Setting up mobile blogging

So before we head out on this years summer bike tour, I thought I'd try to configure my blog to accept a feed from my new android phone.

This is a test to see how well this blog entry email thingy works. I've also included a picture to see how that works.

Brawny

LHT Ramblings

So my new Long Haul Trucker is soon to be delivered. Sherry said it should be in the shop the first week of April, which is next week! While it's making me crazy waiting, I've spent the time obsessing about upgrades and changes I'd like to make to the base bike before I take ownership. Some of the things I've considered are:

External bearing bottom bracket. I'm convinced this is the way to go. See my previous rant about it here.

Fenders. I know I'll need fenders, since it rains here quite a bit, and I hate getting soaked on the way to work - or worse yet, while on an extended ride or tour. I have Planet Bike Freddy Fenders on my current touring bike, and they work great. I'm also considering Axiom's Rainrunner MTB Reflex fender as well, since they have it in stock at my LBS. The difference in price is about $20, but the Axiom's come with a reflective stripe, which I'd want to add the Planet Bike fenders anyway.

Pedals. The LHT doesn't come with pedals, so I'm in the market for some new ones. I've always used Shimano SPD, so I'm going to stick with that. The question is really about which model to buy. The XTR pedals (PD-M970) run around $250, the Deore XT pedals (PD-M770) run around $150, and the PD-540's run around $100 or so. I think you can guess which ones I'll end up with. :-) I've used the 540's before, and they work just fine.

Racks. I'm leaning towards the Surly Nice Racks, but I'm not sure about the cost. They're well over $100 each. That's a lot of rack... I do like the front rack though, as it's a high/low design, meaning that I can mount panniers in either position, and have the added option of using the upper deck to strap on bags/etc.

Tires. I've decided to go with Vittoria Randonneur's rather than Swalbe Marathon Supremes. While both are good tires, the Vittoria's are a bit cheaper. As well, I have some experience with them, as I've been running the randonneurs for a couple years now on my current touring bike, and without invoking the wrath of the flat gods, I haven't had any flats that I can recall.

This year's cycling goals

So I suppose this post is my New Year's Resolution of cycling... There are a few goals that I'd like to reach this year, and my hope is that by putting them out there, I'll keep them on the radar, and work towards getting them completed. In no particular order, they are:


Try not to drive when I can bike. I've heard of folks giving up bikes for a full year, on a challenge. I also know that there are folks that are more or less completely car free. Kent Peterson and his family are a great example. I'm not sure I'm ready or committed enough to go completely car free, but I'd like to try and see how far I can shift my default behaviour for local transportation. Cycling to work is one way I can shift that behaviour. Using the bike to get groceries is another. I hate making rules, because inevitably they get broken, and if they're resolution type rules, then it becomes a sign of failure, so I'm not going there. Instead, I'll work with guidelines, which are basically rules with some flexibility built in. The guideline I'm going to try to work with is that I'll aim to ride my bike whenever there aren't any time or physical constraints that would make it impractical or bike.

Don't make every ride a race. In past years, every ride seems to somehow morph into a race of sorts. Whether its following someone down the bike path on the way to work, or going for a relaxing Sunday ride to St. Mary's, time and speed always seem to take on greater importance than they deserve. What's my average speed on this leg? How long did it take us to get here. How does that compare to the same trip last time?

I'm tempted to take my computer off the bike, and simply arrive when I arrive, however I do want to be able to track my overall mileage for the year. Which leads to my next resolution:

Double last year's mileage by year's end. This one is likely do-able, but won't be a slam dunk either. I didn't start riding until almost July last year, but once I did, I rode with a vengeance. And I rode late into the fall. Almost until Christmas, because of the bus strike. My total mileage for last year was 2273 kilometers, or 1412.5 miles. That puts my goal for this year at 4546 kilometers. Certainly do-able, but it will take some serious effort and commitment to put those miles on.

I'm sure I have others, but those are all I can think of for now.

Almost a month!

