Sharing the road...

This column by Tom Eblen ran in the Lexington Herald Leader today...

If you never ride a bicycle, please stop reading this column.

That's right; move on to the next story.

I want to speak to my fellow cyclists, privately.

We all know that rural Central Kentucky is a cyclist's paradise — the gently rolling landscape, the vast web of small, lightly traveled roads and the gorgeous scenery.

In the past few years, thanks to the Newberry administration and the Urban County Council, Lexington has made a lot of progress toward becoming a more bicycle-friendly city.

Each week, it seems, I see new bike lanes on roads that need them. Several bike paths and trails are planned. It's a good thing: Each time gasoline prices spike, I see more people riding bicycles to work, to run errands and to get themselves in shape.

So what's the biggest thing holding back cyclists in Lexington? We are. Not all of us, of course, but more of us than we would like to admit.

(read more...)

I have to say that I agree. Just this morning, before I read the article, I was driving down to the donut shop (boy, that by itself is going to get me in hot water!). I saw a woman crossing the street on her bicycle. Moments later, I almost right-hooked her as I turned into the parking lot... my view of her - and judgement of her speed - was hindered by some parallel parked cars and other sidewalk obstructions.

I've also been on group club rides with riders who feel the need to shout, curse, and even "salute" drivers who weren't paying attention. It's one thing to cluster up when there's nobody in sight, but to hold up traffic only gives us a bad rap. And disregarding stop signs and stop lights (yup... seen that, too) is just dangerous.

Good article, Tom.

Name Change

Well, I've probably just lost the only two people who were reading this. I changed the URL for the blog.

It used to be http://twowheeltwindad.blogspot.com

Now it is http://biofuelengine.blogspot.com

I hesitated to change it, since it breaks links to do so, but I wanted the URL to better match the title of the blog.

Back on the horse...

(Okay, I didn't shout in this title)

A very, very good ride in this morning. Not only was it nearly perfect weather, but I was fast, and the cars were reasonably well behaved. I recall within days of getting my driver's license, I had a fender-bender at an intersection. I thought my driving days were over, but my parents made sure I was back behind the wheel the next day. They were concerned I would be "spooked." It worked. While I am as cautions and careful as I can be, it has been decades since I was fearful behind the wheel.

Likewise, today, though my legs were "tired," I made myself get back on the bike, knowing that today of all days if I missed, I'd start finding excuses not to ride. I was rewarded with one of the most wonderful morning commutes I've had. A few of the morning's observations:

• CD's scattered across the road
• A paper plate "tumbleweed"
• Lots of kids waiting for the school bus
• Puffy white clouds
• Fresh pavement
  
• At least three jumbo pickup trucks who think they own the road
• Mentally buying a new custom race bike with their annual gas bill.
  
• It's easier to turn toward my 17lb pannier (left) than away from it (right)
• Legs are whiners. They're nowhere near as tired as you think.
• 69 degrees and partly cloudy is nearly perfect cycling weather
• Cyclists everywhere

Yes, it was a very nice morning. Now, if the thunderstorms will only stay clear of my trip home, it'll be a lovely start to a holiday weekend!

Egad. Hit and run.

I was hit this afternoon on my way home. At a stop light. By a pickup truck. In line for the light. (Dont' worry - both I and the bike are fine.). I was on a side street coming up to a stop light at a main street. The pickup passed me (safely) and then pulled up behind two other cars at the light. I rolled up behind the truck as I usually do and waited patiently for the light to change. The driver was having trouble keeping the engine running, and it's possible - since it was a stick shift - that what happened next was truly an accident, and not carelessness or malice.

Suddenly, the truck shifted into reverse and zoomed back toward me. I scrambed to walk the bike backwards (I still had one leg clipped in), but she still hit my front wheel and almost knocked me over. She then shifted forward, cut a hard right, and zipped through the quickie-mart parking lot to our right, short-cutting the intersection. Oh. Her tail lights weren't working either.

I was too stunned to do anything cool, like take a photo of her license plate, or call the cops, or even shout anything more than "Hey!" Instead, I stood there in disbelief, then came to, picked up my bike, and rode on when the light changed. My legs were shaking from the fright for most of the rest of the ride home.

I still can't figure out whether she just impatiently decided to back clear of the car in front and cut the corner, or if the car just jumped into reverse, and she was so started by hitting me that she ran off, or if she did it on purpose. I'm going to assume she was just careless and didn't look back, or the truck jumped back farther/faster than she expected (it was running rough, and she was revving the engine to keep it from stalling out).

Still, it's a sobering experience. I'm fine, the bike is fine, and I'll be back out there in the morning. But maybe I'll stop just a bit farther back from the car ahead at the next stoplight.

Ride safe!

I need to stop shouting in my post titles.

Anyway, on my lunch, I stumbled across this very well written blog and this helpful bike safety website, thanks to this nice blog. Oh, and here's another spot... the Pennsylvania DOT's bicycle safety website. It has a game/quiz you can play! Since I'm usually subjected to at least one semi-near miss per day of someone pulling out in front of me, I thought these would be useful. They pretty much speak for themselves.

I will add this, though, from this morning's ride. There are several places along my ride where there is a fairly wide berm, shoulder, or car parking area, which abruptly disappears into an unrideable ditch or - worse - a bridge abutment. I'll try to get a photo of one and add it. Anyway, it is very tempting, especially if the lane itself is narrow, to use that extra room for all it's worth. The problem comes when you are forced to merge back into the lane while a car is passing.

The moral: Always be looking well ahead of your ride, anticipate such merge locations, and get to the LEFT of that white line well in advance. Take the lane and keep yourself safe. I find that car drivers don't seem to mind this nearly as much as having to react quickly to an emergency left-jerk (which is what they'll call you, if they're nice) or having to worry about running you into that ditch or abutment.

