Underway, New England, 2013

So far, so good. After a hectic start, in which I had serious doubts about carrying everything on the clown bike (I think it will work), I crawled into the van and set off. Starting at 6:30 pm meant that I wouldn't arrive in Buffalo until 1:00 am. But that's when I was supposed to get on the train in Indiana, so instead of a night on the train, I had a night in Red Roof Inn. Much better.

I got all my stuff on the train and got myself installed in a seat. Now I'm enjoying a lovely train ride.

My bike, in its case, on the Lake Shore Limited.

LATER:

What a day. The train ride was great. Rolled in to Boston a little late, but not too late for the bus to Portland. But here's the problem: The bike in its soft bag is HEAVY and CUMBERSOME. I had to schlepp the huge bike bag and my big green duffel bag to the bus terminal next door, up and down stairs. I thought I'd die. And then when the bus arrived in Portland, I had to schlepp the ensemble from the bus terminal to the Clarion hotel. Not far, but far enough to make me swear I would never do it that way again. 

Rollers for the bike bag? A skateboard? Pack it in the suitcase and give up on camping so that I don't need to carry all the camping gear? Maybe. 

I was glad to get to my room at 12:30 am. I unpacked the bike to make sure I hadn't bent it in half. And I went to bed with my fingers crossed that everything would fit on the bike.

What was inside the bag

Assembled, loaded, ready to go.

This Summer's Configuration

Here is the way the Rambouillet is set up this summer:

Notice the threadless stem adapter and super tall and short stem. Looks silly, but it's quite comfy.

Notice the seatpost rack and rack trunk. I tried a Riv seat bag, but I didn't like having it hit my legs, and I didn't like the single large space in which things rolled around. The rack trunk and rack are a little heavier, but I like the rigidity and the multiple compartments.

Notice also the foam pad on the Terry Liberator saddle. Very comfy with my J&G touring shorts.

In the background is Glen Lake, from the Pierce Stocking scenic drive, one of my daily rides in northern Michigan.

Tour Planning 2013, part 1

Now that it's almost May, it's time to start thinking about summer tours. It seems that Jon and I will discontinue our new/old tradition of a joint tour this summer (our riding/touring styles are diverging enough to create an unfavorable cost:benefit ratio, if I may be cryptic), which I regret. He and I have been touring together, at least on mini-tours, since 1975, not counting a big child-rearing gap in the 80s and 90s.

So now I'm faced with the prospect of touring alone. Although I would rather have company, the thought of joining an organized group tour is horrifying. I've had people say to me, "I always do RAGBRAI (or Michigan's equivalent, DALMAC). You should, too! You'd love it!" But I wouldn't love it. Taking a tour with a cast of (quite literally) thousands sounds awful. I don't want company THAT much. Maybe I don't want company much, at all. I don't like biking with people, in general. They're either too slow or too fast. I realize that group tours aren't really group rides; people go at their own pace, often not seeing their fellow tourists at all between daily departures and arrivals Still, it doesn't sound fun. (Although I have been tempted by the Bicycle Tour of Colorado, I must confess, mostly because it sounds so impossibly difficult--an interesting challenge.)

So, can I do it? Take a week-long tour on my own? I think so, and here's the tentative plan:

I propose to start my Trans-Am by installment trip this summer. I will pack the clown bike into its suitcase and take trains and buses to Brunswick, ME, then follow the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route guide to Rochester, NY (550 miles, perhaps?), where I'll catch Amtrak back to my car in IN. At 70 miles/day, that's 8 days (or so) of riding. Since I have already biked the Rochester-Buffalo leg, I could start in Buffalo next summer, and ride across Canada back to MI and Empire. Then perhaps Empire to Minneapolis the following summer, Minneapolis to western N Dak, etc, always starting and/or ending at Amtrak stations.

So stay tuned.

Equipment report, indirectly related: I put Scwalbe Marathon 406 x 38 tires (100 PSI) on the clown bike yesterday, hoping for a nice combination of cush and rolliness. Mission accomplished. Really a good combination. I had them pumped up to about 85 PSI.

UPDATE, MAY 23
The reservations are made. Train to Boston, bus to Portland, ME, arriving at midnight. There's a hotel near the bus station, so I'll spend the night there, then start the next day, joining the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route halfway through day 1.

I think I'll be able to pack the clown bike in its soft case to carry on the train. (At least, Amtrak says its possible to carry a folding bike as a piece of luggage; I'll carry a copy of their official luggage policy, in case the conductor gives me a hard time.) That way, I won't need too tow a trailer. The trailer is fine, and I have ridden hundreds of miles towing it, but I think it will be easier just to use panniers. I have rigged up a rear rack on the clown bike (just a stock rack that I have bent the stays to fit), which still allows the bike to fit in its soft case when folded. I'll try to put on a front rack on my way to the Indiana train station. (My winter home is exactly on the way, so I'll stop and mow the lawn and make final preparations for the trip.)

I decided that getting on the train at 1:15 a.m. is onerous but acceptable. It's by far the cheapest way to go, once airport parking and luggage fees are factored in. I have reserved a return trip from Rochester, NY. I hope I'll be able to keep to the schedule. 

