Category: cycling

Crushed Slug

Published September 20, 2008

Today Danielle and I managed to make it out to Addison Oaks park, where I did two laps on the mountain bike trails. One was on the normal route, the other was on the race route which includes a newly cut section of single track.

The ride went well, but I find it to be a bit more tiring than Stony Creek, because it doesn’t have as lengthy of sections for catching one’s breath.

On Wednesday when riding Addison I ended up with a crushed slug stuck to the top of my shoe. Today I ended up with one stuck on the down tube, so after driving home I decided to take a picture of it. Enjoy! (Click here for the high res version.)

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Time For A New Printer

Published September 20, 2008

Old parallel port printer cable connecting into the back of my work laptop, a Dell D610.

I guess I really need a new printer. After almost a year of limping along with a failing HP LaserJet 5L at home I’m finding I can’t even convince it to print any more. Today I was able to get it to print a test page while manually guiding the paper deep into the feed mechanism, but then I was unable to print properly from either my Mac or work laptop via lpr (to the JetDirect), or straight from my work laptop via parallel port.

Two pages bearing print did leave the printer eventually when connected via parallel port, but only half of the PDF which I needed to print (a free admission ticket to Addison Oaks for riding the mountain bike trails) was actually render correctly. Oh well. I guess it’s time to go to Kinkos.

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Busy Weekend

Published September 19, 2008

This weekend looks to be very busy. I’m still at work, don’t know when I’ll be leaving, and likely will have to put in some time on either Saturday evening or early Sunday morning.

The new hard disks for my server are going to be delivered today, so hopefully the wipe of the failing ones (with DBAN) will be complete by the time I arrive home so that I’ll be able to do the dump and restore, check out the install, then get in with more burn-in.

I’d originally planned on riding both the Tour De Troit and the Addison Oaks Fall Classic this Saturday and Sunday (respectively), but I just don’t think I want to schedule things that tightly. So, maybe I’ll get out and ride a bit, but it definitely won’t be anything planned or structured.

Now, to get this stuff at work wrapped up. Thankfully Danielle brought me some really, really yummy lunch from Rangoli Express so that I didn’t have to leave for lunch today. It was really, really, really good.

(No, I’m not neglecting work right now… I’m just waiting for some other folks so I can keep going with stuff that I’m doing.)

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Stony Creek Mountain Bike Videos

Published September 16, 2008

I mounted my old Coolpix 5400 on the handlebar of my bike in order to get some video of bike rides.

Yesterday I decided to go for a bike ride at Stony Creek, but before doing that I grabbed some small pieces of non-slip foam and some cable ties and strapped my old Nikon Coolpix 5400 to the handlebars of the bike. (This is how it looked when riding.)

The resulting videos aren’t great, as being mounted on the handle bars made the video jerky and noisy, with every little movement, bump, and vibration translating into shake, blur, and noise. However, I think they are interesting enough, and in one of them you can even watch me fall.

These videos are only short, couple minute segments of what I feel are some of the more interesting pieces of single track at Stony Creek. Length was limited by the recording time of the camera.

Here’s the videos on YouTube in high res, including the one of me falling (#3):

· The Pines #1
· The Pines #2
· Roller Coaster #1
· Roller Coaster #2
· Roller Coaster #3 & Me Falling
· Roller Coaster #4
· Roller Coaster #5
· Marker 26 to 25
· Back to Parking Lot

The original, and thusly higher quality, MOV files straight out of the camera at https://nuxx.net/videos. Just be warned, they are large:

· stony_creek_15oct2008_pines_1.mov (46.3 MB)
· stony_creek_15oct2008_pines_2.mov (46.4 MB)
· stony_creek_15oct2008_rollercoaster_1.mov (45.9 MB)
· stony_creek_15oct2008_rollercoaster_2.mov (25.5 MB)
· stony_creek_15oct2008_rollercoaster_3.mov (24.8 MB)
· stony_creek_15oct2008_rollercoaster_4.mov (45.7 MB)
· stony_creek_15oct2008_rollercoaster_5.mov (38.8 MB)
· stony_creek_15oct2008_to_parking.mov (46.6 MB)
· stony_creek_15oct2008_up_mount_sheldon_26_to_25 (22.5 MB)

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More Broken Bike Stuffs

Published September 16, 2008

Today while riding one more go through the Roller Coaster at Stony Creek (after recording videos, to be posted later) I fell pretty hard on the right side, and hurt my shoulder. I was going around a slow-ish switchback and my front wheel skidded to the left and I just went down.

