Duncan's Brain

What D&D Character am I?

2011-11-17T08:17:00.001-08:00

This was fun. Somone posted this and I checked it out. I had some fun with the generator. When I have more time I might try to game it and see what results I can get.

I Am A: Neutral Good Elf Wizard (6th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-14
Dexterity-16
Constitution-13
Intelligence-17
Wisdom-16
Charisma-14

Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.

Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Sandy Earl's new 12/24hr Record

2011-09-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Sandy Earl recently attempted and pending ratification by UMCA broke the 12hr and 24hr cycling records in the female recumbent class. She broke the UMCA upright record as well but I believe it is spared by the category. I was an official and took a number of pictures of the event. Sandy is an amazing rider who has the endurance and determination to put the rest of us to shame. She is also very nice and a joy to work with.

The Officials were lead by David Bradley

As you can see he is a towering figure who made sure we did everything right. I had a great time and was honored to witness such an incredible achievement.

Sandy put together this great video of the event

I would love to work with any of the crew and Sandy again, I had a great time.

Politics are depressing nowadays.

2011-08-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much in the political realm recently. Mostly because I am depressed. The lack of any focus on jobs and recovery coupled with the deficit mania is infuriating. I also have a strong interest in environmental causes. I would love to see an investment in green technology and a carbon tax. Yet most of the news on these fronts is quite bad. I know that there was some progress on health care but I don't understand why I should be happy about moderate republican policies from the '70s instead of progressive policies geared to our current challenges.

I also have no confidence in our leaders to fight against the Republican suicide squad in office and in our media. I fear that riots and anarchy will end up coming to the US if we don't make some changes now.

Crashes and how it is always the cyclists fault

2011-08-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

(Photo: Wash. Co. Sheriff)
A crash occurred in Washington County, OR. I used to live in that county. A pickup plowed into three cyclists from the rear on NW West Union Road about 1/2 mile east of the intersection with Jackson Quarry Road. Immediately the blame patrol works to blame the victims. Even with the picture to the right where one of the mountainbikes was embedded in the grill of the truck.

So we have a rear end collision. If it were a motor vehicle crash, the guy hitting from the rear is automatically at fault, but with bicycles it is all about how to blame the victim. Even though the pickup was going too fast for his headlights and driving too fast for conditions (by definition, he hit three cyclists). Everyone is already upset that the cyclists didn't have lights. Now sure, they probably should have, but they aren't required to and there is evidence that it wouldn't have made a difference. Because the driver hit THREE cyclists, one hard enough to embed the bike into the grill of his vehicle.

I understand why cyclists would want to review the situation to address what they could do better. But in no way should that have impact on who is at fault. The law is clear, cyclists are required to have rear reflectors. The bikes had those reflectors and studies have shown that reflectors are often better than lights in the cases where auto lights are very bright and wash out rear lights of the bike. With many cars running super bright LEDs now, it is important to have some reflectors facing backward. Reflectors are brighter under bright lights.

In the end the motorist outran his headlights or was not paying attention. Given the impact evident in the picture I suspect he wasn't paying attention. I am infuriated that the cyclists are in critical condition and paying the price for the motorists error. Additionally I can't abide how everyone wants to blame the cyclists who are the victims and give the motorist the benefit of the doubt. Our legal system posits innocent until proven guilty, but that doesn't mean that our outrage and frustration are required to wait for proof as well.

(source: bikeportland)

Tired but some thoughts on bikes

2011-04-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

I am tired today, I have been slammed at work and kept chained to my desk by trying to support remote people via IM. My Mango is currently down while I deal with repairs and so I have been thinking about secondary bikes and fair weather bikes.

When I hurt my Mango (still a painful thought) I cleaned up and got both my Corsa and Raptobike road worthy again. The Raptobike process was basically filling the tires and adjusting the seat pad. The Corsa had been loaned to Doncl for testing and so I had to adjust the seat, change both tires and tubes. Then I had to get lights, seat bag, and all the accoutrements necessary for riding (water, snacks, keys, tools, pump) all set up.

The raptobike is still my favorite bike ever. It is just an amazing machine and now that I have the mango I am considering modifying my setup to be less commuter/tourer and more light and fast. I was thinking of changing the gearing from Rohloff to 65t big ring, and 9 speed cassette with 11-28. That is 42-108 gear inches, a bit high end but doable for a fast bike. Switch everything back to v-brakes and go as light and strong as I can with the wheels. I would put dacron wheel covers (home made) on the rear wheel too. I would strip off all accessories except the fastback bags. I would leave my tail lights on too (two on rear fork, one on headrest). I could remove the lights for racing. I could use this for sunny organized rides and group rides in the puget sound once I get my fitness back.

I am also considering the raptobike midracer.

Big wheels, fast bike, and it is a travel bike. Wow hard to resist.

Then Arnold at Raptobike also shows us his new prototype, the Raptotrike:

It blows me away that a tiny manufacturer based in the Netherlands has such a variety of amazing products. The raptobike lowracer is awesome and a great price point. I don't even see competition for the raptobike midracer, which is pretty amazing, and then the raptotrike tilting delta, wow. And Arnold wants to do a streamliner kit for the trike too.

Very impressive and I am a very happy customer of Raptobike.

Commuting in the rain

2011-04-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

I just want to say, I commuted in the Mango today. It was raining and 40 degrees F. Yet I wore short and a t-shirt without using the foam top. It was a wonderful ride and great fun.

Deficit

2011-04-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

It is pretty simple to balance the budget if you want to do it honestly. Cut military spending by withdrawing from Iraq, Afganistan and Libya, cut contractors from the military budget, reduce our military size and let the Bush tax cuts expire.

Now that we had our serious conversation can we stop trying to privatize Medicare and cut Social Security?

Cyclist run down - possible vehicular serial killer.

2011-04-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

So I looked at my RSS feed this morning and found this headline "Encino cyclist killed in Leucadia; local TV speculates an attempted vehicular serial killer could be at work". Wonderful. I follow the linke and find out that there have been two cyclists run down in the same stretch of road both by a Ford pickup and both hit and run. To quote one of the articles:
San Diego County Sheriff's Department investigators are looking into the possibility that the driver did not stop because he wanted to hit the bicyclist.

Nasty.

Then I read the comments. Ugh.

First we have the Blame the victim style where it is just too dangerous to ride:
jaxd

What was the bicyclist doing riding on the road @ 1:00am? Not excusing the hit and run but common sense tell one that at that time there are DUI's on the road and it is not safe to be riding on the shoulder.

BikeAversion

When Americans would have to learn that riding a bike along cars is dangerous! Is like playing Russian roulette!!

Both offensive and inaccurate (riding a bike is safer than driving in terms of deaths/million hours).

But the real cake is the other two idiots (the story is only hours old so only 15 comments so far).
Huge:

How come these fools in tights dont obey traffic laws, if they did, this probably wouldn't happen

Huge:

maybe they should "Share the Road" and this stuff wouldn't happen. Take a drive down 101, you'll see what I'm talking about

Capn Crunch:

Let me guess. Was the bicyclist riding just on the painted line of the bike-lane, even though there was about 2.5 feet of bike-lane available? O,r riding side-by-side with another cyclist, instead of single-file? Just to make the cars slow down and go around, instead of co-inhabiting the road? Just asking...

I can't stand hate-mongers like this. It saddens me and my suspicion is that the posters are road ragers who threaten cyclists in real life. It makes my blood boil

Bikes and Preferences

2011-04-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

Since I got my Mango Sport I have found it hard to commute and ride my other bikes. I will jump on the raptobike for a quick ride and sprint around my neighborhood or to get the mail, but I ride the Mango for most any long rides. The difference is when I want to ride with Kristin or a friend. Then I get on the Raptobike as it is better to keep the same pace as others. The few times I rode with groups on the Mango I really put-putted along.

What is amazing is that for commuting, there is no substitute. The Mango Sport "The Carrot" is so suited for packing a laptop, some tea supplies, my lunch and a change of clothing. To do the same with my Raptobike or Corsa means dealing with one or two panniers. With the Mango I just pack it into my backpack or place it loose inside. I get to work, pop out, grab the satchel and go inside. No worries about water proofing as the mango takes care of that.

I can't wait until Wednesday when I get the Carrot back.

Anticipation

2011-04-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

The mango sport is at the shop today. I am getting the brakes tuned, bleed, etc. I can't wait for the Carrot to be ready. Anticipation is deadly.

Soon I will be back on the road:

A comparision of two incidents involving cyclists and motorists.

2011-04-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

First up we have Portland, OR. Considered the front runner in the US for positive treatment of cyclists.

From: bikeportland.org

A Multnomah County Grand Jury decided today that 63-year old Candice Palmer — the woman who told police investigators she reached into her back seat to tend to her dog and then struck and seriously injured a man who was bicycling on SW Multnomah Blvd — should not face criminal charges.

Palmer's car swerved into 20-year old Reese Wilson while he rode home from work on the 6100 block of SW Multnomah Blvd on February 4th. Palmer had her dog in the car and reportedly looked into the rear seat where the dog was just prior to the collision. After hitting Wilson, Palmer's car ran through a fence and came to rest on the side of a house.

Note: the man (20-year-old Reese Wilson) who was injured died in the hospital.

So a elderly woman confessed that she drove with extreme negligence, then killed a man riding a bike and then drove into a house. The Grand Jury in Multnomah decided that this didn't rise to the level necessary to charge the woman with a crime. The comments on articles spent most of their time arguing about helmets for cyclists rather than any comments on the motorist responsibility.

Here is a sample of the first few comments posted on this story at KATU news

comment 2: They don't believe the rider was wearing a helmet. That's crazy these days. Thank GOD that I wear a helmet.
comment 3:It will be interesting to see what was the cause of this. Not faulting the cyclist at all..Could have been clipped when the car went out off the road.Of course not wearing a helmet wasn't the brightest thing either.
comment 4:Stupid Bikes! Stay off the street!

