Did You Ride Today?

[Mr. Beanz]

So sorry to hear about Gina. I've been so curious why she doesn't join you in rides anymore. I never asked about it thinking it might be a sensitive subject for you and her.

I never get used to deaths and sickness in the family myself and have trouble moving on. You two have my compassion and sympathy.

But nice video. I like that she's not spinning so crazy like the other guys are doing in smaller gears. I too don't spin crazy. Most guys I see doing it don't seem to last long on a ride.

Yeah, her first son kidneys failed at 18. Gina donated a kidney but only lasted a year. Back on dialysis for 18 years then heart failed. Passed away at 38.

She didn't ride for a year then got back on the bike. Then her second don passed away at 36 about 2 years ago. After 10 years on dialysis.

She hasn't wanted to get back on. I think some guilt feelings going on though she shouldn't feel that way. Hopefully get her back on but lately spending time with her 82 yo mom. Now her brother just got out of the hospital after 2 weeks. This medical stuff with her family never ends. Her other brother died about 4 years ago.

 

[cobbwheels]

Yeah, her first son kidneys failed at 18. Gina donated a kidney but only lasted a year. Back on dialysis for 18 years then heart failed. Passed away at 38.

She didn't ride for a year then got back on the bike. Then her second don passed away at 36 about 2 years ago. After 10 years on dialysis.

She hasn't wanted to get back on. I think some guilt feelings going on though she shouldn't feel that way. Hopefully get her back on but lately spending time with her 82 yo mom. Now her brother just got out of the hospital after 2 weeks. This medical stuff with her family never ends. Her other brother died about 4 years ago.

That's just tragic. Will take much longer time to move on if at all.

I'd be a lot worse if that happens to me.

 

[cobbwheels]

I did a few commute rides over the week. Just a couple of miles round trip. One of them I rode back home coming from an eat-all-you-can buffet and then coffee and donuts after the meal. It was all free, I got invited and didn't spend a dime.

I just can't stop eating then I remember, I have to ride back home over bumpy roads while feeling I'm about to burst! It was the only meal I ate on that day. No breakfast, no dinner, just lunch and I still felt stuffed before bed.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Solo 20 tonight. A little cool on the return but very nice fresh air Guess I watch too many Forensic Files episodes. Some nice little bottles if bubbles at the park. No way would I touch them. Could be pipe bombs, a boobie trap.

A wheel memorial I've mentioned in my video couple weeks back. Makes one wonder as it's a pretty quiet street.

 

[cobbwheels]

I just did 70 miles with 5,500 ft of climbing today like I used to.

First time after couple of months. I have intended to do this ride slowly to avoid bonking because it's been a while, my body is no longer adapted to these length of rides and ride took additional 20 minutes.

I did wear my cargo shorts on this ride and loose cotton flannel shirt which might have been a factor for the slower speeds, slower than I was thinking of doing.

Some extremes in temperature variation. It was drizzling when I hit the mountains and I was wet and cold on the downhill and felt like overheating on the last long climb in high humidity.

But what really made me suffer in this length of ride after a long time is the bumpy roads. It really shook my head up and literally gave me a headache. Pain in my head each bump and lots in the downhill and flat parts where you're going fast.

Those in carbon bikes seem comfortable but I won't go that far of investing in a carbon bike. High probability of crash and family members who are clumsy around the bike and I'd be in greater debt to get one. It will take some getting used to again or perhaps just limit my rides to 40 miles.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

46 miles 16.0 average speed.

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[cobbwheels]

46 miles 16.0 average speed.

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Loved the pigeons at the end.

It also took long for me to warm up but I've neglected sprint training the past couple of months. I'll be doing sprint training again eventually. When I used to, it took much less time to get to full aerobic capacity.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Another 20 today. Nice day out.

 

[cobbwheels]

Yesterday, I had a short commute to buy some food but upon returning back home, the free hub failed right at home. Lucky eh?

The pawls stopped engaging but still made that normal clicking sound. I took the hub apart and found some of the pawls had come off (or it came off when I pulled the hub out??). It looked like total disaster at first glance then I did closer look and the pawls, spring and lubrication are all in perfect condition after 1 year since last opened. Despite riding in the rain a lot, there's no water nor any sign of moisture inside.

I carefully put them back together. Very carefully so the pawls don't come off while doing so. I didn't even bothered to clean and re-lube and the problem got fixed.

BTW, the ridged part you pull out to access the pawls took a bit of effort to pull out. It wasn't like this a year ago and came off with minimal effort. It is clean and not corroded so I suspect the hub got bent even more.

