Crystal Visions

Finally, something worth posting

2007-08-19T07:48:00.000-06:00

Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charges, ambush, sniping, motorcade, IRS, BATF, jtf-6, mjtf, hrt, srt, hostages, munitions, weapons, TNT, rdx, amfo, hmtd, picric acid, silver nitrite, mercury fulminate, presidential motorcade, salt peter, charcoal, sulfur, c4, composition b, amatol, petn, lead azide, lead styphante, ddnp, tetryl, nitrocellulose, nitrostarch, mines, grenades, rockets, fuses, delay mechanism, mortars, rpg7, propellants, incendiaries, incendiary device, thermite, security forces, intelligence, agencies, hrt, resistance, psyops, infiltration, assault team, defensive elements, evasion, detection, mission, communications, the football, platter charge, shaped charges, m118, claymore, body armor, charges, shrapnel, timers, timing devices, boobytraps, detcord, pmk 40, silencers, Uzi, HK-MP5, AK-47, FAL, Jatti, Skorpion MP, teflon bullets, cordite, napalm, law, Stingers, RPK, SOCIMI 821 SMG, STEN, BAR, MP40, HK-G3,FN-MAG, RPD,PzB39, Air Force One, M60, RPK74, SG530, SG540, Galil arm, Walther WA2000, HK33KE, Parker-Hale MOD. 82, AKR, Ingram MAC10, M3, L34A1, Walther MPL, AKS-74, HK-GR6, subsonic rounds, ballistic media, special forces, JFKSWC, SFOD-D! , SRT, Rewson, SAFE, Waihopai, INFOSEC, ASPIC, Information Security, SAI, Information Warfare, IW, IS, Privacy, Information Terrorism, Kenya, Terrorism Defensive Information, Defense Information Warfare, Offensive Information, Offensive Information Warfare, NAIA, SAPM, ASU, ECHELON ASTS, National Information Infrastructure, InfoSec, SAO, Reno, Compsec, JICS, Computer Terrorism, Firewalls, Secure Internet Connections, RSP, ISS, JDF, Passwords, NAAP, DefCon V, RSO, Hackers, Encryption, ASWS, Espionage, USDOJ, NSA, CIA, S/Key, SSL, FBI, Secret Service, USSS, Defcon, Military, White House, Undercover, NCCS, Mayfly, PGP, SALDV, PEM, resta, RSA, Perl-RSA, MSNBC, bet, AOL, AOL TOS, CIS, CBOT, AIMSX, STARLAN, 3B2, BITNET, Tanzania, SAMU, COSMOS, DATTA, E911, FCIC, HTCIA, IACIS, UT/RUS, JANET, ram, JICC, ReMOB, LEETAC, UTU, VNET, BRLO, SADCC, NSLEP, SACLANTCEN, FALN, 877, NAVELEXSYSSECENGCEN, BZ, CANSLO, CBNRC, CIDA, JAVA, rsta, Awarehouse, Active X, Compsec 97, RENS, LLC, DERA, JIC, ri! p, rb, Wu, RDI, Mavricks, BIOL, Meta-hackers, ^?, SADT, Steve Case, Tools, RECCEX, Telex, OTAN, monarchist, NMIC, NIOG, IDB, MID/KL, NADIS, NMI, SEIDM, BNC, CNCIS, STEEPLEBUSH, RG, BSS, DDIS, mixmaster, BCCI, BRGE, SARL, Military Intelligence, JICA, Scully, recondo, Flame, Infowar, Bubba, Freeh, Donaldson, Archives, ISADC, CISSP, Sundevil, jack, Investigation, JOTS, ISACA, NCSA, ASVC, spook words, RRF, 1071, Bugs Bunny, Verisign, Secure, ASIO, Lebed, ICE, NRO, Lexis-Nexis, NSCT, SCIF, FLiR, JIC, bce, Lacrosse, Bunker, Flashbangs, HRT, IRA, EODG, DIA, USCOI, CID, BOP, FINCEN, FLETC, NIJ, ACC, AFSPC, BMDO, site, SASSTIXS, NAVWAN, NRL, RL, NAVWCWPNS, NSWC, USAFA, AHPCRC, ARPA, SARD, LABLINK, USACIL, SAPT, USCG, NRC, ~, O, NSA/CSS, CDC, DOE, SAAM, FMS, HPCC, NTIS, SEL, USCODE, CISE, SIRC, CIM, ISN, DJC, bemd, SGC, UNCPCJ, CFC, SABENA, DREO, CDA, SADRS, DRA, SHAPE, bird dog, SACLANT, BECCA, DCJFTF, HALO, SC, TA SAS, Lander, GSM, T Branch, AST, SAMCOMM, HAHO, FKS, 868, GCHQ, DITSA, S! 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Yuba Mundo

2007-06-15T11:53:00.000-06:00

On top of having a kick-ass name, the Yuba Mundo looks like one hell of a nice cargo bike. Thanks for pointing it out to me, Phaedrus.

too important

2007-06-12T06:24:00.000-06:00

I haven't had any interest in blogging lately, but ran across something just a little too heinous to ignore. Many people who (used to) read this blog would be interested I bet. Here's the story of Stephan Orsak, assaulted by Minneapolis police and tased for attempting to ride his bicycle from the MSP airport. I'm going to try to attend the trial.

cool technology recommedation, from a luddite

2007-05-17T08:13:00.000-06:00

I found on another blog a link to Adblock Plus. I have to recommend it to everyone.

It's easy to install.
It works.
It works really well even.
Essentially no more ads.

Really, this is the coolest browser plugin I've ever seen... it makes the web surfable again. *heh* Ok, honestly... all it does for me is make the sites I go to more bearable. ;)

Car free, Day #1

2007-05-15T18:57:00.000-06:00

Ok, not really. I've been car-free for years now... not just one day. However, the good folk over at 'BROL have arranged for a little contest: Go for a month of being car-free, write about it, and the best essay wins a nice recumbent trike. It seems weird to participate since I'm already car-free... but this gives me an excuse to post daily blog entries. Lucky you!

So! Today I did my typical commute. I live in Hudson, WI and I work in Minneapolis, MN. Here's a map of one route I use to ride to work. It's a skosh over 31 miles on the map, although when I had a cycle computer it always read just a bit over 32 miles. Nitpicking I suppose, when talking about a 60+ mile round-trip commute!

