The Long Ride

Post Ham

noreply@blogger.com (DoseDependent) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:42:00 +0000

Let me get a few things off of my chest before go too much more into this post. First and foremost, the signage in Alabama rural or urban STINKS! It is no wonder no one wants to get out and drive anywhere except on freeways because at least they have some sort of direction. If you take Shelby County road 41, you might see another sign that you are on County Road 41 about...10 miles down the road! When you have a "big" intersection of two major county roads, wouldn't you think it would be smart to maybe indicate what can be found at the end or at least a few miles down that road? For instance, 280 is to the right 8 miles. I would say let's use kilometers but that is another battle for another day. We should convert from miles to kilometers overnight. Come on people. Now you can say that you get to drive 100 kph. Doesn't that sound better than 60 mph? Ok...let's get back on task. Give me more signs that include distance, destination, and what bloody road I am on! Second, who ever wanted to put TWO sets of rumble strips on the right shoulder of 280 needs to have a better idea about how hard it is to ride a bike down a path with a width of 4 inches. Complicate that with the air coming off of Ford Expeditions driving at 65+ mph, toss a bunch of gravel and trash on the side, and top it off with a long climb of a mile or two. Doesn't that just sound like a great place to ride? If you make this wonderful road known as 280, but then double rumble strip the sides, you cannot ride peacefully. If you drive on the shoulder, you will know with one set of rumble strips, what do you really need the second set for stupid?

The HED 3 rear wheel did not really turn out to be what I expected. I would not and will not use it for a training wheel. Sure, the work out created by hefting that piece of carbon, aluminum, and steel would give any cyclist a work out; however, I believe that I need something a little more...plush. I think I pulled a muscle or at least did some microtearing of my left leg on Saturday. If there is one thing in cycling that does not make me happy, it is doing something like that. Anyway. I put the HED 3 up on eBay. It should sell for about $450. Between my ride on Saturday morning and tonight (Monday), I have researched wheels and came down to two sets of wheels: HED Bastognes or DT Swiss RR1450. Both are about 1450g. The HED wheels are a little on the bling factor. I did a lot of research on the DT Swiss wheels. They use DT Swiss 240 hubs, which are about as indestructable as hubs go. *knocks on wood*. They also use 28 DT Swiss aerolite spokes in the front and the rear. A big plus for anyone wanting to not worry about breaking a spoke on a set of training wheels that can be raced. Also, with the bladed DT Swiss aerolite spokes, they will not have the chance to create the pinging I was having with the rounded spokes on the HED Kermesse wheelset I own. So, I was cruising around QBP this morning before the workers arrived at SBR and found that DT Swiss has a pro purchase for shop employees of 20%. Sweet. So, I decided to take the plunge and go with the DT Swiss RR 1450. I will have to keep this blog up to date on the goings on with the wheels. On paper, they look like a wheelset that should last for a long time with a little maintenance.

Around the Ham

noreply@blogger.com (DoseDependent) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 03:09:00 +0000

So, it is time to test out the waters of Birmingham that are not in my normal patterns. It is time to think outside the box. So, here we go. It is called "Around the Ham." Tomorrow will also see the first ride on my new HED 3 rear that surprisingly had ceramic bearings placed in the hub before I got it from HED. Wonderful! We will see how the aerodynamic nature of the rear wheel helps in the ride tomorrow. I'm ready for a long ride. It will be a little cooler in the morning than it has been in a while. Cold weather gear will be a must. We shall see how it is.

Ah, a fresh start

noreply@blogger.com (DoseDependent) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:15:00 +0000

It is time to start this thing back up. Deleting the few posts that I had in the past helped me reflect on what I was thinking a few months ago. Who really wants to ride 4800km inside on a trainer hooked up to a CompuTrainer? Really, I started to get a bit bored with the entire process a week or so into the ride. Outside is the bomb. Thankfully, my days in Birmingham, AL are limited, very limited. When the rear view mirror has the skyline fading quickly, a thunderous applause will be heard. The area of Huntsville, AL will be my new home for over two years. After that location, who knows, but I am sure it will be in the midwest or mountain west.

So, on to the typing. I will throw up a few pieces of thought about cycling, equipment, fixing bikes, experiences, and some medical school information. Mostly, I need to get this web site looking a lot cleaner than it has been looking. Maybe those cheesy ads are starting to get on my bad side. Anyway, I will update the site.

Chao!