The Cycle Truck is back!

Spotted at NE 60th and Davis

Yesterday (Tuesday November 29th) I got my Worksman Low Gravity bike, aka the "Cycle Truck" back. You may remember me talking about the Cycle Truck in such "classic" posts such as Bike Crazy, Obsessing over the not-so-important things, The Grocery Run, Cycle Truck Updates, and The Cycle Truck hauls the freight!

I loaned the bike to an acquaintance before leaving for the Cross-Continent Tour. Figured it would be better if it got used. Unfortunately some drama ensued (which I don't want to get into) whether they were going to buy it or not. Finally I went today to collect the bike.

I stopped by Oregon Bike Shop to have some things checked out and adjustments done. Importantly, the Brooks B67 saddle was missing a nut where the rails attach to the spring, so it was a bit loose. Jim gave it a good bill of health so off I went!

Before leaving on the trip, I wasn't so sure what I was going to do with the bike. It was, and is, a beast of a bike. When I need to carry big, bulky things, it's the right tool for the job. But it's not a bike I would use everyday. Riding back home tonight, however, felt different. Somehow the bike felt lighter and more nimble than before tour. It was about 5 miles back home and I had fun every minute. It didn't hurt that another bicyclist shouted "Cycle Truck! Woot!" in passing.

Still, I don't think I'm going to hold on to the Worksman indefinitely. At some point I'll want a cargo bike that's either a more nimble or has more capacity. When I have money, of course.

And I think I found something that has caught my eye...

More on that next time!

Healing...

So it's been a week and a half since my "accident". The healing process has done its wonders so far. Each day the scab above my lip has grown less conspicuous. Some of that is due to it getting smaller, but I've also started to grow a mustache since I don't want to shave around it and to draw attention away from said scab.

I think it hides it well. And anyway, I was looking for an excuse to grow a mustache again. (April doesn't like mustaches.) Maybe in a few weeks it will be of Tweed Ride epicness.

A mustache that would make Greg Norton proud, maybe?

As for the knee, it is coming along well, though not healing as fast as I was hoping. Earlier last week, when I started to ride the bike after taking three days off, I thought I could pull off the Cycle Wild camping expedition that occurred over the weekend. But as the weekend drew closer, I was still hurting. I didn't want to push myself on a 50 mile (one-way) ride when I wasn't sure how my knee would do. And the Clackamas River valley is not the appropriate place to find out--if I couldn't ride anymore, I would have to hope a random vehicle would come by and transport me back home. Once past Estacada, there is no public transport, nor cell-phone service.

It is doing better now. I barely feel the soreness, though in the shower on Sunday I noticed how bruised my right foot is. I must have also hit it in the accident, maybe against my pedal clips. The foot hurt a little last week, but I never looked at it, mostly because I've been wearing socks all the time. Oops.

Hopefully by next weekend my knee will be 100% again and I can go on a long ride.

Other People's Bikes: A Trio of British Three Speeds*

Hello friends and welcome to another installment of everyone's favorite game show, "Spot that bike!" And this one is all-British edition. While British built bikes are not uncommon stateside, most of them seen over here are Raleighs. Which makes sense, as Raleigh was the behemoth of the industry and exported a lot of bikes. The three bikes featured today are less commonly seen badges.

First let's go back to the Cross-Continent Bike Tour. While April and I were in Minneapolis, we spotted this beauty outside a liquor store:**

A Dunelt ladies bike in delightful condition! Not a heck of a lot of info online about Dunelt. Sheldon Brown indicates it was a second-tier brand, not as nice as Raleigh/Humber/Rudge. Doesn't matter. Still a beautiful bike, and a lot better than anything Huffy, Murray, or AMF could make at the time. (If you are interested, here's an interesting account about another black ladies Dunelt from Minneapolis from the same era.)

Later on in the tour, but not much later, we were riding through the beautiful Mississippi River valley, the "bluff" country of Minnesota and Wisconsin. We stopped at River Rider bicycle shop in Wabasha, MN and peeped this looker:

A Triumph in terrific condition! Triumph is more known for its motorcycles. Raleigh earned the bicycle rights in 1956 via its acquisition of B.S.A. and used the Triumph badge for more "second-tier" bikes. Triumph bicycles should not be confused with the band Triumph, which was a second-tier Rush.***

Fighting the good fight with bellbottoms. And no, this is not Rush. Seriously.

