Monthly Archives: March 2013

Pleasing the Internets

5 Replies

I admit it: I like looking at pictures of bikes, I like talking about bikes, and I especially like riding bikes. Other than working, riding is the thing I do most. I don’t like working on my bikes, and when I do it, it is usually accompanied by paranoia that I’ve done something wrong and (for example) that I am going to die when my carbon fiber steerer cracks because I tightened the stem bolts without a torque wrench.

Anyway: you have to please your fellow bike obsessives, particularly those on the internet. The only way to do that is to post a picture of your bike with proper pro fit. Meaning stem slammed (or nearly so), at least 12 cm long, and plenty of drop.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the semi-pro fit Lynskey. Semi-pro because my stem isn’t long enough, the sternum puncher is uncut, and I just realized that I may have the bars rotated too far up.

7

Seriously now: those of you who know me know that I suffered a serious neck injury in 2008. There were times since then where I couldn’t bend my neck back at all without my hands going numb.  It was bad enough that I rode a recumbent for over a year. A low racer. In downtown Manhattan. That’s bad.

The injury required an upright, inefficient position on conventional bikes. It was frustrating because I am otherwise flexible, but the mechanical problem with my neck prevented me from assuming a more conventional position for someone who is otherwise a fit, experienced cyclist.

Well, it seems that my neck has finally healed, so I’ve been playing with my fit. I started with the most extreme position, with the intention of working back from there. But you know what? It works great: No neck pain, and riding seems easier/more efficient in this position.

I suspected this would be the case because I’ve been riding mostly in the drops for the last six months. I have a longer stem in the mail (and a torque wrench!), and once I get stem length sorted out I’ll cut the steerer.

In other news, I rode the non-boring boring loop 5 days straight, so I rewarded myself with a casual ride to Subway for a sub. Yes, Subway. Jared was haunting my dreams…

Subway-Jared

…and sometimes you just have to do it, right? That’s 120 miles in the last 6 days—pretty bad compared with this time last year, but last year we were nearly in summer in late March.

This was my route:

route-map-full

Here are some pictures. Click on the first one for full size, it’s pretty cool. That cliff you see in the center of the first picture is called Gertrude’s Nose, and that’s the Shawangunk Ridge. According to my local fact checker, John S, this picture actually shows Sky Top (with the tower) and Eagle Cliff to the right. Gertrude’s Nose is 5 miles to the Southwest.

11

12

8d

6

5

4

2

I also had my first cyclist sighting this year (aside from the people I ride with). He was headed north on 213, and took a left on 209. Anyone I know?

John

medicalwriter.net

Gravel Training Loop

5 Replies

I’m going to admit something: fitness and speed are really secondary objectives for me. I mostly ride to go interesting places under my own power, get outside, and take a few pictures. I don’t race, and I don’t want to. Not because I lack competitive drive, I just don’t want to be responsible for crashing other people out of the race.

I’m trying to get over my mindset that any ride of less than 50 miles is a waste of time. Frankly, my longer rides really don’t build fitness, they’re mostly for exploration and to satisfy my curiosity.  It’s nice that I am in, by all accounts, extraordinary shape because of cycling, but it’s really just a side effect of my curiosity.

That said, speed and fitness are essential for getting where I want to go, particularly out here where 100 feet/mile of climbing is the norm. So I designed this, and I’ve been riding it daily for the last four days. I’m trying to bore myself into focusing on exercising, rather than being continuously distracted by my surroundings.

20 mile training

Twenty miles, 2100 feet of climbing, lots of gravel! It’s the least boring boring loop I could design. I decided to document it today, since it was day 4 of riding the loop and I was taking it a bit easier to recover. Some pictures for you:

9

8d

7d

6

5

4

It’s still quite cold out here, as you can tell by the pictures. I’m really tired of riding in the cold, so I’m keeping my rides <30 miles for the next week or two. Hopefully I’ll make up for that by getting out every day, though. Soon I hope to get back to exploration and route finding. Click on “Worth the Trip” to the right if you’re just here for the 50-100 mile routes.

John

medicalwriter.net

A Near Death Experience

1 Reply

A few weeks ago, I read a news report about a father and two sons who went out hiking and subsequently froze in 20-degree weather. A tragedy, to be sure, but I was curious how it’s possible to die of exposure in the 20s–after all, we regularly spend 12, 14, even 16 hours outside in that sort of weather with no problems.

Well, now I know…

I set out on a planned 40-mile ride. It was snowing lightly, but still above freezing at the start.

2

Then the snow turned into a sloppy, wet, nasty mess.

3

6

Which ended up soaking my gloves. And then the temperature dropped well below freezing, the wind kicked up, and the last 10 miles of my route was mostly descending.

