An afterthought for @YogaKat

When working on some of your low-speed drills for balance, it's actually an advantage to be on platform pedals rather than being clipped in. You can't learn to trackstand, for example, without having to put your foot down on numerous occasions. So even when you have the road bike you might want to use the Bridgestone with platforms for that sort of thing.

Plus you might try some of the drills we used to use with the kids.

1. We used to set up a race where the slowest kid wins. Start at ne side of a field or parking lot, and try to ride to the other side as slowly as possible while always moving in a forward direction. The longer it takes, the better you're doing. In a very short time you'll find you can stay upright while almost stationary.
2. As you get more confident, stand a water bottle on the ground. As you ride past it reach down and pick it up while holding a straight course. Do this on both sides, gradually increasing the pace. It will seem intimidating and difficult at first but after a while you'll find it's actually easier when moving along at a fair pace than it is when you're going really slowly. Your confidence will soar.

I didn't mean it like that. I just figured you post that often since it is good advice and wanted to let you know that I was paying attention.

@revchuck I'm so sorry you are are feeling like crud and hope you get better soon. That's become one of my big fears with it being cold/flu season, at least more so than usual... not being able to ride. Rest up and let your wonderful wife take good care of you.

@chasm54 I love the drills that you suggested. It brought to mind how I find it much more difficult to signal and brake when coming to stop signs, signals etc. whereas the cruiser was very simple since braking with feet and signalling with my arm.

It will be a bit before I get my clipless at any rate. I would love to be able to go out and grab a pair today, but economics dictate otherwise. Shooting for within a month. Then there is practicing with them BEFORE adding them to my bike.

Meanwhile I will set aside some time to work on my balance skills. Sounds like some excellent exercises while riding around with the kiddo. School parking lot... here we come.

That's too bad, @revchuck, sorry to hear it. Next year, when things are more settled. :)

Another random question from ChattyKat...

Going to my main route there is a drainage grill getting out of my neighborhood into the next so basically I roll over this thing twice on most of my rides. Should I be walking my bike across to prevent tire and/or tube damage or just keep riding on?

This may sound a bit trivial but I would like to minimize replacements as much as possible.

http://i.imgur.com/diweECN.jpg

As long as the bike doesn't get squirrelly due to the tires fitting into the gaps, I'd just ride over it. If it's wet/raining, or the grate is covered with water, walk it over. Wet, smooth steel is super slick.

Thanks for your reply. I may be getting to the point where I am overthinking some things and appreciate your patience.

I did find out about that super slick thing on the day I rode back in the downpour. Almost had another crash but was able to keep her up and going.

*sending virtual chicken soup to you*

Thanks! I went to the doctor and he said it was sinusitis. I ended up with an antibiotic and a histamine-blocker nose spray. I almost got a steroidal nose spray, but my medical insurance wouldn't pay for it.

Still not fun, but glad it wasn't something worse like a bad flu. Hopefully those antibiotics will kick in soon.

You hang in there revchuck. i have asthma and multiple allergies and I live in the Northeast. The sinus infection battle never ends.

Yoga that grate wouldn't phase me one bit. I've done races with them in the middle of the corner. It's all about confidence. There's no shame in walking over them but I would encourage you to make it a goal to ride over them. Baby steps are perfectly normal and expected.

Thanks @shovelhd

I've been rolling on over them for sometime now but after changing out a tube so fast, I just wondered if it was detrimental to my tires/tubes. Probably just overthinking it. I'm just not used to those thin tires. They seem so dang fragile!

Now it's just getting over my curve aversion. I will say I did get better about it today. Learning to coast around and stay near the center line while still being cautious. A lot can be said for letting it out there and listening to others experiences on the post crash fear.

Rev, when I used to smoke a pack and half a day I got sinus infections every spring and fall. They totally bite. Good news is those antibiotics should knock it out fairly quickly.

The conversation with @YogaKat has done me some good. I realised after suggesting some drills for her that since I haven't been racing, I'd failed to do any skills practice myself. So I went out yesterday and did some bike-handling stuff. Surprised at how rusty I was... but it comes back quickly enough.

:thumb:

I've raced in a couple of criteriums where I intentionally spent a little time in the gutter, running over those grates. No worries! I learned in a clinic a few years ago that they are designed so that a bicycle wheel can't fall through them. And no, they don't bother the tires one bit. :)

Chuck, what everyone else said. Change of seasons is hard on us. All sort of allergens and pathogens being kicked up right now. And then there's that fine immune system we have... Hang in there, my friend!

