I see hits...

Hey!

I see more hits on my site...now I'm not sure if it's humans or search engines, but if you happen to stumble in don't be afraid to drop a quick, friendly word or two in the comment box, even if it's just to say hello. Hi neighbor!

-D

A few good parts

Found a box on my doorstep today!

A few components from my Rivendell partners in crime :>). Two nice Velocity 650B rims, a Nitto seat post, and some Dia Compe centerpull brakes. The seat post went into the seat tube right away. I was somewhat paranoid about leaving the seat lug unprotected...I was either going to accidentally bend the seat lug point or drive it into my palm. This way, I'll feel a bit more secure handling my frame.

Next on the agenda, I need to get my Nexus 8 hub for the rear wheel and calculate some spoke lengths. Lickton's will probably be my spoke source, as they sell spokes in bundles of 36. I'd like to have a few extra though, just in case. My LBS might be able to help me out there, or maybe I can order the spokes directly from them if the price is reasonable.

As I said, I'm in no great hurry. Lots of great bikes for me to ride this summer! The wheels will be the first major component I assemble and the rest will fall into place naturally.

My wife went for a ride with me last Saturday! Hurrah! The Giant Hybrid doesn't get out much, and she mentioned something about 'possibly thinking about going for a ride'. That was my cue. The bike came down from the rack, chain cleaning, lubing, tire inflation, and various and sundry adjustments occurred. Saturday morning I loaded the bikes into the truck and we headed for the trailhead and the pedestrian bridge.

Jenny has usually ridden the Wabash with me to Mineola. This was a different experience for her, the route here is relatively flat and paved. It was easier for her to pedal and there were no big hills for her to climb. Dodge Park Golf Course and the clubhouse (Riverside Grill) is close to the pedestrian bridge and directly adjacent to the Lake Manawa trail. We had a very nice lunch, headed to the ped bridge and then went back. She told me she had a great time, and she liked this ride much better than our Wabash trips. I take that as 'I want to ride my bike more with you' and I'm glad! I'm definitely going to try to make leisurely rides with the wife a more frequent occurrence.

-D

Just enough is almost just enough

Took the QB out for a spin today.

A quick 40-miler :>).   I run a bit longer on this usual route but unfortunately...I flatted.

This happens. You just have to take it in stride.  Last year, the QB flatted on the MS150 ride but I managed to finally get the tube changed and back on the road.  The QB is fully fendered, and with horizontal dropouts I ended up removing the entire rear fender, fixed the tire, then replaced the entire fender.  Yeek.

This time I flatted on the rear, again, just about halfway through the ride.  It was a slow leak, because I noticed the bike gradually getting squirrelly.  I wasn't looking forward having to remove the entire rear fender but I resigned myself to this arduous task.

I pulled off the road into a field driveway (we callem 'gateholes' here in Ioway), flipped the bike upside down and commenced to loosen the rear wheel and remove the chain.   As I pulled the rear wheel back in the dropouts, of course the wheel stopped just maddeningly a half inch or so before the dropout opening...pushed up against the fender of course.

Wait a minute.  SKS fender mounts are basically stainless steel wires passing through a piece of hardware consisting of a nut threaded to a small shaft with a hole drilled perpendicular to the shaft.  Loosening the nut allows one to position the fender closer or farther away from the wheel.   Maaaybe if I loosed the mounting nuts and moved the fender out, I could get enough room to get the axle to fall out of the dropouts.

Eureka!  Pushing the fender out that extra half-inch or so did the trick.  I got the wheel off, tube out and began to inspect the tire.  What the heck poked a hole in my tire?

Since my Speedblends are tan on the inside, it was easy to see a small black mark near the centerline of the tire.  Running my finger over it revealed a small, sharp object.  It didn't seem like a nail, just a small diameter sharp piece of wire.  This might be a challenge to remove. However, one thing I always carry in my repair kit is a Leatherman tool.  This tool includes a needlenose pliers, and every farm boy knows you can repair almost anything with a good pair of pliers.  It was just good enough to grab the end of the wire and pull it free. 

The tube I carry with me was a bit small (700c 20-28) and I was running 700c-35 tires, but it was just good enough to work.   Oh crap, no compact pump.  I left it in my Carradice bag.  However, in my small kit I carry a CO2 inflator and two 16 g CO2 cartidges.  It was just enough to air up the fatter 35mm tire and get me on my way.

On the road again.  I got about 3 miles from home when I noticed the bike getting squirrelly again.  Damn!  I pulled out the CO2 inflator and pumped what was left of the last cartridge into my sagging tire.  Maybe it would get me home, maybe not.  Not!

Only a couple of miles from home, flat rear tire and no air.  I pulled my last resort tool from my bag of tricks.

The cell phone.

Yeah, it was time to bite the bullet, swallow my pride and call the wife.  Yes, she was home and  it only took her a few minutes to run out and pick me up.  

Okay, so what about the tire?   I pulled the tire apart after I got the bike home, but didn't find anything else sticking out from the inside of the tire.  I stuck the tire in my sink to find the source of the leak, and found it was coming from the same area I pulled the wire from.  But there was no wire...but there was a slightly elongated hole.   I theorized as I rolled down the road the hole expanded as the tire rolled over the ground and closed as it passed, opening and closing the small hole and pinching the tube.  My solution?  Use my small patch kit which contained a patch 'just large enough' to cover the hole left by the wire.  

We'll see if it works.  -D

Gone over to the other side

The posts have been a bit scarce, as of late.

I have a lot to blog about, but time has been short.  Lots going on at work, great weather for biking, and so on.  I like to get as much time in the saddle as I can.  RAGBRAI is coming up, and I'm trying to ride to work as much as possible for our Commuter Challenge at work.  

