El Nino Cycling

19 ride in the rain

We’re finally getting some storms out of Alaska. If the weather forecasts come to fruition, we should have a very wet winter here in Northern California. El Nino continues to strengthen, and the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge and the “Blob” are fading away. Alaskan fronts coupled with tropical moisture mean rain and very likely lots of it. The drought over the past three years has gifted us with exceptional winter riding weather to which we’ve probably gotten too used. When it started to rain, it was easy to retreat indoors and just wait for another clear day. But now we may face lots of indoor days and a lot less cycling this winter! Well, you can break out the indoor trainer or take a spin class at the gym. If you’re the kind of rider that loves or tolerates lots of hours on a stationary bike, more power to you. But that’s something I—and I think most other cyclists—cannot abide without going crazy.

You don’t need to stop riding outdoors—you just need to be prepared. You need to prepare your bike and get the right clothes. Here’s how to get ready for riding in the wet.

Fenders. Fitting fenders to your bike will make the experience of rain riding a lot more comfortable. You will have less spray and gunk thrown onto you and soaking your clothes. You’ll get less wet and significantly less dirty. I made the mistake once of riding without fenders and a white rain jacket. I could never get the black stains out of the jacket! Your bike will also get less filthed up and reduce slightly the amount of cleaning or hosing off you’ll have to give it post-ride. Of course you’ve got to have a bike that can accept fenders. These days the critical barrier is frame clearance because most road bikes don’t accept tires greater than 25 mm. Trying to cram in a fender is either impossible or the clearance is so tight that any debris from the road will get stuck between your tire and fender. You’ll be forced to downsize your tires to 23 mm or less in order to squeeze in fenders but that’s exactly the opposite of what you should be doing—going to a slightly fatter tire. There are some thin but pricy carbon fenders out there or you opt for cheaper solutions like the Crud road fender.

Tires. Your next adaptation should be to mount a more durable tire and that usually means a fatter one. If you’re normally riding 23 mm tires, then size up to 25 (or larger if your frame and brakes will clear them). Tires with anti-flat protection may not be as comfortable to ride but they are worth it (well, except the Specialized Armadillo—it’s not only effing heavy but it rides like wood). Changing a flat in the rain—and unfortunately I’ve done it a lot—is not only inconvenient and sad to witness but it’s a dirty, grimy affair. At the same time lower your tire pressure, not just because you can with a wider tire—it will feel more comfortable, which is a big plus—but because you want the tire contact patch to be bigger and hence grippier on wet asphalt.

Lights. Having a good taillight and headlight isn’t just because the days are short. It’s because visibility in inclement weather is reduced. Bright flashing lights even in daytime increase the likelihood that drivers (or other cyclists) will notice you, the brighter the better. You can get some damn bright lights for daytime use that are not too expensive. For a taillight, consider the Bontrager Flare R. There are plenty of good flashing headlights from NiteRider, Light & Motion, Cat-Eye, etc.

Rain riding

Maintenance. Well, this has been the deal breaker for me. I used to enjoy working on my bike; now I do it only if absolutely necessary because I’ve become a lazy bastard and I’m too cheap to have a pro shop do it for me. If I avoid riding in the rain it’s because maintenance has to happen more often unless I don’t mind stuff “inexplicably” failing on a ride. Dirt, road slop, and random shit are going to get everywhere especially on and in your drivetrain. At the very least get into the habit of hosing off your bike, toweling it off quickly, and applying oil to the chain after your wet rides. Getting grime off your exposed cables and lubing will keep your shifting and braking more reliable. Watch those rear derailleur pulleys too: extra oil plus grime means they’re going to get caked fast, so clean them up. Even if you clean just the drivetrain and your bike still looks like shit from all the road crap at least it will function.

Clothes. Get good raingear, end of discussion. “Good” depends on how you ride and the conditions you ride in. If you plan to be out for hours in the rain, then you’re probably going to appreciate an expensive rain jacket. On the other hand, if you only are going out in light drizzle for that short hop into the Headlands and back, then you can get away with something less waterproof/water-resistant. If you tend to sweat copiously, then jackets with ample vents and pit zips will help. Or else get something less waterproof and more breathable and get used to being somewhat wet or doing shorter rides when it’s raining. Unfortunately it’s hard to know what you’ll like tolerate best without trying out a lot of jackets. A reliable vendor is Showers Pass in Oregon, but there are several others including Gore and Endura. Rain and cold weather mean long-fingered gloves and booties. In my experience there aren’t any waterproof gloves, so don’t pay any attention to advertising—they all leak. So-called waterproof gloves tend to be thicker and harder to brake and shift with. Get used to having wet hands but keep them warm with layers (e.g. glove liner with overglove) and use Grabber Hand Warmers. Overshoes are like gloves: there are only water resistant overshoes, so if you’re out riding long enough, your shoes and feet are going to get damp, sometimes even soaked. So wear wool socks and even use Grabber Toe Warmers! Neoprene shoe covers only slow down becoming wet but they are warm; I’d say they’re even too warm for most Bay Area riding. What about your lower body? Well, there are rain pants but I find coupled with a good rain jacket, it’s just too much heat unless it’s getting into the low 40s. If you’re commuting at a slower pace, then rain pants work fine (I used them for years commuting to work). But for recreational riding you’re better off just letting your ass and legs get wet. Having fenders helps because you don’t get water thrown up on your legs and back dripping down into your shorts. There are some water resistant cycling shorts and tights out there made by Castelli under their Nanoflex moniker. This fabric has a water shedding treatment that delays absorption of water. It works but if you’re out long enough, you’ll still get wet. The best solution I’ve found is unfortunately not available in this country. Years ago I was in London and stumbled across some Gore-Tex overshorts at Condor Cycles. They are like a rain jacket for your shorts and they work perfectly, being made of Gore-Tex. But they aren’t sold in this county, alas. What Gore shows on its website doesn’t seem to be available anymore. But Gore makes similar shorts for mountain biking that might work. Lastly, put a helmet cover on your helmet unless you enjoy the sensation of cold water sliding down your neck into your jersey!

