Monday Mileage

02/13/12 #238 28m 2h28m 34F

I was experiencing a bit of cabin fever because it's been about six days since my last ride (although there's no complaining about this year's winter) and I was eager to get a ride in today, because the next few days are not promising. Today was cold and dry.

I drove to the Bastille trailhead and got my togs on. In deference to the low temperature I wore my mid-weight wool sweater, my Wombat gloves, and I put chemical toe warmers inside my booties. Inevitably, I lifted my bike off the rack and found a flat front tire. Argghhhh.

I couldn't find a leak anywhere, and it seemed like the valve core itself was loose so I tightened it and hoped for the best. Generally you don't use pliers to fix tires. It did seem to fix the problem, although I was not sanguine at starting a ride in 34F with a questionable wheel.

I rode around the Casino and the stadia, and encountered a trail closure at the baseball stadium - fortunately, the Friends of the Riverfront had advertised the closure (concrete work, Feb 6 to April 1) on their Facebook page so it was no surprise.

Continued along River Street to the 31st Street Bridge, then got back on the trail. It looked as if somebody had used the volunteer's shovels to clear the snow from the new concrete piers, very nice job. Went into Millvale looking for the mural, "A Walk Through Millvale" (2003) by Sandy Kessler Kaminsky, located at 112 Lincoln Ave Millvale, PA 15209.


It's a great mural. I can identify Marc Chatellier's Bakery, Mr. Small's Funhouse and Recording Studio, the Lincoln Ave. Pamela's, the 40th Street Bridge, and possibly St. Nicholas' Church.

Crossed the (actual) 40th Street Bridge, and rode west on Butler Street. At 3711 Butler Street, the location of Elisco Advertising's Creative Cafe (fresh ideas served daily!), I saw this mural which I believe is in the parking lot for an adjacent hair salon:

No information available on the work's title or artist.

Joined the Strip Trail at the Cork Factory, there was more snow on this than I expected, and rode around to the Point. Used Boulevard of the Allies to Grant Street, and the Jail Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge.

It appeared that on both ends of the Hot Metal Bridge, volunteers had used the shovels provided to clear a path through the snow, many thanks! I took the Baldwin Trail south to Keystone Metals, entertained hopeful thoughts about the Sandcastle Solution, and then reversed and rode north through South Side Works.

Quite a few runners out, not too many bicyclists. I did see one bicyclist, opposite direction in an orange jacket, who gave an excellent demonstration of the effectiveness of a good front blinky - it caught my eye much earlier than he would have otherwise.

Dropped my chain climbing around the curve to the Ft. Pitt Bridge, this is happening more and more, the Long Haul Trucker is due for a drivetrain overhaul in the near future.

Took the Ft. Duquesne Bridge and the Casino Trail back to the Bastille, saw a few more bicyclists out. It was a pleasure to get off the bike at 5:40 pm and still be in daylight.

This was a great ride that I really needed. The toe warmers were extremely effective, I wasn't cold at all on this ride.

Newly Recognized Invisibility Effect Causes Hundreds of Bicyclist Deaths Each Year

02/11/12 # 0m

You may be familiar with military research over the past few years moving from stealth technology into invisibility devices, the very "cloaking devices" of science fiction. For instance, a Japanese team is working on an "invisibility poncho" that includes cameras and projectors to make the poncho's wearer somewhat camouflaged, if not invisible.



European scientists have taken another approach to the issue, focusing on making vehicles invisible, initially attempting to duplicate reports of Albert Einstein riding an invisible bicycle in Prague:


Some progress and in fact success was made in this European research, although a few persistent problems proved insoluble:

• bike manufacturers resented it
• bicyclists look stupid without bikes
• they kept losing the bikes

An American inventor was able to develop a somewhat invisible bike by using transparent lucite rather than carbon fiber:

His work proved to be commercially unsuccessful because while he appealed to several market niches — hipsters liked the single-speed configuration, minimalists liked the spare design, and bearded Unix-admin recumbent riders liked the sandals — the niches were mutually exclusive and the conflict was intolerable. He did, however, win a design award from Hincapie Sports for introducing clothing that normalizes traditional bicycle kit.

While interesting or amusing, these approaches did little to advance the body of knowledge. Inevitably, a British researcher solved the problem by using Google to search the amassed content of the internet. His technique? He did Google searches on driver didn't see bicyclist.

