The Salty Cyclist

Helping a friend in need...

2011-12-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

Jon Grant is someone that I met through his work as a graphic illustrator. Someone who I have never met personally, but who I count as a friend nonetheless. He's one of those rare people that makes you feel like a lifelong friend after a few short conversations. Since I started this business, I have spoken to Jon many times, seeking his input on certain matters and bouncing ideas off him, and he has always taken the time to think about what I'm saying and give me well thought-out answers with a no nonsense attitude. He's one of the few people that I do business with that I truly care about and I often ask about his family and his kids and how they are all doing, which is why I feel the need to be posting here.

I was working with Jon, trying to get some prints of his original ink drawings onto my online store when I learned that Jon's young son has been diagnosed with leukemia and is hospitalized. He called me asking me for help to get some sold and to make it happen quick. Jon is a freelance illustrator, and as such, he doesn't make money unless he's working. And it's going to be difficult to attend to work when his son is sick and hospitalized. It's for this reason that I have decided to sell his prints and give all the proceeds directly back to him rather than take a share of the profits. I don't think Jon would want a handout. This allows him to make some cash quickly using his own work.

Jon has worked as an illustrator, designer, and printer all of his professional life. You can see some of his work on this site. He designed my logo and he designed the graphics for the jerseys and windshells that we sell. If you're familiar with the bikes from Rivendell Bicycle Works, you can find his fine work on a number of their models, as well. He is fascinated with riding and the mechanical aspects of classic bicycles, so naturally, he can’t resist drawing them. We offer prints of his original ink drawings here, a few of which are shown on this page. These prints are offset printed in dense, black ink on white, acid-free, Bristol cover. Printed in USA. These are beautiful drawings and the prints are suitable for framing.

Most of the prints are seven inches square and when archival-matted, they are eight inches square. For the crankset prints, the unmounted prints are nine inches square with archival-matted prints twelve inches square. Costs vary from $25-40, depending on the print size and mounting. We are offering free shipping on all of these orders.

As I mentioned, all proceeds from the sales of these prints goes directly to Jon to help his family while they deal with the illness of their child. If these prints appeal to you, please buy some. The money will go directly to the artist and give him some much needed cash at a time when his family needs it most.

You can view more of Jon's drawings and purchase prints in our online store.

Just got a new stash of cycling caps in!

2011-10-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

We, at Synaptic Cycles, have just received a bunch of new cycling caps Walz Caps. We have new wool caps, with and without earflaps, and new cotton caps. All of these are in navy with rust-orange and white stripes down the center and all of them have a stubbier bill than normally comes on the Walz Caps. The stubby bill was specified on these caps because we found that the standard bill got in our filed of vision when we were in the drops. With the stubbier bill, they still provide nice glare reduction while not interfering with vision.

These are the new wool ones (without earflaps). They feature the new stubbier bill and embroidered logo on one side only. They come in 2 sizes-S/M and L/XL.

These are the the new cotton/poly caps. They feature the same color scheme, embroidered logo and stubby bill as the new wool caps. They come in 2 sizes-S/M and L/XL.

Shown here is the wool caps with earflaps. These are identical to the new wool caps with the exception of the added earflaps. They come in 2 sizes-S/M and L/XL.

Shown here is a limited edition, custom, moisture-wicking cap. We have two of these available-one with a stubby bill and one with a standard bill. Both come in S/M only but the material is much more stretchy than the cotton or wool fabric found in the other caps, and should fit somewhat larger noggins.

Here is another limited edition, moisture-wicking cap. This one features graphics from our jerseys and we only have one of these in a size S/M with a standard bill. Like the other moisture wicking caps, the material is quite stretchy and should fit somewhat larger noggins.

If you'd like to purchase one of the wool or cotton caps, please visit our website at: http://shop.synapticcycles.com

For the limited edition caps, please give us a call at 949-374-6079 to order.

Busy-ness....

2011-08-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

Things have been hectic this summer. The business is doing okay-ish. I have flurries of rentals and then down times. I guess it's just the way this business will be.

I have learned a lot this year about the business and it is definitely growing. I've started venturing into corporate style events. I've provided bike rentals at a conference in April, and I have held two different team-building bike rides this summer. With each event, I have learned more and more and I feel more confident about doing these events with each one.

The hard part of the summer was doing all this with the boys around. They had their camps and stuff, but nothing was longer than 3 1/2 hours so it was a real trick getting them places and getting them picked up on time, all the while keeping my business stuff on track.

Now, we're in the last week of summer. Where did the time go? We had a couple weeks of soccer camps, a few weeks of vacation bible school, a week of cub scout camp, a family camping trip, a visit from Grandma, swim lessons, birthday parties, and countless other adventures. I guess we really did a lot! In between all this, I had the best months for my business in July and August. No wonder I'm tired!

Still, it has been fun. The boys are growing fast, and I've gotten to spend a lot of time with them. Most of the time it's a lot of fun and they are great kids! This past week or so, though, they've been a lot more fidgety and have gotten themselves in trouble a lot more. I find them getting bored and looking for "fun" things to do, like launching their stuffed animal across the house.

So, I guess it's time! Time for school. Time for all of us to get back into the routine. It's been a great summer, but we're all looking forward to the break we'll get from each other!

Ride and meet and play and eat....

2011-08-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, I headed out for a quick ride. The plan was to head south to Carlsbad and meet the family for dinner at the Karl Strauss Brewery and Restaurant.

I've been putting in some miles on my Calfee Tetra Pro Adventure. Incredible bike! Shown here, it's set up with full SRAM Force, Hed Jet4 wheels with Continental Grand Prix 4 Season tires in 28C, Ritchey WCS stem, handlebars and seatpost, WTB Silverado SLT saddle.

I wasn't expecting much speed-wise. I was tired and feeling a bit lethargic as I rolled out the driveway. Soon, I was headed down the coast road and was getting into a nice rhythm, the tiredness and lethargy gone. I just kept feeling better the farther I went. Into San Clemente, by San Onofre, through Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Leucadia, Encinitas and then back up to Carlsbad to meet the family. Consistently around 20 mph during the ride with the exception of hills and some trafficky sections, I averaged a shade over 19mph for 51 miles.

Good way to end up the week! Dinner and beer was great, but having dinner with the wife and kids after having a ride was the best part!

The Grand Tour Highland Double Century-June 2011

2011-08-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a while so I hope I remember the story. The Grand Tour has been one of my favorite rides on the double century calendar. It's close to home and it has a nice scenic route that suits my riding better than a lot of other doubles.

I took delivery of my new Calfee Tetra Pro Adventure just weeks before the ride. This meant that I would be doing my third double of the year on a different bike. This one was more suited to riding a double century, with its longer wheelbase and room for larger tires. I used the Grand Bois Cerf (measuring 29C on these Hed Jet 4 rims). I also had this bike built up with 2 bottle cage mounts on the down tube and 1 on the seat tube to make carrying 3 bottles a piece of cake.

Above, you can see the bike in full regalia, ready to start the ride. I always carried 2 bottles of Camelbak Elixir and one that had a mix of Hammer Perpetuem, endurolytes and Hammer Gel. The bento box contained the contents of 8 packs of Clif Blocks. I tried to eat one Clif Block every 10-15 minutes and alternated drinking the Camelbak Elixir and Perpetuem mixes.

We started the ride ~4:30 in the dark and fog and rode up the coast from Malibu to Pt. Mugu and then into Hueneme. This was flat with some rollers and we just wanted to get our legs going and enjoy a nice ride into the hillier section.

After some milling about in Hueneme, we finally left and headed out and into the farmlands that served as the base of the first big climbs.

My brother and I were feeling good, but you never know until the climbs begin. Fortunately, the weather was cooperating and the fog was keeping us cool as we headed upward.

Finally, as we rode around the Cal State Channel Islands campus, we could see the first climb shrouded in the clouds. For a while I was able to keep my brother well within site, but then the climb up Portrero loomed ahead.
This was the worst of the climbs for the day, having some sections that were quite steep. Here, Tim had gotten out in front of me, but I managed to slowly catch up and was not that far behind when we reached the rest stop on the other side.

We re-fueled and were headed out of the rest stop, when a car coming up the road forced us to stop. I couldn't get myself out of my pedals so I fell over onto my right elbow and shoulder. After I brushed off my bruised ego, we were off again, headed toward Moorpark. The shoulder and elbow hurt a bit, but didn't cause much problem during the ride.

During the next stretch, it was rolling and flat with a few minor climbs mixed in. The scenery was mostly pastoral as we worked our way into Moorpark. As we got closer to Moorpark, the ride takes you through a few areas that get a little trafficky, but you quickly work through and arrive at the park where the rest stop is located. This occurs somewhere around the 85 mile mark. Both of us were feeling great as we arrived and we were still averaging well above 18mph on the bike.

After leaving Moorpark, you do a few big climbs, followed by a nice downhill with big sweeping turns. Wheeeeeeeee! This is followed by a hard slog into a headwind as you work your way into Santa Paula. We always look forward to getting here. There is a grocery that serves as an impromptu rest stop, allowing us to re-fuel for the 10 mile climb that lies ahead on the way to the lunch stop.

Leaving Santa Paula, you have a few miles before you start to hit the climb. It's not a particularly difficult stretch, but it is often quite hot and it takes 45-60 minutes to get up and over. Fortunately for us, the weather was still on the cool side as we started up. We were both riding well enough that we made relatively quick work of it and were soon headed downhill into the orchards that led to the lunch stop in Ojai at mile 110 or so.

Ojai was probably the hottest section of the ride, but it was still at most in the mid-80s. We were both eager to get there and get a nice bean and cheese burrito in our bellies. We probably wasted the most time here, eating and talking to other riders. We were both feeling a bit beat at that point so we tried to re-hydrate and recover a bit before heading back out on the road.

After leaving lunch, there is a set of climbs around Lake Casitas on the way to Carpinteria. As the climbs began, we had caught up to another rider and we all started the climb together. Soon, my brother was off the front and I was riding with this other guy. As we headed upward, he told me a story about how he once had his girlfriend meet him at the top of this climb with "beers and some doobies". After a while, he got out in front of me and as we reached the top, he pulled over and took a "doobie" out of a case he had in his back pocket. I didn't realize anyone called them doobies any more!

I rode on and began making back some of the time that my brother had gained, all the while glad I didn't have to follow some stoned guy down the hills leading into Carpinteria. Once there, I saw the doobie guy again, looking quite mellow and red-eyed.

From Carpinteria,
we hopped on Highway 101 for a bit and rode that for about 5-6 miles. The wind was at our backs but we were feeling a bit slow at this point. We'd been working hard most of the day, pushing each other during the ride. After the section on 101, we had to do some city riding and we eventually reached the final rest stop in Nueneme. Here, we got our lights and other accoutrement out of the drop bags for the final 30 miles of riding.

We were both feeling a bit spent at this point, but we knew we were making good time so we soldiered on. It was just a little jogging around until we got back to Pt. Mugu and then we were on the final stretch of PCH on the way back to Malibu.

The final stretch along the coast comes with a nice tail wind, but it also comes with a bunch of large rollers. This last section have a little over 1000 ft of climbing in about 25 miles. At the end of a double, that's a lot to ask.

My brother's energy was flagging a bit toward the end, but I was starting to smell the barn. Up and down, up and down, we went. Tim finally recovered a bit and after having me pass him on one of the last hills, he came bursting by me on the penultimate one. I managed to catch him just barely as we turned on the last road before the finish.

We had a great ride. Our total ride time was 13:45 and our on bike time was 11:45. Just a tad over 17mph for the route. As you can see, we were happy to be done! 3rd double of the year!

The 3 doubles I've done this year have all been done on different bikes. In fact, going back to last year's Knoxville double, I've done 4 in less than a year on 4 different bikes. The Calfee Adventure performed incredibly well and I think I'll stick with it. It's perfect for this sort of ride!

Davis Double-5/21/11

2011-06-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

I had promised a ride report, but life and work have a way of interfering with things. Here's the specs on the ride that I did:

Total Distance: 203 miles

Time on Bike: 12:47

Avg Speed on Bike: 15.88mph

Climbing: 8363 ft (according to my Garmin Edge 500)

Total time: 16:45

A keen observer would note that I spent a whopping 4 hours off the bike during this ride. If you've read this blog in the past, you're probably thinking it got really hot and Joe had his usual heat problems. I wish the explanation was that simple. The weather was actually quite nice. I don't think it even got into the mid-80s anywhere along the route.

The real reason is shown over on the right. I had stomach issues. I spent more time waiting for and using those blue boxes than I care to admit. For about half the ride, my stomach felt ill at ease prompting a run to the blue boxes at nearly every rest stop. The sad part was, nothing was really happening.

Finally, I got through that and then on the last major climb of the day, I started developing nausea. I could ride at a certain level without feeling too bad, but increases in intensity left me feeling more and more nauseous. This is where the major slowdown occurred. I tried to nurse myself through this section of the ride and it was slow going due to having to ride at a lower intensity. I'd try to stop and eat and drink at rest stops in an effort to feel better.

Finally, at mile 193, I reached the Fire Station rest stop, where they traditionally serve chili. For some reason, someone was making grilled cheese sandwiches. It sounded good so I ate half of one. Then my stomach agreed that it liked it so I had another half. The end of the ride was great. The nausea was gone. Who knew? Apparently, all I needed was some nice solid food in my belly. A little bit of protein here and there goes a long way. I was way too reliant on Perpetuem during the ride and this is probably what led to my nausea issues.

What worked on the ride?

I chose to ride the Davidson since it had SRAM Red on it, which made it easy to throw on an Apex rear derailleur and an 11/32T cassette. This combined with the compact crankset gave me a nice wide range of gearing.

This was done for the section of climbing on Cobb Mountain. This is an extended climb with an average 10-12% grade (if memory serves, I might be remembering in a bit steeper), with some areas where it pitches up even steeper. I wanted to make sure I had the gearing that would allow me to get up and over.

This worked! I rode all the way up and over, passing riders who would stop for occasional breaks as they went up.

Actually, I even rode fairly well when I was on my bike. My best recent on the bike time was just a shade under 12 hours at the Grand Tour 2 years ago. 12:47 is pretty good given the stomach issues and the nausea.

The take away message?

Well, I guess the take away message for me at least is to be more careful about getting some solid protein into my diet during the ride. I usually do a better job of that, but didn't on this ride and paid for it. I don't know if my earlier stomach issues were tied to that, but I'm pretty sure the nausea was.

For those that need to find a way to have a clean shifting bike with a wide range of gears, I highly recommend the SRAM road groups. They work well together and you can put on a long cage rear derailleur and wide range cassette and get all the gearing you'll ever need. The double chainring setup allows for nice shifts up front, unlike the clunkier shifting of a triple chainring setup. Also SRAM's 10 speed mountain rear derailleurs and cassettes are compatible with the road stuff. You could go even lower on the gearing than I did.

Secret Weapon #1......

2011-05-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

I have the Davis Double Century coming up. It'll be the second double century of the year for me. Unfortunately, Davis hasn't been kind to me.

The biggest issue for me at Davis has been the heat. When the weather's decent, I usually do okay, but once the temps start jumping into the high 90s and 100s, it takes its toll. I've learned to better deal with this. You take it a little slower, you hydrate more that you feel like hydrating and you cool yourself down any way you can. I've overcome a lot by simply learning how to handle fluid intake and calorie intake. Using 3 water bottles-2 with Camelbak Elixir and 1 with Perpetuem mixed with Endurolytes and Hammer gel-I seem to do much better. As it gets hot, I can usually still stomach these even when solid food gets difficult to handle.

