BFF Tokyo 2008

Continuing on from my last post about my trip to Tokyo, soon after arriving in Tokyo I met with my host, Gogo, a local bike messenger. He was a volunteer for the festival so he had to work that afternoon. I dropped off my bags and headed out to the “Bicycle Goods” fair which was happening as part of the BFF. While I’m sure the festival played a role in the concentration of bikes I saw, it was already apparent that bicycle culture, particularly of the fixed gear variety, was widespread in the neighborhood of Daikanyama. Track bikes adorned the windows of all sorts of fashionable shops, be they bike-related or not. Countless fancied-up fixed gears were locked to street railings, a change from the usual mama-charis one would see throughout the country.

The bicycle goods fair featured a number of local clothing and messenger bag designers, as well as a fair amount of imports such as Chrome and Bagaboo bags. Much like bike culture in L.A. or San Francisco, it was very much a high-fashion affair though this was taken to a whole new degree. Knickers and windbreakers sold for a couple of hundred dollars. Even t-shirts and hats were listed at the equivalent of fifty dollars or more. What I found surprising were that many of the things one would commonly find back home, such as Chrome messenger bags, sold for twice the price I was accustomed too. As I talked to more people, I learned that things like IRO or Surly or Soma frames sold for a similar markup. On the flip side, things like NJS track components and frames sold for half what one would pay back home. I had heard that this was the case, but didn’t realize that even in the explosion of fixed gear popularity this was still the casing. It left me wishing I had picked up a stack of merchandise from Orange 20 or some other L.A. store before leaving to sell here in Japan.

Being frightfully unable to afford anything that I saw at the fair, I left in search of food, finding a cafe where I enjoyed a meal of French onion soup served in a bread bowl and a well-deserved nama beru (draft beer). The cafe culture of sitting and people watching over a drink doesn’t seem to be very wide-spread here so it was nice to be in the “big city” where I could partake of some Western indulgences. I was about ready to leave when the founder of the BFF, Brendt Barbur, and his friend, Tora, passed by. I waved them down and they took a seat with me. We chatted over a couple of beers and more delectable cafe fare. Brendt was certainly a proud parent of the BFF and I learned a great deal about the festival’s history and the role it’s tried to play in coalescing and promoting bike culture. I also learned that word of my ride from Kyoto to Tokyo had made the rounds amongst the festival organizers and that for my efforts I was given a BFF weekend pass. Not a bad deal, though I found it amusing that even amongst bike people making a ride like this was seen as quite the accomplishment. For myself, I still envy and admire the folks who pull off month-long or more cross-country tours, or for the randonneurs who are able to do 1200km events like Paris-Brest-Paris.

After the meal, we headed to the opening night party of the festival. The evening featured music, a flatland BMX competition, and a bicycle clothing fashion show. I’ll be the first to admit that bikes have caused me to dress differently in ways that I would have previously thought odd, like my absolute love for knickers (or manpris or shpants as they’ve often been called), but some of the things they brought down the runway were downright humorous (others, however, I would rock in a heartbeat). Still, part of what defines a subculture is the manner in which its adherents dress so it’s unsurprising and understandable that a fashion show for said culture would take that dress to the extreme. Moreover, this is Tokyo after all and, though it may be a gross generalization, if there’s anything I’ve learned about Japanese trends it’s that they don’t do anything halfway. Take these folks for example. Not a part of the fashion show. I guess to be fair, L.A. also has its fair share of oddly attired folks sporty things like American Apparel gold lamé leggings.

After the party, Gogo had to attend a meeting with a group of the Tokyo messengers so I tagged along since I needed to know where I was sleeping that night. The meeting was to plan for next year’s Cycle Messenger World Championship which will be held in Tokyo and occur on the same weekend or the weekend before the BFF. For anyone thinking of hitting up any BFF in 2009, I’d strongly recommend heading to Tokyo. It sounds like it’s going to be a helluva time.

The films started the next day. I slept in a bit, something that was sorely needed (literally). Unfortunately, this meant I missed the first program block which was a shame because it featured a video about the Wolfpack Hustle drag races and, while you can watch the video online, I wanted to be there to represent my L.A. brethren. I did make it in time for the second program block which featured my two favorite pieces from the entire festival. One was Standing Start, an experimental short about the Scottish world champion track cyclist Craig Maclean. The other was Road to Roubaix, a feature-length documentary on the brutal Paris-Roubaix road race.