Oh, and another thing. Be careful of other cyclists as well. I caught up with another commuter on my way home a few days ago. We rode along and chatted for a short bit before coming to a "T" intersection. He had faded all the way to the right curb before stopping, so I rolled up beside him on his left. Unfortunately, I had not noticed that he was in the habit of doing this at every stop, even if he was turning left. We nearly collided when I turned right and he turned left. I should have stayed (somewhat) behind him to be safe, but he should have taken the left side of the lane if he was turning left. He could have been hit by a right-turning car just as easily.

That is all. Carry on. And be safe.

Slow your roll?

I passed a guy on my way to work this morning. The contrast between he and I somehow caught my attention. I was flying, relatively speaking, cruising down a hill through the construction zone. Making time. Playing catchup with my watch, but still enjoying the ride, the speed, the wind in my face.

He was noodling along. Dressed in his work clothes - I'm guessing he was a mechanic or driver for the city bus system - and regular tennis shoes. He didn't appear particularly fit, but he was not struggling to ride. Based on his ease and balance on the bike, I'm guessing he rides frequently, if not daily, and probably has for a long time. He pedaled slowly, at ease. Just making it to work, enjoying the fresh air or perhaps pondering the day ahead.

I flew by him and offered a "good morning" as I passed. I'm not sure if he responded, as I was by too fast to see. A short bit later, I had to take a one-block detour, or at least I thought so. As I returned to the street, here he came. Still cruising along at the same easy pace. Steady. Relaxed.

It made me wonder. Why do I rush to work? Why do I get there all sweaty and wrung out? The obvious answer is, of course, that my commute doubles as a workout, so I go fast for the intensity of exercise. I still enjoy the ride, but the enjoyment comes as much from the burn in my legs and the sensation of flying as it does from the flowers along the road.

Still, there is something to be said for slowing the pace, cruising, whatever you want to call it. Perhaps instead of that speedy roadster I've been eyeing, I should consider an Electra Townie...

Singin' in the rain!

So, a dry ride home yesterday, but a wet ride in this morning. The rain wasn't bad, more of a drizzle, but with the wind it was coming at me from all directions. A few things that I discovered:

• My current "rain jacket" is good at keeping the chill off in dry weather but is completely useless for anything more than a spritz from a water sprinkler.
• A wet bike is (inevitably) a very dirty bike.
• Those MTB-style visors on the front of helmets make good rain shields.
• Roads are slippery. Paint stripes are even slipperier. Railroad tracks are Teflon.
  
• It's hard to see when your shades fog up.
• Once you're soaked, it doesn't matter if you get any wetter.
• Fenders are a Good Thing.
• Note to self: Next time, pack dry socks for the ride home.
  

Just out from my house, the road takes a significant dip with a slight curve at the bottom. I was climbing the crest before the dip when a car passed me a little too fast for the weather. He looked a bit out of control. I watched with a mix of alarm and bemusement as, when he got to the curve at the bottom, he did a complete 360 degree spin before coming to a stop. Don't worry, I was 50 yards behind him and completely safe. He hopped out and checked his car, muttering something about needing more air in a tire. I rolled by, thinking... slow down... it's wet and slippery...

It's not nearly as bad as you'd think riding in the rain. You just have to get over the fear of being wet. The real tricky part is making sure you have dry gear and clothes for the ride home. Still, I'm thinking that until I get some more suitable rainwear, I may have to drive on rainy mornings. Especially as it gets colder.

R.I.P. Blinky L.E.D.

It's a sad morning.

Aah, poor Blinky LED, we knew ye well. You kept us safe from approaching cars for a long time, but now we must lay you to rest.

I was cruising the "short route" to work this morning. Part of the ride is along a street that's still under construction. The main part of the construction zone is (now) very smooth new asphalt, but the end of the zone is very, very rough, as they haven't done the transition work from new to old yet.

Anyway, as I bounced through the rough spot (at speed!), my rear blinky light came unclipped and flew off my (new!) seat bag's blinky loop. It smashed to the pavement and popped apart into a half dozen pieces. This wouldn't have been so bad, but as I was stopping to go back and pick them up, a pickup truck ran over the red lens part, shattering it into a hundred pieces. I was able to rescure the rest of the light, but without the lens, it's pretty useless, except as spare parts.

I think I have an old blinky at home I can use as a backup, but I really liked this one. It was simple, easy on the batteries, and very, very bright. A VistaLight VL300, I think. I'll have to go shopping for a new one now. Any suggestions? Favorites?

On a good note, the predicted rain didn't come on schedule, so I had a dry and partly sunny ride. Plus, I noticed that a restaurant in one of the "less economically developed" areas I ride through has had a bit of a makeover. It's nice to see some investment going on in that area.

Mini Movie Review: Space Chimps

Well, this will be the first of an occasional feature here... the Mini Movie Review.

We saw Space Chimps the other night. You've really got to have your expectations set going into this. We took a gaggle of 8 year olds. It was certainly no Shrek, but was still entertaining. If you go in expecting a good, compelling, exciting, funny movie, you'll come out pretty disappointed. If you go in expecting a couple hours of leaving your brain in the car and keeping the kids entertained, you'll be OK.

We went in with fairly low expectations, and saw it at the "dollar theater" (five people for $7.50! Yowza!). We were pleasantly surprised. The plot and screenplay are almost entirely predictable, the animation so-so. The aliens are straight out of some TV kid's show. In fact, when they first appeared, I was sure the camera was going to pan back to show the chimps watching a kids show featuring aliens. The chimps themselves were pretty well done.

The good part of the movie was the nearly endless stream of inside jokes, industry references, and adult-level humor throughout the movie. It kept us laughing. In particular, watch for the replay of the Leia / Solo / Spaceship repair scene from The Empire Strikes Back.

I'd rate this move as decent for a dollar theater, or maybe a rainy-day rental. I'm glad we didn't pay retail, but I'm not sorry we saw it.

Stupid bikers! (in this case... the author!)

