|
|
Like Cosmic, my challenge starts Sunday
Last Post 09/17/2014 11:26 AM by Mike Madvax. 15 Replies.
|
Sort:
|
|
 Prev Next |
You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
79pmooney
Posts:3180
 |
| 09/05/2014 01:13 PM |
|
Cycle Oregon. On Jessica J, the fix gear. ('Though I told myself I never would do it again! Jessica's just too much fun. And a sweet persuader.)
401 to 488 miles in seven days. Day 5 is a rest day with an optional 62 mile ride. Day 2 has a 25 mile excursion that can be done. 30,000 - 35,000' of climbing. Climbing is well spread out over the week; never more than 6700' or less than 2700'. The majority (and all the 6000' days) before the rest day.
Day 3 has a 2800' climb in 14 miles starting at mile 3. Down 1200' and right back up. Day 4 looks less impressive, but on the fixie could be really hard. Lots of stops and gear changes or lots of muscling over stuff in big gears, then finding those gear painfully (and scary) small on the other side. The rest day will be much appreciated! (Its got 3300' of climbing, but looks very straight forward.)
Bike is all ready to go. Cog wrench will again be strapped to the top tube, now with custom black "toestraps" (I had a local leather company cut me toestrap width quality leather in long lengths. Dyed black and now riveted to Zephal/Christroff toestrap buckles. Really nice! Both for toestraps and accessory straps. And since I have the dye, I can keep them looking brand new. Treated with Snowseal bees wax dressing.) Hub wrench/lockring spanner is a Pedro's tool that fits under the tool bag in webbing straps and held in place with a velcro strap. Takes no time at all to pull it out (to flip the wheel around for gear changes. The wheel is fix-fix double sided. I will bring cogs 12 though 23. 42 tooth chainring. All 1/8" track. I can carry 2 cogs velcroed to the tool bag. (I can carry more, but two do not rattle.)
3 WB cages. The 3rd is under the DT and is a Lezynne (sp) cage with sides but no front. Teva Sandals just fit in the slot it forms. They are in a zippered bag (the idea of a sandal stap catching a crank at 45 mph = 250 RPM scares the s*** out of me) and help in place by a toestrap. I have had enough issues with my feet, esp my right little toe, ever since the 2012 CO when we climbed to and around Crater Lake that I know I have to get my feet out of cycling shoes at every opportunity. Oh, and under the DT means I cannot see the sandals. Since I cannot see them, they don't slow me down. They have verified that in testing, haven't they, CK?
Wheels are a Campy hubbed (older Chorus?)/Open Pro front, Miche Pista/Velocity Aero rear both laced 3X with light DT spokes. (Since the rear wheel is symmetrical and the flanges widely spaced, running 2.0-1.6 Revolution spokes on both sides works just fine. Love those track hubs! And the Aero rim has a deep usable braking surface -important when the wheel is slid almost two inched in the dropout for gear changes.) Tires are Vittoria Open Pros, 24c. Good, good fix gear tires. Grippy, smooth. Tires you stop and pinch because you are sure they are under inflated! Also tires that stay gripped when the road surface is lousy and your RPMs are up there.
Other big change - a new fork for the bike, like brand new. In my hands now 6 days. A rush job. This one's a keeper. Beautiful traditional crown, flat top, simple, fairly deep scallops outboard and a deep drilled tang inboard. 531 blades. The crown is a modern investment casting, but the big picture is a classic fork of any time over the past 90 years that should last a lifetime. And wow! Does Dave Levy do nice brazing! Fork is bright, bright red, the color of my original image of the bike. This was such a rush that a pro paint job was impossible, so it is model enamel from a spray can, applied beautifully and looking very professional. The reason for the new fork? I'll just say I had a BIG scare and major learning experience. I'll post more when I get back. (While the fork was made, the bike's ti tubes got buffed and re-decaled so the package looks spiffy!)
Oh, the bike has its pista bars on with new levers (Tektro V-brake levers; huge hoods my hands love and great braking with Shimano dual pivot calipers.) Cinelli 1A stem. Just looks right. Black cloth tape, new. Would you/this bike expect anything else?
I rode 1000 miles with 2 centuries last month and have 5000 for the year. 94,000' for the year, one 1/4 of that last month. Right on target weight-wise. I should be ready.
And to be completely in character, I will be spending the week internet free (except I hope to be able to learn a few Vuelta results over the week), so after today, you won't hear from me until I get back. Wish me well! Especially next Tuesday and Wednesday!
Ben
|
|
|
|
|
Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
|
| 09/05/2014 05:00 PM |
|
Ben....that is a hardcore ride in a fixie. Impressive.....ride well and be safe.
