Touring Headlight Mounts

It seems that there has been an on-going question as to how to mount a headlight to a touring bike with a bar bag. I read several questions to that effect, but found no decisive anwers. Certainly, a handlebar mount is awkward, to near impossible with the bag in the way. In the summer, it really isn't much of a problem with days long enough to keep any tourist off the road during the dark hours, but in the winter, with the short days, daylight becomes a problem. So....here is my solution. All I can say at this point is....it works. The lights stay stabil, they shine where they are supposed to, orientation of the beam is not a problem, and they are out of the way of bags and panniers.

A nine inch piece of 3/4 inch PVC Sch.40, drilled through large enough for a #8 machine screw. It is held tight against the downtubes on the rack, but just for safekeeping, I also fastened it with a couple of zip ties at each corner of the rack. The lights I had are not a match, but if I decide to keep this after I've used it for a while, I'll probably get another black one. If you want to place an item on top of the rack, the lights are easily flipped to the bottom of the tube, and are out of the way of everything. Sturdy, unobtrusive, and cheap and easy to make. I thought I might paint the PVC black, but for now anyway, it stays the way it is....... as a test bed.

A Learning Experience

Like all new endeavors, one must experience a certain amount of education before anything becomes second nature. The older one gets, the more this is necessary, but the longer the process becomes. And so, now, at the ripe age of 68, I find it necessary to have a little education in my life in the form of bike touring. Hopefully, a long term schooling.  The last bike touring I did, was back in the 60's, and we didn't call it that then. It was just pile a bunch of stuff on your bike and go somewhere. Which we did, on more than one occassion. Back then, we used a news carriers rack on the back of the bike, because they were heavy built steel, they were riveted and welded, they wouldn't break, and they'd hold a ton. The rest was simple..... we piled that ton of stuff on the back of the bike and went somewhere. Once, up and over Angeles Crest highway, through Palmdale, and Mojave and all the way up to Tioga Pass and into Yosemite from the back side. Certainly an interesting trip, lots of bike pushing going on. Was gone a month, camped, had lots of fun, got really dirty and really smelly.....even the bears wouldn't have anything to do with me. And returned home, in time to start the new semester at college.....after a few baths.
Now, however, it's a different ball game. Now, you need a specialized bike made just for touring as the majority of normal bikes on the market anymore simply aren't strong enough to take the abuse. A touring bike needs to be strong above all, strong frame, strong wheels, strong hubs, strong fork, strong racks and accessories, and most of all....strong legs! All this strength comes at a price however, and that price is weight. Touring bikes weigh a LOT!  Certainly compared to a racy road bike. And, they weigh a lot BEFORE you put anything else on them. Robust frame tubes, heavy wheels, lots of large diameter stainless steel spokes, in fact, everywhere you look, a touring bike seems to be overbuilt. Racy roadies would hate them. A touring mentality does take a bit of adjustment in the (slow) speed department. Slow down, enjoy life, think a lot, and enjoy seeing the world drifting by at a slow pace. Revel in the things you missed while you were watching the speedometer on your race bike, trying to get that extra 1/10 mph average from it.
There are many choices as to accessories to add to your touring pleasure. Many different rack choices, different materials, (notably aluminum or steel), many different choices in touring panniers and bags, in fact the choices are overwhelming. My Cannondale came to me with front and rear racks, a Cannondale rack in the rear..... a very sturdy affair.....and a Jandd rack on the front. I liked the Jandd for the top shelf that allowed me to strap down extra cargo on the top of the rack. Both these racks are aluminum..... and I can hear the purists moan now. Truth is, however, that even though they are aluminum, both have a reputation for strong, reliable service.

