OPAAT Gravel Grinder

What do you get when you decide to build up a single-speed bike out of the spare parts bin and a little aggressive sniping on eBay to fill in the blanks? An OPAAT bike.  (One Piece At A Time).
It's a mutt, but it's turned out to be my favorite bike to ride - on the road, gravel, to work - whatever.  A lot of it has to do with the more comfortable sized tires (28-35mm) that fit it so well, but also a good geometry - around 71/72, and 'longish' stays.  Your basic budget 'crosser.
I wanted a 1x1 mostly to equalize my riding with the rest of my friends on our Sunday outings.  We typically ride 40-55 miles, average around 13mph for the day, and find all sorts of hills around the River Falls, WI area.  Two 'truths' I've learned riding the hills and valleys over there:
1) You are always in the right gear, so you never miss a shift
2) Be prepared to suffer a little on steeper hills
Outside of that, and occasionally getting spun out on long downwind runs, it's been as close to an 'all around' ride as anything I've ever had.  I swap tires to match what I'm doing - the Challenge Almanzos are 'race tires' reserved for mostly gravel days.  For commuting and general riding, I use Conti Gatorskins - pretty much impervious to routine damage, and the feel is OK (but not nearly as good as the Almanzos!).  The C2 rims make such a difference in the feel of the bike, and if I am reasonably careful I can run pressure down around 50-55psi on the Almanzos and a bit lower than that with 35mm tires.  Makes for a very comfy ride!

So what's on the bike?  FSA Gossamer cranks, HED Bastonge C2 wheels, Salsa Bell Lap bars (double wrapped on the tops), Tektro levers and 720 cantis, and a Wound Up fork.  Weight with pedals and without mud - 18.5lb.  The brakes are 'reversed' cyclocross style.  OK, I know it's an affectation, but I actually did ride 'cross for a couple of seasons, and I do occasionally come flying in to something that requires a quick dismount.  Gearing is 38x16 - which seems pretty reasonable for my needs.  As with most things, YMMV.

For comfort, I used my favorite Fizik tape over leftover Cinelli cork, and a Selle Italia classic Flite saddle.  Yeah, it's a little hard but my butt prefers that to most of the new saddles I've tried. And with a few thousand miles on this bike, I'm pretty OK with it.  I use a Banjo Brothers frame bag, and seat bag in various combinations depending on how much junk I have to haul.

One note - this has been my RAGBRAI bike 3 of the last 4 years.  The off year, I rode my Ridley Noah. It's about the opposite of everything this bike is - fast, a little twitchy, fast, tight, and you feel every. single. bump. crack. and. pebble. I whined a lot that year!

All in all, sort of a Subaru Outback of bikes. Not too big, not too small, a little underpowered at times, but gets the job done and will go anywhere.

A little light boatbuilding at Urban Boatbuilders

Urban Boatbuilders

Planning the night's tasks

It's not one of the Wooden Boat schools on the coast, where apprentices learn their trade by working on schooners from the 1800s with names like the John B Allen, and building boats that owe their heritage to Nat Herreschoff or Ted Monk.  It's in a hole in the wall on the back side of a small strip mall in St Paul, Minnesota just off University Ave.  And the apprentices are high school students - many of whom have walked a difficult road to get to the program.

Steam bent stems drying on the forms

On Wednesday nights, the apprentices are off doing homework, hanging out or whatever, and the shop is taken over by a mostly volunteer cadre of people interested in working on small boats, mostly by hand.

Last week, I helped carve a keel out of a 70 year old rowboat.  This week, it was making the keel for a canoe that will be used to end-end paddle the Mississippi River next summer.
Other volunteers were working on tightening the rivets and backing roves for a Danish style rowboat, fabricating a replacement keel to replace the one we removed last week, making templates for another project, cutting mortises for yet another.

Make me a keel, please!

Different people bring an amazing array of skills, ranging from master carpenter, boat builders, and a couple of people who just show up to help with whatever needs done.  It's not unusual to see a former apprentice come by to share or help out. Volunteers are always welcome - check out the website for details.

A good eye and steady hand

White oak ribs

Tracing to fit a new deck

Coaching in 144 Characters or Less

This started out life as a twitter series, mostly for the amusement of some skiing friends.  I decided to pull them all together and post them here, mostly for the amusement of a different group of friends.  Some of these will turn into posts of their own, probably with some war story or anecdote to go along with them.  They are all up for debate, and some are very definitely ski specific (klister???). Your mileage may vary. Aloha.

