S-Works MMC Redux

I Bought this 1994 S-Work Metal Matrix Composite new at Ambridge Bike Shop.

It's been all over with me and logged thousands of miles.

It has machine soul: "the ethereal component of the machine."

Originally it was gun metal gray, a very nice color for a mtb. But the sands of time ruined the finish. So I stripped the parts, sandblasted it to bare metal, then powdercoated it satin black. The gruppo is 2011 Deore XT 2x10. The fork is 1"; it is hard to find a shock for that size nowadays. So I put on a ridged cro-moly fork--yowza that ought to be a boneshaking ride!

Only the stem (titanium) and seat collar (titanium) are original. I kept my Paul love levers and Hershey Racing magnesium brakes, which I installed circa '95. The levers are still in production, although they look stubbier today; but the brakes were produced for only one or two years by Hershey Racing, which is now defunct. They were too sweet to leave off.

"It is only the frame, the heart of the bike, that the machine soul can reside in, usually in between the electron clouds that surround the lattice of atoms in a metal bike..." Oh yea, this frame has it.

Spacious Skies

Right here

Yearly self portrait

Right here

Four Feet to the Wind

Each riding season I have about five close run-ins with motorists, usually from either inattentive, distracted drivers or angry, wacko drivers. This happens even though I try to ride as much as possible to the right of the white line--meaning, I try to ride on the shoulder, not in the driving lane despite that bikes have the same right to the driving lane as any other vehicle.

These run-ins with motorists range from mere shouts, to laying on of car horns, to aggressively close pass-bys with the engines gunning loudly--sometimes so close that I feel the heat of the car.

About once each season a car will pass me from behind, and then as soon as it passes, it will make a right hand turn into my path leaving me in danger of slamming into the side of the car and going under the car's wheels. This is called "the right hook."

In my riding career this right hook has happened (in a life-threatening way) four times--Once in the late 1990s, for instance, I was riding north on Kahekili Highway at the Valley of the Temple Shopping Center intersection and a motorist nailed me with a right hand turn. The diplomatic driver who was following in the car behind and saw it all said to the driver and to me (as I was lying on the road) that "you two just came together," which was his way of not taking sides. I think back on it now and say to myself what a beautiful spot in which to die.

To help in these situations the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation signed into law by the Governor on February 2, 2012 amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Code.

House Bill 170 provides these protections to "pedalcycles" (bicycles, 'bents, even unicycles!):

• "The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a pedalcycle proceeding in the same direction shall pass to the left of the pedalcycle within not less than four feet at a careful and prudent reduced speed." Translation: Cannot crowd a car into a bike's personal space--and have to pass at a safe speed!
• "No turn by a driver of a motor vehicle shall interfere with a pedalcycle proceeding straight." Translation: Cannot pass then turn hard right into the path of a bike!

Will this new law dissuade drivers from pulling the same old shenanigans?

Probably not. 

Most drivers in this state have no concept of what the law requires, let alone are they willing to obey the traffic law if it conflicts with their interests. You don't need to ride a bike to know that one! 

What it will do is provide after-the-fact legal recourse. For example, the doctrine of negligence per se will be available to riders now. Couple this new law with full tort insurance (not limited tort), and a bike rider now has more arrows in the quiver should something bad happen. Thank you, government.

The new law takes effect on April 1st. Just in time for warmer weather out with the pedalcycle!

Cyclo - Chill Pill

Sometimes it snows in January.

When it does, that is a fine opportunity to ride the bike--especially if it involves a ridge climb out of the Ohio River Valley!

Here is my Rando Bike all fendered up for the inclement conditions. Sorry for shooting into the sun, but I wanted to get the Ohio river into the shot.

I was going to do a tag-o-rama for this spot, but the pic is generic enough that no one outside the Sewickley Riders would nail it. So here it is at the green arrow:




View Larger Map


The street is Sycamore Road Extension, which is a micro Alpe d'Huez featuring a few nice switchbacks, right off of Rt. 65 (and right next to that brute, Redgate Road). It comes up as a Cat 4 on Strava, and, so far only two riders have tackled it as of this writing. Try it next time you pass by the area; it's especially fun on a snowy day.

Riding in January?

That's a kooky proposition: riding in January. Usually it's in the teens, with a snowpack of about a foot. But not so this January, where it has been mild and "balmy."

I have had three nice rides during the first seven days of the new year, totaling 82 miles with 8,700 feet of climbing.

Here is today's ride, with the climb up Moffett's Run Road as the main event--a true test in June, let alone in January.


Some picture postcards from a picture perfect day.

From the deck of the Ambridge-Aliquippa bridge.This bridge opened on December 28, 1926, which is 85 years and about a week from today. The bridge felt every bit of 85 years as it swayed nervously in the wind and from the weight of cars zipping across its span. The structures on the far bank of the Ohio River occupy the spot of the former J&L Steel Corporation, where the steel for this bridge was fabricated. The bridge is set to close in early spring until the fall for renovation--so this may be the final ride across it for a year. 

In contrast to the Ambridge-Aliquippa bridge, a picture from a newly built bridge crossing the Raccoon Creek. This bridge went up in 2011, opening about a month earlier. The guardrail visible near the top of the photo marks the start of the long climb up Moffett's Run Road.

A look up the formidable Moffett's Run Road. I have done this climb since the 1980s, and it usually came at the end of my rides. During the rides back then I would dread the thought of getting to Moffett's because it was so hard. But now, I relish the thought of getting to Moffett's. It's one of those signature climbs that you come to love after doing it so many times.

Final ride of the year

The 2011 season ended with an energetic ride through the Sewickley countryside.