The last 2 times I've tried it, heat combined with a virus that my kids gave me caused joint swelling and pan and the following year, I had a massive allergy issue that had me hacking and coughing.

These, of course, can't be fully controlled. Other things can. One "thing" on the Davis Double is Cobb Mountain. It's a long climb. If memory serves it's a 5 mile long hill without much shade with pitches as high as 12% or more. I've never seen so many people walk or stop and sit in what little shade exists on a double century as I have on this climb.

This year, I hope to have a better ride and hope to ride up that hill without problems. My solution? Here:

A compact drivetrain that I modified. Normally I run 50/34 chainrings in the front with an 11/26 or 11/28 cassette in the rear. Normally, this gets me over most anything. I can handle steep for short periods and I can handle long hills just fine, but long and steep just plain sucks.

Here's a closer look at the rear:

I installed a SRAM Apex rear derailleur and an 11/32 cassette. This lowers my low gear from 32 gear inches with the 28T to 28 gear inches (~12.5% lower). It's noticeable. Climbing up some of the steeper hills I've found near my home, it felt too low. On these same hills, the 28T was still a little bit of a struggle. (Note to those who want to ask: "Why no triple?" I don't like triples. I don't like the way they shift and I don't like searching for gear combos all day long. This system is lighter, easier to use, and gives me a low that is comparable to what you'd get with a racing triple set-up.

So, there you have it. My plan is to save my legs a bit of pain so I have something to get over Cobb with. The upside to this new setup is that I now have a gear or two of the big ring combination that allows me to stay in the big ring for shallower climbs.

This is not a genius move on my part. My brother's been using something similar on his bike. I'll let you know how it works.

Doings....

2011-05-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, I really haven't posted much here lately. I've been involved in the business, trying to get it up and running. It's a difficult task. I get runs of rentals and then dry spells. It tantalizes and then makes you wonder whether you were erased from the world wide web.

Still, March and April were good months. I need to remember that. I was profitable. That's big. Not profitable enough to pay myself anything, but profitable. The business is still in its first year. Profitability is a good thing.

I've been busy adding stuff to the website. I have a new store (www.shop.synapticcycles.com). I've added bike listings and I have wool and cotton cycling caps and jerseys and wind vests. These are all pluses. Not a single purchase from the shop yet, but it's there. Check it out.

In riding news, I actually have been riding. I am closing in on 2500 miles for the year. I've even gotten one double century under my belt. Sorry for not posting a ride report. Like I said, it's been busy.

I had a knee issue in March. I broke down and saw a bike fit person. Turns out that I've managed all these years with poor fit on my cleats. I now have 4 shims under my right cleat and one under my left. He even adjusted my foot angle. I tend to toe-in on with my right foot and toe out with my left. It took a while for me to get used to all these changes, but they are beginning to feel a lot more normal now. I completed the Hemet Double Century in April with no problems and I have since begun to feel a lot more normal on the bike.

I just signed up for the Davis Double Century coming up on May 21st. I'm hoping for a better showing. I'll have a few more miles in me and I've done one double already. At Hemet, I held back. I didn't want to let loose and risk not finishing. I was worried about my fitness and my knee, plus my stomach was a little goofy going in. Things seemed to work out. I felt strong at the end, which is a big plus. I know going into Davis that I'll be strong enough to finish as long as I manage the ride and the fluid and food intake.

Hopefully, I'll post more here as we move forward. I'll definitely try to post a ride report on Davis so stay tuned....

A bicycle odyssey....

2011-03-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not know, I have started my own company. A bike rental company. One where I rent out high end road bikes, delivering them and picking them up from my clients.

When I set about deciding on what types of bikes to rent, I had to come up with bikes that would be immediately recognized as high end. I contacted a few smaller makes and got some positive feedback and finally decided upon using Calfee Design bikes as my feature bike.

Mike Moore at Calfee was very enthusiastic about my idea. The idea was simple-give Calfee a platform to "exhibit" their bikes for an extended time, in the hopes that the people who rode them would consider buying one in the future. Ideally, I would make the sale and Calfee would build the bike and send it off and Calfee, the customer, and I would all be happy.

One problem-I hadn't ever actually ridden a Calfee. I knew from hundreds of different people who I had met over the years that Calfees were great bikes. Wonderful to ride. Nice, light, fast, etc.

When I ordered my first batch, I made sure to get one in my size (a 62cm). When I first got it, I did a couple rides. I liked it, but was not so in love with it that it was the end all, be all, of bikes. A few months passed by and I did some work on it.

I put on bars that were more appropriate for a 62cm bike (44 C-C Bontragers). I added some new handlebar tape and it was looking pretty nice. Then, I put on one of my own saddles (this was a tipping point for me).

Before I knew it, I had dragged out my other bike and was taking measurements off of it. I set the saddle height and then I was setting the bar height and getting the reach just right. All the time, I kept telling myself, "It's just so I can give it more of a trial so I can tell my customers what it's like." I was in deep!

Next thing you know it looked like this:

If you look closely, you can see a computer mounted on the bike. My computer! And my own wheels! I kept telling myself, "Oh, it's just so I can compare my efforts to see whether it's actually any nicer than my other bikes." As you can see, I talk to myself a lot.

Then I rode it for a while. Just to get a feel for it. Then I'd get ready for a ride and I'd take it out again. And again! Of course, this was only because I didn't want to have to take the computer off and mount it on my other bike. At least that's what I kept telling myself. Who was I kidding?

You see, this bike rides incredibly well. It climbs well, it cruises well, it gets up to speed quickly, it's efficient. Most of all, it doesn't beat you up. I learned that on a few long rides. You reach the end of your ride and you still feel relatively fresh. At the end of long rides when I was trying to get my average speed up, I still had enough oomph to get it done. That's not always the case on my other bikes.

I wish I could explain how this bike rides. I first described it as a bit stiff and wooden, but I was comparing it to my steel bikes. It was a bit like comparing apples and oranges. The more I rode it, the more I liked it. The stiff feeling was actually the bike being more efficient-not flexing in such a way that it robbed me of power. I noticed my average speeds on rides were a smidge higher, my times up hills were a bit faster. The wooden feeling was the carbon fiber doing its thing with road vibration, shielding me and keeping my body from being worn down slowly by all those small transmitted vibrations. I felt fresher longer.

Calfees are not going to win the parking lot test ride. They're not built for being quick and flashy as they race across a parking lot. Many bikes will ride great in a parking lot. Then again, I don't often ride in a parking lot for extended periods of time. Do you?

One of the reasons I wanted to do bike rentals of higher end bikes that I could sell was this. No one should ever buy a bike without knowing how well that bike will ride. So, here's where I give you my sales pitch. Come find me and rent a Calfee for a week. Ride it all over the place. Put it through it's paces. Then, if you love it, you can buy one from me. If you don't love it...well, then you haven't spent a big wad of cash to buy a bike that you don't want to ride.

Stupid Mistakes

2011-02-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I headed out for a short ride. My plan-30 miles or so with some hills, nothing epic. As I headed out, I told my wife I'd be back between 4:30-4:45.

Everything was going well. It was a nice day and I felt pretty good. I was climbing well. The bike felt great and it was just a good time to be out and on a bike. Just one problem. I was running late.

I wasn't running tons late, but my wife sometimes panics a little. I'm usually pretty spot on when I give here my return times so when it got closer to 5:00, she got a little concerned and gave my cell phone a call.

I was less than 2 miles from the house when I heard the phone ring so I got out my phone, but I missed her call. I attempted to call her back, but while fumbling with my phone, I managed to take one of my hands off the handlebars.

It's unclear to me what exactly happened next, but I managed to get my handlebars turned toward the left and because I had my right hand off the bars, I was unable to correct and I went down....hard.

This is what happened to my helmet:

The arrows point to damage. I'm not sure whether you can see all the damage the way you could if you were holding the helmet, but I cracked the out shell and tore up some of it. I also had multiple cracks in the foam inside the helmet, some of them quite wide.

As I fell, I came down hard on my back and whipped my head back toward the ground, smacking the back of my head against the ground fairly hard-hard enough to do this much damage to my helmet. It's now 4 days later and my neck is still stiff and sore and I had a low level headache for a few days, but no real ill effects from the crash.

At the time of the crash, I was going less than 10mph and I was on a quiet road with no real obstacles. I know a lot of people who will say that I was incredibly stupid for getting out my phone while riding, and that is true. Can't argue with that.

Still, that doesn't mean that this can't happen to other people. Suppose I was reaching for a water bottle and had one hand off the bars and hit a rock which deflected the wheel off to the left. I still wouldn't have been able to correct it and I still would have gone down just as hard. Or how about unexpectedly hitting some gravel or sand in a downhill corner. Or clipping out of your pedal too late at a traffic light. All normal things that could lead to falling off your bike. Things happen.

The point I'm trying to make is this. So many people argue that helmets aren't going to help you much in an accident. For these people, they think of an accident as you getting run down by a vehicle. Fortunately, most "accidents" on a bike don't involve large vehicles, but unfortunately, they often take us by surprise and we don't always have time to protect our heads from injury.

Going down while riding your bike is never planned and often occurs at a time when you least expect it. Your helmet gives you some protection against a blow to the head in such an instance. On Saturday, my stupid mistake could have cost me more than a little bit of pride. I don't really want to get into a helmet debate or a debate on the use of cell phones while riding. I just wanted to point out that something silly could lead to a catastrophic event. And sometimes, a bit of foam and plastic could have prevented it.

New Hats for Synaptic Cycles

2011-02-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

I have been working with Walz Caps to get some cycling caps make for my new company. Mike at Walz is a great guy-very helpful. He agreed to mock up some samples and sent them to me to look at and sample. These caps are excellent. The bill is soft, but still retains its shape. It has no plastic or cardboard in it. Nothing that will dig into your forehead when you wear it under your helmet. The bill is well made and positioned just right for most people.

Shown here is the result of some of our conversations. This is a three panel wool cap. The main body is navy blue and the stripes are burnt orange and white. The "Synaptic Cycles" logo is white and is emboidered onto the right side of the cap. It appears on only one side of the cap.

The result is a nicely made, classic-looking wool cycling cap. I'm really excited about these and I hope you like them.

The price for these woolies is $30 (+ tax) and they are in limited supply. I will also be getting some cotton ones that will more closely match my jerseys and wind vest.

If you are interested in purchasing one, email me (joe@synapticcycles.com). If I get enough interest, I'll gladly order up some more.

Thinking about things bike- and business-related...

2011-01-19T09:09:00.000-08:00

The new year is upon us and as things pick up business-wise, I am being forced to figure out how best to get rides in during my days. And when I do ride, what kind of rides should I be doing?

I don't race. I ride. I ride far, sometimes really far. It's a great feeling getting on your bike and slogging through 200 miles. Okay...it's a great feeling when you finish riding the 200 miles. The process has it's ups and downs sometimes, but it's always great to finish.

I want to be stronger on my bike this year. I want to be able to enjoy the time during the ride a lot more this year. For me, that means getting better at something that is not always a strong point-climbing. I've always found that the better I climb, the better I feel during long rides.

I have a hypothesis that time lost while climbing gets progressively more difficult to make up as a ride gets longer. Say you climb a big hill with someone and the other person can climb that hill 2 minutes faster than you, but you can descend faster than that person. In your mind, you think you'd come out even, right? Wrong! If you think about it, that 2 minutes to the top means that the stronger climber can descend 1 mile at 30 mph while you are still climbing. So, when you reach the top, you put your superior descending techniques to work and you descend that same mile at 35 mph. You've made up some ground, but while you were descending, the other person has been continuing onward and is still out in front of you. Maybe, if you're strong enough on the flats, you start making up some ground....until the next hill, where you start the hill just 10 seconds behind. But the strong climber can get to the top faster again, and at the top, you are now 2 minutes,10 seconds behind. Then you go through the same process as before, but you are tiring, so you don't make up quite as much time as you did before. Then the next hill comes....

You see where I'm going with this right? The stronger you are on the hills, the better off you are. Even if you aren't quite as fast descending or on the flats, you still make it more difficult for a slower climber to catch you.

This just leads me to my resolution for the upcoming year. I may not be able to ride the same mileage as I have in the past, but I want the mileage to do good things for me. For that reason, when I can't get out and do longer miles, I will concentrate on shorter miles with some hills mixed in. If I only have 1.5 hours of free time, it's not that difficult to get in 20 miles with a few thousand feet of climbing, but it's not so easy to get in 35-40 miles no matter how flat the ride or how favorable the wind.

Hopefully, business will pick up and keep me climbing!

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T08:39:00.000-08:00

As the new year is coming upon us, I have a few thoughts that I'd like share. It's been a long year, full of ups and downs. Not just for me, but for a lot of people. I've only been able to make it through these hard times with wonderful people around me. People who have loved me and supported me, people who have allowed me to vent, people who have offered sage advice, and people who have just been there for me.

As we begin a new year, I want to wish you the very best. My hope for all of you is that you have these same types of people in your own lives. It makes every year a great one no matter how awful things get.

Happy New Year!

2010 in review...

2010-12-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's almost over. This year has been a real roller coaster.

I started out the year on a real high. I had just gotten a new job after having been laid off the previous October. It didn't last unfortunately, but it led to other things. Better things.

In February, I underwent surgery on my shoulder. It needed to be cleaned out after the accident. The whole thing went rather well and with all the PT that I had undergone the previous year, I was strong enough that my rehab went quickly after the surgery.

I decided to forego the Davis Double Century this year as my shoulder was still coming back and I wanted to make sure it would hold up over a long double century. I attempted the Grand Tour Double Century in June, but had to abandon with a handlebar issue. I did learn that I was strong enough to do the rides just fine.

Not long after that, I learned that I was being let go from my job. Nice! I worked into July a bit and then that was that. I was looking for work again. This is where my world changed, hopefully for the better.

I had an idea for a high-end bicycle rental company that catered to traveling road cyclists. I could work out of the house and provide bikes to clients and offer free delivery and pick up. Thus, Synaptic Cycles Bicycle Rentals, Inc. was born.

By the end of October, SynapticCycles.Com was online. Now, in December, I'm starting to get some interest and some business. Hopefully, business will continue to pick up as we move forward. I'm really excited about this new venture and hope that we will be around for a long time, providing great bikes to our clients.

As for on the bike escapades, I finally did my first double century in September (Knoxville Double Century). Now, I know my shoulder will handle the rigors of endurance riding. For the year, I managed to eek out about 5400 miles this year. With all that happened, that was a good number to hit. I hope to get even more mileage in this next year.

This next year I'll be shooting for some brevets and maybe a Triple Crown. I haven't targeted 3 doubles quite yet, but I'll let you know. It will depend on business a bit so I'll have to choose carefully.

Well, there you have it in a nutshell. I hope you all had a great year. I look forward to a great new year ahead and wish you all well in your pursuits. Happy New Year!

Synaptic Cycles Bicycle Rentals, Inc.

2010-11-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

Synaptic Cycles Bicycle Rentals, Inc.

Okay, all you faithful readers of this blog, I need help. I've started my own business. So, let your cycling buddies know this business exists. I can be found at: www.synapticcycles.com

It is a road bike rental business. I rent only road bikes and only higher end road bikes. Initially, I am starting out with some Cervelo and some Calfee road bikes.

What makes me different from the rest of the rental companies out there? I deliver and pick-up and I work with you to ensure that the bike fits you like the one you left at home. Delivery and pick-up are free within my normal service areas of San Diego County and Orange County. I can deliver outside of this service area, but there will be an added charge for both delivery and pick-up.

