Shorts In November?

Short's in November?

Hard to imagine it's November 28th.  Feels more like May.

West Windsor,NJ BFC by LAB

For all you Central Jersey folks.  The League of American Bicyclists announced that West Windsor,NJ is now a Bronze member of Bicycle Friendly Communities.
My favorite LBS is there.  Bicycle Rack

Another Great Fall Day

Today was even a better day than yesterday.  It was a bit warmer and there was no wind.  It felt more like Spring than Fall.  It's hard to believe we are at the end of November.

It's Been A While

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, was a beautiful but windy day.  With temps in the 30's,  I decided to bundle up for that morning chill.  I put on a warm long sleeve shirt, pants, wool socks, a fleece, my wool cap with ear-muffs and wool mittens.  Within an hour things warmed up quite nice and I shed most of my winter gear.  My wife was working so I was able to get in some extra miles without feeling guilty.  I finished the day at just over 50 miles.  To my surprise I have not done a ride over 40 miles since August.   

KEEP RIDING!!!

New Shifter

Micro Shift 3x9 Shifter

I recently had my 3rd failure with my Shimano shifter.  That is unacceptable to me.  According to one of the news groups Shimano barend shifter failures are common.  Unfortunately they are one of the only manufactures of a 3x9 barend shifter.  I heard some talk of another company called Micro Shift.  They have a 3x9 but it only comes in indexing and you cannot switch to friction if it breaks.  I decided to take a chance and purchased it off of EBay for $77 shipped.  Shimano's are $115 plus shipping.  They have no US distributors so the purchase was direct from Taiwan.  I received them in less than 2 weeks.  I put the right one on today.  They are very similar to the Shimano but have less loose parts and the accent color is black.  So far they seem to work fine.  It is nice to have the accurate shifting indexing allows.  It will be a test of time to see if they hold up better.
KEEP RIDING!!!  

Morning Fog

November?

It's hard to imagine that it is the second week in November.  Temps today a balmy 60+ with pure sunshine.  Strange to see Autumn leaves falling in spring weather.  If I had gone out a few hours later I could have worn a short sleeve shirt and shorts.  Makes me want to move to warmer climates.
KEEP RIDING!!!

Another Brisk Fall Day

I ordered more tubes, a fresh patch kit and am awaiting my new shifter.  In the mean time my patched tube held up and my broken right shifter is tolerable in friction mode only.  There was no excuse not to cycle on this beautiful day.  In fact I passed many cyclists enjoying this weather.  I just love the tunnel effect the trees make on these rural roads.

KEEP RIDING!!!

Thank God For Patch Kits

3 miles from home today I got a flat.  Not a big issue as it was the front right tire.  Fortunately, on a trike you don't have to remove the wheel to repair the tire.  Being so close to home I was hoping to add air and make it back.  I was not that lucky.  I reached into my bag for my spare tube and tools only to realize I had no tube.  Panic set in as I realized I had to patch the tube.  I was on the side of a busy road which did not help.  I pulled the tube out placed it on the tire hoping to easily find the hole.  No such luck.  I looked listened and felt to no avail.  Fortunately, a few feet away, was a large puddle of water.  Placing the tube in the puddle I found the pin hole.  I opened the patch kit and was in luck that this old kit still had working glue.  I was soon on my way.  As soon as I got home I found a spare tube and placed it in my bike bag.  I will periodically check the tire pressure on my patched tube.  Tomorrow I will buy more spare tubes and another patch kit.
KEEP RIDING!!!

Sh_tmano Barend Shifters

I just went through my 3rd pair of Sh_tmano barend shifters.  This time the black outer casing and inner ring cracked on the right shifter.  It can only be used in friction mode.  I have 18k miles on my trike and 3 pair of shifters is unacceptable.  I had over 20k on my Stratus with Sram x-9 and never missed a beat.  Shifting gears frequently on a recumbent is like banging gears on a tractor trailer but I expect them to last more than 5k miles.  I just ordered on eBay for $77 shipped, Microshift TT 3x9 shifters from Taiwan.  Hopefully they will be better. 
TRYING TO KEEP RIDING!!!