Oh, when I say I did the typical commute today... I failed to mention that there's a bailout point at about the 13 mile point where I can get on a bus. The bus drops me a little more than a mile from my office... the total commute when I do the bus is about 15 miles one way. It's faster, but not really by much... but it does cut off the most traffic-heavy portion of the commute, and for that I'm happy. Anyhow, I took the bus today. When I'm taking the bus, I ride my RANS Rocket or an upright (of which I have several). When I ride the whole distance (once or twice a week in good weather) I typically ride my RANS V2.

When I got home from work today, I did a few bonus miles... my son had a soccer game so I rode out to the local field. It's only about 3.5 miles one way, for a total of 7 extra miles. Before I set out for the soccer field I checked the weather... it was cloudy, but weather.com said there was a 0% chance of rain. Sweet. However, I got about 2 blocks away from the house when it started raining. *heh* I'm considering writing them an email to discuss the meaning of 0%.

A few notable things happened on the commute today. First off, it was windy as hell. Except not as hot. I barely managed to make it to the bus in time to catch it... which wouldn't have been a big issue anyhow. Towards the beginning of the commute, realizing I was running a bit late and was going to have a vicious wind to battle... I blew a stop sign. I shouldn't have done it, but for that very short leg of the journey I had a tailwind, and I had the Rocket cranked up and moving like a scalded cat. I could see either way, blah blah blah and more excuses. Anyhow, someone more than a block away honked at me when I blew through that intersection. *heh* Too bad I'm somewhat recognizable on my recumbent bike in Hudson WI.

Towards the end of the commute, after I'd left the bus (the Rocket fits nicely on the front bus rack, although it's a bit odd since the arm comes over the boom rather than the front tire) I met an odd woman. I was waiting at an intersection for a light to turn (see, I don't blow them all!) when a voice fairly well boomed in my right ear...

"Well HELLO there, fellow biker!"
"uh... hi.", sez I.
"That's a NICE set of wheels you got there!", she booms again.
"um... thanks. And I like your... Trek... too. Is it old?"
"Yes, it's 13 years old and it's my WET-WEATHER bike!"

Thank god at that point the light turned green. I'm terrible at small talk, and I was totally overwhelmed by her amazing positive energy. *heh*

So there you have it. Day 1 of the challenge. Enjoy the entries to come.

Today's mileage: 37 miles
Total mileage: 37 miles

Thinking of doing some mountain... cycling

2007-05-11T08:20:00.001-06:00

Bike camping over Memorial Day

2007-05-08T13:46:00.000-06:00

I'm going on a bike camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. Where I go is largely dependent on who comes with... but probably somewhere north. Very nice roads up there. Hit me up with a comment if you're interested in joining me!

car-free challenge

2007-04-30T03:43:00.000-06:00

Would you like a free recumbent tadpole trike? If so, check this out.

Basically, you need to be car-free from May 15th until June 15th and then write about the experience. The best essay (as judged by Bryan J Ball at 'Bentrideronline wins the trike. He's had this contest in the past... with various different recumbent bikes to give away... and while I've never won I'm sure it's all legit. WhizWheelz is the sponsor this year, and they do make some cool and reasonably priced trikes.

Best of luck if you decide to enter; it'd be really cool to see someone I know win this.

Bicycle Commuters Benefits Act

2007-04-25T02:04:00.000-06:00

April 24, 2007

Dear Mr. xxxx,

Thank you for contacting me regarding your support for S. 858, the
Bicycle Commuters Benefits Act. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, S. 858 was introduced by Senator Ron Wyden
(D-OR) on March 13, 2007, and was referred to the Senate Finance
Committee. This bill would amend federal tax laws to create a tax-
exempt transportation fringe benefit for those who ride their
bicycles to work. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of S. 858, and I
look forward to supporting it should it come before the Senate for a
vote.

Thanks again for contacting me. I hope you feel free to contact me
in the future on this or any other issue of concern to you.

Sincerely,

Russell D. Feingold
United States Senator

If you wish to contact me again, please visit
http://feingold.senate.gov/contact.html

Smoke

2007-04-16T08:16:00.000-06:00

I pulled out the V2 Saturday and rode like a motherfucker all weekend. Wow, what a great bike it is. Screaming descents at 45+ mph are tame. I'm able to sustain 25 mph on the thing for quite some time... and it still climbs steep hills just fine. I'm 100% comfortable in every way even after 50 miles of riding: no back issues, no neck issues, no hand/wrist issues. Its only achilles heel is that it doesn't handle slick conditions well, thus I put it away for the winter. Bye bye winter.

It occurred to me that single-speeding the V2 wouldn't work so well due to the reasons discussed below, but also because the range of speeds on the thing is so huge. Climbing steep hills at 2-3 mph at one end, and real honest-to-goodness 25 mph pedaling on the flats at the other end. I climb faster on an upright and cruise much slower, so single-speeding an upright is more appropriate.

Single speeds- upright vs recumbent

2007-04-08T09:57:00.000-06:00

I've been riding single speeds for a relatively short amount of time... about 2 years. In that time I've grown to love the simplicity and mechanical efficiency of my single speed bikes. I'm constantly surprised at what I can achieve on a single speed... last year I did a fully-loaded tour on my Bianchi San Jose, which is a SS (not fixed-gear). I rode a moderately hilly route (Phaedrus seems to think it's a *very* hilly route, but he's a little addled upstairs if you know what I mean). I only walked part of one hill, and I'm convinced that I would have been able to ride the full extent of that hill had I not caught my toe on the front fender and had to stop. I was carrying all my own gear... sleeping bag, tent, cooking gear, food, etc. It was fun and easier than it should have been. At the time I attributed the ease to the mechanical efficiency of the drive system... a perfectly straight chain and no extra drag introduced by a derailleur or chain tensioner.

I'm also a fan of recumbent bicycles for long rides. I have two, and I ride them both often. When I'm planning on riding all the way into Mpls and back, I take one of the 'bents. One is a short wheelbase- a RANS Rocket, and the other is a long wheelbase- a modified RANS Velocity Squared. So the past year or so I've been kicking around the idea of trying out a 'bent single speed.

