 |
|
Cycling After RVin
|
Return to Cycling Page 5
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, November 21,
2025: I am mostly finished making the Fuji into "my"
bike. From top left, I had a computer mount on hand so
no need to buy another, next, I removed the ugly red
tape and replaced with black cork tape. Third, I
replaced the old chain with a new chain. Fourth, I
needed a hangar for my Garmin radar/tail light. Fifth, I
prefer a quick release for the seat post so I can easily
remove the saddle during storage and transportation.
Sixth, I purchased a bell for use while riding The Loop.
Seventh, the bike was geared too high so I replaced the
12-25 cassette with an 11-32 cassette. Eight, I needed a
hangar for my flashing headlight. Under that photo,
ninth, I purchased a smaller under saddle bag for spare
parts. Eventually I will replace the saddle with one I
have in Oregon and will replace the narrow tires with
wider tires also in Oregon. This bike wants to ride
fast! I probably have $230 invested in this bike now,
what a steal! Click all photos for more views. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, November 20,
2025: One of my ideas to make the bike have lower gears
was to reduce the size of the chainrings. However, I
discovered the bolt pattern was 130 mm and the smallest
chainring to fit this pattern was 38 tooth. I already
had this one at 39 tooth, one tooth would not be worth
the trouble to change. The large chain ring has 53
teeth. I could change that to 48 teeth, again, not worth
the trouble. Perhaps some day in the future I could
re-gear to 48-38 tooth. |
|
|
|
|
|
Monday, November 17, 2025: This
group plus two more late arrivals were the riders today for the
RCE Bike Club. From the left: John, Janette, Monica, Andrew,
Carol, Ivan, Rodrick, Dale (me), Daniel, Cab and Ed. Wes and
Lisa are late. I took them into the Saguaro National Park
East. It was a first visit for some. The weather was perfect for
today's ride. Everyone enjoyed the ride even though we did not
stop for refreshments as we usually do. It was 23 miles total
and about 2.5 hours since we had a couple slow riders. Click
this photo for another view as we gathered at the visitor
center. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday, November 16,
2025: Three riders from the RCE Bike Club went
with me to the GABA Bicycle Swap today. I have been
wanted to get a light weight road bike to ride on The
Loop. The Loop has no hills so I normally leave my
assistance off when riding my e-Bike. It weights 45 lbs
so I've had the desire to get something more responsive
when I don't need the assistance. But... I didn't want
to spend much. Of course the bike I really wanted was
$2K. The Gilmore above left was a nice bike for $500. I
kept walking and found the Allez for $350, center above.
Then I found a really nice Canondale behind the Allez
for $400. Then I walked by this Fuji Fussion marked at
$200. I have owned a Fuji in the past and very happy
with it. This one was nicer than my previous Fuji. I
took it for a test ride then had them remove the pedals
and got the bike for $180. When I got it home I began to
turn it into my bike. I still have some changes to make
over the next few days. So far, I am very pleased with
my purchase. I have better tires to exchange and
far better saddle but those two items are in Oregon so
I'll wait for those. Click on all the photos. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Monday, November 10, 2025: This
is our group today riding ten miles south on The Loop with
a refreshment stop at the 15 mile point. From the left:
Wes, Lisa, Dale (me), Cab, Rodrick, Jack and Rick. We had
two join us late, Monica and Andy. Click on the photo and
they are the two on the left of that photo. Today's ride
was windy but since it was an out and back ride, we were
fighting a headwind half the ride but enjoying a tailwind
the other half. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, November 5, 2025: I was told
the Saguaro National Park East was open to cyclists only. The park
is already a popular ride for cyclists and the attraction to the
park is even greater if no vehicles are allowed! They were right,
I was able to walk my bike through the gate and then I was alone
on the rode except for a few other cyclists. I was a little late
(11 am) and had already noticed lots of cyclists leaving the park
having ridden it already. It was wonderful having the whole
park to myself with no vehicles to worry about. Click the three
photos for more views. The total ride today was 23 miles
with lots of climbing and descending. |
|
|
|
|
Monday, November 3, 2025: Our
Monday rides have begun today for the Rincon Country East
(RCE) bicycle club. Most of our usual riders have
not arrived at the resort yet. From the left, Ed, John, Me
(Dale), and Rodrick rode today. We did a short 14 mile
ride to the Coffee XChange where none of us had coffee but
we all had something to eat. My rear tire has been giving
me trouble going flat unexpectedly and so it went flat on
the return ride. I suspected the valve. I tightened the
valve and pumped it back up. It held all the way back.
