Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Commute


I rode in today. There was no rain and it is only supposed to get nicer as the day progresses, the roads were damp but it was a nice ride. This was my first ride on the Conti 4000 GP tires. I love them so far. I felt more connected to the road and the ride was softer. On the way home I will see how they corner. Fit wise I think my seat was moved too far forward during my weekend experiments. I am going to slide it back a bit for my ride home. I hit the bar with my knees a few times and don't think I am extending my legs enough.

I also tested out the new stuff sacks my wife got me for our 11th year anniversary. They are perfect, I like to keep stuff separated rather then just dump everything willy nilly in my panniers. I use one stuff sack for my clothes which makes getting ready simple as well as my unpack and shower clean and fast.

I passed a motorcycle cop on the way up 7th today. He was hiding behind a parked car, obviously running a speed trap. I waved and he told me I was going pretty fast. It made me smile, I do like motorcycle cops, I always have good experiences with them. I still remember a motorcycle cop in Beaverton who told me to be more aggressive taking the lane during certain maneuvers. I think cops who ride motorcycles understand the feeling of vulnerability that cyclists have. Both of us know that any collision or accident will result in our coming off worse for wear and we are aware that motorists are just annoyed that we are on the road.

In other news they identified the driver who drove into the El Tour de Tuscon injuring 10 cyclists and hospitalizing 5 of them, as William Arthur Wilson. Still no charges in the hit and run though they published a biography of the perpetrator in the Tuscon Citizen. I am still pissed off about this, one of the cyclists, Gary L. Stuebe, is still hospitalized and has been transferred to the neurological institute at a Phoenix hospital. I don't have any sympathy for William Wilson and actually resent being asked to have sympathy for him. The dehumanization of the victims is proceeding nicely in the local press making sure to label all the victims as cyclists without names. Hopefully the perpetrator will be charged with a felony due to the hit and run.

2 comments:

Russell said...

I run my tires about 5% below max pressure on my Lightning, I found it helped my comfort considerably.

Sheldon Brown has some thoughts on the subject here http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure .

Duncan Watson said...

Excellent. I am a bit heavy atm so I am running the tires close to max, but as more and more weight comes off I will be able to drop some psi and get a softer ride.