Nu boike, @ 35kms old.

Boardman CX Pro, alloy frame, Avid BB7 cable brakes & SRAM Force compact groupset (50/34, 27~11). Initial impressions aren’t much guide really, especially coming from the owner of a new bike who’s over the moon on the whole thing so it’s all great, fantastic, better than anything else on the market sort of drivel.


Perhaps some direct comparisons to my existing bikes might put things into better perspective. The frame is pretty chunky & looks heavy duty compared to my 2008 Wilier Laverdo, with it’s smooth weld giving the seamless look, very much as if it is a carbon frame. I can’t really say it’s a CX specific layout either. The reach the ‘bars is the same as my roadie & there doesn’t seem to be any effort to reduce standover height. The frame is a medium & I’m 5ft 9inches (179cm) tall, and feels marked ably larger than my medium Wilier or Specialized frame sizes.

The Avid BB07 cable disk brakes provide better braking than calliper rim brakes could ever do (I believe). Although these BB07 do take some setting up, Goggle is your friend here & it pays to invest those anxious few minutes that you would rather be smashing it around the neighbourhood in setting them up correctly instead.

Personal set up from new came in the form of Schwable Marathon Extreme 700c/35 tyres in place of the Ritchey CX knobbies (700c/35). Even at max pressures (80psi) they are still meaty things & I can’t say they roll faster than the 700/23 Continental Four seasons I run on my Wilier Laverado. I’m banking on their reputation in wet going & puncture resistance to fit my role for this rig as my commuting junkie.

With the biggest difference being the drop ‘bars from my previous slick-shod MTB commuter, I approached the gutters & step downs on my first commute into work on it with some trepidation. But it filled the role with some grace & it was such a boon to be able to snick through the gears on a bike that rolled so much easier than my MTB commuter.

I’m thinking of dropping a couple of teeth off the front chainring to a 48tooth to tighten up the ratios around more of the kind of riding I’ll be doing with this bike & in the short term I’ll be looking at swapping out that white saddle & ‘bar tape for something darker, like black. Even though white bar tape is pretty ‘Pro’ .

Scratch & sniff, its new bike time.

The daily commute does take it’s toll on a bike, & after 3 years the Jamis Exile (MTB single speed 42/16 with slick tyres) was coming across little dog eared. Even though the intrinsic connection a rider gets when riding a single speed can be intoxicating at times, my weathered frame has been feeling the climbs as time has passed and I began to look on with a degree of envy as the rider alongside me simply snicked down to a more suitable ratio & powered on. The attraction of levelling out the terrain while on the go with science was the catalyst for me to turn my back on new parts & an open tool boxto neaten up the Jamis, for a chat with my local bike shop salesperson & web searching bike manufacturer product ranges.

For me, it was something of ‘Back to the future’ moment where my head was turned once again to the weirdness that is winter in Europe – the cyclocross bike. These fall into two broad groups of product, the hardcore cyclocross racer with a low(ish) ratio double up front, or what can be considered a touring bike – a drop ‘bar roadie with nod to MTBs with disk brakes & a triple crankset.

Oddly, my short list of just 2x bikes were either the Spcialized Tricross Comp (2012) – solely on the strength of how cool it looked in anodized black & red bits, as well as the Boardman Pro from Wiggle, because, again it was black, but ran disks (albeit cable Avid7s) and priced very keenly.

The hot-shoe amongst the various bike outlets in Melbourne revealed the supply of Specialized Tricross Comps not due until June 2012 (we’re in January) & CX bikes in various shades of unsuitability – yes in the end it was basically all about what they looked liked… So, I reverted to the information superhighway to rescue me from my vanity & doubled clicked onto the Boardman CX Pro  .

So now that anxious wait for that big box from that smelly man in the courier van.

Garmin 24hour MTB XC.

Entered in a four man team, open category.


Oh man, that mud wreaked my head. If someone asked me to give up on MTBing when I came through transition at 10:30pm Sat night I would have gladly discarded my 50kg mud laden Specialized Epic for a badminton racket.

That combination of mud, constant rain & drizzle with those rocky & off-camber section made much of my nights laps virtually un-ride able. Even going pig slow filled the tyres & jammed up the wheels & drivetrain. Any opportunity for some speed to shed the mud had me into the bushes in the most unflattering of angles.

Although Sunday morning, really was like night & day. We headed out for our 2nd team lap & it was a gas. I reckon there was even dust in the “S for Snozza” section. Although unfortunately for me, virtually all my laps except the 2nd team lap was ridden in inclement weather (and mood).

