Santa Claus Is Coming To...help clean up, hopefully

   I just finished cleaning up my shop from a visit of about a dozen children yesterday. I organize an athletics group for homeschoolers, in which we do the common team sports, but also hikes and, of course, bike rides. We usually take a break after Thanksgiving through the holidays, but I had an idea to have a “Christmas Pub Party” to play darts, table hockey and karoms, with beer (of the root variety), other sodas and snacks. I figured we usually get right into our sporting event when we gather, and it would be nice to simply socialize for a change.

   I assumed that the basement would be the “safest” place for a bunch of young children with drinks and snacks being carried around while playing games, with a cement floor that’s easy to sweep and/or rinse off. I spent the weekend decorating and setting up, being sure to move and conceal all of my tools, etc. - away from little curious hands. I also hooked up some speakers downstairs so we could have some holiday tunes to accompany the fun. Everyone had a great time and was well-behaved, but I had definitely made the correct choice for location – what a mess kids can make!

   I always end up laughing at my attempts to “keep things simple”, as far as food goes, at such parties. I will buy plenty of chips and pretzels, and without me even suggesting they do anything, guests will always bring something (for which I am grateful, don’t get me wrong) that is obviously better than what I had provided. I will end up having plenty of my snacks left over for days afterward. Luckily I can usually avoid eating them with the voracious appetites of my two boys helping the junk food to disappear!

   Carrick and I had fun riding into Philadelphia last week, although he wouldn’t listen to my advice about dressing warmly. I understand that he didn’t want to have to carry anything if he was warm and wanted to peel something off, but personally I’d rather sweat a little than risk shivering all through a long ride! While it was a beautiful day with sun, it was only in the low 50s. The Wissahickon Trail is also mostly in a shadowy ravine, and the wind picked up along the Schuylkill River in the early afternoon. To his credit, he didn’t complain about getting chilly until we were about ¾ finished, but I could tell he was making a real effort not to show me his discomfort. No kid EVER wants to admit he was wrong to his parent!

   I don’t remember the Wissahickon Trail being so rough the last time we rode there, maybe four years ago. However, that trip we were on mountain bikes, which probably rode more softly with their suspension than did the cyclocross bikes we took this time around. Carrick’s old Schwinn badly needed the derailleur tension adjusted to take up some of the slack in his chain. He was having trouble with inadvertent shifting caused by the chain jumping on and off the chainrings due to the bouncing on the poor trail surface.

   He enjoyed the flat paved surface of the Schuylkill Trail into Philadelphia, and often sprinted past me to show he had some “pop” in his legs. I would playfully ease up alongside him while he was panting and calmly ask, “Yeah, but how long can you hold that speed?” He has ridden with me long enough that he is an expert at not being impressed by his Dad’s ability, but he is also smart enough never to mention the word “old” whenever we exercise together!

   Since I will probably be taking a break from writing until the New Year, I wanted to give a little Christmas gift of some of my favorite cycling links (besides the ones regularly listed at the bottom of the page):

Map My Ride - an invaluable resource for recording your workouts and finding

                          new routes plotted by fellow cyclists in your area

BikePedia -  the bicycle industry encyclopedia, containing over 200,000

                      components, accessories, etc.,  including complete bicycle

                      specifications dating back to 1993!

Park Tool Co. - simply the best bicycle repair toolmaker in the business; even if

                           you don’t buy directly from their site, you can use it as a guide

                           before you search eBay or Amazon for the tool you need

Sheldon Brown.com - Don’t be thrown by the late Sheldon Brown’s kooky looks,

                                       this is an outstanding site to answer any and every

                                       question you have about bicycle repair and

                                       maintenance, developed along with Harris Cyclery

                                       in West Newton, MA (of which Sheldon was parts

                                       manager, webmaster and technical consultant).

GrahamWatson.com - The world’s best cycling photographer has hundreds of

                                      photos available in his online gallery, contemporary and

                                      vintage (my favorite) subjects. If you are looking for a

                                      very special gift for your cycling nut, this may be the place

                                      to find it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS  (or whatever holiday you celebrate)

     and Happy New Year to everyone!

Fin de la saison?

