Specialized Armadillos or Conti Gatorskins should be in your vocabulary. Both really tough tires that ride 'acceptably.' They even make a GP 4-Seasons for training. Haymarket's Wed ride is tonite. M
The guys actually writing the stuff are probably as frustrated as you are. I bet its the brass that make it impossible for em to do anything to fix things. M
I've been on the Armadillos since slicing my first tire on the Roubaix. I've only killed one by slicing it open on a ride. I've pulled a number of tubes fillers out though. I'd really like to find Clement latex tubes again. Those things rocked back in the day.
I'll second the GP4000-4 season. I've switched to those in a 25C exclusively for training and racing. Paired with Vittoria latex tubes and the ride is immensely improved over butyl rubber tube/tire combos. 275g combined for any weight weenies and I can typically get 3-5,000 miles out of a single set. Could probably get more if I rotated the front and rear, but I'm lazy that way... I just change them both once per year and don't worry with 'em unless something drastic happens. Only had one blowout and that was not preventable from a shard of metal shredding my sidewall on a downhill. No way to react in time to avoid. Complete tube egress from the rear tire and wrapped around the hub/skewer... luckily I was only a couple miles from home when it happened.
When you look at Google Maps and how easy it is to play with routing and then you look at Garmin's reliance on Waypoints, it's clear that the nav model has moved on and Garmin has missed the boat. I should be able to put an origination point and a terminus in place by clicking on a map, then dragging the "out" and "back" legs to suit my desires. For bike folks, it would be great it it modeled elevation and was able to forecast a ride time for me based on the stuff I've loaded up into Garmin Connect. The data's there to do it - "on a typical 6% grade, kbasa is typically able to go 10mph", "on a flat section of up to 2% grade, kbasa is typically able to go 22mph". The data is there, but they're too stuck at the micro level to see this as a potential big data exercise. You know why we have Strava, RidewithGPS and Maymyride? Because the Garmin products are so kludgy.
I've thrown away a ton of possessions over the years and have very few regrets but throwing away my 1977 Detto Pietro's is one that I'll always regret. Classic shoes.
I started riding right after plastic soles were innerduced. Still had clips and straps for my first few years. Then I went big time and got me some 7401 D/A 'Look style' pedals. Haven't looked back since! I recently 'found' those first shoes: Nike CC-Xes and tossed em. M
Ugh. 92, humid as hell, windy with scattered rain moving in to the area. Last two days were rain out(sorry, not riding during active thunderstorms), next four days, I'm on call, so have to be somewhat available. Isn't there a rule about this.....
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period. Fair-weather riding is a luxury reserved for Sunday afternoons and wide boulevards. Those who ride in foul weather be it cold, wet, or inordinately hot are members of a special club of riders who, on the morning of a big ride, pull back the curtain to check the weather and, upon seeing rain falling from the skies, allow a wry smile to spread across their face. This is a rider who loves the work.
I have a copy of Streets and Trips from over 15 years ago that has a better UI than BaseCamp which is Garmin's current PC mapping application. I simply cannot understand how they persist with the terrible UI that BaseCamp has - it's awful (modal dialogs and no ability to drag and drop for example).
