Almost took off my studs today but checked the weather. Looks like another snow storm is headed our way...ugh

It'll be Easter before we can finally change them--it seems.

My pedal fell off the way to the train this AM. Had to walk back home as one cannot cycle with one flat pedal. I actually stripped a few threads on the crank. Had to ream it out and used some loktite. Hopefully that is the right move at this point. Gotta try and catch the last train to Beltsville, bye.

I hope you got home.

FWIW I carry medical tape which comes in handy for scrapes or as an all purpose duct tape. I helped a fellow in the same predicament out by wrapping the treads with a small piece of tape. Worked well enough to get him home.

take acid. then read this thread.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...w-fast-can-you

Done?
Now then, who's riding in tomorrow?

On sunday, I'm driving down to Richmond to check out the NAHBS
Anyone interested in going with?

I went for a little ride to Princeton to pick up some brake pads, decided to make a loop out of it and road down Falls Rd to Mt Washington Village. I tell you the hardiest thing about recovering from a fall is getting rid of your fear of falling again. The roads were wet and the shoulders were not plowed and I started to get the shakes so I pulled off the roadway to recover for a bit and then again in Starbucks, climbing back home up Cross Country wasn't bad, it's just the wet down hills that scare the bajeses out of me. Slowly I am trying to work up to where I was before but it's been hard this winter.

I made it home(walked), repaired bike then headed back to the train. Caught the last train to Beltsville. Since I was running late I decided to cut through the woods to say a little time. Bad move. That snow was the most dense crap I have tried to ride through. I had trouble even walking my bike through it. Turned around and rode the long way.

Tried to read it. Hydrochloric didn't work, next time I'll try surlfuric.

too early to call. Could be fun though.

Didn't the Monkeys have a song called "Last Train to Beltsville" - errr, something like that.

I rode in. It was a non-challenge.

It was not bad coming in at 25 F ( -3 C ). The predicted snow came a little bit, but nothing is sticking to the road. It could still happen, but with this year 2 to 4 more inches would only constitute a dusting. Yesterday, going home, I picked up some glass where I know to look for it. I changed the tube. I got a couple miles and it went flat, so I pumped it up and rode a couple more miles. After getting within a couple
miles of home, I just walked it. The sidewalks are still covered, probably until May, so I had to walk my bike in the street. When I got home, I ran the inside of the tire and rim many times, but could not find anything. I patched an older tube and put it in there and it too got a pin hole in it. I will have to work on it this weekend. I rode my mountain bike in, just in case we get some snow anyway. On the up side, I heard a bird calling out around 5:20 am, and I saw at least two runners, spring can't be too far off.

Be careful out there. One of the Stoneleigh group hit a pothole on Thornton, broken hand, scraped up face, and steel frame broken in two places. I'm enjoying being inside :)

I get a lot of those mystery flats from my back alley. It is often from little pieces of wire and not glass. Very hard to see. These days I spend a lot more time locating the area of the leak on the tube and using that to locate the corresponding area on the tire. Then inspecting the tire until I can find the culprit. More time-consuming, but way better than getting a flat on your new tube.

Woohoo! Snurricane ride - http://bimactive.com/ba/journal/post/10783/30469

I was wondering if anyone got it. Figured it was an oldish sorta fellow that understood it. (It was Cklarksville in the Monkeys song).
Anyway both Thursdays and Fridays snow storms were much ado about nothing. The wind however was fierce. Gusts in the mid 40's. Black ice again. Really hard commute this morning.
I was thinking about retirement on this AMs commute. I'm close but still years away. I hope I will ride daily when I do retire but on days like today I don't think I would. It would be SOOOOOO easy to roll over and snooze. You have to think about something when riding straight into the wind.

High fives dudes. Adventurous ride for me too. -GB

Good going gents!

Not everyone in the BBC are wussies. But, we knew that.

Dang, Bob... you're running 76% (1391/1836) so far this year. Last year ended at 55%.

You know what I'm after. ;)
... and I'm already 170 miles behind pace.

Wow! You go, boys. :D

Here "down south" we didn't really get any snow -- lots of fine flakes blowing around like crazy, but not much sticking. The winds are horrendous, though! I remember a few years back on a Seagull Century that was crazy windy, I was approaching the bridge over the bay, and the cyclists ahead of me all looked like sailboats heeling on the wind -- noticeably leaning to one side! The bad part for me, though, was when the wind suddenly died down for a second, and I had to quickly compensate to get back upright again -- I almost overcompensated and crashed, which would have been no fun at all on that narrow bridge. I walked the rest of the way over it. I'm hoping to start commuting to work again next week; I think my route is relatively clear and dried-up now -- I'll probably do a daylight reconnaissance ride sometime this weekend.

So, I have a future cycling dilemma. I signed up with Pedal PA to do an organized, supported tour of the "northern tier" of Pennsylvania. 8 days, 450 miles, in August. They had both a tent camping and a lodging option, at different prices; I opted for the former. I recently got an e-mail from the organizer saying that because it had been much more difficult (and expensive) to try to arrange the camping than they had anticipated, and so few riders wanted the camping option, that they were going to cancel it, and do lodging only. As a result, the cost for me has increased 48%.

In absolute dollars, it's not like I can't afford it, and I don't have some moral objection to sleeping in a comfy bed :) but . . . I dunno. I actually do like the camping part. I've always had some ambivalence about the tour, anyway -- chiefly the time frame and the length of the tour, because of some other (non-biking) travel that I might be doing later in August.

I could -- and no doubt you all would so advise me! :D -- be more adventurous and just plan my own route and go, and that certainly has a great deal of appeal to me. (Although I've never set foot in that part of PA, so I know absolutely bupkus about it.) I could focus more on the area of the route that I'm most interested in (around Wellsboro, the "Grand Canyon of PA"), make it a little shorter in duration, maybe pick a different date. But I really want to try this year to not be so damn anti-social in my riding, thus the "forced group" concept. :)

Decisions, decisions. *sigh*

@Max, I don't know how to advise you. Personally, I say screw August and come out and play on July 4th.

Today's ride in 2 parts - http://bimactive.com/ba/journal/post/10783/30499 - Part 1 http://bimactive.com/ba/journal/post/10783/30498 - Part 2

WOW Maxine - thats sucks. Start looking for another organized ride - like Bike Virginia or something else warm. A few years ago Jimmy and I road in Cape Cod - stayed at Nicholson State Park and did day rides from the park. Totally anti-social - the fam only - but totally loved it! We took the ferry to MV and rode there for a few. OK, that SO didn't solve your problem but just a few thoughts.

Max, I would bag it for the reason that they switched the options, and in turn it will cost you more. There are so many bike tours to choose from.

Today's ride - http://bimactive.com/ba/journal/post/10783/30523

The wind blows! ;) It'll be nice to have some windless days sometime in the near future, but I won't hold my breath on that one.

NR: 2K for the year. Impressive since we've been up to our bums in snow.

Max: Check out CGOAB or Adventure cycling forums. Both have sections where folks post, looking for companions to ride with. Solo touring is great but if you are seeking a social environment then try and hook up with folks on either of those sites or post you our itinerary and state you are looking for riders.
N. PA: I have biked around the Grand Canyon of PA. I have also canoed Pine Creek that flows through the canyon. Very nice area. The bike path that follows Pine creek is well maintained and campgrounds are close. I didn't much care for the state CG but the primitive ones were beautiful. Can't remember the names but will check it out for you. I took a sponge bath out of my cooking pot since we didn't have showers but the ambiance was way better than the music blaring CG along the creek. The roads out of the canyon is really steep. Charlie