Breaking the N+1 Model.

Everyone always talks about their "n+1", buying their third bike, planning on buying their fifth bike, the 650b mountain bike to match their 29er and 26 in hard tail mountain bikes. Almost any serious cyclist talks about it. It reminds me of guitarists who have sixteen different guitars and when you ask why, they pick them up and say "this one is a little more bluesy" play it, then pick another, "this is a tad more jazzy" and they play it and it sounds exactly the same. That's what n+1 feels like to me.

While I'm not saying that my Surly can do everything, it certainly can't, I've had some knuckle gripping "holy shit, I shouldn't be doing this," moments, but it does a lot. With the Surly I have the ability to swap around pieces and parts to create different incarnations. The bike was originally built for bike touring, but with commuting in mind (partially why I have it over the Long Haul). Before the racks and burly touring tires, the Cross-Check handled well getting across town, even daring the snow from time to time (if properly fitted with tires at the time it might have handled better). Then when the weather broke I built it to tour and took it from ocean to ocean.

Everything + The Kitchen Sink = Heavy.

Once that tour was over and I planned on settling down, that's when I started thinking of my own personal n+1. I watched the carbon frame guys zip by me up Mt. Diablo and I said to myself, "I want one of those." I peered down the trails of Marin as duders bobbed around on 29ers and again I said to myself, "I want one of those." Dads pulling kids, groceries, and a full load of lumber on a single cargo bike and I said "I want one of those." You get the point. I felt inadequate trying to do all these things with one bike, but the money just wasn't there for a new bike, especially when I just kept planning to get back to touring.

All it took was a change of tires and my possibilities reopened up. Slapping on 40mm tires made trail manageable (with a change of bars, a lot more might have been possible, but I digress). I was now riding an adventurous off-road bike focusing on some possible NY snow (which I never saw). That's all it took was a change of tires and I had my n+1 for almost no cost.

Not only can swapping parts change the bike, but changing the aesthetic helps too. Currently, I am in the process of building a rando-esque, casual touring bike. It needs some help (I swear I'll buy a matching white tire soon! I agree it looks goofy). The plan is maybe some chrome fenders and chrome racks (lighter weight, less steel than the Surly rack), the bike once again transforms (look for some nice stickers too soon, maybe).

So when someone starts telling you about their N+1 maybe you should start thinking of all that OT you'd need to work for a mountain bike instead of widening your tires. The next time someone makes fun of you for your ugly cretin looking touring bike, just slap on the right color fenders, tires, and stickers and smile as you gleam down the road.

Changing Riding Styles

Cycling, like any hobby, can become redundant. Recently, I've had a lot of down time mostly spending my time going on road rides into the hills or further. But as the days went on I found myself less enthused to put on the shorts and ride for the sake of riding. I needed something different.

Shadows on Skyline.

Then one day as the sun was starting to go down, I really just wanted to sketch or read somewhere, for whatever reason I was compelled to load up my handlebar bag and ride up the hills with a book. The ride up was a little dark, as the Caldecot Valley cast some shadows on Old Tunnel Rd. I watched as every time I spurt back into the sunlight, it would be lower on the horizon. I made it up onto Grizzly Peak just in time to watch the sun go down behind the Seven Sisters of San Francisco, something I've been wanting to do since that first evening ride along Skyline.

Twin Peaks, what a view. (Backside photo here)

I didn't get a chance to read, but having a destination, instead of just a route, made this ride different. Riding this way reminds me of when I first started riding my dad's old Iron Horse around Buffalo, leaving the noisy city for quiet spots along the extensive creek systems of Western NY. I was filled with nostalgia on my decent thinking of how these quiet casual bike roads brought some sort of peace in just getting away. As opposed to road cycling, where I usually just pass these places by, this casual style of riding made these the places to go.

This park was about as impressive as expected, not very. The noise of the freeway covered the whole park.

Since that reinventing ride, I've nabbed my books and hit some other nice spots around the Bay, including a quick nice ride up Twin Peaks, overlooking the city, and another short ride up the Albany Hill to get some writing done. The rides may not be as epic as getting on top of Diablo, or hitting your 60 mile mark for the day, but that's the point, it's treating the bike as leisure, not as sport.

Nutrition and Bars

As with any sport, cycling and nutrition are heavily intertwined. From the professionals bonking on the course from not eating enough to the touring cyclist who gets sick and tired of the same old cous-cous in their camp stove. For me, nutrition is even more of a challenge as a vegan.

