Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Night Rider




"Don't mess with 'The Hoff' ". Okay, so this ain't Night Rider as in David Hasselhoff, Mr. Baywatch himself. I mean night bike rides! The weather is returning to a more normal DC summer (damnit) and our coolish days have come to a pronounced, humid, buggy end.

So, when to hop on your bike and take a two-wheeled hike? In the cool of the evening. We still get a respite late in the day. Sometimes, especially on the "high" ground here in upper NW, there is even a little breeze. But the temperature difference, real or perceived, from two p.m to seven p.m is tremendous.

Have a light dinner, then hop on the bike. Make sure to have your lights, front and rear, in good working order. We don't need no more stinkin' bike ninjas. Lights that use AA or AAA are great, because you can buy rechargeables.

"In the front it's white when you ride at night; in back use red or you be dead!"




But seriously, I use the following combo, and my wife says I look like a spaceship: FRONT--one blinking Cateye Opticube, with 5 LEDs; one steady-on Cree flashlight mounted with a Twofish LockBlock. Out back I have a Cateye basic red set to constant blink mode and attached to the seatpost. On the rear of my helmet is attached a Planet Bike Superflash. I set this one to disco mode! The PBSF flash mode has the most distinctive flash I have seen; oscillating from red to white and changing intensity while never having a long pause without light. I have the Bell Citi helmet which has a built-in hard plastic loop specifically for attaching the clips of bike lights.

In addition to the wattage above, I have passive safety gear, too. I ride with a reflective neon vest at night, and pretty much during the day, too. I have a smaller, partial-cover mesh vest for daytime riding. It's kind of like wearing a man-zierre. I have a larger, beefier, full-coverage reflective vest for nights. Standard issue construction-type, neon green with the wide reflective tape bands all around. My Citi helmet, too, is not only an obnoxious yellow, but has built-in reflective stickers as well. Add to this my panniers. Currently I am using Nashbar small commuter panniers that are bright yellow with, again, their own reflective tape stripe on each pannier.
To top it all off, I do have reflective leg bands but have not gotten into the habit of wearing them. However, I have seen videos comparing a rider with/without leg bands, and the bands do work really well. Generally, though, I am riding in or near the city, and the ambient light from stores, cars and streetlamps might kill the necessity for any more reflective gear. As a motorist, a good flashing rear red light does the trick. Well, I think that about covers it. I was riding up our street one night and my wife just happened to be driving down the same street. Even with the car windows rolled all the way up, I could hear her howl with laughter as she approached me. "You look like an alien spaceship!". Yeah, well, I'm alive, and just you watch out or I'll surgically implant a standard-issue alien probe! Hmm, that might explain a few things about "The Hoff".

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Sloggin' Away




Today I dusted off the older folder. My Dahon Speed P8 which hasn't seen the underside of my bum in quite some time--well, since I bought my Bike Friday, actually. But I had a short errand to run, and I like the fold of the Dahon better than the BF.
The Dahon does not feel as rock solid as the BF. Nor is it as quick. But the stock Schwalbe Big Apple, 2 inch-wide tires really soak up the DC cracks and potholes. It's a bit of an urban road warrior, this bike.
I pulled it out of the trunk of my car, where it has sat for some time, waiting for me to get the gumption to take it to the bike shop where I bought it so they can see if it is part of the Dahon handlepost recall. Yeah, I guess I'm living a little dangerously. All fun and games until I go OTB and smash my teeth in :).
But, my trip was uneventful, and I dodged the rain, safely ensconced in Two Amy's, having some neapolitan pizza. And, better than that, I saw one of the staff slicing up what looked to be some amazing cotto salami, so I asked him for a slice. He instead gave me a full primi piatti (small plate) with some bread, too! Turns out he had aged this batch himself, and it was awesome--buttery and spicy and oh, so damned good with a Tipopils italian beer, one of the new wave of italian beers that aren't a version of Heineken. This beer has bite, verve, nerve and a great finish. Thankfully Italy has caught a bit of the craft beer bug.
So the Dahon rode me to Two Amy's and back in some version of style. It's an urban assault bike, to be sure. There is nothing glamorous about this bike. But with wide tires and a deep red body, it has a low, mean look just suited for the city streets. The fold may not be the smallest in the biz, but it's quick and greaseless. I took the bike inside with me. That's another reason to love Two Amy's and any place that doesn't look askance at folding bikes in their midst. I will gladly plug any establishment that understands a folder is generally smaller than a baby stroller and should, in my humble, cyclist opinion, be allowed indoors. Happy riding!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Lost at Si


There's nothing like getting lost on bike trails, and off them, so long as you've got the time to spare. I headed north on the Rock Creek Trail from it's overhead intersection with the Capital Crescent Trail. Normally I am riding up Rock Creek/Beach Drive and use the CCT as a loop back to NW DC; or the reverse coming from the CCT to the Rock Creek Trail. But last night I had a destination of Shady Grove, and wanted to bike there. Well, I didn't get to Shady Grove, but I had great meanderings through some beautiful, if bumpy sections of the Rock Creek Trail and a host of contiguous trails and neighborhoods.


