Father-Son GAP Trip Preview

Mission accomplished! I wanted to get a couple thoughts out while their fresh...  I raised the topic if the GAP/C&O trail with my Dad 2 years ago.  The 330 mile trail connects DC and Pittsburgh, the two cities we live in and I was just starting to ride more seriously.  How cool would it be to do that ride!?!

This past Christmas the best gift I unpacked from my dad was the GAPCO 'Trip book'... He was up for the challenge and proposed a spring and fall trip, each accomplishing roughly half of the distance.  I was overjoyed with the prospect and we began scheming in earnest back in February.  We both had planned for significant sorting mileage to get our mind and bodies prepared for the three day event.  Mother nature was not kind this late winter/early spring though and neither of us got the kind of miles we were going for.  There was talk of alternative plans for our Father-Son long weekend based on the lack of ability to prep, when the forecast started looking more and more damp we again both hesitated. 

As late as last Monday, three days before the rendezvous I got an email from my Dad, "I've doubled down on our trip, I just bought rain pants and a jacket". That was that!  Our GAP trip from Frostburg, MD to Pittsburgh, PA (135 miles) was on!

A series of posts, a significantly cut down sample of the 800 pictures and dozen or so GoPro videos to follow soon, stay tuned!

Thursday Night Social - #DinnerOutside?

What is better than getting out of the regular routine mid-week?  Last Thursday night we did just that on an evening ride with friends to Jones Point Park in Alexandria for Popeyes chicken and three awesome homemade side salads courtesy of Erika.  We had great riding companions (Jenny and Stephen) and met up with Josh, Shawna and Charlie (the lab) at the park.  Same idea as coffee outside,  'dinner outside'?!?  Why not!

Good weather, light exercise, great company, tasty food, dash of exploration...  Yes please!

Erika's delicious and ingeniously packaged homemade salads were a big hit, the mason jars are excellent for bike transportation in my Topeak trunk bag.  You'll notice we had several flavors of 'electrolyte water' to choose from!

Charlie kept a close but respectful eye on the chicken all night.

Jenny, Stephen, Charlie, Josh and Shawna all enjoying the fried chicken and salads

Sunsetting on our little dinner party

Erika's Motobecane Mirage Mixte gets neglected here because the project predates the blog, predates moving to Alexandria and as a matter of fact was my first whole bike project.  I built it up for her two Christmas's ago with a 650B conversion, friction thumb shifters and a VO handlebar setup.  She loves the look of the bike but has recently asked for wider handlebars, so I'll be sourcing some Alba-type bars soon.

The XO-3 was pressed into duty for this trip freshly shod with the Chris King 32H front wheel I failed to sell, new VP black pedals and the finally re-spaced to 130mm White Industry ENO rear hub (I'd been running the to large 135mm spacing all year up to now but got the replacement axle ends.)

I'm a huge fan of the 'new' Woodrow Wilson bridge, I love the swooping supports and the clean white look. It always reminds me of a line of seagulls.

WW Bridge by Moonlight, with the cruise ship 'Spirit' heading down to Mt Vernon and back with dinner guests.

If you venture down to the actual Jones Point Lighthouse down from the bridge crossing you'll see an awesome looking light house and also run into one of the fantastic historical quirks of Alexandria/Arlington/Falls Church, a boundary stone!  Southern most boundary stone for the original 10x10 mile reservation of the District of Columbia

Illuminated by bike light, this turned out better than I had expected.  Southern most boundary stone for the original 10x10 mile reservation of the District of Columbia

May?!?

How did we get here?!?  Saluki blending in along the National Mall...

April Riv-Ride (#3)

Photo essay, not a ride report... :)  Good times had by all.

Erl's 56" (26er) Atlantis looks sharp w/ the new Compass 1.75" tires

Cant' get enough of Howard's Sage Hilborne.  This color is fantastic in person.

Can't escape w/out some group pictures.  Quite the color line up w/ the Agapanthus Saluki, Green-blue Atlantis and Sage Hilborne.  Riv/Grant sure know's how to pick them!

Exploration of SE DC in front of the Display Ship Barry, part of the US Navy Museum at the Navy Yard.

Erl at the Capitol

Riv's on parade

The crushed surface of the mall walkways feels amazing on cushy tires.

No more scaffolding, looking good.