   Because I planned to throw a little more French at you, I felt that I should add an appropriate title, in this case translated as "End of the season?" In an attempt to remove some of the guilt of Thanksgiving indulgence the last couple of days, and also take advantage of this unbelievably mild weather, Sue and I decided to do one big "final" ride into Philadelphia (that's not Rome or Athens in the picture above) this afternoon. The weather forecast predicts a sharp drop in temperature next week, so I don't anticipate getting many more breaks like we have had the last couple days.
   In the last blog entry I talked about my transformation into a puncheur, one who excels at short, steep climbs. However, during this ride I was acting more of the rouleur, a rider who can go a long period of time over level terrain at a consistently high effort. These are the guys who drive the peleton, keeping the pace high while the team leaders tuck in safely behind, saving energy. Not that Sue rides at a pedestrian pace, but I get a far better workout when I am riding at the front, and it does help her to not have to fight the wind the whole way.
   We started at Betzwood Park and rode the Schuylkill River Trail into the city. Saturdays are a bit annoying with so many people on the trail to weave around (Do you have to walk three across?), but if you give enough warning, it's not too bad. Sue usually hates the trail detour through the hilly Manayunk area, not to mention the traffic in the town's tight streets, but the Christmas decorations, which are definitely not a normal sight during our bike rides, helped to ease her pain!
   What really annoys me are the poseurs out for one last hurrah on the roads with their expensive looking clothes and equipment, bobbing and weaving all over the place on the trail or road. Understand that I am always glad to see anyone out on a bicycle instead of sitting around on the couch watching TV, but I don't like being passed by people of obvious lesser ability, particularly when they aren't doing so safely. Believe me, there are plenty of club riders who blow by me and make me feel like I'm going backwards, but they usually give a quick "On your left" or "Passing" - I know that I can't hang with them, and I've (slowly) come to accept that, but at least they're courteous! 
   I also know that sometimes it is a matter of a cyclist riding a much shorter distance than I have and that they just have more left in the tank, and I have no problem with that. However, the guys who sprint by Sue and me, and then run out of gas a hundred yards or so in front of us, drive me crazy. It never fails that when we reel these bozos back in, there will be a jogger, a parent riding along with their child or someone walking a dog coming the other way, so that we have to slow as we pass them back, completely ruining our pacing. 
   One particular poseur magnifiques, all decked out in his pro cycling kit, cut between us at a bad intersection in Manayunk, causing Sue to come to an abrupt stop, made worse by the perilous clipless pedal exit/entrance in traffic. He passed me when I slowed to look back to make sure she was still safely following, and she was, with plenty of head shaking and soft cursing. Moments later we were passing him on a slight incline, and we struggled to keep our composure while (somewhat) politely advising him to ride less agressively. My wife and I would rather arrive home in one piece after our workouts!
   Sue has been swimming regularly in the mornings before work, since it gets dark earlier and doesn't leave her with time to ride afterwards. She was a competitive swimmer and is considering trying some triathlons of the shorter, sprint variety next year. Although no one would accuse her of being a gifted runner (she actually HATES to do it), she should be able to make up for it with her strength in the other two disciplines. She has been reading a lot about "tri" training and has a schedule all planned out for the spring.

   Carrick and I had planned to do a ride into Philadelphia last week, although not the 45-miler that Sue and I regularly take on. Unfortunately he has had a bad cold, so I promised we'd try to squeeze it in when he recovers. I purchased some cyclocross tires for him to put on an extra set of wheels I had in the shop, and we'll slap those on his bike to ride the Wissahickon Trail. Our route will be just over twenty miles long and will start just west of Chestnut Hill. We'll ride on the crushed stone surface of Forbidden Drive, so named because in the 1920s cars were banned from it, down through the ravine of Wissahickon Creek. The scenery is beautiful, and the park includes many interesting old homes owned by notable locals, and the famous Valley Green Inn.

   We'll connect with Fairmount Park at Wissahickon Falls to follow part of the route Sue and I ride along Kelly Drive and around the Philadelphia Art Museum. After riding up the new trail extension into the city, we'll loop back and return via West River Drive to cross back over the Schuylkill at Falls Bridge. I know Carrick won't enjoy riding up the ravine quite as much, but it isn't a difficult grade. I'm hoping to have something interesting to write about from that trip, but keeping in mind the ride includes my sometimes wreckless son, maybe no news would be good news!

Turning Back Time

   Most of us have pondered the possibility of going back to our teenage years with the knowledge that we have now. A couple days ago I was discussing with a fellow cyclist how turning back the clock just ten or fifteen years would allow me to make better use of what I’ve learned about riding my bike and how to take care of my body. Over the last couple of years I’ve noticed how my legs and upper body have changed, partly because of the loss of some muscle mass as I get older, but mostly due to the type of cycling and offseason training I practice each year.

   I grew up playing baseball and football and ran track, constantly being in the weight room to develop muscles and maintain my sprinter’s legs. Later into my adulthood I played ice hockey and kept a similar workout routine, although much less intense without all the coaches around! I took up cycling seriously in college, mainly because it was better for my worn out knees, but also because it used the same leg muscle groups as skating.

   My rides back then used to be fairly short, maybe only 10-15 miles, and as flat as I could find. I used to make a habit of finishing every ride with a flat-out sprint near home – oh, the need for speed! Any hills I encountered along my regular routes involved a slow-drag pedaling, thigh-burning survival exercise from which I would recover slowly as my ride continued. When we moved to the very hilly Schuylkill Valley, I complained for years about how I missed the gently graded farmland areas of Pennsylvania in which I had lived previously.

