Mild Winter Means Great Riding

Portland has been having an extremely mild winter - no extreme cold and, even, not a lot of rain! We have had some moody foggy mornings which is kind of cool, I like the imagery of fog - is that weird? The morning commutes are, like last year, providing more solitude which is nice for mellowing the mind before thrusting myself into the hecticness of the workday.

Each day is a different day including the scenery that surrounds me. Even during my second year of bike commuting, there are times I just have to stop to take a picture and enjoy the light, shadows, calmness. Occassionally I will wonder if those passing think I am a rookie commuter, snapping pictures of, to them, just another day. See, that's why I need this, to distract my constantly fleeting thoughts.

One would think project SUB (MB-5) is no longer a project ... well, not quite. I decided to use it for test lab as I plan out another MB-1 project (Project MB-1.2). Here I am testing a variation on the drop bar, On One Midge bar and playing with a set of balloon tires, Schwalbe Big Apples (26" x 2.15" = 55-559).

Riding around on this set up is actually enjoyable and fun. The Midge bars are much better than the Moustache bars, since they have actual straight tops and the brake levers are not completely horizontal, and there is some drop to them. The balloon tires are quite different and not as slow as one might think. The last time I rode around on tires that took such low pressure (currently running 30psi) was way back in my childhood days on the Schwinn single speed!

Okay, so when I build up MB-1.2, I'll use the Midge bars and Schwalbe Big Apples. Having two MB-1s will be fun and they will be fairly different for different riding purposes, but both will be fun riding bikes. SUB will be re-converted to the errand bike, the one I can use panniers on.

There seems to have been quite a few Bridgestones for sale in and around the Portland area recently. Given that, you would think I would see more Bridgestones on the road, but that does not seem to be the case. So, the other day, I stopped at City Bikes on my way home to check their used parts bins for some brake parts. While paying, someone came in and asked, "Who owns the MB-1?" I said, "It's mine." He said, "Nice bike."

When I left and as I unlocked my bike, I realized why he asked. There locked to the next over rack was a Bridgestone MB-0.

The MB-0 is on the right. Cool, a first for me!

Ice Bits Riding, Missed Snow Day, More Project MB-1

This past week started out with nearly 24 hour local news of the big storm coming to town. Monday, as you can see from above, we got something, it was not really snow and not really ice, snice? While cold, it was not bad for the morning commute, not slippery like our earlier frozen frost mornings. Well, it was so cool out with the ice bits, that I took some on the bike shots, too.

The trick with the moving shots was I had some camera button issues because of the winter gloves I was wearing. Danged buttons are pretty small and close together. Several times I shot the camera off when I was trying to push the shutter button.

After Monday's snice, Tuesday was just kinda wet, with some coldness. Then, Tuesday night we got our snow. It was wet snow, I could tell by the way it droooooped off the car in the driveway.

I like the snow. I love the quietness it brings. I went outside to take this shot at around 11pm something. So . . . . . quiet. And, pretty.

Well, very, very shortly after I shot this . . . BAM . . . no more electricity. The wet, heavy snow was starting to take its toll and areas were blacking out.

Now it was even quieter . . . and darker. It was still amazing how bright it was though. If you look closely, you can see how the snow was drooping off the rear window of my car. Can you say, wet snow?

Project MB-1

As has been said many times before me, "A project bike is never done . . ." I decided to refine the headlight battery mount just a little, as it was not as tight as I would like.

(Fabrication pictures: Project MB-1 Battery Mount Pictures)

The refinement is a bit subtle, but remember, I be a perfectionist, lol. The key change was to lengthen the lower support piece and use a small piece of double-sided tape to reduce twisting and offset the jostling happening while avoiding road junk and hitting driveways and ramps. Also, I added a upper lip to do the same thing.

Installed, you cannot really see a whole of difference, except the bracket appears a little longer, which, of course, it is.

Overall, the bike is working out great and is fun to ride. The geometry and fit feel good and I just like looking at it, so that is a good sign, too.

