fellowshipofthechainring.org

I cycle commute at least 3 days a week, and I began thinking that from time to time, I could pass on valuable advice. Most of these will be no-brainers; that is, of course, no brainers to anyone who already cycle commutes. Your job is to learn from my mistakes and imagine goofy stories to go along with how I possibly learned that lesson. So, without further ado: lesson #1.

Tip #1: No matter how waterproof your pants and jacket are, if you don’t have anything covering your shoes, it wouldn’t hurt to have an extra pair of clean, dry socks waiting by your dry shoes at the office.

I thought I would post this to let others learn from my “mistakes” (not sure if it was my fault, though). Hence, I am labelling this one “Inspirational.”

I was going to go for a ride a few weeks back, but when I looke at my racing wheels, there were actually patches on the tires that HAD NO RUBBER! So I slapped on my “training” wheels (yes, a funny name for them) and off I went.

Well, fifteen miles into the ride, I got a flat. As I was patching the tube I saw that the tires on my training wheels were in worse condition than my racing wheels (I have had all four of these tires for four years, mind you).

I went directly home, did not pass Go, and did not collect $200. I first replaced my racing tires, since I wasn’t sure what kind of training tires I wanted (also I wanted to spread out the financial load that comes with buying tires on a student’s stipend).

A few weeks later I finally bought the training tires. That night I put them on my wheels, pumped them up, and hung them up in my garage for a good nights sleep. The next morning, one was flat! Not only flat, but the tube had blown the tire completely off the rim in places! Thinking that I had a bad tube in there, or maybe that I pinched the tube when I installed the tire, I just threw in a new tube (the old one had a 2 inch rip in it from the blow-out).

Riding down the street, I started to hear a hissing sound after just two blocks. I turned around to head back home to do the repairs when it sounded like a firecracker went off under my bike. Yes, that is the sound a tube makes when it blows under 110 psi (for you beginners, normal flats don’t blow like this, so don’t be afraid you will have the same experience). Embarrassed, both because of the noise and because of having to wheel my bike with all of my neighbors watching, I went home curious as to what happened.

Checked the *new* tire to see if it had a flaw. None that I could see or feel. Both tubes blew in the same spot and ripped the same size hole. So I thought it was the rim..except there were no burrs or flaws on the rim.

I took the tubes and tire back to my local bike shop, and the guy who helped me said I probably didn’t seat the tires on the rims properly. This is possible, but I have been doing this for years and always check that. But the guy gave me two free tubes and let me swap my tire for another of the same model, in case it WAS the tire. It has held air for the past week, but I haven’t ridden it for fear of another repeat. Am waiting for nice weather so I can do a short ride around my house in case it happens again.

In talking with a friend whose has been riding longer than I can remember, here are some pointers to replacing a tire:

1) Add talcum powder to the inside of your tire so that the tube can slip around a little as you are inflating it. This will avoid it getting twisted or caught.

2) Before you inflate the tube, check to make sure your tube is not pinched between the tire and the rim.

3) Inflate the tube halfway. Then hold onto both sides of the axle and roll it around a little, pushing hard so the tire evenly seats on the rim.

4) Check to make sure the bead (the bump on the edge of the tire, that fits into the rim) is securely on the rim.

5) Inflate to proper pressure and repeat Step #4.

If repairing a flat, don’t forget to BOTH look *and* feel the inside of the tire and the rim. You may have some hidden glass that will give you ANOTHER flat as soon as you pump up the tire. Also, blow up the tube after you patch it…there may be A SECOND HOLE (often known as snake-eyes) when you get a pinch flat. If you wait until you have your tire back on your rims to do this, you will have to go through the whole process all over again for Hole #2.

Oh, and from experience, even though a patched tube is said to be good right away, I would still let it sit for an hour. Out of the numerous patches I have done, I have only had one that gave out right away. Statistically, this should mean that using it right away is fine. But because I hate replacing tubes, especially out on the road, I now just throw in my spare tube (you ARE carrying a spare, right? If not, refer back to this post).

El Cap and I after the first mile or so up the hill

El Cap, TriGuy, and I just rode up Bald Peak State Park. The elevation is about 1600 feet (at least at the top, which cannot be much higher than the parking lot). It was good to accomplish since the last time I attempted it, I only made it a third of the way up — including two stops along the way. This time, we only stopped to make a phone call to our wives to make sure we could stay out long enough.

