Today's Ride
- Thread starter FairfaxPat
- Start date
moonlite
Kona Fan
A sunny afternoon tempted me away from my desk for a gentle mooch around local back roads on the '98 Explosif. I'd pushed quite hard on a run last night so focus was on just turning the old legs over and airing out the lungs.
It was breezy but lovely to be out. One thing that's developing rapidly on our dirt roads during this dry spring is that traffic tends to hammer stretches of the gravel into a series of sharp corrugations. If you can't steer a line through them, these can batter you and your bike quite severely, shaking your fillings loose and rapidly sapping your momentum -- not to mention your will to live. Local MBT'ers tell tales of critical bolts shaking themselves loose entirely.
Suspension doesn't help much and large or small wheels don't seem to make much difference. A friend who lives at the end of a long stretch of dirt road has virtually given up riding because the corrugations have reached such an extreme state that negotiating them is a huge disincentive.
Anyway, today's low-stress pootle meant the corrugations didn't get me down -- at least it's dry and warm!
It was breezy but lovely to be out. One thing that's developing rapidly on our dirt roads during this dry spring is that traffic tends to hammer stretches of the gravel into a series of sharp corrugations. If you can't steer a line through them, these can batter you and your bike quite severely, shaking your fillings loose and rapidly sapping your momentum -- not to mention your will to live. Local MBT'ers tell tales of critical bolts shaking themselves loose entirely.
Suspension doesn't help much and large or small wheels don't seem to make much difference. A friend who lives at the end of a long stretch of dirt road has virtually given up riding because the corrugations have reached such an extreme state that negotiating them is a huge disincentive.
Anyway, today's low-stress pootle meant the corrugations didn't get me down -- at least it's dry and warm!
Where I lived as a kid there a wide stretches of old "tank roads" especially near the old inner german border. They are made of large concrete slabs and the joints between them kill your bike, your wrists and your will to ride a bike even after 10 minutes....
In addition, the border road follows exactly the course of the border (regardless of the terrain) because there used to be patrols there, which means that the climbs can be very steep, which often makes it impossible to ride up and when riding down the shaking is even worse.
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!
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