Did You Ride Today?

[Mr. Beanz]

I went out MTBing with a group of 3 seniors at a winery . One guy was 73 and did pretty good on the single track riding conventional hardtail bike. Conditions were poor , quite a few sloppy creek crossings ect wet feet. Did not get in the training I expected but will make up for when conditions improve.

But was fun as hell, some downhill bursts with a few small jumps and cow pie hopping by the creek . Not much milage of trail was open so we did a rideable loop twice. Worth the bike and clothing clean-up afterward. Made a new friend to ride with that lives close.

Nice! Always good to have a riding friend. My ride partner used to get on my nerves quite often but after nearly 20 years of riding together he moved out of state. Never thought I'd mind if he vanished but over the last 6 months (?), been getting kind of boring not having a friend to enjoy tacos after the ride ha ha ha.

 

[cobbwheels]

Solo 30 miles. New Cable last ride but cleaned and lubed the drive train so it's smooth. New beanie on ebay, $3. Black Bibs shorts, nice $55 and much better than the more expensive PI I bought couple years back. New gloves ebay, $14. Better than PI ****. Second pair and well worth it to me. New titanium gel Terry Fly, don't ask the price. Been putting this one off for a few years but finally broke down. Funny, MIL said the relief cut out in the center of the seat so I could fart and the air would go through propelling me faster. Powered by last night's ravioli.



Haven't been able to ride much with the rain but I've been gathering things getting ready.



Of course, more 1 Mile Wonders today. I caught and passed 2 guys and 2 girls today. After I passed, the 2 guys came blazing by. One even going so far as to stand on the pedals. Ok, whatever, pretty impressive.

So I keep my pace knowing. A real vet who knows these idiots and their games. Kept my pace, watched them for about a mile, they faded even after taking turns sucking wheel.

I roll back up on them at my same pace. They look dead tired, I roll by shaking my head.

of course the idiots are going to hop on my wheel. I roll for about a minute before I plan to say something to them about being one mile wonders. But we hit a little underpass and on the upside they fall right off before I had a chance to tell them how impressed I was.

I see these young riders a lot. Sometimes even older, mature riders. It piques my curiosity if is some sort of messed up interval training but they actually end up losing time over catching their breath, very often forcing them to stop at the side of the road. Not many knows how to pace their rides.

Today I rode 33 miles with 3,300' of climbing to test my 'mothership' saddle on climbing and achieved a personal best on the climb. It's really weird that I felt more efficient and more powerful on a commuter saddle over my previous ISM time trial saddle. Also wore the same board shorts, no cream used and comfort is impeccable. I have different pedaling technique when I'm on the flats compared to climbing and that didn't become an issue.

 

[manojwyw]

yes i did around 10 kilometers

 

[cobbwheels]

Did 46 miles yesterday and 25 miles today on circuit and hill repeats near home in the city. My first rides this year where temperatures went 95F. Day time temperatures have been consistently going above 90F this week. Summer has arrived here!

 

[Mr. Beanz]

40 on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. Got a light bug so I was trying to burn it out. All the snot I lost pretty sure I did ha ha ha.

 

[cobbwheels]

Did 50 miles today. Temperature soared to 100F in the last hour of ride. Did personal best and also 2nd best (10 laps each).

Either I've gone faster or the hot and humid air cut down on drag that much.

 

[cobbwheels]

25 miles today with 2400' of climbing in 100F heat. 1st and 2nd personal best, 10 laps each. At first I thought the hot and humid air made me faster but I I am also consistently faster in the climbing parts where I'm too slow for aero to matter and the thin hot air would work against me.

 

[cobbwheels]

Did an unscheduled 17 mile ride today to test the new chain, new 13t and 11t cogs, and re-lube to the freehub pawls.

I was supposed to do a long ride today but when I backpedaled, I noticed binding at the freehub. I thought of taking the hub apart and see what's wrong and went ahead and did it. And since I'm going to remove the cassette as well, I also replaced the 13t and 11t cogs which also meant using the new chain for the new cogs. I've already worn the old chain to the limit anyway so it's definitely time to put the new chain.

Nothing seems to be wrong when I inspected the pawls and the ratchet teeth. It's the first time I opened it since I bought it new. The grease is still there in the pawls and hasn't gone bad/gelled yet. However, I noticed where the pawls contacted the ratchet teeth, it's completely dried out, all the grease had move away. That's one thing I don't like about using grease in freehubs, they eventually stop coating the contact points.

