Silent Action Ride No. 1: Sunday May 9th

Well I waited at (Bike shop previously employed at) until 9:30 to see if you'd show up. Perhaps you were persuaded by the 25+ mph winds out of the WNW to enjoy breakfast a little longer, maybe read the paper, do the crossword.
I rode back over the bridge to my studio in Kittery to dump off the Bailey bag before heading directly into the wind along Rte. 103 in Eliot. I figured this way I could take the brunt of abuse all in one lump, and then enjoy the reward of a tail wind for the return trip. When I tell people I really dig riding the fixie over dirt roads, and they think that's nuts, I reply that the dirt roads are often better groomed than the paved roads around here. See Route 103 through Eliot to illustrate this point.
And what a wind it was! Tucked down behind my flat 15 deg. bars, trying to push through. I made my way into Rollinsford and didn't intend to stop until I spotted my friend Peter in front of Black Bean Cafe with a cup of coffee. So I pulled in the reins and stopped to chat and drink a cup. While there I also ran into (previous employer) customer Terrance Parker with his daughter in for some breakfast, and SeacoastAreaBicycleRoutes member Sophia.
Coffee gone, I got back on the road headed for South Berwick and Vaughn Woods Rd. My plan worked quite well, with that same hard wind I'd fought on the way out, now on my side pushing me home at a good clip, spinning the cranks as fast as I could manage, ascending grades at over 17 mph.
All things considered it was a great day for a ride with the lilacs in bloom everywhere, the blue sky with soft white clouds floating on the current, the fields and countryside bright green with life. Sorry you missed it.
Portsmouth, Kittery, Eliot, Rollinsford, South Berwick. Total miles: 33.
Check the route details at Map My Ride.

Silent Action Rides: No Coasting!

I should have posted this earlier. Oops I guess. I'm signed on to lead a monthly fixed gear ride through (Previous employers) bike shop in Portsmouth. The intention is not to alienate any non-fixed gear riders. The idea is to get cyclists to consider a fixed gear bicycle as more than just a novelty around town bicycle, and to introduce the idea of riding fixed gear bicycles to those interested in a new adventure.
It' a blast spinning down the country farm roads on a fixed gear bike; no shifting, no drivetrain noise, leveraging up inclines and spinning like mad down the other side. Riding a fixed gear bicycle is great training with the added resistance of having only one gear for all the hill climbing while improving cadence and efficient circular pedal turning on descents.
The rides will meet at 9am on the second Sunday of each month. The first in the Silent Action series will be this Sunday, that's two days from now. We'll go about 30 miles or so to start. I intend to introduce longer rides each month. If you want to come along, bring two water bottles, snacks, flat repair apparatus, your fixed gear bicycle, a helmet.
We're not racing and we're not putzing. We'll ride a comfortable pace averaging about 15-18 mph for a couple of hours.

Narrowing The Search: Langster -vs- Capo

Studying all the options available to me for a stock fixed gear frameset, I realized something: size does matter to me. I'm referring to the head tube size, 1" versus more current 1 1/8". I'm somewhat surprised that most manufacturers making fixed gear framesets are still sticking to 1" steer tube designs, while the rest of the cycling industry has been building frames for 1 1/8" steer tubes since the late 90's. Infact, many manufacturers such as Specialized with their steel Langster, take us back even further into the Dark Ages, spec'ing bikes with THREADED STEER TUBES! My only guess as to why anybody would do such a thing, would be to appeal to a marginal segment of the cycling community: wannabe hipsters. By offering a steel frame, with a 1" threaded steer tube fork, their 2010 model Steel Langster imitates a classic road bike frame converted to fixed gear.
I myself must admit I am attracted to classic steel road bikes. My road bike is a sparkle red over chrome painted Daccordi fabricated from Columbus SLX tubing in the mid-90's. But if i'm going to buy a new bike, damnit, I want a 1 1/8" threadless steer tube with all the weight savings, carbon fork compatability, and stiff handling that comes along with it! Fashion can not trump functionality.
This brings my search for a fixed gear frameset down to two options: The 2010 Specialized Langster base model, or the 2010 Cannondale Capo 2. Both offer 1 1/8" threadless steer tube forks. Both come in low profile black finishes. Both are aluminum frames.
The biggest difference in design, are the Langster's compact style frame versus the Capo's more traditional frame with a horizontal top tube. Although more asthetically drawn to the Capo's straight lines and tight angles, after riding the Langster a few times, I can see the wisdom in the compact frame design, especially in the larger sizes. At 6'4" , I need a 60cm top tube to stretch me out comfortably. The Capo comes in a 63cm seat tube length that offers a 60cm top tube, while the Langster's "virtual" seat tube height is 60cm. And at sizes such as these, in a traditional frame design, looong seat stays are required, creating more leverage to flex the rear wheel when "givin' 'er".

