The last two days the weather has cooled down significantly from earlier in the week. That delayed my ride today until after we got back from the adult Sunday School fish fry. By the time the temperature got into the 50’s there was not enough time to ride 50+ miles before we would leave for the fish fry. The skies continue to be clear blue and the humidity has dropped below 20% making the riding condition ideal once the temperature rose to the 70’s. It was a little cool when I was riding in the shadows after I made the turn back home at the 29 mile mark. I was riding on the south side of FM1314 and the trees were casting shadows onto the road. Every so often a break in the shade would come up and I could feel the temperature difference. Several counties have flash fire alerts because of the dryness (no rain this month so far) and the very low humidity. I read in the paper this morning that have been many grass fires. So far none of have been serious or out of control. We do not need to experience what California does.

I received my Shimano Ultegra 6700 clipless pedals and installed them before the ride today. One problem I had with the cleats on my Diadora shoes was the screws included with the cleats were not long enough to reach the threaded inserts in the shoe soles. I had to use the screws from the Look cleats I was replacing. This work fine. The cleats are much firmer in the pedals than the Look Keo pedal/cleat combination I have been using. When I twist the cleat to exit the pedal the movement is quite different. Another thing I noticed is the cleat entry is better than the Keo in that I did not miss the engagement like I have done with the Keo’s.

Also I added the Lezyne frame pump in place of the old one from my Mericer bike. The Lezyne is a tiny little frame pump that according to the packaging can reach up to 160 PSI. I will have to try this out because the aluminum body is very light. The interesting feature about this pump is the rubber hose to attach to the tire valve fits inside the pump while mounted and waiting to use. Depending on which type of valve you use determines which end of the hose is screwed into the body. This rounds out the addition or upgrades I have planned so far.

Toady’s ride information:

• October miles  575.19
• This week’s miles 100.60
• YTD miles 4576.79

10-30-2010 Ride Data and Map

Additional charts, weather and map.

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