Month: October 2011

Another Bike Overnight

I can’t shake the impression that these mountains know what’s coming and that they are preparing for it. The water in the Payette River between upper and lower Payette Lake is far below the high water marks, and the surface is smooth and unhurried. Waiting. The leaves on the trees and the “needles” on the Tamaracks are turning, preparing to drop. It rains off and on throughout the day, heavier towards evening, soaking the ground so that when the temperature drops, the first snows will stick.
Every piece works towards the same goal, the same vital task: Storing water for the long hot dry summer in the high desert cities 100 miles downstream. The rain will turn to snow within the next few weeks, uncountable individual flakes of snow filling in every crack, crevice, nook and cranny accumulating until there is an unbroken floor several feet above the ground, but with a cosmology only generally resembling the underlying surface. The streams and rivers and lakes will freeze solid. Waiting.
When the earth tilts back into a more sun-favorable position in six months or so, the snow and rivers and streams and lakes will begin to melt, delivering their collection to the reservoirs, slowly at first and then in a crazy, violent torrent, until it’s all gone and the country begins it’s preparations all over again.
These are the thoughts that go through my mind as we work our way from McCall, up to Burgdorf, Idaho, 30 miles away.

Chris and Christine have invited us to ride from their home in McCall up to the resort at Burgdorf, which consists of a natural hot springs pool and some “scrappy” cabins, one of which we have reserved for the night. We are only carrying extra riding clothes and a little bit of food since Stacy (who has a broken foot and is unable to ride) is driving the sag wagon. It’s a gradual uphill grade to Upper Payette Lake which is also the half way point. We stop to commune with nature and eat and I comment on the fact that we have covered fifteen miles already in a little over one hour. Chris points out that the climbing to Secesh Summit really starts now.

As we start out again the clouds which have been building all afternoon begin to spit rain on us. At the summit we regroup and begin the descent. We turn off Warren Wagon road onto the gravel road leading to Burgdorf as Warren Wagon Road continues on to Warren, before tying into a spiderweb network of forest service roads, some of which peter out in the wilderness near the Montana border. There is a way to loop back to McCall past Warm Lake on forest service roads. Years worth of adventure touring out here!
There are no showers at Burgdorf and we soak in the hot springs pool, which is replenished at 150 or so gallons per minute by the natural springs. The pool itself is lined with logs and has a decomposed granite bottom, which is not unpleasant on the feet, and has a uniform depth of about five feet.

The cabins are primitive; only a wood stove, a couple of tables and beds, but with all our supplies carried up in the sag wagon, ours feels luxurious. The rain comes down heavily throughout the late afternoon and into the evening and we feel cozy and smug in our hideaway.

Burgdorf overnight 2011 — Ho-hum scenery

Getting out of town to make this trip was easy and relaxing and just as memorable as the longer tours we have done, and it all fit inside a weekend- we left home Friday afternoon and returned Sunday. Short trips like this can be fantastic stress reducers, especially for someone who might be intimidated by the planning and logistics involved in taking longer tours, or who may simply not have the time. Being easy to plan and execute, with no need to take time off from work, a bike overnight can be a good introduction to touring or just another excuse to get out on the bike.

Advocacy/Awareness

If I Ride – video and poem from People for Bikes

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date October 27, 2011

One of my goals is to encourage people to Rediscover the Joy of being on a bike so wanted to share this short video from People for Bikes for those who haven’t already seen it.

Enjoy – Sky King

Tags advocacy, Bike Touring, Rediscover the Joy

Cockpit Handlebars and Stems Touring Bike Components

Selle An-Atomica Saddle

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date October 18, 2011

“Saving Your Butt, One ride at a Time” What a great tag line!

Leather laminate on Selle An-Atomica saddle — The saddle has a layer laminated to the underside for more support.

Customer feedback and diligent perusal of various on-line forums (somebody’s got to do it, the internet’s not going to read itself!) encouraged us to stock the Selle Anatomica saddles in the store. The saddles have a long cutout intended not only to relieve pressure but to allow the two sides of the saddle to move independently.

We have not had the chance to test these saddles but Selle An-Atomica claims there is no break in period. Here we compare and contrast the Selle An-Atomica Titanico and the Brooks B-17 Imperial:

Top View Selle/Brooks Imperial — The Brooks B-17 Imperial on the left, Selle An-Atomica Titanico on the right

Profile, Brooks B-17 and Selle An-Atomica — The Selle An-Atomica on the left, Brooks B-17 on the right.

