Couldn't ask for a better day aka Tony rode the furthest

Today was the De Tour de Connecticut (this is where it went) and a higher power decided to give it the greatest weather ever. Unlike last year, I drove out to it and was on time. Of course, nothing can ever be that perfect, so I forgot my pump in the car. I rode back to retrieve it and gave myself an extra mile or so. The pace started quick, so I thought I wouldn't catch anyone until Willimantic or so, but I started catching friends with whom to ride a little bit before the Bolton Notch. Eventually I caught the main group out in Coventy or Andover or some place like that.

We rode and rode. This year's route had more dirt, provided by a slight different (and better, I'd say) route, and a muffin stop. I cannot stress how good of a time I had, even though though my lead group bona fides were dashed when I bonked going up Champion Hill. I guess Jesse and Salem are the true hardmen. Also, I need to pack more food.

But anyway, thanks to Salem for putting together an awesome ride.

And, Tony rode to the ride!

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Money and mouth

At some point, I was once again lamenting the problems with the trails at the West Hartford Reservoir. Unlike other times I'd done that, I said "I should be a trail ambassador!" You know, that NEMBA thing. So, I went to the training for it and paid my NEMBA dues. Now I've have a yellow jersey declaring me an ambassador.

And, I wrote a report about riding at the blow hole. At some point, perhaps today, I'll go ambassadate at the Reservoir and in a single afternoon narrow all the trails and get rid of all the trail braids. Read more!

Another Bicycling Film at the Wadsworth

May 11th @ the Wadsworth Aetna Theater.  Mountain biking documentary. Strength in Numbers.

Holy bike culture Batman!  Guess the sell out of Bicycle Dreams may have started something?

Looks like tickets are only five clams.  Betcha it sells out too.

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More reasons not to write

I wrote a post about how I don't write enough and then promptly wrote nothing for a few days. I am truly a hypocrite. I did some stuff, though, and it was mostly pretty great. It was also rough on my bikes.

Last Friday, I figured how to remove a crown race with a pocket knife and reinstall it with a vacuum cleaner tube. Take that Sheldon Brown! Drunk on my mechanical prowess, I replaced my chain because it was bent in several places (a problem I didn't know could happen to chains). So, I put my bike in the trunk, stopped at Central Wheel for a new chain and watered my parents' plants on my way to Nassahegon. Of course, replacing the chain does great things like inform you that your cassette is so worn out that you can't pedal up any inclines. I wasn't going to let this ruin my day. So, I rooted around in my parents' garage looking for some old shoes, because I had only worn cycling shoes. I found a pair of New Balances from my youth that had no holes in the bottom, but left my right big toe rather exposed.

I went over to the Avon Land Trust's trail on Nod Road. I found an illegal tree stand, which I took down. I followed this deer trail for awhile and then ended up climbing this rather exposed cliff. It was probably kind of stupid for me to do that. Eventually, I found this big black snake. I texted Johanna a picture of it and she got mad at me.

On Saturday, I went to the CTNEMBA trail school thing. It had good sandwiches. I also learned how to deal with grade vs. the fall line and grade reversal so that your trail doesn't become an eroded mess. I learned that like no trails around here are properly built. After the classroom portion, we went to Huntington State Park and did some benching. When done, I thought we were going to go for a bike ride. Apparently, no one wanted to go for a ride besides me. So, armed with the map provided at the gate (the fancy state parks in Fairfield County have maps!) and advice from Mark I rode around for about 45 minutes before smacking my derailleur on a rock and bending the hanger. I bent it out of the spokes and limped out of the woods. They got a lot of rocks there.

I also have come to possess a Schwinn Le Tour with a strange fork crown that was in the dump for awhile and then in Peter's basement for awhile. Johanna even approves of it. Also, I realized on its maiden ride that the Schrader tube I had with me was incompatible with the pump (no reversible chuck). Living on the edge! Read more!

The Winds of Change are Blowing

Brendan accused us of not blogging.  Perhaps we've been riding too much?  Such thing as too much riding?

Before we start, I wanted to put a plug in for the deliciously beautiful sufferfest that Salem has arranged for next weekend, the DeTour de Connecticut.  Approximately 120 miles of the roads and trails less traveled.  Bring your chubby tires and buns of steel.  Don't forget to print up the cue sheets and bring a map and / or GPS device.  It's going to be a blast!

