BikeShare: Possibilities and Limitations

As I have already mentioned, Vienna has a fairly well developed bike share programme: Citybike. And as I have already mentioned, I do not use it. Partly the reasons for that are practical.

For a tourist who wants to explore the center of Vienna by bicycle, Citybike is great. It also works for locals who both live and work in the city center. Sadly, I work in an area of Vienna that is not covered by the Citybike network and there are no stations near my office. In order to commute to work and back, I would have to rent the bicycle for the entire day, which would be financially prohibitive: The rental costs are calculated on a sliding scale, where the first hour is free, but the second hour is 1 Euro, and subsequent hours are priced increasingly higher. According to this scale, it would cost me 30 Euro per day to commute to work and back - which would of course be madness.

Even to go for a short recreational ride before or after work is not an option, because the bike's basket does not accommodate my work bag.

This is the bag I carry to work when I am in Europe. It contains my laptop and the documents I need for the day. As you can see, it does not fit in the basket - and since it's a one-shoulder bag, cycling with it in traffic is not something I want to do. This bag goes with me to official meetings, and switching to a messenger-style bag would not be appropriate in my line of work. I think that any city implementing a bike share programme must take this factor into consideration. In my view, it is a design flaw when professionals are unable to use the bicycles because the basket will not accommodate a standard laptop-sized bag. As you can see below, there is no rear rack either.

For those who want to cycle in the center of Vienna as tourists, the Citybikes are certainly well fitted for this purpose: step-through frames with adjustable saddle height; swept-back handlebars for an upright sitting position, dressguards, a chainguard,

fenders and mudflaps,

non-slip pedals,

a wide saddle with springs that is probably fine on short rides,

and the newer Citybikes have 3 speeds, which is sufficient for the central (non-hilly) parts of Vienna.

An additional reason I do not rent Citybikes is that, frankly, I do not wish to turn myself into a mobile billboard. In the photo above, you can see the juxtaposition of the Citybike moto "Vienna for free!" (this refers to the first hour of rental being free of charge - though there is still an initiation fee of 1 Euro) and the yellow adverts for Raiffeisen Bank, as well as the white and red adverts for Gewista (a local advertising agency). Personally, I would rather pay a small fee for the first hour of rental, than advertise for a company I have no connection to - though I understand that others might be perfectly fine with this practice. In the meantime, I will continue to support local bike shops by renting from them whenever I need a bike in Vienna.

Leavenworth Ice ..

Jennifer was supposed to work Christmas and Christmas Eve, so I was trying to find something to do. I successfully wrangled Ryan and Dylan to be followers and climb an ice line up Icicle Canyon. I was hoping that the recent warm weather didn't destroy it, and we would be rewarded with an early Christmas present to ourselves.

We took a casual start and arrived in Leavenworth around 10am. The beauty of this route is the "ten minute" approach. So we readied ourselves at the car and hiked into the woods. The route was easy to find having done the trail to Condor Buttress earlier this year.

The route in Spring

Within ten minutes of hiking we were at the first step of the route. Since it was a bit steep, we opted to hike past it and start at the second step. So we roped up and started with the second step. The second step had an easier line on the right, and a steeper line on the left. Since it was the first lead of the day, and I wasn't sure how strong the ice was, we kept to the right side. After the step there was quite a bit of flat stream so I set a belay and brought Dylan up who then brought Ryan up. We unroped and hiked up the stream bed a distance before reaching the next step. While this step was a solid WI2, it was short and we decided to solo it as we knew there was more hiking above it.

While the climbing so far was generally easy, the ice conditions were quite variable. As I suspected, the wet warm trend from earlier in the week left the ice poorly bonded to the rock in some areas. A section of the first step had a hollow 3' square area surrounded by well bonded ice. This next step that also had areas of poor ice as well, but fortunately I used the pick holes from a soloist (who had passed us) so as not to damage the ice further when I went up.