Finding my way back to the item on hand...Dave, the owner of River Rider said he was basically given this bike for nothing. It sat in someone's garage for 40 years, and they "figured he could do something with it." Yeesh. How I wish I was so lucky!

Finally, we'll come back to Portland where April and I spotted this specimen outside the Clinton Street Theater:

A Philips in phantastic shape! From Sheldon Brown, "A division of B.C.C. (British Cycle Corporation), Phillips, based in Birmingham, was the second-largest British bike maker until merged with Raleigh as part of the TI takeover in 1960. Raleigh-made Phillips models are near the bottom of the quality range." Near the bottom? Pshaw. You're a good bike, Philips. Don't listen to what that mean Sheldon man has to say about you.****

Lamp bracket with "P" cutout.

This Philips is different than the other two bikes featured because it is actually a single speed with coaster brake, not something I normally associate with British bikes of the era. Too bad the day was wet, because I can only imagine how awesome that saddle is that is concealed by the bag. (I was tempted to look, but the owner of the bike came out of a store and gave a disapproving look to all my paparazzi biz-ness.)

Unknown coaster hub.

Tune in next time for more interesting bikes, possibly from far-off lands. And in the meantime you can check some of the interesting bikes I've peeped on my flickr set Interesting Bikes Spotted.

*Okay, two three-speeds and a single speed. But British roadsters and sport-roadsters of that era are generically called "three-speeds", much like road bikes up until the 90's were called "ten-speeds" even if they had 5, 12, or 15 "speeds".

**Surdyk's.

***Yet they were both from Canada, eh?
****No, I don't really think Sheldon Brown is "mean".

Random bike stuff on None More Black Friday

Flickr/Wikipedia, Joe Goldberg

Black Friday came and went. I did indeed work at the hostel, though I never went to that Bollywood party. Alas.

At the hostel I managed to find this:

I did also find that awesome hemp satchel with the image of a very Euro utility bike at the Hostel , but we'll be talking about the light here.

I lost this Portland Design Works Radbot 500 rear light sometime before I quit the hostel and took off for the crazy Cross-Continent bike adventure. Nowadays having another battery powered blinky light isn't that big of a deal since both my primary bikes, the Raleigh Wayfarer and Surly Long Haul Trucker, have front and rear dynamo powered lamps. But I like having backup blinkies, just in case something happens to a rear light or I really feel like I need the extra "oomph". 

On the way back to "the house" I swung by Clever Cycles. And...I bought some stuff. Yes, I know that it's "Buy Nothing Day". Does this make me a bad leftist or something? Anyways...I found these in their "Bakfiets of Bargains":*

A dynamo powered headlamp and taillamp, made by Basta/AXA, a renowned European bike parts company. And for $2 each. Sweet! The catch is these lights are halogen, not LED, hence the sooper-dooper discounted price. (As I was perusing the "Bakfiets of Bargains", Todd, one of the owners walked by and exclaimed, "Halogen is dead!") As far as Todd and I can tell the headlamp does have an LED standlight, as the package indicates there are two LED "safety" lights between the bulb and reflector. I figure we can use these lights on April's Raleigh Sports when we install the dynohub front wheel. I might also pick up an extra headlamp as backup for one of my dyno-powered bikes, in case one gets broken or a tweaker somehow yanks one.** For two bucks you can't go wrong. And now you know where you can get ridiculously cheap halogen dynamo lamps.

(I also picked up a pair of wool undies for ridiculously cheap, but that's a different story.)

And when I got back to "the house" I found this scene in the kitchen:

Why yes that is a Moka Pot in the background!

Our room-mate Donna was "baking" her Brooks. She just got a new Brooks B67 saddle to replace her worn out old one, and decided to expedite the breaking-in process by putting a bunch of Proofide on it and sticking it in the oven for a couple hours. Non-standard, yes. I'm assuming it's also "kosher", because if it wasn't, Mr. Raving Bike Fiend, aka "her husband" would have said something.

