Pico's Cycling - Tales of the Road June 2014 Vol. 2 No. 6

Pico's Cycling - Tales of the Road welcomes a new writer to our ranks. Nancy Sathre-Vogel has more experience at riding and writing than the rest of us here. Her contributions are appreciated. Since she's from the USA and Jack and I are both from Canada, I think we can now say we're an international webzine. We're still hoping to attract other writers to join us, although there is no complaint about the quality we boast this month. Minor updates should be evident

We're well into another cycling season now. I hope all our readers enjoy a diverse, enjoyable and safe touring season. Pedal on!

In This Issue

(To view articles separately, just click on the titles)

The Kindness of Strangers: A Safe Place to Sleep

Without wasting anytime, Nancy Sathre-Vogel has done a lot of the things that I would have loved to do myself. She has authored several books on the subject. After reading her here I would encourage anyone to visit her site, where you can not only read more stories like this one but also buy one of the books she has authored.

It’s a New Touring Season! - Where does everyone want to go?

The first of two articles by our regular contributor Jack Hawkins. Time to saddle up.

On The Road Flat Tire Repair

If you ride a bicycle, you've gotten flats. Here's a quick article to help you stay in the saddle longer and not let this minor problem cramp your style.

How to Spend Three Hours Getting Lost...

Jack has been playing in the mud. There has been plenty of that to go around. I've gotten lured off the beaten path myself. It's only fun for so long.

Cornwall Good Samaritan

I was cooking up this article before Nancy and I decided on an article from her work. I think they make good book ends for this particular issue. Just goes to show you can meet a lot of good folks on the road.

Looks like this issue is another step forward for us. Here's hoping we can continue to get better and better. A strong cycling season, interesting writers, more experience on my part - it's going to be a great year.

It’s a New Touring Season! - Where does everyone want to go?

By Jack Hawkins http://jackonabike.ca/

Summer is finally here, and this means that we cyclists are able to get out and ride. May’s been a great month for it. I have been out on a few rides - some short, some long. As I crank up the mileage, I’m on the lookout for places to go on some short tours.

National Parks in the area, such as Kouchibouguac stand out as possible destinations for overnight trips. For those of you who are more adventurous, perhaps a multi-day ride to the Fundy Coast, or maybe take a leap back into history - with visits to both the Acadian Village in Caraquet, and King’s Landing in Prince William, New Brunswick. Or, if the hustle-and-bustle of cities is more to your taste, why not do a “tri-city tour” of three of New Brunswick’s largest centres - Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John? Each offers something different - while maintaining that ‘city lifestyle’ that you (and I, admittedly) love.

Why not a trip to New Brunswick’s coastal location of Cape Tormentine - maybe use that beautiful location as a stopover on your way to a circumnavigation of Prince Edward Island! The Island is well known for tourist attractions such as Anne of Green Gables, and it’s quiet country lanes offer fantastic cycling all around the island.

Further afield, there are challenging, yet rewarding places to ride in the Maritimes, such as Nova Scotia’s legendary Cabot Trail, somewhere that I hope to be able to ride this year. The Cabot Trail boasts some of Nova Scotia’s most beautiful scenery, and while the climbs are incredibly challenging, so I’m told - it is well worth all the sweat and tears just for the vistas that accompany the hills.

If you’re looking to go outside of the Maritimes, then I wish you luck! What about those of you who are venturing overseas this summer? Or perhaps setting off on an epic, cross-country ride across Canada? Maybe you’re heading south, to the States (after the winter we’ve just had, I can’t say I blame you!)... What about those of you (like my friend Iohan), who set off from Alaska last month, and will continue his ride to Ushaia, Argentina in August. From there, he says he wants to go around the world. Are any of you taking off to ride around the world?

I want to know, where are you going this Summer? Where do you want to go? How are you planning your trip? Are you wild-camping, staying in hotels, or motels? Tell me all about it!

No matter where you’re going, or how long you’re gone for, I am sure that it will be an incredible experience. As travel often is, and as bicycle touring often is.

About the Author

Jack Hawkins is a freelance travel writer and touring cyclist. Originally from the UK, he swapped one seaside town for another in 2006, and has been living in Canada for eight years. Jack has always had a fondness for writing and after graduating from Bonar Law Memorial High School in Rexton, Jack decided to pursue a freelance writing career, and implemented his love of cycling into his work shortly after a chance-meeting in 2013 with a fellow Englishman who had cycled across Canada.

Jack currently writes for this webzine, but is also a monthly contributor Mike's Bike Shop's E-Magazine, "The Rider's Edge". He recently worked on and published a series of thirty-one articles for revered bicycle touring guru, Darren Alff, for his website: http://gobicycletouring.com/. Jack also writes articles, journals, gear reviews, and interview pieces for his own website - http://jackonabike.ca/.

