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On the 4th, my buddy and I agreed to meet up for a gravel ride. Since I only brought the Tarmac to CA, the last time I rode the Diverge was back in Jan/early Feb when we were getting snow & slushy weather. I was pretty excited to get back on some gravel roads. I asked him what sort of ride he wanted me to plan, and he gave a broad 40-60 miler, so I went with an option that hit the minimum, but could be extended in small pieces to reach his higher end length. Anyway, I did my normal morning routine, slapped on some sunscreen, and headed out to meet him around 9am (running a tad behind). As I started rolling, I applied the brakes, and immediately noticed the front brake squealing like a pig and not being as grippy as they should. I grabbed a bit of rear brake, and it was fine, so I decided I could ride with a weak front as long as the rear was good Even with the weak braking, it was still equal to rim braking. I rolled into our meeting spot, and was already through a bottle of water. I refilled, ate a fig bar, and we set out on the ride. My buddy is 10+ (maybe 15) years younger than me, and rides pretty similar mileage as me, so I had a little trepidation that he might be ready to smack me around a bit Anyway, about 3 miles into our loop, the pain began. A series of short but steep climbs showed me that 1) he was cruel, and 2) I was sweating like a pig. Some scenic roads mixed with more climbs & descents where he took the lead on both, and besides my slow going, my lack of full confidence in the brakes and my rustiness on gravel proved to be humbling. We eventually got to the start of another long gravel stretch but a bright orange road sign declared DETOUR - road closed. Usually, on bikes, you can still skirt those road closures, but when we got to the creek the bridge was totally removed - ie the road surface was gone, and the bridge structure was lifted up and placed off to the side. Maybe could have walked across the creek, but chose to follow the detour. That was a mistake of sorts as it was on asphalt and an extra couple miles, but we eventually hit our break area where I got some more water, and then we were off on some more gravel. By now, I was soaking from sweat, and we hit some more short but steep climbs where my legs were barking a bit. My buddy seemed to dial it back for me, so that was kind. As we approached the end of the short loop, we hit the longest and steepest climbs of the ride, and I just picked my easiest gear and stuck with it to the top, took a minute to rest & take a big swig of water, and then rolled on. At the point where we would add more miles, I suggested (and my buddy agreed) that we call it a ride and head back towards the parking lot. We enjoyed the monster descent (dialed back a little due to my braking issues), and I let my buddy make a quick run for the last half mile or so (YOUTH!), and I rolled in to regroup with some more water and chat. Normally, I would just make a bee-line home, but I decided to hit up one of my favorite sandwich shops out in that area. Good decision, as a turkey sandwich and a Coke really took the edge off, and I was able to enjoy the ride home with a relatively full belly. I even got a chuckle at the old guy yelling at the older roadie who passed him without a warning Too funny to hear someone chew out (and be ignored) the roadie. All things considered, a really fun ride, but damned if the humidity was killer and 6 bottles on the ride plus the Coke was nowhere near enough to keep me ahead of my hydration needs. It took me the rest of the afternoon and evening to top off again. Yowza!

Driver charged with aggravated assault for hitting bicyclist in SE Houston Monday, July 5, 2021 11:35PM SHARE TWEET EMAIL

...and left scratching my head...for a moment. But then I thought, "that shouldn't have happened." On reflection, it makes sense, and he should have at least dinged a bell or said "on your left" I think @Old No. 7 can confirm my conclusion:

I dusted off the Bianchi & took it for a whirl today. It was fun but damn that bike is long & low. I’m not used to it & had to cut it short at 20miles. My neck & back were achy. Some thoughts: At about 4 lbs lighter than my crosser, the weight was noticeable. I wasn’t faster but you can just feel that it’s a lighter bike. It almost felt skittish as the front end is so light. Hydraulic discs are better brakes period, no debate and none of you retro grouches will ever convince me other wise. Do cable actuated rim brakes work? Yes but they are not in the same league as hydro discs. My hands were noticeably fatigued from grabbing the brakes so hard to stop. One finger braking, yeah no… Campagnolo shifting = Buttah. Shimano shifting has a nice firm indexed click with each shift. Campy has a buttery smooth action to the lever. I wouldn’t say it’s better, just smoother. It was fun breaking out the Bianchi but the Ritchey will get lots more action for the foreseeable future. I’ll post a picture since the site lets me now! White on white anyone??? I did this especially for @Randomguy

Sort of. I installed the Garmin connect app on my phone. Sync it with Strava, installed the cadence sensor on my bike, installed the speed sensor on my wheel, put on the heart rate monitor. Everything was working fine but I didn’t know what this big arrow was on the screen. I rode my butt off trying to have an impressive ride only to find out it wasn’t recording. That big arrow was telling me to hit the button on the side to start recording. I got home and sat on the porch swing trying to figure it out. Posted a goofy porch swing ride on Strava. I think I got it now. It did record my high speed of the day of 26 mph. I don’t know how it recorded that and not the ride? The 26 mph hill when I was going up it I was spinning 100 rpm in my lowest gear. It’s going to take me awhile to get in shape. I’m still out of breath from my ride that didn’t record.

...but he seemed friendly enough. He didn't seem to want to come home with me, though.

I don't, can't really see the value in it. I am open to having my mind changed, but it will be difficult.

Who uses them here? My bike shop doesn’t sell them so I’ll probably have to order online. What are your feelings about them? Is it just another expensive doodad that you have to worry about someone swiping when you turn your back? I haven’t put a computer on my new bike yet, thinking about just buying an Edge.

