[DaveK]

@hozn 57907 wrote:

+1 for stiffer soles shoes. Soft soles are great for walking around but not great for cycling. I find the Specialized Touring shoes to be a decent compromise, but definitely appreciate the carbon soles on my Northwave shoes for longer (4+ hour) rides. OTOH, those are apparently a little too narrow so my middle toes became numb on the Total200 and are still aren’t quite 100%. Having wide feet is a PITA for cycling shoes.

I’m the same with wide feet. Mostly in the toe box though. The Specialized Pro road shoes I recently got are among the best for the rest of my foot but I’d still rather have a little more room for my toes. I’m looking at Bont shoes since they seem to be shaped more like, you know, a foot.

http://www.bont.com/cycling/products/Road/vaypor/

Check the part about “Anatomical Forefoot Shaping”.

[DaveK]

@txgoonie 57821 wrote:

I loved that one!

Just wanted to give a big thank you to the folks who attended the Gripped Tour event last night. We raised $3,500 for Companions for Heroes, which was actually more than we anticipated. Hope you all enjoyed the evening!

BikeArlington gave a huge treasure trove of stuff to raffle and give away and helped tremendously in promoting the event. We ♥ you, BA!

I almost feel guilty for the amount of stuff I left with. Almost.

Please thank the rest of the team – it was a great event. I admit I had a little something in my eye when they were discussing the purpose of Companions for Heroes…. I think they need to check the ventilation system in there. Yeah, that…

[DaveK]

@PotomacCyclist 57738 wrote:

Without giving away too much from today’s stage, what was supposed to be an easy flat stage turned into a brutal race. The strong crosswinds wiped out many of the riders (figuratively speaking). Glad to know that these guys are human and can struggle in tough race conditions too. It did give the day a lot more drama than in most of the flat sprint stages. Great for spectators. Probably not so great for the riders.

It was a flat sprint stage won by a guy everyone expected to win it. What could be interesting about that?

(oh my God you need to watch today’s stage)

Laurens Ten Dam’s Strava track from today – http://app.strava.com/activities/66583736

[DaveK]

I am very intimidated by a butched-up Corolla with an automatic driven mostly by high school girls.

[DaveK]

The best police crash report I’ve ever read included the following (paraphrased):

Driver 1 turned right on red and struck Driver 2. Driver 1 turned because GPS told them to Turn Right Now.

Not joking.

[DaveK]

@Mark Blacknell 57503 wrote:

Saw that guy pull the plug at RS3. Immediately inspired me & Culimerc to get back on the bike and get moving. (DK, that’s the jersey I was talking about.)

Going out on a limb… I think that’s from when Geraint Thomas wore the white jersey at the Tour de France in 2010, since 2010’s Sky kit at the Tour had green accents for their rainforest charity.

[DaveK]

@dasgeh 57444 wrote:

I saw (met) PeteD last night at the Freshbikes ride start. I didn’t see Tim

BTW, I just found a bunch of you on Strava. My real name is Gillian B., in case you’re wondering who started following you.

We usually ride the route a little earlier than the pack, mostly to avoid the crashing but also to get in a couple of loops at the far end before the pack gets there.

[DaveK]

@rcannon100 57102 wrote:

I made a deal to the kid. If he forgoed getting his drivers license, I would buy him a bike. Well, he is taking me up on it. He has been riding an old steel motobecane road bike with drops and lever gear shifters. He is going on 6’3″

Since it’s off topic and none of my business, why not keep it to not getting a car but having his license? Having a drivers license and knowing how to drive safely is a pretty valuable skill for anyone, let alone a college kid. I can remember several times where I drove to a party with someone and ended up having to drive their car home because I was the only one sober enough to do so. Not to mention in emergency situations in general.

[DaveK]

@DismalScientist 57311 wrote:

Maaco Merrifield came suggested by Jan at Bikenetic. The owner, Colm, is a cyclist.

The frame in question is my Trek 620, made of Reynolds 531. It had some surface rust in spots. I stripped the frame of all components. Colm will sand the rust, put it in an acid bath, paint and clear coat the frame.

I assume he will do aluminum and don’t know about carbon.

There seem to be a number of powdercoaters out past Manassas.

If he comes recommended by Jan and the guy is a cyclist then I would trust that, my experiences with Maaco is through friends and I don’t know him personally. This would be a great time to treat it with frame saver as well.

[DaveK]

@Tim Kelley 57274 wrote:

Tell us more about this. I assume it’s a steel frame, but would they do aluminium? What’s the process involved?

What you get out of a Maaco paint job is all about what you give them to work with. They will do an awful job on the prep, so if you remove all the bits except for the frame and get it sanded very well, what you’ll get back will be passable. If you just give them a car and say “paint this”, it will be awful.

[DaveK]

I have never loved any helmet like I love my Specialized Prevail. It was unholy expensive but it really does vent like it’s not even there. Between that and the comfort I can’t imagine I’ll ever buy a different brand of road helmet. Until something else fancy catches my eye…

I have a Bern Brentwood for cooler weather and skiing, I find it’s unusable tough above 70-75 degrees because of the lack of venting, even with the summer liner and visor. Most days I either wear the Prevail or my old Bell Sweep road helmet.

[DaveK]

@Greenbelt 56970 wrote:

I’ve been to Grasse — very hilly just to walk around town! And this is considered a “flat” stage for the tour!

Today’s stage had about 7,000 feet of climbing. It really puts it in perspective when they say things like the sprinters can get over the little hills for the finish…

[DaveK]

@jabberwocky 56764 wrote:

Yeah, I heard they plowed under the trail that cut through the field. Wonder if the old route along the edge is still there.

In the pic I had just realized that it wasn’t going to be possible to ride the field, so I was looking for the path that I thought was around the edge. Didn’t see it. Someone needs to get on the trail maintenance out there though. I got torn to shreds by thorn bushes… every part of me not covered by shorts or a jersey looked like I had been listening to the Cure too long:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3208[/ATTACH]

[DaveK]

@jrenaut 56806 wrote:

…I’m hoping to take a newbie bike commuter friend on a metric some time this fall (if anyone has a recommendation for a good organized ride for a first-timer, let me know).

Seagull Century. It’s all flat, no hills. If the weather cooperates it’s the easiest one out there and I’m told it’s extremely well-run.

[DaveK]

@TwoWheelsDC 56471 wrote:

Decent little ride today:

-3 HC climbs (Col du Telegraph, Col du Galibier, Alpe d’Huez)
-13k+ feet of climbing
-high temp was ~63ish, low temp was ~30ish
-got rained on, but it turned to snow after I climbed some more
-got passed by a Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari 612, Lamborghini Diablo, and two (!) McLaren MP4-12Cs
-it was so cold at the top of Col du Galibier–and snowing, of course–that I skipped the 25 mile descent and rode down with the wife to the bottom of Alpe d’Huez.

IMG-holycrap.jpg

Good lord, man. What an incredible trip.

[Author]

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