Thursday evening ride: 23 miles

I was late to the start of the MVBC Thursday ride. I decided to do a Decker and ran across Joe, Lyle, and Chris. Rode back with them... It was good for 23 miles.

Also put in an hour at the gym on the Freemotion machines...

Tuesday evening club ride - 36 miles

A small group of us went out and rode Decker. I think I must be in reasonable shape. On "the" climb, I stayed with a guy who weighs about 23 pounds less than me who rides a lighter (carbon fibre) bike. (He usually drops me when he starts dancing on the pedals.) Maybe he cut me some slack today...

At the top, he commmented that my bike is "old school". Yeah, it is. It's a 1996 De Rosa Giro D'Italia, a lugged steel frame. (Couldn't find any carbon anything on it.) If this bike was good enough for Bjarne Riis to ride in the tour in 1995 (well, it's not the "exact" bike he rode), then it's good enough for me today. :-)

Needless to say, my 21st century bike is on its way. Will it arrive this week? Who knows? It is, however, red!

Distance: 36 miles

Also got in a light upper body workout at the gym... My wife needed to go anyway and I couldn't waste the opportunity!

#9 Sudden Century

route: Shedd, Brownsville, ~Crawfordville, Sand Ridge Rd, ~Lebanon, Shedd, part of the TTT course, Philomath

Just couldn't turn down the chance for ride -- it was too nice out there. I was tempted to work on some code for work, but I've done so much of that in the past. And I'm not sure where it has gotten me. (If you don't understand what I mean, just read Dilbert.)

There is an old saying I recall from my school days, "You can retake a class, but you can't relive a weekend." Sorry, weekends are mine. ;-)

Calories: 3448
Distance: 90.12
Bike: blue De Rosa (the red one is in the shop)
Consumed: just two bottles of Perpetuem and a cereal bar (it was cool and the route was mostly flat)

I started just before 3:00 and got back at 8:00. Luckily I had an LED headlight and a mega-flasher tail light because it was almost pitch dark when I got home.

Seems the blue De Rosa has a squeak too. Wonder if it's my shoes? But I don't recall hearing the noise when I rode the Sirrus yesterday. (My nickname for the old reliable Sirrus is one-ton-ton.) Both De Rosas are Campy 10-speed.

Wonder if the narrow chainrings are flexing a bit -- or perhaps the BBs are going bad on both bikes? Or???? Cyclotopia is having a look at the red one. Should be able to get it back late tomorrow...

Saw lots of sheep and one Llama on this ride. Would have taken some photos, but I was RTFB.

#8 Buena Vista, Momouth, Dallas, KV, Philomath, Peterson Loop

Rode 107 miles on my Specialized Sirrus with an 7 pound pannier to carry extra clothes and groceries.

Changed out the right pedal before the ride because I noticed it made noise when I spun it by hand. So I rode with a gray left pedal and a blue right pedal. (The fashion police -- I mean Joe -- wasn't there to point it out. Yeah, I got singled out once because my tires didn't match. :)

Calories expended: about 4500

Consumed: three bottles of Perpetuem, two Tiger Milk bars, a breakfast bar, and two Grandma cookies.

Rode quite well, considering how much this rig weighs. I took a loooong pull out of Dallas and walked away from my riding companions on all hills. I think they were just taking it easy, but I didn't feel as though I was pushing hard. I try to keep a steady pace.

On the way back from Peterson, I came across the OSU Omnium, already in progress. It must have been weird for the spectators to see a guy on a beatup old bike with downtube shifters and a pannier bag cruise across the finish line!

Bottom bracket self-destruct

I think I've found the source of the clicking on my red De Rosa -- the bottom bracket. I've read that Chorus BBs start to creak when they're on their way out. Mine is about two years old and come to think of it, I've been through this before. Face it, I eat BBs. I've checked everything else, including re-torquing the BB, tightening the chainring bolts, crankarms, etc.

The reviews at excelsports.com confirm the tendency of these BBs to creak and then fail. My last BB self-destructed in a major way at the RAO camp. It made so much noise that a support van passing me heard it and stopped without having to signal them.
The bearings on the left side were ground to a pulp.

Well, I don't have time to change it now, so I'll just continue to ride it. Or perhaps I'll take the blue De Rosa instead. (But red bikes are faster!)

It might be fun to drive my riding companion nuts!

-- Nutso Nutria

Thursday night ride -- Decker revisited

Nothing helps me think better than a bike ride. It relieves stress from the work day and makes you feel relevant!

Didn't find anyone at the Osborn Center, so I went out for a Decker ride by myself.

Miles: 45
Calories: 1500+

Rode the red De Rosa (gotta eliminate all that clicking -- I wonder whether my bottom bracket is simply "slap worn out" -- southern expression).

Where's my bike?

"Real soon now, no kidding this time".... Seems we're waiting for a crankset and it's on its way from New New York. It should be here next week.

Maybe I'll have it in time for the Davis 12 hour TT. Most likely I'll just ride my red De Rosa since it's the one I'm most familiar with and have ridden the most miles (16,200+).

Tuesday night ride -- Decker with lights

Rode 28 miles on my old Specialized Sirrus with my new Cateye Opticube.

Started late and got home in the dark. The Opticube is awesome! (Now to try the Enduro HID!)

Cycling is so important -- it negates the stress of work!

#7 Alsea Falls, Alpine, Harrisburg, Peoria, Brownsville, Shedd Century

Calories: 5480
Distance: 117 miles

Rode the red De Rosa. Had fun riding to Alsea Falls with the club...

Our group extended the ride to 85 miles. I extended that to 117 by peeling off at Peoria and diverting to Brownsville.

This morning I had a slow start but after 30 miles I picked it up. Climbed well and had some good pulls too!

