Category: cycling

Thanks to the bizarrely, unseasonably, but very welcome warm weather here (54°F / 12°C) I was able to get out on my bike tonight and go for an after-dark ride. Overall the ride went well, except the many places where people failed to clear their section of sidewalk / path resulting in a very bumpy ride over ice. Or, worse was when there was no bumpy ice and I had to fight through 4″ of slush or ride around it on sopping wet grass.

After I made it out to Ryan Road and was heading back I heard my phone make the familiar “new message” sound. It was 7:39pm, and checking it I’d found that I had missed a meeting about some MMBA stuff. At the time I didn’t think I’d be able to make it home in time, but some very hard riding (for me) resulted in my arrival at the meeting place only about an hour after the message arrived.

Still, I am glad I made it out tonight, as tomorrow’s weather will be warm but very rainy, then the forecasts for after that show more typical February weather for here in Michigan: just below freezing, snow, and ice on the roads.

Being one of the coldest nights of the year (thus far), I decided to go for a bike ride. After a bit over a mile I had to go back in because my fingertips were becoming incredibly painful. At a few points while riding right into the wind my head became quite cold as well, but other than that I was quite comfortable. Something other than the waterproof / cold weather Gavia gloves and the thin head covering thing I have are definitely required if I want to do more riding like this.

(Here’s another version of that same photo, with flash.)

I spent a good part of yesterday and today disassembling and reassembling the Bianchi D.I.S.S. that I acquired on Monday. While it looked pretty good to begin with, the drivetrain (save for the chain) was actually pretty dirty. There was also a bunch of black dirt (chain lube / dirt gunk) hiding all over the frame and drivetrain. So, I took pretty much the whole bike apart, cleaned everything, then put it back together. (Here’s a photo of the shiny clean crankset, chainring, and chain.)

This included torquing everything to spec, re-seating the tires (with logos aligned, of course!), flipping the stem cap around so the logo faces the right way up, re-fitting the Oury grips, adjusting the brake levers, and all the other niggling things that are part of putting a bike together. The grips were fitted by first cleaning them, rinsing them with alcohol (99% isopropyl), then wetting them with alcohol and sliding them on. They appear to be drying nicely, although I’ve read that it may be best to fit them with either rubber cement or a spray adhesive. If this doesn’t hold, I’ll try another method.

It’s now all ready for riding, I just have to wait for a bit less ice on the ground and I’ll be able to ride. This bike might also be perfect for trying out the On-One Mary Bar which Bob loaned to me a few months back.

I spent lots of New Year’s Eve working on cleaning up the new-to-me Bianchi D.I.S.S.. As part of this involved removing the rear wheel I was able to take a photo showing off the “100% Chick Designed” logo which is placed on Bianchi frames designed by Sky Yaeger.

Yes, this is very much the bike version of a crotch shot.

Happy New Year everyone, and Happy Birthday !