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...won't be easy for most of you schlubs! Step up your game, folks, or you'll never be in LJ's league.

...or a buffoon? I think they re-used the SRAM eTap one from a couple years ago, and dropped in the Shimano stuff. Uh, oops.

...I feel like they would live like this: FTR, I LOVE Dustin. Hilarious dude.

...for a wonderful day off were ruined about 11 miles in by the powerline work being done on the path leading to the start of my "adventure" for the day. Work was being done at the one place where there was no easy bypass, and due to my typical late start and the shorter days (thanks @Kirby ), I knew I was cutting it close to sunset as it was, and waiting for the trail to re-open, or taking the long way around were not great options AND I could get caught on the other side of the same crap coming home. DAMN. So much for some hill climbs. In any case, I was able to salvage some of the fun and nice weather, and I later avoided t-boning a moran, so that was good. Not the last chance for a longer ride this season, but maybe the last with the kind of weather that has you wearing shorts, short sleeves, and sweating a bit.

With a couple of Ritchey fans here and the "lucky ones" who got in before the shortage, it has prompted me to spend some thought around a travel bike. Ritchey has their "break=away" frames, and a while back, I saw them in a few different frame offerings. Now though, I just see it in the gravel Outback, and even that one is not available. I wonder if 1) Ritchey is dropping it as an option on other ones (I doubt it) or 2) he is doing a good/pro-active job of only listing "pipeline" bikes, and the only break-away bikes in the pipeline (ie built and en route?) are the Outback models? I'm not sold on this color, but it seems the only one in the line-up these days.

Who knew I had this one? Yet another "When did I get this one?" sort of things.

...so Canada has that going for it. I bet @shootingstar can commiserate.

...and time lapse makes my poking speed seem better Lovely weather - little cool and damp - so folks out riding. Fall is arriving. These are from the mid-part of my ride out past Leesburg VA where I have to go to get any real hills to enjoy. ...and while I felt bad passing this couple twice, they weren't very friendly either. When I say "Howdy" and get no reply except staring ahead and ignoring, it sort of makes chasing his down the second time a little nicer

...and left my lights off!

...on my ride yesterday from a rider I passed - "You make me feel slow and fat." He was neither, but it was funny.

...how about a meet-up for UnPAved? Closer to Harrisburg than Mercer and Pittsburgh, but this looks like it would be a blast! @Longjohn, maybe @Prophet Zacharia, and others rolling some gravel in central PA??? Heck, RG, SW, and 12string: Located just south of I-80, and smack-dab in the middle of Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River Valley is practically around the corner from wherever you are: 2 and a half hours from the Belmont Plateau in Philly 3 hours from Central Park, NYC 3 hours from the Lincoln Memorial in DC 3 and a half hours from Primanti Bros. in the 'Burgh 6 hours from Boston Common 7.5 hours from Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal My local guy liked it this year (in the mud):

Not really, but first time wearing them. I bought them three or four years ago when they were in my size and on sale. I don’t wear shoes in the summer, I always wear sandals. When the colder weather came I just wore my Shimano's like I always did. Then I had two years of taking care of my wife and not riding. I couldn’t find my Shimano’s, I have no idea what I did with them. While looking for them I found these brand new Lake size 50 Wide. Wore them today on my ride and they feel pretty good. Since this seems to be footwear day I figured I’d post them. They say race on the sole, does that mean I can go faster?

...when I read this good news: Kris Sonderup took his daughter to a BMX race in South Carolina three years ago, and he was slightly wowed by the crowd. It was a national event, and the track in Rock Hill had attracted more than 1,000 racers. But the owner of Lincoln’s Cycle Works was even more impressed by what was happening nearby. The neighboring pump track — an asphalt-covered circuit of banked turns, humps and small jumps — was teeming with riders, killing time between races and building their skills. Sonderup had heard of pump tracks, but now he was seeing one in action. They’re typically shorter and narrower than traditional BMX tracks, and more accessible — riders can catch air if they’re comfortable, or stay on two wheels if they’re not. They’re also designed so riders don’t even have to pedal; by pumping their handlebars over the rollers, and carrying their speed through turns, they can coast all the way through. “It just really boggled me how busy it was. All three days we were there, there were kids, and adults, riding around on this,” he said. “And it just really opened my eyes.” Enough to make Sonderup, also a board member of Star City BMX, wonder: Why doesn’t Lincoln have a pump track?