Behavior. The final element of wet weather cycling is modifying your behavior. Visibility is compromised and traction is less predictable, so avoiding accidents means riding less at the limit. Braking distance is increased with wet roads and wet rims. You’ll have less tire adhesion and the point at which the tire breaks free from the road is not only earlier but less predictable, so carry less speed into your turns. Of course manhole covers, Muni tracks, and steel plates are all treacherous when wet. Rain leads to a lot more debris on the road, so keep an eye out, especially for stray branches and sticks that might get thrown up into your wheels or fender struts and bring you to an abrupt stop. Fenders with break-away struts can prevent you from doing an endo if you happen to catch a stick in your wheel.

If we’re prepared for the wet, maybe that next Different Spokes ride listing won’t say “rain cancels”!

Social Ride: Lunch at The Baltic, er Little Louie’s

At the Red Oak Victory — Different Spokes visits the Red Oak Victory!

The Social Ride Lunch at The Baltic got slightly derailed last Saturday when we rode up to the eerily quiet joint and were greeted by, “Oh, the cook had a family emergency this morning and we’re not going to open until 3 p.m.” Oh drat, I had been drooling with anticipation at the thought of gorging on schnitzel and spaetzle and now…well, it was going to be just sandwiches, sigh. That was the only real disappointment after a marvelous day of cycling along the Bay Trail from Oakland up to Point Richmond. It means we’ll have to return another day to get our German itch scratched.

Rain derailed the first attempt to go to the Baltic. The rescheduled date turned out exactly the opposite. If you were out riding (you weren’t?!?) elsewhere, then you know the weather was spectacular: unusually warm for fall and brilliantly sunny. Rolling along the Bay we had postcard views of Mt. Tamalpais and the Golden Gate not to mention the Berkeley hills. I managed to round up five others to go out on a social ride: Howard Neckel, Will Bir, Adrienne Ratner, Sheila O’Rourke, and Roger. Den Daddy Derek was going to ride but the sequelae of a medical procedure the day before had him cancel riding and instead he drove out to join us for lunch. Howard is one of the original Spokers and has been conspicuously absent from club rides over the past two years. Will, who usually is accelerating off into the sunset, decided to enjoy a leisurely roll with the “A” group instead of a pedal-to-the-metal ride that he typically does. Interestingly, everybody in the group except Howard had successfully done the Mt. Hamilton ride two weeks ago. And no surprise, despite my goal of keeping the “A” rides to a true A-pace we were all rolling at a brisk pace up the Bay Trail! Despite Howard’s protestations that he had been regularly dropped on Different Spokes rides, I saw no evidence of that as he accelerated up the path to catch Will and Adrienne. Maybe it was the nine-week tour across Europe this summer that boosted his condition. The end result is that we had an average speed of about 11.4 mph for the day, well above the 8-to-10 for an “A” ride. We managed to stay together the entire ride.

And lunch? We merely rode two doors over to Pt. Richmond’s lunch central, Little Louie’s. Little Louie’s has been the go-to lunch stop for every club that leads a ride on the northern end of the Bay Trail and for good reason too: they have excellent deli sandwiches, homemade soup and salads. During the week it is always mobbed at noon by locals and the minions from the nearby Chevron offices. On Saturdays it’s still busy but not nearly so hectic. We ate on their back patio enjoying the luscious sunshine and warm weather. But it wasn’t schnitzel, and no beer was to be had.

After lunch we rode out to the Red Oak Victory, one of the historic WWII Liberty ships docked on the Bay and then returned along the Bay Trail to Oakland.

Currently there isn’t a Social ride scheduled for December because I had thought we’d be drowning in rain by now. But the long-range forecasts are for El Nino rains to hit beginning in January, so keep your eyes on the Different Spokes ride calendar for the final Social Ride of 2015. Maybe it will be to the Baltic? Wherever we end up, you know that the food will be worth the ride! Stay tuned…

Mt. Hamilton Eruption

Just Your Typical Mt. Hamilton Ride!

