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  1. #31
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897

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    Definitely check the position of the handlebars on the road bike. I used to get hand pain until one day I was having a new saddle fitted to my bike, riding the indoor trainer at the LBS. The person doing the fitting noticed that my handlebars were at the wrong angle. He adjusted it and I haven't had hand pain since then.

    Also different bar tape might help with shock absorption.


    So I didn't ride this weekend for various reasons but I can tell a story about a friend's experience. He had two flats in the same tire. The first one happened while he was riding on a MUT. Someone stopped and helped him change the tube. Then he had another flat, was going to call for someone to pick him up when a couple driving by in a Subaru stopped to help. They drove him to a nearby bike shop where the mechanic found a teeny-tiny piece of glass in the tire. I've had a similar experience with a flat caused by a piece of glass so small that you really have to work to find it. Another friend taught me to always line up the logo on the tire with the valve stem to help you know what part of the tire to check once you find the hole in the tube. He also keeps folding reading glasses in his bike bag, a stronger version than he usually wears for reading so he has extra magnification.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  2. #32
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    Thanks. Will play around with the handlebar position.

    Always amazes me how you can so often ride over a ton of junk and not get a flat and then just the smallest thing gives you one. Very rare to get puncture flats due to road debris in our area, thanks to low traffic and folks not littering, much. Also, no nasty thorns in our area, which were a nightmare when I lived in the plains states.

    My biggest danger of getting a flat on one of the MTBs or fat bikes is a pinch flat from going too low on the tire pressure and the tube getting pinched between the rim and tire. That usually means a new inner tube, because the inner tube tear is spread out over a large area and the puncture hard to locate. Only had one, this winter, because I dropped the pressure way low, down to the recommended minimum, while the fat bike was in our warm house, then headed out into the frigid cold. That change of temp from toasty warm to zero cold was just enough to drop the pressure even more and half hour, later, got the flat. In the winter, I now only check and adjust pressure when the tires have been out in the cold long enough for the pressure to stabilize to the cold. Just a reminder for anyone else nutty enough to ride in serious cold.
    Last edited by north woods gal; 05-15-2017 at 04:40 PM.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897
    Quote Originally Posted by north woods gal View Post
    Thanks. Will play around with the handlebar position.

    Always amazes me how you can so often ride over a ton of junk and not get a flat and then just the smallest thing gives you one. Very rare to get puncture flats due to road debris in our area, thanks to low traffic and folks not littering, much. Also, no nasty thorns in our area, which were a nightmare when I lived in the plains states.

    My biggest danger of getting a flat on one of the MTBs or fat bikes is a pinch flat from going too low on the tire pressure and the tube getting pinched between the rim and tire. That usually means a new inner tube, because the inner tube tear is spread out over a large area and the puncture hard to locate. Only had one, this winter, because I dropped the pressure way low, down to the recommended minimum, while the fat bike was in our warm house, then headed out into the frigid cold. That change of temp from toasty warm to zero cold was just enough to drop the pressure even more and half hour, later, got the flat. In the winter, I now only check and adjust pressure when the tires have been out in the cold long enough for the pressure to stabilize to the cold. Just a reminder for anyone else nutty enough to ride in serious cold.
    I seriously doubt I'll ever ride in those really cold temps, but you raise a point that I had not thought of. I typically top off my tires outside because most of my bike rides don't start at home so I keep my frame pump in the car. For my car tires, a drop in temp from the 60s or 70s down to the 40s will lower the psi significantly and cause a noticeable drop in mpg. So I suspect that if I pumped up my bicycle tires inside my 70 degree home and then went out to ride in 40-degree temps, there could be a noticeable drop in psi, though not necessarily enough to cause pinch flats.

    Of course there won't be a chance to find out any time soon -- we're expecting a heat wave for the next few days, temps in the 90s and humid.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  4. #34
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    90s? OMG. Highs in the 50s for us, later in the week.

    Pinch flats become a possibility when you play with pressures down around the minimum recommend psi for the tire, which is often the case with mountain bikes and fat bikes to improve traction and so on. That temp related change in pressure for road bikes is more likely going to just change performance of the tire, but on a long ride, that can be significant.

    Interesting point, though. What kind of pressures does everyone run on their road tires? I'm usually between 80 and 100% recommended pressure on my road bike tires. On my MTBs and fat bikes, unless I'm heading out for some pavement work, I'm usually somewhere between minimum and 60%. For instance, on my fat bikes with their 26x4 or 4.8 tires, the recommended pressure range is only 5 to 15 psi and I never run more than 12 psi and, then, only for pavement work. My trail riding is usually between 5 and 11 psi. If I go too high on the tire pressure with fat bikes for trail work, I start to get a lot of bike bounce on rough trails and lose some control. Too low and I also lose some steering control, i.e., the bike is too slow to respond. Only 2 psi on a fat bike tire can make a world of difference.
    Last edited by north woods gal; 05-17-2017 at 05:38 AM.

