Category Archives: Gear

Cycling gear

A Beautiful Finish to a Freezing Start.

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This week started off miserably cold with Monday’s 6 degrees & rain giving way to Tuesday’s 3 degrees. Not the kind of weather a guy looks for heading into fall. Mother Nature had a trick up her sleeve though as today’s banner image greeted me this morning with a nice 17 degrees. I rode home (slowly) in 27 degrees and they’re calling for 30 all weekend. That’s my kind of weekend.

I rode my heart out this morning, chasing down Thomas who turned out not to be Thomas despite the matching backpack and shorts. Being as it was not Thomas I did the next logical thing – bid the gentlemen good morning and gapped him as hard as I could. I can’t lie – it felt good to be able to do that. I don’t care what his reasoning is for getting caught and gapped by a guy in runners on a mountain bike either – I’m taking it as a win. Fully in the groove I rode the rest of the way to work at full-steam, thinking about how hard I’d been dropped the day before. Converging from different paths and heading the same direction, I was only a few meters behind him – 15 at the most. We headed towards the Memorial pedestrian overpass and it was there that he looked over his shoulder – him at the top of the ramp hitting the bridge, me coming around the corner to the bottom of the ramp. By the time I’d made it to the top of the ramp, he was over the bridge and heading down the other side (which requires he go up the ramp off the bridge before going down…who designed that?). When I’d made it down the bridge, he was literally out of site. Returning the favour to someone else does a body good.

After taking this morning’s picture (which you can only see as the header by going here) , the subject of my darker and darker morning departures came up. As we head into fall, the sun sleeps in a little more each day so where before I was dealing with sun in my eyes on the horizon as I left at 6:30, it’s still dark at 7:00. Soon I’ll be riding in the dark for most of the commute and there’s no streetlights on the path. I mentioned needing a light and was promised that Santa might bring some cycling goodies. “By Christmas we start getting lighter” I complained. Your birthday is coming up I was reminded. Yes…a week before Christmas –“the shortest day of the year falls between my birthday and Christmas” I moaned. “Stupid December birthday, all the cycling stuff will be gone from the shelves” I continued “and I’m going to freeze to death if I don’t get some winter riding gear before then”.

How do you know when you’re married to the most incredible person in the world? When I came home, the three monsters greeted me with a “Surprise! – Happy Birthday dad!”. I wassurprised! Trace grinned a mischevious smile as I changed out of my sweaty cycling gear and got ready for dinner. When I (finally) sat down at the table, the monsters each came bearing a gift, itching for me to unwrap them. First was the Homeland Security approved wrapping from my the middle monster hiding my favourite flavour of Shot Bloks (Cran Razz thank you). Perfect – never have too many of those.

MEC Headlight and Taillight

Next was the headlight/taillight combo set I’d put on my wish list. They’re both LED of course and have 2 modes of operation – steady and disco-strobe flash. Supplied by MEC they’ll bolt right onto the Chinook so the next time I make a sundown departure, I won’t be (as) worried about being crushed under the wheels of some sleepy commuter on his way to Tim Horton’s.

MEC Roubaix Cold Weather pants!

Last but by no means least, wrapped in a blue and orange paper were the MEC Roubaix winter riding pants I’d been going on about for weeks. “Need those pants. Boy it’s cold out this morning, sure could use those pants. Froze my knees solid this morning, going to have to give up riding soon if I don’t get some proper pants”. No opportunity to remind anyone who was in ear-shot that I really wanted needed those pants was missed. It worked!

My awesome wife – Best Wife – took it upon herself to celebrate my birthday in September so she could get me to stop whining feed my cycling addiction! How cool is that? And. AND! She made me cinnamon buns for dessert. My life is profoundly excellent.

To Cover, or Not to Cover. That is (not) the question.

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Warning – this post contains a graphic photo of my legs.  There is also a fresh flesh wound.

I wear a helmet when I ride.  It’s one of those things that happened not out of planning but happenstance.  With three kids on the go, all of whom at least appear to enjoy playing on their bikes – and all of whom fall down – it made sense for them to wear helmets, not to mention they brand you a bad parent and take your money if you don’t.  No amount of coaching a 2 year old on a bicycle is going to instil a sense of caution that isn’t either innate already or life-long debilitating so you eliminate the hazards you can (traffic, hills) and try to protect those you can’t.  I started wearing one when I started cycling to set an example for the kids, besides it would have been odd to wear one before I was riding.  It’s now as routine for them as putting on their shoes – if they’re heading for their bike, they have their helmet on.

