Goats, and I'm gone

My brother and his wife are traveling in Iowa this week, and doing some rides along the way. Because being a smartass is somewhat of a family trait, he felt compelled to provide his own version of the moose photos I posted a couple of days ago. His caption: "Moose, schmoose. We got goats!"

As much as I hate to leave my regular blog visitors with a photo of Iowa goats, Bicycles & Icicles is being suspended for a few days. There are visitors to entertain, a graduation to attend, and then a business trip to endure. I'll be spouting off about bike stuff again sometime around Memorial Day weekend.

Ya'll come back now, ya here?

Sharin' the trail

Although I always enjoy seeing them, I don't usually bother to stop and view our local moose, much less photograph them. Typically, I just take a second to appreciate seeing wildlife as I keep moving. But these young twins caught my attention during a ride Monday afternoon.

For one thing, I don't usually see four moose at the same time, but these twins were right beside the Coastal Trail, and their mom was only a few yards away. Another mature moose was about 50 yards away on the other side of the trail. I have visitors in town and, like most tourists, they want to see moose. So I stopped to snap a few pics for them, and left when the twins crossed the paved trail and the cow started glaring at me.

I framed the shots through the main triangle of my road bike because A) I thought doing so would make a nice composition and provide some indication of how close the moose were, and B) it was a chance to get my bike in the shot, and I'm sort of a geek when it comes to shit like that.

My sister-in-law looked at these shots and thought I was crazy enough to try hiding behind my bike. I told her that if there were any hiding to be done, I would have hidden my bike behind me, to shield it with my body in the event of a charge.

That thing wasn't cheap, you know.

How crazy does she think I am?

Brain bucket

The next time someone tries
to tell you that helmets
don't really make you safer,
tell them about Ryan Lipscomb.

Then tell them they're full of shit.

Thanks, Mom

"At least you can quit a bike race."
—Connie Carpenter Phinney comparing
childbirth to bike racing

Park it and ride

I realize that promoting Bike to Work Day on a bike blog is like trying to sell Bibles to missionaries, but what the hell, I believe in it. I won't be riding to work next Wednesday, but that's only because I'm taking the week off. I'll be doing something even better: biking somewhere that's not work.

If you had forgotten that Bike to Work Day was coming up, get ready to share the bike rack with a couple of those once-a-year types. This is your chance to start a conversation and tell them how you ride to work all the time and how easy and fun it is to do. Who knows? With a little encouragement, maybe they can be converted.

Come to think of it, maybe I am selling Bibles to missionaries. Saddle up, Brother Jed.

Even the Municipality of Anchorage—the capital of four-wheel drive—is getting behind it. Click on over to the muni website for all sorts of information.

And if anyone needs more motivation, I read a news article a few days ago that said gas will soon be headed toward four bucks a gallon.

GPiSsed

My mother-in-law is visiting right now, and she asked if I’ve been using the Garmin Edge 205 she sent me for Christmas. I told her I don’t fully understand all the things it can do, because I mostly use it just to put squiggly lines on Google Earth photos so that I can see where I've ridden.

This image of Potter Valley Road is a good example. The road is very popular with local cyclists who climb it—often several times in a single session—for springtime workouts. I’ve been riding it quite a bit this year, so one night a couple of weeks ago, I reset the 205 at the bottom of the hill and then stopped it at the end of the pavement so I could get all the pertinent numbers on the climb.

I can gasp my way up this climb in a little less than 14 minutes (way slower than the people who actually race up it). It is 1.89 miles from the bottom to the top, which involves 621 feet of elevation gain. The grades run as steep as 11 percent. I know this because I was dumb enough to include that information among the fields of data displayed on the screen.

I’m still not sure if there is any good reason to know, at the moment one is grinding up an 11-percent grade, that the hill is actually that steep. It can sort of make a person want to head-butt his bike computer with his helmet. I don’t dare try this, of course, because in my oxygen-deprived state I’d be more likely to slam into my stem and suffer disfiguring facial trauma.

But it sure makes a neat squiggly line on the satellite photo, though, doesn’t it?

Damn, I'm havin' fun

For the first time in the 10 years I've lived in Alaska, I'm not feeling impatient for the trails to dry out. Oh, I'm eager to break out my Epic and hit some singletrack, but I know that day is coming, and I'm having enough fun that I don't mind waiting.