Cannondale also builds their frame out of aluminum, and the front fork from chrome-moly steel. The aluminum tubes they use are thick and very strong. Cannondale warrants their frames for life, so they had better be strong. Once again....I hear the purists groaning..... "steel is real"..... and this was probably true 20 years ago, but the truth is, today, neither material has had much of a problem with stress failure. Well...."steel can be welded anywhere in the world".... probably true.... you really want some Transylvania farmer welding your $5000 bike frame? And then, before you tell me, you'd patch it good enough to get it to a big city, might I remind you that big cities anywhere have just as many welders capable of welding aluminum as steel. I would consider ANY welded frame to be a temporary repair however, until I could get the frame replaced. "Steel is stronger", they say...yeah, sure, take a good look at how large cross country trucks are constructed .....all aluminum......80,000 pound loads, more when they can get away with it. An empty 45 foot long tank trailer weighs less than a 1959 Caddy, try that with steel. The trucking industy abandoned steel many decades ago, with good results.  So, anyway, I don't really think material is a REAL issue, just a preference. I chose the Cannondale because I have a really great dealer that I rely on for all my needs, and he takes good care of me. AND..... I'll probably NEVER have to worry about a broken frame, or anything else in Transylvania ever! I don't really plan on ever going to Transylvania, or Siberia, or, Mongolia, or even deepest darkest Africa!  Of course, there is always the ride issue...... "steel is smooth, aluminum is stiff".... Wait a minute now, that's true.... and every bike article you read tells you how the frames need to be stiff and not flexible. Talk about contradiction! Actually, again, it is a personal choice thing, and not a real issue. I have ridden both steel and aluminum frames, and equipped the same, they ride similar, maybe I'm just not picky enough. I suspect a lot of the good ride quality of a touring bike comes from the large tires, and the heavy weight anyway. The tires I chose to have on this bike are 700/42, too large by most peoples standards, but for me, the larger tires have certain advantages that overrule the disadvantages. This bike will be used on a variety of different road surfaces, not all pavement. I had one person tell me he switched from the standard 700/32's down to 700/25's on his touring bike to save weight and have a faster accelerating bike. Really!!! You save a hundred grams and pile on 70 pounds, and do you really think that the loaded touring bike is honestly going to accelerate faster? At least, do you honestly think you will really notice any difference? I doubt it very seriously. Too much media hype trying to sell you $10,000 bikes and components. Magazines do get lucrative advertizing contracts that way you know. Other racy riders may notice that I got the Cannondale Touring 2, not the upscale Touring 1. There was again a good reason. The Touring 1 has a road bike 105 triple crank with gearing that is way too tall for most heavily loaded tourists, and ten speed cassettes. Gears such as 52/38/30 have no place on a touring bike, unless you are able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, or stop charging locomotives with one hand. You are going to carry a bunch of weight with this bike, it needs gears like a truck, not a sports car. As far as a ten speed cassette...... do you really have to ask? Look at the difference in size of a ten speed chain vs a nine speed chain, and then again, think about what you are going to use the bike for, anyway, bigger is stronger, and better. Nine speed cassettes is all you'll ever need, anywhere.
Panniers.....   there was never any doubt. There is only one brand of bicycle pannier on the market that I would consider. The most copied brand design out there. Ortlieb. 'Nuff said! They have proven themselves World-Wide. And they look nice on the bike too.

The handlebar bag is a Topeak.... only because I liked the design. Not because I think it may be any better than any other, it just had features I thought would fit my needs as well as any. Fenders... a neccesity on a touring bike. You're not going out for a short dash away from the house, you are going to be out there for a while, in all kinds of weather. The fenders are SKS longboards.

So, I got the bike out for a short test ride with 38 pounds of weight in the panniers, and trucked on up a short ... (1/2 mile) 20% grade with it, and everything did just fine. The next test is a short camping excursion, but that is going to have to wait until the weather co-operates. Winter is coming on faster than I want to camp. There will be more installments on this post as time goes on.

Tripods For Bicycle Use

As promised, this post will be about the best type of tripod for taking along on a bicycle ride. I've found a small tripod to be indispensible for macro shots, telephoto shots, and pictures where I want to include myself. I can't always find someplace that I trust leaving my camera sitting on to take my own picture, so I take a small tripod with me at times. Obviously, a large professional tripod is just too bulky to carry with you on a bike. There are many other more productive things that can be used to fill up the space taken up by a big, bulky full sized tripod. But......there is a solution! There are several small compact tripods that fold up into managable sizes, some you can even stick in a jersey pocket. One of the more popular ones nowdays is the Gorillapod......

