Quimby Road, San Jose

Curtis running out of air. Photo by Glenn

We in the East bay are always hearing about the great South Bay climbs, Fearless mapper of rides Dan "Lance Oldstrong" Butler decided we should give them a shot. We met up with Glenn Wenig and launched ourselves.

Quimby elevation profile. Ouch.

When Dan told me Quimby Road was about like Mt Diablo from the junction to the summit Glenn laughed and said "It's harder than Sierra Road." Glenn was right. I was amazed how hard it was. This was my first serious ride since being smacked by a truck in December. I was worried about the whole venture. But I had a great day (for me) and crawled up Quimby and its many double-digit steep sections better than I even dreamed I would. It was even fun.

 After the Quimby warmup we rode San Felipe and Metcalf, roads I also hear mentioned all the time. We'd planned on riding the famed Mount Umunhum as well, but due to a slight Garmin mapping fail we made a wrong turn. By the time we figured out what we needed to do it seemed like we'd be out later than I wanted to be on the road, so we headed back.

Another minor error put us on Tully road with 14,756 cars, all driven by the clueless who were also in a hurry. It was a real contrast to the rural roads we'd been on for a lot of the ride.

We did get to see Communications Hill, a weird Soviet Brutalist dystopian-looking tower on a hill that's now part of a housing development. Of course, being that it was on a hill, we rode up it.

 A big plus for me: Photos of myself! Most of my blog posts are my photos of other people. This time Glenn shot some that make me almost look like a cyclist. All in all, a big win and a fun day. Up soon, I hope, Mount Umunhum.

Downside: Glenn and Dan both have newer Garmin computers than I do. After seeing what I was missing, my 500 is on eBay and my 520 is on order. So this ride cost me a bit.

Dan and Glenn

Lance Oldstrong himself

Curtis on Qumby Road, high above San Jose

Antioch Wildhorse and Hillcrest intersection dangers

The traffic light where Wildhorse crosses Hillcrest in Antioch CA is extremely dangerous. Often the sensor doesn't detect bikes, even heavy metal commuter bikes loaded with full panniers.

But what's worse is that it often stays green for a dangerously short amount of time. Such a short time it's impossible to cross before it turns red. And still worse, there's no delay before the Hillcrest light turns green, trapping we cyclists in the 45 mph cross traffic.

This isn't unusual. Every light on Hillcrest cross streets has issues registering a cyclists presence. From Wildflower to Golden Bear to Country Hills the lights don't see cyclists, and when they do the change at an impossibly unrealistic speed.

 Consider this blog post a public complaint and a plea to the City of Antioch to correct these unsafe intersections before some tragedy occurs.

UPDATE: I got an reply the Tuesday after I posted this. I could not be more happy.

Hi Curtis.  Thank you for your input.  Changing the short green is something that can be done quickly and I will have it corrected this week at all of the intersections along Hillcrest.  The detection is a little trickier.  I will have the detector loops marked so you (and other cyclists) know where to stop.  Stopping on one of the lines of the loop is the best place to get detected.  They are the old style and it is a fine line to get them to detect bikes, but not lock up and see a vehicle all the time.  I will work on that.  Again, thank you for letting me know.  I'd much prefer to get a "complaint" than learn there was an accident.  Thanks again.

3D printed bike parts

When I wanted to hang tail lights, a trailer hitch, a Fly6 rear facing camera and still have room for a seat bag there just wasn't enough room on my seat post, or a way to do it.

Enter the 3D printing community. It turns out there are people custom designing mounts for lights and cameras and offering them for sale on Shapeways.com.
I met Bud Hammerton in the Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets forum on Bikeforums.net. He'd made a lot of things using a GoPro style mount and, at my request, created a twin GoPro mount for my rear rack as well as a GoPro mounts to hold my Fly6, my PlanetBike Superflash and my Cigolite Hotshot. He posted them in his store on Shapeways and I bought them. I'm pretty darn thrilled and find myself what other custom elements my bike could use.

Fly6 mount, Cygolite Hotshot mount, Superflash mount, all connect to a GoPro mount.

Top: 3D printed dual GoPro style rack mount. Bottom: the standard Superflash rack mount.

Side view.

