Sometimes, you just need a ride in the country

It's been crazy busy for me lately. Work on the photography business, work on spring projects around the house, heck, I've even been busy with work on my bicycles. Busyness isn't always a good thing. Don't get me wrong, it's good to keep active and to be 'doing' things. Sometimes though, we can too easily let ourselves get too busy, so that we don't take the time to stop, reflect, and just enjoy simple pleasures that life gives us. They are always there, it is just too seldom that we actually stop and take notice.

Tonight, I was heading out for a ride after putting the kids to bed. Now, most nights, I'll grab the Karate Monkey, and roll it out, for some crank spinning, gravel grinding exercise styled riding. But tonight, tonight I wanted something different. I wanted to just slowly poke around the country side, listen to the birds, and smell the rain in the fields.
When I left home, it was lightly raining. I looked up, and pointed my bike in a direction that looked like to might not be raining quite so much. North. Not long after heading out of town, the rain was tapering off, and the sun was shining in the distance. That was my destination.
An incredible few moments were afforded to me. The sun broke through, the road dried up, and the wildlife was out enjoying the evening with me. I saw 13 deer, 9 hawks, 2 owls and hundreds of other smaller animals. A lone coyote wandering a nearby fence line. The red-winged black birds cranking out their song. The glory that we go whipping by in our cars everyday. Tonight, it was mine to enjoy. And I so did.


Life is Good.

Alex Wetmore continues to amaze

If you've never been by Alex Wetmore's site, you need to check it out. This guy is truly gifted. But more than his giftedness, he actually does stuff. Something that I'm realizing "creative’s" seem to get in a lull about. Creative’s sometimes thing that having great ideas, or possessing great skills, somehow negates the requirement to actually go and do things. Behance network has realized this, and has coined the term, "99%". That meaning that creative success is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. I agree. Alex seems to have no trouble getting around to the 99%

photo from Alex Wetmore's site.

He has built up some amazing bicycle racks, and some great bikes. His latest that he's been working on is the Gifford. It's pretty much complete now, and man is it impressive. You can find a link to his smug mug gallery on his site and check out all of the build details. I had a chance once to buy a modified Bike Friday Tikit from Alex, and I keep wondering what that bike would have been like to have a bike that he's modified to make it better, as he saw fit.


Nice work Alex, very inspirational and I admire your craftsmanship.

Miyata is getting a new life

Willy received the Miyata 1000LT frame that I sold him. He sent me an email saying that it arrived and let me know what he had planned for the bike.

He's going to tag right into it, strip it down and powder-coat the frame.Then, he'll be building it up as a 650b.

I've been very interested in 650b bikes and I'm stoked to hear how this conversion progresses. Willy is going to send some pictures my way of the completed bike and I'll be sure to post them here.

A little on the LHT

Obviously the last picture I posted of my LHT was bone stock. Just the way I picked it up from BOW. Later that night, I did indeed install my B-17. This is the most important up grade I could make to this bike. After all, if you don't have a really comfortable saddle on the bike, what good is it to bother upgrading the rest of it.

Finally tonight, I had a chance to hang with the LHT a bit. I've got only a few miles on the bike, and haven't had any time to tweak it at all. Tonight my wife was making some flowers for a wedding cake she's doing, and after the kids were sleeping in bed, I headed out to the garage to get acquainted with the LHT.

I installed the fenders that I ended up getting with the Miyata 1000LT a while ago and I was quite surprised that they were an excellent width for the rather fattish tires on the LHT. Black, with white stripping down the center goes alright for now. The decals on the Surly are white and there are some black components, so it'll work for now. Although I would like to go silver. I'll live with the black stuff for now.

One crazy issue I had was that that lower fender/rack mount on the right hand side had not been tapped. Not a big deal, I just grabbed my tap and die set and corrected the situation to the proper 5M tap size, but I was very shocked to find that my brand new bicycle was flawed. Although when I was tapping it out, I kept thinking how glad I am that it even has provisions for fenders and a rack, as well as so many other practicalities that the LHT is known for.

No threads in there!

