Why doesn't it climb so good ?

Last Wednesday, I finally got the chance to really compare my Alterra Road with the Zenetik Pro. Together with a couple of collegues we drove down the the beautiful town of Aywaille in the Ardennes to ride the Route des Légendes, a 100km tour. I did not have the chance to really ride the Alterra uphill before and although we have no mountains in Belgium, the Ardennes offer plenty of uphills. 

The last time I rode in the Ardennes was with my Zenetik Pro and I remember having a hard time then. To prevent this with the Alterra Road, I changed my rear cassette to an 12-30, which would make it easier to get uphill (in comparison with the 11-27 I had on my Zenetik). Turned out I was wrong. I had to shift to the largest rear sprocekt to get on top of the first uphill, that was not how I planned to complete the ride ! Since there were steeper uphills to come, I did not feel very comfortable. I turned out that I had a harder time riding uphill with the Alterra then with the Zenetik. Riding uphill turned out to be really tough on the Alterra. And the fact that my fellow riders had to wait for me at the top of almost every uphill did not make me happy either ....

My weight and condition are still more or less the same, so I think it could be the bike. Besides the difference of frame geometry, there's also the difference of the handlebars. My Zenetik had straight bars, the Alterra has drop bars. So what's to blame ? On the Alterra Road, I ride on the brake lever hoods most of the time. When climbing, I switch to the straight part of the drop bars close to the stem. On the Zenetik Pro, I stayed at the ends of the handlebar all the time, whether I was riding uphill or not. I could keep my hands at that position for a couple of hours without any discomfort. On the Alterra, I have to change hand positions say every half hour, to prevent them from going numb. It's not a big deal, I see a lot of regular road bike riders have the same problem. But that's not how I want to ride my bike.

So what now ? For me, it's pretty obvious : the drop bars have to go. I will take the Alterra to my local bike shop and have the drop bars changed with the straight handlebar from my Zenetik. And see how the Alterra handles uphills with a straight bar.

Another holiday

The last two weeks were spent in Vaals, the Netherlands, close to the German en Belgian border. As usual, we rented a cottage in a holiday center. My wife took her new electric bike and I took the 700X with me, which turned out to be an excellent choice. I also brought a new toy with me, a MONTANA 600 gps. I spent over a year deciding whether or not to buy a gps-device, but a couple of weeks ago I did get myself one. Mounting the MONTANA on my 700X was pretty easy : I just installed the Garmin Bicycle Mount on my KLICKFIX mount and was ready to go.

Is it big ? Yes, it is. I guess you don't need a gps-device this size just for riding your bicycle only. But since I use the MONTANA both for cycling and motorcycling, you get the best of both worlds (long battery life and a big enough/bright screen).

Compared to where I live, it is very hilly over there. I needed all of my gears most of the time. The 700X handled everything just fine, I only found out that a couple of times my gear was not low enough (or I just can't ride up hill at all). I might consider getting a bigger cog on my rear hub to overcome that problem.


Summer really was late this year, only this last week temperatures finally got up and evenings were mild enough to be spent outside. I spent at least 3 hours a day on the bike with no real discomfort at all. The city of Aachen was really close, so we visitied this wonderfull city several times by bike. Another nice holiday spent close to home.  

Thoughts on riding the Alterra ....

So far, I've taken the Alterra Road with the Alterra seat pan for a couple of rides (3 to be exact) but to be honest, I do not like it at all. The seat pan is way too small and reminds me of a regular racing saddle. It may be the shape of my butt, but I'm way more comfortable on the carbon Zenetik Pro's seat pan, so I changed it back today. Then took the Alterra Road for a road near the canal and felt much better on the wider seat pan.

The last couple of weeks the towing path besides the canal was closed due to work in progress : the old layer of asphalt is being replaced with a new layer. Most parts have been finished, so the potholes and most other irregularities have are now covered with a new layer. The weather has been very mild lately, which made it possible to still ride my bike with shorts and short sleeved jersey, nice ! But as you can see on the picture : autumn really has begun. Not bad, since I like the change of colors along the route ....


