Return from Whidbey

26 Wednesday Aug 2020

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I haven’t been writing for a while now. It looks like my last post was in 2018 and “A LOT” has happened since then. Highlights: a graduating senior is leaving us for college in a month and I will be very sad at her departure, I’ve been through some work changes, but work has been stable, and then there is this pandemic thing…

I’ve spent a lot of time on Whidbey Island this year – probably more than half-time since February. I love how it feels rural, but is still an hour from Seattle. It has helped me maintain my mental state through the pandemic and social disorder affecting the world.

Now, back to bikes. I have moved most of my bikes up here, including the following that are getting very regular (daily) use:

Rivendell A. Homer Hilsen (my primary road bike)
Rivendell Hunqapillar (my road/trail bike and camp bike)
Miyata RidgeRunner (my fishing/crabbing/lounging bike)
Kona Hei Hei (when I want to kick it up a bit on the trails)

My normal day starts early with half my team on the east coast. I’ll usually do a lunch ride for 1 to 1.5 hours – either a nice 15 mile road ride, or a 6-10 mile trail ride. I then work to the end of the day. After dinner, I will go on a beach walk, kayak, or fish for whatever is nibbling. I enjoy standing in the cold Puget Sound waters for an hour or so while fishing to numb up my legs and relax from the day’s work.

Typical Road Ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/55001772?privacy_code=NBuzdhA7QvKegnWl

Trail Ride at Trillium: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/16459760#postcard

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Cycling

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Whidbey Island Out(n)Back

25 Thursday Aug 2016

Tags

bicycle, bike, Chocomoose, cycling, Ebey's Landing, Fort Ebey, Greenbank Farm, harlequin wrap, Hunqapillar, rivendell, Whidbey Island

Not much action on the camping front this year, so I grabbed a chance to do a quick overnight (S24O) from my place in Freeland, WA up to Fort Ebey. It’s about 30 miles one way, and a great chance to try:

Hunqapillar on singletrack
New road exploring
Hammock camping

This also echoes the distance of a Lake Crescent trail I want to do later this year. That gig is mostly singletrack, but I would use the same equipment.

I got underway around 4:45pm on Monday. I figured it would take 2-3 hours, so I would likely have light to set up camp. John and I had explored Fort Ebey’s mtb trails a few days earlier, so I knew where the hike/bike campsites were.

The Gunnar Point – a family photo tradition going back 50 years

I packed light. There was a burn ban, so I didn’t bother bringing a stove. Just 2 water bottles, a toaster pastry for breakfast, and a can of salmon for dinner. Easy. I wore the clothes on my back and brought along a pair of wool long underwear for sleeping. No rain in the forecast. Other than that, just my hammock, fly, sleeping bag and roll. Oh yeah – I strapped some sandals on, in case the feet got sore, but that was just unused extra weight. I think the whole thing weighed in under 10 pounds.

Loaded at Greenbank Farm

The way up was stunning and uneventful. Heading north, I passed South Whidbey State Park, and Greenbank Farm. The stretch from Greenbank up to Coupville had some great hills and views, and the Navy Growlers were out practicing on the outlying field near Admirals Cove.

Growler Practice

Keystone Spits

The long stretch across Keystone to Fort Casey yielded a few seals and many sea birds, but I saw not much traffic on a Monday night.

Road to Keystone

I searched through Fort Casey for a back route, and thought I had it following a gravel trail by the lighthouse, but it ended in a private road. I left it to chance, and wasted a few minutes, but it was worth the views.

The road down to Ebey Beach is amazing – no shoulder, but equally no cars.

Sunbeam!

Looking South…

And North to Ebey’s Landing…

After a short hop up to the bluff, and across an amazing open farming area, it was a quick ride to the new pavement of Madrona Way past the mussel farms in Penn Cove.

Penn Cove Mussels come from here!

At this point, I was starting to worry about sunlight – it had taken me about 2 1/2 hrs to get this far. I hurried on into Fort Ebey State Park, and set up the hammock. There was one other person in the hike/bike spot – a Pacific Northwest Trail through hiker. After a dinner of canned salmon on the bluff overlooking the Straights of Juan de Fuca, and a great sunset, it was off to bed.

Good night!

