then the Peloton appeared down the road. First they were far away, then they were there, then they were gone. Holy smokes does it go by fast. It's more like a train than I ever realized. Then the second group came through and were gone. They were going so fast, I didn't recognize a single rider. Not one. I later found out that I got a pretty good shot of Boonen, which I am quite pleased with. And that was pretty much it. We walked around Montpellier a bit that day, and had a nice lunch in a large sort of square.

Stage 13, was a bit more scenic, we picked out a spot where the stage came nearest to where we were about an hour's drive away on a nice drive out through the country side into sort of a hillier area. Out in the middle of nowhere, we found cars lined up along the side of the road. We parked and walked down the road till we found the crowd. We were right at a 90° turn at the bottom of a hill so we went to just before the turn figuring that they would be stretched out and slowing for the curve. This reasoning worked well. As the Peleton Rolled by, they were all single file and a few of them could be recognized this time. I was able to pick out Boonen, the Discovery riders, and Rasmussen. This time there was an escape group 2 minutes ahead, then the peleton in a huge stretched out line and then another few groups trailing. It made for a much longer sighting. Memorable bits for the day included a large German that yelled at us becasue he thought we were going to stand in front of him. He was drunk and very much an ass.

Stage 14, the Time Trial was it for me though, this was my favorite day of the trip and it also provided the best photos. We went up to the large rolling hills where this
stage was located. It was bright and sunny when we left, wearing shorts, t shirts and sunglasses. However, teh weather had other plans. A cold rain came in. So I stood for 4 hours in the rain freezing my butt off having the time of my life. The riders, coming by one by one in order was so absolutley fantastic. Everyone knew who was coming next so different groups would periodically yell the rider's name as they came into view. The unforgettable moment would be when Christophe Moreau, the French national champion came into sight. A man jumped up pointing and shouted, "Mooorrr-eaauuuu!" and suddently the entire crowd was electrified. They went nuts. These rain-soaked, freezing cold fans were cheering like he'd just won. He's like a rockstar to the French. It was fun to see that kind of excitement and it reminded me just how far from home I was. As the boys from Discovery rolled through and I got to cheer for them by name, I think I felt a little of what the others had. The coolest was listening to the crowds cheer for each rider in their own language. Contador rode by to cheers of "Venga! Venga! Contatdor!" Moreau to "Allez Moreau!", there were also Germans, Australians, Brits, Swiss, and a couple languages I couldn't place. I think we were the only Americans at that spot. I was definitely cheering the loudest for Discovery at that stretch.

After that, I was pretty much satiated. The tour got too far away to follow, so I watched on live TV as Vinokourov and Rasmussen disgraced themselves and Contador climbed to the top. I went riding on the folder, doing a longest ride of 24 butt numbing miles (poor saddle choice). In all the bike held it's own, but those mag wheels, while indestructible, have a bit of a wobble that adds to the butt numbing in a not fun way, I'll probably put the coaster wheel back on it. It was a good vacation in all. That's about it.

France Part 2

2007-08-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

So Marseillan is a pretty little town. Like any respectable European town, it has lots of little food markets, bakeries, fruit and veggie stands, butchers, fish markets, all the usual suspects. There's a town center that is basically the shopping area with little tourist shops, hair salons, cafes, and banks. So I got up and went to the grocery store with my sister Tara to stock up on cheese, wine, coffee, and whatever. We made some guesses as to the best cheap wines and were not disappointed. My method of picking bottles with cool labels seems to hold true. Suzy, however, made the best discovery in this department; It turns out that the region claims to have invented the Champagne method before Dom Perignon, who they also assert took/stole the idea back to Champagne to perfect it. So consequently you can get a bottle of bubbly there for about $3, that tastes more like a bottle of bubbly that cost $30 because they aren't in the Champagne region. Needless to say I came home with a dozen corks from these bottles to stick in the handlebars of various bicycles.

The first day, I pretty much just wandered around town for a bit and watched the Tour on tv, since I was waiting for my bike to show up from the airline. Being extremely jetlagged, this was just fine by me. I ended up getting my bike in the afternoon of the next day. The delivery guy only spoke French so if it were not for Tara, I would still not have my bike. He wouldn't bring it to the apartment, so he was trying to tell me I had to meet him at the town center. When he handed me the bag, it was apparent that it had been completely torn apart and repacked. The frame had a bunch of spots from getting ground around in transit, it looked like it was already an experienced world traveler. Nothing was damaged other than cosmetics, I had it back together and ready to ride in about 5 minutes. Took a quick spin around the block and everything was cool with the bike. Even in the short time pedaling around the block, I felt oddly safe on the street. Drivers there just know how to safely drive near bikes.