My first cycling shoes that actually fit correctly were Diadora toe straps and cleats. They had plastic soles. I had one pair of Sidi wooden soled shoes, but if these get wet they would crack. The grain ran along the length of the shoe so as you put weight on the shoe, the crack opened. Then as you lifted the crack took a little nip out of your instep. Generally left a blood blister. Real painful and it never happened hopping distance from home. Piece of cardboard into the shoe, and ride on. My foot slid around in the wide lasted Sidi so much traded them for something and bought the Diadora's. Got some Look's much later, then we got Time sponsorship and that was the real end of toeclips. Now, I ride an old set of RIchie clipless MTB pedals even on my Roubaix. I take a little crap for them from my LBS, but I like my Sidi MTB shoes for standing or walking a bit. Much more stable on the ground than road shoes. The shoes are about worn out after about 6 years of wear. And the pedals could do with replacing. I'll likely swap to more modern walkable MTB shoes and pedals some time soon. I also had a Cinelli and Kucharick leather/hair/foam helmets when I started. The Cinelli I only wore a few times, then got the more advanced Kucharick. The last time I wore the leather hairnet we got caught in big hail on a mountain pass. We all got to shelter with knots on our heads from the hail. And we were still 50+ miles from my house. I got a Bell tourlite I think it was called, had a removable sunshade thing. Heavy too. No more hail bumps after that. Then we began getting helmet sponsors. Giro's and ProTec. We even had Oakley sunglasses as s sponsor. Those were the days. I ran folding clinchers when everybody else on the team has sew-ups. I had two pairs of sew-up wheels, one was my TT set with silk and a rear disc. The others I'd built as race wheels, but rarely used. I sold them to a guy after a race. Then we went and bought some beer. Sold the TT set up as well. Toe straps, cleats, and that Ciocc Hairnets, My first multi-speed bike I bought in college from Western Auto in Lindsburg Kansas. Sold it to my brother, who re-sold it for $20 more than I sold it to him for. Then I got an Itoh from Woolco for $50 on sale, and after happening into a real bicycle shop where the owner began showing me the way, and we fixed the bike up nicely. (I'd come in looking for lights. Finding a very cool set of spun aluminum lights that had a good generator), I lost that bike to thieves. Never leave a bike outside even behind solid fences. I replaced it with a Motobecane Mirage that had hand painted gold pinstripes Horrible geometry, pressed steel dropouts and ultra crap groupo, I destroyed all the pieces of the groupo, folded two rims and replaced everything down to the sleeved seat post. I even sheared off a bolt in the crank, allowing the 42 tooth ring to fold onto the frame as I cranked over the top on a climb. I beat it back sort of straight with a rock and rode the five miles back home in the big ring. That bike went away and I bought my first closer to a racing bike that I raced. Another Motobecane, but a Grand Record which I learned to ride/race and train on, wearing out the entire groupo in the process and finally bending every tube in it and shearing the seat tube in a crash during a road race when I was run into from behind as I was attempting to stop and avoid the waist-high human hedge of bikes and bodies built after a crash at the front. I was driven into this by two riders sprinting with their heads down full tilt at about 35 mph into my back. I got off with a broken finger and a rideable but destroyed bike. I quit riding French bikes after that.:huh The Ciocc Mocba 80 came next and was fed to the garage door when my wife drove into the garage while I was busy trying to comfort our oldest daughter who was about 5 months old at the time in the back seat. That destroyed the bike rack on the roof of the car, the bicycle and broke the wooden garage door. Didn't even scratch the car. The bicycle was worth about twice as much as the car. Then I bought the team Pinarello Record, but my 55 was called into duty as we were assembling it due to the women's team having an accident with their transport van, destroying the team's bikes. I finally got my Pinarello a month later, but was mislabeled 55 and is a 57 I think. That was the last of the road bikes until the Roubaix. I almost pulled the trigger on a few others along the way, but never quite got it done. I'm certain I'll never buy another steel handmade bike, no room for it to hang. No need really. I can get done what I want to get done with the one plastic bike. Mountain bikes are another story. And I quit the track well before I stopped racing. My track bike went away when I came to realize I just didn't have the time to burn up drive between Denver and the Training center in the Springs. I don't miss toe straps or cleats, or wool shorts or jerseys. I don't miss the hot and basically unprotective leather helmets. I always had to wear some form of eye protection since early on I had 20/800 vision. And later after surgeries nearer 20/20 I protect that with good sunglasses. It turns out that bicycle sun glasses work very well on motorcycles. Another hour I can ride the motorcycle home and go for a bicycle ride.
<s>Gerry</s> Kbasa and Ridge.... <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VH8_FWPUA_I?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Sheldon Brown and Park Tools have fantastic and I mean fantastic instructions for just about any adjustment or repair you would want to make. Park Tools site is what finally helped me succeed with front derailleurs.
Found even more hills for my hill ride. <iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='http://app.strava.com/activities/60002797/embed/e1f0891344a535a9a532f5eb1ab1f133f7d7c3ce'></iframe> Gonna keep adding to it as my body will let me.
