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The Dew??? I’m so sorry. :confused:

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@sjclaeys 149666 wrote:

I will run the third annual Beerneuring Challenge. Drinking beer and riding bikes in the cold, what could wrong?

Here’s a suggestion for Beerneuring 2017, make Hellbender Brewing Company one of your destinations.

I got to visit last night, and it’s one cool and interesting place. Doesn’t look like much from the outside, in fact people had a hard time finding it because the storefront is so bland. But inside, damn good beer is happening.

I was with a group of sustainability folks, and we were treated to a tour wherein the brewer told us about their process that uses 15% less grain and 30% less water than average. Their secret is a big filtering press, which squeezes every last drop of liquid out of the mash before it goes into the boiler. Apparently this is common practice in European Belgian-style breweries, but rare in the U.S.

Hellbender is only 2 years old, started by homebrewers with a background in microbiology. They’re serving in their taproom and at local restaurants, or you can take home a growler. I had a Smoked Nut Brown Ale which was amazing, and wished I could hang out to taste all the others.

I hadn’t been in that neighborhood before, but it’s close to Fort Totten metro station. They’ve installed a bike rack out front. Public tours are available at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm & 5pm every Saturday unless otherwise posted.

Co-founder Ben Evans in front of the big filter press machine.
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Kegs
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The back room where all the brewing happens. There’s a separate room for scientific research and testing.
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Storefront is bleak, but there is a bike rack, and the taproom is spacious and welcoming.
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@mstone 149791 wrote:

…it’s this. And, in an hour, you can break a regular bike down to fit in a box. So as I said before, you’re basically golden if the difference in size between a regular box and a checked luggage box is really, really significant for you. Given my feelings about modern air travel, I’d much rather ship the bike through than sit around an airport, but everyone’s different. It’s definitely not a spur of the moment “I think I’ll throw the bike in the car” kind of serendipity–if that’s what you’re looking for, get a folder.

There’s a lot to be said for folding bikes. In fact, this conversation had Peter and I browsing around last night and talking about them. Some can be custom fit and have decent travel cases. A whole world I haven’t explored much.

We have little experience flying with our travel bikes, for sure we’ve used them a lot more on trains and in cars. The serendipity of those scenarios hasn’t worn off yet. I was as skeptical or worse before I got one, and now I’m always looking for more ways to use it.

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@hozn 149789 wrote:

(Thanks so much for the detailed reply!)

Happy to do so. 😎 Don’t hesitate to ping me for a show-n-tell either.

@hozn 149789 wrote:

Yeah, the appeal of a breakable bike, in addition to making airline travel practical, would be packing it in trunk of rental cars.

That’s the spirit! One of my cars is an ’02 Honda Insight, a tiny little 2-seater with a hatchback, and I can actually fit Vaya in the back of it simply by unscrewing the couplers. Don’t even have to remove the wheels. Vaya has the capability to go wherever I go.

@hozn 149789 wrote:

While I don’t have any immediate plans to do the train here, train in Europe could be useful too (my limited impression is that there’s good roll-on support for the local trains, but not for the long-distance trains).

Good thought. Most regional trains in Europe have excellent roll-on service, but the long-distance routes and high-speed trains do not. On our last tour in Europe, the equation worked out such that we rented bikes in Germany, and we used trains as our one-way shuttle. But that was before we had travel bikes.

@hozn 149789 wrote:

A few questions about your disc-brake setup / packing with disc brakes:

– Do you have to remove the rotors from your wheels to get it to fit in 26x26x10?

I do remove the rotors. They are center lock, so they just unscrew (with a tool), super easy.

@hozn 149789 wrote:

– Do you think it would be sufficient to just have brake cables (or, heck, hoses) attached with zip-tie/c-clips to exterior of frame for packing, or would you actually need to separate the cable in some way? (Hard to imagine whether the cables still attached to the caliper and levers could just be coiled up next to the broken down pieces or if that would be a lot less convenient than having the tables separate.) I’ve also heard some people say they just unbolt the calipers, but I think that also crosses the line on ease of re-assembly.

You’ll definitely want to free the cable somehow, so it doesn’t get kinked when you go to pack the frame pieces. In my case the two derailleur cables have couplers installed. However, my rear brake cable is sheathed and incompatible with couplers, so I free it up by actually unbolting the brake caliper and cutting the zip-ties holding it to the frame. I’m skeptical you could do that with hydraulic brakes, but I imagine it’s possible if there’s no risk of the fluid leaking.