So, what are my thoughts so far on the Alterra Road ? I do not experience a lot of difference between the road bike's geometries, although it's obvious in some ways : there's no front wheel touch with your feet with the Alterra and it is much easier to ride the bike standing up. The biggest difference are the drop bars on the Alterra. Although these bars offer more hand positions than the straight handlebar I had on the Z Pro, I really have to wear padded gloves to prevent my hands from getting numb on some positions. It takes a while, sometimes half an hour or more, but than my fingers start to tingle so I know that it's time to change my hand position. I also notice that there's more weight on my shoulders, arms and hands with the drop bars, meaning that I'm leaning more forward on the Alterra than on the Z Pro. Is all this a problem ? Not yet. At least not such a problem yet that I'm considering installing the straight bars again. I really like the looks of the drop bars on the bike and I feel a little more on a "real" road bike when riding it. But for now, I'm still hanging on to my Alterra the way it is. Only future will tell ....

Another cycling holiday

I just got back from another cycling holiday in the Netherlands. We rented a small cottage in Zutphen, in the provence of Gelderland. Last year I rode my velomobile up to there and found out that my velomobile was a bit too wide for some of the bicycle paths (like the ones in the National park the Veluwe). Also some of the paths of the bicycle route system are gravel paths running through forests, not ideal for velomobiles. So this year, I took my 700X with me, which turned out to be the perfect choice !

Weather was nice all week : mild temperatures with strong breezes earlier this week, but the second half turned out to be a real Indian Summer when the wind lay down. During day time I rode my 700X in shorts, short sleeve shirt and (SPD) sandals, only at night rides, it was a bit too chilly and I had to put on a jacket and bike shoes. Since my 700X has a good head light, it was the ideal bike to ride through the city at night.

Miles and miles of bicycle path near the river the Ijssel

Although I hade one pair of bib shorts with me just in case, I never needed it. There were days that I rode my bike for 60 + miles without any discomfort, in total I had a little over 300 miles on my bike computer from last week. Pictures I took during my bike trips can be found here

Changing the seat

So far, I've ridden a little over 300 miles on my Alterra Road. On my second or third ride, the right part of my bottom got sore after the ride. But last week I did a 60-mile ride with no discomfort at all. When it comes to the handlebar, I change my hand positions a lot and I'm still searching for the perfect spot. On some positions, my hands start to get numb, defenitely not the way to go. Altogether, I'm pretty happy with my Alterra, but comfortwise it's no where near a recumbent. I do not want to get into putting extra padding to the seat or anything alike in order to get a more comfortable ride.

My friend Wijnandt and CF-pal is very satisfied with his Alterra seat on his DYNAMIK PRO, and since I have a spare Alterra seat I changed the seat today. First thing I noticed that there were 2 metal plates underneath the carbon seat pan of the Zenetik's seat. When using the Alterra plastic pan, it is impossible to use the largest of the metal plates since it is too big for the Alterra pan. So I only used the smalles metal plate to put the Alterra seat in place.

Useless piece of metal for the Alterra seat pan

First thing I noticed when sitting on the Alterra seat is the upward curve of the seat pan, which is more distinctive than the one on the Zenetik seat. I compared both seats before putting the Alterra pan on my bike, but both seat pans seem to have the same curving line at the back. Maybe it's because of the material that the Alterra seat pan feels different? I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm curious how the Alterra seat'll do in practice, I'm about to find out !

New bike in town ....

After much consideration (and a lot of reading at the CF-forum) I decided to replace my Z Pro with an Alterra Road. I ordered a frame from Nanda Holz at Spincyclz.com and had my local bike shop transfer the parts from the Z Pros' frame to the Alterra. At least, that was the plan. I wanted a drop bar with STI shifters on the Alterra, but since that's not available in 9-speed anymore, I've had to have the 10-speed version installed, which also implied having a new set of cogs at the rear wheel and a new chain. Well, okay then. I took my Z Pro and the Alterra road frame to my bike shop last week and picked my Alterra up yesterday.

And .... wow ! Nice looking bike ! Just like the yellow of my Z Pro, the red of the Alterra looks kinda dull until the sun hits it, then the sparkling little things show up nicely :

First thing I checked was the space between the rear tire and the brake bridge. And yes : there is plenty of room ! Real nice !!!

I also had the original carbon seat transferred from the Z Pro, because there's no carbon seat pan (yet) for the Alterra line of bikes. I did order an Alterra seat with the Alterra frame but will stick to the Z Pros' seat for now, let's find out how it'll work out.

