I got a call from Mike's Bikes. Penny is reassembled and ready for me to pick up. I probably won't get back to SF in time to get her tomorrow, so first thing Thursday morning, I go pick up my girl.
Get ready, kids, it's almost here...
Showing posts with label preparation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preparation. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
And here my troubles begin
I made it to San Fransisco. My bike is en route to Mike's Bikes to be professionally reassembled and looked over before I begin. Right now I'm hanging out in SF, though Monday-Wednesday I'll be in LA before coming back here.
The trouble: as we were flying over Utah & Nevada, there was a lot of snow in the mountains. Getting into SF, I was talking with my uncle Jim who posited that it would be impossible to cross the sierras on a bike if there's 4' of snowpack still on the ground. Well, we'll see. I'm going to wait until next tuesday or wednesday and call the appropriate county departments of transportation and ask them if the roads are passable. If not, the alternate is to do an end run around the sierras, going south to Barstow before heading east. This would add 500 miles, at least a week, and two deserts to the trip. I'm not sure if this is what I really want to do. If I can get through Tahoe and Carson City, that's still my preferred route.
We shall see.
The trouble: as we were flying over Utah & Nevada, there was a lot of snow in the mountains. Getting into SF, I was talking with my uncle Jim who posited that it would be impossible to cross the sierras on a bike if there's 4' of snowpack still on the ground. Well, we'll see. I'm going to wait until next tuesday or wednesday and call the appropriate county departments of transportation and ask them if the roads are passable. If not, the alternate is to do an end run around the sierras, going south to Barstow before heading east. This would add 500 miles, at least a week, and two deserts to the trip. I'm not sure if this is what I really want to do. If I can get through Tahoe and Carson City, that's still my preferred route.
We shall see.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Mile 0.0
It begins. I'm leaving for JFK to fly to San Fransisco. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. the panniers are all loaded up in my check in bag and we're ready to fly.
See you in california
See you in california
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Route is done
I have made it all the way across the country! On a map, anyway. You will now notice two proposed route buttons, as apparently mapmyride gets less stable after 3500 miles.
The two maps together total 3796.7 miles. That's ending in Brooklyn, I'll add on the bit to Montauk when I have time.
A week from tomorrow I start riding 38 centuries. This is exciting. But now that the route's done, I need to do a final repack and get ready for my flight early tomorrow morning.
Wow wow wow, it's starting.
The two maps together total 3796.7 miles. That's ending in Brooklyn, I'll add on the bit to Montauk when I have time.
A week from tomorrow I start riding 38 centuries. This is exciting. But now that the route's done, I need to do a final repack and get ready for my flight early tomorrow morning.
Wow wow wow, it's starting.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Getting there, Part 1
Well, today was kinda the unofficial beginning of my trip acorss the country. Today I took Penny apart, put her in a box and shipped her off to San Fransisco. I'm somehow going to have to get the bike back home from SF, so I might as well ride it. I made some friends at the UPS store. They thought I was kinda nuts to do this. I think they are correct.
On Friday I fly to SF and then a week later I start on the adventure. Oh, I am not fully prepared for this.
On Friday I fly to SF and then a week later I start on the adventure. Oh, I am not fully prepared for this.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
and more training
Instead of killing myself on endless laps of Prospect Park, I decided yesterday to do a perimeter ride of Brooklyn and Queens. Well, perimeterish. I was accompanied by 'Coach' Lisa again. This one thing I have learned to be true: even with a bike map and an iphone at one's disposal, it is all too easy to get lost in eastern Queens. It is just not laid out with cycling in mind, though I'm not sure that we would have been better off with a humvee and military gps.
I place some of the blame on Fredrick Law Olmstead for dying before Flushing Meadows was fully designed, some of the blame on the botanic gardens for not being in a more conspicuous location and not letting us ride through, some blame for the various community boards of eastern queens and the DOT, and even a little bit for my precious NYC bike map which lied to us outright on at least two occasions. Unless concrete walls now qualify as bike infrastructure.
We did eventually find the Kissena Velodrome and both took a couple laps. I removed the panniers and their 50lbs of whatnot for it. I like the velodrome and that it's open to the public during the week in nice weather.
