Touchy-Feely

I have a funny habit of touching bicycles. It starts innocently enough: First a glance, then a closer look, then a quick stroke or two. But before I know it I am engaged in an orgy of tactile exploration that has been known to shock by-standers. Slowly and affectionately I will run my hand over the frame, tracing the outlines of the lugwork, closely examining the joints, touching the braze-ons one by one, visibly savouring every moment of it. Those who know me in person tease me about this, and apparently even discuss it behind my back good-naturedly. At Interbike last year, I was giving a bike a furtive fondle when the manufacturer snuck up behind me, laughing: "They toldme you were going to do this!"



When it comes to other people's bikes, I do ask permission - much as I would ask for permission to pet someone's dog or cat. "May I?" My voice andmy outstretched handtremble with anticipation. The owner is amused and delighted, if somewhat taken aback by the intensity of my interest.



But though my case may be extreme, I am hardly alone in the bike-fondling affliction. Even without asking, strangers will often stroke my bikes absent-mindedly - their hands drawn to a leather saddle, a headbadge, some shellacked twine, lugwork. "This part here..." an acquaintance suddenly said mid-conversation, pointing to the top of my bike's fork. "It's so... cake-like! What is it for?" Excitedly I began to explain about fork crowns, but stopped myself as the poor person's eyes glazed over. They didn't want to know. But they did want to touch.



I think that bicycles - particularly bicycles with all sorts of interesting or organic-looking bits on them - tend to invite tactile attention. Say what you will about looks mattering or not mattering, but when a bicycle draws us in physically, surely that is a good thing.



Are you touchy-feely when it comes to bikes? Do others tend to touch your bike, and do you mind?

How CT works?

These sticks I actually bought!


I post this kind of thing once every few months so the new readers get an idea of how Cold Thistle works.



At one time Iboughteverything I wrote about. I now buy some of what I write about. Black Diamond was the first gear company to give me gear. It didn't "buy" them a review however. Check out the stainless crampon threads to see how that relation worked out long term. Nor will giving me gear now "buy" a review. Not uncommonI am given gear I won't use (or write about) and will buyanother brand I actually will use.



Free gear is actually pretty easy to find. Good gear is much more difficult. I find it easier (and cheaper in the long run) to buy good gear than waste time and energy dicking around with the...........lets say, "less than good gear".



But I also no longer keep track of what I buy and what is free. I do try to mention the "freebees"in the reviews however. As I remind some of my co-authors, nothing is ever free. You have to use it. Which is some times easier said than done. You don't have to write about it.



What you get here is simply opinions. Our opinions. They may not match your opinions. What works for me or any of the other authors may not work for you. Pays to keep that in mind when reading our reviews.



I still use everything I write about. I am pretty picky about the other authors that post here or do reviews. All of them areclimbers I'd climb with and I trust their judgement on gear. But I may not always agree with them. Some times I bite my tongue and don't comment. Sometimes I'll disagree in public. That is how it works here. You need to make your own decisions based on your own experience level. If you have little experience don'tbe afraid to ask a question. I'll certainly try to find you an answer that I would trust.



It is a blog people. One I do for free and intentionally without ads to distract you. My reviews are bad enough if ads annoy you.Ads annoy me! Everyone has a voice if they want it on the Internet. I've been climbing awhile now. I don't like the institutional memory of our tribe to disappear piece by piece, body by body every year. So I decided to make my own voice heard and hopefully others of the tribe. But it issimply my voice in the end.



I enjoy writing and hopefully others get some enjoyment from the effort. Either way thanks to all for dropping by.



If you want to know more about me or how I come to my opinions this may help a little:



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//01/where-did-i-come-from.html



If you need more just ask.






The freebeehere is anold pair of Grivel umbilicals.

I generally find it easier to just buy what you actually trust for gear.

Aesthetics of Use

This morning I came across the phrase "aesthetics of use" when it appeared inBill Strickland'sdescription of hismuddy cycling shoe. It is a term I often hear thrown around by artists and designers. In essence, it means that to see an object in use is beautiful - that an object reveals its true self not on display, but in action. Some makers like to think of the aesthetic direction their objects take in the new owners' hands as a happy surprise. Others try to control it. Others still encourage what might be called hyper-use (or at least superficial signs of such), believing that distress enhances the appeal of their creations. These attitudes can be discerned in the manner manufacturers describe and promote their products. Owners' attitudes run the gamut as well. Some emulate the manufacturer's vision in their use of the object, while others are intent on making it their own.







