saddle smitten

Long-time readers may remember the high hopes I had for the Selle An-Atomica saddle, and my attempts to salvage it. I took it off when I found the last two Specialized Bg-2 saddles in the universe, but I've been smitten by another saddle.

Selle Anatomica was started by a rider, Tom Milton, who subsequently died. His family has been keeping up the company, but the saddles have a number of problems: they sag, they can splay (causing thigh pain; don't ask how I know this), they can squeak (don't ask how I know that, either). There's a new company making saddles that seem to be improvements on the original design: Rivet Cycles. It was started by Debra Banks, a randonneuse, described as "former partner of the man who created Selle Anatomica Saddles".

The saddles are stiffer than the Selle Anatomica saddles, and are improved in other ways, including an assembly underneath to eliminate the splaying.

Finish appears to be better than the Anatomicas, too, and the reviews I've seen are all positive. And they offer a one-year guarantee.

I may need to get one.

windy quartet with snakehead ed

For some reason, Tom H's rides for this week and next didn't make it into the ride guide. Laura OLPH elected to go with him, and made an announcement of his ride for today on her blog, so I suppose many of my regular riding friends went with them... but "Snakehead" Ed C planned to lead a ride out of Piscataway this morning. Ed's a new leader (and new leaders always need support), and his ride would likely be a little faster and more demanding than Tom's, so I elected to go with Ed.

I didn't know if anybody else would come along, but when I got to the start (Ed lists coordinates that you can plug into Google to find the start location), there was Peter F, relieved that he was in the right place and that a familiar face would be coming along (I persuaded him that he ought to put tights over his shorts; I think he was grateful later). The other person who came was Rick, who had come on the last ride Ed led. (The toilets at this starting point aren't open yet; I snuck through a fence to use a porta-potty in a construction area... it was a foreshadowing of things to come.)

We did this route. We started right off into a wicked headwind, that was with us almost all the way out, and on several parts of the return. Ed had said he was leading us up Dutchtown-Zion, and I was afraid the wind would make that worse than it would be anyway, but luckily, the surrounding trees apparently kept the wind down around there. That last quarter-mile still hasn't been paved, and the recent rains made it muddy; one of my post-ride chores today was cleaning (what seemed like a few pounds of) mud off the bike.

Edit 1:  Ed reminded me that along Grouser Road, we saw a herd of about ten deer, who outran us handily on our left, and then crossed ahead of us. I don't remember hearing them complain about the headwind.

Edit 2: And then, just as we were heading down into Hopewell, we came upon the estimable Paul I heading up the other way! Good to see him, and I need to ride with him again soon, too.

On to the Boro Bean in Hopewell. I like this stop; the staff puts up with our silly appearance and treats us with an endearing lack of deference, and the coffee and junk is good (although I should have eaten more; more later). We had a discussion about going back up into the Sourlands to do more hills, or to go more-or-less straight back.

And while we opted for the more-or-less straight-back route, Ed decided to add on more hill, so we went up Fairview, and down Grandview (Rick said he thought we went up Fairview just because Ed wanted to go down Grandview; people who know Snakehead Ed know he loves his descents). We took a roundabout route back to Piscataway, including going over Weston Canal in Manville...

... which was closed. Now, Laura OLPH has the Hill Slug Waders Club, where she promises to buy a coffee for any rider who has to cross a bridge out on any five Slug rides. Ed doesn't have such a club, but if he did, this ride would have counted; you'll see us crossing on an aluminum walkway in the pictures below. (I think we should also get half-a-point for the quarter-mile of Dutchtown-Zion that's not paved... but I digress.)

By that time, I was done; I was tired and hungry, and the last several miles of this ride were an ordeal for me (thank heaven for a mostly-tailwind). I need to eat more before and during a ride that will be this demanding. I hope I wasn't rude to the others, or riding dangerously; I know I was much slower in the last few miles than I had been at any time after the break. Still, great ride; I'll be happy to go out with Ed again.

Pics! At Six Mile Run, where we stopped for an early toilet break:

At the top of Dutchtown-Zion:

At the Boro Bean:

Bridge out. Wait, what?

Cyclocross!

that guy in the back

Sometimes I feel like that guy in the back is following me around all the time.