Finally, after 38 miles, we wound our way around to the shore parkway bike path. A roughly 600 yard stretch of the path was washed away during some winter and spring storms we've had, which I discovered last week on the ride out to the Rockaways. That part I knew we would have to dismount and walk, but other than that, I expected this to be the easiest part of the ride. It's more or less level, I know the route well and there is no motor traffic. What I didn't expect was the 25mph wind gusting up to 35 or all the dust kicked up from various construction projects along it. Nothing like licking dust off your teeth a mile later.
Finally, we made it across to Coney Island, stopped at Nathan's for some large drinks and a hot dog, then rode back up Ocean Parkway toward home. Altogether, it was somewhere around 55 miles. It's supposed to get rainy later today, so instead of training, I'm going to spend the day inside working on some of the non-riding preparations I still need to do.
I place some of the blame on Fredrick Law Olmstead for dying before Flushing Meadows was fully designed, some of the blame on the botanic gardens for not being in a more conspicuous location and not letting us ride through, some blame for the various community boards of eastern queens and the DOT, and even a little bit for my precious NYC bike map which lied to us outright on at least two occasions. Unless concrete walls now qualify as bike infrastructure.
We did eventually find the Kissena Velodrome and both took a couple laps. I removed the panniers and their 50lbs of whatnot for it. I like the velodrome and that it's open to the public during the week in nice weather.
Finally, after 38 miles, we wound our way around to the shore parkway bike path. A roughly 600 yard stretch of the path was washed away during some winter and spring storms we've had, which I discovered last week on the ride out to the Rockaways. That part I knew we would have to dismount and walk, but other than that, I expected this to be the easiest part of the ride. It's more or less level, I know the route well and there is no motor traffic. What I didn't expect was the 25mph wind gusting up to 35 or all the dust kicked up from various construction projects along it. Nothing like licking dust off your teeth a mile later.
Finally, we made it across to Coney Island, stopped at Nathan's for some large drinks and a hot dog, then rode back up Ocean Parkway toward home. Altogether, it was somewhere around 55 miles. It's supposed to get rainy later today, so instead of training, I'm going to spend the day inside working on some of the non-riding preparations I still need to do.
Monday, March 29, 2010
training
There are differences between a mountain bike and a touring bike. Even though I've been riding my mountain bike in this city for five years, riding the same streets on the touring bike take slight adjustments. My shoulders move differently as I turn because of the new shape of handlebars, the weight in the panniers shifts the center of gravity and more upper body strength is needed to maneuver slight road obstacles.
My trip to Paramus had just the rear bags on, so I needed to start practicing with the front. Last Thursday, I loaded up 9 bottles of gatorade in one, the other had my 5 lb tent, some food and some other dead weight. One of my rear panniers had my 12lb bike chain in it, so I threw that on the bike too. Altogether, it was about 60lb of added weight on the bike. I took her for 3 laps of prospect park. There were a couple different groups of cyclists training together. One caught up to me on the incline and one of the guys rode next to me and said 'I know that bike. Bicycle Habitat, right?' Yeah, I replied. 'Nice bike' then he sped up again. On the second lap, I passed another training looking group, which then caught me on the hill again. Just after the hill flattens out by Grand Army Plaza I caught back up with them and passed them before the 3rd St playground. The leader looked at me and yelled back to his pack 'Come on guys, we have to go faster'.
Today was my second major weight test. In addition to the front panniers I still had loaded from a few days ago and my chain in one of the back ones, I loaded the other back pannier with a case of gatorade (what? I went to costco recently). So effectively the bike was 80lbs today. It was noticeably heavier and more sluggish starting up. I did five laps of the park and it took 1hr 18 minutes, but that includes a slow lap while i was trying to clip both feet in and another for having to stop to not answer a phone call. But that's around a 15 mph average, and to start with, I'm ok with that, though I'd like to be a little faster.
The other difference today over a couple days ago, is that today was rainy and cold and not happy outside. It's good to practice being miserable, so it's not such a shock in the mountains. I now know I need shoe covers. My feet are still cold from being so wet earlier.
More this week. Hopefully I'll get in a fully loaded ride to somewhere decently far once the weather breaks later this week.
