SoSmellyAir

> 50 mi. and > 2,000 ft. elevation gain for the first time ever this morning.

diphthong

congrats!

tigerdog

If anyone questions this being a Southern California thread, this line removes all doubt!

Eric F 

Saturday...Montrose Ride (8:00, short). Speed in the first half of the was ride fast, but not nearly as ballistic as the week before. I felt comfortable with the few 30+mph surges. After the short/long split, the pace was energetic, but steady. I punched hard over the Winston climb, and had to dig deep to stay with the group in the chicane before Foothill. Heading uphill into SM, things got spicy, and I lost contact before the base of the final climb. Not my best day, but a good workout (46mi, 1400')


Sunday...MTB with a group of friends. The original ride plan was Lowe-Idlehour-Henninger, but the climb to Inspiration Point took way longer than planned (a disparity of climbing speeds in the group). We all agreed to return the way we came up, with the added fun of the upper part of Sunset Ridge Trail. It’s been 20+years since I’ve been on Sunset - that was a blast! I will be back again. Unfortunately, once back on the paved road descent, I over-cooked a corner, ended up against a bush, which yanked my handlebar hard, and put me on the ground HARD. It took me a while to get my body back under control, assess damage, and get going again. I’m thankful for my friends (a couple of them are HS coaches) who did a great job in helping me manage the situation, and I was able to finish the descent and ride home under my own power, including the final stretch of singletrack down to Chaney Trail. I’m scraped and bruised, and I think a couple of ribs might be cracked. It’s going to suck for a little while, but I’ll be okay. On first inspection, it looks like the only issue with my bike is a torn grip. I’m also going to need a new helmet. It doesn’t have major damage, but there are some ripples in the shell and foam. Other than the falling down part, it was a really nice ride with some good folks. (14mi, 3100')

PromptCritical 

Whoa - glad you're OK! Crashing sucks.

PromptCritical 

Rode with a buddy for the first time in 40 years (He's now in San Diego area). Great route, great to ride with him again, even though I still can't keep up. 40 years ago we'd ride in the farm areas outside Idaho Falls. He'd be ahead 50-100 yards and wake up a dog sleeping on the porch of a house. Dog would wake up and chase after him, but never catch him. Dog would trot back toward the porch and I'd come along. Dog is now awake and halfway across the yard. Great sprint training! (Farm dogs have much, much better wheels than city dogs).

jonathanf2

Crashing sucks! Neosporin on those scratches, Advil and a few beers should heal you up quickly!

PromptCritical 

Actually, my Doc told me neosporin causes scar tissue and slows down the healing. He recommended cleaning it up real well and coating it with Aquaphor. After 6 weeks of not quite healing, it healed in a week with Aquaphor. That was well after the risk of infection had passed.

jonathanf2

Saturday, Sunday and Monday clocked in a total of about 73 miles on the gravel bike. Swapped out to an XD 10-42t rear cassette and I'm really digging the 10t cog. It allows me to pick up speed on the downhill and I'm able to pass up a few slow riding roadies on a 1x drivetrain while with a 38t front chainring.

PromptCritical 

Yeah, that 10T cog makes a huge difference in gearing range. A 38x10T setup is almost as big a gear as we used to race criteriums with BITD (52x13).

jonathanf2

Both my elbows are so road rashed up from crashing, no amount of Aquaphor is going to cover up those cycling battle scars! On initial cleaning, I always bite onto something and disinfect the wound with hydrogen peroxide and alcohol. Better to be in pain for a few seconds than have it get infected!

jonathanf2

I still prefer bigger chainrings for smoother drivetrain efficiency. With 1x in order to have decent low and high gearing, there needs to be some compromises made. Though I found I don't need to be in the 10t cog for very long. I'm now tempted to try a 9t cog!

Gone in 60

Another maiden voyage on the Santiago Creek trail. I had bought a pair of Electra Ticinos in rough shape a while back, and I rebuilt that beige one first for my wife. I started fiddling with the other one, which was a bit more beat-up - missing brake lever, fenders a bit more twisted up. Decided that if we were going to have "his and hers", they didn't need to match exactly, so I did this blue one up with shorty fenders and flatter bars to give it a more sporting look. Finished it up last night, and before Mother Nature closed the microwave door and hit the popcorn button, I got out on the trail and gave it a shake-down ride to fine-tune the gears and brakes.

TakingMyTime

Road from El Dorado Park down to the Huntington Beach Pier. Left the house and 06:17 in order to beat the heat. It was a nice ride, fewer cars on PCH at that time.

RCMoeur 

I heard it was almost hot there this week.

Gone in 60

Yeah, but it's a dry heat. When you live in Arizona, triple-digits are part of the bargain. We don't deal with it as well. I work in a museum on weekends, and I was wondering if we'd see a spike in attendance over the weekend with people looking for indoor activities. Once the heat kicked in around noon, we were mobbed. I've been stir-crazy, and have been going out late at night to ride. Today's supposed to be the last day of this heat wave, and we're supposed to be in the high 70s by Wednesday, so I can start riding to and from work without stroking out.

jonathanf2

Knocked out 23 and 26 miles this weekend. My lazy butt didn't wake up early enough so I left around 10am on both days. By noon, it was definitely in the 100s! By the time I start drinking my 2nd water bottle, it's like hot tea despite being filled with ice! On the bright side, I recently picked some lightweight 1100g disc wheels. The heat makes hill climbing more laborious, but the reduced rotational weight made it less painful!

skidder

California Earthquake Strikes Near Malibu, Felt Miles Away

I missed it as I was out on a bike ride! A pretty uneventful 30 miles, most of it on the Santa Ana River Trail.

Gone in 60

Huh. According to the news, the quake hit at 7:28. I would have been riding to work on the Santa Ana River Trail too, so I didn't feel it. But, my wife would have been home getting ready for work.
Now this is funny. Late last night we were shaken awake with rattling and a lot of noise. I went around the house to see what was going on. Turns out our next door neighbor, whose garage has an adjoining wall to ours, must have had a very badly balanced load of laundry going which was shaking the wall.

When I got to work, my wife had texted me saying the neighbors must have something wrong with their washing machine because she felt shaking again.