You’ve seen ‘em–wheels with only 16 spokes. You may be riding ‘em. Road Bike Rider discusses ‘em this week. And as a bonus, Doug sends along the bicycling article about Shimano’s Malaysian wheel buiding factory.  –Corrie

Wheels of Misfortune

At RBR we’ve stated our opinion of low-spoke-count wheels a few times. We consider them “event wheels” and believe they should be used that way — for special rides or races, not for everyday cycling or training.

Read the rest of the discussion on “event” wheels.

A Look Inside Shimano’s Malaysian Factory

Shimano bike wheels, component groups, and frames bearing the tag Made In Malaysia are ubiquitos in the cycling world. But just what does it mean to you, the end consumer?

By Joe Lindsey

Made in Malaysia. I always wondered exactly what that meant. Where? By who? How?

And when that sticker is on something like a $2,000 set of Shimano Dura-Ace carbon fiber bike wheels, what does that mean?

 http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/646625/24276952

Yea, that’s right. Surprised me too. But we have awards to plan for the spaghetti feed, officers to elect, and maybe some rides to schedule.

So, 7 pm at Mike Riddle’s in the Orchards.

So how are the TRCers going to celebrate? Lots of ideas here.

Read more 

 You’ve heard of dog sledding in Alaska, but did you know this was going on right now?–Corrie

Four-legged bane of Trans-American bicycle tourers? Dogs. Four-legged bane of Iditarod snow bikers? Moose.

The Human-powered Iditarod got underway in 10-degree temperatures on Sunday, and racers snow-biking the route have reported problems with moose along the trail, especially one particularly aggressive female moose.

Meanwhile, Jill Homer, whose Up in Alaska blog is one of the most popular bicycling blogs on the Internet, is posting good enough times to be on pace for a record-setting 350-mile ride into McGrath.

Read the rest of the story 

Part of my costume in the remake of Robocop?

Trek’s new Jet Boot 7000?

The latest in fetish wear?

Those of you who have spent any time in the bowels of the beast (St. Joe’s) having X-rays may know that this is a “Walking Boot.” Actually “walking” is too generous. Hopping is more accurate. It effectively keeps the left foot from bending. Since I also can’t put weight on the left foot, I’m reduced to hopping on the right. What fun!

This time Last week. I was finishing up my Death Valley Adventure. Today, its an adventure just getting from the Lazy Boy to the kitchen.

Somewhere between Southway Boat Launch and Lapwai I experienced an avulsion fracture.

Wikipedia says “Highly trained athletes can overcome this neurological inhibition of strength and produce a much greater force output capable of breaking or avulsing a bone.” Wow, what a man I am. I’m stronger than my own bones.

I felt nothing on the bike, but when I dismounted to go into the grocery at Lapwai, I found myself limping severely on the left foot. Back on the bike, I felt fine and continued to Kendrick, even finishing a century.

The foot was sore on Sunday but by 12, it felt good enough to try to ride. We kept it easy and the foot felt almost normal afterword. Monday, it rained and I did nothing. The foot was more sore but I only walked about in the house. I figured it just hadn’t been warmed up. On Tuesday I had a CAC meeting on the Pedestrian Trail. I could force myself to walk pretty normaly by the time I got in from the parking lot–though it did hurt.

At home, though, after sitting for half an hour applying ice, I found I could put little or no weight on the foot. Linda took me to the ER at St. Joe’s. I am happy to report they were considerably more efficient then when I took Linda there last summer.

And for a prize, this boot is all I got. Not even a prescription. We may have to look into that, though. Ibuprofen wasn’t cutting it yesterday. At bed time I took a hydrocordone tablet left over from Linda’s prescription last summer. Yeah, I know. Don’t say it.

That got me through the night, but I found out this morning, hydrocordone must be taken withs food. After taking another tablet, I became nauseous trying to sit up and write this. Linda had gone for a run and so missed the show of me lying on the floor trying to shake off the nausea dripping with sweat.

I mounted an assault on the kitchen for food and after brief respites on the couch to recover from the effort, I managed to get everything together for cereal. Those rolly kitchen chairs are great for making quick trips to the refrigerator. The bananas seemed hopelessly far away but proved no challenge since I could lean on the table to get to them.

