Feedback Update

This blog is now up to almost 900 page views since I started posting in September 2010. The top three countries are the United States (700+), Canada (38) and Iran (30).  I suppose that last result is because of visits from US citizens or military personnel stationed in Iran.  It's unlikely that I'm being followed by revolutionaries or monitored by security services.  I hope I'm providing inspiration to someone.  I also have a lot of visitors from Russia, but after checking my spam folder I concluded that's probably because so many lovely Russian ladies are eager to meet me.  Oh well.

Beautiful Bike Racks

When my previous employer relocated in January of 2009, my bicycle and I had a little trouble settling in to the new warehouse.  That month we had a week of snow followed by rain and wind storms, and some minor flooding.  I had been parking my bike indoors at our old location, but at the new place it seemed no matter what out-of-the-way corner I chose to leave it was in someone's way.  We were busy putting up shelving and moving boxes and pallets around, with forklifts zipping around and electricians working overhead, so being underfoot was dangerous.  Finally I wrote a memo to management, petitioning for an outdoor bike rack, which I thought would be safer than trying to stake out space indoors.

Our warehouse manager did some research and found that to install a ready-made rack, like those wavy-pipe types, would require hiring a three-person crew for a full day for installation.  Instead he ended up commissioning a work of art from Shirley Erickson, who has taught metal sculpting in the department of Fine Arts at Western Washington University, and welding and metal work at Bellingham Technical College.  She has studied and worked at many art schools in the western states, including Pilchuk Glass School, and usually incorporates glass elements in her metal work.

Besides being practical and functional, the straight lines and circles in the rack she made complemented the geometry of my bike, and the colors and shapes of the building exterior.

When my second winter at the new warehouse came around, I bought several yards of clear plastic, meaning to design and sew an ideal, deluxe rain cover for my bike, but one weekend, while I was out walking in a windstorm, I caught a big blue painter's tarp blowing down the street.  With several bungee cords to strap it down, the tarp made a simple and effective rain tent.

Unfortunately, I suspect the management didn't like it - maybe it looked like a homeless person was camping out in front of the business.  And after the housing market crash, I couldn't help making jokes about my personal TARP plan.  Probably unwise, I realize now.

  

The HUB bike shop, a non-profit project that restores old bikes, also makes delightful bike racks out of old bike frames.  The racks are painted in vivid colors that would blend in well with any peloton, and include lots of clever detail work.

The purple and peacock colored ones are outside the new Boys & Girls Club building in Ferndale.

(Click on the photos to see enlarged details.)

These red and orange ones are outside the new Community Food Co-Op in Cordata.

Summer Storm

Rode home from work in a downpour last night, for a little variety in my commute.  I got drenched, but it was actually not unpleasant, not too hot and muggy but not cold either.  And it was clean rain, because the volume of water was so heavy it washed dust and mud off the road, and off my bike, too.

My shoes are still wet this morning, even though I poured about eight ounces of water out of each one when I got home last night.

Bike Shopping

Now that I've transplanted to Ferndale I need a back-up bike for my commuter bike.  There is no bus service  here on Sundays, the rest of the week buses run about an hour apart, and the last run in the evening leaves Bellingham before 6:30pm.  Besides, there's no bike shop in town - there are at least six shops in the big city, but nothing outside of Bellingham city limits.  If my bike needs work that I can't do myself, or if the shop needs to order a part, I could be semi-stranded for several days.

A couple of times I've almost felt my bike was being held hostage in a repair shop.  A tech once insisted on keeping it for three days while a part was on order even though it was safe to ride, and once he told me "I know it's your only way to get to work" in a sort of ominous tone, as if he'd take it away from me if I gave him any trouble.  At one shop I arrived just in time to find my bike, still with the call-tag on the handlebars, in a line-up of old bikes being loaded on a beater pickup truck that appeared to be heading for a scrap-metal dealer.

So I've been looking for my ideal touring bike, and checking Craigslist and second-hand stores for a decent used bike, and if I keep shopping much longer I'll be ready for the recumbent I've been thinking about.