2011 Around the Bay in a day (organised road ride- 210kms)

Wow, piece of cake.

I started from the actual start at Alexander Gardens at the end of Swan St/City Rd.

The Melb>Sorrento>Queenscliff>Melb 210km entry I bought off this other bloke had the slowest average time (20/24kms) so I was right down the back  ‘with everyone else’.

Heaps of riders, thousands I would hazard a guess even.

Official start was 6am, but they staggered the riders out in groups of a 30x odd, I didn’t roll under the start cute & register my start time electronically until 7am.

It was pretty ordered from the start & not that crowded, no stacks that I saw.  By the time we rolled past Kerford Rd it was pretty much like every other weekend morning down Beach Rd.

It was cool with a slight tail wind to Frankston. I was overdressed from the start so I took off a layer (I had 2x thermal top ‘cos I thought it was going to be really cold) & packed the vest away for the hills after Frankston down to Dromana.

It was fun to smash it up Oliver’s hill. Funny, but I saw a lot of riders still in the big ring going up there, even the steep bit which was really weird. I couldn’t see the sense is trashing my legs at only after the first 50kms so picked the ratio that carried me up with just the slightest consternation.

Throughout this little section from Frankston to Dromana I saved myself for the Mt Martha climb because it always seems longer than it looks, so by the time I got there I was OK up that. I didn’t stop at the top but changed up & towed the big gear down the start of the other side down the descent down the other side, jumping out onto the car lane to clear the other riders coasting down. Funny that I didn’t see anyone in front of me bombing down going hard towing the bog gear to max out before the bottom, but I looked behind & saw heaps!

Into Dromana the head winds started as well as some rain, but it was coming off the south west so the peninsula was shielding us most of the time. It was getting cold so I put the vest on, but the wind was really blustery & pushed some riders out onto the middle of the road.

I tried to sit on whoever’s wheel was in front on me & I didn’t take a turn (not in that weather!). We all rode in the small chainwheel out from here to Sorrento.

Got to Sorrento at about 10:30. They kept the riders off the pier because of the cold wind so the queue started just as you got your food-bag. Most riders went over to the grass to eat, but I stood in the queue & got on the very next ferry 11am.

Ferry was crowded but I found a spot I could actually lie down & I noticed lots of riders with bloody knees, shins & elbows. Which showed that some had a far more colourful ride down from Melbourne to the Sorrento ferry.

At Queenscliff I rolled out of the ferry at the other end at 12:30 approx. It was really crowded just as I got off with my ‘ferry group’, but after going for a slash & getting myself worked out, everyone had already gone, so there weren’t many riders to follow for the ride out of Queenscliff to Geelong..

I found that I had a head wind all the way to Geelong. Doing a dog leg route to Ocean Grove we got a side wind & then a head wind, but it all seemed really heavy going.  A lot of riders were suffering in this bit, I just tried to jump onto the back of the next best group that came by. i had to stop at the Leopold & Geelong rest stops to fill the biddons & have a jelly baby.

The ride from Geelong back to Melbourne: New roadworks with the freeway & around the Laverton/Altona meant that a lot of those really crappy zig-zagging roads from previous years route was dropped & the roads were flat, fast & smooth.

But the best bit was: tailwind! 45kms/hr tailwind all the way back to Melbourne from Geelong. Most of the route was along the main freeway, but the shoulder was now at least 5metres across. I was in top gear & riding along on the ‘tops’ (of the handlebars) sitting on about 43kms/hr.  I skipped the Little River rest stop (which was the freeway servo).Even though my back & arse was kinda sore I kept going all the way to Werribee for a Powerbar.

From Werribee into town & onto the bridge seemed like it only was a few kms. New smooth roads & a tailwind made it all feel real easy.

There didn’t seem to be many riders around me at the finish & as I crossed the finish line at 5pm , back at Alexander Garden, there weren’t many riders about.

We got a little medal & a bottle of water instead of a showbag with a newspaper in it, but everyone got a medal, even those doing the 50km, so that took away some of the kudos off the memento for the riders doing the whole lap of the bay (210/250kms).

I hung around & ate all that was left of my munches & then rode home really carefully straight up Swanston St in the CBD (a first for me this year even though I ride into work everyday. I always try to avoid one of the most notorious bike strips in town whenever I can).

At the end of the day, it felt like the easiest Bay ride I ever did. Nest year I’m doing the same thing: wait until a fortnight from the event & bay someone else’s discount entry as they can’t make it on the day. Although I would love to do it on something less suitable, like a single-speed or fixie to spice it up a bit.

