your daily bicycle log

had my first energy gel the other day

absolutely boggin

They are indeed, for emergencies only.

holy shit dudes i snapped my bottom bracket spindle wednesday
stocking up on tools now yo: lockring wrench, pin spanner, crank puller (also chain tool and bench vise)

I don't mind energy gels. I mean, I wouldn't eat a load of them for dinner, but they're useful on a bike ride. I use the Torq ones.

They're rank - though the last one i had was slightly less rank. They serve a purpose, I'll give them that.

Saw a nasty nasty crash on my club ride today. I think it started when I guy put his wheel in a parallel crack between concrete and asphalt and got sideways, taking 4 people with him. The dude behind him who did an endo into a total faceplant was laid out on the road with his glasses shattered, and his face all cut up from the broken lenses / asphalt. Got taken away in the ambulance on a back-board and neck brace. That ride really really needs to be more selective with riders. Too many people just barely hanging on and then making up gaps at stoplights / downhills and causing chaos in the pack. That's club rides for ya, I guess.

here's the profile of the ride Mark and I did last night, in the space of 5 days my distance pb has gone from a previous of 40 mile, to 50 mile and now to 80 mile (rode 10 mile to start of this).

Now just to lose 6 stone or so...

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/94652

keep that up and it'll fly off in no time, maybe don't follow any of my dietary advice :)

xp

that sounds like a nightmare, slp, take it you were unscathed?

hey folks.

sorry for my non-attendence over the last few weeks. Work has been crazy busy (also I have been slightly embarrassed by the slow work rate on my fat mantis graphic designer thingy). Anyway I am back now for two reasons:

1) Vuelta
2) My surly was stolen over the weekend whilst I was in chicago. I blame me and my complacent attitude to Pittsburgh. Appears to have been boosted with a biro. Fucked off, checking CL, eBay etc.

Seriously bummed out.

holy shit ed i saw a surly cross check where i lock my bike during my dayjob on monday! was it black with an easton front rim? it wasn't there today tho

mine is green and has salsa rims.

funny, i was in chicago this weekend. and i just got a new surly

just kidding about the surly, but i'm thinking about getting a pacer

This really is a bad week, someone boosted E's saddle last night.

somewhat appropriate first ride in rapha belgium jersey - drizzle within a minute of leaving the house. windy, too! packed it in after half an hour.

Did 50 miles solo in the hills today. Absolutely no clouds, and I got a late start, so I was pretty cooked by the last 15 miles. From that point it was mostly flat, into a pretty stiff headwind, I was out of water, and I had Eddie Amador's 'Rise' ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5vsWhSaZpc ) stuck in my head on a loop. Torture.

also a colleague had his bike nicked. Also I didn't even notice they had the shopping baskets off E's bike.

nice gentle 46miles today to test out new shutt jersey and bibs. very comfortable chamois and the jersey does all that 'regulate yr temperature' nonsense very well

went up the crow and didn't stop at the car park, for the first time (yay me!) and decided to extend my run to take in the tak ma doon for the first time. it was a piece of piss tbh but that's because I went up the 'wrong' side. going down the other side was terrifying - very steep, and unceasing. dunno if I want to tackle climbing it from that side o_O

dunno if these'll show up
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/4971317108_9307658d15.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/4971320568_c504f4136f.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/4971318718_577d2a1e30.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/4971310038_f8bfe5ed2f.jpg

wow beautiful

Cozen, what are you food/snack options on these roads? Fuel my fantasy por favore.

total noob mistake... left the house w/no nutrition whatsoever. eep. didn't plan on going so far but it was so glorious a day I didn't want to turn back. stopped in at a petrol station eventually and scored

1x
http://candybarlab.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/starbar_wr.jpg

plus a can of coke. not very nutrition nazi but I'd be riding 3 hours by that point; I'll allow it

coke is legit

i love to eat garbage when i'm on the bike. it's maybe the only time your body can do anything productive with all that sugar.

i was imagining some sort of mystical pub or tavern along that route that specialized in something regional and worth the journey.

place looks gorgeous, it's insanely lush looking to me here in colorado. the forests on the northside are planted, aren't they? the trees are like, in rows. (google earth)

i generally don't eat garbage on bike, but if in need the hierarchy generally goes coke, fig newtons, snackwells, grandmas choco cookies, what do you have?!?!?

yup, def looks that way to me too. first time I'd been out that way, pictures don't do it justice obv.
xp

very steep, and unceasing. dunno if I want to tackle climbing it from that side
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/4979054081_66c066999e_z.jpg
did it today. it was hard. did the crow from the hard side too. some special needs kid on a mtb sucked my wheel all the way to the top and I smoked him on the descent, cat 6 victory hiyoo

Looks like great countryside. It's often difficult to really get a sense of the gradient when you take a photo - horribly steep hills can look flat unless you get it side-on.