Thinking of these differences, I am reminded of Pamela Blalock's bicycles. A local randonneur who probably spends more time in the saddle than not, she has a few bikes and they are very nice ones. At some point I had it in mind to test ride and feature some of them here. But the more I examined them, the more I realised that the bikes say more about Pamela herself than they do about the manufacturers and models they started out as.






Befendered, weathered from winter commutes, and covered in all manner of curious contraptions, "Cielo Cross bike" hardly seems like an apt description for the magnificent creation that is the Green Queen -Pamela's transportation bike. Fixed gear, rear rack, dynamo lighting, possibly more than one bell - these things make sense to her; the bike is clearly built with a purpose.








Neither is it really accurate to describe her roadbike as a Seven Axiom and leave it at that. While I do not think Pamela was the first to put dynamo lighting and bar end shifters on a Seven, she certainly managed to do it in a way that looks eye-catchingly unusual - blurring boundaries between racing and utilitarian riding and making others question their own understanding of these boundaries. The visually distinct setup reflects preferences that developed out of personal experience.Pamela came up with these ideas from doing years of long brevets and endurance races. It's what works for her in use, and the aesthetics are merely a by-product.








We all have our own ways of using objects, of gaining experience, and then of changing the way we use objects as a result of what we learn from experience. We can follow a manufacturer's vision, we can imitate those whom we admire, we can heed the advice of the more knowledgable. But ultimately we each have our own trajectory to follow.Aesthetics of use are personal; they are not generic, rigid ideas of how an object ought to be utilised.

Jemez Fire Smoke

These are photos I took from my yard of the smoke cloud that we can see of the Jemez fire that is near Los Alamas, New Mexico. It does look like a normal cloud but it really is smoke. We have seen it every day since the fire started last Sunday. This morning it had come over us even more and is making it hard to breath. We hope they get it stopped soon. The Los Conchas fire is now said to be the largest in New Mexico history as the Wallow fire is the largest in Arizona history.

Competition

Although I’ve spent my whole adult life involved in sport, I still have big reservations about large parts of it. I’ve read a lot of work on the history and philosophy of sport, and to be perfectly honest, a good chunk of it makes for depressing reading. I wish more of it could be more like the way it’s supposed to be.




The fact that climbing on mountains and cliffs is hard to pin down, hard to reduce to numbers and results and competition was quite an important aspect of what drew me into it. It’s hard to say ‘I had a better adventure than you’. Even as a climbing coach, I’ve sometimes been uneasy seeing young climbers come up against some of these negatives. Sometimes I wonder if I should say ‘skip the comp this time’. Go and explore somewhere new with some friends and come back for the next comp. As well as providing the essential ability to see outside the bubble of the scene, the perspective might well make a better competitor in the long run.









Kev pointed to this picture on Facebook, of a Basque athlete helping a Kenyan who’d stopped running a few metres short of the finish line in a cross country event, thinking he’d already passed it. The Basque runner could have run right past and won the race. But he stopped to direct the Kenyan over the line, staying behind and keeping the place he would have got if the Kenyan hadn’t made a simple human error. The surprising thing for me was that the attention this story got was as a ‘rare’ piece of sportsmanship. Why shouldn’t it be the norm?




After getting my ankle surgery in November, I decided to enter a running race for the first time, and see how it went. I thought it would be good as a goal to help get me back on my feet and moving fast in the mountains again. I entered the West Highland Way Race for next June. Although I have done quite a lot of hill running at different times over the past year or two, like anyone getting involved in a new scene I was a bit nervous about how welcoming it would be to someone who is known as ‘a climber’. Yesterday a friend told me about this thread started about my entry, which was a bit of a downer. When I experienced this sort of thing as a teenager doing sport at school, I hated it, avoided it and eventually found it’s antidote in going climbing. This time round I don’t need to react like that. But if I am able to recover from my injury enough to do it, it will be weird to stand on the start line knowing I’m standing with others who feel I don’t deserve to be there. My slowly healing ankle joint is the only thing that would stop me earning a place. As I said on the thread, if anyone feels I really don’t deserve the chance as much as them, drop me a line and I’ll offer to withdraw and donate my place.

