^As you've gathered, there's a discussion right up your proverbial alley right here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,16181.60.html You Clevelanders have all the fun.

Yeah, we have been hoarding said fun for a very long time.  I will ask around up here and see if we have any to spare.  I would offer a car pool to anyone from the Canton area but I only have space for one bike unfortunately.

Just in case there are any Clevelanders lurking here that want to join the ride tomorrow here is the final day time and place:

 

10 am Saturday. W 130 st parking lot, where it meets Valley Parkway, near Royalton Rd (State Route 82). If the lot is full there is additional parking in lots nearby, either east or west on the parkway. Destination is the marina near Detroit Rd, at the Rocky River, Lakewood Border.

 

Message me if you want details or a contact number.

For those in Cincinnati, Scott Pardi has put together a new, fun Friday evening and night ride.

 

MBC Friday Night Slow Ride

What: Urban Exploration at a chill/cruise pace. This year we'll go a new route each week so we can discover more neat shit in Cincinnati. Also, there may be a few destination rides and points of interest. Suggestions welcome.

 

Check Mobo Calendar for dates we're NOT riding: http://www.mobobicyclecoop.org/events

 

This is an adult social ride from the co-op to downtown (Fountain Square, Sawyer Point, Serpentine Wall, or perhaps Newport) and back with with routes or points of interest between. We will ride at a MOSTLY slow pace suitable for all abilities and bikes over MOSTLY flat, low-traffic terrain. HILLS may be included if it helps get us to an interesting street, or overlook or weird Cincinnati thing. Yes, you can make it, but yes, we'll wait too. Side streets and backways included. As always, wear a helmet and have front and rear lights. Plan to leave promptly at 7:15, so meet a lttle early. Festive attire and attitudes welcome. Finish 10 or 11ish.

 

When and where: Fridays, meet 7pm at the Co-op, ready to roll 7:15pm

 

Tonight's ride (which I am not going on unfortunately) is "From the Tin Man to the Painted Lady": One weird thing, a visit to nati's oldest neighborhood, and a river valley view.

 

You can find more information about the ride and future events at Cincy Rides.

If I have time today, I'll showcase Detroit's newest bike path through the Dequindre cut.  Very cool, and the future extension will cut directly through some old factory structures.

 

 

I was involved in getting ball rolling on the Hamtramck extension. I even designed the logo. Wanna see it here it is:

Nifty logo!

That design is bad@ss. Looks really official. The hexagonal bolt is a great little touch.

 

 

 

Sorry for the gargantuan image size. Thanks for the comments.

Very nice.  I like the spokes/sunrise

Thanks! Speaking of pleasing design, I just picked up one of these. They're made by a guy in Findlay. They're made from 1) A bottle cap, 2) A spoke & nipple, 3) Glue and 4) A mirror. Perhaps not a 100% original idea, but genius nonetheless. (And it works great, too).

 

 

http://www.bottlecapbikemirror.com/Products.html

I went a bit overboard yesterday and biked 110 miles on the trail from the Newtown Rd. terminus to Xenia and back.  My suspicions were confirmed on Google Earth today -- there is a roughly 500ft. elevation difference between Xenia and the Little Miami flood plain where the trail currently ends outside Cincinnati.  It's rare that there is any visible elevation change while riding the trail, but it clearly made a difference riding back, where I was able to average about 1-2mph faster, at least until I ran out of gas around mile 80 and limped back at about 10mph.   

 

Also notable is that I got back after dark -- 11pm's way after dark -- and feared that I would be ticketed or even have my car towed from the bike trail's lot.  But there were four other cars there with bike racks on them.  I have no idea where these people were and have to assume they were doing a multi-day ride. I was told earlier this year not to leave cars parked there late and have no idea if there's an official policy.   

 

This trail is somewhat "risky", meaning you take a risk of having a miserable ride, for a few reasons.  #1, there are few shelters or other opportunities to get out of the rain.  Summer sucks because big afternoon thunderstorms come out of nowhere and I've been caught out in them before.  Why they can't place a small shelter every mile on these trails will never be known.  #2, there's no place for anything other than junk food between Loveland and Xenia, a full 40 miles.  If there's a Subway out there somewhere, I haven't seen it.  What's really funny though is random people have put vending machines next to the trail on their property, and if you're riding at night, they're glowing signs of civilization. #3 for unknown reasons "all roads lead to Xenia".  The mileage numbering counts down to Xenia, instead of up from Cincinnati, which is just plain stupid. 