Some more hiking through a now brushy and less open creek bed got us to the next step. This is where the real climbing starts. From the base of this next step, I thought I could make it to the base of the final step in one rope length. But once at the top of this step, there was a little more distance before another penultimate step. So I led to the base of that step and brought the guys up. I then led out on the penultimate step which was really fun. There was a bit of snow on the ice and there were some hollow sections, but I was able to sink screws in it fairly well including a 19 cm screw. Once at the top of that step I was in the basin below the final step and proceeded to the ice to build an anchor. Unfortunately, the ice on the final step was thin and I couldn't sink screws well. (I was out of shorties.) I had to use 21cm screws not fully sunk as the anchor.

I brought Ryan up and he belayed Dylan up. We discussed the final pitch when we were met with another soloist. We chatted with him a bit. (Turns out the other soloist was his buddy.) And then we let him go ahead of us. The left side of the final step starts with about 12' of 85° ice. It has been climbed as it had pick marks. The right side had also been climbed usually on the far right. I decided to take something right up the middle where I knew there would be pro (wrong) and it was a bit steeper than the right side.

I started up heading toward an icy rib that looked like it offered good protection. Unfortunately, it would not take a screw all the way and I had to tie it off. The stance also was not great for placing the screw and I really worked my calves while placing it. Just past the screw the ice was tympanic and did not feel comfortable, but this passed. A little further up and I found a rest stance, so I placed another screw in shallow ice. My calves were really getting worked and I decided instead of heading a bit to my left for a short step, that it was time to head straight for the top. I worked quickly and methodically through the final bit of the pitch and was on flat ground heading for a large Ponderosa. Once there, I made it my anchor and brought Dylan up. He belayed Ryan up while I sought out the descent or a possible continuation.

Most parties stop where we did and descend. This is the option we choose after the bits of ice above our location didn't seem to offer any great climbing (that we could do.) So we headed down, following the trail of footprints in the snow. Most of the descent was fine to do in bare boots, but there were a few icy sections that would have been nice to do in crampons. Not sure it would have benefited to leave them on the whole descent, but Ryan did and he didn't complain.

This was fun route, but the climbing really starts farther up and the first few steps are warm ups. Due to the short approach and the length of the non technical portions, it is an easy day trip. (Car to car for us was around six hours.) The ice wasn't in the best condition, and was hacked out in a few places as well. (Very different from how we found The Goatee.) The climbing on the upper three pitches was great, and I'd go back to do this again.

My pics are here.
(Dylan took pics, but I haven't seen them.)

Aerial Afternoon

It looks like fun, but I don't think I would ever do it :-) Heights don't really bother me, but the thought of hanging in mid-air with nothing under my feet makes me kinda woozy. The hotel we were staying at in Teton Village was right at the base of the ski hill, and the cable car that goes to the top of the mountain was right behind our hotel. These guys were taking the cable car up the mountain, then sailing down and landing in a small field right across from the parking lot of our hotel. I'm guessing it was an instructional course, as some of them were doubled up.




This afternoon Stuart and I decided to take a drive to the town of Jackson (Jake opted for some nap time back at the hotel), which was only a few miles away. One of the tail lights on my car had burned out, and since I was heading for home after shooting sunset I wanted to have that fixed. So, we drove into town to look for an auto parts store and on the way back we came across this Osprey nest which was just off the road. Stuart has an eye for spotting birds and he noticed it well before I did. We pulled over to watch the nest for awhile, and were lucky enough to see an Osprey carrying a fish in its claws.

