Gorge(ous) Rides

30 Wednesday Mar 2016

Tags

bicycle, Bike Portland, Cycles Toussaint, cycling, lyle, Noraneko, Portland, rivendell, the dalles, Tilikum Crossing

Hmmm – finally getting back to this writing business. I just returned from an amazing 24-hr trip to Oregon. It was a make-up for a trip I missed a year or two ago with a great pack of folks I met on the Seattle/Portland Riv Rumble.

Ride Leader Aaron

Unfortunately, I missed the first ride on Saturday, and rolled into town around 6pm. I met Aaron at the new’ish Freebridge Brewery in The Dalles, and there we decided to make a last minute plan change and head to Portland for a Rumble reunion with Chris and Andy. We made it to the Chen Palace™ around 10pm.

After lots of catching up, whisky tasting, and whatnot, we hopped the bikes and made our way to a late night ramen restaurant. On the way, we rode by Rivelo, Portland’s Rivendell dealer run by their old GM John Bennett. We also did a loop across the Willamette River on the new Tilikum Crossing transit bridge (no cars!).

After some crashing on Chris’s couch, we woke up to a sunny Easter Sunday and made Big Breakfast in the ChenKitchen™. Folks started showing up like this was some kind of tradition, and everyone was well fed by noon. That’s about when Aaron and I decided to get over to Rivelo and do some local economy boosting. He rode an Appaloosa while I picked out some Grandpa’s Tar Soap. When we were situated, we made our way back to The Dalles via Lyle, WA.

Here, a great 20-miler happened. Rainbows and unicorns (or at least camels). Pics:

Trailhead with Trusty Bikes

Early Trail

Klickitat

Looking Green!

Columbia River (way out yonder)

Twas a rainin’

OMG

The Cold Descent – Hobo Gloves

Posted by Brian Hanson | Filed under Cycling, Enduro Offroad, Northwest

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Trail Riding

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Tags

a. homer hilsen, bicycle, bike, commute, Cycles Toussaint, cycling, front bag, low-trail, randonneur, rivendell, Seattle, Velo Routier

I want to go into a bit more detail on what I’ve found in experimenting with a more traditional low-trail bike like the Vélo Routier, and compare it to the mid trail Rivendell A. Homer Hilsen from my last post. I have these bikes set up nearly the same. Both use 42cm Noodles, Compass cranks, and VP pedals (not shown), and Selle Anatomica Titanico saddles.

As the side view shows, the main difference is the fork rake and head tube and seat tube angles giving the bikes a slightly different geometry. The Toussaint has slightly steeper angles, and more rake giving it trail around 30mm, whereas the Hilsen is more relaxed with trail around 55-60mm. Yes, the Vélo is 650b and the Hilsen is 700c, but both bikes use light, supple Compass tires (tubeless even). The tire volume has a definite impact on the ride, but it doesn’t really relate to how the trail aspect affects the feel of the bike, at least not in the detail I’ll get into here.

Steering Curves

You can definitely tell the difference in the feel that the geometry creates when doing tight turns on the bike.

I’ll start with a spot in my commute that “pushes” technique a bit. There is a railroad crossing on my daily ride where I perform a fairly tight “S” turn that has fences on either side to keep me honest. The Hilsen requires more thought and body lean. The Vélo Routier requires less body, and steers the curves easier. This is the case no matter the load on the bikes for the most part.

On the other hand, when I put the Hilsen into a curve, it tracks it. When I put the Vélo Routier in, it will still respond to inputs. This can be good or bad. I would say that on the Routier, I have to stay on top of steering all the time, whereas on the Hilsen, I have to be a little more planned up front, but when committed, it requires less concentration from me.

Front Weighted Loads

The Routier is much less concerned if there is weight in the front. The bike doesn’t wag from side to side (wheel flop) when there is significant load, and when I park it with the front bag, it doesn’t sway over to the side. The times I’ve actually found this to be nice is when I’m parking the bike, and when I’m carrying a 10+ pound load (which is actually very rare for me).

My typical rando load is probably at most 5 pounds in my front bag with a layer, extra gloves, and food. This is easily handled with little problem on the Hilsen when similarly front bag equipped.

