Bicycle Tuesday - 8

You never have the wind with you -
either it is against you or you're having a good day. 
~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Bicycle Tuesday - Sextus (That's 6th in Latin)

If Americans made one 4-mile round-trip by bike instead of car each week, we'd burn nearly 2 billion fewer gallons of gas annually. At $3.64 a gallon, that's a savings of $6.6 billion.

- Sierra Club: Pedaling Prosperity, 2012

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We all know that it costs much more to ride a bike than drive a car.... but what can you find wrong with the following chart?

That's right, there's no way that I only drive 15k miles a year!  On the other side, try to limit an enthusiastic cyclist to spending only $308 a year on bike parts and upgrades... now that is a kicker!  Nevertheless, the chart still does make a good point.

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What about reducing traffic in cities?  Back in 1991, a photographer in Munster, Germany captured the amount of space required to transport the same number of people in different modes of transportation (bicycle, car, bus).

Keep in mind that these cars are also much smaller than American cars!  The bus actually takes up less space than the bikes, but then you're stuck to a predefined route.  How boring is that?

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Now, wouldn't you like to give bicycling a shot?  I know, some of you might be thinking "but my arms are just too long to comfortably ride a bike."  Don't worry, there's still a bike for you!

So come join the fun!  Even Mr. T's doing it!

"I pity the flat"

Bicycle Fitting

A few weeks ago, I sent an email out to Sarah and Stu at Parvilla Cycle looking for ride sponsorship for my Bike & Build trip.  Despite being booked up through April 1st for bicycle fittings, Stu was kind enough to squeeze me in for a static bicycle fitting today at their shop in Edgewater, MD.

Just one-half of the giant Parvilla Cycle & Multisport store

I went in today for my fitting and was immediately blown away by the variety and professionalism of their shop!  I've been to the local Bike Doctor and to my favorite outdoor shops EMS, REI, and HTO (why do they all go by their three-letter abbreviations?), but none of them could touch this place in terms of the high quality gear selection offered.  Since "getting into" road biking for Bike & Buld, I've spent far too much time in researching different products and trying to figure out what would stand the test of time on a long trip and I'll tell you that they feature only the top of the line stuff, not necessarily in price but certainly in quality.

Stu, a co-owner of Parvilla C&M and my bicycle fitter today

When I arrived, Stu had me join him in the back of the store in the bicycle fitting room.  He already had a bicycle trainer out and ready for my bike to be mounted up, so while I went to get changed for the fitting (yep, I had to wear my actual gear... blue jeans were not going to cut it), he got the bike all ready for me to hop on and take it for a spin.  When I first got my bike a few weeks and 50 miles ago, I initially used the free online Competitive Cyclist bicycle sizing tool to get my bike set up roughly to my body size, which seemed to work alright, but I never was that comfortable on it.  I assumed that the unusual and uncomfortable posture was just part of road biking... boy, was I wrong (the unusual posture is normal though)!  Stu showed me, on my own bike, how I had the saddle set at least 3 inches too low, my handlebars were pointed downward too much, and my seat was tipped up by the nose by at least 3 degrees too much.  By fixing my seat and handlebars, he set the bike to cradle my body instead of trying to ditch it off.  While we went through the fitting process (maybe took a half hour?), Stu had me pedal the bicycle under light and full load to watch the motion of my legs to make sure that they were doing what they should.  His attention to detail was fantastic, even going far enough to ask me about any medical issues that might necessitate a different riding posture on the trip.

GURU Dynamic Fit Bike

Bear in mind that this was a static fitting, which Parvilla does not actually offer any more.  These days, the shop offers custom 3D dynamic motion capture fittings on the micro-adjustable GURU dynamic fit bike to make sure that every athlete can get the most out of his/her race bike.  It is obvious that business is doing very well for the company, based on the number of people coming and going while I was there and that Stu is booked on the dynamic fittings for at least another month.  Again I'll applaud their shop for being so kind to squeeze me in for the static fitting, which was much simpler and quicker than the dynamic fitting (which can take a couple hours) and worked quite well for this non-racer.  All in all said, I'm much happier with my bike now and I look forward to cranking out those miles!  Cheers to you, Parvilla Cycle & Multisport! :)

And thank you to my roommate Katey for another impromptu photo shoot!

Bicycle Tuesday - Now in 4D!

Bicycle Trivia Time!

