In anticipation of riding the JBK Haleiwa Metric Century this weekend, I decided to tweak my bike a wee bit more. On my beater bike I’ve been a Zefal Lock’N'Roll skewer up front to keep my front wheel from being liberated. Not that’d I’d worry too much if it disappeared, it must be at least 15 years old and was cheap to begin with…but it works well, so I might as well keep it.
But I’d really love to keep my the front wheel on my Quickbeam as it was built by Rich from Riv and isn’t even 15 months old.
Normally I carry two locks, a U-bolt and a cable. I realize the cable can be easily cut but my QB isn’t parked out on the street that much and I’m aware that I can really only prevent spur of the moment crimes anyway. If someone wants the bike, they’ll get it.
Still two locks are heavy and since cabling the front wheel only makes it difficult, not impossible, I thought I’d try a Pitlock up front. They are expensive little buggers, but if it deters theft, I’m good with it; especially as I don’t want to haul two locks to the north shore this weekend.
A bit of research turned up lots of places advertising low prices, but…and it’s a big but, they really only expedite an order from Germany where said locks are made and there’d be duty and such not included in the price. No bargain that.
That left only a couple of North American importers. The best option seemed to be urbanbiketech.com. They are Canadian and deal only in Pitlocks. Click the image to go to their site:
As I was buying for a single speed bike with horizontal dropouts it was recommended I not use a rear Pitlock as it won’t hold against all the forces applied. That’s not a problem as I usual lock my bike as suggested by the late Sheldon Brown. But because I also have relatively expensive saddles from Brooks, I thought I might try a Pitlock for the seat post.
Here’s my two cents on all this…
urbanbiketech.com – I had no problems at all and received my set very quickly, in time for the ride this weekend, something I wasn’t sure of when I ordered. Kudos.
Front skewer – I had almost no trouble installing this on my Quickbeam following the after-market instructions from urbanbiketech. My wheel rolls as free as ever and it even looks great, though I’ll probably trim down the skewer itself a bit. Trimming is recommended if it sticks out more than 4mm and I’m definitely there. I did end up adjusting one brake pad and creating a squeal, but that’s all on me and certainly wasn’t because of the new skewer. Still it’s something I want to deal with before I go.
Seat post lock – Here I’m not as happy, though it certainly isn’t the fault of the Pitlock or my retailer. It’s just that I had some trouble with tightening the lock down far enough to keep my saddle from slipping down. I took a 25 mile ride after doing the installation (front wheel great), and a few miles in I had to stop and reseat everything. I flaked off a bit of paint while doing it which, as you might imagine, didn’t make me overly happy; though I’m okay with beausage in general. A few miles later I had to stop again thinking the post had slipped, but it hadn’t. I’d just adjusted the nose of my saddle a bit off center and was paying the price. That took a few seconds to remedy and the rest of the ride was fine, though I worried a bit about slippage for the duration. That’ll pass I suspect.
All in all, things are good. I think I can carry one lock this weekend and feel pretty safe.
Now that I’m just a couple of weeks away from the event I’ve got to start making a list of what to take. The first time I did this I took way too much and it didn’t work well enough. The second time I took only a bit too much and everything worked fine. This time I’ll be gone three nights but I’ve also learned a bit. The best small kit list I’ve seen is on the Riv site at their kit for one night link.
Here’s the start for my list:
Hennessy Hammock/Rainfly/Stakes – I love my Hennessy Hammock
Auto Window sun shield – yes, it’s very light and functions as a closed cell pad
Blanket – actually it’s one of those tiny thing sleeping bag things
Pillow – it’s a tiny little thing and definitely worth it for me
Trangia Cookset 27-7 – this will be my first attempt using this alcohol burner
Folding Ice Chest – this’ll be interesting, it’s light and will be stuff with my hammock and pillow up front
Towel – always, always bring a towel
Swim suit – it’s Hawaii
Sunscreen – it’s Hawaii
Extra undershorts – 2 extra
Windbreaker – that’s about how cold it’ll get tops
Phone – just in case
Extra tubes – just in case
Tools – just my daily commuter kit – change a tire, tighten a blot or nut
I’m pretty sure I’ll be adding a few extra things but those are the basics. Frankly I could probably do without the cooking set but I really want to try it.
Things I won’t be bringing…
Computer – I brought one on my first trip and I’m glad I did, I won’t be bringing it again though. Caveat…if my iPad arrives I will be taking it.
