Two Hundred

We finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone tonight. Excellent way to celebrate 200!

One Hundred Ninety-Nine

Single Speed Finish

Here I am at the finish with Joseph and David. The picture isn't very good, but you can sort of see all the mud around the brake. Under the head tube I've got a bolt and some washers I use to mount a fender sometimes. There's only a few millimeters of clearance between the bolt and the tire. That might have been part of the problem.

One-Hundred Ninety-Eight

Single Speed Race

The course was muddy! I rode the beginners race on fat slicks and kept falling down. I went home, cleaned up, ate second breakfast, changed tires, took the lights off, and came back for the single speed race. Unfortunately, so much mud got stuck between my front tire and fork that I had to stop and carry my bike on some of the flats, because I couldn't get the front wheel to turn. Nevertheless, I had lots of fun at both races!

One Hundred Ninety-Seven

Single Speed Start

This was the scene at the start of the single speed race at the Cross Crusade Series Race #2 on Sunday. "Beer... Beer... Beer..."

One Hundred Ninety-Six

I made up my mind to use TA Alize double cranks on the new Vanilla and Ira Ryan bikes. I was able to get two sets in 170mm, which is perfect for me. I already have a set of TA Alize tandem cranks in 170 (captain) and 165 (stoker). If the tandem cranks yield the same chainlines as the double cranks, then I might be able to buy four identical square taper bottom brackets. That's great in terms of stocking a spare and minimizing the number of tools I need.

On his website, Peter White says the Alize double cranks use a 103mm bottom bracket. I assume this would translate to a 41mm inner and 46mm outer chainline with 3/32" chainrings. So a 119mm symmetrical Phil Wood stainless steel bottom bracket would produce chainlines of about 47.4mm and 54.4mm when using 1/8" chainrings and 1.2mm chainring spacers between the inner ring and the arms of the spider.

A Phil Wood KISS-OFF 135mm single speed hub is 45.35mm from the center of the hub to the shoulder. A White Industries freewheel moves the chainline out 8.73mm from the shoulder or 45.35+8.73=54.08mm from the center. An 1/8" cog screwed on "backwards" produces a chainline of about 45.35+1.5=46.9mm. The 7mm difference in chainlines is perfect for an 1/8" chain.

In an email from Chris King, I was told that their single speed hubs allow for 45, 50, and 55mm chainlines using a combination of a cog and two of their spacers, all of which are 5.2mm thick. (The math to the right of the decimal point doesn't quite add up, but it's close enough.) Using two 2.4, 2.5, or 2.56mm spacers, I can position two King Kogs at approximately 47mm and 55mm from the center.

If I use 700c wheels on the tandem, I should be able to swap wheels between all three bikes and have the chainlines for both the inner and outer chainrings line up almost perfectly with the chainlines for 2 King Kogs, a White Industries freewheel, and a Phil Wood cog.

For RAAM, I'm thinking about this combination:

On the Vanilla, I'll use 40T outer and 42T inner chainrings.
On the Ira Ryan, I'll use 42T outer and 45T inner chainrings.

On the Chris King hub, I'll use 16T inner and 18T outer Kogs.
On the Phil Wood hub, I'll use a 15T inner cog and an 18T outer freewheel.

Using the inner ring for the bigger gear is sort of backwards, but it's the only way I can get the chainlines I want using the 1/8" cog and the White Industries freewheel on the Phil hub. Hopefully, the 45T inner ring on the Ira Ryan won't hit the chain stay.

So for RAAM I would have the following possible gear ratios:

Vanilla+Chris King
40x18 outer (58.6 gear inches, 58 total teeth)
42x16 inner (69.2 gear inches, 58 total teeth)

Ira Ryan + Phil Wood
42x18 outer (61.6 gear inches, 60 total teeth)
45x15 inner (79.1 gear inches, 60 total teeth) - fixed

Or these if I swapped wheels:

Vanilla+Phil Wood
40x18 outer (58.6 gear inches, 58 total teeth)
42x15 inner (73.9 gear inches, 57 total teeth) - fixed

Ira Ryan+Chris King
42x18 outer (61.6 gear inches, 60 total teeth)
45x16 inner (74.2 gear inches, 61 total teeth)

The beauty of this setup is the range of gears I can get (about 60, 70, and 80 gear inches) with only two chainlines on each bike and two sets of wheels.

