Budget "Dutch bike" from Republic

Having introduced their Aristotle "fixed gear" bikes last year, Urban Outfitters and Republic Bikes now announce that the Plato "Dutch bike" is forthcoming. Like the Aristotle, the Plato is described as a "build your own bike", which means that the customer can choose the colour of the bike and accessories. The bicycle has a fully lugged hi-ten steel frame and crown fork. It is fitted with balloon tires, coaster brake and front Shimano rollerbrake. Fenders, front and rear racks, a dressguard, and a full vinyl chaincase are included. Retail price of $399.

[image from Republic Bikes]

I played around with the Republic Bikes website and "built my own": tusk frame, ivory skirtguard and chaincase, brown saddle and grips, and green tires. The bicycle is available in 47cm frame size only and is recommended for riders 5'2" - 5'11". The tires are 26" x 2.35" and it is not mentioned who manufactures them.

[image from Republic Bikes]

If you are not a fan of the green tires, then this is how it would look in all-cream.

[image from Republic Bikes]

And another colour combination I like in gray and brown. Of course if you prefer flamingo pink, mint green, or candy apple red, there are those options as well.

[image from Republic Bikes]

Given how many readers email me every week asking about inexpensive bikes, I think that news of the Plato will be welcomed by the market. I cannot speak at all about the quality of this bicycle or about the feel of the ride. But the specs make me hopeful that it might actually be ridable - especially if you are on the shorter end of the recommended range. It is especially impressive that a full chaincase and a dressguard have been custom made and included in the price, when even some bicycles in the $1-2,000 price range have not been able to offer this option. Questions of manufacturing locations and practices aside - If one's budget is $400 and this is not negotiable, the Republic Plato may prove to be a good option.

If anybody has already ordered and ridden the Plato, it would be great to get your feedback. I don't think it's possible for me to to test ride this bike, as they are built to order.

Making Sense of Handling Characteristics

"Hey, so how does it ride?"



It seems like such a simple question. But the more I learn about bikes, the less certain I am how to answer it.As cyclists, our experience expands as we ride more, and as we try different bikes. And our vocabulary expands as we talk to other cyclists, bike mechanics, salespersons; as we read cycling literature, including myriads of bicycle reviews in magazines and blogs.One thing I notice is that while there are default terms used to describe bicycle handling characteristics, these terms are weakly defined - with different persons using them in different contexts.In particular, it fascinates me to navigate descriptions of bicycle stability versus twitchiness.



In reviews I will often read that a stable bicycle "tracks well" or "rides like it's on rails."As I understand this notion, it means that the bike holds its line of travel on its own accord, without the rider having to constantly micro-correct the steering. This is generally considered to be a good thing. But can it be too good? For me, when experienced at high speeds the feeling of the bike being on rails can also make it resistant to turning. And what about going around sudden obstacles? If the bike tracks so well that it resists changing course, would this not present a problem when encountering an unexpected pothole, or when the rider in front of us swerves?



The concept of twitchiness is not so simple either. There seem to be different kinds, and I can think of at least three: There is the "squirrely" twitchiness of a racing bike that makes it hard to controlat slow speeds.This is not to be confused with the twitchiness of low trail - a very different kind of feeling, that gives the rider a more active role in the bicycle's line of travel. There is also the twitchiness associated with a "light front end," regardless of geometry.



Stability can vary with speed. On some bikes there seems to be a linear relationship: The bike will start out twitchy when slow, stabilise at moderate speeds, and "ride like it's on rails" when going especially fast. The faster you go, the more stable it is. Other bikes will be stable at slow speeds and track exceptionally well at moderate speeds, but then level out or even ease up at fast speeds. Other bikes still will handle more or less the same regardless of how fast you ride them.



Whether a bike is described as stable or twitchy, it is hard to know what that means without additional detail, which is not always available. What I wonder is, have there been efforts to maybe create a guideline for both reading and providing descriptions of how a bicycle rides? Without context and well defined terminology, it seems that anything goes and we can easily misunderstand each other's impressions of handling characteristics.