His initial search strings were "driver didn't see bicyclist wearing helmet" and "driver didn't see bicyclist no helmet", but then realized that the terms relating to helmet use were redundant since every single article seemed to invoke them.

The research, to be published in an upcoming issue of The Royal Scientist, indicates that in order to achieve invisibility of both rider and bicycle, the following items should be assembled:

• brightly colored clothing
• bright yellow jacket
• body visability augmentors- reflective anklebands, helmet blinkies, bright gloves, etc
• a brightly colored bicycle
• reflectors
• lights (either battery or dynamo powered, no discernable difference)
• one additional element of bike schwag - a messenger bag, a U-lock, a spoke card, etc

Apparently, the integration of all these items into a single quantum unit moving on a paved road at a speed over 8 kilometers-per-hour (kph) introduces a special field effect that renders both the bike and bicycle invisible. The effect is not noticable on unpaved surfaces such as trails.



In response to circulated drafts of the peer-reviewed article, public safety experts are alarmed that this newly described phenomena may account for hundreds of previously unrecognized (and preventable) tragic deaths each year.

(Thanks to The Invisible Visible Man for inspiration.)

		2/11/12 Week 5    this week: 80 miles		1st Qtr 388 miles mi/dayQTR		2012: 388 miles
		Weight: Sun:237 Sat:237 Trend: BAD

Two Andy's, Occupy Pittsburgh, Trojan Horse and Bike Police

02/07/12 #21 1h52m 21m

A shorter ride today; I'm playing the Recovery Ride card. I started at the Bastille and wanted to seek some variation in my routine, so I went south over the Duquesne Bridge. I intended to ride the Mon Whorf but Point State Park has a lot of new barriers up, so I took Blvd. of the Allies over to the Smithfield Street Bridge so as to begin my quest for the intersection of Smithfield Street and Strawberry Way, which promised an urban mural.

As I rode along Smithfield Street with the Mon River at my back, I was pretty sure I'd find Strawberry Way but as I continued across town my certainty started to waiver. I started looking for a Pittsburgh policeman or a Fedex driver to ask about Strawberry Way when I saw a bike cop ahead. He was moving along pretty well, but I caught up to him in traffic and he gave me an exact description of where I was heading.

As I came upon the scene, and saw the mural on top of Weiner World. On the street in the foreground, a flower vendor was working his business, and before I took any photos I approached him and said, Hey I want to take a picture of that mural, if you don't mind. I don't mind, he said, but let me get out of the way; don't need to have my picture taken. Which was, of course, exactly why I'd asked - maybe he had called in sick from his other job, who knows.

Here's the photo of "The Two Andy's" from 2005 by Tom Mosser and Sarah Zeffiro at 628 Smithfield Street:


The flower vendor man is standing beside me as I take the photo, and he says You know, I've been standing under that for two days and I haven't really considered it. To me, the eyes remind me very much of 'American Gothic'. I was taken aback; American Gothic, I asked? Being very courteous, he said Yeah, you may not know the title but you've probably seen the photo, farmer and his wife, pitchfork, very severe. I think their eyes are aligned a lot like the eyes in this mural. Funny thing.

And so I came home and looked up American Gothic and checked the eyeballs, and the flower man was quite right about the eyes:


So, it's two Andy's of Pittsburgh, Andy Warhol and Andrew Carnegie, two very different people. To me, Warhol's face looks a bit Marilyn Monroe-esque; I'm not sure what's up with his right hand; the book is by August Wilson, and the back cover seems to represent Pittsburgh and its bridges. Andrew Carnegie's hands are soaking, perhaps to get the blood of Homestead off his fingers (oooooo, I went there!)

So that was very interesting. I rode across town to the site of Occupy Pittsburgh, which is supposed to be vacating the premises of Mellon Park today. The Occupiers have erected an apparent Trojan Horse, complete with unicorn horn and brushy tail and left it in the park:



It was a very quiet and a fairly desolate scene, there were still a half-dozen Occupiers on the scene, mostly packing up and moving a few tables off the Mellon property on onto adjacent public space. See the photo at the top of this post. No agita, everybody was very nice, no police presence visible of any kind. Several news vans standing by.

Continued on Grant Street toward the Mon, where apparently a vehicle drove into the PNC complex about an hour after I passed through. Rode the Jail Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge, and continued south past the Steelers training facility.

