littlecircles – Page 86 – Vermont to Switzerland

May 15, 2009

Ready to Roll

Our Vermont team for Flèche NE 2009 is ready to roll. We met up with our return driver (an original teammate who had to drop out of the event) tonight over pizza and a few beers, rigged a roof mount bike rack to fit in the back of the cargo van, and talked gear and rain and gear and getting wet and wind. Our team is down from 5 to 3… but we plan to roll on. 225 miles, approximately 12,000 feet of climbing. Forecast has been sketch all week.

My bike is (over)loaded. Route double checked and cue printed out (although I can get us through the first 150 miles+ from memory), lights checked, clothes laid out, wet gear at the ready. Camera in a baggie, already on the bike, with a memory card and a battery. Rider needs to sleep – but I’m hitting it early tonight – usually I’m up late fretting. 10:30 pm is a good night for me – especially before a big ride.

May 13, 2009

Snaps

A few snaps from the last week…

Sunny morning cruise along the lake, the ADKs in the background.

Our trusty steeds from a recent Sunday Dirt mini Epic.

Commuter and racer dudes - get a bell, and learn how to use it. In civilized society it is the norm for signalling a pass or calling out to cyclists and peds on the road or path. It won't knock your street cred - and if you need to race, take it to the road, please. — Commuter and racer dudes - get a bell, and learn how to use it. In civilized society it is the norm for signaling a pass or calling out to cyclists and peds on the road or path. It won't knock your street cred - and if you need to race, take it to the road, please.

May 10, 2009May 10, 2009

Flèche Countdown

Less than a week to the NE Flèche 2009. Our team is down to 3, we swapped some gear and ran through a pre-ride checklist last night. Brevet cards have arrived. Final route tweaking and gear selection is ongoing. Hoping for mild temperatures and sunny skies. Night shakedown ride will happen this week.

The IF with Acorn Bag, Mark's Rack and Edeluxe. I'll add a small seat pack for tools, tubes, and other small items.

May 10, 2009

SFO Snaps

May 6, 2009

Swine Rode, not Flew

The pig rode, he didn’t fly.

Custom SyCip delivery bike from Boccalone at the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace. A more traditional rig with porteur rack is parked to the left…

May 5, 2009

Zoo and Bridge

Misty morning and puddle jumping and sitting.

Spent the day out and about in SFO. Enjoyed the Zoo, for the most part. Plenty of exhibits closed as I’d guess were still early in the season. Food was terrible at the Lemur Cafe… but today is the 5th of May so Ava and I are headed out for a Mexican feast just up the road from the hotel.

Any bird is a favorite - even those that stand around on one leg.

May 4, 2009

BTV to EWR to SFO

No bike, but hopefully the little one and I will get a good dose of the BART. We’re in San Francisco all week so mom can participate in client meetings. I’ll keep up with my clients with my not so smart phone and the laptop – and Ava and I will play outside.

May 4, 2009May 4, 2009

Sunday Dirt, a Mini Epic Ride

Chatting on Baldwin, heading into the wind...

70+ miles – Mountain View out of town, Governor Chittenden Road (dirt, and a ripping descent) down to Rt. 2, Kenyon Road up and up (dirt) drop down into Richmond on the pave, then Wes White Hill (rough pave to dirt, 13% or more) along the pond into Huntington, East Rd. (up and dirt) with views of Camel’s Hump, a short stretch of pavement and then on to Shaker Mountain Road (dirt, steep, and forever), Big Hollow (dirt and a ripping descent), a bit of pave to Lincoln Hill (dirt and steep and a rolling false flat on top) to drop down into Hinesburg for refreshments and then a ‘quintessential’ Vermont stretch – Baldwin (dirt) to Drinkwater (dirt) to Prindle, to Roscoe (covered bridge / dirt) to Lewis Creek (fun descent, dirt, covered bridge) to Spear to Guinea (dirt) to One Mile Road (dirt) to Hinesburg Rd. to Ferry Rd. to Charlotte. Views of Mansfield, Camel’s Hump, the ADKs, Lake Champlain. Three major climbs, three covered bridges and 60% or more of dirt. I had an 85 mile day with ~5,700+ feet of climbing by the end.

