Quiet Rides

With most folks around here not working this week, the ride to the office was nice. Down right dead.

We've finally got some decent conditions here, and the paths have for the most part been plowed. Still not enough room for a bike and car on many of the roads that I need to ride, but today that wasn't a huge problem. Most days, there'll be a line up behind me of angry motorists not wanting to be stuck behind a bicycle. For that reason I haven't been riding much lately.

deep snow on the sides of the roads

Today I figured it would be dead, and a safe option for the bike. Nice to get out and ride in the sunshine.

I keep to the side and gravel roads to avoid the busyness. Riding just on the outskirts of town.

A good Christmas indeed

Family, food and friends. That's what it's about.

I had asked to not receive any presents this year, just because I wanted to know what it felt like, and maybe to help me focus more on the people that are close to me for this Christmas season. By no means am I trying to be a grinch. No one listened to me anyways. My wife and I did decide to tone it down a little this year with what we get each other. It seems that gift giving and get carried away, and it become a matter of who can spend the most money on each other. Now don't get me wrong, I love spending my money on my wife, an

d I love getting lots of great stuff for Christmas, but we both felt like taking it a little easier this year. I'm glad we did.

My wife knit me an incredible sweater (I love her knitting) and I also received the best pair of slippers I've ever owned. UGG slippers. Man, my feet think they are in paradise.

We have a family gift exchange with my wife's brothers and sisters, and I got exactly what I asked for (we had to submit a list, mine had 2 things on it. A B-17 or a unicycle). I was hoping for the unicycle, and I got one! Many hard fall ahead I'm sure, but I'm stoked to learn how to ride. Part of the reason is that I'm sure if I learned how to ride a unicycle well, it would be much easier to learn how to wheelie a fixed gear bike. Something that I desperately want to master. Odd, yes, but maybe it's my way of trying not to let the fact that I've got a mortgage, minivan and 3 kids make me feel old. Don't get me wrong, I love my life, and won't change a thing about it. My children are an incredible source of joy and laughter every single day. I'm getting lines on my face because they make me smile so much. But, I still don't want to loose the cool ya know. I thought about how cool it will be when my son is into bikes (he's already there) and his "old man" and him go ripping it up on the way to school. Certainly a dad who can wheelie a fixie is a cool dad no? So, I'll start with the unicycle. I can

also juggle, and it would be cool to combine the talents, although that would bring me far and away from the "cool dad" objective. Maybe something left for late winter nights in the basement.....

Another great tradition that I would not let go this year (started it last year) was to bring a scale into the dinning room, weigh ourselves right before the meal, and then right after. The one who gains the most pounds wins. Last year I lost out, and it ate at me all year long (sorry for the pun). This year, no matter what it took, I was going to win. It actually wasn't a hard battle. I started out at a respectable 210.8 lbs, and after only a little bit of pain, took victory this year finishing the meal at 216 lbs even. Yup, a weight gain of 5.2 lbs earns me the crown for a year. I shall wear it with pride.

On a slightly related topic, I've got P90X on order. Should be here by the 30th. Just in time for me to make that silly old resolution to get into shape.

It was a great Christmas this year and I'm thankful for the blessings in my life. We squeezed in some tobogganing, some eating and drinking and a whole lot of looking at, paying attention to and listening to the ones I care about. Even though I did receive presents this year, I did focus more on the people in my life more than I ever have at Christmas. When I think about it, Christmas is about the greatest present ever given, the gift of Jesus Christ, so getting a few gifts isn't all that bad.

I hope you all were able to enjoy the beauty of the season, and the ones you loved this past Christmas. I sure did.

Cheers.

Global warming?

Yesterday we set a record low for the date. -32.4C (-26.32F). They say it hadn't been that cold here since 1813 or something. How good was their weather equipment back then anyway? Nasty nasty cold!

Today it warmed up a bit....to -25C when I left for work. The cold isn't the problem though, it's the ice all over the roads. My Schwalbe snow studs just don't cut it, by a long shot. On Soots, or even any other bike for that matter, those studs are good for the occasional little patch of ice. Right now, on all the road around town, there are ruts that can be 6-10" deep that are solid ice.

It's gotten to the point that I've reverted to re-studded the ice spiker tires I had last year. It's a long and slow process, but I'm over half done. This year though, I've made a few changes. The resistance on the studs last year was so great, that keep any forward momentum require a lot of consistent effort. Not that it's a bad thing, but when you're reward is reaching a top speed of 8-10mph, it's a little disheartening. This year, I'm taking the same approach, running the pan head screws through the square tread block, covering the head with duck tape and then running a second tube as a liner over the tube that will be holding (hopefully) the air. The difference: I'm cutting the screws down with bolt cutters, so the screw will only be about an eighth of an inch proud, rather than a quarter inch. This should make it roll a little faster (still going to be a slow tough slog) and I'll be able to retain the claw like traction that I get when the studs dig deep into the ice.

