Leavenworth Givler's Dome ..

Adam and I discussed an outing, but I had to be back in town in time for my class. So cragging was an obvious choice. I wanted to do something that involved placing gear and not just clipping bolts, so I convinced Adam to head to Leavenworth. Being that it is November we didn't get an early start, as it is usually a little too cold in the mornings to make climbing not fun. When we arrived in the Icicle, the temp was around 36° and clouds/fog were keeping us from direct sunlight.

November morning in the Icicle

Our plan was to hike up to Givler's Dome to climb Givler's Crack. This extra 45 minutes of hiking would give us more time for the day to warm up. Within ten minutes or so we were above the fog and receiving the warmth of the sun. We got off route a few times on the way up and had to scramble a bit to get back on track, but eventually made it to the base.

Since Adam was not up to leading the route, I would lead both pitches. And for whatever reason, the first pitch scares me. Perhaps because I flailed on it the first time I climbed the route. I've climbed it twice since then with no problems though. I placed a nut high and started up. I found the hands difficult as I had placed the piece where it interfered where I wanted to put them. I down climbed to the ground and restarted. After a few moves, I placed a second piece which then interfered with further hands. But I was able to move past it and continue. I finished the pitch feeling like it was the worst I had ever climbed it.

I brought Adam up and he had to hang on the rope to remove my stuck #4 from down low. He then climbed the second half of the pitch not using much crack technique for his hands. He arrived at the belay stating the first section wasn't as hard as I made it look.

Adam on the first pitch

We exchanged gear, and I was off leading the next pitch. I don't recall how I previously climbed it, but this time I wanted to try and keep my feet in the crack as much as possible. This proved a bit uncomfortable, but I persevered. Instead of going all the way to the top, I set up an intermediate belay once the angle eased, so I could see Adam climb. Unfortunately, the best spot for a comfortable belay did not offer a good view of the pitch, and I only got pics of him on the last portion of the pitch.

Adam on the second pitch

When Adam arrived at the belay, he kept going to the top finishing with the easy section to the boulder. We quickly hiked down to our packs. We took a lunch break and basked in the sun before heading to another destination, Rare Earth.

Adam finishing the route

For the second time this year, the Rare Earth crag has eluded me. Adam and I hiked around trying to find it, but wasted all of our time. Even consulting the newer guide book was unhelpful as it shows the crag to be down and right of Mastodon Roof. Turns out it is really down and left of it. After almost two hours of scrambling, hiking and bushwhacking, we found it but not with enough time to complete it and get back to Seattle. So we made note of where it was at, and hiked out.

It was great to be out on such a beautiful November day. It was a bummer that we only climbed one route. And even though we pitched it out to three pitches, it really is only two. I think we'll have a better idea of how to find Rare Earth the next time as well. I think this trip satisfied my urge to get out and rock climb, and perhaps my next trip this year will be to climb snow or ice.

Inflight Entertainment

Leaving for Austria again, I bought the new Bike Snob book to read on the plane in hopes of distracting myself from my terror of flying. I like the BikeSnobNYC blog, but what made me buy the book was Grant Petersen's review on Rivendell's website. I have to admit that I am a sucker for Grant Petersen's writing and find myself reading all sorts of things he wrote that I have no interest in, just for the narration. If he wrote a 2-page description of bathroom tiles, I'd probably read it. His enticing endorsement of the book put me over the edge.

And if this isn't proof of the existence of the Collective Unconscious, I don't know what is: No sooner did I stuff Bike Snob into my carry-on, then mention of me appeared on his blog. Scroll down to the bit about the Boston Globe story on sweat stains and fabrics with patterns. Right...

Bike Snob proved useful during my flight, as I was seated between two mothers with babies on their laps. The babies not only wailed for the duration of the flight, but now and again would reach out to pull my hair, poke my eye, or chew on my jacket. Noticing this, the mothers would smile at me generously - as if to say: "As a female of childbearing age, surely you must be delighted at the opportunity to interact with babies!" Trying not to start wailing myself, I took deep breaths and concentrated on Bike Snob.

If I had to use one word to describe the book it would be "heartwarming". It is gently humorous, and reading it feels like wrapping yourself in a warm and fuzzy sweater with cute little patterns of bicycles all over it. Though Bike Snob argues that there is no such thing as "bike culture," he contradicts himself by creating a sense of one - to the extent of even referring to cyclists as a distinct breed of people. He also contradicts himself by railing against the fetishisation of the cycling experience, only to go on and fetishise the heck out of it himself in later chapters. I am pretty certain that these contradictions are intentional, meant to illustrate his own hopeless love for bicycles and to demonstrate that he too is susceptible to the very things he mocks.

