The Bicycle Workshop

This is a really well done video of a cyclist riding about 18″ to the left of the white line and then again, riding to the right of the white line.

It is a simple demonstration of how close the cars get to the cyclist in the two situations.

We are hoping to do some on-bike video using the new video camera we just got for my work with the GO MAINE Bike Commuter Education Program and this is on the right track. Many thanks to John Brooking of the Portland Bicycle Meet-Up group for sending it along and suggesting a similar effort based in Portland.

To see the website where it originated, see the links below.

Mythbusting on Highway 535 from Keri Caffrey on Vimeo.

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The Bicycle Workshop will be offering two classes on August 29th, 2009, in Bath, Maine.

Dont Walk Home (Roadside Repair) will be offered from 9:00 am – 11:30 am

The Art of Wheel Truing will be held from 12:30 – 3:00pm.

Both classes are for you to learn about your bike so bring it along. It is what you will be working on.  But dont’ worry, we will have other wheels you can learn to true before you tackle your own!.  We’ll provide the tools, but if you have your own and would like to learn how to use them too, you are encouraged to bring them also. If you have tools that you carry with you on your bike, you should definitely bring them. Of course if you don’t that is fine too, since we’ll show you whats out there and we’ll send you home with a list of what you might want to buy.

To find out more about either of these classes, simply respond below. You can also click on the links above for detailed descriptions.

Pre-registration is required so we know there are enough people to fill but not overfill the class. Class size is limited to 5 participants. However, if two people want to work on the same bike, that’s’ OK with us.

Location: We are using a wonderful studio space in downtown Bath located at 100 Front St, unit #31. Be aware, it’s a third story location so you’ll have to climb some stairs with your bike. We are happy to assist you with this part too. The door is located just to the right of a little tunnel that connects Front St to a parking lot behind the block of buildings. Go up the stairs and take a left through a door and up another flight of stairs, then left again. We’ll put up signs on class day.

Time: The class times are listed above. It’s advisable to get to your class about 15 minutes early so you can get settled and so we can see your bike ahead of time.

Ages: Anyone 15 and older is welcome to join. Parents can drop off their kids if they know their child can handle a 2.5 hour class on their own, but we’d much rather have them stay and learn with their child. We’ll only charge for the child and the parent is free.

Prices: Classes are $60/person/class. Folks often arrive with a friend or spouse who’s interested too. However, we encourage folks who expect to need to use what they learn to bring their own bike because it helps ALOT to get familiar with your own bike, not your spouses, or buddies bike.  ALSO, we offer a parent child deal where if you come with your child and bring just the child’s bike, the parent comes for free.

Supplies: If you want to take a class that lets you put on new parts  (like replacing your tires or brake or gear components during that class), we encourage you to bring the parts.  Please be sure the class you are taking is appropriate for this though!  We don’t have parts on hand and we’d hate to teach you how to take your bike apart and have you leave with it in pieces because you then need to go get parts. We also know it can be frustrating to go through all the motions of replacing something that you want to replace, but put the old parts back on because you don’t have the new ones. Typically, we consult with each participant ahead of time and can advise you how to go about this. Our goal is for you to leave with a working bike. Don’t be afraid to ask us for what you want.

What to wear: Wear clothes you can get dirty in. Tires and chains will make a mess of new clothes. There is a place to change at the studio too.

For more info, please ask questions below.
Thanks and we hope to see you there.

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The Bicycle Workshop will be offering two classes on July 25th, 2009, in Bath, Maine.

Dont Walk Home (Roadside Repair) will be offered from 9:00 am – 11:30 am

The Art of Wheel Truing will be held from 12:30 – 3:00pm.

Both classes are for you to learn about your bike so bring it along. It is what you will be working on.  But dont’ worry, we will have other wheels you can learn to true before you tackle your own!.  We’ll provide the tools, but if you have your own and would like to learn how to use them too, you are encouraged to bring them also. If you have tools that you carry with you on your bike, you should definitely bring them. Of course if you don’t that is fine too, since we’ll show you whats out there and we’ll send you home with a list of what you might want to buy.

To find out more about either of these classes, simply respond below. You can also click on the links above for detailed descriptions.

Pre-registration is required so we know there are enough people to fill but not overfill the class. Class size is limited to 5 participants. However, if two people want to work on the same bike, that’s’ OK with us.

Location: We are using a wonderful studio space in downtown Bath located at 100 Front St, unit #31. Be aware, it’s a third story location so you’ll have to climb some stairs with your bike. We are happy to assist you with this part too. The door is located just to the right of a little tunnel that connects Front St to a parking lot behind the block of buildings. Go up the stairs and take a left through a door and up another flight of stairs, then left again. We’ll put up signs on class day.

Time: The class times are listed above. It’s advisable to get to your class about 15 minutes early so you can get settled and so we can see your bike ahead of time.

Ages: Anyone 15 and older is welcome to join. Parents can drop off their kids if they know their child can handle a 2.5 hour class on their own, but we’d much rather have them stay and learn with their child. We’ll only charge for the child and the parent is free.

Prices: Classes are $60/person/class. Folks often arrive with a friend or spouse who’s interested too. However, we encourage folks who expect to need to use what they learn to bring their own bike because it helps ALOT to get familiar with your own bike, not your spouses, or buddies bike.  ALSO, we offer a parent child deal where if you come with your child and bring just the child’s bike, the parent comes for free.

