Ken Steinhoff spent more than 40 years in the ink-slinging newspaper business where he had a license to be nosy. Palm Beach Bike Tours renewed that license in his retirement years. The blog is ostensibly about cycling, photography and using GPS technology to figure out where you're going and where you've been. It's really an extension of his lifelong effort to tell the stories of "ordinary people doing ordinary things", which sometimes turns out to be pretty extraordinary. If all that sounds like something in which you might be interested, please sign up for the PBBT RSS feed to keep in touch.
I’m a folkie, but I’ve never heard Bloom’s music. I’m going to have to give him a serious listen. I like the music and I particularly like the way they integrated the tour pictures with it.
Wind is a really big deal when riding the LOST, which is about 30 feet above the surrounding terrain with no place to hide, so I jumped on the chance to buy a portable wind gauge when I saw them on sale at Radio Shack.
The site points out on a flat road, aerodynamic drag is by far the greatest barrier to a cyclist’s speed, accounting for 70 to 90 percent of the resistance felt when pedaling. The only greater obstacle is climbing up a hill: the effort needed to pedal a bike uphill against the force of gravity far outweighs the effect of wind resistance.
Tailwinds make you Superman/woman
What boggles my mind is not so much the effect that even a minor headwind has (13 mph with a 6 mph headwind requires 80.6 watts of power), but the effect of a tailwind of the same speed.
It only takes 4.03 watts to maintain13 mph with a 6 mph tailwind. That’s why even a tailwind that barely causes the grass to move makes you feel like Superman/woman.
(6 mph is a significant number for me because that’s the lowest value that my handy-dandy Radio Shack wind gauge will record.)
I’ve had some good days when 2.5 watts of output would rocket me along at 18 mph with a 12 mph tailwind. Unfortunately, a lot of those days would have taken 317 watts on the return against the wind. I guess that’s why I probably only did 11 mph on the way back (143 watts).
Pacelines are about more than wind avoidance
Drafting is an important technique in road racing. Exploratorium Senior Scientist Paul Doherty explained, “The bicyclist, as he moves through the air, produces a turbulent wake behind himself. It makes vortices. The vortices actually make a low pressure area behind the bicyclist and an area of wind that moves along with the bicyclist. If you’re a following a bicyclist and can move into the wind behind the front bicyclist, you can gain an advantage. The low pressure moves you forward and the eddies push you forward.”
Wheelsuckers aren’t all bad
I always thought that the advantage to riding in a paceline was that the following riders (wheel suckers) were getting a wind break. It turns out that there is an advantage for the puller, too.
Suprisingly drafting not only helps the bicyclist following the leader, but the lead cyclist gains an advantage as well. Paul explained, “The interesting thing is by filling in her eddy you improve the front person’s performance as well. So two people who are drafting can put out less energy than two individuals (who are not drafting) would covering the same distance in the same time.”
Bro Mark sent me a link for what is described as a Swiss Army Emergency “Piss-On-It” Battery.
This is an emergency 1.5VDC wet-cell battery. When you need it, you remove the cork, break off the little glass tube and fill it with clear water… Let stand for 10-12 hrs and presto, you got juice. I’m told, if you’re stuck in the middle of the desert without any possibility of water, you can pee in it, and that’ll make it work too. You gotta love it! Brand-new. 4.75” x 2” x 2”
That big stack of business cards that say Ken Steinhoff, Telecom Manager, Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc., lost all value except as book marks when I retired at the end of August.
I needed a new identity
I was headed out to speak at a telecom conference in October and decided I should have new business cards to hand out there and when I run into folks on the bike.
Matt, Help!!
One of the advantages of having geek kids is that you can call on them when you need help. Matt, older brother of propeller head Adam, shown here, said he’d whip something up if I could provide a logo.
I started to rip off Keefer
I started to rip off a logo used by Chuck Keefer, keeper of the needs-to-be-updated LOST website, but I didn’t think it was generic enough.
Velo Girardeau to the rescue
That’s when I remembered the illustration on the flyer for Velo Girardeau’s annual Tour de Cape. For a small town, Cape has an active cycling community with a lot of friendly and helpful folks.
