Another Friday the 13th is almost gone

As usual, I've been commuting to work by bicycle. As usual, I've been wearing my fluorescent, reflective work vest for visibility, and also a pair of fluorescent, reflective work gloves. It's getting darker in the morning so that I use my blinking white light in front and my blinking red light for the rear. My helmet is pinstriped with reflective tape and in extreme cases I will activate my flashing red light attached to the tippy top of my helmet.Not much has changed in those respects.

Our high school has one bicycle rack already in place for use when I first began teaching here. I have determined the design is less than perfect. It's a homemade job the metal fabrication classes welded together out of 1/2 inch square tubing.It's a long horizontal bank of many vertical slots in which to insert the front wheel of a bicycle for storage and securing with a lock.

 My front wheel does not fit in the vertical slot. The slot is too short for my bike to enter fully. Also, the vertical slots are raised up off the ground a few inches with the result being that if I attempt to insert a portion of the front wheel of my bike into it, then the kickstand won't touch the ground to keep it upright. Another complaint is that now there are consistently too many bicycles making use of the rack for them all to fit. I've been in the habit of arriving earlier to the rack than others who need to use it. Therefore, I park my bicycle at the end of the rack leaned up against the rack, rather than with the front wheel inserted into the slot. Obviously, there are only two ends to the bike rack, so if they're taken I must attempt to secure my bike to the rack in the intended way, which means that by the time leave school and go to the rack, my bicycle has fallen over either by accident or by design.

I've been trying to think about just what would make the perfect bike rack. Probably part of the answer is to have more of them. As sure as one is made and installed, there will be less need for it. But that's the pessimist in me. In other words, if more bike racks are installed and the weather turns cold, most other cyclists will cease and desist from riding and all the racks will be virtually empty and the people with the money and authority to give the go ahead for the new racks will believe them to be a waste of time and resources at that point.

I think more racks might make it easier for others to park their bikes. I'm not idealistic enough to believe more racks will encourage more people to ride their bikes, but as my mother is fond of saying, "It's better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them!"

The same situation occurs all over town. There is no good place to park a bicycle if a person were so inclined to ride one to a downtown store for purchases or services. They would be forced to clutter the sidewalks with them, either secured to a signpost or light post or handrail, or they'd be left unsecured on the sidewalk, leaned on the kickstand. Either situation would be cause for complaints by pedestrians not on bicycle.

Nothing new there. Just some observations.

Cycle commuting: the lonely post

Yes. I continue to remain "The Midwest Bicycle Commuter" even in my hiatus from updating this blog. I have never stopped being "The Midwest Bicycle Commuter", though I have recently left this post unattended.

Last year, while I didn't write about it, I rode my bicycle the 2.5 miles to and from my classroom at the high school where I teach English through heat, rain, cold, dark, wind, and some snow. It was the snow which brought about my first big interruption in commuting by bicycle there during the entirety of the two school semesters which make up the school year. In the past, before last winter, I'd been forced to drive instead, as much as three days in a row due to deep melted snow frozen to ice. Last winter it was a matter of almost a full school week where it was flat a bad idea for me to try to follow through with my usual mode of travel.

I took that time at the beginning of January to put my bike into the shop in the next town above us to the north, a university town much bigger than where me and my family reside. there I had them build a new back wheel around a new Sturmey- Archer internal geared three speed hub. After six years of riding on the hub that came on the bike when I bought it used, it finally wore out.

The bike shop I took it to sort of took their time, initially. I believe they looked at the bike I brought it and immediately placed it low upon their priority list. I say this because of the old age of the bike. I'm unsure of the manufacture year of the Takara, but something tells me it's from the 80' or older. I've got different lights attached to it with a good deal of "jury rigging" of other items which add to the lackluster appearance. Of course I have the collapsing wire baskets on the rear, and an unpopular handle bar made for upright riding. It's dirty and looks old and not a precision made instrument of handling and performance. That's why I think they immediately relegated it to the bottom of the "to do" list. It might look to some people as if I just removed my bicycle from storage in the garage and the last it's seen service is from it year of manufacture, and they may be mistaken into believing the bicycle to be rarely used. I hope by now, the myriad of my readers will know that to be far from the case.

