The Velo Hobo

And they’re off!  Who will win?

Follow along live as ten intrepid travelers race to be named the fastest world bicycle traveler (currently the fastest circumnavigation cyclist is Alan Bate (UK) ~ 96 days, 10 hours and 33 minutes).

 To make your prediction of who will be the fastest:  Click Here.

 To follow along live:  Click Here.

Pearls Before Swine Comic Strip, February 08, 2012 on GoComics.com.

Okay, I get the humor.  And yes, if I weren’t a cyclist and so many other cyclists hadn’t been killed by careless and distracted drivers, I may not find this offensive.  But I do.  What I find more offensive than the comic strip itself, is some of the comments.  The cartoonist is making a statement, ‘some cyclist are elitists or have a better-than-you attitude’.  Okay, true enough.  Some are. The problem is this sort of thing promotes the idea that the life of a person riding a bicycle is of less value than the life of a person driving.

Or am I just taking this too seriously?

I’m really digging this Global Warming. While our brethren to the north are being hammered into submission by blizzard like conditions, we southerners are basking in freakishly warm sunshine. If all that CFC laden hairspray I used in the 80’s caused this, you have my deepest apology, but today I rode as if it were a summer day. Yes I know. We will all be dead soon from the cosmic radiation once held at bay by that ozone stuff. In the meantime is there any reason to not enjoy a 60 degree day in mid-February? Here’s a picture.

When I was in school a group of Tibetan monks visited the little backwoods college I was attending.  They owned little and laid claim to nothing.  I sat for hours each day on the upper mezzanine of the student union, sipping my 5 dollar lattés, watching as four of the youngest monks toiled with intense concentration to create a beautiful sand mandala.  Each and every grain of sand meticulously placed to create one of the most beautiful works of art I’ve ever seen.  Days later they finished; minutes after that the eldest monk took a broom and swept it away.

“Now this is about to get really interesting” I thought to myself.  I ran to the edge of the mezzanine waiting for the four young monks to whip out some pretty sweet Kung-Fu moves and lay waste to the old bastard.  Nope.  They bowed respectfully and started cleaning up the mess.  This disturbed me for weeks after.  “Why didn’t they flip out and beat the stuffing out of the old guy?  Was he some kind of retired ninja master assassin and they were afraid?  Was he packing a pistol under his robes?”

With one swipe of his broom the elder monk had taught the four younger monks valuable lessons.  Nothing is permanent and suffering comes from attachment.  I think they also learned that joy comes from the process of creating not from the thing created.   My Westernized mind could not grasp the concept of non-attachment and impermanence.  I still struggle, but I try.  As The Velo Hobo approaches the 100,000 visitor mark, I toy with the idea of hitting the “Delete This Blog” button.

I’m not a spiritual person and despite minoring in philosophy and religion, the deepest thought I think now-a-days is “how do they get tabasco sauce through that little hole in the bottle?”   But I have been thinking lately how my life might be different if I were unplugged from the matrix?   Would I be more creative?  More productive?  Would I read more books?  Spend more time with my family?   Spend more time riding than writing about riding?  Maybe. 

The Velo Hobo receives between 5,000 and 6,000 visitors a month and those numbers grow each month.  Blogging has been a fun pastime and I’ve connected with some great people.  So for now it’s business as usual, but somewhere around mid-summer I’ll have a decision to make.

Thanks for reading, Jack

The 2^nd issue of Bicycle Traveler Magazine is available.  It’s downloadable as a PDF and has some of the most spectacular photographs and stories from around the world.

 Check it out here: Bicycle Traveler Magazine.  Extra points if anyone can spot the quote by yours truly.

Hello.  My name is Jack and I’m a recovering hammer-head.  You may have seen me before.  I’m the guy who flew by you screaming “On your left!!!!!”  You remember, I was the one riding an inch off your back tire.  The one deep in the drops, clipped in, head low, elbows in.  That was way back in the early 80’s.  I rode like a racer, dressed like a racer, and rode a racing bike but I’ve never been in a single race. 

That was over thirty years ago. I think I’m in full remission and not likely to relapse. My palms no longer get sweaty when I see an all carbon bike and I can’t even remember how to spell paleton or have a clear recollection of what VO2Max is (a shampoo maybe?).  I pawned my heart rate monitor decades ago to pay off a bar tab.  I can’t remember the last time I rode a bike with a computer on it.

I’m 48 and getting thick around the middle.  I’m no longer aerodynamic.  My knee is shredded and pops out of joint if I try to sprint, not that I ever try.  But every year my love for cycling grows deeper.  No, that’s not it.  Every year my love for where bicycles take me grows deeper. 

If you’ve stumbled across this blog, and for some odd reason, keep returning, maybe hoping it will get better, 2012 will be an interesting year. 

Thanks for reading, Jack

The Velo Hobo stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 48,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 18 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Congratulations HA1KU!

HA1KU, if indeed that is your real name, following a random drawing, you are the Grand Prize Winner of a custom hand crafted alcohol stove and wind screen.  Cash value is less than nothing of course, but fame and adventure is your true reward.

I’ll be contacting you tomorrow via e-mail to get your shipping instruction.

Thanks, Jack

You just never know what’s around the next corner.

