Saturday:
Got up a bit early (okay, 5 AM), had leisurely breakfast, and rode over to Jim's house in Shaler for a 7 AM start on a Slippery-Rock-and-back century. Primary purpose was to scout a portion of the route for July's Pittsburgh-Erie-Pittsburgh 2-day ride; secondary was to shake down the newly rebuilt P-38. Oh, yeah, and to get in an extra century for March; gotta get back on track after missing January, eh?
Fun route: Babcock/Thompsons Run/Duncan, then through North Park back to Babcock. Mars, Evans City, then north via 528 through Prospect to West Liberty Rd and Slippery Rock. One good low-gear climb in Evans City (side-street way up to 528; Elizabeth St, if I recall correctly), and a few nice long grinders, but also plenty of opportunities to just let 'er rip.
P-38 held up well; probably need a bit of rear-wheel lovin' with a spoke wrench, but everything else seemed solid. Most of the random creaks, squeaks, and groans (except mine, of course) are gone; amazing what happens when one tightens and Loctites screws appropriately, as well as trimming off excess metal bits wherever possible.
Sunday:
After a barrage of house cleaning and handyman projects, I took some time to address the seat problem on the Rocket. Forensic analysis indicates that one of the two bolts holding the seat pan to the seat frame had gone walkabout quite a long time ago; in hindsight, that may account for the seat creak I'd been failing to deal with for the last six months. The lone remaining bolt finally work-hardened and snapped last Thursday while I was cranking around a corner.
So, I ran to ye olde corner hardware store and grabbed a couple of bolt extractors, spent 20 minutes(!) carefully drilling into the recessed stump of the broken bolt, then extracted said bolt with a minimum of drama and damage to the socket threads. New used hardware, a few minutes spent tinkering with the rear brake, and a few minutes tightening the rear axle when I noticed that there was at least an eighth of an inch(!) of side-to-side play in the hub; then the Rocket was ready for action once more.
Packed a picnic dinner (PB&J, bananas, and juice...what more can man and boy want?) for meself and me best boy, then hitched up his trailer to the Rocket and plummeted down to the river. Dinner on the benches by the Science Center, some train and tugboat watching, then hauling his heavy butt back up McClure to get home; a fine way to end the day.
Showing posts with label P-E-P. Show all posts
Showing posts with label P-E-P. Show all posts
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Monday, July 14, 2008
P-E-P (Pittsburgh-Erie-Pittsburgh)
This last weekend, Jim Logan, Scott Reckless, and I took a little two-day jaunt to Erie and back. For Jim and myself, it was a good training opportunity pre-PA 1000K; for Scott, a nice excuse for a ride :-)
The route was a simple there-and-back, primarily based on Adventure Cycling' s Pittsburgh-Erie spur.
Day 1 was brutally hot, but fairly pleasant overall; in hindsight, I wish we hadn't done the plunge into and subsequent climb out of New Castle, as that was a lot of extended climbing in moderate traffic which would have been nice to avoid. Ah, well, c'est la vie. Around that time, we transitioned from riding more-or-less in a group to "rugged individualist" mode, regrouping occasionally at convenience stores and whatnot. Unfortunately, there were a couple of detours of less-than-intuitive nature in Meadville and along Rt 98, resulting in mild consternation, much consultation of Jim's GPS, and the fastest rider (Scott) being the last one to the hotel in Erie. A shower, bowl of overpriced pasta at Applebees, and a viewing of the Simpson's Movie on HBO (not terribly impressive, BTW), and it was off to bed.
Day 2. I'll call it a good training ride. Not fun, other than in the "feelings of achievement via perseverance" sense. Jim, Scott, and I rapidly separated on the long climbs out of Erie; while I can't speak for the other guys, I can say that I spent roughly 9 of the next 11 hours getting rained on, in every form from fine misty drizzle to full-on, barely see through the glasses downpour. Don't get me wrong; I'm not a wimp about riding in the rain, as my poor drivetrain can attest. However, 150 miles of it was distinctly unlovely.
On the bright side, I've managed to eliminate the chain rub on the plastic chain keeper, and the new Terracycle idler set is quite spiffy. The genny-powered, fender-mounted tail light is also nice.
On the down side, although I had the discipline to hose off the bike immediately after the ride, I have not done any of the maintenance that is warranted, so I've got a pile of work to do in the next couple of days with regards to cleaning, lubricating, brake pad replacement, etc.
The route was a simple there-and-back, primarily based on Adventure Cycling' s Pittsburgh-Erie spur.
Day 1 was brutally hot, but fairly pleasant overall; in hindsight, I wish we hadn't done the plunge into and subsequent climb out of New Castle, as that was a lot of extended climbing in moderate traffic which would have been nice to avoid. Ah, well, c'est la vie. Around that time, we transitioned from riding more-or-less in a group to "rugged individualist" mode, regrouping occasionally at convenience stores and whatnot. Unfortunately, there were a couple of detours of less-than-intuitive nature in Meadville and along Rt 98, resulting in mild consternation, much consultation of Jim's GPS, and the fastest rider (Scott) being the last one to the hotel in Erie. A shower, bowl of overpriced pasta at Applebees, and a viewing of the Simpson's Movie on HBO (not terribly impressive, BTW), and it was off to bed.
Day 2. I'll call it a good training ride. Not fun, other than in the "feelings of achievement via perseverance" sense. Jim, Scott, and I rapidly separated on the long climbs out of Erie; while I can't speak for the other guys, I can say that I spent roughly 9 of the next 11 hours getting rained on, in every form from fine misty drizzle to full-on, barely see through the glasses downpour. Don't get me wrong; I'm not a wimp about riding in the rain, as my poor drivetrain can attest. However, 150 miles of it was distinctly unlovely.
On the bright side, I've managed to eliminate the chain rub on the plastic chain keeper, and the new Terracycle idler set is quite spiffy. The genny-powered, fender-mounted tail light is also nice.
On the down side, although I had the discipline to hose off the bike immediately after the ride, I have not done any of the maintenance that is warranted, so I've got a pile of work to do in the next couple of days with regards to cleaning, lubricating, brake pad replacement, etc.
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