I will be serving the greater San Diego County and Orange County areas in Southern California. So, that means places like: Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Leucadia, La Costa, Del Mar, and La Jolla along the coast, and inland areas like Ladera Ranch, Mission Viejo, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills in Orange County and San Marcos, Escondido, Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Bernardo, Poway in San Diego County. This is not an exhaustive list, but what I could name off the top of my head.

So, there you have it. I invite you to come to Southern California and enjoy our roads while riding an exceptionally nice bike. It really doesn't get better than riding here. Did I mention that it's going to be in the low-80s here today.?Yep, November weather in SoCal. You gotta love it!

Knoxville Double Century

2010-10-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I drove up to Vacaville to participate in the Knoxville Double Century that is organized by the Quack Cyclists. According to the California Triple Crown Website: "This course starts & ends in Vacaville, at a local park, and is promoted as a friendly, social ride. No recorded times, no course records, just complete or DNF. The course is a big figure 8, heading out of town west & north, up the Napa valley, across the hills to the top of Berreyessa, then 40 miles out & over Knoxville Road to Lower Lake. It will be a reverse course of the Davis Double for a section in the middle, and then head down Vacaville's Pleasants Valley to the finish." The ride has ~12,600 ft of climbing and the temps can be nice or they can be really hot. We rode most of the day in mid-90's heat.

Rather than jump right into a long-winded ride report, I thought I'd give a rundown on the bike and the nutritional aspect of riding the ride. I am always asked about these things and I've been doing these kinds of rides long enough that I have my own system down for handling things. You learn from others as you participate in ultra-style events, and my hope is that you can learn something from how I go about doing these things.

Going into the ride, I knew a few things that influenced my choices for bike, lighting, clothing and nutrition. I knew that we would be starting, and likely, ending in the dark. I also knew it would be hot during the day and pretty chilly in the morning and possibly chilly after dark. I also knew there was tons of climbing, making it likely that I'd be on my bike quite a bit longer than on other, slightly less difficult (that was weird to write!), double centuries. I also knew the roads were not always going to be smooth. There would be tons of chipseal and tons of potholes throughout the course.

The length of time on the bike and the roughness of the course made the bike decision easy. My Rivendell Road bike has a nice long wheelbase, a relaxed geometry, and allows for larger tires. These all make for a smoother, more comfortable ride under these conditions. On a ride that would have much smoother roads, I might opt for my more racy Davidson.

Here's a list of thing about the bike and why I chose them:

Rivendell in Full Dress Mode for a Double

rear, brakes are Shimano Dura Ace(the gearing gives me a low enough low to get over most stuff and the Shimano brakes are reliable, forceful stoppers for those 12%+ downhills).

Wheels: Hugi 240s hubs (32h rear/28h front) laced to DT Swiss RR1.1 rims (built by Joe Young; experience with Joe's wheelbuilding told me that these spoke counts will work for me. He builds exceptionally strong wheels).

Lashing stuff onto the banana bag

Tires: Grand Bois Cerf 700x28c tires (comfy; lots of air and low rolling resistance)

Bag: Duluth banana bag (from Rivendell; roomy inside while not being so big that it inhibits leg movement; also has a way to lash things down to the top of it).

Inside Bag: 2 spare tubes, patch kit, tire irons, first aid kit, tire boot, 7 pre-made bags of powdered mix of Perpetuem/Endurolyte (2 scoops and 3 capsule contents), three hammer gels, and three cliff shot block packages (2 margarita with extra salt, 1 black cherry), ~12 tablets of Camelbak Elixir or Nuun.


Tallac Stainless Dual Water Cage

Lashed to Outside of Bag: wind vest, arm warmers, leg warmers, shoe covers, long fingered MTB-style gloves.

Water Bottle Cages: Tallac Dual Stainless Cage and King Stainless single cage. Both are strong cages and the dual cage allows me the luxury of three bottles on the bike so I can forgo wearing a Camelbak.

What's in Water Bottles: Two have Camelbak Elixir and one has a mix of Perpetuem (2 scoops) and Endurolyte powder (~3 capsules worth), flavored with a serving of Hammer Gel. Alternating sips from the Elixir bottles and the Perpetuem bottles every 10 minutes or so keeps me well-hydrated and keeps me calorically happy and keeps me on top of my electrolyte replacement.

Cockpit-two MiNewt headlights

Lights: 2 Niterider MiNewt headlights (each good for 3 hrs of light when fully charged; you can turn on both for downhills to get lots of light and run one for normal stuff; a longer run time would have been nice as I was running on empty at the end of the ride), barend tailights, Serfas tailight on rear stay (nice and bright and flashy and easy to mount/dismount), and Serfas taillight on helmet (you can never have enough).

Serfas rear tailight-bright and easy on/off

Cockpit-Calfee Carbon Barstem

Handlebars: Calfee Carbon Barstem. This is a nod toward comfort for me. My shoulder injury last year created some problems for me on longer rides. These bars offer hand positions that allow me to relax my shoulders. They are shaped and flat across the top and have a nice comfortable flat ramp to the hoods. Oddly, I could probably save weight using a more standard threadless stem and bar combo.

What I ate and drank before, during, and after the ride:

For breakfast: A cup of coffee and two blueberry Pop Tarts. I wasn't that hungry in the morning as is usually the case. I rely on staying on top of my caloric intake rather than pounding down a large breakfast.

During the Ride: 6 bottles of the Perpetuem/Endurolyte Mix, ~6-8 packets of Hammer Gel (used to flavor the Perpetuem mix), ~12 bottles of Camelbak Elixir or Nuun, 1 Clif Bar (peanut butter and chocolate chip), 2 bananas, 3 packs of Clif Shot Blocks, a handful of pretzels, a small bean and cheese burrito, a chili dog, and ~9 extra Endurolytes tablets throughout the day. Oh, and 2 cans of Dr. Pepper.

After: 2 servings of Tortellini in cream sauce and garlic bread and another Dr. Pepper.

Total Calorie Consumption: So, I ate about 406 calories for breakfast, 5249 calories during the ride, and 1270 calories after the ride. This equates to a total of 6519 calories for the entire day. Sounds like a lot doesn't it?

So, how many calories do you burn on a 200 mile bike ride?

I did a 23 mile recovery ride yesterday and according to my Garmin Edge 500, which calculates calories burned for my 183 pound body, I burned ~1600 calories. That is ~69 calories per mile. This means that over 200 miles, I would have burned ~13,900 calories (this may actually be a low estimate since the ride had so much climbing).

According to these calculations, I was able to ingest less than half of the total caloric requirements for the ride. Okay class, can anyone tell me where the extra calories came from? The breakdown of glycogen, body fat, and muscle. In a ride this long, there is always a deficit in calories consumed versus caloried expended. You have to eat as much as you can while keeping your belly happy. Some people handle more solid foods better. Others rely on liquid calories (or gel). And oftentimes, you find that at some point, nothing sounds or tastes good. At those points, I usually dilute what I have and keep going and nurse it along until I feel like eating more.

Sadly, after a ride like this, you step on the scale the next day and you often weigh more ,even with the caloric deficit. This is likely due to the increase in retention of water. You need the water to help in the rebuilding of glycogen stores and muscle.

Things I learned on this ride:

(1) A full zip jersey is handy on long, hot rides. Being able to open the jersey up completely on long climbs really helped me control my body temp. A Craft COOL Superlight base layer help a ton here. It did a great job of dispersing the heat when I opened up the jersey.

(2) Gas-X can be your friend. For the first time on a ride like this, I started to develop an uncomfortably gassy belly. The kind where you feel full of gas but can't get rid of it and it becomes painful. There were times where I could not pedal with any force due to the pressure. A fellow rider handed me a few Gas-X tablets and within 30 minutes, I was feeling tons better. Not perfect, but good enough to get it done.

(3) I usually carry a bag of drug-like stuff with me. The contents are usually: Ibuprofen, Tums, Sudafed, anti-histamine, Endurolytes, Pepto-Bismol. I will add the Gas-X to the mix in the future and will also throw in some extra chamois cream. Riding a lot of extended climbs meant a lot more time in the saddle without breaks and this meant a bit more chaffing.

The ride itself?

You can read other accounts of the ride. One example is that of my brother's here: http://fancylug.blogspot.com/2010/09/knoxville-double-century.html

It was fairly uneventful. It got hot and that slowed me down. This was done purposefully as I have heat problems at times and I was trying to keep myself from blowing up. The only thing that really hampered my ride was the aforementioned gas issues that caused pain. I had to deal with that for miles 70-120 or so, but after that it subsided and I simply had to soldier on to the end.

We started at 4:30 in the morning and I finished right around 10:00 in the evening. It wasn't exactly fast, but with the stomach issues and the heat, it was a good finish. A lot of times those issues might have been problematic, but I figured out how to manage them and get through. That's what it's all about.

Frustration...

2010-09-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling a bit under the weather as of late. I'm pretty sure it was viral. I was tired-bone tired-like where you feel you have to literally drag your body around to do stuff. I had joint pain. My fingers and hands felt stiff and sore and my knees and elbows and ankles all hurt. My stomach was unsettled and just didn't feel right.

I had planned on doing the Knoxville Double Century next weekend, but with the way I was feeling, I held off on registering. I didn't want to drive all day Friday and get out on the bike on Saturday and not be able to feel as if I could finish.

Unfortunately, I held off too long. I just realized that I missed their cutoff for registering. It's my own fault, but even had I known, I wouldn't have registered. I needed to get back on my bike regularly and get a long ride in before I declared myself in good enough form to do the ride.

I'm finally there. I've been slowly getting back on the bike and beginning to ride strongly again. Yesterday, I rode 70 miles and averaged above 18mph for the entire ride. The ride had a mix of rollers and flats and a few hills. It was a good test and I felt good the whole ride. I was ready...but it was too late.

So, there it is. I've only attempted one double century this year and that was cut short due to a mechanical. The year's getting late and I haven't finished a double this year. Frustration. No other way to put it.

I should be happy with where I am. During my ride yesterday, I realized that last year at this time, I was in a sling full time. I couldn't lift anything with my left arm. I couldn't ride. It was difficult to play with the kids. Things are better now. I've worked my way back to riding on a regular basis and I'm back to the point where I can ride a double century. I just need to find one to do that I can register for....

New Days Ahead....

2010-09-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've written in this blog. A lot of things have happened lately and it's been unusually unusual.

In July, I was let go from my job. A blessing in disguise really. I felt relief. The job wasn't great and there was a sort of cost/benefit discrepancy going on with it. Still, it was a job and I need something to do with myself so I don't go stir crazy.

After some thinking about what to do next, I finally made some hard decisions. You see, I am a scientist by training-a cell biologist who studied neuronal development. I've been a professor and I've been a researcher. Unfortunately, science is a difficult occupation when you have a wife and kids unless, of course, you don't actually like the wife and kids. Fortunately, I love mine a lot and it helped me in making my decision.

Using the idea that I wanted to be available to the family and possibly even able to take and pick up the boys from school, I needed something that would allow that to happen. Unfortunately, most bosses suck and are so completely unreasonable about the hours you spend working so I needed a really cool boss. And of course, who has two thumbs and is a really cool boss? This guy! Me!

Okay, now that was settled. I'd hire myself and be my own boss. I just needed something that would actually be able to make me some money while giving myself the time to do the family things I wanted to do.

Of course, it's always easiest to do something you love and care about. Unfortunately, my wife quickly quashed the idea of becoming a male gigolo. It's probably for the best as I wouldn't be making a whole lot of money that way. Instead, I thought I could start a high-end road bike rental company. I live in one of the most ride-able areas in the US and the climate is perfect for riding just about year-round. I could run it out of the house, even. Perfect! I hope to be renting mid- to high-end road bikes throughout Orange County and San Diego County.

So there it is. My idea. I'm currently trying to sit down and get it all into a business plan. I'll be calling it "Synaptic Cycles" as an homage to my past life as a neuroscientist. It even makes sense. From Wikipedia: "The word "synapse" comes from "synaptein", which Sir Charles Scott Sherrington and colleagues coined from the Greek "syn-" ("together") and "haptein" ("to clasp")." In essence, it means to clasp together or bring together.

Anway, look for an announcement soon. If anyone has logo ideas, let me know.

For Sale

2010-08-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

A. Homer Hilsen (no bottle cages, computer, or pedals included)-frame is in excellent shape; rides like a dream
Size - 63cm (center to top)
Seat Post - Campagnolo Record Titanium

Saddle-WTB Silverado (steel rails)
Shifters - Shimano Dura Ace 9s Barend
Headset - Shimano Ultegra
Stem - Ibis Titanium 110mm
Handlebars: Nitto Noodle 48cm
Cranks: Ritchey Logic 110bcd double 50/36 TA chainrings

Bottom Bracket-Ritchey Logic
Front and rear derailleurs: Campagnolo Chorus (front); Deore XT Medium Cage (Rear)
Brake Levers: Campy Record Carbon
Wheels: Mavic Open Pro 32H laced to Hugi 240 hubs (11/32 9 speed cassette)
Tires: Schwalbe Kojak (700 X 35C)
Brakes - Silver sidepull

Rear rack-Nitto Mark's Rack
Can include fenders (SKS) if you want them.

$2200 plus shipping (that's ~$200 more than just the frame and fork would be brand new)

Burley Piccolo and Moose Rack

As shown above, nearly new condition in excellent shape.

6 speed gearing with gripshifter.

I will include the flag and extra rack attachment parts.

I would like to get $225 for this plus shipping.

Trending...

2010-08-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while. I thought I'd update on my mileage for the year to date. I am currently working on a run of 11 straight weeks of 100+ miles and 4 straight month over 500 miles. This is actually quite interesting to me. Looking back at previous years, I don't tend to be quite that consistent.

As of the end of July, I have managed to get my mileage over 3500 miles for the year. This means I'm on course to reach 6000 miles this year. I still hope to reach 7000 by the end of the year. It's reachable, but I better get in some bigger months soon. Still, 6000 miles after the shoulder injury is nothing to sneeze at.

I hope to be doing the Knoxville Double Century out of Vacaville in the fall and maybe the Bass Lake Powerhouse Double Century after that. If all goes well, I might just reach my goal of 7000 miles for the year.

A tale of two handlebars...or ride, interrupted

2010-07-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last year when I was rudely tossed to the ground by a car door, I was riding my Davidson with the Calfee Barstem (the one with the bar joined to the stem using carbon fiber). I've spoken of this combo in other posts and I just love it.

Needless to say, when the shop advised that I replace it after the crash, I went straight back to Calfee and ordered another one. At the same time, I ordered one for my Rivendell, as the bars on my other bikes were problematic for my shoulder as I healed and was able to get back on the bike.

This brings us up to the point where I was leaving for the Grand Tour Double Century a few weeks back. I decided to ride the Davidson and was pleased to be out on a double century again. The bike was performing well and I was riding pretty strongly.

About 30-49 miles in, we started climbing and we reached the steepest climb of the day. Last year, I started to serpentine a bit at the top of this climb, but this year, I managed to pop over the top without having to repeat that performance. We continued on and the ride was going as planned. Better even.

I was working my way toward a rest stop around the 79-80 mile mark (depending on whose computer you believe) when I noticed a bit of play in the steering of my bike. The bars would had a bit of side to side play. I figured that it was just a bit of play in the headset and I was close to the rest stop so I continued on.

