Cycling

[jtr1962]

a) How do these dumb asses get elected?

b) Since when is a Republican concerned about pollution?

You aren't aware of the half of it. Dig around Streetsblog a bit to see how ridiculous the situation with bicycles has become in the US. In NYC last year one of the major news stations ran a series called "Bike Bedlam" where they implied that cyclists were causing mayhem in the city. Meanwhile, the last time a cyclist killed someone was in 2009, and motor vehicles killed well over a hundred pedestrians in the city in 2012 alone, quite a few of them on sidewalks. The end result of this media obsession with bikes was a citywide crackdown which resulting in more cyclists getting traffic tickets than truck drivers, even though the latter far out number cyclists. And of course, the City Council spent a few sessions obsessing over what to do about "out of control" delivery cyclists, passing a bunch of idiotic new laws. Meanwhile the carnage caused by motor vehicles doesn't even register to these people.

Mr. Orcutt is actually one of the less radical ones, sad to say. Some idiot on the NYC Council two years ago proposing registering and licensing cyclists. And then you had the Prospect Park West saga (Streetsblog ran quite a few articles on that in 2011 and 2012). From the way some of these people protested, you would think the 18 block long bike lane meant the end of Western civilization.

 

[jtr1962]

I agree with all above that it would likely turn out to be a tiny amount of money, and would likely not even be worth collecting. But to be fair we are using the infrastructure, and should be billed out portion. $2 a tire or thereabouts would be my guess.

Well, it looks like I'll be getting 10,000 miles out of my rear airless tire, about twice that out of the front. I could probably live with a $2 a tire tax even though I'm philosophically against it. That would come to about 0.0267 cents per mile for me.

 

[Howell]

Must say I've never noticed an impairment from the helmet. In fact, I forgot my helmet once and went 5 miles before meeting up with a friend and he mentioned it. Of course, I'm running a pretty good helmet (Kask somethingorother, $500+, the part with the sticker is still on the side of the road). You can bet I'll be ordering another of the same tomorrow.

Good to hear you're wearing the incident well. I've replaced a few helmets but I've never had that kind of fall. I avoid the streets and stay on the trails for that reason. Good luck in the future. BTW, that helmet better come with a hell of a OOBE.

 

[ddrueding]

Hand delivered and fitted by a model

 

[LunarMist]

Hand delivered and fitted by a model

OOBE? Are you British?

 

[sdbardwick]

Out Of Box Experience

 

[Handruin]

Had a bit of a crash this morning. Paceline at 29.8MPH, I was second wheel. Guy in front did a minor brake check and I crossed up with him. Shattered the back of my helmet, bashed my hip pretty good, chipped a few teeth, and lost a lot of skin (shredded the shirt).

Glad my car key and S3 are mostly intact.

View attachment 570

Here is a trace of the ride; I was doing really well....

I know I'm late to the party in wishing you well but I'm glad you are OK from the bike incident.

 

[ddrueding]

I know I'm late to the party in wishing you well but I'm glad you are OK from the bike incident.

Thanks! I'm down to three 4x6 bandages already. Once the hip and ribs heal I'll be back riding again. Hopefully this weekend?

 

[ddrueding]

I went for a practice ride/race on Tuesday night with the team. On the downhill the bike was feeling a bit wobbly so I took it in for service.


The frame is broken in three places; both the chain- and seatstays on the drive side and the chainstay on the left are cracked. I'm awaiting word on repair and replacement costs.

The frame I want is the Specialized Roubaix SL4 Pro which retails for $2800. My friends who have broken their Specialized carbon frames have been offered discounts by the manufacturer on upgrades. Fingers crossed.

Did the 32 mile ride this morning on a bike that is 2 inches too short on the seat and 4 inches too short on the handlebars, while wearing sneakers. Felt really good to get off that bike.

 

[jtr1962]

That's exactly why I picked titanium over carbon. I guess since the roads by you are smooth, the primary way you can crack a carbon frame is by crashing. On the roads here, I suspect just riding will eventually cause something to crack.

