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Today January 2022

I guess I need to roll with it more often. I dunno - just annoying.
We were absolutely minding our own business and not breaking any written or unwritten rules.

As for my command... well - as you can imagine, things are not good.
arseholes don't need you to break any rules to give attitude. It is annoying, but think about how many cars pass us and we generally only meet a genuine arse once a year? I haven't met any for a few years now, i meet ppl that are dangerously careless but that is not wilful. the last wilful prick was years ago

looks like bases are going to implement new measures this week but too late to not piss off a whole heap of residents. Even Misawa base managed to piss off us locals with inept communication.
 
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In Yamate there was a black Vellfire that made multiple attempts at hitting us.
That is rare, and I think you handled it well. I like @kiwisimon's suggestion to take a photo of the car and the license plate. That's a good defensive move. Getting aggressive with someone who already is aggressive is the wrong move, me thinks, especially when you are the weaker party (car vs. bike).
 
First ride of the year today, easy out w/stiff headwind on return.
 
Re: idiot drivers, I think it's just best to steer clear.

Taking photos, and I've done it myself, is just passive aggression unless you are actually going to try to use them to prosecute the guy.

For your own safety, if someone gives you a close shave, then I'd say it is a bad idea to pass them again, only for them to have another shot at you.

Finally doing or saying something to the guy and then making an escape is also dangerous as the nutcase is going to carry that anger to the next guy he meets riding a bike 10k up the road.

Ride safely and don't sink to their level.

Andy
 
I experimented on my gearing on my gravel bike yesterday.
The Rival 1 setup that came on it is geared a tad high for techie off road climbing. 48T up front with an 11-42 year clears everything on asphalt, but dirt is a different story with rocks, roots, etc...

I threw an 11-46T cassette on it expecting the max cog size of the Force to not be compatible.
In the repair stand it worked, so I took it out for a spin. No issues shifting in or out of it.
I was able to hold a 100 cadence on a 10% asphalt climb.... woot!
Now I just need to find the cassette I want. The Shimano XT I am using has a HUGE step from a 37 to 42.
While I admit I will rarely use the 46, the times I do need it, I will be torqueing the hell out of the bike while shifting. That is a bigger step than I was to make. The Sunrace MX80 cassette jumps from 40 to 46. This is a bit more manageable. I am going to keep my XT on there while I figure out just how bad I hat the 9T jump on that last shift - but I am pretty sure i will be ordering a new cassette.

on the road wheels, I am still running an 11-42T. The XTR cassette could save weight a bit, but it is 11-40. Yabitsu/Hakone would the the only place I miss those 2 teeth....

I might just hold out until my birthday and consider it a treat as my current setups work quite well...just not perfect.


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Edit - I did need to screw in the B screw about 2 full revolutions to ensure the pulley clears cleanly - however there is tons more left on the B screw....
SRAM says 42 is max, but maybe that is due to chain or pulley wear?
 
You could instead go for a 44-tooth chain ring and put SRAM's 10-42 cassette on. Yes, the jump between the 10- and 12-tooth cogs will be quite substantial and you will need an XDR driver, but then you are in spec.

I'll have to answer the same question to myself very soon. The bike I bought from @andywood's buddy also comes with an 11-46 cassette. The gearing seems identical to the 11-42 cassette, save for the last cog, of course. I had the pleasure of trying SRAM's 10-42 cassette, which has consistent 13 %, 14 %, 17 % jumps between all gears except first and second. Shimano went with a bailout gear instead.

Edit: my wife literally texted me a photo of the bike box a minute ago. My mountain bike is here! And I checked USPS's tracker: my power meter has arrived at my local post office. Woot!
 
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You could instead go for a 44-tooth chain ring and put SRAM's 10-42 cassette on. Yes, the jump between the 10- and 12-tooth cogs will be quite substantial and you will need an XDR driver, but then you are in spec.

I'll have to answer the same question to myself very soon. The bike I bought from @andywood's buddy also comes with an 11-46 cassette. The gearing seems identical to the 11-42 cassette, save for the last cog, of course. I had the pleasure of trying SRAM's 10-42 cassette, which has consistent 13 %, 14 %, 17 % jumps between all gears except first and second. Shimano went with a bailout gear instead.