One Hundred Ninety-Five

Mud Flap

I installed my old Vetta saddle on the Lotus in place of the one that came with the bike. It feels much nicer. I also added a mud flap to the fender. Pretty, eh?

Got an email from Joel this morning. He asked the ibike_or list for advice about where to get a new fixie. I was more than happy to help give him some pointers. Among other things, I referred Joel to the Community Cycling Center. Later I told Tuan about the CCC too. Ed even seemed mildly interested in bikes for a second. I wonder if I can get him riding again. That would be an accomplishment. He really likes his car.

One Hundred Ninety-Four

Visitor

We had a vistor on the front porch tonight. David's class is studying insects. He wanted to catch it. I suggested we take a picture instead.

One Hundred Ninety-Three

CCC Sticker

Today I gave the Community Cycling Center my Nishiki frame, a few wheels, and a bag full of components including some Ultegra derailleurs and STI shifters. While we were there we picked up Julia's new bike and bought a few tubes for the kids' bikes, new brake cables and housing for David's bike, and a couple of ferrules and cable crimps that didn't want to leave the store.

One Hundred Ninety-Two

Julia's New Fender

Here's the rear coroplast fender I made tonight. It turned out very nice, if I do say so myself. I want to make more. But that's another story...

One Hundred Ninety-One

Julia's New Bike

This is Julia's new bike - a Lotus - attached to the Bob trailer. Lucky for us, the Lotus came with a solid rear axle the right size for my Bob Nuts.

One Hundred Ninety

David's Bike

David has been complaining about the brakes on his bike not working very well. There was a lot of friction in the cables, and the whole setup was a rediculous mess - just so you could turn the handlebars in circles. So today I tore off the old cables and installed new ones. I had a left over piece of Avid Flack Jacket cable housing that David inherited. He got a couple of Avid ferrules too, since we apparently forgot the generic ones at the CCC.

I also raised the seat and rotated the bars forward. David said it feels like he's riding a bigger bike now. He also said that when he applied the brakes while going down hill toward the driveway, it felt like the bike might flip over. (The right lever works the front brake now instead of the rear.) Music to my ears!

One Hundred Eighty-Nine

Saturday (yesterday) was fantastic. I left the house aroud 6:15 in the morning and rode up Cornell, over Skyline, to the Community Cycling Center. Neal Armstrong, volunteer coordinator at the CCC, sent an email on Wednesday to people who attended the volunteer orientation class last Tuesday. Neal asked for help with a “Hands on Portland Day of Caring” event at the CCC. Volunteers from Liberty Northwest Insurance Company were coming on Saturday to help tear down bikes and Neal needed some help leading people through the process.

About 25 people from Liberty Northwest showed up a 9:00. I got to Alberta street around 7:30 and had a cup of coffee, two potato pancakes, and a scotch egg at a nice little dinner a couple of blocks west of the CCC. Shortly after 8:00 I started helping Neal set up tool boxes for the volunteers.

Each tool box is a different color and most of the tools inside are marked with the color of the box they belong to. The boxes contain a pretty amazing number of tools. I wish I had one in my garage. Although I don’t really need seven different freewheel remover tools, the CCC uses all of them and more!

I taught Paul and Laura, from Liberty Northwest, how to identify the freewheel remover required for a particular wheel, secure the tool in a vice, place the freewheel on the tool, and remove the freewheel from the hub. The shop had another bucket of tools for freewheels that couldn’t be removed with one of the tools in the colored tool boxes. Even with those tools, there were a handful of wheels that we couldn’t find the tool for. By 11:30 Paul and Laura had removed about 30 freewheels. There were a few wheels with cassettes, and I showed them how to use a chain whip and one of the Shimano tools to remove the lock ring and slide the sprockets off.

Most of the bikes weren’t worth trying to save. The objective was to salvage some of the components and recycle the rest of the material. In two hours, about 100 bikes were processed. There were a few frames that we wanted to keep. I had fun teaching a couple of people how to remove the cranks and bottom bracket from two of the frames that are going to be reused.