Where the RCT goes under I-495, it bends back to the left, almost where it came from. There's a closed section and detour a little farther on, and that's where I started playing hid and go seek with the actual RCT. I found lots of side trails and spurs that usually led to some neighborhood parks, like Dewey Park.


Dewey was cool--tennis courts, basketball courts, and soccer fields. Soccer fields filled with spanish wafting toward me and trailing behind as I rode by. I love soccer--played for years growing up, like most god-fearing suburbanites of northern Virginia. But even better is the passion many latinos have for the sport. Unlike a lot of us NOVA suburbanites, they don't stop playing after high school. Pick-up games are de rigeur if your native tongue is spanish. It's great. It's just like the pick-up hoops I used to play. Not much equipment is necessary, and skill level can vary greatly, even among one team. Yes, you might spend some time on the sideline if your skills are not great, but you'll eventually get in the game so long as you are not prone to scoring on your own team. Shirts and skins; full-fledged, refereed games and official jerseys; six-on-six. You name it, soccer has its variant and it was being played right alongside Rock Creek Trail and the other network trails in Montgomery County.


I ended up with a two hour and forty minute "jaunt" of a bike ride. One hell of a therapy session, let me tell you. It was great getting a mix of trail riding and road riding. The trail is often a foliage tapestry, twisting and turning through the wooded terrain, over small dips and up short inclines. The RCT is bumpy in a lot of places, so hang onto your pedals. Once I got tired of jockeying the bike over this semi-rough terrain (I've got slicks on the bike, though they are 1.35 inches wide) I hopped over to Beach Drive and enjoyed the smoothness of car-grade asphalt. The drive was fairly relaxed at this time of day, around seven-thirty at night. Most of the cars were fine with encountering a cyclist or three (I was not alone this overcast, cool, splendid biking night) and I only had a few close passes.


There's a point in here somewhere. Oh yeah. Just shut up and ride. If you think great riding doesn't exist in the self-important blowhard capital of the world, think again. It was a Monday night. People are stressed. Yet I had a terrific ride approaching three hours long, taking advantage of the long days we still have, and also making use of my lights as I doubled back on the CCT at around eight thirty at night. We don't need a velodrome. We don't need to always have the roadways to ourselves as cyclists. If you can ride confidently in traffic, and don't mind some trail riding complete with root bumps and baby strollers, DC area biking serves up plenty of routes and ramblings for the two-wheel inclined! So, I shut up now, you go ride!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Good Lord Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise


Saturday, in the park/I think it was the fourth of July: So the Chicago song goes. Well, it's Saturday, July eighteenth here in DC, not Chicago, and the park is Rock Creek Park. "What a day for a daydream" someome also sang waaaay back, when long play albums were king of the candy store and CD's weren't even a twinkle in the cassette tape's eye.


What a day for a bike ride, actually. And Rock Creek is the place. I can't overstate how massively, hugely awesome it is to have Beach Drive closed down, and even the parts that have traffic, have limited, non-through-way traffic that is mostly going to a parking lot to picnic. Ahh, but Beach Drive itself. You've got space to fly on your cycle; or; just hang right and dawdle along. This is no bike trail. This is a road. Cars removed. Surface decent. View: fantastic.


I start in Tenleytown, and head down Brandywine, right onto Broad Branch for a short ways, and pick up Rock Creek/Beach Drive right where it is first closed off to car traffic. Then I head steadily northward through the park, gently climbing until that last hurrah, a steeper climb up to the next set of gates that blocks the cars and a great leg burner. I keep churning from the second I hit Beach Dr until I crest this great hill, then enjoy the descent down to the next section of closed road as I approach the Maryland ball fields and Candy Cane Park at East/West Hwy.


