Tropical Lushness

A bright ti plant stands out in the midst of tropical foliage.

This and That

You can get with this

or you can get with that

Sometimes I wear a helmet



sometimes I wear a hat



Sometimes I work from home

with my lovely assistants



Sometimes I go on rides

in the cold wearing mittens



Sometimes I ride with others

sometimes I ride alone



Taking wacky pictures

with my camera phone



meeting nice people



eating hot soup



climbing hills along the

Concord-Lexington loop



Now let's all get cozy

with a warm cup of java



Or how about a crazy

wool balaclava?



Enjoy your weekend

and the beauty outside



No matter what you're into

it's time for a ride!

A Taste of the Radish

As anticipated after our meeting at Interbike,Xtracyclehas sent over a demo model of their Radish long tail cargo bike for me to test ride. I will be picking it up from Harris Cyclery next week, and after trying it for the first time a few days ago, I have a feeling we will get on nicely.Pioneers of the long tail concept, Xtracycle makes two main categories of products: the Free Radical, which is an extender kit that can turn almost any standard bike into a long tail, and a line of integrated longtail bikes. The step-through Radish model has been around since and is available in multiple configurations.The Radish pictured here is the Classic - designed to carry "groceries, cargo of all shapes and sizes, and adult passengers."






As the term "long-tail" suggests, the Radish sports an extended rear end: The back wheel is set back considerably, allowing space for a massive deck to extend along the chainstays. Other than that, the Radish looks like a fairly normal transportation bicycle: lowered stepover, swept-back handlebars, fenders, flat pedals and a chain guard. All it is missing is lights. Current retail prices for the Radish start at $1,220 for a complete bike, bags included.






California-designed and Taiwan built, the frame is welded cromoly steel. The complete bike weighs 43lb.






The 1x9 speed derailleur drivetrain is geared to provide a nice and useful range, including a low 1:1 gear.






V-brakes front and rear.






The cargo deck can serve as a carrying platform for large objects and passengers. It also integrates with XtraCycle's expandable FreeLoader bags, as well as with the optional WideLoader side platforms (not pictured). I am going to experiment while the bike is in my possession and see how well this system accommodates the sort of cargo I am likely to carry.






My initial ride on the Radish was modest. First I rode it completely unloaded, just to see how it would handle in that state. Then I added some photo equipment, my laptop bag, and an armload of random heavy-ish items from Harris Cyclery for extra weight. Here are my first impression notes based on the (4 mile) test ride:




. The unloaded Radish felt surprisingly light to pick up, something the shop staff noticed as well.




. The Radishhandles like a normal, faster-than-average upright bike. There was no learning curve involved in riding it. I would wager that if you can ride an upright bike, you can handle the Radish.




. I could not feel the long-tailness of the bike, even when cornering.




. I could not sense a difference in handling or speed between the Radish unloaded vs lightly loaded. Apparently it will take a lot more than the equivalent of a week's worth of groceries, plus camera equipment, plus laptop bag, for me to feel anything back there.




. Ride quality over potholes was great (26" x 2" tires).




. I like the quick and efficient feel of the derailleur drivetrain.




. The geometry makes full leg extension possible when pedaling, while still allowing me to put a toe down at stops without dismounting.








. The quick release seatpost makes sharing the Radish easy.




. The stepover is pretty low, but still requires leaning the bike toward me in order to step over the top tube. It is not quite as low as a full-on step-through or loop frame.




. The size of the Radish makes it impractical for me to store it indoors (we have a tiny place). I wonder how it will fare when stored outside.




. While my impulse is to say that if the Radish were mine, I'd want a box permanently affixed to the rear, I will give the standard setup a fair chance before jumping to conclusions.



. Aesthetically, I have to admit that I like the Radish a lot; it just looks so darn friendly and adorable.




All of this combined leaves me in eager anticipation of truly putting this bike through its paces and experimenting with various types of cargo. If you are local and interested in taking it for a spin, the Radish remains for a few more days atHarris Cycleryin West Newton, MA, and will return there after my review.

Sea Palms at Shore Acres State Park

During our recent trip out west we visited Shore Acres State Park, one of the best places along the Oregon coast to watch the ocean waves. As I was photographing the surf breaking over the near-shore rocks I noticed these little ocean shrubs that looked like miniature palm trees. I think they add a bit of whimsy to this photo.

Damrak and shopping in Bijenkorf

Friday at work is our casual dress day but if I have a client call I am usually in formal business attire. As a person, my style tends to lean towards classic, so even if I dress casual, I still look a bit formal. I can never do t-shirts and rubber shoes. When I wear jeans I always pair it up with high heels otherwise I would feel naked.



