Tour De Parks 2013: Adriana Hess Wetland Park

The Adriana Hess Wetland Park is a nice little gem to visit...if you can find it. Tucked away in Fircrest and less than a mile west of the Fircrest Golf Club (of all places), it's a relaxing spot to sneak away to. There is an Audubon center operated by the Tahoma Audubon Society, but you'll have to catch them during their limited hours during the week.

If you want to take in some nature but don't have the time to go very far, go here.

My First Love

The first bike I ever purchased from a shop was the Trek Elance 310. Before my transition from strolling around the neighborhood to more serious riding, I had my share of hand-me-downs and freebies. But the Elance was the beginning of seeing the bike as art.

It was marketed as a recreational sport bike in 1986 and priced in the mid-level range. If you want a lugged steel frame today, you would be hard-pressed to find it "off the rack" at your local shop. Yet, there was a time when bike companies produced them as a standard feature.

The Elance had a lot going for it: steel tubing, braze-ons for downtube shifters, relatively light for its time. (Oh, my. 36-spoke wheels.) And it was aesthetically beautiful. Notice the well-placed bit of white on the headtube that pops out against the gorgeous red frame.

Bikes have come a long way over the past few decades in all aspects of design, functionality, and riding options. But if I were to judge a book by its cover, I still prefer the retro look of the Elance over most anything you see today.

Tour De Parks 2013: Titlow Park

Throughout this summer, I will highlight my rides to various parks throughout the Tacoma and neighboring areas.

Titlow Park is just about a mile south of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (east-end). My favorite part of this ride is checking out the houses along South Seashore Drive. Only a couple of miles long, the quiet community reminded me of places like Friday Harbor and Monterey Bay. The houses are modest and well-kept. Many of them take advantage of their location with large windows and decks that face the Narrows.

Think I'd like to retire there.

The Art of Cycling: Pat Cleary

No other sport compares to the visual spectacle of bicycle racing.

I first saw this painting in a racing magazine back in the '80s. It featured artist Pat Cleary, known for painting local landscapes in his backyard of the Lake District in England. He also happened to have a passion for cycling.

Among Mr. Cleary's works are paintings of the classic races, including Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. But his primary focus has been on the Tour De France. In 2003, Mr. Cleary celebrated the Tour's centenary with four images, each one in honor of a specific era. The likes of Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi, and Bernard Hinault have all been subjects of his paintings.

Most people who don't understand the appeal of bike racing don't see what the true fans see: the energy of the crowds lining the streets for a brief glimpse the riders, the chance to pick-up a souvenir water bottle strewn to the side of the road, or cheering on the peloton merely inches away.

Or in Mr. Cleary's view, a beautifully captured moment, forever eternalized into your memory.

Mistaken Identity

I've been putting my Zimbale saddlebag to good use during my daily work commute and weekend errands. At 18 liters (1,098 cu. inches), it has replaced a shoulder bag I've been schlepping around for the longest time. The main compartment is large enough for most of what I need: lunch, water bottle, paperback book, light jacket. The side pockets also come in handy for small essentials like extra tube, mini pump, tire levers. The only advantage a shoulder bag has is the ability to carry paperwork without folding or getting them wrinkled.

But I'm not complaining. I gladly trade doing without paperwork for the freedom from strapping something around my torso. It's also a great excuse to keep my work at work. "Sorry, boss. That report just won't fit into my bag."

The Zimbale bag has also been getting it's share of compliments. However, the few people who have asked me about it have also mistaken it for a Carradice. In fact, I considered purchasing a Carradice as I was shopping around. Ultimately, the Zimbale won out with a lower price tag and similar features compared to the Carradice Nelson Longflap. Additionally, the Zimbale has a wooden dowel across the inside to prevent the bag from drooping. While I haven't owned other large saddlebags, I imagine that the bag could lose its shape when fully loaded.

Because of its long width, I was worried that the bag would swing laterally or sag along the sides that don't have any support from the rear rack. I was very pleased that neither of my concerns came to light. In fact, the bag is strapped in nicely via a pair of leather straps that remind me of toeclip straps during their heyday. I also didn't have any issues with bumping the back of my thighs into the bag, as I had read about with other riders.