Once there, I got some tools and tried to adjust the headset. I loosened up the stem bolts and tightened down the headcap and then made sure the stem wasn't leaving any space and then tightened everything up. Still, the bars had play side to side. At this point, I called a few of the volunteers over to see if I was missing something. They went through the same things I did to no avail. Finally, one volunteered to drive me over to a bike shop.

Once at the shop, the mechanic went through all the same things we did, but the play was still there. Upon closer inspection, it was felt that the play was in the junction between the aluminum stem clamp and where the stem inserted into it. At that point, my ride was over. 80 miles and 16.5 mph average speed to that point, but the bars were not safe to carry on.

Now I have two bars that were made at the same time and I have to send both back for inspection and repair. I know Calfee will take care of the issue and will make it right. All the carbon naysayers out there will obviously use this as an example of carbon's shortcomings, but it did not fail in a way that caused injury. I trust that it won't happen again. Carbon is a great material, but like all materials, it can fail. Aluminum fails, steel fails, titanium fails. No matter what you ride, you need to know your equipment and inspect it occasionally. You need to protect yourself.

Mental checklist while riding a double century

2010-06-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

Once you've done the rides to prepare and you've practiced with what works for hydration and food on a long ride, then you can come up with the mental checklist of things to remember during the ride. Here's a rundown on some of mine:

(1) Spin as much as possible, especially early in the ride. It will keep you fresher longer.

(2) If you are riding in a group, don't stay out front too long. Take advantage of the draft provided by the other rider(s).

(3) Drink and eat. Eat and Drink. Stick to your plan on hydration and electrolyte replacement and nutrition.

(4) Don't charge up hills at or near maximum effort. Hold something back. It's a long ride. A really long ride.

(5) Have a plan at rest stops. Go through your process of filling bottles, eating, bathroom, sunscreen, etc. and try to keep them as short as possible so you don't stiffen up much.

(6) Keep items in places where you can find them. Arm warmers, leg warmers, etc. don't do you any good if you can't find them when the time comes.

(7) Know the weather and the terrain and have a plan for dealing with it. Really steep and long hills, for example, require appropriate gearing. Will the temps vary greatly during the ride? Make sure you have a plan for that.

(8) Keep your sense of humor. At mile 110, you may need it when you realize that you still have 90 more miles to go.

(9) Keep in mind that all plans may change depending on circumstances. A lot can happen over the course of a couple hundred miles on a bike. Roll with the punches and be adaptable.

(10) Enjoy the ride. That is, after all, why you're out there!

The weekend ride approacheth...

2010-06-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is the Grand Tour in Malibu. It's a double century with 2 options-highland and lowland. The highland is the only option I've ever attempted. I've been told that the lowland has too much city riding so I've avoided it.

The ride begins and ends in Malibu close to Pepperdine University, and the highland option goes up the coast to Hueneme and then goes through Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Santa Paula, Ojai, around Lake Casitas on the way to Carpinteria before heading back down the coast to Malibu. It's a good ride and the weather forecast for the warmer areas of the ride indicate that temps will be reasonable. I'm really looking forward to it.

The past week of riding has been good. On Saturday, I headed out the door for my last longish training ride. I rode down the coast toward Oceanside and did a 60 mile round trip ride. It wasn't hilly, but the wind was very little help. Uusually, you have a tailwind in at least one direction, but instead, I had a sidewind most of the way. I really had to work to maintain pace the entire way.

At the end of the ride, I had done what I set out to do. I did 60 miles, averaging just over 18 mph the whole trip. My legs were a bit tired, but I could have gone longer. Amazingly, I never had a riding partner the entire trip. I did the entire ride solo. I always look at these solo jaunts as good training rides. You do all the work yourself, no cheating. I feel they pay off on the organized rides since you will get a lot more help during a double century, and when you find yourself alone for a while or riding into a headwind, you know you have the strength to keep the pedals turning.

I always enter double centuries with trepidation, especially the first one of the year. Until you've ridden 200 miles, you don't know how well you be over the 200 miles. This year I have the added concern of shoulder health. I've had no problems thus far, but I haven't been on the bike over 10 hours either. Additionally, my allergies are flaring up so that's a concern as well. Hopefully, I can get them under control. If so, I hope to have a great ride. I'll report next week on how it went.

200K Attempt-SD Randonneurs Kitchen Creek 200K

2010-06-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get a long ride in to check in on fitness before the Grand Tour Double Century. I wanted to make sure that climbing wouldn't be a big issue for my shoulder. What I wasn't quite prepared for was the heat and a little bit of elevation gain.

The 200K began in Pine Valley, east of San Diego as you start to climb up into the hills. This is where things start to turn desert-y. I knew that the temps would be warmer than I was used to. We've been having an unusually cool spring and I don't think I've ridden in temps above 75 all year before the event. Still, I thought that I'd be able to test my hydration strategy and use my cooling vest if needed, but the temps got up a bit higher than expected. Leading in, forecasted temps were to be in the low 80s, but we soon found ourselves in temps in the mid- to high-80s. One of the guys I was riding with, Dustin, registered just over 100 on a 12 mile climb. I don't think the ambient temps were that high, but I have no doubt that it was the temps we were feeling due to the reflected heat off the asphalt.

Let me back up to the beginning, though. The ride began uneventfully with a bit of a climb up Old Highway 80. It wasn't too, too long. We were taking it relatively easy, chatting along the way. I had started out with Aaron, Dustin, and Esteban and we were happily making our way along the course.

At mile 15, we came to the first control, signed in, and topped of our bottles, then Aaron and I went to a gas station across the street to get some more food and use the restroom, while Dustin and Esteban continued along the route. Once back on the road, we headed along Highway 94 toward Jacumba and this is where we saw our first extended climb of the day. As we headed up, we started catching other riders and after awhile I could see Dustin and Esteban. Just as I was about to catch on, they stopped for a nature break and Aaron joined them. I continued on into Jacumba at mile 35.

As I was riding into the control in Jacumba, I was beginning to notice just how open the area was. There were no trees to come by and the largest plant was no higher than about 3 feet. I wasn't feeling the heat quite yet, but I remember thinking that it wouldn't take much time for it to really warm up out there. After signing in at the 35 mile checkpoint, I filled up bottles and ate a bit of food as I waited for Aaron, Dustin and Esteban to come it. It didn't take long. They were there soon after me and they quickly got their stuff together and we were off again.

At this point we back-tracked a bit along Old Highway 80 (94 turned into 80, you see) toward Manzanita, staying on Old Highway 80. Along this stretch, it seemed to be getting more and more desolate, less and less shady, and more and more hot. Around mile 56, we turned onto Kitchen Creek Road and there was some climbing ahead. Fortunately, a well planned informal rest stop was set up to provide water and other refreshements. We all fueled up, knowing what lay ahead. Well, knowing, but not really KNOWING.

What we knew was this. There was a whole lot of climbing ahead. What we didn't know was that it was pretty much a steady upward climb for 14 straight miles as the heat started to peak. Knowing that the climbing was going to begin, I was not going all out. Dustin seemed to have a bit of a surge and was well out in front and I was hanging back with Esteban. After a while, we all started to get into our own individual rhythms and I got out in front of Esteban and was soon trying to see if I could make up some time on Dustin. He had gotten way off the front and it seemed like I might not see him until the next control.

What I didn't realize was that I had plenty of time to catch him. I really hadn't realized just how long the 14 miles would take. It turns out that I did eventually catch up. It was nice to have someone there to chat with. Unfortunately, it didn't last long as Dustin was slowing down a bit and I got ahead of him. Soon, it was just me and the incessant flies that would buzz around my head, occasionally landing on my shorts and biting me. I must have killed at least 10 of the buggers, and I was constantly swatting at them as they buzzed around me. At least, they gave me something else to concentrate on while I slowly worked my way up to the top.

As I started to get into the last 3-4 miles, I started to develop a headache. Dustin had indicated the temps he was reading on his cyclocomputer were in the 100s and I really thought I was starting to develop some heat exhaustion issues, which I often have trouble with. Head aching, I just kept trudging upward. At some point, my breathing was gettting quicker and I was feeling a bit dizzy so I dismounted and walked for a bit until it settled down. I don't usually have issues like that, even with heat so it confused me. Fortunately, it settled down a bit and I was able to finally get to Sunrise Highway where we'd be turning toward the next control. I waited there at the turn for Dustin. Fortunately, there was some shade and I was able to drink and recover a bit. My head was still pounding, but the worst of the climb was over.

Once Dustin arrived, we rode the 2.6 miles to the next control. Dustin was having second thoughts about continuing and I was still trying to get over the headache, but we figured we'd get to the control and get some more water and food and when Aaron and Esteban arrived, we'd figure out what to do next. While rehydrating in the shade, my head was just pounding, but it did lessen as I rested.

I was contemplating the rest of the ride and Dustin's computer indicated we'd only done about 6000 ft of climbing which meant 5000 more over the last 50 miles. I was feeling a bit uneasy about that, especially since Dustin didn't seem like he was going to finish the ride. It turns out that Esteban was having some major cramping episodes on the climb up to Sunrise Highway and it took them close to 45 minutes more to catch up to us at the control. At this point, the decision was easy, Dustin's knees were a little dodgy, Esteban was cramping up a lot, my head was aching. The only one of us that seemed to be feeling good was Aaron.

We decided that with the amount of climbing remaining that it would be better to drop back down into Pine Valley. It was a good decision. My head was pounding as we remounted and headed out again. Fortunately, as we descended, my headache nearly disappeared. It must have been an altitude issue. The top of the climb was around 6000 fit and I had been having sinus issues so I think the headache was related to that, which was a relief to me since I have worked hard to keep heat issues at bay.

The drop back to Pine Valley put us at the 82 mile mark by my computer. Analysis of the map after the ride actually showed that we had climbed closer to 7500 ft, which was confirmed by Dustin's computer when he corrected the data according to topo maps. So, there you go: 82 miles with 7500 ft of climbing. Had I know that only 3500 feet of climbing was left, I may have tried to continue on, but I got some climbing in and my shoulder seemed to hold up to it okay.

I didn't successfully complete the ride, but I feel good about the amount of climbing. It's close to what I'll be doing on the Grand Tour at the end of June and there's no sustained climbing that resembles the climb up to Sunrise Highway. And thankfully, there's not much elevation gain on the Grand Tour.

Upcoming...

2010-06-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Planning for a long day in the saddle. On Saturday, I'll be doing a 200K brevet. That's around 125 miles for you metrically-challenged folks. Normally, by June, I would have already completed a ride or two in this mileage range. Some years, I would have already completed a double century, maybe two. This year I'm off to a slower start.

Last August, I injured my shoulder in an altercation with a car door. Since that point, I've been in a sling for about 6 weeks, undergone 6 months or physical therapy, had arthroscopic surgery and then did another month of physical therapy. So, you can see why things are off to a bit of a slow start. I've been slowly working my way back to riding longer distances, and I hope to do the Grand Tour Double Century in Malibu at the end of the month.

In preparation, I wanted to make sure that I had done a ride over 100 miles prior to the DC. This is where the 200K brevet comes in. It'll be a test for me. And I'm dreading it. The description of the ride calls it "a bit climby". What the heck does that mean?!!! Define climby, please? Oh well, I'm sure if they felt the need to comment then it must be climby.

Climby may be a good thing. It will test me. I will know more about my fitness after the 200K. As long as I successfully finish, it should bode well for the double century. Stay tuned. I'll let you know how it all works out.

Sunday ride and thoughts about future rides...

2010-05-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

I set about my Sunday ride just a little after 1:00 in the afternoon. My wife had agreed to meet me with the boys in La Costa, after which we'd take them to a park or the beach, and then head to a nice dinner out.

I headed out the door and made my way down Palisades and to the coast road in Dana Point headed south toward San Clemente. Normally, I'd be greeted by a gentle tailwind that would push me on a little as I headed south. This time, there seemed to be a bit of a headwind as it was difficult to keep a high cadence as I rode along.

I headed through downtown San Clemente, eventually meeting the bike path at Christianitos. From there, I went past the San Onofre plant and down toward the state park. The wind would pick up occasionally, knocking my speeds back down into the 16 mph range. It was a bit of a slog, but I was maintaining an 18 mph average as I got onto Camp Pendleton. I was trying to maintain my cadence above 85 rpm, but with the wind, it was a trade-off. I could maintain my speed a bit better by pushing a slightly larger gear in the 78-82 rpm range so I decided that I'd rather keep my speed up a bit. I eventually got into Oceanside and headed down the coast toward Carlsbad and into the Leucadia area.

As I got close to Encinitas, I had enough of the wind so I turned back north and headed back toward the La Costa area. As I was approaching Leucadia Avenue, I saw a bike I recognized (from pics on the web, or course). It was Mark Rosenberg of howtostretch.com fame, a fellow I-Bob member and Rivendell owner. It was nice to chat with Mark as we headed down up to La Costa Avenue and then over to El Camino Real. Seeing Mark was a strange coincidence since my IT band was tightening up and I was thinking that I should check Mark's site to look for stretches. Though I generally have an aversion to stretching, as I told Mark, I know from past experience that tightness in the IT band and my hip will result in knee pain if not addressed.

Turning north, I realized that the wind really was from south to north and I found my speed went up dramatically. After Mark turned off, I continued to work my mileage up to 60 miles before I headed to the meet up spot. All in all, it was a great day on the bike. I had been getting a bit worried about next week's 200K brevet that I had planned, but riding into a headwind for close to 50 miles put those fears out of my mind. I should be able to enjoy the company of fellow randonneurs in next week's ride, making the miles pass a little easier and giving me some help with the wind if needed.

One thing that I need to keep in mind as I head toward the end of June and the Grand Tour Double Century is eating and drinking. I was able to get away with not keeping on top of hydration yesterday because it was relatively cool and I wasn't going that far, but 200 miles is a bit farther and you can get yourself it trouble if you're not paying attention to your hydration levels. I'll have to work on this during next week's brevet and in future weeks as I prepare for the Grand Tour.

Bike to Work Day

2010-05-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today is "Bike to Work Day".

I'm never sure what to think of days like this. Sure, it get's people out and on their bikes for a day. They get to stop at the stands and get freebies, like food and drink and assorted doodads. Everyone has a great time.

I have to wonder, though, whether any of the new faces I saw on my commute will be there on Monday when I ride my bike to work. I like the idea of Bike to Work Day, but I'm unsure about what it accomplishes.

I saw people commuting this morning that were not prepared. They were carrying backpacks stuffed to the gills. One guy had a floor pump jutting out of his backpack. Some were commuting on full-on time trial/triathlon bikes. Others were on single speeds. I passed one guy going up a mile and a half climb who was standing and pedaling with his hands in the drops. He was tiring quickly and he was only about 1/10 of a mile in. As I passed by, I warned him that the hill was going to be a little too long to climb all the way up while standing.

I started thinking that days like this served to show people how difficult it was to commute to work on your bike. After all, a lot of planning goes into my commute. I leave toiletries, a towel, and a pair of shoes at work so I don't have to cart them back and forth all day. I pack my clothes in the backpack and put my cycling clothes out the night before. I have my breakfast stuff laid out for the morning. These are second nature to me now, but others would have to learn this by trial and error. Many of the commuters probably wasted a lot of time this morning getting ready for their commutes. Does that make them want to do it again? Do they realize that 20 minutes each night could really make the bicycle commute process easier and more enjoyable? That 20 minutes could make the difference between regular bicycle commuting and just giving up and driving in.

