I've ridden these Schwalbe Marathon Racers for almost 18 months and they have seen at least 5,000 miles on the Long Haul Trucker. They seem to be pretty good tires in terms of puncture resistance, speed, and traction and have served me well. I don't have the money right now to replace them with an identical tire so I've moved on to the Panaracer Paselas to see how well they perform.
Wish me luck!
20090629
20090622
Wedding By Bike!
My good friends, Bonnie and Pete tied the knot this past weekend!
Congrats to the happy new couple!
Congrats to the happy new couple!
Unicycle Noobs - Pedalpalooza
Pedalpalooza 2009 is rolling right along. One of the events I attended and had untold amounts of fun was the Unicycle Noobs clinic held by the Unicycle Bastards.
They invited anyone interested in learning to ride a unicycle and supplied numerous unicycles of various sizes and styles.
Around 20+ people showed for free lessons and it seemed EVERYONE was really enjoying themselves. The hosts were very patient and encouraged everyone to give it a try and made suggestions on how to ride.
I can't thank them enough for the opportunity and advice.
See Flickr Set Unicycle Noobs for more pictures.
-Tomascosauce
They invited anyone interested in learning to ride a unicycle and supplied numerous unicycles of various sizes and styles.
Around 20+ people showed for free lessons and it seemed EVERYONE was really enjoying themselves. The hosts were very patient and encouraged everyone to give it a try and made suggestions on how to ride.
I can't thank them enough for the opportunity and advice.
See Flickr Set Unicycle Noobs for more pictures.
-Tomascosauce
20090616
World Naked Bike Ride 2009
Portland must have the largest naked bike ride in THE WORLD.
As a volunteer, I was privy to many communications about Portland's World Naked Bike Ride and Kick-Off Party.
I overheard the attending Fire Marshall proclaim "Yeah, that's about 5,000 people", I knew something great was going down.
A sea of flesh in various stages of costume, body paint and undress, dancing, laughing and having a great time. Cheers, hugs, chants, singing, finding missed friends, bicycles, painting, and awesome frivoloty all BEFORE the ride even started.
At Midnight, the ride started it's procession with the tune of drums from The Last Regimine.
BikePortland.org blogged all about and has MANY photos.
I was able to snap a few of the site before the party started, but was unable to continue as I was not an official photographer.
There was so much hard work put in by the core group of organizers. all of whom are unpaid volunteers. Umbrella, the fiscal backer, helped obtain permits, insurance and sponsors.
I'm still smiling from all the fun I had that evening.
More photos from my Flickr Contacts:
BikePortland
K'Tesh
William
As a volunteer, I was privy to many communications about Portland's World Naked Bike Ride and Kick-Off Party.
I overheard the attending Fire Marshall proclaim "Yeah, that's about 5,000 people", I knew something great was going down.
A sea of flesh in various stages of costume, body paint and undress, dancing, laughing and having a great time. Cheers, hugs, chants, singing, finding missed friends, bicycles, painting, and awesome frivoloty all BEFORE the ride even started.
At Midnight, the ride started it's procession with the tune of drums from The Last Regimine.
BikePortland.org blogged all about and has MANY photos.
I was able to snap a few of the site before the party started, but was unable to continue as I was not an official photographer.
There was so much hard work put in by the core group of organizers. all of whom are unpaid volunteers. Umbrella, the fiscal backer, helped obtain permits, insurance and sponsors.
I'm still smiling from all the fun I had that evening.
More photos from my Flickr Contacts:
BikePortland
K'Tesh
William
20090612
The Tour Divide Race 2009
Today, the Tour Divide Race Begins!
See the Adventure Cycling Associations press release.
The contestants abilities and mettle are a sight to behold and inspire me to be ultralight and hardcore.
Make sure to check out the official site and last year's pictures!
It is a great desire to participate in this glory-less race and complete in the allotted time, but alas I don't have the equipment, fitness or finances to set upon such an endeavor.
In general, I'm not much of a racer. In fact, I really suck at it. However, these ultra-distance events like The Great Divide Race and Race Across America light up something in my brain that makes me want to train consistantly and get a better bike to do such a thing.
Good luck to all 42 racers!
See the Adventure Cycling Associations press release.
The contestants abilities and mettle are a sight to behold and inspire me to be ultralight and hardcore.
Make sure to check out the official site and last year's pictures!
It is a great desire to participate in this glory-less race and complete in the allotted time, but alas I don't have the equipment, fitness or finances to set upon such an endeavor.
In general, I'm not much of a racer. In fact, I really suck at it. However, these ultra-distance events like The Great Divide Race and Race Across America light up something in my brain that makes me want to train consistantly and get a better bike to do such a thing.
Good luck to all 42 racers!
20090611
Green Electra
I just felt like getting a snap-shot of this perty thing and sharing it with the world.
20090609
Firmly Embedded Shrapnel
I've only flatted twice on these tires and both were from the shrapnel of snow chains during Portland's Snowpocolypse 2009. Otherwise, all other flats were from the rim tape shifting and exposing the spoke holes in the rim.
I've been using the Schwalbe Marathon XR's on my touring bicycle for the majority of the time over the last year or so. I'm very pleased with their reliability, traction, durability and long long lasting tread wear. Over 4,000 miles on my current set and they still look awesome.
The real downfall of these tires is their weight and rolling resistance. I constantly keep them at the top PSI and have to keep checking the brakes to make sure they aren't rubbing because these tank treads make one feel so very, VERY slow.
I'm at the point where I'm switching back to a smaller, faster, albeit less reliable tire to get around town and go on some long trips. Sometimes, the extra work isn't worth the extra protection.
Think of it as steel-toed boots. Walk through anything, but would you really want to run in them?
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