Author: Bob Harrison

The UH Rainbow Baseball Team beat Fresno State to win the WAC championship. It’s been a long, long time…1992 to be exact.

I listened to the game and kept my fingers crossed. I suspect it didn’t help all that much but probably didn’t hurt either.
Aloha!

Bike to Work Book 2010.

Carlton Reid’s Bike to Work Book – a basic book for the new bike commuter.
Aloha!

I’ve got to admit that the level of ingenuity shown by some folks in using bicycles is pretty high. Take for example this combination of two adult tricycles and a shopping cart I saw outside of my workplace this morning when I went to refill my coffee.

This beast seems to be constructed from a blue Torker Adult Tricycle, though not their current model, up front. There’s a large basket behind the seat post as befits a utility bike. Grafted on the back of the frame is the back end of another tricycle, again with basket. This makes the whole thing sort of a pentacycle.
As if that’s not enough, in two, creating a train of sorts, is a shopping cart.
The whole affair is locked up, which probably didn’t make the guards at our building bound with joy. When I came back with my coffee refill it was gone.
This whole thing really makes me want to ask two important questions….

1. Is this the touring bike of the future?
2. Are those 650Bs?

I spent most of the weekend doing as little as humanly possible. Sunday was a complete washout as I did nothing but watch the Yankees lose to Boston (though they won the series). Saturday was a bit better, the Yankees won and I managed to get in a nice bike ride.
I’d planned on riding to Haleiwa and catching the sag wagon (TheBus) back home. I figured I should leave around 7am.
I actually left after 10am. In order to return home in time for my evening plans I only rode as far as Ka’a’awa where I had lunch at Uncle Bobo’s. I love their BBQ (dry rub).
I took a bit of video along the way…

Goodbye old friend.
I just found out the sad news that my friend, Christopher Roland Le Beau, passed away from cardiac arrest following an accident. I can’t say it any better than our common friend Nathan Miller did, so:

RIP Christopher Roland Lebeau – April 14, 1944 to May 4, 2010.
After showing some positive signs, Lebeau took an abrupt turn for the worse. He was in great hands, received high quality care, and was surrounded by friends to the e…nd. The end was cardiac arrest and a general shutdown. Closing time.
Lebeau went out all right. He had a great night last Saturday, then it was lights out and a hazy week in which he awoke to pretty nurses and people who loved him. He was never in pain and in the moments he was aware, his eyes lit up with happiness when he saw the people around him.
If Chris could write a final status line it might be “…is tits up, mate. second verse same as the first.”
So, no cryin’. Raise a glass of the good stuff to my friend and yours, the toughest guy in town…Christopher Roland Lebeau.

Adventure Cycling, the organization famous for the cycling maps among other things, has routes across the U.S named the Northern and Southern Tier. This weekend past I guess I rode the North Shore Tier.
On Friday, 4/23/2010, I left my apartment around 7am on my Rivendell Quickbeam loaded up with enough camping gear for three nights at Malaekahana. My previous experience camping at Sand Island and Malaekahana gave me pretty good idea of what to take, or more correctly, what not to take. While I still had more stuff than I needed, I’m getting better at whittling things down. A basic list of what I took included:

• Hennessy Hammock
• Fleece blanket bag
• Tiny pillow (so worth it)
• Auto windshield reflector (underpad)
• Trangia stove set and fuel
• Video camera to interview a friend
• Camera (didn’t use with video camera along
• Extra Clothing
• Dry undershorts (2)
• Windbreaker
• Socks (for sleeping actually)
• Extra riding shirt
• Camp shirt
• Instant coffee, oatmeal, and Clif Bars (bought rest of food while there)
• Toiletries
• Basic bike tools (come with everywhere anyway)

Everything fit into my Rivendell Sackville SaddleSack (Large) in the back and my Sackville SlickerSack up front. I did have to strap my hammock onto the top of the SlickerSack, but it worked fine. I could still pick up the bike with one arm so I figured it wasn’t too heavy.
The Quickbeam has gears, just no derailleurs, so I kept to high (40×16) most of the way till I got to the dread Kapaa Gulch. This is a lovely drop followed by an even lovelier climb, at least headed out. Just before I attempted it this time I decided to take a break and change ratios. I went as low as I could, 32×19, and found it easy enough to ride that I kept that in place through Kaneohe. Once I was back at sea level back up I went, but I am really grateful for that bit of relief. Last time I did this ride I didn’t change gears and I definitely paid a price.
Then it was off to Malaekahana.
Here’s my bike all packed up…

