I did the Archie Briggs stage of the Cascade Stage Race again. Basically, what I did no Wednesday. I am starting to get a feel for AB, and the feeling I get is that it's my kind of a climb... steep and hard. I feel comfortable riding it with power. Now I just need to ride it with someone else to see if I'm just fooling myself or what.
Not much else to say here... can't really do a ride report when you're the only one riding, eh? Did see a lot of other riders out, that was nice... till I got downtown.
I rolled through downtown because I wanted to see the festivities. They're having the usual there: Food booths, hay rides, etc. I came up to the downtown area... and then saw about three hundred dirty hippies on bikes, just sorta taking over. I think it was a flash-mod sort of ride. Totally organized, but totally not organized (in that there was no police escort, that they were running lights and pissing off passing motorists) I estimate 300 hundred because they went curb to median across Franklin, and as far down Bond and Wall as I could see. They were doing a loop, shouting "woo hoo... freedom!!" (because American colonist fought and died so that dread locked slacker 20 somethings can ride through Bend, breaking every known law as it regards bicycles) It was all cruisers and fixies, no one wearing helmets, most of the guys had no shirts on, more flip flops than not, the air was sick with the stench of pot and patchouli.
And here I was... Carbon fiber racing bike, matching racing kit, helmet, socks, tanned because I ride all the time, and just irked that they're slowing me down as I go home.
Note to you dirt head scumbag hippy dolts: Go back to Eugene. They love you there. Or Berkeley. Crawl back under that rock from whence you came.
Probably the biggest issue on the day, really, was the noise from the chain. I, like all true roadies, aspire to have my bike be downright silent when out on a ride. Any noise, any click or whirr or sundry interruption, is an offense. And today, my bike was downright offensive. I have switched lubes twice this year. I started with the dry White Lightning lube (The Clean Ride formulation), mostly because the only thing worse than a noisy drivetrain is a dirty one, and with WL the the drive stays very clean. I just find it totally worn off after one ride, or about two hours. This is annoying. And by worn off, I mean you hear a chorus of birds eminating from the drive, from the where the pulley wheels wrap the chain. I hate that chirping.
I don't know if it's the dry, dusty air of the High Desert, or what. But I need to make a change.
So, this last week I tried the White Lightning Epic Lube. It's a wet formulation, not wax based like the White Lightning Clean Ride. The first ride, by the end, it was chirping. But today, by about an hour, it was the worst sort of cacophony of chirps and squeaks. And that I was alone and that was all I could hear was the worst of it. At least with a a group, your sound blends in sometimes.
So, I don't know... maybe I need to dump more on, wipe less off. If anyone has a recomendation, I'm all for it.
Probably the biggest issue on the day, really, was the noise from the chain. I, like all true roadies, aspire to have my bike be downright silent when out on a ride. Any noise, any click or whirr or sundry interruption, is an offense. And today, my bike was downright offensive. I have switched lubes twice this year. I started with the dry White Lightning lube (The Clean Ride formulation), mostly because the only thing worse than a noisy drivetrain is a dirty one, and with WL the the drive stays very clean. I just find it totally worn off after one ride, or about two hours. This is annoying. And by worn off, I mean you hear a chorus of birds eminating from the drive, from the where the pulley wheels wrap the chain. I hate that chirping.
I don't know if it's the dry, dusty air of the High Desert, or what. But I need to make a change.
So, this last week I tried the White Lightning Epic Lube. It's a wet formulation, not wax based like the White Lightning Clean Ride. The first ride, by the end, it was chirping. But today, by about an hour, it was the worst sort of cacophony of chirps and squeaks. And that I was alone and that was all I could hear was the worst of it. At least with a a group, your sound blends in sometimes.
So, I don't know... maybe I need to dump more on, wipe less off. If anyone has a recomendation, I'm all for it.
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