disoriented

RAGBRAI XXXVI

The dis-oriented author rode his first RAGBRAI in 1977.  RAGBRAI stands for Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. Ragbrai is a bicycle ride across the state of Iowa. It lasts seven days and averages just over 400 miles. My first ride was RAGBRAI IV and this was RAGBRAI XXXVI. I have ridden about 12 complete rides and parts of another 15 or so.

Bicycling is one of those sports that I had put aside in order to raise my family. Now my youngest children are old enough to ride with me so I am on my bike again. The real joy of riding now is spending time with my 12 year old son. Like every other twelve year old, he has his moments but when we are together on our bikes he is nothing but smiles.

We are going to keep riding together.

As my picture shows, I am obviously an overweight middle-aged cyclist. But, as country singer Toby Keith says: There was a time, back in my prime ...

My son is getting to be a better and better cyclist. He still leaves me behind on hills (he has less mass after all!) But by the end of a day he begins to drag a little. We chose Tuesday, the ride from Jefferson to Ames. It was a mainly flat day with great weather. There was only one big hill. We rode about 56 miles. Next year we will ride more of the week, perhaps the whole thing.

I love the riding but there is nothing to compare to the experience of sharing it with my son.

Nine miles on my Fixie

The dis-oriented author is a bicyclist. I have always wanted a fixed-gear bike and last Fall, my wife bought me one. A fixed gear bike is has only one gear and cannot glide, anytime the bike is moving the pedals are turning. Eventually, I want to get S&S couplings put on the bike so that I can pack it into a suitcase and take it with me in my travels. Unfortunately, I got the bike right before the snow began so I only rode it a few times last fall.

This week a took it with me (in a rental car) on a business trip to the Chicago suburbs. I got out this afternoon and rode it for about nine miles — my longest fixed-gear ride to date.

It was a 70 degree day the son was out and there were a few clouds in the sky. It was absolutely beautiful out, except for the 30-35mph winds. I drove over to the bike trail in the Busse Preserve near Schaumburg, Illinois.

I may be old and out of shape but I am not a newcomer to cycling. I knew enough to start my loop ride with the longest upwind leg first. I got the bike out of my car and headed into the wind. I had not gone more than a few hundred feet before I realized that I am not nearly as aerodynamic as I was 30 years ago. Between a slight incline and a monster headwind, it was all I could do to not turn around, go back to the car, drive to the hotel and soak in the hot tub.

But after a little while, things got better. Bu the time I reached Higgins Rd (about 2 miles) I was feeling better. The next few miles were diagonally into the wind and I was able to up the pace and get into a rhythm. When I made the next turn it became a side wind and the bike really began to hum.

My other bikes all have old school Selle Italia Turbo Special saddles. These were the saddles that nearly all pros rode during the 1980s. I have ridden them since the 80's and they are great. One of the strange phenomena about fixies is that everybody customizes them. One of my daily reads is Dennis and Katy's excellent Fixed Gear Gallery. It is nothing but pictures of fixed gear bikes submitted by their owners. My bike is black so I accessorized it in red. I re-wrapped the bars with red tape, I bought a red water bottle cage and I replaced the stock saddle with a red one.

The red saddle is a Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow with titanium rails. I was concerned about the saddle because on the previous rides it seemed uncomfortable. This time it felt better and I think the problem is seat height. I'm going to try raising the seat a little bit.

At the end of the ride I felt great. I could feel in my legs that I had ridden but there was no pain or strain. Nine miles on a fixed gear bike without ever gliding was a great experience. I still love my road bike but I love my fixie as well.

Sheldon Brown 1944 - 2008

The dis-oriented author joins with the rest of the cycling world in mourning the loss of a legend — Sheldon Brown. I have read many of Sheldon's writings and have always found them witty and informative.

In many ways Sheldon was the soul of the online cycling community. Sheldon was the webmaster for Harris Cyclery in the Boston suburb of West Newton. He wrote prodigiously on a number of topics and they are preserved at his web site.

