Category: cycling

Sore Shoulder

Published July 18, 2008

With 90°F (32°C) temps, 70% humidity, and pretty much no wind riding today was quite strenuous. At one point I’d overexerted myself and was right near the throwing up point (and probably a bit out of it) when I clipped a tree with the left brake lever / handle bar. This caused all sorts of weirdness resulting in my hitting a tree on the opposite side of the path (about 4′ away), and as I fell I grabbed on to a third tree.

As the bike was wrenched around hitting the tree I somehow hurt my shoulder, most likely because my arm was fairly rigid and suddenly the handle bar was about a foot back from where it had been. I hope this soreness doesn’t last too long.

I fell two other times as well. Once was right over into a huge pile of thorns and vines and the other was on a downhill when in a bit of sand and my front wheel turned and hit a root. After falling into the shrubbery I made sure to survey the area to see if I’d fallen into any poison ivy and thankfully I hadn’t. With the second I actually got off the bike and was mostly still holding the handle bars when the bike came up and over my shoulder.

This is actually the first time I’ve done anything more than just falling over while on the single track stuff. I was really pushing myself at times and right on the brink of exhaustion, so that probably had a lot to do with it. I felt like I was riding quite a bit faster than I normally do, but I was also right on the edge of losing control a few times. Pushing myself feels nice, but I really do need to be careful not to cause permanent injury.

After the ride I ended up talking with a guy named Mark for a while in the parking lot about bike stuff. He said that he shows up at many of the Wednesday night group rides, so hopefully I’ll see him there. Mark also suggested that I drop the pressure on my new tires a bit, which I’ll try on the next ride. I’d been running them at about 50 psi, but he was suggesting somewhere around 35 psi. I think I’ll give this a go.

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I Will Not Vote For Paul Viar

Published July 16, 2008

Paul Viar, running for re-election as Shelby Township Treasurer in 2008 voted against the two local pedestrian bridges which make it safe for me to bike westward.

A man named Paul Viar is running for re-election as Shelby Township treasurer this fall, but I will not be voting for him.

Yesterday I received the flier above (click the image or here to make it larger) in the mail asking for my vote. One particular bullet point I noticed is the one circled in magenta, which reads:

He voted against paying $2.7 million for two (rarely used) pedestrian bridges, preferring to use tax money to improve township roads.

Thankfully, against the wishes of Mr. Viar, the bridges across M-53, a multi-lane limited access highway, were built. The existence of these bridges allows me to safely ride my bicycle to points westward. Without them I would have to either ride in 45 MPH – 50 MPH soft shoulder or curbed roads (unsafe, particularly when on the far side of the bridges) or at least four miles out of my way north or south to safe crossing points.

I use these at least a couple times per week. Danielle also uses this bridge whenever she walks to the Humane Society of Macomb to visit the horses.

This article from the Advisor Source elaborates:

The current overpasses contain a 24-inch width for pedestrians to walk on when crossing over the highway. Plans to install mandatory guardrails [required to conform Federal standards to keep vehicles from going over the side of the bridge] along the walkway would have further limited the amount of access for pedestrians and cyclists, forcing them closer to a busy roadway with limited visibility.

“Last year I just became even more aware of how serious this problem was because some of the local high schools, their track teams run over that road. They run right on the road and that’s really dangerous,” Manzella said. “We’ve had several incidents out there and it’s just a very dangerous place to walk or ride a bike.”

Township Supervisor Ralph Maccarone said the large amount of amenities for pedestrians on the west side of the township was a draw for people from throughout the area, making a safe location to cross a necessity.

“We have major developments on both sides of the freeway, and we really wanted to provide some access to the parks and trail system we have out there,” said Maccarone.

While I understand that Mr. Viar is conservative in his spending of the public’s dollars, I feel that safe and equal transportation for citizens using whatever mode they choose (foot, bicycle, car, whatever) is worth paying for, and these bridges go a long ways towards allowing equal use of our road system. Not only have I seen pedestrians and other cyclists on the new bridges, I have also encountered people crossing it in motorized wheelchairs, kids riding up and down the safe approaches, and people just using the bridge to move about without a car. That is, people who couldn’t safely use this corridor before.

