jimmuller 

SBP beat me to reply, but JB, that's sounds like a nice adventure, well done. What do you think of that UO9 frame? I'd bet it's pretty nice.

JayBlurr

The frame is great. My only compliant is my stem needs to be a little longer I feel a little to crunched in. The frame is light I believe its carbolite 103. Planing another ride soon to somewhere unknown. Best thing about the whole ride is the fact that Dunkin Donuts is everywhere, so when it was tea time and in needed of something hot, no worries DD's was there.

Bishbike

Great ride with friends today. Waverly Sq. out to Concord, then did the Strawberry Hill loop. Chilly to start though, only 38 degrees, but it warmed up rather nicely. Great to be out riding in mid-December!

sherbornpeddler

JB
I love your thinking! "Planning another ride to somewhere unknown." Spoken like a bicyclist.
Ah, what the heck,

sherbornpeddler

BB, yep, it is great. I rode 28 miles on the southern Strawberry Hill loop (Dover) this afternoon on/in the "banana" bike. Either it is shrinking or I'm stiffening but it is getting more difficult to peel in and out of the banana. It is nice out of the wind.

JayBlurr

Thank you, didn't notice what I actually wrote. Doesn't make sense but it does. That quote will be my new signature.

JayBlurr

I was actually taking about your recumbent to a friend. Thought the skin cover was brilliant.

Bishbike

SB, time to pimp that ride out with leather interior, heated seat, and dolby surround sound.

jimmuller 

After a business week in the Chicago suburbs I'm back home again, so Sharon and I did 20 miles on the Minuteman Bikeway on the tandem, Bedford to Alewife and back. Started about 2:30, temperature about 40F, finished about 5:00, temperature in the low 30s. We did the return trip with the generator running and lights on, unnecessary at first but definitely required by the time we finished. It was nice to get back on a bike.

mtalinm

did 22 miles while waiting for my son's athletic practice; https://app.strava.com/activities/32483129

picked up a Strava KOM for only the second time in my life, not too shabby

rholland1951

22 miles to Bedford this morning, high 30's to mid 40's. Saw several skaters with ski poles, some with wheeled skis to boot. Had thought to ride to North Bridge, but after stopping at the Bedford Public Library for a pit stop--the Freight House bog is closed for the season--I found I couldn't get my right glove back on... this has happened once before, at about the same temperature, after my hands had sweat a bit; it seems that the lining of the outer glove (these are Izumi Pearl WXBs) got pulled partially inside out and tangled. Anyone else ever encounter this with WXBs? After spending 40 minutes fiddling with the glove I was able to get it partially on, enough to ride, and turned around and rode home. Beautiful day for a ride though, wardrobe malfunctions notwithstanding.

rod

sherbornpeddler

I don't understand KOM but congrats for nice ride. Once, I've ridden out along the causeway to Ft. Independence and Harborwalk. I deny riding the other times and it is well worth it. Congrats for your ride and thanks for you report. Not shabby at all. None.

Jim, congrats to you two too. You kids generate youth and inspiration. Thanks to you as well.

sherbornpeddler

Hah! Maybe rent out the advertising space like the blimp.

rholland1951

December can be a little confusing. Some nice riding days last week, 30s but without ice to speak of. Rain and (depending on where you live) an ice storm early this week, now warmer days (and a little more rain).

My Winter bike (1987 GT Karakoram hard-tail MTB) came back from my LBS, checked out mechanically and shod once again in Nokians with carbide studs.


From Empire Wool and Canvas Company, the Duluth-based purveyors of serious Winter gear, came a gigantic pair of Ice Bike Mittens (made of "annoyingly sustainable Whitetail Deer", among other things); we'll see how many Massachusetts days are cold enough to do them justice...


A set of Grand Bois Cypres Extra Leger 700c 30mm tires arrived from Compass Bicycles; I had ordered these in a fit of enthusiasm to give fast, supple tires a shot, only to realize that December is a particularly stupid time to run what will probably turn out to be a transitory and easily-flatted pleasure. They're now sleeping in a shoe-box in the closet, waiting for April, warmer weather, and swept streets.



rod

jimmuller 

Serious winter prep, Rod.

One of my brothers steps outside his front door every so often to sustain his dinner table through the winter with white-tail deer. But he doesn't live around here.

My Masi is shod with Vittoria Open Corsa EVO SC tires, not likely ever to see snow any more than your GBs.