This is a small handy tripod that is surprisingly sturdy. The jointed legs are flexible and can wrap around anything, providing a sturdy camera platform almost anywhere. It is sturdy, a small enough in size, and even though it is a little bulky to carry in a pocket, can be managed by a bicyclist.
My favorite, and one I've carried for many years is the Focal Handipod. This little tripod has been a handy companion for 30 years now, and has proven itself to me time and time again. I did, for many years, use it to support a large 35mm camera and zoom lens, so I know it'll take my compact digital camera with ease. I'm not sure if you can still get one of these new, but if you see one in a pawn shop, or a thrift store somewhere..... grab it. E-Bay had a number of them at reasonable prices. Not expensive, even when I got it new, it would be a bargain at a much higher price.

The total length, if you fold the camera support over 90 degrees is 5 1/2 inches and 1 1/4 inches in diameter. You can see what I mean about folding the camera head in the photo below, the head will drop into a slot 90 degrees to allow the camera to be used in a vertical position, but it also makes it a bit more compact to carry.

The legs fold, and are stored inside the body of the unit.....

As you can see, the unit is stong enough to hold a large sized, heavy camera.

 The next picture shows the same camera set up to take a vertical oriented picture.

This is a sturdy little minipod, and has been so very useful over the years. I have also screwed a flash hot-shoe on the end and used it for a remote flash unit. I also have a full sized tripod that collapses down to 11 1/2 inches that I thought would be even handier, but it turned out to be so flimsy that I didn't trust my little compact camera on it. It was ok extended only about halfway, but then you might as well just carry this one. The old saying "caveat emptor" ....let the buyer beware, applies here.   There are several other small compact tripods on the market, but I have no experience with them. The idea here though is that a tripod is not only handy to have, it IS possible to have your tripod and take it with you too....... even on a bicycle. I enjoy taking pictures of myself on my bicycle trips, and this is one way of doing just that, and doing it without worry about damage to the camera, and without handing over your camera to a stranger and wondering if he/she is going to take your picture, or take your camera! Tripods are FUN!

Fitting a Topeak Bag To Anybody's Rack

This post doesn't really fit in with the earlier photo posts, and yet it does in a way also. I need a bag to carry photo equipment at times, not to mention extra clothing during the changing seasons time. I had a nice Topeak trunk bag that I really liked..... I used it on my mountain bike, and my old road bike, which I no longer have. Topeak uses a propriatory fastening system using a track and rail setup that, coupled with a plastic spring loaded clip in the front eliminates the need for velcro straps hanging all over the place. I found it works great, when used with their racks. And that, is where the reason for this post can be found. It seems that I have two Topeak racks, one I keep on my mountain bike, and one I had on my old aluminum framed road bike, when I replaced the aluminum framed road bike with a new touring bike however, the new bike came with a very sturdy rack. Couple that with the addition of fenders, and the removal of that rack and switching to the Topeak rack for occasional use became an impractical task. So, after looking at both the rack and the bag for a bit, I found that the rack on the new Cannondale Touring bike also came with a kick-up portion in the front, and it did appear to be similar size to the Topeak rack...... hmmmmmm.... I wonder if that would clasp onto that rack, I thought. Well, lets try..... so I did, and it did, perfectly. That didn't do anything for the rear of the bag however, as the Cannondale rack had no track to hold onto the rail on the bag, but the bag was being securely held to the rack by the front clasp, so I looked for a solution. The solution is simple, cheap, not quite as convenient, but it works, and I don't have to discard a perfectly good bag that I already had.

And then, just to be sure it stayed in place, because this was not the original designers intent as to how this design was to be used I added some extra insurance....

