your daily bicycle log

my last hospital visit while sitting in the er (for almost 4 hours) i just blew up my friends w texts, trying to keep my mind occupied, it kept me sorta sane.

Don't want the battery to run out though. If I'm here for another two hours my car park money runs out.

That's awful dude. Hope you're ok.

Hope you turn out ok.

By the time I was seen my car was parked illegally, but fortunately nobody seems to patrol the car park on a Sunday evening. Torn muscles the main problem (but also the usual road rash and bruising), but no broken bones, so I'll probably have a very uncomfortable week or so but hopefully riding again in a few weeks. Not great, but probably the best time of year for it to happen. I'm off work and shuffling around like a 100-year-old - can't work out how the fuck I managed to ride 20 miles back home again.

adrenaline?

glad to hear ur OK. would a heavier bike have helped?

Well, this is the first winter I've decided to get mudguards on my proper racer and not ride Ye Heavy Wintere Bike. Fate is obviously telling me something.

after looking at all the guff that's accreted to my road bike from the weekend ride I'm considering promoting the pink missile from pub bike to winter bike

will have to upgrade the wheels and change the tyres tho. what's the best winter tyre? gators? they can be a bit skittish in the wet

I switched from Continental GP4000Ss (23c) to Continental Gatorskins (25c). They were a bit skittish in the wet. Apart from the incident where we all fell down, there were several times when I felt the tyre pressure was too high. If I'm racing I have it up around 110, I think I had them at around 100 yesterday, but I'll probably put them down to 80-90 next time (whenever that is).

I've got Schwalbe Marathon Plus on the Tricross I think. Touch wood, never had a puncture, and I've ridden it down the dirtiest fucking lanes you can imagine.

I have them at 80 in winter.

gatorskins are tough, but it's really the only good thing about them. i just got grand prix 4 seasons 28s for the cross bike and will be fitting them shortly - have heard good things.

There is a certain coterie of male Melbourne bike riders who really need to attend to their threadbare bibs. Far too much arsecrack on display today.

71 miles today, still pretty cold for a ~mild~ day

was too slow paying up at the cafe stop so had to tack onto the back of the fast group for the return leg. definitely felt a lot faster in the legs but held my own except on one of the climbs when I started to filter back through the ranks pretty quickly. wasn't dropped tho ^^;

65 degrees shorts and shortsleeves, miles of perfect cx singletrack, what a perfect day. It started poorly- I went to race and discovered I forgot my helmet just before I was to register. Blew it off and went ridin

it's -9 deg F here now, but i'll say -22C since that sounds way colder. i'm committed to riding my mile to the train, but my headset is nearly completely frozen. i have no idea what the deal is with it, it is an antique threaded 1 1/8" for which i have no wrench to even attempt adjustment, and the condition made riding on the snowed-over bike gravel path very difficult last night.

last night, on the way home, i saw two sets of fatbike tracks on the path, wished i had fatbike.

bloody cold & wet 68 miles today

makes for some ~metal~ photos tho
http://distilleryimage10.ak.instagram.com/9f2c9d7e5f4711e38fad1290e8e859c5_8.jpg

NICE!

Pulled a calf muscle. Wonder if I did it at football on Friday and 45 miles yesterday exacerbated it. Humph.

gws

think I may have to retire from football, played first time this week in 3 months and my knees have been creaking ever since. blech

My friend jumped into a basketball game instead of riding and ruptured his Achilles a couple weeks ago, so awful.

Ouch.

I play five a side at least twice a week, so I'm used to it, but it's brutal if you only play once in a while.

I went from playing three times a week to not playing in 6 months, after getting braces. that first time back has been brutal on my knees

http://www.comedykings.co.uk/ck-data/stage/87bobby.jpg
???

http://pigletinfrance.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/ugly-betty.jpg

I dropped from 3 games a week to 2 after Em had to retrieve me from A&E once too many times and told me off.

Anyway, I commuted by bike today. Only 1.6 miles in, so it hardly seems worth it...

I got back on the bike yesterday for the first time since the crash a fortnight previously - no big problems riding (though no power and can't get out the saddle), but getting on and off the bike is still uncomfortable. I also commuted to work by bike: 1.0 miles.

When it takes longer to get bike out if she'd and lock bike up at work it feels vaguely pointless.

Than to do the actual pedalling.

yeah threat of A&E increasing means more and more I'm migrating towards cycling for fitness, which, touch wood, hasn't found me in A&E yet

When it takes longer to get bike out if she'd and lock bike up at work it feels vaguely pointless.

Somehow I read that as "out of the shed" without noticing that is says nothing of the sort (but presumably is supposed to). Yeah, I agree, but it does make me feel slightly virtuous and it does at least mean I get a few more miles in (even if it's only a pitiful 6 a week). I've taken the eggbeaters off my commuting bike and just got plain pedals so I can ride in wearing my work clothes and not have to faff around with cycling shoes.

God damn iphone and its crazy predictive text.

so hellish today I abandoned

60 mph gales & howling rain... a saturday in hell

now my front brake won't return when released

BLECH

50 miles shaking the cobwebs off. sweet tailwind on the second half after stopping for coffee, then i almost choked trying to hit the high falsetto in I Can't Go For That cruising home.

You've got to try though, haven't you?

what would you be if you didn't even try

any tips for removing stuck pedals? : /

make sure youre turning each the correct direction (one of them is reverse threaded...but which one? it's diabolical).

then, a longer wrench.

then, a trip to a auto garage that has an airhammer (i actually never did that for a pedal, but i DID do it for a crank removal, after stripping out the crank threads).

maybe something involving fire, which is always exciting.

I have tried:
- GT85
- increased leverage
- pouring boiled water over it

now I'm going to try:
- bike shop

blech, cold and rainy 69 miles today. and I got told off three times by some guy who usually rides in the faster group. once because my mudguards were too short, again for not calling out a pothole (it wasn't there and then it was), and finally for half wheeling him. : /

that is why I prefer riding w/the slower group (less douches) but numbers are lower in winter

on the plus side, upgraded the wheels on my concorde so took it out today
http://distilleryimage4.ak.instagram.com/0d41d8da6a2211e3b8590a1f8b30899c_8.jpg

tbf tho he did push me up a big hill when I ws burst so he's not all bad

Omg if dude came at me 3 times in those conditions. Much credit to u for riding in those conditions.

Calf is tight as hell after five a side last night, so no riding for me today. Might manage a very brief and gentle spin tomorrow.

easy 25 miles today, was really nice on the way out then started blowing a hoolie on the return. no fun

also switching from a compact to a standard = ow, my knees. will riding a standard make me a stronger rider eventually? switching to a bike w/friction shifters really makes you appreciate the constant, minor adjustments you make to your gearing to maintain cadence at a comfortable level. worried about blowing out my knees w/the standard + friction shifters combo

Standard shouldn't be a problem, you will just have a different useful range so you may not have much use for 53x11 and might not have the lowest of climbing gears you would as a compact. All that means is you'll be able to spin less on hills and end up grinding it out sooner.