The Lazy Randonneur

RIP Blogger

2008-11-27T03:26:00.000-07:00

The Lazy Randonneur's time on blogger is coming to an end. This site will remain as long as blogger sees fit to keep it running, but the Lazy Randonneur will be living at this new location and running on WordPress from now on.

Please change your bookmarks.

Bow Cycle Bike Expo Saturday 29 Nov 08

2008-11-26T16:22:00.003-07:00

click to enlarge

I'll be at the Bow Cycle Bike Expo this Saturday. If anyone in Calgary wants to meet up for a coffee in Bowness and check out the expo drop me a line. I'm planning on riding over around 11am.

Marathon Supreme Tires

2008-11-20T12:12:00.009-07:00

Schwalbe Marathon XRs are my go to tire for touring and since I'm too lazy to change tires when I get back they are my default tire on my touring bikes at home as well. XRs have been good to me - zero flats and no tire related problems at all - great traction in the dirt and mud. Given how much I like XRs it seems almost silly to try a different tire, but my curiosity got the better of me and I picked up a set of Marathon Supreme tires to try out. These are a lighter faster rolling tire, but still designed with touring in mind. I'm hoping these will give me much of the toughness of the XR in a faster tire that would be ideal for a long paved road tour. They are almost slicks and would not be suitable for going off pavement for any distance or winter riding so I don't see them replacing the XRs entirely. I'd still use the XRs for expedition/dirt road/adventure touring and the Supremes for paved road tours.

Marathon XR 26 x 1.6" = 595g
Marathon Supreme 26 x 1.6" = 440g

Memories of the summer...

2008-11-19T17:50:00.001-07:00

The snow is here...*sigh*...=-(

It's a Pug's Life...

2008-11-18T09:03:00.002-07:00

Photo: Devo

Devo [of Asana Cycles fame] has a great thread going about his Surly Pugsely on the MTBR.com site. His musings on life, his Pugsely and everything are entertaining and informative. Well worth a read.

Radical Designs Lowracer Bags For Sale

2008-11-17T14:51:00.005-07:00

The bags are sold!

I'm using a set of Radical Designs Lowracer bags on my Fujin SL. They work great and do not need a rear rack so any bent with a hardshell seat works. I ordered a second set of these bags by mistake [damn online shopping!]. I was keeping them thinking they are so darn useful that I might get around to needing a second set, but my bent fleet has shrunk so that doesn't look likely.

These bags are ideal for carrying enough for a credit card weekend tour or everything you'd need on a longer brevet.

The bags I am selling are brand new never used with the tags still on.

They are $125 + shipping new. I'll sell mine for $115USD shipped Canada/US.

I've been hesitating selling these bags, but I've been seduced back to the darkside of DFs

Radical Designs Recumbent Bags For Sale

2008-11-16T09:53:00.007-07:00

Bags are sold...=-)

Top & Bottom Photo: Challenge Recumbents

I'm selling two Radical Designs Recumbent bags:

Side Panniers - medium black
waterproof liners for panniers above
Seat Bag - medium black

These bags are both brand new and still have the tags on them. I bough them for use on my Challenge Taifun, but ended up selling that bent and so have no further use for these bags.

They are exceptionally well made and will fit on any bent with a rear rack and a hardshell seat. They have reflective material for safety and each will hold 2 water bottles so you can carry 4 water bottles with these bags all at easy reach for long days of touring.

The side panniers come with a set of waterproof liners to keep your gear 100% dry. Note the bag fabric is waterproof on its own, but the seams are not sealed so extended rain will seep in. You can use these liners to keep things dry or you can apply a seam sealer [like for a tent] to waterproof the bags.

These are the bags being sold.

Prices [in USD]:

Panniers are $230 new + shipping - you can have mine for $170 shipped [North America]
waterproof pannier liners $25 new + shipping - you can have mine for $15 shipped
Seat Bag is $110 new + shipping - you can have mine for $90 shipped [North America]
You can have both for $250 shipped & I'll throw in the waterproof pannier liners for free.

I have two other Radical Deigns bags [Lowracer panniers & Solo Racer bag] which fit on my Fujin and I enjoy using them very much. If I need recumbent bags in the future Radical Designs will be my first stop.

Ghost Trails

2008-11-15T12:16:00.003-07:00

Jill of the Up in Alaska Blog has written a book about her cycling experiences/adventures. I haven't read it, but plan on buying a PDF copy [save those trees...=-)] in the near future. If you are looking for some cycling related reading her book is worth a look. Her blog is an enjoyable read so I expect the same from her book. If you need more motivation than simply getting some reading material you'll also be helping her fund her 2009 Idtarod adventure.

You can read her own blog post about the book by clicking on the image above.

Occassional Rubbing of Disc Brakes

2008-11-13T08:18:00.002-07:00

Q: occasionally I'm experiencing rubbing with my Avid BB7s - how do I fix it?

If you read the Avid manual there is a procedure to align your caliper and rotor as well as to set your pads up at the right distance from the rotor.

Four things that can cause an occasional rubbing even though your brake is setup correctly are:

- a disc brake on the back of a fork is trying to force the wheel down and out of the front dropout when you brake. This force is resisted by the clamping friction of your QR and the lawyer lips on the ends of your drop out. If the QR isn't tight the axle can move slightly under braking and this will cause some rubbing that will go away on it's own when you hit a bump or reseat the QR. If you experience this occasional rubbing stop the bike and open/close the QR with some downward pressure on the bars. If the rubbing goes away this was your problem.

Sheldon Brown acknowledges this issue and points to this link for more details.

BTW - do not ride a bike with a front disc and no lawyer lips on the fork. If your QR is loose and you brake hard you could have a gnarly accident.

- Another problem is your disc rotor can be slightly bent causing occasional rubbing. This may go away after some braking if it is only slightly out of true. You can check this by doing the test above when the rubbing starts - if it doesn't go away lift the wheel up and rotate the wheel by hand if this is the problem it will happen at the same spot once per rotation. You can gently bend the rotor back into shape by hand [wear clean gloves so you don't contaminate the rotor with oil]. There is a specific rotor truing tool if you want to get a bit more precision in your adjustments.

- Another cause of occasional rubbing is dirt in your caliper. Clearances are fairly tight between the rotor and the pads. If you get some grit in there it can reduce the clearance so that the pads rub anywhere the rotor isn't totally true [no rotors are perfectly true]. This will take care of it self as the grit get cleaned out. You can check for this by inspecting the rotor/pads for dirt.

- The last cause of occasional disc brake rubbing is a flexy fork. It doesn't take much side to side movement of the fork to cause the rotor to rub. You can test for this by playing around with your bike - lean it from side to side, turn hard - if this causes the rubbing to start you'll know this is at least part of your problem.

Keep in mind you may be experiencing occasional rubbing due to one or all of the causes noted above. Assuming the rubbing is light and only occassional it isn't something I'd worry too much about. Just make sure your front QR is tight.

Frequently Answered Questions...

2008-11-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

I find myself spending quite a bit of time answering the same questions on online forums again and again. I don't for a second consider that I am an expert of any kind. There are far more technically knowledgeable folks out there and people that ride farther, faster, better and more often. Having said that I do have an engineering degree and a practical approach to bikes that works fine for me. I'm pretty good at doing some research and distilling the information I read into the most salient points.

Rather than trying to continually type out similar answers I'll be posting my responses to this blog so that I can reuse them again and again. Sure that's partly because I'm lazy, but it has the advantage of making the information more widely available and I can spend time updating/improving responses as I gather new information or my experiences dictate a change in opinion.

You'll see a new set of links on the right of the screen called "FAQ" where I'll list my Frequently Answered Questions.

BTW - if you want to correct or enhance anything I post in the FAQ section feel free to comment and I'll make changes as appropriate.

Salsa got cranked as well...

2008-11-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Photo: Salsa Blog

I posted recently how negative posting on forums was getting me down a bit. Tom commented in that post that Salsa's Blog had to shut down their comments section due to all the negative posting.

You can read Salsa's explanation here.

Too bad it has to come to this. I really like blogs you can comment on as it provides a way to communicate with the blog owner and other readers. That is a much more satisfying experience than the one way communication of read only blogs. I hope Salsa sorts out their comment moderation issues and enables commenting again.

I've had a few comments I've had to delete, but nothing serious.

Penny Farthing World Tour

2008-11-11T16:21:00.003-07:00

all photos: Joe Summerfield

Two things you don't expect to see in a bike tour journal:

a guy touring on a penny farthing in Tibet
the same rider getting a wisdom tooth pulled while camping without anesthetic

...hardcore!

CrazyGuyOnABike Touring Bike

2008-11-10T16:05:00.005-07:00

Neil [owner of CGOAB] is working with Stephen of Bilenky Cycle Works to develop a 26" wheeled expedition touring bike. Neil's approach seems to be very purposeful and the end result looks promising - especially given the lack of 26" wheeled touring bikes for larger riders available in North America.

Neil has a thread going over at the CGOAB forums discussing the details of the new bike. If you have some ideas to share, are interested in buying this type of touring bike or just want to see how the process is coming along there is a lively dicussiion in progress.

I'm looking forward to seeing the result of Neil and Stephen's efforts...=-)

Sheldon Brown on Brakes for touring bikes...

2008-11-10T09:13:00.003-07:00

David Cambon posted this Adventure Cycling article written by Sheldon Brown about the different brakes that touring cyclists may be considering.

There are a few points I'll add to what Sheldon says:

Cantilever/V-brakes:

Cane Creek now makes a drop bar v-brake lever which is very nice.
I've used the Dia Compe 287-V and it has worked nicely for me.
I've not had any clearance issues with v-brakes fenders and 26 x 2.0" tires
pads for these types of brakes are very common, especially if you don't use the cartridge style v-brake pads
I'd recommend using a Koolstop salmon coloured pad for great performance wet and dry
Although some folks are worried about rim wear unless you tour exclusively somewhere wet and gritty tourists are not having issues with worn out rims, David Cambon suggests a properly hand built wheel should last 30,000kms on a touring bike - YMMV.
I've never had issues with rim brakes overheating. If you can use pulse braking, sit up to catch the wind and let your bike run or take a break to snap a photo while your rims cool. Interestingly disc brakes can overheat as well and although they don't blow a tire if your discs suddenly stopped working or applied full braking force without notice - you wouldn't be any happier than a blown tire.

Disc Brakes:

You need a very strong stiff fork for a disc brake. This means you'll be giving upthe comfort of the classic curved steel touring fork that bike builders have been perfecting for a long time.
My experience with disc brakes [Avid BB7s] on the Dempster Highway has made me question the performance of discs in wet/gritty conditions. My brakes worked, but they were certainly significantly impacted by the mud and rain I was riding through. true the caliper and disc are not near the hub, but enough crap splashed up into the hub area that braking force was reduced, pad wear was accelerated and I had to adjust the pads a lot to get clearance for the rotor as crud built up.
Finding disc pads that fit your brake will not be as easy as v-brake pads so carry a couple extra pairs on tour. If you tour is long and you'll be traveling through less developed countries you have to ask yourself if you'll be able to get spares you need to keep your brakes working.
I'd stick with mechanical discs on a touring bike for simplicity and ease of repair. With Avid BB7s if the front caliper fails you can quickly remove it and install the rear brake on the fork to get to the next town and get it replaced. If a cable brakes it is an easy field repair to replace it with minimal tools.
One popular myth is that disc brakes don't overheat so they would be ideal for a heavily loaded touring bike in the mountains. Logically an engineer can surmise that disc brakes are not immune to over heating [the heat has to go somewhere and there is not much mass in a rotor or caliper to absorb it, some heat will be dissipated to the air, but there is a finite rate at which that can happen which you can exceed with heavy consistent braking] and the tests run by a German mountain bike magazine confirm this. When disc brakes do overheat the brake can stop working or can seize up - neither is a good thing on a touring bike in the mtns so you need to manage your heat load with discs as well. If you need further proof that discs can overheat just head to a tandem site and note that nobody will approve a disc brake as a third drag brake on a tandem [unlike drum brakes which work well in this role] - this is simply because they'll overheat and fail if sustained braking is attempted.
Disc brakes apply a lot of force to a wheel in an asymmetric fashion which will eventually cause spoke failures.
Disc rotors are delicate and can easily be damaged [flying, buses, taxis, trains] so you have to ask yourself do you want to be pulling the rotors when you need to transport your touring bike?
I find modulation of Avid BB7s to be similar to a v-brake.
A normal sized rotor [160mm] provides the same braking force as a good set of v-brakes. This is enough to skid a rear wheel or do an endo on an unladen bike. Keep in mind there is no more braking force to be had after this. If you were to add a large 203mm rotor to your bike in the hopes of even more braking power keep in mind under most conditions you'd simply reach the same point of skidding a wheel or doing and endo. If you were on a heavily loaded touring bike and happened to be on some sticky pavement you would be able to generate more braking force than a v-brake or standard disc, but keep in mind all that force has to be transmitted through your front wheel, fork and frame - it wouldn't be hard to damage your bike permanently if you got too aggressive under very high traction conditions.
this is not to say you cannot or should not use disc brakes on a touring bike, but they are not a magic bullet and they come with trade offs, but if you mostly were a bike commuter in the PNW and wanted to use the same bike for touring discs would make sense. If you wanted to tour on a MTB with a suspension fork discs may be your only option with many forks. If your touring bike was also your winter commuter discs definitely make sense in the snow/ice.

At the moment I have one touring bike with v-brakes and one touring bike with Avid BB7s. Although I think v-brakes make more sense for a touring bike I continue to use a set of discs and will modify my opinion if my experiences and/or the touring journals I read demonstrate they are a better choice.

Alchemy Goods Urban Messenger Bag - 8 Month Review

2008-11-09T10:23:00.006-07:00

You can read my initial impressions of the Alchemy Goods Messenger Bag here.

Alchemy Goods Urban Messenger Bag - manufacturer's info

I've been using this messenger bag for 8 months and thought I'd report how it has been performing. As I noted in my initial review this is my first messenger bag so I wasn't 100% sure how I'd like it compared to the backpacks I'm used to using. As it turns out this bag has become one of my favourites and sees a lot of action.