France Part 1

2007-08-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

I am probably going to have to break this up into a few chunks as I think about my trip so here's part one. I'll start with packing the bike. My original plan had been to cut down a cardboard box to fit the smallest possible size I could cram it all into. I folded up the bike and took off the wheels. I just a rough measurement to see if it would go into a box that wouldn't be oversize according to the airline. It had to be LxHxW < 63 inches linear. I fit it into a box that totaled up to 62.5", sweet. However, the box itself was clunky as hell and I had definite visions of me not enjoying toting it around cars, buses, trains, and airports; all of which my trip would include. This limitation almost caused the Dahon to remain in the States. -Enter Shelagh's bag: She lent it to me upon hearing about my struggles with the box. It was a huge rectangular duffel bag. It fit right around the bike and contoured in to fit it into a much smaller overall size. Also it actually had straps and handles for carrying. I packed in clothes tied up in plastic bags for padding and put shoes over anything that was sticking out, like the hinge mechanism for the main hinge of the frame. The padding situation was enough to protect it from the usual handling, but would not stand up to a serious drop or crunch.

The flight over was pretty good. I got stuck in a window seat next to a pretty german college student and her yowling cat. When I say "yowling" I mean a yowl like wild animal in heat. Punctuated about every 45 minutes by it completely flipping out and causing it's bag to hop around on the floor and triggering another round of apologies from her. I didn't mind, if I were a cat, I'd raise hell too.

Upon arrival in Marseille, I learned that my bike was still in Paris. Yay. They took my address and said they would deliver it to me as soon as possible, and "Here is your free toilet kit." Off to the train.

Not understanding French made for some good traveling antics, first the bus lady yelled at me about my credit card, then I couldn't read my train ticket so I didn't know where to sit and people kept telling me to move cause I was in their seat. Arriving in Agde (2 1/2 hour train ride away), my sister Suzy and my Mom met me at the train station to drive back to Marseillan, which is where we were to be based. Food, wine, bed.

Vive Le Tour!

2007-07-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

In a few short (long) hours I'm off to Le Tour. My bags are packed, I have my stage maps, a cheat sheet to say "I don't speak French", and the folder is ready to ride. I should be able to catch stages 11, 12, and 13. And then hopefully 14 and 15. I have learned that the town I'm getting of the Train at is the largest nudist center in Europe, so that'll be interesting, and the town I'm staying in is the home of Noilly Pratt vermouth, so cheers with the Martinis!

Here's how the folder shaped up with the modifications:

The mag wheels are supposedly "indestructible" (within reason obviously) it helps that they are cheap too! The cork grips are beaucoup comfy, I changed out the brake levers and added a rear bmx brake. Gone are the rack and fenders, I swapped the saddle to a TT saddle and the rear wheel has a freewheel rather than a coaster brake. I also swapped out the chain to a SRAM PC-1, 1/8" chain to go with the 1/8" freewheel on the rear. I swapped the folding plastic pedals first for spds, but then back out to some big ol' platform pedals to support normal shoes and reduce the number of footwear I have to take. It rides ok, it certainly isn't my road bike,
but it ships for free and will give me some good stories I'm sure. I took the water bottle cage back off the handlebars for packing reasons and I'm going to leave it off. I bought a daypack that I will likely ride with that has a pocket for a bottle.

In other top news, my bikes will have a place of their own to live again when I get back, I'm moving in to a room in a house owned by a musician in town here. It's pretty sweet digs and I'm very psyched about it. Walking or riding distance to damn near everything I need.

Looking silly.

2007-06-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

I took the folder out for its first serious ride. I did a 10 mile loop on it for a shakedown. I found that it is not at all squirrelly like I feared it might be. It is however, definitely not designed for a large rider. The handlebars are way too close, so it takes all the power out of the positioning. The seatpost is definitely not quite long enough, and the handlebars could benefit from an offset stem, rather than simple being a T off the top of the stem. The coaster brake has got to go, it's very snug, and the slightest backpedal will engage it enough to drag. I am starting to think that this bike might not be very fixed-gear friendly because of how low the BB is so I fear that pedal strike could become a major issue. I need to do more evaluating on this though. Wouldn't be the end of the world if I just made it a SS freewheel, becasue I could just pick up a stock bmx wheelset for that rather than having a custom fixed wheel built up. I probably looked rather silly in my serious bike duds riding around on the folder. I borrowed the SPD pedals from the pirate bike, and put the Velo TT saddle on it too. It is fairly comfortable with this set up, geometry aside. I would like to change the grips to something a little larger, probably cork. I need to get out for a longer ride to see just how long I can crank this thing for.