Tracking

The Hilsen always wants to go straight at speed – there is more gyro stabilization effect with this geometry. This helps when you want to be minimal in steering input. Examples: curves, laziness, riding no-handed. The Routier goes where your hands move it to. This isn’t great if you are tired or distracted. I’ve had a few more close calls on the Routier nearly going on a temporary off-road excursion. This has been at normal riding pace: 12-17 mph. I really noticed this “ultra responsive” steering at the end of a 300k when I was tired, and couldn’t seem to keep the bike going in a straight line without undue effort. I remember thinking to myself that the low trail was supposed to be “easier”, but in this case, under fatigue, it was actually the opposite. This is also a complaint generally fielded against higher trail bikes – that they tend to wander when climbing at slow speeds.

I’ve heard that wind gusts can really upset a higher trail bike, but I haven’t experienced that yet. Gusts tend to bother me on either bike, but not uncontrollably so.

UPDATE: a comment left by a reader asked about high speed descent handling between the bikes. I have noticed very little differences here – when moving at speeds over 20mph, both bikes feel stable.

Commuting

I find no real difference other than the amount of weight you want to carry. And, this only matters if you really want to carry a lot of weight in the front. I tend to hate on rear rack and pannier combos as I don’t like the tail wagging the bike feel, and the dirt on the panniers from road spray. Front bags are awesome for keeping your stuff accessible and clean. I don’t typically carry a lot of weight on my commute. I keep heavy clothes in the office, and only occasionally bring an iPad or MacBook on the commute. I will sometimes pick up beer, or other heavy items on the ride home, however, but either bike manages this for a few miles with no real problems.

Balance/CoG

Now here is something I’ve noticed more as I ride the Toussaint, and this is more obvious when I try to ride no-handed. I feel like my center of gravity is higher on the low-trail bike. It sort of feels like I’m sitting up higher and closer to the bars – more of an “on top” feeling rather than an “in the bike” feeling. I would just attribute this to the sharper seat tube angle – not even something that necessarily contributes to the trail number, but is part of the geometry difference.

Summary

Different trails for different folks with different needs. If you are a long-distance or endurance rider who carries a good load, is alert even after hours in the saddle (think 12+ hours), and you like to have a very precise feel for control on steering movements – go with a low trail ride. If you are regularly carrying large loads, and want them to stay clean and dry, go low trail. If you don’t mind carrying load in the back – it doesn’t really matter then.

If you like to ride long distances but want to be able to do lots of restful no-handed riding, and you like to zone out a bit more – go with a mid-trail bike. If you are a commuter and want a bike that doesn’t flop over and pull the bike down when you have stuff in the front basket/bag, get a low trail bike.

If you like to ride big tires with fenders, or have bigger feet, and hate toe-overlap, you may find you will have less on a low-trail bike as the fork is raked out more. Another consideration.

I find both of these bikes to be great brevet bikes. They are also great commuters. I would give the nod slightly to my Hilsen based on my riding style, preferences, and loaded weight characteristics. Someday, I’ll have to “pull a Chen” and “get another Hilsen” that is modified to low trail and then do a test, but that sounds like a lot of work. I’m moving out of my tweaking phase. My real recommendation is to get two bikes, one low and one mid/high, and find out what you prefer. Nobody can really just tell you – it helps to experience it yourself.

Posted by Brian Hanson | Filed under Cycling, Randonneuring

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New Toussaints

23 Wednesday Dec 2015

Tags

bicycle, commute, cross, Cycles Toussaint, gravel, pavé, randoneurring, Velo Routier

Our northern buddies at Cycles Toussaint in Calgary have introduced a new Vélo Routier. I took one out for a spin to see how it compared to my v1 bike.

V2 Vélo Routier

My first impression was that it felt just like my Vélo Routier. I’m not sure that I would be able to tell the difference in a blind test. It felt planted and quick steering. Comfortable, not quirky. This was set up similar to my own bike, with a Selle Anatomica, Noodles, bar-end shifting, and Compass tires. This geometry just works for me. Nice bike, great brakes. They offer the v2 in 2 versions – one with braze-ons, and one without. I really like the braze-on centerpulls and the quirky seat-stay pump mount, so that would be my choice. The blue color is a nice change, too. One new quirk – there is a slotted rear axle mount now, to better accommodate IGH or fixed/single gear hubs. While this opens up the bike to more options, it may make bikes with fenders tougher to change out a flat on, but there are ways around the problem.