Horse Collection

As a little girl I always wanted a horse but couldn't have one. So I took to collecting model horses. Since my dad was in the Air Force we moved around a lot and when we moved my parents would try to see all the sights in the new town. Of course my sisters and I would want to buy souvenirs each time we went to a different park, tourist attraction, or any where there was a gift shop. I started by model horses, pictures, even postcards as my souvenirs and even kept a written record of the description of the horse, where I bought it, and gave each model horse a name. The two matching rubber horses were a team that came with a wagon that I got when I was about three years old. The white horse with saddle was always one of my favorites. The following posts are some photos of different horses in my collection. A few weeks ago I took a count, then repacked them and put most of them away in the plastic container they live in now since I don't have a display case to put them in, or room for that big a display case in my small house. There were over 30 of the small china horses, no more than 3 inches tall. There were more that were 5 to 8 inches tall. There are some that are hard plastic, some that are a metal, a few that are rubber, and a couple that are wood. Most are still not worth anything even though some of them are getting some age on them. Not all are horses, there are about a dozen donkeys and mules and a couple of zebras. I do have a few of the well-known Breyer horses but couldn't dig them out of hiding for easily to take there photo on the day I took the ones shown here. In all I figure there are about 120 models, plus all the stuffed horses, pictures, postcards, and a few other horse related items. As a child this collection of horses ment everything to me.
Now they don't mean much at all. Those five real horse and ponies out in their pens in my yard are the ones that mean a lot to me.

Gentleman Farmer

1921. Thagrus Burns.
Relationship: My 1st cousin twice removed.
Thag was the son of Harlow and Hazlette Wise Burns. Hazlette was the sister of my great grandmother, Maude Wise Brubaker. Thag was named after his grandfather, William Pythagrus Wise.

Haines Shoe House

As we were driving to the Harley Davidson factory, I saw a house shaped like a shoe. I hadn't heard anything about it so I had to look online when we got back home.



This is what I found: The Shoe House, built in 1948, was by far "Colonel" Mahlon N. Haines' most outlandish advertising gimmick. It is a wood frame structure covered with wire lath and coated with a cement stucco. It measures 48 ft. in length, 17 ft. in width at the widest part and 25 ft. in height. The interior consists of five different levels and contains three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen and living room.



This giant structural advertisement was originally used as a guest house. In the first year after its completion, elderly couples were invited to stay for a weekend and live like "kings and queens" at Haines' expense.

Red Yucca Blossom

This is a close up of a red yucca buds that are not good open yet.

Fun in the Summertime!

Another picture of my grandmother (on the right) and her sister Jane. This time they are sharing a piece of watermelon. I don't recognize the background scenery so don't know where it was taken, but it was probably the summer of 1954.

And speaking of summertime fun, Jasia has published the Carnival of Genealogy, 49th Edition which "kicks-off" the 3rd year of the COG as well as summertime itself. Congratulations, Jasia, for starting the COG and keeping it going! I sure enjoyed seeing the variety of swimming attire displayed for all to see. What fun!


Jasia also announced the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: Family Pets! "Bring out those old photos of Snoopy, Garfield, Rex and Bob! Tell us the funny, charming, and cute stories about the pets you remember or remember hearing about. Introduce us to the furry, feathered, and scaly members who have a place on your family tree! The deadline for the next edition is June 15, .. and it will be hosted by none other than the flutaphone master himself, Bill West!" Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.The pooch pictured above is Buster who was a loveable, loyal, fierce protector of the family for many years. Photo taken about 1985.

Travelin' thru Tennessee

As I left Indiana on Sunday morning, I wasn't too concerned with what the weather was doing in Kentucky and Tennessee. According to reports, the ice and snow would have finished falling before I got there. And the reports were right, but it sure did leave a "mess" all along the I-40 corridor from Oklahoma to the Carolinas and Virginia. Interstate 65 was clear all the way but through Nashville the exit and entrance ramps were in horrible shape and from what I saw on the news many of the secondary roads were still snow covered and icy this morning.

When I left Nashville yesterday morning, the sun was shining brightly and blue skies abounded. In the aftermath of the winter storm, Mother Nature left behind a wonderland of ice coated trees, grass, and bushes. These photos were taken as I was driving on I-65 between Nashville and Columbia on Monday morning. The bottom photo was taken through the (very dirty, salt coated) driver's side window. Once over the mountains and south of Columbia, there was no ice or snow and the temperature was a balmy 50 degrees. Nice.

Thoughts on RootsTech

Much has already been written about the RootsTech Conference, which was held last week in Salt Lake City. Randy Seaver has compiled a list of Geneablogger posts in his post RootsTech .. Geneabloggers Review. But I thought I'd add my two cents worth...



I managed to arrive on time for the keynote speakers on Thursday morning in spite of having to remove two inches of heavy, wet snow off of Van Dora and then driving in "rush hour" traffic through the valley. That drive stressed me out so much that I decided to forgo the keynote addresses on Friday and Saturday - knowing too that they were being recorded and would be available for viewing later.