As for the contents, they are surprisingly straightforward. The chapters address such topics as bicycle history, bicycle ownership, bicycle maintenance, and road rules. There is also a part on "Velo-Taxonomy" where he categorises cyclists into various types and explains the differences in detail. According to his taxonomy, I would be a hybrid between the "Retrogrouch", the "Lone Wolf", and the "Beautiful Godzilla" (though the only thing in common I have with the latter is the type of bicycle I ride).

The Bike Snob book is generously illustrated, in a manner that evokes Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince. The design and layout make the pages almost seem edible. In a way, the presentation can be described as having a pre-packaged "cult status feel." Whether the book will actually attain cult status, only time will determine.

In other velo-news I can report from my travels, I saw these neat bicycles during my layover in Frankfurt Airport. These bikes have fenders, dynamo hub lighting, a the double-legged kickstand, a bell, a Basil front basket, a Pletscher rear rack, Schwalbe tires, and what appear to be license plates. From what I could tell, they are for the airport employees and not for flight passengers. Too bad, I would have liked to ride one around the airport!

Pashley, Speed, Hipster Bag

In my review of the Pashley Princess, I mentioned weight and lack of "agility" as counterpoints to her positive features. One thing I did not discuss was speed. Many assume that heavy "Dutch"-style bicycles cannot go fast and are not appropriate for long distance travel. I assumed this myself, and initially did not take Eustacia on super-long trail rides the way I did my roadbike Marianne.

But when put to the test, Eustacia came through with flying colours. We took the Pashleys on the Minuteman Trail, where we had previously only gone on our roadbikes. Pashleys are fast if you only give them a chance! They are slow to accelerate, but once they get going, they pick up speed better than I ever imagined, and roll oh so smoothly while doing it. We were absolutely flying on these bikes, and to our amazement, we made about the same time as on the roadbikes. I attribute this to the fact that going fast on the roadbike feels scary and dangerous, so I tend to self-regulate my speed, especially limiting it on downhills. The Princess, however, feels safe and stable even going downhill at 30mph, so I don't feel the need to slow down.

Gaining a better understanding of the gearing has also helped tremendously. And of course, a broken-in saddle plays a big role in comfort level (I know that Sigrid of My Hyggelig has reported pain from the rivets in her Pashley's saddle when riding long distance, but I have not had this problem). I am very happy with how this bicycle handles speed and distance, and have no hesitation taking Eustacia on half-day trail rides - basket and all. Longer rides than that I have not tried yet on any of my bikes.

The bag I am wearing... After Anna's post on Cyling is Good for You, I broke down and bought a Chrome for carrying my laptop. Given their hipster status, I think it's pretty funny to wear one of these bags while riding a heavy steel lady's bicycle with a coasterbrake. But I just don't feel comfortable keeping my laptop in a pannier and the Chrome provides the best support and the safest closure of all the bags I've tried. The one I bought is the Mini Metro, all-black. It fits my 15" MacBook Pro and anything else I might want to carry in it for the day. I am thinking of covering up the logo and maybe personalising it a bit.

It's a School Night Matt.

The force is strong in this one.

Even before meeting him he had bugged the hell out of us all on qurank.com







"I turn my back for 5 minutes and these little Tinny (Mt. Tinbeerwah)kids are running around qurank and theCrag, posting like they're on red cordial and pixie sticks. Between posts from Sister Matt and Chester 2000, I'm finding it hard to catch some shut-eye.



We can blame JJ for encouraging them. "

Lee Cujes





It's true. I figuredthis precocioustweenager wasn't going to go away, so we had to take him in and show him the craft. Now he's my coach.











Within a few years Matt is working some of the hardest routes around. He is the onlyclimber to seriously take on the Lee Cujes test piece "Bite the Hand that Feeds" Coolum's hardest and as yet unrepeated.

























Sensational flexibility gained from previous years of gymnastics have given Matt a crazy range of moves.His years of pianoaccordian training haven't shown anyusefulness yet though. Mercifully.















Here's an example of whatputs schoolboy Matt Schimkein the top handful of Queenslands sport climbers.A wirey strength and explosive energy.

