I reluctantly skipped out on the third program block as I had lost one of my bike gloves and water bottles the night before and needed to find replacements. On a recommendation, I headed to W-Base, a fixed gear and BMX focused shop located neary Shibuya and Harajuku. They didn’t have what I was looking for, but I hunted around and found a few other shops that did. Returning to the festival, I watched the remainder of programs, 4 and 5, featuring a wide range of shorts. Of particular note were the fixed-gear freestyler ones: the exquisitely shot Macaframa, and the local favorite Fumikiri (trailer available here). The riders of Fumimkiri came up afterwards for a little Q&A session, but I have no idea what was said.

Program 6 was just a repeat of things I had already seen, so I decided to pedal around and explore the city a bit. I grabbed a cheap curry dinner near the famous Shibuya crossing then headed to the evening BFF party. The entertainment included a BMX/break dance performance, and a set from the insanely awesome DJ Tucker. Tucker had a flair for the theatrics, juggling guitar, bass, organ, theremin, and drum kit which he would sample and loop to create his own one-man rock fest. For his grand finale, he lit the organ on fire and promptly drop-kicked it. I had my fair share of dancing as well as hanging out more with Brendt and company, before heading out for a late-night/early-morning bowl of noodles at one of the Japanese restaurants where you order by way of a ticket dispensed via vending machine that you then hand directly to the cook. Finally, I returned to my host’s apartment around 5AM.

Sunday’s BFF activity was the block party which was held at the Komazawa Olympic park, one of the sites of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A trick contest and game of foot-down were held with prizes given out, but then a heavy rainstorm cut the party short and everyone that was left huddled for shelter in a nearby building (well, almost everyone). I wanted to get a skid contest going, but I didn’t have the bike for it and wasn’t comfortable asking to use someone else’s. The building basement had a cafeteria that served beer so people were more or less satisfied hanging around. The rain eventually lightened up and people headed their own ways. Brendt was kind enough to invite me to the BFF staff celebration dinner at an izakaya, so I joined them and enjoyed lots of really excellent food and copious amounts of beer, chatting with a number of the local bicycle-loving gaijin and English-speaking locals before finally heading back to my host’s.

Monday I woke up late, said farewell to my host’s roommate (my host himself had already left for work), then packed up my things. I wanted to check out Kalavinka’s shop, an NJS frame builder, but it was unfortunately closed so I headed to the central Tokyo train station to see about getting an overnight train or bus ticket to Kyoto. My original plan was to ride all the way back to Tottori, but truth be told I was still tired and sore even after a couple days of “rest.” My trip out here in five days carrying a touring load was a hustle that had left me worn out and the prospect of being home with Bronwyn was too appealing. Were I to do it over (and I likely will if I’m still around Japan for the 2009 BFF) I’d rather spend more time making the trip out, not overexerting myself by taking it slower and easier, and I’d rather have a granny gear on my bike. My compact crank is perfect most of the time, but not great for the very hilly terrain of Japan. So instead I thought I’d ride from Kyoto to Tottori by way of Lake Biwa up to the San-in coast along the Sea of Japan. Unfortunately, the overnight bus (far and away the cheapest option) wouldn’t take my bicycle, and the overnight train would actually be more expensive than taking the shinkansen or bullet train. Since I would already be shelling out lots of cash for a shinkansen ticket, I decided to pay the extra twenty or so dollars for the connecting train to Tottori. The bullet train was scheduled to leave in just a couple of hours, leaving me only enough time to ride around the Imperial Palace and enjoy some relaxation time in the park before departing.

Taking the shinkansen was kind of an interesting experience. Yes, it’s very fast, and this fact was made even more clear as I watched the landmarks I would spend all day cycling to pass by in minutes - like seeing my weeklong sojourn reduced to a list of bullet points. I made it to my connecting train in Kyoto with minutes to spare. Carrying my panniers in one hand and my bike in the other in its rinkou bukuro (bike bag) through a crowded station was a clumsy and awkward endeavor that had me sweating more than I had on the entire trip out. But I made it and by 10PM I was back in Tottori, pedaling to my front door just as Bronwyn was returning from a night out with friends. She was surprised to see me, especially since I had told her earlier that I was planning on riding back from Kyoto and lied in an email saying that I was currently on an overnight bus. I was sad that I wasn’t able to finish my trip “properly”, but seeing Bronwyn was proof enough that I had made the right choice in returning early.