Given er all she's got captain. sound bite

With a compact frame design, the seat stays stay shorter, making for a stiffer rear end and also transferring the vibration picked up from the rear wheel to a lower point below the saddle, giving more distance for the vibrations to be dissipated in before reaching the rider's tender ass.
Add that up with a carbon bladed fork spec'ed on the Langster -vs- the punishing straight bladed aluminum fork on the Capo, and it soon becomes clear that for a strictly street machine, the Langster, with it's goofy sloping top tube and all, wins out in the end. But the proof will be in the pudding. I'll be headed out for a few hours on the Langster in a few moments. This will be the first longer ride on aluminum frame I've ever done. Wish me luck....

Full On Balls to the Wall Spring In Action!!!

Well, the Defrost shoes are packed away as are the Sorrel boots and all that other winter stuff. Spring came on early and strong. I started wrenching again at (that bike shop that promised me year round employment only to fire me on election day) in late February with a set schedule starting in March. And as of late, I've been putting in around 50 hour work weeks to keep up with the volume of repairs and assemblies coming down the pike.
Every spring I get back on my beloved '79 Trek 940 Fixie and realize that it is indeed too small a frame for me. I'm 6'4" riding a 58cm frame all over the countryside. It just isn't right! I had hoped my friend Jonathan at Cascadia Bicycles would be building me a custom frame this winter. But Specialized bikes needed him more. He has moved to Morgan Hill, CA to build prototypes and other such projects for the Specialized Bicycle Co.
So I've been looking at what's available for my budget, under $1,000. Now being a shop employee and searching for a brand outside the family is definitely frowned upon. The management wants all employees to represent. But I heart the ride qualities of good chromoly. Specialized has brought in the "retro" steel Langster, trying to corner the hipster fixie market. But the chromed frame and 1" threaded steer is too much. Cinelli already has that market and they're Italian. The Langster would be alright. At least the base model has been tastefully covered in black this year instead of the '09 polished aluminum that reminds me of NEXT bicycles found at the neighborhood WalMart. But the sloping top tube is not asthetically pleasing to me. Looks sort of like a hybrid frame or something.
Cannondale is offering two models of the CAPO this year. Capo 1 is that unflattering polished aluminum. But it does come with Mavic's new Ellipse track clincher wheels! Pretty sweet. And I dig the hidden headset. The fork is gorgeous. But straight blade aluminum blades sound like a precursor to some serious back pain.
I've also looked closely at the Soma RUSH. Not too bad. Really a stripped down no nonsense basic frame. Nothing fancy, nothing shabby. But what is up with the 1" steer tube? There are not many options left for decent carbon forks when it comes to 1" steer tubes. The same is true of the Surly Steamroller, which also suffers from a reputation for super flex and seems almost frumpy these days. I don't need to run a 38cm tire. I just want efficiency, speed, and comfort. Too much to ask?
Apprehensive of the "classic track geometry" manufacturers boast for fear the ride would be too harsh for long distances, I had fit specialist Josh Pierce assist in finding the angles of my Trek 940. Originally a touring frame designed for 27" tires, I swapped the fork for a 700c OCLV fork I found in the garbage. This dropped the front end down thus steepening the angles. Turns out I've been riding on some seriously steep angles: 75.5 deg. seat tube, 74.5 head tube! These are at least a degree steeper than typical track geometry. Before finding those numbers, I was looking at the Gunnar Street Dog, a fixie frame with road geometry. Sweet Tange OX Platnum tubing, pretty slack angles. Another intersting looking bike was the Milwaukee Bicycles Cream City. Again with the 1" head tube, limiting choices for forks.
All this has led me back to home. What is available at the shop? Langster, CAPO, Cinelli, Charge, Pake, Steamroller, Rush. Quite a few options, really. Most offering 1" steer tubes, which I am ready to part with. I think all my bicycles currently have 1" steers, threaded forks. I'm ready to modernize. I'm ready for carbon blades, 1 1/8" Chris King headset, 31.8 handlebar. So now I'm down to the CAPO and the Langster. The CAPO has the style points in spades. The stand over is pretty nuts at 63cm frame size. The more compact Langster would seem to be a stiffer design and comes with a hidden headset, carbon fork.
Where will the money go, what will I be riding into summer? Stay tuned as the saga continues...

