your daily bicycle log

yeah, i can call back the helpful person at carradice and get it on my next set, custom. although, my bike bureau show no signs of wearing out despite the fact that it has had some serious use.

so how are your (now not quite so) new wheels holding up to the punishment? i suppose well as no negative reports? riding over tree roots with baskets sounds brave.

Really really good in the end, I thought after all that I'd need to get them trued but they seem to be as straight as anything, front and back. I can highly recommend prowheelbuilder.com, they seem to have done a bang up job on them.

I will never tour with baskets again.

Got a bit out of practice in the latter half of July, so 35 miles today beat me into shape pretty quick (with an emphasis on beat. Much of this was done on paved bike paths through dark woods w/ a new headlight I bought today. Spooky but exhilarating!

..time 4 beer.

immensely satisfying burn up royal parade last night in peak-hour - rounded up every bike in front of me and only got passed once! (and that dude was flyin'.)

chain locked up on a pretty standard gear change this morning though, dunno what that was about o_O

cycled to cinema. watched 'moon'. left cinema. found out some fucktard had locked their bike to mine.

I hope you cycled both off together.

I cycled nowhere, I had to bus home and am still waiting for the asshat to ring me.

took a short 15-miler yesterday, including st. paul's infamous ramsey hill (down) (scary!). the long loop around on the river, mostly uphill, had me wishing i had gears, a little.

needed to stretch the legs after dinner and movie, so did backstreet run out to scenic road a few kms from the city proper and did short hillclimb three times. spooky - only one car, no roadside lighting, but great view of burbs at the top of the hill.

kefalonia was tough. only managed one day riding then gave up. steep climb -> steep descent. repeat. not at all used to climbing like that. had to get off a couple of times. still, a good learning experience. hydration was the main challenge, it hit 40 degrees a few times while i was there. too hot to move, let alone cycle anywhere.

started middle left where that stripe is (the airport). went from there to where the cloud on the left hand side is. can't just ride along the coast, there's like one main road that goes round the island via every little village.

http://www.wkistler.de/more3/739-33a65_Kefalonia.jpg

after a couple of weeks eating badly, boozing and smoking i went out for a 20 miler yesterday and it was a lot harder than usual. time for a detox.

rode up my local climb at a very leisurely pace--slow enough to keep my head way up, and to really see the sights. the climb is a canyon, and unless you try, you never see far from the road, because the hillsides rise steeply from each side of the road.

i realized that i know the right side of the climb far less well than the left, because that's the side of the road that i ride on. its a relatively quiet road, so i switched sides and rode on the left side of the road for a while. it was great, like being someplace i'd never been before. fences, houses and driveways that i have never seen before, despite the fact that i've ridden the canyon hundreds and hundreds of times.

how do you make your routine ride feel new?

200 miles this week: Su - 35; Mo - 5 (flat tire); Tu - 20; Wd - 35; Th - 45; Fr - 25; Sa - 35

Initially, my goal was to put in 600 by the end of August, but, at this rate, it seems I may surpass that by a considerable margin.

Lately, I've taken to riding at night on well-lit streets. There is almost no traffic, the temperature & humidity level are ideal (usually) & without having to stop all the time (cruising thru the blinking yellows), I have been able to significantly increase & maintain my average speed.

^^ was also doing some night running earlier. tried to plot out route to see how far i went but google maps is having difficulties >:(

Needed to get out of the house, went and did the park loop once, then ran errands. Pretty sure that in the 3m loop, I was lapped by the same fancy-pants pack no fewer than 3 times.

Wanted to take a 45+ mile loop to a distant wildlife preserve (w/ paved bike trails!) this weekend, but have thusfar been prevented from doing so by rain (yesterday) & today it is currently 92 degrees w/ 64% humidity. Ugh.. I could go, anyway, I suppose. I just don't want to get heatstroke or something.

last night's trip ended up just under 25km once i worked it out.

A 56-miler yesterday, pretty gentle pace as it was organised as a ride for slow people, even though no-one was really slow (and having done London-Paris I am very aware of what "slow" means). A lovely Sunday pootle in the countryside with a lengthy pub stop halfway. Pretty much what biking was invented for. Combined with Friday night and Saturday's rides I managed over 100 miles for the weekend, which always feels good.

I managed about 25 miles around town, going places I formerly would have bussed or tubed to. Crystal Palace to Waterloo at night was a blast, downhill all the way and pretty lucky with the lights too. I'm trying to become less aggressive in my cycling, I think it will be better for my health in all sorts of ways.

I did 85 miles by 2pm today (had to be home by half past two, so set off really early) - the furthest I've ever cycled. I headed out of London, deep into the Essex countryside, and got to Finchingfield 40 miles later in just 2 hours 10 mins of riding (at over 18mph). Then I went across to Thaxted then headed back towards London. At this point the sun disappeared and turned into thick grey cloud and the pleasant (but gentle) tailwind turned into an aggressive headwind. The 45-mile return leg became a bit of a grind - I was on my own, so there was no shelter at any stage. I eventually finished after 5 hours 9 mins (average speed down to 16.4mph, so the return must have been *much* slower).
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2464/3808035329_fe95421dc2_m.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/3808034583_f61510733c_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2626/3808849000_f6dacdb718_m.jpg

Woah - that looks like a ghost house!

(nice work on the ride)

first flat last night, awww

did 9km of straight w/ a mild climb last night due to lack of good tv options. invigorating in the night air! curious as to the speed i'm getting up when at full tilt, might have to invest in a computer soon.

commute was rather foggy in the morn'.