I noticed this past week that the bike racks outside my building at work were full.  Facilities had just added a third rack.  It seems that our Connecticut bicycles made sweet productive love this balmy winter in their dark garages and basements.  This Spring their energetic progeny is out frolicking on our streets and clogging up bike racks.  It's amazing really.  Overnight it seems some people are realizing that the world is changing / has changed and their old habits just won't work in the long term.  Not everyone.  But I feel it has begun.

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Whatever happened to the beat bike blog?

As we approach 1,000 posts, I guess we've decided to stop writing. It's probably because after all these posts we (I) have realized we're not that great at writing. Anyway, it is not time to shut the light off on the beat bike blog just yet, because exciting things like the detour de Connecticut is coming up and I took an extended hike-a-bike down the Metacommet trail last weekend. And, just last night I had a protracted fight with a headset. These are the kind of things that need to be written about.



Much like I had never been up Ragged Mountain, I had never been up Rattlesnake Mountain. So, I started my ride at 50 Cent's house and went south. There were a lot of nice stretches of singletrack and a lot of hiking. The climbers on Rattlesnake Mountain thought I was pretty weird clambering by with a bike on my shoulder. Additionally, while ATVs generally put me in a terrible mood and the greater Rattlesnake Mountain area seems to be replete with them, they stay off the Metacommet. Also, if you think I'm a bad guy for riding here, I assure you that there are no CFPA "NO BIKES" signs here. Here's a very incomplete Strava of the ride:

The headset story isn't very interesting. It's just indicative of how bad of a mechanic I am.

So, anyway.

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Bringing roubaix home

Last weekend was Easter and that race with cobble stones. I can only do one thing at a time, so I spent much of the weekend doing family-type things. Strangely, this brought me south of rt 1 for three days in a row. That has never happened before or at least it hasn't happened in a way in which I slept in my bed every night. I'm not sure why this would be of interest to anyone, but it did involve riding my bike a lot. On Friday, I rode to Milford. Then on roubaix day, I rode to old saybrook with a kielbasa in my bag. Going south ends up making for very nice rides, but I almost never go that way unless I have to. Also roubaix-related, I tore a crazy hole in my tubular on rt. 1 in Old Saybrook right near my grandma's house. Now I have no spare. Anybody have an extra?

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It's Easier Than You Think

With an early Spring and $4 gasoline there are welcome new rumblings around the water cooler.  A perfect storm that lines up with the efforts of Bike Walk Connecticut, the statewide bicycle advocacy organization, to grow their successful Bike to Work program.  The Connecticut Bike to Work events started back in 2004 in downtown Hartford, and grew to include satellite events in the surrounding towns.  This year Bike Walk CT is donning the "statewide" mantle and promoting bicycle commuting across the vast lands of Connecticut.

Being a non-profit organization with limited resources, the statewide Bike to Work campaign doesn't include bagels and coffee in every little CT town, although many non-metro Hartford cities are now holding events.  For example New Haven and the Elm City Cyclists have a very well organized Bike to Work program.  Other cites interested in joining can contact Sandy Fry, who has all the details you'll need to set up a satellite event.  All you'll need is a food sponsor (employer, city, or yourself), a folding table, and some sweat equity. 
For those that don't have a local Bike to Work Event but still want to get in on the movement, we present to you -- the power of the internet.  Bike Walk CT has oddles of resources on their website for first timers.  Connecticut will also be competing in the National Bike Challenge.  The Challenge puts Connecticut head to head against other states, and hopefully the cyclists in our great state won't leave us with some embarrassing rankings. 

The Bike Challenge website gives you the tools to track miles, set up corporate teams, and show the nation that CT is serious about bicycle commuting.  I'm personally interested in the corporate challenge, and am certain that Pratt and Whitney will dominate the leaderboard.  Engineers respond quickly to the pocketbook pressure of high gas prices, and our bicycle racks are already overflowing.

Let's bike to work Connecticut.  It's easier than you think!

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Bike racks come downtown en masse

I think some early beat bike blog post was about a coworker and me wondering around downtown, marking spots on the sidewalk and then making a map of where to put bike racks. This was like four years ago. There were subsequent spreadsheets and meetings and boring government things you don't want to know about it. Then, nothing happened.

