Friday, October 30, 2009
Better Route Mapping with Gmaps Pedometer
Much easier to use than the standard Goodle maps, this is a "hack" of Google Maps somebody did to map their running routes. Looking at the route close up, the route is marked at each mile to get an idea of how far each transition is from the last. Not only that, but you can view the elevation gain along the entire route. There are three modes including runner specific, bicycle specific, and manual, which allows you to route terrain where Google Maps hasn't acknowledged a road (See Cranberry Rd. south or Rte. 9..) I haven't figured out how to post the maps here. But here's a link to yesterday's 69 mile ride. I found this on the AKFixed blog, fixed gear riding in Auckland, NZ.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
68 Miles Into The Darkness...
I was slackin' this morning, not sure if I was going to ride or not. But it is beautiful East Coast fall outside right now and too soon it will be followed with slush covered ice. So around noon I suited up, filled 
the water bottles and rolled out for North Berwick. There are three Berwicks and North Berwick is the furthest north of the three. It seemed like an exotic destination because nobody ever has an excuse to go to North Berwick. I haven't been there in the two years I've lived here. I've actually only been there once, on a bike ride about 8 years ago. Prior to departure I had looked up espresso joints in North Berwick. They have a Dunken Donuts. But there is also Carpe Diem coffee roasters on Rte. 9 just north of North B. So I headed there to see if they actually served coffee, or just roasted. There is a reception room where there is coffee, hot water for tea, and other stuff you can buy. The people there were really nice. But the coffee was 'eh. A blend of two S. American coffees, and French roasted Sumatra. Its' a strange choice of beans to blend. But I couldn't really tell the result as the brew was too weak and tasted as if it were made that morning. They do roast some good coffee. My guess is the coffee station in the reception room is sort of an after thought.
Coffee down, and onward. I had passed the ET Eastern Trail bike route on Tuesday's ride. So this time around, I headed out on it, further north. My instincts were telling me to turn around and start back south. But the road kept calling and I was powerless to ignore it. I was within 10 miles of Sanford before I started making my round about way back south bound.
This whole time I had a map I copied out of the Maine Gazetteer that I referenced frequently. In fact I lost this map out of my jersey pocket. But I thought I'd heard it fly out of the pocket. So I back tracked a mile searching the side of the road until I spotted it. Good thing I did! I was in uncharted territory. I would have had to try to head left from the sun's trajectory to make it home.
The Gazetteer marked Cranberry Rd as continuing as dirt south of Rte. 9. So for some unexplainable reason, I decided that was my route. I'd already done about 3 miles of dirt and gravel roads form Bell Marsh and Emery's Bride (road construction). Looking across 9, I saw
what looked like a drive way behind a trailer, that ended in a pile of tree trunks. I took a left, and a quick right. And there, by the entrance to a school, was what looked like a wide single track through the woods, Cranberry Road. I got in about 1/2 mile before the first pond taking up the width of the "road" for 5 meters. The rest of the way until the final 1/4 mile was swamped with deep puddles. I was forced to portage most of that way. Turns out this section of Cranberry Rd. doesn't show as connecting on Google Maps. Pretty wild.
Finally back on pavement, another New England road without a name. I guessed and went right which actually worked out. Now I was finally getting close to South Berwick.
By that point the sun was sitting pretty low. I got a little panic. No lights, 30 miles to go. I put the hammer down and started cruising south bound. By the time I was leaving Eliot, it was just about dark. The moon lit up the dark sections of road. It was pretty sketchy.
I counted 24 grave yards on this ride, not counting repeats. I counted 6 fake or plastic graveyards in Halloween decorating fashion. I think it's odd in an area where every house that's a hundred years or older, has a small very real graveyard on the property, the styrofoam graves in the front yard are still a popular way to show one's holiday spirit. The mockery of death, an odd means to try and quell the fear people have about the part of the life cycle which is death. This one here was in North Berwick. It was act
ually painted plywood, obviously the work of a crafty holiday decorator, replete with names of the imaginary deceased and birth/death dates. Perhaps the real 150+ year old graveyard across the street made for a good model.
