Just a quick list of what I’ve been listening to lately.
“All My Friends” – LCD Soundsystem
“Someone Great” – LCD Soundsystem
“You and the Father” – Radar Brothers
“Still Evil” – Radar Brothers
“Cheese and Onions” – Galaxie 500
“Ceremony” – Galaxie 500
Posted on 5 November 2007
Family cruising. Sorry, no map.
Last week, we purchased a Burley D’Lite Trailer, which we assumed would perform double-duty as a bike trailer and a jogger stroller for Jen. We actually won an eBay auction for it, and got a very good deal. Once it arrived, we purchased the stroller adapter from REI and we thought we were set. Too bad the model we had was a 2001 or 2002 vintage, which does not accept a stroller adapter. Hrmph. I’ve slowly started the process of trying to sell it, and I suspect it may end up back on eBay within the next week. We’ll likely just buy a new D’Lite since we now own the stroller adapter.
But anyway.
The weather was fine today, so I put the trailer on the Surly and loaded up the boys for spin around Highland Park. Seb was excited about it, and by the time we did a lap around the reservoir, he didn’t want to stop at the playground–he just wanted to ride. So off we went, to the lower section of the park. We did stop at another playground in the park, and the boys ran about for a bit, but soon enough they wanted to get back in the trailer for more riding. We cruised around a bit longer, then cut the ride short when my rear tire was slowly going flat. Once I changed the tube (at home), I discovered our tube supply was gone, so I loaded Seb back into the trailer and went to the Trek store in East Liberty (no, sorry, East Side) to pick up a few, plus a new patch kit.
(Sort of related sidebar: I’ve found the service at the Trek store to be pretty good, which, for me, is pretty high praise. I’ve special-ordered a few small parts, and the staff has been helpful and, shockingly, generally knowledgeable. They also have a swell collection of wool jerseys.)
I will say that I am hooked on the trailer. It’s quite the workout on the fixed gear, but riding in (mostly) neighborhood traffic wasn’t bad at all, and cars tended to give us a pretty wide berth. Too bad winter is coming.
As an added bonus, here are a few photos of the new lighting setup.
Posted on 3 November 2007
A few months ago, I picked up a Patagonia Figure Four soft shell jacket during one of their web sales. Over the last year or so, I ame to the conclusion that using a hard shell on the bike was unnecessary. Yes, a hard shell would keep the rain or snow off of me, but I still ended up wet from perspiration that couldn’t escape. Ironically, I had first ordered a hard shell from Patagonia, but in the wrong size. Since stock of the proper size was gone, I ordered the Figure Four, a jacket that had always intrigued me, though I never had a good reason to actually buy it.
Since fall finally arrived a few weeks ago, I’ve been wearing the jacket every morning. It does strike a nice balance between wind and water protection and breathability. I’ve ridden through at least two rainy commutes, and the jacket has keep me dry and allowed a reasonable amount of sweat to escape. I sense that the water-resistant finish will lose its power over time, but even so, I think the shell will keep me comfortable enough. The jacket will likely also change my (and probably simplify) my winter riding wardrobe. I’m thinking that for temperatures above freezing, the jacket with my trusty wool t-shirt beneath should be plenty. When the temps dip below freezing, perhaps down to 20, I would swap the t-shirt for a long sleeve crew, and below twenty, go back to the wool t-shirt and layer my other Patagonia fleece jacket. We’ll see how this works out in practice, however.
After a year or so of considering it, I finally bought a Dymotec 6 Bottle Generator, thanks to a good deal that came across the Bicyle Lifestyle mailing list. For $60, I got the generator, a Dynamohalter for attaching it to my frame, a wire roller, and (best of all) a Lumotec Oval Plus light. Mounting the dynamo didn’t take much, but it did take some creativity to mount the light around my front basket. I finally succeed with a p-clamp on the fork blade, though I suspect I will tweak the setup a bit. Ideally, I’d get a new fork for the Surly (or, hey, maybe a new frame and fork that is better suited to all the doo-dads on my bike) with canti posts, then allowing my use a Dynashoe mount for both the generator and the light. Clean, very clean.
