Underdressed for Your Bike??

from a recent email (published with permission):

"Weirdest experience this morning! Was about to go for a ride on my gorgeous Abici, then caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and thought better of it. I was working from home and looked a mess! Stained cargo pants, old T-shirt, ratty ponytail, ugh... Do you ever feel underdressed for your bike?"

Okay, that's pretty funny. And I admit I've felt the same. On a day to day basis I could be wearing anything, depending on what I am doing - from a business suit to paint-stained rags. And when it happens to be the latter, I do feel self-conscious getting out there on a nice bike for the whole world to see me all disheveled. Not self-conscious enough to actually go and change, mind you. But enough to make a mental note to dress better next time.



Could it be that all the so-called "cycle chic" imagery is getting to us, so that we actually feel pressure to dress up on our bikes?



It's possible. But I think the more likely explanation, is that traveling by bicycle can make us more self-aware and self-conscious, simply because we are more visible. Sure, we can hop in the car wearing old sweats with our unwashed hair up in a bun, drive to pick up some milk, and no one will be the wiser. But on a bike we will be observed. If we ride in the same neighbourhood as we live and work, we may not want our acquaintances, romantic interests, or colleagues to see us in that state.



Then again, it may simply be the bike. Owning an elegant, civilised bicycle can make us want to follow suit. And maybe that's not such a bad thing.

A Change of Scenery

On the day of my arrival, the temperature reached a scorching 68°F and the sun came out for the entire afternoon! Yes, summer is in full swing in Northern Ireland. I have relocated here temporarily - to the countryside along the coast, not far from the city of Derry and the town of Limavady. As I write this, a sheep is looking over my shoulder. A mountain looms in the distance. And the breeze is so gentle, I am almost tempted to remove my wool blazer.




What am I doing here? Mostly two things: writing and riding. I've brought over my roadbike and I have a Brompton on loan from the lovely Chris Sharp. The nearest town is 3.5 miles away. The nearest mountain is just around the corner.




The food situation is pretty straightforward. There is plenty of fish in the Lough Foyle and berries in Ballykelly Forest. In a pinch, there is also the Tesco down the road.




I am still getting my bearings after 2 days of no sleep, but posting should be pretty regular. The wifi is fired up and working splendidly, so long as I add coal every half hour or so.




Later this afternoon I am off to watch a time trial. What more could a girl ask for?

Woven Dress Guards for Drilled Fenders

I love the look and feel of woven dress guards. To me they seem more graceful than the solid vinyl type - allowing for the wheel's spokes to remain visible, while still protecting clothing from flying into them. They can also give a bicycle more "personality," as there are many patterns and different installation methods to choose from. A year ago, it was almost impossible to obtain dress guards like these without making them yourself. However, now there are several options available and I have done my best to get my hands on them.



Some of the most beautiful woven dress guards available today are these handmade ones by Bobbin & Sprocket. They can be crocheted in different patterns, according to your specifications (you can see them here on Bobbin & Sprocket's own bike and here on an ANT bike). I ordered a set for my mixte a couple of months ago, but have yet to attach them - because I've decided to do a drilled-fender installation, rather than use the clips provided. The clips don't attach securely enough for my fenders - and I am weary of having the guards fall off and get tangled in my wheel spokes. Earlier, I reviewed the DutchSimeli dress guards, and clip and fender compatibility was also a problem (they only work on bikes where there is a lot of room between the fender and the tire).



For these reasons, I don't think clipping woven dress guards to fenders is the ideal solution, and suggest the traditional drilled-fender installation instead. I had this done to my vintage Raleigh DL-1 last year, using a simple set of dress guards that a reader had sent me from Portugal. The fancy ones in the picture above were a gift from a friend in Autsria, and are waiting for the right bicycle.



The ones I decided to install on my Gazelle were this set I bought fromMike Flanigan ofANT, who has recently begun to order them from Europe. They are simple, stretchy and durable, and I thought the colour scheme suited my Gazelle nicely. Drilling fenders for dress guards may seem like a daunting task, but the actual act of installing them is not difficult, if you have a good drill. What's difficult is making the commitment: You can't "undo" the holes in your fender once they are there, and nearly every set of dress guards requires a different number of holes.



