[EasyRider]

@bentbike33 189091 wrote:

This is the main reason why past performance is not a predictor of future results. The teams that pull away early have the (usually new) riders with the most radical changes in behavior that we want Freezing Saddles to induce. I think the idea expressed above about combining teams at the mid-point of the competition is brilliant for counteracting this effect. It may increase the social aspect as well: “Come meet your new teammates!”

I was on Team 7, and I think we led not because riders were newcomers who changed their behavior but because the rules this year suited many of our established, individual routines. For example, this was my first BAFS, but I’ve been riding 10-15 miles round trip to work, year round, since moving here 17 years ago. I was already riding every day, and since 100 miles/7 days=14.28, all I needed to do to maximize my team points was commute 7 days a week (figuratively speaking) instead of 5. I do think being a transportation cyclist put me in good stead.

I’m all for ways of adding more chance to the game … rebalancing teams, or making smaller teams, or having random days when points matter/more or less than others, making riding every day less valuable, etc.

[EasyRider]

@lordofthemark 188396 wrote:

What other than the level of parking turnover, makes it different from here, say?

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8586265,-77.05331,3a,75y,307.05h,73.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCmi6h3TpJQD6zF1DNVB17g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I mean don’t parking protected bike lanes always involve people crossing the bike lane to access their parked cars?

Yes, that is the nature of a PBL. The level of parking turnover isn’t trivial; the more turnover there is and the more the PBL is used, the more potential for collisions. How frequently pedestrians are popping out in between parked cars and crossing the PBL depends on what the neighborhood like.

In the case of Westover, the north side of the street is lined with a half-dozen businesses that people typically spend about 10 minutes in. So foot traffic and cars coming and going is pretty frequent, especially on weekends when people run errands (and ride bikes). Someone earlier in the thread mentioned they had never had trouble getting a parking space in Westover. And yet those businesses are thriving. That is because there is a lot of turnover. People are constantly taking and leaving those parking spots.

I’m not as familiar with the stretch you link to, but it appears to fit about half as many cars as Westover. The entire block is occupied by Crystal Towers, a large apartment building with an onsite parking garage, so my guess is that residents don’t cross the PBL too often. Finally, it looks to me like the payment kiosk visible on the sidewalk states that the parking time max is 12 hours. If so, that’s another indication to me that the potential for collisions between pedestrians and bicycles is pretty low. People are parking there for hours, and there apparently isn’t enough demand to lower the max time.

[EasyRider]

@lordofthemark 188389 wrote:

peds are allowed to walk across PBL’s, just as they are allowed to cross general travel lanes. They are not allowed to proceed on a PBL, just as they are not allowed to proceed in a general travel (with exceptions where there is no sidewalk) I mean I suppose its true that they can only legally cross a PBL at a crosswalk – never enforced. I suppose it could matter in a tort case. I know when I ride on the Maine PBL, my assumption is that the unlawfulness of the peds who cross it regularly, and even walk on it, does not protect me at all.

I also believe that people accessing a parked car are allowed to enter a PBL or conventional bike lane away from a crosswalk, just as they are allowed to enter the roadway (whether or not there is stripe differentiating the general travel lane from the parking lane) in order to do so. How else would people access the driver side of a car in an ordinary on street parking space where there is no bike infrastructure? Is there an implicit separation of parking zone from general travel lane even when there is no parking lane striping?

I guess my assertion that one of the “options” a driver has for crossing a four foot wide PBL is a wheeled conveyance was not ridiculous enough. The point I was trying to make is that in this context, you’d need such ridiculous rules to avoid conflicts with pedestrians who would be constantly crossing the PBL to reach parked cars, all up and down the length of Washington Blvd in Westover. My guess is that is why a PBL isn’t one of the options shown.

[EasyRider]

@dasgeh 188383 wrote:

Huh? PBLs are not MUPs – they are restricted to wheeled transportation (scooters etc welcome).

Darn right. And in practice this means that if there was a PBL on the north side of Washington in Westover, after backing into a parking spot in front of Ayers hardware, said driver-turned-pedestrian has two options:

1. Use a bike or a scooter or other two-wheeled vehicle to cross the PBL and get to the sidewalk.
2. Hoof it to one of the new crosswalks and cross the PBL there.

No popping out into the PBL in between parked cars, pedestrians!

[EasyRider]

I’m looking for a recommendation for a 26″ knobby tire (not studded) that sheds snow and slush, but isn’t a liability on wet pavement. My commute doesn’t have long stretches of ice, just bridges and short sections of icy packed snow that might benefit from a knobby tire with a little more bite.