I also got back a new helmet from Giro to replace the one I just bought. The Pneumo was defective out of the box. I had bought an 06 model and they sent me a shiny new 07 model which is very cool. It's as comfy as the last one, and fits more securely thanks to the not defective Roc-Loc mechanism. I love this helmet.

More new toys and some heavy news.

2007-06-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

Since my last post a few things have been confirmed for me. Specifically, I'm getting divorced. I had never intended to use this blog for stupid whining but I guess that's where I've gone and I realize that some people will learn about this for the first time here, sorry about that, I don't really feel much like telling it over and over to everyone. This has actually caused me to ride less because my life is all over the place. I've had to move and consequently the bikes have been moving all over the place, and I just haven't had have time lately. Couple that with general emotional difficulties and I just haven't felt like riding. Tomorrow though, I get back in the saddle. Which saddle is still in question.

Another thing that has been confirmed is my trip to France to see Le Tour. I'm flying out the 14th of July and will be returning on the 28th. I should get to see the stages through Provence, and as it gets into the foothills of the Pyrenees. I am very excited about this.

To further this endeavor, I have finally broken down and ordered up a folding bike. It's a Dahon Boardwalk S1 as seen to the left. It currently weighs 30 pounds. My goal is to get it as light as possible. Saddle, pedals, crankset, and wheels will be swapped. The rear coaster brake wheel will be replaced with a fixed/fixed gear wheel for gearing flexibility. I am considering using a Surly Dingle Cog for two gears on one side and Dos Eno freewheel on the other for four total options. Though I may simply go double fixed for simplicity. I need to see how it rides for distance before I bother messing too much with it. If I can't go long on it I have some serious figuring to do for getting around France. Fenders, racks, chainguard and reflectors will all be gone of course. The handlebar will likely be treated to some cork grips and a replacement brake lever. I essentially bought this thing to have the frame as a platform to start from.

In other good news I have lost another pound. I am down to 181lbs with my target at 175lbs. I am starting to feel better about this because, coming from 190lbs (with a temporary spike up to 195lbs) I now have less to lose than I have lost so far. Feeling a little less like Jan and more like Lance (ha, yeah right). The remaining 6 is all abs, so biking is fairly powerless to help, situps and running it is.

Finally, I traded my truck in for a Jeep Wrangler. It is piles of fun. Has a hard top withe sunroof, new stereo, new speakers, new soft top, and some of the fun exterior stuff like grill guards and tail guards. Still trying to figure out how to get bikes on it. Nate (bro-in-law) gave me 4 Thule Velo-vice trays that I will likely mount up on an over-roof cage rack. Trying to figure out how to make some half doors for it. Possibly out of wood, fiberglass or maybe, just maybe some carbon fiber. Best of all, she gets the same mileage as my truck, but is approximately 10,000 times more fun to drive and designed from the ground of for fun toys.

New Toys, Old Toys

2007-05-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

The wind has seemed to quiet down some finally. Riding at lunch has been much more pleasurable. The other day I had a stark reminder why breakfast is important though. On our lunch ride we went out on the longer loop we found, and I realized I had not eaten yet that day. Not cool, that ride did not feel good. Eat breakfast, people!

I finally got around to installing a new BB in the Bridgestone. That dials my chainline in nicely on the single front ring to be evenly in the middle of the rear 7 speed gear cluster. The original BB predated cartridge BBs and that bike has thousands upon thousand of miles on it. The bearing retainers were just pieces floating around inside the cups. I'll probably overhaul that BB for another bike. So after putting a flat bar back on it, I'll be ready to go trail riding again. Haven't been for years, but I miss off-road. I'll be hitting the trails up at Moosehead this weekend.

The new toys are a longsleeve merino jersey that I can't wait to ride with, and a Park PCS-1 workstand. This came from PricePoint.com for $120, thanks Jim! It's a very solid stand, we borrowed one from Brian to build Jim's bike in, so I knew what I was getting when I picked it, extremely solid, easy to use, good clamp. It also came with a free Crank Bros 10 multi tool. It's a little bulkier than some of the more foldable models, but it makes up for that in being really solid. Out of the box I didn't need the instructions to put it together, it's incredibly simple. Only two bolts to fasten the lower legs to the Y-joint.

Jeremy asked me what cheap tires I would recommend to get a mountain bike back on the street. Instantly, I thought of the Kenda K-Rad 26x1.95s. I had these on my Bridgestone for all of last year as a mostly road single speed, and I just gave one of them to Tim at work who is now riding with it on the front of his Gary Fisher. The tires roll easily for street, but have enough of a low tread for grass and hard pack trails/dirt roads to get a grip. The checkerboard pattern looks good on a mountain bike and doesn't make much noise on pavement. I even rode these in 3" of snow in January, they did OK, but it was a little on the slippy side. To seal the deal, they are only $10 each from Nashbar. I only took them off the bike to put more aggressive trail/mud tires on.

