Another Case of those safe CF bikes

On Sunday, June 25, 2017 at 7:57:00 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/25/2017 7:38 PM, jbeattie wrote:
Final descent was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqllO_J9_wA The bike didn't explode.

I will say, I find fast descents in dappled bright sunshine to be scary.
It's very hard to spot potholes in time, at least with my old eyes.

Scarier with dark sun glasses, which I was wearing today (prescription, not fashion). Germantown Road is well paved, so it's pretty low consequence except for the cars. No close calls. No heroic stories, although I could make some up.

My son had an eventful day. He was doing all these spur roads off of Big Cottonwood Canyon in SLC and had a rear-tire blow out. He didn't notice that he had a sidewall cut and went through two tubes and all his CO2 before he figured it out. Life lesson. Luckily, he got a ride from a nice stranger to the bottom of the canyon and then a friend picked him up. He was on expensive Conti Grand Prix which I think are prone to sidewall damage. I know people disagree, but I don't buy them because I got sidewall cuts and Pro Race are so much cheaper.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Sun, 25 Jun 2017 22:56:59 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/25/2017 7:38 PM, jbeattie wrote:
Final descent was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqllO_J9_wA The bike didn't explode.

I will say, I find fast descents in dappled bright sunshine to be scary.
It's very hard to spot potholes in time, at least with my old eyes.

In automobile terms that is usually called "over running, or
overdriving your, headlights. The Drivers Training book describes it
as "going so fast that your stopping distance is farther than you can
see with your headlights". They add, "this is a dangerous thing to do"
:-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

Must have been your Saronni with Columbus MAX
tubing. Those forks are breaking every day.

Nope, it was a (quality) German brand (back "in the days" when there
were bicycle manufacturers in Germany) -- and certainly not some
"department store" bicycle, nor a "high end" "extra light" frame/fork,
AFAIR some Reynolds tubes.

On Monday, June 26, 2017 at 6:15:47 AM UTC-7, Claus Aßmann wrote:
Must have been your Saronni with Columbus MAX
tubing. Those forks are breaking every day.

Nope, it was a (quality) German brand (back "in the days" when there
were bicycle manufacturers in Germany) -- and certainly not some
"department store" bicycle, nor a "high end" "extra light" frame/fork,
AFAIR some Reynolds tubes.

Then you should love your $10,000 carbon fiber bike.

John B. wrote:
:On Sun, 25 Jun 2017 22:56:59 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

:On 6/25/2017 7:38 PM, jbeattie wrote:
: Final descent was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqllO_J9_wA The bike didn't explode.
:
:I will say, I find fast descents in dappled bright sunshine to be scary.
: It's very hard to spot potholes in time, at least with my old eyes.

It's hard enough to do it at city riding speeds. Part of my commute
takes me through a neighborhood of dapppled streets, and at certain
times of the year, it's very hard to see potholes, because the sun is
right in my eyes. (Both ways! Not uphill, though, and when there's
snow, the sun is not in my eyes.)

:In automobile terms that is usually called "over running, or
verdriving your, headlights. The Drivers Training book describes it
:as "going so fast that your stopping distance is farther than you can
:see with your headlights". They add, "this is a dangerous thing to do"
::-)
:--
:Cheers,

:John B.


--
sig 108

David Scheidt wrote:
John B. wrote:
:Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 6/25/2017 7:38 PM, jbeattie wrote:
: Final descent was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqllO_J9_wA The bike didn't explode.

The video smells of overconfidence in free lanes behind blind curves.

:I will say, I find fast descents in dappled bright sunshine to be scary.
: It's very hard to spot potholes in time, at least with my old eyes.

Just send Manzanita Jorge down in front of you, he will hit any kind of
obstacle early enough to alert you to.

It's hard enough to do it at city riding speeds. Part of my commute
takes me through a neighborhood of dapppled streets, and at certain
times of the year, it's very hard to see potholes, because the sun is
right in my eyes. (Both ways! Not uphill, though, and when there's snow, the sun is not in my eyes.)

Because the winter sun is under the horizon or because compressed snow still
reflects in in a less specular way than corroded asphalt?

:In automobile terms that is usually called "over running, or
verdriving your, headlights. The Drivers Training book describes it
:as "going so fast that your stopping distance is farther than you can
:see with your headlights". They add, "this is a dangerous thing to do"

Overdriving headlights is a bit different from information processing
overload during detection and classification of relatively small, relatively
low-contrast obstacles that are masked by a pluralityTM of high and low
luminance patches.


