2014 Redux

29 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling, Northwest, Randonneuring

Tags

100k, 200k, 650b, a. homer hilsen, acorn bags, ahh, bar tape, bicycle, bicycle commute, brevet, commute, compact double, compass, cyclemeter, Cycles Toussaint, cycling, cypres, diamond wrap, dynamo, dynamo lighting, Edelux, fenders, Gran Bois

An auspicious year for this family of horses, 2014 was pretty nice. There were a few epiphanies, and a lot of riding. I’m sitting around resting a nagging medial knee issue that has kept me off the bike for the past week or so. I’ve been wanting to get out and do one last permanent to finish off the 2014 season, but better judgement is telling me to wait until the knee feels normal. I know from past experience that the best way to heal is to go easy for a while.

While I didn’t do much more mileage this year, it was still a full year of riding with 3,111 miles (just over 5000 kms) so far. Last year I did just over 3000 miles, as well. I did most of my brevets early, with the organized rides over at the end of March. That month was also my first 500-mile month. I rode my first solo permanent in April, and did some Moab mountain biking over spring break. July brought the Entmoot, and as usual, a lower amount of riding as I seem to slow down in the summer months.

I picked it back up in September, and peaked in November with a late season 200k permanent around Whidbey Island. I am loving this island’s smooth hilly roads, and have a few more brevets and just general rides planned for the future. My average speed has not budged in the past 3 years, so I may work on my fitness in the new year and see if I can’t bump that up with some interval training. I am still hedging on the longer rides (over 300k) – I’m just not sure if I would enjoy them. The Entmoot ride was an eye opener this year, and I feel like unorganized rambles have a special attraction with exploration and time for photos and camping with friends being great short vacations. The planning and anxiety around an organized brevet sometimes feels like work.

As for the mechanical side, I am slowly gaining more perspective and opinions on what works for me. I really like the Cycles Toussaint experiment with low trail and plump 650b tires. Tubeless has worked out well, too. I appreciate the extra cush on the rides, and less worry about flatting. I still enjoy the Hilsen’s ride with the 32mm Compass tires, too – they are almost as compliant with significantly less air volume.

I’ve come to feel that the 42cm Noodles are the right cockpit for me over the long distance. I continue to enjoy the Selle Anatomica saddles, and Sidi shoes. I am not bothered by having 7 or 8 speed cassettes, and index and friction both work, but on the longer rides, I appreciate the simplicity of indexing. I have bar-end shifters on the Toussaint, and downtube shifters on the Hilsen, and both are set up indexed at this point.

I really enjoy the centerpull brakes on both bikes, but the post-mounted Dia-Compes on the Toussaint have amazing modulation and easy setup. I appreciate the simplicity of the older brake style. I think a great project would be to have centerpull braze-ons added to the Hilsen, perhaps with a low-trail fork, S&S couplers, and Compass Mafac copies added. Hmmm – perhaps when it’s ready for a re-paint, I can convert her over to 650b as well? Probably a silly experiment better addressed by a custom.

If I were to have a custom built at this point, it would be a titanium or ultra-light steel tubed, low trail 650b all-purpose bike. I really feel like this is a do-all, go anywhere bike. The Rivs would remain my country and camping bikes, and the Toussaint would be backup brevet and city porteur bike. It would be great to have a lugged Weigle, MAP, or Pereira. Maybe a Bantam? Still dreaming of good rides ahead…

Why I Love Commuting by Bike

11 Saturday May 2013

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

avoid gridlock, bicycle commute, bike to work, cycling, freedom, gridlock, rivendell, speed

The last time I picked up bike commuting after a two year hiatus in Minnesota, it took a while to get back into the pattern of fitness. I recall being very tired by the end of the 2nd commute, and was fairly disenchanted with the weather. I stuck it out, however, and don’t even recall what drove me, but after a month or so, I realized that I was looking forward to the bike every morning.

Waiting for the train

Eventually, I lost interest in using the automobile for work unless I had a cross-town meeting for lunch. Even then, I found myself putting off meetings like that for weeks. I enjoy propelling myself to and from work too much. When I got behind the wheel, I found the experience both frustrating (traffic), and frightening (speed). The slower pace of the bicycle (as well as the quietness) acclimatized me to not be as comfortable at highway speeds. I’m sure this was how folks felt when motorized vehicles were introduced. The speed thing was especially interesting, as I am a soul that loves to speed along in any way I can. I have always enjoyed downhill skiing over cross country, downhill mountain biking over climbing, and bombing hills in the big ring. Heck – I was a sprinter in track – not the cross country racer I was built for. I think it’s the freedom and energy I get when I’m on the edge of control and wind is whipping past. It’s an awesome feeling! You never get that in a cage (car).