I was having trouble sleeping so at three AM I got up and ordered a new pair of bike shorts and another jersey from Aerotech Designs. All my bike shorts have become baggies after losing fifty pounds. These are 100% American made by a company in Pittsburgh. They tell who makes the thread in USA, the material in USA, and they design everything in Pittsburgh and put it together. They have tall sizes so I bought both the shorts and the jersey in tall. I have gained six pounds, if I keep on gaining they probably won’t fit by next year. YIB A Garmin Edge 530 with the sensor bundle. I got the notification that they shipped it this morning.

...is a helluva of fun descent, but not a whole lot of pedaling

Yesterday on my ride we hit a detour on a MUP that took us in the street for a bit and then back in the MUP. As I’m making a hard left to get back on the trail a 60 something dude on an e bike hit the turn to fast, lost control and dumped it on the side of the trail. So I loop around, get off my bike to help him and when I bend down to pick up his bike get dizzy due to my low BP issues and drop to my knees! I was able to shake it off and get his bike off him but now I’m light headed & dizzy so sit next to him. My wife rolls up and figures the old man took me out! Nah he just fell & I got light headed again. Us two geezers sat in the shade for a minute, geezer #1 sorting himself & his bike out. Geezer #2 just waiting for the light headed ness to pass. It wasn’t funny at the time but my we got a good chuckle out of later.

Ok onto cranks because the LBS now tells me I need a 10spd crankset to do the conversion. I'm sure I needed to know this and that this is what they say I need, but do I need to change the crankset complete or just the crank rings??? They seemed to be unsure and my bike has a GXP bottom bracket so finding a complete 10spd crankset seems silly if the BB and crank arms are all in excellent condition (BB is new this year, less than 3k miles). Can I just find some 10sp crank rings and they'll bolt on? Or even a hamburger crankset that I can scavenge the rings from?

The individuals started a couple days ago. The have been riding through some brutal temps On guy ended up in the ER with dehydration after puking his guts up for 100 miles. After some fluids and a cool down he is back in the course. I have a good friend that raced it a couple times as a single. Just brutal.

One of the bikes I sold a couple of years ago has come back into my possession. I sold it to a school teacher that wanted it to commute to work, but has been transferred to another school that is too far from home, so no longer has need of it. He needs new wheels for his other bike, so we struck a deal for a new set of wheels and some cash. I am going to make some changes to it. I never really did get used to those butterfly bars. I just wanted to give them a try, but I am going to swap them out for something else. I'm thinking maybe an Albatross bar or something like that with a bit of a back sweep. Here is a link to the thread I posted when I sold it. https://squarewheelscycling.com/index.php?/topic/90196-n-1/&tab=comments#comment-826396 It will take some cleaning to get it to look like this again.

Since I started riding serious miles when my boys were in high school I have never not rode until this past two years. My new bike has a really nice saddle that lines up with my sit bones, the problem is it hurts my butt. Is that because my butt is out of shape? It feels like I have bruises right over my sit bones. I’m going to have to switch off to a saddle from one of my other bikes at least until the soreness goes away. I would love to be able to leave that Lynskey saddle on there. Possibly I need a slightly wider saddle? The soreness is over my sit bones but toward the inside.

That's how long the HR monitor strap for my Garmin 800 lasted. I died early this week. I changed the battery. Still no HR on the old 800. I ordered a new strap that night. Today it arrived and I have a HR again. I'll keep using the 800, I wonder how long before it dies?

This made me chuckle too. What a nutty but funny thing to do.

Trying to source a 9sp set of shifters for the bike has been a trial. The bike rolls with ST-5510 (105s) and 105(f) and Ultegra(R) derailleurs. Finding a compatible 2x9 brifter set has been a challenge. I was hoping the internets favorite China brand, MicroNew, would work since their about $150 for a new set with similar performance and smoothness in shifting as a modern era Sora-3000 but that seems to be crushed as all shop techs I've spoken with say the MicroNew acts like the Sora-3000 because it is a clone and that 9spd groupset is a different breed than the old generation 9spd. ie: a no go. I've bid on: 105s $220 and lost out at $250 Ultegra (st-6510) went for $200, I really really should have upped my bid Dura Ace ST-7700, starting bid was $79, no returns, claimed it shifted fine, looked brand new but winning auctions show those going for over $300 for the pair. I was hesitant to throw too much money and lost at $110 There is a glut of very pretty sets being sold overseas in Italy, Germany and the UK but not sure I should go that route. Good thing is I can wait, not going riding anytime soon. There is a claim the 10spd generation will work with the 9spd using Shimano's "Alternate" routing configuration but there is still internet talk about this not being ideal. Course at this point; I may have to take a bit of wonky shifting.

Am I right, @Prophet Zacharia? Wearing that in retirement?

...SIX Local Legends overnight!

...was oddly "boring". Not sure if it was the coverage compared to "normal" races like a TdF or a cross or MTB event, but the race just seems one long flat dry & exposed farm road, followed by another long flat dry & exposed farm road. I had only watch the "packaged" post-event recap videos in the past, so watching the full broadcast - 7+hours of the 12 hour 200 miler - was pretty much a LOT of Frankie Andreu & his cohost talking, and a lot of guessing where everyone was on the course and who the person on the screen might be. It was all about single riders or pairs after about the 3/4 mark, so the few video cars/trucks/ATVs on course couldn't capture much. Anyway, interesting to see how their gravel scene (at the premiere race in the world) is so - seemingly - one dimensional. At least, on the TV coverage. Looking at the XL women's winner (Lael Wilcox), it looks like almost 19,000 feet of elevation over that 350 distance and over 11,000' for Ted King over the 200 miles, so it isn't actually "flat" but seemingly a ton of rolling hills. I feel like some races - like the Belgian Waffle Ride - are a bit more "rough and tumble" and, while they would also suffer from coverage issues, they might be pretty exciting with some more intense racing? Just some thoughts. Fun to at least see the racing broadcast at all! Baby steps to take it to the next levels.