Toussaint Pavé

The next bike is a demo that is a new direction for Toussaint. I believe this is an all-round road/gravel, maybe even cross bike. It was set up racier than I would typically ride, but it was surprising in a number of ways. The tubing is all stainless steel, which gives it a fairly “ti” look. The downtube is quite oversized, as well, at 38.1mm. This seems overly stiff for my weight range, but can be offset with cushy tires. It is spec’d to take a 45mm fender, so I would assume you could put the Compass Barlow Pass tires on with no problems. It looks like a Clement MSO would fit fine for a bit more bite.

Toussaint used interesting plated fork and seat stay crowns. I like the classic low fork bend of the Routier more. To my eyes, it would be a great match for the double plate crown on this bike. The “banana” bend just looks odd to me. I assume it makes the disc attachment easier/stiffer, but if the bike could use a more classic bend here, it would be prettier.

Double Plate Crown

Disks make it a great utility rain bike. I found the bike to be quite like the Vélo Routier in feel – even with a bit more trail on the Pavé (45mm). It still felt quick steering, and was light and fun to ride. I was wondering how it would be with some front or rear load. I may see if I can get an extended trial to find out.

Seat Stays

After the ride, I am hopeful this bike would fall into a similar price range as the Vélo Routier – if you could get a bike built for the rainy NW commute, not have to worry about rust or wet brakes, and still maintain great geometry that would handle randonneuring or lightly loaded gravel adventure rides – nirvana, right there!

The Toussaint blog (with lots of good info on the tubing, geometry, etc…) is saying they hope to sell these for around $2000, so I guess the tubing makes a big difference, but we’ll see what happens if they do a production run. This is a cool, practical bike!

Posted by Brian Hanson | Filed under Cycling, Northwest

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Oregon Outback 2015 – Day 4

10 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling

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Tags

Antelope, Ashwood, bicycle, Big Bend, bike touring, Gosner Rd, Gravel Touring, Hunqapillar, McKay, Oregon Outback, Prineville, thunder burt, Trout Creek

This was a day of big breakfasts, big climbs, big miles, and some of the best riding and views of the trip. My favorite day hands-down.

20 miles out of Big Bend campground, Prineville was the only “large” town we went through in our five days. We were drawn to the first diner we came to on Main St. My eyes were only a bit larger than my stomach.

– Yes, had to have the buckwheat pancakes, too!

– Yummm!

– 4 days in and still happy!

After eating our fill, we stopped at the grocery, and realized we still had plenty of food for dinner and lunch. I think we picked up more gorp, string cheese, and some Tylenol. I was starting to get a good picture of how over-packed we were.

The local bike shop was closed, so we couldn’t stop in for the legendary beer we heard about from other riders. Sad face…

Onward. Approaching the first big climb of the day around mile-25, the scenery was really turning out well.

– Green Ranches

This climb was paved, but rose about 2200 feet over 17 miles. Not too taxing – still early in the day, and at the top we rested with a few riders and compared tires and notes.

– The beginning of FUN

The next 10 miles were amazing. We were doing 25+ mph gravel switchbacks down Little McKay Rd. Loads of fun – edge of control with loaded touring bikes. At Trout Creek Rd, the route degraded to jeep road, more or less, and we ran into the creek crossing the road at least 5 times – sometimes 5-10″ deep, but at most 10-15 yds across. The first time was a circus with a large group of 5-10 folks hanging out taking pics and refilling water bottles. We did the same. I did a quick song and dance for Sprockets Podcast (one of the riders had a mic and was doing impromptu interviews of OO riders).

– Made it!

One of the riders in the crew was doing it on a Yuba carrying a hibachi grill. Awesome!

– Long tail bike madness

The next crossing was deeper, and we hit it faster. My panniers managed to put up a blanket of water spray that soaked me thoroughly. In darker news, the rocks managed to kill my cameraman’s front Thunder Burt with enough of a pinch flat cut that the Stan’s sealant was of no use. Tube time.

– Spray!

– Made it!

The next guy through – a solo rider from Seattle – managed to double flat. This was after a single flat in the last crossing. We spent the next 45 minutes putting a tube in John’s front wheel, and helping the other rider out.

– 3 flats in 3 minutes

Needless to say, we were more careful on the last few crossings, walking several. Hey – the shoes were already wet…

– Care must be taken

The rest of the descent was uneventful, if not a bit roller-coastery. I later mused that this was my absolute favorite part of the ride. Remote and scenic.

