your daily bicycle log

So I was stupid and crashed and "three acute fractures third fourth and fifth metacarpals. Mild angulation and displacement of the fracture at base of fifth metacarpal.". Shit really hurt, plus had to ride one handed 30 mins to hospital with no brakes. :(

uh oh

:-(

Oh no! Sorry to hear that Hunt3r. What happened? Hope you're feeling okay post-hospital.

Yeah its all good. I'll see hand guy today or tomorrow I guess.

Ouch. Get well soon.

on road or off road?

on street commuting home. i wasnt paying good enuf attention and hit a pickup truck. a ~parked~ pickup truck. ay yi yi.

Did the Dartmoor ride again today with a slightly tweaked home leg to keep us off a horrible stretch of busy road. 3,500 feet of climbing al in all.

none of 3 recommended hand orthos could see me til monday, so i decided to shit my pants by reading about 5th metacarpal base fractures using my doctor of interwebs degree. if i dont pull thru, rip i was a fatmantis.

damn, i hope things go well for you.

went for a ride with a shasta today + one of his racing buddies. they were recovering from various crashes and illnesses so i could just about keep up. flat (unusual for around here) fast, fun.

Did the "Terrible Tour" of every Pittsburgh Neighborhood. Led by a member of a local team. Pretty good clip through the city. Not quite the climbing fest promised, just under 2000m. Felt really good on it and was able to beat my buddy up most things, a few weeks agao he was able to do me over. (NB buddy has just spent 3 weeks on a beach in the lebanon followed by 7 night shifts at the hospital and hasn't touched a bike but still, I am the winner)

http://app.strava.com/rides/18960465

On sunday, quiet spin and I broke a spoke. Astounded that for once it was not the drive side. It looks like I picked up some fishing twine that wrapped itself around the hub and the spoke. Annoying but a cheap fix.

Not a lot of road riding but a lot of track racing lately. Here is a GoPro video from my handlebars of one of our recent races, a scratch race. The best part is the move I make at around 6:39. Worst part is that I came out into the wind on the final lap and let guys onto the back of the finishing move far to early (into turn one).

http://youtu.be/XGfwnR76kfY

Really impressive riding! I was on the edge of my seat from 6 minutes onwards - good work!

that was cool.

so i'm out of cycling for some months, and i will be off iltrmb. i'll be over on running running thread if im feeling it. careful out there kids.

heal up soon hunt3r

http://app.strava.com/activities/19146306

^gravel grind. took wrong turn and had to pick my way down muddy trench-like 4wd track and then hit the highway to make the second checkpoint - what's another 6km tho rite?

steep unmarked sector on the elevation chart at 67km was gravel and 15%+ for maybe a mile or so, nice WALKING track perhaps. i saw one person ride it - girl on MTB crawled up in granny gear, think the effort might've cooked her.

am thinking baout adopting those TRP mini-v brakes after a couple of cantilever-'assisted' braking moments.

Gah, I know what caused the spoke to blow. Looking at the wheel tonight, I see scrapes on the braking surface and remember going doin into the gap between concrete slabs on a typically crappy pittsburgh st.

I hope this doesn't mean a new rim.

On the plus side my spare wheel is heavier, so better training.

Today I rode a few miles with my friend Bobby, who is in the midst of riding 683 miles in a week as part of the Strava CTS Bucket List Challenge (http://www.strava.com/challenges/cts-bucket-list-challenge). He is raising money for Re~Cycle (http://www.re-cycle.org/), a charity who send bicycles to Africa in order to provide cheap and sustainable transport for those in need. I think that it is an impressive and noble endeavour and I'm just jealous that I am working this week and couldn't join him more! In case anyone wants to contribute a donation then he has a Just Giving page here: http://www.justgiving.com/bobby-wilson

did CX race today. legs still sore! think I was slower than last year...

190km this weekend. Garmin screwed up recording my saturday ride. I got a bit sunburnt, otherwise a great weekend.

Just back from holiday in Tuscanny - have been off the bike for about 2 weeks now, but doing a race on Sunday morning. Sorry to hear about your crash Hunter.

