Seldomseen Smith

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Gravel Grovel 2016

61 miles

3,900 feet of climbing.

http://www.dinoseries.com/gravel-grovel/

I've wanted to attempt this ride many times in the past. This year I made it a point to attempt because, at the time, I had inspirations to attempt the Dirty Kanza 200. I've never rode a "gravel" bike before, so I used this ride to judge how I would handle the gravel version on my brevet bike.


Gravel Bike.

Over all the ride went well, I think. There is a combination of gravel, paved, and single track on the route. The single track really beat me up, but on the gravel and paved sections I was able to ride much faster than I would on my mountain bike. I think the bike performed well and is capable to finish the Dirty Kanza 200. Sadly, 2017 Dirty Kanza overlaps Devil's week, (1500k in 7 days), that I will attempt, if all works out, so no Dirty Kanza 200 this year. Maybe Dirty Kanza 2018? I know I have a bike for the job.

Post ride

The bike doesn't look too sad after the beating it took in Hoosier National Forest.

There were very fast riders during this ride. I didn't push my hardest, but I did push considering it was only 60miles. I finish around 100th out of just over 200 riders. My finish time was under 5hrs. I'm satisfied.

Friday, January 27, 2017

Brevet bike.

There have been few renditions of my brevet bike. Main changes are to hopefully correct hand soreness, saddle sores, and left knee pain. Surely sticking with the Surly.

Above is my Surly Cross Check as ridden on the CtoCtoC 1000k in Ohio. This is basically the set up I have rode many brevets on. Saddle sores, hand pain, and knee issues on longer rides are causing me to make adjustments.

Above is the current set-up.

Changes:

WTB rocket V saddle. Replacing the Brooks saddle. Lighter, more modern characteristics, and thinner. Hoping to relieve saddle sores on 600k and up Brevets.
12-32 cassette. Replacing a 12-25 cassette. Hoping to ease knee pain with a higher cadence on hill climbs.
Shimano 105 STI shifters. Replacing Tektro long pull brakes and downtube friction shifting. More comfortable hoods and allows me to keep both hands on the handlebars, hopefully helping hand pain.
Gatorskin 32c tires. Replacing Schwalbe Marathons. Quicker tires. Easier to pedal, easier on me physically.
Lose the rear rack. Not much heavier, but temps me to carry more stuff that I probably won't use.
Went back to plastic bottles. Replacing Klean Kanteens. Easier to drink. Lighter. But mainly, easier to drink while riding.

So far I'm digging the changes. The bike seems easier to pedal and relatively comfortable. Longest ride thus far has been a couple 200ks. Have had many 100k rides. I have a Fletche coming up in early May, 360k, which will be a good test.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Ohio 1000k

626 miles 18,685 ft of climbing

The bike:

Beta V.1

My hands were sore after the 600k so I was thinking of adding aerobars to take pressure off of my hands. In order to use aerobars I had to lose the handlebar bag. So I bought some Revelate Frame Bags to use with my Arkel rack bag.

The bike V.2:

Because of the mandatory sleep stops and the drop bag I decided to lose the aerobars, lose the arkel rack bag, revelate tank bag, and ride with only my handlebar bag. So a last second change was had before I hit the rode for Cleveland. I strapped my Frogg Toggs to my rack for the just in case. This is the set-up I used.

Gear:

Frame pump

2x tubes

watch

cycle gloves

Helmet light

GPS

tums

Ibuprofen

Tylenol

Cliff bars

Recoverers

Spare shift cable

Tool seat bag with general tools.

Butt butter

Ziploc bag for Brevet card, phone, and wallet.

Pen

reflective gear

Solar battery

phone cable

GPS cable

xtra AAA

Helmet

Spare light

Gen light

2x Rear lights

Bike shorts x2

swim trunks x2

frogg togg jacket

cycle SS jersey

sun shirt

5.10 shoes

sunglasses

night glasses

water bottles

This was a new type of ride for me. With my drop bag at every control, food provided at controls, and mandatory sleep I didn't know what to expect. Last year I completed PBP completely self supported.

The Start


Day2 Bridge out. Crossing freeway by bike, not fun.

Day3. Over halfway complete. Riding back from Cincinnati.


Tall bridges in Ohio.

Last morning gave some excellent views.

Coming home.

