Mountain Hoppers

Gulbergen24 2012

Ernst — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:22:54 +0000

De race is gelopen. Behalve de stortbui bij de start was het een prachtige dag en een leuke sfeer. Volgend jaar weer wat mij betreft. En tot die tijd: gelukkig hebben we de foto’s nog!

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Bike gets a new color (II)

erik — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:41:36 +0000

I recently got back my freshly painted frame and I must say, this is a really good paint job. The frame is looking like new now.

To start with, my bike looked like this:

Before

This picture was taken in 2009 when the bike was only a year old and the black anodized frame was still looking great. However, not much was left of this three years later.

Now for the bike rebuilding pictures:

Just the frame	Main bearing installation.
More bearings. Installing more bearings.	Frame complete. Full suspension frame complete.

The main part in reasembling the bike was the installation of the bearings. I did this in the past as well using some improvised home-made tooling but this time I bought a specialized tool with some custom parts for bearings of different sizes. Because of this, the reinstallation of the bearings was quite easy. Only the main bearing (the biggest one) took some effort to get in but at least I did not have to use a hammer like the last time I installed bearings.

Reinstalling the headset.

Looking more and more like a bike.

Also the reinstallation of the headset was a breeze, using a specific tool of course, and this was a first time for me. Since my fork is almost worn out (according the the bike mechanic who did the maintenance on it two weeks ago), this encourages me to replace the fork myself in the future. The main thing that was causing problems, surprisingly, was the bottom bracket. Somehow, it looked like it didn’t fit anymore, but the solution there was simply cleaning the threads of the bottom bracket and the frame.

Only the wheels are missing.

Bike completed!

After all of this there were some tuning activities to do such as: adjusting the headset for play, adjusting the disk brake calipers, and adjusting the front derailleur. Even though I measured where it was before I disassembled the bike, it was still quite some work to get it completely mounted in the correct way.

In total the rebuild cost me two evenings, 4 hours to get to the stage of the bike fully assembled and then another 3 hours for tuning it.

Of course, this work had to be tested and I must say I am really satisfied. Everything is working and there are no squeaks, cracks, or tics to be heard at all and it doesn’t only look like new but it rides like new as well (or is that just my imagination?).

Here is the picture of my precious afterwards:

Bike completed and tested.

I really like the color of the bike and the paintjob is really done well. Now, to really complete the rebuild, I still have to change the picture on my bank pass and my skype profile picture. Or shouldn’t I?

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Bike gets a new color

erik — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:53:34 +0000

For some time now I have been thinking about repainting my frame because it is showing quite a lot of damage. It looks like the original black-anodized frame is a bit sensitive to damages. Because of a minor thumb injury I now have to stop mountainbiking for a number of weeks to make sure it recovers. So this is the ideal time for the paint job.

Of course, I am going to let a professional company do this for me and to save costs and for fun it is best to disassemble the bike myself and assemble it back later. This is what my disassembled frame looks like

Dissambled bike frame before paint job

The photo still shows the cups from the headset but I have removed those after this picture was taken.

Below is a picture of the rest of the parts. I managed to disassemble the fork and handlebars together so all the cabling is intact and it can be put back together relatively easily. This is quite an exciting project since I have never disassembled everything at the same time. Also, removing the fork and headset is a firsttimer for me. Luckily I have the correct tools and know what to do to reinstall everything.

The remaining parts

The frame is going to be painted blue with 4 layers of blank coating on top for extra durability. In a week or two/three I can start rebuilding the bike. Most of the work will be in reinstalling the bearings and basically assembling the frame again. In the mean time I can do some extra maintenance on all the individual disassembled parts so the bike will look almost new when it is done.

This is some sort of midlife update for the bike that should give it another 4 years at least. I will add a second post in a few weeks about the rebuild, showing before and after pictures.

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Go with the flow: Up to the challenge (Marathon 2012 – 1)?

reli — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:08:05 +0000

There is a story that starts long time ago and it is defining the scope of whatever one is choosing to do at one stage in his life… the challenges…. the ‘menu’ life needs the ‘salt and pepper’ as its ingredients at its main course to get that ‘special’ taste that is soooo much wanted.. there are things more or less important that can influence (positively or negatively) everything what one does.The result is:: This fight is taking place in your mind and your body just has to cope with it… so easy is it..

Starting in the cold and rainy Dutch winter while fighting through day and night to reach the goal. Looking at the bright side, it can only make one stronger or at least it can always reach one’s hope for better and greater wishes. The challenge is the full marathon.. a marathon that is placed in the middle of the Transylvania…a route that includes a total of 2300 height meters over 42 km.. a real ”destination to HELL’… We know it from last year when it was a BITCH… it took 5 hours 22 minutes to finish this monster AS a side note, the complete route is better described at www.ecomarathon.ro.

