Christiania all fit for Spring

As mechanically disinclined as I am, i'm all the more clueless when it comes to the inner workings of my Christiania trike. Not that it's so terribly complex, but I haven't had disc brakes before, and what goes on underneath is a bit of a mystery.

And since when just about every journey I do with it involves riding up and down hugely steep hills with all of my children inside, I figure it's a good idea to keep it in good shape.

I agreed with Dave at Broadway Bike that I should bring it in for a quick once-over to see if we needed to order any parts, so yesterday, that's just what I did.

I dropped Gem off at school on the way, which is always fun. Then I rode on to Cambridge . I wanted to avoid the rough pacing around Porter Square but largely failed at that, then I ended up in a giant traffic jam on Oxford Street, approaching Harvard. Turns out there was a chemical spill of some sort so there was a huge turnout of emergency vehicles in every direction. And what I sometimes forget about the trike is that its width essentially relegates me to waiting with the queues of cars since I can't squeeze between.

Still, the 10 mile journey to work took only about an hour, not bad considering the various delays.

On my way home, I stopped at the Broadway Bicycle School and spent about 20 mins and 10 dollars with Dave. He declared the Christiania to be in great shape and only ended up adjusting the disc brakes so they're a more even.

The next service will be in a 3 months or so, when the chain might need replacing or tensioninh, and the brake pads might need to be replaced. To that end, I've emailed Andrea at Velorution in London to see who makes the brakes, and how I can get replacement pads.

In the meantime, it's about time we started enjoying the Springtime, and the Christiania will play a big part in that.

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Update: I've heard back from Velorution that the brakes are made by Winzip - http://www.winzip-diskbrake.com/ . A terrible brand name, but it's apparently popular as an OEM component.

More Bobike Kudos

When I took Elsie out on the Bobike Mini last weekend, I was approached by a guy who badly wants something similar for his own bike and his small daughter. Of course, I told him all about it and suggested that he Google for a US supplier. (I really do need to carry cards with me when I go out with the Bobike or the Christiania!).

And coincidentally, I got another nice message about my Bobike article today, with a question tacked on to the end:

You have a fantastic page on the Bobike and your daughter looks so sweet! I remember when we went out the first time with our youngest on the front in the Bobike Mini and our middle daughter was behind me! I could barely squeeze in between them! Our youngest has now sadly grown out of the Mini and is in a Hamax behind me; the middle one goes behind my husband and our eldest proudly whizzes around on her Princess bike!

I wonder if you can help me with a silly thing – I still have the mounting bracket on my handlebar for the Bobike mini as we cannot remember how we put it on! I’ve lost the little box with the instruction leaflet and we just cannot work it out.

And my reply:

Removing the bracket is pretty straightforward, but it's awkward without the tool that comes with the seat. There are two hex nuts that need to be unscrewed to release the two halves of the mounting bracket. The bolts are more or less perpendicular to the stem. The best thing to use to get them off is the barrel-shaped wrench that comes with the seat; otherwise, use a standard wrench, but be prepared to turn in tiny increments. That's all there is to it!

The Boston Globe: Good News & Bad News

There were two articles in the Sunday Globe about cycling in Boston - one good, one perfectly atrocious.

The first was part of what appears to be a regular column (though I couldn't find it last week) called Shifting Gears. Based on the couple columns they've published so far, I'm enthusiastic. It's well-written and reasonably insightful, focusing on local policy and advocacy issues while still managing to appeal to a non-cycling (or, in many cases in this town anti-cycling) readership. This Sunday's column focused on Nicole Freedman, who is heading up the bike program for the City of Boston. It also mentions one of her first initiatives, the mapping program that uses Google Maps, which I contributed to when it was launched.

On the other hand, there was the piece in the Business section called On the trail of a good recreational bike. This was an insipid bit of fluff that really did nothing more than state that there are many choices for a recreational bike. It's unfocused and confused, a real hodgepodge of the quotes that the correspondent collected from his interviews. It starts by saying that you can spend as little as $100 on a new bike, and ends with a recommendation that a prospective buyer consider the appearance of a new bike. What really amazed me about this article was the 2 inches of white space after the last column. When is the last time anybody saw white space in a newspaper? This tells me that the corresponedent couldn't dredge up anything else to say, which is all the more surprising considering the paucity of actual information conveyed in what was published.