Rails, Brooks B-17 and Selle An-Atomica — The Brooks B17 on the left, Selle An-Atomica on the right

Nose bolt, Brooks and Selle An-Atomica — The Selle An-Atomica nose bolt can be used to adjust the tension of the saddle and takes a 5 mm hex wrench. The bolt on the Brooks requires a special wrench, which is provided with the purchase of a saddle.

Tags Brooks saddles, Selle An-Atomica

Bike Touring Tips

Bike Touring – How Much Does It Cost?

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date October 10, 2011
2 Comments on Bike Touring – How Much Does It Cost?

How much does it cost to go bike touring? Well, I guess it depends on the person(s). Some people can travel for next to nothing by eating store bought food rather than at restaurants and by stealth or wild camping wherever they happen to end up at the end of the day. Websites like CouchSurfing and Warm Showers connect travelers with people who are willing to provide a couch or a yard or even a bed.

Russ over at the Path Less Pedaled recently did this interview with Heidi Beierle who rode her bike across the country and wrote her master’s thesis on looking at bicycle tourism as an economic development tool for rural communities. While not specifically about how much it costs to do a bike tour she does delve into that aspect.

httpv://youtu.be/X-XwCoOKHoQ

My recent 6 day and 5 night ride from Portland to Idaho broke down this way:

Food – $116.00

Mostly from grocery stores, with the occasional restaurant stop thrown in. Works out to about $19.30 per day.

Camping – $34.00

The most expensive night was $24.00 for a KOA. Two nights of wild camping for nothing and two nights in state parks at $5.00 per night. Average = $8.50 per night.

I also bought some fuel for the stove and some batteries and a memory card for the camera, but if I amortize those expenses over the life of those items it works out to pennies a day. For this trip I FedEx’d the bike to Portland and that cost $67.83. Shipping the empty box back home cost $30.35. The cheap airline ticket to Portland, bought far in advance, was about $60.00.

So the total cost for the six day vacation with all the expenses thrown in was about $300.00. If I just look at the time when I was on the bike, and don’t count the flight and shipping expenses, the six days cost me about $150.00 or $27.80 per day. Pretty cheap therapy methinks.

Tags Bike Touring, Vacation

Oregon Our Trips

Leave My Blues at Home

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Sometimes it feels as though everyday is a brand new kick in the teeth. I’m no different from anybody else. We all have our own personal Mt. Everest to climb and sometimes it feels like we are on the Hillary Step….our oxygen bottle has quit working and our crampons are loose.

From time to time, I need to escape. The best way I know of to do that is to load onto my bike everything I need in order to live for a few days and start pedaling. It might appear as if I’m being selfish to do that. It might appear to be a little bit odd and not that much fun. But I know that for those few days, I am a different person with different problems and a different set of needs, and the person I was, with his problems and worries, is far, far away.