Wind in the spokes

2007-05-06T03:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a windy month. Plenty warm enough for riding, but very generally windy. I've almost been blown of the road a few times though. It's now warm enough to ride to work every day but with that weird early spring temperature differential between 7:00am and a couple hours later. Most mornings I need tights, jacket, hat, gloves, and in the after noon I need none of that. So I've been looking like a camel on my way home lately with my jersey pockets stuffed full.

Today I basically have to go for a very long ride; The century date we've (Jim and I) been talking about is next weekend, but I'm not sure if that's going to work out for a number of reasons.

Now that the weather is a little more conducive to pictures, I got out the whole stable (well, except for the new guy) for some pictures. Here they are:

Nashbar Road bike, built 2006 (aka: Woof):

Dad's [now mine] Schwinn Suburban (1972):

I've been very excited to add Dad's bike to my collection. My earliest memories involve being carried in a backpack while atop this bike. We used to go for a bike ride almost every day when I was tiny. We would ride out to Dairy Queen for ice cream, and up to the powerlines to pick blueberries. I would invariably fall asleep during the rides with the wind in my face. This was a bike that had 10 whole gears. When I was old enough for my own BMX bike, I was amazed that you could have all those levers and gears and you could go so fast. The mechs on this bike are all very old, and weigh a ton. I have begun the process of tearing it down to make a single speed conversion out of it. I will likely be buying some new wheels for this bike soon. Probably track wheels so I can ride it fixed as well. I bought new rubber for it right away, only to find that yes, these are the old Schwinn proprietary rims that don't hold a conventional tire bead. 90 psi- BANG! Off like a shotgun.

Raleigh R-300 (1997) Touring bike:

Hawthorne Fixed-Gear (aka: Dump Bike):

Trek Cruiser Classic (frame 2006) Fixed-Gear (aka: Pirate Bike):

Bridgestone BB-1 mountain bike (1992):

Not pictured are a couple crappy old frames that are hanging in the corner, a Schwinn Varsity, and a gas pipe Shogun. Also just yesterday I picked up a dept store ten speed with a decent looking lugged steel frame, fenders, and 26" wheels. That may be destined for a bizarre FG conversion.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

2007-04-07T04:21:00.000-07:00

So I'm Dreaming of a White Easter may be a new song, since a white Christmas is getting to be rare. With a constant string of travel followed by a dang blizzard, riding days have become scarce again. While in Texas last week, I did pound out a couple good long workouts on a recumbent stationary bike, but it really just isn't the same. I did give the PB a bath last weekend, so its "Back in Black" for that bike. The Brooks b17 honey colored saddle looks pretty sharp on it. I clipped on my old MTB rear fender to protect the Brooks and rode it for the first time a couple weeks ago. I think it will work out well.

This week began the assembly of Jim's Gunnar. Oh baby. After a bit of a fiasco with him driving up here to build it last weekend, only to find out the wrong headset had been shipped, getting down to it was good. I used my Nashbar headset press for the first time, it's a thing of beauty. The cups just slide right into the head tube. Jim says "It looks like a bike", it just needs the dérailleurs, chain, and shifters put on. I have never seen a red like is on that bike. It's the purest paint color I've ever seen. So we will probably finish it up on Monday at lunch. Hopefully today will be conducive of riding. It's supposed to be sunny, so there's hope.

Saving Daylight

2007-03-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time of year again. Wait a minute, no it's not. It's early for DST but what the hell, it just makes it so I can ride after work earlier so I'm not complaining one bit. This morning I took the Raleigh out for a good one. Did about 32 miles and change. Not many cars out and quite tolerable weather. Around 50 and overcast. Wet roads like crazy. I had this uneasy feeling that my tires were sliding out from under me a few times. I'm not sure if they were or if I'm jsut crazy, it was a quite unsettling feeling. I wasn't imagining it when I rode over the metal grate bridge at the Salmon preserve. I was distracted with nature and almost went down twice. That would not have been pretty at all. I've heard of people going down on those things and I know I don't want to do it. I guess I'm going to call this the official start of the riding season for me. DST will allow me much more flexibility in riding, and I should be able to start riding to work again this week.

On the wrenching side of things. Jim sent in measurements to Gunnar so now he's waiting in the verdict; custom or stock frame. I will likely soon move my moustache bars to the Raleigh, and I have decided instead of putting the triple back on the Bridgestone, I will probably get a Surly stainless single ring for the front, and run 1x7.