If it wasn't for my saddle sores this ride wasn't mentally of physically fatiguing. Saddle sores from my Brooks prompted me to purchase a WTB Rocket V saddle. Testing in process. Also after this ride, after two years and many thousands of miles on Schawlbe Marathons, I've put on some Gatorskins. Testing in process also, but early indications show that they are easier to pedal and I'll probably stick with them. I've also removed the rear rack of the bike.

Future for the bike:

I'm putting my STI Brifters back on. My plan is next brevet season to not use a handlebar bag, use my Revelate Tangle frame bag. Trying to get this bike a little more comfortable and less difficult to pedal long distances. Also in the plans are gravel rides where downtube shifters cause me to take my hand off the bars, I'd rather keep both hands on bars on gravel. Updates on my bike upgrades to come.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Indiana Ranonneurs 600k 2017 July

371 miles 13,600ft of climbing.

Hotter than hell.

Bike:

Gear:

Bread bags for feet --- wet ride

Frame pump

2x tubes

watch

cycle gloves

Helmet light

GPS

tums

Ibuprofen

Tylenol

Cliff bars

Recoverers

Spare shift cable

Tool seat bag with general tools.

Butt butter

Ziploc bag for Brevet card, phone, and wallet.

Pen

reflective gear

Solar battery

phone cable

GPS cable

xtra AAA

Helmet

Spare light

Gen light

2x Rear lights

Bike shorts

swim trunks

frogg togg jacket

cycle SS jersey

sun shirt

5.10 shoes

sunglasses

night glasses

water bottles

4x Sandwiches

4x hard boiled eggs

This was a very hot, very painful, very humbling ride. Veterans of the Randonneuring scene were unable to finish. Guys that have ridden multiple countries, multiple states, and are far better riders than I. It was the heat making it difficult to eat that assisted in the inability of some to finish. I was one of the lucky ones that was able to eat. 50% of participants that attempted abandoned.

Maybe I owe my ability to finish to the IPA at about the 300k mark???

Friday, July 22, 2016

Indiana Randonneurs 400k 2016

251 miles 11,000' of climbing.

Bike:

Gear:

Bread bags for feet --- wet ride

Frame pump

2x tubes

watch

cycle gloves

wool long finger gloves

Black latex gloves over my wool gloves (great water protection)

Helmet light

GPS

tums

Ibuprofen

Tylenol

Cliff bars

Recoverers

Spare shift cable

Tool seat bag with general tools.

Butt butter

Ziploc bag for Brevet card, phone, and wallet.

Pen

reflective gear

Solar battery

phone cable

GPS cable

xtra AAA

Helmet

Spare light

Gen light

2x Rear lights

Bike shorts

swim trunks

frogg togg jacket

cycle SS jersey

cycle LS wool jersey

5.10 shoes

sunglasses

night glasses

water bottles

4x Sandwiches

4x hard boiled eggs

Morgan Monroe Forest

Our 400k winds through a beautiful section of Morgan Monroe forest. I really enjoy this area. Nice quiet roads, low traffic, and very steep climbs are available if looking.

Puncture on the route before the hills. Team efforts.

As expected in southern Indiana a lot of short steep climbs. After Bedford the climbs start. County Farm road and Pearless road are the two that stand out. Quick downs and abrupt steep climbs, almost not giving you time to shift. Glorious route. While headed to the Bedford control we came across our only rain. We were on a flat farmland meadow and you could see the rain sheet coming it. It was rather amazing. It was warm enough not to bother us so no need to put on the rain gear.

Another highlight was the ride into Seymour, the last control before finish. This is a relatively flat segment, which is a nice relief, and a farming area. This segment is in the very dark on back country roads. It is a peaceful ride. On this particular day the fireflies were giving us a wonderful display. There were no clouds in the sky, no city lights, so the stars were showing all their wonder. The stars meshing softly with the fireflies was an amazing show given by nature. Well except when riding by a country barn party at 1am with a big drunk guy yelling asking if I wanted a beer...

Knee held up well, ankle is getting better. I'm more confident in my knee now, but concerned about my ankle, hoping it heals soon. I can still feel my lack of training. These rides are more difficult than last year. Because of the recent ankle injury my only "training" has been commuting. I need some long non-brevet rides soon if I want to finish the upcoming 600k and beyond.

