MADE, a bicycle show in Oregon

Legacy marques and small builders show their wares

This was a new event for me to attend. I had been to the Hand-built bicycle show (NAHBS) in Oregon on several previous occasions, but that show like much of the rest of Portland events has died because of recent local events and perhaps some internal issues. I am reluctant to go into the city at all anymore with the myriad problems that Portland is experiencing but I had pre-scouted this location and thought that it didn’t look too bad so I decided to give it a shot.

 

Map of Italian cycling brands

I recently found this interesting map on Ebay. It was a limited and numbered edition and no longer seems to be available. It covers not only bicycle manufacturers but also components!

Image by Andrea Bonfanti

 

Off season and off topic, in the Veneto

This post isn’t really going to be about cycling. In fact, the best I’ll be able to do is to sneak a couple of bicycle related images and locations into this brief account of our off season trip to the Veneto. The trip for our family is about a little mid-pandemic relief and trying to reclaim something of a normal life during this not-so-normal holiday season.

Early December evening, Piazza San Marco

 

Banks – Vernonia Trail

The traihead in Banks, Oregon

The Banks – Vernonia State Trail is an old rail bed turned into a recreational trail which has become quite popular. It is one of the longer rail-trails in the area and runs 22 miles from it’s beginning in Banks to the end at Vernonia Lake.

 

What has happened to randonneuring?

15 years a Randonneur!

I became a member of Randonneurs USA in 2006 as RUSA #3100, just 8 years after the organization was formed. The things that initially drew me to randonneuring were simply the idea of riding my bicycle over long distances, often through new and interesting countryside and usually with a good friend at my side. The traditions of the sport, the self sufficiency, determination and resourcefulness required to do these rides were characteristics that I valued and admired. But, over my years of participating in the sport I’ve noticed that some things are changing and it has me thinking…..

My riding partner Clair Jensen on the Central Coast in 2006

 

Workshop update, in the age of seclusion.

Sheltering in shop!

Well with the current situation requiring that people stay at home, I have found time to make some progress on getting the workshop organized. Creating a productive and attractive workplace from an empty space is a challenge. The room seems large at first glance but when you put in a few bicycles, motorbikes, ski gear, a convertible, wood working shop and other storage, well it soon becomes obvious that you don’t have as much space as you thought!

 

Relocating the Workshop!

The end of the Oregon Trail?

Well, we have been in Utah for over 26 years but the time has come to make a change. We are entering that “downsizing” time of life and are relocating to Oregon City, south of Portland Oregon. We have family in this area and have visited for years so it just makes sense.

The new shop is still a work in progress!

It is a big job moving most of what you own over 1000 miles, but our move is more of a slow motion transition and we will have a foot-print in both Oregon and Utah for a awhile yet. While the overall goal is to downsize a bit there is also an opportunity to up-size the workshop space. I should be able to gather all of my cycling interests and do a nice reorganization of the shop space. This will provide me with the space to create a nice display for some of the old and special bikes as well as some work space for not only cycling, but other interests such as motorcycles and wood working. I should even be able to sneak in a paint booth! I know that winter can be long and gloomy in the PNW so a warm, dry and well lit refuge will be welcome.

It also nicely eliminates the argument about not having enough space for that new project!

Information on Oregon City.

 

Last call for the high country, 2014

Friday, September 26, 2014

This is the time of year when the fall colors in the Utah high country can be spectacular, particularly around Navajo Lake. I always try to get some late season rides in while the weather is still good because when the curtain of winter drops for the season it is usually final! This weekend was the last weekend expected to have decent weather so I was on it!

Starting off on the Navajo Lake loop from the Dike trailhead

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A cool day in Oceanside.

Recently, I have had the opportunity to spend some time in southern California with my bicycle. When I head out on the bike a good destination for me is Oceanside, which has a great beach and kind of a funky old town. It is not a high end community but has the full flavor of SoCal, with interesting people, many restaurants and shops. It is like the Portland of SoCal, weird but in a good way! Not only is it great to ride to the ocean on a beautiful day, but there is lots to see and do there. One of my new favorite stops in Oceanside is Pacific Coast Cycles , which is anything but your “normal” bike shop.  Pacific Coast Cycles is an anomaly in that it is truly a bicycle shop for people who love bikes. They are not about selling the latest model of superbike accessory or team kit but more about getting you what you need, even if that is only information.