The first step is to consider what part of the wheel you want the dress guards to cover. There is no right or wrong in this regard: If you look at vintage dress guard installations, they are all over the place. Some prefer to cover 1/4 of the wheel, others prefer to cover the entire top half, and others still prefer something in between. Once you choose the coverage area, mark its beginning and end with masking tape. Then, evenly attach a tape measurer along this area. This will allow you to easily mark where the holes are supposed to be. The dress guards I used required 28 holes, which ended up being 1" apart.



Depending on what bike you have, you do not necessarily need to remove the rear wheel or even deflate the tire when drilling the holes. On Dutch bikes and English Roadsters, there tends to be so much room between the tire and fender, that if you insert the drill bit as far inside the drill as it will go, it will be too short to reach the tire after piercing the fender.



The hooks that come with dress guards are about as thick as medium-sized paperclips, so 1-1.5mm is a good size for the holes. We used a 1mm drill bit.



It is good to have a drill with a side handle attachment, as this allows you to keep your hands steady and to have more precise control over the drilling.



I would also suggest using a fresh drill bit and having a spare one before you start, in case it breaks.

And here we go!



If you measured correctly, the holes should look fairly even - but if not, don't panic. These things are meant to have a hand-made look to them and are forgiving of small mistakes.



Inserting the hooks into the holes is fairly straightforward. One additional step to consider, is leaving room for the "cafe lock" if your bicycle has one. This should be done at the time you are measuring for holes in the first place.



At the drop-outs, the dress guards are typically attached to a bolt using a hook that is provided with the guards. (You will have to remove the nut, then insert the hook, then retighten the nut.) You may have to play around with how you angle that ring to which the cords are attached: The rack stays, the shifter cable and the hub indicator chain may interfere with it, and then you sort of have to angle the ring and insert it over/under, as applicable. Every bicycle is different in this regard, so it is impossible to give precise instructions here.



The important thing, is that in the end nothing sticks out in a way that can catch on your clothing. For example, we crimped the hook on which the ring rests, downward.



And that is pretty much it. Describing the process step by step in itself makes it seem complicated, but it only took us an hour - which I think is good, considering that it was our first time and we were afraid of messing up. You can see the finished installation in an outdoor setting in this post.Looking at the final result, one could say that these guards could look better if they were fanned out over a wider area - but I wanted the coverage to be denser. It's really a personal choice, and I am pretty happy with how mine have turned out. If you own a drill, this method of dress guard installation is worth considering.

It is about time! Tech fitting on a Spantik!

A Dynafit tech binding toe piece added to a Spantik at home!



Bravo! Looking forward to the field reports! The info is much appreciated. Hopefully others will be able to follow shortly. Including La Sportiva :)















































"I live andclimb in Alaska which typically requires longish approaches and the use ofskis. I have been using the standard silvretta bindings on a set of Atomic Climber skis (pretty light). I have wanted to use dynafit toe pieces on my Atomic skis for a while now and after my DPS Wailer 112 came in lighter than my "approach setup" I decided I had to try something.



Long story short I have bolted/glued the tech fitting plate I cut out of apair of old Garmont Megarides into my well broken in pair of Spantiks. I'mworking on mounting dynafit tlt speed toe pieces and a custom heel throwsystem (using a crampon wire heel latch). I haven't had time yet to build/test this system, but I will as soon as I get home in a week and a half.



Have you heard of anyone doing this before? Do you/they have any tips orsuggestions? I'm realize not everyone would utilize tech fittings onclimbing boots, but the crowd I run with in Alaska are surprised noclimbing boot manufacture has thought of this yet. Thoughts?



Just wanted to say thanks for being an inspiration to build and try newthings.

I appreciate your time and the sharing of your knowledge."



"I'm reluctant to take them on a long trip right away until they prove there reliability, so I'll start with a couple of short (4+ mile) approaches in variable snow conditions most involving trail breaking.

I don't have the heal piece assembled/made yet but I think I have an idea of what I'm going to do. I'll start on that when I get home next week also.



My most recent climbing trip(that turned into a ski trip) was into the Eastern Alaska Range involving 78 miles on snowmobile and 15+ miles on skis pulling sleds to where we setup a base camp. From there we toured around the West Fork of the Susitna glacier logging 60+ miles. It would have been really nice to have a lighter weight setup than the silvretta 404's I had for that trip though I was unwilling to trust this system having not put it through the wringer. Time will tell."

