Author Archives: John Ferguson

New Route: For all Delicacies of Shabbos

1 Reply

Sorry for my brief absence. In part, it’s because I’ve been riding a lot, I’ve also had even more work than usual. Trying to fit in three or four 30- or 40-mile rides each week, plus a much longer ride on the weekend is difficult at best. Plus I wanted to give Anton’s guest post (just below) pride of place for an extended period because it’s really an amazing report. I have lots to report, including numerous rides, a review of TRP’s new Spyre SLC mechanical disc brakes, a review of Search and State’s amazing jersey, and a quick note about an great bike shop called Cinder Track Bicycles. So let’s get started with my most recent ride, and we’ll work backwards from there over the week.

Doug and I decided on a different sort of ride this week. Our rides are almost always composed of long, brutal climbs up mountains followed by extended high-speed descents. Moreover, we almost always head north of Woodstock or to the northwest of my place in Olivebridge, New York. Into the Catskills proper. This time, we decided we’d explore the undiscovered country to the west and southwest. This area is completely different from our usual rides—even though we ended up with about 6000 feet of climbing, it was almost all rollers. In theory good for my knee, since it got frequent breaks. The route is here.

Glen WIld

We started at my place. After a quick climb off some gravel near my home, we descended to Rogue Harbor Road, my favorite in the area. This road, which I’ve mentioned many times before, is potholed dirt and a lot of fun. With anything more than a little rain, it floods out and you end up riding through what is essentially a stream.

L1020648_pe

From there, we took Cutter “Road” over to Highway 55. Deliberate use of sarcastic quotes, because Cutter Road is rough enough that we had to get off our bikes for a moment to walk over some particular rough patches. And I was on 650B! Even with the walking, it was worth it, because it cuts about 5 miles of ugly highway out of the route.

L1020647_pe

We continued southwest into the undiscovered country. I’ve passed through some of this on my way back from Peekamoose or Slide Mountain rides, but this was my first time so far south. Again, no mountains, just endless miles of rolling back country. It mostly looked like this:

L1020652_pe

And this…

L1020651_pe

And this…

L1020656_pe

As you can see, pretty country. No views though. I also didn’t realize that rollers could be so exhausting. I also might have been tired just because it was over 90 degrees out.

Along the way, we stopped at a convenience store located in Jellystone Park. I ran into Booboo and had to have a picture taken.

L1020653_pe_pe

Next, we continued to Woodridge, where we had our first major delay of the day. It was July 4th, and Woodridge was absolutely packed with Orthodox Jewish folks, mostly visiting from Brooklyn. All the restaurants were full. We (tried) to eat here, but it took about an hour to get our food and eat.

L1020658_pe

Then disaster struck, repeatedly. Doug’s tires were relatively old, and he ended up getting three flats. The first was okay, because we were going up a mild incline and we weren’t going that fast. The second was terrifying. Doug was behind me on a 30 mph descent and I heard a very loud bang and hiss. I thought he’d crash for sure, but he managed to come to a controlled stop. The third came at drink stop in Mountain Dale. We went in to get drinks (2 waters and a Coke for me), and when we went back out, Doug’s tire was flat again. I contemplated calling Margot, but, amazingly, the proprietor of the grocery store told us that there was a bike shop only a block away…and it was open! After waiting for a long time because the shop was busy, Doug bought a new front tire and three tubes, and we were good to go.

L1020661_pe

We turned north to hit Park Hill Road, and then turned again on Van Keuren Road. Our Garmins told us that it was a through road, so even though we quite clearly saw the dead end sign, we decided to turn and check it out. We thought that maybe there was a path that would lead us to our intended destination. As it turns out…no dice. There was a path, but it was submerged and extremely muddy. I may have been able to manage it on my bike, but Doug was riding 23s.

L1020662_pe

From there, we continued north, back to my neighborhood. The views got much better….

L1020663_pe

We returned home to a full-on July 4th barbeque in progress. Perhaps surprisingly, because all I had to eat over 70 miles was 5 cheese sticks, I wasn’t that hungry. Sometimes that happens to me when I exercise. Still, I managed a couple cheeseburgers and a hot dog.

So, is this worth the trip? I’m going to categorize it as such, because it’s a fairly easy ride compared with our usual rides. But it doesn’t offer the scenic vistas, brutal climbs, and long fast descents of many of my other routes. Nevertheless, it was a nice change of pace.

John

medicalwriter.net

Should I?

3 Replies

You’re probably wondering where I am. I’m not neglecting the blog because I’m tired of it; instead, I’ve been traveling. First California, then Anguilla for the wedding, and now I’m back in California and waiting for my 7 pm meeting. I’m only out for a few days this time, although I’m not getting back until 3 am on Sunday morning.

