Carrying Stuff

Spring showed up today, with highs near 60F. It's not that I don't get outside all year, but experiencing the outdoors with fewer layers is a welcome change.

In the summer the cyclist carries all he needs in Jersey pockets: a spare tube and a few tools, a few snack bars, and a cell pone. Dual water bottle cages carry water or sports beverage, and a micro pump is either mounted on the frame or tucked in a jersey pocket. Seatpost mounted carrying bags annoy me with visual clutter and poor functionality; the jersey pockets are easy to handle, present no drag and add no weight, are conveniently out of the way of peddle on your back, and the contents go with you when you change after a ride.

The winter presents different problems. No jersey pockets. Jackets have pockets in the front, in the way. Seat mounted bags are popular, but I always found them annoying to access. A stuck zipper and Velcro to fight with to just retrieve my cell phone.

Enter the water bottle carry-all. I actually looked for something of this sort in the bike shops and catalogs. IT seemed obvious. Nothing.

• I don't need 2 bottles in the winter, so the cage is available.
• Easy to grab off the bike after a ride. 
• Holds all I need it to: a spare tube and tools, snack, and cell phone (the cell phone actually tucks well in--I left it up for scale in the photo).
• Nothing has fallen out in the 2 winters I've used it.

 Simple. Just a give-away bottle I didn't like with the top cut off (leaving just enough lip to restrain the stuff). I spent all of a 1 minute selecting a bottle and hacking; It was just to be an experiment, but it became permanent.

Other permanent experiments? Two years ago I stopped to rest on a trail-side bench and decided I was wearing one layer too many. I spotted a girls "scrunchy" hair tie laying int he mud and used that to bundle my wind breaker to the top of the aerobars. A perfect lashing for a fraction of an ounce.Very secure and very little drag as it is behind the hands and between the forearms.

Why the Gatorade bottle? Mostly I drink water, of course. I find that empty Gatorade bottles are lighter than conventional water bottles, retain less taste, and are free since I do drink the stuff when it gets hot. It's a reasonable balance of energy and electrolytes that I can tolerate well when very hot and possible dehydrated. Often I start out with 2, refill the first with water several times, then drink the second and refill it too. Sometimes they get pitched in the recycle bin before the last push for home, saving some bit of windage and weight. Something like that.

High Blood Presure

Though I've always been healthy as the proverbial horse, my blood pressure has always tended to the high side, and now passing 50 years, it crept past 140 over something. So a month ago I started on a minimal dose of Lisinopril. Now it's below 120 over something and the doc is thrilled.

It's not diet. It's not weight. It's not lack of exercise. My doctor was clear on these things. It's just Mom and Pop and time. Fortunately, my cholesterol is very low and heart disease is unknown in my family. But If I want to make my family's customary 90 years in good trim, I need to maintain the house.

I read some posts from folks who claimed Lisinopril negatively impacted their athletic performance; that's not been my experience. While I always ride just a bit slower in the winter--my lungs don't like the cold air when near maximum effort--if anything, the pace seems to have improved. Perhaps that's only because spring is coming, but I certainly don't feel worse. No one's been passing me, not even the young punks (anyone under 35).

So what if I'm an old fart. I'm figuring on another 40 years, so there.

Sea Chanties ...

... or The Secret to Faster Cycling

Oh, you can buy fantastic carbon and aluminum bikes these days and shoes that link you to the drive train as though it were an extension of your legs, but the important things are simpler and cheaper:

• Good fit. The frame and the position of all the components must be just right.
• Body position. You've got to get low. Aero bars are good, but so is a flat back.
• Good pedaling form. Circles, not up and down.
• Training. There's no substitute for miles.
• Hydration. This time of year it's amazing how much water the body requires.
• Cadence. You've GOT to keep the feet turning over at 90 to 100 rpm or in my case, 105-110 rpm, but it depends on the individual. Stomp a big gear, the force will be higher, and the less efficient fast twitch fiber are recruited, and your legs will burn out prematurely. Lactic acid instead of efficient metabolism to CO2 and water. And NOW for the sailing connection....

