Despite the fact that I’ve been riding in the snowy season for the better part of a decade, this season has been one of firsts for me in terms of winter riding experiences…
Read MoreChoosing among Changing Surfaces /
Over the past couple of weeks here at the top end of the Prairie State we’ve seen daytime temperatures range from nearly 40° F down to 15°, the latter with a windchill taking the “feels like” temp down to 1°.
This is par for the course here in Northern Illinois - ask anyone with any experience out in the windswept countryside about the weather and they’ll probably say something like “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute: it’ll change.”
Read MoreMission Aborted /
Last Sunday was a good day for a winter ride. It was overcast, and cold, but not too cold. I had an open window for riding in the early afternoon. Since the weather does not always cooperate for riding in the winter - I don’t mind the cold, but very slick icy roads and low visibility are issues for me - essentially I try to avoid any road conditions that makes me hard for cars to see or safely avoid - I geared up and headed out.
And it was glorious.
…Or at least, it was for the first quarter mile or so.
Read MoreReal Winter /
We’ve had an honest to goodness dose of real winter - snow plus cold - here in northern Illinois over the first full week or so of 2021. This should have been a boon for winter riding, but the opportunities have been less present than one would hope.
So - for me that means waiting and wishing. And not patiently.
Read More2020 Cycling Year in Review /
There’s a lot to be said about 2020, for better or for worse.
Fear not - I’m going to say almost none of it here. Almost. No - this one is just a review of the past year in cycling. And to be clear, only *my* past year in cycling. I’m sure there other, very informative sources on the status of the industry, or of cycling in sport, or what have you. But when it comes to cycling, my own riding is my sole point of expertise.
Read MoreChubby Buttons /
No - “Chubby Buttons” is *not* the name of a second-tier children’s birthday clown. At least not the Chubby Buttons I’m referring to, anyway.
It is also not a nickname you should ever give to your significant other. Or maybe it is - what do I know about your relationship? You do you!
Rather, Chubby Buttons is a Bluetooth remote control for your mobile device. What it does is fairly simple: It gives you buttons - big, chubby buttons, with clearly marked functions - to control the audio functions on your touchscreen device.
Read MoreThe 3K Bug /
There are a lot of people who will tell you that you should just go out and ride. Don’t worry about how fast you are going, or how far, they’ll say - just be in the moment, one with the bike.
I am *not* one of those people.
Read MoreFending for Myself /
I was able to get out to the Hennepin Canal trail for my Black Friday ride, but as I noted last week, the Canal Trail did take a toll on my trike…
Read MoreHennepin Canal - Lock 2 to Lock 19 - Black Friday Ride /
Mother Nature and the Fates worked with me on Black Friday to allow for a trip to the Hennepin Canal Trail…
Read MoreBlack Friday Cycling Considerations /
Here in the US we are less than a week away from the Thanksgiving holiday. As is true for virtually everyone stateside, this year is going to look different for our little family than in the past.
…I am looking at it as a challenge. I’d like to maintain the tradition of riding on Black Friday - it just seems a good thing to follow a day of institutionally sanctioned gluttony with some exercise.
Read MorePrairie Traffic Jam /
One of the best parts of living out in the middle of nowhere is that pretty much anytime I want I can just roll the trike out of the driveway, on to the road, and ride along unobstructed. While I certainly do encounter other vehicles along the road, even during the harvest it’s usually one or two at a time, and there really isn’t much competition for space on the asphalt.
But this past week all of that serenity and solitude was interrupted by something that almost never happens out on the prairie: a traffic jam.
Read MoreSomething Old, Something Blue, Something Borrowed, Nothing New /
The problem started last week. On a ride last Monday my rear cassette shifter became possessed.
It wasn’t an effect of Halloween - that was two days prior. But as I was pedaling along I watched the shifter move itself forward, dropping into lower and lower gears. I pulled it back and watched - and felt - it pull itself forward again. And, of course, each time it did, the gears dropped and pedaling got harder and harder.
Read MoreWinter Cycling - Gear and Preparation /
As I mentioned last week, the temperatures are dropping here in the northern climes of the Midwest. We’ve actually been pretty fortunate here in northern Illinois, relatively speaking - we’ve had daytime temps in the mid-40° (F) range, with predictions of touching into the low 60’s as we sneak into the beginning of November. Meanwhile, across the Mississippi they’ve already seen snow and days below freezing.
Regardless of our relative fortune, rest assured, winter is coming. Given that last time I encouraged folks to give consideration to option of riding through the cold months, I figured it would only be fair to offer up some suggestions about *how* to manage the cold…
Read MoreJack Frost Doth Approach /
The days are getting shorter, the wind is picking up on the prairie, and there is frequently moisure in the air. For an astonishing segment of the population here in the US what that means is that it’s time to put pumpkin spice in, well, everything.
Read MoreTOSOC 2020 /
The Tour of Scenic Ogle County - or TOSOC (I’m not sure if you are expected to pronounce that or just say the letters, but I’ve been saying it out, like “toe-sock”) is a group ride that has been occurring in Ogle County Illinois for the past five years or so. It’s set up to benefit the Village of Progress, a community-based work program for people with developmental disabilities. It’s typically a single day, group ride, but that was in the before-times; this year it was set up as a virtual event, to be ridden between September 19 and October 18th.
