Computercyclist.com

Now that the Surly Pugsley is built I am looking for a new bicycle projcet.

Pugsley at Taylor Mountain

I road the pugsley to work today. It was my first commute of 2010.  I debated whether I should take the my Kronan City Bike for the commute.  I decided on the Pugsley to show it off to my engineer colleagues.

Back to the Kronan… When I purchased it I was really hoping to have enough funds to get an Azor Mechanic 108 from The Dutch Bicycling Company.

By the time I talked to the folks at DBC they had stopped selling Azor but could build a Mechanic 108 using a Velobris Churchill.  I settled on the Kronan as a substitute mostly due to price… but now that the Pug is build I am thinking of a Kronan remake.  The wheels are unbelievably heavy and untrue… I hate the saddle and the handlebars.  Rebuild wheels, new tires, Nitto All Rounder bars, and a Brooks saddle should about do it…

Azor Mechanic 108

Kronan Just Like Mine

Six more weeks of winter…. ughh.  I love skiing but I feel life cheated me out of last summer…. work, Wendy in VT, and did I say work.

I am really looking forward to riding this summer lots of things are converging to make it a great year of riding.  My shoulder is getting better, I dont have any gigantic projects, Wendy will be in Idaho, and Owen is old enough to start doing some interesting rides.

Fucking groundhog.

Other news…

I am back from a week in Telluride.  It is always great seeing Owen and Wendy.  I got a good powder day in on the mountain.  I also got to play a bit of guitar every day…. and had plenty of good food made from recipes in the Lee Brothers Simple Fresh Southern Cookbook.  I can’t say enough about how great that book is… I am no chef… but I was able to make some GREAT dishes while Wendy and Owen were at School.

Well not really… this following piece is from the charlie the bikemonger

We have all seen the probable effects of global warming: extreme weather, droughts, floods, icecaps melting, whole species facing extinction, and most agreeable cider apple harvests. There are many common beliefs as to the cause of this “new” weather, and many of these are no doubt correct, however until now one possible suspect has been overlooked.

Charlie The Bikemonger a purveyor of fine cycle produce, has commissioned research in association with The Dorset Institute of Cider Konsumption, that fingers a new previously unsuspected culprit.

When our cycling forefathers embarked upon the apparently noble mechanical crusade to make cycling better, little did they know what consequences their actions would bring. In 1896 an Englishman E.H. Hodgkinson patented a 3-speed Gradient gear, a pre-cursor of the modern derailleur, and from this moment forth the world began to experience increasing global temperatures.

The graph below clearly illustrates the correlation between volume of gears and global temperatures.

Note the slight temperature “spike” in “1940-1949”, is it coincidence that the in 1949 the Hercules Herailleur a rear derailleur with indexed shift levers was launched? It was a mere 3 speed setup, but with indexing… could it be that it’s not only the volume of gears, but also their complexity that fuels global warming?

The 50’s and 60’s saw little gear innovation, but also towards the end of this era we see the birth of BMX and guess what happened with all those kids cranking one cog: a bloody great statistically significant decline in global temperatures!

1985 Shimano introduces SIS indexed shifting and from here on we are on an out of control rollercoaster of ramped up graphing and pernicious upgrading: indexed gears, , STI, gripshift, 8 speed, 9 speed, 10 speed, flappy paddle shifters… and ultimately the end of the world as we know it*!!!

In a bid to correct this dreadful situation Charlie The Bikemonger is proud to be a purveyor of fine fixed and single speed bicycle produce and sincerely implores all cyclists to negate their shifty bits, build a one speed and make the world a better place. “Shift and a Polar Bear Dies!” stickers may be available shortly.

It has been suggested in some quarters that this is pernicious nonsense and mocks a serious issue. However the amount of gears is illustrative of the ability of industry to make and sell us more and more consumer goods, be it bikes with even more gears, or cars with air conditioning etc. And that’s where the real connection is.