Riding home from the bike shop felt pretty weird, it has been more than 10 years since I last rode a bike with drop bars and it'll probably take some time to find a proper position on it. Riding the bike standing up is indeed much easier on the Alterra than it is on the Z Pro. I never rode my Z Pro standing up because it felt weird, on the Alterra it feels more natural so I think I'll be doing it whenever necessary.

I asked my local bike shop to double wrap the handlebars with tape for more comfort, since there seems to be more weight on my hands. I remember that when I used to put my Z Pro next to my 700X, both the handlebar and the seat were at same level. Not longer so : the Alterra Roads' seat is a bit higher and the handlebar a bit lower. I still can change the height of the seat, but not that of the handlebar, so I'm curious what it'll work out in time.

I had too many issues with my lower back on the Z Pro and that's what kept me from riding it. Let's hope that the Alterra geometry solves this issues, but since there's only one way to find out, I'm afraid I have to ride it. A lot .... Poor me, life's just too hard sometimes ;-)

And another holiday ....

Just got back from a 6-day holiday. Last Friday my wife and I drove to la-Roche- en-Ardenne where we spent 3 days in a hotel. Last Monday we drove to Biersdorf- am-See in Germany, where we spent another 3 days. Since we took the car as our main means of transportation, I could take a bike with me. Since I did not want to stick to asphalt, I took my 700X.
It seems that summer already arrived early last week, sunshine all day and temperatures over 25°C. On my first ride on Friday, I reached the top of a local route. When I took the picture that is shown here, I suddenly realised that there was total silence in the midst of the forrest ! No cars, no motors, no airoplanes to be heard, just the birds singing in the trees and the wind touching the leaves. Amazing, these places are hard to find these days !

Although there are many mountain bike routes in La Roche, I stayed mainly on the roads. The 700X was no real mach for the rough MB-routes through the forests, especially not when going down. The routes were so rough with lots of big rocks and ruts from the trees that I only managed to ride downhill while braking most of the time. With lots of up -and downhills, I got more than my share of work out on the roads. Unfortunately, most of the roads were in no good condition, but that did not stop me from riding my bike.

When arriving in Biersdorf-Am-See, one could tell that you were in Germany only by the state of the roads. As usual, most of the roads were in excellent condition and showing only little damage of the past winter. I rode a new part of the Prümtalradweg around Bittburg and some parts of the Kylltalradweg and the Nimstalradweg. The Dorint hotel we spent are nights was located near a lake and with summer temperatures but no summer crowds, the location was as heavenly as in tourists brochures.

Not all was rosy though. In comparison with earlier holidays with the 700X I did not suffer from my butt. It did get very sweaty with these temperatures, but it never got uncomfortable. The only thing I noticed was my lower back. I never had issues with my back before, but lately when riding either my Z Pro or the 700X I noticed that my lower back started to hurt after a while. Especially when riding uphill. It might be that the forward reach is just a little too much for my back (and my age isn't probably helping either). It is true that I do not ride my CF-bikes as much as my recumbents, but the main idea is to ride a bike that is more comfortable than a regular bike. I'm considering ordering an Alterra Road frame and swap the components from the Z Pro. The Alterra has a different frame geometry, which might do the trick. Stay tuned to find out.

Finally riding the Bloesemroute

Something I've always wanted to do but always managed to skip in one way or another is riding one of the famous Bloesemroutes ("route of the Blossoms") in the province of Limburg. Every year around this time most of the fruit trees start to bloom, giving the landscape beautiful colors to ride through. The province of Limburg is famous for its Knooppuntennetwerk, a very clever network of bicycle routes connected with numbered intersections. This allows the bicyclist to plan his route through these numbered knooppunten, all you have to do is to remember which number to ride to. Small numbered road signs in blue are placed all over these routes, making it easy to ride from one point to another. Boards with maps of the routes are placed at many intersections, so there is no need to bring a map by yourself.

Anwyay, last Friday a riding buddy and myself drove a car with our bikes to Borgloon, one of the many places where one can start to ride the Katarakt route, the most famous Bloesemroute.

The weather was ideal for biking : a mild breeze and lots of sun. Total distance of the planned route was around 75 km, but I think we took a wrong turn at some point and were close to our starting point after only 62 km. We still had the time, so we decided to ride another loop around Borgloon, making a total of 82 km. As expected, the scenery was beautiful with lots of sloping landscapes through fields of blooming fruit trees. Not too many other bikers yet, as it was on a working-day and still early April. A couple of weeks later and during the weekends, lots of people show up to ride their bikes over there, making some of the routes really crowded. Not so last Friday. We really had a good time and it made me long for more bike trips over there ....