I arrived early enough to set up camp, easy enough with a hammock, and head back to Laie a couple of miles to do some shopping. By the time I got back it was time to eat, shower (yes, I had the luxury of hot water at Friends of Malaekahana’s campsite), and hit the rack for a bit of reading on my Kindle.
The next morning I got up, cooked some eggs and coffee, and got ready for an easy day of exploring the North Shore. My plan was simple, ride to Haleiwa and back, about a 36 mile round trip; easy after the 60 of the day before loaded down.
The weather was perfect.
When I got to Laniakea I stopped and did a video interview with a friend who watches over our honu (sea turtles) when they rest up on the beach there. I’d planned on doing this on my way back from Haleiwa, but as there was a turtle there already it seemed an appropriate time. As it turned out, my timing was good. When I passed by later that day on my return no honu were to be seen.
After a day out exploring I took another nice hot shower, cooked dinner, read a bit, and made ready for the morrow.
Sunday was my big day. I had to ride the 18 miles to Haleiwa, then ride in the JBK Haleiwa Metric Century, then ride back to Malaekahana. All in all it’s about 100 miles, the most I’d ever ridden in recent years and never back to back with 60 mile rides.
I left in the dark to give myself plenty of time to make it Haleiwa without tiring and was treated to a beautiful sunrise as I rode through North Communities and long open stretches through farm land and along our very famous beaches. There was almost no traffic at that time of the morning, so it was simply wonderful.
Folks had already started gathering at Kaiaka Beach Park in Haleiwa when I arrived. All in all I’m told there were over 800 of us. At 7:30am, after a few obligatory words from politicians and safety types, we were off, led and chased by motorcycle officers of the HPD (who did a great job patrolling the route I might add).
The racing types took off as soon as we were out of Haleiwa and I started noticing them heading back almost before we got to the 25km turnaround, well that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.
I had, as far as I could tell, the only Riv.
The ride was a very good time once things settled down. Most everyone was very polite with only a few minor exceptions:

1. Not enough folks called out “on your left” before they passed. It generally wasn’t the amateurs forgetting, it was the wannabes.
2. getting passed on a bridge with traffic wasn’t any fun. I had about six inches and if there’d been something I needed to avoid…well it wouldn’t have pretty.
3. One fellow drafted me for miles never taking the lead then took off without so much as an acknowledgement.

Idiots aside, and there’s no guarantee I wasn’t seen as a jerk by some, the ride was great.
I stopped at all the rest stops and ate a lot of fruit and drank a lot of sports drink (HEED? – tasted..um..well it was free). I managed to avoid dehydration or bonking over the entire course, so I guess I did okay.
At the 100K turnaround I ran into John Climaldi who I know a bit about because of my Bike Friday and through the HBL. He had his lovely Rob English racing bike prototype out there while he worked the rest stop. The bike weighed about as much as the energy bars I was carrying. Mind you, I’m not into counting grams on my bike…with racks, and luggage, and me it’s not really worth it. If I need a lighter ride I can lose five pounds.
Anyway, here’s John’s bike:

Once I made it back to the starting point it was time to turn around and go back to Malaekahana.
I stopped a the Haleiwa Farmer’s Market and picked up some fruit so I could have something nice when I got to my campsite. The market was almost done for the day so I got an excellent price on items the vendors didn’t want to carry home. Of course planning to show up at the end of market is a bit hit or miss, so just show up early and get what you like.
I was pretty beat at this point but the ride was going well. I stopped for fresh pineapple juice along the way which was a real godsend. I also stopped for some Kahuku shrimp as a late lunch at one of the roadside stops. I topped it off with some shaved ice to boot.
My final stop was at the market where I picked up a couple of things for dinner and road the last mile home.
I was done in. I didn’t hurt anywhere, but I was exhausted. I showered, cooked a bit of dinner, then hit the hay.
I expected I’d been in pretty sad shape Monday morning but I wasn’t. I felt great. I was even up earlier than I expected. After coffee and oatmeal I packed up the campsite and headed out. While I wasn’t a speed demon, I made it home in good time, stopping several times along the way to eat a piece of fruit or a sandwich.
All in all I rode about 250 miles or 400K and never once felt I was coming apart at the seams. Tired? Yes. Exhausted? Not really. In pain? Never.
All good.
In fact I think I’m going to start riding to Haleiwa regularly. Of course I think I’ll take the bus back when I do so that I can make the whole thing a one day ride, but hey, it’s lovely out there.
Aloha!

