I'm a Big Heat Sissy

I am a heat sissy.

When I was a kid, family vacation usually meant a trip to visit relatives in Oklahoma. Most of our time was spent at my grandparents house in Hugo, where I learned how to ride a bike one summer. Hugo is in the extreme southeastern corner of the state, and its defining summertime characteristics are heat and humidity. Temps in the upper 90's, and humidity to match. And oh yeah, bugs. Fun bugs like chiggers, fire ants, ticks and mosquitoes. All this didn't matter that summer, as I applied my new-found bike riding skills.

During the day, I was able to borrow a bike from a kid that lived just down the street from my grandparents. Jamie Sutherland was a couple of years older than me, and during the summer he would work at his dad's auto wrecking yard outside of town, and he generously let me use his bike while he was "at work".

I vaguely remember that Jamie's bike was some sort of StingRay clone...certainly not a genuine Schwinn, maybe it was a Huffy or something like that. It had a cool sissy bar, a white banana seat, and a gold paint job. I would spend all day outside,riding around the block time and time again. My mom would come out and tell me to get in out of the heat, and I would go inside, maybe have some iced tea (or, as they say there- "ice tea") and get back on the bike as soon as I could. I didn't care that I was sweating like a pig, or that I might get a "heat stroke". All I cared about is riding the bike and exploring the dusty gravel streets of Hugo, Oklahoma. And so I rode.

Fast forward a few years. Soon after moving from Southern California to Washington, I discovered that my tolerance for warm weather had greatly decreased. Temps in the upper 70's seem hot, and 65' is "just right". If the temps are in the 80's, then I'm whining about the heat, and, if they reach the 90's, well, I'm a whimpering fool. My parents moved to the California high Desert a few years ago, and I am constantly amazed when they say that 105' is not hot. Of course, the humidity is generally in the teens. Oh, by the way...people who live in the High Desert can not use any word in normal conversation that includes more than three syllables. Maybe it has something to do with the heat affecting their brains somehow.


This weekend I was looking forward to riding, as the weather forecast was for a nice summer weekend. As it turned out, temperatures rose to the mid 90's, and the relative humidity was somewhere north of 60%. Sunday was even worse, as thunderstorms were building over the Cascade crest, and the humidity was rising even higher. The lightning was quite something, and eventually it rained (rain in Seattle! What!??). This morning at 6:00, it was 61' and 91% RH.

So, as a complete and total Heat Sissy, I didn't ride at all this weekend. I have all kinds of excuses-too hot, too humid, too whatever. But, the weekend did bring back a lot of memories of summers in Hugo, and when my enthusiam for riding was greater than whatever discomfort the weather might bring. Lest you think that everyone in the Pacific NorthWest is a sissy, check out the Seattle International Randonneurs' Cascade 1200, happening now.

So here I sit, comfortable with my HeatSissy status. You Southern Californians shouldn't be too smug, however. Let's see how you fare when the weather turns cold and wet!

Pictures from this Weekend

Training Rides

Saturday 100K "Populaire"

Here's a description from the Randonneur who created the route:

"This route was adapted from a training ride I do for hill climbing. It's basically a route where I'd ride from one steep hill to another. The ride will start in Mission Hills, and head up to Solana Beach, then head back south on inside Torrey Pines; instead of going back to Rose Cyn Bike Path, you peel off to the right at La Jolla Shores Drive for great (but brief) views of La Jolla. Then the hard part starts - one of the toughest hills in San Diego is Via Capri and that is the next section. Via Capri is 1.4 miles and has an average gradient of 9%. When you consider that there are some stretches of flat parts in there, then that makes the maximum gradient somewhere around 15%. So, bring your climbing gears, your walking shoes, or your enormous quads. After Via Capri, you descend Nautilus to Pacific Beach Drive and head south all the way to Ocean Beach and Sunset Cliffs. Then it's up Hill Street, right to the lighthouse, back to Canon Street, along Harbor Drive to downtown, then up another hill to get up to the finish."

I'm glad I had my triple chainring!

Sunday Climb to Alpine

On Sunday I climbed up Dehesa Rd. to Alpine. At the base of the climb a rider named Troy, who had just descended, turned around and slotted in behind me. He said he was recovering from a knee injury, so he was doing "intervals" - repeating the climb. I was serving to pace him up the climb for one of his SLOW intervals. Troy told me about his experiences on really long rides like the Furnace Creek 508.

