The Swobo Baxter likes this stuff

Family Bicycles Groupon: $29 Tune-Up

It's a play on words. A group coupon. Get it?

Family Bicycles is a great little commuter/utility-bicycling friendly shop in the heart of Waldo, and they're offering a tune-up for $29.

My friend Andy just tipped me off to this. Looks like there's about 16 hours left to get in on it. I don't know how Groupon works*, but $29 for an off-season tune-up (parts extra) is a heck of a deal, and Family Bicycles is one of my favorite shops in town. I just wish I lived closer!  Supposedly the deal was only offered if 10 people or more signed on for it, but there's already 23 people, so you should be good to go.

If you're not mechanically inclined, this could be the break you need. Even if you don't plan on riding in the snow this winter, you can rest assured that your bike will be clean and running smooth by the time spring gets here.

* I'd honestly never heard of Groupon before, but it seems like a legitimate deal. Call Family Bikes at 816-268-1757 if you have any questions.

It's official:

Well, more than one thing is official.

The first thing is that the Vittoria Randonneur tires on the Swobo Baxter test mule are awesome. I played in the snow a few days after I took delivery of it, but today was the first true test of a commute on bad roads that had been preliminarily cleared a bit.

Saturday, I took the Baxter out to play in an abandoned parking lot, where snow was a good foot deep on average, and 18" in some spots. I thought it'd be cool to get some snowy action photos, but the Baxter would not move. I'll see if I can find some pics in the mess that show how bad it was. The tire would just spin.

I've had The Goat out in 8" deep snow before, and it worked alright, but I'm betting the really knobby tires and 1.95" width had something to do with it. Still, I don't know how well it would've fared in stuff twice as deep. If the tires sink to the ground (likely when it's powdery snow), the wheel is more than half buried, and one's feet will barely clear the snow AT THE TOP of the pedal stroke. That's when you probably would be better off on those 4-inch Surly Endomorphs.

So it's also official: This is the most snow I've ever seen come down without a melt cycle here in Kansas City, and I've lived here for 22 years and change now. The winter of '91-92 is the closest thing in memory, but I think this winter trumps even that one from nearly two decades past.

Lastly, it's official: It's freakin' COLD. 6*F this morning, but it dropped to -1 yesterday morning. I've ridden a short distance at -4F once, and the whole commute at 0F last winter. They're predicting -6 ambient later this week, and at least one local forecaster thinks that it could get into the double-digits below zero.

Therefore, this winter with its cold and snow reminds me of the good old days: growing up in rural Nebraska where 20-inch blizzards were not unheard-of and there were two snow plows for every 1,000 residents.

The morning commute
As I'd stated, the 28mm Vittoria Randonneur tires held up great this morning. On them, I encountered glare ice beneath packed snow, powder, slush, chemical-melted grime and all things in between. The ice required me to be seated in order to progress forward (it was also on an uphill) but the Randos held tough, much to my surprise. This winter does have me pondering the use of commercially available studded tires for my Mountain bike, but that will have to wait for a bit. Two fellow year-rounders I know of have made the jump to studs. I'm betting after FIVE crashes this winter, another friend of mine might be ready to do the same. Me? I'm doing alright with what I have, but this winter is one where I can see a real benefit to studded tires, unlike years past where it was mostly slush, and a really good melt-off happened every 2-3 days.

Christmas
The brunt of the snow happened almost two weeks ago, Christmas eve into Christmas day. We were to pick up my grandmother in Overland Park, then drive to Stilwell on Christmas morning for breakfast and Christmas festivities. The roads were horrible. 119th Street had barely been cleared, my grandmother's parking lot was untouched, with an average snow depth of 18-24" everywhere, thanks to the wind and the layout of the buildings. It was one of the first times I've ever had a genuine need for full-on 4x4 mode in our Explorer. My brother-in-law's RWD-only Explorer had all kinds of problems. I ended up delivering Christmas presents to them through the un-plowed streets of Olathe, KS.

