August Riding

Thanks for the info, Crankin. Encouraging.

No trail repair work, today. Pretty much decided to mothball that kind of work for this summer. Did a lot of trail riding, today, though. 13 plus miles of laps on my backyard trails with a section of leg burner climbs on every lap. Really good workout.

Windy, today, and noticed a lot of leaves falling, some of which had a little color. Is it that time of year, already? Actually, it's getting close for us. September is our color month. By the end of the month in a normal year, the leaves are mostly gone. My summer is almost over. Sigh!

I've seen a few red maple leaves on the ground, but this always happens in August. Our peak color isn't until October.
I did a group ride today, which was a little weird. I rode 4.5 miles to the start; the ride itself was a little over 25 miles. It was a smaller group, so my friend, Jack, who was leading, decided we didn't need to use the human arrow system and we would all stay together. But, he went really, really slowly, which meant I had to keep my focus laser sharp, especially since I don't trust some of these riders and I am not quite as nimble on my Guru. I basically stayed behind him... we had a thunderstorm last night, which cleared out the 90 degree temps and humidity. It is still getting drier out, but it felt wonderful. We are in for a long stretch of dry, "fall like" weather, with highs in the 70s, and I cannot wait.
My total was 31.5 miles, but I am ready to throw my GPS against a wall. Whenever I download a course, particularly one that was not done by my DH, I don't get any written cues, just a map! Now, this doesn't matter when I actually know where I am, like today, but that is not always the case. Sometimes it will start working part way through the ride. So, DH reloaded all of the software, or something similar Sunday, as in addition, it only picked 6 of my 22 miles when following a course that day. It got all of my miles today, but it's not showing my elapsed milage or speed when I am on a course. It does show it when I just have it on. This part may have something to do with the sensor on my Guru, but the other thing (not giving written cues) has been going on since I got this one as a hand me down, 2 years ago. It's about 4-5 years old. Grrrr.
North woods, it might be hot (80s) in the afternon in San Diego, but if you are anywhere close to the ocean, it is significantly cooler. My family lives inland, about 10 miles, and it's always 10-20 degrees hotter.

NO riding for me this week...wahhhh! :( :( :(

Monday and Tuesday were taken up with orthodontic and dental appointments, and I woke up yesterday morning with the tell-tale scratchy through and congestion of a cold. :mad: So, I'm just taking it easy in hopes of getting well quickly and calling this week a total wash. :( Oh well, there will be many more rides ahead, and it's so blinking hot and humid anyway I'm not entirely upset about missing out on riding this week.

I agree on not riding when a cold is coming on, Emily. From experience, riding can make it worse. Rest up.

Bill and I recently purchased a bike rack for the Toyota so that he could join me on some of my area trails and gravel/sand roads. Due to disabilities, he can't sit for the long times it takes to ride out to these trails, but using the car to get there, he can join me on the shorter rides. Today, was a five mile jaunt on my favorite gnarly sand road and we used it to pick some blackberries, which are plentiful along this road.

This mostly sand road can vary, tremendously, in its condition for bicycling, but even at its best, anything less than 3" tires is going to be impossible in sections. It gets pounded by ATV traffic and since no one lives along it's 7 mile length, it receives minimal maintenance. Anymore, I just grab a fat bike, usually my beloved Pugsley, to take the guesswork out of it. Got lucky, today, though, because a road grader has recently done some work. Best I've seen it, yet. Still no place for a skinny tire bike, though.
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My Pugs stops to pick some berries.
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While Bill was busy picking berries, I did sneak off down a snowmobile trail that was absolutely fat bike, only, country. Fun, fun, fun.
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Heading back to the car with a load of blackberries and a nice ride under our belt.
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How sweet they are!
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thanks for the nice comments :)....feel better soon emily!!!....and hey, i said 45 miles and the climbing was HARD :) I've got two months to get ready for the 3 day 200 mile west coast tour de pink. The ride starts about 30 miles away (on the east side of the santa monica mountains), goes north through oxnard and santa barbara and the last day actually ends coming south on the coast to right here at the beach. I haven't done a training plan for awhile but i've enjoyed putting one together for this ride. Strength willing i'll do the whole ride, which is better than thinking perhaps one day of it a couple of months ago. I'll be happy though with however far i ride and just showing solidarity with other survivors :)


eta nwg...such wonderful riding you do.....and blackberry galette ftw!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by pumpkinpony

I got to go ride in Denver with my brother a couple weeks ago - nice 77 mile ride. :-)

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did you ride the regional bike trails there? I've heard they are doing some good work on their bicycling infrastructure in the city too.