As you can see, all three put blame on the cyclist.
Here is the picture of the car post incident:

Now listen and view this video about an incident where a driver ran into 4 teens at an intersection and caused only minor injuries. Pay attention to the media and public reaction.

The difference is night and day.

No sympathy for Christian's who feel Christmas is cheapened

2010-12-20T17:50:00.000-08:00

Matt Yglesias says he feels sympathy for Christians who feel that Christmas has been weakened by meaning so much to so many different groups. I on the other hand feel no such sympathy. Christmas only exists on Dec 25 in an attempt by the Catholic church to take over the pagan holidays celebrating the Winter Solstice. Most scholars pin Christ's birthday somewhere in September.

In other words the entire point of Christmas for the Catholic church was to muddy the waters and take over the celebrations of other religions. I feel no sympathy that this policy has come back to bite Christianity.

Republican's and Science

2010-12-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

Dougj from Balloon Juice wants to kill the idea that Republican's are anti-science. Unfortunately for him this goes to one a series of simple empirical tests.

1- Which party reliably attacks science?
2- Which party funds scientific endeavors?
3- Which party support religion vs science?

1- Which party reliably attacks science?

Republican's have a long history of attacking science. In Texas they are trying to remove scientific discoveries from textbooks. There is an entire industry that is dedicated to attacking climate science. The history of pro-tobacco misinformation is very illustrating here as well. Some Democrats do have a history of falling for health cons and the anti-vaccine craze infected both Democrats and Republicans. This category is given to Republicans.

2- Which party funds scientific endeavors?

The race to the moon which JFK supported has paid dividends for the US. We have a large number of satellites that are vital to our communication technology today. Look at the funding history for NASA and physics in this country. You will see Democrats paying for the essential research that fuels our economy. Republicans sometimes appreciate engineers but only when the Republican in question is investing in a company that employs that engineer.

3- Which party support religion vs science?

Doug wanted to dodge this question.

First off, I’ll admit there is some real hostility to science from the fundies. But I don’t think that conservative opposition to stem cell research is rooted in hostility to science, it’s rooted in the (admittedly non-scientific belief) that Jeebus loves 5-celled blastocysts as much or more than he loves post-birth human beings

Christianity has been attacking science since Galileo. Astronomy, Cosmology, Biology, Climate Science, and Medicine have all been targets of Christianity. This isn't limited to the recent Catholic belief that all sperm are sacred, it is a full frontal assault on knowledge. Republicans are the political party of choice for the religious Christians in this country. It is one of the ways Republicans use to control the downtrodden.

To sum up, it is pretty obvious that Republicans are the enemies of science. Any professional scientist would shun Republican leadership out of simple self-preservation. Engineers are a different animal and at engineering schools you often hear the joke that business majors are just second year engineering majors. The joke is that when you fail at engineering there is always business school. But the meat behind it is that you go to school for engineering when you want money, you major in physics or math for a love of science. It is pretty clear why you might see engineers in the Republican party.

Optima Voyage

2010-08-31T10:46:00.001-07:00

Optima Voyage, originally uploaded by Watson House.

The Optima Voyage is a version of the classic Baron lowracer that folds. There is an awesome video of this at recumbentblog.com

This is very cool and I am happy to see recumbent bikes finally coming up with a fast folder that is a decent bike as well. I would happily use this for either travel or urban mixed mode commuting.

Route-08Aug10

2010-08-08T11:57:00.001-07:00

Route-08Aug10, originally uploaded by Watson House.

Today I did a bit of exploring and tried a new route (on ridewithgps here). It was pouring rain and I got lost a couple of times but the Mango was great.
Avg Speed: 14.7 (blech)
Distance: 42.3 miles
Elevation Gain: +1769ft

I ended up using both the foam cover and my STP jacket on this ride. I didn't expect it to be so wet and chilly.

Here is my slideshow of pictures from the ride:

New Routes

2010-08-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am going to try a new route. The route above is a 60 miler that goes up to Snohomish, over to Monroe, through Duvall and then to Carnation and back to Woodinville.

I loaded it into my Garmin and will see how the navigation works out.

The Quest for Speed.

2010-07-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

So I am getting used to the Mango Sport ("The Carrot"). I am now logging new speed records on my commute. My average speeds are going up which is making me quite happy. I think I will start doing Washington Lake loops on the weekends since that is the route I have the most recorded history on. If all goes well I can get some record times on my Lake loops. I want to get my century speeds up and do some 200K permanents without officially logging them with RUSA. So first I will train, then when I feel ready I can try a 200k permanent.

I might even be able to get some respectable times, which would be very nice. My eventual goal is to finish the STP one year BEFORE Jim Broadus (a co-worker). It would be nice to not be passed :)

Mango Sport on Week three.

2010-07-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

My Mango Sport has 500 miles on it over three weeks of ownership, 215 miles or so of which was the STP. Most of last week I didn't ride at all. Today was my first day back commuting with the Mango.

My impressions remain great, I am faster, more comfortable and safer riding the Mango. It really is a joy to ride and it is very easy to carry stuff. I am considering what it would take to do a weekend camping trip. Lately I have been looking at Hennessy Hammocks. They are lightweight, pack small and would easily fit into my Mango Sport. Add a small sleeping bag, and some food, maybe a camp stove and I can tour.

I also want to train more for fast centuries. I can work on speed loops of the lake as well as some nice hilly loops in Redmond/Issaquah areas. The Mango feels nice and light, I am climbing hills well on it. In my reduced state I am as fast on hills as any of my other bikes. I suspect this will change as my power to weight ratio changes but I think in general my speeds can only go up. At the moment I am 10 lbs lighter than when the Mango Sport arrived. The uptick in riding and change in my eating habits paid off quickly. Only another 40 lbs to go :) All in all I think the increase in acceptable riding conditions that the Mango brings will pay off with a fitter, happier me this time next year.

The Mango Sport has been getting a lot of attention. I am enjoying that and learning how to deal with it. Lately I have found that a brief wave and keeping pedaling is a nice polite way to acknowledge the interest without losing too much time. I have noticed a number of other Mango Sports lately on the Internet. There are some really nice tips and videos out there that I am enjoying.

All in all my Mango Sport is wonderful and I expect to continue to grow into my velomobile. I do think I need a name for her, saying my Mango Sport is a bit cumbersome. I am considering calling her "the Carrot" since she is orange and faster than the "White Rabbit" my raptobike.

Prepping for the STP

2010-07-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

So I am less than one week away from the STP. This year I plan on doing the one day version and start from my house. This means I will be riding 224 miles, my first double century, on my brand new Mango Sport.

I am nervous and have a bit of anxiety since I didn't train as much as last year and I will be riding a bike that I have only put 210 miles on. But putting that aside, I have the base miles from commuting to work with so I should be good.

I am not sure what my average speed will be but my hope is 16mph. Last year I averaged 16.9 mph on the Raptobike but I was in much better shape and weighed 14 lbs less than I do now. The Mango Sport has been faster than the raptobike at my current fitness level and the STP is well suited to speedy velomobile riding. My plans include a 14mph average speed. I have allocated 50 minutes to rest stops. Last year I spent a lot of time at rest stops but this year I am solo so plan on approximately five 10 minute stops. Given an average speed of 14 mph, the ride will take 16 hours from my house. Add in 50 minutes for rest and we are at 16:50. If I start at 0300 then I will get to the finish at 1950. That is my worst case and gives me 1:10 of buffer. If I average my target of 16mph then I will finish at 1750. That is a great time to finish. Keeping the rest time down is key, but I do have some buffer zone time.

The question is what to bring. Since I haven't trained with any new food solutions I will go with my tried and true.

One 2L bladder of Cytomax, refilling as it empties
5 baggies of cytomax, sized for mixing with 1L of water
two 500 mL water bottles, initially frozen. I will refill as necessary. I will also douse myself with water as needed.
1.5 lbs of dried cherries
6 packets of cliff shots gels (black cherry with caffeine)
spare tube, spare tire, patch kit, pump, tire levers, towel
sunscreen
sunglasses
camera
gps
gps battery extender
phone
hand cleaner
2 small towels to keep hands clean and wipe down the mango
Imodium tablets
Aspirin
rain jacket

Since I will be riding the Mango my concerns about rain are nearly nill. I am more concerned about heat than wet. The jacket will be all I need if it rains and only for rest stops.

Velodog tryouts

2010-07-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a rest day for training on the STP. So we had an impromptu Velodog tryout session. Here are some of the photos.

Casey was calmer inside the velomobile but he didn't want to put his feet down on the side. Lucy was a wee bit more excitable but she was happy to put her feet down. Once she was set she didn't want to get out. She loved it and wanted to nap in the sun while I rode around with her. I think with a little work I have a Velodog!

Of the pictures taken though, I think this one is my favorite:

My Mango Sport arrived

2010-07-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

My Mango Sport has arrived. With just 2 weeks to go for the STP I now have to ride a lot to get used to the mango. I spent Saturday tuning and riding the Mango. I took her to the Farmer's Market in Redmond:

I saw a number of exotic cars and found a car gathering, they decided that the Mango was an exotic and placed her on display with the Ferraris:

After I took my groceries home, I headed out on a ride to Seattle. I stopped at Matthews Beach:

I then continued on to Gasworks Park where I saw some of the Zombies from Fremont. Unfortunately I didn't get any good zombie chase pictures. The mango did escape the zombies and we took a rest at Log Boom park on the way home:

So far the Mango Sport has been a dream. The suspension is great and really smooths out any chipseal, potholes or railroad tracks I find on route. I am slowly getting use to her handling. For the first 30 miles or so my cadence was much lower than my regular cycling cadence. But now after some seat adjustments and getting used to the velomobile I find my cadence going back up again. The gearing is great. Everything fits so well inside, I love to run errands with the Mango. I am very happy.

Mango getting closer.

2010-05-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

My Mango Sport has returned from Garsthuizen with the frame and drivetrain installed. It is now at Sinner where they plan on finishing it this week. I am super excited and though I don't expect it for PIR it may still make it in time.

