May 2024; RIP Mercian

My fleet of Mercians.

I was saddened to hear this week that Mercian Cycles of Derby has ceased operations. Mercian had been building bicycle frames for 78 years, they were ten years older than I am!

I was a big fan; Over the past 40 years had bought 4 different Mercians; 3 new and one used frame, here they are:

My first, an Olympic frame bought from La Mesa Cyclery in 1983. I considered it a touring bike, it is in fact more of a sportif style geometry. This is it's current configuration as my fixed gear road bike.

I bought this one new direct from Mercian via email in 1999 to replace my Colnago. It's an Audax Special which turns out to be a renamed Olympic! This one was actually a tad smaller than my Olympic, so I eventually sold it. (Wish I had held on to it now!)

My King of Mercia Tourer, it was my retirement gift back in 2013. A 60 CM frame, probably my ideal size.

Another Olympic/ Audax! This one I got used on eBay and had it updated. It's big at 61 CM but it is actually a pretty good fit.

The geometry of the Mercians, in particular the Olympic/Audax geometry, meshed well with my body. Way back in 1983, when I was getting rid of most of my bikes to strike out on my career, the Mercian was the only bike I kept. I even sold my Peugeot Super Comp as I always felt more comfortable on the Olympic!

I've got a lot of good miles and memories on these bike...

Touring with a pal in 1983.

Same 1983 tour.

The 1983 Olympic in (around) 2014.

The KOM arriving in 2013!

Just out of the box, 2013.

One of my first rides on the KOM.

Sub-24 hour overnighter on Foresthill Road.

Gravel grinding on Finning-Mill Road.

Touring through Yosemite.

Well, it's sad to think they're gone. I hope the employees can recover and carry on. Deep down I had hopes to maybe order one more someday, Sorry to think that won't happen now. 

The Mount Laguna Loop in May 2024

At Lake Cuyamaca

 Had a chance to come down to San Diego County for a few days so I brought a bike along and went up to the mountains to do one of my favorite rides: The loop from Descanso through Cuyamaca State Park and Lake Cuyamaca, then up the Sunrise Highway, (San Diego County highway 1) up to Mt. Laguna and then back down through Pine Valley and Guatay back to Descanso.

Here's the plot of my ride.

I left El Cajon by car in a cool drizzle, but the marine layer had just about completely broken up by Alpine and the Descanso Park and Ride was in the sunshine.

However, my ride was off to an inauspicious start when I tried to pump my tires! The rear tire wouldn't hold a high pressure. Taking it off, I found the tube had failed near the valve stem! I replaced the tube, (I was carrying two), and then took off. Of course, I was now concerned because I had only one spare tube left and I wasn't sure about the patch kit in my tool bag! 

Once you get rolling however, you forget about those little problems, at least until you get another flat! 

Heading toward Descanso

This was a Friday morning and I was hoping that traffic would not be a big factor in the days ride. As it turned out it wasn't, although it seemed a little busier along Highway 79 than on my other rides which were usually done on a Monday - Thursday. 

Entering the State Park

Highway 79 through Cuyamaca State Park is a pretty good road but the shoulders are not too generous. There were a few times where I was passed by several cars at a time. I think things were beginning to pick up in anticipation for the weekend. Still, no real problems were encountered. 

A nice view of Stonewall.

I was concerned about my knee. It had been bothering me a little since last week's century so I was pretty conservative with my gearing, frequently using my small chainwheel, (a 30 tooth ring), and I just took my time twiddling up the hills. 

Lake Cuyamaca

Coming up to Lake Cuyamaca, I encountered a pretty good westerly wind. No surprise there because the heavy overcast and drizzle in El Cajon meant there was a fairly strong onshore flow going on. This wind turned out to be very helpful once I turned on to the Sunrise Highway and headed up to Mount Laguna!

After turning on the Sunrise Highway, traffic almost ceased! This was a very quiet stretch of road! I did have to be careful to try to avoid the caterpillar traffic! Seems like there is some sort of migration going on with a lot of them crossing the road! I tried to avoid them, which wasn't too hard since I was plodding up hill most of this section.

Up here above 4,000 feet, the wildflowers were still in bloom and there was a lot of color to enjoy.  