I get a kick out of people who compete with you all year long on mileage and/or elevation gain. FTR, I start easy and as the year passes, I notice if I am slacking and if I am, I try to pick it up some. But I have one guy, all year long, his comments on my Strava or FB. "Nice ride Beanz, I did a little less but twice the elevation gain" or "same mileage but I did more climbing" type comments. Another guy, trying to stay ahead of me on mileage. He was 500 ahead at one time. Now 2 months left, he is 200 and I have almost tripled his gain. He would not give me kudos on a bike ride unless he happened to have better average than I , for some reason on a ride. Of course, they were group rides so I would stop, the group go by to record the riders, then have to get back on to catch up. Or at times, slow to record the slower back group riders who were behind. Cry baby if you ask me ha ha ha! As for now, he has 200 more miles which on my schedule, would take 2 weeks to ride. But now I am ahead by 40,000 ft of elevation gain. Which would take him 4-5 months to do going by his schedule. So now he is being a bad sport and closing the gap, he changed his status, request to follow so I can no longer see his rides. A few years back on Bikejournal, had one buddy who lead me the entire year by 800 miles and he often commented about it. Till the last quarter (?). I closed the gap closing out the year close to 6,000 miles. He was slightly ahead of me, maybe 50 miles in the last 3 weeks. I closed it and then the last week, I was ahead so he started hiding his rides. I was ahead by 30 miles on the last day but some how, he managed to post a hidden ride of 40 miles that he did a couple of days earlier. So he was happy he beat me by 10 and let me know it. IMO, 10 miles difference, there is no winner and again, I had him by over 100,000 ft of gain. 10 miles is no biggie but the fact he bitched out is more of a reason to think of him as a poor sport. Then the riders who take some of the top places on Strava. One good example is GMR, mountain road, 8 miles, 2300 ft of gain. I know a guy, super fast climber, who held a top 10 position for a couple of years. Maybe 1,000 riders. He posted on forums inviting others to come out to time trial with his fast group, all fast climbers. Then the Tour of Calif happened and he was pushed way back down the standings. Maybe 200 last I saw. Then more riders, about 15,000 and faster climbers started appearing on GMR. He got hurt and stopped posting on Strava. Another guy on the trail, top 10 on many of the segments. Having all kinds of fun talking about strava and his placements in the top 10. More riders appear and there go his top places. So now he goes private after falling 100 places and saying that he doesn't enjoy the social part of posting when I asked about it. He sure enjoyed it when he was taking top spots. I can't be a bad sport myself. I show all my stuff and don't hide anything no matter my position on any board. If I have a good year, if I have a bad year, all my friends and acquaintances are able to see my stats. If someone challenges me, I go head to head all out in the open. I don't go for that crybaby stuff of hiding your stats once you challenge somebody. FTR, I never challenge anyone. I go off the comments and challenges of others. For instance, if someone says, "the last month of the year and I am 100 miles ahead of you", watch out! If someone beats me flat out, I will shake their hand and say, "well done!".

I have Speedplay Zero pedals, and the cleats were tweaked a few years ago to add a "walkability" fucntion - the yellow rubbery cover that covers the actual cleat and provides some protection to floors and to the cleat mech. That yellow piece is pressed into place, and mine have held in place for a couple years since I swapped them onto my shoes. About three weeks ago, just about to head out on a ride, my buddy was like, "You broke your cleat", and I looked down onto the pavement and there was the right cleat's yellow cover laying there. I picked it up, pressed it back on, and went for my ride. Fast forward a couple weeks, and while out on a ride in the country, I lost it. Not sure where, but somewhere along the route, I must have clipped out, lost it, and then clipped back in none-the-wiser. I got home, noticed it immediately as my shoe clicked loudly on the garage floor. FUCK... C'est la vie. I have new cleats sitting on the shelf, but really couldn't be bothered after that ride (Sun) to fix them, and there is NO performance issue w/ or w/o the yellow covers - just the walking factor, and I rarely "walk" anywhere on a ride except into a convenience store. This Wednesday, I got my next chance to get out for a ride. Later than I wanted (short days ) so I knew I wouldn't get a great ride in, but a ride is better than no ride! I rolled out, doing my normal slow roll towards the areas with less road crossings, and as I approached a stop near @Old No. 7's new commute & office (Elden & W&OD by Green Lizard & Anitas), I stopped to press the crossing button. As I unclipped, I looked down, and HALLELUJAH! On the ground, right by my right foot, was a YELLOW cleat cover!!!!! Not sure if it was a left or right, or even specific to Zero, but I picked it up, tucked it in my back pocket. And did my ride. At home after the ride, I pulled it out of the jersey pocket, lined it up with my shoe, and pressed it firmly into place. A match made in heaven!!! Somehow, for some reason, the cosmos decided to reward me with good cleat karma! My 2018 story about the older cleats and cafe covers.

