Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Archives for November 2010

Are You Old School?

11.16.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

I was talking with a cycling friend of mine who lives across country from me, and I mentioned that I grabbed a Clif bar at the halfway point in my long weekend ride.

“I never eat that stuff,” he said.  “I prefer real food.  I guess I’m just old school.”

I chuckled.  He does eat real food during rides.  He often sticks a banana in one of his jersey pockets, and if he needs to eat on one of his long rides, he’ll find a convenience store and get a small submarine sandwich.  No gels or shot bloks for him.  But I wouldn’t call him old school.  He’s got a nifty carbon fiber bike that cost the same as three of mine. However, some other biking acquaintances might qualify, in one way or another.

Some Tour de France riders in days of yore. Yes, the guy on the right is holding up a cigarette to the rider next to him. Now that's old school.

There’s the guy with the steel 10-speed that is pretty much the same today as it was 25 years ago.  He sees no reason to upgrade to a more contemporary ride.  In fact, he thinks more than 10 speeds is ridiculous.  He tells me he rarely uses more than five different gears during a typical ride.

Another friend rides a more recent aluminum framed bike, but goes without any of the current accessories.  You won’t find him entering data from his Garmin into his home computer — he doesn’t have a Garmin.  He doesn’t even have a basic cycling computer.  Heart rate monitor? Forget it.  If he wants to know his pedaling cadence, he counts his pedal strokes for six seconds and multiplies by 10.

Another acquaintance looks forward to this time of year, because the wind picks up and the temperatures go down.  He trains in the wind the way most of us train on hills.  And he has no problem keeping warm and comfortable on his bike — he wears a nice long sleeved wool jersey.

What else constitutes “old school” cycling?  I once saw someone wipe his tire with his bare hand — after riding through broken glass.  Do guys who train on single speeds or fixed gear bikes qualify as old school?

I’m happy with my current setup, and have no plans to revert to the accoutrements of bygone days.  Well, maybe I’d like one of those wool jerseys.

Are you old school?  In what way?

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Odds 'n ends Tags // old school, style

Patch or Replace?

11.14.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 18 Comments

I was running late Saturday morning, and rushing a bit to get ready for my ride.  The cool morning had something to do with it.  For some reason, I have to push myself to get out the door when the weather turns cool.  I figured if I waited an hour or two longer than usual, I’d be able to ride in more moderate temperatures.

It was well after noon before I finished all the around-the-house chores I’d set for myself, and I was finally able to climb into some cycling clothes.  I filled my water bottle, grabbed my cycling computer, and went out to the garage to get the bike.

The front tire was flat.  I had ridden the day before, in late afternoon, and had no problems.  But I must have hit something on that ride, because even though I made it home all right, it was clear I was going nowhere this morning until the tire got fixed.

I pulled the tire and got the tools out of my seat bag, then headed for my personal bike repair venue — the kitchen.  I pulled the tube from the tire, but couldn’t find a puncture.  I ran my hands around the inside of the tire, and found nothing with a sharp edge.  So I pumped up the tube, filled the kitchen sink with water, and slowly rotated the tube under water to find the source of the leak.

I found it — a tiny blemish on the tube that was leaking one air bubble at a time.  I took the tube from the sink, ran a towel around it, let out all the air, and found a patch kit.

Ten minutes later, I had a patched tube (it was one of the better quality tubes I own — I have a bunch of low quality cheapies) and in short order, it was in the tire, mounted on the rim, then on the bike.  I took off for my ride about 20 minutes after discovering the flat.

Normally, I would replace the punctured tube with the spare I carry in my seat bag.  I thought about doing that this time too, but since I was at home and working in comfort, rather than outdoors miles from home, the patch seemed to make sense.

I’ve got a lot of patched tubes in the garage — some with three or even more patches.  And I’ll be spending one cold, dark, winter evening sometime soon with a little chore:

All of these tubes need to be patched.  I’ll do it, too.  Riding on patched tubes is not an issue for me.

How about you?  Are there situations where you would patch a tube rather than replace it?  Do you ride on patched tubes at all?  And do you have a favorite brand of tube?  (Seems we talk about favorite tires a lot, but no one ever mentions their tube preference — if any.)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // tires, Uncategorized Tags // patch, tube

The Ideal Distance

11.11.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

I like riding long enough to feel as though I’ve done some riding.  That means being in the saddle for at least two hours.  I enjoy easy rides with my wife, but 15 miles is about as much as she cares to ride.  When we finish, I often head out and tack on another 10 miles or so.

Twenty-five miles is a good distance, and it’s what I normally do for my Saturday morning ride.  That doesn’t meet my two-hour requirement, however.  I just like it because the route I usually ride provides a nice mix of some moderate hills, good fast downhills, bikes lanes or shoulders, and the Veloway.

Sunday morning is when I go for my long ride of the week.  It’s at least 30 miles, and often quite a bit more.  I recently enjoyed a 58-mile ride, even though I had to sit out a cloudburst for 30 minutes in a convenience store.  A couple of weeks later, I rode 67 miles, and was pretty knackered when I finished.

That got me thinking: Just how long is a good distance?  The 58-miler was relatively flat.  The 67-miler had some challenging hills built in.  In both cases, I was on the road for quite a while — maybe longer than I wanted to be.

Perhaps what I’m looking for is something just a little shorter.  My on-bike time for the 58 miler was about three hours, 45 minutes.  That’s plenty.  I’m thinking my ideal ride would cover about 50 miles.  That’s long enough for a decent workout, and to cover a substantial amount of ground.

I’ve been compiling a list of rides from my house that fall into the 50-miles (plus or minus) category.  It’ll be fun to ride them all in the coming weeks, and see if my guess at an “ideal” distance is borne out by the results.

What about you? Is there a distance that feels “just right” for you?  What is it, and what do you like about it?

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Rides Tags // distance

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next Page »

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 257 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d