What Size is your A**?

United Cycle was holding a "Bike Expo" the other day and for someone interested in bikes, it was the place to be.  Several exhibition tables were set up and after chatting with a street planner from the city about proposed bike lanes and then meeting the new MS Bike Tour coordinator and discussing the 2011 Bike tours, I made my way to the parts area to snag a replacement tube.  Then it was upstairs to try to find (and see) the TREK series of "Gary Fisher" bikes.

 Upstairs, after talking at great length to a Specialized rep and learning all kinds of things about MTB's that I never knew, the guy offered to measure my behind on the Ass-O-Meter.  A simple device that I had read about in Nick Lees column recently and someday hoped |I'd get a chance to have my ass measured.  It's just a matter of sitting on two soft foam pads that are calibrated and hold a "memory" of your sit bones and that calibration will determine what size seat would be best for you.  Like most evrything else for a man my size, I fell in between small and medium.  A reporter that I used to work with used to tease me that I did all my clothes shopping in the "Boys" department.

As an aside, I recently was measured for a suit and discovered that since I was last measured, my chest size has expanded from 38 inches to 40.  Something I attribute to all the aerobic activity on my two wheeled steed.

The knowledgeable rep from Specialized did show me a seat that would fit.  I had no idea that seats came in different sizes.  Probably because I've been using my "Spiderflex" seat for almost all my riding except mountain biking.

What I really wanted to see was the TREK "Gary Fisher" line of bikes.  The Rumblefish 29er had caught my fancy and at 2,400 beans strikes me as being reasonably priced.  REASONABLY PRICED?*%$#@!  My first car was only 900.00!   That is four months of groceries!  A couple of weeks pay! 

I'll probably get it.

Pannier Repast

Sunday was a meeting of the bicycle commuters board of directors and as I sat in a hallway waiting for other board members to show up, I was interested in seeing how everyone would carry whatever food they were contributing to the potluck that we had decided would be our lunch.  Being a bicycle commuters society, nearly everyone would be arriving by bike.

I don't know what type of bike most of them ride - I imagine being mostly university students, their bikes are modest and most likely secondhand or at least older models.  What surprised me was as each person showed up, they had all manner of panniers (saddlebags).  Large ones mostly.  Some were hard - shelled cases.  Most were the softer ripstop nylon ones.  What struck me most was the condition of the panniers.  To a one they all looked brand new.  Just out of the box brand new.  So maybe they don't spend much money on a bike but they do spend money on their saddlebags.  And judging from the condition of the bags - they take good care of them as well.

 It was with astonishment that we all watched as Chris - like a magician pulling an endless scarf from their sleeve - pulled a cast iron frying pan, a combination lid/strainer, noodles,srouts,vegetables,rice, a cutting board, a spatula, a large glass bottle of olive oil and a stove out of his bags  Well maybe not a stove but something more than a hotplate.  It was a device that I had never seen before and heated by some sort of mysterious magnetic pulse.  The stove/element itself didn't warm up but the cast iron frying pan was hot enough for Chris to cook up a delicious concoction that put a whole new spin on potluck.

Goal Achieved

Riding my bike to Mountain Equipment Co-op meant that I crossed over 3,000 km. on my bike.  Actually  156 Street marked the exact spot and I thought I would feel a great sense of achievement.  You know.  Stop the bike.  Open up a bottle of champagne.  Set the camera up on a small tripod and take a picture.  Instead, I blew through the intersection without walking my bike across (which would have made me a pedestrian) and continued on without much feeling about all the klicks I'd done.  Maybe I set my goal too low and it really didn't require that much effort to attain.

I must admit there were some trying moments mixed into the 3,000 k. I remember specifically the first day of our Kettle Valley Railway trip this year and how exhausted I was near the end of the day.  We'd been climbing steadily all day in +30 degree heat (and full sun) and my friend Richard and I took as many shade breaks as we could and my friend Roy and I had soaked ourselves in the nearby Tulameen River to try and cool off.  We had even stopped in the shady oasis at the Dirty Laundry winery to enjoy the shade and purchase a bottle of the best to have with supper.  A longer break still at the Kettle Valley Steam Railway station.

But later in the afternoon, I was so tired that with each pedal stroke I told myself "You can do it.  You can do it.  You can do it!"  By this time I was hunched over the handlebars and head down.  After 11 1/2 hours since leaving Richard's place near Naramata, we were still in the saddle and just starting to look for a campsite where we could set up our tents and have something to eat before darkness fell.

Or riding for two days in the rain during the MS Hinton bike tour.  That was tough.  While I didn't have to be like the little engine that could, I did have to stop frequently to try and dry off and warm up.  And near the end of the second day when I lost all braking power, it was rather hair-raising!

I recall early in the season going for a training ride with my friend Charity on a rainy and cold Saturday.  When I woke up and saw the rain I thought about bailing out but when I got a text from her asking if we were still going - then I wanted to see how determined she was to get in shape for her Cancer 200k. ride - so I said "Yes!".   We met downtown and rode what became a miserably wet and cold ride.  Half way we stopped under some trees to get out of the rain and it was so cold that our Cliff bars could have been called "Stiff" bars - they were so hard to bite into.  I think it was -4 degrees.

I love cycling so much that my attitude is "You have to take it as it comes - good or bad."  And I only mention these few tough rides to balance the fact that the majority of my riding has been fun and worth writing about.