I suspect that Daylight Savings Time next week will be the big, big test of the system. I did, however, use the light and dynamo yesterday since it was still dark and sprinkling when I left for the office. I swapped out the standard rubber roller for the wire model, since this is supposed to prevent slippage in the rain. Indeed, it did. Apparently, the dynamo shifted a bit (or I didn’t have it aligned quite right) since my rear tires has a bit of wear in the sidewall. I was concerned about using my Paselas with the wire roller, considering the sidewall is quite supple and the tread doesn’t include a dynamo track. The light itself is quite bright, and the standlight feature (a small capacitor and LED keep the lamp illuminated when I am stopped) is nice to have–I won’t have to keep a battery-powered backup light on so I can be seen when I am stopped. I certainly noticed some resistance with the dynamo engaged (though I suspect I had the pressure a bit too high, too), but when you’re riding a fixed gear with 20 pounds of stuff in the front basket, it’s just a drop in the bucket.
Once DST hits, expect a full review and some photos of the setup.
Posted on 2 November 2007
This is a dumb post by a pretty smart guy. Speaking about “peak oil” and what James Kunstler calls “the long emergency,” Yglesias writes:
Obviously, this would result in some economic hardship for many families, but it’s hardly an “epochal shift.” Indeed, even current gasoline prices are actually quite low as a share of household income by historical standards so even if plug-in technology doesn’t materialize (which is hard to believe) we’re not on the precipice of such never-before-seen apocalypse.
Earlier, he points out that given hybrid car technology, the average commuter could keep the overall cost of living in suburbia and working elsewhere relatively stable. What he forgets (and as numerous comments point out) is that a rather large portion of our entire economy is dependent on fossil fuels, most notably our food supplies. As fuel costs go up, even people who don’t own a car will feel the pinch, since the cost of transportation will rise in kind (and I haven’t heard much about the development of hybrid 18-wheelers). I may not be entirely on board with Kunstler’s doom-and-gloom predications, but I do think things will be changing in the near future, whether we like it or not, and we need to change the way we think about things, especially the “size” of our world.
Posted on 30 October 2007
I didn’t pick the route, but rode with two friends. I had read about this climb, in a cemetery, in Braddock, but had never ventured out to it. It wasn’t as hard as expected–it gets its name from the numerous switchbacks, a rarity in these parts–though I couldn’t hold Stuart’s wheel (in my defense, I couldn’t shift into my lowest gear….waaaah). Rankin is not, umm, the most picturesque town to include in a ride, however.
I’ve been having trouble finding what my red line is on the hills. I suppose trying to keep up with Stuart would have a fine job of finding (and exceeding) it, but I think I could have pushed a bit harder. My concern is always stretching the rubber band too far, and having it snap, and then not being to able to hold on for the rest of the ride.
Posted on 27 October 2007
Orion Magazine has a fine essay by Rebecca Solnit, “Finding Time.”
The problem is partly one of language. The language of commerce has been engineered to describe the overt purpose of a thing, but cannot encompass fringe benefits or peripheral pleasures. It weighs the obvious against what in its terms are incomprehensible. When I drive from here to there, speed, privacy, control, and safety are easy to claim. When I walk, what happens is more vague, more ambiguous—and in many circumstances much richer. I am out in the world. It’s exercise, though not so quantifiably as on a treadmill in a gym with a digital readout. It’s myriad little epiphanies and encounters that knit me more tightly into my place and maybe enhance the place overall. The carbon emissions are essentially nil. Many more benefits are more subjective, more ethereal—and more wordy. You can’t describe them in a few familiar phrases; and if you’re not practiced at describing them, you may not be able to articulate them at all. It is difficult to value what cannot be named. Since someone makes money every time you buy a car or fill it up, there’s a whole commercial language built around getting us to drive; there’s little or no language promoting the free act of walking. Have you not driven a Ford lately?
…
Ultimately, I believe that slowness is an act of resistance, not because slowness is a good in itself but because of all that it makes room for, the things that don’t get measured and can’t be bought.
I couldn’t agree more.
Posted on 23 October 2007
Well, that was quick. I didn’t mind carrying the single pannier with my clothes and various sundries, but the laptop was too much, due in part, I think, to the lack of proper rack braze-ons. I just couldn’t get the p-clamps adjusted well enough to keep the loads from swaying. And while it was nice having normal steering again, the weight caused a certain amount of frame flex that affected steering in a way I didn’t particularly like. So, it is back to the Wald basket. Fortunately, thanks to the Bike PGH message boards, the panniers should be sold sometime this week. No harm, no foul.
Additionally this weekend, I did something that hasn’t been done in quite some time–I replaced my horribly worn chainring. Gone is the 42 tooth model, and in its place is a 41 tooth GT BMX ring, the deal of a lifetime at $10 at Dirty Harry’s. Replaced the chain as well. Silent drivetrain, here I come.