Unhappy Cat

I was trying to take some photos of the cats and dogs with a Christmas hat on so I could add to Christmas cards this year. Murphy did not like the idea and kept insisting he was a Halloween Cat rather than a Christmas cat.

Cup and Saucer

This cup and saucer is marked on the bottom that it belonged to my grandmother, Alma Coe Green Williams. It also has a sticky tag on bottom that says 'Made in Japan'. I have no idea of it's age but I really like it. Notice the saucer has cut outs around the edge.

Spring on Diablo

Spring on Diablo, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

The first of the mule's ears are blooming in the hills. After last night's rain, everything was fresh and clean, and the flowers seemed to be enjoying it all. Spring is definitely here!

Honeyman State Park

A short walk from the campground and through the forest leads to this beautiful little lake surrounded by the forest and sand dunes. Double-click on the image to see a larger version... it is a portion of a panoramic view that doesn't quite capture the full beauty and serenity of the place, but does a pretty good job of it!





I sat up on top of this sand dune for several hours, listening to the quiet. The only other people around were those two youngsters at the edge of the water, far below. Optical illusion? After looking at this image for awhile, it is hard to tell whether you are looking down toward water, or up toward sky, either way, it was a long way up/down.





As the sun lowered toward the horizon I left my gorgeous viewpoint and ventured down to the small lake.





Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State ParkSouth of Florence, OregonSeptember 29, ..

Saying Goodbye to Peace River

Today we left Peace River and we said goodbye as this is our last visit this winter. We stayed in Florida two months longer this winter, and although we are excited to be heading out now, it wasn't hard to stay this long because of all the wonderful people we met. We met so many wonderful people through pickleball. I don't know what it is about that particular crowd, but they really are some of the best people we've ever met.



At this point, there are not too many of them left in Peace River. In fact, this morning there were only Rich and Donna, Bruce and Gena, Rich and Dee and I think maybe Faye and Ken. Although, maybe not Faye and Ken because surely Nathan would have snapped pictures of them also!



I don't think we got pictures of Jim and Jane either. This is their last winter here, after touring the US for eight years I believe. They are a great example of the wonderful people I'm talking about. As I hugged them goodbye, I was struck by how sad I felt at the thought of not seeing them next winter. I felt sad that Rich and Donna are staying in Florida and not heading out like most of us are, so I won't see them until next winter. I was excited to hear that so many others are staying east and we will see many of them in Chesapeake.



I really do adore so many of these people and am so glad that I did get out to play pickleball more this year so I could get to know them better!

Walking the walk?

Easy to sit in the office and tap out total bs on a blog. Ya gotta wonder just how much of what I write, am I really willing to do. How deep do I get?

After getting rained out of the alpine yesterday morning at 3AM and then waking up to sunshine at 10AM I was more than a little depressed. For me the 3AM starts are generally the crux. Getting up at 3AM driving to the trail head and then bailing is not easy for me. So, for much of yesterday I planned a resurrection.

But I wanted something different. A new challenge. I wanted to do a climb as light as possible (in my context). All this new gear and technology and I had yet to push both and then myself.

For a quick test I choose a 2 mile hike with 2200' of elevation gain and another 800' of AI up to 70 degrees to finish.

Gear? All my clothing including socks and gloves weighted 3.25# total. For the bottoms I used a set of poly boxers and a pair of super light weight Gamma Lt Arcteryx pants. I added grommets and elastic to the pants legs so I could ditch the gaiters. Two pairs of socks and the silver bullet, La Sportiva's Trango Extreme Evo Gortex boots. The top? A short sleeved, wide open, fish net poly bicycle t shirt, a lwt merino wool zip front and a new Eddie Bauer, Frontpoint jacket, a lwt silk bandanna and a polar tech pile head band. Gloves were the REI multi-sport Minialmist. Big day for Petzl! Tools? Nomics, with BD umbilicals. Crampons were Dartwins clip-ons and my helmet was a Meteor, harness a Hirundos. I also bagged a 65m 5mm rap line, a small rope Reversino, a long spectra sling with 3 ultralight biners, 2 wire gates and a locker.