So I wiped away all the grease, cleaned the pawls, springs, and teeth, and then gave it light synthetic motor oil (5w/30) and put everything back together.

I wasn't really expecting anything when I took the bike for a test ride. But I am utterly pleasantly surprised, the loud creaking went away completely!

I thought I went deaf! Additionally, the natural ratcheting noise of the hub became quieter. I did not expect that to happen since I used lightweight oil and kinda liked the louder hub noise when I rode through very crowded areas so I didn't have to use the bell.

I can't believe metal-to-metal contact in the hub pawls can cause that wicked loud squeaking noise which sounded like a cracked frame or loose BB! One precious lesson learned and now I have so much peace of mind riding the bike!

 

[cobbwheels]

28 miles today with one brutal climb averaging 15% gradient for one mile. It would been easy enough if not for very high temperatures hovering at 105 F !! Unbelievably, I made personal best on this climb. Faster than my last attempt at much friendlier temperatures of 75 F. I also made personal best on some sections on the flats despite being lighter and seeing headwinds on this ride than previous attempts at similar high temperatures and also at cruising pace.

I measured my body weight when I headed out at 116 lbs. My bike weighed 42 lbs at the climb. 36% of my weight! By the time I got home, I only weighed 113 lbs, lost 3 lbs during the relatively short ride! I was well hydrated during the ride. Bought 3 bottles of water but only downed one bottle and 3/4 of the 2nd bottle. The 3rd bottle which is the biggest is full. I'm not really that thirsty. In fact, I felt cool and and comfortable in the 105 F heat in the flats. It only felt awfully hot in the 15% climb but comfortable in the flats.

Also my hub pauls binded again. I think one or more of the pauls got dislodged by severe bumps when I rode the 15% climb downhill. Causing the chain to come off when coasting downhill so I rode the bike like a fixie, spinning like a madman on descents. Anyway, the problem fixed itself during the ride. I tried to fix the problem yesterday but some binding remained. However, the malfunction in today's ride where the problem fixed itself eliminated all the remaining binding.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

46 solo on Saturday and 20 more on Sunday. 2 weeks off the bike so doing a bike shirts comparison would work here.

I say the Black Bibs shorts are a wee bit better than the Aerotech Design shorts. Aerotech was kind of weird with the big mesh pockets along the sides. But they work.

So now I've got a good collection of shorts. About 7 pair all in service.

 

[cobbwheels]

46 solo on Saturday and 20 more on Sunday. 2 weeks off the bike so doing a bike shirts comparison would work here.

I say the Black Bibs shorts are a wee bit better than the Aerotech Design shorts. Aerotech was kind of weird with the big mesh pockets along the sides. But they work.

So now I've got a good collection of shorts. About 7 pair all in service.

View attachment 5750

The mesh pocket might actually improve aero if it did not flap in the wind! The rough surface creates small eddies in the airflow and that makes the airflow stick better around your legs to create a smaller wake and less drag (and less draft for wheel suckers!!)

Smooth surfaces might actually be doing the opposite in creating more drag than reducing it! This is true especially for objects that is less streamlined and much narrower than airplane wings.

You may actually reduce drag further by just trimming your leg hairs, not shaving the whole length of hair away!

Today, I went 43 miles, just a few miles short of your Saturday Ride!

 

[Mr. Beanz]

The mesh pocket might actually improve aero if it did not flap in the wind! The rough surface creates small eddies in the airflow and that makes the airflow stick better around your legs to create a smaller wake and less drag (and less draft for wheel suckers!!)

Smooth surfaces might actually be doing the opposite in creating more drag than reducing it! This is true especially for objects that is less streamlined and much narrower than airplane wings.

You may actually reduce drag further by just trimming your leg hairs, not shaving the whole length of hair away!

Today, I went 43 miles, just a few miles short of your Saturday Ride!

They don't flap as they stretch along the sides once I insert my massive quads ha ha ha.

They don't bother me at all other than looks.

The site shows cyclists carrying credit cards and cell phones in the pockets. I'd never

Maybe a gel pack if I ever decided to use one.

 

[cobbwheels]

They don't flap as they stretch along the sides once I insert my massive quads ha ha ha.

They don't bother me at all other than looks.

The site shows cyclists carrying credit cards and cell phones in the pockets. I'd never

Maybe a gel pack if I ever decided to use one.

I agree, I avoid putting anything in my shorts pocket unless my shirt did not have a pocket!