The only sad thing is that I missed the chance for a snow ride, since I ended up getting sick. I think the issues of harder breathing in the cold recently finally caught up with me, plus, apparently a bunch of us in a meeting Monday were dropping out sick, so I get to blame someone at work.

Rain a coming ... or so they say

Well, rain or snow/rain or some snow is being predicted for the second half of this coming weekend. Well it feels cold enough to be close, at least. For now, we had a great week for bike commuting -- it was dry! There were some great mornings of awesome city views, and there was some east wind which was cool for the ride home, which of course added to the joy of going uphill into a headwind, right?

These two images show the change from day to day, with a little difference in my ability to get a good point-and-shoot camera exposure and getting use to my DSLR - lol. The second image was a morning with a bit of fog and shot with the point-and-shoot. The first image I used my Pentax K5. That is one pretty cool thing about Portland is you can go out day after day and come back with a different sense of the same image, in this case Portland - Willamette River - Hawthorne Bridge.

Project MB-1? The MB-1 is doing great and I am loving the ride! The fit is good, I think I have pretty much dialed in seat position and that lines up well with the handlebar position. The Dura-Ace downtube shifters are doing their job and working out nicely. I am getting the hang of friction-only shifting, though I only seem to miss when I am downshifting going uphill - why is that, anyway, haha?

I did do a small update to my wire routing along the top tube rear brake cable set up. To eliminate the need for the zip ties and just clean up the look a bit, I ran a longer piece of spiral wrap that extends a little past each brake cable boss. This keeps the wiring lined up nicely.

Now, there is no more white zip tie on either end and the line is cleaner. The following picture shows how I bridged across the cable boss.

You can see the single wrap around the cable, then a couple wraps around the wiring, then the wrapping around both the wiring and cable housing. This keeps everything nice and tidy. The other thing is that, should I change my mind, which I often do, I can easily remove everything for re-use and without having to undo the brake cable.

I remember this ...

... commuting in the dark mornings.

Ooooo, sunrise, Jan 3, from my commute through Mt. Tabor Park in SE Portland. What a great greeting for a morning ride into work.

Things are looking familiar now, since I am now starting my second year of bike commuting - yay, I made it through my rookie year! Leaving early means darker mornings, but right now it seems to be right around sunrise, unless I get up a little earlier and on my way without dragging my feet, that is.

We have been quite lucky here in Portland in we have had pretty dry weather, recently. Only on my way home Frday did I get significant rain. It was a good test of the MB-1's fenders and long mudflaps. The bike stayed pretty clean overall, save for the brake goo that always comes off the pads and rims. In the late afternoon, basically end of the day, I had a doctor appointment, which is only about 3/4 mile away from work, so I rode there. (BP 116/68, Pulse 67 - we're good, yeah) While at my bike getting my rain gear on, my doctor walked by on his way home. He liked the color choice of the bike - cool.

I saw quite a few bike commuters on my way home, more than I usually see, since I usually leave work earlier than 4:30pm. That was pretty cool to see people still riding regardless of the weather. I had one person, while we were at a stop light, compliment me on using a MB-1 for a commuter - another cool. Then she roared on away when the light turned green.

I have to say I still love the winter mornings for the later sunrise. I can get some great views without necessitating having to get up earlier - lol. Even structures that in broad daylight are rather boring take on a more romantic-ish persona. On the left, above, is the rather mundane on-ramp from I-5 south to I-84 east. In this light, it acts like a pointer to the wonderful colors of the sunrise - that's my opinion, anyway. The Willamette was very calm, too.

Having the Willamette River bisect Portland is both good and bad. Bad, in terms of getting across it sometimes, especially in a car. Good, or is it great, in that we have some amazing views and it totally breaks up what would otherwise be just steel and concrete, building to building with no real views or vistas.

