Stuff : 23.11.2008

Okay ... catch up time ...

What a good summer season I had on the bike. I rode maybe 150 miles/week at times, and completed two major community rides - The 5 Boro Bike Tour and The Twin Lights Ride.

Now it's a bit more difficult to motivate. Today the morning temperature was -4C and is hovering at 0C at 11.00 am. I am not a cold weather person ...

So I think I'm going to consider getting the trainer out in the basement. I'm not keen on clamping the Giant into the rack, but I think I'll put a trainer tyre on the back of my mountain bike and try that.

It's a bit early for New Year Resolutions, but I'll try to stay up-to-date.

Be seein' ya!

Promise.

Do the Hustle : 05.10.2008

Elmer, NJ, USA. Yes ... there is a place called Elmer.

What is more, they run a cyclocross event there called "The Hillbilly Hustle." What is even more is, there is a genre of music called Hardcore Hillbilly. Or maybe it's just a band ... anyway ...

Now, I would have remained blissfully unaware of all this had I not decided to join Jay and Chris and motored down to south New Jersey to spend a Sunday morning at a cyclocross event.

The last time I went to any cyclocross race was a number of years ago when I spent many a bracing winter's morning following the local cyclocross league in Bristol, UK.

We found Elmer okay, with only one minor diversion, and met up with Larry - and blended family - and Fred. Everyone except me - I'm not mad - was racing in the first race of the day, a 40 minute +lap - or so I understood it - Men's cat 3/4 (C) race.

Where I was wrong is that a 40 minute race here is a race that is run as close as possible to 40 minutes.

The interesting thing was, speaking as a furner, a US cyclocross race is pretty much the same as a British one; ie: the same people are there participating and spectating. The same dog as well, I dare say.

The course was very flat and could have done with some more natural obstacles, but otherwise it was very good and fast.

The upshot:

1st : Fred - 35:06.06
15th: Jay - 37:55.70 +02:49.60
17th: Chris - 38:22.20 +03:15.60
23rd: Larry - 39:45.50 +04:38.90
38 finishers; 2 DNF

A good day's racing.

More images here. Unfortunately, my trusty Olympus C-3030 Zoom chose to die on me and images look rather fuzzy.

Twin Lights Ride : 28.09.2008

Nice view, isn't it?

Now if only it was like that on the morning of the Twin Lights Bike Ride.

Of course, the weather forecast was not encouraging, but I set off early anyway.

The big decision was whether to opt for the 75 mile - or 50 mile ride given the rain, slippery roads, etc.

I decided to leave the decision until the last minute at the point where the routes divided about 20 miles into the ride.

I parked the car at one of the ferry terminals near the start. There were already hundreds there. Spent a few minutes decided what to wear. It wasn't cold, but there was an imminent threat of rain.

I rolled down to the start where there was a few minutes wait to register and get your arm-band, cue-sheet and map.

The ride set off pleasantly enough. There was a huge (friendly) police presence which continued throughout the route at junctions and other hazards.

However, within 20 minutes of the start the heavens opened and the heavy rain lasted for about an hour or so, on and off. Most cyclists battled on, however, only taking shelter at the worst moments.

The ride had to stop at the bridge over the Navesink where someone had fallen on the steel grating which is a common bridge surface here. Apparently they'd broken their hand. The large number of police and EMS suggested something much worse.

Eventually we were allowed to walk across, a tricky business in cycling shoes, I can tell you. Fortunately that was by far the worst incident I came across.

But still, it did mean we could spend a few minutes watching the dolphins ... you can read more about that here and here.

The organisers had set up several rest stops. These were all staffed by friendly volunteers, many of whom had provided their own home cooked cookies and flapjacks ... very nice.

However, by the time I arrived at the division of the 50 mile and 70 mile route all was not well. My legs felt curiously heavy. It wasn't going to be my day ... So I turned right and went off along the 50 mile route.

The previous ride I had covered nearly 40 miles and honestly felt I could do it again. So I was fairly confident about the 75 miles route. But here I was at 20 miles with uncooperative legs. Oh well.

The journey back was broken by the occasional shower, and also my front changer deciding to loosen up which caused a five minute maintenance stop. Plenty of riders enquired as to my welfare, which was nice.