Nearing the bottom of the valley, we approached Ashwood through Fools Hollow and Slaughterhouse Gulch, (yes – look it up), what looked like a small town turned out to be about 5 houses, a short few hundred yards of pavement, and then a wall of a climb out of the valley on a gravel road just outside of “town”. Gosner road was a 500 foot climb with 8-12% grades, and it was fairly brutal after all that nice downhill progress. At some point, I tried hopping off and walking, but I quickly found that harder with a fully loaded bike than just sucking it up and pedaling in the easy gear.

– John breaches the first rise out of Ashwood

Thus began our quest to get over the latter two 1000-foot climbs of today’s route. I kept thinking we must have done it, but we would just come to another rise. I started to view climbs in a different light. I found myself hoping that the next corner would just reveal more climbing instead of relief, as I wanted to get the vertical I knew we had coming. It turned almost meditative with me concentrating on nose breathing, and just pushing on. Really kind of peaceful.

– Roads to somewhere

Again we rolled through some amazing western scenery. I think we saw 2 cars this whole stretch, and fewer riders. The terrain was continuously rolling and slightly brutal after the long day’s riding, but so pretty that it kept things interesting. We were constantly looking for trees now as it was our normal camp time, but alas, we were not finding much to hang a hammock on that was on the right side of the fences.

As we broke through the long descent into Antelope, I looked longingly at the city park with its big cottonwoods (slightly too big to put a hammock on). We only saw a herd of deer – we could hear music playing in one of the local homes, but no people were out.

– Nobody home?

– More citizens

With about 10 miles to go before our Shaniko camping destination, we at last hit the final 1000-foot climb. It was paved at least, but just as steep as the hills before. We rolled into Shaniko after a final paceline drive into the darkening sky. The kind folks who got there before us had saved some community food donated by a women from the local post office. I had some wheat thins and Spam, and John had a PB&J. We tied our hammocks to the posts sheltered by an old “wagon house” structure, and slept soundly. At nearly 100 miles and 7300 feet of climbing, it was our toughest, but most rewarding day.

Route Map – Day 4

Big Rides

13 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by Brian Hanson in Cycling, Northwest, Randonneuring

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Tags

100k, 200k, bicycle, brevet, Oregon Outback

I’m going into 2015 with an open mind. I would love to ride more brevets this year, but I’m leaving mileage goals wide open. I did a few “permanents” last year (solo brevets that you schedule yourself), and I really enjoyed them. There are 200ks around Whidbey Island that I’d like to do regularly, and I even set up some rides in the Ride with GPS app, including one populaire (100k) that I may ride and submit for permanent status if it turns out to be good. It’s quite a hillfest, however!

I would still love to see how far I can make it in 24 hours (or if I can even ride that long) and then maybe try a longer ride at some point. I am pretty sure I’m not up for the PBP or any 1200k quite yet – I haven’t the will power for that much time in the saddle in a short amount of time. I’m not leaving it off the table, however.

One thing is for sure: I want to bike into old age, and continue to enjoy my rides.

I’ve been out about once a week since mid December. I guess this is my yearly break. I’ve been focusing more on diet and basic Pilates exercise to keep in shape, but I’m giving my knee a rest to get my adductors stretched back out. I also just tried out kayaking, and this will be added to my weekend relaxation/exercise plans for 2015. I really enjoy paddling around, and have a lot to learn about cruising about in the cold water of the Sound. I also need some cross training so I don’t continue the descent into a biker physique combined with a tech slouch.

One interesting ride I plan to try this year is the Oregon Outback. This is a 360 mile, mostly gravel journey that crosses the state south to north from Klamath Falls to Deschutes. There was much written about it last year, with some like Ira Ryan and Jan Heine “racing” the route and finishing in under 30 hours, and others taking a leisurely multi-day tour to the finish. I will be likely doing the latter with a friend and my Hunqapillar. I don’t get enough chances to really ride that bike under load in it’s primary capacity. The last time it wasn’t just a commuter was the Rivendell Entmoot, and that’s just sad and wrong!

This ride will be a benchmark for my spring riding season. I would still like to visit Babyshoe Pass, and Stehekin, as well. Perhaps more exploring in WA is in order…