The Blog Within

With the temperature hitting 60º this afternoon, I decided it was a great day to see if it is feasible to ride my bike to work at the new office.

Since I’ve now ridden the southern part of the Cherry Creek Trail a bazillion times, I figured I would save some time and energy and drive to the kids’ school at Jordan and E470 and ride north by northwest from there. 24 miles later I was really glad I made that choice!

Here is the GPS track of my return trip: (I didn’t bother to run it for the trip to the office)

Normally bike commuting involves about an 8 hour break between the trip out and the return. Turning around and coming right back was definitely a challenge I’m not used to!

Heading north from C2E took me on a part of the Cherry Creek Trail I have never seen before. It is very scenic, even in January, with amazing views of the rockies as a bonus. The Cherry Creek Trail peters out at about Otero St and from there the way leads along Jordan Rd until the border of Cherry Creek State Park, at which point the road continues as dirt, but is blocked by a gate and a sign that says, in effect, never mind the fact that there is a perfectly good road here, go away. I ducked the gate and road it anyway. After about 100 yards it becomes paved again, and legal to be on. Here there is another sign for the southbound traveler spreading the same good will and cheer, but this time offers a detour to another segment of the Cherry Creek Trail. On the return trip I broke the law again, because I wasn’t sure what would become of me if I took the trail. After checking GoogleMaps at home it seems that the trail makes a very small loop around to a side street, so I will use then when I ride this way again, rather than get shot by the secret park police.

Proceeding north on Jordan takes a nice route up through the park, long, but nice. It finally turns west at Cherry Creek Reservoir and eventually hits a street that heads south to Belleview, which is where I needed to be.

Once on Belleview, it was pretty quick to get to my office building, even with going a block north on DTC Blvd when I didn’t technically need to.

Coming back, I took Ulster all the way down to Belleview and then headed east. This route has several nasty intersections, so at rush hour I might be inclined to go around the extra block of DTC Blvd after all.

As scenic as the route b the lake was, I don’t like to add extra miles just for the heck of it, so on the way back I found a nifty shortcut that saved off a whole mile.

The rest of the trip was on the same route as the trip in.

The next entry in our series of free software comes, surprisingly, from Microsoft.

If you used imgburn to create some ISO images of CD’s or DVD’s, wouldn’t it be nice to mount those image files to a drive letter in Windows, without having to burn the image to a disc every time. (or for when the machine you’re on doesn’t have a CD/DVD burner)
It is also useful for those games that require the disc to be present, if you don’t want to tie up your CD drive all the time.

For the ability to do this in Windows (it’s built-in with Linux and Unix) you need the XP Virtual CD Control Tool.

The zipped file that you will get from that link contains a readme.txt file, the vcdcontrol executable and the virtual cd driver in the form of a .dll file.

I unzipped and copied the entire folder to C:\Program FIles and then created a desktop shortcut to C:\Program Files\vcdcontroltool\VCdControlTool.exe.

The first time you run it you will need to load the driver:
Click the ‘Driver Control’ button, then the ‘Install Driver’ button

It should default to the folder where VCdRom.sys file is located, but if not, it’s in the same folder as the executable.

Finally, click the ‘Start’ button and ‘OK’ you are done with the one-time setup stuff!

Now, any time you want to mount an ISO image to a drive letter, run vcdcontroltool, click ‘Add Drive’ and then ‘Mount’ which will bring up the Windows file browser dialog. Simply browse to your ISO file, select it, decide whether to make it persistent or not, and voila! Windows is duped into thinking a real CD or DVD is loaded into a real CD/DVD-ROM drive!

Over the years I have found a bunch of free utilities and applications that I have made a part of the standard setup on any computer that I use frequantly. These applications are all free, and most are open source.

Some are for Windows, some for Linux, still others are for both.

From time to time I will share some of that free software here. My criteria are that the software must be 1) free, 2) virus/spyware free and 3) that it not suck.

