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Archives for April 2011

A Little Reader Participation, Please

04.07.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

Back in February, I pledged to me more interactive on this blog — to do a better job of engaging my loyal readers. I don’t know that I’ve actually lived up to that pledge. But now, I’ve got an idea. Actually, I stole the idea, which is where most of my good ones come from. (Thank you, Fatty.)

I’d like to ask the readers of Bike Noob to contribute a post on a specified topic. In keeping with the focus of this blog, the topic is: What is the most important thing you’ve learned about cycling?

I know most of you have interesting takes on that — probably more interesting than anything I could come up with.

But here’s the challenge: I’m not looking for anything that will fit on your 140-character Twitter feed. I’d like a full-blown blog post. That means something between oh, 400-600 words.

To help you fill that kind of space, here are some tips:

  • Tell how you came across the tip. Is is something you discovered yourself?
  • Relate an anecdote about making use of the tip yourself
  • Dialog (using quotes) is a good way to pad your story and to add interest at the same time

I will edit your post for grammar and spelling, and perhaps correspond with you by email if I feel the need for some additional details.

Send the story via email to rainycamp AT yahoo DOT com. (Use the conventional @ and . in the address.)

Pictures are welcome. Preferably .jpeg or .png files, although I can work with most anything.

Include a picture of yourself. A head shot, so people can see you, or a shot of you on your bike, and/or in riding kit, or not — as you wish. I’ll probably shrink this down.

Include a short bio. What city you live in, occupation (optional), riding preferences (road, mountain, commuting, etc.), how long you’ve been riding, what you ride (make and model of bike).

I usually post on Bike Noob on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I’m not planning to run all the submissions consecutively, but will probably sprinkle them among my regular posts. So it might be awhile before your submission makes you a famous Bike Noob blog contributor.

I’m kind of excited by this. My inbox is empty and waiting.

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Categories // Blogging Tags // guest post

How Do You Haul Your Bike? Rack Review

04.05.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

A couple of years ago, Pat and I both rode in the same organized ride. To get there, we put our bikes in the back of our Honda CR-V. But it was a tight squeeze, and we had to take off the front wheels and lay one bike on top of the other. We didn’t like the arrangement.

It just so happened that in our goodie bags for that ride, we found a coupon for a discount at a local rack store (Rack Outfitters of Austin). I drove over there, told them what I needed, and they fixed me up with a Yakima King Joe 2 rack. Now that I’ve had it for awhile, I think it’s time for a product review.

The rack holds our bikes as we arrive at the recent LBJ 100 ride.

The King Joe 2 holds two bikes. Perfect for our household, since there is only the two of us. It’s much like racks made by a number of manufacturers, that fasten to the back of the car or SUV by a series of straps. If you pull the straps tight, you should have a solid mount for your bikes.

The straps tangle easily. They can be a headache to line up correctly, but that’s the key to getting a secure mount. Yakima provides rubber “keepers” to thread the straps through, in order to minimize loose, dangling straps. However, one of the keepers broke, and I wrap that strap around a metal leg and fasten it with a double half hitch.

A “keeper” is visible near the bottom of the picture, near where the strap fastens to the lift gate. The rubber pads to protect the car’s finish can also be seen.

If you don’t adjust the straps correctly, you’re jeopardizing your bikes. Earlier this year, we were driving to a ride and I noticed in the rear view mirror that the bikes were canted at an angle. It turned out the straps were wrapped around each other, and weren’t gripping as securely as I’d like. If we had gone another five miles, I think the bikes would have fallen off. Now, I allow extra time to mount the rack, just to make sure the straps are pulled as tight and straight as can be.

The King Joe 2 has six attachment points.

That, and the torn keeper, have been the only glitches I’ve had with the rack in three years of use. However, there is one other feature I’m less than crazy about. The bottom of the Honda’s tailgate doesn’t allow the straps to attach with hooked fasteners. So the guys at the rack store fitted hard rubber bumpers — they look like small dumbbells — to the straps that attach to the bottom of the tailgate. You start mounting the rack by lying it on the ground behind the vehicle, then jamming the bumpers against the inside edge of the tailgate jamb. Close the gate, lift the rack into place, and tighten the straps. I’m sure it’s not as secure as it would be if the hooked fasters could be used. It works, though.

By the way, the hooks on the other straps are rubber coated, so they don’t damage the car’s finish.

The bikes fit into plastic cradles on the extensions that protrude from the rack. Each is firmly secured by three rubber straps that stretch tightly over little knobs. Once in place, the bikes won’t move.

Back in the 1980s, we occasionally traveled with bikes to ride on rail trails in Minnesota. I bought a bike rack then, but it was such a poor design that it threatened to collapse and drop the bikes onto the highway. I turned around and went home, took the bikes off and threw the rack in the garbage. It’s nice to see that rack design has progressed and that bikes will now stay on your vehicle all the way to your destination. But I still spend a lot of time checking the rear view mirror when I’m hauling them.

The Yakima King Joe 2 retails for $135.00. It’s in the middle of Yakima’s range — other models run from $79 to $199. If you have a mid-size or crossover SUV like me, I recommend this as a good choice.