On another note altogether, I noticed that the straps and pads on my helmet were minging the other day, the effect of God knows how much dried sweat, so I soaked it in a load of hot water and gave it a good scrub. This seems to have sorted it out, but I'm now feeling sheepish - maybe I should have been doing this regularly all along. What does everybody else do?

how old is the helmet? haven't noticed mine producing much of a stink, but haven't been doing many long rides in the last couple months.

thinkin baout taking a trip out to this on friday: http://theclimbingcyclist.com/climbs/yarra-ranges/mt-donna-buang/

also have found the secret suburban climb of death that the now-retired local PRO w!ll w@lker used to do repeats of. 13% gradient ought to sharpen me up, or give me a heart attack. not sure which.

Mine develop that nasty bacteria-y smell after a while - I think it largely depends on whether they're allowed to fester rather than drying out quickly (like yesterday when, after my MTB ride, I left my helmet in a zipped bag all day, oops). Anti-bacterial soap should sort it out for the most part but once it's started it never seems to quite go away.

Also, don't microwave the helmet. It seems to work but it probably damages the plastic/foam.

I did 13 miles on a MTB in the trails of Swinley Forest with ledge. It was aces, but exhausting! I fell off three times, all on the exact same part of my elbow, but didn't do any serious damage. God knows how people shoot off down those hills with ruts and roots and drops and rocks and all. And I really need to sort out berm technique.

well, me too! am getting better tho. outside pedal down, lean the bike, look to the exit, steer with your body...

also i've never had any plans to microwave my helmet.

Can you put your pedals in the oven?

leave things like shoes (tongues out) and helmets (upside down) in sunlight (window sills). also water bottles. sunlight is mold's worst enemy ime.

Had a guy run into my rear wheel while on the track last night for the first time. It would have been scary if it hadn't happened so fast that it was over before I knew what was happening. We were doing an italian pursuit (2 teams of five riders, first rider in line pulls off each lap, first team to cross line wins) and I was sitting fourth. Guy that hit me came unclipped and couldn't catch back up. Fun as heck though.

First weekend in a while where I won't be racing so I'm looking forward to a late-season early autumn club ride with the bros. There will be lots of coffee, pastries and foodstuffs involved I'm sure.

32 miles today, felt good considering it was first since stinking cold. First riding spds too, went ok, was a bit bambi like for starters but got used to it quickly, which pleased me. Also managed to dance up the really nasty hill just before home, is not long but is bloody steep. It used to be that I got breathless walking up it. Must have been the jerk chicken I had for lunch.

May have spoken too soon on spds, my right knee is bloody sore, have iced it.

You might need to adjust your cleats

Almost certainly. If the pain is on the inside of the knee, adjust the cleats so the toe points further outwards and vice versa. If it's in the middle of the knee, well, I don't know what to suggest.

Can also try adjusting the float, i.e the angle you foot can rotate about an axis coming up through the ball. Depends on the pedal, crank brothers you swap the cleat over, others it's a screw, others it's not possible. Mark's advice is sound too.

In London and going to have my first Boris bike experience.

Is outside of my right knee, will adjust accordingly and try again tomorrow. Ta chaps.

anytime you get fitted for anything or adjust a contact point (seat, bars, stem, seatpost, cleats), take a clear picture for before + after reference. this has saved me a lot of time and pain.

i get knee pain on my outside/front right knee anytime i ride more than 15-20miles. i don't use clip-in. might that help if i did?

Do you use toe clips or just nothing?

out from the Castro through Golden Gate Park to the ocean, then down and around Lake Merced. wanted to go longer but my rear wheel needs to be trued badly.

^^^love that ride.

Do you use toe clips or just nothing?
― Running the Gantelope (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Monday, September 20, 2010 9:07 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i was using nothing, but recently got clips. i got fitted to make sure my seat was the right height.

And are you using cleats or just flat shoes?

It might be the lack of float that's the problem.