7

I seriously thought I was suffering from frostbite. When I touched the ends of my fingers, I could hear a crackling noise–they were frozen. I spent the last 10 miles of the ride stopping every mile, unzipping my jacket and jersey, and warming my fingers by putting my hands under my arms. Two fingertips still hurt, so I must have gotten some mild frostbite.

I think I might have been better off with wool gloves, instead of the synthetic gloves I was wearing. Wool continues to insulate even when wet, apparently, but the Assos gloves I was wearing–which are ordinarily too warm even at 35 degrees–lost all insulating characteristics after getting wet.

That’s all I have to report right now. My wrist is getter, and I got in 110 miles of riding this week as it was healing. Now, however, we’ve had another 8-12 inches of snow dropped on us. Soon, very soon I will be able to get out for real rides–meaning at the very least 50 miles.

Oh, and one more thing: Thank you to everyone who has sent me e-mails about the blog, it’s very encouraging. Given that the blog is getting 150-200 views per day, I expect to see a lot more people riding up here next year. Most of my routes pass by my place at some point, so if you get chased by a giant black Cane Corso or Rhodesian Ridgeback, don’t worry, they don’t bite.

If you have any questions or requests, my contact information can be found via the about page. And again, if you’re just looking for routes, click on “Worth the Trip” in the categories to the right, or just go to my Ride With GPS page.

John

medicalwriter.net

A Review of Kettle Cycles SFL SiCCC Rotors: First Rides

3 Replies

I installed Kettle Cycle’s SFL SiCCC carbon-fiber rotors on my cross bike yesterday, or actually I should say my bike shop installed them because I don’t have a torque wrench. I was among the first to get them because I supported their Kickstarter.

2

As I was leaving the bike shop, I tried to brake and found that they had little or no braking power. I rode to the gas station next door and followed the bedding-in procedure in their parking lot, which is basically just accelerating to jogging speed and braking to a stop 10-15 times. After that they seemed to brake as well as the stock steel rotors I had on previously.

3

I didn’t buy these to be a weight weenie, even though they are very substantially lighter than the rotors I had on there before. I bought them because I hoped that they would solve the screeching brake problem I was having with the stock steel rotors, particularly when they got wet. It was raining heavily on the way home from the shop, and I’m happy to say that there wasn’t even a trace of screeching. Instead, there is sort of a quiet sanding noise that you can only hear if you’re really listening to it. It does make me question what is happening to my brake pads, though. The braking was fine even on 12% to 15% descents.

1

I don’t know how long they will last, of course, but after two days of riding and about 50 miles, I’m pleased. Let me repeat this, though, in case it wasn’t clear: you must follow the bedding in procedure or you will die. It’s simple: accelerate to maybe 10 mph, then slow down. Repeat 10-15 times somewhere where you won’t crash into something. You’ll notice the braking power become considerably better from the beginning to the end of this process. Once you’re done, you get about 80% of the braking power you’ll get with a steel rotor. After another 10 or 20 normal brakes and you won’t be able to tell the difference. I don’t know if that is because the rotors are approaching the braking power of steel rotors or if I just adapted. But the end result is the same.

Addendum: I am using Swiss Stop pads, and I installed a fresh set when switching rotors.

John

medicalwriter.net

Let the Fun Begin!

1 Reply

Or not.

I haven’t let my wrist fracture slow me down at all. In fact, I’ve been out for rides the last three days. I found that if I support myself by putting my right hand on the tops, and rest my left gently on the hoods, riding is tolerable as long as I’m careful not to hit any big bumps. Using this methodology, I’ve managed to ride ~80 miles over the last 3 days.

This is Brown Road, very close to home. I just took this picture because the dead plants in the swamp remind me of an alien from the original Dr. Who series.

1

On Monday, I decided to figure out what lies at Trail’s End. Although I am opposed to out-and-back routes or roads that dead end, I mapped this road on Ride with GPS and found that it includes a pretty decent climb with 15% grades. I was also curious to see how far back into Catskill Park I could get…perhaps this could be a shortcut to Yeagerville Road?

2

Unfortunately, when I got to the top of the road, I saw it continued on icy gravel. Normally, that wouldn’t stop me, but I really did not want to fall on my hand again. So I’ll save this discovery for a little later in the year.

3

On the way home, I took a new route on Kelder Highway, which is actually a narrow 2-lane road. I’ve ridden past it dozens of times, but for some reason it never occurred to me to take it. Nice views.

4

Again, close to home. The road to the right, DeWitt, is some beautiful nicely groomed gravel. The road to the left is Brown Road, which leads back to my place.

5

This is, I believe, Mill Road. As you can see, it was a wet n’ muddy ride to say the least. I’ve said this before, but I actually really enjoy riding in a nice cold rain, perhaps even more than a riding on a perfect 65-degree day.

