Friday, November 9, 2012
The Fiscal Cliff Explained so a cyclist can understand it.
Driver: OMG we are about to drive off a fiscal Cliff!!!!!
Co-Pilot: Quick Turn the wheel and get us back on the road!!!!
Driver: No can do, this road is clearly too dangerous to be driving on.
Cyclist: Why am I in a car, I hate cars.
Co-Pilot: Just follow this road a little further, I'm sure we can find another way down.
Cyclist: But the signs the whole way up have said "Warning: Dead end and Fall hazard"
C-pilot: I don't think they really meant that, they were just trying to scare you, lets go a little higher.
Driver: Besides I am pretty sure that if we floor it, tilt our heads to the left, close one eye and hope really hard, a bunch of pink sparkly faeries will catch us and set us back on the ground.
Co-Pilot: That's Crazy
Driver: Just because you are a bigot and don't think faeries are as good as the rest of us doesn't mean they aren't real and won't help us. In fact, the only way my plan can fail is if you don't hope for the faeries hard enough. So if we total the car and sustain serious bodily harm after I drive this car off the cliff, it will actually be your fault because you are a racist.
Co-Pilot: I'm not racist, in fact my daughter has a binder with faeries all over it, and I help her with the math homework that she keeps in it. Why just the other day I was having lunch with my friend Larry, and I brought up the topic of her binder full of faeries and was saying how great it was that she would share it with me and if she lets me I am going to bring it with me to work next week. So don't tell me I don't like Faeries because....
Cyclist: Um.. guys we are still driving towards a cliff. Couldn't we just turn around?
Co-Pilot: Not anymore, I just paid a friend of mine at the DOT 5 million dollars to move the bottom half mile of the road to the top of the mountain to buy us some more time, but bozo here is intent on driving off this cliff here instead of the one we just put in on the top.
Cyclist: I think I just saw some sweet singletrack, let me grab my bike off the top of the car.
Driver: Not just now I need to get up some speed if we are to break through the guardrail
Co-pilot: Couldn't we just drive the rest of the way up with two wheels over the edge and two on the road.
Driver: Nope your plan won't work, it's my way or nothing.
Co- pilot: Ok, but if it doesn't work, I blame you.
Driver: I'm Flying!!!!!!
Co-pilot: No this is free fall, where are the faeries?
Driver: You are not hoping hard enough! we are going to crash
Diver and Co-pilot together: This is your fault!!!!
Co-pilot: Hey where did spandex boy go?
(2 miles away heading for some sweet singletrack)
Cyclist: mmm Singletrack......
Monday, July 23, 2012
Buy Nice Pedals
All this really hit home when one the guys here asked me about a set of pedals I was putting on my new road bike, and I realized that I had had them for about 13 years. There are all sorts of stories here, but let me run through some examples of pedals I have owned and I think you will see where I am going with it.
First clipless pedals were $30 cheapie SPD style Welgos I bought online. Rode them on my mountain bike and destroyed them in a season, repurchased them and destroyed the second set as well.
Time MTB pedals - Started running Time's on a recommendation from a teammate. Due to cash constraints I bought the less expensive Time ATAC pedals. Loved the system but found myself destroying them regularly. It was to the point where I had a box of spare pedals and if ever I had both a left and a right pedal in there I would run them as a set. Finally I sprung for the Time World Cup Pedals which were times high end version of the same pedal I was riding. I didn't think about it at time, but as the World Cups quietly worked on one of my bikes I continued to destroy the others on my other bike.
Ended up selling all my pedals (including the World Cups) when I switched to Crank Brothers as I was frusterated with breaking so many pedals.
Crank Brothers- Landed a sponsorship deal with Crank Brothers and was riding two sets of EggBeater Twin Ti. pedals which were one step off of the top of the line. After countless 24 hour races, thousands of hours of training, and more abuse than I care to mention, I am still riding these pedals after over 11 years. Naturally I was really happy with them and have been singing the praises of Eggbeaters. A few years ago I brought my wife on board and bought her a cheap set (MRX) of Eggbeaters for her occasional riding, I also had a second set that I was going to put on my commuter, but never got around to it until a year and a half ago. In about a year of commuting on the MRX I destoyed a bearing and cracked the shell on the pedal, and if finally dawned on me.
I was not breaking pedals because of the brands, I was breaking pedals because of the quality I was purchasing from that brand.
Suddenly spending $200 on a pedal that will last 10 or more years and outlast 3 bikes makes more sense than buying a new set of $60 pedals every year.
In summary:
Nice Twin Ti Eggbeaters - 11 years and counting
Nice Look Road pedals - 13 years and counting
$180 Times - Rode for 2 seasons and then sold them in good condition.