I rooted around in my file drawer until I found the flyer and scanned it for Matt. He came up with this as a business card. Because we were getting tight on time, he was going to have them printed and mailed to my mother in Cape so they’d be there when we arrived. For the record, www.overnightprints.com did a good job at a reasonable price.
There was one small problem
I didn’t know how to contact the artist to get his permission and I didn’t have a clue how much he might charge for the use of his work.
I figured my first challenge, when I got into town, was to track down some guy named Don Greenwood and see if I was out 10 bucks for cards that I couldn’t distribute.
It helps to have an artist in the family
Sister-in-law Marty Riley is an artist in Cape and not only knew Don Greenwood, but knew where he hangs out in the evening.
We tracked him down and he graciously agreed to let me use his artwork for an amount that I could afford: $0.
Mark Boyd, a phred I’ve always admired, has toured all over the world. Even though he’s a high daily mileage tourist, he manages to create journals that are rich in photos and descriptions. Too many cyclists get hung up on mileage, routes and gear, but Mark has the ability to capture the ambiance of the areas he’s passing through.
Because he tours in countries where he doesn’t speak the language or in places where help is a long way off, he’s good at improvising.
Goop is his friend. He uses it to fix everything. I learned from him.
I’d be pedaling down the road cranking like crazy, look down and see that my computer was registering zero RPMs. That’s really demoralizing. A closer inspection would show that the little magnet holder attached with a nylon tie had fallen off and there was nothing for the pickup coil to pick up anymore.
Rare Earth Magnets to the rescue
I set off to my neighborhood Radio Shack and picked up a couple of Rare Earth Magnets.
Radio Shack gets a pretty penny for their magnets, but I can buy a package of 30 from Amazon for about 10 bucks.
That’s a lifetime supply. One warning: keep them away from small children. Swallowing them can be deadly.
How do I stick the magnets to the crank?
Here’s where Goop comes in. I can’t tell much difference between the different flavors of Goop. Their motto is, “Glues Whatever, Holds Forever.” (By the way, check out their Testimonial page, it’s cleverly done.)
I reached for Goop for Plumbers first, figuring that it would be waterproof, held two magnets against the crank and gave a squirt. Goop is fairly viscous, sort of like silicone or caulking and it dries relatively quickly.
An hour or so later, I hopped on the bike and headed off down the road, not really expecting the magnets to hold on.
If I had known they would stick, I’d have been neater
You can tell from this closeup picture that I didn’t make any effort to trim the excess. Dirt that got stuck while the glue was still tacky is still there a couple of years later.
When I replace the crank or the bike, I’ll be a little more careful.
We’ve found Goop to be great for gluing the grandkid’s toys back together. Because it’s flexible, it’s less like to break at the same place.
I’ve been wondering if I could cause some of those slow traffic lights to trip if I’d take that whole box of 30 magnets and Goop them to my bottom bracket.
With my luck, the first time I passed over a manhole cover the bike would come to a sudden stop and I’d go flying over the bars.
Wife Lila and I rushed out to our front lawn in West Palm Beach, FL, tonight to catch Space Shuttle Endeavor blast off. The conditions were perfect to see the light trail come over the top of Helen’s house. (We still call it that, even though Helen is long dead and the house has changed hands several times.)
Then the fuel tanks dropped
Based on the time stamps on my digital pictures, it was less than a minute between the time we first spotted the streak of fire and the time the fuel tanks dropped off.
Swirling clouds of smoke
No Floridian who was looking into the sky when the Challenger made its final flight can erase the memory of those swirling clouds of smoke 73 seconds after liftoff on that cold, clear morning in 1986. I found myself holding my breath last night until STS-126 got past the phrase, “Go at throttle up.”
The Law of Inverse Appreciation
In December 2006, one of the phreds posted a quote, from Colin Fletcher’s The Complete Walker: “The less there is between you and the environment, the more you appreciate the environment.”
That led me to write to the list, I’ve been working on the hour-day rule of thumb.
A cyclist can cover in an hour about as many miles as a hiker can walk in a day.
A motorist can drive in a hour about as many miles as a cyclist can pedal in a day.