Mountain bikers have been complaining on the local Internet forum that they need dirt, and that they're tired of riding pavement. Some of them are asking for tips on where to find a dry trail.

Here's a tip: This is Alaska and it's early May. There isn't a dry trail. Be patient.

Dr. Tim prescribes a dose of road bike. Take liberally as needed. Symptoms of impatience should subside within 24 hours. Side effects may include increased weariness, premature seasonal fitness and excessive smiling.

Call me a damned roadie if ya want. I just like to think I'm a bicyclist. Any bike that fits the season is good. A month from now, I'll be grinning from ear to ear as I enjoy the plush feel of a full-suspension mountain bike. But for now, I'm happy to savor the speed of skinny tires and freakishly light frame.

Holy crap, this thing is fun.

Bike thieves suck

I love a happy ending.

Brendon hits the dirt

Mountain biking. It must run in the family. This is a shot
of my nephew riding in Moab last month. The photo
was taken by his dad (and my little brother),
and appears on the VeloNews website.

Misadventure? Yeah, I've done that

One of the drawbacks to spending so much time riding bikes—and blogging about riding bikes, not to mention having a job and family—is that I find myself wishing I had more time to read books. It used to be that I'd read a lot during winter, and then pretty much abandon all hope of completing anything longer than a magazine article during the summer. Then I got a Pugsley and even winter reading became a challenge.

Then there's the little issue of the fact that much of what I read is about bikes. I'm almost starting to feel guilty about my ever-narrowing focus.

I said almost.

Lately, in addition to the usual pile of bike rags and National Geographic magazines that are piled up beside my favorite chair, I've been reading Cycling's Greatest Misadventures, a collection of nonfiction essays edited by Erich Schweikher. Paul Diamond, the publisher at Casagrande Press sent me an advance copy a few weeks ago.

Although most of the stories in the book are written by authors I've never heard of—Schweikher selected the 27 stories out of submissions professional journalists, former pro racers and everyday schmoes like you and me—this is the kind of reading that fits easily with a busy ride schedule and/or a short attention span. That's the beauty of essay collections: you can read one or two at a sitting, then ignore the book for days or weeks before picking up where you left off.

There's good stuff in here, even though some it may leave mental images you could live without, such as former racer Austin King's tale of the Kleedkamer, or changing room, where European pros get naked and then hang ... er, stand around and chat while waiting to powder up and put on their racing kits.

King's story was amusing, but I was once a guest at a gym where all the old guys up in the executive locker room sat around naked on vinyl chairs while they read the Wall Street Journal, and I didn't need a reminder.

There's also a story on the Buffalo Soldier Bicycle Corps that should erase anyone's need to whine about hardships on their last multi-state tour. And if you ever entertained romantic notions about working as a guide on cross-continent bike tours, Heather Andersen's tale of difficult clients and dealing with fatal accidents on two back-to-back tours should make it a little easier to endure your day job.

The only thing weird about this book is the concept of compiling a collection of essays in which so many things go wrong. There's even a section of crash photos. Considering that the target audience is obviously cyclists, I guess they're appealing to our darker side. Sort of reminds me of those books about grizzly attacks. I guess those stories might be a real hoot if you live in Iowa. Living and riding in Alaska, I don't really need constant reminders of what very large bears might to do me.

Still, anyone who rides singletrack knows that mountain bikers tend to spend more time harassing our friends about their crashes than we do asking if they're OK, so maybe this is a brilliant marketing strategy.

Who knows? All I care about is having some good stuff to read ... if I ever turn off the laptop.

Speedy Sunday

(Updated to include link for online viewing of Urban Cyclist)

What a great bike day. Maura and I joined the ABC ride from Anchorage to the Alyeska ski resort area in Girdwood. I rode from my house to meet up with the group, and bagged a little over 69 miles in 4 hours, 11 minutes of riding time, not to mention a tasty bowl of soup at the turnaround point.

Then I came home to find out that Jeff Guerrero and company had finished the debut edition of a new 'zine called Urban Cyclist. You can check out the first issue by downloading your free copy in .pdf format, or view it online here.