The weather was warmer than normal December weather: wet, dark, 45 degrees. I used to ride all through December, January, February when I lived in Kaneohe, HI back in the 1990s. But considering it was December 30 in Western Pennsylvania, which is definitely not Hawaii, I'd say I was fortunate to even get in the mileage.

- A short camera digression -

Here are two pics from the ride taken by my new droid Galaxy Nexus, which has a 5mp camera.

Looking up a wet Magee Road

Looking down onto a gray Little Sewickley Creek valley

The benefits of the droid as a primary biking camera are: 1) no need to carry a phone and a camera--both are in one device, which makes life easier while out on the mean streets. 2) The images from the Nexus are immediately uploaded to my Google+ online albums, which eliminates the need to fumble with micro SD cards transferring images after the ride to my Samsung netbook, and then uploading to Google.

The main downside that I can discern is that the image quality is (arguably) not as great as a typical P&S, such as my 14mp Sanyo. The granular clarity and color immersion fall below my expectations.

Another non-camera benefit of the droid Nexus is that it has a built-in GPS. This along with the free Strava App means that I can instantly upload my rides to Strava without later having to fuss with cables and my netbook. Plus, I can see my location in real-time out in no man's land on Google Maps, which is one-click away on the droid home screen. This ability to instantly see (and to share with other droid users) your location is a terrific, and if you think about how far we've come, stellar feature.

Using Strava with the GPS chews up the battery quickly, and the Nexus doesn't have a barometric altimeter, as does my Edge 705, which led to slightly screwy altitude measurements (total climbing off by about 300 feet) on today's ride.

But overall, using the droid Nexus as a phone and as both a camera and a GPS unit has potential to simplify things considerably. It should be especially good for long, multi-day rides such as the Pgh-DC trip, when I don't have a laptop. You still need a bar mounted GPS unit to show things like distance, speed, altitude, power because a phone is not handy for providing immediate data necessary for in-an-instant decision-making out on the road. And a phone is not rugged enough to be a bar mounted device, in my experience.

- End camera digression -

Final Stats for the 2011 year:

• 151 rides;
• 259 hours on the bike (including several hours on the stationary trainer during non-ridable days);
• 3,281 miles on the road;
• 80,135 feet climbed according to Strava (I only posted to Strava 24 rides covering 980 miles, so I'm guessing my actual altitude gain was at least double).

So, overall a good year, with nothing remarkable, such as, for example, climbing the L'Alpe d'Huez (that will have to wait for a few years) and no major incidents such as crashes (Thank God!).

Lots of good rides with the family, with Ken C., Fred K., and all the gang throughout WV and PA.

Amity Horror Cross

November 5 was the Amity Horror Cross, which happens also to be my birthday. And it is Gunnar's birthday, too.

So Gunnar, nice fellow that he is, gave me a cool pint glass as a birthday present, a commemorative glass from last year's Henry Clay 30K at Cooper's Rock. (and Betsy greeted me with a "birthday boy!" as she passed me in the 40+ race!).

Gunnar's got me by a few years, and he got me by several minutes in today's race. Someday I will be faster than Gunnar. Maybe. Well, probably not. Ever.

Photo courtesy Fred Jordan

Bruceton Mills CX

APCXS #4

The Bruceton Mills cross is held on the Parker family's farm in Bruceton Mills, WV, which is just off I-68 on the way to Maryland. The farm is serene and pastoral, an ideal venue for cyclocross fun.

Photo: Fred Jordan

It has a pond, a barn, crowing chickens, mooing cows, wide open spaces, and of course, mud!

Hear are some shots from the day:

Chaos of the start
Photo: Fred Jordan Much faster...	Photo: Fred Jordan ....than me

Hey, never been to cyclocross? Next up is the Amity Horror Cross, Saturday, November 5. Now is your chance! (actually I need a pit crew for the day since my crew will be at a swim meet...).

Morgantown Monster Cross

APCXS #2


Morgantown Monster Cross, Day one. This race is held over a day one and day two weekend at Camp Muffly, just south of Morgantown.

Photo courtesy Fred Jordan

The course runs through the Camp Muffly creek bed, which provides a great, challenging layout, with a smattering of different terrain features: some steep climbing, technical descents, twisty root sections, mud bogs, and even a sand pit.

It is course worthy of a state championship. Here are some picture postcards.

The descent of mud
Camp Muffly is serene	It was a mud fest
Rinsed (yea, I know...)

Kickoff Cross

APCXS #1


Just like that, summer and fall crashed into pieces with a morning wake up of 44 degrees and rain.

Not just rain, but about a half inch of rain starting around 10AM and ending around 4PM.

End result: Perfect cyclocross weather!

Bleak, cold, wet.	The kids race. JR's on it.
With their medals! Thanks JR.	Then the big people's race.
	Cleaned of the mud.
Perfect finale.

Cyclocross Rebuild

Before

After

"Hills are Your Friends" (not so much)

Hills are Your Friends. The tenth annual slugfest up and down the highest ridges of the Pennsylvania Laurel Highlands, held on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. 

I did this ride back in '09, so I knew what I was in for: 75 miles and over 9,000 feet of climbing! But back then the weather was idyllic: bright sun with low humidity--a perfect Indian Summer day. This year not so much: 91 degrees with swamp-like humidity! 

Despite the heat, 22 madmen showed up for the carnage!

(click the map to see my max speed--the downhill from Seven Springs Golf course...)

The irrepressible Ken Cushey, center, in Stars and Stripes, leads
this ride and dozens of others throughout the riding season 

A closed road led to a slight "detour"

You know you're deep in the boondocks when
you see shotgunned stop signs

The image doesn't convey the steepness

A bridge in Confluence

Windmills: A sure sign you are in high country