Next I abandon the trail for a somewhat steep ascent up to the top of the neighborhood behind the park and turn off to the Georgetown Branch Trail. Soon ahead is the high trestle back over Rock Creek, a great place to stop and admire the climb just made. This is the unpaved section of trail, but it's not a bad ride on slicks until you get closer to the tunnel in Bethesda, and it gets bumpier from the recent construction equipment that was extending the paved section of the Capital Crescent Trail just a bit on the north/east side of the tunnel. As you pop out of the tunnel, heading south, the tree-lined trail suddenly gives way to Bethesda Row. Giffords Ice Cream and the movie theater (and probably a damned Starbucks in there somewhere, too) give rise to congregation; children's screams of playful delight--their accompanying adults actually smiling--and ice cream bribes. It's a great awakening as you come out of the dark of the tunnel and into the din of joyful baby stroller pushers, dog walkers, gangly teenagers and button-nose toddlers clumsily slapping palms and feet on the plaza in front of Borders.


After a turn back onto the CCT, it's back into the channeled ride through the trees, and on a terrific sunny day like today, it's a slowish ride with "on your left" and "passing" the extent of your vocabulary and often your thoughts. It takes a keen sense of preparedness to dodge the little boys and girls weaving along on their single speed bikes or x-mart fake suspension rides, parents just behind on creaky old cruisers, or, sometimes, top-shelf, never-used mountain and road bikes, the chain stay still shiny; no tell-tale commuter grime.


The narrow trail presents challenges that Beach Drive does not. At this point in my ride I miss Beach Drive and cranking up the hill, almost wishing for an incline again just to have that space to ride. But I am winnowing gently down the old railroad grade and to my turn-off at Mass Ave, literally separating myself as grain from the chaff on the trail until I reach the steep little pull-off to Mass Ave and my ride back through lazy Maryland suburbs that tuck right against DC, and onwards into Northwest and home again.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Time to Brag on the Bike Friday Pocket Crusoe






Or, my first official review of the bike, after having had it a while.



I have a Bike Friday Pocket Crusoe in enno orange color. I've been riding it since mid-April, and now have way more than a feel for the bike, and enough history to write a worthwhile review. So here it all is; the good, the bad and the orange! By the way, I use the bike for commuting, touring, some road riding for speed, grocery getting and general errand running. It has seen light trail duty (crushed gravel) as well.


Specs: 24 speed: 8-speed cassette 11-32; SRAM 3-speed internal hub. BF "H-bar" handlebar; v-brakes.

Upon delivery, the seatmast mini-forks that clamp around the seatmast quick-release were slightly bent in one direction, and pinched shut a tad too much. A call to BF got me the assurance I needed to gently bend them back into position and separate the forks a smidge so they would fit around the QR hub. No harm done and a 5-minute fix. Not a problem since and BF made a note in my account to document everything, should there be any future issues. BTW they also offered to replace/fix the part themselves, but I am far too impatient for that!


The gear cables stretched a lot, more than any other bike I have owned. It took a while for them to settle in, as in a couple weeks. They've been on point since one last adjustment months ago. You absolutely need a work stand to do any adjusting beyond the barrel tensioner. The design of the bike has the rear derailleur cable and IHG cable wrap tightly around the frame at a fairly acute angle, so there's no wrenching on the cable to tighten it without a stand.


The v-brakes are great. Compared to my other folder, these worked better right out of the box. In fact, I still haven't tightened the brakes and it's now mid July! The front brake is only slightly mushy but well within spec (I can't squeeze it to the bar or even come close yet).

The fit is excellent, but then this was a custom order straight from BF. I vasilated between calling myself a type 2 rider (slightly upright position) and type 3 (slightly forward/racing). BF decided I was a 2. Turns out I am more a 3 these days. The ahead stem can be flipped over to change it to a slight downward angle to lower the handlebars. I also have the folding stem riser, which is a straight, vertical tube to which the stem attaches. I am not sure if this is BF kosher, but I slid the stem about 1 inch down the tube to get a bit more racer positioning. I have found I am now pretty dialed in.

So how does the bike feel and ride? I forget it's a folder. It rides like a full-size bike. It really cruises around town, and I think it climbs better than any full-size bike I have ridden (mountain and 10-speeds in my past). The bike also feels totally solid. The BF design eliminates handlepost folds and so stiffens up the cockpit. I really have heard no groans or complaints from the bike when I crank. The frame seems rock solid. All I really have done to this point is oil the chain and keep the tires at the recommend 100psi. As long as I do that once every week or so, the bike is damn near silent, except for the pleasant whir of the internal gear hub.

