Princeton Tec Apex

While working the bike check-in at the SIR Cascade 1200 I got to see a lot of different light set-ups. A couple of riders were using the Princeton Tec Apex headlamp as their primary bike light. In both cases I saw, the riders had removed the headstrap and attached the light to their handlebars. As a bike light, they mostly run the three Watt Apex at it's lower power-settings to conserve runtime.

A very glowing review of the Apex can be found here:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/pt_apex.htm

On Amazon and other places I've found a lot of favorable reviews along with some negative reviews by people who were dissapointed and misled by some overly optimistic marketing. There is no free lunch and you can't get super-bright light for 72 hours off four AA cells but given the current limits of technology, the Apex looks pretty good. I've been very pleased with my Princeton Tec EOS as a helmet light but it uses 3 AAA cells. The Apex has a more rational 4 AA cell battery pack and from what I've read it runs very nicely with rechargeable NiMH cells. The riders I talked to seem very happy with the battery life and light output of the Apex on the lower power settings.

I don't have an Apex yet, but it makes a very looking, compact light and I think I'm going to be getting one soon. If and when I do, look for pictures and a more detailed report here.

SIR Cascade 1200K Brevet

The Seattle International Randonneurs Cascade 1200K Brevet started at 6:00 AM Saturday June 24, 2006. You can follow along via the blog at:

http://c1200blog.randonista.com/

I'm not riding this one but I got to work the bike check-in last night and this morning up in Monroe. A lot of work goes into making an event like this happen and it's really neat to see it all come together.

Best of luck to all the riders.

-- Kent

Ali's PediCab

Ali is a Seattle messenger and entrepreneur. One of his latest projects is this neat pedicab from Thailand. Ali and Joe are working to get a decent crank installed on the pedicab and also give it some brakes that will be at least one step above Fred Flintstone era technology. So far the cab is a work in progress, but it sure looks cool. You can see a few pictures here:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/AliCab/AliCab.html

The Great Divide Mountain Bike Race

The 2006 running of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Race starts Friday June 23rd at high noon from the border at Port Roosville, MT. Links to audio and text updates can be found here:

http://www.greatdividerace.com/

Last year's winner Matthew Lee is racing this once again and again he's riding the Canadian section as a prolog. Tough guys Matt Chester, Rudi Nadler and Dave Nice are all taking a shot at the course on fixed gears this year which makes my last year's run of the route on a singlespeed seem pretty tame. To everyone racing this amazing route, I wish you the very best kind of adventure. Keep those pedals turning,

Kent

Jim Foreman's Shortest Tour

Jim Foreman is one of my online pals. He's a man who knows how to tell a good story and he's been around for quite a while and seen a lot of things. He recently wrote a nice little tale about his shortest bike tour and you can read it here:

http://www.jimforeman.com/Stories/shorttour.htm

You can also read a whole bunch more of his stories and books for free online at:

http://www.jimforeman.com/

And I'll repeat what Jim once said about my stuff, but turn it toward Jim. If you enjoy his writing, feel free to send him a few bucks. Jim was one of the many people who contributed toward financing my Mountain Turtle Adventure but I know he also talked more than a few people into helping me out. Jim's the kind of guy you want watching your back and the fellow who has a story for every occasion.

How To Always Smell Fresh

Toronto Cyclist Darren J. has some good tips for cycle commuters who don't have access to a shower at work. Check out:

http://bikerefugee.blogspot.com/2006/05/how-to-always-smell-fresh.html

A Day on the Bike

Saturday I rode my bike on one of my favorite routes. The story and pictures are here:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/6-17-06/DayOnBike.html

Keep 'em rolling,

- Kent

Good Gear for Bad Times

Living and cycling in the Pacific Northwest I perhaps get too many chances to test foul weather gear. The Ultra Marathon Cycling Association (UMCA) decided to tap my expertise and had me write about some of my favorite bits of nasty weather gear. I chose to write about the Rainshield O2 jacket, Rainlegs and the Marmot DriClime Windshirt. You can read the full reviews:

http://www.ultracycling.com/equipment/foul_weather_gear.html

As always, I advise supporting your local merchants.In the case of Rainlegs, however, everyone I know in the US who has these wound up ordering them from Rainlegs UK site at:

http://www.rainlegs.co.uk/

If you'd like either a Rainshield O2 jacket or a Marmot DriClime Windshirt and can't find those locally, you can order them via Amazon.com. As always anything you order via one of my Amazon links does kick some money back to me, but I only recommend products that I have found to be worthwhile. By the way, when I say anything, I mean anything. If you enter Amazon via one of my links and then buy something completely unrelated to cycling like a CD or a book or whatever, I still get a small referal fee.




Keep 'em rolling,

- Kent

Tinker Juarez and RAAM

Tinker Juarez is one of the many amazing people who is competing in the Race Across America (RAAM) right now. Tinker's a total rider, most well known for his many mountain bike victories, but he's currently hammering his way across the country. There are some interesting reports here:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=200788

This is a small excerpt:

During his massage his crew swarmed about; mother Rose feeding him, Trevor calculating estimated times for the miles to come, Ed and Jim attending to his bike. When Ed commented that when he cleaned the drivetrain, he found absolutely no sign of grime on the small chainring, Tinker’s nonchalant answer was, “Well, I haven’t been out of the big chain ring yet. Not at all. But that little ring, it’s coming. It’ll have its day.” Incredible! Tinker has amassed 816 miles since Sunday, has climbed thousands of feet, and from the 8000’+ town of Durango he declares that he’s done it all in his 53!


Which isn’t to say that these first days of the Race Across America have been easy. Far from it. “This is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he admits. “It’s so much harder than I ever could have imagines. But I could go home and cry about how hard this is, or I can keep on going and cry on my bike. Crying on my bike sounds better.”


Full coverage of RAAM is here:

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/

Max's Cycling Pages

Massimiliano "Max" Poletto is such a no-ego guy it took me quite a bit of poking around on his pages to even find his name. But it really wasn't any hardship to read his various ride reports, they've got all kinds of wonderful details. You can see for yourself by exploring here:

http://www.maxp.net/bike/

To get a feel for Max's writing, here are a couple of exerpts from his 2005 LEL ride report at:

http://www.maxp.net/bike/randonneuring/2005-lel-1400k.txt

I leaned my bike against a wall at the control and stared in disbelief: right in front of me, next to my Rambouillet, was Sean's bright red Trek! I checked in at the control and discovered that Glen had left less than half an hour earlier. Maybe I wasn't doing so terribly after all. Sean and Finn sat at a table in the dining hall, and Sean told me an incredible story. After a lot of creaking, one of Finn's pedals had finally snapped. At first, Finn had tried to reattach the pedal to the broken remains of the spindle. But when that approach failed, he simply took off his shoe, stuffed it into his jersey pocket, and wrapped his toes around the jagged spindle remains that still emerged from the crank. In this way, I believe, he pedaled some tens of hilly kilometers, Sean at his side, before a motorcycle marshal caught up to them with a pair of spare pedals. Blood stained his sock, but he didn't stop.

and later in the same report:

I have many memories of those last 65Km: the expansive scenery, the magnificent light, the feeling of achievement at having completed LEL despite the last day's troubles. Yet my best and most unbelievable memory is of Finn, in his granny gear for the first time in 1350Km, pushing Sean up the hills. Sean, his tendons swollen and ibuprofen no longer effective, was forced to soft-pedal even on gentle climbs. He told us to ride on without him, but that wasn't an option for us. I'd have been perfectly willing to ride with him at whatever pace he could muster, but Finn had a different idea. He would ride down the hills just behind Sean, then downshift, put his right hand firmly on Sean's lower back or his saddle, and push him all the way up the hill. At the top he'd accelerate his pedal stroke and finally push forward with his arm---a powerful, sweeping motion that launched Sean over the top of the hill and down the other side. And then he would repeat the procedure again. He did this time after time, on scores of hills, many of them steep and quite long. Together they climbed surprisingly fast: I could probably have outsprinted them had I needed to, but even keeping up with them was no easy task. I was in complete awe of Finn and his technique---I had never seen anything like it.