 

Moto reconnoissance of Tuscany

This fall my wife Sara and took a trip to Italy; Tuscany in particular where we toured the area by motorcycle. We had over 10 days to see the region and covered over 1200 km during the trip. We saw the countryside from Cinque Terre to Siena and many of the backroads in between. All the while I kept an eye on the cycling opportunities in the region. After a thorough investigation I can report that the area is a cycling paradise, particularly the area north of Lucca as well as the Chianti region of Tuscany. The trip also helped me get a feel for the area of Chianti where the vintage L’Eroica event is held each October. For more on L’Eroica click here. If you want to read more on our adventure, here is a full detailed account of the trip, or if you just want the quick slideshow click here. We are back home now and I am making plans to hopefully return in 2012 to ride the bike. To keep track of my preparation for next year you can follow the L’Eroica posts.

 

Front Bag mounting options

I have been a little unhappy with the load carrying position of my bar mounted Berthoud bag. The bag itself is great and I like the supplied mounting hardware, but mounting it on the bars puts the bag pretty high up and a little far forward. I wanted it to be a little lower down and I also wanted to get back a little room on the handlebars for computers and other accessories. Here is what I came up with.

 

Rear bag ideas

I thought I would share my idea for a rear bag mount on a brevet bike. I have never been fully satisfied with many of the options that I have seen and used over the years, both functionally and aesthetically. I have used racks with trunks, seat post mounted tailrider bags and dangling seat mounted bags. I eventually came up with this idea which I have not seen before. I think it is a simple, elegant and functional solution to adding carrying capacity to almost any bike. It is both economical and versatile as well as ridiculously simple!

 

The thing about bike clubs…..

First, let me offer the definition for a club;  “a group of persons organized for the mutual support and benefit of it’s members and their common interest”.  In the case of a local bicycling club, riding with friends or promoting cycling issues in a local community are generally the focus, and the main reasons why many people join.  This can be expanded to include supporting local cycling events which are often helpful as fundraisers for the club.

 

Last call for the high country.

Posted in absentia; durante el viaje en España

This was to be the last prime day riding in the high country above Cedar City. My loop would start at Navajo Lake which sits at 9000 feet elevation, just above Zion National Park. The last of the Fall colors were still visible around the lake and the trail had dried out nicely from recent snowfalls. The campgrounds were empty and there were few fishermen out. I cruised the backside of the lake loop around to the Virgin River Rim Trail and started to climb. In the shade of the trees the trail was a bit muddier, getting more-so the higher I went. Once I hit the ridge top though (over 10,000 feet) the soil was a little rockier and there was less mud so the good riding continued.  The views opened up and temps were about 50 degrees with no wind and clear skies, it was a beautiful day for late October.

A stunning day at Navajo Lake.

 

The civility of cycling

This post was written after a recent cycling trip to the northwest.

I live in the wilderness. Oh, my town may have all the modern conveniences like shopping, schools, an airport and interstate highway, but in many ways it may as well be 1000 miles from civilization.  Among the things you just can’t get here are a decent meal, locally brewed beer or a choice in coffee.  There are restaurants, but the quality of food in local establishments leaves a lot to be desired.  The nearest brew pub is probably in Las Vegas and Starbucks is your coffee house.  There is one other thing that I really miss by living in southern Utah and that is a mature and developed cycling community.  We have a small local cycling club and there are good riders among them, but their experience and vision of cycling are limited.  It is all race all the time and there is little civility demonstrated among riders.  Most of the members have not experienced cycling outside of Utah and at times they can be scary to ride with due to their lack of experience.

 

Starbucks Sunday Spin

The weather has been pretty unsettled all year so far but I think that our blustery Spring may be about over!  I took a spin on my Battaglin road bike this morning in some of the best conditions we’ve had all year. Sunny, warm, light winds, it was great.  My Sunday rides generally include coffee at our only open local coffee shop, Starbucks.  There were lots of other riders out, some locals and some tourists but all enjoying the day.  Sunday is the best day to ride in southern Utah, traffic is light and most riders are friendly.  It seems like Saturday riders have their heads down, are breathing hard and won’t even take the time to wave let alone chat, but on Sunday it’s different. Maybe it’s a different group, anyway it was a great day to be out on the bike!

 

Cycling in shorts again!