I’d thought the only thing damaged was my shoulder, but after getting back on the bike it didn’t shift right. I just put it on the stand to sort it out so I could ride tomorrow and while it initially appeared to be a cable tension issue, which was wholly possible seeing as I’d just replaced the rear derailleur, that wasn’t it. The bottom of the rear derailleur appears to be cocked inward, and after checking to be sure it wasn’t another broken mounting bolt, I noticed that the derailleur hanger appears to be a bit off. After removing it from the bike and checking it with a straightedge it does appear that I’ve bent it slightly.

When I removed the wheel I also noticed that the rear axel / hub / bearings aren’t turning very smoothly at all. I suspect that when I had to do the half-assed single speed conversion during which the chain would occasionally climb to the next ring there was too much pressure on the bearings, or something. So, I guess I’ll have to fix that before I ride next too. Hopefully it just needs some adjustment and I haven’t destroyed the races.

I need to learn to ride better and stop being so rough on my bike.

Since I’m already buried in working on problems with the server and getting it up and going again I’ll have to put this off for a bit.

Also, in that fall I scraped my leg and bruised my right nipple. I have never before bruised a nipple.

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Salsa’s Fargo

Published September 14, 2008

Salsa's stock photo of their new bike, Fargo. It is a touring bike based around 29" mountain bike wheels. I think I want one.

While waiting for Bonnie++ to run (more on this later — it’s not good) I wanted to post about a new bike recently announced by Salsa, an interesting looking touring bike built around a mountain bike-ish frame and 29″ MTB wheels.

For the last month or so I’ve been kicking around the idea of building a new bike for myself, but each time I find myself stuck with either the idea of another mountain bike or something a bit more touring-ish. I have a mountain bike which fits me quite nicely, so I’ve started to think that I should just be content with what I have and let things be. Then, while looking up info on the new wheel that built, I come across Salsa’s Fargo. This bike looks like it’d do an incredibly good job at longer rides and possible commuting, and maybe even some biking / camping trips.

There’s something I really like about the idea of 29er wheels (29″ / 700c), the ability to use wide mountain bike tires, clearance for fenders with 2.3″ tires, disc brakes, etc.

At an estimated $2k (built up) I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford one, but it’s sure tempting to start thinking about one. The frames are supposed to ship in November and the bikes themselves in February. Trails Edge sells Salsa stuff and is (relatively) local… Maybe I should finally pay them a visit…

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All In One Go

Published September 6, 2008

The winding bridge through The Pines at Stony Creek, with a skinny section. I was able to ride half of it in my first go.

Today I headed over to Stony Creek and rode the route normally taken by the Wednesday Night Group Ride (Pines -> Snake -> Roller Coaster) in one go, attempting every log pile along the way. I was able to do it, only putting my foot down twice, with each of those two times being at the top of log piles I hadn’t previously ridden over. At the end of that segment I felt like I was about to throw up, but in a good way.

After this I rode through The Pines again, and attempted to ride across the skinny section in the curving bridge. The first time I tried I made it half way before dropping off. The second time I only made it about 1/5 of the way before falling off.

Heading back to the parking lot I decided to ride down a narrow path which supposedly leads to a small lake or pond. It was a bit overgrown (Photo 1 & Photo 2) and part-way down my arm was caught by a thorn, cutting it a bit. Right after this I got tangled in more brush, my bike fell part-way to the left, and when I fell I landed with my stomach on the right end of the handlebar. Oops. Now I’ve got a couple of weird bruises on my stomach along with the cut on my arm.

