Tired but some thoughts on bikes

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.

Mango getting closer.

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

Project Streamliner

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.

Trike Sold

From September photostream

The trike is now in someone elses capable hands. I sold her today to a nice couple from Tacoma. It went much faster then the sale of my Fuji Cross. The first visitor took it away. I suppose that part of that is due to the larger adjustable range for a recumbent than a "normal" bike. It was pretty easy to set the trike up for its new owner and get him ready to go. It is very easy to ride as well so once someone gets on a trike, they are almost sold.

Farewell my trike, now I have room for the Raptobike. Next up for sale, the Rans Vivo.

Trike slideshow

I discovered that my terratrike happily fits on my Ultimate Pro Elite repair stand. It made working on the brakes and cleaning the drivetrain much easier. I also discovered my chain is at about 50% wear, so I need to start looking into a new chain before it wears too much more. But the trike is much better adjusted now. I can't wait to ride it tomorrow.

Ride home

I rode home today on the trike after fixing the flat. I wanted to get home to compare my ride stats on the trike to the historical records from my garmin. Compared to the other commutes with the trike today was much faster. It also compared well to some of the Corsa commutes though generally the Corsa is faster.

I need to clean up the drive train and check the chain stretch on the trike. But I am very happy with the changes. My increased level of fitness, the faster tires and removing the rubbing of the chain on the return idler has had a large effect. I do have some brake rub right now on the right disk brake so that is my next project.

First bike commute of the year

So with my trike all set up I rode in today. I ran into a few issues. I was lazy and didn't pack my standard tools/pump in my bag. I just grabbed a multi-tool, camel-back and my work clothes to ride in. I ended up paying for it as I got a flat on the way to work. At the end of my 3 mile ride I go down a small hill and noticed the rear was sliding out. I realized I had a flat, blech. I got off the trike and just walked the final 40yrds to the office. I had to call Kristin (my wife) to ask her to bring me a pump and my patch kit.

When I had the trike up and was repairing the flat I noticed that my chain was running directly on the idler guard on the return side. It has chewed through a bit of the guard so it probably has been running this way for a while. I fixed that while I was there. I think I found a few of the reasons why my trike was running so slowly. I will clean the drive train tonight and see how much better the trike runs on tomorrow's commute. Lesson learned, don't tempt the tire gods by leaving the tools home for "just one ride".

Trike work

From Terratrike Commuting

With the weather and the tons of gravel on the road I am not comfortable riding the Corsa with its 23mm tires. So I swallowed my pride and took the trike to the shop. I needed new brake pads for the disks, needed to adjust the disks and I wanted new tires. The Maxxis Hookworms are nice fat, bullet-proof tires but they are slow and my front fenders rub on them making my fenders unusable. So I had them but on new tires, schwalbe marathons, which are faster, lighter and thinner. When I got home I put my fenders back on and everything is set up for commuting.

I had been thinking about selling the trike and the vivo to get a lowracer or maybe a pair of delta trikes to ride with Kristin. The pair of delta thing might happen but not for more than a year I think. OTOH I will keep the TerraTrike and ride her more often. I think for commuting and even certain rando rides the Terratrike might be fine. It certainly is comfortable. I will put in some miles on her in the next few weeks.

Tandem riding

I was talking to my wife (Kristin) about riding together and what would be ideal. We both like recumbents and we would love to ride a tandem. But we also want the ability to split up and to ride alone, etc. So what would give us this ability? Well it appears there are a few recumbent trikes that can be setup as a tandem train like so:

So it occurs to me that Rans just released their Trizard (pictured at top) that is able to be linked as shown and is made in the USA. It also has Rans excellent support network and I happen to know a Rans dealer. Hmm, something to consider.

New Toy - Garmin Edge 305

I recently got my Garmin Edge 305. This is a cycle computer + GPS combo designed for training. It has a heart rate monitor, cadence sensor, altimeter and all the trimmings including a virtual trainer. You can race yourself on courses you have done before. It only lacks a base map and mapping software. But the mapping stuff is in the 705 and was $400 more. I went with the cheaper option but very nice.

I mounted it on my Rans Vivo and my Terratrike Tour. I love it, it is easy to use on the Trike and the Vivo. I get wonderful trip reports and data out of the Edge and on the motionbased web site. I will be able to improve my pedal stroke, and my fitness level quite nicely with my new toy. Since I don't have even a basic cycle computer on any of my rides right now this is extremely welcome. One of the fun things is being able to view the ride in Google Earth. Tomorrow I will take the Vivo out and ride on the trails by Marymoor. I hope to log twenty or thirty miles tomorrow, but it depends on how much I have left in my legs.

Commuting update

Yesterday marked three weeks of commuting by bike. Feels a bit weak since my previous record was 5 years of commuting but it sure is better than not riding. I am enjoying the ride quite a bit. My new route is simple, safe and nearly traffic free. It is also quite scenic.

I love riding though communities where there is a ton of greenery. Trees that are older than the houses is very common. I hate modern development with its tear down the whole lot to dirt then build methodology. Such a waste. All the trees and green make my ride very nice, everything smells good and it is so quiet. Even though I cross the I405, I can't hear it just 1 block away.

Here is a slideshow to illustrate my commute. This is a bit of a mashup of October commutes. As you can see in pictures, it has gotten significantly darker on my ride in. I now leave in the pre-dawn light.

Morning Commute

The commute in was nice. My legs were noodles last night after the 7 miles ride and dog park excursion. But this morning they felt fine. I am rebuilding my legs from a year out of the saddle. I brought my camera with me today but I don't have a card reader at work so the pictures will have to go up when I get home. I will add the slideshow to the afternoon commute.