I gave up on the whole concept of anything ever happening, but I got an email from Kevin Sullivan (the ccba guy, not former lt. Governor) earlier this week declaring that some had gone in and they're going to continue to put them in this week. I haven't seen any yet with my own eyes, but I saw a picture of some in front of the library. Why the library got priority, I don't know, seeing how they already had some by the arch street entrance and there's a city hall bike rack right there, too.

Anyway, I'm going to stop complaining in the hopes that I can stop locking my bike to trash cans.

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A recreational update

Quick update: SB 445 didn't get even get called for a vote in committee. Looks like we can be as irresponsible as we like on our sidewalks and can't sue the City.

It's also quite a boon for the boardwalk time trial / one on one race that Salem hopes to have some day, as long as as it doesn't go to Manchester. Read more!

More recreational land use liability

Remember how recreational land use reform was supposed to be a foregone conclusion after last legislative session? Well, it's not. There's a new bill SB 445. It seeks to undo a bunch of the good stuff that happen last time around. My reading is that the bill last time, PL 11-211, exempted activities and owners from liability except in cases of recklessness or gross negligence. This new bad bill seems to remove different types of lands, like sidewalks, boardwalks and beaches from the exemption.

Here's a letter that Dario and I sent to the Judiciary Committee:

March 29, 2012
Joint Committee on Judiciary
Room 2500, Legislative Office Building
Hartford, CT 06106
 Members of the Judiciary Committee,
Last year the Connecticut General Assembly made the right decision by reforming municipal recreational liability in our state. Municipalities and quasi-public agencies like the Metropolitan District Commission can continue to keep their lands open to the public for recreational enjoyment without the fear of lawsuits except in the most unreasonable or reckless circumstances. This is a win for people who enjoy the outside as well as for tax or rate payers. 

SB 445, AN ACT CONCERNING LIABILITY FOR THE RECREATIONAL USE OF LAND, seeks to undo the progress made last year by exempting areas such as beaches, boardwalks and sidewalks from the lands immune from normal negligence claims. Much of the testimony last year encouraging reform came from people who enjoy using walking paths or bike paths. This bill would revert to the bad old days of two years ago and encourage trails to be closed once more. 

We urge the Judiciary Committee to vote this bill down. This same issue was addressed last year and an almost unanimous legislature listened to the people and their desire to keep our parks and woods open to public use. Please respect that and vote down SB 445.

Here's CTNEMBA's take:

Please Send Comments Opposing SB. 445 to the Judiciary Committee.Last year NEMBA, along with many other outdoor and environmental organizations, succeeded in strengthening the protections offered to landowners and municipalities who allowed free public access to their lands and trails.   The bill successfully became law last year. P.L. 11-211 -- a great victory for the trails community.Now there are efforts to cut back protections offered to municipalities that allow free and public recreation on their land..  A new bill, SB. 445, is currently in the Judiciary Committee that would exempt boardwalks, beaches and sidewalks from municipal protection.  The JC will make a determination by Monday about whether to let it go on to the state senate.  Yesterday, I gave testimony along side our other partners in theConnecticut trails community, and now I ask your help too.We urge CT mountain bikers (and anyone who enjoys open space) to contact the Judiciary Committee chair and other committee members and ask them to oppose “SB. 445- An Act Concerning Liability for the Recreational Use of Land.”Consider mentioning the following points in your own words

• The process of strengthening of the Recreational Use Statute was thorough and exhaustive. P.L. 11-211 passed overwhelmingly and was the result of widespread bipartisan support. There is no need to revisit this legislation at such an early date.  

• Exempting boardwalks, beaches and sideways from the protections would once again make municipalities consider not allowing public recreation on their lands. It would make them consider not investing in more open space since to do so would increase their liability concerns.  

• Boardwalks on primitive natural surface singletrack trails are simple structures, sometimes only a couple of planks of wood laying over a patch of mud. They are low-impact structures designed to protect the wetland resource and allow people more easy traverse a muddy section of trail. They should not be made the target of slip and fall litigation.  

• Beaches can be interpreted as any rocky or sandy access point to a water body, be it an inland stream or pond or the Long Island Sound. Exempting beaches from liability protections would make municipalities consider preventing free public access to their waterways. 

