Bicycle thread

[Weirdo]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

40ish miles on the road. Had to really twist my buddy's arm to get him out the door. Despite the weather guessers saying 70 and sunny it was high 50s and foggy/drizzly.

Saw a few people out, bit not many!

Who else got in a ride today?

M

I'm debating it. I got 60k in yesterday in the cold. Today is 3c and drizzling with a side order of shit. It'll be another solo if it happens.

I may need some encouragement.

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by Weirdo

I'm debating it. I got 60k in yesterday in the cold. Today is 3c and drizzling with a side order of shit. It'll be another solo if it happens.

I may need some encouragement.

Last Wed (me in the background)

Today


M

[TheNedster]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

40ish miles on the road. Had to really twist my buddy's arm to get him out the door. Despite the weather guessers saying 70 and sunny it was high 50s and foggy/drizzly.

Saw a few people out, bit not many!

Who else got in a ride today?

M

Not today, but got in 40 road miles yesterday. Sunny and dry, but never got out of the 40s (stoopit north wind). Did a 20-some-odd MTB ride Thurs. night and damn near froze. Time to invest in some decent booties.

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by TheNedster

Not today, but got in 40 road miles yesterday. Sunny and dry, but never got out of the 40s (stoopit north wind). Did a 20-some-odd MTB ride Thurs. night and damn near froze. Time to invest in some decent booties.

...or insulated shoes.

Personally, I can't see spending the $ on winter boots/shoes when booties allow you to ride with the same shoes year round, but that's me.

I have some PI Barrier Lite booties (new, unworn) that replace some Pro Tarmac booties that were warmer than they look. Water and wind-proof too! I can wear those down into the high 30s.

Gore insulated Gore Tex booties. For when its really cold: 40s and below. $$ but worth it. When your feet absolutely need to stay warm and dry, these are a doG-send.

Everything I have from Gore I like lots except their chamois-es. The fabric and cut of their shorts are great, but the chamois lets em down. I have a pair of cycling jackets (LS and half sleeve), the booties, a pair of knickers, and coming soon, a Phantom SO jacket. (keep an eye on chainlove)

Belgian booties. ie: heavy socks with a cutout for your cleats. Work well into the upper 40s. Combine em with some toe booties and its not too bad to the upper-30s. (I'll do this for the nite cross rides we're doing 'cause I've got on mtn shoes and don't want to tear up my 'regular' booties.)

Add Gore Tex socks to the toe booties and Belgian booties and you're OK to the 30s.

If you're mtn biking in the winter gore tex socks are a doG-send. Remind me to tell y'all about the frozen over mud puddle one of these days.

M

[TheNedster]

Agreed on the the booties vs. dedicated winter shoes. I can get two pair of booties (one for mtn. one for road) for about half the cost of one pair of winter shoes. Besides, here in sunny CA, I only need the bloody things for about three months out of the year.

[k7]

It was 23F on the way to the first century of the year and never got over 50. I started at 8:30 and was back at the car at 2:35.

I have to share this. I was riding with another rider and we were cruising along at 17-18 when a group went by at 24 or so. That's too fast for me at 100 miles but I jumped on with another group who was moving around 20. One of the guys in the group only had one leg and apparently, only one good hand. He had no trouble keeping up although as you can imagine, his peddling was a little jerky.

We stopped for lunch at the 70 mile point and the group started off again. This starts with a slight but steady 6 mile grade. I was pretty wel toast as were a few others. I caught several of them over the next 20 miles but about 6 miles from the end, I rode by the one-legged rider who was sitting off the side of the road trying to change a flat. I yelled to ask it he needed help and he said he didn't but I turned the cranks twice....and turned around.

I didn't do much more than offer help. He was struggling but I was worried about insulting him. He managed ok with on good hand but I helped a bit by using my pump to top off his pressure. Next time you have a front flat, try to stand on one leg and balance everything while putting the wheel back on the bike. That cost me 10 minutes but it was worth it.

So glad to soak in the tub when I got home....and warm up!

[Weirdo]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Today


M

Drizze turned to freezing rain so I chickened out.

Thanks for the motivation. I'll get my miles in this month, I'm quite a bit ahead of my schedule so I don't need to risk a fall to keep on track.

I have this pinned up to keep me moving on the cold wet days:




ON RULE #9: LOVE THE WORK

by frank / Oct 31 2011 / 332 posts
Fitness. The rhythm, the feeling of precision in our movement, the sensations of The Ride. The temptation of knowing we might in some way control our suffering even as we push harder in spite of the searing pain in our legs and lungs. The notion that through suffering, we might learn something rudimentary about ourselves – that we might find a kind of salvation.

Cycling, like Art, is based on the elementary notion that through focussed study, we might better understand ourselves. But to describe Cycling as a an Art does it an injustice. An artist, they say, suffers because they must. A Cyclist, I suggest, suffers because we choose to.

