RR: Maybe I am getting stronger

On Saturday morning Patrick and I had thought about a ride, but he couldn't go in the morning and I
couldn't get time in the afternoon. "Tomorrow, unless it is raining of snowing at exactly the time
we plan, we ARE riding". Sunday came, it had snowed a bit the evening before, but true to our plans
we went. We left from his house in town, about 3.5 miles to the trail head of Colorado Trail up
Junction Creek. The trail is damp, but not at all muddy, the creek is flowing well, no one else
around with a little snow dusted everywhere. Patrick usually kicks my butt, he is strong, in his
twenties, and a very good rider. I've been riding a lot lately, so I felt this would be a good test.
Once the climb starts, it is a few miles to Guddy's Rest. Not too technical a climb, but steep
enough to get a sweat up. Still cold, but warming fast, we comment that it feels like fall instead
of spring. I hang on Pat's wheel with little difficulty, maybe he is just warming up. We hang out at
the rest for a bit, what a beautiful morning. You can hear the creek some 1000 feet below, no other
bikers or hikers around, steam coming from our breath. We continue on. Over to Hoffin's (sp)
Connection and drop down into Lightner Creek. (Remember when they brought the herd in in City
Slickers, it was filmed in this area). I feel real good and take the lead, pretty fast down hill,
the trail is in great shape, the snow made it tacky in this area. At the bottom we start the climb
back up again on Dry Fork Trail. This is a lollypop-loop. The climb is nice, a little pocked up from
cattle, wetter and slick in spots (the Python on the rear is really pissing me off), but easy to
sustain, nothing too technical. Still hanging on Patrick's wheel. We arrive back at Guddy's Rest and
continue down into the Junction Creek drainage. Now we begin to see other trail users and have to
take it easy in spots. Lots of blind corners, switch backs and all. What a fun down hill (why is it
you only realize how much uphill you did when you go down it?). Back to the road and cruise back to
his house. He is coasting much faster than I but I still have lots of legs so I can hang ok. I get
to my truck and have already noticed my rear wheel is a bit wobbly, perhaps I kicked it out of true
somewhere. I lift the bike and can barely spin the wheel a 1/4 of a turn. How long have I been
riding like this? Oh well, I had not problems hanging on this ride (and Patrick told me he was
working pretty hard) and at least some of it was with a seized rear wheel. Maybe all this road
training is helping a bit. 23 miles, seized rear wheel, lots of energy left.
--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove .nospam. if replying)

 

Nice report. That's one of my favorite rides in the area. I never feel as if I've arrived in Durango
until I've ridden up to Gudy's.

Still up for a beer?

A

 

Craig Brossman wrote:
> On Saturday morning Patrick and I had thought about a ride, but he couldn't snip<

> (why is it you only realize how much uphill you did when you go down it?).

See, for me, its usually "why is it you only realize how much downhill you did when you go up it?".

>snip< I get to my truck and have already noticed my rear wheel is a bit wobbly, perhaps I kicked it
>out of true somewhere. I lift the bike and can barely spin the wheel a 1/4 of a turn. How long have
>I been riding like this? Oh well, I had not problems hanging on this ride (and Patrick told me he
>was working pretty hard) and at least some of it was with a seized rear wheel. Maybe all this road
>training is helping a bit. 23 miles, seized rear wheel, lots of energy left.

I had a similar (but smaller) effect when I replaced my bottom bracket and crankset. I took the
bottom bracket out, and could barely turn it by hand. it was that gunked up. It might have been
placebo, what with new parts, a pound of the bike, etc., but I swear I was riding a gear higher than
normal at least.

> --
> Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove .nospam. if replying)

Nice RR!

Jon Bond

 

"Jonathan Bond" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I had a similar (but smaller) effect when I replaced my bottom bracket and crankset. I took the
> bottom bracket out, and could barely turn it by hand. it was that gunked up. It might have been
> placebo, what with new parts, a pound of the bike, etc., but I swear I was riding a gear higher
> than normal at least.
>
>
> Nice RR!
>
> Jon Bond
>
Turns out that the free wheel may have come a little loose and added pressure to the drive side
cone, thus causing all the stiction. Rebuild tonight, ride tomorrow!
--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove .nospam. if replying)

 

I will be doing a couple hill climb races on paved roads this summer. I will be using a hard tail
MTB made lighter with a rigid aluminum fork and skinny slicks. With these mods, it is lighter than
my road bike, without the hassle of changing out the gearing.

However, I can barely fit Conti Grand Prix 26 x 1" tires on my Bontrager Race (tubeless compatible)
rims. These tires have a wire bead. Once I get them on (with 1" tubes), they hold pressure well, but
they have at least one flat spot which renders them unrideable. It appears that they are stretched
to the limit around these rims, even though they are supposed to fit.

Can anyone recommend a light, skinny (1" or 1.2") slick? Can anyone recommend a 26" rim or built-up
wheel that is narrower than the typical 26" wheel? The width of the rim is one dimension that is
hard to come by when shopping for wheels/rims, since they must all be close to standard width.

I think Mavic has a new wheel that is 700c with MTB hub width for this purpose, but it can only be
used with disc brakes. I have canti brakes.

Your help would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Tom