The end result, is a functional, usable trunk bag for my everyday chores, plus, it's not so easily stolen by a snatch and run thief as the original design. And...... I don't have to spend $$$ for a new bag that had velcro straps to hold it on. Yes, if I want to remove it, I have to cut the zip ties and replace them when I put the bag back on, but those are very cheap, as well as compact and light if you want to take a hundred along with you. I used the rear tailight slot to fasten the rear of the bag, which is not really as secure as I'd like. Another solution would be to go down to your local sewing center and picking up a 1/2 inch wide velcro strap that is male on one side, and female on the other, cutting it to size and running it through the shoulder strap holders you see just above my improvised mounts. You can run it all the way under the rack and fastten it between the front and back shoulder strap mounts, which are quite secure. This was to be an experiment just to see if such a thing was feasible, and it is. If I decide to make a more permanent mounting, I will drill through the plastic rail on each side at the bottom of the bag, and run my zip ties through that and around the rack providing a much more stabile mount. This seems to work just fine the way it is however, and I'll leave it like this to see how long it lasts. If it fails, (when it fails) I will report it here as well.  Of course, if you have the bucks, and want a new bag .... that's the way to go, but if you're like me and have an old bag laying around, and hate to see it go to waste, use a little imagination and ingenuity, sometimes it pays dividends by providing you with a usable, funtional unit for hardly any cost at all. Plus, I think it look fine on the bike as well. See..... I told you this would be a blog about "practical" bicycling.

My Cameras for Bicycling

Well, here we are again;

Ok.......as promised in the introduction, here is a synopsis of my bicycling cameras. I have had a total of three since I've started bicycling, all digital cameras. I love the digital age!! Nuff said!!! The digital cameras are tough, can stand a lot of vibration and other abuse, they're compact, and yet have features built in that only the most expensive cameras would have had thirty years ago. You don't have to develop and print pictures to find out you've got a dud..... just look at them on your computer, and delete the bad ones.....doesn't cost you a cent. Always, always, and I can't stress this enough, look at them on your computer and play with them for a while before you delete. Never, never....delete an image in camera, no matter how bad it may look at the time. My Kodak camera is history, it found it's way into the trash many years ago when it just quit working. It was a cheap camera to start with, and it took OK pictures for what it was, and it was reasonably small and I could fit it into a bicycling lifestyle. My first quality camera was a Canon A570is .... a camera with image stabilization. Certainly a worthwhile feature when age dictates that maybe you aren't quite as steady as you used to be. This camera was TOUGH! It has been dropped several times, once at twenty miles per hour from a moving bicycle, bounced several times and slid along the road for what seemed an eternity. I picked it up, turned it on, and it took pictures for me the rest of the ride, and they turned out just fine. It had taken about 5000 pictures by then however, and was getting to the point where it just didn't always want to focus and set the exposure correctly, and I ended up taking a half dozen pictures to get one good one. It also had only a 4X zoom and a macro setting that required you to get the camera very close for close up shots. So, I looked around to find a replacement. I had a large Panasonic Z28 camera that I dearly loved, but it was way too bulky for bicycle use, but because of the picture quality I got with it, I looked pretty hard at their compact cameras as well as Canon. I finally settled on a ZS8 Panasonic, and have had wonderful results. Trying to make sure this one doesn't get dropped or thrown off the moving bike however. It had many features that endeared it to me.....a snapshot artist..... a KISS photographer.... that's "Keep It Simple Stupid"....... and works just fine on full auto. I really don't have the time or desire to be messing around 5 minutes setting the camera up to take a manual picture when the camera will do better on it's own. You can set it for full manual, Aperture preferred, shutter preferred, and program. A zillion different settings as well as video, which I don't use.  Here is a photo comparison of the two cameras I use..... the Canon and the Panasonic.....

As you can see, they are both compact, the Canon being a bit more bulky to carry. One of the reasons I like the Panasonic is the way it fits into a bicycling jersey pocket without being bulky, and it's still easy to remove, something the Canon wasn't.

One of the most important things I've found that one must make sure of while carrying a camera this way on a bicycling adventure is to keep the camera dry. Digital cameras do not like to get wet! If it is humid out, and I know I'm going to sweat a lot, or if it looks like rain, I do this......

I cut the zip closure off a sandwich bag, because it's bulky in your pocket and awkward to use that way. Placing the camera in the bag, I roll the open top down at least three rolls, then fold it over the camera and finally folding the opposite end over the camera, and stick it in my pocket. It is water tight, and is still fairly easy and quick to use. I used to leave the zip closure on, but like it so much better this way. I do the same with my cell phone.

I also like the 16X zoom (optical) and the Leica lens on the Panasonic as well. That is a great lens for a compact camera, and works very well. The Panasonic also has a zoom macro feature that I find myself using more and more. The Canon, not so.....you had to get right down and personal to get a macro shot. Not good with a creature like this.......