The moon was in the Seventh House and Jupiter aligned with Mars, peace guided the planets, and a record 33 riders turned out for the annual Mt. Hamilton ascent last Sunday. Yes, the above picture is no PhotoShop creation; it’s 31 of the 33 lucky people (David Gaus is taking the picture and Rana is still readying her bike) who got to climb up to the Lick Observatory at the top of Mt. Hamilton on a beautiful sunny and warm—by autumn standards—day. Twenty of the 33 were not (yet) Different Spokes members, so special kudos to David Gaus, the ride host, for his tremendous outreach effort! There have been a couple of Lake Tahoe Weekend Spectaculars that may have been this crowded but it’s likely this ride will take the record at least for the modern era. I asked David what he had done to beat the bushes to get such a robust turnout. Besides posting it on the Different Spokes Facebook page, he also invited those who had participated in his and Bob McDiarmid’s ALC Sunnyvale training group as well as Team New Bear Republic. The rest were friends of all of the above. It goes to show that a little PR and outreach never hurt!

Speaking of records, six women rode—more women on the Different Spokes ride than I’ve seen since the days when Sharon Lum was leading Cinderella training rides and Chris LaRussell was President. Other notable Spokers in attendance were Brian Leath (Apparel Coordinator), Roger Sayre (Secretary), Ron Hirsch (Membership Chair), and William Bir (former Event Coordinator). Jaime Guerrero graced us with his presence as did Adrienne Ratner, who finally seems to have conquered a terrible chronic knee injury brought on by an accident on ALC some years ago, and Joseph Dintino and Lamberto Domingo, our two newest ride leaders.

Previous Mt. Hamilton rides, which are almost always in the fall, have seen frigid temperatures that have made us wishing for more layers on the descent. This year the weather was graceful with 60s all the way to the top making it “not too hot, not too cold.” Many who started with windbreakers, leg and arm warmers were shedding them during the ascent. Sharon Lum’s route wisely starts at the Berryessa Community Center rather than at the base of the climb. This gives you several miles of flat and gentle uphill to warm up for the climb proper. Then it’s 18 miles upwards with just two short descents in the middle to break up the monotony.

On climbs this long and with a group so large it’s near impossible to stay together—everyone rode at a pace that would get them to the top. Only Rana didn’t make to the top, her effort being derailed by a wrong turn (Roger and I have done that as well in the past. You only make the error once!) and running out of water. Despite the continuous and prolonged effort needed to get to the top, everyone seemed to be in high spirits; we certainly saw lots of smiles as we climbed.

At the top the view of the South Bay was spectacular—clear for miles—and cyclists and motorbikers alike were enjoying the scenery. Often you don’t want to linger at the top at this time of year because the wind is howling and the prospect of a chilling descent urges you to leave immediately. In the past I’ve lamented the lack of a coffee stand at the top—it would be the perfect way to cap off the climb (well, that and a chili dog with fries). So this year I took a thermos of coffee for Roger and me only to find out that they’re now serving hot coffee in the observatory gift shop—that’s definitely an improvement!

Ride Rumor: Lunch at Speisekammer

At the USS Hornet Museum — Different Spokes at the USS Hornet

Oh god, that lunch was good! After meandering through the dark recesses of the Port of Oakland and the varied, interesting neighborhoods on our very own local island, Alameda, we hit the jackpot with a fantastic mid-ride uppïges Mahlzeit (delicious meal!) at Speisekammer. But I’m jumping ahead…

The motivation for this ride (besides wanting to eat at Speisekammer, hence the Oktoberfest excuse) was to check out a part of the Bay Area I’d never been to, the Port of Oakland, despite having lived here almost my entire life. Unless you drive a big rig for a living or just dig container ships there seems to be no sane reason to venture anywhere near the Port. It’s a butt-ugly industrial area usually ruled by noxious, diesel exhaust emitting trucks and no where safe for cyclists to be riding. At least during the week. On the weekend the Port shuts down and it changes from “no-cyclists’-land” to an interesting area to explore on two wheels. The other reason was to check out Alameda; I hadn’t set foot there in almost twenty years and I was curious how the community has coped with the decommissioning of Alameda Naval Air Station.

After starting at Macarthur BART the six of us (Roger and I, Lamberto and Joe, Joseph, and Omar) rolled out to the Alex Zuckerman Path but then took the detour to the Port instead of heading out onto the Bay Bridge. It got gritty pretty quickly: bumpy, urban debris, and the occasional homeless person with supermarket cart. There was a complete absence of big rigs; in fact the entire time we were out there we encountered just three (!) cars. The Port was absolutely asleep; the most exciting activity we saw was a group of workers crudely lopping off the tops of a row of streetside trees (I guess professional arborists were too expensive to hire). What we did discover is that the perimeter of the Port has a couple of hidden parks, parks that are probably savored by port workers on their lunch breaks, Port View Park and Middle Harbor Shoreline Park. Who else goes there? They aren’t near any housing, shopping areas, or anything even slightly attractive. Right on the water these quiet refuges seemed disconsolately parked opposite the cranes that unload all those ships from China. But they afford really nice views of San Francisco and Treasure Island as well as any container ships! The latter park even had a three-story tall observation deck with binoculars so you could really see the sights!

