Lowdown on UB...

Sunday, February 3, 2013
I went to the Metropark first thing in the morning for a Survival Workout and found another couple of inches had fallen overnight.  Other than having to uncover my rocks and logs and deal with snow falling from them as they were hoisted, I liked having more snow to up the difficulty factor of the workout.  I began with push-ups and again found myself way short of 100.  I’ve been starting in different places and not using the same gate on which to prop my feet while doing the first set and maybe that’s the reason.  I won’t know for sure until they plow my spot where I’d normally park and since that’s not likely to happen, I’ll need to wait for the next thaw.

The Performance Bike repair guy, Brian, called to fill me in on all UB Express would need. 

“Cables.  They’re all stretched.  And your chain is about 60%.  I’d say that you might want to consider repacking the headset to make sure that the rust I’m seeing on the top isn’t affecting the bearings.  Probably ought to rewrap the handle bars with some tape that doesn’t have a foam backing.  Better for people who sweat a lot,” he said.

“Look…take whatever you think you know about sweaty riders and multiply that by a factor of 10 and then you’ll have some idea how much salt pours from my body and onto a bike.  Anything you can do to protect it from me will be money well spent,” I said.

I’m sure he thinks I’m kidding, but having rusted through 3 frames already, I’d like to keep UB intact for awhile.  Its 22 years old now, but it’s never seen the likes of me.  It is carbon, which doesn’t rust, but there are steel parts on it and those are susceptible.  He also said he could add a new, 28-tooth sprocket to the rear cassette, which will make climbing hills so much easier.  I can’t wait to get it back and try it out on some dry roads.

I climbed aboard the trainer and continued to dump sweat onto a frame that is already shot through with rust.  I’m waiting for the day when I find myself sitting on the floor as the rust finally corrodes the frame to the breaking point.  That could be unpleasant.  I managed another hour while watching my fifth episode of the ‘West Wing’, which is living up to its billing as an outstanding drama series.

Survival Workout:  60 minutes.  Bike duration:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm for  SW and 120 bpm on the bike.
Calories burned during workout:  600 for SW and 850 on the bike.