Enginerve : Bikes

10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain…a 100% reason to remember the name

  • I have had a great deal of mail on the tires.  I had my tires recommended by the folks at Rivendell Bicycle Works and that made all the difference.  Keven may not think I am riding on a wide enough tire, and he had to work a great deal for him to get me on these, but they made the whole difference.  The wear is critical, the flat issue fun to tease other riders with, but the primary difference is safety and comfort, or maybe comfort and safety.  The larger tires handle better, absorb shocks better, and simply ride better all day every day.  Yes, they were the difference when I was run into the ditch of staying “afloat” or “digging in” like my 700x25Cs that I rode my last tour with.

    I put pictures up so you can see there actual wear.  I will actually ride on wider tires, and inflate them a hair less, Rivendell has provided me further education, and I am can understand what it means after having collected more experience.

    The tires are from Schwalbe and the details are in the picture off the box below.

    From Eye-Fi

    I have included pictures of the tread wear after 4800 miles across every imaginable road surface in the US.  You can see the rear tires, under the greatest load, have the greatest wear.  Otherwise, wow, these are the best touring setup I saw out there.  Yes, I pulled glass out of them once halfway, but hey, that is regular maintenance on any tire.

    Front Tire

    From Eye-Fi

    Rear Tire

    From Eye-Fi

  • I completed the Adventure Cycling TransAm from Yorktown, VA to Portland, OR this summer.

    I had two cycling goals for the ride.

    First, try to ride as close to 100 miles per day as possible, given that towns are so far apart, I averaged 98.6 mpd.  I like how I chased this goal as I never sacrificed anything to achieve the mileage, I took what the road gave me and went how I wished to go, I did not let the goal drive my trip.

    Second, the most important goal was to establish and join the TransAm Triple Crown and TransAm Thousand Mile Club based on the California Clubs of the same name.  I actually completed 7 double centuries while riding across the country AND one stretch of 6 centuries back to back.  So I complete the TransAm Triple Crown as well as the Thousand Mile Club and I am very pleased while cleaning the bike today to reflect back on the effort and the results.

    The California website says that completing these requires “a lot of training and mental determination” and that doubles are a “Personal Growth Experience” and I would second that.

  • This summer I haven’t posted as I was out riding across the TransAmerica, TransAm, #acatransam!  The trail took me from Yorktown, VA to Portland, OR.  See the trip, with notes and pix on Google Maps or TrackMyTour.

    I am decompressing at present and haven’t even cleaned or performed maintenance on my Rivendell Atlantis: Home 4,143 miles, 0 flats, original tires!  It was a sweet bike to take on the road and saved me!

  • Cirque du Cycling, presented by Laughing Planet Cafe, is a street festival, a circus, a bike race and a parade – and a benefit for Albina Youth Opportunity School.

  • Is COMING on June 1-6th.  Mo and I usually volunteer and have a great time, come out and support the riders, either volunteer or cheer them on!

    The Indie Hops Mt Hood Cycling Classic 2010….6 stages, 2 in Portland, 4 in and around the Columbia River Gorge! Again, will prove to be some of the toughest racing in the US!

    Pros/Cat 2 Men Race Schedule June 1-6
    Pro 1-3 Women/Amateurs Race Schedule June 3-6Food, Racing, Music, Vendors, and a GREAT TIME!


  • This is a reprint of a post written by Leo Babauta on ZenHabits. Read the full post and honor the original author @ http://zenhabits.net/barefoot-running/.  I just keep finding the really great articles missing later.

    Leo says  “When I first heard about barefoot running, several years ago, I was skeptical — don’t we need cushion to protect us from injuries, and why would I want to run barefoot, anyway?”  And he mentions the same articles and the popularity of Christopher McDougall’s book, Born to Run and decided to give barefoot running a try. Why not?

    Well, so did I.  What I found is that I am still adapting to running with my my Vibram Fivefinger KSOs or completely barefoot and I really appreciated his article and points and so I stored them here.  Take a look at what he has to say.

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