Demise of a fine tree, birth of a fine bicycle

Pramila and I did a quick spin around the Mercer Island Loop this morning, and as I was heading back into our yard a glint caught my eye. A new bicycle!

Our neighbor, Grace, was showing off her new Rivendell Hillborne to our other neighbor, David. David was cleaning up his yard since the City Light crew removed the old tree that had faltered yet again, this time in the latest windstorm. During the big windstorm of 2006 that old tree was resposible for ten days of blackout (Is that right, David, ten days?) when its limbs took out the power lines.


Here's David with the elegant snag/stump that remains.

Here's the drivetrain.

And here is Grace, proud owner of this new inspiration.

As David noted, it is a quite lovely shade of green.

And, Grace told us, another new bicycle is on the way. Her partner, Dylan, has a new Mercian on order!

OK, can you spot the cat in these pictures?

Our condolences, David, on your grand old tree.

Congratulations, Grace, on your grand new bicycle!

Keep it fine,

CurioRando

Which is Worse: Unceasing Rain or No Gears?

Newbie Randonneur Tip #1

Sidle Up, Latch On, Pester

This smiling randonneur is John Vincent, experienced randonneur. This grimacing randonneur is me. The Smiler is holding a chain tool. The Grimacer, pointing at the chain tool, could cry at any moment. Twelve hours earlier we never knew one another existed. Eleven hours earlier I sidled up to John, latched on, and pestered him about everything randonneuring.

John and I rode the Oregon Randonneurs Berkie 200K (3/28/09) together in the pouring rain. I had stopped in the first few kilometers to remove a layer of leg warmers I'd soon regret removing when John came by, and we rode most of the remaining rainy brevet together.

I know what you're thinking: this is where the author spins a long story of exaggerated rain and details just how hard and for how long and how no other rain could compare. Normally, you'd be right. This time though I'll refer you to a much better description than I could convey. Narayan Krishamoorthi tells the tale: Narayan's Birkie 200k Ride Report.

I had remembered Narayan's name even before I had ever ridden a brevet when I checked out his blog on randonneuring. I said to my wife, an Indian-American, "Look, honey, there's even an Indian randonneur," crudely trying to impress her with my new passion and desperate to make any oblique connection for her. She was, naturally, unimpressed that one of her over one billion fellow Indians had found his way to this obscure sport. Nonetheless, Narayan is a consummate rain tale teller so check out his version of this brevet, and I'll only add this lone fact about the rain: John and I kept rigid observations and throughout our entire 12 hour brevet, it stopped raining for no more than one minute total. Truly.

What do you do for twelve raining hours? Well, I spent the time invoking a Vulcan mind meld on John and he imparted all sorts of randonneuring lore. I won't reveal it all here, because my dear Newbie you'll have to do your own sidling and pestering. That's half the fun!

I will reveal one tidbit. John insisted as we climbed Timber Mountain on the way out that the essence of randonneuring is just staying committed to a brevet once you've begun until it is simply too late to finish. More directly, if you run into a difficulty don't quit until it is physically and absolutely impossible to finish in the allotted time.

I hear you muttering "Well, duh! That's kind of basic, isn't it?" Well, it may sound basic, but I am hereby elevating it via fontifying and boldifying to Tip status:

Newbie Randonneur Tip #2

Don't Quit--Let the Clock Crush You First!

Here's why this tip is more than what it seems. After about 150k, we became noticeably more relaxed. Despite some barking knees I felt I could finish. John had felt extraordinarily cold earlier--really chilled--and Life was getting better for him. We had just been overtaken by a small band of merry bikers and now comprised a chatty, little peleton rolling along when I suddenly screeched to a halt as my chain wrapped around that little area between my largest cog and my spokes. In the process, it destroyed my rear derailleur. Hmmm. I also found that the chain didn't want to unwrap. Tug as I would, pry as I might, it was stuck-stuck. Pretty bleak as the you-know-what-that-I-pledged-I-wouldn't-talk-about came down on John and me.