An airliner can fly in an hour about as many miles as a car can travel in a day.
The space shuttle can fly in an hour about as many miles as the jet can in a day.
I wouldn’t mind the day in the shuttle, but I know that below that, my pleasure is inversely related to the speed of travel above pedal power.
Car time is boring
I once did a scouting drive in my car. Even though I was driving 45 to 60 miles per hour, it seemed like it took a long time. When I rode the same route on my bike, it seemed over in a short time.
My only explanation is that the car segment was focused on the beginning and the end. On the bike, I was aware of every grasshopper that flew in my face, the smell of the manure along the way, the group of old farmers I talked with under a shade tree, etc.. All of those small things make REMEMBERING the trip take a long time, but were distraction enough along the way to break the boredom up into tiny fractions that made it feel at the time like it was going fast.
Some days it might be hand prints in a sidewalk that catch your eye; other days it might be the pastel colors of a sunset.
I hope those folks up in the Shuttle are having as much fun. Here’s a hope for a safe (and boring) return.
Earlier this year I wrote about how to adjust a Brooks saddle. I mentioned in it that I used a Carradice Saddle Cover from Peter White Cycles to protect it.
You don’t normally see cows standing around wearing raincoats, but leather that’s off the cow has a tendency to sag when it gets wet.
When they dry out, they can get hard and become, in an inelegant turn of phrase, “ass hatchets.”
Here’s what my seat cover looks like when it’s sleeping
When I was pushing my bike into its home this evening, I realized that I hadn’t shown any pictures of what the cover looks like in the wild.
I keep it shoved up under my Brooks Champion Flyer saddle when it’s not in use. It’s never fallen out, even when it’s been on the bike rack tooling down the road at speeds that I won’t admit to.
Just to be safe, though
Before I discovered how much it likes living under my saddle, I was paranoid enough to take a snap and swivel fishing leader and attach it to the saddle springs. The leader passes through the two leather reinforced slots that are designed to allow access to the saddle bag loops.
Here’s what it looks like rigged for rain
The cover fits very snugly. In fact, the only criticism I have is that the leather reinforced slots are cut a little small and don’t go over the metal saddle bag hooks.
I could probably do some cutting and trimming, but since I don’t use a saddle bag, it’s not worth the risk of making a bad cut.
The cover should be considered more water resistant than waterproof. If I’m going to leave it outside for a long period of time or carry it a long distance on the back of the car, I’ll add a plastic bag or shower cap cover for additional protection.
Interestingly enough, even though the cover is slick, it’s not as comfortable to ride on as the bare Brooks.
There was a discussion on the phred list this spring about how to make your bike more visible at night. One of the members said that the Graveyard Mall had a cheap alternative to Hokey Spokes for a lot less money.
Hokey Spokes are transparent “blades” that attach to your bicycle spokes. As these blades spin during riding, a computer inside the blades modulates the internal LED lights so that design images and custom text appear.
They cost about $30 to $40 per spoke.
A cheaper alternative
Wheel Wizard ad shot
Long before I ordered the disastrous Lock Alarm from Graveyard Mall, I got suckered into the Wheel Wizard at the bargain price of $4.99. I couldn’t resist ordering four of them. I figured I had some other riders who would love looking like the picture in the web site ad.
What’s not to like?
The ad copy made them sound better than sliced bread.
Not only are these cool to use and need no batteries, but they also make riding your bike at night safer.
No batteries Necessary: Generates power as you pedal
Easy to install
Visible from both sides of wheel
Reality sets in
Huge Honkin' Disk
I had pretty much forgotten that I had ordered the Wizard Wheels when a box showed up on the front porch.
I was excited when I saw the picture on the outside of the box.
That excitement died when I saw the size of the Wizard. Holy Cropoli, that sucker is HUGE, more like a time trial wheel than a Hokey Spoke blade. I’d be afraid to put that thing on my bike on a day with a strong side wind: I’d be afraid I’d get blown right over.
It DOES produce light
It’s got some kind of magnet setup that DOES actually produce light when I held it in my hand and spun it, but I’d never consider putting it on my bike. For one thing, I couldn’t get it to fit without using a crowbar on my fork.