I couldn't have said it better

I couldn't have said it better... I had the extreme good fortune to run into Mary and Ed in DC on Wednesday morning enroute to work and the spontaneous pit stop conversation in the middle of the street was a spectacular way to kick off the day. It didn't hurt that I was steaming in a very unusual configuration... sailboat fueling vehicle!  The Agapanthus Saluki (known as Agatha) was front loaded w/ a 2 gallon can of 87 octane destined for my 26' Sailboat - 'Summer Breeze'.  Great conversation starter (as if a large man on a purple bike needs a conversation starter!)

If you aren't following Mary at Chasing Mailboxes you are MISSING OUT!

Astute eyes may notice the cockpit change to albatross bars on Agatha, I'm behind on some informational posts including a pretty awesome bike build helping my friend Joe get his UBI self-built frame on the road last night!!

The Original.... Coffee Outside

Having coffee outside is not original, but of late in the bicycling community it has been popularized by Rob Perks of Ocean Air Cycles in Ventura CA.  His images and descriptive blog posts have inspired many to try and get a little more out of their pre-work time.  I had the distinct pleasure of joining Rob for some coffee outside at Ocean Air Cycles home base, right on Ventura Beach in CA last Monday.  I've written about my excellent experiences with Rob and my Rambler test ride before so I'll just let the pictures do the talking here.... enjoy!

Does the Pacific Ocean at sunrise need any caption....

Yes he's using a flint striker to light his alcohol stove to brew coffee outside after bicycling to an ideal spot to enjoy the sunrise... :)

Obligatory Rambler #1 porn

Back to the Pacific Ocean

Back the Pelicans, I was transfixed by these guys as Rob brewed up the coffee. They were winging up and down the coast at wavetop height seeming to dip their wingtips in the crashing waves. Awesome!

My borrowed ride for coffee outside - more on the sweet 650B Trek later!

Pictures or it didn't happen...

The outdoor coffee brewer's panoply

West coast double brew technique

My while riding shots are a challenge given my manual focus lens but at least you can recoignize OAC #1 on Rambler #1

How much do you want it... the stuck seatpost edition

The remains of an aluminum seatpost.

This post is over a month tardy but I had to get around to it... I think I'm only now emotionally ready to discuss it because the process of removing the horribly corroded aluminum seatpost from my steel 1993 Bridgestone XO-3 was way more complicated than it should have been.  I realized the post was stuck the day I bought it but figured that some elbow grease and maybe some lubrication would do the trick.  As it turned out I ended up bending the rails on the saddle and not budging the post after much grunting and swearing.  Next up was the fairly obnoxious use ammonia to try and dissolve the aluminum - steel corrosion. Of course to get it in there I had to remove the crank and bottom bracket, hang the bike upside down and fill the seat tube with ammonia.  I did that for 9 days!  The seatpost didn't even blink.  Next in the problem solving process I took the drastic step of hacksawing the seat post at 1" above the frame and attempted (hardheartedly) to use a hacksaw blade to saw through the now hollow tube enough to break it loose.  This may have worked if I'd given it much more time and effort. But even then I'm not sure as my eventual success would prove the corrosion was incredibly complete.

I threw in the towel on hard labor with the promise of good living through chemistry...

(not my video obviously)  The picture up at the top of the post shows the results, a couple notes about the process. I ended up using 4 lbs of lye (sodium hydroxide) purchased first through Amazon and then at the local hardware store when I blew through the first 2 lbs in no time.  The reaction, at least for me was way less catastrophic than I had anticipated. I ended up spending over 4 hours with the chemicals, it was a huge mess, I ended up with  minor skin irritation on my face (probably wiping my cheek w/ my gloved hands).  The frame was a mess, I thought I had ruined it to be honest but I just got fed up w/ the process and was sloppy towards the end.  The frame finish was already really rough so once I wiped it all down the next day it was really no worse the wear.  The truly disappointing part to me was that even with the application of so much time and chemicals I still had to use a hammer and screwdriver-chisel to remove the ribbons of seatpost painstakingly.  I was so rough with the frame I thought for sure I'd deformed the seat tube for good.

As it turns out the Bridgestone took that walloping, took the chemical burns and spat it out like nothing. The bike now has a completely adjustable seatpost as was intended and I'm glad the project is over with!  I'd be happy to answer any questions, the use of the lye is a tool in the tool box but I'll be attempting to never do it again.