Bar Fight

In 2006 I tried a pair of Jones H-bars on my single speed. Jeff Jones had interesting things to say regarding bicycle design and comfort that seemed to make sense.

However, I pretty much hated them immediately. It felt like my hands were right in my lap and climbing out of the saddle felt terrible. I tried a longer stem but that seemed to make things worse. The grips only felt good in one place, and from there I couldn't comfortably reach the brake levers. I wrote off Jeff Jones as a kook with dumb, curvy bikes.

Years later I bought a pair of loop bars because they seemed to address my issues with the early model: sweeping forward so a normal length stem can be used and more grip area to move around. Still, after purchasing them they sat unused for years.

With my recent neck issues, I thought I would do some experimenting. After all, pain is a great motivator.

I installed them on my Krampus using a ridiculous +17 degree stem I purchased on Amazon. Even with the high-rise stem, they aren't quite as high as Jeff recommends.

After a couple rides I have to say I like them a lot. The bars provide a very comfortable position for the general mixed terrain riding I do most from the house. Because the grip area is at a 45 degree angle, subtle changes in hand placement change the angle of your back and neck so you can change it up. (Mine are the older 660 mm model; the newer 710 mm model even more so.)

At one point today I had a nice tailwind. I grabbed the forward portion of the loop and tucked down to go fast, so you still have the option to get your race on if the spirit moves you.

Anyway, it's only two rides, but so far so good.

Later.

Pain In the Neck

I recently suffered through a bout of muscle spasms in my neck that were pretty miserable. In the course of my diagnosis an X-ray revealed I have a couple bad disks and a little arthritis. This didn't really come as a great surprise. I have had periodic neck issues since being involved in a serious rollover car accident in 1986. I have also been riding bikes for the better part of 40 years.

Years ago I rode stupid bikes like my Dean:

And my Lemond:

And many others with similar positioning. No wonder my neck is jacked up.

When 29ers came along, handlebars came up a bit simply because of the larger wheel size. Fork travel increases have done the same. Still, I am going to start looking for options to ride more upright, at least for my main ride that I spend the most time on. Maybe something like this?

Later.

Biker Bucks 2019

I found $6.98 this year. Obviously if you ride more miles (almost 1000 more than last year), you will likely find more money ($4.01 more than last year).

Later.

2019 Miles

Somehow during what was a chaotic and busy year, I rode over 3600 miles. This total is the most since 2004 when I rode 4604.

I still don't know how it happened. My son played more baseball games than ever, and sadly I am still employed with a full-time job.

At any rate, I have no intention of exceeding or even matching that total next year. In the end it was just too much. For the last couple months I was obsessing over setting a "record" and rode for mileage instead of enjoyment.

Next year the goal is more fun and quality over quantity.

Later.

Bike Free by the Sea

We had a typical Monterey getaway planned, but the Spencer was pretty sick last week, missing four days of school. Then Jenn picked it up, but not nearly as bad. They were mostly recovered, but not completely. We opted to still go to the coast, but without bikes.

Instead of rides we took leisurely walks and took in the sights.

We went to the basketball court a couple times.

Walked some more.

On the last day we went to Carmel, walked around, shopped, snacked, and walked along the beach.

It was only three nights but it was nice to get away. Although I was jonesing to ride the entire time, probably due to Pavlovian response to Monterey, strangely it was also a relief to not ride.

As we prepared to leave, it felt odd to simple put my small duffel bag in the truck without the three bikes, tools, floor pump, GPS units, tail lights, charging units, various accessories, helmets, cycling clothing, etc. It was a simple, stripped down trip missing all the logistics of a normal one.

I guess sometimes it's good to get away from even the one activity you love the most.

Later.

Getaway

 Jennifer and I went to the coast again to do our thing. We went to the aquarium:

Took long walks along the beach:

Enjoyed the wildlife:

Went for bike rides:

And had a beer (or two) of course:

Good times, as always.

Later.

June 1 Weigh In

Over the course of Bike Month I lost 4.5 pounds. Not bad.

Later.