Just Your Typical Sunday ‘Cross Ride

Started an event on Facebook last week where I invited 20+ people to come ride with the WVWC college students during their first week back. About half replied, and a quarter of them were planning on attending. No one showed up. It snowed like crazy two days before, and I guess that killed everyone’s appetite for a ride.

Not me!

I suited up, rode to the meeting point, and waited a whole five minutes longer than I said I would. After that, I scuttled off on my adventurous ride. The route I planned has been ridden by me several times, but never on the cross bike. I didn’t know how it would handle it, or how the snow would affect its maneuverability over rocks, dirt, and mud… For the most part, it rode like a dream. After a very arduous climb, I ended up not having brakes on the way down since the rims and canti’s were coated in ice. Luckily I was able to slow myself down with my foot, and death grip on front and rear shift levers.

At the bottom of the hill, I saw a stray horse. Not knowing much about horses, I didn’t know if I should confront it like a dog, or whether it would attack. Do horses attack people? Bite? Trample? What, anything?

After unsuccessfully wrangling’ up some horses, I went back on the ride. There were many photogenic landscapes and opportunities, but for some reason, this was the only shot I took during the ride:

I couldn’t even keep my shadow out of the photo 😦 I blame using a phone to take such pics…

By this point in the ride, I had been on the bike for almost an hour and a half, and the only part of my body that was cold were my feet, despite the temperature only being 22*F. The sun was coming out, and I knew I still had enough time to have some fun…

Off I went to Gene (Fat Tire Cycle)’s house to see why he didn’t make it to the ride. I didn’t see any vehicles there, so I decided to leave him a little surprise:

A ‘cross snow angel! I knew he would know it was me, and I thought it would be a funny gesture.

All in all, the ride was very fun, and kept me burning calories, and improving my bike handling skills by leaps and bounds. This is the first year I have really embraced cold weather riding; I’m really wondering why I wasn’t so receptive to it before….?

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Snow Chains Pt.2

Well, first snow has fallen, so it is another round of trying the snow chains. This year, I have scrapped the external tensioning wire on both sides, saving about 120g,  and the install takes less than 20 minutes for both wheels:

Before

After

The only change I noticed in having the chains being held in place by zip ties alone was that the tension needed to hold them in place created unneeded stress on the sidewalls of the tires. One of the chains where the entire link was not fully aligned ended up rubbing a hole into my rear tire, ending the ride prematurely.

I stopped here for a photo op, and to let the tubeless goo seal the hole:

Click for larger image

One last photo really shows how cold it was outside; all of the grit and water that flew up onto my frame froze. This created an impenetrable fortress of frozen gunk on the bottom side of the downtube:

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Earl Bringing In An Earl-y Autumn?

With Hurricane Earl bringing a taste of fall, it made me contemplate my current cycling wardrobe setup… Because you know, cyclists don’t think about these kinds of things… It’s not like we’re overly self-conscious or anything…

I have a basic formula that I can work with that covers a 25*c temperature variance. This can be accomplished with only six pieces of cycling clothes, excluding gloves/head & face warmers.

• Warm Weather  21*C+
• Cool Weather 15 – 21*C
• Cooler Weather 12 – 15*C
• Cold Weather 7 – 12*C
• Why are you outside? -1 – 7*C
• Below Freezing, you won’t see me on a bike very often. I don’t even really have a plan for this…

Warm Weather gear is pretty obvious, and everyone has it. Bibs, Jersey, Gloves. What else do you need?

Cool Weather clothes are what I tend to use right before I pull out the tights. Typically, you can go 2-3*C cooler with this setup, but your knees may or may not like you. Use some embro while you are at it. The underarmour/base layer is key in keeping you warm, while still not getting super-sweaty. I found some base layers at Wal-Mart/Target that were under $15, and work just as well as anything else.

My Cooler Weather kit is nearly the same as the Cool Weather setup, but now that it is below 15*C, the padded bib tights come are used. These will keep the chill out of your legs, if they do not… you are not pedaling hard enough/need to HTFU. At this temperature, you are probably going to want to bust out a pair of long fingered gloves.

The Cold Weather gear is when things get real. It is cold outside; cross riders are questioning whether it is worth being outside or not… heck… the trainer/rollers are starting to look nice at this temperature. Time to bust out the ear warmers, the gloves, the shoe covers/toe covers, and maybe even embrocate while wearing tights… Sounds crazy, but I have heard of people doing such things… The wind vest is essential at this temperature. Layering gives you the option to zip articles up and down, or take things off if the weather changes mid-ride… Having something protect your chest from all of that cold wind really gives you an edge, as compared to wearing a second jersey or something. Maneuverability is not yet compromised.

Do I even need to tell you what to wear if it gets any colder than 7*C outside? Why would you even want to ride in this kind of weather when you could be on the Kreitler, watching Scrubs, or American Idol, or whatever people watch these days… What I suggest you to do is take an arm load of your cycling clothes, and throw them, one by one into a basket. Whatever lands in it; you wear it. Simple as that. I really have no suggestions for below freezing, or nearly freezing weather. I seldom ride in these conditions, since I am from the beach originally, and would be a hypocrite to suggest you to.

Yes, all of these were somewhat handmade illustrations by yours truly~

What provoked me to start posting about clothing? Mostly the side effects of Hurricane Earl. Cool weather from the West was pulled to the East, and we caught a lot of it. I think it was 18*C when I left my house for a MTB ride, and was 15*C by the time I got back.

Summer has ended. Earl has shown me what is in our immediate future, in terms of weather…. 😦

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Sunday Video Post: Internet Outtage and Claudio Chiappucci

TV / Internet was down for about nine hours today; posting this a bit late. With this vital necessity gone, I decided to finish up Bill/Carol McGann’s second Tour de France book.

I hit the 1990’s and their prose about a rider that kind of sparked for a while piqued my interest.

Claudio Chiappucci was around the same time as LeMond, Hampsten, Indurain, etc. I think he was a captain/domestique for Indurain at the time. This guy had panache and took off without a whim sometimes. He kind of reminds me of Jens Voigt. His attitude and riding style was totally different than the conservative sniping attacks of Indurain, and maybe that is what is so interesting.

Here is some footage of him in the 1992 Tour.

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Snow Chains / Tire Chains For Your Bicycle!

No more paying $80 for a 700c mountain bike studded tire.

No more worrying about falling or slipping on ice or snow.

No more excuses for gaining five pounds.

The game is up. I have you covered, and it will only cost you anywhere from a Hamilton to a Jackson ($10 – 20 for those who are not from the USA

Tools / Supplies Needed:

For a 700c Wheel:

• 24 ft of Braided Cable. 1/16″ or 3/32″ (I’m sure picture frame wire will work too)
• Braided Cable Clamps x 4 – two for each wheel
• Chain
• Zip Ties
• Adjustable wrench or Crescent wrench
• Needle nose pliers
• Cable Cutter – I used an old pair of Bowden cable/housing cutters from my bike tools. You do have one, right?

Note: You will need a bike with disc brakes for this to work.

Step 1:

Measure your Braided Cable around the edge of where your wheel rim meets the tire. Clip with an extra 2″-4″ for clamping space.

Once you have this piece measured, cut three more pieces to this length.

Step 2:

Measure the length of chain needed to have the chain reach both sides of the rim. Mine were roughly 5.75″ with a 700 x 51/53 (2.1″) Tire. Clip either 32 or 64 sections depending on how spread apart you want the chain.

Step 3

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