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Messages - whittierider

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721
General Discussion / Bicycle Trip form Arizona to Alaska
« on: October 11, 2008, 12:13:50 am »
For an idea of the winds in the southwestern U.S. icluding a good look at the California coast which is similar to the rest of the west coast, see the weather page updated several times a day at http://weather.cbs2.com/US/Region/Southwest/2xRadar.html and after all the thumbnails have loaded, click on the middle one labeled "Wind".  I just now checked, and it shows the last few hours, there has been a 20-25mph wind blowing straight down the coast even though the wind has been blowing north in NM, AZ, TX, OK, KS, etc..  That's pretty typical.

This message was edited by whittierider on 10-10-08 @ 9:14 PM

722
General Discussion / Bicycle Trip form Arizona to Alaska
« on: October 10, 2008, 02:42:52 pm »
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When you say, "It is highly recommended that you go the other direction, because of the prevailing winds" what are you basing that on?

In the book "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" by Kirkendall and Spring, the preface is entitled, "Why North to South?"  Here's some of it, telling about Kirkendal's first coast ride, going north.  (I think copyrights allow this since I'm giving credit to the book and it may increase sales of the book.  If the owners of the copyright don't like it, I'll edit this and remove the quote.)

"North of Santa Barbara, encoutered stiff headwinds that blew the fun right out of his adventure.  Scenery and the thrill of exploring became secondary to his daily battle with the wind.  The wind created an invisible, never-ending hill that had to be constantly climbed.  The wind beat dirt into his face, produced an annoying whistling through the vents in his helmet, while attempting to push him back to Mexico.  By San Francisco, riding had become a chore.  In Oregon, 80-mile-per-hour winds blew him to a stop while going down a steep hill.

"When describing that trip, Tom will pull out his trip journal.  The beginning of the journal is full of his thoughts and impressions; in the second half he wrote only of the wind.  His journal describes how he got up early in the morning to avoid the winds that blew strongest in the afternoon.  ...Nowhere in the second half of that book is there any mention of beautiful vista points, magnificent redwood forests, sea otters, sea lions, lighthouses, sand dunes, and fascinating old forts.  Nowhere is there any mention of the word fun.

"The following summer, Tom and I rode back down the coast to prove it can be fun.  It was an incredible trip.  The wind was still blowing but this time it was pushing us south.  Near the Sea Lion Caves in Oregon, I had to apply my brakes to stop on a steep uphill grade....We were surprised to note that the highway department expects cyclists to travel from north to south.  We frequently enjoyed a good shoulder on the southbound side while northbound cyclists had to dodge trucks and cars on a shoulderless roadway."



I'm assuming the trip from Arizona to Alaska would involve getting over to the coast quickly and then going up the coast.  I have not ridden very far north of Santa Barbara, but I can tell you from experience that from there to San Diego the wind, at least in the summer and fall, is much more conducive to going south.  Last summer when we were riding from Santa Barbara to L.A., I especially remember a place we were climbing a grade of 3 or 4% at nearly 30mph because of the tail wind.  Our son looked at me and said, "We are climbing, aren't we??"  I said, "Yeah, isn't this great?!"

The wind will be much better going from the coast to Arizona too, than vice versa.


723
General Discussion / Bicycle Trip form Arizona to Alaska
« on: October 09, 2008, 10:15:41 pm »
It is highly recommended that you go the other direction, because of the prevailing winds.


724
General Discussion / California coast watch out..New bike on the way!
« on: October 09, 2008, 02:51:57 pm »
There are a lot of great rides in the San Gabriel mountains, San Bernardino mountains, Santa Monica mountains, etc..  From our house about 15 miles east of downtown L.A., we can take the San Gabriel River trail up to Hwy 39 up into the mountains past Crystal Lake to Hwy 2 and go all the way to Wrightwood, 65 miles each way, and reaching nearly 8,000 feet, with only one traffic light for the whole trip.  Mt. Baldy and the ski area at 6500' IIRC are popular destinations for cyclists' day rides.  We normally go up there by way of Glendora Mtn. Rd. and Glendora Ridge Rd. in order to avoid more miles of city streets which we get when we go up Mt. Baldy Rd..