I really hope some of the people that tried to commute in today will keep trying to get on their bikes each morning. It's not that hard, but it does take some planning. The organizers of Bike to Work Day should provide useful tips well in advance of the actual day. Directions for how to prep the night before, perhaps. Maybe, we could provide bicycle commuting "mentors" for new commuters. After all, the goal here is to make it "like riding a bike."

Emerging from the fog...

2010-05-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

Lately, riding my bike has become a difficult endeavor. Occasional rain, family obligations, and illness have all contributed to some sparse time on the bike. This is coupled with the weirdness of having the cleats on my shoes all misaligned and maladjusted, making my time on the bike seem somewhat out of sync.

Lately, I've gone back to my old shoes. Ones that I wore last year during a time when I felt great on the bike. This has solved the problem of feeling off-kilter on the bike. This, in turn, has allowed me to ride stronger as well.

Though I'm still coughing and clearing out stuff from my lungs that was left over from my recent illness, I have actually felt great on the bike. This morning I even hit the 8 minute mark going up the hill on the way to work. It was a surreal ride. I just cruised right on up. As I hit the top of the hill, I even felt that I could have done it faster, which is weird. I've only done it faster once and even then, it was only by about 5 seconds.

I'm hopeful that this is a good sign for me and that I'm starting to emerge from being sick and this will lead to more time on the bike. For the first time in weeks, I'm looking forward to going for my long ride this weekend and I'm starting to get excited about the upcoming double century in Malibu toward the end of June.

Sink and Twisted...

2010-05-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't ridden since last Thursday. I had gotten some viral thing that congested the heck out of me and made my joints all hurt. I felt awful, and it sucked. If you see this virus in a dark alley, don't mess with it. It's mean!

It did give me time to think, though. I had been feeling twisted on the bike. I felt like I wasn't even able to sit on the saddle straight. On Thursday night's ride, I noticed that my right knee was coming awfully close to the top tube while my left knee was tracking about 3 inches away. I had kind of noticed this before, but thought it was just me going through a phase of pedaling goofy. Really, I should have known better!

Friday, I took my bike into the shop. I just wanted to verify that the thing was straight. That the handlebars and saddle were straight and nothing looked too out of line. The mechanic adjusted the bars slightly, but everything else seemed in line. Weird!

Then I got to thinking about my shoes and the cleat position. I had bought new shoes and had tried to get the cleats in a similar position to my old shoes, but the right cleat seemed to be giving me trouble. I wondered whether all this was due to cleat position. I seemed so out of sync that this seemed a bit of a leap, but what else was there?

Fortunately, I didn't toss out my old shoes. I still had the pair that I happily rode in most of last year. The ones that felt so great during my long rides. The only reason I replaced them was because of age. They were starting to fray and tear at spot, but they still have some serviceable life left in them. They still had the cleats on them as well.

If it really was a cleat issue, wearing the old shoes should make things more comfortable, right? I just had to wait until I felt good enough to ride so I could test out my hypothesis. Finally, today I felt good enough to ride in, and apart from sporadic fits of coughing, the ride was pretty uneventful. And that's what I was hoping for. No moving my foot around trying to position it just so. No moving around on the saddle because I was sitting a little off-kilter. Most importantly, my right leg wasn't veering inward toward the top tube.

I'll give the old shoes a few more days just to be sure, and then I'll be headed to the shop to see whether I can get the new ones adjusted right. It's amazing to me that my shoes are that out of adjustment, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.

Hinky...

2010-05-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is an appropriate description of how I have been feeling on my bike. I hop on and ride, and I've been feeling a bit faster and stronger, but I don't feel "one with the bike".

Lately, for instance, I felt like my handlebars were crooked. I've since asked about 6 people to eyeball it and tell me whether they look straight. To a person, they all think they look just fine.

Yesterday, I had this feeling that I was sitting cock-eyed (where does that expression come from?!!!) on the saddle. I got home and dragged my wife into the garage. "Does my saddle look straight to you?" I asked. She indicated it was fine. Still, that didn't stop me from enlisting opinions from 2 of my neighbors. Let me tell you, they did NOT look very happy about being dragged away from dinner.

Then, there's the issue of one of my cleats feeling a bit mis-aligned. Okay, that I can tweak (and I just did) and test out on my own. One problem down...

When I woke up this morning, my eyes were all red and itchy from allergies. I was definitely not going to be able to put my contacts in so I rummaged around for my prescription cycling glasses and put those into use. The prescription's a bit old and differs a little from my regular glasses and my contacts. This made for some weird visual effects while I rode along until my eyes adjusted. As I sit here typing this, even my glasses feel a little crooked on my face.

So, there I was, riding along slightly visually impaired, feeling cock-eyed on the saddle, with a slightly mis-aligned cleat and handlebars that I felt were a little crooked. I just didn't feel right. I felt...well...hinky! Of course, if I cocked my head at just the right angle, everything seemed just right...until I moved my head.

Just as things start to look up...

2010-04-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

The past week and a half have not been good for riding. There were some weather issues, but mostly, I wasn't able to ride because I had gotten sick. Coughing, hacking, sick.

All week long I thought that the next morning I would ride. I'd get my stuff together. Have everything ready to go. Bike in the car. Change of clothes ready. Water bottles ready. Breakfast suff laid out. Then I'd go to bed...and cough...and cough...and then, I'd cough some more.

Eventually, I'd get up and take something for my cough and then get back into bed for the 2-4 hours of sleep. Needless to say, I didn't ride. Frustrating!

Finally, yesterday and today I was feeling well enough to ride. It's so nice to not be in a car for the entire commute. Let me tell you. Hopefully, this weekend I can get out and do my long training ride and just keep getting my miles in.

Progression...

2010-04-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

I was just reading the last post I made. It's been a while. It's odd reading that back now since so much has changed.

Since that post, I have concentrated on keeping my spin going, and I've paid some more attention to my position on the bike. I had been feeling cock-eyed on the bike. Like I was sitting at some jaunty angle. Concentrating on trying to keep myself in line and spinning has begun to pay dividends.

Don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm flying by everyone, but I have noticed progressive improvment. The morning ride up Torrey Pines has always served as a bit of a gauge for my fitness level. As I've progressed lately, I've been seeing my times going up this hill fall from well over 9 minutes to less than 8.5 minutes. Also, I'm able to hang with stronger riders for a while now before they drop me like a bad habit. In other words, I'm beginning to regain some form.

Like I said, progression.

Spinning wheels go round and round...

2010-04-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was on my bike. That was a good thing. I didn't feel real strong, though. That was a bad thing. At one point, I couldn't even hang with a guy who was obviously trying to slow up so I could latch on. It was pathetic.

My legs felt tight and I just couldn't get them moving fast enough. When I'm a bit out of shape, I have a habit of riding a bigger gear, using a slower cadence. As I start to round back into shape, I always have to start reminding myself to ride a higher cadence. Otherwise, I start to bog down.

Yesterday, on the way home, I realized that I had gotten into a bit of a rut cadence-wise. I kept dropping down into the 70s and I just couldn't get enough snap going to respond to changes in terrain and pace. When I finally figured this out, I dropped down a few gears and tried to keep my cadence up. It helped.

This morning I was determined to keep my cadence higher. I rode most of the flatter portions at greater than 90 RPM. I even managed to keep this up on small rises. Gearing down and keeping my cadence up on these rises allowed me to keep my momentum up and over. Overall, I just felt a bit stronger over the course of my commute.

It's funny how every year you make the same mistakes and then you have to re-discover what you had discovered just the year before. Thankfully, I seem to notice the problem sooner and get myself back on track. It'll be a while before I feel completely at ease going at the higher cadence, but it will come and I'll be better off as the year progresses.

Some days are more memorable than others...

2010-04-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

Do you ever sit around thinking about things you've done in the past? Sometimes the memory seems a little fuzzy and you can't remember the exact details of an event. Other times, the memory is crystal clear. You can remember everything in fine detail. You remember the day, the time and the events. You can remember the place, the smells, and even the song that was playing on the radio. Literally, it's like it's happening all over again, right there in your brain, just as it had at the time.

Well, today is the anniversary of one of those days for me. Ten years ago, my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I were in Napa Valley. We had been dating a year, and I had brought an engagement ring with me on that trip. I didn't know when, but at some point during that trip, I was going to spring the question on her.

I say we had been dating a year, but it didn't take nearly that long for me to know that I would be asking her to marry me. I had put money down on that ring a good 6 months before that trip. And even then, I had known for months. It's funny looking back on it now. I could have married her almost 2 years earlier and we would have been just as good together. Somehow, it just works.

Well, 10 years ago today my wife agreed to marry me. We were in Napa Valley in our room at this bed and breakfast. We had already been out and about doing some wine tasting. I hadn't found a good time to ask, but we were on the bed talking, having a great conversation. At one point, I just blurted it out. I asked her to marry me. Her answer, "Sure, someday!" I don't think she understood me completely so I got up and got the ring out and said, "No, I'm asking you to marry me."

As she saw the ring, she realized what was happening and started laughing hard and kicking her legs on the bed. There you have it, 10 years later and she still laughs hard and kicks her legs on the bed when something amuses her. Best of all, she still loves me and I still love her.

A long day on the bike...

2010-03-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

I long for a long day on the bike. You know, a ride where you start early and ride long enough that you need to worry about where your next meal is going to come from. Maybe, you don't even get back before dark.

Unfortunately, these rides have been few lately. The last ride longer than 40 miles for me was last summer. Since then, I've been re-habbing a shoulder that would start to ache after a little more than an hour on the bike.

It's been more than 7 months of treatment, physical therapy, icing, surgery, more icing and even more PT. Then this week, my orthopedist released me from his care and so did the PT. What now?

It seems like every week has been consumed by getting to my appointments, doing my exercises, and oh yeah, all the other things in my life. Now, I get to move forward. Maybe my shoulder isn't 100%, but it's better than it was, and it doesn't constantly hurt. I can even lift objects over my head without much pain.

Now, it's time to ride. Time to get back in shape. Time to start working on my mileage and going consistency longer on my long rides. Time to get ready for those really long days on the bike. Time to enjoy riding my bike again.

The Comeback

2010-03-25T09:03:00.001-07:00

I've now been back on the bike for the 4th week since my shoulder surgery. Before the surgery, I was riding and I was beginning to feel stronger, but I was still having problems with standing and pedaling or even when climbing hard in the saddle. Both would cause my shoulder to pop or grind and eventually cause pain. Now, climbing is never FUN, but when you start to get fit and you see the results of your hard work on your climbing, it can be fun.

I'm fortunate enough to have a hill to climb every morning of close to 1.5 miles. It's not long, but it comes at the end of my commute and since I do it every day I commute, I know how long it takes me to get up. My times going up the hill seem to be a good gauge of my strength and fitness. Last year, for instance, I saw my times going up dwindle to less than 8 minutes by June, when I started out in January with times closer to 9.5 minutes. I had hoped to continue my progression and carry over this fitness into this year.

Unfortunately, I got injured. My shoulder was recovering, but it was causing problems for me while climbing. When I started getting commutes in again, I was hard-pressed to get up this hill in 10 minutes. As I gained strength, I was able to get up to the top in the 9:45 range. I just couldn't pull back on the bars or climb out of the saddle. It was frustrating.

Now, that I'm 4 weeks out from my surgery, my shoulder is starting to feel strong again. It doesn't pop or grind, though it will occasionally bark if I move it just the right (or would that be wrong?) way. I can pull back on the bars without fear of causing myself pain, and with that, I've begun to climb a bit faster. On Monday, I hit the 9 minute mark and on Wednesday, I chatted with another rider as we rode up in just over 9 minutes. This morning, I broke 9, barely. Five seconds never meant so much to me in life!

Five seconds. That's how far below 9 minutes I was. With some luck, I will continue to heal my shoulder and get stronger. And hopefully, I will continue to ride stronger.

Random Thoughts...

2010-03-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

During my commute this morning, I had a bit of a nosebleed. All I could smell was blood. This, of course, made me think about how sharks go into a frenzy at the smell of blood. Naturally, this led me to wonder what would happen if a shark had a nosebleed. Talk about confusing!

Updated For Sale List

2010-03-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

I still need to clear out some stuff from my stash of stuff. Here's the first items (prices do not include shipping):

(1)**SOLD* Scott AT-4 Pro Handlebar-very little use, close to new condtition- $25

(2)**SOLD** 1 Salsa Stem (as seen in pic above)-1" quill, 120mm extension, 90 degree angle, excellent condition-$20

(3) Assorted Chainrings: Blue=New or darn close to new; Green=used but lots of life left

130 bcd 52T No ramp/Pins Sugino (I think)- $20
130 bcd 42T No ramp/pins Mavic (off a 631 Crankset)- $20
**SOLD**130 bcd 38T No ramp/pins QBP Engagement Ring- $15

135 bcd 53T 9s Campy Record - $25 each or $45 for matched set
135 bcd 39T 9s Campy Record

(4) 16T Dura Ace Track Cog 3/32" (excellent condition)- $10

(5) **SOLD*Cane Creek 200sl Single Pivot Brake Calipers (see pic below)-these are the ones with the Ti fittings. Almost new Swisstop Brake pads-Excellent Condition, brakes and pads used for less than 200 miles-$110 for the pair.

(6) Space Bar (26.0) clamp-$8

(7) **SOLD*Look Carbon Pedals-Excellent Condition-$30

(8) Parts from a Rawland Sogn (pics below):

**SOLD**Paul Thumbie Mounts (25.4 for MTB bars, black in color)-$40 (just the mounts, no shifters).

**SOLD*Velocity Synergy wheels (32H) laced to Shimano LX Hubs (Riv-Rich-built)-$250 for the pair

**SOLD*WTB Pure V Saddle- $40

These components were new when the Rawland was built. Even now, the bike has less than 100 miles on it. I just don't use it as is and would like to get some money back out of it. I'll listen to offers if they're not really off-base.

(9)**SOLD** Dura Ace 9 Speed Downtube Shifters-excellent condition-$35 shipped

(10) **SOLD**Dura Ace 9 speed Rear Derailleur-great condition-some wear on pulleys, but still have lots of miles on them-$45

Fat asses sitting in cars in stopped traffic...

2010-03-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

Clearly, the time change has brought out more cyclists in the evenings after work. With more afternoon daylight, there's been a significant up-tick in the number of cyclists that I see on the road as I pedal my way back to the park and ride in the evenings. Oddly, it also seems to have brought out more cars as well. I guess this is just a rite of spring.

Once the time changes, there's more cyclists on the road all of a sudden and there is also more auto traffic. For some of these motorists, this results in "Tony Kornheiser" moments, where there is a strong desire by some of these motorists to strike out at the cyclists. This usually manifests itself with gestures of the hand variety, but can also take the form of verbal "niceties", and occasionally, one of these drivers gets it in their head that they will teach those scofflaw cyclists a lesson and run them off the road, or worse.

This got me thinking about my interactions with this type of motorist. As cyclists, we've all been subjected to some sort of harrassment for the simple act of riding a bike. I realized that many of the people that I've had run-ins with have a lot in common, and I think I can explain the anger that they've built up.

First of all, most of these drivers are FAT. At the very least, they are really out of shape. Having just recovered from a shoulder injury where I had to take some time off the bike, I can relate to getting out of shape and having some angst associated with that. If I was fat as well, I can truly see myself being really unhappy about it. Now, if I was all fat and out of shape and unhappy, I really wouldn't appreciate a bunch of skinny, fun-loving cyclists, riding right by me while I sat in traffic, reminding me about the reasons why I'm so fat and out of shape and unhappy.

