Today May 2023

[luka]

a "morning ride" is how some chose to spend this GW apparently

 

[Forsbrook]

Well, woke up yesterday, felt like my asthma was going to be a problem and decided to scrap the mountains and ride along the Edogawa up to where it meets the Tonegawa. 50km with a tailwind was nice but 50km with a headwind was not (10km/hr slower). I’m glad that I checked the cycling path out but the Arakawa is much better so I’ll probably not do it again.

It did make me think that I should explore Chiba more, though.

I love cycling up the Edogawa River but due to its elevated riverbank the return trip back to Tokyo with the south wind in your face can be brutal.
What's more is the wind seems to change direction just as you reach the castle,lol.
I have been making the return ride home along the Nakagawa River that runs almost parallel to the Edogawa River.
It takes you through the countryside at a lower elevation with plenty of things to see and many trees, buildings,etc.,to block the wind a bit.

 

[Forsbrook]

a "morning ride" is how some chose to spend this GW apparently

View attachment 37872

That is some accomplishment .
Kudos.

 

[Forsbrook]

So I am in a wee bit of shock.
One of my riding buddies will be out of commision for a few months.
This is a guy I would blindly follow over almost any jump and follow his line on technical trails.
He is someone that often frustrates me with how simple he makes difficult trails look.

A couple days ago things took a turn for the worst that ended up with him in the ER.
On a trail I have ridden literally hundreds of times and still watched in awe as this guy glided over sections that I rumbled through...
He took a hard fall.

The result is a fractured cheek bone.
Today I visited him at home to drop off some "recovery beer" and I was just sad talking with him.
His face is swollen and the white of his eyes are solid red.
Having experienced severe head trauma myself (non bike related) - I can't help but feel for him.
No memory of the crash at all. He can recall up until about 30 second to a minute before, then nothing.

Bicyclces have risks.... on and off road.
We all know them and we all do what we can to be safe.
This is just a time when "shit happens" to good people.
Hope everyone stays safe this year!

Yeah,
Complacency is a recipe for disaster in the cycling world.
Not saying your buddy was being complacent......just saying that taking something for granted is so dangerous.
Had a fair few spills where I thought there wasn7t a hint of danger.
Hope your friend recovers soon.

 

[bloaker]

Yeah,
Complacency is a recipe for disaster in the cycling world.
Not saying your buddy was being complacent......just saying that taking something for granted is so dangerous.
Had a fair few spills where I thought there wasn7t a hint of danger.
Hope your friend recovers soon.

Thanks for the well wishes, he needs it!

I found out he is expected to be off the bike until the end of summer.
The guy he was riding with said he felt off, but was just goign to "take it easy" - this is the exact thought I had when I tore my PCL.
I was aware I was not 100%, so I backed off. Suddenly lines I have ridden a 100 times at 100% felt foreign and it was suddenly feeling like a new trail with lots of surprises.

 

[BeerTengoku]

a "morning ride" is how some chose to spend this GW apparently

View attachment 37872

To be fair, that would be a morning ride - two mornings at a push?

 

[BeerTengoku]

If you know, you know.
Words can not express how happy, yet frustrated I am to have suddenly found this down behind the back of a fridge.

 

[Forsbrook]

If you know, you know.
Words can not express how happy, yet frustrated I am to have suddenly found this down behind the back of a fridge.

Lol,
I understand that happy but frustrated feeling all too well.
What was it doing behind the fridge?
Only think I can think of is that after coming home from a Summer’s day ride in your haste to quench your thirst with a cold one you put the Garmin on top of the fridge and over time it worked it’s way to the back.

 

[BeerTengoku]

The story is that the wife thought she threw it away back in November last year. We checked around and in the bin but alas, nothing to be found. Was resinged to the fact that I had to buy a new one.
We bought a new fridge last week and it was being delivered today, so we were tidying things up. As the fridge was being moved around, the movers said they saw something in the compressor unit bay so could someone grab it.
And boom, there was the bike computer.
I was so happy to have found it, but yet so frustrated.
Going to have to sell one bike computer as don't need two, but which one to keep is the question.

 

[OreoCookie]

Count yourself lucky. What Garmin headunits do you have now? Do you really have to sell one? Why not keep both?

 

[Half-Fast Mike]

Going to have to sell one bike computer as don't need two, but which one to keep is the question.

Does not compute. I had five at the last count.

 

[BeerTengoku]

Count yourself lucky. What Garmin headunits do you have now? Do you really have to sell one? Why not keep both?