The two things it does very well are:

doesn't look as dorky as a backpack when I'm about town socializing.
is a very practical way to carry stuff you need to access a lot.

As much as I like this bag a backpack is a better way to carry heavy loads. A backpack is also a better way to carry stuff you don't need access to often. However, a backpack can be a real pain when you want to get at the stuff you are carrying frequently. This messenger bag swings around to the front and you can root around in it easily without taking it off.

Although I said a backpack is a better way to carry heavy loads I've been surprised by how much stuff this bag will swallow when needed. I've carried multiple bottles of wine, a suspension fork and two sets of fenders [strapped on outside] at the same time. It will hold a 17" laptop for those of you who need to haul your computer around. One thing I did add to this bag is a padded shoulder strap as it doesn't come with one and the bare strap isn't comfy if your carrying a decent load.

Still looking good after 8 months.

The bag has proven to be very durable as you can see from the photo above it looks like new. The design is well thought out and you'll appreciate all the small details when you use it such as the easy to pull zipper, reflective stripes and internal pockets.. I really like the fact it's waterproof and made domestically largely from reused materials [bicycle inner tubes, car seat belt, etc...]. It's big enough to be useful, but doesn't flop around when you it isn't filled.

The whole style thing may strike some folks as superficial, but I definitely appreciate gear that functions well on the bike and lets you transition to other aspects of your life without screaming "I'm a cyclists!" I've used this bag when taking my laptop to business meetings and when meeting friends for dinner at a nice restaurant. It blends in without attracting a lot of attention which I like. It's particularly good as a carry on bag when flying because you can get at the contents easily when you need to dig out your passport or grab your Ipod.

I'd happily recommend this bag to any one looking for a messenger bag - Alchemy you make a great product...=-)

Features:

Wicked-durable strap made from a RECYCLED seatbelt strap

100% waterproof exterior constructed from RECYCLED inner tubes

Waterproof zippered flap pocket for easy access to phone or MP3 player

Multiple internal pockets for books, packages and other items

T-strap stabilizes load while cycling

High quality reflective tape for added safety

Internal key clip for bike lock keys or house keys

13 x 8 x 11 inches (and expandable)

Accommodates laptops with up to 17” screens

Priced at $148

Selle Anatomica Saddle - Loaner

2008-11-08T11:54:00.004-07:00

After trying many saddles over the years I was very happy with my Brooks Champion Flyer. So happy that touring with padded bike shorts is a thing of the past. I was quite surprised when I tried a Selle Anatomica Titanico saddle and found it even more comfortable. It's hard to quantify saddle comfort and of course everyone is different so your experiences may not agree with mine, but here goes:

Brooks: no need for padded bike shorts, at the end of a long day of touring I can tell I've been riding a bike saddle, but there is no significant discomfort.

Selle Anatomica: no need for padded bike shorts, at the end of a long day of touring I can't really tell I've been on a bike saddle at all.

The SA saddle I had stretched out too fast [which was a problem with a small batch that has since been corrected] and SA sent me a new saddle for free even though mine wasn't under warranty.

I still have my old SA saddle and it works fine. If anyone local wants to give the old saddle a try you are welcome to have it. You may only get a week or two of use out of it before it stretches too far to adjust, but at least you'll have a free trial to see if it works for you. The new saddles cost about $200 with shipping so it's nice to know your going to like it before you take the plunge.

Cranky

2008-11-06T09:45:00.002-07:00

My injury has resulted in a lot of time spent surfing and chatting online about bikes. It's a nice distraction from being a prisoner in my apartment and provides lots of motivation to get back on the bike. However, I've noticed more objectionable behaviour recently on online forums than I can ever remember in the past. Folks launching personal attacks because they don't agree with your comments on a bike part, pointless flame wars, racist slang, etc... It boggles the mind that people can get so worked up and negative over bicycles.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy a spirited discussion, but the hallmark of a good debate is that the discussion stays focused on the facts and opinions of those involved. You can disagree with someone that doesn't share your point of view, but when you start passing judgment on them personally there is no possibility of a constructive dialogue.

One thing I decided on a long time ago was to use my real name on online forums. I always try and get "Vik" or some variation on it when possible. I usually provide links to my blogs at the bottom of posts I make. This means that I have to take ownership of what I say online. If I behave badly I can't hide from it the way I could with an anonymous user name. If you want to you can easily find my full name, photos of me, where I live and contact me - no stalkers please!..=-)

To be honest I've had my moments of childishness and gotten into a few pissing contests that in retrospect were pointless, but I don't think I've ever crossed the line to being disrespectful or hurtful to anyone online. As we seem to be moving towards more and more online interactions with each other [I can't remember the last time I went to the bank and spoke with a teller in person] I hope we can bring along the same social skills and consideration that we routinely use in our face to face interactions.

Himalaya by Bike

2008-11-03T17:47:00.004-07:00

A few posts ago I mentioned a book about bike touring in Tibet and noted that I'd like to do some touring in India first as a warm up to the more challenging conditions in Tibet. Well Laura Stone's new book Himalaya by Bike tackles this very subject. I've read some good reviews of this book online and will be ordering up a copy in the near future.

Laura has a website that is out of date, but she has said in the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum that she'll be updating it in the near future.

Lonely Planet Thorn Tree

2008-11-01T10:50:00.006-06:00

I've known about the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum for quite a while, but have only recently taken the time to delve into it more throroughly. They have a cycle touring sub-forum which is really useful when you need up to date info on border crossings or cycling conditions in far flung parts of the world. If you are traveling or planning a trip this forum is well worth visiting.

I also just noticed that LP is selling individual chapters of their guides online in an electronic format. That's brilliant as I tend to travel very lightweight [10-15lbs in a day pack] when on foot and my LP guidebook was one of my heaviest single items. However, if you end up buying the whole book electronically one chapter at a time it will be much more expensive - hopefully they'll provide a whole guide as a PDF at better price. One step at a time I guess!

Bike Touring Tibet

2008-10-31T12:25:00.004-06:00

I came across this book at MEC a few weeks ago and have enjoyed reading about bike touring in Tibet. I can't vouch for the accuracy of any of the information published in this book, but it seems quite comprehensive and is well written. Although I think tour journals like those at Crazy Guy on a Bike and travelers' forums like the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree are the best places to get up to date information on a touring destination, it's nice to have a hard copy book to read when you aren't near a computer - particularly while touring. Kym McConnell has gone the extra distance by setting up a website with a forum so you can get Tibet specific info updated constantly - that's smart. You get the book plus a website that provides updates...=-)

Tibet is one of those places that fires up my imagination and I'd love to do some exploring there on my bike. Based on reading Kym's book I'll probably get my feet wet riding in India and SE Asia first before I tackle the more challenging political environment in Tibet.

Lazy is MIA

2008-10-25T09:09:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm in a cast at the moment so no biking and very limited mobility. I don't want to blog about my foot simply because it gets enough air time in my day to day life the last thing I want to do is spend more time on it. I figured I better at least let you know why I'm not blogging much these days.

I've also been on the road for work the last little while and haven't had regular access to the net or a comfortable workstation. Getting around on crutches while traveling is even less fun than it sounds and quite tiring. For the first time in years I have watched a ton of TV. I don't have one at home, but being tired and unable to get around is a perfect combo when you have a TV close at hand in your hotel room.

I'll be home on Monday and I've got a backlog of items, in particular product reviews, that I should jump on since I've got a lot of time on my hands at home.

I should be back on the bike by the middle of November and I have some fun winter bike trips planned, but I don't want to jinx them so I won't post about future plans until my foot is all better.

Rohloff Geek

2008-10-15T09:51:00.003-06:00

You know you are a bike geek when you pack a Rohloff User's Manual in your luggage for some light in flight reading...=-)

Bill's Thorn Comfort Bars

2008-10-12T12:36:00.003-06:00

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Bill S [a Bike Forums member] on Friday and check out his lovely Thorn Nomad S&S. It's an impressive bike - very functional and much nicer looking than it appears on the Thorn website. I wish I had an opportunity to test ride it a bit more thoroughly, but that wasn't in the cards. My camera battery was dead so I wasn't able to snap any photos which is a shame.

This sort of encounter is why I love the internet. You get interested in an obscure product from the UK and a few search engines later you are looking at it, test riding it and chatting with someone who lives in your city and owns one.

Bill brought along a set of Thorn comfort bars he wasn't using for me to look at. I was interested in buying them and seeing how I found the shape/hand positions. To my surprise Bill very kindly gave them to me. Thanks Bill!...=-) I'm going to try them out on my winter MTB. They offer quite a bit of rise and more rearward sweep than typical MTB riser bars.

Here is what Thorn's PR spew says:

"The ultimate alloy riser bar for touring. Physio-designed geometry gives great confort levels. Expertly made of 1.8/3.0/1.8mm 2014 double butted Al Alloy. Generous 25.4mm dia centre section for bar bags, lights, computers etc followed by tight bends (to save space). Overall 620mm wide, 50mm rise, 190mm straight grip section each side, 40mm rearward sweep, 100mm straight section in centre, 25.4mm bar clamp. Weight 294g."

You can get them in quite a few different versions:

- alloy black
- alloy silver
- alloy silver [heavy duty version]
- carbon wrapped alloy
- carbon wrapped alloy [heavy duty version]

Strida

2008-10-09T21:05:00.002-06:00

5.0 Specs

22 lbs (10 kg) 7000 series aluminium
Disc Brakes
Black, Skin Wall, Reflective Stripe
Alloy Cold Forged SS
Four Spider Cast Aluminum
Welded AL Mount
Internal Rear Hub Freewheel
$800 USD

I've been having a weird fascination with the Strida folding bike recently. I know it looks goofy, but...okay there is no but - it does look goofy. I'm still intrigued. If it cost less than $400 I'd buy one just to see what I thought and loan out to friends. Luckily the $800 price tag makes a purchase highly unlikely - too many other bike goodies that I could make better use of once you get within striking distance of $1000.

Eric & Dylan's Lost Coast Trip

2008-10-09T09:24:00.003-06:00

Eric and Dylan made it home safe and sound from their Alaskan Lost Coast Trip. They posted some reports and photos here. It's worth a moment to check out their adventure...=-)

Eric & Dan's Indian Bike Tour

2008-10-08T11:04:00.003-06:00

Epic Eric and his partner Dan rode the same route as Al & Ulrike and then for good measure they rode back to the start! Click on either of the photos in this post to jump to more pictures from their trip.

Touring the Indian Himalaya

2008-10-06T09:09:00.004-06:00

Photo: Al Downie

Ulrike Lange and Alastair Downie cycle toured in the Indian Himalayas - Leh to Manali via Tso Moriri, Aug/Sept 2008 and have some spectacular photos here as well as a Bike Forums thread here.

I haven't got a lot of details about their trip, but if I can find any I'll update this post and provide the link.

Epic Eric Rides Bolivia

2008-10-01T10:24:00.003-06:00

Eric Parsons of Epic Designs took his Surly Karate Monkey to South America for a nice bike tour and had an article published about his adventure in Dirt Rag Magazine.

Some photos from Eric's trip in SA

More detailed info on Eric's trip posted at MTBR.COM.

Garage Antics

2008-09-30T19:02:00.002-06:00

Photo: random forum post

Bike Ballet?

2008-09-30T18:54:00.000-06:00

Mark's LHT Brevet Light Setup

2008-09-29T19:08:00.003-06:00

Mark W writes:

"Vik, per your request, here are three shots of the front lighting on my LHT, that also show the dual stem set up.

Needless to say, I don't subscribe to the French pechant for handlebar bags and/or small front panniers--especially since the LHT doesn't have the appropriate front end geometry. For brevets I use one or two small ortlieb panniers--which don't affect bike handling at all, get the weight low, minimize aerodynamic drag etc. And for touring involving camping, I use a Nomad. So that allows the area between the drops to be used for lighting."

"This set up works better than I thought it might. The lights aren't in the way of anything, there are no restrictions on hand placement on the bars, plenty of light for road riding at up to about 30 mph, the lithium AA's last for over 100 hours, and while the light pattern on the cateye EL-530s is inadequate if you only use one, by using four the pattern is quite good, even in the corners--better than the Fly IQ powered by a Schmidt SON on one of my other bikes.

Rgrds,

M"

Tetsuro & Hiro's Excellent Adventure

2008-09-27T12:33:00.005-06:00

I first met Tetsuro & Hiro [on the right with helmet] up in the Yukon on my way home from the Dempster Highway this summer. They were headed from Alaska down to Ushaia on a long bike tour. Their English was limited and my Japanese non-existent so we couldn't communicate much, but I did offer them a place to stay if they passed through Calgary. We exchanged one garbled email after that and I didn't hear from them again so I assumed we were not going to cross paths a second time.

To my surprise a few weeks later I ran into Hiro hanging out in an alley near my apartment. When I inquired about Tetsuro he was surprised himself as he thought his friend would already be at my place. A bunch of emailing, text messaging and mobile phone calling later we tracked Tetsuro down and steered him to my apartment.

Sadly Tetsuro would have to end his trip in Calgary as his father was gravely ill. I helped him arrange a flight back to Japan and the three of us spent a week hanging out waiting for Tetsuro's flight home. Our poor language skills were a bit of a trial, but we managed to figure out the basics. Eventually Tetsuro boarded a flight for Japan and later that day Hiro embarked on the next leg of his bike tour to South America.

You can see some photos from their visit here and here. Tetsuro's blog is here.

If you are a cycle tourist and need a place to stay or some support in/around the Calgary area drop me a line and I'll see what I can do to help you out.

I'm a bike slut...

2008-09-20T12:54:00.004-06:00

Photo: On the Bright Side

I've sold two bikes this year and have another I'm thinking of parting with. You might think my fleet is shrinking rapidly and I'm headed for one-bike-nirvana. Not to worry I'm very good at recycling bike money back into new projects. I've got a new MTB frame hanging in my office slowly accumulating parts eagerly anticipating its fat tire debut. I have a second bike project in mind - actually about three of them, but I'm working my way towards deciding which one will become reality this winter.