Ride stats:

It’s official (as my alias on the day Alex Edwards) I got a total elapsed time of : 8 hours, 31minutes & 50seconds.  Average speed of 24:62kms/hr.

http://tiktok.biz/aroundthebay/2011/21321/

Split times were:

Melb>Sorrento: 3hrs 45mins 5sec (avg 27.99kms/hr)

Ferry: 1 hour, 22mins

Queenscliff>Melb: 4hrs 46min 44 sec (avg 21.97kms/hr)

*Includes stopping for wee & munchies.

Bay ride build up.

On a whim I picked up an entry to the ‘Bay ride for this year (210kms organised road ride around Port Phillip Bay). More for the fact that 2011 has not been a big year for me on the bike & this event was essentially what got the ball rolling for me when it came to taking on bike riding as an adult for fun & profit.


With the hindsight of previous rides at this event, I knew that any sort of meaningful training matter less to my average speed & finishing time than the prevailing winds on the day. So I opted to just rely heavily on the scant few kms commuting to/from work as the groundwork to taking on the big day. Everyone else I know is sitting this one out so any motivation I get during the ride will be for within. Hoping for the best, planning for the worst – it’ll fall in there somewhere between the two no doubt.

The Commute: Bike maintenance counts: A well washed & freshly lubed bike doesn’t mean squat if you’re faced with your first emergency stop of the year & your brakes fail in a shriek of grinding metal & a white knuckle close shave.



Apparently my recent rainy commutes had taken their toll on my Avid Juicy 3 disk brakes & the rear pads had precious little material left. The frantic dive onto the anchors last Tuesday night chewed what remaining pad material off the backing plate & took the pad’s retaining clip with it, mashing it in a ball & lodging between the calliper body & disk. This meant my rear braking force instantly evaporated, although thankfully my front brake was still there & bit down hard hauling me just short of the lurching yellow panels & green/white decals of a wayward Silvertop.



I dismantled the rear brake for the balance of the commute, with resisting the urge my left hand had to engage the lever being a bigger struggle than I would have imagined.



Ironically without spare brake pads for my commuter, I mounted the MTB for the ride in today for the annual ‘Ride to work day’. Big effort for all those at the workplace & I, for once, didn’t mind so much losing my regular spot on the workplace bike rack. Being late for work, I had no time to indulge in festivities en-route.

In other news, daylight savings has arrived, so MTB (FGP) dirt crits at Westgate is now run in daylight. For me, this is a negative, as pretty much everyone in my category (B grade) had disappeared over the horizon as I turned the first few corners of singletrack. It looks like I might have to delve into my pot of good fortune & start to run my corners deeper while attempting to stay off the anchors for longer, if I’m to claw back the massive deficits I’m losing out on the open stuff. Perhaps the fact that the top 3 places in my category went to riders less than half my age is a good indication that some hobbies are not as suitable to people over 40yrs as I had thought. In any case I wasn’t last, so there was still something to keep me coming back.



Motorbikes: Back in the day when my hands were always oil stained, I carried about a constant whiff of petrol & didn’t have a girlfriend, I spent a lot of time with a Ducati 748 (1997 model) Bi-posto Strada, which I only had eyes for. It wasn’t perfect, & as the day long sojourns into the twisty roads of the high country & track days became a little staid, I drew up a list in my head of the things I would have loved to modify on my 748 to make it the perfect motorbike for me. Now in 2012 Ducati will be releasing such a bike. Streetfighter 848.

I haven’t considered sporty motorbikes much of late, what with vitriol & contempt motorcyclists are generally treated with ( in Melbourne anyway) & how every single piece of ‘happy road’ in Victoria has been sanitized & policed into submission. But this bike seems like too much of a good thing to pass up. It’ll still be at least 6 months before they fill the dealership floors & I definitely want to test ride one before I sign my life off to the devil ( in me), but the prospect of going back to straddle one of Italy’s most iconic engined motorcycles is very tempting indeed.

Hoon.

Perhaps it’s the slight ambiguity that my cycling garb offers me on my commutes, or that added rush of adrenaline I get as I grind away at the crank, but for a time now I feel like my behaviour has been reverting me back to my adolescence while out on my daily roll into work & back. I try to stay on the right side of being a totally revolting, angst riddled teenager by abiding the ‘main’ traffic rules - red lights & being on the correct side of the road for example – but it’s all those grey areas where the more civic minded may yield or peg it back a little where I’ve been showing my horns.


