I'm still alive, in case you were worried.
Even though I haven’t been posting, I promise that I’ve been riding! The B SIG training series is in full swing and my bikes have been getting some upgrades.
Let’s start with a quick recap of the B SIG so far! After my qualification ride, I was placed in the B16 group, which has three subgroups: Cheetahs, Tigers, and Cougars. I am part of Team Cougar and we have a great group of ten or so riders and our leaders, Linda, Tim, YJ, Lilly and Bob (our sub). Each week, we have a lesson to read, which helps us prepare for the skills we will be learning during Saturday’s ride. The weather hasn’t really been on our side on the weekends but we have already completed three rides! With such a large group and a lot to accomplish, the days are long. I’ll leave my apartment in the morning, around 7 or so depending on subways and our meeting place, and this past Saturday, I didn’t get home until 6:45 PM! I am coming to realize that there is a really enormous difference in timing when riding with a large group versus riding with a smaller one or riding alone. Time to accept that I cannot make any Saturday night plans for the rest of this program!
A group picture from ride #2 to Scarsdale, NY.
In other news, the work on my Pack Rat is complete! The new chainring, a Wolf Tooth 110 BCD 36t, is a 1x so it has only one ring in the front. This necessitated changes to the shifter levers since I went from having both a front and rear derailleur, to only a rear. This new derailleur, a microSHIFT ADVENT X, is paired with a microSHIFT ADVENT X 10 speed, 11t-48t cassette.
Gear ratios and gear inches are topics I’m still trying to get a handle on but from my basic understanding, I am able to achieve a ratio of 0.75 (# of chainring teeth/# of teeth on the largest cog in the cassette = 36t/48t = 0.75). I was aiming for a gear ratio lower than 1:1, just to have that extra cushion for lower gearing on hills and when carrying a lot of weight so I was happy with these results. And what a difference this work has made! I rode some hills recently and decidedly no longer mind the elevation gains when I am able to shift down as low as I can now! Yes, you read that right - I didn’t hate riding up a hill.
With all this work on the Pack Rat, I couldn’t leave my Trek hanging! Not that this bike actually needed work done. I wound up switching out the existing red and black water bottle cages for all black cages and added a Swift Industries Moxie Top Tube Bag into the mix for easier access to snacks and necessities during long rides.
I purchased this top tube bag while going with my friend to pick up his CUSTOM BUILT Surly Bridge Club, omg I’m so jealous. But I’ve got another person to go on rides with now!
By the way, the warm weather tricked me during a recent trip to Prospect Park:
I’ll be here, anxiously awaiting the opening of the Dog Beach.
