I’ve written about my Dahon Folding Bike before. It’s the one that I configured as a city apartment bike (read more here). The Dahon is a fun bike to ride. With its tiny tires you feel like you’re on a kids bike. It has a three speed hub gear system, so it’s easy to use. And it has fenders and chain guards, so you don’t have to be outfitted in bicycling gear to ride it.

While I had previously outfitted it with a lighting system, etc, it was lacking a good way to carry stuff. It has a really nice rear rack — but the wheels are so small that you can’t use regular pannier bags. It needed something like a milk crate.

Trouble with milk crates is that they look like milk crates. And any attempt to make it look nicer simply resulting in a nicer looking milk crate. I’d have to build my own.

So, out come some 1×12 scrap boards, and some knowledge recently gained from a new Super Secret Project. Here is the core:

The front, angled parts, and sides are all 1×12 pine boards. The front is 6″, angled 4″, and sides 8″. These dimensions were chosen because (a) my scrap of wood was only 30″ long and (b) it just happens to be exactly the right size for my rack.

In this shot you can see the angle cuts:

This is where having a gigantic miter saw really paid off. I was able to make those 22.5 degree bevel cuts right on the Makita. You can also use a portable circular saw, a good straight edge, and a steady hand.

Why 22.5 degrees? Because if you cut your lumber equally you’ll make a hexagon. I wanted a hexagon-like shape for my box, since I didn’t want it to look like a cube. The other huge added benefit it that the angled parts allow my feet to clear — if I made a cube my my pedals/feet would have whacked into the box. Luckily, my aesthetic choice was also a good usability choice.

The sides were glued up and allowed to dry using a strap clamp to hold it in place (this was a big pain and the hardest part of the project).

If you look carefully in the above photo you can see that I also used small pieces (cut at 45 degree angles) as braces. Why 45 degrees? Because 45 + 22.5 + 22.5 = 90. Geometry in action. The braces are glued in and then bradded (using 2″ brads — thank goodness for my DeWalt nail gun).

Again, by lucky happenstance, my scrap lumber and it’s dimensions lead me to one very important conclusion: It’s ideally sized to hold a 6 pack of bottled beer. If you are going to build your own, make sure it can accommodate 6″ x 8″ x 10″ tall. Unless you drink from cans, then you can reduce the height.

For the back, I used a piece of scrap 5mm plywood held in place with brads. You can use 1x if you have it (I was out). The bottom is another piece of high-quality 1×12 that I’ve had around. It’s held in place with about eight 1 5/8″ deck screws. Make sure the bottom is fastened well — it’s the primary mounting point to the bike.

Now that I knew this would hold beer, or a picnic lunch, or both, it was important to add some insulation. Two reasons for this: (a) to keep stuff cool in the hot Texas summer and (b) to keep things from rattling around while I’m riding.

I had some spare garage door insulator lying around (it’s like silvered bubble swap) which would work perfectly:

The insulation on the sides is one piece, held in place with construction adhesive. The bottom is more insulation, but is NOT adhered to the bottom. It has to be removable so that you can bolt the box to the bike rack.

This being Austin, I knew that I couldn’t leave the box plain black. That would be too boring. So we finally put to use some of the many, many bottle caps we have collected:

The caps are hot glued to a piece of Kommerling Komacel. Komacel is a plastic material that is weatherproof, cuts like wood, and can be purchased in a variety of colors. It’s a great material to work with. We had a scrap of white, so I spray painted it matte black. The resulting panel is then mounted to the rear 5mm back using 4 machine screws and nuts.

You can see that the top is cut to mirror the shape of the box, has the edges rounded over, and then mounted with a single hinge. Since I was out of larger boards, I biscuited and glued up two 1×6 boards and then cut to shape. Insulation was also glued into place so that the entire box is insulated.

Next up, some designs for the side:

A nighttime test ride:

I’ll try and get some photos of how the box gets mounted to the rack, and some more of the top.

For the final touches, we’ll decorate the sides some more, and probably put a latch (perhaps magnetic) on the lid so it doesn’t bounce around. (I noticed a little movement in the top — mainly because I used a cheap leftover hinge. If you have one, use a piano hinge.)