It's been almost a month since I started riding this year, and it feels great to be on the bike so early. The weather has been great - no snow on the ground, and not much in the way of rain even. Last year was a completely different story as far as biking went. It was late June - almost July before I started to commute. I guess my head was just in a different place then. Yuck!!!

I've been riding about 3 or 4 days a week so far, and working from home the other day or two. Its been a good way to ease back into the season.

The cycling year begins!

Monday was my first ride of the year. Kate and I went to the Toronto Bike Show on the weekend, and with the weather being unseasonably warm (high of 6C on Saturday!), and with my new LHT on order, I couldn't stand it any more!

The commute in to work was good. A bit cold, but good. My eyes watered a bit from the cold at first, and I think I had a tear freeze on my cheek, but I didn't get hypothermia or anything. I rode through a LOT colder weather last fall before I put the bike away for the winter. I was comfortable by the time I got to the office.

The ride home was nicer. 8C outside, no wind to speak of, bright, bright sun and I had the path mostly to myself. The ice that I had to slowly navigate over on the way in to work had become large puddles that I had to steer around. I prefer the water to ice. No one slips on water.

I reset the bike computer while at work yesterday, but before I did, I wrote down the odometer reading: 2273.3 km, or just over 1400 miles. Not a great number, but certainly a good starting point. I expect to double that this year, at least.

My LHT is ordered!

After what seems like forever, I finally quit waffling, and ordered my new bike. I've wanted to replace my current touring bike with something new. Ever since I saw the Surly Long Haul Trucker on a touring website a couple years ago, I knew that I had to have one.

I've decided to purchase it at one of our LBS's, To Wheels, in London Ontario. Over the years Kate and I have spread our bicycle bucks around at the various shops in town, but I'd never made any big purchases from To Wheels before. They're half a block away from the office though, and have come through in a pinch for me more than once when I've bent rims or flatted on the way in to work. They always find a way to get me rolling by the end of the day.

I hummed and hawed about upgrades, thinking that it would be cheaper to swap out components now, rather than purchase new parts after the bike is built. I had read a blog by Tim and Cindie Travis, about their travels around the world by bike, and looked to their advice about what to look for in the ultimate touring bike, because in the end, that's what I had my heart set on building.

When I priced out high end Mavic rims on Phil Wood hubs, I had added over a thousand dollars to the cost of the bike in a matter of minutes. I also looked at replacing the front hub with a Schmidt dynamo hub so that I would have permanent lighting, but again, the cost was prohibitive.

I also had a talk with one of my favourite bike mentors, Katie Misener at Bloomfield Bicycle Company last year, and she impressed on me the value of external bottom bracket bearings in making the crank stiffer, and allowing for larger bearings.

In the end, I decided to just upgrade the bottom bracket to use external bearings, and use the existing wheels/hubs for now. I figured that I could always replace the rear wheel in a year or two, if or when money is available, and the front wheel with the Schmidt SON hub will have to wait until I get a chance to visit Peter White Cycles down in New Hamshire. And save up my money.

The other issue I had a hard time deciding on was wheel size. Sheri at To Wheels sized me up using their fit kit, and put me on a 56cm LHT, which is the smallest frame size that comes with 700c wheels. After posting on a Surly mailing list and asking about toe overlap with that particular size LHT, and seeing some great pics of LHT's with 26" wheels, my decision was made. I still had a hard time getting it through my head that it would be OK for a touring bike to have 26" wheels, even if you're not on a 3 year global circumnavigational tour where you'll have replace your wheels with something off of a local donkey cart at some point. I mean, 26" wheels are for mountain bikes, right? If you're riding on the road, you have to run 700c wheels, don't you?

I got a bicycle...

I just heard this song for the first time today, after browsing around on Kent's Bike blog.

If I wasn't already married, I think I'd be in love. Coco Love Alcorn has a great voice, she's a cyclist, and she's originally from Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Still getting used to this blogging thing. Lots of do-hickies to figure out!