Rain Rain Go Away

Well the monsoons have begun. It's rained almost every day for the past 3 weeks. All training and commuting has stopped untill the weather improves. In the mean time I've been working on my ongoing Raliegh 20 projects. I have two of them that I have been restoring. A green one which is nicely rust free and a brown "rust bucket." Actually the plan make both into product improved Raliegh 20's replacing the stock cottered cranks with 3 piece cotterless cranks, shimano 424 SPD pedals, Brooks Conquest Saddles, Alloy rims, Cool Stop brake blocks, and one day replacing the Sturmey-Archer 3 speed drive train with the new 8 speed rear hub, and possibly setting the front wheel up with a Dynohub for lighting. Plus a rear rack setup with grocery panniers..

The aim of all this? To have a pair of bikes that can serve as short distance round the neighborhood bikes for guests and as a jump and run grocery getters. Lets face it conventional bikes are set and forget to one person and when you adjust it to anothers settings, it never fully feels right to the original rider when it's reset. Plus, I have three grocery stores within 5 miles, but to use my MTB would require completely unloading my panniers which are too small for a proper grocery run. I want a bike that I can just jump on and go with open bag panniers

It's also rather useful to have a set of bikes of matched capabilities when in a relationship or dating. This is something I learned when I was married as my MTB and road bike were too big and unfamiliar to my then wife. The green Twenty fit her better, but needed overhaul which caused it to have greater than usual resistance. Plus the differential between 20" and 26" wheels would cause me pull far ahead. So at that time it dawned on me that a matched pair of easily adjustable bikes would be a good thing to have.

So far the green one is closer to being ready. The biggest problem being faced by both projects is the hunt for a suitable bottom bracket. All sites documenting similar upgrades are vague about what they used and what their parts source was. I've outsourced this part of the project to Daniel Boone Cycles. When they get the green one done I'll then do the brown one on my own. On the brown I was hoping to use the orginal cranks for the time being; however, somewhere in this bike's past some one really laid into the cotters with a hammer so there is a bad chainwheel wobble (possble bent spindle.) Right now I'm looking for a Sugino 3-piece BMX crank with a 44 tooth Chainwheel to set aside for this bike untill I have funds avaialble to take it the rest of the way.

At last!

Finally commuted to work this past Friday. In the process I also found a slightly easier route. Historically I would ride down Gessner to Barryknoll and then work through the southern most of the Memorial Villages to Memorial Drive. This time I just rolled right down Westview which is pretty much residential for half it's length and then missing my southerly turn Chimney Rock (It's named different at Westview and I always forget the street name.) I turned south on Antoine which once crossing I-10 then drops me on Memorial Drive about 3 to 4 miles from the outskirts of Memorial Park.

This time I had to carry my PC repair bag with me and My already heavy mountian bike had to be pushing 100lbs. I also decided at the last minute to ride with my Ipod; however, I didn't use stereo headphones, but a monophonic earpiece so I could still listen to traffic. I also opted to listen to an hour long podcast as opposed to perpetually pulling out the Ipod and risking it clattering to the street. I didn't do half bad all things considered. I averaged 11.48 MPH round trip which isn't bad on a heavily laden mountin bike. Also the new route was four miles shorter than the old route.

Here is a Pic of my bike parked at the office propped up by desk. My PC repair bag is the Reliant Energy bag acting like a "boot" bag with the long carry strap threaded through the rear rack. The blue trunk bag is actually a cooler with an "ice substute" a couple cans of soda and lunch loaded. Right pannier has work clothes, the left abolution materials (towel, soap, toothpaste, etc.)

Biding Time

Discovered yesterday while driving that part of my homecoming route is currently impassible due to deconstruction for storm sewer installation. The section is on Memorial Drive just west of Chimney rock and east of Khulman. At this point Memorial Drive is reduced to one lane east and one lane west which at rush hour under normal circumstances is already risky; however, add loose soil, construction equipment, and illiterate Mexican construction workers milling around could be a recipe for falling in front of a car. Unfortunately this is the only and best route for going home any other direction would add several more miles to the commute.