Here's the kooky thing about Matt: He has a savant like memory for beta.He can tell you the sequence for any route that he has ever seen.Not just his beta but the exact sequence that each individual climber has used for each route.Spooky, I know.

I often say "Hey Matt how do I do this bit again?"



Thanks to Matt's Mum for all the yummy cookies.

Finding Magic in Our Own Back Yard

It was almost a year ago that I first saw it. Making my way home through a tangle of unexplored back roads, I found myself on a tiny side street near Porter Square in Cambridge. Brick sidewalks, Victorian houses, overgrown yards, overarching tree branches. It was getting dark and I rode right past the mysterious structure just as I caught a glimpse of it out of the corer of my eye. It was like something out of a fairy tale. I told myself that I would return the following day to have a better look. And I tried - but for the life of me, I could not find the street again. I retraced my steps and criss-crossed the little neighbourhood several times, but to no avail. Eventually I gave up, wondering whether my tired mind could have imagined it. ...Until two days ago, when quite by accident I found myself on the same little street again and suddenly there it was: A tiny house, fashioned from a hollowed-out tree trunk.






Now that I had more time to examine it, it was even better than I remembered. There was a shingled roof with a weathervane on top. The interior was carved out neatly to form a cozy chamber just large enough to fit a child or an adult in a crouching position. Inside were stacks of children's books, as well as a guest book where visitors left each other messages. There was no indication that the tree house was privately owned; it seemed to be intended for public access.






And as I stuck my head in, it turned out I was not the only visitor. In the corner sat a small cat. Her mottled brown coat blended in with the inside of the tree and I had not noticed her there in the dark. I was doubly taken aback, because at first glance it appeared the cat was reading. But upon closer examination she was just grooming her paw on top of an open book. Her routine interrupted by my presence, the cat jumped out and began circling the tree in a proprietary manner, making communicative chirping sounds each time she passed me.






A woman and her grandson walked by and were equally intrigued by the scene. They assumed the cat was mine and that I'd brought her in my bicycle bag. But I explained that the cat was probably the owner of the tree house. It seemed like a reasonable enough conclusion. The boy climbed inside to look at the books and the cat interacted with all of us - jumping in and out of the tree, circling, and chirping. She did not appear to be disturbed by our presence; it was more like she was trying to talk to us.






This time around I remembered the location and later did some investigating. Turns out the structure is modeled after Winnie the Pooh's House. It's a book and diary exchange for the neighbourhood children. Created by local furniture artist Mitch Ryerson, the house was carved from the trunk of a silver maple that was knocked down in a winter storm fifteen years ago. Since then it's become a secret local landmark.




The neighbourhood we live in is made up of lots of tiny pocket neighbourhoods that are really their own little worlds. It still amazes me how often I stumble upon new things here, especially of an unusual or mysterious nature. More often than not it happens when I am out on my bike - looking for short cuts, or for a shady route away from the sunny main road. Finding a bit of magic in our own back yard is par of the course when traveling on two wheels.

Gunks Routes: Splashtic (5.10a) & Nice 5.9 Climb

(Photo: Gail about to make the crux move on pitch one of Splashtic (5.10a).)



What happened to my Spring season?



When I got out to climb with Maryana in late April I was feeling pretty good. After warming up with Gaston, I followed her up Obstacle Delusion (5.9), thenwe both cleanly toproped Teeny Face (5.10a).After thatI led Directissima (5.9) from the ground to the GT Ledge in one pitch and we both one-hanged Ridiculissima (5.10d) on toprope. Finally, Maryana redpointed Retribution (5.10b). I wanted to try leading it too but we were out of time, so I just followed it. It was a good day.



And then I got so busy I couldn't find time to climb. Trials at work, plus a home renovation that required us to pack up all our belongings and move, meant I couldn't find a day on which to play. I couldn't even find time to write a blog post about Directissimaand Ridiculissima.



The weeks flew by.



Memorial Day was fast approaching.I was headed to Utah with my wife and kids for a destination wedding in Park City. I had plans to stay in Salt Lake City afterwards for four--FOUR!!-- days of climbing with Adrian. I was excited to climb with Adrian again, and to see him for the first time since he moved back to Vancouver in February. The trip promised to be a climbing dream come true, but I didn't want to arrive feeling out of shape on real rock.