 

Also, without a doubt the highlight of the trail is traveling under the I-71 bridge.  That thing is way more impressive when you're under it than driving over it.

 

 

Sounds like fun. Are you still planning on pedalling out to Columbus?

I went a bit overboard yesterday and biked 110 miles on the trail from the Newtown Rd. terminus to Xenia and back. My suspicions were confirmed on Google Earth today -- there is a roughly 500ft. elevation difference between Xenia and the Little Miami flood plain where the trail currently ends outside Cincinnati. It's rare that there is any visible elevation change while riding the trail, but it clearly made a difference riding back, where I was able to average about 1-2mph faster, at least until I ran out of gas around mile 80 and limped back at about 10mph.

 

Also notable is that I got back after dark -- 11pm's way after dark -- and feared that I would be ticketed or even have my car towed from the bike trail's lot. But there were four other cars there with bike racks on them. I have no idea where these people were and have to assume they were doing a multi-day ride. I was told earlier this year not to leave cars parked there late and have no idea if there's an official policy.

 

This trail is somewhat "risky", meaning you take a risk of having a miserable ride, for a few reasons. #1, there are few shelters or other opportunities to get out of the rain. Summer sucks because big afternoon thunderstorms come out of nowhere and I've been caught out in them before. Why they can't place a small shelter every mile on these trails will never be known. #2, there's no place for anything other than junk food between Loveland and Xenia, a full 40 miles. If there's a Subway out there somewhere, I haven't seen it. What's really funny though is random people have put vending machines next to the trail on their property, and if you're riding at night, they're glowing signs of civilization. #3 for unknown reasons "all roads lead to Xenia". The mileage numbering counts down to Xenia, instead of up from Cincinnati, which is just plain stupid.

 

Also, without a doubt the highlight of the trail is traveling under the I-71 bridge. That thing is way more impressive when you're under it than driving over it.

 

 

 

That's definitely something I should consider.  The most I've ridden continuously this year was 80 miles in one day, but it was on sidewalks for 60 miles and most of the fatigue came from the constant pounding and lack of shock absorption. 

Sidewalks for 80 miles! That's like 110 road miles.

The danger with biking these long distances is at some point you get a bit delusional and things suddenly get way more dangerous.  I think a lot of people have experienced getting off the bike to realize they're a lot more worn out and dehydrated than they thought just a moment earlier.  This is bad news when you start hitting city streets again for the last 15 miles of a 125 mile ride.   

 

Yeah I'm still wanting to do the Cincinnati > Columbus ride, from my front door to my friend's front door.  It's a bit of a monkey on my back because I know I can do it but have never had things come together where I had the time & mild enough weather.  Honestly I don't know how the Tour de France guys do it.  Not only do they ride over 100 miles every day for a month, they ride almost full throttle the whole time. 

I hear you about the mental/physical displacement factor with riding. In my case, prolonged exercise (continuously swimming or biking for 45-minutes or more) kills my appetite; I have to remind myself to eat something after swimming on my lunch hour and I eat much less for dinner when I make the 14-20 mile ride home from work than I do when I drive. I won't feel it until the next day when I feel all flimsy and wan. Hitting that empty-tank feeling while up in two wheels can't be pretty. Packing a few Clif Bars seems perfectly doable, but beating the dehydration is trickier; on a 1-hour ride I get crampy if I drink more than a couple of mouthfuls of water.

I had absolutely no appetite and couldn't finish dinner at a restaurant after what I'm pretty sure was the most exercise I've gotten in a day, which was when I hiked 18 miles to the summit of Mt. Langley, an obscure 14,000ft. desert mountain in the Sierra Nevadas.  I hiked up the side of thing after having only eaten a hash brown or something like that, only to return around 4 in the afternoon to find the women had eaten everything so we had to don our packs and hike another 6 miles back to the car. I think I burned around 6,000-7,000 calories that day, having only eaten something very small for breakfast that I can't remember and maybe 3 Cliff's bars. 

