Cycling

This is the landing page for cycling on my WordPress site.

2023

My log for 2023 is a Google Sheet. Use the link to see the most recent version of the Sheet.

I keep my logs in LibreOffice Calc spreadsheets. l converted a copy of the most recent 2023 sheet to a Google sheet and published it to a Google Drive location.

My distance in January and February 2023 was barely over 300 km. In 2022 my distance in January and February was about 740 km. In 2023, I rode once in January after a snowy Chistmas week, on January 1, 2023. I stopped riding for nearly six weeks, a couple of days later, as I recovered from surgery. I had a few rides in February, as the weather permitted.

In 2022 I started to lubricate my drive chain in melted paraffin (aka hot wax). I use Molten Speed Wax (“MSW”) on YBN SLA chains, supplemented with Silca Super Secret Chain Coating (wax in emulsion). I have some CeramicSpeed UFO Drip, but have not used it yet. I used Silca Synergetic wet lube on a SRAM chain in early 2022 before I started to wax, and on a second SRAM chain when supply chain issues held up my supply of MSW. The log sheets have columns noting which chains I used, and cells calculating the distance on each waxing of the chain.

After August 2019, my rides were all on my Cannondale Topstone (“CT”). Some notes on distance on the CT and drivetrain 2019-21. Further notes to identify chains and maintenance in current year log and some other logs:

ID/KeyChainDescribeDetails
KMCKMC X-11Original on bike when purchased
SRAM ‘21SRAM PC 1170Installed April 2021
YBN.C.01YBN SLA110 Ti-Nitride Blackpre-waxed, purchased March 2022
YBN.C.02YBN SLA110Rainbow pre-waxed, purchased March 2022
SRAM ‘22SRAM PC 1170Purchased March 2022

Logs

Tables and spreadsheets

I used cycling computers to monitor and record my cycling trip distances. My current device is a Garmin Edge 130, with GPS

Before I bought a GPS unit in 2019, I took distance from older units and used a spreadsheet application on a desktop computer to log the rides. This worked for the years 2007-2015. In 2016 I converted the spreadsheets to that point to tables in the TablePress plug-in the WordPress CMS. I changed the way I saved the data back to spreadsheets in 2022. I used the Garmin app to log after I started to use GPS, but I have kept the data private. I refer to that data when I am vague on details. The Garmin apps categories of road surfaces are rough and only one category can be noted per ride. The Garmin apps record the bike used but do not record maintenance, repairs and other details I want to track.

I found ways to summarize cycling information for my WordPress site. The data became too complex to manually enter into TablePress.T ablePress was not a spreadsheet program and did not support the calculations I needed. The data was too personal and specialized to be worth publishing. In 2022,the developer of the plugin started to shift the financial model of developing the software to a paid subscription model in the WordPress ecosytem, and changed the basic free plugin. I phased out and deleted TablePress cycling data tables after exporting the data and saving it in csv format on my home device. I created new spreadsheets for my own use and put yearly data in year end posts (below)

I am started logging my bike rides (distance travelled and other details) in a LibreOffice Calc sheet on a home device in 2022. Then I started to publish current year data by publishing the spreadsheet as a Google Sheet on my Google Drive.

Previous Years

Distance (Km.)PostGoogle Drive
2024 – future
2023 – current yearabove
see heading 2023
20226,095.1Google Sheet
20214,373.8Cycling in 2021Google Sheet
20202,611.22020 Rides
20192,211.92019 Rides
20182,283.62018 Rides
20172017 Rides
20162016
20152015
20142014
20132013
201202012
20112011
20102010 Log
20092009 Rides
20082008
20072007

The logs are almost entirely cycling. Some years I noted some days when I did not ride, and some other events or activity. In 2011, I started to make regular long walks (partly as therapy after a stroke).

Posts

I have blogged about the tech on my bikes, and some tech issues:

  • after buying a gravel bike in 2019, gravel and all-road bikes. My current main bike has 700c x 38 mm. tires, that I run soft enough for comfort. I have put on fenders and use a cycling computer. On bikes I owned in the past, I used a Cateye (and a Bontrager) calibrated to the wheel diameter. I use a basic Garmin 130 GPS now
  • (2021-22) on chain wear, lubrication and replacing chains: The Bike Chains Project (List of Posts).
  • tires:

I live Victoria West, an area within the boundaries of the City of Victoria, west of Victoria harbour, adjacent to the Township of Esquimalt. The road in front of where I live is 17 meters above sea level.

From 2006 to 2020 I lived in James Bay, a residential area between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Victoria Harbour, a block from Dallas Road, which runs along eastern end of the Juan de Fuca Strait, which runs into a part of the Salish Sea known as the Georgia Strait, on the southern edge of urban Victoria.

Bikes I owned:

AbbreviationMake & ModelFrom – UntilType
KAKuwahara Apollo1980 – early 2022Road
YGiant Yukon1990 – 2015Mountain, “hard tail”
FXTrek FX42015 – early 2022Mountain
upright Hybrid
CTCannondale Topstone
(alloy frame)
2019 Gravel – road type

Pages

Victoria Routes.

Bikes page – my bikes, some gear

Gear preference page (in progess).