Jo's Hampsten Strada Bianca

As an important member of our ride support team, Jo gets to show off the drawing for her Hampsten Strada Bianca, which is now under construction at Independent Fabrication in Boston. It will be a beautiful bike-steel frame, S&S couplers, pearl white paint with red graphics. She went with 700c wheels; she hasn't quite settled yet on components. The fork will be custom made by Hampsten, insuring just the right geometry for a great all-around bike.

Thanks go out to Jo for facilitating a place for us to stay in Mill Valley and in Malibu.

Cross Training Indeed!

I too was cross-training this past weekend. Two days on the river teaching beginning whitewater kayaking. Towing newbies to shore after they have flipped and wet-exited, along with their kayak, certainly gets the heart rate up! One thing I have never figured out is why it is that when rescueing a 110lb girl, she will help get to shore by kicking vigorously while being towed, but the 260lb dude will invariably hang on the rear of the boat (or worse, grab the cockpit) like a big sack of potatoes. No matter how much you tell them to "KICK! Help me out here!" they still dangle off the kayak like a harpooned whale.

The weather forecast looks good for this weekend-I hope to get some good riding in.

As an aside, Jo's order for her Strada Bianca in steel (I like to call it SBFe) with S&S couplers was sent to Independent Fabrication today. 12 weeks is the projected build time. I'll post the measured drawing later.

Cross Training? and Upcoming Populaire

Last Saturday we went kayaking, putting in off Coronado and paddling to the Midway and Star of India. Getting right next to that hulking aircraft carrier always takes my breath away. That's George and Meagan!


This Saturday I've signed up for a hilly 100K Populaire with San Diego Randonneurs. Here's the route.

Thanks in Advance

As we plan our trip, I want to thank in advance those who have offered/allowed us to plan on spending a night with them at their house while traveling down the coast.

Jo's cousin Lisa in Mill Valley

Alan's mom in Templeton

Chuck and Marlene in Ventura

Jo's brother Jeff in Malibu

Good friend Chris Wren in Carlsbad


Thanks!

Repair and Maintenance Stuff

Here's a list of what I expect to have in our repair kit. With it, I think that we can repair most anything that may be needin' some fixin'. I'm sure I will fine tune this list, but I am confident that we will be able to handle just about any mechanical problem short of total frame or wheel failure.


Tire boot
Tire patch kit
Spare spokes with nipples-we'll need 4 sizes to fix any spoke that may break.
Spoke wrench (Usually the spoke wrench in a mini-tool works fine, but if you have wheels built with aluminum spoke nipples, they can round off the corners of the nipple. Since I don't want to risk losing my DT-Swiss spoke wrench,I'll probably bring a Park SW-40. Not as nice a tool as the DT-Swiss , but it doesn't cost $50 either.)
Shimano chain pins (10 speed, DuraAce)
Stein MiniCassette lockring tool. This doodad works to remove a cassette lockring without a chainwhip or big wrench. Pretty clever. If we break a rear wheel drive side spoke this tool is essential in being able to replace the spoke.
Replacement derailer hanger
CrankBros mini-tool
Small tube blue Loctite
Small tube Anti-seize lube

Assortment of stainless steel screws (5mm,6mm) for rack, fender and bottle cage mounts
8mm combination wrench-for fender attachment nuts (daruma, for you Honjo fender fans)

ProLink chain lube. This stuff is great. It lasts a long time-This winter I got over 300 miles per lubing-of course full fenders help lots in the rain, but I expect that we will have to lube our chains every 4 or 5 days.

Ritchey TorqueKey. Every cyclist should have one of these. It is a 4mm hex key, with the proper torque for 5mm screws preset. This is a very common size for stem bolts and seatpost collars, and this ensures that fasteners are properly tightened. If you have any carbon components on your bike, get one!
Spare buckles for shoes
Spare cleat for Speedplay Frog Pedals with spare mounting screws
Spare shift and brake cable
Swiss Army Knife, with corkscrew and bottle opener. (This complements Alan's softside ice chest)
Alan has a few things like cable ties and duct tape, so I won't duplicate them here.

Capture the Imagination

As I have been talking about or telling friends and acquaintances about this upcoming ride, I have been taken by how it seems to really capture the imagination of many. I am surprised how people who probably haven't been on a bike for 40 years or something like that totally get into the idea of a ride from one end of the coast to the other. Guys 100 lbs overweight that smoke, drink and hang out in bars and will probably never ride a bike down the block, much less down the coast, are amped and stoked. Same for some well into their 70's. Meanwhile, tell people (non-boater)about a kayak trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho or through the Grand Canyon, you'll get a ho-hum, "you're crazy"response.