Shifting: The SRAM drivetrain is flawless in its shifts, if a bit clunky. You feel certain gear changes, but they are always dead on with no skips. I have no problem with the slight whunk and it doesn't affect the shift at all. The 3-speed internal hub is the same. A silent shift and you feel the tension increase or decrease without a squeak. The only consistent drivetrain noise I hear is a bit of a clatter when I am on the 8th cog. It's still a perfect shift, no jumpback, but the bike clatters (like a mini-vibration) while on the 8th cassette cog. I have not done any investigating, but will do so. I can't see where the chain might be hitting the frame, so it may be something else. The gear range overall is great, especially at the low end, which is what I wanted for touring and hill climbing. I could max out the top end on a steep descent, but this is not a concern for me. Frankly I keep my speed down out of fear.

The fold: not so great. Well, the rear triangle tucks under quickly. The quick release works perfectly. No problems there. The seatmast folds down easily enough, though pushing the water bottle cage out of the way is a slight hassle, though a pretty good engineering feat, too. But I find the handlepost "nesting" onto the frame, and latching with the strap a bit messy. I always seem to get grease on my hands. Also, the chain does pop off, so I bought the BF chain retainer which definitely helps. It's a clumsy fold overall on their pocket bikes, but not insurmountable by any means. I do find that I try and fold as little as possible, though.


The folding strap is attached around one of the two braze-ons for a second water bottle, on the rear side of the seatmast. One problem I induced was after attaching a water bottle here, I then tried to reattach the fold strap. Apparently one screw of this pair is longer than the other. One is meant for the braze-on to which the strap attaches (the longer one I think). Not noticing the length difference, I took the longer allen bolt and started wrenching it back into the lower braze-on, and it started to pry the braze-on off the frame. So that braze-on is only partly attached to the frame. Seems a bit of a flaw to me, encountered by my stupidity perhaps.

Overall, I am totally impressed with this bike. It has yet to fail me in any way (the braze-on notwithstanding). It feels lighter, less cramped, and more solid than my Dahon Speed P8. In fairness, this is in fact a lighter bike by about 5 pounds stock, it was a custom fit, and cost a lot more than the Dahon. But not having a folding handlebar/stem riser really seems to help. Bike Friday does a good job dialing in the fit, too. The welds look great, the powder coat color is great and rugged and, well, I just don't want to ever ride my other bikes. This bike is fun, fast and useful. I highly recommend the bike and the company. Customer service is so good as to be unheard of in any industry. Go get one. Now.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Biking on the Dog Days of Summer






Okay, so it's not blazing hot yet. But when the dog is spontaneously drooling, no chicken burrito in front of her face, you know it's just plain hot. So what do sane people do? Stay indoors. What does the Bike Friday Club of DC do? Go for a ride. In the hottest parts of the day. Well, okay, we took a lunch respite in the dark, cool confines of Roy's Place Sandwich shop in Gaithersburg, MD. "A tavern", Roy described his place, not far missing the mark. It has all the wall-crammed chotchquis of a TGI Been There's, except Roy and his wife hand-picked their stuff over the course of many years, at yard sales, from original owners. Roy's is the blues to Chili's Muzak.

Roy passed away May 15, 2009. From what I've read, learned from talking to people, and seen for myself while at Roy's, he was cantankerous. Contentious. Or, maybe just straight-up honest, never going to suffer fools gladly. I'll borrow the best anecdote from the restaurant menu. Once upon a time (Roy after all opened his restaurant in 1955) a customer got angry at the too vast array of strange sandwich concoctions on the menu, and grumbled to Roy: "Can't I just have a cold sandwich?". Big mistake. "Here you go," responded Roy, handing the customer two slices of bread with ice cubes in between. And, as the menu proudly states, it's still an option (though the price has increased over the years).


I bring all this up as Roy was the inspiration for our fearless group leader to plan our trip through southern Montgomery County and end up at his restaurant. She read a newspaper article about him after his passing, and, like I had been over a year ago, she was instantly fascinated by the man and the place, Roy's, and knew it was a destination worthy of half a dozen sweaty bikers with rear-view mirrors wired to their sunglasses. And while the 15+/- mile ride back to our meeting point may have worked off some of our sandwiches (well maybe just a fraction of my "Marsupial", the fried oyster and roast beef sandwich pictured above, and number 21 on the menu) the memory of Roy and our ride to his tavern will stick with us a lot longer.













Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Bridge and Tunnel Crowd






Okay, so back to something more bike related. This is, after all, the Unemployed Bike Commuter blog. Bridge and tunnel crowd, then? What gives? Angry Manhattan-ites sick of the Jersey City and Connecticut interlopers? Irritated DC'ers sneering at MD and VA cars making wrong turns onto one-way streets in the CBD? Nope. This time it's the Capital Crescent Trail and its bridges and tunnels.