 

[ddrueding]

Middle of a solo night ride in the middle of nowhere. Had to get the wife and kid to come pick me up; don't carry a spare tire and couldn't get that piece out cleanly.

 

[timwhit]

A spare tire is not that big, why not carry one? Yes, you'll need an iron and a pump too.

 

[jtr1962]

Try these when they come out (I'm on the waiting list). They're supposed to negate any of the drawbacks currently associated with airless tires, although the truth is after using these for 9000 miles, the slight loss of speed, and slightly worse ride quality, are more than compensated for by never having to worry about flats.

 

[ddrueding]

This is only my second flat in 1500 miles of riding, so I don't consider it a deal-breaker. Just sucks when it does happen. I do carry a spare tube, but this tire was damaged enough by the time I got the metal out that the tube caused it to bulge. The tires I run (Gatorskin) are actually pretty big even when folded up; not worth carrying IMO. I am looking into boots.

 

[jtr1962]

Lucky you. When I had air tires flats were a weekly occurrence. And 99% of the time it was the rear that flatted. I used to stay within a few miles of home just so I could walk back should a flat occur.

 

[ddrueding]

Both flats have occurred on field roads with heavy gravel on the side (trapping debris and allowing pointy things to hold nasty orientations). Actually, both happened on the same road within 5 miles of each other. Shame that is the main road between me and my favorite (closed) roads.

 

[ddrueding]

Hardest ride I've ever done.

 

[jtr1962]

Man, that's brutal. Congratulations just for finishing. Last year I think the most climbing I did in one ride was about 1100 feet and it hurt. I'm not sure I even could have finished the route you did, at least not without being about 30 pounds lighter.

 

[ddrueding]

The rough part was that I really haven't put in many miles with the kid, and I gained about 25 pounds in the last 2 months. It was also 90F and shadeless for most of the climb, and I was doing it on 4 hours sleep. There, that is the rest of the bragging done

I like that ride because the start/finish is my office, with showers and cots if you need. Even just doing that first climb to the summit and returning is a good 90-minute ride. JTR, if you ever make it out here, be sure to bring your bike. There are some beautiful rides in the area.

 

[snowhiker]

Interesting bike headlight.

 

[jtr1962]

That's pretty interesting. I wonder how far ahead the grid projects? It needs to be at least 50 or 75 feet ahead for ample warning at high speeds. In NYC, something like this would be invaluable. I can't say how many times I ran right into stuff which looked innocuous until I was nearly on top of it.

 

[jtr1962]

The rough part was that I really haven't put in many miles with the kid, and I gained about 25 pounds in the last 2 months. It was also 90F and shadeless for most of the climb, and I was doing it on 4 hours sleep. There, that is the rest of the bragging done

20 years ago I would have been able to do a hard ride in hot weather and on little sleep. Now all bets are off. And I unfortunately gained some weight also the last few months due to not riding as much as normal.

I like that ride because the start/finish is my office, with showers and cots if you need. Even just doing that first climb to the summit and returning is a good 90-minute ride. JTR, if you ever make it out here, be sure to bring your bike. There are some beautiful rides in the area.

Hopefully I'll have the time and money to take a trip to the West coast one of these days. I'll certainly bring the bike along. Just riding on roads without potholes will make the trip worth it.

 

[CougTek]

Hopefully I'll have the time and money to take a trip to the West coast one of these days.

How much would it cost to make the trip by train? It would be a lot faster by airplane, but somehow, I don't think you're an airplane guy.

 

[jtr1962]

How much would it cost to make the trip by train? It would be a lot faster by airplane, but somehow, I don't think you're an airplane guy.

Probably a few hundred for train fare. You're right, there's no way I'm flying. Airports are totally inconvenient for someone who doesn't have a car or driver's license. And the fumes at airports make me physically ill (i.e. I have a severe allergy to aromatic hydrocarbons). I just need to find the time to travel (~6 days for the round trip, plus however many days I might spend there). Besides Dave, I might look up both Santilli and udaman while I'm in the area.

Too bad the US never built a high-speed rail system. ~2500 miles coast-to-coast would be only 15 hours or so which is very comfortable.