My riding buddy near one of the boards near the route ....

Local discoveries ....

It is said that sometimes one does not have to travel far to discover some nice places to ride. The day before yesterday I took my 700X for a ride since I did not want to stay on the asphalt. A cold has been taking my off the bike these last weeks, but the weather was so nice I just had to get out on a bike.

When riding towards Poppel, I discoverd 2 new bicycle paths that must have been constructed last year. The first one only almost 2 km, the other one a little bit longer and going all the way to the Netherlands. It was a nice surprise to find such improvements for bicycles so close to home ! Yesterday I rode the same bicycle paths again all the way up into the Netherlands, looking for as much of off road as I and the 700X could take. Allthough I did not plan to, I was on the bike for almost 4 hours (I did get lost a little, which is fine with me).This was my first long ride on a CF bike this year and I had a blast. After a couple of hours, I wished again that my 700X had a suspension fork, 'cause I really got shaken up, especially on those trails where horses had been riding. On the other hand, I really like the looks of the carbon fork ....

Leading all the way to abroad ....

Upgrading the 700X

To make the 700X a more perfect holiday touring bike, it still needed a head light. It's not that I always ride at night while on holiday, but since we never leave home for holiday when the days are the longest, I want to able to ride my bike anytime anywhere.

So I ordered a Shimano DH-3D72 hub dynamo and put it together with a B&M IQ FLY headlight on the bike. The hub is on XT level so it should outlast the bike even without even noticing it's there. I had the IQ FLY headlight lying around in the garage but is a very good LED-head light with a start/stop function. I'll spend another holiday in Germany next month again and will be taking the 700X with me. Let's hope the weather'll be nice !

The French Adventure

Like I wrote in my previous post, I spent the last week in the south of France near the small village le Barroux. Together with another couple, we've rented a small villa (with swimming pool !), from where all our bike rides started. I was the only one with a CF bike, the others rode regular road bikes.

Le Barroux, as seen from above ....

Before leaving for France, I had my Zenetik Pro checked by my bike shop. Smallest chainring in front was a 34 and largest cog in the rear was a 28, which would be enough to ride all the way to the top, according to Harry, the owner of the shop. Well, I was soon to find out !

We did a couple of local rides on the first 2 days, one of them a 112km ride all around the Mont Ventoux, riding through villages such as Bédoin, Malaucene, Sault and others. The scenery is really wonderful over there and although the French drive their cars like they're racing all the time, they never cut bicyclists off. Besides the regular tourists, there were a lot of bicyclists, 99% of them on road bikes, all attrackted by the famous mountain top ....

On Tuesday we decided to try to ride to the top. Since my buddy's wife is not a very good cyclist, we decided to start in Sault, which is the longest but not the steepest route to the top. Weather was good : sunny but cloudy, with a mild wind, not too hot. I stayed with my friends for about 15' but then left them behind, riding my own pace, which was a little bit faster then theirs (but only just a little bit). Riding up was pretty tough but doable, I'm not used to ride my bike uphill for such a long period of time (we have no mountains in my country). The higher I got, the colder and windier it became. When I reached the famous chalet Renard after 20 kms, I decided not to stop but to continue riding.

Me on my way up ....

Now every serious rider knows that the real climbing starts from that point on. It's only another 6 kms to the top, but the grades are really steep. Soon I was riding on my 34 x 26, which allowed me to keep my speed around 10 km/h. The wind became stronger and soon I had to switch to my lowest gear, 34 x 28. Speed had dropped to 6 km/h and I really had to work hard to keep it up to that. So yes, I did reach the top, but it was hard, really hard ! On top, it was so windy and cold that I immediately put on the extra clothing I had with me. Visibillity was almost nill and I did not even bother to ask someone to take a picture from me and my bike, I wanted to get down again ! However, I promised my wife to send her a text message by cell phone once I reached the top, but it took a while before I got any kind of connection over there. After that, it was only going downhill, which was a blast. Instaed of going back to Sault, I turned right to Bédoin at chalet Renard. This road was of better quality than the road to Sault and my speed was limited to 78 km/h because of a car in front of me.