Food – I’m only a hop, skip, and a jump from Laie so I can hit the grocery store there. I’ll amend that to say I’ll probably bring some instant oatmeal and coffee just in case.
I’ll be changing this list as the date gets closer but that’s what I know for now…
My smaller, but deluxe, rainfly from Hennessy Hammocks arrived yesterday. I’d originally gotten mine with the larger “hex” model, but I’ve found that it blocks off more air than I’d like and is a bit harder to pack as you can’t simply roll it up into the “snakeskins.”
I pulled out my hammock when the rainfly arrived and put it all together and packed it up so it’s good to go! I’d love to try it before I go out to Malaekahana, but I may or may not get the chance…can you say Sand Island?
Hennessy Explorer Deluxe Asym (regular rainfly)
I’ve used it at Malaekahana before, but I guess I really should give them a call and ask if it’s all right. They didn’t say anything the last time. Of course if I ask, I give them the opportunity to say no. Sigh.
All in all, my bike is ready, especially with it’s new Platrack (more on that in another post). I’ve also got a very light cooler I can use while camping that is light enough use on the bicycle, especially if it’s filled with my hammock and blanket on the way out.
Add to that my new cookset, the Trangia 27-7 UL/HA and I should be styling!
I’m still sort of debating the whole thing, 250 miles in 4 days and all, but I’m really almost there. My big worry is they won’t allow my hammock if I ask. On the other hand, getting out there after cycling 60 miles and not being able to camp because they don’t like my hammock would be a bigger problem. And to top it off, I really should be making my reservations soon just in case it’s a popular thing to do. My fallback position would be to try for one of their “Li’l Grass Shacks“, but that sort of defeats the camping deal.
….breaking news….
It’s all good. I called, asked about my hammock, and was able to make a reservation and secure my site! Sweet. I can even have 5 friends!
I really want a full cook set that works well. The penny stove itself hasn’t been the problem, it’s the stuff I don’t have with it; windscreens, pots and pans, so on and so forth. The solution, as far as alcohol stoves go seems to be Trangia. This Swedish company seems to have claimed the market as far as alcohol cook sets go.
The one I’ve been interested in is the 27-7 UL/HA. All of that means it’s a small set, useful for one or two people, made from ultralight aluminum (UL) and having a hard anodized coating (HA). This is one of the models recommended on the Rivendell website.
The set I want looks a bit, well more than a bit, like this…
This past weekend I gave my Quickbeam its best workout yet. I was invited to a friend’s birthday party at the Malaekahana Campgrounds. There are two sites, one is a regular park, the other has cabins and yurts and more facilities for camping. My friends had taken a cabin for the week for family and had invited friends for the big shindig on Saturday night.
It’s only about 57 miles from my home to the park though it seems like it should be longer since it’s pretty much halfway around the island. If I’d gone only a couple of miles more I’d have been headed home. I probably added a couple more miles on both days running errands before or after the main ride so if anyone asks I’m going with 120 miles total even though it won’t show on the route map.
I didn’t ride with any particular goal in mind for time. I figured as long as I got there by 4pm (when it was suggested we arrive) I’d be fine. As it turns out, leaving at 9am got me there on time with plenty of time for chewing the fat with some folks on the way, having a great lunch, and basically taking my time to stop when and where I liked for photos.
I left town around 9am after packing up my bike. A partial list of what I took includes:
Hennessy Hammock
Tiny pillow
Thin fleece sleeping bag (really a thin blanket with a zipper)
Car sun shield for underneath the sleeping bag – this works great, weighs nothing
Some fresh socks and underwear
Towel
Swim trunks Nikon FG SLR (circa 1982)
Film Homemade Penny alcohol stove
Some instant oatmeal and coffee
Flipflop slippers for running around the camp site
All in all it didn’t weigh much. I tied the hammock and slippers to the front rack for a total of around 4lbs and the rest fit without bulging into my Sackville Large SaddleSack. The first image in the slide show more or less shows the quickbeam ready to go.
The weather was good but the VOG was terrible. When we don’t have tradewinds we often have a lot of volcanic gas blown in from the Big Island. You can see in the images just how hazy it was.