I always slow down once I have reached the river, both to cool down before starting work and to just enjoy the view. This is good, also, because it helps keep me from going too far in to commuting zombie mode - you know, where you just get in/on your transportation, put the blinders on, and head to work. I really do not want that to happen, though I have found myself in the mode a few times. Of course, I think it has more to do with having to go to work than my mode or route - hahaha.

Cool, foggy, rainy mornings - Yep, it's Fall in Portland

Been some lovely, fall, foggy mornings and with the darkerness some cool cityscape scenes. Above was an especially amazing morning as I rode in along the Eastbank Esplanade. The fog was rolling along the river fairly quickly. A couple of quick pictures and the scene changed drastically and the wisp of fog in front of the building was gone. I guess that speaks to be in the moment, since once it's gone, it's gone.

Time for readjusting the commuting wear, fleece - check; ear covers - check; back up rain gear - check; and so it goes. The golden red and yellow leaves on the trees and ground have been a beautiful backdrop to my commutes - though with our recent and current rains I'm sure that will change to brown mush soon.

The streets are certainly less crowded, again. I guess the much cooler temps and chance of rain has people prepping for the hibernation season - lol. Every now and then I check the indoor bike parking and it's good to see it full several days of the week. Nice knowing people have continued their commitment to bike commuting.

Not much progress on the uber SUB project, since I am still waiting on the paint. I think I pretty much have all the parts ready to go on, some old, some new. Looking forward to not just assembly, but to the fine-tune assembly to make it just right. A lot of work for a commuter/all arounder bike? Nah. I am not a member of that school of thought that a commuter should be a beater bike. Hey, if I am going to ride it that much I should enjoy it, no, love it, don't you think?

Happy Fall biking everyone.

More Fall = Lovely

Had to stop on my ride home last week to capture this beautiful, colorful view. I wish the colors started sooner and lasted longer. Living in a very green area is great, but I sure love the contrast of the yellows, reds, also the fallen leaves are pretty spectacular. Maybe I am so aware of this time of year is because we apparently are beginning what we affectionately call, the rainy season, here in the Portland area. Once that starts, the colors are not so brilliantly, being subdued by all the grey. The leaves on the ground are but a dark mushy blob - bringing more danger than beauty - they can be so, so slippery.

Project MB-1
Okay, I've come up with the name of this project. It is my vintage, retro, new age uber SUB project, because that's what it will be when I put it all together. Vintage, for the pieces I am retaining and/or making like it was originally. Retro, for the components that give the bike that old school charm. New age, for those things that are based on newer designs or technology, even though they might emote a vintage or retro feel.

I did pick up my new wheel set and they are gorgeous! Built by Sugar Wheel Works, an independently owned shop in Portland. Components? Velo Orange Grand Cru high-flange hubs (rear accepts 9 speed cogs), Sapim butted spokes, Velocity Synergy rims with eyelets and Continental SportContact tires (32-559) 26" x 1.3".

Rear Wheel, Hub Side

Rear Hub, Shiny and Pretty

Front Wheel

Front Hub

Now I sit around and think, "I want to build my bicycle ..."

I guess I will really, really enjoy that first ride.

Nearly Full Circle on My Bike Commuting - Fall has Arrived

The lovely fall mornings have been great for riding in to work. At the moment, if I actually get going at my desired time, I arrive at work just past sunrise. I get to now enjoy those great, peaceful mornings and enjoy the serenity of Portland's lights and waterfront. The changing season is beginning to thin out the morning crowds, again, too. Of course, I know it also means cold is coming as well as wet, oh well, loving the seasonal change.

More than the summer mornings, these cooler, darker mornings seem to be more calming to my constantly turning mind wheels before I cross that line from my space to my work space and the daily scurring begins.

By bits and pieces some of the new parts for the uber SUB are coming in, sort of a trickle in holiday, except, of course, I am also the one buying 'em. The hardest part? I can't put them on, yet, since I have to be anstily patient while the frame is being refinished. I suppose it is a good thing as I am forced to think about how I will put it all back together and think about the small details, like cable covers to keep the cable slap from beating up the paint and all that.