This one could also be titled "Check your Gear! Part 2: Before you ride, not while!"...

So I roll out of the driveway this morning, and in the corner of my eye I see a car coming down the street behind me. So, I decide to simultaneously clip in, fade right to give the car room, and look down to check the inflation level of my rear tire, which feels a little low.

Aaaaaaah! PARKED CAR!!!

Somehow, I miraculously squeeze past the parked car that I'd forgotten about, whacking the windows four or five times with my hand to keep from scratching the paint with my handlebars or pedals, while also managing not to face-plant in the pavement to my left in front of the car behind me.

Result: a mildly sproinged right wrist and shoulder and a very embarrassed cyclist. I really should know better than to stare at my rear wheel in traffic.

Yes, the tire is a bit low, but it's rideable. I should have topped it off before I left, or even the night before.

Now, for the intended topic du jour. I was going to mention the sequence of feelings I have nearly every morning when I ride. You see, I'm not a morning person. At all. I barely function before about 10:00am. However, the kids have to be at school by 7:30, and my boss expects me at work and functional by 9:00. So I've had to adapt. Generally, the alarm goes off about 6:30, and I whap it twice. By 6:48 I'm dragging out of bed to rouse the kids. "Rise and shine!" usually comes out more like "Hey... geddup..." with what I hope is a gentle shove on the nearest accessible knee or shoulder. By the time the kids are up and dressed, i'm usually awake enough to be vocal, and a part of my brain is actively thinking through the routine... shoes... backpacks... food... medicine... count heads in car...

By the drive to school (only a couple minutes), I'm awake enough to give a cheery "Have a nice day!", but I'm fading fast. I hit the door sleepy enough to crawl back in bed, and thinking seriously about driving. Still, I remind myself that I'll feel better if I ride, so I pull on the clothes, grab the bag and head outside. My legs are beginning to figure out they're going to have to do more than push a gas pedal, so they're complaining already...

The first three blocks are easy, but a gentle uphill. This lulls my legs into complacency, but does help to quiet the creak in my knees. I'm starting to think this might be tolerable, though I'm still not past the idea of turning around and driving in. Then I hit the super-steep hard right turn at the light. This requires me to clip in (or balance) and stand on the pedals to accelerate from a dead stop all at once, in traffic. The adrenaline shot is like downing an espresso, and I'm off like a rocket. By the time I hit the next light, it's a race.

The latter part of the short route is flatter, and slightly downhill, so I roll smooth and fast. I'm usually "feeling the burn" in my legs and getting a good workout. I'm enjoying the sunshine and checking out people's flower gardens, looking forward to the day. I'm usually a bit wobbly getting off the bike at work, but mentally I'm awake, refreshed, and ready to go. This is a stark (and pleasant) contrast to when I drive to work and hit the door still groggy, even after a morning Diet Coke.

Given the option, I think I'll take the bike.

Check your Gear!

Yesterday morning, as I noted, I discovered to my dismay that the spare tube I'd been carrying in my Bug bag had the wrong type valve for my wheels. This would have been bad on the road, since I would not have been able to replace a bad tube.

It gets worse. Last night, when I was repairing my flat tire, I pulled out the other spare that I keep in my saddlebag, just in case. Guess what? It too had a Schrader valve (the wrong one!). Even worse, it was a 700c size tube - too big! I had been carrying around a spare tube for TwinMom's bike!!

The moral of this very short story is that you should check your gear periodically and make sure you really are carrying what you think you are carrying. On the side of the road in the rain is the wrong place to find out you forgot your tire levers or that you have the wrong tube.

Check out my articles over on the sidebar for some more information!

Flat!

How do you like the new "skin"? I thought I'd try something different from the default, while keeping the basic blue motif. I updated the blog subtitle as well, to something a bit less ho-hum.

An unpleasant surprise this morning. I'm running late already, and as I rush out to the garage to grab the bike, guess what I find?? My front wheel is completely flat. Great! Must have picked something up on the way home yesterday. Normally a tube change takes me about ten minutes, so I went ahead and pulled the wheel. Unfortunately, once I got the tube out, I couldn't find the offending piece in the tire. Then I found out something even more sinister!

I had been carrying around a spare tube in the outside pocket of my Bug bag, for just such an occasion. Unfortunately, instead of the small Presta valve I normally use, the tube had a larger Schrader valve - completely unusable with my wheel because the valve stem won't fit through the hole in the wheel rim. I'm glad I caught this while sitting in my garage, instead of out on the street halfway home!

By this time, I was out of time, since I had a 9:00 meeting to make. So, it was upstairs for a quick shower and change, and out to door to the dinosaur burner to make it to work. Now I have some repair work to do at home.

The good part of all this is that I'm behind on writing an article for my favorite triathlon training website, BeginnerTriathlete.com, on how to change a tire. Now I can take some photos to add to the article! Of course, I'll have to put the bad tube back in to recreate the failure for the early pics.

Here are a couple other articles I've authored over there:

• Roadside Repairs Part 1: Ten Essentials for your Saddlebag
• How (not) to Change a Tire... in 47 Steps
  

The new article is going to be part 2 of the Roadside Repairs series. I'm only about 6 months behind on it.

I haven't been using BT.com much lately, though I did quite a bit when actively training for triathlons. Right now, I'm deliberately staying away from logging. Not because it isn't useful, but because for me personally when I start logging, I start pushing, and that has led to some of my injury problems. I need to spend a year or so just building a "base", getting my body very, very used to the daily grind of exercising. It takes bone in particular months and months to strengthen enough to stand the rigors of an active workout regimen. I may log swims and runs again when I start working on them during the cold months. We'll see.

What I have found very useful is to log food intake. I'm bad about actually doing this, but I've found that the simple act of writing down and tracking what I'm eating helps tremendously in controlling that food and making sure it is the right quantity and the right quality. I've never lost weight so easily as when I was logging my meals. For this, BT.com has a very, very good logging facility. If you'd rather have something that is more food-centric and less workout-centric, I'd also recommend FitDay.com.

