philly bike expo 2015 - part 1

While much of the bike-riding world was out enjoying the weather today, The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I went to the Philly Bike Expo.  I'd gone last year with Tom H, largely because he wanted to hear Gary Helfrich talk about titanium bikes, but I was smitten by the show and resolved to go again this year. The only seminar in which I was remotely interested was one on derailleurs, but I did want to see the vendors and the other bobs and gewgaws in the show.

TEW happened upon a chap parking lot in the next block, and we paid for the tickets and went in to the show. The first thing we saw was a display of historical bikes:

"Ordinaries"

A safety bicycle with wooden fenders and chain guard, and another with a lever-actuated brake that binds on the tire:

A HUGE early chain:

An early attempt at a safer bicycle, with the smaller wheel in the front so that a sudden stop wouldn't put the rider into a "header". Lever drive (neat!).

TEW liked this poster:

Another ordinary. I was surprised to see how many of these had split saddles to reduce perineal irritation. There is nothing new under the sun.

A chainless bike; the drive is by a shaft in the right chainstay (clean, but heavy!):

A "draisine", "hobby horse". No pedals; the rider "kicks" himself along, although there are footrests on the forks for when he gets some speed up (which means that this is a later model; Von Drais was initially surprised that the vehicle could stay upright).

This early tandem could be steered from the stoker seat. Victorians always rode their tandems with the women in front... but you wouldn't trust them to steer by themselves, would you?

Evidently you've gotta be old to like these bikes (or maybe to afford them): the youngest guy showing them (and they were all men) was older than I.

hell mountain

Laura OLPH has replaced the frame of Miss Piggy, her climbing bike, and to test it out, she posted a ride description that included this:

 To test the mettle of the new Miss Piggy, let's go look at the trees in central Hunterdon County. The route is 47 miles of rollers with a big lump in the middle. (Hell Mountain. Seriously. That's what it's called.)

I didn't get the route in advance, but  that ride description got my attention, so I was at the start early, as were Jeff H, Snakehead, Tom H, Peter, Marco, and a new (to us) rider, Graham, who moved to NJ from North Carolina (on purpose) and who's a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton in Physics, if I've got the details right.

Above, Jeff; below, Tom H.

Above, Snakehead. Below, Graham. Well-behaved (for a young guy); we hope he comes out again.

Snakehead and Laura setting up.

We did this route. We went to Solberg Airport, where we saw a Norwegian flag. Somebody asked about it, and I said it was in memory of Olav Solberg, unless his name was Knut Solberg... but it turned out that the plaque on the flagpole had his name as Thor Solberg, so I guess that's the case.

I don't remember where we saw the cows... but we stopped to get pictures, and, as one was standing in the creek, Laura and I broke into our usual, terrible rendition of "Cows in the Water", a parody of the Deep Purple song.

Then we started the climb to Hell Mountain. I'm rarely as knackered by a climb as I was by this one; I was afraid I was going to see my breakfast again. We came to a tee in the road, and turned left for no reason than to climb to the top of the hill (the top of Hell Mountain. I expected to see the devil chewing on Brutus, Cassius, and Judas.). Since we'd been doing high points all season, Tom stopped to get a summit picture, and I got pictures, too, while I put my pounding heart back into my chest and tried to catch some breath. I was partially successful (well, I got pictures, anyway).

Then down the hill. We stopped at the Oldwick Store for coffee and other refreshment. I got my obligatory bikes picture:

Then back. No wicked hills on the way, but the weather seemed colder and more damp. It's hard to dress at this time of year; there's a balance between too cold and too hot that's hard to reach, and unpredictable and changing weather doesn't help.

Also, there seemed a lot of traffic on some of the roads. But it was a good ride. At this time of year, riding days can be rare; I'm glad we got out today. Tomorrow, to the Philly Bike Expo! (My credit cards are already nervous...)

i hope he really said it

Bill Nye continues to be a hero.

From today's Oddman.

school homework unnecessary?

