Downtube Folder Upgrade - DEPLOY!

OK, so a set of road bars hanging around beckon... a set of brifters and the SRAM X9 rear DR go up for sale fetching a decent amount to get new levers, etc... a rummage through the parts bin nets some tape and a stem... BOOOOM!

Upgradeitis - a bad disease to be sure for cyclists. This latest bout of upgrade fever netted a conversion to road bars for the Downtube 9FS, and it's pure awesome. With a single bar end for the rear shifting, indexes are crisp and silent friction mode is pure bliss. Multiple grip points are great over the flat bar that came off the bike.

To match with the bar ends a Shimano rear DR was in order, so on went an Alivo M430. Not a very pricey unit, but it does the job exactly as it is supposed to and is a nice build. Not sure there is a reason to go fancier in this department.

For stopping power and hoods for the 'ol hands a set of Tektro RL520's went on the front. These match up great with the Avid disc brakes and have awesome feel. For added stopping in the urban traffic a set of Tektro RL720 cross levers complete the package.

Pop in a Sprintech drop bar mirror - which is "OK" in my opinion but gets the job done relatively well, and the hands are very happy.

Riders - PLEASE Use a Light at Night!!

Had a heart pumping few moments tonight on a bust road while driving home. To the riders who insist on tooling down the road in the darkest camo sans lights at night: You MUST have a death wish. Either that os you must have 100% faith in all drivers abilities so watch out fro you like they have night vision.

Came up to a rider who was "taking the lane" so to speak. At 8PM at night on a not-so-busy road but a fast one where cars hit 45 MPH regularly. This guy had on a black shirt, grey pants with some black "long underpants" and his bike had zero light on it. Only a tiny rear reflector. I spied this guy in front of me with just enough time to get over after hitting the brakes.

With all the tapes and lights available today - being seen is not such an impossible task. When riding at night take precautions to be seen. If you are going out and there is a chance you will be out after dark - make sure you are prepared! If you are out after dark and you are not prepared, don't ride the center of the road and assume that you will be seen in your black shirt.

Yikes.

Why Portland Rules #498 - Bike Infrastructure Planning!

While some of the funding mechanisms remain a bit unclear, the message is MORE than clear - Portland is serious about being the greatest city in the US for riding a bicycle. Period.

Check out the full article at the link below, where the Portland City Council approved a $613 million dollar bike plan. NOTE: This is a planning document - not necessarily a BUDGET. This is important to note the difference here. As a Planning Document it will set the course, not necessarily se the funding or even the timeline. It is the message it sends that is important.  It is clear that Portland recognizes that providing sustainable transportation options creates a vibrant city that - in the long run - will result in more participation in cycling and better health of all communities.

Portland Bike Plan Approved

While you are there, get a load of some of the nut-sack comments at the bottom. Guess what - I ride a bike AND drive on the roads, so I am already paying for them - so to all those with that lame argument of "make the cyclists pay" shut your pie holes. We are already paying. We use the roads (with cars) already for the most part. Providing ample and appropriate cycling infrastructure can help reduce peak loads on roads and bikes cause close to ZERO wear and tear, unlike all the SUV single occupancy drivers with studded tires out there. Time to think about the future and Portland clearly is doing so.

Wake Up For The Century Ride - To Bacon!

Hey riders, if you are having a hard time waking up early enough to get going for your rides, just get yourself one of these babies and wake yourself up to the wafting smell of cooked bacon!

No kidding. Strike this off the "never thought I would ever see that" list... Check it:

WAKE n' BACON

Taking the Bold First Turn of the Pedals

A common thing for new people to inquire about on cycling forums or to ask other cyclists revolves around riding “in traffic” and “out there” in general. As in - “You ride your bike on the roads versus a dedicated and separate MUP?” It seems that society has become a bit fearful of the unknown - when really there is not that much to fear once you get out there on some rides, gain some experience, and ride safely.

I won’t refute the fact that riding a bike in traffic or on roads with vehicles can be dangerous business. There are ass-hats all over driving cars. There are also cyclists riding like ass-hats on the roads. There will always be accidents and that is just part of life. As a cyclist - or someone who wants to experience the thrill of cycling - you just have to ask yourself, “do I want to live life in fear of the unknown? Or do I get out there and take the bold first crank of the pedals?” In the infamous words: “Just Do It!”