On the Road Flat Tire Repair

By Pico Triano

Photos by Simon Shirley

I lost count of the number of flat tires I’ve had to repair in my travels. If you are going to do any amount of riding, you should learn how to do it. Depending on where you ride, you might have to get real good at it. While going to college in Pasadena, California I learned to stay away from the Rose Bowl. Seems I got at least one flat every time I went there.

You need some basic equipment to do the job. Most patch kits will include patches, rubber cement, and something to roughing the rubber where the patch will be placed. I prefer sand paper to the little metal tool usually provided. Besides that you need a tire pump and a set of bicycle tire irons. I’ve made do with the handles of my eating utensils instead of tire irons in an emergency once but I don’t recommend it. There is one final item that you should carry but I’ll save it till the end of the article.

First step is finding the hole in your tire. I was taught to immerse the tube in water and look for bubbles. On the road that’s impractical most of the time. Just get the tube out of the tire and pump it up big. You’ll hear the leak even if it is a small one. If it won’t pump up, the hole will be big enough that you won’t have any trouble finding it. A nail sticking out of your tire is usually a dead give away.

Once you’ve found the leak it is important to do a good job with the repair.

1. Roughen the area around the hole with sandpaper or the tool mentioned earlier.
2. Then spread a thin layer of rubber cement over an area a little larger than the patch you will be using.
3. Make sure you let the glue dry enough before applying the patch. You should be able to touch it with the surface of your fingernail without pulling away any of the glue. It should feel only a little bit tacky.
4. Press down on the patch firmly working out from the middle out to the edges. This will remove any bubbles accidentally trapped under the patch.
5. Give the glue a little more time to cure before reassembling and riding.

I usually spend the time for step number five making sure that I’ve discovered the cause of the flat and rectified it. Make sure there are no pieces of glass or tacks still stuck in your tire. Make sure there isn’t anything floating loose in your tire either. If you don’t you won’t get far before you have another flat.

If your flat tire puncture looks like two parallel slits, you have a rim cut. Either you hit a very hard edge or you’re riding without enough air in your tires. Soft tires could indicate a slow leak, which might be hard to find. In my experience most slow leaks that I can’t find just pumping up the tube involve a screwed up valve. That means either replacing the valve core or replacing the whole tube. If it’s that slow, you’ll get home.

Finally it is wise to carry a spare tube. When it’s raining out, rubber cement won’t dry adequately and none of your repair efforts will work. Replace the tube and get somewhere dry to fix it. Besides that some blowouts are so bad your patch kit might not be up to the task. Don’t let a little flat tire leave you walking.

How To Spend Three Hours Getting Lost...

By Jack Hawkins http://jackonabike.ca/

Recently, I purchased a new (to me) mountain bike, having realised that my tourer won't go through every trail that New Brunswick has to offer. Plus, I wanted to have an alternative ride for commuting, or running errands around town (while still remaining car free). So, I picked up a used mountain bike off a friend for forty dollars.

Since then, I've thrashed it around an ATV trail - never again. Fun though it was at times, the trails aren't dry enough yet, and in places it's even washed out completely. Perfect for you all-terrain-vehicle riders, not so for me and my mountain bike.

Naturally, as with any new bike, one must check it over first. That's another lesson learned - I did not do this, and I paid the price out on the trail. I went careening down this rocky hill, without realising that in the middle of said hill, was a small river, before the hill resumed on the other side - which turned out to be one heck of a climb. Anyway, down I went... through the "small river", and then came the bounce as the front wheel hit a rock, I carried on, pedalling up the hill before it became apparent that the pedals were simply turning and I was getting no actual forward momentum.

I looked down - yup, sure enough, the chain was off. I stopped, cursed, and then proceeded to put the chain back on. Happy days, problem solved! Nope. Now, my gears weren't shifting... "Screw it - there can't be far to go", I thought. I was wrong. I rode on a single gear for the rest of the way - it was definitely one of the higher gears, because that was bloody hard work!

Two hours, and plenty of swearing words of encouragement later, I emerged on the other side of the trail, with no idea how far I'd gone, or where I was now. I finally gathered my bearings, worked out which way was home, and set off - still in a higher gear, still having to work hard on the hills...

I wasn't able to get any in-ride pictures, I was too busy trudging through deep water, putting my chain back on, climbing hills, or getting lost to even contemplate taking a photo. However, here's a couple of post-ride pictures of the trusty steed, well and truly caked in mud.

About the Author

Jack Hawkins is a freelance travel writer and touring cyclist. Originally from the UK, he swapped one seaside town for another in 2006, and has been living in Canada for eight years. Jack has always had a fondness for writing and after graduating from Bonar Law Memorial High School in Rexton, Jack decided to pursue a freelance writing career, and implemented his love of cycling into his work shortly after a chance-meeting in 2013 with a fellow Englishman who had cycled across Canada.