So, I like to give the benefit of the doubt to businesses and not attempt to interfere too much, so as they can do their job; since, afterall, I am often of the opinion that they are the experts and I should leave things in their capable hands. So, I didn't call them until a full week transpired without hearing a word from them.

When I did finally talk to them, they had forgotten to order the hub. So, I got the story about that and how they were doing right now and it would be ready at the beginning of next week.

By this time, the roads are navigable again, yet I still drove my vehicle, being without my bicycle. So, at the conclusion of the second full week, I again called them, as they had not contacted me with any change in status, though their E.T.A. for the completed work and bicycle had come and gone. It was then I learned they had somehow ordered the wrong hub and received the incorrect hub as a result. Okay.

It was during this conversation with the head mechanic of their shop, that I attempted to communicate to him the importance of my bicycle to me and how I am currently not riding it, since it is in their shop. That, contrary to what they may think about the extreme low temperatures involved in winter, I ride during that time of year and the absence of my bike was preventing that. That it was not a bicycle I pulled from my basement to prepare months in advance of spring.

I finally was notified the work was complete and I went to pick it up at the conclusion of the third full week they had it to order the hub, lace the spokes onto it, and install it and the new shifter.

There. That's full disclosure. I have started out this school year, the first two weeks, by commuting by bicycle again.

Currently, I need a rear red blinking light replacement, and a new pair of rain pants. The last pair of pants I purchased in a pants/jacket rain suit set was cheap indeed and the pants developed a big hole which became a large tear from there, after only a few times I needed to wear them.

Interestingly, through the summer I barely rode my bicycle. I took my sons on different rides, in different combinations a few times, but I rarely found myself with small errands to be done which could be accomplished on bicycle.

It's my goal to return to a routine update of this blog. I hope readers find it valuable, or entertaining, or valuable because of its entertainment. At any rate, I conclude this most recent post of the Midwest Bicycle Commuter. I encourage any and all to leave a comment, please, with any appropriate views, information, or stories, or suggestions for content. Thank you for reading, and keep on commuting by bicycle!

Rattlle, rattle, shake

Well, brick streets look very pretty, but they are not much  good for bicycles. I'm sure that's nothing new to any of you out there. I was reminded of it last Saturday when I had a pretty good head of steam up descending a gradual grade and turned left at full speed onto a brick street and like to have rattled right off the handlebars. It also shook loose a bolt on my non-drive side rear rack bracket. The bolt had been coming loose, I believe, before this, and I (because I'm into precision and such) took the end of a screwdriver and bent down the little bit of extra bolt that stuck out past the nut to make it impossible for the nut to back itself off of the bolt's threads.

I believe the last two years' use had created a fracture in the bolt that finally was completely compromised by the extreme vibrations caused by the brick street.

My two oldest boys were behind the bike in the trailer and they were treated to a nice sound of the rotating tire as its tread rubbed against the rear reflector screw which was mounted to the rear fender/mud guard, and was now askew from being aligned with the tires due to the loose bracket.

I fixed this a little later at the hardware store with another bolt and a nylon lined lock nut. They were friendly enough there to allow me the use of an adjustable wrench and a pair of small slip-joint pliers to fasten it tightly. Ideally, I would also have added some of that liquid "Lock-tite" to the threads as a double precaution against vibrating loose.

I'm debating whether or not to have the 27" steel wheels of the Takara trued over the summer. Another debate I'm having is whether I should take time to learn to true a wheel myself. It seems like it would be a good thing for me to learn. It can't cause any harm to increase my knowledge and experience with bicycles, especially if I plan to continue to ride them.

I'm also debating whether or not to shed myself of a few different bikes I have around. They're for my wife. I guess they're for me, as well, but we haven't used them consistently. I don't think they're going to fetch much money. I did spend some good money to outfit them with high quality tires to guard against flats, but I doubt a person would pay for the frame and the good tires.

