TMonk

5th race of the season coming up on Sunday, CBR crit. My initial plan was to race the 2/3 field for points, and then the P/1/2 for training. The last race of the day is a 35+ 2-4 which is super interesting and has me intrigued.... I think I may try it out. The field will likely be small so the number of 2's that I can beat will probably be minuscule, so I guess the amount of points I could realistically get would be similar to that and elbowing my way onto the L3gion of LA train in the Pro race lol.

The Pro race is likely better training, but the M 35+ 2-4 might be more my vibe, since I'd actually be racing it haha. I think I'll try it and see.

TheKillerPenguin

Do em all! I would kill for 3 races in one day.

TMonk

So I skipped it again lol. Just too much going on, work's busy/had some things to do before today, and Liz and I have a lot going on too, auto and real estate stuff. My legs felt great on the trainer yesterday, so if the circumstances played out, I could have made something happen.

But that's ok!! It's still in the early portion of the season and there will be many more opportunities. I feel prepared for the week ahead and probably slightly less of a ball of stress than I normally AM, haha. Typical type-A stuff.

Looking forward to a solid week of training ahead. Big miles and TT aero testing on tap for this weekend - then racing for the next three consecutive ones.

TheKillerPenguin

I get it. There's a spring crit series going on but it's 2hrs each way and the race itself is 50 minutes. I did a zwift race yesterday instead.

TMonk

Yeah, this series is about 2 hrs away as well. I was pretty conflicted about it, but I think I made the right decision.

burnthesheep

No E3 TT series this year. Looks like I'll check with wife and signup for the local duathlon in April.

It'll be interesting showing up with a bike with a 60t chainring to that. At least I can run a bit nowadays more than I used to. Shrug.

caloso

I know you guys know this, but here's a reminder to lube, wipe down, and occasionally check all the moving parts of your trainer bike, especially if it's permanently on the trainer. Thought I was doing so, and then realized I had never checked the rear brake caliper. Cable is pretty much fused into the ferrule. I'm guessing that I was sweating on the housing, which dripped/wicked down into the cable/ferrule interface. D'oh!

I've soaked PB Blaster into it, so far nothing. I'll check it again when I get home tonight. Durr, what a pain.

revchuck 

^^^^At the shop where I work, we’ve had at least two bikes come in where the bars corroded clear through. They were trainer slaves belonging to triathletes, and just kept riding and sweating on them, the sweat soaked through the bar tape and ate through the aluminum.

ridethecliche

So I'll be living in philly full time starting July. Looking at one of those old specialized tricross single speed bikes. Think it's a reasonable option for a city bike? It has a carbon fork which is one of my concerns, but yolo.
Otherwise, would look at one of those bikes direct single speed cross bikes. The specialized is cheaper, but not disc brake which is slightly concerning but I think should be okay?

Guess I'll update this and say the proposal went well. Did it over MLK weekend at Jay Peak in VT. Had to revamp my plans because the day I was planning on doing it ended up having a high of like -10 with a windchill in the -25 range if not colder. We went out the following day where the temps went above 0 at about 10AM. Balmy in comparison.

revchuck 

Congrats on the proposal outcome!

Unless you're riding on carbon wheels in the rain, rim brakes will be fine. I've got a single-speed Specialized Sirrus (flat bar bike) with rim brakes and I can stand the bike on its front wheel.

ridethecliche

Picked up the bike for 240 including 40 for gas and 20 for waffle house! Looks to be in pretty good condition and just needs bar tape. Only question now is whether I want to try to swap the v brakes for cheap tektro cantis because I hate V brakes. Then to add fenders and maybe a rack... Of course I had to be an idiot and sell all my panniers last year soooo guess I'll be needing those again.

burnthesheep

Emailed the duathlon race person as no map was posted for duathlon distance yet, only the triathlons. It should have different bike leg between the Oly and sprint tri. They "may" publish the route now after my email as just shy of a 40k. That would be killer! As 5k 40k 5k is a TT racer's advantage. And a great regional TT practice session with full kit, maybe minus the sleeved skinsuit.

Said they're sending it out today. My email reminded them as they had forgotten to update the maps as this is first year holding the duathlon with the tris.

Upside, and downside......I think most "serious" folks will be doing the tris. Not the du. We'll see.

Doge

I visited my daughter Friday and saw her project that she mentions was property formally owned by an American former cyclist from Austin. I may have mentioned this before, but I saw pictures this time (see arrow on right).
I thought, something cycling racer related to post about.


I then did likely my last trip down CA hwy 1, Big Sur on my motorcycle. I've done it in an RV, multiple times in a car, two-three times pedaling, once on the tandem where I crashed my fiancé after hitting rocks that burst a tire (been married almost 30 years) and now on the motor bike. This was the least fun of any mainly due to weather.