At that point, I knew I was finished. I knew it. How could I finish with a wheel that wouldn't turn, a broken derailleur, a sore knee, and that stuff pouring down? I was sizing up my hitchhiking probabilities (I have hitchhiked and freight-hopped myself across the country so I wasn't worried), and gave one more try at the chain. Somehow something was different and it came loose! I heard someone say in what sounded like my voice that if I just had a chain tool I could convert the bicycle into a singlespeed cycle and possibly continue. John heard that voice too and said that he indeed had a chain tool.

FREEZE FRAME! At that moment I am looking at John and trying to determine whether I was grateful, relieved and hopeful or whether I was pissy, impatient, and filled with dread. In that frozen moment I weighed going back over Timber Mountain on a one-speed bicycle and suffering vs. the cliched image of regaling a pickup truck driver in the cab of a warm truck about how I almost finished a 200k bicycle ride. The pickup was tempting.

RESUME ACTION! I said "Great!" or something as John gave me the chain tool and asked for leave to carry on without me so that he could finish. This was only right as the chances of my success were slimmish and asking him to wait would be clearly unfair.

As he pedaled away and no trucks or cars or cyclists came by for at least a half hour I felt a little lonely. I also worked furiously. I had been riding a fixie a good deal about a year ago, and knew I might be able to go on if I could just get the chain the right length. There was a moment when I pushed the rivet all the way through both links and it fell into the mud and I couldn't find it. That was my personal nadir.

But I did find it, and reassembled the chain! The rivet wasn't all the way into the outer link, and it was barely hanging in the bent outer link. Again, I pondered whether I really wanted the chain to hold or whether I was secretly cheering for its coming undone. I discovered I in fact had a two-speed as I could switch rear cogs by hand if I adjusted the fore-aft of the rear wheel. Great, except that I realized in my haste I had set it for the wrong two cogs (one cog smaller, therefore harder) than I intended. Oh well. Just pedal, dammit!

So I saddled up. My mental imagining of Timber Mountain was far greater than the reality, and when I crested I knew I had a chance. When I overtook John, I was elated. I knew if I kept with this experienced randonneur I could do it. Now there was no dissembling on my part. I wanted to finish--desperately so. I was kicking myself over the crooked link and dreading its coming undone.

By the time we were within 5 kilometers I was mentally calculating the time available against the kilometers to go and factoring in the slowing if my chain broke and I had to trot my bicycle in. One last pestering question to this experienced randonneur: must one ride the entire brevet or could I simply push my bicycle over the finish line if I had to? He confirmed that I could push. YES, I WILL FINISH!!!!

And we did. And when I asked Susan France and the other ride organizers, of whom I am very grateful for their brevet organizational roles, to take the picture of John and me with the chain tool I could have cried.

Later, in the privacy of my car and surrounded by wet and steaming clothes and bags and a muddy bicycle, I called my wife. When she answered I sang my new song: "I AM...a RANdonneur! I AM...a RANdonneur!" as I choked up with many mixed emotions.

Sidling up, latching on, and pestering led me to discovering for myself the truth of what not-quitting means, and I had completed my second ever brevet. Thanks, John.

What is the answer to the question: Which is Worse: Unceasing You-Know-What or No Gears?

The answer is: Neither.

Keep it and keep it and keep it curious,

CurioRando

Cool Randonneur Bag

This is a photo of Cecil Anne while she is on the first day, May 30, of the Oregon Randonneurs 600k XTR. You can view her Flickr album of 111 photos here.

For folks new to or curious about randonneuring, there’s a great deal to learn from this photo.

Randonneurs often:

1. Mount a handlebar randonneur bag setup as she does here instead of panniers or side bags. Reduces wind resistance, makes items available while riding, provides a convenient location for the cue sheet or route directions, and looks coooool.

2. Bring a rear bag on longer rides for tools, extra clothing, spare tubes/tire.

3. Provide full fenders and mudflaps since we ride no matter the weather. Riding behind a fenderless bike in the rain that sprays a constant stream of muddy water onto your glasses and lips is a big dragola. Fenders protect the rider’s shoes from drenching and also those around you. Most courteous.

