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Today December 2022

On Saturday I finally rode my December century (165 km, on Strava). That extends the "Century a Month" streak to 124 months.

The week before I rode to Ome and back (107 km) but didn't make it a century because rain was forecast for the evening (and did arrive), which is not fun if you don't wear raingear and it's below 5 deg C out there.

This time I started earlier in the morning (07:15) and the weather forecast was clear all day. It was very sunny. The combination of sun and dry winter air made for great views of Mt Fuji from Miura peninsula, where I headed.

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In Yokohama I spotted a window cleaner on a high rise building. I don't know how your year end cleaning is doing, but as somebody raised with south German winter the mere idea of washing windows in December is crazy.

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After Minato Mirai I climbed the bluff on which the former foreign settlement is located and took some pictures of the Foreign Cemetery and some of the old houses built by the foreign traders.

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After a Nepalese curry lunch in Yokosaka I followed the coast line around the south of the peninsula. From around Kurihama you get views across to Boso. It's always nice to get past Yokosuka and to finally see some fields.

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The morning was cold. It was only 1 deg C when I left home and at the Tamagawa some of the puddles were frozen. There it was down to -1 deg C. By the time I was in Yokohama it got warmer and peaked at 11 deg C in the early afternoon. It got colder again by the time I went around the south west side of the peninsula, with the best Fuji views and evening light.

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Sunset caught me a little south of Hayama.

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At Hayama I stopped for coffee and some food at a conbini, then crossed back to Yokosuka and back up to Yokohama.

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I saw lots of conbini and other shops selling Christmas cakes from the sidewalk. At one Chateraise store I saw cars queing to get into the parking lot, presumably for cake pickup.

The last few hours of the ride I was feeding on a bag of mikan for fuel.

I got back to Setagaya around 22:00. I had plenty of clothes and never felt uncomfortable, if anything a bit on the warm side during mid day with the long underwear.

I will probably ride my first 200 km brevet of 2023 in March, so I need to get into shape again. January should be a good time for that. I want to do some rides in Izu and over in Boso/Chiba.
 
@joewein - Coffee Stops in Hayama/Zushi that I like to hit...
1) Dark Arts coffee on 134 in Nagae - Coffee and food. I usually get a bacon and egg panini.
2) Cremahop in the middle of Zushi - Coffee, but also tons of ice cream.

Depending on my mood, neither disappoints. Dark Arts has better coffee IMO, but if you want ice cream.... nothing is better than Cremahop.
 
As I mentioned already... balance is hard with kids, sick mom, and a general lack of motivation. So I go out, but just a little. I decided it was time to get truly dedicated and focus on tuning the suspension on my Ripley. I did some small loops in the neighborhood to include trail, steps, climbing, descending, etc...
I feel it is pretty dialed now, so I just need some proper trail time to know for sure.
My Ripley has 130mm of suspension front/rear.
My Ripmo has 160mm up front and 145 in the rear.
I did a loop with the Ripley I have done with the Ripmo... it was not pleasant.
I launched off the top of a set of steps, landed and rode the next 200+ steps that are varying rise and run all the way down.
With my Ripmo, it is a little bumpy with vision getting slightly distorted...
With my Riply, it felt like my forearms were going to shatter...
I will not be doing that loop anytime soon with the Ripley.

When I finished setting up the bike and brought it in to the house, Emily looked at me and asked if we could go for a bike ride.
I knew I wanted to get on the road bike. I knew I wanted big miles.... but I also knew I had excuses the last few times she asked and I don't want her to ever stop asking.

I grabbed her bike and helmet, told her to get dressed and out we went.
There is a park near the Emperor's summer home we headed out to.
14km round trip, 115m of elevation and one happy kid.


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Yeah, this is a win for everyone in the end and much better than reaching some imaginary line: your wife has one daughter out of her hair, you spend quality time with your daughter doing something both of you love. Win-win-win.
 
For a few years now the GS Astuto Winter jersey has been my favourite low temperature wear on and off the bike. The one I had was in red and green Christmas colours that casually looks like a knit pullover design but when you look closely you see it's a print on windstopping technical fibres. The inside is a warm fleece. Tim originally made it for one of his GS Astuto Santa fun rides but it is so comfortable, I also wear it anytime anywhere it gets cold. In the winter I wear it over a base layer and if it gets really cold, under a windbreaker. When it's not quite so cold I just wear it on its own.

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It was a one off production that he didn't make again in following years, but this year Tim came up with an update: Inspired by the yellow and blue shoelaces I gifted him on my last visit, this year's jersey comes in yellow and blue and a portion of the sales is donated to Médecins Sans Frontières for helping in Ukraine.

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Sizing is different from the older version, but there's a helpful chart for that.

I am looking forward to doing January rides in it and on into the spring, when mornings and nights are still cold (as in the first picture which was taken at a 200 km brevet in west Izu in March).
 
It was a one off production that he didn't make again in following years
In fact he did.

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Somewhere I have the Photoshop plugin to make these faux-knit patterns. I just need some inspiration, and a reminder around August, to have time to perfect a design before winter comes around ;-) Like, I was going to swap out the prancing reindeer for a bike doing a wheelie, and the snowflake for a mag wheel, etc. But always too late.
 