It's a beautiful day for a flat... and a walk

Because rain threatened today, and I'd been working on dialing in my new titanium commuter bike, I took it, rather then the Roubaix, out for today's ride.

I discovered a bike with fenders and a rack in the wind is one way to get a workout.

I also discovered something about my wheel and tire combination when I flatted out on the closed Empire Mine Road, a couple of miles from car access. It seems the Continental Ultra Sport II 700x28C tires and the Tubeless Compatible WTB Frequency CX Team i19 rims that came on my bike make for a very very tight fit. That, and in the hubbub of getting my bikes in order I'd forgotten to pack levers...

So I sat on the ground and waited for Tricia to realize she was now riding solo. As I waited, Larry, a local triathlete stooped to offer help. Even with his levers and muscular hands and arms it was a pain. We, (OK, mostly he) got the tire back on, but we'd apparently put a hole in the tube doing it. I gave up and decided to walk out and wait for Tricia to pick me up with the car.

It's amazing how far just under two miles is when you're barefoot, pushing a bike and carrying your shoes. At least it was a beautiful day, and a lot of cyclists checked to see if I was OK.

Now that I'm home I get to make it all work somehow. I think I'll use my almost bullet proof but super hard to mount Schwalbe Marathon that I saved from my last bike. We'll see how long that takes. 

North American Handmade Bicycle Show 2016

 
Handmade bicycles of wood, titanium, steel, carbon. At every turn something more amazing to behold. Parts and pieces, bikes built out of love and creativity, the unusual and the unlikely. That was the 2016 North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Sacramento.

We made a weekend of it and spent hours drooling and dreaming as we wandered through the Sacramento Convention Center.

I took a small camera and an iPhone, but the building and crowds weren't conducive to fine photography, so I mostly just enjoyed being there.

Here are a few of our highlights form the show.

Tricia is still in love with Cielo from Chris King.

SRAM Red (I know, not handmade, but still ever so cool.) Their new wireless electronic shifting system looks amazing. If they ever make a rear derailleur that can handle a 32 tooth cog I'm going to buy it.

Wooden bikes, both bamboo and composite, that are stunning.

The beautiful bike from English with a delightfully integrated rack.

3-D printed titanium lugs

Cut lugs that looked like jewels.

$1400.00 custom shoes that weighed so little I couldn't feel them in my hands.

Pricy tools I want, along with the way way cool $550 Silca pump.

A classic Bianchi Paris Roubaix bike with early Campy shifters. Yes, that's the shifter, right next to the chain ring.

Yes, that's a real bike frame, it's carbon, see through, and they swear it's aero and strong. We all wondered how hard it would be to keep clean.

I have no reason for not owning this Velo Orange beer rack

I didn't buy a bike, but I did buy two books of classic bike racing photos from the Horton Collection.

And also managed to pick up a huge collection of stickers.

The event was amazing. I didn't even try to photograph 95% of it. I can only hope it comes to Sacramento again some day.

Catlike: What a crack up

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Feb 21, 2016 at 8:19am PST

Apparently, unlike actual cats, Catlike helmets do not have nine lives. A colleague noticed my cool Catlike Whisper helmet has a large crack on the inside, running all the way through the foam, rendering it not-so-protective. Perhaps it happened when I was mugged and I never noticed it. You can't tell from the outside, which is where I was looking. My replacement has arrived, so this one is headed for the trash. It seems a shame to toss an expensive helmet, but those-who-know insist that it's foolish to count on one that has been crashed, or cracked, so out it goes.

Fully fenderized

Ready for tonight's bike commute in the rain. I hope. #bikecommute #sks #fenders

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Feb 17, 2016 at 8:50am PST

Holy smokes are fenders and a rack hard to install. But I've got them on, and just in time for tonight's scheduled rain. I'm still working on getting the Ortlieb QL-3 mount panniers in the perfect no-heal-strike position, but I do at least have the coffee mug holder installed.

Valentine's Day Diablo

Riding up #mtdiablo on #valentinesday with Tricia @4tcakes2 in our #mtdiablostatepark jerseys. It's a beautiful day.

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Feb 14, 2016 at 10:52am PST

We missed New Years on Diablo. And we didn't summit today, we just did the junction loop. Still, it was a beautiful day and it's nice to be climbing again.