Of course, within minutes of arriving back at the car the first streaks of blue sky appeared although even they didn't last long.

All in all, a much more difficult ride than the 5 Boro Tour, but I'm sure if we could have seen the countryside through the drizzle it would have been much prettier.

Will I do it again? Yes. And definitely at least 75 miles.

---

Images here.
*added 06.10.2008

Take-A-Look Rear View Mirror

What can I say about this device?

It looks as sophisticated as a high-school engineering project or some sort of mock-up before the industrial designers get their hands on it, but the Take-A-Look rear view mirror works better than any helmet fixed alternative, and to all intents and purposes can be replaced for $2.00.

It takes a few moments to fix the mirror to your cycling glasses and adjust for optimum visibility, but once done provides a virtually vibration free view over your shoulder.

The manufacturers don't even appear to have a website, so you'll have to source one for yourselves.

SRAM Compact Chainset : Progress Report

Due to one thing and another it's been a week or two since I last rode on road, as it were ...

... And with the Twin Lights Ride looming next weekend, I really needed to put a few miles under my belt.

Discretion played the better part of valour, this morning as I set out on a C+ ride from Etra Park.

Well, things weren't too bad, and I rode quite strongly considering. It was nice to see a couple of acquaintances and catch up. We pootled on a circuitous route down to New Egypt where we stopped at a local deli for coffee and muffins, or whatever your poison is.

I settled for a regular coffee ... fair ... and a blueberry muffin ... middling ...

Anyway, the thing is; how is the migration to a SRAM compact double chainset from triple fairing on my gleaming Giant OCR C2?

Actually, I quite like it. I was apprehensive at the thought of losing my granny-gear and being reduced to claiming I had stopped to pick blackberries half-way up the hill, but in reality, this hasn't happened.

Now this is partly due to my new-found hill-climbing ability, but more likely to the fact that central and south New Jersey do not have a climb which can even compare to the most modest Devon hill. But whichever, it hasn't really impinged on my ability to get to the top.

The big difference has been in the snappy and positive gear-changing, and slight weight benefit.

Coincidentally, another rider had just taken delivery of a Cannondale with a Shimano compact chainset. He wasn't quite convinced but I hope I was able to allay his fears. Certainly we were amongst the strongest riders on the way back.

I know too there has been a deal of controversy on the 50+ forum on BikeForums.net, but I think anyone of a certain age who is riding regularly, without any motor issues will adapt well to a compact drive.

Now all I have to worry about is 75 hilly miles on the Twin Lights Ride ...

Six Mile Run : Test Ride

Spent an hour yesterday, bimbling around the new trail which was cut last week.

I arrived at the car park on Jacques Lane, just in time to find a hunter packing his truck. There was no deer strapped to the hood at least ...

Anyway, I rode into the reserve and quickly found the new trail.

It's pretty good fun, although it needs a fair bit of usage and tuning yet. There was also a lot more new stuff running into the field and plantations, so someone has been very busy.

This was the first time I have ridden my mountain bike for months and it showed. I found it hard to gain a rhythm, although climbing benefited from my recent road work, so threading through the trees and keeping the momentum to negotiate the more technical zones was more of a problem.

But still, I enjoyed it.

Six Mile Run : Trail Maintenance

This Sunday saw a good turn out at the Six Mile Run Reservoir site ready to do some trail maintenance.

Well, not so much maintenance as cut a whole new leisure / multi-use path through a new sector of the woods.

Plenty of preliminary work had been organised by Jason Fenton, proprietor of Halter's Cycles. It says much that the powers that be gave Jay a pretty free hand to carve the route as he saw fit.

Anyway, the day was very hot and humid so work was very, very hard, but totally worthwhile. A large group seemed to accumulate drawn mostly from the mtbnj.com forum.

A great day out and a great contribution to the community by NJ mountainbikers.

Now all I have to do is dig out the old Trek and give the trail a whirl.

Google map here.

More images here.

Park Avenue : NYC

This year has seen Park Avenue, NYC, closed at the weekends for pedestrians, cyclists, in-line skaters, skate-boarders, etc ...

See some nice images here.

Griggstown Grind : 2008

Tuesday evenings won't be the same until next year ...

Yesterday saw the last of my regular Tuesday evening rides for this season.

The Griggstown Grind is a tour of the many pretty and just tough enough lanes and hills around The Sourlands.