I've seen a few articles over the past few years questioning the value of homework in schools (I'll admit I think we demand a lot of kids, with several hours in school, and then perhaps a few more hours doing homework; I, for one, don't work that many hours now). I don't know enough about studies, statistics, or a gazillion other things to know if this is either reliable or valid...  but I was intrigued by this article suggesting there's only a limited correlation (and no cause) between homework and either test scores or grades.

From the linked article:

Was there a correlation between the amount of homework that high school students reported doing and their scores on standardized math and science tests?  Yes, and it was statistically significant but “very modest”:  Even assuming the existence of a causal relationship, which is by no means clear, one or two hours’ worth of homework every day buys you two or three points on a test.  Is that really worth the frustration, exhaustion, family conflict, loss of time for other activities, and potential diminution of interest in learning?  And how meaningful a measure were those tests in the first place, since, as the authors concede, they’re timed measures of mostly mechanical skills?  (Thus, a headline that reads “Study finds homework boosts achievement” can be translated as “A relentless regimen of after-school drill-and-skill can raise scores a wee bit on tests of rote learning.”)

Hrmph.

weekend in south jersey

This weekend, I was invited to join Tom H, Laura OLPH, and some others to d the last of Tom's "highest point in the county" rides. This was to the highest point in Cape May county, and it was far enough south that we decided to make an overnight of it and do another ride the following day, prior to coming back in the afternoon on Sunday.

 There was a back-and-forth of emails, and finally six agreed to go. So early Saturday, Snakehead picked me up and we drove to meet the others in Bordentown, and then played follow-the-leader down to the Belleplain State Forest to start the ride to find the highest point in Cape May County.

Above: the Kermit figurine that Laura keeps on her bike (of the same name) is in costume for the occasion. Below, plastic flamingos at Lake Nummy.

It was a beautiful day; a bit cool, but sunny with little wind.

As close as we were to the ocean, the closest we came was this river mouth, where I got this seabird and the lighthouse.

We stopped at a Wawa, were we chatted with a guy who was riding a dirtbike; he seemed impressed that we pushed our bikes around on our own steam.

We proceeded along the route Tom had picked, until we came to a place where the paved road gave way to dirt (now THERE's a surprise on a Tom ride). We took a sidetrack, and came across some guys refurbishing a diesel engine, and bent their ears for way too long (they didn't seem to mind though; we only left because Tom seemed impatient).

Back to the Wawa (it's that kind of route), and then to the high point. It was hard to find; the county has the topography of Formica... but eventually Tom, with one eye on his GPS, let use know he'd found it.

Above, the buildings at Lake Nummy, where we started. As he was packing up, Jack drove from one end of the lot to the other to get closer to the rest room; I guess he's excused after riding 60+ miles, even if it was flat.

From there, we drove to Ocean City to the Biscayne Suites hotel. Although the hotel was good, the town was pretty much closed; we had a good dinner at Vittorio's (I asked, "Can we get a table for six?" The reply, Italian-accented, was, "It's off-season. I can get you a table for twenty."), but when we went to the Boardwalk, almost everything was closed. We went back to the hotel, and after a chat with Tom where I tried to make believe I understood what he was talking about with the computer industry, I went to bed.

The next day, we got up,and, after a quick coffee-and-breakfast at a Wawa (are these ubiquitous in South Jersey?), we drove to Smithville for another fifty miles. Although it was warmer than the day before, skies were grey and the leaves were browner; the transition from October the day before to November this day was almost comic. There was a taste of rain in the air, that held off, but it was still a beautiful ride.

Above, Jack and Dorothy, whose pictures from the day before sucked didn't come out. Below: We had to stop at this point. Tom's GPS was registering something like 100+ feet BELOW sea level; it seemed oddly appropriate on the day after the last high-point ride.

We stopped at a local deli; a farmer had just come in with his kids and a load of pumpkins of various descriptions.

Despite being tired, we kept up a quick pace on the way back. Ed pulled us aside near the end; his grandparents had a house just off the main route, so he led us through his memories, and we stopped and got pictures of the house.

We got back to the cars, and loaded up and came home. Ride page is here.

I'm grateful I have such friends, and such opportunities. I'm also grateful to have The Excellent Wife (TEW) to come home to!