Sea chanties, evolved over the years to synchronize efforts and to help boring work pass more quickly, help me maintain a nice 105-110 rpm cadence and help the miles melt away. Though hauling halyards and anchors on a cruising yacht doesn't require the team of bullies found on a clipper, there are dull tasks and they help there too: scrubbing the bottom or the deck, long boarding if you fancy such obsession, or just passing the time while you do something brainless. We learn some of these as nursery rhymes, though never all the verses and certainly not the randy parts (some chanties are so vulgar as to bore anyone beyond 7th grade). The words vary a lot; change them as you like. The tunes change a lot too. These are a few of my favorites:

_______________________________

Cape Cod Girls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUf56i5EfBk&feature=related

Cape Cod girls ain't got no combs
heave away, haul away
They comb their hair with codfish bones
for we're bound away for Australia

CHORUS
Heave away my bully, bully boys
heave away, haul away
Heave her up and don't you make a noise
for we're bound away for Australia

Cape Cod boys ain't got no sleds
heave away, haul away
They slide down hills on codfish heads
for we're bound away for Australia

CHORUS

Cape Cod docs ain't got no pills
heave away, haul away
They feed their patients on codfish gills
for we're bound away for Australia

CHORUS

Cape Cod cats ain't got no tails
heave away, haul away
They all blew off in the northeast gales
for we're bound away for Australia

CHORUS

Cape Cod women don't bake no pies
heave away, haul away
They feed their babies on codfish eyes
for we're bound away for Australia

CHORUS

Cape Cod women don't got no thrills
heave away, haul away
They're plain and skinny as codfish gills
for we're bound away for Australia

CHORUS

____________________________

Drunken Sailor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGyPuey-1Jw

What will we do with a drunken sailor,
What' will we do with a drunken sailor,
What will we do with a drunken sailor,
Earl-aye in the morning?

Chorus:

Weigh hey, and up she rises,
Weigh hey, and up she rises,
Weigh hey, and up she rises,
Earl-aye in the morning

Ending Chorus:

That's what we do with a drunken Sailor,
That's what we do with a drunken Sailor,
That's what we do with a drunken Sailor,
Earl-aye in the morning

Traditional verses (3 repetitions)

1. Shave his belly (balls, back) with a rusty razor
2. Put him in the long boat till he's sober
3. Put him in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on him
4. Put him into bed with the captain's daughter
5. Beat him with a cat 'til his back is bleedin'
6. Put him in the bilge and make him drink it
7. Truss him up with a runnin' bowline
8. Give 'im a dose of salt and water
9. Stick on 'is back a mustard plaster
10. Send him up the crow's nest till he falls down
11. Tie him to the taffrail when she's yardarm under
12. Soak 'im in oil 'til he sprouts a flipper
13. Put him in the guard room 'til he's sober
1a. Keep him there and make 'im bale 'er
2a. Pull out the plug and wet him all over
4a. Give 'im a taste of the bosun's rope-end
6a. Heave 'im by the leg with a runnin' bowline

_____________________________

Spanish Ladies (only 90 rpm)

Farewell and adieu to you fine Spanish ladies,
Farwell and adieu all you ladies of Spain;
For we've received orders to sail for old England;
And perhaps we shall never more see you again.

Chorus:

We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors,
We'll range and we'll roam over all the salt seas,
Until we strike soundings in the Channel of old England,
From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues.

Then we hove our ship to, with the wind at sou'-west boys,
Then we hove our ship to, for deep soundings to take;
Twas 45 fathoms and or' a white sandy bottom;
We squared up the main yard and up Channel did make.

Chorus

So the first land we saw was the Dodman,
Next Ram Head off Plymouth, Start, Portland and Wight;
We sailed by Beachy, by Fairly and Dungeness,
And then bore away for the South Foreland light.

Chorus

Now the signal was made for the Grand Fleet to anchor,
All on the Downs that night for to meet;
Stand by your stoppers, see clear your shank-painters,
Haul all your clew garnets, let tacks and sheets fly.

Chorus

Now let every man drink up his full bumper,
Let every man drink up his full cup;
For we drink to be jolly and drown melancholy,
Let's drink to the health of each true hearted lass.

Chorus

More Bike Weeny Stuff

I'm a fossil and come from the pre-cycle computer age. What's more, I like to understand machines so as to better work with them, but that desire doesn't extend to computers; I like to know as little of them as possible. Today's subject; bicycle gearing and attaching files to in Blogger.

For example, modern bikes have many gear options, the purpose of which are to decouple pedaling cadence from incline and wind resistance. In English, you can keep your feet moving at their best speed while the head winds and hills conspire to make you peddle too slowly.

Many have studied the whole business of cadence (peddle RPM) and how it relates to efficiency. Eventually all cyclists realize that when peddling easily a slower cadence is most efficient (70-80 RPM), when moving more briskly faster feet are more efficient (85-95 RPM), and when really delivering a best effort over a few miles, even more is is better (95-105 RPM). Why? Because slow twitch muscle fibers like low forces but are aerobically more efficient. Fast twitch fibers fire when forces rise. Curiously, the fast/slow naming convention is primarily a misnomer carried over from sport where higher speed and higher force go hand in hand. It's about high force/low force. It also explains why high reps just don't make you stronger.
 
While you can do this by feel, some calculations clarify, for me, what is going on:

Gearing, cadence, and speed calculations

If you click the down load tab to the right, you get a copy of an Excel file you can play with to your hearts content. Can't imagine why you would want to, but I needed practice.