Check out this video, you'll get a brief sense of the ride.
the water bottles and rolled out for North Berwick. There are three Berwicks and North Berwick is the furthest north of the three. It seemed like an exotic destination because nobody ever has an excuse to go to North Berwick. I haven't been there in the two years I've lived here. I've actually only been there once, on a bike ride about 8 years ago. Prior to departure I had looked up espresso joints in North Berwick. They have a Dunken Donuts. But there is also Carpe Diem coffee roasters on Rte. 9 just north of North B. So I headed there to see if they actually served coffee, or just roasted. There is a reception room where there is coffee, hot water for tea, and other stuff you can buy. The people there were really nice. But the coffee was 'eh. A blend of two S. American coffees, and French roasted Sumatra. Its' a strange choice of beans to blend. But I couldn't really tell the result as the brew was too weak and tasted as if it were made that morning. They do roast some good coffee. My guess is the coffee station in the reception room is sort of an after thought.Coffee down, and onward. I had passed the ET Eastern Trail bike route on Tuesday's ride. So this time around, I headed out on it, further north. My instincts were telling me to turn around and start back south. But the road kept calling and I was powerless to ignore it. I was within 10 miles of Sanford before I started making my round about way back south bound.
This whole time I had a map I copied out of the Maine Gazetteer that I referenced frequently. In fact I lost this map out of my jersey pocket. But I thought I'd heard it fly out of the pocket. So I back tracked a mile searching the side of the road until I spotted it. Good thing I did! I was in uncharted territory. I would have had to try to head left from the sun's trajectory to make it home.
The Gazetteer marked Cranberry Rd as continuing as dirt south of Rte. 9. So for some unexplainable reason, I decided that was my route. I'd already done about 3 miles of dirt and gravel roads form Bell Marsh and Emery's Bride (road construction). Looking across 9, I saw
what looked like a drive way behind a trailer, that ended in a pile of tree trunks. I took a left, and a quick right. And there, by the entrance to a school, was what looked like a wide single track through the woods, Cranberry Road. I got in about 1/2 mile before the first pond taking up the width of the "road" for 5 meters. The rest of the way until the final 1/4 mile was swamped with deep puddles. I was forced to portage most of that way. Turns out this section of Cranberry Rd. doesn't show as connecting on Google Maps. Pretty wild.Finally back on pavement, another New England road without a name. I guessed and went right which actually worked out. Now I was finally getting close to South Berwick.
By that point the sun was sitting pretty low. I got a little panic. No lights, 30 miles to go. I put the hammer down and started cruising south bound. By the time I was leaving Eliot, it was just about dark. The moon lit up the dark sections of road. It was pretty sketchy.I counted 24 grave yards on this ride, not counting repeats. I counted 6 fake or plastic graveyards in Halloween decorating fashion. I think it's odd in an area where every house that's a hundred years or older, has a small very real graveyard on the property, the styrofoam graves in the front yard are still a popular way to show one's holiday spirit. The mockery of death, an odd means to try and quell the fear people have about the part of the life cycle which is death. This one here was in North Berwick. It was act
ually painted plywood, obviously the work of a crafty holiday decorator, replete with names of the imaginary deceased and birth/death dates. Perhaps the real 150+ year old graveyard across the street made for a good model.Check out this video, you'll get a brief sense of the ride.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Old Trek Bikes
I came upon this cool site that chronicles the Trek Bicycle Company, with serial numbers referencing to date a bike, and a gallery of photographs ofolder Trek bikes sent in by the riders. I found out my fixie's frame is a 1979 Trek 910, built in March. It had been sent back to Trek for repairs and came back to the person who I bought it from, with new paint. Thus the sexy salamander blue/purple pearl paint. Check out the Vintage Trek web site link to the right. Cool stuff.
I Bought A One Way Ticket to Epic, 75+ Miles
Oh Google Maps, where will you take me next?
Eli was working near Biddeford this morning. So I loaded the bike into the back of her pick up and hitched a ride to the Biddeford Park And Ride. It was c-c-cold at 9:15 this morning at the parking lot. I stuffed the directions and map I printed down my jersey to cut the wind, which was a life saver. It wouldn't be until over two hours later that I decided to do the same for my cold toes; wrapped them in directions for the roads behind me.
Lots of riding 3 miles to a dead end like when I decided to check out University of New England University and Hills Beach Road. Two miles down the beach road to the end of the Pavement. No way to continue without a boat. I u-turned and cut a left down supposedly "closed" road Old Pool Rd. The work crew let me pass. Then down Mile Stretch Rd. only 20 minutes later. Another down and back road on the other side of "The Pool".
Lots of stopping and looking at the map and directions fer sure. I had accidentally printed the backwards, from KP to Biddeford. So every time I had to figure out the next step, I'd have to stand on my head to read the directions in the right order.