So, was it a triumph using a CF bike going up Mont Ventoux ? Well, not really, I guess ... The bike performed well, no doubt about that. Handlebar set up turned out to be fine, even on 5 hour rides I never got uncomfortable hands, shoulders or neck. My butt never really got sore, but it got really hot from time to time, resulting in a seat cover and shorts that were completely wet from sweating. This was irritating, but never caused any kind of pain.

Gearing should have been lower, that's for sure. It would have been sufficient for a regular road bike (my friend never needed his 2 largest cogs riding up), but since I only have a 9 speed on my Z Pro, I cannot get any larger than a 28 cog in the rear. For next time, I might consider getting a 10-speed or have a triple crank in front. Or ride a regular road bike, if only that saddle .... right !

My friend rode up to the top again on Thursday, this time starting in Bédoin, but I did not accompany him, because I knew I wouldn't be able to ride that way up with the gearing I have.

Compared to a regular road bike, I think the Zenetik Pro is a little less efficient. Maybe the longer wheel base causes a little loss of power, I don't know. It's just a feeling that I got. I tried my friends' road bike for a short while and I got the impression that power coming from every pedal stroke was transmitted more directly to the rear wheel than on my Z Pro. But like I said : that was just an feeling. Maybe I should have tried that road bike to ride all the way to the top again to make a real comparison, so maybe next time ....

However, I do know that riding downhill with the Z Pro is a blast ! I'd lean on the bar ends with my elbows and the bike rolled downhill like a brick ! My friend never could keep up with me and the ones who could, were smashing their pedals like madmen (where I was only freewheeling). All in all, it was well worth the 11 hour ride to get there (le Barroux is almost 1050 kms from where I live). I rode a little over 400 kms with my Z Pro over there and was thankful that I had beefy tires on my bike, since not all roads are very smooth over there (Germany has far better roads to be riding on). And although I did bring an extra rear wheel in case I'd break any spokes, nothing happened .... I had a very good time, weather was excellent (only one night of rain) and I might consider going back in a couple of years. Will I still be taking my Z Pro next time ? I don't know, only time will tell ....

More pictures of my holiday can be seen here

The real works ....

In just a couple of weeks I'm going to ride my Z Pro all the way up to the top of the Mont Ventoux in France -or at least I will TRY to ride all the way to the top. A friend of mine offered to share a little villa in a little town called le Barroux for one week, so we are staying pretty close to the famous mountain. Needless to say that these last weeks I spent on the Z Pro these last weeks, getting used to the riding position again after months of leaving it gather dust (yeah I know -I am deeply ashamed ....). I've bought a new set of butterfly bars to replace the regular bar on the Z Pro, but I did not find the right foam to go with it that is as thick and comfy as the one that's on my 700C. So it's back to the regular bar for now. It's okay as long as I do not ride more than 60 miles, after that my hands are really getting a bit sore. I might consider swapping bars, but can't really make up my mind. Not that I expect to be riding a lot of + 60 mile rides over there, but still .... Anyway, I still have a couple of weeks to make up my mind and to try to build up some strength (not that easy when you live in a country without mountains).

I did buy a new (and bigger) handlebar bag, so I can take a decent camera during my rides in the south of France with me. I'll also be taking an extra rear wheel, just in case. Lately I did not break any spokes in the rear wheel, but I will not take the risk once we'll be in the south of France, I want to keep riding once I'll be over there !

The new bag, bigger but not too big ....

Another CF holiday

Yesterday, my wife and I just got back from spending anohter week in Kronenburg in Germany. This time, instead of taking the Z Pro with me, I took the 700X because I did not want my riding limited to road riding only. The day before we left home, I switched the regular handlebars of the 700X for the butterfly bars I tried on the Z Pro a while ago. To make sure I could keep riding, I put the regular handlebars in the car, just in case ....

We were very lucky with the weather again : although autumn had already started, we had mild late summer days. All of my riding was done with my new bike-sandals and short sleeved bike shirts, just to give you an idea. I did a total of almost 220 miles in 4 days, this was the first time I spent so many hours on a CF bike. More on that later.