Long Time, No Postie

It's been a while since I've been on here. No new route maps, riding advice, whatever. That's because I haven't been riding so much lately. Turns out I have some really bad circulation to my feet. They get wicked cold easily. I broke down and bought the Specialized Defrost shoes. I went riding on a 40 degree day and my feet froze. Painfully froze. The last post was in prediction of a good riding day in December according to the forecasts. I headed out west intending to circle the Berwicks. I got just outside South Berwick before turning around. Only 15 miles west of Kittery it was still way too cold. Ice on the roads and my feet were freezing. It was a death march getting back home. i stared at the ground infront of me, trying not to think about the distance between me and warmth.
I have begun acupuncture to improve blood flow. My friend works at Manchester Acupuncture Studio, which is a new-ish concept that allows for multiple patients to be treated by one practitioner, bringing the price down way low. Treatment is sliding scale $15 to $35, and they let you decide what is affordable. I highly recommend it to anyone not feeling like the perfect human specimin. They can help with addiction, depression, injuries, you name it.
I have so far gone three times and the experience is totally wild. We sit in a room of about 15 lazy boy chairs. One of the practitioners comes over, checks your pulse and asks how things are going. Based on your reply and other signs they are trained to look for, they decide which points will be poked. Then, you just close your eyes and sit back. I go into sort of a trance, where I think I'm conscious, but I'm not sure. I begin to go through daily life issues that I've been stuck on and think about solutions, I see light patterns drifting and flowing like Aurora Borialis or a flock of starlings sweeping around the sky. Totally wild experience. You can be as quick as 30 minutes, or fall asleep for hours, your choice. I prefer to 'cook' a shorter time as it was brought to my attention that I was a tad grumpy after a longer session.
The clinic is in Manchester, NH. There are similar clinics in Portland, OR, and other places that I don't know about. I can't recommend checking out this experience enough. There are often other things to do around Manchester, such as intimate experimental sound arts basement shows, the Courier Art Museum, Consuelo's Taqueria. So you can make a day of it..

Review: Sun Worship III by Peter Donovan

Nailed to a tree
down a path in
the dark-this is
underground. Forget
what you know about
sound. Full circle thru
the filter of life.
Thrown out the window
& let go.
There's a man rolling
his drum set &
one zinging a bike
rim. Slurping Arias
to 1000 thread count
patch work sky scrapers.
Forget what you know.
close your eyes. You're
in an underground cave
only florescent deep sea
fish see- That's what you
hear-it's the inside of
a beetle's shoe in the
mossy garden of doom.
It's warm, slow &
friendly in here.
It's gentle geek
underground abandon.
Punk Rock for the
new world.
The real deal-people
who are truly here
to listen. This isn't
any poser mall
brought lingo & look-
this is finding that
thing that's real.
Hope you were there-
if you weren't-
oh well your loss


-PFD.

Time To Ride! Monday Dec. 14

Monday 12/14 looks as if the temp will get up over 40 degrees, hopefully thawing the previous night's ice-over by mid morning. Overcast, but it may be worth pumping up the tires and suiting up for a decent ride. Get out before 10:30 to take advantage of the best part of the day. That will also give you ample time to get in 60-75 miles. So DO IT! Then write about it here...CHECK THE WEATHER!!!