deductive reasoning

When you look out of your front door and see this...

We did not take this car. Instead, we took the heavier one.

It might be prudent to stay at home.

However, there is nothing in me that just screams prudence, so we went out and ran some errands.

Shot through the glass of a local coffee shop - what are errands without coffee?

Part of our running about involved a trip out of town on back roads to my parent's house to pick up my daughter who was visiting with them.

We saw this.

oops... it is still in the middle of the road

Further down the road, we saw this.

note the lane plowed on each side of the car - it is exactly in the middle of the road and very stuck

Applying deductive reasoning to what we saw brought me to the following conclusion. White Mazda 3 driver suffers a loss of control of the vehicle. Likely, they whapped a big drift in the dark last night. Poof, into the drift. Not getting out.

This is fairly obvious.

Driver calls for help. Taxi comes and gets them. Picks them up. Crests hill on the way back into the city. Mires car in deep drift.

Has to call for help.

I have no idea if that is what happened or not, but it is a fairly comical story if true.

Incidentally, we saw the taxi owner trying to tow the taxi out of the drift in the middle of the road with a light weight Suzuki car. I wish I had had the time to sit and watch. The Camry hybrid in the drift was significantly heavier than the car doing the towing...

Hopefully, he rescued his cab without wrecking anything.

prepping a four season commuter

My current commuter bike, like all of my actively ridden bikes, is a Kona. Repeatedly, over the years, I have found Kona bicycles to be a delight to ride and very reliable. They also offer a significant bang for your buck and quite frankly punch above their weight. The daily grinder is a cheap as dirt Kona Lana'i. It is not that exciting a bicycle, but it is very serviceable and does the job quite well.

One big advantage that this bicycle has as a commuter is that it is not that expensive. This reduces the chances of it being stolen by a fair bit since it is not as desirable as some. Another bonus is that if it does get stolen, I will likely just sigh, and go get another one after reporting it to the authorities and all that. Since it is a bicycle for transport, it comes out of my transport budget and not my entertainment budget. It can also be loaded down significantly. Being a mountain bike, it is over built for what I am doing with it.

Circumstances being what they were when I bought it - low on cash at the time and desiring disk brakes - I ended up with a extra stock blow out bike that Kona had hanging around. Mine is a 2011 model that I bought in 2012 and paid very little for. 

As I have a good relationship with my LBS, I was able to negotiate a couple of significant changes into the cost of the bicycle. One of these was a rigid fork. I do not recommend a suspension fork for a commuter. They rob too much power since they tend to bob a bit, and the fork that most bicycle manufacturers fit to low end bicycles tends to be fairly cheap. I was able to swap out the suspension fork for a quite nice steel rigid for with a gentle curve forward which flexes a bit and helps to smooth out the ride.

The bicycle is a bit too small for me actually. This worked out to being a good thing though. Part of the swap of parts I arranged was for a longer stem which stretched out the riding position somewhat. The bike came stock with a very short stubby stem. Thankfully, the stock seat post is ridiculously long, and I am able to raise it high enough to ride comfortably without risking damage to either the post or the frame. Why then is the small bike good? Well, because Kona builds their frames with a fairly dramatically sloping top tube, and because the bike is one size too small, I can use it as a step through frame if I hike my foot up high enough. This is a bonus if I have a big load on the back like a basket of groceries or something like that.

Some futzing around with parts has brought the bike to where it is now. 

Currently, it has a nice heavy duty rack on the back. I use an Axiom Journey Unifit Mk3 rack. I chose it, after having used a few other ones I had kicking around, because it will enable me to mount the panniers low and far back reducing heal strike on the pannier - the bane of a too small bike with bags - and keeping the center of gravity low, while maintaining a broad deck up top for my trunk bag or lock or basket. The rack allows for the mounting of a tail light on the rack in a position which is easy to see, and easy to kick right clean off the bike if you are not careful when climbing on the bicycle.

The stock pedals were not good. They were cheap metal ones, which I replaced with cheap plastic ones. The advantage is that they won't slip when wet which the metal ones were really bad for. I average about a year or so per set of pedals. The bearings simply cannot hold up to the abuse of riding in all weather.

I added some fenders, a lighting system, changed out the tires, and a few other odd things.

I will present a series of pictures of the bicycle and in the caption underneath explain the significance of what I am showing.

