Poland trip, first post.

Above, on the river in Gdańsk. That building on the right is a medieval crane; four treadmills, each powered by four men, could lift three tons of grain off a ship.

 This is gonna be long, so I'm splitting the notes of our Poland trip over a few posts.

 May 22

We flew Lufthansa. A close friend who’s a better traveler than I told me I’d love Lufthansa, and he was right. I am not a great traveler, and so don’t have a lot of experience with different airlines… but I’ve flown economy on a number of US airlines in the past several years, and I will stand by the statements I’m about to make about them.

Look, I’m not talking about flying business class, or first class, or whatever. It’s not hard to be flashy if money is unlimited, or even just available. But after having flown economy on Lufthansa, and comparing it to US airlines… well, don’t ever come to me with that “USA! Number One!” balderdash. Seats were comfortable and less cramped; food was acceptable; service was efficient and surprisingly friendly. 

Still, I didn’t get much sleep on the plane.

We had a layover in Munich, which was unremarkable (except that Coke Zero was surprisingly expensive). The Excellent Wife (TEW) asked me to get her a decaf iced latte, and the woman at the coffee booth was delightfully contemptuous of both the request for decaf and the request for iced. TEW went coffee-less, I’m afraid.

In the toilet stall was a mostly-ripped-away sticker from an anti-nazi organization (“organization” may be too formal a word). I was sobered by the fact that there had to be an anti-nazi group in Germany, and also by the fact that the sticker was partly torn away. Had it been torn by a person in the stall who disagreed with its sentiment? By an insufficiently-effective custodian? If the latter, why had nobody come back to complete the job? (The piped-in music was obscure Bach, by the way.)

The flight from Munich to Warsaw was short, and I got no sleep on that plane either. We got a cab from the airport to the place where we had to meet the person who would take us to the AirB&B, which is in the Old City. The roads are narrow and winding enough that some are impassable to cars. This part of the city is lovely, though, and the accommodation is pleasant. 

We went to dinner at a place TEW found, where the food was excellent (I expect Polacks can generally cook very well, when they’re not being starved, enslaved, or attacked), and where the waitress, who spoke excellent English, gave me a tip on money exchange. We then went to a chocolate lounge, where I nearly fell asleep into my confection, I was that jet-lagged. (Where coffee places in the US go for the raw-brick-and-exposed-pipes vibe, the chocolate lounges have much more plaster and wall sconces. I half expected a violinist to come around playing Mozart.

May 23:

We got up and walked around the old city. 

Later, we took a trip to the Wilanow palace.

Then back to Warsaw for a trip to the city fort, now another museum, including an art museum, where I did not get pictures. 

In the evening to a Chopin concert, in a tiny venue (seating maybe 200?). A delightful performance by a young Asian woman who had studied in the conservatory in Warsaw; she was excellent, and TEW later said she would have bought the CD. TEW was impressed by how many of the audience appeared to be Polish; this venue may not cater primarily to tourists (although there was a group that, at the end, were clearly being herded by a guide in Norwegian Cruise line mufti).

May 24:

Early in the day, we went for breakfast to another E. Wedel, which, of course, included a bit of chocolate. 

From there, we went into the center of the city to the Culture Center, a building imposed by Stalin. Poland was almost completely destroyed during the war: the Old City, to which I’ve referred, was a reconstruction. The Culture Center was built on land destroyed during the war, and was apparently to be a reminder to the Poles who the real power was. There was to be a whole city center built around it, but Stalin died before it could be started, and Kruschev, his successor, never began construction. City residents seem to be ambivalent about the failure of the expansion.

From there, on neat old, “antique” buses, we went on a tour of Praga, the area of the city on the other side of the Vistula River from city center. Praga was a workaday, manufacturing center. The factory for the excellent E. Wedel chocolate is still there.

However, manufacturing started to drift away (as it does), and the region fell on hard times. There were few jobs, and the area became crime ridden, and was known as one of the most dangerous city areas in Europe. 

Because the area was cheap, artists moved in, and as buildings either fell down or were demolished, leaving flat walls, murals were painted, some of which were excellent, some of which still remain.

Gentrification began. An old distillery (they call it a “vodka factory”, but they distilled spirits from grain as well as from potatoes) has been rehabilitated as a “vodka museum”, including restaurants, retail space, and offices. Real estate in the area has been improved, with the ensuing rises in rents, and evictions of less-well-off residents.