This has come to a fore in the last week or so, as I’ve noticed that those little indiscretions are getting responses from those people around me – pedestrians & motorists - and none too polite either. With the most recent having a stoutly fellow be so inclined as to take pursuit on foot ,with only the good grace of a light sequence in my favour saving me from a curse word & a servere bump on the head.

So now I have turned over a new leaf. I’ve delved back into the past, to those early days where a little bit of fear & paranoia used to factor in everything I did on the bike. I’m taking the easy-going road, I’m coasting more often & on the brakes earlier, I’m slowing up & staying in between the lines. I’m the model citizen on two wheels….. and boy am I getting it from everyone.

Cut off, pushed out & ignored. Riders are getting queued up behind & pedestrians are frustrated in wasting time yielding for me. Cars are squeezing me out of lanes or turning in ahead of me. Even dogs are rushing out of driveways to nip at my feet.

With everything worthwhile comes a cost, but to lose the buzz & still get razzed, well I can’t see any good in that…… “RIDER UP!!!”

Some one-on-one with my Wilier.

Endomondo Cycling Workout: was out cycling 48.68 km in 1h:57m:21s using Endomondo.


Some easy rolling out with my Wilier Laverado.


Avoiding the flat bayside wheel-sucking bumfight to Franga & back that Beach Rd can be, I’ve delved into the recommendations from others who enjoy the feel of the burn & headed out into lumpy roads of the eastern ‘burbs. Although, unavoidably the cantankerous nature of many Melbourne’s motorists distils into it’s worst on a Saturday afternoon out here in the eastern suburbs, but to rant is to say nothing new.

Nice ride, the profile was good although spoiled by traffic lights all in the wrong places, which actually did make for good workout having to grind out of those incline starts. Whatever, the roll back home being mostly downhill was oh so nice, just what I needed to spin out the tiredness in my feeble legs.

Red hot racerboy…

Another all too rare [of late], hit out at the FGP dirt crits last Thursday night. Still dark so needed the Nite Lightning helmet mounted light. Squeezing in a mad bike commute home to change bikes & ride out to the stinky park (Westgate), I got there real late, just as everyone was lined up for the start. Paid, numbered bike & rolled off way after all of the field completed the prologue loop & started into the first bit of singletrack.


All the grades started at the same time so it was a congested start, which I thankfully missed being so far back from the off.

Course was dry & real fast, the tyres tracked true through everything, never giving an inch regardless of how cavalier I was getting with line selection & brazenly storming into corners with way too much on song.

Organisers ran tags on the bikes & electronic timing which seemed to work (I heard mine beep with each lap).

I had a clear run on my first lap because I was late & was able to easily pass some of the other riders as the field had spread out by the time I came across the first bloke. It was so refreshing to be able to put riders away one at a time like that, that it meant that I was way too distracted & kept motivated enough during the race to stay on the rivet while not realising how tired I was actually getting until the last lap (of 6) where I hit the wall.

Lots of fun, I should do this more often.

My ride stat Endomondo 

I have a biggie lined up later in the year, teaming up for ‘Jeep’ 24 hour MTB at Redesdale in late November, so I had better start ‘tapering’. I should drag the roadie out for a bay side roll Saturday morning & throw some weights around, although sleep is still a very important part of a good training regime.

My Mountain Challenge 5Hour MTB XC – Wombat Dam.

http://www.link2trail.com.au/index.php

A world of mud, for me the worst I’ve ridden in (apparently similar to the muddy Otway Odessy - which I didn’t ride). Entered solo mens 40+.

The cold morning kickoff in the drizzling drizzle at 10am had a relatively small field of about 100 riders depart a short prologue gravel road section (which was muddy) of 300mts before entering the singletrack of the Wombat dam loop. Course lap was about 9.6kms & pretty much all the Wombat Dam loop to the west & south west of the dam, lots of singletrack & even the small amount of two-track was so muddy that it was difficult to ride more than one line for passing. No one seemed to be in much of a hurry at the start, but I must admit I was in amongst the solo riders from the off.
Letting things settle in for the first lap & rode a lazy pace to suss the flow of the course & pick on bits where I could later let momentum carry me through to save on my feeble legs. The mud became a factor from the first lap, where going too easy would fill your tyres (I ran Maxxis Ignitors) & picking up the pace had you off into the bushes. By the 2nd lap the short climbs would have 2 spins of the rear wheel for ever one of the front . Some off camber singletrack exposed ultra greasy tree roots that spat your front wheel out from under you forcing you to unclip, & it was difficult to slam down descents without having to deal with a bike with a mind of it’s own at the bottom.
I pitted each lap after the first 2 for a splash of Endura & some rock hard (it was that cold) Powerbar. I found that for most of the event I circulated on my own and if it wasn’t for the tyre-tread filled boggy quagmire I was piloting myself through, would have felt that I might have been lost. I suffered chain suck each time I bailed to my granny, & on my last lap (of 5 I managed) my rear tyre jammed with mud & leaves leaving me poking my bike with a stick trackside in the drizzle (yes it hadn’t really stopped yet).
I must admit that in amongst this anguish there were those moments that made life on a bike worthwhile, when a length of singletrack opened up ahead of you with a brilliant flow & rhythm , out of the saddlle & pumping away, railing the corners, flicking between the trees. As the course was inundated, you got a handle on the conditions and were able to make the best of the opportunities for speed & momentum as they came up.