Calm before the [next] storm

2007-03-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Well, the last couple of days have been gorgeous, mid day temps in the 40s, bright sunshine, and clear roads. I brought in the newly reconfigured Pirate Bike. I changed the handlebar to a flat bar with Ritchey grips like came stock on my Mtn bike in 92, and changed the lever to a proper V-brake lever. I can stop like crazy now. So I brought the bike to work and rode at lunch the last two days, putting me over 100 miles for the new year. Unfortunately, there is a blizzard coming tomorrow, so I will likely not be able to ride again outdoors for at least a week or two. C'est la vie. I am considering changing the bar on the Raleigh tour bike to the moustache bar formerly on the PB, for some classic touring stylee. Though if I do that, I might want a shorter stem on that bike.

Also on the horizon is a custom build for Jim who is ready to upgrade his aluminum Cannondale, to a Gunnar Roadie, that we will assemble with a full Ultegra kit (oh baby). So we'll see what the weather brings us tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be riding more soon.

But baby, it's cold ouside.

2007-01-21T04:51:00.000-08:00

Saturday made for a bitter cold ride. I went out on the newly reconfigured Bridgestone. Reconfigured back to MB riding, that is. A new Dart classic graces he front wheel, some old Kenda mb tire on the back, new Exage Mountain rear derailleur. When I the the gumption, I'll put a flat bar back on it, and maybe, just maybe, the front derailleur, and if I'm feeling really into it, I've got an old Alivio crankset to completely regear the thing since I'm only running a 40t ring up front. Ah, but I digress.Last week on sunday, after my leg cramp inducing ride, I went out in the snow for 11 on the Bridgestone, the snow is what brought on this bout of wrenching, I am starting to remember how much fun offraod riding is and want to get back into it after 10 years of roadiedom.

When I set out I had planned to explore 2 dirt roads. Unfortunately, it turns out the Russel Road is what I had suspected, a summer-only road not plowed in the middle section that is like all too many back roads in Maine. The road was very rutty and made for a good work out with packed snow. That rear tire leaves a little to be desired in terms of snow traction but I knew that. I had one near miss with a rut on the side of the main road. It was a good reminder that you can't take the "surface" for granted in the winter. The wind did me in as I doubled back up Russel. On 126, the wind was so strong from the west, that I could barely pedal against it. I had planned a 12 mile ride but cut it short to 8 miles and change. It was 18°F, with the wind, I have no idea what it "felt like". I had on tights, Gore-Tex pants, Ski parka, fleece jersey, Duofold longjohn shirt, windstopper gloves, fleece balaclava, merino socks, and Salomon shoes. Feet cold, hands warm, head cold, chest warm, pants cold.

Winter's Here?

2007-01-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I did 25 miles on the PB. I still love the big 700X32 Panaracers I put on last week the one extra gear inch it gives makes the gearing great. I set out on a circle of unknown distance; I was pretty sure it wasn't more than 30 miles. It was a good loop, I will ride it again, it provides a good mix of descents, climbs, a few short flat stretches but mostly the usual rolling terrain. The only problem was that it was 35°F and I was riding into the wind for 75% of the ride. The kind of wind Garrison Keilor quotes as saying, "I'm gonna kill you , Boy." I had to stop 3 times to stretch my calves due to the descents.
This was one of those rides that makes you feel old. Amanda dug out her old yearbook later on in the evening from her mom's house. Looking through at the photos from the year I was in the best shape of my life is not great for the ego, when you get back from a ride like this. This morning I feel like someone beat the crap out of me. I suspect it's easier to feel young when it's warm.

It was a good mind clearing ride and I did actually half-assedly invent a new piece of bike tech: A single sided hub that would mount both a freewheel and fixed cog on the same side. I'm still working out the details in my brain. I got the idea from the White Industries Dos freewheel unit. I doubt I have the technical capacity to create this from old parts. Though there is also the possibility of modifying a freehub to accomplish the same task via a locking pin(s). I need to disassemble one to figure this out. I assume I could modify a freehub easier than a freewheel mechanism. The idea would be so that it would be more practical to switch between fixed/free on a really long ride.