Yes, we are bike crazy round these parts.

*Yes, they actually do have a bakfiets filled with bargain-priced items. Alas, I did not take a photo of it.

**I've heard of at least one tweaker attempting to do that here in Portland.

My Sooper-Dooper Sale is continuing on through December 15!

Welcome to Black Friday! While some people have been camping at Best Buy since Monday, and some are getting ready to protest the whole ridiculous circus of this consumerist event. I'm assuming you, dear reader, are warm at home somewhere, or maybe on a fun bike ride. Myself? Well, I'm working at The Hostel in the morn (while I did indeed quit before the Cross-Con Tour, I do fill in from time to time), and then going to a Bollywood themed party in the pm.

But maybe at some point, whether today or in the near future, you might be thinking of the whole idea of buying gifts for "The Holidays" or just for yourself. Well, if you like bicycle themed stuff (and I'm assuming you do since you read this blorg), maybe you'll consider purchasing some fine items from myself?

Well if you are, you are in luck! I've decided to continue the special Sale prices through Thursday, December 15! What does that mean?

• Posters for $8 each, postpaid!
• Postcards and buttons for $1 each!
• Zines from $1 to $3 each! This includes the Cycle Touring Primer at $2. You'll be paying $3 for that after the 15th.

Please head on over to my Store to see the selection and purchase what you want! (Prices shown reflect the discounted rate.) 

And if you are in the Portland area and rather shop in person than get it through the mail, then please stop by Bike Craft Fair at Sandbox Studios, 420 NE 9th Ave, on Saturday December 3 and Sunday December 4 (11a-6p). Mention the "web special" or "blog special" and get the discounted rates!

More Blog Mentions, and Yes, Tomorrow is a Holiday

Hello friends! Seems like the Urban Adventure League is getting a bit of internet attention this week! First it's the Old Three-Speed Gallery. And today I found out that Adventure Cycling talked about some photos I uploaded to their Group Pool. Highlighted is this piece of bike touring graffiti found atop Loup Loup Pass in Washington:

And if you are in the United States of Something Something, you know that tomorrow (Thursday the 24) is indeed the holiday we call "Thanksgiving". April and I will be celebrating it this year at her family's place in the western suburb known as Beavertron, er, Beaverton. As per tradition, I will stuff myself with Tofurky.

Hope y'all have a good holiday out there!

The Wayfarer Gets More Blog Love!

Hey friends! My Raleigh Wayfarer just got selected for an entry on the awesome Old Three-Speed Gallery blog. Check it out here.

Laying Low, Easing In, and Itching to Ride

Spotted at SE 28th Ave and Brooklyn St, Portland. 11/20/11

Hello friends. Since my spectacular bike crash on Thursday night, November 17th, I've been taking it easy and keeping a low profile. And that hasn't been that hard, since I'm currently unemployed and had no obligations to fulfill over the weekend.

The healing process has been working its thing. My upper lip was pretty swollen on Friday, then subsided Saturday. As of now (Monday night the 21st) it is still slightly swollen. The wound above my lip has scabbed over. My right knee was quite swollen and a bit painful on Friday but the swelling has gone down. I've mostly hobbled around the house, though I've made a daily trek outside for groceries and to get the Long Haul Trucker checked out. One of the great things about where I currently live is that I'm two blocks from a food co-op and a bike shop; how's that for convenience!

I've kept off the bike for three days due to the knee. On Monday I made my first journey on two wheels since the crash. I wanted to see how both my knee and my bike were handling. Both did well. I was a little nervous and shaky as one tends to be on the first few rides after an accident. (I did ride after I crashed, but I was full of adrenaline then.) I'm taking baby steps with getting back into riding; Monday's journey was a 2.5 mile (4 km) round-trip. Each day I hope to increase the mileage a little bit more. I hope I'm in good biking shape by the weekend because I plan to go bike camping.

Bike camping? In late November? After a 4,000 mile bike tour?