This ride included three awesome dirt road sections, two of them unexpected! Apparently Cheney Woods is dirt for about a mile of climb and dissent. It really was awesome: dirt, rocks, pits and all. I ran into a mountain biker stopped and tinkering on his IPhone. He was decked in SAFETY ORANGE, which I thought was smart, given we were standing there on Cheney Road at the beginning of hunting season. The next dirt came along on Josiah Norton Rd. which I had been curious aboout while studying the maps. Turns out it goes to dirt about 1/2 mile in from either direction. Pretty well groomed, clay, with just a bit of washboard.
What a haul. It was Freakin sweet.
View Larger Map
Eli was working near Biddeford this morning. So I loaded the bike into the back of her pick up and hitched a ride to the Biddeford Park And Ride. It was c-c-cold at 9:15 this morning at the parking lot. I stuffed the directions and map I printed down my jersey to cut the wind, which was a life saver. It wouldn't be until over two hours later that I decided to do the same for my cold toes; wrapped them in directions for the roads behind me.
Lots of riding 3 miles to a dead end like when I decided to check out University of New England University and Hills Beach Road. Two miles down the beach road to the end of the Pavement. No way to continue without a boat. I u-turned and cut a left down supposedly "closed" road Old Pool Rd. The work crew let me pass. Then down Mile Stretch Rd. only 20 minutes later. Another down and back road on the other side of "The Pool".
Lots of stopping and looking at the map and directions fer sure. I had accidentally printed the backwards, from KP to Biddeford. So every time I had to figure out the next step, I'd have to stand on my head to read the directions in the right order.
This ride included three awesome dirt road sections, two of them unexpected! Apparently Cheney Woods is dirt for about a mile of climb and dissent. It really was awesome: dirt, rocks, pits and all. I ran into a mountain biker stopped and tinkering on his IPhone. He was decked in SAFETY ORANGE, which I thought was smart, given we were standing there on Cheney Road at the beginning of hunting season. The next dirt came along on Josiah Norton Rd. which I had been curious aboout while studying the maps. Turns out it goes to dirt about 1/2 mile in from either direction. Pretty well groomed, clay, with just a bit of washboard.
What a haul. It was Freakin sweet.
View Larger Map
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Memorial Bridge CLOSED to Cars
This news isn't so fresh. This happened like a week ago. The Memorial Bridge is the span across the Piscataqua River that connects low income service workers living in Maine, to their Portsmouth jobs. It's an old "through truss lift" bridge, completed in 1923, painted institutional green, and rusting away to dust ever since. The Memorial Bridge was inspected last week and shut d
own to automobile traffic immediately.. It's that f'd up. Lucky for two wheelers and walkers, it is still passable by bike or on foot. There is something really free feeling about being on a bridge without cars.Word is the bridge will open in 3 weeks. But so far I have seen no work having started on repairs. I'm sure it involves going to the DOT and allocating funds, declaring a call for bids, accepting a bid.. yadda dadda ding dong.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Mission Complete: First FIxie Group Ride
How could somebody be late to their own event? It was strategic. I figured if I was 15 minutes late, not only would that give some time for other straggling riders to show up, but when they arrived a little late, they would be spared the humiliation of being late because I hadn't arrived yet! The only thing is, nobody else beside Josh Pierce showed up. Never mind that, though. We had a blast. Josh showed me the sneaky way to get from Papa Wheelies over to Pease, including some nice wide abandoned roads perfect for sprint workouts. We headed over the abandoned bridge and out to Dover. We tagged Dover and bounced over to Rollinsford. A stop in Black Bean Cafe for good coffee and some food, bathroom, more water. Then a fast descent followed by the inevitable climb up to Rte. 4. S. Berwick tag and then down Underhill Rd to Eliot, Kittery, over the Memorial Bridge and back to Papa Wheelies. A sweet, quick ride. All you sad suckers missed out. There's always next time. Write in preferred days/times to join in the next ride...
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Celebrate The Nuts! Tricycle Racing in the UK!
I was looking for information on common bottom bracket shell heights, honestly! That led me to an ex frame builder's blog which led me to the Tricycle Associations official web site and now my concept of this sphere we all share has expanded like blowing into the balloon of knowledge. Tricycle racing! See pictures of decked out tricycles with CARBON DISC WHEELS. Horray for the nuts! The link is to the right under "People".
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