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Today - November 2011

theBlob

Bokeh master
Sep 28, 2011
3,014
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I managed 460km in my first month of regular cycling/ commuting. Looking forward to growing that number next month. As my knee and muscles continue to adapt to the rigours of their new life.:D
 
What wonderful weather, to start off November.

Spent a couple of hours with GS Astuto yesterday evening, trying to iron out a couple of creases in the wonderful-but-much-abused TimTanium Road Warrior.

This morning I divined that the horrendous squeaking noise is coming from my saddle. Another one bites the dust. They all go this way eventually. Don't think that's what's causing my shifting problems, though.

Nevertheless, another blisteringly-fast ride into work. This cool-but-not-cold air is really perfect for me.
 
Hmm, before you start grinding on the couples - maybe better check the saddle. Ti will communicate the sounds throughout the bike like a resonator - so what you may think is a sound coming from the BB, could be coming from the seatpost - things like that. Carbon will dampen alot of sounds so they generally appear to be coming from the appropriate location 'you think'.

Went out to the Palace this morning, too. Following strict traffic rules makes it very hard to catch groups that are not! Anyway - there were some really fast riders out there (at least on my side of the loop) , including the University squad, a new guy from Australia and a BIG GUY on a red Tri/Trainer doing like 50kph on every straight. Only mercy I had was the smallish 'pimple' where I could finally catch anyone. :bike:

The Diablo in reboot trim is much better! I love the new fork - more solid on the climbs and much more solid and less twitchy on the bumps and grooves through the descents. Even though the Palace loop is not much for extremes - it's a pretty good ride.

I also noticed the exhaust fumes seemed particularly nasty today - tempted to try one of the face filters now - I really hate breathing all that junk - especially when exerting hard.

What wonderful weather, to start off November.

Spend a couple of hours with GS Astuto yesterday evening, trying to iron out a couple of creases in the wonderful-but-much-abused TimTanium Road Warrior.

This morning I divined that the horrendous squeaking noise is coming from my saddle. Another one bites the dust. They all go this way eventually. Don't think that's what's causing my shifting problems, though.

Nevertheless, another blisteringly-fast ride into work. This cool-but-not-cold air is really perfect for me.
 
A bit late for a post in this thread, but...

Rode from home (Shibuya) out to the Tamagawa, up to the 20, over to the 521 and did Wada-toge for the first time. It was my friend's idea, and I had no idea what to expect.:eek:

I had to take a few breaks on the way up, and no official time. I'm sure I'll be back for some "revenge".

Did Otarumi-toge on the way home. My friend's memory of it was sorely lacking, and every switchback played mind games with us. :rolleyes:

Total, about 140km.
 
I had a really weird experience on my ride home today. While pedaling down Yamatedori at about 30-35 km/h, I saw a older guy on a scooter pull up on a side street on the left looking to turn onto Yamate and go the same direction as me. As I approached him, another scooter started to pass me on the right. The guy on the side street pulled to the corner, came to a complete stop, made eye contact with me, then looked in the direction he wanted to go and pulled out in front of me when I was about two feet away from him. I passed him immediately as he had left me no time to stop or slow, the whole way by yelling "HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY!" out of shock and panic and an attempt to get him to notice me. After I had squeezed in between him and the scooter on my right (who then pulled ahead), I heard the guy behind me on his scooter saying something. He didn't seem angry, he was just trying to talk to me. About thirty seconds after that, we stopped at a red light next to each other and he asked me why I was shouting. I told him that it was a bit close when he pulled out, to which he replied very matter-of-fact, "You have brakes, you should have stopped." Unbelievable. He told me this as if it was totally obvious and I should have known that I should yield to him coming off of a side street and joining traffic. I was stunned at first and thought he was saying I didn't have proper brakes, given all the recent press, but he was actually telling me I should have stopped.

I explained to him, in my broken Japanese, that I was on the main road, he was joining traffic, it's up to him to stop and wait, not me. When I said this, he nodded as if I had made a good point, the light changed, he said "Have a good night," in accented English, waved, and rode off.

Probably one of the weirdest interactions I've had with a motorist while on my bike.
 
Probably one of the weirdest interactions I've had with a motorist while on my bike.

You can have the same interaction as a pedestrian with Taxi drivers. Try to pass a pedestrian crossing making eye-contact with an approaching taxi driver. They usually not expect to stop, it's damn dangerous.

Rule: The bigger your vehicle, the less you need to care about weaker road participants. It's seems to be deep embedded with many people, they do not even reflect about that.
 
Lucky sod! It's been zero for me, at least from 2 October, and no hope of adding a single km any time soon, certainly not this year.:cry:
Poor Ludwig. I'm sorry that your back is FUBAR, and I certainly don't mean to mock or taunt you with my faux laments. Wishing you a complete and speedy recovery.

:rescue:
 
Try to pass a pedestrian crossing making eye-contact with an approaching taxi driver. They usually not expect to stop, it's damn dangerous.

This is not specific to taxis. The law requiring vehicles to stop for pedestrians at pedestrian crossings seems to only exist on paper in Japan. It is not being enforced. I certainly have never seen a police car or officers posted near a pedestrian crossing to catch offenders.

