'Tis the tweason!

It's another one of those damn times in Michigan.   Daily seasonal changes become a season of their own and happen a couple times a year. The November tweason means it's sunny, cloudy, foggy, rainy and snowy in a matter of hours and we just have to adapt because it will change soon (fifteen minutes according to legend). 

But  real winter is around the corner which turned into NOW this year. It's enough to send the spandex hamsters to their spin classes and video cycling.  I'm spending the Thanksgiving holiday giving the bikes a cleaning and tuneup before putting most away for a few weeks,

The Park Tool Cyclone cleans my chains.  I've seen many internet "experts" claim that this gadget simply does not work.  My question is; If it doesn't work, why is it full of  grease and grit when I'm done?  I don't normally worry about getting my hands dirty but the gloves keep my fingers warm when the garage temps are in the twenties.

The brakes on the Soma needed adjustment and it's a simple method to use a small clamp to hold the pads to the rim.  Then adjust the barrel adjusters to about 50%, loosen the cable bolt, pull the cable taut, re-tighten the cable bolt, remove the clamp and loosen the barrel adjusters until you have exactly the brake tension you like. There is a tool called "Third Hand" to hold the caliper, but I found the clamp works better since it's adjustable, the Third Hand is not.

It seems a bit early, but I'm swapping the regular tires on  the Brompton for the studs.  It's possible we'll have snow and ice on the streets until March, so err to the cautious side. Now I can choose between the winter beater with 50mm studs and the Brompton with it's 32mm studs. the Riv's and Soma will rest in the rafters until we get a  thaw.

That wasn't the best way to spend a holiday weekend, but I am several weeks ahead and ready for any day that gets warm.

It doesn't have to be an EPIC trip

The usual signs of spring have passed

as traffic waits for the annual parades of goslings

crossing city streets from one pond to the next

and those of us on two wheels are treated 

to watch mothers extending their families.

     I was miraculously spared a tragedy when my bike rack broke in the middle of an urban drag race. The rack and bike tumbled off the car at 50 MPH! 50 or 60 cars managed to avoid the mess in the middle of the road. This could have been a 5-10 car pile up. Traffic was fast and heavy enough that it took several minutes before it was safe to get out of the car. It was several more before I could collect the mess between traffic.

This broken adjustment buckle seems to be the culprit

and this was the only damage suffered.

Steel is real and my Rivendell Sam Hillborne 

survived with an admirable piece of "beausage."

I think I'll keep it that way for some sick reason.

So, a week before Summer, we started to ride for the shadows

to escape the heat.  My relatives in Florida will laugh

but up here in Michigan 90's is EMERGENCY TIME!

     It is unusual to have a heat wave before Summer hits but it's here. I loaded the Hunq  to take a few days in the forest.  The plan was the usual trip to the Yankee Springs forest, camp for a couple of days and ride the Barry Roubaix route for a few hours.

     It all worked out, except for a puncture just before I got to the campground.  No problem, I thought, the sealant in the tubes took over, I went to the tool kit for CO2 popped a bit in the tire and rode the last mile or so,  No problem, until morning. The tire felt spongy again.  Hmm, Probably didn't ride far enough to get enough sealant into the hole.  I went to the tool kit again and found the other CO2 cartridges were spent.  Damn, I wobbled to the entrance of the campground where there's an MTB trailhead.  One of the arriving bikers had a pump I could borrow. I got it up to pressure and figured it would seal as I rode, but I cowered out and took the paved route instead of the gravel to Hastings where the Ace Hardware has a nice bike dept and a 6 pack of cartridges for insurance.  

     The rest of the day was spent tooling around Hastings which has a nice trail along the Thornapple River. I enjoyed lunch at Walldorr's Brew Pub.  It's a rural community

and you don't have to get far from town 

to find unusual "pets" in front yards.

          The night was good,  I left early to avoid the heat and it was still brutal.  At 73 I have the right to claim wisdom or maturity, but at any age it's just common sense not to challenge this kind of heat and humidity.  I enjoyed the countryside, riding a few miles at a time between shade trees.  By the time I reached the Kzoo outskirts the pavement was good for boiling water and the last ten miles was a matter of gearing down and taking it slow.  It was a bike trip, it's always different, always fun, always good.