That looks like a really fun ride to me, nwg! And the blackberries...YUM! I am envious!

I am actually feeling a lot better tonight so am considering riding tomorrow. I will see how I feel in the morning.

Hope you're able to ride, Emily. Good luck.

Yeah, guess I'm hooked on all this off the pavement riding stuff, either via single track, trail, gravel, dirt or sand road. Love the "never know what I'll be riding over or through, next" aspect of it all and, of course, love been back in the woods, boldly going where no road bike has gone before kind of thing. It's all part of what they are now labeling as adventure riding. Nothing as epic as what Sky will be doing in the Baja, but same idea on a much smaller scale.

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Originally Posted by north woods gal

Hope you're able to ride, Emily. Good luck.

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Thanks! I decided not to as I coughed a bit overnight. I don't want any setbacks since I am getting my braces on Monday and don't want to be coughing in the orthodontist's face! Trying to get well asap. Fortunately I rarely cough during the day.

Smart, Emily. I am just starting to learn this lesson.

Feel better, Emily.

I rode after work last night. Sad that it's getting dark earlier, and not thrilled with the early-fall temps -- I want summer! I attempted my new hill ride (which is not so hilly) again, with a few modifications to simplify things in a couple of places. I only made one wrong turn which was easily corrected. I might edit the route again, because a couple of turns were at the tops of hills from side streets with stop signs to busier roads without stop signs, and it was hard to clip out and then get going again on the inclines.

My ankle bothered me a bit at the beginning of the ride until I stopped and put a folded piece of paper inside my shoe under my big toe. It seems to help to have a little something under the toe to elevate it slightly. It keeps me from curling the toe and reminds me to keep my heel down as I pedal. It helps to have something under my toe when I walk, too.

Tomorrow I'm leading a club ride in southern Maryland which is somewhat exploratory. A couple of years ago I learned that there is an environmental research center with public hiking trails and water trails for kayaks and canoes in an area where I like to ride, and I've been wanting to check it out. So I planned a bike ride that includes a stop there. Then on Sunday I go for the beginner kayak class. It will be a busy weekend.

Just remembered a detail from my ride last night -- before the ride, as I was adding air to the tires, I encountered a type of leak I'd never seen before. As soon as I removed the cap from the Presta valve stem on the rear tire, air started to come out, with a pretty loud hiss like you'd hear after loosening the screw and pressing down on the top of the valve. I typically tighten the screw on the stem pretty well after pumping up the tire, but maybe it was a bit loose. I unscrewed it as far as it would go and was able to pump up the tire to my usual 100 psi. When I tightened the screw again it seemed okay. I put the cap back on, screwed it on as tightly as possible. Started to ride. After a mile or so I stopped and checked the tire. It felt a bit springier than usual but seemed okay. I was able to finish the ride (17 miles) without a problem. Then as brought the bike into the house I noticed that the tire had lost quite a bit of air.

I planned to change it right away, well, after eating dinner, but it was late and I was tired. So I will deal with it tonight. I'm hoping the only problem is with the valve stem. I just put the tube in a month or so ago after the tire had a puncture. If it's been punctured again, I think I might replace it. I hate flat tires, especially rear flats.

Best of luck, NY. Sounds like it's time to just replace the tube, though. If it's leaking around the base of the stem where it protrudes from the tube, a patch might be an iffy fix.

I hear you about getting dark earlier, now. Hit the trails at 4:30 this afternoon and it was like, what happened to my daylight? Been cool, too. I'm not ready to let my summer go, either. :(

It's going to be 48 here tonight...

Brrrr...hard to get my head around folks starting to have early fall temps. Here in Florida we're still having low 90s for highs and mid 70s for lows. Fall is not in sight!

60s for highs, this week, here. Even had a scattered frost warning, earlier in the week.