Our prototype panel is above. We decided that the black background looked better than white.

or, Building A Better Commuter Bike.

I’ve owned a lot of bikes. Road, recumbent, mountain, folding, tandem, cheap, expensive, and in-between. I used to ride a lot, but haven’t done much in the last couple of years. Work and weather always seem to get in the way, especially in Chicago.

In Austin, I have far less excuse. The weather is rideable for most of the year, and even in the heat of summer the evenings are no worse than a humid Chicago summer night. Austinites seem to bitch about how unfriendly the city is for bikes, but I haven’t seen that in the central part of the city. I can safely follow a route from 8500 North all the way downtown to Ladybird (Town) Lake. Try doing that in Chicago, especially on the South Side. (Drivers are often another issue, but there always jerks, so I obey the rules of the road, and give cars a wide berth. A “hello” doesn’t hurt either.)

Anyhow, we had our mountain bikes in the apartment for a while, but no longer had space for them. Then I remember my Dahon folding bike. I had bought it a couple of years ago for my Chicago commute (a disaster, for many reasons). I wasn’t too keen on the folding and unfolding part, but even “put together” it’s quite small. In fact, it sits very nicely behind our front door, in a 4×4 “foyer”.

As you can see, the wheels are very small, like those on a kids bike. I think they are 14″ diameter. They take a little getting used to (watch out for big bumps and potholes), but allow the bike to take up very little space. From stem-to-stern it’s about 52″. Normally the bike can be folded at the midsection, the seat tube dropped, and the handlebar folded and tucked in. Even the pedals fold down. It compacts pretty well, but I intend to keep it opened up.

So now I had a bike that would fit into the apartment without taking up any new space (it’s behind the door, which has to be kept clear). Now, how do I make sure I use it? Well, you have to eliminate the excuses.

Here are my standard reasons for putting off riding: Gotta pull the bike out, and that’s a hassle. Gotta charge the light. Gotta attach the light to the helmet. Gotta wear a shirt that will hold the battery for the light (a jersey). Gotta avoid getting killed (need lots of lights). Gotta this, gotta that. My goal was to eliminate those excuses and bring it down to one: laziness.

First the light. I have a NiteRider, which is the only headlight brand I recommend. I’ve found most of the others to be junk, or just not as well built, or lacking in light.  I have the model which mounts to your helmet. These are wonderful, because they allow you to shine light where you’re looking, not where the bike is heading. Great on trails, but more of a hassle for a commuter bike. So I mounted the light near the handlebars:

Since I’m not planning on folding the bike, I secured the wire along the frame with some zip-ties. Luckily, the cable was long enough to reach the rear of the bike, where I wanted to mount the battery. Note that I’ve got the headlight pointed down a little bit. That’s because the NiteRiders are super-bright, and since I’m on city streets, I’m usually worried about people seeing me, and don’t need to see that far ahead. However, if I’m in a darker area, I can crank up the output and tip it up a bit.

As you can see below, the battery is a slim rectangle, normally dropped into the back on your jersey. Instead, I zip-tied it to the rear rack of the Dahon. This is the perfect spot for this battery, as it doesn’t block the rear rack in any way (it sits on the supports) and is rock-solid.

The battery gets charged with a power pack that I keep right near the bike. I bring the bike in, attach the charger, and I’m ready to go whenever. No searching for the battery, no hassle.

Above the battery area, you can see how I mounted a water bottle holder. Since this is a folding bike, and there is little frame, there is no traditional mounting points for a bottle cage. So, zip-ties to the rescue again. A little bit of orange non-slip “shelf liner”, a couple of ties, and it’s a strong as it can be.

Now, you can skip this, and go with something like a CamelBak, but I wanted this to be a get-on-and-go bike. A CamelBak means filling up the water bag, putting it on, etc. More preparation. More reasons to “skip it”. So I went with the simple water bottle.

As for aesthetics, well, this isn’t some hand-crafted Italian carbon and titanium setup. I’ve got zip-ties and tiny wheels and ride a bike that looks mutated. Frankly, I could care less. For three reasons. First, I’m too old to care. Second, this is designed to be a commuter bike, not a racer. It’s the Toyota Echo of the biking world. Fourth, I’m in Austin. They like weirdos.