This also illustrates that when people want to prove there is no global warming and there is nothing to worry about… it’s pretty damned easy to find the statistics that make your theory look credible.

* maybe

Sources: Temp info: Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Earth Sciences Directorate.
Gear info: http://www.jimlangley.net/ride/bicyclehistorywh.html

Wendy has a way with nature…. check out her new friend.  The picture was taken in Prospect Bowl, Telluride.

I have ridden a bike or a trainer for 5 consecutive nights…. tonight I sit here tipping a hard cider relaxing in the knowledge I am too lazy to make it six.

Whats going on…. lets see.  My improved diet and riding are starting to show results.  I have lost about 8 pounds in two weeks but more importantly I am super stoked about riding the Pugsley.  I love that bike.

Yesterday the final part arrived, my Brooks B17 saddle.  It is all Proofide up and on the bike waiting for the next ride.  I am headed to Telluride for a week of relaxation.  They haven’t been getting crap for snow so perhaps I will get some good riding in.

The Robot Scene…. I have been resurecting a 1998 robot.  A 12 year old robot is fucking ancient.  Hell I have robots that only worked for about 3 months and are sitting in my lab collecting dust.  Hats off to activmedia the damn thing still works mostly.  My man Zeb at activmedia is helping me resolve the few problems the system has so I am sure it will be fine in short order.

Last thing….. my buddy sid picked up a Surly 1×1 off ebay…. Welcome to the single life my friend.

Day three on the pugsley complete.  I am convinced I need to change my routes or modify my single speed gearing…  Back in the day…. the day that had me 20 pounds lighter I used to used a 34×17 gear ratio on my Bridgestone XO-1.  After yesterday’s humiliating experience in wolverine canyon I did a gear inch calculation.  As it turns out… the Pugsley rides like a 29er with the big tires and all…. that puts the 32×18 almost exactly the same as my old Bridgestone…. 52 gear inches.  This is all just my justification for going to a 32×20 setup.

Here is the elevation profile of todays ride…. another out and back.

Taylor Mountain Road

Here is a video from the cockpit…

Here it is completed...

I had a great idea… so I thought.  I headed to Wolverine Canyon to jump on some snowmachine trails from a major trailhead today.  I know the canyon.  From the parking area you climb 2000 vertical feet over 8 miles and peak at the top of the “W”. It is called the “W” do to the switchbacks. It was my goal to make it  to the “W”.

Yesterday’s ride hit the snowmobile trail network on the backside of the “W”.  They were icy for the most part and very rideable… I figured the Wolverine Canyon side would be similar.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The trails at Wolverine Canyon are beautiful.  From the parking lot you start ascending through an area called the Narrows.  In the Narrows jagged cliff walls line each side of the road-wide-trail.  The trail never sees direct sunlight this time of year.  With all the snowmobile traffic the trail condition was LOOSE.  The pugsley did far better than any bike I could imagine but still the riding was like slogging along… the 32×18 gearing proved to be too much for me so it turned into a ride-walk-ride.

Knowing the Narrows is only about a mile I forged on.

Once I was in direct sunlight I was hoping the trail would be icy/firm so I could cover some ground efficiently.  It was not to be… the sun was so intense today the trail was very wet and slippery-snow-mush…. I was able to ride much better then in the Narrows but the riding was trickier then riding rollers with no hands… Whenever I came to a steep pitch I had to G-E-N-T-L-E-L-Y pedal to avoid loosing traction in the deep wet snow.

It was hard, I was sweating like crazy, and I knew the steepness of the trail was backloaded.  I made it to the 4 mile mark and turned around defeated.  The 8 mile ride took an hour and twenty five minutes…. Ouch.

I have another route planned for the morning… we will see.

Wolverine Canyon Ride Elevation Profile.

I am sitting here drinking Pernod.  Every since reading Foucault’s Pendulum it has been a favorite of mine…. enough.