I have the Red & Green and have enjoyed it. But I have always had issues with these zippers - to the point I no longer wear it. :(
 
I have the Red & Green and have enjoyed it. But I have always had issues with these zippers - to the point I no longer wear it. :(
First thing I do when I buy a jersey, or any clothing with a zipper, "is it YKK?".

Shorts fail at the rear (I have a box full of roller shorts with a translucent rear window!), jerseys fail at the zipper.

Assos are the go to shorts for rollers. I bought them from @jdd . almost 20 years ago!?

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The pad never dies!

Andy
 
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2022 done.

Subtract five rides/170km from that to get only the March-November season and its 154activites and 5550km. Over those nine months, that's averaging 36km a little more than every other day. Not too bad for the old and infirm.



And @andywood Gee, maybe I shouldn't have been so swayed by my initial impression of those shorts? ;)
 
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2022 done.

Subtract five rides/170km from that to get only the March-November season and its 154activites and 5550km. Over those nine months, that's averaging 36km a little more than every other day. Not too bad for the old and infirm.



And @andywood Gee, maybe I shouldn't have been so swayed by my initial impression of those shorts? ;)
If I remember rightly, I bought a standard pair from you and you threw in the Lightweight ones for free!?!?

Assos were in a league of their own at that time. The pad was far superior to anything out there.

When I raced for Ravaneĺlo I had to use their Pearl Izumi shorts with a traditional chamois. I'd raise my saddle to compensate for the loss in padded comfort!

Most shorts have good pads these days but you can't deny the quality of Assos.

Still owe you a beer!

Andy
 
Wifey is still sick.
Kids are still kids.
It is 8pm and I am cleaning the house - so no ride.
Tomorrow is my wife's birthday (sucks she is sick) - so riding is out of the question then too.
I am 165km from my annual goal and it is still doable... but life has just been unpredictable.
I will absolutely get my 65, even if I need to hit a trainer before work.
The other 100 is my concern. A miura loop is 80, so hopefully I can get one more in and maybe tack on Enoshima.

7,935km i where I currently stand.
8046.72km is 5000miles - my goal was just rounded up to 8100.
@OreoCookie is correct, it is just an imaginary line - however the last time I got close, I tore up my knee with only 35km left to go... and I didn't make it.
 
Finally got the frame and built it up, I tried to RideWrap I am not very good at that. On the test ride some lady was taking her goat for a walk. got a puncture on the rear tire and the sealant did not get (silca was all dried up not much in there not recommended) it so the Vittoria liners got me home.
 

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On issues with zip(per)s: My cheapo Chinese-brand clothing (windbreaker, etc) isn't so tight; so even though the (non-YKK) zip goes all the way down to the lower seam, I try to remember not to open the zip so far, and instead to put the clothing on, or take it off, over my head. This has worked so far.
 
Was listening to this guy from Backpacking mag. https://bikepacking.com/news/2022-bikepacking-predictions/ About 2 minutes in to the video he talks about prices coming down and a slump in the bike market which, he says, has meant the parts shortage has lessened. (And it also means layoffs in the industry and markdowns on inventory.) I haven't noticed any downward movement on prices for parts, and I still seem to be running into lots of 'sold out' items. So... just curious if others are finding that parts have become easier to come by and/or prices coming down.

Oh...and...Happy New Year!
 
Was listening to this guy from Backpacking mag. https://bikepacking.com/news/2022-bikepacking-predictions/ About 2 minutes in to the video he talks about prices coming down and a slump in the bike market which, he says, has meant the parts shortage has lessened. (And it also means layoffs in the industry and markdowns on inventory.) I haven't noticed any downward movement on prices for parts, and I still seem to be running into lots of 'sold out' items. So... just curious if others are finding that parts have become easier to come by and/or prices coming down.

Oh...and...Happy New Year!
It is not all parts... but yes, I have noticed.
I have bought 2 suspension forks in the last 5 months for 40% off.
I noticed recently some flash deals on SRAM AXS stuff being 40% off for a day... then back to 18-20% off during the holidays.
It is getting better - the forks I bought have not been on sale in over 2 years.
 
So... just curious if others are finding that parts have become easier to come by and/or prices coming down.
As I tour the fleamarkets, both freewheels for touring and Suntour parts seem to be getting more elusive and expensive. That's all for one bike: for this one bike, I try to buy spares if they're cheap when I see them.

As for the other bike, all it needed in 2022 was a pair of new wheels. I hurriedly got a pair at "Garage Off", and then got longer-term replacements. The Garage Off pair looked virtually unused, and cost me 3300 yen, including QR skewers and rim tape. (Yes, just four digits.) And they seem decent enough -- perhaps I needn't have replaced them. (I'm keeping them, though.) What worries me slightly is what will happen if the 10-speed Tiagra RD or brifters are damaged in an accident and need replacing but Shimano has by then made Tiagra 11-speed, disc only. I hope that by then one of the various Chinese companies (Sensah, whatever) will have brought out something compatible and cheap.
 
Microshift does 2 lines road 10 and new road 10. They've been around forever.
 
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