Cycling and Comfort: When Does It Hurt?

Small confession: For the past couple of days, I have been using my road bike for transportation. Not out of choice, but out of necessity - I can't spend more than 2 minutes on any of my upright or semi-upright bicycles right now without pain.



In my excitement about Marianne's conversion, I took her on her longest ride yet as a fixed gear - 28 miles. For the first 20 miles, everything was fine. The bike's geometry has never been the most comfortable, but as a fixed gear it felt better than ever and I was pedaling happily. But then, with just 8 miles to go, I suddenly became aware of a rapidly growing discomfort - not just in one area, but in several: in my shoulders, arms, back, pelvis, joints - pain seemed to be everywhere and it attacked me all at once. By the time I got home, I felt as if I had been run over by a train. I took some Ibuprofen and expected it would go away in the morning. But when I tried to ride my vintage Raleigh the next day, I felt the same pain immediately and barely managed to cycle to my destination a mere mile from home.



Mysteriously, I can still ride my roadbike with zero of the pain I experience on the upright bikes. Somehow being in the drop-bar position on the comfortable Rivendell does not activate any of the same discomfort.So, I am now in the ironic situation where I can go for 35 mile rides on a roadbike, but can't cycle for even a couple of miles on any of my city bicycles. Argh!



My working hypothesis of what happened is that while riding Marianne, my legs grew tired of the fixed gear pedaling, and without realising it I began to put more stress on my arms, hands, butt, and everything else. And because the mixte is semi-upright, this damaged some joints in a way that the pain only shows up in the upright position, but not in a leaned-over position. Does that make any sense as a possibility?



But this particular situation aside, I have been thinking a lot lately about comfort, and, more specifically, about when it is appropriate to declare that a bicycle is "comfortable". Had I limited my rides on Marianne to 20 miles at a time or less, I would have thought she was perfectly comfortable. I could have ridden her this way for years, thinking that I had a comfortable bike - but I would have been wrong. And that is why it is so difficult to determine a bicycle's comfort based on the sort of test rides you take at the bike shop, or even short rides on your own. Bicycle A might feel better than Bicycle B after a short spin, but how will they compare after mile 20? mile 50? mile 100? You just do not know, until you actually ride the bicycle for that distance.

Redwood Forest

Redwood Regional Park, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Another photo from today's visit to Redwood Regional Park. This park is just minutes from Oakland, and a short drive from the inland East Bay.

It was 98 degrees inland today; at Redwood, it was 83. Talk about relief from the heat!

Oh, This Old Thing?

The Co-Habitant teases me for my tendency to love decrepit old bicycles despite having modern options. My Mercier in particular is not only old, but quite crusty - with dulled paint, visible rust, and various other signs of wear. And yet this bicycle is so comfortable and charming, that I have been on an obsessive quest to make it "perfect" in its own unique way.

Pictured here are my latest additions: fenders, front rack, bell, and stem shifters.

For fenders, I chose the inexpensive stainless steel fenders from Velo Orange. The idea (aside from saving money) was that the plain polished fenders would go nicely with all the chrome parts on this bicycle. I think it worked out well.

And this is the tiny, adorable vintage TA front rack, designed to attach to the Mafac brakes on the Mercier. These come up for sale occasionally online and from fellow collectors at reasonable prices.

The rack, while very cute, is so small that I am not sure what I will put on it. A classic touring handlebar bag does not really fit the look of this bike, but I will keep thinking. What did the French put on bicycles with these handlebars?

Finally, we replaced the original Simplex downtube shifters with Suntour stem shifters (this part was done at Harris Cyclery, while the fender and rack installation we did at home). Downtube shifters just did not seem appropriate for this bicycle and reaching all the way down there in traffic did not feel safe. The little stem shifters are perfectly placed and very easy to operate.

In addition, I have begun converting the Mercier to a 5-speed - so the left shifter (leading to the front derailleur) is no longer connected to anything. The left shifter and front derailleur will come off once I get the situation completely sorted, and a vintage French chainguard will be installed. I will explain why and how I am doing this in a separate post - but hopefully it will work out.

