Less talk more action... or not (thoughts with bRiaN on life and backpacking)

I realize I have not posted in a while and there are some good reasons for that. Well for one, after not paying bills for 3 months my brother finally moved out and left me with the storm surge. So I have been trying to keep up with the doubled rent, power and water bills, forget the cable/internet. But some good things have happened in the world of bRiaN. I have been trying to ride my bicycle more, mostly for the training aspect, but I have been commuting to school at least one day a week since the begining of the year. Another nifty thing, I have obtained a backpack, an Osprey Kestrel 48, and I am planning on doing some hiking. I know this seems like a bit of a departure from the bicycle touring I have been doing, and your right it is, but it is completely different. On the bike you see roadways and towns and all that goes with travelling some 60-100 miles a day. With backpacking you are going much slower, you are typically as far away from any town or roadway as you can possibly be, and your chances for experience with wildlife are much greater. One thing that I realized though by packing my back pack with my camping gear is that I can fit everything I really need for a bicycle tour into a much smaller bag. With all the added space of the pannier bags I felt obligated to fill that space. It was rather enlightening to see how much i could get away with cutting out of my supply. Between the two the only difference now is the tools and spare tubes I would need for touring, and even then I was able to determine there were certain tools I didnt really need. But as it stands, since I got the Kestrel, the idea of being on foot and not having to rely on a bicycle is a bit freeing. I know that I am a mechanic and repairs are not really a big deal but the fact that I wont have to do repairs, and the fact that I am not worrying about where my next flat will come from... its a sigh of relief. Also the idea that I am not tied down to the big steel contraption opens me up to several new angles I had not considered with the bike. With the bike I have to lock it up where ever I go.. grocery stores, diners, camp.. and I am thinking about how long I can stay in the store without someone seeing my bags and deciding I wont be around long enough for them to go rummaging around through my bags, or to just take the bike entirely. I hate to think in such caloused terms, i hate to have such a distrust for man kind... but I have had things like this happen as well as having heard the stories from some of my friends who have lost bikes and gear to would be good people gone thief. I cannot imagine I would ever cut out cycle touring exclusively, as backpacking does not lend itself to highway travel like riding does, and the length of trip by hoofin' it would be much longer. But the pack opens me up to getting lost in the woods and seeing the beauty of nature. I am thinking about planning a trip to Asheville this spring break to go hike through the mountains of Pisgah, or perhaps even spend some time on the AT. There are several hiking trails in Florida as well and I certainly wont be too snobby to explore my own state.

Tragedy averted

I was too focused this morning to take any pictures but I had a decent morning of riding, If you can call a near death experience decent. I hooked up the trail-a-bike to the road bike and took Caleb to school this morning. After that I dropped the trail-a-bike off at the house and rode to school. On my way to school I encountered another bicycle commuter on a road bike with a messenger bag, I thought to myself 'cool im not alone out here this morning'.. as I entered the draft behind him a car moving only slightly faster than us moved into the bike lane threatening to plow over the cyclist about 5 yards in front of me.. I matched pace with the vehicle and began pounding on the rear quarter panel of his car which now had his passenger side wheels entirely in the bike lane.. as I shouted for him to "get out of the bike lane" he finally veered off leaving myself and the cyclists ahead of me barely unscathed. This guy was just oblivious to the two cyclists riding within inches of his car.. if i had not pounded profusely on this guys car someone would have gotten seriouly hurt. Pay attention people.. be aware of your surroundings. Everyday you safe a life by not plowing into us cyclists.

Short trip

Caleb and I had planned a 4 day trip this weekend, but alas i may have done more damage to my knee than I had previously realized as our trip was cut short.. though no less enjoyable. Here are the pics from the trip.

fixed chain tension- how to

Ok so my buddy Karlos (hey Los!) needed some advice on chain tension and I figured I could make it public advise.. in fact if any one else has questions about things I would be more than happy to shoot similar how-to videos.. i found it quite fun.

Finding chain tension on a fixed gear bike is not a pure science, more of an art. there are a few factors that come into play here that effect the chain tension. The first and most obvious being the foward and aft position of the rear wheel in the drop outs(or track forks, but for my purposes ill call them drops). Second being the side to side position of the rear wheel in the drops.. basically the centering of the wheel between the chain stays, you can center this by looking at the tire between the chainstays at the bottom bracket.

ok so with these two factors taken in consideration you will want your wheel as far back in the drop outs as possible, you want the chain tight but not binding. You also want the tire to be centered between the stays. You can tell if the chain is binding because it will be felt through the cranks when you turn them and the chain will make an audible crunching sound as the cranks are rotated. there will always be a little play in the chain.. but you want to keep it to probobly below a 1/4 inch of play when you push up on the chain with your finger as i show in the vids.