   To illustrate my point about the nature of the Valley’s topography, there are FOUR different Ridge Pike/Roads within 14 miles of Royersford. Each one involves some nasty, steep climb of misery somewhere along its route! Unfortunately some of my favorite places to ride are either over or actually along the top of said “ridges”, and avoiding them all would leave my selection of routes around here very small and ultimately very boring.

  I've always had a cycling body more like that of a sprinter, and I learned years ago that all that muscle was just added weight to drag up these hills. I no longer play league hockey, so needing the strength to fight off defenders isn’t an issue. As a result, weightlifting has become merely an alternative exercise when trapped indoors during the winter. However, I now use lower weight with higher repetitions, so as to not build muscle mass. That said, it still takes a tremendous amount of time to shed muscle naturally, and changing my riding style has had more of an effect in that regard.

   My regular routes are now two or three times longer than they used to be, and I concentrate on spinning a consistent pedal stroke. I wouldn’t say I actively seek out hills, but they certainly can’t be avoided around here. I now attack slopes, getting out of the saddle more often and focusing on maintaining a comfortable tempo. I’ve never been big on the heart rate monitors and such, but I’ve learned to focus on my breathing and have a good idea of the pace I can maintain without “popping”. I find that even though I’m riding longer, I have an average speed as fast as or faster than before, mainly because I’m riding the hills at a quicker pace.

   I know I’ll never have the sub-150 pound body of mountain goats like Alberto Contador or Andy Schleck, and at my height, I think I’d look rather sickly. Besides, it’s not like I have to tackle peaks like those in the Alps or Rockies around here in Royersford. I see myself more in the mold of what the Euros call a puncheur, one whose body type allows him to excel in rolling terrain with short steep climbs of about a mile or so. This would be ideal in the Schuylkill Valley and when facing the inclines around the nearby Perkiomen and Skippack Creeks.

Now if I could just hook up with a genie to get me back to 1990 (I’m not greedy) – with my cycling brain intact!

Indian Summer...or Autumn...or Winter

   It seems that every year I am uttering the phrase, “I’ve never ridden this far into (insert month)”, but it’s getting to the point that I’m not sure what month that will be this year. I certainly would not consider myself a cold weather cyclist, having painful paperboy memories of finger-numbing, early winter mornings on the bike with windburned cheeks and watering eyes that produced frozen tears on my face. I also find that once the first snow falls the roadsides are pretty much wrecked with cinders that, if I’m not getting pelted with from passing cars, cause punctures or dangerous wheel slip when making turns.  

   Each year as the warmer temps start to disappear, I begin to lament how I am in such good form and that all my training will soon be going to waste. Until I invested in a good windtrainer on which to keep in reasonable shape over the winter I used to just pack away the bike and suffer the consequences of starting from scratch each spring. About a decade ago, October used to signal the end of my cycling season with maybe an occasional mountain bike ride, but now I’m wondering if I’ll be on the roads this year humming Christmas tunes. That might drive me crazy - I hate it when I get a song in my head when riding!

   I realize that this extended spell of mild autumn weather may have been brought about by the Greenhouse Effect, and as a conscientious Earthling I am concerned about some of the potentially catastrophic changes to our planet that it causes, but I’ll admit that I’m guilty of enjoying the extended cycling season. I used to be a strictly cold weather person, mainly because I don’t like the brutally humid summers we have in Pennsylvania, but also because I so much enjoy the holidays and winter sports, particularly when I can find a frozen pond on which to play hockey with my boys. I also have chronic sinus issues that just respond better to the cold, dry winter air that has the added benefit of lacking pollen!
 

   I’ve found November to be a fantastic time to ride, although it takes the leg muscles a bit longer to warm up and feel like they are functioning properly. It is an understatement to say that I don’t miss the sweatbox-like conditions of the summer that leave you completely dehydrated. In fact, except for the moments when my throat is a bit dry, I have to constantly remind myself to drink when out for a spin. I often laugh to find my bottle half-full when I return from a ride, with a refreshingly cool drink inside – definitely not the result in the summer!

   There are also some wonderful aesthetic elements to an autumn ride, if you can avoid the intermittent clumps of dangerous wet leaves or the cough-inducing cloud produced when folks are burning them. I have to admit that I do enjoy the (light) smell of a wood-burning fireplace that hangs in the air when it gets chilly. I also love shadows of the leafless trees and the incredible orange color of the low sunlight in the late afternoons - although that may be caused by pollution, but I’ll choose to ignore that nasty fact.

   A benefit of riding among the bare trees is that I can see much more of my surroundings, such as the creeks and rocky hillsides so common to my regular routes. I can also view the beautiful farms and other architecturally interesting houses that are normally obscured by foliage. Seeing chipmunks, squirrels and even the occasional deer running through the woods is also pleasant, as long as they aren’t crossing the road in front of me!