I wish to express my condolences to his family and friends in their loss. Most of all Sheldon always seemed to find time to help others solve a problem or answer a question. A scholar and a gentleman, he will be deeply missed.

I first came across Sheldon Brown while posting a question to the news group rec.bicycles.tech. I had jut purchased a used tandem with a fatally stuck seatpost. Sheldon referred me to his 15 ways to unstick a seatpost. I read it and was instantly hooked. Since then, I have read almost all of his web site.

Later he answered some of my questions about converting my Bridgestone RB-1 to an Ultegra triple setup. He helped me understand the variation in old vs new Avocet tire sizes.

Most recently, his articles hleped me decide to finally buy a fixed-gear bike. In the end I took his advice on using the pedal system to which I am most accustomed. When I ride myRedline 925 with the shiny red Look pedals I will remember Sheldon Brown.

Getting Fixed, Part 2

The dis-oriented author is a fixed gear newbie. I got my first fixed gear bike from my wife as an early Christmas present a few weeks ago. I got a Redline 925 with drop bars. By eventual goal is to get S&S couplings put on the bike so I can travel with it. I also wanted the extra fitness benefits of a bike that forces me to pedal continuously and attack hills aggressively the way I did as a youngster.

For now, I am working on learning how to ride it.

When I looked for a fixie I considered almost all of the commercially available models. I knew I wanted a steel frame so I could get it refit with S&S couplings. I especially liked the Scwhinn Madison's classic looks. The problem was that the Madison frame does not have a long enough top tube for my short legs and long arms. The 925 has a sloping top tube so I was able to get a frame I could standover that was long enough for me to ride comfortably.

When I test rode the bike, I asked the shop to switch the bike from fixed to free so I could ride it with the freewheel. I told the guys in the shop that I didn't want to learn to ride fixed on their bike. The bike was quick and responsive. Before I took the bike home, I asked the shop to flip the rear wheel and return it to fixed.

The 925 comes with aluminum road pedals and half to clips without straps. When I got the bike home, I took it out of the car and set it up for my first fixed ride. I have two pairs of cycling shoes, Shimano road shoes with Look cleats and Specialized mountain shoes with Ritchey cleats, neither one was going to be a good fit with the 925's half-clips. I ended up doing my first ride in my sandals (Nike's not Shimano SPDs).

The first thing that happened was that I hit my calf with the pedal. I had forgotten that not only can you not glide on a fixie — when you push it, the pedals turn. Next, I had to figure out how to get on the bike. I had to turn the pedals to a starting position and I put my left foot in the toe clip. I put my right foot on the bottom of the pedal and started out down my driveway. As I turned into the street I flipped the right pedal over and inserted my foot. Of course, when I did it, I tried to glide. Well, no matter, the pedals kept on turning and lifted me up out of the seat. On the next rotation I got my foot in and started down the hill in front of my house.

The bike has both front an rear brakes but it still seemed a bit scary to charge down the hill and turn the corner with the cranks spinning. The bike has a pretty high bottom bracket and 165mm crank arms so bottoming a pedal was not an issue.

I made a short circuit of about 1.5 miles with a long sloping hill down and then up. I had hardly gone 3 blocks before I found myself tiring from the constant pedaling. When I got to my block I had to stand up and attack the hill.

The ride went without incident but I learned a few things:

1. You cannot glide on a fixie no matter how hard you try
2. It's hard to pull up your shorts when you can't glide
3. You have to re-learn how to transition form sitting to standing

Later I replaced the stock tires with a set of Avocet FasGrip K20 32mm slicks. I have always liked the Avocets and the 32s fit the Redline frame. I also took Sheldon Brown's advice on pedals and borrowed the Look clipless from my road bike. Brown said that a new fixie rider should use the pedal system they are most familiar with. I have used Look pedals almost since they were introduced and I also like the stiffer road shoes so I gave it a shot.