Without ever having tried a 'bent SS, I've recently dismissed the idea. Carefully observing how I ride my upright single speeds, I've noticed something that I can do on the uprights that I couldn't easily do on a 'bent- change the angle of my upper body in relation to my legs... or hip angle. It's easy on an upright- lean forward into the drops, sit up a little more on the tops / hoods, or stand on the pedals for a fully "open" hip angle. On a 'bent, this really isn't possible... the seat angle is set and it determines the angle of my hips. Sure, I can slouch a little, but the adjustment just isn't that much. Anyhow, changing my hip angle on my uprights allows me to bring different muscles into play while riding... which I think contributes greatly to the apparent ease of riding an upright with only a single gear ratio.

I've heard rumors that some people have tried riding a SS 'bent and quickly abandoned the experiment. I've never seen a SS 'bent myself. Maybe I should try it just to validate my theory, but I think it'd be a fairly expensive experiment doomed to failure. Riding an upright SS is so viable because the SS drive is more efficient, AND because the rider can make wider use of different muscles to get the job done.

a good jab

2007-04-06T11:31:00.000-06:00

I'm amused. The Cyclists

You need light?

2007-04-03T10:35:00.000-06:00

A nice bright bicycle light.

Keeping my big mouth shut

2007-04-03T08:44:00.000-06:00

I was riding with Phaedrus a few days ago when a guy in a red minivan zipped around us only to turn right directly in front of us. I cannot clearly recall if I had to hit the brakes in order to not hit the guy, but it was close enough to really piss me off. He had obviously seen us and chosen to pull off his boneheaded maneuver anyway.

I have a rule in place for dealing with fuckwits in dinoburners. "Thou shalt do nothing except stare." Unfortunately I broke my rule when I yelled some obscenity at the cell-phone-plastered-to-his-head-dumbfuck driver. As we cruised through the intersection I saw him (now on the cross street) slam on his brakes and put the van into reverse.

*sigh*

The bottom line- there was a verbal exchange (during which he NEVER took the cell phone away from his head). I think it would have turned physical except for a few things... neither Phaedrus nor I are exactly small (not really big either I guess, but definitely not small)... and there were two of us and one of him. I managed to follow my own rule the rest of the time, but big whoop. I gotta learn to keep my fucking mouth shut.

To our progressive neighbors to the north

2007-03-30T10:59:00.000-06:00

Here's a letter I'm writing in response to a very callous statement made by a councillor in Toronto. I originally came across the info in this entry. Should you choose to write a letter of your own to councillor Ford, his email address is councillor_ford@toronto.ca.

Councillor Ford,

I recently read this quote from you regarding roads and bike lanes:

"I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day."

If this is indeed your sentiment, I must express my grave disappointment with your stance. First off- roads are built to be used by people, not "built for buses, cars, and trucks". Some people do not or cannot operate a motorized vehicle (perhaps do to age, infirmary, or morality). Given that public transit doesn't go to every destination, it is a societal imperative to accommodate these individuals.

"... but it's their own fault at the end of the day." Assigning blanket fault to the deceased is ludicrous, and seriously calls into question your assertion that you even have a heart at all, much less than it bleeds for these people. Is the victim at fault for the actions of an inattentive driver? Is the victim at fault for being killed by a driver impaired by drugs and / or alcohol? Who, precisely, is doing the killing... the person piloting the 3,000 lb car or the person operating a 30 lb bicycle? I wonder... if the victim should happen to be sitting in a car vs riding a bicycle or walking, would you then assign the fault correctly?

I hope with all sincerity that you reconsider your opinion on this matter. While it's true that I'm a US citizen, I have traveled in Canada extensively and lived in Canada for a number of months last year. Toronto is a city I've always wanted to visit, but rest assured that I am much less likely to be visiting your fair city due to your apparent hatred of bicyclists and pedestrians.

Regards,
xxxx, Minneapolis, MN, USA

the commute

2007-03-28T09:19:00.000-06:00

What a soggy commute this morning! My poor leather shoes... someday I'll get around to oiling them or something. Or maybe I should retire them; the third set of soles I've had on them are about worn through.

I decided to NOT wear raingear this morning. I just wore a wool jacket instead. Of course I had on wool socks under the leather shoes, and some bicycling tights under my jeans. I arrived soaked but warm... and I think I was actually more comfortable than if I'd been wearing my raingear. The bank temperature gauges read somewhere in the upper 30's... 37-39 as I passed them.

Does anyone else eschew raingear in favor of wool? Being wet with rain is much nicer than being soggy with sweat from being in raingear. Wet wool has its own particular scent though. ;)

Belt drive

2007-03-27T20:04:00.000-06:00

Just found a link to the Hettlage Belt Drive. It's a terrible web site and doesn't answer many questions at all, but the idea of the gearing being achieved with a variable diameter pulley is pretty interesting. I think I'd still prefer an internally-geared hub though.

Some more info here. They say it's about a 240% gear range.

Yellow Velo

2007-03-23T08:37:00.000-06:00

The Yellow Velo Blog
Be sure to check out the video, although the music... ack.

Cambie Cycles sells this very interesting velomobile for $6k... I assume that's $6k Canadian. Not a bad price.

paint the buses

2007-03-15T06:58:00.000-06:00

I suggest Minneapolis / St. Paul public transit vehicles get a new paint scheme. Something along these lines would be great...

Note the recumbent clearly out in the lead on the one photo. *heh* Seriously though, I think this is a great idea...

pedal this

2007-03-07T09:50:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that I've been giving serious thought to getting out of computers sooner rather than later, and making a go of building bicycles for a living. I'm passionate about bicycles. When I'm not riding them I daydream about them. I like looking at them. So... it just makes sense to get into the business somehow.

I've given passing thought to opening a retail store, much like Jim did with Hiawatha Cyclery. However, it's also no secret that I'm not a very good people person. I have this tendency to piss people off, even when I try really really hard not to. Bah, whatever... most people are idiots anyhow. ;) So I really don't think it's wise of me to start a business where I need to interact with the public every day.

I design things. Always have. Sometimes I even build things. I have many bike designs rattling around in my head. I think I should try to build some and see what happens. In a week and a half I've got a frame building class (thanks Phaedrus!). That's a good first step.

I'm also going on the record here... I will figure out a way to build my first bike frame by the end of May, 2007. I don't even know yet which bike I'll build, but my main ideas:

* Duplicate my Peugeot (except with good tubing, canti brakes, and 1-1/8th threadless headset).
* Make a "cruiser" city bike that I'm happy with. Something that maybe looks a bit like the Raleigh Coasting but with more reasonable components.
* Make the LWB touring recumbent I've been dreaming of.