I was desperate to go to the Gunks. I needed a tune-up!



As is my wont, I hatcheda plan: I would tack an extraday onto my Memorial Day vacation and go to the Gunks right before we left town.



In many ways this wasn't a great idea. The forecast was not good. It had been raining for several days. And I needed to be back early. Plus I had no partner.



No matter. I decided to go for it. Iharassed Gail until she agreed to climb with me for half a day. At first she begged off, saying some nonsenseabout deadlines and proposals. When I told her this was important, that I really needed to climb to be prepared for my trip, she said that some different explanations for my behavior came to her mind. And then she used some ugly words. Words Ihesitate to repeat,like "obsession" and "compulsion..."



Luckily she is just asfixated on climbingas I am.She eventually agreed tomeet me. (She had work to do but brought her laptop computer to the cliff. Talk about obsessed. I think that woman has a problem: she works too hard.)



In addition to the climbing, I decided to cash in a gift certificate Adrian had given me for a free weekday rental from the Classic Car Club in Manhattan. At no cost, I got to drive to the Gunks in a 2007 Porsche Cayman S. So even if our day turned out to be a bust, I could at least enjoymy timedriving aroundin a realprecision speed machine.







(Photo: My ride for the day. Can you believe it?)



It had been a long time since I'd driven a stick shift. I was afraid that the Classic Car Club people would immediately discover my incompetence with a manual transmission, rip up the gift certificate,and send me packing. But even though I stalled out three times on the test drive, they nevertheless(unaccountably) let me leave the lot with this gleaming whitepriceless sports missile.



"Suckers!!" I thought as I drove away, trying my best to appear as ifI belonged in this car.



Imade believeI was an investment banker with a pocket full of Viagra.



I took corners in third gear.



Ipassed people on the right.



I think I got away with it. That's what happens when you drive this kind of car. People expect you to be an aggressive asshole and they get out of your way. I could get used to this kind of driving. It felt really good.



Isped up to the Gunks in a wet mist but by the time I picked up Gail in Gardiner the rain had stopped and the sun was beating down. It was a bit hot and humid, but hey, I wasn't about to complain. We were going to do some climbing!



I pulled my Porsche into the nearly empty West Trapps parking lot and we set off to look for something dry.



We didn't find anything dry.



There was wetness everywhere but the cliff seemed tobeless soakedas it got higher.We decided to do something with an easy start. Strictly From Nowhere was open, so we did Strictly's to Shockley's. We were using Gail's 70 Meter rope; I knew I could get from the bolts atop pitch one on Strictly's all the way to the top of the cliff in one pitch. I felt greatleading both pitches. I was so comfortable,I was unfazed by the copperhead I found nestled in a crack halfway up Strictly's. I wasparticularly happy with how Shockley's went; I managed the roof with much less awkwardness than in the past and got to the finish without any significant drag.



I wasn't so out of shape after all. Maybe it was time to try a 5.10?



We were close to Splashtic, a climb I'd glanced at a month earlier with Maryana. It looked dry now. Gail encouraged me to try it, saying she thought there was pro for the crux and that if I decided to bailI could escape around the corner to the right. And the 5.10 bit appeared like it would be short. It seemed the steep wall which began the climb was only about 30 feet high. After one or two hard face moves between horizontals itlooked likethe whole thing eased off to a low-angle romp.



I had no intention of doing the R-rated 5.9 pitch two. I didn't know how we'd get down without doing another pitch but Gail said she thought there was some kind of fixed anchor up there to the left.



I racked up and did it. My analysis: I think this is a pretty good easy 5.10. It isn't a great pitch by any stretch of the imagination. But if you are trying to get your feet wet in 5.10, as I am, Splashtic provides a short steep face with just a couple of hard moves on it.



You can come into the middle of the face from the right or the left. The right may be a little easier but there is no pro for the move that gets you established on the wall. I came in this way at first but couldn't work a C3 into the only little crack that is available. So I stepped down andtried itfrom the left, where there is a good slot for a cam and a hard, steep move to get up on the wall.



Then it's just a few moves of nice climbing to the jug below the crux. I got a nice piece in the obvious slot just below the jug. Don't block this whole slot because you might want some space available there. I don't want to give the move away so that's all I'm saying about that.



Also, because I'm a chicken (and a safe chicken at that),I placed two more small Aliens in another horizontal a few feet over to the right and a foot or so higher. These cams took a little more work, because thehorizontalis sort of flaring. But I thought they were good.



