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Archives for November 2009

Goats and Ghost Bikes

11.15.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

I decided to ride with the B’s this morning, even though I’m not fully recovered from last Sunday’s crash. But I felt pretty good on a 15-mile jaunt with my wife yesterday, and we were scheduled to ride one of my favorite routes today.

I headed out to Dripping Springs, a town of about 1500 15 miles west of Austin. We meet up at a park on the west end of town, where a circle drive makes a great place to park our cars and get ready for the ride.

The weather must have kept people away today. It’s autumn in Central Texas, and still quite mild. The temperature was in the high 60s (19-20C), but it was heavily overcast. Rain was forecast for later in the day. I figured some folks thought it would come early.

Four of us headed out at 9 a.m.  We maintained an easy pace, taking the small hills as they came. No one tried to race — not that the others would have chased, anyway.

Ram2-1Lots of ranchers in this area keep goats, and we passed several herds. At one road intersection though, I saw a couple of guys who apparently had had enough of watching over their nannies and kids. They came close to a fence along the road, and stood as still as statues while I clicked away with my crappy cell phone camera.

Ram1-1I’ve never really noticed the bucks before. These guys were something special, and I lingered a little to watch them. Then I had to get back on the bike and hustle to catch up with the others.

I didn’t have to press too hard, because one of the group, Duke, had to stop for some roadside servicing. His last bike, a nice tri bike, got a cracked frame, so his bike shop replaced it. He decided he didn’t like the feel of the tri, so asked for a comparable road bike, and he’s still getting used to it. This time, he felt he had to move the seat back a little, since he could see the hub of the front wheel while riding in a normal position. That was fine with us. We’re the B ride, after all, and any excuse for a rest stop is welcomed.

Duke-1
Duke fumbles in his seatbag for a multitool.

None of us has been riding much lately — the return to standard time has eliminated our evening weekday rides, so weekends are all we have to get some riding time in.

A bit farther on from this point comes one of the more interesting scenes on the route — a ghost bike. I’ve noticed it on several past rides in the area. A little research turned up the information that the ghost bike is in remembrance of Adam Raymond, who was hit head-on by a pickup truck that was driving on the wrong side of the road. The county DA was unable to get an indictment against the driver for criminally negligent homicide, but did get a conviction in February of this year for reckless driving. The driver got two years probation.

GhostBike1
The ghost bike on Mt. Gainor Road.

Cyclists like these roads because of the scenery and the varied terrain. Motor traffic is generally light, because this is not a heavily populated area. The ranchers who live around here seem to be used to bikers — I’ve experienced very few incidents of drivers passing too close, honking, flipping the bird, etc. But I’m reminded when we get too accustomed to riding three or four abreast that people do use these roads to get back and forth from their homes, and we have an obligation to ride safely.  The slogan, “Share the Road,” becomes more poignant when a ghost bike is around.

We finished 33 miles in 2 hours, 24 minutes, for an average speed of about 13.7 mph. By now, the temperature was up to 74 (23C), but the rains never materialized. These are the days you wish autumn would stick around forever.

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Categories // Rides Tags // ghost bike, Rides

New Jerseys – the State of Our Kit

11.12.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

Attended a meeting of my bike club tonight. The main item of business on the agenda was to figure out what to do about our club kit.

Bob
Unfortunately, the bottom third of the jersey was obscured in this shot.

Last year, the design of the club jersey was modified radically — a complete departure from earlier designs. The idea was to create something that was highly visible — so a diagonal “sash” of our club letters (CCRCC, for Circle C Ranch Cycling Club) dominated the front. They’re in bright yellow against a black background. There’s also a picture of a biker figure in blue against black. Meh. The blue and yellow stripes on the sleeves work, though, in my opinion, and the red stripes are a holdover from earlier versions. We’ve got matching arm warmers, which carry through the stripes, and look pretty good. But it’s been apparent that the jersey needs a makeover.

Bob3
Black and blue aren't a great color choice, even on sunny days.

They’re just not as visible as had been hoped. The back — which one would like to be seen by motorists at enough of a distance that they have time to react and avoid hitting the cyclist — features rays of blue emanating from the Circle C logo. The logo is the only thing that’s yellow, and it’s kinda thin. It just doesn’t stand out. If you completed the kit by buying the shorts, they have a wide yellow band across the butt. However, way more people bought just the jersey instead of a jersey-shorts combination.

I never even got in on the jersey purchase, and other club members joined too late this year to get in on it, either. So, we had the option to place another jersey order, using the template on file at the custom jersey company. Or, we could redo the jersey for the fourth time in four years, and see what we could do to make it stand out more.

We decided to go for a redesign. Instead of a bunch of us all contributing different ideas, and resembling the committee that was commissioned to design a horse but came up with a camel, we turned the job over to the member who had honchoed the last jersey order. He knows the folks at the jersey company, and he’ll work with them to come up with a new look, while preserving the feel of our current kit.

We should get the new ones in mid-January.

If you’re in a bike club, have your jersey stories been like ours? Are you happy with the look of your team kit? And while we’re at it, how has customer service been from the custom jersey company you do business with?

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Categories // Accessories Tags // jersey

CO2 or a pump? — It never ends

11.10.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 16 Comments

I was chatting with a friend the other day who’s just getting into biking. He was telling me of his experience with his first flat. No pump, no CO2. He had a patch kit in his seatbag, but realized it was worthless unless he could fill his tire with air, so he wound up walking the bike home — three miles.

CO2
Do you prefer these?

“I saw these canisters of CO2 at the bike store,” he said. “Are they any good?”

Here we go again — the endless debate between CO2 and a pump.

Well, I told him, each has its advantages. CO2 takes up just a little space in your seatbag, and you don’t have to carry a pump. Just attach the inflator, stick it on the valve, and whoosh! you’re back in business. He liked that. He thought he’d try it.

But wait a minute, I said. There’s a problem with CO2, too. Sometimes, you misfire it and waste all the gas in the canister. Then, you can find yourself in the same predicament you were in last week.

Pump
Or this?

I told him of a recent A ride from our club, where a guy flatted along a major highway. One of the other guys had several CO2 cartridges — and managed to depressurize all of them. Without inflating the tire. Luckily, another rider in the group carried a pump, and stood by to watch the antics — then stepped in and saved the day.

“It took me probably 10 minutes to pump up a tire to 70 psi,” said guest poster Don Blount in an email awhile ago. “That’s longer than it took to change the tube.”

I’ve been there. It doesn’t take me that long to pump a tire up to 70, or even 90 psi. But those last 10 pounds to 100, to make it roadworthy again — I should be doing some strength work at the gym.

But Don also said he blew a tube with one cartridge, and when he went to use another one on another tube — it was a dud. He thinks he might just suck it up and go back to the frame pump.

At least that’ll get the tire inflated. With a cartridge — I’m guessing 50-50 odds.

My friend went back to the bike store and got a frame pump.

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Categories // Accessories Tags // Accessories, CO2, flat tire, pumps

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