    I’ve also seen plenty of people out working on their property, not just raking but taking care of all types of maintenance projects. Perhaps they’ve procrastinated, but with the unbearably hot, then incredibly damp weather we had this summer, maybe the autumn was the best option for getting the work done. They often yell out a hello and a “How ‘bout this weather?”, knowing that a two-wheeled visitor is pretty rare this late in the year. Some hunters even popped out of the woods yesterday to provide some directions when a detour forced me off course, and a VERY steep hill prevented me from wanting to backtrack!

   By this time of the year I have usually turned to strictly mountain bike riding, taking advantage of the slower speed and tree cover that slows the biting wintery winds, but I think I’ve waited too long. Leaves on some of the area’s mountain bike trails render them useless, mainly because of the loss of traction, but also because their routes become completely camouflaged. Guess this means I have to stick to my ‘cross bike on some of the better-marked rail trails or, dare to dream, stay out on the road.

Schuylkill-Thun Trail Highs and Lows

   During these cooler autumn days I have been putting plenty of miles on my repainted Motobécane, the reason I started this blog. One of my favorite rides has been along the river on the Schuylkill-Thun Trail west from Pottstown to Reading and back. I have previously explained my love of railroads and how I enjoy combining my rides with exploring some of the former railroad lines around the country.

   I understand that reclaiming some of this land decades after it has been abandoned by the railroads can be tricky, and often involves some inconvenience when trying to re-route the trails. However, I don't feel putting cyclists in danger is necessary when making these adjustments, and I felt compelled to bring such a situation to the Schuylkill Trail organization with the letter below:

 I immediately want to point out how much I enjoy the Schuylkill -Thun Trail and believe it is a wonderful asset to the region in the way it promotes healthy lifestyles and advertises the natural beauty of our area. I also believe the trail to be a great alternative mode of transportation in our ever-increasingly congested highway corridor between Reading and Philadelphia. I am an avid cyclist who rides two thousand miles a year on the roads and trails in our area, and I feel that I have a good amount of pedaling experience from which to draw upon, both positive and negative.

   I want to bring your attention to a very poor situation where the Schuylkill-Thun Trail crosses over Route 724, just east of the intersection with Main Street, near the town of Monacacy Station. Because of the height of the trail with the respect to the road at this location, I assume the former Pennsylvania Railroad line had a bridge crossing the road here decades ago. I understand re-installing a bridge for the trail would have been costly, but I believe the steep approaches that now lead to the road crossing are a major problem.

   With all of the riding I do, I consider myself to be in excellent shape, yet I still find it very difficult to ride up these short, steep grades. I can’t imagine how the casual cyclist deals with them! More important, however, is the danger coming down these short, steep slopes into the busy crossing with Route 724, particularly with sight lines to the east being very bad. Cars routinely come around the westbound curve leading to the trail crossing at 50 mph, and I doubt they would have opportunity to stop if someone surprised them by coming down across the road.

   Having plenty of experience with bicycle repair and maintenance, I help many of my friends and neighbors to keep their bikes running in proper working order. I have seen the condition of the average person’s brakes and I am concerned that with the steepness of the approaches to the grade crossing at Route 724, that someone is going to be unable to stop and will end up being hit by a vehicle. I keep my bicycle working at an optimum performance level, and I am always surprised by the effort I have to make to come to a complete stop, in control on this decent without locking up the wheels.

   I understand there would be cost to consider for any answer to this problem, but what price should be put on preventing a severe injury or death? I know there would be height issues involved for a bridge to be re-installed over the road, but perhaps a simpler and less costly solution would be to lessen the severity of the grade. The abrupt decent is just too steep, even for someone to dismount and walk the bike safely down, and the washout of debris down the slope occasionally creates slippery cinder piles as well. I can’t imagine some of our older riders negotiating such movement easily, and I also don’t like to think about very small children attempting this maneuver when their parents will have the own bikes to handle.

   I think a very appropriate and necessary step, at least in the short term, is warning signs in both directions for cyclists approaching the crossing to the steep descent.  I have to admit that I am not familiar with the road markings in that area, but I assume there are signs warning drivers to the trail crossing; however, I’ve seen the speed at which drivers are passing by, and they aren’t getting the message!

   If someone is needed to help spread the word and gain support for funding a project to solve this problem, please feel free to contact me. I intend to use the Schuylkill-Thun Trails often in future years and want to help improve and make it safer for everyone to enjoy.

Over the Hills and Far Away

The information from this blog series on the trips my father and I took to complete the 333-mile journey from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh, PA, has been published in a book:

Please click HERE! If you order a physical copy, I’d be happy to sign it, and you can bring along your bike for a free inspection!