After checking out a few gravel paths we were soon back in Oakland proper and rolled through Jack London Square before we were back to Gritty Part II on the Embarcadero, the frontage road of the Nimitz. The good news is that there is now a marked bike lane on the Embarcadero and although not mobbed with cyclists, it was at least being used despite the car traffic. Once we crossed the Park Street bridge to Alameda the traffic suddenly became more intense but not intolerable. Alameda being less industrial and more residential, local cars were out doing Saturday errands and judging from the playing fields, were full of parents hauling their kids to baseball or soccer games. We explored counterclockwise the perimeter of the island all the way to Point Alameda, the former Naval Air Station. The last time I was there the Navy was just shutting down. Since then not much as changed. When you enter you’re greeted by a fighter jet on a pedestal and a long row of barracks now empty, boarded up and full of broken windows. But the playing fields were full of kids and the parking lots were completely full! At the edge of the old landing fields the large warehouse/hangars have been taken over by a distillery, a beer brewery, and a wine company. Another hangar has become an indoor roller hockey site and fitness club that was also bustling with young adults. Otherwise there wasn’t much other development, which is probably bad for the City of Alameda but meant that the former military site is still evocative of its past. We stopped at the USS Hornet Museum—how many of you know that this renowned warship is even parked in the middle of the Bay Area?? This historic naval vessel played a huge role in the Pacific front during WWII including at Iwo Jima. In later life it also recovered the returning Apollo astronauts from the first landing on the moon. We didn’t go in (we were getting very hungry) and will save that for another visit.

We hied through residential Alameda along Shoreline Drive, where Alameda has a beautiful beach and new (well, new to me) protected bike lane. Along the way we got a very interesting tour of the housing in Alameda. We passed a slew of Craftsman, Mediterranean, and Victorian houses—who knew that Alameda was full of Victorians!—in beautiful condition too. There were also scads of hideous 1960s duplexes and some weird apartment buildings but given the expensive cars—e.g. Porsche 911s—in front I’m guessing they’re no deals. Alameda is like a living housing museum and the eastern side of the island away from the former base has beautiful neighborhoods, like something out of Mayberry RFD.

Well, we finally made it to Speisekammer, which is just off the main drag, Park Street. It has plenty of outdoor seating with umbrellas and bike rack for convenient parking within easy eye view. The day started off overcast but by the time we were at Speisekammer it was brightly sunny and balmy mid-70s temp so we opted for the outdoor tables. We ended up with quite a diverse lunch. Roger was channeling Berlin and ordered a currywurst with a pretzel; Joe had the vegetable strudel with goat cheese; I, the “farmer’s breakfast” (eggs mixed with yummy roasted potatoes and bacon); Lamberto, the Bratwurst with sauerkraut; Joseph, the Weisswurst; and Omar, the pork roast. Yeah, it was that good. Oh yeah, and there were a few beers to celebrate Oktoberfest. Judging by the crowd, Speisekammer is a very popular place, and a great spot to have a mid-ride food orgy. Well, sort of…after those beers we still had to do a few miles back to BART before napping was allowed. But this was a Social Ride, so it was all mighty, mighty good. Next month: the Baltic at Point Richmond for yet more German food!

Different Spokes: Where We Live

It used to be the case that 75% or more of the Different Spokes membership resided in San Francisco. A quick look at the current membership list shows that has changed; out of 105 members 61, or about 58%, have a SF address. The Peninsula, particularly the South Bay, and the East Bay had just a scattering. Well, that’s no longer the case: there are 21 members on the Peninsula and almost all of them reside in the South Bay (Redwood City and south) including one person in Santa Cruz; there are 16, or 15%, in either Alameda or Contra Costa County. Perhaps it indicates the slow outmigration of LGBT folks to the suburbs, the growth of Silicon Valley, or just the increasing acceptance of LGBT people in general allowing more people to come out who aren’t in liberated zones. Having had two very active members, Chris Thomas (now in Utah) and David Gaus, in the South Bay certainly helped increase membership probably because of their high profile in leading ALC training rides. (I remember years ago when Doug O’Neill, Sharon Lum, and I were beating our heads against the wall trying to drum up LGBT cyclists on the Peninsula. No more it seems.)

A more interesting question is why our membership roll continues to decline during a period when cycling is growing. Some speculate that we’re already in a post-Gay world and this has lessened the need for a ghetto either physical or social. That is, LGBT cyclists are cycling with straight groups rather than with Different Spokes because we’re more accepted and have less need to hang out with other LGBT cyclists. Another argument is that this is an effect of digital technology: our relations are less determined by physically hanging out and more dependent on virtual relationships. I’ve speculated in the past that it’s partly due to the club becoming more narrowly defined as a fast male recreational club and having less relevance to LGBT cyclists of other types (i.e. mountain bikers, women, slower riders, newer riders, any riders with kids, touring cyclists, commuters/transpo cyclists, etc.). Regardless, at least we’re geographically becoming more disparate.