In the evening, we met with our tour group, and went out for an “authentic Polish dinner”. I don’t think my mother-in-law would have been impressed.

May 25:

In the morning, we went with the tour group on a bus tour of the city. In some places we were turned away, because of demonstrations relating to the run-off elections to be held next weekend.

Then we went on a walking tour, first of the Polish Uprising museum area, and then of the old town. TEW and I had been in the old town when we first started, so we escaped to catch the outdoor Chopin concert in Lazienski Park. This series of weekly concerts (I don’t know how long the season is) has been going on over sixty years. They get world-class pianists (ours was no exception). The audience was of all ages, all apparently enjoying the music, on the most delightful day.

After that, we made our way back to the hotel, and in the late afternoon, went out to a quiet dinner, and another trip to an E. Wedel for chocolate. AND we made three trips, on two different lines, to different destinations, on the Warsaw tram. We are annoyingly proud of our navigation capabilities.

ride on a not-so-rainy day

 I'd say it was about 80% because I'm driving a rental car, and didn't want to put the bike in it (I was in a no-injuries crash that will have the Ramblin' Wrench Prius in the shop for the foreseeable future), and about 23% because I didn't want to deal with the hilly ride that Tom H was planning (I've never been great on descents*, and while I used to be a good climber, that facility seems to be passing - and I find after every flat ride, I'm saying to myself, "THAT was GREAT!"), and about 32% because Marty-and-Bobbi had posted a ride, and every time I go out with them, I wonder why don't I do this more frequently?, but yesterday I found myself on Bobbi-and-Marty's ride.

 *Years ago, as I was riding the brakes on a long downhill, I remembered thinking, "I'm a shit descender", and came up with the following song parody:

Oh, yes, I'm a shit descender,
I ride the brakes all the way down.
I hear you complain, that it makes you insane,
You cuss me as you go around.
You cuss me as you go around.

And if you can't place the original song, you're far too young for me to hang around with.

==

At the start:

 The route was one that Marty had adapted from Tom's book (see the link in the first paragraph - Marty-and-Bobbi treat Tom as a hero, which makes me laugh, as I know Tom so well). It was just shy of 40 miles, which meant that including my five-mile ride in from home and back, it would be a fifty-mile day. I haven't done one of those in a long time, and was slightly concerned about my stamina, but it turned out I needn't have been.

Bobbi usually sweeps for Marty, but she had to turn off early, so I rode in the back with a couple of the slower folks. One in particular didn't have the speed, but had endurance, and responded well to a bit of company and encouragement.

It had started out as a sunny day, but clouds came on as the ride progressed, and we did wind up with drips of rain for a while - nothing heavy, and frankly, it was better to have cool-and-humid than hot-and-humid. I made the usual (probably inescapable) jokes about not needing either a shower or a laundry at the end of this ride.

We stopped at the Brandywine Soccer  Field (Marty had warned us to bring snacks).

 And back. One rider almost suffered a left hook from a thoughtless driver, but escaped with only a scare; we talked about it as we pedaled. It was otherwise a pleasant, uneventful ride. I'm delighted to have been out on another Bobbi-and-Marty ride.

Ride page.

'nother no-pace ride

 

I like doing the no-pace rides; I like the opportunity they afford to meet people I don't normally ride with, and I like that they offer an opportunity for riders who aren't strong and fast to come out. That said, all of the folks that came out today are pretty experienced (and four of the five others are friends). But I'm glad to offer these anyway.

We do the same 20-ish mile route, and riders know what to expect. We go at the pace of the group (don't let the pace on the ride page fool you; we've gone slower than this if the group needs that), and faster folks sometimes go off the front, but we generally stay together. We were all in sight of each other on today's ride, which is not always the case.

 I didn't get a picture of it, but Jeff had installed the new Wheeltop electronic shifting system on his titanium bike. While there's a disk brake system available, they also make it for cable brakes, so it went well on his older bike... and he said that the phone app for adjusting the system took some getting used to, but he was able to set it up and get it going by himself, and he was happy with the performance on the ride today. (Another rider, Mindy, is also interested, because the heavy spring on front derailleur shifters hurts her hand, and the electronic assist would make riding much more pleasant for her.)

