Oh, and my MUSA knickers and shorts worked great! Ryan
On Jul 22, 12:16 pm, rcnute <rcn...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Rob: Sorry I missed you. We had a great time. I did get a chance to > meet Frank Fulton and survey his beautiful Romulus. > > Ryan > > On Jul 21, 10:43 pm, Rob Harrison <robha...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > I rode the STP this past weekend on my Saluki. The STP covers a bit > > over 200 miles on mostly beautiful back roads, a few sections of > > annoyingly high traffic highways, and one Rail-to-Trail path, from > > Seattle to Portland. It's one of the largest rides in the US, with a > > limit of 10,000 registered participants. About 20% of the riders do it > > in one day, the rest in two days. (Two days for me!) Here's a link to > > the ride page on the Cascade Bicycle Club website: > > <http://cascade.org/EandR/stp/index.cfm > > > > > > A little back-story. > > I rode the STP once before in 1996 on my Bridgestone RB-T. That turned > > out to be a bit of a disaster, as the ride aggravated an ankle > > condition that made it difficult to walk for a few days afterwards, > > and ultimately, impossible for me to ride a bicycle without pain for a > > long while. After a couple years of failed remedies I ended up giving > > up and buying a motorcycle, a path I very much enjoyed for the next > > ten or twelve years. Except for losing my favorite form of exercise > > and gaining about 40 lbs over a dozen years, and nagging doubts about > > a hobby that burned fossil fuels.... A couple years ago though I had a > > heart attack, and decided I needed to get back on my bicycle come hell > > or high water. Part of the trouble had been the fit of the 59cm RB-T, > > which was probably a full size too small for me, and, ahem, a complete > > lack of stretching. An MRI of the ankle revealed the physiological > > issue--a fused bone, and with new knowledge I fired up the RB-T again, > > this time with a Technomic stem, Albatross bars and a tall mountain > > bike seatpost--and a stretching regime from the heart attack rehab > > folks--and began commuting to work. My circle of motorcycling buddies > > ride bicycles as well, and this spring we decided to tackle the STP. > > Things conspired, as they sometimes do, to make it time to get out of > > motorcycles (More on that: > > <http://bigbirdcage.blogspot.com/2010/05/selling-my-motorcycle.html > > >) and I used some cash from the sale of my last bike to buy the > > Saluki, with riding it on the STP in mind. > > > The Ride > > Over all the ride was fantastic. Chilly with a heavy marine layer for > > much of both days, with sun burning off the clouds by late afternoon, > > so not too hot. I rode with a new friend, and our paces were perfectly > > matched. The ride logistics were impressive, with rest stops for food > > and water about where you'd want them, and well-stocked with decent > > food and barrels of Nuun and water. The first day's ride had what was > > purported to be the big climb of the ride, "The Hill", a ~6% climb for > > a mile and a half outside of Puyallup onto the plateau. It went way > > easier than I'd expected based on the big deal it was made out to be. > > The section through the strip-malls of Spanaway was the worst of the > > whole ride, in terms of comfortable riding. Lots of monster pickups > > bugged about having to wait for bicyclists to pass so they could pull > > out of McDonald's. Ugh. We camped in Centralia, the half way point, > > with I'd guess 6,000 other riders. Kinda fun festival atmosphere. The > > second day's ride was even nicer than the first, with a long section > > of leafy recently repaved Rail-to-Trail (which was fine and safe as > > long as you obeyed stop signs at the crossings), and until we got to > > 30 in Portland, fewer sections of narrow-shouldered single-file riding > > along highways. A couple nice 35 mph descents made the second day's > > climbing worthwhile. Got an unbelievable number of compliments on my > > bike, including lots of "How old is that bike?" I tried the "I'm > > pretty sure it's an aught-one..." reply a few times. :) Riding into > > Portland was phenomenal. The Finish line felt like the end of a stage > > of the Tour, with throngs of people cheering and high-fiving us as we > > rode into Holladay Park. I rode about 95 miles the first day in 11 > > hours, and a bit over 105 the next in 11.5 hours. I tell you, it feels > > like a real accomplishment. I am BACK as a bicycle rider! :) > > > What Worked... > > - The Saluki was great. The fit and ride make such a difference. > > - Gotta say, I love the ErgoPower brifters. > > - 26-36-46 chainrings and 12-28 cassette were just fine. > > - Berthoud saddle was very comfortable, considering I had about 250 > > miles on it before I started the ride. > > - The Hetres rolled well, and I had no flats. (Saw a LOT of narrow- > > tired folk by the wayside. I'm sure I made up the time they raced > > ahead on their skinny tires by not having flats....) Had other issues, > > see below. > > - Hammer Nutrition Perpetuum in addition to real food at the rest > > stops worked really well for me. > > - The Lil' Loafer I got from Gino served well, along with the Berthoud > > 786 saddle bag. I'll need something bigger for fall rides where > > inclement weather is more of an issue. > > > ... and Didn't. > > - The toe clips and straps caused a fair amount of pain over the 200 > > miles. Though I spaced the left toe clip out by 3/16" or so to account > > for foot length difference, the toe clip seriously mashed my big toe. > > I will try Speedplay Frogs. > > - After I finished, a fellow came up to me and said "Hey, your rear > > tire is about to blow out!" Check it out: > > <http://www.flickr.com/photos/robharrison/4817049422/in/set-7215762401... > > > Bummer. > > - I took the nice-looking Lezeyne pump off before the ride and > > switched back to my Zefal HP-X. The hose of the Lezeyne inline gauge > > developed a leak the first time I used it to pump up a flat. Fail. > > - Despite a pre-ride adjustment/tune-up by Bob Freeman at Elliot Bay > > Bicycles (because I thought it was my lack of experience in tuning > > that was causing the problems), the Dura Ace front derailleur did not > > shift the TA rings well at all. It's just the wrong shape. Required a > > lot of trimming. Getting the chain up into the big ring was nigh > > impossible. So either the ErgoPower brifters, the DA derailleur or the > > crankset (or the FD _and_ the crankset) has to go. Bob says a Super > > Record FD will shift the TA rings a lot better. I'll try that first. > > I'm not averse to going Sugino XD2 with ramps n' pins though. Not a > > purist, that's for sure. > > > Here are some photos: > > <http://www.flickr.com/photos/robharrison/sets/72157624553775586/ > > > (Clearly there is vast room for improvement in my ride > > documentation!) > > > Rob in Seattle- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
