I finally got to ride outside. The TTC group rides started today, and I was right there. The weather was a bit daunting: heavy mist, with predictions of thunderstorms on their way. Luckily, we didn't see a drop of rain during the entire ride. This afternoon, it was coming down in sheets, but this morning was all clear.
Riding itself went really well. This was the first time out with the triathlon bike, so my first chance to use the aerobars. Admittedly, the first few miles were a bit sketchy, and I was hesitant to take my hands off the hoods. But I knew that it would be a waste of money if I did use the actual aero properties of the bike, so I forced myself into position. Luckily, I didn't wipe out, and within a few miles, it was old hat. I could groove along, getting up when necessary for stop signs, but mostly in the tuck, including most of the climbs. We got in about 70 kms. I was hoping to do more, but this was my first time out in that area, so I didn't want to go for an extra loop solo. Plus, it's been a tough two weeks, so it's not like a really need the miles.
The only issue I really had was that my behind-the-seat water bottle cages launched bottles three times during the ride. I need to do something to avoid that in the future. I looked at tightening the cages (using shoelace and elastic bands), then looked at switching to some different cages. This is when my day took a turn for the worse. When I was removing one of the cages from the Cinelli, first the cage snapped, so it was useless. When I tried to unscrew the bosses, both screws snapped in the frame, so now I can't mount another bottle cage on the seat tube. Luckily, I don't use that bike for particularly long rides anymore, but it's a little frustrating to do that to my favourite bike. So here's a reminder to everybody: loosen and tighten every bolt on your bike at least once a year, so that nothing freezes. I did that for most of the bike, except the bottle cages, and that's what happens.
Bike: ~70 km
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2 comments:
Sounds like a great ride. Saturday was a pretty packed schedule for me and the only time I had to ride was during a major downpour in the afternoon... so I got to spend some more quality time with Coach Troy.
The great weather on Sunday made up for it though.
I take it the TTC group is cool with people on aerobars in a pack?
Too bad you couldn't get out Saturday. We really got lucky with the weather, just missing the storms. Did you get out to Springbank on Sunday?
TTC, being a triathlon group, is fine with the aerobars. We only had three people, and didn't bunch up, but instead rode a bit off each other. If a lot more people were there, it may have been different, but I don't think it's ever a weekly "race" with a mini-peloton, like the St. Cat's rides were.
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