Max is one of those guys whose passion for the ride shines through in his words. He tells the stories that really capture the feeling of the ride.

Vitamin B and C and Stress

I just read a post from one of my rando pals on an email forum where he said (among other things) :

"I always seem to have some period of adjustment in the early season when my body (including GI tract) seems to need to get used to the physical stress of events. (I've got a ton of cold sores right now.)"

At the end of the Great Divide Race last year my friend Trish complained of mouth sores as well. I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on the internet but back in 1999, before I rode Paris-Brest-Paris, I read almost everything I could find about distance riding and the strains it puts on the body. And one article I read (it was on paper and no, I don't have a reference handy) was written by doctor who'd ridden PBP and developed the serious cold sores that kept him from eating. He theorized that the sustained effort and sweat would lead to a leaching of the B and C vitamins from the body. B and C vitamins are water-soluble and you really can't store a bunch of them in your system. But you can take daily B and C supplements.

I'm not a big fan of drugs (coffee excepted, I'm a huge fan of coffee!) and I pretty much don't even take things like ibuprophen. But I do take a daily "Stress-B" vitamin, which is a B & C vitamin mix. One brand-name is "StressTabs" but you can read labels and find generic equivalents. Since I've been taking these, I haven't had any problems with mouth sores on the longer events. One side-effect you should be aware of is that excess B-vitamins will be flushed out in your urine, making it a bright yellow. Don't worry about this, the bright yellow doesn't mean you are dehydrated, just that you've got more than enough B in your system.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent

SIR 600K, June 3-4, 2006

Last weekend I rode the SIR 600K brevet on the Olympic Peninsula. The story and pictures are here:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/600K2006/SIR600K.html

Kogswell Model G 3 Speed

Last week I converted my Kogswell Model G to a three speed. The story and pictures are at:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/3Speed/KogswellG3.html

Air Pollution and Cycling

I've talked to various folks who are worried about the quality of the air and worry about breathing polluted air while cycling. The report here:

http://www.bv.com.au/inform.php?a=6&b=31&c=1015

has some interesting information on the subject.

Wander Around Oregon

Over Memorial Day Weekend my pal Fred Mulder and I rode around some very pretty parts of Oregon. The story and pictures are at:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/WanderOR/Wander.html

More Coverage in the Times

Christine and the kids and I have gotten a lot of nice reactions since the article about us ran in last Sunday's paper. I've had fellow bike commuters comment on it and there have been many nice comments here on the blog. Old friends have found us via the article. Strangers have started introducing themselves and saying that what we do is "impressive." I guess we've made an impression on folks. One good bit of parenting advice I got years ago was that "kids don't listen to what you say, but they sure as hell pay attention to what you do." I think that is true for adults as well.

Seattle Times columnist Nicole Brodeur was one of the people I've talked to since the original article came out and she published this in today's paper:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2003029538_brodeur31m.html

I always say that I'm not a role model but in our lives we all are role models to someone, in some way. It's really easier for Christine and I to live when we're not being profiled in the paper. Christine is looking forward to having her fifteen minutes of fame be over but she says to me, "You're stuck. You're an internet celebrity. You have a blog."

Maybe I'm stuck, but I'm stuck doing something I love. And maybe, just maybe, more people will get out of their SUVs. Maybe they'll walk to the store. Maybe they'll bike to work. And maybe we'll get to a place where folks will say "Yeah, so that guys bikes everywhere? That's no big deal. Hell, that's normal."

A family of 4 -- but no car

This past weekend, while I was off wandering around Oregon with my pal Fred, the Seattle paper ran a front-page story about about how my lovely wife and I raised our kids in a car-free household. You never know how a story is going to turn out until you see it in print, but I think the reporter, Sonia Krishnan, did a pretty good job telling our story. The text and pictures are online here:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003023972_carless28e.html

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent

Biking to Work

Last Friday was Bike to Work Day here in Seattle. In my job and my life I preach the gospel of every day being Bike to Work Day but this annual event does serve as a nice catalyst to get some new riders to try bike commuting. The folks at the Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation do a terrific job of lining up sponsors, coordinating volunteers and making sure a lot of little things happen to make the day a success. Each year my own commute is a little extra special on Bike to Work Day.

Friday I was out the door at 5:11 AM. About an hour later I rolled past the crew setting up the commute station on the Seattle side of the I-90 floating bridge. When I got to my office at Bikestation Seattle at 6:28 AM, Barb already had the table set up outside and we were getting our first commuters coming through. I dashed over to the nearby Starbucks to pick up the two big bags of scones and muffins they were donating to our station.

Over the next few hours, we saw a lot of commuters. We gave people various bike maps,Clif Bars, water bottles, pastries and clever little nylon neck wallets. Joe give people free bike inspections and quick bike adjustments. We completely sold out of $10 Bike to Work Day t-shirts and even sold a couple of the volunteer shirts we'd been given.

Eileen Kadesh from Metro has seemingly limitless reserves of energy. She not only got Starbucks to pledge us the scones, she'd ordered in the cool wallets. And every day she works to make the Metro system work for cyclists. Friday she spent the first few hours of the morning at another station before coming down to the Bikestation with another of her Metro colleagues to work the later shift at the table outside.

Elsewhere in the city, hundreds of other folks were doing similar things. The event was very successful. I don't think my buddy Chris Cameron will mind if I quote a bit from an email he sent us:

Our heartfelt thanks go out to you for an amazingly successful 2006 Starbucks Bike to Work Day. We had a good feeling this year was going to be significantly different than in years past. 2006 had 15,234 bicycle commuters counted by our forty stations compared to last year's 10,098 riders. (A 52% increase in twelve months and a 283% increase since we started counting in 2000)

We appreciate all of you who come over to Sand Point to pick up and drop off supplies, sell t-shirts, arrange workstations and volunteer your precious time to the event. We understand that the success of this event is a direct result of the time and effort put in by our station sponsors and our many wonderful volunteers. Every year the stress of producing such a huge event pales in comparison to the overwhelming positive wave and spirit of volunteerism that makes bike to work day so special.

Think about that. Over 15,000 commuters. Over 15,000 people not in cars. Maybe the price of gas should get as much credit as all the t-shirts and pastries and free water bottles and volunteer effort, but I'm not going to thank the oil companies. I'll thank Chris and Eileen and Barb and Joe and all the folks out there on bikes, doing their bit.

There is alternative energy, it's human energy. It's not just how these good people go to work every day, it's why they go to work every day.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent

Pictures and Thoughts from the Ride of Silence

On Wednesday May 17, 2006 I was one of the hundreds of cyclists who rode in Seattle's Ride of Silence. Like many of the riders I spoke with before and after the ride, I had (and still have) mixed feelings about the ride. I want to honor the fallen and remind folks that cyclists are legitimate users of the public roadways. On the other hand, the Ride of Silence can also send the message that it's just too dangerous to ride on the roads and I don't believe that. I chose to ride to remember the fallen and two of the fallen in particular.

I knew Ken Kifer through his writings and we exchanged a few emails a few years ago. He was one of the good guys, a true philosopher, the kind of man Thoreau was describing when he wrote:

"To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically."

Ken wrote a lot of good stuff and posted it to his website. When he was killed in 2003, a lot of people knew that they had lost a true friend. Thanks to many fine people, Ken's legacy and his website live on. Despite the tragedy of his death, his article Is Cycling Dangerous? is still the best analysis of the subject I've found.

