your daily bicycle log

http://i41.tinypic.com/zitwck.gif

anyway, i know that i like to fart and that i am crazy, but this seemed double crazy.

lol

vindicated: one of the pin/plate deals was defective. new chain installed in basically 30sec.

what of your ride

gonna go on a night ride in a few hours

kudos

i like powerlinks a lot, they make it all so easy.

speaking of easy, here's my 6500 mi report on nexus 8 spd: great product for commuting, but would be super great with some kind of quick release mech for flat repair. it still works like new, and it is as close to 0 maintenance as i can imagine a geared chain drive could be.

tornado warning like every day :( i stayed dry tho!

Managed a new top speed of 45.5mph going down a hill today.

http://www.rapha.cc/gentlemens-race-new-paltz-ny

Got out with my brother this morning round Penshurst, Hever, Chiddingstone and the High Weald of Kent - approx 40 miles, although we could remember what time we left, so not sure how fast we were going (brother reckoned 18-20 - may not sound much, but it's good for me). I was in surprisingly good shape and kept up with him for most of the ride apart from the last five miles when I just started going backwards on hills - although I was wheel sucking like parasite pretty much all the way.

There was one hill just outside Penshurst (I just typo'd Penshurts) which took it all out of me. He wanted to go up Ide Hill on the way back, but my legs were very heavy, and as we were both riding fixed (MUST get my road bike sorted out SOON) I refused in the strongest possible terms (you can fucking go up it if you want to, I'm not going up it).

But what a day for it! Cool green, sunken lanes, dappled shade, two-bike width roads, sheep and beautiful English parkland and pasture. Penshurst Place is one of the most beautiful houses in the south east, completely worthy of Ben Jonson's poem. Hot shower, cold beer and cold barbecued meat when we got back.

In the words of The Classical - 'I've never felt better in my life'.

approx 40 miles, although we could remember what time we left, so not sure how fast we were going (brother reckoned 18-20 - may not sound much, but it's good for me)

'May not sound much'??? If you were averaging 20mph for a 40-mile ride with a nasty climb and on a fixed wheel I'd say that's very good.

18 miles yesterday, 3.5 today, all on London roads. No suspension and super firm tyres really bring home how fucked the road surfaces are here, and the edges are always the worst.

important correction, 5.5 not 3.5

with a nasty climb

Frankly, the climb wasn't that nasty, it was just a short hill, with a sharp bit in the middle, but it did for me completely. And that average speed is more or less guesswork. All I know is that it was a great ride and by the end I was completely buggered.

I road today for the first time in about 10 years. I went past the Steinway Mansion, the Steinway Piano Factory, and Con Ed plant, and then down through Astoria Park by the East River. It then started pouring rain and I road home.

awesome. welcome.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Harding+Way&daddr=Park+Ln+to:Cambridge+Rd+to:A1307%2FHuntingdon+Rd+to:A1303%2FChesterton+Ln+to:A1134%2FNewnham+Rd+to:A1134%2FTrumpington+Rd+to:A1309%2FHigh+St+to:A10%2FHigh+St+to:High+St+to:Fowlmere+Rd+to:B1368%2FFowlmere+Rd+to:B1368%2FCambridge+Rd+to:Newton+Rd+to:Granham%27s+Rd+to:Granham%27s+Rd+to:A1134%2FMowbray+Rd+to:Cherry+Hinton+Rd+to:High+St+to:Coldham%27s+Ln+to:Coldham%27s+Ln+to:A1303%2FChesterton+Rd+to:A1134%2FVictoria+Rd+to:B1049%2FCambridge+Rd+to:52.253422,0.103555&hl=en&geocode=FVRPHQMdbpABAA%3BFaRJHQMdqjYBAA%3BFZYXHQMd7EkBAA%3BFZLkHAMdWlkBAA%3BFdKsHAMdNcIBAA%3BFXaBHAMdMbsBAA%3BFYNeHAMdvuEBAA%3BFZsXHAMdEbgBAA%3BFUSWGwMdZEEBAA%3BFbQ3GwMdcegAAA%3BFUjyGgMdRDUBAA%3BFSZCGwMdjIEBAA%3BFfV8GwMdh4oBAA%3BFVikGwMdNswBAA%3BFUDMGwMdNRQCAA%3BFegQHAMdAVECAA%3BFVZOHAMd3FMCAA%3BFZhDHAMdQp0CAA%3BFQJhHAMdBLgCAA%3BFeeOHAMdGVQCAA%3BFQimHAMddi0CAA%3BFWDBHAMdUgsCAA%3BFcG9HAMdWbcBAA%3BFV32HAMd47MBAA%3B&mra=dme&mrcr=23&mrsp=24&sz=15&dirflg=w&sll=52.253027,0.117202&sspn=0.012873,0.038624&ie=UTF8&ll=52.15561,0.160332&spn=0.103211,0.30899&t=h&z=12

my current lap of cambridge. just did it in two and half hours. got lost a couple of times, its about 30 miles. going to increase it to 50 miles this week before attempting cambridge -> london this weekend. can't wait.

oh bollocks, sorry.

waiting out latest round of tstorms in starbucks :(

hey i put a salsa shortnshallow 44cm bar and new wtb saddle on iro. life is waaayy better. since the rails are long i can slam saddle back to where it belongs, which also lowers it like a cm. with the new bar, this bike finally rides properly, it feels almost like my road bike.

wow, raining buckets out there.

