I like that that line too--need to remember it when I start getting into a rut.

An "ouch" from the past.
I was feeling like I hadn't put enough bike time in today so I rode an old hill climb ride I made up last year. Damn, I had forgotten what a beast that ride is. Only 17mi, but oh what a 17 it is!

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/baby-scorpion
(look at that elevation profile. :eek:)

Harry, If you came over Wyndhurst to Roland you could drop into this ride easily. Let's try a Monday meet up and ride it together. -GB

Yah, I'd do that one with you, maybe I'll give it a whirl tomorrow. You got some good ones in there. I'm familiar with a few of them, Bellemore, Poplar, and I know there are a few doozies in Mt. Wash. Also, I used to do repeats on Hollins climbing out of Lake Roland, steep all the way up.

I used to ride up Union Ave from Woodberry on my way home from work at the studio there. I kind of liked it, you hit Falls and then climb a bit more to Roland.

If you want to add one more there's this hill I do called Woodbrooke that usually comes out at like 1200 feet after 10 half mile climbs. You would have to do a little cyclocross out of Lake Roland. We would probably climb and come back down as it ends at Charles and that stretch is a *****.

I did a 20 mile lunch ride today, can't let the milder temps go un ridden.

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/md...e/498735404052

A quick note on this. There are quite a few of these eccentric personalities out there, it seems as if biking and these types of personalities go together, not sure what it is, probably has to do with escapism, freedom, and just not being comfortable being cooped up. We are nomads after all.
The racing community is full of really driven riders, perhaps suffering from one mental disorder or another. I read in one of the racing books that quite a few of the European racers come from hardship beginnings, absentee fathers etc. Look at Lance, aside from everything else he's still saying " F U dad!
I for one am definitely not a long distance rider or a particularly driven rider, though I do certainly know the need for escape, that's why touring appeals to me-but every time I'm on a long ride I feel such guilt that I should be back at home doing something with my kids. With that said I'm trying to re discover what I loved about cycling in the first place, and right now I'm loving 20 mile lunch rides.
I can certainly admire the wander lust of these people though, I have it, just can't exercise it the way I could when I was 16 and hitchhiked to Colorado, or 18 when I drove x country. I do love reading about them though and living it vicariously. I've known people like this, had a friend who lived in a tent all through college. The guy that rode to Cal with me hiked the AT the year after, then rode x country year after that, then joined the Peace Corps.
Now I have to get back to "work" Danny.

I am reading a book called American Nomads. It is very interesting. Talks about this subject.
About wanderlust and kids. When my kids were younger we would take 3-4 week trips out West as well as New England/the Southern Clearspring area/Blue ridge parkway etc.... Always camped, sometimes flew(western trips) and rented a car. It was reasonably cheap, a logistical hassle(4-5 heavy army duffel bags and a few extra bags) but always worth it. We went to every major geological region of this country. They enjoyed it until their mid-teens. At that point I let them go to the Outer Banks and Ocean city. I don't know if I did it for them or me...OK me;-)

I had SCORPION for lunch

....or did it have me?:eek:

Ahh, Charlie, you're an inspiration. I go back and forth between trying to get my kids to be adventurous and giving up on them and doing my thing. They have mentioned how they want to do a road trip across the country. My wife will not camp, never again, will not. Talked her into an RV trip a few years back and she was pretty cool about it but now she would just as soon stay home. My dream is to haul a little Airstream Bambi around the country. I can work from anywhere as everything I do is e-mailed so I thought the Airstream would be good, in case of rain and such I probably wouldn't want to be working on my Powerbook under a tarp.

Question-On the Scorpion and the past two days I am getting serious chain slip, really bad today. Imagine climbing 8% and your chain won't catch the cogs, any of them. Not a cable tension issue. I just had the chain replaced and I think what I have is a chain and cassette that aren't meshing. I'm going to put on my "climbing" cassette tonight and see if that's the fix.

Harry, look at the teeth of the cassette and if they look like shark fins then you wore 'em out. It's not that uncommon for me when I replace the chain that I also have to replace other components of the drive train as well.

Barry-I swapped out the cassette to my hardly used "climbing" cassette 12-27, something like that. The other cassette that I used today looks fine, no noticeable wear. If the chain slips on the new cassette then I will assume that the shop put the wrong chain on, though not sure how that would be.

W-w-w-wipe-OUT! Went into the turn at Lasalle Rd and Putty Hill Ave too hot this morning--I knew I was pushing the envelope. Left some skin on the pavement, putting holes in my rain jacket, wool arm warmer and leg warmer. :(

Bummer, haven't had one of those in awhile. The lite rain loosened up the oil, I'm thinking. Lots of sale for winter bike clothing, sounds like a good time for you to buy.
Just read last weeks TR. I've done DC-Annapolis. Decent ride considering where it is.
The Glen Rock ride: Is that the one you did a few weeks back? It also had dirt roads. I really gotta get on one of these Rando rides. My disdain for driving a car to a bike ride must be altered. You saw a camel!! out there?

Oh man sorry to hear that. Hope you're ok. Go back and clean up our skin. No littering..I guess it's time for a day off to recover..Are you like me and the first you think about is what you did to your bike?