When I was riding on Wednesday, I was also thinking of Larry Schwartz. Again, Larry is someone I only knew via the Internet. Larry and I were both members of a club called C-KAP, the Canadian Kilometer Achiever Program. Although most C-KAPpers are Canadian, Canadian citizenship is not a requirement. Larry and I were both members of the club's American minority. Larry and I were also a couple of the club riders who logged a large number of kilometers each year. C-KAP publishes an annual report and each year I'd see my name in the top ten in terms of kilometers and each year I'd see Larry's name as one of the people who'd logged more kilometers than I had. Part of the friendly competition of the club is seeing if you can move up in the annual rankings.

When the 2003 C-KAP report came out, I was surprised to see I'd finally beaten Larry in the annual rankings. He was 14th on the list instead of being in his usual spot in the top ten. But I hadn't won anything, the numbers told a small part of the story and the cover story of the report told the rest. On May 1st, 2003 Larry Schwartz was riding his bicycle when he struck from behind by a school bus. Larry died without regaining consciousness on May 4th. He left behind many friends, including his fiancée Judith Ann Jolly. The driver of the bus was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation.

Even though he's only lived to ride four months in 2003, Larry still rode 12,212 kilometers that year. Clearly, Larry loved to ride. Larry loved to ride and that love inspired others to ride. Larry's tragic death became the catalyst for the Ride of Silence. I rode with hundreds of other riders in Seattle and thousands of riders across the country to remember Larry and others like him.

Warren Zevon knew that life will kill you and Jim Morrison knew that no one gets out of here alive. Ken Kifer and Larry Schwartz knew that life is for living, for doing that which you love. Both those men loved riding and passed some of that love on to the rest of us. I rode on Wednesday and I ride every day because, like Ken and Larry, I believe in riding bicycles.

My pictures from the Seattle Ride of Silence are here:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/SilenceRide/Silence.html

Alex Wetmore's report and pictures are here:

http://blogs.phred.org/blogs/alex_wetmore/archive/2006/05/20/157.aspx

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent

Sheldon Brown and Wolfgang's Vault

If you are at all interested in bicycles, the odds are that you already know about Sheldon Brown. For many years he's been the go to guy on the internet in terms of bike info. He's created hundreds of great web pages, written thousands of intelligent email responses to queries and he's really a genuine living treasure. Almost any Google query on any bicycle question will probably lead you to one of Sheldon's pages.

Sheldon's interests extend beyond bikes and an interesting launch point into Sheldon's world is at:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/hb.html

This is Sheldon's Homebase page and it's been around since February 14th, 2000. Sheldon states:

" This document is primarily for my own personal use, but I have made it available to anybody who may find it useful."

That page is pretty darn useful and interesting. While it's fun to check out the various bicycle links, some of the other stuff is also fascinating and useful. A while back, via Sheldon's page, I followed a link to Wolfgang's Vault.

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/

Wolfgang's Vault is a terrific audio resource. Here's the description of Vault Radio from the site:

Bill Graham and his concert promotion company, Bill Graham Presents, produced more than 35,000 concerts all over the world. His first venue, the legendary Fillmore Auditorium, was home to many of rock's greatest performers - Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Prince - and the list goes on and on.

Graham taped thousands of live performances and stored the tapes in the basement of the BGP headquarters. These tapes and the concerts they captured lay dormant until the Bill Graham archive was acquired by Wolfgang's Vault (Bill Graham's given first name was Wolfgang) in 2003.

Vault Radio is now playing selected tracks from these concerts in an FM-quality, 128K digital radio stream.

Does Wolfgang's Vault have anything to do with bicycles? Maybe not. But when I'm not on my bike ( I don't do the iPod or Mp3 thing when I ride) the odds are pretty good that I've got Dylan or the Dead or Jimi or somebody else reaching out across the years, out of the depths of Wolfgang's Vault and playing out the tiny speakers of my laptop.

Seattle Area Bike Maps

In my job I help people figure out how to get around by bicycle. One of the things new bicycle commuters discover is that the best route for bicycling somewhere may not be the route that would use to drive to that location. Various agencies have created some pretty good bicycle maps and many of these maps are available online. A lot of these maps have color codes indicating road and trail conditions and arrowheads indicating where the hills are (a key bit of infomation when you are moving under your own power)
.
I don't claim this is an exhaustive list of the area bicycle maps but below are links to several useful bike maps for this part of the world:

-------

Bellevue Bicycle Map:

http://www.onelesscarbellevue.org/sub/com_bikewalk.shtml

-------

Bellingham Bicycle Map:

http://www.cob.org/gis/maps/transportation.htm

--------

Burke-Gilman Trail Map

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/burkegilmantrailmaps.htm

--------

King County Bicycle Map:

http://www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/roads/bike/map.cfm

--------

Redmond Bicycling Guide:

http://www.redmond.gov/cityservices/citymaps.asp#Bicycling

--------

Seatac Airport to Downtown Seattle Map

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/seatacbikemap.htm

Written directions are here:

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/seatacbikewritten.htm

--------

Seattle Bike Maps:

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/bikemaps.htm

--------

Snohomish County Bicycle Map:

http://www.commtrans.org/?mc=Ridingthebus&subcat=11&page=3

---------

Ride of Silence

Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: At over 120 U.S. locations and eight other countries

Join cyclists worldwide in a silent slow-paced ride (max. 12 mph/19.3 kph) in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways.

So far, rides have been planned for Everett, Renton, Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Walla Walla. For ride locations and contact info, check the www.rideofsilence.org website.

Stuff about Stuff, Virtual Stuff and Other Stuff

Hang with me on this one folks. Bikes fit in with this somehow.

The thing of it is this: you'd think it shouldn't be about things.

I'll start making sense in while.

I recently found an interesting translation of the Tao Te Ching here:

http://www.beatrice.com/TAO.html

and it states it fairly well. Here's how it starts out:

---

If you can talk about it,
it ain't Tao.
If it has a name,
it's just another thing.

Tao doesn't have a name.
Names are for ordinary things.
Stop wanting stuff;
it keeps you from seeing what's real.

When you want stuff,
all you see are things.

Those two sentences
mean the same thing.
Figure them out,
and you've got it made.

---

Clearly this translation is more from the Jack Kerouac/Quentin Tarantino school of thought than any ivory tower and that's cool with me. I'm a pretty simple guy and the basic teachings from Tao and Zen have always resonated with me.

Here's the thing of it. Even a relatively simple guy like me has lots of stuff. It often seems like too much stuff. My wife will tell you it's definitely too much stuff and I've long been convinced that she's the wisest soul in this family.

But thinking about too many things is still thinking about things. We are creatures of the world and the world is full of things. I write about some simpler things, things that I've used to replace other things. I don't think I'm on a path that ends without things, but I am on a journey where I think quite a bit about the things that I carry.

I think I've figured out why I like the fixed gear bicycle: it's enough bicycle for me. A bicycle is often enough of a transport vehicle for me. The simpler solutions appeal to me. I like simple things. I like simple bikes.

My life is fairly simple, but I still think a lot about stuff. I write about stuff. I write reviews of stuff and sometimes those reviews show up on this blog or in Dirt Rag or in the pages of UltraCycling. And the more I write about stuff, the more stuff folks send me. And the Internet is one giant window into a whole universe of stuff. I get emails from folks asking me what I think about some bit of stuff and a lot of times I write back and tell 'em. I've got opinions. In some cases, I've got experience. And I've still got too much stuff.

I've got a lot of books, but I try to pare that down. Back in 1982 I got rid of most of my stuff and took my first really big bike tour. I rode from Minnesota to northern California. I've always been a bookish sort, but books are heavy so I only took one paperback with me. I'd read that book in the evenings after the day's ride and when I finished that book I dropped it off at a used bookshop, picked up something else and continued on. For that time of my life, it wasn't a bad way to live.

