Lug Nuts

The bicycle as we know it has been around for over 100 years and there are many interesting stories on how innovations occurred along the way. This Sunday I attended the Philly Bike Expo mostly to attend a seminar by Gary Helfrich on the history and theory of titanium frame building. For those of you not familiar with Gary he was one of the founders of Merlin Metalworks, the first company to build titanium frames. As a proud owner of a titanium bike(a Feather not a Merlin) I wanted to learn more about the history of the titanium bike.

I didn't know much about Gary before the seminar but it turns out he is a crazy mad scientist and a very entertaining speaker. He had a lot of great stories not only from his 10 years as a roadie for Aerosmith but from the insanity that ensues when starting a new business while trying to do something  that other more knowledgeable people had tried and failed. Although Gary did a lot of drinking and drugging along the way his passion for bike building and titanium made him the leading expert in both disciplines.  For a glimpse of his genius and crazyness you should check out this link. as it will give you a general idea of his story.

I really enjoyed both his talks. We also got to see the Bike Snob who I think is even more funny in person than on his blog. All this was besides the actual show itself which is a exposition of cool custom bikes along with many cool bike accessories and cloths. I have included a few pictures below but you can see more pictures on Jim's post.

The main difference between this years show and the one I attended a few years ago was that I saw a lot less lug construction and a lot more welds. I know some people have an almost pornographic attraction to lugs but I think welds can be as attractive if they are done right. And after understanding how difficult it is to do a titanium weld properly I have an even better appreciation of how good they look.

I was lucky enough to have Jim along with me as he is a titanium bike geek and didn't mind getting up for an early ride. We ended up getting to Philly at 7am and doing an hour an a half ride around the city and through the Wisahickon before riding to the show. On the way back we found some public art that you see below. All in all it was good day for a couple of bike geeks.

Missing Friends

I have met a lot of people while biking who I would call friends. I don't see them much out outside of riding with them because we all have our separate lives but when you ride with someone 4 or 5 hours week after week you get to know them pretty well. The social aspect of biking can be as beneficial as the physical part. I enjoy the people I bike with because they don't take life too seriously and when we ride together it is more about having fun than sitting in a paceline and averaging a certain speed.

That is why I look forward to the weekends when we usually get together. I usually ride on Saturday but this Saturday was a rain out so I headed to Cranbury on Sunday to ride with Winter Larry. I figured it would be a good ride because I had not seen Larry in a while and I knew a few other of my friends would be there. I was wrong of course.

The weather wasn't the best. It was in the mid 40s and the wind was blowing 20+ with gusts in the 30s but it was rideable. I suspected Larry might bail as he tends to do this when the weather is at the edge of riding. I'm not calling him a wimp but this is not the first time I showed up for a Larry ride and he wasn't there and it won't be the last.

There were 4 other people there waiting for Larry. Marc, Barry and a couple of other people I didn't really know. Since they were looking for a ride leader and I was looking for some bodies to block the wind I lead them on a loop up through Dayton, Helmetta and back through Jamesburg. It was about a 30 mile loop. There were a few spots where we almost came to a stand still because of the gusts of wind but it was manageable (I averaged 15mph). Since I rode into the ride I ended up with 43 not bad for a crappy November day.

Although I knew there would be a chance Larry would not be there today. I did expect Laura or Jim or Ed or a few of the other regulars as they rarely miss a change for a ride. No matter I will catch up with them on the next ride. And can talk about last weeks Columbia trail ride where I convinced them to head up one of the steepest hills we've ever been down. Laura looks like she is about to fall over. And I thought she looked slow going downhill!

And the stupid picture we took where they put the wall in front of the trail. It more slowed us down then stopped us. 

Of course this week we got the news that our friend George passed away. He was a great person and always livened up the ride. He was proof that riding can keep you young at heart. He was part of our riding family and he will be missed.

Heading South

After a couple of weeks in the hills I wanted something flat. I could have went to the Pinelands but I have done that enough this year and wanted a different kind of flat. I decided to go to South Jersey and do a loop from Batsto to Smithville and back. This was a longer variation of a ride from my NJ Book. We did this route which was a little longer than a metric and had less than a 1000 ft of climbing.

This was yet another ride I had listed on Saturday that I had to move to Sunday because of rain. (The 4th in a row for those keeping count) Even with moving the ride and the extra ride down to Batsto I still have 3 other people join me Laura, Barry, and Marc.

