All Trails - The Rock Ride

[jimmy]

I know I didn't mention this to everyone, but I have just returned from a Cycling Holiday. The Rock Ride, Adelaide to Alice Springs via Uluru.

This was organised by All Trails who I can't recommend enough for a Cycling Holiday. It is only a small group of cyclists on them, so you get to know everyone really well, they are well organised and run. If you visit their site, and go to the news section, you can see some of the photos taken.

Overall I had an absolutely fantastic time, it was a brilliant 2 weeks on the bike. It was a great way to see that part of the country. I met some really great people, and saw some beautiful scenery. I am in the process of writing up my diary, but it is going to take me a while. Plus I need to pick only a few photos out of about 1,600 pictures to put on my site.

I will hopefully be out on Sunday, and I will probably ride the standard Waterfall Ride. You would think that I would be tired after all of that riding, but I am actually feeling pretty edgy, so don't be surprised if I go for a bit of a hit out.

I will update the forum when the Diary starts to appear on my web site.

Also, Lindsay and Camilla, I met Fiona who you rode part of the Blaney to Bathurst with.

James

[weiyun]

Great James! Look forward to reading your blog.

A lot of us are going to be down at Dapto this Sun for the Ken Dinnerville race. You can pretty much expect there'll be no fast group apart from JamesM. So will have to catch up with you on another ride.

[Camilla]

Pinky Frame! I remember her saying she was going to do that ride, and around the bay in a day too. Do you know if she ever looked up the pharmacist in Lithgow Lindsay put her onto to ride with?

[FAswad]

Great to know it was great. You were quite excited about it.

Now that you're back, I can go back to trashing you on the RP climbs

[jimmy]

Fred, considering the amount of hills that I had to ride through...

Actually, there were no hills, so you probably stand a chance on the hills now, that said, watch out for me on the flats now.

Here is some quick info that I experienced on the ride.

1) Biggest Daily Distance - was 207km, now 255km (Glendambo to Coober Pedy - No shorter distance possible)
2) Greatest Distance in 2 weeks - 1,996km
3) Greatest Distance in 3 days - 500km ( 180km, 130km, 190km)

And... Greatest Distance while restricted to 2 gears. I broke a spring in my right hand shifter about 100km out of Coober Pedy, I couldn't change down gears on that lever. I pulled the shift cable tighter and locked my self in at 69" (but I could still change on the front). I then completed the rest of the 1,200km of the ride in that fashion.

James

[jimmy]

The Diary is slowly going up.

http://www.jamescheetham.net

And visit "The Rock Ride" under All Trails. There are only 2 days there currently, but I will get the other 14 days or so up in the next week or so.

Photos will also slowly appear.

James

[fenn_paddler]

And... Greatest Distance while restricted to 2 gears. I broke a spring in my right hand shifter about 100km out of Coober Pedy, I couldn't change down gears on that lever. I pulled the shift cable tighter and locked my self in at 69" (but I could still change on the front). I then completed the rest of the 1,200km of the ride in that fashion.

James

Was going to make a smart comment about unreliable campag, but I know shimano wouldn't be any better considering the click-clicks those springs undertake in their lifetime. Maybe a simpler arrangement - basic shifters on downtube for example - would be better on a longer trip where spare parts for exotica aren't available. And campaq would classify as exotica out in those boondocks...

I read that campaq are coming out with 11 speed and electronic shifting is again just around the corners. Great for those that like being on the bleeding edge but I don't expect a corresponding reliability increase... Actually when you think about it, the road bike is notoriously unreliable. Especially when compared to a much more complex machine such as the motor car.

Cheers,
Alan

[jimmy]

There are 5 springs in a Campy Lever, 4 of these are recommended to be changed in the right hand lever every 15,000km or so. You can buy them for about $8-$10 each.

Further, the index sprocket should be changed as well. Yes the lever failed, but I can fix it with some time and a few dollars. Try that with Shimano.

But Alan, I do agree with you about simple is the name of the game. When we left Port Augusta, there were no bike shops until Alice Springs, I did consider getting the part shipped to me on the ride, but I said to the mechanic that I only only done a Campy Lever rebuild once, and he replied "That's one more than me", so I was glad that I didn't.

James

[Toff]

My 8-speed campy levers still work fine. I also have several spare sets in case anything goes pear-shaped on the ones I am using.

Simplest solution if an ergo lever breaks when touring (8,9 or 10 speed) is to carry a friction lever in your saddle bag. That way you simply pull the cable out of the ergo lever, screw the friction lever on, run the cable through, cut off the 20cm or so of extra cable, and pedal away. Total time lost is 10 minutes, tops.

[jimmy]

Simplest solution if an ergo lever breaks when touring (8,9 or 10 speed) is to carry a friction lever in your saddle bag. That way you simply pull the cable out of the ergo lever, screw the friction lever on, run the cable through, cut off the 20cm or so of extra cable, and pedal away. Total time lost is 10 minutes, tops.

Great Idea...

Until you realise that I have a Cervelo with internal cable routing... bugger...

James

[Toff]

Great Idea...

Until you realise that I have a Cervelo with internal cable routing... bugger...

James

Not a complete disaster. You just need to carry a really old style friction lever with a mounting clamp. You mount the clamp on the handlebars. Two ways you can go to run the cabling... Hard way is to remove the bar tape on the broken side, and pull out the shifter cable, then plug it into the underside of the handlebar-mounted friction lever, and then wind the bar tape back over the top, possibly cutting off about 10cm of cable guide. The easy way is to carry a spare cable, cable guide and some tape in your saddle bag. Then you just use the tape to strap the cable guide up the underside of your frame towards the handlebars.

Well done on the ride James. I'm waiting for pics...

[Huw]

Sounds fantastic!

Would you mind the DHBC webpage including a link to this (and possibly other) tours on your webpage?

[jimmy]

Huw

No issues at all.

James

[jimmy]

Some more days have gone up today, I am hoping to get some photos into it as well today.

James

[jimmy]

I have finally finished typing up all of my diary, further, I also have added a lot more photos.

I even managed to get a website redesign thrown in for good measure.

James