Friday Follies ~~ City

It’s high summer.  It’s warm, close to 80 degrees.  It’s also close to 03:00.  That’s three in the morning.  It can do that here.  After all, here is Dallas, Texas, and this is about the only time of the day that a cyclist can ride here.

Reunion tower is putting on its light show.  The Texas Book Depository is just behind me.  I’m cruising down the street at Dealy Plaza.  This is where it happened.  But that’s not why I’m here.

I am riding through Dallas in the night because I didn’t want to be here.  I started riding from the Texas Instruments Expressway Site.  My intention was to go to a friend’s house.  I got lost.  Then I got loster.  Eventually, I called my friend, and my wife.  I didn’t really know where I was, but I could ask.  Soon all of us managed to meet for dinner.

After a pleasant meal, I made one of the better errors of my life.  I decided that I would ride back to the TI site, retrieve my truck, and then drive home.  It didn’t work out that way.  But I got to see some interesting sights.

I don’t recommend riding a bike along Harry Hines after dark.  It may have changed now.  Then it was the place where the “street hostesses” plied their trade.  Cyclists were not particularly welcome.  Dallas can be confusing.

I did manage to find my way back to the company parking lot.  Dawn was just breaking.  I drove home, showered, and went to work.

Some of my co-workers noticed that I was pretty tired that day.  They asked why, and what I’d done the night before.  “You wouldn’t understand,”  I said.  I’m not sure I do myself.  It’s just something that I have to do from time to time.

Contest Info:  Watch this space.  Next week I'll put up the rules, and the actual contest entry.

Thursday Thoughts ~~ I think I’ll have a Contest…

That’s right.  A Contest!  With prizes and everything.

Now I know I’m going to be letting myself in for a bit of work here, so I’m also going to have some serious fun with it.  It’s my contest, so I get to set the rules.  And yes, there will be rules.

Why should you care?  Because there will be real, Prizes.  That’s right.  Real, honest-to-goodness Prizes.  Cool stuff that you can hold, touch, and even…  ride.

Grand Prize:  A real converted fixed gear, singlespeed bicycle.  Built up from my very own parts bins.

First Prize:  One slightly used Rigid, 29er mountain bike.

Second Prize:  One used but serviceable generic mountain bike.

Third Prize:  A “thing” from my home shop.  (Yes, it’s a bicycle “thing,” and no, it’s not another bike.)

Fourth through tenth prizes:  A tool.  Used and loved by me.  Suitable for framing, or for continued work in your garage shop.

So now you are wondering,  “What’s the catch?”  and,  “How much is this going to cost me?”  or,  “What do I have to do to win some of this stuff?”  and even, possibly,  “Is he nuts!?”

Answers: 

There are rules and conditions, and they will be made clear in the future.  So, in a sense, there is a “catch” or two.

It will cost you, but not much, and you won’t pay me a single red cent. 

You will have to do some stuff, some of it on bicycles, but don’t worry, I’m not asking anyone to do something dangerous, or superhuman.  (You won’t have to complete a 600K brevet or anything like that.)

And no, I’m not any nuttier than usual.

Here are a few hints about the stuff you’ll have to do.

1)  You must be on my distribution list for the Tuesday Tome.  And it has to be with an email address that doesn’t “bounce” on me.  This is your responsibility.  Contact me at Bicycles Unlimited (in person, not over the phone) or by email at The.road.dragon@gmail.com and give me a good email address.  If you are already getting the “Tome,” then you can relax on this one.

2)  You must be a dues paid up, member in good standing, of the South Side Cycling Club.   http://www.southsidecycling.com/    Said membership must be for the 2010 year, and dues must be paid by March  30, 2010.

3)  You must be logging miles on the Southside Cycling Club website, “Miles Tracker” feature.

4)  You should be getting very familiar with this blog.  It’s now searchable, and I’ve listed most of the labels I use below.

5)  You must reside on planet earth, and be capable of getting to Peachtree City Georgia from time to time.

6)  It would be a good idea (but not a requirement) to be a member in good standing, of Erin’s Fight, an MS fundraising team.  This could help you in the case of a tie.

7)  I am not going to incur any responsibility or liability for delivering prizes.  You can (if you win one) pick it up in person, or arrange for shipment, at your expense.  After all, the prizes are coming out of my pocket.  I’m not going to pay to ship a bike to Lower Nowheristan too!

8)  Understand that there is no warranty, express or implied, on any prize.  Prizes are warranted to exist, and to be pretty much what I described.  There will be no substitutions, so don’t even think of whining if something doesn’t fit.  That’s your problem.

Incidentally, I do have ways of tracking all of the information I’ve listed above.