A Year in Cadence

Some time ago I discovered the concept of cadence. Put simply, cadence is the rate at which the cyclist is pedaling, measured in crank revolutions per minute (rpm). People I ride with will sometimes tell me mine is high, which is how I became curious what it is. For a while I had a computer with a cadence sensor and was able to monitor it. When I first got the sensor it was typically in the mid-80s. Eventually it grew into the low 90s. Then last Spring I got my new bike, and it came with a new-fangled fancy computer, but no cadence sensor. I meant to add it, but then forgot. A year went by during which I had no idea what my cadence was. Then last week, again I got a comment from someone riding next to me. It was something like "Jeez you pedal like you're going downhill on a fixed gear! Might as well take off that big ring, eh? Looks hardly used!" (this is true). At the same time,this postappeared on Heidi Swift's site, glamourising riding in the small ring à la Julie Krasniak. So I figured the universe was trying to tell me something.



I asked at my cycling club (which is also a bike shop, which is also a cafe) about installing a monitor. "Oh it's easy!" they said, and swiftly attached an enormous ugly thing to my bike's left chainstay. The sheer size and alienness of it took me aback, since my previous cadence monitor had been just a wisp of a thing. Eying the monstrous appendage apprehensively, I got on my bike and pedaled away.



Getting up to Just Riding Along pace, I glanced at the cadence and saw that the number was 103. I thought no, that's not right. And with all that thinking going on, it did drop a bit - but then promptly rose again. I rode a loop on rolling hills, glancing at the cadence occasionally. Mid 90s - low 100s seems to be a range I am comfortable with, without getting out of breath.



Curious, I decided to check how high I could make that number go up. Seeing 112 was pretty fun, rising toward 120! I kept that up for a bit, until suddenly I was overwhelmingly nauseous. I will have to experiment more carefully...



I'm not sure what to make of my rising cadence numbers over the years. I guess I just plain like to pedal fast and feel little resistance. Alas, I don't seem to ride any faster or more elegantly because of it. But it's fun to see the number go up. And it certainly explains why I like having low gears on my bikes!

Kittens Playing on a Ladder

Reunited

After what seems like ages, beloved Patrizia has finally returned to me. This is my personal Bella Ciao bicycle that has undergone many customisations and served as the "Superba" prototype guineapig. Having spent months in various states of disassembly, she then endured a long stay at the rack-maker's workshop - all without a word of complaint. And now she is back, her slender curves enticing me with promises of a romantic Indian summer.

I am also reunited with the wonderful Ideale saddle I'd acquired in a trade some time ago. I had installed it on a vintage mixte I owned at the time, but after that bicycle was sold the saddle lived in my closet for over a year, waiting for the right moment to re-emerge. It looks and feels quite at home here.

Ideale was a French saddle manufacturer and the Model 6 is a wide, short-nosed women's saddle that was made some time in the '70s. Although some have drawn parallels between the vintage Ideale and contemporary Berthoud saddles, in my opinion they are nothing alike and Berthoud is not an Ideale remake.



Finding a vintage Ideale in good condition is not all that common. After years of use, these saddles tend to suffer from the type of distortion where a painful center ridge forms that is resistant even to the "blocking" (wet reshaping) remedy. It is an amazing stroke of luck that mine does not suffer from this defect. Truthfully, I am somewhat torn between wanting to use it because it is comfortable and wanting to preserve it because it is rare.

Finally, I am reunited with the wooden grips I began to experiment with a few months back. I've decided to keep them on this bike, and they have been surprisingly comfortable. I thought that I might get blisters on my hands, but it hasn't happened. I am also happy to report that they haven't cracked or distorted despite plenty of humidity and temperature changes over the summer. I am not going to finish them with any kind of sealant, because I'd like to see what happens to them in the winter. Vintage collectors who are experienced with wooden grips have told me that if the grips are made "in the right way" they should not need any sealant and will be fine as they are. We'll see. While I'd be reluctant to recommend these for mainstream use, personally I love them.

Riding this particular bicycle always makes me realise how weird my tastes are. Responses to it have included "Ew, that colour!", "How can you ride with those things on the handlebars?" and "Is that a woman's army bike??" - all of which I've found oddly gratifying. Looking with fondness at her wooden grips, pukey powdercoat, trigger shifter and mottled 40 year old saddle makes me want to put my arm around Patrizia: "Looks like it's just you and me, babe."

