More Mountains

As usual, we found ourselves widdling away the morning trying to blog, route plan etc. Never catching up as much as we would like. This morning however we woke up early enough, with assistance from the 4 AM monk drum session outside our window, to see the famed precesion of monks. By the time that we had packed up our belongings, only several minutes after the 10 AM checkout, we stopped by Benneton's Bakery for one last authentic French croisant. Here we encountered the Swiss cycle tourist again.

"Your still here?" He quipped, " I would have figured that you would be in the mountains by now."

We aknowledged our late departure and informed him that we had downsized our days ambitions from 120 km to a mere 25, just to get out of town. Just as I thought that we might leave, we began the wild goose chase to find a Laos sim card for Lauren's phone. I was becoming visibly irritated by our technological tether by the time we finally found the appropriate telecom office and forked over the equivalent of $8.75 (70,000 KIP) for a months worth of data service. Acting quickly Lauren found us lunch, making it apparent that my frustrations were at least partly driven by low blood sugar.

Just when I thought we might actually leave, we passed by the World Vision International office (WVI) (another aid organization), and Luaren suggested we stop and inquire about a translation service. Concurring that this was a logical decision, we stopped yet again. Inside the Loatian women told us that the english speaker was at lunch and would return shortly, so we waited outside. When he pulled up, it was a gentleman that we saw earlier at the bakery with his tiny child, both times on a bicycle. He told us that he could not alocate staff time to such a project, and that the Loatian government would not allow them to aid terrorists...er I mean tourists. Just then a english speaking Loatian employee said that he could do it in his spare time, and just as we exchanged e-mails he slipped in "what's in it for me?" So we slipped him a five and finally slid out of town.

Highway 13 is the major north to south highway in Lao, but it is no larger nor better maintained then a two laned country road in the states. This is due in part to the fact that only 6.5 million people live hear and that 80% of the population consists of subsistence farmers. The main commerce on this road is definitely tourists. Winding 25 km out of town weaved us through valleys to the base of the mountains along the Kahn river where we found a guest house amongst the bamboo shacks. Lured by screams of children I went for a dip in the river before dinner. Rivers here can swell to 10 times there dry season flow leaving large loamy banks that locals us for their own kitchen garden. Conveniently close to water and fertile with flood deposits and quite a lovely scene.

Our evening walk was strafed by rain, and some how we had lost one of our umbrellas on our previous moutain adventure, leaving us wet. In the untouristed areas croisants and other western foods are no longer available, leaving us with few options other than noodle soup. "Please hold the processed pork balls" (these are balls of pork not the balls of the pig). Walking back to our bed we were assured that we were the only westerners in the village.

That morning we went out for more noodle soup, and I got an opportunity to use our stove to make some hot coffee. What a treat. Within minutes of departing we were crawling up the steep mountain grades. I again found myself making it down to gear one as we ground away towards the mountain's crest. This went on for several hours through the mist, and after 20 km or so we were headed down again. The descent was amazing with sweeping turns, million dollar vistas and very little traffic. At the base of the hill we crossed a river and I saw the first of what would be many commmunity stand pipes (centrally located water taps) funded by World Vision International. Across the valley's river our rest was cut short as we embarked on yet another sustained steep climb.

Nearing the top after another couple of hours our hunger had grown insatiably. Stopping we crawled over to an abondoned highway market and noshed through our stash of banana chips. It was another gruelling 20 minutes before we would reach a restaraunt. There were several VIP tourist mini vans parked outside, indicating that this was a common stop over, and of course translated into higher prices. We shrugged, perused the translated menu and ate our lunch in silence, watching the other falang (white westerners) eat and smoke and the chickens fight over there cast their offs.

Just moments down the road we realized just how close we were to a town of significance that even had a guest house.This is about 70 km from Luang Prabang, and we be an ideal stopping place if you left early enough. However, we had only gone 45 or so km and we needed to push on another 55 to Pokuhn. There were a few more significant climbs and descents, but most of the afternoon was spent on the undulating ridgeline dotted with remote villages. We spent about an hour riding in the rain before dusk and we still had another 16 km. These episodes are very challenging and fog Lauren's glasses instantly. Just before the deluge let up, she installed her contacts with some sweat salt putting her in incredible pain. Perfect vision really is a blessing. As the sun went down we passed a pinacle just as a dynomite blast sounded off sending rocks cascading, shocked we continued on.