One other little item:  I want this to be a fairly large event.  It will, no doubt, have occurred to some of you that the chances of winning are pretty good, if the “pool” is small.  But the thing is, I’m not going to go to judging, or awarding prizes until I have reached a sufficiently large number of contestants.  I’m thinking of a number.  Until I reach that number, it's no contest.  It will still be a fairly small pool.  So your chances should still be much better than most contests.  The thing is, it’s in your interest to get more folks into the running.  So tell your friends.  Get them to contact me and get added to the Tuesday Tome distribution list.  Get them reading this blog.  Encourage them to enter the contest.

Keep watching and reading this blog for updates, additional info, and entry requirements, rules, and conditions.

So get cracking.  Join the Southside Cycling Club.  Log your miles.  Start reading this blog.  In detail.  Carefully.  Read the Tuesday Tome.  Go ride your bike.  Come see me at Bicycles Unlimited.  This is going to be fun!

Labels:  Advocacy, Audax, Club, Cold, Commuting, Construction, Dawn Patrol, Economics, Equipment, Fixie, Fun, Gift, Grins, Group Rides, Humor, Joy, Lighting, Maintenance, Mountain Bike, Night Riding, Packing, Personality, Preparations, Randonnuering, Remodeling, Route Description, Tech, Technique, Thinking, Touring, Training, Tune Ups, Weather, Wisdom

One quick note:  I haven’t gone back and attached labels to all of the earliest posts.  I’m working on it.  Please be patient.

Late Winter Training ~~ Fitness Tests

Do you have a fitness test?  I have several.  One of them is The Beast.  This is a particular climb on my most regular commuting route.  It lays in wait for me.  More on that in a bit.

I have several fitness tests.  These are features of particular rides or roads, such as The Beast.  Or they are very specific loops.  I know exactly what to expect on them.  One of them is a particularly awful hill climb on the paths in Peachtree City.  If I can get up that thing, on a singlespeed bike, without stalling…  if I can do that, I know I’m getting into shape.  Once I can do that climb and still have some air left to say a word or two, things are getting better.  When I can roll the top of it, and keep going, then I’m close to being in form for short fast rides.  Say a 200K or some such.

What I’m referring to is using a predictable set of measurments to test fitness.  Some of these are lab type tests, of the kind that the FitLab ™ folks provide.  Others are tests of the ability to sustain a given heart rate, and recover back to less than 75% of anaerobic threshold, in less than three minutes.  In short, these are objective measurements.  They are tests within very specific conditions.  They tell us where we are, what is the actual measurable level of fitness.

And then there’s The Beast.  The thing starts out with a steep climb for about one tenth mile, and then continues into a one mile long grinder.  The objective is to do that climb, carrying a full commuting load, and not be trashed.  I’m not there yet.  I will be by mid-Spring.

What are your “tests,” and how are you doing on them?

Tomorrow:  The BIG announcement. 

Training In General:

Yesterday I waxed rhapsodic about the approach of Spring.  I couldn’t help it.  It’s been a tough Winter for everyone.  Since the beginning of October, I’m down about 150 hours of outside riding.  It shows.

We have a shiny new bicycle club.  One of the fun features on the club website http://www.southsidecycling.com/   is the “Milage Tracker.”  Folks are posting their weekly milage.  We have a bit of an informal pool going about when the club will pass an aggregate 50,000 miles logged.  Fun stuff.

There’s lots more going on in the club.  We need this organization.  So go check it out.  Log on.  Join.  Post your rides and mileages.  And for heaven’s sakes, please pay your dues.

Now to training.  One of the reasons I mentioned the club’s milage tracker is to speak to that from a training standpoint.

Cyclists and runners tend to get hung up on miles.  The problem is, your heart and lungs don’t know what a mile is.  Not all miles are equal.  For instance, rare though it is, imagine a nice day and a relatively flat ride with a good strong tail wind.  Ten miles under those conditions could be a half hour of fairly easy, low effort riding.  On the other hand, ten miles of approach and mountain climbing, on a gusty windy day, could be an hour and twenty minutes of serious effort.

“Thunder is good.  Thunder is impressive.  But it’s lightning that gets the work done.”  Mark Twain.  Similarly, miles are good and impressive, but it’s time and effort focused in specific training zones, that accomplish the fitness goals.

What is important, is not how far we ride, but rather the duration and the quality of effort.  Time, and adherence to specific training goals will result in far better rewards, than merely slavish accumulation of mileage.  And it can provide a lot more enjoyment too.

For specific instance:  At this time of year it is beginning to be possible to get outside for extended periods of time.  Sure it may be only once or twice a week, but it is possible.  On the other hand, we can’t predict when those times will occur, and the days are still short, with lots of inclement weather around.  How do we make the most of this?

Continue to do very focused, specific, indoor work.  This is where you do the interval training to build strength and endurance.  But when possible, go outside and do some long, slow riding.  This is the fabled “base building.”  It is a base work that yields the best increases in speed and power later on.