I still have more trips in the works. Last week was a special three-day weekend for “Honoring Old People Day”, and Bronwyn rode out to Yonago and back which is 100km each way to spend the weekend with friends. I’d like to ride east along the coast sometime soon, maybe back down to Kyoto, to do the leg of my trip I skipped, and maybe in the summer make my way up to Hokkaido which is supposed to be a cycling paradise. While Tottori is no L.A., I think there’ll be enough adventures around to keep me satisfied - now if only I could find a job so that I can pay for these adventures.

Jon Does Japan

As many people who have blogged have likely experienced, I’ve long ago reached the point where there has been so much going on in my life that the mere thought of trying to catch up on my updates has rendered me incapable of making the attempt. You’ve gotten the basic summary - got married, went to Greece, moved to Japan. There are volumes that can be written about each of those events, but as it were I’ll need to focus about blogging on the present or I may never get back into the habit of writing regularly, so I’ll have to assume that I’ll get to writing about the past sometime in the future.

My time here in Japan has, for the most part, been a rather simple affair. Being unemployed, I spend most of my time filling the role of househusband for Bronwyn, who is employed as a Coordinator of International Relations for the local government office here in Tottori City. My days involve more or less cooking, cleaning, shopping, and video games - mostly the video games. While spending one’s days playing video games may seem like a good way to pass the time, I can attest to the fact that it gets old very quickly. It’s leaving me antsy and lethargic, much like the later months of summer break in high school. Fortunately, I’m starting to pick up some part-time work here and there. Hopefully one thing will lead to another and I’ll find myself gainfully employed.

To break up the monotony and take advantage of my copious free time, I took a bicycle tour of Japan at the beginning of the month. The Bicycle Film Festival came to Tokyo the first weekend of September. Being busy with moving preparations in July, I missed the festival when it came to Los Angeles. So I took the train to Kyoto, Starbuck in tow, and began the approximately 650km ride to Tokyo. Photos from the trip are up on my Flickr.

I only had five days to make the trip so I kept a pretty strong pace for the load I was carrying. The first day, after disembarking the train, I wondered around Kyoto briefly, making sure to find Doshisha University where Bronwyn studied abroad for a semester, then headed up the eastern shore of Lake Biwa where I camped for the night.

Having started late with the train ride to Kyoto, I only rode 60km that day so I had to make up for it the next day. I rode 180km, over the mountain pass between Biwa and Nagoya in a heavy but refreshing rain, and then beyond. The mountains weren’t too bad, except for when I crossed the prefecture line and started my decent. The road suddenly narrowed, changing to a ridiculously steep grade with sharp switchback turns and shoddy pavement. Rain water was flooding down the road and strewing gravel all about. This made for a dangerous combination and my brakes were unable to bring the bike to a complete stop, forcing me to do a bit of Fredstone-style stopping and actually walk down many of the hairier bits. Once the road normalized, though, I flew down the rest of the pass, letting out a whoop of exhilaration and relief. The rest of the day involved navigating the outskirts of Nagoya so that I could make my way to a campground. I did get lost a bit in Nagoya, but eventually managed to find my way, and as if to punctuate that accomplishment, I passed a fellow bike tourist (presumably American) headed the other direction who raised his fist in greeting shouting, “Ride on!” That phrase is something of a Midnight Ridazz mantra, and raised my spirits.

I made good time, and though I reached the vicinity of my supposed camping accommodations well after dark near Gamagori, I was still feeling good. However, problems arose when I couldn’t find the campground in the dark. I had to ride uphill along an unlit forest road which was at times unpaved. I had to call Bronwyn to help me navigate via Google Maps, but I had apparently passed the camp completely while twisting and turning through the dark. I found myself at some sort of community nature center on top of a small mountain. On the plus side, I could see the Pacific Ocean to the south from where I was, which is where I was headed, but there was no way I was going to back into the dark to try and find the campground. So I decided to sleep on a nearby bench and hope that nobody from the nature center would object.