$30 wellgo's - Less than a season and done
$60 Time's - about a season
Conclusion: Buy nice pedals. It is well worth the investment.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Rookie Mistake, Pro Save
So here is the short version of the mess up. Going to take my son mountain biking, but running behind. Pump up rear tire. Pump up Front tire but there is a problem at the valve and it is losing air.
Discover that the valve has separated from my stan's tubeless rim strip.
Remove rim strip.
Forget to sweep the tire. (note: if you are running tubeless with Stan's solution, just because you didn't go flat doesn't mean there are no thorns in your tire. I find that there are ALWAYS thorns in my tire, which make me even dumber for not sweeping it out)
Put in spare tube.
Grab Spare tube and saddle bag off wifes bike
Go to park.
Discover that tube in now flat and leaking rapidly when inflated.
Choose now as a time to remember that wifes bike has schraeder valves so I can't use her spare tube. Also a good time to notice that her patch kit has rubber cement that is no longer usable.
Now we are at the decision point, go home or try something drastic. I will have you know that Lane and I rode for 5 miles which is what made this picture possible.
Also know that the fix lasted not only for the five mile ride, but also sat in my garage overnight, and made the 15 mile commute into work the next day without having to re-inflate.
So if you get in a bind and need to fix a flat tire without a spare tube or a patch, this is one of my favorite trailside fixes. This is the second time it has bailed me out, but you can check out the pictures of us undoing the fix at the shop the next day....
Photo 1: Me riding in the shop on the temporary fix which has been holding for over 24 hours
The reveal of how the fix was accomplished....
The 26" Tube which was tied in a knot to make what amounts to a 22" tube which can be stretched to fit a 26" wheel / tire. Small section of the tire that would have a flat spot due to not having air in it is counter balanced by the extra rubber from the knot and the part of the tube with the hole. As long as you tie a nice tight knot this fix rides well and gets you back on the trail. Hope this saves a ride for you sometime.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
The Debate on the new ordinance
I have noted your concern about the presentation and authorship of the bill on our forum site. I was actually done with this conversation, but as I see we have added a larger group to the cc list I will respond because they have missed much of our conversation. Largely you have heard these arguments, so you can ignore the rest of this if you wish, but for those of you just joining the conversation...
First I don't consider posting a current draft version of a ordinance on a forum site and asking for discussion "fear mongering". I think presenting an ordinance to the community that will be primarily affected by an ordinance before it comes up to vote is important. I don't know how widely the authors consulted the cycling community before drafting this but i am glad we are having the discussion now.
Second. I am not against any event ordinance, and I understand that there are real issues out there, but I would argue that the primary ones that people are complaining about are NOT addressed by this bill, and there are some of the best things about cycling in our community that are damaged by the bill.
There are really two issues here. The one this bill attempts to address and the underlying issue which is causing most of the complaints that led to the bill. There are also a number of types of riders on the road and this bill addresses each of them differently. My point here is that this bill is most harmful to those who are in general the most courteous and least disruptive to traffic, and generally leaves alone those who are most likely to be causing the problems and generating complaints.
First the Riders: There are 4 main types of rides on our roads (more depending on how many hairs you want to split, but I will divide into 4 groups.)
Now the issues. There are really two issues here, the one we are talking about and the one we are dealing with but pretending like we are not. This was crystallized for me by two examples that Mr. Sparks sent me in a prior e-mail, and I think it makes sense to use his examples so you know I am not just making stuff up.
Well, this is your problem… and this isn’t the only case. It is just one perfectly glaring example of what you guys want to pretend isn’t happening. "
Now we are to the real issue and what the ordinance tries to and does address, the problem is we need to clarify our words to make sure it doesn't hit all the wrong things.
I agree that the county government should have known about an event this large if it is on county roads. But it sounds to me like the organizer did jump through all the hoops he was supposed to there was just a communication breakdown in the system that we have for notification of our government officials. This is why my initial suggestion was that permitting be handled by the largest government body involved with rights of refusals to smaller bodies. So for an event such as this that may pass through 3 or 4 counties and many more cities, it is unreasonable for an organizer to be expected to file a $50 permit fee along with separate paperwork for each city and county that it passes through. He should be able to contact the state (as he did) and get one permission that any of the smaller bodies could reject based on the larger application to the state.
Similarly, an event contained on only county and city roads could file one application with the county and the county official could get the okay from involved cities.
If it is all in one city, the permit goes through the city.
What we are talking about here is simply administrative streamlining which makes it easier for all involved to bring events our state, county and cities, and for all involved to know what is going on.
