The Bicycling thread

[kurtr11s]

Sorry that the pics are fuzzy. We both have $100 smart phones and the cameras aren't great.

Next we traveled through WV, Indiana and Illinois. We didn't have any plan, the navigator would be looking for things to do and see on the road. This is the same way we travel on motorcycles - except we have to figure everything out during quick stops! We also like to hike so we were looking for hikes as well as bike trails. We probably spent more time on our feet than on bicycles.

We found a couple of cool bike trails, though. The Tunnel Hill trail is an old rail trail that intersects the Trail of Tears in southern Illinois. We really enjoyed this part of the country:

TunnelHill.jpg

We also rode on the Louisville Loop which is a bike trail that goes around the city of Louisville. It connects a whole bunch of wonderful parks on the east side where we were. Incredible infrastructure for bikes.

LousivilleLoop.jpeg

Most of our evenings were spent in state or national park campsites. This was during the month of October and we pretty much had our pick of sites. We were in some really beautiful places. Mostly on or near lakes. This is in OK, just north of the Wichita reserve:

LakeSide.jpeg

To be continued.

[kurtr11s]

We are probably 50/50 on camp cooking vs restaurants. I love experiencing the variation of cuisine across the US. My issue is that I tend to gravitate toward dishes with high calorie density (yum - boudin balls in LA, BBQ everywhere else). If we cook ourselves, I can control myself a little better. We made up a small portable galley that fits in the hatch and use a Monoprice Yeti-ish cooler knockoff to keep our stuff cold. It works great.

Rig.jpeg

[slowpokepete]

Overnight trip to Minnewaska State Park with a couple days of riding...about a dozen friends in attendance.

April 20, 2022 by SPP™ SlowPokePete, on Flickr

April 20, 2022 by SPP™ SlowPokePete, on Flickr

April 20, 2022 by SPP™ SlowPokePete, on Flickr

April 20, 2022 by SPP™ SlowPokePete, on Flickr

SPP

[DennisDarrow]

After all the talk and discussion about cleats and cranks, wondering if BATTERIES AND HUB DRIVE are mortal sins????????

[robsryder]

...
April 20, 2022 by SPP™ SlowPokePete, on Flickr...

To me, this looks like an enjoyable ride. I have ridden with fast folks in a pace line, but all I see is the rear wheel of the bike in front and the side of the road. Going fast is ok, but I find it to be much better to take it easy, in the country, with very light traffic. and have a conversation with someone riding adjacent and see the scenery.

[robsryder]

After all the talk and discussion about cleats and cranks, wondering if BATTERIES AND HUB DRIVE are mortal sins????????

Not in my view. My wife had a heart incident last year and a battery assisted bike allows her to ride a bicycle with family and not worry about over-doing things.

[kurtr11s]

After all the talk and discussion about cleats and cranks, wondering if BATTERIES AND HUB DRIVE are mortal sins????????

I think we had this discussion earlier in the thread but I'm all for electric bikes. But I wish people would use common sense when riding them. We have a local park that gets pretty crowded in the summer. Electric bikes have allowed people that would never have ridden an unpowered bike an opportunity to ride on the trails. The electric bikes also allow people with zero bike handling skills to travel at speeds rivaling pro cyclists. It is unnerving and unsafe to have folks flying by at 25mph when you are out for a quiet walk. I get equally PO-ed by the unpowered bikes going the same speed - but there aren't that many strong knuckleheads doing park trail intervals. There are a lot of e-bikes going much faster than the equivalent body type on an unpowered bike, though.

That is the biggest negative that I have seen, though. The positives are huge: there are a ton of e-bikes out there now and people seem to be riding them! The campgrounds are full of them, tourist areas are EXPECTED to have e-bike rentals and tours, it is an efficient way to commute for many people. If the speed limit is 25 or 30 mph on your commute, an e-bike won't make the commute much longer, time wise. E-bikes are great for the mobility challenged (the first one I rode belonged to my 80 year old father-in-law).

The best thing for the traditional cyclist is that now there are more people out there demanding infrastructure consideration and road safety. I'm loving all of the bike lanes and paths I'm seeing across the country. My observation is that cities that embrace cycling are pleasant places to be - even if you aren't a cyclist!

I have been asked if I will get an e-bike. I respond that I have a WR250R, which is close enough.

[robsryder]

... But I wish people would use common sense ....

yep!

[slowpokepete]

To me, this looks like an enjoyable ride. I have ridden with fast folks in a pace line, but all I see is the rear wheel of the bike in front and the side of the road. Going fast is ok, but I find it to be much better to take it easy, in the country, with very light traffic. and have a conversation with someone riding adjacent and see the scenery.

These folks ride Rivendell's.

They are never in much of a hurry lol.

SPP

[kurtr11s]

SPP,

You live just a little bit south of Fort Edward. In that village, there is a little island in the Hudson river named 'Rogers Island'. It is named after Robert Rogers and at one point hosted so many of his rangers during the French and Indian war that it was one of the largest 'cities' in the colonies. I think that place is still considered by many to be the birthplace of the American Special Forces. (Maybe I'll start another post about the birthplace of the US Navy: Whitehall, NY which is just a hop and skip from Fort Edward. The navy's first commander: Benedict Arnold)

Rogers made up a list of Standing Orders and Rules for his rangers. This standing order kind of jumped out at me: 'Let the enemy come till he’s almost close enough to touch, then let him have it and jump out and finish him up with your hatchet.'