Also black and also from the 1000LT, is the rear rack that I installed. It's a decent rack that doesn't use those thin little metal "extensions" to mount to the top of the seat stay. No, it has the full aluminum tubes throughout. It also has a tab at the back for mounting a light, so I'll be modifying that a bit to hold a super flash.


After twisting wrenches for a while and listening to the hockey game on the radio, I decided to head out in the dark and test a LED light I've never really used. Again, not much distance was logged, but it was a very quite ride, thinking in detail about every aspect of bike fit. It was almost like I was riding with my eyes closed and just thinking about my hands. Okay, they fit well here, now my shoulders, they seem pretty good. Once I get the saddle height up a bit more they should feel better, obviously that would correct the leg extension shortage.

It was a great ride in the dark on a gravel road, just getting to know my new bike. From the little time I've spent with this bicycle, I can tell it's a great bike. The 60cm frame feels like the right one and I just can't wait to log some miles on this bike.

After handing the LHT up in it's parking spot, I noticed that I had my two favorite bicycles in one place. My ever faithful fixed gear, and my new yet to be proven LHT.

What is this?

On the right chain stay of the Miyata LT1000 touring frame (which has been sent off to Connecticut) there is this little doo-hicky braze on. What is this for? I’m assuming it has something to do with side of the road maintenance that might be more commonly done while on an extended tour, but what? If you know, please share it with me.

Just above it is this little braze on which I’m assuming is for holding your chain up while doing maintenance. Am I wrong in thinking that’s what this little ditty is for? I’ve got one of these on my LHT, so I guess it would be a good idea to know exactly what it’s for.

Cheers.

Salsa Fargo

Looks like an interesting bike doesn't it? 6 bottle braze-ons. 700 X 35 road touring tires or 29" X 2.3" off-road meats. Makes choosing a new bike harder that's for sure.

6 water bottle braze-ons and disc brakes! Wow, I like where some people in the industry are going.

Available February 2009. Hey, my birthday is in February.....

New (Used) Bike

Last Thursday I scored a nice classic. The highly reviewed Miyata 1000LT touring bike. Back in the day, this was probably one of the best stock touring bike you could buy off the shelf. Kind of wish they still made it. Splined double-butted tube set, braze-ons galore and check out those uber long chain stays. This bike screams fully loaded touring stability. Only bummer is, it’s way too small for me. But, it fits my wife quite nicely.

I’ll be going over it for the next several weeks and get everything cleaned up and tuned up.

I figured if nothing else, for the $80 I paid for it, it was worth the Shimano bar-end shifters, 600 aero brakes, and the decent 700C wheels for another project I’m collecting parts for.

All in all I think this bike should be pretty sweet once it’s all cleaned up. The nice thing with touring geometry, is that it’s also great for cruising country back roads on Sunday afternoons, and very stable. Even if not fully loaded for long trips, I think that touring bikes are a great choice if your riding is other than racing, which is the case for most people.

Buying bikes is way too fun. Even if they’re used and not for me.