Redwood Regional Park Loop

Lamberto and Joe led their first Different Spokes ride yesterday, a pleasant loop from Orinda up Pinehurst and down Redwood Road. Seven folks showed up including Jeff from Livermore and Carl from San Francisco! Ostensibly a B-pace ride, our ride leaders were gracious in waiting for Roger and me despite our protestation that we knew the route and didn’t have a problem with the group keeping to its stated pace. Both Joe and Lamberto did a great job of shepherding all of us and waiting at each turn to make sure we didn’t get lost. The weather finally turned cool over in Contra Costa so we had a really enjoyable ride rather than the usual sweat-fest. The cooling trend wasn’t lost on everybody else either: there were crowds of cyclists rolling every which way including up precipitous Pinehurst. Hikers and mountain bikers were out too: every trailhead parking lot was full with many cars parked along the roadway. The view of the Bay on Skyline Boulevard was particularly spectacular with the cloud ceiling and sunshine. Back in Orinda we dined al fresco at Petra Cafe. Lamberto had a lamb platter, Joe the gyro, Carl a falafel wrap, while Roger and I each had a vegetarian Greek platter. There’s nothing like a Sunday ride ending with a great meal!

Diversity

This past weekend Roger and I again rode the tandem on the Valley Spokesmen’s Tour of the Sacramento River Delta. This is a two-day ride starting at Brannan State Recreation Area that wends up levee roads on various islands in the Delta to Sacramento and then returns the next day. It is about 60 miles each way and it is almost dead flat with the main elevation gains being riding up or down levees. But it often has the challenge of headwinds off of the Pacific; last year the winds were grueling returning to Brannan Island but this year it was pleasantly benign. The riding is almost entirely rural and away from car traffic, a real delight after riding in the Bay Area. The Valley Spokesmen has organized this ride for many years and unlike the Cinderella, which it also puts on, it’s a much smaller event, about 200 riders plus support volunteers. It’s open to anyone not just Valley Spokesmen members and it clearly draws from a variety of local clubs including Fremont Freewheelers, the Benicia Cycling Club, Delta Cyclists, Grizzly Peak, and of course Different Spokes!

What struck me about the ride was the number of women. Although I’m not privy to the exact numbers, visually it appeared there were an equal number of women and men. Cycling has historically been a male dominated sport and mixed clubs tend to be mostly male, so it’s quite an accomplishment to achieve gender parity on an event that is not specifically catering to women. Certainly Valley Spokesmen has the street cred from putting on the women-only Cinderella Classic. That event also raises thousands of dollars for women’s/girls’ organizations including A Safe Place, Bay Area Women Against Rape, Shelter Against Violent Environments, and many others. Bonnie Powers, one of the original founders of the club and organizer of both events, and her husband have long championed female involvement in our sport. Valley Spokesmen also has an ad hoc subgroup, Feather Pedals, which focuses on bringing up new riders. Not surprisingly many of the Feather Pedalers are women and there were many sporting their jerseys this weekend.

Different Spokes is a much smaller club than Valley Spokesmen (103 members vs. 763) and we don’t currently offer a major event such as the Cinderella or even the TOSRD that would attract a wider base let alone more women. Female membership in the club has gotten to be borderline token with only eleven women. Neither diminishing membership nor increasing gender disparity seem to concern Spokers. Without any initiatives we are probably looking at the trend to continue. It might be the case that current members are just happy (or at least indifferent) with the way things are today: a smaller club with markedly reduced female membership. I would hope that is not the case but if so, then what is to be done?

Well, this weekend tour was fantastic not just because of the beautiful roads and pleasant ag scenery but also because of such a diversity of riders: slow and fast, young and old, men and women. I’m just sorry it wasn’t Different Spokes.

Shiny New Things: Garmin Edge 25

Edge25onstem

Garmin recently released two new GPS cyclecomputers, the Edge 20 and 25, which might interest those of you who are looking for a simple cyclometer but with the ability to record a GPS track to post to Strava or other online fitness/mapping sites. By Garmin standards the 20 and 25 are “bare bones” cycling computers giving you just the basics—current speed, mileage, average speed, ride time, etc. and in the case of the Edge 25 also cadence and heart rate. The Edge 20 is completely self-contained and goes for $130; the Edge 25 costs $170 and that premium buys you the ability to pair it with an optional heart rate monitor, cadence and speed sensor. By comparison Cateye makes a heart rate cyclometer that does everything the Garmin 20 and 25 do except GPS and runs for about $115. Keep in mind that the Edge 25 does not include any sensors and their cost bumps up the overall cost quite a bit. In fact, the overall cost starts to run into the territory of Garmin’s mid-line computers such as the Edge 500, which although long in the tooth can be had for about $150-$200 and which has many more features including the ability to be paired with a power meter.

The Edge 20 and 25 have two “features” that stand out: they’re by far the simplest Garmin cyclometers to use and they have a small, pleasing form factor. Neither simplicity nor ease of use are Garmin’s design forté but it has mostly managed to accomplish both of these by drastically cutting back on the number of features and by making the screen small so that at most three metrics can be displayed at once. Compare this with the Edge 1000, which has a plethora of customizable training pages and up to ten fields that can be displayed at once—talk about distraction!