60.5 miles b/w Sunday & Monday: combination of city streets (neighborhoods) & paved bike trails. At this point, I can comfortably go 30+ miles in a single run w/o completely wrecking myself. Averaging around 15.5 mph per trip (about 17 first half & then......). I broke my gearshift recently & can only use half of the settings, so hopefully my average speed will increase once I replace it. Then again, I'm basically starting from scratch stamina-wise, at least as of a few months ago, so that probably has more to do with it than anything. I'm going to try to fit in 100-150 miles/week for the rest of the summer.

good stuff, good goals!

maybe try a century by the end of the summer?

lightning strikes to the right of me, tidal waves from passing buses to the left of me, through the gutter tsunamis of death rode hunt3r. (the lightning was legit really scary--share your scary lightning stories)

Hey you guys - I did my big 24-hour relay race on the weekend - man that was tough. I've written about it on my blog, so please have a look! 2 parts up so far - a third and final one to come.

http://lanternerouge.tumblr.com/

you never told us you had a blog.

Meh, it's barely a blog. But, y'know, I occasionally write stuff in it.

All 3 parts now up. Thanks for looking.

just sliced 45 mins off my "cambridge lap" time. not getting lost and being lucky with, or rather, ignoring traffic lights definitly helped. as did trying to keep up with pro looking cycle wear bike dude for a considerable stretch.

really wish there were some better roads round here. cambridge city centre is excellent, sometimes seems like there are more bikes than cars. most of the time you can have the whole road to yourself because the cars have to go so slow. as soon as you get out of the city there are loads of little almost single lane bendy back roads where cars like to do 60-70mph+ don't feel entirely comfortable on these.

did a good 25-30 miles with some friends on sunday, i always feel good keeping up as i have a single-speed. when it gets hilly you have no choice but to charge them

good stuff, good goals!

maybe try a century by the end of the summer?

Thanks. Didn't see this earlier. Anyway: Sure 100 miles sounds impossible now, but two months ago 35 would've seemed absurdly excessive, so we'll see. I'm definitely planning on taking a trip to MI b/w various cities to visit old friends at some point in the upcoming months and that will entail 40/50 mile legs b/w stopping points, so I guess I'll just to that & go from there.

One thing is for sure, though. The dog days are seriously cutting into my stamina/mileage. mid-week last, shit got up into 90+ w/ extreme humidity & it was really hard maintain. I hope it dies down and stays that way, but those kind of highs in June are a bad sign..

just make sure to increase the drinking and eating, also pouring water on your head works great

yeah love pouring water on my head

is that sarcasm?

sarcasm detector not working

no!

Crackle Box - instead of mapping your route using google maps and having to set endless 'via location' bits in order to get it to give the correct 'directions', try this:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/
Click on 'more options', then choose 'United Kingdom' from the drop down menu at the top, then type 'Cambridge' into the 'jump to' box, then click 'go'. At the next page, select the 'automatically (for cyclists)' option on the left, click 'start recording' on the top left, and then double click on your start point. When you're done click on 'save route'.

pouring water on your head can make you test positive

</floyd>

BTW Mark, well done on that 24-hour thing, very impressive!

yeah, enjoyed the blog posts!

Cheers guys! Am starting to psyche myself up for my very first sportive this weekend. I've chosen a relatively short, relatively flat one - the New Forest Road Challenge, I think it's called. Looking forward to it apart from the fact that I'm the slowest rider of my little posse...

caught a ride into work today so i can bike home with a co-worker, about 15 miles. once i learn the route i'll give both ways a shot (although the way in has a lot of uphill).

I ordered some aero bars from a bike shop. They arrived about ten days ago, but I was away last weekend and I've been too busy at work to get to the shop. So I was planning to ride there tomorrow morning, but then I noticed I'd got a puncture in the back wheel.

So at 9pm, in the fading light, after working all day and then doing the weekly shopping, I get the wheel off and get to work. Once I'd found the puncture in the inner tube I had a look at the tyre to see if there was a shard of glass or something in the equivalent place: instead there was a bald patch, as if the grip had been burnt off. Very odd.

Then, when I was putting the wheel back on, I somehow managed to twist the chain into knots. This took quite a lot of time to sort out. I'm a bit worried I've caused some lasting damage to it. I was thinking of getting the chain replaced anyway (it's done about 2,000 miles), but when I asked them in the shop a couple of weeks ago they said not to bother - just wait until the gears stop working and then replace the chain, cassette and chainrings. They said if you have a combination of new and part-worn parts it won't work properly. I've been told completely the opposite by other people (i.e. replace the chain early enough and the cassette and rings will last longer), so I don't know what to believe.

When I finally got that straightened out and the wheel back on I tried spinning everything and changing up and down the gears to check everything worked. I'm now convinced the back wheel is buckled and the brake blocks aren't lined up properly. I'm giving up now - I feel that every time I try to sort something out I find two new problems.

wow, brits really say "tyre"? i had that as a crossword clue the other day ("what might go flat in front of a flat" or something).

Shouldn't that be "...in front of an apparment"?

nope

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?

yes. it is well easy.

i rode up the canyon into the ominous weather this morning. as i crested and turned onto a ridgeline at 8500 ft, a cloud moved across the mountainside below me then up and over my location. it was eerie, with wisps and tendrils of cloud blowing in front of me. behind me the road i had ascended was gone, the neighboring peaks and neighborhoods were whited-out as well. since it looked like an excellent place for an orc ambush, i put on my jacket and began descending.