I'm not going to give a run-down of the sessions that I attended but will just say that with 6700+ people in attendance, most rooms were crowded. There were several sessions I wanted to attend but couldn't because the room was already at capacity when I arrived 5-10 minutes before they were due to start!



This year I decided to attend sessions on topics that I knew very little about. For the most part, that strategy worked out well. However, I had a big issue with the descriptions of some of the sessions and the fact that very few were identified as Intermediate level. The bigger issue, however, is that several sessions identified as Intermediate were definitely not. And, the titles of some sessions were misleading.



One session, billed as "using technology to solve research problems," was very disappointing. In my opinion, it was a basic beginners level overview of how to do your genealogy - the only "technology" mentioned was the use of the internet and genealogy software. In fact, the speaker, after polling the audience to determine our research level, stated that she expected more beginners to attend.







Some of the highlights... learning about the Genographic Project, picking up some ideas from Denise Olson on using Powerpoint (or other presentation software) to tell short family stories with pictures (photo above), and learning that Thomas W. Jones utilizes online family trees in his research process.







On that latter point, the Thomas Jones session "Can a Complex Research Problem Be Solved Solely Online?" was worth being stuffed into the smallest room available. The session was unlike any other I attended - an interactive experience with the audience responding to questions regarding resources that might be used and then learning from 'the master' what was actually used. Can you imagine getting an email from Tom Jones inquiring about the sources for your online tree?



Will I attend RootsTech next year? Doubtful. But then, that's what I said last year! I think a better option for me is to watch the sessions that are live-streamed and archived for later viewing. Also, if they follow through on their plans to have 600+ locations holding sessions locally at the same time in conjunction with live-streaming - well, that would be awesome.








The downside of attending virtually, of
course, is that you miss out on the interaction with other attendees
and spending time with friends. But if RootsTech grows in attendance
next year like it did this year, the current venue would be
impossibly crowded...

A Season of Evenings

Walking through town just as the light began to fade, I had one of those odd moments when everything falls into a rhythm. A woman in very high heels had just unlocked her bicycle from a pole and began rolling it down the sidewalk toward me, her shoes clicking on the bricks and the hem of her coat fluttering in the breeze. At the same time a second-story window opened and there was the late Jim Morrison's drunken baritone singing "come on now touch me baby." The sound warped a little, carried sideways by the breeze. Just then someone down the street slammed their car door and the alarm went off, a persistent beeping without that edge of harshness it would have had, had it been closer. As I stood still for some seconds, letting the woman in the heels and coat maneuver her bike around me, all of these events became harmonised. Click-click, beep-beep, what was that promise that you made? Click-click, beep-beep, why won't you tell me what she said? The woman looked up toward the open window as she passed me, and suddenly I was flooded with a sense of deja-vu.




In the Russian language there is a word - a verb - to describe the onset of evening: "vechereyet" (вечереет). It's an archaic word, but still used on occasion. The closest English translation would be something like "evening is coming," but the mood is not the same. And it's the mood of that word that's important. You hear it, and you feel an "eveningness" gently setting in. It's an anticipatory state, fostering expectations of moonlight, cricket sounds, a chill in the air, perhaps peals of laugher in the dark. I remembered this word on my way home today. The sun had nearly set and when I looked at the time I saw it was 5:35pm. "This is the last week of October," I thought. A season of early evenings awaits.

First Light over Hat Point

This was a pleasant surprise from this morning. I was on my way to my pre-planned sunrise location when I looked back across the bay and saw this beautiful softly-glowing light over Hat Point and Pete's Island. You can see a glimpse of Isle Royale National Park in between Hat Point and Pete's Island. This light was so beautiful I had to stop and make a photo of the scene. After this I headed to the spot I was originally going to and found lots of incredible plate ice floating on the lake. Stay tuned later today for another posting of the plate ice at sunrise!

