Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Tonsorial finetuning

This morning I shaved off my moustache, not in search of some aerodynamic margin, but because after 150kms of suffering this Saturday such a rampant walrus will contain a disgusting amalgam of snot, sweat and bugs.

Little else of my recent action has been so purposeful.
I wanted to do a long ride in the middle of last week, at the speed of a postman as Raphael Geminiani would say, but tiredness and bad worktime management put paid to that plan, so I contented myself with taking Friday off for an extra long weekend, which was dominated by further sloth:

Friday- didn't go to work. Rode into the city via Pt England, then retired to the shed.

Saturday- chores in the morning.
Nap in the afternoon.
Go to proposed fixie riding/beer drinking function on the bus.

Sunday- ride fixie in the rain with CTB.
Had Il Forno been open, we may have been content with doughnuts, but instead we ended up at the pub.

Monday- rise late.
Procrastinate until PM commitments have reduced possible ride time to about 2 hours.
Ride through the faux-Angeleno canyon subdivision atop Redoubt Rd, showing disapproval for the car dependent lifestyle by singing Neil Young's Revolution Blues on the way down the hill.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Crash Diet


PA190365a
Originally uploaded by bensondoc

When the pressure is on, everyone becomes a weight weenie, and after the savage pasting I got in the Waitakeres yesterday, I'm pleased that I have wisely invested in a pair of fancy wheels to assist me at K2.
Lacking the power to get any advantage from aero wheels, I opted for low weight and minimal rolling resistance.
I horsetraded a set of Campag Record 28 hole hubs from Wellington's Capital Cycles, and loaded my credit card with a pair of IRD Cadence rims. Spokes are Wheelsmith- 1.8mm doublebutted on the front & lefthand rear, 2.0 double butted at the driveside.
With Gran Bois Cerf 700 x 28 tyres, the wheels are 620g lighter than my everyday 36 spoke Mavic MA3/Campag Veloce/Gatorskin 28 wheelset, and reduce the weight of my Breakaway to sub-20lb.
Despite the possibility that my scales may be a few decades past their best, I choose to believe that the Ritchey, with a Brooks saddle and no carbon, is no heavier than Oli's 8.76kg/19.31lb Hillbrick.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

From Sunday's Retro Ride


PA120324
Originally uploaded by bensondoc

Frosty was in fine form, never got out of the 53 and kept up a constant stream of good natured banter, even when the Type-A carbon bike guys went to the front.
Furthermore, he brought more biscuits than we could eat.

More photos HERE

Friday, October 10, 2008

It is said that the young Tino Tabak pretended to be Anquetil, and back in the 80s I had a workmate who wanted be Sean Kelly.
I don't recall ever wanting to be so specifically someone else, but on the rare occasions I find myself striving in the drops for a semblance of speed, I'm reminded of this photo from the 1991 Bridgestone USA catalog.
I will never match Pineapple Bob's form and athleticism, but this catalog tipped me down the slippery slope on which I still slide.
It introduced me to 'Q factor', the beauty of wool jerseys, and to this quote, from mountaineer Doug Robinson, which still informs my semi-Luddite attitude to new technology:

"Technology is imposed on the land, but technique means conforming to the landscape. One forces a passage, while the other discovers it. The goal of developing technique is to conform to the most improbable landscape by means of the greatest degree of skill and boldness supported by the least equipment."

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

a break from our usual programming..

sometime nothing uplifts the spirit better than a good goddamned racket like this.
'Turn it up!' as Van Morrison used to say:

Monday, October 06, 2008

Jetset dilemna

This weekend, I wanted to be at Eroica in Tuscany, until I heard about Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco.
Instead, I cranked out 110kms on Saturday, and spent yesterday in the shed, futzing with various projects, most notably Gayle's new Fixie Inc Peacemaker.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Zeus 2000 Centrepulls

To my mind, the second finest centrepull brake in history.

Though completely surplus to my requirements, I may have to build a bike to justify having bought them.


Thursday, October 02, 2008

Trademe mishap


PA020284
Originally uploaded by bensondoc

Darryl Parker was just fooling around on Trademe and accidentally bought this early 90s Colnago Master.
It's had a pretty hard life, with a welded-up righthand rear dropout, and mismatched Ergopowers, but its also got some zoot period kit, like the Cinelli Grammo titanium stem and Royce bottom bracket.

The titanium USE seatpost, though a period correct blingpiece, is an unforgiveable taste crime, so if you have something more suitable, like C-Record or Chorus aero post, please get in touch.