Of course, I learned that the issue was online when I logged on to the local mountain-bike forum and saw Dave's thread called "Mr. Woody poses nude for a new magazine." As if any of you needed that disturbing image in your brain.

But if you read very closely, you just might see someone you know.

But he won't be nekkid.

Manning Up

After I designated last Sunday as Poetry Day at Bicycles & Icicles, Adam slapped me around via e-mail:

“A lot of folks think that one of the nice things about progressive living in the 21st century is that a man can write poetry and still be a man. I call those folks hippies and losers. Seriously, did you not expect to catch shit for writing a poem? I mean jeez.”

I pointed out that I didn’t write the poem, I just linked to it because I’m a sensitive guy in touch with my feelings.

I can cry, you know.

But in the interest of manning up and maintaining editorial balance, I’m designating today “Man Day” at Bicycles & Icicles by posting a pic of a hot babe with a bicycle, and sharing something that Adam says is a good man poem:

There once was a old hooker from Perth
Who had an extremely wide girth
When she rode her bicycle She got a nice tickle
So she pedaled for all she was worth!

Bad thing, good thing

Bummer: Finding a sidewall failure
in a trail tire purchased
at the end of last season.

Funner: A shiny new warranty replacement
thanks to the Big Red S.

I love the smell of new tires
in the morning.

Tag those buggers

Drivers who park in bike lanes. Can't live with 'em; can't kill 'em.

Unless you're really careful and stash the bodies where they can't be found.

But then there's all the duct tape, shovels and plastic tarp to deal with, and that stuff is a pain in the ass to carry on a bike.

Not to mention that the cargo load on a BOB trailer is about 75 pounds, and most of those lazy bastards weigh nearly three times that much, so disposing of the body can take several trips.

Save yourself time, and just tag those morons with one of these handy fliers that I read about over at Martino's Bike Lane Diary.

Download full-size copies over here.

For Sale

Just for the hell of it, I routinely read the bike listings on craigslist even though I’m not looking to buy anything. It’s a behavior that’s symptomatic of my addiction.

I’m always amused by the odd logic of people selling their bikes, such as those who claim they’ve never ridden a bike that they bought new (why did they buy it?) or the bike they say they’ve ridden once or twice (sadly plausible, in this society).

But I also get a laugh out of the people who clearly overvalue crappy bikes. I especially enjoy all the people trying to sell their dusty Magna and Huffy bikes for $150. I’m not even sure you find one of those bikes selling for that much at Sprawl-Mart, where they’re at least brand-new and freshly assembled by the marginally employable. Maybe those sellers figure that their bikes will look like a good deal among all the thousand-dollar road frames and full-suspension mountain bikes sprinkled around the sale listings.

On Friday, someone posted a reply expressing concern about this ad:

“Selling my SHOGUN 12 speed mountain bike. (I'm 61) I can't ride it anymore. Why pay over $500 for a high-quality bike when you can buy mine for $250. Rack and special seat. Probably has 200 miles. First $250 rides it.”

The person replying to the ad was concerned that some clueless buyer might actually purchase the damned thing. The way I see it, if you’re dumb enough to do that, life’s too short for the rest of us to worry about saving you from yourself.

Personally, I liked the ad. You’ve gotta love that second sentence, which is really quite honest when you read it thoroughly. It roughly translates to: “Why pay over $500 for a high-quality bike when you can buy my shitty one for $250?”

Caveat emptor, baby.

Poetry Sunday at Bicycles and Icicles

"Windy, sunny, and Sunday,
the afternoon of your father's promise,
you will learn to ride your bike"

It's Sunday.
Go read a nice poem about learning
to ride a bike.

Then go out and ride yours.

Crank Brothers Revisited

I sometimes ask myself why I keep writing this blog. Most of the time, I do this because there's nothing to write about, and it feels like the blog has run its course. So far, something has always come along to re-inspire me for a few days. Occasionally, it's remembering that not having anything to write about never stopped me before. Wednesday, it was an e-mail from Andreas in Switzerland.

Andreas reads the blog and knew from my recent rant about wasteful packaging that I use Quattro SL pedals on my road bike, so he had some questions about the pedals, which he's thinking about buying. It’s always cool to hear from someone who finds the blog interesting, especially from so far away.