The second trait that many of these drivers have is that they are all ASSES. Have you ever tried talking to any of these people? Honestly, they're unreasonable, surly even. Most of them only know words of the single syllable variety. I would bet good money that these people would be considered asses by their families and co-workers. It's just who they are.

The third trait seems somewhat self explanatory: They're all SITTING IN CARS. Still, it's not all that it appears. I think we can all agree that the mere act of getting in a car can be distracting. There's cell phones, GPSs, and let's face it, most of these people are listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio. Basically, with all the distractions in a car, a person's effective IQ goes down while driving. For the types of drivers that I'm speaking about, this can have drastic consequences.

The last thing that these drivers seem to have in common is that they are IN STOPPED TRAFFIC. Okay, not always. Some will come out of nowhere and act in discourteous ways toward cyclists, but in general, it's much more common when the motorist is sitting in stopped traffic. They're not getting anywhere, and it just ticks them off to see cyclist whizzing by on the right, getting ahead of them. And don't get me started about what happens when one of these types of motorists gets it in their head that you didn't come to a complete stop with foot down at a stop sign! Never mind that these motorist usually do the rolling stop thing themselves. I think that we've already established that logic has flown out the window.

So there you have it, these types of drivers are: FAT ASSES SITTING IN CARS IN STOPPED TRAFFIC. Or, if you like, FASCISTs, for short. If you look up the definition, I think you'll agree that this is a completely apt way of describing these types of people.

Properly training the next generation...

2010-03-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

A few evenings ago, we sat down to dinner to nice hot plates of chicken teriyaki over rice with broccoli and carrots. Normally, this is a meal that the whole family enjoys. Yes, my kids are freaks who actually don't seem to mind eating broccoli and carrots. Add some chicken and yummy teriyaki sauce and they usually shovel it right down.

Oddly, on this night, they weren't so eager. Before you start thinking that they had finally come to their senses about the vegetables, let me explain. They started poking at the chicken, visually inspecting it with an eye that you hope all USDA inspectors have, but deep down, you know they don't. They would eat a little of it, but would do so very slowly.

At one point, Nico declared the chicken "Yucky!" Now as a father of young children, I felt the need to correct his behavior. After all, this was no way to describe a meal that his mother had worked so hard on. For this reason, I said, "Nico, don't you mean that it's...teri-yucky?" Of course, this was followed by hysterical laughter...on my part. Everyone else just stared at me like I was a blithering idiot.

Later that night as we were getting into bed, my wife asked why I insisted on making such awful jokes all the time, especially with the boys. I explained to her that as their father, I had an obligation to teach them the fine art of corny jokes. I told her that jokes such as these would be expected of them as they became men, married, and had children of their own. How else would they annoy their wives and their children in a family friendly way? As my wife stared at me in disbelief, I knew I had her. I had shown her that I had a keen understanding of my role in the family and how I would participate in the proper training of the next generation. She seemed to have no answer for my fine reasoning skills, but then a glimmer came into her eyes. She had a response.

"What would you have done if we had girls?" she asked. She thought she had me. In her mind, she had just found that fatal flaw in my logic. Obviously, she had underestimated me. Easy to do, I know, but I had thought this through thoroughly. "The same thing," I said. "Oh, and how would that work?" she demanded to know. So, I explained. If we had girls, I would still have to continue making corny jokes. This way, I could train them to reflexively roll their eyes and sigh heavily, while suppressing their desire to laugh hysterically. I explained that this would be a valuable set of skills to master as they became women, got married, and had children.

At this point, my wife's eyes rolled and she sighed heavily as she turned to go to sleep. "You know that you're one weird dude, right?" she said. "Hey," I retorted, "I'm just paying it forward!" At this, she laughed before she could suppress it, but then, in the dark, I heard her roll her eyes and sigh heavily, just before she went to sleep.

Roberto's and Girl Scout Cookies...

2010-03-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

Last night in the middle of the night, I awoke with a pain in my stomach. I'm not sure why, but my stomach was not happy. This ended badly for my desire to get up and get my morning commute. I couldn't get back to sleep until the wee hours of the morning and when my alarm went off, it was a no go. It turns out it was for the best. I had a sour stomach all morning and it would have made for a miserable commute.

I decided to make the best of driving in, so, at lunch, I went out to get a haircut and buy some lunch. I was still feeling a bit odd as I got my haircut, but I was getting hungry. The only problem was for what? What could I eat that wouldn't upset my stomach any further? This brings us to the title of this entry.

For those of you who know southern California, you know its dotted with taquerias everywhere you go. Well, in San Diego, the quintessential taquerias are Roberto's. Don't ask me why, but when my stomach's feeling a little goofy, I can always count on a machaca burrito from Roberto's to settle it right back down. For those who don't know what machaca is, it is shredded beef cooked with onions and peppers and fried egg. A machaca burrito is this concoction wrapped up in a flour tortilla. It's cooked up fresh at Roberto's so it's nice and hot and juicy when you get it. You pour some salsa roja in there and you're good to go. Just eat carefully.

For lunch, I paired my machaca burrito with an orange soda of recent vintage (Fanta, if I'm not mistaken). For dessert, I enjoyed some yummy girl scout cookies. Samoas. Can't explain it, but my stomach now feels about 100 times better. Now if I can only find somewhere to take a quick nap.

Labels

2010-03-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

On the right side of my blog, I have a section called "labels." It lists all the labels for the posts that I've made (at least the ones I've actually appended with a label). One interesting thing about this section is that it lists the labels in alphabetical order along with the number of posts with that attached label. Another interesting thing is that it makes the label BIGGER with increasing numbers of posts with that label.

Obviously, the bigger labels in the list should be topics of high interest, right? So, looking at the list, it is obvious that I have covered a variety of insanely interesting topics at a high level. Things such as shoulder injury, commute, or my personal favorite, mileage. Wait, that cannot be right! How have I gone for so long giving so little attention to such topics as sunny, stop signs, or shorts? These surely must be topics of great interest to people.

Okay, maybe I need to branch out more. I seem to have fallen into a sort of rut. After all, I was just about to post a new write-up on how my shoulder injury was affecting my commute days and how that inevitably leads to lower mileage levels each week. It was a scintillating read, but obviously not the stuff of legend.

So, to those of you who actually read this blog fanatically (and if you actually do, please seek medical attention immediately), I pose a question to you. What exactly would you like to read about? Come on, make it exciting. Bike related would be best. For example, kids might be a good topic. I could talk about how we play together on our bikes or how we go for rides together. Aardvarks, in contrast, might not be quite so appropriate. How many people run into an aardvark while riding their bicycles in southern California? Rest assured, though, if I do, you will all be the first to hear about it.

Let me know about topics and I'll see what I can do. For now, I will be posting this with the label "label".

Healing

2010-03-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

45 and 90. Those are the mileage on the bike post-surgery. Eight days after surgery, I managed to ride a few days and got 45 miles in for the week. Last week, I managed 90. I would have done more, but I got my shoulder really sore playing with the kids on Sunday morning and wasn't sure it was a good idea to ride so I iced it and took some ibuprofen.

Today it feels better and I managed to get my commute in. It's a little tight and sore, but not awfully so. I'll be gradually increasing my miles over the next few weeks. Hopefully, it'll calm down and in a few weeks I won't even be thinking about it.

Back in the saddle again...

2010-03-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I was able to get back on the bike. Well, kind of. It was on my indoor trainer. Still, I managed to sit on the bike and get some work in for an hour each on Saturday and Sunday. My shoulder hurt a bit but it wasn't too bad and I figured this was a good indication on what to expect on my commute.

Monday rolled around and I headed out the door early to do my intended bicycle commute. Unfortunately, it rained on my way down to the park and ride. I opted out of the bike portion. I didn't want to risk slipping and falling quite yet. Tuesday was my PT day so Wednesday was my first commute since the surgery.

I felt good to be back on the bike, but I felt sluggish and slow and out of sync. Then when I got home my shoulder was pretty sore. Thursday was another PT day. I recovered nicely from the Wednesday commute and felt pretty good at PT.

This brings me to today. I managed to get out for my ride and felt great on the way in. Not my fastest commute, but better than Wednesday. I'll be trying to ride through the weekend so I'll soon know how it responds to repeated beating, but so far so good.

Update...

2010-03-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

It's now officially a week since my shoulder surgery. So far so good. The shoulder seems to hurt less by the day and I seem to gain a little mobility in it each day as well. It feels so good in fact that I'm considering riding soon. I may not venture outside during this week, but maybe a little trainer time. If it checks out on the trainer then it'll be no holds barred.

Post-Surgery

2010-02-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

Two days ago, I had the arthroscopic procedure done on my shoulder. My A/C joint was cleaned up removing any frayed tissue. The labrum and the rotator cuff had some fraying that was cleaned up and the end of my collar bone was trimmed back from the A/C joint just a little.

Yesterday, I'd finally had enough of the painkillers. I must be missing the gene that makes this drug a pleasurable experience. For me, all it does is make me nauseous and constipated and it doesn't do a heck of a lot for my pain. And then, you can't even have a beer when you're on it. Basically, all negatives with no positives so I stopped taking it.

Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night, not from shoulder pain, but from the annoyance of the sling. So that came off, getting tossed across the room in the middle of the night. Then I was able to sleep the rest of the night. This morning my wife removed the dressing on the shoulder (except for the steri-strips) and now I'm sitting here typing with both hands. Nice!

I have physical therapy this afternoon so we'll see how it goes. It's definitely sore, but not unbearable. Hopefully, the recovery will be pretty straightforward and will progress without issues.

Arthroscopy...

2010-02-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

It's official. I will be having the A/C joint in my left shoulder cleaned up. Apparently, the doctor will also be trimming the end of the collar bone back a bit. This should take care of the popping and clicking and the pain that results from that.

The procedure will take place next Wednesday. The doctor indicates that I will only be sling-bound for a day or two and that complete recovery from the procedure will take about 6 weeks, but he won't be limiting my activity. Basically, I'll be free to try things and see how it goes. He said to let pain be your guide. From now on, that will be my new motto: "Let pain be your guide."

Stay tuned, I'll give the doctor a camera and ask him to take some nice pics and maybe some film footage. Or not. This is a family-safe blog after all.

I'm impressed-More Impressions of the Grand Bois Cerf (700X28C) Tire

2010-02-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, I wasn't sure about the switch to these tires. I am a bit of a fuddy duddy when it comes to tires. I tend to ultimately stick to tires I've used in the past even though I occasionally try (waste my money) on other tires. Most often, I end up on Continental Grand Prix 4000s or Ultra Races or Vredestein Fortezza Tri-Comps. Everything else that I've tried up to now feels slower or doesn't corner well. There was the time where some Avocet FastGrips took me down on a slick road at 35 mph. Then there's the sluggish ride of the Specialized Roubaix tires (unless you pump them up to ungodly pressures, but then what's the point in riding a higher volume tire?). Anyway, you get the point.

Now, I've come to the Grand Bois Cerf (28C width). It's puffy, measuring slight wider than it's stated size of 28C (28.2mm on my DT Swiss RR 1.1s), pumped up to about 95 psi. They roll quietly and comfortably, absorbing quite a bit of the road shock. They take the edge off expansion gaps and roads that have small rises in the pavement due to underground roots. This is great, but there's always a trade-off in speed, right? Wrong.

I've done three separate rides on them now. On my first commute on them, I easily managed a bit over 17mph round trip when I had been working pretty hard to go 16mph round trip. On a 32 mile ride over the weekend, I rode 18mph over a 32 mile course that I usually have to work hard to stay over 17.5mph. Then, this morning I just flew in to work, getting here about 5 minutes faster than average. Granted this is a small sample, but if this keeps up, I may have found a new "go-to" tire.

Initial impressions-Grand Bois Cerf (700X28C) tire

2010-02-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

When I walked in the door last night, there was a package waiting for me containing two brand new Grand Bois Cerf tires. I had been trying to decide between the Challenge Paris-Roubaix (700X27C) and the Grand Bois Cerf (700X28C). A survey of some people who have tried both seemed to indicate that the GB Cerf might be a little less susceptible to flats resulting from glass, which was what tipped me toward the GB Cerf.

Jan Heine (of Vintage Bicycle Quarterly and the importer of the Grand Bois tires) was kind enough to answer some of my questions and gave me a brief rundown on widths of some of the tires (measured on a Mavic MA-2 Rim):

Grand Bois Cerf 28 mm: 28.5 mm actual
Challenge Paris-Roubaix 27 mm: 29 mm actual
Grand Bois Hetre 30 mm: 31.5 mm actual

This was helpful as the bike was built to accept up to 32C tires and I wanted to make sure that I didn't purchase a tire that I could not use. As it turns out, there was plenty of room:

The rubber on the GBs seemed quite sticky coming out of the package and the beads were tight. It took a bit of hand strength to get the GBs onto my DT Swiss RR 1.1 rims. I was able to get them mounted without the use of tools but it took a little bit of grunting and cursing. Okay, maybe a lot of grunting and cursing. I think this was due to the "stickiness" of the tire. It seemed to really grab the rim sidewall as I was trying to muscle the bead into place. Much different from the other tires I normally use.

Once mounted, I pumped them up to around 95 psi and then went looking for my calipers. At first measure, they were 27mm wide. I went and measured my Jack Brown Green labels (33.3mm on a Mavic Open Pro-how did Grant do that?!!!) and my 25C Conti GP4000s (25mm on an Open Pro). I waited a bit and then re-measured the GBs and found that they had plumped a bit over time (to around 28.2mm).

I was pleased to find that they had a nice round profile once mounted as well. The GBs were replacing some Specialized Roubaix Pro II tires (the ones with the 25C casing and the 23C tread; measure 26mm wide on the DT Swiss rim), which seemed squarish when mounted. I hoped that the rounder profile would provide a bit of a nicer transition when cornering and might give the ride a bit more plushness as well.

The first ride came this morning on my commute. It's hard to say from one cold morning commute, but the tires were definitely more compliant than the Specialized tires they replaced, making the ride much more comfortable, in general. They felt faster and seemed to hold in corners nicely, as well. I find that the Specialized tires seem to feel sluggish at lower pressures and only feel fast around 115 psi. This seems to correlate with my commute times as well. Unlike the Specialized tires, the GBs felt fast at 95 psi while still taking the edge off the imperfections of the road surface. I'll have to ride them more and play with tire pressure a bit to dial them in, but I'm really impressed so far with the ride of the GB tires. After I've ridden them a bit more, I'll report more on my impressions.

Jeff...

2010-02-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

I've been commuting the same route, more or less, for the past 2 years. When you ride the same route 3-4 days a week as a commuter, you're bound to run into the same people who commute on the same route. One of these commuters has sort of become my barometer for how fit I am. His name is Jeff.

Jeff rides his bike hard. All the time, every day. He's one of those guys whose bike creaks and squeaks because he just rides and doesn't have time to do a ton of maintenance. He has shift levers on his bike, but I've never seen him use them. He just keeps pedaling, and if he has trouble staying on top of a gear, he stands for a few moments and rebuilds momentum and then sits back down again. If you see him over the course of the week, you'd be amazed at how consistently hard he rides. He's so consistent that if he seems slower some days, you assume he must not be feeling well.