In keeping with planning for my Trivia Night Fundraiser, here are some bicycling trivia facts:

What is the price of the most expensive bike ever sold at auction?
$500,000 for the "Butterfly Bike" designed by artist Damien Hirst and ridden by Lance Armstrong during the final stage of the 2009 Tour de France.

What is the fastest speed ever achieved by a bicycle on a flat surface?
166.944 mph, set by Fred Rompelberg in 1995 while slipstreaming behind a dragster at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

What is the fastest speed ever achieved by a bicycle on a flat surface (unpaced - no slipstream)?
83.13 mph, set by Sebastiaan Bowier in 2013 in an aerodynamic recumbant bicycle in Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Which annual bicycle race takes riders from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD (on the current course)?
The aptly named Race Across America. Most winners complete this race in under 10 days!!!

When was the first "human-powered land vehicle" created?
1418 by Giovanni Fontana.

No, this was not it.

The majority of a bicycle's parts exist in which bicycle component?
The chain.

How many bicycles are estimated to exist in the world?
1 billion, with 400 million of them in China alone.

The term "bicycle" was coined in which country?
France in the 1860s.

Who was first to circumnavigate the world on a bicycle?
Noone... that would be fairly impossible (without an amphibious bike)! Nevertheless, we do know that Fred A. Birchmore circled the globe by bicycle in 1935, using a boat for those pesky pond crossings.

What is the largest/longest network of bicycle trails and greenways in North America?
The La Route Verde in Canada, containing roughly 2,500 miles of trails.

Thanks for reading! If you're interested in more trivia, please consider coming to my Trivia Night Fundraiser on March 27th in Grasonville, MD!! More details are on the Trivia Night page!

Bicycle Tuesday - Part 3!

It's part three of my Bicycle Tuesday series!  This week, it's all about terminology!

Source: www.aarline.info

How much do you know about bicycles?  Do you know the difference between a derailleur and a hanger?  How about a bottom bracket versus a headset?  Here's a short list to start you off:

Bicycle Parts:
Bicycle - Alternative mode of transportation, which gets you places faster than walking and in less comfort than a car.  May be an enemy or friend, but either way, you will either let it rust away or manage to invest a fortune in 'upgrades'.
Tire -  (also spelled Tyre) The rubber bit around the wheels that keeps you from sliding around too much while you're riding and provides a minimal amount of shock absorption.
Inner Tube - An unholy contraption designed to hold air within the tire and to develop a leak at the worst possible time.
Rim - The first line of defense in an accident against the rest of the bike being destroyed.  Yeah, they get bent a lot.
Saddle - Saddle sores, need I say more? You sit on it and will eventually patch it with duct tape or electrical tape instead of getting a new one.
Fork - Holds the front wheel on and hopefully straight. I could go into detail about mountain bike shocks, but this is a road bike blog, right?
Handlebars - Strange curvy thing that you hold onto for dear life while pedaling over sand and snow.
Brakes - Hopefully will stop the bicycle before you roll through that stop sign into oncoming traffic. Occassionally squeak.
Chain - Incredibly important part of making sure that any pants that you are wearing while riding will end up greasy and shredded.
Chainring - The forward gears on a bicycle (Don't ask me why they decided on the name).  Likes to eat exposed ankles.
Cassette/Freewheel - The aft gears on a bicycle.  Incredulously expensive.
Derailleur - Moves the chain around so that you don't die while trying to pedal up a very steep hill.
Shifter - Moves the derailleur thingy in some crazy assortment of gears and levers.
Pedal - Your foot goes here.  Varieties include 'platforms' which will end up smacking your ankle after a large bump and 'clip-in' pedals which will cause you to fall over whenever you stop.

Other Terms:
LBS - Local Bike Shop.  They always take good care of you, so please make sure that you take care of them by buying parts locally.
Helmet - Keeps you alive and protects against brain damage in your eventual crash.  Please always use one.
Drafting - Getting as close as you can to the rider in front of you to minimize air resistance and to ensure a group crash party.  Pray that your fellow riders have not had beans for lunch.
Aero - Short for aerodynamic, or the idea that the more money that you spend on a bike to make it look even stranger than normal will result in Superman-like powers of flight.
Bolt Cutters - The enemy of any cable lock.  Just don't use cable locks in a city... ever.
U-Lock - The crusader of justice in the fight against aforementioned bolt cutters.
Armstrong - You know which one I'm talking about.  Extremely polarizing in the bicycling world these days.
Shelden Brown - A bicycle mechanic, technical expert, and a god amongst the cycling community.  You should really check out his website and see his own bicycle glossary, which is a lot more serious than this one :)  Rest in peace, Sheldon.