Fully enveloped by the blackness we could see and be seen only by our bright dynamo powered lights, thank goodness for these. Feeling the weight of our burden more significantly with every pedal stroke we were driven only by the promise of a bed and a shower. On the last uphill we were passed by motorcycles coasting with the engine cut in the other direction with no illumination what so ever. Suddenly, no more than 200 m from our final destination Lauren's tire went instantaneously flat. Using the light of a nearby government installation we stripped the bike of its load to find a hole in the tire almost large enough to stick your pinky through. Swapping tubes and inflating the tire, I determined that we would have to install the spare tire in the morning to prevent premature flatting down the road, but for now we needed a guest house.

At Pokuhn, which isn't much more than the intersection of highways thirteen and seven, we were greeted by two or three different guest house options, but quickly settled when we were given the thumbs up by some westerners eating in the restaurant below. Another Spaniard approached me and explained that he too was touring, on a folding bike, but in the other direction. He reassured me that the next day would be almost entirely downhill, and our late arrival made him nervous, we would not see him the next morning. While unloading the bikes the couple that had waved us in began asking about our trip. They were french and had merely gotten off the bus here to enjoy the mountains in the abscence of tourists. We immediately hit it off. Lugauge in hand we dissappeared to find our bed and shower. The room was without windows and the shower without heat, which was really dissappointing as it was surprisingly cold outside. We returned washed and dawning long shirts and jackets and pursued dinner with our new french friends. The food was bland, but the conversation was lively and they shared a pineapple for dessert for which I brought our knife. With our bellys full, my eyes began to close and we hurried to bed.

We rose early in the abscence of light and I proceded to install our spare tire on Lauren's bike and make coffee. When the Frenchies stirred we offered them some of our real coffee, a luxury in these parts, to repay them for the pineapple from the night before. Everyone left satisfied and we departed into the mist.

Not before we had escaped town I saw a Loation traveling in the other direction yielding an AK-47 across his chest. I was a little taken aback but not entirely surprised given their communist roots. The days ride was spectacular, and thankfully largely down hill. Even in the valleys beneath the looming range from which we descended were filled with limestone outcroppings that seemed to defy gravity. The lower we got the larger the towns, the bigger the houses and the more rice was being harvested leaving a brilliant contrast of the golden fields against the lush green mountains. Compared to the highlands, this seemed like a land of plenty. Just before reaching Vang Vieng, and infamous party spot for travelers, we became intrigued by a sign for an organic farm restaraunt just down a small dirt road. Hesitating only because of the detour, we went for it.

Bumping down towards the river we passed and adobe youth center inclusive of classrooms and a library and just as we rounded the gate we were greated by our German friends that we met on the boat. This unplanned encounter was almost too serendipitous, as the girls said that "if [they] were to see the cyclists again, it would be here." And here we were. It was a joyous dinner and we decided to head back to stay at their hotel for the evening. Everyone dawned bikes and we headed into the Cancunesque Vang Vieng. The city itself was filled with flashy hotels, street vendors yelling at everyone to buy their wares or food, restaurants all with floor seating and a large TV playing family guy, and of course many young backpackers roaming the streets, some scantly clad, which is a big no no in Laos. Our hotel was cheap and we were happy to see the girls, but we would head out in the morning.

With our pattented late start resulting from a lovely breakfast with our friends where they told us that they would be in a camp just outside of Thakhek for about 5 days, we decided to split the remaining 155 km to Vientiane into two days. Our path continued to become more populated with more and more guest house options as the mountains disappeared and the landscape become flat. We holed up in a nice guest house for the night and met the owners daughter who spoke surprisingly good english and told us she has been living in San Diego for the last years, working and going to community college. I can only imagine transitioning to a country where your native currency almost has no value, aproximately 8000 kip/1 US$. The town had little to offer and we only ventured out to find food, which is always an adventure when no other westerners can be found.

The next morning we broke out our camp stove and made oatmeal with coconut milk for breakfast, what a treat, and managed to get out pretty early. The last 40 km of our 70 km day were heavily trafficed, polluted and un-scenic. The Sabaidee's were drowned out by poorly opperating diesel trucks and busses and the muffled by the callers dust masks. So we held our breath and kept riding trying to get to the capital Vientiene. Upon arrival the first thing that we did was locate the sister bakery to that in Luang Prabang and munched on some croisants.

As far as capitals goes, Vientiane is a pretty mellow one. Still not too many people are buzzing around on motor bikes like in Bangkok. What we did find will hanging around to catch up on writing and apply for Vietnamese Visas, were a significant number of touring cyclists. The day we arrived while we were looking for accomodations, we ran into two French cyclists riding Surlys. We had seen them riding out of Luang Prabang and we recounted the hills. That evening we ran into a Loatian living in the USA but visiting family whom we had also seen leaving Luang Prabang. We also talked about the hills beneath the communist and Loatian flags, and he said that at 71 this will probably be his last tour. Later that evening we found 3 people gawking at our bikes and we started conversation, all three were German, and all three rode Rohloffs though they were two separate groups. When I was getting my Vietnamese visa at the Embassy two days later I ran into a Hungarian couple riding recumbents fitted with, you guessed it, Rohloffs. We ate dinner with the last two sets of cyclists, exchanged stories and tips, but unfortunately were all headed in different directions.