Of the three, the first would be the easiest project to get right. I've looked around a bit, but haven't found lugs with slack enough angles though, so I may be fillet brazing instead of doing lugged construction. Too bad... based on what I've read the lugged construction is a bit less time consuming, and I really like the look of lugs.

So... in terms of the business idea, I'm kicking around several ideas for bikes.

* A touring bike, long and low, with long stainless vertical dropouts (Rohloff support) and stainless fork dropouts. If at all possible I'd like to make a provision for a belt drive instead of chain drive. This would mean a split in the right seat stay, and an eccentric bottom bracket. If possible I'd like to find some lugs that support my preferred geometry. If I don't and I strike it rich, maybe I'll make the lugs myself, or have them made.

* A cruising city bike. Hearken back to the GT Streamline series. Except with quality tubing and the same provisions for Rohloff and a belt drive as the touring model. Lugs if at all possible, but it seems unlikely at first. Stainless dropouts.

* A travel recumbent bike. SWB. Belt drive (seeing a pattern here?). I have this model mostly worked out... it'd be a dual 406 (20" wheels) model. Full mesh seat, collapsible for packing (I've thought of an elegant way of doing this). S&S couplers, cable splitters, and aerospoke wheels (flat is good). It would probably use a Rohloff as a jackshaft. The bike would come with two soft cases... one would barely nest inside the other. The slightly larger case would fully fit the bike (including seat), and the smaller case would contain your touring gear. When you arrive at your destination, the smaller case (with your gear) goes into the larger case, and that larger case attaches to the bike behind the seat... effectively becoming your panniers. You'd be totally self-contained.

* A LWB touring recumbent bike. Full mesh seat. BB slightly lower than the seat height. Easily attachable foam-over-steel-skeleton tailbox for an aerodynamic boost that would also carry your gear. If at all possible I'd like to make it a dual 26" bike, but I'm not sure yet about that... I do have a 20" front 26" rear already worked out. Disk brake tabs on the rear in either event. Support for Rohloff and a belt drive.

What's all this about belt drives? Well, it turns out that they are as efficient as a well maintained chain, yet last a lot longer and require a lot less maintenance. They're also half the weight of the lightest chains, and on a LWB 'bent that makes a damned big difference. Only a few bikes have them now, but honestly, I think belt drives are a lot more likely to take off than say a hydraulic drive, or shaft drive, or electric drive.

Anyhow, feel free to leave your ideas and criticisms. The business is... well... uncertain. The one frame by the end of May though, I'm committed to that at least. ;) Later.

More and more

2007-03-06T14:33:00.000-06:00

Heya Mr. Lunatic Biker, if yer interested in hydraulic bicycle drives, check this out: Liquid Drive. That web site has been around forever, and I haven't found any bikes that use their drive system... but who knows? Maybe it's just a good idea waiting for an adventurous manufacturer.

Also, wow, check out the Hula Bike. Be sure to watch the little movie clip. *heh*

Weird shit

2007-02-27T15:37:00.000-06:00

For you dog lovers out there.
The sideways bike.
A new kinda jacknife.

I've also been looking a little more seriously into shaft driven bikes. I know, I know... less efficiency. Whatever. Here's the best review I've found so far.

Couple of things

2007-02-24T12:53:00.000-06:00

It's so freaking rare that someone does something... right... that I'm often taken off-guard when it does happen. Sweet. I'm suddenly going from "lust" to "omygodigottahaveit".

(BTW- I can't figure out how to link straight to the correct entry... but I'm all excited about the Big Dummy having some decent support for the Rohloff hub... so scroll down to that blog entry.)

Speaking of weird mobility, this might interest some of my readers. (Like you, anonymous.) Some of the little video clips are impressive.

Andrew McAuley

2007-02-21T22:51:00.000-06:00

I sit here, stunned. He didn't make it. Tonight I figured I'd check up on when Andrew McAuley landed... he was attempting to paddle a kayak from Tasmania to the southern island of New Zealand. The last anyone heard from him he was a mere 35-40 miles off the coast of New Zealand, having paddled nearly a thousand miles. Rescuers fairly quickly found his kayak and some of his stuff, but no Andrew.

Fuck.

I had casually followed his progress. An adventure like that is hard for me to completely ignore, even when it's really not my thing (kayaking is fun, but I'm not super drawn to it or anything). The last I checked he was close enough to NZ that I just knew he'd make it. I guess we all go sometime, and it's probably best to exit doing something you love. Nevertheless, I'm having just as much of a hard time being really philosophical about this as I did when I heard about Ken Kifer. Fuck.

High fashion

2007-02-16T11:58:00.000-06:00

I have my winter riding fairly well figured out... all except for my face and glasses. If you have dealt with your face freezing, or the fogging issue yourself brought on by biking in cold weather with glasses, then you'll understand what I mean when I say:

biking in the cold with glasses sucks

I've actually been riding without my glasses quite a bit, which for a person who's eyesight is as bad as mine... well... it's crazy. So here's my current thought for next winter:

The Fog Evader
Prescription ski goggles

And then my helmet with the vents filled in.

Gaiam = spammers

2007-02-16T08:55:00.000-06:00

Never buy anything from the online store Gaiam. I recently bought a book from them, and they've been spamming me ever since. I've used their little web form to get off their email lists, I've placed a call to a rep and been personally assured I wouldn't get anymore spam mail... but nevertheless they continue to spam me.

Gaiam is a spamming fuck of a company.

They're now reported as spammers to Yahoo and in my blocked addresses. I also reported them to Spam Cop. Fuck off spammers.

Not for me, but...

2007-02-15T09:52:00.000-06:00

I know a few people that have a list of transportation desires that might be filled by a little pedal / electric hybrid called a Twike. Features in a nutshell:

53 MPH top speed
Up to 80 mile range
Space for two people

It's also hella expensive, starting at over $20k.

Cheap Folding Recumbent

2007-02-10T08:43:00.000-06:00

Pulled this info from the message board at Bentrider Online. For what it's worth, I've heard really good things about the Cruzbike conversion kit.

Hi gang:

Yup, this was my project last weekend. I originally had installed the Cruzbike kit on my mountain bike, but it ended up at 37 lbs. After a couple of weeks of riding that around here in the SF Bay Area, I decided I wanted something lighter and nimbler to fit my riding style.