There are more pictures in the set if you click through to flickr above. I am so happy with the service, support and communication from Sinner. They have been amazing.
-Duncan

Cycling and helmets

2010-05-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

Helmets discussions bring out the worst in people. You can find people saying things like "Maybe he (the cyclist) doesn’t want to waste good money on his useless brain!" when discussing the most innocuous video of cycling. Helmet advocates get quite upset even at helmets that are worn but not tight enough. They bring all sorts of arguments to the table.

My own helmet use has been spotty. While discussing this issue with some friends I remembered that when I lived in Munich I didn't wear a helmet. In fact I don't think I wore a cycling helmet at all until 2000 even though I have been cycling regularly since 1975. After I bought my first helmets in Oregon when I moved back to the US I wore it 90% of the time. Though I refuse to wear a helmet while doing maintenance on my bike and test riding it in a parking lot or around my block.

Even when rock climbing I haven't been 100% on helmet use. I used my helmet mostly when climbing longer trad climbs or even three pitch trad climbs but for sport climbing I often didn't wear a helmet. In fact when climbing I often found I bumped my head quite a bit more when wearing the helmet.

I have to admit that though I do wear my helmet regularly now, if I didn't have too, I probably wouldn't. It is very convenient not to have to carry this ungainly artifact. And I like to use my bikes for getting around, not just for events, charity rides and racing. And the arguments you often hear about how little you value your brain are easily disarmed when you realize the person talking to you isn't wearing a helmet while engaged in the dangerous activity of going down stairs, crossing the street, or driving their car. All of which have higher fatality rates then cycling measured as deaths/hour of activity.

Waiting on the Mango

2010-05-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

I am waiting on my Mango. Most of the wait in administrative in nature. Dealing with Banks, international wire transfers and such. Sinner has been great and I can't recommend them enough. But I admit I am eager for my Mango to move on to the next step and ship. I keep dreaming about it and what it will be like to ride.

Too Funny

2010-03-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much but this clip is too funny. John Stewart addresses the RNC using donor money to take their Christian Right groups to a Lesbian Themed Bondage Nightclub. It is actually funnier that they didn't tie Michael Steele directly but instead the Christian Right group Young Eagles. I love those values, I believe they are best stated "I've got mine, none for you!"

Ah well, now laugh it up at Stewart and crew, this one is a classic.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

2 Girls 1 GOP

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Reform

Memorial for James S Watson

2010-03-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

My Father's Memorial will be on March 21st, at 12:30pm. It will be at
The First Congregational United Church of Christ, Phoenix
1407 North Second St,
Phoenix, AZ 85004
602-258-6891

We will have a small ceremony and a reception afterward.

James S Watson

2010-03-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

My father James S Watson just passed away. It happened at about 1am March 13th, my Mother's birthday. I will be in Pheonix for the near future.

Mango Sport and my fickle desires

2010-01-29T23:11:00.001-08:00

Sinner has introduced the Mango Sport a 60 lb Velomobile. I am blown away by the idea of a 60 lb velomobile. This is 15 or so lbs lighter than the Quest Velomobile. Just yesterday I was dreaming about the Musashi as a go-fast bike in my stable since my raptobike has commuter duties now. And now today, I really want a Mango Sport. I spent a few hours talking to other Velo owners (Zyzzyx) and debated the pros and cons of the Mango Sport, the Quest, the Glyde and the Go-one and the Versatile. In the end for me it comes down to the Mango and the Quest. With the Mango Sport edging out the Quest due to the weight. I want to talk to David Hembrow, he has been riding a Mango the past year and works for Sinner so I can get some indirect feel for it, but I am smitten.

I could stand to lose 40lbs from my engine right now. So if I shed the weight and have a mango, I should be as fast up the hills with the Mango as I am today with the Raptobike. I can handle that, especially since that means I can take any hill, any road etc. Suspension and three wheels stability means I can ride the gradually worsening Seattle roads with aplomb in nearly any weather. The Mango Sport will allow me to race, to do fast century rides and commute in the same vehicle. I can use the Raptobike for brevets, hot weather and fun.

So it is time to sell the pile of stuff in my garage so I can afford a Velomobile. I don't think I can resist the allure of this siren call.

Some thoughts on the Musashi

2010-01-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

I have been staring at this bike since the video was released. I like it. The 451/622 wheel combination is obviously a performance choice. The SRAM Rival components is also performance centric. The gear range is on the high side, which is appropriate for a fast bike at 32" to 122". I believe that in the summer version of myself I would be able to ride a low gear of 32" up hills in the Puget Sound. Riding this bike would get me into performance shape for sure. I would most likely run this with the SRAM Rival 11-28 cassette, I am not sure which is the default for this bike, but the 11-28 would be great for me.

All of my current bikes are setup with fenders, dynamos, lights, and lots of luggage. I could set up this bike as a lean mean century machine. A couple of frame bags to fit behind the seat, a few water bottles, a pump, a cycle computer (the garmin will work) and done.

I like the idea, I think I need to sell the Corsa, sell the Vivo, clean up my garage and get one of these beautiful bikes.

Catrike Musashi Lowracer

2010-01-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

Catrike has released teaser video of their new lowracer. At the moment we just have what can be observed in the video. SRAM Rival components, Carbon Fork, Front Wheel is 451, rear is 700c. Spacing on the fork is very tight so basically this will be running with Schwlabe Durano 28mm 451. The Rear tire will have the typical large selection common to 700c wheels.

I love the rear end geometry. The stiff seat, the solid back end both look like they will contribute to excellent power transfer and provide a great way to mount bags and accessories. In fact I suspect a tailbox would be great on the Musashi.

Congrats to Catrike, a wonderful design.
h/t - BROL blog broke this story, thanks Bryan

SIR Winter training ride #1 in 2010

2010-01-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

I rode with SIR and CBC today. We did the first of the Winter Training Series, it was a great ride and I am happy with my performance given my current winter weight. It was a lot of fun and Russel came out from Seattle to ride it with me. I also ran into Bill Gobie, and made a few new friends.

I think I want to get a cue-sheet holder that I can drape around my neck. Digging in my pocket was annoying. The Garmin Edge on the other hand performed flawlessly and kept me on route even when I made mistakes. I am happy with the way it follows courses. All in all a great start to the season.

Rohloff US Service partner

2010-01-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Cycle Monkey
Performance Cycling Services
713 Solano Avenue
Albany, CA 94706
Tel: 510 868 1777
www.cyclemonkey.com
(US Service Partner)

I promised someone I would post this information here. Finding the current Rohloff partner has been a bit interesting these past 6 months.

Odd day.

2009-12-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

I was planning on a winter bike ride with CBC. It starts at Logboom park so I rode there last night to make sure I knew the distance and time it took. It got dark during the ride so I kicked on all my night lights and noticed that my headlight was low on juice. No big deal, I was only 7 miles from home and I had more than enough power for that distance.

I rode home, worked out a few alternate routes that avoid needless downhills followed by 8% grade climbs. Excellent. I cleaned my chain, filled my water bottles, and checked my tires. All good.

This morning, I get dressed and head on out for the CBC ride. At 5 miles out, 2 miles to Logboom, my shifter cable snaps. Great, now I am a single speed, I turn around and head home. Climbing up the 10-12% grades was interesting but not too bad, I am not sure what gear I left the bike in but it was low enough to climb with a bit of grunting. I get home and decide I want to have the Corsa ready to ride. I take out the floor pump and work on the tires. BAM! A seal goes out on the floor pump. So now I have only half the work done on the Corsa, so I take out my trusty Topeak Road Morph and fill up the tires. Prefect, the road morph is a trooper, no issues, in fact I over filled the rear tire and had to dump a bit of pressure as I don't run 120psi in the winter. I love my road morph, it is the model from 2002/2003 or so and has a pressure gauge, flip over tab for my foot and a hose to prevent bending the stem of my tube off. A nearly perfect device, and one I love.

So now I need a new floor pump and I need to take my Rohloff hub + Raptobike to the shop for new shifter cables + an oil change. Ah well, the sun is still shining, I guess I will go for a pleasure ride on the Corsa.

Lucy

2009-12-15T08:59:00.000-08:00

I love this picture of Lucy rolling around in the dirt. It really conveys her playfulness. I find Lucy so cute and fun. She has such wide range of behavior, and really is a doggy dog. She goes from Fashionista:

to Playful:

to Intent:

to Competitive:

to lounging:

she digs:

And she always is part of our pack with Casey:

Project Streamliner

2009-12-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

As some of my readers may have divined, I am deeply interested in getting a practical streamliner. I want it to be useful for commuting, long ride such as randoneurring or the stp, and hpv racing in the super-street class.

The idea is that I start with a tilting trike such as the one above. Then I work with Coroplast and make a shell for it. Garrie Hill has already done this for his trike, the model of his shell is below:

From RandomPictures

Then I clean up the surface, paint it, mount it and end up with a nice red streamliner. Something like Lonnie's below but made of coroplast and a different shape. But I do love the red with silver striping.

I am thinking of using PVC piping for internal struts to mount the rear especially since the tilting wheels means I have to allow for them to move. A front strut coming off the BB will provide the mounting location for the fairing as well as a place to mount a front light. I will also have a strut pointing straight up to brace the fairing. I will probably talk to terracycle and replace the stock idlers as well. I will want to raise the seat a bit and I am thinking that I could use side mount drum brakes on the rear wheels and then wire them up to one brake lever. I would move the tilt lock down under the seat and put the rear brake lever on the left side. The front brake would be on the right. I will cut the fairing into pieces so it can be removed and reattached. I am currently thinking a front section, two cockpit sections (top and bottom) and a rear section. With the trike separable, that means I could separate the entire thing into 5 pieces for travel or transport. I would paint the fairing red, and put silver reflective stripes on the sides similar to Lonnie's streamliner. I will also put numbers on the fairing for race events and organized rides such as the STP.

Currently this plan is all potential and no actualized in any way. But if all goes well, I may end up with the trike in 2010.

More on Practical Streamliners.