• Sidewalks may abutt or be part of paved bikepaths. They should not become a liability target that would dissuade municipalities from creating more bike facilities. 

Please send your comments to members of the Judiciary Committee by Sunday night, April 1^st.Here’s how to contact members of the Judiciary Committee:http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/MemberList.asp?comm_code=JUDTo read SB 445: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2012/TOB/s/pdf/2012SB-00445-R00-SB.pdf

Time may be running out to contact the Judiciary, but you can always contact your State Rep or Senator to tell them to vote against the bill if it makes it into their committee or to a floor vote (hopefully it doesn't make it to a floor vote).

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Shenipsit

Mountain biking in the Hartford area means mountain biking with sprawl. Sometimes, trails you used to ride disappear completely and sometimes you deal with encroachment. There used to be these trails across town from where I grew up in Avon in Huckleberry Hill Park. Then, some parts of the woods became a subdivision and you can't ride there anymore. It was too bad.



Yesterday I was riding at Case Mountain and instead of crossing over to Gay City and riding to Blackledge Falls, I decided to keep going down the Shenipsit. It's cool. The first couple miles before getting into the Meshomasic are weird. It's this techy, bench-cut singletrack in backyard's McMansions in a creek valley.

I must say that the areas around the Shenipsit are probably better than the areas around the Metacomet for suburban mountain biking along ridge lines. The Metacomet is pretty good, but there's something to be said for trails that were made with mountain biking in mind. Al Tinti is a pretty talented guy. I wish he had a counterpart on my side of the river. Although, the Shenipsit itself through much of the Meshomasic is a ten foot-wide ATV road.

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We're #1!

At first, I was going yo write a post about this ride I took on Friday in which I crossed a swamp by old newgate prison and then discovered this cool trail and some other stuff like that. It also involved things like the metacomet trail and frame pumps. But, the beat bike blog was nominated for this blog contest on the courant website (maybe by Dario?) And we need your votes. This is where you vote. We're the only blog involving bikes nominated and you vote for us by that reason alone. Besides, we're coming up on post #1000 and that would be a fitting present.

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Whose streets? My streets!

As you've probably noticed, the weather has turned eerily nice. I know that it's spring, but this is beyond those days in the mid 50s that I normally associate with the beginning of spring. I liked those days.
Anyhow, when weather suddenly turns nice, people remember that they own bikes and venture out. Generally, I'm pretty positive about more people on the bikes, but in early spring part of me gets offended by the fair weather riders, especially after our insignificant winter. I feel that my weird brethren and I ensured that by riding through the dark unpleasantries of winter, we persevered in keeping a small slice of the road reserved for bikes.
And, this is why I have an inflated ego and no friends.

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Tim Johnson rides on Hartford again

You may recall that Tim Johnson and some other people stopped in Hartford en route to Washington last year. You can even go ride with them if you like.

It is happening again, today and tomorrow in fact. Here's a press release about it to save me some typing:

MEDIA ADVISORY
TIM JOHNSON’S RIDE ON WASHINGTON STOPS IN HARTFORD DURING 500-MILE FUNDRAISING EVENT FOR BIKES BELONG FOUNDATION

Local Cycling Champion Jeremy Powers to Join Ride from Hartford Plaza Hotel Saturday, March 17, to Raise Awareness for Benefits of Bicycling
WHAT: Bikes Belong is hosting the second annual Tim Johnson’s Ride on Washington (www.rideonwashington.org), a grueling 5-day, 500-mile event that raises funds for the Bikes Belong Foundation (www.bikesbelong.org), which focuses on improving bicycle safety and enhancing children's bike programs. The ride begins in Boston and makes its first stop in Hartford before continuing 130 miles to New York City. Riders then pedal on through Philadelphia and Baltimore before ending at the National Bike Summit (www.bikeleague.org/conferences/summit12) in Washington D.C. Each day, participants travel between 50-130 miles in daylight and darkness and whatever elements Mother Nature offers.
WHEN: Saturday, March 17, 2012, 7:30 a.m.

