Went out for some paved miles late afternoon yesterday. Only came home with two though...

I stopped to snap this shot of one of the longer climbs, put the phone away, clipped in, hissssssssss... Not again!! I ended up walking up over that hill to where my wife could pick me up.

I kid you not, about 60% of my rides have ended this way since I changed my original tubes. You guys all know what I'm talking about, the Professor had to pick me up on the last long ride we tried to do. J.A. rode back to my car to get a spare tube for me at Manawa. When JC, Lumpy and I went on that ride and met our wives for a picnic, it happened then too. I'm getting really tired of this.

Why do the valves keep pulling out of the tubes? Apparently the tire slips on the rim, pulling the tube with it, putting tension on the base of the valve. Somebody please help me figure out how to stop this. (it was the front tire this time, by the way, so only braking forces acting on the tire)

Who likes tacos?

This is starting to get old. I think I've got a 2:1 ride to failure ratio. It seems like every couple of rides, I pay for with another broken part. Some, a little more costly than others. Some, a little more bizarre and disturbing than others. Apparently the flow left town and took my pride with him. Luckily, only the entire Bellevue Fire and Rescue department saw.




Mark took the picture. Thanks buddy. He was also kind enough to build me a new custom wheel, strong enough to handle the fury, or the flow, whichever seems to be present at the time.
So the story goes like this: Mark said that the trail was like glue, which it was. The Rampages supposedly bite hard in the corners, which they do. So the tires and the trail formed a velcro-like partnership, leaving my front rim to fend for itself. I'm sure the super low tire pressure played a part in this situation also. As you can see, the tire was completely peeled off and twisted around the rim and tube. The rim didn't even put up a fight. Mark gave it the best trailside persuasion I had ever seen, but there was no bringing it back. Throw it on the pile of carnage.
If there are any manufacturers out there that make parts they think are bombproof, give me a call. I'll be more than happy to break them for you.

Dang!!!

Met Lumpy yesterday for some laps at Tranquility. I got there early, so I decided to do a half lap warm-up. In that short period of time, I managed to convert my straight seatpost into a layback seatpost. Why me?!?! I was bunny hopping and my left foot came unclipped. I managed to ride it out, but when I came down on the seat, it very smoothly moved back on me. At first, I thought that it just slipped and rotated back a little bit, but then I remembered that this particular post has a bolt in the front and one in the back for angle adjustment. If it had rotated, one of those would've been broken. Then I thought I bent the rails on my seat. When I arrived at the trailhead, I got off the bike and saw this: Are you serious? This is the second seatpost I've broken on this bike since I got it in May. Who are they trying to kid? A 26.8 diameter post on a 28 lb steel bike? Did they really think this was a good place to save weight?

Well, now I'm in the market for a clyde-worthy seatpost. If anyone has any good leads on a Thompsen, let me know.

Next order of business

I just bought new shoes. Nothing fancy, just Specialized BG Sport. The thing I was thinking about is whether or not it would be helpful to give my old ones away or loan them out to people who are thinking about getting clipless pedals. I know it is a big commitment to buy your first pair of pedals and shoes, so I thought maybe having a tester pair available would be nice. They are size 43 (size 10.5, I think) Adidas Pingora's, pretty dirty, the soles are cracked, sounds really enticing, right? I have pictures if someone wants to look at them. Anyways, they're there if anyone needs them.