We tried to ride to Big Bear Aug 4th but didn't finish the ride because our younger son got in a traffic accident and broke his collar bone at an intersection in Rimforest after we had completed most of the climbing.  I would not recommend riding up Hwy 18 in the summer when there is a lot of traffic with RVs (and renters driving them!), fifth-wheelers, very wide boat trailers, etc. on the very narrow last half.  Definitely use a mirror.  I had to motion many times for people coming up behind to leave me more room or just not pass until it was safer.  They complied; but I might have been knocked down over a cliff if I didn't have the mirror.

Most of the California coast makes for excellent riding as well, but most of the year you will want to ride from north to south, not vice-versa, because of the wind.  Take Amtrak up to your starting point and ride down, or, if you just ride to San Diego, ride down and take the train back.  From the Santa Ana train station to the San Diego train station is about 100 miles.  From the Fullerton station it's about 107 if you ride the freeway through the Camp Pendelton area, maybe a little more otherwise.

I would like to learn the route out the Santa Ana River trail to Riverside since I have a couple of sibblings out there.  It may not be the shortest route for me, but using the trail will cut out a lot of stop-and-go city riding.


725
General Discussion / weight limits on bikes
« on: August 06, 2008, 02:57:40 am »
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The thing with CF is that you can get microcracks that are almost invisible leading to catastrophic failure and shearing of the fork/frame.

Such "microcracks" however will come as a result of impacts and abuse, not mere fatigue like what killed my nice steel frame.  There are things you can look for in your constant vigilance, such as the cleaning rag getting snagged when you wipe a part of the bike that should be smooth and glossy when you clean it.  In the link I gave above, Easton says, "Most of the time any damage to a fork from a crash will be visible. Cracks can be seen."  About their Alpha Q forks, Bill Hull of True Temper writes, "The failure mode is not catastrophic.  A broken fork will crack near the crown and allow more movement.  It will feel "soft" because it will flex more under braking.  The rider will see cracks on the outsides of the crown.  The rider can ride home and remove the fork without danger."  I couldn't tell you from experience, but my research gives me confidence you won't get from hearsay and from the myths left over from the early efforts of carbon that were almost laughable.

For the heavyweights however, you also need to be careful about handlebars, stems, and maybe seat posts as well.  Handlebars, especially aluminum ones, can break, and that's never pretty.  A very bike-knowledgeable man I have frequent contact with, who's a racer and a dealer, recommends replacing aluminum bars after any crash.  Race Face used to have a handlebar test article on their website showing the carbon bars to be far less likely to break.  They've revamped the website and now I can't find the article.

This message was edited by whittierider on 8-5-08 @ 11:06 PM

726
General Discussion / weight limits on bikes
« on: August 05, 2008, 05:18:50 pm »
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I believe the only weight limits I've seen in cycling is mostly on carbon fiber road bikes and/or front forks.

I've only heard of weight limits on aluminum, and I've heard first-hand from several 350-pounders on these forums on carbon fiber, with no issues.  The new Boeing jetliner is mostly carbon fiber and grosses at about a half a million pounds; so it's definitely up to some serious load-carrying capability.

http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/3270.1.html has some info on carbon forks' strength and durability.   When asked about the strength and durability of their CF forks, Reynolds responded, "...Our fatigue testing would indicate that well built composite forks are far superior to metal forks with cycle counts running hundreds of thousands of cycles rather than tens of thousands.  These tests are also run at much higher loads than metal forks can withstand further demonstrating the durability of composite materials."

True Temper says about their carbon forks, "...But our production forks are stronger than that, often going into the 20-25K range and beyond at loads 0f 360-405 lbs."

As an anecdote, the only fork I've seen broken on the road was an aluminum one.  The 180-pound rider hit something at 20mph and broke both fork blades clean off.  Our son's broken collar bone yesterday came from hitting a car at 25mph that failed to yield on left turn in front of him.  Although we will have the carbon frame and fork thoroughly inspected, so far it looks undamaged.