When Enthusiasm Overcomes Ability. A Confidence Apogee

I know some folks would shudder to expose their children to harm of any sort, but that’s not us.  Scrapes, bumps, bruises – those are lessons.  Who hasn’t had a scrapped knee or bloody palms as a kid?  Or an adult…

Your head though – that’s a different thing.   Sure, any number of maladies can result from improperly addressed wounds but by and large you grow some new skin, suffer the sheets sticking to your oozing flesh for a couple of nights and then business as usual.  Knock on the head?  That’s too risky for this cowboy rider.

I am on the side of personal choice with these sorts of things.  I think as an adult, I should be the individual who decides that I wear a helmet on my bicycle or my motorcycle or skiing, snowboarding, caving, climbing or any other activity where you might want to wear one.  In anything involving falling objects or movement at speed on unforgiving surfaces however I think you’re nuts if you don’t.  Borders on idiotic.  Why?  Pretty straight forward really.

Your head contains your brain – I realize this comes as a shock to any woman who knows young men but it’s true – and your brain is rather important, however nature saw fit to give you just one.  It’s like nature looked at humans and decreed “if you’re going to be so fool as to mess your brain up, perhaps it’s best you do”.  Big deal – so your brain is in your head.  What ev.  It’s only the thing that controls everything about your very existence after all.  Your personality, your memories, your decision making processes.  Then there’s the more significant stuff it controls like your heart, your lungs, all of your senses, motor control.  Why wouldn’t you want to protect that thing?  It’s the essence of you after all.  Why do you lock your bike up to protect it but not wear a helmet?

The following argument: the safer you make a given activity, the more careless become the participants thanks to the reduced risk.  Full agreement.  Thing is, brain injury takes remarkably little impact, speed or spectacle.

True story time.  When I was in my early 20s, I had a motorcycle accident that totalled my landlord’s custom Harley and put me in the hospital.  An old man with his nurse in the car (not kidding), turned left across the intersection I was riding through and clobbered me.  I still remember the moment after impact and thinking “Holy sh*t!  I’m flying through the air”!  Things got a bit fuzzy after landing however despite the damage to my wrist, my leg and my foot and the complete loss of the motorcycle now trapped firmly underneath the offending car, my helmet never hit the ground.  There wasn’t a scratch on it.  Had I not been wearing the helmet, I would have walked away without so much as a bump on my noggin.   Okay, I wouldn’t have walked as the helmet’s presence had nothing to do with the gaping flesh wounds and exposed bone but you get the idea – the helmet served no function in a rather spectacular crash (that even blew my shoes off – wear boots).

Fast forward a few years.  An employee of Harley-Davidson Canada whom I knew went to work as an instructor teaching other coneheads like myself how the ways and means of Miliwaukee’s offerings.  While fooling around one afternoon, he took one of the program’s motorcycles into the small parking lot behind the classroom, wheelied it at a rather benign speed, lost control and went over backwards - I’ve recently been correct – the front end washed out when the front wheel came back down and he went over the bars hitting his head.  No speed, no drama.  He was pronounced brain dead a few hours later.  Had he been wearing a helmet, he would – literally – have walked away.

Yes….those are motorcycle accidents but they’re true and I’m using them to illustrate that one does not require a “typical” accident to end up dead due to brain injury.

I’ve heard this argument too: “if I’m in an accident with a car, I’m a dead man anyway”.  Okay – yes, in an altercation with a car a cyclist (motor or pedal) is always on the losing end of the deal but death isn’t the inevitable outcome of those accidents (see above).  That’d be like saying I don’t need to wear my seatbelt because if I have an accident with a gravel truck, it’s going to squash me and my car anyway.  What about all the other things that might put you in a situation that involves your head contacting something not moving in the same plane and direction?  An errant dog, unexpected ice, dive-bombing hawks, me throwing my water bottle through your spokes so I can finally pass you…the possibilities are endless.

Here’s what really boggles my mind though – there’s no down-side to wearing a bicycle helmet.  It doesn’t impede your vision like a motorcycle full-face helmet, doesn’t look any different than 99% of the other cyclists (so it’s not like you’re sticking out amongst other riders), you’re already wearing Lycra pants with a diaper stuffed in them – who cares what the non-cycling populace thinks, they’re not hot, they’re not heavy (I’m sure I have toques that are heavier than my cheapo $80 helmet)… The question isn’t why should I wear a helmet, it’s why wouldn’t I.  Why wouldn’t you?

Rescue Bike!