Another factor that you need to take into account is the roundness of your chainring.. it is possible to get your chain tight in one spot but loose in another. Chainrings arent always perfectly round.. this seems unfair and frustrating as hell... its life get over it. BUT... there is a way to attempt to make this work better for you.. by rotating the chainring from one position to another on the cranks can help. This may take a bit of experimentation to find the best postition but the ideal location will give you the least discrepancy in chain tension from loose to tight spots. You can see in my vid that my chain does have a bit of descrepancy in chain tension after I rotated it.. Im lazy i probobly wont rotate my chainring, but then the difference isnt that big a deal to me. like I said.. its an art and it depends on how meticulous you are.. the biggest no no is the sagging chain. if you can visibly see the chain sagging people will call you a poser.. or at least I will.

Ultimately you will feel it when riding if the chain is slightly loose. while trackstanding a loose chain will give you a slight front to back rock. you will weel the chain loosen on one side and tighten on the other as you switch from foward to backward pressure on the pedals. I dont have a vid to demonstrate this so hopefully my description will do.. but i can try to record a vid if you cry like a baby and beg for one.

DISCLAIMER:try not to stick your fingers in the chain while rotating the cranks on a fixie. unless you like smaller digits. I have had more than one friend loose the ability to tell bad drivers how bad they suck because they let fingers get wrapped up in the chain on a fixed gear bike. Yes that means GONE.. no more finger.. oh and IT FUCKIN HURTS... dont do it.

First trip of the year

Following inspiration from the likes of McCandles, Krakauer, Kerouak, and Thoreau I am chasing the dreams of adventure as well as teaching my son the nature of a free spirit and a free mind. Caleb and I are taking our longest adventure yet this coming weekend and will be visiting what Florida State Parks Services calls "the real Florida." We will be riding from our home to Little Manatee River State Park south of Sun City Center by route of Tampa and from there will be travelling south through Sarasota to Myakka River State Park. The trip will be 5 days and 4 nights including over 200 miles on the bike and about 40 miles hiking, if all goes according to plans. We have the new rig set up and pretty much ready to go.. this is a new trip and will include almost no bicycle specific trails as compared to previous trips which were mostly car free routes. We will be hiking through the flora of Florida's finest in search of the beauty that mother nature has to offer, and we will take some of that home with us, in the form pictures of course. The training has been coming along and the thoughts of longer future trips are in the back of our minds. We leave at the beggining of the new year and hopefully this will be a great and safe start to a great year full of adventure and learning.

A year in Review with bRiaN

So looking back over the past years posts I cant help but get sentimental. As fast as it all went by it has been one of the longest and most difficult years of my life, however at the same time it has been one of the best. From starting the year off at the worst possible job a man can have asside from slavery and getting into an accident that demolished my poor car, to getting my new truck, starting at the best shop in the state for touring cyclists, and starting on a bigger and better path towards an education. At the beggining of this year I was still very much in pain from the loss of my Arkel bags and all my camping equipment, but this year I have slowly re-built my touring gear collection. I Went to North Carolina this year to race with my buddy Ron in one of the most memorable experiences of my life so far the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race. Sheldon Brown died this year, one of my heroes, he will certainly be remembered as a legend in the field. I lost a great girl-friend this year, but in return I have made several new friends, and most importantly I have found more time to spend with my son. Gardening, camping, touring, and just riding. I started a new touring program at Bicycle Outfitters and plans for more trips are in the making. I passed all my classes this semester and I am looking foward to a full load at the begining of next year. I grew a beard this year for the first time. I started a garden with my son this year. I begrudgingly put an extremely painful past behind me to focus on my present and my future. I was diagnosed with manic depressive disorder this year. I read more books this year than I have ever read. I learned more about me than I have ever known. It has been a long and difficult year, but at the same time I have fought hard for the things I am achieving and I am damned proud of myself. Some of the things I lived through have been extremely difficult to bear but here I am, alive and ready to take on the World. I look foward to a great new year, and many new experiences. It has been a great year and I am ready to take on 2009 with a new fervor. More adventures, more classes, more books, more life. Ready or not here I come.

Holiday night critical mass

Monday night was the holiday lights bicycle ride hosted by the Outfitters. We expected about 25-30 people.. over 70 showed and it ended up being a huge critical mass riding some 11 miles from Seminole into Largo to see a neighborhood full of houses covered with multi-colored blinking lights. Albeit slightly chaotic what with a few people getting lost, we had a great, if not slightly chilly, ride and everyone eventually made it back to the shop. Caleb and I took the Trucker(sans bags) decorated with battery powered Kwanza lights.. or was that the Channukah set? Anyway.. All in all it was a 40 mile weekend for Caleb and I as we finished up our ride back from Clearwater for our stay the previous night. We are still looking foward to testing out the new tent coming up really soon.

Its hard to tell from this shot but there are about 30 people in front of us here.

Heres a shot of Rob from the shop and his Brittney.. somewhere back there is the Jr. but hes nice in warm in his Burley.