Sparkler

The red rose, white Pentas, white salvia and Salvia 'Black& Blue' barely constitute a floral sparkler let alone the explosion of color I was hoping to gather for a photo. Real fireworks, legal or otherwise, can be heard around Austin on every Fourth of July. I like fireworks, but have always felt tense as bottle rockets flew over dried-out roofs in our usual hot, dry summers. They'll be very hard to light this year!
It's still pouring in Texas, and I wonder whether this photo of a puddle in the secret garden might be considered garden porn by those of you who need rain so badly. [Lilac and peony photos fit this category for me!] If you're in a drought area, may gentle, slow soaking rains fall on your gardens soon, allowing the waterlogged places [like Oklahoma City, which had 20 straight days of rain] to dry out a little.
MSS of Zanthan Gardens has concentrated on tomatoes lately and Pam/Digging has been away from her blog for a while. Well, while Pam is busy and you're missing her fabulous photos, my photos might look better ! Here are a few from my garden this week - some have rain and mist, others were taken in sun. When the rain stopped and the sun came out, I covered myself in mosquito spray and went out to weed and prune.
This unnamed oriental lily bloomed in a deck container for a few years, was planted in the ground in .., and is somehow living and blooming in our heavy clay soil. There have been a few flowers each year, but there were 10 buds this June - and they're huge, measuring 8-inches across when fully open.
In closeup this lily has little 'bumps' but no spots like the Stargazers. One flower in a vase puts out so much fragrance it can be overpowering inside the house. The 'City of Portland' canna loves the moisture and keeps blooming. There's a little coral color blended into the brick of our house. This color sets off a war when something in the magenta/pink range is planted near the brick, but growing the cannas near the wall looks okay to me - what do you think? Another Canna goes by several names, including 'Praetoria' and 'Bengal Tiger', and has striped foliage and orange flowers. I planted it in three places in my garden, liking how it looks near this 'Acoma' crepe myrtle and a self-seeded tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, with Perovskia/Russian sage at the base .The Zephranthes 'Labuffarosea' rainlilies opened a few flowers, but their numbers are down from last year. I don't think they like being waterlogged - some of the bulbs may have rotted underground.
Last year two Snail Vines, Phaseolous caracalla, ran rampant in my garden. One took over the garden arch and smothered the Coral Honeysuckle, leading me to evict it. The other one covered the metal obelisk so densely that the structure was invisible, but I liked the flowers, so let it finish the season. Once free of the annual snail vine, the Coral honeysuckle did well, and has taken over the arch. It's been showing off those flowers nonstop since March, framing the garden and attracting hummingbirds.
I planted seeds for Moonvine, Ipomoea alba, and Blue Pea Vine, Clitoria ternatea, at the base of the obelisk a couple of months ago - actually planting them twice, since the first seeds never sprouted. The second set of seeds sprouted and are twining up the metal bars, but are not yet blooming. I like the way the obelisk looks this year, and am not in a big hurry for the flowers. The birds seem delighted with the exposed framework - a hummingbird likes to perch on the crossbar in between sips at the Buddleja, honeysuckle and Salvias and it's also a favorite hangout for the wrens.
I hope you're all having a safe and happy holiday, with some sparkle in your evening.

Pueblo Montano Trailhead

There is a small park at the Pueblo Montano Trailhead that I went to this past week. I had been meaning to go for about a year or so and no one wanted to go with me so I went by myself. I found that a firefighter had made these wonderful chainsaw sculptures out the dead cottonwood tree trunks that were left from a fire that went throught this area in ... I had to take lots of photos of the sculptures and now I want to share them. I hope everyone appreciates this artwork as I do. My thanks to the artest for for doing the scuptures.

Test Riding the Breezer Uptown 8

Since the start of this blog, I've received more requests to review the Breezer Uptown than any other city bike on the market. I have not done so earlier for two reasons. First, availability: Until now, I had not seen the Breezer for sale in any local bike shop. After a break of several years Harris Cyclery now carries them again, which is how I came across this one. But additionally, I was reluctant to review a bike that I was unenthusiastic about: theBreezerhas never appealed to me, and I have no interest in it other than general industry curiosity. However, I would have said the same about Seven Cycles a year ago, and trying one of those (in response to readers' requests as well) had a profound effect on me as a cyclist. I also unexpectedly liked the Urbana, which I tried for no reason other than the manufacturer's urging. In short, you never know and it's good to keep an open mind. That is how I approached my test ride of the Breezer Uptown.

The Uptown is Breezer's fully equipped commuter model, available in 3-speed and 8-speed variants. The bike includes fenders, a chainguard, a rear rack, a kickstand, an integrated rear wheel lock, and front and rear dynamo lighting.

The welded aluminum U-frame has "unitube" construction.Steel unicrown fork. The 26" wheels are fitted with 1.5" wide tires.I tried the 17" sized frame. There are other sizes and also a diamond frame version.Please seeherefor full specs.

The colour is a deep, sparkly forest green, with contrasting silver panels on the chainstays, near the bottom bracket,and on the fork. The two-tone paint job gives the bike a sporty look that strikes me as being at odds with its purpose as a commuter. But the dominant green colour is pleasant.