Nevertheless, I'm bolstered by the new Shifting Gears column and I eagerly look forward to the next one, whenever it might appear.

First really lovely day

Despite forecasts of incessant rain all day, it got to be very nice this afternoon, sunny and in the 50s! Elsie and I went for a nice ride down to the playground at Spy Pond, then all the way back up the bike path to Arlington Heights. It's only the second time she's been on the Bobike Mini, and she really loved it! She held the handlebars right next to my hands when she wasn't ringing her bell. Very sweet!

The other interesting development today was a couple free second-hand bikes I picked up, thanks to a posting on the Arlington List and Kim's keen eye. I got a strange early-80s Diamond Back mountain bike. It has a chunky steel frame, high handlebars, and 12 speeds with friction (not indexed) thumb shifters. I pumped up the tires and it seems to be in pretty good shape! What'll I do with it? Who knows, but it's free! Also got a little Gary Fisher bike for Gem (I guess) with training wheels, which will have to come off: I don't want her learning on a bike with them.

Almost April and still freezing!

I picked up Thorny from Harris Cyclery yesterday after a tune-up and hub oil change (I know, I should be doing all this myself, but who's got the time?). So today, I got up at an ungodly hour and did 50 miles before breakfast (left around 6, returned around 9:30).

It was a beautiful route, courtesy Rubel's Pocket Maps once again. The route picked up at the Bedford end of the Minuteman path and took me through Lexington, Carlisle, Bedford, Acton, Concord, etc. The destination of sorts was Nagog Pond, a public water supply lake in Acton with no public access. Very pretty, though.

But man it was cold! It was dark and about 22 degrees when I left the house, and it only eeked up to about 33 by the time I arrived back home. Because it was pitch black until around 6:30, I opted to avoid the bike path until Lexington. And in that first half hour, both of my water bottles had already frozen up substantially - an hour later they were completely frozen! At least I was dressed warmly enough, except for my toes, which were pretty cold all morning.

Which commuting bike?

When I rode to work or to the train station in London, I would always use the Fahrrad - my German city bike with fenders, rack, 7 speed hub gear, dynamo-powered lights, chain guard, and upright bars. I used this bike for most utility trips, actually (as opposed to exercise or distance).

It was the perfect bike for this sort of thing. Very upright, so I could see everywhere and all could see me. It was easy to ride and very stable with or without a load. I had the child seat on that bike, and it was also very easy to take Gemma wherever.

When I first started riding it, the biggest revelation was that I felt like I was really part of the world during my journeys - I was really in touch with my surroundings, and I could stop quite easily, lock up, and investigate a shop, take a break, or whatever. I almost always dressed in normal street clothes, so I didn't have to worry about being dressed inappropriately or bringing a change of clothes.

So when I started riding to work here in Boston, I started with the Fahrrad once again. I didn't quite know how to pack proper work attire, and I was afraid my Thorn would get stolen, so I assumed that I'd just use the Fahrrad like before. I wouldn't have to change clothes, and the bike is pretty unappealling to thieves.

After my first couple tries, it was apparent that this wasn't the ideal solution. For all of its stability and smoothness on the flat, the bike really isn't designed for big hills - it's heavy, upright, and the gearing is pretty high. Which was a problem because I live on top of one of the biggest hills around. And since I wasn't in particularly good shape at that point, this was especially daunting. Also, my commute in London was usually 4 or 5 miles, and here, it's 9 or 10, depending on my route. So the ride rally tired me out, especially on returning home. This also meant that I got sweatier than expected, so I started wishing for a shower and change of clothes.

Then I started riding in on my Thorn, and that's worked really well. It's much more comfortable than the Fahrrad (owing to a better long-distance position, a more forgiving frame and more voluminous tires, I think). I've also attached a hard-shell box on top of the rear rack, which works great for bringing a change of clothes. I've also largely stopped worrying about theft, thanks to a variety of locks and judicious choice of lockup spots. But I really do feel like I need to ride in proper cycling clothes because there's grease to contend with, I do get the odd bit of water splashing up, and my Brooks saddle could potentially discolor light-colored trousers.