Remember, start where you are.  None of us are in the shape that we were last summer.  It’s necessary to build back to that.  It’s best done gradually.  So, just as inn prolonged climbs, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Weather Break!

Can you feel it?  Spring is coming.  She is moving our way at a steady rate of 21 miles per day.  Today she is crossing Orlando, Florida.  The annual February weather break is here.  Yes, it’s five to ten degrees cooler than “normal” but it is, nonetheless, here.  The worst is behind us.

Yes, we will see more cold days.  And do remember, Spring is not Summer.  But she is coming.  And Weather Break is here.  We always get this.  It doesn’t last.  It is a gift.

What does that mean to us, as cyclists?  It means we will start having more ridable days.  It means that, this week in particular, we should take every opportunity presented to us.  Go outside!  Get on a bike!  Don’t think of it as training.  Ride for the sake or riding.  Inhale the air.  Listen for the early songbirds.  (They have started to arrive again.)  Look at the trees.  See the buds beginning to swell.  Nature is stirring.  She has been asleep, but she is getting restless.  It is good to become a part of this process.

It is time to begin again.  Go outside and ride.  Take it easy and enjoy this time.  Ride gently.  You are not ready, yet, to push it.  Take pleasure in the act, for its own sake.  Ride at lunch.  Ride in the early evening.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a short ride.  Ride!  And while riding, live!

Friday Follies ~~ Speeding

I have been cited for speeding twice, while riding a bicycle.

The second time this happened was absolutely true.  I’d been coming down a long gentle grade.  I was in the big ring, and cooking.  I went through the school zone in excess of 35 mph.  The policeman was very polite, and somewhat impressed.  He was also dead right.  The zone was clearly posted.  Dismissal was in progress.  The speed limit was 25 mph.  I knew all of this.  I just had a complete brain fade. The policeman was kind.  He let me off with a warning.

The first time I was issued a speeding ticket while cycling was a bit more complex.

The scene was a small southern mountain town.  It was the early seventies.  The town had a court square at the center.  Traffic around the square was one way.  It was canted on a light hill.

At that time in history, the local hot rod set would come into town and parade around the square in their jacked up Chevy beasts.  Think of a Spanish promanade, only with muscle cars.

I was in the early stages of my racing “career.”  I had given up my car in order to buy a really nice racing bike.  I used my “other bike” as a car.  My hair was long.  My normal summer cycling garb was a pair of cut-off (short) jeans, a sleeveless shirt, bandana worn as a headband, funny shoes, gloves.

The Elbow Room Tavern was just off the square.  My friends and I would gather there to imbibe a cheap beer or two of a warm evening.  We could take pitchers outside and hang in front of the place.

On the evening in question, I had just arrived on my bike.  Several of my friends were standing there in front of the bar.  We were watching the motor parade and making disparaging remarks.

At this remove in time, I don’t remember exactly what was said, or what provoked the event.  But this is certain.  I took it into my head to mount the bike and merge into the traffic.  I quickly found that I was able to pass the big jacked up cars.  In fact, I could do it fairly easily.  They had all kinds of power, and made a lot of noise, terrific acceleration but…

No amount of horsepower will help if one can not make turns.  Add in a bit of traffic congestion, and the bike is suddenly king of the situation.

Words were exchanged.  I took the inside line and went faster.  The guys in the crewcuts and clean white tee shirts were getting testy.  The noise level increased.  I could not be caught.  I was able to accelerate through the short straights, and keep my speed into the turns.  The power car set could not do this.  I kept gaining and passing.  I lapped the field.  Speed increased.  Horns blew.  Engines roared.

One of the city’s finest saw the scene and recognized that the situation was getting out of hand.  He also (correctly) determined that I was the root cause of the disturbance.  He entered the scene in his cruiser, lights and siren on.

I was pulled over, and then there was a moment.  The cop knew he had me, and knew that I was a problem, but he didn’t know what to do about it.  So he wrote me out a speeding ticket.

That was interesting.  He cited me for “operating in excess of the posted speed limit.” But he didn’t specify a speed.

I went to court on that one.  I had the savvy to cut my hair and put on my most sincere suit.

It came down to this, the officer could not state exactly how fast I was going, and therefore could not testify that he knew I was speeding.  The judge refused to believe that I could have been speeding on a bicycle.  He admonished the cop for wasting time and harassing a citizen.  In other words, I got away with it.  Cold.

I’ll never do it again.  I will continue to outrun cars in traffic, but provoking them is just plain stupid.  Still, it was fun.

Thursday Thoughts ~~ Goodness and Plenty

There is a strong social aspect to our sport.  That’s not news.  Many of you are aware of it.  Sometimes the reason for a ride, or a class is more to be with others, to share a common purpose, and have fun doing it.