It is perhaps worth noting that even such standard-bearers of simplicity as Henry David Thoreau were not always purely simple, all the time. Thoreau lived in that cabin for two years, two months and two days. In the opening page of Walden, he writes "At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again." And one of my favorite jokes was delivered by Bob Newhart in his droll, button-down delivery, "Thoreau said 'simplify, simplify, simplify.' Wouldn't it have been simpler if he's only said it once?"

I am at present a sojourner in civilized life. I live with a roof and walls and windows and a stove. I share this space with many things including a box that keeps ice cream frozen and another that lets me send these words out into the ether. I have such a luxurious place for my stuff (to use George Carlin's phrase), that I actually can afford to have a paper copy of Walden as well as the very handy electronic one. Excessive luxury, perhaps. Perhaps I hang onto the paper copy out of sentiment.

Our Google-searchable, fiber-optic and wifi-linked world has not eliminated paper but I've realized that these are days in which I read more words from screens than words from printed pages. I am eying my bookshelf with suspicion.

I sometimes get paid when my words hit paper but in this weird virtual world I bet you are reading this off a screen. And you may be reading it just minutes after I wrote this down. Or maybe you are reading it years from now. But let me tell you a story about this weird virtual world, where books become bits, where books don't have to be paper and where bits become stuff again.

Last summer I raced the length of the Continental Divide on a single-speed mountain bike. The story of that ride appeared in the pages of Dirt Rag and as a virtual book at: http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/Turtle/MountainTurtle.html The folks at Dirt Rag paid me for the article based on what they knew of me from my online writing. Many, many people put up money to help me make that trip based only on words they'd read off screens. Since the trip, many more have paid me something for the virtual book. I'm not getting rich, but as I said, I'm a simple man. I do make more money from words on screens than words on pages.

On this blog, I write about what interests me. I try to keep it connected to bikes, since I'm basically a bike guy. Interestingly, again it was my words on screens that helped me convince people that I could make the jump from being a software guy to a bike writing and bike advocacy guy.

And while this blog is basically non-commercial, I did add a couple of potential revenue streams to the bits. I hope I've added these things in ways that are not too obnoxious. My Mountain Turtle story has has a PayPal link attached for those who want to pay something for that tale. I also have a Café Press store that sells T-shirts and other items. And a few months ago I decided to experiment with an Amazon Associates Store called The Mountain Turtle Market which provides links to various items that I find useful. None of these things generate tons of money but little bits count up.

The Amazon stuff has been the most interesting. Back in January I wrote about the PrincetonTec EOS headlight and a bunch of you folks must have needed a light like this because 20 of you ordered an EOS. I get about 5% commission off those sales, so in that case I made back the money I spent on the light. The EOS is the single most popular item in my online store.

A very interesting thing about Amazon is that if you go to Amazon through an Amazon Associates Store or link and purchase anything within the next 24 hours, the referring shopkeeper gets a commission on that sale. So even though I was only linking to bike and sporting-related items and books, I wound up getting commissions on software, computer books, CDs and all kinds of other things. A standard searchbox like this:




lets all of Amazon be a potential revenue stream.

Let me restate that I'm not getting rich. But I did get my first quarter commission from Amazon and the best deal is if you take it in the form of an Amazon gift certificate. So naturally I used it to buy more stuff. In this specific instance, I got this specific thing a PalmOne Zire 31:







Now here's why this is semi-bike related. I use this primarily as a document reader. This is smaller and lighter than my paper copy of Walden but tucked onto the thumbnail-size SD card is the text of Walden and the Leaves of Grass and the writings of Lao Tzu and novels by Joseph Conrad. And more. Sites like:

http://manybooks.net/

are my libraries and bookstores now. Thanks to writers like Cory Doctorow I can also read some great modern books as well as the classics. Is this simpler, is it less stuff? In one way, certainly not. Electronics and batteries and SD cards and USB cables don't have the simplicity of paper copies. But in another way it is a smaller pile of stuff. I've got a load of paper books to take to the used bookstore now. I don't think Henry would approve but Whitman might. Perhaps I'm not simpler, perhaps I contradict myself. I think Walt would be OK with that.

"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
-- Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself" US poet (1819 - 1892)

Safety First

Last Thursday I gave another seminar at the Seattle Bikestation. The topic this time was "Safety First" and the text of the seminar can be read here:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/Safety%20First.html

As with any of the stuff I post here, if you think it's of use and you'd like to reprint it, link to it or distribute it, feel free. All I ask is that you retain a reference back to the original source. When I get more organized (and it's very hard to picture my getting less organized!) I'm probably going to sweep through my site and place all the content under Creative Commons license. See:

http://creativecommons.org/

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent

WeWeWr: Trail of Tears

Hey there blog fans.

Spring is the busy time in the world of the professional bike commuter so a few other things are getting some of the attention that could be going to this blog. But fear not, you'll be seeing more stuff up here in due time and I'm lucky enough to have eloquent friends who send me neat stories which I shamelessly steal to fill this space. This morning I had a great note in my inbox from my friend Brad Hawkins. He's generously given me permission to reproduce it here.

Brad Hawkins with his John Deere bike and cello

----------

Dear Friends of the Wheel,

It was a sad day in Kristina/Brad land today. The Westbrook Weekly Wramble kicked off today with the usual suspects: Karl, Claire, Kristina, and the non-alliterated Brad. The sun was out, the wind, constant at 20-25 out of the northwest. We chit-chatted by the clock and looked wistfully around for all the rest of you bozos who never come but still want to be invited.... every damn week. I digress......

Where was I, oh yes, we met down at 3rd and University, Karl on his "rain" bike, which consists of a Cannondale CAAD 5 with full Dura Ace, $1500 wheels, of course no fenders (remember, "rain" bike), and handlebars rotated so far forward and down that the shifters actually point forward like some charging bull. The drops in full Modolo style point back up towards the rider just begging for some sort of header where the rider will be blissfully impaled upon impact. Claire, riding the best bike ever made by the Trek/LeMond/GaryFisher/you'renext juggernaut, the Big Sky, which was inexplicably discontinued for lack of interest by Greg LeMond himself probably. I showed up bobtailing (riding without my trailer) the John Deere which feels like a veritable cheetah, ready to pounce despite weighing more that two of Karl's "rain" bikes. Kristina, having just chided Michael at the last ride about his complete inattention to all things mechanical, shows up with her regular steed which looks more and more like the retarded child at the supermarket wearing the football helmet yelling for soda pop. I'll get to that part later.

So we start down third but not before swinging our bikes around and mine so hard into Karl's nifty wheel that I'm sure I've put it out of true (bent it). No such misfortune. Bikers race down 3rd like bats on the hunt for their meal, darting among the buses and laughing at the poor saps stopped by police for the simple offense of driving a car down Third. Hey, I don't write the rules, I just rub them in others' faces, especially that Hummer 2 with the spinners, yeah, you were my favorite "victim" of all. We fall in with some other bikers and wend our way down to Alaskan for our search for the perfect hill-less ride. Yes, we are here for the flats. Save the Alps for another day; today we ride in Flanders, in the Netherlands, across the Cossack Plain. Today we ride the wind, we search for the perfect flat land ride, the one we are sure our dilletante friends who want to ride, who say they will be out, who brag about their bike, who brag about mythical epic rides of yesteryear, but are too afraid to ride up Pike Street, let alone some of the more challenging hills of our fair land. This ride was for you, suckers!

We get onto Alaskan and are heading with the wind at a comfortable 20 mph clip. This is only possible because the wind smiles on our exploits, Yea, the great God above wants us out there and I'm just sure that when we turn around and head back, by golly, that same God will smile on us and turn that wind around with us just for good measure. It's that kind of ride. The cars are a delight and each one smiles as I pull out through the obstacles and block their path home. Everyone understands. Everyone is smiling. Good will is all around us. The Gods are smiling.