So, after about 4 hours in the garage, I converted this Downtube folding bike into a folding recumbent. I estimate it at 27 lbs (by calculating what I took off and put on), it may actually be lighter 'cause it feels really nimble. I'll take it into the LBS soon and get the actual weight.

It's been raining non-stop all week, so I've only managed about 10 miles on this thing, but they've been a very happy 10 miles. Light and quick. The 20" wheels have not been as bad as I feared. As long as the tires are not at 100psi, it's good for the paved roads that I plan to use it for. I'm planning on a double century this May, so this will be my weapon of choice. Better start training now!

The Downtube was $299 + $35 shipping. The kit was $375 + $30 shipping. Not too bad for what I ended up with, I think. Well, there's the Velocity wheels and the Marathon tires, but let's not go there.

Best of all, I really like the way it looks, too!

scooped!

2007-01-26T11:35:00.000-06:00

So my buddy rphaedrus scooped me on this... but I don't mind. It seems to be circulating the 'net pretty quickly.

HyperBike

2007-01-25T07:51:00.000-06:00

Found an article this morning about an interesting HPV. Pic Below. The claim of 50 mph seems... well frankly, impossible. HPV speeds are limited primarily by aerodynamics, and that thing doesn't look very aero to me... but it's sure interesting! Their web site: www.hyperbike.info. Here's a video of the thing in action and an interview with the inventor.

32 miles

2007-01-22T12:31:00.000-06:00

I went for a little ride yesterday with the Rocket. Rode from downtown Minneapolis to my house in Hudson. It was snowing, and while I didn't have studded tires on the Rocket (as a matter of fact, the tires were slicks)... I still had no issues riding. Here are a few photos of the bike after the ride (click for larger versions)...

studly

2007-01-15T15:40:00.000-06:00

I just swung a deal with rphaedrus to buy back my old Rocket from him. Sweet. So I look into how much 20" studded tires are gonna cost me, and I discover that they are no longer available! Bummer. Innova used to make the Snow Fox, and I think Nokian also made a model for a year or so.

This makes the Rocket a slightly less desirable commuter... I commute year-round through whatever Minnesota throws my way, and there are definitely times studded tires are very useful (or even required). I dug a bit on the internet though, and found that Bike Tires Direct still has some in stock. I ordered 4 of their remaining 12, so they've got 8 left. If anyone thinks they might need a studded 20" tire in the future, now would probably be the time to get one.

4 of these babies should hold me for as long as I plan on living in this climate. 5 years, 11 months, and 25 days until I relocate to the tropics...

My stable

2007-01-14T08:55:00.000-06:00

I've been riding gobs and gobs of miles on bikes for about... the past 8 years or so. In that time I've owned a ridiculous number of bikes, searching for my perfect bike. Let me tell you, there is no perfect bike; they all have their strong and weak points. Some are better for short distances... like trips to the grocery store. Some are long-distance machines. Some are super fast for when you gotta get somewhere quickly. Some are much more portable than others. Some carry gear better than others. Some are better in the winter than others.

So I've developed a stable of bikes for all occasions. Right now I've got a circa 1980 Peugeot touring bike single-speed, a Bianchi San Jose, a highly modified RANS V2, and a Bazooka Nautica folding bike. The Peugeot and SJ basically fill the same need (reliable commuter)... the SJ was bought as a replacement for the Peugeot when it started having some issues with its headset, so really I've got 3 bikes in my stable that I make somewhat regular use of.

However, after giving it some thought I've come to the conclusion that none of my current bikes are in my "dream stable" of bikes. I can think of replacements for each of my bikes that are superior for one reason or another. So just in case there are more freaks out there with needs similar to my own, I figure I'll just list these out and save everyone a lot of time and expense. This is the definitive list. Definitive I tell ya.

RANS Rocket (with S&S couplers)- Commuter / portable bike.
RANS Stratus XP- Touring bike / super-fast bike.
GT Slipstream- Grocery getter / neighborhood bike

Of the 3, the GT is the oddball. It's not made anymore. It's an upright bike. It's cheap. It's also got no toeclip overlap (even with deep toe-clips and fenders), a very upright seating position, and the early models were very simple (no suspension anywhere). Plenty of room for a beefy rear rack... I used to own one of these and never had an issue hitting my heels on large panniers. The upright seating position is GREAT for rides up to 5 miles, ok for rides between 5 and 10, and sucks for rides longer than 10 miles. The main triangle was cro-mo, the rest mild steel. It doesn't have a high theft attraction rating. I kick myself every time I think about the fact that I had one and got rid of it...

The Rocket as a commuting bike? Heck yeah. It's got provisions for fat tires, fenders, and racks. It is the only recumbent I know that's *excellent* in slick conditions. I think that has a lot to do with the weight distribution on the wheels, and of course it takes studded tires fine. It's the only recumbent I know that fits on the front of a Minneapolis city bus. Yeah, it fits; I've done it. the armature thing on the bus rack has to come over the boom of the bike. Next time I do this I'll take a quick picture of it so people can see what it looks like on the bus... it's a bit tricky. Anyhow, there's a Rocket in my immediate future... so is anyone interested in buying a used and well-loved 55 cm Bianchi San Jose?

As a side note- the Rocket with S&S couplers is a very cool traveling bicycle. The only difficult part is the seat... but I've got a sweet idea about how to make a collapsible full mesh seat and that just might solve the issue.

The Stratus is a dual 26" LWB recumbent. I've ridden a lot on 'bents, and this thing is the bees knees. Never being satisfied, I'd opt to modify it a bit... put a different seat on it, a tailbox, and maybe some Rohloff dropouts with a Rohloff drivetrain... but it's darned close to the perfect touring machine as it rolls off the factory floor. Also I'm pretty darned sure one could make a hell of a fast bike out of the Stratus by adding a front fairing and a body sock. Oh yeah, cruising at 26-27 mph shouldn't even be difficult.

So there you go. The perfect stable for everyone with my lifestyle. I bet the 6 of you out there are thanking me right now...

