Bishop Pass Panorama 2 - 9/2014
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Bike Items for Sale - Here's a photo journal of bike parts that I'm trying to clear out of my workshop.
Shipping is $10 or (actual shipping charges + (optional) insurance charges + delivery confirmation fee), whichever is greater. I will try to find cheapest shipping option (e.g. USPS for US Domestic delivery) or will ship according to your carrier of preference.
Some of the parts are new, some are used. If you think my item pricing is off or you're buying multiple items, please make me an offer.
I am selling everything "as is". But, if you buy an item that is dead on arrival, damaged in shipment, or you believe you got a raw deal, please contact me as soon as possible so we can work out a solution. Given the time involved in selling these items I am not making a profit on this and am more interested in seeing components and parts I no longer use but that have remaining useful life to find a home with other bicycle enthusiasts, where they will be used instead of collecting dust in my workshop.
Contact me at the following . It will help if you include the links to photos of the items that interest you. All prices are in US Dollars.
Entire Blog - Display the entire Blog for all years. This is a large file!
| Bike Ridden: | Power Gold Rush |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 76.5 miles |
| Cumulative climbing: | 3600 feet |
Southern CA25, December 2007 - Ron Bobb and I explored the southern end of CA25. We started near the Bear Valley Fire Station, about five miles north of the east entrance to Pinnacles National Monument. Our route took us south through Bear, Dry Lake, Topo, Little Rabbit, Rabbit, Bitterwater, and Peachtree Valleys, and back again in reverse order.
The landscape was dry with barely a hint of green poking up occasionally. We saw evidence of overgrazing and a blight that seems to have stricken most of the old oak trees in the area.
Traffic was nearly nonexistent south of Pinnacles until the northern end of our return trip, where we were overtaken by several convoys of campers, motorhomes, and pickup trucks towing dirt bike trailers returning from the Clear Creek area at the end of the day.
Low-Key Hill Climb: Mt. Hamilton, November 2007 - Mostly photos of most riders arriving at the top of the climb.
Low-Key Hill Climb: Sierra Road, November 2007 - Photos of some riders arriving at the top of the climb.
| Bike Ridden: | Power Gold Rush |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 70 miles |
| Cumulative climbing: | 6900 feet |
McGee and Rock Creek Roads, September 2007 - I rode from our condo in Mammoth Lakes to meet Ron Bobb and Alice Mestemacher at their camp site at the McGee Creek RV Park. All three of us rode up McGee Creek Rd. and then out to Tom's Place. Ron and I continued up Rock Creek Rd. to Mosquito Flat and returned the same way. After visiting with Ron and Alice afterward I rode back into town, an uphill ride with about 1300 feet of elevation gain and a stiff headwind.
| Bike Ridden: | Power Gold Rush |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 93.8 miles |
| Cumulative climbing: | 6740 feet |
| Total Time: | 7:18:16 |
| Riding Time: | 5:42:02 |
| Avg. Speed (moving): | 16.46 mph |
| Max. Speed: | 45.6 mph |
| Nominal System Voltage: | 24 |
| Battery energy capacity: | 1024 wh |
| Battery energy consumed: | 617.8 wh |
| Wh/mi: | 6.6 |
| Battery Amps-Hour Used: | 24.04 |
| Max. Current: | 40.0 Amps |
| Total energy from motor: | 1557 kJ (432 wh) |
Swanton Pacific Railroad, August 2007 - My sister, Laura, graciously offered to host a gathering at her house in Santa Cruz. The plan was for us all to go to dinner in the evening, so this left the day for me to find an interesting ride that started at home in Sunnyvale and ended in Santa Cruz. As it happened I ended up using the extra time that I wouldn't have to ride home from Santa Cruz taking care of odds and ends before I left home in the late morning. But, I still found some interesting places to explore along the way, in particular, the Swanton Pacific Railroad in Swanton, a project started by Al Smith (founder of Orchard Supply Hardware) on his ranch that he bequeathed to Cal Poly a number of years ago.
The railroad is built 1/3 scale and has a number of pieces of equipment including steam locomotives (diesel fired), a diesel switcher, a number of passenger cars, both open and covered, and some utility/maintenance cars. I also toured the grounds and explored as far as the Ed Carnegie bridge over Scott Creek south of College Park.