First up: ImgBurn (Windows)

ImgBurn, according to its developer, is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit! I started using it several years ago when I was on a road trip for work and had a new laptop upon which I had not had a chance to install a retail CD burning program such as Nero or Roxio. (Roxio sucks, by the way)

One of the IT people at the customer site I was at recommended this app, and I downloaded it and tried it. While it doesn’t have all the features of the retail apps, it is just the thing for burning  or copying CD’s or DVD’s, saving existing discs to ISO files, burning ISO files to disc, etc.

To this day it is the only CD application I have found that can burn and verify CD’s and ISO’s created by and for the Unisys MCP file system. Doing that is no small feat!

So, if you find yourself on a compiuter that didn’t come with a retail or OEM CD burning program, download and install ImgBurn. It will do just what you need!

My iPod likes 80′s music.

I have a decent mix of various genres on it, and 80′s is by no means the majority, but when I put it on shuffle, it plays 80′s tunes at a rate of about 3:2 vs anything else.

So between moneys received for computer side work and plain old paychecks, I have managed to amass most of the small parts for my new mountain bike project. In that post that I linked, I have crossed off my purchases from the list and added a note about where I found the part and how much I paid. So far I’m really beating the curve of full retail, which is good as I will most likely need to get the crankset and brakes at retail, and they are the biggest ticket items already.

At this point pretty much all that is left to get is the crankset, cassette, chain, brakes, saddle and handlebar grips. The seatpost size on this bike is identical to that of my hardtail so I can swap that as needed for the time being.

Of course I’ll also need some misc items like cables and zip ties but that’s no big deal. With any luck, I could be riding fully suspended very soon after the tax return comes in a few weeks!

As for current riding, this past Sunday Ava and I went for a 12 mile round trip ride to Cold Stone Ice Cream so that she could cash in a coupon she got from Parker Police for wearing her helmet. The weather was quite nice, and she rode the whole thing with only one short break, well one short break in addition to stopping and eating ice cream…

Then on Monday Laney and I went hiking in Castlewood Canyon State Park. There was a lot more snow and ice than we were expecting, but I had brought along my hiking poles and they were a real lifesaver! She had a great time and didn’t complain once about the snow or anything else for that matter.

As for future riding, last summer’s bike commuting was an interesting and rewarding experience for me, and I had been very much looking forward to doing it again this coming spring. Except that I changed jobs, and this one is quite a bit further away.

At this new job, I split my time between the data center in Highlands Ranch and the main office in the Tech Center. The tech center building has a full workout facility with showers, and it is approximately 15 miles from the house to here so it might be doable to ride here. The next warm weekend I intend to do an exploratory test ride and find out. From looking at google maps, it seems that my route would take me through the southern end of Cherry Creek State Park, which would be a huge bonus!

The data center is about 18-20 miles from home, which is really stretching it distance and time-wise, and there are no shower facilities there, but it is also right off the C470 bike path so I could literally ride from the house to there with only a few hundred yards on the street. I’m not afraid to ride in the street when I have to, but it sure is nicer to be on a dedicated bike path! At any rate, I doubt I will be bike commuting 5 days a week like last summer, but I hope to still get in the same 100 miles a week of on pavement spinning in order to stay in good health and keep my fitness up for mountain biking.

We shall see…

I love January in Colorado…yesterday it was 58º and I took Ava on a 12 mile bike ride. Today it’s supposed to hit 60º and I’m taking Laney hiking in Castlewood Canyon State Park!

I love thrift stores. At one today, I found a car charger for my GPS for $2.95!

January 1, 2009

60º F

Proof

Those of you who know me at all are aware that I occasionally whine about my hardtail mountain bike. It’s actually a very nice bike, and I have no qualms about riding it on any trail, but sometimes I feel like it is holding me back. Or maybe I’m just getting old…

At any rate, after an insane amount of some research and shopping, I finally found a full suspension frame on eBay and shopped victoriously.

While a reasonably priced complete bike would have been perfectly fine with me, I had in fact hoped to find a well priced, good quality frame so that I could get it for a smaller initial investment, and then spend the rest of the winter outfitting it as funds allow.

What I found is a 2006 Giant Trance 1 frame with a Fox RP3 shock!

