Training - a request

I haven't been updating my training lately because I haven't done any. I've been on the road for work and that's going to keep going for the next few months. That brings me to my request. 

Anyone who has followed this thing since I started should know that my primary ride, my Long Haul Trucker, has S and S couplers installed on it. In theory, they should allow me to pack the Trucker up and take it on the road with me. Since I've been and will be traveling to places like Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii I'd really like to have my bike with me. Unfortunately, things haven't worked out as well in practice as in theory.

I have tried exactly once to pack my bike into a case. It was a soft-side, rented from Mt. Airy. Problem was, I couldn't get the bike into the case. There are all sorts of guides on how to do it, but it seemed like the Trucker was just too long to fit. What I'm hoping for is that someone who reads this is familiar with S and S couplers and has packed a bike with them. Or, maybe that someone in the Bay Area can recommend a good shop that works with tourers primarily that might be able to help me out.

I'd really like to be able to use the Trucker as I intended, which means being able to pack it up. Any ideas?

Trucker, fully loaded

I've been riding the Trucker for my commute for a couple of weeks now. (I will repair the rear of the Schwinn, someday.) Over the weekend I decided to finally get off my duff and move some of the accessories over to it.

First I moved the OYB bag. It hangs on a nifty no-tool bag mount that Velo Orange had for sale as NOS for a little while. I thought it might not fit because of where the brake cables emerge from the bar tape, but there was no problem. I also transferred the Polar CS100 computer over. Unfortunately, in order to get the wireless cadence sensor to work, I have to put the computer on the top tube. I discovered on the first ride with this set up that the angle of the stem is such that it obscures the computer. This may be a good thing (no watching the time/distance on longer rides) but I doubt it. Finally, I moved the essentials - the pump (Topeak RoadMorph) and lock (Kryptonite Evolution).

Finally, after too many months, the Trucker is almost complete. Next come racks and bags, then an overnight.

Maybe my next bike...?

I can't imagine actually using this, but I love the ingenuity.

When I was a kid we had a smallish yard and a push mower. The smallness of the yard did not in any way make me any more willing to mow the lawn on the fairly rare occasion that I was asked to. A mower like this might have done so. Here is a pic of the bike in action (links to a page with a video).

At any rate it beats this style.

The Trucker

As I mentioned earlier, I've been riding my new(ish) Long Haul Trucker to work for the last few days. This is due to a flat rear tire on the Speedster and the fact that it is kind of a pain to flip it over to fix. I need to stop being lazy and buy/build a repair stand so I no longer have this problem, but that comes later. For now, I'll enjoy the fruits of a multi-bike stable (mixing metaphors, oh well).

It was when I mentioned riding the Trucker that I realized I had not actually made a post about the completed version of the bike, so here goes. Because I'm not overly geeky about the parts (and I didn't do much to spec the bike other than give generalities) I'm not going to go into great detail. Here are some highlights:

• S and S couplers to make it possible to pack for travel - Since I built this as a touring bike and I had the frame clean of anything I figured getting the S&S retrofit was a good thing to do. Thanks much Bilenky Cycle Works for the beautiful installation.

• Brooks B-17 - I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. Right on the bike it's been one of the most comfortable saddles I've had. Hard as wood, no doubt, but somehow not painful. This is significant for me given my tweaked left hamstring/sciatic nerve.
• Bar-end shifting - When I was test-riding bikes to decide what I liked I found that I couldn't stand the wobbly feel of brifters. That, paired with the friction-shifting option and how much I like the bar-end shifting on my SuperCourse made this an easy choice.
  

• Reelights - I had them left over from when I got the dynohub installed on the Speedster and figured I'd toss them on here just for laughs.

• Campus pedals - I like the clipless/normal option with this bike, especially for touring.

I have noticed a few things which have reinforced the point a made a few days back, about the need to ride all the bikes in the stable regularly. Not only is it an important part of the proper "care and feeding" (as the Surly people say) but you need to be reminded of the eccentricities of each bike. I've had two small issues on the Trucker that would be easily avoided if I used it more often. The first is that I have been hitting the right (rear) shifter when I stand up to pedal - I'm just not used to where the lever is. The second is that I forgot why it was important to wear bike shorts (I'm talking about support here) while riding on the fat, upright seat of the Speedster.

