2014 End of Year Stats

Year-to-Date Distance 2,569.1 mi
Time 206h 27m
Elev Gain 93,222 ft
Rides 206

All-TimeDistance 5,645.4 mi
Rides 491
Biggest Ride 52.5 mi
Biggest Climb 509 ft

The all time stats you see here started in July 2012. Prior to that I was keeping logs using a Cat Eye bike computer and some spreadsheets.

Rode 395.9 miles than last year.

2014 End of Year Bicycling Review

The end of the year is fast approaching, so it is time to take a look back at some of the good, a little of the bad, and some of whats to come. Note hat this post will not contain End of Year Stats, because there are actually a few more days left to add to those. So, let's dive right in...

BEST ALL AROUND DAY OF RIDING:

Late March at George Pierce Park with Brianna Sisterson and Jay Starr, followed by another longer ride with just Jay, starting in Buford, going towards Buford Dam, then south to Suwanee, then back to Buford.

The thing about this ride was the pure wanderlust of it. It was Spring, and the first really nice day of weather, so we all got together and just absorbed the excellent-ness of being outside. There was no real agenda other than having fun...and we did. Brianna skipped the second leg but GPP was fun since when "Big Ring Brianna" is along, she makes sure the pace stays up.

This ride also pushed Jay right to the limit of, and possibly slightly over his comfort zone. By the last few miles we stopped a few times because he had some cramping, and then at a certain point he decided if we stopped again he wasn't going to be able to get going again, so he toughed it out til we made it back to the car. I was struggling myself...neither of us really killed it with base training or anything during the Winter. But...this ride sort of set the bar for what we would do for the rest of the year. We knew we could do AT LEAST what we did that day, so from then on it was all about ramping up.

Finished with an excellent pizza at Mellow Mushroom Suwanee.

TOUGHEST RIDE:

Wrenched Bicycles Thursday Night Shop Ride, September 18
The story here is that it was pretty late in the year, I was feeling pretty good about my year of biking so far, and I had already ridden with the Wrenched Bicycles Monday Night Social group, so I figured I would give their Thursday night ride a try. It ended up that it was just me and two heavy hitters, Todd Berry and David Latty, who are both waaaaaay faster and more fit than me. When I saw that it would just be us three, I actually started putting my bike back on the car, but they were like, no...you are already here you have to ride now! So I headed out with them. 

I don't think this was a tough ride for them, but for me it was a huge challenge. First off, I had no idea where we were, where we were going, and how long or hard it would be, so I was super concentrating on keeping up but budgeting energy. We headed up into the northern parts of Gainesville GA and took some great roads. Todd and David stayed on the grind but never dropped me during the early portions, even though they could have at any time.

After about 15 miles I was having fun but at the same time really starting to feel it. On my weekend rides there is a certain amount of mental preparation I do, and I almost always know the route beforehand, so I can play some pyschological games with myself to help finish the ride. But by this point I was starting to think "Is this ever going to end?" I think it was mainly because every time my inner compass told me we were heading back towards town, they would take an unexpected turn and head back outwards again. 

At a certain point I knew we were on the way back though, and we settled in for a looooong descent, which was fun. I was kind of hoping that closing the loop would be filled with easy sections, but that was not to be. The hardest challenge of the ride happened next. The name of the Strava segment is Oconee Circle White Sulphur to Red Light Sign and it was brutal to me. Two miles long, and almost all of it climbing, AFTER doing everything we had already done. I hung in there pretty good, and then something hilarious happened. While the three of us were grinding it out up this monster, two other riders from Wrenched, who started the same ride waaaay after we did, just went bounding up the climb blazing past us like it was totally flat. It was actually very inspirational to see that a hill like that could be done so fast. On the downside, Todd and David both took off to catch up with their bike shop bros, got dropped and really didn't know where I was. The only thing I could do was keep going and hope that at some point I'd see a blinky light far in the distance.

Eventually they waited for me, and I rode with the whole group back into town. The pace had stepped way up though and I was barely hanging on. By the end the two faster guys were off the front, and I ended up finishing with Todd and David. When I got back to the car I was pretty beat, but I also felt great mentally because I knew I had just pushed waaaay into territory I had never been in before, both suffer-wise and achievement wise. I also knew that this particular ride, although it was not the longest, was definitely the toughest, and the peak of my season. Turns out I was right.

