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Bicycle thread

It has been a busy week or so. Lots of meetings to attend that are only important for appearance.It is chore that has to be done. I try to make the best of it though.

Cycling Montreal 120km, mostly cycle paths to the south east of the city with friends from home and members from an associated club. We climbed Mount Seymour from Vancouver. Flat 80km on Arakawa cycle trails around Tokyo. 3600m(!!) vertical gain in a single climb up Wuling Pass Taiwan. A quiet ride around Governor's Bay in New Zealand before the last leg to our destination. I am taking 10 days in Australia to catch up with a school friend and friends from my last visit.
 
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Did exploratory gravel and sand riding this weekend. Basically ... use Google maps and focus in as best one can to find hidden gravel riding areas that may or may not connect to the greater state.

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This week I visited one of my properties... It is so much fun to be a fly on the wall. I just wandered around and found something else to do while one of my staffers did the talking. I found two harvesters in the workshop that had been down for a week while the company engineer slash very useful mechanic is sick with covid (it is still a real thing) and nobody else to fix them. Two harvesters work with ten other machines so it is a lot of down time... No recriminations, people get sick and in the days before Easter when it is a mad rush by many businesses doing the same and there is not enough machinery support things happen. I dived in, sent someone on a 800km errand to find parts, got them running and they did a days work before we left. The farm manager thought I'd be useful to keep around... Nobody told him I am his boss's boss. :imaposerI prefer these incognito visits. Given notice everything would have been spit polished and I'd have to scratch through the veneer. I get a better sense of what is happening when I can observe people behaving naturally.
The other reason for being there was to check on twenty or so Ukrainian families who relocated. I don't want them feeling dumped here and abandoned. On Wednesday we had a meal and a few drinks together.

Thursday I got to ride Gravel!!! :yikes 100km of railway corridors. The rails were removed a long time ago leaving only the embankment. The surface was compacted and smooth and allowed a fast pace so it wasn't all bad.

Yesterday was Easter Friday (sister) club ride. At dawn an orderly double pace line of 100+ riders snaked through the hills. A relaxed 80km. This morning was a little more serious. T and I were setting a fast pace and were challenged as we approached what passes for a tough climb here (470m 6.6%)... it is a bump in the road in comparison to what we are accustomed to and we were off at 6+. It was just what we needed.
 
Easter Sunday was another big casual group ride, caught up with a few more old friends and upset a few basement dwellers whose only social is online with other basement dwellers. :lol3 This morning will be the last ride here. About 80km out and back through the hills to the coast. Then I have to start thinking about the flight home. My eldest daughter's eighteenth birthday is this week and I want to be home for that and spring holiday.
 
Saturday's ride with the GF went OK until it didn't. We were heading back to the car on relatively flat gravel. A couple of riders were approaching, so we ceased riding side-by-side and went single file to the right. I had sped up a bit to get in front of her to move over.

The couple approaching were actually a couple. Female in the lead, seemingly in OK shape. I noted what seemed like a religious head-wrap (hijab of sorts, showing whole face but nothing else), no helmet on her or him. Neither were wearing cycling clothing, but instead just Florida hot weather clothing. I thought her halter-top with spaghetti straps - showing both shoulders and cleavage - somewhat strange with the hijab, but thought nothing more of it as I was cycling... until I wasn't. Just as I was passing the couple my rear tire went really low on air. I called out "flat!" and held my hand up to note 'stopping' while braking with the left hand.

The GF, however, was focused on the woman's cleavage/boobs as apparently the woman went over a slight rise and fall, her boobs going up and down. By the time the GF looked ahead, she had about a second or so to hit the brakes before hitting me. Based on her Strava/Garmin, I'm guessing that she rear-ended me at 13.5 MPH. I remember thinking to myself "ooh, this is gonna hurt" while I was in mid-air.

But it didn't, really. I was on my back on the ground kinda amused at the situation. The couple we had passed came rushing back to check on us. I made some joke while laying on the ground - it was kind of relaxing. I got up on my own, and the woman and I helped the GF up. GF wasn't up for even a minute when she said that she better lie back down, that she wasn't good, and that we may need to find a way out for her. Turns out that she had what she described to be "tunnel hearing" like listening from within a tunnel, and she knew she had hit her head/helmet.

Well, this could be a long write-up, but long story somewhat shorter: eventually she felt OK, so I told the 911 dispatcher (I had given google maps coordinates to - there was no good way of describing where we were) that we'd call back if help was needed. GF not OK, but her bike is relatively OK. Me - I'm OK, my bike will need some shop time. We gently rode out of the parks/gravel, I took her to an emergency room. CT scan of head, OKJ - she hit the top-left-side-rear of the helmet. Minor helmet crack, but she wants the same helmet as she believe that she always hits the back of her head in accidents. X-ray of elbow showed it was OK as well.