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Back in Please Dad I blathered on about how I found myself riding a bike in my late 30′s and introduced the Canadian Tire distributed Supercycle BurnerAL that got me started. That is the best thing that can be said of it.  That and it’s shiny…ish.   I logged 40km on it before it committed suicide, almost taking me with it.  Fine payback after replacing the tubes, cleaning it up, adjusting all the mechanisms and trying to bring it back from a state of neglect.  Perhaps it knew I was already looking for a replacement.

It was during one of my I’m working up to the commute distance rides when it happened.  Riding through the Max Bell area, I was coming down from the parking lot, standing up and pedaling hard.  It broke, according to the GPS, at the same moment I hit 30km/h and started to sit back down.  What broke?  Well the seat of course!  It was pure luck that it simply gave away the moment I touched it.  Had It happened while I was actually planted on it, things could have been rather disastrous.  The break happened right at the end of the tube gussets, in the weld zone.  A close inspection showed clear embrittlement of the tubes where they’d been up against the weld bead.  That’s just poor manufacturing.

For four days I jonesed without a bike, no outlet for my new-found passion. Thomas had recommended a cyclocross style bike – put simply a road bike designed for changing terrain – grass, gravel, pavement, mud, snow.  He’d found a couple of Canadian-made Devinci Tosca SL2s for co-workers and they confirmed they were pleased with their purchases. Being of marginal means, I found an older Tosca listed on Kijiji and sent of a text to the seller (do people actually talk on their phones anymore?).  It quickly became evident they were not a bicycle enthusiast, clear they had little idea what kind of bike it was, what model, year or even it’s size.  ”It’s orange” they said.  I asked if it was sized for a woman  - which is admittedly vague and totally  without standard – they were pretty sure it was a woman’s bike.  I responded that it was too bad as I was looking for one for me.  They were pretty sure it was sized for a man now.  I hemmed and hawed but couldn’t stand being without a ride so made a date to head over and have a look.

To get to the seller, I had to pass by a large pawn shop and thought “couldn’t hurt – who knows what might be in there”.  I headed straight for the little collection of bikes and found all manner of BMX and children’s bike, but nothing for me until <cue halo glow and angel choir> there it was.  Spit-polished (maybe not actual spit…then again maybe, this is the ‘hood we’re in) glossy black frame with sharp white decals.  A MEC brand, Chinookmodel mountain/hybrid style.  Disc brakes, suspension forks, twenty something speeds…Ich muss es Habin!!

Rescue Me...please!

I looked at it for a while, looked at the price, looked at the components.  I don’t know anything about components – I’m not sure what I thought I’d learn by looking at the derailleurs and the cranks.  I checked the MEC website to little avail – the Chinook was apparently no longer available (though it is again now) so not a lot of information available on it.  I did find a price – $850 retail.  About half the cost of a Tosca SL2 so maybe half the bike….but I’m a new rider and I can trade up next year using my employer’s generous $600 per year fitness credit and have this year’s credit to pay for this used one here…now…in front of me.

I got a clerk to free it from it’s zip-tied state and tried it on for fit.  Hmmm…fits nice.  Which is to say I didn’t feel cramped or like a child on his dad’s old 10-speed.  I had no idea if it fits.  I know I can ride it comfortable for good distances today so…maybe?  I’d pretty much made up my mind to buy it by this point so I sent Best Wife a message looking for a little SST – sober second thought.  Here I am supposed to be looking at a cyclocross being hawked by a seller with no clue and I’m about to buy this bike that Thomas didn’t recommend because I’m sucked in by the paint and my desire to have it right now.  Trace did her best but I was hell bent on leaving with it.  I must rescue it from this pawn shop!  I bought it without knowing whether I could even get it in the car.  As I tried to stuff it in unsuccessfully, a helpful patron pointed out the quick-locks on the wheels so in the trunk they went (the wheels, not the patron) with the frame wedged into the back seat.  Chain grease on the leather?  Bah – I don’t sit back there.

It was perhaps not the smartest buy and unquestionably impulsive.  I occasionally wonder if I should have bought the Tosca but I see it’s still for sale, months later.  I’ve added some new street slicks which are as the name implies, slick.  Any detour into the grass and particularly loose climbs are a lost cause but thus far I’m spending most of my time on the pavement.  I pulled over the $30 Plant Bike seat I’d put on the broken bike (before it was broken clearly) and added bar ends for want of somewhere else to put my hands, some variation in position.

With an official 1170km on it now, the Chinook has performed without complaint, it’s lone flaw being that it threw me off as I attempted to corner it like a moto-gp bike.  While still pedaling.  I suspect this is not a flaw so much as the cycling version of a PEBKAC error. All hail the Rescue Bike!