Table of Contents
Hello
This is the landing page for cycling on my WordPress site. It has been updated over time. Since July 2023, I have lived in the Township of Esquimalt, which is adjoins the City of Victoria, on the Esquimalt Peninsula.
Logs
2023
I have started a 2024 log which has my rides January 1 to February 29. My log for 2023 is a Google Sheet. The link is highlighted in the previous sentence. It is also in the table under the heading All Logs below. The link goes to the February 29, 2024 version.
I have made a better start to 2024 but have had less rides, mainly because of the winter weather, which has been wet, windy and cold, with snow in January.
My distance in January and February 2023 was barely over 300 km. I rode once in January on January 1, 2023 after a snowy Chistmas week. I stopped riding for nearly six weeks as I recovered from surgery. I had a few rides in February, as the weather permitted and began to ride regularly in March. The weather improved in April and May. June, July, August. I lost a few riding days in July to move and do chores associated with moving. September was dry and sunny until a storm September 24-25. It began to get cold and rainy in October. I had a problem with nosebleeds in October as the indoor heating reduced relative humidity in my living space.
Terminology
Bikes I owned:
| Abbreviation | Make & Model | From – Until | Type |
| KA | Kuwahara Apollo | 1980 – early 2022 | Road |
| Y | Giant Yukon | 1990 – 2015 | Mountain, “hard tail” |
| FX | Trek FX4 | 2015 – early 2022 | Mountain upright Hybrid |
| CT | Cannondale Topstone (alloy frame) | 2019 | Gravel – road type |
After August 2019, my rides were all on my Cannondale Topstone (“CT”). Some notes on distance on the CT and drivetrain 2019-21. Notes to identify chains and maintenance in current year log and some other logs:
| ID/Key | Chain | Describe | Details |
| KMC | KMC X-11 | On bike Aug. 2019 when bike purchased | |
| SRAM ‘21 | SRAM PC 1170 | Installed April 2021 | |
| YBN SLA1100 | Ti-Nitride Black | pre-waxed, | |
| YBN.C.02 | YBN SLA110 | Rainbow | pre-waxed, purchased March 2022 |
| YBN.C.03 | YBN SLA110 | Silver | pre-waxed, purchased Sept. 2023 |
| SRAM ‘22 | SRAM PC 1170 | Purchased March 2022 |
Hot Wax
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 acquisition of a supply of MSW paraffin wax.
The log sheets have columns noting which chains I used, and cells calculating the distance on each waxing of the chain.
All Logs (incl. previous years)
My previous years 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).
| Bike(s) | Distance (Km.) | Post | Google Drive | |
| 2024 | CT | Google Sheet | ||
| 2023 | CT | 6,638.6 | 2023 Rides | Google Sheet |
| 2022 | CT | 6,095.1 | 2022 Rides | Google Sheet |
| 2021 | CT | 4,373.8 | Cycling in 2021 | Google Sheet |
| 2020 | CT | 2,611.2 | 2020 Rides | Google Sheet |
| 2019 | FX & CT | 2,211.9 | 2019 Rides | Google Sheet |
| 2018 | FX & KA | 2,283.6 | 2018 Rides | |
| 2017 | 2017 Rides | |||
| 2016 | 2016 | |||
| 2015 | 2015 | |||
| 2014 | 2014 | |||
| 2013 | 2013 | |||
| 2012 | 0 | 2012 | ||
| 2011 | 2011 | |||
| 2010 | 2010 Log | |||
| 2009 | 2009 Rides | |||
| 2008 | 2008 | |||
| 2007 | 2007 |
Logging
Cycling Computers
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; 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.
Tables and Spreadsheets
The data became too complex to manually enter into TablePress. TablePress 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 found ways to summarize cycling information for my WordPress site. I 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. In 2022 I began to keep my logs in LibreOffice Calc spreadsheets.
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. l converted the 2019-2022 sheets to Google sheets and published them to a Google Drive location.
Pages & Posts
I have pages with my views of riding in Victoria, and the Galloping Goose, Lochside and E&N regional trails. Some links:
- Victoria Routes.
- Bikes page – my bikes, some gear
- Gear preference page (in progess).
I have published some posts on geography, elevations and distances.
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 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:
- xxx;
- Tubeless ready tires are regarded in the cycling industries as an improvement on clincher tires. Tubeless tires require a rider to have the right tools and skills to repair a flat.