tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192102660786560242011-09-17T10:13:45.089-05:00Obsessing about bicycling, recumbent bicycles, and getting up those darned hills.Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-84620818542383656432007-03-29T19:33:00.000-05:002007-03-30T07:11:53.524-05:00

Spring is in the air. Today was crisp and clear. The forsythia was in bloom, and my riding buddies Dave and Kelly took me out for a whuppin'.I'd heard them talk about the Nicholson Loop, but had never done the ride. I knew I was in for some hills since we were heading for Beulah Road right off. From there we had to climb up the part of Summers School Road that is just to the right of the photo at

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-80252965186844549842007-03-26T19:21:00.000-05:002007-03-30T06:31:37.864-05:00

Some friends decided to do their around Morgantown ride today, and I tagged along. Lots of little hills and back roads I that I didn't know existed.Here's the view of Morgantown and the Monongahela River taken from in front the the WVU President's house. This was a really lovely scene before the power plant. The residents of Morgantown were more united in their opposition to the siting of this

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-34185363747863110162007-03-25T20:38:00.000-05:002007-03-30T06:18:26.441-05:00

"Manufacturers of Illuminating Glass" according to the old (1970's?) catalog laying open on the floor of one of the beautifully decrepit old buildings. "Hand blown by highly skilled union craftsmen." More pictures at my documentary blog Booger Hole.This old glass operation sits immediately beside the old railroad right-of-way, now the Mon River Trail. The trail follows the Monongahela River from

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-83876518499511280152007-03-22T18:18:00.000-05:002007-03-26T23:40:28.313-05:00

The old beehive coke ovens at Bretz are just across the creek from the Deckers Creek Trail. This picture is actually made from beside the trail, though I've walked (crawled) across the spooky old RR bridge numerous times to explore the coke ovens site. It was even more interesting a few years ago before they did a major environmental cleanup. Lots of dirt was moved and removed for that project,

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-47627391549486897912007-03-20T22:27:00.000-05:002007-03-21T10:36:17.737-05:00

I wanted to make sure my new small chainring (28T oval, see previous post) would get me up anything that needed gotten up, so Kelly and I headed toward Snake Hill Road again today. We did this ride exactly one week ago on a beautiful 70 degree day (posted here). It was a bit chillier today, but still very nice.I moved the Sky Mounti inclinometer over to the Gold Rush so that we could check the

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-72508482980004835862007-03-19T22:15:00.000-05:002007-03-19T23:15:13.315-05:00

I thought we were done with snow here for a while, but we got it again on Saturday. This did give me a chance to mess around with chainrings on my new Goldrush.I ordered my bike with the 24T small chainring giving a 19" low gear. It is nice having the ultra low "bailout" gears, but you sure give up some shifting performance. I actually had more trouble going up to the 42T than down to the 24T,

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-10470409367281214282007-03-13T21:15:00.000-05:002007-03-13T23:19:38.789-05:00

Nobody knows for sure where the name came from, but the road does snake over the hills, and there are plenty of snakes on those wooded slopes. Snake Hill Road runs somewhere along the far ridge line. Beyond that is the Cheat River, and then Chestnut Ridge. Kelly and I have already climbed up from town here and are about to head down into the little valley that is just over the hill before heading

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-67724943977444818342007-03-12T23:16:00.000-05:002007-03-13T10:40:10.696-05:00

I got out for some hilly riding on my new Gold Rush on Friday and Saturday, so took a nice easy spin Sunday.The forecast looked great today so I sneaked out for a couple hours before the appointment I had scheduled at 2pm, so I headed up Kingwood Pike, a longtime favorite ride of mine. I'd been seeing the Pike off in the distance on my neighborhood rides this winter and looking forward to getting

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-30298910484492614202007-03-11T22:28:00.000-05:002007-03-13T11:24:32.875-05:00

The CRCyclists group had a nice 25 mile ride around Stonewall Jackson Lake Saturday. I hadn't been here before and knowing the ride leader, I was suspicious of the "rolling" description of the route. Jack's "rollers" are my "long grinds", but then that's Jack's butt disappearing in the distance in the picture above. You might just see El Presidente Kelly disappearing over the top if you click

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-72684091438910404272007-03-09T23:20:00.000-05:002007-03-12T23:25:06.857-05:00

The weather was great today so I got out with a couple buddies for a nice hilly ride circling east of town. Here's a video of part of the run back into town.