To do Bald Peak, I recommend you start by heading out of Beaverton westbound on Farmington Rd. Turn left at highway 219, and turn right at Bald Peak Rd. Bald Peak road starts climbing only a half a mile or so after leaving the highway. The first leg is 1.5 miles on an 8% grade. If the hill is getting to you, there are a few level roads that branch off; I sometimes will take one just to ride a little ways and turn around (stopping is optional). This leg curves around a few corners, each time, you might be hoping to be able to level out, but around each corner is another hill.

You do get a break though when Bald Peak Rd. meets up with Laurel Rd. (this is where we made the phone call). On Laurel Rd, the grade evens out a bit more to let you catch your breath. You get a little downhill, and then you turn left to continue on Bald Peak Rd. (Laurel branches off). I haven’t yet tested it out, but I believe Laurel Rd. drops down the other side of the hill towards Spring Hill Rd. This makes it possible to extend your ride northwest towards Hagg Lake or south towards Yamhill or Newberg.

El Cap and I getting a bit of a break on Laurel Rd. in between the two tough spots. you can see the West Hills off in the distance

Once you’re no longer sharing the road with Laurel Rd. but are firmly established on Bald Peak and Bald Peak only, you begin to see your goal. At this point, the going gets rough, as some serious grade stands between you and your goal. I’m guessing you hit some 8-10+% grade, but it’s all a guess. At this point, you’ll be happy if you have a granny gear; otherwise, your knees will be protesting. If you stick it out, though, the views are worth it.

All in all, the hill is about four and a half miles. I don’t know starting elevation, but the entire hill is at least 1,000 feet of climbing. The best part of course is the descent. In our case, we were only too happy to get moving (there were bugs everywhere at the top). The curvy section is mostly good descending, there wasn’t a lot of dirt on the road, but just enough to keep you awake. I’ll be honest here and admit that I braked a few times, especially before going into a curve with a suggested speed of 10 miles-an-hour (I’m sure we all broke the speed limit).

El Cap cresting the hill at Laurel Road

The highlight though is Laurel Road. After Bald Peak joins Laurel Road, I suggest you take Laurel Road all the way to the bottom of the hill. A little after Bald Peak Road veers off to the left, Laurel Road drops down and it’s a straight shot all the way to the bottom of the hill. You can see everything, and the road is smooth. El Cap hit his land speed record at 48 mph (I think it was 48, I can’t remember exactly). TriGuy was well over 50 mph, but he’s got the road bike. I have no clue what my speed was. I took it a little easier and simply coasted down (I was probably going only around 44 or so).

Good eyewear would be handy for the speeds you’ll reach. El Cap and I both had watery eye issues from the speed, and a bug got plastered to my forehead. Once you’re down the hill and giggling like a little school child, take a left at the stop sign (SW Campbell Rd) and work your way back to highway 219. From Farmington and River, it’s about 18-20 miles round trip.

If you google “Lopez Island,” the first page you get will warn you to Be prepared to wave, because Lopez is the friendly isle. We came across this little known fact while researching our trip, but we didn’t know whether to believe it or not. I can tell you now from experience that it is true. However, we did learn that not all waves are created equal.

Lopez island locals and visitors alike (who can tell the difference?) run the whole gamut of waves. After much observations — two day’s worth of riding — I have been able to boil down the Lopez island wave into several categories. They are as follows:

The full-on ‘pleased to meet you’ wave

In this wave, the hand is fully elevated off of the steering wheel and accompanied by a bright smile (are we related?)

The lifted hand

Here the hand is clearly off the steering wheel, but driver is still focused on the road or adds a somewhat ambiguous nod

the Demi-wave

Here the thumb is typically hooked around the steering wheel, anchoring the palm to the wheel. All fingers are lifted at once giving the impression of a wave but with only a fraction of the effort to make in comparison to the lifted hand

The finger wave

Not to be confused with “the finger,” the finger wave is a lifting of one finger (typically the index finger)

The head lift

Although not technically a wave, the lifting of the head is often times perceived as substitute or proxy wave

For the first day and a half, with each wave, my bride and I theorized stories behind each wave. First wave. She must work for the tourist board. Next wave: a finger lift. He’s definitely tired of the mandatory wave, but after getting the “whatfer” by the mayor of Lopez Village, he’ll wave but only because he has to. And so on.

Before long, I began bonding with or being offended with each wave-bearer. Towards the end of the trip, though, I decided not to take each wave so personally, which in hindsight, was good. By the first hour in Orcas Island, I decided that I would even take the finger over the blank stares each Orcas islander gave when I waved.

I’m getting ahead of myself though, before I go into detail about Orcas Island, I should let you know what we did on our full day at Lopez Island. That, unfortunately, will have to wait for the next blog on Shark Reef.