Not so fast! Karl flats out. Remember those $1500 wheels? well, they are protected by a thin band of rubber pumped up to 500 atmospheres of pressure and and these have been done in by the detritus of some drunken fratboy who wanted to pretend to be wild while the trust funds are still paying by throwing his bottles out of a moving car. We bikers love this. This is our favorite thing in the whole world. Nothing makes our day like broken bottle glass on the road way. Automotive safety glass? no problem, you can chew on and swallow that stuff, but somehow the beer companies prefer crap glass that splinters into millions of tire shredding pieces. Karl likes thin tires. Karl has been known to go very fast on thin tires. Glass likes thin tires. Karl doesn't go fast when glass likes thin tires. Karl doesn't like glass.

Kristina offered up a bandaid to patch the hole in the side of Karl's tire. I wasn't so sure and offered the tried and true method of a dollar bill. Karl took the bandaid. It worked just as you would expect and bulged out, nearly ruining a new tube. Karl, deflated, deflated the tire and inserted my now folded dollar bill. Works like magic. We were off and running in no time and with my mental calculations, we could still have a good ride and let me make it back to SU for a rehearsal.

We cruised down to West Marginal Way and then into South Park. South Park and South Seattle are my favorite places to ride because this is where the kids get to play in parks. In north Seattle where all the white people live, it's too dangerous and white kids run the risk of getting kidnapped or raped or whatever. In the south end, kids play in the parks, ride their bikes around the neighborhood, get icecream at the local market, sit around and just kill time. The kids are happy here. I like the south end. We ride from Cloverdale onto south 14th Ave and then stop for a regroup. Kristina's bike (remember the football helmet) has decided not to shift anymore. She's cussing up a storm and demands that one of us looks at it. The shifter isn't working and we soon figure out that the cable has broken at the derailer. No sweat, I start to thread the frayed cable through the adjuster and discover that it won't go in. Time is slipping away and I have 40 minutes until I have to play a downbeat with cello in hand. It's a paying gig.

I cut bait and start to adjust the limit stop on the derailer so Kristina won't have to ride a 42:12 all the way home into the wind on 92 gear inches. Kristina howls in protest. "Don't touch my derailer!" she wails. A street fight nearly breaks out between us. Claire comes to the rescue and cooler heads explain that this will give her 2 gears to play with (one in back and two in front) so she can limp home. Karl wonders why only two since she has three sprokets up front and I chuckle while telling him that that part of the bike hasn't worked in a while and Kristina hasn't used the big gear reliably since the first W. Bush administration. The bike comes with 27 gears, Kristina has let that dwindle 18 and now through neglect and bad luck, she has two. Kristina is a civil/mechanical engineer. Kristina's bike IS that retarded kid right now. You feel love, you feel empathy, but you just can't stop looking and pointing. Somewhere in Redmond, while you read this, Michael Tromsdorff is on the floor laughing his ass off.

It's now 6:25 PM and I have to play at 7. We are in deep South Park and I scope out a new, fast route back to civilization. We cross over the 16th street bridge and onto East Marginal Way past the Air Museum. Ryan, eat your heart out. We then hobble over to Airport road for the fast, wind in the face sprint (thanks a lot, God!) back through Georgetown. We climb up and over the train bridge, hurtle ourselves down the other side, and Karl flats again. It's 6:42. At this point, I can't wait around so I kiss my darling Claire on the cheek and high tail it out of Dodge. I climbed up into Chinatown, right onto Jackson, left onto 12th, huffing and puffing, running every red, and make it to rehearsal at 7:01 where the director is nonplussed.

Claire or one of the others will let you know how it all ended. As for me, this should be a cautionary tale. Get your bike fixed regularly, get some tough tires, and don't try to get 20 miles in when you have a time limit. Oh yes, and explain very clearly what you are about to do before you wrench on someone else's $90 derailer on the sidewalk next to a busy intersection where you are the only person not lost...... so you don't get your ears boxed.

Brad Hawkins
hawkskins(at)gmail.com

What Eric Said

If Eric S. Sande ever gets out to the Seattle area or I ever get to the Washington DC area, I'd like to buy him a cup of coffee. Yesterday he posted this lovely and practical bit of advice over on the Bike Touring List:

http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=touring.10604.1170.eml

Keep 'em rolling and keep perspective. Eric's wise words are good guidance for the journey.

Kent

Voyage

As I've mentioned before, the Aerostich folks put out a great catalog. Their focus is gear for motorcycle adventures but a lot of gear in their catalog also comes in handy for human powered adventures as well. But the great thing about their print catalog is that it isn't just a listing of shiny dodads and geegaws, they intersperse the product descriptions and pictures with quotes from folks who actually go out and do stuff. Their latest catalog has quotes from such bike people as Grant Petersen and Maynard Hershon but my favorite quote is this one from Sterling Hayden:

To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest... "I've always wanted to sail to the South Seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are emmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine. And before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need, really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in -- and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all, in a material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?

-- Sterling Hayden, Voyage, 1976 (Thanks Doug Hackney)

Bicycle Commuter Act

There are versions of bike commuter incentive legislation proposed in both the house and the senate now. Maybe something will actually get passed someday. Read more about it here:

http://www.bta4bikes.org/btablog/2006/04/24/sen-wyden-introduces-bicycle-commuter-act/

Commuter Bike Considerations

I've been giving a series of talks about bike commuting. This is pretty much what I said at today's talk at the Seattle Bikestation.

Commuter Bike Considerations: Riding to Work is Not the Tour de France

By Kent Peterson, Bicycle Alliance of Washington

I’m going to start by talking not about bikes, but about shoes. I’m guessing here but I’ll bet that the odds are pretty good that you own more than one pair of shoes. If you go to a fancy party you probably wear different shoes than you would to go hiking on Mount Si. If you are going to jog around Green Lake, you’ll probably choose shoes that are designed for running.

Well, bikes are like shoes, there are different kinds of bikes and some kinds are better for some things than others. And like shoes, the single most important thing with a bike is fit. Bikes come in different sizes and if your bike doesn’t fit you, you’ll never get comfortable. So the first thing I tell people about bikes is to go to a good bike shop, talk to somebody who knows bikes and get a bike that fits.

A bike not only has to be a good fit for you, it should be a good fit for the riding you are planning on doing. If you are planning on using your bike for commuting, riding back and forth from home to work or school, you should get a good commuting bike. Unfortunately much of the bike business is geared around racing bikes or extreme downhill mountain bikes or various things other than commuting, so as a customer, you may have to do some digging to find the right kind of bike. Remember riding to work is not the Tour de France. The bike that is right for Lance Armstrong probably isn’t the best bike for your trip to work.

Let’s start at the bottom and talk about tires. Lance rides really skinny, really high pressure racing tires. Lance rides on really smooth roads in France, roads that have been swept and fans write his name on the road. When Lance has a flat tire, there is a car right there with a spare wheel and a mechanic to swap in the new wheel. When you ride to work, the road probably has potholes. Fans probably don’t write your name on the road but people may yell things at you as you ride. If you have a flat tire, you are the person who has to deal with it.

So a commuter bike should probably have bigger, tougher tires than what Lance has on his bike. Some people commute on “mountain” bikes, some people commute on “road” bikes, but the important thing is that your bike has tires appropriate to the task. Returning to the idea of shoes, tires are like the shoes for your bike.

Lance knows that higher pressure tires roll easier and lighter tires roll better than heavy ones. The important thing is to find the right tire for the job. If you are riding a mountain bike on the road big, knobby, low-pressure tires are probably slowing you down. You can probably fit your bike with a slicker, high-pressure tire that is still tough enough for the potholed streets. On the other hand, if you have very skinny, very light racing tires on your road bike, you may pinch flat on the edge of a pothole or be undone by a patch of broken glass, so you probably want to look at getting a tougher road tire. There are a variety of good, tough tires out there and two that I’ve used and like are the Specialized Armadillo and the Schwalbe Marathon XR.