My visit to the ranch was unplanned. I just happened to see the sign for the railroad at the entrance as I was riding by, so I went in to have a look. I was fortunate that one of the on-site volunteers, Andy, was available and willing to show me around the place at the moment I showed up.
My ride started in Sunnyvale. I rode out to Portola Valley on the usual roads, climbed Old La Honda, descended to La Honda, then took Pescadero Road to Pescadero. Since I had plenty of water and food with me I didn't stop in Pescadero but continued on Bean Hollow Road and CA1 to Swanton Road. I hadn't ridden Swanton Road in many years.
After my visit to the Swanton Pacific Railroad I continued south on Swanton Road and rejoined CA1 north of Davenport. I took CA1 south past Davenport, then turned left on Bonny Doon Road.
Bonny Doon Road passes initially through a deep canyon then climbs steeply to a bench where it crosses a conveyor belt for the cement plant in Davenport. After this brief respite the road resumes climbing with a wider shoulder before leveling off in a meadow between Smith Grade Road and the Bonny Doon Winery tasting room.
I continued past the tasting room and took Martin Road up through the dry landscape of the Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve. At Ice Cream Grade I turned left, and then at Pine Flat Road I turned right.
At the upper end of Bonny Doon Road I turned left and began a long, sweeping downhill on a smooth, mostly straight road, punctuated by three tight 90-degree turns near the bottom of the descent. (The fourth and last 90-degree turn isn't as tight as the others.)
Having completed my Bonny Doon loop I returned to Smith Grade Road and turned left. Smith Grade Road descends gradually at first, then steeply into "the hole", the deep canyon of Reggiardo Creek, then Laguna Creek, before climbing to the low ridge at Majors Road separating the Laguna Creek watershed from that of Majors Creek.
At the eastern end of Smith Grade I turned right on Empire Grade and continued into Santa Cruz and the end of my ride.
| Bike Ridden: | Power Gold Rush |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 44.4 miles |
| Cumulative climbing: | 6000 feet |
| Total Time: | 9:22:35 |
| Riding Time: | 4:31:36 |
| Avg. Speed (moving): | 9.78 mph |
| Max. Speed: | 44.1 mph |
| Nominal System Voltage: | 24 |
| Battery energy capacity: | 1024 wh |
| Battery energy consumed: | 460.3 wh |
| Wh/mi: | 10.4 |
| Battery Amps-Hour Used: | 17.75 |
| Max. Current: | 28.5 Amps |
| Total energy from motor: | 1160 kJ (322 wh) |
Mt. Hamilton Sunrise, July 29, 2007 - Ron Bobb and I met Piaw Na and a few of his friends at Crothers Road and Mt. Hamilton Road at 2:55a for a moonlight ride up Mt. Hamilton to watch the sun rise. We arrived a bit late to join the group, so they left ahead of us.
While we were setting up the bikes we discovered that the dirt shoulder next to Crothers Road was covered with puncture vines and that a number of the evil thorns had found their way onto the bottoms of our shoes and were stuck to our tires. Fortunately we hadn't ridden our bikes yet, so the thorns hadn't penetrated.
Once we picked out the thorns we started our ride up the road. Another cyclist, Mike, had also arrived late and had forgotten his lights, both front and rear, so we offered to let him ride between us. We had remembered to bring our lights.
Ron and I rode at first with tail lights. Ron took the lead and used his low-wattage headlight, and I turned on my headlight only for the downhills.
Later up the road we came upon some other cyclists in Piaw's group who had been delayed fixing flat tires—four flats altogether. I wonder how they got so many flats!
When we got about halfway up the last climb, about 1000 feet from the summit, the sky began lightening noticeably, and the heavy orange orb of the full moon began to set behind Skyline Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains on the other side of San Jose.
A few hundred feet from the summit I offered to give Ron a push so that we wouldn't miss the sunrise from the top. He declined my offer, but he told me to go on ahead if I wished. So, I raced the last mile up the hill.
It was clear that from the summit of Mt. Hamilton the summer sun would rise behind nearby Copernicus Peak to the east. I suggested that we head east down the road to a small turnout just past mile marker "1" we had used a few years ago to view the sun rising over the Sierra Nevada. We arrived at the turnout a few minutes before the sun poked itself above the horizon.
