Riding in a Winter Wonderland

On Sunday, we had a truly beautiful winter day. Because the blizzard hit Boston on a weekend, the snowplows were not as active as they would have been during the working week. For the first half of Sunday, the entire neighborhood lay covered in a blanket of pristine white snow, and only around lunchtime did people begin emerging from their houses to reluctantly shovel their driveways.

Despite being down with a minor cold, Velouria could not sit still in the blizzard. Stir-crazy in our small apartment and desperate to feel the fresh snow under her tires, she begged me to come out just for a bit, at least to give it a try. How could I resist her charms?

She posed for me next to the fence while I photographed her this way and that. A kickstand was not necessary, because the foot-deep snow enveloped her wheels and functioned as a bicycle rack. With her black frame and cream tires, Velouria was stunning in the snow. The aesthetic experience of seeing her thus even made up for carrying her down the front stairs - which had been semi-visible when the Co-Habitant left for work several hours earlier, but were now completely buried in snow. With the bike in my arms, I slowly extended my toe and felt each step under the snow before proceeding onto it. With the 40lb DL-1 this was doable, but I would not have been able to execute the same maneuver with the heavier Pashley.

The snow was still falling as we prepared to head out, quickly covering the saddle with a thin layer of powder.

Upon Velouria's advice, the voyage I chose was an easy and safe one: a trip to a grocery store that is just a 6 minute walk (3 minute ride under normal conditions) from our house via a secret route through dead-end back streets. There would hardly be any cars there, and if I found myself unable to ride I could just walk the bicycle the rest of the way to the store and back.

I took my camera along and had grandiose plans to stop every so often and photograph Velouria against the backdrop of various winter scenes. However, the visibility was so poor and the snow so... snowy, that getting off the bicycle to pose it became the farthest thing from my mind once we were underway. Instead I offer you views of a few landmarks.

"No Outlet" - Hah! Perhaps not for cars, but for a bicycle the gaps between fences will do just fine.

Arriving to the grocery store via the back parking lot.

At this point I will give you my ride report: Basically, my biggest problem was visibility, or rather, the lack thereof. These pictures do not really capture how difficult it was to see in front of me as I was cycling, but the falling snow obscured my vision completely. In these back alleys that was okay, but I cannot imagine cycling on real city roads in these conditions. As for the bicycle's behaviour... It was fine. Granted, I was so paranoid about falling, that I cycled very slowly and made ridiculously wide turns. Riding through the snow in this manner felt similar to cycling on the sandy fire trails on Cape Cod, only slower.

I did not experience a sense of slipping on the snow while going straight or while making turns, but again, I was intentionally cycling very slowly. The tires on my DL-1 are the Schwalbe Delta Cruisers, 28" x 1 1/2". By the time I returned home from the grocery store (having purchased a bag of raw cranberries and some chocolate), the snow had made its way into every single crevice of the wheels, covering the spaces between the spokes and dress-guard cords.

If you click to enlarge the picture above, you can see that the snow also made its way into the gaps around the brakes. This is a problem not just for bicycles with rod brakes, but for any bicycle with rim brakes. The snow lodges itself in between the rim of the wheel and the brake pad immediately, increasing stopping time considerably. Because I was cycling so slowly, this did not really matter; at that speed I could stop the bicycle by merely putting a foot down. But if you plan to cycle with anything resembling normal speed, I think drum or disk brakes are the only solutions that will provide adequate stopping power.

This short but beautiful winter adventure was more than enough for me and Velouria. We were happy to return to the warmth of our home - both of us trailing lots of snow. That snow on the saddle accumulated during the time it took me to drag the bicycle up the front stairs. If you don't want snow on your leather saddle, consider swapping it out for a vinyl one for the winter. For me, a little precipitation on the leather is okay though.

I did experience a panicked sense of remorse when I saw the extent of snow accumulation on the bicycle once we got home, and the next 30 minutes after this photo was taken were spent with a rag, frantically wiping off the moisture. I have been assured however, that the snow in itself is not bad for the bicycle; it is only the salt that is damaging. Thankfully, the roads had not been salted yet at the time of our ride. Velouria enjoyed the refreshing tour through our local Winter Wonderland. She is up for doing it all again - as long as I promise to go slowly, keeping her rod brakes in mind.

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Happy Tears? Bracing for Winter...

At first glance, this might look like a "sad panda", but it's really not. It's just that today was 35° F and windy out. Riding to my destination I must have been a site, because tears were streaming down my face, then freezing in disgusting patches all over my cheeks. Mmmm!