UPDATE, MAY 29
I was going to catch the train in Indiana at 1:15 a.m. tomorrow night, arriving Boston 9:15 p.m., in time to catch the last bus to Portland, but the thought of pushing into a seat in the middle of the night, riding all night and all day, and not getting to my hotel until midnight sounded awful. And then, at the end, I'd need to reverse the process from Rochester to Indiana.

On my daily ride (see the picture, above), I got to thinking. (That's what daily rides are good for, among other things.) Why not just drive to Rochester and leave my car there? Catch the same train, but at 10 a.m. instead of 1:00 a.m.? Then, at the end of the trip, just jump in my car and drive away? I wouldn't even need to fold the bike back up. That way, if I finished a day early or a day late, I wouldn't need to rearrange a ticket. I like driving (I even fixed the radio in the van), and I'm willing to pay extra to avoid two nights on a train. So I did it.

Here's the funny thing: It turns out that I had a ticket from Indiana to Boston ON THE WRONG NIGHT! I searched for May 30 (Thursday), meaning Thursday night. Amtrak gave me May 30, 1:00 a.m., meaning WEDNESDAY NIGHT. I was too dumb to realize my mistake until I went to cancel the ticket. Lucky me. (Amtrak lets you cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours before the trip.)

So I saved $110 on train tickets, but I'll pay an extra $150 for gasoline, plus an extra $70 for a motel tomorrow night. But I'll save, say, $20 on train food. So let's say I'm paying an extra . . . call it $100. Worth it. Oh, and tolls. I'll need to pay tolls on the Turnpikes. Still worth it.

I should be apprehensive about this trip, having never taken such a long one by myself before. But mostly, I'm looking forward to it. I've done a lot of bike touring, so I know the drill. I think I'll have the right gear. I think the clown bike will work well carrying a load (rather than towing a trailer). I like riding by myself. I think I won't like camping by myself, but it will be OK. I have a new iPhone, so that will help me stay connected when I'm feeling lonely. (Although I'm sure I won't get much service in the mountains.)

I was thinking of using the iPhone as my documentary camera on the trip, but, quite frankly, the pictures it takes are crap. I'll take my little Canon Powershot SD4000, which takes lovely pictures. Extra weight, granted, but worth it.

Winter Is Over!

Although it was in the mid-20s this morning as I rode to work, I am declaring winter over this weekend. I will take the studded tires off the commuter/tourer, and put the 35mm Marathons back on. That will be nice.

The Nokian studded tires worked well . . . I guess. I rode on ice. I didn't fall. So they didn't not work. It allowed me to ride the 620 much of the winter, saving the slush mobile (with more aggressive knobs and studs) for snowier conditions in which the minimal studs and tread of the 620's tires would have done little good.

Mostly, it was a good winter for bike commuting. Only a few deep snow days in which I had to push my bike through snow drifts (created by snow plows). Some below-zero cold, but with the right layers (including plastic newspaper bags over my mittens), it wasn't a problem. I confess that I'm getting tired of temperatures in the 20s, which doesn't seem cold in January, but which does seem cold in March/April. I'm tired of wearing goggles and shoe covers. True spring will be nice.

Ice! Cold!

Winter has finally arrived here in mid-Michigan (although it's not scheduled to stay very long). We had thick rutty ice on all surfaces yesterday, and today the temperature went down to single digits.

Because of the total icization, I rode the slush mobile, with its more aggressive studded tires and wider footprint. Worked beautifully, even if it rides like a tank. The new dynamo wheel works well, although the old B&M Lumotec halogen (not LED) light is pretty dim.

Now that the worst of the ruts have been cleared off the roads, I'll go back to the Trek 620, with its faster rolling (but still studded) 32s.

For warmth, I wore a pair of biking tights under my Rivendell pants. I swear I was colder than I would have been with the pants alone. Probably not true, but I have been warm in just the pants down into the low 20s. Very tight weave, slightly heavier fabric than normal nylon pants. I suppose I need a pair of wool tights to wear underneath them.

On my top (remember: 8 degrees out) I wore an old "ski skin" shirt (polyester and cotton, I think), a fleece vest, and a nylon windbreaker. Plenty warm. Balaclava and goggles on my head. I would have been better off with a slightly thicker (than my thin one) wool shirt. Perhaps adding another layer to my thin wool shirt would be better.

Studs

Thin coat of ice on the roads this morning, but I had no problems, thanks to my Nokian Hakkapeliitta A10 700 x 32 tires on my commuting Trek 620. There's no way of knowing whether studded tires work, of course, but my wife told me that her car was slipping and sliding all over the place. I slipped a little, but mostly I was oblivious to the ice.


I decided that I would rather ride the commuting/touring 620 as much as possible this winter, rather than switching to the studded-tire slush mobile whenever there is the slightest chance of ice, as I have done in the past. I have been reluctant to ride the 620 without studded tires, because you never know when you'll hit a patch of ice. So I took the plunge and bought it studded tires. Now I ride it whenever there isn't deep snow or slush (or serious ice ruts that call for more mountainy tires). So far, so good.

Although these tires are called 32s, they seem significantly fatter than other 32s. (I haven't measured, though.) I bought them at Tree Fort Bikes (online, but they are located an hour down the road in Ypsilanti).