After we viewed the sunrise we rode back to the summit of Mt. Hamilton and met up with the rest of the group including Ron, Marius Schilder, and Laura Stern and enjoyed watching the shadow of the Mountain slide across the haze above San Jose.
After another ten minutes we rode a short distance down the west side of the mountain to enjoy an informal breakfast at the home of Dr. Elinor Gates who had the good fortune of living in the old observatory director's house near the dome of the Crossley Reflector.
After breakfast Ron and I returned to the summit bench to enjoy the clear views in the balmy air for another hour before starting our trip down the mountain.
When we got to Halls Valley we turned left on Quimby Road and climbed the 600 feet to its abrupt summit (2204ft) on the shoulder of Masters Hill (2429ft) before plunging down into San Jose. From the bottom we returned to the start by way of Mt. Pleasant Road and Clayton Road.
| Bike Ridden: | Power Gold Rush |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 85 miles |
| Cumulative climbing: | 7420 feet |
Pescadero and Purisima, July 2007 - I rode from Sunnyvale up Page Mill Road, down Alpine Road, then Camp Pomponio Road to the Bridge Trail and then west on Old Haul Road. From the west end of Old Haul Road I took Wurr Road to Loma Mar, then Pescadero Road to Pescadero for lunch. After lunch I took Stage Road through San Gregorio to CA1 to Lobitos, where I took Verde Road to Purisima Creek Road and Purisima Creek Trail to Skyline Blvd. (CA35) before returning home on a slightly indirect route.
| Bike Ridden: | Power Gold Rush |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 73 miles |
| Cumulative climbing: | 5000 feet |
Contra Costa, July 2007 - Zach and I took BART from Rockridge to North Concord then proceeded to return to Oakland along the water's edge of Contra Costa County. We started through Martinez then along the Carquinez Scenic Drive to Crockett. We took a short out-and-back detour across the Zampa Bridge on the ample bike path/sidewalk, then continued on San Pablo Ave. When we got to San Pablo we had to detour through some rural countryside in the flats between the hills of El Sobrante and Point Richmond. When we got to Point Richmond we detoured north through Point Molate to Point San Pablo, riding as far as the levee at the Yacht Harbor before retracing our path to Point Richmond. We then took the shoreline bike path back to Berkeley, and finished the ride with a climb up through Berkeley, up Centennial Drive to Grizzly Peak and then down Skyline and Broadway Terrace.
A Ride with Stella and Frank, June 2007 - Stella and Frank, after having many life distractions over the recent years, have been getting back into biking. This Sunday they joined me for a ride through the Santa Cruz Mountains between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz.
Rodney Smith Incident, June 2007 - Rodney Smith was struck from behind and killed by a motorist while riding eastbound at the top of the hill on Sand Hill Road on Memorial Day, 2007. The photos in this album give an overview of the scene and some of the markings found on the road.
Sequoia Century, June 2007 - Ron Bobb and I rode the Sequoia Century Long Route. The route took us up Page Mill Road, down west Alpine Road to Sam McDonald Park, then Pescadero Road and Cloverdale Roads to Gazos Creek Road, then south to Santa Cruz on CA1 for lunch. Our return route climbed Granite Creek, Glenwood, and Mountain Charlie Roads to Summit Road and Skyline Blvd. before descending CA9 to Pierce and Mt. Eden before returning to the start. Most of the photos were taken at the rest stops.
| Bike Ridden: | Power Gold Rush |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 66.4 miles |
| Cumulative climbing: | 8130 feet |
| Total Time: | 7:40:00 |
| Riding Time: | 6:01:30 |
| Avg. Speed (moving): | 11.01 mph |
| Max. Speed: | 44.9 mph |
| Nominal System Voltage: | 24 |
| Battery energy capacity: | 1024 wh |
| Battery energy consumed: | 426.9 wh |
| Wh/mi: | 6.4 |
| Battery Amps-Hour Used: | 16.63 |
| Max. Current: | 26.7 Amps |
| Min. Voltage: | 25.0 |
| Max. power to rear wheel: | 601 watts |
| Avg. power to rear wheel: | 171 watts |
| Total energy to rear wheel: | 3610 kJ (1003 wh) |
| Total energy from motor: | 1076 kJ (299 wh) |
| Total energy from human: | 2534 kJ (704 wh) |
Tioga Road, May 12, 2007 - Ron Bobb and I started our ride at the Hodgdon Meadow entrance station on the west side of Yosemite on CA120.