In the mean time, I'm continuing to road bike train which I must confess I enjoy tremendously for it means instead of only getting 1 to 2 hours of sleep and waking up at 4am I can sleep in to almost 7am and get between 4 and 6 hours. Plus, I enjoy being able to ride with other people which I don't get to do when commuting. Also, dare-I-say-it? I enjoy the women cyclists also there in the park. At least two are part of the University of Houston team and one is a 5'9" leggy blonde . I know I don't have a chinaman chance of garnering more than a "hello" from this lady, but "Oh MY GOD!" does she fill out those red and black Cycling shorts and my heart pounds, the blood rushes in my ears when she laps me.. Not a few of those women got it going on and make cyling shorts downright sexy..

The re-training begins.

I did a recovery ride on Monday and didn't do half bad for being off the bike for almost half a month. The goal was to go over 14 miles in under an hour and twenty minutes as on my work commute I usually make it to work in an hour twenty and 14 miles is the one way distance. On this ride I rode 17.63 in 1:10:51 and averaged 14.9 MPH. Unfortunately in the process I may have re-infected myself with whatever little beasties that gave me pneumonia before as I had a sore throat afterwards. I had forgotten to wash out and disinfect the camelback the night before.

Yesterday I wanted to go ride so bad; however, I had to go to court instead. About a month ago I had a little altercationwith a Metro bus so last night I had to go enter a pleading.. I copped to no contest and defensive driving.

Our Commuting Program has been delayed

I've been ailing for the past week and I finally got around to going to the doctor. The verdict? A mild case of Pneumonia appearently I really overstressed my body the week before with my roadbike training. So I'm down for the count untill at least Wednesday and probably off the bike for another week. I'm hoping to ramp up on commuting next week although I'm going to miss roadbike training as I have been doing.

Other Random Thoughts: Clothing

During the spring and summer here in Houston hot weather gear is the norm. What I wear specifically often boils down to where I'm going. If I'm going to my day job at one of the local universities where I have shower and changing facilities available due to the distance involved I prefer to wear loose mountain bike shorts and a conventional coolmax cycling shirt so I don't look so conspicuous . Very early in the season when it's still cold and if I can get to work without sweating I'll wear my Lycra road bike shorts and a white coolmax cycling shirt which saves some time as I skip the post ride ablutions and just pull my work clothes on over my cycling clothes. I also use this method through the Spring and summer with my weekend job were I'm there less than 8 hours and there isn't much time for changing at quitting time.

I would have to say that 95% of the time I prefer the baggy shorts approach as it seems motorists cut me a bigger break when I don't look like professional bike racer. Along with this approach I tend to stay away from the neon, wild graphics, "I am a Bicyclist" cycling shirts. Most of my shirts are basic colors such as red and white. The white shirts like I mentioned before can double as a t-shirt while at your work site. They are also most useful for visibility reasons for early morning before-the-sun-rises commutes. I have tried "road hazard" colored shirts I have a neon yellow and a blaze orange colored shirt; however, the only time I wore the blaze orange I had a Village Cop(ulator) pull up and harass me at 5:30 am about not using the Village bike lane/sidewalk (Sun wasn't even up and he and I were the only traffic) then passing through Memorial park I had another meathead drive next to me at tell me to use the sidewalk (at this point of Memorial Drive passing through Memorial Park there are no sidewalks of any kind until well past the park, a distance of two miles. ) As for the neon yellow I haven't tried it yet as I fear a worse reaction... Blaze Orange seems to make motorists and policemen combative I'm afraid neon yellow will push someone over the edge and make me a hood ornament.

Also, as far as lycra shorts go.. basic black is the most appropriate color on a man. Definitely no gold or white. The former might give some people Rocky Horror flashbacks and the latter is just disgusting.. No one want to see your pink hairy A$$ crack sucking a bicycle seat from under sheer white material. Note these rules don't apply to women as most I've seen could pull off the different multicolor/light colored shorts without looking in some way disturbing.