Steady light rain and drizzle, today, but, as always, couldn't stand being trapped in the house. Headed out with a shovel and axe to do a little trail improvement work, then finished with half of my usual laps on one of the fat bikes. Didn't get all that wet, though. Surprising how the overhead canopy of the forest keeps things dry down below for a long time.

Have a brother down in Austin, though. Now he is getting some real rain.

I had a great ride yesterday, just short of 50 miles, which included a visit to the environmental research facility that I mentioned the other day. I had first heard of it a couple of years ago and finally went to check it out. They have some hiking trails that are open to the public as well as a dock for launching canoes and kayaks. It's run by the Smithsonian. As an added bonus, there's a visitors center with restrooms and a water fountain. In an area where public restroom opportunities are few and far between, it's always good to find a new one that we can use. We had a good group, 12 people who rode together comfortably for most of the ride.

When I got home I discovered that my front tire was soft, so I have another flat to fix. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad these are slow leaks that enable me to finish the ride and make the repairs at home. But still, three in one month is a bit much. I was at the bike shop today picking up some new tire levers (my old ones are just too thick) and they said if I bring them the tube with the valve stem problem they will replace it under warranty. The entire top part of the stem came off when I removed the cap on that tube the other day. Weird.

Three in a month is nuts, for sure. What gives?

The rain and drizzle continues, but I'm still riding. Figure that if I live, up here, I gotta take what comes and keep going. Okay, makes me sound tough, right? :) I'm not, though. As always, just a matter of dressing for it. Just a little grumpy and kind of spoiled by all those beautiful summer days. Where has my summer gone?

We are continuing our beuatiful summer weather. Spent the weekend in the "Happy Valley," (Amherst area) with our friends. Drove out early yesterday and then we spent almost the whole day at a Western MA AMC chapter event at a "camp" in Russell, MA, which was about an hour south and a bit west of where our friend's live. On the way there, we turned up and drove part way up Blanford Rd, the scene of one of my 2 times I've gotton off my bike and walked! I think I could do it now, but it is a really long climb. Anyway, the day consisted of some short, easy hikes to introduce people to the trails, a lunch, and a speaker who talked about and brought snakes. A gorgeous view and grounds. It's a self serve AMC site, where you can rent rooms, tent sites and there is a shared kitchen facility and bathhouse. I won 2 books about hikes in western/central MA in the raffle, too. The snake talk was a bit boring to me, although the speaker was good. We decided we will come back for snow shoeing on these trails.
After an evening of rum swizzles and a great dinner at our friends' new home, we did a ride this morning. My first ride with the new Di2 on my Silque. Only 25 miles, but through unique farmland and riding through a couple of towns I have not ridden in. The bike was fine, and I am glad I did it. After our ride, we went to a new, small winery, about 1.5 miles from their house. The tasting was awesome, and it turns out the owners are cyclists, former racers, who know someone I know (who used to hang out here). We joined their wine club, since we are out there fairly often. We sat outside at our friends' for a bit and then headed home.
I am tired, a lot of allergens out there today. Not sure if I will ride tomorrow.

Did I say I had a flat tire after yesterday's ride? Make that TWO flat tires.

The front seems to have a damaged stem. It's very short and has been a problem since day 1 because I have trouble attaching it to the floor pump. So no surprise that it's now shot.

The rear tire has a puncture. Upon inspection, I'm finding many cuts in this tire, some pretty deep. There are no holes going all the way through but that doesn't seem to matter. But the kicker is, after replacing the tube and filling it with air, there is the beginning of a split on the side. This might have been caused by the tire hitting the hallway wall as I carry the bike up and down the stairs of my apartment building. Not that it matters, though. Because it's time to get rid of these Conti Grand Prix tires and get some new Gatorskins.

Should I get folding bead or regular? What's the difference?

I have the regular ones on both bikes. All I know, is that I haven't had a flat since... 3 years and 6 years.

NY….Folding beads can stretch a bit after being ridden, which can make them a little easier to get off and on. At first they can be as hard to get on as wired though. If the leak location can be determined from just looking at the tire, with folding I can remove part of the tire, pull the tube out, patch and get back to riding quicker. That’s harder to do with a wire bead. I prefer carrying a folding spare tire when i feel the need although you can coil a wire bead into thirds. Folding tires are a little lighter too.