 

That climb didn't require any special gear but the whole side of the dumb mountain was covered in sand so you had to work twice as hard to get up the side. I was either 22 or 23 and there were guys 50 years old up there who were kicking my ass, including one guy who was jogging to the summit.  That day I learned that there are at least a few Californians who live up to the hype.     

 

Scenic Mt. Langley:

 

I didn't take this photo, but I've stood in this spot.  We're at about 12,000ft. and it's 4-5 miles to the summit, which is just over 14,000ft.  Your sense of distance is totally thrown off when you're at high altitude, and it looks like you'll be on top in 45 minutes when you're nowhere even close.  You can see that there's a valley between the formation we're on and the summit, and that valley probably dips 1,000ft.   

 

 

       

According to this work has begun on the trail extension into Columbus.  This is short on details so I don't know if this trail is going to run exactly parallel to the still-active rail line, or if that rail line has been closed.

 

Bulletin June 2009: Work has started on this 11 mile trail that will continue the Prairie Grass Trail into Columbus. The first section of construction has started at Wilson Road. The sections and their status are below.

 

Section 1 Wilson Road to Kropp Road (6 miles) - The first section has started construction. This 6 mile section starts at Wilson Road (the current end of trail), runs through the town of Lily Chapel, crosses into Franklin County and goes through the town of Georgesville to end at Kropp Road. The builders are hoping to have this six mile section completed this year; 2009.

Section 2 - Kropp Road to Galloway Road (2.4 miles)- This section starts at Kropp Road and runs 2.4 miles through the town of Galloway to end at Galloway Road. I do not have a timetable for Section 2 yet.

 

Section 3 - Galloway Road to Columbus and Sullivant Road (3 miles) - The final section of the Camp Chase RailTrail will run 3 miles from Galloway Road crossing into Columbus. It will go under I-270 and end at Sullivant Avenue. At 2900 Sullivant Avenue is the Camp Chase Cemetery .

 

The entire $10M construction is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

 

"On To Columbus!"

A little off thread but....

 

The 2009 "Race Across America" (RAAM)  bicycle race is coming thru Ohio at the moment.  This is a bicycle race from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans. 

 

They placed a sign in my yard indicating to the riders that they are on the right course.  A couple of teams came past my house during the overnight, waking me up with their loud music and lights from the chase vehicles.

 

The leader is probably in West Virginia now, but a lot of other riders are still in/or entering the state.

 

They enter from Indiana around Oxford, go thru Lebanon, then over to Chillocothe,then on toward West Virginia.

 

I encountered a sidewalk like this out by the Polaris Costco.

 

^

 

I don't understand.  A sidewalk like what?

^

 

I don't understand. A sidewalk like what?

 

There's a linked youtube video in his post, I assume you're not able to view it for whatever reason.  Someone riding a bike goes over a portion of sidewalk that is submerged only to find that there's a sinkhole there.

There's a linked youtube video in his post, I assume you're not able to view it for whatever reason.

 

I don't see any link at all.  Just one line that says "I encountered a sidewalk like this out by the Polaris Costco.", and then a lot of blank screen in the post. 

 

Must be my computer at work.

Several more riders came past my house yesterday in the Race Across America (RAAM).  Some during the day (per my wife), one in the evening when I was cutting grass, and another around 11:30pm.  Tough night of dodging all the rain for the racers.

 

I remember years ago reading a story about endurance events, and how hard they were on the human body. There was a ranking, of course, and the RAAM came in as the second most physically demanding race in the World.

 

So, this is a pretty elite group of bicyclist riding through our state right now. 

 

Downtown Cleveland bicycle rentals start Friday

by Michelle Jarboe/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday June 25, 2009, 5:03 PM

 

Make room for a some additional city traffic -- the two-wheel kind.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/06/downtown_cleveland_bicycle_ren.html

There's a linked youtube video in his post, I assume you're not able to view it for whatever reason.

 

I don't see any link at all. Just one line that says "I encountered a sidewalk like this out by the Polaris Costco.", and then a lot of blank screen in the post.

 

Must be my computer at work.

 

Here's the link:

Both YouTube screens are appearing for me. Must be on your end, CincyDad.