@hozn 149789 wrote:

– Same question for rear derailleur, I guess. Could I just run full length housing on toptube and down seatstay attached with c-clips and then coil up the cable rather than separate it?

Again, I think you’ll want to separate the cable somehow. As soon as you de-couple the frame, that cable is going to seem too tight, get in your way and limit your ability to arrange the pieces into the box. I also unbolt the rear-D from the frame because I find the pieces nest better that way. I remove the chain with a quick link, store it in a ziplock, and re-thread it again. In general, the more pieces I remove, the easier it is to pack and the safer it will travel. The line of “must do” is pretty blurry at this point.

@hozn 149789 wrote:

– In this more gravel/cx/touring paradigm, I would not have a front derailleur, so at least that part would be simpler.

True!

Let me say this…. Before I tried it, I mentally resisted each potentially unnecessary step. I thought there’s no way I’d remove a derailleur, or a brake caliper, or whatever, if I don’t have to. And guess what, now I gleefully deconstruct my bike into a million pieces, and I’m happy that within an hour of arrival I’m back on MY bike again. I’m no mechanic for sure, but I know how Vaya works, and after a few trips I’m very comfortable with the whole process. It’s only one bike, and every part on it has been demystified. Knowing how handy you are building bikes, there is quite simply NO task that would be a barrier for you. Hotel rooms can be pretty dreary, but reassembling a bike sure beats watching bad cable TV.

@hozn 149789 wrote:

– Have you done anything with tubeless tires? I assume big-volume (30+mm?) tires have to be deflated to fit, which means emptying sealant from tubeless. That sounds like a pain in the butt since I’d also need a HV pump. So maybe tubeless isn’t worth the benefit for that setup.

No, I run standard tubes with “flatless” tires, and they do get deflated for packing. Tubeless would be a PITA for travel. Simple, field-repairable systems.

@hozn 149789 wrote:

I don’t have any plans to do any long touring/bikepacking trips at this stage in my life, but having a bike that would be comfortable off-road could be a plus. The more I think about it, the more it seems like the economical approach would be to replace my cx/commuter frame with a coupled frame. That would only make sense, though, if I could go hydro disc on the coupled frame (since that is what is on my cx/commuter is).

Is your cx/commuter bike steel? Heck, contact Bilenky and see if they’ll cut it in half for you. If it’s the bike you want to be riding anyway, coupling it to take with you might just be an economical answer.

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@mstone 149762 wrote:

FWIW, I’ve heard from a few people that the S&S couplers are a PITA, and not worth doing unless you fly a lot and also can’t live without a perfectly fitted full size bike.

I would disagree. The couplers themselves are a marvel of engineering, solid and easy to use. Travel bikes can also be taken on trains as carry-on luggage (Amtrak roll-on service is still quite fickle), which opens up a lot of territory. Flying adds a certain PITA factor, but may be worth it in some scenarios.

Perhaps the best info on travel bikes is from S&S themselves. They list a bunch of manufacturers who make travel bikes, and offer lots of info on packing and maintenance.

As you’ve discovered, Bilenky is the only framebuilder who will retrofit a steel or titanium frame with S&S couplers, and they’re somewhat local (PA). They claim to have done tens of thousands; I’ve talked to other builders who were afraid to try it, so their vast experience is a good thing. Bilenky’s basic package price for a retrofit includes a coupler wrench (also called spanner wrench), and you can add a paint job for additional cost and/or a 26x26x10 case. Only caution is to have patience, they’re often backed up and rumor is Stephen Bilenky would sometimes rather go ride his bike than be at work (wouldn’t we all!).

Co-Motion (in Oregon) is the other company I’m familiar with that makes both stock and custom travel bikes. They are high quality and not cheap. My friend Peter now has two of them, a single and tandem, both acquired used on eBay. We refer to Co-Motion’s videos on how to pack when we need a reminder.

My bike is an out-of-the-box Salsa Vaya Travel. The frame is bare stainless steel, so I don’t have to worry about rust or paint scratches. I find it easy to break down, the process takes about an hour. As dkel pointed out, Salsa discontinued making the Travel version of this bike, but they may be a few floating around in the marketplace. It’s essentially a gravel bike with all the attachment points for touring, capacity for fat tires, and mechanical (Avid BB7) disk brakes. I bought it because it’s exactly the bike I wanted, and it happened to have couplers; the geometry works out perfectly for me (YMMV).