I’m sure Scott would love the pain and say “it’s all part of the adventure.”

Deliver me from dangerous people.

Ground Hogs Day came late this year.

I’m looking at two weeks of walking cast, more x-rays, and six weeks of recovery if I’m a good little cyclists and stay the hell off my bike. What are the odds of that happening? Well, right now they look pretty good.

Corrie

Shh— don’t tell Linda. She’ll want to do it.

Scotland to Syria by rowboats and, when necessary, bicycles

by Gene Bisbee at 11:16AM (PST) on February 23, 2008 | Permanent Link | Cosmos

Colin and Julie Angus are two adventurers who are taking a 4,000-mile rowboat and bicycle expedition across Europe that you’ll be able to follow online beginning in March.

The two experienced travellers from Canada are rowing down rivers, coastlines and canals from Scotland to Syria. When it’s time to portage over passes or around dangerous rapids, they’ll use the foldable bicycles and trailers stowed on board to tow their watercraft.

Read the rest of the story.

Ah, touring on a bicycle? But how about getting it there? This page comes from the people at RoadBikRider. com. Read the Article

$9.95 eBook RBR Publishing Company 26 pages 18 photos PDF file size: 575 KB

Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, there is no excuse for not having your bike with you and enjoying rides at your destination.

Well, actually there could be several excuses . . . until you have the know-how from this advice- and fact-packed eBook by world-traveling cyclist Alan Bragman, D.C.

Dr. Bragman includes his insights and guidance about many modes of travel — by personal vehicle (five types of car racks are evaluated), airplane, train and bus. Special attention is given to air travel and how to avoid exorbitant charges when checking a bike as baggage.

“The great thing about traveling with your bike is that you can be a cyclist anywhere you go,” writes Dr. Bragman. “The world’s roads await! This eBook provides the information and tips that will help you handle the challenges.”

Jim asks, “Your Death Valley Tour included BOB & Nomad trailers and panniers. What is your take on the great touring debate about the best form of conveyance for self-contained touring gear”

I’m hardly qualified to render a judgment on panniers vs. trailers but I was very pleased with the Nomad’s performance.

Actually we had a third type of trailer. Doug had an extra wheel. The Bobs and the Extra wheel both use large yellow waterproof bags which I like. The Bobs have just one large bag, but it is convenient to pick up and carry into a motel room. This one large bag opens like a satchel. The extra-wheel uses two such yellow bags configured like panniers on the extra wheel. They are more like duffels and open at one end. Convenient for carrying into a motel but not so convenient when trying to find something unless you are far more organized than seems possible on a tour.

The Nomad does have waterproof covering, but is by no means waterproof. Corners are open and the bottom actually has eyelets. The instructions tell you to line it with plastic. In practice, none of this is a problem if you prepackage your gear in plastic zip locks. I bought the gallon size which worked just fine for a t-shirt, socks, and pair of underwear. Or a jersey, riding shorts, and socks. This makes things easier to find and provides waterproofing. Since everything I had was in a bag of some type, water proofing wasn’t an issue. But it would have been nice to be able to take the whole thing into the motel which wasn’t practical. I could have brought a bag, but that would have been more weight.
The inline single wheel trailers seemed to have more issues with stability than the Nomad. The two Bobs reported some fishtailing as the trailer tried to do its own thing.
Doug didn’t say much about the Extrawheel but he probably had the same experience. You’d need something like this if you expected to do much single-track, though.

That being said, the nomad was almost unnoticeable. I did manage to turn a wheel on the high side of a bank. Doug said it ran along for about 10 feet on one wheel before falling over.

I had Steve ride behind as I followed the fog line. He said the outside wheel was about 3 to 4 inches to the left of the line. I was surprised at the number of times I expected an issue as I road closer than 3 inches to some rock or bump. I can’t remember a single other time when I ever noticed the trailer either going up or down. It was just there.

On the pavement, I usually had to check my mirror just to make sure it was there. It tracked beautifully. It is rated to carry 100 pounds so could theoretically come to 114.5 pounds of extra weight. You do notice the extra weight especially when you stop pedaling. Stopping distances are much shorter on the flat and up hill.