Todays news…. the Pugsley is alive.  I went on the maiden voyage today… more about that later.

Yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and have the local bike shop install some Avid Juicy Seven hydraulic disc brakes on the Pug.  I knew the price going in but during my ride I realized I had just paid more for brakes than I had paid for my first mountain bike (a diamondback topanga).

Here are the Build Details:

Frame: Surly Pugsley
Fork:   Surly Pugsley
Crankset: FSA Carbon MTB
Hubs: Shimano XT, Surly SS Disc
Brakeset: Avid Juicy 7
Seatpost: Thompson
Seat: Brooks B17
Tires: Surly Endomorphs
Pedals: Wellgo DH
Headset: Cane Creek
Stem: Weighless 120
Bars: Titan Hellbent 3/4″ rise
Grips: Ergon

That is pretty much it…  I have been slowly building this thing over the past three years… I did I quick back of the napkin calculation and I am into it for $1522.00.  I purchased a lot of components and even the frame off ebay.  I think I have saved about $1K if I where to have had it built to spec by the LBS (local bikeshop)… I got my stem for  1 cent plus $5 shipping, my Carbon Fiber MTB cranks for $92, and the Frame and fork itself for $200.  I am thinking of building another for Wendy…. so she can join me.

Now the ride….  WOW… it is unique.  I was amazed at how well the bike rolls over stuff. Having read a number of reviews an realizing people complain about the Surly Puglsey weight I was interested in HOW heavy it would be… its not too bad.  It is heavier than my Titanium GT MTB but hell what isn’t?  I have the Pugsley rigged up as a Single Speed so I think if you set your expectations in line with what the bike is… a beast for covering snow, sand, and mud you will be suprised at how well it rolls.

The two things that impressed me the most…. It tracks like magic!!!  This bike can hold a line.  I was traveling roughly 30 MPH downhill in a snowy truck tire rut and had no worries at all about drifting.  The big tires grip.  The second thing I was wondering about was how a 4130 CrMo frame would feel…. I have no idea…. the 3.7 endomorph tires offer such a cushion I have never been so comfy on a bike… I went with 10 PSI in the tires and got a little bob action when my cadence went over 90 but other than that it was smooth…  smooth like a big leather sofa or or Knob Creek on the Rocks.

My first ride was a 16 mile ride… an 8 mile out-and-back on unmaintained county roads that get groomed as part of the Southeast Idaho Snowmobile Network.  The conditions varies from ice to packed powder to broken-up compacted snow…  As I said I road about 16 miles…. I  had to get off and walk twice for a total of about 150 yards.  Each time was when the grade exceded 10% and my wimp-ass could not pedal my 32×18 single speed up the grade.

Elevation Profile

All in all the Puglsey excedes expectations… I am riding again in the morning.

Come on up to the house….

Tom Waits original, I love this video…..

I like this version better…. I love female vocalists.

I had a startling weigh in over the holidays…. 14 Stones 2 Pounds, 89.8 Kilos, yes 198 Pounds.

I am not much for dieting… I looked on-line for a diet that would complement my lifestyle, one that included beer.  I didn’t find anything I wanted to subscribe to.

I did find a blog entry of a guy who tried a lot of diets, Atkins, South Beach, etc… His advice was to make a few subtle habbit changes rather than try any of the diets.

1. Don’t go out to lunch.
2. Snack on fruit, nuts, and raw vegetables
3. excercise at least 3 hours a week.
4. Drink lots of water

So I thought I would try it…. I had already set up my bike trainer to get in shape so I just need to ensure I ride for 3 hours a week or supplement trainer time with other excercise.  I also gave up Mexican Food for lunch. My packed lunches include several servings of fruit and veggies. And I have been drinking at least one Nalgene bottle of water a day in the office.

The result…. after one week I had lost 6 pounds.  I know weight can very a few pounds one way or the other… but hey its a trend in the right direction.  I even feel much better…

I think these are changes I can live with, pass me beer.