I'm intrigued enough to consider a set for the Yellow Maserati, my titanium road bike... and I can just see myself riding half the year on electronics, and the other half on my bar-end friction system. (Rivendell bikes has a low-normal rear derailleur, designed with friction shifters in mind, in the pipeline, and I'm eagerly awaiting news on that, as well...). 

 Above is Abhijeet, who came out today for the first time on one of my rides, and who can clearly ride rings around me. He had a custom bike business, and complained that it interfered with his riding and his love of bikes generally, and that makes perfect sense to me, with the Ramblin' Wrench operation I have. But he is pleasant to speak to, and had nifty pictures and animations of his bikes on his phone. I hope to see him again.

I know these no-pace rides aren't for everybody, but I like doing them. Maybe you'll come out for one.

listen to your mechanic, and change your cables

 

I did the annual pre-season tune and checkup on a customer's bike today. The bike is fifteen years old, with Shimano Ultegra road shifters, and the cables had never been changed.

So?

So in the past 2-3 years, I've worked on four or five bikes with Shimano road shifters (Ultegra and 105), where the shift cable has parted inside the shifter. In some cases, I was able to remove the short bit of cable and get the shifter working again; in others, I could not, and the shifter is gonna shift again, quoth the raven, nevermore.

I've resolved to tell folks with older bikes with Shimano road shifters that I recommend changing the cables, based on these experiences. My customer today agreed, so I changed 'em out (internally-routed shifting, so a PITA, but that's a rant for another post). The old cables are in the picture above. There's a terrible blow-up below:

 The lower cable is for the rear shifter, and you can clearly see the frayed cable. It was a matter of time and use before this let go. The cable above is from the front shifter. It's used much less frequently, but the careful eye will note that the black Teflon covering is wearing away a short distance down the cable.

The older Shimano shifters have the cable take a hard turn inside, and I'm sure that's what's causing the wear. I haven't seen the same problem with SRAM stuff, and I doubt it will be a problem with Shimano GRX shifters, partly because they're newer (after all, this takes a decade or so to happen!), and partly because the don't make the same demand of such a hard turn on the cable.

(But it WAS gratifying to have my recommendation so clearly confirmed!)

So if someone tells you to change out your old cables, the like of this is why. 

*All is not necessarily lost if the shifter dies. Even if the speed combination is discontinued by Shimano, I've had good success with two Chinese manufacturers, Sensah and L-Twoo. So your 3x9 drivetrain may still be able to be saved.

wrenching at the tour de franklin

 The Franklin Township Food Bank Tour de Franklin is usually the first charity bike event of the season, and I've been wrench-for-the-day there for years (except for last year, when I was at school in Oregon). They have rides for the serious enthusiasts (including a metric century), but also rides down to 5 miles, for the local families who bring out their kids. I forgot my camera, and had to take what pictures I could on my phone (and I'm not as adept with my phone as I am with my single-purpose camera, but a few of 'em came out anyway).

My workstation:

 Some of the registrations:

 Early in the day:

 

The rides of the different routes start with a mass-start (they have a lot of fun with it, with a barker and a cheering squad):

 It was a very windy day, and cooler than expected, so there were fewer riders than there sometimes are. But (as is common for this ride, and other charity rides that cater to the riders with more hope and good wishes than experience) there were some unusual calls for service at the mechanic station. One rider broke off the top of his presta valve when he was loosening the schrader adapter he keeps on it; the tire continued to hold air, so he went off to do the ride. One woman took the opportunity to have her bars straightened; I expect she had been riding that way for years! We did a couple of chain lubes, and filled a LOT of tires.

The Food Bank provides me with a high-school assistant (she's a minor, so she doesn't get a picture). She was initially enthusiastic, then bored (which was appropriate; it was largely a slow day). But she was pleasant to speak to, and treated me is if I were not just some superannuated stranger.

I like being the event mechanic; they treat me with a deference I find pleasing, and I see people I don't often see otherwise. I'll plan to go back until they won't have me anymore.

more is coming; it will get better

 

A couple of years ago, I posted about a particularly bad time for my mental health (yeah, this is a link to the original post); I'd driven to scope out a location for suicide. I've posted about my fragile mental health here a couple of times since (like this post, and this one), and I refer to it in a few of my ride posts. For suicide prevention month or mental health month, I link to one of these from my Facebook page.