Whoever said that there is no nice countryside in New Jersey? Okay, maybe nobody actually said it, but I think it's a surprise to most people how pleasant central Jersey can be.

I have only really started regularly cycling this year, so the first couple of times were quite tough. A new bike and new legs have helped make the Grind not so hard in the last few weeks.

No-one is dropped on the Griggstown Grind. Everyone is keen, but not too keen, if you know what I mean. Thanks to all regulars; Beth, Steve, Jeff, Geoff, Lyn, and, especially Diane for organising and keeping the ride together.

See you next year.

Tyres, Punctures ... and more Stuff

Of course, I should have mentioned ...

Even with my recent good fortune regarding the lack of punctures - I know I'm going to regret saying that - there is still an occasional need to remove and replace tyres.

I have been using a device which people either seem to love - ***** - or think is totally useless - *.

Easing tyres, especially kevlar beaded ones, on and off a rim can be quite frustrating. And how many times do you end up pinching the inner tube between the bead and the rim with inevitable results? Well, I can't praise the Crank Brother's Speed Lever enough.

To get a tyre off, just extend the lever - it's like a telescope - hook the lever under the bead and clip the other end onto the axle, push the lever around the rim, like a second hand on a clock, and the tyre just pops off the rim.

Reverse is rather more conventional, but the lever is much more helpful at avoiding pinches than conventional levers.

Like I said, reviews of the Speed Lever are either five star or very poor. I can't help thinking the people who don't like it are doing something wrong because it just seems to work so well for me.

Tyres, Punctures ... Stuff

Over the years I have been plagued with punctures here. The sides of the road are often strewn with broken glass and wire.

I recall getting punctures on three consecutive rides. Pretty dismal.

So naturally, I've put some thought into this and there are probably more effective solutions this has worked for me.

My current road bike came equipped with Michelins which are very good tyres. However, my attachment to Continentals meant that the bike shop fitted GP 4-Seasons.

First impressions are that these are very good tyres. But, as you might expect, they don't seem as free rolling as the GP4000s I used on the my old Trek road bike. However, as the seasons change, the heavier duty construction will come into its own.

I think, though, next spring will see a change to GP4000Ss - the nice shiny black ones with silver graphics. That should match the Giant nicely ;-)

Now, paranoia means that I am also using a tyre sealant. The big seller here is Slime, but I've been trying the equally enticingly named Sludge - a big seller in Africa, apparently.

The advantage Sludge claims is that, firstly, it is thin enough to be introduced into the inner tube via a presta valve. I have done this. It is quite an easy task. Secondly, it claims to vulcanise any leak that does occur.

Does it work? Well, I haven't had a puncture ... but who knows? Maybe the Contis reinforced layer actually does it?

The Giant frame means that my lovely Blackburn frame fit pump no longer fits ... I let it go with the Trek.

About the only thing that will fit would be some sort of compact pump, but I've never really got on with those, so I'm trying this; the Genuine Innovations CO2 Air Chuck. Hopefully I won't need to know how effective this is either.

Domestic pumping duty is performed by a Joe Blow track pump. This easily gets road tyres up to 120psi. What can I say ... it's a track pump.

So ... What's New?

Nothing apparently.

Fancy watching some tandem trailer racing? A bike you row? A frameless bicycle?

Take a look at this:



Neat, huh?

Kudos to Craig's List ... SOLD

In the end, Craig's List turned up trumps ... eBay? Wassat?

I hope the new owner of my old Trek will be very happy ... he should ... it's a good bike.

Trek 1200 on eBay

My Trek 1200 won't go away ...

There were a couple of nibbles from Craigs List, but no takers.

So now it's on eBay.

Here in fact.

Give it a good home.

Speaking of Women Cyclists ...

Nicole Cooke's victory in the Olympic Women's Road Race, put me in mind of two other great women riders.

Beryl Burton has to be considered one of the UK's greatest ever athletes, let alone women athletes, let alone cyclists. Her wiki will tell you far more than I ever could, but in a nutshell, for a number of years some of her British achievements exceeded the men's records.

Some of her records have yet to be surpassed by modern women.

Jeannie Longo of France has just competed in her seventh Olympic Games at the age of 49. Only lack of support from her team saw her placed down the field in the Olympic Women's Road Race, but she was only just out of the medals for the Women's Time Trial.