I think North Gate drivers are a bit more polite and skilled than South Gate drivers. All my close encounters have been on the South side. Do South Gate drivers just feel more entitled to use my lane?

We don't need no stinkin' badges

Goo off professional, steel wool, rags, gloves, an hour and ZAP. Unbadged titanium #newbike #noname #unbadged #nude #titanium

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Feb 13, 2016 at 5:18pm PST

I got the notion to take off the decals from a Youtube video I came across.  I tried it, and it I think looks great. One weird thing did happen, however. Everything came off just as it did in the video. Then I got to the last two letters on the last side. They would not melt off. I tried and tried, but unlike the others they were just there. "NE." would not die.  I ended up razor blading them, then going over the area with super fine steel wool. I have no idea why they were different. I'm glad I didn't start that that end. And all's well that ends well I guess.

My new titanium commuter-gravel-fun bike is here!

My new ride has arrived. I've got it set it enough to ride it, but it still awaits all the stuff to make a useful, less clean, commuter bike. Fenders, rack, bags, water bottles, lights; the tons of stuff that I need, but hate to burden this bike with.

I'd like to take off the labels and replace them with my own. I photoshoped it as I'd like it. We'll see...

Of course, any bike can look a bit silly once it's ready to go to work. It's like hauling a trailer behind a Porsche. I did it with my Roubaix, and though it worked, it seemed wrong.

And a bonus photo just for fun.

Deadwood: No bicycle content

These photos from the 1870s were recently discovered by a professor of Photography in California. They tell the story of several Deadwood residents, and the hard lives they lead. None owned bicycles, and the photos themselves are completely fake.  But it's my blog, so here they are anyway.

Mouse over and use the left/right arrows. You may need to click the three dots below the images to see the stories.

Selle Italia SLK

Look! More pieces for my bike that isn't here yet. I have this model of saddle on my road bike, and also had one on my bike that was destroyed. It's the perfect saddle for me. And as a bonus, I found it on eBay for not-a-ton of money.  I don't think it's made any longer and I'm very tempted to buy another just in case. I've had, like most cyclists, more than  few saddles. They've ranged from cheap to expensive, they've come on bikes, or I've purchased them separately. Finding one that's right for your own buns is so important. This is the one for me, and now it's just waiting for a bike.

As a side note, I used my LED bike light to light this. I may have found a pretty cool, and very portable, photography tool.

Bonus fun: The caption in this Instagram photo is a lie, created just to amuse them, but it was indeed fun to run into these cool folks on our ride.

We were thrilled when,  on our ride today, we encountered two members of the Tamrakar pro cycling team from Nepal. We were too shy to ask for autographs, but did manage this quick photo.

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Jan 30, 2016 at 2:44pm PST

Hillcrest Ave, Wallmart and bikes

Tricia wasn't happy to have this truck blow past her so closely, even dipping into the bike lane. Especially on Hillcrest Ave in Antioch where we were given to understand didn't allow these big rigs.

So she used the City of  Antioch web site to report this as a hazardous condition using their online form, and asked if it was still closed to trucks.

One day later she got a reply! Thanks Lynne, and the City of Antioch.

Hi Patricia,

You are correct, trucks are not allowed on Hillcrest.  I am the person in charge of the signs and will be making sure they are all in place with the freeway construction, etc.  Your request has been forwarded on to the police department.  If just a few tickets are issued for trucks off of the truck route, I’m sure the word will get around.

Lynne

LYNNE B. FILSON | Assistant City Engineer

When I made the video and posted it on YouTube I called the truck a "Walmart truck." Minutes later "BigMississippi" corrected me. "That's not a Walmart truck. It was a C.R.England truck pulling a Walmart trailer." On close inspection she's right. However, I can only assume it's a Walmart contractor, which from my viewpoint is darn near the same thing. But, accuracy counts, hence this clarification.

More bike-to-be parts

Yet another piece of my someday-to-be bike. I'm still waiting for the bicycle itself, but I'm getting the auxiliary parts in place.

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Jan 17, 2016 at 12:17pm PST

Yep, a new obsession. Bike pieces for the bike I don't have yet. #iwanttoridemybicycle

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Jan 17, 2016 at 12:50pm PST

Look! It's a sonderstrebenset!