When I first started commuting this route, I'd come across Jeff and I'd try to hold his wheel for a while. I'd usually last about 3-4 miles before I had to let him go. Over the course of the summer, I was able to hang with him more and more, and eventually, I could even pass him and let him rest in my draft for a while before he passed me back. After the summer, I saw him sparingly in the fall and winter, but he eventually appeared again toward the end of the winter. Something had changed, though. He seemed tired. He didn't leap out in front of me anymore. In fact, he'd often just sit in my draft happily. I didn't know Jeff well, but I was worried about him. I couldn't figure out why he didn't seem to be going as hard as he always did. When I did get the opportunity to speak to him, he seemed as happy and as content as ever.

I hadn't seen Jeff since last summer. After the accident, I hadn't ridden much at commute times so it had been about 6 months since my last Jeff sighting. As I rode from work yesterday evening, there he was sitting at a stop light. I pulled up and said hello, and then the light turned green and he was gone. I worked hard to close the gap and eventually caught him. He would pull away from me, especially on short rises, and I'd have to work hard to get back onto his wheel. It seemed the old Jeff was back, riding as hard as he could, bike creaking and squeaking, without shifting. At one stoplight, I jokingly asked him if he had gotten faster or if I'd just gotten slower. He just smiled and said, "I'm just ridin'."

As I reached the park and ride, I realized that my roundtrip commute average speed was 17mph. That's a full mph over what it had been since I've been back on the commute. It was then that I realized that Jeff was a sort of gauge for my fitness level. He pushed me on my commutes and when I was at a point when I was feeling really fit, that was the same time when he seemed to be slower than normal. Maybe, I really had just gotten faster during that time and he was going his normal speed. At any rate, I have some ground to make up again as Jeff is putting the hurt on me once again.

Weekly Mileage Report

2010-02-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

This past week was a little tough mileage-wise and the weekend was half-filled with rain and some-filled with sick kid. Still I managed some miles:

Week: 119 total miles for the week; 65 miles commuting.

Totals: 570 mile for the year; 336 miles commuting

This brings me well over the 500 mile mark for the year and keeps me ahead of last year's pace.

A Tireless Quest

2010-02-06T10:44:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been riding my A. Homer Hilsen a lot. One nice thing about the AHH is it allows larger tires with fenders, thus allowing the 700X33.33333C Jack Brown Green Label tire with no issues. I didn't expect to really like these tires to change my life or anything, but I have found myself loving the ride of these tires in a way that I didn't expect. These big, puffy tires have a really shallow checkerboard tread that makes them mostly slick. For me, they seem to work best around 80-85psi and they ride smooth and straight and here's the surprise-fast! They even corner well. Having spent most of last year on nothing wider than a 25C tire, this is something of a revelation.

This has led me on a quest to find a larger tire for my Rivendell Road. It was built around short reach brakes so the ability to get a tire as large as a Jack Brown in there just isn't possible. The design was supposed to allow for tires up to 32C and inserting the Jack Brown into the frame seems to confirm this as there is just a bit of rubbing on the brake caliper with these tires. After some thought and research, I had narrowed down my choices to the Challenge Paris-Roubaix (700X27C, but supposedly measures more like a 29C) and the Grand Bois Cerf (700X 28C, but measures closer to 28.5 or 29C). Reports out there indicate that the GB Cerf is a bit more puncture resistant when it comes to glass and other small road debris while the Challenge tire gets thumbs up for its ride quality. A lot of people who have ridden both have a hard time indicating a preference even though they all indicate differences in the ride quality.

I chose to try the GB Cerf. I ride my bike on mostly decent roads, but I have to deal with road debris like shards of glass and small rocks. I also commute on that bike and flatting a lot would be end up being annoying. I'll try to remember to report back on the ride when I've been able to ride them some.

Worth a Shot...of Cortisone

2010-02-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

I went to see the orthopedist the other day. If you remember from previous writings that I suffered a shoulder separation and a fracture of the coracoid process at the base where it meets the shoulder blade. The separation is a grade 2 which you can see from the second illustration means that I tore the ligament on the top of my collar bone where it meets the AC joint. A grade 3 is more severe and you tear the two ligaments between the collar bone and the coracoid process. I didn't tear these two. I just broke off the piece of bone to which they're attached. This makes my injury a bit weirder. My injury was originally called a grade 3 or 4 AC separation based upon the degree of rise of the collar bone from where it should be, but as it healed, it seemed to settle down to where a grade 2 would be. Unfortunately, for me, the coracoid fracture hasn't healed as far as we know.

After 6 months, I arrived in a new orthopedist's office to see why I'm having residual pain in my shoulder, especially with anything involving lifting my arm above shoulder height or while riding my bike. After examining the films and me, the ortho thought that most of the issue had to do with the separation and not the fracture. He felt that the grade 2 separation was causing problems because the collar bone was still not so far separated from the joint that it couldn't cause things to rub together as I moved. This, in turn, would cause inflammation and pain.

Better yet, he felt that there was a way to test this. He said that if it was the separation causing the problems, an injection of cortisone in the area should alleviate a great deal of the pain, and if my problems were related to the fracture, there would be very little, if any, relief. Sure enough, it's been two days now and my shoulder seems to have settled down a great deal. He indicated that a relatively simple cleaning out of the AC joint should help if that's the case. Still more PT and healing ahead, but the path seems more clear. I guess we'll see in two weeks when I go back for follow-up.

For Sale Listings

2010-02-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

I still need to clear out some stuff from my stash of stuff. Here's the first items (prices do not include shipping):

(1) **SOLD** Scott AT-4 Pro Handlebar-very little use, close to new condtition- $25

(2) **SOLD** 1 Salsa Stem (as seen in pic above)-1" quill, 120mm extension, 90 degree angle, excellent condition-$20

(3) **SOLD** Ultegra Octalink BB and crankset with 53/39 rings, but no chainring bolts-165mm length with no rings-practically new, not more than 20 miles on these babies-$50

(4) Assorted Chainrings: Blue=New or darn close to new; Green=used but lots of life left

**SOLD**110 bcd 34T Sugino - $15
**SOLD**110 bcd 50T Sugino - $20

**SOLD**130 bcd Shimano Ultegra 9s 53/39 matched set - $40 for the matched set

130 bcd 52T No ramp/Pins Sugino (I think)- $20
130 bcd 42T No ramp/pins Mavic (off a 631 Crankset)- $20
130 bcd 38T No ramp/pins QBP Engagement Ring- $15

135 bcd 53T 9s Campy Record - $25 each or $45 for matched set
135 bcd 39T 9s Campy Record

(5) 16T Dura Ace Track Cog 3/32" (excellent condition)- $10

(5) **SOLD**Avocet O2R Men's Racing Saddle (leather with Ti rails)-Excellent Condition-$50
It's hard to tell from the picture below (off the web) but there is a slight divot in the center of the saddle for pressure relief in addition to the channel you can see in the pic.

(6) **SOLD**Nitto Soba Handlebar- 46 cm C-C - Excellent Condition, center bulge has minimal, very faint scratching-$50

(7) **SOLD**Titec Silver Road Seatpost 27.2 (Exactly like the silver one shown below), really minimal scratches and mostly below insert line-$10

(8)**SOLD** 2 Grand Bois Hetre Tires (650B X 42C)-Red Tread-Less than 50 miles on these- $50 Each

(9) **SOLD** Cane Creek 200sl Single Pivot Brake Calipers (see pic below)-these are the ones with the Ti fittings. Almost new Swisstop Brake pads-Excellent Condition, brakes and pads used for less than 200 miles-$110 for the pair.

(10) Rawland Sogn Frame and Parts (pics below):

**SOLD** Frame/Fork and Cane Creek Aheadset-size Large, Canti-style-$260
**SOLD** Thomson Black Stem-$40
**SOLD** On-One Mary Bar-$50
**SOLD** Paul Love Brake Levers $90 for the pair
**SOLD** Paul Thumbies (25.4 for MTB bars, black in color)-$50 for just the mounts
**SOLD**Paul Moto BMX brakes-$150 for the pair (one bike's worth)
**SOLD** Phil Wood Stainless BB with Rings (not sure of length but works with XD Crankset)-$50
**SOLD** Sugino XD Triple Crankset-175 length 46/34/24 (Large and Midde Chainrings are TA Zephyr, small chainring Syncros)-$100
**SOLD** Velocity Synergy wheels (32H) laced to Shimano LX Hubs (Riv-Rich-built)-$250 for the pair
**SOLD** Pacenti Neo-Moto Tires-$35 each or $60 for the pair
**SOLD**Campy Racing T Front Derailleur-$15
**SOLD** Thomson Black setback seatpost 27.2- $60
**SOLD** WTB Pure V Saddle- $40
**SOLD** MKS Touring Pedals-$30

The only components that were not new when built is the Campy Racing T FD. Even now, the bike has less than 100 miles on it. I just don't use it as is and would like to get some money back out of it. I'll listen to offers if they're not really off-base.

(11) Space Bar (26.0) clamp-$8

(12) **SOLD**Nitto UI-5EX Threadless Stem for 1 1/8 steerer, 26.0 clamp, 110mm length-near new-$30

(13) Look Carbon Pedals-Excellent Condition-$30

Mileage Postings Begin Anew

2010-01-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't been posting my mileage in quite some time so here's a list of what I've done so far this year (weeks are from Monday through Sunday):

Week 1: 68 miles (included a day of riding on 12/30/09)
Week 2: 0 miles (lots of rain and I was sick as well)
Week 3: 134 miles (102 miles of commuting)
Week 4: 74 miles (34 commuting miles)
Week 5: 175 miles (135 commuting miles)

Since the crash, I have not been able to do a lot of riding on the road until relatively recently. I have started getting out on my bike for commuting purposes, but the rides are always 15-17 miles at a time and my longest ride on the road before this week was a little over 30 miles. Today (Sunday) I rode a 40 miler. Nothing special, but it was a little over 2 hours on the bike. My shoulder still hurts when doing longer rides and today was no different (and tonight there's a lot of tiredness and achiness in the shoulder). Let's see how it responds.

Hey, nice bike!

2010-01-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

I've been riding the A Homer Hilsen a lot more lately. The two major reasons for this are: (1) fenders ; and (2) a rear rack. The weather has a been a bit more wet lately and it's nice to have the fenders on the bike. The rack was a requirement given my shoulder status. I would usually use a messenger bag or backpack on my commutes, but my left shoulder is still not completely right and I get more pain than I would otherwise when using a backpack or messenger bag. Thus, the bike is set-up with a Nitto "Mark's rack" from Rivendell so I can use a rack-mounted bag to carry my things in.

Anyway, the bike has a really nice classic look to it with the Jack Brown tires and the fenders. It's a look that isn't always appreciated by the wannabe racer crowd, but the past two mornings I've gotten a few nice comments on the AHH. Yesterday, a guy was really impressed with the setup of the bike. And then this morning, as I was riding onto the UCSD campus, a cyclist at a stoplight yelled out, "Beautiful bike!" It's nice to get some well-deserved love for my Homer.

All by myself...

2010-01-27T09:28:00.000-08:00

All by myself
Don't wanna ride
All by myself
Anymore

When I was young
I never needed anyone
Riding a bike was just for fun
Those days are gone....

This morning I was treated to a post-rainy night commute. Usually, there are very few cyclists that venture out in the morning after a rainy night. Well...at least here in Southern California. Why should they when they can just wait until mid-morning and the wetness has given way to dry roads. But I ventured out. I had fenders mounted so I wouldn't be subject to spray and grit so I just got on the bike and rode.

I was, for the most part, all by myself. The only other cyclists I came across were those that had no choice but to ride a bike to where they were going. Migrant farm workers with no cars or homeless people lucky enough to have a bike. Those were the other cyclists on the road. Too bad, really. Recreational cyclists missed out on a beautiful morning.

They missed a morning with little to no wind. They missed a morning where the waves were big and crashing up close to the road. They missed a morning where the traffic on the road was abnormally light. Most of all, they missed the opportunity for witty conversation with yours truly. Okay, maybe not all that witty. After all, I'd only had about 1/2 a cup of coffee and I was groggy. Still, I was in a talking mood and I had no one to chat with.

Sure, I came across the occasional motorist that I could exchange pleasantries and hand gestures with, but no one I could have a scintillating chat with about the sorry state of our current healthcare system. Now, who wouldn't enjoy that conversation?! I also have a great take on the gay marriage issue. Now, that's a conversation for a morning bike commute! Okay...I'm beginning to think that the lack of cyclists on the road had nothing to do with the rain. Then again....

Graduation, kind of...

2010-01-22T09:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my last physical therapy appointment. I say that guardedly since my shoulder is by no means 100% back to normal. I would say it's at least 90% relative to my starting point. Some of the things I can now do that I couldn't right after the accident include: brushing my teeth with my left hand (important if you happen to be left-handed, which I am), wash my hair with both hands, wash my left armpit, scratch my right shoulder (with my left hand), drive with my left hand on the steering wheel, and ride my bike again (well, for short periods anyway).

My physical therapist was great. She helped me regain my range of motion and almost all my strength. I say almost on the strength because there are certain things that are slow to recover. She felt that I was really at a point where I could go forward on my own without PT. My range of motion and strength had leveled off pretty well so we had reached a stopping point.

The problem that remains is that I continue to have some pain, especially when I lift my arm at full extension above my head. The shoulder still "clicks" and elicits pain with certain movements as well. Basically, if I were a left-handed pitcher or swam on a regular basis, I wouldn't be able to do what I needed to do.

This puts me in a weird place where I have to do all the things I normally do and hope that the shoulder guides me on what action to take next. If it continues to give me pain and that pain doesn't diminish over time, surgery would be the most likely scenario. A gradual decrease in problems with the shoulder over time would be the best case scenario, as long as the shoulder allows me to do all the things I've become accustomed to doing. Put in simpler terms, it's time for me to try to cause myself pain and hope that I don't. Wish me luck!

The Commutin' Rig-A Homer Hilsen

2010-01-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

Since I keep mentioning the A Homer Hilsen. I thought you might want to get acquainted. Here he is dressed up and ready to roll. Actually, he's resting quietly now after the morning commute, but if I wanted to get out on the road, I'm sure he'd be ready to go again.

I was pondering the ride quality of this bike (very nice, by the way) this morning as I rode along and I'm sure it has a lot to do with the design of the frame as well as its build. It's set up with Rivendell's Silver Sidepull brakes which are wide and have a really long reach. Rivendell actually designed this frame with these brakes in mind and it makes for a very versatile bike. The Silver brakes allow for oodles (skads even) of room for big tires and fenders if you choose to have them on there. As shown here, the bike is sporting some SKS fenders and Rivendell's Jack Brown Green Label tires, which are marked as 700X33.33333C and they are pretty true to size. The rest of the bike is set up as follows: Hugi 240 hubs laced to 32 hole Mavic Open Pro Rims; Older Shimano 600 crankset (130bcd) with 48/40 Rotor q-Rings mounted; Phil Wood BB; Shimano Dura Ace 9 speed downtube shifters, rear and front derailleurs and 12/27 cassette; Campagnolo Chorus titanium seatpost topped with a WTB Silverado saddle; Ibis titanium stem; and a Nitto Noodle Handlebar (48 c-c) with Campagnolo Record carbon brake levers.

The AHH and my Rivendell Road Custom are almost twins geometry-wise so it makes it easy for me to go back and forth between the two. What makes the AHH a great commuter is it's ability to take large tires with fenders. I already wrote about the wonders of fenders the other day, but the tires make a big difference. The Jack Brown Green Labels are the non-belted version of this tire and they are very light (295 g) for such a large tire. They are also pretty supple and grippy in my experience, thus far. This comes in handy when I'm commuting, especially at night. They really take the edge off the road and absorb the road imperfections well. Part of my commute has sections of road that are raised and broken from tree roots growing underneath and the larger tire makes this section a lot more enjoyable (especially with my gimpy shoulder).

