Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
If it's dry, we ride.
See you all tomorrow morning at 8:30 in the Seven lot. The forecast doesn't look great but we'll see what the morning brings.
I'll post again in the morning if it's a rain out.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/outdoors/map/interactive/02472?from=36hr_maps&zoom=8&interactiveMapLayer=radar
Sleep tight.
I'll post again in the morning if it's a rain out.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/outdoors/map/interactive/02472?from=36hr_maps&zoom=8&interactiveMapLayer=radar
Sleep tight.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Ride Cancelled: Stuck in Connecticut
A Saturday night wedding dinner in New Jersey went longer than expected, forcing us to spend the night with my folks in Connecticut instead of driving home direct to Boston. I know what you are thinking, "That's two rides in a row that KB is missing!" I'm aware.
So, I am out for the ride. The weather in CT is cold, grey, and wet so hopefully it's the same in Watertown. Well not hopefully, you know what I mean.
Sorry for the late update, I hit the hay at 2 and just now remembered to post the cancellation. Another reason I should step up to an Iphone. On the bright side, it is Father's Day so I'll probably go out to breakfast this morning with my pops.
See you next week.
So, I am out for the ride. The weather in CT is cold, grey, and wet so hopefully it's the same in Watertown. Well not hopefully, you know what I mean.
Sorry for the late update, I hit the hay at 2 and just now remembered to post the cancellation. Another reason I should step up to an Iphone. On the bright side, it is Father's Day so I'll probably go out to breakfast this morning with my pops.
See you next week.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Joe Wignall - The Host with the Most
I'll be out of town, slumming it up in Myrtle Beach for the next couple of days.
No need to fear, Joe Wignall has graciously stepped in to be the contact for Sunday's ride. http://www.sevencycles.com/people/joe_wignall.php
Feel free to contact him with any questions. Oh, and go ahead and bring your "A" game, I bet the avergae MPH is a little higher this time around.
See you in two weeks.
No need to fear, Joe Wignall has graciously stepped in to be the contact for Sunday's ride. http://www.sevencycles.com/people/joe_wignall.php
Feel free to contact him with any questions. Oh, and go ahead and bring your "A" game, I bet the avergae MPH is a little higher this time around.
See you in two weeks.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sunday morning I was 1.2 miles away from home, heading over to join the club of Sevens (ten minutes early I’ll point out), when the tell tale signs of a flat tire slowly started revealing themselves. “Am I riding in sand? Why can’t I control my bike? What’s that clanging sound?” It’s been a long time since I have had a flat. Probably six years. Call me lucky, call me light on equipment, just don’t call me gifted with a CO2 cartridge. I got the tire off in record time, 5 minutes or so, found the hole, swapped tubes, put the tire back on, and prepped the CO2. I’m a big fan of CO2 for their size, but truth be told, I am .200, or one out of five when it comes time to actually use them. I should say I was one for five, now I am a Papi-esque .166. As I have become accustomed, the CO2 went off in my hand and the tire stayed flat. My frustration, coupled with my frozen hand is the only excuses I have as to the lack of photo documentation. I walked home, 1.2 miles with my tail between my legs.
I had some time to kill on my walk back, so I called Joe Wignall to see if he’d come rescue me. He was in Rhode Island. I called Neil next, after all, he had been to every ride previously and was likely on his way over anyway. Nope, he was home watching the French Open, trying to get enticed to play a little tennis. I plan to recruit Neil to be my next hired gun to dominate the Tennis North East league, http://www.tennisnortheast.com/. I’ll guarantee a second place or better performance if he ever actually acquires a racket. Next up, Rob Vandermark. By this time I was heading down the hill to the house so I no longer needed rescue, I just needed to find out if people were waiting or if I’d have to hunt them down. Turns out they were nice enough to wait.
On to the ride.
Again, a stunningly beautiful Sunday. Mid 70’s, no wind, just ideal. We had a tight nit group:
Jon Henig:
Rob Vandermark:
Graham Dimmock:
That's Jon, Rob, and Graham I said:
I know what you’re thinking; the streak of one new rider per ride has come to an end. Sad day indeed. I’ll do my best to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Graham was the leader of the group today, and he took us on a different route to Walden Pond, then on to Concord for a muffin, then home. Due to my tardiness it was an abbreviated ride of about 35 miles.