Edge 830
Edge Explore 2

No need for both of them, is there? Unless I'm missing something.

 

[OreoCookie]

No need for both of them, is there?

How many bikes do you have? If the answer is one, I'd get rid of one of them. If it is more than one, I might think about keeping them both.

I have re-watched DC Rainmaker's review of the Explore 2, and unless you plan to do structured workouts, the Explore 2 seems like a better deal. There is a more complete list of missing features in the written review. It has a larger screen, so if you like to use your head unit for navigation, that seems like a big win. It is really a pity that Garmin found it necessary to nerf the functionality in some areas for no reason other than to create artificial differentiation between its different product lines.

 

[jdd]

Rain, rain, rain... Tomorrow, too.

 

[joewein]

I managed to get my ride in yesterday, before the rain today. It was very windy and I saw dark clouds but the rain never came while I was out there. Month #129 of "Century a Month" complete (162 km with 2200 m of elevation gain on Strava).

My original plan was to ride the first 60 km of BRM513, the 400 km brevet I'm signed for that will take place next weekend, after riding to the start in Machida. Instead I turned around already at Michi no Eki Doshi, before the final climb to Doshimichi Yamabushi tunnel.

On the climb before Aone village another cyclist who passed me asked: "Are you riding an event with AJ NishiTokyo?" -- "Yes, I'll be doing the 400 km next weekend, this is training." -- "Me too! We can ride together." But he was definitely climbing faster and I didn't even try to keep up. I saw a lot cyclists on the road but only a few at the Michi no Eki, where I had coffee and ice cream.

I took a nap three times on the way to Doshi, twice outside convenience stores, once on a bench on a roadside viewpoint. The heat was getting to me. The day had started cool but near Aone it was close to 30 deg C riding on the tarmac. I really wasn't used to the heat and I think my legs still hadn't recovered from the hiking last Saturday.

After I crossed into Yamanashi it gradually cooled as I gained more elevation but I think the wind also helped. It's usually cooler on the Yamanakako side of the pass and that seemed to be where the clouds were coming from.

On the way to Doshi I passed a sign for some waterfalls. On the way back I decided to check them out. The two falls called Otaki (雄滝) and Medaki (雌滝) were a short hike up from the end of road. Iris Japonica (shaga) which I love were growing by the roadside.



The return ride was quite relaxing. It was mostly descending with only short climbs and the heat was gone even at lower elevation. I had brought my rain gear because of the predicted 40% chance of rain but never needed it.

The cloud formations looked really unusual. Later on there was a beautiful full moon.

I got back home around 22:00, still in time to pick up a kebab roll from a local Indian restaurant to replace some of the 3,500 kcal that Strava says I burnt.

I think my pace fell far short of what I would need to do in the brevet but nevertheless it will have been useful practice. I'll just take next week's ride as it comes.

 

[joewein]

How many bikes do you have? If the answer is one, I'd get rid of one of them. If it is more than one, I might think about keeping them both.

I have two bikes, both with a mount for my Wahoo, but I see no need for more than one GPS unit because I will only be riding one bike or the other. And even if I'll ride together with a friend using one of my bikes, that's OK as long as one of us has a GPS.

So I'd say, unless one wants to keep one unit as a spare in case the other had issues (different people have different needs regarding their spare part bin size) it doesn't make sense to keep both. I'd keep the one that best matches my needs and try to sell the other. Usually that will be the newer unit assuming it has a fresher battery.

 

[TonyT]

The cloud formations looked really unusual. Later on there was a beautiful full moon.

Lenticular clouds - they sometimes form over Mt. Fuji and end up blowing in towards Tokyo.

 

[OreoCookie]

I have two bikes, both with a mount for my Wahoo, but I see no need for more than one GPS unit because I will only be riding one bike or the other.

You certainly don't need another one, but perhaps it might not be worth figuring out which one to keep and selling the other.

 

[Half-Fast Mike]

Fairly sure that's not supposed to happen...

Plastic bikes smh



It's the rear brake cable boss on the underside of the top tube of my 2015 Neil Pryde Bura SL frame. Nasty crunchy feeling in the brake lever. I initially thought it was a (very rare) brake cable failure and was trying to work out where I could buy a new cable inner on a Wednesday! This boss just keeps the cable parallel with the top tube, so I was able to make the brake function for my ride home by adjusting the cable - it's not parallel, but it works. I shall be attempting to fix with epoxy resin in the next few days. Should stick to titanium... but this thing is just so fast. A Ferrari among framesets.

 

[kiwisimon]

pretty easy fix.
Panic stop at some stage?