Yep. Despite the road taking its toll, I'm itching to get out there again. I was thinking how I could do that at this time of year with my limited (read: no) finances. And then Matt Picio put out the call last Thursday for those interested in biking out to the Clackamas River in Mt. Hood National Forest this Saturday. The Clackamas is a beautiful area, and a favorite bike camping destination for many of us due to its scenery and access: it's about 30 miles (50 km) from the eastern suburbs. As for its beauty, I'll let some of these photos from Brad Reber speak for that.

It won't be this dry and warm this weekend. Photo: Brad Reber

Doesn't this look like fun? Photo: Brad Reber

Of course it's going to be cold* this weekend, highs maybe 45F (7C), lows maybe 35F (2C). And damp.  (There is the chance of a little snow at the elevation we'll be camping.) And dark early. Not exactly the most conducive conditions for camping. But I've been wanting to try my hand at off-season camping for awhile. I've done it once: March of 2010 I decided to trek up to Battle Ground Lake for an overnight. Unfortunately I did it alone, so it wasn't as fun as I hoped it to be. This time there will be company, and hopefully a good fire, something to keep us warm. Hopefully the ride still happens. And I'm ready for it.

*Yeah, we know how cold it is in the upper Midwest right now, thankyouverymuch.

New stuff for the Raleigh Wayfarer Mystery File

The Wayfarer reposes on the pedestrian bridge by Union Station, 10/29/11

It's been almost a year since I purchased my trusty Raleigh Wayfarer from the bowels of East Vancouver. What initially started as a lark, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a vintage British 3-Speed?" has turned into something more. An initial $30 investment turned into an almost $400 project. I made a bike that was remedially rideable into something appropriate for everyday use. In the process I learned a lot about classic bikes and vintage British 3-Speeds.

What I haven't learned much about is the particular "Wayfarer" model. When I got the bike I looked anywhere I could on the internet for information. Scant info came up. While Raleigh is/was a rather large bicycle manufacturer, this particular model was elusive. I shared what I knew in the post The Wayfarer Mystery back in December, 2010. It can be summed up as such:

• Sheldon Brown has no mention of this model.
• None of the Raleigh catalogs I could find online featured this model.
• All of the other photos of the Wayfarer that I could find online were from the U.K. (See this search on flickr for more.) When I got the bike, the brake levers were the reverse of what would normally be found on a U.S. bike (left=front) but what would normally be found on a U.K. bike (right=front). This led me to suspect it was a U.K. only model that somehow made its way over here.
• Every single Wayfarer I have seen is blue.
• There is also evidence of a BSA branded Wayfarer. Here is an illustration of one.

• As described by Mr. Raving Bike Fiend in the comments from the original entry: "The B.S.A. Wayfarer looks nearly identical to the Raleigh although it does not have the Heron chain ring...It would be a good guess that Raleigh kept the Wayfarer model in production after dropping the BSA variant and offered it at a lower price point than the Sports."
• As described by Mr. C of Manchester Cycling in the comments from the original entry: "Raleigh had an unhelpful habit of using the same names on different bikes and at different times (for example, the Stowaway). many times the same basic bike was given a different name or a different captive brand was used so that Raleigh could sell what was essentially the same bike to different companies with the benefits of calling them exclusivity deals. The main differences between these models would often be no more major than the chainring pattern, headlamp bracket or chain-guard style (in addition to bundled acessories). "

In the intervening year I haven't found much more about the Wayfarer model, but there have been intriguing developments.

Firstly, I've found some photos of a B.S.A. Wayfarer. This example come courtesy of flickr user niniferrose:

Ladies frame. By niniferrose. Note BSA chainring.

Looks pretty similar to this 1971 model of Raleigh Wayfarer:

Courtesy ninferrose.

Raleigh owned BSA and the last year that I saw the BSA Wayfarer listed in photos was 1970. It's a good assumption that Raleigh dumped the BSA moniker then, as Raleigh owned like half of the UK brands at the time. They wanted to continue the Wayfarer model after that (maybe for market share or name protection) so rebadged Wayfarers as Raleighs, with minor cosmetic changes (badge, Raleigh front fork, Raleigh Heron chainring.)

On a side note: BSA stood for Birmingham Small Arms, a manufacturer of guns, bicycles, and motorcycles. The bicycle division got eaten by the giant Raleigh megalith around 1957. BSA bikes are uncommon in the States. But Americans should know about BSA. Yes, they should. At least if they were alive and coherent in 1987.