Since I rode almost the complete Kylltal radweg earlier last week on my Z Pro, I did the other part between Lissendorf and Losheim ( I tried to find the source of the river Kyll, but couldn't find it). I was very glad that I had the 700X with me, for most part of this route is on gravel roads through the woods where it is impossible to ride a road bike. And a bit more challenging too since it's more uphill. On other trips, I rode the most part of the
Ahrtal Radweg and the Prümtall radweg. I really enjoyed these marked bicycle routes, for they take you to such beautiful places that you would miss if you stay on the main road. The 700X turned out to be the perfect bike to do so, since parts of the routes are on gravel and/or small dirt roads. This turned out to be no problem for the 700X, I even managed to leave another full suspended mountain biker in the dust on one of my trips (the fellow asked me to stop when I was waiting to cross the road to ask me all about my bike).

Somewhere near Alendorf

I learned a couple of things : the butterfly bars are staying on the 700X. I finally found out why they did not work earlier: I put them upside down on my Z Pro ! It's only when I put the bars on my 700X the day before we left that I payed attention to the prints on the handlebar, that I realized that I had them upside down on my Z Pro. On the 700X it provides plenty of hand positions, especially when you ride up and down all the time. The butterfly bars did not feel more comfortable (or less uncomfortable) than the straight bars, so I'm gonna leave them on the 700X for now.

The other thing I found out was that you can get a sore butt on a CF bike. Although I've ridden both my CF bikes for a couple of hours before (meaning 3 hours + riding), halfway during my ride on the 3rd day, I noticed that my butt began to feel uncomfortable. I always ride my CF bikes with spandex running shorts and never felt the need for padded bike shorts before, but this time I did. I can't quiet explain what caused it, but both my sitting bones did hurt after that 3rd day of riding. Is it the 2 bolts that keep the carbon pan in place that I'm starting to feel through the after a while ? Could be .... I'm considering to put a small piece of foam between the pans cover and the carbon pan to see whether this will eliminate the feel of the two bolts. And maybe try a bib short again. Only time will tell.

Another thing I learnt on my last rides is that front suspension is not a bad idea for a CF bike at all. I was convinced that since less weight is put on the handlebars of a CF bike compared to a regular bike, there is no need for suspension. Boy, was I wrong ! On several downhills I had to work very hard to keep the front of the 700X steady and keep the bike in line. In fact, I'm considering switching the carbon fork for a suspension fork (although I really like the carbon fork !). I'll have some homework to do now ;-)

Anyway, I really enjoyed my last bike holiday in Germany. It's not that far away from home (only a 2,5 hour car drive away from where I live), you have miles and miles of bike lanes and bike friendly roads to discover (this was probably the 13th time we spent around Kronenburg and I still managed to find new roads and trails) and, maybe most important of all : you are treated like an equal sharer of the road when riding in traffic (meaning that German drivers do not cut you off or put you in any kind of danger like they normally do elsewhere). You should really try to ride your bike in the Rheinland Pfalz region of Germany !

Panorama near Birgel

Riding the Kylltal-radweg

Yesterday, 2 friends and I drove all the way to Germany to ride the Kylltal-radweg. This is a 115km long route which follows the river Kyll between Hallschlag and Trier. Since I don't have a compact recumbent and to be able to keep up with my friends who ride recumbents, I took the Z Pro. We loaded our bikes in my friends' van and drove to Lissendorf, where we started our ride.
The route is easy to follow, since it is signaled in both directions. The conditions were excellent : very nice weather for this time of year and very few bikers (this route is usually very crowded in July and August).
I had no problem keeping up with my friends, who did this route together a couple of years ago. When we had to go up, the Z Pro was easier to ride uphill and I always ended on top first. But my friends were always going down faster, keeping everything in balance ;-) Some of the climbs were pretty tough, but I managed to ride up all of them.

Having a picknick near Willsecker ...

The route is very bike-friendly : high quality bikelanes for the most part, only a few miles of gravel and only when you approach Trier, you have to ride between motorized traffic (the route enters Trier via the industrial zone). Needless to say we had a blast !
In Trier, we rode our bikes to the railway station. After checking the hour table, we bought tickets and waited for the train.

Checking the hour table at the railway station...

After 20 minutes the train arrived and we put ourselves and our bikes on board (you can take them by train for free !) and headed back to Lissenburg. The German trains have special wagons with a big bicycle logo on them where you can put your bikes. We were very suprised when at one of the stations, another biker stept on board and the railway controller summoned three passengers to sit elsewhere in order to park the bike inside. Amazing !!!

Riding back the easy way ....

A day at the races ....

