Let´s wait till tonight to see how bad it rains this afternoon, revise weather forecast for tomorrow and consequently decide if it is all right or not. We could certainly postpone the ride for the second time due to circumstances beyond our control. :-(
a little bird told me that your coming is absolutely cursed , and i'm getting pissed off with mr Maldonado and the Holy God for it's May and it's no time for raining cats & dogs. I'll check the forum anyway just in case the forecast gives us any chance for a bit of a ride
So far so good, in Madrid at least we've only had a few drops of rain. We may be able to do this... unless it's bucketing down in Alcalá.
In San Fernando te sky has fallen down all of a sudden... I don't know: What I can see at the bottom is a really dark sky visiting el Viso and our park, isn't it? Maybe we need the report from an eager explorer...
I´m afraid Mario is right. I´d prefer to avoid being caught in the rain if possible, the mud in the area would inmediately inmobilize us. I´m taking a look at the hourly weather forecast for Alcalá, unfortunately it looks like there will be a high chance of starting raining at 10.45am to stop at 17.30pm. And yeah lads, we go from bad to worse: No chance at all for our road bike ride in Madrid on Friday. I´d suggest quick local rides for the next 5 days...
Looks like once again mother nature has ruined our plans. I suppose our next window is Sunday, May 19, tho I often head for the Sierras that day. What a disappointment!
Come on Chain, we can´t complain about mother nature´s generosity with fair weather in Madrid, it´s merely a setback. We´ll find a day to reschedule our ride to Alcalá! ;-)
Yeah, always look on the bright side. On another note, now that my bike is year old and has been getting plenty of use, I figure it's time to change the fork seals and oil, so I've been looking at some DIY videos. I prefer to do maintenance work myself if possible: saves money and gives you a feeling of satisfaction. Anyway, I've seen this video in English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh-sIrnC8xs and this one in Spanish. Mammoth has been coming up with some good stuff. If their shop were closer to my home I'd stop by there, though the last time I was there they seemed understaffed and it took them ages to attend me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By5fJFHDKZk P.S. Interesting Australian accent in the first video.
Yeah, it seems like an easy manteinance work, they recommend to do it every 30 hours of use (being conservative I guess) and it takes 40min to 1 hour depending on your expertise and, more importantly, take your time to enjoy doing these things by yourself and be careful with the components, as he says in that australian accent that I barely identify, not to scratch anything... they´re delicate so do not overtorque anything. I´m sure you won´t. Rainy days ahead, time for you to enjoy manteinance work in your bike, it´s an easy task and tho nobody would take you to the cleaners for the cost, you´ll save some good money by doing it yourself. So let´s rock and roll! ;-)
Every 30 hours! I'd be changing them every two months. I think when companies say that sort of thing they're just covering their legal backs (asses). If it wears out prematurely they can just say you didn't maintain it properly. Well, I don't mean to sound as if I'm raging against the machine. BTW, with stormy weather on the horizon, we may have to put off Alcala for a bit longer and give the mud a chance to dry.
That´s what the aussie guy says in the vid. Yeah, Sounds pretty much more like a legal rather than a technical consideration, some Companies got all cheeky on this and technicians like that in the vid have to repeat it by the book: "the oil after this amount of time gets a lot of dirt in it". Big deal. Anyway, the cleaner the oil the better the fork works, that´s all. Mmmm... I´m under the impression that the mud in Alcalá is after us. Let´s wait for at least 2 sunny days in a row...
Pro cyclists trying to explain how to take a corner... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU-YIeXxuDs And a cyclist in a hurry dying for a pizza into a U-turn... No time for theory. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku7lL7T1ONw
You changed the videos! I was thinking about how to respond to the first ones. In the vid you had before the guy was buying coolness over the counter, and in the second the guy's doing something surprising and funny, maybe more creative. I thought that might've been your point. In any case, I think cornering is one of my issues, especially off-road, in fact in my last two crashes my front tire slid out going around a corner. BTW, in the second vid the guy is taking a corner mountain bike style: he's leaning the bike over more than himself. On the road bike your main concerns are braking before the corner, choosing a good line, and being in the right gear on the way out. Out on the dirt bike it's the same, but more complicated! It's obviously more technical, the rider probably has to move around more to adjust to the terrain. Actually that's what I really love about mountain biking, always adapting to the terrain.
:ups Yeah, after watching some videos I wanted to make a confrontation between some kind of professionalism in cycling and what appears to be a self-made rider making u-turns as if to boast of his non-academical but funny expertise. Youright that I changed the first vid, I firstly confrontated him with a rider wearing all kind of cool state-of-the-art stuff while that guy making the u-turn wasn´t wearing specific cycling clothes, not even a proper but a ridiculously small bike to race, but then I saw a pro rider taking some time to explain how to corner, and thought it was a greater contrast. One way or another Pro Vs No-Pro. And that´s good news to you, if you love technical aspects of cycling, because no matter what you ride no matter what you wear no matter how you look like, if you´re good at riding, man you´re good at riding everywhere... So, that explanation of yours on how to corner worths its weight in gold! ;-) BTW & Pd. - we took a wise decision in putting off Alcala ride: http://www.foromtb.com/showthread.php?t=578757&page=1768 ;-)
It´s a fickle day today, isn´t it? Rain then wind then sun then clouds then whatever it takes to mislead you with. :crybaby That´s not fair.
Yeah, with this weather you just don't know if you're coming or going :loco In any case, I took advantage of this rainy day to stop by a bike shop, Bicimanía, and get fork seals for my bike, a bit dear, 36 euros. Should be able to replace them any time now. And to stay in shape I ran up and down the stairs of my building 15 times. Hey, have to do something!
No matter where you buy them, they are always charging too much for those little pieces, they should be worth less. Anyway, take your time and enjoy the replacement work! Red´s Bkool system seems cooler to me on rainy days!. BTW Where r u, Red? With these rainy days it would be great if you´d allow us all to use your Bkool device. Let us in your house! ;-)
