Month: August 2020 (Page 3 of 4)

–Took a ride. Bike remains sweet.

–Leica V-Lux 40 came in. Could be a nice camera, but has a noticeable dent on the front and (I later noticed) a scratch through the paint on the side. Told seller I want to return it, he’s resisting mightily.

–Took a swim and a shower.

–Got a stiff neck.

–Took a swim.

–Went for a 9-mile ride around the neighborhood.

–Found out that one should release the clutch on the Turbo before trying to get the rear wheel off. It loosens the chain a bit. Also verified there’s no mechanism to lock the derailleur down, as there is in SRAM products (and maybe some Shimanos, just not mine, though the locking pin is there).

–Decided to keep the Leica C-Lux 3. Yes it comes on in snapshot mode, but it takes good pics in that mode (bigger than the 2, perhaps better metered), and program mode is there if needed.

–Made a pizza for dinner with tomatoes and basil. Kinda mushy.

–Took a bike ride, used Turbo on return, averaged > 14 MPH!

–Went to Sunrise Mall farmers market, got lots of tomatoes (and stuff).

–Got some corn at Bel Air, made some good turkey burgers.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Leica C-Lux 3 came in. Dead mint, but turns out it was (allegedly) designed for a camera-naive segment: it ALWAYS comes on in Snapshot mode, and must be switched to Program mode manually. Unbelievable. Its metering also seems slightly inferior to the C-Lux 2, which is the one I’ll keep.

–Barbecued some chicken and corn. Turned out pretty good.

–Took Sirrus to Mike’s Bike’s Folsom for consignment. They don’t consign. I could have gotten trade-in value the day I bought the Turbo Vado, but now I can only get store credit. This was not well explained at the time. Dropped the Sirrus off at Goodwill.

–Took a swim; took a shower. The Gillette Fat Boy (plus Proraso) with Derby blade continues to shave closer than a Mach 3 and without nicks. I don’t get it: double-edged blades used to cut me to ribbons, and never seemed to shave close.

–Rode the Turbo on JSMBT. No creaks or rattles; 14-15 mph out, 12-13 back. Onboard computer and Mission Control app worked nicely, with slight disagreement on mileage. The nose of the seat rose up, so I degreased the split seatpost and re-tightened. Should not be a problem going forward.

–Took a swim.

–Rode the New Specialized Turbo Vado SL EQ  with Tom in El Dorado Hills. No problem staying up with him. Put the Ritchey adjustable stem on and realized I couldn’t use the Specialized Turbo Connect Display, so took it off and re-mounted the original stem with TCD. There exists a TCD mount for the Ritchey stem, but it’s such a pain to adjust–requires re-aligning the stem every time. Might look for a stem that can be adjusted without loosening the whole thing.

–Took a swim.

–Mowed the lawn.

–Went to Mike’s Bikes in Folsom and bought a Specialized Turbo Vado SL EQ (super-light equipped). Oozes quality compared to the Sirrus X 5.0–cable sheathing and routing, for example. And it gets up and goes. No more hill limitations, or struggling to keep up with Tom.

–Made a pizza with Bel Air refrigerated dough. Quite good.

–Made some strawberry jam. Used Instant Clear Jel, but cooked briefly. Tried to cut sugar, but still too sweet. Also thick, maybe too thick. Will keep adjusting recipe.

–Left hearing aid went out around 8 PM.