In anticipation of riding the JBK Haleiwa Metric Century this weekend, I decided to tweak my bike a wee bit more. On my beater bike I’ve been a Zefal Lock’N’Roll skewer up front to keep my front wheel from being liberated. Not that’d I’d worry too much if it disappeared, it must be at least 15 years old and was cheap to begin with…but it works well, so I might as well keep it.
But I’d really love to keep my the front wheel on my Quickbeam as it was built by Rich from Riv and isn’t even 15 months old.
Normally I carry two locks, a U-bolt and a cable. I realize the cable can be easily cut but my QB isn’t parked out on the street that much and I’m aware that I can really only prevent spur of the moment crimes anyway. If someone wants the bike, they’ll get it.
Still two locks are heavy and since cabling the front wheel only makes it difficult, not impossible, I thought I’d try a Pitlock up front. They are expensive little buggers, but if it deters theft, I’m good with it; especially as I don’t want to haul two locks to the north shore this weekend.
A bit of research turned up lots of places advertising low prices, but…and it’s a big but, they really only expedite an order from Germany where said locks are made and there’d be duty and such not included in the price. No bargain that.
That left only a couple of North American importers. The best option seemed to be urbanbiketech.com. They are Canadian and deal only in Pitlocks. Click the image to go to their site:

As I was buying for a single speed bike with horizontal dropouts it was recommended I not use a rear Pitlock as it won’t hold against all the forces applied. That’s not a problem as I usual lock my bike as suggested by the late Sheldon Brown. But because I also have relatively expensive saddles from Brooks, I thought I might try a Pitlock for the seat post.
Here’s my two cents on all this…
urbanbiketech.com – I had no problems at all and received my set very quickly, in time for the ride this weekend, something I wasn’t sure of when I ordered. Kudos.

Front skewer – I had almost no trouble installing this on my Quickbeam following the after-market instructions from urbanbiketech. My wheel rolls as free as ever and it even looks great, though I’ll probably trim down the skewer itself a bit. Trimming is recommended if it sticks out more than 4mm and I’m definitely there. I did end up adjusting one brake pad and creating a squeal, but that’s all on me and certainly wasn’t because of the new skewer. Still it’s something I want to deal with before I go.
Seat post lock – Here I’m not as happy, though it certainly isn’t the fault of the Pitlock or my retailer. It’s just that I had some trouble with tightening the lock down far enough to keep my saddle from slipping down. I took a 25 mile ride after doing the installation (front wheel great), and a few miles in I had to stop and reseat everything. I flaked off a bit of paint while doing it which, as you might imagine, didn’t make me overly happy; though I’m okay with beausage in general. A few miles later I had to stop again thinking the post had slipped, but it hadn’t. I’d just adjusted the nose of my saddle a bit off center and was paying the price. That took a few seconds to remedy and the rest of the ride was fine, though I worried a bit about slippage for the duration. That’ll pass I suspect.
All in all, things are good. I think I can carry one lock this weekend and feel pretty safe.
That’s it for now!

What the heck does that mean? Well…
Grant Petersen of Rivendell Bicycle Works fame, at least famous to me as I own a Quickbeam, touts the sub-24 hour overnight camping trip.
So s80o^3 would be sub-80 hour 3 night trip. 🙂
I’ve actually been bike camping twice already, once for two nights at Sand Island back in 2008 and again for one night this January past at Malaekahana. So here I go again with my 250 miles over 4 days plan.
Now that I’m just a couple of weeks away from the event I’ve got to start making a list of what to take. The first time I did this I took way too much and it didn’t work well enough. The second time I took only a bit too much and everything worked fine. This time I’ll be gone three nights but I’ve also learned a bit. The best small kit list I’ve seen is on the Riv site at their kit for one night link.
Here’s the start for my list:
Hennessy Hammock/Rainfly/Stakes – I love my Hennessy Hammock
Auto Window sun shield – yes, it’s very light and functions as a closed cell pad
Blanket – actually it’s one of those tiny thing sleeping bag things
Pillow – it’s a tiny little thing and definitely worth it for me
Trangia Cookset 27-7 – this will be my first attempt using this alcohol burner
Folding Ice Chest – this’ll be interesting, it’s light and will be stuff with my hammock and pillow up front
Towel – always, always bring a towel
Swim suit – it’s Hawaii
Sunscreen – it’s Hawaii
Extra undershorts – 2 extra
Windbreaker – that’s about how cold it’ll get tops
Phone – just in case
Extra tubes – just in case
Tools – just my daily commuter kit – change a tire, tighten a blot or nut
I’m pretty sure I’ll be adding a few extra things but those are the basics. Frankly I could probably do without the cooking set but I really want to try it.
Things I won’t be bringing…
Computer – I brought one on my first trip and I’m glad I did, I won’t be bringing it again though. Caveat…if my iPad arrives I will be taking it.
Food – I’m only a hop, skip, and a jump from Laie so I can hit the grocery store there. I’ll amend that to say I’ll probably bring some instant oatmeal and coffee just in case.
I’ll be changing this list as the date gets closer but that’s what I know for now…
Aloha!