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This large version of a soft-shell turtle was laying eggs. I'm uploading a video (not a very exciting video) of it right now. Believe it or not, the video was taken after the picture. She felt comfortable enough around us to move away from the woods and start laying eggs. Unfortunately, the eggs will be on a commonly-mowed area, so they may not make it.



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And another loss - my favorite cycling shorts on her of all time, reminiscent of the old Gulf racing livery, got torn up in the crash.
 
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Ouch! Best wishes for your girlfriend.

No such thing as a minor crack. Maybe a small crack. It is a big impact force required to damage a helmet. It did its job. This comes not long after I commented on not liking the look of the fit of her helmet. My comments were motivated by how high it sits including at the back. In light of her comment, before replacing it with the same this is a good time to shop around. At least have a look and try on a few others. FWIW...

Lovely smile. Hilarious too. Every photo she is giving you the you've been owned look! :imaposer
 
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She's a bit hard-headed about her helmet. Note that overly-large sweat band that she thinks she needs - it doesn't aid itself to a good fitting helmet. She finally started considering that there may be some other sweat band for helmet use when I mentioned it while we were talking about her helmet fit.

After now two bends, I ordered both a new rotor for my bike's rear brake, and a rotor straightening tool.
 
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I use multiple helmet sizes and shapes depending on my hair to get a proper fit. No sweat band per se, but wear buffs and masks and scarfs to protect myself from sun while riding. A maybe not so interesting aside, covid is still a thing and the flu is still doing annual rounds, but many friends and I have not had so much as a common cold since 100% public masking and gloves.
 
She's a bit hard-headed about her helmet. Note that overly-large sweat band that she thinks she needs - it doesn't aid itself to a good fitting helmet. She finally started considering that there may be some other sweat band for helmet use when I mentioned it while we were talking about her helmet fit.

After now two bends, I ordered both a new rotor for my bike's rear brake, and a rotor straightening tool.

I read a concussion in there, but scans excluded anything nasty. So how is she now?

I've been home for a few days. 12,000nm 25 hour flight, one stop. It was a little rushed, but we had time to organise ourselves, pick up #1 and her friends for Spring break... then some of their parents. #1 turned 18, so with everything else a crazy weekend and suddenly I am feeling much older.
There has been less riding. Last week three days. 340km though which is enough really. I found a pool once, no gym, so I settled for thousands of crunches and whatever else I could do. This week I am getting back on schedule. Monday is a no bike day, but I did spend an hour or two on the track. Eight sprints and a total of about 8km. Feeling fresh and relaxed I was stronger than I have ever been and I reach 70kph in the 200m. Low 11s and high 10s. I am still getting my butt kicked by real sprinters. It is incredibly good fun.
 
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I happened upon this tonight.

Circa 1900. Eight men, four wheels and one machine gun. The Australian “War Cycle” sped along on railroad tracks at 50kph.

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Spring break is finished. The girls go back to school tomorrow and will be staying there for the remainder of the school year. Today we clocked 80km with participating parents. Some of the mothers are on board wanting to improve their fitness. Pool, gym and power limited ebikes - enough to flatten hills. The goal is to teach them to do it for themselves. Getting into a routine plus lifestyle changes. It's working. Some will stay for the rest of the school year.
And student pilots have made a lot of progress in the last two weeks. They will complete the training after school.
 
I see this thread has died. I rode my bike for the last three days in a row. Hurrah for me!:D
 
I see this thread has died. I rode my bike for the last three days in a row. Hurrah for me!:D

Are you sure about that? Your memory seems to be fading.

BTW, I posted a tongue in cheek comment about Jeathrow's stinky gas bikes and it was him who had the melt down. He is man enough to own it after it was straightened out and we were always on good terms after that. The sequence of posts are still there if you look for them.
Richard Old age and memory loss must be catching up with you too as you tagged the comment with a "like".
I thought 5 years was enough of that and it was time to move on.

Some of us are still out there doing our thing. For me 5-6 days a week, road, sometimes a track session, run, swim and gym, two activities every day. Nothing has changed. I have gained a couple of kilos, but that has come with a lot more Watts, lower aerobic decoupling and better recovery. A net gain.
 
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Spring break is finished. The girls go back to school tomorrow and will be staying there for the remainder of the school year. Today we clocked 80km with participating parents. Some of the mothers are on board wanting to improve their fitness. Pool, gym and power limited ebikes - enough to flatten hills. The goal is to teach them to do it for themselves. Getting into a routine plus lifestyle changes. It's working. Some will stay for the rest of the school year.
And student pilots have made a lot of progress in the last two weeks. They will complete the training after school.

And further to this,... We are seeing good gains from our group of mums. A kilogram per week and similarly good strength and aerobic improvement. In a few weeks there has been a noticeable visual change and already their cloths are too big. We have budding film makers chasing them around documenting their progress and posting a series of 6min shorts to club forum. Hopefully motivational for others. We'll keep going through July, maybe August.
 
How many of those 5 days soft pedalling an ebike? :D
 
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