In Puerto Rico, we picked up some really nice combo bags & tool sets for our mountain bikes. I also got the brightest rear light I could find (if you’ve driven in PR, you know why). These were perfect for this bike, as I could mount the light high-up, near the seat.

It’s a Cateye blind-you-from-all-directions light and I love it, because you get good flashing from the rear and the sides. The bag, which has a complete tool set, has reflective material all around, which also helps me stand-out at night.

A note about night riding: Please, use lights. At the very least, have a flashing red light in the rear. Though, I’d honestly say the least you should have is a flashing red in the rear and white in the front. The LED units are cheap, run forever, and make you much less invisible at night (or during the day, for that matter). I have a proper white headlamp in the front, so people can see me and so I can see potholes, and two rear lights. The super bright-one near the seat, and an always-on one on the rear rack. It’s a good idea to have them on whenever you ride, night or day. There are a LOT of distracted people out there–in cars, on bikes, and walking. Make sure to stand out!

The other really nice thing about the Dahon is that, since it was designed for commuters and folding, there are a ton of nice features. You have a nice rear rack. More importantly, you have complete fenders on both front and rear wheels. No more dirt sprayed on your clothes! The entire chain assembly is covered in a guard, so you don’t have to worry about getting chain grease on your clothes or legs, either! Plus, they use simple pedals, so no fancy shoes required. Finally, it’s a three-speed hub, so no front or rear derailer to get mucked up, or confused about.

With the addition of the lights, a bag, and (soon) a rear basket, I’ll have put together a really handy get-on-and-ride bike. No fancy clothes. No equipment to gather. Just put on a helmet, grab a water bottle, and get out and ride. In two minutes I can be out the door. So much for handy excuses.

Next up on my upgrades: Some sort of crate or box that will be mounted to the rear rack. Something to hold a bag or two of groceries. Something like a milk crate, but smaller. Also, I need some way of holding a U-lock. Perhaps at the bottom of the crate.

I think we’re getting to the point where we need Google Walk and Google Bike. You know how Google (and MapQuest, etc) have driving directions? Well, I think driving directions are so 1990′s. Anybody can get in their car, put in $200 worth of gas, and drive two blocks to the grocery store. But getting around on foot, or bike, that’s another matter.

I know that Google started their Public Transit directions, which is pretty helpful, but that only goes so far. What about the walkers out there? In the Chicago area (excluding some suburbs) you have sidewalks everywhere. Every street. Everywhere. You really don’t have to think about whether you can get somewhere on foot, because you can. The downside, of course, is the car traffic, the crappy weather, and so on.

I didn’t realize how much I took sidewalks for granted until we lived in Puerto Rico, and now Austin. In PR, you only had sidewalks in the main town areas. In Austin, it’s pretty hit-or-miss. There are bunches of areas without sidewalks, which makes taking walks a challenge. We’ve spent a good deal of time just finding safe places to cross, quieter roads, etc. Sure, we have the wonderful “greenbelt” walks (ex. Shoal Creek, near us), but you have to get there first.

I’d love it if I could pull up a Google Map and say, “I want to get to this bookstore” and have the Directions tell me where there are sidewalks, where it’s safer to cross the busier streets (a bonus), and estimated time.

Obviously, it would be a pretty big undertaking, but they already have the data, either in overhead satellite images or the notorious “Street View”. (I’ve actually used Street View to determine if there were sidewalks in an area. It’s not perfect, but it helps.)

Perhaps easier would be Google Bike, which would cover the bike lanes in a city. This should be considerably easier to do, as many cities already have Bike Routes marked (though often neglected). The data are somewhere, and dedicated bike lanes can be seen in satellite images. In fact, it would probably be very similar to what they had to do to get Public Transit Directions working.

So, there’s another project for a budding entrepreneur out there. It sounds like the perfect “mashup” between Google Maps and personal knowledge.