Could also be front chainrings. How many miles on them? Your indexing could be screwed up as well. Or like you said a wrong chain. Not certain how many different chains out there but there is a narrow one for newer bikes and the heavier thick one for my bikes:D

I'll check it out today but from what I read on Sheldon Brown it sounds like the chain not catching the teeth, just dragging on to them. He also mentions that it would be more pronounced on the "favorite" cogs, which I found as I desperately switched gears to get the chain to catch. I kind of know what it's like when the indexing is off, chain either wants too jump up to next cog or down. This is more like riding along under torque and clank clank clank the chain doesn't catch.

I don't put up the miles that you guys do, maybe 4k on the Madone and another 2k between the 520 and the fixie. But I am a big guy and suspect that I put a lot of pressure on the drive train. They replaced the bottom bracket bearings, which on the Madone are radically different. I also noticed some head tube movement yesterday, especially when brakingcoming down those "very" steep hills on the Scorpion.

NR-Bummer! I'm sure you will not take a "rest day"

Charlie-I looked for that book at the library last nightbut it was out, looks interesting.

The reason I asked about miles is to determine the # miles on the front chainrings. They can handle a lot more mile than the rear cas but can be ruined if a bad chain is used for too long. Also they get stressed if you stand and hammer. mnt bikes replace front rings more often than road bikes partially due to this. I just had the same problem. I, just like you, replaced chain, then rear cassette then a rather dull light went off in my head...check the front rings. I determined that the problem always occurred in the middle ring. Easy to swap out, problem solved. Did it at lunch.

That's easy to adjust out. Have you ever done it?

Just an FYI for all things bike-mechanical:
Sheldon Brown, the the undisputed king of bike knowledge (luckily saved by internet)
also very helpful is Park Tools website with many detailed tutorials.

-GB

Yep, those are great references (Sheldon was the man)...This video my help also..It's real easy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRFqU...eature=related

I hit the ground today, too. Second time in just over a week. I was going South/East on Mt Royal (right where it curves around before Maryland) and I guess I just hit a slick spot. I wasn't wearing gloves since it was warm today, so I totally skinned my palms. I also scraped up my leg and ruined a $90 pair of dress pants. Ugh, I'm such a freaking klutz. Luckily, my Brompton escaped with just a few scratches.

That Spring fever has you guys excited..Glad you're O.K. other than the hands and pants...Sounds like these spills could have been alot worse.

It wasn't bad--stop and go in portions of DC until we hit the trail to and from Pierce Mill.


Actually, the DC RAND "How Green Was My Valley" century was the last one I did with an unpaved section.


Yeah, I'm fine. Joked about it at work all day. Grossed some people out--they're so easy! :rolleyes: It's like they've never seen a scrape before.


You are correct. :thumb:


Glad to hear you're ok, too, Ian. Sounds like yours was worse than mine.


I didn't realize it until I headed home from work, but my bike did suffer damage. The right STI shifter hood--carbon part behind the actuators/levers--is cracked all of the way across. The only thing holding it on the shifter is the rubber boot. :notamused:

Once I got home, I ShoeGoo'ed it in place, followed by some Gorilla tape as sort of a cast. That Gorilla tape is some tough stuff. It along with the ShoeGoo should hold things together until I buy a new shifter. Maybe it's time to pick up the 7800 DuraAce STI shifters. Since the 7900 series have come out, the 7800s are cheaper than usual.

I swapped out the cassette and did 30 today without any chain slip. I do have a clicking noise but my bikes always have some creak, click, or tick that I can't decipher.

Branden-With the Madone it's all inside the headtube, set in the carbon, same with the bottom bracket cups. I think I just need to tighten everything up, or get the shop to look at it.

I intended to do a rest day ride today so rode over to Montebello, I get a few hills on my way over so not a totally flat day.

Hard to rest there because somebody is always trying to catch you, two guys passed me but both times I had slowed down to drink and get back on my recovery pace. The wind was incredible, some of the strongest I've encountered.

another one bites the dust. Glad you're ok. A few years back I crashed after a light rain, i had gloves and tore them up but my hands came through. Wrist didn't, broke it. Gotta teach myself to tuck 'n roll and not brace w/ my arms. Cahrlie

During nicer weather there's a group of bicyclist that always ride pass me on Rolling rd. about once a week during the morning commute. Sometimes I draft them and peal off to my train. Well I haven't seen them since weather turned cold. They showed up yesterday with the warmer temps. I teased them a little asking what happened to them recently. They chuckled and I ate their dust. I almost never see another cyclist so it's nice to see some in the early morn'.

Harry I thought you replaced the cassette earlier?

NR: how do you have all the post in your post when answering folks. I always end up answering each one individually.

No, I had the chain replaced by the shop a few weeks back, not the cassette. Not sure why it took a couple weeks for the chain slip to show up, probably because I was mostly using the trainer and not putting as much pressure on the drive train. I put the less used cassette on last night and this one seems fine so I guess the other is trash.
In retrospect I would not have allowed the shop to replace the chain. They say replace every few thousand miles, I'm a sucker.

Looks like two more days of spring like weather then back to the thirties.