With three solid pieces in, I felt ready for the crux, which is a long reach to the next horizontal.



I stepped up and gave it a whirl. And I almost made the reach but didn't quite have it.



So I stepped back down, not weighting the rope.



Trying again, I made it! Whoa, my second 5.10 onsight, just like that.



Once up above the steep face, I moved left to the Gorilla My Dreams corner instead of right to the former Gaston belay, since I knew from my previous trip to the Gunks that the Gaston station was gone.



As Gail had remembered, there was arather small tree with some good-looking slings and rings in this vegetated corner to the left. I put in a piece to back up the tree while Gail climbed the route but then she went ahead andremoved the piece after she finished climbing, usingthe fixedstation alone for lowering.The stationseemed good enough for body weight, certainly.



With not much time left in our half day I suggested we do Nice 5.9 Climb, another 5.9 tick on my list that I hadn't led yet. I had done this one on toprope a few years ago with Nani and I had struggled at that time with the crux move, falling several times before finally getting it. Earlier this year I had done it in wet conditions, again on toprope, and it seemed much less mysterious. I figured now I would lead it quickly-- it is short--and we'd go on home. It was on the way out right at the beginning of the cliff.



Inone sense Nice 5.9 Climb resembles Splashtic as a good introduction to its grade. The crux is just one move, an escape out of a corner with an overhang,and it is well-protected. (There is an upper crux but it is just a little bit of 5.8 steepness, much easier than the lower crux, in my opinion.)



In another sense, however,I don't think Nice 5.9 is a great introductory 5.9, because that one crux move is really pretty tricky. It is a stand-up move in which you have to get your weight over your high foot just right. If my memory were erased and I had to onsight it right now I'm not sure I'd get it clean the first time.



But last Wednesday with Gailit went fine, although as with Splashtic I had to step up, step down, think it over, and try it again. At which time I got it, without ever weighting the rope.



And so I went home happy with my climbing, and ready (I thought) for Utah. Little did I realize that the granite slabs and cracks of Little Cottonwood Canyon would humble me, making this day in the Gunks seem like a distant memory.



Stay tuned. I'll tell you all about it next time.

SC II - first real ice routes of the season

Sunday we went to SC-II. It was seriously cold. Temps were below 0° and the wind was howling like crazy. It was Laura and I, Joel Toretti and PA Matt, CO Matt and his wife Rebecca. We were greeted by the howling winds at the Cliffs parking area. Upon hiking in, we found that the cold temperatures had locked up most of the water. There is still some water running and with the forecast calling for the lower 20's, the water will be flowing again in no time. Climbs are looking good. Laura and I climbed Called on Account of Security which was bonded much better than several days prior. The climb is a little thin at the bottom, but gets better as you go up. FYI There's a V thread backed up by a screw at the P1 Belay for lowering from there. P2 wasn't quite formed up yet. Joel tried to get on The Awakening, but the climb was very brittle and the temps were a little less than favorable for gear placement. They opted to drop a TR on the right central and run laps. Matt and Rebecca opted to head out earlier due to the cold. We ended the day around 3:00. It was a good day and we made some new ice climbing friends. I was glad to get up Called despite the temps and thin, brittle ice. Here's a few photos from the day.

Urbana: Review of a True Transport Bike

A month ago, I received a bicycle from the Canadian manufacturer Urbana, to test ride and review. When the offer was initially made, I visited Urbana's website and was both confused and intrigued. Did they not see that I liked classic bicycles and not modern monstrosities? Did they realise the risk they were taking asking me to review this thing? Still, even then I was aware that this wasn't some generic comfort bike, but a unique design with a distinct look and unusual geometry. The manufacturer insisted that I'd like it once I tried it, and my curiosity was piqued.





If you've been reading this blog for the past month, you know the result: I ended up riding the Urbana far more than I had intended... to the annoyance of some readers who found it not sufficiently "lovely" to grace this website. But to those readers I say: Come on, open your mind. Though not "pretty" in the classic sense, the Urbana is aesthetically harmonious, well-designed and comfortable - which in my book is lovely indeed. The neon yellow was an accidental choice on my part: It was described as "olive" and looked army green on the website. But everything else about this bike I like. In fact, had I gotten it in black I would have had a problem parting with it - so perhaps the neon colour is a blessing in disguise.





