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https://jalopnik.com/so-were-just-trying-to-kill-bicyclists-now-1850534286 Seems a crazy way to direct traffic. I wouldn't ride on such a road.

I was doing an organized ride yesterday, and the weather was BEAUTIFUL but a bit on the warm side. In any case, MULTIPLE times folks riding by commented on my saltiness. One guy said I was the saltiest person he had ever seen. Another said he was gonna give me grief about how salty my jersey was, but also noticed I was caked in dust, so just joked with me about my being covered in salt and grit I seem to produce a LOT of salt while sweating. Not sure if that's because I eat too much salt, have some strange salt-sweating condition, or just wear salt-visible clothing? How about you? Salty?

...and it had to happen while I was still riding!

Yesterday was our local "Loudoun 1725 Gravel Grinder" starting out in Middleburg VA. It's horse country and a place with a lot of gravel roads still in existence. Well maintained roads and relatively quiet - especially on a Sunday morning. Anyway, a while back I signed up for the 80-miler (there is a 40 and a 60) and then promptly forgot about it. Luckily, they started sending reminders a few weeks ago, and it was back on my radar. The trouble was...I signed up prior to taking two vacations this spring and then, to top it off, being sick followed by Canadian smoke over the last two weeks. Rats! I was not ready I was dragging on Sun morning and it took me a while to wake up and get out the door. Then a 40 min drive to the start but I got to the line with 15min left in the 80-mile group. Riders were released in packs of 10 so they were staggered over the course - a great idea. Anyway, the weather was PERFECT. Almost too perfect as there has been no rain lately, so the gravel was very dusty. Below are a few screen grabs of my ride and show essentially the ride (minus the hills). You were pretty much always riding on gravel past fences, stone walls, or among trees, with some pavement and small groups of houses and farm buildings mixed in. Super low volume of vehicle traffic. Rest stations were every 20 miles or so, and the route was set up so that eventually you were also riding with the 60 and 40 milers, but still not busy at all. Lots of food and water and PERFECTLY marked (plus the GPS file). I made one wrong turn and immediately knew it. Anyway, it was brutal. Being unprepared for the constant undualtions with little truly flat stretches, I gradually knew it was going to be a true "grind" and not a joy ride. After the 60 mile mark, I was definitely battling dehydration and cramping. When I got to the climbs, I just dumped into my granny gear and went as easy as possible. I stopped to massage my legs, and I made sure I stayed at rest stops longer than normal to stretch and drink. It worked, but damn it hurt. Now I remember why I stick to longer events in the 2nd half of the year, not the spring. A super well organized event, but I probably was better fit for the 60 miler. This was stolen from another rider's post, but I literally was sitting just to the side of #583 at this stop (70miles in). He was there when I got there and still there after I left. The stop had pizza and I didn't even want that - that's how worn out I was.

(not a parody) Any time you ride with 3500 of your friends, there's a lot of clulessness to see. Got my crash out of the way early, didn't even get to the start line when a "new friend" stopped dead in front of me. I knew I had riders coming up, so I just nailed the brakes and stood on the pedals, hoping she'd move so I could pedal again. She moved. Her rear tire into my front. I didn't get rolled, but almost took out my Bil by hitting his rear wheel with my head. Daughter's chain came off the ring just as the team was leaving a rest stop. Quick fix, we can make up a 1/2 mile. Until she tried to muscle the chain and tangled the rear derailuer. Took us about 6 miles to catch them. At the part of the ride that's a couple mile incline, wide open fields, right as the onshore wind started. Made me feel better that it also winded her a bit. Otherwise, a good ride. The whole team made it in good shape, good time. SiL wasn't happy, he brought the truck for bike transport, wasn't prepared for the traffic mess. Then almost an hour trying to get out of the garage because the ticket machines were down. Good food at the endpoint, bad beer. Nice after party. And more traffic for a few who had planned to head up I95 to get home

Loaded the bike this morning to ride to the Metro. Got down the drive, and 50' towards the trail when BAZINGA!!! - my ass came millimeters from getting filled with seatpost!!!!! The bolt on my saddle clamp sheared off and I was left with just the post & rails between me and a rude awakening. It did graze my tender bits, and that took a few minutes to settle down, but otherwise, I am now in the "How do I find a replacement bolt for a 25+yr old part?" boat. I'll have to dig through my bike bits and see what I have gathering dust.