I ride with, and count as friends, a lot of people.  I think that many of us would not have connected with each other but for the bike.  We come from a terrifically wide range of backgrounds, professions, occupations, and lives.  Our common connection is cycling.

As I write this, I have only recently finished a tough, demanding spin class.  We were together in a room, bikes in trainers.  The routine was demanding.  For many of us, some of the exercises and drills were all but impossible.  And yet, there was a lot of laughter.  It was actually fun.

Imagine that.  Indoor cycling as a fun activity.

Of course, the moment the weather and daylight permit, we will all head outside.  Not one of us really prefers being indoors.  We do this to prepare for the long beautiful days ahead.  Some of us won’t ride together again until next year’s classes.  Shared spin classes.  On some occasions, we will meet and ride the roads.  It will be good.  We will be together, and we will find laughter and joy, in the act of cycling, and in the presence of each of us.

As it is, and as it should be.

Spring is coming.  The road is waiting.

Wonderful Product:

Bar Mitts!

I don’t often “plug” specific products.  So far, I’ve kept this blog non-commercial.  In that sense, I mean that I am not selling advertising, nor am I accepting any kind of compensation for the things I post here.  So when I show you a specific product, and endorse it, it means I have used the thing.  I’ve used it, at my expense, and I report what I find.

A friend introduced me to Bar Mitts ™ last year.  It was late enough in the Winter so I barely had a chance to try them out.  I was favorably impressed.  This year, I’ve used them.  I’ve used them a lot.  I think they are absolutely wonderful.

Winter cycling presents me with two particular problem areas, my hands and feet.  I can keep just about everything else warm enough to function.  But my hands and feet suffer.  I’ve tried countless combinations of gloves.  The best I’ve been able to accomplish is tolerably uncomfortable.  But with these...

My hands stay toastie warm.  I do use gloves with them.  But usually much lighter gloves.

And they come in a flat bar model too, suitable for mountain bikes, hybrids, and fitness bikes.

They are made of neoprene.  They block the wind, and are waterproof.  They come in three sizes.  Sizing depends on your size, not the size of the bike.  If you have big hands and arms, you want the large ones.  The idea is to fill the opening, to limit wind penetration.  (I use the mediums.)  Price is close to $60.00.  I’ve spent a lot more for gloves, individually, not to mention multiples, and chemical warmers.  These are a bargain!

We still have a good bit of cold weather ahead of us this year.  If cold hands are keeping you off the bike, this just might be your answer.  And yes we can get these things for you in the shop.

Shifting Issues

Is your shifting off a bit?  There could be several things going on.  We’ll divide this into seasonal (meaning Winter) and routine categories.

Seasonal:  Do you notice your bike shifting a bit oddly when you’ve been riding outside?  If so, the first question to ask is, “What is the temperature?”  If you are riding in colder weather, some of your shifting problems could be caused by a sticking freehub body.  That’s the gizmo that allows you to coast.  Basically, it’s a ratchet.

In colder weather, lubricants increase in viscosity.  In other words, the get stickier and thicker.  This can cause a freehub to try to “push” the chain, rather than coasting.  If you aren’t going to be doing a lot more cold weather riding, I’d say leave it alone.  On the other hand, if you anticipate more cold temp riding, you should get to the shop and have them clean, and lubricate your freehub.  Be sure to tell the technician that you are riding in colder weather.  A good tech can set your freehub up with a lighter lubricant for colder weather.  Note:  You will want to have this process reversed when it warms up.

While on the topic of cold and lubricants, think about your chain.  Most dry lubricants will perform well in cold.  If you are using a wet lube on the chain, it can suffer from the cold too.  I’d clean the chain thoroughly, then switch to a dry lube, such as Rock ‘N Roll ™.  I’d also recommend increasing the frequency of chain lubrication.

Routine:  When was the last time you cleaned and lubricated the cable bridge?  This is the guide below the bottom bracket.  It is a prime location for dirt and gunk to build up.  This can act as a “clutch,” slowing the cable’s travel, particularly on upshifts.

For that matter, how long has it been since you replaced cables and housings?  Cables that have been in your shifters for a longer time will begin to stiffen and fatigue.  They are made of steel, and you are bending them back and forth with every shift.  Eventually they fatigue and break.  This is a real nightmare.

Before cables break, they stiffen, and resist movement.  Housings wear internally.  Fresh cables and housings can work miracles.

Do you lubricate the internals of your shifters?  If not, start!  I’d recommend something good, like T-9 Boeshield ™.  This is an excellent pentrant and lubricant.  Note:  Do not use WD-40!!!!

Chain, cassette, and chainring wear can cause shifting problems too.  If you don’t know how to detect chain and gear wear, have your local bike tech check them out.

Some Points to Remember:

Extra special notice:  If you have been riding outside during the snow, in the slush following it, or any time in the last 72 hours, get your bike clean.  There will be salt and abrasives on it.  Salt is corrosive.  The abrasives are destructive.  Don’t delay this!