Hell, I often can’t find anyone in my own house who wants to listen to me, but a guy in Switzerland will read what I have to say. Thanks, Andreas.

Speaking of Crank Brothers, I sent the customer-service folks a link to the earlier blog post, and received the following reply:

“We certainly respect your point and share your concern. Most of our other pedal boxes use recyclable materials, and we are taking steps to improve the Quattro packaging. We will soon phase into using recyclable cardboard for the Quattro, eliminating the plastic case entirely. If you would care to send back the box, we will reuse it.”

I may have my greenie moments, but they’re not acute enough to make me repackage the plastic monstrosity and then haul it to the post office and pay to send it back. By the time I heard from Crank Brothers, I had grumpily chucked the thing.

Nonetheless, it’s good to know that they’ve recognized the problem and are working to change the Quattro box.

A better idea

I was planning a moderately hard solo ride tonight when my almost-13-year-old daughter asked if I had a ride planned. Then she asked if I'd go riding with her.

We did a short, flat ride, and it ended with ice cream.

That works too.

New stuff

Welcome to Bicycles & Icicles, where you will never have to read a damned thing about Don Imus. Because this is a blog about bicycles, and we just don't care about sour old crackpots with eyebrows as long as Howard Hughes' fingernails.

Around here, it's all bikes, all the time. I don't bore you with complaints about my aches and pains, the check I had to write to the IRS, or my extramarital crush on Marisa Tomei.

Hmm. Come to think of it, I could start a separate blog on that last one. It might have a good run until the cease-and-desist orders start showing up.

But I digress.

Anyway, as I was saying, I don't bore you with details of my personal life or other non-bike stuff. Nosiree. I bore you exclusively with my bike-related rants. And I haven't even had time to do that for several days, because I've been busy getting used to my new skinny bike and re-learning about life on the road instead of the trail.

Returning to the road after 18 years of mountain biking is full of little surprises—like the fact that I'm stopping less often to take pictures, or that it's harder to find a place to take a leak. On the trail, you can just step a few feet into the trees. On the road, all the good trees seem to be in someone's yard. That could get awkward.

And I'm learning to use this newfangled contraption called a GPS-enabled bike computer. I've always been happy with a basic, 25-dollar bike computer, but this Garmin Edge 205 showed up at Christmas and offered to do all sorts of things I never knew I wanted or needed. Elevation, calories, speeds, training routes. Although it appeals to my inner geek, most of this crap is lost on me.

In my hands, this is just a fancy little device that tells me how fast I'm going and how far I've ridden, and then, when I get home, shows me the whole ride by drawing a red line on a Googe Earth map.

That doesn't make me any fitter or faster, but it looks pretty cool.

Pure vision, baby

"I tell ya, Sundance, I've got vision

where the rest of the world wears bifocals."

—Butch Cassidy

(From "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,"
one of the greatest movies ever made)

Sometimes I just feel like a gol'darn genius.

Since building my Pugsley with disc brakes a month ago, I've been meaning to find a way to cover the threads of the canti-brake mounts on the frame. (I removed the brake bosses to shave that critical half-ounce off my fat-assed 35-pound bike, don'tcha know.)

So I'm tinkerin' around in the garage tonight, and as I'm getting a couple of other parts out of a little pastic organizer box, I see four rubber plugs that came with some carbon-fiber bottle cages I bought for my road bike over the winter. The manufacturer put the mounting bolts through the cages and then held them in place by putting the rubber plugs on the ends of the bolts.

I kept the little plugs because I figured they might be useful someday. That's just the kind of resourceful, forward-thinking dude I am.

I pulled a plug out of the box, stuck it in one of the Pugsley's brake mounts and, bang! Perfect fit. I even had to twist all the plugs a little bit to work them down in the mounts, so I'm not worry about them falling out.

The beloved Pugs now has that refined, no-detail-overlooked appearance that just screams "class." Plus, I recycled some odd rubber parts and didn't have to buy special threaded brake-mount plugs like I thought I would. The threads on my brake mounts are protected from moisture, and I'm sure to be the envy of all my fat-bike friends, who will be awed by my ingenuity.

I'm so impressed with myself, I need to go be alone for a while.

Talk amongst yourselves.