Bike stories
I had hoped to do a lot of biking this summer, because let's face it: any other activities I'd end up doing would be indoors and too likely to be computer related. So far, I haven't actually biked that much, but there's some bike-related stuff worth talking about.
By mid-July, I had only done a couple of trips up to campus (which I used to do every day), so I wanted to get more serious. One day, I started on a trip to campus, but ended up going up Empire Grade instead of entering the campus. This was tough - Empire Grade gets steep - but it was a satisfying ride. I came down through the North Campus forest. I realized that it was actually the longest ride I had taken, which was humbling. The next day, I decided to try something more ambitious. Originally, I was going to go to Scotts Valley, but I took a map so I could go as far as I wanted to. Getting to Scotts Valley on Glen Canyon Road was a breeze, and I was eager to get farther. I took Glenwood Drive to Mountain Charlie Road, and made it almost all the way to the summit. I was disappointed that I didn't make it to the summit, but I had long since run out of water and didn't want to be unnecessarily foolish. I think I got within about two miles. My GPS was being useless and wouldn't give me my elevation, but my best guess is that I was within 200 feet of the summit's altitude. Because of my stupid lack of water, I turned back to Scotts Valley, and when I got there, I immediately bought a liter of water and drank most of it immediately. I wanted to take a different route back to Santa Cruz, and I decided on Graham Hill road. There was a relatively direct way to get there off Mount Hermon Road, but I missed a turn and ended up going all the way to Felton! Graham Hill Road intersects with Mount Hermon Road up there, but there's a MAJOR hill that I had been hoping to avoid. I think I had to pull off the road and catch my breath about five times before I made it to the top. The rest of the ride was smooth sailing, and Graham Hill road conveniently ends into Ocean St. When I got home, I plotted a map of my route and found that I had biked about 30 miles.
I think biking between Santa Cruz and San Jose would be about the same level of difficulty, and I've actually been wanting to do it for some time. Unfortunately I haven't got around to it. One reason was the housing saga which I will mention in a later post and how it distracted me from this goal. Then, when I finally had a chance, someone borrowed my bike without my permission while I was away and managed to really mess it up. He snapped the derailleur off and caused some other damage. I don't know how or why it happened, but I needed to deal with it. It was time to check out the Bike Church.
The Bike Church has an utter Santa Cruz vibe. It is a cooperative, staffed by volunteers, where anyone can work on their bike. I thought going there would be cheaper than getting a bike shop to do the repairs, and I was hoping to learn something. I had a very good experience. One of the volunteers showed me a drawer of used derailleurs ($5 each), helped me straighten the frame where it had been bent, and told me how to replace the derailleur. I performed the replacement, getting side-tracked on some things (like replacing the shifter cable when I messed up the original one). Unfortunately, the derailleur I installed turned out not to work very well, so the volunteer found a brand new one which matched the other stuff on my bike better, so I installed that one. I then had to adjust the shifter, and also adjust the brakes since I had been messing with the wheels. These were both things well worth learning how to do. I didn't have time to adjust the brakes, but I came back the next day to do it, and trued my wheels beforehand, which was much needed. My bike is in pretty good shape now, with the main problem being that my third gear slips like crazy. I'm not sure why it does this, so I need to take it back to the Bike Church and get help. What's more important than the current state of my bike is that I now know how to replace derailleurs, bend frames, break and relink chains, replace control cables, adjust shifters, adjust brakes, and true wheels. I also spent very little getting the damage fixed. I think the Bike Church is awesome, and I will miss it when I leave Santa Cruz in a few weeks, even if going there does involve being surrounded by hippies.
By mid-July, I had only done a couple of trips up to campus (which I used to do every day), so I wanted to get more serious. One day, I started on a trip to campus, but ended up going up Empire Grade instead of entering the campus. This was tough - Empire Grade gets steep - but it was a satisfying ride. I came down through the North Campus forest. I realized that it was actually the longest ride I had taken, which was humbling. The next day, I decided to try something more ambitious. Originally, I was going to go to Scotts Valley, but I took a map so I could go as far as I wanted to. Getting to Scotts Valley on Glen Canyon Road was a breeze, and I was eager to get farther. I took Glenwood Drive to Mountain Charlie Road, and made it almost all the way to the summit. I was disappointed that I didn't make it to the summit, but I had long since run out of water and didn't want to be unnecessarily foolish. I think I got within about two miles. My GPS was being useless and wouldn't give me my elevation, but my best guess is that I was within 200 feet of the summit's altitude. Because of my stupid lack of water, I turned back to Scotts Valley, and when I got there, I immediately bought a liter of water and drank most of it immediately. I wanted to take a different route back to Santa Cruz, and I decided on Graham Hill road. There was a relatively direct way to get there off Mount Hermon Road, but I missed a turn and ended up going all the way to Felton! Graham Hill Road intersects with Mount Hermon Road up there, but there's a MAJOR hill that I had been hoping to avoid. I think I had to pull off the road and catch my breath about five times before I made it to the top. The rest of the ride was smooth sailing, and Graham Hill road conveniently ends into Ocean St. When I got home, I plotted a map of my route and found that I had biked about 30 miles.
I think biking between Santa Cruz and San Jose would be about the same level of difficulty, and I've actually been wanting to do it for some time. Unfortunately I haven't got around to it. One reason was the housing saga which I will mention in a later post and how it distracted me from this goal. Then, when I finally had a chance, someone borrowed my bike without my permission while I was away and managed to really mess it up. He snapped the derailleur off and caused some other damage. I don't know how or why it happened, but I needed to deal with it. It was time to check out the Bike Church.
The Bike Church has an utter Santa Cruz vibe. It is a cooperative, staffed by volunteers, where anyone can work on their bike. I thought going there would be cheaper than getting a bike shop to do the repairs, and I was hoping to learn something. I had a very good experience. One of the volunteers showed me a drawer of used derailleurs ($5 each), helped me straighten the frame where it had been bent, and told me how to replace the derailleur. I performed the replacement, getting side-tracked on some things (like replacing the shifter cable when I messed up the original one). Unfortunately, the derailleur I installed turned out not to work very well, so the volunteer found a brand new one which matched the other stuff on my bike better, so I installed that one. I then had to adjust the shifter, and also adjust the brakes since I had been messing with the wheels. These were both things well worth learning how to do. I didn't have time to adjust the brakes, but I came back the next day to do it, and trued my wheels beforehand, which was much needed. My bike is in pretty good shape now, with the main problem being that my third gear slips like crazy. I'm not sure why it does this, so I need to take it back to the Bike Church and get help. What's more important than the current state of my bike is that I now know how to replace derailleurs, bend frames, break and relink chains, replace control cables, adjust shifters, adjust brakes, and true wheels. I also spent very little getting the damage fixed. I think the Bike Church is awesome, and I will miss it when I leave Santa Cruz in a few weeks, even if going there does involve being surrounded by hippies.