This is about maintenance.  In the wake of this past weekend it’s appropriate to think about a few items on your bike.  Likely you’ve done more “trainer miles” this year, than at any time in recent memory.  If you are riding outside, then there are some significant points to remember.  Either way your bike is being subjected to some unusual loads and stresses.

It’s time for some checks:

Indoors Riders

Tires:  What do they look like?  If you are doing a lot of trainer work, they are likely getting worn with a large “flat” to the profile.  This isn’t dangerous…  Yet.  If you are seeing any cord showing on the tire, it’s time to replace it.  How about dry rot?  Fraying cords at the bead line?  All of these are indications of wear.  Think in terms of new tires before the Spring riding season gets you outside, and a long way from home with a flat.

While on that subject, when was the last time you inventoried your “road kit.”  Do you have a good spare?  Is your patch kit fresh?  What kind of shape is your pump or inflator in?  Where are your tire levers?  Multi-tool?

Chain:  If you are doing a lot of trainer work, you probably haven’t lubed the chain in a while.  Go take the bike out of the trainer and clean and lube your chain!  Do it today.

Frame:  Inspect it!  When was the last time you cleaned it?  Sitting on your bike, sweating, on a trainer, can be really hard on the bike.  Do it a favor, clean it!

Running gear:  Inspect cables, and lube them.  If there is any rust, replace the cables and housings now.  While you’re at it, a bit of lubrication on brake and derailler pivots just might be in order.

Outdoors Riders

Tires:  You won’t have the same wear patterns that trainer work causes, but your tires are probably getting a bit sketchy.  Check them over now.  Look for cuts, wear, and dry rot.

Chain:  Your s needs to be cleaned and lubed much more frequently.  It’s been wet out.  You’ve picked up a lot of “gunk” and exposed the chain to a lot of water.  Clean it.  Inspect it for wear.  Lubricate.

Frame:  When was the last time you really cleaned your bike?  For that matter, if you’ve been riding it outside all Winter long, it’s probably time to get it into the shop for a major tune up.

Running gear:  Cables?  Look for rust and fraying.  Do the brakes pivot smoothly?  Have you been experiencing any shifting problems?  It just might be time to get something done about that.

Tomorrow:  Shifting issues.

Friday Follies ~~ Mojo

People put all kinds of things on their bicycles.  I’d say these things can be grouped into three categories:  1) Functional accessories.  2) Cargo.  3) Decoration.  Sometimes the lines blur a bit.

In that decoration category, we could include things like streamers, event cards in the spokes, ribbons wrapped through the spokes, the fake fur top tube cover, and “mojo.”

The word “mojo” is interesting.  It has a lot of meanings, mostly informal.  In cycling, a mojo is a decorative, attached to the bike, usually on the bars, stem, or top tube.  It is a lucky charm, carried to ward off bad luck, bring good luck, or just for the good feeling and fun it brings.

I like mojo.  I don’t remember exactly when I started attaching mojo to my bike.  I know it was before I’d ever heard the term.  For me, mojo is always either a found object, or a gift from a friend.  It has to please me in some way.  Usually, it connects to some theme in my life.

Way back in the stone age, when I was did cycle racing regularly, I attached a tiki head to my bike.  It was a small piece; carve from mahogany, and ugly little pseudo Polynesian mask type thing.  It was about an inch and a quarter long, and maybe three quarters of an inch wide.  A girl gave it to me.  (Oddly she departed my life well before I got into bicycle racing.)

That little Tiki was my good luck charm.  I didn’t always win with it, but I always had it on my racing bike.  I still have it.  It doesn’t go on any bike now.  I don’t race any more; it wouldn’t be right to have that on a tourist or commuting bike.  Don’t ask me why.  I don’t know.

I’m not particularly superstitious.  I’m a rationalist.  I believe in a rational world.  But I will not live in a world that doesn’t include room for whimsy and a bit of self-parody.

Back to the Tiki.  The scene was a race.  An official spotted my mojo and told me I had to remove it, “for safety reasons.”  I hated that, but I complied.  I crashed out.  It was a fairly bad crash.  The next race I had my mojo back on the bike.

Now note this, I had crashed before.  I’d crashed in races while I had the Tiki-mojo on the bike.  I didn’t really connect the crash to the removal of the Tiki.  I still think it was coincidence.  But, several months later, at another race, the same official spotted my mojo again, and again told me I had to remove it.  I refused, and simply withdrew from the race.  I felt that, if they were going to be that picky, I didn’t want to play their games.

By that time in my “racing career,” I was beginning to figure out that I was not going to be the “next big thing.”  I was a fairly average Cat 3, and would probably always be one.  (Turned out I was right about that.)