 

Just had enough...

 of this crappy weather in Michigan.  The past few weeks the weather from day to day has ranged from 60 to 20 degrees and changed seemly on an hourly basis.  Driving snow with 10 degree wind chills one afternoon to find the snow gone and 45 the next.  I decided to find some kind of sanity, loaded the car and headed south.  

The Hoosier National Forest along the Ohio River sounded good.  It's a 6 hour drive, straight south, and clear 70 degree weather was predicted.

The weather guessers delivered and the first evening was beyond beautiful.  The forest was just coming awake with early buds on the trees, violets and daffodils sprouting around the sides of the roads.  I didn't come for any epic ride, just some casual cruising in a warmer clime.

Did I say clime?  I meant the other "C" word. There is something wrong with my vocabulary these days.  It seems there's something about the term "German RIDGE"

that I did not get when I chose the desination.

Every blind winding turn on this side of the river valley

 brought a new climb with it.

It's always 50% downhill but I seemed to find inclines 

which also delivered some pretty

spectacular scenery

leading to the inevitable honky-tonk where the juke box was wailing country tunes I remembered from grade school (I'm 72!).  Sitting at the bar, I saw some  good looking burgers come out of the kitchen.  I could see the kitchen through the swinging doors and decided to stick with bottled beer (the locals probably develop immunity).   Chatting with a local, I was laughing inside listening to a guy complain about the wind while he was on his Harley.

Just a six hour drive was worth it to ride around in shorts, in some beautiful countryside and forest.  It might be an excellent destination in the fall when the colors come out, and the temps in Michigan drive me South again.

A few multi-modal days

      Riding a new route to Chicago.  There was excellent weather predicted, so I decided to stretch my legs for a few days roaming to the north rather than south.  I know the roads to Muskegon and headed out in the morning.  The first day would be the longest but it was time for an 80 mile ride, it ain't nothin' to an experienced tourist.

     Most of the real estate was covered  in the morning with highway travel along M40 to Holland.  The pavement good, traffic is pretty heavy but the wide shoulders are accommodating despite the noise.  I didn't expect 25-30 mph winds whipping across the empty fields all day, but I got 'em.

Turning north at Holland I found my way onto Bike Route 35 marking city streets and trails sheltering against the crosswind.

The wind finally quit and  BR 35 led me through the labyrinth of trails in Grand Haven (thank you Adventure Cycling!).  I was shocked. I kept looking at the map thinking this couldn't be, but it  led right to the entrance of Hoffmaster State Park.  After getting a campsite and chatting with the officer, I felt better.  He said they had been closing beaches all along the coast because of the wind, wave and rip tide danger.  So, it wasn't just the worst I could remember, it really was bad,  .  It had been a long day and my legs were were screaming: "80 miles AIN'T NOTHIN' Dumbass. "

     The morning was a pleasant 7 mile jaunt down the road to the ferry dock where I stowed the Hunq in the hold,

relaxed in the cabin with a cup of coffee and a sandwich 

leaving Michigan in our wake.

Arriving in Milwaukee I was greeted by a trail system 

starting at the docks through the marina, past the beaches 

to a beautiful trail system leading south.  After the south 'burbs of Milwaukee, 

I hit the highway for a fairly pleasant ride toward Kenosha

where I could catch the paved trails leading to Illinois.  This system is part of US BR 37 leading to Zion Il. where I spent the night at the Illinois Beach State Park.  It's a regular stop for bikers on that side of the pond (it's 50 miles between Milwaukee and Chicago) and I got to meet a number of cyclist enroute both ways.  

In the morning I traveled on the McClory bike path, again BR37, down into the the North 'burbs of Chitown where bike routes,  trails and lanes create a network 

to the shops, restaurants and cafe's for cyclists to congregate. The route leads down through Highland Park into Evanston.  Past Evanston, I stumbled onto Clark Street and rode it downtown rather than taking the lake shore.