So when I had a meeting in Allston yesterday, I dusted off the Fahrrad and rode it in all my business finery. It worked just fine, of course, but I was really surprised at the unforgiving ride, especially over the very poor road conditions. On the way home, I managed to cruise up our hill without too much trouble, though I must admit that I did think about walking at a couple of the steeper points.

This got me thinking about whether there's a better bike for me to commute on. Maybe something a little lighter than both, with drop bars and a rack, a regular transmission (not a hub gear like both of my other bikes), and fenders. Maybe a Surley? Not too sexy, though. I saw a beautiful refurbed Vitus in black and polished aluminium at Alewife today. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled.

New-old saddle bag

New-old saddle bag
Originally uploaded by ahconway

Very nice 26-mile ride yesterday (Sunday). Did the easy loop up to Carlisle, to Concord, and home. Lots more work than I'd expected, though, due to strong, cold headwinds for much of the ride.

As usual before a short-ish ride like this, I struggled with choosing the right bag to bring. I didn't want a pannier or even my Carradice Barley (both too big, and the Barley is a pain to attach).

So then it occurred to me that the early 80s Schwinn I found at a yard sale last hear had this Cannondale bag on it. I dug my way into the bike garage and found it - perfect! Just the right size for a cable lock, some snacks, tube & patch kit, and a little camera.

It's a nice glimpse into the early days of Cannondale, when it subsisted on bike luggage, all products had train-themed names, and the logo depcited a little train station (I believe the company was named after the Metro North station in CT that served its original HQ).

Good natured motorcycle cop

On Charles Street this morning, was spinning along after a very pleasant ride along the Esplanade and came to a red light. It's a light that I sometimes slow and go through if there's no one around. But today, there was a motorcycle cop coming in from the right, and I was all the way to the right on Charles Street, so he was quite close.

He said to me "I'm goin right theah," indicating that he intended to park his motorbike where I was waiting. So I said "So you won't arrest me for running this light, then?"

"No way!" he said, smiling. So I cruised on through and he pulled into my spot.

It's not the first time I've been encouraged to run a light by a Boston cop, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Snowy commute today

Snowy commute on Boston Common
Originally uploaded by ahconway

It was snowing and low-20s when I left the house this morning, which made the commute a little treacherous! I used main roads for the best surface possible, but that also meant that there was lots of slush to contend with, which ended up freezing on the bike. Not ideal to have icy rims and brakes, but I just had to pump the brakes regularly to keep them clear.
I was going to do the bike path, but it was completely covered with snow!
The only trouble was when I got to work and found that both my locks had frozen! I used my emergency lock while I ran upstairs to fill a jug with hot water, which did the trick. Of course, if it stays below freezing all day, I'll probably have to do the same at the end of the day. I ran into the building super on the way in, and he recommended that I get a spray can of de-icer. Probably not the most sustainable solution, but that may be preferable to having no locks!

Why do I commute by bike?

There's a nice little (unscientific) survey about commuting to work on Kent's blog. I've replied... nothing groundbreaking, though.

See http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-do-you-commute-by-bicycle.html

Second thoughts about tires

My Finnish tires turned up sure enough, and they seem very nice indeed. I can see how they'd be very useful for lots of riding over lots of consistently grisly, frozen terrain.

But as rough as Somerville Ave is these days, I don't think that warrants switching to studded snow tires.

So I blew $100 for nuthin... wouldn't be the first time.

I rode to work this morning, and despite a temperature in the teens and remnants of 10 inches of snow from a few days ago, I was still fine with my Panaracers. A little extra vigilance is the important thing.

Yesterday I brought the bike inside and spent an hour or so cleaning the drivetrain. I did a pretty thorough job on the chain, chainring, and rear sprocket, using various Pedro's cleaning supplies and a couple Clorox wipes. Ran very smoothly today.

New winter tires on the way!

After a couple scary moments on the road and hearing some VERY scary tales on various bikey lists, I've decided to get some proper winter tires.