Supplies: If you want to take a class that lets you put on new parts  (like replacing your tires or brake or gear components during that class), we encourage you to bring the parts.  Please be sure the class you are taking is appropriate for this though!  We don’t have parts on hand and we’d hate to teach you how to take your bike apart and have you leave with it in pieces because you then need to go get parts. We also know it can be frustrating to go through all the motions of replacing something that you want to replace, but put the old parts back on because you don’t have the new ones. Typically, we consult with each participant ahead of time and can advise you how to go about this. Our goal is for you to leave with a working bike. Don’t be afraid to ask us for what you want.

What to wear: Wear clothes you can get dirty in. Tires and chains will make a mess of new clothes. There is a place to change at the studio too.

For more info, please ask questions below.
Thanks and we hope to see you there.

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This appeared in Switch Magazine, May 2009

When people get back on a bike after a long hiatus, they tend to operate from the heart more than the head. They are after a feeling as much as a function. Freedom, speed, simplicity? Maybe, but I call it magic. They want to feel the magic again.

Recently a friend dropped off a bike she wanted to use for a triathlon. She is a very rational person and wanted me to check it out before she used it.  When I said it might not fit her, she said she just wanted to ride for the summer and do one race so it wouldn’t really matter if it was too small.  In other words, she felt the magic and so this other stuff shouldn’t matter. I had to explain that bike size was like shoe size so since she wouldn’t wear the wrong size shoes for the summer and a race, we should look at it.

It also shows up with the garage sale bike where someone sees a bike that has sat for years and “worked great when I parked it there”, which is code for “your magic ride awaits.” Then the mechanic says it can work but what was once grease is now essentially glue and so it needs some work, they are so heartbroken. As if the magic has disappeared. Maybe this isn’t “the bike” after all.

Older people who come in and get scared off by all the gears, which is legitimate, suffer from this too. They are quick to say they only need one gear, like they had when they were a kid.  And the shop has to try to explain, kindly, that their knees may not agree and that they live where there are hills so gears might be integral to actually enjoying the bike. So the shop has to work to connect them to the magic in a bike that will actually be enjoyable too. This is where being a good salesperson is actually a gift.

It’s beautiful to see people so blinded by the magic really. It speaks to the underlying allure of the sport that otherwise rational people will turn a blind eye to reality in a quest to feel the magic once again. And if this describes you, don’t despair. The magic is still there because it’s actually in you. Your bike is just the vehicle.

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Danny Macaskill has been treating us to mind blowing trials riding videos via You Tube for a while now. Every time I see one, I get totally inspired. The other day I took my otherwise usesless backyard and started making my own humble trials riding course. It’s a start anyway, and it’s spurred on by videos like these. I dream of being able to ride out of the 180 on just my back wheel or huck up onto a parkbench back, stall and continue on. I”m 40 so i’m not counting on getting there, but I’m not giving up either.

Anyway, here is a tribute post to a rider with phenomenal skill. Though I will say, I cringe when I see him going for pure drop height. Save the knees Danny. Take it from someone who knows. You’ll still want to be able to do it at 40. Trust me. Style and technical  trumps vertical anyday.

Here it is:

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I just talked with the owner of Ernie’s Cycle Shop in Westbrook Maine about a class she was preparing to give to some Girl Scouts. As the conversation turned to safety and helmets and such, I offered that I tell students that I have no problem with stunt riding and I do it myself. To which she replied, “Do you know what we are doing on the ski slopes now? We have a winter downhill series!”

Oh my god! This is too cool!

Winter Bike

This is the best cycling news i’ve heard since it dropped below freezing. I can hardly believe it. Fellow nutballs hurling themselves down a slalom course on the snow on bikes. Think of the flips, the lack of brakes and traction, the ear to ear grins.

I have to see this.

And if you want to see some photos from last year or learn more, check out these photos or this video.

And for a page on the series go here. For the nitty gritty at each mountain go here.

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From a safety standpoint, this is video is probably best described as how not to ride, but in terms of sheer enthusiasm and connecting with the joy of creating and riding a human powered vehicle, it is a video of how to ride better.  Simply put, these guys love their bikes and have built fantastic machines, plus a song and a following. It shows the passion that bikes and independence can bring out.

What you should also know is that the originator of this group, Tyrone Stevenson, is also quoted in an article about this as wanting to win a Nobel Peace Prize. From someone living in Oakland, California, that’s reason for hope right there.

My hat is off to these guys.

If you want a more local version of the power that bikes can tap into with youth, check out the Community Bicycle Center in Biddeford, ME.

It’s an amazing example of what a few great adults can do with a lot of really great youth, using bikes as the medium. Bikes are vehicles of change.

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When I was nine years old, my brother used to tell me that when he saw me shifting my bike without moving. I never knew what it meant but I imagined little cogs flying off the bike if I pushed on the shift lever too hard. A lot has changed in the last thirty years but that saying still remains.

Today bikes have up to 30 gears. Chains got stronger and thinner and all bikes got a whole lot lighter. But we still have shifters connected to derailleurs via little cables and derailleurs trying to push the chain from one gear to the next. And in most cases, they still wont shift unless your pedaling. So can you still strip your gears? Sort of. Continue Reading »

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Pack em up and move em out!

Recently I was talking with Sarah Cushman, head guru of Portland Green Streets, and she was telling me of a newfound freedom that came in the form of a bike trailer. She said she got it for towing her toddler and then discovered the incredible utility if offers too. I knew what she meant. Continue Reading »

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Biking in the late summer, early fall is my favorite time. The days get hot but the mornings and afternoons are crisp. Maine at it’s finest. The only bugger is that my commute ride can start to bump into low light situations. That’s not a big deal, but one that needs to be tackled head on. Continue Reading »

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