My replacement pedals. These cost under $10, but should last over 4000km before they start to fall apart. My feet won't slip off of them in my big clunky boots that I ride in all winter long. Note the "slime" all over the axle. I make liberal use of a can of rust proofing stuff for automobiles on key parts of the bicycle so that they won't corrode, and so that I can remove them after. Because of the boots I use, I never get anything on my clothing. I ride in Bogs during the winter, and clean this stuff off come spring. Other footwear does not slip on them either. Toe capped sandals and regular shoes do fine with pedals like this.

A bit of a close up of the axle. Note the rust proofing. This bike has almost 4500km on it, and the crank has gotten scuffed up a fair bit. One of the "costs of doing business" as a work bike - for me, aesthetics take a back seat. The bike will not get abused, but it will get banged up.

It is worth pointing out that the bike as seen some use. I bought it in the fall of 2012 and have almost 4500 km on it. Since then, I have worn out a cheap pair of plastic pedals, one chain, one cassette, a set of cables, a set of brake shoes, the saddle - I tend to kill saddles for some reason - and a rear rim. The original rear rim was defective and the side wall of it blew out. Warranty saw me outfitted with a replacement wheel. I also replaced the brake calipers (more on that later).

The bike comes with mounts for racks and fenders. However, the rounded off bolts for the rack mounts are weak. They hold things on the bike just fine, and won't snap I would think, but the bolt heads strip out easily. I replaced them with these better quality ones. Tip - grease the daylights out of this kind of thing when you put them into the frame so that you can remove them later if you need to. Do this even if you do not intend to winter ride the bicycle.

I did a bit of doinking around with the placement of my bell and managed to squeeze it into a tight gap between the bar and the rapid fire shifter. Yay. Improved ergonomics. Tip - get a brass bell or gong (this is actually a gong). They are much louder and can be heard by iPod zombies.

The front derailleur is nothing special, but it works. I rust proof the crap out of it and it will shift even when packed with snow and ice. Note the tight gap between it and the fender. I would be hard pressed to squash a piece of paper between the fender and the derailleur. This is a weakness in the design IF the bike is going to have full coverage fenders - a must for a commuter if you ask me. I would think that this derailleur looks fine for one which has been subjected to as much winter and grime as this one has.

The stock brakes were not so hot. I had a caliper cease up mid winter the first year I had the bike. Both the front (shown here) and rear calipers were replaced with some inexpensive Avid ones. They work significantly better, and have shown no sign of sticking. You can see the kind of shenanigans I had to do to get the fenders to clear the brake caliper. Looks weird, but it works. Also, I ditched the quick release skewers in favour of some bolt on ones. Tip - to seat the brakes properly and prevent glazed pads, perform several very hard stops on fresh pads from about 30kmph. The brakes will last longer and work better if you do. The front brake in particular howls like crazy when it is damp. This is something that happens with disk brakes and is not a problem even if it is loud. A few firm applications of the brake dry them off and they get quiet again. Remember that they can ice up and should be used in the winter time periodically even if you are not planning a stop. The disks are no where near as susceptible to this as wheel rims are though so brake failure in the snow is not as likely with brakes like this compared to rim brakes.

Fenders matter. This picture illustrates the clearance I have with my front fender and my non-studded snow tire. This kind of clearance keeps crap from building up and creating drag, and the low slightly flared mudflap keeps my feet dry. I got these at MEC - they are from planetbike and are worth it.

The back end of the bike - note the liberal use of reflective tape. I like being seen. I had to weave the fender stays through the rack to get it all to work. It looks bizarre, but it works. The rear fender has similar clearance to the front and I have never once had any spray fly up and hit me. Friends report that little flies out back as well which is nice.

Nothing special here. I was very surprised that the rear derailleur has lasted as long as it has. It is original to the bike and is a very basic and cheap unit. However, it is going strong still which is good. Spring will likely see an upgrade here. I tend to wear out the stock parts and then swap to better ones as I go along.

Speaking of better parts, it is also worth noting that the original bottom bracket and headset are still on the bike. They have never been serviced or adjusted. They don't crunch or grind or anything either. Impressive for such basic stuff. I suspect that the bottom bracket may give out this winter - I have heard some mild crunching in that department (although that may be coming from the front chain ring which is also stock).  I have also been lazy and not overhauled the hubs yet (I should though...). I highly recommend that a crank with removable chainrings be bought with the bike. I have had bicycles where the crank and chainrings were one unit. Not only are the chainrings on such a set up substandard, they cannot be replaced without replacing the crank. I burned out such a set up in about four months of heavy duty winter riding. Even a cheap replaceable chainring set up like the current bicycle will last a fair bit. The one on this bike is original to the bike and has over 4500km on it. Spring will see a new middle chainring on the front - a better quality one I am guessing at this point.