I wonder what it is about a bike tour that seems to capture the imagination of some of the more "sedentary" among us. Please comment.

Ideas for Future Tours

Yeah, I know, we haven't even started this tour. Still, my mind wanders.

Someday I'd like to do another tour of Vermont or Colorado.

I'd also like to fly in to someplace in northeastern Canada and bicycle (perhaps adding a train ride) to Niagara Falls, visit Cory in Ithaca NY, then maybe head on to see Dave in Ashton MA and/or Syd in Southern Vermont.

Then there's Vietnam or Thailand. Or one of Iron Donkey's self-guided tours. Or just fly somewhere and start pedaling. And of course someday I want to pedal "from sea to mighty sea, from coast to mighty coast, from Bangor all the way to mighty Maine."

Any takers?

Measurements for Alan's Bike

Here's the schematic with measurements for my bike. I didn't get the third bottle mount - the s and s couplers got in the way. I got a steel Independent Fabrication fork and chose cantilever brakes.

SBTi drawing

This is the measured drawing that Steve Hampsten created and Kent Ericksen used to fabricate my frame. It features the custom touring fork that Steve made for me.

The fork has specific geometry to carry weight on the front end of the bike. In particular, it has more offset, and less trail. This lengthens the wheelbase, and reduces the amount of front"wheel flop". An added bonus is that it gives me more toe clearance so that "toe overlap" is less of an issue.

Furthermore, all these changes provide what the popular bike magazines and marketing types seem to think is the holy grail of bike design..."...increased lateral stiffness, with noticeably more vertical compliance". Whatever the hell that means. One other thing-while my bike is similar to Alan's bike, it is vastly superior to Alan's bike.

KT's Strada Bianca

Here's a pic of my Hampsten Strada Bianca titanio-complete with Arkel panniers, handlebar bag and rack trunk . Keeping with my disdain of rust and corrosion, the racks are made of stainless steel by Tubus. In another post I will have full specs, including the original measured design drawing.

Wi Fi Collar

Little did I realize that the camera I bought for memorializing this trip has anti-theft technology!

Rode to Work Today, SD Rando Ride Tomorrow

Last night I pumped $4.70 per gallon gasoline into my vehicle and resolved to ride to work. I figure that pedaling the 40 mile round trip commute now saves me about $9.40 in gas alone.


This morning's ride in was delightful. My basic route is Chase, La Mesa Blvd., El Cajon Blvd, Park Ave, and the only drawback is that there's a lot of stopping at signals so it takes 1 hour and 20 minutes on average to cover the 20 miles. I park my bike in my office then walk over to a gym that I joined to shower and change. I like the morning ride a lot better than the afternoon, but maybe I'll get used to it.


Tomorrow I'll be joining the San Diego Randonneurs for a 151km Bay and Ocean Populaire. Should be lovely!

Touring Tripod

Here's a light little tripod, the "Ultrapod", which can also mount to a pole or handlebars (for short stints maybe? We'll see). Kevin used one of these on a Grand Canyon kayaking trip.

Kevin's New Fork

Kevin has waited a long time for this touring fork, so he can mount his
lowrider front racks. I like the retro look, and he didn't even have to
paint it himself!

More Gear

click this link

Two new additions to my gear list: a massage stick and a collapsible cooler.

Chilly Hilly Slideshow

Chilly Hilly Photos from Janet. What is Chilly Hilly? It is 4,000 bicycle riders invading Bainbridge Island via ferry, then pedaling a chilly, hilly 35 mile circuit around the island. This trip to Seattle was my first test of the "easy transport" capability of my new S and S coupled bike.

Kitchen and Laundry Room

Night Visibility - 50 Feet

Night Visibility 100 ft - Rear

Night Visibility 100 ft - Side

Night Visibility 100ft - Front View

Itinerary

Here's our current itinerary, subject to many, many changes!

Training Ride to Alpine



Go SD Rando!























This is where Julia, Walter and I turned around last December

















The start of the climb to Alpine





















As configured, my bike weighs 25.8 lbs

Here's my NiteRider mini newt light mounted to my front rack using cork and cherry hardwood.

Packing by Pannier - Front Panniers

Pillow, Inflatable Pad, Sleeping Bag in compression sack, and rust colored inflation bag.

Dry Sack with clothing, plastic bags with parts, bike lock and cable












P

Two sets of clothing, plus shorts/swimsuit and a capilene long sleeve shirt.

Here's my gear list as it stands now.