--
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/A-7D_Corsairs_354th_TFW_at_Korat_1972.JPG/196px-A-7D_Corsairs_354th_TFW_at_Korat_1972.JPG

Then you should love your $10,000 carbon fiber bike.

Envious much?

How do you know what kind of bike(s) I have?
Maybe I have 4 steel bikes?
For example, a shopping bike, a rain bike,
a commuter, a "road" bike.

Or maybe I have "no name" CF bike(s)?

Oh well...

Sepp Ruf wrote:
avid Scheidt wrote:
: John B. wrote:
: :Frank Krygowski wrote:
: :On 6/25/2017 7:38 PM, jbeattie wrote:
: : Final descent was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqllO_J9_wA The bike didn't explode.

:The video smells of overconfidence in free lanes behind blind curves.

: :I will say, I find fast descents in dappled bright sunshine to be scary.
: : It's very hard to spot potholes in time, at least with my old eyes.

:Just send Manzanita Jorge down in front of you, he will hit any kind of
bstacle early enough to alert you to.

: It's hard enough to do it at city riding speeds. Part of my commute
: takes me through a neighborhood of dapppled streets, and at certain
: times of the year, it's very hard to see potholes, because the sun is
: right in my eyes. (Both ways! Not uphill, though, and when there's snow, the sun is not in my eyes.)

:Because the winter sun is under the horizon or because compressed snow still
:reflects in in a less specular way than corroded asphalt?

The sun is both lower and south of east or west. Chicago is a gird,
with most streets running due east west or north south. AT this time
of year, it's not too much of a problem, because the sun is higher

--
sig 47

On Monday, June 26, 2017 at 9:18:27 AM UTC-7, Sepp Ruf wrote:
David Scheidt wrote:
John B. wrote:
:Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 6/25/2017 7:38 PM, jbeattie wrote:
: Final descent was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqllO_J9_wA The bike didn't explode.

The video smells of overconfidence in free lanes behind blind curves.

Sight lines a pretty good, and except for a couple of hair-pins, you can change your turn radius if someone creeps over the line. This road is worse because of the very dappled sunlight (on sunny days) and bad road surface. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NPqQptjbF0 -- but it generally has less traffic. Germantown (linked in the last post) is now an arterial. These are all basically in-town or near town descents out of the West Hills. None are that long or fast, but they're fun to link together -- or punishment, depending with whom you are riding. There is one descent where I know one guy got popped crossing the center-line because it is so easy to do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oFTXlHoFro -- section starting at 1:30. This guy cuts the lane. Most do. 2:09 -- misses the car.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Monday, June 26, 2017 at 9:18:27 AM UTC-7, Sepp Ruf wrote:
David Scheidt wrote:
John B. wrote:
:Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 6/25/2017 7:38 PM, jbeattie wrote:
: Final descent was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqllO_J9_wA The bike didn't explode.

The video smells of overconfidence in free lanes behind blind curves.

:I will say, I find fast descents in dappled bright sunshine to be scary.
: It's very hard to spot potholes in time, at least with my old eyes.

Just send Manzanita Jorge down in front of you, he will hit any kind of
obstacle early enough to alert you to.

It's hard enough to do it at city riding speeds. Part of my commute
takes me through a neighborhood of dapppled streets, and at certain
times of the year, it's very hard to see potholes, because the sun is
right in my eyes. (Both ways! Not uphill, though, and when there's snow, the sun is not in my eyes.)

Because the winter sun is under the horizon or because compressed snow still
reflects in in a less specular way than corroded asphalt?

:In automobile terms that is usually called "over running, or
verdriving your, headlights. The Drivers Training book describes it
:as "going so fast that your stopping distance is farther than you can
:see with your headlights". They add, "this is a dangerous thing to do"

Overdriving headlights is a bit different from information processing
overload during detection and classification of relatively small, relatively
low-contrast obstacles that are masked by a pluralityTM of high and low
luminance patches.


--
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/A-7D_Corsairs_354th_TFW_at_Korat_1972.JPG/196px-A-7D_Corsairs_354th_TFW_at_Korat_1972.JPG

I would estimate the speed of that bike at about 30 mph in the fast areas. There were a few spots that appeared to have a round road but not like around here where you can have 2-3" tree root bumps with perhaps five in a row. He was not over-riding his speed/visibility if he has normal vision.

The sun dapples are really dangerous because among other dangers there can be hikers on the road at those points. This is why you wear Polaroid glasses.