Why so many bikes? Why not? Besides travel, bikes are the only thing I spend money on. I enjoy thinking about new bikes, getting the parts in, building the bikes and then riding them. Although I enjoy the process no matter the outcome I don't fall in love with all my bikes. That's partly due to the high caliber of the rigs in my fleet. There is some stiff competition when a bike gets voted off the island. The bikes that don't make it aren't bad rides - in fact their new owners usually fall head over heels for them, but in the bike-eat-bike world of my fleet they couldn't find their niche.

There are some bikes that never have to worry. I can't recall the last time I made any significant change to my Surly Long Haul Trucker. It's been years really and even after the initial build I've only tweaked a couple things. I was going to say the LHT is perfect and that's why I haven't changed anything, but that's not true. I can think of a more comfy saddle I could put on it and nicer fenders. I was contemplating some faster tires. So why don't I just get on with the upgrades? Well the LHT isn't perfect, but it's a darn nice ride. Everything on it has served me well. No matter what else is going on with my other bikes I know it's ready to saddle up and it can handle 90% of my cycling missions with aplomb. I appreciate how reliable it's been for me and I value that more than tweaking it to be perfect.

Goodbye Taifun

2008-09-20T12:29:00.003-06:00

I took the Taifun to the UPS Store on Friday so it can start its journey to a new owner. Naturally I used the Surly Big Dummy to haul the bike box.

55cm Novara Randonee Touring Frame For Sale

2008-09-17T13:31:00.007-06:00

Frame/fork have been sold!

Anna wants to sell her 55cm Novara Randonee touring frame/fork. This steel frame was bought new in 2006 and used for one season. I gave her a Surly LHT frame which she swapped all the parts over to. The Randonee frame has been in storage ever since. This is a great frame for a 700c touring bike and is quite attractive. With long chainstays and relaxed geometry there is lots of room for panniers and the stable handling inspires confidence. It's in excellent shape mechanically with some minor cosmetic blemishes as would be expected from a bike that has been on tour and seen some commuting action. This frame was ridden for one riding season covering about 1500kms.

She would like $150 for the frame/fork + $75 shipping [if shipping is less than this the difference will be refunded].

If you have some parts laying around this would make a wonderful inexpensive touring rig or a fine commuter bike.

Disc Brakes vs. Rim Brakes

2008-09-14T18:41:00.005-06:00

Photo: Mountain Bike

The links below provide results of brake testing conducted by the German magazine Mountain Bike. They wanted to see how rim brakes and disc brakes compared when faced with the high temperatures of a simulated steep mountain descent. Of note most disc brakes did not perform as well as a rim brake with cloth rim tape and a standard tube. Although many of the disc brakes systems are out of date newer models are not built any more robustly and in fact many may actualy be less resistant to heat as lighter and lighter brakes are designed.

2000 Testing

2001 Testing [incl Avid BB7s]

This isn't to say disc brakes aren't a good idea for some applications [winter riding, muddy mtn biking, wet commuting], but they are not immune to overheating and failing on long descents. As such you need to manage the heat load you put into disc brakes just like you would a rim brake. Although disc brake failure won't result in a tire blow out in many cases the damage to the disc brake is permanent and the brake will no longer function - not great on long tour or miles from nowhere in the back country.

Expedition Touring Bikes

2008-09-13T13:51:00.010-06:00

Photo: Thorn Raven Nomad S&S

PJC posted the message below on the Surly LHT & CC Group today. I agree with pretty much everything he said and thought it would be worthwhile to capture his comments in a blog post. I've included my reply below his comments which are particularly focused on my changing opinion of the suitability of a Rohloff hub for an adveture touring or expedition touring bike:

"Hey Gang,

There's been a lot of excitement over Salsa's new Fargo on the 29er
board on mtbr, and I count myself among the early enthusiasts. It
looks like a great bike and I can't wait to ride one. But I'm going to
submit that Surly's 26" wheeled LHT is a better adventure and
expedition bike.

Here's how I think about it. For me, an adventure bike needs to be
the following things:

- Versatile. I want to be comfortable pedaling for ten hours on
asphalt, gravel or dirt, day after day; I want to be able to mount
slicks and go on a training ride with the local road club when I'm far
from home; I want to be able to ride pretty demanding singletrack; I
want to be able to ride with panniers; at home, I want to a bike that
might be decent on grocery runs. In practice, a bike is probably
going to be good at a small number these things, but I want to be able
to do them all and have the bike be at least reasonably up to it.

- Easy to ride. The geometry needs to be such that it doesn't take
much vigilance from me to pilot. There are going to be times when I
am at 17,000 feet, bonked, cold, and in the dark. My bike can't be yet
another challenge. The thing is, I also want to be able to go fast on
flat paved roads, or twisty road descents. And I want the bike to
have good enough manners off-road. And when I'm in really dense urban
areas, I want to be able to see traffic and be maneuverable.

- Durable. Basically I don't want to even think about the fragility of
the bike. I'm not totally convinced that an aluminum frame is wrong
for adventure touring, but if there is even a slight chance that I'll
need someone to weld the thing while on the road, I don't want the
option excluded. More realistically, if the derailleur hanger or the
fork or whatever get bent, I want to just bend them back (within
reason).

- Not overly precious or prissy. The bike is going to get roped to
the roof of buses and the back of pack mules, clipped to a steel
basket for a gorge crossing, or tossed in the bucket of an empty dump
truck. I want to be able to shrug off the inevitable dents or nicks.
Some airlines still allow you to check the bike unboxed. When it's an
option, I want to be able to do that without caring that it might get
scratched.

- Not have cost me a lot. The bike could get lost or stolen, and I
don't want to be devastated. This is going to be relative, of course,
but, for me, certainly under US$2000, while under US$1500 would be
even better.

- Repairable on the road, all over the world. Stuff is going to
break, and I want to be able to substitute and improvise with what is
available to me locally until I can have specialized gear shipped.

Given this wish list, I have not found anything better than the LHT.
I've ridden it with panniers in Asia, Europe, Mexico, and, of course,
at home in the US. I've raced it in mountain bike races (not my first
or even second choice, but it happened) and on frozen lakes with
Hakkapelitas. It goes along pretty good with slicks when I'm in the
drops, I can mount 2.35 Nevegals on it for offroad, and on most tours
running Marathon cross 1.5's is good enough for anything resembling a
road or dirt path. On singletrack the bb is a little low for log hops,
but riding the tops makes a lot of stuff surprisingly doable (I have
top bar levers that you sometimes see on 'cross bikes, though I don't
run them on my actual 'cross bike). If someone said that I could keep
only one of my bikes, this one would be it.

Are there other bikes that could do these things? Yeah, probably. But
some popular choices fall short for me. Thorns are a fair bit more
expensive, and I have no interest in Rohloff hubs (heavy, their
durability seems overstated, and junky but serviceable derailleurs are
readily available to run with shifters in friction mode). I don't
have any reliable info on how big a tire can be mounted on the Dawes
offerings. The Rivendell Atlantis is a gorgeous bike, but that's also
a downside. Some continental bikes look pretty good, but the Koga-
Miyata's, for instance, are aluminum. And then anything with an
integrated rack won't do for me when I want to take all the heavy
stuff off and just go riding where ever I am. There are definitely
steel mountain bikes that can be converted to adventure use, but they
would have to have long chain stays for pannier heel clearance,
couldn't be too flexy, and need a long headtube for drop bars (I've
done long tours on flat bars and I don't care that much about not
having the much ballyhooed multiple hand positions. But I like drops
for going fast.)

So what about that Fargo? I totally want one for riding here in the
US. But as far as winning the adventure bike prize, the Fargo's wheel
size is basically a deal breaker for me. My main race bike is a
singlespeed 29er, and I'm not looking back to 26ers as far as mountain
biking goes. For better or for worse, though, the wheel size that
came to be the American standard for mountain bikes in the 80's is now
the most widely available around the world. Sure, a well build wheel
isn't likely to implode, but in the overall scheme of bicycle
components, the wheels are a worrisome blend of fragile/difficult-to-
improvise/showstopper-if-you-don't-have-it. Moreover, though tires
can be booted and stitched together, there is some wear and damage
that just can't be readily managed.

You sometimes hear people say that in this era of global access to
consumer goods, you can just have a wheel or a tire shipped to you
where ever you are. There's something to that, but I've seen tires in
shops and stalls in towns that don't have phones, let alone internet.
For a lot of places that I want to ride, there's a much higher premium
placed by locals on the availability of bike tires than on having a
post office.

So, I'm sticking with the trucker for now. I think it's the best that
a US based adventure rider who is going to range far and wide can do.
Nice job, Surly!

Other thoughts:

- If I was too tall to ride a 54 or smaller LHT, then I guess I'd
convert an old mountain bike for adventure use.
- What's my real basis for comparison? I've toured on a converted 1989
Wicked Fat Chance with rear panniers (West Coast of USA), a Santa Cruz
Superlight pulling an Extrawheel trailer (Pakistan, India, Nepal,
Tibet), a Karate Monkey with rear panniers (East Coast of USA), an
80's Bianchi steel road racing bike with a large Carradice seat post
bag (USA, UK, China), a recent vintage Felt aluminum/carbon fiber race
bike with seatpost bag (East Coast of USA, France), and a Bike Friday
folding bike pulling its suitcase (East Coast of USA, Ireland, France,
Spain). None of those were catastrophes. Indeed, the Superlight --
in spite of being absolutely wrong by every bit of conventional wisdom
-- was probably the best. Of course, I was fortunate that neither the
rear shock nor the suspension fork had any problems. The LHT is
better than all of these.

[I also posted this on mtbr, and the thread there also includes a
photo of my LHT in one of its modes. http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=451468]"

My reply:

"PJC,

Great post - we share a very similar view about the Fargo and the LHT. If you lived in the same town as me I'd buy you a beer!

We do diverge slightly on a couple issues so I'll touch on those:

I don't fit a 54cm LHT. I tried one and I can get the saddle bars and pedals in the right spot, but I feel like my weight is too far forward on the bike and I hate how it feels when I climb out of the saddle. Having looked around at the alternatives I think the options for a bigger rider that I'd consider are:

Thorn Sherpa: although I tried and sold mine I'd be willing to try a larger size. After riding a 54cm and 56cm LHT I think I really like the feel of a longer wheelbase bike with more length in front of the BB. Although the Sherpa is more $$$ than the LHT it's nicer in many ways: fittings, paint, tubing, etc... The sloping TT is nice if you'll be riding off pavement. Having said that I would have happily ridden a 54cm LHT if I had like how it fit me.

Thorn Raven Tour: This is a nicer touring bike than the Sherpa, but you have to use it with a Rohloff. I'm not a Rohloff cult member, but I have one on my Big Dummy and I'm slowly changing my mind about using on a long distance touring bike. I'm not completely there yet, but I'm now more open to it than before. Here is why:

- risk of Rohloff failure quite low [based on a # of units in service vs. reported problems], how low is up for debate and this is the make or break issue
- Rohloff is nearly weather proof. Having used it for some heinously muddy touring in the Yukon my shifting was perfect the whole time and the drivetrain needed zero attention
- Rohloff drivetrain nearly immune to damage while riding or during transport [buses, planes, taxis]. I can see ways to break it, but they are much less likely than wrecking a derailleur setup
- 32 spoke rear wheel w/ Rohloff is as strong a dished 40H wheel. So you have a strong rear wheel and 32H MTB rims are very common. Finding a 36H or 40H MTB rim would be much harder
- shifting a heavy touring bike while stopped is nice, if you need to start on an uphill
- chainring, cog and chain can be flipped when worn and you get another 100% of the mileage out of them, they will also last a lot longer in the first place
- if you break your Rohloff shifter or cable the hub can still be used and gears changed with an 8mm wrench until you can sort out the issue.

Having said all that I won't argue your cons about the Rohloff - I've made the same points myself. Part of the reason I got a Rohloff is to get some personal experience so I can come to a conclusion on the issue. From what I know and what I have experienced I think it comes down to one question: "How likely is a serious Rohloff problem?" I'm starting to appreciate the positive aspects of the Rohloff much better and I can see how you can avoid quite a few problems that a derailleur setup might face, but you won't get support or spares for a Rohloff on tour - you'll have to wait for FEDEX to deliver a part. Consider though that you won't get decent touring tires or a decent 26" rear wheel for a fully loaded touring bike from anywhere, but FEDEX either. You'll get a crappy wheel or tire or derailleur, but only something that will let you limp to the next big city where you can order replacements. I think most of the Rohloff failures you can come up with will have the same result - you'll be able to limp to the next big city and order spares.

Thorn could solve some of this dilemma by offering their Rohloff bikes with a derailleur hanger. That way you'd have an option to run a derailleur if you really needed to and it wouldn't cost much or wreck the design of their bikes.

I've thought about getting an older steel MTB frame and building it up, but given the cost of the parts I'd use I'd prefer to spend the $$$ on a dedicated touring frame like a Thorn that has all the nice details taken care of. My assessment of the theft risk is low so I don't mind investing in a nice bike. Admittedly I'm a bike snob and would value the experience of riding the nicer frame.

I've looked at Koga Miyatas and they don't do anything for me on a lot of levels - although they are undoubtedly fine touring bikes. The Atlantis is a nice bike, but I don't care for lugs or a fancy paint job and at $1600 for a frame I'd get an S&S equipped Thorn Raven Nomad S&S first.

As a LHT owner I think it's hard to beat the LHT and I wish Surly would offer a 26" wheeled Expedition touring bike for larger riders in the same vein. The Big Dummy is certainly an option, but its length and weight might be deal breakers for some folks. I'm also loving the straight bladed stiff fork less and less for touring as it sends all the vibration straight to the bars.