Live and learn.

The importance of variety

My last post I mentioned both my (not very) expansive three-bike stable, and that I had to commute on my touring bike due to a flat on the commuter. One thing I didn't mention is the odd discomforts I felt riding it.

When I picked up the Trucker and did a brief test-ride it was the single most comfortable bike I had ever been on. For the most part that is still the case. One little thing I noticed is that the muscles at the base of my thumbs are extremely sore now, and while I was riding they felt unpleasant. Thinking about it this really isn't surprising. Most of my riding (in fact 100% for the last couple of months) has been commuting, on an upright. Getting back onto a bike with drops means having to support my weight in a different position, and the body isn't used to it.

For a long time I had only one bike, a mid '90s Trek 930 SingleTrack. I had it set up for commuting (somewhat, slicks and a rack) and I rode it everywhere. My friends were training for a tour and I did their rides on the Trek, I commuted on the Trek, I went shopping on the Trek. Then it was stolen. I ended up getting two bikes to fill its duties - the Speedster and a Raleigh SuperCourse. The Speedster just isn't great for longer rides and the SuperCourse is too much of a road bike (read: extra-skinny wheels) for daily commuting on Baltimore streets. Now I've added the Trucker. Unfortunately, my time lately hasn't allowed for a lot of pleasure riding, so it's nothing but utility, which means the Speedster.

The point? If you have more than one bike, especially if you have more than one type of bike, you need to put some time in the saddle of each of them. Your body will thank you for it and (perhaps more importantly) you'll get to enjoy all of the different types of riding.

Why I have three bikes for just me - or - why I'll be paranoid all day.

I normally commute on my '72 Schwinn Speedster. It's a semi-zippy little tank, banana-yellow, with a 3-speed internal rear hub and a drum brake/generator front hub, a nice NOS Schwinn rear rack and some Wald folding baskets, a a nifty little OYB 5 way bag on the handlebars. In other words, a great city bike. Unfortunately, I couldn't ride it today because sometime between getting home last night and trying to get on it this morning all of the air decided to evacuate the rear tire. Since I was already pushing the late end of heading to work I didn't have the time to fix it. I debated driving and then decided to bring the Trucker instead.

It should go without saying that this is not what my Trucker currently looks like, but I don't have any other pics available online. That actually shocks me, because it means I didn't do a gooey post after it was finished. Anyway...eventually (as in, when I get the rest of the rear) the Trucker will be a touring rig. As of now I don't have racks of bags for it. That meant wearing the mess bag. Thankfully the weather has taken a turn for the cool today and I didn't end up with a monster sweaty back.

The problem, and the reason I'm going to be twitchy all day at my desk is that we don't have the most secure bike parking around. We have a few police barricades to lock up to, in a semi-obscured corner of the garage. There is no reason anyone not affiliated with the building would be in there, but this is a pricey and well loved bike.

Oh well, I'll just make a lot of trips up and down the stairs...

jp

The Stable

It's about time I got around to posting information about the bikes I have, which will be followed (probably) by some regular posting about bikes I want. As it is often stated on the Bike Forums discussions (especially in the Commuting forum): the perfect number of bikes is one more than you currently have. That being said I do have a few specific other bike I would like to get my hands on, but will probably wait until I relocate to a more bike-friendly area (and a house with a garage) first. My current stable is two bikes and a touring bike frame.

The first bike, the one I ride most often, is my commuter - a 1974 Schwinn Speedster. I got it from a Craigslist post as a replacement for my previous commuting/general riding bike which was stolen from the back of my truck. I just finished replacing the front and rear hubs on the Schwinn, but prior to that (as far as I can tell) it was all original parts. The only other work I've done to it is to add a NOS Schwinn-brand rear rack and a couple of Wald collapsing baskets. The baskets are handy for commuting since I can toss my stuff in without needing to use a bag. The only real downside to this bike I have found is that it uses Schwinn-specific tires in an odd size (26 x 1 3/8) which makes it a little tough to find replacements. I would love to get some reflective sidewall tires to increase visibility on the commute but they don't seem to be made in the right size for me. I do have some whitewalls on order. That, paired with the lights I recently installed and the reflective tape strips on the fenders should make me nice and annoying to drivers.

