Tagesarchiv: 7. März 2011

Area 51 and Area 52

Area 51 is the garage next to our house where I work on „some“ bicycles from time to time. It is a highly classified area, protected by the home turf security act against female members of the family and it receives almost unlimited funding. Recent research at area 51 has led to the development of „Project Galibier“ and „Project X“.
It is although not the only classified area in or close to Bremen.

After getting the Cervelo ready for spring on Sunday, I took it out for a 100 km ride. I had eaten almost nothing when I jumped on the bike and I wanted to take it easy and ride in the 140 HRM bracket. It was a beautiful day, still cold, but definitely the feeling of spring was in the air. There were lots of people on the road at the river Wümme and the weather-harded Bremenites took the opportunity to eat and drink at makeshift tables outside of the rural cafes.

I opted again for Ritterhude and did the three climbs, each one for 20m. The carnival season has started in earnest; although the event is much less pronounced in the North of Germany. But still a lot of children dress-up and much glass is littering the roads and bike path.

I got lost in Osterholz-Scharmbek and suddenly found myself riding in Western direction towards Schwanende, Farge and the river Weser. I have never been before in that area, but it was nice and a little bit hilly. I finally arrived at „Area 52“ which is a military training complex close to Farge (you might recall that Farge indeed has a long militar history. This is where the submarine „Bunker Valentin“ was built.)

The road leads straight through the training ground. At one point there is a barrier where the traffic stops. But I asked some by passers and they told me that it is OK to ride through. So I did. There is a nice, wide road, completely free of traffic and people. One constantly has the feeling that a tank might break through the bush like a giant wild boar, or that a MG company might sit in hiding somewhere and watches, finger on the trigger. Later I realized that this is the closest I got so far to this feeling of exploring new and unknown territories when crossing barriers and gates of rindos in Japan.

I arrived in Farge and was lucky that the ferry over the river Weser had just arrived. On the other (Western) side of the river, I continued to ride South. The roads are leading through old villages lined up in the shadow of the river protection walls. At Lemwerder exists the huge area of the Lürssen wharf. Yes, warships again, but also luxury yachts for Roman Abramowitsch, Larry Ellison and the other usual super rich of this world.

From there I entered Bremen again and rode home through the city. Of course I did the usual climbing exercise at the Kurfürstenstrasse pedestrian overpass.

I wasn’t fast, but including the time on the ferry it took me less than 4,5 hours for the whole 100 km and I stayed generally low in the HRM despite some tailwind. I will try to do more basic training to built up the fundament for longer rides later this year.

What I am lacking in terms of performance will be compensated by Project X. Hopefully.

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Bremen, Cervelo Soloist, Mob, Touren

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I took Friday off to clean my bikes and bring law and order to my garage


It has been a long winter and still during the night temperatures are dropping below freezing point. But the weekend surprised with some sunny days. I started to clean all my bikes and remove the true winter grit. Bad Boy and Gazelle are looking better now and with some oil, grease, new brake pads and adjustment of the rear derailleurs they are running fine again.


Finally I had all parts together to re-fit the Peugeot Galibier. As the Galibier will never become a fast bike, I bought a new stem, handle bar, grips and the most beautiful brake levers and assembled the whole thing on the bike on Saturday.



I am not sure why, but every time, I look at the front of the Galibier I think about Teriyaki burger. How I miss that stuff!


I bought also a nice „Bremen type“ vintage Dura Ace cassette for the Galibier. Instead of the almost „compact-like“ 12 – 19 5 speed cassette< I mounted a 11 – 15 one which combined with the 53/39 front crank provides optimal choice for Bremen and surroundings.



Looking at the Peugeot I realized today, that I learned a lot about cycling parts in the last weeks and that I am able to do many things on my own with the help of a rather extensive collection of tools. Nevertheless, there are still many things that drive my crazy: The handle can still be turned in the grip of the stem, despite the fact that it is tighten to the maximum. No idea why this is so, I can only assume that the diameter of the handle bar is too small. I can also not install bar ends, which would support the conclusion in the last sentence. And after exchanging all brake wiring (I left the old handle assembly with stems and wires as it is, so it can be mounted easily on another bike) I cannot properly adjust the rear brake. The only way to tackle all this problems is to sleep one night over it and do it again some other day. In the worse case I have to ask for help at the LBS.


The biggest problem with the Peugeot is, that it is too small. One day when I have found the perfect 58 to 60 cm frame, I will remove all parts and reassemble them on the new frame. Of course this will not work out, as the new frame will have Italian thread bottom brackets and other useless features. So I have to spend heaps of money again


I sold my trusted Zonda wheels which I have used on the Cervelo bike for three years and perhaps 25.000 km. The alu rims would probably have not survived the ups and downs of the Transalp. And now, living n Europe, I thought that some European flair would be nice. So I bought a pair of conventional DT Swiss wheels in white. Of all colors. Standard rims R1.1 and standard DT swiss spokes: 32 in the back and 28 in the front. That should be bullet proof for a rider like me. Replacement spokes are cheap and one can true the wheel on a ride in case one spoke breaks. A safe option.



Ultremo Z1 tyres, in case you wanted to ask. As this would most likely be my setup for the Transalp, I mounted the Ultegra 12-28 cassette from the Zonda wheels. Another surprise was waiting for me: The Campagnolo lock ring doesn’t fit on the standard Shinao rotors. I used one from my Bad boy wheels for the time being.

Please note the orange valve caps.
As Sunday was a really beautiful day, I took her out for ride at noon. But this is another story that will be written tomorrow.

I used the remaining time on Sunday morning to work on Project X. This will be my secret weapon for all kind of ambushes and I am sure it will become as famous as the King Tiger, the F104 Starfighter and the Porsche 911 Carrera. By punishment of exile and death it is not allowed to make photos of Project X, but from time to time some daredevil nevertheless manage to take some blurred shots.

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Bremen, Cervelo Soloist, Faggin Toppolino, Peugeot Galibier, Peugeot SB