All of this does sound like a lot of fuss about an old bike. But in a way, it is the Mercier's decrepitude that liberates me: Had the original paint been in better condition, I would not have dared re-paint the lugs by hand to this nice green-gray from the original black. Had the components been higher-end, I would not have been willing to experiment with a 5-speed conversion. There is a lot of fun to be had with an old bicycle. The main thing, is that you like the ride quality and care enough to gradually improve the rest.

Colour Theory for Bikes

As someone who deals with colour all the time - taking pains to get it "just right" for paintings and photography setups - I am fascinated by the role of colour in bicycles. Choosing colour is not just a matter of "what matches what." It is a matter of understanding the psychological mechanisms involved in human colour perception and processing - which to me has always been interesting. But taking it down a notch from the realms of art-speak and neuro-psychology, here are some thoughts on colour choices as they pertain to setting up bicycles:



Handlebars and saddle

My go-to standard for handlebars and saddles is the brown family.The reason I like to use brown as opposed to black, is that brown enhances the colour of the bicycle frame, whereas black tends to "deaden" it. Being neutral, brown will not compete with the frame colour, just as black will not. But it will make the colour more vibrant, more emphatic - whereas black will leave it flat.



This works especially well on "cool" frame colours - such as blue and silver. And using twine and bits of leather on other parts of the bike (chainstay protector, kickstand, waterbottle, saddlebag straps) will further enhance the "warming" effect.



Brown can also make a black frame look less intimidating and more "personable" - as well as bring out the details in what would otherwise be an expanse of black-on-black.



But of course, black has its place as well. Black accessories make a bike seem more aggressive - which can look good on some bicycles. And depending on the "personality" of a particular bike (lady's military bike?), you might not necessarily want the frame colour to be overly vibrant.



And when it comes to racing bikes, an aggressive or sporty look is usually more fitting than an "earthy" look. This can be achieved either with black, white, or brightly-coloured saddle and tape combinations (ideally in a contrasting colour to the frame). Bright and high-contrast colour schemes are exciting and suggest high energy, fast movement. If that is what you want your bike to communicate - go with it. And if not, you can tone it down with browns and neutrals, as I have done to this bike.



TiresIt goes without saying that performance and not colour should be the first consideration when it comes to tires. But assuming that you can get equally well-performing tires in a variety of colours, it can be nice to play around with that element as well. While I do not hide my crazed preference for cream tires, I do not suggest that they are "the best" option.



Cream tires can look elegant if you are going for a delicate look and have taken pains not to include any black on your bike. Here they make the bicycle look a lot more "serene" than had I used other tire choices.



And they can also look elegant as a contrast to the frame.But there comes a point - and for some it arrives much sooner than for others - where cream tires can be just too much and overwhelm the rest of the bike (I think that here I am dangerously approaching that). I also don't think that cream tires look good on a cream or white bicycle. It is too low-contrast and reminds me of "ghost bikes." Achielle does the cream-on-cream look better than others, and if you go in this direction adding prominent brown accessories to break it up a bit is the key.



A good, traditional option if you are looking for classic tires, are "gumwalls" - which are tires with back tread but tan sides. The tan fits nicely into the "organic" saddle and handlebar colour scheme, without the tires competing with the rest of the bicycle for prominence. I also like it how the alloy rims, the tan sidewalls and the black tread create the visual impression of 3 circles, one inside the other.



Bags and accessories

I am very conservative when it comes to bicycle "luggage," so perhaps I am not the best person to ask about this one. Mainly, I don't like it when bicycle bags are too distinct in relation to the bicycle itself - whereas the trend now (especially for accessories targeted at women) seems to be brightly coloured luggage with prominent graphics. It's not that I am "against" flowers, polka-dots, curly-cues, and the like. It's more that I want my bicycle to be the main focal point and not the bag. So I prefer to get subtle, classic accessories in neutral colours. As with saddles and handlebars, I think that the brown/olive family works well for a nature-exploring sort of look, whereas black works well for a more aggressive or racy look.