And finally, I put the Bianchi in the back of the car in anticipation of taking it out over lunch tomorrow, weather or no. We'll see.

jimmuller 

I did get to ride yesterday over lunch, about 45 minutes on the Blackstone Bikeway. Cold, windy, cloudy. Nice. A few pics. First some ducks and atmosphere:



And this little guy, an eastern ribbon snake. I've seen larger ones in about the same place. He was probably wondering what happened to the sun:



Today I got in about 35 miles, home to Concord by a different route than I normally take, Concord Rd to Spring to Marrett, rt2A to the turnoff to Meriam's Corner, to Concord Center. Rt2A sure has bumpy pavement! But it was a great day.

JayBlurr

Met at 7/11 near Aquarium for the start of the day coffee with Matthew Ray-Gun Stumpf. We rode to South Boston's Castle Island, did the Pleasure Bay loop. On the way back to Boston to figure out where we would continue Matt's lockring stripped off the cog slightly, we went to a bike shop that will remain nameless. They serviced the bike immediately and said the cog was tighly installed and shouldn't be giving any ferther problems. We made the decision to go to the minute man, during that point I felt like my legs were trying to pedal on cement blocks. Checked my seat and it was extremely low. but it kept sliding in the seat tube. After quick thinking by Matt we went to the store and purchased an Arizona Golden Bear lemonade where i was forced to chug it down so we can get this ride going before it got really dark. The can was ripped open and the a sliver of aliminum was used to hold the seat in place. When we got to the Minute Man the sun had completely disappeared, the wind was horrendous and tempeture dropped rapidly. Many seat adjustment were made during the ride to the point where I thought I wouldn't finish myself and would have to turn around but we progressed. We finished and found our way to Starbucks, had a delicious Salted Caramel Mocha. On the way back to Arlington T Station on the Minuteman Trail, the caffine most of kicked in because I went from sluggish to momentum that I was over spinning my pedals and just didn't want to stop. Unfornately towards the end disaster stuck agian with Matt's rear cog and this time it was toast. Had to finish the day off with a train ride and that painful walk of shame home. 39.9mi. Fixed Gear

rholland1951

Jim, great snake!

Night ride on the Minuteman, Lexington Center and back, 10 miles. Only half a dozen other riders out tonight, plus a couple of runners, one skater with a godalmighty-bright headlamp, and a few bluetooth headsets on legs, yacking on the hoof. The low ceiling gave back a lot of the street light, and Arlington's Great Meadows turned that into a golden glow.

rod

jimmuller 

JB, sorry to hear of your mechanical troubles. But you sure have the motivation thing down. Cycle to eat and drink great stuff, and to see places and roads you've never seen before!

Rod, do you ever get to ride during the day? We've ridden the tandem on the MM in the dark a few times. Not usually during the week though. I never have a free minute for that.

JayBlurr

Jim, would love to head out to your area and see some new sights out there. My bike is fine it was Matt's that received the damage. Should be replacing my 16t cog with a new 15t Dura Ace cog really soon.

Rod, love the Minuteman at night but some people have lights that blind you and your eyes have to adjust. Next ride there I need to have a new light, the one I have just doesn't seem to be powerful enough.

rholland1951

Jim, this time of year I mostly ride at night, at least during the week; with the short days (here we are at the Solstice already) it's either that, or the wind trainer, so I've made a virtue of necessity and learned to enjoy night riding... and it IS an antidote to Minuteman population pressure effects. I do get to see the sun on weekends. Basically, I'm schedule-constrained.

JB, there's a headlights arms race in progress. Most of the riders last night were considerately lowering or dimming their lights as they approached each other, like drivers on dark back roads, dimming their high beams. The good news with all these lumens is that you really can see enough to ride safely, avoid road hazards, etc. The bad news is that a pedestrian without lights or reflective gear who is walking between two converging bicycles with their lights set high (bad practice on everybody's part, but it does happen) can become almost completely invisible, detectable only as a fragmentary sillhouette in the glare.

rod

JayBlurr

Rod, I noticed some would lower their lights but others wouldn't. At one point in the beginning almost took out a couple with a small dog that assumed it was a good idea to stop on the middle of a line and talk. Like you said with an on coming light with the power of 10 suns all I saw was a silhouette, thankfully.

rholland1951

I think we're seeing an evolutionary process at work in the behaviors of the various classes of Minuteman users; at the limit, in the classic Darwinian mode, but more importantly as a set of curtural changes, with the initiation of new users in each class an important milestone. When I was a kid, many dogs, even in urban settings, chased cars. Now it's almost unheard of. While selection against car-chasing may certainly have been in operation, I suspect that there were shifts in the co-evolving dog-human culture that steered puupies coming up away from the behavior. Arf!

Happy Mayan Calendrical Reboot, y'all!

rod

jimmuller 

Electric fences probably help a lot!

It seems to me that the Mayan calendar was quite sufficient for their purposes. It certainly lasted long enough for them.

rholland1951

Culture measured in volts, I like it...

rod