I finally got in a group ride with the local bike club today. Completely different experience than riding solo. I totally had fun chatting with one group them working on catching up to another group to chat with them. Met a lot of fun and friendly people and there's nothing like a huge group of cyclists taking over the city streets. I realized that I'm doing pretty well on getting up those hills. :)

Here's a pic of a happy Kat after the ride.

http://i.imgur.com/rXw4HmP.jpg

Hmm. I take back what I said about that bike being on the large side, it looks pretty good. You might be able to stand the seat a few millimeters higher yet...

I'm slowly moving it up until I get it just right. :)

I almost didn't post the pic because of how my left foot is situated on the peddle but we were clowning around after the ride and taking pictures.

They did tell me that they have a faster group ride sometimes around the same lake that I usually ride on the weekdays so I'm looking forward to that.

Mixte frame...class :)

I agree, your fit isn't way off. Keep raising the saddle a bit at a time.

That IS a classy looking bike!

Thank you both. I have become very attached to her.

Would it be a possibility to keep this frame and upgrade the gearing and possibly the breaking system?

At this time, I am more keen on endurance racing rather than sprints and this bike is really comfortable for me. (I'm not sure if that is the right terminology.)

Granted, this could just be coming from the fact that I have not had the experience of riding a newer bike, but I really have come to love the feel of this frame.

Absolutely. The bottom bracket may require adapters or a conversion unit, and you will most likely need a new rear wheel as well. Shimano 5800 is an outstanding group set for the money.

Are they 27 inch wheels? If so I think you'd need a new wheelset, and that would mean taking advice on getting brakes (it's still a braking system, not a breaking system :) ) that will reach the rims of the new, fractionally smaller, wheels. Plus someone will probably need to spread the chainstays for you to accommodate a 9 or 10 speed cassette.

Go to your LBS and talk to the mechanic. It can certainly be done, but by the time you have bought a new groupset, new wheels, and have had the frame cold set to take them, you may find you have spent as much as a new Giant Avail (or the equivalent Trek, or Cannondale or whatever) would have cost you. In which case it may be a choice between upgrading this bike, and having two - this one as it is, plus a new one.

it ain't a bad idea, though. The upside of the upgrade is that you'd probably put on better wheels and groupset than you'd get with an entry-level road bike. And before you ask, the groupset is all the components (brakes, shifters, chainset, cassette, derailleurs, bottom bracket) apart from the wheels.

As far as racing is concerned, no bike races except some on the track could really be called "sprints", the shortest race you'll find (over here, anyway) is probably a 40 minute criterium. Admittedly that can feel like a sprint. And the difference in speed between a crit and a 50 mile road race can be surprisingly small. If you're talking endurance events like randonneurs, they are much slower and start at about 100 miles. Not really races, as such. Lots of info on that in the long distance forum.

FIFY. :)

Here is a thread on this forum, 202 pages long so far, with folks who have done exactly that. As a matter of fact, I've done it myself:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=486821

Assuming your rear wheel is a 32 spoke one, you could just have the rim relaced onto a modern hub like a 5800 105. As noted above, it may not be cost-effective, but it'll be cool!

When you've sorted them out, you can move on to pedal and peddle. :thumb:

Oh geeze!! Haha, I must be losing my mind.

Oops, I deleted my post after I saw revchuck post. I was going to add a thanks for the thread link. What a beautiful bike that is. It's also my favorite color.

In respect to my thoughts on changing out the groupset I am finding that when rolling downhill on straightaways there is no friction left to move faster and I'm left with coasting. Is this just my entry level skill or the limited amount of gears that I currently have... or something else?

Depends how fast you're going.

For a definitive answer I'd need to know how many teeth there are on your big chainring at the front, and your small sprocket at the back. However, in view of the age of the bike I can make a guess that the chanrings are 52/42 and the small sprocket is a 13. Now, bear with me for a technical explanation.

If the big chainring is a 52 and the small sprocket is a 13, that is a 4:1 gear ratio. In other words, every turn of the pedals will gve rise to four revolutions of the wheel. The circumference of a 27" wheel is approximately 85" - say 7 feet. So every time you turn the pedals in your highest gear, you're moving the bike 4x7 = 28 feet forward. If you are pedaling moderately fast, say 90 rpm, that is 90 x 28' per minute, which is 840 yards per minute or just a little shy of 30 miles per hour. Pedaling at 120 rpm, which you should be able to do without "spinning out" and having to coast, you'd be doing around 35 mph.

Do you think you're doing anything close to that speed before you have to coast? If so, there is nothing wrong. If not, I suspect you aren't in the highest gear - big ring, small sprocket.