Although I do not race myself with any of my bikes, I do like to attend recumbent races once in a while. Yesterday there was a race in Peer and since the weather was nice, I decided to ride my Z Pro to the sports track. Since it is only 40 miles from where I live and the first race would start at 6 pm, I left home halfway the afternoon. My wife would be coming by car, bringing my camera and the bike rack. Although there was a mild head wind, I ended up in the charming centre of Peer around 5 pm, with plenty of time to make a stop at the local Leonidas to taste their icecream (which turned out to be excellent!). I arrived at the sports centre a little later and met some of my friends who were preparing their bikes to race.

Most of them already knew that I own 2 CF bikes but had never actually seen one before. So the Z Pro attracked some attention and those who rode it where suprised how well it handled. I couldn't resist riding trying the Z Pro on the track, but just when I was getting up to speed, it started to rain (and you know how I feel about riding in the rain). Ah well, better luck next time. Fortunately, it did not rain for long and the races could go on as planned. I took some pictures of the races, which you can find here

Jonathan in his Quest on the track ....

The tire experiment part II

This morning I picked up my Z Pro at my bike shop (Harry, the shop owner being very busy and me having no time was the reason the bike stayed at the shop for such a long period). He took the Z Pro out of the back and proudly showed me his solution : a front brake calliper in combination with a adjusted pivot nut (hand filed oblique). According to Harry, it would be no use to hand file one of the calliper arms. It looked butt ugly, but I took the Z Pro home anyway.

Harry's solution : yuck !

Once I got home, I took everything off and attacked the old rear brake calliper with a hand file. It took me almost an hour to get rid of enough metal (had to file off a lot more than just 1mm) and when I put the brake back, the tire was still rubbing the center of the arms, at a point where you simply cannot remove anything without damaging the brakes. So, was Harry right after all ? No, he was not ! I took the adjusted pivot nut and placed it between the frame and the brake and voilà ! The oblique pivot nut lifts the brake arms just a little bit upward, enough to let the tire run free underneath.

This looks better !

Hardly but just enough space ....

Of course I had to take it for a spin after the modifications so I left for a 40 mile ride. I really was curious about the tires and it did not take long to feel the difference. The wider tires are way more comfortable ! Speed is the same, but comfortwise, it is a big improvement. They are staying on, that's for sure ! I only noticed that the rear brake has a little less power compared to before the switch, but I'm confident that I'm going to get that fixed to !

That's how I like it : beefy comfortable tires !

The tire experiment

After reading a posting on the C.F. Forum about how comfortable riding on 28mm wide tires is compared to 23mm I ordered myself some wider tires from my local bike shop. Since I'm very satisfied with my Continental Grand Prix's, I ordered these in 28mm. I picked them up from my bike shop yesterday and swapped tires this afternoon.
There was absolutely no problem in the front : the front fork is wide enough to go with even wider tires. The back was another story .... Since 28mm tires are wider, they do not fit between the brake pads when fully inflated. That's no problem, just inflate the tires when the wheels are back in place. So far, so good. After inflating the tires properly, I put the bike back on it wheels and wanted to take it to the front of our house. It sure looked nice, those beefy tires on a road bike ( I do like beefy tires !) But the rear wheel did not move, it was blocked ! No, it wasn't the brake shoes, the rim was free. When I looked a bit closer, I noticed that the rear tire got stuck underneath the rear brake caliper, preventing it from moving at all ! Damn !!!

Plenty of space with the 23mm tire ...

but not so with the 28mm tire !

It is only a matter of maybe 1mm, but as you can see on the second picture, the tire really touches the inner rear brake caliper. I called my local bike shop and explained my problem. They told me that I could try the new Shimano 105 rear brake caliper, which is slightly different in shape and might just be different enough to have the wheel fit. Another solution was to try another brand of 28mm tire, or change them into 25mm tires. I'm gonna take my Z Pro to my bike shop to try out that new 105 brake caliper and let's hope that it will fit !!!

Weekend by the Sea

Last Friday my wife and I left for Nieuwpoort, where a collegue of mine owns an appartment which is available for rent. Since I did not want to limit my bicycle riding to tarmac roads, I took the 700X with me this time.
As usual it was pretty windy near the beach, but that did not stop me from riding my bike. Since it was also my wife's birthday on Monday, I promised her not to leave her alone for more than 2,5 hours a day, which left both of us happy ;-)

The 700X turned out to be the perfect holiday bike, since you can ride it on pretty much every surface. There are several local bike routes on gravel going in all directions, so I always started with a head wind, fighting and struggling to keep my speed not too low and then turning around with a back wind, giving me speeds over 25 mph. Nice !

