WD-40 quells the last creak

WD-40 silenced my creaking shoes.

This weekend was a milestone celebrated in silence. Nothing squeaked or creaked on my ride. That means my shoes didn’t creak the way they often do, especially when I ride in dirt.

I had tried oiling the cleats, but that didn’t work. It may have made it worse.

What happens is microscopic grit gets between the metal holding plate, shoe sole and cleat. You can clean out the grit but it comes right back.

I decided to try WD-40. WD-40 is strange stuff. It’s mostly a solvent of hydrocarbons that work by transporting a little Vaseline and mineral oil into tiny crevasses.

So unlike a heavy oil, which gums up the cleat and attracts dirt, the WD-40 penetrates inside the shoe cleat and works where it’s needed. No residue and no creaking. At least that’s my experience.

One of the perks from buying WD-40 — it’s made in San Diego.

Forest of Nisene Marks Park reveals a lost memory

Back in the 1980s we had to ride through the creek. Now there’s a nice bridge.

After my 2011 mountain bike ride on Aptos Creek Fire Road through the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, I wondered if I would ever take my road bike here again. I had difficulty negotiating a stretch of road leading up to the green gate marking entrance to the park on the high ridge overlooking Aptos and the Pacific.

I decided to give it a try. As expected there’s a short section that’s not rideable — for me at least — leading to the green gate. It’s not much walking though so it shouldn’t dissuade anyone from trying it.

On my way heading east on Summit Road (note that Summit Road runs east-west, not north-south as many, myself included, have believed) I saw dozens and dozens of riders going west as part of the Strawberry Fields Forever century ride. If only they would ride to work. We could save the planet from global warming.

Perfect weather made the ride go smoothly as I turned right at the summit of Eureka Canyon Road onto the dirt Buzzard Lagoon Road. It climbs steadily through madrone, oak and redwoods. The road was at one time paved based on the bits of pavement I saw along the way.

I took the crucial right turn (Buzzard Lagoon heads downhill steeply from here and it’s no fun to ride) uphill where soon enough the road became a boulder-strewn stretch that will test even the best mountain bike rider. Over the past 30+ year I’ve been riding here, I’ve seen the road deteriorate. It used to be graded, but that’s something I figure we’ll never see happen again.

Once I reached the summit, where a series of trails from Soquel Creek and Demonstration Forest connect, I came across a mountain bike convention. A dozen riders were contemplating their next move. I continued on Aptos Creek Fire Road and soon started the long, long descent to Aptos.

It was here in 1995 on the last small climb before the descent that a mountain bike rider slammed into me head-on. I was knocked out; he separated his shoulder. I rode home while he waited four hours for the ranger and a ride to his car.

But I digress. I continued on to a small bridge over Aptos Creek. Around 1982 Jobst Brandt took a photo of me and Peter Johnson, as well as Jim Westby and Tim Louis. I didn’t understand the location until I walked down to the creek to investigate. Then I realized this was the spot. The bridge over the creek wasn’t installed until the mid 1990s. According to my ride report at the time, the bridge was wiped out by heavy rains in the winter of 1981-82.

A couple miles farther along I rode by a small event commemorating the park’s 50th anniversary.

On San Jose-Soquel Road I made my traditional stop at the Casalegno Store. This ancient house turned store has a nice selection of snacks. I took a photo of four Strawberry century riders and continued on my way.

While riding on San Tomas Aquino Expressway I got into a conversation with a rider wearing a 7-Eleven jersey (you can still buy them) and he told me a sad story about his bikes being stolen off his apartment porch, 30 feet off the ground. The brazen thieves struck in the middle of the night, taking his Ritchey Break Away cross bike and a mountain bike, as well as his cycling clothing hanging out to dry.

How ironic that the first person I met who also owned a Break Away had his stolen. And so ended a glorious ride through the Santa Cruz Mountains on a fine day in May.

Ray Hosler walks his bike through Aptos Creek on June 21, 1982. (Jobst Brandt photo)

Railroad trestle reveals a dark side of Los Gatos Creek

A railroad trestle on a part of the Los Gatos Creek Trail is slated for removal.

In a rough-and-ready industrial area near Willow Glen in San Jose there’s a 90-year-old railroad trestle begging for mercy. Its passing is in many ways a metaphor for life.

Doing the begging are a handful of concerned local residents who have come to know the bridge and who see history. City officials see only charred timbers and liability.

The bridge spanning Los Gatos Creek is slated for removal so a new metal bridge can be installed — another advance for the popular Los Gatos Creek Trail. Or that’s the plan supported by the San Jose City Council at a recent meeting.

On a warm, sunny Saturday morning I rode over to see the bridge for the first time and learn more about the ins and outs of deciding its timbered fate.

Larry Ames invited us to join him for a tour. A study indicates it’s in fairly good shape. It needs repair, but it’s mostly superficial.