Unfortunately 29ers are the hot ticket right now and companies all want to jump on that band wagon - 26" wheeled bikes seem to be considered boring.

safe riding,

Vik"

Pulse Braking

2008-09-13T13:28:00.009-06:00

I use the technique of "pulse braking" for keeping a heavily loaded touring bike under control on steep roads without overheating the rim [v-brakes] or overheating the rotor/caliper [disc brakes]. The idea is simple you use one brake firmly at a time alternating between front and back. This allows your braking system to stay cool and keeps the bike's speed in check. Sheldon Brown and Jan Heine both subscribe to this technique and frankly that was good enough for me.

Recently there was an online discussion about the best way to brake on a long mountain descent and the theory behind why the pulse braking technique works was very well explained by Tony Raven. I've pasted in his comments below with permission - thanks Tony!:

"There is a very good physics reason for pulse braking. Heat is lost from the rim by conduction, convection and radiation. Conduction is your enemy because heat is dissipated from the braking surface to other parts of the wheel which heats the tyre up and can lead to the blow out. Convection is heat transfer to the surrounding air and radiation (which is relatively minor here) is the heat you feel when near a hot object.

Conduction happens slowly from the braking surface to the rim to the tyre so it takes time after the braking surface gets hot for the tyre to get hot and blow off. Convection and radiation happen quickly and you want to convect and radiate as much of the braking energy away from the braking surface as you can before it conducts into the body of the rim and on to the tyre.

The rate at which heat is convected away is, to first order, proportional to the temperature rise while the amount of heat radiated away is proportional to the fourth power of the absolute temperature of the braking surface. If you brake long and slow the heat will build up slowly and conduct from the braking surface to the rim and through to the tyre with the braking surface and rim body in quasi thermal equilibrium.

If you instead dissipate the same amount of energy by a short hard burst of braking the rim surface will get very hot - much hotter than the body of the rim - and much more of the energy will be convected and radiated away from the braking surface before it can be conducted to the body of the rim and on to the tyre. So pulse braking if done properly - i.e let the bike run until you are going as fast as you are comfortable with then a short sharp brake to bring the speed way down then let it run again - will convect and radiate a lot more of the braking energy away from the braking surface before it can conduct into the rim body. The net result is a lower rim body temperature and therefore less risk of a blow off.

For the same reason alternate pulse braking also works because it doubles the rim surface temperature of the wheel you are braking over braking on both wheels but it only really works on a tandem because the rear wheel will unweight and tend to skid on a single when you brake.

As a second order effect, letting the bike run and sitting up also dissipates more energy by wind resistance, which goes as the velocity cubed, in the faster bits of the cycle.

Tony"

Here are few other things to consider about braking on long steeps roads:

sitting up and catching as much wind as possible is a good way to reduce speed without adding heat to your braking system
disc brakes can over heat so you need to manage their heat load - overheating rotors or calipers can cause permanent damage
lowering your tire pressure will raise the amount of heat your rims can absorb before you blow off a tire
when pulse braking keep in mind applying a brake firmly requires good traction with the road or you risk skidding a wheel - very bad on the front!
applying your brakes lightly, but consistently the whole way down is your worst case scenario for generating heat
you can always stop and let your rims or rotors/calipers cool down

Challenge Taifun For Sale

2008-09-11T16:51:00.003-06:00

Update: the Taifun is sold.....=-)

I've been holding off putting this bent up for sale because I love it a ton and I know I will not be able to replicate it at a reasonable cost any time soon. However, I've got a bike project I'd like to work on this winter and I can't afford to make that happen unless I reduce my fleet of bikes.

First off why am I not riding it? Two reasons:

1) I no longer commute to work by bike since I work at home 4 days a week and use my truck for work related errands the one day I do drive. The Taifun was my comfortable and speedy commuter bike for my 50km round trip commute.

2) my GF & friends ride a DFs and so all of my fun rides and tours are on DFs

What's the Taifun good for?

This is an ideal fast commuter bike.
It's very stable at slow and high speeds.
The low 12' seat height makes starting and stopping easy.
It has fenders and disc brakes for all weather riding.
The seat vs. BB position makes for excellent climbing.
The closed cell foam seat cushion doesn't absorb water.
The rear suspension takes the edge off any bumps and the large volume Kojak tires are fast, but also very comfortable when riding on rough surfaces.
Although I haven't used it for this purpose it would also make a great touring bike

What you are buying [note not everything in the photos comes with this bike so read carefully]:

Challenge Taifun w/ folding tiller steering
I have a 42" x-seam and boom will adjust several inches either way
total mileage: less than 1000kms [most parts have less than 500kms as I upgraded them while I rode this bike]
colour matte black - totally bad ass, rec'd lots of compliments while riding
Cranks: Shimano 105 double [new]
Bottom Bracket: Shimano 105 [new]
Pedals: none [can ship with platform pedals if you would like at no charge]
Chain: SRAM w/ powerlink [new]
Front Derailleur: not sure will confirm shortly
Rear Derailleur: Shimano 105 [new]
Cassette: SRAM 11-32 9spd [new]
Shifters: Shimano Dura-ace 9 spd barcons on Paul Thumbies mounts [new]
Wheels: Velocity 406 Thracians [new]
Tires: Schwalbe Kojak 35-406 kevlar bead [new]
Brakes: none installed [will ship with some Tektro Bengal mechanical disc calipers & rotors]
Brake levers: none [you will need to provide levers]
Fenders: SKS 20" fenders

Note: just about every major component on this bike was upgraded after I bought it.

Price: $2000USD + shipping. Buying this bike new would cost over $4000USD+tax & shipping.

This bike is in nearly new condition and is a stunning lowracer that will get lots of attention anywhere it goes. It has been well maintained and stored carefully indoors.

I need a 100mm MTB Fork...

2008-09-10T16:15:00.007-06:00

Update: I got a new 2008 Fox F100 RLC from Ebay at 65% the cost of a new 2009 model. I rarely use EBay, but this time it proved useful. Problem solved.

I need a 100m travel MTB suspension fork for a project I'm building and just wanted to see if anyone out there had something they wanted to sell. If I was buying new I'd order up a F ox Talas 32 140RLC or a Fox 32 F100RLC. I'm willing to take a fork from any of the major players that's in good condition - say with at least 60% of its service life left. I need about 160mm of steerer left on the fork so if it's cut shorter than that I won't be able to use it. Stiffness and smooth action are more important to me than bling or lightweight. More than 100mm travel is okay if I can adjust the travel down to 100mm.

Drop me an email or comment if you have anything you would like to part with - thanks!

BTW - if anyone knows of any killer deals on new Fox forks I'd be happy to buy a 2008 model brand new if the price was right.

Andy and Fiona's South American Adventures

2008-09-08T18:12:00.003-06:00

Photo: Eleanor Meecham

Andy and Fiona have a great South American trip report posted on the Thorn site. I thought I provide a link for those that might not run across it there.

Cornell sees red...

2008-09-04T16:37:00.005-06:00

Cornell dropped by today to grab a bite for lunch and borrow the RANS Street. He's thinking about adding a RANS crank forward to his fleet and will be riding the Street for a few weeks to help make up his mind. With the lack of any LBS that really stocks specialty bikes I know how hard it is to get a test ride before you buy so I was more than happy to help out a fellow BROL member. The Street will get to hang out in the rural area north of Cochrane for a while and enjoy some relaxed country living - sounds like a perfect match for such a laidback bike!...=-)

Have fun Cornell!

Nivea's New LHT Fork

2008-09-04T10:16:00.003-06:00

When I overhauled Nivea's Rocky Mountain bike I commented that all she needed was a LHT fork and some new bars to make it a pretty nice touring bike. Particularly since she loved it and was comfortable on it. Tom read that post and happened to have a new 26" LHT fork he wanted to get rid of so we made a deal and I have a glossly black 26" LHT fork sitting in my apartment. When I bought it I wasn't actually sure it would go on Nivea's bike as she was resistant to the idea of swapping out her suspension fork for a rigid fork, but her Manitou fork is worn out and has been getting sloppier and sloppier. With her new brakes and tires she is riding more aggressively and has been noticing the poor handling of her sloppy fork more. The day the LHT fork arrived she actually asked when it was going to get here and was looking forward to getting it on her bike. Cool - I love it when a plan comes together....=-)

Since I'm putting the new fork on her bike I'll get her a new headset to replace the equally old and worn out stock unit on her bike. The black LHT fork exactly matches her frame which has no decals so I can see she'll be asked a lot what kind of Surly she's riding.

Thanks Tom!

Anna's LHT Redux

2008-09-02T16:39:00.003-06:00

I completed work on Anna's LHT today and I must say it looks very nice...=-)

Here's what I did to it:

added Berthoud 40mm 700c stainless fenders
new SRAM 9spd chain
new Grand Bois tires [30mm 700c] - very very nice
added a Selle Anatomica Titanico saddle
new cork bar tape
new Salsa 65mm 115 deg stem
I threw on my Carradice Barley to show Anna why neon yellow Ortlieb panniers just wouldn't be acceptable any longer!....LMAO

The other items were easy, but these fenders took me a day and a half to install as the hardware provided does not work with the LHT's 1 1/8" fork or its chainstay bridge at the rear. I'm pretty happy at the almost uniform spacing I managed to get between her tire and the fender. Since these fenders are nicely curved in profile they can be setup without a gap and still have lots of clearance from the tire. I sized them 10mm larger than her tire and this worked out great. I haven't trimmed her fender stays yet as I want her to ride the bike before I finalize the install to see if she wants more clearance between the tire and fender.

Okay this may not look uber tech, but it took me 6 or 7 different tries using material I had at hand before I stumbled on this solution. It's a thick rubber band that came wrapped around a Crank Bros multi-tool. I thought it was pretty stupid at the time and tossed it in my parts bin. Little did I know it would be perfect to allow the Berthoud fender hardware to adapt to the LHT's larger steerer tube. Without the rubber piece the hardware would sit at an angle messing up the the alignment of the fender. This way everything sits level and is nicely damped against vibration. I was also stoked to use something I thought was garbage to complete the install. Unless you bend down to look right at the fender mount you can't see the blue rubber piece at all.

The back end was more straightforward, but still required several tries to get the spacing I was looking for.

I borrowed this bracket from Nivea's old quick release front MTB fender and pressed it into service. I did drill the mounting hole in the wrong spot - ooopppsss!, but the bracket had just enough adjustment to cover my gaff. I'm no DIY bike mechanic that's for sure! The good news is from 3 feet away you can't really see this problem so it's all good.

I took Anna's bike for a short spin to make sure the new chain would play nice with her old chain rings and cassette - so far so good. The fenders are on tight and are quiet. The Grand Bois tires are very comfy and fast. Anna will not only be styling on her commute to work, she'll be clean, comfortable and speedy...=-)

Calgary Weekly Ride MKII

2008-08-28T18:44:00.004-06:00

After starting strong in the Spring the last few weekly rides have been poorly attended. I'm not sure if Wednesday is not a good for people at this point, if interest in a weekly group ride is simply not there or if some other factor is at play. I don't think that having a weekly group ride makes much sense if we can't sustain a turn out of 5 riders or more. Particularly as we have well over 20 people that have either come out or expressed an interest in coming out.

We have a number of options from canceling the weekly ride and talking about it again next Spring, changing it to a monthly ride, changing the day of the week and getting some sort of notification system going. To make any decision we need to have a discussion. I've setup a Google Group called "The Lazy Randonneurs". If you are interested in this weekly ride please take the time to join. We can use this forum to discuss what people want to see happen with the weekly ride and should few people bother joining I'll take that as a vote to cancel the ride until next year.

Ride Notification

In the meantime we have some good weather left and at least a month of weekly rides that could be very pleasant before winter sets in. In order to temporarily resolve the issue of low attendance if you plan on coming out for the ride join the The Lazy Randonneurs Group and send out an email by 4pm the day of the ride. That way it will be easy to see how much interest there is in meeting up. If only one or two people are interested at least they know it will be a small turn out and can decide to bail on the ride. You can also use this ride notification process to let people know you are interested in riding on a day other than Wed. So if you want some company on a Sunday AM ride send the group an email and see if anyone else is interested.

Make sure you wear your helmet - when you drive!

2008-08-28T15:46:00.006-06:00

Click on image to read article. Click here to read the full study that is referenced above.

Another excellent article.

Since I'm on a roll I'll repost this British Medical Journal article.

Thorn Accessory Bar Gripshifter Mounting

2008-08-25T18:27:00.005-06:00

I figured for the sake of completeness I'd post all the ways I know of mounting gripshifters on drop bars. In the photos above and below you can see the longer Thorn Accessory Bar 105mm [~$28] mounted on my Sherpa. I used the bar to lower my handle bar bag and free up real estate on the drop bar, but you can use the shorter 55mm version to mount a gripshifter near the stem. You could mount a gripshifter on the right and a light or bike computer on the left making it quite versatile.

Shorter 55mm version of the Thorn Accessory bar.

Hubbub Drop Bar Adapter for Gripshifters

2008-08-25T10:07:00.004-06:00

Photo: Dvorak319 on Flickr

Another option for using gripshifters on a drop bar is to use the Hubbub Adapter. This adapter mount in the end of your drop bar and is the right diameter to slide on a gripshifter of your choice. This works with Rohloff, Nexus, SRAM and Nuvinci shifters. A little pricey at $60, but I think this would be my prefered choice as I like having the shifter down at the end of the bar.

Of course if you've got some tools and DIY skills you can make a low cost adapter out of wood or metal and just glue it in the end of the bar.

Bar End Shifters and IGHs

2008-08-25T09:32:00.005-06:00

Photo: Hiawatha Cyclery

Hiawatha Cyclery posted this cool idea of using a Shimano 8 speed bar end shifter with a Travel Agent brake adapter to operate a Shimano Alfine internal gear hub. Apparently the Travel Agent changes the amount of cable pull of the bar end shifter to match what is required for the IGH - cool...=-) Click here for more info.

