Today's Ride
- Thread starter FairfaxPat
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benjabbi
Bontrager Fan
Wednesday, just to work and back on the Privateer, got wet on the way. The weather has gone to shit!
Yesterday, quick hour and a half bimble on the Explosif, what a bike, weather has definitely got autumnal!
Today I'm having a day off, it's raining and properly windy, not sure I'm up for it.
Yesterday, quick hour and a half bimble on the Explosif, what a bike, weather has definitely got autumnal!
Today I'm having a day off, it's raining and properly windy, not sure I'm up for it.
moonlite
Kona Fan
Set out a little earlier than usual this morning to rectify a poor week on the bike. Work had set a few deadlines that couldn't be missed; then yesterday, the ride I planned in the afternoon didn't happen due to very strong winds followed by rain.
It was still windy this morning but the sunshine was quite warm and I spun a lower gear on the outward leg of the ride, gritting it out into the gusts before bowling back at three times the speed with the wind behind. If I had a spinnaker I'd have hoisted it.
Job done.
It was still windy this morning but the sunshine was quite warm and I spun a lower gear on the outward leg of the ride, gritting it out into the gusts before bowling back at three times the speed with the wind behind. If I had a spinnaker I'd have hoisted it.
Job done.
Frankenorange
Orange 🍊 Fan
Out on the Heckler today, 23 miles of mixed terrain, bit chilly but dry.
View attachment 787304View attachment 787305View attachment 787306View attachment 787307
Is that an old railway line?
I went out for a quick blast this afternoon. Was a bit chilly out so definitely time foe more layers and socks!
2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
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Yesterday"s ride included the commute home .... 18km in the dark on the Road Rat ...
V E R Y W E T
Stair rods. Cats and dogs. Unseen deep puddles. Shoes literally full of water. Everything soaked through, but good kit choice meant reasonably warm when pushing. In the wind and dark, this was good hardening for winter....
V E R Y W E T
Stair rods. Cats and dogs. Unseen deep puddles. Shoes literally full of water. Everything soaked through, but good kit choice meant reasonably warm when pushing. In the wind and dark, this was good hardening for winter....
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benjabbi
Bontrager Fan
Yes, old railway between Stanwick and Thrapston. Now a pleasant walk/ride.
2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
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well.....
Today's ride was on trails so loaded with fallen beech leaves that pathfinding at speed was .... challenging.
A carpet of a million gradations of bronze....
Thousands of sweet chestnut husks like pools of ball bearings.
Pump the holes, throw your body into the turns.
Sun like trickling gold through the branches....
And a new Renthal 50mm stem which genuinely transformed the handling of the mmmBop; the 35mm stem felt good, always, but I still felt I could weight the front significantly more. I hooked out a 42,5 renthal apex stem - which turned out to be 50mm after I had fitted it. Oh well. Now...new Pike to go in...but no I will only change the stem, then I can see the impact of each component change rather than try to deconstruct a new combination of changes...
Bit of a footle around the car park....hmmm this feels REALLY different...can 15mm on the stem really make that much difference to the feel? Apparently yes. Ok...so onto the trail. Blimey the front end is far more difficult to lift over roots and things. Blimey twice...front end traction has escalated to 'glued to the ground' levels. A front end slide of 30cms which would have had me struggling turns into a small sideways movement which I bring back instantly. This is good...very good. Yes, I am a bit further forward on drops, but this is not what I am doing on this bike for now. In the tight single track I am much much faster in each turn. A small uncertain smile turns into a big one as the km pass in the forest...an excellent morning on the roots and leaves and sand and loam....
Today's ride was on trails so loaded with fallen beech leaves that pathfinding at speed was .... challenging.
A carpet of a million gradations of bronze....
Thousands of sweet chestnut husks like pools of ball bearings.
Pump the holes, throw your body into the turns.
Sun like trickling gold through the branches....
And a new Renthal 50mm stem which genuinely transformed the handling of the mmmBop; the 35mm stem felt good, always, but I still felt I could weight the front significantly more. I hooked out a 42,5 renthal apex stem - which turned out to be 50mm after I had fitted it. Oh well. Now...new Pike to go in...but no I will only change the stem, then I can see the impact of each component change rather than try to deconstruct a new combination of changes...
Bit of a footle around the car park....hmmm this feels REALLY different...can 15mm on the stem really make that much difference to the feel? Apparently yes. Ok...so onto the trail. Blimey the front end is far more difficult to lift over roots and things. Blimey twice...front end traction has escalated to 'glued to the ground' levels. A front end slide of 30cms which would have had me struggling turns into a small sideways movement which I bring back instantly. This is good...very good. Yes, I am a bit further forward on drops, but this is not what I am doing on this bike for now. In the tight single track I am much much faster in each turn. A small uncertain smile turns into a big one as the km pass in the forest...an excellent morning on the roots and leaves and sand and loam....
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Frankenorange
Orange 🍊 Fan
Yes, old railway between Stanwick and Thrapston. Now a pleasant walk/ride.
Love an old railway line to ride. It is fun to come across bits of infrastucture like bridges, huts, signal/telegraph posts, or bits of rail in car parks etc.