So for today at least, my poor bike is sitting in the garage, sans its front wheel, keeping the lawnmower company while I use the hydrocarbon-fuel engine for transportation. I really need a "backup" bike. Maybe I should start trolling the yard sales...

School Buses, gears, and passing motorists...

I was running a tad late this morning, so I took the short route (by the scrapyard - in just over 18 minutes woo-hoo!). On my way up one of the hilly residential sections, I came upon a stopping school bus. Well, this is new. I've never been at the head of the (opposing traffic) line for a stopped school bus. Hmm... what to do?

Fortunately, after a moment's reflection (and that's all I had at 15mph), the answer was easy. I'm on a bicycle and I'm over 16. I'm "in" a vehicle. So, I stopped. The law in pretty much all states is clear. Adults on a bicycle are supposed to act like - and be treated like - slow moving vehicles. We're supposed to ride in the street, on the right, with the flow of traffic. We're supposed to obey all applicable traffic laws, including stop lights and signs, one way signs, speed limits (yes, it is possible to break the speed limit on a bike!), and so on.

I stopped, waited, watched the kids board, and then I rolled to the right into the (fortunately wide) berm to allow the line of cars I knew was stacked up behind me to pass before proceeding on to work. I figured that was safer, since they all would inevitably pass me on the narrower stretch just ahead, and I wasn't in that much of a hurry.

The other thing I noticed today is that I'm riding in slightly higher gears than usual. This is a good thing, as it means my fitness level is going up. Perhaps I should take this opportunity to explain a bit about how gears work, but it's an in-depth subject, so we'll save it for later.

I also noticed (I must have been very observant today!) that there are a handful of common types of drivers when it comes to passing a cyclist.

First, we have the "normal" passer. These folks drive up, and assuming it's safe they fade over, give me a few feet of clearance, and cruise on by. I almost don't notice them. It's a nice, smooth slide to the left, and a smooth glide back to the right. If there is oncoming traffic, or another issue, they fade back and wait patiently for the right moment - which usually comes quickly. These are the best. It's sharing the road at its finest. They don't frighten or endanger me, and I don't impede them either.

Then there's the "wide berth" passer. These folks either don't trust my ability to hold a line, or they strictly interpret the lane markings. I'm not sure which. They wait for an opening, and then swerve completely into the oncoming lane to pass, leaving a completely empty lane to ride in. This is somewhat disconcerting, as it gives the impression that the driver thinks I'm crazy or have cooties or something. They also tend to swerve when they shift, giving the impression that they are not exactly in control of their vehicle and might overreact to anything at all.

Then there's the "too-nice-for-their-own-good" non-passer. This is the person who decides that passing me wouldn't be safe or polite at all (even though it would be), and decides to hold up an entire line of cars slowly following me as I (invariably) struggle up a hill at six miles an hour. The driver is, no doubt, doing his best to be conscientious, giving me the respect I deserve as a fellow traveler on the road. Or perhaps he's terrified that even if he pulls a "wide berth" move, he'll somehow blow me off the road into a crumpled heap of bones and aluminum. Unfortunately, all this person accomplishes is severely irritating the twenty people stacked up behind him who, of course, blame me instead of him for holding them back.

Finally, there's the "damn the torpedoes" passer. This is the guy who, through either inattention or pure evil, blows right by, taking as much of the lane as he can grab, and coming dangerously close to shoving me right into the bushes.

Case in point: there was a tree cutting crew blocking most of my lane on the way home today. Cars were having to move about halfway into the other lane to get around the bucket truck, and oncoming traffic was slightly into the berm to make room. It's my turn, so I wait for an opening, take the lane and move past the truck as quickly as I can. Apparently not fast enough for the minivan behind me, who decides to pass me as I'm passing the bucket truck! Pulling all the way into the other lane, he shoves the oncoming traffic almost to the grass, earning an angry honk from someone and nearly causing an accident. All to save the five seconds it took me to get around the truck and back over where he could have safely passed me.

Moments like that make me think twice about riding. Fortunately, for every moment like that, there are a hundred "normal" passers, dozens of folks who wait at intersections for me to pass, or pause and wave me through a left turn in traffic. Plenty of smiles and nods from pedestrians, and even the occasional joking conversation about how much gas money I'm saving. Yes, sometimes it's a little rough out there, but on the whole it's a pretty nice ride.

I stand corrected...

I've also been asked about the meaning of the word "pannier". Apparently I have been somewhat mistaken about the etymology of this word, if not the definition.

A pannier is the same thing as a saddlebag on a horse or motorcycle. On a bicycle, panniers usually hang from a rack mounted over the rear wheel, though there are also smaller front panniers that mount to a rack on the front wheel, sometimes used for bicycle touring.

I borrowed this image from Arkel OverDesigns to illustrate the concept (hopefully they won't mind, in exchange for the free advertising). I use this particular bag, and I love it. It has backpack straps integrated on the backside, so you can carry it off the bike.



Anyway, I had been of the opinion that the word was French. Both Sheldon Brown and Wikipedia disagree on that point. While it is derived from the French for a bread basket, the word itself is English. It's pronounced PAN-yer, not pan-YAY.

I suppose bicyclists use the older, more specific word "pannier" vs. the more common (in motorcycling and horses) "saddlebag" in part because it's easy to confuse "saddlebag" with the very different "seat bag" (which could also be called "saddle bag", since the "seat" on a bicycle is also a "saddle"). But I'm probably somewhat wrong about that as well.

A "Seat bag" (or "saddle bag") on a bicycle, while we're on the subject, is a small bag that hangs below the seat. It's usually used to hold spare tubes and small repair items, as well as perhaps some change, an ID, and possibly a snack. The larger ones could even hold a lightweight rain jacket.