My trip to Paramus had just the rear bags on, so I needed to start practicing with the front. Last Thursday, I loaded up 9 bottles of gatorade in one, the other had my 5 lb tent, some food and some other dead weight. One of my rear panniers had my 12lb bike chain in it, so I threw that on the bike too. Altogether, it was about 60lb of added weight on the bike. I took her for 3 laps of prospect park. There were a couple different groups of cyclists training together. One caught up to me on the incline and one of the guys rode next to me and said 'I know that bike. Bicycle Habitat, right?' Yeah, I replied. 'Nice bike' then he sped up again. On the second lap, I passed another training looking group, which then caught me on the hill again. Just after the hill flattens out by Grand Army Plaza I caught back up with them and passed them before the 3rd St playground. The leader looked at me and yelled back to his pack 'Come on guys, we have to go faster'.
Today was my second major weight test. In addition to the front panniers I still had loaded from a few days ago and my chain in one of the back ones, I loaded the other back pannier with a case of gatorade (what? I went to costco recently). So effectively the bike was 80lbs today. It was noticeably heavier and more sluggish starting up. I did five laps of the park and it took 1hr 18 minutes, but that includes a slow lap while i was trying to clip both feet in and another for having to stop to not answer a phone call. But that's around a 15 mph average, and to start with, I'm ok with that, though I'd like to be a little faster.
The other difference today over a couple days ago, is that today was rainy and cold and not happy outside. It's good to practice being miserable, so it's not such a shock in the mountains. I now know I need shoe covers. My feet are still cold from being so wet earlier.
More this week. Hopefully I'll get in a fully loaded ride to somewhere decently far once the weather breaks later this week.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The plan comes together more, attempting to prepare
I got the new bike. She's a Trek 520 and I got her at Bicycle Habitat in Soho. I haven't yet named her, but the leading names are Penny, Pepper and Sarsaparilla.
She has two pairs of Ortlieb panniers, which so far have been able to hold whatever I've tried to put into it.
I got her then two days later, left to visit a good friend in Alabama for five days. In the week since i've gotten back, it's rained a lot and has been cooler than the week before. I've ridden her nearly every day I could have.
One of the first trips I made on her was to my storage unit to pull out my tent. I bought this tent, I want to say, in 1999 or 2000. It has been to such exotic places as Maui and Missouri, as well as being used as a well sniffed napping spot for the cat. Alas, it's 12lbs and 22" long. Any personal fondness for this tent aside, that is more wight and volume than I'm willing to invest in a tent. Between that and the need for a camp stove, I knew that a trip to an outdoorsy type store was in order. Sadly, there are no camping stores in NYC. The one I had recommended was Campmor in Paramus. It's about 63 miles round trip. So, I threw the back panniers on the bike and headed to jersey. I walked out with a 5lb tent; a camp stove, pans, utensils and fuel that I later realized I won't be able to take on the plane with me; a new balaclava; some convertible pants and a few pair of sturdy underwear. They tent was strapped onto the rack and everything else fit in the panniers, not even filling either one halfway.
All was going reasonably well until it wasn't. I hit a patch of bad road and somehow the right pannier had jumped off the rack and was trying out a new career as a brake for the rear wheel. I was not expecting to come to a stop suddenly in jersey afternoon traffic, but there I was. I pulled the bike up onto the sidewalk and started to investigate. The plastic bar that serves as the keep the bottom of the bag rigid had snapped. The seam along the bottom corner was ripped open, not a feature one normally looks for in a bag. That corner was now curling in towards the wheel. I pulled everything heavy out of the pannier and put it in the other. I tried to straighten the plastic bar, but apparently the wheel was able to exert more force on it than I could. I rode back gingerly, pausing every mile or so to make sure the bag stayed out of the spokes, and stopping suddenly when it didn't.
Since the bike shop was more or less on my way home, I stopped in. I found the pannier guy and explained what had happened. He said that that was highly unusual for an Ortlieb. He looked at everything for a moment, and declared that it was user error, that the bag hadn't been hanging on the rack properly. And then he looked at me and asked 'It was one of our guys that installed it, wasn't it?' It was. So he shrugged, grabbed a new one for me and said he'd take care of it.
Yay! That makes me <3 my bike shop. I really didn't want to spend another $80 on replacing that one, and I'm glad I didn't have to.
I should end this one here. I also have posts to make about training and the route, but they deserve their own posts.
She has two pairs of Ortlieb panniers, which so far have been able to hold whatever I've tried to put into it.
I got her then two days later, left to visit a good friend in Alabama for five days. In the week since i've gotten back, it's rained a lot and has been cooler than the week before. I've ridden her nearly every day I could have.