Perhaps getting a longer stem on the replacement tubes will help with the pump attachment....if you're using a screw on pump head depending on how hard you attach it that may loosen the stem core when you remove it as most cores loosen counter clockwise....and don't really tighten the stem cap for the same reason, i don't even use them.

Plus one on what Rebecca says about the folding beads. I use them on all my MTBs, not because they're lighter, but because they do give a little when I have to change tires. Still a matter of individual tires on specific rims, though. Some combos are a bear, not matter what the bead. Most MTBs tires, these days, are folding, anyway.

The lighter thing isn't much of a factor on my MTBs and fat bikes, as I said, but that might be something that would be more of an interest on your road bike.

Curious, though, that your tires are getting so cut up, NY. It's seldom an issue on my trail bikes and they see a lot of nasty rocks and such.

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Originally Posted by Muirenn

I've heard of people laying tires out in the sun to soften them before first installation. Never tried it, but maybe that would make it easier.

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Sheila…possibly the rubber but I wouldn’t think aramid-fibers like the Kevlar beads in tires or wire beads are affected much if any by sun heat….actually I'm pretty sure aramid-fiber isn’t.

Did you ever find a good flat pedal shoe for your Krampus? I’m looking for my commuter.

I'm with Sheila on the shoes for flat pedals. One of the big plusses for flats is that you don't need special shoes. Just use what you're wearing, hop on the bike and go. As long as the soles of the shoe grab the pins on the pedal, you're set. I use standard street shoes, sandals, hiking boots, even felt lined pac boots in the winter. One thing I do add to my bikes that is helpful for use with flats is a QR seat clamp, since your inseam changes with different shoes.

NY, we recently installed Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires on our roadies. They're heavier, but we anticipate no flats for a long time. Haven't had any this year in 1800+ miles. We actually bought them thinking we were going out west (land of goatheads) this summer, and that didn't happen, but they stay on. Here in Florida, the biggest hazard is glass on the bike lanes and roads we have to take to get to and from the paved bike paths. We rarely have gotten any flats other than out west, where we got many. Goatheads are truly satan's spawn!

Glad you had a good ride and were able to get home without the flat needing to be changed along the way. No fun!

I haven't ridden in over a week due to ortho/dentist appointments and then a cold, but I am feeling fine now, and assuming my braces (got 'em today) don't cause me to be too miserable, I do plan to ride tomorrow at last. Looking forward to it -- it will help me get my mind off my mouth! :D

Thanks to both of you…I’ve been using Chromes for their rigid sole and grippy rubber but need some new shoes. I remembered an earlier post of yours Sheila (Maybe i misremembered it :)) and I thought you might have found a good solution for your Krampus. I'll probably go with Chromes again.

eta...Emily does that mean no more wiring of the jaw? if so congrats on getting away from blended food!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and hoping it makes things easier for you too.. +1 on thorns and +1 on marathons....i have them on my commuter and they have taken a lot of abuse without any problems

I've been using the folding Gatorskins exclusively for a while. Very rarely do I get flats, in spite of the goat's heads around here. And it's much easier for me to get them on to the rims than the non folding variety.

I did another "dark ride" this morning. Same measly distance of 9 miles, a slightly different route. First time wearing tights since I was in Spain, but probably since April at home. It was 51 out, but since it was fully dark when I started at 5:15, I didn't want to have any leg exposed with knickers or knee warmers. I also tried out my new light weight, long fingered gloves, wore a light head cover, and a sleeveless base layer. I pretty much nailed it for clothing, which is tricky, between 50 and 65 for me. Next time, I will go out in a diferent direction and go longer, although 35 minutes of exercise is fine for me this time of day.. On the way home, near my house, I saw my gym instructor running, on the other side of the street. We instantly knew who it was, as how many others are out before 6 AM!??

I tip my hat to you, Crankin. I am pretty sure I would not go out riding in the dark at 51 degrees right now. I am just not ready to play the how many layers game.