2009-12-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

After posting the other day about the following streamliner that was at the Ford HPV challenge 2009, I was reminded of a streamliner from Portland.

Jester in F40-like clothing

Todd's Streamliner in Portland
I believe that Todd's Streamliner above also has a Jester at its heart. It is based on a Varna shell and he added gull wing doors and a larger canopy. He takes it on the street and always does well at the Human Powered Challenge in Portland since he knows the handling and abilities of his streamliner much better than most riders do.

I have to admit I am very tempted to look into this.

What Features I want in a potential streamliner and why?

2009-11-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Recently I have been considering streamliners as commuting platforms. The so-called "practical streamliner" bike problem. This is an interesting problem to be solved.

Commercially there are a few approaches that have been taken.

The Velomobile, a tadpole trike platform with a shell. Examples include the Quest, the Go-One, the Sorcerer, etc. Most are heavy (~70lbs) and the tadpole format adds a certain about of tire scrub and rolling resistance. Even so, this is the format that is the most common for practical applications today. It is also very fast as long as you don't have too many hills.
Fabric and wireframe Faired bikes, the Lightning F-40, which holds the fasted time ever in RAAM is the classic example. Faired Easy Racer Gold Rushes are another common example and the lowracer above with a customer carbon fiber front fairing and cover is within reach. These tend to be lighter, in the 30-40lbs range and the cost is lower. The speeds are good, especially since the weight is low and low weight means that climbing is not as affected.
Hardshell streamliners, tub bikes, these are the real speed bikes, also about ~70lbs with limited steering radius and other practical limitations. These tend to be individually produced with custom design features. There are examples that have been made more practical and can be used in general traffic and riding applications. Joe's streamliner built around a varna clone shell is one example

The question is what makes a good platform to build a streamliner around. You want a number of components.

Suspension, a streamliner is faster and due to the opaque body generally has reduced forward visibility for road bumps and hazards. You will hit bumps fast and you want to be able to handle it. Suspension also helps stick to turns better at speed. Most streamliners can easily average in the mid 20s MPH or low 30s MPH if the road is reasonably flat or rolling hills. Suspension helps make this comfortable and keeps the tires on the road.
Large Gear Range, a streamliner wants high gears to avoid spinning out in the 25-30mph range. It also wants low gears to climb hills with the extra weight. A gear range from 17 GI to 120GI is adequate for most practical applications. This can be accomplished with a jackdrive (intermediate drive), an internal hub, or something like the SRAM dual drive.
Indirect Steering, indirect steering or some other method to control how much your steering apparatus goes to the side during turns. Traditional Tiller and U bar steering can take up quite a bit of width during turns, widening your profile and reducing the aero benefits of the streamlining. Indirect steering can eliminate this entirely though it does add complexity. Other solutions are sitting very close the the fork and putting a small T bar steering directly on top of it.
Entry, Exit and Stoplight solutions, a trike of some sort makes a good practical streamliner since entry, exit and stopping/starting are all pretty simple as long as you can get in and out of the fairing. Bike solutions have to worry about bomb-bay doors for the feet, clearance for derailleurs , etc. The inherent stability of trikes helps a lot for low speed handling like climbing. Most of the practical 2 wheel streamliners have either open bottoms or do something with bomb bay doors (complex) or fabric (simple) to improve the aerodynamics on the underside. Entry and exit is also very tricky with a 2-wheel streamliner. The F-40 and other fabric/nosecone solutions solve this reasonable well. Many 2 wheel hardshell solutions require helpers to launch/catch them. This is not very practical.
Storage, some form of storage and luggage capacity. A streamliner is useful for both speed and weather protection. You will want to carry the odd bit of groceries, a change of clothes or maybe a laptop. 20 -to 40L of storage is a nice thing to have. The extended tail section of most streamliners does provide a location that suits many designs. Even a way to add a small basket back there provides useful storage.

Looking at this list, you can see why tadpole trikes do well as velomobiles. I am looking for a bit more speed and less tire scrub so I am considering a tilting trike as a platform. Though a lowracer modification such as the one pictured above is also highly tempting. I suspect I could invest $1000 or so into such a solution and come up with something workable.
-Duncan

Posting Schedule and random news

2009-11-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

From RandomPictures

I haven't been posting much lately. Mostly due to the new house and because work has changed lately requiring more hours but also due to the fact that it is the winter. I will continue to run this blog and will post interesting items. For instance Arnold of Raptobike is planning a FWD trike design and has reserved the name Raptotrike.com. I am hoping for a tilting trike out of this.

With the winter and my longer commute I find myself wishing for a trike to commute with. Especially a trike with a fairing, aka a velomobile. In the US, Bent Up Cycles has become the premium velomobile dealer. Dana carries the bluevelo Team, the Greenspeed Glyde and seems likely to start carrying the Quest version produced by Bluevelo under license from Velomobiel. Dana imports VK2s from Poland and carries a number of other European brands. If a tilting trike comes to the US my money says Dana will carry it, especially if there is a velomobile version.

At least that is my hope since I don't want to ever get a second car and prefer to find a car alternative in a velomobile. I don't think I will need the large carrying capacity of the quest. If I can carry groceries for dinner and a gallon of milk then it will be enough for me. My mostly likely day to day cargo is the commuting load. A laptop, a change of clothes, tools and a jacket. With this in mind I want a lighter weight velo and a narrower track. This leads me down the narrow wheelbase of a tilting delta trike framework. I see enough room for the basics in a turtledeck behind the seat and the tilting delta format is good for stability even in the wet leaves I sometimes traverse. Something like the Munzo TT would be nearly ideal with the indirect steering and the take apart frame for transport.

I think a functional, fast, velomobile would be nearly ideal 3/4s of the year and my raptobike would be my summer bike. I could outfit it for fun, lightweight, road cycling and keep the velomobile platform setup for commuting and foul weather. I would love to try this. If I have to make my own shell I will need to experiment with a tailbox for the raptobike first. Cleaning the garage of all the crap from the move becomes a priority then. Ah well, back to the reasons why I am not posting as much, too busy. I will continue to post but not quite as much as I had been.
Duncan

Still Commuting

2009-11-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Puget Sound rainy season has started. I am still cycle commuting, even in the rain but I have wimped out a few times. I added more lights to my helmet which gives me a bit of control over where my light goes and allows me to turn the lights on or off while in motion. It also lights up my cockpit controls without having to turn on the backlight for the gps or bike computer.

Lately I have been wondering what it would take for me to have a foul weather bike without sacrificing too much performance. The Munzo TT trike caught my eye. A 40cm track width, tilting delta trike with indirect steering and suspension. It is a very good platform to put into a homebuilt shell and the guys at FastFWD.nl seem to be planning to make it into a velomobile as well.

Here is the video of the trike in action:

Tilting trikes don't experience the same tire scrub that a normal trike does in turns. Delta trikes are also faster than tadpole trikes though normally aren't as stable in turns. The tilting changes that equation and makes the trike even better in turns than a tadpole. The narrow track width means a shell will be narrow as well. Suspension is always a good idea for a streamliner since you will hit bumps at speed. Disk brakes are also a good idea and this trike has the mounts for them. Additionally the Munzo TT separates which makes transport much easier. If the shell also separates (as it should) then you can transport the contraption pretty easily. Overall a very exciting idea and one sure to occupy my thoughts this winter.

Sunday Dog park visit

2009-10-19T22:51:00.001-07:00

Kristin and I headed to the dog park on Sunday. We ran into a number of friends and had a great time.

Fuck 'em

2009-10-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Today some asshole yelled "Get off the road!" at me while I was riding to work. Now you may or may not know but the "approved" method of dealing with this is to just put your head down and take it. Personally I am tired of this crap and tired of the complete lack of empathy when a cyclist gets yelled at then hit or whatever. The standard response is to ask what the cyclist did wrong to deserve such attention. Or maybe some other cyclist did something that apparently means that I need to be punished for.

Well in my case it is very clear. I yelled "Fuck you" right back at the asshole. And I am tired of all the "blame the victim" chatter that always gets offered up when a cyclist or pedestrian gets hit by a car. So to all the enablers and assholes out there "Fuck you" too.

Just a fed up rant from an Ex-NYer.

Waiting

2009-10-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

I have been riding the Corsa lately. The White Rabbit is in the shop getting a new front wheel and new brake pads. I miss the raptobike greatly. With the rear rack on the Raptobike I have a much higher carrying capacity and can take my laptop home which I cannot do confidently with the Corsa. The internal hub and easier start off the line makes the Raptobike a much better commuter as well.

The new rim is in and Kirkland Bike Shop is doing their normal stellar job of building me a new front wheel. So soon I will be back to this:

Casey ears back

2009-10-13T20:31:00.001-07:00

Casey ears back, originally uploaded by Watson House.

I love Casey. Such a great dog.

Jon Stewart on CNN Fact Checking

2009-10-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

CNN Leaves It There

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Ron Paul Interview

I love Jon Stewart. This segment on CNN and by inference the media as a whole is very revealing. Check it out.

Larry Wilmore is genius

2009-10-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Playing the Race Card

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Ron Paul Interview

You just have to love the Daily Show.

Kitsap Color Classic

2009-10-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I rode the Kitsap Color Classic. This is an Cascade Bike Club organized ride, one of the last of the season. Aden was kind enough to give me a ride to and from the Ferry. The ride was great, if you click through the picture above you can see all the shots I took. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted because I am still using my old canon. The new canon died and I am still waiting for the replacement camera to arrive (a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3).

The ride was moderately supported and since I was with Aden I was with 6 riders besides myself who were looking out for me and vica versa. If you click through the pictures you should see the riders, Susan, Allen, Al, Amy, Lee, and Aden. We got a later start to let the day warm up. The ride was absolutely beautiful and not insanely hilly. It was about 3800 ft of climbing if you did 62 miles. My bike handled wonderfully. I rode my Raptobike as you can see in the photo above. There were some significant hills including one of more than 20% grade. I saw a number of riders walking up that one. I rode up it though I was short of air at the end of the 1/2 mile hill. I had no issues with the FWD slipping on such a steep hill, though I am sure it would have been an issue if it had been raining.