This winter's tires. Go read my review of them if you want. I quite like them. Deeper snow and ice see the studded ones come out though.

This shows the difference between my studded and non-studded winter tires. The studded ones are much better on ice than the others, but do drag a bunch. This is why they are not currently mounted to the bicycle. Should funds allow, a second set of wheels will appear so I can swap them back and forth as conditions merit.

Cheap and nasty but very effective. That is a planet bike superflash. I want to replace it with a Knog Blinder Road R tail light instead though as I am a big fan of being seen. The Knog is crazy bright.

And the headlamp. This head lamp works very well. I am a big fan of it.

I have several options for carrying things on the bicycle. Some prefer to carry what they bring with them on a commute on their body - using knapsacks or messenger bags and what have you - and some prefer to carry their stuff on the bicycle itself. I fall into the carry the stuff on the bicycle camp. This is why I chose such a heavy duty rack for the bicycle.

For me, the advantage of carrying the gear I bring on a commute on the bike instead of my person is simple. I tend towards wearing layers and a knapsack (the worst) or a messenger bag (better) compress the layers and squeeze out the air space between my clothing and I overheat and get very sweaty. This is true even at -10 or -20. It is far worse in the summer months. So, gear goes on the bike. I would change my mind if my daily commute saw me in and out of several places in rapid succession. Then, removing the bags at each stop (to prevent theft) would rapidly become tedious. In such circumstances, a messenger bag makes more sense than panniers etc.

This is the unadorned back end of the bicycle. The rack design is such that carrying a cable lock is easy. I use Kryptonite cables and padlocks. I also have a U-Lock which gets attached to the top of the rack by a stretch cord. Pannier bags can be attached to this rack either using the top or the lower side rails. I prefer the lower ones as it drops the center of gravity of the bicycle a bit. The small inverted tool bag - attached to the struts of the rack by the same mechanism that would  normally hold it to the underside of the seat - contains a multi-tool, inner tube, patch kit, and tire levers (2). It is always on the bike but is quick to remove via its quick release. It twists off. One nice thing about this rack is that it presents a fairly low profile for wind for a rack that is designed to hold so much weight.

Not all is perfect with this rack though. The spot for hooking the panniers to (the rectangular hole in the tab in the middle of the picture here) does not bend out like most other racks which use a tab like this do. This is stupid. Pure and simple. Stupid. It makes it very hard to hold the pannier by its top handle and snag the bag's hook on the rack's tab and attach it in one smooth motion. Putting the panniers on is a pain in the rear end. It is not a deal breaker for me with this rack, but it is very annoying. Someday, when I am feeling brave, I will very carefully bend the aluminium tab out with a pair of vice grips and make life easier for myself. Or rather, easier for myself if I don't break it...

These are the bags I use. I cannot say enough good things about them. They are dry bags with a roll to close internal closure and a big flap which goes over the top. The only design flaw is that the flap can be a bit of a sail at times and the excess strap can flap about.  Newer versions of this bag have addressed this concern. That said, they are very very tough and are genuinely waterproof. I have ridden through hour long thunder storms with a bag full of paper and not one sheet got wet. They never leak in the winter. Salt washes off. The mounting hardware is replaceable. They hold a lot of stuff, and can take a bit of weight. This particular pair is about 10 years old and is going strong. I suspect I will get ten more years out of them. Even the mounting hardware is original. Good quality bags like this are a must for commuting. If what you need to take with you needs to be dry, these are a good bet and cost a lot less than some other bags (like Ortlieb ones - although the Ortliebs are easier to mount to the rack due to a different mounting mechanism). For shopping - groceries and the like - they are ok but do not carry enough. Shopping panniers would be better. I use a basket which attaches to the top of the rack for that mostly.

Note the reflective patches on the panniers (and my attractive cardboard to park the bike on in the winter...)