I based my decision on 3 sources: www.icebike.com, the Charles River Wheelmen list, and Peter White Cycles in New Hampshire, which seems to be the top source for winter biking stuff.

Icebike and Peter White's website both have a lot of info about studded tires, and consensus seems to be that Finnish Nokian is the best.  They do some very robust and quite spendy models that are designed for cross country riding in arctic conditions - clearly not what I need.

I first wanted to go with the Winter version of the venerable Schwalbe Marathon, but White's shop was sold out. Instead, I ordered a pair of Nokian A10s. Like the Marathons, they're designed for commuting, with intermittent ice and snow.

Of course, this will also be a good incentive for me to clean my drivetrain and rims when I do the switch!

I'll post again once I've got them fitted and logged a few miles.

Bad bike parking

Bad bike parking
Originally uploaded by ahconway

The locks I leave near the office were frozen solid today (drat!), so I locked up at a nearby office building. It's the HQ of one of Boston's most succesful companies. It's recently been refurbished resplendently. But despite the hundreds and hundreds of people who work there, bike parking has been relegated to a couple racks at the edge of the loading dock.

Bike path plowing works!

Bike path in the snow
Originally uploaded by ahconway

I rode in to work today, after yesterday's 12-ish inches of snow. I was going to ride the bike path, but then it occurred to me that there really wouldn't be anywhere for me to go after I got to Alewife...

But I did want to have a look at how the path looked after having been plowed. Here it is, just at Carberry's (now Java Somethingorother), and it looks pretty good! Just a fine dusting since it was plowed, but entirely rideable.

As was, it turned out, the rest of my usual route to work. Just required a little extra caution.

Happy New Year

I managed to ride exactly zero miles during the holidays owing to bad weather (tons of snow - bad for biking, anyway) and persistent mild sickness. But now it's the new year, and after a bout of single digits last week, things have milded up and it's quite nice for biking!

I got back in the saddle yesterday (Sunday) for a ride up to Carlisle. I just wanted to do a loop up around Great Brook Farm and back via Concord. Mission accomplished, but it was a tough one! The weather was nice, high 30s, and most of the snow was gone on the main roads, so riding was smooth. Surprisingly little traffic too, especially in the first couple hours before 10.

Once I got to Carlisle and turned off the main road to head through the State Park, though, it was a different story. The woodsy farmy scenery was beautiful, but the road surface was atrocious! It started a little slushy (causing me to have two near falls, putting a foot down each time), but after not too long, the entire surface was covered with varying thicknesses of packed snow and ice. To add to the treacherousness, the road was narrow and pretty hilly. Fine on the way up, scary on the way down. I finally got the hang of it, sticking to the bits where the sand was embedded in the surface, and managed to stay upright. It was slow going, though! Fortunately, almost no traffic for that bit.

I had another little hardship on the way home. As I left Concord, my energy was sapped. I wasn't going fast at all, but the lactic acid hit my thighs with a vengeance. I stopped and took out a rock-solid energy bar, which I muched on for a half hour or so. That helped for sure, but I never got back up to snuff; my ride up Park Ave to the water tower was just about the slowest I can remember - I usually even manage a better pace with the Christiania!

Nevertheless, I got 35 miles under my belt, and I added another 20 with my commute today. Now that the Charles River Wheelmen has an online mileage tracking tool, I'll be logging my miles every month, and I'm off to a pretty good start!

New waterproof gloves

Super Flex Best fisherman's glove
Originally uploaded by ahconway

It's miserable getting your nice warm gloves soaked through on your commute to work and having to ride home with cold gloves, still soaking.

Various bike store sales people have told me that "there's no such thing as waterproof". Fine. But could that really be true?

I couldn't imagine this to really be the case. So I asked one of my trusty email lists (internet-BOB) and got a range of replies from all over the world.

One kind soul who lives nearby emailed me off-list to say that he has a pair of completely waterproof fisherman's gloves that he'd sell me cheap. So we met in Davis Square this morning and did the deal. Had a very nice chat, too! Very likeable fellow.

The gloves (as this photo clearly shows) are utterly and completely waterproof, but perhaps not suited to stuffing cotton into little bottles and the like.