With 15mins to go to the end of the event I topped that annoying little switchback climb just before the dam start/finish & tapped out for the day. I rolled straight to the car & piled all the mud that looked like it belonged to me into the boot & strapped the 30kgs mudcake by Specialized onto the rack & roared off to the nearest shower.
My result wasn’t too stella in the over 40s, but I must admit that due to recent form to be rolling close to the finish of a 5hour (shy 15mins) I chalked this up as a worthwhile day out on the bike & have undertaken to inflict myself with more of this sort of stuff soon.
Off to the shop for some brake pads…

Ride log: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/gpbls16XRiA

...more please.

Bam! My rotors haven’t even cooled off from the last MTB enduro & here I am signing up for another one. Still very much in the ‘room for improvement’ phase of my training for this sort of ‘white hot heat of MTB racing’ I nevertheless am convinced that the best way to shock myself out of this loungeroom funk is to cart my bike out onto the startline of these things & get those cranks turning.


So next Sunday’s (June 19th) Mountain Challenge MTB Enduro 5hour  held in the Wombat State Forest near Woodend will be graced with my presence in the 40+ solo ole’farts category. I’ll tick this one off as a successful day out if I can keep rolling for the duration. Sure there’ll be times that I will hate Gary Fisher & his friends for all they’ve done for cycling, but in amongst the pain & hate I am sure to find those gems that make life on a bike worth living.

Thankfully the Specialized Epic is still set up from the last hit out at the Forest 6hour so prep will be a squirt of lube on the chain and a fresh biddon. A scan of my MTB compatriots have them all somewhere else on the day so I’ll be trucking out there on my lonesome for some me & ‘it’ time.

9to5.

The monthly wash & lube of the Commuter bike over the weekend made for totally silent ride apart from the freewheel (White Industries XC ENO s/s freewheel - that extra dog makes for a cool freewheel groove).
I’ve now got a 'Controlshield’ BBB jacket (in black/black)  for the commutes & honestly I really can’t wear anything substantial under this thing without getting too hot. This morning in the 4degree winter June morning air it was just a cotton Tshirt I had on underneith & it still came off a little too damp.

In the work supplied changerooms (which is pretty comprehensive where I work now) - one fellow bike commuter was saying to another fellow bike commuter - that he did over 300kms on the weekend. This may have sounded impressive, but he then added that it was over the 3 days. To be honest, I feel that no claim to bike mileage is allowed unless it is ether done on the one ride, or that it is precluded by the span of days first before any mention of ‘big mileage’ is quoted so to put it all into its proper perspective.

Forest 6hr MTB race:

http://www.forrest6hour.com.au/



Cold day, some very cold gusts, clear skies, the 9.6km course bedded down & became really nice – no dust, no mud – and had a wonderful raceline that flowed really well. Riders loved the event & very few didn’t see it out the full 6hours. A lot of bikes were still clean @ the 5hour30min mark.

Entered in Men’s Pairs to fly the Goombah flag although neither of us had much motivation going into the race - with no training apart from the commute & occasionally running around the block beforehand. But once we both had a lap under us I think we realised why where there in the first place. I personally had a lot of trouble with the climbs (comparatively speaking) due to fitness issues so I resigned myself to spin out the ascents, but I really got into the descents & some techie sections where I was able to capitalise of the momentum /flow, going all elbows out & out of the saddle flicking about between the trees.

We alternated laps throughout the day, sometimes 6hrs really flies by & there isn’t much of an opportunity for someone to do a double lap without feeling that the other fella is missing out.

The result was a nice fuzzy feeling, with our team smack bang in the middle of the field.