• Reminded that physical, emotional and intellectual health of elite athletes are balanced on a razor's edge.
• Never burn a bridge. You may need to come back later and harvest timbers.
• race prep tip: clean kick zone and sidewalls first and then tape it off.  Else you'll have glide wax in your kick zone and klister in the glide.
• Always have a goal for sport - as simple as "stay fit" or lofty as "win Nationals".  Having goals gives you reason for being out there.
• Pursuit tactics. Close the gap as quickly as possible, recover behind the one you caught and when you pass - make it devastating.
• Before you do something remotely questionable, ask yourself "what will grandma think if she sees this in the paper or facebook tomorrow?"
• Race Prep@30 min.- first warmup done. Time for the bathroom and check out the finish stretch.  Make sure you know where to go.
• @15min-build back up to race pace. Quick jump to sprint then ease back to cruise. Should be ready to race now.
• Race prep@10min: in the start area, skis off and to coach, or in tracks. One last drink, keep moving.  Review race plan.
• Race prep - @5 min - warmups off, poles on, blanket on. Jog in place or run with poles. Stay loose, stay warm.  Think about 1st K
• Race prep count-down - @3 min - blanket on, skis on. Make sure boot and binding are clear of snow! Pull up on toe. Focus on breathing.
• Race prep - proper warmup begins an hour or more before your race.  Write down your plan and stick to it.
• Quoting Norm Bellingham, Olympic Gold medalist "Join a guild" - find a group of like-minded peers who will push/pull you to excel in sport.
• I prefer to hear about the athletes that didn't cheat or lie in order to compete. They are the ones I will focus my time and efforts on.
• Before engaging in esoteric arguments about body position make sure you have the athlete's point of view and know their rationale.
• One of the keys to recovery is morning heart rate and weight. Record it daily. Spikes and sustained rises may be need for additional rest.
• The trick with ergo meters is to understand that they can cause bad habits, and do it right anyway.
• Technique is often in the eye of the beholder. Take input from all but you have to learn what works best for you.
• Music can make a long boring workout much more palatable. Safety first, and keep it up tempo and positive.
• The fastest bike, boat or skis are just decorations without the training and effort you put forth to make them go.
• And it seems obvious that when you have a good race, lock that feeling so you can recall it later. It's useful to hold that positive vibe.
• Everyone has bad races. Turning then into learning opportunities for "next time" is the trick.
• Training for multisport events, practice transitions. Putting on shoes is a lot harder when sweat is pouring down and your heart pounding.
• Every athlete should be an amateur meteorologist. Know what the weather is, and what changes are coming and how they will affect your race.
• Have a pre-race sequence and follow it.  This sets it all - when to warm up, to when to take your warm-ups off.  And always watch the clock!
• Visiualize what's likely to happen in your race. Imagine traffic jams and hard corners, how you'll handle them. Never ski into in a box.
• At least occasionally, train with someone a little better than you on your 'hard' days.
• There is nothing much more comfortable - or worse for you - than an old pair of running shoes.
• Serious athletes keep a daily journal. At minimum, what you did, how far/long you went, how you felt.
• Warmup intensity and duration is inversely related to length of race- the shorter your race, the longer/harder your warmup.
• Do not underestimate the importance of speed work. All the level 3 intervals in the world won't make you faster. Only speed can.
• Everyone has an "evil twin" who tells you to try new tires, wax, food the night before a big race. The trick is to ignore them...
• The secret program:Do loop ()  Find a sport you can do for life.  Learn to do it well.  Help put on events.  Teach someone else.Repeat
• Being an elite athlete means choices, sacrifice and hopefully finding a little balance with real life.
• In any sort of time trial, the single most important muscle to train is the one located between the ears.
• The fastest line around a corner or buoy is rarely the shortest line. Learn the difference.
• The view from atop the podium is mighty sweet...
• When learning new technique, practice it in slow motion until you perfect it, then try full speed.
• Learn the history of your sport. Who are/were the champions? What did they do that you should emulate? What were the epic battles?
• Proudly wear your team kit - whatever it is.  Your team/club is the base of your support system for sport and competition.
• Klister is nasty, messy, evil stuff - my competitors should fear it. On the other hand, I live for wet, icy tracks at 32 degrees.
• There is no magical 'extra gear' to be called upon. You only have the ones you built thru the hard, ugly hours of training.
• Know what you do well-and what you don't. Spend a portion of every workout on the things that need improvement.
• Learn to use your mental video recorder. Memorize every race course before you race - even if just a map. Serendipity is not a strategy.
• I banned the phrase "I can't..." from my girls' team. "I haven't learned that yet" or " I'm not able to yet" are OK. Positive words only.
• The hardest step in any race is the first one out the door on a cold rainy morning in March.
• Always have a plan for your workout and follow it.  But don't be afraid to change it to meet conditions of the day. No junk days.
• Next time you finish a race, ask yourself "Where could I have saved five seconds?" Then act on it.

