November begins with a sinus infection, Santa Ana winds and fire season. Warm and dry to the point of cracking skin and nose bleeds.
The month didn’t go as planned. Colds, and sinus/flu-like stuff invaded my training world. Ah, well I’m not really training for anything more than healthy life. Toddler-borne viruses are a part of that. The boosters to the various inoculations likely helped keep things milder than without. I like my chances better with the vaccines than without. Anyway, riding is good. Weather wa better than expected for the month. We had a few rain-soaking days, but they were few and I was usually sick or busy with other things, so it worked out.
First ride after a month off my bike was good. My last ride in October was the 6th. My first ride this month was the 6th. I took it easy. My HR monitor failed and no amount of cussing or fussing brought it to life. A new monitor is inbound.
We are into our Southern California version of Fall at the beach. That means we see daytime highs in the mid to lower 70’s and overnight lows in the low to mid 50’s. Full summer kit if I head out around noon.
A few rides in for the month, then a spoke breaks. Since these are Roval wheels and 13 years old, this requires a shop parts order since Specialized sees fit to not sell spokes to the public. I’ve also never been successful in getting the shop to provide spares to me. I’ll correct this problem with the next bike which will not be Specialized.
The only spokes that have broken on this wheel have been white on the drive side. Only the first was replied with a white spoke. The other two were replaced with unpainted spokes. The shop says it will take a week or two, which will kill off November. I’m considering swapping the road pedals to the Rocky Mountain and riding that in road shoes with the powermeter. I don’t really like that bike for much longer riding. We’ll see how I feel as this drags on.
The shop sent a text on Friday afternoon, the wheel is done. I picked it up after a touch less than $34 charge. The spoke is the 4th white-painted broken spoke to have been replaced and the first that could not be sourced as bladed. A round straight-pull spoke compatible with the Roval wheel and hub. Repairs only took a total of two days instead of the projected possible week or more. I’ll get out on it and see how it works soon.
A first ride post wheel repair netted me a flat. Turns out the rear tire had a tiny hole scuffed through the sidewall.
The pink bit is the tube peeking through the hole. When I looked at the inside of the tire once I got home, I could only find the hole by looking for the scuff on the outside of the sidewall. Inside was near pristine.
Patched the inside with a tube patch and remounted the tire.
This is a nearly new tire and I’m not happy about cutting up successive tires thanks to garbage strewn on the streets.
One more ride in November post Thanksgiving sickness. Sore throat is gone, cough is gone. Lungs are clear. Got about two hours in on a shortened and rerouted ride today. Felt pretty good. I could push hard for a bit. Not super strong of course with so much time off the bike in the past two months. But, I can breathe.
Summer kit at the end of November is quite something. Just a tic chilly in the shady places with the breeze hitting me. I’ll get one more ride in before the end of the month then a bit of travel without the bike and back on it in a week.
The last ride for the month was the 29th. I managed 1:50 for a shortened 45km. Wind kept me working with a tailwind on the way out and headwind on the way back. Chilly weather with storm clouds off the coast had me back in arm and leg warmers and a base layer.
We will see how December treats me. I feel pretty strong, my lungs are clear, I just need time in the saddle again and begin stretching my rides back out to 3 to 4 hours.
Totals for the month:
Distance: 419km
Climbing: 1,835m
Time: 21hours
Along The Way 