It is officially autumn in the Netherlands but today we had summer. Actually, for the whole week we had summer temperatures which is of course a delight to us as we don’t often have clear skies and sunny weather. I had a client visit today but I was not in the mood to dress up business formal because of the warm weather. Yesterday I wore my usual business outfit and I was sweating like a pig. Pffft!



Anyway, after work today I went to Bijenkorf in Amsterdam to buy the item I have been eyeing for since last weekend.



Shopping in Bijenkorf today.



I saw this particular item last week in Bijenkorf Utrecht and when I came back yesterday to buy it, it was gone. I was told by the sales girl that there are only 2 left in the whole of Bijenkorf in the Netherlands and they are in Amsterdam. I was already thinking of buying the thing online direct from the designer’s website but I hate to think of the duties and taxes plus the hassles of picking up the item since I am never at home during the day.



Got to Bijenkorf Amsterdam and saw the thing and it is the last one! Whew, I bought it. It was Dwaze Dagen in Bijenkorf and the sales ladies and gentlemen were all dressed in funny characters in yellow. Unfortunately the item I bought was not part of the Dwaze Dagen discount.



Parked the car in Q-Park/Bijenkorf which is as usual unbelievably expensive. I paid 12 EUR for just 2.5 hours park.



I also took a few fotos of Damrak. This area of Amsterdam is always teeming with people and cyclists. The Damrak is the street where the trams pass from the Dam Square leading to Amsterdam Centraal (Train) Station.



Last Tuesday I was here in Amsterdam in the same area and in fact we parked at Q-Park/Bijenkorf as well. I had dinner with colleagues from Geneve and the Netherlands in Brasserie Harkema which is located in Nes street, just a few minutes’ walk from Damrak. I was too busy talking during dinner I forgot to take fotos. Well, when I am dining with colleagues and business partners I rarely take fotos anyway.



My rating for the food at Harkema: Cesar Salad—4 stars, Grilled Tuna—4.5 stars, Tiramisu—4.5 stars. The place is quite big, modern and trendy however it doesn’t offer a cosy ambiance. It’s more like a business restaurant. Well, we ate there for business anyway.



Here are a few fotos in Damrak:



Visit Period: September

Blue Hour Beauty at Hollow Rock

Even though last night yielded about a 0% chance of a nice colorful sunset, I still wanted to head out after work and see what the ice was like at Hollow Rock. We have had really good ice production on the lake over the last several days, and Hollow Rock did not disappoint in terms of ice. The west side of the rock was littered with plate ice and here on the east side was this nice little "ice cove". The ice cove really made for a nice composition with the peninsula of ice pointing right at Hollow Rock. The reflection of Hollow Rock in the water was an extra bonus. So, not much color but still an amazing scene! Today the weather is the opposite of the serene calm that you see here. Last night the wind kicked up and it has been violently windy this morning. I heard that the wind gusts were maxing out at just over 60 MPH in Grand Marais! Hopefully some ice will hang on and survive the wind. I would not be too happy if all the ice blew away :-(

Autumnal Updates

When I acquired my vintageGazelletwo months ago, I had meant to give her some TLC and a tune-up - but ended up doing absolutely nothing to her until now. She functioned fine despite having sat abandoned in someone's basement, and I've been taking the poor, loyal creature for granted. But every bicycle enjoys care and personalisation, and I have finally givenLindasome much-deserved attention.

The original rubbery-plastic grips must have been reaching the end of their life expectancy, because they felt soft and sticky - as if the material was slowly degrading. So I replaced them with Elkhide sew-on grips from Velo Orange.Although these are not exactly a breeze to install (they are strips of leather that you must cut to size and sew on yourself), the result is worth it - soft, pliant, subtly textured, and beautiful.Luckily, I did not have to destroy theGazellegrips in the process; with some effort they slid off and I will hold on to them as keepsakes.

I have also outlined the head tube lugs in silver. There was trace evidence that they had once been outlined in this manner and I wanted to restore Linda to her prior glory. I think the outlining goes nicely with the chrome fork crown and the silver headbadge.

But while these changes are nice enough, the Co-Habitant gave Linda a gift that is even nicer: he "brightened" her headlight by replacing the halogen lightbulb with an LED. This is a temporary solution, before we execute our grandiose plan to overhaul both the head and tail lights with a super bright LED + standlight system, while retaining the original Gazelle casings. It was reassuring to see that DBC did this to their bikes; hopefully our project will be equally successful (if it works, we'll post instructions). But for now, at least I have a brighter headlight - good to have that sorted now that it is starting to get dark so early.