The ride was a lot like most of my Pinelands ride with similar scenery. The main difference was the Mullica, Wadding and a few other small rivers that broke up the forest. We also got to Oyster Creek and got a view of Atlantic City and the bay.

It was a nice flat ride and an easy 65 miles at a decent B pass. It will probably be my last long ride of the year.

I did not put any rides in the PFW book for November because I want to do some exploring. If I decide to do something interesting and want some company I will post something on this blog.

Jim Makes the Ride

Although I sometimes make fun of Jim I actually enjoy riding with him. I haven't seen him much the past couple of months because I had to move the day of my last 3 rides because of weather. Of course he suspected I was part of some conspiracy to keep him from my ride but it was just dumb luck.

So again I had to move my Scenic Pennsylvania Hills ride to Sunday from Saturday, because of rain, and expected some moaning from Jim but instead of more conspiracy theories Jim was actually able to show up. Besides Jim, Jack, Laura, Marc, Joe, and Barry join me for the ride.

This was a hilly ride from Bulls Island to Perkasie and back. Along the way we went passed through Doylestown and Peace Valley Park. Some of these roads I hadn't been on in a few years so it was nice to visit them again. It was a cold morning so I was in tights and a jacket. Because it was sunny I thought I would be peeling off cloths by mid ride but it never really warmed up that much.

On the way through Peace Valley I managed to get a picture of a blue hereon who was only a few feet from the bike path. Peace Valley is usually where I start my Lake Nockamixon ride from. Although we had already done some climbing the two roughest climbs were between Peace Valley and Peakasie. The first one was on the other side of the Peace Valley lake. Its a 300 ft climb in less than a mile with the first part of the climb around a 10% grade.

The second one was a 80 ft climb for 400 ft that maxes out at a 20% grade. Part of the reason I put this hill in was because I always have problems getting up this hill with out walking. Its not a matter of power but of balance since I can't keep my front wheel on the ground. This time I just shifted into the triple and stood the whole way up. So found a way to manage the hill. The other reason I put this hill in was because I knew it would annoy Jim which is always fun.

After a rest stop at a slightly over priced  coffee shop in Perkasie we road along the ridge. below Lake Nockamixon. I was keeping an eye on Barry because I didn't want to loose him again. One of the nice things about having Jim on the ride is he likes to sweep so it helps me keep the ride together.

He was also the first one to notice that Barry dropped his chain. Now when most people drop their chain it just falls off the front chain ring but when Barry dropped his chain it actually came undone and fell completely off the bike. When I turned around I saw Barry actually picking his chain up off the road. I've never seen that before.

Jim's obsessive compulsion with keeping his bike clean and mechanically sound came in handy because he had a chain tool and some spare links so he was able to put the chain back together and get Barry riding again.

So I'm glad Jim  was able to make the ride today because he is a handy guy to have around.

North Jersey Weekend

Click Here for more Pictures 

For the pass few years I have gather a few of the willing and headed away on a bike trip. I had a couple different ideas for this year trip out of state but for a couple of reasons could not get it a big trip put together this year. Laura had mention that she wanted to ride up the Delaware and ride Old Mine Rd. After looking at a couple different routes I couldn't find a ride worth doing. It however put the idea in my head that it might be fun to revisit some of routes up north I haven't done in a few years.

So that's how this years bike trip ended up in being to North Jersey. It was a simple trip. We headed up early Saturday morning to the Delaware Gap to do  ride around Old Mine Rd. Then stayed over night and did a ride around Hope and Tranquility with a stretch along the famous Shades of Death Rd.

There were five of us Laura, Larry, Jack, Ed and myself. We lucked out with perfect weather. It was a little chilly at the start but is was sunny so it warmed up quickly. The ride along Old Mine Rd was hilly and scenic. You could not ask for a better day to enjoy the views. The road up here are also as close traffic free as it gets. The only thing that detracted from the ride was a few spots where the road was so beat up that is was hard to find a clear path.The worst part was a the beginning  and end of the ride when we had to climb to and from Millbrook Village where we started. It was so rough that Ed actually lost his water bottle in the first couple of miles. It not only fell out of the cage but rolled off the road and in to the woods never to found again. The climb back to Millbrook was even worst.  It was a steep 400 ft climb in  just over a half mile on a road that was more potholes than pavement. Last time I did this climb on my old Myata I had to stop half way up to catch my breath. This time I was able to make it up but almost fell a couple of time because of the bad road.