 

[fb]

My new baby ;-)

I only rode it home from the shop today. It's already very comfortable, but I'll have a proper bike fit next week. It'll be interesting to see what difference it makes.

 

[LunarMist]

Buckner, Buckner...

 

[ddrueding]

My new baby ;-)

I only rode it home from the shop today. It's already very comfortable, but I'll have a proper bike fit next week. It'll be interesting to see what difference it makes.

That does look like a sweet ride, though I am now on my second Roubaix (now a pro) and wouldn't give up the softer ride easily.

 

[fb]

A Roubaix or Tarmac would definitely be nice, Specialized make some beautiful bikes, unfortunately their local dealer is more interested in selling kid bikes than racing bikes so it's pretty difficult to get a test ride. :/

Besides, the Sempre has been on my radar for about a year, so it wasn't difficult to convince me when this bike turned up at the store. I took it for a 52 km test ride yesterday and it actually felt like a pretty sweet ride.

 

[ddrueding]

I've never been happy with the way my bike shifts. At first I was running SRAM Apex, but damaged some of the components on my first fall and upgraded them to Rival. Still not happy with the shifting I've upgraded most of my drivetrain to their Force level (one below the top). It currently works, but just doesn't seem to work as well as those around me. Now I'm considering getting a power meter (crank based), and need to decide whether to jump ship and switch to Shimano before spending thousands of dollars on the wrong horse. I prefer the shifters for SRAM, but the bike mechanics I know are all saying that Shimano gear is just better.

 

[timwhit]

I was always told by bike mechanics to switch from Shimano to SRAM.

 

[Howell]

I've worked as a bike mechanic and have always hated SRAM. It always felt so imprecise. This was on mountain bikes though.

 

[Howell]

Some of you might like to see this. It was fun for me to see landmarks of my city on film.

Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kXdYRbX70E

A different perspective:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_pvfkvJr00

 

[ddrueding]

Today's top speed, 43.4mph. Nice pace all-round.

 

[LunarMist]

Bicycle friendly states.

 

[fb]

Here's my Saturday ride, my Vmax was only 42.76 mph. The weather was great, no wind and perfect temperature. :O)

 

[ddrueding]

That is a very good pace with lots of climbing. That is your regular route?

 

[ddrueding]

Tonight's ride with some pictures. Haven't built up the nerve to ride with my DSLR, and I like posting pictures to FB while I'm riding (another way to encourage people to ride with me), so I bought a Canon S110 with WiFi. Pairs directly to my phone in the field.

http://app.strava.com/activities/61083889



Edit: 49mph! Sweet!

 

[jtr1962]

You guys are making me jealous here with your maximum speeds! Most days I'm lucky to get much over 30 mph, although I'm not really pushing much on account of the potholes. I did hit 61 mph descending the Queensboro Bridge in the 1980s when I rode to Manhattan one night. There was a fierce tailwind that day. The metal grating surface only added to the atmosphere. Anyway, last year by October I was managing 40 mile rides in about 2.5 hours. Total elevation change on my typical routes for a ride of that length was ~1000 feet (yes, NYC is quite hilly in the outer boroughs-see chart below of one of my rides from last year). Now my bike is 2+ mph slower than when I first got it. I'm lucky to average mid 14s these days. The rear airless tire has 9000 miles on it. Resistance seems to have increased since around 6000 miles. I was running an air tire in front but it wore out so I put on an Amerityre 700x25 which I got on eBay (actually I bought about half a dozen for all my bikes). Like all airless tires, it gets faster as it breaks in but that takes 500 to 1000 miles. Before that happens I hope these are finally available so I can get my lost speed back.

 

[fb]

That is a very good pace with lots of climbing. That is your regular route?

It's kind of my regular route, it's pretty scenic. I prefer when it's a bit up and down as it means I can rest now and then.

 

[ddrueding]

I set up routes with climbs because it punishes me for my extra weight (probably 25 extra pounds at the moment, 220 total). Of course, that does lead to some awesome downhills. It seems I'm cadence limited at about 49mph (50 in front, 11 in the rear). Might be time to switch to a standard in front.