The assumption so far has been that the Wayfarer was a lower-priced model than a Sports. Though if it was, some of the Wayfarers were equipped with Sturmey-Archer Dynohubs (in the rear hub) as seen on this photo:

Courtesy niniferrose.

Wish I could have gotten a model with a Dynohub in it!

The other interesting tidbit came recently from an ad in Craigslist. Someone is selling a Western Flyer "Wayfarer".

Western Flyer was the house brand of Western Auto. Typically these bikes are American boat-anchors, usually made by the likes of Huffy, Murray, or AMF-Roadmaster. But the seller indicates that the bicycle is labeled as "Made in England". It has cottered cranks, lugs, 26" x 1 3/8" tires, and a Wrights saddle. All tell-tale signs of British bikes. It looks like Western Flyer did the same thing as some other American bike makers did in the 1960's: If you want a quality adult three-speed, import one from England and put your badge on it. Huffy did it with the Sportsman. So it's possible this was simply a BSA or Raleigh Wayfarer with a Western Flyer badge. Interesting!

Big thanks to niniferrose for gracious use of his photos in this post.

Bike Photo of the Day: A Set of Four Brooks Saddles

Yes, that last post was heavy, so here's something lighter.

On Thursday November 17 I stopped by the Seven Corners New Seasons Market on SE Division and spotted three bikes with leather Brooks saddles. Of course I had to add my bike to the set! Of course I had to take a photo. Of course the three dudes who owned the bikes came out when I was taking the photo, and gave me a puzzled look.

The bikes, from rear to front:

Custom Milholland bike

My Surly Long Haul Trucker

Univega Gran Turismo

Custom Ira Ryan bike

The saddles all look to be B17s, except for my Champion Flyer, which is basically a B17 with springs.

For fancy notes on the photo, go check it out on my flickr.

Eating It: (Mis)Adventures in Urban Cycling, or Stupid Bicyclist Tricks

From flickr user Faceless B

The tracks. Bane of the Portland cyclist's life.

Portland is almost as renowned for its rail transportation as it is for its bicycling. But our current rail transit network is pretty recent: the first MAX light-rail line opened in 1986. The Portland Streetcar came in 2001. We don't have "heavy rail", so much of our network is street-level. And we have a lot of freight rail across the city as well. Which means there are plenty of crossing of tracks in this town.

And those tracks love grabbing bicycle wheels.

Now the easiest way to avoid "eating it"  on the tracks is to avoid streets with tracks. But inevitably one will need to cross tracks, so the best way to do it without crashing is crossing perpendicular to the tracks, at a right angle. Still, the tracks claim so many bicyclists each year, inexperienced and experienced alike. I know too many people, whether personally or friends of friends, who have eaten it in the tracks. Stories of broken arms, wrists, collarbones, teeth. The adage is if you haven't eaten it yet, just wait.

For ten years I managed to keep off that list. I followed the safest practices when dealing with tracks, and prided myself on that.

Until last night.

*****

Thursday November 18. A dark and rainy night, a little after 9pm. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance just had a little shindig to celebrate their new digs in the Pearl. But it was done, and I was done, so I headed home. I opted to use the bike lanes on the Burnside Bridge. After crossing, my plan was to turn right onto Martin Luther King Blvd and then right onto SE Ankeny in order to get to SE Water Avenue. MLK has a fresh set of Streetcar tracks running down it here and turning right and staying in the right lane put me in between the rails. This was a stupid move, hands down, but I don't know what I was thinking. (Especially since I could have just stayed on Burnside for a few more blocks and cross all the tracks perpendicularly.) So turning right meant onto Ankeny meant cutting across a track. A wet track. And not perpendicularly. At speed. What the hell was I thinking? I wasn't.

And you can guess the outcome. BAM. I'm down on the pavement, face first.

I quickly got up and dragged myself and my bike to the side of the road. MLK is a busy street, thankfully no car was right behind me. Shaken and jacked up, I assessed the situation. Nothing felt broken. Bike doesn't look obviously broken. But my face: shit. I'm bleeding quite good from above my lip. Fuck. And I didn't have a mirror to see how I looked. I stood there for about five minutes, dabbing blood off of my face with a handkerchief, cursing myself for my stupidity. I had no one else to blame for this but me.

