Bicycling On-the-Road

jackman · « **Reply #1260 on:** 1 May 2014, 12:35 pm »

So beautiful! I love Spain and look forward to going back with my family sometime next year. We spent a week in Moncofa a couple years ago and fell in love with it. Beautiful Mediterranean coast, warm water, and lovely roads (didn't have a real road bike on the trip unfortunately) good food (if you like fish) and very nice people. Oh, and lovely ladies on the beach who always seemed to forget their bikini tops. Tragic! My wife confiscated my mobile phone and camera on day one.

Good luck with the recovery and feel free to continue posting beautiful pictures!

Cheers,

Jack

AB · « **Reply #1261 on:** 1 May 2014, 12:43 pm »

One more...

The other night there were two Nightingales singing out there at 2 a.m. Don't ask me how I know.

I love it here too. I figure I'll heal up and be back for the Fall, miss the worst of the Winter and be back in late February 2015.

Levi · « **Reply #1262 on:** 13 May 2014, 11:44 pm »

SRAM is going electronic. Finally!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lifL7Bdq_IU&feature=youtu.be

LadyDog · « **Reply #1263 on:** 14 May 2014, 03:11 am »

Yep, and Campy has a 4 arm crank. Wonders never cease.

jackman · « **Reply #1264 on:** 14 May 2014, 08:10 pm »

SRAM has been working on the electronic shifting for a while. Everyone I know who has gone elctronic (Di2) loves it. I'm still liking my SRAM Red and will use it for the next couple years at least. It shifts so much better than Shimano, but I prefer Shimano's brakes (although I hear the new generation SRAM brakes are very good).

I look forward to trying the new SRAM electro shifting! Lastly, I hear Campy's electronic shifting is better than Shimano but more expensive. I've never seen it in person but my bikeshop owner friend is a big fan.

Levi · « **Reply #1265 on:** 14 May 2014, 10:00 pm »

There is more information about SRAM electronic shifting at Bike rumor. Happy reading.

LadyDog · « **Reply #1266 on:** 14 May 2014, 10:34 pm »

The prototype pictures of the sram shifters look nice - very clean. Imagine it will work well too. As does the current Shimano and Campy offerings. Wouldn't mind having it on my bikes(campy please).

Kind of like disc brakes though, while great and I love them, within reason unnecessary for much of road use. Unless you maybe happen to ride year round or in the rain.

Levi · « **Reply #1267 on:** 14 May 2014, 10:50 pm »

Quote from: LadyDog on 14 May 2014, 10:34 pm

Kind of like disc brakes though, while great and I love them, within reason unnecessary for much of road use. Unless you maybe happen to ride year round or in the rain.

Agreed. Disc brakes are also great for off-road or just fooling around.

AB · « **Reply #1268 on:** 15 May 2014, 05:32 pm »

I'm riding again. Thank gawd, was I bored...

No pain as long as I don't pull up on the bars - I negotiated up and onto a curb today, ouch.

Lots of fitness lost. I guess it's due a combination of time off the bike and healing. It'll be interesting to see how quickly it comes back - or not.

New pic from today. 12th Century bridge across El Retort(?) in Val de Campmajor. It goes nowhere but the creek is still there.

Levi · « **Reply #1269 on:** 15 May 2014, 06:20 pm »

Scenic.

I figured you don't miss the Parlee?!?

AB · « **Reply #1270 on:** 15 May 2014, 06:38 pm »

Quote from: Levi on 15 May 2014, 06:20 pm

Scenic.

I figured you don't miss the Parlee?!?

Parlee? No Parlee for me. Though that would be nice. Z15 Felt not Z1.
Or have I missed it entirely?

Levi · « **Reply #1271 on:** 15 May 2014, 10:03 pm »

Must have mistaken you for someone here. Hmmm.

LadyDog · « **Reply #1272 on:** 18 May 2014, 02:21 pm »

As one who has for 30+ years, and continues to do so, found the following Competitive Cyclist Article funny...............

Shaving Your Legs: A Calling Card or an Indignity?

It’s been 10 years since my last sanctioned race, and while life’s been nothing short of organized chaos since that point, I’ve had little more than one constant in my existence equation — shaving my legs. There’re a number of reasons that I could say as to why I do it, but honestly, most of those reasons would be complete and utter bullshit. In all honesty, the rationale is equal parts expressing a commitment to cycling and sheer vanity. And for 95% of cyclists, this sentiment rings true, regardless of if we admit it to ourselves or not. Really, though, there isn’t a faster way to get on my nerves than for a non-pro to spout off about road rash and massages — let’s just call it what it is. So, to try and inject a little honesty into the Cat 3 and up crowd, let’s dismantle the go-to responses to the outsider’s question of, “Why do you shave your legs?”