Some road bikes have better clearance than others for running fatter tires. A lot of modern “racing” bikes can only fit tires that are about 23 mm wide and such a bike probably isn’t as well suited to commuting as something with more tire clearance like a “touring” or “sport touring” bike. Tire clearance doesn’t just give you room to run different size tires, it also gives you room to mount fenders on your bike.

Most bikes are sold without fenders but it rains a lot around here and fenders really do a lot to keep you dry. Lance doesn’t have to worry about fenders, when he’s done with his ride; he’s done with his work. When you are done with your ride, you are at work. It’s better if you’re dry when you get there.

Lance’s job is to go fast and everything on his bike is made to help him go fast. Riding your bike fast is not your job, you are riding to your job and some parts of your bike are there to help you be safe and comfortable. Lance has his handlebars lower than his saddle so he can crank out a lot of power and be lower and more aerodynamic. You might be more comfortable with your handlebars somewhat higher so you have less pressure on your hands. It might be better for you to be more upright. You may be less aerodynamic but you might find it easier to look around.

Speaking of looking around, I’m a big fan of the bicycle mirror. Some people have mirrors mounted on their handlebars, some people have mirrors mounted on their helmets. Some people don’t use mirrors at all but you probably wouldn’t drive a car that didn’t have rear view mirrors and I’ve found that a bike mirror is a very handy bit of gear.

Lance doesn’t have to worry about carrying as much stuff as you do. Lance maybe has to carry a water bottle and a Powerbar. Those are good things for you to carry but Powerbar doesn’t sponsor you so maybe you’ll carry tastier snacks. You don’t have that handy team mechanic so you probably want to carry a tire pump and a spare tube and a few other tools. You may want to carry a change of clothes, a rain jacket and maybe you need to carry some other stuff for work as well.

There are various ways to carry stuff. Some folks use a backpack and some use a messenger bag. A lot of people use a rack and some kind of luggage like a trunk bag or panniers. Other options are a handlebar bag, baskets or a bag that attaches to the bike saddle. A commuting bike doesn’t just carry you, it also carries your stuff. Figure out what you need to take and figure out a solution that works for you.

One item that you’ll probably be carrying is a good bike lock. When Lance finishes his ride, somebody makes sure his bike is safe. When you finish your ride, you are the one who makes sure your bike is safe. A good lock is essential and so is good locking technique. Different areas have different problems with crime but in general it’s up to you to make sure your bike and its various parts stay in your possession. Some commuters avoid lugging a huge lock with them by leaving the big lock attached to the bike rack at their office but if you opt for this technique you want to be certain that you never, ever leave your unlocked bike “just for a minute” to dash into a store. A minute is all it takes to lose your bike.

When Lance is racing, he knows everyone is looking to see where he is. When you are commuting it’s safest to assume people aren’t looking for you. So it’s best to do what you can to make yourself seen and heard. For riding at night, lights and reflectors are essential. Any time, day or night, bright light colored clothing is a good idea. Lance has to earn his yellow jersey but bright yellow vests are available at almost any bike shop. A bell or a horn is another thing that Lance would never have on his bike but it might be very handy item to have on yours.

So far I’ve mostly talked about things that you might want that a racer like Lance won’t need, but now I’d like to flip things around a bit. There are some things that make sense on a racing bike that might not make sense on a commuting bike.

Almost all bicycle racers use clipless pedals and special shoes. Lance rides in shoes with very stiff soles and cleats that stick out. Great for racing but bad for walking around. Now a lot of “serious” cyclists will tell you how much more efficient you are with clipless pedals and fancy shoes but maybe you don’t need all that for commuting. Many mountain bike shoes are almost as stiff as road shoes but they have recessed cleats so you can actually walk like a human while wearing those shoes. Other options are old-fashioned toe clips or Power Grips. With toe clips or Power Grips you can ride in more “normal” shoes.

Racing bikes may be geared for going fast but for commuting with a load of stuff you want to make sure you have gears that are low enough to get you up whatever hills you’ll encounter. Lance can climb big mountains with racing gearing. The odds are pretty good you’ll want lower gears than what Lance uses. Again, a good bike shop can give you guidance about selecting the proper gears. Don’t get caught up in having a lot of gears, some folks commute on one speed or three speed bikes and do fine. The key is having the right gearing for your commute.

As I mentioned earlier, some people commute on “road” bikes and some on “mountain” bikes and there are a lot of different kinds of bikes. If you are looking at commuting on a mountain bike, complex suspension systems are probably not going to do much but slow you down. In the case of a mountain bike, gearing that comes in handy for climbing a steep rock-strewn slope may be too low for your commute.

My favorite commute bikes are simple. No fancy suspensions. No super expensive carbon bits that cost twice as much because they are three grams lighter than last year’s bits. A good frame with good clearances for sensible tires and fenders. A good way to carry stuff. A bike that isn’t too pretty so thieves might take the nicer looking bike parked next to mine.

Bike commuting is not the Tour de France. You are not Lance Armstrong. You don’t need to be. All you need is a good bike and I hope I’ve helped you understand a little more about what to look for in a good commuting bicycle.

Flèche NW

Last weekend I rode the Flèche NW with a few of my shiftless friends. You can read all about it and see pictures at:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/Fleche2006/FlecheNW.html

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent

Busy, busy

I'm sure keeping busy, but one of the things I haven't been keeping busy with is updating the blog. Soon I'll be posting a story that will give some context to the above photo, but for now you folks can keep busy by inventing your own captions.

Kent

Bicycle Commute Workshops

Starting this Thursday I'll be giving a series of talks about bicycle commuting. The talks are free but space is limited so we're asking that folks RSPV to info@bicyclealliance.org. I'd like to stack the audience with at least a few of my pals, so if you're in the Seattle area and are free from noon to one on a Thursday, come on by. Here's the schedule:

April 6 - Bike Commuter Resources: Maps, Mass Transit, Lockers and Bike Buddies

April 20 - Commuter Bike Considerations: Riding to Work is Not the Tour de France

May 4 - Safety First: Tips and Techniques for Riding in Traffic

May 18 - Clothes for Commuting: Can You be Functional and Fashionable?

June 1 - Night Riding: Safe Riding After Sundown

June 15 - Not Your Ordinary Bicycle: Recumbents, Fixed Gears and Other Interesting Bicycles

The Ghost Town of Monte Cristo

I mentioned this trip on a couple of email lists last fall but I figure I might as well link this into the blogosphere. Some pics from at trip my pal Mark Vande Kamp and I took to Monte Cristo last September are here:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/Monte/MC.html

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Not every day is about big adventures. Some days I just do simple stuff like go to the bank, have a cup of coffee with my beautiful wife, catch up on some paper work, listen to the radio, feed the cat, watch too much South Park with the kids (I am not a parental role model), read a book, do laundry and other things that don't make for really exciting blog entries. It's been the kind of damp day that's good for doing things like this.

They say that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I don't think that's true but I don't have to go far to look for treasure. I've known for quite some time that it's all right here. The photo above is the view out the door of my apartment this evening.

Law and Order: Bike Theft Victims Unit

In Seattle's war on greenhouse gases, the public is served by two separate but equally important agencies: King County Metro who run the buses that let many people travel together to their homes and offices, and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington who help people commute via the most efficient single passenger vehicles ever devised by human minds. These are their stories.

The buses in King County have bike racks on the front of them that enable cyclists to combine bus riding and bicycling. Multi-modal commuters use these racks daily while other cyclists use the racks to transport their bikes to the locales they favor for recreational cycling. Every day hundreds of riders use these racks. And almost every day at least a few riders forget their bikes on the bus. You wouldn't think this would happen, but it does. Almost every day. I know. The lost bikes wind up with me.