From last Friday to yesterday, however, I managed to get in almost 150 miles of riding on the new English 650B. I took a few glamor shots of the bike. At least I thought they’d be glamor shots, but I took them with my iPhone and they ended up a little blurry. Here’s one photo, I’ll post the good ones when I return.

2

I got in a few rides with significant gravel segments. Nothing more than 40 miles, but it was a lot of fun on 650B. I’m taking it easy on my knee right now.

5

4

3

Speaking of my knee, it still hurts a little. I’m on my way to a second formal bike fitting on Wednesday to see if there’s anything I can do about it. There’s nothing that will change about my reach, which has been optimized through a fitting and long experience, but I’m hoping we can do a little work on optimizing my saddle height and, most importantly, cleat position. I clearly have a leg length discrepancy, because when I ride with a Brooks, only one side of the saddle collapses. The knee issues have only cropped up over the last month because of dramatic overuse–the week that my knee really started to fall apart I had ridden 300 miles with almost 30,000 feet of climbing. That’s a lot when you come from the flatlands of NYC.

I know you want to hear about the English. I can’t write a comparative review because I was off the bike for a week due to the knee injury, and then an additional 10 days because of the wedding. So a direct back-to-back comparison with the 700C English is impossible. I will say this, however: I am definitely much faster on descents on the 650B. My usual route into town has about 650 feet of descending on rough, potholed backroads and gravel. I’ve done it dozens of times, and it always takes me 21-23 minutes. I rode into town twice now with the 650B, and the trip took me 18 minutes the first time, and 19 minutes the second time.

This is entirely to be expected. Because the road is really rough, on the 700C bike with 25 mm tires, there’s lots of jumping, dodging, and panic braking. On the 650B, I just roll right over obstacles that would terminate my Clavicula fork or cause a pinch flat. The good part? The handling on this bike is not different from my 700C bike. Other than providing a lot of extra cushion, it really does not feel or act different, even when pushed relatively hard.

Going uphill isn’t faster (or slower, for that matter). But it is more pleasant because of the dramatically lower gearing on the 650B. I’m going to figure out a way to gear down the 700C bike, because grinding up 15% and even 20%+ grades in 34/25, while feasible, is certainly partly responsible for blowing out my knee.

The paint. Holy shit sparkles! It’s amazing. On one of my rides I stopped to eat, and I parked it by the window and stared at the sparkles instead of reading the paper as I had intended. It’s a lovely bike, at least if you’re not a traditionalist who thinks anything with a less than level top tube is ugly. My only regret is not going with something really bright. Oh well…next bike, if there ever is one, will be fluorescent pink with gold sparkles and a My Little Pony sticker on the headtube. Liberace on wheels.

A note about the Spyre brakes. I originally had weight weenies rotors on the bike. After only a few trips over the mountains, they were pulsing horribly. I replaced them with Shimano Ice Tech rotors, which seem more suitable for the type of riding I do.

What about the Spyres themselves? I regret to report that they have poor modulation at best. I thought it was a matter of getting used to them, but really they kind of suck. I’m going to try a few different models of brakes, starting with the HY/RD hydraulics, then I’ll try Shimano, and if all else fails, go back to BB7s. At least the latter work well, even though I hate them because they require a lot of messing around to keep them from squealing.

Regarding the title of this post: I’ve been seriously contemplating a 4-person team RAAM either next year or the following. If my knee is okay, I’ve decided it’s a go. We’ve got two team members so far (including me).

New and improved routes coming fast and furious starting at the end of next week…and, of course, don’t forget you can Win a Garmin! Now, off to do some stretching. I’m making a concerted effort to improve my flexibility.

John

medicalwriter.net

I Have Returned

1 Reply

I’m back from Anguilla and the wedding. Anguilla was great, but the bikes the hotel promised us would arrive by 9:00 am never showed up despite repeated requests. Taken together with the 10 days I didn’t ride before the vacation because of my knee, I’ve now been off the bike for almost 18 days. That’s the longest I’ve gone without riding since at least 2008!

It’s all good, though. My knee feels perfect again, and now I’m on the English 650B with a much lower low end–34/36 vs 34/25 on the 700C English. Hopefully spinning up mountains, as opposed to grinding up in the 34/25, will prevent the knee pain from coming back. I also made a deal with the devil, and I have some Speedplays coming. These pedals always struck me as a little dumb because the mechanical bits are part of the cleats rather than the pedal, but if they reduce the risk for knee pain, so be it.

