Bicycle Canticles

(part 1)

I will preface with this: I have no hard evidence.  I’m writing this entirely from my perspective, and I am telling these facts as I experienced them. With that in mind, here we go –

September-ish. I was on my way home from work when I heard an uncomfortable scraping sound coming from the back of my bike. An investigation found that the my fender was dragging on the rear tire because the mount on the seatstay bridge was hanging by a tread, which disengaged itself along with my fender as soon as I stopped. I tucked the fender into my backpack and rode home sans butt coverage.

H4ckw0r+h and I examined the damage and we were pretty certain that this was a defect in the frame, and would be covered under their warranty. Under that assumption, most manufacturers we’ve dealt with would replace the frame.  No photo of the damaged frame was taken. I do, however, still have my fender with the connector attached, and can show the piece the broke off the frame:

Close-up of the mount, where the frame failed:

Detach the fender from the screw for better view:

Same piece, underside:

Now, the Swobo seat are neat, with a built-in light in the seat post that I adore.  But my short little legs require the seats to be low, and there isn’t enough room for my old fenders to attach to the seatpost. So Wheelworks recommended the fender above, and even helped me install it.  In retrospect, that mount was the only thing holding the fender as it bounces up/down during my rides, which probably put more strain on the mount than it was meant to handle.

Because of my work schedule, H4ckw0r+h was kind enough to bring my purchase receipt and Dixon to Wheelworks on 09/02/09. They checked it out, said it was cool and it makes sense to do a warranty frame-swap, took the bike and said they’d keep us posted with updates from Swobo.

I wait.

(part 3)

August 11, 2009 (posted to Swobo.com, a review I wrote for the Dixon):

Picked up this bike last fall. 10 miles daily, all-weather riding around Greater Boston (also added studded tires for winter riding). Took it in for tune-up this week:
– replaced brake cable
– new chain (I’m terrible about wiping off salt/water)
– new brake pads/brakes adjustments

Other cyclists stop and ask about it often. One friend called it “mean,” in a good way.

Minor complaints:
– Higher gears are noisy
– Seat tends to slip unless I get a uber Allen wrench for more torque to tighten

Looking at the Azure blue Sanchez as my next bike!

——-

Less than a month after this post, I decided to never buy another Swobo ever again.

(part 2)

One of my co-workers sent a link to me showing bars for stopped cyclists to lean on, in Copenhagen. It made me very happy, because it assumes:

– People are riding bicycles in the city,
– People are stopping at red lights, and
– People are fitted properly to their bicycles so that their feet don’t reach the ground when they’re stopped.

I’ve always  said that if you give people things, they will ask for more. I proved this true myself: What about tall bikes?  It’s even more crucial to have something to lean on when those are stopped. Imagine a city of tall bikes as main mode of transportation. Sweet!

In other news, on my ride into work today I saw a pretty Asian woman battling her adorable medium-sized black lab in on the Boston Common. I think some words like “Bad Dog!” “Behave!” and “No!” were shouted in Cantonese while the very happy/excited doggy dragged the owner around by the leash. It was rather entertaining.

(My Swobo is back! Story of its absence coming soon…)

Christmas Eve. Not yet ready for the holidays.  Stopped caring earlier today, read Shaun Tan instead (very good).
Whatever else you do, enjoy you and yours!

…the toilet seat feels warm after you ride.

• Followed a cyclist last week who said he was venturing into winter biking. Best part? He knew all the correct ways to cycle in the city! A happy addition to the Same Road Same Rules team.
• Cyclist ahead of me this morning knocked on the window of a SUV to say “You’re in the bike lane,” (the car stopped at red with a couple of tires in the bike lane) and then proceeded to run a red light himself…. but H4ckw0r+h caught the whole thing on his helm-cam. Busted!
• Happy to see NPR cover a story on cargo bikes. This prompted some comments in Facebook, including a link to more awesome cargo bikes that are probably not available in the U.S. One friend said “Groceries and do-dads fine, but I wouldn’t want my kids hanging out at tire/bumper level.” – true, but if our urban design continues to add more physically separated bicycle lanes, that concern becomes a none-issue (and then maybe we’ll get more cargo bike vendors).
• A buddy at work is gearing up to ride through the winter! Good for him. Now if only I can get him to stop at red lights regularly…
• One of my favorite lunch take-out spot finally gets a “tips” jar on their counter. Great food/variety/deal, I’m happy to give additional support.
• December 14 and I’ve yet to begin my holiday shopping. Oops.
• The Macy’s outdoor muzak cracks me up, reminds me of that part in a Disney Christmas movie where [character] runs hurriedly toward [loved ones/destination where the climax of the movie happens], crescendo and all.

Mics! Cameras! Powerpoint slides!

Last night Livable Streets Alliance Director Steve Miller and Boston Bikes Director Nicole Freedman spoke at the Boston Public Library to give the 2009 Boston Bike Report. The presentation was enjoyable: this was the first time I had sat in a Boston Bikes event, and I was

1. not bored by the historical ‘catch-up’ content, even though the info was familiar
2. engaged by both speakers’ ability to carry the crowd comfortably
3. impressed by the logistical fluidity of the whole production

My takeaways/event highlights:

• Valet Bicycle parking by MassBike – yes, the gentleman stood outside in the cold for 2.5 hours to ensure the safety of my bicycle.
• Boston Bike Share program coming in July 2010, if all goes well, which is sooner than I suspected
• Art Rack competition some time in 2010, maybe similar to this?
• MassBike’s Executive Director David Watson shared info on their education program: Same Road Same Rules

I am most excited about the SRSR initiative. My Polyanna vision is that all cyclists grow up to ride to this guide. If we get them young, it could work, right?  Of course, the car drivers have their guide, too, but let’s play nice and earn their respect.

