For your viewing pleasure, some pix from the 107 miler this past Saturday - North Mountain Nirvana by the DC Randonneurs:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8193389...7602923730391/

I didn't take these, but I just had to share them up. The Fall colors stand out well.

Hey Barry,

You ride those shimano sandals year-round don't you?
What's your system as the weather gets colder? If you can, give me your 40 deg. , 30 deg and 20 degree systems. And then what's your set up for wet weather.

I'm thinking about going for the sandals, but I'm not really a sandal wearer. however, they do seem like a great option winter riding. If anyone else wants to chime in with winter footwear suggestions, please do.

-Bob
-Bob

Nice shots. So what camelback is that? Do you like it? Do you use it for extra water or just storage? I have several but they are all backpack size. That small one looks less obtrusive.

-D

For 40 deg. weather I use Smart Wool socks (1) and polyester microfiber socks (1). I really like polyester microfiber for cold weather as the density of the fabric does seem to shift from being very dense when it is cold and gets a tad breezy when you warm up. It also helps keep your feet dry in damp conditions.

For 30 deg. weather it will be two pairs of Smart Wool socks plus the polyester microfiber sock.

For 20 deg weather same as above but with a down booties (found at REI at a great price, but they have got caught on my front shifter a few times so my right foot currently has a duct tape patch but they still have held up for three seasons so I got my money out of them.)

I go totally high tech for rain. After an extensive research to find the lightest most compact water proof material I could find, I settled on plastic grocery bags. Not to mention you can generally get a free pair at just about any store with a minimal purchase in case you left your pair at home. These also work like a wind breaker so if your feet need a bit of warming up on a cold winter morning these work great.

I will note on some of my longer cold weather rides I will sometimes switch my inner and outer pair of smart wool socks so the dryer pair is against my skin and the damp pair gets a chance to dry out. (I do this ~ every 40 miles.)

I hope this helps.

-D, the CamelBak is a FLASHFLO. I used to use it while running and decided to try it for a ride. It's really good for extra storage after taking out the bladder. My problem with it, on that ride, was it seemed to restrict my breathing. During the most extreme climb on that ride, I had to stop because I couldn't get enough air. I'm sure between the FLASHFLO and my HRM chest strap that I was restriced and that caused the problem. I had neither on the following Sunday when we did 7500ft of climbing and had no issues with breathing.

A while back I reported how my front wheel got stuck in a crack on the trail between BWI and B&A Trail. Well Mr. Klutz has done it again and get his front wheel stuck in a crack in the road here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...&t=h&z=18&om=1

Basically the roadway has separated from the rubber mats that line the tracks so after I crossed the tracks at a 90 deg angle and did my swoop along the curb this crack garbed my tire and I came to a complete stop (I was going slow.) The significant results are a palm sized bruise on my thigh and a bent front wheel. So the current score of road vs. trail for tire catching cracks is now tied 1:1.

Other news on the home front, my knee is doing a lot better. The only metric on my GPS that I can use to measure my progress is the average rate of assent. Before I hurt my knee I was doing 36-38 feet/minute. Taking it easy I was doing 25 feet/minute and recently I was doing about 32 feet/minute. On the day of the accident I was doing 35 feet/minute but now the bruise is interfering a bit so I am back to 32 feet/minute. And if you are interested my YTD mileage is 6245.

On the Advocacy front it looks like we might have bike racks on all the MTA buses by next year and we may have a Baltimore City Bike map. Details are still being worked out but things look promising.

<shaking head> Barry, crack kills. </shaking head> ;)

The curse of Route 40 continues to haunt me. Today, on a 60 miler out and back to Havre de Grace, I picked up a tack in the front tire. :mad: There goes another perfectly good Tufo tire. Prior to this incident, I've ridden hundreds of miles without an incident.

As you can see, I'm nearing 10,000 miles for the year. The back-to-back century rides on Saturday & Sunday with the DC Randonneurs has helped boost my mileage.

Speaking of rides with the DC RAND folks, here's some video and pix of last Saturday's century:

NoRacer Video - http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CRAND20071117/
Wabeck Pix - http://www.flickr.com/photos/wabeck/...7603218529602/

And, here is Sunday's century pix:

Wabeck Pix - http://www.flickr.com/photos/wabeck/...7603232100601/
NoRacer Pix - http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CRAND20071118/

Barry, hope you feel 100% soon. Take care.

Back to back centuries. I am truly jealous. Looks like some nice rides too.

-D

You are right I do have to quit my crack habit. ;)

Well the sort of good news about this is Joe’s did not have my wheel in stock so I decided to go up a notch in quality with my front wheel. So I’ve got a real nice wheel with bladed spokes, yah it kind’a looks funny on my truck bike but so far I like it.

Man major bummer with your Route 40 curse and the Tufo. If you want that route swept email Stephanie Yanovitz syanovitz@sha.state.md.us and cc me. Also if there are conditions that exist along the route that should require routine sweeping let her know that as well. Currently I am pushing the state to include routine sweeping (where appropriate) into its policies. (SHA currently does no routine sweeping even in counties where the county roads are routinely swept.)

Right now I am avoiding the extra hilly rides but I have been doing some longer rides on my own. I went out on a ride to Harpers Ferry recently and that was very nice.