What stuck with me was the encampments. People live next to the bridge in tents. Call them homeless, but they wouldn’t see it that way. The wooded creek is their home.

It wouldn’t be so bad if not for the garbage and residents using the creek as their private toilet. It’s not right and it needs to stop.

In a way the trestle fits with the neighborhood. It’s a piece of rough-hewn history and there’s plenty of that here: industry, warehouses, car repair shops. It’s the stuff we’d like to hide, but can’t because it’s part of who we are.

Here’s where elected officials come in. They decide the bridge’s fate, taking the facts into consideration. An outpouring of protest might sway them.

I think San Jose residents are in good hands with their elected officials, especially Mayor Chuck Reed.

Only two bridges of this kind remain in the area, the other being near Kelley Park. See them while you can.

When the Merckx Wind Blows

Gazos Creek Road just before the narrows where creek and road are one.

They say Eddy Merckx could ride like the wind. With a 30 mph wind at my back on Cloverdale Road — going NORTH — I felt like Eddy. Imagine 34 mph on the flat.

Last night’s strong winds left tons of debris on Hwy 9 this morning, one more obstacle for the running relay teams doing their annual event from Calistoga to Santa Cruz.

And if things weren’t interesting enough, a fire in Stevens Canyon drew a dozen fire vehicles and a helicopter. I’m guessing it was a house fire.

When I hit Saratoga Gap the temperature registered 51 and it looked like rain on the Coast. I continued on Hwy 236 into Big Basin State Park and then Gazos Creek Road. I hadn’t ridden its full length since 2010.

I didn’t see much in the way of wind-blown branches, although a tree fell across the road. I suppose it was wind-related. Once again I forgot to bring my portable chainsaw.

Gazos Creek Road is in fabulous shape. No mud, no rock ballast. I haven’t seen it this good in a decade. The gate at the bottom where pavement begins is closed.

After blasting north on Cloverdale (remember storms typically blow from the south) I headed up Pescadero Road and then Alpine Road.

One of my fondest memories of riding with Jobst Brandt came in his later years when he and I rode alone up Alpine many a time. As we approached a wooded section he called the Tulgey Wood, about a mile from the summit, he fondly recited a poem called Jabberwocky, written by Lewis Carroll. It goes like this:

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

A tree falls on Gazos Creek Road. Happily, I missed it falling.

Haul Road Makes the Day

My favorite place to stop for a photo on the Haul Road, shortly before the left fork to Memorial Park.

I can’t think of a more enjoyable ride than the Haul Road in the spring. It reminds me of the Star Wars scenes from Return of the Jedi on the moon of Endor. That was filmed in Crescent City at Redwood National Park.

While it was not as hot as yesterday, it was still warm in places. The Haul Road is usually perfect on hot days, as it was today.

I saw a couple of hikers on the road, but that was it. It’s usually empty of people.

Pescadero Creek at the Bailey Bridge can’t be beat for losing yourself in the moment. Click here to view full image.

Faber’s Bike Shop Memories Burn Bright

One legend admires another. Jobst Brandt checks out Faber’s (closed) back in July 1983.

Sadly, the historic Faber’s Bike Shop caught fire Thursday in downtown San Jose and will most likely be torn down. The building dates back to 1884 and had been used as a bike shop for 100 years.

Many San Jose residents have fond memories of the shop, which has seen its ups and downs over the years. It’s a part of San Jose’s history, no doubt. To get a real feel for the kind of place it was, watch this beautiful video photo montage by Bernardo Grijalva on Vimeo. His black and white treatment captures the rough-hewn wood-frame interior like nothing else I’ve seen.

Faber’s, located at 702 S. First Street, shared its historic roots with yet another bike shop nearby, Desimone’s Bicycle Store on 83 S. Second Street. It was owned by Joseph Anthony Desimone, who died in 1945. I don’t know when that shop shut its doors, but there’s an interesting article about one of the shop’s senior mechanics, Ed Barnes, in a past issue of Bicycle Journal.

Jobst Brandt and Peter Johnson inspect the bike wrecking yard at Faber’s.

Freakish Squeaks Keep on Coming

Old saddles on new seatposts can rub and cause squeaking.

Here’s how it used to look. Campagnolo seatposts offered plenty of clearance.

When will it end? How many more squeaks and creaks do I have to live through?

I blame it on the transition from old, reliable technology to new, reliable technology. I have to learn all over the ins and outs of today’s bike parts and what makes them tick, and squeak.

This time it’s a case of old parts not meshing with new parts.

I purchased a new old stock Avocet Racing II saddle and slapped it onto my new technology seatpost. It’s one of those generic posts with the standard seat clamp I see on most run-of-the-mill posts.

It turns out that the clamp is wider than the Campagnolo Super Record seatpost that used to hold my Avocet saddles, so the inside of the saddle rubs against the clamp. If not lubricated, it squeaks like hell.