There was lots of color on the roadside this year.

Looking to the east as I climbed I could see the Anza Borrego Desert. 

Of course, I stopped at the viewpoint a little below Mt. Laguna and enjoyed the view, There was a group motorcyclists and some Corvettes up there as well. I kind of feel sorry for those guys though; I really feel that the best experience to be had on the mountain roads is on a bicycle, where you can really feel, smell and hear everything this wonderful area has to offer! I'm fortunate indeed to be able to enjoy bicycling at my age!

A familiar vantage point, looking down at the Anza-Borrego Desert.

I stopped briefly at the Mt. Laguna Visitor Center to answer a call of nature, then off I went through the village and up hill for a bit. Soon, however, I began the long descent down towards Pine Valley. This is a thrilling downhill and with little traffic, it was a lot of fun. 

This is along the descent below Mt. Laguna, still a lot of flowers blooming.

At the bottom of the Sunrise Highway descent, one of my favorite spots for a picture!

The climb out of Pine Valley to Guatay was in the sun and getting warm, but that westerly wind did provide a bit of relief from the heat. After that last summit it was a easy pull to Descanso and then the last climb to the Park and Ride.

Just as I was approaching the Park and Ride my rear tire started getting soft! I was able to pull into the lot and to my truck. Looking at the tire, I found a piece of glass lodged in the tread! I must have picked it up in the last mile; Wow, what luck!

So my ride was "bookended" with flat tires at the start and finish! Well if you have to have flats, that's the way to do it!

Equipment notes:

Well, other than the flats, I had no problems. I used the 1980 Mercian with the 46/30 Stronglight crank and a 11-30 cassette so I had a pretty wide gear range with plenty of low gearing! As I mentioned above, I wanted to baby my left knee so I used the 30 tooth chainwheel a lot while climbing. As a result, my average speed seems a little slow, but I'll take that if it means my knee is happy!

Speaking of stats...here are the basic ones for my ride:

A look at the stats, a lot of climbing!

All in all, this is an enjoyable ride that I recommend to anyone who happens to be in San Diego County. However, I strongly recommend that you do this ride on a weekday. This time I rode and a Friday and it wasn't too bad, but Monday through Thursday would be best.

2024 Three Rivers Century

 

Nimbus Dam as seen from the American River Parkway.

With a looming extended trip, (non-biking), coming up in June, I decided to try to get my century ride in as early as possible. My mileage on the bike has been decent and the weather forecast was for nearly ideal conditions so I decided to try for it in early May.

Outside of Lincoln.

The route is same as last year's. Starting from my place in Rocklin, I rode up to Lincoln, then followed McCourtney Road up to Riosa Rd. There I turned west and passed through Sheridan and crossed into Sutter County following Bear River Drive, continuing through the four corners at Pleasant Grove and Bear River Drive, eventually turning south and reaching Pacific Avenue. Pacific will take you to Trowbridge/East Nicolaus. I had explored this route earlier in the Spring on my Fixed gear bike, see my blog entry: Spring-2024.

At Coon Creek on McCourtney.

Through the Walnut Groves on Bear River Drive.

At East Nicolaus, you now turn right, (west), and proceed over the Highway 70 overpass into the village of Nicolaus. Up until this point the weather had been pretty benign. But as I was approaching the Garden Highway I became aware of a wind starting to kick up, blowing from the north. This had been forecast and it's direction proved to be a help! I enjoyed at least a partial tailwind as I cycled down towards Sacramento! Temperatures were mild. I took off my wind breaker and long sleeved undershirt upon reaching the Garden Highway.

A nice wildflower patch at the entrance of Nicolaus.

Along the Feather River on the Garden Highway.

Farmland looking east off the Garden Highway.

I reached my usual lunch spot beneath the I-5 overpass at just shy of 5 hours. The distance at this point is now almost 59 miles! That's a little bit more than when I rode this route from Loomis. After lunch, I continued down the road heading to Discovery Park and the American River Parkway. Occasionally the road turned east and I felt more of a crosswind than a tail wind, but it still was not bad.

On the American River Parkway, a look at the American River.

