Tanker

Fixen to mow the lawn.

Fixie Commute

One Speed is all you need.

Life is Good. Live it.

Porter

My new (to me) snow bike arrived from Dave yesterday. Thanks a lot Dave! It's sweet.

A nice large Kona frame (actually I think I'd be on the small side for this thing, and I never feel that way) built up with some decent components. Phil hubs front and rear, rear being fixed/fixed - 18/16 - with a 21 chain ring for now. The frame has custom chain stays via the good guys at generic cycles. Large Marge rims of course shod with Endomorphs. Race face stem with a no-name alloy bar and Ergon grips. Avid disc brake lever controlling a cheep tektro front caliper. No rear brake, it's a fixie! None of the components are drool worth, some of them roughed up, but the price was right and I won't cry the first time I go for a real ride.

Sounds very low, but somehow it seems to work quite well for the bike. This obviously is a bike about speed, more about going anywhere and running over anything that might be in your way. I actually assembled the bike at work yesterday, but didn't have a pump to handle presta valves so I had to wait until I got home to take it for a ride. This thing feels really sweet when you're riding around. Very high too. I think that there's 14 inches of clearance under the bottom bracket!
The Ergon handles are great too. I've never tried a pair before, and right off the bat they feel nice.
I can't wait to get this beast out for a ride. Right outside my front door is an irrigation canal that connects with a whole network for irrigation canals and natural creeks. I know of 3 creeks within 1/2 mile of my house. These are generally in ravines and well treed. I think they will be great exploring, and this bike, Porter as I've named it, will be a great bike for doing it on. Then, when winter comes, I'll be ready also. She's a little dirty right now, but with some soap and love, she'll soon shine!

Is today the day?????

According to the UPS tracking information, my bike is scheduled to be delivered today!!

Wishy-Washy

That's how I am lately. About what? My Volae. About Recuments in general. I have an incredible recumbent bicycle. The Volae Expedition. It's a hand made work of art. Made by Waterford Cycles Works in Wisconsin. Those same guys have made the Rivendell line of bikes. Very respectable indeed.

I've been oohhing and awing LHT's lately and thinking that that's the way I need to go. Is it? I'm not sure. But, last winter, before I parked the Volae, it was my favorite bike, after my fixie. The fixie holds a special place and will never be replaced as favorite.

This year, I haven't been so excited about the Volae. I don't know why. I've only ridden it once for about 26 miles this year. After that ride, I put it up for sale. Am I being too hard on this stead? Maybe. The fact is, I really like it one day, then want to sell it the next. The whole recumbents stigma doesn't bother me. I ride what I like because I like it. What other people think about what I ride means nothing to me.

I think that I just need to put in some miles on this bike. I know that when I commuted on it last year, I was blown away (no pun intended) by it's performance into a headwind. There isn't a DF bike I own that can touch it when riding into a strong headwind. When you're commuting, that makes a big difference. Especially when you've got 26 miles to go. If I get a headwind on the way home, it could put me back 1/2 hour or more. That's valuable time that I could be spending with my family. Very worth contemplating.

So, I think I'm going to give this bike another, longer chance. I need to ride it to and from work day after day for a while. Then, after I've got some decent miles on it, I shall make my decision. I'm really hoping I end up feeling the same way about it that I felt before I parked it for the winter.

Ride on.

Fixed Recumbent

Odd looking indeed, but very clean.

Exquisite

Here is one of the nicest bikes I've seen in a while. Incredible craftsmanship. Found on the SS Gallery.
Check out the brake cable routing

Bamboo Bikes

Here's a neat little slide show about bamboo bikes.

Just ask Eddie

Some Great Photo Galleries

Many of you already waste much of your days on FGG. I do to and it's one of my all time favorite sites. I've stumbled upon a few others that I think have adopted the same principal. They're pretty good. I've got a few of my bikes I'll be sending in to them. Most come from Cyclo Friend.
Here's the list;

Single Speed Gallery
Current Classic Gallery
Cyclo-cross Gallery
Work Bike Gallery
Recumbent Blog Gallery
Fully Loaded Touring Bike Gallery
and of course: Fixed Gear Gallery

Go ahead, waste the rest of your day.

Cheers.

Lunch Time Ride

To over come some stress at work (I really actually don't get stressed, but work is just very busy right now, and I'm working some pretty long hours) I decided to use my lunch break to ride out to Eagle Lake and back. After raining all night, the dirt/gravel path was in perfect condition for a pink single speed bomber.

The wind was nasty, nasty but the temps were perfect. hovering around 8C (46F) means you can pedal your heart out and not get wasted, while still being able to don shorts.

I threw my bike in the canal 3 different times to wash the mud (read: tar) off of it. 3 different times, I could not transmit physical effort on the bike to forward motion. It was the stickiest stuff I've ever ridden in. It was also a great time. Almost makes a 1hr lunch ride epic.

Here are the pics.

Start of the path

Note the sign - this is actually a bike path?

