Category: cycling

Meijer Special

Published April 14, 2008

I found this sheet of VeraTron VHS tape labels in the parking lot in front of my condo one day after work.

While checking the mail after work today I found this sheet of labels for VeraTron-brand VHS tapes sitting in the middle of the parking lot. If I remember correctly this is/was one of the Meijer house brands.

Due to work being kinda crappy today (poor scheduling, yay!) I was unable to take my bike wheel in. When I got home I took a look at the rear wheel and it too has a bit of wobble, but nowhere near as much. I ended up removing both wheels, pulling the tires/tubes off, and cleaning them up (including the rear cassette) before putting them in the car. I also took the time to remove the chain and give it a quick wash in some citrus-based degreaser. I’m really amazed at just how much crud was on there. Everything from dirt to little (dust-like) sparkly metal bits, which I presume wore off of the brand new chain.

Washing the chain was done by putting it in a juice bottle with a couple ounces of solvent, alternately shaking it around and letting it sit for 10 minutes before fishing it out, giving it a quick rinse in hot tap water, and spinning it dry outside. I then let it sit on a paper towel while working on the wheels, then applied some ProLink Chain Lube. Then I alternately lifted one end of the chain then the other, working the lube in, and now it’s sitting on the washer. I figure the light solvent which carries the heavier grease will evaporate as it sets there, and it’ll be ready to go back on my bike tomorrow or Wednesday.

Tomorrow I’ll (hopefully) get the wheels sorted out, then clean the mud off my bike from Saturday’s rainy ride, clean off the dirty parts of the other drivetrain bits, then get my bike back together. This week’s forecast looks to be just beautiful, so I’d like to try and get in at least 50 miles by the weekend. Come the weekend I’d like to try and top 30 miles in one go; likely by trying to ride from my house to the end of the Paint Creek Trail, or maybe to work and back.

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Park Tool SW-7

Published April 13, 2008

After bending my front wheel a bit yesterday while riding I headed with Danielle over to REI to grab a spoke wrench. I ended up getting a Park Tool SW-7 for $9.99, and after getting home I read up a bit more on wheel truing and gave it a go.

Not having a truing stand I tried using a chopstock, some non-slip padding, and a small bar clamp in place of a feeler, but it didn’t work out very well. I was able to get the wheel to wobble less, but it still didn’t seem perfect to me. Also, I worry that I’m screwing up the dish of the wheel.

I think that tomorrow after work I’m going to try and go by Fraser Bicycle & Fitness and see if they can sort out the wheel for me. I really hope I don’t have to buy a new one. I imagine I won’t, as the wobble isn’t too bad. Hopefully it won’t cost too much for them to fix it, either…

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20 Miles In The Rain

Published April 12, 2008

Cateye Strada Wireless computer on my bike, wet from riding in the rain.

Despite what I said in my last post I went for a nice, long bike ride today. Sometime mid-afternoon the weather was looking better (only a few occasional drop falling) and I was feeling crappy, so I put on some BDU pants, my normal boots, a rainproof jacket, helmet and gloves, and hopped on my bike. I hadn’t intended to go particularly far, but I ended up doing a bit over 20 miles.

I started out by going west down 22 Mile to VanDyke, VanDyke north to 23 Mile, then 23 Mile west to Dequindre north. Not long after getting on Dequindre I came across a possible destination, the easternmost end of the Clinton River Trail. This is right near Onyx Ice Arena, and right where it meets with the Macomb Orchard Trail, which Danielle, Brian, and I rode a five mile section of last weekend. I then got on the Clinton River Trail, headed into downtown Rochester, and rode along the marked route to the beginning of the Paint Creek Trail.

After stopping for a few minutes to look at the river and grab this photo I turned around and headed home. Not long before this the rain had picked up, and so the rest of the ride home was in a steady drizzle. As noted a week ago it’s good to get out in the rain, and it really isn’t that bad.

This ride wasn’t all good, though. While crossing Shelby Road along 23 Mile, and preparing to cross to the south side of 23 Mile, I made a slow, but very sharp turn at a crosswalk. When doing so my front wheel slipped sideways and I almost fell, but was able to hop off and catch the bike. As this happened I felt my right leg above the knee quite gently, but thought nothing of it. Continuing to ride, I noticed that my front wheel now has a distinct wobble. After getting home I’ve since noticed that there are two loose spokes, 90° apart, on the same side of the wheel. I guess tomorrow I’ll pick up a spoke wrench (yes, I know, I really should have one of these) and have at sorting the wheel out.

That said, I’m almost tempted to just bring the front wheel into the shop where I bought the bike. It’s hard to imagine that it should have gone out of true so easily, and they do offer a free bike “tune up” after buying one, which I never took them up on. I could pick up a spoke wrench at that time too, I guess.

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Coffee in Lieu of Biking

Published April 12, 2008

Making coffee in a classic Bialetti Moka one rainy Saturday morning.

I really wanted to go for a nice 25 mile ride today, but the rain is making that difficult so instead I’m sipping coffee, eating vanilla yogurt with Trader Joe’s berry granola, and poking around online.

There was a really nice rainbow hanging over M-59 on the way home from work yesterday and then a hail-producing, sky-blackening storm right at dusk, which I hoped would be the end of the inclement weather. Unfortunately it’s not.

Maybe I’ll go clean up the kitchen and start (and hopefully finish) laundry, and then if I’m lucky tomorrow will be a bit nicer out.

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Good Customer Service

Published April 9, 2008

Those of you who know me know that I’m not particularly shy about complaining about poor products, poor customer service, or other things which I’m not too happy about. While I also will mention products and companies I’m happy with, I don’t make particularly permanent record of it.