Decorations

Unless intentionally using decorations to distract from the rest of the bike, the colour of the decorations should not stand out too much from the other colours on the bicycle. Otherwise, the eye will get drawn to the decoration itself, with the rest of the bike an afterthought.



Frame Colour

If you are getting a bicycle frame re-painted, or are trying to choose a colour for a custom bike, the colour selection is of course a matter of personal preference. But based on my own experience (and conversations with others), keep a few things in mind:



1. Speaking very generally, super-bright colours work better on sporty bikes, whereas subdued colours work better on touring and transportation bikes.



2. True white is very harsh and almost never looks good. Even if a bicycle you like appears white to you, the actual colour is almost definitely a pale cream, a very light gray, or an off-white. Think twice before asking for a true white paintjob.



3. If you are getting the paintjob (especially powdercoat) done at a "budget" type of establishment, beware of asking for metallic colours. They are easier to mess up, and flaws in them are more visible than with regular colours. Flaws in lighter colours are also more visible than flaws in darker colours.



4. Prepare yourself for the fact that the colour never, ever looks the same on the bike as it does on the tiny colour chip, let alone on the online colour sample. I have seen some pretty amazing discrepancies, where after the person spends a month wringing their hands about the "perfect" shade, the colour on the bike does not even look like the same colour family as the chip they chose. One thing you can do, is give the painter a sample of the colour you want and ask them to find the closest match. They have experience with the way the colours actually looks on a bike. Alternatively, you can find out the colour code of a bike you like, and ask for that exact one.



There are those who take bicycle aesthetics very seriously and start to pull their hair out in despair if they cannot find the exact shade of orange handlebar tape they wanted. And there are those who could not care less about the details, and just use whatever components and accessories are available. I see myself as somewhere in the middle, leaning perhaps just a tad towards the former. (What? You think it's more than just a tad?...) While I enjoy setting up my bicycles in a way that is aesthetically pleasing to me, I do it quickly and intuitively, without dwelling on it too much. Then I ride the bike and get it filthy beyond all recognition - which is part of the fun, at least for me.

Jacqueline in the Light of Day

Hopefully these daylight pictures of Jacqueline will do her more justice than the blurry ones from the previous night. These were taken yesterday in my courtyard. I rode her around Vienna all day in a state of disbelief. She rides wonderfully and the folding basket-panniers are amazingly functional. It does not matter what I am wearing, what I am carrying, and where I need to go - this bicycle is ready for anything.

As mentioned previously, Jacqueline is a lady's Steyr Waffenrad - which is one of the oldest (if not the oldest?) Austrian bicycle manufacturers. In my previous post someone commented that this is "the Austrian version of a Dutch bike", but while it's true that these are generally referred to as "Hollandrads", I do not think that is really the case. Waffenrad was established in 1895, and was influenced by the British roadster manufacturer BSA rather than by anything from the Netherlands. It later became a generic name used to describe a certain kind of bike, and the most popular manufacturer of these was Steyr. I have been told that at one point Austria had over 180 bicycle manufacturers. Sadly, most are no longer in business.

Jacqueline is a 1980s model, though its components are from a variety of time periods. The frame design is a "swan frame": The downtube curves around the front wheel and the top tube forms a complimentary curve. Put together, they form a "swan's neck" shape.

To my eye, the lugwork on the headtube resembles swan as well, though I may be imagining things.

Lugged connector between the downtube and the toptube.

Is the bicycle equivalent of "hood ornament" a "fender ornament"? This bike has one in the shape of a wing-like art deco "W" - appropriated from a German Wanderer bicycle.
Both the headlight and tail light are dynamo powered. I have never ridden a bike with a bottle dynamo (only hub), and based on what I'd heard about old dynamo bottles I expected it to be pretty bad. In fact it works splendidly. There is a distinct hissing sound of the bottle rubbing the tire, but it does not feel any harder to pedal. To de-activate the light during daytime, simply push the bottle sideways away from the tire. To activate it at night, press the release switch and it pops back into place. Easiest lighting system I've ever used, and the bottle feels extremely durable.