Haymarket ride tonite. AKA Gummee! gets worked over by 2 little guys. :eek1 First time up the hill? Dropped like a hot tater. Par for the course. Oh well. Got closer, but still no ceegar. My buddy M got to the first part of 'the loop' and dropped the hammer. I hurt. All over. I couldn't stick with the first set of wheels and had to wait for the group to come get me. Mind you, there's a grand total of 7 or so of us on the A ride, so it isn't like I can 'hide in the pack.' I've determined I can corner better than most of these guys. Carry more speed thru the corner = less accelerating afterwards. So the first sprint into The Plains Josh and another guy were OTF. Skinny Dave is on the front hammering for all he's worth to bring em back. I'm on his wheel when he pulls off. I'm not redlined, but I'm working at this point. Cat 1 dood jumps HARD and bridges the 100m+ gap as I'm scratching my head wondering where I'm gonna get fitness to go with. I didn't have the legs to join the sprint, so I rolled in after everyone. I say 'after,' but it was only ~10m or so Second lap starts. Josh goes OTF. B sorta-kinda chases, but then sits up. I said 'effit! If I'm gonna hurt, I'm gonna hurt on MY terms!' and went after J. He and I worked the whole way thru the S-Turn and up the hill when Cat 1 dood caught us. Great! More people to work with me. Then they started trying to gap me after I'd come off a pull. Cat 1 dood would put in a dig trying to open a gap that J wouldn't close, so I had to. Remember this trend... I didn't catch on for a while the lactic acid haze and your legs screaming at you to STOP! will do that. We turn right onto the long downhill leg to The Plains town line sprint again and J takes off. By now I could tell those two were working me over and I let J get OTF by 75m or so. As I'm rolling down the hill with Cat 1 dood on my wheel I've got 2 options: I can let J roll and Cat 1 dood is going to bridge and I'm REALLY hosed or I can tow Cat 1 dood up to J and see if I can't get 2nd out of the deal. That second option sounded much better than the first, so I put the hammer down and managed to catch J with a few hundred meters to the line. ...and just like I expected, Cat 1 dood jumps me and takes the sprint. I didn't have anything left, so I rolled in behind him THEN its time to head for the barn. Coupla attacks. Buncha chasing and we're all together at the bottom of the hill. R attacks and gets 50m and everyone's looking around at each other. As a non-climber, the LAST thing I want is the skinny SOBs jumping. So I went to the front and set a pace I could hold, but not too hard 'cause I didn't want to blow sky-high. Managed to get over the top 10m behind em and passed everyone on the downhill. I'm 'gravitationally enhanced' don'tcha know. The paceline turned into a fustercluck about 3/4 of a mile from the sprint line. No one wanted to come thru. ...so I found myself OTF by 10m and said 'effit!' again. I've got crapfer legs, so let's keep it fast/steady and see what happens. Sure 'nuff! they all went past me just before the sprint line. Good thing I didn't have any legs, 'cause I shot myself in the foot more'n once on this ride. All in all, despite feeling like complete garbage the whole ride, it went pretty well. I'm supposed to go out with my buddy H tomorrow nite for the Herndon ride, but I'm gonna bet its fixin to get rained out. I'm bringing a bike/stuff anyway, but not holding out much hope. M
Just a reminder that RAAM is underway. The individual riders started yesterday and the team riders start on Satuday. Leaderboard I have two acquaintances in the event: Seana Hogan and Maria Parker. Seana is a legend and has won RAAM a record six times....but the last one was 1998. She's ...uh....well over 50, has two kids over 20....and she'll probably win her 7th if........ Maria Parker, on a Cruz recumbent, doesn't win. Maria already holds quite a few ultra cycling records but this her first RAAM. Maria's well over 50 and is a great person. She riding to raise funds for brain cancer which has hit her sister. I made a donation and got a hand-written thank you note from Maria. Pure class. Homey.....I'm guessing you know Seana as well as some of the others in the event? Edit: the 50+ women are kicking the under 50 women's asses at this point.