Spring Sun

Partially frozen Malletts Bay
Partially frozen Malletts Bay

Out again for ride number two. After lunch the snow moved out for clear blue skies and a brisk breeze out of the north – northwest. I couldn’t resist a few more miles and did a short loop to enjoy the afternoon. I don’t think I combined enough to get in my metric… but it felt good to be riding in the sun. Deceptively cold for sure – and the breeze off the lake was brutal. I trudged home on North Ave. into a stiff breeze – totally cooked from fighting the wind this morning and afternoon. Climbing a short hill a ‘ding ding’ rang out and commuter man on a citified mountain bike dropped onto his aerobars, passed me, and gave a little wave.

Chasing shadows, sun, and blue skies...
Chasing shadows, sun, and blue skies...

Spring Snow

Jim heading up the road...
Jim heading up the road...
Went out for an attempt at a metric this morning… but the weather foiled the plan. Managed a blustery, cold, and raw ride out of town and up around the bay before rolling back home. Probably 30 or so by the time we were done. The snow was blowing horizontally at times – and as soon as I rolled into the garage the sun started peaking through.

Lobster mitts... still.
Lobster mitts... still.

I’m very happy with Acorn bag. I need to add some pulls to the elastic chords that close the front and main compartment for easier access while moving – but everything else about it is working out great. A decaleur is in my future – I just need to see what will fit – as I’m pretty tight to the head tube now and from the looks of the VO it is pretty short. I might have to commission a local rack builder to rig something up for me. 33 days until my first 200k of the season, and 54 days until the NE Flèche.

Snap

Acorn Boxy Rando Bag, Ixon IQ battery light, Nitto Noodles, Brooks bar tape (too short!)
Acorn Boxy Rando Bag, Ixon IQ battery light, Nitto Noodles, Brooks bar tape (too short!)

Acorn 2

Acorn Boxy Rando Bag
Acorn Boxy Rando Bag

My Acorn bags have arrived. Tonight I did a quick install of the Boxy Rando Bag on the IF. The bag is mounted up front on a Nitto Mark’s Rack. More pics and a review after I get some ride time in – and if I can find the time I’ll compare it to a friends’ Gilles Berthoud, a local shop’s Ostrich, and my Ortlieb. I’m still debating how to mount my eDeluxe. I was hoping for some sort of rack mount under the bag – might have to have something frabricated.

Boxy Rando Bag on Mark's Rack - with my new Nitto Noodles
Boxy Rando Bag on Mark's Rack - with my new Nitto Noodles

The saddle bag arrived as well… not exactly happy with how the leather straps mount to the Brooks saddle loops. The Acorn differs from my Carradice in that the buckles stay on the outside of the bag – so my initial install seemed a bit floppy. I’ll have to play with this – or have the bag modified to bring the buckles inside the bag.

NE Flèche 2009

The usual suspects have built a solid team for the Northeast Flèche 2009, have scouted, mapped, and controlled a route, and sent in our application. The ride is patterned on the Flèche Vellocio that has run in France since the late 1940’s. The modern ACP Flèches USA is a 24 hour team randonneuring event that takes place each spring with groups of 3-5 randonneurs embarking on rides of a minimum of 360 kilometers over a period of 24 hours. There are subtle rules about control points, brevet card verification for proof of passage, two hours maximum stopping time at any one control, and the need to document your location at the 22 hour and 24 hour mark.

The spirit of the ride is simple – head off into the day (or night) and keep moving as a team for 24 hours. Most routes are designed as one way ‘arrows’ targeting the regional destination where all teams meet. The Northeast rides have historically ended in Westfield, Massachusetts – teams from Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire all point their wheels to this location. Routes are devised by each team – so groups may try to get in as many miles as they can, while others ride the minimum required for certification (note that everyone gets ‘credit’ for the same 360k). All savor the time on the bike and the chance to tell the sometimes epic tales that come from being in motion through day and night in all weather over varying terrain.

We’ve called our route a ‘Green Mountain Ramble’. We plan to leave from Burlington and head south along Vermont Route 100 to Ludlow (passing through Waitsfield, Warren, and Killington). After dinner in Ludlow (and as night falls) we climb to Grafton and then cross into familiar territory at Saxton’s River and on to Putney where we will have a planned two hour sleep control at the West Hill Shop. As the moon rises we head into Brattleboro, cross into New Hampshire and flow down the Connecticut River Valley to Northfield, Massachusetts (for late night coffee at a friend’s), Amherst for breakfast, and then on to the finish in Westfield.


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Early Spring

Managed a wonderful early spring ride on Sunday morning. 32 miles all told, and I should have stayed out for more. The roads were wet from an all night rain – so the IF has been splattered with its first mud of 2009. I finally had time to set up my new Nitto Noodle bars, re-cable the controls, and wrap the bars with the old tape (a little short) from the Salsa bars. After I get some miles in and figure out if the stem length and lever position is correct (its close) I’ll have to re-up some cash and get some more Brooks tape.

The IF @ The Cup and Cone
The IF @ The Cup and Cone

Transition

Hello from a WordPress powered blog, and welcome to my new domain! The transition seems to have worked well enough – I used the WP import function and was pleasantly surprised that most posts came through just fine… I have noticed many many broken or missing images on older posts. I’ll have to find an automated way to piece things back together – I doubt I’ll have the patience to run through post by post and sort things out.

Work


I’ve had some help on a complete overhaul of my ‘work’ website. I started blogging in 2003 – hand coding my blog as a sub page of my personal website. After 2 years of neglect and zero updates, I had a friend help me get WordPress installed. I have a ton more content to add – including an updated portfolio and images of recent work. Drop by and check it out.

Free Motion Rollers


I finally found some time to fabricate my free motion rollers… the parts have been sitting in the garage since the first of the year.


Why? because I wanted to change up the way I ride inside. Aluminum channel to contain the mess, my Kreitler rollers mounted in 1/4″ aluminum plate. Skateboard wheels. Bungie cords. They work well enough. I’m getting some vibration I didn’t notice on the original Kreitler frame – I might have a hop in a wheel – or the bit of flex I’m getting with the 1/4″ aluminum plate is throwing everything out of alignment just so. I might rework the inner carriage to remove the flex – and I need to find a stronger 12″ bungie – while sprinting this afternoon I managed to bottom out the forward and rear travel.

The sensation is quite nice – the rollers slide for and aft in the aluminum track as you apply power, stand, or shift gears. No more of that awkward body weight shifting to keep the bike from jumping off the frame. Ride (nearly) naturally – stand up, sprint, mash, spin high RPMs… so far its all worked.