Tamia's Bar End DIY Guide

2008-08-25T09:26:00.003-06:00

Photo: Outside Up North Blog

Tamia has a well documented guide to removing/installing bar end shifters on her blog. If you are not clear on how to do this and want to tackle a relatively painless bike mechanic project bookmark her post. If you are not familiar with bar end shifters you might want to check out her post just to see how they work. I really like bar ends and they are pretty much my go to shifter for any application that they work for. Generally this doesn't include interhal gear hubs, but Hiawatha Cyclerly has come up with a cool solution that works [see post above].

Anna's LHT gets some bling!

2008-08-20T14:33:00.003-06:00

When I went hammock camping with Anna a few weeks ago she mentioned she wanted to upgrade her LHT a bit. Although she has two other bikes her LHT sees 99% of her mileage and deserves a little love. I helped her figure out some options which either made her LHT nicer and/or replaced parts that were worn out. Everything has finally arrived so I'll be working on her bike over the next week getting it ready for her.

Here is what she is adding/replacing:

Berthoud 700c x 40mm stainless fenders
Grand Bois 700c x 30mm tires
Tan cork bar tape
Selle Anatomica Titanico saddle
SRAM PC-971 chain

We may also replace her stem for a better fit and her cassette/chainrings if they don't play well with the new chain - TBD.

Love the Cargo Bike!

2008-08-20T08:31:00.002-06:00

I stole this photo from the Love the Fold Blog. I love the awesome cargo bikes and utility bikes I've seen in India and in photos from SE Asia. While I love the fold as well - I'm getting pretty jealous of all the great trips my blog-buddy is going on!

Monster Fatbike

2008-08-18T14:53:00.007-06:00

Wow...found this photo on the Fatbike Alaska Blog. It makes my Big Dummy look puny - yikes! I don't know where this bike is going, but I'm sure it will be a totally ridiculous trip....=-)

Update: Mike pointed me to Mike Curiak's page of snow bikes. Seems it dates from a design he was testing in 2007. I was right BTW - Mike's trips look quite ridiculously amazing.

Nivea's Do Everything Bike MK2

2008-08-17T16:45:00.002-06:00

Nivea has only one bike so by necessity it's her commuter, touring bike and city bike. She has been talking about getting a new bike, perhaps a LHT [must be hanging around me too much!], but her existing bike was in dire need of an overhaul. Since I was supposed to take it easy this weekend and rest my battered body....lol....[yes I can tell I'm almost 40!] I decided to pimp out her bike.

Her bike is an old steel framed Rocky Mountain that is running an 8 speed drivetrain. Besides a totally worn out drivetrain she was getting heel strike on her panniers due to the short chainstays and her wheels/tires/brakes had seen better days.

I added the following parts:

swapped in some slightly used wheels [LX hubs & Mavic rims] that are much lighter and stronger than her beat up hoops.
new Continental Sport Contact tires [26 x 1.3"] which will be fast and durrable for her commutes
new Shimano 8 speed mega-range cassette which will give her a lower gear for touring in the mountains
new Shimano Deore crankset with 22/32/42 rings which is simple, but effective
new Shimano square taper BB
Time ATAC Control Z pedals so she can clip in or ride with street shoes when she just wants to cruise
new rear shift cable & housing
new Filzer PR-2 rear rack with a longer platform so she won't hit her panniers when pedaling
new SRAM SX-4 rear derailleur
new SRAM 8 speed chain
new Deore v-brakes front and back with red Koolstop pads
new brake cables and housing
Planet Bike Cascadia rear fender
SKS Shockboard front fender & MEC down tube splash guard
Planet Bike Superflash rear blinkie & front white LED headlight
Ergon Grips
Serfas mini-bar ends
bell

I'm pretty pleased with the result. The new drive train shifts smoothly and with new brakes & wheels the whole bike rolls along like a new machine. Hopefully the Egron Grips are comfortable. I had to move the controls inboard to make them fit so Nivea will have to see how the new setup feels.

The only thing I didn't swap out that does need love is her front derailleur. It's working, but a quick inspection revealed that it will need to replaced before next season. I'll keep my eyes open for a suitable candidate and put it on next time I work on her bike.

Although I think having a commuter bike and a touring bike would be great, her Rocky Mountain is a nice bike and could be made into a hardcore touring bike with the addition of drop bars and a LHT fork with front rack.

I love putting a new drive train on an old bike. It brings them back to life and makes them so much fun to ride again.

Full fender, slick tires, rear rack and blinkie turn this bike from sporty mountain bike into a practical hauling machine.

The new cockpit looks comfortable.

I love the Deore v-brakes beacuse they are cheap and work well. I couldn't resist upgrading the pads though. The fresh rubber will be fast for her commutes, but shouldn't get many flats.

The Deore crankset and mega-range cassette provide a useful gear range for everyday riding and touring in the mountains. Time ATAC pedals are versatile and don't need much maintenance.

Hennessy Hammock Trial PT 2

2008-08-15T15:53:00.002-06:00

I went on an overnight outing with Joel on our LHTs to get another night of hammock camping in. Joel has had his hammock in use all of last year so he's a bit of a pro. We ended up setting up camp after dark again which meant less playing around and more focus on getting the darn thing up. Having setup my hammock once before under similar conditions I found it quite easy to get the shelter in place in a few minutes. I added a set of Snake Skins to my hammock [shown in photo above]. These are some sil-nylon covers that slide over the hammock and fly giving you a neat package that quickly goes from pannier to fully deployed. The covers protect the hammock from dirt and keep the material dry.

The main differences in how I setup up my hammock this time were that I guyed out the body of the hammock and fly to different points allowing for a nicer pitching of both elements. You can attach both guy lines on each side to a single peg, but you are limited as to how the fly hangs relative to the body of the hammock. I also used a full length thermarest rather than the 3/4 length pad I had with me last time.

All in all I had a better night's sleep. I was warmer and was able to lie flatter in the hammock. Although I'm just guessing I think the temps last night were warmer than my previous hammock trial. I wouldn't suggest using a hammock for cold weather camping unless you go out of your way to insulate the bottom of the hammock at which point I think you are better off with a tent.

The advantage I'm finding with this hammock isn't that it is uber light or super comfy....it does fine on both counts, but doesn't knock the ball out of the park. Where it does really stand out is that it allows you to camp really close to the road anywhere there are trees without being easily seen. This means you can ride as far as you like and when you are ready to camp you can simply pull off the road and go to sleep. Not how I'd want to travel on every trip, but I can definitely see some occasions where stealth camping would be a nice option.

Given the cold weather on the horizon and the fact my next few trips involve my girlfriend I'll be shelving the solo Hennessy Hammock until next year in favour of a 2 person tent.

Safety First

2008-08-14T08:59:00.002-06:00

Hennessy Hammock Trial

2008-08-03T21:38:00.004-06:00

Vik's Hammock Trial Photos

Anna's Hammock Trial Photos

Anna and I bought a pair of Hennessy Hammocks [Ultralight Backpacker Asym] last year, but didn't get around to using them. As this camping season was winding down I realized we might go another year without getting our hammocks into action. Part of the reason we hadn't used them is the fact you tend to go with gear you know and trust for a tour. So we really needed to get our hammock skills tuned up so we'd feel good about taking them with us to the mountains. With that in mind we decided to head out to Banff on Friday evening and ride into the mountains and stealth camp somewhere along the road so we could test out our hanging shelters.

Of course it would have been too easy to test out the setup procedures at home. Heck I didn't even pull my hammock out of the bag to ensure all the parts were there. I did take the precaution of reviewing the video on the Hennessy Hammock site that shows how to attach the hammock to a tree. I figured I could fake the rest! On the drive up to Banff I realized we didn't have any tent pegs to stake out the flies on our hammocks so we picked up 4 pegs just to be safe.

Riding out of Banff at 9pm we made our way onto the Bow Valley Parkway as it doesn't see much evening traffic and would provide better camping opportunities. We really enjoyed riding as the light faded. This is a familiar route for us, but we had never done a night ride in this area. As expected the traffic died off and we had the road to ourselves. We each had a single Dinotte 200L-AA LED headlight. This was fine for cruising along at 20-25kph, but wasn't ideal for the fast downhills. Our familiarity with the road helped out when we were bombing downhill at 60kph, but I would have preferred having 2 headlights each. One quick safety note - although Anna had a Planet Bike Superflash on the back of her bike the reflective patches on her Ortliebs were much brighter when I aimed my light at her bike from behind. I'm a big fan of reflective gear and this demonstrated to me why that is a good call.

After about 30kms of riding and chatting we rolled our bikes down a hiking trail past the no bicycle and no camping signs! Finding a likely spot we pushed our bikes off the trail into the woods. I thought we were quite a distance from the trail when we stopped, but that was to prove incorrect the next morning. Setting up the hammocks wasn't too hard. For easy reference the instructions are printed on the hammock stuff sack. I would recommend watching the video on the Hennessy Hammock website as the drawing on the lashing you are supposed to use is not particularly clear on the instructions. The lashing itself is fairly easy to tie and the hammocks went up quickly. I'm not sure we setup them up perfectly, but they were tied up between trees and held our weight when we tested them. For our first time that was good enough for me!

We added the rain flies to our hammocks as the weather seemed unsettled. They clipped on the hammock support lines and then were guyed out to two pegs on the ground. The only thing to keep in mind is they are asymmetrical [like the hammock itself] so they need to be oriented correctly to provide proper coverage. After throwing in our sleeping pads and bags we jumped in for a night of hanging slumber. You enter these hammocks from the bottom through a velcro opening that is at the foot end of the hammock. This isn't too hard although I wasn't particularly graceful! Once you are inside the opening will seal itself and you need to wriggle your way onto your sleeping pad and into your bag. This is probably the hardest part of the whole operation, but I'm sure it gets easier with practice. You actually lie across the hammock diagonally due to the asymmetrical shape. This means you are lying almost flat which comfortable.

My night in the hammock was not bad, but I didn't sleep as well as I would have in a tent. I think this was due to a number of factors including:

the novelty of being in a hammock
not having the hammock setup optimally
not sleeping as flat as I could have
only having a 3/4 length pad so I was somewhat cold
not staying on my pad very well which meant I was cold

My impression is that I can improve all these problems and get a much better night's sleep in a hammock with a bit more experience. I'd like to setup the hammock in daylight and spend some time playing with different configurations as well seeing how different positions inside the hammock felt. I think I can lie more asymmetrically across the hammock which would make it more comfortable. I would also use a full length sleeping pad to keep me warmer.

Although the manufacturer sells special cold weather insulation for the bottom of your hammock once you start adding that weight/bulk I suggest you might as well stick with a tent unless the terrain demands you hang off the ground. I'd probably not use this hammock in cold weather as losing body heat from above and below is just too much of a disadvantage over a tent. At a weight of 1.5lbs [less pegs] the hammock is lighter than my Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2 tent [~3lbs] if I am traveling alone. Although with two of us there was no weight savings in using hammocks over my tent. The tent also makes hanging out in wet weather a lot nicer if you are alone. Two people fill up my tent so there probably isn't much difference in that case.

On a funny note when we got up in the morning we realized we hadn't moved off the hiking trail all that far. We were maybe 50' from where people were walking in plain sight. One guy even walked off the trail to pee and was looking right at us, but we were behind our hammocks standing still trying not to laugh. With our bikes also behind the green/brown hammocks it seemed no one even noticed we were there. Clearly these hammocks are a good choice for stealth camping when you don't want any attention.

Overall all I'm happy with how the trial went considering our inexperience with this type of shelter. It adds an interesting option to my camping shelter arsenal. My plan is to use it on a longer bike tour so I can really get to know the ins and outs of hammock camping. That will let me make a better assessment of how I like it and what trips I'll take it on.

Dinotte 200L-AA Helmet Mount

2008-08-01T16:48:00.008-06:00

I bought a helmet mount for my Dinotte 200L-AA lights, but haven't used it yet. The standard O-ring mount works very well on bicycle handlebars. It's a simple and elegant solution that is very easy to use. It does have the drawback of no side to side adjustment, but given the wide beam of the Dinotte 200L-AA that hasn't proven to be an issue. The helmet mount is easy to attach with two independent straps that centre the mount and a rubber pad underneath to keep it in place. The light can rotate up and down on the mount so you can aim it where you need the light. However, it took me both hands and some force to make a change with the light mounted so it won't be something you casually do with one hand while riding. On the plus side the light shouldn't fall out of adjustment easily. The battery pack is attached to the helmet with a velcro strap allowing you to place it towards the rear balancing the weight on your helmet.

I'll be using this setup tonight for the first time and will update this post tomorrow with some feedback.

On a sad note you know summer is on its way out when you break out a bike light in the Great White North.

Ride Update: The Dinotte 200L-AA performed well on our overnight tour this weekend. We each had one light. Mine was attached to my helmet and the other was attached to my partner's bars. I found the ability to move the light wherever I wanted it was very useful, but the extra weight on my helmet was noticeable. Overall one of these lights was enough to safely ride at moderate touring speeds [20-25kph] on good roads. On the downhills I think I'd want two [one on the bars and one on my helmet] to feel safe. We know this road quite well so doing 60kph+ with a single light wasn't a problem - although I don't think I would have been very happy to do that on unfamiliar roads. After a bit less than 2hrs on high my light switched to low as a power saving measure. The batteries were not at 100% charge when I started so I expect somewhat a longer ride time with fully charged batteries which is inline with their specs of a 2hr run time.

Improvements: If Dinotte Lights wanted to rock my world with the 200L-AA they'd come up with a focused lens that would concentrate the light down on the road as opposed to the current unfocused lens which shoots as much light up and int the sky as it does down where you need it. This would also make car drivers and other cyclists you meet happier as well since they wouldn't be blinded by your wasted light and it would effectively make the light brighter by putting more light where you actually need it.

Planet Bike Superflash Stealth

2008-07-31T20:10:00.004-06:00

My favourite taillight is the Planet Bike Superflash. It's bright, easy on batteries and only costs $14.75 at MEC. This is a good thing as I like to leave lights on my bikes so they are always ready when needed. With several bikes on the go at any given moment this would be a problem with a $150 taillight!

