August 19 Ride Reports

[Kitsune06]

... it IS the 19th, isn't it?

Woke up sorta sickish, but the new brooks saddle called "TRY ME!!!!" so I couldn't refuse. On my way out, I spoke to the guy on the end of our street who always has his dog running loose. Like the sap I am, I empathised, his dog being out only when she's not kennelled, and he's had her kenneled far more than she should be out of fear that she'd tear into my bike. The dog is for security as people tend to break into cars etc on our road. (why? no idea.) so a fence would be useless. He tells me to get off the bike address her by name (Sassy) and tell her to 'go home'. This is what I've been doing, and it works, but I wanted to talk to him. We worked out a schedule that she can be out any time after 3 b/c that's generally when I'm at work, so no biggie. That's best for them, too, because she can still be a night guard dog and guard 'her' kids, too.
I was going to haul about 7 miles to my bank (it's about 7 miles to either of the banks I go to. Yay for the boonies) but got about 5ish and started realizing the hills were quickly becoming too much for my delicate stomach to handle. Drank water, sat down, cooled off. Turned around. There was road construction, and though I didn't think about it on the way down, it occurred to me on the way back that this construction was RIGHT ON A BIG HILL. not 'at the top of the hill' but the stop sign holding person was at the BASE of the hill, and the other person at the TOP. GRUH. So the lady at the bottom cheers me on as I hammer up the whole hill, and the lady at the top claps, then tells me "Way to go! ...Seriously, do that in a car- it's easier!" My sarcasm detector went off, but my finger reflexes were overtaken by the fact that I think I was having a full on asthma attack (I think... from what 've heard they're like, that's what this was- breathing in gasps not getting air and making a little whistling noise while my chest is heaving) I coast and focus on slowing my breathing down so I don't puke in front of the people who'd just waited for me in their cars. Get to the bottom of the hill, park bike, drink water, arms over head, expand rib cage. *gasp!* So I start breathing again and at this point I'm just too tired to do anything anymore. Coast home... feel better, but still want to lay down.
On the upside, the saddle didn't cause any problems...

[Geonz]

Whew@!! Got me gasping in sympathy.

Yesterday on my trip over the overpass, a RED SPORTS CAR waited behind me 'til I was over the top (okay, it was a HOnda at least, so *all* my stereotypes haven't been busted) and then passed me demurely.

Today the Saturday Saunter went to Curtis Orchard -it opens in late July. We went 23 miles, a *little* long, but it's (ack!!!!) getting to the end of the "official" season wehre I'm responsible for a level 1 ride. (Most of the group went on to Mahomet for a 30+ mile ride with breakfast).

Next week I"m planning to ride to Bloomington - about 50 miles - for the League of Illinois Bicylist's meeting. Got the cell phone... have to figure out what else to be sure to have along for a solo ride in the boonies (water, water, water) 'cause no, I'm not taking 150 (the busy parallel-to-the-interstate road) until the halfway point.

[Kitsune06]

I actually get a big kick out of being really courteous to bikers while I'm in my little sports car, thumping music. They always look at me with such surprise. "You didn't try to run me over?!"
...sad that things are that way, though...

[melissam]

I hear ya both! I love to be especially nice to people when I drive my Porsche, because it's the last thing they expect. Most Porsche 911 drivers really don't want to uphold the Crazy Porsche Driver reputation, but unfortunately there's a few that ruin it for the rest of us.

Anyway, I went for a ride today. I went from cycling bliss to being a bit frustrated. I was trying out my new Vredestein Fortezza tires on the road bike. Boy they felt great! The tread is really sticky -- kind of like the tread on my Porsche tires. The bike just wanted to go -- up hills, down hills, it didn't matter. And the Brooks saddle on my road bike is pretty much broken in, and that felt great too. I was feeling so good that I did a couple of hill repeats.