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    I used to pump my tires to 120 psi, in the hopes of preventing flats. Now that I've had Gatorskins for 3 yrs., DH has convinced me to lower that. I keep it at 110, although he keeps telling me to go down to 100.
    Did a small ride this morning, as my group was riding out of Kittery, Maine and I have stuff to do. 15 miles, in Acton and back to West Concord. I was miserable the whole time, not just from my back. But, I did it and feel good now. It's going to be hot here, too, 80s later today and over 90 tomorrow. I will be riding to the gym at 5:15 am tomorrow, do my class, and ride home, a total of 2 miles. Thankfully the ride we are leading is next Thursday and not tomorrow!
    Back to western MA to do some riding with our friends this weekend.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  6. #36
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897
    I think I pump my tires to 100 psi. Or maybe it's 110, I'll have to look at my pump. (I always just pump them up until the needle on the gauge points to a certain number but am forgetting right now what that number is.) I think tire pressure is one of those topics that people don't agree on. There are those 2 or 3 friends who send you articles where someone compared different tires at different psi and found that you're supposed to run really low pressures, and that you're supposed to determine the weight on each tire with the bike fully loaded and you on it to determine your optimal pressure. These articles always make my eyes glaze over and frankly they seem hard to follow since each tire they measure is different. I did lower my psi from 120 down to whatever it is now but when I tried going lower I felt that I was a bit slower. If I'm riding in the rain I will lower the pressure by about 10 psi for better grip.

    So that's for the road bike. For the mountain bike, I generally inflate the tires to the max psi marked on it if I expect to be riding on pavement, lower if I'll be on dirt. I once rode it on a combination of paved trail and unpaved bridle path next to the trail and found myself bouncing and struggling to maintain control on the unpaved part, because the tires were close to the max psi.

    Meanwhile, still no bike rides for me. The weird lump in front of the sit bone is smaller than it was after my last ride but still not gone. I'll be traveling this weekend so won't be riding anyway. But I'm not sure if I should see a doctor about it. I'm spending so much time and money dealing with the ankle tendonitis and I really don't want to spend more on a doctor for this problem. I just want it to go away on its own. There is no pain, it's just a lump that gets larger if I ride my bike.

    p.s. re: in addition to the crazy hot weather, we're also seeing cicadas that have come out three years ahead of schedule. I think maybe it's the apocalypse...
    Last edited by ny biker; 05-17-2017 at 10:09 AM.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  7. #37
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    NY, if the lump is going down, I'd do a wait and see, but hold off on more riding in the meantime. Going to the doctor, even for routine checks, is on my list of most hated things to do.

    We had a rare tornado over in the northwest part of Wisconsin, last night, and it killed one person and injured others. No tornadoes for us, over here in the northeast part of the state, but lots of T storms and rain and much more on the way. My trails are getting mushy, but are still ridable. My goal is to spend an hour, every day, on trail work and add in some road work when I can. Doing both seems to keep me in the best overall condition.

  8. #38
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897
    Earlier today I read that it was 95 in Boston, hotter than in DC. Yesterday I thought it was odd that I was seeing lots of dead cicadas but not hearing any live ones; this morning I could hear them. Anyway despite being beaten by Boston, we had another hot humid day today.

    I spent 35 minutes riding the recumbent stationary bike at the gym last night. Not the best workout but I did manage to work up a sweat. I forgot to bring a crossword puzzle to help pass the time but I did have the scarf I recently started to crochet, so I tried to work on that. And so I can report that it is possible to crochet while pedaling a bike, but it is more difficult than if you are sitting still -- I think I removed more stitches than I kept because they looked messy. The inexpensive acrylic yarn I'm using may have contributed to my problems, though. I need to find a good LYS (local yarn shop ).