Consumed: two bottles of Perpetuem, two Cliff bars, two Tiger Milk bars, two Gatorades (I need to bring more Perpetuem and skip the Gatorade.)

First MVBC Thursday night ride

We went out and did the Decker loop, 36 miles. Rode the red De Rosa. Nice to be riding a lighter bike...

It was a leisurely ride, except when I chained onto an OSU racer who passed us on the climb. He looked like a pure climber. I stayed with him for quite a way, until he sprinted away from me, doing about 20 mph.

I waited at the top for the rest of the group, who asked me why I let him get away. Gee, I think my lunch weighed more than he does... ;-)

I knew I would get dropped, but it was fun trying! Good training!


MVBC club miles: 685.30
UMCA miles: 649.30

Where's my bike?

My sales rep assures me that the new bike will be ready "real soon now".

Can't wait!

Total miles so far

6 rides (all centuries)

total distance: 649.30

#6 Monster-pull Century

This was my 6th time on the bike this year -- and century #6! (No photos -- I was busy RTFB! Sorry Marmot, I couldn't resist!)

Met the MVBC club on the road. I couldn't make it to the Beanery to start with everyone else because I had to fix the bike. I found that my right downtube shifter was missing a key bolt. Luckily I borrowed one from the old set of shifters.

The ride was mostly dry, except for a few sprinkles here and there and a little heavier rain near the end of my ride.

I rode with Larry, Terry, Erica, and Karin (sp?) for most of the ride, starting in Shedd. I took long pulls into Waterloo and did most of the pulling all the way back to Corvallis. It was a bit windy riding west back to Corvallis, so the group formed an echelon behind me. They were kidding me that it was the only way they could keep up. (Yeah, right.) I did take it to 22 near Tangent because I felt like cruising.

Scott Sturtz (RAAM rider) once told me during BMB in '94 -- riding pacelines don't do you any good. Stay at the front. Yeah, I hogged all the quality workout time!

I'm riding fairly well on my 26lb Specialized Sirrus. No flats today -- that new 28mm Ultra Gator skin tyre held up great! Didn't get dropped on the hills going into Lebanon either.

Miles ridden: 101

Route: Shedd, Lebanon, Waterloo, Tangent, Decker Loop, Airport Loop

Calories burned: ~4517 (With all the pulling, I feel like toast.)

Consumed: two bottles of Perpetuem, two bottles of water (actually ran out on the last loop), a Tiger Milk (140 cal), and two Cliff bars (not bad, better than the sawdust-bars)

Bike: 8-speed Specialized Sirrus with CXP 30 wheels and a rack (need a bag to put on it) Discovered that the right pedal needs grease (I greased the axles before the ride; the rear one was a little gritty.)

Rode with only two layers today -- a Sugoi jacket and a full length poly-pro jersey

Avg Temp: 57F

New bike on order

Seems that River City Cycles in PDX is having a big sale. Everything is 10% off, including the frame I've been wanting for some time now.

What kind of bike is it? It's red and black! (Red bikes are faaast!)

Stay tuned!

Continental tires rock

I picked up a Conti Ultra Gator skin for the back of my Specialized bike. The old Gatorskin had performed magnificiently -- it was simply worn out.

The new Gators can be inflated to 120 pounds. Wow! Looks like it has a new tread design too...

Got a good deal at the Corvallis Bike-n-Hike, made sweeter with my Santiam Spokes Club discount!

#5 Two-flat century

I knew I should have put new rubber on my old Specialized Sirrus. I took it out because the roads were still wet and I didn't mind getting this 16-year "beater" wet.

Out near Ankeny, I had my first flat. I was a few minutes in front of the group. When they turned toward Jefferson, they didn't stop because they didn't see me. I was up the road in the opposite direction from where they turned. (I had planned to take the slightly more hilly route, but the flax nixed that.) I changed tubes, blew it up with CO2 and lo and behold, the tire quickly went soft.

Now I had to resort to patching a tube. I didn't bother with the CO2 this time. It was almost as fast to use my old Zefal HP frame pump. (Now that's a pump, mate!) Once I was underway again, I decided to follow the group and took the Wintel turnoff.
I hooked up with the group at the Mexican bakery in Jefferson.

Later, as were coming out of Albany, I noticed my bike didn't handle right in the curves. Yep, another slow leaker. The group was a little in front of me and didn't realize I had to stop. So I had to patch the tube again. Couldn't find the cause in the tire casing.

Still, it was a good ride -- the sun was shining, finally!

Once home, I switched to my red De Rosa and rode a Decker loop and a few loops around Philomath. I met up with a rider who gave me incentive to ride hard over Decker. I stayed close enough to him to catch him before the stop sign on Hwy 34.

Miles ridden: 120 (felt good, could have ridden more!)

Calories burned: 5800

Food consumed: two bottles of Perpetuem, one SE, a Cliff bar, and a bowl of chicken soup and slide of cheese toast (had the last two items at home)

Note: I thought that anything flavored Orange-Vanilla had to be gross. Turns out that I really like Perpetuem -- it has a little of fat in it and I think that helps!


Route: Independence, Jefferson, Albany, Riverside Drive, Decker, Philomath loops


Rode 75 miles on the Specialized and 45 on the red De Rosa

MVBC mileage leader for February

My 329 miles (over three rides) was good enough for me to be the mileage leader for February in my local bike club.

Hopefully I'll get in more miles in March. Weather-wise, Saturday and Sunday look promising and I promise to go long on Saturday and perhaps on Sunday.

John Henry of Salem is off doing the Death Valley Double this weekend and I need to ride in order to stay close to him in number of long rides/total distance. As he pointed out, he's giving me motivation to RTFB!