So I calmed down and got on my bike. It still rides, good. I rode home, occasionally dabbing my face with the kerchief. When I arrived at home I looked in the mirror. Shit. I took out a good little chunk of skin above my lip, plus scuff my chin a bit. And my right knee: it was bruised and hurting as well, but not a dire oh-shit pain. April assessed the sitch and said "You need stitches." Fuck. And no place to go but the Emergency Room.

Somehow I have managed to go my entire adult life without having to go to the ER. I've been to Urgent Care a few times, but the last ER visit for me was back in 1978 when I needed stitches on my chin. Guess there's a first time for everything, but I was really hoping I would still be on health insurance when this happened. (I think if I had insurance I would have just rode to the ER without going home first.)

I was in no state to bicycle the four miles to Legacy Emmanuel Hospital so we enlisted the aid of a friend, Heather. She drove us to the hospital with a Zipcar and left us to deal with the hospital. Thankfully the ER experience moved through relatively fast, and no one gave me shit. When they found out that I ate it on the tracks, I got a knowing nod. "Yeah, we've treated a lot of people here that have done that." There was some debate amongst the doctors whether stitches would do any good since I lost enough skin, but they ended up doing it. Now I have five stitches on my face, a fresh tetanus shot, and a packet of antibiotics and pain killers. Three hours it was done and April and I took a cab home.

*****

This morning I look like I took a hit from a boxer. My upper lip is swollen and I have a good gash above it. My right knee swelled up and is in mild pain. No bicycling for a few days until it goes down. I feel stupid more than anything. If I was thinking clearly this whole experience could have been easily avoided.

But it could have been worse. I could have broken something, which has happened to a lot of people who ate it on the tracks. The bike I was riding, the Surly Long Haul Trucker, survived as well. I hobbled over to a local bike shop to have it checked and they gave it a clean bill of health. To be honest, I was almost a more worried about breaking the bike than myself. The hospital is most likely going to write off my bill as a "charity case" since I am so broke, but there ain't no such service for a bike. And blood is easily cleaned off a waxed cotton rain cape. (I'm sure you wanted to know that.)

Yes, it could have been much, much worse. I could have been eaten by an alligator.

From bikeportland.

WPC "Thanks!"

Hey, I don't really show my art on this blog, but I probably should start.

Here's a little something I did for the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition. Steph Routh, their Executive Director, is a friend of mine, and needed an image to go on their thank-you cards. They just had their big awards ceremony a couple weeks ago. This is what I came out with.

What do you folks think?

Adventures in Shellac: Fancy Bicyclist Part 7

Welcome friends to another installment of the Fancy Bicyclist!

Today we'll be talking about shellac.

No, not those guys.

Shellac is a natural resin which comes from the lac bug and is normally used as a protective coating or finish on wood. But it can coat other things like cloth, twine, and cork. This comes in useful for bicycles, as one can shellac cork grips, cork tape, or cloth tape. As Velouria explains so eloquently on Lovely Bicycle:

When you cover your handlebars in cloth tape, two things will happen to them over a surprisingly short time period:  They will get dirty from your hands rubbing road dust into them, and they will get soggy from rain and sweat - which can cause the tape to distend, discolor, and even rot eventually. Shellac will form a protective layer that will prevent this from happening.

So it's pretty...and functional. I can attest to both. If I didn't shellac my cork tape on the bars of my Long Haul Trucker before the four month Cross-Con Tour, I would have needed new tape by now.

Still, the shellac doesn't last forever and will start wearing off from the constant rubbing of hands against bars. Once you decide to shellac, you are committed to shellac. You will need to reapply. My fancy twining (that I spent three hours on before departure, three hours that could have been spent, I don't know, sleeping*) started to unravel by the end of month one, and by month two it was pretty ravaged.

Thankfully I was in Edmonton, where Mr. Keith Raving Bike Fiend saved my ass (or would that be arse?) once again. He fixed the twine, showing me a better way than I did it, and re-shellacked everything.

