Date: July 18 Wed
Mileage: 20 (Blueridge)
July mileage: 304
Year to date: 1251
took a brief ride today after nothing yesterday. i had set the Blueridge up for a long club ride this morning, but i had to facilitate getting tires for the wife's Scooby-Doo (Subaru), so no ride. I could've; let's be clear. i slept fitfully last night, so i helped out instead, and went out this afternoon. with the Blueridge devoid of B-17N and Banana Bag, it's a lightweight machine ready to climb, so that's what I did. i took in a total of 8 hills plus a couple hard flat sessions. it felt sort of weird "training" since i mostly just ride now, but my lack of presence on the hills of late is starting to get to me; a little hill jam herenthere won't hurt. i didn't entirely "lycra" out though. i wore the Lake sandals and a plain shirt, but otherwise i looked very club-like.
what's really interesting, to me at least, is that after 1 ride with a small saddle (old Avocet O2) and padded cycling shorts (Performance), i got a nice little raw spot. and this after a summer of riding more normal shorts on Brooks saddles. I think those RBW types are on to something. the B-17N is in bad shape, listing and smushed to the right. it's going to take some major triage to make it usable. i've learned to ALWAYS carry a Kroger bag on Brooks rides.
i also visited the fav LBS to help with some bike work. the "F-29" got a free tune-up. one thing i do like about the shop, for sure, is that if it's small, they try to get me in and out without waiting on the bike. Billy- I like Billy. He's got lots of tattoos and sometimes samuri swords, don't ask why-Billy adjusted the rear mech and more importanly fussed with the disc brake. Apparently, well, according to Billy, the really nice hydraulic disc brakes do really well with few problems, but the cheaper cable-pull disc brakes can sometimes be very contrary. They have 2 different adjustments, and the pivot one doesn't stay put. I can fiddle with the rear mech a little bit, but i'm better with brakes, BUT i'm out of my class with disc brakes, so better Billy than me.
the other job was a little bit bigger. i had them swap out the chain and cassette on the Crosscheck. i had ridden in the slush during winter and didn't attend to it. naughty naughty. so both were nasty rusted. i think it cost me $15 labor plus parts. Now, I know I'm in the grand minority with this mechanic thing. Bloggers, RBW and Surly types and commuters all do their own work- Real Men. me, I'm a Spanish teacher with no skills, so i'll pay $15 any day for Billy to properly set all this shit up. i have an Ultegra cassette now that's a little bigger at the top end. well, smaller. well, it's got easier gears. i like that. and tomorrow while L is in soccer camp i'm going crossing @ River Road CC, the present 'Cross location. there is debate about future locations, but i'll take advantage of it when it's there.
And finally, i'm going to start making political statements or showing various kinds of animal porn, b/c I'm getting no comments. my blog isn't that bad, is it?
Mileage: 20 (Blueridge)
July mileage: 304
Year to date: 1251
took a brief ride today after nothing yesterday. i had set the Blueridge up for a long club ride this morning, but i had to facilitate getting tires for the wife's Scooby-Doo (Subaru), so no ride. I could've; let's be clear. i slept fitfully last night, so i helped out instead, and went out this afternoon. with the Blueridge devoid of B-17N and Banana Bag, it's a lightweight machine ready to climb, so that's what I did. i took in a total of 8 hills plus a couple hard flat sessions. it felt sort of weird "training" since i mostly just ride now, but my lack of presence on the hills of late is starting to get to me; a little hill jam herenthere won't hurt. i didn't entirely "lycra" out though. i wore the Lake sandals and a plain shirt, but otherwise i looked very club-like.
what's really interesting, to me at least, is that after 1 ride with a small saddle (old Avocet O2) and padded cycling shorts (Performance), i got a nice little raw spot. and this after a summer of riding more normal shorts on Brooks saddles. I think those RBW types are on to something. the B-17N is in bad shape, listing and smushed to the right. it's going to take some major triage to make it usable. i've learned to ALWAYS carry a Kroger bag on Brooks rides.
i also visited the fav LBS to help with some bike work. the "F-29" got a free tune-up. one thing i do like about the shop, for sure, is that if it's small, they try to get me in and out without waiting on the bike. Billy- I like Billy. He's got lots of tattoos and sometimes samuri swords, don't ask why-Billy adjusted the rear mech and more importanly fussed with the disc brake. Apparently, well, according to Billy, the really nice hydraulic disc brakes do really well with few problems, but the cheaper cable-pull disc brakes can sometimes be very contrary. They have 2 different adjustments, and the pivot one doesn't stay put. I can fiddle with the rear mech a little bit, but i'm better with brakes, BUT i'm out of my class with disc brakes, so better Billy than me.
the other job was a little bit bigger. i had them swap out the chain and cassette on the Crosscheck. i had ridden in the slush during winter and didn't attend to it. naughty naughty. so both were nasty rusted. i think it cost me $15 labor plus parts. Now, I know I'm in the grand minority with this mechanic thing. Bloggers, RBW and Surly types and commuters all do their own work- Real Men. me, I'm a Spanish teacher with no skills, so i'll pay $15 any day for Billy to properly set all this shit up. i have an Ultegra cassette now that's a little bigger at the top end. well, smaller. well, it's got easier gears. i like that. and tomorrow while L is in soccer camp i'm going crossing @ River Road CC, the present 'Cross location. there is debate about future locations, but i'll take advantage of it when it's there.
And finally, i'm going to start making political statements or showing various kinds of animal porn, b/c I'm getting no comments. my blog isn't that bad, is it?
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