The Evils of "Bike Porn"

   During these foul weather days when it’s cooler upstairs, I’ve been trying to finish up the third floor renovations so that I have a semi-permanent spot to set up the windtrainer this winter. I'm also hoping to be able to start some new construction in the model railroad half of the room. Dismantling the old layout that used to encircle the room freed up a lot of wall space, and I was able to find some cool vintage/repro posters that will add atmosphere to the room’s “cycling side”. I had a really good idea what I was looking for, and a quick search through Amazon and Ebay yielded fairly quick results (other than awaiting the end of an auction or two), but one can really waste some time searching through anything and everything out there related to riding a bicycle.

  

A couple of my poster choices

   I'm not sure if she was the first to coin the phrase “bike porn”, but my sister-in-law was the first person I heard use it when she caught her husband surfing the internet late one night...for bicycle parts. He had ridden a lot when he was younger, and had a beautiful Ciocc (pronounced chee-ōch) bicycle that had been hanging idly in his garage for too long. Wanting to lose some weight, he hit the roads again and eventually wanted to upgrade his vintage machine with some modern parts.

   Now, any of us spokeheads know this is a symptom of an oncoming disease, with the variety of internet shopping sites that are available to get hooked on. Sure, there are plenty of perfectly good reasons to shop online, particularly when I am repairing someone’s bicycle and need replacement parts. However, Performance, Nashbar, JensonUSA, and Bike Tires Direct (they’re not only tires) are just a few of the spots that I have found myself wasting away the hours, drooling over page after page of catalog items that are way out of my usual price range.
   Luckily, many of my parents’ life lessons have rubbed off on me, and I don’t make unreasonable purchases, but shiny objects and bright colors still have that hypnotic factor! My wife’s affinity for yard sale haggling, which she caught from her fantastic grandmother, has also been an influence on my purchasing, but those hidden treasures are harder to find these days with folks being more aware of vintage value. Swapping and upgrading are habit-forming alternatives - you find someone willing to purchase an older part at a price which makes buying a new one much less painful. Oh, the magic of eBay!
   Cycling apparel, I have to admit, is my real weakness. I have a sizeable collection of jerseys, but I use them regularly. Certainly they go through more wear than any old T-shirt I have in the drawer, so I feel somewhat justified in having a selection to choose from. My favorite offseason bikewear is the old-school trainer jackets, which are warm and comfortable in our old, drafty house during the winter. I may not ride as smoothly as Merckx and Moser, but I can try to look as smooth off the bike!

   I haven't even started on cycling books, videos and collectibles - WARNING: stay away from World Cycling Productions! They have an unbelievable selection of race films and books, as well as clothes and other memorabilia. I’ll occasionally find something irresistible on their site, but I’m wise enough to search carefully for the lowest price elsewhere.
   I’ve become somewhat addicted to the History Channel's American Pickers show, which turned me on to the Motobécane bicycle, and now I am looking for some vintage cycling signs to dress up my shop area downstairs. Luckily, the limited amount of usable wall space in the basement puts a natural cap on my purchases. I like the old stuff, but it is hard to find and pricey – not a good combination, unless, like me, you are very patient and have tight purse strings.

TRAINing Indoors and Outdoors

   In an earlier posting I had mentioned being able to take advantage of my “hobby crossover” with model railroading when applying the waterslide decals onto my repainted Mirage. I have been a fan of railroads, models and the real thing, for quite a while, and have found an amazing number of ways that cycling has allowed me to enjoy railfanning.
   The number of rail trails that have been developed, particularly here in the Northeast, have allowed me to explore lines that had once hosted countless freight and passenger trains but now lie dormant. I can only imagine the huge steam or diesel engines rolling by, but at least now I have the chance to ride the routes they travelled on my bicycle. The rails are long gone, but I’m often excited to find remnants like signal towers or mile markers left by the trailside. 

   This summer Sue and I took a ride across the spectacular Walkway Across the Hudson, which was a former New Haven Railroad bridge high over the river at Poughkeepsie, NY. All along the bridge approaches to the west were reminders of the railroad past, including a couple cabooses on small sections of track. A few weeks ago I rode with some family members through the Lehigh Valley Gorge on what was once the railbed for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Several of the former railroad bridges have been converted for trail use, and a parallel rail line is still active, providing some excitement with the occasional passing train.

The Poughkeepsie Bridge, when trains still used it to cross the Hudson River

   If we ever get out of this string of hurricanes/tropical storms, my father and I are planning a week-long trip from south-central Pennsylvania to Washington D.C. On our approximately 180 mile trip, we will start on the Great Appalachian Passage Trail, which was once the Western Maryland Railroad. Crossing over several spectacular bridges and through a couple long tunnels, we will eventually connect with the C&O Canal towpath at Cumberland, MD. While only mules used this part of our route, we will always be within site of the former Chesapeake & Ohio rail line (still active) on the other side of the Potomac.

   Because of my interest in architecture (my original college major), a secondary rail-related hobby of mine is “station collecting”, which involves a visit and a photo. It started with the major city structures like Grand Central in NYC, 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, or any of the Union Stations in St. Louis, Chicago or Washington, but evolved to include even the tiniest of rural depots I’ve found in our travels. I now have nearly 500 photos, and I found that a great way to find these smaller structures is by bicycle, including a little pre-planning of the route with online maps and help from the Railroad Station Historical Society website, which often provides exact addresses.