I passed a cyclist on a recumbent, and I was passed in turn by a rider on a hybrid/touring bike carrying heavy panniers and a full trunk bag and boy he was moving at a good clip, and he was in a pretty vertical position too. From his baggage I thought he was a through rider going to DC, and as I approached Keystone Metals he should have been about a minute in front of me at the dead-end but he was nowhere to be seen. I guess he must have portaged over the tracks to Route 837.

Continued north on the SouthSide Trail where I exchanged happy Hello's with bicyclist Frank, then crossed the Fort Pitt Bridge, and the Fort Duquesne Bridge. Approaching the Bastille I encountered two more Pittsburgh police officers patrolling on bicycle, I think that's a great thing.

On a weight-loss note, Doghouse Diaries completely describes my problem with their award-winning weight loss solution.

Blissful Start, Painful Ending: Great Ride

02/06/12 #234 25m 2h38m 30-40F

I've been riding on urban trails quite a lot recently, mostly because they're paved and they offer more alternative options in cold weather than the country trails, but today I decided to ride the Montour Trail.

There brush along the trail was covered with hoar frost as I started out at MP0 in Groveton. As WinnipegCyclingChick points out, hoar frost is both an attractive phenomenon and a lot of fun to say out loud. The trail surface at the start of the ride, with a temp of 30F, was hard frozen and a bit irregular so it was a jarring ride.

As I continued west I encountered a variety of conditions; at times the trail was clear, in the shade it was sometimes snow-covered or had a cruddy permafrost, and as the sun and the temps rose it became wet and quite soft.

I took this photo just west of Gene Mine Road:


I continued to the Boggs Trailhead, where I stopped under blue skies - not quite Carolina blue, but close - and ate a banana and drank some hot coffee out of my thermos. Sunny and now 40F, good food and a warm drink, listening to Byork on WYEP, life is good.

I reversed course and descended to Enlow, and the surface was noticably mushier. I decided to depart the trail at Enlow and indulge a curiosity I've been nursing and ride a route that seemed to make sense, and I figured riding on the road might be more pleasant than slogging through the wet trail surface.


In the beginning... (all stories should start that way.) In the beginning the alternate route (orange line on map below) was great. Hills, to be sure, but they were fun. I brought out the Granny gear, and Granny was up to the task. It was a beautiful blue day, and the effort of climbing kept me warm.

I passed by the Guard base and took a picture of my bike with the vertical stabilizer of a KC-135. I think it's just the tail, I don't think there's an airplane buried there.

Descending east, I encountered a character-building climb that switchbacked up a steep hill (parts of the ride that made me want to cry are noted in red on the map below). It was terrible. Granny and Me were not up to the challenge. I did not get up that hill without stopping.



It was terrible. (I was terrible) On the other side of BizLoop376, where the route turns red again, I stopped at the green-X to drink some coffee, take some honey, and lay down in the sun for fifteen minutes just to collect my thoughts. It was not pretty.

Back on the bike, Ewing Road. I was popped, cooked, done. I think I understand what Jens Voigt means about pain. I told my legs, Shut Up, Legs! but they would not listen.

Two things:
Now I know why nobody suggests using those roads.
I need to take my legs back there again until they get it right.

It was a great ride on a beautiful day, and a welcome change of scenery.

Trying to Discern the Meaning of Wheeling Heliocentric Orrery

02/05/12 #238 34m 41F

A remarkably beautiful day in Pittsburgh. Started riding from the Bastille in Manchester, and as I rode around the Science Center I took the picture above. About one inch in from the left margin, you may note a Goodyear blimp loitering over the Lawrenceville-Bloomfield area.

I rode along the trail to Millvale, and then transitioned to the 40th Street Bridge and across to Butler Street, and turned east into Lawrenceville. At 49th and Butler I took a photo of this mural, by Eric Luden for Zombo Gallery:



Continuing further east I took this photo at 5165 Butler Street:

Wheeling Heliocenter Orrery by Kevinn Fung (sic) 2004

I like the mural but I'm not sure I can meaningfully correlate the work with the title, "Wheeling Heliocenter Orrery".

An orrery is a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons. In 1704, the first modern device of this type was given to the Earl of Orrery — whence the name came. If the sun is presented at the center of the planets, it is considered a Heliocentric Orrery.

Does it intend to convey that the universe rotates around Wheeling, WV? Or, as I prefer to think, does it signal that the universe rotates around the center person wheeling on the bicycle? Insufficient info for conclusion, unable to find much via the Goog, I'd love to know more about it if anybody has more...

It seemed like two mural photos should be a limit of some sort, so I reversed and rode to the Strip, at the Cork Factory I joined the Strip Trail, and continued to Point State Park. It looks like major earth scraping is still in progress around the fountain.