The second ride got off to an inauspicious start. I got on my bike in my driveway, I clipped into my left pedal and then my right. Unfortunately at that point, I did not have enough momentum to stay on the bike. I unclipped my right pedal and promptly fell to my left. There I was lying on the ground, I hope none of my neighbors were looking out their windows.

On this ride I could tell the difference using the Look pedals and the road shoes. The difference in power transfer was significant. I did the same circuit and added a longer route it felt great. The issues I had with the toe clips were exacerbated by the cleats. I found it harder to transition to standing, I found it harder to figure out how to put a foot down at a stop sign.

Since then I have ridden several more times with the clipless pedals. I am so sure that I'll keep using the Looks that I ordered a red pair on Ebay.

Getting Fixed

The dis-oriented author just got fixed. I have eight children, so some of you might be saying that it's about time — I do not mean that kind of fixed. This week, my wife bought me an early Christmas present, a fixed gear bike.

Fixed gear bikes use a single fixed cog instead of a freewheel. You only get one gear and you cannot glide — ever. I already had a classic Brodgestone RB-1 with Phil Wood hubs that I recently upgraded to an Ultegra triple crank, a Specialized StumpJumper FS mountain bike and a Burley Duet Tandem but until I got my fixie, a Redline 925 with drop bars, my biking life was not complete.

I have wanted a fixie for decades. When I first started bicycling I was living on Guam and I rode with the local club, Bicyclists of Guam. There were few serious cyclists on the island then (1974) but the club had a Navy guy who rode a beautiful Scwhinn Paramount track bike with a front brake and a fixed gear. I don't know how he did it but even on our longest ride through the hills of southern Guam he managed to make it to the top of every climb.

Later as I began to do some racing myself, I wanted to get a fixie to add to my training. Since there is no gliding, I hoped it would help smooth out my pedaling and get me accustomed to spinning at higher RPMs.

As a business traveler, I fond it frustrating to be in places with great cycling and not have my bike. Recently I was in Minneapolis with my road bike and I went out two nights after work to ride the trails. It was awesome, after a long day at work, the exercise was just what I needed. Since then, I have been seriously planning how to travel for work with my bike.

The problem with taking bikes by air is that airlines charge a fee to carry bicycles. The fee can be as high as $70 each way. So even if I purchase a case for my road bike it would not be practical. The solution I decided on was to get S&S couplings put on my road bike. S&S couplings are strainless steel connectors that allow a regular bike (with steel or titanium tubes) to be disassembled and packed in an airline legal suitcase.

Of late, the complexity of packing and unpacking my 21 speed road bike has seemed somewhat daunting. It was this complexity that drove me to get a fixie. In addition to all of the other benefits, I eventually will get couplings put on this bike and make it my travel bike. Most of the places I would ride are flat or gently rolling. I am really looking for a bike to ride in the evenings after work not a bike to do long distance touring on.

The fixie is perfect.

Biking With My Son

RAGBRAI is an annual bicycle ride across my home state of Iowa. RAGBRAI is a seven day ride averaging 4-500 miles and each year it draws almost 15,000 riders.

I rode my first RAGBRAI in 1976 when I was young and riding thousands of miles a year. I rode RAGBRAI with my friends , we were all young and fast. Today I am a middle-aged out of shape father of eight. This year I decided to ride a day with my 11 year old son Jason.

It was one of the best days I have ever had on the bike.

Jason and I decided to Ride Thursday from Cedar Falls to Independence. The route was 62.9 miles and mostly flat. On the other hand the day was well into the 90's with high humidity. We started early and had a great ride. Jason quickly adopted to riding in a crowd and learned to get on and off the road safely while announcing his intentions to other riders.

I was on my newly triplized bike — a classic Bridgestone RB-1. My son was on his mountain bike. At about twenty miles, Jason was chomping at the bit and I sent him on ahead with some spending money to meet me in the next town. I took my time getting there. I stopped to take some pictures and buy a smoothie. By the time I got to the town, Jason was nowhere to be seen. We had agreed to meet at the entrance to the town.