I didn’t end up getting much sleep at all that night, being very anxious about my surroundings. What’s worse, even in daylight the roads I had just traversed were twisted and confusing. I actually ended up going north down the mountain, rather than south, setting back my arrival at the coast several hours. Eventually I did find my way and I was able to relax a bit as I rode down the coastal bike paths (though the bike paths were interrupted at one point by a festival of drunken men in their underwear. I would have loved to have asked about the occasion, but I had to continue on my way). I decided to treat myself to a hot bath and a warm bed in a youth hostel in Omaezaki. I travelled 120km that day, but the last 20 were absolutely painful as I was feeling the fatigue from lack of sleep.

The hostel did help a great deal, though. They provided a delicious Japanese dinner, a welcome diversion from the usual fare of convenience store food I had been eating along the way, and I met a young Japanese woman who was touring the country by motorcycle. She was on the second month of her journey and had a lot more left to see. I was a bit envious, wishing I had my Vespa with me so that I could cover similar gorund. The woman had spent her working holiday in Whistler so spoke very good English, and I was eager to engage in conversation. I imagine a travel companion would be a good thing to have for future tours.

I slept in the next day (”sleeping in” meaning I woke at 7AM rather than 4AM) making the most of the comfort of my bed, but knowing that I had another long day of riding ahead of me, including more mountains in the evening, I scrambled to get ready and head out. I wanted to cross the mountains before it got dark. I headed up the coast of the Suruga-wan, past Shizuoka, skirting the coast of Fuji city. Unfortunately, I didn’t even get to see Mt. Fuji as it was obscured by clouds.

I reached the mountains at dusk, stopping at a gas station to ask for directions and confirm my route. As I climbed the mountain pass to the resort city of Atami, the sun set and I was beginning to regret not putting in a bit more hustle during the day. After the first big climb, though, I saw the man from whom I had asked directions on the side of the road. He waved me down and offered me a ride to Atami. I had only 15km to go, but it was going to be a rough distance. Knowing that this would save me a couple of hours on my trip, I happily accepted. He drove a large soccer van and I was easily able to fit my bike inside. The route I had selected went through a tunnel several kilometers long. The driver, who spoke very little English, commented as we passed through it, “Very dangerous.” I was indeed quite lucky to be getting the ride. We were soon in Atami, and the driver dropped me off. I was only 20km south of my campground along the Sagami-nada coast of the Izu peninsula just south of Odawara and I arrived shortly after 8PM. I clocked in 170km that day, along with the 15km in the car.

The last stretch of the tour was an easy 90km into Tokyo. The only trick part was navigating the traffic of Yokohama and Tokyo itself. Tokyo, however was surprisingly not bad and there were a fair amount of cyclists on the street (as opposed to on the sidewalk as most Japanese riders do), so I was able to comfortably mix it up with the cars just like the good old days of L.A. riding. I arrived in the Daikanyama neighborhood of Tokyo around 4PM just in time for the Film Festival.

More about the festival itself in my next post.

Bike to Work Day and My Underwear

As any good cycling advocate, I’m obliged to inform you that May is Bike Month. Not only that, but this week in Los Angeles is Bike to Work Week, and, to go even further, today is Bike to Work Day! The LACMTA says they are expecting record participation, and judging from my morning commute I can attest to seeing a number of new bicycle-mounted faces on the road. It’s certainly ideal weather conditions for people to give commuting a shot: temperatures in the mid-70’s and gloriously sunny. That beats the weather from Monday at the beginning of Bike to Work Week which was overcast with a very light drizzle. Still perfectly pleasant in my mind, but probably intimidating for the average fair-weather Southern Californian.

At any rate being a daily bicycle commuter already, riding my bike for one special month or week or day of the year isn’t really a big deal. Instead, I do have two fairly minor goals. The first is to actually ride my bike to work for the entire month. I don’t own a car, but I do have a Vespa that I ride into work maybe one or two days a month. So yeah, two days tops of changing my gas-sipping habits isn’t that big of a deal, but it’s something.