Tiki-mojo and I switched to crit races.  No official ever said anything about it.  Some of the other racers did.  Some laughed.  Occasionally someone made a derogatory remark.  I mostly wrote those detractors off as ignorant, and did my level best to beat them, or at least make them work harder.  Incidentally, Tiki-mojo and I crashed in crit races too.  And we didn’t win all that many of them.  When I stopped racing, I retired Tiki to a place of honor in my treasures box.

I still ride with mojo.  Not on all my bikes.  Not all the same mojo.  All of it has meaning.  All of it makes me happy.  And you know what?  Sometimes, someone remarks on one of these charms, and then looks real funny when I reply,  “That’s my mojo.  I like it.”  They don’t get it.  Too bad.

Thursday Thoughts ~~ Problems That Don’t Exist

On Wednesday, I posted an article on drive chains and lubricants.  That sort of leads to this one.  I am constantly amused and puzzled by an odd phenomenon.  For some reason, there are folks out there who bound and determined to “fix” the bicycle.  I don’t mean this in the sense of repairing a broken bike.  Rather, these folks seem to want to change the entire bicycle.

The Shaft Drive:  Many years ago, in the motorcycle world, BMW decided to replace the chain drive with an enclosed drive shaft.  One of the things that helped this work was they flattened the engine out and turned it sideways.  Also, motorcycles have lots of reserve power, to drive the thing.  Okay.

Almost from the beginning, some folks have tried to apply shaft drives to bicycles.  They exist to this day.  They limit the gearing available, increase the weight of the bike, and increase the cost.  Admittedly, the do work, but only by limiting the usefulness and function of the bike.  The advantage?  Well, they are lower mainenance, and cleaner.  But it doesn’t take very much to maintain a chain, and if done properly, it is pretty clean.  So just what problem does this fix?

Belt Drives:  You too can own a bike with a gadget!  Wow.  It’s not special.  It has no real benefit over other technologies.  It’s just different!

Here’s another one.  Belt drives have been with us for a long time.  They have been used to run farm equipment and machine tools.  There are belt drives under the hood of your car, to run accessories such as air conditioners, water pumps, and alternators. 

Back during the 70s some of the custom motorcycle crowd started experimenting with belt drives on Harleys.  They work okay.  From time to time various tinkerers have tried to apply this to bicycles.  (The most recent one of these is the Trek company.)  The do work.  But why do it?  The claim is it’s quieter and cleaner.  But…

The only bikes that Trek has managed to put a belt drive on are a singlespeed/fixed gear models.  (There’s a reason for this.)  A well set up fixie or singlespeed is about as close to silent as it is possible to get.  As for the cleaner, please see the above discussion.  And by the way?  Belts do make dirty!  They wear and accumulate rubber and carbon dust.  Yuck.

As for why only on singles and fixed gears…  The problem is that belts are a lot wider than chains.  So there’s not really room for them to operate a multi gear set.  Besides, getting the belt to move across gears, and stay properly tensioned, is a real nightmaire.  Such a deal.

Other examples of this sort of thing include (but are not limited to) “Magic” auto shifters,.  “Really good” (read weird and uncomfortable) saddles,  add on electric motors, add on gasoline engines, funny handlebars, oval chainrings, and some really really goofy approaches to frame design and rider position.  Some of these things sort of work, but in odd and unhelpful ways.  Others are actually positively harmful.  Some of them are actually well intended, others are out and out scams. They all have one thing in common, they fix “problems” that don’t really exist.

How (and when) to Ride That Heavy Bike

On Monday we discussed a program of gradually increasing loads, to prepare for a touring type event.  Today, we will examine a good way to incorporate that gradually increasing load in your overall training.

The concept is fairly straight forward.  Gradually adapt to the increasing load.  This means increase the weight of the bike gradually, as we’ve already discussed, and gradually increase the volume of time spent working with that increasing load.

At this time of year, it’s enough to simply get out and ride the (for now) slightly heavier bike.  At this time of year, almost any bike feels heavier.  We’re wearing more clothing to protect against the weather.  We’re restricted and constricted.  We’re not in the same condition we were last summer.  So the slight increase of weight is less noticeable.  Good.

At this point, we should be doing eight to ten hours of training per week.  That includes strength training, core work, and riding.  Two fairly short rides per week, on a lighter bike.  These could be stationary trainer sessions, or outside work.  These should be very focused, step interval sessions.

To that, add two more short, light weight, rides, at low intensity, duration between an hour and an hour and a half.  These short rides are optional, but if done, the intensity should be very low.  Spin, but don’t go hard.

Once each week, get on the heavier bike, and go out for a bit of a longer ride.  This starts with about two hour sessions.  Don’t go hard.  Use lower gears.  Focus is on staying in low to mid aerobic ranges.

Over the next month, gradually increase the over-all time per week.  But do this by increasing only the heavy bike sessions.  By the middle of March, those heavy bike rides should be in the three to four hour range.

