Author: Bryan

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Mandy Goes to Camp

Through the geology instructor I had last fall, we found out about the Halberg Ecology Camp, a week-long program for middle school kids, run by Audubon Arkansas. Mandy had to apply for the camp, which included recommendations from teachers and an essay. But she was accepted! (And I had to send a big fat check, also.)

This was her first ‘sleep away camp’ but as predicted she didn’t miss us at all–she had a wonderful time. She spent a week in the heat of summer outside, and sleeping in a forest service cabin without air-conditioning. She spent a week with a group of kids who also like to be outside, and who like to learn about science and nature. Best of all, I think, she got to spend a week in science classes taught by high-school and college science teachers. The kids learned about mammology and herpetology and geology, got to spend time in canoes, and ate good food.

She came back tired, happy, and using big words. A handful of this year’s campers get to return next summer for a ‘senior camp’. Mandy’s looking forward to finding out if she made the cut.

UPDATE 11/15/10 –
I got an email today from the director of the Halberg camps. Mandy has been invited back for “senior camp” next year, and so has her favorite other camper, Inge. Hooray!

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Alys Super Cool Polo Bike

When we decided we’d like to try playing bike polo, we started looking for a ratty old bike to use. I was surprised at how difficult it was to find an adult-sized bike at pawnshops and thrift stores. After several days of dedicated effort, I found this great girls’ 1975 Schwinn Varsity at a scary pawn shop in south LR. The guy wanted $40 for it, but I told him it was clearly not worth it, since the back brakes didn’t work and the tires were too rotten to hold air for more than eight minutes, tops. (Should I feel bad about this? I’m not sure.) Fortunately, I’d worn black pants to work on Friday, so grubbing around in the back room of a pawnshop was okay, because the grease didn’t show.

Aly's Polo Bike-18

Schwinn used to make great bikes, back before they became a toy company and started producing full-sized bicycle replicas instead.

I guess I have a soft spot for the old Schwinns. (And I’ve noticed that Bryan’s an amazingly good sport about it.) This bike’s great, a real classic, made in Chicago, and came with many entertaining features, such as Giant Reflectors The Size of A Cat, Awesome Upside Down Homeless Guy Handlebars, and those old paddle-style shift levers that look like they should be used to serve draft beer.

Aly's Polo Bike-14

Saturday, Bryan and I spent lots of time happily fiddling with the bike. We removed lots of unnecessary parts. He took off all the reflectors, and everything related to the non-operational back brake. He removed one of the chainrings and the guard, along with the front derailleur and cabling. I chopped off the kickstand with a hacksaw.

Earlier this spring, when we remodeled my Voyageur touring bike, we replaced the useful but ugly Michelin gumwalls with nice new Schwalbe tires. We’d saved the Michelins, though, and I was thrilled to find that they’d fit on the polo bike just fine. We only had to buy new tubes and rim strips for it.

Aly's Polo Bike-2

We moved the handlebars, but only a little bit. We decided to, for the most part, retain the Awesome Upside Down Homeless Guy Handlebar arrangement because it’s surprisingly comfy. We took off the ratty handlebar tape, and after much experimentation, settled on a new placement for the single remaining brake lever.

Aly's Polo Bike-7

Proper polo bikes, we’ve learned, have spoke protectors. This makes sense. It seems as if mallets, balls, and other peoples’ feet would not only make for bad crashes, but could really damage a wheel. So early in the week, I secured a generous supply of corrugated plastic scraps from the sign shop at work. We traced the wheels and cut out circles, making a straight slit along the radius so that the discs would ‘dish’ properly along the spokes. Then we marked the spokes, drilled holes through the plastic, and attached them to the wheels with zip-ties.

Aly's Polo Bike-1

Being less than amazingly creative, I copied the old Schwinn “star” pattern from the frame of the bike and filled it in with Sharpie. I threw in some polka dots made with paint from Mandy’s crafts box, just on the principle that polka dots are usually a good idea.

Aly's Polo Bike-3

I’m ready to play. The back wheel discs aren’t quite done, because I’m waiting for some sort of creative inspiration. We may make some changes to the handlebars and brakes at some point. But for now, it’s great. Total cost: $38, for the bike, rim strips, and tubes.

Aly's Polo Bike-5

It rides beautifully. 3-2-1-POLO!

Aly's Polo Bike-9

 

 

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Date Night for Bike Nerds

We heard at the last minute that Ian Sims, the founder and CEO of the Australian recumbent trike company Greenspeed, would be visiting Little Rock late this afternoon. It was very cool to meet him (and Greenspeed’s US marketing person, Deanna) and ride the X5 trike they brought with them. (BOO CHAINWHEEL BIKE SHOP STAFF, for your total lack of marketing and general pigheaded ignorance about this event.)

After a nice supper, since we had our Greenspeed GTT in town with us, we went out to Two Rivers Park for an early evening ride. The weather was perfect and the park was uncrowded. I wonder how much more traffic those paved trails will get after the new bridge is completed?

Then we headed to MacArthur Park, near the Arkansas Arts Center, to watch the Little Rock Bike Polo club play. They use an old tennis/roller hockey court that’s only half-lit, so they bring their own lighting for the other half and run extension cords across the grass. And what they do looks like a ton of fun.