The CCT is a great bike escape on the NW side of town when you don't feel like playing in traffic. It's actually quite scenic in spots, too. The pics above are of the Dalecarlia tunnel, which burrows beneath the street to provide safe passage for cyclists after the railroad left town in 1985; and the trestle bridge over Canal Rd, where Arizona Ave creeps up into DC. And, of course, The DC Flyer, complete with neon panniers.


Aside from being a beautiful ride, the CCT seems to discourage weekend Lance-a-lots; our superhero-clad racers who think the area bike trails are training grids. I think the CCT is short enough that these would-be tightsights steer more toward the Mount Vernon Trail. I find my rides on the CCT very relaxing, especially on weekdays. Further, the CCT provides good calf resistance when you ride north, the gentle grade insistently plucking at your gastrocnemius if you keep the gears at least in the middle ranges.
[Bike geek alert!!] The DC Flyer has twenty-four gears and uses most of them (3-speed internal hub coupled with an 11-32 rear sprocket spread and 46T front chainring), being my workhorse, grocery getter, speedster, do-it-all bike. However the middle gear of my SRAM three-speed internal hub sees the most use, so I am generally cruising the CCT somewhere between twelfth and fifteenth gears. (NOTE: the preceding sentence is a contractual obligation to satisfy the serious bike geeks who read this blog).
Not only does the CCT offer scenic cruising and a bit of a workout, you can turn it into a nice loop in combination with the Rock Creek Park Trail. If you start by going south to Georgetown, you can ride the Rock Creek Trail back to upper northwest. Conversely, if you head north on the CCT, you will link up with the interim Georgetown Branch Trail and can double-back along Beach Drive and eventually back to the Rock Creek Trail. And speaking of bike trails and the city...
DC certainly isn't constructed to be bike friendly like, say, Portland, Oregon. At least not in terms of previous civic planning. But we're working on it. Mayor Fenty has a plan and seems to be slowly executing it. DC installed its 1,000th bike rack in 2008. Plans also call for 40 miles of bike lanes in the city. I will leave discussion as to the usefulness of bike lanes to those on the bike forums all across the web. But the point taken is a good one--bicyclists are evidently being heard by the city, and their needs considered.
Now back to the bridge and tunnel crowd--sort of. Read on!
Further to the above progress, there is a bike center under construction at Union Station. As has been posted by others on the web, it will hold 150+ bikes, in a protected parking area, plus additional unsecure (standard) bike racks outside. There will be a changing room and lockers to rent, but no showers. The bike center itself should be badass. It will be largely a glass structure, shaped kind of like a football. The developer wanted a "non building" specifically so as not to compete with Union Station itself. Comments on the web show that current outdoor bike racks at Union Station are somewhat theft-prone. For those parking here and commuting, I reckon the bike center will be a welcome relief. And the price tag? $100 a year. Cheaper than a new frame! For more information from the DC guv itself: http://tinyurl.com/lzvquj
Happy riding amigos!

Of Matches and Fireworks


On the heels of July 4th conflagrations came the epic Wimbledon tennis match, the fight for the men's singles title. Or, as they term it at Wimbledon, the "gentleman's" title. Those of you who are tennis fans know the Federer/Roddick match went all five sets, and to sixteen-fourteen in the final set. Ultimately Federer, the quiet bully, wore down Roddick like your girlfriend wears you down about buying the fifteen piece bedding set, complete with duvee.

The only thing that lasted longer than the tennis match was the fireworks melee on the river in Pasadena, Maryland. My wife and I had our families up to the river house in southern Maryland, located on a creek, which is not a creek at all but a wide river with boating communities en masse on its shores. It feeds into the Patapsco and eventually into The Bay.

So, on this July 4th Saturday, all along the banks of the river, and inland, and all three hundred and sixty degrees were fireworks--hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal fireworks. Not the crap cones and fountains that spew a few moments of rainbow Lucky Charms colors ten feet into the air. Nope--fireworks--rockets; the kind that make a soft fwump as they are launched skyward, then burst into champagne magnolia bloom, or serpentine sidewinder trails of blues and reds. Some belch forth as eagle talons, shimmering gold; others a singular smoky thread and... BOOM!

This went on all day and all night, mercifully ending sometime around three or four o'clock in the morning on Sunday. By then it was nearly time to get up and go to church, and pray most people still had all their fingers and eyeballs intact. At least the ones that started with them intact. Judging from this, my first experience on the river, that's not a given.