Maintenance Issues

Last March when I brought my new bicycle (a Cannondale Synapse 7) home from the REI store in Alderwood, I was so nervous about carrying it on the front rack of the bus that I sat up front and watched it all the way, worrying that it would bounce out of the rack on the freeway. Now some of the newness has worn off and I'm back to taking the philosophical view that bikes are meant to be used and road-worn. When I park in a public bike rack I still try to position it so the glossy black paint doesn't get chipped, but I just touch up the dings with a little model-car paint.

By the time I had ridden 1100 miles, I was beginning to think the chain was wearing, and the middle gears looked a little worn, too. This seemed a bit premature, but then some reviews of this bike had described the drive-train parts as "entry-level". My plan was to just wear them out and then upgrade if I liked the bike, which I do.

REI Co-op usually recommends bringing a new bike in for a tune-up after thirty days, but when I went in to the Bellingham store they wouldn't look at it, said to come back in six months. I'm not sure whether to blame this on the notorious Cannondale marketing restrictions, or on bike mechanics' typical assumption that a middle-aged woman like me doesn't really ride that much.

Anyhow, by the time I had more than 1500 miles on the bike, the rear brake pads were worn out and my chain-checker tool showed the chain needed to be replaced, so I decided to fix it myself. The brakes are easy, I've had lots of practice with that after several years of rainy-season commuting. But I messed up a little with the chain - I measured it against the old one, but when I cut off the extra few inches I must have shifted one link over. The chain came out just a tiny bit too short, so I can't shift to the biggest rear gear and top chain ring. But you never use that gear combination anyway, right? Also, since the middle gears are worn there is a lot of chain-rub and the ride is kind of raspy now. I still plan to just wear the parts out all together, but then I'll probably have to replace them myself because I'll be too embarrassed to go in to the shop and let the REI mechanics see what I've done.

In other news . . .

Last week a Washington State Court of Appeals ruled that bicycling is not only a recreational activity, but a "means of ordinary travel" and "an integral part of Washington's multimodal transportation plan." In a case against the City of Port Orchard, the court affirmed that city transportation authorities must provide safe roadways for bicycles. (See http://wabikes.org/2016/07/06/traffic-court-says-cities-must-maintain-streets-bicyclists/.) This wording is still open to plenty of argument, but the case in Port Orchard will require better maintenance of streets. And the decision supports the idea that safe alternate routes for bicycles should be created, along with development of automobile roads.

Local bicycle activists have told me that in Bellingham and Whatcom County, safety improvements to streets and roadways are "complaint driven". They say local governments usually won't put up money for projects until there is a history of complaints, usually involving property damage, injury or even fatalities. Roundabouts built recently on major truck routes may be an exception, but they are needed to speed commercial traffic to and from the border crossings. And the City of Bellingham has made a lot of progress toward its goal of becoming a recognized "Bicycle Friendly City".

But road improvements still often seem to be trial-and-error projects, subject to compromise and politics.

Pole Road, by Raspberry Ridge Golf Course

On an after-dinner bike ride last week, I discovered that a rumble strip has been added to a section of Pole Road, near Hannegan. Traffic lanes here are narrow, and there is only a 12-18 inch strip of pavement next to the loose gravel shoulder. This doesn't allow enough room for the grooved strips to be cut at the edge of the car lanes, so the road crew (county or state, I'm not sure who is in charge here) just cut a single rumble strip down the middle of the road. Which is a great way to wake up drunk or distracted drivers who drift across the center line, but any driver who moves to the left to allow three feet of space to pass a bicyclist, will also hit the rumble strip. And I could hear every car that came rumbling up behind me, even though I tried to hug the edge of the pavement.

Cherry Street, Ferndale

Another peculiar improvement project is on Cherry Street in Ferndale, on the block between the Boys and Girls Club, and the elementary school play fields. There is a wide paved shoulder with "no parking" signs, but it isn't marked as a bike lane, and it is often used as a parking lane when parents are picking up kids, or during school or club events.

In the past few months, on at least three occasions when I was passing by, city or county police had stopped and arrested youngish males in sporty cars. Since this is a school zone the offenders may have run afoul of either speed limits or special restrictions against drug activity near areas where children are present. It's probably also happened at times when I didn't happen to be around.

Anyhow, either to prevent loitering or to clear up traffic back-ups on the street, someone (the City of Ferndale, probably) installed these orange plastic pole-barriers straight down the middle of the lane. They are placed about one-and-a-half bike lengths apart, which makes sort of a fun slalom course along the street, and there is still plenty of room to bike or walk on either side. It just looks odd.

Yes / No / Maybe

"No bike riding"

Bellingham has for some time banned riding bicycles on sidewalks in the two busiest and most dense business and shopping districts, the downtown Central Business District, and in Fairhaven. Both these neighborhoods consist of about six core blocks with six or so intersections, bordered by slightly less busy blocks.

At first the city marked these areas by painting this red symbol (at right) on street corners, which was mostly more or less effective, I think, although the Central Business District has some persistent scofflaws.

Recently they have been experimenting with a more positive message (below).

