Snow Ride In The Watershed

Did a snow ride w/ Joe Whitehair and Jeff.  It was about 30 degrees and sunny.  Warm enough to have fun and cold enough to stay dry.

Had a flat tire and my mini-pump wasn't working. It seemed to have gotten some water in it that had turned to ice and was clogged luckly Joe had a functioning one I could use. Thanks Joe!

Lake Winter Riding Shoe Review

Tested out my Lake winter riding shoes in cold weather (20 degrees).
My feet were still cold; they keep my feet as warm as wearing neoprene booties but unlike neoprene booties these seem to be waterproof (or at least water resistant).


The effect riding in the cold has on your skin…

C&O (Chesapeake & Ohio Canal) Bike Commute

Rode w/ Anna on her bike commute to work on the C&O...
Cleaned my bike w/ pesticide sprayer before putting it in my car. 

Bucket of soapy water and sprayer...Found gloves on a stick near to where I parked.  I'm in the market for some gloves but i decided to keep my distance from these they are probably on a stick for a reason.

Bleeding Brakes

It's been 3 years since I originally purchased my first pair of hydraulic disk brakes and they have not been bled since.   I decided to bleed them but was a bit worried I might mess something up.

It ended up not being too hard. Without this video it would have been way harder...


In anticipation of bleeding my brakes in the future I was shopping for some more DOT 5.1 brake fluid. I found that you can buy the larger container for under $10 (500ml) or the small one avid sells costs $16 (120ml).  Pictured is the 60 ml avid brake fluid that came w/ the bleed kit and the motul 500ml brake fluid that I ordered.

Battlefield Earth Riding Shoes

I got some winter riding shoes.  Just put them on for the first time. I like how they feel and I like how they look too.

They look like John Travolta’s boots in the movie Battlefield Earth.

Pants

Did some mtn biking today and it was drizzly so I wore my rain pants.  Here is how they looked after the ride...

I am shopping for new pants with a reinforced saddle area. And some waterproof gloves so I don’t need to use plastic bags i find in ditches and snowbanks to cover my hands when my gloves get soaked and are no longer warm.

Bunny Hops, Wheelies, And Crazy Train

It was really bugging me when I first rode my new Scott that w/ the longer chainstays 17.3” (which is still short for a 29er) compared to 16.7” of my last bike (which wasn't a 29er) made doing wheelie and bunny hops way harder. Anyone who rides with me a lot knows just how important these two things are to me and without them I feel inadequate.

I the search for a solution to my problem I messed around with my stem lengths and height. I managed to find a position that let me keep my bunny hops and wheelies.

My handlebars are about 1” higher and positioned 1” closer to me... feels a bit strange but I am getting used to it.

Also…

I joined Anna @ another Compu-trainer class over @ Kelly Acres and improved my 15 min tt from 298watt avg to a 331watt avgerage.  The reason for my improvement is completely linked to the fact that AC/DC's Crazy Train was playing this time and it wasn’t last time.

Frame Built UP

Built up my Scott 29er frame.  Still making fine tuned adjustments.

Scott

Riding for Scott in 2010.  Recently received 29er frame and extras...


Should have the frame built up shortly.  looking forward to testing it out.

2010, Year Of The Goblin

Race License came in the mail today so its time to do my annual photoshoped race license.  For 2010 I decided on using a goblin theme...


inspiration...


Here are some of my past years themes…


2009
devil theme


2008
Neanderthal hockey player theme

Fixed Up

Joe Whitehair was kind enough to let me borrow one of his bikes till I get a new frame... Thanks!!!


Made some modifications so it would fit me more comfortable...


Car issue ended up being a miss-firing cylinder.  The gentleman over at L&B Auto Repair was able to fix the problem right on the spot.

Broken Down

On Friday I was going to go for a ride with Joe Whitehair while diving over to the trail head my car was vibrating, giving off some strange smells and all round behaving like there was something wrong with it.  I had noticed the problem before but I though it was just because it was super cold on that occasion.  I didn’t want to risk diving up Hamburg Rd in that condition so I bailed on the ride and went back to my apartment.  I’ve got an appointment at L&B Auto Repair on Monday; hopefully it isn’t anything too serious.

I still had the itch to ride so I rode from my apartment.  I decided to take some back roads over toward watershed trails but I never got there.  As I hit a particularly steep section of Hamburg Rd. and was standing up pulling on the bars I notice that the front end of my bike was flexing way too much.  I stopped and noticed a crack going almost entirely around the down tube.  That explains why it had been making more creaking sounds than normal.

I decided at his point to turn around and go home but I was super paranoid that my frame would give way.  I was 7 miles from home and I didn’t want to walk so I rode my bike like it was made of glass (the thin type they make Christmas ornaments out of not the reinforced bulletproof type or the super thick type used for shark tanks at aquariums).  I could watch the crack on the side of my down tube open then close again slightly with every rotation of the cranks.  It was frightening but I made it home safe.