I made plans to ship my bike to Portland two weeks ago and then ride it back to Idaho after the Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Challenge, which we were attending as members of the press. Here are some random reports and thoughts from my ride across Oregon:
Riding in Portland
I am continually amazed by the number of people who really use their bicycles in Portland and by the infrastructure for bikes that is in place. Dedication to bicycle travel is much more than lip service here.
The Boogey Man Forest
When night falls in these Doug Fir and Ponderosa Pine old growth forests, it falls like a drunken man who blacks out when his head smacks the pavement. It is not possible to see ones hand in front of ones face. Alone in the National Forest campground and completely covered up by darkness, I slept like a dead man for 11 hours.
KOA Kamping, and Kross Kountry Riding
I could have got by cheaper than the $24.00 I was charged for a tent site at the KOA by finding an RV park with tent sites. But I knew KOA’s have nice clean facilities with showers and laundry, and I was wet and tired. Next day I used the Droid to find an alternate route to the state highway rather than backtracking 7 miles back to Madras. A little scenic detour on dirt roads and I was golden.
Wild Camping
In the Ochoco National Forest I had the opportunity to spend $13.00 for a tent site without so much as water. I opted to ride another mile and pitch camp a hundred yards off the highway in the forest. I actually felt pretty comfortable for my first wild camping experiment, but I was extra careful with the stove because fire hazard was off the charts in Oregon this year.
Lucas
Lucas has been on the road for about ten weeks, having started in Central Park in New York City. He was still fired up though and he said he didn’t really have any expectations but was always excited to see what was around the next corner. An attitude I was to remember and take to heart for the rest of my trip.
Oregon State Parks
Clean, well maintained and cheap. Five dollars for a tent site in the hiker/biker areas in the Oregon State Parks includes all the facilities, such as showers. Oregon is serious about encouraging bicycle travel.
Water Lady
Just outside of Prairie City begins the 1700 foot climb to Dixie Pass which tops out at 5276 feet. Near the top a car pulled off and the woman who was driving asked if I needed anything. I let her fill my water bottles as she told me she had ridden this pass in 1996 on her way across the US on bike. Now she always tries to stop when she sees tourists to see if there is anything they need. Very thoughtful and I appreciated it.
Serendipity
After Dixie Pass I knew I still had two more summits that day before stopping for the night. In my mind the 5100 foot pass came first and then a 4500 footer. At the top of the big pass I again checked my maps and realized that the shorter climb had come first and it was all downhill to Unity Lake State Park. Nice surprise!
Then when I finally pulled into the park, the ranger happened to be there and told me that even though it was not shown on their board, they did indeed have hiker/biker sites and he pointed them out to me. I decided to appreciate the little things that did work out today instead of focusing on the fact that park was full to overflowing with hunters and their noisy, smelly rigs and their impossibly bright lanterns and spotlights.

Notes to self:
Get some better sunscreen for my lips. I still have blisters 3 days later.
Get a handlebar clamp for the Droid
Bring the video camera
Bring a small pad to use to sit on

2011 Oregon Manifest Event Coverage

Oregon Manifest 2011 – Three Bikes

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date October 3, 2011

I judged the entries by how they incorporated the mandatory design features outlined on the Oregon Manifest site:
-Anti-Theft System
-Fender System
-Lighting System
-Load System
-Free-Standing Under Load (While Parked) System
With a heavy bias toward integration, quality of execution and aesthetics.
In no particular order, I thought these bikes were outstanding.
YiPsan Bicycles
This bike has a two legged kick stand and, depending on how the load is distributed, is balanced in such a way that either the front or rear wheels are off the ground, facilitating flat tire repairs.

YiPsan fork lock — To help stabilize the bike when parked, this pin runs through the fork brake bolt hole and into a custom hole in the frame’s downtube

YiPsan stabilizer — When riding, the pin is retracted and held against the fork magnetically.

There is a Dutch bike style lock which is attached to the frame and locks the rear wheel so that it can’t be turned, and Renold inserted a braided steel cable into the seat post of the bike which can be pulled out and locked into the wheel lock mechanism.

Oregon Manifest 2011 opening day portraits. — Yep, that cable disappears into the seat post.(Photo from YiPsan Bicycles website)

With fenders, internally geared rear hub, belt drive, generator lights and great load carrying capacity, this bike’s got it covered. And it fits Leah like a glove.

Bauhinia – YiPsan Bicycles from YiPsan on Vimeo.

The more I looked at this bike, by Geekhouse, the more I liked it. I talked to the builder at the lunch stop and took these pics.

I thought this was a really creative frame design. Not a traditional double diamond frame, rather an inverted curve or an arch, the other strongest shape, basically forming the seat stays and rack. The double top tubes curve down and sweep back to form the rear rack, also establishing a low stand over height.
The rear skirt guard and front fender design could be improved to provide better spray coverage. And again the ubiquitous Shimano Alfine internal gear rear hub and front dynamo hub. The front light was actually integrated into the stem.

The shaft of the u-bolt lock is built into a short piece of tubing welded to the two pivot points on the top tube. The shackle portion of the lock is strapped down when riding and pivoted up and removed to lock the bike to a post or bike rack.

Geekhouse lock — Nice work integrating the Brooks bag carrier into the handlebars.

Another bike I was drawn to is the Fremont a collaboration between Ziba and Signal Cycles.

This is one of several side-car designs at the event, but it seemed like the most practical of the bunch to me because the side car folds up over the rear fender to become a rack. And the side car met the additional requirement of providing a support for the parked, loaded bike. The canvas bags were made for the team by a local Portland seamstress.