Is Squamish with a cool jump trail. Perfect for DH and her hubby!

And gravel is kicking my ass There's a free gravel ride series I'm doing for the first time, that has distances of 31, 62, 100 miles. I'm going for the 31 mile I've done longer gravel rides, but its been awhile. The first one was three weeks ago. It was flat but windy. Fun though. This past weekend was hilly, very hilly (to me), w/ 1200 feet of climbing. The first & last several miles were the same route w/ a loop in the middle. Nothing like an uphill finishAnd these were the hilliest miles. The middle was gradual grades w/ a couple hills. This series is sponsored by a club in Ann Arbor cycling and gravel race director, Nick Stanko. A Michigan guy. Also they are held at breweries 🍻. I got into gravel riding several years ago and can see why its gained so much popularity. I'd like to do more. This ride and like the others, the first few or so miles are on paved roads. But then the gravel starts and its like being in the middle of no where. They are mass start events, and distances have staggered start times so everyone finishes about the same time which is nice so people can hang oot. A friend of mine who did the 100 mile, finished about 20 minutes after me. I met two cool dudes and we chatted and rode together. Fun times.

What a shocking end to the Giro's final weekend. Friday's stage was a true ballbuster, but after seeing Primoz seem to struggle to hang with Geraint and definitely not willing to put in any hard attacks on the jersey, I din't think he was gonna do much on Friday and definitely not Saturday. Wow - I was wrong. Friday, while waiting until just the last few meters to actually make and keep separation, Roglic did get some daylight. I still thought that meant he was toast and incapable of closing the large GC gap, but at least he had something in the tank. Saturday I watched the US riders stack themselves up on the TT leaderboard. A LOT of talent on display from these guys. But, as the final six GC guys rolled in, those US leaders dropped a bit, and I assumed G would hold his form to the top with Roglic finishing close but not winning. But Roglic looked good. So did Geraint. And then, DISASTER for Roglic. A dropped chain on a steep section! And while barely ahead of Thomas. Struck again by a TT disaster! Roglic, though, soldiered on and still rolled in with a blistering fast finish at the top of the board. And, then Thomas, who started 3 mins back, started to slow and slow and slow. You could see his pep disappear even knowing Roglic had had a mechanical. When the dust settled, it was not even close. A clear win for Roglic, a nice concession speech by Geraint, and just the parade into Rome to go. And so I tuned in on Sun into what is often just a boring stage to see how folks looked crossing the finish line, and was pleasantly surprised by Thomas helping to lead out Cav in the final few kms before watching Cat - in his final Giro - blast to a resounding win in Rome. Surrounded by other teams, he accepted his well deserved congratulations. Primoz - not too old, but seemingly past his TdF winning prime, still had the skill and tenacity to win another Grand Tour. Geraint Thomas turned 37 last week, and was STILL a force to be reckoned with and the late game favorite for the Giro win. Cav - also "old" and retiring soon - showed he still had punch when he needed it and could last through a grueling 3 week race to win one last time. And Remco? While I think he would likely have won it all, we won't ever know. Will he return next year to the Giro or will it be him leading the GC for his team in the TdF instead? Heck, leading it this year? How has that shuffled? A side note, I also just heard that the 2024 TdF finishes in Nice instead of Paris due to the Olympics. This is a first, and pretty amazing to see how they do it. I think there is a TT on the final day, and not a traditional sprint stage on the Champs. We'll see but gotta get through the 2023 TdF first.