MEC finally got in the new Stealth version of these lights. Unless I'm missing something it's just the same light with a clear front and black rear case. Not really a big deal, but I guess if you are uber finicky about how your bike's appearance this new version might be worth looking at. Personally I just grabbed them because they were the same price as the old version and I am easily manipulated by marketing tricks like this...=-)

The Diagnosis PT 2...

2008-07-31T18:21:00.003-06:00

I had another medical appointment today to get a second opinion on my injured hand. Happily the assessment of my chiropractor, my online research and today's diagnosis are all in agreement. Although I think medical professionals are great I tend to want to see a convergence of a number of independent assessments before I get that warm fuzzy feeling about what's going on.

Interestingly here is what seems to have happened:

I rested my left elbow on the door armrest for 40+hrs of driving and rough roads on the way up north. This irritated the bursa in my left elbow. By itself this didn't manifest any symptoms.
Riding on the rough muddy Dempster compressed my ulnar nerve in the left hand. This may have been aggravated by the size and padding offered by the grip on my bars as well as the fact I don't use my left hand for shifting or grabbing water bottles as I do with my right hand.
The vibration/shock from the riding also irritated the bursa in my left arm and it started to swell causing me acute pain in that joint, shutting down my triceps muscle in that arm as a protective measure and compressing my ulnar nerve near the elbow.
Some other factors that may have played a part were weight loss removing fatty tissue protecting my joints [I lost quite a bit of weight on this tour] and how I was stretching my neck on the bike [ulnar nerve passes through the left should/neck area].

The bottom line is I'll have a full recovery in the not too distant future...=-)

As far as future tours with the Big Dummy go I think I should be fine keeping the Titec H-bars with the following modifications to my touring setup/routine:

watch out for problems like the elbow resting on the door for 40+hrs of driving - who knew?
pad the H-bars well and use Ergon Grips.
use my left hand for grabbing water bottles so both hands get some time off the bars.
changing positions on the bars frequently - although I felt like I was doing this on my tour.
eat more calories on tour...hahaha...I'm not sure if the doctors actually suggested that or I'm just bending facts to suit my desires, but I plan on rolling with it...=-)

Frank Cseh

2008-07-31T12:42:00.002-06:00

I met Frank twice on my way to and from the Yukon this summer. When he passed through Calgary yesterday he stopped in for a whirlwind visit. Frank is a teacher and is headed home to Toronto on a pretty tight schedule. Luckily he is the type of bike tourist that loves to ride all day so he can rack up some impressive mileage totals.

The regular posters in the Bike Forums Touring Sub-Forum would cringe at Frank's bike as it doesn't meet the belt and suspenders totally overbuilt touring bike specification that is considered essential, but Frank has put thousands of KMs of touring on this rig and it keeps on trucking. To be honest his approach to touring has made me rethink what I carry and how heavy duty my touring bike really needs to be.

Our visit was brief as Frank had many things on his To Do List and didn't want to miss a day of riding. This 63 year old is pretty hardcore! After the obligatory trip to MEC and a hearty all-you-can-eat feast I wrenched on Frank's bike while he worked on his laptop and got his laundry done.

He was up this morning at 6am taking care of a few last minute tasks and was off like a rocket towards Saskatchewan with hopes of tailwinds and even bigger mileage days.

Safe travels Frank....=-)

Batavus Personal Bike

2008-07-29T18:54:00.006-06:00

I was helping my friends at Rarified assemble some bikes today. Usually I have to pay for the privilege of building a bike so this was a nice change! I built a couple of Pashleys and 4 Batavus' bikes. Although I can appreciate the theoretically appeal of the old school dutch bikes I don't really love them. However, I do like the modern versions that Batavus is making. A similar riding position, but with modern designs and components.

The bike I liked the best was the Batavus Personal Bike. That's a weird name for a bike, but besides the name the bike is quite nice. It sports a robust [ie. heavy!] step through frame, 3 speed internal hub, lights, fenders, rack & skirt guard. It has two cool security features - 1) a RF ID Tag in the frame so cops can scan the bike and determine if it's stolen 2) the frame serial number incorporated right above the crank big enough to read as you walk by.

The riding position is bolt upright - even more cruiser-ish than my RANS Street. The bike is stable at low and moderate speeds. Easy to pedal despite the weight [I didn't climb any hills] and put a big grin on my face. If was going to get a bike like this I'd probably get the "delivery" version shown below. It has bigger racks and would be ideal for loads not quite huge enough to bother riding the Big Dummy.

The Adventures of Ketchup & Mustard

2008-07-27T21:06:00.003-06:00

I met Mike & Chris as I was finishing my tour on the Icefield's Parkway a few weeks ago. They are riding their Surly LHTs from Vancouver to NYC. They've made it as far as Michigan so far and are keeping a nice journal on crazyguyonabike.

Safe travels guys....=-)

The Diagnosis...

2008-07-27T00:52:00.002-06:00

Cruising on my RANS Street

I went to see my friend who is a chiropractor as well as a cyclist, martial artist and rugby player. I don't have carpal tunnel, but I do have something wrong with my hand and elbow. I'd love to tell you all about it, but I totally got lost in what he was saying. Realizing I was in over my head I I asked the important questions - like "...can I ride a bike?..." and "...do I need to do anything like ice packs, stretching etc..?..." Being a cyclist himself he wasn't going to ban me from biking. Although he did add I shouldn't ride for excessive periods of time and maybe take a break from the Big Dummy. The good news is they won't have to cut my hand off and install a pirate hook...hahaha...=-)

Looking over my fleet I decided my RANS Street crank forward bike was the ideal ride for the next few days. It's fun and practical for riding around town. It puts very light weight on the hands and is easy to steer without having to grip the bars tightly. So I took the time to add some fenders and lights to it - tasks I've been procrastinating for some time.

I had a friend's BBQ to attend on the other side of downtown and after my loooooong road trip up north the last thing I want to do for the next few weeks is see the inside of a vehicle! So I grabbed the Street and headed out. This bike is not a high speed roadie killer, but it sure is fun when you are in a playful mood and want to explore. On my way to pick up Anna I stopped by the Folk Music Festival to check out the talent and talk to the folks maning the bicycle parking area - very cool idea! Although I said the Street isn't a race bike it is red so naturally I had to at least pretend race folks on the bike paths...=-)

Eventually I got to Anna's place and then to the BBQ where I saw a really old Bike Friday another guest had come on. The party was lots of fun, but by 11pm it was dark - unlike in the Yukon - and I figured if I drank anymore beer I'd be unable to navigate back home. I cranked up my lights and zoomed home with a long detour through the Folk Music Festival again. I was having so much fun just riding around aimlessly I lost track of time. This was my first ride on the Street since I installed some Avid disc brakes and Schwalbe Big Apples. I love having quiet brakes and big comfy tires.

It's nice to be back on a bike again...lol...that was a long 4 days of bikelessness...=-)

I have a dream...

2008-07-25T00:36:00.003-06:00

My dream is to have folks stop their cars/RVs and offer me an icy cold beverage when I'm bike touring on a hot day. So far it hasn't happened, but I figure I have to put some energy out there if I want something back. I've given out a couple cases of water and soda so far. Some people I stop and chat with - others I just leave the drinks on the road ahead of them with an encouraging note.

Well I finally had some of that positive energy come back to me reading this blog post. I actually sort of know these folks from their posts on Bike Forums. I'm glad to have had a positive impact on their day.

If you have the means stock your vehicle with some extra drinks & energy bars for cyclists you run into on the road. It's a good thing to be nice to folks you don't know even if you get nothing back, but who knows you might just crest a long hot climb one day and find an icy cold Gatorade waiting for you on the side of the road!

Dempster Highway 1 - Vik 0

2008-07-24T09:22:00.004-06:00

I'm back early from my Dempster Highway tour. I got halfway up the Dempster [~449kms] before an acute nerve injury in my left hand rendered me unable to ride - based on my online research sounds like carpal tunnel syndrome. I can't type very well with 1.5 hands so I'll plug away at a tour report slowly and post it when I can. The short version is that the bike worked very well with two notable exceptions: my Selle Anatomica saddle stretched faster than I could adjust it [being replaced under warranty] and the Titec H-bars setup & my left hand obviously had issues. Oddly my right hand is totally fine and I had no problems with my left hand and those bars on other tours. I had lots of fun on and off the bike. The scenery was great and I enjoyed the remoteness of the Dempster. I met quite a few super nice folks on the trip both cyclists and civilians.

My bike is trashed from the mud so I'm going to spend the next couple days cleaning it up and revamping the Titec H-bars with Ergon Grips and padding it as much as I can. I hope this solves the problem as I love these bars for general riding, offroading and cargo hauling. If the problem persists I may switch to drops for tours.

My buddy Joel [the other local Big Dummy owner] also managed to injure himself recently - clearly July was not an auspicious month for Big Dummies! Hopefully we'll both be recovered and be able to ride the Canadian portion of the Great Divide MTB Route in mid-August.

I've posted photos from the trip here.

LHT vs. Sherpa

2008-07-11T08:56:00.008-06:00

I rec'd this excellent question from Stewart in Holland and figured the answer would be of interest to other readers so I'm posting it here.

"Basically i am living in Holland, and have the opportunity to buy either a Thorn Sherpa or an LHT - looking for advice on the Sherpa was actually how i stumbled on your blog, but liked the photos and decided to stay a while!! :-) Anyway, i have never even seen either of these 2 bikes 'in the flesh', never mind had the chance to ride them, so when i recalled you had both i thought you'd be the man to go to for thoughts...I want a bike that is fun to ride on for evenings and weekend rides, but that can also handle the rigours of touring (love the look of the Big D, but size-wise it cant happen in Holland!). I'm from Scotland originally, so i ask could both these bikes stand the rigours of a couple of weeks loaded touring back home on sometimes crappy roads? So the bike should be something i can take out and ride even when not touring, but be up to the job when loaded... So what i wanted to ask was what differentiates the Thorn and the LHT - why did you end up with both? to your thinking, do they serve different purposes? Also, if I was to buy a complete LHT bike from the USA, do you know who the best online people are? I assume you know Canadian better, but maybe you know some US ones too? Would you recommend complete - the components look pretty good and the euro v the dollar makes a US complete bike pretty attractive!! Even if changes need to be made, it would still be MUCH cheaper buying from the US... So, appreciate any thoughts and thanks for an earlier reply you made on urban bike clothing - yet to purchase, but now i know how! :-) And again, an entertaining series of blogs you got there... Stewart"

Hi Stewart,

The basic difference between a LHT [I'm assuming you'll be riding a 700c LHT, 56cm frame or larger] and a Thorn Sherpa is the LHT is derived from a road bike and the Sherpa from a mountain bike. You'll notice the LHT has a low BB and a high flat top tube. The Sherpa has a compact frame and sloping top tube which gives you a lot of stand over clearance. Both bikes have room for wide tires, but the Sherpa can take the wider tires & fenders. Both bikes can take all the needed touring parts like racks & fenders. The finish and details on the Sherpa are a bit nicer and it uses better tubing.

Regardless of the differences noted above both bikes can do a lot of the same types of touring without trouble. If I was going to do a lot of high speed paved road touring I'd lean towards the LHT and if I was going more dirt/offroad or 3rd world touring I'd lean towards the Sherpa. In between you can set up the Sherpa to be a paved road touring bike and you can certainly take the LHT on poor/dirt/gravel roads with some wider rubber.

Why did I buy both a LHT & a Sherpa? Well basically I wanted to setup the Sherpa as my expedition touirng bike for offroad/dirt/gravel tours and tours to 3rd world countries where 26" wheels/tires were more readily available.

Why did I sell the Sherpa and keep the LHT? I really fell in love with my Big Dummy and came to realize I would be riding it whenever possible. Since it has 26" wheels and is built for rough/dirt/offroad riding that pretty much is the same use I had planned for the Sherpa. So I sold the Sherpa. I love how my LHT fits me and how it rides - this is totally just a personal thing so your experience may vary. My LHT can handle some rough roads, but I'm keeping it setup as a fast-ish road touring bike which my Big Dummy is not. The LHT & Big Dummy are a good combo and cover all my bike touring needs.

So what do I recommend for you? Well frankly your needs can be easily met by either bike. If you like one better already or you can get a better deal on the LHT go for it. They quite different in how they ride and I am biased towards the LHT as I totally love it so that would be my choice. If you could test ride both I'd say do that and see for yourself which you like. Since you can't test ride them I guess my advice is to think about which you'd rather have a road bike or a mountain bike? The other way to look at it is how much riding will you be doing on pavement and how much on rough/gravel/dirt roads?

Sorry I can't be more definitive, but they really are both excellent choices and can do much of the same riding so it comes down more to what you prefer than one being the right choice and the other the wrong choice. As an example on my 2006 Baja Tour my partner rode a Sherpa and I rode my 700c LHT. We were both happy and had no issues riding together.

BTW - if you'd be getting a smaller LHT with 26" wheels then the difference between the bikes is really getting tiny - at that point just buy on cost, colour or flip a coin!

Tikit Stolen - Ottawa, Ontario

2008-07-09T11:48:00.000-06:00

I'm posting this for the owner Ian Clysdale [ian at clysdale dot ca]:

Large black Hyper-Fold Tikit stolen in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- has front & rear fenders
- serial # 1071

If anyone hears of something similar for sale in the area please let Ian know at the email above or the Ottawa Police [quote case 08-187576]

Hopefully we can help get his Tikit back.

Pre-Tour Bike Maintenance

2008-07-08T17:38:00.003-06:00

The roughness of the Dempster Highway has me concerned enough to make sure I check over my Big Dummy really well. Last thing I want is a preventable mechanical problem on this ride.

Tour Food

2008-07-08T13:39:00.003-06:00

I'm keeping things simple for my Dempster Highway tour and using dehydrated meals for my main hot meal of the day. This way it will be easy to simply stop and heat some water for dinner then eat it and ride on to camp. By eating away from camp I hope to minimize any bear encounters.

For the rest of my food I'll be eating cold items such as:

nuts
dried fruit
granola bars
Cliff Bars
chocolate

I'll be shipping half my food to Inuvik for pick up when I get there so I don't have to worry about what sorts of options I'll have for resupply in that small remote town.

