Wooden Bike 200k ride

On the latest "round the bay" ride, the first and hardest bit was wet, windy and rural.....

and the last bit was all sunshine and seaside.

Hi

As mentioned in my last post, I enrolled for an Audax 200k ride a week or so ago and this was to fulfil one of my bucket list items for 2013, to ride 200k on one of my wooden bikes.  I'd had a previous attempt, in the Audax "Winter Surf Ride".  On that occasion, a conspiracy of bad weather and buggered up bicycle forced me to ride another machine.

On this occasion, no such stuffing up occurred and I got ready to ride my homemade iLean trike on "Buckley's Ride" ( Audax parlance), or "Round the Bay in a Day" (Bike Vic parlance).

In the past, I've done this ride on homemade and commercial vehicles, single and tandem recumbent bikes, a tandem recumbent trike,  clockwise and anticlockwise, in organised Bike Vic Rides, and solo unsupported.  Gosh one time right at the start (1993 or so)  I even did it on one of those upright bike things. (Yes, I was wild and crazy back in the day....) And now add wooden HPV and solo recumbent trike to the list. Here is video from a few years ago.

Anyway, the latest ride, although chosen for its flattness and general mild manners was not a pushover.  You still can't choose the weather!  There was rain and a south-west headwind just about all the way to Geelong and it was a struggle to keep up 15-20k.  The route I took to Geelong was the Audax  / Buckley's Ride and Winter Surf Ride route which doesn't go along the Geelong Road,  (major highway) provides great scenery but adds distance and wandering to the direct Geelong Road Bike Vic route.  So after a 5 am start, I was at the ferry at 1pm, and about 120k into the ride.  The Queenscliffe Music Festival was on and I hooned down the packed main street in the last few k's.

I had a big lunch on the ferry and kept going on the other side.  By this time the sun was shining and the wind was behind me but the damage had been done on the other side of the bay, I was knackered and couldn't take much advantage of the good conditions.  One of the highlights was riding the meandering,  hilly, ocean hugging road around the coast near Mornington. (The Bike Vic Route avoids this road because there are a lot of people on that ride, and the road is just too narrow to cope)  Eventually I pulled in at home at about 8pm, 235 k on the speedo.  A cup of tea, a shower then bed.  That was my Sunday!

Although I did this ride almost completely according to the ride guide from Audax, the 200k Audax permanent rules are actually not that strict.  You can ride "round the bay" either way and as long as you get your brevet card signed after the 200k point and within time limits the spirit of the ride conditions are met.  Of course I read about this "laissez faire" set of rules after I had finished the ride and did it far tougher than I needed to.  You live and learn: RTFI! (Read the Instructions)

Regards

Steve Nurse.

You self-check the paperwork the send it off and get it approved by Audax

Ride to work 3 days a week.

Starting my new bike, with the hollow beam timber frame

Some of the suspension components, (Rubber Block, bronze bushings, shoulder screws, mild steel tube.  Quite a lot of work!

A dismembered rear cluster remade as a mobile / noise making machine....

which was a byproduct of replacing the front wheel.

Cup day gathering with Saskia, Alison, Christine and Jeremy.  Note betting slips in foreground.

Hi

It's been a bit busy at work lately  - a motor I've been working on for 2 years is coming into production and it's been fairly nose-to-the grindstone every day with a bit of extra stress.  And to cope - last week I decided to try to ride to work 3 days a week instead of my standard 2 days.  Well it seemed like a good plan at the time!  Last Friday I was riding to work for the 3rd time in the week and got about 1/3 of the way there when the pedals started rotating without driving the bike.  The clutch on the front wheel was knackered and the only thing to do was to scoot / velocipede my way home, have some breakfast and head to work in the car.

During the weekend I fixed the bike by replacing the front wheel and moving the cluster from the old wheel to the new one.  The cluster needed a new spacer to hold all the cogs tight and I managed to find a good supply by taking apart another cluster.  A bit later all the left over cogs were transformed into a mobile which has been clanging away in the windy, wainy weather we've had all week.

The other weekend project was working on a hollow beam wooden bike.  I've had the NC routed wood frame parts around the house for a few months and am finally getting round to assembling them.  There are some photos up above.   Today I finally ordered the laser cut lugs I need to finish the bike.

This week the 3 days a week riding thing has been foiled by today's persistant rain.  Will try again next week and up till the time work eases off a bit.

I've registered for an Audax "permanent" Buckley's Ride which is the 210k+ ride "Round the Bay in a Day", Audax style.  The plan is to do it on a wooden bike on November 24.  Wish me luck!

Regards

Steve nurse

Speed Demons / Evolve Trikes

On our recent be-spon ride through Ivanhoe to Warrandyte along bike paths, Graham Signiorini & I......

Shot ahead of the bunch and waited for several minutes........

for everyone else to catch up, despite me being on my highly improbable trike.

Lunch stop near Beasley's nursery, Alan Ball front right with sunglasses, Robert Waryszak on right in red.

Hi

I have been continuing to ride my Vi Vuong inspired ilean Delta trike and I like it a lot.  Last week I went for a ride with the Vichpv group and for the most part kept up with the fast Mr. Graham Signiorini.  The day before yesterday I installed a speedo on it and yesterday rode to work on it for the first time.  Speeds were pretty good,  my more refined and similar recumbent bike has a long term average of 20.7 kph and on my trip to work and back on the trike I managed 19.7 kph.  Longer term I want to do a 200k ride on the bike and a speedo's the only way to work out if the trike is up to the task.

On the ride last week I saw Alan Ball from Evolve trikes. Although nothing was announced last week, it can now be revealed that Alan, Dianne and Eric have licensed their folding trike technology in the United States and production trikes will be on their way soon.  Congratulations !