i've only 4 more weekends to ride and prepare for my first 1200K. a little thing called life must go on during the week so the schedule is full: mountain trainers, 300k, mountain 200k (w/10,000 feet of climbing!), 400k/200k back to back weekend, and nearly 200k's of commuting each and every week. yep, spring is in the air..
here's a quick look at some ordinary riders (yeah, the Rapha Boys are ordinary) pre riding this year's Paris-Roubaix course:
Hors Course from RAPHA on Vimeo.
myself and a couple cycing friends will be doing a variation of the famous 'triple hump' ride from hanging rock to sauratown mntn., pilot mntn., and finally back up to hanging rock. looking forward to it! should be a good test to see how the new bike will do on Tony's 200k in Hot Springs in 2 weeks.
so get out there and ride something tough. then relax and enjoy the queen of the classics.
you'll feel so much better knowing you left a little out there on the road..Allez!!
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Friday, April 08, 2011
Rollei ActionCam 100
hoping to get some of these in the store to try out!
looks to be about the size of a headlight, nice!
Rollei ActionCam 100
looks to be about the size of a headlight, nice!
Rollei ActionCam 100
Thursday, April 07, 2011
fresh rando ride
for the past couple of years, i've been developing my randonneuring chops on a 'vintage' turn of the century Serotta Colorado III w/campy daytona. It's been a wonderful bike. But..no eyelets, and geometry not intended for bags and excess weight. I've done the other bikes too; cyclocross, touring, even a moulton, for pete's sake. All bikes people like to say work. All compromises. With all the bikes I own and enjoy, I really wanted a brevet bike. made to rando! So, I decided to get it done. Chuck extinguished his torch, so no Coho. Boutique was too much $$ and too much time. I really wanted American, and the list quickly narrowed to just a few choices. Also, as much as I enjoy the view and the ride, I wanted sporty too. Rene Herse is a legend in french randonneuring. Frames start north of four grand..Mike Kone, herse expert and the US agent for their products knows not everyone can afford those stunning bikes, so, he designed one we can: the Boulder Bicycles Randonneur!
The frame is avail. in 700c or 650b versions, I went with 700. What grabbed my attention was this-"The reality is that many bicycle producers equate randonneur riding with "take your time and smell the flowers." We love that attitude - but it isn't for everyone. Some randonneurs are very concerned with speed as well; for those riders, compromises in design that detract from the performance of the bicycle are unacceptable. Boulder Bicycle makes bicycles that are a tool for the performance oriented randonneur and a treat for those more casually minded." I knew I'd met my match when I read that. a series of emails commenced and when he put a special up on his blog, I made the deposit. Let me say that the whole deal with boulder was pleasant and easy going. Mike is friendly and really knows his stuff. while I knew what I wanted, he offered solid advice and gently persuaded me on a couple items that turned out to be the right choices..so, without further ado, here's how it all worked out...
If one looks at Boulders' kit offerings they will find some of the stuff I used, and I got those parts from Mike. He offers good deals to those getting a bike from his shop. If ya know me, a road bike of mine will have Campy. So I scoured ebay for record and chorus 10sp. ders and brifters. I found the record headset in sweden. the white time pedals aren't avail here, so they came from england. I had planned on a nitto cockpit, post and rack all along and that stuff came from boulder, along with the killer sugino 'mighty tour' crank, SKF german BB, both hubs, edelux headlight, and the challenge tires. I called peter white for the cages, and neat little spaninga 'pixeo' taillight. Rivendell had the nitto barend plugs. Velo Orange for the hammered fenders and 'Grand Cru' canti brakes. Wallingford Bike had the Electric blue B17.
Mike sent the hubs, a white industries H3 hi-low Ti cassette, and schmidt's new SON Delux, along with spokes, so I could lace 'em up to mavic open pros' beforehand. both are laced 3X-the front with wheelsmith XL's, and the rear with XL on the non-drive and 14/15 db's on the drive. they both rock! the new dynohub, with almost no drag and less weight, is really cool. it's only meant to run LED lights, but can spin either way. nice for wire routing flexibility..