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-5013213609841039952007-03-07T23:45:00.000-05:002007-03-08T00:07:03.605-05:00

On my way back from my first ride on the Gold Rush (very fun, post started, but I can't seem to wrap it up), I somehow noticed that I could ride the bike no hands. I've never been able to do this on a recumbent, so documented the results here. The run with the camera is hairier because I had to stick my camera arm out so far in order to get the bars in.Anyway, the result is fun to watch and much

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-779337436651299392007-03-06T22:13:00.000-05:002007-03-07T22:52:25.452-05:00

Man, I like this bike. I liked it the minute I got on, and liked it better the longer I rode it. There are a lot of reasons to like it, but I've got to admit that as soon as I heard about the color I was a goner. Fast Freddy said, "The new orange is my pick. I think it looks way hot!" Uh, huh. I'll show you my trio of orange bikes sometime and you'll realize that I was helpless at this point.Fast

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-33937519741921175082007-03-03T20:56:00.000-05:002007-03-05T01:32:05.487-05:00

My new bike is on the way. Fast Freddy says that it will be like adding another 200 hp to my car (of course he doesn't realize my car only has 100 hp to start with). I sure hope he's right because if todays ride is any indication, I'm gonna need all the help I can get.This was the first club ride of the year, and my first real road ride for the year-30 miles, lots of hills. I took the EZ-1. Here

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-71028726369302187032007-03-03T11:00:00.000-05:002007-03-05T09:04:31.738-05:00

Link to my video here. It is a 9 MB Quicktime movie. I'll work on making the thumbnail at left into a link to the video tomorrow.There are a bunch of great videos on the web shot by recumbent riders. The Recumbent Blog videos are some of the best. When it was cold and icy out my window this winter I could watch one of Alan's videos and imagine the better views to come.The Recumbent Blog also led

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-43611086018428162032007-03-01T17:49:00.000-05:002007-03-02T22:13:48.928-05:00

Here's some more about my new camera-a Panasonic DMC-LX2. I want to say right up front that I really like this camera and think it is a great bicycling camera.Now that that's out of the way, here's some things you should be aware of before making the LX2 your choice for bicycling.1. It has a lens cap! When was the last time you saw one of those on a digicam? I suppose this could go into either

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-74652349824932986082007-02-28T23:51:00.000-05:002007-03-07T23:12:53.680-05:00

With apologies to the great Yogi Berra. But it is almost at least half true. Riding one handed, taking pictures over my shoulder while going up extremely steep hills, trying to keep the pedals turning and the bike right side up, distracted me so much that I hardly noticed the effort.Kelly was doing his darnedest not to get caught on camera paperboying the hill; I was wobbling like crazy back and

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-83240060937408309062007-02-21T23:16:00.000-05:002007-02-22T12:00:48.382-05:00

Well I feel like I did anyway. If you didn't have an uncle who played the horses, here's a link to what a real trifecta is.My new camera came in (scroll down a few posts to see why I needed one). This is the first picture with it (literally the 2nd exposure, the first was fine but I reframed a bit). The camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2. I'm very pleased with it and think the wide format mode

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-57001202421566207252007-02-18T22:22:00.000-05:002007-02-18T23:28:50.402-05:00

Forget the groundhog. I'm calling an end to this winter stuff. Over, done, enough. Spring, get to springing.Today was the closest I've come to not getting myself out on the bike this year.It was a lovely day for cross country skiing. Five of us went out to Coopers Rock State Forest, and the conditions were wonderful. My condition wasn't, however. I hadn't skied in a couple years. When my buddy

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-66700574869823990772007-02-17T17:34:00.000-05:002007-02-22T11:26:22.976-05:00

The bike is a body-socked Easy Racers Javelin with a carbon fiber Double Bubble fairing. I think this is Fast Freddy's bike shown here. The picture is from the Easy Racers fairings page.I've been very interested in the Javelin since I first saw it on the Easy Racers site. It seems to me sort of a long wheelbase bike with a Lightning-like riding position (but not bar ergonomics). I thought the

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-40402509806874513122007-02-17T17:18:00.000-05:002007-03-01T17:51:32.148-05:00

Heck, I know it was my fault, but he could have at least slowed down and given me one of those "I'm so sorry" shrugs.The full post on my photography blog briefly covers the cameras I'm considering as a replacement. All are bike suitable, of course. No point in repeating it here; just click the links.