Of course by the time I got back to Portland the shellac was pretty worn so I went out and bought myself a new can of shellac.** This time I opted for amber color vs. clear. These were the results after about four coats.

I think they came out nicely.

Unfortunately one 100 kilometre ride wore a bunch of shellac off. I think it was all the rubbing of wet wool gloves. So I reapplied another layer. I don't have photos of this time, but for some reason some parts came out grayish. I don't know what exactly caused that.

And since I did the bars on the Long Haul Trucker, might as well re-shellack the cork grips on the Raleigh Wayfarer.

Not too shabby either.

Join us next time at Fancy Bicyclist for our next installment: How to obsess and futz with every little detail on your bike!

*Sleeping is for loooosers.
**Of course one can get shellac flakes and then mix it with alcohol, because that is so old-school and "artisan". But I'm just a Fancy Bicyclist, not a Fancy Ass Bicyclist.

Don't Know What You Got ('til it's gone)

Oh Tom Kiefer, you are so right.

I've been thinking a bit about the upcoming Palm Tree Ride in January. In the couple months leading up to the ride during my wanderings around town I keep my eyes open for new palm locations. This is how I have found all the palms for the rides I've done over the past seven years. It's also how I find other interesting things around town.

The upcoming Palm Tree Ride is themed "back to our roots". As I've tried to explore different regions of the city after the first two rides, this one will be a return to the palms of the first couple rides. So I've been passing by these palms to make sure that they are still there. For the most part they are. But on Wednesday November 2nd I made a shocking discovery: one of Portland's tallest, if not tallest, palms is no more.

There was a Chinese Windmill palm growing in front of the apartment building at 2525 NE Glisan. I unfortunately don't have a great shot of the palm, but thanks to Google Street View, you can see what it looks like:

View Larger Map
And in case that don't work:

I don't know for sure when this palm was planted, but it's been long enough for it to be as tall as the three story building. The apartment building was built in 1922. I don't think it was planted then (though I think windmill palms can live quite long), but it had been there for awhile. I remember that this particular palm was featured in a Willamette Week "Best of Portland" piece years back and someone mentioned it might have been planted in the 1940s. I can't find that piece (no thanks to Google) and the date they determined was conjecture anyway. It's safe to assume the palm was old.

So I was startled to find out that it was gone.

I wonder what happened. Was the tree sick and old and needed to be cut down? Or did the owner simply decide they didn't want it there anymore? If it's the former, I can understand cutting it down. But if it's the latter, that's a shame.

I know that some people hate palm trees. Too much association with California, and more specifically, Californians. So cutting down the palm could be seen as a "justifiable" act. Let's face it: there are no protected palm trees in Portland. You'll never see one be considered for Heritage Tree status. Palms don't look like they belong here. But how many of Portland's Heritage Trees are actually native to this area? Or most of our street trees? Those lovely trees that we admire, most of them are native to areas east of the Rockies or the Mississippi. How's that for local?

And that spindly windmill palm, clinging on for dear life to the side of that apartment building, was the closest thing to a heritage palm tree we might ever get.*

Let's face it: we're more apt to tear down things from our recent past or things we don't feel belong here than  "historic" buildings. But what is historic? Don't we need to preserve some aspects of every era, even if we find it ugly at the time? In the 1950's Portland went to work tearing down block upon block of 19th Century cast-iron buildings. Why? Because they were "ugly" and "old". We lost a great chunk of history. Thankfully in the 1970's the tide changed and preservation was a buzz word. But preservation of things of a certain age. Or of "historic value".

Who determines historic value, anyway? As documented in Dan Haneckow's excellent blog Cafe Unknown Portland just recently down Hotel West where the famed punk club Satyricon was located. While the building itself was not "architectually significant", Satyricon was culturally significant. It was where Kurt met Courtney, for one. But that mattered little in the eyes of the preservationists. So down it went. Twenty years from now, will we look back on this and think that we were foolish?

I was a bit steamed, to say the least.

Thankfully the palm tree just around the corner was still standing.

I think the palm compliments the Del Ray Apartments quite well.

And I found something else to cheer me up: a madrona tree! I spotted this beauty on NE Everett near 24th.

