Road Cycling - Smoke on the wheat or my little spin today

Just wanted to share a couple of photos from my little 40 mile spin this morning.

This first photo is taken at the Horseshoe Falls over look on the River's Edge Trail.

The next shots are east of Great Falls. You can tell its wild fire season since there is so much smoke in the air. On a clear day, you see the mountains clearly.

Looking east towards the Highwood Mtns.

Ahhh, nice wheat!

bob nice pics.....lower those aero-bars and move your seat foward....slice through that wind......

Hey Kern. Actually, the pads are spring loaded and pop up into the position you see in the photos. When I'm in them, they are down on the top of the bars. Or did you mean lower the front of them?

beautiful photos! I wish I had views like that on my rides around here

Thanks for sharing Bob, I enjoy seeing your countryside. Looks like I won't get to ride GTS this year as I won't make it to your part of the world until November for Idaho Elk season on the west side of the Bitterroot. I might have missed it but I see you got a Bianchi after your spill. How do you like it? I need to get my butt together and post a few pics as well, I keep meaning to, but then I end up riding :rolleyes: . Anyway, keep the pics coming, we appreciate em.

Hey Stelthman, I love the Bianchi! Its around a 1997-1999. Campy Mirage gruppo. Rides like a dream. It had some ugly dirty white bar tape on it so I put some even uglier bright yellow cheap stuff over it for now. I may order some Celeste tape for it. I have a set of 700x23c tires on the way for it. When I'm loaded for touring I'll put the bigger tires back on. But otherwise want to try the faster rubber. :D

Sorry to hear your not going to get to do the GTTS. I won't be able to do it either this year. It's on the list for next year along with the Double Divide Ride. (among others).

Wish the skies were not so smokey. The mountains are very picturesque. Oh well. That is August in Montana.

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

Glad to see the Bianchi got a good home. You've done a lot to it judging from the first pictures you posted when you bought it. I love my Bianchi. They really know how to make a great bike. Congrats. Glad you're OK after the accident. Hang in there.

Glad to see the Bianchi got a good home. You've done a lot to it judging from the first pictures you posted when you bought it. I love my Bianchi. They really know how to make a great bike. Congrats. Glad you're OK after the accident. Hang in there.

Yep, it is in a good home. :D I have cleaned it up a bit and did some general maintenance. I also lowered the bars down as far as they would go without pinching the front brake cable. I really love the bike! This is the first Bianchi I have been able to get a close look at, much less ride. I stopped by the Bianchi dealer, Big Sky Cyclery in Helena, MT (http://www.bigskybikes.com/) when I was last there on business. They also carry Giant, Haro, and Rocky Mountain. I am very impressed with the the fellow that talked with me (thanks John). Most bike shops see a fat guy like me come in and don't give me the time of day. John was respectful, knowledgable and asked many questions about what I wanted to do with the bike. I'm looking a purchasing a racing bike soon. I am really leaning towards Bainchi. I won't know until I ride a few brands to see which fit the best. I do know that I like the Campy gruppo. Have not tried the new Shimano stuff yet.

I feel pretty good now. After cooling down from the ride today my ribs are a bit tender. Just enough to know they are not 100%. I did quite a bit of climbing today which seems to be the stressor for them.

Anyway, thanks for the note. Come on over for a ride some day.


Bob

Nice pics, You should carry a mini-tripod so next time you can be in the pictures too.

http://upload.serverseed.com/pictars4/bbikk.JPG

Hey, I had a guy on an orange Cannondale pass me today. He really tried to drop me, but I stayed about 50 feet behind him. I think it bothered him that he couldn't drop this fat guy. :p

Nice pic!

You certainly don't look fat to me.

Nice pics, You should carry a mini-tripod so next time you can be in the pictures too.

Not a bad idea. I would do that for sure when touring.


You certainly don't look fat to me.