LONGEST RIDE:

52.5 Miles - Silver Comet Trail with Jay Starr. This was a super fun day. As you know the Comet is super flat, so this wasn't specifically a tough ride, but I will say that by the end, my butt was more tired of being in the saddle than my legs were tired of pushing.

FAVORITE RIDE:

Mountain biking at Haw Creek Park with my step brother John Frady and Jay Starr. 

To be a favorite ride does not mean it needs to be the toughest or the longest, it just needs to be the most FUN. Haw Creek is a super easy trail that is located halfway between mine and Jay's house, so we will often meet there when we feel like we should ride, but when neither of is is committed to a zillion miles of driving. This time we brought my brother along, as he had been wanting to start biking a bit, and had actually already gone on a few rides with us. Since this was a chillmode ride, I me and John got appropriately wasted before we even made it to the park. Beers continued each time we would finish a lap. Then, on our final lap, about halfway around the loop, the sky instantaneously opened up witha torrential downpour! There weas nothing we could do but keep pushing, so push on we did. The rain felt great, and all of a sudden it was all about just getting back to the car. We kept a pretty good, slippery pace and made it to the end, but then John realized that somewhere on the trail he had lost his eyeglasses. So, we headed back in, creeping along in the rain trying to find them. I ended up doing almost half of the loop before turning back. In the end he did retrieve the glasses. By the time we got out of the woods, Jay was gone. Then the sun came out.

We laughed our asses off all the way home. BONUS LEVEL: I was riding Ye Olde GT Talera which has steer 26x1.5 street slicks...corners were wicked drifty fun.

RUNNERS UP: My birthday ride in Flowery Branch with Brian Mershon and Jay Starr, and doing the entire Swamp Rabbit Trail, SC with Greg White.

BUCKET LIST RIDES COMPLETED:

Baltimore Bike Party (read full ride report here) and Swamp Rabbit Trail SC (read full ride review here)

BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:

Getting over my social anxiety, and fear of being too slow, and joining some actual group rides. First was Performance Great Ride Series Roswell, followed by Performance Great Ride Series Buford, Adventure Cycles Tuesday Night Weekly, Wrenched Bicycles Monday Night Social, and Kirkwood Sunday Ride. I started at the beginner level and moved up to the "B-Group" at Performance Buford. I have a real tough time making friends as old as I am, since everyone else has a family or is married or whatever, but I actually started to make a few friends on some of these rides.

BEST ROUTE:

Any of the routes we took during the Wrenched Bicycles Monday Night Social group rides out in Cleremont GA and the surrounding areas. This is an area where Georgia starts to become very rural, so there isn't a zillion tons of car traffic. This means you get some momentum, and long periods of good speed. To put that momentum to work, there are lots of decent size.grade hills as this area is somewhat where the Appalachian foothills start. Seriously beautiful countryside.

BEST NEW BIKING BUD:

My good buddy Keith Mox, Baltimore MD. I am sure that I knew Keith at least as an acquaintance when I lived back in Baltimore, but things from those days are a little blurry. We definitely have a bunch of mutual friends and he hit me up on Facebook after seeing me post about doing Baltimore Bike Party in July. We ended up syncing up at the halfway point and I hung out with him and his crew for the rest of the ride, and at the afterparty. Turns out we think the same way about most things bicycle related and seem to have a lot of similar bike related goals. Glad that I reconnected with Keith, he is one of the Good Guys. Hopefully one day we'll be able to do a long distance ride, or at the very least ride another Baltimore Bike Party.

WORST RIDE:

Critical Mass September -- DragonCon Edition. Some girl accused me of grabbing her butt while riding. Then later in the ride, some guy almost ran into me, then made some kind of remark about how I didn't know how to ride. I was really trying to make the best of the ride so I apologized to the girl even though I never touched her (what she really felt was the stupid triathalon double bottle rig sticking off the back of her seat when she tried to sit down too far back on the saddle) and I just ignored the other guy because he was trying to pull some roadie superiority on me (I was riding my Talera which is a mountain bike set up for street). There is no way he would have been so smug if I had been on my road bike, and as for the girl, well, some people just can't help but be jerks I guess. I hate to say it but Critical Mass in general has gone downhill (for me). I just don't have as much fun as I used to there, and it really isn't worth fighting traffic to get into Atlanta for (for me).