The next is my road bike, a mid 70s (I haven't been able to narrow it down) Raleigh Supercourse. It was another craigslist find for me. The bike which was stolen was one I used for both commuting and weekend/pleasure rides and needed something for fun rides that were longer and more difficult than the three speed allows. When I bought the Raleigh it had downtube shifting, which I have had changed to bar-end. Other than that (and pedals) I've kept the bike, like the Schwinn, as original as possible. I've completed two metric centuries on it so far (the Civil War and Seagull). One of the things I like the best about it is the style that it has with the lugs and even interesting looking chainring.

Finally, I have a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame which I hope to get built up for loaded touring. I was able to score the original, Gang Green color frame, rather than either the red or blue that they currently sell. This winter I'll be working with Larry and the other guys out at Mt. Airy Bikes to get the parter and have the bike built up. My goal is to put it together for loaded, primarily on-road touring, but I do want to be able to do trails like the C&O Canal with it as well. That being the case I'll either get two sets of wheels built (probably not) or get it built with MTB wheels and use mainly narrower, commuting-type tires (more likely). The other advantage to using MTB wheels on it is that I have a couple of sets of tires left over from my old mountain bike. I have figured out a few things I want to have (bar-end shifting) and the gearing that I want, but most of it is still up in the air.

Well, that's a look into my slowly developing stable. As I mentioned, there are a few other bikes I'd like to have. A new mountain bike (probably an older, rigid like the Trek 930 I used to have) would be nice, or maybe a mid-range 'cross bike. Also I want to get a bike to build-up with an Xtracycle FreeRadical. I haven't decided if I want to retrofit a bike or get one of the Xtracycle compatible frames like the Surly Big Dummy. The last new bike I'd like to have just for kicks is a unicycle, not because I can actually ride one, but I think it would be a lot of fun to learn. Or maybe I'll get one of these...

Three days

Three very frustrating days. That's how long it's taken to get the Schwinn back on both wheels and almost ready to ride again. Friday I went back to Mt. Airy and picked up the rear wheel. Saturday morning when I woke up I had the bike, both wheels, the new lights and all the other parts to put it back together. I thought.

First - the rear. I discovered after starting to assemble the rear wheel the rest of the way (which involved putting the cog and lockring on, putting the old-style rubber rim strip back in, and putting the new tube and old tire on) that the nuts on the hub made it too wide to actually fit between the chainstays on my bike. After poking at it for a few minutes it became clear that I needed tools I did not have - namely a second open end adjustable wrench - to get the nuts off. Also, I had no real idea if both (there were two on each side) were important, so I left the rear and moved to the front.

Second - the drum brake. I ride in most weather, so I figured the generator hub with built-in drum brake was a good way to go. Drum brakes are protected from the weather, and the generator seemed like a handy way to run lights for commuting. Well, the cable supplied with the brake was a little too long and I didn't have a decent pair of wire cutters to shorten it. Alright, I decided to mount the lights.

Third - mounting lights. I was approaching frustration at this point. I'd been "working" for about an hour and had nothing to show for it except a partially assembled rear wheel and an understanding of how the drum brake cabling was supposed to go. When I tried to mount the lights I discovered that 1) the front would go on the bolt that had secured the caliper brakes without a problem, except that it was too long and 2) I would need to drill holes in the rear fender to mount the light properly. At this point I gave up and figured I would wait until Monday and drive back to Mt. Airy and see if they could help me.