As for construction you can go wrong with the classic leather chamois; however, you have to concide that there are better materials now available like the coolmax chamois. I'm partial to this new chamois; however, only if it's sewn in right and if it's the right size for the shorts. I have a pair of Performance shorts where it has the coolmax chamois, but it's short (and the shorts are actualy a size larger thant I normally wear) and the foam rubber is exposed which has a tendency to grab hair and skin and cause irratation. By far the best implemetation has been my Pearl Izumi shorts that I picked up at Sun and Ski Sports



As for Mountain Bike shorts for commuting I prefer lighter colors for visibility. Most of my light colored shorts are Tan/Khaki . By far my favorite mountian bike shorts are Zoics.

Here is a pic of me from an average commuting day.

The Background

When I first started experimenting with cyclocommuting I had already had some experinces dating back to when I was a boy of 13 to 15 as I had grown up here in Houston. I already knew the conditions of the roads (Rating from pretty good to poor), and the gladitorial, adversarial and sometimes downright ignorant nature of Houston drivers.



The roads have had alot to do with shaping my views on cyclecommuting. Houston as much as I hate to admit it is a automotive town that as the price for gas starts going in line with what the rest (Non-US) cities are paying is starting to learn the tricks that the rest of the world has been using for decades. In the past two years I've seen more Vespas and motorcycles in this city than I have at any other time and of course, bicycle commuters; however, nonmotorized transportation is an area that this city (and American's in general!) are still playing catch up on.



Consequently, things like bikelanes are spotty at best and by nature vary by which traffic engineer designed them and what politican was bought off by what group. For example, the Memorial Villages which I live just outside of which depending on you point of view are citylocked towns or giant suburban neighborhoods has a an "integrated bikeway" that they (the town governments) insist is good enough for daily transport use and demand money if you disprove it to them (Bicycle in Roadways prohibited signs everywhere.) Nevermind the fact that the system is incomplete at there might be a bike path westbound but none going east unless you cross the street and go counter to traffic. Plus, these "Lanes/Paths" were designed with a 1950's view of bicycles.. Set as a 4 foot wide sidewalk it can only handle a speed no faster than a 5 year old can ride a tricycle. You also spend more time in the vertical as you travel over it as Houston's infamous gumbo soil has caused the concrete slabs to shift and buckle . Some of the Villages have done an "Oops! we goofed when we built overgrown sidewalks so well slab in all the way to the shoulder of the road." which amounts to a useless gesture as the the whole mess is on a 45 degree declination from the roadway. Lanes done by the City of Houston proper are far better as they are part of the roadway. The only problem with them is all the trash from collisions and lazy motorists winds up in the lane and nothing comes by to sweep it up and collect it.



As a consquence I've found a mountian bike to work best. Compared to a "Racing/Touring" bike the seating position is more upright and allows a better view of traffic. Also, a 26" wheel has a slightly greater contact patch with the road than a 700c. The main trade off is speed as most mountain bikes are geared lower.

For the gearheads this is an early picture of my commuter. It's a 1989 Alpine Monitor pass with a Deore XT drive train. Tires have been dropped from 26 X 2.0 to Michelin 26 X1.5 "Gatorback" Metro tires. Seat is a Brooks Conquest. Neck was orignally a Tioga T-bone, but I found that my seating position was too spread out for long rides and replaced it with a road "riser" neck. I also have no use for biopace so the front cranks and chaninwheels are later round rings models. Pedals are SRs with clips (Since replaced by Shimano PD-M424s SPDs)


Light system is triply redundant Night Rider. The primary light is a Nightrider Digital Evolution with two batteries and a commuter alkaline system for the last line backup.
Tailight is a cateye blinkie on a handmade clip that
is clipped to the bottom of the rear fender. Fenders are by Planet bike.
Rack is a Blackburn Mountian 3 and panniers are Jannd Mountianeering Mountian Panniers. The brain is a Cateye Enduro 2.

I suppose if I started from scratch I might be inclined to try a flat bar road bike like the new Specialized Sirrus, or a purpose built commuter like a Breezer or a Specilized Globe.