INJURIES / NOTABLE WRECKS:

NONE! Let's hope this is a trend that continues into 2015!

NEW BIKES / GEAR:

Aventon Cordoba Fixed Gear

SOLD BIKES / GEAR:

Peugeot 1986 Fixie Conversion. It served me soooo well, and I am going to miss that bad boy.

GOALS FOR 2015:

One thing I definitely learned from group rides and meeting some of the heavy hitters that ride them, is that almost everyone in the area is obsessed with riding the "Gaps", and pretty much set up their year to train for it. "Gaps" equals the Six Gap Century and the shorter versions of that ride, including the Three Gap Fifty. I was definitely told by one of the strongest riders in the Wrenched Monday group that I should try the Gaps ride, and that I could most likely make it if I rode smart. So, in 205 I need to at least head out that way and give it a try, even if it is not party of the organized ride. No way I could do the century, but I'd love to clear the Three Gap. A heavy goal.

I'd also like to Ride more with my buddies Graham and Mershon. We all live pretty far apart from one another so it may be hard but mot impossible.

I'm hoping to continue to expand my circle of bikey friends.

And of course, I am hoping to cover more miles and do more climbing.

2014 was a pretty good year for biking!

1985 Raleigh VEKTAR

You may bow down and worship the Raleigh VEKTAR. Don't even begin to dream about riding it...you're not worthy. You're not ready. This is the K.I.T.T. of BMX Bikes. 

If you were awesome enough to ride the VEKTAR, you could wear your fanciest clothes and still never get a mud strip up your back due to the Advanced Crud Deflection System, which is part of both the front and rear control sections. Your designer jeans and right calve would never get any grease from the chain, as the precision front drive component is equipped with a lubrication guard, which also works to keep your pants from getting caught up in the chain. Of course a velocipede this fast requires a saddle with a totally unique ergonomic butt-hugging design that keeps you locked into the cockpit as you approach light speed. I believe one of the features that is not widely talked about is the ability of the large wheel reflectors to bounce any type of laser weapon used against the bike back at the original shooter. Let's just keep that between us though okay.

Nineteen eighty five was a great year for future forward.

Sugino CT175 BMX Cranks

Loved these Sugino CT 175 BMX Cranks! The set I had never gave me a second of trouble. I'm pretty sure I had them on my custome Skyway T/A build. One of the neat things about these cranks, which you can't see here, is how amazingly thin they were when you looked down on them when you were on the bike. They were solid construction, so they were able to make them waaaaay thinned out, as opposed to the beefy wide tubular croMo cranks like Redline Flights of Profile. 

For some reason though, these cranks didn't really take off the way I thought they would as far as popularity. The price pooint was lower than tubular croMo, but waaaaay more than one piece. I am almost positive they weighed in between the two other options also.

If I ever do another BMX build, I would love to find a set of these in decent condition, just for the sake of having something different than what you see on retro builds all the time.

Seat and Car Upgrades!

Not a lot happening ride and adventure-wise right now, but I do have a few upgrades to report. I grabbed a sweet new WTB saddle as part of the Performance Bicycle Black Friday sale. I know, I know...I should be supporting my local independent bike shop instead of the giant corporate bike biz, but first off it was 50% off, and secondly, I have had a bunch of great group rides with the folks at my local Performance, so I'm not really feeling the guilt on this purchase. You can see that the old saddle was also a WTB. It served me pretty well, and I really only replaced it because it started to rip near the top front. I have mentioned previously in my old bike blog that I have a tendency to bend seat rails but only on one side. I am hoping that doesn't happen on this one.

The other, and perhaps more exciting upgrade, is actually not on any of my bicycles...I got a new car! Well, a new used car. But at 20k miles it is practically new. Its a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta S (the base model) and this time around I made sure to get a 5speed instead of an automatic, since auto transmission problems were a big problem on my previous VW. Hopefully I'll be able to afford a roof rack some time in the future, but until then, the fold down seats and roomy trunk area allow me to stash the roadbike without taking off the wheels! I'll take it!