The frame is avail. in 700c or 650b versions, I went with 700. What grabbed my attention was this-"The reality is that many bicycle producers equate randonneur riding with "take your time and smell the flowers." We love that attitude - but it isn't for everyone. Some randonneurs are very concerned with speed as well; for those riders, compromises in design that detract from the performance of the bicycle are unacceptable. Boulder Bicycle makes bicycles that are a tool for the performance oriented randonneur and a treat for those more casually minded." I knew I'd met my match when I read that. a series of emails commenced and when he put a special up on his blog, I made the deposit. Let me say that the whole deal with boulder was pleasant and easy going. Mike is friendly and really knows his stuff. while I knew what I wanted, he offered solid advice and gently persuaded me on a couple items that turned out to be the right choices..so, without further ado, here's how it all worked out...
 |
| a collection of bits.. |
If one looks at Boulders' kit offerings they will find some of the stuff I used, and I got those parts from Mike. He offers good deals to those getting a bike from his shop. If ya know me, a road bike of mine will have Campy. So I scoured ebay for record and chorus 10sp. ders and brifters. I found the record headset in sweden. the white time pedals aren't avail here, so they came from england. I had planned on a nitto cockpit, post and rack all along and that stuff came from boulder, along with the killer sugino 'mighty tour' crank, SKF german BB, both hubs, edelux headlight, and the challenge tires. I called peter white for the cages, and neat little spaninga 'pixeo' taillight. Rivendell had the nitto barend plugs. Velo Orange for the hammered fenders and 'Grand Cru' canti brakes. Wallingford Bike had the Electric blue B17.
Mike sent the hubs, a white industries H3 hi-low Ti cassette, and schmidt's new SON Delux, along with spokes, so I could lace 'em up to mavic open pros' beforehand. both are laced 3X-the front with wheelsmith XL's, and the rear with XL on the non-drive and 14/15 db's on the drive. they both rock! the new dynohub, with almost no drag and less weight, is really cool. it's only meant to run LED lights, but can spin either way. nice for wire routing flexibility..
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| SON Delux |
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| braze-on wire guides |
the bike came on a monday, and I hoped to ride it by the weekend. ha. with so many complications and steps, I planned out the week and got after it. the steer tube was a mile long, so I installed the headset, did some figuring, put spacers on it, and pondered the cut. I installed the BB and crank, and both derailleurs. I decided it would be better to get the tube cut (by a pro), so I put the fork in my moultons' bag and rode to Matt's shop and had him do it. easy breezy. I made the stack, put on the nitto stem and noodle bar, and chorus brifters.
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| the Cycle Surgeon |
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| leaning tower of velo orange hanger, bell, and fancy spacers |
from here it looked like mount the brakes, run cable, and then onto the tedious detail work.
simple! yeah, look at these brakes, for starters. mega adjustable! cantis' are always fun. meh.
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| special nitto bolts. for rack mounting. |
the cool little straddle hangers are already gone. I replaced them with Paul Moon Units.
the paul's are wider and more trustworthy. the front hanger slipped on the first ride. they also give better clearance by the pad bolt. otherwise I like the brakes. next came the front rack, a nitto M12, and the velo orange fenders. i put the edelux headlight on too.. 3 hours and a few expletives later I was done with that, and isn't it lovely? :o)
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| fender mt drilling.. |
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| mike's trick light bracket |
note there are no 'L' brackets on the fenders. the front is suspended from the rack and under the fork crown with a daruma bolt. the rear is drilled and bolted to the two bridges on the stays. super clean and rock solid too. leather washers keep things quiet. at 2 in the morning it's really quiet, but I took it down the street and back just because I had to! even with ice-cold unwrapped bars I knew it was going to be good. relieved and tired I called it a night.
of course it had to pour rain all day sunday, so I stayed in and made photographs..
the bike's made for lighting, note this cool detail on the back: a small braze-on on the left stay, and a neat little arm off the brake cable bridge. as soon as the new turbo superflash comes out, it will hang there. I put a tall cateye on the lower braze-on..
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| spaninga pixeo xb |
with the superflash under the rear bag i'll avoid the dreaded water problems. i'll have a spare in the bag and it can go the bag giving me plenty of redundancy/back-up!
so I finally got out on it the next day with Hoff, 'the fast Bryan' ;) good times..
first impressions were: relief! joy! holy cow, it rides sharp. responsive and light. secure.
comfortable. Hoff shot video, and I had set the saddle a tick low. up a couple mils and viola!