Here are some of the simple things I did for Christmas this year.

In 1993 or so, I kind of home-schooled for a year. I say kind-of, because I had most of the facts and skills expected of kids older than me, so the reality is, I took a year off from school due to some medical things. I didn't do much traditional course work. I studied under my grandfather, who taught my vocational skills in hopes, I think, that I'd take over his business for him when I came of age. Unfortunately, he passed away before I could do that. That year, however, one of the things we worked on together was this ArcherKit thermometer thing that he'd packratted away in 1977, two whole years before I was even born. Some 16 years later, we worked on it, and got it almost fully functional, but then it got put away before we got to adjusting it and putting the finishing touches on. I found it recently, and finished this project that Grandpa and I had started 13 years ago, and gave it to my mother. Not only is it a RadioShack classic from a completely different era of do-it-yourselfers, but it's of immense sentimental value. I had no qualms leaving the $17.95 price tag sticker intact.







When I was learning to play bass guitar (okay, I'm probably still learning), Dad gave me his practice amplifier. He doesn't really have a practice amp anymore, and I thought I'd build one for him. This one is small enough to fit in a gig bag, and can run off a 9V battery or a power cord that I included. I soldered the circuit inside together myself, modifying some plans I saw online. It's all built into an old satellite speaker for a home theater system. It's not terribly loud, but it's a great little practice amp with a nice tone to it. I also added a headphone jack, which is nice for when you want to clearly hear what you're playing on an electric guitar without disturbing anyone else. Most of the parts for this were salvaged from piles of stuff I had laying around at home. Many of the components were removed from old, broken gadgets and soldered into place.








The device I tried to build for my sister didn't go too well, so I ended up buying a kit that you solder together yourself at the last minute. I decided that instead of soldering it together quickly (I could have pulled it off in about 3 minutes), that I'd give it to my sister in its original packaging, and teach her how to solder. She did great, and now she knows how to solder things.


I also got some cool stuff for Christmas as well, but none of it compares to the real meaning of Christmas, not to mention the gift of seeing my family smile.

Wintery Links

Well it's Friday, and vacation's almost over.

Doug compares monstrous 3.7" Surly Endomorph snow tires to more traditional 35mm studded ice tires.

cDude fabricates a cargo rack mounting solution for his winter beater.

Evan covers "underbiking" -- An unfamiliar term for something I love: Off-roading my road bike.

jwz gets his bicycle stolen. again. If I lived in SF, I'd consider buying a sixpack of huffies for errands and commuting.

Merry Christmas!

I'm still biking and bussing all over town. As of noon today, I punched out of the office for the rest of the decade. I head back to work on January 4th, so I've got a much-needed 10-day weekend. I've been a little scarce because I've been slammed at work, and on the home front I've been busy building Christmas presents and working on my not-so-bikey hobbies. In the coming days, I'll show you the things I made. They're all geeky, and not terribly impressive. We're going small this Christmas.

On the way home from the bus stop this afternoon, all my clothes froze. It was 28*F and raining with a headwind gusting to 20 MPH. I had a shell of ice on my shoes and helmet, and frozen beads of rain stuck to my jacket, gloves and pants. Fortunately, the ground was warm enough to keep the pavement from freezing. I got the old "You aren't actually going to ride your bike in this, are you?" as I left the office. I responded with my typical "You aren't actually going to DRIVE in this, are you?" remark. Honestly, today is as bad as it gets, save for had the pavement been frozen. And it really isn't that bad if you're used to outdoor winter sports.

Anyhow, we're hunkered down, enduring a record-breaking Christmas snow storm, drinking hot cocoa by the fire with our kitties. It's been a rough year, but a good one in many ways.



Merry Christmas, all, and keep the shiny side up.
--Noah

The strangest display of human powered transportation you'll see this week

Pizza delivery by skateboard, at about 11:30 AM, right down the middle of Main Street.