727
General Discussion / weight limits on bikes
« on: August 05, 2008, 02:47:42 pm »
Well, our vacation plans are up in the air since one of our sons broke his collar bone yesterday, so I'm back.
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however all their bikes have autoshift. has anyone ever used autoshift and does the auto shift work properly up and down hills??

I've never tried one, but I can't get excited about it.  The transmission needs to be matched to the engine, and even how the engine (you) is feeling at various times.  The designers can't possibly know that.  I expect it is also made for non-cyclists (cyclists know how to manage the gears) who want extremely low cadences that are unsuitable for serious riding.  The efficiency is probably poor too.


728
General Discussion / weight limits on bikes
« on: August 04, 2008, 12:27:07 pm »
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i just dont need an aluminum frame as its not as sturdy as steel so ill keep that in mind as well.

Be careful-- the steel in recent years has gotten frightfully thin in order to compete weightwise with the other materials.  In a road-bike frame-breakage test done in the 1990's, the steel frames broke first.  Although there was a spread for each material, the order was generally that the steel frames fatigued and broke first, then titanium, then aluminum, and the carbon did not break at all, except one that broke at an internal aluminum lug which I don't think manufacturers are using anymore.  The only frames that got all the way through without cracks were a Cannondale aluminum one and most of the carbon-fiber ones.  I can't find the URL right now.

Also, recognize that the reason for chosing the tandem 145mm dropout spacing on the Mazama (if indeed it uses it) is that that can give you a much stronger and more-durable wheel than 130 or 135 can.  The tandem world is much bigger than most people realize, and in the unlikely event that you ever need another wheel, they are available from plenty of sources.

I'll be on vacation for the next week, unable to comment further.


729
General Discussion / weight limits on bikes
« on: August 02, 2008, 03:32:41 am »
I believe it was Co-Motion that made a bike for very heavy people. They called it the "Bison". You might want to call them up and find out what happened to it since I don't see it on their website right now. I might be doing a search for the wrong name though, because I think they changed the name somewhere along the line. I don't remember if "Bison" is the latest name or not. Anyway, Co-Motion is one of the biggest tandem makers, so they're well qualified to make a strong bike for the big fellas. If you do contact them, let us know what you find out.


730
General Discussion / First tour, No Experience
« on: July 29, 2008, 04:25:05 pm »
I just re-read the original post and saw that you have a whole year before the tour, which is much better than I originally thought.

I expect it can be done, but you'll have a lot to learn and a lot of miles to put in between now and then.  I know you want the bike to be cheap, but you'll just end up discouraged if it's too cheap because you didn't take time to learn the importance of various aspects.  Whatever you have now, go ahead and start riding lots, and take time to educate yourself about what bike you'll want for the actual tour, instead of rushing to buy and then being sorry as you find out later that there were important considerations you missed in your hurry.  You may find that the new bike is still not a very big part of the overall cost when you count the other equipment, the camping, food, etc..

Even if you can't ride through the winter, riding a lot now will get you a head start for next spring and summer as you learn to become more efficient and handle the bike better.  That experience stays with you even if you get out of shape in the winter.

Hang around the forums and ask questions and learn.  If you get books like David suggested, be aware that bikes and equipment have changed substantially in the last decade or two, and more has been learned about fitness/nutrition/health on the bike.  IOW, if you get a book from 1980, don't exclude other materials just because you haven't finished digesting it yet.


731
General Discussion / Pacific Coast Route Advice
« on: July 27, 2008, 10:15:22 pm »
There doesn't seem to be any good way to get through the Long Beach / Wilmington area.  I recently tried Sepulveda Blvd / Willow St. to the north of PCH, and although it was a nicer street in terms of surface (which was newly repaved) and more-attractive surroundings, there were more ignorant drivers who thought they had time to turn in front of me and right lanes with no room for a car to pass a bike.  Years ago I tried Anaheim St. to the south, but didn't like that either.  So, I'm back to PCH.  There's a section of PCH though there that is no fun (and Spring and Kirkendall mention this) but it is doable.  I definitely recommend mirrors.  Being fresh is good too, but at least you'll have a good tailwind if it's in the afternoon.  Depending on when you arrive in the area and whether you have a phone with you, there's a small chance I'd be available to accompany you through there.  Depending on where we meet, it would take me an hour and a half to two hours to get to you from home.  When you get out of Long Beach and into Seal Beach, it's easy and pleasant again, and there are very few tricks until you're practically into San Diego.