I was worried about stopping going downhill but that never seemed to be a problem. I think the nomad actually gave me more stability in the soft sand going down hill. I’d just lay completely off the brakes and let the bike roll through. Those 29ers are good for that kind of thing too.

On pavement with a rumble strip, you might have a problem. It could be difficult to straddle the rumble strip and keep your bike off it at the same time. This might force you more into the traffic lane. We didn’t see much traffic but I’ve read that the presence of a trailer actually encourages motorists to pass with greater clearance.

Steve argues that he has never met a serious road tourist who preferred the trailer to panniers. He’s probably right. But other than the rumble strip issue, I don’t see a problem. He also claimed his panniers distributed weight (he had a front rack installed) that acutally gave him an advantage going up those steep climbs in soft gravel. Given that he is usuallly slowest and was certainly undertrained, I’d say there might be something to his story.

I preferred the trailer because I am not a tourist. I might want to occasionally tour or make a trip to the market, but I don’t see myself as a tourist. To me mounting racks for panniers mars the appearance of the bike, adds weight when you don’t need the racks, and spoils the aesthetic of the ride. I can slip in the skewer hitch and attach the trailer in about 5 minutes. I’m unlikely to do much road touring or off-road touring. We’ll probably give it a try on the Galloping Goose.

If pulling a trailer marks me as an eternal novice tourist, so be it.

PS: I suspect Steve will won’t to chime in on this and since I don’t allow comments (too much spanm) on this blog, I’d like to see the comments at twinriverscyclists@googlegroups.com. Yes you have to be a subscriber. Hurry on over to the sidebar on the left and hit subscribe.

-Corrie

Shh— don’t tell Linda. She’ll want to do it.

Scotland to Syria by rowboats and, when necessary, bicycles

by Gene Bisbee at 11:16AM (PST) on February 23, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

Colin and Julie Angus are two adventurers who are taking a 4,000-mile rowboat and bicycle expedition across Europe that you’ll be able to follow online beginning in March.

The two experienced travellers from Canada are rowing down rivers, coastlines and canals from Scotland to Syria. When it’s time to portage over passes or around dangerous rapids, they’ll use the foldable bicycles and trailers stowed on board to tow their watercraft.

Read the rest of the story. 

Chandler asked if anyone was doing Chilly Hilly this year. I’d have considered it if I had known the sun would shine but we would  justbe getting back from Death Valley so I didn’t think about it. Got to say, I like the Pacific Northwest Scenery.–Corrie

2008 Chilly Hill pictures

by Gene Bisbee at 11:00PM (PST) on February 24, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

Read the rest of the story and see more pictures. 

Last Fall in Sun Valley I heard these two Idaho ladies present about their year long bike tour of Europe after they quit their jobs and sold their houses.  The book has a website now where the book can be ordered, photos & watercolor prints of the tour can be viewed, etc.

http://www.choppybone.com/Leaving%20Luna.htm

It’s a good read and the photos on the web page are worth seeing.

Jim

You can read more about Jim’s take on Leaving Luna here:

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/twinriverscyclists/web/leaving-luna - or copy & paste it into your browser’s address bar if that doesn’t work.

Spring biking is gearing up. The weekend was a blur of cyclists hither and yon. Let’s make the club discussion list active again. You can reach the subscritpion page by clicking on Subscribe over on the left navigation bar or just click here.

Don’t worry about RSS feeds if you don’t know what they are. It is another option to keep up with changes on the club pages and the notices pasted on New at Twin Rivers Cyclists–this blog.

It will not, however, give you notice about somewhen planning a ride other than my formal ride invitations. So its worthwile subscribing. Lots of help too for handling the email volume.