They could and did. I was in the shop for about and hour and had almost all of the problems dealt with. The only thing left is to get a new trigger shifter (the shifter that came with the new rear hub won't fit on my bars and the old one is shot) and I'll be good to go. I was able to take a quick putter up and down the alley behind my house and saw that the lights work and the rear standlight is great. I will try to ride tomorrow, but don't know what gear the bike is in and shifting is difficult if not impossible. Worst that happens is I'll have a hard time getting back home.

The important thing: tomorrow I will be back on my Schwinn.

FINALLY

After what feels like forever (but is really only a week or so) I got back in the saddle. My commuter (the Schwinn) is still wheel-less, having a new one built up for it by the guys at Mt. Airy Cycles, but since I had a couple of meetings up at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health I decided to ride the Raleigh.

Ordinarily I don't like to ride the Raleigh in street clothes, it's just a hassle, but it takes the same amount of time to bike over the Hopkins as it does to drive, and costs significantly less to park. The school has a great bike parking area in the tiny garage under the building, which is at street level and has a security guard all day. It was one of the things that was great about working on my degree there.

Today was chilly, high 30s/low 40s, so I had to wear a do-rag to cover up the bald under the helmet and my wool hobo gloves. When it gets colder I'll switch to the convertibles (fingerless gloves with mitten finger covers taht fold into place). It's a good thing that most of my day is at my desk, because the combination of SPD shoes and slacks is a little strange, but I didn't feel like carrying a bag and had nowhere else to put my work shoes. When I get back into the habit of riding most days I'll just leave the work shoes in my office.

Older bikes

I have two bikes that I'm currently riding. Both are about the same age as me. Most of the time that's great, I've got bikes with history and character, and in the case of the Raleigh, really cool lugs that newer bikes don't have (unless you've got the money to go with something from Rivendell or Vanilla). I don't have that kind of money, so I went old school to get bikes with character. Sometimes, it isn't so great.

Case in point - last Wednesday on my morning commute I hit a staple and killed the rear tire on the Schwinn. No big deal. I've patched tires before. Since I don't have a pump on the Schwinn (which is dumb and will soon be remedied) I waited until I drove to work and brought the bike home to work on the tire. After patching two holes in the tube (from the staple) I tried pumping it up. It wouldn't hold air. I had been dealing with a slow leak in the tube almost since I'd gotten it, so I figured that was the problem. I resorted to the way I learned to fix tubes as a kid (fill the sink with water and look for bubbles) and was astounded by what I saw. I only ran about 25% of the tube through the water, but almost all of the section I looked at was bubbling. It looked like the seam was bad.

So how does this relate to having an older bike? The Schwinn is an old three speed, similar to the Dutch bikes which are so in vogue. Because it's old (1974, going by the date stamp on the S-A hub) the wheels are an odd size, which makes getting new tubes a little more of a challenge than normal. That, and the fact that I live in a bike-unfriendly place like Baltimore, means it will be a few days before I can get the Schwinn back on the road. That leaves either stuffing my clothes into my messenger bag and riding the Raleigh or driving.

Why?

I like being on my bike. If I could have things my way I would have a job and live in a place where I could just walk out when the mood takes me and go for a nice ride. Unfortunately I work for, and live in, the city of Baltimore. That means that I have to work the traditional eight hour day, and getting to a decent place to ride can be a little bit of a challenge. So instead, I ride vicariously by reading about cycling and chatting with cycling friends. This blog is intended as an extension of that same idea.
I ride both for pleasure, on a mid-70s Raleigh Super Course, and as a commuter/utility cyclist, on a 1974 Schwinn Speedster three speed. I also have a Surly Long Haul Trucker touring frame which I plan on having built into a rig for loaded touring over the winter. I will be talking a little more about my stable in the future, including some detailed information about the LHT build as it progresses.
In addition to the cycling (to paraphrase Dave from The FredCast, I'm a cyclist not a biker) I will undoubtedly find places to thrown in posts about politics (I am a "small l" libertarian) and Buddhism. I also will take some time in a later post to explain why I named it as I did.
That should be enough to give you a good idea of what you can look forward to here over the coming weeks. If you have any thoughts please email me with the link above. I look forward to having a semi-one-sided conversation with you over the time ahead.

joel