In mid-March, comes the “pivot.”  Drop one of the two step interval workouts, and replace it with a short (one hour) ride on the heavy bike.  Keep this in the low aerobic range.  Then, for the next two weeks, gradually reduce the strength work sessons, and slowly increase both the of the heavy bike rides.  This should slowly bring the short one into the one and a half hour to two hour range, and the long ride into the four to five hour range.

At the beginning of April, drop the second light bike, interval session, and replace it with a heavy bike ride of about an hour.  Keep this third heavy bike ride in a low aerobic range.  You should still be doing one to two light bike, low intensity efforts per week.  (These are somewhat optional.)  Be sure to allow ample rest and recovery time.

Toward the end of April, decrease the weight on the shorter of the heavy bike rides, and increase the effort level to mid to upper aerobic range.  Continue to build time on the two longer rides.

Continue building time with the heavy bike, as its load increases.  At the same time, make sure to give yourself one to two light bike rides per week.  These are recovery and “play” sessions.  Keep it light, and have fun.  On the heavy bike rides, take a camera.  Enjoy the scenery as Spring advances.  Explore new roads.  Expand your range.  Maybe even allow an out and back, overnight trip.

Stay in touch.  Maybe we can do some of this as a group project.

Have fun with it.  You’ll be ready to go longer and heavier than you imagine by the time Summer rolls around.

The Chain

In case you have been hiding under a rock, we’re having a truly wet Winter.  That means a bit more maintenance.  In particular, chains need more attention.

Bike chains are amazing things.  We’ve had the roller chain with us, almost from the beginning.  It transfers the power from our legs back to the rear wheel.  But think about the chain.  It is made up of approximately 112 links.  Each link has two side plates, two inner plates, and a roller bushing.  Those side plates have to pivot on the inner plates, and the bushing must allow this.  On a single speed bike, the pivoting action takes place twice in every revolution of the chain.  It’s four times on a multi-gear bike.  That’s something like 18,000 revolutions in a ten mile ride.  And it has to do this while taking the strain of moving the bike at least half the time.

Now do you understand why bicycle technicians get so emphatic about chain lubrication?

Petroleum Lube – The Enemy?  Once upon a time petroleum based lubricants were the best we had to do the job.  But petro-lubes (oil) have a significant drawback.  They are wet and sticky.  The attract and hold dirt.  Most of that dirt is silicate material.  (That’s sand if you’re not being too technical.)  There are machining prcesses that use silicates and oil, under pressure to cut metal!  Chains lubricated with petroleum products will get really messy, and they will wear out faster.  Note:  In a pinch, a poor lube is better than no lube at all.  I’ve used light oil, petroleum chain lubes, and even motor oil.  But please bear in mind, these were emergency situations.  I was a long way from a shop, with a dry, recently watered, chain.

Parafin – Almost There?  When I got into “serious” road riding, I learned to lube a chain with paraffin.  It was a messy and dangerous process.  One metled the paraffin in a round tin, and then immersed the chain in it.  This was a messy process.  It was also slightly dangerous.  (I set the kitchen on fire once.)  Finally, with natural paraffin, the process was less than perfect.  True, the paraffin, inside the chain, didn’t attract dirt, and it was fairly quiet.  The problem was natural paraffin turns out to be a less than ideal lubricant.

The Solution!  Modern, high quality lubricants use a suspended synthetic paraffin.  The lubricant is carried by a solvent, that helps to clean the chain, while moving the lubricant inside the chain, where it is needed.  The carrier then evaporates, leaving a dry chain, well lubricated and clean.  More, it stays clean.  I like these things.  My chains last longer, are cleaner, and quieter, and there is no risk of a kitchen fire.

Two different brands of this type of lube seem to be very good.  White Lightning ™, and Rock ‘N Roll ™ both work well, and are formulated in several different thicknesses, to match riding styles and conditions.  My personal favorite is Rock ‘N Roll ™.

A final note:  The product WD-40 ™ does not belong in the same room with your bicycle!  It’s not a lubricant.  It washes lubricants away.  Do not put this stuff on your chain!  Ever!

It’s Time to Start Gaining Weight

I know that, after reading that headline, you are thinking,  “What!!?  I’m trying to lose weight!  Is he crazy!?”  Well, in the words of the bard,  “I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for.”  The subject at had will actually have the effect of helping you to lose some weight.  Confused?  Good!  Please read on.

The weight gain I’m proposing is good for just about anyone, but especially for tourists and long endurance cyclists.  There is an old adage for racers that goes,  “Train heavy and race light.”  It’s not bad advice either.

The idea is to train on a heavy bike, with a lot of equipment.  Then ride a lighter bike at your events.  This makes you stronger and faster.  For racers this is a fairly sound training technique.  For endurance cyclists and tourists, it’s almost essential.