I’ve been using an Edge 25 so I’ll focus on that. If you want a full review (actually, a preliminary hands-on review) you can do to dcrainmaker. There is also a good summary at road.cc. I’m going to comment on just a few salient things that have either irked or pleased me.

Size. I was looking for a cyclometer to replace a dead Polar and I wanted it to be small. Although I also use a Garmin 800 and 1000, I find their size to be awkward, bulky, and inelegant. Also their advanced navigation features, although quite useful if not indispensible for touring, are irrelevant for riding around home. I’ve always admired the long-gone Avocet cyclometers for their small size and the Edge 25 comes very close—it’s barely bigger than the mount to which it attaches. It’s unobtrusive and gives your bike a very clean, old school appearance as it does on my DeRosa. Of course if you tend to go to town on accessorizing your bike, e.g. full-size bike pump, lights, bell, handlebar bag, etc., having a small cyclometer for the sake of esthetics is, well, pointless.

Edge25

Screen. The screen is black and white and very readable in sun or shade, better than the older Edge 800 I still use. The two data pages have just three fields presented vertically. This is a lot less visual clutter than on Garmin’s other units, which can have eight to ten fields per page. However the size of the type is almost the same in all three fields—the central field is just a hair bigger than the one above and the one below. I’d prefer it be significantly bigger to increase its salience when glancing at it quickly: 90% of the time all I want to know is how fast/slow am I going. The screen is small so all three metrics are close together and in this case it’s both a plus (easy to see all three at once) and a minus (now which one is speed and which is distance?).

Screen Management. It’s a simple button push to go through the pages. The screen is not touch sensitive and that’s good because I’ve found Garmin’s capacitance touch screens on the 800 and 1000 to be just modestly reliable, I’ve found the 25’s buttons to be a relief especially on such a small screen.

Set up, Part 1. It’s pretty simple especially if you have no sensors to pair it with. It relies on GPS to calculate distance and speed, so no calibration is necessary. Like Garmin’s newer units, the Edge 25 uses GPS and GLONASS satellites, so the location accuracy (and hence distance and speed) is quite good. The Edge 800 only is capable of using GPS satellites and it’s usually (although not always) accurate, so I think the Edge 25 should be even better and more consistent in areas where satellite signals are weaker (e.g. in the trees or near tall buildings or landforms). Locking onto satellites is very quick when using both systems, a matter of seconds. By comparison with my old Edge 800, which only uses GPS satellites, it usually is less than a minute but sometimes, especially at a new location, it can be much longer.) You can also turn off using GLONASS satellites if you want to conserve power. Configuring the fields on the two data pages is also very easy because the choice of metrics is purposely kept to just these: speed, distance, time, average speed, calories, and total ascent. On the 800 and 1000 the variety of metrics you can display is positively dizzying and to be honest, really unnecessary for 99% of us; the Edge 1000 has 92 different metrics!

Set up, Part 2. Going back to their handheld backpacking GPS devices, Garmin has a long history of providing, uh, challenging documentation. Their manuals tend to have overly terse explanations of how to set up, use, and problem solve their devices. For example years ago when I got the Edge 800–and being a “I read the manual before I do anything” guy–I tried to follow their directions on setting it up only to run into roadblocks. After much swearing and pulling of hair, I found out that there was an unmentioned firmware update that changed the interface so that the included manual was no longer accurate. Keeping to that theme in the case of the Edge 25, they “forgot” to mention some critical things when you try to connect the 25 to the optional sensors. First, it turns out you can pair only one cadence sensor and one speed sensor (or just one cadence/speed sensor). If you have more than one bike, you’re going to have to re-pair your 25 each time you switch bikes. Second, if you use a speed sensor instead of relying on the GPS to calculate distance and speed, Garmin never tells you that you don’t need to calibrate the sensor as you do with almost any other cyclometer. The Edge 25 does it automatically against its GPS signal. Now, that’s great but it never tells you it’s doing this or that it has accomplished doing it nor is anything mentioned in their paper or online documentation. Third, when you do pair optional sensors the Edge 25 will alert you that a pairing is successful, but the message is flashed across the screen so quickly that if you were not staring at the screen the whole time, you will probably miss it. The natural thing one does is in that case is to think that the pairing wasn’t successful or didn’t start and then to attempt again to pair the units. You will then get a message that pairing “wasn’t successful”. That’s because you actually did pair successfully the first time and now the Edge 25 thinks you’re trying to pair to a second sensor. After a round of puzzlement that turned to annoyance, I finally figured out that everything was alright and paired when I spun the crank and the wheel. Be warned.

Power. Oh, you have a power measurement device like a PowerTap, Stages, or a Quarq? Well, don’t get the Edge 25. Even though it can connect to ANT+ sensors, it apparently was deliberately dumbed down so it could not be used for power measurement. Of course Garmin doesn’t mention this. It’s such an obvious thing to include, why would Garmin not? It’s probably because they want you to buy their much more expensive 510/520/810/1000 models that can measure power. If you’re really into training and racing the one factor you’re most interested in is power, so the Garmin 25 is not going to help you at all.