The freakishly warm and sunny New England November day we had never saw today coming.

I’ve been without my commute bike for over a month (My Swobo Dixon is probably still at Swobo Headquarters – more on this later) . Besides the (swine?) flu that put me out for a week, I had spent the rest of November commuting to/from work on the T – which, by the way,  I think was how I caught the flu. This is the longest stretch of period I’ve gone without my usual bicycle commute in about four years.

Last night h4ckw0+th helped me put the finishing touches on the Columbia Shadow. Also last night I discovered a sty in my right eye, which meant that I had to go without my contact lenses today. Riding with eye glasses takes away my peripheral vision and makes me paranoid, so my plan was to take the T and wait a few more days until my eye behaves itself.

Just before leaving the house this morning I decided to check the weather for giggles. 3 minutes later I’ve got my glasses on and was out the door on the Shadow. So that I can look back on this day and tell my grand kids that December in New England can be gorgeous:

The ride was tricky: I’m not used to the oldskool shifter, which resulted in a whole lot of disconcerting noises and jerky pedaling. I spent a couple of miles sticking to whichever gear it was I landed on, but that made starting from red lights more challenging than it needed to be.  Plus: my glasses-induced paranoia weighed on me, and I felt like I was surrounded by Things-I-Couldn’t-See-But-Are-Surely-Going-To-Kill-Me.

Then I got to ride behind an amazing cyclist who followed cycling laws the entire way I was behind him, from Kirkland Village to the Boston side of Longfellow. Thank you, Mr. Cyclist-With-Clip-On-Light-Like-The-One-I’ve-Got. I chilled out some (because, well, if a door was going to open into the bike lane, he would see it first and brake! Swell.), and thoroughly enjoyed the weather.

More awesome bike news (to me) today: David Hembrow’s post on the world’s first cycling superhighway in Breda, the Netherlands. Watch the video – it made me want to move to Europe.

Time to head home! Shadow is well-lit for the trip.

We approached Route 2 from the south, on Page Road, a gorgeous, well-maintained residential street sprinkled with family farms and McMansions.  It was a comfortable and peaceful ride, and things were looking up. That is, until we got to Route 2. There was no passage – Jersey barriers lined the median for as far as we could see.

We rode along Rt 2 where the shoulder was still fairly wide, but this only lasted a quarter mile or so. As the shoulder began to thin, we also realized that we were on our way to the I-95 on-ramp. Spacewalk-time! We hauled our ships over the guardrail on the south side of Rt 2, and made our return west. To our right: high-speed on-coming traffic. To our left: tall grass, taller trees, some parts of the Cambridge Reservoir.  Below us: rough surface of dirt, grass, garbage, plus a stretch of loose gravel as we cross the Cambridge Reservoir (see exit marker 52A on this map. Pushing ships over this gravely path was pretty intense).  Ahead:  no plans of best way to get home.

We backtracked to where Old Colony Rd met Rt 2. At the time we had no idea where that road would take us, and we no longer trusted our devices.  The Day Star had basically retired, and transports were coming at us, many without headlights (it was that time of evening when most drivers had started their journey while it was still light out).

H4ckw0r+h pointed out that there was a break in the Jersey barriers lining the median. We weighed our options: Head back down Old Colony Rd to unknown territory? Or try to cross Rt 2 to get to Lexington Rd, via which I knew we could get to Lexington? We agreed that the best thing to do now was to get us off the skinny shoulder, and we could see that the other side of Rt 2 offered more space buffer. So we counted off, and ran.

Crossing multiple lanes of high speed traffic really got adrenaline pumping. It also had us missing Acehole and all his orange. The crossing was a complete success, and we continued on Rt 2 west until we found Lexington Rd. Spirits were high; I even mused (maybe too loudly) “Man, I wouldn’t want to be THESE people,” at those homes right along Rt 2 (check out those unmarked cul-de-sacs, near Lexington Rd – how annoying that must be to get to/from home!).  The rest of the ride was smooth-sailing and uneventful: we didn’t miss a single turn and found the Minuteman as expected. And — thanks to the time change back from Day-Light-Savings-Time — we got back home with plenty of time to spare before the work week begins. We even squeezed in some Sapporo Ramen with Threespeed.

Neither the map nor the GPS device could have anticipated the asinine situation that we found ourselves in.  Luckily, Cloudbuster wasn’t with us, and we got out of this fix without no real damage (my pride’s a little hurt from failing my navigational groove, but hey) .

It’s like a friend of mine said: The shortest distance between two points in the Greater Boston area is the way that you know. Consider this lesson learned.

On a freakishly warm and sunny New England November day, H4ckw0r+h and I hooked up with Threespeed and MsMoon for a ride into the ‘burbs.  Everything started off just fine (except this bruise I gave myself, because, apparently, I fail at flying my own ship): we picked up MsMoon from her station, proceeded to the Minutemen path, and then ventured off into deeper parts of Arlington, Lexington, and Lincoln. Threespeed and MsMoon navigated our pack on a tandem, I followed on SCULly, and h4ckw0r+h tailgunned on his civi-ship (earlier test flights showed that New Ship was not yet space-worthy) .

As the Day Star crawled toward the horizon, we stopped for a short break on the edge of Lincoln.  We decided to turn back and take a different route, knowing that the exact way back would give us some serious Negi g-wells.

5 minutes of cross-referencing Threespeed’s GPS device to his Rubel map, we were off again. The plan was to cross Route 2 and head for the Minuteman. We knew that some parts of Rt 2 out west were pedestrian-friendly, and the crossing we picked looked promising on both maps.