Thus no motorist takes that rule seriously. They regard pedestrian crossings as a place where pedestrians are better off waiting for a gap in the vehicle traffic than at any other place, not where you have to let them cross.

On the other hand, cars have to stop once at railway crossings when the barriers are up and everybody appears to follow that rule, perhaps because otherwise they might get a ticket. I have never figured out the purpose of that rule, since nobody looks for approaching trains when doing so and stopping and starting involves a certain risk of stalling the engine in a manual car.
 
The law requiring vehicles to stop for pedestrians at pedestrian crossings seems to only exist on paper in Japan. It is not being enforced. I certainly have never seen a police car or officers posted near a pedestrian crossing to catch offenders.
...although I frequently see police cars blast straight through when people are waiting. The other day I gave a policeman a stern talking-to. He had just ridden his bicycle across a pedestrian crossing while pedestrians were crossing, and had to weave in and out of them to get through. This was right outside the police station. Some of the pedestrians were kindergarteners. And he wasn't rushing to an emergency. It was clearly the end of his shift and he was just ambling back to base. Pathetic. Drew quite a crowd of other policemen from the station.
cars have to stop once at railway crossings when the barriers are up and everybody appears to follow that rule, perhaps because otherwise they might get a ticket.
... or hit by a train, which can be quite traumatic. Cars regularly get hit by trains!
I have never figured out the purpose of that rule
It's not really about being hit by a train with no warning.

The driver is supposed to come to a full stop and make sure there's enough room on the other side for their vehicle. Only then (like a box junction - ha!) may they proceed across.

If they don't, there's a chance that their vehicle may be unable to exit the crossing and become stuck there as the barrier comes down and the next train passes.

Cars regularly get hit by trains.
 
Here in bumpkin-land :rolleyes:, vehicles always wait for pedestrians in crosswalks, and it's not uncommon for an older person to raise their arm and simply march out into a crosswalk.

Out earlier I even had a few left-turners being hyper-cautious about turning/proceeding when I was just off their back bumper.

***

Got the pair of tires from wiggle today (4000S) that I ordered on 10/23rd, dispatched on 24th, so about 9 days in transit (and I didn't opt for priority). No duties/fees. They're for spring, unless something happens in the meantime. I've also wondered whether to try latex tubes..., probably not.

***

Nov 1st & 2nd. Supposed to rain tomorrow, but the radar's not showing it yet. So might be able to squeak something in early.

(edited to add dates)
 
I told him that it was a bit close when he pulled out, to which he replied very matter-of-fact, "You have brakes, you should have stopped." Unbelievable.

Great story which supports my earlier point on another thread that most of the time drivers know damn well what they are doing when they are cutting us out. The only thing we can do is to expect the worst and be prepared.
 
I'm not sure about the specific conditions of that incident, but as a driver (if I could talk to them), I'd be expecting the same, i.e., use your brakes.

But as a cyclist, I'd like to preserve speed/energy rather than having to slow down, and then speed up, for that kind of driver.
 
I'm not sure about the specific conditions of that incident, but as a driver (if I could talk to them), I'd be expecting the same, i.e., use your brakes.

But as a cyclist, I'd like to preserve speed/energy rather than having to slow down, and then speed up, for that kind of driver.

I think I'm like most cyclists that if I have to slow down when someone pulls out in front of me, I get a little annoyed at losing my momentum. That being said, if there's a reasonable gap, I understand that other people are going to pull out and I'm not going to ram into the back of them just to prove a point.

In this case though, there was no chance for me to slow down. I was right on top of him when he pulled into the road directly in front of me, and I had to swing out to the right as I zipped past him, but had to be careful not to swerve out too far as there was another scooter passing me at the same time on my right.
 
After two days on my scooter instead of my MTB for commuting (work getting in the way of life again) I was looking forward to a run up arakawa this morning. The break left me feeling good and I managed 55km up and back. My left knee is feeling it but nothing like last time I tried for about this distance.
Coincidently I passed the TCC freight train heading out while I was on my return leg. I was neatly tagged onto the back of group of J riders.
Hope you guys had a good ride. Looking forward to joining you guys in the nearish future!!

It was amazing to me the difference when riding behind a group. I can chug along at about 30-31km/hr along the river by myself but following those guys I could do that with seemingly no effort. Maybe I gotta get me some mates ha ha ha!
 
This year when I started out cycling I was still recovering from skin cancer, and I had only my old Cannondale MTB. I decided that I'd try for 3000 Km on the bike for the year, I had no idea if I could do that or not. Today, I broke that 3000 Km mark, and I've got most of two months left to add to it.

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I know this is not a lot of miles for most of you, but for me, this year, I'm quite pleased with myself, 3000+Km done, and I've got the Charge Mixer 8 for my trailer tugging duties and the Lrrb for my longer rides.

Thanks to one and all on this board that have helped me out this year, I hope to do even more miles next year.

Cheers!
 
Met Ernesto Colnago at breakfast. A true legend and a real gentleman.
 
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