Author Archives: admin

Bike Light Set

 

Shit is expensive. $25 each. I bought these when NYC cops were out to ticket bikers for everything.

Bought at local bike shop.

Cateye is made in China.

The rear blinky is a Planet Bike, who are based in Madison, WI but the light is made in Taiwan

 

Bike Peddler Take A Look Eyeglass Mirror

Bike Peddler Take A Look Cycling Eyeglass Mirror.

I used to use a Cateye BM-300G Racing Mirror (made in Japan) on my other touring bikes but when switching from STI to bar-end shifting I lose that option. I want to have a mirror when I think I need one, so this is coming along. We’ll see how long it lasts. One thing I liked about the Cateye was if I got a bug or dirt in my eye I would have a mirror right there and it worked for shaving my face too. That’s why I’m going to bring it minus the bar end plug part, it’ll be my vanity mirror compared to this tiny little thing.

One thing I like about this mirror is in the old photos of my dad riding his road bike, like from before I was born or only old enough to be carried in a trailer behind his bike, he had one of these.

Cost: $15

Made in USA

 

Ray-Ban RB2132-03

Today I went to pick up my new lenses in my old frames at Lenscrafters and as I was walking out I noticed these sunglasses. I was in a hurry to meet a buyer for a bike I was selling so I kept walking. Made the sale, so that’s money in the bank and one less thing to store. After shaking hands I walked away w/o a bike to walk home. The sun seems a bit brighter when not hunched over the bars, so I walked back and bought what’s really just a delayed impulse buy. I have AAA *wink* and that gets a discount, not just on eye glasses but sunglasses too. Not bad.

100% UVA and UVB
Classic, comfortable, black, comes with cloth and case. And it means I don’t have to bring my broken Tifosi sunglasses I bought 8 years ago. Perfect.

Cost: $73

Made in Italy

 

Camera Cleaning Kit

 

 

A lens cloth, dust blower and lens brush make up a basic cleaning kit for my camera. I’m not sure where these things are made, other than the cloth, it’s made in Japan.

Just more shit I have to carry but keeping my camera clean while out on the road is important.

I collected these items over time. All together I probably spent $20

If I lost any of these items I’d buy another right away because any one is not very expensive and does a specific job well.

 

Restless

Man! so much to do to get ready. But not that much. But factor in my procrastination and I’m screwed.

Six full days until the morning I plan to depart NYC. In that time I work a day shift, a double shift and another day shift. Then Saturday and Sunday off. And then Monday Aug 1st is the day. I still do not have a route or real plan or a place to camp mapped out for the first day, nevermind the rest of the trip.

I still have to line up some bank things, fingers crossed my new bank card arrives in time. I’m turning off Netflix. My Boost mobile phone goes dead if I don’t pay, so by not paying I’m turning off my phone. Thanks Boost for doing all the leg work on this one for me. I still need to find a storage unit and move my property into said storage unit. That’s a big one but it’s on my list for today.

My front rack is still in the paint booth waiting on the last coat. My photography website is all hemmed up and I don’t know if it’ll get fixed before I leave. I still have not set everything that I’ll be carrying out to make sure I have it all. And right now I can’t find my 8/10mm open wrench. Where the hell is it?

Am I getting the deposit back on my apartment? Can I sleep here on the night of the 31st? I’m trying to sell a spare bike still. Not like I’ve had all summer to do this and I wait til my last week to put it on craigslist.

I just seen a tweet that a friend is doing PDX to SF in 3 weeks so that’s inspiring. And I’m trying to decide if I want to go through Boston or not. I think I do. I know some bikers there and it would be cool if the Geekhouse guys let me visit.

Man I’m nervous. Need to cut my hair one last time. Ask my roommate to adopt my plants. I still need to buy soap.

 

Arkel Big Bar Bag

A friend from my last tour rode with one of these. I was wanting one ever since. Right after I decided to go on another tour I ordered this straight from Arkel. So far it seems like a really good bag.

The bag mounts are all metal. The way it disconnects and installs makes sense and is not a pain in the ass at all. The main compartment is big and the front pocket is spacious. The top seems to have too much curve and reading a map area at the very front could be a pain. I might rather see that be flat but I can live with it. I have a New York City flag patch that’s going right over the Arkel logo on front.

Ordered direct from Arkel with no problems.

“Fabric made in the USA, Manufactured in Canada”

Arkel-od.com

 

EMS Thunderhead Rain Gear

Working on my bike means having rain gear is a necessity because riding in the rain for 7 hours sucks if I’m soaked straight though. I don’t highly recommend these specific items but they work well enough to bring along. A little worn but I’m not too invested. I spent about $150 for the set, tax included, at one of EMS’s Every Month Sales.