We rode up through Bentley College,
and over to Trapelo Road for some short steep hills.
Did anyone know that there was a pond off of Trapelo Road and Lexington Street called Hardy Pond? I had know idea. I forget how hilly Trapelo Road is, up and down, up and down. Short steep climbs too, just short enough that you can attack and before any real pain sets in, you’re cresting the top. Once the route crosses over I-95 it turns beautiful, we crossed over Cambridge Reservoir, and up into Lincoln.
Before long the asphalt turns red and the Decordova Museum (http://www.decordova.org/) passes by on the right. I wonder when they decided on red asphalt? Why red and not purple? Who gave the "ok" on this? I guess it is a nice change from the norm, but I can’t say I have seen it anywhere else, so why Lincoln? My three second search on Google revealed nothing. Nothing!
We passed Walden,
and high tailed it to Concord for some grub.
That looks like a man who wants some grub.
This time I went with a blueberry muffin and a large lemonade. Both hit the spot. No one ordered the breakfast sandwich however, so the mystery continues. My research has shown that one part muffin and two parts lemonade turn your stomach to cement in just one mile. But just three miles later, that cement turns into a PED like substance, see for yourself! (Quick side note, this is also the caption and win photo of the week. Wayne won the Chunky bar, but I ate it on the way home, so his will be delivered next week)
That pose there required every last bit of energy the muffin provided so I looked like this:
the rest of the way. It wasn't worth it.
I’m off next week, but will be back in two. In my absence feel free to contact Joe Wignall or Neil Doshi for ride details. See you soon.
I had some time to kill on my walk back, so I called Joe Wignall to see if he’d come rescue me. He was in Rhode Island. I called Neil next, after all, he had been to every ride previously and was likely on his way over anyway. Nope, he was home watching the French Open, trying to get enticed to play a little tennis. I plan to recruit Neil to be my next hired gun to dominate the Tennis North East league, http://www.tennisnortheast.com/. I’ll guarantee a second place or better performance if he ever actually acquires a racket. Next up, Rob Vandermark. By this time I was heading down the hill to the house so I no longer needed rescue, I just needed to find out if people were waiting or if I’d have to hunt them down. Turns out they were nice enough to wait.
On to the ride.
Again, a stunningly beautiful Sunday. Mid 70’s, no wind, just ideal. We had a tight nit group:
Jon Henig:
Rob Vandermark:
Graham Dimmock:
That's Jon, Rob, and Graham I said:
I know what you’re thinking; the streak of one new rider per ride has come to an end. Sad day indeed. I’ll do my best to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Graham was the leader of the group today, and he took us on a different route to Walden Pond, then on to Concord for a muffin, then home. Due to my tardiness it was an abbreviated ride of about 35 miles.
We rode up through Bentley College,
and over to Trapelo Road for some short steep hills.
Did anyone know that there was a pond off of Trapelo Road and Lexington Street called Hardy Pond? I had know idea. I forget how hilly Trapelo Road is, up and down, up and down. Short steep climbs too, just short enough that you can attack and before any real pain sets in, you’re cresting the top. Once the route crosses over I-95 it turns beautiful, we crossed over Cambridge Reservoir, and up into Lincoln.
Before long the asphalt turns red and the Decordova Museum (http://www.decordova.org/) passes by on the right. I wonder when they decided on red asphalt? Why red and not purple? Who gave the "ok" on this? I guess it is a nice change from the norm, but I can’t say I have seen it anywhere else, so why Lincoln? My three second search on Google revealed nothing. Nothing!
We passed Walden,
and high tailed it to Concord for some grub.
That looks like a man who wants some grub.
This time I went with a blueberry muffin and a large lemonade. Both hit the spot. No one ordered the breakfast sandwich however, so the mystery continues. My research has shown that one part muffin and two parts lemonade turn your stomach to cement in just one mile. But just three miles later, that cement turns into a PED like substance, see for yourself! (Quick side note, this is also the caption and win photo of the week. Wayne won the Chunky bar, but I ate it on the way home, so his will be delivered next week)
That pose there required every last bit of energy the muffin provided so I looked like this:
the rest of the way. It wasn't worth it.