Recently I’ve had a couple good customer experiences and I wanted to make note of them, so I started a page on nuxx.net called Good Customer Service. The three which I currently have listed are Cateye (replaced a broken part, although it’s arguable if this is good or just acceptable), VG’s (who put in a bike rack on request), and Cequent (who sent me a new bolt after I stupidly broke the last one).

On a slightly related note, I received a fastener kit from Cequent today which included the U bolt I broke, and I had no problems fitting it on to the car. I even torqued it down with the questionable wrench, but only after first exercising the wrench to be certain that it’s appropriately clicking when reaching the desired torque. Now that I understand it and it’s shortcomings, it’s a reasonable, but cheap torque wrench. I don’t think I’ll be returning it.

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Riding to River Bends

Published April 7, 2008

After work today I decided to try riding to River Bends Park in Shelby Township, just west of here. I wanted to get there safely using as most pavement as possible, and I did, going as far as one of the old buildings from when the park land was a Nike Hercules missile site. The military standard yellow paint can still be seen on some of the steps above.

Lots more about the Nike program can be found at Wikipedia and Ed Thelen’s Nike Missile Web Site .

Riding there with 20 MPH winds right in my face was a bit challenging, and they caused me to swerve whenever I’d be riding perpendicular to them, but they made riding home nice and easy. I then wound my way home for a total of about 13 miles, put the basket on my bike, then went up to the store for some groceries. All in all I think I rode just abotu 16 – 16.5 miles.

Hopefully another day this week, or maybe this weekend, I can try to make it all the way to Stony Creek via a reasonably safe route.

Here’s two KMZ files, one from yesterday when Danielle, , and I rode a bit over 10 miles on one of the local converted railroad trails, and one from today when I went over to River Bends:

· 06-Apr-2008.kmz (Google Maps)
· 07-Apr-2008.kmz (Google Maps)

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Broken U Bolt On Hitch

Published April 6, 2008

This is what happens when one uses a torque wrench expecting it to work right, without a understanding of what 20 foot pounds feels like. Before heading off to the park with Danielle, I decided to take my new (and admittedly cheap) Michigan Industrial Tools torque wrench and check the torque on the bolts on my hitch.

I set the wrench for 20 foot pounds, put it on the bolt, and pushed. Since the torque wrench is supposed to click when it reaches the amount of torque specified, and I didn’t hear any click, I figured it had to be tighter, so I pushed a bit more. The bolt turned, then I pushed a bit more. Suddenly there was a BANG and the bolt clattered to the ground having broken off.

Later in the evening I hooked the torque wrench to another wrench and tried it out, applying force every way I could think of, and it wouldn’t click. I played with it a bunch, turned the adjustment all the way in and out a few times, applied more force to it, and after about 20 minutes of playing it finally freed up and started working. I then found out how little force 20 foot pounds actually is.

It took my working the adjustment part of the tool back and forth a few times, and then applying a solid amount of force opposite the direction the torque wrench should be used in (that is, against the arrow) before I felt something loosen up inside the tool and it started working.

So, it turns out that the problem seems to have been caused by my lack of knowledge and the torque wrench’s generally being crap. I’m still torn as to whether or not I should return it. Sure, it only cost ~$30, but if it’s not reliable it’s not particularly useful.

The bigger problem is finding another bolt. What I need is a 3/8-16 u-bolt, for 9/16″ outside diameter pipe, but I can’t seem to find it. Checking both McMaster-Carr and Grainger, all I can find is 1/4-20 parts at that spacing. McMaster-Carr lists the 1/4-20 stainless steel part as having a working load limit of 435 pounds, which is probably 4x or 5x what the bikes and hitch weigh. I’m not sure if it’s enough, but it might be my only choice.

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Route to Metro Parkway

Published April 6, 2008

After shipping off Mark’s P3 yesterday I decided to go for a bit of a bike ride. With the finally-like-spring weather here in SE Michigan (57°) I was actually able to wear a light shirt, biking shorts (baggies), and proper biking shoes while riding.

I first headed down Schoenherr with the intention of riding to Metro Parkway, but I soon found that sidewalk / pathway abruptly ends just north of Clinton River Road. That means that one of the largest north / south roads in the area misses connecting to one of the biggest east / west roads by about a mile. One can’t really ride in the road because it’s 50MPH with no shoulders, and riding along the side of the road means going through muddy grass, and crossing rivers while riding in traffic. So, I decided to head west along Clinton River road. Right after passing under the large set of high tension power lines I saw the entrance to the trails along the Clinton River.

Riding through there I eventually passed through Dodge Park, past the nature center, under M-53, and to the very muddy end of the trail next to the Social Security office along VanDyke. Riding along the trail was nice, as it’s a very curvy bit of occasionally mud covered (it is a floodplain, after all) asphalt, with not-huge-but-fun hills. There were a good number of people and dogs out on the trail, but for the most part no one was a problem and I was able to easily pass by just slowing down and saying excuse me if they hadn’t already seen me.

After hitting the end of the trail I turned north along VanDyke, but the first 1/2 miles or so there is only a well worn dirt path clearly used by other people taking the same route I did. I then headed along there and wound my way through neighborhoods and parks, across one of the new(-ish) M-53 pedestrian overpasses, through some more neighborhoods, and back home.

If you’re interested, here is a KMZ of yesterday’s route, and here it is right in Google Maps.

While I didn’t make it all the way to Metro Parkway, being able to easily get to Dodge Park showed that there’s a long, fun route which I can take to reach the trail to Metro Beach and possibly further than that. Now I just need to find a safe way to reach the Paint Creek and Macomb Orchard Trails.

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