WHERE: Hartford Plaza Hotel
100 East River Drive
[East] Hartford, CT 06901
WHO: - Tim Johnson (34), 6-time national cyclocross champion
- Jeremy Powers (29), born in Niantic, CT, professional cyclocross champion
- Professional cyclists and triathletes
- Local cycling community
PHOTO/BROADCAST OPPORTUNITIES: Interviews with Tim Johnson, Jeremy Powers and riders; bicyclists in action as pack leaves Hartford Plaza Hotel; riders cycling with downtown Hartford backdrop
NEWS RELEVANCE:
With the threat of gas prices climbing to $5.00 a gallon this summer, bicycling participation is expected to further increase and presents the public with a safe, healthy and cost effective alternative to driving.
Between 2008 and 2010, participation in road bicycling grew from 41.5 to 42.3 million Americans.
Connecticut’s bicycling ranking is 44 out of the 50 states and is in need of bike paths, bike racks and pedestrian crosswalks.

FOR FURTHER INFO: (www.bikesbelong.org)
MEDIA CONTACT: Nikki D’Addario, CGPR, nikki@cgprpublcrelations.com, 781.639.4924, Ext. 118

As a member of the cycling press, I may be there to ask about disc brakes in 'cross or something.
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What can't you move with a bike?

This has been my theme for the uncommonly warm Connecticut winter of 2011-2012.  Starting with a severely over taxed trailer trundling home a curb found  sleeper sofa, climaxing with a polyamorous Bike Move, and lingering on pleasantly with various solo cargo and free cycle pickups.

The right equipment helps.  You can carry a surprising amount with a rack on a standard bike, and a little bit more with a cargo specific bike, but if you really want to push the limits you'll need a bicycle trailer of the sturdy variety.  Preferably something with a rigid deck, lots of tie down hooks, and a raised platform of sorts to allow wide loads that would extend beyond the wheelbase.   The hitch needs to be sturdy, and attached in a way that won't rotate under load (and inta yer spokes).

A couple years ago I modified a Trek two-child trailer with a piece of plywood and a 40 gallon Rubbermaid.  The Rubbermaid bin acts as both a weather tight container and a raised platform for wide loads.  The modification was easy, and done in a single Saturday afternoon.  Nearly the perfect little cargo trailer, the only flaw is the hitch.  It's a cam locked strap around a pair of rubber coated clam shell pieces.  If not clamped super tight on a round chainstay it will rotate when the trailer is heavily loaded.  You'll see that for heavy loads I've augmented the clamping friction with a used bicycle tube.

Now on to the question of import, "What can't you move with a bike?"  Definitely not an elephant.  Maybe a small cow.  Seriously.  Some things lend themselves to bike transport more than others.  First, you've got a weight limit.  I've had ~200 lbs on my wee trailer, but that's getting to it's hairy edge for capacity.  When towing upwards of 100 lbs, everything needs to be perfectly balanced.  Now some trailers are designed with heavier duty hitches and frames.  Our illustrious Interstatement has one of these monsters - and that officially gets you up to 300 lbs, unless you blow an o-ring.  Interstatement's heavy duty Bikes at Work trailer was utilized to move my full size sleeper sofa.

There are also structural considerations when moving a load using a bicycle rack or trailer.  Big floppy stuff is hard to move.  Rigid things that can be stacked or non-rigid things that can be stuffed into Rubbermaid bins (see photo below) that then can be stacked are much easier to secure.  A fist full of bungee cords combined with one or two non-stretch load straps are usually enough to tie down a load.  I've carried loads on my small bike trailer that wouldn't fit into a typical SUV or your typical car trunk.  I grin smugly at passing, empty, single occupant SUV's when transporting large items with my bicycle.  Ha!

Here are some photos from my recent bicycle move from East Hartford to downtown Hartford.  Part of the move was with friends, but a good portion was solo trips over a couple of weeks.  A mid-week laden bicycle trailer was even the subject of some security department scrutiny at work.  I guess parking a bike trailer with a bike and bicycle frame strapped to the top could be misinterpreted (or correctly interpreted?) as a threat to Joe Lieberman and the greater military industrial complex.  Bikes Not Bombs, kiddos.

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Wild Spring Break

When I was in college, I had a job. Actually, I usually had a couple of jobs. So, when spring break came around, I just worked more hours. One time, I went for a hike, but that's pretty much the extent of my fun. Now, I don't have a job. So, this Spring Break I really cut loose M. Jodi Rell-style and had a staycation. I experience all the great things that Connecticut and a small part of Massachusetts have to offer.

