Cycling Thread

[Northendzone]

what a great morning for a bike commute.....

[troutman]

GoFundMe freezes funds of Calgary man who says neck sliced by barbed wire on mountain biking trail


Crowdfunding site says it received 'complaints' about campaign launched by Stelianos Psaroudakis

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ozen-1.4201921

It's not the first time Psaroudakis has solicited donations online.

In June, he launched a separate GoFundMe campaign asking for money to help get his Chihuahua back, saying the pet had escaped his home and had been impounded by the City of Calgary.

In March, he circulated a message soliciting donations of furniture that he said he wanted to collect to give to a yet-to-be-identified family in need so that he could "give a little boy or girl the room they deserve."

And in May 2016, he created and shared a GoFundMe page asking for donations to "help rebuild" Fort McMurray after the wildfire that devastated the northern Alberta city.

[bossy22]

https://nsmb.com/articles/barbed-wir...reek-incident/

[Fuzz]

So did he wrap barb wire around his neck just to fake this, and go to the hospital? Sounds an extreme way to scam people.

[bossy22]

No, he hurt himself somehow...just not on Merlin. He said it was on a Wednesday night at 8pm. At 8pm, that trail was full of riders, and no one else saw the barbwire or anything out of the ordinary. Strava history shows this. He said he left his 10 year old bike, and claimed it was worth $8000, which it isn't. The same bike was sold on pinkbike a few months ago for $1700. I think in one report it claimed he took down the barbwire. Ok, where is it? Why would you carry out barbwire, and leave your bike? Why not leave the barbwire at the side of the trail? He has no idea where the barbwire is now. Also, nobody saw them walking out. Someone would have passed them. They would have to get down Merlin and then Bragging rights to get to the parking lot.
Just too many holes in his story. RCMP are investigating, so hopefully they get to the bottom of it.

To me, it sounds like he hurt himself doing something, and now is trying to cash in on that.

[troutman]

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

So did he wrap barb wire around his neck just to fake this, and go to the hospital? Sounds an extreme way to scam people.

A) Someone is owed money and roughed him up a bit.
B) He tried to hurt himself and is now covering up his injuries from friends and family.

Those are my completely fabricated scenarios - both are more plausible than his story.

[Fuzz]

Ya, I don't doubt this is all BS, and he sounds like a routine scammer so I guess he just upped his game. I just meant it sure sounds like an extreme way to go about it.

[KTrain]

For a slightly more inspiring story. This gentleman, Mark Beaumont, is attempting to cycle around the planet in 80 days. The current record is 123 days.

You can follow along on Strava. He's doing 450-500km per day. Insane.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/8288853

[Northendzone]

yeah this stelios guy did not really think thru his scam very hard. personally, I hope he gets charged with something - his punishment should involve being tied to a tree somewhere on merlin on a Saturday so all the bikers can go by him and mock him or stone him or something.

if he was a friend of mine on social media, I'd be asking him what he is doing and then hitting the defriend button

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Baron von Kriterium

Option 3 is train harder.

I run similar gearing except it's Campagnolo. I have the compact crank up front and 13-29 at the rear. What road are you going up where 34-28 isn't sufficient?

Yes, I do need to train harder but I'd like to have the option. I've done the Highwood Pass before on 34-28 and while I made it, there were certainly lots of parts where I was going at a snail's pace and each crank was super hard to make. There are a few different paths to get from downtown up north or to the NE that it gets hard to start up again if you lose momentum and it can be an issue if there's traffic or stops.

Originally Posted by bossy22

you can add a shimano 105 medium cage rear derailleur. You will be able to go up to 32 teeth
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/c...h/rp-prod85966

Perfect! I just had a peek and I already have the Shimano 105 5701! Any recommendations for a bike shop to buy and install a 11-32 cassette? I really should do it myself but I've tried before and screwed up my shifting when I've calibrated something wrong.

This 11-32 cassette should work?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/c.../rp-prod116489

[Fuzz]

If you are buying parts online, and having a shop install them you are better just to take it to a shop and let them do it all. I can't imagine you will save much money doing it separately, and the shop will be happier to have you purchase through them. Any shop can do it for you, so pick one close by. Calgary Cycle on Centre north would be a good option. You will probably need a new chain, too.

[Northendzone]

I would also recommend having a shop take care of this the upgrade from start to finish, you will likely pay more, but if something goes sideways the shop will back you up. if you get hit with any type of duty, that really erodes your savings.

better off to try and build a relationship with the bike shop. personally, I'd recommend cyclepath south on macleod

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Perfect! I just had a peek and I already have the Shimano 105 5701! Any recommendations for a bike shop to buy and install a 11-32 cassette? I really should do it myself but I've tried before and screwed up my shifting when I've calibrated something wrong.

This 11-32 cassette should work?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/c.../rp-prod116489

No, that's a 11-speed cassette. You will need a 10 speed. here is one. You could go with SRAM as well if you so choose.
https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5046-9...1-32T-Cassette

Medium Cage at MEC as well.
https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5034-2...ear-Derailleur

you will need a 10 speed chain as well. Your existing chain will be too short. I'm assuming you have mileage on it anyways, so a new one is always a good idea when changing cassettes.

How soon do you need this done?

[Northendzone]

A little disappointed in myself as I thought I hammered it home and only had one new PB on strava......I think I have a better chance of setting PB's in the morning due to lack of wind

[Mass_nerder]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

A little disappointed in myself as I thought I hammered it home and only had one new PB on strava......I think I have a better chance of setting PB's in the morning due to lack of wind

I thought the same thing. I figured at least 3 PBs, only ended up with 1.

[KTrain]

The more you ride, the harder it is to get PRs. You're competing against those perfect tailwind days that are few and far between.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by KTrain

The more you ride, the harder it is to get PRs. You're competing against those perfect tailwind days that are few and far between.

In the eternal words of Bart Simpson... "Gotcha. Can't win, don't try."

[worth]

So they are digging up the fox hollow pathway between the railroad tracks and the bridge by the Calgary Sun. They were halfway done by the time I got there at 8:20am or so. It's not closed off so I rode up the gravel and then rode around their bobcat and dump truck, but not sure if it will be closed by the end of the day or if they will keep it open.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

A little disappointed in myself as I thought I hammered it home and only had one new PB on strava......I think I have a better chance of setting PB's in the morning due to lack of wind

The other thing to do if you want to drive the PRs down further is only hammer the segamamts rather than the whole ride