I only rode 54 miles as I discovered a crack in my front rim at mile 25. My poor rim hasn't been the same since the STP abuse in July. I have been trying to "get by" while waiting for the new rim to arrive but now my front wheel is dead. I rode it home and it is now in the garage. I am working various options to get the raptobike out of the shop as I don't want to ride my backup bikes.

Fastest woman alive.

2009-09-18T10:03:00.001-07:00

Barbara Buatois broke the woman's world speed record this past week. She was riding the Varna Diablo 3 at Battle Mountain. With a 5 mile runup she was clocked at 72.534 mph average through the 200m speed traps. This is on level ground with no drafting. She is offically the fastest woman and the 6th fasted human in the world. She is also the first woman to break the 70mph mar. It is also the new national French speed record.

Here is a picture of the Varna Diablo III:

For more Battle Mountain 2009 results see this thread on www.recumbents.com

Casey Slideshow

2009-09-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

Casey is Kristin and my first dog together. He is 4 years old now and the greatest little rat terrier. He loves fetch and loves to run. I assembled a slideshow of pictures of Casey here to share.

Malric's Latest - Kouign Amann LD

2009-09-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

From Malric's World

Malric has a new design. He has updated his frame geometry on the FWD MBB lowracer, it is now adjustable for rider size and has more aero handlebars.

Ever since Malric introduced his design a year or more ago I have been following the progress of his designs. His company Zockra Bikes is a sponsor of a few HPV athletes including Barbara Buatois who recently set the female hour record at the Ford Michigan Proving Grounds Test Track in August. She actually set it twice, her second go at 84.02 kph/52.2 mph in an hour was faster than her first. This was on the Varna Tempest, a streamliner.

I am very happy to see Zockra sponsoring HPV athletes including both max speed and long distance riders. I certainly give more attention and desire toward their bikes knowing that Zockra both supports my chosen sport and that top performers of this sport are riding Zockra bikes at speed events. Take a look at the various Zockra bikes, they are all drool worthy carbon beauties. My personal favorite is still the Kouign Amann LD, I love the clean chainline and the practicality of being able to turn sharply and go FAST. I also have to admit, I like their paint jobs. They give the bikes a very finished look.

Bike Thief

2009-09-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

Bike Thief vs Street Justis from triple on Vimeo.

A bike thief ends up in a confrontation with his targets. This was on Cyclelicious . Check out the drill the thief drops early in the video. I noticed that the thief while scared out of his mind was not really harmed in this video.
(restored video)

Bike Lust - Thundervolt M1

2009-09-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Thundervolt Manufacturing is a custom shop that makes a beautiful carbon lowracer. The Thundervolt M1 is available as a frame kit that includes fork, carbon/aluminum tiller, front and rear brakes,headset and front wheel. You can see John Morciglio's ad for it here.

This is a beautiful bike and a dangerous thing for me to look at. Here are some pictures:

Thundervolt M1

Thundervolt M1 - from above

One of the things that intrigues me is how it has integrated storage under the seat and in the shoulder fairings. This bike is designed for racing but it is very beautiful and I find it quite alluring.

Commute Pictures over time.

2009-09-01T12:40:00.001-07:00

I love commuting by bike. It is fun, it keeps me in shape and I get to decompress after work with a beautiful ride and workout. I thought it would be fun to show a number of the pictures I have taken commuting over the Spring and Summer. So here goes:

The Recumbent Point of View.

Raptobike Commuting in the Rain.

The View from behind me.

Me and My Steed.

The Raptobike at the Office.

The traffic I avoid

The view behind me on the Sammamish River Trail.

New Home and Commute

2009-08-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

I now live in Woodinville and my commute is 14.5 miles, most of it is on the West Sammamish River trail. I love my new commute, it is not too hilly, it is longer and it is beautiful. The trail is basically a bike highway during the morning commute. No intersections or cars, just a nice smooth trail with ramps to exit or enter at various roads. A great way to start the day. Once I replace my camera I will take some pictures.

I despise blame the victim chatter.

2009-08-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Why is it that every single car/bike crash or tragedy story is marred by everyone and his brother rushing to blame the victim? A man gets dragged 150 ft behind a car and immediately they story is about the evils of fixies. About how you must avoid confrontation, about how the cyclist must have been drunk, about how he curses at his mother, about how the cyclist must be a devil worshiper, etc.

This is the standard fare for all cycling stories. I have never seen a single crash story involving cyclists and motorists that didn't blame the victim. Not one. The best part is how we are all supposed to be very hands off with the motorist since we don't know the circumstances yet. So everyone just unleashes all their suspicion on the cyclist.

So for everyone blaming the victim, enjoy your final vacation in hell.

SlowCoach's Raptobike in Scotland

2009-08-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

Wow! (more pictures on SlowCoach's thread at BROL)

This is Slowcoach's raptobike in Scotland. It only recently arrived; he and I had been corresponding regarding his bike search and he went for the Raptobike after a test ride and loaner from Laid Back Cycles. It is beautiful and highly functional. I have to admit I am drooling.

Hilarious Cycling Video

2009-08-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Performance - the name of the game.

This is just way too funny. You should watch it.
(h/t Bike Portland)

Busy Busy Little Bee

2009-08-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am closing on a new house, my Father-in-Law is in town, I have two major projects due at work and am still trying to coordinate my bike stuff. I am swamped and not posting much right now. Sorry.

I did at least put up some new dog pictures and some commuting shots. So take a look and see.

Cyclelicious is running a contest

2009-08-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

Cyclelicious is running a contest for a free tee-shirt from Strange Cargo.

It sounds like a bit of fun.

Insanely funny video

2009-08-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

Tiffani Thiessen is Busy from Tiffani Thiessen

You need to watch this, Tiffani Thiessen on why she is too busy for the "Saved by the Bell" reunion.

Great fun at the Dog park today

2009-08-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

We went to Magnuson "Small Dog" Dog park today early in the morning. We saw Uno and his family (Aden and Mark) as well as Lola and her family. We also met the cutest Italian Greyhounds. 3 in one family and 1 in another, the stars were Blaze and Neville, both very cute and unusually dog friendly Italian Greyhounds. There was also an unknown black dog who played fetch with Casey and hung out. Lots of very cute pictures with the two of them hanging out and playing fetch.

This was one of the best days we have had for Casey playing with other dogs and Lucy had a ton of fun with the Italian Greyhounds and the French Bulldogs (no pictures of that unfortunately).

My Raptobike "White Rabbit" is home again

2009-08-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

The "White Rabbit" is home again. She has a new frame, new Terracycle idlers and a new rear rack by Tubus. The rack will allow me to use my Ortlieb panniers in the near term and will be the mount for my tailbox longer term. I need to be prepared for my new commute. BTW, the idler kit for the Raptobike is not on Terracycle's web site yet, just call their office and Pat or Robert will get it out to you. It is very nice and comes with Raptobike specific instructions. The Kirland Bike Shop put everything together for me and got my Raptobike running again.

I am still waiting on my Schwalbe Kojaks, and the new front rim from Velocity but the bike is a dream. I took it for a 20 mile test ride today and loved it. The new idlers eliminate the two issues I had with my Raptobike. I had been having trouble with the chain jumping due to my chain line not being perfectly adjusted. If I hit bumps while coasting it might jump off. That problem is gone, but was specific to my setup, not a Raptobike issue as much as a tuning issue. The other issue I had was that the stock power side idler use to grab jeans, shorts or any non-lycra clothing on my right leg. This includes hair and flesh. I had been just careful to wear 9" inseam lycra shorts. Now with the thinner toothed idler this problem is GONE.

As you can see in the picture there is now a decent distance between my thigh and the idler. I also rode around wearing regular shorts and there were no issues. This is a bigger deal and very welcome.

All in all the bike seems to be better than ever and it was a dream before. I can't wait to move into my new house and set up my workshop so I can build a coroplast tailbox.

Too Funny

2009-07-30T16:58:00.002-07:00

William Shatner is a national treasure. Here he is reading Palin's tweets as free verse. Very funny.

Sunday Dog park pictures

2009-07-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Kristin and I met some friends at Magnuson Park for some fun. We tried to schedule it later in the day to avoid the heat but it was still very hot. Though not as hot as it is today in Kirkland, 110.5 F right now.

Raptobike upgrades

2009-07-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

With the Raptobike in the shop, I am performing a few upgrades while it is there. Terracycle idlers are now available for the Raptobike. My stock idlers were a big draggy so am upgrading to the Terracycle product. I am switching to 35-406 and 35-559 Schwalbe Kojak tires front and rear. I am also adding a rear rack to serve as support for my soon to be built tailbox and a front fender. Oh yes, I am also adding 2 B&M cyclestar mirrors.

I should have the White Rabbit back next week sometime. I await completion impatiently.

Inactivity

2009-07-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

The Raptobike is in the shop right now. It took some big hits during the STP and so I am not riding. I have the Corsa and am commuting on it but I am not training right now. Part of this is my left ankle is still healing from a sprain, but part is that I miss my White Rabbit.

My brain has been occupying itself with designing new bikes and tailboxes in my head. I have a decent mental plan of a tailbox for the White Rabbit. My current plan is to join the various coroplast parts using a hot glue gun and a technique that Garrie Hill published for joining coroplast. There should be 5 major components of the tailbox. The part that goes against the seat back, the left side, the right side, the bottom inverted U shape part and the top cover. The entire structure will rest on a tubus rear rack and have 4 thumb screw attachment points to the seat. This should make the tailbox easy to remove for transport.

The bike designs are more fantastical. Flowing shapes that want to be carbon fiber or maybe aluminum monocoque. Dual 520 wheels, forward triangulated seat that is integral to the frame, triangulated rear end, front suspension, front wheel drive, etc. I think I need to buy turbocad to start putting ideas into more rigorous form. OTOH, I have convinced myself that if I can get a front fork for the raptobike with suspension, I want it.