4. Utilize generator powered lighting instead of batteries so that we always have light without the worrying over inadequate batteries. Dependable, powerful, and the accompanying headlight is retro cool.

5. Sit on leather saddles. Believe it or no, they are more comfortable than any others. And of course, they look so c………

6. Pedal lots of lowish gears so that we can get up the hills and mountains with all the junk I’ve just been describing. Most look down their noses at our plethora of cogs, but we’re too cool to care.

7. Ride on fat rubber. Wider tires grip better, are comfier, are not necessarily slower than skinny tires, and to some eyes are the cat's moustache. Nine out of ten folks think they look dorky, but they happen to be wrong.

8. Are thieves when it comes to nourishment. See how Cecilanne steals that poor farmer’s water. We’ve been known to raid cooling fruit pies sitting on window sills (just like in O Brother, Where Art Thou?). Fruited or nut-filled trees? Look out. Watermelons? Only if we can get them in our cool handlebar bags!

These are generalizations that comport with my preferences, but Cecilanne’s bicycle is tricked out very similar to how I envision my new ride.

Please visit Cecilanne’s album; she’s got pics of snakes, including a “pissed-off” rattler, a walrus (how many Walruses would one normally see on a bicycle ride? [In Googling the plural of Walrus {it is officially “Walruses”}, I discovered that there is an online petition to Merriam Webster asking him to change it officially to “Walri” due to their "majestic" nature]), and even mesmerizing, tattooed, cyclist legs!*

Keep it curious,

CurioRando

*I think I have an adult onset of some kind of parenthetical fetish. Love those parentheses (really!)!

Happy!

Gotta love sitting in the sun at a cafe AFTER a ride! Pramila, my wife is very happy, and her friend, Andrea on the right, graciously shares the moment.

We are at Tutta Bella's pizza joint in Columbia City.

Pramila and I had just ridden around Lake Washington, the first time for her. It had been one of those lurking fears--whether she could do it or not--that just disipates once conquered.

"Yep, I just rode around Lake Washington, thank you very much" is the proper translation of Pramila's glowing face. Don't you love that face?

I particularly do today, because Pramila is returning home tomorrow after six days in D.C. that includes her emcee'ing a Town Hall today with 700 folks including members of Congress. This is the launch of the nationwide Reform Immigration for America campaign put together by a coalition of immigration organizations.

Pramila's organization OneAmerica is a statewide immigrant rights/human rights organization that is absolutely amazing. Check them out!

Isn't it funny, our fears?

Pramila was a little afraid of the ride around Lake Washington yet thinks absolutely nothing about being the Emcee for a huge national event that includes certainly-not-egoless members of Congress on one of the most controversial topics in America today.

And what's up with our deep fears of immigrants? We need them, they need us. Isn't that what we learned as children: that we need one another?

I'm proud of Pramila. Her fears, her overcoming her fears, her fearlessness at fighting injustice.

Which is why my face will be beaming with the broad smile when she returns home tomorrow!

And imagine if you will the faces of immigrants and the rest of us once we pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform once and for all. It will be like sitting in the sun again.

Keep it curious...and smiling...and in and around that fear place too,

CurioRando

I Forgot my Pants!

Wow! What a commute to work today. Was it the birds chirping? The warm air that was perfectly moderated so that going downhill I felt buffered by soft Mediterranean breezes? Was it that I climbed the hill as if pulled up by a mysterious tow rope?

I dunno. But it was great, and I don't want to jinx it by introspecting too closely.

As I had partially climbed the "big hill" (Beacon Hill in Seattle) I remembered that I had packed two shirts and NO PANTS! Oops.

Dilemma.

Should I go back down, fetch the pants and return back up? Before going to bed I had read a tract on climbing and Greg LeMond's tips. One was to always choose the hilly course. By that I should have gladly rolled back down, then back up the smaller hills to the house, then back down from the house and up again to the "big hill". Nope. I remembered that I had a crumpled pair of pants from last week sitting in a grocery bag at work. That'll do.