Here's another pic borrowed from Arkel:


So you can see, a seat bag (saddle bag?) on a bicycle is a much different beast from a pannier. And an old dog can learn something new.

Monday legs, clipless pedals, and other musings.

Hey! It must be Monday!

Normally, that's cause for a halfhearted groan and a slog to the local Diet Coke stash. In my case, it's sometimes cause for celebration. See, I generally use my commutes as workouts, and the biggest underlying reason for doing them is to keep my blood sugar under control so I don't have to go on meds. I also like getting in shape, and tend to measure that by my ride times on my usual routes.

Today I got a "two-fer". Sugar was 99 this morning, despite two days of not doing much about it. That's a good sign to me that the consistent workouts are keeping things under control. Then, my weekend-rested "Monday legs" delivered me to work in 28:36, which may be a record time for my 7 mile route. I'll probably be dragging on the way home, but it was worth it.

An astute reader was asking what are clipless pedals, so I thought in response I would give a brief and vague history of the development of bicycle pedal technology...

Back in the stone age, there were platform pedals. These were the relatively large, flat pedals that are still seen on kids bikes and many cruiser or hybrid style adult bikes (plus BMX and hardcore downhill rigs). The great thing about platforms is that they are simple. You can use them with any kind of shoe, and can get your feet on or off whenever you like. The bad part is that there is nothing but gravity holding your foot to the pedal, so it is hard to get a good, efficient pedal stroke. In particular, on the back (lifting) part of the pedal stroke, your foot is dead weight, and in some cases can simply fly off the pedal . Very convenient for "strolling" along the boardwalk, zipping across campus without changing shoes, or thrashing the local skate park on your BMX. Not so good for saving energy and/or going fast.

Folks who do like to go fast figured that if they could somehow strap their feet to the pedals, it would help their pedaling efficiency. So, they invented "toe clips." Toe clips are metal cages attached to the front of a pedal that are shaped to fit over the toe of your shoe. They are usually accompanied by a metal shoe plate that attaches to the bottom of the shoe and snaps into the body of the pedal itself. Couple these two things with a strap that runs through the pedal body and the top of the toe clip at about the ball of the foot, and you have a very snug, firm pedal attachment system. The good news: now you can pedal in "circles", getting the maximum amount of power transfer through the whole pedal stroke. The bad news: your feet are semi-permanently attached to the bike, so if you need to stop, you'd better know how to do a track stand!

Well, this wasn't good enough, as track stands are not so easy to learn. So folks invented what is known as the "clipless" pedal system. This consists of a spring loaded clamp on the pedal body that grabs a small metal cleat on the bottom of the shoe. The clamp and cleat are designed so that the rider can "clip in" by pressing straight down on the pedal, and can "clip out" by twisting the heel outward. These work very, very well, despite the inherent irony of "clipping" into and out of a "clipless" pedal.

There are several different flavors, all of which work on the same basic premise. The "clip" tension can be adjusted to suit the user. Road racers can set the tension very high so that they don't accidentally unclip when pedaling hard (say, at the sprint finish of a race...), while mountain bikers can set it low so that they can unclip easily when they're in trouble (say, slipping off a log they thought they could ride down...). The Shimano SPD pedal, like most things Shimano, is something of a de-facto industry standard, while the various Look models are popular with road racers and the Crank Brothers Eggbeaters are popular with mountain bikers (they shed mud very well). I use a Shimano "campus" pedal, which has the SPD clipless pedal system on one side and a regular platform surface on the other side. This lets me go clipless on my commute, but still use the bike in my street shoes to zip across campus when needed.

The one main downside to clipless pedals is the presence of the cleat on the bottom of the shoe, which makes it hard to walk in the shoes. Mountain Bike and commute-oriented shoes "solve" this by having raised treads which "hide" the cleat when walking but don't interfere with pedal engagement. Road shoes "solve" this by... well, if you're racing a road bike, you shouldn't be walking anyway.

There's a nice, if short, Wikipedia article about bicycle pedals, if you're curious.

Many first-time users are skeptical of clipless pedals, as they are afraid they will not be able to disengage in the event of a crash. In my personal experience, unless the pedal system itself is mangled, you will disengage during a crash. Practice is of course necessary, as with all new skills, but clipping in and out very quickly becomes second nature. Which brings me to my story for the day.

The first day I rode to work in clipless pedals (about 3 years ago), I had spent the day before diligently setting up and testing the system, and practicing clipping in and out. Unfortunately, I had neglected to tighten down the cleat on my left shoe sufficiently. When I ride, I'm in the habit of unclipping and standing on my left foot at stops. Since the cleat was not tight enough, when I tried to unclip, the cleat would simply rotate on my shoe and fail to unclip. Having already leaned to my left, I was thus doomed to a slow, embarrasing fall to the pavement. In traffic. I fell four times before I got to the office and figured out the problem. Once I tightened up the cleat bolts, I had a nice, smooth ride home.

The moral of this story: Always make sure your bolts are tight... and keep your sense of humor handy!

My ride...

I skipped riding today, even though the weather is gorgeous. After racing a thunderstorm home yesterday (I won!) and then playing some tough two-on-two basketball with the wife&kids, then staying up way too late watching Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson whip up on the rest of the women's gymnastics (their floor routines were spot-on, and just what was needed to clinch the win), I was just too bushed to think about it.

So, perhaps I'll use today to describe the noble steed that gets me to work most mornings these days.

My main commuting bike is a converted 1998 GT Pantera, in a nice silver/grey paint finish. I bought it in college some 10 years ago, and it's spent a lot of time in the garage, till recently. I'll post a picture sometime when I get the chance. I have another bike (a Specialized Allez Sport) for club rides and races, but it doesn't work so well for commuting - mostly because it has no mounts for a rack to carry my stuff.