Probably a site that is blocked.  That's how 99% of this thread shows up for me at work.

The City Bikes were on display on East 4th St. today.  They are an unusual design- shaped like a step through moped.  I wonder how well they will be used.  Very, I hope.

Not just on campus anymore

Bike racks might be must for businesses

Idea is popular in busy areas such as Downtown

Monday,  June 29, 2009 3:03 AM

By Dave Hendricks

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Bike parking racks, wavy U-shaped pieces of metal that dot college campuses and have long been a fixture in coastal cities, could become the norm in Columbus if the city adopts a new set of parking rules.

 

Full story: http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/06/29/bike_parking.ART_ART_06-29-09_B2_24EAS09.html?sid=101

Downtown Cleveland bicycle rentals start Friday

by Michelle Jarboe/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday June 25, 2009, 5:03 PM

 

Make room for a some additional city traffic -- the two-wheel kind.

 

Full story: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/06/downtown_cleveland_bicycle_ren.html

 

Went on a walk and stopped by thier stand.  The bikes are ineresting in that they look like a scooter, open where your feet would go on a scooter.  Anyway, he said that today was slow but that over the weekend they were pretty busy.  Sounds like it is starting off well.  I hope that demand stays as I think it is a great move.

I like that Columbus is talking about the U shaped bike racks.  The traditional "wheel benders" stink for so many reasons but they still seem to be used the most.  It would seem that the person picking the rack designs actually has experience with racks, big thumbs up!

I hope no one minds me doing this.  I finished building my 78 Raleigh Professional recently and wanted to share my pictures of it.  I have since put a couple hundred miles on it and love it!

 

 

Here is a more recent pic, I swapped the Ambrosio bars with some classic bend Cinelli bars and shellaced some white cloth tape:

Very sharp; a classy classic, and you did a meticulous job. Working with bikes can be very rewarding; the options for upgrading and customizing are nearly endless, and it doesn't take as much money or shop space as working with cars.

 

Edit: That's a tall frame. What's the size?

^^Yum!

 

EDIT:

 

Especially:

 

 

Is that coiled aluminum around that shifter cable? Hot!

 

And I love that butted frame:

 

 

I ride a fairly low-end 1991 Schwinn with these joints. Stifferiffic! Here's a restoration of the exact model of my bike (this is not my restoration, but a guy can dream)... http://veloresto.blogspot.com/search/label/Schwinn%20Crossfit

The evolution of shifter positions is an interesting part of biking history, considering that now they seem to have been perfected by being integrated into the hand brakes.  This 10-speed shifter position has to have caused a fair number of wrecks over the years, and is reason enough to avoid this era's bikes. 

 

Today's mountain bikes and commuter bikes have much better shifters than 10 years ago -- they are easy triggered with the thumb and on a quality bike shift precisely every singe time.  There are no gears where the chain jumps no matter what, like a guitar that can never be brought completely into tune the whole length of the fretboard.   

The evolution of shifter positions is an interesting part of biking history, considering that now they seem to have been perfected by being integrated into the hand brakes.  This 10-speed shifter position has to have caused a fair number of wrecks over the years, and is reason enough to avoid this era's bikes. 

 

[ ... ]   

The few road bikes in my accumulation are all older, and mostly nothing special. I chose the early-80s Schwinn LeTour Luxe for a shopping bike largely because of the position of the shifters on the down tube and because it was still in pretty good condition overall. As I've become less flexible, shifting it has become more risky. Around the city there are few grades steep enough or long enough to demand a shift, so I just leave it in the same gear 95% of the time. I had already added a rear carrier and fenders, and I switched the drop bars for an upright set.

 

 

 

Wald makes a nice collapsible wire basket that mounts to the side of the rear carrier, so I added one of those and likely will add another.

 

 

 

 

Like the yellow '70s belt beacon? It uses a 9-volt battery and xenon bulb, and flashes about 100 times/minute. It still works, but I usually don't use it because it would just confuse the local white trash drunks. They'd think it was a blinker on an orange barrel and try to run into it just for grins. There's a red LED strobe mounted to the seat post.

What a great old man bike! Those old Schwinns are commanding more and more dollars of late...hold on to it. You guys carrying your pumps on the frame... I gave that up when I started busing and biking (I carry mine in my back back with my tools and spare tubes ALWAYS).

