response 224 of 291:

Aug 28 13:37 UTC 2002

Ann Arbor is hilly compared to anywhere in the Saginaw Valley.  It's not
hilly compared to Houghton.  And Houghton is only moderately hilly compared
to San Francisco.  (Well, the steepness is about the same, but San
Francisco's hills go on longer.)

response 226 of 291:

Aug 29 01:48 UTC 2002

To clarify:  Back in May I rode Utah route 7 (or is it 2? it goes from
I-15 to US-89) east of Springdale, which has some switchbacks a few
miles out of town.  I'll let you get the maps to see where that goes. ;-)

While catching my breath on the trip up, I took plenty of pictures.
There wasn't time to snap pics on the way down, and it would have
ruined the fun anyway.

response 228 of 291:

Aug 30 01:48 UTC 2002

Taking it easy and even stopping to pick up an abandoned bicycle to
drop off at lost & found... walking the last half-mile... still
averaged more than 12 MPH over time-in-motion.  The difference between
all-out effort and really slacking is remarkably small.

Re #227:  I bet you would.  My altimeter said it climbed about 800
feet.  Most of that climb was along a bit over 3 miles of road.

response 230 of 291:

Aug 30 17:31 UTC 2002

Were you in Barton Hills?  Lots of hills, paved roads and very little car
traffic.
If anyone ever needs a bike part in Milan a guy on Main St. most of the way
out of town with a big collection of old bikes in his yard can help.  He gave
us a tire when mine got damaged.  He is willing to take all our old women's
3-speed bikes and find them homes with kids who cannot afford new ones. 
Someone on a bike at the supermarket sent us to him.  

response 232 of 291:

Aug 31 19:02 UTC 2002

Back from Lombardy, Italy. It was great, but strainuous. (wet too, 
loads of thunderstorms)
All'n all I estimate I climbed more than 12,000 ft. in four rides.
Overall distance 320 kilometers.

response 234 of 291:

Sep 1 12:39 UTC 2002

That makes my effort look pretty meager, Steve.

response 236 of 291:

Sep 1 19:38 UTC 2002

We just went maybe 200-300 miles (on mostly gravel roads) but it took 10 days
of biking, about 2-5 hours/day.  I will eventually post photos and travelog.
Started north of Chelsea and continued in a big circle through Tecumseh,
Milan, Dundee and back and forth staying in yards and once in pole barn while
it poured.  We met the owner while cooking lunch on the front porch at
Bridgewater Lumber (they said their picnic table was the only one in town and
it had a roof).  Other high points included a private tour of the Dundee
Military Pool (vehicle) museum after we stayed in the owner's yard, scones
for breakfast after staying in another stranger's yard (he waved at us as we
were going by around dark), tour of a dairy operation, the largest vegetable
farm that sells at market (it was ten times as big before her husband died
recently), orchard, organic vegetable farm, pawpaw grove, Tecumseh swimming
hole and bike trail, unofficial Milan bike shop (he gave us a tire), and
getting our photos in the Milan weekly newspaper just for being there.  We
brought back two colds, one poison ivy, and another camping mat.  We were
amazed to find that nobody we visited had a digital camera yet and that almost
everybody had white Corelle dishes.  On our trip we found no skunks or
raccoons or helicopters and only one smoker (on a bike).  But lots of smashed
opossums and groundhogs.

response 238 of 291:

Sep 2 21:21 UTC 2002

I still seem to be improving.  Despite the wind today, I averaged
over 3/10 of a MPH faster than my previous personal-best record.

On the downside, my front derailleur isn't shifting correctly.  I
need to see if the stop screw moved, the cable stretched, or the
mechanism is binding.

response 240 of 291:

Sep 3 05:05 UTC 2002

If you're dropping the chain (shifting off the gears), one of the set screws
moved.  If it's shifting into the wrong position, it's a cable issue (or,
possibly, the deraileur got bent).  If it's getting stuck in mid-shift, and
you're having to push hard on the shift lever to get it to move, the mechanism
is binding (or the cable is getting stuck somewhere).  These are all pretty
easy to diagnose while riding, without even looking at it.

response 242 of 291:

Sep 3 12:52 UTC 2002

I've never had a front derailleur that shifted *smoothly* onto larger
chainwheels.  I'd guess, though, that something has shifted so the
derailleur isn't moving as far in that direction.  The question is which
of those causes is the problem.  Usually front derailleurs have to move
a bit past the chainwheel to actually get the chain to shift.

response 244 of 291:

Sep 3 22:56 UTC 2002

someone stole my bike.  I am really ticked off.

response 246 of 291:

Sep 5 02:03 UTC 2002

Bruce, was it locked?  Today at the library we met someone who said he had
left his bike at the library (unlocked) and it was stolen.  Today he found
a bike in an alley (unlocked) and since it was still there a few hours later,
he took it.  Jim fixed the gears and brakes, etc. and will get him a lock.
In Tecumseh we were told not to bother locking our bikes.  In Ann Arbor things
are different.  

If you rig up some way to keep the rain and sun off your bikes, we would be
willing to fix you up a replacement.

Leaving a bike unlocked around Ann Arbor is not a whole lot different from
abandoning it - people assume the owner does not want it.  You cannot blame
them unless they took it from our yard (where you really also ought to lock
it to the fence or some other bike).