In addition to the lights project, we are still planning to eventually replace the old, cracked tires with cream Delta Cruisers, and to finally give this bicycle a proper tune up. I am also considering whether I should replace the standard dress guards with something personalised, like the beautiful hand-made guards I've received from Bobbin and Sprocket.



Linda has been so good to me since I got her, that it is only fair to reciprocate. It's true when they say that one person's trash (she was discarded by her previous owner) can be another's treasure.

Happy Easter

Wishing all a very Happy Easter. Make sure to find all the hiden eggs but don't get a belly ach eating to many goodies.

Getting to Know You

As someone who is interested in experiencing a variety of bicycles and sharing my impressions with others, I find myself constantly re-examining the question of how long it takes to get a "proper" impression of a bike. When I test ride a bicycle, the experience is different on so many levels from when I own the bicycle and ride it in on a daily basis. There are discoveries I make about bikes months into owning them.



Also, when I own a bicycle - even if it's one of my "experimental bikes" and I know from the start that I will probably end up selling it eventually, there is something about the personal responsibility of ownership that makes me more comfortable forming impressions of its characteristics.



These are all reasons why I differentiate "bicycle reviews" - which I limit to the bikes I own, from "test ride reports" of the bikes I try. And I also mention how long I'd ridden the bike at the time of the review, so that the reader can factor that in. For instance, riding the Abici for an entire afternoon around the city and riding my friend's Retrovelo for a good portion of our long trip through the countryside, were quite different experiences than riding the Trek Belleville for 10 minutes on the side streets adjacent to the bike shop. And, riding my own Gazelle, Bella Ciao and Pashley were different experiences still, and my impression of these bikes takes hundreds of rides into account.



Ultimately, I feel more comfortable offering an opinion about bikes I have owned, however briefly, than on bikes I have merely test ridden or borrowed. And I am considering what that means in terms of Lovely Bicycle. Should I try to make it a point to own the bikes I feel would be especially interesting to review, and then later sell them, accepting the loss as part of the costs of running this blog? It's a neat idea, but probably not financially feasible. Extended borrowing would be the next thing, but there are all sorts of logistic and conflict-of-interest problems when it comes to that as well.



How long does it take you to get to know a bicycle? Is a test ride enough, or do you have to own it for a couple of months before you really feel familiar with it? When you read reviews and test ride reports, do you pay attention to how long the author has been riding the bike and factor that into your impressions? Finally, what do you think is the optimal time period to wait before writing a review?

Freshwater Spring

Cool, clear water emits from the ground at this spring. The water comes out from under the rocks in the top right-hand portion of the photo.

When Simplicity Trumps Comfort

Will Spring ever arrive this year? Looking at all the new snow on the trail as we braved another "spring ride," I began to seriously doubt it. Nonetheless, my Rivendell is back in action after a long winter.



Now, here's an admission: Although the Sam Hillborne is super-comfortable, when it comes to shorter rides without major hills I've come to prefer a more pared-down roadbike. In fitting the Rivendell with a front rack, decalleur, handlebar bag and good sized saddlebag, we made a conscious decision to optimise it for long distance travel and exploration at the expense of simplicity. Though individually each accessory is fairly lightweight, all together they do add heft to the bike and make it more difficult to take in and out of the apartment. And I find it inconvenient to detach and reattach the bags depending on what kind of ride I am taking, so I would rather just leave them on.



I have a routine 30 mile ride that I do whenever weather permits, and on this ride my ideal bike would be a lightweight single speed (fixed/free flip-flop hub), with a tiny saddlebag and no fenders. Currently, my Moser and Bianchi share this role, with the Moser being the fixed gear and the Bianchi essentially acting as the freewheel singlespeed, since the 2x6 gearing is so unfinicky that it allows me to forget it's there. By contrast, the 3x8 gearing on the Rivendell feels cumbersome on a ride where I don't need to shift gears.



I am not the first person to experience the epiphany that "for fast and short rides I prefer Roadbike A, while for long and hilly rides I prefer Roadbike B." Still, I was surprised to feel myself developing this preference - particularly the single speed and no fenders part of it. There is something to be said for just being able to throw a bike down on the grass and not worry, for pedaling fast and not playing around with shifters. At times I value this simplicity and ease more than I value load capacity, gearing, comfort, and yes - even keeping my clothes clean and dry. There, I said it!