Clark street shows the development of 

 protected bike lanes on much of the route.

Getting closer to The Loop, another cyclist I met at a stop light remarked that it is so much more relaxing to ride through this traffic on a bike.  He's right, the drivers, at 5-10 mph look panic stricken and frustrated while we were all smiles and jokes winding our way through the crowds in this virtual parking lot.  It's an empowering feeling to cycle through traffic in Chicago at 3 pm Friday, past Wrigley Field preparing for a game.

Arriving at Union Station, I had time for pizza and beer before boarding Amtrak and testing their new  bike racks.  The Hunq was happy, I was happy, took a nap and was home.

On a diet.

 Yeh, Yeh,   I'm working on the Covid beer gut, but I'm talking about the Hunq.  I was thinking, after a few discussions with other tourists that, despite years of trimming down my gear, I had unconsciously gone the other direction.  Having a stout and capable bike like the Hunqapillar one thinks that saving a little here and there is like pissing at a hurricane.  After all, the bike is heavy by modern standards so adding a stout and stable rack makes sense.    

                              

I added two. 

That led to the ability to add a basket, a larger saddlebag, two more bottle cages and all the shit to fill them.  

On my last trip I started thinking that the racks were unnecessary since I had bags, smaller ones, that didn't need the support.  I packed those with the minimal touring essentials and took a "backpacking" look at the gear. 

 

 

      It looks a lot leaner.  It still needed a saddlebag support.  I went with the really light Pletscher Athlete rather than the heavy duty Inova version.  Between that, using minimalistic Blackburn low riders and SKS Velo 65 fenders, I saved nearly 10 lbs.  Going through the gear I replaced my stainless steel cook set with two titanium pans, the utensils with a titanium spork, and, since I use an alcohol stove, I removed the MSR bottle of alcohol and plan to buy HEET at C-stores and gas stations as needed.  I discovered I carried 5 knives.  Yeah, that's what I said.  I had one in my cooking utensils, my pocket knife, there is one on my multitool, another tiny pocket knife on my car key chain and one on my Leatherman tool.  The Leatherman is essential to any camping in my opinion, they're just too useful, the rest were redundant.   I managed to eliminate almost 25 pounds from the bike and still carry all the essentials I outlined in the book.  How much does it weigh now?  I think between 55-65 lbs, but honestly, I don't want the exact answer.

      I took it out for an overnight since I had just rebuilt it.  It was a beautiful weekend, with temps in the 70's and little wind.  I rode about 40 miles to The Deep Lake campground in the Yankee Springs forest.  I found a few loose screws and impressed myself by unraveling a shifter cable adjusting the derailer.  I hate it when that happens, a brand new cable! I'm an idiot.   The bike was noticeably easier to ride without the extra weight The overnight was pleasant although the campground was busy with chatty kids and some MTB enthusiats celebrating a conquest.  Other than that, I slept late, packed up slowly and returned home without incident.  I'm going to follow up with a long weekend before the snow flies. 

Mammoth cosmetics

I've had my Hunqapillar for nearly 10 years now and love it like the day I unboxed the frame.  The finish and paint scheme, while not classically beautiful, was unique and interesting.  

It worked great except that I built this bike to be abused on all types of roads and trails.  It got lots of abuse and the scratches and torn paint that goes along with the fun.

That didn't matter until Lowes stopped making the paint that EXACTLY matched the grey.  I couldn't live with not repairing those scratches and scrapes and there were lots of them. 

I had always liked the idea behind the original prototype, Bombadil.  It was made with a clear powder coat.  That didn't work out well, but in my searches I found a substitute finish called  Diamond Finish clear coat.  I had the frame stripped professionally, ordered a new set of decals and finished the frame myself.

      I loved the raw look and the way the brass brazing material highlighted the lug details.  It held up well for a couple of years and scratches were easily fixed with clear nail polish.

