8°C, grey and dry with a brisk SE.
Kona Zing: Second ride feels better. This happens after a layoff.
Blossom
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Category Archives: Summer bike
I return.
10°C, bright sun but chilly.
A slow ride as I’m still recovering from a heavy cold. It affected two DofE trips, the White Peak on quite badly. On the first night, I woke with the shivers. That changing robe has been very useful.
I went out on the Zing after tweeking the gear indexing. I’ve got a work-stand to raise the bike. It’s much easier to get to the gears now. It is a £30 Aldi stand. It’s okay by not all the clamps are free from sliding when loaded. There are still a few cogs that are slow to shift even though the cable is new. Maybe change the sheaths next. If it still stick, then I give up, nothing can be done.
Grey November ride.
Mustang: grey damp and no wind
Pushed back the ride to get some maintenance done. The Zing has a new chain that I failed to fit. Shimano chains have a single-use pin to close the chain. I broke it. The Jake also has a new KMC chain which was easy to fit but there’s a problem. The cassette is worn out on about 4 cogs. It’s the original on a 2015 bike, so that’s a decent life. The jockey wheels were almost toothless. Changed them too.
Great, an hour’s work and now 2 bikes are unrideable. At least I got a run this morning.
Last time,
16°C, occasional showers, low sun in strong SW wind.
Each time I ride the Zing, I think it’s the last ride this season. The weather has been surprisingly mild, 17°C today. The problem is that my winter bike is so heavy in comparison. The fixed far better (when the wind is light).
Autumn ride and run.
Back to form. Ran this morning which was rather nice. My knee hurt at one point so I walked it off for a hundred metres. It worked. The ride was near enough a summer average speed. Perhaps last week I was fighting something off, was that the reason for low speeds?
Another car, same ditch
Kona Zing, 18°C, sunny but heavy rain in the last hour.
Quick 50k.
23°C, moderate NE breeze. Milky sun.
This could be my fastest ride of the year. Curious since I really struggled on the first ride when I got got home from Corsica.
Zinging
Been out for a blast after working on the house windows all morning. Glad to get my cycling legs back after the last few rides. I was expecting to be faster after the GR20. But no.
Danger loosenings.
Ridley 12sp,Di2, Ultegra, 34°C, no wind, full sun.
That is a rather swish bike. All carbon, Ultegra Di2 electric gear shift, hydraulic disc brakes; a real delight. It was amazing to ride, spritely and brisk acceleration. It’s ideal for multiple harpin descents.
Solstice ’22
18°C, light SW. Sunny
My old shoes for the summer bike were Carnac. They’ve lasted a decade but I’ve noticed a waggle of my left knee which has reduced down-force. They must have lost their shape over the years and it’s ruined my cadence. Now that’s all fixed. I had to stop 4 times to make adjustments to the shoe-plates but now, all is good.
Apart fdrom this, several repairs are complete this week on the Kona Jake CX. It has a new Hope headset and Shimano bottom bracket. I’ll report if I notice any difference in handling. The wheel bearings still need doing.
In a way, this marks half-way. Milage so far 3,152km, I make that 1,940 miles. Milage is down while working on DofE because that’s many weekends where I can’t ride.
Micycle 