So the rest of the ride was up the Parkway to Beales Point State park. From there I hopped on the Auburn-Folsom Blvd. After the day of quiet farm roads and the Parkway, it was kind of unsettling to be on this busy road. Fortunately, I was able to get off Auburn-Folsom at Cavitt-Stallman Rd and then on to Laird and on to Webb and back to Rocklin, so my time on Auburn-Folsom was short.

Post ride look at the bike.

Equipment notes:

I rode the Mercian KOM today and had no problems. I carried a spare water bottle in the handlebar bag as this keeps the water in that bottle out of the sun and fairly cool. 

I wore my Santic bib shorts. I have to say I'm a little disappointed in them as I developed some chafing. They have been good for 4 hour rides but 9 hours seems to have been beyond their capability.  

Here's a map of the route.

Here are the stats. Nothing earth-shaking but I was satisfied. I still have to get about 300 mile ridden before I take off in June to have 2,000 mile at the half year mark!

Here are the stats.

A ride around Camp Far West on the last day of April, 2024!

I decided I was ready to tackle this ride at last! The mileage would bring me up to 600 for the month of April and at this rate I should hit 2,000 miles before our river cruise in June. I seem to have forgotten to do this ride last year; the last time I rode it was back in 2022!

I was able to complete it without too much trouble, but I'll tell ya, I thought the climbing from the start of Perimeter Road to Highway 49 would never end!

The Mapper's plot of my ride.

Here are the stats, nothing too impressive, but I felt like there was a lot of climbing!

Conditions were really ideal. Temperatures started in the upper 50s-lower 60s and only made it to the upper 70s. Really nice. Wind was starting to kick up but didn't prove to be a factor. Once again, mild temperatures proved to be the major factor in making this ride a pleasant one.

Camp Far West Reservoir was filled!

The first section of this ride, from Rocklin to Camp Far West via McCourtney Road, is all paved and uneventful.  It's been a while since I'd ridden the Ritchey and it took me a few miles to get used to the 48mm tires handling!

The intersection of Camp Far West and Long Ravine roads.

I rode my Ritchey Ascent this year, shod with 48mm Gravel King slicks. These tires handle the loose gravel surprisingly well as long as you remember to keep weight over the back tire on inclines. They also absorb a lot of the vibration from the washboard. They are fine for pavement riding as well, which is important on this ride since almost 3/4 of the distance is on blacktop. 

Looking down Long Ravine Road.

After passing the incredibly steep paved pitch just past the Camp Far West campground turnoff, you come to the start of the gravel roads going around the Reservoir.  There are quite a lot of roads out there that would be interesting to investigate, but I wanted to keep to my usual route. Initially, the graveled road seems very rough, lots of washboard. But it smooths out after the start with the only really nasty portions being found at the occasional sharp turn. The gravel continues along Long Ravine and Live Oak roads and onto the first stretch of Perimeter road. Eventually, Perimeter eventually becomes a paved road.

As in 2022, I took the McDonald Road cut-off to get to Garden Bar. This year I took my lunch break at the corner of Perimeter and McDonald, rather that further on at Four Corners. That worked out well and I didn't need to stop at the Highway 49 junction at all. 

A stop at Coon Creek on McCourtney Road

Equipment Notes.

As I mentioned, I rode the Ritchey Ascent on this ride and had no problems. I used Panaracer Gravel King Slicks set up as tubeless and ran them at around 35 PSI. This seems like a good all round pressure for these tires, especially on the gravel, but it does take a little getting used to on paved roads. The slick tread did all right on the gravel as long as I paid attention to my position over the rear wheel when climbing the steeper gravel sections.

I'm using a new handlebar bag, one I found on eBay, made by a company called Tourbon. It's a pretty nice bag made from a very heavy cotton twill. It was a bargain at $90. Strangely, these seem to have disappeared from eBay. Too bad, they're a good bag. 

Mechanically, no issues. The shifting was fine, I use an 8-speed cassette with old Shimano indexed bar end shifters paired to older STX derailleurs. The Tektro Spyre disc brakes worked well.

All in all, this was a nice ride, I am always impressed with how much difference temperature makes in these long rides. Highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s makes for ideal conditions for me. I seemed to recover pretty quickly with no serious cramping that night and I had no soreness in my foot, which seems to happen on long, hot rides. Go figure!