Actually, it's not quite true to say I haven't ridden for a fortnight. I did about 10 very slow miles around the walls of Lucca on a woman's bike with a basket on the front and my daughter on the back*, so not exactly great training.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/crunchydog_2006/luccabike.jpg

*who crunched nose-first into my back when I braked suddenly to avoid my faltering wife - who knew that would happen?

rode some of the lesser-known trails on pitch hill in surrey, friend took the opportunity to do some jumps, i don't jump so i took the opportunity to practice my sports photographer skills.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7875377158_0216636312_z.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8443/7875365058_9e803c95c0_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7875359426_cb73bf2750_z.jpg

actually just fell off my bike today. somehow completely ballsed up clipping in, something I do 1001 times without even thinking about it and went arse over tit travelling at 0mph.

you can badly injure your pride that way

it was v embarrassing - had the whole 'oh my god are you ok?' 'no, no, I'm fine' thing, as I limped off with blood trickling down my knee and my handlebars at 90 degrees to my front wheel.

Went 20m last night just getting to a show and back, on my new 3spd!! It's been a year or more since I rode a geared bike, and I have NEVER had one this smooth and nice; it feels inefficient per pedal stroke compared to my single-speed, but BOY I forgot how luxurious mechanical advantage is. Three cheers for physics!

3 punctures in 3 days. Gah! My tyres are fairly new, I found 3 medium size glass 'slices' that have made it all the way through the tyre. So is that it? New tyres again?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-ultremo-r1-evolution-coloured-folding-road-tyre/

Those are what I have. Any recommendations are welcome.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-rubino-pro-slick-folding-clincher-tyre/

?

i've got non-folding non-slick ones and i just had my first puncture after three years. ok i only ride about once a week but still.

I had Ultremos for 18 months in between punctures, then got a whole lot at once. They're bliss to ride on - I think you've just been unlucky (but, they are fancy racing tyres and will always get more punctures than harder, heavier city tyres).

Cheers, may give those a go, ledge.

And Mark, yeah, the Ultremos are lovely. I think I'd rather get the odd puncture and go faster, smoother, quieter cuz well, it's more fun. They've been fairly puncture proof until recently, it just seems bizarre that it's only 3 (that I can see) tiny little slices that seem to have rendered them useless.

Also what's the trick with avoiding punctures. Better to be slightly less pumped, or pumped to the max? I think I just have to accept that I'll get punctures, the roads on my commute and regular journeys are full of Hackney

Fwiw I use Conti GP4000S

i pump the tyres fairly high tbh, unless it's wet, in which case a little more squish is advisable. a lot of potentially puncture causing objects tend to ping out from under the wheel, unless you get a direct hit, whereas with lower pressure tyres they will go in - greater surface area in contact with the road. that's my experience anyway. I can't remember what I've got - hang on...

continental hardshell on the front and i think a schwalbe on the back - both complete thumbfucks to get on and off (or wrists, depending on yr method) but i hate punctures so much.

Speaking of Tyres I have worn through my rear Schwalbe Lugano so quickly. It's been about a month since I put it on and I've already worn through the tread, there's about an inch of the puncture protection material showing and a spot where the threads are showing. Not too impressd, I know I'm heavy and it's hot but its only been 1000kms or so.

How often do you usually replace yours? I tend to find that somewhere around the 2,000 mile mark I suddenly start getting punctures and decide it's time to call it a day.

At this time of year I seem to go through them faster. It's hotter so the rubber softens. I'm also heavier, which is harder on them. I've been group riding more which means I'm locking the rear wheel more.

I'm guessing I'm averaging somewhere int he 1500-2000km range but this rear has lasted a lot less

xp ditto

checkin back in from nobikeistan to say i rode cruiser bike one handed to railstation today, 1.2 miles woohoo. back in tha game.

i've been walkin it but walking 18 mins each way seems so...pointless.

great out the back of the saddle fart half an hour ago, ftw, fyi

Rode with someone way better than me today, 87km and 1191m of climbing got some great PRs on strava, probably my fastest long ride to date.

Why walk anywhere when you can bike, even one-handed? So slow, so much wasted effort.

Staten Island is very hilly.

got out for an hour in the sunshine around 1pm. spring!

might try for a longer one tomorrow morn.

Man on Brighton beach riding a new Pinarello Prince with toe clips and Vibram Five Fingers, ur doing it wrong.

thank you nick for that priceless mental image!

Lysol in my eyes

I too use Conti GP4000S tyres. I'm on my third set in a year, so probably about 4000 miles a time, with no skidding.

I've had some bad luck punctures on this new set though already, so they may not last as long.

luv GP4000s, 25s especially

Yep, rolling the 25s here.