spokesNspin

Often when I am bicycling past the D.C. Marina I see these little dinghy type boats.

Being the landlubber than I am, I wouldn’t know a dinghy from a doo-hickey but these things look like fun. 

There is normally an instructor in a motorized boat with a whistle giving instructions.  The boats sail around in formation.   Every now and then a boat tips over the and the leader in the motorized boat comes to the rescue. Sometimes the boats have colorful sails. I haven’t been able to get a picture of those yet.

I don’t know what it is all about.  If anyone knows  they can clue me in.  I just might have to get my feet wet so to speak and try it some time. 

Enjoy the Friday Foto Fiesta.

As a general rule, I believe in supporting my LBS. My LBS should not take my business for granted and mostly they don’t. There are many reasons to support the LBS.

One is cost. I have found that on many items the online stores are not that much cheaper after you figure in the shipping costs. And many times they are are actually more expensive.

The other day I looked at some new pedals at a major online bike shopping site. I then went by my LBS. The exact same pedals at my LBS were $10.00 cheaper than online. That was before taking into account the shipping charges.  Add to that the 10% bike club discount I got plus they installed them for free.

Which business was offering the better bargain?

Even if an equivalent item is slightly more expensive I will support the LBS. I figure that is the insurance I pay for keeping them in business and close at hand when I need them.

There are other pleasures to going by my LBS.  I love the smell.  I can wander around and look at bicycles.  I talk cycling with the employees and other cyclists who are there.

From what I have read and been told, it isn’t the profit on bicycles that keeps them in business.  The money is in selling gear and wrenching bikes.

I do make exceptions to buying at the LBS. I sometimes buy online for items the LBS doesn’t stock. They will generally order the item but it is just too big of a hassle.  That is one irritant I have with the LBS.  If I special order they want me to pay for it in advance.  I end up making two trips and don’t save any money.   

There are some LBS that sell online.  I try them first.  I figure that way I am at least supporting a small LBS. I have found some pretty good deals on that type of site.

The other exception which is really related to the first is bicycle clothing. I generally buy clothing from the online retailer. The LBS only stocks expensive name brand bicycle clothing. With as much riding as I do I go through a lot of clothing. I don’t need fancy looking jerseys with a big logo splashed on it. I need plain and functional.

Now some plugs for my favorite shops.

In Harrisburg Pa The Pedal Pusher was my favorite.  I could tell that the owner/manager of this shop just loved bicycles.  When I was living there they offered a discount on clothing and gear to their regular customers.  They went the extra mile to help their bicycle commuting customers because they knew how we depended on our bikes.

The Pedal Pusher was in an small building and it was just crammed with bicycles and related gear.  One of those crowded places that you love.  The money was not in fancy lighting and buildings.  It was in people and product.

I don’t know what their current policy is but when I was there they didn’t offer free tune ups and service to customers for the first year after buying a bike like other shops.  I mentioned this one time to the owner.  His response was “my mechanics are my most valuable asset. I can’t afford to give it away”.  He was right.  He managed to keep employees a long time. I  knew people who would drive from 50 miles away to have The Pedal Pusher work on their bikes.

Bountiful Bikes was my fav in the Salt Lake City, Utah area.  I don’t even dare tell you some of things they offered to let me try.  And they had a very nice collection of vintage Sting Ray bicycles.

Here in Northern Virginia I generally go to Spokes Etc.  They have four locations in the area though I have only been to the Belle Haven and Quaker Lane shops.

If you are ever in Maryland area of Washington D.C., go to Mt Airy or College Park Bicycles and spend some time with Larry Black. Larry lives and breathes bicycles.  I think he has a warehouse full of old bikes and frames.  He has real stuff for real people and odd stuff for odd people.  He deals in bicycles like some underground people deal in weapons.  :)  Don’t expect a straight answer about where he gets some of his inventory.  Be ready for a whirlwind of activity.  He is a fast talking, mult-tasking wild and crazy bike selling guy.  Just how crazy…

I often see his name out there supporting the bicycling community in one form or another.

None of the above mentioned shops paid for or approved this message.

Here is a bike that shows up in the racks at my place of employment on a regular basis.

Why does a person commute on a bicycle like this?

I could be wrong and maybe he goes out at lunch and rides over to Hain’s point and gets some riding in.  That would be the only practical use for a Time Trial bike around D.C on a workday.

I have an issue with aero bars for commuting.  In the first place, you can’t and shouldn’t ride non-stop fast enough that they do any good in most commuting environments.  Second, I don’t believe that you have enough control when riding on urban trails.

But here is an interesting blog post about the use of aero bars on granny bikes in the Netherlands.

Speaking of strange setups.  There are many people taking up cycling due to the high price of gas.  Some are pretty clueless and need help.  I have seen at least two people in the last few weeks riding with their helmets on backwards.

What do bicycles, airplanes and fighter jets have in common?

The first thing is that the Wright Brothers had a bicycle shop.  Their work with bicycles had influence on their thoughts regarding flight.  But that is not what this post is about.

This post is about the need for speed.  And more particularly the  misconception that it really is “about the bike”.  Let me start with an interesting story from Chuck Yeager’s autobiography. 

