battleaxe0
Guru
Silly Vendetta, you can't swim!
I'm waiting for the Cruzbike hydrofoil (I'm sure I'll be waiting for quite awhile):
I'm waiting for the Cruzbike hydrofoil (I'm sure I'll be waiting for quite awhile):
New Vendetta V20
- Thread starter Abbott Smith
- Start date
Abbott Smith
Guru
Pretty sure she wanted to try paddle boarding...
bikette
Member
We have made it last , I mean the uploading of the photos of our 2 vendettas:
the red one , my husband's ,with its two 26' wheels and 8.3kgs .
the yellow one, mine , with its 26' front wheel : the 26'wheel makes it a real wonder when going uphill and it is much more comfortable to handle particularly for me
who is only 1.63m tall .
Abbott Smith
Guru
Cool pictures bikette. Thanks for sharing. Reminded me I never posted my photos from last weekend. Did a 50 mile ride on Saturday with my friends from the JDRF NW. Completed the circuit around Lake Sammamish that I destroyed my wheel on two weeks prior. Great ride. Sigr-D is quickly becoming a trusted friend. 
Charles.Plager
Recumbent Quant
Abbott Smith
Guru
And now for something completely different...
This is not a Cruzbike. It is not me. It's my wife Laura learning to ride my Vision R40 USS. She hasn't been on a bike in at least 8 years and never an USS bent. Took her about twenty minutes to find her balance. Then she flew around the HS parking lot like a duck on a pond. Didn't want to go home for dinner. She's been wanting to go riding and we had an afternoon to size the bike for her.
I took advantage of her learning to work on ambidextrous drinking from a bottle while riding. Having another to ride with is exciting.
Abbott Smith
Guru
Laura's first trail ride on the Vision. 11 miles at a sedate 9 mph. She had fun watching the world roll by. Saw baby ducks, lots of songbirds and even a pair of deer on the river bank.
When we were done she was excited but wanted to know why everyone was blowing by us like we were standing still. Uh, because we were slow...
( At one point we were keeping pace with a lady wearing traditional roller skates. ) No big deal. It was her first ride. She didn't fall over and she didn't cause anyone else to crash.Considering she has no riding experience beyond being a kid on a bike, I think she had a stellar outing. Went down to the LBS afterwards and got her a pair of riding gloves to celebrate.
jond
Zen MBB Master
what a great story abbot. thanks for sharing. hope she appreciates the gloves of celebration and you both keep at it.View attachment 632
Laura's first trail ride on the Vision. 11 miles at a sedate 9 mph. She had fun watching the world roll by. Saw baby ducks, lots of songbirds and even a pair of deer on the river bank.
When we were done she was excited but wanted to know why everyone was blowing by us like we were standing still. Uh, because we were slow...
Considering she has no riding experience beyond being a kid on a bike, I think she had a stellar outing. Went down to the LBS afterwards and got her a pair of riding gloves to celebrate.
Abbott Smith
Guru
Back on the bike last night for an evening training ride. My job tied me up until the last minute, so I had to hustle once I got on the road.Took the pretty back route I found last time and made good time though I could definitely feel it. My legs were leaden all night long.
Stopped on the new freeway cap at Hunt's Point and got a picture as well as a BG check.
Then it was back on the road. Was cruising until I hit Main Street in Bellevue. Hit every stupid stop light climbing up the hill on Main Street.
Got to the rendevous site with a few minutes to spare so I checked the air in my tires and fueled up.
Hey Dad, Valkeries are birds right? I should count as a life list sighting!
Well you certainly soar Sigr-D. But I don't think the Audubon Society will recognize you.
But I'm totally a bird of prey!
Met up with David and headed for Mercer Island. Then Jo joined us and around the island we went. Three cyclists with T1d basking in a spectacular NW evening.
The night was only marred by one idiot in a Tesla. He made a left hand turn off a side road as I was flying down a roller. Almost got to experience first hand just how much damage a chain ring can do to a car door when backed by 275 lbs of cyclist. Shall we say he got a piece of my mind? Just glad my brakes work. Thanks Sigr-D.
Finished the night weary but happy. 30 miles and about 1800' of climbing. And here's the thing. Felt leaden through most of the ride. But my pace, cadence and climbing were all solid. I got around the route very well. So even though I felt off, my overall fitness has improved to the point that I'm a stronger rider. And that was worth a smile.
Abbott Smith
Guru
So this week I realized that I need to switch my training tactics. I've been doing fewer and fewer rides of ever increasing length. I don't have time to constantly shoot for 30-70 mile rides. And Laura was becoming a bike widow.
Time for a change. Began by canceling the 50 mile ride I had planned for Saturday and spent some much needed time with my wife. Then Sunday we got up and got back out on the trail together.