I went kayaking:

I went to look at some hawks (six of them, but you can't see any in this picture.):

I went with Johanna to look at Connecticut from Massachusetts (it's off to the right):

I went to Tolland, but no picture is available. I went to Mohegan State Forest and Talbot Wildlife Management area, but no picture is available of that either.

I went to Food Not Bombs and visited the good folks there. I even ended up with the bread with a lot of grains that no one wanted.

I went to Colchester and rode on some secret trails. Since they were secret, I didn't take any pictures.

I also spent way too much timing playing with Strava on my phone getting nuts results of rides. Apparently, I hit 140mph on one. On this ride to the Blowhole, I hit 60!


Regrettably, I lost my favorite mini pump, broke my seat bag and broke the cover of the usb port on my light on the ride were I saw all the hawks. That ride was actually particularly miserable, because there was nasty crunchy snow cover along the Talcott/Penwood ridge. However, but Nite Rider and Jandd promised (Jandd has delivered) replacement parts to honor their warranties.

That's pretty much what I did. Read more!

No love for Jure Robic

Tony did an awesome job organizing the screening of Bicycle Dreams last night at the Wadsworth. I mean, to sell out a theater in Hartford with a movie about a bike race is an unmatched triumph. The movie was ok, I thought it was little boring. Although, considering it was a race in which the leader changed once, maybe the excitement wasn't in the attacks.

Anyway, my gripe with the evening was that no mention was made of poor Jure Robic's death. The guy ends up being the focal point of the movie, because he won in 2005 (year the film was shot). Maybe his was common knowledge in the audience, but I doubt it. The film itself ended up portraying him ok. At first, he was sort of the mechanistic enemy, but he got humanized at the end. Read more!

Detour de Connecticut "Basics" for 2012

To keep everyone informed of their opportunity to harm themselves on this years Detour de Connecticut, this is your heads up that the route for 2012 and other info is now posted on the ride's blog. Click it if you dare.

This is where deflated Mylar balloons go to be revered.

Also, thanks to Brendan for joining me for the last long recon mission yesterday, and for helping cut logs to cleans some of the new trail sections. We've decided to invent the PowerSaw hand saw with built in strain gauge to measure watts.

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Vote

Some Hartford voters

As part of the beat bike blog's ongoing civic engagement initiative, we're reminding you to go vote again. Today, we've got a Democratic Town Committee election, so if you're a Democrat in Hartford living in any district other than the 1st, it's time to go vote. Of course, there's been redistricting and changes in polling places, so it's really confusing. My polling place changed, but my district did not. Here's a Courant article that I believe correctly lists all the the slates and districts. There was a subsequent article that erroneously states that only three districts have elections, but that's not true. Here's a poorly concocted list of polling places put out by the Registrars' office. If you're still confused, call the Registrars' office at 8607579830.

The DTC wields a lot of power around here and the only check on them is the Working Families Party and occasionally some voters. Town committee elections generally have turn out in the mid-hundreds and these are the people that'll probably pick your state senator or representative. Of all the elections in which you vote counts, this is the one. Read more!

No need to write

Today, it was a ride of commuter bikes for people who don't have a job to which they can commute.

Also, I put the strava app on my phone and I never need to use adjectives to describe a ride again. I like that it gives me crazy top speeds. For instance, the snake bike and I hit 80 mph today! Check it out. Also, I don't like the idea of pausing it, because I want to record every detail, so my metrics include eating a few pieces of pizza and buying a six pack. Tons of watts.

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On why maybe I should become a NEMBA trail ambassador at the West Hartford Reservoir

I'm not much of technical rider, anybody can attest to that. Heck, I can't even ride backwards. Though like people better than I am, I enjoy a good cut of singletrack of moderate difficulty to ride. I've been riding at the West Hartford Reservoir since I was 11 and have seen trails evolve and mostly devolve and now I think that I have come to an understand of what happens to the poor trails there.

1) A stretch of cool single track comes into existence. The terrain at the Reservoir lends itself to good trails, so the trail might be pretty good.

2) Trails gets more popular, but it's hard. So, cheater lines and trail braids develop. However, sometimes a section was so difficult that a whole cheater trail develops.