The bigger challenge, actually, is my second goal, which is to be more of a plain-clothes cyclist. I don’t wear lycra bike shorts and jerseys in to work. I don’t even own a pair of lycra shorts (though I do have one pair of wool bike shorts for any kind of special event). What I tend to wear is normal shorts or knickers from Swrve or REI with a wicking wool shirt. That actually look pretty non-bike geeky and would be fine in a bar. But at work, even though it’s jeans and t-shirt casual, the thought of wearing knickers or shorts doesn’t sit right with me. I normally pack a change of clothes in my messenger bag that I bring with me everyday. The irony is that the messenger bag ends up making my back and shirt extra sweaty. Even if it’s a nice looking, wicking, stink-free merino wool t-shirt, I’d rather not wear it around the office waiting for the sweat marks to evaporate. This week, I’ve been rediscovering riding around in normal old pants, be they khakis or even *gasp* jeans, which I had sworn off doing back when I started commuting because they were extremely uncomfortable. I’m finding now that jeans aren’t so bad - the difference being the underwear.

Sorry to speak so candidly of my undergarments, but wicking underwear is absolutely key! Cotton boxers simply will not do. Patagonia active briefs are pretty good, but even better are these Icebreaker merino wool boxer briefs. They are the ultimate shiznit. Kind of pricey, but so very, very worth it.

At any rate, now that I no longer need to pack an extra pair of pants, I’m able to use my saddle bag for my commute luggage, relieving my sweaty back and even allowing me to wear the same shirt I rode to work in around the office. Hurray for simplification!

I still wear dorky bike shoes, though. I can’t get over how much I like clipless pedals. However, I picked up a pair of Keen cycling sandals at REI recently with my member dividend, and they have been treating me very well - still dorky, but not as much as my Sidis.

(Mis)Adventures in Mountain Biking

A couple of weekends ago, I headed out to Idyllwyld for a 24-hour mountain bike race put on by 24 Hours of Adrenalin. A 24-hour race is done in teams (unless you’re a masochist and want to do it solo) where riders go out one at a time doing a lap around a course, then handing off a baton to the next rider for twenty-four hours. The winning team being the one that makes the most laps in 24 hours.

I joined the Hollywood Pro Bicycles “corporate team”. We were the “doing it for fun” team. They also had a competitive team. Seeing as I had only been mountain biking a couple of times before, that was not my scene. It made for a great weekend. Since our team was large and slow, there was a fair amount of downtime while we waited for our turn to come up, so it was essentially a weekend of very relaxed camping with the occasional bit of mountain biking and lots and lots of eating.

The race started at noon on Saturday, April 26, and went until noon the next day. I didn’t get to do my first lap until late into the evening just as the sun was starting to set. My lap coincided with the start of a lap from a rider from the competitve HPB team. I decided I’d try sticking to his wheel to pace myself and actually did fairly well with that up until the first check point, that leg being mostly a long climb. Going downhill on a mountain bike still scares the crap out of me, but I’m finding that I do the uphills really well. I also happen to enjoy the climbing, burning lungs, screaming legs, and all, since nailing technical bits is pretty satisfying and the fact that I’m not terrified means I can enjoy the ride more.

So anyways, everything was going pretty well up to the first checkpoint. Then the trail started into a long but not too steep downhill. Swallowing my fear, I kept sticking to the HPB competitive rider, trusting he knew what he was doing and following his line. Unfortunately, as I was zooming down the trail at around 20mph, I over-corrected my steering and my front wheel came up against a raised side of the trail, sending me face-first over the handlebars. As I watched the dirt striking my glasses, my first thought was “NOOO!!!!! THE WEDDING PHOTOS!!!!” Of all the places I could have gotten scraped up, it had to be on my face. Luckily, scrapes were all that I suffered as I checked myself and my bike over. A nearby spectator asked if I was alright and offered me her water bottle, which I used to quickly wash my face and rinse out my grit-filled mouth. Still running on adrenaline, I thanked her and hopped back on to my bike - shaken and more cautious, but still wanting to finish quickly so I could get properly cleaned up.

The second mishap on this lap occurred as the sun set and the trail darkened. I flipped on my NiteRider MiNewt.x2 to light my way, only to find that it was malfunctioning. It would stay on for about three seconds, then turn off. (Later, I asked the HPB mechanic about it and he suggested it might be a bad ballast.) I don’t know if this is a result of my crash, though it had happened once before a month ago on a Midnight Ridazz-type ride, but hadn’t happened again so I thought it was some weird fluke. Frustrated, I continued on to the second checkpoint with what little light was left in the day. At the checkpoint, I snagged some alcohol wipes for my scrapes, and continued on, but it was getting too dark. I rigged up my light’s battery pack next to my left brake lever such that the “on” button was next to my thumb and I could push the button every couple of seconds while still keeping my hands on the handlebar. This worked okay, but got very painful very fast and I still had some six miles to go. On the downhills, though, this technique was not an option as it interfered with my ability to operate the front brake. I had to run down those stretches with bike in hand.

