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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 26-12-2007 |
 Peaceful ride |
Yesterday saw me at the dinner table with my family to enjoy a good meal. Strangely enough during the night my nose, which was almost free of mucus these last few days, tended to fill up again. I am at a loss as to what is causing this. Have I contracted yet another infection or is this the last upsurge of the cold I had last week? Looks like almost everyone is down with some respiratory disease these days. I think most people at work are sniffing and coughing and also at the dinner table yesterday I think most people had a cold. Small wonder if one can escape all those viruses then. It seems like an impossible task short of living in a plastic bag .
Yet, I had planned a short ride today so I set out for a quick dash on the rollers. I am building down on the antibiotics, switched from 3 tablets a day to 2 a couple of days ago . They seem to have done their job but are of not much use anymore. From today on I will only take one a day for the remainder of the package.
Christmas has come and gone, like it does every year. A time of peace it seems. I hope all the good intentions last a bit longer than the digestion of the Christmas turkey.
Ride Stats : 11.7K in 30mins
10122/88505
26-12-2007, 12:22 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 16-12-2007 |
| Antibiotics |
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For those of you who are wondering why I am not accumulating lots of K's in this splendid weather, I must explain that I went to the doctor last Friday and she prescribed me some heavy antibiotics. My nose cold kept me even off of the rollers the last couple of days. I'm feeling more tired than anything, not really sick, and I don't even have a fever. But still the word is to take the drugs and kill the little buggers in my nose before I even think about riding out.
So a lot more grinning and bearing going on, especially with the marvelous weather outside. It's most certainly not as bad as in the cartoon above, but it surely feels that way.
16-12-2007, 12:13 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 09-12-2007 |
| Boring stuff |
Another
safety ride today, nice and easy on the rollers waiting for my cold to
subside. Heartrate is way too high, possibly due to the codeine I have
to take to battle my cough. Not easy to find the motivation in such
circumstances but I always manage to squeeze out another hour. Hope the
weather gets to freezing temps real quick so that the outside air
becomes dryer and less filled with germs.
Ride Stats : 23K in 1h01mins
10063/88505
09-12-2007, 18:39 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 07-12-2007 |
| Hey Stoopid |
No, I'm not addressing you dear reader, but I'm quoting the title of the Alice Cooper Album that has been in my MP3 player for a while now. As a hardrock and especially guitar man I can appreciate the cast Alice gathered around him to record this little gem: Stevie Vai, Joe Satriani, Vinnie Moore, Stef Burns and Slash. Nikki Sixx and Micky Mars were contacted to play the bass on a few tracks. It even features Ozzy Osbourne on one of the tracks. This is really a great album. Check it out here. Nuff said, this morning I went to the doctor to assure myself that my dry cough was not some pneumonia slmbering as I experienced a few years ago. But she could find nothing more disturbing than a mild infection of the upper airways. Enough to keep me inside but surely not enough to keep me from the rollers and another 30K in the warm vault of the cellar.Ride Stats : 30K in 1h19mins100040/88505
07-12-2007, 18:45 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 04-12-2007 |
| titanium bikes are made of aluminum |
Had a good laugh today when I read an article that appeared in Mountainbike Plus, a Dutch MTB rag that I am subscribed too. They were testing a couple of hardtail bikes made from different materials, one of them a was titanium Cube.In the foreword of the article, the venerable Jurgen Groenwals writes (I translated obviously ) "Titanium (an aluminum alloy with some titanium and vanadium added) is a.. blablabla"Good thing I sat down because I would certainly have tilted backwards in amazement. I quickly turned to the main article to find out that Mr.Groenwals was indeed convinced that titanium is actually an aluminum alloy.. he states :"Cube uses the socalled 3,5/2 (sic) alloy, which means 94.5% aluminum, 3% titanium and 2.5% vanadium.., blahblahblah"Well, he got the vanadium right. Obviously I wrote a mail to the redaction telling them about this mishap and demanded a correction in the next issue. I couldn't resist posting my mail on a few forums as well. Mountainbike Plus, which has some very good articles and is made by some very competent people, has earned a big Minus here. I mean, I almost take this as a personal insult! How can anyone that is supposed to be 'in the know' as pertains to bikes and stuff, make such an error. Furthermore I am quite sure Mr. Groenwals has read some of my stuff on titanium. I can only assume he was in some kind of stupor when he was writing the article. Errors are human, but this is not an error, he really is convinced that what he was writing is correct.Perhaps I should inform him that the Cube frames are made by Rewel, an Italian firm and from the pictures I saw from pre-producton bikes it must be said, Rewel has made a bit of a shambles from the welds. Let's hope the production frames are up to their usual standard, which is good to very good as far as welds are concerned.