This element of choice, what psychologists refer to as the locus of control, is part of what allows us to feel pleasure through suffering. Through this choice unfolds an avenue of personal discovery by which we uncover the very nature of ourselves. Like Michelangelo wielding his hammer to chip away fragments of stone that obscure a great sculpture, we turn our pedals to chip away at our form, eventually revealing our true selves as a manifestation of hard work, determination, and dedication to our craft.

Having chosen this path, we quickly find that riding a bicycle on warm, dry roads through sunny boulevards is the realm of the recreational cyclist. As winter approaches, the days get shorter and the weather worse. Form tempts us to greater things, but leaves us quickly despite our best intentions. Its taste lingers long upon the tongue and urges us to gain more. Even as life gets in the way, we cannot afford many days away from our craft before we find ourselves struggling to reclaim lost fitness.

To find form in the first place, and to maintain it in the second, is a simple matter of riding your bicycle a lot. This simple task asks of us, however, a year-round commitment to throwing our leg over a toptube in heat, cold, wind, rain, or sleet, lest we spend months fighting to reclaim last year’s lost condition.

But with riding in bad weather is revealed a hidden secret. It is in the rain and the cold, when all the seductive elements of riding a bicycle have vanished, that we are truly able to ensconce ourselves in the elemental qualities of riding a bicycle. Good weather and beautiful scenery, after all, are distractions from the work. Without them, we have only those elements that we ourselves bring to The Ride: the rhythm, harmony between rider and machine, our suffering, and our thoughts. As the rain pours down and all but the most devoted stay indoors, we pull on extra clothing and submit into the deluge.

We are the Few, we are the Committed. We are those who understand that riding in bad weather means you’re a badass, period

[Omi]

Well, it stopped snowing so I managed to get out for about an hour. The snow made it much easier to ride than on yesterdays ice covered streets.

[Chisenhallw]

Did an hour of intervals around Druid Hill Lake. Legs felt like crap. Did it anyway.

[fullmonte]

Originally Posted by k7

One of the guys in the group only had one leg and apparently, only one good hand. He had no trouble keeping up although as you can imagine, his peddling was a little jerky.

I caught several of them over the next 20 miles but about 6 miles from the end, I rode by the one-legged rider who was sitting off the side of the road trying to change a flat. I yelled to ask it he needed help and he said he didn't but I turned the cranks twice....and turned around.

I didn't do much more than offer help. He was struggling but I was worried about insulting him. He managed ok with on good hand but I helped a bit by using my pump to top off his pressure. Next time you have a front flat, try to stand on one leg and balance everything while putting the wheel back on the bike. That cost me 10 minutes but it was worth it.

Good on ya man. The imagery you drew in the mind's eye with that story was wonderful. Congrats on your first century of the year, even though for you, it's just a warmup for the real rides.

[rbrsddn]

We got a bit over 50 for the weekend. It was wet and in the 40's both day's. Felt good to get back on the skinny bike.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by mud

OK, So the overall thickness of the lugs points to stamped lugs instead of cast which points to a lower quality frame. as does the style of termination from the fork leg to the dropout. Steel seatpost is another (may have been added later). The seatpost lug is also a sign, it is hollow around the clamp bolt instead of solid, this also points to a stamped lug instead of cast.

Pressed (stamped) lugs are not necessarily a sign of a "bad" frame, it is the lack of finishing that is the big pointer. The lug thickness is constant, if a frame is a quality frame the lugs would have a filed taper as the get closer to the tube. The edges would also be softer yet more sharp as well...

There are other things that are covered by the paint that would tell. The "shoreline" for one, it is the junction between the tube and the lug. If it is sharp, it is of good quality. not so sharp, lesser quality....

It is still a lugged steel frame.

Hope this helps, sorry it is not more exciting.

yeah, those lugs don't look like anything I remember seeing on any decent 531 frame, way too thick. and the top of the seat stays say 'cheap mass produced bike' to me, not 531.

[BobbySands]

Originally Posted by Weirdo

The only thing that gets me through time and suffering on the trainer:

http://www.thesufferfest.com

One of the problems I have with watching race videos on the rollers is leaning with the motorbike camera as it rounds a bend. I don't do it on purpose but it is responsible for the bulk of my ride-offs.

But I liked that site, thanks for linking it. I will try one!

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by rbrsddn

We got a bit over 50 for the weekend. It was wet and in the 40's both day's. Felt good to get back on the skinny bike.

I managed to get out 3 times last week - it was cold but sunny most of those rides. I really wanted to get out this past weekend and they said it was going to quite nice but it was too wet for my liking - I did get out on the XR thought...

I have finally figured out the cold toes issue - heat packs. I put one on top of toes on each foot and it works a treat and when I get back, I put them in a ziploc bag and they stop generating heat.

[zippy]

got off my lazy couch dwelling arse and got in an hour on the fixed gear yesterday. Not bad at all even pushing 80 gear inches.