 

[cobbwheels]

I did 8 miler today to test my bike when I put the old seatpost suspension and the old TT saddle back after I repaired the seatpost suspension.

My new super comfortable commuter saddle caused fitting problems that could not be solved because the rail did not have enough range to move the saddle more to the back. It caused additional pressure and discomfort in my arms that could not be rectified.

My TT saddle + seatpost suspension on the other hand had more than enough fore and aft adjustment range. The main reason I stopped using TT saddle is because the seatpost suspension broke. Without it, the TT saddle is quite painful to use on our extremely bumpy roads. The comfort saddle on the other hand, resulted to Personal Bests on the bumpiest roads. It would have been the perfect saddle if I only I could adjust it further back.

Anyway, I managed to make good repair of the old seatpost suspension and adjusted the TT saddle to a more comfortable position and the suspension on softer setting. Definitely more comfortable than the last time I used it but definitely not as comfortable on the butt as the wide commuter saddle. However, I was able to move it as far back as I need to lighten the load on my arms and my arms are happy again!

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

Just went out for a forty minute 700 plus foot gain out and back on the old stage route.
Felt most excellent with recent saddle adjustment. Had moved back a few mm , felt sweeter there.

Almost too warm for my neck gator and skullcap. Didnt stay out long or hurt myself mainly spun myself out as I have a trail run on Saturday can not afford to be sore . Is going to be a hilly 8 mile run.
Which leads to the thought of , I'm on the map as a runner & I place in 5K's . Snagged a 3rd place in my cat 2 Sundays ago at the "Jewel of Oakland ". I would not even finish in a bike race , go figure ?

View over Borax Lake , and the little green patch in other pic the EPA superfund site. On whole ride only passed by only 2 cars !

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

was trying to edit. The EPA site first pic , Borax Lake second pic.

Shouldn't take pics while riding , could not pass up a few shots.

Riding road bike , but now I get the gravel bike thing , OK just blaze right onto the trail from asphalt.

Ooops , now everyone can see I'm running Tourney "brifters".
Simple bike , just a 7 speed in back. Works well

 

[cobbwheels]

Just went out for a forty minute 700 plus foot gain out and back on the old stage route.
Felt most excellent with recent saddle adjustment. Had moved back a few mm , felt sweeter there.

Almost too warm for my neck gator and skullcap. Didnt stay out long or hurt myself mainly spun myself out as I have a trail run on Saturday can not afford to be sore . Is going to be a hilly 8 mile run.
Which leads to the thought of , I'm on the map as a runner & I place in 5K's . Snagged a 3rd place in my cat 2 Sundays ago at the "Jewel of Oakland ". I would not even finish in a bike race , go figure ?

View over Borax Lake , and the little green patch in other pic the EPA superfund site. On whole ride only passed by only 2 cars !

You must be going so fast, you only got passed by 2 cars! Thank your weather now because down here, my riding temperatures is now always at around 100F index.

Anyway, only did 38 miles today. It's supposed to be longer but cut the ride short due to high levels of smog in the city, reducing visibility to only 1 mile. Thick smog on weekends, unbelievable.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Solo 46 miles. Freaking windy. I have a couple friends on a tandem who cut the same ride short by 15 miles saying the wind beat them down. So I'm happy with this one.

 

[cobbwheels]

Solo 46 miles. Freaking windy. I have a couple friends on a tandem who cut the same ride short by 15 miles saying the wind beat them down. So I'm happy with this one. View attachment 5781View attachment 5782

I thought tandems are supposed to make dealing with the wind easier.

I also had to cut short my ride to only 20 miles. Had an inner tube puncture caused by metal shaving from the rim inside the tire. I thought I had removed all of them already. The front tire deflated quickly and I was fortunate, I'm going up a climb. Had it occurred a few minutes later, I'd be downhill and at high speed!

I also ran the tire flat for several meters before getting off the bike and also fortunate, it did not damage the sidewalls at all. The tire is a Panaracer Ribmo with bead-to-bead puncture resistant layer. It's supposed to protect against pinch flats and I think did its job well in avoiding sidewall damage when I ran it flat. The tire is virtually bulletproof but lacks totally in performance. Quite the opposite of supple with high rolling resistance, even higher rolling resistance than the knobby tires of MTB's!

 

[Mr. Beanz]

That was my point about the tandem. They are supposed to be stronger but they pooped out and I didn't. Showing just how tough the headwind was this day.