The Great Allegheny Passage Trail ends near the beautiful Cumberland Station, which houses the C&O Canal Museum in its ground floor

   I often have the opportunity to explore during family vacations. One memorable trip was a hilly 50 mile loop around the Letchworth State Park area of New York, finding former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (one of the railroads I model) stations. Another was a much flatter 35 mile ride around the Finger Lakes area, and included buildings from the Lehigh Valley (my other modeling interest) and New York Central Railroads. During our big cross-country trip in 2006, I found over 90 structures, mostly by accident because the highways follow the railroads so closely out west!
    My hobby crossover will be most evident in my third floor room – I hesitate to call it a “man cave” because, besides that being a really annoying term, everyone in my family can use it, particularly the two cycling addicts. Last year when I tired of lugging my bike out of the basement every time I wanted a winter workout, I was looking for a place to set up the windtrainer on a more permanent basis. I also wanted space to set up a TV or laptop in order to provide distraction from grinding away the monotonous miles indoors.
   On our third floor I had somewhat of a monster train layout that was a bit of a chore to maintain. I also came to the conclusion that since my boys were growing up and showed little enthusiasm in operating the layout anymore, downsizing it to something more focused with better performance for one or two people would give me the space I needed to set up the windtrainer.

In this scene from my old layout, a cyclist sprints across the Ridge Road Bridge that crosses the railroad tracks in Lackawanna, NY, just south of Buffalo.

   An added bonus to the layout makeover was that I also downsized my model railroad collection and had a nice amount of money to cover the improvements I wanted to make to the room itself. I had some track lighting installed to better illuminate the new layout when it is completed. I also found the hardwood floors to be in decent condition, so the nasty wall-to-wall carpet will be replaced with some nice rugs, but right now it serves as a "dropcloth" while I paint.
 
   I also looked into decorating the cycling side of the room with some vintage posters, but that leads me into the subject matter for my next blog post, so stay tuned.

Ready To Roll

This evening I put the finishing touches on the Motobécane Mirage restoration. I began by cutting the housings for the brake and derailleur cables. I saved and labeled the old sections of housing so that I could easily cut each new piece to size and install them in the correct spots. Routing the brake cables was a bit tricky because I replaced the old brake levers that had the cables coming out of the top of the hoods with modern levers that route the cables under the handlebar tape. I hated having all those cables in my face.

The front derailleur is a bit bizarre in that you pull back the lefthand lever to switch down to the smaller chainring, as opposed to the traditional pull and shift to the big ring. It appears to operate as a top pull derailleur like you can find on some mountain bikes, except the cable routing is from the bottom, so there really is no alternative but to operate in the reverse. Sacré bleu!

I had actually adjusted both derailleurs yesterday morning so that all I had to do was route cables and tighten them down. The cables will stretch after a few long rides, so I know I'm in for some future tweaking.

Next came setting up the brakes, which often makes you wish you had a third hand, particularly when you're dealing with the center-pull variety of brakes that are on the Mirage. Carrick actually came up with the idea to use a small clamp to hold the calipers together as you pull the cable and tighten it. I found if you clamp down onto the rims and tighten the cable, when you squeeze the brakes very tightly, the new cable usually stretches to just about the right position.

The last two steps were wrapping the handlebars and installing the cycle computer components. A mechanic friend gave me the advice to always wrap the bars from the bottom of the bars and go over the top towards you as you work up to the stem. Wrapping this direction will actually have your grip tightening the tape while you ride, an obvious advantage to keeping your bar work in place.

I purchased a couple extra sensors and transmitters so that I could install them on each of my different bikes and just swap out the display/monitor (whatever you want to call it) when I change machines. I have the numbers for the different wheel circumferences handy in order to get the correct milage for the respective bicycles.

Tomorrow I plan on taking my first real spin on the Mirage, after some seat height adjustments, etc. This brings my repaint project to a close, but I hope to check in occasionally with updates on cycling trips and, of course, tales from the repair shop. 

Looks Like...A Bike!

Things are coming together nicely in between breaks to watch the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) and putting some stuff together for the new school year. The cables and housing for the brakes and derailleurs, along with some tape for the handlebars is all that remains to make the Mirage roadworthy. Reassembly is going smoothly, partly because I know what I'm doing, but also thanks to some helpful notes I took while taking the bike apart.

After installing the saddle bracket the other night, I took a measurement from my Trek road bike of the distance from the center of the bottom bracket (where the pedal axle goes through the frame) to the top of the saddle. This would give me a great starting point to find the correct riding position on the Mirage, but it will probably need some adjustment when I am actually able to sit down and pedal.