After things were cleaned up and the volunteers had left, I bought a used bike as a surprise for my wife, Julia, who has never owned a bike since we moved to Oregon in 1996. I forget what brand the frame is, but I remember it’s red. It has mountain bike bars, V brakes, 26” slick, moderately fat tires, lots of clearance for some coroplast fenders, Shimano components that seem to be in decent condition, and a kickstand. I’ve got an old Nishiki frame taking up space in the garage. I plan to donate the frame tomorrow when we pick up the bike. I’m excited. The other day Julia was saying she would ride a bike to the pool if she had one. Hopefully she does. I’m proud that our kids are good swimmers now, and Julia is making progress too. I like to think that I played a role in encouraging them to swim. Next step is to get everyone out on bikes more often. Oh yeah, I also bought two super bright Planet Bike taillights at the CCC. I put one on the seat post of my Country Road Bob and the other on the trail-a-bike. I've always been concerned that we don't have a light on the back of the trail-a-bike when I take the kids to school.

Hands on Portland had a celebration event at the Rose Quarter where people who had volunteered at various places around the city in the morning got together for lunch and entertainment. The Hands on Portland project has been growing by about 500 volunteers a year for the last three years. This year there was just shy of 2000 people who helped with things like painting schools and the bike tear down at the CCC. Outback Steakhouse served a fabulous lunch. I had to wait in line for a while, but it was worth it. Just as I was finishing my dinner, a lady sat down next to me, because she noticed my cycling clothes and wanted to talk to the “biker”. We really hit it off and talked for a long time. It was fantastic. Her name is Sharon and I gave her one of my Sabertooth Salmon “business” cards. So if you’re reading this, Sharon, thanks for the company!

On the way home, I decided to take Leif Erickson trail over the hills instead of sticking to the pavement. As I was heading up Thurman, the Fat Tire Farm caught my eye and I decided to go inside. I’ve often wanted to see what the place is like. One of the guys working there was real helpful and gave me some advice about keeping my feet and hands warm this winter. I bought a pair of Gortex socks and a pair of Descente gloves. They were a bit spendy, and the fact that the gloves are made in China doesn’t thrill me, but I felt good about supporting The Farm. I looked at some super expensive battery powered lights in the store (see http://www.bikelites.com/). I need something like that if I’m going to do much riding at night in the winter on roads like Old Germantown or off-road on Leif Erickson. I also got to hold a Chris King single speed hub for the first time. It reminded me of the first time I held one of my kids – sort of. I can’t wait to start riding one. It looks like I could put two cogs on at once and use both chainrings. I still love riding fixed, but I’m getting excited about coasting again too.

On the way home I did more thinking about life, work, riding, values, priorities – deep stuff that seems so profound at the time but often a little embarrassing afterward. I believe I had some pretty interesting epiphanies this time. I’m gonna sleep on it. Maybe I’ll share more later.

Lights out.

One Hundred Eighty-Eight

Circa 10:42 PM

L to R: front wheel composed of SON hub, 32 DT spokes and DT black brass nipples, Velocity Dyad rim, (camera shy: Velox rim tape and Performance thorn resistant tube), Conti 700x37 Sport Contact tires; wheel with Jones counter for measuring road running courses; Paul Motolite V-brake with brake pad brackets installed backwards due to clearance issues with fork; black KoolStop pads; Nokon aluminum cable housing; Paul love lever; sporty grips; bell; E6 headlight with 3W bulb; no-name aluminum riser bars; Thomson stem; carbon fork (with canti boss that I repaired); zero stack headset; VanDessel Country Road Bob frame; Speedplay Frog pedals; 172.5mm Truvativ ISIS cranks; 118mm Race Face signature series ISIS bottom bracket; TA 44T and 40T chainrings; Izumi ESH track chain; original front wheel and knobby tire for 'cross; coroplast fender; Thomson setback seat post; Profile by Design water bottle holders; trail-a-bike mount; Koobi PRS saddle; DToplight Plus reflector mounted on coroplast bracket; Tubus logo rear rack; generator mount by Dave Levy; Busch & Muller S6 bottle generator; rear wheel (same as front except with shy Phil Wood fixed/fixed KISS-OFF hub and Phil 1/8" 16T and 20T cogs); Arkel panniers and covers; Lumotec head - er, taillight; RoadID blinkies.

