Retraining my legs after a bike fit.
A couple weeks or so before this ride, I had a bike fit done on my Crust Romanceur. Pedaling felt really strange, but the bike fitter said I'd have to change my pedaling technique, which previously consisted of driving my heels down and trying to reach all the way down to the bottom of the pedal stroke. This ride started the journey of changing to a proper spin.
This was also my first ride with TRP Hylex hydraulic brakes, which I switched to after my previous TRP Spyre cable disc brakes would completely lose their adjustment after a week. The issue with the latter is that I'd worn through the threadlocker that held the adjustment screw's positions, and braking over time would slowly back my brake pads out each time until pulling the brake levers all the way to the handlebars wouldn't fully apply the brakes.
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Outbound
I started at about 05:50 and headed out along the Burke–Gilman Trail. It was too cold for what I'd been wearing, so I ended up stopping at the Starbucks in Lake Forest Park for a hot drink.
Starting off this ride without a jacket on was a pretty dumb idea. At least I'm not cold anymore. #cycling
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) December 22, 2018
Once warmed up, I continued along the trail. It was around this point where I'd realized that my heart wasn't really into this ride, as my original hope was to head south along the Interurban Trail. Weather made that a less-than-ideal route.
To my surprise, the construction from earlier was gone, with only some fresh stretches of asphalt remaining.
At the end of the trail, I went through Marymoor Park to the East Lake Sammamish River Trail. I was curious about the northernmost extent of the northern detour of the trail that I had to deal with last time, and it didn't take long to hit it.
As it turned out, the detour wasn't very long at all and I rode the highway for far too long last time. After riding the gravel trail for a while, I'd also realized that the stem on my bike had too much rise, so I spent some time trying to decide whether to get a 73° Nitto UI-12 or a Factory Five Titan stem, either in 90mm.
I stuck to the trail all the way until the northern end of the south detour, then dealt with heavy traffic as I rode into Issaquah. My only real stop was at the Bicycle Centers of Issaquah, where I chatted with a couple of the employees there about which stem to get. I ended up deciding on the Titan while there, and had a nice chat with the older employee who really liked my Crust Romanceur.
I'm at The Bicycle Center - @issaquahcycle in Issaquah, WA https://t.co/IHTSHzp7k8
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) December 22, 2018
I also decided that I was basically done with the ride, since my legs were tired from spinning the new way and I was getting rashes on the heels of the hands because the handlebars were too high. Thus, I took a bus back to Seattle.
Heading home. (@ Issaquah Transit Center/Park & Ride in Issaquah, WA) https://t.co/mFuOx3VhQu
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) December 22, 2018
The main goal today was to make the correct pedaling style recommended by the bike fitter become natural for me, and I've accomplished that. I don't want to push myself too hard while my muscles haven't fully strengthened. #cycling
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) December 22, 2018
Also, my handlebars are too high with this quill stem slammed. I'm getting rashes on the heels of my hands because of the pressure. I need a normal "7"-shaped stem.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) December 22, 2018
Someone pointed at my bar-end shifters and asked me, "What are those?" I showed them that they were my shifters and told about how bikes had shifters there contemporaneously with bikes that had them on the down tube. #cycling
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) December 22, 2018
Inbound
I headed straight home from downtown, with a couple of quick stops.
The popcorn and snack truck here dates from the early '30s and was driven by a father and son.
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