Unencumbered by propreity or proper training techniques I resumed the sheer exhillaration of this morning's commute. It could have been the cast of the Sun's rays, but it sure was sweet. Like riding your first faster bike as a kid and discovering serious speed. Everything was right in the world of flying bicycles.

All I could conjure up was that I was on a bicycle with wings.

I needed a picture for the post so I Googled bicycle with wings and got two great features.

The first is a reprint from "The Silent Worker". "The Silent Worker" I learned was a newspaper for the deaf. In a story from a 1909 edition they report on a man with a bicycle with wings. And he took a test flight in Pittsburgh, my home town, between landmarks I know. What a trip! Ended up crashing into a... well, see for yourself. Check it out here: The Silent Worker. Be prepared, the story also includes a reference to how society viewed "negroes" at the time.

Fascinating paper, "The Silent Worker". Seems to be a focus on how deaf mutes are entitled to good jobs and make good workers. Reminds me of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin's remarks (hero of the Americans with Disabilities Act) when I was in D.C. last month (subject of a future post).

Next, I found this video of another chap on a winged bicycle assisted by a rocket of some sort. All I can say is it's a good thing he didn't forget his pants! Check him out here: Google Video.

Keep your curious pants on. Or not!

CurioRando

In Awe.

I’ve not yet ridden a 600k, or even a 400k, so I am in awe.

The Oregon Randonneurs conducted their Oregon 600XTR over the weekend and judging from the comments it was a humdinger. How about 21,269 feet of elevation? If you’d like some insights into the ride, here is a wonderful photo album that will give you a sense of what it means to ride a 600k, at least as well as any group of photos can: Michael Johnson's Flickr Page.

The elevation graph of the Oregon 600 XTR at the top of this post is from The Kramer Blog. Visit there to get the low down about the route, how such an event is organized, and how some the riders were talking to themselves prior to the ride.

I tip my helmet to all the riders who finished, those who couldn't, and to the organizers! Thanks for the inspiration.

Keep it awesome,

CurioRando

Inauguration Day

What's the connection between cycling and the inauguaration of the first elected Salvadoran President from the left?

Trust me, I can find the connection between bicycling and just about anything that's good for the masses.

It's so easy because the bicycle is such a fundamentally democratizing machine.

In this case the connection was provided serendipitously by a chance encounter in a local bicycle shop. I overheard a conversation yesterday between a woman with a taco-ed rear wheel (from her second auto-avoidance maneuver) and the mechanic. A "tacoed" wheel means the wheel is in the shape of a taco shell--irrevocably damaged usually. Upshot was that her wheel was a 27" wheel, and the array of choices was getting expensive given nobody makes or sells 27" wheels much anymore. As they bantered I remembered that I had a 27" wheelset sitting in my basement shop that I had been planning to donate to BikeWorks. I offered Rachel the wheels and she offered me chocolate. Not satisfied I bargained hard, and true to my shameless self-promotion I told her she could have the wheelset and keep the chocolate if she'd just look at this blog and pass it along to her friends. Deal was struck. Or so I thought.

In accepting the deal via email, she "hinted" about a ride she is planning to participate in. So now here I am promoting HER agenda AND giving her the wheelset AND she's keeping the chocolate! Tough bargainer, Rachel!

Actually, I say the meeting was serendipity because she sent me the link to the CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) website and the Solidarty Cycle 2009 ride to raise money for CISPES. I was familiar with CISPES back in the day, but hadn't been tracking lately. The serendipity is that President Mauricio Funes was sworn in today! How wonderful. Even Hilary Clinton is attending. Talk about a shift in U.S. policy!

Truly, the only serendipity is in my learning about all this. Funes' election is the culmination of years of struggle by many selfless and committed folk in El Salvador and of course here by the CISPES folks. Here is a little background about this historic day:

Funes' March 15 election highlights the leftward political shift witnessed throughout Latin America in recent years, and marks the rise of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) to win executive power in El Salvador for the first time. The former guerrilla group became an official political party after signing a peace treaty with the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government in 1992, ending 12 years of civil war. The historic nature of Funes' election is adding to the international attention being afforded his inauguration. CISPES representatives will join heads of state and other international dignitaries in witnessing the first peaceful transfer of power between two distinct political tendencies in Salvadoran history. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to attend the event. She and President Barack Obama previously met with President-elect Funes at the Summit of Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in April.

