What's Wrong With This Picture?

OK, _these_ pictures

Yup, This was todays "lunchtime" ride. This is one of the hazards of riding this time of year: Things are constantly falling out of the trees. Branches up to two inches in diameter can easily be concealed by a deep covering of freshly dropped deciduous leaves. It's on of these that I found today. Some of the trails that I ride in the weir hill/half-mile hill/osgood hill conservation areas in north andover don't get alot of use, and so are sometimes heavily covered. This damage was the result of a one-inch twig that twisted up inside the chain circle, caught one of the spokes, then spun the derailleur up and around the seat stay. The reason I didn't rip off the dropout is that it's Titanium. To quote an advertisement from Merlin several years ago, (talking about their dropouts) "No one hes ever broken one of our dropouts. Not one. Ever." I know, I'm not riding a Merlin, I'm riding an Independent Fabrication, but IF is what Merlin was before they were spirited away by Litespeed, and anyone who has any knowledge of the bicycle industry in Boston will tell you that any IF is as good as - if not better than - any Merlin in the same category.

I'm not too disappointed though. This setup has served me quite well for 6 years now (Sram 9.0 ESP). Trust me, that isn't because I don't' ride this thing like a ten dollar prostitute. My philosophy is, if you didn't crash, you aren't riding hard enough. For example, check out the dent in the chainstay. Remember, this is titanium, not the most delicate material on the planet. Also look here.

I may actually have a spare crappy derailleur I can use that I bought for parts and never used. I seem to remember buying a lightly used one at a bike swap that I snagged the jokey wheels off of. If I'm lucky, it will be the 1:1 actuation ratio typ that I need.

In any case, I already ordered a new ('07, actually) Sram X.9. It will be here monday.

Back to it/The Hardware - Old Faithful

OK, I realize, this is supposed to be a blog about cycling. In fortunately, in light of my recent injury, There hasn't been a whole helluva lot of that going on.

Last sunday, I tried sitting on the mag trainer for a while, easy gear, cadence ~80. I managed 45 minutes with no pain or discomfort. I went up to take a shower, and felt a slight burning sensation in my heel, and the swelling started soon after. I thought "great, I just set myself back a few weeks"

I went to the Dr on tuesday and got an 'all is going well' assessment. I'm out of the boot now, Her interpretation of the previous mag trainer workout was just that I over did it. Prescription: Short duration ~(20 min) low impact workouts and stretching. She suggested speed walking. She suggested, on a weekly basis upping the time by ten minutes. When I can get in an hour workout with no pain or swelling the next day, I can consider going back to a regular training schedule.

Which brings me to the first in another categories of blog entries: Bikes - The Hardware. I have currently nine (9) fully assembled and ridable bikes.

This entry features my favorite road bike - Old Faithful

This is a Merlin Road frame, Circa 1991. I have probably 50,000 miles on the frame. Currently, I use it as my commuter/weekday trainer.

Components:
wheels - Rolf Vector Comp
fork - Easton EC90 bars - Easton EC70 Stem - Easton EC70
post - Easton EC90 saddle - flite Ti
shifters - Campy Veloce Ergopower 9sp derailleurs - Campy Chorus Cassette - Sram 11-21
brakes - Campy Athena Crankset - Profile Designs Carbon 53/42

A few years ago I had it painted by Ted Wojcieck. It's held up OK, especially considering how well it's beat upon, and the fact that Titanium doesn't take paint very well. I love this bike. After riding something else, it always feels like I've come home. I can't say enough about the wheels, They've been commuter/trainers for about 8 years, and have a good 40,000 miles on them. The bearings are silky smooth (should be after all those miles) and I've never had to replace a spoke. Let me say, I don't exactly baby this thing. Yes, that's a fender. Since I commute on it, I ride alot when it's wet. I was amazed at how much better it is riding when you don't have water spraying up on your crotch.

This bike was one of my most satisfying purchases. This is one of the bikes I want to be buried with. Its ride is true and predictable, and exceptionally comfortable. It's one of the Tom Kellogg designed frames. I don't race it, really just because it doesn't have that out-of-the-saddle snap that you need for a good racing bike. Perhaps as I get older and _my_ snap ceases to be anything of interest I'll start racing on it again.