Reason 1: Road Rash & Crashes

Seriously? Race conditions are one thing, but if you’re riding objectives are limited to, well, just riding, you can go as fast or as slowly as you want. In other words, crashing is relegated to either a lack of skills or acts of god. And even with the latter, I’ve never been hit by a car and said, “Well that sucked, but at least my legs are shaved.” Approaching every day with a crash in the back of your mind also sounds like the saddest glass-is-half-empty existence that I could ever imagine. Cheer up, man.

Reason 2: Massages

Again, are you serious? The pros have earned the right to a massage after every stage, but they’re pros and we’re mere humans. And to compound this, they actually have masseuses under their employ, making this line of thought a total joke for nearly any non-pro. I mean, really, can you imagine anything creepier than a guy who goes to a massage parlor after every bike ride? Would you honestly want to be the local at a massage parlor, especially if you’re “the guy” who’s real specific about his legs? Weird.

Reason 3: Aerodynamics

I don’t really want to dignify this with a response, but if I were compelled to, I’d say that Contador would rip your legs off with hairy legs or not. I don’t put much confidence in the Kyle study, either. Scientific conclusions need to account for variables, and I’ve never seen a graph that correlates millimeters of hair length with drag coefficients. Sorry, I’m just not buying it.

Now, the Reality

There’s a hint of truth behind all of the aforementioned reasoning, but sadly, they don’t really apply to very many of us. There are, however, smaller reasons that would make sense to other cyclists, like applying embrocation and sunscreen, or eliminating chafing from grippers over hairy legs, but no cyclist would really ever ask you about shaving your legs in the first place.

The real reasoning requires confidence in your rationale — I’m a cyclist and this is just what cyclists do. It’s a tradition that acts as the division line between the committed and the recreational. Indeed, it is a jumping off point, and after a short while, the act becomes second nature.

Now, while the tradition aspect is certainly true, the tradition of vanity has an even longer running precedent. When you shave, you discover muscles whose definition was previously shrouded in fur. You look stronger, and to an extent, you feel stronger as a result. In a way, it’s kind of like detailing a sports car — the outside looks clean, so the inside feels faster. There’s no shame in it, and the vanity of the shave is all part of the heritage of road cycling anyhow. Historically, we’re a contingent of bizarre, skinny outsiders, and much like the hidden placements and secret meanings of a Russian prison tattoo, our shaved legs are an instant identifier, worthy of a head nod, for those in the know.

You see, if you feel compelled to defend the logic behind shaving your legs, you’re feeling some undeserved indignity towards your own culture. All that I ask is that you own it, accept that it’s a little weird by society’s standards, and admit that it just sort of looks cool and feels good. No one is going to really understand, but who has time for that when there are bikes to ride?

Levi · « **Reply #1273 on:** 22 May 2014, 10:55 pm »

Good article. I know for sure shaving legs looks good in the picture.

Granfondo NY 2014

LadyDog · « **Reply #1274 on:** 24 May 2014, 02:13 pm »

Great pic Levi. Can't quite make out the tag, the Fondo?

Levi · « **Reply #1275 on:** 24 May 2014, 07:32 pm »

Thanks. GranFondo NY!

J Fallows · « **Reply #1276 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 02:48 pm »

This is what I've been riding on the road.

Old fixied Schwinn
Brakes just in case
Been riding it on my loop for a while, great ride.

Levi · « **Reply #1277 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 04:11 pm »

Classic! Nice bike!

J Fallows · « **Reply #1278 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 04:20 pm »

Thanks Levi,
It's nothing like the beautiful bikes that you and others post, but it's functional.

That's a great picture above. Poster worthy.
Where did you finish in the race?

jackman · « **Reply #1279 on:** 5 Jun 2014, 02:00 am »

Cool bike! You need to get some derailers on that puppy! I have a friend who rides a modest aluminum Giant that is probably ten years old with thousands of miles, on original wheels and at least 20 lbs and he crushes people every week. It's got gears and is set up perfectly for him but it doesn't stop him from being a fast guy. Glad to see more people riding.

Tragic weekend for my group, my friend Mike, who is a leader of our bike group, was hit by a car during a ride. A young man blew a red light with a car and hit my friend. He's in bad shape with broken ribs, punctured lung, three cracked vertebrae and torn knee MCL but he expects a full recovery. It's going to take a while but at least he's alive. His Specialized S-Works Roubaix didn't fair as well but the SRAM Red is probably salvageable. I feel bad for him because he was in the shape of his life and was one of the fastest riders in the group this year.

Be careful out there!

J