I Didn't Die

The re-christening voyage of my Orange Bike went very well indeed! The weather was great! Sunny and warmer than the last time but there was still ice and snow near the top of the first climb (note to self - take a small point-and-shoot with you, or at least don't forget your cell phone).  Josh and Marius came along with Josh driving his truck this time.  Marius met us at the front gate to the park.

Josh arrived before 7:30 and we just tossed the bikes in the back of the truck since Josh doesn't have a bike rack.  The lack of a secure rack was offset by the sound system in his truck.  Simply put, awesome!! Unfortunately, I've got persistent tinnitus, or ringing in my ears, that is pretty loud plus I think I'm losing my hearing anyway so some of it was lost on me (getting old sucks!).  The music selection was fantastic with everything from Pink to Coltrane to classical.  I was a little disappointed that Josh had no Frank Zappa!

The biggest change to the Orange Bike (I think I need a name for my bike.  What do you think?) was the crankset change, 53/39 to 50/34, and swapping tubulars for clinchers.  I'm new to tubulars and I was worried about the tires staying on the rim after my first failed attempt to glue them.  The gluing was inconsistent and I could pull the tire away from the rim with little effort so I ripped the tire off the rim and reread and watched at least three different methods for gluing tubulars and even asked Bill over at the shop about gluing technique unitl I settled on a method that seemed to be reasonably safe; 3 thin coats of glue on the rim and 2 coats on the tire.

Here's the Rear wheel sans tire:

 

Closeup of the hub and counter-weight

I haven't finished the front wheel so I'm using an ebay find until I'm done.  I did the glue thing on the rear wheel but I'm contemplating Tufo Tubular tape:

I don't race so I think the tape will be fine.

The tubies stayed glued to the rims, even on the screaming descent down Skyline Drive back to the front gate so the glue job appears ok. I did however miss the 53/12 combination on the ride down.

I do like the way the tubulars ride!  More supple than the Conti GP4000s that I normally ride.  I just have to see how they hold up on the road around here.  I've been lucky that I haven't had many flats at all on my rides and I know I'm not the most careful rider out there.

I get another chance to ride the Orange Bike tomorrow on a Paris-Roubaix tribute ride, Ronde van Aarlandria:

My good buddy, Kirk at Velo Works, stitched this ride together from all of the climbs in the area.  It will be tough going with all of the climbs:

I got a great bit of encouragement from the guy that built my frame:

It was unexpected but absolutely made my day!  Cool beans!  I'll post results on the Ronde van Aarlandria later in the week!