We started by taking Old Big Oak Flat Road, the old road into Yosemite from this direction, also known as Tuolumne Grove Road. This road is paved but several years ago was closed to auto traffic after a storm damaged the road. Bicycles can easily ride through, although the upper part of the road is the main trail through the Tuolumne Grove. There was a "no entry" sign, presumably for autos not to continue uphill where the old road used to be one-way downhill, and at the top parking lot there was a sign "No Vehicles Beyond This Point", but no specific prohibition against bicycles. The road lies just outside the wilderness boundary.
This road climbs steeply through the forest and finishes at the parking area for the Tuolumne Grove. At the bottom of the climb we saw crossing the road in front of us a rather large coyote who was too quick for my camera and about twice the size of those we usually see in the Santa Cruz Mountains near home.
Once we regained Tioga Road we headed east and uphill. Traffic was light overall and passed in platoons rather than singly. The road had opened less than 24 hours earlier. Most drivers were uncommonly polite, leaving more than the usual amount of space while passing.
The climb from Crane Flat to White Wolf is roughly 2000 feet, but is a bit of a slog through the woods, there being few interesting sights along this stretch. But, even after this dry winter, water running under, across, or alongside the road was a nearly constant companion.
A couple miles past the turnoff for White Wolf, Ron decided that this wasn't his day to do a long ride, so he turned back. It was decided that I would continue to Tioga Pass and Ron would return with the truck and pick me up wherever we happened to meet up on the road later in the afternoon.
I continued downhill to Yosemite Creek, then uphill on the eastern side, crossing several streams that were running across the road. Of course, motor traffic always seemed to pass and kick up the water just as I was crossing one of these seasonal floods.
East of the Porcupine Creek trailhead the scenery becomes more interesting, the road leaving the thick forest and crossing bare granite in many places. Views of distant landmarks became more frequent.
I stopped briefly at Olmsted Point to enjoy the view along with most of the motorists who were driving the same way. I was surprised how thin the snowpack was this year and how little snow remained on the ground.
From Olmsted Point Tioga Road descends to Tenaya Lake (8150ft), skirting its northwest shore before climbing to a low pass between Polly and Medlicott Domes. I saw no climbers on Pywiack Dome today, although the weather would have been perfect for climbing.
I continued on through a short dip across Cathedral Creek and over another low pass before descending into Tuolumne Meadows (8600ft) , where the snows had recently cleared, leaving a swamp amidst last year's brown blades of grass. Fortunately it was too cold for mosquitos.
I stopped at the store hoping I'd find it open. The ranger we spoke with at Crane Flat warned that there were No Services along Tioga Road today, and he was right. The store was shuttered. Even the restrooms were closed, the parking lot taped off. I was rather disappointed as I had been hoping to stop for some salty food. Homeopathic electrolyte capsules (Hammer Enduralytes) and energy bars weren't quite enough.
In spite of this I pressed on to Tioga Pass. As I climbed the snow became more constant on the ground, although the depth was never more than about five feet near the road.
At Tioga Pass I asked the ranger if the store at the Tioga Pass Resort, a couple miles downhill east of the Pass, was open. He said it was closed for the season. I wasn't going to go to Lee Vining as the plan was for me to return on the road from the Pass to meet up with Ron.
So, I turned around and in spite of the steady west wind found the descent back to Tuolumne Meadows much easier than the climb. Even so, I had only just enough clothing with me—all of it on me—to feel not chilled. I had climbed the same section of road earlier in short sleeves.
As I was descending westbound to Tenaya Lake I met up with Ron who was driving the other way.
Left Coast Velomobile Gathering, March 2007 - A gathering in San Luis Obispo, CA, of velomobiles, their owners, designers, and individuals interested in velomobiles. Most of the photos are of various bikes. After standing around half the day we took a short group ride out to Avila Beach.
Zach does Livermore on his Sunset, March 2007 - Photos of Zach Kaplan on his Earth Cycles Sunset low racer doing a Western Wheelers club ride in the Livermore area.
Tour of California: Stage 3, February 2007 - This 95-mile stage from Stockton to San Jose included a climb up Sierra Road before arriving in downtown San Jose. The photos in this album were taken on Sierra Road.
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