Oh well, for the rest not much going on, another day, another ride on the rollers. I was still a bit frothing from the mouth when I got on them but managed to calm down considerably during the ride. No doubt helped by the soothing voice of Anastasia. Another big chunk in my book as well so I am happy considering the fact that I would rather be riding out. The weather is bad and from the forecast it is going to get worse , lots of rain and high temperatures, no frost or calmer weather in sight.
Ride Stats : 23K in 1h01mins
9986/88505
04-12-2007, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 30-11-2007 |
| Marcia Baila |
Today I stopped a bit earlier at work - well, I took half a day off really - to be able to do a longer ride in the afternoon, without any lights. The weather was very windy and the backroads were covered with mud and grime and some light rain didn't help things. My bike got dirty . But with an average temperature of 8 degrees C at least the wind didn't feel cold. The narrow roads I prefer following were quite a challenge, the dirt making them slippery and the only time they were dry was at the parts that were exposed to the fierce wind. Needless to say, half of the time I got a good workout, the other half I could relax a bit with the wind in my back or blowing from the sides. But I loved every minute of it!
Ride Stats : 51K and 415 heightmeters in 2h18mins
9940/88505
I want to dedicate this little ride to the memory of Frederic Chichin , guitar player of the French rock formation Les Rita Mitsouko. He died november 28th after a short but fatal disease. I have always liked their music, and I also am quite fond of the singer, Catherine Ringer, for her looks as well as for her way of life (just check out her Wikipedia file and you will understand what I mean. This lady has balls !
 
30-11-2007, 16:33 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 27-11-2007 |
| Nightride |
I changed the saddle on my Hilset yesterday. The Tune Speedneedle won't stay put, it keeps sliding backwards. Don't know what caused it, it has been fine for the last 3 years and now all of a sudden it starts moving? Weird, anyway, saddles that don't stay where they are supposed to stay cause muscles pains and therefore must go. I had an SLR lying around and I mounted that instead. It's a bit heavier than the Tune and also a bit more comfy although I love the Speedneedle. It doesn't look like much but it really is a great saddle, at least for my bottom.Went out again, put my light-helmet on to try out the position of the 20W Lumicycle torch. It was raining (felt like snow) ever so slightly but I wasn't feeling cold at all. It's always a bit weird when you are out in the night for the first time. Anyway, this is what the helmet looks like:
You have to adapt to the tunnel vision and especially to the lights of the cars coming your way, blinding you and causing a momentary lapse of vision. With the helmet light at least I can give them a good flash when they get too annoying. Ride Stats : 28.5K and 175 heightmeters in 1h13mins9857/87845
27-11-2007, 18:33 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 25-11-2007 |
| Compulsory biking |
The whole day I was telling myself I would not ride today. No need for it since I had a good ride yesterday and could rest today in order to be fresh tomorrow for another week. But after seeing the cyclocross guys riding through mire and muck I felt I had to ride myself. As if I had to earn the right to look at them by doing something myself. Strange ways I know.SO I grabbed my book and got on my rollers for an hours' easy recovery, legs feeling good and hardly stressed because I just tagged along at a low intensity, enjoying another chapter in what turns out to be a masterpiece in the already highly esteemed Thomas Covenant series by Stephen R.Donaldson : Fatal Revenant . I also prepared my bikes for the upcoming winter. Changed the chain and middle chainring of the Litespeed and attached the Lumicyle HID to the Hilset. I also put the 20Watt Halogen Lumicycle light on my helmet. I want to try this configuration out during the upcoming road nightrides.I also need to change the Dura Ace cassette in the rear because ever since I put on a new chain it keeps skipping teeth in some of the gears. Ride Stats : 23K in 1h01min9829/87670
25-11-2007, 21:09 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 24-11-2007 |
| Outside again |
When I woke up the world was white.. white from the frost , the temps were just
above 0 degrees C but there was no wind to speak of, so the dew froze over and
the land was covered in a layer of smog. Strangely enough you only notice this
layer when you are rising above and out of it. I decided to ride the 30K Bloso
road route going over St Joris Weert, St Agatha Rode and then towards Leefdaal
and Leuven again. On the heights overlooking Leuven I clearly saw the smog
hanging, stretching its tendrils towards Meerdael Forest as well. Near the
forest however the layer wasn't as high as it was over more densely populated
areas.
