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Archives for November 2008

Long shadows

11.16.2008 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

After making a deal with Mrs. Noob that I take care of some things around the house, I got out for a nice 17-mile ride this afternoon. It’s a ride I haven’t done for some months now, although I did it at least once every couple of weeks during the summer.

The difference in today’s ride was that I started at about 3 p.m. During the summer, I rode the route closer to 9 or 10 a.m. Man, do things look different in late afternoon!

Those long shadows look cool, but they can cause problems.
Those long shadows look cool, but they can cause problems.

The shadows are so much longer. That’s not news to riders who do a lot of commuting, but this is not a typical time for me to ride. And once you get past the novelty of the long shadows, you see some of the trouble they hide.

One of the attractions of today’s route is its hills. They’re nothing like the ones my friend Mike tackles, when he rides Austin’s Tour Das Hugel, but they’re a good workout for me. I like the downhill part best. I was moving along at a pretty good clip, about 33 mph, when some of those long shadows darkened the road ahead of me. The next thing I knew, I was fast approaching a raised manhole cover. Lucky for me, it was built up around its edges with blacktop, so it didn’t abruptly stick up out of the asphalt. But I didn’t see it until I was upon it, and when my front tire hit it, I had the sickening feeling that here we go again, I’m going to lose control and fall. But I didn’t.

For the rest of the ride, I tried to really concentrate on what was under those shadows. Sometimes, it was a layer of acorns, fallen from the live oaks that line the road. Other times, it was broken glass. The shadows kept the glass from glinting in the sun to warn you of its presence. Most of the time, though, it was just irregularities in the road surface. I could feel them under my tires, but I couldn’t see them in time to dodge them or brace for them.

So the ride was a mixed bag. On the one hand, it was great to get out in cool but not chilly weather and ride. On the other hand, all things being equal — I think I’ll go back to my morning rides as often as I can.

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Categories // Uncategorized Tags // autumn, hills, shadows

Another fall? You gotta be kidding

11.14.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

Raced home after work this afternoon to get in a ride before dark.  We have a cold front coming through tonight, and this might be the last warm weather ride I’ll have for awhile.

Did the usual run to the Veloway.  It’s an easy way to get in a quick 15, or 18, or 21 miles, depending upon how much time is available.  I’ve been bad this week — haven’t ridden since last Saturday.  I was looking forward to a few brisk laps around the course.

The Veloway is mostly flat.  But on the back side, about halfway around, there’s a short, but steep hill.  I hit the bottom of the hill at about 20 mph, and did a quick downshift to spin up the grade.

hillThe camera always flattens hills.  This one is much steeper than it looks.  I crashed near the top, on the left.

I must have shifted down more than one gear.  The pedals started spinning fast and free.  My right foot unclipped from the pedal, which caused the bike to lean left.  I lost control.  The front wheel went off the left side of the track, onto a sloping gutter.  No way to recover.

The scrape on my shin stings, but that's about it.
I'll be nursing a large scrape on my shin.

The bike went over on its left side.  I managed to stay almost upright, except that my right leg scraped across the front derailleur, and my left hand scraped the rocks along the track.  Otherwise, no endo — no major bruises.

I got the bike up and pushed it across the track, out of the way of any other riders who might be behind me.  A quick damage assessment found the handlebars knocked askew, and my nice bar tape was scuffed down to the bare metal — but not where my hand contacts it.

Once I straightened the bars and checked myself over, it seemed things weren’t too bad.  I hopped back on and finished a 15-mile trip (The crash happened just over four miles into the ride).  The bike rode fine.

I still can’t believe I lost it on this easy hill.  I’ve ridden the thing hundreds of times — and that’s just this year.  It just shows to go ya — you can never take things for granted.

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Categories // crash Tags // crash, pedal, Veloway

CO2 cartridges or a pump? I’ve decided.

11.11.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

After my fumbling experience with a flat tire last month, I decided to rethink my practice of carrying CO2 cartridges for dealing with flats on the road. I still think the cartridges are a neat solution to the space and weight challenge bikers face. But I’ve never felt that they worked the way they’re supposed to — that the tire inflated as much as it needed to (Yes, I know — it’s not the tool, it’s the carpenter). So I decided to go in the other direction. I bought a mini pump.

Actually, it’s kind of a hybrid between a frame mounted pump and a mini pump. It’s a Topeak Road Morph. And sharp-eyed readers will recognize that it’s not exactly new. On my first ride carrying the pump, it was the indirect cause of my fall.

The switch to the pump was not without some adjustments. Fall aside, I had to deal with two other problems: mounting it to the frame and a quality deficiency.

The Road Morph is not really a mini-pump, which some riders carry in their jersey pockets. It’s a little too big for that. So it must be mounted on the frame. Topeak gives the owner two options for that: fastening it to the top tube with zip ties, or attaching to the seat tube using the water bottle braze-ons.

I opted to zip tie it to the top tube. That turned out not to be the best solution, at least for me. The zip ties kept catching on the inside of my thighs when I dismounted, even after trimming the ties back as far as possible. I was concerned they would tear my riding shorts. Then, the hose popped out of its cradle when I rode on a rough stretch of road.

The second deficiency was a quality issue. The bezel that attaches to the tire valve was missing. It’s not an obvious thing, because the end of the hose looks pretty normal even without it. I didn’t discover it was missing until the morning of my century, when I had to scramble to find a floor pump to top off my tires. I rode the century with the pump zip tied to the frame, but pulled it off as soon as I got home after the ride.

pumpThe LBS was happy to exchange the pump for a new one — one that had the bezel. I decided I didn’t like the zip tie attachment, so I took off one of the water bottle brackets and mounted the pump there. Now it not only works the way it’s supposed to — it looks better, too. I think.

Yeah, I know, I’m down to one water bottle per ride now. Not a problem. One bottle is good for about 20 miles for me, and when I run low, I look for a gas station or some other place where I can fill it up. Since I’m not planning on riding another century anytime soon, I can get along fine with one bottle. And if I really need a second one, I can put it in one of my jersey pockets.

So far, I’m happy with my decision. The little pump has several features that make it act like the big guys. It has a little flange that flips out so you can hold it under your foot, just like a floor pump. Its handle can flip sideways to resemble a t-shaped handle for pumping. It even has a rudimentary pressure gauge.

I have yet to try the pump under battlefield conditions. It’s only been used to pump up some spare tubes in my garage. But it worked just fine on them, got them to full pressure without a hassle, and when my next flat comes (knock wood) I’ll be ready.

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Categories // Accessories, Equipment Tags // Accessories, cartridges, CO2, Equipment, pumps

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