So yes - Now I understand what cyclists mean when they discuss goggles for winter riding. I don't do well with goggles, because they mess with my spatial perception. But (some) sunglasses I can deal with, so I think I will wear them in the winter just as I wore them as "bug shields" last spring.

One thing I truly love about the winter is the beautiful light. Velouria thinks it flatters her colouring and gives her a sense of mystery. She also thinks that she will look quite nice once the snow arrives. What a vain bicycle!

Dramatic self-and-bike shadow. That lumpy stuff on my face is the tears - next time the sunglasses are coming for sure.

Overall, I am still trying to figure out how to be consistently comfortable cycling during the cold season. While I continue to cycle almost every day, I have to be honest: It does not feel as great as it did in the warmer months and I do not get the urge to go on rides (as opposed to using the bike solely for transportation) when it is below 40° F. Maybe I just need to allow myself to get used to it gradually? Also, I must admit that I am getting slightly terrified at the prospect of riding in the snow. On the one day it seriously snowed here so far, I was sick and didn't ride anywhere, but more snow is coming soon and I am going to have to face it. The posts on other blogs make it seem like "wiping out" on ice is not just a possibility, but an inevitability, and that doesn't sit well with me. I can't imagine not cycling during the winter, but I need to think of a plan and to brace myself.

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LED Lights for Classic and Vintage Bicycles?

When it comes to bicycle lighting, our primary objective is to be extremely visible. On bicycles without a dynamo, this means LED lighting. One downside to LED lights, is that most of what's currently on the market looks very modern and "techy".We try to find LED lights that are both the brightest and the least in conflict with the classic looks of our bikes. A good example of that is the set-up on my vintage Raleigh DL-1 (above). I have received some emails asking how those lights are attached, and so I will describe it here.

Like all of our LED lights, the lights on this bicycle are by Cateye - a company whose products seem to be consistently good. The headlight is the Opticube HL-EL530, mounted on the right fork blade. Mounting it in this manner requires 2 supplementary gadgets: the FlexTight mounting bracket, which comes packaged with the headlight, and the Minoura Besso fork mount, which must be purchased additionally.

The Opticube headlight is sold with a FlexTight mounting bracket included. This bracket is designed to be wrapped around a handlebar or around a long lug nut on the front wheel, like the one that comes standard on the Pashley and is pictured here. However, most bicycles - including my DL-1 - do not have sufficiently long lug nuts for this, and so you will need either a lug nut extender or a special mount that attaches to the fork blade like a branch, around which the FlexTight bracket can be wrapped. The mount we like to use for this is the Minoura Besso, priced in the $5-10 range.

Here is another view of this setup. You can see how the Minoura Besso mount is attached to the fork blade, and the Opticube headlight is then attached to it with the FlexTight bracket.

Yet another view from the back. I should note that some are against attaching a headlight to the fork blade, based on the idea that it can slip down and fall into the spokes. Personally, I think that this really depends on your attachment method. If you use a proper mount and attach it tightly, it seems extremely stable and not in the least prone to slippage. If you've had a bad experience with this method, please let me know; so far I have not heard of any.

This is what the headlight looks like in motion, "in the wild". From a short distance it actually resembles a vintage light, and it certainly comes across that way in pictures like these. Of course, up close you can tell that it is modern, but the design is nonetheless one of the most elegant ones available, as far as modern bike lights go.

For tail lights, we use two Cateye TL-LD610 lights, attaching one to each rear stay in the same way as on our Pashleys.

The diameter of the rear stays is usually not large enough to fit these lights, but they are sold with plastic liners to expand the stay diameter.

Using these two light strips on the rear stays is the nicest tail light setup we can think of. Not only does it make the bicycle highly visible in traffic, but it also gives the cars a good feel for its width - which can be very important in the dark.

And as far as aesthetics go, attaching the lights along the stays creates a very natural, unobtrusive look that does not conflict with any part of the bicycle's design.

My descriptions make it seem like the lights - especially the headlight - are a pain to attach, and I have to admit they kind of are. But you only need to do it once, and in the end it is worth it: Top of the line illumination, maximum safety, and classic looks will be your rewards.

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A Tropical December? And Some Thoughts on Trails as Transportation

Hallelujah! Yesterday everything finally fell into place and I was able to go on a long ride: I had time in my schedule and it was neither pouring rain nor pitch black out.

Velouria was happy to finally get some exercise beyond just going to the same old neighborhood spots.