Ah well, I wish I were riding but at least I managed to get some ideas in more concrete form than daydreams. Just couple of weeks to be without the Raptobike, so maybe I will have it in time for the new house.

Grouchy

2009-07-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

I am a little short tempered right now. The Raptobike is in the shop being repaired after my STP crashes (multiple). I am buying a house and one of the seller's banks is being annoying. These minor personal annoyances mean that I am having trouble taking other issues in stride.

Here is a list of highly annoying things:

Press coverage of health care reform. It is startling how easy it is to see the hand of corporate money in supposedly neutral press coverage.
Libertarian morons who all apparently believe they are Renaissance men, capable of doing everything for themselves and anyone who might need help is weak and should be purged.
Actually all libertarians are annoying, I find it amazing how a group that self identifies as intelligent is so short sighted.
Motorist apologists and the dangerous drivers who threaten cyclists every day. One of that tribe hit a pack of 5 cyclists in Ottawa recently.
The religious right and their parade of hate, guns and bigotry.
Overt in your face religion of all stripes really pisses me off right now. Probably the side effect of being a preacher's kid. Right now, if you are overtly Christian, I will happily assume you are a bigot, a misogynist, and a republican. Redundant as that list is.
Science deniers, this includes the anti-vaxxers, the global warming deniers and creationists. I hate the selfish con-men that most of you are. And without a doubt you are all selfish bastards or sad deluded tools.
Bankers. This includes anyone who works for Goldman Sachs.

I could go on but you get the idea.

STP 2009 Collage

2009-07-19T10:36:00.001-07:00

STP 2009 Collage, originally uploaded by Watson House.

Here is a nice link to all of my STP photos. The Seattle to Portland ride was great, I had a lot of fun and learned that I can and will push through adversity when I am properly motivated.

210 miles over two days was a big accomplishment for me.

Marymoor Park with the dogs

2009-07-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

We went to Marymoor park today instead of our previous plans. It worked out well as both Casey and Lucy love the dog park. It is hot today so Lucy spent a lot of time lounging around.

and Casey played fetch the whole time.

We did see a number of other dogs, including this beautiful German Shepard

All in all a great day. Click through on the pictures to see all 130 photos from today.

STP retrospective

2009-07-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

The STP is over and I have had time to recover and mull over my performance as well as the bikes performance. I had a bit of bad luck going in. I broke my prescription sunglasses at my house the morning of the STP. I hit 2 major potholes on a 33mph descent at around mile 15 during the STP and crashed with a front flat at mile 20 and mile 155. My rim needed to be repaired by use of pliers and sandpaper. And I received some 12 sq inches of abrasions during those falls. All of this obscured the performance of my riding and my bike.

Looking back after a week I can now see how I did without the blur of the accidents that occurred. I averaged 16.9 mph for the first 120 miles, I slowed down from Winlock onward after a near brush with heat exhaustion. I now know how important it is to douse myself in water while riding to keep cool in hot weather. This is something I have been told before but it didn't really sink in until I noticed symptoms of heat exhaustion on the way to Napavine. Clammy skin and feeling cool at the skin layer (best I can describe it). I stopped when I noticed the clammy skin and used my spare water bottle to cool down.

Due to my wheel issues from the crash I also climbed Puyallup using a gear of 34.6 inches. I didn't love it but I was able to without too much issues. This tells me that I could and should bump up my gearing on the raptobike putting my low at 25gi instead of 20gi. I will also add a water bottle cage to the raptobike on the handle bars. This will free up my jersey pocket that I dedicated to this.

I also found that Cytomax is awesome and I do very well with it as long as I have water besides. Next year I will do the STP in one day. I have a number of modifications to the raptobike that I plan on.

Terracycle Idlers - the current ones are not as efficient and the power side idler currently is dragging badly.
Water bottle cage for the handlebars.
A second mirror (B&M Cyclestar 901/3)
A rear rack probably from Tubus, maybe the airy. A good base to mount my tailbox too.
a homemade Coroplast Tailbox. I have a design in mind that will be aerodynamic, have a decent carrying capacity and have a latching enclosure. I will also build cargo stops inside to allow me to keep smaller loads closer to the front and near the seat.
38mm Schwalbe Kojaks to replace the 28mm Schwalbe Duranos.
A front fender.
A larger front chainring (62T)
slightly lowered handlebars

With all of these changes the Raptobike will be an all weather bike that can handle the rough roads and carry decent cargo. It will also be more aero and have water bottle and hydration bladder options. I will have locking storage via the tailbox and the tailbox will be removable via thumb screws high and low on both the left and right sides. Cheers to winter projects!

STP 2009 - a great ride.

2009-07-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

I have now successfully completed my first STP. DKW and I started at 5:30 or so on day one. Here we are riding away from the start line.

Coming down some of the hills I hit some potholes at 30+ mph. I could feel the new dents in my rims when I tried my front brakes. I cursed but since the wheel was still true I just rode onward. Later at mile 20 or so, I turned a bit to the left to avoid hitting a women rider in front of me and down I went. A pinch flat took me out and I skidded to a stop on my left side. A nice rider named Tom was behind me and almost went down with me but managed to miss me. He stopped and helped. We didn't know why I went down until we saw the flat front tire. An STP support vehicle was helping us before I even managed to get the front wheel off. I switched modes as Larry took over the wheel, tire, tube maintenance. DKW borrowed the first aide kit from the support team and gave me an excellent field dressing.

After Larry bent my rim into shape with a pair of pliers and I sanded down the interior rim edges to prevent any more pinch flats we were back on the road. I did have to repair a double set of classic vampire bite holes in my tube. This patch job lasted over 130 miles.

We stopped at the next rest stop to use the port-a-potties and top off our water.

I unfortunately needed to help some one day riders who wrecked with directions for their support car to pick them up. They were through for the day.

As Day one progressed DKW and I both stuck mostly together and regrouped at mini-stops and/or hills. We made good time and averaged well over 16.5 mph for the first 100 miles. There was 13 miles of bike trails that were nice except for stop signs on the path yielding to driveways, which annoys me to no end. I am feeling good as we ride through here though I am keeping an eye out for potholes or bumps as I don't want to go down again.

We continued onward and left the trail about 13:30. Though it looks dark here it will soon be the hottest part of the day.

Later at the hills approaching Napavine on Rush Rd I started to feel clammy skin and I got cold instead of hot, these are signs of heat exhaustion. I stopped on the hill and dumped my spare water bottle all over my head and neck. I rested and waited for DKW to catch up. While recovering I snapped this shot of people climbing up Rush Rd.

A Gullwing rider stopped for us as well and gave us some bottled water which DKW and I both used to cool ourselves down. The temperature had spiked to the 90s here and we just weren't prepared. From this point onward I took the advice of a cyclist friend of mine (Willie) and kept dumping water on my head and neck any time I felt too dry. Another excellent example of the CBC support crew on this ride, I needed that extra water and I should have been keeping my skin wet with it well before the 110 mile mark.

DKW broke a spoke somewhere between here and Castle Rock. So we found an excellent stop at Castle Rock with a full bike repair crew setup. The repair team from Bothell Ski and Bike replaced DKW's spoke, trued his wheel and got him going again.

At this point the Broadus team caught up to us finally. They got a late start and it took them a hundred and twenty miles to catch up. One of the other riders took a picture of us all together at Castle Rock

At this point the Broadus team took off and DKW and I chugged along the final 35 miles for the day. I tried to keep up with the Broadus's for a bit but it was a fools game and I dropped back. I ended up following a pair of one day riders all the way to the bridge into Oregon. This was a bit too far and luckily DKW called me. I biked back to DKW and we went to the drop point to pick up our bags. I managed to hit another pothole at this point right in front of the drop point. I went down with the second bent rim and pinch flat of the day. I was not a happy camper but we walked to the drop point and then to our hotel. After dinner I bought a pair of pliers and DKW helped me get my rim back in shape. Even after all this abuse the wheel is still true. Only the rim bent which is amazing. I know the wheel is through though and after the STP I will need to get a new wheel built with my Rohloff hub in it. All of the accidents are due to reduced sightlines, I was following people too closely at mile 20 and at mile 155 I was just tired and my glasses were covered in sunscreen. I could barely see shapes let alone shadows.

Sunday morning we get on our bikes, ride back to the drop point with our bags and I start my computer again. Here we are riding off in the sun, happy to ride our final 55 miles to Portland.

Day 2 is nice but almost all of the riding is on RT 30 which is not the nicest experience. I am taking care not to hit any more bumps as there is no way my front rim will survive any more surgery. After 50 miles we finish the STP in Lloyd Center.

It was a great ride and I really had a blast.

STP - start

2009-07-11T03:54:00.000-07:00

I am just about to head out for the STP. Life has been very hectic with planning for the STP and trying to buy a house. Everything is packed, the dogs have been walked and fed, I have been fed and showered. So I will soon be heading out to pick up DKW and off we go.

I will be riding the Raptobike. Everything is ready, time to go!

My Commute - a photo essay

2009-07-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

My morning commutes in the summer are beautiful and a great way to start the day. Hopefully this gives you an idea of why I like it.

DKW arrives at my house to start the ride. We head out from here N on Market. That route quickly gets us to Juanita Dr. Since there is a downhill section on Market I wait for DKW after the left turn on Juanita.

Here I am.

Here is DKW.

DKW snaps a picture of me as we start up the hill on Juanita. After the 2 or so miles uphill there is a long downhill section, I normally hit 38 mph in traffic, 43 mph if there is space. I generally lose DKW on the downhill. Today I made both lights and had a bit of time to wait.

Here I am.

Here is DKW (hiding in my helmet). We now get on the BG trail and take it to the Sammamish River trail.

Here is the river.

The headwinds give me the advantage on this part of the ride

DKW is a machine though and rides alone with me even when I push it on the SRT.

The trail always has such nice views.

Check out my entire photoset for more pictures of the commute. I love this ride. It always makes me feel good in the morning.

COGS ride this Friday

2009-06-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

COGS is running a ride this Friday that appeals to me. I believe I will go on this ride. I just want to get my supplies ready and the bike checked out.