I picked up a new tire last night at REI -- a folding Gatorskin Hard Shell. In the past I've just used regular Gatorskins but the Hard Shell was the only one they had in stock in the size I wanted. When I got home I was too tired to put it on the wheel. So I'll do that tonight. Not sure if I'll go for a ride tomorrow night since I'll be helping to mark roads for our club century during the day. I might go out Thursday night instead.



I think I need to take the mountain bike out for a spin. I might do a ride in a few weeks that is partially on gravel. It's a fundraiser for a free clinic a couple of hours west of where I live -- a long drive to get there but a beautiful area. And they have free pie afterwards. Lots and lots of pie.

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Originally Posted by rebeccaC

eta...Emily does that mean no more wiring of the jaw? if so congrats on getting away from blended food!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and hoping it makes things easier for you too..

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Oh yes, I've been out of wires for a couple of months now! :D I got them on on May 16th and off just two weeks later. Then I was in heavy elastics on the arch bars for three weeks and was able to eat soft foods, not only liquid foods. After getting those off in late June, I started adding more and more foods to my diet, just not really hard, chewy, or sticky foods. But about 90% of everything was fine. Sometimes I had to cut things up smaller to eat them since my jaw is still a bit weaker than before, and my bite is still wonky -- though WAY better than before the wiring.

As of yesterday, I have braces on my teeth to further correct my bite (plus straighten my teeth as a side benefit), leading to another round of food restrictions. :( Fortunately, I'm used to those by now, so it's not as traumatic. My teeth are quite sore today, so I'm sticking with yogurt, soup, and so forth. Should get better over the days until the next ortho visit! But I still have to be very careful so as not to break or bend a wire or dislodge a bracket.

I'm just glad to be moving forward!

But back to the subject of August rides, I got out today after my 1.5 weeks off for four separate dentist/orthodontist visits and having a cold. Nice to be back on the bike. Just a nice 20 miler and beat the rain back!

I don't know where I've been this month. Here it is, August 29 and I've ridden somewhere around 26 days of the month- mostly commuting but rides on weekends too! I won a $50 gift card for my commuting from the local "Rideshare" website that promotes commuting by bike, bus etc. I did a ride up Mt. Lemmon to milepost 9, two weeks ago, a 55 mile ride about a week ago with the JDRF training group - I'm going to ride with them for El Tour de Tucson. (Doing that miserable fund-raising begging....I'm not good at it!), and I did a 38 mile ride on Saturday that cooked me completely. It was about 100 degrees or more for the last 8 miles and I had to stop and go cool off inside a store for a couple minutes about 5 miles from my my house- and then downed Starbucks frappucino to cool down a little more about a mile from home.

Glad you were finally able to get back out and ride. When my sister had braces back in the day, she always ate scrambled eggs for dinner on days when she went to the orthodontist.

I actually asked my DH about which Gatorskins I had last night. I didn't know, because they were on the bikes when I did the builds on both of them. I remember asking the shop(s) to use them, but not the discussion of which kind. They are the folding ones. However, I still wouldn't want to try to get them off or on!
I might have to try, as yesterday morning I rode through a pile of broken glass on my ride. I checked my tires when I got back and last night, so far, OK, but a little leery of going out alone today. It's raining now, but supposed to clear up and I do want to ride at least 20 miles today. We are leaving for Philly tomorrow, where my younger son and family are temporarily hanging out until they go to Ft. Benning. Decided not to take the bikes, as we want to concentrate on the visit.

I don't want to get pushy about my preference for flat pedals and by flats I mean thin platform pedals with pins on either side, not the old blocky cruiser pedals we had on Schwinns when we were kids or that are still found on cheaper bikes. My advice for anyone is to try flats if interested, but give them at least a couple of months. At first, there is a feeling of insecurity with not being locked in with SPDs if you've been riding them for years, but it passes as you become familiar with the flats.

I switched over to good lightweight flats on my road bikes a couple years, ago, now, and in the beginning I kept notes for a month on my average speed on the same long pavement loop with the flats versus my SPDs. Meant a lot of switching pedals on my Trek Domane WSD road bike, but I really wanted know the trade offs. Sometimes even did back to back rides on the same day with the different pedals for the sake of comparison.

