Category Archives: Cycling

Dad – you bike too much!

30 Monday Jan 2012

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January Populaire, a set on Flickr.

This was my first “bonk” ride. I was out of gas at about the 58 mile mark. Nearly had it finished, and just bonked hard.  That night, my daughter told me “Dad – you bike too much!”.  I had to agree (regrettably).  I resolved to commute a bit less, and bus more.  I want to get more miles on the longer rides, and need to save my energy.

In hindsight, I took a month off cycling, and then the week before, had done 4 solid days of commuting. I was tired.

I then met up with a rider from Bremerton with a beautiful Mitch Pryor (MAP) Rando project bike.  We ended up talking through most of the ride, and I was forgetting to eat much or drink water until over halfway through.  I started to suffer at 30 miles, and had a granola bar and a handful of trail mix. I’m pretty certain I became dehydrated by the end of the ride.  I was a bit dizzy, and had no energy left. I had to stop to eat on the 45 minute drive back to keep from dozing off.

Live and learn.

Otherwise, it was a beautiful ride around Camano Island. There were 80 folks that pre-registered, and it looked like we had at least 50 show up. Lots of variations of machines. Everything from custom MAP randos, to titanium Davidsons. Tandems, carbo/alums, and everything in between. I did the ride in a bit over 5 hrs. My AHH rode flawlessly. I had no discomfort, and the drivetrain was nice and quiet. I had put new cranks on with a lower 32t small ring, and was glad I did based on the hills we went up.

I’m looking forward to a real 200k. Now I know that I need constant food/water to make this work…

On Mountain Biking

02 Monday Jan 2012

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When I started biking seriously in Jr. High, ten-speeds were all the rage. My first real bike was a Raleigh Reliant of ’82 or ’83 vintage. I proceeded to ride a two day MS 150 from the Twin Cities to Duluth, but mainly just rode around the area I lived (suburban St. Paul, MN). I brought the bike with me when I moved to Washington state in ’91, and did some bike commuting.

On a summer trip to Whistler, I got my first taste of Mountain Biking. A friend had just bought a Diamondback, and suggested i take it up the jeep road for a spin. After struggling up the rocky road, all the while marveling that I could even stay upright, I found a smooth dirt path that was fairly level. This led to a steep ravine down ‘n up that was covered in 2-3’ chipped stones. My tires barely touched the ground as I sailed down it the first time, and I nearly came off the bike. I was laughing so hard at my near death experience, I had to repeat it a few more times before returning to camp. I felt something that I had forgotten about. I felt like the kid I had been in the seventies riding my bike everywhere – dirt, field, or road. Soon after getting home, I bought my first mountain bike.

Revived "first mtb"

Looking back, what I discovered wasn’t so much a different class of bicycle, but just the joy of riding a bike on rough dirt/rock trails. Big tires made it easier, but it could have been any bike in that setting, and others like Grant Peterson of Rivendell, or Chris Kostman of Adventure Corps who needs a MTB? maintain that there are many ways to ride off-road.

I renewed this love again this summer at nearly the same place it started for me with a short ride in the hills surrounding Whistler Village. I went for a ride with a friend and encountered some great singletrack. I had the same feeling of being a big kid in the dirt even though i was riding an old bike with drop bars and smooth (albeit fat) tires.

Drop Balloon Bike in the Woods

My daughter and I recently went to a more local venue near Seattle called Duthie Hill. We had an incredibly fun time doing the beginner loop and really enjoyed the smooth, flowing sections. It feels a bit like skiing at times. Just one continuous smooth flowing ride down a hill through the trees. We saw a lot of guys with modern kit like full face helmets and pads riding monster travel full suspension bikes. Great stuff for the more technical trails, but not necessary for our fun ride.

"New" MTB

I will always love riding the dirt, and some of the best is here in the NW!

Nothing like it!

Building a Dynamo Wheel

28 Wednesday Dec 2011

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I decided to document a recent wheel build to try to capture my thoughts while going through the process.  Ever since I bought my Rivendell in 2009, I planned to add a dynamo lighting system to it.  I experimented with one last year on a “winter” bike, and decided it was awesome for a number of reasons.  It takes all the thought and worry out of riding at night.  You will have a light, and it will not gradually fade out like battery systems.  With the modern German lights made by Busch & Muller or Schmidt Maschinenbau, the beam pattern is wide, bright, and generally much more usable than what I was used to with the round, unfocused beams on the battery lights I have used.

New Hub

I have built a couple mountain bike 26″ wheels in the past, so I felt like I needed the practice.  The front wheel is just a 2-3 hour job for me at this point, and the hardest part is getting the wheel laced up correctly.  In the end, this went pretty well – I just sat down in my office with the parts and a few books (Jobst, and Zinn), as well as the Sheldon Brown wheelbuilding web site.  I had used beeswax on the spokes in the past, but this time I went with linseed oil as was recommended by my local bike shop.  I lined up the wheel, and got all the spokes laced up with 5 or 6 turns of the nipples.

New SON 28 Freshly Laced

At this point, it was on to the Park truing stand for tensioning and truing:

In Stand and Ready

I used a Park Tensiometer to bring the spokes to a proper tension, and found that plucking them for tone was a great way for me to get them consistent.  The rim I used, a Velocity Synergy, is the same as the back wheel from my prior set.  I found it to be simple to lace.  It was also quite true once the spokes were tensioned up.  I didn’t have to do too much fiddling with this rim to get it right.

All Unwrapped and Freshly Mounted

Next up: mounting the Edelux light on the front of my Platrack.  I decided to mount it front and center keeping the light low to give good relief to the road irregularities.  I’ve read that most dynamo lights are designed to be at fork crown height for optimal beam.

Edelux

Here are a few pictures of the mount and wiring:

Showing the Light Mount

From the Bottom Showing Rear Wiring

Front Cable Run Along Rack

Joining Fork

Looped Once at Bottom and Connected to Hub

Rear Light Wiring at Front

Joining Frame Along Brake Cable

Routing on to Seat Stay

Down Inside of Stay

Routed Under Fender

... and Out to the Rear Light

The trickiest part was finding a way to route the “too short” rear wiring in a way that would work.  I used Shoe Goo to glue the wiring under the lip of the fender.  It worked out just fine, but I would have rather had an extra foot of wire so I could route it along the downtube and chainstay.  Ultimately, this setup works really well, albeit with a bit less tire clearance in the back :)  The lights are on whenever I need them, and I don’t have to worry about batteries.  The beam on the Edelux is wonderful, and easily as bright as any of the other lights I’ve used (Planet Bike 2 watt, EOS, B & M IQ Cyo).  Happy rides!

From the Front

And Behind

Wheel Carrier

08 Thursday Dec 2011

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Wheel Carrier, a set on Flickr.

I had to carry a rim home tonight, and could not devise a good way to put it on the front rack. This seemed to work out pretty well, and I got home with nary a scratch.

I used zip ties to try to keep everything snug and rattle-free (at least on the fender).  I had done this method of wheel transport before, and every bump bounced the bottom of the wheel off the fender.  Tieing it down really helped this time.

I had to watch how close I got to traffic, parked cars, and other bikers, but it wasn’t a problem.  I did have a bit of scratching on the top where the rim was held by the straps and buckles.  This was likely due to the rim coming in contact with the metal seat loops that the bag straps use.  Nothing a light sanding won’t remove, but a slight annoyance in the occasional rattle department.

Next – on to the build…