General lost and found items wind up at Metro's General Lost and Found Department, but bicycles are a special case and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington has a contract with King County Metro to handle the lost bikes. We track the route information, make detailed descriptions of the bikes, log them in a database and store them at the bike station for up to two months. The Metro Bike Lost and Found number rings through to my desk. Often when I answer my phone "Metro Lost Bikes" a voice on the other end says "Dude, I can't believe I spaced out. I left my bike on the bus!" I talk to a lot of spaced out dudes.

I also talk to people who got distracted, people whose routines were disrupted in some way, friends who borrowed bikes and then spaced out, parents of kids who forgot their bikes and other people who each have some story ending with "and that's how I forgot the bike."

For about half the bikes, I don't get the story. No one calls and I don't have enough clues to track down an owner. A trashed Magna probably doesn't have an interesting back story and a distraught owner. Some bikes are stolen, joy-ridden and then for reasons I don't understand, ditched on the bus. Those wind up with me. Some obviously loved bikes pass my way as well but they remain mysteries I can't solve. We don't have infinite space or infinite time and at the end of two months unclaimed bikes get donated to charities like Bike Works or the Salvation Army.

But sometimes I get to be a detective.

The bike that came in last week was not a typical lost bike. A compact Giant Carbon TCR1. Full Ultegra kit. Look pedals. You don't spend something in the neighborhood of three grand on a bike and then forget it on the bus. You don't clomp your way off the bus with your big Look cleats clicking on the floor and the street and forget your bike on the bus. It doesn't happen. If I was a wagering man, I'd bet that I was looking at a stolen bike.

The bike has a Velo Bike Shop sticker on it and a serial number. I talk to a helpful guy named Chuck at the Velo shop and he digs through their records and comes up with an owner's name and number. I make a call and talk to a machine. The message on the machine matches the name Chuck gave me. I leave my number and message explaining who I am, the bike I have and what I suspect.

This morning I get the call. Janine Pyle is ecstatic. She tells me the story. Two months ago her bike had been stolen from the storage unit in her building. She'd been on vacation last week when I called. Until she heard my message on her machine, she'd figured her bike was gone forever.

You don't have to be clever to be a bike thief. You can be a spaced out dude.

Janine has her bike back. The Bicycle Alliance has a new, very grateful contributor (hey we're a non-profit and she asked what she could do!). And she brought us donuts. That made me feel even more like a cop. I've got a great job. Some days I even get to fight crime.

SIR 300K Brevet

Yesterday I rode the 300K brevet with the Seattle International Randonneurs. The story and pictures are here:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/300K2006/SIR300K.html

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent

Ride to Carbon River

The Seattle International Randonneurs have a series of routes called "permanents" that can be ridden at any time, unlike brevets which are ridden on specific dates. If you fill out the right pieces of paper, you can get credit for doing the ride. I don't really care about getting credit, but the 200K Carbon Glacier Permanent route passes within two blocks of my house. When I found out the Kevin Humphreys and Mike Richeson were going to ride the Carbon Glacier route on Sunday March 19th, 2006, I decided I'd meet them in Issaquah and tag along for a bit over one hundred miles of the 200 kilometer route.

Kevin and Mike left Redmond at 7:00 AM and I met them at 7:52 AM as they rolled by the Issaquah Public Library. The picture below shows my Kogswell parked in front of the library.


The morning temperature was in the upper thirties but the road out of Issaquah climbs gradually as it rolls southward and we were pretty comfortable. My main goal today was to make certain that I had my bike position dialed-in for next weeks 300K brevet and to test out one new bit of gear, a Marmot DriClime Windshirt.

The three of us formed an interesting slice of the randonneuring spectrum. We were all riding lugged steel bikes. Two of us, Mike and myself, were on Kogswells while Kevin was riding a Mercian. Kevin and I were riding fixed gears while Mike's bike had shifty bits. Kevin had those fancy pedals that go click while Mike and I were riding Power Grips.

The first control point was the store at Cumberland where we all grabbed snacks. I had a pint of milk and a couple of Peanut Butter Cups while Kevin snacked on a Clif Bar and Mike had some Beer Nuts.


By the way, shouldn't the sign on the ice box read "Purer than the water you drink"?


A big sharp chunk of glass punctured my rear tire just before Buckley but once that was repaired we continued onward. It was still fairly cool as we climbed up toward the Carbon River Ranger Station and there was some snow on the roadside and dusting the mountains that rose above the Carbon River.



Kevin and I were at the Ranger Station by noon and Mike rolled in a few minutes later.


I took off ahead for the descent back home but stopped in Wilkeson to snap a photo that I figure the Cars-R-Coffins folks will appreciate.


I stopped again in Burnett for some ice tea and a really good slice of pizza. While I was eating I saw Kevin and Mike roll by.

I meandered back home, taking the somewhat more scenic detour along Mud Mountain Road.

I caught up with Kevin and Mike while they were snacking at Cumberland but I was on a roll and kept rolling.

Temps were up in the fifties now, with blue skies. The Marmot windshirt had been the perfect garment all day. I had it layered on over a wool base layer and in the cool times I'd had it zipped up and as things warmed I opened up the zipper to let air circulate in at the neck and out through the underarm vents. At ten ounces, a lot of ultra-light backpackers had recommended the shirt and I was happy to see it works well on the bike. My windshirt is black, so I supplemented it with my yellow Canari vest to give that proper eye-searing "hey there's a biker here" effect.

The paragliders were enjoying the thermals off Tiger Mountain and I stopped and took a couple of pictures.





I was back home at 3:47 PM with 106 miles on the odometer. Not at all an epic ride, but a great day on the bike.

SIR 200K Brevet

Yesterday I rode the SIR 200K Brevet. You can read a brief ride report and see pictures from the ride at:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/200K2006/200K.html

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent

Hokus Pokus

As much as I like my gear to be simple, I'm also drawn to clever things that serve a couple of needs. I've always been a sucker for Swiss Army Knives even though my dad pointed out years ago that a Swiss Army Knife really isn't much of a knife and I am one of those guys who Robin Williams was talking about when he said "Many of you men have never opened Chardonnay under fire." Still, I quested until I found a Swiss Army Knife that really is a pretty decent knife and that lacks a corkscrew while sporting some tools that I actually use.

The Deuter Hokus Pokus is my latest two-trick pony. I like being able to carry some stuff on my person rather than on the bike and I've never been big on stuffing my jersey pockets. I've tried various backpacks and little fanny bags and other things. Most of the time a lumbar bag is just about right, but sometimes I get the call from my wife to pick up something at the store or I have to run a couple of packages to the post office. I don't need a huge bag for those tasks, but something bigger than a lumbar bag is called for. That something is the Hokus Pokus.



Most of the time I use the Hokus Pokus as a lumbar pack. It's big enough to hold my wallet, some snacks, a notebook, and other daily odds-and-ends. But when I need a bit more carrying capacity, I unzip a big wrap-around zipper and like magic the bag transforms into a day-pack. What I like about the Hokus Pokus is that it's a really good lumbar pack. It's a good size, with a good layout and it's very comfortable. The fold-away backpack tucks really nicely into the padded lumbar section and when it's packed away it doesn't poke or feel awkward in any way. When the pack is deployed, it's a pretty normal looking daypack with two side-mesh pockets, lightweight shoulder-straps and a good-sized main compartment.

I've customized my Hokus Pokus with a Nathan rear reflective triangle and a Blackburn Mars 2.0 triangular flasher. If your local bike or sporting goods shop carries Deuter gear they should have or be able to order the Hokus Pokus. If you can't find one locally, you can order one from Amazon. Clicking the link below will take you to Amazon and if you do buy it via the link, I get a little cash kickback.







Just a little side note on the power of the internet and online marketing. Enough of you folks bought Princetontec EOS lights via a link I included in my review of that light to actually cover what I originally paid for the light. To date that's been the most successful link. I'm not getting rich of this, but it is slowing the rate at which I'm going broke buying stuff!

