August Riding

[emily_in_nc]

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.

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!

[north woods gal]

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. )

[ny biker]

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.