Atlanta 2014 Critical Mass Halloween

Although I cannot make it to every group ride that happens in Atlanta, I try to make it each year to the Halloween Critical Mass. It's always one of the more well attended rides. This year, Halloween fell on the last Friday of the month, so that was kind of a bonus. Unfortunately for me, it was kind of a mediocre ride, which was my own fault. I drank too many beers too early, and by the time we got to Little Five Points, I had to break off to find a place to use the bathroom. It also started raining, well, maybe heavily drizzling, around this same time. By the time I took care of business, I had lost site of the ride, so I ended up going my own way and syncing up with some friends. I like to ride at least 10 miles every time I get on the bike, but only logged about 7 via Strava. I did not factor in the actual ride from where I parked my car (right by The Spindle) to Woodruff though, so all told I was probably pretty close to 10.

Anyway, here are a few pics of some of the folks who wore costumes.

Every year there is at least one person who is dramatically under dressed, and this year was no exception. Crazy penguin man.

Swamp Rabbit Trail - Ride Review

I've been wanting to knock the Swamp Rabbit Trail in South Carolina off the list for a while, so Saturday I met up with a good buddy of mine so we could get it done. After a little preliminary research we determined that the smartest plan for us would be to start at the southern terminus and work northward, then back. The southernmost point of the trail ends unceremoniously at an intersection next to a shopping center type deal with a bowling alley in the lot. We parked next to the bowling alley and didn't feel stressed about the bags of exposed gear we left in the car, it looks like a pretty chill neighborhood. If you want to start at the southernmost point, the address is 740 S Pleasantburg Drive Greenville SC 29607. There were a few other cars with bike racks parked there as well, so we could tell this is a pretty popular spot to leave the car.

RIDE REVIEW

The Swamp Rabbit is a multi-use path, and it is not a ride you want to do if you want to go mash some hills. It's practically a pancake, but if you do the entire length you will log just under 1000ft of climbing.

The trail starts off easy to see as standard double wide multi path, but you quickly get to a part where you can either ride in the street or on the sidewalk. We actually lost our way and had to double back because we felt like we had gone waaay too long off the actual trail, and we were right. You make one turn onto a street and just a short way away the entrance to the continuation of the trail is on the opposite side of the road, and it is not clearly marked. Keep your eyes open for it, it is easy to pass.

Once you are back on the pathed path, the trail markings get a little better. You'll know you are on the right track if you keep seeing letter number combos painted on the ground every so often counting downward from the mid 360's, Example: SR357

Almost immediately the trail starts to get crowded as you head towards downtown Greenville. You'll do some interesting twists and turns to get through the downtown section, as you need to cross and recross the river a few times. Easy to make some wrong turns here, so it may be best to follow someone who looks like they know where they are going.

The downtown section passes quickly. As you continue on, you'll notice that your bike suddenly seems like it is a bit heavier than usual. But what is really happening is that you are on a false flat - subtle upgrade for a fairly long clip once north of town. Nothing hard though, I only mention it because it is SO subtle that you may be inclined to think something is wrong with your bike. Also, there is a section where the path gets kind of narrow, but there is a rubberized section off to the side for runners. I didn't know what it was so I started riding in it and thought I had a flat. Duh.

The other thing I notoced about this trail is that there are A LOT of daybikers who don't even own a bike, but have rented a giant beach cruiser beast which they are struggling to keep control of. These people tend to REALLY want audible warnings of when you are going to pass. If you pass without warning, be prepared for them to go all trail boss on you. It never ceases to amaze me that the people who want to yell at you for not announcing that you're going to pass on the left are the same people who struggle to keep their bike under control and to the right. 

Guess what n00bs, you are breaking as much a rule as I am for taking up the entire fucking trail with your weeble wobble wackity wack ridiculousness! When I see you careening recklessly back and forth across the full width of the trail I'd rather sneak past you than call out that I'm going to pass, because when I do, you'll immediately steer in the same direction I'm about to pass you from. I learned the hard way about that one. So, I am going to ride in the way I think is safest for ME, not YOU. You're probably going to wreck anyway with or without my interference, my hope is to just get past you and away from you before you wreck into ME. I realize that this may not be a popular opinion, but riding defensively around people less experienced than me has worked well for 43 years, I'm not about to change it now because I "offended your bicycle etiquette requirement". For the record, my buddy was using his Incredibell AND I was calling out to other riders who we had to pass, but in general we would just sneak past any weeble wobblers. People we did call out to about passing usually gave us a "Thank You" as we rode by.