One of the first trips I made on her was to my storage unit to pull out my tent. I bought this tent, I want to say, in 1999 or 2000. It has been to such exotic places as Maui and Missouri, as well as being used as a well sniffed napping spot for the cat. Alas, it's 12lbs and 22" long. Any personal fondness for this tent aside, that is more wight and volume than I'm willing to invest in a tent. Between that and the need for a camp stove, I knew that a trip to an outdoorsy type store was in order. Sadly, there are no camping stores in NYC. The one I had recommended was Campmor in Paramus. It's about 63 miles round trip. So, I threw the back panniers on the bike and headed to jersey. I walked out with a 5lb tent; a camp stove, pans, utensils and fuel that I later realized I won't be able to take on the plane with me; a new balaclava; some convertible pants and a few pair of sturdy underwear. They tent was strapped onto the rack and everything else fit in the panniers, not even filling either one halfway.
All was going reasonably well until it wasn't. I hit a patch of bad road and somehow the right pannier had jumped off the rack and was trying out a new career as a brake for the rear wheel. I was not expecting to come to a stop suddenly in jersey afternoon traffic, but there I was. I pulled the bike up onto the sidewalk and started to investigate. The plastic bar that serves as the keep the bottom of the bag rigid had snapped. The seam along the bottom corner was ripped open, not a feature one normally looks for in a bag. That corner was now curling in towards the wheel. I pulled everything heavy out of the pannier and put it in the other. I tried to straighten the plastic bar, but apparently the wheel was able to exert more force on it than I could. I rode back gingerly, pausing every mile or so to make sure the bag stayed out of the spokes, and stopping suddenly when it didn't.
Since the bike shop was more or less on my way home, I stopped in. I found the pannier guy and explained what had happened. He said that that was highly unusual for an Ortlieb. He looked at everything for a moment, and declared that it was user error, that the bag hadn't been hanging on the rack properly. And then he looked at me and asked 'It was one of our guys that installed it, wasn't it?' It was. So he shrugged, grabbed a new one for me and said he'd take care of it.
Yay! That makes me <3 my bike shop. I really didn't want to spend another $80 on replacing that one, and I'm glad I didn't have to.
I should end this one here. I also have posts to make about training and the route, but they deserve their own posts.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
test ride
I tested a Trek 520 yesterday. It is a touring bike and different from my mountain bike in a number of ways. The bike is lighter and faster, partially because of the thinner road wheels. Also, instead of my straight 26" wide mountain bike handlebars, it features a rams horn handlebar set that is maybe 20" across. Instead of the trigger gear shifters I've been using for the last 5 years, the gear shift is a pair of cranks at the bottom of the handlebar, which is another adjustment for me.
I rode the bike around lower manhattan with my friend Lisa. We went out to the east river path where I was able to speed up a little because of the lack of cars, but there were also a lot of people and the path surface is scheit. I then wanted to test it on a hill, so we went to the closest one around, the Williamsburgh bridge. I went over that bridge as part of my commute for nearly two years, so I'm very familiar with how my mountain bike takes it. The 520 was, of course, much faster. It took significantly less time for me to get to the top than I'm used to, then I turned around and raced most of the way down, getting from top to bottom in about 45 seconds. For those of you unfamiliar with the ramp, that's really fast.
So I think that's the bike I'm going to end up getting. I do want to test ride at least one other touring bike before I buy it, but I think I've found my new bike. My crazy plan is coming closer to fruition. I'm going to make an announcement about it in the next day or so, once I have a couple more details worked out.
I rode the bike around lower manhattan with my friend Lisa. We went out to the east river path where I was able to speed up a little because of the lack of cars, but there were also a lot of people and the path surface is scheit. I then wanted to test it on a hill, so we went to the closest one around, the Williamsburgh bridge. I went over that bridge as part of my commute for nearly two years, so I'm very familiar with how my mountain bike takes it. The 520 was, of course, much faster. It took significantly less time for me to get to the top than I'm used to, then I turned around and raced most of the way down, getting from top to bottom in about 45 seconds. For those of you unfamiliar with the ramp, that's really fast.