One Hundred Eighty-Seven

Reused Aluminum

The mount holding the light is attached to a sawed off piece of my aluminum riser bars (which are back on the bike, by the way). The red lens came from my army issued flashlight. It's super glued to a spacer from a busted up bottom bracket. The spacer is attached to the light with caulk. The lighted is powered by a bottle generator. I'm proud of the setup.

One Hundred Eighty-Six

Thanks again, Dave!

Dave Levy fabricated this generator mount attached to the seat stay on my Country Road Bob. He did a very nice job. However, I took the generator off after RAO, because I hardly ever used it since building up my front wheel around a Schmidt hub. After Ring of Fire I took off the generator powered tail light and started using battery powered blinkies instead. I wasn't happy with the light they were putting out, though, and I don't like batteries (too much waste). So tonight I put the generator back on. Now it powers a 3W taillight!

If you want to reach Dave, here's his awesome address:

15707 NW McNamee Road
Portland Oregon 97231 USA

And phone number: 503-621-9670

One Hundred Eighty-Five

Last night I attended a volunteer orientation class at the Community Cycling Center, the largest non-profit organization in the country that uses the bicycle as a tool for teaching positive life skills to youth. There were 15-20 of us there - various ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience. We began the class by introducing ourselves. Everyone said their name, described what bike they were currently riding, and what motivated them to volunteer at the center. My favorite reason for coming was, “I just really like bikes.” And the best description of a bike was, “Some old bike – I don’t know what kind it is.” I was blown away by all the bikes and bike parts at the center. The new mural on the side of the building is equally impressive. (I'll bring a camera next time.) One guy seemed to feel bad about living in the neighborhood for 15 years and not getting involved sooner.

On the way out of Hillsboro, I hooked up with two fellow Intel employees - John and Ku (sp?) - who work at Ronler and were riding into Portland on their way home. It was a great ride. John used to be a pro triathlete. Ku lives just a few blocks from the CCC; he said I made him want to get out on his fixie again. I love it when people connect like that. Ku and I stopped by Cycle Path and chatted with Bill for a while.

On the way home I took a wrong turn and ended up riding around the University of Portland campus. Things look different at night when you're going in the opposite direction you usually go. It made me think about how easy it is going to be to get off course during RAAM.

I was also thinking about RAAM - and commuting in general - as I was descending Old Germantown Road. Even though there was some light in the sky, the road was VERY dark. My 3 watt bulb barely provided enough light. I'm thinking that some sort of high powered battery setup might be nice just for sketchy descents. Otherwise, I'll be going downhill at a snails pace just so I don't end up in a ditch.

One Hundred Eighty-Four

Completed my biography for RAAM tonight...

Occupation: Software "Engineer", Greens Keeper, Wan-a-be Bicycle Components Assembly Specialist

Family Status: Married with Children (Our favorite TV show is Malcolm in the Middle.)

Name(s) of senior educational facilities attended: Purdue University

What originally attracted you to athletic endurance events? lack of speed

What inspired you to take on the momentous challenge of RAAM? qualifying

What sacrifices have you made to enable you to compete in RAAM? I'm sacrificing a chunk of change for two new hand built bicycles: a Vanilla and an Ira Ryan. You do what you gotta do.

Has your participation in RAAM made an impact on your local community, or another community? My participation in RAAM has motivated me to get involved with the Community Cycling Center.

What are conditions like for cyclists/cycling in your local community? The best! (But it's September. Ask me again in a few months.)

Do you have any statements to make to people in your local community? Embrace the bicycle as a mode of transportation. Explore and protect the environement. Pursue a healthy lifestyle. Be civically active. Seek excellence. And have fun!

Race History (recent events, participation, and results): http://www.sabertoothsalmon.com/adventures/index.html

Other sports (spectator or participant) of interest: triathlons, golf, backpacking, BB gun shooting, skiing

What is your personal most cherished athletic feat? Why? My most cherished athletic feat is recording the fastest solo split on the finishing climb at Race Across Oregon in 2006 - on a fixie. I even rode the last 5-6 miles faster than Saunders Whittlesey, an incredible rider who smashed the course record that year.