There is one section of trail where the double wide path stops, and then continue about 100 yards or so to your right, across a big barren intersection with lots of train tracks. This is a component of the trail that could definitely be better marked. When you get to this intersection, to continue, it almost looks like you are heading inside the gate of some sort of industrial complex. I should have taken a pic or video of this section. I could easily see some people get lost at this point, so be careful. 

Travelers Rest is a micro-town just a few miles from the northern terminus. If you are on a date-ride, Travelers Rest is a great place to stop for a bite, a beer, or to basically refuel however you need to. The actual trail continues a bit north of TR, and then ends abruptly.

The ride back is excellent, because all that upgrade you just worked through is downhill on the way back. Again, it is so subtle that you can barely tell, but you'll feel like you are really making time and having fun with lots of coasting on the return trip. Take your time, look around, have fun. Remember to slow it down through the downtown section. Most importantly, if you started next to the bowling alley like I described, then when you get back to the bowling alley, keep following the trail all the way to the top of the street/intersection, because it is the most climbing you'll have done all day and if you don't go all the way to the top, YOU HAVE CHEATED and not done the WHOLE trail. You'll thank me later for challenging you to go the whole way. It's only another 200 yards but it is a tough 200.

Overall I really enjoyed myself on this trail. There are enough things to look at along the way that you don't get bored, but you'll eventually get to sections where you can open up the throttle a little bit. I'd also say this is a great "date trail", and you could easily do more of it than you think you can even if you rarely ride. My Strava results for the ride were just under 34 miles out and back. You can always use the interactive trail map on your mobile device for help.

Now Go Get Swampy!

Terminus5C Bicycle Challenge 2014

Saturday my buddies Graham, Jay and I participated in the Terminus5C bicycle checkpoint ride/challenge and fundraiser for Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. This was my second year and their first. Weather was definitely a factor as the temp had dropped about 15 degrees from the previous day, and brought blustery winds all day long. Overall, the cool temps were not too bad, but definitely long sleeve weather.

The Mobile Social, the group that hosts the ride, has reported just under a hundred participants. The ride starts at Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta. (Group pic of start from Mobile Social FB page).

The ride included 5 checkpoints and two bonus stops. Each stop gained you points for making a purchase and completing a physical or mental challenge. The stops included:

Noni's

Challenge: Place photos of Living Walls art on map of Atlanta at correct locations in 1 min.
I'm not gonna lie, I just straight up guessed. I actually had one right, then changed it. Bummer. A lot of people hit Noni's first as it was the closest to the start. The poor guy working the bar had his hands full as a zillion bikey people started showing up trying to get the purchase bonus.

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition HQ

Challenge: Take a selfie with ABC staff member.

This one was easy.

About 500 yards from the next location, Graham flatted. He had repair supplies with him but unfortunately he sliced his tire bad enough that he couldn't continue so he had to abandon.

Argosy

Challenge: Throw 4 plastic coins and 2 plastic jewels into an open bike bag or basket from about 5 ft back.
The real challenge here was getting something from the bar for the purchase bonus. Jay and I stood at the bar for a good 10 minutes before being served and we were the only people waiting at that time. If it were only me there, I'd chalk up my perception of the wait time to me being in a rush, but Jay was wondering what the heck was going on also. Whatevs.

On the way from Argosy to The Pullman

The Pullman

Challenge: Timed identification of the names of various bike components.
This one was fun, fast and easy. It was also great to be immediately put on a list so that we could do the challenge in the order we showed up, since only 2 could go at a time. The bar staff and the folks running the challenge at this location were extremely on point. This place is right by Graham's hut, so I called and tried to get him to rejoin but he did not.

On the way to the next location, Jay flatted. He busted out a quick roadside repair and we were back on our way. Then things took a turn for the worse. About 800 yards later, he flatted again. We'll never know if the sharp wire we found inside the tire was a legit new flat or if the wire had been in the tire from the previous flat but not removed. Good thing Jay brought two tubes. After a few minutes we were headed out again, and I heard Jay shout something from behind. He had taken a spill. Bloody knee bizness. Said it was from an issue with the chain coming off. Felt kind of bad since I was the one who reinstalled the wheel on his bike. Sorry buddy. 

