Guerilla Bike Lane in Seattle

From Seattle Bike Blog:

Guerrilla road safety group ‘politely’ installs illegal bike lane protectors on Cherry Street

My Next Bike?

A few years ago, I thought that I would buy a triathlon bike when I got a "real job."  Then I grew out of that and decided that I can put that off for a while, but it would be nice to have a tri bike before doing another iron-distance race.  Recently, I was offered a great deal on this bike:

It's made by Old Field Cycles in Tallahassee.  The thing is, I don't want to get rid of one of my other bikes.  The black bike is my oldest and crappiest, but has a lot of sentimental value.  My road bike is the closest to this bike, but still a lot different.  My 29er is going to become my snow bike, and the fixie is an experience all its own.

I've wanted a custom commuter/touring bike from Old Field for a while now and this bike is most of what I'm looking for.  There are a few things I would do differently if designing from the ground up, but I think I can live with those discrepancies because I'd get such a good price on this thing.  I'm thinking that I could turn this into a fast commuter because I'm planning on getting a saddle bag/messenger bag that I wouldn't have to wear on my back.  I could put a custom rack on this thing and make everything work out.

Bike nerds, read on for cool stuff:

1. generator front hub, cassette rear hub, both with drum brakes

2. wire for front light and cable housing for front brake routed through the fork

3. Shimano 8 speed rear cassette (Deore XTR derailers) with Campy 10x2 speed shifters

4. 29er rims (& I think DT Swiss 2.0 spokes) = strong

5. sweet water bottle holder adjusts to different size bottles

6. ya, that's a Brooks saddle, but I'm not going to get that if I buy it.

7. slightly curved seat stays look pretty

8. cables routed on starboard side of top tube for comfortable portage

9. cloth bar wrap

Bicycle Pedicabs Come to Tallahassee

Capital City Pedicabs is a new business in Tallahassee.  I've filled out an application and might try to drive part time for them over the summer.  It's cool that we're getting pedicabs.  As a passenger, I've always found the prices they ask are a bit steep.  I would be willing to work for those rates for sure.  I met the owner and his right hand man while at Damn Good Bikes the other day.

Bicycle pedicabs are a great alternative to gas powered taxis.  They're usually used for shorter trips and will be a fun and novel means of transportation for people at events in Tally.  Check 'em out.

Power Grips on MKS Pedals

You can put Power Grips on MKS pedals.  I was looking for an upgrade to the stock setup on my fixed gear so I went with Power Grips.  I later had an accident because my left crank arm snapped in half and the left pedal was damaged in the crash.  I really liked the Power Grips because I could wear just about any shoe instead of being limited to my clipless shoes and still get good power out of the setup.


When I replaced the pedals, I wanted something a bit nicer than the Power Grips stock pedals.  I went with the MKS Sylvan Touring pedals after deciding that I didn't like the 1-sided MKS Sylvan Road pedals.  In fact, you can use any pedal as long as it has a place to put the 3 screws pictured in this post.  The Power Grips come with mounting hardware and I think the spacing between screws is fairly standard.

Riding my fixie in Tallahassee would be nearly impossible without a foot retention system.  I have some hills around here with a 10%+ grade and although they are not very long, it would be impossible to get up them with my 48/15 gear ratio.

Tri the Rez Race Report

It was kind of weird not doing anything to facilitate the operation of Tri the Rez 2012.  Kind of nice too.  Since I left, Jennifer has taken over with the help of some great volunteers.  I really could not have picked a better successor for race director.  Jennifer has everything running so smoothly.  Last year I went to Capital City Runners for packet pickup and had one of the smoothest triathlon packet pickup experiences of my career.  I decided not to get my packet on Friday because I would have had to leave school earlier than I wanted and I'm comfortable throwing things together on race morning.