When I went vegan, most people's concern was "but where are you going to get your protein?" or "aren't you worried about your nutrition?" For the first time in my life I was actually thinking about what was going into my body. I distinctly remember two friends in college who were vegan and seemed always to be ill or under the weather; this concerned me about my new animal conscience diets.

Now that I've been full vegan for several months I've started to notice that I feel healthier than I ever have. This does not mean that going vegan/vegetarian is a quick fix to become healthy (although the ADA did report it helps), but it definitely makes you more conscious of what's in your body and prohibits a great deal of unhealthy food. Before my vegetarian diet, I was bad and ate a decent amount of fast food, now, I rarely do, mostly because there's not much I want to eat.

The best part though is that everyday processed foods are limited too. This is probably my biggest food philosophy over anything else, whole foods over processed foods. I almost never read nutritional information (usually scanning the ingredient packages instead, like most vegans in supermarkets), but instead favor a varied diet of whole foods and find this works. The best way to think of this is a different grain or bean with a different vegetable pairing, the most basic sort of dish, but with a wide variety of dishes.

Homemade Quinoa Bars; taste, not so great, but healthy!

When it comes to energy bars it is a little harder to avoid processed bars, especially when most contain whey protein or honey. As a vegan, I live and die by Clif Bars. But even with their organic claim, their ingredient list is still a tad overhwelming, with a long list of various chemicals added in to supply the nutrition. Recently, they introduced a new brand, The Kit Bars. These new bars are all natural with as little as four ingredients in some, and they taste great too. They may not be as loaded nutritionally as the original Clif Bar, but they are definitely delicious and a great mid-ride snack (also, don't be afraid to pack real fruit! A reminded I need to keep to myself!).

Clif Kit's Organic Bars.

Five Ingredients!

When it comes to vegan diets, it really does help impact your diet, in the same way that if you got really into cooking, as you'll find yourself replacing processed cupcakes for whole veggies and whole grains.

Marathon Mondial Review

Lately, I've been obsessed with fat tire bikes.The thought of floating over snow has me dreaming of the Buffalo winter's I ran away from. If I had stayed there, I most certainly would have gotten one. Here on the coast of California, snow is not an issue. This dream of popping over snow was partly why I left for Buffalo in December to ride along the Erie Canal.

Urban tires at UN Plaza.

With snow in the forecast for me I needed tires that could handle the snow; the only name that came to mind was Schwalbe. Schwalbe is known for two reasons, one is their winter tires (specifically studded tires) and the other is their touring tires. I rode their touring tires across the country and loved them, then being foiled by Continental's afterwards (a mess of constant flats). With previous positive experience and a push towards snowy markets I went with the Marathon Mondial's topping out what my bike would allow at 40mm with fenders.

Rumbling on dirt.

Adding the extra 12 mm around the whole tire meant these were a little tougher to get going, but that lack of speed was worth it. The wider base meant lower pressure and lower pressure meant going over whatever I wanted. This meant that the short cut over the median was no big deal. The treads on these tires also gave me more possibilities. I never went super technical on these tires, only hitting single track really once, but given the bike I was on, the tires fared well on soil. I'm not saying I would take it down Cinderella Trail, but fire roads felt as good as pavement, and even a little more technical was not a downer.

At $40 a pop, they are not exactly cheap, so durability is definitely a plus on these. On my previous pair of Marathon's I wore them out to the tread every time, never having any blowouts, they were solid and reliable. The Mondial's on the other hand didn't turn out so well. About three months into these tire, admittedly giving them some rough terrain, the sidewall of the rear tire blew out. It was unexpected and unfortunate.

The end.

While I never truly got to test them on snow, I'd say for an aggressive urban commuter or a casual off roader, these tires are worth the investment. They make curb hopping or potholes much easier to deal with and grip very well around tight bends. Off-roading was a blast on these, not super comfortable, but manageable, and despite their final blowout, they were very puncture resistant. If I had to cross the country again, I'd consider taking these so that I could get off the Interstates and into the forests, maybe next time!

The Cross Country Tour

I haven't updated in a while, because I have been working on the project of building my cross country map. Of late, my new obsession has been GIS and data mapping. I'm slowly learning different ways of doing things, right now, this is the best I have, using Google Maps and creating a KML file. Enjoy!