Everyone had an e-bike today except I still have not
inserted my battery feeling no need since the route is
flat. |
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday,
October 26, 2025: It is time to replace the rear brake pads.
The old pads are in the center, they are paper thin. New pads
are on the right, plenty of pad material. Here is the video
I watched to know how to make the change. |
|
|
|
|
Thursday,
October 23, 2025: I planned to do a 20 mile ride out
and back on the Aviation Bikeway. However, when I
reached Treat Blvd I was feeling good enough to take
Treat across town to the East Side Loop. Click on the
left photo. Four police cars are cleaning up two
homeless camps and assisting is collecting stolen
grocery carts. Treat Bike Blvd connects Aviation
Bikeway to The Loop on the east side. It has protected
bike lanes and rider activated stop lights at major
intersections. It also passes through some nice areas
of Tucson such as Winterhaven. Click the photo on the
right to see Winterhaven. The entire ride was nearly
30 miles. I left the bike battery at home so it was
entirely on my own power. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday, October 19, 2025: I was
ready to ride on my bike with new tires and a new cassette
but I soon learned my Hammerhead Bicycle Computer would
not turn on. We always say, "if the ride isn't recorded,
it never happened". I monitor my ride continuously
with my Hammerhead. I sent a message to my friend in
Colorado who is a Hammerhead customer service tech but did
not wait for an answer. Instead I decided to use an APP on
my phone, Ride with GPS (RWGPS). The photo at the right is
a copy of the screen at my halfway point. It's a great APP
but my phone is in my back pocket so I can't see the
screen. I ride to my heart rate, it's not on the
RWGPS screen. The incline is not there either nor is the
distance to my destination. The minutes I've been riding
is there but what time is it? My Hammerhead tells me all
that. Once I returned, I check for messages and my friend
sent me the steps to get my computer working. That's why
you can see the screen at the left. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday, October 18, 2025: My day
began early with a Zwift ride with a group set to ride exactly 1
hour. These rides are always tough for me because I can rarely
keep up with the other riders. I'm usually in the last 25% of the
group. That was the case this morning. At the end of 1 hour my
legs were screaming for me to stop! I fixed breakfast after the
ride. After breakfast Amazon arrived with my new cassette for my
road bike. The old cassette had some chipped teeth which made it
difficult to shift into some of the gears. I mounted the cassette
to the rear wheel then made a small derailleur adjustment to get
smooth shifting. I installed the wheel to the bike and the bike is
now ready for tomorrow's ride. |
|
|
|
| Friday, October 17, 2025: I
mentioned yesterday my problems with tires on the bike.
Front tire has a new tire but was flat. Rear tire was
falling apart and needed to be replaced. I chose to go
tubeless with both tires. I applied new rim tape and new
valve stems. Tubeless tires must be "blown on" to seat to
the rims. They must also have sealant to protect from
small punctures. The valve stem core must be removed
to seat and fill with sealant. Here is a short
video showing how I seat the tires using an Airshot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday: October 8, 2025: My
longest ride yet on the Loop this season. I'm trying
something new but failed to read the contents of the
Energy Puree until after my first bite. The flavor was a
surprise. It tasted better after I realized what it was. I
sat on "Kate's" bench for the Puree treat but Kate wasn't
talking to me today. Click on the left photo to see my
view from Kate's bench. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Monday, October 6, 2025: My first ride of
the season on The Loop. I got a late morning start, 9:45 so I had
to deal with warm temperatures, 86 - 89. The city of Tucson takes
good care of The Loop. The asphalt is usually clean, landscape
cared for and trash picked up. Someone has pickup up bags of trash
on both sides of the Pantano Wash. Tuscon provides alternatives
for the homeless population but they are still troublesome. Click
the center photo to see grocery carts stolen then abandoned in the
Pantano Wash. The photo on the right shows an empty well where my
8 pound battery usually sits. I rode without a battery so no
e-assistance today. Click all three photos for another view. |
|
|
|
|
Thursday, October 2, 2025: My second day
of Zwift, more difficult this time since I increased to the next
level and sore from yesterday. The far right photo is a good photo
of D. Bernie the pacer robot next to me. |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday,
October 1, 2025: It has been a while since I have
ridden any distance on a bicycle so I choose to ride
Zwift to get back into shape before riding the street.