The hub is also only the source of loud squeaking in my bike. I've already lubed the QR skewer, the whole length and really tighten the QR. The cogs are also tight but it doesn't matter what gear I'm in, it will squeak if it has to. What would stop the squeaking is I loosen the QR and turn the hub on the frame one quarter turn, tighten QR, test and repeat until the noise goes away.

The noise goes away for some time but the squeak will return after some time as the hub turn against the frame through use no matter how much I tighten the QR. Eventually I gave up trying to fix it and just ride with the noise and not worry. The reason why this happens is because the dropout on my aluminum frame got bent from a crash a few years ago. I never bothered to have it fixed or replaced. It works for now, there's no crack or anything and if I remove the hub squeak, the bike sounds terrific, no other noise apart from the tires.

 

[cobbwheels]

70 miles today, 5,500 ft climbing. The hub didn't give me problem anymore but the chain is now skipping at my three lowest gears. Never did this before. Otherwise, shifted up and down without problems.

I nearly scrubbed the final and steepest climb because the chain kept on skipping on the 2nd lowest gear so I did it on a higher gear and applied smoother torque and that avoided skipping in the mean time to complete the 70 mile trip.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

70 miles today, 5,500 ft climbing. The hub didn't give me problem anymore but the chain is now skipping at my three lowest gears. Never did this before. Otherwise, shifted up and down without problems.

I nearly scrubbed the final and steepest climb because the chain kept on skipping on the 2nd lowest gear so I did it on a higher gear and applied smoother torque and that avoided skipping in the mean time to complete the 70 mile trip.

So strange that many others have problems with drive train parts. Breaking chains, husband etc.

I was 230 pounds doing all tge training for 6 months preparing for a timed event, 100 miles 10,000 ft climbing. 4 times over the years. Some months 40k training rides.

NEVER broke a chain or any other component. I did snap 2 frames though, aluminum and aluminum section of a alum/carbon mix frame.

This is at the top of the mountain after 10k of climbing on a standard double 53/39 front and 12/25 cassette in the rear. Pretty big gear for the amount of climbing but never broke a drive train component in my 26 years of consistent cycling.

 

[cobbwheels]

So strange that many others have problems with drive train parts. Breaking chains, husband etc.

I was 230 pounds doing all tge training for 6 months preparing for a timed event, 100 miles 10,000 ft climbing. 4 times over the years. Some months 40k training rides.

NEVER broke a chain or any other component. I did snap 2 frames though, aluminum and aluminum section of a alum/carbon mix frame.

This is at the top of the mountain after 10k of climbing on a standard double 53/39 front and 12/25 cassette in the rear. Pretty big gear for the amount of climbing but never broke a drive train component in my 26 years of consistent cycling.

The rear dropout of my frame is bent, the rear hub is bent, cheap plastic rear derailleur have huge amount of play/looseness and also sustained damage from a crash. My bike has many problems and damage from crashes I can't fix due to lack of money and from using really cheap parts of very questionable quality because they're all I can afford.

Most the damage is from a big crash two years ago when I crashed in a heavily damaged section of the road I'm not familiar with. Then another crash with a motorcyclist who totally admitted fault (he was in a hurry, speeding and recklessly all over the road in heavy traffic, nonetheless). Compensated me for my injuries but all that money went to paying bills and buying food, not a single cent spent on my injuries and the bike.

My 70 mile rides are never routine. Sometimes it's the brakes acting up, sometimes, it's the bent hub locking the rear wheel and nearly caused me to crash one time. There's quite a few other occasions I almost scrubbed the ride from mechanical troubles.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

The rear dropout of my frame is bent, the rear hub is bent, cheap plastic rear derailleur have huge amount of play/looseness and also sustained damage from a crash. My bike has many problems and damage from crashes I can't fix due to lack of money and from using really cheap parts of very questionable quality because they're all I can afford.

Most the damage is from a big crash two years ago when I crashed in a heavily damaged section of the road I'm not familiar with. Then another crash with a motorcyclist who totally admitted fault (he was in a hurry, speeding and recklessly all over the road in heavy traffic, nonetheless). Compensated me for my injuries but all that money went to paying bills and buying food, not a single cent spent on my injuries and the bike.

My 70 mile rides are never routine. Sometimes it's the brakes acting up, sometimes, it's the bent hub locking the rear wheel and nearly caused me to crash one time. There's quite a few other occasions I almost scrubbed the ride from mechanical troubles.

That's a bummer. Too bad it wasn't more convenient because I've given away plenty of stuff over the years. Not because I have money but because I have done lots of upgrades and kept used but good equipment.