Unfortunately, this was the town that everyone decided to party in. The place was packed, you had to get off and walk your bike because of the crowds. I walked through the town twice, looking for Jason and could not find him. We did not have a contingency plan so after about an hour and a half, I decided to move on.

I had stopped about three miles out of town to get some water and my cell phone rang. It was a message. Jason had borrowed a cell phone and had left me a message. I called back and the lady who answered said that she was no longer with Jason. She went out of her way to look for him. About twenty minutes later, she found him and sent him up the road to meet me.

Eventually he found me. By this time, it was getting late in the day and we rode to the next town to have lunch. I think the heat was getting to Jason because he wanted to quit. I talked him into continuing and we went down the road.

We only had about 13 miles left but 11 of those were into a headwind that seemed to be increasing. As we made the turn into the wind we started down the road known locally as Amish Boulevard. This part of Iowa has a large number of Amish farmsteads. As we rode we saw barefoot Amish kids all over and horses and buggies everywhere. By this time, Jason was dragging along so we stopped in an Amish farm and bought freezee pops. We must have spent an hour or more there in the shade. By the time we got on our bikes again, the winds had died down and the sun was behind some clouds.

As it got late, it was clear that the majority of riders had already passed by. But with the less wind and without the sun, we were re-energized and we took off down the road. As our destination neared, we rode faster and faster until we rolled into our destination.

Along the way, Jason was one of the younger riders. Some of the military riders gave him stickers, a pen and a set of dog tags. The ride was three weeks ago and he still wears the dog tags. He said it was the best day ever. The smile on his face in the photo says it all.

Next year, I would like to ride the entire ride with him.

 

Biking in the Twin Cities

The dis-oriented author is a cyclist. At least I was once a cyclist. This year I have been trying to get back on my bike. I had forgotten how much I enjoy riding. So this week on a business trip to Minneapolis, I decided to take my road bike.

This would be a good opportunity for a shakedown cruise. I had just purchased an Ultegra triple crank & bottom bracket, a Deore XT long cage rear derailleur and a Dura-Ace triple front derailleur. I also removed the SPD pedals and got out the Look road pedals. Since I did all the work myself, it seemed like a good opportunity to test everything out.

I was excited about this trip, I knew that Minneapolis had great bike trails. I used a variety of websites and found skateminnesota and the Hennepin county site to be especially useful. The client I was working for is located near Cedar Lake and Lake Calhoun so it seemed like a tour of the lakes would be a good idea. The only problem is that from the maps I found it hard to determine the distance.

I asked one of my colleagues who is a cyclist and he suggested that I should try riding the Midtown Greenway, a paved trail that leads from Highway 100 to the Mississippi river. I decided to then follow the Mississipi south to Minnehaha Falls and return via the Chain of Lakes. My colleague suggested that the ride would be about 11 miles total.

I started out on the Cedar Lake trail and headed south to catch the Midtown Greenway trail between Cedar Lake and Lake Calhoun. The trails were wide and well-maintained and in busier sections there was often a separate lane for pedestrians. The trail junctions are not well marked. I had an Internet map in my pocket and at several places I was not sure which way to go. Several times, I asked other cyclists or pedestrians for directions and everyone was patient and helpful. There are several places where the trail crosses roads. Even when there was a stop sign on the trail and none on the road, drivers were universally courteous.

When I reached the Mississippi, the trail followed the Great River Road and when there were breaks in the trees, I could see the river. Near Lock and Dam #1 my route took me between Lake Hiawatha and Lake Nokomis following Minnehaha Creek. About this time, I was beginning to wonder whether my distance estimates were wrong. If this was an 11 mile ride, I was really, really slow.

I followed the Chain of Lakes trail up past Lake Harriet and followed the one way trail around the West side of Lake Calhoun. With evening approaching, I road up to the band shell and concession area as the concert band arrived to play their evening concert. After sitting at the band shell for a while, I road back to the office, tired but happy.

For the record, I checked the mileage and it is closer to 24 miles than 11. I will be in Minneapolis for one more night — the weather looks good so I think I'll do the same ride tomorrow.