Read MoreGoing Off Track /
The Sure Thing is one of my favorite movies of all time. I won’t go so far as to claim that it is, say, a work of epic filmmaking, it came out when I was at essentially the perfect age to appreciate it. I’ve seen in many, many times and when I was younger, would find myself closely identifying with John Cusack’s devil-may-care Walter “Gib” Gibson.
This is somewhat ironic as, if I’m being honest, I am probably considerably more like Daphne Zuniga’s Allison, who firmly believes in spontaneity, but only in its time and place...
Read MoreNew Shoes /
I was able to stave off the early demise of my tires by putting in a [maintenance day](https://www.appliedlife.net/journal/2020/7/12/Mid-Year-Check-In) and re-setting my front end alignment on my [Catrike Expedition](http://www.appliedlife.net/journal/2019/7/28/Catrike-Expedition). But while I was successsful at putting it off, I knew it would eventually be time for a new set of shoes.
That time arrived at the end of this past week.
Read MoreBirthday Ride /
Nope - it’s not my birthday.
But I’ve been working my way up to a “birthday ride” over the past couple of months. This is sort of a double-goal achievement sort of thing, because the ride, and my impending number of years on the planet both tally up to a half a century.
But I’m improving with age, like a fine wine. Or at least, that’s what MLW says.
Right Honey?
...Honey??
Read MoreTrike Phone Mounting Solutions - Rokform /
A common question that comes up from new trike riders is how to mount a phone on a trike.
This will inevitably result in dozens of answers ranging from different product recommendations to “I just toss it in the bag - I don’t want the distraction” and “smartphones are the devil’s work. Mounting them to your trike is just taking one step closer to hell.”
I might be exaggerating on that last one. Slightly. Maybe.
The reality, however, is that there are a lot of advantages to being able to mount your phone in a fashion that allows you to see and interact with it. The most obvious couple of examples are ride tracking apps and the opportunity to listen to audio entertainment. However, they also provide the ability to keep in touch with others and to be found, if needed, which can be important safety features.
The challenge, once you have decided to flaunt Lucifer and bring along your phone, is how to mount it safely to your trike. There are dozens, if not hundreds of mounting options for diamond frame bikes, but finding options that mount readily on a trike, particularly in a fashion that puts your phone close at hand, can be challenging. Plus, a keyword here is safely - smartphones are expensive bits of kit, and we rely upon them for a great many things nowadays.
My solution for this is the Rokform mounting system. Specifically, for my Expedition I use the following products:
Why a motorcycle mount? Rokform does make a couple of bicycle specific mounts. However, the better of the two is designed to be attached to the 1 1/8” steer tube on an upright bike (more on that below). The motorcycle mount takes that same mounting design but adds an articulated attachment to mount to bars. This works nicely on all sorts of bars, with adjustable sizing using rubber shims. In fact, I originally purchased this mount for my Cannondale SR400 road bike - my primary ride before I got the trike. Having been built in 1987, it didn’t have the more modern 1 1/8” steer tube. But the motorcycle mount readily hooked up to the handlebars. I’m honestly not sure why Rokform markets it only as a motorcycle mount - it works quite nicely for older bikes, and would probably be good for a variety of other applications.
The articulated nature of the mount means that it can be mounted to both horizontal and vertical bars. It was mounted horizontally on my Cannondale, of course, and I had mounted it on the horizontal accessory mount on my Pocket as well:
When I switched to the Expedition I wanted to move it closer, so I mounted it vertically to the right side mirror:
As you’ll see if you follow the link, the Rokform system is not inexpensive, and it involves purchasing both the mount and a Rokform case - it does not work with just any generic case, generally speaking (though they do sell a universal adapter for converting other cases, but you won’t have the protection of their bespoke cases). However, the system has several factors to recommend it and to justify that premium price:
Materials
The Rokform products are, in my experience, made from very high quality materials. The motorcycle mounts itself is made of aircraft grade aluminum and has a very high quality feel. I have had this mount for at least five years, on three different machines, and it still works perfectly. I did have to re-secure the magnet (more about the magnets in a bit) - I have it held in with tape, which you can see in the pictures, and I will eventually re-glue it - but it’s otherwise extremely solid.
The cases are also extremely high quality. An iPhone case was my first Rokform product. I’d purchased it because I wanted a protective case - I tend to be hard on phones otherwise, and had broken more than one - but I wanted something that didn’t have the bulk of, say, an Otterbox case. That first Rokform case was an excellent compromise, and I’ve had several since. I’m probably tempting fate by saying so, but I haven’t broken a phone since I started using them - and I drop my phone a lot.
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Roklock + Magnets = Dual Retention
“Roklock” is the term that the company uses to refer to their mounting system - the part that physically interlocks between the mount and the case. This is a strong connection in and of itself, but each case also has a powerful magnet in it, as does the motorcycle mount.