I took Blvd of the Allies to Grant Street, which is a complex intersection, and then joined the Jail Trail south to Swinburne Street. I rode around the corner and took the Junction Hollow Trail up to CMU and refrained from shoaling a bicyclist at the light. Took Fifth, Wilkins, and Murray to Squirrel Hill.

From Squill I took Forbes and South Braddock around to the Nine Mile Run Trail, which showed signs of recent work on the southern half. Rode down to the River, and took the Duck Hollow Trail to the railroad tracks. Cross the tracks, Second Avenue to Greenfield Street, and back on the Jail Trail.

Took the Ft. Duquesne Bridge and the Casino Trail back to the Bastille, 34miles in 2h53m. All along this route there were a lot of people out enjoying the weather, bicyclists, joggers and walkers. An excellent outing.

Wrenching Results: Mounting Rear Lights

02/04/12 #237 0m

I am not a good mechanic but I do enjoy wrenching and find great satisfaction in those events when I accomplish small results without permanent damage, resorting to professionals, or trips to the emergency room.

My Jannd Expedition Rack does not offer a mounting platform for a rear light - which would be insufficient anyway, as I wanted to mount two rear lights.

I am enamored of both the Cateye TLD1100 and the PDW Radbot1000 and so to use them both I kludged a DIY solution using seatpost mounts and PVC pipe (see photo at left). This was a completely functional and yet decidedly inelegant solution that was completely discordant with the LHT aesthetic.

In fact, it was a cry for help, a call for intervention, and I could ignore it no longer.

I found out that on their respective websites, both Cateye and PDW offer "small parts" that offer alternative rear rack mounting options, so I ordered rear mounts and then faced the problem of how to affix them both to the Jannd racks.

Inevitably, Google had the solution to my problems and when I searched images for "L-shaped support brackets" I came upon the image to the left, which was obviously a rear bicycle light support bracket that somebody had re-purposed as a curtain rod bracket.


These brackets were not too expensive, strong, and black (all good) and with a bit of hacksawing and drilling and just a few hand-to-head moments, I had usable brackets to mount above and below my rack. Also, I learned that the ubiquitous and universal bike bolts are "M5 .8", knowledge of which pleases me greatly.

One factor in the change is that the seatpost mounts allow you to rotate the light to ensure a truly vertical alignment, while the rear rack mounts require that the bracket/rack combo deliver the correct angle. Fortunately, we were OK on that.

The new install is stronger and less likely to fail, weighs less, is less conspicuous, and offends the sensibilities sucks less.

		2/04/12 Week 5    this week: 67 miles		1st Qtr 308 miles mi/dayQTR		2012: 308 miles
		Weight: Sun:236 Sat:237 Trend: BAD

Pletscher ESGE Bipod Kickstand and Surly LHT

02/01/12 #235 0m

Kickstands are objects of disdain among roadies, weight weenies, mountain bikers and 'cross riders - all for good reasons - but for the type of riding I do, it's wonderful to have a kickstand on the bike. The weight isn't an issue; I have a lot of pounds to lose on moi before I start worrying about a two-pound kickstand.

What I love about a two-legged or bipod kickstand is that you can take a wheel off to repair a flat without laying the bike down. The bike is supported by the other wheel and the two contact points of the kickstand. That's huge, and you can't do that with a one-legged kickstand (although some people do love their Click-stands, they confer no benefit in changing a flat).



Recently I've seen a few new "townie" bikes with bipod kickstands, and I'm particularly enamored of the seat-tube kickstand on the Giant Clip (photo at right). I think it's a really elegant approach, uses an unused space and keeps the bike looking clean.

Pletscher ESGE kickstands have a mixed history with Surly LHT's; sometimes people crush the chainstays, which Surly addresses on their blog. Surly is pretty adamant about not putting a kickstand plate onto their LHT frame, and in the absence of that plate the kickstand requires almost too much torque to stay in place.

The nice folks at The Bicycle Business sell the Deluxe Pletscher Kickstand Top Plate for $8 and it has a good reputation, and I was very fortunate to receive one from Santa Claus this year.

In fact, while Santa was shopping he also brought me LRTs (little rubber things) for my kickstand, which attempt to keep a heavy bike from sinking into the dirt like a motorcycle on hot macadam.

Intallation was pretty straightforward. I'm pleased with the results so far and very happy to have a kickstand again.