Cycling 2012, recreational, etc Options

[Mike T]

My first ride of 2012, Monday the 2nd of January, in 5C weather with cold rain and at twilight was OK until I got a rear puncture 28 km into a planned 80 km ride. I changed the tube under a highway overpass in the rain....that took at least 25 minutes due to darkness and the mini-pump I used to inflate the new tube. Then a further 3 km into the ride, the rear tire punctured again, this time hissing pressurised air onto my right leg, so I knew the sidewall had been sliced open. Not having a spare tire on me, I walked to a gas station about 1500 m away and called for a ride home from Jenn T, in the Mercedes hatchback.

So that rear Michelin Krylion Carbon only had about 1500 km on it and tons of treadwear left. Damn it, they don't wear out for at least 5000 km .......

I am finished with riding in the dark, I just can't see the massive amounts of debris that lie on the shoulder of the road.

Anyway, 31 km in 2012, not great but it's a start.

[johule]

This is what you call a die hard cyclist.
I always biked year round to work but now I'm retired I put the bike away for the winter and go to the YMCA.
Warmer and dry

[Mike T]

I will ride in the rain again, but not at night!

[deputydaves]

I will ride in the rain again, but not at night!

I see your a cyclist, i've seen some of your great pictures too.but you gotta get on that bike and ride.we need to see you do 7 to 10,000 miles a year. That's. What I do in a year and I ride all year around. Yesterday was 24 degrees with 40 mph gusts and I rode. Of course I only got 24 miles in but I rode.I love the sport, i'm 56 this year and have been hit 4 times by cars but i'm. Alive so i'll ride.
Happy cycling dude

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[Mike T]

I don't take photos when riding, so it is someone else's photos you're referring to.

I will never get 10,000 miles in a year, but 5000 is possible, one day. Nasty photo there! It leaves nothing to the imagination and if I may be so bold, the image doesn't look like it's of someone who rides 5000-10,000 miles a year

I don't ride in cities.

[Mike T]

Got a 78 km ride in today, 30 January. It was about plus 6 and partly sunny. Very nice. But I am out of shape.

[Schwalli]

First ride 2012 this past weekend... After being sick for 2 weeks it was time to get that bloodflow going again!
http://youtu.be/R9XamMWl98U

[lebikerboy]

I don't take photos when riding, so it is someone else's photos you're referring to.

I will never get 10,000 miles in a year, but 5000 is possible, one day. Nasty photo there! It leaves nothing to the imagination and if I may be so bold, the image doesn't look like it's of someone who rides 5000-10,000 miles a year

I don't ride in cities.

Check this fellow out Mike...

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest...-in-a-year.html

[lebikerboy]

Got a 78 km ride in today, 30 January. It was about plus 6 and partly sunny. Very nice. But I am out of shape.

No, you're just getting old...

[Mike T]

Yes I am, but in 4 months, this same ride will be 30 minutes faster!

[Mike T]

Today I took the Cervélo on its first ride of the year - 79 km in the faint sun and cool air. The average speed was low, 24.2 km/h, elapsed time about 3 hours 10 minutes. The new bike does feel pretty good after the old one I've been riding recently....but the old one will feel better when I get a new seat for it (same as the Cervélo's Fi'Zik seat). Still, my butt and lower back is sore.

[Mike T]

Today it was OK, about plus 9C and not raining though the tarmac was damp in places. So I got the old Raleigh out and rode it 79 km. Average speed is improving already, today it was a still slow but better 25.2 km/h, including three stops.

Here is where I explain what the stops were for: this bike has fenders on it (as befits a winter beater) and these were clogging up with road grit. One time, the grit got packed in so tightly that I thought I had a flat tire or the brakes were dragging. It was the rear fender only and that is the wheel with the Vittoria Rubino Pro tire on it, so something about its rubber compound makes it particularly adept at packing a fender with fine grit. I've never had this happen with the Michelins I've been using for 22 years! It happened three times as I said, I would notice the bike getting slower and rubbing noises and I'd have to flip it over to scrape the crap out.

Just weird!

[ianjay]

Do they use the salty slurry out there? My bike gets covered in it. I don't have a pressure washer and this stuff coats everything like some kind of glue. You can wash it off, but you have to really scrub. Makes a complete mess of the gears and chain.
We've been blessed with almost no snow in Toronto. But when snow threatens the slurry trucks spread this all over the place. I'm sure it is coating the insides of our road drains. It goes on like a fluid and dries to a fine sandpaper finish.

[Mike T]

Yes they use this crap here.....maybe that's what is making the grit so sticky.

[Mike T]

I did another 80 km today, it was 4-5 degrees and spitting rain, not the best conditions. It was started off by me finding a flat front tire with a terminally punctured casing, before leaving the garage....so I put my other spare Vittoria Rubino Pro on the front and a new tube......the ride itself was OK but I found it impossible to push at all, so the average speed was dismal: 23.1 km/h!! I had to stop a couple of times, once for water and again for a chain that derailed. But I was just slow. Too cold.

[Mike T]

Another 79 km on the Cervélo in the 16 degree weather and bright sunshine today. Felt good, even though a young pup who looked about 65 lbs lighter than me blew me off the road. That's OK!

[Mike T]

There was a "chance of a shower" today but it looked sunny when I embarked on the Cervélo for a 79 km ride.....

I got a flat tire about 26 km into the ride and then it started to snow, so the roads were wet....I continued the ride and did the usual distance. It looked as though my usually metallic white bike was a nice shade of brown mud. The snow was coming and going with a bit of sun here and there.

It took an hour to clean it up and lube it when I got home. Every ride is a good ride though.

[Mike T]

I did 41 km a week ago and then dropped the bike at 0 km/h when it started to snow - I could not unclip in time! So embarrassing. I bought a new Sella Italia Gel Flite red leather seat with gel padding, moounted it yesterday and then rode the bike 80 km this weekend. The new seat is great! Usually new seats hurt but this one feels the same as my other one, that I've had for over a year.

[Mike T]

Did another 78 km today in the mixed sun and cloud. On the old bike this time.

[Pingu]

I saw a sweeper on the highway near the airport last week. Have all the shoulders of the highway been swept?

[Mike T]

Bits and pieces have been swept, but there is still a healthy debris field in a few areas!

[Mike T]

1500 km in this year, it's Bike To Work Week and so I've ridden in the rain today....

Yesterday it was dry, so I rode the Cervélo and averaged 31 km/h over the 27 km route. Not bad, considering I am 225 lbs at this moment! Want to get that up to over 35 km/h by the end of summer.

[Pingu]

I was going to ask for an update -- thanks. I don't think I saw anyone in the Giro at 225 lb lol. You're going in the Tour de Victoria, right?

[Mike T]

Today I rode the old bike in the rain, it was not a great ride, nor was it fast. The front derailleur needed some serious correction with a rock in Chemainus.....I think it needs a new one.

Yes, I am doing the Ryder Hesjedal Tour de Victoria in 3.5 weeks, as well as the Axel Merckx version in Penticton 2 weeks later!

[Mike T]

I did three of a possible four days for Bike To Work Week, and 87.5 km today. Today was a fun ride: up Nanaimo River Road to the gravel, then over Gogo Hill towards Nanaimo, down past VIU and the pool, up the hill and home. Total to date this year: 1660 km.