So, what kind of bike is the Urbana? Technically speaking, it is a hybrid between a mountain bike, a BMX bike, and a Dutch transport bike. The mountain bike legacy comes from the downhill MTB designer Jerome Roy, in the form of reinforced frame and fork construction with wide 26" tires. The BMX attribute is in the handlebar setup and in the squat stature.






The Dutch aspect is in the relaxed angles, deep U-frame, fenders, and heavy-duty rear rack. It may seem like a mish-mash of incompatible styles, but it all comes together harmoniously - and, to my eye, adorably in a "friendly little forest troll" kind of way.





The sitting position itself feels Dutch, in the sense that the seat tube is relaxed (I would guess70° or less), and I could attain nearly full leg extension while still being able to touch the ground with a toe.





At the same time, the low BMX handlebars place the rider in a considerably more forward-leaning position, than would a Dutch bike. The threadless stem allows to easily alter the positioning of the handlebars - leaning them toward or away from the rider, depending on preferences and the person's height. I had my bars set pretty much straight and found them comfortable.





This picture shows the relaxed geometry and long wheelbase of the bike fairly accurately, as well as the saddle-handlebars positioning.The frame of theUrbanais welded aluminum, executed in a manner that I would describe as industrial. Some readers have mentioned that the bike reminds them of "bikeshare" bicycles, but any visual similarity is superficial. TheUrbanais constructed differently and handles differently. It is a bike meant to haul serious weight and to withstand the roughest terrain, which bike-share machines are not.





The letters carved into the frame are part of a security code for registering the bicycle (the second part of the code is located elsewhere). Urbanahas an interesting system for registering and securing these bicycles that makes stealing them an unwise move.





Of course, one of the main defining features of the Urbana are its 26" x 2.6" Niddepoule "Sidewalk" balloon tires with reflective sidewalls. They are extremely wide, extremely cushy, and roll fairly fast. I have tried most good modern fat tires at this point, and in terms of handling these feel similar to the 26" Schwalbe Fat Franks - only wider. Potholes are not an issue.





Reviewers of the Urbana tend to delight in how easy and fun it is to hop curbs with the tires, and of course there is that. But I feel like stressing this aspect almost trivialises them. The tires are genuinely usefulon bad roads. There is no road shock, none at all - which is a big deal for those who find going over potholes painful. I have rolled over what I would otherwise have considered obstacles on the road and swerved to avoid. And yes, I have gone up on curbs - just not on camera.






Urbanabicycles are semi-customisable, and I requested fenders. They use SKS fenders, which provide good coverage.






Some have complained that the front fender is too short - but while visually that is true, I did not find that I was sprayed with water from the front tire when cycling in the rain. We did find it difficult to set up the V-brakes in a way that did not interfere with the front fender. If you opt for the fenders, consider choosing disk brakes instead of the V-brakes.





For gearing, I asked for the 3-speed option - which came with a Sturmey Archerhub. The hub worked flawlessly and was more than sufficient for me. The gearing felt similar to that on my Gazelle- I stayed mostly in second gear. Notice how the hub is connected to the (lack of?) rear dropouts. This frame construction is so different from what I am used to, that I do not even know how to describe this.





The SAtwist shifter has a rainbow-esque look to it that I think suits the bike well. Not a whole lot of grip space next to the shifter, but more than on some other bikes I have tried. Interestingly, my hands did not hurt in the straight-in-front position these bars put me in, whereas usually I find this position unbearable as a result of nerve damage in my hands. It must be not just the hand position that bothers me, but the combination of it plus road shock. Since I experienced absolutely no road shock on this bike, the position alone did not cause discomfort. At least that is my theory as to how I was able to ride this bike, but not any other bike with the same style of handlebars.





Overall, the components used on the Urbanaare pretty good - from the Cane Creekheadset to the SKS fenders and chainguard. There are no flimsy, generic parts; all is solid. The Co-Habitant doesn't love the V-brakes they used, but otherwise he agrees. I thought the V-brakes were fine, though they are generally not my favourite brake type simply because they are too strong and don't modulate well. The Urbana stoppedtoowell, and I had to be careful with that.



Notably, the Urbana is not equipped with a lighting system, which I see as its one major flaw. A dynamo lighting option would make it a fully equipped urban utility bike.