Peace out.

evolution

2007-01-12T06:58:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid, 8 years old, I had the freedom to wander around the small town of Lincoln, IL on my bicycle. It was a small town with not much traffic but with lots of side streets to ride on. It was fantastic to ride over to my friends' houses; I remember my sense of freedom fondly. When I didn't ride my bike, I walked. I remember the green Schwinn Stingray I had... the ape handlebars... and I remember how I eventually spray painted it black, bought some new handlebars, a different seat, and some new tires- and turned it into a "dirt bike". I used to build ramps and jump that bike like crazy. Ahh, the skinned knees and busted noggins. Good times.

When I was 13 or 14, I was taught that cars were cool. I was encouraged to start saving money for a car even before I had my license. We had long since moved from that small town of Lincoln, IL to a slightly larger town of LaCrosse, WI. We lived several miles out of town... renting a house in the country. I remember telling my uncle (he's a big sportsman in the fishing / hunting sense) that I wanted to buy a small boat. His response was something along the lines of "You'd be better off saving your money to put towards buying something that can tow that boat". I bought into the cars-are-cool thing in a big way. I lusted after various types of cars, mostly muscle cars.

When I turned 16, I started driving my mom's Monte Carlo everywhere. I was the cool guy with access to a car. I'd drive my friends around, go and visit my buds in towns 30 miles away. We'd all pile into that car and drive out to the swimming pond... about 20 miles. I got a series of jobs to pay for the gasoline and expenses of the car... from a fast-food Chicago-style hotdog place, to flower delivery-guy, to other more upscale restaurants... I was always working somewhere. When I was 18 I wrecked the Monte Carlo most horrifically... nobody died but damn we were all so very very lucky. I still bear the scars from that incident and they still pain me (mentally, if not physically).

When I was over the physical trauma of the wreck, the first thing I did was get a factory job, so of course I got another car. Car payments for the first time in my life, although since I bought the car from a friend of mine the payments were going straight to him. I paid that car off in a year's time. It was a '72 Cutlass Supreme, it had a 350, dual exhaust, a huge 4-barrel carb, and more horsepower than you could shake a stick at. Even after the supposed lesson of my car wreck, I'd hot rod that thing around town. At least on one occasion I recall managing to ditch a pursuing police officer.

I put many miles on that Cutlass. Eventually I went to college and didn't have the money to maintain the car. I kept driving it, and it kept wearing down and wearing down... eventually I parked it under a tarp and just left it sit. It didn't make sense to me to fix it up; it was old and got bad bas mileage. I had to put lead-substitute in the gas, the brakes were bad, the windshield cracked (from when I hit a deer)... and it would have cost too darned much to fix it up. So... I bought another car. Brand new this time. I was "smart" though and bought a very small car- a Geo Metro.

I used that Metro to commute to my new computer job in St. Paul. I lived 30 miles away in River Falls, WI. Eventually I had a growing awareness of the environmental damage we as a species were doing. Even though my Geo Metro got better than average gas-mileage, it still burned gas. So naturally, I started looking into the... Electric Car.

I found plenty of info about electric cars on the then new-and-shiny World Wide Web. I studied. I planned a conversion. I obsessed over battery choices.

Before I built that car though, someone challenged me to produce technical figures showing my electric car would be less polluting over its entire life cycle... from manufacture to junkyard... with maintenance, electricity generation, battery charging efficiencies, etc... all accounted for. I gladly took up that challenge.

And what I found surprised me. Overall, at best, it was a few percent less polluting. If I adjusted the very optimistic numbers even slightly, it was actually more polluting. Yikes. It's very challenging to figure in all the associated environmental costs... so my figures might have been wrong, but it was enough to convince me that electric cars are just not a good step to take.

So in despair, I kept driving my current car. Until I hit upon a brilliant stroke... I didn't actually have to drive! I started making changes in my life such that I could walk and bike everywhere. It took selling my house to make the change, but I finally did it. I've been car-free for oh, 6 years or so now.

The benefits have been great. I'm in excellent shape, I somehow have more hours in the day to spend with my son, and I've rediscovered that sense of freedom I had when I was 8 years old. I finally came around full-circle and it feels great.

There seems to be a strong analogy that could be drawn between my personal evolution (roughly- bike/walk, car, big car, small car, electric car, bike/walk) to the evolution of our society. GM just unveiled yet another electric car, The Volt. So I guess society is at the Electric Car phase. Unfortunately I think that final step back to walking/biking isn't going to occur due to some grand societal epiphany... I think it'll be forced on us in a most nasty fashion (and sooner than most people think). But who knows? Ultimately "society" is just a collection of individuals and each may have their very own epiphany. I'll start holding my breath now.

Hell yeah

2006-12-28T12:41:00.000-06:00

This came from Wheel Revolution. Click on the image to be taken to the post.

Titles

2006-12-28T11:35:00.000-06:00

Titles are back in. They're the new minima black.

2006-12-26T06:14:00.000-06:00

For you self-confessed gadget addicts (you know who you are), here are a couple of neato bike trailers that are sufficiently gadgety.

The Kitchen Sink Trailer
The Shopping Cart Trailer

I made up the names, I think they're really called the "Koga Miyata Chela" and the "Leggero Shopper" respectively. IMO the first is heavy and doesn't carry much stuff (for a trailer it's got a fairly small capacity), and all the added functionality is simply superfluous. I won't be owning one of those. The second though might serve an actual purpose... I can see an advantage to a trailer that you could use as a shopping cart.

In other news... geez, hasn't it been warm? I roller bladed into St. Paul Sunday to visit with friends and then biked back to Hudson yesterday... it's just unseasonably warm and the weatherman is predicting some warm temps for the forseeable future. I wonder if we're going to get slammed with 30 below weather in January to make up for the warm December...

2006-12-21T10:13:00.000-06:00

2006-12-15T15:58:00.000-06:00

Does anyone else hate (and I mean... hate) those web advertisements with the silhouettes dancing? It's almost to the point where I refuse to go to web sites that run those ads. I've been a longtime Yahoo mail user, but I think I'm shutting that down... those ads are just too much.

It's odd; normally I can easily ignore ads and just move on. Those things though drill into my brain like Dahmer with a new boyfriend.

You'll all know that I've been taken over by the aliens when I start running ads on my blog. In all honestly I really could use that yearly check for 11 cents, but heck, I'm trying to keep this an ad-free zone for you, dearest blog reader.

Later.

