The Philadelphia Bike Expo - 2011

Well, I chipped the car out from two inches of solid, frozen snow and set off for the Philly Bike Expo in brilliant sunshine.

The show, sort of in between a swap-meet and an exhibition, was made up largely of bike-builders, accessory and component manufacturers and snake-oil sales salesmen selling their own concoctions of miracle bike lubes and cleaners, no doubt conjured up on their kitchen tables, and even more doubtlessly, effective and environmentally friendly.

I felt a little conspicuous, lacking an old cycling cap and bushy beard, sans moustache. I was going to say, and that was just the women ... but I won't.

Anyway, here are a few images I captured. I mean, strictly speaking they're not photographs.

Most bikes tended to be of a utilitarian nature

Some design innovations

This dog cart combo was a show stopper

One for Steve ...

Who hasn't wanted to wear a helmet to a wedding?

A real Mini

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PS: Don't ask me why the images don't line up ... Blogger problem?

What's that bit called?

Here it is, as a service to cyclists, every bit of a bicycle named:

Larger version here ...

The Philadelphia Bike Expo - 2011

I think I'm going to The Philadelphia Bike Expo on Sunday.

And one for the long term diary; The New Amsterdam Bicycle Show - 2012.

Philly report to follow ...

What's In Your Seat Pack?

I'm a seat pack Nazi. I hate those seat packs which rattle and swing around under the saddle. I like the pack pulled up tight and silent.

TimBuk2 Bike Seat Pack

So anyway, what's in mine? This is my road bike seat pack. An orange TimBuck2 optimised for running tubeless tyres.

So I cram the bag with:

A compact bike tool. You can get more comprehensive tools with chain-breakers and stuff, but this is for basic, on-the-road, adjustments. If I'm at the stage of needing a chain-tool I'm calling for a ride home.

Tube and rattly bits secured in an old sock

Tyre lever. Tubeless tyres are very tight so I carry two. One lever will do for most regular tyres.

Spare tube, tyre boot and self-adhesive patches. The only time I had a failure with a tubeless tyre was because the tyre fabric ripped. A tyre-boot and inner tube will get you home.

Emergency cash. Whatever you think appropriate. A note will also act as a tyre-boot in emergencies. I rode thirty miles successfully with a dollar bill sealing a rip in a tyre.

CO2 Inflator: Will get your tyre pumped up enough to ride home. CO2 seems to leak through rubber, so your tyre may look flat again the next morning. Just inflate it with your usual air pump.

Yes, it all fits in ...

Hand wipes: Gets the worst of any oil off your hands. I also carry thin latex/poly gloves in my back pocket so I don't necessarily have to unpack all my kit to help someone else.

I wrap the rattly bits in an old sock. This helps stabilise the pack and stop annoying rattles.

So, there you have it ...

The Covered Bridges Tour - 2011

This year, I finally made the Covered Bridges Tour run by the Central Bucks Bicycle Club in Pennsylvania, just across the Delaware from Frenchtown, NJ.

The weather was very fine, promising temperatures rising into the 80Fs/high 20Cs. However, the day started in mist and fog around 50F/10C ... chilly.

A group of us, mostly friends and acquaintances, met up and set out on the 50mile/80km route. At 8.30am it was still quite cold, and it took me a half-hour or so for my hands to warm up ... I am such a cold morsel.

Me at the first feed station

Eventually the mist did burn off and the day became the most gorgeous fall Sunday. This was well forecast, so there were a lot of riders on routes from 20miles/32km up to a metric Century - 100km/62.5miles.


This is a very pretty area, with lots of quiet byways and lanes. I thought the route was pretty well marked and the feed/rest stations were pretty good too.

Unfortunately, I had a number of leg cramps after the last feed station. I'm usually quite careful about avoiding cramps, but something went wrong this ride. I thought I drank and ate plenty, but in the end, possibly not enough. It meant I trailed in last of our original group, but received sympathy from other riders who passed me and I commiserated with other riders who had the same trouble. Maybe there was something in the air.



We toured covered bridges; Erwinna (1832), Loux (1874), Cabin Run (1871) and Frankenfield (1872). Sheard's Mill (1873) was crossed on the metric Century ride.

50 and Metric Century Cue Sheet:

Life in Hi Fi

I now have a chance to install my audio stuff in a more permanent location. Our new abode has a larger than average first landing which is just right to accommodate my rather small, but perfectly formed system.

Lucy shows up ...

When not in use the speakers fit back in the corner.

Of course it's not ideal, but already I'm getting good results from the set up, and since I mostly listen via headphones, the space's acoustic properties aren't a major concern.

Due to the demise of my old laptop I haven't yet been able to include a link up to my music server, but I am able to play cds and bvds (lps).

I've dug out items, some of which have survived transatlantic flights intact and have nearly enough for a second "party" system down in the living room.

The Heart

The various elements require either 110v/60Hz or 220v/50Hz, so providing a feed is interesting. But most of that stuff and cabling is hidden behind the support, an Expedit unit from Ikea, which seems fine to me and holds loads of cds, lps, etc.