(Although your WB set-up definitely ain't aero!!!  ) |
|
| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
|
|
|
ChinookPass
Posts:809
|
| 09/05/2014 08:57 PM |
|
Can't beat a week of riding and hanging out with interesting, like-minded folks.
Enjoy. Hope the weather is good for you.
Not a shabby week in terms of miles and climbing and the fixie is nifty. |
|
|
|
|
79pmooney
Posts:3180
|
| 09/06/2014 02:29 AM |
|
Cosmic, aero ain't your friend down hill on a fixie!
Ben |
|
|
|
|
vtguy
Posts:298
|
| 09/06/2014 09:34 AM |
|
| Have fun. Sounds like an adventure. |
|
|
|
|
Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
|
| 09/06/2014 01:59 PM |
|
Posted By 79 pmooney on 09/06/2014 02:29 AM
Cosmic, aero ain't your friend down hill on a fixie!
Ben
LOL....I suppose that is definitely true!! |
|
| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
|
|
|
thinline
Posts:323
|
| 09/08/2014 09:06 AM |
|
| Here's hoping things are going well, Ben. Have a blast! |
|
|
|
|
SideBySide
Posts:444
|
| 09/09/2014 12:46 PM |
|
Have fun.
And the obligatory, "this thread is worthless without pics."  |
|
|
|
|
Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
|
| 09/09/2014 01:44 PM |
|
Posted By thinline . on 09/08/2014 09:06 AM
Here's hoping things are going well, Ben. Have a blast!
Damn luddite...not posting updates form the road.  |
|
| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
|
|
|
79pmooney
Posts:3180
|
| 09/14/2014 05:34 PM |
|
I'm back. What a week! Yes, I am a luddite, but we also had very little cell coverage at most of our stops. Funny to watch others who had to have their fix! Here we were in God's country, no city lights, an incredible moon, clear skies and mountains and folks were fretting that their gizmos were useless.
And the country we rode through? High Oregon desert, canyons, bluffs, regular looks at the mountains Adams, Hood, Jefferson, the three Sisters and Washington, billed by Cycle Oregon as the Magnificent Seven (a flick in "Pedalvision") Landscape formed by lava and ice (and some epic volcanoes on the history of our planet. Lava flows for 50 miles and more. Some hundreds of feet thick. Canyons with layers of millions of years old lava on one side and tens of thousands on the other of very different lava. The Columbia River Gorge.
Lots of great roads with almost no traffic. We spent 40 miles on day three in the Warm Springs Reservation of the Wasco, Tenino (Warm Springs) and Paiute Indians climbing to the foot of Mt Hood for lunch. (Cold and windy. A lot of folks jettisoned their jackets at the previous rest stop and had to lie on the warm pavement to absorb enough heat to not go hypothermic. (5000' and the foot of a mountain? I'll climb with a jacket stuffed in my pocket, thank you.)
Day two option was 10 miles south along the old highway up to Rowena Crest, far above the Columbia River. Windy, windy! The famous Columbia Gorge wind! Going west was hard! The climb was crazy. This 100 yards it would be on your face. Go around a corner and you get a turbo boost! Retracing, I hit a wall of wind. 30 to 18 mph faster than I could with brakes. Then 9 miles of one of the best tailwinds I have ever ridden. 42 x 12 from the summit to the city of the Dalles, going over the rises like they were downhills.
The whole week was incredible. Cycle Oregon just keeps getting better. Our routes are now swept. There were very few flats. I had zero tire issues. In fact, no issues at all except occasionally wishing I had chosen a different gear; more on that later. The roads we got to ride. CO works with government agencies, private landowners and now Indian tribes to get us roads that are otherwise off limits. Our rest day was in a beautiful park, with deep ball field grass for camping; doesn't get much better! We stopped twice at a fairground. And the people! CO is loved by the towns we ride through. Local volunteers serve all our meals, load the baggage trucks, help us with getting our gear from the trucks to our campsites and back the next morning. And they do it with real appreciation (for the opportunity to serve us!)
And my ride: I made it! Did all the options, so 488 miles and 35,000' of climbing. Used my 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 22 and 23 tooth cogs. I misjudged the weather on the first two days, underdressing my knees by a layer. Felt them after the Mt Hood day with it's 6700'. (Didn't help that I rode the final descent and not so downhill miles into camp on the 12.) Day four, I took off my 17 and went to the 18 about five miles out. Smart move. That day was 6200', but lots of smaller hills, too many to change gears for and make any kind of time. Also had a 2 mile 14% late. I was a little confused and thought it started about 3 miles down the road so I was into it on my 18 before I figured it out, so I just muscled it over. Next day was the 60 mile option with I rode very easy on the 19. (And had no trouble with the headwind coming home that I heard complaints about for the next two days. My butt was saying "this is much better than all that ridiculous spinning you were doing this morning!") Day six was a 90 mile, 4200' day. Yesterday we rode 3 easy miles, then up 1500' over the next 6 and down 2500' back to the Dalles, the incredible Gorge and the finish. Fun, fun last miles!