Haha, even work looks good in the early morning light (okay, this is a little darker than it actually was when I took the picture, but hey, looks better this way). Oh, it's the low building with all the golden windows.

If you ever get a chance, definitely go for a early morning ride, it truly is the best.

Fall, Project MB-1 Heading to Paint

More and more the fall colors are coming to Portland. With the fairly dry weather, so far, it has been pleasant riding, seeing the leaves on the ground to break up the otherwise boring grey of concrete. The color variety is nice, especially knowing that bare trees and an overall grey landscape is not far off.

While most of my neighbors mow and rake, I think the yard is quite lovely to look at with the mix of leaves from the neighbor's birch. Plus it helps the hide the brown-grey of my hibernated grass from our hot, recent summer heat.

Riding is changing as well. A tad fewer cyclists, definitely fewer others out jogging or walking or wandering along the Eastbank Esplanade, most definitely fewer in the mornings. On the days I ride with Evan until his school (only a bit over a mile away) the bike commuting crowd traffic is heavier, I guess because it is also at rush hour, 8ish. I do also have to admit to playing some Cat. 6 games, but, hey, commuting should be fun after all.

Project MB-1
The bike has been in disassembly for a while and I have been researching, getting estimates, researching, bidding on some "vintage" parts, mentally designing and redesigning to create a new old bike that is me.

I'll likely swap some parts with the SUB, since I purchased some good, quality items and put the MB-1 parts on the SUB, which are still good. For sure the MB-1 (still working on a new name, but maybe it will be the new SUB, or SUB par deux), will have drop bars, the 170mm crankset. I think as I start putting it back together I'll figure out the smaller details - cable housing colors and that sort of thing.

I went ahead and ordered up a new wheelset, having them hand-built in Portland by Sugar Wheels. I won't go into details until they are done and I'll accompany the description with pictures. They will be nice, for sure.

The other big time consumer, and a few dollars more, will be the re-painting. I decided to stick with the original color and design (pearl tusk) and the decals will be embedded under clear coats for better durability. I thought about a color, but that seemed to "blend" too much with all the other bikes out there. I thought about a purer white like the SUB, but, then, I already have a bike with that color, huh.

To make it unique, I'll be building it with, are you ready, down tube shifters! So, while it is stripped of paint, I am having the cable stops removed and shifter bosses brazed on. For starters, I'll use friction shifters to manage the 7 cogs in back, unless I find an amazingly great deal on a good set of 8 or 9, but I'll be running a crankset designed for a 7 speed chain,. Down the road, mayhaps.

I am looking forward to getting all the bits and parts together and the fun of watching it all come together. I am especially looking forward to the first ride! WooHoo!

Fall Has Arrived

Yep, that's right, Portland is seeing the changing of seasons. Just when I was really enjoying the sunny, warm weather, which seemed to come so late this year. We have had some rain, more clouds, but at least we still have reasonably warm weather, though I must admit it does feel cool at times.

The changing seasons has been fun to see how the videoing changes. You know, things like wiping the rain from the lens once in a while. I've also been taking my new DSLR around so I can learn all the nuances and controls (the picture above was taken with it). Maybe I'll also have a chance to try out the video mode.

Our Bike Commute Challenge month was a lot of fun! Our work team really was awesome, and looks like everyone had a really good time. I know I enjoyed seeing all the new commuters, getting to meet people at work who I've not really met before. Sometimes, it takes more than just work activity to bring you and your coworkers together! Oh, we ended up with 500.5 trips for 5,314.80 miles for a bike trip rate of 8.3%.

To recognize the team, I put this poster together and placed it in our lobby area at work. The nice thing is that others are seeing what the team has accomplished and are very positive and supportive.