Well, I hope everyone here had a great Turkey Day Ride. During a BBC ride yesterday, I "enjoyed" destroying a perfectly great pair of bib shorts using the road:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...1122071026.jpg

Here's a link to the slideshow of all pix taken by me for yesterday's ride:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...slideshow=true

Ouch,

no details? I assume the bike is ok too?

I didn't get many miles in, but it was a great ride. Put Little Bennett on the back of the bike and rode around a bit. Going up 5-10% grades on the Mtn bike with Knobbies and an extra 30lbs is a good workout.

Imagine this cutie riding in the back saying hi to everyone we pass

http://www.holoski.com/gallery/d/214...70901_2117.JPG

Man - my heart sunk when I saw that picture. The hell with the bibs, did the TCR make it through unharmed? I have the same year/model, seeing it anywhere near carnage makes my heart skip a beat.:eek:

The TCR has seen better days:

- Frame is fine
- Missing chrome plastic cover on the left shifter
- Right shifter is rotated inward a little
- Right handlebar tape is sliced open about 2 inches long
- RD has seen too many crashes--shifting like crap

Also, I just tried to adjust the FD--it was riding too low--and I over-torqued the bolt stripping it.

So, I just got back from the LBS with new bar tape, shifter cables, Ultegra FD, and DuraAce RD. I just finished eating lunch, so it's time to get the bike back in order--perhaps for tomorrow's DC RAND ride.

EDIT--how I did it? ...descending at about 20 MPH and hit the wet wooden deck of a bridge.

Noracer,

I imagine you are thinking the same thing I have (since i busted my fork last month).

I need a second bike.

Now if only I could afford to buy one...

-D

Nah. No second bike here. All funding goes to keeping the "go fast" bike fast whether it be for commuting or racing.

Well yea, it probably feeds into the same issue between the two of us. I wish I could do a century every weekend, but family obligations etc make that difficult. At the same time when my fork broke, between ordering time and finding time to install, my bike was out of commission for almost 2 weeks.

I am seriously considering at some point picking up a BD Fantom Cross. In the winter a cross bike might be kinda fun. Probably not until next year. Of course next year I will have more time to ride anyhow.

Still sucks about the bike and your leg. I thought about you this afternoon as I was riding. At the bottom of one hill there is a wooden bridge. But it was dry so no worries.

-D

@ NoRacer: We need to work out a better arrangement; You inspire me to ride further and faster and I’ll inspire you to have less accidents. Otay? Seriously, heal fast and well.

@ Derath: That is a real cute resistance training device you got there. ;)

I've always felt the same about a cross bike, because you can use fatter tires and probably could fit fenders if needed. It seems like a better configuration for year-round commuting.

My bike is doing very well, now that it has new derailluers, but I've given up on the iBike for awhile. The speed sensor cable split and is non functional. I don't feel like futzing with it, so I uninstalled it and went back to my Cateye Double-Wireless w/cadence computer. It's sort of nice not worrying about tire pressures, tilt, and wind offset before each ride. I do have the wireless stuff coming, but I called John Hamann today to find out when it'll be shipped. He said Velocomp is waiting on parts. so it could be a couple more weeks. I ordered the wireless mount on the 15th of this month.

My road rash is doing ok--starting to itch as it heals. I still have to watch what I wear. The pressure of some clothing, especially on my hip's road rash, can become very uncomfortable. So, I wear pants that are a little bigger than what I usually wear.

Btw, thanks for thinking of me and glad to hear that your bridge crossing was uneventful.

+1, healing is going well and since I've had a couple other "road rash" occurances previously, I'm well stocked with bandages, guaze, waterproof tape, Neosporin, and Mercuroclear antiseptic/analgesic.

If anyone is interested in a mountain century ride this Saturday, the DC Randonneurs are putting on the following:

http://www.dcrand.org/cgi-bin/weeken...?RIDE=20071201

The ride description infers that the right gearing be used. DON'T come out with 53/39 & 11x23 unless you're King Kong on a bike. The minimum is likely to be 53/39 & 12x27. **Forewarned**

Also, read the sidebar found on the same page if you plan to come out.

Some pix and one of the videos (a portion of the climb up Cold Springs Rd) from this ride:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...slideshow=true

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...h_d75177ab.jpg

Mmm... nice pics as usual NoRacer. So, you rode up and the others took the helicopter?

I didn't get any riding in this weekend on my new toy- a Trek 1600 (on super sale at Joe's) :)
I am thinking about a 50-60 miler tomorrow. (monday, my day off). Maybe Annapolis. (never been)
Anyone interested in joining me? PM me a phone # if you wanna hook up.

-Bob

Heck I really shouldn't but my ride today got rained out. You have PM.

Thanks, Bob, about the pics. I have more video to upload today (Monday).

I made the trip to Annapolis via the B&A Trail, yesterday (Sunday)... in the rain from the Dixon Observation Parking Lot. I waited a little too late in the day. It was scary-dark out on my return trip. It's a good thing I still had my bike dressed up in it's commuter garb and that I had just recharged all batteries just in case.

Here's the full complement of pix and videos from the DC RAND's "Stepmother of All Rides" century held Saturday, 12/1/2007:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CRAND20071201/