The first 15 miles from my home take me from the center of Honolulu out to Hawaii Kai and involve little climbing except for a wee bit around Diamond Head. I’d ridden my QB around Diamond Head before so I knew having only one gear wasn’t going to be a problem without gear, but with the gear I figured it might be a little more difficult. I was in the standard 40×16 configuration and never felt the need to change to something else (I’ve got a 16-19 White on one side and a 22 bailout on the other if I need it along with the regular 40-32 chainwheel set).
In Hawaii Kai I stopped at a Starbucks and had a long morning coffee and bought a banana for when I reached Makapuu as a treat for getting over the next two hills.
Once past Hawaii Kai, and the climb around Koko Crater (near Hanama Bay), I descended to Sandy Beach and started taking images. I’d chosen the Nikon FG with a 28mm lens (I had a 50mm with me too but no zoom) and Fuji 100 Reala print film as a fitting tool for the ride. I only took one digital image (with my iPhone) and that was of lunch on my way out.
From Sandy Beach there’s another climb up to the Makapuu lookout and I managed to drop a tandem on the way up. I was going slow, but they were going slower is how I’ll describe it. I never even came out of the saddle on the whole ride as I recall.
Once we descended to Makapuu Beach I hung out with the local Heavy Breathers club. They ride out this far every weekend. Some go on to lunch in Kailua, others head back.
They were almost all very impressed with the Quickbeam, the fenders with mudflaps, the Brooks, the Saddleville SaddleSack, and the fact that I’d dropped the tandem. I think this was the first time I’d passed anyone on a hill ever, so I was impressed as well.
I was continually surprised at how lightly the QB climbed, even loaded, and how steadily it descended. In fact the limiting factor on my descents was me not the bike.
The only fellow who wasn’t impressed was a young guy in technical clothes, painful looking shoes, and bike that will probably be splinters in a year or two. He said it was just “an expensive copy of an old frame.” He wasn’t having any of it. Everyone else drooled. I chatted with them for quite a while, maybe 30 minutes. I also took a couple of shots of Rabbit Island while there.
Then it was off for a ride through the back roads of Waimanalo. One can follow the main road, but it’s a lot nicer through the back route. Actually I didn’t go as far back as I could, opting for a pleasant route that is closer to the main road.
Next it was up Keolu Hill where I took the shots overlooking Kailua.
The next section was the biggest challenge of the ride. Between miles 27 and 30 there’s pretty big drop and climb as the road passes through a gulch. I probably should have stopped and changed my gearing but I toughed it out slowly.
Then it was through Kaneohe (not really all that pleasant though safe enough if you keep your wits about you) and down to Kahaluu and the Hygienic Store, a local landmark. It’s really just a Mom & Pop place but it attracts good business it seems. There are some lunch wagons selling lau-lau, poi, and other local foods as well. I wasn’t hungry yet, having had a good breakfast.
Now I was on the real scenic part of the route, out in the country as it were. The rest of the ride goes past some of the most beautiful spots on the island (there are many) and is reasonably safe even though there’s only one road and shoulders are narrow. I wouldn’t try this at night, but during the day folks seem quite used to cyclists. The only real problem areas are the small bridges over streams that have no shoulders at all and generally only a wooden walkway off one side of the bridge. Signs say to walk your bike but no one does. Since they are so short it wouldn’t be worth it..just take the lane and go. No drivers complained that I could tell (no honking, swearing, or peeling out once folks go past me). There are a lot of bikers out most days, but fewer and fewer the further afield I got.
I stopped for lunch in Kaaawa. Yes, it there are 3 a’s in that name. Ka-a-a-va (short a’s) would be close if you trying to pronounce it. The location was Uncle Bobo’s and I took the only digital image of the trip while eating my well deserved pork BBQ. It was ono (delicious in Hawaiian).
And then it was over. I had arrived about seven hours after I’d started covering 60 miles with plenty of rest stops for chatting with fellow cyclists, taking pictures, having coffee, eating lunch, and….remembering to get a birthday card to replace the one I realized I’d left on my kitchen counter. Sigh.
I set up my Hennessy and joined the party.
The next day I rode pretty much exactly the same route back. One reason for that is there just isn’t much of a choice. I wasn’t any quicker getting back, but once again I stopped for pictures, lunch, and a visit with some of my family who live in Hawaii Kai. They think I’m nuts, but in a good way.
Here’s the complete set of images from the ride. I didn’t bother editing them so be warned, some are better than others and some are repetitive.
