Monday, February 09, 2015
Sunday, June 09, 2013
Sunday ad hoc Ride 20130609
Just the jaunt for a nice warm Sunday morning, from the outskirts of Princeton to Peacocks General Store.
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Griggstown Grinder 20130604
Most riders had their weekend tales, but it didn't stop Diane leading us on an undulating route from the outskirts of Princeton to the foothills of the Sourlands.
My legs still aren't up to it ... too big a break through the winter. I'll have to think of spinning through the dark days.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Griggstown Grinder 20130521
Good. An evening when we didn't need full gloves and arm-warmers ...
In fact, a very pleasant evening indeed.
As usual, we entered the gateway to the Sourlands via Hollow and Longhill, onto Ridge before the long descent to Hopewell.
The surface on Hollow just gets worse and it's hard to believe this route is used as a descent for the family friendly Sourlands Spectacular. Just keep your mouth shut so your teeth don't shake out ...
As usual, thanks to Diane for challenging our legs and everyone else for making Tuesday evenings a very pleasant social ride.
26.9miles / 1100ft climbing
In fact, a very pleasant evening indeed.
As usual, we entered the gateway to the Sourlands via Hollow and Longhill, onto Ridge before the long descent to Hopewell.
The surface on Hollow just gets worse and it's hard to believe this route is used as a descent for the family friendly Sourlands Spectacular. Just keep your mouth shut so your teeth don't shake out ...
As usual, thanks to Diane for challenging our legs and everyone else for making Tuesday evenings a very pleasant social ride.
26.9miles / 1100ft climbing
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Griggstown Grinder 20130514
Hmm ... Lindberg last week ... Dutchtown-Zion this week ... Diane is determined to get those climbing legs back ...
As usual the usual elite selection of grimpeurs met up in Belle Meade for the Tuesday evening Grind. Fifteen miles of flatland before we hit The Hill of the Day. I'm sure it was the tree cover, but at one point my GPS auto-paused, not because I was soooo slow ... oh no.
Once again, thanks to all, especially Diane.
24.6 miles / 926ft climbing
As usual the usual elite selection of grimpeurs met up in Belle Meade for the Tuesday evening Grind. Fifteen miles of flatland before we hit The Hill of the Day. I'm sure it was the tree cover, but at one point my GPS auto-paused, not because I was soooo slow ... oh no.
Once again, thanks to all, especially Diane.
24.6 miles / 926ft climbing
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Griggstown Grinder 20130507
There was a hint of rain in the air as we started out on the first Griggstown Grinder of 2013. Of course, we all laughed when Diane said we'd be going up Lindberg Hill ... yeah ... right ...
For sure, I have very few miles in my legs so far this year, so I felt it quite badly. And we did climb Lindberg as you can see.
Thanks to all who shared my suffering. And special thanks to Diane for concocting this torture ... um, delightful route. See you all next week.
For sure, I have very few miles in my legs so far this year, so I felt it quite badly. And we did climb Lindberg as you can see.
Thanks to all who shared my suffering. And special thanks to Diane for concocting this
Thanks to Peiching Chu for image
Monday, October 08, 2012
Rule of Seven
So here it is. In a nutshell. My project for this winter.
The foundation, a handmade Seven frame, built to my exact measurements and specifications like a bespoke suit. There is no bike in the world exactly like this one.
And here it is, resplendent in Amber Ale, an appropriate choice of colour I think. Based on a Seven Mudhoney cyclo-cross frame adapted for disc brakes and an eccentric bottom bracket. The fork is a 3T Luteus Team CX carbon with disc brake adaptor.
The initial aim is to build a single-speed bike which will be happy on routes such as rail trails and made up cycle paths, what might be called a gravel-racer here in the US and a path-racer back in the UK if I were looking for a trending name for such a bike.The frame is adaptable enough to reconfigure it as a geared epic touring type bike or commuter should I want to in the future.
The seat and seat-pin are from my bits box. Fortunately, my current road bike and the Seven have the same internal seat-tube diameter - 27.2mm.
So the current to-do list includes; build wheels, fit headset, fit bottom bracket and chain-set ... more soon ...