Dropped my chain into the little ring somewhere on Shaker Mountain Road... a fast descent awaits after the left turn.

Thanks to Jim for snapping some pics as I brought the camera but left the SD card in the laptop. And a huge thanks to the boys for letting me pace it out over the steep stuff. My first Yoga class the Saturday before took its toll… plenty of power to diesel on the rollers and the pavement – not much to deal with the steep on the dirt.

May 2, 2009May 3, 2009

Edeluxe + Mark’s Rack

Edeluxe on the Mark's Rack and the Acorn Boxy Rando Bag

I’ve been putting off the rigging of my Edeluxe for some time – the Ixon IQ I run for short rides is plenty bright and has good run time – and comes on and off the bike quickly for errands and stops around town. Our Flèche is two weeks away – and I’ll need all night light – so I finally broke down and clipped the wires to the proper length and got the Edeluxe up and running. The light is simply outstanding – test runs in the morning and on the MUP late at night have really impressed me.

Mounting the light has been a bit of an adventure. I use a Mark’s Rack for my rando bag up front. The Mark’s Rack doesn’t have any fittings for front / low light mounting (save for the goofy tab on the end of the rack). Previously I ran dual E6 lights from the lowrider bosses – but with only one light (the brightness of the Edeluxe easily surpasses dual E6s running full steam downhill!) – I want to minimize wheel shadow as much as possible. I purchased the fork crown mount with the light but can’t run it with the bag, debated the lowrider mount, thought about mounting it euro style to the skewer, and purchased a Terracycle mount that works on the fork. None of these felt right (the Terracycle mount comes closest – and if I remove the rack this will be the system I use).

Mark's Rack strut bolt, lock washer, M6 coupler nut, serrated washer, Edeluxe, and stainless M6 bolt.

Rummaging through my parts bin I came up with what should have been obvious – use the spare bolts that come with the struts for rear mounting the Mark’s and get the light just below my bag. To do this I had to track down an M6 coupler nut – an email to a friend brought a link to McMaster-Carr (and plenty of time browsing all the cool hardware they sell). I had hoped for the coupler in stainless – but the black oxide variety is the proper length to keep the light tucked under the bag with enough clearance to the strut. I added lock washers towards the strut and a serrated washer towards the light. After some positioning play all seems well. Plenty of light, minimal wheel shadow, and so far rock solid. The mount will get a good workout this weekend – the usual suspects are planning 75 miles of dirt – 3 long and steep climbs, 3 covered bridges, views to the Green Mountains, ADKs, and the lake.

April 27, 2009April 27, 2009

Westfield 200k

I'm sold on the front bag... descending @ 30 mph, hands free, stable!

Flèche Teamate Patrick and I rode the Westfield 200k in the heat on Saturday. 126 miles, limited traffic, plenty of climbing, temps in the 90’s with a beautiful route from Westfield to Shelburne Falls, a side trip to southern Vermont and then back via Shelburne Falls and some lonely mountain roads. The ride took a bit longer than I had hoped – but climbing in the heat mid course was brutal. I opted to snag a few extra bottled waters from McCusker’s Market when leaving the lunch control – they were gone before I began the descent to Conway. I struggled with the heat, some soreness in my left quad, and numbness and pain in my right hand. New things – but pain is not unexpected when on the bike for so long. The hand pain should be remedied by adjusting the Ergo lever position and how the cable exits to wrap the Nitto Noodle bars. The muscle pain is most likely due to this being the longest ride of the year… Patrick played with the lead group for 2/3 of the ride. He rolled in about 2 hours ahead of me. I finished the last 20 stronger than I rode the first – so despite the heat and being off my better pace – I feel good about the ride.