I have a celeste Zurigo cyclocross bike. Sweet ride, even if modern.
-
-
Comment
-
" Do you use it for gravel?"
Exactly why I bought it. Tried cyclocross only once, but did LandRun-100 7 out of 8 years, including the first one that only had about 100 riders of whom only about 40 finished. I DNF'd on a road bike with 28 mm tires! LOL
I used this bike the last five times. Made a positive improvement.Last edited by 955i; 03-10-2022, 07:44 PM.Comment
-
I have upgraded the wheels AND have CELESTE bar tape!
BTW, all my bicycles are set up "Euro-style," - right-hand brake operates the front, and the left operates the back. I don't have to think about which is which jumping off one to another because they are like motorcycles.Comment
-
Land Run 100 gravel race. WildBears, you might take a few minutes and watch these clips.
This first one is of my friend Bobby who opened a tiny bike shop is Stillwater, Oklahoma on faith alone. 1 year in, he came up with this idea for a 100 mile bike "ride." There were only about 100 of us that started it. He told me about it 2 days before the "ride." It didn't even have a name yet. I made it about 40 miles. This is a film made by Salsa about the ride.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Stillwater...%3D6TDtULSU1Nc
This 2nd video is by ex-World Pro cyclist Ted King. It's about his prep and his LR-100 ride. I advise starting at about 8 minutes in unless you are interested in nutrition, tires, etc.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=land+run+1...%3DxBoNRa_62k0
One last short one: An into by Bobby Wintle and then clips of the race in a dry year. Brethern Hill is a hell of lot steeper than the video makes it seem. I've never ridden all the way to the top. The pictures of people riding it are of the fist 50 -75 people. The other 2000 (including me) all pushed their bikes up it. Some that rode it, regretted it, because this was only about 25 miles in and blown legs had a lot of work yet to do.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=land+run+1...%3DyKn-uvkpECsComment
-
#95.2Editing a commentThanks for posting. Watched the fist link. The amount on mud on some of the riders/bikes is unbelievable. There must be a high content of clay which means the "roads" are very slippery. -
Well, heck, I'm not very good at posting stuff. But, just look at some of those videos at random. Some are good. I did NOT ride 2017 because I had an ablation the week before. It was the perfect race to miss - predicted to be 50-60F and clear, it was instead constant drizzle and sleet and 35F. I am not starting tomorrow, either, because covid has minimized my riding this winter (only about 300 miles since January 1, and half of that was indoor trainer.) It will mean I missed two in ten years. BUT, there are 2 inches of fresh snow on the course right now and it is still snowing!! I hope my son-in-law enjoys that!
I have ridden in the dry and in the mud, both. Wildbears, the red mud is almost all clay and when it is wet, we call it "peanut butter" mud. It wrecks brakes, chains, and derailleurs snap off with their hangers. The course is changed every two years. This year not much of the course is down by the river, so most of the worst of it will be avoided.Last edited by 955i; 03-14-2022, 01:58 PM. -
Clay takes forever to clean out of all the nooks and crannies. I dropped my '98 Red K12RS in the SD Badlands and despite mutliple washings, there was still some clay beneath the surfaces years later.
-
-
Funny story: After LandRun one year, I had some scratches,mud, and scabs all from a tough day. A couple of scabs on my leg were still there a week later. It was time for them to fall off. In the shower, I said "i'm done with these." Turns out LOL that they weren't scabs at all - just red crusty mud that had survived a week of previous soap and showers! And, really, I'm pretty good at taking showers. This stuff is just that tough!Comment
-
Wildbears, at the last minute, I decided to ride the race, anyway. Until the national guidance changed (again) last week, the race organizers were going to require vaccine verification. Fuck that. I wasn't going to do it. But, they dropped that AND the snow melted away on Friday afternoon. I saw some of my riding friends at the sign-in party and vendor hangouts, some of whom urged me to ride with them on the 50-mile option. But, it wasn't until I went home later that I threw together some GU's, Cliff bars, and a fried egg and bacon sandwich. I pumped up my tires, grabbed a couple of CO2 cartridges, found all my deep winter riding gear and was ready to go.
The start was delayed until 9:00 so at least it was 25F at the gun. 1500 of us started out. I cleverly went to the rear and settled in for a long day. 13 hours later, I crossed the finish line, cold, cramping, but happy. I'd joined up with some really good riders that were thrown together at the rear because of various problems. It was fun. 102 miles completed. (Raising my 2022 total -including indoor-trainer time - to 342 miles.)
BTW, I kidded my friends - strong youngish riders all - that I'd rather be a pussy and quit exhausted on the 100-miler, than to announce that "I'm a big baby" at the outset by only signing up for the 50. LOL They got a kick out of it.Last edited by 955i; 03-14-2022, 03:35 PM.Comment
-
Funny how nice smooth pavement is after a day full of gravel. The route finished up coming into Stillwater, Oklahoma. It went through Oklahoma State University's pleasant campus on smooooth roads. Felt good on the old but. In one section, the school put faux bricks in the roadway. Even as insignificant as they actually were, you would have thought from all the bitching we made that we were in the Paris-Roubaix monument. -
I wish I had time to take up cycling..... In my younger days I rode everywhere.