The third blow that really broke my spirit came less than a mile from the end. I missed a turn-off. The route I took lead me to an impassible wall of rocks. Confused, I backtracked a bit and tried another path with no success. Now officially lost I shouted and cursed into the dark. There were some bike tracks in the dirt so I wasn’t the only that made this mistake. I decided I’d just walk my bike back the way I had come until I saw another rider. After maybe a quarter mile of backtracking, I found the sign that indicating where I had missed my turn. I probably didn’t see it the first time around because my light was off.

Once I was back on track I quickly finished off the lap. To top off my dismay, as I crossed the finish line a group of kids let out a collective gasp as one of them exclaimed “Woh!!! Look at his face!!!” My wedding photo woes, which had been forgotten in the midst of my lighting frustrations quickly returned and my first order of business was to find a mirror to survey the damage. I then headed over to the first aid tent where they cleaned me up. It really was nothing major, just some superficial scrapes. Apparently, the worst injuries from the evening was somebody dislocating their shoulder, and someone else piercing their bicep on a branch - in one side, out the other. As I write this, I’ve already shed my scabs so now it’s just a matter of the skin returning to its normal color.

My spirits improved as I returned to camp and there was a communal bottle of Jameson of which I was able to partake. I was soon able to laugh at the utter ridiculousness of my misfortune and started looking forward to my next lap.

I snagged a few hours of sleep, and woke up around 6AM, just as one of our riders was coming in. With most of my team asleep, I took the baton and headed out for my second attempt. This went much smoother, and I kept a casual pace. Whereas my first lap was done during the sunset, now I was riding in the sunrise, and I took the time to appreciate the gorgeous scenery. All the downhills this time were approached with a lot more, probably excessive, caution and I still walked quite a few of them, but I was enjoying the entire ride. My lap time for the second round was about an hour and thirty minutes. My first lap time was more like an hour and fifty minutes. I returned to camp and handed off the baton, and getting enough rest that when the rider returned, who himself had also had a miserable first lap but a slow and very enjoyable second (he says it was one of the top five rides of his life), I jumped at the chance to squeeze in one more lap before the noon cutoff. That lap time was an hour and fifteen minutes, which I felt pretty good about (the fastest lap time of the entire weekend being, I think, forty-six minutes). Now having been awake, I was able to throw in a little bit more hustle, and I had a bit more confidence in the downhills. And if you check these photos, you can see I was clearly having a good time.

Despite injury, I was pretty psyched on this mountain biking foray and would love to do something similar again - not necessarily in a 24-hour race environment, but just a weekend of car camping and riding - though I think any type of mountain biking will have to wait until after the wedding. Rosie served me well and I I’m pretty satisfied with everything about the bike, especially given my limited skills. Though I will probably want some lighter wheels down the road. A lot of people suggested I get a suspension fork, but I rather like the rigid one it has now. It’s light, makes climbing easier, plus it makes me feel like I’m getting cool points for riding more hard-core sans cushiness, though trying to look like I have mad skillz would probably be more effectively executed if I wasn’t crashing my face into things.

Life could be so car-free

A great little bit of anarchy hear in Los Angeles.

Yes, it’s illegal to ride your bike on most freeways, including the stretches of the 405 and the 101 these folks are riding, but what a fine piece of subversion this is. And truth be told, when traffic is that thick, what they’re doing is safer than riding surface streets.. Intersections are where the vast majority of accidents occur with any vehicles. With bicycles, the most common collisions involve a car turning right or left into a rider’s path. Freeways remove that problem and, considering that traffic is at a virtual standstill, problems from differences in speed are also negated.

A bicycle “freeway” could be just the thing the city needs to make bike commuting a viable alternative for many - and I don’t mean bike paths and trails that meander through parks and beaches or hug the Los Angeles river with casual riders ambling along at 10 miles per hour, but something that actually moves commuters quickly and safely to useful destinations. Someone cycling from Santa Monica to downtown could probably shorten their ride by a good half hour if they rode on the 101 and didn’t have to contend with stop lights and intersections. In rush hour I can assure you they’d do it faster than a car making the same trip.

