Friday, October 31, 2008

My routine hilly workout

As day gets shorter, it's hard to get in a ride longer than 20 miles before or after work without using light on a significant portion of it. I want to stay in shape to ride the upcoming brevet season as much as possible, so I decide to establish a short ride for a workout during the week. To make up for the relative short distance (7+ miles one-way up the hill, and then same distance coming down), I use my fixed on-one il pompino for the workout. The average grade of this ride is around 4%, with several short steeper pitches between 6%-10%.

(Here is a link to bikely route map of this workout)

The ride starts in my house in downtown Berkeley. The first 1.5 miles is a pleasant flat portion through Berkeley and North Berkeley. I enjoy this portion very much as it's mostly on a Berkeley bike boulevard and one sees many cyclists of all types going in each direction at this time of the day.

I take a right turn on Vine Street through Gourmet Ghetto up to Spruce, then take a left turn and begin the climb up Berkeley Hills. Spruce is a fairly busy street, as it's one of the wider street going up the hill. Like many streets in the Hills, it has many vista of the bay along the way. The grade is not that bad, and it winds gently through neighborhoods of nice houses up the hill. After a re-surfacing project a couple of years ago, this has become quite pleasant to ride on. My 40x17 gearing is quite adequate on this stretch, as I switch intermittently between seated and off-the-saddle position. Many cyclists go up this way, not just to the top, but also to wildcat canyon road into Tilden and beyond. I don't tend to wear cycling garb on my workout, and usually opt for regular exercise clothing. Sometimes when I pass folks who are on their racing kit and carbon-bike combo, they get surprised and pedal hard so they wouldn't get passed by an apparent amateur on a strangely looking fixed gear.




At the top of Spurce, I make a right on Grizzly Peak and continue the upward wind. Grizzly Peak is also a very pleasant road that has frequent view of the bay. The grade here is even gentler than on Spruce. A couple of miles past the turn from Spruce, there is a downhill portion before heading backup again. I tend to watch to make sure there are no cars beford plunging down hill. I pull my knee close to the top tube, tuck myself as low as possible, and then spin as fast as I can. On this portion I can get as fast as 35mph, which means I am spinning at 180+ rpm. I use the downhill to generate enough momentum to carry me as far up on the ensuing stretch as possible. This stretch is steeper than before (probably around 6-7%) and leads to Lawrence Berkeley Lab.

The stretch past Lawrence Berkeley Lab doesn't have private houses on the sides of the road, just trees and occasional animals. It's very pleasant in all seasons because of the shade. The grade is probably around 5% to 9%, but the steeper parts are very short. After 1+ mile, one eventually get out to an open stretch where one can get a stunning view of the bay. Many folks, not just on bike, gather up there on a good day to watch the sunset.

On this day I took some pictures before heading downhill. I try to get down hill before it gets dark because Grizzly Peak has some bad pot holes. I turned on my light and put on my hi-vis vest before heading down. As I spin my way down the hill, I remarked how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Ebisu Project Parts Run-up Part 2

After working an all-nighter last week and finishing it before the deadline, I decided to visit Rivendell headquarters to pick up a few things. I got some fenders, a stove and a bowl, a reflective triangle for commuting, a small tub of sunscreens, and the silver downtube shifters. Of all these parts, only the shifter is specifically for the Ebisu.

I went to Jitensha again on saturday (10/18) to discuss with Iimura-san about the wheel size of my Ebisu. The saturday before we decided to have standard tubing (besides the downtube) on the bike and I chose the color. This saturday we spoke briefly and decided to go with 650b wheel size. Hiroshi responded to my email question from earlier in the week: the Ebisu will be able to fit 650x42b tires (I am thinking Grand Bois Hetres) but the fender-line might not be correct. I also received a response from the owner of a nice Ebisu All-Purpose who posted pictures of his bike on flickr sporting the said Hetre tires. Basically, they will fit, but I have to get wide enough fenders.

I received some advices on choice of wheel size and tubing from Jan Heine of Bicycle Quarterly that were very helpful. I also began my subcription of the magazine and received 3 back-issues yesterday. They were such fun read!

I will use 650x35b tires to start (probably the Grand Bois Oursons, if I am heading to Japan again soon, or Panaracer Col de la Vie in the meanwhile) and will also try 650x32b and 650x42b tires when I get a chance.