The beautiful tear-drop tail light. I very much want one of these for one of my bikes. You can see the little wire coming out from under the fender and running along the rusty stay, zip tied to it. The winged "W" logo is once again from a Wanderer, though the fender itself is native. Notice the holes that have been drilled into the fender for the original dressguards. You can also see the double kickstand (I prefer this one to the Pletscher) and the rear coaster brake hub. It is not a Sturmey Archer; in fact I saw no markings on it at all.

The coaster brake functions extremely well, but the front (hub) brake is mostly decorative - It works when you're stopped at an intersection and want to prevent the bicycle from rolling forward, but doesn't really make an impact when the bicycle is in motion. The coaster brake is plenty though, and I quickly got into the habit of simply ignoring the front brake lever. The hub gears are operated via the "Torpedo" shifter. The gears are widely spaced, similar to the Sturmey Archer AW hub on my Raleigh. Parts of Vienna are quite hilly and I anticipated using the 1st gear a lot - if not getting off the bike altogether in some areas. But to my surprise, I have mostly been using the 3rd and 2nd gears. I by no means have legs of steel, but old 3-speed hubs seem to be magically versatile.

The handlebars are what people today usually refer to as "Porteur" style, but actually they are similar to the version of North Roads that are put on Raleighs with rod brakes. The bar is mostly flat, with the grip areas curving sharpishly upwards and towards the rider. I prefer these to the classic North Road/Albatross bars, which are curvier and more flared to the sides. The plain grips are also surprisingly comfortable. That stuff in front of the handlebars is a folded-up front rack, with a beefy cable lock hanging off it. It all looks like a tangled mess here, but I find it a very comfortable set-up.

Here is the view from the front, with the rack unfolded. The rack is bolted to the stem and strapped to the handlebars with aged leather belts. It is not supported enough to carry heavy loads, but it is a convenient place for things like extra layers of clothing that might be removed and then put back on during a ride.

The rear basket panniers, on the other hand, can pretty much take anything you want to put in them. My large work bag fits into these perfectly, as do grocery bags (2 in each). The ride quality is hardly effected when the basket panniers are loaded. I think I need to install these on one of my bikes. The tires are 28" cream Schwalbe Delta Cruisers, just like on my Raleigh at home. They roll fabulously and swallow cobblestones without a peep - wonderful.

The one thing I would change about this bicycle is the saddle (just looking at these plush Selle Royals is painful!), but that of course is an easy fix (if only I'd brought one of my vintage Brooks from home!). Ideally, I would also like a full chaincase - but the chainguard here has been effective so far.

Overall, I feel that every part of this beautifully rusty bicycle has been extremely well thought out by its owner Wolfgang. Everything from the puncture resistant tires, to the super-stable kickstand, to the self-sustaining lighting set-up, to the roomy collapsible panniers, has a feel of perfectly functional design to it. I love Jacqueline. How will I give her back?

Ice Chandeliers

Anyone getting sick of ice abstracts yet? I know I certainly never tire of photographing them! Here's one from Saturday morning along the "Iceberg Coast", a section of the Lake Superior shoreline that has small "mountains" of ice sticking up out of the water along the beach right now. On the side of one of these "mountains" was this intriguing icicle-filled scene. Thanks to the incredibly calm conditions that morning the icicles were reflecting beautifully in the Lake Superior waters. As the morning light illuminated these icicles it reminded me of really ornate crystal chandeliers.

Say It Loud: We Like Them Plowed!

Dear Boston,

We were so excited to discover that parts of the Charles River trail have been plowed after the latest snowfall! We thank you for this gesture and ask that you please keep doing it - and, just as importantly, that you please do it consistently, so that the plowed trail is something we can count on when deciding what route to take in the winter.

Also - and we know that we are probably pushing it - but when plowing the trail, could you possibly make the clearing a wee bit wider? At the moment, it is not possible for two parties to pass each other safely, making traveling on the trail somewhat precarious when crossing paths with another traveler.

We do not wish to overwhelm you with requests, and so we will not mention at this time our great hope that some day there will be lights installed on the trail, enabling cyclists to use the route after dark. Perhaps another time we can discuss that, but for now we just wish to express our delight with the cleared snow.