It was a nice quiet ride, I do want to get a pouch for my camera so it is more available though. I didn't want to ride with it around my neck. I had a little motivation issues getting out the door but everyone said I was very alert and happy this morning, which is good. I am quite pleased with my morning commute, the route is much better then the ones I was previously using.

Tomorrow I am off, to run errands and double check my registration to vote, so I won't be commuting. But Kristin and I do plan on another pleasure ride if we can fit it in.

Sunday's Pleasure Ride

Kristin and I took our bikes to West Sammamish River Trail for a nice leisurely 7 mile ride. I grabbed the camera and took a few shots while I was riding the trike. The batteries ran low so I didn't have many to choose from, but here is a nice slideshow of what we saw.

It was a nice clear morning and a beautiful day to ride.

Commute home

My commute home today was wonderful. It was an example of why commuting by bike or in my case trike is so nice. I crossed over the ped bridge at 100th st, I glanced down at other peoples bumper to bumper commute and reflected on how nice my ride was. I ran into another cycle commuter who was coming up hill and we exchanged a few words of greeting. He was happy to be almost home and done with the hills and I was looking forward to my downhill spin.

Next up I rode by what my wife calls "the chuck-it park". I heard someone yelling behind me, so I braked and looked back. A boxer was bounding toward me, tongue lolling, while he ignored his owners pleas to come. I stopped and waited (a benefit of the trike), the big happy dog came up to me and licked my hands as I grabbed his collar. The grateful owner soon caught up to his runaway pooch. Great dog and a nice encounter.

I pedaled over the rise and down to 112th. I saw a women walking two dogs, one of which looked like a rat terrier or jack russell puppy. I stopped and chatted for a bit. The dalmatian was an 8 year old rescue named Hannah and the puppy was an unknown mix named "Jack" I think, also a rescue. Hannah was very sweet and eventually came over to me and gave me a lot of attention, she wasn't scared at all. I was surprised to hear she was abused before "Sarah" (I hope, I got that right) got her as a rescue, she had a lot of scaring on her back but she is a beautiful dog. Very sweet, great coat, wonderful color. I chatted with Sarah for 15 minutes or so about my trike, the day, her dogs and my dogs. Very nice. The trike makes stopping and starting so easy, it really makes conversations like this much easier.

I definitely want to start packing my camera for commuting, there are so many things to take pictures of. I wish I could put up the mental snap shots I have of this ride.

Comments welcome as always.

Commuting home in the rain

My ride home tonight was a bit wet. A good test of my gear and ride in wet conditions. Everything passed. I don't have my accessory mount yet so I was without a headlight but the ride wasn't bad without it.

I looked like this today:

From September Commuting

As you can see I was wearing my cycling clothes. Performance pants, my fall ones, they handle the rain very well and work as long as it is above freezing. I should get a second set, they were perfect today. I had a rain slick on which is a gift from my Dad as he doesn't ride anymore. I used my Ortlieb Panniers, which are just amazing and I wouldn't replace them. Rain proof, nearly indestructible and so easy to take on and off. I used shorty gloves which I was glad to have in the rain.

So now you see what I look like today, 40lbs heavier than the picture in my profile. The last year has been a rough one for weight gain. But I am pushing hard to lose it now. With my newfound desire to ride every day it should drop. I will be doing some upper body workouts as well.

Regarding commuting I was very pleased at the ride today. The hill wasn't so bad, the route was reasonably fast for a first day back in 1 year, and the rain was not a problem.

Cycle Commuting - First day back on the trike

So today was my first day back on the trike for commuting in over a year. As part of my new QOL improvement strategy I am cycling commuting again. I did a bit of prep before I started again.

1. Cleaned out the garage so I have a cycle maintenance area.
   
2. Cleaned and lubbed the chain.
3. Cleaned the trike and adjusted the seat forward a bit.
4. Installed a new cateye rear blinker (works great attached to the rack)
5. Bought new shoes, my current shoes are 7 years old and a bit worn.
6. Ordered a new accessory mount for the lighting system. (terracycle mount, jet-lite system)

I pre-packed my clothes and panniers for the ride this morning after a test ride last night. I decided to go with the full change of clothes method vs riding in work clothes. Apparently my winter cycling pants still fit, which shocked me but I did gain most of my weight in my stomach. I rode a new route. I took 7th Ave up the hill, turned left at the tracks and cut over to 100th ave. I then rode to 124th heading south to 90th, then turned down 90th to get to my office. As routes goes this worked very well, the ped bridge at 100th is nice and wide. The inclines weren't horrible. I prefer this to my 80th st/kirkland ave route. That hill is brutal, as is the ascent to the ped bridge at 80th.

Today's ride was awesome. Felt great and everyone waved and smiled as I passed.

Interlude - cycling

I have been focused on getting back into shape this week. I decided that cycling and cycle commuting is the way forward. I commuted for 7 years straight on a bike, so this is familiar territory.

My chosen commute vehicle will be my trike seen here in a picture taken last year:

From Blogger Pictures

I am going to add a new accessory mount to it to replace the one you see in the photo above. This is the one I am going to use:
(follow link in picture to see it at terraclycle.com)

I added some lighting and other gear to the trike. Additionally I cleaned out the garage so I can turn it into a work area for my trike and my Wife's Rans Cruz. I am going to put a Metolius Slim Gym in the garage too.


This means I have to sell the other bikes in my stable. First to go is my Fuji Cross 2003. Lots of added gear -
2003 Fuji Cross,
52 cm Frame,
Carbon fiber front fork,
Compact Double crank,
11-34 rear cassette,
Shimano 105 components,
Rear derailer Shimano XT,
Speedplay Frog pedals (cleats available),
Richey rims,
Rear Rack installed,
Detachable Fender kit included (easy on/off works great),

From Fuji Cross 2003

The album has more pictures if you follow the link.