Germans

Hungarians (Photo by them)

From Vientiane we could see Thailand, and we both agreed that we missed it and even thought about returning briefly on our way to Thakhek. Alas double entry Visas were not available and we would have to pay the $35 again. Sigh. Rejuvinated and with Vietnam Visas in hand it was time to leave again for the Laos country side where noodle soup (pho) and sticky rice are our only food options. Thailand, we will return again for your deliciously spicy and diverse cuisine...

Loas Mountain Children "Sabaidee" 

View from our hotel in Vientiane

Rohloff Tool Realized

Months after I had discovered it, the materialization was near.  Found on Vimeo through some random google search, while attempting to figure how to remove the cog from the loaner test Rohloff, was Aaron Lisco’s custom Rohloff wrench.  It was a beautifully machined piece of aluminum that eliminates the worry about loosing purchase (tool grab) on the other OEM cog tool manufactured by Rohloff AG. This is of the utmost importance as extreme force is needed to remove a cog that has been tightened by thousands of miles of pedaling. These characteristics were achieved by creating a tool that can be sandwiched by the hubs skewer.  All of this functionality and design only weighs in at about an ounce and a half.

Aaron Lisco's Rohloff cog tool (tool) from Aaron Lisco on Vimeo.

I found his home page, beyondthegreatdivide.org, and immediately contacted Aaron about the availability of the tool through some vague e-mail.  Quickly I established that I was planning a similar trip to the one that he has already accomplished and that I was interested in having the tool fabricated myself in order to maintain my maintenance autonomy on the road.  The tool, which was of Aaron's conception, was engineered and originally fabricated by Evan Anderson of Innovative Solutions LLC.  Soon enough I got a letter back from him with the original 3D CAD file and the permission to reproduce it.

Now I had to find a way to materialize this 3-D computer rendering into an actual object.  I began by contacting some of the ME students who are members of the Cal Poly HPV(Human Powered Vehicle) club as well as techs in the student machine shops on campus.  Despite being consumed by school and hundreds of hours of club work constructing their yearly competition vehicle, they reached out to me.  After  weeks of e-mailing, coordinating and materials purchasing, Chris Hunt and I set up a time to operate the machine at the end of his last day of class.

The Mustang ’60 machine shop was quiet in the wake of deadweek after a full quarter of fabricating on a limited shop schedule because of the departments inability to pay the shop techs to keep the shop open.  Upon transferring the small aluminum work piece and ¼” endmill, Chris began to carefully clamp the work piece to the work table squaring it up a little bit at a time.

Once he was satisfied with the location of the piece he began to press buttons on the intimidating looking keyboard.  He was using a bit called a Jem to aid the computer-controlled mill in knowing where the work piece was located.  Chris was very precise in his setup of the machine since the tool is as wide as the workpiece (bar of aluminum) that it was to be made out of.

Before we ran the mill Chris showed me an animation of the milling sequence, stopping every once and awhile to manually adjust the code inserting an extra step to allow us to view the outline cut path before we had fully committed to removing metal.  When the program was loaded onto the CNC Mill we watched the whiring endmill traverse the perimeter of the tool so that we could make sure it would not miss the metal stock completely.  Once satisfied with the setup, we fired the coolant jets and began to cut.

It was incredible watching the mechanical arm find the exact cutting locations and layer by layer remove all of the unwanted metal.  When the coolant had cleared there sat a perfectly outlined tool etched into metal flat bar.  The tool itself was still connected to the bar by a thin foil of aluminum that stood between the mill and its own self-destruction.  Thanks Chris for all the great work on this project.

After a quick clean up, I was left to break the tool free of its casing.  Using cruder tools such as sheet metal sheers, pliers and some sand paper wrapped around a Sharpie, I began to liberate the tool of its extraneous metal.  The process was slow, and the perforations surround by nothing but a thin webbing of 50 thousands of an inch, or as they say at the machine shop “thou”, thick.  A punch and a hammer seem to be adequate at simply shearing the material away a couple of millimeters at a time around the perimeter of each perforation.