Other than beating myself up a bit, it was a really nice ride. One thing I noticed is that the crooked tree I’d mentioned before has been cut town. This disappoints me, because it was fun leaning and riding around it. Oh well.

Time to shower and get on with the day.

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Wheels Go ‘Round Again

Published September 1, 2008

The rear of my bike, with new a SRAM PG-850 cassette, SRAM PC-870 chain, and Shimano Deore RD-M531-L rear derailleur.

This afternoon I made a quick run to REI (yes, they were actually open) and was able to pick up a Shimano Deore RD-M531-L rear derailleur for the must-be-MSRP price of $54. This, along with a new SRAM PC-870 chain and an SRAM PG-850 cassette purchased as-new from someone on the MMBA forums got my bike working great again.

After getting everything together and set up I went for a short test ride around my neighborhood, which turned into a 15 mile loop up through River Bends Park to Ryan Road. In short, practically all of my shifting problems are gone. I still have to replace a bent front chainring, there’s still spoke noise, and I think I the bottom bracket may be making a rubbing sound, but none of that makes it difficult to ride.

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My New Single Speed

Published September 1, 2008

The emergency single speed conversion done to get home. I ended up using the 22 and 13 tooth rings.

I’ve been thinking that it’d be nice to have a single speed bike to ride, but I didn’t want to acquire one this way.

Today I ate a very large breakfast then set out with the intention of riding to Lake Orion and back, then to Metro Beach and back, hoping to break 90 miles today. After riding just about four miles and getting to the intersection of 23 Mile and VanDyke, just when I was feeling warmed up, something felt odd when shifting. Looking down I saw that my rear derailleur was canted to the side with the chain coming off of the top jockey wheel. As soon as touched the assembly to try and reposition things the derailleur came off, as seen here.

I ended up doing an emergency single speed conversion by shortening the chain, tensioning it up as I could, then riding carefully home. I had to make a total of three adjustments to the chain, because I found that if I had the chain on anything but the smallest rings it would drop off and skip around.

Even after settling on the two smallest rings I had to be very careful because occasionally the chain would bounce a bit and climb up one gear, putting so much tension on the chain (and BB) that it was nearly impossible to pedal. When this happened I’d have to remove the rear wheel, re-seat the chain, then keep going again. This had to be done at least six times in the four miles home. Eventually I found that if I pedaled gingerly, never pedaled when going over bumps, didn’t apply much force when going uphill, and coasted as often as possible I was generally fine. I could

Now to figure out what to do… The Shimano SLX group is tempting, or maybe the SRAM X.9 stuff. One thing I know I won’t be doing for a while is riding my bike.

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Chainstay Protector from a Tube

Published September 1, 2008

An old tube cut into a 1" strip and wrapped around the chainstay to quiet down chain slap.

I’ve been wanting a chainstay protector to cut down on the noise from chain slap^†, but I both didn’t want to pay for one. I also particularly don’t like how most aftermarket bike accessories come plastered with logos like this Lizard Skins-brand one. So, while waiting for my biking clothes to get through a late-night wash cycle I took an old tube, cut it into a 1″ strip, wrapped it around most of the chainstay on my bike, and cable tied it in place.

This idea was inspired by this photo of an On-One Inbred Summer Season 456 with what appears to use this same setup. I really like the minimal look of it.

To cut this piece of tube I stuck a piece of 1″ masking tape on an old tube, cut along both sides of the tape, squared the ends, then scrubbed off the non-stick powder from the tube with a sponge. It was wrapped so that what was the inside of the tube is facing out, making for a consistent gray look. I would have liked to wrap more of the chainstay, but with the rear derailleur cable running under the chainstay there wasn’t a lot of clearance. The area of the chainstay which had taken the most damage (and thusly chainslap) before is covered, so it should work well.

^† Chain slap is the clanking noise made when the chain bounces and hits the chainstay (or other parts) while going over bumps or drops. Not only does it make a loud clanking noise, the impact usually chips up the finish on the chainstay.

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