Bike Tour in the USA (2007), Part 5

Monday, Sep. 10.2007

Finally on the Road!

Hollywood → Coastal Highway 1

Distance: 107.42 km, Duration: 7:51:28 hours, Total Distance: 181.63 km

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.” Ernest Hemingway

 

Today I finally left the hotel after an acclimatization time of two days. My pulse increased due to the very noticeable joy, clear symptoms of travel fever.

Already at 6:30 I stood beside a telephone booth on Hollywood Boulevard to call my wife and daughter in Taiwan. She was happy for me that everything went smooth and wished me good luck on my tour. It's a pity that she could not be with me...

Back in the hotel I showered extensively, organized my things and packed them into my bags. The waterproof duffel bag with my tent and sleeping bag was still untouched; obviously I do not need either of them... The reception opened at 7:30 so I went to a nearby Mexican restaurant and ordered scrambled eggs with bacon and a good mug of coffee ($3.50). In this early hour I was the only customer.

The time of my finished breakfast coincided with the opening of the reception. The lady was not quite awaken yet but everything went smoothly. With the check-out she returned my $40.00 'security deposit' something I've never heard of. Because this 'hotel' did not give me any key so I did not have to return one.

View of the Hotel

Back in the room I said goodbye to my German friend who woke up in the meantime. I wished him good luck for his time in the US and send him my best wishes from the heart.

With full hands I hauled my bags to my bike already pawing with his hoofs (or wheels). On the handlebar I attached my handlebar bag, on the rear carrier two saddlebags and the duffel bag I fixed on the top of the rear carrier with an elastic cord. On the empty carton in which I sent the bike to the US I wrote 'Do not discard before Oct. 05'. But, as it later turned out, I did not need it due to a miracle in San Francisco.

Full of high spirits I left the hotel and cycled passed the friendly Toyota Dealer and the breakfast Mexican restaurant along Santa Monica Boulevard until I arrived Beverly Hills. Here lives, as portrayed by young Will Smith in the 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air', the High Society. Lavish houses with well looked after gardens are dominant, European and predominantly German cars are parked on the driveways.

I cycled under comfortable shady trees when I notice a middle age lady jogging. She stumbled and seemingly hurt her ankle but obviously could hobble back home.

Beverly Hills

I continued and discovered the 'Church of the Good Shepherd'. The parish was founded on December 12, 1923 and is therefore the oldest church in Beverly Hills. From the architectural point of view the church is build in Mission Revival architecture, the stained glass was  originally shipped from France, Germany, the British Isles and the US. Most Catholic movie stars who live or lived in Beverly Hills, from Rudolph Valentino to Bing Crosby attended Sunday Mass here (wikipedia).

Church of the Good Shepherd

Not far away I've discovered the Electric Fountain Beverly Hills on the corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards. In the center is a statue of a North American Indian kneeling in prayer. The sun stood so that the water broke into a rainbow in the moment I took the photo. This peaceful picture should served as a symbol of my upcoming bike tour unfolding right in front of my eyes.

Electric Fountain Beverly Hill

I cycled along the same part of Wishire Boulevard like yesterday. My next destination was the Statue of Santa Monica who gave the name to this district of Los Angeles. Also known as Monica of Hippo (322-387) she was an early Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in most Catholic denomination, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly the suffering caused by her husband's adultery, an her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legends recall Santa Monica weeping every night for her son Augustine. He was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy.

(to be continued)

Why do I use a Mustache or Moustache Handlebar on my Racing Bike?

   Checking out different homepages of bike part sellers one will notice that there are different styles, materials and finishes of handlebars widely available. Each handlebar serves its own purpose and the needs of bikers. Below I will cover some common styles:
   BMX bikes have their own BMX handlebars which are mounted directly on a stem right above the steering tube and therefore have a high rise. The welded cross brace adds strength and rigidity.
   Comfortable North Road style bars like Townie and Tourist bars come from the roadster bike (today's city bikes) era. Due to their higher rise and swept back construction they offer an upright riding position and consequently a good view on the road. They are designed for cruising along and daily errands like shopping etc.; some styles can be mounted upside down for a slightly aggressive position. Porteur bars are similar but offer a swept back position with grips parallel to the top tube to control heavier loads loads. 