...I'd be looking at CalPoly (Pomona) for college! I don't even remember the research we had going on when I was in college, but this bike stuff would be fun! We’re excited to announce our partnership with the Mechanical Engineering Department at Cal Poly (Pomona) to explore cycling-related research topics. Starting this semester, 38 undergraduate and 2 graduate students are working under Dr. Nolan Tsuchiya on a variety of projects, including: Measure drivetrain losses: Does cross-chaining decrease efficiency? What about ultra-small rear cogs? Investigate suspension losses: not just the magnitude of the energy loss, but also the vibration frequencies that cause the greatest losses. A better understanding will point to new ways to minimize the energy lost as bike and rider vibrate. Develop new methods to measure losses in tires, with the goal of improving our tires further. The project came about when Dr. Tsuchiya reviewed our book The All-Road Bike Revolution on his private Youtube channel The Bike Sauce. We connected after that. With a mutual interest in cycling-related research, the idea for this partnership was born. In the past, Rene Herse Cycles has teamed up with students of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department of the University of Washington for wind-tunnel tests of real-world bicycles. We found that wide tires don’t greatly increase wind resistance. Our tests showed that fenders can be designed to act as fairings to decrease drag. And we found that, when drafting, not only the rear rider benefits: The lead rider receives a push that decreases their wind resistance by up to 3%. Those results have changed the cycling world. We are excited about his new project. Together with the students and Dr. Tsuchiya (bottom right), we’re developing a number of research projects that will improve our understanding of how bicycles work and (hopefully) lead to new products. Scientific research has always been the underpinning of what we do at Rene Herse Cycles. The collaboration with Cal Poly takes this to the next level, with long-term research projects that benefit from all the resources of Cal Poly’s Mechanical Engineering Department. At the same time, the project offers students structured research projects with practical applications. We’re looking forward to the results!

This is a good one, from Michigan's Alexey Vermeulen. I met him, cool dude. https://www.paysonmcelveen.com/podcast/episode/4bcb6777/alexey-vermeulen-pro-cyclist

...is Oklahoma the "mid-South"????? Or is Stillwater just in the mid-south of OK???

kudos to Cannondale

A couple days ago, a local guy I follow on Strava posted a gravel ride over a mix of roads I know and ones I don't. With Strava, it is as easy as "create route" and boom! Load it to GPS and you are good to go ride it on your own. Sunday was PERFECT Fall weather, so what better activity than a gravel ride??? I got suited up, and headed off towards the start of the route he followed. I took it particularly easy on the ride out to Leesburg where the gravel starts, with a couple minute stop for a water fill up. Man, the early bits are always tough with some steep ass gravel climbs with a few strategically paved at the steepest parts. Eventually I got to parts unknown - or, rather, parts I have ridden in the other direction. It was on that stretch where I passed the ONLY other gravel cyclist - a dude with a Brit accent. Anyway, I said hi, and continued on past him. Then I got to parts unknown - a mixture of totally new and some of the reverse direction riding - and just loved the time seeing the countryside at my own pace and saying hi to the horses, cows, and assorted livestock out in the fields. Perfect weather! Towards the middle of the second half of the ride, I spotted a rider ahead of me on the road. THE SAME GUY! Anyway, this time by, I slowed down and just started chatting with him. I think we rode together for the next 30 or 45 minutes. Chatting about gravel, our bikes (his was a slightly older Cannondale with a Lefty fork), his Brit accent, etc. etc.. Definitely a nice twist on my usual solo rides. We parted ways as we passed his car at the high school, and I poked along for the last bit home. Perfect weather, new route options, a friendly compatriot, and a few sore muscles. A good ride indeed - and while not only because of Strava, but certainly helped a LOT by Strava.

Finishing up my ride last evening, and I was closing a gap on two dudes on road bikes. They seemed together, and they seemed to be happy puttering along. I rapidly caught up to them, but as it was a busy stretch of the trail and the lead guy seemed to hog the center of the trail, I ended up just freewheeling for a while behind them, and waiting to roll past when the opportunity presented itself. Anyway, as we slowed at an intersection, and then started up again on the other side, the guy in front of me continued his pokey pace, so I started passing him and assumed the front slow guy would continue with his similar pokey pace. BUT...as I approached the front guy, he was out of his saddle and accelerating much quicker than his partner. I still completed my pass, but was left scratching my head why he would - seemingly - ride so erratically - ie poking for 1/4 mile (and clearly much longer than that), but for that little bit where I was going to pass, he would greatly increase his effort. It dropped his buddy, so it just seems like erratic riding, but my assumption that a pokey rider would remain consistently pokey seemed a mistake. I'm thinking he was really a pokey-pokey-pokey-rush-rush-pokey-pokey-pokey rider.

Is it true? Cycling doesn't make you strong; you have to be strong to ride????? Argh!

https://www.lafieldguide.com/archive/first-look-2021-mtbgb Check out that drivetrain a 1X18 they said it couldn’t be done. Take that you single speed freaks.