October’s First Chilly Road Ride
As far as cycling goes, October has gone off a rather slow start. The days have now gotten too short to ride after work without a decent light and at the moment I have none. My Magicshine batteries had been recalled in the spring and I thought I’d have the replacements by fall. Well, we’re mid October and has not been able to send me two new batteries yet. I ordered a full new set from DealExtreme because I also need a bright front light for my daily commute to work. Those lights are currently somewhere between Hong Kong and Switzerland and should hopefully arrive here next week.
October also brought the first wet weekend where I left the bike at home and went outdoors in running shoes. Yesterday on the other hand was once again a fantastic day to be out on two wheels. We had some shopping and groceries to do, so by the time I pushed the bike outside the house it was past 3PM. Cycling for many, especially road cycling, is more of a morning sport. Now though, that we’re in the fall and winter will be knocking at the door soon, I find riding in the afternoon a much greater experience. Take yesterday, the morning sky was sitting high and grey. One could have climbed and never reached the sun. The afternoon was a whole different story. It was still a bit hazy, but the sun wasn’t far.
I left for a 65k loop to the Chasseral climbing up from Cortébert to the Petite Douanne, where I entered a couple of gravel miles up to the Petit Chasseral. Riding those slopes right now is amazing. Everywhere the trees are turning yellow and red. Combine that with an afternoon sun sitting low in the sky, a bit of haze here and there and you end up riding through a surreal world. I love it. Best time of the year to be out on the bike. Temperatures were hovering around 7 degrees Celsius requiring arm and knee warmers for the first time. Makes riding even better. Just great to feel a light chill.
The descent from the Chasseral felt a lot different from previous rides. Due to the cool air I was probably sitting a bit stiffer on the bike, but the way the tires and pavement interacted was awfully different too. The pavement felt quite a bit harsher, the tires were less supple and seemed to have less grip. Yeah, temperatures have a big influence on tires. As a result, I grabbed my brakes a little harder than usual. Near Lamboing, I passed two female cyclists and thought “nice to see someone else out there”.
Back home I checked my Ebay auctions and saw that everything sold. Awesome, some money in the bank and a few more things that won’t be catching dust in the basement. While I have several bikes, I follow a strict rule not to have unused parts sitting in boxes. There are some spare tires, tubes, an extra chain and small parts like nuts and bolts, but as soon as something the size of a stem isn’t being used, it goes up on Ebay. You take something off a bike and say “I’ll use that again on another build”, but the simple fact is that it just won’t happen. I prefer the extra cash these items fetch to finance the things I do need.
My Ebay cash will go towards the new cyclocross bike, which I’m looking forward to with an excitement I have not had in a long time. My Alize is an awesome road bike and the Air 9 Carbon a sweet riding mountain bike, when I have one to ride (still no news about #3), but with the Mares CX 2.0, I’m about to discover a whole new way of cycling. Something nearly as fast and effective as a road bike without the limitation to stay on the road. I can’t wait to hit the trails on it.
| Distance: | 65.3km (40.6 miles) |
| Elevation: | 1’835m (6’020 feet) |
| Time: | 02:30:19 |
| Speed (avg/max): | 26.1/71.4 kph (16.2/44.4 mph) |
