Archive for February, 2009
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
This version by bentchick100 on BROL.
(Placed here for my ease of reference)
A is for Air (in your tires)
* check everything to do with tires
* are they inflated?
* are they true (the wheel should be straight)?
* is there any looseness in the axle bearings?
* is there badly worn tread?
B is for Brakes
* are the levers far enough from the handlebars?
* are the brake pads in the proper position, not too worn?
* do the brakes fully tighten against the rim?
* are the cables worn?
also
* check the headset for looseness (apply the front brake, rock the bike back and forth)
* check the handlebars for looseness (hold the front wheel between your knees and try to twist the handlebars from side to side, up and down)
C is for Chain or Cranks
* check everything to do with the drive chain
* is the chain on and lubricated?
* do the pedals spin freely?
* are the gear derailleurs in the correct position?
* is there any looseness in the bottom bracket?
* Quick is for Quick Release
* are the levers on tight?
* are the nuts on the axles tight?
* are the levers flush against the forks?
* Check is for Final Check Over
* drop check to listen for loose parts (lift the bike a few inches off the ground, drop it and listen for loose parts)
* try your brakes as you ride off
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
A good trip; a good ride. We left Friday heading for Hiram, Ga., just west of Atlanta. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in a very nice room with 2 queen-sized beds. I was the only one with a bike and with plans to ride Saturday, which I did for 50 miles in the rain; can you spell “no fenders” and “wet butt”? Jeanne and Kurt spent Saturday at local flea markets and shopping and then on Sunday the 3 of us went on to the Mountain Top Flea Market near Gadsden, Al. We returned home Sunday evening.
Posted in Bike Ride | No Comments »
Monday, February 9th, 2009
The contractor started clearing for our new Bike Barn and Doll Workshop today. We talked and the design grew from a 20×30 to something like the following:
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Sunday, February 8th, 2009
I met Wiley Clark on the Long Leaf Trace today and road along with him for a bit. I wanted to take his picture when he stopped at a rest stop but he wasn’t stopping so I finally asked him to pull over at Beaver’s Pond and I took this photo.
Wiley had an unfortunate meeting with a drunk driver many years ago in a vehicle-to-vehicle collision. It put him in a wheel chair but did not slow him down too much; he started racing in the Paralympics, and did very well. However, there was an additional setback as told by nytimes.com, (found by a web search):
“[even strict observation of traffic laws isn’t enough to prevent accidents ] … and it wasn’t enough to protect Wiley Clark of Pascagoula, Miss., who was expected to win as many as six medals at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain. However, while he was wheeling through a crosswalk at the athletes’ village in Barcelona, he said, a minivan hit him, breaking his left leg, pelvis and several ribs and knocking him unconscious.“
Well, he bounced back, again, and won the US national “Men quads” in 2000.
Thanks, Wiley, for our short but enjoyable visit on the LLT today. He often drives up from the coast and rides the 80+ mile loop on the
LLT, maybe a little shorter ride in the winter. Wiley is my new hero and I don’t think I’ll be complaining about much of anything for awhile.
Posted in Fun | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Today was to be the second rest day since my 60 mile ride. I could still feel a slight soreness in my leg muscles and figured I needed another day. However, it was so nice that I decided to rest while riding the Strada. How does that work? Well, you ride but you keep the speed low, maybe no more than 15 mph peak, and the distance short, e.g. 16 miles. Also, you linger at the turn-around 20 to 30 minutes. As it turned out, the turn-around rest must have been effective because I felt an energy surge on the return and averaged 17.5 mph for the last 8 miles; but my heat rate did stay below 130. Rest? Or, am I just fooling myself that any of us could rest while riding a fast bike?
The “30 minute ride/20-30 minute rest/30 minute ride” idea comes from a paper that claims it results in more fat burned than just riding 60 minutes; speed, environment, other things being the same.
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Sunday, February 1st, 2009
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and joined the party for a few minutes at Bassfield.
(Click for the full picture) |
They are from the Jackson area and came down to ride the full length of the Long Leaf Trace, starting at the Prentiss end.
We were riding different loops but ended up in Bassfield at the same time. I think two of them have a bike shop in Jackson called the Bike Rack; I’ve heard of it. They were a blast and very good company at my turn-around.
About Alan: Alan, on the far left in the banner, was also riding a recumbent, a Strada. He bought it from the RideSouth bike shop in Brandon (just outside of Jackson, Ms.), my favorite bike shop and where I bought my Rocket, Stratus SP, and Jeanne’s EZ-1. So I was talking with Alan and told him that I had just gotten a strada and was not comfortable on it yet, e.g. having trouble adapting to the EuroMesh seat. He’s had his for about a year and a half and was comfortable from the start. It may be that I’m just too use to the Ran’s seat, having one on each of the Stratus XP and the Rocket. Regardless of the reason, I’m thinking about buying the Bacchetta Recurve seat which is more like the Ran’s. But, back to “About-Alan”.
He looked familiar. I asked if he rode in the birthday ride of November 2007, and he had. I talked to him then and took this photo, It is one of my favorite bike pictures. Love that outfit. Notice the pants’ cuffs in the socks. It was really nice running into him again. He probably had just gotten the bike as that was about a year and a half ago. Since then he must have been riding a lot as he wore out his seat cushion and had to buy a new one, $40. My Strada is the same color and is probably the same frame year even though the original owner bought it in 2008.
After a snack/restroom break the bike party headed on toward Prentiss, laughing and having a great time; especially looking forward to the fast 4-5 mile downhill coming up. I headed back toward Hattiesburg, looking forward to the remainder of the beautiful, 60+ degree day.
A Note About The birthday ride: This is a great ride held once a year, usually in November. Organized by Jim Snider (owner of RideSouth) in association with the trace council the ride is an outstanding social event. Participation is free but donations are welcome to support the Longleaf Trace. There are snacks at the rest stations and new bikes to try before or after the ride. I rode Ran’s new X-Stream which may be my next bike (stock-up Jim). Jeanne rode Bacchetta’s new Bella ATT and may get one in May, but I mentioned this in an earlier post.
I also got to meet Randy (left) and John Schlitter; and here they are posing for my photo. The theme of the “Birthday Ride” is that you ride your age, but, of course, everyone rides however far they please. This is a great ride but if you can’t it be sure to check with RideSouth for other rides when you are in the area. Jim is a great advocate for biking, especially on recumbents, and arranges rides every week. I meant to tell all about last year’s ride before now but the post is still half written. I’ll finish it soon, for sure, especially if it gets too cold to ride. |
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On the way home I saw a couple, Jerry and Hilga, walking with what I thought were ski poles, probably building up their arm muscles for a ski vacation. I’ve seen them before, doing the same thing but this time I decided to stop and talk. Glad I did. First of all, they are not ski poles. They are walking/hiking sticks. One of her’s had a compass on top and one had a multi-LED light. Neat! They’ve been to Europe on more than one occasion where they hiked. They also ride. Each has a recumbent bike; his with USS, i.e. under-seat-steering. I’ll definitely look for the couple on future rides, especially around Sumrall where they live.
I enjoyed the return home, arriving about 5:00. It was a good ride, some slow parts, some fast parts (27 mph max), for a so-so average of 15+ mph over the 60 miles. That gives me 484 miles for the year, a little ahead of the straight-line graph of my 5,000 mile goal. Tomorrow is a bike rest-day (Remember: muscles build when you rest, not when you ride). |
Posted in Bike Ride | No Comments »
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