Funes, a former television journalist who campaigned on a platform of change, hope and support for El Salvador's poor and disenfranchised majority, will inherit a nation seeking a break from 20 years of far-right government under the ARENA party, a staunch Bush administration ally. The new president will be challenged with an economy hit particularly hard by the current economic crisis, due in part to its reliance upon trade, migration, and investment ties with the United States. In recent months, under the current ARENA administration, key ministries have been unable to carry out their basic functions due to budget shortfalls.

So please check out the CISPES Solidarity Ride website to find out more about joining or supporting the ride and about the work of CISPES.

And please don't tell the people I work with that I'm such a poor bargainer; I work for a labor union after all!

Keep it curious,

CurioRando

Billbicycles for Health Care!

Bicycles as Billboards, perfect!


Look what I spotted at the Mothers' March for Health Care. This "billbicycle" (variation of billboard) was pedaled by Sheila Hoffman and Spencer Beard. They were among the 3500+ folks who marched, rolled, and got pushed for Health Care reform in 2009!

It was a righteous march in Seattle that couldn't have been more timely. The battle for a public option is where the action is and Sheila and Spencer capture the tension. The health insurers are afraid to compete against the public option because they are all about providing profit disguised as insurance instead of providing health care. Suddenly they don't like competition. Hmmm.

Sheila and Spencer have their own site s2cycle.com that is very cool. Among other endeavors, they started a tandem club, sold their house for a smaller footprint, have cyclotoured far and wide, and have fascinating individual profiles. Do check them out.



Fiona and Stella (l. to r.) are counting on us. We better get Health Care right! Papa Stefan is getting them wheeled good and early.






The Seattle Police were either on their bicycles or motorcycles. I was the designated "police liaison" for the march organizers, and I had contemplated being on my bicycle, but I figured it might hinder my ability to be a part of the crowd. What I found was that for the police is gives them the combination of mobility and integration. Next time.
I enjoyed working with the Seattle (Mounted) Police. It was a calm and celebratory though militant march and there were no major issues. Thanks, officers.


But what got my beat really going was the band at Westlake Mall, the march destination. Check out Big World Breaks. They did a sweet cover of Stevie Wonder's Living for the City, and I really dig their Beep Beep. I was trying to figure out how to describe them when I found this on their MySpace: Original and re-mixed Breakbeats, Soul, International Funk, Hip-Hop, Afro-Latin, Afro-Carribean, Reggae, Afro-Brazilian, Dancehall, Roots Rock, Reggaeton, Afro-Beat. A percussion heavy collection of intesity, groove and spirit ... and ya don’t stop!!!

I say: Yeah!


Ya Don't Stop Ya Curiosity

CurioRando

Swing Wide, Sweet Chariot!

Here is my ride report from my very first brevet, the Tahuya Hills 200k. It is renowned for its hills. I rode it without any idea what I was getting myself into; it was sponsored by the Seattle International Randonneurs, my (now) home club. Hint: RUSA is the national organization for randonneuring, Randonneurs USA.

Swing Wide, Sweet Chariot!

Out of the pasture
And into the lane,
A small herd of horses
Toward our peloton came.

Eight horses galloping,
They wheeled into our way,
Is this randonneuring?
But it’s my first brevet!!

Nostrils flaring,
Eyes glaring,
It’s just the first turn,
And already quite daring!

I’d figured on dogs,
(We had them too!)
But unbridled horses…
I hadn’t a clue.

They swung wide to miss us,
“Good horsies”, I said,
That’s just what you say
When you’re glad you’re not dead!

As quickly as that
They’re behind us, and I
Am randonneuring again,
To the Hills…Oh My!

They’d declared at departure:
“There are plenty of hills,
Eight thousand feet climbing”,
My blood took a chill.

Uphill and then down,
Seems more of the up,
Anderson Hill…One-Mile Hill,
So darn much up!

The route was well laid,
Controls: organized;
I got into my rhythm,
Perhaps I’d win my prize?