This race has grown a lot.  There were about 365 racers if you count relay teams as one racer.  I heard some people who were concerned that the higher numbers of people would cause a bit of chaos, but the behind the scenes team really thinks things through.  Jacob (RaceSmith.com) is probably the best timer in the area.  Jennifer does a great job.  Everything ran as smoothly as in the past.  I imagine the race can take even more growth and still run like clockwork.

I ended up hosting 10 members of the UCF tri team at my house on Friday night although I was only supposed to have 3-5.  Another host was out of visitor parking at his apartment complex and they didn't want to get towed.  In fact, some other people at another place did get towed and had to get their car out of the impound before the race!!!

I parked inside the Rez since I wasn't planning on leaving before the end of the race.  It's nice to be so close for trips to/from car.  I got in line to get my packet and everything went super smoothly.  Apparently, not many people picked up packets on Friday and I would never have known.  They had it down.  There were plenty of body markers and I only had to wait about 30 seconds to get my timing chip.

I racked my bike along the other collegiate athletes using a new technique (the seat hook on the ISM saddle...it works even though I have an under-seat bag).  I got my transition space set up then went to use the bathroom.  Not a long line because there were so many portapotties and a couple indoor toilets.  There's never long lines for bathroom use at Tri the Rez!

The water level in Lake Bradford was higher than last year but not as high as the 2 years before that.  I had a nice comfortable swim to the outside of the pack.  I sighted pretty well and the only mistake I made was a slightly too wide turn at the first buoy.  I lost my goggles at Bailey's wedding last weekend and this was the first time I wore my new goggles and I was happy with their performance...they didn't leak.

Removing my wetsuit took a couple seconds longer than I wanted but I made it through T1 in 48 seconds.  I feel like I had a weak bike.  The course was longer than in years past because Lost Lake Road is being paved.  The bike course was super well marked.  All the imperfections in the road (including one piece of roadkill) had been circled/outlined with orange paint.  There were definitely a few guys ahead of me doing some illegal drafting and I don't think they got busted.  I kept feeling like I wish I could get more power out of my legs.  I also had my bike shift on me without me asking it to shift on more than one occasion.  I need to figure out why that's happening.  T2 was pretty clean.

I was tearing it up on the run.  I passed plenty of people.  I made it to the 1-mile wooded section without being passed by anyone.  I was gaining on the guy in front of me and I heard someone coming up really fast from behind me.  Peter Wood went flying past and I decided that I'll never be upset if Peter passes me on a run.  I went on to pass a few more people, gaining a bunch of ground.  I tried to pass a couple guys on the Flastacowo homestretch but the one closest to me started to kick pretty loudly which warned the guy in front of him.  I wasn't able to catch the guy in front once he took off.

Post-race, I went straight to the massage table.  Got a nice massage then hit up food tent before taking a cool down backwards on the race course and cheering in the rest of my team plus other random people.  When it was time for door prizes, some were given to randomly chosen race numbers but others had contests.  I did a pushup contest and got worked by the winner.  Knew that would happen.  I came close to the other guys.  There was also a planking contest.  The winners went for about 9 minutes.  I knew that would happen and that I probably wouldn't be able to last through 4 minutes.

I helped Jacob the timer clean up a bit although he had just about everything under control.  Traffic had cleared out by that point.  I don't think that traffic was ever an issue.  I got inside the Rez pretty easily in the morning and I didn't hear anyone complain about parking or waiting in traffic.

Allow Steroids in Professional Sports

Everybody's on performance enhancers, especially pro athletes.  Even if it's not "drugs" or "doping," cyclists can sleep in altitude chambers or go train in the Andes mountains.  Same thing...trying to gain an edge over the competition.  We should come to expect this from our athletes.  All the guys Lance beat were doping.  All those homerun sluggers are doping.  Maybe they're not on "banned substances" but you can bet they're at least taking protein powders and creatine.  Why stop there?  Let HGH be legal.  Right now we are penalizing pro athletes who want to "play by the rules."  Let the rules say that anyone can take steroids or whatever else...then the honest people don't have to worry about getting left behind.  It would level the playing field and make the players a bit bigger.  I think it would make sports more spectator friendly.  And athletes could get legitimate medical advice and attention with respect to these chemicals.  Players would not be forced to take anything so anyone opposed to a particular substance can abstain.  Who loses here?  Nobody.