Do you ever find yourself trying to decide these things? Learn to do it myself or have something done? Sell off a couple bikes, or keep hold of them in case somebody wants to ride them? What are your experiences with this?

Keep on commuting by bike!
MWBC

Again witht the absence!

Well this entry is long overdue. That goes without saying. So, then, one may ask, why say it? Good question. I don't have a good reason for stating the obvious, other than it's a ploy I often administer to cover up the fact that I'm stalling for something someone might actually consider worthwhile to write about. There are few things more effective for boosting a writer's ego than  putting words on the page that really don't say anything, but yet give the "putter" the feeling of accomplishment for actually putting something on the page, even if they don't really say anything (see previous sentences).

Ah well, I've exhausted the humor in that intro. On with the real meat of the entry:

I find some things on the side of the road while riding my bicycle. Yes, gravel, sand, litter, clipped fingernails, fast food wrappers, fragments of glass, obsolete cigarette lighters etc.one might remark. In addition to these worthwhile and stimulating finds, I occasionally find items which at least a small percentage of the population might find useful. For instance, I have a rather impressive collection of black rubber bungee cords I'm pretty darned proud of and of which I currently have no use for, but rest assured dear reader, when the day comes when I need a black rubber bungee cord, or twelve, I'll be adequately prepared for it.

Mixed in among my Craftsmen socket and ratchet set I received as a boy from my dad which now resides in unorganized disarray an old blue metal tackle box , and whose handy plastic travel case it came in has long since broken and been discarded, are some sockets and end wrenches which do not bear the Craftsman logo. That's because I've found a small collection (no more than a dozen) of different sized metric and English sockets and end wrenches. I don't care if you're English or Metric, those things are useful; in the right hands.

Most recently I've come across three valve stem extenders. I'm unsure if that's the name they'd go by, but that's the most accurate name I could come up with, without doing any pesky research. I didn't measure them, but they are probably six to eight inches long, made of a chrome metal tube, and have female threads and a Shrader valve on one end of a machined nut; on the other end, a smaller machined nut and cap which threads onto male threads which all cover another Shrader valve. I presume these are for dual wheel pickup trucks and tractor trailers. I found three of them lying in the gutter in a residential part of the town I live in. I'm certain there were four of them purchased together, then forgotten about on a tailgate or toolbox, until a corner was turned by said vehicle or they bounced off after encountering a particularly rough pothole. Anyway, I threaded two of them onto my bicycle. Why not? They're really not all that noticeable, and I can see no difference in performance. I've not seen any bikes on the internet which have these, so I might just be the first.

It's kind of a random find, I realize, but nonetheless, there is a certain amount of satisfaction which goes along with finding things. If I could begin finding hundred dollar bills instead, I'd be even happier.

What do you find riding on your bikes?

Rigging it; or making it work

Winter is pretty much over and spring is on the way here in northeast Kansas. We've already had a few of those warm days where I don't have to wear home the jacket and scarf on the bicycle I wore on the way in the morning. With the spring forward time change, I now leave when it's even darker in the morning. That's okay, it's a beautiful time to ride.

Saturday I hauled my two oldest boys around in their Burley trailer. After pedaling down a short length of extremely rough brick street, I noticed my rear rack was making a lot of noise and had become loose. The small bolt that connected the rack, and two fender struts (?) to the boss (?) by the hub had fallen out. I had to listen to the whir of the tire as it rubbed against the inside of the fender on the way home.

I searched through my big jug of nuts and bolts and found a long bolt and several size washers to reconnect those components to the bicycle frame. An easy enough fix, but very ugly and not ideal. I really need to have a service day for my bike coming up soon. It needs cleaned and lubed and maybe have the wheels trued. I also will need to adjust the brakes once I do the rest.

I expect I'll be seeing more bikes out and about as the weather improves. It's good weather for biking, get out and ride!

Are lights making me an easier target to hit?