Sometimes when meeting people - and the conversation turns to my recumbent cycling hobby - they become wide eyed musing, “You ride that on the roads?” Yes indeedy. Some people would never dream of doing this. Maybe they are watching too much TV and have acquired a sort of “George Gerbner” syndrome, where the “CSI” media saturated masses start to believe that the world outside their front door is full of nothing more than criminals, muggers, stabbers, drug dealers, and everyone is out to get you. Well, I am here to report that “out there” is not all that bad, the world is not a CSI TV show criminal filled wasteland, and people are pretty much good-natured. People who think otherwise and choose to stay home all the time are really missing out.

I will admit that my first “real” venture riding far from the safety of a familiar place was pretty scary. It was a wobbly venture full of worry. At the same time there was an awesome sense of wonder and discovery. I had driven some of the roads, but they were now completely new. I saw so many things that I had not noticed before, aside from the wind in the face and all that stuff. As I got bolder and ventured further, and signed up for longer organized rides, the sense of accomplishment and discovery grew. When riding, there is a connection to the surroundings that just does not exist when you whiz past in the “safety” of a fossil-fuel (or any fuel) cage. Places become “real” from the vantage of a bike and you look at them differently. The world becomes less-scary and you realize its not all a Gerbner style self-fulfilling prophecy of media-land horrors.

For people wanting to really experience the world, I cannot think of a better way than by a bike. In my last five years of local solo rides I have been to more remote places and had more sensory experiences of the real world than in all the years of my life before cycling. On organized group rides I have seen and experienced places that I will never in my life visit by a car. I mean, I got to ride up to and then around Crater Lake. Ride around and experience Crater Lake... via a bike. On a recumbent no less. It stands as maybe the best (and hardest) cycling experience ever for me to date. If I can do it, everyone can. 

Quite frankly, after being to these many places on my bike, going there by car would seem boring and the experience would pale in comparison. 

So, take that first step and ride “out there” wether it be commuting or signing up for an organized event ride. You will experience places like never before - from your own neighborhood to places far far away - and be getting healthier by the minute as an extra bonus.

Writer and “Talking Heads” band fame David Byrne, who commutes and rides bikes pretty much everywhere he goes, wrote in his book “Bicycle Diaries” this:

“...getting around in a way that doesn’t feel completely divorced from the life that occurs on the streets is a pure pleasure.”

Indeed it is.

Yeah, But They Just Aren't Good On Hills..."

Well, I figured I should add a follow up the “Is that thing fast?” post to be fair and all. “Yeah, but they aren't good on hills.” Often after answering the speed question, a recumbent rider is then barraged with the inevitable climbing question. I will say, however, when most folks see that recumbent grin boasting the awesome speeds you can sustain, the climbing question is often just formatted as a statement.

"Just doesn't climb at all."

"Yeah, but they aren't good on hills"

“Well, those things can’t climb.”

Whaa? I always wonder why it is often put that way. “Can’t climb?” Why state it as fact? It’s beyond me, especially since I have been met with that statement at a rest area on an organized ride - a rest area at the top of a major climb. Can’t climb, eh? Well, I am here talking to you - and I am not dying for a lack of breath - so I must have made the climb just fine. It's simply hilarious to receive this comment when standing at the top of the mountain.

Lets be honest here - the “recumbents can’t climb - nanny nanny boo boo!” line is a last resort argument against recumbents and it’s just not true. Yes, recumbents have some disadvantage on the climbs. For instance, on my recumbents I cannot stand on the pedals, temporarily relieving a chaffed, creamy buttered bum from the torture of the wedgie seat. I can’t repeatedly pump my arms like doing sweaty pushups to throw my upper body weight around fighting for a bit more watts. Though from my reclined position those things are not missed at all anymore.

There are a few techniques a recumbent rider CAN do - like sitting up a bit in a crunch or arching the back, which has a similar effect as standing on the pedals on a DF. But really you can just spin to the top. It’s most comfortable no matter how long you are going to be doing it. On the recumbent platform - climbing is like having an easy chair with the world as your theater. When climbing via a recumbent, you put it into a gear that gets you the right cadence and spin. Just keep spinning. Relax. Enjoy.

Sometimes a spinning climb will be fast and sometimes slow. I have noticed many times while spinning up a mountain at 6 MPH getting passed by other riders who are going in the 8 - 10 MPH range. Many times they are much more winded than I am as they do the stand sit stand sit stand sit cycle. Many times as I continue my steady 6 MPH spin I round a corner and the same guys who passed me are stopped taking a breather or resting their nether regions, and I pass them forging on. Ten minutes later - repeat that process - and on and on it goes until we all reach the top within a relative handful of minutes and are all eating ‘lil cups full of vanilla wafers and bananas together. Rolling up to the top of a climb in the reclined comfort of a ‘bent is an awesome feeling, plain and simple and the difference in most climb speeds is not that great.