The next morning was sunny, so I geared up and chatted with the hiker to learn about his journey. He was a 65 years old Granite Falls, WA resident, and 7 weeks into the trail that started in Glacier National Park. After 8 bears (one grizzly at about 10 yds), a pack of wolves, and countless coyotes, he was just heading to the ferry to Port Townsend to have a lunch reunion with his wife before finishing the last 150 miles to Cape Alava.

Ready for the trip home

After a nourishing breakfast at the same scenic overlook on the bluff and a water bottle refill, I was off to ride the Kettles trail on the loaded Hunq!

MTB Riv Style

Needless to say, the Hunq made short work of the trail, and I found myself heading back south and past the barley fields to Ebey Beach.

At the whisky source

I stopped at the old “Ferry Building” on the bluff to explore and take some pics, then it was back down to Keystone, Greenbank, and finally back to Freeland for some rest and a meal.

Route out and back are here:

http://cyclemeter.com/51cfa6724f84c700/Cycle-20160822-1639

http://cyclemeter.com/51cfa6724f84c700/Cycle-20160823-0934

Ebey trip out

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Bikepacking, Cycling, Enduro Offroad, MTB, Northwest

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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 Stonehog | Filed under Cycling, Enduro Offroad, Northwest

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Bar Width and Handling

09 Saturday Jan 2016

Tags

albastache, albatross, bar width, bikepacking, cycling, ergonomics, handlebar, Hunqapillar, leverage, low-trail, nitto noodles, rivendell, steering

As a follow up to my post on trail, this is a related experiential review on the role of bar width and the interaction with trail. This may impact someone’s decision on whether high or low trail is right for them by basing it on one’s comfort with wide or narrow bars. It also may impact the decision based on what you will be using the bike for, and where you plan to do most of your riding.

Low trail is great with narrow bars

On my Vélo Routier, having narrow bars is comfortable, and I have no problem putting feedback into steering even at higher speeds. I currently use 42cm Noodles, and have plenty of control.

Higher trail is great with wider bars

Wide bars (48cm and wider) work very well on higher trail bikes. They give you the leverage you need to turn during even an “in the rails” higher speed maneuver.

The further away from your steering axis you have your hands, the more they will have input on steering – this is true for any bike and any amount of trail. To get a consistent steering input impact and feel, you should be able to compensate for higher trail with wider bars.

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This is why offroad motorcycles/bicycles have wide handlebars, and most city or road motorcycles/bikes tend to have narrow bars. Big generalization here, but I have definitely noticed this on several occasions. This is not really a discussion based on rider ergonomics and comfort, but a general handling conversation. If you are a rider that needs a wider or narrower bar, it may help to understand how that will impact handling based on what trail geometry your bike has.

Real World Example

In prep for my last adventure, I wanted drop bars due to the length and time I would be in the saddle. The Oregon Outback, at 360 miles and mostly dirt roads, would be an endurance test. I wanted the most hand positions possible, and had done long rides in drops with plenty of comfort. I used 44cm Noodles on my mid/high trail Hunqapillar with the thought that they would add a bit of leverage, but be very close to my “perfect” rando bar, the 42cm Noodle.

Reality was a bit different. While I was plenty comfortable with the bars, and had no hand numbness or pain, there were several times where I wished for more leverage. The amount of weight I had on the bike made these bars too narrow for the dirt trails. I had to put a lot more effort into keeping the bike tracking at low speeds and up hills. This was less noticeable when I was on nicely paved sections, but the dirt roads added difficulty.

On the fast downhills, the gyro effect tended to add to the effort required to steer. I was hit by an incredible wind gust at the very bottom of a 30+mph descent near the end of the ride, and I barely escaped launching off the side of the dirt road. If I hadn’t been near the middle of the road, it would have been grim – the bike tracked me all the way to the far edge before I got enough muscle into keeping on the road.

Lesson – I’m putting a wider bar on this bike. Likely either the new Choco bars from Rivendell, or the Albatross/stache bars I’ve used in the past. A nice Jones H-bar would be great, as well, providing even more leverage and plenty of hand positions.

44cm – a bit too narrow

55cm – just right

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Cycling, Enduro Offroad, Northwest, Randonneuring

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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.