Sometimes, I feel like I am that guy in the back.

From today's Oddman (of course).

pass it on

it will be sunny one day

No, this is not about the weather this weekend.

I make no secret of the fact that I have an anxiety disorder. As I was stumbling around the internet this morning (over coffee, before The Excellent Wife [TEW] was up), I came across this letter from Stephen Fry to a woman who had written him about her depression. It includes this:

Here are some obvious things about the weather:

It's real.
You can't change it by wishing it away.
If it's dark and rainy it really is dark and rainy and you can't alter it.
It might be dark and rainy for two weeks in a row.

BUT

It will be sunny one day.
It isn't under one's control as to when the sun comes out, but come out it will.
One day.

It really is the same with one's moods, I think.

The letter goes on; it's worth the reading, I think. If you don't have a mood disorder, it's probably not only completely unnecessary, but possibly completely incomprehensible why someone would have to put such obvious stuff into a letter. But for me, even though I'm not going through a bout of anxiety now, it's important to remember that I didn't cause it, I have no control over it, and, most important, it does pass.

geeky bike physics

Stumbled across this today. What happens if you tie a string to a bike pedal at the bottom of its travel, and then pull backward on the string?



There really is no end to my bike geekiness; I loved this.The original article is here, but the sound quality wasn't as good, and the video took FOREVER to download, with much buffer-overrun pausing.

I will take credit for making a correct guess that the outcome would depend on the gearing, but I had no idea that the gearing difference would have to be so large to make the difference.

(Between rain and family obligations, probably no group ride this weekend, and I'm looking for bike-y stuff to assuage my disappointment.)

cable lift gets you up the hills

Not to be outdone by Dave H's link, Laura OLPH sent me a link to a page about this "ski lift for cyclists: in Trondheim, Norway:


Hrmph. Here's a photo:

They call it the Trampe CycloCable. I'm going to resist the almost-inevitable "tramp" puns, and just point out that if a Freewheeler needs this thingummy to get up a grade of 10-18°, that's only about 400' long... then you need to set up your trainer, put on a good, long movie, and meditate for a few hours on Rule Five.

That's the one that says, "Harden the Firetruck Up." In the original, the word "Firetruck" is replaced by a word that follows the same rules of initial and terminal orthography.

evolution of the bicycle video

Dave H sent me a link to this excellent video about the evolution of the bicycle:



Evolution of the Bicycle from Visual Artwork on Vimeo. (It's bigger there.)

I recognize a number of those forms; the Draisine, the Ordinary, the Starley...

... and the excellent Benny Goodman background music just makes this video for me. Thanks, Dave.

See it also on Huffington Post.

'nother harsh saddle?

Relax; it's an art piece by Clem Chen. I found it here; see more of his stuff here.

It was part of a Vancouver art show called Saddle Up! Check out the Tumblr; there was some other cool stuff in the show, too.

disc brakes on road bikes?

When Ed and I did that pickup ride on Friday, we stopped in at the Wheelfine Imports. Mike, the principal there, has no problem talking, and one of the things he did was give us a printout of this article from Bicycle Retailer magazine about a study Magura, a disc brake manufacturer, is doing on disc brakes fro road bikes.

From the article:

As Pahl walked about Eurobike and Interbike looking at disc brake-equipped road bikes, he winced whenever he saw bikes spec’d with 140- or 160-millimeter rotors. Rotor size and type are vital when considering heat dissipation.

And Pahl said he’s doubtful small rotors—currently fashionable on road bikes—can dump enough heat on long descents to keep braking systems from boiling...

Further, there are questions about the mounts:

The static disc brake torque test for road forks required by the EN 14781 standard is more rigorous than the EN 14766 standard for mountain bikes. Road bike forks must carry an 8 percent higher load than a mountain bike fork and a road fork’s braking cycle fatigue test is 66 percent longer than for a mountain bike fork.

“I don’t know why the road disc fork testing is to higher loads and cycles than a mountain bike fork, but it does reflect higher road speeds and less tire slippage of a road tire on pavement,” Baker said.

