Beer Drinker's Appreciation Society--Always Open (Page 15)

It's not all glamorous! I rode past a Category A prison (highest level!) too!

^Sounds like my run yesterday afternoon, with the exception of the temperature (68 not 28    I was racing a thunderstorm and not, you know, hypothermia....  stay safe out there everyone winter training!

Brrrrr! (after i'd googled 28f to c). My commute was in 9c (48f) and started to chuck it down about half way in. I actually did a longer route (about a mile extra) so I could go on some different /nicer roads with posh houses to look at: if you gonna get wet and it's already dark you might as well go shiny...

Btw if you could have one thing in a dream home what would it be? I'd want an indoor pool of a decent length My ma would want an orangery so she could have fresh lemons for her g+t

Pretty pics riles! here are some other pics of a more important variety (the two beers I tried Friday)

and 

Anybody else loving the start of the proper cycling? Omloop yesterday (spoiler - a man on a bike won!) and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne today. Big football match today too for me: Liverpool versus Everton, which is a local derby. Eek! 

Yay Gretchen is back! Long bike plus a swim run double is more like it! May the illnesses stay away. Sappho i'm definitely excited for proper cycling again. Unfortunately i can't watch it yet. Even with my paid NBC Sports Gold cycling pass, i get nothing until Paris Roubaix i think. It's a terrible thing if you're a fan of the classics living in the states!

(EDIT - I actually get to watch Paris-Nice in a week and a half or so!)

Originally posted by riles32807 Because I can't let Sappho96's challange go unanswered... This is the Cabernet sauvignon I mentioned a while back. I was right, its yummy. =) A brick Saturday, a swim/run with my triathlon club this morning, and looking at my schedule, I have a brick again tomorrow? Who put this crazy schedule together? (Hint, it rhymes with smiles) I think I found a solution to my swim allergies, I bought a nasal irrigation thingy, and used it after my swim this morning. So far so good, usually I'm getting stuffy by now.

Fuuny - I meant I liked your exercise pics! That wine makes a good picture too though

Way to stay with it Jenn and Andrew!  Andrew - hope the sickness is all done.  Yes it does take time to recover even after you feel better, especially, at least for me, for running.  Glad the swim was great!

I am SO incredibly happy to have largely avoided illness this winter.  I had a cold for a couple days and that was about it, back in early Jan I think.

I've gotten myself hip-deep into the bike maintenance thing.  As mentioned before I took the plunge and replaced my handlebar tape.  Easy enough that anyone can do it on their own.  The big learning points for me were maintaining good tension while wrapping, and ending the wrap at the bottom.  For my first try I'm really happy, everything has held up well so far and the new tape is SO comfy!  (Prologo plaintouch I think)

Today I attempted to do two things - wash the bike (incl drivetrain degreasing) and swap the crankset.  Washing the bike is WAY harder than anyone gives credit for.  I degreased the chain, twice, with the chain pig degreaser tool thing.  And still, the chain was wet with gray crap.  So I wiped it down thoroughly with paper towels.  And then I spun the cranks and gray greasy crap flung all over my freshly washed bike.  Had to use the citrus degreaser to get the stuff off the frame...  Then hosed that off, which wet the chain, which got more greasy gray crap all over the frame, AGAIN.  I give up on having a clean grease mark free bike.  All the worse because it's white...

The crankset install - this actually hasn't been that difficult, but I will share what I have learned.  On my FSA crank, there is an engraving around the crank bolt that says LH and has an arrow pointing in the direction to tighten.  THIS IS NOT FOR THE CRANK BOLT.  It's for the stupid dust cover that protects it.  The crank bolt itself is normal righty-tighty lefty-loosey.  I'm happy I didn't break anything tightening it REALLY hard instead of loosening it.  Got the new crankset installed and the drive side crank arm is like crazy close to the chainstay.  Not sure how to fix this yet.  The big puzzling thing for me is I took off an FSA Gossamer crankset, and replaced it with a newer FSA Gossamer crankset.  The bottom bracket stayed right where it was from the factory.  There's no good reason the clearance should be that tight, but there it is...  Will post back when I get it figured out.

In any case the larger point is if you're short on money, doing bike maintenance yourself can be a lot cheaper than going to a shop.  It's really satisfying in that DIY kind of way.  I'm really enjoying it.  I'm being careful, taking my time, watching all the how-to videos before attempting anything (Park Tool has great videos, so does GCN).  On top of this I've become a pro at derailleur adjustment.  Next I'll be truing wheels. :D

Love a bit of derailleur adjustment!

There you go Gretchen!  

I'm scared of the carbon fiber as well.  But most things have a torque rating printed right on them.  You can get a torque wrench appropriate for CF bike work for like $40 (shipped, from UK), with the bits that come with it:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/x-tools-essential-torque-wrench-set/rp-prod155414?gs=1&sku=sku567738&pgrid=47992999650&ptaid=pla-423723653511&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=PLA+All+Products&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|sEWwoGSwj_dc|pcrid|253685278709|pkw||pmt||prd|567738US&gclid=CjwKCAiA2fjjBRAjEiwAuewS_QZwLgINREcLqwKkawxl0DDBW3zqp6KMwdsufTRM-u8HlyQ-I9PiYBoCh5UQAvD_BwE

I got a similar sized torque wrench from good old Harbor Freight - but unfortunately it measures in in-lbs and some other completely useless standard, and not newton-meters the way all our bike stuff is spec'd.  So every time I want to tighten something I have to look up a conversion.  Spend the extra $ and get the one in N-M

Also - my nickname around the house is 'gorilla hands' for my complete inability to finesse anything open without breaking it; and I haven't broken my CF frame or seatpost in any way yet so if I can do it...