Mike has been pretty busy, so I thought I’d put up some of his “firsts” that were done over this past camping trip:

• First time camping
• First time in a canoe
• First time portaging a canoe
• First time pooping in an outhouse
• First time pooping in the woods (with flies!)
• First time sleeping in a tent
• First time sleepign in a tent with his brother
• First time wearing camo pants
• First time hiking with a full pack

My friend Graham borrowed our canoe recently for a trip to the U.P. I was glad to see it get some use again, as it’s been a long time since we’ve used it. Here are a couple of shots, in its native habitat.

   

In early August I’ll be heading up to Minnesota with Graham and Company for our fishing trip. It’s in celebration of his 40th birthday and should be a blast.

So, I’ve been pulling stuff out of storage (no small feat) and getting stuff organized and ready. I tried to get at my four-man tent, but it’s buried so deep that it was easier just getting another (smaller) tent. So, now I have a one-man, two-man, and four-man tent.

Hints On Tents: I really like the MSR (Mountain Safety Research) line of tents, especially their “quick and light” stuff. As the name implies, the tents are very light and very quick to set up (especially important when it’s pouring rain and you are trying to get dry). I own their Zoid 1 and 2 man tents. They aren’t cheap, but they are well worth the money.

I had a lot of equipment already, because I was planning on doing a through-hike on the Appalachian Trail. (The complete trail is about 2,100 miles and takes about 6 months to complete.) Though, I did pick up some more clothes and some lightweight (summer) sleeping bags.

Hints On Sleeping Bags: For cold weather, I use Wiggy’s bags. The guy who owns the company is a bit of a fanatic, but in a good way. They are the preferred bag for the U.S. Navy Seals. Enough said. For summer bags, I’m trying out the Marmot Trails bag, which doesn’t have any insulation.

For a 3-5 day fishing trip during the summer, I’ll be bringing the following clothing:

• Two pairs of pants. I choose BDU‘s, since they can take a beating and quick-dry. You can get either heavy weight (good for winter/spring/fall) or “hot weather”, which is much lighter. I usually get used stuff, with the rip-stop material. Make sure it’s at least 40% synthetic. Cotton kills! No denim–it doesn’t dry.
• Three short-sleeved t-shirts. Again, go with 100% polyester, as it wicks away sweat and drys super-quick.
• Four pairs of socks. I’m bringing two synthetic and two wool. You’ll feel stupid spending $15 on ONE pair of socks–until you wear them for 18 hours straight.
• Three pairs of underwear. For treks in the backcountry, I use Wickers, as they dry quick. Notice a theme? Quick drying = your friend. Slow drying = death.
• Rain gear (tops and bottoms, though tops are most important). I hate all rain gear, because I always feeler hotter in it, but that’s just me. Useful if you don’t want to look like a prune. In my opinion, keeping your gear dry (ex. your bedding and clean clothes) is more important than keeping you dry.
• Hats. I’m bringing a baseball cap made of oil cloth and my wider brimed Alf Bush Hat for the canoe.
• Bathing suit. Doubles as shorts. I have a pair from Columbia that stuffs into its back pocket for easy storage.
• Low-rise hiking shoes and Teva sandals. I’ve got an old pair of Merrells that feel good and are broken in. The Tevas are good for the water, though they get too “slimy” for extended hiking (at least with my sweaty feet). The Tevas are fine for the canoe and water work, but I’ll put my faith in a good pair of socks and my Merrells. They may stink, but they have never given my dainty heels a problem.

In addition to the above, I’ll have my usual kit full of gear. Bags, pads, cooking, knives (of course) and so on. I won’t bore you with the details, but rest assured that anyone who hikes with me comes out alive.

You want to experience a nice day trip, Starved Rock State Park is the place to go. As Ron said earlier in his blog entry “A Tiring Week”, we took a trip out to Starved Rock. At first the weather appeared to be somewhat rainy but it wasn’t once we arrived at the park. The day turned out to be quite beautiful, sunny and warm.

I was hoping to see some bald eagles since they have returned to Plum Island recently. I’m happy they’re no longer on the endangered species list. Ron and I took a nice stroll up to Starved Rock itself. The view from up there was breath taking. Of course, I took several pictures.