I have only been riding for about 9 years now on a road bike and always on 25mm tires. I am going to have another go at tubeless after a long enough gap that I forget what it was line last time, but with my newer rims I am going with a 28mm tire. Anyone riding 28s? Thoughts? Apparently 28 is the new 25, but I am skeptical. I am keeping my 25s in case I don't like them

My Edge 500 is 10 years old, and so far (knock on wood) works great. But the rubber buttons which are molded into the case are worn and falling off Again, not bad for 10 years of pushing. The real button inside on the circuit board works, but I was thinking what could I do to still use this then it occurred to me💡 3D printing I designed a button in Solidworks that resembles the molded button, and printed it It fits just fine. But how do I keep these things in there . I went on line and found a rubber case on Ebay, from China for $7.53 USD shipped. Several colors available. Welp, it fits like a glove, and the buttons work👍 Knowing this, I should of bought a case for it years ago oh well, live and learn. Another option would be to find a case and transfer the goods, but that's a little (no pun) more than I'd like try seeing how small things are. I like what I came up with The power button isn't as tactile feeling as the others, so I may need to print another button, but we'll see how it goes.

...but they're nowhere to be found I figure, between the two of them, @donkpow and @Page Turner ought to be able to restore this pile of rubbish into a couple of usable bikes again!

https://gizmodo.com/triangle-wheeled-bicycle-bike-wheels-the-q-square-youtu-1850453954

Looks like a crazy ride, and sand is difficult to ride thru tough.

Jan Heine discussing how his Rene Herse tires held up under various Tour of the Divide riders: The first thing that struck us was the good condition of these tires. They’ve been ridden 2,666 miles across some of the roughest roads in North America, yet they remain in great shape. Let’s look at Sofiane’s tires first. There’s obviously some wear, especially on the rear (above), where the center knobs have worn considerably. Because of the rocky terrain, Sofiane ran a higher tire pressure than you would in a pure gravel race. That concentrated the wear in the center of the tread. Even so, about half the knob height remains. The front tire has less wear, obviously. Even more impressive is the inside of Sofiane’s tires. Apart from some traces of tubeless sealant, they look as good as new. In fact, Sofiane reports that he had no punctures during the two-week race, and he didn’t need to inflate his tires, either. They held their pressure from start to finish. Not having to think about his tires meant Sofiane could focus on the race, and even enjoy the scenery.

Weird how it just oozes oot of every pore I put in some sealant Friday night because I had a gravel ride Saturday. No wonder taars don't hold air.

...they do look like they had fun

Who else is excited for the race??? I may have to figure out how to catch some stages while on vacation, but I will get to see the final week, so hopefully it is a close one still. Stages 18, 19, and 20 (a TT) should be tough!

Think this was intentional or not? Hard to tell with idiots, but I think it was. I need an expert - @Parr8hed - opinion.

I'm generally a solo rider, but yesterday, while enjoying the Spring weather, I picked up a rider while I was still warming up. About five minutes into my ride, as I slowed for an intersection, I heard another cyclist freewheeling to a stop too. He asked if it was okay to sit on my wheel and I was fine with it and continued riding my own ride. But then he started chatting to me from my back wheel area. "Is that electronic shifting?" followed by a string of bike related questions. Eventually he pulled alongside me instead of just drafting, and we rode about 10 miles chatting. He eventually said good bye and turned around. I continued, but then after turning around and eventually catching and passing a guy in a Trek jersey and a SWEET green Madone, I realized he had posed onto my wheel too. After a few miles, he swung to the front and really amped up the pace I drafted him for a while, but I generally don't like to do that when there are enough folks out to have to slow down to pass folks too often. I told him I was gonna drop off, but he instead slowed to ride next to me and we chatted for the next 10 miles until I got home. To me, that's not "normal" for an afternoon ride. To pick up two separate riders - and to then chat with them for most of a ride - is very rare. Sure, folks will draft, but not usually turn that into a rolling conversation. A nice departure from the norm, though. Not something I want to regularly occur, but nice when it does.

...seems to be Pogacar himself? Man, I would have liked to see him challenge for a Triple in L-B-L, but I'm hoping more he is fit and ready come July.