Google Maps now has a mode for bicycling directions. It doesn’t work in Singapore yet, so I tried it on the Murrysville-to-Corsica route. Click on the map to be taken to the full directions.

Overall, the directions (both by car and by bike) are odd, or at least not what we’d customarily do (follow state 66, basically).

The bike version really diverges once I reach West Kittaning. Rather than going northeast, up through Goheenville and Distant, it keeps running north, along the river. Maybe it prefers along the river because the grade is not going to be as severe? That little detour along the river, for instance, adds 15km to the trip. It also avoids Olean Trail for some reason. Maybe it tries to avoid gravelly roads too?

The estimated time is also bizarre — 8 hours to ride 115km. It thinks I average 14km/h? ahhaahh not quite. Unless I really underestimate the altitude climb required for this ride, I don’t see why it would be so slow. On rides half as long I can pretty easily manage 27km/h solo.

Anyway, maybe I’ll try some version of the alternative Google bicycling directions when i am in the USA this summer. Certainly stretches of 66 are not that nice for cycling (no shoulder, two-lane highway). Maybe the riverside run would be nice.

When I inspected closer, I saw that the spoke was fine, that in fact the cheap aluminum spoke nipple had snapped its head off. At least that will be easier to fix, but no wonder quality wheelbuilders refuse to use aluminum nipples on wheels. That wheel has literally seen less (far?) than 100km on it.

The wheel issue reminded me that I needed to have a follow-up appointment with my road wheel I rebuilt back in January. It is running true but I was more interested in the spoke tensions and how they’ve held up since I first built the wheel.

Wheel

The results look pretty good. Not perfect, but liveable.

When I did the math

January Measurements:

Drive Side tension (mm of deflection) averaged 1.85 with a std dev of 0.08mm (or 4.17%)

Non-Drive Side tension averaged 1.22 with std dev of 0.08 (6.76%)

March 2010 Measurements

Drive Side: 1.82mm average with std dev 0.09 (4.80%)

Non-Drive 1.13mm average with std dev 0.10 (8.60%)

So the wheels loosened up a bit and slackened a bit, but still quite ok. The worst drive-side spoke deviated by 10%. On the non-drive side, I had three spoke unacceptable (-14%, -20%, +11%).

This should be quite fast and easy to tune up, and then I’ll check again in a couple months. I guess I’ve probably ridden a little over 700km on this wheel so far?

Interesting, I was talking to Brian Roddy, president of Rolf Wheels at the NAHBS. I told him that my friend had been using a Rolf wheel forever and claimed it was the strongest wheel he’d ever used. Brian told me that how they built the wheels is (1) build the wheel (2) press the rim from each side with 400lb force (3) re-tension (4) press again with 400lbs (5) do a final retensioning. That means the spokes are really well seated in. Pretty cool, and it makes results. I guess I make some sort of jig to press wheels like that myself — just need a big lever and a proper die to press against it.

But then I was like

Enjoy tonight’s (entirely random) story.

What is it about Tokyo’s Hotel Okura?

It’s got a worse location than the Peninsula. Rooms almost spartan compared to the Ritz-Carlton. Far more dated than the Grand Hyatt.

But I still love it. I think because it’s so spare and pure. It’s a top 1965 Tokyo Hotel preserved and maintained immaculately. When I’m sitting in the lobby it feels like Frank Sinatra’s entourage could pull up to the front door at any minute. The interior design of the hotel is totally consistent and totally classy. I spend almost no time in the hotel room, so I don’t do much beside appreciate the bed. And I certainly appreciate the hotel costing may one-half what I’d spent at any of the other three. (though maybe this will change — Ginza was a ghost-town for several of the bars and restaurants we visited there — the economy does not feel strong.)

My productivity has been shit for five days. What little activation energy I have to get anything done burns off when I turn on NetNewswire and start reading any of the hundred different newsfeeds I subscribe too. Yep, plenty of interesting stuff on there, and lots of new ideas for things to work on, but it’s like drinking from a firehose. I should shut the damn thing off and concentrate on lapping some puddles. Ugh.

I was surprised by his massive house. Lots of Wheaties residuals I guess. Then I made a remark that a Bruce Jenner reality show is scraping the barrel bottom.

Ling says, “this isn’t about Bruce Jenner, it’s about the Kardashians”   

“Huh? Then why is Bruce Jenner in their living room?”

“Because he’s the step-dad,” she explained.

Ooops, my bad!

My only comment? Bruce Jenner is Frank Black

I rode my Brompton to the machine shop today. Michel, Sulaiman, and I were doing a non-invasive teardown analysis of it. The final conclusion is something like

It is an elegant design that has clearly been refined over many years. Almost every detail and part on the bike appears to be a bespoke design from Brompton’s factory in the UK. So while it works very nicely today, if anything ever were to break on the bike during a long ride, bar one or two M3 cap bolts , there is almost no chance of finding a spare unless you find yourself outside a Brompton Service Center.

It is a nice little minimalist bike. The 5pm ride home from the workshop was a bit rude from sun and hills, but a few stand-ups on the grades had me home in reasonable time.