On our final day in Okinawa, there was an amusing incident between Chuck and two combat pilots who had flown in our Sabre chase planes from Korea. One of them, a lieutenant colonel, asked Chuck why we didn’t attempt to dogfight the MiG with the Sabre. Yeager told him that the outcome of a dogfight depended more on pilot experience than on an airplane’s performance. The combat pilot just didn’t believe it, so Chuck asked him if he would like to fly in the MiG 15 and dogfight Yeager, flying in a Sabre. The colonel agreed and Chuck checked him out in the plane’s systems and off they went. Chuck easily got on the MiG’s tail and stuck there. They landed and switched airplanes, Chuck taking off in the MiG and the colonel flying in his own Sabre. Again, Yeager waxed his tail unmercifully. When they landed, the colonel was extremely abashed. He said to Chuck, “I didn’t think the pilot mattered that much.” Chuck grinned and told him’, “The pilot with the most experience is gonna whip your ass, Colonel, -no matter what you’re flying-it’s that simple.”

A couple of weeks ago bikenoob was lamenting the fact that he got dropped by a moutain bike.  On the other hand, Bob at Daily Cyclist has an amusing story about how he smoked a couple of posers.  I have been in both of those situations.  Of course when I get smoked I tell myself that I am on a recovery ride.

Let me put a new “spin” on Yeager’s words.  “The strongest rider is gonna whip your ass -no matter what you’re riding- it’s that simple”.  That is what fast riding, bicycles and jets have in common.

Don’t believe me?  Here is an excerpt from an article by John Schubert.  Don’t hold me to the authorship on this article but I think it is correct. 

The true differences between a go-fast bike and a touring bike are much exaggerated. Do you want to have a one unit bike collection and still go fast? Buy a touring bike. Put skinny tires on it for your go-fast days. Your misinformed riding companions will marvel at your moose-like muscles, but you and I will know that you really aren’t overcoming a huge mechanical disadvantage.

Schubert goes on to explain a few things about weight, tires etc and the impact it has on speed. 

I have been there.  I have been on rides with groups with my touring bike outfitted with fenders and racks front and back.  My fellow riders have been in awe at how I spent most of the time at the front.   I did a two hundred mile bike race on that bike sans fenders and racks of course.  But I still had 70×35 tires on it.  At the starting line a fellow rider commented, rather derisively I might add,  on my bike.  A companion who had ridden with me on several occasions told the guy to take a good look because it was probably his last chance to check out my bike.

I must point out here that I am by no means a bike racer.  I have no type of racing classification.  I would call myself a serious recreational rider.  But there’s the rub!  Probably 99 percent of the fellow riders out there are not pros either.

At ride starts and rest stops you will find cyclists discussing various components, weight etc.  What I find humorous is that a large number of these cyclists will be men carrying anywhere from 10-30 lbs around their waist.  You can count me in that category. 

What are a few grams in a pedal or even a pound or two on a frame when you are carrying thirty pounds of fat around your middle?

It’s not just bicycles and jets.  Thirty years ago I was taking guitar lessons.  I was playing an old used f-holer that I had purchased on the cheap.  My instructor had a very nice instrument.   I would play my guitar and think about how it sounded next to my instructor’s guitar.  One day he picked my guitar up and did some extensive playing on it.

I was quite impressed with the sound coming from my old f-holer.

There is no substitute for flying time, hours in the bike saddle or time spent practicing a musical instrument. 

If you are Yo-Yo Ma or Lance Armstrong then the tool of your trade makes difference.  But for the rest of us mortals, a more expensive bike won’t reduce the time for our next century ride.  As Schubert says in the end of the article.

“…if you want to go fast, it ain’t the bike that’s holding you back.”

This weekend I went to the Baltimore Inner Harbor to attend a wedding. When I got there I discovered I  had forgotten to bring casual clothes. I went to the Gallery Mall to see what I could find. Of course there is nothing cheap there. I ended up in a Levi Store. A very nice young man helped me out.(Does saying “very nice young man” make me an old geezer?)

I got some jeans and a shirt. It wasn’t cheap but better than Brooks Brothers.

But here is the strange part. I go into a dressing room to try on the jeans. The dressing room doesn’t have a hook or hanger or anything. There isn’t a stool or bench. Just four square walls and the floor. You have to put your clothes on floor. It’s crazy!

I was staying at the Hyatt. This was not cheap. The bathroom didn’t have towel racks or hooks of any kind. They didn’t have any of those luggage stands for you to put your suitcase on. What’s up in Baltimore?

They charged for everything.

Check out this sign in the room refrigerator.

Guest’s convenience my ass!

And of course before seeing the sign Ammon pulled some sodas out to make room for his doggie bag from The Cheesecake Factory.  At settlement I had 3 $5.00 sodas on the bill.  They kindly took the charges off. I bet they get a lot of that.

But we had fun.  During the non-wedding time Andrew, Ammon and I visited the inner harbor and took a tour of the The Torsk submarine and the USS Constellation sailing ship. The sailing ship was the last sailing ship to be used by the U.S. Navy.

Ammon and Andrew take control of the sub.

It’s a lot more cramped on a sub than it looks like in the Hollywood movies.

The Captain’s quarters on a sailing ship were pretty darn nice.  He is the only person on the ship with his own latrine.  The rest, including other officers, just had to let it all hang out over the front of the ship.  Hence the term the “head”.

Me taking charge in the Captain’s digs.

I learned a few things.  Officers are required to provide their own food on the ship. And the captain is required to entertain other officers.

It was a fun trip.  I would like to go there again.