The weather yesterday threw everyone for a loop. After weeks of frigid November dreariness, things suddenly turned tropical. It was over 65 degrees F (nearly 20 degrees C) in Boston yesterday, only somewhat counteracted by gusts of balmy wind.

The heat was especially weird in combination with how bare the landscape has become. This tree was practically the only one along the Charles River Trail with foliage.

One thing I can say after this ride, is that the past few weeks have taken a toll and I feel seriously out of shape! Throughout the summer and early Autumn, it became normal for me to cycle an average of 10-20 miles per day, often more. But after the traveling I did for work in November and then the additional traveling over Thanksgiving holidays, I guess it's been almost a month since I'd been on a really long ride. Now I see that cycling 2-5 miles per day for transportation is quite different from cycling 20 miles per day. Let's just say I had to switch to a lower gear for parts of the way than the one I had grown accustomed to.

Being on the trail again has also made me think about Dottie's recent post on Let's Go Ride a Bike, in which she described being grateful for her pleasant and stress-free commute along Chicago's Lakefront Trail. In theory, Boston's Charles River Trail is similar in that it connects peripheral neighborhoods to the city center. However, I honestly know no one who uses the Charles River Trail to commute to any of those destinations; the cyclists I know use the roads instead. Most of the cyclists I do see on the trail seem to be there for recreation, or for very short distance trips if they happen to live in a nearby location.

To some extent, I think the preference for the roads in Boston has to do with time. The Charles River Trail is car-free and fantastically scenic, but it takes considerably longer to travel on it than to travel through the city. When commuting to and from work - or when going on a date, rushing to a meeting, or dropping children off at various activities - I imagine that people want, and in some cases need, to save valuable time.

But perhaps what really keeps the Charles River Trail from becoming the commuter route it could be is the lack of lighting. In Boston it now gets dark shortly after 4pm. Most people cycle home from work after 5pm. Cycling on a pitch black trail along the river is probably not their idea of a safe and relaxing commute - especially as trail conditions become more wintery. If I remember correctly, Dottie has mentioned before that Chicago's Lakefront Trail is lit the entire way, which means that it is not impossible to do the same to Boston's Charles River Trail. Is it not done here for financial reasons? Or because the city figures there is not enough demand to use this trail for commuting? I wonder.

I love the Charles River Trail, and it has been particularly enjoyable to watch it change from Spring to Summer to Autumn and now to its current pre-Winter state. It would be nice to use it to go grocery shopping after 4pm, as I used to earlier in the year, so I do miss that part. I am looking forward to seeing what the trail will be like in the winter, and I am curious whether it will be at all possible to cycle on it once it starts snowing. If anybody local has done this, I would love to hear about it!

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The Bicycle as Art Model

I try to keep my non-bicycle-related life separate from this weblog. However, I have already mentioned that I am an artist and support myself financially with an academic dayjob. Well, this week the bicycle world and my professional life collided. That is to say, I used a bicycle in one of my art projects. Here is the Co-Habitant dismantling the tripod after a photoshoot on the South Boston waterfront. And that's Velouria in the background, next to the two wooden chairs.

My art is a little difficult to describe. Technically, I am a painter. But before I paint, I create the fictional worlds depicted in those paintings by making series of photographic "tableaux-style" stills. This part is done by both myself and the Co-Habitant as a team: We work together, where he is the technical expert and I am the set designer. We both take the photos, but he is responsible for setting up the technical aspects of the shots and I am responsible for the composition. We use manual film cameras and usually black and white film. But we always have a digital camera along, because it is useful for testing out compositional ideas, getting a sense of the lighting, and so on. So these are some of the pictures off of the digital camera that were taken during the photoshoot. Some were for compositional and light metering purposes, but in others we were just fooling around.

The idea here was to set up an environment that combined notions of indoor and outdoor space.We then enacted a variety of metaphorical scenes using this set-up.

The above picture is an example of "bad composition" that we, thankfully, caught on the digital camera before wasting expensive film on these shots. See how my feet overlap with the bicycle wheel? That's no good; the chair should be further away. For things like that, a quick little digital camera is extremely useful.

A much better composition, for a different scene.

Well, that's enough of the pretentious artsy shots. Here is another one of the Co-Habitant after the photoshoot was done. I was very proud to have captured the full moon here.

And here I am. I really hope that Velouria does not let this shoot go to her head. It's one thing to be featured on a bicycle blog, but being an art model is altogether different!

