Old Roots, New Routes

Oh Happy Day!

Posted on May 12, 2013 by alchemyrider

What started in 1977 with 250 riders is today America’s largest cycling event with 32,000 riders.

I had a taste of what was to come when I went to the Bike Expo New York at Pier 36 to pick up my Tour packet and rider vest. I went on Friday morning, assuming that I would beat the crowds later in the day and on Saturday. Fail!

Fortunately the queue started moving ten minutes after I joined it. Once inside the Expo building we split by registration number and it didn’t take long to get through the identification check and to collect my packet. I wandered around the exhibitor stands, determined to keep my cash and credit card in my wallet. I succeeded, except for pulling out $5 for a sticker in support of a benefit fund for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

I spent a bit more for a present for guess who?

I didn’t bother to pick up most of the swag on offer. Key chains, can cooler sleeves, pens, bags, that sort of thing. I did accept edibles though.

By a stroke of good fortune I was allocated the earliest of the three staggered start times. 7.45am. The other start times were 8.30am and 9.15am. I thought it best to try and get toward the front of the 10,000 or so other riders who had the same start time as I did. So I got to the start at about 6.30 am. There weren’t many people ahead of me nor behind me.

An hour later and I had been joined by just a few more riders.

It was an unseasonably cold and windy Sunday morning. New Yorkers were literally hunkered down to get out of the wind. You can’t tell from the photograph but there were goose bumps under those tattoos.

Underdressed yet again, I resorted to ducking into a porta-potty to get shelter.

Fortunately for me the ride started on time. Unfortunately for me the first 6 km / 4 mi of the ride were through the concrete, steel and glass canyon that is 6th Avenue. Where no sunlight reaches the street at that hour of the morning. I shivered and shook, wondering why I hadn’t thought of waiting in the warmth of the apartment building I was staying in and joining the ride as it rolled past the front door. It was not until I got to the open terrain of Central Park that I could aim for patches of sunshine, looking for any warmth at all.

By the time I got to Harlem in northern Manhattan I was lukewarm. Warm enough at least to get into the upbeat mood generated by the gospel choir standing on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, belting out a rousing rendition of “Oh Happy Day”.

The ride route crosses five major bridges among the islands of New York City. The Madison Avenue Bridge was the first. It connects the island of Manhattan to the Bronx, which is the only bit of mainland America in New York City.

We crossed two more historic bridges; the Third Avenue Bridge, which opened in 1898, and the Queensboro Bridge, which opened in 1909, before getting to the mandatory stop at Astoria Park.

So as not to paralyze road traffic in New York City for the entire day, the city conducted rolling street closures. I was among the group that got to Astoria Park before Shore Boulevard and 14th Street were closed to traffic. The park is at the 18 km / 11 mi point of the ride. As good a point as any to eat something. The bridge is the Robert F. Kennedy, one of the New York City bridges that we did not ride across.

As we left Astoria Park we had the Hell Gate Bridge over the East river and behind us. The gentleman to my right was on an Elliptigo. I saw one during the BP MS150 ride too. Looks like hard work!

The Pulaski Bridge carried us over Newton Creek between Queens and Brooklyn. Brooklyn is the fourth of the five New York City boroughs that the ride took us through. The Brooklyn leg generally followed the East River, past the Brooklyn Bridge and onto the Gowanus Expressway where the Hudson River empties into the Upper Bay.

Talk about saving the best for last. To get from Brooklyn to the fifth borough of Staten Island we had to cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. When it opened in 1964 this was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Just over 2 km / 1.3 mi from end to end. The only other people allowed to cross this bridge without using a motor vehicle are participants in the New York City Marathon. The crossing was spectacular, even on the lower deck.

Photo courtesy of J. Mazzolaa

The Staten Island end of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is at Fort Wadsworth. Where the finish Festival was. I had managed to get to the Festival ahead of the majority of the other riders in my start group. So there weren’t many others around us as we took in the sights at the finish and waited to be released to ride the final 5 km / 3 mi to the St. George Terminal of the Staten Island Ferry.

