I'm going to do this every Sunday... until I can do it without swearing and stopping constantly.
Until it's fun, damn it.
It's already absolutely beautiful.
This is an emphasis on a new kind of riding for me. Uphill and A to A riding... to ride, not for a destination or sightseeing. I did a bit of this in the Netherlands, like cycling around the ringvaart, but not very often. The goal here is the ride, not to see cute ducks on a canal, or a new part of Zeeland or Friesland. I even wear a helmet and worry about weight. New stuff!
I made it up about 8 miles today to the Flores Flat area. By my calculations, the average grade was just under 6.5%. I didn't make it to the top- that's one last torturous mile of 7-10% grade.
My decision to stop today was sudden, I did think I'd make it to the top, but when I saw the increase in grade and felt the hot sun on my neck, my legs turned to jello. They said no. Maybe next week I'll be better prepared mentally.
So, after 8 miles, I turned around and rode with my hands squeezing the brakes for about 4 miles before getting a stupid flat tire. (I had taken the schwalbe marathons off and put back on the stock continentals in a desperate ploy to make the bike just a little bit lighter- Anything to avoid losing weight myself.)
By this time, other area cyclists were awake and doing the climb. Everyone that passed me offered help and support. It was really nice but I'm a skilled flat fixer by this point and waved everyone on until I got the point of inflation. I had a compression canister and had not used one for years... A runner and a cyclist came by and helped me out by also not knowing what to do but being kind and curious. We figured it out eventually.
Today, I attempted to climb the Gibraltar road route... I started from my house and made it to the "No Shooting" hairpin turn, about 9 miles (14.4 k), and 1900 feet (580 meters) uphill. I used my easiest granny gear for most of the last 5 miles.
This means - I made it halfway!
The easy half!
Yay.
I could have kept going but it was so foggy that I could hear trucks, but not see them until they were very close. An excellent excuse to turn around. :)
Can anyone explain to me why there are permanent "No Shooting" signs at this turn?
Are people really so anti-social that they go around shooting off guns in public spaces unless there is a sign?
The suitcase was convenient for moving purposes because I was shipping everything else via post or freight. For short business or pleasure trips, it's not realistic... It's too heavy and with only my bicycle inside, it weighs in just under the limit. No clothes and no bicycle accessories can be packed.
This led me to keep looking for an alternative. Lucky for me, this recent post from Urban Velo highlighted a bag designed for inflatable kayaks but useful for S&S coupler bicycles.
The bag is lightweight and almost the exact dimensions of a folded brompton!
Before a trip this month, I ordered one.
I added some cardboard to the edges for protection and to "hide" the bicycle from view through the mesh. (The ladies at the baggage counter told me that if they knew it was a bicycle, they'd have to charge me extra even though it's regular size luggage.)
The bag is really light and strong, and the bike fits very well inside with plenty of room for other things. My bicycle survived the round trip with only a slightly cracked front fender and I might have done that myself. Next time, I'll add some bubble wrap.
For just under the weight limit, I could put in the basket, a chain lock and some clothing as well!
The only problem was carrying the thing around the airport... I'm not putting 50lbs on my back but I could carry it small distances with one hand. Wheels would be nice.
Overall, it was a success and I'll use it again for my next trips!
I'm volunteering as a bike valet again! The local bicycle organization, BiciCentro, sets up bike valet areas at events in Santa Barbara. I did a shift yesterday at the Earth Day event. The bike valet service was very popular (who drives to an earth day event???)- with lovely weather, nice people, lots of bicycles. I was too busy to take photos!
(I went back on Sunday and took a picture - below)
In the past, I did bike valet stuff in Brooklyn (Transportation Alternatives) before I moved to the Netherlands, so I was familiar with the routine. I had volunteered at Prospect Park for concerts... it could get very full or be quiet, but bike valeting is always fun and a great way to see and touch lots of cool bicycles! :)
Sometimes there would be weird requests (Brooklyn, not California), like parking a bbq or bottle of almond oil (no glass allowed into concert venue). Everyone was always grateful; bicycle parking can be difficult and fear of theft is a huge deterent to cycling to events.
I was inspired by Mark of Bicycle Dutch's latest post - "Going for a swim" and decided to document my own bicycle trip to the pool in Santa Barbara, California (About 215 miles / 344k north from the San Diego with the gym that has escalators... I could drive there in 3.5 hours).
My trip in town is about 3 miles (or 4.8 km) each way but this trip is a little less. For documentation, I started from the intersection of Bath and Mission, where the street painted bicycle lane ends and quickly becomes an "alternate route." This designation means it is recommended on a map but is unsigned and not painted.
Overall info idea stolen from Mark:
With cycle provisions
On street cycle lane 1.4 miles / 2.24 km - 35mph / 56kmph speed limit
So you can see from above that the bike lane has disappeared, and bicycles must act like cars to make it through
the intersection. Street traffic speed limit is 30 mph / 48kmph.
I like to cycle up Bath to the end at Alamar Ave where I turn right and continue up to De La Vina. Again, it's a non-marked, non-painted route so I'm cycling like a car with the cars. The traffic speed here is also 30mph / 48kph - faster than a regular residential speed due to some seemingly random ordinance stuff I don't understand.
Luckily, someone must have protested and they put in some Bumps (see later photo)!