Oh, and I've gone over to the other side.  Let me explain this statement.

For years and years and years, I've been a PC guy.  Since the budding days of DOS, 8 inch floppy drives, 5.25" 256K floppies (dual sided!) the magical IBM PC with the 10mb hard drive, the Intel 286, 386, 486 processor series, I could go on but I'd sound extra nerdy.  

My gosh, I've even programmed Fortran with 80 column punch cards!  Punched on an NCR machine!

You know where I'm going with this, don't you?  Yes, I purchased a Mac Mini and I'm writing this blog post on it.   I've owned several iPods, and I've always liked them.  And my slow, aging, leftover, patched together, homebuilt (yes, I put this stuff together myself!) archaic PC equipment just wasn't cutting it anymore.  

I've just powered up this evening, and I was up and running in no time.  So far, so good.  I still have three PC's at home, one desktop running XP (the one I'm replacing), one desktop running Windows 98 (once I get my data off this one it's retired), and an old boat anchor Toshiba Satellite laptop.  The laptop will be next to go, if it doesn't crap out first.  I'm waiting to see what Windows 7 has to offer...maybe I'll go PC  with a laptop 'cause it's gobs cheaper.  

Definitely doing the dual OS on this machine.  I purchased VM Ware so I can run Windows XP concurrently with Mac OS X.   Should be xtra cool!

-Mac D :>)

MS150 Ride - Nebraska

Rode the MS150 from Omaha to Lincoln and back last weekend. I did the century ride on the first day, and rode the 66 mile route back on the second.

I rode the Ramby on this trip. Needless to say, the bike ran perfectly.

I've been riding the MS150 for the past three or four years, and I'd have to say it's one of the best supported organized rides I've been on. Water and food stops every 10 miles or so, police and volunteer escorts, bike shop and sag service. Besides that, it supports a great cause!

The weather was great in the morning both Saturday and Sunday, though the wind picked up in the afternoon. We managed to make it back on Sunday before a storm front blew through. I was a bit tired the next day, but I think my commute schedule has helped maintain my general level of bike fitness.

RAGBRAI is in six or seven weeks. Our RAGBRAI team, aptly named 'Lost In Iowa' has been meeting and we are putting together logistics. As it stands, we won't be renting an RV for our group so we will put our gear on a SAG (an acquaintance taking an RV with no extra beds but extra storage space), and we'll be tenting it. We have a southern route this year and it looks to be hilly, but our group will only be riding the first three days.

Looking forward to new bike adventures! - D

Juicy Singletrack

Taking advantage of the decent weather and Memorial Day weekend, I took the Juice out for a ride on the Wabash trail.

Of course, being a 29'er mountain bike, it immediately gravitated to the singletrack horse trails paralleling the main trail. Since I'd never been on these trails (they're just a bit too technical for the Quickbeam), I took it easy...for a while.

The Wabash initially starts out flat and fast, for the first mile or two. The single track is also fairly flat and more easily navigable on that portion of the trail. I cranked my speed up a couple of notches and had a big bunch of fun bombing down those portions of the trail. I had no idea what was coming next.

However, after the first mile or two the grade increases, along with the technical trail difficulty. Did I mention I had my Schwalbe Big Apples mounted? Great for the rail trail, not so good on the the steeper portions of the singletrack. I'd get up a good head of steam, then hit a decently steep hill and spin out. I ended up walking the bike up a good portion of hills I might have been able to climb if I had my Panaracer all terrains mounted.

There were several areas where I'd have a narrow trail, a steep drop off immediately to one side, and a barbed wire fence on the other. Throw a few loose rocks, stumps, low hanging branches, roots, bark and adjacent trees in there and things begin to get a bit challenging. There are several bridges over creeks where the trail would actually take me down under the bridge and over a narrow footbridge. Some of the approaches were, say, closer to the vertical than the horizontal...if you catch my drift. I ended up getting off the bike and walking one or two of these, and felt fortunate I didn't end up on my ass in the creek. No way I was going to even attempt to ride through, especially with smooth tires.

I ended up riding a pretty good portion of the Lewis Central trailhead to Mineola run on the singletrack, hopped back onto the rail trail for the rest, and rode the rail trail all the way back to the trailhead. I didn't want to be out there until midnight!

These pics don't do the more technical parts of the singletrack justice, but it'll give you some idea. I took a shot of Juicy prior to walking it up the hill behind...you had to be there to appreciate the steepness.

Great ride, but not set up for serious climbing or descending.

To the left of the bike and the trees is the rail trail, a nice steep 20ft drop down. Track straight!

To the left, down...

To the right, barbed wire fence...

Under one of the rail trail bridges

One of the wider footbridges I had to cross...several were just a couple of planks laying across the creek

-Dwight

A bit here, a piece there...

Put in an order with Harris Cyclery for a few parts:

1- Shimano 3N72 dynamo hub 36 hole
1-Busch & Müller Lumotec 170NDi Headlight with Standlight for Hub Generators
1-Busch & Müller Lumotec Handlebar clamp -Long
2-Paul Components Gino Light Mount
1-Lumotec Replacement bulbs, 2.4 w
1-Busch & Müller Lumotec 3 W Replacement Bulb

Can you kinda sorta see where this build is going?

I looked at Schmidt SON dynohubs, but one hub would have cost more than this entire pile of parts. The only disadvantage is that I can't run two headlights with the Shimano hub. And the SON hub is sure nice and shiny...I'm sure it's the bees knees of dynohubs but for nearly 3 times the price of the Shimano? I'm a bit more pragmatic than flashy.

I'm certainly looking forward to the long weekend, and a couple of nice rides on several nice bikes. :>)

-Dwight