Great Rainy Day Books: "Over the Edge of the World"

We've had many days (weeks?) of rain with more to come, a reminder that Humboldt County is in the SW shadow of the great NW rain forest that stretches up to Alaska. Sure, you can ride anyway in a driving rain. Let me know how it goes.

As Albert Einstein famously pointed out, cycling concentrates the mind. But that doesn't mean you're stuck thinking about one thing at a time. The last thing you want to do is "be here now" on a bike ride. Say you're on a bluff with a panoramic view of the Pacific. What better place to listen to "Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard" on your iPhone--or in your head. Better yet, when you're coming off a long rainy spell, you may have read a truly great book that you can savor on a bike ride. If not let me suggest a few. You don't want to settle for anything mediocre to bring to that moment above the Pacific.

Here's a truly great book recommendation with a link to the author's website (you'll find it online and at your neighborhood bookstore):

www.laurencebergreen.com/magellan.html

The adventure to end all adventures! Magellan is pursued from day one by jealous rivals who plan to kill him--and almost succeed. Utterly lost much of the time, he sails on even though the food stores have spoiled, the ships are wrecked, half the men mutiny and seize a ship, another ship deserts and the natives are hostile. What follows is akin to the discovery of an entirely new planet. Nobody handles it well, least of all Magellan who reaches for his inner Jesus Christ in the Philippines.  It's a tough act to bring off.

Bergreen spins a terrific yarn. I'm not going to spoil the ending--or the beginning--for you but I've never read anything remotely like this astonishing history.

More book recommendations to follow...

Review: Rans Stratus: The Ergonomic Difference

Bike ergonomics done right: the bike adapts to the rider. 

After a year and more than 2,500 miles on my Rans Stratus XP I have just one question: why aren't there millions of these bikes on the road?  

Whether you ride a Stratus XP for a few minutes or half a day it sails down the road almost effortlessly. You simply sit back and watch the scenery fly by. You have to ride one to appreciate what I'm talking about: it's the Mercedes Benz of recumbent bicycles. Rans has been working on this bike for decades and it shows. Everything about the Stratus adjusts to the rider: the handlebars, the grips, the seatback and the seat position. The big wheel up front eliminates fiddly small wheel handling. The Stratus XP fits my body like a glove, nothing to "break in." no tedious "learning curve,"no aches and pains. 

How did Rans do it? They thought about ergonomics and put the needs of the rider first. Practically the whole bike industry is headed in the opposite direction: adding cost-be-dammed racing features to minimalist frames. The result: fast bikes with terrible ergonomics that torture riders. I talked with Randy Schlitter, the head of Rans, who put it this way: "Over the years we've refined the Stratus, adding helpful features when we could." That shows too. The Rans Stratus XP is a supremely ergonomic bike.  

Bike ergonomics done wrong: the rider adapts to the bike. 

Yes, this slightly exaggerated version of the familiar "racing bike" is fast. Make sure your medical insurance is up to date. Your lower back, crotch, neck, knees, ankles, neck and wrists will be overstressed every time you ride this bike. Your wrist joints, for example, aren't designed to support half your body weight while you pound away at them. Until the invention of the racing bicycle, nobody had figured out a way to bounce half the body up and down on the large blood vessels and nerves in the crotch--until the whole area goes numb--and call it fun. 

Rivendell and Rans make rider-centered ergonomic bikes. Most other manufacturers cater to the speed at any cost crowd, which put the needs of the machine ahead of the rider's needs. You'll go fast for a few months and then you'll get to know a good Chiropractor. 

I redid the stock gearing on my Stratus XP for better hill climbing, moving from the stock 30 tooth inner chain ring to a 24.  Schwalbe Marathon tires put an end to the rash of flats that shredded the stock tires in my first 500 miles. I also added a brass bell along with a Rans seat bag and rear rack. With that setup you could ride this bike across North America and most other continents. I've done Washington State and chunks of Oregon and California. More--much more--to come.