For the last year or so I’ve been running a Schwalbe Thunder Burt up front and a Big Ben in back; this is a pretty good combo for dirt paths and pavement. But the TB has small, closely-spaced knobs and is getting packed with snow and slush — exactly what I don’t want from a front tire right now.

I’d pony up for a Compass knobby but they don’t make it in 26″ yet.

[EasyRider]

Present

[EasyRider]

My Crust Clydesdale fork arrived and has rejuvenated the Trek 800 I bought 25 years ago! The double-wide milk crate is sized almost perfectly for two paper grocery bags. I think it could pretty easily fit four or five 12-packs of La Croix.

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[EasyRider]

Belated post … my Wednesday morning commute was among the better ones in recent memory. The night before, I lost my wedding band in the grass just south of the intersection of doom. My chain had fallen off and after putting it back on, I used fallen leaves to wipe the grease off my hands. Three miles later I realized that in so doing, I had pulled the ring off my finger and dropped it in the grass. I turned around and after 45 minutes of searching with a headlight in the dark, I gave up. The next morning I rented a metal detector and found it within 15 minutes!

[EasyRider]

@Judd 181705 wrote:

One of the great things about the Disaster Relief Trials is that fancy equipment is not required.

[video=youtube_share;R5tPhHlZwhs]https://youtu.be/R5tPhHlZwhs[/video]

I’ve got a bunch of GoPro and Fly12 videos that look pretty good from a spot check. I’m going to try to make a Bobco style video out of it.

The basket on top of a Jones bar was probably the weirdest equipment thing I saw at the event, but the rider seemed to like it just fine.

[EasyRider]

Really hope this event repeats next year, I’ve been saving my pennies all summer for a Crust Cargo fork.

[EasyRider]

I was really impressed with the staff and volunteers for the event. Start to finish, the whole thing was well-organized and fun. A big thanks! My son had blast on the “cyclocross course.” I loved seeing the other cargo rigs, too. Here are a few pictures, mine is the blue jalopy, #45.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]18433[/ATTACH]

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[EasyRider]

@EasyRider 180587 wrote:

The puller arrives tonight and I’ll report on how that goes, but in the meantime, I had ordered a replacement bolt assembly and it just arrived. Identical to the original, with one exception. There’s a concave washer that goes between the bolt and the retaining ring. The original bolt assembly used a stiff metal one. The replacement has one made of pliable black plastic. Perhaps the steel washer scored the inside of the retaining ring as the bolt was removed, and that helps account for why the retaining ring broke in half on removal.

Sadly the puller tool didn’t quite work. It was the correct one to use, but when the retaining ring broke it damaged the threads. The tool couldn’t fully engage, and even trying to crank it in there with a big wrench didn’t help much. Threads were quite fine and simply shredded when I tried extracting. I ended up cutting the spindle with a hacksaw. Took two blades and a solid 20 minutes of sawing.

I think the problem here was bad luck, plus the fact that the crank was an OEM cheapie. It’s an FSA Adventure Omega with 46/30 chainrings, in a strange, proprietary 120/90 bcd. FSA doesn’t sell this crank aftermarket, or any replacement chainrings. So I’m happy to give these lightly used rings away to anyone who may need them. The bottom bracket (Truvativ GXP) has a few saw marks on it but I think it’s salvageable too.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18338[/ATTACH]

[EasyRider]

@EasyRider 180529 wrote:

Thanks for the better puller option

Actually, I watched that video before I started. I wish my retaining ring was as beefy as the one in the cutaway shot!

The puller arrives tonight and I’ll report on how that goes, but in the meantime, I had ordered a replacement bolt assembly and it just arrived. Identical to the original, with one exception. There’s a concave washer that goes between the bolt and the retaining ring. The original bolt assembly used a stiff metal one. The replacement has one made of pliable black plastic. Perhaps the steel washer scored the inside of the retaining ring as the bolt was removed, and that helps account for why the retaining ring broke in half on removal.

[EasyRider]

@TwoWheelsDC 180528 wrote:

This happened to me…here was my solution (after having two bike shops try removing it “normally”):

That looks like the way to go if this motorcycle tool doesn’t work. You squeezed a hacksaw blade in there, yes? Mine looked a little too tight to get a sawzall in there, it’d probably bind.

[EasyRider]

@n18 180526 wrote:

Please see the video at the top of this page, which includes FSA Crankset: Crank Removal and Installation: Self-Extracting

I am not sure if you need 27mm x 1 crank puller, but the Amazon page you linked to is for a product that ships from China. This one ships from the US, and has same day delivery option.

More YouTube videos about FSA Crankset removal.

Thanks for the better puller option

Actually, I watched that video before I started. I wish my retaining ring was as beefy as the one in the cutaway shot!

[Author]

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