I’m off next week, but will be back in two. In my absence feel free to contact Joe Wignall or Neil Doshi for ride details. See you soon.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Ride Report and Odd Ramblings
Sunday was my favorite ride yet, a repeat of the Sudbury/Wayland loop. We didn’t have as many people as last week, but the pace was spot on, so all of us rode together with the only exception being the occasional king of the “mountain” ego race. This loop has only the smallest of hills but that’s enough to stroke this guy’s ego. The sun was out in full force, a growing and welcomed trend. Does anyone remember last year when the weekends brought rain and the sun shined brilliantly from 9-6 on the weekdays? I do. I prefer this year’s pattern.
We met at the Seven parking lot and waited for the group to gather. I snapped this picture of my bike while we waited:
Two things came to mind, three really, nope four:
1: Why has no one told me my bars are rotated way too high? It’s possible the angle of the picture makes it look worse, but this was unsettling nonetheless. I’ll be addressing the matter before this week’s ride. However, in the future please let me know when such atrocities present themselves.
2: I think it’s time to cut off the extra 1 cm of steerer tube I have above the stem. I just don’t see myself raising the stem 1 cm in the next ten years, so why have it there looking like a chin rest?
3: I haven’t done a review of our new titanium seat post yet! I will soon, with detailed pictures to boot.
4: Pet peeves are not a big thing in my life. I’m pretty laid back and I just don’t get annoyed by that many things. A good example of a pet peeve of mine is when someone leaves you a voicemail and says, “Hey Karl, I have a question I need to ask you, so give me a call back when you can.” What is the question? What’s the draw back to asking me the question over voice mail? Time to think about it if not researching an answer? ASK the question. Ask the question, just get it out in the open, you’ll feel better. So as you can see, while I don’t have many pet peeves, I do get pretty fired up over them. Another pet peeve is white athletic socks. Don’t get me started. Look at the Fab Five.
Could they look more mint? Nope. Black socks is always the right choice, at least if they are going to be seen. Where am I going with all of this? Well, a growing pet peeve of mine is the silver braking surface on bike rims. Look at the picture of my bike. Outside of the hideous saddle bag, and the aforementioned handlebar issue, it’s the silver braking surface that jumps out at me. Yuck. This isn’t a knock on my wheels, (I love the wheels) it’s just something that wheel manufacturer’s need to figure out.
If the braking surface was gray or black, I wouldn't be looking for carbon wheels.
I think when I was working at the North Haven Bike Shop while in high school, Mavic made a pair gray rims, they were way ahead of their time. What happened to them? Outside of carbon wheels, there is no other option. I suppose it must have something to do with the brake pads wearing through any anodized colors. I lose sleep over this. Maybe it’s time for some carbon wheels after all. Even for me it’s hard to believe that these are the things I worry about. On the bright side, at least I don’t have to worry about bike fit and performance, that part is dialed.
Back to the ride report.
The streak of having one new rider per ride was extended another week as Matt Sutton, no relation to Ian Sutton, joined for the first time. This brings me to some bad news, I did the worst job yet of taking pictures. At the end of the ride I downloaded the shots, all twelve of them, and I got one shot of Matt’s backside, he’s the one with the banana in his pocket, I’ll leave the jokes up to you:
And in this video, he’s leading the pack:
If you turn up the volume you might get a laugh out of it. Let the record show that Neil finally remembered that we are in fact supposed to turn right at this particular intersection.
Riding past Hanscom Air Force Base we were pedaling into a heavy head wind. I could ride up a day long hill with a smile, but five minutes in a head wind and I struggle and get grumpy. It was about this time when Rob Vandermark sailed past, which got me to thinking. I wonder if when an employee gets a Seven, and Rob is reviewing specs, if he makes changes to the design that he knows will make me, say, struggle in a headwind. I doubt he would do this to the general public, but I could see him doing it to me and maybe Joe or Neil. A little payback for all of our wise cracks during the work week courtesy of the master. These are the things I think about in a head wind.
We followed the Battle Road back to Lexington, then rode up past Wilson Farms.
Another quick aside. If you are like me and are searching for the world’s finest glass of chocolate milk, look no further than Wilson Farm’s. I think it’s actually produced by Shaw’s Farms but it’s sold at Wilson’s and it has ended my search. I now search for the second best chocolate milk.