Mr. Viar’s claim that he voted against paying $2.7 million is also a bit inflated. While the total cost of the project was $2.7 million, $1,187,500 of the cost was actually paid by MDOT grants. Per these meeting minutes (.DOC file) the township’s portion of the bridge cost was only $1,458,500.

Additionally, Mr. Viar also claims in this flier that he “…established an on-line payment system to make it more convenient for Shelby residents to pay their taxes.” I’m not sure what Mr. Viar’s idea of establishing or convenient is, but outsourcing payments to a company which charges a 3% “convenience charge” does not strike me as particularly inventive or useful. What I would find useful is if the township came up with a facility for paying one’s water and sewer bill online and without undue additional fees. Currently this quarterly bill is the only bill for which I still have to write and mail a check.

For reference, the two bridges can be found at these links on Google Maps, although the currently posted images have them in an unfinished state: 21 Mile · 22 Mile.

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River Bends Spa

Published July 12, 2008

My legs with dirt lines after they spent a while being sprayed with mud, dirt, and water at River Bends while trying out The Captain Control tires.

Well, the new tires work well. I rode up to River Bends Park and did two passes on the 5km hiking trail, along with some backtracking to hit the more difficult hills a couple of times. I specifically rode through the most gravely and difficult parts of each of the hills and took sandy corners very quickly and I had no problem maintaining control. The tires are rather difficult when riding on pavement, though.

Most of the path was quite dry, but some parts still had a good bit of standing water. Going through those, along with the sand, led to quite a bit of stuff being thrown up on both me and the bike. After removing my socks it almost appeared as if I had tan lines, but it was all dirt. Once in the shower it felt like I was exfoliating when first passing the bar of soap over my legs.

Here’s two more photos of my dirty bike:

· Muddy front derailleur and bottom bracket area.
· Muddy down tube, bottom bracket shell, cranks, water bottle, etc.

I would clean it off, but I’m hoping to get out to Stony Creek Metropark tomorrow and ride some of the trails there, and I expect it to be equally messy.

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The Captain Control

Published July 12, 2008

As mentioned earlier I had purchased some new wheels for my bike. While true, the spoke tension seemed a bit off and after a bunch of riding the spokes were making a bunch of noise. Not having (nor building) a truing stand and without a Spoke Tension Meter I decided the best thing would be to just take the wheels in and have them sorted out. So, I dropped them off Wednesday after work.

Not only was the tension off, but it was very uneven and the rear wheel needed to be re-dished. I guess this goes along with the disclaimer Price Point prints on the packing slips sent along with wheels:

All wheels come pre built and trued. It is common for any new wheelset to become untrue after its initial use, and is the buyer’s responsibility to keep the wheels trued. Spokes or rims damaged due to inappropriate use are not covered by warranty

Sure, I expected some some loosening of the spokes, but I didn’t think it’d be that bad. I also question if the wheels were that well built to begin with. Lesson learned, I guess: Cheaper pre-built wheels from online may need a bit of work. At least it was only $30 to get both wheels sorted out.

I’ve also been considering getting a set of more-knobby tires, as the Fast Trak LK tires my bike came with don’t work too well on sandier stuff and when climbing hills. They are good for two track and random trail / offroad stuff, but I’ve been able to spin them while seated on some steeper climbs. When picking up the wheels yesterday I also ended up getting a pair of The Captain Control tires, also from Specialized. As can be seen above they (on the left) are a bit knobbier than then Fast Trak LKs (right).

Here is an angle photo of the two tires, but unfortunately the Fast Trak LKs are a bit out of focus. At $39.99 each the tires weren’t cheap, but this seems to be a standard price for tires like this. Hopefully today (despite the rain and stuff) I’ll get out and give them a go. A quick run around the trails at River Bends would be good, and it’s probably not too wet even with today’s rain.

Oh, and one other nifty thing about them: it seems that Specialized offers some manner of unconditional guarantee that the purchaser will like the tires. I was specifically told that if I don’t like the tires to bring them back and pick out another style.

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Lots of Driving

Published July 8, 2008

These last two days have found me driving to Lansing each day to work towards sorting some work stuff out. It was about 240 miles each day, and thankfully that’ll be reimbursed.

