The first week of the month was pretty good even with the heat wave. I managed some good rides and hard efforts. I rode a lot with the groups.
I had an epic puncture from a huge quarter inch diameter sheetmetal screw that scraped paint off the frame and tore the wire off the front derailleur. That caused the loss of the connector cover and the grommet. I ordered both and should have them in a week or so. The rear tire was tore up around the puncture and the screw had punctured the rim tape so no luck for the sealant or the plug I used. I pulled the plug out and used a tube. It was quite the mess. I used the velcro strap for my frame pump to secure the loose wire for the remainder of the ride. I was in the small ring when it happened so I rode a makeshift mullet. I still managed a few PR’s. Once back home, I cleaned up the bike and closed up the openings and secured the wire using some UHMWPE protection tape. Before that puncture I had a patch on a tubeless tire fail. Dan had a plug tool so we plugged it and that worked and is still holding. I think I may clean up the plugged tire and use a tube for the next long ride.
This first week was a total of 345km. I did manage to get a metric century ride in. I’d ordered a set of Pirelli P Zero Race TLR tires in 30mm and they have arrived. I’m tempted to let the tires I have on a mis-matched set of a Vittoria N. EXT and a Continental GP 5000S, both tubeless and both in 30mm stay on the bike with tubes until they are worn out. The catastrophic failures out on the road are a mess compared to tubes.
Other work on the bike was swapping the brake lever controls back to what I had before the accident with the front brake on the right. It was fairly simple. Much easier than dealing with motorcycle brakes and bleeding. The right tools make the work easier.
This week the parts I needed for the rear derailleur arrived. The end piece for the power wire came from UK for a ridicules sum thanks to there being none available in the states. The grommets meanwhile took a small tour of the southwest US after leaving Chico, California they arrived in Anaheim, only to jet to El Paso Texas before returning to San Francisco, then on to Anaheim and finally arriving at my door.
I need to get some silicone sealant and finish the install of the grommet and re-fix the sheath thing.
I used another piece of protective tape over the sheath to keep that secure for now. I also ordered some paint to dab in the chips.
I managed a pretty big week for distance with three metric centuries adding up to 498km. I’ll ride with the Flat Earth Homies some more and maybe this week get back to the fast Thursday group. School is beginning again for kids, teachers and administration this week, so some of our ride organizers are back to less available time during the work week.
The fast group ride on Thursday caught me at the back at a light then a second light nailed the lid shut. I spent the rest of the first half of the ride chasing the front group I lost sight of. After the rest stop and partial re-group I was able to set off with the fast guys. We cruised through the Back Bay at a good clip.
After that I rode home from the start/finish point netting me another metric for the month and then some. I took Friday off. Saturday was my turn to lead the medium B ride. That makes it a recovery ride for me. Unfortunately my HR monitor battery died after my initial set up and check. Once on the ride I noticed I didn’t have a HR. Oh, well next time. When I got home, I changed batteries and all is well. LMNT sent a free bottle.
Also after getting home, I had received the paint I am using to touch up the damage from the big screw puncture.
I think that works well enough.
This last full week of the month I got two rides in with the Flat Earth Homies. I skipped the fast Thursday OCW ride, choosing instead to stay near the water and do some climbing. I even managed to improve my PR on Top of Scenic.
The biggest mileage month of the year so far. We rode some odd routes and some of the usual routes.
Saw a snake, though capturing an image was not easy.
I rode the train to quite a few rides this month. Only once or twice home or back to Oceanside from San Diego.
I’ve begun riding an early train from our town pier to ARTIC, Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center to ride on Wednesdays. I can even take it for the fast Thursday ride and get off at Irvine and ride to the start point and get a little warm up. I always seem to be tired once I get on these early trains.
Once in a while the bike space on the train is quite empty.
I need to bond that little black flap/guide down and remove the tape. I’ll get to that soon enough. One pair of bib shorts finally gave up, the padding splitting down the center such that it pinches where pinching is not good. Ouch! I’ll need to order replacement shorts from Voler. I don’t remember how old those were, but, I know they were two versions back of the Black Label bibs, which don’t appear in my order history so quite a while ago. I’m going to order another jersey as well. Go back to the race fit Velocity jersey. They are shorter and slightly thicker material than the aero. The aero are very stretchy and quite long by comparison. They sag quite a bit when soaked in sweat. When I buy another aero jersey it will be sized down to small for a shorter fit. The medium black label bib shorts fit perfectly where the custom Escape version is a bit loose on me.
My weight is pretty stable around 145 pounds right now. My diet is good, as we are generally following a lower glycemic index food mix to comply with my wife’s dietary restrictions. Where she consumes less carbs such as having hearts of palm noodles in place of pasta, I get the pasta. Every evening meal includes plenty of veg. I usually have whatever is leftover at lunch of a PB&J and some fruit. I’m finding I don’t need to eat a lot when riding less than four hours. When I do a longer ride such as a metric I carry dried apricots along with my usual LMNT+ packets for hydration and electrolyte replenishment.
Totals for the month:
Distance: 1,765.9km
Climbing: 9,570m
Time: 68 hours, 49 minutes
Along The Way 