The jacket does not have a cycling cut at all but does have a good hood and long pit zippers. The pants are totally annoying at the waist and the cuffs act stupid around a drive train. The pocket is useless. The best thing is the material does hold up to hours of rain.

Made in China

 

Outdated Hand Signals

I think that riding through many new towns and cities a cyclist is bound to not have a good understanding of drivers attitudes. Signaling helps. The reason I’m thinking of this subject is because I was riding in Brooklyn and some guy rode by me and did what’s in this image showing “right turn”. My thought was – no driver is going to understand what that means. These signals were made for drivers way back before cars had turn signals. And all these signals use the left arm because a driver could not safely stick their right arm out the window. To use this Right Turn signal while riding a bicycle is silly.

As a bike rider we can use either arm to make a turn signal.

Left turn = left arm extended
Right turn = right arm extended

Keep it simple.

 

The Front Door to My Apartment


Every day I go out this door.

I have been looking at writings about preparing for a bike tour. One part of these articles that has absolutely nothing to do with me is the part about how to ship your bike before a tour. I have never started a tour that did not begin where I lived. Both of my solo tours started in my home state of Ohio. The first was riding West to the Pacific Ocean and the second was to the East and then South along the Atlantic Coast. A few years later I was selected from applicants all over the world to ride a promotional tour that was to start in NYC, and it just so happened I lived in Brooklyn at the time. So in all my experience I’ve never had to ship my bike and gear to my start point.

What I have done is arrange transportation for my bike and self after the tour ended. Once by bus, once by car, and once by plane. In that order. I can say that shipping a bike that has already done its duty is not stressful or needs any articles written. Put it in a box, send it, deal with it later.

I want to do another tour through an area in North America that I’ve never been. The East coast north of Boston. Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. Right now I still live in Brooklyn so I am already on the East coast and it happens to be that my lease is up on August first. I think August and September would be a fine time to travel north.

The thing about this trip idea is that I’ll be doing a big loop. All of my transportation will be by bike. I’ll depart by bike and return by bike. I wonder why I never did it this way before? It’s got me thinking, who are these people who ship their bikes and fly to some start point? Why not just ride there?

I can guess who, I can guess why.

For me, if all goes as best as I can imagine it then very soon I’ll walk out this door for the last time. With my bike all loaded and ready to go and will see the first day and first miles of a long tour. It will also be the last day I lived in this building.

On the other hand, if this trip gets put on hold, for some reason, I’ll still be moving out. The rent went up and my roommate and I are not that attached to this area. Either way, so long 1400.

 

Outlier Merino Hoodie

This is one fine hoodie.  Soft, comfortable, warm and breathable. Merino again, this thing is an essential for the cooler days. Or if I’m in the mountains or up north or still riding in the cooler months I’d be a fool to not have a hoodie.

If it’s really cool out I’ll wear my Outlier Packable Heat jacket over this and be set.

Mine is green. A good army green. Maybe not Army green but a green that would blend in if I was just off the roadside somewhere setting up camp for the night. A green that is not unlike the color of my tent.

I bought this directly from Outlier at a sample sale. Later I learned that they only made three green ones.

Made in New York of New Zealand Merino wool.

 

Shimano FC 5703

Shimano 105 FC 5703  30-39-50 tooth 172.5mm arm length

I have a good mix of Ultegra and Dura-ace group on my bike. That does not mean that I can’t dip a little lower in the Shimano line and run some 105. The price difference from 105 to Ultegra is $100 easy, for just this one part. That does buy a better set of chainrings, but those are what I’ll have to replace anyway and 105 is just fine. Very good for this purpose because the 105 has a 50 tooth big ring and the Ultegra triple has a 52. I know it’s not much of a difference but it means I’ll be in the big ring a little more often which means I’ll be in the middle ring a little less often. I’m doing the math in my head and it equals a more evenly utilized (worn) drivetrain vs. the more expensive crankset.

Maybe that doesn’t matter but I still saved $100 easy.

Made in Japan

 

Shimano Ultegra Derailleurs

Pretty simple.
I was thinking back to my first tour, I spent so much time picking out things to have and deciding on what was, or was not important to bring. I have no idea what that stuff was today. I forget it all. Half the reason I’m doing all these reviews is because I’ll be able to remember what I thought was important to bring, or things I didn’t have. Probably lame, I don’t care. This is one thing, two, that I can check off the list. When the list is all check marked I’ll have no excuse not to just go.

Here’s me in 10 years: yep, that’s what my rear derailleur looked like back then.

Made in Japan