I must be feeling a lack of bike projects as I ebay'd another Bridgestone project bike, a 1992 MB-1, highly prized in Bridgestone circles (Bridgestone's top of the line at the time). Here's the posting picture:

This is the same size as my SUB, 1 year older, and lugged versus welded joints. Weight-wise, the MB-1 should be a bit lighter, will run it on my scale and see where it starts at. Who knows, Evan may get the other bike as an all weather and I will build this up as my new SUB all arounder. Stay tuned.

Enjoy your season change and, who knows, maybe I'll see you out there on the roads.

Sunday Parkways SE, More Helmet Cam Fabrication

Wow, this year the SE Portland edition of Sunday Parkways was not as much fun. Oh, it was cool to see all the people and the diversity of people out. With the huge growth over last year, maybe the time has come to break out of being hidden away along narrow side streets and really duplicate the Bogata event by closing off main roadways like our SE Hawthorne and a section of E Burnside. This seems even more needed if part of the message is to increase awareness that bikes are more than just for "play time" to the masses.

Evan and I, where there were any people, were basically nearly stopped and using the bikes more like scooters with seats. Some sections had too many parked cars which narrowed the neighborhood side streets. Near the parks, some of the vendor booths were set up in the street so not only was the road narrower, but with booth visitors in the street there was little to now room. Time for a different event for us? We'll see.

I do think it is great to see so many people out participating, and not just the cyclists. Pedestrians and families, really awesome. I have more pics on my flikr site:

My Sunday Parkways SE PDX Pictures

Warning: Geeky, nerdy content ahead ...

I have some editing to do on a bunch of my test videos, but I can share some more lessons and thoughts. Based on some internet research I had been shooting 720p/60fps as this is suppose to make for smoother playback. Out of curiosity, I switched over to the highest setting of 1080p/30fps. Wow, in addition to having the full ultra-wide angle (142 degrees), I think the imagery is better, smoother. So, I've been shooting at that setting this week on my commutes and will do some test editing. I've run my handlebar mount and have re-designed my helmet mount.

Why re-design? Based on both the bike and helmet mount I have found the key is to create an extremely non-flexing system. Bike-wise, I have better results using my home-made mount over the parts from the ultra-mount. The reason is that on a bike, there is so much vibration transmitted during riding that any of the rubber cushioning of the bought mount transfers additional shake to the camera head. Using an absolutely rigid mount and 30fps creates a very stable image.

Now, applying this same learning to the helmet mount was a bit tricky since there is always a bit of looseness between helmet and head and it is amazing how much shake your head takes, even on smooth roads. Again, changing to 30fps helped quite a bit. I also picked up some helmet pads (thanks Bike Gallery!) for free and fine-tuned the head to helmet fit. I then tried a few different mount designs and placements.

The above picture shows the camera mount and camera head in its current set up. With the ultra wide angle, I can get a portion of the helmet in the image and still have a lot of image space for my surroundings. The final test will be tomorrow's full commute ride versus the up and down the street test I did today.

The bracket itself? An earlier mount I made that I curved to create more surface to contact the curvature of the helmet. I then stuck a piece of no-slide rubber so the mount would not move around on the smooth helmet surface. I used a shock cord and slide clamp from an old pack to cinch the mount snugly to the helmet. Note the mount can be ever so slightly twisted to align it with the helmet center line.

Notice the turn knob on the left? I have a slot so I can adjust the vertical and rotation of the camera head. Using the knob I can make adjustments during my ride (after stopping to the side of course). There is actually enough space I can also turn the camera around and shoot backwards (something I am thinking of trying).

Looking forward to testing this new setup tomorrow. So far, with the setting and mount changes, the images are much better and more satisfactory to this perfectionist - lol.

If this works as my short tests have shown I may actually use the helmet mount as my primary. This is much easier to switch between bikes, since the mount is on my helmet and allows me to shoot what my head is pointing at rather than just where the bike/handlebars are pointing.

I will on getting some of today's and yesterday's test rides edited and uploaded to my Vimeo account soon. Really.

