June 26 - the Hummer H2

Sandy left for Sudbury. I left for ... well, I left for home, since it's an out-and-back route. My ride was on a decidedly different bike. It remains to be seen if the change is too radical ...

How so ? Well, first of all I switched wheels -- that is temporary -- hung up the front with the hub generator and the matching rear. That's just prudent, saving them for when I need them. I'll have to do some riding with these wheels just so that I don't get too used to easier rolling wheels. I put my spare wheels on -- the Neuvations -- but wait, couldn't use the rear because it still had a 9-speed cassette, so I put the Rolf on the rear and the Neuvation on the front. I was ready to leave and didn't want to take time to change the cassette ... jumping forward, I changed the cassette later in the day, after the ride, so the next ride will be with the two Neuvation wheels.

I've used the Neuvations a little. They're heavier than the Rolfs, easy rolling ... good spare wheels. They were quite inexpensive -- $250 for the pair, as I recall. In the realm of bicycle wheels that's cheap. Aaron got a good deal on them. I did a weigh-in between the Neuvations and my pair with the hub generator -- about a 1 pound difference. That's a lot. It's hard to say how much of that is true "rolling weight" difference, since a lot of weight on the generator wheel is concentrated at the hub. Bladed spokes on the Neuvations make them a little easier rolling -- less wind resistance.

The major change in the bike, however, was due to the installation of the new stem. Shorter by 1 cm and installed inverted, that raised the handlebars (raised the bar ?) quite a bit. That gets me to a seating posture that I'd increasingly been using anyway, with less stretch. I've found with more and more long distance riding that having the bars level with the saddle is a more normal position. It's easier on the back and easier on the butt. Stems can be installed with their built-in angle either leveling off the bars, compensating for the fork angle, or flipped, increasing the height of the bars. A racing position keeps the bars down. A touring position calls for high bars. While randonneuring is not touring, it does have the high mileage aspects.

Lastly, I used the Speedplay Frog pedals and of course the corresponding mountain bike shoes. They are heavier, but not really noticeable when you're wearing them. The fit, even though both pairs of cycling shoes are Shimano, is slightly different. Hopefully this will allow any lingering numbness in my toes to go away. It's not something that bothers me per se, but I don't want it to get worse or to become permanent.

So I call this the H2 ... the major difference in weight being due to the change of wheels. That is temporary, not permanent, since I need the hub generator for the long brevets -- logistically and by the rules. The lights and frame rack are still in place -- but of course not functional without the generator. I suppose that I could buy the battery pack for these lights for shorter brevets ... or even remove the generator lights and use the stick-on Cateye lights that I have ... but that's getting too fancy. I don't want to get too used to easy rolling !

As I mentioned earlier in this blog, once home I removed the 9-speed cassette from the Neuvation rear and installed the 10-speed. Putting that on the bike I then had a devil-of-a-time getting the shifting to work properly -- what's up ? Then I discovered that I'd forgotten to put the extra spacer in place, removed and reinstalled the cassette and voila ... perfect shifting with no rubbing sound ... duh.

My plan is to go out again today, early enough so that I'm back in time to go to 4:30 Mass in town. The reason that I'm going out two days in a row, apart from the fact that I was too lazy on Thursday to go out, is that it's supposed to rain for the next five days. Time will tell if I can squeeze in a ride during that time.

The pollen was not as bad on the road yesterday. A couple of times I noticed a little fog in the distance, but it seems that the rain has helped get rid of most of the pollen. When I started riding it was cloudy, even looking like rain. By the time I got to highway 69 it was broken cloud and then mostly sunny until I got back. Again, heavy clouds looked like we might get a shower but by the time Sandy got home a little later that had blown over and the sun was out.

We had tuna for dinner last night ! Yes, Sandy found tuna in Sudbury -- fresh tuna. It was Albacore, not our usual Yellowfin, and I have to report that it wasn't as good. It was fresh but had little taste. For someone who doesn't like fish this might have been a treat -- with some sauce it could have been made to "taste like chicken", but for us it was a disappointment. Simply seared, with a little wasabi and sesame seed, it was quite plain. I'll have the rest for lunch in a sandwich with some dijon mustard, and it will be great -- that's all that it will take.

We're now well stocked up for the next few days however, since Sandy brought back rainbow trout, cod, pickerel and something else that I forget.

That's about it. Cooler now, at 12C, the upcoming days will be more comfortable than the recent heat wave. It's supposed to get up to 24C today -- low 70's. I resisted turning on the A/C only by spending time in the basement. Also, that big-mother dehumidifier has helped keep the humidity down in the entire house, which helps when it gets hot.

Oh -- of course I'm sitting here doing this blog while the Simcoe crowd are doing their march-to-the-nuke 600km brevet ... I successfully ignored its draw on me, even as late as yesterday. I hope that they have good weather and a safe ride. I wonder how many people are doing the ride ... I'll have to check with Isabelle, just out of curiosity.

Ok, that's really it ...