100 KM

Today at work I received the $50 bill all GU employees get in exchange for filling out our annual health questionnaire. Last year I used it to purchase a bike computer and a rack and I felt like spending it on some bike equipment this year as well. There are plenty of cycling related items that I wouldn't mind having, but today I was leaning towards picking up a cheap front wheel for the Trek 330 beater/project bike I've had sitting in my basement for the last several months.

I headed over to REI after work to see what they had, but found their cheap rim selection didn't quite match up with their website. I browsed around REI for a little while longer and then purchased a couple cone wrenches and a patch kit on my way out. I actually had enough of a dividend this year that my purchase only cost a few bucks so that was cool.

Still hankering for a new wheel I decided to check out Wheel Sport South, the closest LBS to my house. A friendly high school age employee greeted me at the entrance and quickly started showing me what they had in the way of cheap 700c rims. Not much either as it turned out.

After a couple not quite right wheels we worked our way to the end of the rack and came upon an intriguing set of Jalco GX460s with shallow v-shaped black rims, matching black spokes (24 in front and 28 in back) and silver Specialized hubs. It turns out the Jalcos were take-offs (most likely from a 2007 Specialized Allez model) that they were selling for $100 as a set. Even though $100 was more than I intended to spend, that was too good a deal for me to pass up, so it looks like I've now got a fairly speedy wheel set for my next bike.

I'm still going to try the front wheel on the Trek 330 once I track down my presta valve adapter and get a tire on it, but that will just be a temporary home. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go for a little test ride tomorrow after work and see how the new wheel rides.

I got out in the awesome Spokane spring weather yesterday for my first ride in a couple weeks (April snows and a really bad cold completely de-cycled me). I wanted to try out a new potential bike boulevard and commuting route I'd been thinking about for a few weeks and it looks fairly promising. Originally I had thought that Arthur from 42nd to 29th might be the best candidate for a bike boulevard on the South Hill, but now I'm thinking that Pittsburg from 49th to Rockwood might actually be a better alternative.

There are a couple reasons I like Pittsburg over Arthur. Pittsburg is a longer uninterrupted stretch and would provide more bang for the buck for riders and the city. Pittsburg's surface is also in far better shape than Arthur's pot hole ridden. If you're going to feature a street as a bike boulevard, it shouldn't be one with a lot of potholes. Finally, the Pittsburg intersection at 29th is uniquely regulated with two well marked crosswalks and a median forcing cars coming from the north and south to turn right onto 29th. In contrast crossing Arthur and 29th is usually an unmarked adventure in timing and acceleration.

That said, I still think Arthur is a pretty good candidate as well, but it needs to be resurfaced and overhauled. Unfortunately based on a map I looked at last year, I don't think it's on the list of roads that will be repaired with bond money in the next several years.

At any rate, whether they become bike boulevards or not, Pittsburg and Arthur will definitely continue to be two of my preferred north south routes across the Spokane's South Hill. I'm already looking forward to another ride down Pittsburg Monday morning on the way to work.

Like probably every other regular cyclist out there, I've been thinking about my next bike for a few months now. My primary bike is a 1999 Trek 7500 SHX hybrid with front suspension. It's great for my daily commute and has treated me just fine on all the longish rides I've done to date, but it's really not an optimal touring/randonneuring bike by any stretch of the imagination.

I don't have a whole lot of specific needs and component requirements at the moment. I'd definitely like to get something with longer chain stays, but I'm undecided about whether I want to move to dropped handlebars. An upright position works pretty well for me, but the idea of being able to get a little more aero has a certain appeal as well.

Most of the research I've done to date leads me to believe the Surly Long Haul Trucker is probably the frame that best fits my needs. The cost, quality, and general characteristics look like exactly what I'm looking for. Color-wise I would definitely go with the Black Cherry Red if given the choice.

Interestingly enough Nashbar actually sells an aluminum touring frame that has an almost identical geometry to the 56 cm LHT in that frame size at less than half the price. My Trek is aluminum and I really like it, but so many cyclists swear by steel. Amusingly enough it comes in a dark metallic green that looks fairly similar to my Trek. Green is my favorite color, but I think I'd rather have a frame that's some shade of red this time around.

Price is definitely an issue for me right now though. It's going to take me a while to save up money to purchase a frame and supporting components (headset, handlebars, brakes, etc.) And regardless of which frame I end up buying down the road I will probably also cannibalize the wheels and drive train from my Trek for the time being.

And of course the funny thing about my Trek is that despite its atypical long distance setup I've kind of felt like I should be riding it on my first few brevets out of loyalty. It's the rider not the bike after all right?

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Way to insult bike commuters everywhere State Farm. Classy.

The Seattle International Randonneur's had their first brevet of the season last Saturday so I'm living vicariously through the various ride reports that I've come across (Matt Mikul, Paul Whitney, Lynne F, Robert Higdon). Last fall I had hoped to be able to ride it and a few others this spring, but my new baby break in December extended a little longer than anticipated. It didn't help that I didn't put any time on the track stand once the snow took over and I realized in January the overall logistics and my general fitness were just not in alignment with doing the early season brevets. It's going to be a few more months of riding and commuting to get back to where I was at the end of last year. On the other hand I'm still way ahead of where I started last May.