After several hours of metal removal with jeweler like precision the tool was complete.  I choose not to  punch out the reliefs in the handle for fear that I might damage the tool, and besides I think that the machined finish looks sexy.  Now all I need is the modified chainwhip tool to ensure that I will be able to remove a worn cog anywhere in the world.

NAHBs: the Story

Two Friday's ago we made the trek through the fertile center of California to Sacramento in pursuit of the North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show (NAHBs for short).  We made a small stack of mini business cards to see if we could promote ourselves to some venders in person, all the while getting to see some pretty pretty things.

This was our first trade show and we didn’t quite know what to expect.  We had perused the website and  gawked at  images of gorgeous bicycles.  Under the glint of a camera flash, we had no way to predict the climate on the floor of the convention center.

So we headed out early, cruising HWY 46 to the I-5. We were greeted by blossoming nut trees brimming against the surrounding  green hills tinted with the yellow of mustard.  Quivering with excitement and tentative anticipation we inched through Stockton with car seat fatigue.

Cruising down J Street we knew we had arrived when one by one all the bikey folks in their short brimmed caps and cuffed up pants dotted the streets of the city center. Trying to find parking in our capitol city was probably the most challenging moment of our trip. Too many quick, last minute turns and frantic lane changes followed by an ascent to the fifth floor of a parking garage, we confirmed (once again) why we will be traveling the world by bicycle.  Finally, after locating the first open parking spot, we practically leaped out of the car before coming to a complete stop.

The descent of the stairs was of dizzying length when we quickly realized that the lunch hour had silently passed us by.  Forgoing a sandwich for early admission we quickly paced towards the convention doors.  We grab up our tickets, stick on our bracelets and step inside.  Before us lay row after row of sparkling bikes, large logos and black sheets…where would we begin?

Aimlessly, or guided by some mysterious bike force, we picked a random row in the middle of the room. Too many things to look at, I began to focus on wiring routing and light mounting for dynamo setups.  Peering through the digital viewfinder I attempt to get as close as the lens would allow to see these intricate details on these metal masterpieces.

Curious, I began to poke the builders about their design features.  Some builders were more than happy to sate my bike dork appetite, some seemed only interested in convention goers that might actually order a frame.  

One of the first venders we stopped at was King Cage, the makers of my favorite bottle cage.  He had a whole interactive display where he would bend a cage right before your eyes.  

Other Notable visits:

Wipperman: the German employee and the US representative gave us their pitch, and when we gave them ours they bartered amongst themselves until we were offered  50% off two stainless steel 8 chains and a beefy chain travel chain tool. Thanks, Wipperman! we will give you a status update when we are underway.

Santana:  We had been altered by our tandeming experience so much that we wanted to geek out with the company’s founder. He was able to confirm for us that our beloved Santana was in fact built around 1978.

Chris King: We really enjoyed talking to them, but they were not to hopeful for sponsorship.  Since then, however, they have granted us a one time employee purchase for their famous bottom brackets and headsets.  Thanks Chris, we are excited to pedal with your precision bearings.


I think it was here that we bonked. Lauren tugged at my shoulder and indicated that eating had become imperative. As we left the building in search of a good sandwich we found this local man sporting his wares in the "auxiliary" section of the show.

After we had fueled up, we got ready for a second round.

Dirtrag: The man running this show was excentric, excited, and full of travel stories. His tip and key to fun travel: show up with a helmet and a bike light, and find some local cyclists. When you find them, ask if they have an extra bike you could ride while you are there.  He says it rarely fails him and that he ends up discovering the best of each city and its people. (Sounds like good advise!)

Frances Cycles:  Joshua Muir and his cohort were a relief in the midst of much consumer driven conversation. Their soft spoken, humble nature reflects the unpretentious, useful nature of their beautiful bicycles. (This was Lauren’s favorite builder, by far).

Cycle Monkey:  Neil Flock has been nice enough to answer my many questions about the Rohloff hub over the last year or so. With his steady stream of knowledge and the necessary parts and tools, he has enabled the proper assembly of the Rohloff test bike. Thanks for the technical support.

We left the show to spend the night at Lauren’s sister’s house, absolutely exhausted after a long day of shamelessly selling ourselves.

Rohloff Rollout

A quick warning to all of our readers, this post is heavy in "techno-babble", so if you are not interested equipminent information you might not want to read on.

Lauren has enjoyed her early experiences with the Rohloff.  She has found it simple, effective and best of all the chain can no longer teasingly bounce between gears to induce ride frustration.  Another inherent benefit, is the system's ability to readily adapt to different gear ranges.