Mule Deer

We went to Jemez Mountains about a week ago and saw 3 mule deer. You can tell they are mule deer due to the size of their ears. This one was really close and I got a decent photo of her. I was suprised it came out this good as it was almost dark when I took it.

Dynafit Speed Skins? Help!?

I'm a little desperate here. I just bought a pair of Se7ev Summit Dynafit skis and figured getting the Dynafit skins would be easy. Seems there are none to be had in the US through normal channels. Anyone know where I can get a pair?Do they ever go on sell in Chamonix? I'm looking for a pair in163cm.



Huge "THANK YOU!"to everyone that offered sources and advice on the skin search. With everyone's help I was able to find a pair of Speed Skins for my new boards this morning! Seemingly the last pair still available in the US ;-) Truely pure chance but both skis and skinscame from REI

Fondness for the Bottle

With the excellent modern dynamo hubs that are now available on the market, it might seem that using a "bottle" generator is a hopelessly outdated and clearly inferior method of powering bicycle lights. We imagine crusty old bottle dynamos making high-pitched hissing noises, powering feeble halogen lamps. Surely such a system cannot provide sufficient illumination. At least that was my thinking, until I actually used a bike with a bottle dynamo to get around in Vienna earlier this year. It was not a totally ancient bottle, but a couple of decades old and definitely crusty from use. And to my surprise, it powered my bike lights just as well as the dynamo hub on the modern Pashley I had back in the Statesat the time.



The vintage Gazelle I now ride as my main transportation bike has a bottle generator as well - this one from the 1990s. It is well-used and worn out, but works fine - both before and after we converted the lights on this bike to LED.



While I am not suggesting that a bottle dynamo is "better" than a hub, I think that it does have some underrated virtues, and that in some cases it can make sense to use it. Consider, for example, that...



Bottle-powered lights are just as bright.Most modern bottles can handle the exact same voltage as most modern hubs (6 volts / 3 watts). This means that I can use the same LED lighting set-up with a bottle as I would with a hub. There are differences in efficiency and a few other factors, but when using a bicycle for transportation at urban speeds, I have never felt this difference.

The bottle is easy to install.If you don't yet have generator lighting on your bicycle, installing a bottle is a matter of clipping it to the fork, or to one of the rear stays, using a bracket. Installing a generator hub is considerably more difficult: You must either rebuild the front wheel around the hub, or buy a new wheel with the hub pre-installed.

The bottle is less costly.A good dynamo hub costs around $80 on average, plus the wheelbuilding fee (or the price of a new wheel) - which can run rather high. In the EU, a decent bottle can be had for under $30, with no additional fees involved.

The bottle is independent of hub/wheel functionality.If your bottle dynamo breaks, it is not a big deal: buy another one. If your hub dynamo breaks, you will have to not only buy another one, but also rebuild the wheel or buy a new wheel.



The bottle weighs less!Surely that's an important factor for all of you out there counting grams on your roadsters and Dutch bikes?



Because my vintageGazelle's bottle has seen some wear, I will soon replace it with thisNordlicht HQ thatan acquaintance has sent from Holland - which is both a more modern, and a more classic-looking model.



And I also have this modern B&M dynamo that I acquired second-hand and plan to install either on my Bella Ciao or on my Raleigh DL-1. I am curious how these will perform in comparison to each other, as well as in comparison to the older AXA that is currently on my Gazelle - though I suspect I will not feel a difference.



I know that most of you probably prefer hubs, and I myself have excellent generator hubs on my touring bicycles. But sometimes a bottle is just a simpler solution - especially when the bicycle itself is simple. If only the choice of commercially available bottle generators was as rich in the US as it is in the Netherlands! Does anybody else out there use bottles? anybody prefer them?