Lot's of Playing with Video - More Joy to My Commuting

I continue to play around with experimental camera shots - the above is an example of my hand-held while riding adventures. The sense of speed is higher than my actual speed, but I like these shots, I mean, you can only take so many of the same Portland buildings and bridges, especially when the light and weather are basically the same day in and day out.

Here's one on the Radac. I like the coloring on this as I forgot to reset the white balance and the image was originally shot for tungsten light, so the original was very blue. De-bluing created a different image than if I had shot with an outdoor white balance mode.

Maybe you noticed an odd, wired thingy attached to the Radac's stem? It's my latest toy, a bullet type point of view (POV) video camera - woohoo! A bit more on that later, though (feel the tension).

At work we have a VP who is occasionally biking into work, and so she has expressed full support for any recommendations on improving our bike storage woes. Not bad. I have a meeting with her in a bit over a week - VPs are so hard to get a meeting time. In the interim, I do track issues and have become somewhat of the org's bike advocate. So, I arranged to meet with John from OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University) from their Transportation Options group. OHSU has done some cool work in new building incorporating bike storage, both for staff and for their clients.

Above is their free bike valet parking with approaching 200 bikes! There are staff (riding up the tram from here near the Willamette River up into the west hills where the main campus is) and client bikes. For after hours, the bikes are brought into the parking garage to one of the many bike storage cages which are key card access only.

Here's one area of lock-it-yourself near the tram. I am so impressed with the number of people biking to work and to their appointments. These racks are basically staple racks with a secret - there are 5 staples welded to heavy steel flat bar. These are not attached to the ground which allows for flexibility in placement on an on-going basis. Pretty cool idea. Again, I was in awe of how many bikes were all over, including I had to lock my bike to a sidewalk post and cable fence. Bikes were locked to benches, every where and anything. Truly supports the notion, if you build it, they will come.

In their garage (part of the local services building) there are several cages, which all have vertical racks. These were not full, but all had bikes in them. I have some great ideas to bring back to my work and see how we can maximize the spaces we have to accommodate bike commuters.

So, about the new video toy. I have played around with both bike mount and helmet mount configurations. I like the bike mount for image predictability and I like the helmet mount for flexibility.

My Vimeo - Shadow Video

I have a couple of other videos there, as well, enjoy.

Bike Video Camera Going Serious Now ...

Mornings are still my favorite time, riding in to work, quiet, fairly peaceful and serene. Here's Portland on Thursday morning and, as I would later discover, with the sun serendipitously reflecting off "Big Pink" onto the Willamette River. The downside? Actually having to go inside a hermetically sealed, atmospherically isolated office building (read: no opening windows for fresh air ventilation). <bleh>

My experimentation with mounting my point-and-shoot camera on the bike's fork has been interesting. They are so handy for typical point-and-shoot (duh) picture-taking but only if you are holding them in your hands. When I shoot while riding, and holding the camera, I can feel the auto-focus point, pause for just a bit, then take the picture. I found I can't as easily tell when I am at the auto focus point which means the camera is not well focused to take my 4-shot set.

Case in point, the above is one of 4, all of them not quite in a level of happy focus. Taking video with that camera was  bit better, though because of its mass, it tends to create a bit shaky videos. Here's a sample I threw together as a test of mounting my camera.

Fork Mount Test at Vimeo

It's not all bad, I did get a few good shots in there - reminds me of my 35mm film days, take a lot to get a few good images.



Here the camera is mounted on the right side fork. Same as when I hand-held my moving wheel shots.

Here is a shot from a different day, but with the camera mounted on the left hand fork. I like these better since here we ride on the right, this just lets the wheel be the framing device rather than parked cars and curbs.

All this while and for some time now, I have been researching the various portable video cameras, also called POVs (point of view) and helmet cams. The one I really liked was also the most expensive - bummer. Well somehow I came across a discount gear site and found one at 40-some percent off - too good to be true? Turns out it was an open box unit and was missing a couple of cables, but those are cheap, so I done bought it. What is it? A V.I.O. POV HD.