Global Warming

2007-01-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it's here. 60°F this is January, in Maine. Today I changed the tires on the PB out in the garage. I put on some all black Panaracer Urban Max tires 700x32. This is notable more for the fact that I was not wearing gloves at the time and I was in the unheated garage. Even more notable was when I finished, I took the Raleigh out for 17.5 miles and I wore shorts and a longsleeve jersey! January! This is really just a bit ridiculous. I saw joggers, walkers, horse riders. It was like Spring. I'm enjoying being able to ride, this was my first ride of 2007, but jeez, this weather ain't right.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to go for a ride today, but Old Man Winter finally delivered some serious anti-biking weather. 33°F and rain/snowing. I did get to ride yesterday. I took out the Bridgestone with the rear derailleur back on it making a 7 speed mtn bike. With the high limit pin gone (completely seized, had to drill it out) it makes for some twitchy shifting. Looking to replace that derailleur with an old XT model hopefully. The roads were completely covered with packed snow. I only rode up to the end of the road and back, but it was nice to get out. The new tires came in for the PB, 700x32, unfortunately, I bought the wrong size innertubes. Doesn't much matter, since anything but knobbies can't go for a while here. So here's to a new year. Happy riding to all.

12-27-2006

2006-12-28T10:14:00.000-08:00

After hemming and hawing about whether or not I was going to ride at all, I ended up riding the PB to my parents house which makes for about a 27 mile ride. I managed to make a new benchmark for myself riding fixed on this ride. I didn't touch the brakes once. Today my left Achilles tendon is a bit tight but it was pretty cool coming down the biggest hill on the way and not using brakes. It makes me want to go brake-less just for the aesthetic, but I know that would just be foolish and asking for trouble at this point. By the time I got there I was pretty out of juice.

Today I will likely go for a fairly easy ride to loosen up my tight leg. I need to do a little shop time too, to clean up, get the tools all in order and re-clear out my work space, for the 90,000,000th time.

Just riding in the Rain

2006-12-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

Did a few miles on the Pirate Bike on Christmas Eve. I put my one pair of SPD pedals on that bike and it's a totally different ride. I can actually skid that bike without brakes when clipped in now. The roads are a little crappy now that they've been sanding so I'm thinking of moving up to some wider tires, probably some 32's that just so happen to be on sale at Performance.

Today it was raining so I broke out the tour bike that I recently added some Planet Bike Freddy fenders to. While the fenders were a pain in the butt to mount, they rule. No up spray, no spallter all over my legs and feet, I rode right through some long deep puddles just to see how well they worked and I have no complaints. This was the first rain ride I've ever come home clean from. I just need to finalize some drive train treatments and the Raleigh will be a fantastic foul weather bike. Tomorrow I'm going to ride to my parents house for our Chirstmas get together. Up in the air on which bike; it may snow. I'm leaning towards the Pirate Bike, but if it's real crappy I just may go back to the Raleigh.

Been Awhile

2006-12-20T06:33:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, I started a blog. Now that I've remembered I started a blog this spring, time to revisit it. This summer I have cranked out a bunch of miles, built two bikes, and also had the miracle of my wife getting into cycling (like really into it!).

The new bikes.
First, I built up a new road bike. I went with a Nashbar (Leader?) frame. The final build can be seen on the Nashbike page (I'm Sam K). I had an utter blast sourcing the parts and building the bike up. All told I pretty much exploded the myth that you can't build a bike cheaper than you can buy off the shelf. I love the way the bike rides. I have named this bike "Woof".

Secondly, I caught fixed-gear fever in a major way. First I took my old beater of a Schwinn Varsity and stripped it down and JB Welded a cheap track cog onto the hub. I took that for a ride and damn near killed myself, BUT I was instantly hooked on riding fixed. The Schwinn is a bit small for me so I moved my fixed wheel over to the Hawthorne and did a few miles on that. I could see that this was not going to stand up to my new need. So I started sourcing some parts here and there. A wheelset, moustache bars, eventually a frame. It's all based around an '06 Trek Cruiser Classic aluminum frame. It's all black and to me, it's hot. I'm still working on some cosmetic details to add a bit of a pirate theme to it. We've been calling it "the pirate bike". I love this bike. It's got a looong cruiser wheelbase, 44in! Running 700c wheels, 39x16 gears, and 19mm tires for the hills round here. I rode it 30 miles to my parents house on Thanksgiving. That was a glorious ride and it may become the topic of another entry.

Stupid Rain

2006-06-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sure getting sick of the crappy weather. Between traveling for a few days and some crappy weather, I haven't been riding a whole lot. This morning was a pretty good ride in, I rode the Raleigh in, I didn't feel quite up to riding the singlespeed in, didn't sleep well, the dogs were being freaks all night. I'm to the point where it's warm enough that I will likely begin riding even if it is raining, I just plain need more time in the saddle.