Many of the cyclists already at Fort Wadsworth were veterans of this event. One gentleman was riding it for the eleventh time. It became clear from talking to the experienced ones that getting to the finish quickly was key to getting back to Manhattan at a reasonable time. The waiting time for the ferry increases geometrically as more and more riders get to the Festival. It could be 4pm or later before the riders at the back of the group got on a ferry. So I was happy to be on a ferry at 11.30am. My only regret was that I chose to sit on the wrong side of the boat to see the Statue of Liberty as we passed Liberty Island.

I had a great time on what has become an iconic ride in America. It would have been just as appropriate if that gospel choir in Harlem had been singing “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.”

Solo Saturday

Posted on May 12, 2013 by alchemyrider

My regular Saturday riding buddies had other things to do yesterday morning. So I rolled out of the D’Bayu car park in Bukit Jelutong on my own just as it was getting light. There wasn’t a lot of color in the sky as the sun came up, despite all the clouds.

I got to the motorcycle lane alongside the Guthrie Corridor Expressway before 7am. Not surprisingly the motorcycle lane was very quiet. Riding alone always gives me the opportunity to notice things that I miss while on group rides.

While I was the only cyclist on the motorcycle lane that early in the morning, this ride is a popular one. The lane is well surfaced and relatively wide. Most of the tunnels under the on and off ramps are well-lit, although there are a couple that provide an unnecessary moment of concern as you pass from bright sunlight into darkness. Especially if the tunnel comes immediately after a sharp turn.

I took the slightly longer route to Kampung Sri Kundang. Instead of taking the Jalan Kuala Selangor exit I rode further down the Guthrie Corridor Expressway to the KL – Kuala Selangor Highway interchange. This option means riding about 3 km / 2 mi along the KL – Kuala Selangor Expressway. That expressway, also known as the LATAR Expressway, does not have a motorcycle lane, but the road shoulder is wide enough to accommodate cyclists.

I left the highway at Kundang Lakes Golf Club.

From there it is a short 3 km / 2 mi to Sharif Roti Canai. Breakfast there is the reason for riding this route.

2013 BP MS150 Day Two

Posted on May 10, 2013 by alchemyrider

Riders have the choice of three official starting points for Day One: Tully Stadium in Houston, Rhodes Stadium in Katy, and Waller Stadium in Waller. Who knows how many unofficial starting points there are. The Omni Houston at Westside was where we started. The advantage of multiple starting points is that all 13,000 riders aren’t crowded into one location. Which is the case at the Day Two start at La Grange.

If you join the pack toward the rear it can take forty five minutes or more to cross the start line once riders are released from La Grange. It was immediately clear that we had left it a bit late to wheel our bikes toward the start line. Dane reckoned he had never waited behind as many people for a Day Two start before.

BP MS150 2013 Waiting to leave La Grange Johan, MOT, Skip and Dane

Photo courtesy of Barbara Luksch

Our collective relief that is was not as cold as it had been twenty four hours earlier faded as the stationary wait stretched toward the hour mark. Our core temperatures steadily dropped along with the ambient temperature as it cooled to 10°C / 50° F just before dawn. I may have been in the pink, but I was turning blue.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Luksch

By the time we rolled over the start line I was shivering so badly that my bike was wobbling around. Once again I rued my choice of bike clothing, and was desperate for the sun to come up. This gentleman never fails to lift the spirits. He occupies the same spot every year, about 12 km / 7.5 mi from La Grange. It is worth the time to stop to listen to him play for a while. And to soak up some sunshine!