I was pleasantly surprised to see stairways and deck as we went up to the top since the last time I was out here there were none. I recall a dirt road trail and concrete/stone walls to guide us to the top. I remember being so scared going up since there were no railings to hold on to and with one badly placed footing– off and away you went– imagine falling off the side of Starved Rock plummeting to the bottom of the Illinois River. I sure went up but I was practically hugging the stone wall. Still the view was indeed well worth it.

After taking some pictures, we returned to Ron’s parents sitting near the river under a shady tree relaxing. They recommended we check out the Lock and Dam on the other side of the Illinois River. We learned that on this side of the Illinois River was much more quite and the view equally pleasing. We went up to the observation deck in hopes of seeing a boat use the locks but it was Sunday, therefore, no activities. Every so oftern, Ron and Marie shows up during the weekday for a nice pinic and watch the boats come and go while using the locks. They say it’s cool to watch the locks in action.

Overall, we had a wonderful time. Stavred Rock State Park has several trails and food court at both the lodge and vistor’s center. If you want you can do a day trip or even rent a cabin and make it a weekend get away. Either way you’ll have fun.

I’ve uploaded the pics we took of the Palacete los Moreau (Castillo Labadie). Be sure to check out the “Before Restoration” pics and then compare to the current photos. They really did a great job restoring the house (it’s just a shame that it was left to ruin for so long).

Today we went to the Isabela/Moca area and visited the Palacete Los Moreau / Castillo Labadie house. It’s a big two story house built in 1905 on 1,300 acres of farmland (now down to about 100 acres, I believe). It is one of the first completely concrete houses on the island. (Older houses were made of wood, or other plant materials, since it’s cheaper/easier. Only in the last couple of decades did cement come down enough in price. Currently, nearly all the houses down here are concrete block.) The floors, however, are wood (very beautiful). It also has a basement, which is very very rare down here.
Unfortunately, the house was neglected and fell into ruin. In the early 1990′s the municipality of Moca purchaed the house and remodeled it. There are a number of before-and-after pics that really show how bad things had gotten. They did a really great job and, more recently, there have been donations of furniture and other artifacts to populate the house. In addition, they cleaned up the grounds, planted flowers, added paths and benches, etc. It’s a nice bit of history and worth checking out if you’re in the area.

I’ll post pictures of the house and its grounds shortly.

After visiting the house, we headed over the Crashboat beach again. Unlike the first two times (which were very very calm), today the surf was quite rough. The whole beach was running 2 to 3 foot waves, with some rare ones up in the 5 foot range. I went in there for a while, and went out far enough to avoid most of the breaking waves.

After a while things seemed to calm down, then I looked back and saw a big wave coming in (with a surfer, no-less). It broke right on top of me (in about 4 feet of water) and smashed my face, and the rest of me, right into the bottom. Nothing like having your face ground into wet sand!

Lucky (?) for me, I was in very shallow water, so I was able to pop right up. (I probably would have been safer farther out…at least I wouldn’t have hit the bottom so hard.) Anyway, I came out pretty dazed (hit my head pretty hard) with a bloody lip and abrasions on my face (felt like my face was getting rubbed by coarse sandpaper). Good thing this is a sandy beach. I’m okay now, but I’ve still got a headache, and I really can’t eat anything solid because of my cut up lip.

Needless to say, we’re going to be paying closer attention to the surf conditions before going out.

I’ve added the pictures we took during out trip to Jayuya. There are about 40 of them up there. Enjoy! Either access them via the link at the right, or from here.

We plan on carrying our camera more often (sorry we’ve been so lax), so we’ll hopefully have a lot more to add. It takes a lot of time to get them up there, with comments and all.

P.S. The TSG people “in the know” should search for the passport picture. I think you’ll get a laugh out of it. I sure did.

I’m pooped (it’s almost 3 AM here). I think I’ve got a tough day at the beach tomorrow, so I need to rest up. I’ll take pics.

P.P.S. I modified the image gallery settings slightly. You no longer have to be registered to add a comment or to download an image. Also, because I don’t have that fast of a connection, I have greatly reduced the size of the images (to 640×480). If anyone wants a higher res pic (2272×1704), let me know. The high-res ones are about 2 MB each.