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Cross Town Express to Castle Island

This past Sunday marked my biggest vehicular cycling accomplishment to date: We rode from Cambridge/Somerville to South Boston and Dorchester - via a 9-mile route that took us straight across greater Boston. It's by no means the most cycling we have ever done, but it was certainly the most cycling we have done through a high-traffic urban environment. (We do not attempt to photograph ourselves while riding in traffic, so these photos were taken along the South Boston waterfront.)

Referring to the map above, we went from point "A" to "B," then to "C" and to "B" again - and of course eventually, back home to "A".

Our destination was Castle Island in South Boston, where the goal was to cycle along the Harbor path through Dorcester and back. The harbor path is quite nice and about 3 miles in length, but it is crowded with pedestrians in the summer. In early November, however, it is just perfect: Still enough people for it not to feel abandoned, but plenty of room to cycle.

As you can tell by the photos, I was on my vintage 3-speed Raleigh DL-1 with rod brakes. No problems at all. The widely spaced 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub combined with lowered gearing (22 tooth cog) was more than sufficient for any elevation we encountered.

Oh, and I finally installed lights and a bell on this bike. The headlight is a CatEye Opticube LED mounted to the right fork blade, and the tail-lights (not visible here, but see the last two photos of this post) are Cateye Bike LD610s, attached vertically to the rear stays. The bell is a Crane brass bell.

We began our ride on Sunday mid-day and there was considerable traffic, but not too bad. Interestingly, as soon as we crossed the bridge into South Boston, we got some friendly comments from local motorists. Not what I expected given the aggressive reputation of this area. I think people found our vintage bikes and dressy attire appealing - a nice thing to see on a Sunday?

For those unfamiliar with the history and cultural climate of South Boston ("Southie"), it is an old working class neighborhood that has traditionally been predominantly Irish. And I don't mean just Americans with Irish heritage, but a considerable number of recent immigrants: you can hear Dublin and Cork accents spoken. Over the past decade, the area has grown more ethnically diverse, and some parts of it have also become "gentrified". But overall, the feeling of its historical roots still remains. The image above is the old Women's Bath House (now part of a community swimming facilities) that is located along the harbor path right before Castle Island.

Castle Island itself (which, as far as I can tell, is really a peninsula) curls around and connects to another part of the mainland via a narrow strip of land (see point "B" on the map above). This strip does not naturally close all the way, but they built a bridge to complete the loop. The Pleasure Bay Loop is part of the cycle path and offers nice views of the Boston mainland, the harbor, and the mysterious industrial landscape of the Conley Terminal of the Port of Boston.

Arrival at Castle Island via the Pleasure Bay loop. Here we were approached by an elderly man who asked us about our bikes and told us that he rode a DL-1 in Ireland since the 1930s - because the roads where he lived were bad and it was the only bike that could handle them. More evidence that the DL1 makes a great "off-Roadster". The gentleman also told us that his other bike at the time was a "fixed wheel bicycle" - hard core!

Finally, here is the real attraction of Castle Island: Fort Independence - originally built in 1634 for the sea defense of Boston. The fort is located upon a hill, and visitors climb it to sit and watch the airplanes land at Boston's Logan Airport just across the water. On the photo above I managed to capture one of the planes landing - though they look much larger and more impressive in person! The cool thing about planes landing, is that there is always a group of them, waiting for their turn to land in a cluster of lights in the sky. Then suddenly one light separates form the cluster and begins to move toward you until it grows larger and more plane-like. It really is pretty neat to watch, and Boston's Logan Airport is special in that it's surrounded by water.

Walking my bike up the hill; a corner of Fort Independence in the background. Didn't want to cycle on the nice grass.

Next to Fort Independence is the legendary Sullivan's. This is a fast food place that serves everything from delicious cheeseburgers to lobster bisque (there are healthier alternatives as well, but somehow they don't seem appropriate). As you can see, Sullivan's even had VIP parking for our bicycles. The thing to do is to order from Sullivan's, then take the food to the top of the hill and dine while watching the planes land at sunset.

The sunsets on Castle Island are beautiful, but difficult to capture.

We enjoyed cycling along the South Boston waterfront, as well as the process of getting there and back. Returning home at night was particularly nice: the beautiful lights over the water, the melodic noise of traffic, the peaceful darkness. It feels good to be comfortable cycling through the city you live in.

If you are in the Boston area and want to try cycling to Castle Island, the best way to get there from the center is on Summer Street, straight to the end. Summer Street may seem intimidating, but it is surprisingly okay. If you don't feel confident the first time, go on a Sunday morning: Everyone will be either asleep, in church, or nursing a hangover. The streets will be yours!

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