After a quick trip to California next week, I’ll be back for the rest of the summer, so expect lots of new routes in July. They will be of the shorter variety, say 50 to 80 miles, for a while. I don’t want to push out a 200-mile ride until I’m sure about my knee. I need to get back into fightin’ shape, because I have a 400-mile ride planned for August, starting in Albany and circumnavigating the Adirondacks. Note that this isn’t a bicycle tour, we’ll be doing it rando-style, meaning that I have a hotel reserved at about 250 miles so we can pass out for 3-4 hours before completing the ride.

And of course, don’t forget to enter the Win a Garmin contest!

John

medicalwriter.net

Out for a Few Weeks

1 Reply

I’m off to a meeting in California, and then Anguilla…to get married. I asked my bride what time the ceremony will be on Saturday and she said “why, do you want to go for a ride first?”

Do I have a problem?

Anyway, it works out well because I’m still working on rehabilitating my vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) to make my knee track a little better. I’ve only ridden about 80 miles in the last two weeks, as compared with about 250 miles weekly before the knee pain. But when I get back, I’ll have the English waiting for me with low, low gearing to get me up those hills without destroying my knees again, and my knee should be all better.

So check back in 10 days, and consider entering the Win a Garmin competition. The best thing that could happen is you’ll win a Garmin or a set of the best tires ever made…worst that could happen is you have a great day on the best roads in three states.

John

medicalwriter.net

Contest: Win a Garmin 800!

10 Replies

As you know if you’ve been reading along, I’m on a mission: To get as many people as possible riding up here in the Catskills.

And as you will also know if you’ve been reading along, my Garmin 800 was destroyed after riding in the rain. Why Garmin can’t make a device that stands up to the rain, I don’t know. I’m giving it to a friend who is going to have it fixed.

In the meantime, however, I bought a Garmin 810…and just before it arrived, I received another Garmin 800 as a gift. It sounds complicated, I know, but the upshot is that I have an extra Garmin 800 now that’s unreturnable. I thought about regifting it, but then I had an idea.

Here’s your chance to win a Garmin 800 (first place) or a set of your choice of Grand Bois tires (second place) (Stand by for an update, though, there may be more prizes coming). The Garmin is the base model, so you’ll need to get a card with the maps, or just buy an SD card and download Open Maps.

Here’s the contest:

  • Design a route in Ride With GPS* of 50 to 200 miles in Ulster, Greene, or Delaware Counties (or use one of mine). One-day rides only. Camping trips are nice, but not what I’m looking for.
  • Ride that route
  • Send me at least 500 well-written words, at least 5 pictures, a map generated on Ride WIth GPS, and a link to the route, all of which will be posted as a guest post on my blog under your name or a pseudonym of your choice
  • Profit

You do not have to tell me why you want or deserve the Garmin. I don’t care, I just want to get people riding up here.

The contest is open to anyone who does not live in Ulster, Greene, or Delaware counties (yeah, I’m aware there could be cheating, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t, though).

Here’s how you will be judged, in order of importance:

  1. Good story, well written. I reserve the right to edit.
  2. Great pictures
  3. Great route
  4. Distance On second thought, let’s call this category “adventure.” Your ride can be anywhere between 50 and 200 miles, but back roads, mountains, and gravel are a big plus. Sorry for changing the rules–on reflection, I don’t want people riding 200 miles who aren’t ready for it!
  5. Public transport (use the train if you can)

A few edits: I don’t care how fast you go. Just enjoy yourself! Also, no organized events, please.

The contest runs from right now until September 30. I’m betting I get less than 10 entries, so you’ve got a great chance of winning. Enter as many times as you like!

Entries will be judged by me alone, on purely subjective criteria. And I hate to say this, but keep in mind that I am not liable for any injury that results from entering this contest.

*Just FYI, Ride With GPS also generates cue sheets, so you don’t need a GPS to use it.

John

medicalwriter.net

Grand Bois Hetre Extra Leger. Shaved. Tubeless.

6 Replies

Thanks to Peter Weigle! According to his note on the inside of the tire, the front went from 370 to 313 grams. The rear tires, on which Peter left a trace of tread, lost about 40 grams.

Extra Leger Shaved

First 1000 miles on these will be on the new English 650B. Next thousand will be on the Herse (probably with tubes though).

Knees are recovering and I should be back in business shortly. If my knee wasn’t injured, I’d be in the middle of George Swain’s Catskills Climbfest right now instead of sitting in front of my computer, working.

And PS: Can anyone make my grass grow? Believe it or not, it was exactly 50 degrees colder today than it was on Tuesday. 92 degrees to 42 degrees in 4 days, plus 30-40 mph winds.

John

medicalwriter.net