Wheel building for geeks, nerds and compleat idiots

I've been dinking around with wheelbuiding and wheel repair since Kevin King and Sally Hildt tried to teach me a little bit about building back during my bike racing days in Seattle.  I still regard them as masters of the craft, and I'm just a piker.  But I do know how to lace up wheels, properly tension them, and they rarely blow up.  
In the last few months though, I've started working on upping my technology, adding to my existing Park Pro truing stand.  I've found several resources like wheelfanatyks, plus pretty good reference sites like Sapim's website, spoke calculators from Sapim, Wheelpro, and Pro Wheelbuilder. I also like Eric's blog, from whom I have unabashedly stolen some great ideas.

Roger Musson's Wheelpro site does a great job of discussing how to build, so I won't repeat that and Eric has a pretty detailed analysis of how to take measurements, what to measure, and a bit on why it's important.  I didn't want to analyze this too heavily, just get to the point that I could build a wheel that is 'dead on'.  

Modern rims, like the HED Belgium C2, make this pretty easy compared to the old (and flexible) 19mm x 15mm road rims of the 80s.  Let's face it - 36 spokes was de rigueur for any sort of wheel that you wanted to rely upon.  Now, the options are plentiful - if a tad more expensive and heavier.  

I'm still getting my wheel stand workspace dialed in, and there are a couple of 'gotta gets' left to make it like I want, starting with a solid steel plate base.  Two reasons for this. First, a half inch plate of steel isn't going to move unless I want it to. Second, it's magnetic, which provides a place to affix the dial indicator in a little more stable manner than my current 'on the stand leg' position.
Next is better lighting.  My building workspace is in a 'crawl space' in the basement. 5'11" clearance, not great light, but it's warm, dry and spider free. A task light and some side light would be nice.

So anyway, there are a couple of new tools that I've added to the kit.  A Hozan spoke tension meter, which I've always coveted, and sniped on ebay for a pretty good price (but had to wait 30 days for USPS and Italie Poste to deliver); and a Spokey spoke wrench.  Inexpensive, easy on the fingers, and spot on placement.  I also picked up the dial indicator and base from a local 2nd hand tool store.  It's accurate to .001", which is plenty for me.  I've always built good wheels, but the geek in me has always looked for repeatability and metrics.

After all that, here's what I wound up with for the wheel I just rebuilt. I reused the spokes (Sapim CX-Ray) because they were in pretty good shape, and the things are bloody expensive to go get new ones.  I used to buy DT straight gauge by the box for what a handful of these would cost!  I was shooting for a drive side tension of around 160, so this should be pretty good.  I guess I'll find out on the road.

Welcome to Life in the swamp

First a quick intro.  I have resisted setting up a blog for a number of reasons. -Facebook should be enough sharing, too many shiny objects out there, not enough time to do it right, SQUIRREL!, you name it.
But like a lot of people, I find that I have a little to say on several subjects like coaching, cycling, skiing, paddling, how to do 'stuff', occasional civic rants, volunteer projects, and other assorted detritus of life.  
No promises of fancy pictures, incredible stories, etc, but I will try to make it worth reading and maybe even worth coming back again.

Bio - I used to pass myself off as a masters athlete, and high school coach.  I continue to coach club->elite level kayak and canoe racing, but have cut back on the high school nordic side.  I have retired from active competition-at least for the time being, but still ski some, ride a fair amount, paddle when there is open water, and generally stay active.  And still spend time with my wife of nearly 25 years and our dog.  More on them over time, I'm sure.
In my 'real job', I am the technical lead for tools and monitoring at Ameriprise Financial - a fine company, and really enjoy what I do there.

I also do boat repair, build bikes and wheels, individual coaching for my sports, and have been known to taste a craft beer on occasion.  

Anyway, that's a 5cent view of me.  More to come over the weeks and months that follow.

Enjoy