your daily bicycle log

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.

"bike"

**he told me to add him on FB and when I did I noticed he had several sub 10-hour Ironman finishes... whoa.

From the Glasgow thread, because I'm too lazy to think of something new to say:

I rode harder and faster then I ever have in my life. It was an amazing experience, I'm still on a high from it. Being part of 300 cyclists blasting out of Paisley at >20mph in the pouring rain following Lance Armstrong was a stunning thing.

I'm also on BBC Reporting Scotland: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/player/?item=44534835
Report starts at 9:30 minutes, you can see me in the blue jacket and black cycling cap taking my gloves off right in front of the camera at 9:52 onwards for a good few seconds.

I rode it fixed, with a laden courier bag, no lycra in sight, and managed to hold my own. Roadies eat that!

i hit another local path that i hadn't gone on before after work - about 20km to the end and back. the last 1.5km of it goes through the middle of one of the major cemeteries here in melbourne, following the railway line. they've upgraded the path at the start of the year with a bunch of solar lights set into the path - the light was just about gone when i reached it, it looks like an airport runway! so awesome:

http://solarone.com.au/images/Solareone%20%20029%20trimmed.jpg

whoa!

I've done 233 miles in the last two weeks (in 6 separate rides), some of it on holiday in Dorset and Sussex. Sadly my summer break is nearly over and I'll soon be back to trying to snatch the occasional ride here and there.

i did this trail today, 50 km out and back. wasn't caning it by any means as a lot of it was on gravel path, but still felt surprisingly easy - could def get back on the bike right now if i had to. might have to scale up my ambitions next week.

gotta work on the climbing a bit, tho. one full-on switchback climb from the river to the highest point on the trail had me puffing big-time.

energy loading: one (1) choc iced soft serve from one of those contentious ice cream vans.

did this 80 mile climb loop the fastest I've ever gone by a factor of 45 minutes, no doubt helped by the fact I only stopped twice during the ride. is this normal, stopping to take in views (aka catching your breath, resting your legs, etc.)? 11 total climbs, 3 MONSTER climbs (>5 miles, switchbacks, 6-8%)

New levels of soreness today. In short, I am a wimp. Ugh.

doesnt sound wimpy, sounds pretty badass

i almost never stop on a road ride unless i have to piss or i have to buy food. i really dislike stopping on group rides, it just sucks all of the energy out of me.

on mtb rides, i'll stop to check out the sights.

Contentious ice cream vans?

quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

(this was not in NY, admittedly)

man if i coulda had choco soft serve on my ride yesterday ida paid $10 no doubt. the unbearable hotness of mtb'ing. 40 mins of granny gear with babyhead hikeabikes in 97 deg still air.

It just won't stop: "40 mins of granny gear with babyhead hikeabikes"?

I wanted to be an ice cream man once. I'd consistently shell out to an ice cream person if they weren't one of those rednecky dudes from the fleet of vans. Less consistently to those dudes. My friend James' dad built himself an ice cream truck in Ft. Myers. His dad really thought deeply about every aspect of the operation, including the music box he has playing. I used to hate it when the ice cream truck would pass by too soon for me to collect some change for a Klondike bar or whatever.

My dad had summer job as an ice cream man in Detroit in the early 70s, no idea how a kid from Liverpool ended up doing that.

40 min of granny gear with babyhead hikeabikes = bowl session of shitty weed in the alley with touring-by-bicycle bluegrass/funk/rock'n'reggae band, babyhead hikeabikes

or just riding the easy gear on steep sections, with big rocks and sections with walking, depends on who you're talking to

Rode in the Black Mountains in South Wales this weekend and set my new speed record - 50.7mph. Sweet!

bowl session of shitty weed in the alley with touring-by-bicycle bluegrass/funk/rock'n'reggae band, babyhead hikeabikes
thanks babelfish translator

good stuff, good goals!

maybe try a century by the end of the summer?

― cutty, Wednesday, June 24, 2009 7:52 AM (2 months ago) Bookmark

It's on. Monday, weather permitting. I did 75 on Monday, so I think I can hack it. Then up to northern MI next week for some coastal touring. It's going to be a sweet bike week, folks.

oh man

some friends here are on a week+ excursion from mpls up to madeline island, those fukkin assholes

top gear, zipping along a wide deserted path on the flat and nearing a mild downhill section. heard the dread flapping sound above my head... magpie attack! tried to wave the bastard away, got a touch crossed-up and next thing i knew i was sprawled on the path. easily the biggest crash i've ever had. the bike's ok, i've got a sore right hand and elbow but pretty sure nothing's broken. no damage to the clothes either, christ knows how since i slid for a bit.

s'a shame because i was immensely enjoying myself up to that point. i went on for a bit but the path that i wanted to take wasn't signposted so i turned around and went home! probably went about 40km all up, was geared up to go a fair bit longer tho.

australian magpies: what is their fucking problem?

http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/July2002/img/f_postie.jpg

they are total arseholes.

whoa bad birdies.

a momma wild turkey and her gaggle of chicks just ran by the patio im sitting on. ive got 1500 ft red rock cliffs all around me, the colorado river drifting by to my left. a slightly stinky horse corral about 50 yards behind me. maybe i'll get ride in before we leave moab.

oh u bitch, u in moab

First play with the new Trek, it is niiiiice. Downhills and drops feel way smoother n easier, switching up to a bigger frame was the right decision (I always felt uncomfortably close to pitching over the front on my inappropriately named Giant). And it's way lighter so uphill is easier too - suspension lock out also a bonus there. Not so good when you forget to switch it off on the way down though.

i think i need a day off... i'm dying over here.

haitch, I bit it too yesterday. No magpies to liven up my story, though. I was zipping along a moderately busy four-lane street last night. As I cruised through one green light, I noted a car on the adjacent street waiting to turn left. No big deal, the street was well lit, I had my lights on the guy must have seen me, right? Well, I don't know if he did or he didn't, but that didn't stop him from peeling out when the light turned green w/ what turned out to be a really fucking loud muscle car. I think he was turning into the lane next to me anyway, but I'll never know b/c the noise freaked me out so much that I turned my head to see what was coming at me & by the time I looked back at my path line, there was the curb right in front of me & I was head & heels over bars onto the sidewalk. Just some scrapes & bruises, tho, & bike seems OK. Be careful out there, folks!

A gentle 57-miler to Windsor and back today with some slower friends (i.e. not trying to ride the arse of themselves and me) which has combined with my wedding hangover and left me utterly drained tonight. Fun though, and the last ride I'll be doing for a fortnight unless I can borrow a bike when I'm in Tuscany.

what kind of dying shasta

last 3 days = 210 miles, over 12k feet vertical climbing, all during a heat wave.

rolling hardman

pillbox we get the 'hoon' drivers getting around like that here too - i try to keep clear of them as much as possible obv! doesn't help that the local tabloid seems to be in a bit of an anti-cyclist mood at the moment.

Must be something in the air at the moment, or the curse of ILX, but I crashed today as well, in embarrassingly stupid fashion (though no magpies were injured). Will write about it later on the race log thread.

a light 30 mi today to keep my chops up & my rhythm tight for the big 100 tomorrow..

well there you go - bad luck comes in threes, looks like we've crashed for the greater good of team ILTRMB

Century was dashed by a leaky tube, the replacement of which led to a torn computer wire. Curses! It was a gorgeous day too, & I know I would have pulled it off, but I'll be damned if I'm going to lay claim to any such feat without having an odometer to watch. I may re-equip & set out again tomorrow, or I might wait until next week. I'll report back accordingly.