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Categories // Accessories Tags // bike rack

Neighborhood Hills

04.03.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

“You know what would be cool?” asked my friend David a few months back. “If we worked out a route that hit all the hills in this area, say in a five-mile radius.”

We might live on the edge of the Texas Hill Country (The main drag through our neighborhood is called Escarpment), but the legendary  hills of Austin don’t materialize until you’re about eight miles west of us, or even farther north. We’ve got hills, but they’re not biggies.

However, when I did a hills training session with Austin Cycle Camp back in November, they drilled us on what I considered to be pretty wimpy hills, right in my backyard. So I thought it would be fun to try David’s idea.

Leaving my house, I rode two miles north to Convict Hill. I often ride the residential streets that cover the hill, and today I took the road that runs right up the hillside. Convict Hill Road isn’t tough, but sets the table for the climbing that will come.

Convict Hill Road. Convict labor was used here in the 1880s to quarry limestone for the then-new Texas state capitol building.

Once atop Convict Hill, a number of options await. I like to work my way over to Wolf Creek Pass. It’s a short, curving stretch, and I can stand on the pedals to see how high a gear I can push to the top.

Wolf Creek Pass. Short, but steep. Well, kinda.

After a two-block rest, I can take Hill Oaks down, then turn around and come back up. I don’t like Hill Oaks. At the bottom, there’s almost no runout before it hits U.S. 290 – a busy highway. If I do a white-knuckle brake before the bottom, Hill Oaks is a tester of a climb coming back. Our club president does repeats on Hill Oaks.

You can get an idea of the steepness of Hill Oaks by the way it drops off. At right, the short runout at the bottom into U.S. 290.

I prefer the next street over. The aforementioned Wolf Creek Pass also heads down the hillside to U.S. 290, but it’s a somewhat more civilized descent. The climb back up isn’t quite as steep as Hill Oaks, but it’ll do.

Wolf Creek Pass again, this time looking up from U.S. 290.

One more detour before we leave Convict Hill. Poncha Pass is another short hill, but also steep. It starts easy, but gets worse the closer to the top you get.

Poncha Pass is your basic suburban-style residential street.

For every climb, there’s a descent. It’s easy to approach 35 mph going down Convict Hill Road in the marked bike lane. That’s my reward for the hill work. Now, we head south. Just blocks from my house, Allerton Avenue rises to the top of another hill. This one is a longish grade, not all that steep, but it makes you work.

Allerton curves left up to the house to the upper left of the car.

Now, we’ll head into the Circle C Ranch section of southwest Austin. And then head out immediately, as we pick up the Mopac loop. Mopac turns west and becomes State Highway 45, and features “Escarpment Hill,” which ends at Escarpment Blvd.

Mopac/SH 45 is one of the more popular cycling routes in Austin. This is “Escarpment Hill.”

Escarpment Hill is another long, not particularly steep climb. It used to kick my butt, and still kicks my wife’s. Now, I like to see how high a cadence I can maintain as I climb it in one of my big ring gears.

At Escarpment Blvd., we can turn right and head down an easy hill past the fire station. The uphill side is where I did hill repeats with Austin Cycle Camp. Not tough, until you do it time after time — each time in a higher gear.

Escarpment Blvd., looking up toward SH 45.

One of the first neighborhood climbs David showed me when I was truly a noob biker was Savin Hill Lane. Any street with the name “Hill” in it has to have something going for it, right? This is another residential street that starts with a short, steepish climb, then levels out, then climbs again.

Savin Hill Lane.

An acquaintance of mine from northeast Austin rides all the way down here just to do Savin Hill repeats. He’ll do it five times, and then considers himself ready for most anything.

Whew! I’m a bit knackered after all that. Time to head home. But there’s one more hill before I get there — H-E-B Hill. H-E-B, for non-Texans, is a big supermarket chain. Escarpment Blvd. going north from Circle C Ranch climbs past the supermarket entrance. This is where the “old guy” smoked me many moons ago. Now, I like to attack the hill — see if I can maintain a 100 rpm cadence all the way to the top. I usually run out of gas just before I get there.

H-E-B Hill.

If you’ve had the patience to sit through all these rather dull photos of rather middling hills, I understand that you’ve got way better hills where you live. Now, I don’t own a GPS device, so my elevation readings come from Map My Ride, which I think is notoriously inaccurate. But, it shows grades of 20 percent for short sections of Wolf Creek and Hill Oaks. Convict Hill hits 17 percent at one point. Escarpment Hill is 11 percent at its steepest point, but mostly 3-5 percent. HEB Hill is 6 percent.

And yes, I know how to find the “real” Austin hills. But Lost Creek, Courtyard, Ladera Norte and Jester are not in my neighborhood. Most are farther away than I care to ride to tackle hills. My point here is that you can make a rigorous hill workout almost anywhere. You can ride this whole route (about 17 miles) or do what I more typically do — pick a hill and ride it several times. Start at a low cadence — say, 70 rpm — and see if you can do it at a higher rate each time. Or start in an easy gear, and go up one for each repeat.

Believe me, even with easy grades, if you do these kinds of repeats, you’ll get better on hills.

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Categories // training Tags // hills

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