You’ve got to take advantage of any cycling opportunities that may come your way.  I had an opportunity this Presidents Day weekend to do some cycling around Scottsdale Arizona. I have ridden there before and there are some fine routes to ride in and around the area. The weather forecast looked great with temps in then upper 70’s and light winds. I haven’t ridden in that kind of weather since last summer!  It was going to be great to be riding in shorts and short sleeves again!  Recent rains have transformed the desert into a wonderland and everything is looking fresh and green!  It is still too early for wildflowers but you can tell that they will be spectacular this year. 

This was not a training weekend, those of you who know me will understand that “training” is not in my vocabularly, it is a bad word.  Training is unpleasant and my view is that a ride doesn’t need to be unpleasant to improve your cycling.  This was going to be a fun weekend of riding, there was no reason to take something fun and ruin it.  Training is a bad word.

Scottsdale-Rio Verde- Fountain Hills loop

This is a route that I have wanted to ride for some time.  Conditions were great on this day and I was ready.  It is a 50+ mile loop which basically circumnavigates the McDowell Mountains and has about 2350 feet of climbing.  It seems to be a popular local route and I saw many bikes out on the road.  There weren’t many services available but this is a distance that most riders can do without support or assistance. I enjoyed the day and the distance!

North Scottsdale-Camelback loop

 This urban loop follows some pretty bike friendly lesser travelled roads within the city.  With traffic controls and some navigation time it was hard to keep a strong pace throughout the entire route but you can press hard for some stretches.  It is an appealing route that is well travelled by local cyclists, I even ran into some friends of friends while out on this day. 35+miles was this loop’s distance.

Paradise Short loop

Here was another short in town route to fill out my weekend. It was basically a cruise through the neighborhoods around the Paradise area.  There was some routefinding required to stay off the busier streets but it was a good ride.  This 28+ mile spin was not the kind of ride to write home about other than the good weather.

 

Cross training in winter

First I should qualify my comments here, I don’t really train for anything.  I’ll use the term “Cross Training” for clarity and understanding only, not as a practice that I personally use.  Training doesn’t sound like fun to me, so I see no reason to take something that I enjoy and make it “not fun.”  I do believe in being prepared however, so that is the concept behind these thoughts.

I found that in 2007 at PBP I was perhaps in the best shape I had been in for many years.  In thinking back to my preparation at that time I recalled that I had done more than just distance cycling.  I was also mountain biking quite a bit, I was getting in lots of skiing (telemark) and going to the gym regularly.  My gym workouts were weights and flexibility focused with a moderate aerobic warm up and cool down. As a result my overall condition was pretty good and I was getting some good personal results in my cycling.  A couple of highlights for 2006 and 2007 were a sub-11 hour double century, a 20 hour 300 miler and a 30 hour 600 km event, all total times.  They were not events that I raced but simply reflected personal best results for me.

After PBP I changed my plan somewhat and focused more on long distance and did less of the other stuff.  I thought that more saddle time would benefit me for the long rides. Well, the result was not what I expected. 2008 was a bad year, I DNF’ed at an early season double century and at a 600 km brevet in spring.  At other events my results were we’ll off my previously logged times for those events. I stuck with the plan though and just tried to put in more miles. Early 2009 turned out to be a bad start on the year. I put in more miles but my results were still getting worse. What was wrong, was I done, just worn out?  I was confused and decided to rethink my plan as well as my commitment to long distance cycling.

Beginning in late summer of 2009 I began a period of self examination. I cancelled any long rides I still had on the schedule and just did a few events and some favorite local rides.  I got back on the mountain bike and started hitting my favorite local trails frequently.  As fall came around I bought a ski pass and headed to the gym on cruddy days. I even started walking more!  You might have guessed by now that the conclusion I came to was to put more variety back into my preparation.  Try to have more fun and not to be so single minded in my efforts, to have less tunnel vision.  I have enjoyed the renewed excitement of these other disiplines and it surprisingly has made my road rides more enjoyable as well.

It is still too early in the season to know if I am getting back into my personal “zone” but I am encouraged.  My one event so far this year was an early January 200k (story below) and I had a good day!  My road rides are fun, I’ve been mountain biking about twice a week, I ski when the snow is good and I don’t mind going to the gym as much. My next event is in February so that will be my next gauge of how things are working out. 

 Anyway, that is my plan and I’m sticking to it!