Rain held off until 4pm (race end funny enough) when it totally dumped down & washed some villages away.

You would have to go back to November 2010 before I could remember a MTB event that wasn’t really muddy.

Blown cobwebs.

Phoar, a rare hit out at  FGP Dirt Crits  at Westgate. Dead last in a stella field of Bgraders (does that make me a bad B grade sort of rider?) , but I put it down to new singletrack – a first in a million years –  and a recent habit of eating one too many pies.  Nevertheless, it was hoot & would recommend falling about in the mud & dark to anybody, as I did toss myself off the bike en-route to the finish a few times that evening.  

Sticking to a commitment I made at the start of the year I’m teaming up with a mate in Men’s Pairs for this weekend’s Forrest 6 hour MTB, which should prove a fun & worthwhile day out on the bike.

Tomi spice to the work shuffle.

New to young families, I didn’t realise they would demand on my time so heavily immediately before & after work, which was previously my little piece of ‘me time’ clocking up some interesting bike kms in & around the various meanders of Melbourne’s byways as I rolled along my daily commute.

But yes, now it’s a straight burn to & from work, no time to waste, and no interesting diversions, the commute now has the clock ticking.

This has brought me onto the more direct on-road bike routes, amongst the traffic lights & the forever LEDs flashing, panniered , mudguard ensconced 700c Schwalbe Marathon tyres of hub-geared hybrids & the ‘bar-end shifters of the steel framed grey beards.

Jamis Exile 2009 s/s 42/16.

This is a world where disposable shopping bags are deployed as wet weather gear & florescence mixes with wool & work slacks. Where the red glow of traffic lights are a place of close, intimate groupings & the change to the green light begins the slow motion wiggle con-go as most set off in a way too tall a gear & try to find their opposing pedal as if it’s their first time.

I’m still riding my Jamis Exile: a MTB single speed (freewheel) running 42/16 (don’t ask me, I don’t ‘do’ gear inches). This was a real nice fit for my previous rollings through the riverside bike paths & byways I used to do in the past, but in this new environment I was left a little wanting.

Being Melbourne there are obviously the dappled menagerie of fixed geared bicycles ridden by all sorts of people; from the reclaimed ‘70s roadracers, to next years carbon Olympians & also girls on colour coordinated handbag accessories. The concerted, & in some people’s eyes – conceited - effort the average Melbournian with a laptop & Twitter account go to in their quest to have the right sort of bike to prop against their outdoor café table while having their macchiato alfresco is almost stupefying. But alas, I look & am enticed.

Oh sure, I’m way to tight to drop more than a few lobsters on anything of late, especially on a lifestyle that which may offer: “that intrinsic symbiosis of man & machine as one” , but comes with one of the biggest prices that can be paid in bicycledom - that brakeless car bonnet somersault & bitumen faceplant with the added bonus of taking your knees to an early grave in the lead up.

But I still wanted to try it. I wanted the easy cheap option. OK, the 2nd cheapest option (a local Velodrome offers track bike hire/try/ride) was to pick up one of these Tomi-Cogs.

You see, I have single speed, but it’s a MTBer. I can’t [really] get a regular fixed cog for it (in place of the single freewheel cog), but these Tomi-Cogs bolt onto the disk brake rotor mounts. It just means that I’ll be running my rear wheel swapped around & I will also lose a rear brake.

I’ve got the cog, but I haven’t tried it yet. Waiting on the accidental misplacement of the ‘husband To-Do list’, & a bright starry night when all the kiddies are safe in bed before I let the devil loose...

The long commute.

Amazing it’s been about 20 years this month since I started cycling to/from work.

1991 – Lashed out on some razor thin slicks for my 1989 Apollo Everest, pumped to their max & rode out from St Albans into the CBD. I pre-rode the route the weekend before & opted to avoid Ballarat Rd, taking the back streets: Furlong Rd> Berkshire Rd> Duke St> Cranwell St> Mitchell St> Gordon St> Farnsworth Ave to the river side path , over to Dynon Rd into the city.
Oddly I never recalled having problems with traffic aggro back then, cars mostly either gave me a real wide berth and as the route I used missed most of the traffic snarls I suppose I wasn’t dealing with grumpy motorists anyway. My biggest issue was darkness & the feeble lighting I used to run. There weren’t as many traffic lights on the route back then so the few I encountered gave me a breather I needed. The Maribyrnong river path south to Sims St was the only bike related infrastructure I encountered on my route (or that I knew of).