Training means investing your time in special activities that help reach the distance and the height meters…. the training scheme is a long fight for meters.. a long and silent fight that has the only benefit of creating your own mental world of thinking .. :

7-jan 20,4 km

14-jan 22,5 km

21-jan 25 km

28-jan 28 km

4-feb 25 km

11-feb 30 km

18-feb 35 km

25-feb 30 km

3-mrt 25 km

10-mrt 30 km

17-mrt 35 km

24-mrt 32 km

31-mrt 25 km

7-apr 15 km.

…..

the whole scheme takes into account a 50-60 km running total per week . As the main distance is 42 km with a 2300 height meters, a specific training needs to be added. The result is a scheme that includes the long distance training including the special training for the height meters. Well, there is a comparison between what men does in their life to reach any goal and the proportional work that one needs to do. The rule is clear..the more work, the more benefit, the more fun.. also when more risk…. the more interesting..special.. and different the challenge is..

More to come into the the final story…. the MARATHON…

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Calender 2012

Ernst — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:05:32 +0000

A lot of events for 2012 have set dates and are opening up for subscription.
I have signed up for Les Cimes des Waimes, others will follow soon. Go to the Calender to find what my program will look like this year, and join me if you the have time.

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Filmpje van de Gulbergen24 Route

Ernst — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:52:48 +0000

Warning: you may want to turn the volume down, IMHO the soundtrack is awful.

Rudi van Houts op de route van Gulbergen24

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Meet my new bike: Scott Spark 20

Ernst — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:23:28 +0000

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The story: “A first timer” – 42 km and 2300 height meters

reli — Sun, 15 May 2011 06:51:28 +0000

The story ends as it has started… a cold morning in the Romanian mountains….hundreds of people moving around… tension and stress….warming-up… There is spring in the air and the feeling of accomplishment is real and visible.

I have started one year ago to think about reaching this.. the whole marathon, my first one ever.

I have planned the complete training setup for this duration, hopping to reach the 42 km. Last year I attended the EcoMarathon cross and the 15 km have proved to be challenging enough. I had hopped that by following a strict training scheme for the flat surface I will be able to finish the 2300 height meters that EcoMarathon had prepared for us.

Route

The complete route is composed by 3 different loops, each of them passing through the start point. This a quite nice setup as it offers the possibility to pass through the same point for 4 times.

The organization of the complete marathons is perfect. The route is good to be seen and there are plenty of stops to reload the energy.

Competition

The Competition start is quite crowded. There is a mix start for the marathon and the cross. The route starts by going up the village road and gives enough time for everybody to find their place and pace. I take up the challenge and try to save my energy, but soon I see myself before the first mountian paths and the “ecuation” changes completely. There is nothing to spare as the steep path takes all my power. Also, the muscles used for climbing and descending are quite different than the ones used for the flat road. This is something that I have expected, but not with such a huge impact.

Finishing the first loop gives me a good feeling, but I am more and more concerned about the pain in my legs that I feel when I am climbing. The start of the second loop brings the unexpected…after 20 km of running I have my first cramp. I could not believe that after so much training I am getting the first problems after only 20 km… luckily this goes away and the longs climb of the route gets started. We need to go up for 6 km to reach 1350 meters. The road is wide and I am struggling to make it to the top. I do try to follow each runner that passes me, but this starts to be more and more difficult as the pain is now extending. The descent that follows has the same pattern.. pain and cramps.. I am thinking of stopping after this loop… what is the point??? Pain is now everywhere… every small hill feels like a BIG mountain…

Well, reaching the third loop gives me exactly the energy that I need. I am now confident that if I struggle I can make it. I know that the third loop is also the most difficult one but I am now competing with myself and that is the best position to have. I know that I can spare enough by walking at the beginning and trying to end better on the final descent. The last part of route takes us to 1450 meters in snow and cold. I am totally empty but I use the last drops of energy to end the last kilometers.

I have made it.. after 5 hours and 23 minutes (see results at www.ecomarathon.ro) and the most important of all : I did reached the end of the distance (42nd at my group and 56th on the general)… there is nothing that you can compare this competition with. I will remember it forever…

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Here it comes again…. EcoMarathon Moeciu 2011

reli — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 05:23:31 +0000

The story begins last year when I have decided to put myself up for a new challange: The Marathon (http://www.ecomarathon.ro/). The decision was made and a long plan of action was made… easier sayd then done. Training for marathon distance requires a different state of mind as it is first a challange with yourself. There are 42 km to be passed… 42… One can easily say that if you can run 21 (a so called Half marathon) you can also run 42. But there is not even a bit of truth in it.. it does not give you the perspective of having to fight for each km that is still to be added.. a fight that increases exponentially as your body limits are reached.

So.. I started running and running and running making over 100 km per week. I have run in different places (from Australia to Kuala Lumpur), different conditions (wind, rain, airco ), different groups ( GVAC, colleagues, alone, …). The challange is following the schedule and keeping up with it. I have now the full confidence that on 7th of May I will be up for it. I will be letting you guys know how it went as soon as I will recover

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A Hill in Spain

Ernst — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:28:28 +0000

A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

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