Read more here.

Ride Like a Girl ...

... especially this one; Nicole Cooke, GBR.

Women's Road Race Gold Beijing Olympics.

Won in great style in atrocious conditions Nicole truly deserves this.

A few years ago I was listening to the radio and they were doing an article about Nicole. If I recall correctly, they were interviewing Malcolm Elliott, a real hard man of British pro cycling, who was by then riding Elite/1st Cat on the British circuit.

One day he turned up for a race only to find, to his surprise, a teenage girl was in the peloton because there were no other women riders who could give her any sort of opposition.

Naturally, Elliot thought no more about this until he was lining up for the finish line sprint when he sensed another rider pressing him for the lead. Looking back he was amazed to see it was Nicole Cooke.

---

* image from The Guardian, UK

Support your LBS

Support your LBS - Local Bike Shop.

These guys are not in it for the money. Okay, they don't give stuff away, but pretty close to it.

Yes, they may cost a little more than your favourite online dealer, but generally you'll get good advice and you're more likely to get the right thing in the first place and most likely, be able to exchange it if it turns out to be not for you.

These are dealers I've found in my local area. If a dealer isn't here it's not because they're no good. I just haven't been there yet. And they're in alphabetical order:

• Halter's Cycles : Lots of stock, lots of advice - Giant / Cannondale plus ...
• Jay's Cycle's : Large Trek stockist in Princeton ...
• Knapp's Cyclery : Large, trendy looking Specialized dealer ...
  
• Kopp's Cycles : A real old-fashioned bike shop ... that's a good thing - mostly Bianchi ...
• Wheelfine Imports : For the European bike fan ... very cool ... strangely home-brewed website ...
• Wheel Life Cycles : Specialized stockist, plus ...

Roight Guv'nor!!!

Cool or what?

And it's brand new!!!

The Pashley Guv'nor.

Puts me in mind of making something up like this from an old roadster frame, if I can get one.

27" wheels, North Road bars, Brooks saddle ... compromise on a few modern yet retro-looking fittings ... neat.

Get one from here - if you can afford it ...

SRAM Rival

Things have come a long way since my first serious road bike. If I remember correctly, my old Peugeot Champion du Monde had a 5-speed Huret rear derailleur, a Stronglight 52/42 chain-set, indeterminate brakes and Leotard pedals with Christophe clips and toe straps.

Since then virtually all my bikes have been Shimano - or one of their clones - equipped, and over the years these systems have become more and more sophisticated, to the point where all braking and gear-change operations are effected through the handlebars. It's been a long time since I reached to the downtube to change gear.

My new Giant is a departure for me. All the drive components are made up from the SRAM Rival range.

SRAM first impinged on my consciousness some years ago with their grip-shift technology for mountain bikes, a system which was similar to that found on Italian motor scooters, and which, as I recall, failed on two counts ... grip and shift.

But what the system did do was force other manufacturers to adopt as a design basic, the ability to control your bicycle without having to move your hands from the bars, which had benefits in safety, comfort and control.

Until recently I was unaware that SRAM now produces equipment for the road, but I was happy enough to consider it, particularly since I noticed a couple of teams using SRAM gear in the Tour de France. If it's good enough for them ...

The main difference between the SRAM gear-change system and Shimano's is that the gears are controlled by a lever under a fixed axis brake lever rather than a combination of gear and brake lever which moves in two axes. This didn't really prove a problem on the change-over from Shimano to SRAM. Indeed, it seemed rather intuitive.

The gear change movement is also rather different. The right-hand rear-gear lever uses a 1-2-click motion. Shift the lever 1-click and the chain drops down a cog; 1-2-click and the chain moves up. The left-hand front-gear changer seems to be similar, but, of course there are only 2 chain-wheels. At the moment, all is very positive and snappy. So far, so good.

The sprocket is 10-speed and the chain has a power-link.

Braking is left to Shimano. The calipers appear to be from the Ultegra range. Whether it's the calipers, or the brake-pads, I don't know, but braking is a step up for me. It's quite easy to lock-up the back wheel from the top of the drops on a fast descent, but having learnt that lesson, they're quite progressive and I haven't done this again.