I really love it. I think another part of the great ride is those incredibly supple challenge parigi-roubaix tires-700x28, like big, puffy tubulars. climbs nice, but we'll see on 4/23 on Tony's hot springs 200k, if the 13-26 cassette is enough. by the way, with the rear bag (empty) the weight is 25 lbs. the TIG'd True Temper OX platinum frame is light at about 4 lbs.
if you read all this, you're a bike geek too. you understand what a labor of love this bike was/is to me. I put more time into this build than any I have done before..I plan on riding the bejezus out of it too. see ya on the road!
Friday, April 01, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
a couple of fun rides
The Whirligig-
several riders lined up for this 100k populaire put on by Tim. it departs from nashville, and rambles about the area, but the highlight is the namesake: acid park- home of vollis simpson's amazing whirligig sculptures. we cyclists don't like the wind, but it's what makes the sculptures come to life. enjoy the breeze! dogs make the only climb a goody too :)
Carthage Coffee Run-
Branson's trek for java is tougher that it looks on paper. bryan and I broke this one in last fall and I rode it again with jerry and branson in feb days after Adrian's passing. we had a great time. the roads were good, the sun shined, but the coffee shop in carthage was closed :( we controlled at a C-store and headed back. the grilled cheese was fine at the diner but in the spirit of Yo-A! we had fried pickles too! another neat option on this ride is the american tobacco trail. we passed this day, but bryan and I indulged on the retour of our ride in the fall. it's a great way to dodge cars, and beat the wind too. you can do it on a road bike as long as you're on sturdy tires :)
you really should eat at the fairview dairy bar. friendly and fun, perfect on a 200k..
several riders lined up for this 100k populaire put on by Tim. it departs from nashville, and rambles about the area, but the highlight is the namesake: acid park- home of vollis simpson's amazing whirligig sculptures. we cyclists don't like the wind, but it's what makes the sculptures come to life. enjoy the breeze! dogs make the only climb a goody too :)
Carthage Coffee Run-
Branson's trek for java is tougher that it looks on paper. bryan and I broke this one in last fall and I rode it again with jerry and branson in feb days after Adrian's passing. we had a great time. the roads were good, the sun shined, but the coffee shop in carthage was closed :( we controlled at a C-store and headed back. the grilled cheese was fine at the diner but in the spirit of Yo-A! we had fried pickles too! another neat option on this ride is the american tobacco trail. we passed this day, but bryan and I indulged on the retour of our ride in the fall. it's a great way to dodge cars, and beat the wind too. you can do it on a road bike as long as you're on sturdy tires :)
you really should eat at the fairview dairy bar. friendly and fun, perfect on a 200k..
Thursday, March 24, 2011
happy birthride
just a few days after the last post I headed to lumberton to ride the 400k out of 2,3,4,600, and 1000k brevets happening under the watchful eye of tony goodnight. how one guy throws 4 or 5 rides is amazing!! I felt it (400) would be a good distance to see how I was fairing this winter. fri. feb.18 was a non-event birthday, and rando-pal Bryan R. came over about midnight so we could leave from here 'bout 5am. running just a tick behind we loaded my car and headed out and got to the start about 15min 'til. precision!!
the start was a little chilly, probly about 40, but looking like a fine day ahead overall. lots (50?) of riders at start and off we went. all was well with a big bunch up front zipping along and: squish! rear tire going down. see ya everyone. the tire was cut by a big piece of glass, and thanks to brother rob for the tire boot. into the wind I finally solo'd. passing a few small crews, Alan and MikeO threw b'day salutations. biker bob and dean too. two guys from baltimore! caught me and I had a little help to the 1st controle. Tony gave me a tire to carry, and off we went. at 100k controle, I found Ian and Tim and john o too. yay! I came to enjoy, not do a solo soul searcher, so I felt much better.