What a week! The crime was that the ride was not sold out. Apparently, 150 folks bailed, thinking it was going to be too hard. I also heard the sag wagons were not used to capacity, meaning they could have gone and had help at the tough spots.
The Magnificent Seven was one heck of a flick. And the "Pedalvision" technology? Well the highest definition for that Pedalvision is on the fix gear descents! (Coasting is like walking into the lobby at the best parts of the film!)
My body held up very well. Knees were an issue and I backed off considerably for them, but I don't believe I did any long term damage. My feet, which have had issues since the fixie ride two years ago, held up just fine. Never even swapped shoes. The second "better" pair never came out of the bag. Taking the shoes off and using sandals at most of the rest stops helped a LOT. One of my smart moves. (And I can report to CK that keeping the sandals out of sight while riding worked. I passed a lot of riders upwind!) No saddle sores. (Bag balm every day.) Hands survived nicely with the help of long fingered gloves to protect fingers from the undersides of the brake levers. I had odd dark blue discoloring on my left forearm and calves seemingly along veins, Don't know that that was about, but figured it was just a byproduct of being less than young and going very hard (I didn't see them until after that steep hill). Got home at exactly the weight I left, but MUCH harder! (They fed us a LOT of good (and excellent riding) food. I heard someone say 5000 calories/day. Completely believable.)
So, the old school stuff worked just fine and was a true blast! Fix gear. Titanium frame, yes, but a steel fork and 13 cm Cinelli quill stem. 32 hole X3 aluminum rimmed wheels. Vittoria Open Paves with light butyl tubes. Wide pista bars with brake levers and brakes, front and rear. Fix-fix hub and wrenches. Pump on the top tube as well as the cog wrench. Pedro's fix gear wrench/spanner secured under the tool bag with one piece of velcro. (Access to the hub wrench was very fast and good to the cog wrench. No rattle at all, even on the worst roads.) And the bike felt so secure I was often riding the poor pavement to allow those feeling less secure the good stuff. Wheels held up beautifully. I could pull about a mm out of the front if I wanted. Rear is just fine. (Love those symmetrical rear hubs. No changes after 500 miles of in places rough (and fast!) riding on Revolution spokes.) Not a whole lot I would change for any amount of $$s.
Oh, the new fork? Good Reynolds 531 forks are sweet! Completely feels just perfect on the bike. I was worried that it would feel too stiff and bouncy, being considerably heavier walled than the Columbus SL it replaced. Not an issue at all. I love that it is of the most proven fork blade material ever. (Those blades could have been drawn in 1929. And the crown, except for being investment cast, could be near as old. And of course, both were designed with hand brazing in mind and that is what it got.) Very reassuring on rough, very fast descents. Doesn't hurt that it is both beautiful and VERY red. Jessica loves it!
Speaking of Jessica. I got to joking to the tandem pairs that I was riding a 20 pound tandem; that Jessica was the captain and I the stoker. (Captain insisted on no gear changes except at stops and kept to her promise of not coasting last week. And with the direct drive between captain and stoker, neither did I.)
In sum, a week of riding in God's country on a perfect, pure bike. Doesn't get better. (But it was truly hard!)
Ben |
|
|
|
|
vtguy
Posts:298
|
| 09/14/2014 06:18 PM |
|
| Congratulations, Ben. Well done!! |
|
|
|
|
SideBySide
Posts:444
|
| 09/15/2014 02:33 PM |
|
| Fantastic! |
|
|
|
|
ChinookPass
Posts:809
|
| 09/15/2014 02:49 PM |
|
| dammit! I missed a great year. Maybe next year. I love that the route is swept, that is de-luxe. Who pays all that money and then bails, esp when the weather was so amazing?! |
|
|
|
|
79pmooney
Posts:3180
|
| 09/15/2014 03:13 PM |
|
CP, I suspect they bailed before the no-refund deadline and therefore before the weather was known. (But September is Oregon's best weather so that's not a good excuse.)
Funny that the week ride had vacancies, but the weekend ride in July was solidly filled. I passed on the weekend ride because if a long standing commitment. That date got pushed back a week at the last minute due to circumstances out of my control and I tried to get in but to no avail.
Ben |
|
|
|
|
ChinookPass
Posts:809
|
| 09/15/2014 04:27 PM |
|
| quite honestly, September is tough to take a vacation if you have kids in school. If I could convince my wife to home-school the little buggers, we'd have a lot more flexibility... |
|
|
|
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
Active Forums 4.1
|
|
No articles match criteria.
|