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https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl General Category >> Ride Reports >> Night Ride part dos https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl?num=1212467601 Message started by aikigreg on Jun 2nd, 2008, 11:33pm |
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Title: Night Ride part dos Post by aikigreg on Jun 2nd, 2008, 11:33pm So last night Steve Barlow and I met at Bud’s place because Steve wanted to try a range of bents and so we let him have a go at the v-rex, the nimbus, and the corsa. He was very wobbly and couldn’t ride at first, but once he figured out to let go of the death grip he was gold. And sold. He’s putting his fixie up for sale to try and get himself a corsa. When he gets used to it, we’re all SCREWED. He’s so freaking fast on his road bike as it is. If he had the time, he’d be a cat-3 I expect. He’s a tinkerer as well as rider, having made a home-made LED light that’s close in brightness to the light and motion arc-lion I have, and after having talked about Bud making me a disc wheel for my tica, showed up with his own version, which was made out of that sheeting that goes over light fixtures. Heavier, but seemed to do the trick. It had to have added 2mph to his cruising speed, and kept him fresher on the bike at his regular pace. Anyway, we had a good ride. We started at around 6pm and opted for the 40 mile route in able to get back to Cedar Hill and hit the dairy queen. Lights came on after a nice big hamburger, and we decided to just roam around the area willy-nilly. We found where a few neighborhoods ended and did a lot of climbing to get back to the route. We did 2-3 small circles around the 67 access road and lake ridge and such to end up with 79 miles, finishing at 12 and chatting till 12:30. around a 17mph pace. I’m exhausted today because I rode with no mix and no electrolytes, which was a bad idea. I had plenty of gel so I could keep the calories going though. Traffic was essentially nonexistent at these times on a Sunday, and what was there gave us a W-I-D-E berth. Much wider than normal, probably due to us riding side-by-side and having such bright headlights, and his planet bike superflash and my borrowed fenix ld-2 in blinking mode. Riding at night is fantastic, and this is a good route. With a good light you can see the road well, and it cools down tremendously. Less traffic. You don’t pay attention to your speedometer much, and you slow down a bit and smell the roses. The night looks and smells different. We’ll likely do this again sometime in the next month, and if you’re interested, you can come and we can do just small 15 mile loops on very good light trafficked roads. A simple headlight and rear blinkie will do, and Steve and I can light up the road all by ourselves. It’d be a great intro to doing night riding, and you don’t have to commit to doing any real distance, since you can quit after one loop if you like. We can even cut loops short if you get nervous. Any interest? Some pics and video Freshly laid chipseal. Only goes a quarter mile but boy was it rough! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/aikigreg/bike/CIMG2478.jpg This dork rides with a helmet mirror AND a fanny pack! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/aikigreg/bike/CIMG2480.jpg Pretty church 20 miles in: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/aikigreg/bike/CIMG2483.jpg Road ahead and road behind http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/aikigreg/bike/CIMG2487.jpg Video of Steve testing out his new aero wheel disc: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/aikigreg/bike/th_CIMG2479.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v652/aikigreg/bike/?action=view¤t=CIMG2479.flv) Some shaky video, but is a good demo of how bright the planet bike superflash is at dusk: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/aikigreg/bike/th_CIMG2488.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v652/aikigreg/bike/?action=view¤t=CIMG2488.flv) |
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Title: Re: Night Ride part dos Post by barlows on Jun 3rd, 2008, 10:57am Boy, I sure look grouchy in that one picture huh? :P We were having fun, I promise!! Thanks for pointing me over here, I'll look around a little after I get a little rest. If anyone wants to join us on that route (or another route) for some night riding, I've got a couple spare blinky taillights, and that Fenix L2D makes a fairly credible headlight if you're riding with others. It's nowhere as bright as that L&M HID light, but I've commuted with it before. Steve |
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Title: Re: Night Ride part dos Post by evblazer on Jun 3rd, 2008, 11:17am Looks like y'all had some fun. Did you like the aero disc and did y'all have any wind out there to see how it was in the cross wind? I've been thinking over makeing some slight changes for my commute in the aero direction. Not that it would have helped much yesterday where I somehow screwed up remounting the rear disc brake rotor when I changed some spokes. 11.99 mph for 22 miles and it wasn't till I got to work I noticed I couldn't even get the rear wheel to spin around once when spun by hand. Hill training! ::) I get my dark riding in m-w-f when I commute to work ;) Right now I wish my commute home was in the dark like it is during the winter instead of riding in the blazing sun ick. |
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Title: Re: Night Ride part dos Post by aikigreg on Jun 3rd, 2008, 11:22am We had plenty of wind, for sure. When are we ever without it in Texas? At least THIS ride the wind stayed from a constant direction and we had it at our backs sometimes. Believe me that wheel made a difference for Steve. He was able to break away from me anytime he chose. |
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Title: Re: Night Ride part dos Post by barlows on Jun 3rd, 2008, 6:37pm Yeah, that wheel made me feel like superman for sure. I'll probably do a 2nd version of it to reduce the lip where it overlaps to create the dish, but I'd definitely call this one a successful test. We didn't get a whole lot in the way of big steady crosswinds, but I got a fair dose of them on the commute home from work this morning. I'm thinking it was 25-ish with some gusts above that. I had various flavors from direct cross to slight head and tail for about 10 miles. I could feel the disk push me around a little, but it was pretty easy to adjust for. I might be overestimating the actual effect, but even on an almost direct crosswind, it didn't seem to hurt the speed any. Steve |
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