Ice Bike 2011

My old foul-weather bike died. It had lasted longer than it was meant to and several things failed on the same day: brakes, shifter, spokes. Other components were shot and would have to have been replaced (headset, drive train). So I tossed it and that very night bought a new bike that I found on a local listing:

So that's my new ice bike. Some things you will want on an ice bike:

1. Good lights (front and back)

2. Reflectors also

3. Full coverage fenders (front and back). I added these myself. I think the shiny aluminum goes with the look of the bike well.

4. A mud flap (at least on the front fender). This one is leather. Put as much leather on your bike as you can.

5. A dose of caution. Even so you are going to take the occasional spill. If you are cautious those spills will be at low speed and your pride will be hurt more than anything. Here is a small tear in my wind-pants due to a fall I took right in front of an onlooker. He gave me the thumbs-up. A little duct tape will fix the tear.

6. The right attitude. The weather always seems worse from inside. Once you're out in it you're usually fine, if you're prepared. (Keywords: usually and if)

Have fun out there!

Century Ride

Arlynda and I did a century ride, which is a 100 mile ride in a single day.

Love those bagels!


Here I am at the first stop. Only 77 miles to go!


Can you spot Arlynda?


There she is!


Stop number two. 57 miles to go.


Stop number three was at the beach. Only 37 miles left at this point.

By the fourth stop Arlynda had had it. She did great, but 85 miles was enough for her. She caught a ride to the finish, while I finished the full hundred on my bike.

Metric Century

I convinced Arlynda that she wanted to do some long bike rides with me. Last year I did the Gettysburg Metric Century (which is a 100 kilometer ride or about 62 miles). That was my first organized cycling event. This year Arlynda did it with me (which was her first organized cycling event).

Below is Arlynda sunscreening-up for our early start:


After about eight miles we crossed the first covered bridge of the course:


Who's that guy looking sharp in a dress shirt? Call me a non-conformist but as an alternative to all of the spandex one sees at these events I decided to wear mountain-bike shorts and a button-down shirt.


At mile 15 we reached our first official rest stop. It was stocked with fruits, peanut butter sandwiches, pretzels and other snacks, as well as water and sports drinks. It was also directly adjacent to the second covered bridge that we would cross.


In the photo below Arlynda heads out of official rest stop #1:


Those first 15 miles had some pretty gentle rolling hills with a couple of steeper ones, but nothing we couldn't handle. The next 19 miles would put us to the test with steady elevation gain and several steep hills. Arlynda is not a fan of climbing hills. By the time we got to official rest stop #2 she seemed to be spent and I was wondering whether we would have to rely on the SAG service (volunteers are on hand to shuttle people to the finish if needed).

Official rest stop #2 is located at a volunteer fire department. There was a little league game going on in the adjacent field. The highlight of this rest stop is the tomato sandwiches. In fact the tomato sandwiches might be the highlight of the entire event. Really? Tomato sandwiches? Yes, really. Slices of fresh tomatoes on whole wheat bread with mayonnaise. As I grabbed some tomato sandwiches for me and Arlynda I heard another cyclist say that they were to die for. He was right. Nothing could beat them especially after pedaling 35 miles. Here I am going back for more:

I think that between Arlynda and I we ate about 20 of them! There were also peaches, pears, nectarines, plums, grapes, apples and bananas. There were Twizzlers, fig Newtons, Chex mix, granola bars, pretzels, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, caramels, chocolate-chip cookies and nuts. The rest stop was well stocked and we spent a long time there fueling our bodies.

We headed out of rest stop #2 towards Gettysburg. By the time we hit Gettysburg we were in better spirits as can be seen in the two photos below:



In fact the next 12 miles to rest stop #3 went extremely well. I knew that Arlynda was feeling good when she hammered up a hill blowing past several other riders. We rolled into rest stop #3

grabbed a few snacks and headed out.

The last stretch had some rolling hills, but wasn't too tough. However, at that point we were both pretty tired and eager to get to the end. We made it in time to catch the ice-cream truck!

Our cycle computers said we had done about 65 miles. We headed home exhausted. I hope we do it again next year.

Ice Bike!

I have a goal for 2010: to not commute to work by car at all. I had the same goal in 2009. I drove my car to work three times last year. This year I am determined that I'll make it.

Coming into the year has been trial by fire. Not only am I taking a three week class that is more than twice my normal commute distance away (10 miles one-way rather than 4), but we have also been hit with major snow storm after major snow storm. Those two things in isolation wouldn't be a big deal. Neither combined would they be huge were it not for one aggravating factor. A good mile and a half of my current commute (the longer ten-mile one) is along a bike path and NOBODY CLEARS THE SNOW FROM THE BIKE PATH. (In fact, in some places snow is cleared onto the path.)