I hope that you enjoyed this list.  Yes, this is not an overly-serious list, so let's not have any heated arguments!  I might even make a serious glossary one of these weeks.... Cheers!

First Ride (Wow, It's Cold!)

I finally took my new Bike & Build bike on a test ride!  Knowing that a winter storm was on its way, I left work before it got dark to ride my favorite nearby trail, the Kent Island Cross-Island Trail.  Although I brought workout clothes to work with me to wear, I quickly realized the error of my ways when I hopped on the bike and started pedaling... boy, did my feet freeze up quickly!  Next time, I shall remember to wear my thick SmartWool socks and not my thin work dress socks (sigh).

Check out those white handlebars!

Nevertheless, I toughed out the miles in below-freezing temperature and ended up putting on a solid 11 miles on my first ride.  As you might know, I have 500 training miles to complete before I start on my Bike & Build journey, so now there are only 489 left to go!

By the way, coming from a mountain biking background, I'll first say that this Giant Defy 2 is a true work of art compared to the heavy, rugged frames that I'm used to.  It takes so much less effort to get up to speed and cruise than on a mountain bike (even with road tires), which is fantastic on the paved Cross Island Trail.  On the other hand, those bumps along the way sure hurt a lot more!

Bicycle Tuesday - Part 2

Bicycle Tuesday! Part 2!
(a.k.a. "The Bicycle Strikes Back") 
(a.k.a. "Bicycle 2: Judgement Day")
(a.k.a. "My Bike Has Arrived!!!") 

My Bike & Build bicycle arrived yesterday!  Although I felt bad for the delivery man who walked the box up to the second floor landing of our office, I was thoroughly excited to see the Giant box (bad pun intended...) finally here and in one piece!

Bicycle waiting to be unpacked in my living room.

While I couldn't just leave work to go assemble the bike, you can bet that I did the moment that I got home!  Although I love to tinker and assemble new 'toys', thanks to the folks at Bokoo Bikes in Chanhassen, MN, the bike came almost fully assembled.  All that I had left to do was to attach the handlebars, front wheel, seat, and pedals...

Bike out of the box, ready for unwrapping and assembly.

I've never made any You-Tube videos before, but on a whim, I decided to create my first-ever time lapse video of my bike assembly.  The photos were taken at a 10-second interval and are replayed at a 0.5-second rate.  Enjoy!

 

Finally, here's the bike!  By the time my trip is done this summer, she will have over 4500 miles on her.  Not bad for a bike that's only 7 months old!  Now I need to find some time to start riding those 500 training miles...

Fully-assembled 2014 Giant Defy 2

On another note, I made a quick bike fitting using Competitive Cyclist's Bike Fit Calculator.  While I will still be getting my bike properly fitted by my local bike shop before the trip, this online tool is a great aid in getting your bicycle roughly-fitted to your body measurements.  If you've never had your bike fitted (and I mean more than picking the frame size), I highly recommend that you check it out!

Bike Mail

I just got word yesterday afternoon that my summer steed, a Giant Defy 2, is on its way!  I'll say that my mountain bike is definitely looking forward to having a sleek and light-weight younger brother to keep it company (or is it sister?  I don't know yet!).  Thanks goes again to Giant Bicycles for helping with the price of our bicycles as a B&B corporate sponsor, to Bokoo Bikes for assembling and packaging our bikes and providing great deals on gear, and to all of you who have donated to the cause so far!

A new bicycle is on its way!

As the summer gets closer, I can only manage to get more and more anxious about wanting to get out on the bike and on the road.  While I cannot yet even begin to imagine what my summer is going to look like, I can say that it will be very hot, exhausting, filled with hard work, and (most importantly) incredible. If nothing else, I am excited to find out what's in store!

After first making a map of my bicycle's shipping route, I got on the map kick and decided to map the Bike & Build Southern US (SUS) 2014 route!  Sadly, MapMyRide decided to crash and not to save the route, so I'll have to make it again another time, but I did get a nice screenshot first!

Bike & Build SUS 2014, courtesy of MapMyRide