Friday, July 3, 2009 Ride Around Hood Canal
Training Series Ride
Meet at: Seattle's Coleman Dock or on board the 7:05 am ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge. For those coming from Kitsap, meet at the Hood Canal Bridge at approximately 9:00 am.
Pace: Moderate to brisk. Pace will be set by the riders
Regroup: Will regroup occasionally to keep group together and for water, restrooms, food, and lunch stop.
Distance: about 125 Miles.
Cue Sheet: yes
Terrain:Rolling with an approximate elevation gain of 4500 feet.
Rain Policy: Wet, rainy weather cancels
Ride Leader: Lee Derror of West Sound Cycling Club and Tom Tanner of Cyclists of Greater Seattle Club. Lee's e-mail and phone contact: lderror2@yahoo.com and 360-271-4838. Tom's email and phone contact number: tjtanner@comcast.net and home 206-298-0225, and cell 206-384-9400.
Description: Beautiful ride all the way around the Hood Canal. Ride provides stunning views of Hood Canal from a multitude of perspectives. Route is flat to rolling with an approximate 4500 feet of elevation gain. Route is fairly free of cars. Riders may ride at their own pace, but we will regroup along the way for water, food, lunch and potty breaks.

Ride designed for those seeking to have fun, stay more or less together, and provide mutual support. Smiles and good cheers always welcome.

This ride is part of the COGS Ramrod/RAPsody Training Series and is jointly sponsored by WSCC and COGS

Stats from Morning Training Ride

2009-06-29T18:53:00.001-07:00

Stats from Morning Training Ride, originally uploaded by Watson House.

Here is the data from my Garmin 305 regarding my training ride this morning. I am very happy that I kept my HR in zone 3 or 4 basically all of the ride. I didn't cook myself but I did burn energy going uphill to keep my average speed up. I am very happy with my results and feel that my training is going well.

I love the Garmin Edge, this would be a PITA if I didn't have such a cool bike computer.

Why we love Lance Armstrong

2009-06-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

liamlivestrong.MP4 -- powered by http://www.livestrong.com

Watch this video and tell me you don't like Lance. It is a very heartwarming video.

Update: The climb they are on is the Col del la Colombière.
Cat 1 Climb: Col de la Colombière
7.5km (4.7 mi) at a 8.5% grade.
A very impressive climb for an 8yr old.

Raptobike Pr0n

2009-06-25T12:43:00.001-07:00

Front view commuting setup, originally uploaded by Watson House.

Here is a nice picture of my Raptobike Lowracer as set up for commuting/touring. I have 1400 miles on those tires with no flats. I would be happy to tour on them. I love my bike, a great choice.

Thoughts and Dog pictures

2009-06-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

Click through for more Casey pictures
It has been a while since I posted some nice doggy pictures so I figured I would post one of my favorite Casey pictures. He just loves fetch, you can see how happy he is in that picture.

I have been riding a lot lately, training for the STP. I feel strong and my climbing has improved tremendously. Another rider caught up to me today on Old Redmond Road and told me "It is not often you get out climbed by a recumbent!" I thought that was quite kind of him considering he had just caught up to me on the hill. It sure did fluff my ego a bit.

There has been lots of stuff going on at work and home. Kristin and I are house hunting, so we have been spending a lot of time online and driving around to various locations. Soon this will pass and we should have a new home.

Training for the STP on my Raptobike

2009-06-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

I am riding my Raptobike every day and have been since the beginning of May. At this point the Raptobike has over 1300miles (~ 2100km) on it. It is a wonderful bike and rock steady at speed. The bike has been very reliable and has had no flats or issues. I can ride no handed at speeds >20mph without trouble, lower speeds require some finesse.

The training for the STP is going well. I put in 200 miles the week of the STP and have been riding 26 miles per commute day. Weekends I ride farther if I can fit it in or just ride 28 miles or so. This coming weekend I will be riding with SIR on the 100k populaire in West Seattle.

I am very excited, everything is coming together and my fitness and performance is just getting better and better. I will soon have to take a week off just before the STP but right now I feel strong. My climbing on the bike is a large area of improvement lately and if I can get that to match speeds of uprights (DFs) then I am going to be consistently faster then uprights. Because on the flats or downhill I can really put out pain for any upright trying to keep up. Downhill particularly is where I pass pacelines and TT riders. On the flats I just play hound to pacelines rabbit.

All in all it is a lot of fun.

I hope my wife doesn't kill me.

2009-06-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

There is a interesting thread on BROL that talks about the disease that recumbent riders get. There is so much variety in recumbents that it is tempting to acquire more and more of them. Unfortunately I had a stream of consciousness revelation that the disease is more than just that. There is the accessory desire. Here is my post:

The accessory disease is also strong for recumbents.

I want:
A tailbox, homemade or commercial, maybe both. Race, or Practical, maybe both.
I constantly fiddle with my gear range desires. Atm I want a 62T elliptical chainring for the front to give me 25-132 GI (give or take)
Wheel covers, I want wheel covers, or maybe I want a zipp wheel or a powertap zipp wheel.
hmm, Rob English had this really cool kevlar wheel disk in 559, That would be cool, who made it?
Tires, Tires, Tires - Duranos today, Kojaks for brevets maybe, I wonder if there is a faster lighter race tire too, hmm
Wheel sets. I could get lighter rims than my Velocity Fusions. Maybe I will be light enough for aeroheats soon. Or maybe a really deep dish rim. Or wheel covers, did I say that already?
Edge 705, what about battery life for 12 hour rides, I need that setup.
Lighting, lots of lighting needs
Custom paint, custom patterns on my tailbox, reflective panels, oh my
Seat pads? Actually I think that is completely sorted with my nice zotefoam pad.
hmm, zotefoam, I think lining a tailbox with zotefoam should get rid of that rattling noise.
I need to learn to work with composites, I could make my own Fiberglass tailbox, hmm maybe I need a new workshed, I don't think my wife wants FG fumes in the house from the garage
should I run ethernet to the new shed?
do I have to take down a tree for my proposed shed location?
what power tools do I want? I could use a bandsaw.

I believe it shows the infection is deep in me. But before Kristin kills me, remember that I take forever to act on anything and this was just an inner demon speaking. I love you, I won't go nuts, I promise. Really!

Team RANS in the lead 4man RAAM

2009-06-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Team RANs is running a 4 man RAAM (Race Across AMerica) team this year. At this point they are 14 minutes ahead of the pack . This is very exciting for me and I am really hoping Team RANS wins this years 4man race.

Solstice Day activities

2009-06-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Today Kristin and I are running lots of errands so I won't be riding until later in the day. I think I will do the Lake Washington Loop even though the Summer Solstice Parade will be going on in Fremont. If it slows me down, too bad, it should provide some scenery.

How to find me?

2009-06-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/duncanjwatson
I am on twitter as DuncanWatson - see my tweets or follow me at http://twitter.com/DuncanWatson
And you already know my blog - http://duncan-brain.blogspot.com/

BHPC race at Fowlmead

2009-06-18T10:35:00.001-07:00

IMG_6667-2 Photo by Peter Taylor, originally uploaded by anglepoise.

Look at that amazing bike ridden by Dave Tigwell. It is the "Cuckoo Raaa" and I love the way it looks. Wow.

I love my Raptobike

2009-06-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been observing some of the normal maintenance and break in issues of a bike from the outside. DKW has been going through the learning process of riding. Moving from flat bars to drop handlebars, switching to brifters from twist shift, broken spokes, bottom bracket woes, bent crank arm, derailleur adjustment issues, brake changes, etc. None of this is really abnormal, if you start with a low end hybrid and put a few thousand miles on it with a strong rider, you get a certain amount of growing pains.

But I was able to avoid that by building up my Raptobike from a frame kit with a pro-shop like Kirkland Bike Shop doing the work.

By picking the hubs, getting wheels built with good rims and basically using mostly top end components, I have had no issues with my Raptobike. All my little adjustments and learning issues have been very small and KBS has just taken care of it. They are wizards with figuring out stuff. Every time I go in, Matt adjusts a bit here and there.

But all in all my bike in April

is essentially the same as my bike now.

I have updated some of the accessories, lights, bags, etc. But the drivetrain is the way I specified it at build time and it has held up for over 1300 miles without a problem. I have yet to have a flat with the bombproof Schwalbe Duranos. And I ride in crappy weather over broken glass and Seattle area roads.

I rode over a pothole 1/2 mile from the picture above so hard that I dented my front rim. I didn't pinch flat. Matt at Kirkland Bike Shop bent the rim back and I can barely find the spot where it happened. The wheel rides very well.

In summation, I want to say that picking a good bike, getting quality components and having an excellent shop like Kirkland Bike Shop really makes a difference. My enjoyment level of this bike has been sky high and there have been no points where I questioned my decision. The Raptobike is wonderful and I am happy as a clam.

Flying Wheels

2009-06-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

I rode the Flying Wheels ride organized by Cascade Cycle club today. It was a beautiful day and I loved it. Here is a quote from my Flickr photo set for the ride.

Flying Wheels summer century ride organized by Cascades Cycle club. A nice 99 mile route. I averaged 15.4 mph and finished in 6h:25m. Elapsed time was 7h:35m, so I was off the bike for an 1h:10m. The ride was wonderful and very scenic. Cascade did an amazing job. My mileage was a bit higher than most as I followed some non-affiliated riders off the course.

The scenery was wonderful and the ride was hillier than I expected. Having 3000 other people riding with you does push the pace a bit though. I was faster than I have ever been on a long ride. And 4500ft of climbing is nothing to sneeze at. Here is the Garmin data from the ride. The first lap is the ride to the start and I really didn't push on it at all. The second lap is the ride itself.

Flying Wheels is tomorrow

2009-06-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

Flying Wheels is tomorrow. I am pretty excited. It is all I can think about right now. This will be my first organized Century ride. My goal is to finish before 5pm. I will be skipping most of the rest stops and eating my own food and water. I will be looking for refills of my water and use of the loo at some of the stops.