Uploading your track. I don’t have anything to say to you Stravanauts because I don’t use Strava and I find Garmin Connect to be interesting but pointless. But I do upload tracks to Garmin’s BaseCamp application and it works easily, the same as with the 800 and 1000.

Battery life. I haven’t pushed the boundaries of battery life yet since most of my rides are under five hours. But the advertised battery life is eight hours. I’ve done some three to four hour rides with both GPS and GLONASS on and the battery has been down about 60%. Since most of us don’t do rides that last eight hours, this isn’t a problem. But if you’re doing centuries and taking your time or you like to do epic all-day rides, this isn’t the device for you. There is no way to attach an auxiliary battery pack while the 25 is attached to the bike mount, so when the battery dies it’s game over. On the other hand I’ve encountered the same problem with Garmin’s flagship cyclocomputer, the 1000. The 1000’s real battery life barely goes over nine hours; I can stretch that a bit by cutting power usage through turning off the screen, turning off GLONASS, and putting the device to sleep at rest stops. But those are all more than minor inconveniences and cause other annoying problems. But the 1000 can attach to an external battery pack if you use a dedicated bar mount rather than Garmin’s inexpensive quarter-turn mount, and that’s exactly what I do now. The only way to hook an external battery pack on the 25 is to remove it from the bar mount, attach it to its recharging mount, which has a USB connector, and plug it into a USB battery pack. But then you can’t attach it to your bars. I suppose you could then use duct tape to attach it to the stem but that seems inelegant!

Navigation. The Edge 25 has rudimentary navigation ability. You can download a track from Garmin Connect (incidentally, who uses Garmin Connect??) and the 25 will give you bread crumb navigation on its tiny screen. Keep in mind that the screen has no map and you’ll be following a black line with no other information. If I really wanted to download a route to the 25, I’d get it from RideWithGPS rather than Garmin Connect, but Garmin doesn’t currently provide a way to do that. In any case navigation is pointless for most of us because we’re riding at home on the same routes we do every day. Robust navigation is usually only critical if you’re riding on unfamiliar roads such as on a tour. If you want real navigation, you have to step way up to the 810 or the 1000. If you want to use the Edge 25 on a club ride with breadcrumb navigation, in your computer you would have to export the RideWithGPS route, upload it to Garmin Connect, and then download it to the Edge 25. It’s a bit of a pain.

Despite my kvetches about the 25, now that it’s up and working I do like it. As you can tell, I most appreciate its simple, limited abilities and interface. I also like its diminutive size and easy-to-push buttons. However the price is something else. If you just want a simple, bare-bones cyclometer, you could get one for under $40 and not pay the $170 that Garmin demands. A less expensive cyclometer would probably have a battery that lasts a year or two rather than eight hours. On the other hand, you then do not get a track, heart rate measurement, nor the sundry online and phone communication that the Edge 25 has (and that I didn’t care about). You would also have a wired wheel sensor, which may offend your aesthetic sensibility.

Social Ride: Lunch at 54 Mint Il Forno

Mmm, that pesto lasagna was delicious! Not to mention the panini, cannelloni bean soup, and heirloom tomato bruschetta. But I’m jumping ahead…

The September Social Ride brought out nine folks and interestingly none of us were from San Francisco; everyone hailed from the East Bay—Kensington, Walnut Creek, Livermore, and Orinda. And it was almost a completely “new’ crowd, with only Roger and I having done Social rides this summer.

Luckily we got an early start at Lafayette BART because it turned out to be a fairly typical, hot summer day in Contra Costa. It also happened to be weekend of the Lafayette Art and Wine “Festival” (a.k.a. your suburban typical street fair) so the downtown was blocked off and traffic was promising to be nightmarish if you were in a car. We headed out to Walnut Creek and quickly got on the Iron Horse Trail heading north before diverting onto the Contra Costa Canal Trail. Those of you who have the misfortune not to reside in Contra Costa County may not realize that we have a canal system that was originally designed to pump Delta water to the farms and orchards that used to cover the area. One of them is the Contra Costa Canal and it makes a horseshoe-shaped loop through the county and has an accompanying multi-use path that is managed by the East Bay Regional Park District. It’s a great way to get around and mostly avoid car traffic. Also, EBRPD has done a lot of repaving this summer to get rid of the cracks and jolting roots from the trees that line the canal, making the ride even more pleasant.

After rolling north all the way to Highway 4, we got on city streets and toured the Contra Costa County Animal Control Shelter, CCC Sanitary District, and the CCC Gravel/Asphalt Yard before fleeing back onto the Iron Horse Trail going south. We kept to a conversational pace and there was a lot of yakking going on. What did we gab about? Oh, things like: David’s horrible LifeCycle crash but then awesome ALC bro’ deal on a sweet new Cannondale Synapse to replace his mangled sled; the loveliness of working in the California State prison system; why French people don’t invite you to their house; more Kaiser horror stories (as if I hadn’t experienced enough already); how much used Vitus frames go for on EBay; Derek’s butt. You get the picture: nothing important and only the absolutely vital! As Bobby Troup said, “They all meow about the ups and downs of all their friends; The who, the how, the why — they dish the dirt, it never ends.”