3) Trail has become to decimated that it doesn't really have any good lines left and then people start adding stupid stunts to it. Why am I seeing people with chainsaws at the Reservoir now? I guess it's ok for maintenance, but I get the sense they're doing more than just that. Also, why are all these "jumps" so lumpy and misshapen?

I bring this up because there's newish trail that avoided a big mud pit (legitimately avoided it, it was wasn't one of those trail widening dealies). It had this tight hairpin that had a small ledge at the apex. I liked it, because it was difficult. Well, apparently most people who ride it found it too difficult and made this cheater trail that has become vastly more popular than the original trail. I tried blocking off the cheater line once, but my blocking was moved away.

There is one case where the trail degradation has helped. Someone attempted to make some bike park-esque thing off the the rt. 44 lot. It was terrible, all the "stunts" were really poorly constructed, to the point that they'd fall apart when ridden. The trail avoids them now for the most part. I guess it beats riding on the levee, but just barely.

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Manitoba Part I

I've missed the woods.
It's not that I haven't been there. I have ventured into the woods and trails many a time over the past couple of years, most often on the cargo bike in the course of a necessary or whim-based route change, but I hadn't set out to specifically go riding a bike in the woods for ages until this February.

The recent E2L1 was my first time in a long time that I used a mountain bike for something resembling mountain biking. The bike, in this case, is a 1998 Nishiki Manitoba I had bought off of Salem before he went traveling. It was never a particularly high-end machine, but I like the frame for a few reasons.

1) Weird pedigree: It's a Japanese-branded chromoly frame, named after a Canadian Province and made in the USA.
2) Weird geometry: The frame is labeled 18", though it measures 17.5" max to the top of the seat tube and 15.5" C-C. It has a longish top tube compared to that-- 21" or 22+", depending on how you measure it. It's well suited to my own short-legged, torso-rich geometry. Anyway, it's sturdy, it's handy, and I like it but for one minor quibble:

I kind of hated riding it.

Here's the thing. I had picked it up a couple of years ago and did nothing to it beyond a quick pedal around the driveway to determine that it was due for a major overhaul. I set it aside and it sat, untouched, until the morning of the aforementioned Eel ride. I fished it out of a pile and went through it just long enough for a perfunctory tire inflation (they held air), brake check (they showed significant potential to reduce speed) seat swap (the supplied post was too short to raise to my height) and chain check (thoroughly worn out).

I figured I would just run what I brung for the Eel and deal with sprucing up the bike some other day. That was a reasonable plan but for the constantly skipping chain, clunky shifts, barely adequate brakes and painful saddle that increasingly detracted from what was an otherwise enjoyable ride. That said, I did like the way it handled in the woods and see potential for a nice low-budget trail machine. I'm not going to ride it again in its current state, but I will ride it again. It's worthy of a makeover. More on that soon.

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Drive train havoc

It's like the world is conspiring to turn me into one of those singlespeed evangelists. Just when I think I've fixed everything on one of my geared bikes, some other part of the drive train starts acting up.  In a race a few years ago, I knocked the rear derailleur of my Kona against a rock. The derailleur was bent beyond repair, but the hanger seemed ok. It probably wasn't though, because the shifting was always just a little off since. Finally, due to breaking the hanging last week on my other bike, I decided to go hanger buying crazy and get one for the Kona, too. It seemed to help, but a new problem of a worn out middle chain ring obviated any trouble free pedaling. Why would a new hanger make the problem of a worn out chain ring suddenly appear? That doesn't make any sense! I guess I also degreased the chain. Perhaps that's the problem.

Should I switch to a 1x9? Then I can replace the whole mess up front with a nice stainless right. Read more!

Sunday liquor sales

Apparently, after hundreds of years of oppression, we may be able to buy liquor on Sundays by the end of the year. See here. I'm not much of an expert on public policy, but I think this is a net positive for everyone. Tax revenue will go up and cyclists have less a chance getting run over between 7:30 and 8:45 on Saturday evenings (knock on wood). Additionally, poor planners like me won't have to worry on Saturday afternoon if there'll be enough Miller Lite in the fridge after a ride on Sunday.

Also, it's another blow to WASPy, puritanical hegemony of our lives. Maybe if we had alternated between Saturday and Sunday closures every other week to switch between shabbat and sabbath, it'd be a little more fair. Maybe someone should have made a 1st amendment claim about Sunday liquor sales.

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