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-48692375667836093532007-02-14T21:48:00.000-05:002007-03-05T09:06:45.415-05:00

Here's a challenge. I've got the perfect bike. Well, I would have the perfect bike if I could still ride it.This bike has helped me put off the inevitable for several years, but my wrists won't take much time on a road bike anymore.This is a prototype Rivendell Rambouillet, 60cm, #RB0002. "Always Willing. Ever Able", says so right on the head badge. It's a fast, comfortable road bike that will go

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-76856826829552076442007-02-14T14:13:00.000-05:002007-02-22T12:01:48.102-05:00

I'm putting together a post about the original EZ-1 that was made in house by Easy Racers. Anybody have one? Know anything about them?email (slightly disguised to reduce the spam harvest) to:wvfiddler AT comcast DOT net

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-83181238960163277002007-02-13T23:16:00.001-05:002007-02-17T17:33:08.239-05:00

The forecast for this afternoon was 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ICE. I took my ride ASAP and haven't opened the door since. I don't even want to know what's out there.I had a great day inspite of that. I had a good ride, then when I got back I called Easy Racers to get some info about the EZ-1's that were built in their shop and had a nice long talk with a fellow named Freddy who seems to know an awful

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-38748216438412187432007-02-11T21:22:00.000-05:002007-02-11T22:33:49.935-05:00

It's weird. Yesterday I ventured up a street that I hadn't ridden in 20 years. I used to live here at the top of Linden Street, just off the left side of the photo. I go by this street on almost all of these neighborhood rides I've been doing lately, but think I'd blocked the street out since I'd decided I didn't feel safe riding up it (except maybe on a mt. bike).The street is steep (

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-21071075568676780462007-02-09T16:38:00.000-05:002007-02-09T18:16:12.754-05:00

One of the things that continues to baffle me is just how much difference the bike makes in getting up a hill. Stories and comparisons abound, but it's hard to really nail anything down.I'd thought for some time that my Easy Racers EZ-1 (not the Sun-made bike) climbs a little better than my Burley Canto, but I'm just not so sure of that anymore, at least as regards really steep hills.I've been

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-29873025966989163212007-02-07T21:59:00.000-05:002007-02-07T23:07:16.921-05:00

Well dagnabit it's still winter. I guess those 60 degree days during the first week of the year gave me unrealistic expectations. I doubt that I would have hopped onto this idea of riding every day if it had been 6 degrees instead of 60 on January 1st.The funny thing is that even though I have a heck of a time motivating myself out the door some days, I'm really enjoying each and every ride.

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-76060615875946027252007-02-05T22:05:00.000-05:002007-02-05T23:26:58.130-05:00

One of the best rides I've ever done goes over Chestnut Ridge. That's it in the far distance in the picture. Here we should be looking right about at Coopers Rock State Forest. Between that ridge and the closer hill is the Cheat River canyon.I've only done this ride one time, but I'm looking forward to trying it on a bent this year. The ride goes up a steep back road to the top of the ridge, then

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-54117726682904372542007-02-04T15:19:00.000-05:002007-02-04T18:07:18.547-05:00

But there were no cars in the street.Exactly!Further investigation has revealed that a sporting event has been staged as a way to open the streets to bicyclists for at least one day a year. It is a brilliant ploy and seems quite effective; about the only fossil fuel burners stirring today were emergency vehicles (like pizza delivery vans).This, of course, has my full support, but I do wish the

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-34367743349313680082007-02-02T21:18:00.000-05:002007-02-04T17:59:11.154-05:00

Yesterday was a bit warmer than the previous several days, but I didn't have much get up and go. I knew I needed a recovery day or two without any hills, but was hoping that I could put it off until the cold snap that starts tomorrow.I did take a bit of a ride and ran into local bike, hike, greenspace activist Greg Good. I'd been curious about the relative elevation of different spots in the area

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-25940646667454959212007-02-01T20:48:00.000-05:002007-02-04T17:58:46.937-05:00

I think I left the impression with yesterday's post that I really didn't get much out of my messing around experiment with bigger gears. Really, I think trying something different like this is pretty useful.Now I know what it feels like to be in one gear higher than is really practical for me on a hill. If I get to that same feel with my lowest gear I'll know about what I need to do about it. I

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-12033282478933936652007-01-31T21:56:00.000-05:002007-02-04T17:58:01.121-05:00

