littlecircles – Page 78 – Vermont to Switzerland

December 20, 2009December 20, 2009

Ride

First ride in 2 weeks. First decent ride since before the Thanksgiving holiday. Amazing how quickly fitness can slip away – but – I had a good time out today. We kept it mild – Jim and I explored the icy and snowy Intervale (sans studs!), and warmed up at a favorite coffee house. Temps were in the teens with wind chill dropping it below zero. I logged about ~22 miles just exploring around town.

I explored North Beach on the way home – very different experience riding on frozen sand from my last journey. I sat and listened to the waves and the ice / slush out of the wind and snapped some pics and let out a nice long sigh for a good day to finally get back on the bike. Back is mildly sore – I’m going to do my PT exercises this afternoon after my soup warms. I’m chilled – but not frozen. Time to start clawing my fitness back.

December 9, 2009

PT

Back is still in trouble. Started PT so I have some basic exercises to do – aside from casual spinning on the bike I foresee 4-6 weeks sans riding. Foot is back to 90%. Good to go, even in cycling shoes. Last Sunday’s ride was slow and painful due to my back. Trudged out maybe 20 miles around town. Snow is starting to fall. 4-8″ due in town this morning. I’m going to use this time to rebuild my core, get into a yoga class, and work on stretching, flexibility, and changing up my routine – maybe even getting into the pool for some swimming.

December 3, 2009December 3, 2009

Broken

Messed up right foot. Docs, acupuncture, x-ray, – its not broken – but it hurts to walk. Have a specialist scheduled for next week. And my back is torn up from lugging suitcases around during out holiday trip. Last ride was a week ago – when my back crumbled on the Soma climbing 8% on the road. The foot was actually rideable in my stiff cycling shoes. Was a long slow slog back home and made for an uncomfortable Thanksgiving Day dinner. I’m sitting in front of the happy light taking in full spectrum waves trying to stay sane. No bike, no run. Maybe can walk a bit peg leg style with some stiff soled shoes. Making me a bit crazy.

I knocked off a nice chunk of body weight about a month ago, trending downwards and feeling great. That trend has reversed and I need to battle to get back in the groove – fight the gray and cold of winter coming on, and gain some consistency. Dreams of the Tour Divide keep me motivated and inspired – but 2-3 years seems so far away…

November 15, 2009

Still 2

Burlington Earth Clock on the quiet ride home.

November 15, 2009November 15, 2009

Still

Quiet lake. Quiet ride. No grand route, nor an epic tale, just an everyday adventure near town. Gray and cool. Mind and legs slow to adjust to the changes in season, weather, temperature. Body wants to eat sweets and hearty food, then sleep sleep sleep. Time to sit in front of the full spectrum lamp.

November 13, 2009November 13, 2009

Thursday Night

Beers, homemade chili, bike talk, and testing my homebrew free motion rollers. The things I get to do when the wife and little one leave me home alone for a week.

Patrick on the fixed gear Hufnagel, with Edelux lighting his way!

Some video of the rollers in action, with Jim riding no hands and dropping the hammer to sprint.

Photos and video courtesy of Patrick.

November 11, 2009November 11, 2009

Sand

Just south of the Winooski... lots of driftwood.

Explored near home this afternoon after working this morning. Took a quick post lunch ride to check out a stretch of beach on lake Champlain. Part 1 turned into hike a bike over driftwood and through some boggy marshy reeds so I climbed out and tested the fat tires at North Beach. Firm and semi loose sand was no problem – but the pea gravel like mush didn’t like the bike nor the bike shoes very much.

Stunning November day. Hike a bike warmed me up.

1/2 mile or more to get to where I thought some decent sand was... so I backtracked it out.

2.2s at low pressure. Seemed to work well enough. Compressed snow maybe?

November 11, 2009November 12, 2009

Huffy

Met the boys for an early cruise out to the causeway and was finally able to check out Patrick’s new ride in person. Its been a loooong time coming. 650b Hufnagel rando specific frame. Integrated decaleur, custom front rack, wire loops for the Edelux, fender mounts to the inside of the fork and frame. Currently running as fixed / single speed, but can take gears. Matching fenders will make an appearance when the weather threatens. Beautiful.

Long dropouts - fixed, free, geared, and a mount for a PB Superflash.

Fender mounts to the inside of the frame and fork.

November 9, 2009November 9, 2009

Sticky and Slow – the Tale of a Star Nut, Fat Tires, and a Sealed Bearing Race Stuck in a Hub.

I know larger tires work against you when comparing rolling resistance, gear calculations, and overall effort… but since putting on the Kenda Nevegals I’ve felt like I’ve been riding with both front and rear brakes dragging. Sure, they certainly are not the 28s I ride on the IF, nor the 35s I used to ride on the CrossCheck, nor even the 42s I started with on the Soma…

This morning I heard a chirping sound. Damn! I was dragging a brake. Cool. I can fix that. Except that even with the brakes wide open I still heard it. Then I spun the rear wheel by hand. I made it about 1/4 revolution before stopping. Bearings must be mal-adjusted. Picked up the appropriate sized cone wrenches, spun off the single speed side, and loosened. Nope. Bearings were shot.

Off to the internet. Plenty of instructions on removing sealed bearings from Surly hubs. These have served me for 3 winters… rain, snow, salt, dirt roads – pretty much everything. Pulled the axle. Tap tapped the bearing as instructed in lieu of a fancy bearing puller. The innards popped out and I now have a collection of tiny steel balls rolling around on the garage floor.

Which leaves the problem of how to get a sealed bearing race out of a hub shell. Dirt Rag provided the answer. I opted to not hammer the star nut from the opposite side, and instead applied a bit of finesse (in short supply at this moment in my caveman actions thus far) with a bolt and socket. Success. Now to wait for some new bearings – and to let the LBS pull the opposite side.

November 7, 2009

WIP Update

The Juice is coming along. Front wheel ready for disc brakes, bar padded and taped, levers pretty close to finalized. Steerer tube cut to length. Gearing will be an ongoing challenge. Adding those fat tires certainly changed things – it takes some muscle to get them moving.

Flip flop - 17/19 FG or 18t SS drivetrain. 32t up front - but that may change.