Considering all sports, what were the events or outcomes that most impacted your life in both negative and positive manners? Learning to swim more than a mile. DNFing at my first ultra (RAO). Finishing Race Across Oregon the next year.

Who, above all, is your greatest sporting inspiration? Why? Bruce Lee. Amazing athlete and philosopher. Made terrific movies. Often weighed less than I do. Bet he would have been great at 'cross.

What is the largest "life" obstacle you have overcome to compete in RAAM? qualifying

When you first heard of RAAM, did you ever think you would one day enter the race? What were your first thoughts after learning about RAAM? No. Impossible.

What preparation have you employed to prepare for RAAM (in general terms): reading, riding, blogging, eating, sleeping, negotiating

What is your ultimate athletic goal? riding my bike to a job I love for the next 30 years

Obstacle to reaching your ultimate athletic goal: getting hired by Chris King; the west hills

What intimidates you most about RAAM? lack of sleep, fatigue, lack of speed

What attracts you the most about RAAM? the challenge

What special talents do you posses outside of ultra marathon cycling? (i.e., concert pianist, stand-up comedian, artist, other extreme sports, expert chef, hostage negotiator, etc. anything is welcome): fixed gear cyclocross (my "talent" is a work in progress), USATF road running course certifier, greens keeper

Please list all languages that you speak: English, some Spanish, more Chinese, Korean (numbers 1-8)

Do you feel your ultra marathon abilities have peaked or do you feel that the best is yet to come? The best better be yet to come!

Favorite quote, famous or not, that fuels your ambition: "I'm gonna do RAAM."

What would you like most to express to the world? It's simple to be happy if you're happy to be simple.

One Hundred Eighty-Three

Community Cycling Center

Volunteer orientations are on the first Tuesday of every month from 7-9:30 PM. (Tomorrow!) I'm excited!! I plan to ride from Hillsboro over the St. John's Bridge if you want to join me.

One Hundred Eighty-Two

Travis and John

Tom Jacobson emailed this picture to me along with a nice note. Here's my reply and his original message:

Hi Tom,

Yes, that's me! Thanks for sending me the picture!! If you haven't seen it yet, this webpage has links to all my Interbike pictures and postings:

www.sabertoothsalmon.com/adventures/2006/Interbike.html

I know what you mean about riding lots and getting burned out. That's sort of how I felt after 2005. It was good to take the winter off and do other things (like learning to ski) to recharge the batteries.

Last weekend I rode to Hood River and did my first cyclocross race. George and Terri came out to watch. That was neat! Tonight I put some 700x37 slicks on my Country Road Bob and went exploring off road. I rode about 15 miles on Lief Erickson Trail and a few more up a fire lane. I've run on that trail countless times, but this was the first time on a bike. It was tons of fun. I really believe that trying different things and finding ways to have fun on the bike is key to success at ultra-distance cycling. It's easy to get tired of all those miles on the road.

Are you thinking about RAO again next year? Any other big races on your schedule yet?

Great to hear from you!!

John

Tom Jacobson wrote:

Hi John,

I have been enjoying reading your blog. I was looking though some pictures at velonews.com, and wondered if that is you in this photo to the right of Travis Brown?

I scaled back my riding after RAO - was finding it hard to get motivated for a couple of months. I'm getting out more now and am trying a real training plan over the winter. I think it will pay off - in the past I have just "ridden lots".

Best of luck in all of your future adventures and I hope to see you at another event.

Tom Jacobson

My good friend and neighbor Matthew Rider noticed too:

Matthew Rider wrote:

VeloNews article on Interbike has a picture from MTB Hall of Fame introductions and who should be there but the Sabertooth Salmon.

Article:
http://velonews.com/tech/report/articles/10955.0.html

Direct link to picture:
http://images.velonews.com/images/report/10955.16591.t.jpg

I see that Leonard Zinn took the picture too. His book, Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance, taught me a lot about wrenching my own bikes.