Love the exfoliating bark!

Now ironically enough madrones are native to this area. They are in fact the only broadleaf evergreen we got native to this part of the Northwest. But you rarely see them around town, because they make bad street or yard trees. Not so much due to the litter of leaves and exfoliating bark but more due to soil. Madronas like well drained soil. That's a reason why they cling to hillsides, and why most of them are found along the bluffs lining the Willamette. Most people don't want to go through the trouble of planting them on their property.

I like including madronas along with other "exotics" as eucalyptus on my Palm Tree Ride. So I lost an old friend and gained a new one for this upcoming tour.

*The palm on SE 22nd and Stephens would be the runner-up.

Other People's Bikes, Part 4: A Vegan Block Twofer Tuesday

It's Twofer Tuesday here at the station rockin' the Willamette Valley, KUAL!*

And the bikes chosen for the "twofer" were found at the on-street bike rack on SE Stark St at 12th, in front of Sweetpea Bakery/Herbivore/Food Fight/that tattoo place. Yes, Portland's "Vegan" block. The bikes were spotted last Wednesday, November 9, when April and I were on our way to Vancouver.

First up is the mystery bike.

The head badge and any identifying decals have been removed or covered up, replaced by a gaudy lime green paint job. What kind of bike is it?

I'm no bike expert, but I think I've guessed what this vintage three-speed ladies frame bike is. A Sears. Or more specifically, a "Made in Austria" Sears. I mentioned this interesting "collabo" while talking about the Ska Huffy. During the '60's Sears seemed to really want to compete with bike shops by offering decent quality bikes that were cheaper than what could be purchased at a bike shop but better than a Walmart. Since no America company save for Schwinn were really making "quality" bikes (and Schwinn wouldn't make rebadged department store bikes by this point), and Japan was a blip on the horizon, the place to go was Europe. (The dollar was much stronger then!) It would have seemed logical for Sears to get Raleigh to make a three-speed for them, but instead they went to Steyr-Puch in Austria. Steyr-Puch primarily made three-speeds for Sears, but did also make a few early ten speeds for the behemoth American retailer. By the mid-seventies it was more economical for Sears to get its bikes made in Japan or the US and they seemed to care less about quality at this point, so they stopped selling "Made in Austria" Sears bikes.

The main clue that makes me think it's a Sears-Puch is the three speed hub:

It's not a Sturmey-Archer, nor a Shimano.** It's a Sachs Torpedo.

Sachs Torpedos were used on the Sears-Puch three-speeds, and I doubt there are other bikes that we'd find of this age in the US that would have a Sachs hub. More about Sachs/SRAM here.

It also has three piece cottered cranks, when all American bikes of this era (save high-high end Schwinn and small framebuilders) used one-piece Ashtabula cranks.

And lugs. Also something you didn't really see in the US.

And the tires? 26" x 1 3/8", aka E.A.3, aka 650A, aka 590mm. Still in pretty nice condition.

The one major bummer of this bike besides the paint job is the lack of parts. No front brake, shifter cable, etc. No worries! The person selling the bike ($45 when I last checked) has all the parts. They can be found at St. Francis. Why don't you go make an offer?

*****
The other bike that caught my eye was this pinkish lovely:

The first thing that caught my eye other than the paint job was the brand. Ray Inkley. Not much I can find on the internets other than Ray Inkley was a racer and framebuilder from the UK, building bikes in Lincoln, UK during the 70's and 80's. So it's quite exotic as it is.

But upon closer inspection I notice: IT'S A THREE SPEED! Sturmey-Archer, of course.

I couldn't tell which S-A hub, though. I thought it might be a more exotic fixed gear three-speed hub. But when I blew up the photo, I could tell it is an AW hub, the "standard."

I really like all the attention to detail, like the matching grips and U-Lock "cozie". Someone really loves this bike.

And loves Brixton as well.

*****
Next up a "twofer" from BadCo!

*Yes, I do realize there is a KUAL and it is located in Minnesota. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KUAL

**I don't think there was ever an American manufacturer of three speed hubs. The most we got was the two speed kickback, which was made by Bendix and/or New Departure. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)