Lots of links here on bike lanes.

 

Bike Lanes: Pros & Cons

 

http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/bikelanes.html

 

Yeah, there's quite a debate in the bike community over the validity of bike lanes. A lot of cyclists like are very hardcore vehicular cyclists where they want to ride in traffic like everyone else. Personally, I like bike lanes in suburban, rural areas where traffic is going fast, but I "take the lane" in more narrow, urban areas, such as on Detroit in Lakewood.

 

i agree. while its great that they take out auto traffic, i also notice that its a heck of a lot harder for us pedestrians to cross busy urban streets where we have dedicated/seperate bike lanes.

 

That is a really sweet commuter bike Rob.  The 80's asian Schwinns were (imo) leaps and bounds better than earlier Chicago made versions.  I think it was either Giant or Panasonic who made those frames, maybe both, I can't remember.  The cro molly frames and Suntour components huge huge upgrades from the chunks of steel they were selling in the 70's.  Suntour is my favorite gear from the 70's and 80's too.  I have mid-range Suntour groups that out perform my Campagnolo group.  Campagnolo was probably more about Italian bike snobbery than it was about innovation.

 

Aside from that I love the changes you made to your Letour.  It's a very smart build and the cantilever brakes are very enviable!  How do you like the "symmetric" shifters, I have always wanted to try them out.

The evolution of shifter positions is an interesting part of biking history, considering that now they seem to have been perfected by being integrated into the hand brakes.  This 10-speed shifter position has to have caused a fair number of wrecks over the years, and is reason enough to avoid this era's bikes. 

 

Today's mountain bikes and commuter bikes have much better shifters than 10 years ago -- they are easy triggered with the thumb and on a quality bike shift precisely every singe time.  There are no gears where the chain jumps no matter what, like a guitar that can never be brought completely into tune the whole length of the fretboard.   

 

Very true, down tube friction shifters are from ancient times and modern brifters are superior for a number of reasons.  Not only do they put the shifters in the most sensible spot they are also designed better as far as hand position.  New bends in bars give a nice flat transition into the lever hoods where the old style Cinelli bars you just kind of draped your hands around the hoods.

 

Still, I enjoy the old down tube shifters for what they are.  Just like friction shifting, they have their place in cycling history.  It's not really that hard to adjust to using them, a little practice and it becomes second nature much like toe clips or clipless pedals.  Reaching down and shifting has become second nature to me.  Bar end shifters are a really great option to replace down tube levers, Suntour's were the best and I have a few waiting for another build.

Rob, don't you have an older rod-brake roadster?  I think I remember lusting over pictures of it at some point in time.  I want to say Rudge but maybe it was a Raleigh?  You must be pretty tall, what size frame is your Schwinn, 63cm?

I have a Raleigh DL-1 Roadster with rod brakes that's my cruising-around-town bike when I don't have to haul anything. Standard carriers don't fit it, and I've not been motivated to hand-craft anything. The Raleigh has 28-inch wheels and 24-inch frame, which makes it a fairly tall bike.

 

I'm only about 5'10" now, but I used to be just shy of 6'. I've always been long-legged for my height, and that's always been problematic with factory bikes; get a bike with a long enough seat tube, and the top tube is too long. It makes reaching for down-tube shifters awkward, too.

 

The Schwinn still uses the original down-tube shifters; the big handlebar grips are just oversized foam ones that came with the handlebar conversion kit. I've always liked the way that bike rides and works; it rolls easily and shifts smoothly. Mechanically and structurally it's as you say, vastly superior to the old Chicago-built gas-pipe frames. I rode a few Varsities and Collegiates, and although they were indestructible, they were heavy as tanks and the accessories were all crude.

 

I probably have eight or ten bikes squirrelled away in my basement and garage. Someday I'll dig them all out and take photos. Not all are rideable, and some probably aren't worth restoring but some definitely are, like the $15 Nottingham-built Hercules probably from the 1950s. I don't think it needs much more than a good cleaning and greasing and maybe tires. I picked up a pretty turquoise AMF coaster-brake bike for $10 that just needed the tires pumped up. It's fun to bomb around the neighborhood once in a while on it.