So, my GT. It is a mountain bike, from the days when suspension was an expensive option, not standard. So it has none. But that's good for a commuter. Some may disagree, but for commuting, which is usually road-riding, suspension doesn't buy much in comfort. Mostly it's just extra weight. And this bike is heavy enough already. Fully loaded, it comes to somewhere just north of 30lbs. It's a very strong frame, with a unique GT-exclusive "Triple Triangle" frame: the seat stays are angled down a little lower than usual, and meet the top tube a few inches in front of the seat tube. This creates a small third triangle in the frame between the top tube, seat tube, and seat stays. This thing is bombproof.

Using a mountain bike for commuting is nice, because the frames and wheels are strong. Plus, the semi-upright stance gives a good view of traffic, but is aerodynamic enough to help with faster speeds and windy conditions. It's a good combo, as long as you lose the knobby tires and switch to a more street-ready tire.

(Warning: Bicycle jargon ahead!)

The geartrain is the original Shimano STX 21 speed (3 chainrings in front, 7 cogs in back) with thumb shifters on the (flat) handlebars and the older style (pre-V-brake) cantilever brakes. I've recently added some "campus" pedals, which work very nicely. On one side of these is a regular flat pedal, useful for quick trips across the office campus in my street shoes, while the other side has an SPD clipless pedal cleat for the ride to/from work in my cycling shoes. These effectively lock the shoes to the pedal, making it easier to control the bike and also minimizing energy loss in the pedal stroke.

(Warning: Shameless plugs ahead!)

The bike is also well accessorized. I've got a rack on the back (PlanetBike Eco Rack) that carries the gear... which usually rides in my "Bug" bag. Under the saddle, I carry a spare tube, tools, and such in a seat bag (except mine has the integrated toolkit). I'm thinking of replacing the bag, though. It doesn't fit very well. My favorite new toy in the seat bag is my new multi-tool, the Crank Bros Multi-17. It was a Father's Day gift. Up front, I've got a CatEye HL-EL530 headlight for those early mornings and rainy afternoons and a Cateye Astrale 7 bike computer to track speed, cadence, time and all those other important numbers. Oh, and I almost forgot... fenders!

Finally, perhaps the most important part, where the rubber literally meets the road, I'm rolling Specialized Fat Boy tires. Faster than Armadillos, they still roll smoothly over all the broken glass I pass on the way to work.

So that's my ride. A lot of the drivetrain parts are old, so it's going to be hard to replace things as they wear out. I'm already planning on its eventual replacement, but I'm hoping it's a long time before that's a necessity. My GT makes for a nice ride.

Fresh pavement, odd sounds, and two wheeled pack mules...

After dragging the kids off to school and biking over to the repair shop to pick up the Buick (see yesterday's post), I wheeled off to work. This makes 12 out of 14 work days in the last 3 weeks, and my legs and back are complaining about the increased work. I had only been riding 1-2 days per week earlier in the summer.

The car service shop guy noticed my helmet and asked if I had biked in this morning. I said "Yup." He complimented me and mentioned that it was a good, healthy thing to do. It's nice when people respond positively to my eccentricity. In a locale such as that, I could as easily have been teased for wearing spandex. Of course, it being a Cadillac dealer, they've obviously been well trained to be very polite to the clientele. Most of the employees are much older than I, but to everyone there, I was "sir." or "Mr. TwinDad." Good customer service. I'm sure it works well on their wealthier customers.

It's been unseasonably cold the past few days. There's a rule of thumb that says you should wear knee warmers if the air temperature is below 60deg. F. I didn't really expect to run into that issue in August!

So I get into the second of three neighborhoods I ride through, and get a pleasant surprise! Fresh, smooth pavement!! Summertime.... and the living is easy...

Then I hear this odd rattly pinging noise. Uh-oh. Where's that coming from? Sounds like something is stuck in my spokes. I stop to check. Twice. Nothing. What in the world is making that sound? Finally, it dawns on me. The pavement is fresh. There are little tarballs of asphalt that are essentially loose on top. Hard to see against the matching backdrop. They're sticking to my front tire and flinging off against the inside of my fenders. Sure enough, as soon as I turn off the new pavement back on to the old, a few hundred yards later all is quiet again.

Fast forward to after lunch. One of my co-workers calls. He was going to bring over a load of parts from the other building, but is tied up and cannot. The parts are in four boxes a little bigger than a good size shoebox, but aren't heavy. I have no car!! What am I going to do??? OH NO!!!

Wait. I have a bike. And a rack. And a pannier. And a messenger bag. I'll just pedal over and bring the boxes back. No big deal. If I'm lucky, I can fit two boxes in each bag, and I'm good to go.

Apparently my messenger bag is not as cavernous as I thought. Nor is my pannier. One box per bag, and two left un-stowed. But wait! We have packing tape!!

So, we tape the remaining two boxes together, and then I loosely tape them to the top of my rack. BOY I wish I had brought my rack's bungee-net. My life would be much simpler right now. I carefully, slowly ride back to the office, avoiding the worst of the potholes and cracks. Then I give the boxes a good back-roundhouse kick Chuck Norris style as I dismount. Fortunately the tape held, and the boxes were uninjured.

Boxes delivered safely! Score another one for the two-wheeled pack horse.

Broken cars and utility cycling...

The kids are off to school today! The kids are off to school today!

The bad news is that I have to drive them because there's no bus (we're too close to the school) and there's no sidewalk (not safe for grade schoolers to walk/bike). The good news is that their drop-off time is about the same as their bus pickup time was last year (same wakeup/rollout time), and it's early enough that I can drop them off, drive home, and still bike to work on schedule!!

So it seems we've been having some car trouble lately. A window that wouldn't stay up in one car, and then on the other, the trunk latch broke. Aside from the financial annoyance such odd repairs entail, they did provide a unique opportunity for my bike to be useful.

Fortunately for us, we live quite near a Saturn / Cadillac dealer. Since both of these odd breakages involve parts that are hard for our trusty non-dealer repair guy to acquire, I took both cars there for repairs on different dates. But I didn't want to drag the whole family out at the crack of dawn to drive two cars over there so I could get back, and then have them drive me to work and all that.