Jack currently writes for this webzine, but is also a monthly contributor Mike's Bike Shop's E-Magazine, "The Rider's Edge". He recently worked on and published a series of thirty-one articles for revered bicycle touring guru, Darren Alff, for his website: http://gobicycletouring.com/. Jack also writes articles, journals, gear reviews, and interview pieces for his own website - http://jackonabike.ca/.

Cornwall Good Samaritan

By Pico Triano

The sun hung low in the sky and we’d missed a turn and were busy trying to get back on course. With the burdens of living and cycling with four small children bogging us down, we were way short of our planned objective. I didn’t want to say it out loud but it really looked like we’d be setting up our first wilderness campsite somewhere in Cornwall, Ontario’s Guindon Park. Probably would be breaking some local bylaw but we just plain weren’t going to get to the campground in Long Sault.

First problem was to get back on course. They have an excellent bike path in that town only we were on one side of the old canal and the path was on the other. With our schedule backtracking was out of the question. If we tried that, we’d still be in the city when the sun went down. Wilderness camping in a city with four small children - I don’t think so.

One of the locals pulled over so that we could get some directions. All we needed was to hit a dead end without regaining that recreation trail. He gave us good news. There was a bridge up ahead that would allow us to cross. The situation now was not ideal but it wasn’t a total disaster.

We pedalled on for another fifteen minutes or so before the driver we spoke to earlier came back. He figured out that we were not going to get much further before dark, talked with his wife and then came to offer us the use of his backyard. I wish I remembered their names. I’m sure I wrote it down somewhere but can’t find the reference.

As a cyclist, I find these kind of good Samaritans are all over the place - wonderful people that seem to show up at the right time every time.  This couple allowed us to camp in their yard where we would be safe. The left the back door open so that we could use the bathroom any time we needed it. They talked with us and made sure that all our needs were taken care of - a great experience for our children and us. We would have managed without them but we were so glad they were there.

The following day we said our goodbyes but accidentally left our tent fly hanging on the clothesline to dry. Sure enough before the day was out they caught up with us to return it. At the same time they gave the kids squirt guns they picked up at the dollar store. We were told we weren’t allowed to refuse them. In the picture below Brandon has lowered his weapon but it’s pretty obvious that Andrew has been shot in the back with that frigid water flowing in the St. Lawrence River. 

The Kindness of Strangers: A Safe Place to Sleep

By Nancy Sathre-Vogel reprinted by permission from her site http://familyonbikes.org/

It was a long day in rural Texas. We had battled stiff headwinds for 50 miles already and were more than ready to call it a day.

For ten miles we had been searching for a spot to pitch our tent, but Texan roads are known for their vast stretches of miles and miles and more miles of nothing but empty Texan roads with fences on either side of the road.

With 5000 miles under our belts, we felt we knew the ropes. We had camped in woods or deserts off the side of the road about 150 nights already, and had never been stuck. There was always a spot for a tent hidden back there somewhere.

Until Texas.

As we wearily pedaled our heavily-laden bicycles along that long, lonely, fence-lined road, we pondered our options. Should we set up our tent in the narrow stretch of grass between the road and the fence? How dangerous would that be? Would we be able to forgive ourselves if – God forbid – a car veered slightly and flattened our tent while our precious children were sleeping?

Mile after mile passed slowly under our wheels. The cold wind whirled around our faces, turning our noses and ears rosy red. Our fingers ached in the near-freezing temperatures.

Absolutely exhausted, we collapsed onto the side of the road as the sun made its final approach toward the horizon. “I wish a rancher would pull up and invite us to his ranch,” my husband mumbled.

“That would be wonderful,” the kids and I mumbled.

Less than a minute later, a big black SUV pulled up beside us. A window came down and a friendly face popped out.

“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” he asked.

“We have no idea,” John replied. “There’s just no place to set up a tent around here.”

“I tell you what,” the rancher replied. “Why don’t you come on back to our ranch? The gate is just up here about half a mile.”

Elated, all four of us piled back on our bikes and set out behind that black car. The rancher unlocked the gate, and we all bounced and jiggled down the rough rocky road back to the ranch house.

And that is how we found ourselves sitting around a table eating an enormous pot of spaghetti with Greg, Marthalynn and their four children.

About the Author 

After 21 years as a classroom teacher, Nancy Sathre-Vogel finally woke up and realized that life was too short to spend it all with other people’s kids. She and her husband quit their jobs and together with their twin sons, climbed aboard bicycles to see the world. They enjoyed four years cycling as a family – three of them riding from Alaska to Argentina and one exploring the USA and Mexico. Now they are back in Idaho, putting down roots, enjoying life at home, and living a different type of adventure. It’s a fairly sure bet that you’ll find her either writing on her computer or creating fantastical pieces with the beads she’s collected all over the world.