Maybe it's true that I am the only one bonkers enough to be using the path in this weather, but if we are going to be serious about offering alternative means of transportation, well then let's take it seriously and clear the bike paths.

One more week of class. One more week of snow in the forecast. One more week of me being determined to not give in.

If God had wanted us to have 24 gears...

The Church I belong to has a program called home teaching. Basically it goes like this: Everybody in the Church is given the job of visiting somebody (or multiple somebodies) else in the Church each month to deliver a brief (some people forget that part) spiritual message and see if the family or individual needs help with anything (such as moving a tree or driving across the Country; Those are actually both things that my home teachers have helped me with in the past).

Anyway, you get the idea. There is a grand tradition known as procrastination. The rules say visit your people every month. So which day of the month do you think those visits actually happen on? ...and today is? ...so tonight I was doing? ...Yes! You guessed it: Home teaching.

A little more set up for the story is in order.

Early this month my family and I went on vacation. I had to come back for work (I only have so much leave), but my family stayed on vacation. We drove out. I flew back. Which makes me car free for at least two weeks (hurray!).

So tonight, I set out on my bike under a beautiful sunny sky. I visited two families. Shared a simple message about prayer. Then I was back on the street on my fixie. There's nothing like spreading the Word on a fixed gear: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one gear." Or however the scripture goes.

Ah the exhilaration: speeding home down a roadway, getting caught in a cloud burst and merging across lanes of thick traffic on an old-school bike.

If God had wanted us to have 24 gears on a bike, for that matter if He had wanted us to drive those big steel boxes around (what do you call them? Oh, yeah: cars) he wouldn't have made it so enlivening to get where you're going on a fixed gear...just my opinion.

First Commute

Had my first commute on the fixie today. It was great. Nice sunny spring day. Still have a long way to go toward getting used to the bike. Not only am I new to a fixed gear I am new to the road geometry. My two biggest slip-ups today were not getting my foot in the strap on the first peddle revolution, and then accelerating because I was in traffic, making it impossible to get it in. Eventually I just pulled over to the side and slowed down enough to get my foot in the strap. Also I'm doing pretty good at remembering to always peddle, but when I come upon a road hazard at speed, I tend to forget. I try to coast and raise myself up off the seat to "float" over the hazard. then the peddles remind me that I can't do that. Anyway, I'm looking forward to lots more commutes on this bike.

I bought a fixed gear!

Why I need a fixed gear

They're fast
Easy to maintain
They're just so cool

Back on my bike!

Today I took a long lunch and spent it going between a couple of bike shops. A guy at one managed to get my cracked crown race off of the fork. A guy at the other faced my crown, sold me a new crown race, and intalled the new crown race. Tonight I got everything put back together, cleaned (while I had it pulled apart I gave the entire bike the best cleaning it's had), lubed up and took it for a spin. It's like a brand new bike!

For a while now I've been needing to change my headset. The headset of a bike is the bearing mechanism that allows you to turn the handlebars, thus steering. This was my first bike repair that one of my books says is best left to experts. You could take that as a warning, but I guess I took it as a challenge.

First I took the front brakes off of the fork:


I loosened the stem and pulled it (along with the handlebars) out. There's Seth helping in the background:


Next I loosened the locknut. That's it at the top:


Once I got the locknut, washer and cup and bearings off of the top I was able to pull the fork off through the bottom. Here it is dropped down a little bit. You can see the bearings in their retainer with some very gunky grease (the grease should be a lot cleaner):


Once I got the fork out and wiped the grease out of the cups that are attached to the frame, I flipped the bike upside down so that I could inspect the bottom cup. Here it is, and you can see what the problem with this old headset is. That black stuff is pitting. The ball bearings get caught up in that when I go to make a turn.


Those old cups have to go to make way for my new headset. The cups are pressed into the frame with a tool called a cup-press, which cost around $150 and looks something like this:


And are removed with a tool called a rocket which costs around $30 and looks like this:


After doing some online research, I decided that I could make both of these tools for about $5 apiece. Here is how I made the rocket. I got a foot long, 7/8 inch copper repair coupling at the local hardware store. I used a marker, ruler, adjustable wrench and my table top to mark where I wanted to cut it:


Then I secured it n my bike repair stand (since I don't have a bench vise) and used a hacksaw to cut it. I chose a blade with 32 teeth per inch, since the coupling has pretty thin walls (and you want at least three teeth in contact with the surface you're cutting at a time).