High rise Porteur bar on a roadster bike

   Cruiser handlebars look great on Beach Cruisers but need, because of their size and shape, some time to get used to. They make the riding and steering slow and cumbersome in tight situations. I've struggled to find a comfortable position on longer rides.
   The first mountain bikes (MTBs) came with flat straight handlebars in the late 1970s, from this base developed the more comfortable riser bars with the outer section rising higher from the center of the clamp. Bullmoose handlebars are welded with a 'V' shape onto the stem.
   Drop bars are found on racing bikes, the riding position in the drops creates a low profile and therefore less wind resistance for higher speed. Track handlebars come originally from track bicycles but can also be found on single speed or fixed-gear bikes. A variation is the Randonneur bar with a slight rise in the center for touring and Audax riding, long distance cycling within a predefined time limit.
   According to one source the grandfather of the mustache or moustache bar was developed for the Penny Farthing Bike in the 1870s (http://www.mortaljourney.com/2011/03/all-trends/penny-farthing-bicycle-and-the-history-of-the-bicycle). Watching different designs in my books and online this statement is at least questionable. The riding position on the high wheeler was very different from today's bicycle. The rider was sitting very close to the handlebar which was actually mounted in line with axle directly over the large front wheel. The rider's legs moved the pedals mounted on the axle of the wheel and sat so close to the handlebar that it hardly swept back, a-typical from today's mustache handlebar design. On almost all pictures the steering bars of a Penny Farthing Bicycle were straight like on early mountain bike bars or had a bend to give space for the up and down movement of the legs below (!) the handlebar.
   Growing up in the 1970s mustache handlebars were the choice of some racers on their training bikes and occasionally fitted with bar-end shifters, a big improvement in comfort over the than-common down tube shifters. From the design mustache bars are somehow 'flattened' drob bars; the clamp, tube diameters and the material of both handlebar designs are identical.
   Mustache handlebars slipped out of my mind until some photos of the Bridgestone XO-1 appeared in the 1990s. I did not only like the bike design but admired the bold move to produce a road bike with fast accelerating 26' Mountain Bike wheels and tires with a road profile.
   Some 10 years ago, already in my 50s, I've decided to build my first bike from scratch. Due to costs and availability I chose a Mountain Bike frame with a rigid fork and 26' road tires as a base. The bike came out great but the straight traditional Mountain Bike handlebar did not work for me. Even adding bar ends did not make it comfortable and active enough for me. I've considered several options and came across the long forgotten Mustache Handlebar. Beside a pair of aero brake levers for my linear pull brakes, new brake cables and a set of bar tapes there was not much more to invest. After mounting all the parts I had a very nimble modern day Bridgestone XO 1 with an alloy frame.
   As I’ve progressed to a road bike I wanted to use some of the mountain bike parts incl. the mustache handlebar to keep costs down. As I used caliper brakes I had only to invest in a new pair of brake levers and a new bar tape.

   
   Generally I like the comfort and the versatility of a mustache handlebar very much. I have to admit that it took some tinkering with the bar and the brake levers to find my ‘personal’ position. Some people use a short high rising stem for a comfortable position; I am using a 120mm low rising stem with the outer tubes of the bar parallel to the road for a more aggressive forward position on my race bike. With 54mm they are wider than the widest drop bars (44mm) which give me a nice balance downhill on faster sections or high speed corners.
   To save some physical distance between braking and shifting I’ve cut 4 cm off the length on each side. I still cannot shift and brake simultaneously like integrated STI Shifters do so I have a kind to predict when and where I should shift or brake. 
   A great improvement of the brakes came after the purchase of Shimano Ultegra R8000 caliper brakes. I’ve dialed them so I can either brake with one finger of each hand off the straight handlebar tubes or with a full grip (thumb under the handlebar and the other four fingers on the brake lever) in the ‘drop’ or round shape of the bar.    

   I use a mustache handlebar because it offers me several riding positions; I cruise, tour and even attended races or ‘challenges’, how amateur races are called in Taiwan, with the same bar. It is so versatile that I could call it the ‘Swiss Knife’ of handlebars.

   I encourage every biker to try out different handlebars. It may not only improve the comfort but also the bicycle experience as a whole…