My findings - and I stress that they were my findings for my riding and they may or may not apply to others - is that there was no significant difference in my average speed for the two types. If anything, my speed was a bit higher with the flats. Go figure. I did greatly reduce foot cramps by going with the flats, though, and that was one of the things that lead me to try them in the first place. So many thousands of miles over so many years of my feet being clipped into one single position on the pedals for hours and hours at a time with the SPDs had caught up with me. It was a repetitive stress kind of injury. I couldn't go for more than a couple of hours without my feet cramping and, yes, I changed seats, seat positions, you name it. Very painful.

The flats cured it, though, by allowing my to move my foot on the pedals a bit, same as moving my hands around on the drop bars reduced hand numbness and fatigue. The cramps disappeared almost immediately, as long as I remembered to keep my feet moving and stretching. Two years, now, many long rides with the flats and no cramps. Don't even think about it, now. Problem solved.

For trail work, switching from clipless to flats, I did have to adjust my riding style to avoid my feet bouncing off the pedals when not being locked in with eggbeaters as I rode over gnarly stuff. That was actually very easy, though. I now get at least one wheel off the ground when hopping logs and rocks and on some serious drops with me and the bike landing hard with no loss of contact with the pedals. More importantly, flats let me move my feet around on the pedals for technical advantages. I sometimes ride on the balls of my feet when steering though turns for the sake of balance and sometimes even drop a foot to pivot through a really tight twist when I'm getting a little wild with the speed. I then go with the flats of my feet on the pedals for more power when climbing. Huge difference in power. All in all, pretty amazing how changing positions with your feet on the pedals adds to your riding, same as changing positions with your hands on the bars. Going back to clipless would now be a real handicap for me on my MTB riding. No way. And remember, this is all with fully rigid MTBs, no suspension. It's all a matter of technique.

As for the flats on one side and SPD on the other pedals, totally worthless on the two versions I've tried. Neither side worked as well as a standard all flat or all SPD.

Again, not telling anyone what to use. Not my style. Sold off all my clipless pedals, though. Flats, only, for this gal.

I used SPDs at first... couldn't stand the restrictive float. I can see how you had cramps with SPDs, NW. I switched to Speedplay X pedals. They are not even made anymore, but I see no reason to change to the newer version, as you can still get them. I kept SPDs on my mountain bike, which was dumb, since I already was scared to death and never really progressed much, flats would have helped. I had the campus pedals on my Jamis Coda; one side SPD, one side flat. They always flipped over to the unweighted side when I clipped out and I had to kick it over to get back in. However, I did ride that bike twice with the flat side and regular shoes, which was a disaster. In traffic, I had no muscle memory for pushing off unclipped. I have ridden beach cruisers/rental bikes with flat pedals, but with no pressure around me (cars) it was OK. I sold the Coda (wish I hadn't) when I got my Guru. That had Speedplay Frogs, which are great to walk in, but I always seemed to fly out of the left pedal. I read about it on line, there was an issue, mostly because it's so smooth clipping in, you can't hear the little click, so hence, you aren't actually in when you think you are. I bring them for when we go on tours in Europe. When we came back from Spain, we never put them back on the bike, and when I had to ride the Guru over the past month, DH put his old Speedplay Xs on the bike, since he bought the newer version, when he got new shoes.
I don't like change with any part of my bike! I don't have a good idea of how pins work. Do they stick into some kind of special bottom on a BMX shoe? If I ever get another bike like the Coda for just going into town, I might get flat pedals.

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Originally Posted by Muirenn

There is a lot of variation in Chromes, and I've never tired them. Which do you like?

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Chrome Kursk’s….the soles are stiff enough for my use and they hold well on the serrated edges of my commuters mks pedals. I do use nylon-reinforced resin strapless toe-clips when doing some of the hills here in town on my commuter too.

They are very comfortable to walk in. The Pro Kursk has a removable plate for recessed spd compatibility if someone wants that too. The ones I have are a few years old and looking worn now. Sizes run large and I went one size down and they fit well. They also have a nice elastic loop to hold the lace ends securely on the top of the shoe.

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Glad you were finally able to get back out and ride. When my sister had braces back in the day, she always ate scrambled eggs for dinner on days when she went to the orthodontist.