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    That is true, NY. I looked at my phone around noon and it said it was 96 in Concord . It was humid, too. However, soon after that, it got cloudier, and when I left work, it was 91 and much drier. It felt like Phoenix. Ran the AC at home today, too.
    So, why do people at a gym look at you like you are from another planet when you ride up on a bike? I left a couple of minutes early to get there, and the gym was not open yet. There were about 10 people standing there, chatting. I rode right up the walk and it went silent and I got stares. Now, I know many of the people who go there at 5:30 AM, but none of these people. I went to a space not under the overhang, where I took off my helmet, gloves, and road i.d., shut down my GPS and lights. More stares. I waited when the guy opened the door, and went in last. I store my bike in a large closet by the front desk. It just felt weird. To a lot of people, the gym is exercise and I don't know what they think cycling is.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  10. #40
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Twin Cities, Minnesota
    Posts
    486
    Thanks so much for the reply!
    I am glad to hear you can go for a short ride, although my sister says 6 miles is way too long and she will never be able to do it!
    kajero
    2013 Trek FX 7.6 WSD
    2012 Specialized Ruby WSD
    2004 Schwinn (I think that is the year)

  11. #41
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    Be great if we could work out some kind of exchange program. I send everyone a little bit of my 40s and 50s weather and you send me some, but not all, of your 90s weather. No kidding, frost warnings are on, again, for tonight.

    Yeah, still riding, no matter what, though. Those of you who have had to lay off riding for health/recovery reasons have been an inspiration to me not to take being able to ride for granted. Yes, you are in my thoughts and my prayers as I ride. Be well.

  12. #42
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    Did our second iteration of our friends' spring warm up ride out in the Amherst area. There were 5 participants, us, our friends, and another friend from the Boston area. The ride was really slow for me, but it was a gorveous +10 day. I do love weatern MA, both the Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires. Relaxing at our friends now, good food and wine. We will do the same ride up to the Quabbin lookout point tomorrow. Hopefully, with no rain for the last 4 miles.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  13. #43
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    More rain, last night, so things just keep getting "squishier" around, here. The good news is that our soils are basically sand with rocks thrown in here and there, so only low sections of trail are too squishy, plus at least 90% of our county roads are paved, so pavement riding is always an option. With our current on and off rain pattern, though, much safer to stay around the house and ride trails and neighborhood paved roads than attempt any long distance riding. Have managed to get in at least one hour of hard trail time between storms, everyday, this very rainy week. Would dearly love to have a little sunshine, though. Always improves my mood.

  14. #44
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    We ended up not riding today. Our friends have to vacate their rental home by 7/31; their original plan was to sign one more lease, start looking to buy in the late winter and move next summer. So, they have already lost out on one house, so this morning we went with them back to see another one a second time. They had decided they would make an offer at list price, since the sellers have come down twice since it was listed and they are getting a divorce. The five of us met their agent there... she was useless and my DH really had to guide our friends, who have only bought one home, compared to our 6. And, she was overwehlmed by the fact they would offer list price, with no bargaining, just take out the swing set and trampoline! They don't need a mortgage, they are perfect buyers, so this was time well spent, measuring and looking. The house is gorgeous, in a really rural town in the Pioneer Valley, with great riding, and super energy efficient. I think the poor agent just wasn't used to the way things are done in the "big city." Our friends have the money, but not the time, and don't want to end up living in temporrary housing. They will know tomorrow if the offer was accepted.
    It was noon by the time we got back to their house, so we decided to drive up to the Quabbin, instead. We did about a 3.5 mile walk on the dam and up part of the road we climbed on our bikes a couple of weeks ago. I feel like i worked and was outside, so it's OK. My allergies are raging and I am not feeling particularly well.
    Next week is going to be iffy with rain, scattered showers. Planning to do an early AM ride tomorrow with DH, as the rain won't start until 8 or so.
    Last edited by Crankin; 05-22-2017 at 04:28 AM.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  15. #45
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    OK, well the rain decided to start around 5:30 this morning. Got up and saw raindrops on the skylight, but it was not raining out at the time. It took me awhile to get out, as I had not put air in my tires last night and I had to change to my more powerful light. Went out, started, and as I turned the corner from my street onto Main St. bang, first raindrops. It's only 53 out and kind of raw and I had a vest, not my rain jacket. Decided to not turn back on the first chance, but by the next street, it was cold rain hitting me. I turned down the street which was my last chance to go back without making a u turn on Main St, and had a pleasant little climb up through the neighborhood I walk in. Debated on taking the trail between this neighborhood and my street, but it's in rutted/rooty shape at the end I was on, so I opted for 2 quick lefts back home. Traffic was picking up, but I made the right choice. I didn't even look at my mileage, probably a mile . Came home and did a 20 minute hill walk on the treadmill.
    Looks like tomorrow will be the only non-rainy day this week, so I will go out again early in the AM. Looks iffy for my group ride, which I really want to do Wednesday. We are supposed to lead a ride Thurs. after work and that doesn't look good.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

 

 

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