Plowing the Charles River Trail is such a useful, wonderful thing for those of us who ride bicycles in the winter, as well as those who wish to walk or run in the fresh air. Please continue to keep us in mind!

Doubling Down?

When I was specifying the build for my Rivendell Sam Hillborne just over a year ago, I had no experience with these types of bikes, and went with recommended specs for the major components. For the most part, this has worked out well - with the possible exception of the drivetrain. This Spring I would like to replace theShimano Deore rear derailleur with the Shimano XT "Shadow," and I am also wondering, whether I would be better off with a double, instead of my current triple crankset. I've mentioned before that I find shifting on this bicycle to be somewhat high maintenance for my taste, with the front derailleur being especially difficult to get into that perfect position where it doesn't rub. I am given to understand that this is fairly typical for a "triple," and that if I want low maintenance I need to switch to a double crankset. With just two chainrings in the front, there is more room and less rubbing.



Switching my triple crankset to a double is something I am willing to undergo, as long as I can keep my current range of gears. This bicycle is used for hills, and I need to keep it that way. And while that is doable in theory, I am not sure what my options are as far as modern cranksets go. The chainrings on my current triple (Sugino XD2) are 46x36x2426 - so I would need to find a double crankset with just the 46x26 rings. Is that even possible? I know that it can be done with vintage-style TA cranksets, but I think I have a cognitive deficiency when it comes to understanding how exactly to buy those: It seems like every single part needs to be purchased from a different seller and they are all super-expensive and frequently out of stock. What other options are there? Someone has suggested simply removing the middle chainring from the current crankset, but I am pretty sure that's not how it's done.If you have a double with a wide touring range, I would love to know what your set-up is.

Why Don't We Do It in the Road? New Adventures in Vehicular Cycling

Today we decided to cycle to Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Mass., which is an 18-mile round trip from our house. We have cycled there before, but on our road bikes, mostly on the Charles River Trail, and not in the winter. Today we went on our Pashleys, on a very windy February day, and on the road with cars. This was our longest vehicular cycling trip to date.
Getting there was the more challenging part, because large chunks of the route are uphill. We hadn't realised it before, but the Charles River Trail - though overall longer - avoids many of these hills, while the vehicular cycling route takes you right through them. No matter what anybody says, I do not recommend a heavy upright bicycle with limited gearing on hills for long distances, unless you have the stamina and leg strength of a hardened cyclist. The hills were bad enough, but the hills plus a killer headwind nearly did me in. I did make it though - soaked with sweat, bright red in the face, and without a clue how I was going to get the energy to cycle back! Oh, and Harris Cyclery was closed - we hadn't realised that their winter hours were 6 days a week only.

Thankfully, the sandwich place down the street was open, and we secured a table with a spectacular view of our bikes, partaking of their refreshments until I could muster up the strength to ride back. The return trip was considerably easier, though there were still some uphill patches.

While the hills and headwind bothered me, cycling on major roads with cars did not. Granted, there are some aspects of cycling on the road long distance that make it challenging. For one thing, it is not as easy to stop on a busy major road as it is on a trail. On the trail, if you are tired or need a drink, you can simply stop the bike. On the road this is not always an option: You need to find a good spot to pull over, signal - and only then can you stop. There is also more pressure to cycle at fast and consistent speeds. At this point I feel that I am a strong enough cyclist for this, but just barely. Especially on those winding roads with 40 mph+ speed limits and no bike lanes - one has to have a certain degree of confidence and stamina to make it all the way through: Once you are there, there is often no alternative way back other than on the same road.

Having said all of this, I still enjoy cycling on roads more than on trails, because I feel a greater degree of freedom. On a bike trail, I am constantly aware that a pre-determined path has been prescribed and it gets pretty boring. There is no sense of exploration or adventure, unless I have not been on that trail before. The road, on the other hand, offers limitless possibilities - which for me at least, is a major "high" in addition to cycling itself. Of course I prefer a road that is as scenic as possible, with as few cars as possible - but a road nonetheless. And I can't wait to get my Sam Hillborne built up - because I cannot imagine willingly doing this sort of ride on the Pashley again!