On the Road Again

2006-05-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

So I haven't ridden in over a month and I'm not feeling too good about it. I rode my single speed today, after getting rid of the chain tensioner that turned out to have a defective spring (that's why it's never worked!). I'm now riding at 40/15 with perfect chainlength, which is cool. Cruising speed is up a little from the higher gearing so that's nice too, though hills provide much more of a workout now. Aesthetically, I love having no tensioner on the chain, it's very clean looking. Well, clean from a design standpoint, the bike itself is filthy and needs a good scrub ;) Anyway, it's good to be riding again. It was a nice cool morning and traffic wasn't bad.

Dry mouth

2006-04-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

Haven't ridden in a few days for stupid mundane reasons. Very windy today. Ride in this morning was good. First morning ride with shorts. I wore my wind shell, but didn't really need it. It was about 50 degrees. Got pretty warm by the time I reached town. I stopped a few miles in to adjust my saddle, this was also my first ride on a new saddle and seatpost combination. I love the seatpost, my first carbon fiber purchase. The saddle is nothing special, but I think will be quite comfortable once I get it in the right place. The combination is 80 grams lighter than before, or roughly equivalent to two sips on a water bottle.

Ride at lunch was pretty good a felt a good pace in my legs, though I seem to have pulled a muscle in my leg and I'm not entirely clear on what the muscle is called. Will probably get to ride tomorrow too.

The ride home was pretty brutal. It wasn't any longer, but it was a lot windier than normal. I got blown off the pavement once and into the freshly graded shoulder. That could have been bad if it weren't for the fact that the wind had already slowed me down so far.

Spring is here, finally.

2006-04-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

OK. It's been fairly warm the last few days. On Tuesday, I rode to work, then rode at lunch with Jim. Still a bit nippy in the morning, but I have been able to do without a neck fleece and just a windshell over a jersey. Riding at lunch totals up to about 24-35 miles for the day when added on to the commute. On Wednesday, the commute absolutely sucked once I got close to town because the road crews were out working in the shoulders. The bridge was plain dangerous on the way home because they had swept the sidewalks off into the roadway, thus rendering the bridge shoulderless. It got a little tight near the end of the bridge and I got tapped by a pickup that was crowding me on the edge. Luckily they swept the shoulders overnight and now the roadway should be better than before. The wind has been up the last few days. Yesterday it rained so no riding. I did do some drivetrain cleaning. I can hear the grit in there when I crank it around so I think I'm going to have to disassemble the drivetrain and give it a good deep cleaning. Today's lunch ride was pretty good, sunny, warm, slight breeze. Ordered up a new seatpost and saddle. This should let me get my saddle height up to where it needs to be and we're adding a little bit of cool factor since it's carbon fiber. The saddle is sort of TT style with a wider nose, I think I'll like that. We'll see.

Back in the swing

2006-04-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

Another 35° ride this morning. Having to stop to shed layers after a few miles just can't be helped. It's just plain too cold to start out with out the extra insulation, and when the sun comes up it warms up fast. Good rides today though, I can feel a little bit of the power coming back into my legs. Tomorrow begins our lunchtime rides at work. It'll be nice to get out in the full sun and warmth of the day; they're saying it'll be 65° today.

Did a little wrenching tonight. I put my saddle little farther forward to get a little more power out of my position, and raised the handlebar via the stem quill by about an inch. I think this is going to make for a much more aerobically productive combination. When I went to raise my seatpost just a hair, I did discover that I have been riding for years with my seatpost above the minimum insert line, it seems to be a short post. That kind of sucks, but at least I have a valid excuse to get a new one...

Pretty cold

2006-04-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

Anticipating one day of decent weather between days of snow/rain/cold I decided to take advantage of one day of just cold. I bundled up with a short and long-sleeve jersey, my , shorts, untights, windjacket, hat, neck fleece and full finger gloves. It was 30 deg F when I left, pretty nippy for a ride. I warmed up after the first hill and by the time I got to Sparrow Farm, I actually stopped to take off my neckwarmer. Crossing the bridge was a little hairball. I was fairly far back in the line of traffic at the light so we were steaming right along by the time I had to make the turn. I probably should have waited for the next cycle.

Ride home was pretty good, it was warmer than on the way in. I met up with my friend the North Wind, for a fairly stiff headwind towards the end, but the highlight was the car that cut me off to cross in front of me to get in her driveway instead of just waiting a moment to let me cross. She realized how stupid it was to turn across me when she saw just exactly how close we were. If I did not jam on the brakes, I would have ridden right into her door. I could see by the look on her face that she would likely not do that again. Le Tour 2005 disc 1 was waiting for me at home. So I finally get to see Robbie McEwan's head butt, Zabrieski's ill-fated crash, Lance passing Jan in the TT, and some of the other priceless moments that happend early in the Tour last year.