No shower/locker or bike storage facilities at work back then, but it was OK to bring the rig up into my worksite/office. It was a bit of a novelty with some of my work colleagues, my bike thing. Lots of encouraging words, not like nowadays where bicycle riding seems to be regarded as dangerous activity most warn of fear & misadventure.
I was doing fun runs & racing offroad motorcycles – MX & XC - at the time so the commute supplemented my training.
But after many years, different bikes, jobs & worksites later & it’s only a dark rainy day that takes me away from grunt & freewheel of the acoustic motorbike

Cone head.

As common as much, Shimano’s ongoing stoicism with holding onto their ancient wheel hub bearing setup of cup & cones have been a real bugbear of mine. Every time I go near them the result is either binding or play in the hub. I can’t see why they can’t progress like the rest of the world has onto sealed bearings which simplify everything.
My Specialised Stumpjumper’s (circa 2009) rear wheel which was a Shimano derivative and it suddenly would not freewheel ‘freely’, it was the bearings. Since I got the bike I haven’t touched them yet so this sad story was forced upon me as apart from being the result of my own folly. So I reluctantly embarked on a solution with a slow steady hand & a dim outlook. Removing the rear wheel & cassette assembly revealed that there was still enough grease for lubricant to not be the issue. On inspection the cup & cone on the drive side had worked loose from the locknut & the cone being loose, had binded up against the bearings on that side. The fix was to loosen the opposing locknut & cone on the other side to provide me the additional length of axel on the drive side to bring out the cone enough to secure it with a tool , then tighten the locknut hard up against it. This is because the freewheel body on the drive side concealed access to the cone to fix a tool to it. I repeated the process on the brake disk side which didn’t have the cone access problems. While I had things loosened I applied additional grease like I do whenever I have this sort of stuff apart.
Cassette back on & refitted the wheel, I discovered I had a small degree of play, so I repeated the process. Times this last step 3 more times due to either play or binding in the wheel to understand how the rest of that evening went for me.
If I ever manage to taco these hoops, I wouldn’t be too disappointed in checking out what Chain Reaction Cycles have for me in a Mavic or equivalent wheelset.

River path raider.

Casual ride with the Specialized Stumpjumper hardtail up Maribynong river trail to the Western Ring road, then across & back home down the Moonee Ponds creek path.

The Maribynong river path upstream from Canning Street to Brimbank Park was pretty chopped up due to the recent heavy rain & flooding. With heavy ruts on the path, some sections had the sand cover washed away exposing large & jaggered rocks, also the flood water had accumulated deep soft sand in some low sections. Riding the MTB with dirt tyres (Specialized Roll-X @ 40psi) didn’t pose too much of a problem, a head of speed & momentum took care of any irregular surface.
Climbing out from the River under Whitten bridge brought me onto the Western Ring Road path which, even on it’s best day isn’t very inspiring. I got lost at a fork in the path near the Sydney/Melb train line & Calder Fwy, initially taking the correct path, but then doubt encouraged me to double back & take the wrong one. It worked out in the end. Later on at Gowanbrae I again couldn’t fathom the best route down to meet the Moonee Ponds creek path.
I have a unique problem with the Avid Elixir R-SL rear brake on this Stumpjumper – when applied it howls & severely vibrates through the bike. Only on the rear, the front brake is OK. I have tired different pads (first stintherd metal, then ‘organic’ ), I have ran a different rotor ( Tektro) & recently have also added grooves to the pads to try & avoid this problem. On discussing this with a few mates they suggested I place rubber straps or bands on the ‘stays near the rear brake to ‘subdue’ this vibration, this did nothing whatsoever.
This is more than just noise, the vibration tingles my hands through the ‘bars & I feel it through my feet in the SPDs. Today I noticed that this vibration actually adversely affected braking performance on a long smooth downhill (bitumen surface). My last option is to try a different brake calliper set up, the only option I have is the Shimano XTs on the Epic. Problem is the Epic runs dual-controllers so I have to faff about with the gear cable as well.

Route details (Endomondo): http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/gdqI5a12c20

Easy roll

Easygoing roll along City Circle path with the Jamis single speed yesterday. Path blocked with debris at Dights Falls from recent heavy rains, took Trenerry Cres in Abbotsford detour to later join the river path a little further downstream. A collection of rowboats from Fairfield park boathouse dotted the river edges & bridge pylons as well as the usual debris from river floodings, branches, household rubbish etc. Accumulation of mud on the path in places & up against the river edges carried a heavy dank sink to it.
If I get time on Satuday morning I might head upstream Maribynong River to the Ring road & back down Moonee Ponds creek to see what recent rains had been up to. (I’m avoiding riding the roadie at the mo as the gear cables are snagging & causing very 2nd hand shifting which can be embarrassing amongst the choreographed echelons along Beach Rd ).

