The morning was perfect. Packet pickup wednesday that week was smooth and stress free. The drive in was quick and easy, and parking was a breese, (we ended up parking near Michigan Ave and wabash, just like last year at 0720.) Unloading and taking our first photos went well, we didn't forget our camera batterys and we laughed. The ride was VERY eventful, see the teaser video right below for the basic details.
The Teaser Video
The High Speed Video *NEW*
Fixie Crank Failure Translation: Operator Error (I should have double checked everything)
The last 20 minutes of the tour, it is a very very slow pace, but at least we had fun and had a chance to see Detroit in her beauty.
Megumi gets her pants caught in the cranks! (My fault for not telling her to cuff her pants proper.)
The Porta-Jon Theory and waiting in needless lines. (Philosophy 102)
Cartoon Cycling! *NEW*
Summary Distance: 18.30 mi Time: 2:53:22 Avg Pace: 9:31 min/mi Avg Speed: 6.3 mph Elevation Gain: 71 ft Calories: 2,472 C Details Timing Time: 2:53:22 Moving Time: 2:02:14 Elapsed Time: 2:53:22 Avg Speed: 6.3 mph Avg Moving Speed: 9.0 mph Max Speed: 52.0 mph Avg Pace: 9:31 min/mi Avg Moving Pace: 6:41 min/mi Best Pace: 1:09 min/mi SpeedPaceElevation Elevation Gain: 71 ft Elevation Loss: 72 ft
There are some great pictures too!
There were many people from all over here in the "D" it is too bad we don't come out more often.
These people shots are kinda filler shots, a bit boring IMHO, but I wanted to show a bit of the mayhem before the actual ride. I totally omitted much of the video taking this year, saved the majority for the long 20 minute ride in my video collection.
This is what 4000 people look like from a low vantage point, wouldn't it be sweet to see this shot from the roof of the Train Station? I think it should be vlogged proper.
The best part of a ride like this is the bringing together of all the people, mostly recks, but people nevertheless who want to get into the cycling atmosphere and have a good time. We really need to do more mini rides, i included, need to get out there, they exist, there is the "Beat The Train Ride" and Crit Mass, but i never make the time for them, and feel kinda guilty for that, like I am less of a cyclist for not showing up to at least one of these cool events.
Did I mention that I love my Schwinn Traveler Commuter Fixie? It is true, this bike rocks and is a total blast to ride, when the cranks are built right!
A bizarre random shot, look at the balance and chaos in the shot.
So what happened in a nutshell is this: I rush built my crank set to my new 103mm shortened BB, it was so tight the crank arms were binding up against the BB, it was failure from the start, that was Friday night. I had to bust out the grinder and grind down a few millimeters on both crank arms to get this to work properly. it was still too damn tight. The Lock ring for the BB was missing in the rush as well, see last set of videos tomorrow for details. so in order to keep from running too tight, I stopped grinding the cranks and just left the cranks "kinda loose" so it would work. This ended up wiggling loose during the ride and I finally took the damn thing off and put it in my pocket until we made it to the break area. It was there we found a cool SAG fella with a totally bitching custom army green commuter hauler bike, he lent me a 14 mm socket and a custom bent ratchet and viola! we were back in business and rolling again.
Our cute lil' bicycles were cuddling while we went off to eat our food and give away our beer tickets. Yep, standing in a line was worth too much time as it were, it was cheaper to go to the cooler and pop a few tops, just kidding, we were rolling outta there soon so we didn't have time to play.
Time for Michigan Central Station
After the bike ride we just milled about and took pictures of the Train Station all the while tempting ourselvese to go inside and explore, but it was REALLY posted and razor wired off, there were other ways in but we were not prepared with our lights and proper gear. If you are so ever inclined to explore Detroit and all the abandoned buildings around here, please visit this channel: Bagaauwk He is the REAL DEAL.
All in all, this was a very well planned event, special thanks to all the Detroit police officers that escotred us, blocked traffic, and gave us warm friendly smiles as we greeted them from our bicycles, you all are very appreciated. hanks go out to all of you who helped with catering, electrical, beer, sound, SAG, and organization to this great event.
Hmm... Back to cuddling bicycles again, I guess it is time to stop writing this blog for now! Stay tuned because I will edit a really cool TDT video in the coming hours, it will rock!
The sunset on the 24th of September, 2011.
GARMIN DATA for all you data nerds. [Note: As of 20110926 there are more videos and footage going to be uploaded so stay tuned!] [Note: As of 20110930 there are 2 more videos added to this blog!]
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