What's next?

2008-07-08T08:50:00.003-06:00

As I pack up the Thorn Sherpa for shipping to its new owner I'm pondering what I'll take on next as a bike project. My summer is full of travel and touring so nothing will happen until the winter, but I've had a bike project every winter for the last few years. It keeps me sane when the temperatures outside plummet and the snow is falling.

The Sherpa was one such project and although it didn't work out quite as I'd hoped the fact is I did have lots of fun specing and building up this bike. I got to try an interesting frame from the UK and got my friend Kurt out on his first bike tour on the Sherpa. In the end I sold it at a price that recouped most of my costs while giving its new owner a discount over buying new. Ultimately that's a win-win situation in my book.

I'm left with a nice pile of bike parts and some lessons learned about what I want from a 26" wheeled expedition touring bike. My first thought was to get S&S couplers installed in the Big Dummy. This would make it much easier to ship or travel with on tour. I love the Big Dummy so that would be a good investment. However, upon investigating the costs I'd be looking at approximately a $1000 touch to make that happen. That got me thinking perhaps a better idea would be to leave the Big Dummy as is. I can use it for fun rides, hauling cargo and tours I ride or drive to. Instead I'd take the $1000 the S&S coupler project would cost me and build up a MTB + Xtracycle combo.

The advantages to the MTB + Xtracycle project are:

I'd end up with two longtail bikes so I could lend one to a friend or ride one while the other was down for repairs.
I'd get to compare the Xtracycle to the Big Dummy.
I'd have a 26" wheeled touring setup that I could pack into a standard bike box for shipping/flying.
I've got loads of Xtracycle accessories I could use them on both bikes.

The disadvantages to the MTB + Xtracycle project are:

I'd have to store 2 longtail bikes in my apartment. Totally possible, but I'd need to figure out the best way to do that.
I may not love the MTB + Xtracycle as much as the Big Dummy. This is a risk, but the only way to figure that out is to try.
The MTB + Xtracycle likely won't ride as well with really crazy big loads as the Big Dummy. This should be okay since the primary job of this rig will be for touring with moderate loads.

Assuming I go ahead with this idea I've come up with a few options:

Use my existing Schwinn Moab MTB and just add an Xtracycle. I'm not sure this AL frame is a good choice for Xtracycle duty as it's not particularly stiff. The suspension fork on this bike may not work with my weight more centred on the frame once I add the Xtracycle and I'm not going to spend any $$$ to modify/upgrade this fork.
Buy a Surly 1X1 frame and add an Xtracycle for a rigid longtail touring rig. I'd use the parts from the Sherpa to build up the 1X1 using a MTB drivetrain.
Same as the 1X1 option above, but get an 80mm travel suspension fork with stiff enough springs to compensate for the added weight on the front end. This would give me a nicely plush rough road/offroad touring rig. I'd probably go with the rigid 1x1 option first to ensure I loved the MTB + Xtracycle rig enough to invest in a suspension fork. I'd also have the option of swapping the rigid fork back in if I was going to fly somewhere and mostly tour on pavement.
One thing I'll definitely do is build up this rig with drop bars. That's the one thing I miss on my Big Dummy, but the Titec H-bars make so much sense for handling heavy loads I can't see myself removing them and swapping bars in/out seems way too much like work!

I'm not a 100% on this yet. I'll spend a few months pondering it and enjoying my less bike encumbered apartment for the rest of the summer. Perhaps I'll decide to just stick with the LHT & Big Dummy as my touring machines. I may also go the route of a Bike Friday New World Tourist travel bike as my easily transported touring rig. I've got two more Big Dummy tours on the books this summer [The Dempster Highway & the Canadian Great Divide MTB Route]. I think how these pan out will either motiavte me to have a longtail touring bike I can ship/fly with or make me happy with the Big Dummy as my sole longtail.

Time will tell.

Mosquito Creek Tour Photos

2008-07-07T08:12:00.002-06:00

We have some new friends from Korea in Calgary who have never been to the Canadian Rockies. So this weekend a bunch of us got together and went bike camping in the mountains around Lake Louise. Everyone had a blast and we spent lots of time eating & drinking to balance out the riding! Although there was some rain we always managed to be somewhere sheltered when it happened. Clearly the Cycling Gods were happy with us...=-)

I have posted some photos from the trip on Flickr.

Icefield's Parkway Tour Photos

2008-07-04T16:48:00.002-06:00

I've loaded photos from last weekend's tour on Flickr.

I'll write a tour report, but for now here is the Coles Notes version:

439kms from Jasper to Lake Louise and back along the Icefields Parkway
3 days were super hot and sunny
the last day was just regular hot and overcast
loads of climbing and frequent headwinds
2 grizzly bears
1 black bear
dozens of deer, elk & mountain goats
3 dangerously aggressive ground squirrels..=-)
zero flats or broken spokes
non-stop gorgeous views
loads of smiles

I can't wait to go back!

Selling my Thorn Sherpa [frame & fork only]

2008-07-04T09:33:00.007-06:00

Sold...

After much deliberation I've decided to sell my Thorn Sherpa frame & fork. It's a great bike, but there is too much overlap with my Big Dummy and frankly I love riding the longtail so much I just don't see the Sherpa getting much use. The Sherpa is too nice a bike to let sit and gather dust so I'd like to get it out to someone who'll put lots of miles on it.

If you want to read more about why I'm selling it click here.

Here is what you get:

Thorn Sherpa 535L frame & fork in excellent condition [less than 600kms on it]
FSA Orbit XL headset
Shimano square taper BB [if you don't plan on using this I'll just keep it]
Thorn seat post

To read a review of this frame click here.

For specs and other details click here.

I'll ship it to your door anywhere in North America for $800USD which is the current MSRP. You save the shipping from the UK and customs/duties charges from the UK. Given the widespread cost increases on bikes I'd expect this frame to go up in price within the next few months.

I'll be away on tour and other holidays for about a month starting next Friday. If I receieve payment by Tuesday AM [8 July] I'll get the frame shipped to you before next Friday. If not I won't be back until mid to late August and will ship it then.

BTW - the price is not negotiable. If I don't get $800USD for it I'll just keep the bike to loan out to friends that don't have a touring rig.

Ortlieb QL2 Double Hook

2008-07-04T08:58:00.002-06:00

I use my Ortlieb panniers on a number of different racks. Sometimes I need the lower hooks on the upper track of the QL2 mounting system and sometimes on the lower track. The trouble is this switch takes some tools and 5-8 mins of your time - too much hassle for a quick run to the grocery store. So I ordered an extra set of hooks and put two on my panniers from Wayne at he Touring Store. They adjust without tools so you can dial them into any rack in seconds. I use the setup above on my OMM Cold Springs racks - where I engage both hooks for uber security. Normally I'll just use one or the other.

Coffee Ride 2 July 08

2008-07-03T08:25:00.002-06:00

Our weekly coffee ride was super fun with a few new people out - including:

Paul on his RANS V-REx
Andrew on his electrified and Xtra'd-out Rocky Mtn
Molly on her Electra Townie 21 that was really an ELECTRA!

Thanks for letting me try your cool bikes Andrew & Molly. I'm not ready for electric biking yet, but you've planted the seed...=-) I hope to see you guys and Paul back out for future rides.

I've put some photos up on Flickr.

Surly's are gonna cost more...

2008-07-02T17:40:00.002-06:00

It's true all Surly frames and bikes are going up in price - including the LHT. So if you've wanted one for a while and can find old stock at the lower price you might want to jump on it.

Ex-Officio Boxer Briefs

2008-06-27T10:57:00.004-06:00

I normally wouldn't post about my underwear on this blog, but I've come across some really nice cyclist friendly boxers that I figured some folks might appreciate a head's up on. For the most part I don't wear padded bike shorts any longer. On my DF bikes I use comfortable saddles and don't feel the need to pad my butt. This is nice as I can wear street clothes and not feel like I have a diaper on. Of course this means that what you wear next to your skin becomes really important down there. I own several different brands of synthetic boxers and for general use they all perform about the same. For cycling, however, these Ex-Officio Boxer Briefs really stand out because there are no seams in the crotch/saddle contact zone. No seams mean less chance of irritation and that puts a smile on your face if you are a cyclist...=-)

I've owned 3 pairs of these boxers for the past 3 years+ and they have held up well from regular use. I expect I'll still be using them in 3 more years. Extended cycle touring might be a worst case scenario for them so if you are going on a year+ tour you might get less lifespan from them. They don't hold odors much - which doesn't mean they won't get stinky, but they'll clean up nicely in the sink at your motel or if you wash them in a stream at camp. They are very lightweight, wick moisture well and will dry uberfast after washing. If you wanted to go super light on tour you could easily just take one pair and wash them every evening.

They are not cheap [$25USD], but for the quality and durability I've experienced the price is not out of line.

Wed Night Coffee Ride

2008-06-26T00:15:00.005-06:00

We had another fun Wed Night Coffee Ride. I finally got to meet Eddy [SungHun] & Mirye - two Bike Friday riders from Korea. They have some sweet rides!...=-) Lots of fun was had including an EPIC flat tire fixing session along the mosquito infested shores of the Glenmore Reservoir. I never knew I could deal with a flat so quickly...=-)

If you'd like to see some pics from the ride click here.

Trangia Stove 4 Month Review

2008-06-25T17:45:00.004-06:00

Read my intial impressions here.

I've been using a Trangia alcohol burner for all my camping trips this Spring. I've never tried alochol as a camp stove fuel in the past so I was intrigued with the idea. Having used this Trangia burner for several trips now I thought I'd share the pros and cons of this type of stove.

The pros:

Alcohol is a safe fuel. It doesn't explode and it's easy to handle. This was a nice feature when allowing novice camp stove users to cook on the stove. You don't have to worry too much that things will end in tears!
This is a quiet clean stove that was pleasant to use. Unlike some pressurized white gas stoves you can barely hear the Trangia when it's at full tilt. This allows you to enjoy the natural sounds of your camp site and have a quiet conversation with you friends.
The stove was foolproof and really it's almost impossible to see how it would fail to work. There are almost no moving parts and so very little that can go wrong.
The cost of the burner and pot stand was less than $30 compared to over $100 for many pressurized liquid fuel stoves. As long as you don't loose the stove it should keep working for your whole camping career.
Assuming you aren't carrying fuel for a long trip the stove is quite lightweight. Not as super light as some of those DIY pop can stoves, but much more durable. I tried a production titanium Vargo alcohol stove this year at home briefly [then returned it], but it was hard to use and didn't simmer at all.

The Cons:

Alcohol doesn't generate as much heat as naphtha when it burns so you end up going through quite a bit of it. I kept underestimating how much we'd need and was worried we'd run out of fuel. For short trips or car camping trips this isn't a huge problem as long as you plan wisely and take enough with you. On longer remote trips this may be an issue as you'd have to carry a lot of fuel on your bike.
You can't see the flame or really hear it when it's burning which can result in the odd burn or singed arm!
On our recent bike tour we stopped at an outdoor store to buy more fuel, but they only sold naphtha and gas canisters. We did find alcohol at a gas station [fuel line anti-freeze], but we had to buy several small bottles at an exorbitant price.
You can simmer with the supplied simmer ring, but it's a bit of a pain to use.

I'm glad I tried out the Trangia and it will definitely stay in my arsenal for trips where I'll be driving and can bring loads of fuel or short trips where running out isn't an issue. The dependability is nice and I like the fact it's fairly safe for just about anyone to use. For longer trips, particularly remote ones, I'll use a pressurized multi-fuel stove that sips fuel slowly, simmers well and is easy to find fuel at camping stores or gas stations.

Getting my tour on...

2008-06-25T15:25:00.003-06:00

A tour is born...

As the long 4 day weekend approaches [Canada Day is Tuesday 1 July] I had the cunning idea of riding the Icefield's Parkway as a warm up for the Dempster Highway. It will be busy with tourists, but most of my day will be riding so I will only have to deal with the throngs when I need to find a place to sleep and at the odd rest/food stop. I called the Park Office to inquire about campsites and was told there were no reservations for camp spots on the Parkway. Naturally I asked what I was supposed to do if I rolled into camp in the evening and there were no spots available. I got the stock reply...I was to moved down the road until I found a free camp site. Clearly that won't be happening! It's a bit surprisng that Park Officials aren't more sensitive to human powered visitors, but I guess we are so overwhelming rare there isn't much demand to accommodate us.

I did manage to reserve my first night's camp spot online since it is near Jasper and at the north end of the Parkway. I was a bit shocked that a single backpacking tent spot with no services cost $38 [$49 if you have a 24' RV with full hook ups!], but what can you do? At least my first night of tour won't be a commando raid style adventure....=-)

I think I'll ride my Long Haul Trucker this weekend. It would probably be wise to ride my Thorn Sherpa in a full shake down tour as that will be the bike I'm going to take to the arctic, but I don't have any other tours on the books this summer that I'm planning on using the LHT for and we rode the Icefield's Parkway together a couple years ago so it has sentimental value to me. You know you have too many touring bikes when you have to go out of your way to make sure you get them all out on tour each year...lol...oh well I can think of worse problems to have!

As with all my trips this one is starting with a pile of gear in a corner of my living room. The pile will grow until I have almost everything together at which point I'll get out my panniers and pack them. I know it's been a good summer when I've never quite got all my gear put away from the last trip before I need to start thinking about the next one...=-) I was cleaning up my camping pots & utensils from my SoCal trip today and realized there was no point putting them away.

I haven't been on the Icefield's Parkway during the peak of tourist season. I'm expecting a bit of a circus, but I have to admit I enjoy the stupid questions and amazed looks of the tour bus crowd when I roll up the top of a heinous mountain pass on my bike. Hopefully some RV campers will be sufficiently impressed to lavish an icy cold beer on me in the campground...=-) No matter what happens the stunning scenery and lack of cell coverage will be ample reward for cranking up the steep inclines.