Trainer time

2006-04-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Raining cats and dogs. No commute today, 30 minutes on the trainer instead while watching Bertie & Jeeves. Supposed to snow tonight, so it'll probably be the trainer again tomorrow.

Banana Foam?

2006-04-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

Nothing like burping banana bread foam during a ride... It was good bread, teh first time. Probably won't ride tomorrow, it's supposed to rain/snow and be way cold, it is definitely not warm enough for a rain ride. Maybe I'll set the Raleigh up a for a good soak in degreaser to shed some of the pounds of greasegrime that I never cleaned off last fall. Then again, maybe I'll be feeling insane enough for a single speed ride...

In other useless thoughts I've got the Jones for a new bike, that's a bad thing. Worse yet, I want to build one. Not having the cash for that makes it much easier to not blow money on it.

Saving Daylight

2006-04-03T05:36:00.000-07:00

Yowza. First commute in Daylight Saving Time. Temp around 35 deg F, with the sun just peeking over the trees. Pretty nippy starting out. I changed the brake pads on the Raleigh this morning. Not bad, 9 years for an OEM set. The new ones are Aztec mtn pads. Changing the pads wasn't too bad, the cantilevers are much easier to work on than the ones on the Bridgestone. It made for a nice ride to know that I could stop when I wanted to. Warmed up after about 3 miles. Gotta do something about the seatpost. It's either nose up or nose down. I can't find the happy place in the middle.

First rides of the season

2006-04-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

Two simple rides. The first, I figured I would use as a simple shakedown of my touring bike. I had to drop the truck off for inspection so I just rode a couple miles from the garage to work in the morning. I discovered on my first shift, that my rear STI shifter was not in the mood to work, so I got to ride in one gear. Had I chosen to actually ride my single-speed this would not have been an issue. Temp was around 45, this was the first time using my new Zephyr jacket, it's the first Pearl Izumi item I have ever paid full retail for and I'm glad I did. At lunch I picked up some WD40 and gave the rear shifter a quick squirt, that was all it wanted to shift normally, so the ride back was better, though I guess I pushed too hard up the hill and stopped too suddenly because I nearly passed out at the garage... this was a two mile ride. Yeah. I think my blood sugar was waaay low, I pushed too hard up the hill, and I haven't done much cardio this winter since I've been working on the house.

Next day, first full commute to work of the season. The ride is only about 7 miles and change. Still loving the new jacket. Sun shining, no breeze, the wind on my face was a little nippy till I got warmed up after a mile or so. The new pavement and wider down in Randolph is going to make for a much nicer commuting season. Now if they'd just finish the job on 126 I'll be all set. There was a goodbye party at work for someone leaving the company, so after a beer at the pub, I had a nice ride home. First heckle of the season. The 2nd mildest of all heckles. A simple "Hey" as a minivan loaded with teens sped past. All in all a good first ride. I'm looking forward to the season.

Getting started

2006-04-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

I intend this to be a journal of my cycling activities. Probably not terribly exciting reading material but that's what I've got for you. I love biking, plain and simple, and that's what this is going to be about. So what follows will probably be a mix of entries concerning my commute to work, fun rides, fitness rides, some prattle about working on bikes and maintenance, and maybe even some general bike related musings. The bike I am riding on a given day will greatly affect the type of ride I am on, so here's little about my bikes, currently my stable consists of:

Raleigh R300 touring bike: my graduation present from high school (I'm now 27). British racing green. This bike is mostly original. Only the pedals have been changed out for clip-less pedals. I have also added some clip on aero bars for some extra hand positions on long rides.
Bridgestone BB1 pseudo-mountain bike: I have converted this bike to single speed from being a 21 speed, also, the only things left from the original bike are the frame, stem, crank arms, and front wheel. Everything else has either been replaced or removed over the years. I have thousands upon thousands of miles on this bike. Before it was a single speed I rode it from Maine to Cape Cod. This was my first brand new bike when I was in 8th grade, luckily I only grew an inch since then and I can still use the frame!
Hawthorne (department store brand of Montgomery and Ward) English style 3speed: From the 70's, it has the internal geared hub they made back then, the kind where you have to stop pedaling to shift. The paint is gold and all the parts are chromed. It's very slick when all shined up.
1968 Schwinn Varsity 10speed: I paid $5 for this bike last year at the fire department auction on the 4th of July. It's that really great green color. Everything on it is pure original, even the tires and tubes! It's a tad small for me, it's only an 18" frame, which would be fine for a mountain bike but the seatpost is just a bit shy of where I need it to be I am considering replacing the seatpost with a longer one so I can ride it a little more often. It's 42 pounds of classic American road bike.