Who knew? Today’s saddles don’t have the long sides that characterized the seats of yore. When you think about it, you don’t need the long sides. It was probably a fashion decision to cover the seatpost. Modern saddles have gone the opposite direction.

Smart cars may one day make distracted driving a thing of the past

Starting in May you can buy a high-tech Volvo that promises to save the lives of cyclists and pedestrians, even when you can’t.

It would happen in one of those emergency situations where electronics in the form of radar, cameras and electronic control modules outdo human reactions. It’s new technology, so I wouldn’t ride in front of one of these Volvos to see how it works. Gizmag coverage

Welcome to the future. Google has cars that drive themselves using even more elaborate technology. They’re driving thousands of miles in the Bay Area and working quite well, but it took more than a decade to get to this level.

Misguided video
When you watch Volvo’s promotional video, you’ll roll your eyes at the cyclist’s idiotic maneuver that puts him in the car’s path. I’d rather see a more likely scenario – texting distracted driver drifts into a cyclist from behind.

This technology will take a while to find its way into less expensive cars. In the meantime, what about 18-wheelers? They need this technology more than cars. An add-on would be nice.

These advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are rapidly making their way into the mainstream. Some systems are being mandated by government, especially in Europe. Others are finding industry advocates, such as insurance companies, for reduced insurance costs.

Radar for cyclists
While the technology that goes into these systems is way over my head, I met a cyclist and technologist who has designed an affordable tracking system for detecting cyclists.

Ron Moore, who lives in Santa Rosa, calls his technology Roadar and it’s based on ultra-wide band (UWB) radio signals. Roadar on Facebook

UWB, which has been around for a long time, almost made it into the mainstream before Intel pulled out in 2009. Shortly thereafter the organization driving its acceptance in IEEE folded, slowing UWB’s adoption for commercial use.

UWB has a lot going for it, such as low power, extreme accuracy and lack of signal interference, so it may yet find an application. The U.S. military has done some research on UWB for radar with some success.

The only catch with Roadar is that both the car and the cyclist/pedestrian need hardware, although the system could be implemented in a smartphone using software as long as it had UWB. The car needs a receiver and the cyclist needs a transmitter.

While people online are taking potshots at the Volvo technology — cyclists and non-cyclists alike — we’re seeing the start of a much safer future with Volvo’s technology. It will just take some time for systems to mature and for society to adapt.

Hwy 84 reboot 30 years later

Plenty of water on the Mt. Hamilton ride. At the summit there’s a spigot at the dining hall.

Looking for some variety on the Mt. Hamilton loop, I set out this morning from home (115 miles, 8,500 feet climbing) and decided to check out Hwy 84 from Livermore heading back to Calaveras Road.

Jobst Brandt used to lead us that way until I and others decided it was a bit dicey riding up Pigeon Pass (875 feet) on a narrow two-lane road with no shoulder. Around 1983 we started taking Vineyard Avenue for a time until housing development made it less desirable. Then Jobst switched to Stanley Boulevard.

A two-mile stretch of Hwy 84, or Vallecitos Road, was widened at a cost of $32 million, completed in October 2008. This stretch of Hwy 84 was built in 1931.

On the hottest day of the year so far (90 degrees in Livermore), I started the climb at around 500 feet. I remembered it as being a grind and it still is, about 6-7 percent. It’s just long enough to be annoying.

The good news is that there’s a massive shoulder, with a rumble strip on the side, but even with that there’s plenty of room. The other good news is that the descent is wide open at 34 mph. Lots of traffic though.

There’s only one narrow section of 0.14 miles just before the 680 junction. You need to take the Sunol underpass exit to put yourself on Calaveras Road. I saw a couple on tandem heading the other way.

Even with coffee and chocolate coffee beans to stave off cramps, I started feeling twitches around 58 miles, so I downed a couple of Advil and that took care of the muscles. No doubt heat was a factor.

Mt. Hamilton overlook four miles up. Click here for full size.

San Tomas Aquino Creek Bike Trail Closure

San Tomas Aquino Creek recreation path will be closed at the new stadium starting April 15. A detour will be in effect for a year.

Today was the last day for a year that you could ride past the new San Francisco 49ers stadium (will it have a corporate name?) as the parking lot at Great America gets a makeover.

I rode past today for a final look at the stadium, is moving along. City of Santa Clara posted a map of the detour. It’s too complicated to explain here.

I continued north, taking the usual route around Moffett Field to reach Shoreline Park. It’s such a nice way to go, even with the wind. The blue-billed ruddy ducks bobbing in the ponds made my day.

If you’re looking for a quick way to ride through Palo Alto after taking the bike/ped bridge over 101 at Oregon Expressway, nothing beats Greer Road, Channing Avenue, Guinda.