Riding the Sherpa on a tour closer to home makes loads of sense. I'd feel awfully silly if I have a major snafu on the Dempster Highway that I could have dealt with easily with a LBS close at hand. So I'm thinking I'll get the Sherpa out for a 2 day 1 night mini tour in the next week or two. That way I still get to use the LHT on a tour that is ideal for it and I can log a few more touring miles this summer.

I've been feeling rather sheepish as brevets reports keep rolling into my inbox and I've only been out on my rando bent twice [including a 200K brevet]. However as the summer creeps along I can't help, but notice that I'm making up for my lack of rando action with quite a lot of bike touring. I'm on pace to do 6 tours this year - possibly 7 if I get down to Costa Rica in December. Not bad when you consider that I did zero bike tours in 2007 - nada, zip - the big "0". That's making me feel better. I'm not a total bike slug. I'm just torn between some different 2 wheeled pursuits...=-)

Ortlieb Recumbent Panniers

2008-06-24T19:36:00.003-06:00

As with all things Ortlieb - waterproof and bombproof as well as highly functional.

I don't have any details yet, but I'm sure they'll be loads of press on these babies once they hit the street.

The photos came from this German site.

Square Wheels?

2008-06-24T18:40:00.003-06:00

Apparently this bike with square wheels works perfectly as long as the road is made up of a series of upside down bumps each of which is an inverted catenary.

Inuvik Packing List

2008-06-24T18:13:00.002-06:00

This is my first draft for a packing list for my Dempster Highway tour that is fast approaching. I'm a bit torn between going minimalist and adding a few comfort items. As is my usual practice I won't know exactly what I am taking until I lay out all the trip gear on my living room floor and start to pack it. Depending on how it all comes together I may make some drastic decsions to keep the load in check.

Thorn Sherpa

Fenders
Marathon XR 26 x 2.0"
Bike computer
BMX pedals
ESGE kickstand
Tubus Cargo rear rack
Surly Nice front rack
Ortlieb Bike Packer front & rear panniers
Ortlieb handlebar bag
Mirror
Bell
Water bottle cages + bottles x 2
2l water bottle cage x 1
bike lock

Spare Parts/Tools

Marathon XR 26 x 1.75 folding tire [existing]
Spare brake cable x 1
Spare shift cable x 1
Patch kit x 3
Tire levers x 3
Tire boot x 2
Spare tubes x 4
Bike multi-tool [w/ chain tool]
Leatherman
8mm box wrench
Fibre-fix spokes x 2
Spare spokes x 6
Mini-cassette tool
Chain lube
Rags
Zip ties
Mini-duct tape

Clothing

TNF Rain Jacket
Rain Pants
Gore-tex socks
Baseball cap
Toque & fleece gloves
Shell gloves
Ferrata Jacket
MEC fleece sweater
Long underwear top & bottom
Sickle 3/4 pants
TNF black long pants
REI shorts
Ex-Offico boxers x 4
MEC Wicking Ts x 4
LS – Mtn Hardware shirt
Salomon Tech Amphibians
Source Sandals
Bike gloves
Buff [neck gaiter]
Bug shirt

Camping

Tent [Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2]

Body & fly
Pegs & guylines
Waterproof stuff sack

MEC Down Sleeping bag
Thermarest

Cooking

MSR DragonflyStove
Fuel bottles
Pot set
Spork
Spoon
Lighter
Scrub pad & soap
Bowl
Mug
MSR Water filter
MSR Water bag
Ortlieb Collapsible basin

Toiletries

Toothbrush & paste
Floss
Tweezers
Bio-soap
Hand sanitizer
TP
Bag balm
Vitamins

Misc

Headlamp
Sunglasses & cleaning cloth
Credit card & bank cards
Copy of documents
Health insurance card
important phone numbers
Digi-cam x 1

Charger
Extra Batteries
Extra memory cards
Lens Cleaning pen

Reflective Safety sash & red blinkie
Notebook & pen
Accessory cord
Ear plugs
Bear spray
Bear bangers
F/A kit
Maps
Repair kit
Ziplock bags
Reading books x 2
Bug Spray

Food [each way - ship one set to Inuvik]

Chocolate bars x 7
Oatmeal x 10
Granola bars
fresh fruit
Dried fruit
Nuts
Freeze dried dinners x 7
tea
sugar

Canadian Great Divide Trail

2008-06-13T09:29:00.003-06:00

I've been contemplating where I want to ride my bike later in the summer on my bike tour part II. I posted two ideas I was thinking about below. One issue I have with both plans is they involve a lot of driving/flying. Compared to the average Calgarian my life is relatively low on the consumption/energy use scale so I don't worry about this sort of thing too much, but I'm about to drive 5000kms round trip to SoCal and back. Then I'm going to drive another 5000kms+ to the arctic and back. Beyond the environmental impact I'm not really eager to spend more time in a metal box traveling thousands of KMs. The plane is much faster, but the hassle of boxing my bike and traveling to/from the airports at both ends evens things out. So I started pondering trips I can complete with minimal mechanized transport.

I do have the Icefield's Parkway close at hand, but I think I'll save that tour for the September long weekend as the mtns will be mostly tourist free by that point. Then I remembered I bought the Adventure Cycling Canadian Great Divide MTB Map a couple years back and haven't ridden that route yet. Starting at Banff and heading 355kms south to the US border on dirt roads & double track with the odd taste of single track thrown in for good measure. The ride starts at my back door [90mins away by car] and a long dirt tour may be just the thing to get a feel for my Big Dummy's expedition touring potential. I'd probably get a lift to the start and then ride south to the border then ride back and take a detour from the route so I end up in Calgary.

I haven't decided on this option 100%, but so far it has the most appeal of the options at hand.

Coasting

2008-06-11T22:40:00.001-06:00

Amigos

2008-06-11T22:38:00.002-06:00

Karen & Joel

Dwayne crosses the flooded path...

2008-06-11T22:37:00.001-06:00

A tale of two tours...

2008-06-11T09:34:00.006-06:00

As July approaches my plan to spend a month cycling in the arctic is under review. My friend Dustin had to bail on riding half the tour with me...=-( So I'll be riding solo. I've also got a project at work that won't be done before my planned departure date of 1 July. As I mentioned below I'm not really stoked about spending huge amounts of time alone at the moment. If you are in the right head space that can be a lot of fun, but if you are not it can be uber lonely. Taking this all into account I've come up with a new plan for my summer bike touring adventures that works better in all respects.

Dempster Highway

This is really the part of my arctic tour that I was excited about. The paved road ride from Whitehorse to the start of the Dempster Highway was just a convenient way to get from Dustin's place in Whitehorse. Now that he isn't going on the trip I'll just start my tour in Dawson City around the middle of July and ride to Inuvik and back on my own. This will shorten the trip while keeping the most remote and interesting section of the tour. I'm going to take my Thorn Sherpa for this trip. I had considered taking the Big Dummy, but now that I'll be going solo I'll pack ultralight and the Sherpa can roll fairly quickly with a light load whereas the Big Dummy would be overkill and much slower.

Shambhala Music Festival

I'll get back from the arctic and head to British Columbia [by car] for a music festival some good friends are DJing at. It will be nice to car camp in luxury after my bike tour and spend some time dancing/hanging out with my friends.

Bike Tour Part II

After Shambhala I'm going to take off for another bike tour using up the time I would have spent in the arctic had I completed the full tour from Whitehorse to Inuvik and return. I should have 10-14 days in the bank for this tour. I haven't decided 100% on what I'd like to do, but two options I thinking about are:

Option 1: fly to Vancouver and ride back to Calgary via HWY #3. This will be a fun & beautiful ride through an area I like a lot. I'd take my Surly LHT and it would be nice to get back on tour with this bike since I'm not riding it that much at home [blame it on my Tikit and Big Dummy!].
Option 2: drive down to Eugene, OR and visit Bike Friday HQ then tour along the OR coast and drive home. I'd probably take my LHT for this trip as well, but I might ride my Tikit as that would be appropriate after a visit with the Bike Friday folks.

I'm going to leave the second part of my bike tour plans open. That way I can fine tune what I end up doing depending on how I'm feeling as the summer progresses...=-)

Chic Photography

2008-06-10T10:50:00.003-06:00

I stole this pic from Copenhagen Cycle Chic. I love most of the photos on that site, but this one stands out for me. If you aren't a regular CCC reader you should be...=-)

More Rain...

2008-06-10T10:39:00.001-06:00

...it's still raining in Calgary. Of course the forecast calls for the rain to end Friday evening. That just happens to be precisely when I'll be leaving town to spend a week in Southern California. If it starts raining again the day I get back I'll have to start looking for black helicopters!

Tamia Nelson's Outside Up North

2008-06-09T17:52:00.003-06:00

Tamia Nelson has a great site that documents her bike [Surly LHT] and paddling adventures. That's a combination that is near and dear to my heart!...=-) She is a talented writer with an interesting perspective on human powered transport & recreation.

Splish Splash

2008-06-09T08:15:00.002-06:00

It was a really wet weekend in Calgary. Since my Tikit handles the rain so well and keeps me really clean and dry it was pretty much a folder weekend.

Torture Testing the Sherpa

2008-06-05T16:35:00.003-06:00

Dwayne volunteered to put my Thorn Sherpa through its paces prior to my up coming tour so that I wouldn't have any surprises on tour. What a friend...=-)

No curb too high to jump.

Can the Tubus Cargo really handle a passenger?

Wednesday Cafe Beano Coffee Ride

2008-06-05T16:13:00.003-06:00

We've started a new tradition - every Wednesday night we are meeting at Cafe Beano [16th Ave Sw. & 9th St.] at 7pm for a social coffee ride around town. The speed is casual and acceptable for all riders. You don't need to have an odd bike, but folders, recumbents, cargo bikes and crank forwards are certainly welcome!

Click here to see photos from our first Coffee Ride.

No-Rando

2008-06-04T08:22:00.003-06:00

As you may have noticed there have not been any brevet reports on this blog since the 200K I rode in April. I haven't been riding my Fujin since that brevet either. This has been puzzling me since I love that bike and I really like going out on the highway for long fast road rides. I've spent sometime pondering why, despite wanting to do these sorts of rides, I'm just not making it happen. The answer lies in a simple equation of social interaction. Last year during the rando season I had a GF and was spending lots of time with her. This meant that getting out on the Fujin for a long day on the bike was a nice break from being social and at the end of the ride I knew I could connect with her again and hang out. Being single this spring and working alone at home most of the time - social interactions are at a premium. If I don't make an effort I can easily not see another human being for 24hrs. Under these circumstances when I choose to ride a bike my first priority is to ride with a friend [none of whom want to do any long distance riding] and my second priority is to ride in town where there are other people. The idea of getting on my recumbent and spending 5-8hrs alone on the highway is quite unappealing at the moment.

Reflecting on this the whole situation made a lot of sense to me and frankly I don't feel particularly bad about it. I've managed to get lots of riding in with people I care about and helped motivate some of them to ride more. I'm having lots of fun. I'm just not doing one very specific kind of riding right now, but I know that things change and I'll be back on my bent cruising the highways in the not too distant future. I've also never appreciated how cycling feeds my emotion needs and how I can balance out my social life by choosing the different types of rides I focus on.

The other thing I have learned from this is that to reach my full rando potential clearly I need to be married...LMAO...just kidding!!....=-)

Longboard Towing

2008-06-01T14:30:00.000-06:00

Big Dummy assisted longboarding

RANS Street

2008-05-30T06:26:00.005-06:00

I've been interested in crank forward bikes ever since I stumbled upon them on the RANS website. As a bent & DF rider I wasn't sure what to make of them. They sort of look like DFs, but with a big comfy seat and the whole cockpit tilted back. Like many good things in my life it took a while for the idea to bounce around in my brain until I "got it". I've been moving towards more useful forms of cycling which has not only been a practical transformation, but it has had the unexpected side effect of getting many of my casual cycling and non-cycling friends excited about the possibilities of pedal power.

Most of my friends never got particularly excited about my recumbents or my serious performance bikes, but somehow folding bikes and cargo bikes caught their imagination. As I was going through the process of helping them buy bikes or setup their existing bikes to be more useful it became clear that most commonly available bikes are not ideal for folks who don't make riding part of their identity. They just want to hop onto a bike to get stuff done without thinking about it. The ideal bike for them has to be fun, easy to use and comfortable.

It was around this time the light bulb went off for me with regards to where crank forward bikes fit into my cycling universe. With big comfortable seats, being able to sit while flat footed at a stop, upright posture with a great view of the road and easy shoulder checks, big wheels for a fast comfortable ride - they seemed ideally suited to the task of making cycling approachable to people who don't own any lyrca. Being an empiricist at heart I wanted to see for myself what these bikes were all about.

I have to admit as much as I believe in cycling solutions for the common man I'm a bike snob! I love riding a nicely built bike that someone has designed with love and that sports good components. The obvious choice in the crank forward market was RANS. Let's face it these guys make planes as well as bikes that's gotta be a good thing! I spent some time perusing the crank forward section on the RANS website and decided that a Street fit my riding needs best. Being halfway between a DF and RANS more laid back models like the Cruz. Don't believe any rumours you may hear that it was in fact the awesome metallic red paint job that steered me to the Street...=-) Although red bikes are faster aren't they???

RANS was kind enough to provide me with a Street test bike - thanks! When it arrived I was impressed with how well they packed the bike. This had to be the most carefully packed bike I've ever received. I quickly put it together and took it out for a spin. You can read about my first impressions and enjoy some crank forward porn here.

Karen's gone Xtra!

2008-05-25T11:18:00.002-06:00

We built up Karen's Xtracycle this weekend. It was nice to have this project to tackle since it was so wet & cold. Click here for more details.

EcoVelo

2008-05-21T07:40:00.003-06:00

Alan Barnard has a new blog called EcoVelo which is focused on practical cycling solutions. This shift in his interests mirrors my own and reflects a logical evolution from using bikes for sport or recreation to cycling as transportation. I'm looking forward to following Alan's new project and enjoying his beautiful bike photography.