(This picture shows last years version of the spiker tires)

I'm also building the studs up around a frame that hasn't seen action lately. My trek. The bike that started my serious bicycle commuting. Some mustache bars, maybe a 7speed cog in the back and a shimano bar end shifter from the parts bin. Hopefully in another week I'll have it all together.

Morning ritual.....

.....shoveling snow. Kind of a warming up of the Soots' engine if ya know what I mean.

and the winner is.......

....Soots!

Soots is the new name of my Xtracycle. Soots was one of the names submitted by Rebecca. Thanks Rebecca. I've got your shipping information and the bottle in on the way! BTW, Rebecca choose the sport bottle, as she'll be using it on her bike, of course.

What goes into picking a name; I have no idea. I compiled a list of all the names submitted, went through all of them over and over again, and Soots just really struck a cord with me. It’s quick to say and write, which is nice for when I’ll be making mention of it on my blog and in real life, and I think it could be turned into a pretty sweet logo. That's the next step. Design a logo around the name Soots. Wait a minute, hhmmmm…..logo design contest for another bottle…..hhhhmmmmm. I suppose I still have two more bottles to give away........

Anyway, below is the list of the different names that were submitted. Some very creative and excellent work on everyone’s part. Thanks to everyone helped out, I really appreciate it! A quick count shows there were 80 names submitted!


Names Submitted:

big blue butler
the loaded ninja
black Zephyr
Black Borealis
The Juggernaut
The Sherpa
Bertha

Christa had a whole bunch of names to submit:
· Framer (like Cramer but related to bicycles and photography)
· Black Magic (I'm assuming that's a black frame.. if not, substitute colour of choice in list)
· Black Devil
· Blackie the Good
· Good Steed Blackie
· Bicycycycle (bye - si - si - sickle) - for the stretched out in the middle thing
· BottleBaby (obscure reference to the contest, and fun to say)
· Pronghorn
· Workhorse
· Cruisemeister
· The Pickup
· LongHaul
· The Semi
· The Btrain
· The Wasp (esp if you get more yellow gear.. but also 'cause our bikes are wasp-waister)
· Stretcher
· Rickshaw
· Velocipede
· Phaeton
· GoTrain
· GoBuggy
· GoSter
· Hauler (Holler/ Holla')
· Lank
· Lanker
· Lanky The Wonder Bike
· Anything with "The Wonder Bike" attatched at the end
· Submarine (got there from 'substantial' - these are substantial bikes :)
· Sim (like Simple, but simpler)
· Puddlejumper (checking out your blog posts tagged "life is good" {life IS good} and dig the photo of green boots in a puddle)
· LTT (Long Tail Trucker)
· Antioxidant (Free Radical?)
· The Makeover (change your look, change your life)

Rebecca also came up with a bunch:
· Felix the Cat
· Soots
· 8-Ball
· Beast of Burden
· Jackass Jenny (Jenny is another name for "donkey".. apparently.)
· Chunky Monkey
· Beetle
· Beetle Juice
· Cat in the Hat
· Rufus
· Charles
· Steely Dan
· Blavod

There was :
· Black Beauty
· Mr. Wiggles
· The icegields Flyer
· THe colonel
· Muleteer
· Almost Vintage
· lil’ lugger
· Herc
· The Iron Lama
· Black Capsule
· Green Man Machine
· Gorilla
· The Black Canary
· The Merry Crankster
· Thumper
· Smudge
· The Black Duck

Elaine had a few:
· Black Beauty
· The Hauler
· Cargotronic
· The Hornet
· Frankenstein
· and she calls her X the behemoth

Rounding out the submissions were:
· The Black Station
· Black Magic
· Igor
· Adrastea - Greek goddess whose name means “unyielding”

As you see, there are some excellent names beyond what I've chosen. With my mind drawing a blank when it came to naming my Xtracycle V3.0, I'm so glad there are others, who can be creative at will.

Again, thank everyone for your input!

Cheers.