Much of this post has been adapted from Sheldon Brown's adaptation of Andy Blance's "Living with a The Rohloff Speedhub".  In this post, gain ratios are expressed in gear inches or rollout, which is simply the linear inches traveled for every one full revolution of the crankset.  The lower the number the easier the gear and vise versa.  If you are having a difficult time deciphering this concept please visit Sheldon Brown's site for an explanation.

My original inclination when setting up the Speedhub was to match the high gear of a typical 27 speed mountain bike.  Since the hub gears are predominantly under-drive, the hubshell or the rim rotates less than one revolution for every revolution of the rear cog, I chose to set it up initially with a 46 tooth chainring and the stock 16 tooth cog.

In the table below the first row is the rollout of the Rohloff set up with the aforementioned gear ratio and row "b" is a common "different" gears provided by a fast touring derailleur set up 46/38/26 tooth chainrings and a cassette with a low of 32 and a high of 11 teeth.  The derailleur set up has a slightly higher gear range than the Rohloff's 524% with a range of 537%.

Rohloff gear inches compared to a "fast" derailleur touring bike

In an attempt to get a feel for the low gears needed for loaded touring, we have done a number of local mountain bike rides.  With the hub set up in this manner the low gears do not seem to be low enough.  Through some research and personal recommendations we decided to evaluate the lowest gear recommended by Rohloff, 38X16 to evaluate the difference.  Below the gear inches of the Rohloff with the aforementioned set up are compared to a more typical 27 speed mountain bike, which has a range of  618%.

Rohloff gear inches compared to a standard 27 speed mountain bike.

Removing the crank with the 46 tooth chainring

The bike with the new 38 tooth chainring ready to ride

This set up seems like it will be a better match for the type of riding that we expect to encounter. While you lose the high end gear, bjike touring is not a race and it is more important to have low gears to save your knees.  Stay tuned to hear about the result.

Dirt

Today, Brant and I hopped on our mountain bikes and rode out our front door. That is one of the magical things about where we live--within minutes you are in open space and you rarely need to drive your bike anywhere to get a good ride, and in our case, we never do.

Ten minutes later we were climbing Stage Coach Road. On the way up we found some familiar faces, and for a few moments we got to share the climb.

This ride was a big one for me, not only because I am still quite the novice mountain biker, but more because I really got to test  out the feel of a Rohloff hub. One ride in and I am hooked. It was super simple, responsive, and functional...a pretty nice ride for a beginner. I'm super stoked to ride it over the next few months, and then finally to get one of my own.

The way down was a roller coaster--a bumpy one--but just as thrilling. Brant was a patient, fantastic teacher, never pushing me to go too fast but always offering good technical pointers. I am most definitely a beginner, however, I have been riding mountain bike trails since childhood. My mom has been riding mountain trails and playing bike polo since the eighties, so I've been towed in a Burly trailer all through Annadel State Park, and been the only girl at mountain bike camp in Yosemite. I couldn't be more thankful for the support from my family to live life on bicycles. In honor of my mama, I am excited to build my confidence in the dirt.

Firsts

Brant has built his first Rohloff wheel. 

We want to ride durable, built to last bicycles on our trip. Brant is working with a local bike builder on his dream world touring bike, which is revolving around a Rohloff hub. Lauren hasn't found her perfect rig quite yet, but would like to have the same hub. 

In an effort to see what we are getting into, Brant is almost finished building a Rohloff configured bicycle for Lauren to ride. This hub is on loan from the campus Human Powered Vehicle Club.  So, Lauren gets to be the lucky girl with a Rohloff bike for a month or so. 

Here you see Brant putting anti-sieze on the threads of the cog to ensure that it comes off again someday.

Below is a view of the hub with its cog removed.  This requires a special tool that has already been purchased.  The interesting thing about the Rohloff cog is that it is reversible, meaning that you can wear out one side, flip it, and wear it out all over again.  The problem with the tool, like so many others in the bike world, is that it does not have a large wrenching surface.  This leaves your wrench prone to slipping off under high load potentially damaging the tool and yourself.  Brant thought of a brilliant solution, to put it in the vise.  Unfortunately, the cog is also the seal surface and he dumped the oil that remained in the hub after years of being in storage.  An oil change has since been performed.  Brant hopes to reproduce a custom tool, concieved by Aaron Lisco, and engineered and machined by Evan Anderson.

Here is the external shift mechanism showing the cable pully and the transfer gear, which must be properly aligned before installing the axle plate.

Installing the cables in the grip shifter.  The system uses two cables to pull in both directions, eliminating a spring from the shifting equation.

Fussing with the shift cables.  This system is significantly different from anything else I have encountered, so care must be taken to first peruse the owners manual.

Ah, a thing of beauty.

More to come.