Gettin all Nitto with it

I've really enjoyed my Specialized Sequoia I recently purchased from Pat. Great tube set, great geometry and the drive train and brakes are tight. I was very surprised with how great this was, being as I was buying it second hand. One always thinks things must be worn out, brakes not graby, drive train not shifty. Not the case with this ride. Everything works and feels like I think it probably did coming off the showroom floor. I bought several brand new bikes, and this one feels just as good as any of those. The only thing I've wanted to change was the stem. I think this frame is a little on the small size for me, but somehow it seems to be working out. Even if a bike looks small (based on seat post and stem extension) if it feels right, it's right. Right?
I had an old Nitto Technomic stem kickin in the parts bin for a while. Problem was it was for a 25.4 handlebar, and the other 4 decent drop bars in my parts bin were 26. Until I remembered a bike my neighbour brought over for me out of the county dump/transfer station. I also remembered that it was actually a nice vintage Nitto bar. Could it possibly be a 25.4? That would be too sweet. Too sweet it was! I was actually thinking of buying the Nitto Noodle bar which while holding in my hands were very comfy, sure they would be on the bike also. But, this one seems alright. Undamaged and in great shape.
Slap on the lovely cork tape (I've always loved the look of khaki bar tape) that Cornell gave me with the bike, and I think I'm in business. I rode it around last night for a wee little bit and this feel ridiculously comfortable. Down on the drops would be comfy for and extended period of time, riding the hoods is nice and relaxed and up on top of the bars feels a bit cruiser like, perfect for simply taking in the scenery. I might end up sliding the stem down a little, but I thought I should start out as high as possible when installing the new brake lines.
My thinking is changing a lot as I ride more. I've adopted the Rivendell philosophy of bicycle fit and I'm quite enjoying it. I'm not a racer, I don't even do club rides. Most of my riding is done on a long commute, and every now and then I'll head out for a rec ride mostly to take pictures and enjoy being outside. My bikes are starting to reflect that. I sold my Allez. Bought this steel bike, and love commuting on my recumbent. Still have a thing for fixies. That bike is very comfy too. I think that more people would cycle if there were more bikes like my sequoia available from bike shops. I really don't get a kick out of my LBS anymore and generally only make a stop there when I need a part or accessories. To find bikes more like this, it's either search classifieds to find a decent version, or roll out the doe on the Internet. Steel is real, and feels great. Just as a bike should.

Flat

Rode the Sequoia this morning. Legs flat as a Balini (inside joke from my days in Moscow) and had absolutely nothing to work with up the hills. That is, except for the granny gear. I like the down tube shifters because as pointed out by Fxdwhl, they are just hard enough to reach that it makes you think twice about shifting. Do I really need to? Can I push this gear, or spin it out until the road levels or inclines? For a fixed gear lover, down tubes are kind of nice. Even though I rode the granny a few times, and stopped for some pics, I make it in 1hr, 37 minutes. Average speed was 15mph. A lot faster than I had thought I would made it in. I was sure it was going to take me over 2hrs today.

The Sequoia is so smooth, it’s amazing. I think I need to order up a Nitto Techomic stem and while I’m at it, I’ve been eyeing a Nitto Noodle bar. I think this should make things better. Maybe it’s just that I’m spoiled from riding the Volae so much, but I really notice my neck craning to see the road ahead. My cycling cap under my helmet doesn’t help, but it sure looks good. Can’t let that go.

My lower body is dialed in on this bike; I think I just need to get those bars up a bit. I hope so. The B-17 is feeling better each time I ride it, and with about 250 miles on it, it’s nicely broken in now. Got some weird coloration going on though. I guess that part of what makes them so cool; they all look a little different over time.

Saw 9 people I know on the highways today. 3 honked and waived, the rest just waived. Passed by a whole bunch of Conklin semis hauling the rides in for Stampede, or Supide as per Vik.

Nice post by Smudgemo on commuting.

BTW: a Balini is a type of pancake that doesn't rise. Very similar to a crepe. There you go, you learned something today. Now go have fun......on your bike.

Cheers.

Specialized Sequoia

Rode my new bike to work today and I have this to say: SMOOTH! This bike rides like butter.

All the cracks, rough asphalt, and rocks seems to melt under this steed. The frame is a Double-butted cromoly touring specific tube set circa 1996. Shimano 600 drive train with a Deore rear derailleur. Sporting 700 X 32 certainly helps smooth the ride out also.

I transferred the B-17, as I'm planning on this being my main ride. The bike has been very well maintained and everything works flawlessly. The brakes have incredible grab to them, so much that I was really surprised at how well they worked.

The front and rear racks came with the bike, and I think I'll be losing the front for a while. I think running the panniers on the front and nothing on the back would slow steering needlessly.

I just squeak in on sizing with this machine. It's a 58cm frame, but from the seat post, you can tell that I would order a larger size if I were buying this bike new.

The bars are a little low, but I've got a Nitto Technomic stem that I might try out. Should certainly get the bars up a bit.

Other than a few adjustments I need to make here and there, I think this bike will be a dream ride. Certainly the most comfortable, and smooth diamond frame I've ever ridden. I'm well pleased.

Thanks Cornell, it shall be loved.