Today when I got home I ended up going on a 15-16 mile bike ride, just to get out and about a do something. Unfortunately, after the 55 mile ride and today, I’ve found that the spokes in the new wheels are creaking a bit, and some of them are quite loose. I think I will need to take them to someone who can properly tension / readjust them. I’d do them myself, but the tool is $55, and I’m still without a truing stand.

Now that I’ve finished replying to email and balancing my checkbook I think I’ll relax for a bit, then get some sleep. I’ll probably need it.

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Work is 15.4 Miles Away via Bike

Published July 4, 2008

On the Fourth of July I rode to work, then up to Lake Orion, then back home. Total of about 56.5 miles. Since Google Earth would only save this as a blank black image I had to take a screenshot instead.

I’ve been curious how far it is to work via the safe route (no riding on high speed roads), so today I tried it and found out: 15.4 miles.

After getting to work I used the bathroom, refilled one water bottle, ate a food bar, then rode up Squirrel to Tienken, down to the Paint Creek Trail, up to Lake Orion, then back home. Google Earth (even the latest version as of today) wouldn’t save the displayed route out as an image, so what you see above is a screenshot.

If you’d like to see this route for yourself, here is 04-Jul-2008.kmz and here it is in Google Maps. There is an odd mis-track there, which I don’t quite understand, but it seems that my GPS occasionally figures itself to be somewhere it isn’t.

Total food consumed before and during the ride was:

· 1 each GU Energy Gel in Chocolate Outrage and Lemon Sublime flavors. The Chocolate Outrage and Vanilla Bean (both with 100mg caffeine) are my preferred flavors of these.
· Approx. 1 cup of mixed golden raisins and raw almonds.
· Vegan Organic Food Bar (These are very, very good. Sort of like a nut and fruit smoothie paste in a bar.)
· Four hard boiled egg whites, some overly salty hot smoked salmon, vanilla yogurt with granola, an english muffin with olive oil and black pepper, and a pint of coffee (this was the before-ride breakfast).

The stats for today’s ride are, per the bike computer:

Total Distance: 56.55 Miles
Moving Average Speed: 13.3 MPH
Maximum Speed: 25.9 MPH
Moving Time: 4:13’54

This is the longest ride I’ve been on, particularly if one figures during my last 50 mile ride I stopped at home, ate a pile of leftover Thai food, packed some stuff up for shipping at the post office, then set out again. The only time I stopped for a period of time today was at work (~10 minutes) and to sit in downtown Lake Orion in a park and eat nuts and raisins (~15 minutes).

Now to shower, eat something, and figure out where I’m going to end up this evening. Party invitations are three deep, and all sound very good. I’ll consult with Danielle (who is at her house at one of the parties) first.

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33 Miles == Working Brakes

Published July 3, 2008

After riding 33 miles this afternoon the new brakes seem to be working great. The intermitant creaking sound still has to be worked out, but I’ll try to do that tomorrow when double-checking torques before riding.

I ended up riding down to Dodge Park, through there, up to Riverbends, then I wound my way around some neighborhoods there and back to my house. Part of this included two runs through the 5km hiking trail. All in all, a nice ride.

Tomorrow I’m going to try and do a long ride. Hopefully that’ll go well.

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My Bike Works Again

Published July 1, 2008

The Wheel Master 365-MACVXT5 wheels as shipped, built with Mavic XC 717 Disc rims and Shimano Deore XT HB-M756 six-hole disc hubs.

I’m very happy, my bike works again. Today I received a package containing the new wheels and front brake and got everything installed and working. The delivery was supposed to come yesterday, but at 8:30pm UPS changed the status to indicate that it would be delayed and delivered today.

When the box arrived the label on it indicated that it was a Wheel Master 365-MAVXT5 set, consisting of Mavic XC717 Disc rims, 32 hole, in black, with matching Shimano M756 hubs and black DT spokes. I’ve been unable to locate any info on Wheel Master online, but it appears that they assemble wheels in the US for sale through other shops. I’m quite happy with these wheels, as they were almost perfectly true when received, reasonably well packed, and cheap. There was no rim tape, prompting a quick run out to REI to pick up some 17mm Velox rim tape. It also seems that the rims are painted (or powder coated) black, so there is the risk of scratching them and exposing metal beneath. Hopefully this won’t happen.