Up we went, cresting at the Belmont Country Club. Then down, down, down into Waverly Square where we all went our separate ways. All in all, a great ride.
This Sunday we’ll meet again in the lot and plan to leave at 8:30 on the dot. We’d love to have you there.
We met at the Seven parking lot and waited for the group to gather. I snapped this picture of my bike while we waited:
Two things came to mind, three really, nope four:
1: Why has no one told me my bars are rotated way too high? It’s possible the angle of the picture makes it look worse, but this was unsettling nonetheless. I’ll be addressing the matter before this week’s ride. However, in the future please let me know when such atrocities present themselves.
2: I think it’s time to cut off the extra 1 cm of steerer tube I have above the stem. I just don’t see myself raising the stem 1 cm in the next ten years, so why have it there looking like a chin rest?
3: I haven’t done a review of our new titanium seat post yet! I will soon, with detailed pictures to boot.
4: Pet peeves are not a big thing in my life. I’m pretty laid back and I just don’t get annoyed by that many things. A good example of a pet peeve of mine is when someone leaves you a voicemail and says, “Hey Karl, I have a question I need to ask you, so give me a call back when you can.” What is the question? What’s the draw back to asking me the question over voice mail? Time to think about it if not researching an answer? ASK the question. Ask the question, just get it out in the open, you’ll feel better. So as you can see, while I don’t have many pet peeves, I do get pretty fired up over them. Another pet peeve is white athletic socks. Don’t get me started. Look at the Fab Five.
Could they look more mint? Nope. Black socks is always the right choice, at least if they are going to be seen. Where am I going with all of this? Well, a growing pet peeve of mine is the silver braking surface on bike rims. Look at the picture of my bike. Outside of the hideous saddle bag, and the aforementioned handlebar issue, it’s the silver braking surface that jumps out at me. Yuck. This isn’t a knock on my wheels, (I love the wheels) it’s just something that wheel manufacturer’s need to figure out.
If the braking surface was gray or black, I wouldn't be looking for carbon wheels.
I think when I was working at the North Haven Bike Shop while in high school, Mavic made a pair gray rims, they were way ahead of their time. What happened to them? Outside of carbon wheels, there is no other option. I suppose it must have something to do with the brake pads wearing through any anodized colors. I lose sleep over this. Maybe it’s time for some carbon wheels after all. Even for me it’s hard to believe that these are the things I worry about. On the bright side, at least I don’t have to worry about bike fit and performance, that part is dialed.
Back to the ride report.
The streak of having one new rider per ride was extended another week as Matt Sutton, no relation to Ian Sutton, joined for the first time. This brings me to some bad news, I did the worst job yet of taking pictures. At the end of the ride I downloaded the shots, all twelve of them, and I got one shot of Matt’s backside, he’s the one with the banana in his pocket, I’ll leave the jokes up to you:
And in this video, he’s leading the pack:
If you turn up the volume you might get a laugh out of it. Let the record show that Neil finally remembered that we are in fact supposed to turn right at this particular intersection.
Riding past Hanscom Air Force Base we were pedaling into a heavy head wind. I could ride up a day long hill with a smile, but five minutes in a head wind and I struggle and get grumpy. It was about this time when Rob Vandermark sailed past, which got me to thinking. I wonder if when an employee gets a Seven, and Rob is reviewing specs, if he makes changes to the design that he knows will make me, say, struggle in a headwind. I doubt he would do this to the general public, but I could see him doing it to me and maybe Joe or Neil. A little payback for all of our wise cracks during the work week courtesy of the master. These are the things I think about in a head wind.
We followed the Battle Road back to Lexington, then rode up past Wilson Farms.
Another quick aside. If you are like me and are searching for the world’s finest glass of chocolate milk, look no further than Wilson Farm’s. I think it’s actually produced by Shaw’s Farms but it’s sold at Wilson’s and it has ended my search. I now search for the second best chocolate milk.
Up we went, cresting at the Belmont Country Club. Then down, down, down into Waverly Square where we all went our separate ways. All in all, a great ride.
This Sunday we’ll meet again in the lot and plan to leave at 8:30 on the dot. We’d love to have you there.
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