madpogue 

Maybe they should equip the ebikes with an interlock that disables the electric assist if it detects a phone transmitting a signal within close proximity of the seat or the basket.

phile

generally uneventful , but i did ride most of the route in higher gearing than usual. guess today was lets ride a bit faster day.

mgw4jc

Yesterday's weather included about an hour of snow ranging from flurries to big, wet flakes just before lunch. Then it all cleared out and was sunny and about 50F for my ride home. Snow in April in N. Carolina is quite rare.

Today was possibly the last cold morning until fall. Below freezing again, but a high of 70 is forecast. I'm ready to no longer need the tights and ski mittens.

Tundra_Man 

Just as I was getting used to my new route caused by the flooding, on my way home last night I discovered they completely tore up the main road I would use that took me over the interstate and the river. So I had to backtrack 8 blocks to the next main artery and take that way home.

This morning was beautiful. 34F with no wind and the sun was shining. I decided to try a completely new route to work. The positives were that the middle 2.5 miles were mostly through quiet residential areas. The bad news was that it was a pretty hilly route and the first and last mile were down very busy streets. However, seeing that I'm running out of options I'll probably have to keep riding this one until the flood waters recede and they get the MUP unburied from the mud.

Speaking of the MUP, yesterday the news did a story on the trail conditions. Three weeks later there is still about 7 miles of the MUP closed because a large portion of it is underwater, and the areas that aren't submerged are frequently blocked with huge chunks of ice. That the ice chunks remain is pretty impressive, as it's been above freezing for at least parts of every day since the flood. https://www.keloland.com/news/local-...ail/1896318347

Got honked on the way in. I was in a 20 mph zone coming down a hill and holding about 23 mph. The car behind me was pacing me at the same speed and seemed content to do so. The driver behind that car was mad that we weren't speeding and started honking and revving the engine. Finally he pulled out and passed us in the turning lane honking each of us as he went by. I have an Airzound and honked right back. The best part was 1/2 mile down the road I caught him at a traffic light so all his efforts didn't buy him a single second of time savings.

OhLylo

Until the first time it inadvertently stops someone from calling 911 in an emergency, or causes a wreck because it locks things up in traffic... basing things that can have serious impact on something as tenuous and also ubiquitous as cell signals is a recipe for Stuff to Go Wrong.

Preach. Bring on the warmth!

Tuesday PM: Probably the windiest day of the year so far, but in an unusual N/NE direction. This is a partial tailwind on the way home, so in my infinite wisdom I decided to just belt it out. I hit 31mph on flat ground at one point. Going fast was easier anyways since less pressure was on my badly-angled seat. Also, my bike blew over in the parking lot due to the wind. Nothing outright broken, thankfully, but my rear mech is acting a little janky and my fender was a little tweaked, so I took them off.

Wednesday AM: 48F and moderate wind to the south. Yesterday's 31 mph makes for today's ughhhhhhhh - my legs are definitely tired, which drove my RPE and HR up relative to speed. I fixed my seat position, which made a big difference, but I also stupidly adjusted my stem up 5 or 6 degrees, and I hate it, so it's going back to 0 degrees tonight. I need a multi-tool with all the useful allen wrench sizes to throw in my bag...

madpogue 

Um, it was a joke. Just an oblique way of expressing how most thinking people see the idea of operating a vehicle (of any kind) while using a phone. But while we're getting serious about it:
* Any ebike that "locks up" when the electric assist fails is dangerous to operate and a menace on the road. If you're riding a shared ebike and the battery dies, you better be able to pedal and keep going. It is an electric ASSIST, after all.
* If you're calling 911, you should be stopped, except in the astronomically unlikely event that you're being pursued. But if you really want to cover the bases, the system could be programmed with an exception for 911
If disabling an electric ASSIST is considered "serious impact", maybe Uber is the better option.

OhLylo

pdlamb

Bright, cool, calm morning. Big surprise is that they're doing road destruction on a mile and a half of my favorite, best route to work. The parallel street is in worse shape, which I'm surprised hasn't been fixed since the police station backs out on that road. Let's see, 17 months until the next municipal election -- that street is going to be a wreck for a long, long time.

nuxx 

FBWMD

Fast (overslept)

joeyduck

I actually drove past a guy on a recumbent trike yesterday afternoon and I have to say I think everyone saw him. Everyone gave him a lane change pass, my biggest concern was his visibility over my right shoulder in my minivan after passing him, at that point he was 100% invisible, and I was looking for that exact reason. Though before I choose to pass him I felt that his flags were too short and needed to be about two feet taller.

I think it is a viable option post operative!

Anyway, all is good here, I have not ridden much but we did just get back from two weeks spring break. We drove to LA to see my dad and the sights. The kids had a blast and it was a great family trip overall.

joeyduck

I hate that plateau when in recovery. It is frustrating that you know you're almost better but at the same time know you're not and the real risk lies in easily over doing it. I wish you continued improvement!

Darth Lefty 

Thanks, Richard. Good to hear from you!

joeyduck

Thank you.

I thought of you as I drove through northern Cali, and gosh it was lush and green.