We had elected to do the Bechtel Challenge Route through Buescher State Park and Bastrop State Park. The parks had been devastated by a wildfire that swept through Bastrop County in September and October 2011. The fire damage was so significant that the Challenge route was closed in 2012. I was interested to see how different the park was compared to what I rode through in 2011. Barbara was excited and nervous about riding through the park for the first time. Tom, Skip and I did our best to convince her that she would have no problems with the hills in the park.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Luksch

Naturally there is a huge amount of damage to the loblolly pines and other trees and vegetation in the parks. These scars will remain for years to come.

In return the fire has created some beautiful vistas and opened up the visibility of the terrain. Tom and I commented that we weren’t able to see the topography the last time we rode through Bastrop State Park. At one point we found ourselves on a ridge overlooking a view that we didn’t even know existed. The park has a very different, and to my mind a better look to it. I enjoyed being able to see the road ahead winding through the trees,

We made our traditional lunch stop at Whataburger in Bastrop. Barbara was so excited at having ridden the park that she announced the fact to all at the restaurant. She was given a flower to commemorate her achievement.

The plan after the parks and Whataburger was to meet up at The Moose Lodge so we could ride the final 5km / 3mi as a group. As it turned out we regrouped at the two rest stops before Austin as well. There is always lots to see at the rest stops – besides the lines for the toilets..

We took a “Non-Hess members of Team Hess” photo at the last official rest stop before Austin.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Luksch

We met up at The Moose Lodge as planned. We missed The King though.

Everyone made it safely to the finish in Austin. Our group suffered no flat tires or falls over the two days and 280 km / 174 mi. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the ride. It was another brilliant BP MS150. I wouldn’t want to say that this was my last. After all I have a travel bike now.

The National MS Society is still accepting donations linked to this ride. The society is depending upon your generosity to raise as much as possible to put toward the search for a cure for multiple sclerosis. Please click on the link below to make a donation to this worthy cause.

Donate to Multiple Sclerosis Research and Treatment

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Posted in Cycling in Texas and tagged Austin, Bastrop State Park, Bechtel Challenge Route, Buescher State Park, La Grange, Whataburger. Bookmark the permalink.

2013 BP MS150 Day One

Posted on May 9, 2013 by alchemyrider

The lead up to this year’s BP MS150 ride from Houston to Austin was faultless. Barbara collected my rider pack and Hess jersey for me. Malaysian Airlines and KLM got me to George Bush Intercontinental Airport as scheduled. Tom and Donna were waiting outside Arrivals for me. The Omni Houston Hotel at Westside had my room ready. Most importantly Fedex had delivered my Ritchey Break-Away bicycle to the hotel.

The first thing to do was to put the bicycle together. My bike came with a Ritchey torque key that fits the 4mm bolts on their bars and stems, as well as the bolt on the hinged clamp that anchors the flanged joint on the down tube. Steve Dodds at Bicycle Doctor USA had told me to pack an 8mm Allen key to install the crank with. I also packed 6mm and 5mm Allen keys for the seat post and saddle mounting bolts. Four Allen keys and a pump were all I needed to get the Break-Away ready to ride.

The plan was to do the Thursday evening ride with the West End 6.30 group. That would have been the perfect shakedown ride for my brand-new bike, if not for the rain that afternoon. Instead Tom and I made do with a quick 8km / 5mi loop around Memorial Park on Friday. If that short spin was anything to go by, the Ritchey Break-Away was going to serve me very well. The ride quality was everything I expected from a titanium frame. The SRAM Force group set shifted precisely. The brakes had good modulation and stopping power. I didn’t expect problems during the ride to Austin but we stopped at West End Bicycles to get the bike inspected anyway. It is worth getting an official inspection sticker. If I did have a problem during the ride I would receive free labor for repairs.

The weather when I arrived on Thursday was unusually cool. When we started the ride from the hotel at 6.30am on Saturday morning it was unseasonably cold. It was 4°C / 39°F. That was a record low temperature for April 20th. The previous low was 6°C /44°F set in 1901.