And then I got a flat tire. Rear tire, of course. Oh well, I have the tools and ability to fix a flat. But it sure is different fixing one on the side of the road than in the comfort of your garage. For instance, you can't sip a beer as you're fixing the flat on the side of the road. And there's no good place to sit. And the trusty floor pump is not around, so you're stuck with the frame pump.

Got the tube patched, started to air it up to see if it would hold, and killed the valve stem. #&@%!! Put the spare tube on, got the tire re-seated, and started pumping. And pumping. And pumping. Still feels soft. Oh, and somewhere along the line I got a metal sliver in my thumb, so everytime I hit it just right, it gave me a friendy reminder. Great. Still pumping. Hmm, let's check the pressure guage to see how much pressure I have. Try not to lose too much air when you put the pressure guage on, because it's hard work getting the air in there! Oh, the pressure guage's battery is dead. Nice. Put the pump back on and keep pumping, but be careful -- you don't want to kill another valve stem.

I got it pumped up to about 40psi -- the Vredestein's call for 145psi. Low pressure is practically begging for another flat. Limped back to the car, trying to keep as much weight off the rear tire as possible.

Take home lessons:

1. Get a Topeak Road Morph pump -- it's TE Forum approved.
2. Carry the frame pump in the car.
3. Carry extra tubes in the car.

Kitsune, hope you feel better and don't encounter any more sarcastic road workers.

-- Melissa

[mimitabby]

Well, the DH and i went on a wild and crazy ride today; 33.6 miles of you gotta love seattle stuff. We started up near logboom park as soon as we escaped from a 10 year wedding anniversary party (they were longwinded) and so it was already hot when we went out (no, not hot like new york, florida or arizona hot, but hot for us.)
So we sailed south on the burke gilman trail, then we went down fairview E
on the east side of lake union, and then D took me into the neighborhood (where restauraants and fairly rich people live right off the lake. We traipsed down that until it dead ended and then i had to go up a really steep hill but only 1 block. We rode all the way into downtown, where zillions of cars and pedestrians were.The bike shop was there; and while dh talked to the owner of the lbs about his bike to be, i noticed that my 4 year old helmet had a crack in it! so i found a cute orange helmet
which was http://tinyurl.com/qz58q
also inexpensive. DH hated it and picked up a 200 dollar helmet (no, i don't think so) but it was NOT as comfy as the bell (I have a BELL head apparently) so I am as pleased as punch to be getting a new ORANGE helmet
and the cheaper one too (okay, i'm a cheapskate)
well, we finallly finished all our transactions (Including I have an appt on friday for the Eva handlebars and new yellow tape for them!)
we got back on the bikes and headed towards the waterfront, which is normally a lovely ride on a fairly peaceful bike trail. Well, we found our selves in a SEA of people. Really young people. REALLY YOUNG, lots of them.
I finally asked a teenaged girl what was going on. She acted confused (maybe she was high?) DH finally figured it out, it was HEMPFEST!!!
he turned his bike around and we walked all the way back to the street
and took busy streets back to the Burke Gilman!

It's the longest i've ever ridden on my Bianchi and we just flew!
our average was only 12.8 but DH said it's because of how far we WALKED THE BIKES through the doper crowd!!

a good time was had by all.
mimi

[DDH]

Well, DH and I got out and rode today about 4 in the afternoon and about died for the heat and humitdity. We only rode about 10 miles, but that 10 miles about spent us with this heat. It was a good ride though. After being sick for a week, I am just glad to get back out there and able to ride. LOL

Oh, DH and I went to the LBS yesterday to look at tires and DH bought me some new tires for my mountain bike. He bought me some slicker tires to use to hopefully help my time and rolling resistance. It helped quite a bit acutallyl. I have been riding about 9 something to 10 somthing on my Avg speed. Fastest time I have had has been 11.1. Well tonight I avg. 12.5 and then it went down to 12.1 on the hill right before the house. LOL
Anyway, I like the lower rolling resistance.