It's another chilly day in Morgantown, but the streets are mostly clear at least. That's Jefferson Street straight below in the photo and it's sure in better shape than yesterday.I got myself signed up for the BROL forum inspired by this thread on gearing, but haven't posted yet. The emphasis of the thread is on low gears, and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people willing to give up

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-65518159733320343942007-01-30T18:52:00.000-05:002007-02-04T17:55:50.321-05:00

Winter is here. Our 10 Day Forecast looks like things are going to stay chilly, so it seems like a good time to offer a few winter riding tips. If you're an all-weather rider, commuter, or tourist, you sure don't need my advice and probably won't find anything useful here (but you do have my admiration).I'm a wimp. I don't like to be cold. But I have to admit that I'm enjoying my attempt to get

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-24267698506618750822007-01-29T15:39:00.000-05:002007-02-14T11:03:21.966-05:00

I was getting a little chilly riding along the Mon River Trail yesterday when I realized that I was coming up on Sixth Street. Nick Hein of Positive Spin had mentioned to me that his Bachetta Giro 26 wanted to wheelie on him going up to his shop at the top of this street. Bachettas are not generally known as wheelie bikes, so I was curious to see what this street was like.The first block was

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-27752497285610213512007-01-28T17:42:00.000-05:002007-02-04T17:52:12.038-05:00

I rode a fair bit of the nice paved section of rail trail in Morgantown over the last couple days. The snow's been melting with only the bridges holding onto a bit. Except, that is, for a spot behind this one office building where it sure looks like the occupants have been plowing some of the snow from their parking lot onto the rail trail.Who are these poor neighbors?Why, it's the W.Va. Division

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-41067375815564918652007-01-27T23:07:00.001-05:002007-02-04T17:49:19.973-05:00

Two Celeste grocery haulers. Mine's cleaner.Most of my rides are recreational, but I also find it handy and fun to be able to use my bikes for practical reasons. For me, that is mostly light shopping and runs to the bank and post office.Recumbents aren't always easy to fit with bags that carry enough to do much more than a sandwich run. I have a Carradice saddlebag mounted to the back of my

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-9199002949827662292007-01-26T16:42:00.000-05:002007-02-04T17:48:36.905-05:00

I thought I should explain a bit better some of my ideas for this blog. I started 2007 with a desire to get out on the bike more, and for me that means getting better at climbing hills on the recumbent. I went to recumbents 7 or 8 years ago when I bought a used Infinity (LWB, USS) from a friend. I wasn't able to ride a standard road bike comfortably any longer, mostly due to wrist problems (and

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-19783297272636330802007-01-26T15:57:00.000-05:002007-01-26T16:41:12.640-05:00

The roads had dried off today, so it seemed like a good chance to test ride the bike I'm building up to give to my friend Jay. I'll probably explain in my next post that I'm clearing out some bikes in anticipation of a new arrival to the family. A new recumbent isn't even quite a gleam in my eye yet, but I want to be prepared just in case.This is an '83 Trek, my favorite year. They still had the

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-43865906138977288162007-01-26T12:52:00.000-05:002007-02-04T17:56:24.471-05:00

Hopefully, I'll have a lot more tips from a variety of sources in the future, but we might as well start off with a few things I've noticed that are helping me get up my steep neighborhood hills on my recumbents.1. Riding Postion seems to play a big role in getting power efficiently to the pedals. I have two recumbents at this time, an original, EZ-1 made in Freedom, CA (thanks Nick!) and a

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-70607752429813648662007-01-25T16:59:00.000-05:002007-02-04T17:46:07.672-05:00

Well it's another beautiful day in the neighborhood. And the neighborhood is about as far as I'm going until it gets quite a bit warmer. I hope you're not getting the idea that I'm some sort of macho all weather rider. Actually I've tried unsuccessfully to get myself to ride through the winter for years. I've bought lights, booties (2 or maybe 3 years ago, still unopened), gloves, ... , but until

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519210266078656024.post-82388180424100840172007-01-24T22:58:00.000-05:002007-01-26T23:04:46.309-05:00

I'm here to talk about bicycling, recumbent bicyles in particular, and especially about climbing hills on recumbents. There are bound to be a lot of detours along the way.Living in West Virginia, hills are an issue whatever you ride, but just a bit more so when you are on a recumbent. This year I want to tackle those hills with all the resources I can muster.I've started with a goal of riding my

Mark Crabtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16923070657445641556noreply@blogger.com0