Zimbale or Carradice, you can't go wrong with either. And who can tell the difference? Apparently, not even the people in the biking community. Let's face it: neither brand are anywhere close to being mainstream. And isn't that the point? Giant saddlebags are neither "cool" nor aerodynamic. You would be hard-pressed to walk into your local bike shop and find one to purchase. Still, I can't help but think that these types of bags would sell quite well if they were more readily available.

Aggressive On A Bicycle

Stop me if you've heard this one. Comedian Tom Segura has a motorist's perspective on bike commuters. From his 2010 CD Thrilled, he talks briefly about how adults on bicycles are basically assholes. Search for it and have a listen.

Riding a bike as child, most of us naturally moved out of the way when we heard a car coming. Somewhere along the way to adulthood, we developed a sense of entitlement and an aggressive attitude  on how the road should be shared. So now we're caught in this negative cycle (pun intended) of us-vs.-them attitude.

From time-to-time, I'll see the very kind of cyclist that Segura describes in his joke, the ones who yell at motorists, "Hey! You don't fucking see me?! I'm on my bike!" The response, unfortunately, is also similar to the joke, "Yeah, man. Don't you see me? In my car? The thing that will rupture your spleen if I tap you with it?"

Can't we all just get along?

I bring this up as a sort-of follow-up to my review of Grant Peterson's Just Ride. In chapter 18, Peterson writes about being "carefully unpredictable" while commuting in traffic. He suggests utilizing a safety swerve, by which a rider, upon anticipating a motorist approaching from behind, jerks further left into the lane. The thinking is that this sudden move will give the impression that you may be inexperienced and alert the motorist to give you more room.

Bad idea, if ever there was one. I don't know about you, but I don't want to gamble with my safety and count on the odds of a driver to do the decent thing. If anything, the suggested safety swerve may be just the excuse for some aggressive driver or someone's who just had a bad day to take a shot at you. "Officer, there was nothing I could do. He swerved right in front of me!"

So if you're aggressive on a bicycle, considering changing you ways and represent cyclists as a respectable group of people. If you're aggressive in a car, get on a bike once in awhile and get another perspective.

In my opinion...Just Ride

I've been a fan of Rivendell Bike Works for many years. In a time when the bicycling industry continues to be dominated by brand-recognition for the masses, RBW and other small boutique shops are fighting the good fight against how the industry is marketed.

Grant Peterson, founder of RBW, has no doubt touched on a chord with his book, Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide To Riding Your Bike. In just 115 pages (e-reader edition), he attempts to undo everything we've been led to believe about how we ride our bikes. In short, racing wannabe's is bad. Riding for fun is good.

Just read.

Let me pause here for a moment to declare that I love bicycle racing. Like any fan of any sport, I get caught up in the stories of the athletes, the technological advances in equipment, and have a deep appreciation for anyone who rides at 35+ miles per hour sandwiched inside a peloton. As a sport, there is much to admire.

So in this regard, I don't completely agree with Mr. Peterson that racing has been a bad influence. Who hasn't watched a baseball game and fantasized about being on the pitcher's mound in Yankee Stadium? Or wished they could receive a pass from a NFL quarterback? We're all guilty of projecting our athletic dreams into our day-to-day lives and sometimes that's half the fun.

I would encourage anyone to wear the jerseys and ride a racing-style bike if that helps them enjoy the experience. But don't be intimidated or discouraged if you think that's the only way to ride. Admittedly, bicycling can be an expensive hobby/sport, but it doesn't have to be.

And herein lies one of the major points of the book. Why try to keep up with the pros, who are paid to ride and get a new bike whenever they need one? Why buy a bike stand when you can use a tree and some inner tubes? Why spend money on spandex when you can ride with the clothes you already have in your closet?

My favorite chapter, Velosophy, comes at the very end of the book. The section on How to make your family hate riding is the author's sarcastic take on what not to do if you want your loved ones to enjoy bicycling on their terms. This advice is no doubt gleaned from his personal experience with his own family.

Whether you're a racing enthusiast, an unracer, or somewhere in-between, Just Ride should have something to offer you. Buy it, read it, then pass it on to someone who hasn't been immersed in the bicycling culture of the past twenty years. It may just keep them from becoming an elitist bike snob.