Yesterday morning I started with the headset by lubricating the bearing rings and inserting the fork steering tube. I found out the screws for the badge poked out a bit too far, so I clipped the points off to give the steering tube room to pivot. After making sure there was no play in the fork, I cinched down the lock rings with the bracket for the center pull brakes between them.

I then fit the mount for the headset derailleur levers onto the stem and inserted the bar assembly into the steering tube. I may have to fine tune the height and centering of the bars, but I started off with the top of the bars level with the seat. I climbed back on the chair to look down to see if everything was centered.

I greased the bearing rings for the bottom bracket and pushed them through the bottom bracket along with the pedal axle. I carefully threaded the adjustable bearing cup and tightened it to remove any play in the axle horizontally and vertically before securing the lockring. The pedals and crankset installation were simple but "old school unusual", with cotter pins that you insert through the side of the crankarm into a flat slot on each side of the pedal axle. The pins wedge into place and have a nut to secure them tightly.

I was a bit uptight about attaching the front derailleur because it involved clamping onto my newly-painted frame, but I was careful to spot it in the correct location. I made sure it was just a couple millimeters above the large chainring and parallel to it, so that I wouldn't have to damage the paint by having to move the clamp after it was tightened the first time. The rear derailleur was only a matter of securing a bolt in the rear drops. I finished up the drive train by reinstalling the chain.

After attaching the front and rear brake assemblies, along with some new brake pads, I completed the day's work by putting on the wheels. At last the bicycle is looking close to hitting the trails!

Great To Be Indoors

   I'm so glad that I was able to finish up all of the chrome work yesterday, because I might have to build the bike on an ark. I think the last time I saw such rain was back in college when a tropical storm came through campus. Son Carrick ran from the porch to the front sidewalk and back, about 15 feet, and looked like he had jumped in the neighbor's pool!

   Before I started the last few paint steps, I decided to sand the lugs as smooth as possible. I then put on a coat of Dupli-Color primer because I wanted all common paint products - hopefully eliminating all possible variables with conflicting ingredients in different paint brands. I sanded the first coat, cleaned the dust from the frame, then sprayed another coat of primer.   

   The next step was a couple coats of glossy black, which was recommended by an autobody specialist online. The Dupli-Color chrome paint was next, and I couldn't have been happier with the look!

   Taking off the masking turned out to be quite messy, because the silver paint just flaked off the tape in tiny particles that went everywhere. I looked like I was going to audition as a Vegas showgirl when I was finished! The only real problem occurred when the tape pulled up the clear coat from the red headtube. Only the red - I don't know why. I decided that instead of redoing all of the masking on that part and repainting, that I would just carefully peel off the remaining clearcoat and leave it as is. The red is glossy, and I just applied the clear for extra protection. That small surface should be no problem anyway.

   I now have the frame on the wall clamp, ready for reassembly. I wanted to reattach the headtube badge first, and I remembered that I had drilled out the rivets in order to remove it. I now had to search for some small screws to put it back on - going through Sears Hardware's selection of boxes was a real puzzle. I finally found some that were the right diameter and short enough so that they wouldn't extend too far into the headtube and interfere with the fork steering tube when it is inserted.

   I also found out that I would have to pay for being a nice guy. During a recent repair project I offered the old saddle from the Mirage to a client, whose seat was torn badly, since I bought a nice new Selle Italia to go on mine. Well I also absent-mindedly "donated" the clamp that attaches the saddle to the seatpost, leaving myself without one. I guess five bucks to buy a new clamp wasn't so bad for some positive P.R.

   I can't say the repaint project has been a lot of fun, but I'm pretty happy with the results. I know that I'm going to enjoy putting the Motobécane back together, and I'll keep you updated with my progress along the way.

Foiled Again By The Weather

This weekend I primed all of the lugs and sanded them smooth, cleaned them, then applied another coat of primer to even out the surface. The unbelievable amount of moisture that has been dropped on the Northeast in the last few days has delayed the application of the glossy black and chrome coats. I really want to do this step right, so I will be patient and wait for a clear, dry day without wind!

I received the Tour de France review issue of Cycle Sport magazine, and I found the commentary by their panel of writers very interesting. Yes, it was a more competitive tour than we've seen for a couple decades, but they argued that it may have been so because of the apparent cleaner (as in free of performance-enhancing drugs) racing environment. Riders who normally may have not been able to hang with the "superhuman" cheaters, now had an opportunity to keep up with the lead pack. Because the top contenders were so close in ability, teams were forced to try other tactics to get away, be it a one-two punch attack tried by the Schlecks or a very early surprise break tried by Alberto Contador during the final Alpine stage.

Curiously, Contador was not as dominant in this year's Tour as he was the past two. I know Contador may have been fatigued from winning the Giro d'Italia, but I think he is also distracted by the allegations of drug use. Fans and the media question his every success and see justice in his failures. I think his talk of "tainted meat" is a joke, and the way the investigation has dragged on is ridiculous. Several lesser profile cyclists were immediately suspended with less evidence against them!