The heart of the system is a Musical Paradise MP-301 mkII valve amplifier, fed by a Project pre-amp for the turntable, and a Cambridge DacMagic which handles digital sources such as the cd player and, in future, the music server.

The Soul

There are currently two sources; a Project Cherry Classic/Ortofon 2M Red combination turntable, and a Little Dot CDP_1 disc transport.

Output is handled either by Quad 11L loudspeakers, or Sennheiser HD-580 headphones.

There was some hum on the turntable line after set up, but I ran an earth/ground wire from the amp, via the pre-amp to the turntable and this seems to have solved that issue.

The first listening was very satisfying. The amp runs at 6 watts, so I was not expecting a lot of volume, but it drives the speakers at a reasonable level without any apparent distress. Makes you wonder why we need to run hundreds of watts on domestic systems.

Apart from integrating my network digital source, I need to look at speaker stands. The Quads rock around on top of the generic supports I have. They need to be held firmly to exploit their qualities.

More on this later, when I run through the system from each source.

PAUSE ║ ►

It's moving time ... new abode ... and no matter how hard you try you accumulate a ton of rubbish (as we say in the UK) which is, obviously, indispensable and has to be moved.

And my dear wife had a nasty fall. Very, very painful, but now on the mend. Get well soon Linda. Will you still be able to play the concert piano?

Back on the chain-gang soon ... and hi fi developments too ...

Griggstown Grinder - 20110830

Almost the last Grinder of the summer. Diane plans a couple of shorter rides, at a slightly earlier time in September.

But this was the last full on Griggstown Grind of the year, 22miles/35km with 1350ft/410m of climbing.



Hurricane Irene meant that several roads and bridges in the area were closed or hazardous, so just to make up for it Diane led us up Dutchtown-Zion Road, 300ft/90m in 1mile/1.6km.

A nervous descent over the gravel section brought us to the further climb up Long Hill Road and then on to the Spring Hill Road descent. Once again, the descent was rather fraught. Most of us expected tree debris in the road, but it was the amount of gravel washed down into the corners which caused us to keep the rein on speed.

Further bridge closures meant the return to Belle Mead was rather improvised. The cut through Skillman "village" revealed that all the old institution buildings had been demolished in the last couple of weeks, a pity because good brick-built construction is rare in this area.

Once again, dusk fell very quickly, necessitating a speedy return to the cars.

The evening was brought to a convivial conclusion with pizza and beer ... thanks to Diane and Dave.

See you all next year!!!

Blinky Lights - be seen in the gloom

Blackburn Mars 3.0

On my recent group ride in the Sourlands, it became more than apparent, that even when you think you're never going to cycle in the dark, eventually you're going to be caught out.

Indeed, the group I was riding with seemed well aware of this. I don't think I've seen so many flashing rear lights in action on a ride with the evening drawing in.

The last few years have seen a transformation of bicycle lighting. Systems which give bikes the lighting power of a car are available, if somewhat expensive. But every year sees the amount of available lumens doubling and the price halving. Until recently each lumen cost around usd2.00/ukp1.50. This year the ratio has inverted and cost is about 2 lumens per usd1.00/ukp0.60.

Blackburn Flea

Most road rides can manage with a rear blinky light. Of course a front light of some sort aids conspicuity too, but, at least, you can see trouble coming at you from that direction and take appropriate action. Even on summer rides in bright sunlight a flashing rear light is useful to draw attention to you as vehicle drivers wearing dark sunglasses come up behind you in deep shade, under trees and so on.

Planet Bike
Superflash Turbo

Most bicycle rear lights have a series of modes from constant on to a variety of flashing and strobing effects. Some sequences have been specifically designed to be the most eye-catching to motorists.

But don't forget, you might not want to subject other riders in your group to a blitz of intense, flashing red light. Some of the more expensive rear blinkies are very bright indeed and employ random or even psychologically tested strobe patterns which can be very unpleasant indeed if you've a dozen or so riders in front of you. So think of using a less conspicuous setting and let the fact there are several riders on the road attract the attention of passing drivers.

Princeton Tec
Swerve 2

Lastly, don't stint on batteries.

Modern LED lights are very efficient and a set of batteries will last many hours. But it's still common to see good, potentially effective, live-saving even, rear lights barely glimmering through the gloom because they need a new set of batteries.

Griggstown Grinds Lindbergh Hill

Summer evenings are certainly drawing in. Last evening's ride ended a little after sunset, but dusk fell fast, and cycling sunglasses added to the dark.

But, as usual, Diane led another exhilarating Tuesday evening ride through the Sourlands. Never were the Hollow Road, Longhill-Zion and Lindbergh climbs more, well, challenging.



Jen, our usual assessor of hill-worthiness, wasn't able to judge the ride's F-Factor, either because of running out of expletives or total exhaustion, so I guess it was a tough one. But even Lindbergh's final close to 20% grade at the end failed to dent the beauty of a fine evening in central NJ.

Steve and I were off the front when the rest of the group threaded through the Brandywine and Kildee neighbourhood rather than take the direct route along the appropriately named Sunset Road, so most riders did a little more than the posted distance.

Never were blinky-lights more useful.