At the start of the 20th century, Los Angeles had the right idea with the beginnings of an elevated wooden bikeway from downtown to Pasadena. Unfortunately that was scrapped as the automobile rapidly gained in popularity, but imagine how things would have been different if cars had come along a bit later, and a bikeway infrastructure was already in place and proven to be a viable method of transportation. How many people would opt for the car then?

I’m not saying cars don’t have their place, but would we really still need to build 8-lane freeways? Just imagine how many thousands of acres of land could be used for things other than asphalt. This photo from Germany is a pretty good illustration of that. It shows the amount of space required to move the same number of people by car, bus, and bicycle.

Tomorrow is Earth Day, and in honor of that, a portion of Wilshire Boulevard between Western and Harvard is declaring itself car-free for the day. While that doesn’t affect my usual commute at all (I work on Wilshire but ride on Melrose), I’ll be swinging by during my lunch break to check it out and support the gesture as it’s a really great thing to see this kind of support coming from the city.

New Bike Day!

More like New Bike Week, rather. I won the frame off of eBay and finished building her up last Friday and have been riding her non-stop since. It’s a Rivendell Rambouillet, which has pretty much been one of my dream bikes since I found out about Rivendell’s existance, so I am very excited.

Meet Starbuck.

This is essentially an upgrade from my Bridgestone RB-2 for long distance, brevets, and light touring, and I moved nearly all my parts from the RB-2 onto this one. The only new things I needed were a seatpost and some standard-reach brakes. Meanwhile, I had enough parts in my garage to build back up my RB-2. I was thinking of selling it, but truth is I really love the frame so now I’m thinking I’m going to keep it as my “go fast” bike.

Anyways, here’s the details:
Frameset: 56cm* Rivendell Rambouillet
Wheels: 32h Mavic Open Pro rims laced to White Industries Tracker Ti hubs, Salsa skewers
Tires: 700×28mm Rivendell Ruffy Tuffy’s
Brake levers: Cane Creek SCR-5
Brakes: Tektro 521AG
Handlebars: 44cm Nitto Noodle
Bar tape: Brooks (this is the fourth set of handlebars they’ve been wrapped on, hence the dirtiness)
Stem: 100mm Nitto Pearl
Headset: Shimano Ultegra 1″ threaded
Cranks: Sugino XD 48/34 170mm compact crankset
Bottom Bracket: TH Industries, I think? 68×110.5
Front Derailleur: Shimano 600 FD-6207
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace RD-7800 SS
Shifters: Shimano Dura Ace 9-speed bar ends
Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 12-27
Seatpost: Nitto Dynamic 626
Saddle: Brooks Pro
Fenders: 40mm Gilles Berthoud, with a Sheldon fender nut and some Honjo fender hardware used to get the right fit
Rack: Tubus Luna

*Rivendell’s recommended sizing would put me on a 58 or 60cm frame for me, but I don’t ride with my handlebars level with my saddle as they also recommend, so I went with the same sizing as my RB-2 and it fits wonderfully.

I’m pretty satisfied with the build. Since all the parts were previously hanging off of my RB-2, I had already had all the bits I wanted worked out. The only thing I still want is a dynamo hub and lighting setup that I can pop in for brevets. In the meantime, I’ll make do with battery-powered lights. I also want to swap out the bottle cages for some Velo Orange ones whenever those become available.

A “would be nice” upgrade is the brakes. The 521AG have the right reach, but the arch clearance isn’t quite right and the calipers still squeeze the fenders a bit when applied, if that makes sense. However, they don’t move the fenders around enough to actually push them into the tire, so still totally usable, though not ideal. Apparently, Tektro just put out a new standard-reach brake model, the R538, which has a better arch profile and might solve the fender squeeze problem, so that’s something I might consider later.

As for “maybe” upgrades, I’d be interested in finding wider gearing up front. The FD-6207 has an 18-tooth capacity, which means it can probably handle a 20-tooth difference just fine. So I’d consider getting a wide-range double, like a 46/26, which would be achievable with something like the Sugino PX or TA Pro 5 Vis crank. Problem is those are both out of production and retardedly expensive (but at least the rings are still being made). Alternately, I could go with a triple - 46/36/26, or even a kooky 46/44/26 half-step plus granny setup that way I could still get the tight shifting steps of a 12-23 cassette while still having a wide gearing range. Either way, I would need to get a new rear derailleur and possibly bottom bracket depending on the cranks, and it’s really not that big of a deal to me yet so no rush there.