Here is an updated list, reflecting these changes:

Components
- Shimano Ultegra 6500 rear derailleur; long cage
- Shimano 105 9-speed front derailleur; triple; 28.6 clamp diameter
- Sugino XD600 crankset 46/36/26 170 crank arm length
- Shimano Ultegra seatpost 27.2
- Selle Anatomica Saddle; clydesdale
- Tektro R200A brake levers; black/silver
- Grenouille cantilever brakes from VO
- Nitto Randonneur handlebars; 44cm
- Nitto Pearl quill stem; 10 cm reach
- Crank Brothers Quattro road pedals
- SRAM 890 8-speed chain
- Shimano FR-6600 Ultegra 10-speed rear hub; 36h
- Suntour XC-Comp front hub, 36h
- Riv Silver friction downtube shifters

Accessories:
- Jitensha mini-front rack for Ebisu All Purpose
- Inujirushi handlebar bag; medium

Still need:
- Shimano XT 11-30 8-speed cassette or comparable
- cables, housings and ferrules
- rims, silver, 650b; Velocity Synergy 650b or Grand Bois rims, 36 h
- 72 spokes
- tires; 650b (grand bois ourson rivendell maxy fasty or panaracer CdlV)
- tubes 650b
- Rim Tapes
- Hanjo smooth fender
- Handlebar tape

The next step is to get rims and have the wheels built

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Ebisu Project Parts Run-up Part 1

Here is what I have collected for the moment:

Components
- Shimano Ultegra 6500 rear derailleur; long cage
- Shimano 105 9-speed front derailleur; triple; 28.6 clamp diameter
- Sugino XD600 crankset 46/36/26 170 crank arm length
- Shimano Ultegra seatpost 27.2
- Selle Anatomica Saddle; clydesdale
- Tektro R200A brake levers; black/silver
- Grenouille cantilever brakes from VO
- Nitto Randonneur handlebars; 44cm
- Nitto Pearl quill stem; 10 cm reach
- Crank Brothers Quattro road pedals
- SRAM 890 8-speed chain
- Shimano FR-6600 Ultegra 10-speed rear hub; 36h
- Suntour XC-9000 front hub, 36h

Accessories:
- Jitensha mini-front rack for Ebisu All Purpose
- Inujirushi handlebar bag; medium

Still need:
- Shimano XT 11-30 8-speed cassette or comparable
- Riv Silver friction downtube shifters
- cables, housings and ferrules
- Front and rear rim; silver or pewter; 650b or 700c
- 72 spokes
- tires; 650b (grand bois ourson rivendell maxy fasty or panaracer CdlV) or 700c (Rivendell Jack Brown Blue or Panaracer Pasela Tourguard 32mm or Grand Bois Cypres)
- tubes; 700c or 650b
- Rim Tapes
- Hanjo smooth fender
- Handlebar tape


Sunday, October 12, 2008

Coming Soon! Ebisu All Purpose

Yesterday I went to Jitensha Studio and put down a deposit for an Ebisu All Purpose frameset. Hiroshi was there, so were many people; it was Hiroshi's first day back from Japan after a month and everyone was there buying something or asking questions. We chatted a bit. He had a frame diagram where he put in numbers for the dimension of the frame. I mounted a 58cm All Purpose (in fact the one he submitted to Bicycle Quarterly for review) and it was a little too big. I decided to go with a custom geometry of 57cm seat tube and 56cm top tube. I will also pick a custom color. Essentially I am getting a custom bike since the All Purpose, well, fits my purpose pretty well. Since there were so many folks there, Hiroshi said he will fax the order to the builder to reserve a spot, but I can go back in within a month to nail down more details. I still have to decide if I want to go with 650b wheels. But I am excited to get a bike frame that is essentially built for me. I have began to collect parts for the build and selling off parts I don't need to help fund the purchase. I even created a spreadsheet on Google Docs to track the progress of my collection and cost.

For an essentially custom bike the price is really very reasonable. Heck, I could pay more for a prdouction that has not even 1/10 of the attention put into this Ebisu. I will keep a log of progress and parts list to let folks know where I am in the project. More to come!