Needless to say in my group I was probably the least appropriately dressed for the temperature. I was riding with Barbara, Laura, Dane, Joe, Skip and Tom. Everyone was cold, but I was chilled. It had warmed up by the time we got to the lunch stop at Belleville, but not enough for me to take my jacket off. Barbara and Dane kept their arm warmers on, unlike Laura and Skip.

Relatively normal temperatures for the time of year were restored by the time we got to the stop at Industry. West End Bicycles was operating their customary service stand there. Complete with yummy snacks. There was time for a post-cookie fist bump with Tom before we hit the road again.

Fayetteville is always a treat to ride through. The residents come out in force to cheer the riders on. And ring bells and blow whistles and generally carry on.

We had an additional treat in store for us at Fayetteville this year. Skip knows a lady who runs an antique store out of a converted gas station.

For MS150 day she bakes all sorts of cakes and cookies which she lays out for anyone who wants some. Not everyone knows about this though. So hooray for Skip and his insider knowledge!

We had about 30 km / 18.5 mi to go to La Grange. Dane headed out ahead of the rest of us. His plan was to get to the VFW Hall early enough to reserve prime sleeping spots for us all. We wanted a row of six camp beds near a wall socket. We all had electronics that needed recharging. We didn’t get the row we had hoped for, but we were near a coveted wall socket. This is Tom watching Dane get sorted out after their turns in the private shower truck that Hess provides for its team.

This year the Hess bar featured recovery drinks made to order. Just the ticket after a hot shower and before a massage.

We are all spoiled by the excellent support that Hess provides to its riders. Air-conditioning, private showers, indoor toilets, an open bar, ear plugs in case the snoring gets too loud. I’m not sure how we managed when we rode with other teams and had to endure conditions like this.

Tom, Skip, “Sideshow” Dane and I went for a wander around the Fayette County Fairgrounds to stretch our legs before dinner.

We had ridden 160 km / 100 mi. That made it my longest Day One in the three times I have ridden the BP MS150. I was still a bit jet-lagged and very ready to call it a day as soon as I had finished my dinner. Day Two wasn’t far away.

Donate to Multiple Sclerosis Research and Treatment

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Posted in Cycling in Texas and tagged Belleville, Bicycle Doctor USA, BP MS150, Fayette County Fair Grounds, Fayetteville, Hess Corporation, Houston, Industry, Ritchey Break-Away, West End Bicycles. Bookmark the permalink.

Now There Are Three

Posted on May 8, 2013 by alchemyrider

What is the correct number of bikes to own?

Courtesy of Kickstand Comics by Rick Smith and Brian Griggs

Courtesy of Rick Smith and Brian Griggs at yehudamoon.com

I’ve seen a third variation: S – 1, where S is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.

While I do not intend to discover the value of S where my biker chick is concerned, I can report that in her case S > 3. I took delivery of bicycle number 3 last month. And my biker chick and I are still a happy unit.

Thoughts of a new bike started percolating in my mind as I planned a trip to the USA to ride in the BP MS150 from Houston to Austin, and the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour in New York City. My friend Keat and I had discussed the travails of flying with a bicycle. Airlines charge between USD 100 and USD 150 to transport bicycles. Despite the additional fee, there is the ever-present danger of damage in transit – see United Breaks Guitars.

One way to avoid the additional fee and to mitigate the risk of damage in transit is to have a bike that can be disassembled and packed securely in a case which meets airline size restrictions. Keat owns such a bike. A Ritchey Break-Away travel bike. He showed me the bike in its case, then assembled the bike and let me try it out.

I now own a Ritchey Break-Away Road Ti / Carbon travel bike.

Ritchey has designed an elegant coupling system for their travel bikes. The two halves of the frame are held together by three bolts and a hinged clamp. Two bolts secure the top tube and the seat tube to the seat post. The seam between the top tube and the seat tube is visible below. Also visible below the top tube is a cable splitter. In this case for the rear brake cable. The two halves of the splitter screw together to join the cable.