Is this the best way? I seriously doubt it, but it only took a few minutes to figure out and it's a free service. Not bad.

Aero Bars. Yeah, I'm off Sailing Topics...

Well, only for a while.

When I got back into riding I had carpal tunnel and the vibration was a killer. Aero bars were a life saver, worth sharing. I started with these:

When I got my new toy, I moved on to these:

The hinged model failed at the hinge from metal fatigue after only a few years of moderate use, which I reasoned was too little time.

Because I need a neutral wrist position I need a bar with an up-turned end. Would bar end shifters be better? No, I think I prefer brake lever shifters, since most shifting occurs on hilly terrain. The bars do add about a pound to the bike, but I don't live in the mountains, not any more.  

I think there is little question that aero bars are faster and more comfortable on the flats, racer or not. There is a learning curve: expect them to feel twitchy to start, but this soon passes; be careful on bumps; no, you can't reach the brakes, but you soon learn to switch one or two hands smoothly; set them high and wide when starting and stay far from traffic; if you're touring and value ease and comfort over speed, set them higher, further apart and not so far forward, and them leave them there. A little cork tape near the ends is nice too.

I'll repeat, they're not such a good idea in traffic. Moderation in all things.

A New Toy

Rev. 7-22-2024

[Many sets of tires, three chains, and she's still going strong! I've also gotten faster, the result of taking her out on the bike path every week, year round. Not like in my 20s, but it's a rare day that I get passed and never unless by some smart assed racer type, ... just like I was at that age.]

I dreamed of something like this in college, when racing was a passion. Then I destroyed my knee in a crash and spent 30 years waiting to ride again. What a difference aluminum and carbon fiber make.

Fuji ACR 2.0. If you can find old stock, a super buy.

 

 Now I am old, crippled, and unworthy. Perhaps I'll look fast enough if I simply lean it against a bench, pretending I've come far; Like Will Rogers, I've come far, so I should be satisfied to look the part. Perhaps I should paint it olive drab and scratch it up a bit.

I do promise that this will NOT be riding on Shoal Survivor's bike rack, dripping in salt. It's older sibling has inherited that chore.

PS. My wife tells me I have 2 mistresses now, both starting with "B": bike and boat. She's right. The past few nights have been consumed with tweaking and minor additions (water bottles, aero bars to support my sore wrists), just like the boat.

How to Carry Bicycles Without Origami

Many places we cruise are best experienced by bicycle--Cape May, Chincoteague, Tangier--most of the Chesapeake and coastal towns, really. Folding bikes are the conventional recommendation, but ask the owners how they peddle and they respond "Well, like a folding bike. Best not to go too far." They're not lighter, take up the same space (just a different shape, really), cost more, require some assembly with every use, have dinky wheels, and as a result, don't tolerate poor roads and heavy loads. Why make the compromise? A cruising boat is generally larger than a car, and for all the talk of storms, doesn't ride nearly so rough as a car on a bad road, in terms of peak impact forces or numbers of load cycles.

I'm not the first to ask the question. In Dodd's book Modern Cruising Under Sail the author reports successfully carrying bikes on a rack while off-shore. In another post describes the use of an unmodified rack (Narrow boat rack) on a British narrow boat.

I picked up this rack at a thrift store for a few dollars, cut away the parts that weren't needed, added a pair of Starboard hooks to fit around the rail, creating a simple rack. It's light, out of the way, allows easy unloading to a dock on the side, and easy lowering into the tender. I can use the bikes I have, and if one were to disappear or rust up, I can find cheap replacement bikes anywhere. Salt is a factor, no doubt, but ample use of oil helps and I don't cruise full time. A simple solution for most cats, at least.

I apologize for not offering more detail, but every rack and rail combination will present different possibilities. I will share this; most racks come with hooks that are meant to hold the edges of the trunk, but this will not work well on a boat, at least not on the PDQs. We tried it; the strain on the hatches looked scary and it makes opening the hatches awkward. As on a car, dedicated attachment points are much  better, stronger, simpler, and cleaner.

When this one fails, I will make a permanent folding attachment to the rail, I think, only because I'm a tinkerer. (Note 9-22-2016: 6 years later it's still going strong)

Notes:

• Bikes are secured to the stern rail in additional spots if bad weather is expected. Then, they won't move a bit. In ordinary weather and small craft advisories, we have found a single strap to be enough to prevent all motion.
• The rack simply hooks over the rail. A pair of straps to the base of the stern rail holds it down. Much simpler than mounting to a car. No new holes were required--I used climbing bolt hangers under existing stanchion bolts.
• Throw a towel across the tender before loading the bikes; they have many sharp bits.

Maybe it's a catamaran thing. But I don't think so.