But the key thing seems to be concerns about heat dissipation:

 While road standard tests are for higher peak loads and greater cycle frequency compared with mountain bike discs, the heat dissipation requirement is the same. Road and mountain brakes must absorb 75 watt-hours of energy over a 15-minute period without failure to be legal for sale in Europe. To put this in perspective, a 200-pound bike and rider traveling at 25 mph dissipates 3 watt-hours of braking energy to stop, and no matter how many times they stop they are unlikely to overheat brakes.

However, the same rider descending a mountain pass hitting 50 mph in stretches between switchbacks and who brakes to 15 mph for corners uses 11 watt-hours to slow down. If the descent averages a 7 percent grade, add 2 watt- hours to each brake application. After braking for seven or more corners within a 15-minute period, the rider’s front brake could have absorbed much more than 75-watt hours of energy required by the standard.

late winter slug ride to clinton

I don't give a hang what the calendar says; today's weather was no better than late winter (despite temps in the mid-40's, it was damp and windy today). Because of the threat of rain yesterday, The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I went to the Norman Rockwell show at the Newark Museum yesterday (through the end of May; all the Saturday Evening Post covers and about 50 paintings). I wanted to get out on a ride today, and Laura OLPH had switched her usual Saturday for a Sunday today.

Her blog post for this ride said something about 55 miles from Lambertville to Clinton and back, and I had indicated I'd be up for a tough ride today because I wasn't riding yesterday. Laura did nto disappoint, although I don't think even she counted on the headwind most of the way up, or how cold it would feel.

We did this route, mostly "county roads -- 500's and 600's". It was a hilly ride, although the hills about which Laura warned us were not the worst, and the ones that surprised us were demanding. Six of us came out: besides Laura and me, there were Snakehead Ed, Ron S, Barry, and Marco, riding a new carbon Masi with a compact in front and mountain bike gearing in the back. He was able to test its abilities on this ride.

Although cold, it was a beautiful day, and when we got to Clinton, I took a number of pictures of the river and the mill, most of which didn't work as well as I'd hoped. We had a comparatively short stop for coffee, and came back. The wind on the way out slowed us down a lot (we might not have averaged 12 mph in the first half), but we made up for it with the later tailwind.

Pics:

I like that one above. Below, in Clinton:

I like that one above, too. Below, back on the road.

Shortly before the end, on Alexsauken Creek Road, we came across this gal riding an old mountain bike, with tweeds and a scarf, and grinning a great grin, having a great time. I had to get her picture.

why the garage door didn't work

The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I have been having problems with the garage door at the condo for years; I've fixed the spring on one side three times, on the other side once; I replaced the springs; I replaced the opener when the nylon gear assembly on the old one jammed and was reduced to the nylon equivalent of hamburger. It doesn't fit well, so there's daylight visible around the door when it's closed, and it's wood frame with panels of "wood fiber product" (essentially a hard cardboard), so it doesn't insulate much. And I've been less than diligent about painting it, so the paint was chipping. I painted over it, so it looks OK from the street, but do me a favor, and don't inspect it too closely.

For the past couple of years, it's been jamming on one side, mostly as it came down. I couldn't figure out what the problem was; the wheels were loose enough in the track, but not too loose. Nonetheless, I probably added several English breakfasts' worth of grease to that side of the track to make sure the wheels were as smooth as possible.

But the rough closing has been getting worse and worse. The other day, it just stopped, and wouldn't go down any further. I shone a light up at the upper corner of the doin's, and found this had happened to the pulley:

The wear of the cable going over the pulley had been sawing at the pulley track, to the point where the one side of it has been almost completely cut away (you can see the jaggedness in the lower right of what's left). Not shown in the photo is that the ball bearings in the hub are also loose.

It turns out that a new pulley is about four-five bucks at Home Depot. It's held on by one nut and bolt. You drop the cable off, remove the old one, pop on the new one (and remark to yourself how much better the ball bearings fit in this one), snap the cable back into the track, and it's done. One of the fastest repairs I've ever done.

But if this pulley was in this shape, I have concerns for the rest of the door. We've got a new one on order, with some more insulation, and I'll have it installed by someone who (I hope) knows more about what he's doing than I do.

Still, I feel SO DUMB that I didn't notice that pulley before.