G'Morning!

It's officially dark when I get to the office, and getting dark by the time I get home in the evening.



I spotted Gray again this morning a little after 5:30, hammering away. I continue to see bicycles on suburban buses downtown, cyclists here and there, and bikes locked up to things. Two winters ago, it was rare to see another bike anywhere once it got below freezing.

There's also a pretty hardcore BMW Motorcycle rider in my building, who pulled in about the same time I did. His is the only motorcycle I see in the designated parking area next to the bike rack at work this time of year. I'm not certain, but I'd bet it's a lot harder to stay warm on a motorcycle than a bicycle, given the higher speeds and relative lethargy. Kudos to that guy, too!

Random Tunage:
Nine Inch Nails - Only
Orgy - Fiction (Dreams In Digital)

Mmmmm Tank 7.

More details on KC Beer Blog. I SO, SO love Gomers in Lenexa. I don't even need to ride on a real street to get there. It's all parking lots between home and Gomers. The Baxter is the perfect machine for beer runs.

Nippy Nine

9°F this morning. I can't express enough how much I love having a log of winter riding clothes.

Some time ago, it was 8°F and I had my clothing pretty much nailed. I did have a note to myself that my legs got a bit chilly with just long johns and cargo pants. I just added a layer to my legs and otherwise kept the same setup. It was a perfect, relaxing ride this morning. No sweating. No chills. Moderate effort, a reasonable pace, a warm core with a little breathe to the clothing to let just the right amount of cool air in and warm, humid air out.

This is one of those mornings where I can mark a "1 - Perfect" in my clothing log. This is one for the memory banks and should do great for the range of 5-10°F. The coldest I've ever ridden in and been able to say I had the "perfect" setup was at 19°F until this morning. I've got a lot of "2 - Good!" entries for much colder temperatures, but there's always something wrong. Feet too hot, ears too cold, eyelashes frozen together or stuff like that; where things were REALLY close, but could use a bit of improvement.

I always know I've got the perfect setup when I can actually feel a little bit of the biting cold come in -- not in one place, but diffused. If some air gets in through a zipper of a fairly loose jacket but passes through a few thin layers and distributes itself evenly, that's a good thing. All the good wicking wool and technical synthetic layers in the world won't help at all if there's not a little air flow to carry the moisture off. Soaked fabric can cause hypothermia, but I can say that wool shines here, and even soaking wet retains a lot more insulation than other fabrics.

Similarly, you don't want to allow the layers to get too cold. A cold core will start reducing circulation to the limbs. That's when frostbite or worse happens. So it's a fine balancing act, finding your groove in the cold.

At any rate, I hope those of you who are still out there in the are staying safe and comfortable, whether it's riding, skiing, snowboarding or jogging and whether you're getting around for work and errands or just getting some miles in.

Random Tunage:
Mittelstandskinder Ohne Strom - Live Tropical Fish
Chicane - Saltwater

Balmy

Well, it started out that way: mid-40s upon departure. The forecast (which I'd dutifully checked last night like a good commuter) said that it would drop down to 18°F by the time I'd be getting out of work. I loaded a pannier up with extra warms for the ride home. I took the Baxter this morning and rode to the bus stop in my work clothes, leaving a bit early so that I could savor the relatively warm weather, and avoid sweating on the way to the bus. The Swobo Baxter BEGS to be ridden and enjoyed; It's hard to ride it without a goofy grin on your face. It certainly doesn't lend itself well to speed, but makes up for it with the fun factor.