It felt good to be out again, even though the temps were low - I
started out with 3 degrees C and near the end noticed a climb towards a whopping
6 degrees C. Legs felt good and it took me awhile to get used to riding a bike
that moves beneath you instead of the steady ride you get on the rollers. Didn't
overdo the pace nor the distance, taking it easy all the way, only adding one
extra climb towards the Smeysberg plateau and then returning next to the river
Yse towards Neerijse where I found the BLOSO route again. My warm winter jacket still
bore the muddy traces of a fall from last winter so I decided to wash it out when I
got home, together with all the other stuff. The smaller roads were covered in
mud, thick but fluid enough to splash and leave traces on clothing and bike.
Looking forward towards more rides out soon, and that also means mounting my
Lumicycle HID light to be able to ride in the dark next week.
Ride Stats
: 34K and 260heightmeters in 1h31mins
9806/87670
24-11-2007, 16:20 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 18-11-2007 |
| Sven and Johnny |
It's
getting almost as boring writing about it , as it is riding .. on the
rollers again. Still, it's my only option for the time being and
luckily I can while away the time reading a good book. Seems like the
only time I get to read a book these days. In the evening I hardly find
the time or if I do I read 5 pages and doze off. Not because the book
is dull but because I need my sleep and I usually get up very early in
the morning so I want to close my eyes around 10pm - 10.30 at the
latest. I am still waiting for ABC bikes to get the replacement
bearings for my Hilsets' Tune bottom bracket. I thought they would
have managed this in the 2 weeks since I called them but Tune
replacement parts are not easily to come by it seems.
Ride Stats : 25K in 1h04mins
9665/87410
Two things caught my attention today. The first was the amazing World Record time Dutch youngster Sven Kramer set on the 5000m speedskating World Cup in Calgary. I believe skating to be a very pure sport. Not pure in the sense of it being dope-free but pure in it being a sport where the athlete has to pit himself against himself, finding his or her limits and then exceed them. Sven did just that. He was angry because at a former World Cup he had lost his World Record and he was determined to get it back again. In fact, he was so determined that he also broke the 3000m record time on the way to his 5000m record time. This in itself is an extraordinary feat. Think about that for a minute. Its a bit like a 400m runner track runner breaking the 200m World Record whilst setting a new World Record on that 400m as well. Amazing stuff no less !The other thing is just a shard of a song Bad Company sang and which happened to be on my MP3 player whilst riding the rollers this afternoon..
"Johnny's life passed him
by like a warm summer day
If you listen to the wind
You can still hear him play"
from the song "Shooting Star" taken from their "Straight Shooter" album.
Hearing those words made me feel a bit sad. Life does indeed seem to pass like those warm summer days.. if you are young, you don't seem to realise that and you tend to become complacent and either postpone or put things off alltogether when you are getting older. So, as a good friend used to say.. "Carpe Diem" before its too late.
18-11-2007, 19:34 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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