Waiting for the bridge

Another thing I love about the bike commute: although the pics in this post show times even bikes have to wait, for the most part you can go as fast as you want on a bike commute and keep things legal. You aren’t stopped by the mundane speed limit laws constantly reeling in the ridiculously over-built engines on racer-boy cars. Nothing like seeing a vehicle that can go 180mph driving the kids to school, or the exec to work. Talk about reigned in and collared! On a bike, if there is a traffic issue, I go around it or find another route. I can purposely choose a relatively empty way home even on “game days” when traffic is in gridlock.

Gridlock

At this point, my poor truck is rapidly becoming a classic Seattle-style moss and pollen collector, and I think about selling it every week. One of these days I will realize I haven’t driven in weeks and just take the car-free plunge.

Taking the empty, beautiful road

Commuting Primer

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

bicycle commute, bike commuting, bike month

Bike Month!

Since May is bike month, I figured I would post some thoughts and experiences on my years of bike commuting in Seattle, WA. I consider myself lucky to live in a town that permits this year-round, but I recall standing at the bus-stop in Minneapolis one day when it was about 14 below zero and seeing a grizzled bike commuter pedaling by. I guess this can be done anywhere! That takes me to the first item:

Fortitude

If you want to succeed in biking to work regularly, you have to get through the first month. If your commute is more than a few miles, you may want to start out small and work up. I generally ride 4-5 days a week these days, but when I started out, I did one day a week until that felt ok. Then I stepped it up to two days. After a few weeks of this I went to three, and so on. You will be frustrated at first by lack of energy, weather, bad drivers, bad bikers, etc… After a month, though, you may find that getting in a car is actually more frustrating, and you may find exhilaration in anticipating a nice ride in, or home. There will be days where you hear wind and rain and think “what the hell am I doing riding in this?”, but when you get out in it, it’s not really that bad. Same as skiing – water or snow. You will get wet and/or cold, but you’re still having fun.

All I bring along to work…

Planning

You will need to plan a tiny bit more to be a bike commuter – time, clothes, shower are all slightly modified. First off, it takes longer to bike to work (usually). Figure out how much time it takes on a day when you don’t have to be somewhere, or just give yourself way too much time. Keep your main clothes at work. I just bring an undershirt and socks with me. I take a shower before I leave. It’s generally cool in the morning, so I don’t break too much of a sweat on the way in. Nothing a good towel won’t take care of. I keep a week’s worth of pants and 2-weeks worth of shirts in the office. I launder these at a dry cleaner, but have brought bundles home via car/bus on my rest days. Remember – if you’re in an office job, you can generally get multiple wears out of a set of clothes between washes.

Find and Vary Routes

I have 3 or 4 routes I take regularly. There is the short-direct shot into work; the meandering coffee shop route; the long scenic route; the mostly trail route. It really helps to have options as it makes the trips fun, and not tedious. If you don’t like your route, take a different option, and don’t worry if it adds miles. My shortest route is 7.5 miles, and the longest route is over 13 miles one way. I can be just as tired after either of them, and all of them get me where I’m going. There is nothing quite as satisfying as passing a lot of traffic that is gridlocked due to a game or other random event. On a bike you have endless options!

I hope this helps – commuting by bike is really rewarding in health, stress-relief, and giving you time to think or wind down on the way home. It is a great way to turn a stressful activity on its head, and get something beneficial out of the time you may be spending in traffic.

Snow Commuter

25 Friday Feb 2011

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

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Tags

bicycle commute, brooks, commute, knobby, schwalbe, snow, snow commute, studs, thumb shifters, tires, v-brakes

I had built a set of snow stud tires a few years ago after a particularly long spell of snow in Seattle. I hadn’t gotten a chance to use them in last year’s mild winter, and put them away. In the meantime, I got a new “old” frame that I swapped out all my MTB components on and made a new winter bike. The problem is that my new bike wouldn’t fit the snow stud tires. I ended up rebuilding the old mountain bike frame into a dedicated snow beast. I finished it earlier this year, but too late to test it in the early winter snow we had.

Well – I got my chance on Wednesday. It was forecast to be a rough commute home with 2-6″ of new snow. Needless to say, I rode the bike in, and home on dry pavement (figures), and discovered a few things I had learned a long time ago.

Commuting on a mountain bike is no fun.
Thin handlebars with plain old cotton tape is not too comfy – I prefer cork tape overwrapped with cotton for a added girth.
I really like thumb shifters and v-brakes!
A non-leather hammock seat (in this case a WTB) modern seat is not comfortable to me – I developed hot spots on the “cushy” seat after only a few miles. I’m sticking with Brooks.
Studded knobby tires are a waste of time unless you are on deep snow. I went through more snow on Schwalbe Big Apple road tires with little problem earlier this year, and they were definitely less work.

I hate to say it, but this bike will quickly be sold, or just become a dedicated mountain bike again. Sometimes what appears to be bitchin’ is really just lame…