Giant OCR C2 : Close Up

Here it is ... my pride and joy, the Giant OCR C2, perched on my Ultimate Bike stand. I don't know what's happened to Ultimate Bike Stands. Their website seems to have been assimilated for the last few weeks and accessories seem to be hard to source. I hope they're still up and running. This is a good bike stand. The .pdf brochure is here.

Anyway, the bike is fairly bog-standard apart from the stem / handlebar combination which is still under review and described below. The pedals are Shimano Ultegras, a considerable upgrade from my old PD-R540s; nice and smooth and positive, but not knee- or ankle-breaking engagement and disengagement.

When I had the bike set up for me by Jason at Halter's Cycles, he had me adopt a slightly more forward, upright position. I don't disagree with the slightly more forward stance. I think this showed its potential on my last ride.

However, I think I'd still prefer if the bars were maybe an inch / 25mm further forward and downward and 0.75 inch / 20mm wider. However, I'll leave it for a little longer. Who knows? Jason might be right. The hardware is a Salsa stem and 42cm FSA Wing Pro compact drops. with Fizik gel inserts and tape.
The drive chain is 100% SRAM; 10-speed rear and double chain-wheel - 20 speeds altogether. My old bike was 3x9speed; 27 gears with a slightly larger range. I have tended to spin out on downhills and resort to the granny-gear on climbs so it remains to be seen if my developing fitness will cope with the hills. Perhaps I go fast enough downhill anyway ...

What concerns me is the difficulty of standing on the pedals on climbs. I'm not certain if this is just because the Giant is a sharper, more poised bike which requires just that extra bit of control / skill, or a function of the shorter / narrower handlebar setup.

The brakes are certainly an improvement on the Trek. It's possible to lock the rear wheel at speed with finger-tip pressure - as I found out - with a similarly effective front brake, so maybe a slightly lower downhill speed can be made up for with sharper braking. For sure, the frame was very steady at speed with significantly less flex than the aluminium Trek. Having said that, the Trek never gave me cause for concern, unlike a 25inch Vitus tubed Peugeot with seamed forks used to do. To see those forks flex 1.5 inches at 40mph was sobering ...

More impressions soon ...

Giant OCR C2 : First Impressions

I joined Princeton FreeWheelers' regular Friday evening ride around the Pennington - Hopewell area.

I had actually tried to join this ride before, but my Garmin had suggested the wrong meeting point in Pennington on a previous occasion. Apparently, I wasn't the only one this had happened to ...

Anyway, I lined up with quite a large group of local cyclists just south of Pennington. I recognised Marilyn and Geoff from my regular Griggstown Grind gig and others from the Frenchtown and Sunday morning rides.

I lifted my new Giant OCR C2 off the car's bike rack and was immediately struck by how much lighter it is than my old Trek 1200.

The orange and black paintwork makes the bike a bit of an eye-catcher and elicited several positive comments from other riders.

The ride was very enjoyable. The bike was light and responsive. The riding position was a little more upright than I'm used to and I'm not certain that the setup Jason of Halter's Cycles did for me is exactly right. However, I'm sure that on the level I was a mile or two an hour quicker than I normally spin at.

Hills were quite a bit different. I no longer have the luxury of a granny gear to bail me out, but there were no hills equivalent to those in the Sourlands on the Griggstown circuit. I'll have to wait until the next Grind before I can say if I can handle the gears on an extended climb. I did find the bike rather more twitchy when I stood on the pedals, but I think it's more a case of me getting used to it. I don't think it's attributable to the shorter stem and narrower handle-bars.

The saddle also was rather unforgiving, although I don't normally have a problem in that area. I'm going to set the nose down a degree or so and see if that improves things. If not I might just swap the rather comfortable Bontrager saddle off the old Trek.

However, none of that detracted from a very pleasant ride and the confidence that I would soon get the Giant dialed in to suit me perfectly. In fact I positively flew on the way back.

Thanks to Andy for leading the ride.

After the ride several of us went to Vito's for a slice of pizza or a sub.

Very nice too ... but I do miss a good old British pub ...

Giant OCR C2

And here it is ... my new bike; the Giant OCR C2.

Bike design and materials have certainly moved on in the last few years. The frame of this bike is an alliance - it says here - of carbon fibre and aluminium - English spellings both.