Edit: my wife literally texted me a photo of the bike box a minute ago. My mountain bike is here! And I checked USPS's tracker: my power meter has arrived at my local post office. Woot!
With the Sunrace, i am content. I am running it on 2 mtbs now and not one complaint with quality or shift performance. I am just ensuring i need the 46 before i drop the cash.

The nice thing about a bail out gear is the other 10 gears are closer in ratio making ten gears perfect for most riding, but a bail out when you need it. I am not totally against the concept - as 90% of my riding wont be in the 2 lowest gears. BUT when i need it, I need it. So a smotger jump is appealing.

Still pondering
 
The nice thing about a bail out gear is the other 10 gears are closer in ratio making ten gears perfect for most riding, but a bail out when you need it. I am not totally against the concept - as 90% of my riding wont be in the 2 lowest gears. BUT when i need it, I need it. So a smotger jump is appealing.
That's the theory, and it sounds quite convincing — on paper. I'll have to see whether this works in actuality as advertised. On my road bike I sometimes wish I traded the 11-tooth cog (my second cog) for another climbing gear and go for a larger chainring: thanks to eTap I know that I rarely use the 11-tooth cog, and that the 10-tooth cog is used much more often.

With the Sunrace, i am content. I am running it on 2 mtbs now and not one complaint with quality or shift performance. I am just ensuring i need the 46 before i drop the cash.
Is that this cassette? It seems like you trade the smaller jump at the very easy end for a big jump in the middle at speed.

If you want, I can let you know how I like it after a few weeks of use.
 
What power meter did you get? (If you don't mind sharing this info.)
A used 4iiii crankarm-based power meter. My wife informed me that it arrived this afternoon — together with the bike.

I was going through the different options, and someone on the TR forum found a used unit for $200 on The Pro's Closet. If it works like my previous 4iiii, it'll do its job. If I had a choice, I wouldn't want a single-sided power meter, but this isn't my primary bike and spending 1/2–3/4 of the price of the bike on a power meter for a secondary bike doesn't seem wise. But $250 (price plus shipping) seemed alright. They had a new unit for $250, but after I saw the state the cranks were in (structurally, I am positive they are a-ok, but cosmetically, they show wear), I thought that extra ¥ isn't worth it.

In my experience the 4iiii works well, but exacerbated a power imbalance in my legs. Plus, the cadence range is limited to 160 rpm, although this only limited me during sprint drills. It's a great option as your first power meter or if you are on a budget.
 
So the bad news for the month is that I have had a rotator cuff tear in my right shoulder - not enough for surgery but enough to put me out of action for a couple of weeks. The worst thing about it is that I have no idea how it happened. The doctor gave me a cortisone shot direct in the shoulder through the side - that was one fucking painful needle - and told me to take things easy. Asked if I could cycle and he said it should be ok if there is no pain and no major issues.

Pretty pissed off about it as I really don't know how it happened. Buggered all my plans for cycling and running this month.
 
So the bad news for the month is that I have had a rotator cuff tear in my right shoulder - not enough for surgery but enough to put me out of action for a couple of weeks. The worst thing about it is that I have no idea how it happened. The doctor gave me a cortisone shot direct in the shoulder through the side - that was one fucking painful needle - and told me to take things easy. Asked if I could cycle and he said it should be ok if there is no pain and no major issues.