The proprietary saddle is tightly sprung and mildly padded vinyl. I found it quite comfortable for rides under 5 miles and felt no desire to change it. The Co-Habitant didn't like it, but I think that's because he is quite a bit heavier than I am and his weight made the springs over-active.





Last, but not least, there is what Urbanacalls the Reinforced Rack (RNR). It looks fairly inconspicuous and normal as far as racks go, but is designed to withstand 160lb of dynamic weight. This includes anything from furniture, to squirming children, to - well, me.





The above was a fairly easy and normal arrangement for me to set up on the Urbana, and I wrote about it in detail here. I did not feel the weight shifting around or slowing me down while I was cycling. My Gazelleis pretty good at carrying loads as well, but not this good.





Aside from the generous weight rating, it also helps that attaching stuff to the RNR rack is easier than to any other rack I've owned. It's a ridiculously simple design that anyone could have thought of... but didn't. Each side of the rack's platform has a carved-out section with bolts poking out undearneath, making it possible to attach virtually any bag to the rack by wrapping the handles around the bolts.





The utility and freedom afforded by this ridiculously simple design is just amazing:No need for dedicated panniers.





Of course, if you do with to carry panniers, it's not a problem: The rack's tubing will accommodate almost any attachment system (with the exception of fixed 3-hook systems - which I believe only Fastrideruses). So the cyclist is really given functional freedom here. Panniers? Fine. No panniers? Also fine. The rack also has a handy built-in notch for bungee cord attachment at the bottom, which you can see here.





With its easy-to-load rack, and the durability that allowed me to keep it locked up outdoors 24/7, I was soon using the Urbana all the time for transportation - instead of my own bikes.Before I knew it, the Co-Habitant was using it too and you can read about us sharing the bike here. All this was in no way part of my agreement with Urbana, but entirely a product of how convenient the darn bike was to use. In the end, we end up using what's most convenient - simple as that.





The weight of the Urbana as I had it set up was roughly 42lb. There is one particular section on the seat tube by which it is very easy to pick the bike up, making the weight totally manageable. To pick it up any other way is uncomfortable. But best of all, is to park it outdoors. I kept it locked up in the back of the house for the entire month it was in my possession, and it weathered this just fine.





The ride quality feels more than anything like that of a good mountain bike... fitted with unusually fat, fast tires. Maybe because I rode a mountain bike in high school, the experience of riding the Urbanamade me feel young and "bad-ass" again, which I enjoyed. Gosh, if someone gave me this bike when I was 16 years old and riding this, I would have been in heaven! Aside from the fun ride, this is probably the most stable bike I have tried thus far, all things considered. The responsiveness is decent, but obviously not roadish. Maybe half way between a mountain bike and Dutch bike. Acceleration is surprisingly good, and going uphill was similar to my Gazelle (i.e. good enough for my terrain). If you have ever tried a Retrovelo, its ride quality comes the closest to the Urbana than anything else I've tried - save for the posture and hand positioning.





Co-Habitant on the Urbana, with grocery bags.





Our neighbour Somervillain on the Urbana, riding no hands.





And the two of us together again. Can't say that I particularly enjoy riding on the rear rack (I like to pedal, not to be carted around), but it is definitely doable and the bike remains stable. We went to the grocery store this way once when we didn't feel like taking separate bikes, and it was fine. I screamed when he tried to hop a curb with me onthe bike, but you can hardly blame me for that.



Overall, I do prefer the ride quality of traditional, upright loop-frame bicycles to the Urbana, simply because of the more comfortable hand positioning and the upright posture. Over long distances, I begin to find the MTB posture tiring - whereas on my traditional upright bicyclesI can keep going for 30 miles. However, the utility and convenience of the Urbanamade me prefer it for short-distance trips - especially when carrying anything of significance on the bike. Had the bike been equipped with lighting, its utility would have been truly remarkable, but the lack of lights made it only usable during daylight hours.



The US retail price of the Urbana will be around $1,000-1,370 - depending on how it is equipped. I suspect that the market will find that price range too expensive for this particular bike, but I could be wrong. Would I buy it for myself? Possibly - especially as a winter bike and dedicated "cargo chariot" that I would share with the Co-Habitant. I would get it in black, and I would want them to knock several hundred off the price. That is my honest feedback.



More than anything, the Urbana challenged my priorities - an experience that will have a long-lasting effect on my design sensibilities. I appreciate the opportunity to review this product and wish Urbana the best of luck.