As far as functionality, it must be said that this bike is excellently equipped for commuting. Front and rear dynamo lighting seems to be of good quality and is internally routed, exiting through the rear fender for the tail light.

The rear rack's tubing will accommodate a variety of pannier systems.

The tires are wide. The fenders provide full coverage and include small plastic mudflaps.

There are braze-ons for the shifter and brake cables, so that nothing is hanging loose, and there are waterbottle bosses.

The wide range Shimano8-speed hub could be attractive for hilly areas. The shape of the handlebars provides a sufficient gripping area despite the twist shifter.

The handlebars are mildly swept back. The brake levers are comfortably placed, and the front and rear v-brakes provide strong stopping power.

All of these features, for a retail price of $980 (or $720 for the 3-speed model), make the Breezer Uptown look undeniably good "on paper." This is the kind of commuter bike you are likely to find in a mainstream European bike shop today - modern, affordable, fairly lightweight, designed to be ridden in everyday clothing, and fully equipped - and it's great to see the same available in the US.

Having said that, I did not like this bike on a number of levels. From an aesthetic and emotional standpoint, I found the Breezer to be "unlovable." The huge welds, the hollow feel of the aluminum tubing, the athletically-inspired colour scheme - it all feels so generic and impersonal. I like a bicycle with some warmth to it, with some evidence of a human touch, and I just don't feel any sense of this from the Breezer. It's not just about lugged vs welded and steel vs aluminum, but about the very essence of how the bike feels to look at, to touch and to ride. This is truly the vacuum cleaner of bicycles - and while for some that's a good thing, for me it's uninspiring.

But more importantly - and more disappointingly - the Breezer's ride quality did not work for me. I rode it for about 3 miles and already felt the sort of strain in my knees that I've experienced on bikes with the infamous "comfort" geometry. This could also be because I would consistently end up in a gear that was too high: I found that being in too high of a gear was the only way I could make the bicycle go at the speed I wanted. In a gear where my cadence felt appropriate, the bike would not move fast enough for my liking.

Additionally, something about the relationship between the seat tube angle and bottom bracket felt "off," and after examining the frame geometry online I still do not know what. Subjectively, it felt as if the seat tube angle was extremely steep - almost a straight drop from the saddle down to the pedals - which contributed to the knee discomfort, but, oddly, failed to add to pedaling efficiency. According to the frame specs, the seat tube angle is actually 72 degrees, which is entirely normal for a city bike. I do not know how to explain my subjective sensation of steepness in light of this.

Aside from these issues, I thought the bike felt rather harsh going over bumps and potholes. Not horrible, but definitely not great. Even on smooth terrain, I felt road buzz through the handlebars, which became painful for my (overly sensitive) hands fairly quickly. Maybe wider tires or a suspension fork would help here.

On a positive note, I thought the BreezerUptown was solidly put together and truly functional, unlike other bikes that only play at being fully-equipped commuters. It was also stable and well-balanced, and there was no toe overlap on the 17" frame. This bike should be easy to handle for a novice transportation cyclist.

When it comes to impressions of ride quality, everyone is different, and I urge you to take that into account when reading my earlier feedback. I know there are people who love this bike and commute on it daily, so obviously it is possible. The manufacturer's history is also quite interesting (lugged mountain bikes!), and worth looking into. Would I buy a Breezer Uptown for myself? No. But if the ride quality works for you and you find the bike attractive, I agree with those who call it a good value.

Anyone Remember the Madrillon?

According to my father, The Madrillon was the place to go in Washington in the 1940s. That's my dad, George Cokinos, with the wacky tie on the far left. Guess they had a band there, too...





Bring your own memories or just your curiosity to the Historical Society this Saturday June 26 for a trip in the way back machine with Jeff Krulik:



Eat, Drink and Be Merry in 1950s-60s DC:

A Panel Discussion, Slide Show and Oral History Presentation

with the Photos of Emil Press 2:30- 4:00

801 K Street, NW at Mount Vernon Square



Free

Eyebrook circuit

Led by Mel. Maureen, Gordon, Norma, Chris and Marion, Chris, Phil, Steph, Terry and me. Sunny and not too cold. A bit muddy in the woods.


We set off from the parking space by the reservoir downhill from Stoke Dry and walked along the road, then round the track past the fishing lodge and the dam.























Coffee break taken on the wall near the fishing lodge. Then lunch at the café in Cottingham.



A very pleasant sociable wander on a fine Monday morning.







of walk