Eastcoast prep

Eastcoast prep:
By Tyler

I have been riding a Giant Kronos from the mid 1990's for the past several months, making incremental adjustments until I now feel that it is up to the task of carrying me to the arctic ocean.

The climate was so mild here in the seacoast of New Hampshire this year to permit me to ride the 6 miles from my apartment in Newmarket to the University of New Hampshire in Durham straight through the

winter.

When I moved to Newmarket in the fall last year, I was excited about the potential to ride to school and the 10km commute proved to be ideal.  It gave me just the right amount of time to wake me up in the mornings, and to clear my head at the end of the day.  After riding a few beater bikes in Norway, I was ecstatic to returned to my bike and when I found studded tires on deep discount, memories of slipping through Trondheim's frozen streets convinced me to but a pair... of course the subsequent winter was so mild that I used them three times.  Oh well, it let me ride the road bike instead.  My ride of choice ended up being Packers Falls Rd, with the intermittent jaunt down Bay/Durham Point Rd on the blue bird days, and the rare suicide run down 108 when time was short.

Newmarket further demonstrated its ideal suitability for a cycle commuting student when Independant Fabrication (IF) moved their bike factory into a suit in one of the refurbished historic mill buildings.

Historic mill buildings in Newmarket, NH  where Independent Fabrications is located. Photo Source:  http://newmarketmills.com

A blown tube first brought me in contact with the fine IF crew a few days before they opened shop.  Gary was kind enough to not only to give me the tube (the register hadn't gone online and I had no wallet with me) but to replace for me himself.  I have been back numerous times for this, that, and the other thing, including a new tires, and a bike fitting.

I was not sure to begin with if it was a good idea to take such an old, heavy bike on a 2000+ mile tour, so I asked the people best suited to deliver honest analysis - the folks who fabricate bikes from scratch.  My bike is noticeably out of place in a shop that sells exclusively custom and Belgian bikes, and I felt a bit like an impostor walking my ride through the shop, in between the multi-thousand dollar display models.  I asked Jesse, the certified bike fitter, and Gary, the president, for their opinions of my steel framed monster, and they gently confirmed that it is a well built, reliable, heavy as all get out piece of crap.  They agreed to fit me to my bike and I worked with Jesse to produce a full suite of dynamic biometrics to optimize.

Bike fitting with Jesse at Independent Fabricaitons.  The LED's were tracked with a 3-d camera to generate biometrics that we used to determine bike fit and to make adjustments.  Photo credit to the talented Paschal Vincenti.

We decided to raise the handlebars, which meant replacing the quill with a threadless adapter, stem and handle bar.  I also decided to replace the break calipers and cables and housings this spring.  In the end the bike is more comfortable to ride, lets hope it stands up to the test!

At the closure of the academic year, I packed up my belongings and moved to my family's home in Alton: one trip in the car, and a second trip with the bike and trailer.  Oh yeah, the trailer!

So the trailer story is that I had not taken a clear side in the pannier/trailer debate until this single wheeled, light, new trailer fell in my lap at a local bike swap for the right price.  I have been riding with rear  panniers for over a decade (wow, can I really say that? yeah I guess so... scary) but never front panniers.  I experimented with a passenger trailer by Burley, but they had far too much play in the connection and I felt like I was wasting a tremendous amount of energy with every pedal stroke.  This new trailer is similar in design to a Bob trailer, but has no markings. The Ortleib 85 liter duffel fits the rig perfectly and makes my load water proof (fingers crossed).

 

Riding through Newmarket. Photo credit to the illustrious Paschal Vincenti.

But I was in the middle of moving back to Alton when I interrupted myself.  I rode from Newmarket to Durham where I surrendered University keys, said some goodbyes, and picked up a cycling companion: Dr. Wallace A. Bothner.  We rode together for 10 or so miles before parting ways.

Wally, en sann Norsk mann på hjert, født den 17. Mai.

I continued on for the remaining 40 miles on my own along backroads.  I chose to take the historic main route, and discovered quickly why a new road has been built in the boring ugly out wash plain... The historical route was laid out in the forest, past large farms, and full of history  as opposed to the modern highway running past sand pits, strip malls, and box stores. However! The historic route seemed to prioritize a short path of travel over a flat path, blazing over ridges and hills making the most direct route possible between villages.  What a big difference the route makes.

Elevation profile along contemporary main roads (the way I could have gone).

Elevation profile along historic main roads (the way I chose to go).

 In the end, the same amount of elevation has been netted, but the gross elevation change is nowhere near the same.

Move from Newmarket to Alton

Once I reached my home town, I stopped into the local bike shop, Liken Biken and bought a replacement chain.  I chatted with a Sram representative for a bit about touring before finishing my ride home to a fantastic meal and a comfy bed.  If this one day dabble was anything like what this summer has in store, I cannot wait.