Darth Lefty 

It's lush! By the end of April it will be turning yellow. Then it won't rain more than twice until December. That's how it goes...

OhLylo

My afternoon commute started off beautiful. Warm weather, and I found a new shortcut through an area at work that means I don't have to get on the dreaded 60mph road at all - awesome!

Then I started loudly losing air in the rear. I immediately stopped and did a quick roadside inspection. The tire wasn't flat and I didn't see anything or any sealant spots so I figured it was a fluke and carried on. Couple miles later, it happens again. Uh oh. I manage to get home and I sit down to do a thorough inspection, and I find this:




Yup, that's a tread broken all the way through the tire, and a cut sidewall filled with sealant. Amazingly, through the miracle of sealant, the tube only lost about 20 psi. I'm probably (stupidly? ) gonna try to ride it again tomorrow and then replace the tires when I'm off on Friday. I guess this answers the question of "can Lylo get away with a faster, less durable tire" with an emphatic "nope".

Darth Lefty 

SylvainG

Commute home at 5pm was a bit windy as can be seen in this picture



When my head was more or less at the same height as the top of a hill I was climbing, a gust of wind blew road abrasives to my face! It stung but luckily I was wearing my riding goggles so didn't get any in my eyes. Beside that, since my ride is horseshoe shaped, what I lost against the wind, I almost made up going with the wind. Ended up only losing 3 minutes (from 55 minutes to 58 minutes) because of the wind but the against the wind ride was somewhat painful.

wphamilton

I pulled a dumb stunt the other morning. I guess I was just overdue for one since I can't think of any good reason for it. My rear tire got that bumpy feeling when it's low but not flat, and I thought maybe I just let it get too low since I hadn't ridden that bike in 4 or 5 days. I decided to air it up and see how far it would take me. As I'm sure everyone here knows, that never works. And I also knew it at the time because I put the pump in the bag in my rack instead of lashing it securely as usual, since I'd just have to get it out again in a little while. Dumb idea, lured by the chance that I could avoid a little work in the cold.

But worse than that, I was in such a hurry that I didn't zip the bag up, or I put it on top or something, because a mile or so down the road when of course it was flat again - no pump, so I'm jogging back with the bike, looking everywhere for it and feeling like a fool. I did find it back where I started and changed the tube, taking the 5 or 6 minutes that I tried to save in the beginning. Plus however long it took to ride a mile and jog back.

phile

first ride on new brooks b17 saddle. kinda hard and slippery, but i know there is the whole break in period. wasn't too bad for my 5.6km commute, that said although hard i wouldn't per say call it bad? it's giving me hope that once broke in saddle will be great

mgw4jc

The "close proximity" part made me think that the person could ride the bike past someone else using the phone and then off goes the assist. Would be fun to witness I think.

A good bit warmer today at 49F. Nice ride in.

OhLylo

Right there with ya. I've only ridden mine twice so far. Definitely slippery and hard. Adjusting the angle to be level helped me a bit, but there's definitely still some break in time needed.

phile

im kneeding the saddle every time i pass near bike , to help it along with breaking in. heh

madpogue 

Actually, maybe the inverse would be better; block cell signals while the electric assist is on. I can't tell you how many times I wish I had a button on my handlebar that would blank out the phones of anyone operating a nearby vehicle. Or better yet, fill the screen with "Hey JackWagon, look at the ROAD!"

Been a colder than normal spring. Yesterday was "okay", but it feels like late winter again today. Now they're forecasting an overall wet April.

Tundra_Man 

I've been running a B17 on my hybrid for a while now, and have about 1300 miles on it. I don't know if it's the most comfortable saddle I've ever owned, but I like it quite a bit. It is on the firm side but generally I like my saddles firm.

The most comfortable saddle I've ever owned was a cheap Bontrager. When I bought my hybrid it came with one of those huge wide gel filled things. I rode 7 miles to work on that awful saddle and decided I wasn't going home with it, so over lunch I rode to the closest sporting goods store and paid $15 for the Bontrager. I rode that saddle for 10 years and it felt great until it finally fell apart. I tried to find the same saddle again but Bontrager didn't make it any longer, so I decided to give the Brooks a try.

Moving on to this morning... 38F and rain. I rolled out of the garage and started heading down the driveway when something didn't feel right: my front tire was extremely low. I considered just pumping it up and seeing if it would get me to work, but then I decided to go back into the garage and swap the tube while I still had easy access to my work stand and tools. Good thing I did, as the tire didn't want to come off the rim. After lots of work with the tire levers along with a great deal of muttering I finally got it off. I'm glad I did that at home on a workbench rather than somewhere out in the rain. Didn't find anything in the tire. The tube just had a little pinhole which will be easily patched tonight when I get home. Put a different tube in and pumped it up and I was back on my way.

I had left the house early to try and get a jump on traffic. The route I've been taking due to flooding has a couple main roads that really get full of fast moving cars during rush hour. Unfortunately, fixing the flat cost me 1/2 hour of time which put me square in the middle of the heaviest traffic. It stunk, but I survived.