6

The rains led to significant flooding. This waterfall along the side of the Vly road is usually barely a trickle; in fact, I hadn’t noticed it previously, even though I go this way all the time.

7

I installed some SiCCC rotors on the winter bike (after taking this picture, obviously). I’ll have an initial review for you tomorrow.

10

I did a lot of gravel grinding over the past few days, resulting in a lot of laundry. This is Kozon Road, which leads up to Ricci Road, which in turn leads to Lower Sahler Mill Road.

13

12

If you’re planning a route in the area and want to have a good time, try to include Lower Sahler Mill Road, starting from County Road 2. It’s the most fun you can have on two wheels. It starts with a gentle descent for about 1.5 miles–I usually get going about 40 miles an hour. Then, it turns into a gentle gravel descent for another 1.3 miles. Then, you can take a left on Dug Road and enjoy another 2-3 miles of gravel, albeit uphill. A map of this short segment is below, and GPS can be found here. Include this section in your route, I promise you’ll like it.

map

Finally, this is what today’s ride looked like. I’m using an Exposure Diablo here, which I suppose I should review at some point, if for no other reason than to thank them for manufacturing the finest battery light ever made. Believe it or not, this is on low power, which I believe provides 12-14 hours of battery life with an output comparable to that of an Edelux.

14

That’s all for now. I’ll review the SiCCC rotors tomorrow and perhaps post some more images of my shorter rides later this week. I’ll get back to route finding shortly, just have to wait for the wrist to heal a little more.

John

medicalwriter.net

A Sunday Tragedy

1 Reply

Here I sit, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Working.

Doug H came out to my place for a planned 80-mile ride over Peekamoose and then to the Neversink Reservoir. Unfortunately, about 5 miles into the ride I had a mechanical that resulted in a crash. Now I’m sitting here nursing a wrist that has swelled up to the size of a tennis ball.

So sad…as you know, I spent the past month traveling, so I’ve only been able to get in a few quick rides. I was looking forward to this ride for the last 5 weeks!

Hopefully the swelling will go down enough that I can do some short 10- to 15- mile rides every day this week, and by next Saturday, it better be gone, because we’ve got a 200k planned.

John

medicalwriter.net

750 Miles on Grand Bois Extra Leger

6 Replies

This winter has been rough. Snow, more snow, 27,000 miles on planes, and the isolation of living in the mountains. I thought I wouldn’t mind, since I come from the country, but the contrast to downtown New York City is pretty stark. It’s worth it, though, for the glorious spring, summer, and fall. Now I understand why people buy summer homes!

One thing that did improve my winter was the arrival of several pairs of Grand Bois Extra Leger tires in 32 mm and 23 mm. Because of the snow and travel, I’ve only put about 700 miles on the 32s and less than 100 on the 23s since they arrived in late December.

Tire cropped

These are the best tires I’ve ever had a chance to ride, period. Handle one and you’ll see a clear difference in construction–the sidewalls of these tires are so pliant they actually wrinkle.The ride is spectacular–I’m riding very rough roads and a lot of gravel, and the Extra Legers ride fast and smooth through everything. Given the type of abuse I subject tires to, I was worried that they would flat faster than a pair of Parigi-Roubaix on the north end of NYC’s West Side bike path the day after July 4, but as it turns out they’ve been flat free, even after a missed turn earlier this week resulted in a 2-mile ride over fist-sized sharp gravel.

Some of my friends are going to be mad at me for saying this, but the 23 mm version makes tubulars irrelevant, and the 32 mm version is superior to any other wide clincher available in 700C.

Now, let’s see how durable they are…next review in 1000 miles. It might take a while, because it’s starting to get nice out, which means switching back to the English on FMBs.

And one last note: Give me 25s, damnit.

John

medicalwriter.net

Life is Good…

5 Replies

Or at least better. I’m buried under a pile of work, but at least I’m not traveling.

I made time for a 50-mile ride yesterday. I had planned on riding 20 miles and then getting back to work, but it was so nice out that I decided to play hooky. I deserve it after 21 days of travel.

Here’s the route. There are no bad segments, and it is not very challenging. If you’re looking for a fast, fun and easy route, this is a good one (GPS here).

Mar 5

This was my first time on Berme Road. As always, I’m indebted to John Schwartz for the advice. Much more pleasant than 209.

1

2

3

This is the view from Towpath Road, which lies to the west of the town of Accord. I recognized this from several long rides we did out of Poughkeepsie when I still lived in New York City, but this was the first time I rode it north to south.

4

I got dirty on Rouge Harbor road. It’s my favorite gravel road out here, although it is spooky and very isolated. There’s a good swimming hole on nearby on Lundy Road.