Oh, thanks. :o

wow.. those are some nice pics. is it me or is the road in the second pictures smooth like a baby's bottom? nice pics!

rui

hi bob.....I have similar aero-bars with the flip-up armrests. I started with the bar in the same postion as you have it in.....still felt like I was catching alot of air. now I have them flat...I had to reverse my seat post and move my seat foward but it works like a dream. I rode out about a mile past memke hill this mornin until the shoulder narrows and then turn back. its about 20 miles...I had an average speed of 20.5 mph....I spent about 90% of the time in the aero-bars as I am training for a triathlon.



kern

Hi Rui! Yes, that stretch of road is quite smooth. Concrete 4 lane with nice wide shoulders. Not all roads in Montana are that nice.

Kern, thanks for the tips. I have now adjusted the aerobars to be perpendicular to the ground. I also slid the seat forward about 2cm. After making those changes, I also had to raise the saddle up about 1cm.

Ok Kern. Check out these photos to see if it looks right to you.

Here is a different angle.

Here is the seat after moving forward 2cm.

I would have got some pics of my ride through teh loverly english coutryside this morning, but it was a bit to dark as I was cycling back from a U2 tribute concert at 1am

Ultra-g, this one is for you. :D

You can also see the adjustments and how they relate to the overall bike. I took it for a quick 3 mile spin mostly in the aerobars. Certianly more aero and even more comfortable on the shoulders when in them.

looks good bob..if not your butt will tell you..........




kern

LOL. Ok Kern. I'll see how it feels on the commute in the morning too. Thanks again for the tips.

[QUOTE=N7CZinMT]Hi Rui! Yes, that stretch of road is quite smooth. Concrete 4 lane with nice wide shoulders. Not all roads in Montana are that nice. [QUOTE]

oh... baby... if only if we had those smooth concrete roads around here.. that would be soo sweet.

Ultra-g, this one is for you. :D

You can also see the adjustments and how they relate to the overall bike. I took it for a quick 3 mile spin mostly in the aerobars. Certianly more aero and even more comfortable on the shoulders when in them.

sweet. look much more comfortable with the adjustments. i had to do the same thing too... especially moving my seat forward. but play around with the adjustments... that's what i still have to do.

Hey Rui, Yeah, you've done a good job outfitting your Sirrus. It looks great!

The new position really helped. I was faster in and out of the aero-bars. My right hand did not go numb like it had been on my commute. Nice. :D

Hey Rui, Yeah, you've done a good job outfitting your Sirrus. It looks great!

thanks N7CZinMT... i actually ended up flipping my stem over, readjusted the front aero bar to be leveled, the handle bar to be slightly upwards and dropping the tip of the nose downwards on the seat. i took a new pic of it last night after my test ride... feels good... but not good pic. u can check my sig.

rui

Some great country you get to ride in. Here is a shot of me and a friend on our 45 mile loop. My brother is taking the picture from his bike


http://members.cox.net/snevets614/Bike/P7030005.JPG

Some great country you get to ride in. Here is a shot of me and a friend on our 45 mile loop. My brother is taking the picture from his bike
http://members.cox.net/snevets614/Bike/P7030005.JPG

either ur brother has some steady hands or the camera is shake proof! awesome pic! and that road is a beaut! i wish we have road like that here in the bay area.. and especially not having to worry about getting run over.

Cool pics! I wish we had shoulders like that in Montana other than on the interstates!

The country is great out here. The photos do not do it justice as the smoke from several wild fires has obscured the mountains. There are some clearer shots in my webshots albums.

That pic is of one of the few roads here that have such a great shoulder for riding. Although once you get outside the city area there is not alot of traffic so many roads work pretty good

That pic is of one of the few roads here that have such a great shoulder for riding. Although once you get outside the city area there is not alot of traffic so many roads work pretty good

but that big wide shoudlers is perfect to ride on. i would love to ride on that road, cuz it feels like all you can do keep on pedaling and the road seems endless and the sky is always just beyond your reach.

your pic reminded me of that scenery in Forrest Gump, where Forrest kept running and runnning till the point where he couldn't tell where heaven and earth meets. I would love to ride that place.... that's beautiful!

Hey Bolo Grubb, are you on the left or the right in that photo?