It's Not About the Weather

While we wait for Hurricane Sandy to arrive, I am still finding sand caked on my bike from an earlier rainy, muddy ride. It seems that every time I have ridden this bike so far, it has rained. Of course today, on my inaugural ride with fenders, it is sunny and dry. A friend consoles me by reminding me of the approaching hurricane. Surely I will have the opportunity to test the fenders then. I take the idea seriously and begin to mentally map out a route on some local trails, before realising how utterly insane that is. When the townsfolk are stocking up on canned goods and flashlight batteries, I should probably stay indoors.




With the season marching on toward starker days, I find myself thinking of weather.As cyclists we all tend to have an idea of the "perfect weather" for riding. For some it's the height of summer. For others it's that elusive "60 degrees and sunny, with a mild breeze." A few riders I know prefer cooler temperatures, and some even claim to enjoy rain. I think for me, the biggest revelation has been that, when push comes to shove, I can feel good in almost any weather.






After a recent post describing a rainy ride on dirt roads, a reader wrote:"It's in our nature to want to be comfortable and coddled, but you celebrate the joy of pushing yourself through rain and mud." I felt guilty reading this, because honestly I don't feel as if I am overcoming discomfort or pushing myself when I ride in those kinds of conditions. And I think that is the key to my being able to do it. The secret is to find a way of being comfortable, to just go with it and appreciate the situation for what it is, rather than spending energy on trying to overcome it. Maybe this is just a different way of looking at the same thing, but to me it makes a big difference. Rather than pushing through discomfort, I extract comfort.




Part of it is of course practical considerations. Figuring out how to dress, eat and drink in different conditions. Over the summer I stumbled upon some tricks that enabled me to ride in heat in humidity like I'd never managed to do before. And last winter, I discovered that riding in sub-20 degree temperatures was also very doable with the help of strategic layering. But equally important is the attitude. We have to be curious, interested. We have to want the experience.




What is my idea of perfect riding weather... Probably high 40s to low 50s, with heavily overcast skies. I feel most alive then; the raw energy in the air makes me want to ride faster, further. But in the end, it's not about the weather, but about finding comfort in whatever is thrown at me, about feeling coddled by the beauty of the surrounding landscape.

Five Rivendell Fork Crowns

We were at Harris Cyclery the other day and I took the opportunity to photograph the fork crowns of the Rivendell frames that were hanging in the shop. Enjoy the colourburst!

the Atlantis

the original green Sam Hillborne

the orange Sam Hillborne

the A. Homer Hilsen

the Betty Foy

Nice, aren't they? I think the "curly-cue" design that's on the Betty Foy, the A. Homer Hilsen, and the orange Sam Hillborne tend to be most people's favourites. But as a girl of simple tastes, I prefer the one on the original green Hillborne.

Girls, Girls, Girls

As I said, we pretty much had Mom all to ourselves this visit. We were able to see Katie and her girls for a bit on the day we were heading out. I so appreciated that also because Katie and I rarely get time together. We had a really nice chat while Abbey showed me how she can roller blade. Katie is like Aubi, she likes animals and they like her.



I had a little bit of time with my lovely nieces. They are two of the cutest girls ever and they are just cool kids to boot. Abbey is getting more grown up each time we see her. She is getting ready to enter that pre-teen stage. For now, she still seems to have a bit of the I'm happy being a little girl left in her. She drew me some pictures and showed me her talent there. She also loves animals. She is a sweetheart.



Mikaylah is the one who came and spent time with us in Arizona. She is much quieter when everyone else is around, which is too bad because she is an absolute hoot when she does talk. She is stunning with her beauty, both inside and out. She's really creative. She's smart as a whip. She loves crafts like me. And she is a sweetheart too.



They are typical sisters meaning they love each other and they fight like sisters who love each other.



One thing I did not like about this visit with the girls-Miss Abbey is almost as tall as me. How this is possible, I have no idea. I think she is going to be a tall one like Lauren, Auburn and Ambir.



Maybe Mikaylah will stay short like Ashleigh and I. Either way, they are gorgeous girlies and I love my time with them.



Living the life in Virginia!