Another exciting piece for my new commuter bike arrived today. The tag reads "sonderstrebenset" I'm still waiting for the actual bike.

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Jan 16, 2016 at 1:50pm PST

Dangerous street planning and Antioch

I don't normally post links to interesting bike articles, but in this case I must make an exception.

Bay Bikers: The Bay Area's Bike Blog on SFGate.com by Brian Coyne has an excellent post that uses my city, Antioch, as prime example in "Dangerous by design: what one crash tells us about bad street planning"

Coyne has written a well researched piece that makes some great points. And, as a bonus, you might recognize someone in it.

Interim commuter bike appointed

I'm using my 70s-era Gitane Tour de France turned fixed gear/single speed to commute on until my new commuter arrives. I've got my lights, my Rideye front-facing camera and and Fly6 rear facing camera set up. I even have my Garmin 500 mounted on it. I don't have a rack, so I'm using a backpack for now. I just got the SKS Raceblade fenders because it's been so wet and it will be a bit until my new ride arrives. So my guess is that the rain is over now and I've screwed up California's drought recovery.

Looking on Youtube for mounting hints I got a lot of "Jeez these are hard to mount" videos. I don't know why. Mine went on very easily. I should bend the metal wires on the back fender to bring the fender closer to the rear tire. I tried, and was impressed how hard it was to bend them, I'll try later with more serious tools. 

Just in case you're wondering, those small white stickers are "I Voted" and "Ya Voté" stickers from our local polling place. Tricia and I usually ride to vote and put the stickers on our bikes and helmets.

Year end report: 2015, be gone

This is the least amount of miles I've had for a year in ages. Things "happened." You can see the lulls in my riding as I've conveniently circled each happening in red for your viewing pleasure.

Happening 1: I got some weird bug that just wouldn't get better. The doctors even gave me a strange drug that made me loopy, but also destroyed all my creative inhibitions. It screwed up my riding, but it did somehow encourage me to go wild on Instagram and start making cyanotypes. I even made this kinetic photo sculpture, which is unlike anything I've done before. (Click to play)


Happening 2: I got mugged while bike commuting and ended up with broken ribs and was generally a mess.

Happening 3: In December I had a collision with a truck. My bike was destroyed and I was badly bruised and ended up with a separated shoulder.

 I'm well off my usual 7000+ mile total. This total is from Strava, so it's missing a few, perhaps 100 or so, but what the heck. At least I'm still alive and I'm planning for 2016 to have fewer — or no — "happenings" and a lot more bike riding.

Tricia, on the other hand, was very busy on her bike. She had a total 6,374 miles, 1,800 of those on her commuter.

Here's hoping for a wonderful 2016. Time to go ride bikes now.

Tour of the Washington Cascades book

2014 Tour of the Washington Cascades by Curtis Corlew | Make Your Own Book

I've just ordered an 82 page book of our 2014 Washington Cascades Tour with Adventure Cycling. Mostly it's photos and text that appeared in this blog. That makes it sound easy, doesn't it? But the reality was something else. I gives me even more respect for the people who do this sort of work professionally.

 Insider geek insight: I was going to use MyPublisher They offered me a free book because they took forever to print my "Kate Wolf Festival" book. That book had no text, and wasn't too hard to make. This book, with a reasonable amount of text, was a pain in their MyPublisher program. So much I gave up and tried Blurb's Booksmart. I finished it, but when I went in to fine tune the text it was a nightmare.

So I did what I should have done in the first place. I used Adobe's InDesign, a real page layout program that I've used a lot and even taught. For some reason I thought using the canned templates and programs MyPublisher and Blurb offered would be easier for something "quick." I was so wrong. So I basically built the book three times. Here's hoping I got right, because unlike this blog where I can change misspelling, print is forever. You can buy my book on blurb, but you'd be crazy too. It's not cheap, and really, do you care? If you'd like to see it though, let me know. I'll be happy to show it off.

Good-bye! Good-bye! Good-bye my trusty steed

My bike is starting its reincarnation journey at Delta Scrap in Oakley. After a brief service involving a thumb print I was given $1.56 and sent on my way. The bikes ultimate destination remains undisclosed. Perhaps it will return as another bike, or a beer can. Both would serve to make this world a better place.