Temps were between the low 30s walking in and the mid 20s on the climb. But I still forced myself to start in the fishnet t shirt and the silk head band. Yes sir, it was a little chilly for the first few minutes in the legs, more than the torso, surprisingly.

2 hrs later and just short of the ridge I added the EB Frontpoint wind shell. In the wind and fog on the ridge crest, while others were adding belay jackets, I peeled the Frontpoint jacket and added my dress weight (very lwt) Merino wool sweater ($30 from a Men's Warehouse sale) and zipped up. The other climbers already on the ridge were well kitted for the weather as long as you weren't going to actually move!

An hr. later I was on top and comfortable. My clothing still dry. The first climber up behind me (who started before me) was complaining that he had to take a break and peel some layers before he could continue. He was both, over heated and wet.

C2C ...even with breaking some trail I had set a personal best for the route and had cut hrs. off my time. Better yet it was the most enjoyable time I have had on the climb. While the conditions were the hardest ice conditions I've seen there.

Good reminder for me to be selective of your gear and pay attention to what it weights. Wear less, be more comfortable and climb faster! Good day out for me. But obviously in the grand scheme, not all that deep :)

"Cool muscles work more efficiently."

For more on the subject of lwt gear and a great read try Mark Twight's "Extreme Alpinism"




A 24/48/60 hr follow up on this little adventure. Typically I would be dehydrated the evening after a climb and well into next day. I drank less on the approach and climb and wasn't dehydrated later that day or in the next 48 hrs. Which means in this case I could carry less weight in water and still be comfortable. I had less muscle soreness than usual. A lot less. I ate a bit of sugar and carbs and a drank a pint of water after I arrived at the car and had a really hot shower when I got home. We ate a typically light dinner that night. I did an casual, hour long, hike the next day but recovery was much, much faster than usual.

The one thing that really sticks in my mind about this trip was being able to literally run out the last mile of so of the trail and actually thinking it was fun! I was having the rare day physically. But I suspect that "rare" day might well be repeated on demand given the right circumstance and preparation. That idea obviously deserves further investigation and documentation.

Fields of Figueroa Mountain

Fields of Figueroa Mountain, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Here's a wide-angle view of some of the flowering hillsides on Figueroa Mountain near Santa Barbara. What an incredible place...unbelievably colorful!

Cycling and Sun Damage

Though I have derived many benefits from cycling, the one drawback I am still struggling with is sun damage. During my first year on the bike as an adult, I thought that I was being pretty good about using sun protection, but noticed visible damage to my skin that seemed to be a direct result of cycling over the summer months. Darkened patches and wrinkles appeared in areas of my face and body that had been most exposed to the sun while cycling. And this was despite using high SPF sunblock and staying off the road during the hottest times of the day.



At some point last summer, I switched from chemical to physical sunblock (titanium dioxide or zinc oxide), which seems to have helped. My skin was sensitive to the chemical stuff, and some friends told me that30SPF physical block worked better for them than 60+SPF chemical, as well as lasted considerably longer. I switched and found this to be true for me as well. Physical sunblock remains visible after application and looks kind of goofy, but at this point I couldn't care less and just want to ride my bike without wrecking my skin.After year two there was still some additional skin damage, but less than before.This summer I will try to be extra good about applying the sunblock as frequently as possible.



In speaking to long-time road cyclists about sun damage, I've learned that it is a common complaint - to the extent that some just accept it as inevitable, embrace their wrinkles and brown spots, and pay frequent visits to the dermatologist. I really don't want to believe that it has to be that way, but my own case has done nothing to prove them wrong.What has been your experience with sun damage as a result of cycling, and how do you deal with it?

Morning in Cathedral Valley

We woke early to break camp before sunrise and head back down to the valley for the early morning light.Both of usslept very comfortably in the tent as it was probably the warmest night of the trip, with the temp not dropping below 45 degrees. At first the sky didn't look too promising, as it was still cloudy. The clouds were thinner than they were the previous night, though, and seemed to be breaking up. By the time we got to the valley floor there were patches of blue starting to show through the clouds. Before long the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and illuminating the sandstone monoliths of Upper Cathedral Valley. We walked along the main row of cathedrals and enjoyed watching the changing light as it washed over the sandstone cliffs. It was a supremely beautiful morning, a fitting end to our last morning in the southwest before heading for home.