At around 8:00 this morning, I was hunkered down over my computer monitor, chipping away at the epic pile of Monday workload. Prodigy - Breathe was setting the pace for my day, being pipelined into my skull through a hefty set of noise-cancelling DJ cans, like a rush of heroin coursing through an addicts veins directly to the deepest reaches of the brain. Tunage gets me through the day. It muffles out the din of gossiping peers, the shuffle and clatter of clumsy co-workers who insist on smacking and dragging their hands on my cubicle wall as they make their way to the coffee machine, the shitter or the copy room. Then I saw the blip. A tiny distraction on my screen. cDude alerted me to the fact that it was, in fact, 19°F already. In just two hours or so, temps had plunged nearly 25 degrees. It looked like this:



I'd dragged enough warmth downtown with me to sustain a 15°F commute home, again, including my work clothes as a functional part of the getup. After all, it's only a few miles when I bridge the trans-urban gap with mass transit. My mind went into graph extrapolation mode, and I had fears of getting out of the office to single digit temperatures. A few miles wouldn't kill me, but it would suck. Plus, I had to hit the post office on the way home.

Fortunately, the final temperature for the end of the work day was spot on. The graph above leveled out and stayed at 18°F most of the day. As I write this, though, the mercury is dropping further, and single-digits are likely for the morning.

At any rate, this is a reminder for you to make sure you look at the whole day's forecast. This time of year, it's not unheard of to have a colder evening commute than your morning commute was. This event was a close call that even has me thinking about leaving one extra layer of warm clothing at the office, just in case evening weather turns out to be more brutal than originally predicted. I already keep a full change of biz-casual at the office (just in case) as well as a towel (Ford Prefect would be proud!) but maybe a set of sweats and a pair of wooly socks left in the filing cabinet drawer or something would be wise.

Tricks Of The Trade: Warmness

Elizabeth and I have been cranking out some tips for winter commuting over at BikeCommuters.com:

Toes Froze?

Cold Hands?

Snow Biking: Is that even safe?!

Protection from the elements

On keeping a cold-weather clothing log

I tend to put most of my helpful hints over there these days. My guess is you'll start seeing a lot more cold-weather tips.

Swobo Baxter: Day Two

Bike + Bus today.


I could get used to these pizza-cutters. They stop really well, but it's not overbearing.


I had a little different route today, with plenty of loose snow that hadn't been messed with.


In loose snow, these Vittorias work quite well. Very well.




I really want to put a set of these tires on my Trek 1200. I checked (by putting the Baxter's front wheel on my road bike to see how the tire fits) and the 32mm's will fit just fine.

Swobo Baxter: Day One

See more photos of the build and more info on BikeCommuters.com.

I'd actually considered riding the Baxter all the way downtown this morning. At 3 degrees, it'd be the third coldest bike-only commute I've done, but I am dealing with these temperatures quite well. I have records of clothing that works in most conditions we get here in KC, so I nailed my clothing spot-on.

The only thing really stopping me was the fact that I hadn't ridden the bike in earnest. I just assembled it, adjusted fitment, and took a bunch of pictures. In hindsight, I'm very, very glad I didn't ride all the way to work on it this morning.

The 32mm Vittoria Randonneur tires surpassed my expectations of traction on the snow and slush, but the bike still got squirrely on me. It gives you a very upright seating position and coupled with the already raised center-of-gravity due to my backpack (versus panniers) it felt like any moment I was rolling on snow could mean a wipeout.

The bike itself feels a bit like a fast cruiser bike. The 8-speed alfine is very widely geared. First is good for climbing, but it's nowhere near as low as the lowest gears on my road bike or mountain bike (both with triple cranks). The highest gear (97 gear inches) is plenty higher than my mountain bike (84 gear inches), but doesn't hold a candle to my road bike's massive 52x12 top gear (114 gear inches). The Baxter should do about 29 MPH at 100 RPM cadence in its top gear, but given the wind resistance of sitting bolt upright, that seems terribly generous unless you have a great tailwind or a long downhill journey.

