Category: Bicycles

What’s Changed?

From Jeff Guerrero of Urban Velo, emphasis mine.

I once attended a lecture by Sir Ken Robinson. He posed the theory that children are born creative, and they gradually un-learn their creativity. His point was illustrated by a famous experiment conducted by George Land, where 1600 children were given paper clips and asked what they could be used for. Then they were re-tested at five and ten year intervals. The results showed that 98% of the children initially tested at a genius level for divergent thinking, then 30%, then only 12%. The same test given to 280,000 adults yielded a 2% genius rate.

What strikes me as interesting is that I hardly know anyone who didn’t ride a bicycle as a child. Certainly I would be wrong to postulate that 98% of the US population learned to ride a bike as a child, but I’m sure the percentage is significant. Yet figures from the League of American Bicyclists indicate that only one quarter of the population rides a bike even once during the course of the year. And the numbers get even more discouraging when you look at what percentage use bikes for transportation as opposed to recreation.

As children, we all saw bikes as fun. But they were also how we got to our friends’ houses, to the playground, to the pizza parlor. The fun went hand in hand with transportation. So my rhetorical question is, “What’s changed?”

Of course everyone reading this knows that bikes are still fun. But it’s interesting that along with the loss of creativity, the brunt of society has un-learned how to have fun. Actually, it’s not so much interesting, as it is sad.

Cleaning the Drivetrain

This afternoon I did some bike maintenance. On the mountain bike I checked the tire pressure and put some lube on the rear brake levers. Hopefully it will help; I don’t want to have to take the rear brakes apart to be more thorough.

On the XOXO I had to fiddle with the front fender, which was slightly out of alignment since the wind blew it over. Fenders are nice to have but seem finicky, almost fragile.

Then I set about cleaning the drivetrain. I started by scraping gunk off the rear pulleys, and trying to clean the gunk off everything else. Then I removed the rear wheel and clean the gears.

Before
After

Happy with that I put the rear wheel back on and ran the chain through the scrubber. (Note to self: almost out of chain cleaner.) I carefully wiped that down and then lubed it, and then wiped it down again.

Then I messed with the cable that goes to the rear derailleur. Today’s stupid trick: release the cable and then put your shifter all the way to the smallest gear; the derailleur will go to the smallest gear; re-attach the cable, tightly. I have much better shifting performance now.

Not a bad way to spend an hour and a half in the backyard.

Other things of note: the tire walls are dirty and won’t come clean, may have to try degreaser on them; the kickstand is sloppy but I don’t know what to do about it; at some point I am going to have to get the front wheel trued.

Earning Your Lunch

This morning I got up and tinkered with my bike. Since the wind blew it over the other day the shifting has been problematic. It’s heartbreaking to see the damage a fall does to a pretty bike. I made it road-worthy and quickly packed some things.

I left for the Troy Farmers Market just before 11am. I was at the boat launch at 1121, and at the other end of the trail at 1142. I wasn’t hauling but I wasn’t dawdling either. I had my bike locked up outside the market at 1157.

I bought tomatoes, onions, bread, granola. Fox’s Fancy. The guy who makes the stuff told me about the salad recipe on the back, so I took a quick look at that. It has chèvre in it, and I like chèvre, so I bought some. Rolled in black pepper. Oh boy. For lunch I had green enchiladas. They were a little tough but everything else was good so I was happy. Really when you’ve spent an hour on a bike, everything tastes good. And you feel like you earned it.

On the ride back I saw a boy, maybe 3 or 4, on a bike with training wheels. His helmet was askew, and he had a basket on the front of his bike, with a stuffed monkey. He had a big smile on his face. I thought about a pet monkey of my own. I would name him Jack, of course, and we’d drink rum and ride bikes. I have some other thoughts about what Jack would do but they aren’t nice thoughts. *smirk*

By the time I was back in Albany I was out of water and very thirsty. I really wanted a lemonade and started trying to think of where to go. Then I had to climb Morton Avenue. Half way up that I saw the Stewart’s, but then realized that Delaware was just up there. So I took a left at the light and went to Ultraviolet Café. I parked my orange bike next to a hot little orange Motobecane. They gave me a large strawberry mango smoothie and I sat in the shade for a bit.

Then I went home and took a nap on the porch. I’d earned that too.

Sunday: Bike Expo and Stuyvesant Plaza

Today I packed up some things and rode to the Bike Expo. They could not have had better weather. Lots of vendors. Food, cupcakes, CDTA had a bus to demonstrate how to put your bike on the rack. Neighborhood associations and bikes shops. A vast improvement over last year. This location works well, with many passersby. Lots of casual riders, which I think is important. TBR had a crazy cargo bike. Downtube had a few Bromptons, which always generate interest. Catskilll Cycles had a Salsa Mukluk, which I got to ride. (Fun, surprisingly light, but not very nimble.) The Handsome XOXO got many compliments.

Definitely a big success. I have to admit, things like this make me hopeful for a more bike friendly Albany.

Then I took off for Stuyvesant Plaza. I was trying a “back roads” route. I went by Buckingham Pond and left on Russell Road. You bike until you feel like you’ve left the city, and then there’s a sign there that says you have, in fact, left the city, at which point you turn right on Monroe Ave. Welcome to suburbia. A weird pocket I had no idea existed, nestled between the Thruway and Western Avenue. No sidewalks, but plenty of perfectly manicured lawns. Follow that until you get to McKown Road, take a right, and that will bring you up to Western. Take a left at the light and take advantage of the “bike lane” for a few blocks.

Getting in to Stuyvesant Plaza represents the first of your challenges. You can go right up Fuller Road and try to make a left through traffic while climbing. Or, like I did, you can go straight on Western and take the right into the Plaza between Créo and TGIF.

Your next challenge is finding a place to park your bike. My recommendation is to bring a cable lock AND a u-lock. Use the cable lock to lock your bike to one of the many poles along the sidewalk, use the u-lock to lock up your wheels and frame. This is hindsight talking. I had to lock my rear wheel to the little kiddie bench outside of the Book House. Then I crossed the plaza to Starbucks, where they have a nice fence you can lock your bike to, but it was too crowded so I just went down to Cold Stone and got a chocolate shake. I locked my bike to a Post Office box.

I read a few pages in my new book. I already know I’m going to like it. Life is too short- if a book doesn’t enthrall you in the first few pages, don’t waste your time. Then I rode home. Happiness is the sun on your face and the wind in your hair.