Can it ever be too hot to ride a bike? I thought it could, but then I saw some people out riding their bikes, so I thought that maybe I could ride. However, that is not the real reason I have been quiet for the last couple of weeks.

I have a full-time job that actually takes up more than 40 hours per week, and then I spend two hours each day commuting. Add on to that the days in the last 2 weeks when I have been scorekeeper for my son’s little league baseball team as they progressed through the playoffs, and I haven’t had much spare time.

The good news is that although they lost their second game in the playoffs, the kids went on to win every game after that, including the final. Way to go, MuckDogs! Odd name for a little league baseball team, but there you go. It was amazing to watch the kids battle through the games, especially when they were down, then were able to get ahead.

A huge learning curve for me too, as I had never been a scorekeeper before. We didn’t play any baseball in England, where I was born and raised. And, of course, baseball rules are very different from cricket. I know I made a few errors in the recording of the hits, but I did get the runs right. Maybe next year, if it is not too hot, I will ride my bike to some of the games. I hear that the games will be played close to the river, so it might be cooler down there.

Those people that were riding in 95+ degree (Fahrenheit, which I still do not understand) should have been carrying (and drinking) plenty of cool liquids, and keeping the speed moderate if they were not. While the breeze of cycling is great, you still get dehydrated, so lots of water to drink after the ride.

That’s it for now. Hope you had a great Father’s Day – I did. Ended with watching Tiger Woods come back to fight a fifth day in the US Open – amazing finish. Rocco Mediate was very sportsmanlike about the playoff, but that is tomorrow.

Today was warm, but breezy. Under the shade of the trees, it would be cool. So, after spending 10 minutes trying to put air into the tires of my bike with a hand operated pump, I realized that something was not right. At that point, my wife said that we had a motor pump (one of those that plugs into the power socket in the car). Much easier!

Loading the bikes onto the bike rack on the car was another challenge – I was not very bright today – making 3 bikes fit onto that thing was quite and adventure. Made me think very seriously about taking a folding bike that I could just throw in the trunk. However, I knew that I would appreciate the fat tires of my regular bike later.

So, off across the Delaware River at Washington’s Crossing – much warmer crossing than when George crossed, and up Route 29 to Lambertville. We parked just north of the township near Route 202:

The path is great for cycling along, particularly if you haven’t done any riding all winter. No steep hills, and mostly smooth.

Some great scenery:

and even a snoozing snapping turtle:

A great way to spend a warm summer afternoon, listening to the birds singing. Oh, and when we got back in the car, we saw a beaver running along the side of the road. And then it was off to a home-made ice-cream break at It’s Nutts Restaurant in Titusville (sorry, no URL).

Well, the ride along the Delaware River will have to wait another week. The list of maintenance work around the house caught up with me. I included digging a hole to allow me to replace a fence post at the corner of our lot. The good news is that the new post is not going to move any time soon – cemented in so well, I don’t think I will need to redo it. Ever. The bad news? Very sore this morning, with a headache. And there are another 4 posts to go just to correct the ones that are leaning over.

I did, however, get to maintain the wheels on my bike, and check out my son’s bike. The rear wheel on my bike was a little out of true – how do I know? When I had the bike mounted on the bike rack I have in my garage I could spin the wheel freely. Well, almost. When one spot on the wheel hit the brake pads, it would bind. Unfortunately, when I checked my toolkit, I found I did not have a spoke wrench. I know as a teenager I had one, but that was such a long time ago, I had forgotten that in moving from country to country I had probably lost it. Note to self: “Go and buy a spoke wrench.”

To fix the wheel this time, I used a regular adjustable crescent wrench, but I do not recommend that as there is not much room to maneuver between the spokes. Also, if the spoke nipples are tight, it is possible to round the nipple. The result of which is replacement.

So, how did I fix the binding? By tightening the spokes on the side away from where the rim moved toward the brake pad, and at the same time slightly undoing the spokes on the side that was binding. You just have to be careful not to over-tighten or over-loosen any individual spoke. How do I know how much to adjust each spoke? I don’t. This is an art rather than a science, but I do find that tapping each spoke with a screwdriver blade can help understand what is too tight and too loose. Much like tuning a musical instrument. However, it does seem to be easier to adjust the side to side movement rather than trying to tune all spokes to the same note.

Once this has been done, repeat until you are happy with the results, with no more binding brakes. Assume that the wheel was made correctly, and make small adjustments, and you should have little difficulty with minor corrections.

All this applies to stopping that side to side movement that some wheels have. Or, if you are replacing a broken spoke. If the rim of the wheel is moving up and down, then it may need more serious adjustment. In that case, I might have taken the bike to a local store to have them ‘tune’ it. Also, if you are not confident in your abilities, please do take the wheel to the local bike store and have it professionally aligned.

Have a great (folding or other) bike week!

This coming weekend is Memorial Day in the US. I don’t know what the weather forecast is like where you live, but here it is looking good, at least for Saturday. Which is great because it has been either too cold, or too wet, or both, for getting out on the bikes with the family at weekends. The rising cost of gas is a very good reason for staying local this weekend. I saw that Regular gas in Philadelphia is already above $4.00 a gallon.

A great place in my neighborhood for riding with the family is along the canal towpath along the Delaware River. Unfortunately, the path along the Pennsylvania side is closed in several places, after flood damage in a couple of floods. The latest schedule for repairs, dated March 26, 2008, shows the last bids due to open in September this year. Don’t know how soon the projects will be completed, but hopefully by next summer we will be able to ride the entire 60-mile towpath. For more information on what there is to see has a lot of information.

Of course, as I have mentioned before, biking along the Delaware River can turn into a great adventure if you stop at one of the many eating places along the way.

More next time on where we go this weekend.

A couple of months ago I blogged about an accident in California when a couple of riders were killed. Since then, I have been seeing a lot more cyclists out on the roads as I commute to and from work. If you have read several of my posts you will know that I have a long commute that would be scary on a bike.

Recently, because of the high cost of gas I have started sharing my ride with a co-worker who lives nearby. Sitting in the car makes me even happier I am not on my bike! It is spring here, so at least it is not dark when I am commuting, but visibility is still important for road safety.

So, as riders, what can we do to increase our visibility? I have noticed that when motorbikes come up behind me they have very bright lights that show up for a long distance. Probably not feasible on a regular bike unless you can pedal real fast with a generator of some sort, or can carry a huge battery to light the thing.

Flashing lights grab our attention quite well – notice how that school bus shows up. Most in our area are bright yellow, so hard to miss. When they stop, the lights are flashing yellow, then flashing red – stands out a bit more. On cloudy/rainy days, I have seen some with strobe lights – they really stand out.

What is the point of all this? In all my cycling I have used lights to be seen rather than to see – I don’t like riding at night because of all those little critters and potholes that can sneak up on you and ruin your evening, or worse. So, I think the development of flashing lights like these is excellent news for increasing visibility.

Why not order yours today?