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The "Where did you ride your bike today?" Thread...

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winkybiker

Jun 30, 2012
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Re: Re:

WillemS said:
carton said:
Rewarding your Alpine fitness with a new bike? I'm jealous. Well, I'd guess most of us are quite likely jealous.
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Yeah, I convinced myself I needed a new one :p

No seriously, my old bike was getting, well, old and needed a lot of necessary and pricey maintenance and replacements. As the frame was nearing its minimal expected lifetime anyway I decided that I would start looking for a new one. I wasn't actually planning on buying one until the next season, but I got a really sweet deal and went for it.

I'll get the old bike back in riding order cheaply and lend it to my father; he's probably not going to use it much, so it's not going to matter much that the shifting is that smooth and some of the bearings show signs of wear.
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What sort of frame has an "expected lifetime"? The only frame I've had fail was steel, and they're supposed to last for ages.
 
Tricycle Rider

Tricycle Rider

Feb 9, 2013
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Went for my usual 10k ride along the Willamette River, it was nice because there was barely anyone on the trail. (Except for maybe a few runners and some very dedicated dog walkers.)

The weather was trying to do its best Tour stage impersonation from earlier this morning - it started pouring, but sadly, no hail.

It was fun, though, I had good legs today and no mechanicals. Those are the best days. :)
 
WillemS

WillemS

Aug 6, 2011
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Re: Re:

winkybiker said:
What sort of frame has an "expected lifetime"? The only frame I've had fail was steel, and they're supposed to last for ages.
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Not an "expected lifetime" but the minimum expect lifetime; the actual expected lifetime is often much longer. I spoke with an employee of a bike manufacturer a while ago, he said that their carbon frames had a minimum expected lifetime of 12 years meaning that no frame should fail before that. However, the actual expected lifetime, without abuse, was a multiple of that, as they expect their frames to last, well, long. In fact, they don't think ordinary frame failure, that is not caused by crashed &c., will be reason for replacement that often. (Contrast that to phone manufacturers that expect failure to be one of the primary motives of considering buying a new phone.)

Now, my frame will probably last a while longer, but it isn't exactly a top model frame and it has had a lot of abuse. I bought it when I just graduated from high school, so my budget was very tight, and rode it often and hard on all kinds of terrain including cobbles. I also crashed with it a couple of times; nothing serious and I had my bike checked every time, but still. All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if the frame does fail at some point, so it all played into the rationalisation I needed to buy a new frame. :cool:
 
King Boonen

King Boonen

Jul 25, 2012
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Did the Tour of the Borders route at the weekend on my fixed wheel. Route is here:

https://www.strava.com/routes/3902272

First off, I can highly recommend riding this route. A lot of it is on singletrack roads with very few cars in beautiful scenery. The official sportive is closed roads and it's obvious why when you ride it. You're fine on your own or in small groups but large numbers of cyclists and cars on those roads would just result in constant stop/start riding. If you're ever near the area then do it. It's not a long ride (took me about 4 1/2 hours) but it's well worth it.

I Managed to average 27kph which is pretty good going considering anything over 35kph is anaerobic on the gear I was riding (76", hits that speed around 100-110rpm) and it was a typically Scottish summers day (high headwinds and loads of rain :) ). However, I did discover that I've not actually recovered from my crash a while back. On the really steep section when I need to be able to pull up to turn the gear my right leg just couldn't, felt like my hip was collapsing. Worst of all once this had started it felt like it for the entire route. Seems like I'm going to have to go back to gears for the long, lumpy stuff. This is the second test I've done, I did the Cardross Road the other week (like the Amulree climb Rick James) and that was hellish too so unless I know I can turn the gear I'm going to have to take the geared bike out (53/39 and 11-25 at the back so more than enough range).

I took some video, will try and stick something together and put it up, the route is absolutely fantastic.
 
May0maniac

May0maniac

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Today I did a 124km ride with a few climbs in the Dolomites, durning the 2nd part of the ride I had to deal with lots of rain, but it was warm so it wasn't a big deal.
 
Cance > TheRest

Cance > TheRest

Apr 17, 2013
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Rode up from Malaucene to Mont Ventoux two days ago. After 1½ hours of suffering, the view from the top was quite rewarding. There was at least 3 straight kilometers with white campers up the road from Chalet Reynard. Bad luck for all the fans that have parked on that last stretch after the shortening of the climb.
 
King Boonen

King Boonen

Jul 25, 2012
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Re: Re:

Tricycle Rider said:
King Boonen said:
I went out on gears last night for the first time in a year. That was really weird!
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I realize you're a fixie purist, but if you're still injured I don't see why you couldn't make use of some geared bikes. (There's no shame in that.)