I didn't need to buy gas at this location (Big Sur), but this was interesting.
It made me wonder if the digital display can take 2 digits.
I later got 91 in Morrow Bay for a deal at $6.09/gal (down from local $6.60 last week).

carpediemracing 

holy smokes. Will double dollar digit be the y2k of gas pumps? I remember when gas prices broke 99 cents and there were all sorts of wacky things done with the big signs that only had room for 99.9 cents.

burnthesheep

Didn't feel like a post in the general forum, but my year's long search for a book ended today. A beat up looking box arrived at my front door. I finally found what I was looking for at an online New Zealand used book store. It actually was listed as "used-some wear". But it showed up brand new, shrink wrapped.

40 Years of Cycling Photography, hardcover.

Out of print and hard to get at a good price. I paid pretty much what it went for new while in print. I had even emailed the original printer/author and they responded "sorry, we don't have anymore and good luck with it!"

I've only briefly thumbed the first dozen or so pages, and it's fantastic.

TMonk

We're in Escrow!!!!!! So stoked. Location is not something I'm willing to compromise on and the single family home thing is more than we want to spend right now in central San Diego, so it's a townhome.

But a sweet one! HOA ain't too much either. HW floors, high ceilings, gas/stainless appliances and great location. Three level with bedrooms, living area and garage from top to bottom. Garage is huge and can fit both cars, long work/tool bench, bikes and indoor cycling/workout studio area. Very excited. About 1/3 through escrow.

TMonk

Also - to any wine nerds around here - we have a thread going on in Foo. come join us!

https://www.bikeforums.net/foo/12477...r-glass-4.html

burnthesheep

Idiots at Giro forgot the US sticker in my helmet. Caught it getting ready for the du tomorrow. It's about 5 seconds slower to put on, but I guess I'll just HAVE to use the Tempor instead that does have the sticker. Shame shame. I was trying to blend in a little bit amongst the multisporters.

Apparently I can email Giro and they'll mail me one if the serial # is fine.

One of those "you had one job" at the factory moments.

caloso

I'm pretty sure that's the one station that's famous for having the most expensive gas in the state (and thus the whole country, usually).

Doge

I should have purchased a gallon. The station 40 miles north end of Big Sur was about the same price. I was looking for espresso, not gas.

globecanvas

sup

ridethecliche

Quick-ish question that I've been bothering waterrockets about offline.

I kinda got a little bit hoarder-ish and picked up two bikes locally with the goal of reselling one and turning the other one into a commuter. I couldn't really decide what I wanted to do so I bought both and figured I'd make the decision later.

First one is the specialized tricross singlecross 2008 (?) upthread a bit. I'm not sold on doing things on a single speed, so I kinda want to build a rear wheel with a 5 speed sturmey archer internally geared hub for it. Seems like it could be awesome since the 5 speed allows for 2 harder and 2 easier gears. Use case is commutes, grocery getting, and some light local riding with fiance/friends. Can put a rack and fenders on it.

Second bike is a charge plug- https://www.wiggle.com/charge-plug-2-2016
It's a geared gravel bike with a bunch of mounts for racks/fenders etc as well, but I think this could take wider tires. It's got disc brakes which is nice, but they're some of the cheapest mechanical disc brakes (promax?) and likely a pain to keep in adjustment as well as quick release wheels. The gearset is claris, which isn't the best, but it's cheap and likely cheap to replace. This is the older one without the integrated cables etc. Fiance's bike has the newer claris which actually feels decent.

I'm going to try riding both of them a bit over the weekend to make sure one doesn't fit funky, but does anyone have a rec for which way to go? I already have a gravel bike so need something more strictly a commuter. Thoughts?

himespau 

Sounds like the Charge Plug is good to go with just a rack, fenders, and maybe tires (and maybe calipers/rotors down the road?). Tricross sounds like it needs all that (minus the brakes) plus a new SA rear wheel and shifter. Charge would probably be cheaper to keep unless you really want to try out Sturmey Archer (though that setup on the Tricross would probably be cheaper to maintain/lower maintenance down the road from what I've heard about SA hubs - rear wheel would be heavier, but that probably won't be a concern for a commuter/JRA bike) or you decide you need the new brakes right away.

ridethecliche

Plug has decent tires to the point where id swap them over to the tricross if I kept it. I think the bike is in better condition overall as well. I'll ride both for a bit Friday/sat and see how they feel. I'm slightly concerned the plug is a hair too big.

And yeah, I'd definitely do brakes for the bike if that's the one I decide to keep.

The flat top tube for the spec will probably be handy when carrying it but that's a small part of use. Part of me thinks that it would be a cool project. I am definitely a bit concerned that the rear hub gearing is going to be a hard transition from having a derailleur in terms of shifting mechanics.

Honestly, if the brifters on the plug break, I'm not above replacing them with a bar end shifter and going 1X in front. Throw an MTB RD on there for a pie plate cassette.

Enthalpic

I entered a bike race... the first time in a long while.

I love how Alex Stieda hosts a race and races it as a cat 5. A former tour yellow jersey wearer in your cat 5 event is cool for them I'm sure. Dude gives back at the grassroots level.

https://zone4.ca/report/1b449454-cc0...3-0a7c5a9f7803