Edit: Now that I see WesternFlyer's response in the other place you put the same post, I gather that Long Beach is also a place in the northwest, and that you didn't mean the one in the Los Angeles area.  My apologies, but hopefully the info here will still be of use to you or someone.

This message was edited by whittierider on 7-27-08 @ 11:18 PM

732
General Discussion / New and rather naive...
« on: July 25, 2008, 01:32:36 am »
Carbon is a wonderful frame material, and now that I'm hooked on it, I doubt I'll ever go back to the metals.  I did my research on it before buying my new bike 15,000 miles ago, and found that it does not fatigue like the metals, it's stronger in most ways, it does not degrade in UV and weather, and does not add its own resonances like the metals do (which is what makes it feel so smooth).  It's even fairly inexpensive to repair (although none of the materials are really repairable on the road).  See http://www.calfeedesign.com/howtosendrepair.htm .)

However, I've never seen a carbon-fiber bike with the eyelets to attach racks.  So far for me that's ok because I only want to do credit-card touring carrying only what will fit in the biggest seat bags.  I have a trip coming up in a couple of weeks with just the Jandd Mountain Wedge III bag with 450 cubic inches.  The biggest seat bags have over three times that much room, or nearly a cubic foot, kind of like having a small duffel bag back there.  You can also use a seatpost rack and a handlebar bag if your load is bigger but not full-sized for camping.  For bikes with no eyelets, some rack manufacturers like Tubus make a gizmo that gets clamped in the skewer, outside the dropouts, to effectively give you eyelets, like this:



The picture on the Marin website shows eyelets behind the fork's dropouts, but none at the rear dropouts.

I just realized we kind of hijacked the thread, but I hope this is helpful to the original poster anyway.  rubyann, hopefully you've spent some time on the Adventure Cycling website and others like crazyguyonabike.com .  You'll probably need to ask some specific questions, even if you think yours are kind of dumb.  The answers should be helpful.  How are your plans and preparations coming?

This message was edited by whittierider on 7-24-08 @ 9:35 PM

733
General Discussion / boxing bikes and a bent on amtrak
« on: June 24, 2008, 04:38:18 am »
We have found Amtrak quite accommodating, as they don't want to turn away paying customers.  It does depend however on which individuals are working at the particular time and station.  The first time we took the tandem on, they just let us wheel it into the baggage car ourselves, set the drag brake as a parking brake, and tie the stoker's bars to a luggage rack to keep the whole thing in place.  A few times after that, they said it had to be boxed, bla, bla, bla.  Every time, I was able to say, "Last time we just wheeled in into the baggage car and... Let me show you how," and they did, and there was no problem.  That was for a shorter trip though, not across the country.


734
General Discussion / Platform pedals for touring bikes
« on: June 03, 2008, 02:57:56 pm »
I enjoy Grant's magazine but there are a few things I definitely cannot agree with him on and this is one of them.  When I ride platform pedals, I have to make a conscious effort to quit using several muscles and make my quads and glutes do all the work, otherwise my feet immediately are off the pedals.  For a long ride, it makes a lot more sense to spread the work out among more muscles.  I especially use my hamstring muscles a lot, partly because I've injured one knee so many times starting at age six.


735
General Discussion / Touring bike question
« on: June 06, 2008, 06:21:20 pm »
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For the lower attachment, the QR adaptor works just fine.  I mounted the Fly & QR adaptor on my titanium road bike, and used it for credit card touring. I think I would want to have a converstation with someone knowledgable about using it on carbon, to make sure that wouldn't put bad stress on the frame.

Thanks for the reply.  I did a lot of research on carbon before buying, and am quite satisfied that it is at least as strong as the other materials; so as long as we're not talking about clamping something onto a hollow carbon tube which was not designed for that kind of use, I would have no hesitation about clamping to the points that are made to take the stress anyway.


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