Pretty pissed off about it as I really don't know how it happened. Buggered all my plans for cycling and running this month.
That blows! Good luck with recovery.
If they opt for PT vs Surgery - follow the PT (even though it is boring). They can train those muscles to pick up some of the slack and help you out long term.
 
rotator cuff is both very important for overall shoulder stability and often overlooked in conditioning. I just finished one session of external rotation training couple of hours ago. I train it twice a week, with 3 different exercises to target various planes and ranges of motion. that much would probably be an overkill for most people, but I do a lot of overhead movements like handstands and back bridges, so I need to work more on stabilization too. anyways, I think almost everyone would benefit from mobilizing and strengthening their rotator cuff muscles, just for general shoulder health. maybe hindsight is 2022, but perhaps you can take this opportunity as a wake up call and do a bit of work there
 
In December I ordered a new phone, the recently released Google Pixel 6 Pro, to upgrade from my existing Pixel 3. It arrived after the New Year holidays and I had a chance to test it out on a bike ride in west Izu (162 km on Strava) on Monday (Coming of Age Day). This was the ride that I hoped @Kangaeroo would be able to join, but sadly he couldn't make it.

I drove to Mishima on Tomei expressway, with the Elephant NFE in the back of the car and already enjoyed Fuji views on the way. One can not take that for granted, as Fuji may be completely invisible even from Gotemba. But on this day the viewing conditions were ideal. December and January are really the best season for Izu Fuji viewing.

After a quick stop at a 7-11 near the station and coin parking lot I followed the route of the Matsuzaki course of the AJ NishiTokyo west Izu 200 km brevet that I completed in October, except that I skipped an inland excursion and headed for the coast directly.

I have had rides where I couldn't see Fuji until noon and even days where I only saw it before sunset or not at all. Not on Monday - unless it was obscured by a mountain, Mt Fuji was always present and ready for another shot.

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Near the NW corner at Osezaki I bought some local mikan at an unattended vending stall, 100 yen for a bag of mikan.

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Then came two climbs, a longer one and a short one, with many views and then a descent to the fishing port of Heda.

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The biggest climb was between Heda and Toi, but even that stays below 300 m so there's never any worry about ice. In the morning it was around 8°C but during mid-day it rose to 12-14°C and I was riding in a t-shirt.

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Even when I got to Toi there was very little traffic. It felt nothing like a long weekend, conbini shelves remained well stocked and car parks almost empty.

Are people already staying away because of the 6th wave of Covid-19? It really seems so. I was wearing my KN95 mask whenever I went into a conbini. I only use KN95 or KF94 now.

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The views were fantastic. I stopped many many times and took over 200 pictures. The telephoto lens that differentiates the Pixel 6 Pro from the basic Pixel 6 was extremely useful for this kind of ride.

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I was going very slowly, as I had done very little cycling in the past three weeks and definitely lost some endurance. If @Kangaeroo had joined me, he would have needed a lot of patience ;)

Near Toi I met a cyclist on a Miyata e-bike. He was touring from Chiba to Kansai, one section at a time (presumably taking it on the train to return and resume each time). The bike has a range of 100-130 km. A full charge takes about 4 hours. If used for climbing then the battery will handle more than 2,000 m of elevation gain in "eco" mode. The spec seems quite good.

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Instead of turning around at the ~80 km mark to get my Century distance (160.9 km) by the time I got back, I turned around sooner so I would get back to Heda around sunset because there were some views there that I wanted to get in that evening light.

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I timed it perfectly and descended into Heda as the daylight faded. From here it got rather cold and I layered up again.

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When I was only 20 km from Mishima, I still needed 60 km for my minimum distance so I headed up the Kano river to Shuzenji, following the earlier part of the brevet course that I had skipped.

It was around 23:00 when I got back to the car. I had to take a half hour nap at a Tomei service area to safely complete the drive back to Tokyo.

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I am now at 113 consecutive months of "Century a Month". 7 more months to go to complete 10 years!
 
What is that in pictures per ride? :D
I do take a lot of pictures to select the best shots later. My average seems to have been about 60 pictures per Century ride, fewer on group rides or brevets, more on individual rides. Anything with ocean views (Izu, Miura, Boso) tends to be on the higher end :)
 
Did go up to Sekiyado.
There were so few cyclists in spite of the lovely weather.
The wind was cooperative as well.
I really enjoyed the ride.
Luckily didn't see that tool who used to be a 'bigwig' at TCC when i rode through Kasukabe.
I have totally forgotten his name......does anyone remember it?
 
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Very cool. Does this connect to the hisagi oike duck pond trail or is a separate one?
 
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