Despite the few bad patches of road it was a beautiful ride. Although Old Mind is next to the Delaware you don't actually see the river most of the time. We did ride over into Pennsylvania at Dingmans Ferry to hang out by the river.

On Sunday we headed to Allamuchy to ride around some of the nicest roads in this part of the state. Fall is in full swing up here so the leaves have started turning and the colors were vibrant. The most scenic spot were around Kittatinny Valley State Park where we made a slight detour to check out the lake.

This a very rural area which make it a good place to ride. The only problem is that there is almost no places to stop. NJBikeMap has a food in Johnansonburg but when we pulled into town it looked like a ghost town and the only sign of life was a person on a horse standing in the middle of the street. It was truly a one horse town with out any food store.

From there headed to the famous Shades of Death Rd which is connected with a number of scary stories  that end badly. We stopped at the end of the road to take a picture of road sign. Laura did her usual dramatic pose.

We then headed up the hills of Jenny Jump forest which only had one tough spot but also had a killer downhill. From there it was a short slightly uphill ride back to the start. After a quick lunch we were on our way and the trip was over.

The last few times I road up in North Jersey it was by myself so it was fun to do these rides with other people. 

The Pace of Things...

Where's Barry

OK so shoot me. I lost another one. Being a ride leader sometimes leads to some tough decisions. The first decision I had to make was when to ride. Saturday would be cloudy with a 50% chance of rain after 1pm but Sunday would be a perfect sunny day. I knew if I moved the ride a few people would be disappointed since they won't be able to make the ride because they were going to the PFW fall picnic.

After looking at the weather on late Friday I decided to move the ride to Sunday. I had gotten stuck in the rain a couple times this year and did not want another wet ride. We would also be on a few busy roads so I didn't want to chance riding is wet and low viability conditions.

As soon as I posted the news on my blog and sent out an email blast I had some people question the decision and some bloody biker went as far as to question if I had any bollacks.

The decision to ride on Sunday ended up being a good one. Although the weather forecast actually looked a lot better Saturday morning it did end up raining around 1pm which meant we would have been riding in a steady medium rain for at least an hour.

Sunday was a little cool but it was sunny and clear. I ended up with 9 people at the start. I had not expected that many but I guess the word got out through the blog.

The ride to Sandy Hook from battlefield park on Monmouth is a mostly flat ride and so it wasn't hard to keep the group together. Once there are more than 4 or 5 rides it is sometime hard to keep track of everybody. What I usually do with larger groups is just make sure the slowest person is still in my mirror.

The only time we really got strung out was the hills in Atlantic Highlands along the Navasink river. I was having a good day because the hills didn't feel as hard as they usually do. I stopped at my usual intersection after the last downhill section. When Dave pulled in I knew I had everybody so we continued on. About a mile later after a couple of turns somebody realized we had lost Barry. I sent everybody across the road to the Quick check while Ed and I went back to find Barry.

As I retraced our path I was hoping to see him coming towards us but none of the bikes passing were him. I went back to the bottom of the Navasink hill and when I haddn't found him decided to keep going back to the last place I saw him on the ride. If he was lost that was bad but if he had a mechanical problem or got hurt I wanted to make sure we didn't leave him behind.

After going back over the Navasink hill to the last place I saw him I felt a little better that he was not sitting on the side of the road broken down or hurt. The only logical explanation is that he was lost or decided to turn around. In either case the chances of finding him were very small so Ed and I headed back to the Quick check.

From there we continued on to Sandy Hook and took a ride around the bike paths. It was one of the clearest days that I have been to Sandy Hook so we had a good view of the NY skyline. We stopped at Gunnison beach this time to admire the view from one of the old gun turrets.

From there it was the usual way home over the Shrewsbury river and through Little Silver. I manage not to loose anybody else.

When we got back to the parking lot I saw that Barry's van was gone so I know that he made it back. He may be mad at me for dropping him but at least I know he was OK. He didn't have a cell phone so there was no way to contact him during the ride to find him. I did call his home number and left a message for him to call me but he never call back so I'm still not sure what happen to Barry.


9/20 - ***UPDATE I got a note from John this morning who talked to Barry during the week. It turns out Barry continued on the Navasink Road and didn't turn on to Locust like the rest of us did. When we went back to find him he was already past where we were looking for him. He did make it to Rt 36 and did see the Quick Check and did go to Sandy Hook and through Little Silver on the way home. The bottom line is Barry made it home safely and I need to do a better job keeping track of people on my ride