The rocket gets inserted through the head tube:


and pulled up until it snaps into place:


Now you start to hammer on it:


It took a good deal of hammering, but finally the cup came flying out.


Then I flipped the bike over and did it to the other cup.

Next I had to press the new cups in. I made my own press. It was much easier to make than the rocket. I bought a foot long piece of 3/4 inch threaded steal rod, with two nuts and six washers. I also got a piece of suede from a craft store. I cut the suede to match the size and shape of the washers:


Here is the finished press:


First I pressed the bottom cup in:


Then the top cone. The press worked beautifully. I measured their fit with a caliper before pressing them in. They are supposed to be a bout 0.1 to 0.2 mm larger than the headtube that they are being pressed into, but they were about 0.5 mm bigger. I was worried that I might run into trouble (and really I probably should have had the headtube reamed, but I didn't want to bother with that), but it pressing them in went smoothly.


Next I had one more piece to remove: the crown race, which is the bearing cone that sits at the crown of the fork. I couldn't get mine off, so I took it to a bike shop. The guy there managed to get it off and then asked for the new one to put it on. That's where I made my mistake. I didn't measure the crown race and the steerer tube on which it sits. As the guy pounded it on, we realized too late that the steerer tube was too small. The crown race cracked:


So now I will have to get a new crown race. Get someone to take off the cracked one, machine down the steerer tube and put on the new race. Oh bother I hoped to get back on my bike today.

Headset Replacement Prep

Replacing headset on my bike. Will write more tomorrow. Tonight did some prep. Removed brake calipers from fork. Removed stem. Loosened headset locknut.

Bowery

Here is a picture of the Giant Bowery.



It is an off-the-shelf fixed-gear. I was driving by a bike shop the other day and decided to stop. I spotted this bike hanging in the window, noticed it was my size, and asked if I could take it for a spin. It felt great! I hadn't really considered the Bowery because it has an aluminum frame and I was thinking I want a steel frame, but I'm adding it to my list because it felt so nice. Real smooth, light and fast.

bike shop open for business!

I decided before getting a new bike I should get the tools to do my own maintenance and repairs. I got a repair stand and several tools. This is my Christmas present--a little early. Here I am tuning up Arlynda's bike.



Today simple repairs...tomorrow...frame building?

idée fixe

The word of the day some weeks ago was idée fixe, which obviously comes from French and means obsession.

If you ask my wife (and maybe if you don't ask her) she will tell you that I have a particular idée fixe lately, namely a fixed gear road bike.

I'm not a bicycle recreationalist, just a bike commuter and I've only come to bike commuting withing the last 5 years and still feel like a bit of an outsider or newbie in the bike community. I've been commuting on a rather clunky, but reliable and actually fairly fast commuter-hybrid bike, but I've always wanted to get a faster road bike. Now I know more specifically what I want: a fixed gear.

I had read about fixed gears when I first started bike commuting, but the idea seemed outlandish to me then: a bike with only a single gear and no freewheel, so when the rear wheel is moving, so are the cranks and pedals and the rider's legs. "Maybe that works for a track bike," I thought, "but out on the road...no way!" However, I keep reading more about people who swear by fixed gears and finally I talked to someone who commutes on a fixed gear. I'm now convinced, a fixed gear would be the perfect complement to the bike that I already have: the sturdy, reliable, clunky hybrid with a rack that can really haul some weight, and the ultra-light, speedy, throw-a-bologna-sandwich-in-the-back-pocket-of-your-Levi's-shorts-and-blast-off fixed gear that can really haul. What could be more perfect?


My dad has even decided to convert his 70's era Bianchi road bike into a fixed gear!

Being good to my bike

My bike has carried me to school and now work for over 12,000 miles. It's been good to me. But I've been pretty tough on it. I recently took it into a shop for repairs. They put on a new crank set, new chain, new cassette, new cables and cable housings and a new set of pedals, clips and straps. They also replaced a broken spoke on my rear wheel that I didn't even know about.

So I have pledged to keep my new chain in top condition. Traditionally I have cleaned my chain only about once a month if even that, which is a horrible thing to do to a chain. I plan to clean my chain every night. Just a quick swipe with a paper towel and some degreaser and then re-lube it a couple hours later. Additionally, on the weekends I will take it off the bike and give it a nice bath. I never took my last chain off my bike, and eventually the master link froze in place.

Boxing My Bike Last Summer

Biking to Commencement