I was kind of bummed out today when I saw that the 300k brevet at the end of the month begins and ends in Lacey. My brother and his family live in Olympia so it would have been really easy to stay with them and then take part in the ride.

At this point I'm thinking about entering the brevet series at the end of July and middle of August, but we'll see how it goes. One way or another I'm going to get in some 100 km+ rides here in Eastern Washington well before then.

Morning

This morning's ride into work was great. A little bit cold (high 30s), but I was layered up and feeling pretty comfortable. If there's one thing I learned last fall, it's that full finger gloves are crucial in these temperatures and my knit wool gloves are perfect for current morning conditions. My ears did get a little cold, but otherwise I was perfectly attired.

Physically speaking, my legs felt simultaneously at home and out of shape once I got underway. It was good to be pedaling again, but it's going to be a few weeks before I build my legs back up to some semblance of the strength I ended last year with. I didn't push too hard this morning until I got to the downhill at Bernard, then I tried to keep pace with traffic the rest of the way through Downtown Spokane. That was, especially fun today since I hit every light perfectly and sailed all the way through town. I maxed out at 61 km/h without too much effort and hit all the lights. I realized after I got to work that for perhaps the first time ever I had completed the morning run without taking my feet off my pedals once.

The Trek itself rode pretty smoothly after a few months off. The Continental City Rides that I'm running felt pretty good and reasonably fast even though I don't have them at max pressure right now. The new bottom bracket performed as hoped and turned smoothly and silently. My freshly cleaned and lubed chain offered no audible complaints either; a definite relief after the rust flecked disaster it appeared to be back in January.

Afternoon

The afternoon ride was good as well. A pleasant 50° allowed me to shed the vest I wore in the morning, but otherwise I stayed with my attire from the morning. I decided to ride my usual High Drive return route and felt pretty strong most of the way while riding at a comfortable pace. My legs definitely felt the burn most of the way up the hill and I had to unzip my top all the way for ventilation purpose, but I felt solid. I ended up with a ride time just over 39 minutes and was really happy about that compared to what I did last year at a similar point in the season.

Tonight, post ride, I feel like I could go again tomorrow no sweat, but I'm going to ease back into it and go every other day this week to give myself some recovery time. I also really want to get a short haircut tomorrow so helmet hair will be a complete non issue for the next couple months.

Not much else to say at this point. It's good to be pedaling again.

The last three months have been depressingly free of significant biking, but I'm excited to start getting some commuting in next week. Between the improving weather, rising gas prices ($4/gallon is coming) and the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, it's definitely the perfect time to start turning the pedals regularly again.

Last night I finished putting the cranks back on my Trek and cleaned up the cassette on my back wheel. I also took the studded tire off that wheel and replaced it with one of the new Continental tires I purchased a couple weeks back. My gut feeling is that the new tires will be a bit faster than the ones that originally came with the bike, but my recent lack of riding is probably going to completely negate that improvement for a while.

](https://cdn.10centuries.org/saacki/1bb492eb45bf6e972615f96bfad6684e.jpg "Blood blister")

I still need to swap the front tire (without further injuries hopefully!), reroute my ridiculously installed cycling computer sensor wire (didn't know what I was doing the first time around), clean and wipe down everything, and most importantly lube the chain again. Lower priorities include extending my front fender so that my bottom bracket and drive train can get some additional protection since they're still exposed to road splash. I know that it's pretty common to use part of a milk jug to extend bike fenders, but I have some heavy duty vinyl material that I want to try first.

At any rate things are shaping up on the cycling front and commuting should resume Monday.

](https://cdn.10centuries.org/saacki/904aab5ed76566e9d82f89a8c8da63ec.jpg "Rusty Chain")

I glanced at my Norco's bike chain a few days ago and discovered to my chagrin that its chain had acquired an appalling coating of rust seemingly overnight. I'd been a little lax in my lubrication over the last couple months, but the orange onslaught caught me completely off guard. Even worse, my Trek's drive chain had picked up a matching coat of the orange stuff as well. I hadn't ridden much at all in the new year so far and here I was faced with a physical metaphor for my lack of activity.

Happily, I got in a nice 12k loop on the Norco Saturday when I rode over to basketball practice at Ferris. My lungs were burning a bit on the way back as I pushed myself a bit on the gradual uphill route I took home, but it felt good to be out and riding. Unhappily, the new snow and cold that arrived shortly after my ride may keep me from venturing out again much for the next several days.

That afternoon I went ahead and brought the Trek downstairs for some drive train maintenance since I knew I wouldn't be able to ride it for a while anyway. A wire brush did a pretty good job of cleaning up the chain, but while spinning the cranks a little bit I confirmed that something is definitely up with my bottom bracket. I'd noticed something feeling gravelly while pedaling that bike back at the end of November, but I wasn't sure if it was the pedal bearings or the bottom bracket itself. At best the bottom bracket needs to be cleaned up and greased (I'm pretty sure it's not a sealed cartridge like most newer bottom brackets these days) and at worse it needs to be completely replaced if the bearing races are thrashed. Time to order that bike toolkit I've been saving up for so I can pull my cranks and see exactly what's up.