For Christmas I received a great new headlight for the daily commuter. It's a Bell brand oval shaped 5 led light that gets mounted to the handlebars. With it in the package is a 3 led red tail light meant to be attached to the seat post. This was just in time, as my former led headlight finally lit its last dark morning on the day I last needed it for 2011. I like the light that issues from it. I also like the blinking feature. I almost always use the blinking function with the belief it will be easier to attract drivers' and pedestrians' attention, thus preventing collisions.

What I didn't like was the plastic housing. It looked like it would not last long holding up against freezing cold temperatures in January and February and the near daily jolting it would take from our small town streets. Also, it didn't look water proof at all; no o-ring, no gasket, no cover. So, with the goal of improving the durability of the headlight and improving the water resistance of it, too, I dug through the detritus in the workshop and came up with a used bicycle tube and a jar of rubber cement.

I reminisce on the afternoons when high school classes were dismissed for the day and I'd spend the time, among other tasks, patching motorists' flat punctured passenger car tires. It was simple enough. Once the tire had been dismounted from the wheel, it was forcibly spread open, then the inner surface of the tire around the puncture would be buffed, or roughed up with a pneumatic device. Once that was accomplished, we applied a thin coat of rubber cement to the area and when it dried, an adhesive backed patch was placed over the puncture hole. That's it.

With this in my mind, I used my wife's scissors to cut lengths of rubber from the tube. I tried to make them as uniform as possible, but I can assure you they hardly were. I applied a thin coat of rubber cement to the seam where the top and bottom hemispheres of the plastic light housing met. I also applied a thin coat to the rubber tube strip as well. Then, when both had dried to tacky, I laid it over the seam on the rubber cement.

It doesn't look factory, that's for sure. But, since I continued placing the rubber of the tube over the places I felt would be compromised by rain, I feel pretty confident I've made it pretty water proof.

I didn't like the loose feel of the mounting hardware, either. So, since I had about three feet or more of the tube leftover, I cinched the light down with it. I wrapped it around it and the handlebars several times and tied it off as tightly as possible.

I think this will increase its shock absorption and just provide it with a little more mass to keep it stable on the handlebars. I just thought the plastic a little too brittle for my taste.If nothing else, maybe it won't be stolen as easily if the would-be thief must cut away the tube, or untie it.

I received a great little flexible green light that comes in the shape of a spoke reflector, too. Like most l.e.d. lights, it has a blinking and a steady function. I installed it on my front wheel, and I've got to say I like the green. It looks nice, and seems to be noticeable. I hope it is.

I must look like quite a sight with a blinking white headlight, a blinking red tail light, and a blinking, green light that rotates with the wheel. The idea is to avoid collisions, but I wonder if all the blinking lights attracts the eyes of drivers which results in their inadvertent steering toward me, instead of the opposite effect I desire.I wonder if there's any evidence out there.?

Lastly I was given a single led blinking red light which I mounted to the only flat spot on my helmet, which happens to be on the tip top. It reminds me of the old sheriff's vehicles with the single "cherry" on top. I haven't yet used it; haven't yet switched the power on and rode my bike with it blinking. I worry that it will just be too much.

Of course, some would say too much is never enough when it comes to lighting a bicycle and rider. That may be true, but then I have to suffer through the ridicule of being "that guy", who got even nerdier, just when people thought he couldn't.

Whatever the spectacle does to my self-confidence and esteem, I'm sure I must make quite a sight coming down the road. What I need is another cyclist to wear my reflective clothes and operate my bike with its  blinking lights while I operate a vehicle, just to see what I must look like. Then, I might judge with more accuracy.

The helmet mirror: a lifesaver

I've become so dependent and accustomed to relying upon my helmet mirror while cycling that I often find myself looking up and to the left as I walk down the halls of the school where I teach, attempting to look behind me for who is doing the talking, who is walking behind me (and what are they doing?!) In class, with my back to the general population, while I write on the whiteboard, I find myself looking up and to the right trying to see what the students are up to behind me. If I happen to mount my bicycle without my helmet and mirror I feel like my total vision is impaired and I notice its absence. I don't feel as confident on the bike without my mirror.

Do you think it would be odd for a teacher to wear a cycling helmet and mirror while he attempts to teach class?