Road Bike Party

Mad Skillz.

Old Field Cycles Test Drive

I ran into Justin tonight at Bread and Roses and he was on his "dirt road commuter."  He mentioned that it's up for sale for $2,000.  I admitted that I don't have the money or need for an extra bike, but asked to test drive it.

The paint is beautiful and the lines on the tubing are so clean.  It's got some innovative features.  The cable for the front drum brake is routed through the fork.  Drum brake in the back too.  The tires give great traction and the cotton wrap on the handlebars make them feel SOLID.  Speaking of solid, Justin build the wheels by hand with heavy duty spokes and a 29er rim.  I've never ridden a Campy shifter/Shimao derailer setup before, but it was pretty neat to downshift AND upshift 3 gears at a time.

The generator light isn't as bright as my DiNotte XML-3, but it's always on if you're riding and there's no worry about batteries.  It will stay for a while even if you're stopped.  Speaking of stopping, the drum brakes are a whole 'nother world.  They don't quite have the stopping power of my hydraulic disc brakes, but they do a damn good job.  They're also silent and are not exposed to the elements, so they should perform the same in wet conditions.  The tools clanking around in the bag in the front were not so quiet.  However, the front storage is huge and secured very well.  The saddle bag was not attached when I rode it.

My only complaints: 1. Brooks saddle...I would convert to ISM if I bought it, but some people love the Brooks.  2. I wasn't clipped in so I couldn't test drive it really hard.

Overall, this would be a great multi-purpose bike.  I think if I were forced to have only one bike, this might be the one.  You can commute on it, you could race it if you don't mind being a bit slow due to weight and knobby tires (and no aerobars), you can ride off-road, you can go shopping, and just about whatever else you want.

A Penitent Driver

On my way to school this morning, I was almost right-hooked by a motorist who was presumably in a hurry. The speed limit was 25 and I'd be surprised if I was going any slower than 23.  I was in the bike lane when this girl came from right behind me (like most cars do) and turned right all of a sudden.  I can't remember clearly, but I think I saw her blinker and so jammed on my brakes.  I was able to avoid running into her.

Since I had a bit of time before I needed to teach, I followed the car into the parking lot (against the advice of law enforcement and some bloggers).  I finally got her to stop and roll down her window.  I asked her how valuable her time was.  She was nearly in tears.  She said that she saw me after the turn and felt terrible and she was convincing.  I told her that she only saved about 3 seconds by passing me and making the turn and that I could have been seriously hurt.  At that point I think she might have shed a tear.  I told her that everything's fine...I'm not hurt, she's ok, but to please please watch out for cyclists.  Not everyone rides as aware as I do.  And I thanked her for using her blinker (if that really did happen).

I can only hope that she changes her habits and tells her friends to watch out for cyclists too.

Renovo Bikes

Renovo makes beautiful bikes out of wood.  I'd like to try riding one.  It's interesting to see how they're made.

Old Swedish Bicycle

This bike was my great grandfather's. It came over from Sweden when he did. My grandmother told me stories about riding around on the back of it when she was a little girl.

It's really amazing to see how similar this bike (from the 1920s if memory serves) is to modern bikes and yet there are some big differences.

Among the differences, not the handle bar grips, the 45° rear facing drop outs, the fold-up front rack, and the angle of the seat tube (if you're in to that sort of thing).

This bike looks really sweet and would be an amazing restoration project. I wonder if the spokes are strong enough to ride on and what size the wheels are. I bet there are some weird sized things that used to be the standard and are now difficult to locate. The single speed aspect (I'm assuming there's a coaster brake because I don't see any other brakes) would make it difficult to ride in Tally but not so bad on the coast.