Listen to your body, man, you're gonna need it for the rest of your life!
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That's exactly why I'm doing it :) I'm doing a hilly Sportive at the end of August and I've found that if the road is consistently above about 15% for 200+ m and then ramps up above 20% I can't pull up with my right leg and it feels like it's collapsing. It was my right hip I crashed on and had the haematoma on. If I knew the route is know if I could ride my fixed wheel, but as I don't I'm probably going to have to play it safe and ride my geared bike.

My geared bike is a full Reynolds 853 pro-race tube set frame with a carbon fork. I had forgotten how ridiculously smooth it is on the terrible roads up here! Absolute joy to be able to hit 70 kph going down hill and feel completely in control! Also, not having your weight forced forward while descending is a big bonus...
 
Cance > TheRest

Cance > TheRest

Apr 17, 2013
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After 1½ weeks in Vaison la Romane, I finally decided to do my "Ventoux-attack" from the classic Bedoin-side. The complete ride took 3 hours 20 minutes, as the route went from Vaison to Malaucéne, proceeding via the small climb (Madeleine) before I reached Bedoin. The ascent from Bedoin took 1 hour and 42 minutes. Surprisingly it was not the steep section in the Pine Forest, that was toughest. This time it was the last kilometer before the summit. On my way I passed a lot of people - some who were listening to music and some who had decided to wear long-legged bib-shorts (??) - and on the summit it was crowded with people (especially Belgians!). Afterwards, I descended to Malaucene as it was more convenient. All in all a great day!
 
42x16ss

42x16ss

May 23, 2009
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Re:

Cance > TheRest said:
After 1½ weeks in Vaison la Romane, I finally decided to do my "Ventoux-attack" from the classic Bedoin-side. The complete ride took 3 hours 20 minutes, as the route went from Vaison to Malaucéne, proceeding via the small climb (Madeleine) before I reached Bedoin. The ascent from Bedoin took 1 hour and 42 minutes. Surprisingly it was not the steep section in the Pine Forest, that was toughest. This time it was the last kilometer before the summit. On my way I passed a lot of people - some who were listening to music and some who had decided to wear long-legged bib-shorts (??) - and on the summit it was crowded with people (especially Belgians!). Afterwards, I descended to Malaucene as it was more convenient. All in all a great day!
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Nice! I was there for the Ventoux stage last week but could only get as far as Chalet Reynard (for obvious reasons). I had a great time but the wind on the descents back into Bedoin and Malaucéne was downright dangerous in some places. It was easy to see why the stage was shortened.
 
Tricycle Rider

Tricycle Rider

Feb 9, 2013
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Re:

King Boonen said:
My plan for Saturday is sorted...

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/15229267
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As long as your body is feeling good/healthy (and you're not 'toughin' it out') I say go and have fun!

(Sorry to be such a freaking fussin' mother hen all the time, but being I work with the elderly I can't stress enough that you'll need your body for the rest of your life. We're talking decades here - possibly to the age of 90+.)
 
King Boonen

King Boonen

Jul 25, 2012
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Re: Re:

Mayomaniac said:
King Boonen said:
Today I sacked off watching the Tour and destroyed my legs instead :D
Click to expand...
Wow, that looks like a hard one
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It was very tough solo! The height gain is wrong on that link, was actually 3426m over 225km. The issue with trying to get lots of elevation here is you have to use lots of climbs, many of which are quite steep. Add in the wind that's a year round thing and it hurts :)

Will take a look at your ride when I'm on a computer, always good to see where other members ride :)
 
S

SirLes

Jul 29, 2009
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Up the hourquette d'ancizan with my 7yr old son. His first Col. Got the Km market as a souvenir! Started from the turn off from the Aspin road as that road is so busy. Still 10km and all the hard bits!

It's a lovely climb and now far more well known. Lots of people cycling.
 
Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

Aug 3, 2015
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Re: Re:

Cance > TheRest said:
Valv.Piti said:
80 kilometres in Harzen, 2000 metres of vertical gain... IM DONE
Click to expand...
Which climbs did you tackle? :)
Sonnenberg, Torfhaus (Steile Wand), Wurmberg, Hohegeiss etc?
Click to expand...

Did both climbs from Zorge, the harder and shorter one to Hohegeiss and the longer and more shallow (can't remember the name, but its 7 km at 3,5%). Also did Wurmberg, the climb to Skt. Andresberg from South (4 kilometres long, 6% average I think) and the climb coming down from Andreasberg going south on the big road. I hate that one. I assume its 2,5% at 7-8%.

Did Hohegeiss in 14,30. I think I could have gone 1 minute faster since I was coming off 1 week off sickness and still wasn't 100% and coughed a lot (at least thats the excuse I have for not dropping my 13 y/o brother more than 30 seconds max each time). Defo my favourite one.
 
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