Last week was another good week of riding with a great ride on Saturday of 26 miles. Saturday wasn’t without issues though and it came from a source I’ve had problems with in the past. My wheelset. If you’re a heavier rider and having wheel problems you may want to check this out.
I had some great plans this weekend and I was excited. I posted a pic on Dailymile of the five-day forecast and the great weather we were going to have. It made for a great opportunity to get out and work up a sweat. Then, on Saturday, I was given a dose of reality as I violated one of those unwritten rules every dude should know. I got caught without a rubber.
My riding has been a little sporadic lately. I’ve gotten two or three early morning rides during the week but nothing consistent. I could make the typical excuses – I’m tired, sick, need the rest, blah, blah, blah. I’ll save my breath and your time.
I hit the road on Saturday for a planned 20 mile ride but only ended up getting about 12 in. It was a beautiful morning for a ride with the skies partly cloudy and the temps in the mid 60s. Just an awesome morning to be out for a ride. And I felt pretty good too. A perfect recipe for problems.
Yesterday I explained in length how I was missing the compression nut (actually called an ‘External Crank Arm Fixing Bolt
After some searching, the mechanic verfied they don’t have what I need in stock and couldn’t find one via their online sources. They will call Sugino (the maker of the cranks on my Allez) to see if they can get the part. If they can’t, I did find what looks to be the right part on Amazon. It also looks like you don’t need a special tool for it but I’ll have my BB serviced anyway.
In short, it looks like I’ll be without my road bike for at least the weekend and into next week. Why, oh why didn’t I take care of this when I wasn’t riding.
This mornings ride was very low key because I can’t ride my road bike right now (see below) and because I’m taking it easy until my body readjusts to riding again. I took the hybrid out for a short three mile loop. I’ll ride the hybrid for a few more days until I get the Allez back from the shop.
Yesterday you may remember that I had a problem with left crank arm again where it wants to come off during my rides. I’ve replaced both bolts that hold it on to no avail. Yesterday, while heading to Lowes (a local home improvement store) to get some Blue Loctite, I stopped into a local bike shop to talk to a mechanic about my crank problems (no jokes please). It turns out that I’m missing the compression nut that screws into the left-side of the crank arm. The mechanic says that without that nut I’ll never be able to keep the crank arm on. Here’s a diagram of what I’m talking about. The compression nut is part #5.
Dura Ace Crank Diagram
This particular shop would have had to order me a nut (no, my nickname isn’t Juan Pelota) because they don’t sale Specialized bikes. I left there and headed over to the shop that carries Specialized bikes to pick up the nut which was only $5. Today I’m going to take my bike back to shop #1 to have them overhaul my bottom bracket and put the nut on. Just so you know, that nut requires a special tool (TL-FC16 in the figure above). It looks like a large allen bolt but it isn’t. I went to Home Depot to see if I could make a tool using the nut and bolt trick but nothing fit (standard or metric). So, because I have to take it in to get the nut put on I’m going to have the bottom bracket overhauled at the same time. I’m taking it back to first shop I talked to because they are my favorite shop in the area. Even though I didn’t buy the part from them, I’d rather pay them to install it and do the maintenance. You can follow that shop on Twitter @bicyclesetc.
If you follow professional cycling I’m sure you’ve heard of Jens Voigt. If not, he’s one of the most respected riders in the peleton and is known for his gutsy riding style and giving 100% effort all day every day. He’s also known for the quote “SHUT UP LEGS”. See the video below.
While typing up yesterday’s post, and thinking about how sore I was all over from my first ride in a couple of months, I thought of Jens and his ‘SHUT UP LEGS’ comment and mentality. If I applied that to myself at the time it would have to have been ‘SHUT UP LEGS, NECK, SHOULDER, HANDS, FINGERS, WRISTS, TOES, BUTT, ETC.’. I thought that might look kinda funny on a t-shirt.
Shut Up Legs Tshirt
With this past weekend being my last weekend in Dallas I wanted to get a good ride in on Saturday. One of the first rides I did here was a complete loop of White Rock Lake, plus the trail north, with one of my readers Cliff. I wanted to do the same ride again to basically close out my riding time here in Dallas.
Saturday morning broke very nice with sun and no clouds. I took off from the house at about 9:00 AM and made my way down to where I access the lake or trail. Instead of heading straight to the lake I hit the northbound trail first to really mix things up. It was awesome! I hadn’t ridden this section of the trail (past the tennis courts) in a long time and on an early Saturday morning it was great. There was some water puddles and mud due to train the previous night that got both me and the bike pretty grimy but it was still good. I made it up to the turn-around point, took a short water break and watched some kids play soccer, then took off again.
[pullquote]By the time I hit the lake the wind was gusting to 30 mph.[/pullquote]
As I headed back towards the lake I could feel the wind starting to build. And build it did. There was a reason the lake was covered with sail boats. I just dealt with it and kept on turning the pedals and enjoying the ride.
All said and done I rode 30.28 miles on Saturday morning in 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Sunday morning I only rode the lake portion which was 16.44 miles in 1 hour and 20 minutes. The wind was even worse on Sunday (really) and my legs really started to give me some trouble from the previous days ride. Still, it was great to be out there. For the week I rode right at 100 miles.
As with anything we buy used there’s usually a problem that pops up after we’ve had it a while. My bike is no exception. I’ve noticed on my last few rides that my bolt-on (left-side) crank arm keeps coming loose. I’ve put it back into position and tightened it but after a few rides it would come loose again. On Sunday’s ride it really started to give me problems and I had to stop twice to re-tighten it. The crank is made by Sugino so there could be some issues with the brand, age, or an indication of poor maintenance by the previous owner. Whatever the reason, it’s going to require a trip to the bike shop to get corrected. I’m going to wait until I return to Florida to take it in and probably look at a better crankset too.
I had hoped to be able to get a couple more rides in this week (today is my normal rest day) but it looks like I won’t . I’ve just too many things going on (plus the crank problem) as I close out this chapter of my life. I’ve got to get my car to the shop for some work before I leave, finish packing, I’ve got a guy buying my furniture who will come pick it up, and I’ve got to get Cliffs trainer back to him. Not to mention several other small errands that need to be done. It’ll be a busy week.
When I return to Florida my plan is to return to cycling as quick as possible. I don’t want the base I”ve built up to go to waste and I want to get right into training for a century again. Don’t be surprised if I’m absent for a couple weeks as I get myself moved, start my new job, get settled in, and spend some time with the family. My wife will say it isn’t necessarily spending time with the family but getting me re-trained to being at home. I could agree with that!
Image courtesy of rutlo.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress
