RBR is taking me to Interbike this year. Flying me out, putting me up, and letting me geek out at the nation’s biggest bike industry show.

Of course, I’ll be working while in Vegas. We’re planning to do daily show reports, photos, and possibly video interviews with various company reps. It should be a ton of fun.

So what can I do to fill my time between now and then? How about figure out which vendors I want to hit, document them here, and then forget to take the list come September? Okay, let’s do it!

Booth 4621 - Arkel Inc - Creator of the most rugged, expensive, expandable panniers I’ve ever seen.

4459 - Atoc Inc - Manufacturer of overly complex but insanely useful rack systems like the Draftmaster (which I have for Gare’s bike and for my trike).

L22 - Bikes Belong Coalition - These folks hand out money to non-profits. Want to stop here on BikeAble business.

1051 - Bionx - Electric assist for bikes. Interesting to see if they have anything new coming up.

1459 - Day 6 Bicycles - Crank forward comfort bikes with lumbar support. Basically, recumbents.

4613 - Do Wrap/SweatVac - I love my SweatVac, so visiting these guys is an attempt to get freebies.

4008 - Hase Bikes - Because I want to feel bad that we bought a Pino before they made the collapsible frame.

374 - HP Velotechnik Recumbents - Because Hase and HPV are my favorite recumbent manufacturers. My HPV Speedmachine and Street Machine Gte will attest to that. I’d have a tough time choosing between a Hase Kettwiesel and an HPV Grasshopper if the occasion arose.

1742 & 1735 - J & B Importers Inc - These are the guys behind Sun bikes/trikes. Might as well see what low end stuff is coming out for next year and discover whether or not the UAX still sorta sucks.

5231 - Keen Inc - Only reason for Keen to be here is for new cycling sandals. I’ve had my Keen Commuters for a year now and they’re still quite comfortable.

4363 - Kenda Tires/Tubes - Not personally interested, but RBR.info visitors might like some new info on Kenda gear.

1659 - Kidz Tandem - Interested from the BikeAble perspective.

6225 - KMX Karts Ltd - BMX Trike manufacturer.

2049/2053 - Magura USA - The only thing bent riders like more than disc brakes are hydraulic disc brakes.

709 - MapMyRide.com - Want to find out why they had to shit things up with all the ads. Okay, I know why, but it really makes me want to move to another service.

809 - Mirrycle Corp - Most famous mirrors in bentdom. The packaging now even states they’re for recumbents.

4575 - NuVinci - RBR sells a lot of their hubs.

4621 - Old Man Mountain - Maker of Catrike friendly hubs. Curious to see what else they have that would be bent suitable.

1425 - Planet Bike - Just want to see if they’re aware how much bent riders try to shoehorn their products onto recumbent frames and forks.

4381 - Power Grips - Hoping for something lightweight but strong.

1025 - Primal Wear - I just want to see the Stormtrooper Armor jersey up close.

5145 - Primo - Another popular bent tire manufacturer.

3425 - Schwalbe - More tires.

3929/4125/4133 - Shimano - Because we have to. How can you not want to see what Shimano has coming up?

3351 - Sigma Sport - RBR carries their computers.

4519 - SockGuy - Why not? I have a pair of SockGuy socks.

2923 - Speedplay - Manufacturers of Frog pedals, quite popular among relaxed recumbent riders.

1339 - SRAM - See Shimano.

3915 - Topeak - I’m a big fan of the Joe Blow Pro.

1339 - Truvativ - I’ll be cranky by the time we get to these guys. Ha ha.

2252 - Uvex Sports Inc - RBR carries their helmets.

I’m a little disappointed that neither Catrike nor Lazer Helmets are there this year, but I’ll survive. That’s more than enough booths to visit as it is.

To celebrate Bike To Work Week, I did just that - I biked to work from Pleasant Gap to Pine Hall Road on May 1st. It was my first bike commute in Centre County, and it will likely be my last.

Not because of the distance. No, that was a mere 11 miles. Not because of the time involved, as it required only an hour (the same time it would take using public transportation). It was all because of two words: College Avenue.

Pleasant Gap to the Nittany Mall wasn’t all that bad. The shoulder along that stretch is very wide and almost always kept clear of gravel and other obstacles, except for the occasional dead animal.

But after reaching the Nittany Mall, College Ave turns into Death Race 2000. There’s no taking the lane on this 45mph legal/60mph actual stretch of road, and the shoulders, while often generous, are so covered in gravel from the winter season that one has to stick to the line for most of the ride.

Sticking to the line doesn’t work too well, though, since there’s barely enough room in the lanes as it is. There are just some times when you’re pulled to a stop at a light only to have an 18 wheel truck slide in inches from your elbow that makes you think, “This was a bad idea.”

Whenever possible, I ditched College Ave, cutting through parking lots or taking back roads that weren’t going to add miles to my ride. Certainly, that helped, but the stretches where I had to be on College were enough to make my testicles ascend. Everything from Decibel Road to just past Elmwood made me feel like a very small bug being approached at high velocity by a very large wind shield.

It begs the question - why did I use that road at all? The alternatives weren’t all that attractive. I could have veered off onto Decibel Road and taken back roads to Lemont, which would have dumped me out on College Ave again anyway. Or, I could have taken Shiloh Road and followed back roads up to Park Ave, which itself is a fairly high traffic area as it is an entrance/exit point for 322.

In order to not constantly feel like I’m about to die, I would have to take College to Shiloh to Houserville, take Puddintown to Orchard to Park, ride through campus and across the IST walkway, and then take West Campus to Blue Course where I would, inevitably, have to ride College Ave to Science Park to Pine Hall Road. That would reduce my exposure to College Ave greatly, but also take me on back roads that have no shoulder at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to ride, but getting from point A to point B in this case is severely painful. It’s enough to convince me that driving isn’t so bad after all.

So what would make me feel better about making such a commute in the future?

1. Take my trike. Sure, it’s lower to the ground, but I have a far higher degree of confidence on the trike. I’m sure the lack of confidence on my Speedmachine played into my fears that day.

2. Form a multi-municipality committee to create a pathway from the outlying burbs to downtown State College. Of course, that’s what the Bellefonte Central Rail Trail was supposed to be before it was halted by property owners along the proposed route. Besides, doing this would take 20 years.

3. Choose a new, longer, less exposed route. I don’t really want to have more than an hour of travel time to get to and from work. It’s a shame I can’t use the most direct route, but I can’t.

4. Realize that I ride my bike for fun and not to make a point about saving the planet, so it’s okay to drive my bike to safe riding locations. This is the most likely solution.

Yes, I could make a public stand and decry congestion, the dangers of distracted drivers, and convince others that the more cyclists there are, the safer the streets become, but I have a very strong sense of self-preservation that makes me want to hide out until a bunch of other brave souls do the hard work and make things safer for me.

I never denied being a lazy opportunist. And yet, I feel some degree of guilt in the matter, as though taking on the label of “cyclist” brings with it a certain requisite sense of representing a population of people who pedal. But I don’t want to be a representative. I just want to be a guy out on his bike not worrying about death.

I learned a valuable lesson today.  When heading out for a bike ride during a Winter thaw, take a trike.

I started at Spring Creek and hit the bike path that heads out along 322, thinking that the warm weather that so effectively melted the ice and snow around our home would have done wonders for the bike paths.  For the most part, it did.  But there were still a number of patches that were pure ice.

Since I try not to be stupid, I actually did dismount to walk past sketchy areas.  There just happened to be one area that didn’t look bad enough to worry about.  As luck would have it, that was the area where my tires slid out from under me and sent me sliding on my posterior into the grass and muck to the side of the path.

Nothing hurt other than my pride.  My underseat steering took most of the fall and required a quick adjustment.  I did try to continue on, but the path got progressively worse from that point.

So I gave it up and rode back to Spring Creek park.

And next time, I’ll take my trike.

I recently received some winter riding gear from Nashbar with the hopes of putting it to use on the 22nd (anyone interested in a November ride through the PA grand canyon?).  Bib pants, a base layer shirt, and a warm cycling jacket were the order of the day.

But also in the package were three sample packets of Excedrin Back & Body.  The included insert shows two women riding a tandem bike with the words “Keep pain off your horizon” floating just over the front tire.

While I’m all for free pharmaceuticals, I have to admit that I laughed over the fact that back pain is so prevalent in Nashbar’s clientele that they (and Excedrin) feel that their customer base has a high likelihood of purchasing back pain medicine.

I can’t think of a time that I’ve had back pain after riding my recumbents.  I must be doing this cycling thing wrong.

I have no animosity toward upright bikes, but I do think it’s funny that they sent a recumbent guy back pain pills.

bikephilly2008

Originally uploaded by ratsinis

Got back from Bike Philly on Sunday. It’s an awfully enjoyable ride, highly recommended even if it does require a bit of a drive.

Photos are available.

Oh, and on the way home, I picked up Rock Band 2. There goes my week.

Rob @ RBR must be getting tired of me whining about my Speedmachine.  He yesterday handed me the info of a guy in Missouri who is looking to purchase a Speedmachine.

So why would I think of selling it after endeavoring to purchase it and having my wife kick in a big chunk of change as a father’s day gift?  The thing is shaky at slow speeds.  I mentioned that in the pros/cons list in a post back when I was trying to decide between it and the Grasshopper.  It’s fantastic at higher speeds, but I don’t always get an opportunity to go riding for 30 miles at a stretch.  Sometimes, it has to be rides on the bike path with plenty of stop/go traffic.

I’ve been taking test rides on a variety of bikes at RBR, many of which feel much more stable at low speed than the Speedmachine.  Every successful ride makes me think that the Speedmachine was perhaps a bad purchase.  But then I look at it and think, “God damn that bike looks badass.”

So, my options are: sell it for enough money that I can get a different bike; actually ride the thing more so I get used to it - I’ve had almost no riding time this summer; convert the Speedmachine to under seat steering and see if that helps.

I think I’d rather try options 2 and 3.  I know I shouldn’t like a bike because of its looks more than its function, but that’s exactly where I am with the Speedmachine.  Plus, I don’t think I’ve given it enough of a chance.  I’m going to try to get it out for some rides next week since I won’t be spending time at the shop (RBR is closed next week).  Maybe I’ll feel differently after that.

I’ve complained in the past about a certain photo contest for a certain bike ride in a certain city of brotherly love.

Well, found out. I won.

Now we just need to figure out how Fuji is going to get a Shangri-La LX cruiser to me.

The CDT Online has a few more shots, one of which is me. It also states that the reason I rode with AAA was because of Gareth, which, while true, isn’t the whole story. I was there representing BikeAble, but BikeAble wouldn’t exist without Gare.

Read the rest of this entry »

A while back, Gareth and I were in the CDT … somewhere between the legs of a circus elephant.

Well, today, I was in the CDT myself.  Or at least the two front wheels and the flag of my trike were.  I’m on the right, hidden behind Joe.

Believe me, I’m not angry.  The ride wasn’t about me.  I just thought it funny to once again almost be in the paper.

I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I’ve been invited to ride a short stretch with Amputees Across America on Monday, followed by demos at the HealthSouth rehab hospital and then a luncheon with their department heads and lead therapists during which time I will give a 5-10 minute talk about accessible cycling and do a short Q&A.

Not a bad way to spend a Monday morning.