I had a bit of difficulty making the rim tape stick, but hopefully it’ll get better as it sits under pressure from the tube. Mounting the disc brake rotor was trivial, and it was particularly easy to fit the tires on to the rim. The size of the rim seems just perfect, and my normally-difficult Continental TravelContact tires seated automatically, without the need for glass cleaner as a lubricant.

The Avid BB7 brake received was listed as a 07 version, but it was manufactured in 2008 and doesn’t match my rear brake dated late 2006. They don’t match, but they do both work. Part of me is considering returning the one from REI and getting a new rear BB7 to match, but it’s probably not worth it

Everything else with reassembling the bike went great, and I took it for a ~8.5 mile test ride in the dark (with lights, of course) after everything was done. There is a slight creaking-ish sound coming from the bike, but I can’t tie it to any particular effort or movement, so I think that it may either be a brake cable housing rubbing against a cable tie or possibly the seat post. I’ll try and sort it out tomorrow.

The brakes themselves are working better than they were when I first left on the ride, but they still aren’t properly broken in. I’m not able to lock up the rear brake yet, and squeezing hard on the front brake while pushing the front end along by hand still allows the wheel to turn, albeit with quite a bit of effort. I imagine that with another 10-20 miles and some more good hard stops the brakes will start wearing nicely and they’ll stop like my BB5s did.

Overall I’m quite happy with things. The wheels are lighter and the bike seems to move better than it did before, and having nice, true, non-flat-side wheels makes everything seem like it rolls by better. Hopefully soon I’ll get to go on a nice, much longer ride; maybe this weekend.

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Rear Wheel Grease

Published June 27, 2008

Even though I have new bike wheels on the way, I figure I should try and make the old ones work as good as possible for spare / winter use. Part of this involved disassembling the rear hub, cleaning it, and just generally being sure it’s okay. It was a bit sticky and wasn’t turning very smoothly, so I figured that maybe it had a bearing and/or race problem like the front wheel did.

After opening up the rear bearings I found that there was nearly a tablespoon of grease around the balls and sitting lumpily on the axel, with lots of it in places where it just wouldn’t do much beyond compacting and gumming up the works. Tomorrow (or maybe Sunday) after I get a properly sized cone wrench I’ll put the wheel back together and see how it works. The freewheel itself currently seems fine so I don’t need to touch that, but the wheel bearings themselves were definitely needing some work.

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Clean, Clean Feet

Published June 26, 2008

There is something surprisingly satisfying about washing one’s feet (and thus hands) after working a bunch.

After another very sleepy class today I stopped at Sears and picked up a small scale (inch pounds) torque wrench (the same as borrowed earlier) along with some bits. I then cleaned up parts from my bike a bit, confirmed the torque on parts like the cranks, hand grips, and a few other things. Come Monday (I believe) I’ll be able to reassemble it with the new wheels and brakes, and the torque wrench should make it lots easier.

Sweeping, cleaning, and lots of wandering around had turned the bottoms of my feet deep gray, so it was into the bath tub to wash them off. They feel really nice now.

I think now I’ll run out to Sears and return the bits, as is going to facilitate my acquisition of an adapter which will make them useless. Then I’ll grab some food, come back here, and probably start reading the Official (ISC)²® Guide to the CISSP® CBK® which I received in class today. I strongly suspect it’ll be more useful than the training materials I’ve been given thus far.

For what it’s worth, I’m taking the New Horizons Training for CISSP Certification. It isn’t a formal CISSP class and I’m finding it a bit strange. The instructor seems okay, but he’s living up to the stereotypes of someone who would teach an “ethical hacking” class, which he does. It’s a bit bothersome, particularly in the way which he’s made some direct, but inaccurate statements about technical issues. For example: no matter what it’s always possible to hack into a service listening on a port, DSL uses the unused phone wires coming into your house, an SMTP packet won’t contain a TCP header, and a few other things which I’ve forgotten.

The class is very pointedly designed to teach only the things known to be on the test. I would prefer a much faster paced class, but I think it’ll be useful as I’m now feeling reasonably confidant that I can pass the CISSP exam. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve worked doing what I do at EDS for so long; it means I have the paper / job qualifications to get the cert too.

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