So we are done right? Unfortunately we struck with too wide a hammer and there are a lot of unintended consequences. The biggest is that under current definitions club rides, which are open to the public, will not know if they are an "Event" or not until about 5 minutes before the ride, so they will have to do some crazy work around if too many people show up and risk heavy fines for themselves and their riders.
Alternatively these unpaid volunteers who typically host two or three rides a month could shell out a few hundred in permit fees and risk being told they need officers at every corner for what turns out to be series of 10 rider rides.
The more likely result is that ride leaders will simply pull their rides out of Oldham County. And yes I have already talked to ride captains who have said they will do this, but I have not heard any official response as to what the Louiville Bycyle Club will do. This is not to say that there will not be cyclist here, but that we will have eliminated the rides which are organized,insured, and routed along the safest roads possible. In their stead will be a series of uninsured, loosely organized rides, which will make it difficult for our rookie riders to learn how to ride safely on our roads unless they take their cars, their bikes and their dollars into Louisville.
For this reason my suggestion is that we limit the ordinance to commercial events. With commercial being defined as "Any ride or race that can reasonable expect 25 or more participants where the participants are required to pay and entry fee or raise money in order to participate -or- any event that will request or require road closures or traffic redirection"
I also ask that it is specified that the event must have aspects on county roads or property to require a permit from the county. And that if a mixture of state and county roads are used that State level permissions should override county leaving the county with a right of refusal based on the information provided to the state but sparing the event coordinator from having to pay separate permit fees in every county and city that decides to pass an ordinance such as the one we are discussing.
Finally if this seems too complicated to only target the big events I suggest that we revert to the status quo where we simply accept that bicycles are part of traffic and are subject to the same rules and regulations as any other vehicle, and leave it at that.
Again this is just my opinion and since I am already being called out as a fear monger I am going to share it with my friends as well, thanks for your time. - Jon Kindig
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
New Ordinance to regulate cycling events in Oldham County
I don't know how I get myself into this stuff, but here I go again….
First try a little thought experiment with me examine these two statements:
1. In general people are idiots behind the steering wheel.
2. I am an idiot behind the steering wheel.
Most of us will agree to the first, but disagree with the second. This leaves us with the problem that we have just proved ourselves to be idiots. It also leaves us with a bit of protection in that no mater how much we hate idiots on the road, we can't do much about it because at one time or another WE are the idiot on the road.
Now consider this same experiment but we will use cyclists instead of motorists.
1. Cyclists are idiots and are unsafe on the road.
2. When I ride my bike on the road I am an unsafe idiot.
The initial response is about the same unless you do not ride your bike on the road. Now you have the conclusion that cyclists are idiots, but the counterbalance is gone because there is no chance that you are the idiot on the bike.
This is the PR battle we fight as cyclists. If a motorist sees another motorist run a red light they will see it as the fault of the individual. But if that motorist sees a cyclist run the red light they will see it as the fault cyclist in general. So when they go home the story is told in two different ways. Either a) "So this guy ran a red light, jeez, people are idiots" or b) "I just watched this cyclist blatantly run a red light, those cyclists think they can do whatever they want, they shouldn't be on the road"
So what's my point? Well this separation where most people view cyclists as something other than themselves has led to some new proposed regulation about how cyclist ride their bikes in Oldham County, Kentucky.
Before I get to the proposed ordinance let me tell you a little about myself. I am a bike guy. I like playing with bikes. I like fixing bikes. I like talking about bikes. I like riding bikes. So it is only natural that I opened a little bike shop because it seemed like something I would like.
As it turns out running a small business is more than playing with bikes. Before I new it I was filling out forms and applications. Applying for permits to hang a sign in my window, permits to start a business, business licenses, Employer Identification numbers. Etc etc. It took me about 5 days of reading an assortment of legal documents to figure out how to pay my employees. As it turns out you can’t just pay an employee, you have to pay five different Government agencies as well, carry insurance that covers the employees in case they can't work for you anymore, and unemployment tax to cover people who never did work for you in case THEY can't work. Then you have to pay your Property tax on your building, and your inventory, and your car, and collect the governments sales tax for them. Then comes a separate tax bill for the water that runs off your roof (yup I got that one). And as soon as you have it all figured out they change the law and all of a sudden you are doing it wrong. So to avoid more fines you hire out your calculations to a company who does such things. Now you are paying people just to tell you who you have to pay how much to, and all you really wanted to do is play with bikes and give some local kid some money so that he could help you out with it.
In short it took about a year of being in business to realize that pretty much every time rule, regulation or ordinance is passed, it is going to make my life more complicated and cost me money.
In fact off the top of my head I can’t think of a new law that has been passed since I was born that has helped me out in anyway, I'm sure they are out there, I just can’t think of them. Most of the important stuff they got right off the bat. Don't kill anyone, don't put anyone in danger, and "if it is not yours, leave it alone" pretty much covers it. Everything else is just a modification or a complication.