the route rolled some from here and we cruised along peeling off the warmers as we warmed up nicely. it was off and on with other riders, but tim and I stayed together for 300k to the end. tony had a suprise truckload of subs and sodas in the middle of nowhere before we reached golfland (pinehurst) and army territory. we filled bottles and got cards signed again around the base, then Erwin. here the sun was dropping and out came reflective wear. just after dark, the rear tire finally gave up. tim stayed with me as Ian and crew went up the road. three rounds of pumping and pulling the stem out of the valve, arghhhhh! let's go! into fayetteville and we found more riders, felt like a good thing, 'cause it was a little funky 'round there. I jumped on the wheel of the recumbent, he had the route in his GPS. we stuck together and jammed all the way to lumberton. the temp fell 20degrees when we left the city and I was freezing. the warm room felt good, so did the hot pizza! also bryan and colonel mike were waiting for us.
everyone looked like eskimos heading out for the final 100. except me. I had no top layer and we were heading back into the 30's. about a mile out, tim said he had a shell in his pack and i tried it on. bingo. now to stay awake! one more quick stop for a jolt. pedal pedal, riders on retour. pedal pedal, bryan and mike. four again. good. dogs. bad. shouting rednecks, very bad. more retours. stay awake! finally in clarkton. coffee. let's get back.
the pace is not too brisk and I have to make a few bursts up the road to get some heartrate going. I barely keep my eyes open the last few k's..I am so glad to get back. 5hrs sleep is not enough for rides this long. that's all. it was a 20hr ride. thanks tony and fellow riders for a great (long)day!
note: I gave tony the loaner tire back, and haven't ridden the serotta since then.
the start was a little chilly, probly about 40, but looking like a fine day ahead overall. lots (50?) of riders at start and off we went. all was well with a big bunch up front zipping along and: squish! rear tire going down. see ya everyone. the tire was cut by a big piece of glass, and thanks to brother rob for the tire boot. into the wind I finally solo'd. passing a few small crews, Alan and MikeO threw b'day salutations. biker bob and dean too. two guys from baltimore! caught me and I had a little help to the 1st controle. Tony gave me a tire to carry, and off we went. at 100k controle, I found Ian and Tim and john o too. yay! I came to enjoy, not do a solo soul searcher, so I felt much better.
 |
| ouch! that's a glass shark tooth.. |
the route rolled some from here and we cruised along peeling off the warmers as we warmed up nicely. it was off and on with other riders, but tim and I stayed together for 300k to the end. tony had a suprise truckload of subs and sodas in the middle of nowhere before we reached golfland (pinehurst) and army territory. we filled bottles and got cards signed again around the base, then Erwin. here the sun was dropping and out came reflective wear. just after dark, the rear tire finally gave up. tim stayed with me as Ian and crew went up the road. three rounds of pumping and pulling the stem out of the valve, arghhhhh! let's go! into fayetteville and we found more riders, felt like a good thing, 'cause it was a little funky 'round there. I jumped on the wheel of the recumbent, he had the route in his GPS. we stuck together and jammed all the way to lumberton. the temp fell 20degrees when we left the city and I was freezing. the warm room felt good, so did the hot pizza! also bryan and colonel mike were waiting for us.
everyone looked like eskimos heading out for the final 100. except me. I had no top layer and we were heading back into the 30's. about a mile out, tim said he had a shell in his pack and i tried it on. bingo. now to stay awake! one more quick stop for a jolt. pedal pedal, riders on retour. pedal pedal, bryan and mike. four again. good. dogs. bad. shouting rednecks, very bad. more retours. stay awake! finally in clarkton. coffee. let's get back.
the pace is not too brisk and I have to make a few bursts up the road to get some heartrate going. I barely keep my eyes open the last few k's..I am so glad to get back. 5hrs sleep is not enough for rides this long. that's all. it was a 20hr ride. thanks tony and fellow riders for a great (long)day!
note: I gave tony the loaner tire back, and haven't ridden the serotta since then.
bike plans for 2011
i've decided to ride the new Texas Rando Stamped 1200k in may. pal Tim Lucas, and Mark Thomas from WA (yes RUSA guy) will be there too. looks like a great time and challenging route! I'll be riding a new bike too, stay tuned for deets on that.
let's train! see ya on the road.
let's train! see ya on the road.
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