King of Pops World HQ

Challenge: Buy a pop, save receipt.
This was a bonus location, and we were going right past it on the way to the next place. I chose the "mystery pop" which ended up being banana and cinammon. Freakin delicious. The Beltline was predictably crowded.

Bantam

Challenge: Use two U-locks to lock together as many bikes as possible, to a rack, timed.
This would have been fun if I'd had actually had a chance to do it. Unfortunately things here were kind of unorganized, which meant that although Jay and I showed up before some of the other arrivals, we got skipped about 3 times in favor of other people. After the second time I spoke up and said something. By this timeI was starting to think that the actual challenge looked like something I wouldn't have been to great at anyway. One of the rules was that you had to include your own bike and I wasn't into the idea of scratching up or potentially damaging my bike just for some points. So Jay and I agreed, as we got skipped for the third time, that we should just go ahead and try to head to the next location which was a longer distance away than all of the other checkpoints, and had a higher point value. I think a lot of people had a lot of fun at this challenge, but it worked out pretty bad for us. The bar staff were super cool though, and I still got my purchase points. Oh well, onward!

Ormsby's

Challenge: Skeeball, Shuffleboard and Bicycle Tire Ring Toss.
It took us a while to actually find the door to this place, as it is tucked away beneath the stairs of a shopping center type deal. Then once we actually went inside, the first thing we saw were a bunch of really dressed up folks at the bar, and we were wondering if we were in the right place. One of the bar staff saw us and directed us downstairs, and we eventually found the section for the terminus challenges. These challenges were lots of fun, and I would love to go back to this place later and check it out with some friends. The folks running the challenges here were very organized, were taking people in order of arrival, and seemed like they were having a blast.

Amsterdam Cafe

No Challenge here. This was the end point, after party/awards ceremony location. Had some excellent post ride food and maybe one too many beers.

We stuck around for the awards ceremony, because the great thing about this event, aside from the fundraising for a great cause, is that lots of people win lots of things for lots of reasons. The awards ceremony was fun, and wouldn't you know it Jay got the award for "Most Average Rider". I think what they meant was "Most Consistent Scorer" but it was announced as "Most Average", which I thought was pretty funny. He got a big round of applause and a top tube pad made out of a repurposed inner tube. 

Graham, me and Jay

Overall it was another fun year of Terminus5C action. My strategy for next year is going to be not buying beer for the purchase points at each location. Gonna limit the beers to the last 2 locations and just get something else at each spot early on.

I said this last year and I will repeat it again now...this event is fun for pretty much anyone that can ride a bike comfortably in city traffic, and everyone should give it abgo, you'll have an adventure and probably a total blast.

1986 Peugeot p-10 Fixed Gear Conversion (SOLD)

This weekend I took my 1986 Peugeot P-10 Fixed Gear Conversion down to The Spindle for their bike parts swap meet and BBQ jam. The Spindle is a super rad shop[ for commuter bike clothes, but even more than that, it serves as sort of a social hub for Atlanta bicycle people. I was pretty stoked that the bike got attention all day, and I ended up selling it right after the swap meet closed. My friend Katie iMac gave me the bike in original form, and then I did the conversion to fixed a few years later. Just wanted to post a few pics for the memories, and I am glad to know that the bike went to a good new home. Had a lot of great adventures on this bad boy...

Terminus 5C 2014 Atlanta GA

Coming up this weekend, 10.4.14 in Atlanta GA

TERMINUS 5C

I did the Terminus 5C last year and it was definitely one of the most fun rides of the year. You get to make your own route to 5 different locations around town, each location hosting a challenge that earns you points. Sweet party at the end. You should go, and you should bring your friends. 

You Shouldn't Yell at Cyclists

Flowery Branch End of Summer Half Century 3D VIEW Bicycle Ride

Are you using Strava?  I am, and I hope you are too.  Such a great way to quantify your stats, if you are into that sort of thing.  I know that stats are not for everyone, and that some folks just like to go ride, but I personally LOVE seeing my numbers.

Something I discovered which is very rad is the VELOVIEWER website, which offers a bunch of interesting visualizations of your Strava data.  Probably my favorite of all the available visualizations is the 3D view of your ride.  Today I did my longest ride of the year, an End Of Summer Half Century. I didn't really intend to do that kind of distance when I left the house, but the weather wasso nice I just kept going. Anyway, here is the 3D visualization of the ride elevation data:

Pretty Rad!