My other piece of luggage is a Arkel trunk bag. This is not a dry bag and has a hidden pull out rain cover which works fine. It is big enough for a M4/3 camera kit if you don't have too many lenses - pad the bag a bit!! - and has a divider in it. The zippers are water resistant. Velcro holds it to the top of the rack. Your rack needs to be fairly wide to avoid wobble with this bag. What I like about this combination is that it is easy to remove one or all of the bags individually and there is no interference between the mounting points of any of the bags. This is a major reason I bought this rack.

Back view of the set up.

Fully loaded down, the bike becomes a serious pig. It is good to know though that should I need to haul some stuff, it can be done. One big advantage of a bike like this is that if hauling is needed, the bike has the gearing to keep you moving. The only thing I have not added to the kit is a trailer (I am thinking of it...)

So there you have it. One commuter bike. The only difference between the winter set up shown here and the summer one is that I swap out the tires and clean it. There is no salt all over it in the summer. I reasonably expect to get at least 40 000km out of it assuming I maintain the drive train. For about $500 in, plus racks and fenders, and about $100 a year in maintenance, this is an inexpensive way to transport oneself around the city. $1500 for a decade of transportation. Not bad.

Update: I got rid of the seat it came with a long time ago. It did not fit me well. I had been using a WTB saddle off of my 2013 JTS cyclocross bike, but found that the design of the seat in conjuction with the seatpost wore out too many pants. This is not an issue with bike gear which does not rub there, but is an issue with street clothes. So, enter the Brooks B-17 Narrow saddle. Review and thoughts are here: Brooks B-17 Narrow: let's give them something to smug about.

it wouldn't do

It wouldn't do to get too carried away with predicting how far I will ride this year seeing as I very thoroughly missed last year's goal (I managed 5650km with a goal of 10 000km), but, it would appear that despite it being winter and despite it being cold, I am actually on track for about 10 000km this year without doing anything special.

Nifty.

How I am doing it is by counting my time spent in the gym taking RPM classes. RPM classes are what the GoodLife calls their spin classes. They last about 50 minutes and are very intense. I average about 20-25 minutes spinning prior to each class as a warm up. I allocate 25km per class, which is quite conservative when you think about it. Counting that mileage, which I am putting on the legs even though I am stationary, and adding in the mileage I am putting on the commuter riding around the city to work and all that, 10k could happen without even touching my fast bikes.

Like I said, nifty.

Of course, once the fast bike comes out, the time in the gym will drop dramatically. I do still expect two classes a week, but huge mileage will be put on the fast bike.

Nifty.

an answer to a question

Red Kite Prayer's  Friday Group Ride this week asks the following question: "How did you become an adult cyclist? Did you tread an uninterrupted path from first childhood ride to this morning’s commute, or has the bike come and gone from your life? If the latter, what was the catalyst for your grown up self taking to the wheel again?"

(RKP is one of the best bicycle blogs - scratch that, it is THE best bicycle blog - that I have read)

Here is my answer to this question:

It started when I was 10. I could already ride, of course, but 10 was when my father bought me my first 10 speed and a wool cycling jersey and wool cycling shorts.
From then, a couple of years of hacking around on a bmx which got stolen.
Followed by years of road riding with my father. The best memories of my teen years center around road riding with my father.
Sadly, the car bug bit and I got out of cycling for a few years until a friend of mine got me hopelessly hooked on mountain biking. Did that for years until I was sidelined (mentally) by a bad crash.
Enter a spell of running followed by a spell of lazy.
Cycling kept rearing its head off and on for about eight or so years.
And then, a rebirth of sorts. All it took was a cyclocross bicycle and a persistent friend.
Now? The obsession is back in force and seems unlikely to ever die.
Spring cannot get here soon enough...

night walk about

Got to spend the evening out with my wife whilst my daughter was off doing other things. Coffee commenced, as did a short walk about with the camera. This is what came of it.

Brooks B-17 Narrow : let's give them something to smug about

Yet another useful bike part review from me, a useful bike part user (as opposed to useful bike part sales person). The usual caveats apply:

• I am not employed by Brooks
• I bought this with my own money
• I ride bikes for fun, fitness, and transport
• I feel free to say what I like and what I don't like about something
• I don't care what anyone else thinks (that is a good thing in a review...)

With that in mind, here is what I think of the Brooks B-17 Narrow bicycle saddle.