Monday, September 17, 2012
Marginal Thinking
Well, it's been a few weeks. Not really a huge break from cycling, because Number One Son actually quite likes cycling. Okay, not in a Tour de France/Brad Wiggins sort of way, but able to handle 50mile/80km plus rides on the Schuylkill Trail, around Manhattan and more ...I only managed one out and out roadie type ride; Chris's farewell from the bike shop. Seventy or so riders headed out into the Sourlands to bid adieu to Halter's popular superwrench. Very nice it was too. Thank you to whoever's voice it was which piped up from behind me on the climb over the ridge, "C'mon Wiggins!!!".
I would like to emphasise that, 1: the voice came from behind, and 2: my patriotic jersey is one I would never wear in a million years in the UK.
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| Good luck Chris - with me on the correct side of the road |
The Bloke Rides again
It seems a long time since my last blog posting. Not that a lot hasn't happened, or a lot of rides been done. But just one damn ride after another doesn't make for an inspiring blog, especially when all this British Bloke wants to do is pontificate about stuff in general.
So in future I'll be logging regular rides via Twitter. Follow my tweets should you want ride details.
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| Rainbow Hill Road Bridge, Montgomery, NJ, USA - 17.9.2012 |
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Griggstown Grinder : 20120703
It was going to be a hot one. The temperature was 93F/34C as we gathered in the parking lot next to Montgomery park under a hazy sky.
The route took by the canal, up Mt Lucas Road and Cherry Hill Road toward the main ascent of the evening, Hollow Rd.
My route map varies from the direction the group took as we waited for a rider then rode directly for Route 518. The group, meanwhile, cut across from Cherry Hill Road to Province Line Road, before meeting up again for 518. Hollow Road is probably the most civilised route into the Sourlands, but lately the surface has degraded to not much better than a track. This is mostly an issue on the descent, but once you're on Long Hill with its rather better surface, it becomes apparent that Hollow's pitted and pocked surface imposes a significant burden.
Spring Hill has a relatively new and far smoother surface which encourages a swift descent, although I am always nervous of the right-hand corner - about mile 24 on this map - which in the past always had a patch of gravel running across the road which, at the very least always caused a nervous shimmy as you rounded the tight bend. The new surface seems to have eliminated that obstacle, but be careful, it's tight and can leave you on the wrong side of the road.
So a hot afternoon and evening with 1700ft of climbing. The map shows 1500ft, but Strava shows 1700ft. Most GPS mapping sites return different climbing data. I'm not certain why that is ... anyway, more on Strava another day.
Meanwhile, I'm writing this early morning, July 4th, wondering if the rain will ease of so I can ride with Princeton FreeWheeler's Independence Day event. Maybe a day to resist wearing my Union Jack jersey ...
The route took by the canal, up Mt Lucas Road and Cherry Hill Road toward the main ascent of the evening, Hollow Rd.
My route map varies from the direction the group took as we waited for a rider then rode directly for Route 518. The group, meanwhile, cut across from Cherry Hill Road to Province Line Road, before meeting up again for 518. Hollow Road is probably the most civilised route into the Sourlands, but lately the surface has degraded to not much better than a track. This is mostly an issue on the descent, but once you're on Long Hill with its rather better surface, it becomes apparent that Hollow's pitted and pocked surface imposes a significant burden.
Spring Hill has a relatively new and far smoother surface which encourages a swift descent, although I am always nervous of the right-hand corner - about mile 24 on this map - which in the past always had a patch of gravel running across the road which, at the very least always caused a nervous shimmy as you rounded the tight bend. The new surface seems to have eliminated that obstacle, but be careful, it's tight and can leave you on the wrong side of the road.
So a hot afternoon and evening with 1700ft of climbing. The map shows 1500ft, but Strava shows 1700ft. Most GPS mapping sites return different climbing data. I'm not certain why that is ... anyway, more on Strava another day.
Meanwhile, I'm writing this early morning, July 4th, wondering if the rain will ease of so I can ride with Princeton FreeWheeler's Independence Day event. Maybe a day to resist wearing my Union Jack jersey ...
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