It would be easy to say “we don’t have time to play” or “it looks dangerous.” It would be easy to say “what a silly idea.”

But when I’m all used up and it’s time for me to die, I want to say things like “remember the summer we played bike polo? Remember how the weeds grew up the sides of the court, and how we drank cheap beer in the dark, and how we laughed?”


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Tour de Hoot

The Tour De Hoot is an annual bike ride in McGehee, AR, offering cyclists a chance to help support the small town’s Boys’ and Girls’ club. There’s a pasta dinner and other fun activities the night before, free air conditioned indoor camping, a big breakfast on Saturday morning. We’ve had a busy week though, so we just rolled in on Saturday morning just in time for the ride.

We opted to do the metric century: 100km, which is about 62 miles. (There were other options, too. Riders could register for as little as 25 miles, or as much as 100 miles.) Rest stops along the way were sponsored by area organizations. The best stop by far was the first one, around mile 15. The Red Hat Society of Arkansas City (and the county judge) provided sliced melon, homemade cookies, dried fruit, and cold drinks.

Sag support trucks were never far away, and an ambulance made the rounds too. It was clear that if anyone had trouble, help would be nearby. Food might not be, though — some rest stops had only weak Gatorade and warm pickles by the time we arrived, and there were no convenience stores or restaurants along our route. The weather was lovely. It was about 90 degrees, but the sun stayed behind clouds almost all day. Most of our route followed flat, two-lane rural roads, and though shoulders were narrow or nonexistent, the traffic was so light it didn’t matter.

We hadn’t brought much to eat, so our energy was flagging toward the end, and Bryan’s legs hurt. My new Brooks saddle is beautiful but not yet broken in, so I wasn’t totally comfy, either. We were both glad to get back to McGehee, where a handful of people sitting outside the Boys’ and Girls’ club clapped as we pulled into the parking lot.

When Emil gets helmet hair, he REALLY gets helmet hair. We caught up with him, finally, at the end of the ride, when we shared barbecue sandwiches and chocolate milk. He’s 67 years old and still using his original legs, but he’s still faster than us.

When I say “Our friend Tom is an excellent wind-block,” I am not commenting on Tom’s width. What I mean is that Tom is an understanding sort of fellow, who can see when Bryan’s hurting, or when I’m frustrated with the wind. Tom just gets in front rides a straight line, at a perfectly even speed. You can put your front tire right on Tom’s back, and he’ll pull you in. And that, I think, is just about the best kind of friend to have.

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Memphis Uni Trip

Mandy practicing her Figure-8. Click to see larger.
Click on photo to see it larger.

Mandy’s been working hard on unicycle skills, practicing after school by riding in the street in our neighborhood. She’s had a chance to meet several of our neighbors, who are enjoying watching her progress from those first few lurches across the pavement. But despite our best attempts at support, before today she’s been operating in a sort of vacuum. I think that, before this weekend, she was the best unicyclist she’d ever met.

Memphis Uni-3 (Large)

But I’ve been emailing with Richard (pictured here in the blue shirt, on the right), from the Memphis Unicycle Club. They meet to practice on Thursday nights, which isn’t very helpful, but he agreed to let us know when they were getting together for a weekend event. So this Sunday, we drove to Mud Island Park on the Mississippi River, where the club was participating in a bike event.

The day went beautifully. I had expected Mandy to benefit from meeting other people on one wheel, but I didn’t realize how much she’d soak up. She got to try riding several different sizes and styles of uni including the 36″ shown below, and was able to ask for help learning to idle. She really, really enjoyed the company of other people who could do what she wants to do.

Memphis Uni-2 (Large)

Mandy was exhausted by the time we headed home, but still asked to stop in Little Rock to play on the grounds of the Clinton Library and at Peabody Park. Bryan put together a video of both the visit with her new Memphis friends and our little detour on the way home.

Thanks again to MUC for the invitation, and for being so sweet and encouraging and helpful. We hope to see you again soon!

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Bike to Work Week

It’s National Bike Month! All three of us rode to work/school this month at least once.

Bryan’s been getting things together to begin commuting to work on occasion. His goal is once a week through the summer months. His first commute went well, and he even established a safe and convenient bike-parking spot. He’s looking forward to many more commutes just like this one.

 

I commuted by bike to my annual two-day workshop in Ferndale. It’s about 15 miles, much of which is very curvy and hilly, on shoulderless roads. I enjoyed it so much I’ve done some research into the possibility of riding all the way into the university area in LR to my office. It’s farther but flatter, and with better shoulders, and if I time things right I can use Little Rock’s bus system for part of the trip. Stay tuned!

 

Mandy had to take her unicycle to school this week, and decided to make it into a one-wheel commuting day. I let her out of the car in a neighborhood near the school and she rode in on the unicycle, heavy school backpack and all. She stashed her wheel in her GT teacher’s classroom. And after school, she rode to a nearby park and alternately practiced riding and relaxed until we were able to pick her up.