Simple solution: We (nearly) always keep the bike rack on the back of the wagon, just in case, so I just threw the bike on there, geared up, and drove myself to the Saturn dealer. Once there, I checked in the car, unracked the bike, helmeted up and rode on to work. Easy as pie!

The Buick delivery was a bit trickier. The bike won't fit in the trunk, and the leather is to nice to back-seat it. So I ended up leaving the front fork hanging out the back of the trunk - which wouldn't latch shut anyway. Some bungees kept the trunk lid mostly under control, but it still smacked down on my poor bike a few times as I rode. Fortunately it was a short drive, and there was no significant damage to the bike. Again, this morning, I simply pulled the bike out of the trunk, geared up and rode off. I'll swing by that way on my way home to pick the car up, and we'll be all done with that.... until the next repair.

I did get some odd looks from the mechanics. Oh well. I can do most of the maintenance on my bike, and the bike shop guys are cheaper than the car shop guys.

A pleasant side effect of this drop-off/pick-up is that I had an excuse to take the "downtown" route to work this morning. More traffic, but very nice scenery (lots of really big, old trees and nice, nice houses!) and fairly smooth, clean streets. I may use this as my new "short" route, as it is nearly as short as my "straight line" route but keeps me away from the scrap metal recycling plant.

In other utility news, the new shortcut to the neighborhood Meijer should be open today. I'm net-shopping for a good "grocery bag" (open top) pannier to augment my regular commute bag (an Arkel Bug - awesome!). I want something that folds, is sturdy, and that I can just toss things into semi-randomly. Like a milk jug or some fresh bread and meat. My current fave is the Banjo Brothers Grocery Pannier, or maybe their Market Pannier. We'll see. I'm trying to decide whether I like the lid or not.

Hello, world!

When learning a new computer programming language, the traditional first program one writes is a very simple program that simply displays "Hello, world!" to the standard output device of the target computer system. The above very simple program is written in C, for those of you not so familiar.

As of now, I'm making this blog public, for the whole world to see. Might as well. Who knows what new friends are lurking out there. Now, of course, that means that I will restrict certain personal details from the blog, but that's okay. There's plenty to talk about without giving out the personal stuff.

For the family, I will likely be providing a separate, private blog to cover personal, family news that is of less interest to the outside world or that need to have a limted distribution.

Near misses from unexpected places

Well, I drove the wagon this morning because I was running late and my back is a bit stiff.

There's a fellow in our neighborhood, a member of the gray-haired set, who rides his bicycle for exercise every morning. He's actually pretty fast, and I'm glad he's out there getting a workout. Yesterday, as I was rounding the corner down the block from my house (a right turn for me), he came zooming toward me around the (left for him) turn, cutting the corner short. There was just barely room for me to squeeze between him and the curb.

Cyclists are people in/on vehicles, just like motorcycles or cars. We're supposed to stay to the right, and stay in our own lane. I'm pretty alert for cars on my route, and I expect them to do dumb things. Other bicycles is an entirely different matter.

It makes me consider two different viewpoints on what happened:

(1) The old nut should have stayed in his lane and held his line. By riding on the wrong side of the road and cutting the curve tight, he could have put us both in the hospital. We had a closing rate of probably well over 20 mph! It didn't help that he wasn't paying attention. Nor was he wearing a helmet for that matter.

(2) It occurs to me that I was not alert to the possibility of other cyclists in the area. Just like most people when they're in cars. We're all so used to looking out for the same hazards every day... we expect cars in the lane, maybe the odd pedestrian or so. But we're somewhat blind to cyclists. Even though I see this guy nearly every morning, and I expected him to be out there, I didn't see him until it was almost too late. Mea culpa for falling victim to the same "blindness of the commonplace" that we often accuse drivers of having.

Accidents happen. They're by definition unexpected. But we can minimize them, and mitigate their effect by being alert and prepared. Yesterday I got a very quick lesson in sharpening my awareness skills.

WOW!

Wow!

I'm soooo glad I ran to the TV when the Missus called last night.

Imagine you're among the best swimmers in the world, racing in the Olympics. Imagine you r 4x100 relay team swims the race of their lives, breaking the world record for this distance. Now imagine that you come out of the water only to find yourself in FIFTH place.

Now, imagine you're the French team. You're generally considered the team to beat, the odds on favorite for the gold. You've been bragging for some time that you're going to crush the Americans. Now imagine that you come out of the water having not only been beaten by 8 1/100ths of a second (barely a fingertip!), but you've also lost the 100m world record distance to that same American.

The Men's 4x100 freestyle relay last night was likely the best race in the history of swimming. Not one, but two world records fell, one of them smashed by 4 seconds and broken by five teams in the race. At the 50m point in the anchor leg, Alain Bernard (Fr) was ahead by nearly a body length. By the end of the race, Jason Lezak (US) had poured on the coals, closed the gap, beaten him by a fingertip, and snagged both the world record 100m time, world record 4x100 relay time and Olympic gold.

Wow!

Old picture... new picture...

I've added a photo to the left that I really like. My wife took this pic of my transition setup from the last triathlon I did a couple years ago. Yes, I do triathlons, or at least I did them. I've been hampered by some overuse injuries because I got too aggressive with training and working out for my young-middle-aged out of shape body.

Why post it now? Well, I just found it in the office and scanned it in. Good memories, that race. It was short (a "sprint" - 800m swim, 14mi bike and 5K run) but very hard. I really enjoyed it, though, and am looking forward to getting back into the race. The other part, of course, is that TwinGirl just did a race this past Sunday. Here's a pic of her zooming to the finish:


She did a great job in this race, and is already bugging me to help her train for another one. We've both got to learn how to swim properly, so that's where we're focusing. Meanwhile, I've had TwinBoy out at the driving range perfecting his aim with a golf club. Maybe I'm raising the next Tiger Woods and Natashca Badmann (google them if you don't know who they are...). We'll see!