Also, I’m debating between racks. I really like the minimalism of the Tubus Luna rack, but I also have a Nitto R-15 (this one) that almost seems more appropriate in terms of style and finish.

About the name. You’ll note I’ve been saying “her” a lot. The bike is named after Starbuck of Battlestar Galactica, not Moby Dick, and not of the coffee chain (though if you want to make the coffee connection, the bike is green, like the logo). Reasons being, like Starbuck, the bike is pretty but can take a beating. While I don’t have any plans on abusing the bike, I’m also not going pamper it to the point that I’m too afraid to take it out and put it through its paces. The best way to show a bike love is to ride the crap out of it, and that’s what I plan to do.

Also, like Starbuck, this bike will either lead me to my destiny, or to the destruction of mankind.

Cyclists Special

A short film from 1955 about cyclotouring in England. I love this.

Shopping Victoriously

More about this soon. In the parlance of the old livejournal community:
Current Mood: Giddy

Velo Geekery: Dream Bikes

Unfortunately, I didn’t win the ebay auction for the Rivendell frame I posted about last week. Kind of bummed about it because I had gotten my hopes up, as it was essentially my dream bike. Basically, what I wanted was an upgrade from my RB-2 frame with same geometry, but a little bit more room for bigger tires and fenders. Seeing as Rivendell is the high-class reincarnation of Bridgestone, the bike had everything going for it. But ah well. It’s probably for the best as there is a wedding to pay for.

This has me now thinking about my “dream bike”, or “bikes” rather because I’d need more than one. Dream Bike #1 would be the upgraded Bridgestone. This one would be for going fast, light touring, and brevet riding. I have everything else on the bike just right; it’s the frame at this point that needs tweeking as I’d like to roll on 700×28 or 700×32 tires, maybe even 38mm 650b tires, with fenders. If I were to go with a Rivendell, I’d want a Rambouillet, but if I’m going to be spending that kind of cash, I’d be interested in getting a custom built one from Ira Ryan or Coast Cycles.

However, I’ve been looking at the Soma Speedster which is also a pretty attractive option for much less scratch, since it’s made in Taiwan. The geometry pretty closely matches that of my Bridgestone, has more generous tire clearances (someone out there’s already done a nice build using 650b wheels), plus it has sexy chromed lugs, which is the one aesthetic detail I’d have been sure to add on a custom build (that and I’d want it to be a deep purple like this Kalavinka). The only downside is it uses a threadless headset, but that’s something I could live with. It’s something for me to consider, though no rush at this point. Since it’s a production bike, there’s no urgency here for me to jump on the deal like the Rivendell I bid on. Again, there’s a wedding to pay for.

Dream Bike #2 would be a track bike. Luckily I already have exactly what I want in that department. The frame is by Coast Cycles and is absolutely fantastic. It’s the reason I’d consider Coast Cycles as a custom builder for Dream Bike #1. I didn’t have the track bike custom built for me. I had seen it a couple of years ago on Coast’s site and lusted over it, so when I saw it on the eBay auction block a year later I had to pounce on it. Luckily, that auction ended in my favor.

Dream Bike #3 would be the heavy-duty loaded touring, commuting, fire roads, and all-around rough stuff bike. This one I have spec’d out in my head and is something I’d love to put together whenever finances and time permit. The frame would be a Rawland Sogn done up with plush 650b tires, a Sugino compact triple crankset with wide Shimano mountain bike gearing in the back, Paul Neo-Retro brakes, mustache bars with bar-end shifters, Tubus racks when necessary, and the usual Brooks accouterments.

In addition to those three bikes, I’d want a mountain bike. I don’t know enough about that aspect of cycling to have an idea of what a dream mountain bike would be, but the titanium GT I have now is pretty sweet and does me just fine.

Further Rivendell Rationalization

As soon as I finished that last entry about possibly trying to finangle the Rivendell frame off of eBay, I checked Crooks and Liars for a politics fix, and what should I see but a post featuring this photo:

Ah, the joys of not driving. And not only am I not paying for gas, insurance, or maintenance, but thanks to the California Parking Cash-Out Law I get paid an extra $125 a month at work because I don’t use a parking space in the garage.

Maybe I have earned myself that bike.