Everyone has their holiday traditions.  Mine has always been to run away and hide until it’s all over and done with.  Not wanting to break with tradition, I decided to take the wife and kids (and bikes of course) to explore a little bit of the South Carolina coast.  Myrtle Beach, although surrealistically cheesy at the height of tourist season is peaceful and uncrowded mid-winter.  Raquel, on a bargain hunting mission, found a tremendous deal on a sea-side condo for the week.  Myrtle Beach, like most beach towns, is very bike friendly.  It has both bike lanes and a greenway.  The greenway comes to an abrupt end in a pine tree patch just south of town, but it looks as if extending it is in the works.  The South Carolina coast has a much different feel to it than the North Carolina coast. North Carolina is known for its wind swept dunes and ever shifting shoreline.  South Carolina is more developed, not as wild and untamed, but still a beautiful place to visit.

But, after a day of riding and shooting photos, none really struck me as being very good at all.  Last week I was riding among the blue-green ridge tops of home.  As awe inspiring as the ocean is, move half a block inland and it’s “eh, okay, picture of a bike on a bike path.”  I think what Myrtle Beach is missing more than anything, and town officials should work to have some installed, is altitude.

Hope you’re all having a happy holiday, Jack

I try to avoid talking like I know what I’m talking about.  Most of what you’ll find here is pure fluff barely worth the time and effort you used to click that mouse thingy you’re holding.  But here is me giving advice on something probably none of you have any desire to do; climbing to the top of a mountain on a frozen roadway.

Before I begin, my team of litigation savvy attorneys has advised me to tell you to never climb to the top of a mountain on a frozen roadway.  Bicycles are inherently dangerous devices and should always be avoided, as are frozen roadways.  Never, ever do what I’m about to tell you to do.

My first and probably most important tip is to take note of the ice patches as you are climbing slowly to the summit.  Be especially vigilant on north facing slopes and heavily shaded areas.  Downhill speeds off mountain sides can equal those of automobiles.  Forty-five to fifty miles per hour is not uncommon.  So be mindful of your speed and slow it down.  I don’t ride with a computer, so judging speed for me is a matter of experience and dumb Irish luck.

Hitting an ice patch in a car is dangerous.  Hitting an ice patch on a bike could be deadly. Look for a landmark uphill from the ice giving you time to slow to a creep.  If none is available, make one.  Use branches to form an ‘X’ on the shoulder of the road.  If the roadway is a solid sheet of ice, just forget the whole thing and spend your day in the warm security of your favorite pub.

Next tip?  Try to stay warm without becoming overheated on your climb to the summit.  Do this by layering.  Of course you already knew this.  The Velo Hobo readers are some of the brightest blog readers on the planet.  But still it’s worth mentioning that if you get sweaty climbing up you’ll be suffering in the forty-five mile per hour wind chill coming down.

The Next tip goes along with the last.  Be sure to carry empty space to put all those layers as you dress, undress, dress again and again on your ride.  Empty space is one of the most useful things I’ve ever carried on a bike.  A Large handlebar bag or small pannier is great to have for winter riding.

Last tip, eat.  Calories are your friend and this is especially true in sub-freezing weather.  Iditarod dog-mushers know this, but they have the luxury of killing and eating a husky.  You’ll have to bring food with you.  Now is not the time to pull out a Jenny Craig snack bar.  Go for the good stuff, a nice gooey granola bar with big chips of chocolate is my favorite.

Oh, one last tip.  Tell someone where you will be and when you expect to return.  This is especially important if the roadway is closed for the season.  Thanks for reading, and please share any other tips you have for icy winter riding.  Jack

Here’s an extremely Ultralight and totally useless bike accessory; a Green Man tattoo.  The design is inspired by a Lora Irish drawing and painfully pierced into my skin by tattoo artist Chris at Electric Karma Tattoo in Murphy, North Carolina.

Zeke’s Brother (warning: this link leads to images of road rash!) 

~Read the disclaimer before being too grossed out~

It’s that time of year again.  Last year I came very close to winning this, being beaten out by only about 1,500 other submissions.  I’ll be uploading my amazingly beautiful (good enough to make Ansel Adams slap his mother) photographs this weekend. I hope you do the same. 

Follow the link  below my masterpiece I’ve entitled “My Feet”.

 Annual Bicycle-Travel Photo Contest – Adventure Cycling Association.

From the ACA site: “The competition is now open! Submissions will be accepted throughNovember 30, 2011.

Adventure Cycling invites you to enter your most stunning photos — highlighting the beauty, adventure, and inspiration of bicycle travel — in our 3rd Annual Bicycle Travel Photo Contest.

We’re looking for beautiful photography representing the diversity and spirit of bike touring. Your original images in digital format, capturing all aspects of bike travel, are eligible for the competition.”

Editor Grace Johnson sent this to share with The Velo Hobo readers.  It’s a new touring magazine, downloadable free in a PDF format.  I downloaded the first issue and it is well written with some beautiful photography.

Enjoy, Jack

 Here’s the link: Bicycle Traveler

 “About Bicycle Traveler magazine: Bicycle Traveler is a free international magazine on bicycle touring. It’s full of entertaining stories and inspiring photography which will have you dreaming over new destinations, as well as information over cycling gear.

In this issue: Articles in issue #1 September 2011 include Checkposts & Magic Letters Long distance cyclists Hiromu and Peter Gostelow cross into the Central African Republic. Riding high in the Dolomites the Cycling Gypsies pedal overItaly’s Passo Giau with the help of their dogs Paco and Jack plusTibeta photo story inspiring photos from Nathalie Pellegrinelli as well the short stories Small townAmericaand the Hungry Cyclist.”