The intersection of Alamar Ave and De La Vina is below. I take a wide, wide left, into the painted and signed bicycle route on De La Vina. Yay.
De La Vina is a hill so it's a slow climb up to State Street. This is fine because it allows me to contemplate how much I hate the coming intersection and to steel up my resolve to run the red light. I hate breaking rules, I always stop for stop signs but this one particular light...
Yes, I regularly run the red light above.
I do this because the traffic sensors do not detect me. It's insulting, annoying, exasperating and inevitable. My trip is usually at 6:30am so there's no traffic in any direction. The first time I did it, I was stranded at this light for over 5 minutes, stubbornly waiting until I gave up being a good law abiding citizen. Fuck it. You know? How long would you wait with no traffic anywhere?
Anyways. Fix the traffic sensor, City of Santa Barbara.
After running the red, I'm on State Street with a painted, signed bike lane that runs in and out of the bumpy gutter to allow or not allow parking and make room for bus stops. The speed limit is 35mph / 56kmph.
Watch out for skateboards:
At Hitchcock Way, I can take a left but only as a car in the car lane. I carefully check behind me to cross the two lanes of 35 mph / 56kmph traffic to get into the left turn lane... and the sensor works perfectly! It sees me!! I love it!!!
Next challenge - cycling through a gigantic parking lot.
Okay, it's not a big deal. It's just big. Most people drive.
Bicycle parking area before my swim.
Bicycle parking area after my swim (the sun has come up).
The sun is fully up now and glaring. My ride home is usually easier. The turn from State Street to De La Vina is well marked although I always wonder at the size difference of the cyclist markings.
De La Vina can be tricky... now it's downhill and you can pick up speed. Be sure to watch for parked cars and jerks like the guy in the photo standing next to his car door in the bike lane. (He's probably not a jerk, I'm just grumpy.)
Careful, careful.
Turn to Alamar Ave and BUMP! Yay.
Drempel!
But be sure not to salmon on Bath (it's one-way after Mission), there's a perfectly good lane one block over.
Enjoy the palm trees.
I have tried other routes but they all include larger hills, faster traffic and worse traffic sensors. Yikes.
Why do I need fenders? It hardly rains in Southern California.
What if... it might...you never know...
Somehow it always seems better to always be prepared, like a Londoner with an umbrella. Forethought. Habit. Forgone conclusion.
But this is California! It barely rains! I've been rained upon exactly once, and it was barely a sprinkle, like a dutch sunny day.
So first step- I took the front mud guard fender off my touring bike because it kept getting in the way of locking up to the stupidly designed public parking "poles." I like to thread my U-lock through the wheel and frame and those little eyelet thingys are not very easy to use. It's a real challenge if there's already one bicycle locked up.
A fun puzzle every time I try to park.
My koga-miyata flew with me to Iowa over the holidays and has since been shipped here. When it was reassembled, I discovered that the front fender was cracked. It was removed and I thought about ordering a new set... but then it never seemed critical. It barely rains!
So what do I do with my fenders now? The ones I removed were put away, behind the couch, which turned out to be a stupidly insecure location.
Puppy!
He's was quite happy to discover them.
I had to take away the cracked Koga fender because the mud flap plastic is flimsy and could be torn and swallowed. Not good for puppies.
However, the MudX guard is a good kind of plastic for puppy chewing, it doesn't break into shards and it's very tough.
Repurposed!
And I if I ever need it again, it should still work, with a nicely textured edging.
I have a potential new cycling partner!
He's got a lot to learn and at least 9 months to build up strength but then I think he'll be able to keep up. :)
All of the supermarkets in town (trader joe's, whole foods, ralph's) have huge wide aisles for people to push huge wide shopping carts, or massive double strollers through... so they can fill the backs of their gigantic vehicles parked outside in the enormous parking lot.
Things in California are big.
The nice side effect of this super-sizing is that I can roll-up, fold-up and shop without any problems at all. AND even if someone were to complain (not one yet! -usually I get questions and comments about how it is the coolest thing they've ever seen), I could just pop the bike into a freaking huge shopping cart provided by the store and still have room for shopping.
I'm really surprised that Bromptons are not more popular out here. They are perfect for around town. A few more knowledgeable people have asked me "is that the english bike?" and mentioned they've heard of, or own Fridays, but not the Brompton. Strange!
The best part is that most of the stores are uphill from our street.
A full basket is a breeze on the way home. :)
When I was living in Leiden, I made a public google map of the local used bicycle shops (+ Bikelane because they rock). I did it to keep the hours straight... Why are the hours so irregular?!
Unfortunately, I won't be able to keep it up-to-date remotely although I'll keep it open and public.
I had one collaborator and I'd like to offer full collaboration to anyone who is interested in updating it. It's had just over 50,000 views so far because I think it's been useful to a lot of the newcomers in Leiden.
Send me an email if you are interested or leave a comment.
Is it a nail? Or a pin? Either way, it's more than half an inch and was embedded in my tire tread, puncturing the tire.
The tip just grazed the tube and so the hole was hard to find. (I used the bowl of water method.)
Finding the nail was not hard- the size of it was quite shocking.
However, thanks to my Marathon plus tires, the flat was a slow leak that I discovered this morning and not an explosive "ffffffftttt" while out in the middle of some sand dunes...
I'm impressed at how the tire held it in place so that it didn't push all the way through. I guess that's why I bought these tires!