I rode with a slow robot today, one level below where
I normally ride. I will ride with my normal group
tomorrow. A Zwift robot is a robot pace rider. The
pace rider sets a steady power pace so it keeps the
same power. It slows down keeping the same power when
climbing and speeds up on a descent still keeping the
same power. The Wahoo Kicker connected to the back
wheel of my bike logs into Zwift where Zwift changes
the resistance depending upon the virtual terrain we
are riding. So when climbing resistance is increased,
when descending resistance is decreased just like real
life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday,
August 15, 2025: Ten riders showed up today for the
Friday Coffee ride with the Umpqua Velo Bicycle Club.
Nine in this photo and I'm taking the photo making ten.
Today's ride was the longest I've done this summer at 46
miles. The Velo riders rode from Roseburg, while I rode
from Sutherlin. It was nearly equal mileage for both of
us. |
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, August 8, 2025: I
join the Umpqua Velo Bicycle Club for their Friday ride.
It began only a mile from our trailer at Central Park in
Sutherlin. That made it easy to join. Four of us did a
ride I have done many times but since I haven't been on
my bike for a month, 36 miles was a stretch for
me. Here is a short
video of the guys on a downhill portion of the
route. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, July 9, 2025:
Another nice cool day along the coast. Glen and I began a
ride along the north bank of the Coquille River then
turned north for a few miles before wondering our way back
south for a loop. None of the ride was on the busy Hiway
101 even though 101 is the official Oregon Coast cycling
route. Click both photos for more views. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Friday, June 27, 2025: The
Umpqua Velo Bicycle Club always has a Friday ride during
the summer months. Today it was only Mark and myself which
was OK with both of us since nobody would be pushing us.
We rode a nice preplanned route along the Umpqua River.
Behind the Oregon Duck photo above is a photo of the
North Umpqua joining the South Umpqua Rivers.
Today's route was preplanned by someone so we followed the
route on our computers. The Cole Valley Church is out in
the middle of nowhere but is apparently still going
strong. I've been riding by it for 13 years but it has
been nearly 3 years since I was last here. Behind the
church photo is the Umpqua River, the second longest in
Oregon, on it's way to Reedsport where is dumps into the
Pacific Ocean. This was an easy 28 mile ride with 1000
feet of climbing. |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Friday, June 19, 2025: I found
my front tire flat again. Previously I installed a new
tube but forgot to check the rim tape, actually also
forgot to check the inner tire casing for sharp objects
too. I checked the tube and found the hole easily on the
side of the tire facing the rim. I found the rim tape had
pulled away from a spoke hole allowing the spoke to
puncture the tube. Of course my extra rim tape is in
Tucson so ordered another roll. I also decided to replace
the worn tire with a new one. The tape and new tire should
arrive on Monday. |
|
|
|
Thursday, June 12,
2025: This is my first ride in Sutherlin, Oregon
for nearly two years. This part of Oregon has
wonderful road riding due to the lightly traveled
rural roads. It is much different from
riding the Loop in Tucson because the entire Loop
is essentially flat. The elevation changes on the
Loop are so gentle you don't even know if you are
ascending or descending. The roads here are
rolling hills and you know when you are climbing.
Oregon got lots of rain during the winter months
so it is still mostly green in June. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