Biofuel?

You may be wondering what the story is with the blog title. The "engine" is, of course, my legs... and they certainly don't run on gasoline when I'm biking.

I've found as I'm getting a bit older and (I think) wiser, I've been thinking more about what we do and how wasteful we can be... things like spending 40 minutes round trip in a car on a nice day to get to/from work, only to spend another 30-40 minutes round trip to go to the gym to workout an hour... burning a bunch of gas. Instead, I can hop on my bike, get an hour of exercise, enjoy the weather, and net myself over an hour of extra time during the day. I figure with current gas prices, I'm saving about $2 a day on my short commute just in fuel costs, not counting maintenance on the car or the bike.

Plus, I'm eating better, feeling better, losing weight... and you should see my calves!

I've been toying with this bicycle commuting thing for several years, and I can say that the bike rack at work is considerably more crowded this summer than it ever has. I'm seeing a lot more folks riding on the roads during rush hour as well. I realize that not everyone can do it. Some are not healthy enough, others must haul things that aren't amenable to bicycles. Still, if the current trend of folks moving towards cycling, mass transit, carpooling, and even walking or running sticks, it will be a very good thing for us all.

A beautiful morning...

Wow. Today marked two straight weeks of biking in to work (well, 9 out of 10 days). My legs were very tired, and I think I've got a brake pad rubbing a bit, but it was nice. The weather was noticeably cooler that previous days - almost chilly. Sunshine, puffy clouds, blue sky, the works. Drivers were nice. I got waves from pedestrians. And by the time I got to work, my craving for Wendy's sausage biscuits (bad!) had mellowed into a mild hunger for a bagel.

Of course, the walk in from the bike parking area reminded me why I'm going to need to replace my commuter bike shoes soon. When biking (more than just tooling about the neighborhood), flexible soles are a BAD THING (tm) because the flexing sole uses up energy that should be going into turning the pedals and moving the bike. It makes for a slower, tiring ride. So, my road bike shoes have an extremely stiff sole. Plus, since they aren't intended for walking, the pedal cleat sticks out noticeably from the bottom of the shoe. This results in a stiff, awkward, noisy (clack! clack!) walk. After fifty yards or so it's pretty annoying.

The shoes I want (and the ones I'm replacing) still have a moderately stiff sole, but the tread is designed to level the feet and hide the cleat as much as possible when walking... MUCH more comfortable, and I don't look like I'm walking on tennis balls. They also look more like real tennis shoes, instead of something out of a science fiction movie.

You may notice the photo slide show running over to the right. Those are semi-random photos I took of the scenery on my recent business trip to the Boulder, CO area. I'll be updating the show with family pics as I figure out how to use this blog.

So, back to the morning. Normally, my early bird TwinGirl is already up watching cartoons before I leave. This time, for some reason the whole house was quiet. We've only got a few days to get organized for Wednesday's start of school. The kids have to be there by 7:30am, so it's going to mean a shift in mommy and daddy's bedtime schedule, too.

TwinGirl has decided she wants to be a Girl Scout. There's a lady organizing a troop at the new school, and TG nearly talked her ear off at Tuesday's meeting. I checked, and the Boy Scout district is also looking into a Cub Scout pack, but it's not set up yet. TwinBoy is interested in that as well... I think it would be a good fit for him. Worked for me!

Good morning, and welcome!

Well, I just sent out a bunch of invites to this blog. Some of you might be saying.... "Right! What's a blog?" Well, "Blog" is short for "Web Log". It's essentially a self-publishing website. I can pop in here more-or-less daily or weekly or whatever, and post some kind of message. Usually, it'll be a rant, or a random musing from my daily ride, or some neat story about the Missus. or the kids. Maybe even include a picture or two.

The cool thing is that you all can check in whenever you want, and can post comments.

Anyway, this is "private" in that it's by invitation only. But it's "public" in that all the invitees can see the blog and the comments... so remember that it's not email. I'm also still debating on just how private this blog should be, so I won't be using real names and will be avoiding specific locale references. You might want to do the same. I'll probably start a different blog if I want to publish things to the world, but I also might not want to bother keeping up with two blogs...

And if you know anything about RSS, you can "subscribe" and your RSS feeder will tell you when there's something new. So you don't have to keep coming back and checking for new posts. Check your browser - it probably will do this for you.

Who knows... maybe I'll get bored with this in a few weeks.. and maybe this is the wave of the future... we'll see.

Anyway, welcome. And I hope you like what you read.

They can't all be good days... or can they?

Whew. Hmm... so this is a blog, huh? Well. Good day to start one, I suppose...

I overslept... raced the short way to work... which was decent. Then, on the way home (again the short way, except I took a slightly alternate route... Flying down a hill at 28mph, I notice the rear wheel is shimmying a little. Okay, maybe a lot. I swing on to Fortune and start pulling up the hill and something is really, really wrong...

Sure enough, just two days after bragging about my new flat-proof tires, I've picked up a shard of metal and flatted my rear tire. Well... no biggie. I'm only a mile from home on residential streets. I'll just walk it. Wait! What's this? The sidewalk keeps ending and picking up on the other side of the street! And my heel hurts... bad. Blister on the heel! I get halfway home and realize I'm going to have to lose the shoes.

Still, I don't pull out the phone. Don't know why. Must be the heat making me stupid. So here I go walking the rest of the way home in the grass (as much as possible) barefoot, pushing my bike. Took twenty minutes. I could have changed the tire in 10, and had the Mrs. pick me up in five.

The good part? I made it in and out of the bike shop with only a new tube, replaced the same tire (instead of a new one!), and then switched cleats over to my road shoes to deal with the blister-inducing wear in my commuting shoes. I figure I just saved about $125 just by exercising some restraint. Woo-hoo!