My Most Recent Ride 2009 (Part II of series)

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Welcome to the rear of the pack like some of us are used to. A ride average of less than 13mph???!!! Man, I'll bet you felt like a whipped puppy. Well, when the Dragon is back on the road you'll appreciate it even more.

I also like to recline at a fairly steep angle, as you can see from my avatar. Not so much as sit "on" the Rocket as sit "in" it. My wife's Tailwind seatback is near vertical, and I feel like I'll fall out of it.

Who's doing the repair work in it? How do they repair a broken carbon tube? Where did they get trained?

Have all your effects from the wreck healed?

Dave "The Breeze"

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Man, I was done! My appreciation for those at the back of the pack has gone way up. The Dragon is going to feel like it has wings...but then it always did.

I have sent it back to the manufacturer. He has consulted the injun ear who designed it. They decided the best thing to do was cut out the bad section and take a section of boom tube slip inside the two pieces and glue it all back together. If need be they will splice in a section of main tube to keep the overall length the same. I don't know about their training, but I am the first to break a Carbent frame. Afterwards it should be stronger and a few ounces heavier. He told me it should only take four or five days to fix, I hope he's right.

The roadrash is healing pretty well. Mostly new pink skin on my arm, still some RAW places on my ego

Ward

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Ward,

Remind me never to ride with you on your Sea Dragon!!! We would be together for the first 5 sections then I wouldn't see you until the end of the ride!!!

I am a "certified" expert at being at the back of the group. No shame in that. As you get older, the need for speed decreases (along with a lot of other body parts)!!!

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Jon, Its all about the bike. If I rode a V-Rex with you our speeds would be pretty close I bet. The V-Rex probably compares to a hybrid/comfort upright bike. The Sea Dragon compares to a high-end carbon road bike. You ride a great little steed but put you on an Arabian and you too could be fast.

Don't talk yourself into being old. I will turn 50 next year
and I don't plan on slowing down anytime soon


Ward

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Willie G will be 50 next year as well. I wonder how many others will reach that mile marker in their life and still plan on biking?

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Easy Keila. I turn 67 next month.


Ward, it is not all about the bike. The bike is not fast unless it is equipped also with a good engine. Good bikes will allow you to ride faster but most folks seem to find that by upgrading, say, like from my Giro to a Corsa might be worth 1 mph. Holy Cow, I can stop and pee and then gain 1 mph!

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

passed that one 2 years ago. Laurie passe it 4 years ago. Still going semi-strong (OK semi-lazy but who's timing).

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Dennis, your not talking about 1 mph. There are many things that make the Corsa faster than the Giro and it all adds up. More reclined, faster wheels, stiffer frame, lighter weight. So what seems like 1 mph on the surface, over a long ride becomes much more.

For instance there are the hills that you will not slow you down on the Corsa that would have you dropping into your granny gear and grinding. The aerodynamics over time equate to many more watts put out at the same speed when riding the Giro vs the Corsa.

So for every mile you ride on the Giro you are putting out more watts to even try and maintain near the same speed as the Corsa. You will be spiking your heart rate higher and going anaerobic more often and sooner on each climb. You will become more fatigued sooner and be able to keep your speed up less and less on the climbs. In the end instead of beng a few minutes behind you end up being half an hour to an hour longer for a century. All things I have learned going from the Strata to the Aero and finally to the Sea Dragon.

Now yes, there are strong engines out there that can overcome the weight and the increased aerodynamic drag. Me....not so much. So, I drive an 8 year old car and and buy a new bike every year or so.

Oh, wish I had known about the super glue....no not reallly

Ward

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Can't remember that one...oh yeah, that was the last
time I got married. And I mean last time. She's a good'n.
Boy that was a fast 20 years. Faster than a carbent. D****.

Ok, my last ride: I ride most days, that doesn't count.

Clarksville: 2006 Tour Easy, 40 pounds, 130mm cranks.
That was 100 killer miles.

2009 P-38, 25 pounds. 172.5 cranks. Velocity
wheels. Nice Ultegra components.
One fun easy 62 miles with a big grin
on my 70 year old face.

I'm doing a few in the Tennessee Sequachie Valley.
When is that anyway?

Then in November may do some easy miles in SC, right
Ward?

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Ward I have to agree with you.

Now back to that super glue. I wouldn't try to fix your bike when it ended up in two pieces, but if you ever get any cracks, you can fix it. Just don't try to fix the whole thing at once. A thin layer and let it dry. Another thin layer and let it dry, etc. After done, a black magic marker paint it to match....or close to matching.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Dennis I'll keep that in mind. Buddy how about this ride here.
http://www.claxtonevanschamber.com/display.php?cid=8&pid=18

usually lots and lots of recumbents, pretty flat ride. Bacchetta is having thier fall get-to-gether there.

http://www.bacchettabikes.com/forum2/tm.asp?m=56772

ya'll come on down

Ward

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

That's the one Ward. Hot showers and free camping. And a lot
closer than Clarksville. Probably need to do that one.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Well, I probably shouldn't have, but I dragged myself out for a ride. My knee wasn't feeling TOO bad and I was desperate, especially with such gorgeous weather out. Mostly clear, not nightmarishly windy (like yesterday) and 58 F.

Got a few pictures, but for some reason my little camera does NOT seem to like the kind of lighting we had today or the angles. Dunno, but the colours I was seeing didn't really seem to come out in the pics. With it just being my old standard Ulva/G.Uppsala loop, there wasn't really much to tell about the ride, but I still blogged it for the photos if nothing else.

www.terii.wordpress.com

Terii

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Love it, thanks. Knees get well without surgery.
Just takes time. Mine have always got over it and
with no meds of any kind. I've hurt both real bad.
Over 25,550 days and now pain free. Most of that
stuff I had to out grow. <g>

Go Terii

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride II

Being south of Atlanta, we received the flood waters on the Chattahoochee and they crested Saturday with a high water mark about 4 feet above the Riverwalk. Yesterday as I headed out with the weisel I hoped they had receded enough to ride.

I started out downtown and rode to an overlook so I could get an idea about how things looked. Great, the water was gone but there was lots of mud and crap everywhere. Perfect riding condition for the Weisel. So I headed down the ramp to the trail and off I went. The thick mud provided lots of fun sliding and spinning my drive wheel and boy was I happy about having fenders on all three corners.

Just a few fisherman at first (man I wouldn't want to eat anything out of Atlanta's sewer) probably because of all the mud. The smell was also pretty bad. I finally cleared the low areas after about 5 miles and left the sitench behind.

I only saw a few cyclist all day, many who turned back when they saw the mud. Total of 26 miles in about 2 1/2 hours. And it took me 10 or 15 minutes to clean all the muck off the Weisel

Ward