Unfortunately, on my last trip, I was caught in the monsoon deluge that drowned the mid west.  After returning I found scratches and chips that had been penetrated by the rain.  It shouldn't have been a deal at all but the volume of rain was immersive.  When I went to touch up those spots with a Dremel and nail polish,  it wasn't as easy as before.  Large patches of finish just peeled off in big chunks unlike anything I had seen.  That would not work, so Plan B went into effect.

      Plan B sounds simple.  Pack up the bike and send it to Groody Bros. who specialize in powdercoating bikes.  But when I e-mailed them, they immediately issued a statement on their website that there was "at least an 8-10 week wait" before they would get to any new work.  I searched the internet and found a local powdercoater (TLR Coatings) who does a lot of  detailed work on car parts, and had actually done bike frames before.  We talked, I took the bike to him, he explained it would be 4 weeks.  That was better than 8-10 so I left it and waited.   4 weeks came and went.  Separation anxiety set in.  Seriously, I had bad dreams about  this.

     After almost 7 weeks, I sent him an e-mail for an update.  By coincidence, he had just finished it.  I picked it up the next business day and the work was excellent.  I had gotten no response from Rivendell when I inquired about a decal set (they probably want to hold what they have for custom orders) so I went to DIY Lettering.com, chose a font that I like and ordered some gold letters.

I was tempted to outline all the lug work but decided it would be too garish and simply filled the lug windows added the lettering and rebuilt it.  

    I had ordered a new set of Velocity wheels (the Clydesdale version with an SP Dynohub) and Rene Herse 44 mm tires.  

The bike looks pretty damn bad ass and elegant with the gold lettering and touches of brown accessories.  It was a long, long two summer months without any touring, but thank god I can get on the road a couple times before winter weather sets in.

 

If you want something worn out or busted, I can get it done.

        For several weeks I was having some newly discovered pain in the nether regions and couldn't figure it out.  The saddle on my Hunq would not seem to stay in adjustment and it was really irritating (in more ways than THE one).  Every couple of days I was tightening the bolts , THINGS got more and more sore.

      I figured it out after the lower plate on the seat post broke.  Oh, we  need that?  So that was a bit of remedial education for me.  It is a Velo Orange Gran Cru seat post and I wrote to see if there were replacement parts available.  I told them when I bought it and sent a photo, unfortunately they no longer have parts lying around for those.  I was stuck with having to replace the whole seat post.  As a consumer I've had experience with this system.  When somebody doesn't support their product, I buy from somebody else.  That gets complicated.  I am an American.  It was an opportunity (spelled "excuse") to spend much more than I needed to fix the problem.  There are a lot of seat posts out there and I could have bought a new one for $55 dollars from VO.   This was the first problem I had had, I am still happy with the one on my Hillborne, but what a great excuse to upgrade.  All this temptation to spend money dangled in the face of an experienced consumer was too much to bear.

     I sprang for the Nitto/Rivendell lugged seat post which is reputedly the strongest on the market and has 40mm of setback as well as the double bolt design which allows true micro adjustment of the angle.  Wait!  There's more! 
     I also thought of getting a black saddle for the Hunq since I had changed the color scheme.  I was tempted to try the new Brooks C series saddles because several tourists I've met really love them.  It is the "latest, greatest and most revolutionary" thing that Brooks has thought of in decades.   I was skeptical since artificial saddles made me unhappy in the past, but here I was with every excuse to spend more money than needed.

      I ordered a C-19 version which is a little wider and modeled after the legendary B-67 saddle which has been making butts happy for generations.  My first impression of the saddle was that it was really hard.  I thought "this can't change, the leather saddles would conform to our bodies and this plastic/fabric thing will not."  Now that I have a few weeks behind me and have compared the ride to the B-17 on my Hillborne, the C-19 is really comparable, it doesn't feel much different than the leather.  The first impression seems to have left and may have been my own defense against change, but I really do like the design, the feel and the fact that it's a weather proof Brooks.  Don't get me wrong, I think the hand wringing worry about getting leather wet is a bunch of nonsense.  Cowboys never came in from the rain and my Brooks saddles have all been sopping wet at one time or another without any ill effects.  I feel good now.
       I made my American heritage proud by spending 6 times what was necessary to effect a repair.