Computers are brilliant, haitch - you'll find yourself increasing speed and fitness exponentially as the competitive urge takes hold :)

I got my first flat in 4000 miles last Thursday. Ah well.

Gears have been playing up all week, so I just decided to try and sort them out, and the cable's snapped at the front shifter. Woe. Had been thinking about a SS conversion for a while anyway.. anyone done one?

― j.o.n.a, Saturday, 4 July 2009 16:35 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yes. it is well easy.

― last night i dreamt somebody shoved me (ledge), Saturday, 4 July 2009 17:48 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

So it is, it's only taken me 3 weeks to sort out. I suck. Nice to cycle to work again though.

jet lag had me up at 5am this morning, so after some putzing, i had my first ride in weeks to a cafe across town. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

god i need to get back in shape

230 miles planned for the next 3 days... *whimper*

cowboy up, wakeboarder

So today I managed to burst a tube as I was putting it in. Anyone got any tips for getting a really tight tire back on?

smoke a doob together, be gentle, communication is important

gbx otm. I've burst a couple of tubes while putting them on, so I figured out I wasn't making sure the tube where the valve is was fully inside the tyre, rather than the tyre effectively resting on the tube. So when I put the tube in the tyre now, I push the valve up into the tyre while it's uninflated, and this solves the problem.

No tips on actually fitting a really tight tyre, though, sorry.

if you don't have tire levers some flathead screwdrivers would probably work

i always shy away from using levers to put tires back on....the last time i did it, i gave myself three flats in the span of fifteen minutes

i have a big bottle of baby powder on the work bench and coat the tube very liberally prior to stowing it or installing it.

that way when i cant get the fucking tire back on the goddamn rim i can at least smell that nice baby powder smell. its very soothing.

youre not using levers right? hands only for install.

full palm roll technique- no thumbs

levers are bad?

generally as described by gbx. i have used levers to install my cheapo studded tires which are about as flexible as cement--im simply not strong enough to get that done by hand.

yeah, full hand roll for sure. it'll hurt, and take forever, but you'll get stronger. levers to install increases the likelihood of pinch flats by like a millionx

i've only used them a handful of times, and i'm batting like 0.100.

I have had big problems with last two wheels, I am wondering how oversize the wheels are, nice bike shop guy has been noticing a trend in bike wheels to get slightly bigger over the years for better tire security, although I don't ever recalling a tire falling off.

I just cannot get my tire back on using manual techniques. Two thumbs method, palm method, I have tried them all. This never used to be a problem, maybe I am just getting old and infirm.

I just ordered a tire bead jack.

wow sheldon brown is very thorough

also donot use flathead screwdrivers in place of tire levers
that is a recipe for disaster

first mtb ride of year at deer creek park. damn. i pretty much suck.

i really should get a new bike before i rip the headtube off my antique 1993 bike. im in a wedding in moab in two weeks, and doing a trip to zion in about 6 weeks. a new ride would be niiiice.

its not bike vanity, i could give a crap about riding disgraceful old shit, if i could outclimb my friends. actually, that might even be better. but i wont be able to keep up anyway.

ah, dreams are free.

Levers are fine for putting tyres back on, I promise - just be aware of where the tube is in relation to the tyre and don't use silly amounts of force. That said, I managed to remove and refit a tyre and tube this weekend without using levers at all, which was a first and made me feel that much more of a man.

went for a pedal after dinner - went thru a dip under a bridge on the bike path, quite dark, and only once i hit it did i realise there was a stretch of about 20 metres of water up to the fucking chainstays. kept it upright and motored on through! lol, wet socks.

I think it is a wire bead vs otherwise thing. My folding nobblies are the easiest things in the world to get on and off.

Had a rare monday off so I did a short morning ride before doing errands. Down the coast to the gliderport and back. At one point I was looking down at my shoe for some reason and didn't notice, and then ran right through, a big pile of vomit on the road. Yuck
route: http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=38793

280 miles last week. This mostly had to do w/ not being able to work b/c of malfunctioning (eventually declared deceased) computer, a stretch which was conveniently coupled w/ 4-5 days of mostly gorgeous weather. Longest run = 65m. I may get to that 100 by the end of the month after all.

survived 230 miles in 3 days, but not without some serious side-effects... heart rate climbing on mere mild climbs on day 3 in hot weather, seat sensitivity no doubt compounded by the heat/stickiness, general sluggishness on climbs and ability to "turn it on" lol, back spasms, legs feel pummeled.

also on saturday witnessed a particularly heinous crash... started my 100+ mile ride by following this dude from "the wiggle" up and over the Golden Gate Bridge (about 7 miles of partial city, mostly park riding). he was fast but on a tri bike and with the hills and winding roads i stayed with him**

he dropped me on one hill on account of his boogying and me wanting to save some for the way home but i eventually pulled back to him by the bridge. the bridge bike traffic is relegated to the southern span, and at times it gets tight for multidirectional traffic. a girl roadie swerve/weaved into his path (me hot on his heels) and the locked bullhorn to drops and both went flying up and over. a broken collarbone apiece and shaken up but otherwise okay. nasty, nasty looking crash, i had a view too good of it all.

be careful out there dudes.

Going cycling with Lance Armstrong in a couple of hours, seriously!

Hey Glasgow - group ride starts at Ashtree House Hotel. 9 Orr Square. Paisley, Scotland. See you there at noon!!

He's in Glasgow en route to the Tour Of Ireland.

God bless my day off. BTW, I'm doing so fixed, in full fakenger garb, my race bike being out of commission.

amazing how great a feels after some needed maintenance.