All about bicycles

Finally did my spring maintenance on the Honey since it was skipping a bit under heavy load, and found that I have cracked derailleur pulleys. Luckily, they are still available and can be delivered by Tuesday. Wasn’t looking foreword to replacing anything major since I just paid my taxes this week!
 
dankilling said:
Finally did my spring maintenance on the Honey since it was skipping a bit under heavy load, and found that I have cracked derailleur pulleys. Luckily, they are still available and can be delivered by Tuesday. Wasn’t looking foreword to replacing anything major since I just paid my taxes this week!
Click to expand...
Oof. I was skipping a bit while climbing a couple days ago, too. Hope it just needs basic maintenance and reindexing.
Didn't get a chance to ride yesterday or today. Did a bit of walking/jogging with a weighted backpack a little bit ago, though.
 
It's a fantastic day for a bike ride. I spent the last couple hours giving my bike a cleaning, going over, and attempt to index the gearing. The last part didn't go so well, as I believe the derailleur (or hanger) is bent, which is a bit beyond my limited comfort zone, so I'll take it to a shop. So no bike ride today.

As much as I love biking, the cost-effectiveness of trail-running is becoming more appealing. But I'd never cover the GAP trail on foot. The answer is to have two bikes, right?
 
tbp0701 said:
It's a fantastic day for a bike ride. I spent the last couple hours giving my bike a cleaning, going over, and attempt to index the gearing. The last part didn't go so well, as I believe the derailleur (or hanger) is bent, which is a bit beyond my limited comfort zone, so I'll take it to a shop. So no bike ride today.

As much as I love biking, the cost-effectiveness of trail-running is becoming more appealing. But I'd never cover the GAP trail on foot. The answer is to have two bikes, right?
Click to expand...

I do miss the simplicity and low cost of running, but my back and knee are definitely happier on the bike.

Hopefully it's just a cable adjustment for you. Either way, I'm a sure a pro will take care of it easily. I finally got to use the big cogs on my MTB last weekend. Things shifted just fine noodling around the neighborhood, but it wasn't right under load. I love how MTB shifters have the barrel adjuster right there at the handlebar, so I was able to tweak it on a hill.

Speaking of, had a blast on Sunday riding one of the not so far away MTB parks. There's a natural bit of undulation in the ground there, enhanced by some trail building, so it was a ton of fun to actually do a little climbing. I rode the greens, connectors, and a couple blues and didn't crash at all, so that's victory! :D

After having only ridden singletrack on gravel bikes, I still can't get over how stable and capable my hardtail is. I put flat pedals on it because I thought it would give me some confidence, but I'm finding they're giving me more problems than assistance. Gotta try it with the SPD's next time.

And those in the know understand that the correct number of bikes to have is n+1.
 
garrett said:
I do miss the simplicity and low cost of running, but my back and knee are definitely happier on the bike.

Hopefully it's just a cable adjustment for you. Either way, I'm a sure a pro will take care of it easily. I finally got to use the big cogs on my MTB last weekend. Things shifted just fine noodling around the neighborhood, but it wasn't right under load. I love how MTB shifters have the barrel adjuster right there at the handlebar, so I was able to tweak it on a hill.

Speaking of, had a blast on Sunday riding one of the not so far away MTB parks. There's a natural bit of undulation in the ground there, enhanced by some trail building, so it was a ton of fun to actually do a little climbing. I rode the greens, connectors, and a couple blues and didn't crash at all, so that's victory! :D

After having only ridden singletrack on gravel bikes, I still can't get over how stable and capable my hardtail is. I put flat pedals on it because I thought it would give me some confidence, but I'm finding they're giving me more problems than assistance. Gotta try it with the SPD's next time.

And those in the know understand that the correct number of bikes to have is n+1.
Click to expand...
Yeah. It's due for a going over, too. Unfortunately the decent shops are a bit of a trip.

Sounds like a fantastic park. I'd like to do more actual mountain biking, but most trails I know of are fairly easy with a few hills, maybe a pump track, or collarbone-risking. So I mostly stick to the easy ones, including a rail trail, and spend most of the time on the smallest cog. (1x up front).

I've stuck to flat pedals, though. I have large feet of two different sizes from a series of operations and tend to overpronate, so finding regular shoes is a challenge. Biking shoes with clips would be very tough to find. I've been tempted to try biking sandals with clips.

--

Edit: But I did go on a trail run today. Got passed by a couple on e-bikes who weren't pedaling, which I'm mixed on.

Anyway, I stopped to take a photo of the old observatory.
4Tm3Ecf.jpg
 
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I finally got in my epic Lake Okeechobee ride on Sunday. First solo century and new longest ride ever!

pMoxK2al.png


Things started off innocently enough at the north end...
BYzOkLd.jpeg


Wide open views...
bs1wO5y.jpeg


First stretch of gravel heading south...
16P9ygl.jpeg


It's an easy route. Lake on the right, you're good...
QeX1gzN.jpeg


Farm outside the southern end of the dike...
eKzVpJ1.jpeg



More to come...
 
My last post covered about the first 50 miles around the lake. It was mostly into a headwind, but I was feeling really good when I turned west. Broke for lunch around mile 75 and I was starting to feel the heat. The problem with riding atop a dike is there's NO shade at all.

Small reroute around a stopped hay train (you can't ride 100% of the dike so this is in a town)...
SIfYnmU.jpeg


Long, rough gravel section in the northwest, made worse by no more pretty view to the right
wqCGCuH.jpeg


Mile 106 and I was shattered. Miraculously, there was a covered picnic table just off the path...
r1amica.jpeg


Thanks to an incoming thunderstorm, the sun went behind the clouds and the temp dropped several degrees. That gave me new life and I finished out those last 10 miles feeling great!
oCdJ2JH.jpeg
 
Man I feel like such a slacker, only going for 20 mile rides each the last two days, as I'm getting used to regularly riding again.

Thankfully a local bike shop sorted my gearing. It was the derailleur, which the tech said was finnicky on my model. He adjusted it in 10 minutes and didn't charge anything. In the meantime I checked out some very tempting gravel bikes. It's odd how full of stock bike shops are now.
 
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