The tourist application:  You plan to do some touring this year.  You expect to either go “full loaded,” or at least “self-supported.”  Either way you go, you are going to be riding a bike that is a lot heavier.  No matter how efficient you are at packing and planning, you will be carrying a lot of stuff.  If you do all of your training and riding on a light bike, the day that you load up and go will not be a pleasant one.

So the idea is to gradually become accustomed to riding with a load.  Essentially, we want to become accustomed to riding with about %20 to %25 more mass than our actual event load.  This takes a bit of planning, but you can start it now.  Here’s how.

• Begin to plan your actual load.
• Collect all the tools, clothing, spares, etc and weigh them.
• Weigh your event bike.
• If you will be training on a bike other than your event bike, weigh it.
• The weight of your event bike, and your load is your target.
• You might have to carry a bit more on your training bike, if it is lighter than the event ride.
• Now start refining your gear choices.

While you working out what you will actually carry, you can start working the PLAN.  Here’s how.

Use your rough estimate of your target load.

Look at the calendar.  How many weeks until your event?

Subtract three weeks from that number.

Divide the “Training Load” (about %25 more than you actually plan to carry) by the number of weeks you have left.  That’s your “Weekly Increment.”

Now go ride.

Example:

Event bike = 28 pounds

Training Bike = 19 pounds

Event load = 25 pounds

Event bike and load = 53 pounds

Training Target is 66.25 pounds

Let’s say your event is in 24 weeks.  That means you want to hit Training Target in 21 weeks.  Your training bike weighs 47.25 pounds less than Training Target

So you add 2.25 pounds each week, from now until the beginning of that third week before the event.  You ride for two weeks at that Training Target weight.  The last week before the event, you are tapering and riding a light bike.  And you are event ready, because you will be riding a lighter bike for the actual tour.

Incidentally, we aren’t committing to 24 weeks of unremitting drudgery here.  You will be able to enjoy getting on the nice light bike from time to time.  (And believe me, you will enjoy it!)  More on that soon.

Wednesday:  How to ride that heavy bike!

Friday Follies ~~ Things I’ve learned on a Bike

The following are lessons, from the minute to the profound, in no particular order.

• You’re never lost, unless you give up.
• Getting lost is the way to find all kinds of neat stuff.  It’s just hard to find it again.
• Pain is a state of mind.
• It’s easier to laugh than to complain.
• Always carry extra cash.
• Never ask a convenience store clerk for directions.
• Firemen and letter carriers are good sources for local directions.
• There is no such thing as a tail wind.
• The driver of the car is usually wrong, but the car is always bigger.
• All roads are mostly uphill.
• On any closed course, it’s uphill and against the wind, all the way ‘round, in both directions.
• If there is a one lane bridge on the road, you, a following car, and an approaching truck will all get there at the same time.
• Running stop lights and signs is stupid and will get you killed.
• Most dogs are friendly.  But carry dog biscuits, they work better than pepper spray, or anything else.
• Walking, though embarrassing, is always an option.
• On a ride, almost any problem can be fixed by continuing to pedal.
• Ride long enough and everything happens to you, good or bad.
• Form follows function.  Or, ugly and working beats pretty and not.
• You don’t always know whether things are bad or good.  (Some of the best rides I’ve ever had, were some of the worst.)
• There is no such thing as being too visible.
• If the situation feels wrong, then it is wrong.  Get out of there.  Now!
• Crashes are easy to cause, and easier to avoid than to live through.
• It’s good to ride with someone who is crazier than you are.  You learn fascinating things that way.  (But you probably shouldn’t make a habit of it.)
• The inventor of energy bars had a sick and twisted sense of humor.
• Never pass up a chance to pee, or to fill your water bottles.
• A cyclist can always go another ten miles. 
• Don’t remember if you charged your lights?  If it’s getting dark, and you are a long way from home…  You didn’t!
• Bikes are easy to fix, and easier to mess up.
• Bikes like to be ridden.  A hanging bike goes out of tune faster than one that is ridden frequently.
• For fun, a lousy bike beats a great car.
• Arguing with motorists is a waste of time, and bad public relations.
• A bad day on the bike beats a great day in the office.
• “Because the Pros do…” is probably bad advice, if you aren’t one.
• Anyone will happily give a lost cyclist bad directions.
• All lost motorists assume that cyclists must know the way.  Try to look like you really know what you are talking about when you misdirect them.
• Never accept a ride from a beautiful woman in a pickup truck.
• Free food is usually poisonous.
• Road kill can be slippery.
• Squirrels (the rodent kind) are all kamikazis.
• A mountain bike is a good way to get into trouble farther from help.
• Never drop the Ride Leader.
• Cyclists are bigger liars than fishermen or golfers.
• Everyone who has ever raced BMX, was once the “state champion.”
• The older I get, the faster I was.