Soon I will know how I do. I just want Saturday morning to arrive.

Supergirl makes me laugh.

2009-06-12T11:36:00.001-07:00

(h/t James Sweet - source )

Broadcasters promise to quiet loud TV ads by September

2009-06-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

Finally broadcasters are moving on this issue. It has been a project of the FCC for 40 years to address this. I work in this industry and I absolutely HATE the volume difference on commercials. The technology has been there for quite some time, the excuse about digital making it easier is a smokescreen. If they can't do it on their own then hammer the bastards with penalties. Both for the ad-maker and the broadcaster.

(h/t Kevin Drum)

Good intentions

2009-06-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to put up a serious post lately. But work has been rough lately and the post promises to be contentious so I want to do my research. So though I want to talk about bike facilities, how to change our infrastructure and point out some people who are working counter to our best interests I will save that for another day. I will not be pointing out the myriad benefits of improving cycle facilities or the ratio of money invested in automobile facilities as compared to cycling. Not today at least.

Instead I will say how recently I find that I can't get FWD (Front Wheel Drive) bikes out of my mind. The simplified drivetrains, the clean rear end, the reduction in power robbing idlers and chain tubes are all very alluring. The shorter chain is great too. I don't know if I will be able to ever get a go-fast bike that doesn't have FWD now. I have become very attached to my Raptobike. For long, wet commuting and touring I have considered Faired Long Wheel Base bikes such as the Rans Stratus XP. But that is a totally different form factor.

One of my recent fascinations is Rob English's Hachi.

His bike is beautiful and fast. Rob also runs his own custom frame building business. This is dangerous for me as I LOVE his bike. If I get fast and start trying to be competitive in the TT (time trial) scene I may have to get a custom frame from him. My dream would be a more streetable but still racing lowracer. Two 24" wheels, front drum brake, mid-drive, q-ring +chain guard for the front, triangulated frame, etc. I would add some hydration solution and call it done. It wouldn't be for commuting, just go fast rides, club rides and training. Obviously a bit of a pipe dream today but who knows what the future holds.

The Joys of Analysis

2009-06-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

I was looking at my garmin data from a few months ago and comparing some of the same rides I did recently. In particular I was looking at rides of the Lake Washington Loop from March 21 and the same ride on June 7th.

March 21, 2009:

June 7 2009:

I am surprised how much lower my speed was in March. A full 2mph slower average. My heartrate was lower on June 7th as well and I spent more time in zone 2. The massive difference in elapsed time is evident as well. I am also interested in how much time I spent in the three lower speed zones.

Zone	March 21	June 7th
Speed zone one is 1->4mph	.4 miles	.2 miles
Speed zone two is 4->8mph	5.3 miles	3.7 miles
Speed zone three is 8->12mph	9.4 miles	4.6 miles

Basically I went slow during climbing for half the distance in June that I did in March. Compared to March I am pretty darn fast climbing. I didn't make it up solely by being faster in the flats, nope, I was able to climb faster as well.

This is great stuff and very cool data. Especially since it makes me feel strong. I need to work harder but I am very glad to see that I am surpassing my late March ability. That was the period where I was riding pretty well on the Corsa, so the Raptobike is comparing well, as is the engine.

Morning Commute

2009-06-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

I rode in today on the 23 mile loop route that goes up Juanita Dr to Kenmore and then takes the BG Trail to Redmond and from there to the office. DKW didn't ride with me today but I need to log miles so I went alone. I did pretty well timewise but didn't break any records. My total moving time was 1h:46m which is 2 minutes slower than our record time. Average speed was 12.8mph. It is interesting how the extra climbing in this route really affects the average speed, sure it seems obvious but it still is notable. My average speed on the 50 mile Lake Washington Loop was 14mph and I was hoping for a number closer to that.

Tonight I work from midnight to 8am so I won't be riding on Tuesday. I will instead be recuperating from the silly night of DNCS consolidation work.

Jack Russell Fun Day - June 6th in Gig Harbor

2009-06-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

Kristin, her friends and I went to Gig Harbor for the JRTC Fun day. It was a ton of fun and Lucy had a blast. She did go to ground, the agility jumps course and the racing. Casey had fun but it was really a Lucy show this time. Lots of good pictrues from the link.

Take a look.

We did it, the Lake Washington Ride in 3h:54m elapsed time.

2009-06-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

DKW and I did it. We did our 50 mile ride in 3h:54m with an average speed of 14.3mph and time on bike of 3h:25m. That means were were 29 minutes off the bike which is 9 minutes more than I wanted but given the extra stop at Leschi Starbucks, perfect. If we can manage this on the STP we should get to Longview in 11h:25m elapsed time assuming a 15mph average for the less hilly route. If we average 14.3 mph we will be done in 12h which is perfectly respectable. This is assuming 150 miles to Longview which is an estimate. Day 2 is short and we should be done early.

I spent a reasonable amount of time in heart rate zone 2. Pushing that to zone 3 will increase my average speed a chunk, though I was very strong at the finish today. The timing really worked for me.

Lake Washington Loop ride goal

2009-06-06T20:01:00.001-07:00

Lake Washington Loop ride summary, originally uploaded by Watson House.

Tomorrow DKW and I plan on doing the Lake Washington Loop in 4 hours elapsed time. I think we can do it but I believe we will be pushing ourselves. Lets see how it goes.

1000 miles on the Raptobike

2009-06-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

I now have 1000 miles on "White Rabbit", my Raptobike Lowracer. The bike has been a dream. I wasn't sure what to expect with a lowracer. I dove in headfirst, sight unseen. The handling and stability of "White Rabbit" is amazing. I turn corners tighter and more confidently than any recumbent bike I have owned. The low speed handling has been wonderful. I took the "White Rabbit" up to 50mph (80 km/h) on a route with rolling hills near my house. I had no concerns with stability. Yesterday morning I was going 30 mph (48km/h) on the flats due to momentum and managed to push the speed to 33 mph (53km/h) by pedaling like a mad-man. I couldn't believe how much fun that was.

The "White Rabbit" is a joy to ride fast. The stiff frame, excellent steering and carbon seat provide a very responsive bike that takes all the power you can put out and turns it into speed. I only need to work on the engine to get more speed.

The lowracer format does well for storage options. I have Radical Lowracer bags that hang under the seat and store 20L of commuting or touring "stuff". I have a fastback double century system for short trips, tools, water and food. Everything on the bike just works well. The V-Brakes are strong and have been able to bring to me to stop from 33 mph (53 km/h) easily. The Schwalbe Duranos are wonderful tires. I have yet to get a single flat on the bike and they are fast and corner well.

I love this bike and really want to thank Arnold at Raptobike for such a wonderful machine.

OHPV has posted the HPC results for 2009

2009-06-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

The 10th Annual Human Powered Challenge Race results are here.
Snippet:

Time Trial Men's Stock results
Rob English	19:02
Michael Wolfe	20:58
Phillip Plath	20:59
Chris Young	23:36
Alex Kohan	23:37
Keith Kohan	23:38
Dana Lieberman	24:29
Duncan Watson	25:57
Joe Kochanowski	26:20
Josh Townsley	26:28
Robert Holler	27:05
Trevor Mays	27:19
Jamie Emmerson	29:06
James Kubli	35:08

Not too bad. I did poorly in the sprints but I knew that. I didn't eat at all before the sprints and it showed. The road race results had a smaller field and though I placed 7th, I was near the bottom of my class. Though if you add in the entire field I placed 7th out of 22. I do think I want a tailbox for my Raptobike, it would put me in SuperStock which is not as competitive in this particular group.

Too bad Dana is so far from Portland. I would like to race against him again.

Summer is here, and busy!

2009-06-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

Casey pants in the heat
June is looking very busy. June 6th I have a JRT (doggy) fun day scheduled with my wife. Sunday June 7th I will ride but it needs to be early so probably alone as I will need to be done by Noon. Work is getting busy as well so weekday rides are hard to arrange.

June 13th is Flying Wheels. I have my rider packet and will start at 8am from Marymoor. I will probably ride to the start to avoid using the car. That will add some hills and 12 miles give or take. I will want to ride on the 14th to show that I can do 50 miles after a century. So I will do the Lake Washington Loop ride on the 14th.

The weekend of June 20th is currently open but as the STP is on July 11 and 12th I need to keep the miles coming. I need to fit rides in on each weekend. Hopefully I can fit in a shorter ride on the 20th and 21st. Probably some variation of the Lake Washington Loop.

Time marches on, I need to really pay attention to my training or the STP may be painful.

Casey and Lucy playing fetch.

2009-06-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun pictures from a recent dog park visit.

Casey really enjoyed fetching.

He is good at returning the ball as well.

Lucy had a ton of fun chasing Casey.

At least when she wasn't napping in the grass.

Casey got quite thirsty.

Lucy was sure that the bowl had more water if she could just dig it up.

Ride with COGS

2009-05-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

I rode out from Kirkland to Gas Works Park to ride with the COGS to Alki Beach. It was a blast. I haven't ridden the raptobike with an organized group of upright roadies before. This route was not very hilly and I found it easy to stick with the pack. The group was advertised as Moderate pace (15-18mph) but for much of the ride it was Brisk or 18-20mph.

I really enjoyed this ride and adding my 40 miles to it proved excellent training. The COGS really kept my heart rate up there and I got quite the workout. When I got home after riding 70 miles and 2400ft of climbing I had an average speed of 14mph. I am very pleased with this as it is nearly a 1mph improvement of my normal speed.

Fun Training loop

2009-05-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Today I did my 5 mile speed loop twice for training. It has been a while since I used this loop but I was pleased to see my speed was up compared to the last time. I hit 49.5 mph on the downhill section, the raptobike really moves when you let it. I am noticing that I could use more top end gearing, 109 gear inches is a bit low. Maybe later I will get a larger front ring for the Raptobike.

14.5 mph average including the hills and traffic. I can deal with that, it needs work but it is a good point to be at right now, more than enough for the stp.