And here’s the best part, it was local so I saved myself the shipping charges as well!

So for the next few months, to Jen’s delight, I will be selecting and periodically purchasing components for it, despite how tempting it is to migrate all the components from my hardtail and therefore ride it that much sooner.

First, what I already have:

Fork:
Marzzochi MX Comp Air

Tires:
WTB Velociraptor 2.1

Pedals:
Shimano M324 SPD

Headset:
This frame model has an integrated headset, how cool is that!

And now for what I need…
so please donate to the Corey-needs-bike-parts charity fund!

Wheels:
WTB Dual Duty – $89.00
Purchased from JensonUSA.com + $15.50 shipping

Handlebars:
Race Face Evolve XC – $27.98
Shopped Victoriously! $17.95 + $8.98 shipping!

Grips:
Lizard Skins Moab - $6.98 (free shipping)
Jensen USA – Yeti Speed Grips – $10.50
The Yeti grips were awful on my bars. I put them on my daughter’s bike and got Ergon GX-1′s

Stem:
Race Face Evolve XC – $29.98
Shopped Victoriously! $10.50 + $7.67 shipping!
Seller listed the part wrong, so back to the drawing board :(
Shopped Victoriously! $22.49 + $8.50 shipping & tax!

Crankset (with bottom bracket):
Race Face Evolve XC – $129.98
Purchased from Pricepoint.com, with free shipping!

Seat Post:
Race Face Evolve XC – $44.00
Shopped Victoriously! $15:50 + $10.13 shipping

Saddle:
Selle Italia XO Gel – $39.98
Performance Bike – Forté Pro RS1 – $29.99

Shifters:
Sram Attack Trigger – $49.98
Shopped Victoriously! $31.00 + $5.99 shipping
(Shimano Deore M530)

Front Derailleur:
Shiman Deore XT M770 – $49.98
Shopped Victoriously! $24.99 + $8.13 shipping
(Shimano Deore XT M760)
It turns out this XT is a top-swing, which doesn’t work with my frame. :|
So, back to eBay, where I picked up a new XT, this one a bottom swing. $35.94 with shipping.

Rear Derailleur:
Shimano XT M760 – $69.98
Shopped Victoriously! $19.75 + $7.00 shipping
The XT M760 has an issue and will not work on my 9-speed cassette
So from Craigslist I purchased a Shimano XTR M970 – $50.00
(Update – I fixed the XT derailleur, and now it works great on the old hardtail)

Cassette:
Shimano HG-50 – $33.82
Jensen USA

Chain:
Shimano XTR CN-7701 – $25.98
Jensen USA (Grips, cassette and chain, $8.95 shipping)

Brakes:
Formula Oro K24
Front – $159.99
Rear – $159.99
160mm Rotors – $58.90
Shopped Victoriously! $279.96 + $14.80 shipping & $10.36 tax

I have researched brakes probably more than any other component. The issue turned out to me not so much what I wanted, but what I could afford. When I picked up the frame, the seller had a set of these Formula K24 brakes that I suspect came on my bike when it was whole, and he wanted $265.00 for them with no rotors. I lacked the funds at the time, and in subsequent  research had narrowed my affordable choices down to Hayes HFX-9, on sale at Pricepoint.com, Magura Julie, on sale at Nashbar, or various Shimano models I had seen on eBay.

Then I sold some computer parts and was able to get Jen a much-needed laptop, and at the same time I saw a Formula K24 brake set, in white, with rotors, for $279.96 on eBay. I had enough money left over after purchasing the laptop, so after talking it over with Jen, I decided to treat myself to the brakes. They should look amazing, and they have the highest rating on MTBR.com of any product I have ever looked at there, so they should perform well too.

As for the rest of the components, I didn’t intentionally set out to select all Race Face Evolve XC, but this series seems to offer an excellent value in terms of weight and price, and on this frame, I think they will make for a nice package for all day trail riding. It also doesn’t hurt that Pricepoint.com’s prices seem to be reduced about 40% off of MSRP across the board!

So hopefully, when it’s all done, it will look something like this: