Archive for the 'bike' Category

Sunday, 01 August 2010

Following a clear Saturday, Sunday broke clear, then flipped into alternating periods of rain and sun in increasing frequency. The call went out when it was sunny, but the clouds had closed in by ride time. Chris was champing at the bit to get on the bike, and Jeff and Root seemed enthused too. Ckucke texted me before roll-out time, asking about the weather. I walked outside, and after a brief inspection of the conditions I could actually see, I texted back that I thought “it would be OK”. When I left home, I could see Mt. ‘Olomana, but before I even got to Pali Highway, all had gone white and the roaring downpour began. I became skeptical about our chances of riding, but I figured I’d get a little closer to Waimanalo before calling it. As suddenly as it started, the rain stopped passing Castle Hospital. Ckucke had called to say he was running late, so I told him not to panic when all heck broke loose on the Pali. Waimanalo exists in its own microclimate and seemed to have missed the major precipitation. The edge of a rainsquall just caught us as we were gearing up to ride, but it soon passed and within moments, the sky was blue again and ground had dried out. The trail was much less forgiving: The areas under tree cover were damp, but not slick. Continue reading ‘Rain, Rain, Go Away’

Although the weather was looking good at the tail end of the week, we didn’t want to fully jinx it by getting all worked up for a Sunday ride, so we played it low key. The weather was clear and hot all Saturday, so the Sunday ride was on. Chris had last minute babysitting duties, Root had plans with relatives, and Ckucke was MIA. Jeff, Sara, JT, Dr. Paul, and Danny were at the trailhead when I arrived. I was feeling a little hung over from wine with osso buco the night before, so I was off the back from the start. My legs were burning at the first left turn after the gate! JT was hanging too, having survived a fried food and beer fest on Saturday, so he was my compatriot in suffering. After climbing up Government road to the side loop entrance, I aired down the new Rubber Queens, but ended up dropping them too much, as the ride felt like dual flats after that, and I heard a couple of bottom-out bumps on roots as the underaired tires pinched flat. Before the drop, I pumped them back up, maybe too much, as they were squirrely loose on the way down. I backed them off a little to about where they were when I started (40 psi front/50 psi rear) and all was good from then on. Continue reading ‘Hanging Sunny’

After getting rained out on riding this weekend, we deferred to an attempt at a St. Louis run this afternoon. Although it had rained all night, the morning was clear. Things were looking good. Then around 09:00, the clouds gathered and the rain came dumping down. The whole Town side was socked in grey. Oh well – nothing ventured, nothing lost. Just before noon, the skies cleared and the ground started drying out. Just so long as it stayed sunny and it didn’t rain anymore, we were good. As pau hana time rolled around, the sky was bright and the air was hot. It was a “go”. Kevyn met Ckucke, JT, and I at Kanewai, and we shuttled up to the top. Root was stuck in Waikiki at a job site, so he missed the start. After we had dropped the mainline through taco jumps then straight through to the rock drop and the switchback trail to agave. Root called us at this point to say he was at Kanewai, and would ride up to meet us. We climbed back up to the first junction to take the burnout trail to the concrete road where we met Root. In hindsight, we should have told him to drive up to the top and bomb down and meet us. Dinner was at the new Teddy’s Bigger Burgers in Mo’ili’ili.

Pictures here

D = 4.28 km (2.66-miles), Vavr = 13.0 km/h (8.1-mph), Vmax = 38.9 km/h (24.2-mph), T = 20-minutes

The weather was overcast yesterday, but it wasn’t raining, so there was no excuse to get out and pedal around a bit. Chris called me just as I was getting the bike ready to roll, but there was still a lot of daylight left after our lengthy discussion of matters tactical. This was a good opportunity to evaluate the performance of the Conti Rubber Queens that I had just switched to. On the first outing at the Ditch, they felt slower, but this was offset by the better traction and ride. On the pavement, I could definitely feel the increase in rolling resistance from the size, weight, pattern, and compound differences between these and the Michelins they replaced. Climbing was hellaciously sluggish. At speed, they tended to want to stay in motion, but accelerating them up to speed was harder. Once at speed, there was a more noticeable gyroscopic effect in turns, where they resisted the steer into hard corners. There may also have been a little change in steering feel from the slight geometry change the larger diameter imparted, but I really doubt I can feel something that slight. They are still new with molding hairs all over, so I’ll give them more time to settle in before I make any judgments. Heck, from the computer data, they were faster than my last ride on Michelins!

D = 11.67 km (7.25-miles), Vavr = 19.5 km/h (12.1-mph), Vmax = 39.4 km/h (24.5-mph), T = 36-minutes

This has been a good week for riding. The weather was ugly this past Saturday, but Sunday was clear for our trail ride. Monday was raining heavily in central O’ahu, but it stayed clear on the East end for the afternoon St. Louis DH run, then Tuesday went to heck. It was nice enough on Wednesday for an afternoon ride, but Thursday morning was again socked in. Hopefully the weather will be nice over this upcoming long weekend, but we’ll see – I don’t know if our luck will hold.

When I got home on Wednesday, it was early enough for a ride, but the sky was on the heavier side of overcast, so I waffled a little. Chris encouraged me to go while talking on the keitai on the commute home, and the heat inside the house underscored the point. Better to be outside in the wind than sweltering indoors. There was some sun out at MCBH, but for the most part, except for a brief moment on the way home, the thickest cloud interposed itself between wherever I was and the sun. Figures.

D = 13.73 km (8.53-miles), Vavr = 17.5 km/h (10.9-mph), Vmax = 36.2 km/h (22.5-mph), T = 47-minutes