Kids, Don't Try This At Home

After I wrote The Way of the Mountain Turtle, my friend and fellow divide racer Alan Tilling commented that while he enjoyed my version of events, he thought that maybe I didn't devote enough attention to the difficulty of the ride or the time and effort that goes into preparing for an event such as the Great Divide Mountain Bike Race. While it was never my intention to minimize the preparation or the difficulty, my narratives tend to flow with the moment and the prologue efforts are, in fact, minimized. And because I do put a lot of effort into preparation, I sometimes don't encounter as many difficulties in the course of events as some of my fellow competitors. It really doesn't occur to me to talk about problems that I have avoided. While I do document many of my preparations on the web, the nature of the web and search engines like Google mean that people sometimes only get one glimpse into a race and a single view can and will be skewed. Condensed stories like articles in magazines also sometimes give people the wrong idea about what is involved in actually having an adventure.

This point was driven home to me by the following email that I received. I believe it's genuine, but perhaps it is only the electronic equivalent of Bart Simpson calling Moe's Tavern. In any case, it gives me a chance to talk more about the role preparation plays in successful endurance riding. I have removed the name and other identifying info but I've kept the spelling and text basically intact.

--------------------------------------------

Kent,

My name is ******* & I have been reading your web page on the great the great race. A friend of mine has talked me in to doing this race. I am not a mountian bike rider tho I clock 2 to 3000 a year on the road. I know nothing about single speed bikes tho it seems to be the way to go "Less to contend with" but is it harder less choices. I am 50 yrs old with some bumed up legs and hips, but as you can tell it doesn't stop me. The boy's at ******** Bike Shop here in ********, ** told me they would sponser me with a Kona Unit with what they called a flip sprocket "High gear on one side then turn the wheel over when you need a lower gear." what gear raito did you use?.Should I use a bike with gears?. I Just have a lot of questions that the majority of the folk's can not answer because I have more road miles than anybody that I know that rides, except for the bro's that I ride with, & they know less than I do. We have came to the same conclusion that it has to be a diffrent breed of riding. The reason I chose to email you is because you seemed to be more or a fly by the seat of your pant's rider. any help will be appreciated. you can call me any time at ***-***-**** at night after 8 or before 8 am I will be riding the Blue Ridge Park Way 3 weeks before this race & I do these rides on my 18 speed Treck double sproket

Best Reguards,

*******

-------------------------

My response is as follows:

Dear *******,

I do believe that with proper preparation, people can do remarkable things. I also know that the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route comprises 2500 miles of very challenging terrain. Just to ride the GDR requires quite a bit stamina and preparation, racing the route demands even more effort. It is not my place to tell you what you can and cannot do, but from your note it seems that you are underestimating both the scope of the ride and the level of preparation required to race the Divide successfully.

You write that you ride between 2,000 and 3,000 miles per year on the road. While that is certainly a significant number of miles, more than most people ride, you must consider that the racing the GDR means riding 2500 miles, off-pavement, in less than one month. While I can't speak for certain about the miles logged by other GDR racers in preparation, I can tell you a bit about my preparations for the ride.

I average about 12,000 miles per year on my bike. On normal days, when I'm just riding back and forth to work, I log 35 miles per day. This isn't training, it's just riding.

At the time I decided to race the GDR, I was already a veteran of many long distance events including Paris-Brest-Paris, Boston-Montreal-Boston, London-Edinburgh-London, The Rocky Mountain 1200, and the Raid Californie-Oregon. All of these events are significantly easier than racing the GDR, yet most riders log far more than 3,000 miles per year in training for these rides. Stories of most of these rides and the shorter rides leading up to these rides can be found at my randonneuring page at:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/rando.html

I decided to race the GDR a full year before I actually raced the Divide. I obtained a Redline Monocog and rode it exclusively in the year prior to the race. Many of my experiences with that bike are recorded in the Monocog Log which can be read here:

http://www.carsstink.org/peterson/MonoLog/MonocogLog.html

From December of 2004 through July of 2005, I rode the Monocog with all the gear I figured I'd be using on the GDR. I did various shakedown trips with my camping gear, seeking out snow, mountain passes, bad weather and anything else I thought I might encounter on the GDR. I spent the days prior to the race riding to the race starting line from my home in Issaquah.

I think you'll find that successful endurance racers prepare for their endeavors. What may appear to be "seat of the pants riding" has a lot of miles and years and experience behind it.

To answer your specific questions, my Monocog has 32*17 gearing. At the time I got the Monocog I had already ridden many thousands of fixed and single speed miles. I would never recommend that anyone who has never ridden single speed commit to racing the GDR on a single speed bike.

I would also never recommend that anyone with no off-pavement experience and a 3,000 mile annual mileage base to commit to racing the GDR. However, as I said earlier, it is not my place to tell you what you can and cannot do. But my advice is to invest at least a year and something like 10,000 mountain bike miles into preparation.

Kent Peterson
Issaquah WA USA
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/

No Simple Highway

Over on the SIR list, one of this year's new riders wrote:

"Alright, the rookie has another question. This one might seem a little ridiculous but how do I get faster? In my "training plan" I am suppossed to ride brisk on Wednesdays."

(She actually wrote more than this, but I edited for space. If you are interested, the full post is here.)

This is my reply:

OK this is the second time you've asked about getting faster and at least the second time you've expressed anxiety about sticking to your training plan. My question to you is this: Was your training plan handed to you on stone tablets or did a voice from a burning bush set forth exactly how much thou shall and shall not ride?

Only you can really know if you are training or slacking. I know people who have ridden a full series where their longest non-brevet ride has been 30 miles. I know a guy who rode PBP while sick as a dog, subsisting on soda crackers and flat Sprite. I also know many folks who've quit brevets and many others who've stuck it out.

Most DNFs come not from a lack of speed but a lack of conviction. If you think you're not prepared, the odds are much greater that doubt will overwhelm you. Nobody KNOWS they can ride a given brevet on a given day. We think we can. We ride the brevets to find out if we are right.

My advice is this: Think less about training and more about preparation. Miles don't count as much as knowing what your body does on those miles. A perfectly tuned racecar doesn't go anywhere without gas in the engine and air in the tires. Do you know how to fuel your engine? Do you know how to fix flats? Do you know how your bike handles in the rain? Do you know what it's like to ride at night? Most importantly do you have a flexible mind, can you deal with that which you didn't anticipate?

I can tell you this: your brevets will probably not go as planned. They might, but that's not the way to bet. Be ready to make new plans and execute those.

You seem to be freaking out that your training isn't meeting some plan. Get past that freak out. Adapt. Make new plans. That's what you'll need to do on the road anyway.

A disproportionate number of randonneurs are fans of the Grateful Dead. I have no idea why that is but I think I'm right about this. I also think Robert Hunter was right when he wrote:

"There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night,
And if you go no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone."

and

"If you should stand then who’s to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home."

Kent Peterson
Issaquah WA USA
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/

C-KAP, Ken Bonner and the VanIsle 1200K

I'm a member of a very loosely-knit cycling club called C-KAP, the Canadian Kilometer Achiever Program. You don't have to be Canadian to be a member of C-KAP, all you really have to do is ride your bike and keep track of how many kilometers you ride in a year. My pal Ken Bonner is Canadian and he rides his bike a lot. Some folks think that I ride my bike a lot, but Ken logs a lot more kilometers than I do. Ken runs marathons in his spare time. Ken is also a super nice guy.

This July Ken is organizing a 1200 kilometer ride on Vancouver Island. I've already sent in my registration.

Not a Role Model?

Over the years I've commented that "I am not a nutritional role model." I even sell shirts featuring words to that effect. Today David, one of my SIR pals, sent me the link to this story:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05278/582437.stm

David says that he's still holding out for a study of Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.