I'm not a big fan of Contador, finding him a bit of a punk with his finish line/podium pistol-shot salute - NFL end zone celebrations don't belong in cycling! I didn't like that he attacked the yellow jersey wearing Andy Schleck in last year's Tour when he had a chain problem. He saw it happen and chose to break the cyclists code of sportsmanship. I absolutely HATE it that he tells the press when he concedes a victory to a breakaway companion. Why cheapen the success of a fellow cyclist with such arrogant talk? Again, trash-talk is NFL, not UCI.

Now I have to admit that one of my favorite cyclists, Alejandro Valverde, is currently serving a suspension for alleged drug use. His case dragged on, mostly because the main evidence against him was association with the wrong doctors. Like thousands of other fans, I was stunned and disappointed when I found out the truth about one of my cycling heroes. I hope he gets things turned around and comes back performing well, and clean.

I was reading a bit about cyclist David Millar and how he has turned his career around after a drug suspension. He recently wrote a dark book in which he was very revealing about everything that happened to him, and avoided making excuses. I found it amazing that one piece of evidence police found when trashing his room was a used syringe that he saved as a souvenir to remind him that he cheated to win a stage in the Tour de France! A few years ago Garmin-Cervelo gave him an opportunity to join the squad under close scrutiny. Millar's (natural) abilities helped lead them to an overall team title in this year's Tour, four stages total, including a stage two team time trial, Millar's specialty.

Cheaters do occasionally win, but we should expect them to be exposed. If they get a chance to admit their mistakes, hopefully they'll do so and encourage others to go a different route.

Bicycle Fit - Part 2

I spent several hours today masking the painted and decaled parts of my frame in preparation for the "chroming" of the lugs. I used my fingernail to press the blue painter's tape into the seams around all of the lugs, then used a new Exacto blade to cut away the overlap. The head tube curves were tricky (left photo), but the most difficult lug to mask was at the seat tube and seat stays (right). The logos on the tape are kind of distracting, causing me a few times to do a double-take when looking for errors! Painting the lugs will probably start tomorrow.

Continuing the discussion on bicycle fit, here is a chart to help you solve common snags in your quest for a proper bicycle fit:

Bike-fit Troubleshooting
Symptom	Likely Cause	Solution
You are shifting forward on the seat frequently	Stem may be too long, causing you to pull yourself forward as you ride; downward tilt of saddle nose may be excessive; saddle could be too far back  on its rails	Install a shorter stem; level the saddle and center it on the rails; move seat forward
You are shifting back on the seat frequently	Short stem may be making you feel crowded, causing you to move back; upward tilt of saddle nose may be excessive; saddle could be too far forward on its rails	Install a longer stem; level the saddle and center it on the rails; move seat back
Lower back pain	Stem may be too low or long, causing strain in back to reach bars; seat may be high, causing hips to rock when pedaling	Raise the stem/handlebars or if pain persists, install shorter stem; adjust seat height
Neck pain	May be craning neck to see because of low stem and handlebars	Raise the stem/bars
Hand pain	Stem too low, causing you to put weight on hands; saddle may be pointed down	Raise the stem/bars; level saddle
Pain in front of knee	Saddle position is low and/or too far forward, straining knees	Raise seat; moving the saddle back may be needed as well
Pain behind knee	Saddle position is high, causing over-extension of legs	Lower the saddle
Rear end numbness	Too much weight on the seat; try to slide back a little on the seat so that you feel the weight on your sit bones, not the front or center of the crotch	Lower handlebar position; check saddle height; maybe try another brand of shorts and /or seat; lose some weight (sorry)
Achilles tendon pain	Pedaling too much on your toes; feet may not be centered over the pedal because cleat is too far forward on shoe	Position cleat on shoe so that ball of the foot is over the pedal axle

Some additional tips you might find helpful:

1. So much about your riding style is affected by comfort. The most common problem is a hunched-over riding posture, when a cyclist locks the elbows and raises the shoulders. Try to relax, and every few miles shrug your shoulders and let them drop. Remember to keep those elbows bent.
2. NEVER raise any part of the bicycle too high because it can lead to failure, which you definitely do not want to happen while moving! Parts are usually marked with limit lines - heed these markings.
3. Once you’ve found the correct seat and stem height, mark them. If something slips out of place or if the bike needs to be disassembled, you’ll quickly be able to put your parts back in the right spot.
4. Place one of your pedals in the down position, parallel to the the seat tube. Measure from the top of the saddle to the center of the pedal axle and record the number. This will be very useful if you have to set up a new bike, rent or borrow one.
5. You are not as flexible early in the cycling season, and you may enjoy a higher handlebar position. As you regain flexibility, you can lower the bars to stretch out.
6. Because they generally have smaller proportions, women often require replacement parts such as narrower handlebars, shorter stems and brake levers with a shorter reach.