Studs on the Xtra

Last night I made a little time to install the studded tires on the Xtra. I wasn’t necessarily going to run studded tires on the soon to be named Xtra, but with all of the snow we’ve recently received, and the fact that the roads and sidewalks is pretty much solid ice, I needed something with studs. Either that or drive........ Yesterdays ride on the KM proved this. 3 wipe outs on the way home for lunch. 2 on a busy road. Not my idea of a risk worth taking. Also, seeing as the only set of studded tires I’ve got are 26”, and the only 26” bike I’ve got is the Xtra, I didn’t really have much of a choice. The studded tires that I run are Schwable Snow Studs. I don’t think they make these tires anymore. I think they’ve been replaced by the Schwable Marathon Winter. I do like these Snow Studs I have though. While they’re not aggressively studded, they do offer that extra little bit of bite that aids in keeping the bike vertical. I’ve been eyeing up the Nokian 29er 294, with its 294 studs. Those on the single speed Karate Monkey would make for a very well planted bike on the winter roads around Strathmore. However, I think that once the ice is gone, the studs would wear down really quickly. At least the ones in the center band of the tire. One thing I really like about the Snow Stud is that I can pump them up to 65PSI, and the studs are clear of the road. Obviously cornering will bring them into contact, but you just have to remember not to corner very fast. Last night, I put 35PSI in them, and that lets the center of the tire flatten out, and brings the studs nicely down to the icy surface. Where these Snow Studs really shine is when everything starts to melt. Slush and slop pose no issues for these tires. The tread pattern sheds slush, snow and mud like crazy. I’ve never seen a tire as good at shedding mud as the Snow Stud.

After a season away from the studded tires, you forget how big of a difference the do make. Especially after abandoning my bike ride back to work after lunch yesterday I really notice the difference. If you think you may benefit from running studded tires on your bike, I’d say give them a go. You’ll be amazed at how much it helps. With the current conditions that I’m commuting in right now, I’d say that I couldn’t ride my bike to work safely without studded tires.

(This is the way home for lunch today. Warmed up to a balmy -16C!)

Now……..I’m seriously second guessing my decision not to buy a set for the Karate Monkey……

First Blizzard of the season!

Weekend blizzard fun. Neighbors having to clear my front door so I could get out of my house, shoveling 5 foot drifts behind my truck with a quad, and spending 3 solid hours clearing a 7 foot drift that built up against my garage door. Ah, what fun. Such is the life in Southern Alberta in the winter. Many plans cancelled, and happily opt to just stay inside, consuming copious amounts of coffee and hot chocolate while in pajama pants and watching movies with the kids. Sometimes, unplanned weekends are better than anything we could have planned.

Riding to work this morning was interesting. -27C (-17F) when I headed out the door. Still most of the sidewalks were covered, so I was forced to share the narrow paths between drifts on the roads. Even my back-routes were complete drifted, to the point that it would be carrying the bike through waist deep snow. I figured it’d be better to risk the ice, and take it easy, that to get to work sweating like a stuck guy on a bike. Biffed it once at a low speed. Two footed landing though, no harm done.

It’s amazing how weird your bike sounds when riding in this kind of cold. Tires on the snow are deafeningly loud, and brakes make noises that I’ve never heard before. Cranks creak when you wax on them, and I think I could hear the KM frame complaining. While it was cold, it was a good. Sure beats starting up my truck, letting it warm up for 30 minutes, riding in it even though it hasn’t really warmed up inside, and then doing it all over again. Thanks, but I’ll just get a quick fresh blast of wintery goodness, and then enjoy the sweet feeling of appendages unthawing after the journey. If you’ve experience such sensations, you’re really missing out! Regardless of the weather, ride yer bike!

Cheers.

Contest: First Ever

Update: Hey everyone, thanks so much for the great names that have come in. The response has been overwhelming. So many great names, I wish I had more bikes. I'm going to leave this open until mid next week. At that time we'll close the idea box and make I'll make my choice and announce it here. I'll also list all the names that came in. Obviously the winner will be contacted and I will gather necessary information to get the prize shipped off. Again, thanks so much for the response. The creativity of the names blows my mind. Cheers.

First ever contest for Jerome’s Bike Blog! Oh boy, this is big. I'm looking to find a name for my Xtracycle version 3.0, and nothing has come to me. When this bike was posted on the Xtracycle gallery, it was mentioned that I was looking for a name. That generated 2 responses. Now, maybe with a little more at stake, I might just get some ideas.

You can have your choice of 1 of 3 brand new SIGG water bottles. One is the classic Swiss Logo Sigg. One is the new “wide mouth” Sigg, and one is the sports bottle. You get your choice of one of these bottles, and I will mail it to you, anywhere in the continental US and Canada.

So, give me your ideas of what you think this bike should be named. I’ll choose the winner based on which one strikes a cord with me, and that name will become the name of my Xtra V3.0.

So far, I’ve been given:

· “Yellow-horned something”
· Honker

So, submit something that would be welled suited as a bicycle name, and enter for a chance to with a Sigg. Sweet.

Send your entries to : jeromebikeATgmailDOTcom

Cheers.