Resting
Resting from the side
The house in the backgroung is actually very nice/interesting
front mud
back mud

Re-evaluating the Xtra

Seems the Extra cycle is popping up everywhere! Doug and Smudgemo have had one for quite a while now. Vik got one, and a great blog to go with it. Blog authors all over are posting about their new Big Dummy's or Xtra cycles. I built mine up over last Christmas, rode it everyday hauling my tools around Rockyford, and then brought it with me here to my new/old job in Strathmore. I leave it here so I can do my errands, grocery shopping and bike part shopping without my truck.
The frame that I mounted the free-radical to wasn't the best in the world, but one of my favorites. It was the first bike that I rode any distances on and the bike that I’ve had the longest. I’ve single-speeded it, set it up for touring, riding single track and now she’s the Xtracycle. When I got my Xtra, it was in SS state. Primarily because the drive train I had on it was wearing out and I didn’t need those gears for the commuting duty it was pulling. I dug the parts out of the bin and re-installed them when I put on the Xtra. Now, It’s a great frame, with a great free radical on it, suffering from a worn out crappy drive train. For this reason, I won’t even consider using the bike for my 26 mile commute. Although it would be so nice to haul my laptop, and whatever else I might need to take back and forth without taxing my back.
I think it’s time I start looking for some new components. The bike is plenty stable, and while it wouldn’t be the fastest machine I could use for commuting, it certainly would be nice to have on those days when I’ve got stuff to haul. That is the idea of having an Xtra anyway. My wheels are still very good as well as my cassette and chain rings. Mostly all I need is new shifters and derailleurs. Heck, I’ve even got a nice NITTO Mustache bar and a long rise short reach NITTO Technomic stem that would mate nicely to the mustache bars. I think if I slap some decent bar end shifters and new brake levers, I’d have a really comfy, practical cockpit. Add to that derailleurs that do their job nicely and I’d have a whole now bike; without having a whole new bike.
I’m going to check out EBay. Or, if you have any of the parts (bar end shifters, derailleurs, hooded brake levers) mentioned above that you would be willing to sell, drop me a line.

Cheers,

Jerome.

I've got a tracking number!

New bike should be here by the end of the month. Yeah!

Linked

I put a video up on Youtube a while ago. It got a few hits, one comment and then sat dormant for about a year. Now, some Russian site has linked to it and I'm getting comments like crazy and over 23,000 views. Crazy.

Coolest Lamp Ever

This is the coolest lamp I've ever seen. My wife's grandparents bought it in Hawaii. Unfortunately, they didn't buy it for me. Next time I'm there, I'm getten one.

More Fixie Goodness

Check this trailer, it's bitchen.


"Bootleg Sessions v.2" Fixed Gear DVD Trailer from Ride/Relax Productions on Vimeo.

It's just part of the job

My buddy Tyler, who I used to work with, is now head of maintenance up at Blackcomb Whistler. They're back into the summer maintenance work and he was out yesterday and took these pictures. Apparently this is quite common and it's just something you get used to. Crazy.

Volae, out and about

Well, today I rode the Volae to work. Man is it ever so much more uphill on the way to work! Took 1hrs 45 minutes! Hard to take after covering the same distance 12 hours before in 1/2 hour less time. Oh well.

I'm having some different thoughts regarding riding a recumbent. I'm not sure why, but I'm not as stoked about it as I was last year. I find that when I'm on the bike, I'm extremely comfortable. So much so that I forget that I'm actually trying to get somewhere in a reasonable time period. When I'm on a DF bike, I don't have to work at keeping up a decent speed. I'll ride along on the Volae and find myself spinning very slowly, relaxed and enjoying more the ride than even thinking about my speed. That's a good thing for sure, but right now, I'm in a different place than my Volae puts me. I want to get into great shape, I want to get fast on a bike and I want to be able to commute daily by bike, while taking as little time as possible to do it. 1/2 an hour makes a huge difference when work is very, very busy, home renovation is going on and baby #3 is on the way. I need every minute I can get. The Volae is stealing them from me. I need some time to re-think this bike, and even the whole recumbent thing altogether.

On the way to work I was bombing down a hill, rumbled over some railroad tracks and the rear fender mount popped loose. I need to add a fender washer here. One interesting thing (not really) was when I removed the bolt from the frame, there was a significant amount of air pressure built up in the frame. Obviously just a different temperature or outside air pressure since I put the bolt in last year while re-installing the fenders. I'm glad I now know that the frame is literally air-tight.

While reflecting on the whole bent bike thing, I realize it is nice for carrying gear for work and being very comfortable at the same time. Me arse gets very sore when I've got a loaded backpack on and riding my Allez. My mind has recklessly wondered and I'm thinking about a LHT....... Dang it!

Ya gotta check this out

Lucas has done it again. His new Stockholm movie is my favorite so far. These guys are nuts! These videos make me seriously wish I lived in a city. Here is the latest. Wait for it to download, you'll be glad you did.

Peace.

1:15

New record for the ride home. 1hr, 15 minutes! It was only a few weeks ago it took me close to two hours to get to work. The way home is way more downhill, but I did have a little headwind today. Average speed: 19.6mph. Yeah. Oddly enough, it was on the bike I've been trying to get rod of, me Allez. Glad it didn't sell.

Cheers.

Fixed Bike Fridays

Info can be found here.

Fixed Dahons

Details can be found here.