The magnetic connection is an additional connection to secure your phone against the mount - not a bad thing when you are riding at 10-20mph just inches above asphalt - and the magnets also help keep the phone upright on the mount. They also include a lanyard setup as a third level of backup.
That magnet on the phone case is useful beyond the mounts as well - you can literally stick your phone to any magnetically cooperative surface. I’ve employed it, for example, to stick the phone to the hood of the car and hang the light over the edge to see what I’m doing. And I’ve used it a lot just to put the phone up out of the way when working on things.
Ongoing Support
I said above that I’ve had the motorcycle mount for about five years. The chassis of the motorcycle mount is aluminum, but the male side of the Roklock is plastic, and they do occasionally break. Fortunately, Rokform sells replacements for these at a very reasonable price, and they are easy to replace. And since my last repair they have since moved from plastic replacements to aluminum ones.
Accessories
In addition to cycling related things, the company sells a number of other accessories to go with the cases. These run the gamut from tempered glass screen covers to belt clips to car mounts to pop sockets and the like. I do have a windshield mount in my car which lets me use the phone for gps-related tasks.
The Bike Mounts
I said above that Rokform does make bike specific mounts, and noted that the better of two they currently have available is similar to the motorcycle mount, except that it connects to the steering tube on an upright bike.
This mount can actually be used on a some trikes - or on some Catrikes, at least. The steering gear is the same configuration as the bike mount is meant to use, and so it can be screwed in there. For the first little while when I got my Pocket I used it in that way.
I actually had ordered it a few years before for my Cannondale, not realizing that it wouldn't work with the older bike. So I had to then order the motorcycle mount instead. At the time, I’d decided to keep the other one, reasoning that I’d eventually get another bike, and that the mount would work with it.
So - when I realized that it could be made to work with the Pocket, I was kind of excited, and put it in place. And it does work... after a fashion:
The problem is that the position is also right next to, and a little under, your legs. So it can work in a pinch. But for me, once it became clear that I really wasn’t going to be riding the Cannondale much any more, I moved the motorcycle mount over to the Pocket and took the bike mount off.
The other bike mount they sell is a very different product than most of what they offer. It has the Roklock mount on it, but it’s plastic and not terribly well constructed. I originally purchased one of these before I got my trike, thinking that I could use it on MLW’s mountain bike on the rare occasion I rode that instead of the Cannondale. It fell apart after a couple of uses, and I found that I just didn’t trust it. I don’t want to wrap up on a bummer, but that is the reality of the situation.
In Sum
While this system is not perfect - and no system is - I’ve found it to be the best option for both protection of my phone and versatility in application. I use it on my trike, in my car, and I use the magnetic attachment on a regular basis. I find it to be an excellent solution for the still somewhat unusual needs of a recumbent trike, where there just aren’t as many horizontal mounting surfaces as the diamond frame bike world enjoys.
The value of learning how /
The eponymous Red Green would often offer a very sage piece of advice:
When I have said this to My Lovely Wife she has typically looked thoughtful for a moment and said “well, I find you handsome...”.
Funny how timing and delivery can take a comment that could be flattering and make it, well, not.
With my trikes, at least, I’ve been trying to rectify this. Our rural setting has many benefits, but proximity to bike shops is not one of them, so the more I can do myself, the better off I am.
Back over Independence Day weekend I’d undertaken a maintenance day in order to address a couple of different issues. The first was an ongoing issue with toe-in that I thought I had fixed before. The second was a derailleur adjustment.
Sorting out whether or not I’d been successful with the alignment was not something I could determine right away. It was clear from the tire wear that it was off, but it wasn’t far enough off that it was causing any other perceptible issues - for example, it didn’t seem to be slowing me down.
Now, two months and 720 miles later the tire looks like this:
You can be forgiven if you are looking at that picture and thinking “that’s not in great shape”. Because it’s not.
But the thing is, this is pretty much what it looked like two months ago. I did order another pair of tires just in case - I really wasn’t confident, particularly given that I’d “fixed” it once already. Fortunately, I haven’t needed them yet, and I’m now beyond the mileage I got out of the first set, with some life still left in them. I’m marking this one down as a win.
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I adjusted the derailleur with some help from this video by Utah Trikes. This one was a work in progress. The process turned out to be pretty simple - much simpler, in fact, than I’d anticipated. (I’ve always thought of derailleur adjustment as sort of a black art). But while it was better on my first try, it wasn’t perfect yet, and it took a couple of additional adjustments before I got it right. But once I got there it was spot on - each click of the shifter up or down snapping into the next gear.
This actually made me feel a little like a hero, and reminded me what a joy it is to interact with a properly operating machine. At its best, pedaling and shifting, reading the road, anticipating the need, and selecting the right gear becomes a wonderful relationship where rider and machine become like one.
It also really brought home how much it had been bothering me. I love riding, but every time the gears jumped would pull me out of that moment of integration; each time was a tiny bit of irritation. Multiply that across a 20-mile ride, for example, with many, many shifts, and it adds up.
In no way do I think that I’m even close to not needing a bike shop ever again. But learning more about how to do these things means that I can spend more time on the trike with it operating properly - that’s a bonus.