I really like the DL-1, does yours have the full chain case?  I have seen a guy who has the wald paperboy style baskets attached to his, I don't know if he had to rig them or not.

 

I have a few of the low end Chicago Schwinns around, a collegiate and Suburban.  I do love them, they are what they are.  My collegiate gets a lot of use, I usually take it to work.

Here is a 58 Norman that I fixed up a while ago.  I loved this bike (expect the sturmey archew SW hub) I tried to talk my wife into keeping it for her but it just wasn't her style I guess.

 

 

This is my collegiate, I replaced the GT-100 derailleur with a Suntour VX.

I really like the DL-1, does yours have the full chain case?  I have seen a guy who has the wald paperboy style baskets attached to his, I don't know if he had to rig them or not.

 

I have a few of the low end Chicago Schwinns around, a collegiate and Suburban.  I do love them, they are what they are.  My collegiate gets a lot of use, I usually take it to work.

Here is a 58 Norman that I fixed up a while ago.  I loved this bike (expect the sturmey archew SW hub) I tried to talk my wife into keeping it for her but it just wasn't her style I guess.

 

 

This is my collegiate, I replaced the GT-100 derailleur with a Suntour VX.

 

Nice bikes! You fix 'em up good!

 

A friend has a Collegiate with a Sturmey-Archer AW 3-speed. I think the date stamp on his hub is 1969. His bike is filthy but free of rust and dents and mechanically sound.

 

My DL-1 doesn't have the full chain case; of the ones shipped to the US, I think only the early ones had those. I jumped through all kinds of hoops to get a full chain case shipped from England, and then when it arrived I couldn't install it. Turns out the full chain case models have a different crank arm assembly on that side, with more clearance between the crank arm and the chainring. Mine has an ordinary chain guard, and I've removed that until I can straighten it; it got bent and now either rubs the chain or hits the crank.

 

Here's my first bike. I was eleven, maybe twelve years old:

 

Edit:The front hub was an internal-expanding drum brake, and there was an electric horn inside the tank, powered by two D-cells. The taillight built into the rear carrier worked as a brake light when the coaster brake was applied.

 

I was going full-bore on the county road near our house, when the neighbor's big bike-chasing farm dog ran in front of me. I ran completely over him. I got some awful road rash, but the bike was unscathed aside from minor scratches. The dog didn't fare so well; they had to have him put down.

Boy, you got the deluxe model!  Springer fork, front dynohub, tank (with horn?)  That is really cool, the other kids probably wept with envy.

 

Have you seen the 2009 version that they have out?  I don't think it's so bad.  Look at the difference in the size of the chainrings!  Yesterdays kids were obviously much tougher!

I already know the middle of the lane is the safest place, but Long Beach figured it out well before Columbus.

 

 

Very cool. This disproves many a myth about the relative efficiencies of the transportation mix. I've been commuting by bike from Italian Village to Polaris almost daily and my biggest obstacle is stop-and-go traffic. It's 30 miles r/t, and there's really only a 35 minute difference between riding and driving (60 mins driving/95 mins riding, or 28mph avg driving, 18mph avg riding).

That is a really sweet commuter bike Rob. The 80's asian Schwinns were (imo) leaps and bounds better than earlier Chicago made versions. I think it was either Giant or Panasonic who made those frames, maybe both, I can't remember. The cro molly frames and Suntour components huge huge upgrades from the chunks of steel they were selling in the 70's. Suntour is my favorite gear from the 70's and 80's too. I have mid-range Suntour groups that out perform my Campagnolo group. Campagnolo was probably more about Italian bike snobbery than it was about innovation.

 

Aside from that I love the changes you made to your Letour. It's a very smart build and the cantilever brakes are very enviable! How do you like the "symmetric" shifters, I have always wanted to try them out.

 

 

I owned a late 80's Schwinn voyager touring bike Beautiful lugged Cromoly frame,  Suntour components (upgraded to grease guard inJectible bottom bracket) etc. Added  front and rear rack, etc.. I toured that thing all over Washington state, Oregon,  Canada. Sold it for An Italian racing frame. wish I still had it. Only  problem was it was heavy. about 25 lbs. stripped but the quality / price ratio was superb.