Photo courtesy of Jon Sharp at www.gearreview.com

Photo courtesy of Jon Sharp at http://www.gearreview.com

A flanged interface between the bottom bracket and the down tube is secured by a hinged clamp. One bolt holds the clamp in place.

Photo courtesy of Jon Sharp at http://www.gearreview.com

Also visible in the photograph above are the two other cable splitters. The frame can be broken down into two halves in a matter of a minute. Admittedly it does take more than loosening three bolts and three cable splitters to get the bike into its case. I opted for an S&S Butterfly Latch hard case rather than the Ritchey soft case. The dimensions of the case are 66cm x 66cm x 25cm / 26″ x 26″ x 10″. The total length plus width plus height equals the airline standard maximum size for checked luggage.

In practical terms the case is just large enough to fit a 700c wheel. It doesn’t look possible in this photograph, but with no air in the tire the wheel squeezes in.

The first time I tried to get all the bike parts into the case it took me about forty five minutes. With the help of ‘how-to’ videos and PDFs. I have packed the bike three times now. The third time was no faster, but I don’t need the visual aids anymore.

The easy step is separating the bars from the stem, removing the front brake from the fork, releasing the wheels, taking off the pedals and cranks, and unbolting the rear derailleur from the derailleur hanger.

The next step is to prepare everything for packing. All the tubes and the fork go into the supplied wraparound covers. There is an elastic strap that goes over the large chainring teeth, and a cover for the chainrings. Hub axle caps for the wheels and dropout spacers are also included. The rear derailleur gets bubble wrapped. I bought velcro cable ties to secure cables to the bars and the chain to the chain stay.

The final step is to fit everything into the case. I prefer the S&S method to the Ritchey method. The front triangle and fork go in to the case first. The rear wheel is next. Then comes the rear triangle. The saddle, bars and crankset slide through and between the triangles and wheels. Finally the front wheel goes on top. There is enough space around and between the parts of the bike for shoes, tools, bottles and clothes. It took a few attempts to position everything so that the case would close. Here I am tightening everything down, ready for my first trip with the bike, from Houston to Denver.

The white disks and upright pipes are compression members. Pressure is kept away from the packed bicycle by transferring loads from one side of the case to the other side through the plastic pipes which are held in place by plastic disks on either end. The compression members work so well that I can stand on the case without deforming the sides of the case.

Photo courtesy of Azie Azizuddin

I ordered my Ritchey frame online from Bicycle Doctor USA. This shop came up on Google as one of the larger Ritchey dealers around. I emailed an enquiry about the availability of a Break-Away to Bicycle Doctor USA and two other shops. Steve Dodds of Bicycle Doctor responded within three hours. I didn’t hear from the other two places.

Steve and his son Eric have received many positive reviews and comments. Those allayed some of my concerns about conducting what to me was a large transaction over the internet. A telephone conversation with Steve put any other worries I had to rest. Steve is easy to work with. I get the feeling that Eric and he run a busy shop. Despite that I always received prompt replies to my queries. So it didn’t take long to decide to on the build kit for my chosen frame. Steve kept me updated on the progress of the build, and sent me some photos as well.

As planned the built-up bike was delivered to my hotel in Houston a few days before I arrived there for the BP MS150. Everything was as discussed and ordered. Steve even emailed some hints and tips for assembling and packing the bike. The first thing I did after checking in to the hotel was to put the bike together. While taking photos of each step of the unpacking process (one of Steve’s great tips).

I couldn’t wait to go on a test ride. Which is the subject of a post to come.

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Posted in Cycling in Texas and tagged Airline Fee, Bicycle Doctor USA, Ritchey Break-Away, Steve Dodds, Travel Bike. Bookmark the permalink.

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble *

Posted on April 15, 2013 by alchemyrider

Ladies and Gentlemen . . .
Van’s Urban Bicycle Co is running a three-part cycling event: The Rumble Cycle Challenge.