–Corrie

The crazy ladies are a group of women who meet to ride at a moderate pace each Wednesday morning. Some are TRC members. Some are not. They have from time to time even allowed a, gasp, man to ride with them. You may write Leanne for more information. –Corrie

Hi, Ladies,

    We are going to try to start riding again on Wednesdays meeting at the usual place by Grain Growers. We are meeting at 10:15 and leaving at 10:30. All of the above, weather permitting of course! Hope to see you on a Wednesday real soon. Leane

As a club, the board thinks we need to do more promotion of cycling. I have a Wash State Bicycle License Plate and I used to have a Share the Road bumper sticker. This article raises some questions about what that phrase might mean and also about what is the best way to promote cycling.–corrie

Share the road?

By Fritz

James in Greenville wants “Share the road” messages on local buses to help reinforce the idea that cyclists belong on the road. He especially likes the campaign in Atlanta, Georgia, where real people are pictured in the ads instead of just stylized, impersonal bike icons. The real faces humanize cyclists as real people instead of just obstructions in the road.On the Thunderhead Alliance mailing list there’s a discussion about the pros and cons of the “Share the Road” message. Patty Vinyard, executive director of the St. Louis Bike Federation, wants to make biking irresistible. She feels the basic messages of “Share the road” are negative. Consider her points:

The Bellingham Herald reports on a program called vehicular cycling. The Washington State Senate is also working on a bill to require information about cycling in the driver’s manual and another program on the coast is requiring driver’s ed classes to integrate cycling and pedestrian rights in its curriculum. Sounds like lots of folks working on the issue. That’s good, but we haven’t begun to hit saturation yet.–Corrie

Scott Dorough leaned closer to make sure I heard what he had to say.

“Vehicular cycling,” he said, over the din of people talking and eating pizza.

At first, the term sounded a bit strange to me, then Dorough made the meaning clear.

“Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles,” he explained.

That’s the approach Dorough and other local bicycle instructors use when they teach adults how to ride safely on busy streets and open roads.

They teach through EverybodyBike, part of the Whatcom Smart Trips program run by the Whatcom Council of Governments.

http://www.everybodybike.com/default.aspx#helpInfo

I do try to put a dab of oil on the cables after riding in the rain, but I hadn’t thought to loosen them enough to really do a good job. The video makes it look easy enough for a non-mechanical type like me to do.–Corrie

How To Lubricate Your Brake and Shift Cables

For steel lined cable housings and wet weather riders.

Most brake and shift cables these days have a plastic lining built into the housing, therefore eliminating the need for lubrication. However, if you ride a lot in wet weather, or have an older bike without the plastic lining, you’ll want to lubricate the cables to prevent rust. I personally believe that well-lubricated cables also improve braking and shifting.

See the video

Jim McCracken would like to group to do Cycle Yellowstone:
I’d be interested in considering this ride if we could get a group together.
The 11th Annual Spring Cycle Tour is scheduled for May 10, 2008. The tour - around what locals call “the block” - is 64 miles long. It’s a challenging early season ride but the scenery is gorgeous and we do our best to make sure that everyone has an enjoyable day.

Read more about it:

http://www.cycleyellowstone.com/spritour.html

 I took a quick 20 miler on the Pilot and then wanted to clean both it and the 29er after its tour in dusty Death Valley. The mt. bike wasn’t too bad, but when I cleaned my rims on the Pilot, I found the rear tire had cracks running all along it with a couple of small patches of rubber missing.

Strangely it was this same back tire that never lost much air. The front one loses 10 lbs regularly but is fine. Guess B&L gets to sell me a set of new tires. I found an old one that looks like it has a few more miles in it.

It’s time to bring those bikes off the racks and out on the road. Might do to spend a few minutes checking ‘em over too.

If you’re looking forward to getting your bike out after a long hiatus, don’t forget to take a few minutes to inspect your tires. Here’s what to look for:

Read about checking your tires and more at David Fiedler’s excellent and simple blog. 

Okay, I’m not likely to actually change my bearings myself, but it wouldn’t hurt to listen for worn bearings, would it? Check out the video how to on bicycletutor.com. –Corrie

How To Check If Your Bearings Are Worn

Listen to your bottom bracket, headset, and wheel bearings.

Here’s a handy tip that will help you access whether or not any of your bearings are worn out. You’ll need to have the wheels suspended in the air somehow, using either a repair stand, hanging it from the roof, or by getting a friend to hold it up for you.