[bikerchic]

Finally he had a Saturday off from work and we planned a bike ride for early this morning. It was supposed to be his pick of where we would ride but he cheesed and we got a late start cuz we're lazy.

I have been riding three times this week already and wasn't up for a long ride neither was he so we decided to head north up to the farm country. Last time we rode up there was the first ride he did on his new bike and he crashed so he was a bit apprehensive about going up there.

We had a great ride and stopped and checked out an abandoned farm house, he took a leak I was jealous cuz I needed to go.....won't do in in the open! LOL.

On our way home we decided to check out a road we've never gone down and it turned out to be really cool with a fast downhill turn which was all shaded by trees, very fun and it also turned out to be a short cut home!

All in all we did a tad under 10 miles and had a fun smell the roses kind of ride. Tomorrow we will start early! It's going to be hotter tomorrow and I want to ride in the cool of the morning and go further so we'll see.

It's late and I had best get some z's, gotta ride in the morning!

[Bikingmomof3]

We finally got out for an hour ride late last night. We tried during the day, but hit a wall of humidity and my migraines do not adjust well to the humid weather. All in all we had a wonderful ride and it was less humid. I would have preferred to ride longer, but it got too late.

[Brandy]

102 miles! My first century! Yay me!

[tprevost]

102 miles! My first century! Yay me!

Me tooo!!!! (about 1 1/2 hours slower than miss speedy here ) What a great day though!!!!

[Brandy]

Wasn't it gorgeous Tracy? The only thing that bothered me about the whole thing is that I don't think that the elevation that they advertised was accurate and it was a mental challenge to think that you're done climbing, only to encounter...more climbing! I would have rather gone into it not knowing what to expect at all, than to keep thinking...I KNOW we've climbed more than 3500 feet already...wtf are there more hills??????

[DDH]

Way to go Brandy and Tprevost! I'm glad you had a great ride!!

So how fast did you both ride it in? Just curious since Tprevost said you were a little speedy. LOL

[Brandy]

Way to go Brandy and Tprevost! I'm glad you had a great ride!!

So how fast did you both ride it in? Just curious since Tprevost said you were a little speedy. LOL

Thanks Donna. My ride time was 6:53:55. I'm not sure what my total time was...I enjoyed all of the rest stops!!

[Susan Otcenas]

(note: armadillo tire users - be sure to read the last paragraph!)
_____

So, the Vine Ride http://www.vineride.com/ is going great. Pleasant morning temps,
plenty of food at rest stops, fabulous company (Don, Lynne, co-workers Molly &
Renata from TE, along with their better halves) and we're cruising
right along on the tandem. Jeff & I are feeling pretty good,
especially given our relatively low mileage season.

Renata & her partner Jeff had been having fun sprinting for the city &
county limit signs. Coming into Amity @ mile 51, the approach to the
city limit sign is on a slight downhill grade (an advantage for the
tandem), so I say to my Jeff, "let's go for it, we can take 'em on this
one". And we proceed to stomp on it on the approach to the sign.

This is where things went very wrong....

Our synch chain (the left/front chain that tethers the captain & stoker
together) snapped in the middle of our sprint. It took me a moment to
realize what had happened (since I still had plenty of resistance on my
pedals), but Jeff was instantly free spinning and knew we had a
problem. We coasted to the right and Renata rode back to recover our
chain.

The chain, of course, was not long enough to simply reconnect, as we'd
lost a link and rivet. After some discussion, we decided to break the
drive chain, scavenge two links, and use them to repair the synch
chain. (The alternate was for the stoker to propel the bike the 8
miles back to Perrydale, with Jeff & I taking turns stoking.) Renata &
Jeff stayed back to help, while Lynne & Don soldiered on towards the
next rest stop. Jeff & Jeff did most of the work, then we urged Renata
& Jeff to go on ahead. There was again some discussion as to whether
or not we should go back the 8 flat miles to the Perrydale rest stop
for 2 new chains (since now both were weak), or forge on ahead with the
800ft climb (aka the Amity Hill Horror) between us and the next stop in
Dayton. Also factoring into this decision was our discovery that our
rear tire was dangerously bald. Jeff & I decided to keep going,
figuring that we'd rather get closer to the end than farther away.

