Tag: rivendell

High Pressure – Out Late

I ended up sleeping in a little this morning.  Thankfully the slightly longer mornings and the unseasonable weather made for some wonderful light.

Headed up the coast a bit for a quick loop.  The coastal range acts as a shield from the local mountain winds.  A byproduct of the high pressure dominating our local weather is the wind that comes with it, 30-40 mph gusts my late morning.  The wind it the price we pay for 45 deg mornings and 65 deg afternoons in the middle of winter.

Stopping on the way back to enjoy the view of the islands.

and then time to get home and back to work.

Up and Down – Hills for Training

And I use the word training loosely.  I ride because it brings me pleasure to be outside and get around under my own power.  The better physical shape I am in the more able I am to tackle hills and cover distance in the limited time I have to ride.  Some mornings I take it easy, some mornings it is fast out in the flat farm roads, and some days I take to the hills.  There are two ways: lots of time and I am able to mix distance and the hills.  When time is compressed I hit the hills right behind town, and run some loops as time permits.  There are three steep roads up the hill and you can mix up the ups and downs, heading up:

Now for my first shots at video raw from the camera without edit, the fun part is heading down.

Turn around and right back up.

Then down the first climb.

I have said it before, my inner racer never developed.  These hill intervals are all about having the legs to make the days with 6000 – 10000 feet of climbing, the only way I know of there is to ride every day.  This is not about being the fastest, just being able to do what you hope and dream on the bike.

Roadeo Grocery Ride – Fjord Flannel Review

Another incredible day, and I had an hour and a half window for Opie(grandpa) to baby sit.  I decided to combine errands with the workout.  I have a 15 mile loop that lets me hit two grocery stores.  Total load and therefore spending are limited by taking the Roadeo.  Temps were in the low to mid 50s and wind was crazy, one of the days where you have a headwind more than 3/4 of the ride. 

The layering system for errands is pretty different from what I wear for my morning or non-errand rides.  Most of the time I am layered up in some combination of merino wool and polyester to fend off the morning chill.  When I know that there is going to be more stop and go, time in stores etc. I wear what most would consider normal street clothes.  Flannel being one of my favorite of layers for the cooler months.  Today I busted out my new Patagonia Fjord Flannel Shirt in Fusion Orange that the wife picked out for me as a Christmas gift.  This is their heavier flannel, and just happens to be a great color combo for playing in traffic.  I ride most of the year in long sleeves for sun protection.  In the winter, flannel provides a great top layer with just a little wind resistance and the ability to quickly adjust buttons or roll up sleeves as needed.   Today there were more than a few adjustments as I had everything from a 15mph tail wind to shady cross winds and then a tail wind home.  This shirt ROCKS, it is the first heavyweight flannel I have added to the rotation in years.  I have three older ones in the closet, one 8 years old, like silk and covered in patches.  I can only hope that this shirt goes the distance as well

Two stops and about 35 lbs of groceries later I was on my way home.  As discovered this past weekend, judicious placement of the load has had little detrimental effect on the performance of the Roadeo.  This time I was pushing the limit up front with 10lbs, a gallon of tangerine juice, up front in the acorn bag.  Another 15 -20lbs in the rear and the frame bag stuffed with rice pasta, yogurt and salsa.

One thing that really helps with the loading, comfort and stability is getting the Rivendell Jack  Brown 33.3mm wide tires back on the bike.  The added cush soaks up absolutely everything between the crappy roads and the rim. 

I have been pushing the limits of how I ride this bike loaded.  Rivendell states that they will not put you on a roadeo if you are over 250lbs.  I would likely agree that around that weight load the bike becomes compliant to a point where you really need to be paying attention to what you are doing.  At the moment I weigh in at about 220lbs.  I am working to get that down another 10 lbs and use this as a nimble allroad touring bike for the summer. 

Have fun, and get outside!

Update: The shirt is gone for the saeson, What is left in flannel is going fast at the winter sale, time to buy your AC cotton, review coming soon

Fenders On the Roadeo

There was a break in the weather we have been having on the coast, fog and mist, but rain is coming.  Yesterday I hit the LBS and they had 45m wide Planet Bike fenders that would fit my Roadeo, kind of a shocker that anybody sells fenders here in SoCal, let alone wide ones.  I wanted to get these to fit with my 33.333 wide Jack Brown tires, but that was not going to happen so I relented and swapped the 29mm Roughy Toughy tires onto the bike.

These went on super easy compared to both SKS and metal fenders I have put on in the past.  The only modification required was bending the mounting tab in the front to clear the headset and filing the slot for the brake bridge a little deeper to improve tire clearance.

The limiting factors for clearance on this bike are the brake selection and the placement of the rear brake bridge.  I went with the Shimano 57mm reach calipers for the improved stopping power of other brakes at this price point.  I would love to have a set of the new Paul Racer M brakes, but they are out of budget for this year.  That being said, I was still able to get a 45mm fender into the caliper with minimal fender squeeze.  There is plenty of room for the 29mm tires.  The shape of the brake caliper below the mounting bolt is where the space constraints start.  The Shimano caliper is very meaty in this area and eats up almost 4mm of space.  When this combines with the fixed arc of a plastic fender you lose tire clearance quick. 

End of the story, they work and I will be out in the weather next week.  Enjoying the sunshine for a day, and hoping it will last