Like always, I like to start my bike part reviews with a bit of history explaining why I am using the bike part in question. Currently, I have six bicycles in my collection. Two of them are old approaching vintage race bikes which do not really get ridden. One is my old hard tail mountain bike which gets some use. One is my old cyclocross bicycle which has been reborn, well after the fad was over, as a single speed (that is ok, I was riding a cyclocross bike on gravel and around the city long before the cyclocross bike fad started, so it cancels out...). One is my brand new cyclocross bicycle. And one is my inexpensive mountain bike commuter bike.

While I do like pretty bicycles, I tend to prefer my equipment to be very practical and not to cost the earth. This is particularly so for my commuter bicycles. They end up getting ridden by me more than all of my other bicycles combined, and cost the least amount of money by a fairly large margin. This is because I do a lot of riding around the city where I am going to be locking the bicycle up outside. I refuse to feed thieves, so I won't leave expensive bicycles locked up outside. This means that my commuter bicycles tend to be low end mountain bikes or hybrids. The current one is a mountain bike. All I ask from a commuter bike is that it be inexpensive, comfortable, reliable, and relatively unattractive to a thief.

Sadly, all mountain bikes tend to come with narrow racing saddles. I actually like this since I have an iron ass and don't mind a real (tm) bicycle seat on all my bicycles. However, for commuting, the cut of the cheap (and expensive for that matter) racing saddles brings the crotch of street clothing into conflict with the top of the seat post.

Take note of the exposed part of the front of the seat post / seat rail on this archive photograph of my current commuter bicycle:

While it may be hard to see from this picture, the inner thigh area of a pair of normal "street clothing" pants will rub on the top of the seat post where it clamps to the seat rail. This results in excessive wear on the pants and the potential for pants failure *grin*. While really only embarrassing and not a big deal, it is a design flaw for the use I am putting the bicycle to. I would rather not wear out my clothing faster than I have to given a choice.

So what, you might ask, does this have to do with anything?

Well, it started me on a search for a bicycle seat which would cover that part of the seat post and reduce wear on the clothing. The cost did not matter too much since I would more than make up for it in clothing that lasted longer (my job requires me to have decent clothing - not perfect, but decent - and I figured it would not take long to pay for a new seat if my clothing lasted longer. I wanted something not racy, but nice.

The search ended with a Brooks B-17 saddle.

Now, I have to explain a bit of my bias here. I am anti-smug. I know I just made those who know me well laugh and blow coffee out of their nose, but I really am anti-smug. I don't care about buying my lock them and leave them bicycles based on their aesthetic merit. I love gorgeous lug work on a frame, but really don't care for a lock it and leave it bike. The smug attitudes I see in various bike forums and blogs where the prevailing attitude is "but of course the bicycle has a Brooks saddle and gorgeous lug work, could there be any other kind?!?" makes me want to vomit a little.

And yet, I bought a Brooks saddle.

But I did not buy it for reasons to do with smug.

I bought it to cover the top of the seat post where it joins the seat rails.

That's it.

So here is what I think of it.

It came in a lovely cardboard box with a thick paper sleeve on it. Jolly good show and all that. Included in the package was some Brooks propaganda printed up like an old style newspaper, and the saddle with its packaging.

It really was very well presented.

Two thinks sort of bop you on the nose when opening the saddle. The first is the smell of the thing. This is real leather and has that smell that is usually only found in the better class of Jaguars. Yummy. The second is how hard the saddle is. Brooks says that it is one of their stiffer saddles and I find that easy to believe. The leather is thick enough and stiff enough to serve quite well, if shaped differently of course, as leather armor. Yummy again, although it did raise some concern in my mind about comfort.

As can be seen by the above picture, the saddle comes with a wrench for adjusting the saddle tension. Over time, the saddle will sag, and the tensioning nut in the nose of the saddle can be tightened should this become a problem. Do not tension a wet saddle as the leather could tear.

Brooks sells a saddle treatment called proofide. Buy it. Just do it. Do not use saddle soap or other leather treatments as it could cause the leather to over soften and collapse.

Before using the saddle, put a thick layer of proofide on the underside of the saddle and just leave it. I used a Q-tip to get underneath all the bits and pieces on the underside of the saddle. This helps to soften it a bit, and will protect it somewhat from the elements. The saddle will soak it up. Lightly coat the top of the saddle and allow the proofide to dry. Once it does, buff the saddle to a shine.