I didn't really care to crowd him any. So, I continue to enjoy all the features of the Panasonic that make it such a great bicycling camera, and will probably do so for a goodly time to come..... until something better comes along. But it'll have to be something a LOT better. So....what about filters, polorizers, and other photo enhancing devices you ask? Well.....remember when I said you have things you may have to make do with.......? This is one of them. We're entering DSLR territory now, and while those are wonderful cameras, they do not necessarily make wonderful bicycling cameras. Not for someone who likes to travel light anyway. There is one accessory that I couldn't do without however, and that is a tripod. Tripod, you ask?? How in the world do you carry a tripod on a bicycle?? Well, folks, that is another topic in itself. There will be another post about tripods shortly. But as a summary on cameras for bicycle use, it goes like this. There are many, many great digital cameras out there that will work just fine for bicycle use, the features that I find important are ones that have left me with a satisfying fat photo album, bulging with quality pictures. First of all, compact size, toughness, no fragile tiny, expensive cameras allowed on my bike trips. My Pan cost me $280 which is plenty enough, but not enough to break me if something should happen to it. I also require a great lens, one with good range of exposure adjustments, and a convenient focal length. A camera that has a long zoom, and has a good range of exposure settings to be able to take clear shots at max zoom is certainly a plus. What is more important to me though is a lens that is capable of clean, crisp macro shots without dancing with the rattlesnake. So..... decide what is important to you, research the camera market for those features, get a camera, and start shooting. It doesn't have to be an expensive one.... my Canon was only $120, and the Kodak before that was $70.... all took good pictures. As you take more photos however, you'll want more features, so always keep your mind open along with your eyes. Stay tuned for the post on tripods...... you'll love it!

Introduction to Photo-Biking

Well, Howdy!

The purpose of this Blog is to promote bicycling and photography in a way that is practical and useful for everyone and anyone. It also combines two activities that go together like peanut butter and jelly..... or bread and butter..... in other words, they belong with one another. Those are bicycling and photography. Why, you ask? If I drive my car, I drive right on by so many photos that I would have seen, and would have been able to stop for on my bike. It always amazes me when I'm out on the bike and people roar by in their cars and pickup trucks, oblivious to everything around them. Just today, I was out on my bike with my camera taking pictures of this.....

and a fellow in a pickup stopped by and wondered if I was OK, and asked what I was doing way out there on a bicycle. I replied that I was taking pictures of all the Fall color around this year, it has been just spectacular, and he looked at me kinda funny and replied...."Oh yeah? ..... I really hadn't noticed..."  My point exactly. So....I bicycle, and I look, and I observe, and I can stop anywhere, and take photos of anything, and see much more than anyone in a car. It takes up a lot of time doing that, and you don't cover a whole lot of ground, but the added benefit is you gain your health back in the process. I have been on my bike and saw a gentleman drive his pickup from his house out two hundred feet to the road, turn around pull up to his mailbox, retrieve his mail ..... then I caught up to him and said.... "howdy, pretty day today isn't it". He said it sure was, and asked me how far I was riding on my bike, and I replied, "Oh, around 50 miles or so" after which he told me "I couldn't ride one of them things 50 feet" and I smiled and rode on. Yep, it's true..... if you don't get out and do something, it'll never get done. The hardest miles of a bicycle ride across the country is the first one. There are a million excuses, but it's only youself you are fooling.
There will be from time to time hints and tips on both bicycling and photography, not because I'm any expert, but because over the years I have found things that work for me, and I would like to pass them on. If anything that I post on here will help someone...... great, even if only one person benefits from my experiences, it'll be worth the time and effort I've put into this blog. You will find that a lot of my tips involve things that don't cost a lot of money, a lot of them are "make-do" sort of things that involve a certain input by you! They are, however, things that work, and have continued to serve me well over the years. So, with that, this has been a lengthy enough introduction to my blog, and I want to welcome you, the reader here, and hope that you'll enjoy your time spent here. Let's get started in my first real post about camera's to take along on a bicycle ride, why I chose what I did, and how to make everything work for you along the way. Here goes........