Scattante Mestre Multi-Lens Eyewear

Earlier this year, in Spring, I picked up some cheapo sunglasses at Target, specifically for using on the bike. They actually did pretty well, and are still functional, but one of the rubber nose pads fell off. Since symmetry is cool and all, I ripped the other nose pad off, and ever since then I have just been unhappy with them. To me, it seems like the are fogging up more, and to be honest I really just wanted a new pair of shades after sweating all over the Target specials all Summer.

So I picked up a set of these Scattante Mestra Multi-Lens Eyewear:

Got a great deal on them during one of Performance Bikes sales. They came with 3 different lenses, dark, amber and totally clear. Also included is a hard case, and a bag that doubles as a cleaning cloth.

Just got them, so I haven't tried them out yet, but I popped in the amber lenses since we are headed into Fall and most of my riding will be done during the twilight hours. I'll give them a good run through this upcoming week. One of the things I am interested in is whether or not they won't fog. If they do, I am thinking about drilling two small holes in the top corners of each lens to see if creating some ventilation will help. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, I haven't even ridden with them yet.

I can say one thing for sure though,..

I definitely feel like I am from the future when I wear them. 

Clunker - Very Rad Old School Homage

A pretty well done modern clunker. Love that gold anodized front rim. I'm thinking they may have actually had the mounts for the V-brake custom welded on as I'm sure that this thing started life as a coaster brake.

Learn a little more about clunkers in the vid below:

Fixed Gear Brake Pad Upgrade - Wait...Fixies Don't Have Brakes, Right?

Well, track bikes don't have brakes, but I wouldn't consider my fixed gear a true track bike.  For the record, it is an Aventon Cordoba with a few small mods.  I run a front brake, because I can.

Me and a buddy recently did a fun half century on the Silver Comet Trail, and about 10 miles out there is a bike shop called Boneshaker Bikes that we stopped at hoping they would still have some of the clear/dayGlo combo brake pads that they had when we passed through last year. They still had them! I grabbed a set for my Aventon since the stock pads had for some reason started squeaking pretty bad as of late. I'm not going to lie...I also just wanted the clear/glo color to add a little snazz to the old blackbird.

The install was a little iffy. These things are not meant for fixed gear biking at all, they are for BMX bikes, so I was a little hesitant that the curve profile would be too sharp for 700c rims, but that ended up not being an issue. I did have to do some creative rearranging with the washer stack on each pad to get them to fit though, and even then the threads stuck out pretty far from the slots. No biggie though. The only downside is that I absolutely positively without a doubt have them toed in correctly, but I'm still getting some squeaking. Tightened up the brake mounting bolt in the fork, which helped but didn't totally solve the issue. 

Believe it or not, I think that the sound may have something to do with some residual chemicals from cleaning the bike at the local High Pressure Wash It Yourself Car Wash. We'll give it a little time and see how it goes. I'm trying to use the brake in emergencies only anyway. Color ended up looking pretty rad, a subtle touch that some heads will appreciate.

Looks pretty rad from the flight deck.

Broken Bottom Bracket Cup

I ride a 2012 Scott S 50 road bike, That is a perfect bike for a regular non-pro like me. It has a triple on the front but I try not to ever granny. Anyway, a few weeks ago the BB started creaking so I bought the tools, disassembled, cleaned and reassembled. I may have reassembled with a little too much gusto...

CRACK IS WACK

GT BMX Vintage Ad - 1981

Regular Cyclist has BMX roots so you'll see the 20: crew gets lots of respect around here. Very cool vintage GT ad circa 1981.

Firsties

Something needs to be the first post, so here we go.

I am a regular cyclist.

By that I mean I bicycle regularly.

Also, it means I am a regular average rider.

I am not a racer, ultra-commuter, full time bicycle activist, or bike shop employee.
However I have done and been all of those things at one time.

I'm not super fit, super fast, or doing extremely epic ride distances, but I do like to try to improve my personal limits. Want to see how incredibly average I am? Follow me on STRAVA.

So if I am so regular, why even bother to start a blog?

Well, like all cyclists, I have opinions, and from time to time I like to put them out in the bikeiverse and see what happens.

So there you have it. Hope you stop through often.