I didn’t send them back
They weren’t what I expected, but for $4.99, I couldn’t expect much, so I wasn’t THAT disappointed.
Unlike the lock alarms, which were total junk, these performed as described, if not as desired.
I have two left. Serious offers entertained. (They make great gag gifts: give one to a friend and watch him gag.)
I’ve been lazy since getting home from vacation, so I figured I’d better drag the bike out before I forgot how to ride it.
Marley & Hailey Lane
Temps were just cool enough for this Florida boy to put on knee warmers. My left knee protests a bit from mile three to mile 10, particularly if it’s below about 73 degrees. I KNOW, some of you ride in shorts when it’s sleeting, but I ain’t you and I don’t ever plan to be.
Son Matt called to tell me that he had spotted a bunch of recreational riders getting on the Palm Beach Bike Trail, so I headed over to see if I could hook up with them.
I ran into Marley and Hailey instead
Marley and Hailey, 4-year-old twins, were getting their pictures taken at the huge tree just south of the Flagler Museum. They were so cute I had to spend some time with them.
The tree has huge wraparound roots that are so big that they’ll swallow up a child. It’s a great place to visit and there is parking nearby at the Flagler if you aren’t a cyclist.
The gaggle of gals were already at The Inlet
The riders Matt saw were just pulling out of the park at the north end of Palm Beach when I rolled up. I’d liked to have found out more about them, but that’ll be for another day.
On the way to the trail, I came upon a woman riding north on Olive. We chatted for a few minutes and she asked if I had ever ridden the Palm Beach Trail. I told her that’s where I was headed and invited her to come along.
“I don’t think I can today. I just started riding and I’ve already gone three miles. I should go home.”
I wish I had caught up with her earlier. For a newbie rider, she held her line very well and rode predictably. I did suggest that she not hug the edge of the road as much because it encourages drivers to pass you without crossing the center line. She grasped the concept and moved left about 18 inches.
I should have t-boned the jerk
A block before Worth Avenue, I saw a black convertible starting to edge out into the street. I had a feeling this guy was going to pull out in front of me, so I had my finger on the Delta Airzound Bike Horn. When he crept out a little more, I gave him a short blast, more of a gentle reminder than an imitation of an 18-wheeler. That usually does the job, but not with this yahoo.
If I hadn’t been ready to brake, I’d have t-boned him. One of the nice things about convertibles is that they can hear what you call ‘em in situations like this. Once the guy realized what he did, he apologized, but I kind of wish I had scuffed his paint a little.
Jim Foreman, one of my favorite phreds, posted this message to the bicycle touring list:
Original Geezers at Mardi Gras
The Geezers had an “official” meeting last night. By “official” it meant that it was announced. The Geezers are rather laid back.
This meeting was to celebrate my 80th birthday which happened a few days ago but at our age, who’s counting? As they say, “The first 80 years are the easiest.”
At any rate 28 Geezers met at a place called “Big Easy” which I’m sure everyone would recognize as being Cajun or Creole (never could keep those straight) for a great dinner, to flood me with embarrassing cards and sing “Happy Birthday” off key.
They couldn’t find cards for 80 years so one gave me a 50 and a 30 while someone else gave me one for 100.
Oh yes, we did conduct some business, someone suggested Door County for our spring tour and everyone (who was still awake) agreed. Our uniting force is that we like to ride bicycles as long as there’s food
at the end of the ride.
The Geezers has no elections, no dues, no officers, no special jerseys, no secret handshakes and no newsletter. Membership is limited to anyone who is willing to show up and admit geezerhood.
Ken Steinhoff spent more than 40 years in the ink-slinging newspaper business where he had a license to be nosy. Palm Beach Bike Tours renewed that license in his retirement years. The blog is ostensibly about cycling, photography and using GPS technology to figure out where you're going and where you've been. It's really an extension of his lifelong effort to tell the stories of "ordinary people doing ordinary things", which sometimes turns out to be pretty extraordinary. If all that sounds like something in which you might be interested, please sign up for the PBBT RSS feed to keep in touch.