2006-12-06T23:45:00.000-06:00

So here's an interesting concept: bamboo clothing. Sounds sorta ridiculous, but I've heard that the fibers from crushed bamboo make excellent cloth. Bam is a company that makes and sells bamboo clothing. Be sure to check out their FAQ. Bam also sounds like a great company overall; they plant a tree for every item they sell and protect it for 100 years, and they sound like they have very high standards for their factory workers... providing free education and other cool stuff.

2006-12-04T12:05:00.000-06:00

Last night I dreamt I fully dropped out of society. The dream spanned years of my life. I first got rid of all my friends. Then I ditched my apartment and started living under a boardwalk in some nameless city. When I ran out of money I started eating out of dumpsters and eating things I could catch... fish from a river near the boardwalk seemed to be a staple. One very entertaining dream scene revolved around me finding a blaoted, fly-ridden roadkill dog and eating it. I stopped interacting with anyone, even strangers, and I'd run and hide when in close proximity to anyone else. There was a dumpster near the boardwalk though, so I always had some food to keep me going.

The dream ended with a little girl and her mother taking a walk on the boardwalk one day. The girl poked her head under the boardwalk and caught a glimpse of me. She let out an awful, bloodcurdling scream, followed by a bunch of almost insane gibberish. I was hiding in the refuse by the time her mother looked, so the mother didn't see me... but as she carried her daughter away I heard the girl saying, "His eyes! My god, his eyes..."

2006-12-02T02:17:00.000-06:00

If you want to waste a little time, check out Line Rider. It's easy to screw around with it and waste a little time. After you've set up a hill or two and had the guy sled down it, check out what people with a serious amount of time on their hands can do:

Track 1
Track 2

2006-11-28T14:26:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine recently picked up a new bike. He had saddle issues, so decided to try something quite odd- a noseless saddle. I was surprised to find that my initial reaction to it (I took a quick spin on his bike) was positive... it was very comfortable. He absolutely loves it; says there's no more discomfort even on 2+ hour rides. I've seen other noseless saddles and that one looks at least somewhat normal in comparison...

Just a few thoughts before you all rush right out and buy one of these puppies:

My friend's bike has a fairly upright seating position.

I've read at least one account of noseless saddles contributing to a loss of control of the bike...

2006-11-28T12:29:00.000-06:00

I can't really introduce this. Just play it.

2006-11-26T16:53:00.000-06:00

No gunshot wounds.

The trip was great, if all too short. The weather really cooperated... some thick frost on my hammock both mornings, but it was quite mild for the time of year. I'm glad I took 3 sleeping bags though (nested the two warmest together, used a third underneath the hammock to keep my backside toasty. Most of you probably know (but I'll say it anyhow) when you compress a sleeping bag its insulation value goes way down, so the typical achilles heel of a hammock in cold weather is that your back still gets cold even with a very thick sleeping bag. The third sleeping bag underneath the hammock wasn't susceptible to being compressed, so it worked like a charm. There are other solutions... most people wrangle a pad into their hammock... but I like my extra sleeping bag trick better. The sleeping bag was held in place by an undercover (you can purchase one from Hennessy Hammocks).

I only averaged a bit more than 35 miles per day... total was approximately 110 miles. I camped in St. Croix falls both Friday and Saturday night. Here's a gmap-pedometer of Friday's ride and Sunday's ride (just done in reverse). Some of the hills are quite respectable when loaded for touring. Saturday I rode about 20 miles up the Gandy Dancer Trail then turned around and came back. The trail was very soft... I was glad to have 2" tires on the 'bent. Even so it was at least twice as hard riding on the trail as on the road... but I wasn't in a hurry and I preferred it to riding on WI-35.

I saw two very cool hawks. I'm guessing they were red-tailed hawks, but I'm not sure. I heard an eagle cry on Saturday, but didn't see it. I also saw several deer; they were quite spooked... due to the rifle season, no doubt. When looking for a place to sling my hammock on Friday I saw a doe in the grove of pine trees I was investigating... I left her alone figuring she needed those trees more than I. The sunsets were beautiful as viewed from my hammock, as was the gurgling St. Croix river which was about 50' away from my camp site. Very nice. I took my flute along and scared the critters with it both nights after the sun had gone down...

All in all, it was just what the doctor ordered. I wonder if I'll be able to squeeze more in before the weather just gets too nasty. If only I had a Pugsley...

2006-11-24T08:21:00.000-06:00

A'ight, I'm outta here for a while. I'll be on the WI side of the border... hopefully my newly acquired blaze orange clothing will keep me from getting shot. *heh*

Different subject... If you like music you should check out Sashamon. Peaceful Reggae. Some would call it Jawaiian. He's a struggling artist with a cool "do it myself" attitude, his music is very good, and I'd like to see him make it... so consider buying his first cd. You can also download the cd and listen to it first...

Be back Monday. Later.

2006-11-22T18:15:00.000-06:00

Tastes like tangerines.
Sounds like a 747 taking off.
Feels like the warm glow spreading out from my gut after a shot of whisky.
My bike ride home.

2006-11-18T11:40:00.000-06:00

I've heard a bit about 'landsailing' before... I may have even tried a variation on it with a buggy and a big kite (it was quite fun). Saw this Youtube clip recently and started wondering how viable it really is? I have to guess that for places like the plains it might be a very viable transportation option once the motorcar is unreasonably expensive to operate. That little rig looks like a lot of fun, too...

2006-11-16T22:42:00.000-06:00

Ok, here's the deal. I'm heading off to the northern reaches of Wisconsin a week from tomorrow. I'll leave Friday late morning or early afternoon, camp somewhere, keep heading north for most of Saturday, then turn around and come part way back... camp Saturday night... then head the rest of the way back to Hudson Sunday. If anyone is crazy enough to sleep out in the leafless forest with the crazed hunters, gimme a shout. Come on, how bad could it be? Ya pansies. BTW- I counted 'em up, and wow... I've got 7 sleeping bags. Crazy. I wonder how many I should bring. ;)

2006-11-16T08:52:00.000-06:00

As promised, here's something happy. I can't possibly think of anything more appropriate... I'm even wearing the helmet, honest.

2006-11-15T19:26:00.000-06:00

You can lead a horse to water, but can't make him drink. If you hold his head underwater long enough though... you'll put that fucker right out of his misery. Yeah.