I test rode it mounted to the bike on Friday. Will do some helmet mount tests. The one thing I find with a bike mounted camera is I can only shoot in the direction the bike is going. Will see how I like a helmet mount which would give me move shooting directions. I'll do up a test set - ha, when I get some time.

It's been fun to have a creative project, it's been quite a while since I had photography goals beyond taking pictures of my son. Okay, I have been taking commuting pictures, but this latest activity has me pushing beyond the "stop the bike, look at scene, take the picture, get back on the bike" scenario.

Well, that's the highlights, hope you all are out enjoying some great riding and other adventures!

You know you are a bike geek when ...

99% enjoying our warm, dry summer weather - starting to get spoiled for sure. That 1% is dealing with being more sweaty than I would like when I get to work - and I've been pannier'ing it to help. I'm just sweaty - I am trying to ride easy in the morning, too, really.

Well, I have to lighten up some more about judging cyclists who do not respond to my hi greetings, I just encountered the same thing at work with an unknown co-worker. I said, "hi," he said nothing. So, therefore, it appears it is a people phenomenon and, again, not a transportation thing. Hmmm.

Okay, on to the reason for the title of this blog entry. Actually I have two proofs, ha.

1. Felt there was too much black around the stem/handlebar area because of my thumb shifter mounts, soooooo - I sanded off the top of the clamps removing the powder coat. Then I fine grit sanded to smooth them up and then I hand polished them. Oooo, me like much better as there is less black showing. Cool.
   
   
2. With my experimenting with low angle photography, I felt I needed something that was a bit safer, sooooo - I built a custom mount for my camera, big surprise, huh? With another armrest clamp, more aluminum flat stock and a ball head, voila'. Oh, just for my own sense of safety, since the fork is tapered, I used a fender strut to act as a stop to prevent the mount from sliding downward.

Now, I can have the camera ready and just reach down and push the shutter button. I can also set the camera for video, but the image is pretty shaky. What I have been doing is using the multi-shot mode, set for about 5 consecutive shots. Once I have done some fine-tuning/tweaking then I'll clean it all up and paint it up black.

And that's getting my bike geek on ... hahaha.

Extra Special Sunday Parkways

Experimenting with changing things up a bit, including how I take pictures on my commutes. Here I am playing around with taking pictures while riding and holding the camera for different perspectives. This one, of course, taken holding the camera at a low angle to include the front tire. I definitely need to keep practicing on getting the right aim point down. I do like the motion expressed by the tire, though.

Unlike most days these past couple of weeks, my ride in was quite peaceful and quiet, since we just had a spell of showers and my ride actually started at the tail end with a few drizzle drips. Temp-wise, it was still comfortably warm, so I actually had to stop and take off the rain gear. I'm sure once I figure out the perfect warm and wet clothing set up we will be back to colder temps - so it goes, I suppose.

I think I have finally got both pairs of shoes' cleats adjusted so the pedalling feels the best, what a chore. I was able to find a set of new old stock (NOS) Dura Ace rear cogs so I could finally extra fine-tune the gearing on both bikes (both have uniglide cogs). So, both now have nice 2 tooth steps for consistent shifting (SUB=11-13-15-17-19-21-23; Radac=12-14-16-18-20-22-24). What's cool is Evan's bike also runs a uniglide set of cogs so I can fine-tune his, when he is ready, which for now he is happy with his current set up.

I continue to try and do different home-ward routes, so I do not get overly bored with riding the same route day-in and day-out, that feels good. On one day after stopping at my pharmacist's, I explored one of Evan's routes to high school next year. It was quite pleasant and was actually pretty straightforward, very few jogs and mostly neighborhood streets. At least I feel better about that route for him.

Last week was no riding, since I was off from work and felt compelled to mostly just relax with my son, did catch up on other non-riding things.