It was a great start to the day (which also happens to be a gorgeous 58 degrees!), after which I found a nice reflective trouser band in the street!

Bedford Narrow Gauge Rail Trail

Bedford Narrow Gauge Rail Trail
Originally uploaded by ahconway

Wonderful afternoon ride yesterday. I allowed myself 90 minutes during naptime, so I rode up the Minuteman path, then I took my first real forray up the Bedford Narrow Gauge Rail Trail. (The Friends of Bedford Depot Park publish a very nice, detailed guide to the trail.)

Not many people on either path, so it was really lovely. Lots of leaves, and I took care not to go slip-sliding away, but I never really lost my footing at any point.

The real surprise was the second path, which picks up very near the Bedford end of the Minuteman path, across Loomis Street. It even has a bit of the old track at the start. The surface starts fully paved, then it turns to packed gravel, much like many of the Sustrans routes in the UK. Again, lots of leaves, but the surface was generally very good, allowing me to truck along at 17mph for most of its length.

I turned around at Fawn Lake (which warrants further exploration another time), which turned out to be precisely 10 miles from home.

Old Thorny performed exceptionally as usual, reminding me that it really is worthy of the odd off-road adventure.

1000 miles since July

About 35 miles ago, my cyclometer ticked over 1000 miles! Doesn't qualify me for Paris-Brest-Paris, but still, it's probably a record for me for I don't know how long. As it gets colder, I wonder how I'll stay in shape.

It's a rainy day in Balamory

And Boston too. I briefly considered taking public transport in today, but changed my mind because it's supposed to be really nice later today, and I didn't want to get stuck on the T with viruses running rampant (everyone I know seems to be deathly ill right now).

I bundled up a little excessively, going with fleecy mid-layers instead of wool, because synthetics should dry out quicker. It was a light but steady rain all the way here, and I do think my Gore Tex outer layers let some water through. According to my queries at local bike shops and in email groups, the thing to do is to wash and dry all of it, which should rejuvinate everything. There's also a product called Nikwax, which lots of people like. I'll give it a go without first.

I took the scenic route today (bike path from Arlington to Cambridge via Alewife, then along the river), and made a big discovery on the top end. To get from Pleasant Street in Arlington to the bike path, I'd always gone all the way down to Mass Ave and then cut in at what used to be Carberry's bakery. But today it occurred to me to turn off Pleasant Street and follow signs to the Boys & Girl's club, then ride along the path by Spy Pond and join the bike path a little later. That's a much, much better route, allowing me to avoid the whole right turn on arrow only nonsense of that intersection and also cut out a goodly part of (un)Pleasant Street!

This was also a nice test today for my Ortlieb trunk box - it kept my change of clothes bone dry!

Biking into fall

Early November, and it's well and truly Autumn in Boston. Many of our trees are still green, others are completely naked, but most are a bit colorful and somewhere in between. The weather is finally perfectly chilly and clear by and large, with 30s in the morning and 40s-50s later on.

Perfect weather for biking, in other words! My birthday wool jersey is now a staple, and I can wear it almost everyday without getting all stinky (of course, I air it out at the office during the day and also overnight at home).  It's from Earth Wind & Rider. I also have a nice wool beanie from Kucharik, and I have some wool tights from them on the way.

Of course, the time change last week means that I'm riding in the dark a lot more, but it's not a big deal, really. I tend to keep to Mass Ave on the way home if it's really dark... for some reason I feel like that's going to be safer than heading up Broadway via Davis Square because there's MORE traffic and cars are necessarily slower. More bikers too. 

The nice thing is that, while I haven't really managed much weekend riding because there's just so much fun stuff to do with the family, I've been averaging three to four days of commuting by bike each week, putting my weekly mileage between 60 and 75 - not bad! 

I've also been thinking about how I'll keep in shape when the snow starts falling... should I try snow-shoeing or XC skiing? Jury's still out. Those would still be weekend pursuits, though, but I'm going to try walking to Alewife for my commute, which is about 3 miles each way, I think. And that should be much easier now that the bike path will be plowed, at least part of the time!