Route : http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/ifUxDwFbN1U

A ride of something different: Gravel Grinders, Kinglake area.

I’ve done organised road rides & various MTB races & social rides, but this popped up which was something different – riding on gravel back roads in/around Hurstbridge/Whittlesea/St Andrews. Organised by Melbourne Gravel Grinders it was 80km of mostly dirt roads, start/finish at Hurstbridge railway station.
Map : Click for map http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Prop-grinder-1
Deal was, meet at Hurstbridge train station car park, register, get a cue/route sheet & roll out @ 11am. 3x checkpoints along the way where you buy something from the local store which you get a receipt which is time/date stamped to show you have been there. Not strictly a race, this totally self-supported ride was a grand tour of the beautiful countryside nestled just below the Kinglake Ranges. The route was about 80% dirt roads with corrugations, potholes and loose gravel sections. The country around here was mostly hilly with many short climbs followed by fast flowing descents.

On the day there were 50 starters, a great ride, and good weather apart from an early shower.
Course had lots of climbs & descents. Apart from the small amount of paved road sections there didn’t seem much in the way of flat riding. Perhaps due to the recent weather , there was little dust & most of the gravel roads seemed hardpacked. There were a few creek crossing were you could see how the rain water had bought debris onto the roadway or accumulated gravel in the low points.
Heaps of fun though, way more adventurous than a straight road ride, but none of the bike abuse offroad MTBing can dish out. In the out & back bit near Whittlesea I could the faster guys were smashing it, but at each checkpoint it felt more like a social ride than anything else. A perfect way for me to break this bike riding hiatus I seemed to have been on of late. Although the latter climbs did bite & I did revert to the granny when the other riders were not in sight. I actually skipped the last bit of gravel rd from St Andrews back to the start to make it back to Hurstbridge station for the 4:47pm train home.

My ride stats, nothing too exciting:
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/vSKkwQU4xZY

Apparently the next one may involve lights?
Also these rides will start/finish from a koo-wee of a Met station to ease access for riders.

Other rides of this type found here:
http://therewillbedirt.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, back at the workshop..

Replaced the fork seals on my Rockshox SID Team (circa 2006) MTB forks which are fitted to the Jamis Exile, the ones with 28mm diameter stanchions.
Replaced them with Enduro fork seals .Apart from what is outlined in the Rockshox SID Team forks service pdf manual, I found the following:
• Enduro aftermarket fork seals are slightly different in configuration to the original standard Rockshox fork seal. The original standard fork seal is a combined dust & oil seal – that’s what you see on the top – with a foam ring underneath that, & then the upper bush. The Enduro seal set, is a separate dust seal (in blue), with a separate oil seal (in black) underneath. There is no space to run a foam ring like the original set up once the Enduro seals are in place.
• Replacing the dust/oil seal is pretty easy if you have a socket set with a 29mm socket (for my particular 28mm diameter forks) to drive the replacement seals into place in the fork lowers.
• When driving the new seals into place, first apply grease ( I purchased & used Enduros’ Superslick grease) onto the fork lowers surfaces that will be contacting the seal & only lightly tap the seal into place.
• Removing the original Rockshox seals can be done by prying it out with a broad flathead screwdriver. This will damage the old seal, but if you place a cloth where the screwdriver contacts the fork outer for leverage, it would not damage any other part.
• Placing the seals in a plastic bag & placing them in a freezer for a while, assisted with driving the seal into the top of the fork lowers. (This works with wheel/headset bearings to an extent, so I tried it with rubber seals).
• I was surprised how much grit gets into the fork internals. I previously serviced a pair of Rockshox Pilot SLs & found the same thing. There’s no surprise that I thorough cleaned the internals prior to reassembly.
• Doing the oil/dust seals does not require the disassembly of the damping rods - which are the most complicated part of the fork - located within the fork uppers or stanchions. This makes the job so much easier as it’s only the oil in the fork lowers, in my case 10cc/ml of 15wt fork oil in each leg, which needs to be replaced & then the fork stanchions reinserted into the fork lowers – then fastened, on reassembly.
• Fork oil is fork oil, as long as the weight is correct (for example 15wt or 5wt), then you can purchase fork oil from motorcycle dealers if your Local Bicycle Shop cannot help you.