We got to 54 Mint Il Forno in downtown Walnut Creek just before noon. It was time for a break, as it was really starting to heat up. 54 Mint Il Forno opened a few years ago originally as the bakery site for the restaurant. But now they serve dinner as well as lunch. Why these Italians left their home to serve real Italian food to Californians, I don’t know but it’s been a grand blessing for us. When you walk into their small storefront you get to gaze at the gallery of Italian sweet, baked goods and also some things that look almost French such as bignés (= beignets in French) and éclairs. Surprisingly only Cameron immediately ordered some Italian cookies proving that he lives by the adage that life is short so eat dessert first. The rest of us swooped on the various kinds of panini, lasagna, salads, and in my case the soup and bruschetta. It was a mountain of food and more of us would have gorged on the sweets afterwards but honestly we were all mighty full.

After lunch Derek and David headed back to Rossmoor, Joe and Lamberto headed back to their place a few blocks away, and the five of us rode back slowly to Lafayette BART in the 90+ degree heat. The average speed was about 11 mph, a tad faster than the 8-10 mph in our ride code but easily within the ability of this group. Next month: Speisekammer in Alameda for German food!

Now Wasn’t That A Fabulous Party?

The 2015 Orinda Pool Party had 24 attendees, the most ever. Despite seesaw weather all summer here in Contra Costa—heat waves followed by spells with colder than normal temps—the day of the Pool Party we were lucky to hit it just right with sun and mid-70s. Perhaps it was the forecast that brought out the crowd, perhaps it was offering two rides instead of the usual one, or maybe it was the end of post-AIDS LifeCycle ennui. We had the usual, ‘classic’ route up Pinehurst and down Grizzly and Wildcat, and we added a second route for those who wanted more of a workout, just five miles longer, that went out to Lafayette and up the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail before rejoining the regular route. Seven folks did the regular route, ten the long, and seven folks did neither and came just to the party.

Both routes have a moderate amount of climbing with the added challenge of short but gritty steepness at the top of Pinehurst. But any recreational cyclist can do the routes riding piano. David Gaus and I led the regular route and it was a chatty affair, in fact like a slightly faster Social A ride! Besides the usual club gossip and girl talk several of us had a long discussion of the recent Velonews article on heart injury and overtraining as we, of course, climbed up Pinehurst. Perhaps that’s why we took it at a “festive” rate rather than redlining it all the way up. Some of us senior members are getting uncomfortably familiar with medical terms like “atrial fibrillation” and “supraventricular tachycardia”. Then triggered by Doug Dexter’s recounting of his recent partial knee replacement, we had to go into boring war stories about our own knee and hip issues. Thank god no one started talking about crashes or head injuries else we might never have shut up about such a depressing subject. The chatter was only briefly interrupted by gasping on the steep upper section of Pinehurst and resumed all the way to Sibley for a rest stop that turned into another round table. Fortunately no one seemed to be in a rush!

This year we had just one female participant, Rana. The low number of women turning out for club events continues to be a challenge for us. We lost a couple of women when we had to reschedule the pool party because of the unexpected BART closure at the beginning of August and they couldn’t make this new date. Rana was fresh from a bike tour all the way down from Alaska (!) and was sporting a fractured bottom bracket housing that creaked every time she pedaled. She quickly allayed my concern, explaining that it was the bottom bracket assembly and not the bottom bracket of the frame itself that was cracked!

We made it to the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park where I was to phone Roger to let him know the group was about a half-hour away from arriving, only to find out there is no cell signal. Seriously? At the center of Tilden Park where there are countless weddings and events?? Thanks, AT&T! By then those on the long route finally caught up, so we all ended up arriving at the party at the same time save for David Goldsmith who had missed the turn at Wildcat and ended up lost somewhere in Tilden Park. He eventually found his way back to the route and arrived long after we’d given him up for dead.

OPP2015inthe pool2 — Yammering, not hammering

While we were cavorting in the Berkeley hills, Roger and Jim had done a marvelous job of final tidying and set up as well as preparing the appetizers. Almost everyone ended up jumping in the pool to cool off and refresh. No artful synchronized swimming was seen in the pool; instead folks were continuing to gab up a storm while reposing in the water.

There was tons of food; among the notables were Andrew and Evan’s delicious and beautifully displayed heirloom tomato salad and Doug O’Neill’s fabulous homemade oatmeal cookies.

The non-riders who attended weren’t just the “bike widows”. Some Spokers opted just not to ride, including Dennis Nix, former DSSF VP and new Apparel Coordinator Brian Leath and his partner, and the Den Daddy Derek Liecty. Derek was freshly back from a long 4,500 mile car trip in Europe, another check mark on his bucket list. Apparently he got five speeding tickets too!

Folks must have been enjoying themselves because it was late in the afternoon before they took their leave, sliding down the hill to BART and thence to home sated and tanned.