I've never had a use for a hatchet but back in the mid 18th century, it was commonly carried by the military. It had to be important if you are willing to hump that extra weight.

Anyway, Grant Peterson (the Rivendell dude) had a shop in California called "Rivendell Books, Bikes, and Hatchets". I wonder how many people fell into the intersection of those 3 Venn diagrams? I'm guessing just Grant. I don't think the store is still in operation.

Sorry if I got any of the details wrong. Now back to your regularly scheduled program...

[kurtr11s]

You are probably still saying WTF about that last post.

That front rack on the Lynskey is impressive. Is it Ti? Custom?

I don't think I could put something like that on my fork. It is carbon and has a single bolt hole for fenders, I think.

Here is my bike in light touring mode. The rack was also made by Lynskey and is Ti. It will hold more than I would care to carry. Right now I just have the handlebar bag for really light stuff. It looks like you have a super duper Ti handlebar, too. Mine is a carbon road bar so I don't trust it with any clamping force other than the stem. This is still primarily a race bike.

ProGR.jpeg

[DennisDarrow]

To me, this looks like an enjoyable ride. I have ridden with fast folks in a pace line, but all I see is the rear wheel of the bike in front and the side of the road. Going fast is ok, but I find it to be much better to take it easy, in the country, with very light traffic. and have a conversation with someone riding adjacent and see the scenery.

Yes, this is what my wife and I enjoy on our Ebikes. Wife had one knee replaced last June and by 2 months later with the help of her pedal assist she got her range of motion back and is out with me a couple of times per week. We are blessed of miles or roads with no cars or few to contend with. My skills on a bicycle are not the best when going slow; but pick up a bit of speed and it is different. The motorcycle has developed skills to lean and brake; BUT NOT FO SLOW MANUEVERS. Perhaps the bicycle training helps out to transfer those skills to motorcycles...........At any rate it is springtime. The trees have all pollinated and so it's good to get out and breathe that fresh air............God bless........Dennis

[slowpokepete]

You are probably still saying WTF about that last post.

That front rack on the Lynskey is impressive. Is it Ti? Custom?

I don't think I could put something like that on my fork. It is carbon and has a single bolt hole for fenders, I think.

Here is my bike in light touring mode. The rack was also made by Lynskey and is Ti. It will hold more than I would care to carry. Right now I just have the handlebar bag for really light stuff. It looks like you have a super duper Ti handlebar, too. Mine is a carbon road bar so I don't trust it with any clamping force other than the stem. This is still primarily a race bike.

ProGR.jpeg

Nope, loved the last post! (no "like" button lol)

The front rack/fork/and one piece bar/stem are all custom and made for me by James Bleakley, who owns Black Sheep Cycles.

My rear rack, like yours, is the Lynskey ti rack, although mine was modified to mount the Supernova rear light.

SPP

[robsryder]

Yesterday on a ride with the Carolina Tarwheels my only bike with tubeless tires suffered a flat. I could see the small puncture (and the goop bubbling out). The puncture, although small, was not sealed by the goop within the tire. No worries, I have a pump and a tubeless tire patch kit.

The tubeless bike patch kit is similar to those that I have used to good effect on motorcycles and cars. There is a "string" (albeit much smaller) and an insertion tool used to plug the leak. The insertion of the string was successful, but there was still a small amount of air escaping. Fortunately with the help of a nice couple I was able to get back to my vehicle. That bike no longer has tubeless tires.

I have decided that I like my cars and motorcycles to have tubeless tires (without goop inside the tires). And my bicycles shall have tubes in the tires and I will always have a spare tube and a patch kit (the old fashioned kind with glue and small patches for the tube - and some plastic tire levers). I have CO2 fillers and a small pump.

[kurtr11s]

Regarding the tubeless tires:

Rob, I understand your position and have been contemplating my approach toward tubeless. I have tubeless setups on both my road and gravel bike. The gravel bike has an extra set of road wheels, 28C, that are also set up tubeless. My wife also has a similar setup. We both carry a spare tube, CO2, and patch kits. I also take a mini pump on longer rides. I don't bother with 'tubeless repair' kits. I just throw a tube in - it takes just a little bit longer because you have to remove the valve stem. The few flats that I've had would not have been fixed with small strip type plugs, anyway. More like slices. The small holes get plugged by the sealant.

Why do I stick with it? Because I have less flats and they are more comfortable. The comfort comes from being able to run lower tire pressures. The entire system is a little less weight than running tubes, but not much. If we get into a situation where we have used both of our tubes and have another flat, we'll get one bike ridable and then figure out how to recover. We've been running tubeless for a couple of years and haven't run into that situation, yet.

Here is the bad, in my experience: the tires are hard to get the bead to seat on my rims. It is frustrating, I get them to seat fine without valve stems but as soon as I get the stem in, they won't go. I've changed my own motorcycle tires for 33 years and have used those tricks on the bicycle tires, to little avail. The tire availability was limited when I started running tubeless. I use the Schwalbe Pro Ones and they really are a race tire. I wear the rears out pretty quickly (maybe 1500 miles?).

The tubeless system will get better. There will be solutions for making installation a much less messy proposition. The tire selection will get better and will trickle down to the enthusiast/training level. The goo will get cheaper and better.

An area where I DON'T see the hassle being 'worth it' is on hydraulic disk brakes on road bikes. Way more expensive, heavier, noisy, and more maintenance. On any type of gravel, I prefer disks but just don't 'get it' for the road. Anyone have a counter argument?