"OK to walk bikes"

The busiest blocks have the red "NO" message, while the fringe blocks have the new green "OK to walk" message.

This does seem like a nicer way to put it, but I'm not sure the distinction will be clear, considering that most cyclists don't read the sidewalk carefully as they ride.

I stay on the street, of course, except on the ugliest, most dangerous blocks or intersections. I find it is usually easier to dodge cars than pedestrians on the sidewalks.

This reminds me of my vacation in Montreal last summer. I generally felt pretty comfortable riding my bike on city streets in Montreal, even more than in my old home-city of Seattle. But on some occasions when I was in the downtown business center of Montreal during the lunch hour or rush hour, when I began to feel over-whelmed and unsafe in the heavy traffic and construction zones, I resorted to walking my bike on the sidewalk. There I got some dirty looks from other pedestrians who seemed to think I was taking up too much space or something.

Or maybe it was because many people can't recognize the difference between a tourist and a transient, a prejudice I've experienced before when travelling by or with a bicycle. A thought for another post.

Yes / No / Maybe

"No bike riding"

Bellingham has for some time banned riding bicycles on sidewalks in the two busiest and most dense business and shopping districts, the downtown Central Business District, and in Fairhaven. Both these neighborhoods consist of about six core blocks with six or so intersections, bordered by slightly less busy blocks.

At first the city marked these areas by painting this red symbol (at right) on street corners, which was mostly more or less effective, I think, although the Central Business District has some persistent scofflaws.

Recently they have been experimenting with a more positive message (below).

"OK to walk bikes"

The busiest blocks have the red "NO" message, while the fringe blocks have the new green "OK to walk" message.

This does seem like a nicer way to put it, but I'm not sure the distinction will be clear, considering that most cyclists don't read the sidewalk carefully as they ride.

I stay on the street, of course, except on the ugliest, most dangerous blocks or intersections. I find it is usually easier to dodge cars than pedestrians on the sidewalks.

This reminds me of my vacation in Montreal last summer. I generally felt pretty comfortable riding my bike on city streets in Montreal, even more than in my old home-city of Seattle. But on some occasions when I was in the downtown business center of Montreal during the lunch hour or rush hour, when I began to feel over-whelmed and unsafe in the heavy traffic and construction zones, I resorted to walking my bike on the sidewalk. There I got some dirty looks from other pedestrians who seemed to think I was taking up too much space or something.

Or maybe it was because many people can't recognize the difference between a tourist and a transient, a prejudice I've experienced before when travelling by or with a bicycle. A thought for another post.

1100 Miles

1100 miles now. I might want to put a cut-out saddle on my new bike after all. But I'll keep adjusting things for a bit longer.

I just invested in a new Chromebook to replace my fried PC so I will be able to post better soon. I ordered it online from Amazon because I'm annoyed with BestBuy and the Geek Squad, which is pretty much best retail option in town.

We'll soon see whether that was a wise choice.

Accessorizing

Well, I've been spending a lot more time riding than blogging. Almost 700 miles on the new bike now. Last week I had a spell of bad luck with flat tires - the roads haven't been swept yet this spring so there's still a lot of glass and metal shards in the bike lanes. But it was good practice.

One small problem I discovered early on when I was equipping the bike with all those necessary little accessories: I couldn't fit two regular bottle cages on my 51cm frame. Luckily, the geniuses at Cannondale think of everything. They designed special cages which hold the bottles up a little higher so they don't knock together at the bottom, and open to the side so you don't need space to pull the bottle upwards. I found these in REI Co-op's online catalog, and spent the rest of my dividend and year-end clearance discounts on a new frame pump, and a set of new head- and tail-lights.

I'm definitely riding faster on the lighter, better-fitting frame, and hill-climbing is easier, too. I'm still experimenting with the seat height, but the stock saddle feels fine.

But I can't resist pointing out a couple of little quibbles. The bottle cage packaging specifies they are "right side" cages, but of course if you mount one on the seat tube and one on the down tube, one opens to the left and one to the right.

Also, note the typo. I really shouldn't snicker about that, since the package is bi-lingual in English and French, and my spelling in French is full of random errors. But, speaking as an under-employed English major, who has been called obsolete, worthless and useless more than once, I feel I have to demonstrate my value to bike-geeky, techie, engineer types. For whatever that's worth.

Complications

Shortly after my last post, my computer crashed irreparably. I had been having trouble with my internet service for months, and I guess finally my desktop PC was over-whelmed by all the diagnostics and systems restores I'd been running.

For now I'm back to using the library computers or Starbucks wifi (I bought a Kindle to use in a pinch, but it wouldn't connect with my home internet). This predicament kind of takes me back to the almost-homeless month when I stayed in motels before ending up here in Ferndale, but it's good to be reminded of what is or isn't necessary.

I'm putting off deciding on replacement service and hardware because I've been meaning to move for so long, this seems like a good time to finally get with it. Except that's a lot harder to manage without home internet access. So complicated . . . .

Also, I still love my new bicycle, but it's been too wet and stormy to ride more than about 120 miles this month (in February, I mean). In strong winds it almost feels like it will blow out from under me, but I'm getting used to it.