Fall Blues

Fall Blues, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Not all fall colors are orange, yellow, and red.

:)

Three Trees

Bull Skull

Doubling Down?

When I was specifying the build for my Rivendell Sam Hillborne just over a year ago, I had no experience with these types of bikes, and went with recommended specs for the major components. For the most part, this has worked out well - with the possible exception of the drivetrain. This Spring I would like to replace theShimano Deore rear derailleur with the Shimano XT "Shadow," and I am also wondering, whether I would be better off with a double, instead of my current triple crankset. I've mentioned before that I find shifting on this bicycle to be somewhat high maintenance for my taste, with the front derailleur being especially difficult to get into that perfect position where it doesn't rub. I am given to understand that this is fairly typical for a "triple," and that if I want low maintenance I need to switch to a double crankset. With just two chainrings in the front, there is more room and less rubbing.



Switching my triple crankset to a double is something I am willing to undergo, as long as I can keep my current range of gears. This bicycle is used for hills, and I need to keep it that way. And while that is doable in theory, I am not sure what my options are as far as modern cranksets go. The chainrings on my current triple (Sugino XD2) are 46x36x2426 - so I would need to find a double crankset with just the 46x26 rings. Is that even possible? I know that it can be done with vintage-style TA cranksets, but I think I have a cognitive deficiency when it comes to understanding how exactly to buy those: It seems like every single part needs to be purchased from a different seller and they are all super-expensive and frequently out of stock. What other options are there? Someone has suggested simply removing the middle chainring from the current crankset, but I am pretty sure that's not how it's done.If you have a double with a wide touring range, I would love to know what your set-up is.

Shadow of My Former Self

It's been a strange winter season. In previous years, I'd stop riding "sporty bikes" some time in December, and not start again till late March. Both winters, I would gain about 10lb over that period of relative inactivity, which I'd then easily lose before June. No big deal, and I expected the same to happen this time. Instead, when I took a break from roadcycling a few weeks ago, I began to lose weight. At first I was glad: looking slender instead of dumpy, what's not to like! Must be all that skating and walking.



But deep down I knew that it wasn't true. I was probably losing weight because I was losing the muscle mass I'd built up roadcycling. And that meant that once I did get back on the bike I would be weaker than when I'd left off. Considering that I am doingthis in just over a month, that isn't good. Still, for a woman who has never been an athlete before it is very difficult to break the "weight loss = great!" association. I did not take my own sense of foreboding seriously enough.



...Until I emerged out of hibernation and went on a 12 mile ride in a strong headwind a few days ago. Yikes am I in trouble. Winded, legs hurting, just overall ridiculous. And it's been only weeks off the bike, with some half-hearted trainer attempts in the meantime. Let me tell you, I've never been so unhappy to fit into a smaller jeans size. I want my legs back!

Typically Swiss: Toblerone Sandwich and Raclette

The nearest café restaurant from the office in Geneve is selling some Toblerone. Nope they are not the usual chocolates that we see sold in the airports and grocery stores. They are ‘Toblerone Sandwiches’!

This was my first time to see something like this so naturally I snapped a foto =).

The Toblerone chocolate is melted inside the bread. Didn’t buy this for lunch though. I chose a green salad.

Each day the café restaurant has a theme for the chef’s main course and during the week there was a day that they went local with the Swiss specialty, ‘Raclette’. I was quite tempted to take it but my Swiss colleague told me not to. He said its best to take them somewhere else. He mentioned the name of a restaurant that I could not remember.

It is usually 4 Swiss cheeses and they are melted. You can eat this (dip) with bread, thin slices of meat and vegetables (potatoes, pickled gherkins and silverskin onions). When eating raclette do not drink water because water can cause the cheese to become thick/solid in your stomach. Drink wine!

I was not so sure if I was happy not taking the cheese. The only reason why I didn’t take the raclette for lunch was because I had to pay it upfront at the cashier. Well I am lazy and stubborn, I don’t want to pay upfront so I went to the salad bar instead.

On some days I didn’t have lunch. It is too much for me sitting down in trainings and meetings the whole afternoon. It makes me feel so full and heavy, and sleepy as well.

Rio Grande Valley State Park

www.cabq.gov/openspace/riograndevalley.html This web site is where you can find more about the Rio Grande Valley State Park.