So when I hear that our county government is proposing a new way to regulate how we ride our bike, my gut reaction is to say "this can't be good". The last little non-complicated thing in my life is heading for government regulation. Well today I got my hands on the regulation in draft form and as suspected it is basically an ordinance drafted either by, or in order to appease, people who think cyclists are idiots and view them as an inconvenience on the road.
To their credit, they are right that cyclists are an inconvenience to drivers on the road. But if we are honest with ourselves, we have to accept that every user of the road in an inconvenience to the other users. Think how fast you would get to work if you were the only car on the road. How many times in the past month have you had to slow down or stop because the driver in front of you was turning left? A train crossed the road? A tractor? Gotten stuck behind a funeral procession? Gotten caught in School or Church traffic? Tried to get on the interstate just after a local business lets all its employees off work at the same time?
Now do you want to ban left hand turns? How many of these things can we regulate? How many should we regulate? Is there a point to my rambling?
Well at this point only kind of… I am still crunching numbers to figure out what this ordinance will cost me as a race promoter and a ride organizer. I will also need to determine what it will cost me as a retailer of bicycles and bicycle parts if our county takes a firm stand against bicycle tourism in our county. It is my hope that the tourism board and other businesses will do the same. So for now I will just post up a copy of the current draft of the ordinance and let you all see what you think.
Link to the draft of new ordinance here:
http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/EventOrdinance.htm
Monday, January 16, 2012
Vigor Nox hemets Revamped for 2012, Super Sweet.
Ok, I catch some grief from time to time to time for getting excited about all the wrong products. Read the buzz in the cycling world and you will see people hopping up and down and drooling about the latest bit of carbon fiber, titanium or scandium. Small variations in products that produce weight savings with a value of about $1.50/g. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I don't love high end gizmos, its just that when you are talking about bikes that run over $3500, I just expect them to be nice. If you drop $1000 into a wheelset it would be really more surprising if they weren't crazy light and packing ceramic bearings. What gets me excited is when an inexpensive product steps up and turns out to be more than you should expect. So now that the guys at the shop are used to me rambling on about budget products I guess I will subject my blog readers to the same.
This years little surprise is Vigors Nox helmet.
For the past 4 or 5 years I have basically using the Nox as a jump off product for selling products. Basically I would throw it out there as an option for someone who just wanted a safe head for as little cash as possible. So I was a little caught off guard when I was in the middle of my "let me show you why I don't like this helmet" speil when I discovered that all the things I was about to point out had dissapeared.
For 2012 Vigor has finally done away with what could only be described as a cheesy retention system which basicaly jut pushed against the back of your head and hoped it stayed snug. The new sysem is the same as what they use on their higher end helmets (also the same as used on the even higher end Spiuk helmets). The retention/fit system is basically a band that wrapps around the back of the head with two little ratcheting clips that allow the band to be snugged up to your head and locked in. Small buttons on the ratchets allow them to be released and moved out in the event that you put on a hat or share your helmet with a friend. Adjustment time is less than a second.
In addition to the new retention system Vigor has also added 3 more vents (up to 16 vents now) Which allow greater airflow. design team has also added a little more style to the color scheme so they have a nice look rather than a plain solid color.
So while the Next helmet up the line (FastTraxx) still has better airflow and is marginally lighter. The improvements to the Nox are great enough that I am no longer sure the upgrade is worth it. So if you are in the market for an helmet but don't want to shell out three digits for a pro level helmet, have another look at the Nox. It is just unheard of to have a helmet that fits this well clock in at less than $40.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
LaGrange Urban Short Track 2011/2012 Race 4
Period.
I would say "end of story" but it is one of those stories that needs to be told. Ok, I can't tell it, but you have to watch the video. The new years eve race could not have asked for better weather. Of the courses so far this was the shortest with riders turning 2-3 minute laps. But considering that we squeezed the whole course into 3 city blocks, that is not bad. The course ran through two buildings and in and out of alleys and cracks between buildings. Lots of thanks to John and Chellie who let us run across their property. I fear we have created permanent single track in Chellies back yard.
You definitely need to watch the video below that shows a couple of laps from the Cat 3 race. What I love most is watching the bikes out there and seeing the variety and the number of people that this urban format in drawing in. By way of example. The video below is shot from atop a full XTR Niner RIP9. You can see him passing a guy on a roadmaster who is racing in sweatpants. Both riders had a blast. Both riders will be back for next race, and what we are seeing is the development of the sport. New riders coming in, getting a taste and rolling with it. So thanks to all who have been helping with this, what we have done here is far cooler that I ever imagined. Now enjoy the video.