Indiana Randonneurs 300k 2016

187 miles with 6100' of climbing.

Bike:

Arkel handlebar bag

Testing my knew Arkel tail bag for rack.

Gear:

Bread bags for feet --- wet ride

Frame pump

2x tubes

watch (I only wear a watch on rando rides)

cycle gloves

wool long finger gloves

Black latex gloves over my wool gloves (great water protection)

Helmet light

GPS

tums

Ibuprofen

Tylenol

Cliff bars

Recoverers

Spare shift cable

Tool seat bag with general tools.

Butt butter

Ziploc bag for Brevet card, phone, and wallet.

Pen

reflective gear

Solar battery

phone cable

GPS cable

xtra AAA

Helmet

Spare light

Gen light

2x Rear lights

Bike shorts

swim trunks

frogg togg jacket

cycle SS jersey

cycle LS wool jersey

5.10 shoes

sunglasses

night glasses

water bottles

2x Sandwiches

Still "Testing" the knee, as I am not fully confident in it. My knee does get sore, a sharp type feeling later in rides. We'll see how it works with some climbing.

We were in for a very chilly, windy ride with a wet start. Thankfully the rain stopped at the start because it was a cold ride.

I had my 1st real mechanical issue on a brevet on this ride. About 10miles into the ride, when I pedaled the cassette would stop? I didn't take long to discover that my cassette lock nut came loose and the cassette was against the dropout. I thought my day was done, I had no tool to tighten the lock-nut.

Loose cassette lock nut.

Eventually I was able to use my multi-tool flat screwdriver bit and tap the lock-nut tight/ish again. I didn't think it would hold so once the bike was operational I turned around and headed for home. If I continued with the ride I didn't want to get to a point a 100miles away and not be able to repair the cassette if it happened to fail again. After about a mile riding back to the car everything seemed well, so I turned back around to press my luck at see if I can finish. I'm glad I changed my mind because the bike handled flawlessly the remainder of the ride.

My knee was a little sore, but I am still satisfied on how well it is healing. My ankle was sore and it definitely hurt worse than my knee. I'll buy a brace for my ankle to hopefully help promote healing.

Because of my knee injury last August I can definitely feel that my lack of training is making these rides very difficult. The 200k wasn't bad, the fleche wasn't bad either, though more miles than the 300k but no climbing. The 300k really wore me down. I was tired, sore, and slow when I finished. I'm hoping this improves.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Ohio fleche.

Team Name: Sagamores of the Wabash.

Fleche information: Rusa.org/flecherules

Riding as a team is something I haven't been apart of in Randonneuring. Yes I sometimes ride with others, we'll chat, and maybe ride together through a couple controls. A fleche is a full team ride which I really enjoyed the concept. Our Indiana team worked well together and finished within the time limits, which is really all that you can ask.

Before the ride the weather was not promising. Rain. And did it rain. I would say we were rained on for at least 19 hours. Thankfully it was relatively warm so we didn't get too cold, but the constant rain did start to drain me.

Within our team we had a few mechanicals. One guy broke a chain, which was easily repaired with spare links, and another guy broke a spoke and was able to tie the broken spoke off and continue riding.

Most frightening part of the ride is when we were crossing wet rail tracks and a couple guys took a spill. Very scary. I'm glad that no one was hurt, or at least they said they weren't hurt, and we were able to continue on.

One of the most memorable parts of the ride is when we were riding along one of Ohio's many rail to trail paths and we were sprayed by a skunk. Well two guys up front got the brunt of the good stuff, us in back just got a bad taste in our mouth. The remainder of the ride was fine as long as were didn't ride next to the two guys that got most of the spray. Thankfully those two rode home together so they didn't have to punish anyone else.

The ride was challenging probably because I haven't rode that distance since last August. The constant rain also played a role in making the ride more difficult. 5 teams attempted the ride, but 2 dropped out because of weather.

All teams met up at a restaurant which is another great concept of the fleche. After riding for some 24hrs straight you meet up with other warriors of the wheel and tell stories. Our skunk story was very popular, but sitting by us wasn't.

Best part of the ride is the fact that my knee held up well, however I did seem to tweak my right ankle. I was very happy about this. Next test for the knee is the Indiana Randonneurs 300k with over 6k feet of climbing.