Cable couplers aren’t going to be compatible with hydraulic lines, but mechanical disk brakes are totally manageable. Peter’s bikes both have caliper brakes. Simple, field-repairable systems work best for obvious reasons.

@mstone 149776 wrote:

You’ll be putting a bike together in the hotel room, it’s gonna be a focus.

Yes, indeed. I’d be happy to host a show-n-tell of my Vaya, even (depending on how much time you want to spend) demonstrate the packing process and tricks I’ve learned to hozn or anyone else who’s interested.

If solving the equation proved that a travel bike wasn’t worth the effort, I’d probably consider a folding bike of some flavor.

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In for the Boat Parade, also — I should be at CCWP at 4:30.

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Subby’s Hello Kitty painful-in-pink we-don’t-need-no-stinkin’-gears extra-shot-of-espresso uber aero coffee bike.

Who are we kidding, it’s funny even without a caption.

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@Brünø Moore 149611 wrote:

Ride bikes.
Drink Coffee
Get awesome.

Clearly this has been simplified so Steve O has some chance of understanding it this year!

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@baiskeli 149235 wrote:

Why are you stealing Bobco’s photos?

Because he stole my bike to take this particular shot, it seemed fair.

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Taken last Saturday morning in roughly the same spot.

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Here’s the “climate change bike posse” as we stormed the Capitol. (Photo credit to Paul Thompson.)

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Peter and I rode out to Old Angler’s and arrived just before the DC contingent joined us. Mindy and Ryan actually had lunch at the restaurant, then rolled downhill to meet their bike brigade. We escorted them down the C&O Canal and CCT, picked up a few more admirers in Georgetown, then took the scenic route along the Potomac River and along the full length of The Mall past all of the memorials. After plenty of congratulations on Capitol Hill, about 30 of us filled a private dining room at Hunan Dynasty to share dinner, stories, and inspiration.

It was really great talking to these two cross-country cyclists, and meeting their supporters. To learn more about LowCarbon Crossings and their advocacy for a meaningful carbon tax, and learn more about this ride with purpose, start with their blog.

Thanks to Max for organizing!

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You can use the East Coast Greenway route to find relatively safe passage through and out of the city itself. For example, it’s possible to follow the ECG through Baltimore Harbor and south to where it connects with the BWI and B&A trails mentioned above.

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@Erin Potter 148728 wrote:

AIRE, BA and WA will be out tomorrow (11/10), with lights and reflective goodies galore.
4:30-7:00pm at the W&OD Trail and Columbia Pike.

Great turnout last night! By the time I left around 7pm, I think almost 500 sets of blinky lights had been given away. Plus a lot of other BA/WA swag and who knows how many solar keychain lights and LED bulbs by AIRE.

My most satisfying handouts were to a little girl on a white bike with pink and purple flowers, the teenage Hispanic guy on a chopper-style chrome street bike (lights just added “bling”), and several leashed dogs bouncing around happy to have blinkies on their collars.

On my short ride home, I spotted another ninja cyclist at the corner of George Mason and Four Mile Run, and waited until he had the signal to cross so I could deck him out with lights. Then I was following another cyclist when I saw him stop to hand a light to a kid who was walking; I caught up later and thanked him.

ArlingtonRider and I rocked south Arlington, hopefully you’ll encounter fewer dark surprises when riding through the area.

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I’m sure Steve O loves this right-angle-turns-between-narrow-bollards even more.

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“WABA’s motto: ‘Getting lost is part of the fun!'” (Quote from Rootchopper’s very funny blog post.)

Agreed, the cue sheet and lack of signage were challenging. I survived because I was on the back of a tandem, and as stoker it was also my job to navigate. While Peter attempted to follow the route on his phone, I was reading the detailed cues and affirming the decisions, and I could use two hands to flip pages. Even then we missed one or two turns, and so did another tandem couple who we rode with for awhile.

That said, it was like a WABA tour of great bike infrastructure. Brand new trails, protected bike lanes, easily shareable roads, and great rest stops.

We wished for alternative food choices. By the time we got to Shortcake Bakery the second time, we couldn’t handle any more sugar (and that place makes awesome treats). We stopped at the Greenbelt co-op, should’ve bought something there for lunch.

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