We cruised through Amity, then approached the big hill. The drive
chain was skipping a bit, and we made a few derailleur adjustments.
Down in the small chain ring... fingers crossed... and SNAP!! The
drive chain broke at the point we'd removed the links.

So, we started walking. The new plan was to walk to the top, coast to
the bottom of the other side, then find another shady spot to repair
the drive chain again. After about 15-20 minutes of walking, I flagged
down a pickup truck and asked the driver to take us to the top. I felt
bad as we passed a half dozen or so riders sweating it out in the sun,
but I sure was happy to not be walking any longer. Cycling shoes are
not meant for long-distance walking!

At the top, we kick-biked along the flat bits until we got some
momentum, then we coasted down the other side very slowly (fearing
blowing out our bald back tire), dismounting once mid-descent for a
smallish bump that we lacked eough momentum to coast over, and once
more to cool the rims, which were dangerously hot from all the braking
we had to do.

Once back down to Lafayette Highway, we again repaired the drive
chain. With 4 links now missing, we had no big chain ring, and were
afraid to shift too far up or down the cassette fearing that it would
skip off in one direction or the other. So, we had about 4 gears for
the 8 miles between there and Dayton. I called Renata & Lynne, who
alerted the mechanic in Dayton that we would be limping in, needing his
assistance.

When we got there, we found the place nearly deserted, but the mechanic
had stayed. There we discovered that the synch chain was on the verge
of snapping again, as only one side of the rivet was holding the whole
thing together at that point. Turns out the synch chain is a 7 speed,
the drive chain in a 9, and the mechanic was rather impressed we'd
managed to get the 9 speed links to even work with the 7 speed chain.
Ignorance is bliss, I guess, because it didn't even occur to us not to
try! He replaced our drive chain, repaired the synch chain, and
installed a new back tire.

After all that fussing, it was 2:30 and we were only at mile 68! It
was nice to get back on the road with a reasonably functioning bike,
and we managed to finish the rest of the 100 mile ride uneventfully.

Lessons learned:
1) Carry a few extras links. Tandems put a lot of torque on chains,
and it would suck to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no support,
especially in bad weather.

2) Do a better job looking over the bike pre-ride (meaning one or two
days before, not an hour before). We should NOT have been out on that
back tire. NOTE TO ARMADILLO TIRE USERS: What happened to this tire
was that the rubber delaminated from the casing. According to the
mechanic, that is a pretty common problem on the armadillos, and often
happens before the tire looks very worn. He said that a sure sign is
that you can hear a shooshing or whispering sound from the tire. I can
totally confirm this, as I started hearing this sound on our previous
ride on the tandem, and spent some time, unsuccessfully, trying to
figure out what was causing it (I suspected the tire was slightly
rubbing on the fender, but now I know better!) As soon as it delams,
it will wear very fast.

3) Sure was glad I had my cell phone with me.

Susan

[alpinerabbit]

After 3 weeks of rainy weather, we rode the 45 mile course that my SO will ride October 1st as a "race".

we got on alright, I notice I have improved from 18 kph a year ago when I started this cycling thing to 22 kph; I gave it all I could; I felt ok, however, I was DEAD an hour after coming home. That's what not training for 3 weeks does to you.

Boyfriend ran 20 k for the first time in his life today, so it did not kill him as much as it did me.

Overall it felt wonderful to be out again after the rainy spell. That round is really nice because it is mostly no significant traffic.

I also caught a tick during the biobreak. I had already scratched off the back part during the night, but the head needed minor surgery to pry out. Will be watching for erythema chronicum migrans (bull's eye rash) in case it had borrelia. Those space-alien like critters freak me out.