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Ride Crowley’s Ridge: The Final Day


Once again I wasn’t able to join a group for their entire week of riding but I was able to join them (~20 people) for their last day. This group was organized by the Mississippi River Trail organization in partnership with Delta Scenic Byways, Arkansas State University and the Jonesboro Parks and Recreation Department. Their goals for the week included:

  • Scouting a possible alternative route for the Mississippi River Trail through Arkansas
  • Exposing the Crowley’s Ridge/Arkansas Delta area to local cycling groups
  • and exposing the communities on Crowley’s Ridge to the idea of promoting and accepting cycle-tourism

The group started in Cape Girardeau, MO on Monday and will finish the week 320 miles later in Helena-West Helena, AR. I was meeting them on their final day at Village Creek State Park and would wind up riding about 65 miles with them (new record for me!).

This wasn’t an ordinary van-supported tour though, these folks had appointments with mayors, county judges and chamber of commerce folks in the various towns along the route. I got the impression that there had been some education/explanation phone calls and materials made to these folks prior to the ride and meeting with them was a way to show that cyclists that want to ride in the delta DO exist.

So our day started off with people leisurely packing up camp, loading gear into the trailer and heading out at their own pace for a Waffle House breakfast in Forrest City (about 12 miles away). After a filling breakfast, we rode to the county courthouse where we waited to meet with the county judge and present him with a certificate for his support of cycle-tourism in the delta region.

As the day went by we met with the director of the Mississippi River State Park, the Mariana chamber of commerce president and several others whose names/positions I’ve forgotten.

Our group stopped at the Delta Heritage Trails State Park and met with a group of local (Helena-West Helena) cyclists and supporters. This state park is at the beginning of a future 72 mile rails-to-trails project! They currently have about 14 miles made into a nice gravel trail and in the future the trail will extend south to Arkansas City. From there it may be possible to have a gravel trail on top of the Mississippi River levee and ride all the way into Louisiana. That’ll be cool!

At the end of the ride there was a balloon arch, beer, cookies and Gatorade awaiting the participants. The mayor and county judge were also present to meet these cycling advocates and to express their support for cycle-tourism in the delta region.

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Last Days of the Spring Tour

The Arkansas Bicycle Club had its “Spring Tour” and even though I couldn’t ride with them all week, I did manage to join them for their final two days. Susan picked me up on the way to Glenwood where we met the road warriors for dinner at a very nice Italian place. After dinner we set up camp at the canoe outfitters, hung out for a bit around a camp fire and headed off to bed at a respectable time.

The next morning we rode several miles and had breakfast at a cafe on the square in Amity (that’s Janice coming into Amity in the photo below) and bought supplies for lunch at the grocery store next door.

We pedaled about 40 miles that Saturday and made camp at Lake Degray State Park. The photo below shows most of our bikes parked in a single parking spot (two bikes were parked elsewhere) outside of the Visitors Center.

Camp was set up, showers were taken and then dinner was had at the state parks restaurant. The next morning, breakfast was again at the on site restaurant and we headed to Sheridan where five members of the group had started out seven days before.

On the way home though, Brad had a shifter cable break! Don’t worry though, Brad had the spare part with him and we stopped on the porch of an abandoned storefront in Donaldson so he could make the repair.

Here’s a shot of my LHT waiting patiently in Donaldson. The bike has functioned extremely well… it’s comfortable, stable and easy going, I’m not sure what else could be asked for in a touring bike. Today we rode about 58 miles which is a new record for me.

The Brooks saddle was comfortable straight out of the box and I’m getting used to the drop bars and gearing on this bike. I wound up using Aly’s front panniers and really liked the way the white bags looked but I’ll be ordering myself a pair of yellows to match our existing rear panniers.

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Downhill speed: the LHT on River Mountain Road

So today I finally got to take the LHT out for a good first ride and we drove to Little Rock to meet up with the Arkansas Bicycle Club’s “Sunday @ 1 o’clock” ride on the River Trail.

At the end of the ride, mind you this was after 29 miles of riding and a stop at the Community Bakery, I decided to ride up River Mountain Road (see route map below, make sure to check out the elevation profile!) and see how well the Trucker climbed since it was geared about 25% lower than my previous bike.

I’m pleased to report that the LHT climbed amazingly well. I stopped once on the way up for a 60-second water, leg and lung break and then finished the climb. I don’t think I’ve ever made it up that climb (c:

On the ride down, I tucked into the drops, watched the road ahead of me and bombed down the hill. The bike tracked perfectly and wasn’t twitchy at all. Being a touring bike, I was afraid that it might be twitchy since it had no baggage today.

After arriving back at the car, I checked the “max speed” on my GPS (shown above) and was flabbergasted to see it say 42.8 mph! I wouldn’t have guessed that based on how the bike had performed and I definitely wasn’t trying to go stupid fast. Mandy and I have had the GTT up to ~42 mph before but I’ve never had a normal bike above 30-35 before.

All told, today was a nice ride though I wasn’t able to keep up with the main group since I had to stop and adjust my saddle twice. First time it was nose down which put too much weight on my wrists and the second time it was nose high which put too much weight on my parts and pieces. I think it’s about right now though.