I'm slowly coming to grips with the idea that the world is exactly as it should be. The vast, vast majority of the 6.66 billion people on this planet don't give a shit about issues I think are important. Who exactly am I to argue with them? So what if we've got a knife deep into the guts of Gaia with one hand while we're busy clubbing each other over the head with the other? It's all just fine... 6.6 billion people can't be wrong. Like I said though, acceptance comes slowly.

The great thing is... we've been here a single tic of the geologic clock. I guarantee Gaia will recover. We'd have to pulverize the very planet itself into asteroids to kill her, and it's not clear to me that we have that ability. (We don't yet, do we? We are so terribly clever after all. I suggest we rename our species to 'homo astus'... the irony of our current moniker is just a little too bitter. But now I am really starting to digress.)

So basically what I'm trying to say is... I'm sorry for being such a conceited whiney bastard. The problem was me all along, not any of the issues I've typically railed against. I'll do my best to stay out of the way from now on. Hell, I may even pick up an instrument and play a tune or two.

I'll post something happy tomorrow, I promise. Sometimes the mood is black though, you know? Sometimes it's fucking new moon overcast sky midnight black. Later.

2006-11-14T20:00:00.000-06:00

We finished off the last crumb of food in the house today, so I threw some empty mason jars into my panniers, put the panniers on the San Jose, and went to the local grocery store. It's about 2 miles one way, with a killer hill in the middle that's somewhat challenging on a single-speed. Spent a honey-bee on the groceries... a lot of that on organic produce. My boy came with and I loaded his Banjo Brothers rack top bag with three frozen pizzas, a big bag of frozen burritos, a box of cereal, and several jars of pasta sauce. He's got the 1070 model with the zip-out panniers; damn that thing can carry a lot of stuff... it's a very practical bag. With the panniers zipped up it's low windage too.

Since it's mostly downhill from the store, pedaling back is always easier than getting there- even loaded down with 25 lbs of groceries. Only 4 miles on the bike today; that's gotta be some sort of underwhelming record. We had a bit of a problem with his taillight as we started back though. After monkeying around with it for a bit I managed to get it to stay lit for the ride back.

I'm feeling the need to do a little touring again. I've got some decent equipment, but I dunno if my bag would be warm enough for 20 degree nights. I've got more than one though so I suppose I could nest two together. Hmmm... anyone up for a little weekend excursion into the leafless forest? Take a day and ride up towards Siren WI... camp out... ride back the next day. Yeah, that's appealing. Drop me a line if you're interested. Why do I suspect I'll be going alone? *heh*

2006-11-13T11:30:00.000-06:00

How was your ride today? Mine was excellent; it snowed this morning (which had melted off the streets) and it was a bit foggy. Given the temp of 35 degrees and the damp, I probably should have been cold... but no, I was quite comfortable with my wool coat and some sweatpants under my jeans. The snow on the grass and the fog made the ride beautiful; the air was filled with hush and the scent of pine needles. The lack of front fender on my San Jose didn't seem to make much difference even with the wet roads. I only rode about 12 miles through the gently hilly rural Wisconsin countryside, but yum... it was a delicious 12 miles.

2006-11-09T13:51:00.000-06:00

loud ringing silence
prismatic colors consumed
warm shivering dark

2006-11-03T11:28:00.000-06:00

Wow. If you've got a spare 4 minutes and the ability to see Youtube videos, check this out. I admit that I got a little weepy watching it.

2006-10-31T21:07:00.000-06:00

your toxic road rage
bitter fruit of car culture
kindles my boredom

2006-10-31T11:51:00.000-06:00

[ An even more recent update: the Bob Jackson web site is a lot more functional now. I managed to find an order form to download. Really, they look like cool builders. I have business partners in Leeds... perhaps I'll stop in at the shop there the next time I'm in England. ]

[ Recent update: World Class Cycles will import a Bob Jackson frame. The lugged, hand-built touring frame starts at $895. World Class Cycles has a price list. All frames are custom built, and take 8-12 weeks to get into stock. World Class is in New York somewhere. ]

I've recently read about a bicycle builder in Leeds, England named Bob Jackson. Apparently he'll make a lugged touring frame, using high quality tubing, for the equivalent of $600 or less. Sounds appealing! I've seen a few pictures on the web of his work, but don't really have any other info yet. I've sent off an email inquiring about prices and geometry and whatnot. I'll post the response when I get one. Bob Jackson's web site is really quite dreadful and largely non-functional as of the time of this writing. Here's a pic of a touring frame pulled from World Class Cycles (perhaps they're an importer?):

2006-10-28T21:55:00.000-06:00

Shadows feed tonight
smiling, they're always smiling
grin and join the feast

2006-10-28T21:34:00.000-06:00

October Critical Mass in Minneapolis sounds ugly. Check it out. I had other things to do Friday evening (hi M!) so I missed out on the guy with the baseball bat. Sheesh.

2006-10-26T08:12:00.000-06:00

The voice whispers
slow and thick and golden
cascading honey:

"Kehl ista nauq i
Shee cah pur fuuni ket lo
garum i tuk-ah"

the words coat my mind
ears undisturbed
yet no dawning of comprehension
only icy chill- primordial.

2006-10-25T22:08:00.000-06:00

In another life, I waxed all lusty about a perfect city bike. This one comes darned close.

More info is available on Velorution. It's called the 2D, designer: Mike Burrows. The two pics came from the Folding Society (click on 'em to take you to the respective pages). Yeah. Nothing new under the sun. Drum brakes (fantastically low maintenance). It folds. Think about how easy it'd be to change the tubes with the monoblade fork and chainstay! Think about how long that fully covered chain would last!

2006-10-21T08:22:00.000-06:00

As the crimson sprinkles roll down my screen
and my hands melt into the keyboard
i smile
cause my head is full of rabbits and squirrels
dashing about- animated caricatures of thoughts.
i watch my blink from the inside
and consume the rhythm on a stick
like from the fair
all while the clock rebels and strings out time
the ticking and tocking not so regular anymore
but when they come they spin off into the ether
like a paint drop into a rain puddle.

2006-10-20T15:59:00.000-06:00

Strawberry Pancakes

2006-10-20T12:42:00.000-06:00

Fuck you Starbucks.

2006-10-20T12:19:00.000-06:00

Ok already. I'll try to keep it in perspective for everyone tellin me to get a fuckin blog. Happy? Yeah, as happy as a frog with a cigar. Viva nihilism!