Almost There

Earlier this year I set the goal of cycling 3,000 kilometers this year.  Last year I managed to do 2,835 so I decided to up the stakes.  As of this writing, I have 5 more kilometers to go.  And what a great year it has been for biking.  I've only gotten soaked by rain 4-5 times and have not been hit by any cars.  No wipe-outs either that have caused mild concussions in the past.

Mind you my bike have taken a bit of a beating.  The Hinton Mountain Tour and its rains pretty much blew out my disc brake pads and my rotors.  And just last week I had a flat that meant I had to push my bike a couple of k.

The new crankset I installed with its external bearings has made a huge difference to any climbs I've had.  And the gear job that United Cycle performed meant excellent shifting. (I do try to do all my own maintenance/repairs but sometimes it is best to let the pros handle a sticky problem).  I just could not seem to adjust the front derailleur to my satisfaction.

I noticed that Al, one of the Mountain Tour instructors had touring handgrips on his bike and after 6 years, it was time to swap out my old handgrips.  The comfort of these newer style grips is much improved.

Buying my red road bike has meant shaving off 6 minutes from my commute.  Although I must say that a road bike without a suspension and very hard tires does mean that you really notice this city's crappy roads.

So far this year I've done my three major rides of the year - the MS Leduc to Camrose, the Kettle Valley Railway, and the MS Hinton Mountain Tour.  All the rest has been pretty much either training for the big three or commuting.

The big thing I discovered this year was how much I enjoyed mountain biking.  Riding on trails in the woods.  Always having to keep a sharp eye.  Always calculating.  Constant decision making.   And discovering the trails at Terwilligar Park has been wonderful.

I know myself well enough to know that I won't be satisfied to go out and do 5 k.  I'll do a long ride or have my goal reached by continuing to commute to work.  Who knows what my next mileage (kilometerage?) will be?

Another Way to Make a Bike Video

Anyone who has viewed a bike video on YouTube will wonder how to make a record of cycling.  I've talked about this for years without actually attaching a camera to one of my bikes until now.

I took a small handicam and by searching around at my local camera store, managed to come up with a reasonably priced solution for securely fixing the camera to the bike.

The large clamp is made by Manfrotto  and the ball head is available at most camera stores - usually in the tripod section.  I know this clamp as a "Maffer" clamp but Manfrotto calls it a "Super Clamp".  I have managed to clamp the camera to one of my front shocks (see photo), to my pannier rack, my handlebars and the seat tube stem.  There seems to be no limit to how it can be attached.

In an upcoming blog, I'll show you some results from attaching the video camera to my road bike and my mountain bike.

*Note:  I've seen a knock-off version of the Super Clamp for half the cost of the Manfrotto offering and I found a no-name ball head as well.

Hornless Bike Seat

While this is an unusual looking bike seat, it has been for me, after 10,000 kilometers, the most comfortable seat I've ever owned.  It never fails to elicit comments from cyclists and passers-by.

Especially for those of the male persuasion, the fact that this seat has no "horn" can make riding a bike a much more pleasant and comfortable endeavor.  I like the fact that these seats are made in Manitoba - maybe because my twin brother lives in Winnipeg maybe because I used to work with a reporter from that province and I always got a kick out of the fact that he pronounced it as Manitubba.  To this day when I think of him, I hear "Hubba Hubba Manitubba" in my mind.

This seat is hefty.  But perhaps that is why I've put so many miles on this baby and it is still going strong.  The other thing is that it is not too well suited to mountain biking where the bike's seat is so important for cornering, ascending and descending.

Do check out the Spiderflex website and consider one for yourself if most of your biking is not mountain biking!

Emergency Repair

On this year's tour of the Kettle Valley Railway, my friend Roy developed a leak in his rear tire as we pulled into Princeton Castle Resort.  Being hungry and tired with a camp to set up, we decided to repair the tire the next day.

The next morning when we inspected the tire, it was discovered that the leak was caused by a gash in the sidewall of the tire itself.  Our next step was to pull the tube out and repair the puncture and then look for a suitable "boot" - something tough, thin and having no sharp edges to place between the tube and the sidewall of the tire at the gash. 

The problem with the incision in the sidewall is that the cut exposed the steel belts in the tire and that causes the tube to rub against their sharp edges creating a puncture.  Given that we were nowhere near a bike shop, we needed to fix the problem right then and there.

We dug around in the recycle bin at the camp and found two possible repair materials - a plastic milk jug and a Tetra Pak.  After cutting one rectangular piece from each container (larger than the gash in the sidewall), we decided to use the Tetra Pak as its edges were smoother than those of the milk carton.

So we inserted the tube into the tire which was already half mounted on the rim and then it was a matter of putting the Tetra Pak rectangle between the tube and the sidewall (at the gash).  Using our small hand pump, it was no problem pumping it up to the recommended pressure and Roy rode around the camp to test out the repair.

It is important to remember that this is an emergency repair.  As soon as possible, a new tire (and for that matter a new tube) should be purchased and used to replace the damaged tire and tube.

As a post script, the repair lasted until we got to Cawston where a new patch had to be put on the tube and the Tetra Pak repositioned.

As a post post script, that repair lasted until we reached Vaseux Lake on the last day of our trip where Roy and I pulled off the highway and put a new tube onto his wheel and that repair got us to our starting/finishing point in Penticton.