Once I did this, I noticed something. The deep brown leather I picked for the colour took on a real glow. The saddle started to almost, er, come alive. It became apparent that the fit and finish of the saddle was top notch. The Brooks badge on the back was a nice touch. The lugs for hanging a saddle bag from the seat are a part of the saddle frame itself. I could feel a bit of smug threatening to overtake me. I quashed it.

Once on the bicycle, and adjusted up, I went for a ride. A good set up tip would be to set the saddle parallel with the ground and then tip the nose up a bit. When I say a bit, I mean a little bit. This makes for a more comfortable ride. Failing to do that results in sliding forward too much on the saddle. Bring some tools on your first outing if you get one of these so you can muck about with it and get it just right.

Here is the saddle set up just wrong. While the stock post on the bicycle is offset to the rear, it is not offset enough. The perfectly parallel parts of the seat rails are fairly short and since I am mounting it on a slightly too small for me mountain bike, I could not slide the seat back far enough on the rails for comfort. If I did, I would have to clamp on the tapering part of the rails just a bit which would cause the seat to work loose in about three minutes. Annoying, but I think unavoidable. Bear this in mind though if you buy one. You MIGHT have to do what I did to solve it. Oh, and isn't this a lovely colour of brown?

Here is the seat set up just right. Notice that it took a new seat post for me to get it just right. Hint - a new seat post on a bike like this costs almost nothing. Just be aware that you might need one depending on the bicycle you are using. However, it was worth it because I discovered something about this seat that I will explain below. Take note how the clamp area is completely covered by the "skirt" of leather on the side of the seat. This is why I bought it. The creeping smug which I will hold off with a cricket bat came later...

What I discovered when the seat was set up just right is that damn it if the smug ones were not correct. This seat, even not broken in yet, is very very comfortable. Very much so. It makes me look forward to when the leather moulds itself to my butt and fits even better! Incidentally, when using one of these, you want your seat bones to be forward of the line of rivets holding the rear of the saddle to the frame. When I was last measured on an assometer, my sit bones came to about 143mm apart give or take. The B-17 Narrow is 151mm wide but fits really well because of the give in the materials. If your seat bones are wider than mine, you would be advised to go with the standard B-17 instead.

This picture shows the adjustment bolt at the front of the saddle. DO NOT USE IT MUCH as turning it too far will ruin the saddle. The front rivets shown here gave rise to that traditional expression in bike racing "on the rivet" describing the posture on a saddle of someone giving all that they had in a time trial. For the first time, this can be a literal thing for me...

On the subject of maintenance, here are a few things to keep in mind. Don't store a bicycle with a leather saddle in a damp or overly dry place (as much as possible) as this can cause the leather to fail. This is true of all leather products and should not be news. Every three months or so, apply some proofide to the saddle to keep it from cracking. If it is left outside in the rain or snow, use some sort of rain cover for the seat.

What do you know? Brooks sells rain covers!

The rain cover pictured above fits (go figure) and does not cost much. I paid about $16 for mine.

Here are a couple of pictures of the bike in its current configuration with the saddle mounted:

My verdict:

As much as I hate to admit it, the smug ones have a point. This is a very well made saddle. It is comfortable. It costs less and is more suited for what I am using it for than many other options (I paid $116 for mine). It is (in theory) more durable than any other bicycle seat I have ever owned. I tend to ruin seats somehow - my wife says I have a kung-fu ass... - but people have reported getting decades of use out of these saddles. Time will tell. The saddle smells nice, looks nice, feels nice. I promises to be less hard on my street clothing.

I only ask one thing of you. If you buy one, buy it for any of the above reasons and leave the smug at the door.

smells like spring

We are at the part of the winter when it smells like spring outside.

In Southern Ontario, every winter, sometime in January, we get a thaw. Birds sing. Snow and ice melt like mad. People run around in light weight clothing. Temperatures soar to two or three degrees above freezing. Ice peels off of the sidewalk with ease.

There is hope.

Real hope.

A looking forward to spring.

I don't mean that winter is a time of depression and what not, but I will say that for those of us that live outside once the temperature gets above freezing and the days lengthen, the smell of spring which comes during a mid winter thaw is a sign of hope for warmer days to come.

Sadly, this will be short lived.

I count at least eight more weeks of winter before the smell of spring becomes the real deal.

Until then, I will breathe deep, and enjoy the smell.

in memory of rides gone by

On of the things that come to mind at this time of year, this time of year when bicycles slip, slide, and clatter their way down the road, studs pinging off of asphalt, are memories.