So I think that's the bike I'm going to end up getting. I do want to test ride at least one other touring bike before I buy it, but I think I've found my new bike. My crazy plan is coming closer to fruition. I'm going to make an announcement about it in the next day or so, once I have a couple more details worked out.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Mile -1
Welcome to MileZer0. I am creating this blog to document the progress of an adventure I am planning to start in 7 weeks, riding a bike from one coast of this country to the other. I first had the desire to cycle across the country many years ago, but the real catalyst for the trip was a conversation I had with my grandmother three thanksgivings ago. I had mentioned to her that it was something I would like to do. She asked what was stopping me. I responded with the practical obstacles to such an endeavor: taking the time off of work and covering my bills at home while also paying the expenses of being on the road. She nodded and replied 'Ok. So what's stopping you?'
My grandmother is awesome.
So I spent the next year or so trying to figure out how to save enough to buy a good touring bike and all the associated accessories, cover my various student loans and rent, and what I would need to eat and sleep during the 9-10 weeks I expect it would take. Then, in April '08, inspiration struck me. Well, more precisely a car struck me.
I was riding up Manhattan Ave in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. I pulled up alongside a car at a red light, mere blocks from the car-free bliss of the Pulaski Bridge bike lane. The light turned green, so I started to go through the intersection. Without warning (or signaling) the driver turned right into me. He hit my front tire, throwing me over the hood and onto the pavement 20 feet away.
This incident that caused me such great pain and suffering nearly two years ago is finally paying off, of a sort. The ensuing lawsuit has been settled, and, as of this writing, am patiently awaiting the arrival of my compensation. One of the things I am doing with my recompense is taking this trip. The irony of this is not lost on me. If I hadn't been struck on my bike then, I wouldn't be able to take this biking tour now.
It sounds so simple. I'm going to fly out to San Fransisco and ride my bike home to Brooklyn. Well, I actually plan to stop a night in Brooklyn, then spend the last day of the trip with a pack of friends, riding to Montauk on the eastern end of Long Island. I'm getting help in route planning from my brother Dan, who is both great with maps and has extensive knowledge of the middle portion of this country due to all the tornado chasing he's done. (There is an implicit question there, which is crazier, driving as close as one can get to tornadoes or crossing the continent on a bike? Perhaps in a few months we'll know the answer to that.)
In the next couple of weeks I'm going to acquire the equipment I'll need and start with my training rides. Last summer I did four rides over 100 miles and half a dozen others over 50 miles, but have never come close to 3400 miles in one go. Once I'm underway, this will be a repository of the difficulties and successes I experience on the bike and, of course, lots of pictures. If I can figure out how to attach an interactive map, I'll do that too.
So welcome, enjoy, and good biking!
My grandmother is awesome.
So I spent the next year or so trying to figure out how to save enough to buy a good touring bike and all the associated accessories, cover my various student loans and rent, and what I would need to eat and sleep during the 9-10 weeks I expect it would take. Then, in April '08, inspiration struck me. Well, more precisely a car struck me.
I was riding up Manhattan Ave in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. I pulled up alongside a car at a red light, mere blocks from the car-free bliss of the Pulaski Bridge bike lane. The light turned green, so I started to go through the intersection. Without warning (or signaling) the driver turned right into me. He hit my front tire, throwing me over the hood and onto the pavement 20 feet away.
This incident that caused me such great pain and suffering nearly two years ago is finally paying off, of a sort. The ensuing lawsuit has been settled, and, as of this writing, am patiently awaiting the arrival of my compensation. One of the things I am doing with my recompense is taking this trip. The irony of this is not lost on me. If I hadn't been struck on my bike then, I wouldn't be able to take this biking tour now.
It sounds so simple. I'm going to fly out to San Fransisco and ride my bike home to Brooklyn. Well, I actually plan to stop a night in Brooklyn, then spend the last day of the trip with a pack of friends, riding to Montauk on the eastern end of Long Island. I'm getting help in route planning from my brother Dan, who is both great with maps and has extensive knowledge of the middle portion of this country due to all the tornado chasing he's done. (There is an implicit question there, which is crazier, driving as close as one can get to tornadoes or crossing the continent on a bike? Perhaps in a few months we'll know the answer to that.)
In the next couple of weeks I'm going to acquire the equipment I'll need and start with my training rides. Last summer I did four rides over 100 miles and half a dozen others over 50 miles, but have never come close to 3400 miles in one go. Once I'm underway, this will be a repository of the difficulties and successes I experience on the bike and, of course, lots of pictures. If I can figure out how to attach an interactive map, I'll do that too.
So welcome, enjoy, and good biking!
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