Saddles, derailleur, shifters, cassettes, wheels to locals. But I'm guessing shipping to other countries would cost me a mint.

 

[cobbwheels]

That's a bummer. Too bad it wasn't more convenient because I've given away plenty of stuff over the years. Not because I have money but because I have done lots of upgrades and kept used but good equipment.

Saddles, derailleur, shifters, cassettes, wheels to locals. But I'm guessing shipping to other countries would cost me a mint.

I know. But no worry. The solution is simple, I only have to cut my ride a little shorter if I can't make that steepest section anymore. 60 to 65 miles vs 70 miles. I probably can't tell the difference, I only have to push a little harder to burn the same amount of calories! Otherwise, I may still be able to make all the 70 miles with some adjustments to the pacing so I'll be fresh when I hit the steepest section and make it up on a higher gear, grinding like a madman.

My bike also probably don't want me going up and down that long steep section. It's actually the most dangerous segment of the ride. The descent speed is pretty high and brainless motorcyclists would often cut the corner and cross the center yellow line around a blind corner or they would just hug the inside corner in a blind corner where cyclists are.

I keep to the middle of the fast lane road because of this but I can still collide with motorcyclists crossing the center yellow line. These accidents are common in the route and deaths happen due to the high speed head-on collision. In fact, I witness these accidents once in every two weeks with EMS and police on the scene. That's crazy high chance of occurrence.

 

[cobbwheels]

The chain skipping on the lowest gears might just needed re-indexing.

I bent the "spline ring on the drive side part of the hub hoping that it would prevent the hub from getting loose but didn't re-indexed because normally, I don't re-index the rear derailleur every time I remove the rear wheel and put it back. By default, you shouldn't unless there's something wrong with the rear end of your bike preventing the rear wheel from settling in the exact same position each time you put the wheel back.

Not in my case unfortunately so I tried re-indexing and might have ended at a significantly different adjustment than before.

So I went for a detour in my commute today so I can test the re-indexed derailleur at a steep 25% climb and so far, so good, there's no more skipping at the low gears but the hub noise is now louder than ever. Not only it's squeaking but also creaking loudly as well, really embarrassing but at least I didn't have to use the bell anymore to warn peds and other cyclists!

Too bad it wasn't more convenient because I've given away plenty of stuff over the years.

You literally and figuratively have a big heart! We don't get many cyclists like that over here. They always sell their used but still good parts even if they have money.

I have an uncle who is also a rider and rich, often upgrades and sometimes buy a new bike, but I never got a single part and he does owes us a huge financial favor. The irony right? At least they pray for us whenever we tell of our never-ending problems. But if I'm being honest, I sometimes prefer something tangible than prayers.

But it's all good. Maybe he didn't want to be seen like a Santa Claus handing out free stuff. Or maybe I'm just horrible. I'm not going to be surprised if it's the latter!

 

[jawadrana]

Yes I ride today

 

[Mr. Beanz]

My Sunday Ride video. Very windy.

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[Mr. Beanz]

Thanksgiving day 35 miles meeting a new friend Joe.

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[cobbwheels]

60 miles the other day. Scrubbed the last 5 miles because I saw it was raining around summit, the steepest, most dangerous part of the route. I've descended that part before in wet conditions, absolutely scary and dangerous and I'm not going to do that again!

The danger in those parts comes from either myself skidding and crashing into trees or rocks or vehicles or falling into the ravine or an incoming motorcycling skidding and colliding me.

Today, just a couple miles commute to and from the park and then doing 2 hr jog on the park. First time I jogged that long and never been this sore, not since last year, I can barely walk! Surprisingly, I did not have any problems getting home riding my bike and wasn't any slower. It would seem the muscles involved in jogging is different than cycling because my "cycling muscles" aren't affect and my cycling performance is unaffected.

Anyway, it's way safer to jog on the park. The walking paths are totally isolated from vehicular traffic and way cleaner air from the many trees. It's such pleasant experience, more relaxing without watching out for traffic, potholes, and exhaust fumes from vehicles that I'm thinking of offsetting my long rides on Saturday to make time for jogging. The environment is way cleaner too. No garbage, no litterbugs in the park. I could probably ride my bike in the park but there's so many joggers that I'll have to be much slower, I'd rather just jog if I can't do higher speeds.

 

[cobbwheels]

My Sunday Ride video. Very windy.

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I like windy rides if the wind direction is changing frequently relative to me so I can sometimes ride hunched down in headwinds or fully upright in tailwinds especially in the flats. Changing posture every now and then makes long rides a lot more comfortable and easier..