For the 3rd year in a row there's an art exhibit on the Belgian shore, called beaufort 03. Spread across the seaside cities, several pieces of art are exhibited on or nearby the beach. Now I don't consider myself an art-lover, but I don't mind seeing something nice now and then. I got myself a 03 Beaufort Bicycle Route flyer and went looking for some of the artistic constructions. Some of them really looked like crap to me, others were pretty nice. Anyway, it made it easier for me to decide where to ride my 700X to, since I planned everything in advance.

Some of them in plain wood ....

Others were pretty colorful ....

I even mangaged to ride my bike to France on Friday (Nieuwpoort is not that far from the French border). One thing I noticed immediately is that French car drivers are way more cautious then Belgian drivers ! Although there were no real bike lanes on the French roads, I never felt unsave. Vive la France !

Memorial near the church of Bray-les-Dunes

When returing from my bike ride on Saturday, I noticed that my headset had loosened. I do not carry large size wrenches with me, so I could only tighten the headset by hand. Since bike shops are closed on Sunday and Monday, there was no way to have the headset properly tightened before returning home. And I did not want to stay off the bike for another 2 days .... Luckily for me though, my local bike shop back home is open on Sunday from 10 'til 12 a.m. so I called them and explained my problem. They told me that I could keep riding my bike without a problem as long as I rode my bike on smooth surfaces and avoid riding over cobblestones etc. So thankfully I could keep riding my 700X for another 2 days without any problems. Tomorrow I'll ride my 700X to the bike shop to have the headset fixed.

New brake levers

Although I still like the looks of the XT brake levers I originally put on my Z Pro, braking was never quite crisp. I could slow the bike down, but that was about it. Until now I never had to make an emergency stop during my rides, but still ..... So to have some more safety into my rides, I replaced them XT-levers with flat road bar levers. While surfing the internet I discovered that Shimano has the BL-R 550 specially designed for flat road bars and they do have them in black, so the choice was easily made !

Yesterday I rode the Z Pro to my bike shop (I do not have a compressor at home to remove the rubber grips) where I switched the brake levers -and I got called stupid by the bike shop owner for mixing V-brake levers with road calipers. When riding back home I immediately noticed the difference in brake power when I needed to stop. Now it is possible to lock up the rear wheel, something that could not be done with the XT-levers. And to be honest : I kinda like the simple looks of the new levers.

Simple but effective

At last .... alive again !

I know, I know : I should be ashamed ! It's been almost a year since I last posted something on this blog .... And what's even worse : only today I took my Z Pro for a ride since almost a year too ! I can't explain why, but I did not ride my CF-bikes much last year. Most of my cycling has been done either with my Stratus XP or my velomobile. Don't know exactly why, but I just didn't feel like taking either the Z Pro or the 700X for a ride. And even then .... In the last three months, I did not even bother to ride the XP or my velomobile. Only used one of them for commuting and that was it. Could not bring myself to grab a bike and take it for a ride ... Of course, I did ride my old Beemer, but that's something completely different .... So anyway, today was THE day. It was a nice spring day with mild temperatures and since the forecast predicted a drop in temps and rain for tomorrow, I took the Z Pro out of its storage. Inflated the tires, checked the brakes and the chain and off I went. There was a mild breeze, so it was pretty tough to keep the speedometer above 19m/h but anyway, I really enjoyed myself ! Of all the bikes I own, the Z Pro is defenitely the most responsive one. This makes perfect sence, since it's the only bike that has a regular rear derailleur and cogs instead of an internal gear hub. And it's also the lightest, which is also nice to ride !

It took some time to get adjusted to the seat again, but that's only acceptable after not riding a CF seat for such a long period. So yes, I did feel my sitbones after I completed todays' 40 mile ride, but not that it hurt or felt uncomfortable in any way. And yes, I really did enjoy the ride and kept wondering why I didn't spent more time on the Z Pro before. Oh well ....

When I got home, I noticed that the rear tire needs to be replaced, for it has several worn spots as you can see in the picture below. Since it'll be raining all day tomorrow, I'll have plenty of time to replace the rear tire.

Time for replacement ....