Certainly the bike feels very light compared to my Trek, and the ride characteristics pretty much met the received wisdom on carbon fibre frames, smooth ride, yet rigid geometry when it comes to laying down whatever power I can muster.

Jason at Halter's Cycles, fitted me up using his skill and judgment and I have to say that initial impressions for size and fit are good - slightly different than I might have chosen - but I'll go along with it unless I feel really uncomfortable.

Changes amounted to using a shorter stem with a higher rise, and narrower bars. I'm not totally convinced by this ... but I have to admit it feels good, if rather different to what I'm used to. Plus, I also had narrower Continental tyres fitted.

I'm off for a ride around Hopewell/Pennington this evening. I'll let you know how I get on.

Get the .pdf brochure here.

So ... farewell then, Trek 1200

You know? I love this bike ... but time moves on and I had the opportunity to get a new bike.

However, this is a good bike. One of the best I have owned. Of course, the frame and forks are way better than the components. Overall though, it wasn't a bad mix.

Anyway, today, I bought a replacement. More on that later.

But for now ... it's farewell to my old Trek 1200.

Like I said. Time moves on.

See the ad here on Craig's List.

Griggstown Grind

For the last few weeks my regular weekly ride has been the "Griggstown Grind" in and around the rather nice lanes and byways of the Sourlands Mountains of New Jersey.

A cyclist could do far worse than end up in central New Jersey. It's much more attractive than you might think.

Now these are mountains in the British style, ie; more like the Mendips than the Alps. But the valleys and creeks are very pretty indeed.

So, each Tuesday evening we meet up. About half-a-dozen regular riders - Diane, Steve, Beth, Marilyn - plus whoever else turns up head out for a 90 minute route over the numerous, but not too difficult hills.

It's encouraging the difference a few weeks make ... Okay, they're still quite hard, but now, by the time I'm thinking, "This is quite hard", we're already at the top. So the lesson is, stick with it.

At the same time this is quite a relaxed trip for anyone who wants to try it. Everyone is happy to either wait for or pace newbies up the hills, and have a little chat afterwards.

Special thanks to Diane who leads this ride each week.

Frenchtown : 19.07.2008

As I mentioned in my previous article, on Saturday I spent a very pleasant day - although at times I really did begin to wonder - cycling through some of the prettiest scenery New Jersey has to offer.

Now, back in the UK NJ has been referred to as The Essex of North America - Brits will know what I mean. But given how delightful the Delaware river countryside is, it's a bit unfair.

A baker's dozen assembled by the Delaware at Frenchtown, NJ in temperatures which were pretty warm to start with, but were to soar later in the day.

Our main aim was Merrill Creek Reservoir, a 650 acre / 264 hectare lake used to maintain the flow of the Delaware during periods of heavy utilisation.

There's a nice visitors' centre by the lake with good bird and wildlife lists and even a couple of decent telescopes for visitors to observe the impressive raptors.

I didn't see any exceptional big birds, but did spot a couple of hummers feeding in the bushes.

After resting our legs and replenishing our water-bottles, it was back in the saddle and heading for the general store at Bloomsbury where we chugged gallons of water and various allegedly healthy energy drinks, before heading back to Frenchtown.

All in all, this amounted to close on 60 miles of very hilly cycling. And hills weren't the only hazard. The bridge at Javes Road was out for big-time maintenance. No-one really fancied the detour so we ended up fording the river.

Thanks to my compadres, none of whom complained about the Brit hanging off the back towards the end.

If you want to read a fuller account please try Tom's Bike Adventures. For another rider's blog try Laura's PerpetualHeadwinds. I took the liberty of pinching a couple of pictures from these blogs, so thanks to Tom and Laura.

Twin Lights Ride : 28.09.2008

Well, having survived this year's 5Boro Bike Tour, I'm now entered for another Bike New York event, the Twin Lights Ride, the 75 mile course ...

Whether that is wise after my bike ride yesterday, 60 hilly miles around Frenchtown, NJ, with Princeton FreeWheelers, is another matter. 15 miles hanging off the back wasn't auspicious.

However, it was very hilly ... and very, very hot. Close to 38c/100F. Oh yes!!!

I have somewhat more confidence of attempting the Twin Lights since it should be rather cooler and a good deal flatter.
Okay ... maybe not flatter ...