Tissington Trail short walk

Walk on 13 August late afternoon.





We walked from the Hartington Station car park north along the Tissington Trail as far as Parsley Hay, then we turned back, and took the High Peak Trail which goes off to the left.

We walked under the A515 and took a farm track to the right, which crosses the A515 before reaching the minor road a short distance from our starting point.





The High Peak Trail follows the old Cromford and High Peak Railway, which was one of the earliest railways in the country, opening in 1830.








Astone plaque inscribed with the crest of the C&HPR, a four-wheeled wagon on a shield with the motto "Davina Palladis Arte", the whole surrounded by a garter reading "Cromford & High Peak Railway Comp'y Incorporated 1825". Above this are the words "Jos.s Jessop,Esq. Engineer". There is a better picture in the link to the CPHR.



Back to the beginning





and by car to the Manifold Inn, Hulme End for Barry's Birthday meal!

Cycling Clothes for the Lycra-Averse

After reading yesterday's Minuteman Bikeway post, you may have been wondering: So what does a girl wear on a 22-mile ride on a fierce roadbike? I am glad you asked!

CYCLING CLOTHES:

I am not against athletic clothing when it comes to cycling as a sport. My problem is different, and I know that other women share it: My skin hates synthetic fibers, especially in the heat. Yes, the new synthetic materials are supposed to be feather-lite, super-wicking, fast-drying, ultra-comfort, and so on... But somehow my body just does not agree. If I attempt to wear anything synthetic, my skin goes haywire, and I immediately get this icky, sticky, "get-it-off-me!" feeling -- not to mention horrible rashes and irritations. Sadly, my skin is also sensitive to wool, even very thin, lightweight wool. I can wear wool as an outer layer, but not directly next to the skin.

As far as normally-available fibers go, this leaves me with cottons, linens and silks. Raw silk is the most comfortable of these, and has excellent natural wicking properties. Old-fashioned ski clothing used to be made of rough silk, but now these are super-expensive and hard to find. Cotton and linen are breathable, but not ideal for wicking. Still, if left with no other choice, it is possible to achieve wicking with cotton by wearing it in ultra-thin, gauze-like layers. Gauzy cotton clothing is currently in fashion, and I have taken full advantage of summer sales. The dress pictured in these photos is a good example.

This mini-dress consists of two layers of very thin, gauze-like cotton. I bought it in Europe, but I have seen many like it available in the US, from the Gap, Old Navy, H&M, and many other stores. The loose baby-doll style with large arm openings around the straps provides superb breatheability. Worn over a cotton sports-bra and cotton leggings (the leggings function as "bloomers" -- i.e. underwear and leggings in one), this sort of dress allows the breeze to circulate under the wide hem, through the arm openings, and in between the two gauzy layers, providing amazing ventilation. I had zero sweat stains during the 22 mile ride. It is crucial that this kind of dress be short and wide enough, so as not to get caught on the saddle when mounting and dismounting. Notice also the enormous pockets -- handy for storing hair elastics, mobile phone and camera. The leggings + sportsbra + gauze dress outfit, in several colour variants, is basically my cycling kit for longer, sporty rides.

CYCLING SHOES

Simple shoes -- the best bike shoes! I saw a heap of these on clearance at the UGG/Teva Outlet in Wrentham the other day. I remembered reading about these on BikeSkirt some time ago, and decided to give them a try. I wanted something athletic, but summery, that could be worn without socks. The Simples are great, because they have a thick, hard, shock absorbent sole that is extremely effective for pushing down on pedals. The natural canvas material makes them breathable and light in even the hottest weather, but the enclosed rubber toe is great for those times when your toe hits the pedal -- which can hurt like hell on a roadbike in open-toed sandals. I have worn Keds, Converse and Vans, and the Simples work better for me as bike shoes than either of those.

Cycling clothing for the lycra-averse (and the athletic-gear-averse) need not be impractical. I was completely comfortable cycling for 22 miles+ in this outfit and shoes, and could easily have gone for longer. At the same time, we were able to go straight from the trails to one of our favourite restaurants for a dinner out. Of course, everyone's experience is different, and what is comfortable for one person may not be for another. Experimentation and listening to your own needs is key.