6 Close to home. This is Old Whitfield Road. Or it might be Mettacahonts Road, I don’t really remember. Nice to finally see it again sans snow.

8

7

Finally, my winter bike. I never got around to cutting the steerer or getting a longer stem. I have a formal fit next week with Signature Cycles, I’ll let them tell me what to do, but I suspect my stem will be within 5-10 mm of being slammed and at least 2 cm longer. I removed the ugly Lynsky stickers with acetone.

5

I have a quick 20 planned for tomorrow. This weekend we have a 90-mile route planned that includes hitting Ferguson Road, a very steep gravel road over the Shawangunk Ridge (again, a John S suggestion). How could I resist a road named after me? And next week Doug has planned a 114-mile torture test that includes a ride to the highest drivable point in the Catskills.

Ah, life truly is returning to normal.

John

medicalwriter.net

Best Cycling Purchase 2012: Assos Zegho Sunglasses

1 Reply

Ah, back from Prague. I was only home for 6 days in February. The rest of the time I was traveling: Rome, then Arizona, then Prague. The future looks bright, though–I don’t have any scheduled travel until mid-April, which means that I can get back to some serious riding. I am tragically out of shape; as I mentioned previously it takes weeks or months of work to get to the bleeding edge of fitness, but only a few weeks to lose peak form. I’ve planned a 90-mile ride with Doug H this weekend, hopefully he will take it easy on me! That said, this should be the last of the blog filler for a while, and I’ll have plenty of new routes and rides to report.

I have an agenda for this review.

I know I look like Bono when I’m wearing these, but they are superior to any other cycling-specific eyewear I’ve ever tried. I went through 3 rounds of buy-and-returns trying to find the perfect pair this time, and finally just gave in and bought these to try.

Zegho

I purchased them at retail, and I have no connection to Assos or to any other cycling company. I would also note that I am no Assos fan boy. The new S5 chamois is just awful, and the fit of their jerseys is terrible, despite the fact that—at just under 6 feet and 145 lbs—I have a prototypical cyclist’s body.

That said, there are two things I love from Assos: Any shorts or tights with the old orange S2 pad, and the padless, hideously expensive Fugu bib tights. In fact, I like the S2 shorts so much that I’ve been snapping them up on E-Bay when they appear, even half shorts. Where I am going to wear yellow half shorts, I don’t know, but given the number of pairs I have to go through before I get to the yellow ones, it will be 2025 before I find out, and by then I’ll be well into the IDGAF stage of my life anyway.

It is not often that a product comes along that so clearly improves the riding experience. I honestly don’t care what people think about Assos: these designed these sunglasses from the ground up for cycling, and it shows: they are fundamentally better for this purpose than any other sunglasses, period.

1. They fit beautifully and do not cause the ear pain I often experience with glasses that hook behind the ears.

2. The lenses have zero distortion, regardless of viewing angle. All other sunglasses I have tried–even expensive ones–create at least some distortion, particularly at the margins.

3. The lenses fit perfectly over the eyes, providing a shield while allowing for airflow–not enough to dry your eyes, but enough to keep them from steaming up in cold weather.

4. The yellow tint makes everything clearer, including in the evening and at night. Almost makes me want to wear them all day, every day, except my girlfriend would leave me and I would have no friends.

5. The strap is useful as I ride rough roads that can dislodge my glasses (RIP Rudy Project!)

6. The lenses have a hydrophobic coating that sheds water rapidly. It may also just be that the shape encourages the water to run off the sides rapidly. I have worn them in multiple downpours now, as well as snow, and it is a significant change from the sunglasses I have tried.

7. The transition from tint to almost clear is abrupt. Not critical with the yellow tint, but I can see where it might be useful with the darker lenses when you are on a route with abrupt transitions from light to dark. A smart decision, and safer than photochromic lenses, which I think are inappropriate for cycling.

Now, I’ll admit I’m extra fussy about my cycling clothes, mostly because, in addition to 3 or 4 quick 20 to 30 miles rides each week, I usually take a 12-hour plus ride on the weekend. When you’re on a bike that long, everything matters. For example, on one 18-hour ride, rough seams and bad fit on a cheap pair of Pearl Izumi bibs conspired to create an open wound on the outside of my thigh. So little things, like ear pain from glasses hooking behind the ears, take on additional significance when you’re on a long ride.

These sunglasses are the best cycling purchase of 2012 for me, and probably the best cycling apparel purchase I’ve ever made. They are also available in a darker tint, and now in a clear version. The latter is unnecessary—the yellow is good enough even in the dark.

My agenda? I am trying to convince others to pony up for these sunglasses so I don’t look like an idiot. Here I am being handsome in my sunglasses on my winter ‘cross bike, what do you think?

1 on bike (Large)

John

medicalwriter.net