I finished in time,
“Where’s my medal?” I asked.
“See RUSA” they told me,
“You’ve completed your task.”

But this one’s not past,
It’ll stay with me till
Sweet Chariot carries me home,
Up that biggest of hills.

For I’ll remember that look
Till my dying day,
In the lead horse’s eye,
“Let them live,” it did say.

Swing wide, Sweet Chariot,
So I can cycle lots more,
Randonneuring’s exhilarating,
To enjoy: endure!

Keep it rhymin'

CurioRando

Cyclists: You Have a Right to Vacation!

French fought for more vacation...and won a cycling movement!

About seventy-five years ago in France a movement emerged in reaction to the Great Depression, the object of which was the establishment of the 40 hour work week and 15 paid vacation days per year. I know this because I read every word that Jan Heine writes about cycling, cyclotouring, randonneuring, bicycles, and France. He has the complete story in the latest issue of Bicycle Quarterly. If you want more try Wikipedia; the interaction between opposition to the rise of Hitler and the role of sport and leisure is fascinating.

The movement, called the Popular Front, was also about generating general progress on the conditions and wages of workers and the masses of the unemployed. This meant that French laborers had more time to spend at leisure. They began to explore their country, and thus a new boom in cyclotouring was born. Today, we are very much the beneficiaries of this boom of interest in everything cycling. And we owe this in large part to the leftist parties and unions of France that formed the foundation of the Popular Front.

Americans: less time with family, friends…and cycling

Here in America, we’ve traveled a different path. Our real wages have failed to keep up with the cost of consumption, our health care costs have risen dramatically, and we work more and harder than ever. While the productivity of American workers has increased, we don’t seem to get any material or time benefit. I heard one expert refer to the extra month per year that the average American now works as the month of “Workuary”.

Opportunity Now in Congress

Fortunately for us a new American movement is on the rise, and a bill was just introduced by Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) last week that would ultimately guarantee two weeks of vacation for most American workers. The movement is spearheaded by my friend and fellow Seattleite, John de Graaf. John is Executive Director of Take Back Your Time, an organization dedicated to ending the U.S. and Canadian epidemic of overwork.

Who else supports the idea of more free time? Well, trade groups like travel agents understand what's at stake, and naturally support the notion. See right2vacation.org. Shouldn’t the bicycle, cyclotouring, and everything-associated-with-bicycling industries get on board too? It takes time to cycle, especially for slower cyclists like me! John, can you insert a slow-cyclist amendment so we doddlers get an extra week of vacation?

Remember what it means to just live

But it’s about more than cycling. For peace of mind, for just remembering what it means to live, we need more time. It could be you work for a company that is generous with time off, or are a union member so that you have won time off from a not-as-generous employer. Great. But for cycling to grow and be true to its pedestrian roots (yes, I get the irony of the pun), it can’t be for those of means and time only. Our mission, like the French of the 1930’s, ought to be to expand the right to time off from work to as many cyclists and would-be cyclists as possible.

The young in particular get little time off. Those who switch jobs, voluntarily or not, often start back at the beginning. If you have children, wouldn’t it be great if they had plenty of time to still hang with the folks as they enter the work world? Time off is family-friendly.




Vacation as Stimulus

Studies prove that workers who get time off are more productive. If more workers get vacation, employment will grow to cover the time lost to vacation. Health Care costs are reduced when workers get vacations, and of course burnout is reduced. Fundamentally, it is good for business.




Beginning, not the End

I don’t imagine we’ll win the legislation this summer given Health Care reform and other pressing issues, but I wouldn’t dismiss it either. Polling indicates 69% of Americans are supportive of paid time off with the largest portion supporting three weeks off (huh, just like those French cyclists won).



Let's take back our time...to cycle!

Follow the link, email your congressmember, and talk it up with fellow cyclists. If you are in the bicycling industry, your letters of support mean a great deal. And for you bloggers, just think of the posts we could compose: even longer diatribes like this one. Oops. OK, we could find more pictures to post, yes, that's it!


Take time to stay curious!

CurioRando