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The Weather Wuss

01.12.2015 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

That’s me. I haven’t been posting much lately because I haven’t been riding much lately. And I haven’t been riding much because the weather has been lousy around here.

Not only has it been cold — okay, cold in Austin is anything below 40 degrees (4C) — but it’s been wet, too. We’ve had lots of rain over the last week, and even if it was midsummer, I probably wouldn’t do any riding. But with daytime temps not getting out of the 30s, the bike was not on my mind.

Icicles in Austin. Not a common sight.
Icicles in Austin. Not a common sight.

Now, I know lots of you ride in much colder weather. You know what’s keeping me from joining you? I’ve become a weather wuss. I grew up around Chicago, and lived for more than 20 years in Minnesota. I can handle the cold. That is, I used to be able to handle the cold. Fifteen years down here and my blood has thinned out. We were in Minnesota in November a couple of years ago, and I thought I was gonna die! Not really, but man, was it cold. I’m glad I moved away from it.

Living in a mild climate means you don’t have an abundance of cold-weather riding gear, either. I can bundle up to handle anything down to about that magic 40-degree mark, but not much colder than that.

So, guess what I did Sunday? I rode the bike! Took it out in the afternoon for a little over an hour. It was sweet. Never thought 45 degrees could feel so temperate.

But Monday, when I had planned to get out again, it didn’t happen. I wandered outside around 2 p.m., stood around for awhile, and decided it wasn’t as nice as Sunday. Maybe Tuesday. Maybe.

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Categories // Cold weather Tags // cold

Sticky Shifting, Gummy Lube

02.11.2014 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

Loyal Bike Noob readers might remember a post from last summer, when I complained about an inability to shift from the big chainring to the small one. The diagnosis: I sweat too much, and all that sweat dripping off my brow gummed up the pivot points on my front derailleur. My bike mechanic used some penetrating oil to free it up, and I was able to shift down again.

I noticed with the onset of cold weather that the problem is back. Nowhere near as serious as it was in the summer. Now, when I press the finger trigger on the left shifter to go from the big ring to the small one, the trigger moves, but doesn’t engage, and I don’t shift.

It’s chilly. I don’t sweat.

But, I decided to lube the pivot points again and see if it helped. Ever notice how things often work well in the garage, but once you’re out on the road, not so much? Yeah, that’s what happened here.

I’d be out on the road, and just before shifting to the small ring, I would test the trigger. If it met any resistance, I knew it would shift. Most of the time, it didn’t, and I’d have to press it again and again.

I concluded that the lube I used was just too viscous. When I got a bottle of some really light oil, my problem almost went away.

What kind of lube do you prefer? The stuff I had been using is Finish Line Wet. The stuff I switched to is Purple Extreme. I prefer the light stuff for lubing the chain, too, and not just my derailleur. I’ve got a new favorite lube.

It’s supposed to warm up to 78 (25C) here on Saturday, so this might just be a moot point, anyway.

 

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Categories // Cold weather, Maintenance Tags // lube

Two Out of Three

02.09.2014 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

One of my biking buddies has a saying: “Wind, rain, cold. Whenever two out of those three conditions are met, I don’t ride.”

Seems like we’ve been putting up with those conditions a lot lately — mainly cold and wind. My riding for February has tanked. The rest of the country is putting up with a brutal winter, and even here in Central Texas, it’s been colder than usual for longer than usual.

They crazy thing is, I’ve just come into some new biking duds — a couple of thermal jerseys. I’ve worn them twice. They work great, and I’ve been comfortable in temperatures in the 40s (4-6C), but those have been our milder temps for the last few weeks. When we’ve gotten a brief respite, I’ve been at work.

Then, the weather lightened up this weekend. Saturday saw the sun come out, and temperatures in the 60s. “Are you up for a ride?” asked my wife, pulling on a long-sleeved jersey.

I wasn’t. I was sick. First decent biking weekend we’ve had in two weeks, and I came down with a stomach virus. It was much safer for me to stick close to home.

Got lucky Sunday, though. The bug passed, the day warmed up to 72 (22C), and I not only rode with my wife, but I struck out on my own after we got home, and did a nice 21 miles. Felt good to wear short sleeves and shorts again.

But I’m not sure how long that will last. The forecast for Monday calls for a high around 47 (8C), with a brisk wind from the north and rain showers.

Three out of three. No matter, I’ll be working. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that by Friday, things will be bikable again.

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Categories // Cold weather Tags // weather

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