Yesterday, one of our warmer days of this, so far, short cooler summer, I rode the Sunday Parkways NW Portland. They had a new route this year, much longer than last year's inaugural one. Most of the route was great, though the Naito Parkway bikes on one side, cars on the other was confusing and there was little traffic control by either volunteers or the Portland Police. This seemed to create odd intersection traffic since the lights were still going, pedestrians were trying to cross, cars trying to get to their side and the Naito traffic seemed to ignore most of the signals and pedestrians.

Overall, it was fun. We had super weather and riding with out a lot of traffic to deal with was such a treat. Part of the route included part of my standard commute, so I have a pretty good comparison. The best part was I finally got to meet someone I have only known on a cycling forum I am a member of. We spent some initial time visiting and chatting it up, then rode about half the route together as we continued to chat. I am sure we will ride together, again. Who knows, maybe we will get to see more of the Portland area members of the forum, which is hosted by a local cycling business.

Human Behavior from the Bike Seat

Image: Sailboat passing through the lift of the Burnside Bridge, Steel Bridge in the background.

I have to say, I am getting spoiled with this warmer and so, so much drier weather we have been having here in Portland! I do not have to carry so much extra gear and I feel like I can actually slow down a bit and enjoy the ride rather than getting from A to B with the least amount of wetness. I think people seem to be in cheerier spirits as well, since we can finally get out and enjoy a jog, walk, or just plain sitting out in the open, fresh air. On my usual morning route, I slow along the Eastbank Esplanade for two main reasons, 1) to cool down so I am not so sweaty arriving at work; and 2) it is nice along the river, peaceful, mostly quiet and a wonderful view.

I am now at 1700 miles of commuting and, at times, feel overly in a rut, route wise. So, I now occassionally change my route home, to see other parts of inner southeast Portland and to break up the commuting monotony so it does not become boring or I forget to enjoy the journey. Plus it is probably good to have different terrain to ride on.

I think I have actually adjusted my new Time ATAC cleats to where it is feeling both neutral and comfortable for me feet and knees. Oh, speaking of knees, the last few days I have had to stay in lower gears as I mildly injured the right knee and pushing too  hard kind of hurts. Other than that, I like the Time pedals and the fact the float is in the pedal and I have less adjustment considerations for the cleats.

Being on a bike allows for much better people (life?) watching than when I was in a car every day. I read a lot about the bike-car-pedestrian issues, the struggle for domination and "rightness". Human behavior being what it is and believing that "my" group is the right one, my observations seem to be that mode of transportation, as I have said in the past, has nothing to do with who is right or wrong. Maybe it goes back to the judge the act, not the person philosophy?

Cars do not like cyclists because they make them go slower, so sometimes drivers make poor choices. We know about these and hear stories all the time. I wonder, though, what pedestrians would write about? I see some cyclists ride like some drivers - in their own world, expecting everyone else to watch out for them and get out of their way. This group typically never even slow at controlled intersections, rush to pass through before the pedestrians steps off the sidewalk and, sometimes, plain scare the bejeebers out of me. I recently saw two cyclists who were crossing a bride on the shared bike-ped walkway lift their bikes over the safetly railing and ride on the roadway. While probably legal, in their goal to not be slowed down by pedestrian traffic, they themselves slowed several cars.

I try to ride not with a focus on right or wrong, legal or illegal, but on courtesy, consideration and respect. I have come to not like the idea of "sharing" the road, because that denotes someone or some group has ownership, you know, like when we were kids and were told to share our toys. How can we share what is is everyone's? It has been fun to have a pedestrian thank me for stopping to let them cross, even when there is no other traffic around and we both saw each other and the person would have been just fine waiting until I passed.

While someone watching from the outside might not think so, I also think it has been funny a few times as I am waving a driver at an intersection and they are waving me - I have done this in a car, as well. So, yeah, I ride with a different focus, one that sees all the spaces as MUPs, since the reality is they truly are and no one mode of transportation has any more right to the space than another, because it is not about the things we use, but about people themselves.

I hope you all are enjoying your riding and are getting out there.