So, it is not that recumbents cannot climb. I am not saying that climbing on a recumbent is always a breeze. Far from it. Some of my first sustained climbs on 'bents I feared the grim reaper would leap from the trees and take my ass away. But it was not because the “recumbent can’t climb.” It was because "I had not climbed on a recumbent." The best way to get good at climbing is to do it - no matter the bike - and it takes a while to build the muscle. Nobody tries to tackle a steep hike and then yells “these hiking boots can’t climb!” Insanity.

When you get your recumbent legs you learn to enjoy the spin. The journey of the climb changes your paradigm - it becomes a relaxing experience. Now, some recumbent riders can climb as fast or faster than a typical road bike - it all depends on the riders abilities, their goal, and the bike. Yet even with a slower climb - when you even it out over the course of a long ride - those slower climb speeds are more than balanced out with the blazing downhills and higher than average speeds on the flats and rollers.

Anyone who has been on a larger organized ride knows that one guy - the “tortoise” guy - the one rider who you seem to pass over and over, but is always there in the ride no matter what. You wonder if that rider has even gotten off his bike to drink or pee or eat. He is just everywhere it seems. He is going and going and going and going. He looks happy all the time. Is he even working hard? He might even be wearing “ordinary” clothing. Crazy! Did that guy SAG half the ride? You remember passing that rider before the break at the top - he seemed slow and not very winded - but now you are passing him again? Huh? What? At the beer garden at the end of the ride you spy with your little eye that SAME plain clothes guy - he is already there with a beer in hand and smile on. What the heck? Did he ever need to stop? Are you in the Twilight Zone? Is Rod Serling hosting this ride?

I think not. That guy was probably on a recumbent.

Girls on Bikes

Cycling just needs better advertising. I came across an old image that seemed to imply that "back then" people got it. They knew that what sold bicycling to the masses was not lycra clad men, but scantily clad women. I mean, when you see these guys, you just don't really get a good feeling:

Yikes. Keep those bike shorts black there my friends and spare us the sausage-fest. Now here is an old poster that seemed to get it - that chicks (especially in bikinis) sell products:

I imagine in its day that many bikes were sold because of this image. Thankfully, there are some folks out there who get it. Now, I like to ride fast, but I would gladly slow down my speed to whatever it takes to follow this paceline:

Sorry roadies, but my neck won't be as sore as yours when in the tow because of my relaxed recumbent position. Riding behind a group like this will sell you on a recumbent and make you a convert, LOL!

For more reason to love cycling looking at... bicycles... check out the link below. Sadly though, no recumbent bikes. I looked at ALL of the ... bicycles... to make sure.

Girls on Bicycles

Social Benefits of Cycling

One thing that has gone by the wayside in America as of late - the concept of community. I am particularly talking about local community in the physical world. Where you live. People shuffle to work today with barely a notice of their neighborhoods, save maybe the the people obsessed with HOA rules or the occasional “howdy there” courtesy wave to the guy down the street you don’t know but pretend to. Who moved in down the street? What is that one neighbors name again? Sorry, but you just don’t get out much, so you likely just do not know. 

Urban Planners like to boast about how they are “creating community.” But are they really? In some cases they are laying the foundations that help foster community - but real community only happens because people want it to. There are plenty of well designed, carefully constructed Urban Planning communities out there that are completely devoid of the “community” part. They are lifeless - but only because people make the choice to be so.

Communities have changed over time and now many people may find themselves connected to more modern communities - like those online - than their real physical community. People can debate the validity of online groups like Facebook and targeted internet forums as being "real" communities or not. I pose that they are and that they are a very beneficial, but a topic for another day. A re-connection with the physical community though is always a good thing and needed today as much as ever. 

Now before hopping in the car to toddle through the ‘hood on the way for a latte - I propose a different method for your short errands. Ride bikes! Experience your community on a bike and you will have a vastly different experience than you can have in a cage. Even in a roofless cage! The hardest step is the first one. Once you are “out of the cage” you will feel - as David Byrne of Talking Heads fame (who rides a bike as his principal transportation) a “sense of liberation, exhilaration, and connection.”

There is something primal about getting through and to places under your own power. It is enlightening. You see things differently. You see different things. The journey to your destination takes on a new meaning. All the while the gaining the health benefits that come with cycling. Do so and you might find that the ‘lil “courtesy wave” you do while driving past the neighbor down the street in his front yard might turn into a real conversation.

What do you think? Have you experienced a greater sense of your own community through cycling?