The final iteration?

Think I'm starting to reach the final setup on my Crescent race bike. Today I got some stuff I ordered earlier, new saddle and finally a pair of Shimano 105 race pedals.

At last the end of accidental releases when pushing a bit harder, and without the play and wiggle! Was on the Wednesday ride today. Over 70km, what a difference! Even got rid of the squeaking by really tighten the crank arms, I hope I will be able to get them loose when I need to. =)

Had to put on a second bottle holder to be able to get all the water I need with me, the bike only has one mount for bottle cage so I had to buy one that fit right on the tube, works fine!
Got some other stuff too.

2x Continental Cyclecross Race 700x35 tires to put on the Crescent for gravel roads. A 'Original' SKS Rennkompressor, sure look indestructible! If one would breake something despite that it's apparently possible to buy almost any part in it as spare part so it's a investment for life.

To fill the road tires to 8bars was a breeze! =)
A couple of shots from today's Wednesday ride.

On our way to Grängesberg.
Riding through Saxdalen:
The ride leader for the day had come up with a (evil) concept for the day, the plan was to visit several steep hills on the route, a sprint to the top, the "winner" rides down again and when the others climbing up meets him they turn around and go down too.

Great exercise that makes the strong work harder and evening out the wait time and everyone can choose how hard they want to pedal. :)

GPS-track, almost 80km and 2,5h:

Tuesday moments...

The local bicycle club has a internal competitions on Tuesdays, was out looking for them earilier Tuesdays but managed to miss them, this time I cough some of them with the camera.
It was a race around lake Väsman.
The peloton, unfortunateley it was bad light so I only shot a few photos.
Then I went out to try catch some beavers but there was already some one lurking about and I didn't want to disrupt so I shot some still life while there was some light left...

2:nd edit.

Nikon D7000 + Nikkor 300/f4

Oh, deer...

Another hunt for deers after a ride. Noticed two deers on a field after Snöån on my way back to Ludvika. Took the same route as with the bike this Monday and about half way I spotted some big birds (not the one from Sesame Street) on an other filed.

The Common Cranes walked away from me and I had to follow them a couple of hundred meter on the wet field and surprisingly I managed to get quite close before they saw me and took off, much thanks to the fact they disappeared out of sight for a while behind a small hill. :)

Continued the journey and when I passed the bridge I noticed two birds that look different from the usual mallards, it turned out to be grebes. Didn't get close to those either...

After passing where I saw the deers during the ride, the deers were probably long gone, I could see a lone deer out on a open field! Parked my car and carefully closed the doors after getting my gear. I started shooting from the side of the road but the roe deer didn't care much for me so I gradually moved the tripod closer until the deer started to look a bit suspicious...

Stood a while shooting from where I stood and suddenly the deer started to get closer, it gradually moved closer and closer, seemed very curious and as it got closer he sniffed the air trying to identify what strange animal I was.

Then two birds just for the sake of it, one that was in a tree before I left.
And today I shoot a European starling, they look rather dull on distance but up close one can see lots of colors!

All shots with Nikon D7000 & Nikon 300mm/f4 AF-S + Nikon TC-14e II

Bonus! The levitating cat!

Oh Mallard!

After Saturday's bike ride I went back to the place where I had seen the swans in hope of taking some shots of them but the swans had left the building. Wasted some time shooting some mallards as compensation for the missing swans.

The sun was setting and the birds a bit shy, had planned to bring some old bread to lure them closer but forgot it at home.
Some was reluctant to leave their spots.
But as I got closer most of them swam away or took to flight.
Got a lot of practice to shoot BIF:s (Birds In Flight), at one point the birds passed the sun, I can tell you that getting a direct look at the sun (despite it was setting) through a 300mm lens with a TC was like getting a electric chock! I was blind on my right eye for a while.

After I scared the ducks I wanted to scare some larger birds so I did the same with some Canada Geese's! ;)
Now over to something slightly different, for those that might get slightly nauseated from looking at animals eating other animals might want to finish up what ever they are eating right now!

On the way back to the car to defrost my ears I spotted one of the ducks ferociously picking and handling something in the water with it's bill. Thought it had found a large piece of bread or something that it was making in to smaller bits...

As I got close I noticed it was a frog!
The frog seemed as dead as it could be but the mallard kept pounding it against the ice edge.
Wonder if it thought the frog would fall into smaller pieces eventually, it just kept on going at the frog!
I got really close since the mallard was completely occupied with the frog but finally the bird noticed me and carried the "catch" away with him.
By now my already cold ears were frozen solid in the cold wind and I had to give up. That display was not what I had expected when shooting mallards!

This&That

Just a few shots from yesterday, took a short walk and shot some photos while enjoying the nice weather.

The bees seemed to like it too!

Lot's of small birds flying around but they were quite shy.

Not lost the hops since last year... ;)

More bees.

Managed to get close to one of the birds. Think this is some kind of sparrow.

Nikon d7000 & Nikon 300mm/f4 AF-S

Ludicrous speed!

Still waiting for some more parts but decided to go ahead and assemble a new Shimano Sora derailleur, 9-speed cassette and a new (hardly used) chain. So now I have a whopping 18 gears to choose from compared to previously 12! =)

Wow! How quiet it got, the usual noise when the chain passes the derailleur is gone and the gears shift smoothly!
Now if the rest of the stuff could show up so I can finish the build, I hope the new handlebars will work well. Now my hands get numb after a short while...
Very pleased so far! =)

More spring signs?

Just some more signs of spring...

Bonus:

Springeling?

Trying to pass some time while waiting for the spring to arrive, got out and made a attempt to capture some early spring mood. =)

Still playing around with the Nikon 300mm/f4 AS-F and TC-14 on my Nikon D7000.

That was from Monday, this morning, Tuesday it was C -12! Going up fast though: http://www.temperatur.nu/ludvika.html