Then marriage, house, kids, business.....
Found I liked a motor better, it got me farther away from it all.
-
-
Capn, Wildbears and Mike, you guys could all have made it. Most motorcyclists are inured to misery on two wheels -chills, heat, hungry, tired and sore butt. Then, just soldier on. Plus, although this is a national race for about the first 100 guys, the rest of us just try to finish. It's a party at the back. Butt Butt'r sponsored a surprise rest stop at 60-miles that had water, candy bars and Bourbon. The Oasis at 80 miles had lots of the same stuff and some really GOOD Bourbon. That helped, and would have ensured you boys would have made the distance.Comment
-
I'm not good at linking stuff, but this might come through. It's mildly interesting.
https://strava.app.link/opQfjwbvqobComment
-
Upper 60s today. Did a little yard work, went for a 20 mile ride and stopped at the local brewery.
Even with the 30 mph wind it was a nice ride.Lee
Iowa
2022 R1250RS White SportComment
-
I applaud you distance guys. I can do 30 - 40 miles everyday but 100 miles takes a lot of time and my boney arse does not like more than 60 at a time.
https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDA4GkZwv
2023 Honda CB500X
2017 Honda CRF250 L ABS
"Where you stand depends on where you sit"
Rufus E Miles JR.Comment
-
Got in another ride yesterday https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOdYBYREk62023 Honda CB500X
2017 Honda CRF250 L ABS
"Where you stand depends on where you sit"
Rufus E Miles JR.Comment
-
Raised the seat 2 cm, and moved it forward a bit, due to knee cap pain. Had used the Lemond method to set seat height after going to a lower profile saddle. The Lemond method takes your inseam and multiplies it by 0883 = distance from BB center to top of saddle.
Saddle Height (Lemond Method) measured from BB center to top of saddle aligned thru the center of the seat tube and seat post. 33.4 x 0.883 = 29.50 inches, 749 mm (caused inside patellar pain) Best Saddle Height As Determined By Riding And Freedom From Knee Pain 30.25 inches, 768 mm Comment
-
I guess I'm not too particular about seat height. I'm more concerned about where my "sit bones" go on the best part of the seat. However, during Saturdays' long ride, I was starting to get a cramp in the right quad at mile 33. At the 40 mile rest stop, I raised the seat about 3/4 of an inch. It helped avoid cramps until mile 75 or so. I also clipped out and moved my feet around on the pedals. As long as I avoided putting too much pressure into the pedals grinding up the hills of more than 6%, I was good. -
The correct, higher saddle position also allowed for more power output and endurance. I had to move the saddle slightly forward to maintain the same sit-bone position on the saddle with the same reach to the bars and same relative/fore-aft sit-bone relation to the BB/cranks. The latter was previously established also by feel after starting with the front of the knee over a pedal axle with the cranks at 3 and 9 o'clock.Last edited by wildbears; 03-18-2022, 06:23 PM.
-
-
On the serious side:
I use either WD40 bike chain lube or Gunk Silicone spray. Either is applied liberally and then wiped with a paper towel while rotating the crank to remove the excess. I've also used Honda chain lube a few times left over from the 1990's. Purchased for my Honda Shadow and VFR.
I have not seen significant tooth wear on either my Ultegra or Record chain rings from the 1980's. Still original.
The silicone spray is great for cleaning without using a brush.
955i commented
Mike, there is probably no "best" chain lube. There are lots of good modern lubes. I prefer lubes that dry and say clean, even if they are not as good in he wet. The Mid-South last Saturday was forecast to b e muddy mess, so I used a "wet lube" that clings on and throws off the water and muck. I would never use that stuff on my road Merckx, the bike is just too pretty to muck up.
Lee is an expert in all things mechanical, so he can probably tell you more than I. But, for what it's worth, here are my lubes.
-For the past few years I have been using Rock N Roll "Gold" on my road bike.
-I've been using Muc-Off brand Dry Lube on the gravel bike when it's not muddy or raining and on the road bike when I can't find my bottle of Rock N Roll. It goes on well, seeps into the rollers and then dries up nicely.
-I used Muc-Off Wet Lube Saturday for the race. It was still doing the job at 50 miles when I put some additional lube on from a support vendor. It worked (whatever it was) but the chain and drive train was one gooey mess to clean up a few days later.
-Finish Line brand makes both a wet and a dry lube that are full synthetic. The guys at the bike shop use and push that brand. I like it fine but I use the Muc-Off more often in part because the spout on the Muc-Off bottles aids in application. (silly reason I know!) I like the dry version real well, but avoid using the wet version, if I can help it.
-
Finally, Boeing Aerospace has made a lubricant call Boeshield t-9. Someone gave me a small bottle for Christmas. I haven't given it a real honest try out, yet. It seems OK when I have used it to supplement a dry chain. To give it a fair test, I need to use it alone after I have thoroughly cleaned the chain and drive train.
On all of these, I try to clean the chain well before applying. Once on, some I immediately wipe off the excess. Others, I let set a while. In any event, too much lube is a bad recipe. I try to ensue the rollers and inner plates are sufficiently lubed, but try to wipe off all the rest.Comment
Comment