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We're having Mexi-eggs tonight, in fact! Yesterday I was quite sore and had salmon and quinoa/kale for dinner. Less sore today - yay! :D

Some MTBs and fat bikes, even on the higher end models, are now coming with good flat pedals. I use the Expedo Spry on a couple of bikes and like them. Great pedal for the money and very light. These are the pedals I was using on the road bikes. Also having some cheap Giant plastic flats with pins that are not removable/replaceable, but as cheap as they are, I'll just replace them when the pins wear down too much. Have had very little wear on them, though, after a lot of hard use.

I don't get too excited about spending big bucks on my MTB flat pedals, though. In our rocky trails, they get beat up pretty bad. Of course, I could say that about mountain biking in general. If you're afraid of getting any part of your MTB all scratched up, you are in the wrong kind of biking. Honestly, though, for all the trail miles my MTBs have done, they show very little for wear and tear, even some of my oldest MTBs.

I do keep bucket of water outside the door, filled with slightly soapy water and a large car wash size sponge, though. Pretty simple and quick to give a muddy fat bike a bath before bringing it in the house. (We have a large, enclosed sun porch, which very quickly became my bike room. :))

I put the Gatorskin on my rear wheel last night. Then realized the directional arrow was pointing backwards, so I had to take it off and do it again. Also my frame pump no longer works right so I had to buy a new one -- fortunately REI currently has Topeak pumps on sale. Anyway, the Gatorskin was easier to get on and off than the Conti Grand Prix was. Though my hand did slip when removing it to turn it around, and I cut my knuckle on the spoke. Would have been worse if I hadn't been wearing vinyl gloves to keep my hands clean. I hate my tire levers -- they're too thick to get under the bead. On the recommendation of the mechanic at the LBS, I bought thinner metal ones, but they knick up the rim too much so I'm going to return them and look for something else.

Also I should add that since I changed the tire at home, I used my Kool-Stop to get it back on the rim. I don't bring the Kool-Stop on rides with me and I imagine it would be harder to replace the tire without it. But I do have a VAR tire lever to use on the road (it's smaller and fits better in a bike bag, though it's not as easy to use as the Kool-Stop) and since the Gatorskin seems easier to work with than the Grand Prix, I think I'll be okay.

Anyway I am really tired of tires. Four flats in 4-5 weeks, two from punctures and two from stem problems. Three of the four were rear flats. I'm finding it harder to get that wheel on and off since I put the mid-cage derailleur on the bike.

Re: pedals -- what's this about no more Speedplay Xs? Good thing I have an extra set of cleats at home.

I put cheap flat pedals on my mountain bike last winter and rode it once around my neighborhood. I had a terrible time get started without my foot being clipped in on the initial pedal stroke, especially on uphills. Haven't had a chance to get out and try it again, though I want to do that soon.

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Yesterday I helped with road markings for the club's century. It was my first time with this activity. Fortunately I was with people who have done it many times before. It was kinda fun and kinda messy. We had different colors and brands of paint, and the fumes from some were quite strong. My eyes were burning a lot. I felt better after I got home but this morning my head was all congested and my throat hurt. So now I can't tell if I have a cold or if I'm feeling aftereffects from the chemicals. Or maybe it's the new laundry detergent with the strong "fresh scent" that I used for the first time last night and then hung a bunch of clothes on a drying rack in my bedroom overnight. I'm going out for a ride after work tonight and then planning to stop at the store to buy different detergent.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by north woods gal

So many thousands of miles over so many years of my feet being clipped into one single position on the pedals for hours and hours at a time with the SPDs had caught up with me. It was a repetitive stress kind of injury.

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Float ftw!!!
I have speedplay frog ti’s on my road, tour and fixie cuz I like having the float when I need it, the secure and reliable foot retention especially when pulling upward/climbing off the saddle/the high cadence of some fixie rides etc. and of course there’s the comfortable walking off the bike. No problems in the years I’ve used them.

I have the no longer made Carnac shoes, which has a sole constructed in a way that eliminates any hotspots no matter the length of, long hard climbs on or long headwind grinding it out on the pedals kind of rides.

Soooo for me…it’s a good thing that my feet and knees feel good even if other parts of my body may be in distress cuz of the ride.:)