Posted on 21 October 2007
Listed in Oscar Swan’s book at 35 miles, but in reality, only 24. Still, a very fine ride. Very windy, especially heading west, though I had a rare tailwind coming home through the Strip District. A new (to me) rear wheel did not cure all the ticks in my drivetrain, though. I suppose I’ll have to track down a bottom bracket tool and see what there is to see.
Posted on 20 October 2007
So I was asked to attend the monthly board of directors breakfast by my manager (this month’s topic was product development so the executives wanted to introduce some of the hired help). Okay, I said, figuring the meeting would take place somewhere near the office. I soon find out the breakfast would be held at the Best Western in Greetree. Hmm. I decline the numerous offers for a ride from the office, figuring it was only a mile or two longer than my usual commute (given that I could get the West End as quickly as I could the South Side). If I were a bit smarter, I would have left the laptop at the office (I squeezed in some work after the boys went to the sleep when Jen was at the gym) and its ten pounds or so of weight, but I am not and I didn’t. As an added bonus, I had to carry a lock.
Looking at the handy Bike PGH commuter map, I saw that I could safely get to Parkway Center via the West End. The map, however, didn’t mention that Greentree Road begins with a half-mile, 7-10% climb. I pondered swapping out my rear wheel for the Miche build, with its 18 tooth rear sprocket, last night, but laziness and other things got the better of me. The extra tooth would have been nice. To add insult to injury, I awoke this morning to the pitter-patter of rain. I cannot recall the last time I rode to work in the rain, but here it was, on the day I had to actually look presentable, rainy and warm. I left later than I wanted (small children blur the definition of punctuality), but I was off, in the dark (did I mention the breakfast started at 8:00 AM?) and rain.
The only point of the ride that was moderately stressful was crossing the West End Bridge and skirting through the West End Circle to Steuben Street. Traveling in the opposite direction of the morning rush hour helped tremendously, however, and soon enough I was climbing Greentree Road. This was not fun. In any way, really (and this from someone who doesn’t mind hills). I was wishing for a bigger gear and less weight. And having never been on the hill before, at every twist and turn I was hoping for the crest, or at least a level bit, but it wasn’t to be. Finally, after grinding along at a granny’s pace, the hotel appeared. I locked the Surly to a railing, gathered my stuff, and found a restroom. I was warm, and so was the interior of the hotel. Not good. To complicate matters, the paper towel dispenser in the restroom was an automatic model that took 20 seconds to dole out a single sheet. At least I picked up some clean-up wipes last night.
Ten minutes later, I was entering the breakfast room, and by the time introductions were finished I think I had finished sweating. During the meal, my product manager leaned over and said something to the effect of “gee, it’s cold in here.” My response was that it felt quite nice, and thanks to it, I’ve finally stopped sweating. The meeting itself was mostly uneventful, and the group at my table spent most of the time grilling my manager about new products. Cycling did come up, as our CEO is an avid cyclist (and commuter) and one of the board members joining us cycled across America.
The ride back to the office was uneventful, save for passing back through the West End Circle. I wasn’t quite sure what I needed to do, so I just waited for the green light and pointed my bike east and hoped for the best. It seemed to work out alright.
Posted on 20 October 2007
Two days later. Monday’s ride in was a comedy of errors. I had both bags, with the laptop, mounted, and I didn’t shake down the setup over the weekend, which would have found that my heel clipped the bag with the laptop. In the course of the first few miles, I knocked the bag off the rack several times until I corrected my pedal stroke. Additionally, I had my fenders and rack mounted via the same set of P-clamps, which didn’t permit me to tighten them completely, causing a bit of a wobble, especially when I was out of the saddle. The ride home was marginally better, since I left the laptop at the office. I did notice, however, that with the weight in the rear of the bike I was able to stay in the saddle much more, especially when accelerating from a stop sign or traffic light. This was, I think, a Good Thing. The handling felt weird, to say the least, given that I was used to sluggish steering thanks to the loaded basket. Now it was the opposite–the front end was crazy-light, and responded to everything.
Monday evening I tweaked the rack setup, and moved the arms to a separate set of P-clamps, and this helped enormously. I rode home with both bags and the laptop, and there were no heel strike issues. I’ll likely add a bungee cord around the Market Pannier for carrying the laptop–the case fits pretty well, but I can’t cinch it down enough to prevent it from swaying. I’m also not a big fan of the P-clamps, at least for mounting the rack, as I still can’t get them completely tightened around the seat stays. As a result, the rack still sways a bit when it’s loaded. That said, I do like the setup, and it makes for a much more pleasant ride than the loaded basket.
Posted on 10 October 2007