Today, after doing some quick study online, I went to look at a Free Spirit mixte offered for $125 on Craigslist and sold from a thrift shop.  I think mixte frames are kind of classic and elegant looking, sporty without being too racy, sturdy enough to hold up for commuting, grocery shopping and light touring.  My online sources said that in the '70's Peugot made very good mixtes, and Sears sold a piece-of-junk mixte called a Free Spirit, but that Nishiki also made a good quality one of the same name.

Unfortunately, this one turned out to be a Sears, and besides, rather than quick-release wheels it had bolt-ons that didn't quite fit in the dropouts.  Which reminded me of a very important lesson I learned with my second bike.

After my Univega got run over by the Ford, I bought a pink Schwinn World from a sports consignment store that went out of business soon after.  It was heavy, but it seemed about the right size and felt OK when I rode it around the block, and I figured it would be safe from theft or vandalism, since no self-respecting street thug would be seen messing with a coral pink ladies' bike.  But the first time I had to take a wheel off to fix a flat I discovered that the fork was too wide, or the spindle in the hub was too short, for it to fit all the way back into the dropouts.  There was a little gap between the spindle and the end of the slot, and I had an awful fight getting the wheel on straight, then clamped down hard enough to stay straight.

Actually, neither wheel would stay on straight for long after that.  I lost the front wheel one morning on my way to school - it had seemed to be weaving a bit so I was watching it as I coasted down the driveway.  As I picked up speed on the street it began wobbling quite a bit.  My block was on a short but steep hill, and I could easily coast to more than 25mph at the bottom.  Being a nervous type I slowed and pulled over, just as the quick-release lever broke off, while the nut and spindle shot off to the right, about thirty feet into the blackberry bushes.  The back wheel didn't go that dramatically.  I had a lot of trouble with the wheel rubbing the brakes, making for laborious riding and daily adjustments of both wheel and brakes.  Finally one night on the way to an evening class, I made an up-hill right turn into a parking lot, and the wheel sort of creakily leaned to the left, bending the dropouts and rear derailleur both.

So when the guy at the second-hand shop told me that bolt-on wheels are supposed to fit that way, I said "no, that bike isn't safe to ride," and walked out of the store.  I don't know who puts bikes out for sale like that, but they should be stopped.

Heat Wave

Around Puget Sound it's not unusual to go without a sunny weekend until the Fourth of July, so this summer is not exceptional.  The sun did come out for the holiday weekend, though, and I spent enough time riding my bike to end up with an interesting new assortment of tan-lines.  My skin tones now range from blue-veined mushroom-white through various shades of tawny to hot-pink.

Today I had to run some job-search-related errands by bus and foot.  When I saw bright sun and blue skies at eight in the morning, I decided to leave my bike at home so I wouldn't get too dusty, sweaty and rumpled on the way to my appointments.  I had to dig through my wardrobe a bit to find clothes that would be more or less presentable to potential employers yet comfortable for walking around town.  To my relief, when I got to the bus stop, a digital sign outside the bank across the street showed the temperature at 70F, tolerable even to a native mushroom like me.

4th of July

Here's Mt. Baker again

When I first moved to Whatcom County in 1995, my impression of Ferndale was of a blue collar, possibly a bit redneck, farm and factory town.  No doubt that was a shallow opinion, but the town has grown and changed since then.

The Coast Millennium Trail passes through downtown, and bike lanes are being completed this summer.  There are new gyms or health clubs, and also a surprising number of chiropractors and physical therapy offices in town.

   The corner of First and Main Street,

with flying flags,

pink and purple petunias,

and new bike lanes.

The dreaded Mountain View Road hill climb

Most of the new business district is concentrated near the freeway.  Main Street crosses the Nooksack River, to the old business section where most parks and city buildings are located. Past the Post Office, Main Street becomes Mountain View Road on the way out of town.  I hope the bike lanes will eventually continue on this road.

. . . and the view from the top of the climb.