Black Diamond video of Fight the Feeling

The video of my 8c+/9a from last autumn ‘Fight the Feeling at Steall is now up on the Black Diamond digital catalogue here. It’s on page 9. While you are there you should check out some of the other videos and articles from fellow BD climbers. There are pretty damn good. My favourite has to be The Wheel of Life footage of James Kassay. Would LOVE to go there sometime soon.

Snowshoe adventure on Mt. Josephine

My last few snowshoe hikes have been up Mt. Josephine, but not on the "normal" trail that everyone knows about. I decided to go up the back side of the ridge, going in from Highway 61. There is an old trail that runs along the spine of the ridge but it has not been maintained in years and is very difficult to see in most places. It took two trips on two consecutive days to break the trail to the summit. The first day I only made it halfway up the mountain and was completely worn out due to the depth of the snow and uphill climb. Most of the "trail" goes through some pretty thick brush, but once you get to the summit the terrain opens up and the views are worth all the effort it took to get there.








Once I had a trail packed all the way to the top I returned with a couple of friends who wanted to snowshoe the trail with me. We took our time and spent most of the day on the trail. Its only about 3 miles round-trip, but we took our time and savored the views along the way and spent quite a bit of time at the summit. Along our snowshoe path we saw 4 or 5 places where deer had bed down for the night. It was interesting looking at the indentations in the snow and thinking about a deer curled up there for a good night's sleep. When we made it back to the highway the sun was getting ready to set and the colors in the sky made for a perfect ending to an incredible day.

A Stark Contrast

A healthy king palm frond set against the background of a defoliated sycamore. I must say that palms are my favorite trees for winter!

Upside Down!

Fate has been kind to Marianne! Rather than being torn apart for donor components, she has been spared, and fitted with new handlebars.

What you see here are upside down Nitto Albatross Bars (Nitto's version of "North Roads").

Ever since seeing pictures of vintage path-racers, it has been a fantasy of mine to have this handlebar set-up on one of my bikes. My concern was that it would be too aggressive for me to handle. But since Marianne's Milan bars were becoming increasingly uncomfortable on longer rides, I thought it might be time to revisit the possibility.

Harris Cyclery had some Albatross bars in stock, and the nice mechanic Jim Ammirato talked to me about installing them upside down. It is so difficult to tell what will feel "too aggressive" to one person versus "comfortable" to another. But luckily one of Jim's own bikes - a gorgeous bordeaux A.N.T. path-racer that deserves its own feature - had this exact set-up. I tried the handlebar position on the A.N.T., and to my amazement it felt wonderful. And so the installation proceeded!

As you can see in the pictures here, installing North Road style handlebars upside down places the hand gripping areas considerably below the level of the stem, while at the same time bringing them closer towards the rider than drop bars. You can control just how far down the gripping areas are by tilting the bar. We made mine on the tamer side to start with, but when I feel ready for a more aggressive posture I will tilt them down further.

North Roads are famously comfortable, because their gripping areas place the rider's hands in a naturally-occurring position: parallel to the body with an ever so slight outward flare. This is in direct contrast to flat handlebar styles (which includes the flat upper part of the drop bars, where most cyclists really spend most of their time). They position they offer is not a naturally occurring and places stress on the wrists if maintained for long intervals.

So the cool thing about upside-down North Roads, is that the aggressiveness of the posture is dampened by the comfort of the hand position. If you own an English Roadster or a Dutch bicycle, imagine holding your hands just as you currently hold them, only lower. Not so scary at all.

Perhaps this explains how it is that with the upside-down Albatross bars I am both more leaned over and more comfortable than with my previous Milan bars. I have ridden 13 miles with the new set-up so far, and it's been exhilarating. Of course a longer trip will allow me to give the final verdict.

Since these pictures were taken, I have treated the cork grips with wood stain in an attempt to darken them without the slippery finish of shellac. I am still waiting for them to dry and will let you know how this project works out.