This evening, I rode the bike all the way home, and let's just say I won't be doing that again. While it rolls more efficiently than my wife's Townie, the experience was roughly similar. So far, this bike's strengths seem many (and I'll save my thoughts for my final review) but comfort for longer distances is not among them. Perhaps a rack and panniers would have made the experience a bit more pleasurable, but this evening had me thinking twice about my decision. All the extra weight in my backpack (layers I didn't need on the much warmer homeward commute) could have been a major culprit here. And the Baxter is sufficiently equipped with eyelets for a rear rack and a set of fenders.

I'll probably continue using the Baxter for bike/bus commuting, though. It is an absolute blast to ride, but I can't do the upright thing for 15 miles in one sitting.

Test Mule Zero

It's from Swobo, and it (for some reason or another) came in a box labeled "Novak." But it's not a Novak. It was also delivered by a hamfisted UPS guy who (as you can see) left it wrong-side up. Somewhere along the line, the box got clobbered, too. Totally lame.

I've never actually built a bike up before. I've taken them apart plenty, and fixed quite a few of them. I've just never taken delivery of a box and turned its contents into a ridable steed. It was pretty easy, though.

More pics tomorrow. I think you'll like it.

That's more like it.

40 MPH winds, -10°F wind chill. Ice, snow and slush everywhere.

Okay, I could have done without the wind, but it was a great morning for a ride.


I answer the question "Is that even safe?!" (as was asked by several cow-orkers) on BikeCommuters.com

Yeah. About those games.

"The Games" as I so irreverently christened them last evening, ended up being a 100% chance of rain at 33°F. FML.

Let the games begin.

100% chance of snow. I'm looking forward to it.

Random Tunage:
Check out some of my favorite songs released in 2009 (and late '08)

Bad news, good news.

The bad news: Remember that I said The Goat needed quite a bit of work? Well, I got it working and have been riding it daily, but never really fixed all the things that need fixing. Friday, things got pretty bad, making the bike a complete pain to ride. It's about time for a major overhaul including a new rear rim/spokes (heck, new wheel?) two new tires, a full set of brake pads, a chain, cassette, and saddle. The chain, cassette and brakes have been replaced several times since I got this bike, but the other stuff has been the same since I bought it more than 3 years ago.

I think I've got it kludged well enough to last me a week or so.

The good news: The Goat doesn't need to last much longer, then I can fix it up over the next 2 months. On behalf of BikeCommuters.com I'm reviewing a pair of slick bikes that should appeal to the urban commuter. The first one will show up this week sometime. I'll test it for about six weeks, send it back, and take on another foster bike for about a month. That should get me through until mid-February or so. Since they're factory demo units, I won't be keeping either of these bikes, and I won't be getting paid to write a review. I'm okay with that, though. I love bike stuff.

Also, my cold-weather ways are probably nothing new for you guys, but check out the post (and the great comments) on my latest article at Bike Commuters for a dose of cold-weather riding tips: You know it's winter when...

Rubble

One of several strip malls adjacent to my apartment has been mostly abandoned for the past two years. Eventually, there were no tenants left, however I'm guessing the last of them were forced to leave due to pending re-development. Over the course of the last week, I've watched as the area is reduced to a pile of rubble. You have probably noticed by now that I kind of have this thing about demolition scenes. As of last night, not a single wall stands. Here's hoping there's something interesting and useful being built, not just mid-rise offices or some warehouse.



This morning, I saw the city venting the fire hydrant pipes. jwz would call it a series of tubes.



Random Tunage:
Plumb - Cut
Cher & Peter Cetera - After All

30-degree swing

... or close to it. Yesterday, it was 20-something in the morning, 50-something in the afternoon. Mother Nature keeps pushing that "One Last Beautiful Afternoon For Riding" and today looks to be more of the same, but it was warmer this morning.

Last night: a quick stop by Electronics Supply Co. after work. Riding in shorts at the end of November in KC is not normal.



Also, I recently re-shot the front panel of my Sun Ultra 5 because I somehow lost the high resolution version. I think I like this one as a wallpaper better than the last one (highest resolution available).

Click for big.