She did OK on her second ride except for one radical maneuver where she suddenly veered left across the entire bike path in front of two oncoming bikes and ended up dumping the bike just before she would have ended up going down the bank and into the river. Can you say elevated heartrate?
Apparently she managed to pull the handlebars upward and then got her left hand caught between the handlebar and the underside of the seat. Left turn Clyde....
Sunday's ride also included a tire patching demonstration along with a brake caliper adjustment. Stupid Himalayan blackberry branch.
This morning I got up early and implemented the second phase of my plan. I've plotted a series of routes over and around the ridge that I live on. I need more hillclimbing practice and I need my bike excursions to be more workout oriented. The loops range from 8.25 miles and about 15 miles with multiple chunks of climbing.
My friend Perry met me and we ran the 8.25 mile loop in about 45 minutes. 850' of climbing with segments that have constant pitch and segments with varying pitch. Dropped my chain a couple times, but had a good run. And I can tell I got a workout. I'll adjust the limit screws on my FD and I should be set.
jond
Zen MBB Master
hi abbot i noticed you had your bike down on the right side when fixing tyre. i avoid doing this as it is possible to bend the mech hanger resulting in laborious efforts to diagnose shifting issues . tip left side only.
thanks for sharing all your ride reports. they are inspiring.
Abbott Smith
Guru
Thanks jond. I was getting frustrated with the stupid brake caliper and low blood sugar. All after taking way too long to pump the tire back up and Laura starting to worry about our schedule. Got a good patch but couldn't get the pump to seal on the valve until I moved to the top of a trash can. Then when the brake wouldn't open to let the tire pass, I got tunnel vision. Without the picture I couldn't have told you what side I laid down.hi abbot i noticed you had your bike down on the right side when fixing tyre. i avoid doing this as it is possible to bend the mech hanger resulting in laborious efforts to diagnose shifting issues . tip left side only.
battleaxe0
Guru
Hadn't thought about it like that. Good tip, thanks.hi abbot i noticed you had your bike down on the right side when fixing tyre. i avoid doing this as it is possible to bend the mech hanger resulting in laborious efforts to diagnose shifting issues . tip left side only.
super slim
Zen MBB Master
Thanks jond. I was getting frustrated with the stupid brake caliper and low blood sugar. All after taking way too long to pump the tire back up and Laura starting to worry about our schedule. Got a good patch but couldn't get the pump to seal on the valve until I moved to the top of a trash can. Then when the brake wouldn't open to let the tire pass, I got tunnel vision. Without the picture I couldn't have told you what side I laid down.
This style of morphing floor pump (with circular pressure gauge) is what I have used for the last 7 years as it is MUCH FASTER and easier to pump to 110 psi with the wheel on the ground!!!
It weighs 250 grams, but if you have a puncture, it is worth it!!!
It goes in a bag on the front boom, along with two tubes, patch kit, tyre levers, multitool, 4 cell battery for the light
http://www.wiggle.com.au/topeak-mountain-morph-pump/reviews/
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battleaxe0
Guru
After my last plastic crappy hand pump broke, I got this one. It's so much easier to deal with the flats:
http://www.amazon.com/Lezyne-Micro-Drive-HP-Pump/dp/B0069ENT9K
http://www.amazon.com/Lezyne-Micro-Drive-HP-Pump/dp/B0069ENT9K
Abbott Smith
Guru
It's easy to forget how transformative being on a bike can be. Over the past few months I've gotten numerous comments about how I look now.
Don't own a scale, so I hopped on the scale at work the other day. I've dropped thirty pounds in the past 8 months. I've become a shadow of myself.
Being able to ride again has changed everything. I kept my weight constant since my diagnosis of T1d but hadn't been able to lose any because I couldn't sustain any activity without going hypoglycemic. The JDRF and Cruzbike have helped me change my life.
Basking in the light again after eight years in a tunnel. The sunlight feels wonderful.
jond
Zen MBB Master
cruzbike = freedom ticket. fantastic abbott keep at it . one step at a time. keep building slowly." ambassador abbott" of cruzbike fame. you wont need the scales. lets keep praying for a cure.
Abbott Smith
Guru
Been Awhile
My Summer ride season got chopped into tiny pieces as the rest of my life demanded my time. I've been riding, though not nearly as much as I would like. The above gallery is a montage of rides for Charles. (BTW the flat tire picture is of my friend Perry who hates having his picture taken and had been giving me grief over all the flats I've had this season.)
Sigrditha is an amazing bike. I've reached the point where I just hop on and ride. No longer think about the MBB geometry. She's just my bike. One thing I have changed is my climbing approach. After talking with Thom Ollinger and his crew, I shifted my climbing approach to parallel how I would ride a traditional recumbent on hills. Lay back and spin. I now reserve sitting up for brief spurts when the grade gets steep, I need acceleration or I need to sit up to see or be seen. Don't blow out my upper body so quickly now. Need to run, but wanted to check in.