Memories of rides gone by.

One of my favourite quite rides takes me south through the city on a mix of MUPs and quiet roads and culminates on a gravel rail trail in Cambridge. Following this can take me further, to Paris, Brantford, or even Hamilton. The run from home to Brantford and back is approximately 136km, and makes a nice traffic light ride.

The rail trail from Cambridge south towards Paris and beyond largely follows the Grand River. It is quite a bit higher than the river for most of its journey, and provides some spectacular views over the water.

Places to rest abound. Benches dot the place should the need to rest arise. Usually, I don't bother to stop and sit, but will if an urge to be lazy overcomes me, or if I want a picture or two.

The setting is ideal for a cyclocross bicycle, or any bicycle which can be ridden in comfort over rough roads for a long stretch. It would be interesting to ride in this context on a bicycle designed for races like the Paris-Roubaix with their inherent ability to absorb road shock. But is it needed? No.

Once Paris is cleared, the MUP ceases to be a rail trail proper and becomes a regular MUP, following the contours of the land. This means hills as the trail climbs in and out of the river valley and over landscapes sculpted by glaciers long ago.

But always, views are worth looking at. Especially in early fall when this ride happened.

And always, ever, the trail system stays near the Grand. This particular bit is very pretty, with nicer shaded places to rest should the need arise.

In the new year, or rather later this year, I will ensure that the phone comes with me on more rides and that more rides get documented.

All of these pictures were taken with a BlackBerry Z10.

50 shades of happiness

Get your mind out of the gutter!

I was messing around in the workshop, hunting through boxes of spare parts.

A discovery was made.

One of benefit to me.

50 kinds of benefit.

One less pair of pedals to buy for my pedal system swap.

They are loose, sloppy, but still grab cleats OK. I just need a decent pair of walk about cycling shoes to go with the round town single speed.

Perhaps these shoes from Giro would do the trick. I have seen them, or similar ones, before and really like the way they look. My proper cycling shoes are made by Giro, and I love them.

and there arose an exultant sound

Winter!

We are getting a real one this year.

I have tried to make it through the winter on my bicycle as I have in the past. Due to the nature of my job, with its variable and far flung work locations, bicycle commuting is a challenge at best, and impossible at worst. Be that as it may, when the fates conspire to give me a location for the day close to home, I take my bike.

Which brings us to winter!

Winter!

We are getting a real one this year.

Thus far, we have had a lot of snow, a lot of ice, and a lot of thawing (with the extra special glare ice which comes with rain and a thaw on packed snow). And so naturally it was this year, as opposed to two years ago when winter gave Southern Ontario a miss, I tried to use as my primary winter tire on the bicycle a non-studded tire set.

This was not a mistake as they perform well, but it does make for some unnecessarily interesting rides to work. Slippy kinds of rides. The combination of huge snowbanks, packed down MUPS, and narrower lanes and ice have made me come to the conclusion that perhaps those Schwalbe Ice Spikers I have sitting there on the basement floor would serve me better if they were on the rims of my bicycle.

Now I used these tires all last winter, and loved them, but since then I have swapped out my frankenfenders for a stock set of unmodified planet bike mountain bike fenders with honking big mud flaps. I was somewhat concerned that the rear Ice Spiker would not fit and would pick away at the fenders.

However, after fighting with the Continentals that were on the bike (why are they so hard to remove?!?), cleaning up the wheels and bike and slathering the frame and all but the brakes with rust proofing solution, and putting on the Ice Spikers, and reinstalling the wheels on the bike...

... there arose an exultant sound.

They fit. With huge clearance. And no need to screw around with the fender adjustments.

keeping the shiny side up

There are times when being Canadian is a real treat. One of those is the winter time. Many people who live here, myself included at times, despise the winter but the trick is to find something to do in the winter that is fun and then do it.

I call the realization that this is the case the "Well duh!" moment.

Enjoy the winter, and have fun, or be miserable. Decide. Well duh.

Which brings me to the subject of today's post.

Our employer (my wife and I work for the same employer) decided that it was too nasty out to come to work and closed for the day. The wind chills locally are reaching to -40 Celsius. Kind of chilly. This left us with a day to use for our own amusement.

So naturally, we went on a date.

And then, we went drift surfing in a winder wonderland.

Definitely a good day to keep the shiny side up. Mind you, aren't most days?