The tattoo above, on my left wrist, is a reminder. It was commonly, for a while, about suicide awareness and mental health generally. Amy Bleuel, who began Project Semicolon, later died of suicide.

This shit is no joke.

It also doesn't just go away. A few weeks ago, I could tell that the anxiety and depression was trying to come back, and, a week or two ago, it did. Attaching to some of the most minor of occurrences, it took over my life for a few days, and I was thinking of suicide again.

I got through it, but it was bad.

 So now there's the ampersand on my right wrist. I hope it will be a reminder that more is coming; that when things are bad, they won't always be, it will get better.

(The tattoo artist pointed out that it would be upside-down when my arms are hanging and others see it. That's OK; it's not for them.)

Thanks for listening.

abbreviated ride, and a shifting mystery

Laura OLPH listed a 50-mile ride on the club website for today, with 2500' of climb, and I wasn't sure I wanted to do that... but then friend Tom H suggested a route that started with Laura's, but then took a shortcut, winding up with about 40 miles, and a smidge over 2000', and that sounded like a better idea. Tom and I signed up for Laura's ride, with the intention of turning off (which we did; no suspense there!).

 

Althea, above, new to the slugs, rides a stainless-steel Tomassini, and this bike is very nearly perfect.

Laura's "gimmick" for this ride is that she brings a bag of chocolate bunnies. Everybody who finishes get one, but they also go to the folks who make the worst jokes and puns along the way. In this crew, there's stiff competition.
 

I don't remember which road we were on when we found the closed lane... but of course, we did find the closed lane; after all, Tom H was on this ride.

 

 I did better today than I thought I would, and if I hadn't promised Tom I'd ride back with him, I might have gone on... (heavy foreshadowing here, and eerie organ music rises in the background). But Tom and I turned off shortly after this.

 

Tom's route included a stop at the Carousel in Ringoes, but when we got there...

 

 A couple of tables and some rusty chairs on the porch, and, although there was not a light on inside, one could peer in the window  and see that the shelves were almost bare (whatever was left on them must be virtually worthless). Perhaps another venture will open a deli there.

 

Perhaps it will be clean and inviting when they do.

 

Tom and I proceeded back to the start. About thirty miles in, I noticed that the rear derailleur was getting stuck on the easy gears.

 

Huh? If the cable breaks, the derailleur goes to the hard gear. I could tell right away that it wasn't the shifter, or anything having to do with the cable and housing up by the handlebar. I figured something might be stuck in the derailleur, so I pulled it out by hand. It came out to gear 5 (of my 10). I left it there and pedaled the rest of the way back, with only the two front gears for shifting.

 

That would have been tough if I'd continued with the 50-mile, 2500'-climb plan. As it was, it was a demanding last few miles.

 

When I got it home, I saw that the cable was fraying and getting stuck at the run of housing at the rear wheel dropout - fraying so much that I had to cut the cable in three pieces to remove it.

 

 You can click on the pic to see it bigger. If a cable looks like that, it's not gonna go gracefully through the housing. 

This derailleur is a recent Tiagra. Shimano has it cover ten gears over the amount of cable pull they usually assign for eleven gears. I think it's a bodge job by Shimano, or else an excuse so that you can't use this derailleur with any other indexed setup.

 

That's not generally an issue for me, as I still use bar-end friction shifters, so I don't worry about indexing. But the last bit of the cable leaves the housing at a sharp angle, and I'm sure that's what caused this on the ferrule:

 

 That's the ferrule from the end of the housing, just before the fixing bolt on the derailleur. The hole on the top is supposed to be circular, and it's anything but on this one; the hole is worn into an oblong. I expect the cable did that to the ferrule, and the sharpened edge of the ferrule then cut a few strands of the cable, leading to the fraying.

 

When I installed the new cable, I replaced the ferrules at the rear with plastic ones. It's been five years since I replaced the cables (when I installed the bar-end shifters... wait, has it really been that long?). I'll plan to keep an eye on the plastic ferrules to see how they do (I'll plan to, but I won't actually do it, until something untoward happens to the shifting... and then I'll look up this blog post to see what I did, and when I did it).

 

Maybe you want to think about changing your cables.