As I mentioned before, Rivendell designed this bike with big tires and versatility in mind. The Silver sidepulls give you the ability to put really big tires on this bike and still have clearance. I can readily remove the fenders and slap some big cyclocross tires on there and head out for a mixed surface ride. It handles that with the same grace as my daily commute. Oddly, if there was one bike that I would not let go from my stable (though I have tried to sell it in the past), it would be the AHH. I'd probably even give up my Riv Custom before the AHH. It's just that versatile.

Mudguards, fenders , and the dry-legged riders who use them...

2010-01-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

Since I was a little under the weather (yes, I meant to do that!) over the weekend, I futzed around with my A. Homer Hilsen to prepare it for action as the "go to" bike for those commutes which have the potential for being less than dry.

I had to re-do the bar tape. I had previously put in some Specialized Bar Phat Gel stuff underneath my bar tape, but it was just awful stuff to have under your hands while riding. As with most Specialized stuff that's supposed to be ergonomically helpful, this stuff made me hurt more. My hands didn't like it at all. So far, I have crossed off the list of things made by Specialized that are useful (at least for me): the Specialized Bar Phat Tape, the BG road shoes, and the BG gloves. The only things that I continue to use are the Specialized helmet and some of the tires (the Roubaix Pro II tires to be exact), and I'm not real sure about the tires. Does Specialized actually test this stuff out with real riders? I'm sure they do, but apparently every rider they use for testing is completely different from me.

Sorry about the mini-rant. At any rate, I found that a layer of cork tape underneath the Fizik tape I like to use gives me a much more comfortable perch on which to keep my hands. In fact, if you listen closely, you can hear my hands sigh at the thought of the comfy grip on the bars that they had this morning. "Ahhhhhhhhhh...."

Okay, I've really strayed off-topic. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, wet weather-ization of my bike. So, after taping up the bars, I adjusted the fenders and then finally put a computer on the AHH. Then, last night, I got tail lights mounted and added a space grip to the bars (see right). Then I was able to mount my headlights onto the space grip, and the bike was ready for action.

This morning I drove off to the park n' ride in the rain. It didn't look good as it was starting to get a little heavy, but by the time I got close to the park n' ride, the rain was nowhere in sight and I was able to start the riding portion of my commute in dry weather. Most of the ride was dry until I reached the Del Mar area and then it started to spritz. Then, as I rode along, the spritz sort of became a heavy mist and then became more of a spitting rain, eventually becoming a really heavy sprinkle, and then a light rain. Not real heavy, but enough to get everything wet and gritty, especially the road.

The fenders did their job with aplomb. When I arrived at work, I was damp, but not soaked. My shoes, amazingly enough, were nearly dry and had no grit and mud on them. The bike itself was pretty clean. Amazing! Usually, this amount of rain would have turned my bike into a gritty, sandy mess. I did re-learn one important lesson. Squeeze the brakes from time to time when riding in the rain to clear the rim sidewalls of water and grime. If you don't, you may find that you have no braking power at all when you need it. As a Southern Californian, this can be difficult to remember since riding in the rain is an uncommon occurrence.

The only real downside to fenders is the lack of excuses for riding in wet weather and the fact that people are not afraid to draft you in the rain. Then again, do you really want a fenderless boob passing you when it's raining?

SRAM Red Notes (Use of Shimano Cassette and Chain)

2010-01-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

I think I mentioned a while back that I really like the SRAM Red gruppo, though I'm not a big fan of the cassette. I've just had trouble with it. It's NOISY! You've probably read that elsewhere so I won't talk about the noisiness.

The big issue with me is that the Red cassette doesn't last very long. After about 1500 miles it skips on the cogs and the chain slips. It's weird because in the stand, it'll shift fine but then you ride the damn thing and the chain skips and slips. Put in another wheel with a lower level SRAM cassette and everything's good, so it's not the chain or anything else. It has to be the cassette.

So for $300, you can buy a SRAM Red cassette and enjoy it's svelte weight for around 1500 miles. What is that? Twenty cents a mile? It costs less than that to drive my car! That's ridiculous! For comparison, I have a 6 year old Dura Ace 9 speed cassette that probably has close to 7000 miles on it and it still shifts great (regular chain replacement helps, but still!).

I decided to go a different direction. I ordered up a Shimano Ultegra 10 speed cassette and a Dura Ace chain and installed them. Then, an odd thing happened. My drivetrain was dead quiet. Shifts were crisp. I could stand and pedal without worrying about my boys and a potential impact with the top tube. My bike now shifts like a high-end component group should. Granted, it's a new cassette and chain, but it replaced a cassette with only 1500 miles on it and a new chain. I'll report back if I experience problems, but right now, I'm extremely happy with this setup.

Tried and Liked in 2009, Cont'd.

2010-01-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

WTB Saddles-Over the last year, I spent a lot of time on WTB saddles and I have to say I love them. I didn't initially seek out these saddles. I came to use them rather accidentally.

First, a little bit of history might be in order. For about 4 years, I used the Fi'zi:k Arione very happily. The Arione is a nice long saddle with a flattish top from side to side, with a section in the rear that is just wide enough to amply support my sitbones. Two problems that I always had with this saddle are: (1) the nose would catch my shorts when going from a standing to seated position and (2) the nose had absolutely no give to it. These weren't dealbreakers, obviously, since I continued to ride them. Then during a double century, I started having issues with the Arione. Let's just say that after the ride, I just wasn't feelin' "IT". I hope I don't need to get more explicit than that.

Needless to say that a search for a new saddle began as soon as I got back into town after the ride. I tried a variety of saddles such as the Selle Italia Flite, some ProLogo saddles, a Specialized Toupe, and the Fi'zi:k Aliante. For such a universally loved saddle, the Fi'zi:k Aliante was the most heinous of the bunch.

I realized pretty quickly that I wanted a longish saddle since I like to move around on the saddle as I ride and that the nose has to have a bit of drop and some give to it. It also has to provide some form of relief in that "special guy area." Also, I don't like a highly padded saddle as it tends to cause chafing over longer rides.

One day I was rummaging through the saddles in the bike shop and came across a WTB Silverado that was a take-off from one of the shop's bikes. It was longish and had a bit of a relief channel and the nose had some drop and some flex to it, and not too much padding. It looked like it might work. It cost me about $10 and I thought at worst, I would have a saddle that I can use until I find a better one.

Then a funny thing happened. I put in on my bike, set it dead level, and rode it. I kept riding it as I searched for a new saddle. One day I realized that I wasn't even thinking about the saddle as I rode. Even more amazing to me was that on those rainy days when I'd be on the bike trainer, I didn't experience any discomfort or numbness. I'd never in my entire cycling life ridden a saddle that was comfortable on a prolonged trainer session. Needless to say, I was sold. Since that time, I've put a few double centuries on them and ridden over 5000 miles on them without incident.

Now all my road bikes have the WTB Silverado mounted. They just plain work for me. On my MTB, I mounted a WTB Pure V Saddle which has more width to it. This seems to work a bit better on this bike as I have a more upright position on the MTB. I'm not sure why bike shops do not carry more of the WTB line of saddles. It seems that they are a great alternative to the myriad of ultra-expensive overhyped saddles you'll find out there.

Of course, this should all be taken with a grain of salt. Tushies vary greatly from one person to another so try some saddles out before you commit, but make sure you give the WTB saddles a try when you do. You might be surprised.

2009 Mileage

2010-01-01T08:27:00.001-08:00

I was having a great mileage year up until the day of my accident. I had about 4500 miles for the year to that point. As I have begun to heal, get back on my trainer, and get an occasional ride outside, I've added a little more than 600 miles to bring my total above 5100 miles for the year. Not bad for a yearly total, but obviously, it could have been better. Some days, I lament the fact that the past 4 1/2 months have left me in a state of lost fitness and short of some of the goals that I had set for myself last year. As the New Year comes, though, it's time to look forward rather than looking back.

I don't know if I had mentioned that around the same time as my accident that I was being laid off from my job. As the new year gets underway, I will be starting a new job. One that pays a little less, but is definitely more suited to me and my talents. So already, I'm in a better place in 2010 than I was at the end of 2009. I'm also in the process of healing from my shoulder injury. I still have the specter of potential surgery hanging over my head, but there are days when the shoulder feels better and I think that I may not need it. If I need surgery, I'll deal with that and just work toward getting myself back on the bike regularly and re-gaining my fitness. No surgery would be the best option and if that's the case, then I look forward to a great full year of cycling.

I'm always reluctant to set goals, especially when I don't know whether I'll be able to ride the full year. Regardless, I hope to surpass my mileage total for 2009 and try to get closer to the 7500 mile mark. As for specific rides go, I'll be a bit vague and say I hope to finish as many double centuries this year as I can, along with some brevets. As always, I just want to enjoy my riding and have a great time doing the rides that I choose.

Have a great year everyone! I hope to see you on the road.

Tried and Liked in 2009, Cont'd.

2009-12-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

Calfee BarStem-I've been riding a Calfee Road Barstem most of the year. I ordered the 46 cm stock bar (though they will use any carbon bar you like) that Calfee uses and paired it with a 110 mm stem, specifying a sight upward angle for the stem. Calfee then takes your bar and stem and fits them together by mitering the stem and then wrapping the joint with carbon fiber. You end up with a one piece bar/stem combo that is as solid as anything you could ever find out there, and you get to specify the bar width, stem length, angle, and even the finish. Try finding that on other bar/stem combos! They are even lighter than most setups you'd find elsewhere.

The stock bars are very nice and have a nice flattish top with little indentations for the fingers and a nice little divot to rest your thumbs. Cabling fits into a nifty groove underneath the bars so they are hidden and out of the way. The tops are nice and long as the bar only turns forward at the very last possible second. The lead-in to the hoods of the brake levers is also mostly flat with a small bump that seems to be in just the right spot for you to rest the palm of your hand. The drops themselves are short and shallow with an ergo bend, making them quite comfortable and giving an easy reach to the brake levers while riding in the drops.

My original bars had to be replaced after my accident this past year. They looked to be undamaged, but the shop indicated that with carbon bars, you just want to err on the side of caution. Since I was ordering a new set, I bought another one for my other road bike. The bars are simply too comfortable and I have trouble getting comfy on my standard aluminum bar and stem setup. I can't say enough about the Calfee Barstem. I don't think I'd like to tackle a double century without them.

Thankful

2009-12-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

As it's Christmas Eve and all through the house creatures are stirring and neither is a mouse, I am sitting in front of my computer trying desperately not to yell "shut up!" The creatures, or my sons as I sometimes call them, are just two of the many reasons that I am thankful.

It's been a bad year in some respects. Our dog died, I was knocked off my bicycle by a car door, and I was laid off from work. Sounds downright crappy when you say it like that, but that's not all there was. My sons are growing up fast and they're hilarious and just generally fun to be around and spend time with. Well worth the associated exasperation at their messiness or lack of listening. The plus side to being laid off was that every day I had the opportunity to pick them up from school, help my oldest son with his homework, and get them outside to play. I learned a lot more about them over the last three months and for that I am thankful.

My wife is always a presence in my life for which I am thankful. She is there to remind me when I'm getting a bit too angry at the boys and there to remind me that I'm not as big a loser as I feel like for not having a job. Sometimes, I even believe her. I always believe her when she tells me she loves me. The fact that I never doubt that is something that I am truly thankful for.

Though my shoulder is still not healed and there is still some possibility of surgery that will require even more rehab, I am thankful for the fact that I am only dealing with a shoulder injury. It could have been worse. I could have come down on my head or my neck, or I could have landed in the middle of the road in traffic. I try not to think of these possibilities, but I have to admit that I was very fortunate, though sometimes I don't feel that way about my injuries.

As the year is coming to an end, things are looking up. I have managed to find a new job and will be starting on the 4th of January. We're starting to dig ourselves out of the debt incurred from selling a house in a really crappy real estate market. Our boys are great and they care about each other, play well together, and for the most part are well-mannered and all-around great kids. As for my wife, well...I love her even more than I ever have. As we go forward in life, I learn more about her every day and with each little thing learned, there is simply more to love.

As you can see, there is so much for me to be thankful for. If you think about your situation, I'm sure you'll find plenty there too.

First of many tried and likes in 2009

2009-12-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

It's somewhat of a tradition for me and others on the internet-Bob mail list to write up their tried and like lists each year. Here's the beginning of these. I'm going to post in a series of posts rather than all at once:

Dislikes:

(1) Car Doors- these things are a menace to society, or at the very least, a menace to cyclists everywhere.

(2) Shoulder injuries- you know what I mean if you've read this blog over the past 4 months.

(3) SRAM Red Cassettes- these things are feathery light and beautiful and somewhat pricey ($250 or so). They are also loud and for me, they wear out fast. Mine was less than 1500 miles old before I started having chain slippage. The only thing that seems to fix this is changing out the cassette which can only mean that the old one is too worn.

Likes:

(1) SRAM Red Group (minus the cassette)-works flawlessly. It is well made and attractive and light without being fragile. Great stuff!

This sucks!

2009-12-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Went out for a ride today. Typical Southern California December day. 75 degrees with a light wind. Nice!

It was a gorgeous day to be on the bike. Of course, the shoulder was sore and aching. I could feel my collar bone moving every time that I stood to pedal and swayed the bike side to side. I tried to just relax and ride. As I pedaled along in the saddle, it wasn't too bad. Maybe a twinge here and there, but somethings still wrong with it.

I've gotten a lot of my strength back. The range of motion has come back nicely, too. I just can't seem to shake that movement of my collar bone as I do certain things. And the movement is followed by pain, sometimes immediate, sometimes later. I decided to seek out a second opinion on the shoulder and have an appointment of Monday afternoon.

I'm not sure what to hope for. It seems that the only way the second Orthopedist could differ with the first one is to recommend surgery. I guess I shouldn't think about it too much and just let him do his job and then make a decision based on what I hear from him.

In some pain, but on the bike...

2009-12-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been 4 months and I'm still working on this shoulder issue. At the last Ortho appointment, I found out that the fracture was still only showing the same low level of healing that was seen the month before. Since then, I have been continuing physical therapy and have started using a bone stimulator.

For those of you who don't know what a bone stimulator is, it is a device that is supposed to send electromagnetic waves into an area where bone growth is needed, supposedly stimulating new growth. Sounds good in practice, but in reality, it's this goofy device that you strap on, press a button on the attached control box, and wait 30 minutes. At the end of the 30 minutes, this cheesy device beeps a couple times and displays a smiley face. As if that's not goofy enough, the whole contraption runs on the power provided by a 9 volt battery. Ain't technology grand?

I don't know whether the bone stimulator, or BS for short, is working. The physical therapy does seem to be helping, in that I am regaining strength in my shoulder and the range of motion is starting to approach normal. Great, right? Only problem is that I'm still having issues with pain, especially when lifting just about anything over shoulder level. You know, super heavy stuff, like a water glass or a dinner plate. I'm also feeling quite a bit of movement over the separation site as I do things. Some days, the shoulder just hurts all day.

I am able to ride a bit, though. My one saving grace. Most of my riding right now is on the bike trainer. Riding on the road is do-able for short periods of time, but my shoulder starts to hurt after a little over an hour on the bike, and I definitely can't do any ride with a sustained climb right now. Standing and pedaling uphill causes movement in the area around the shoulder separation and though it doesn't hurt much at the time, I pay for it later. Also, sitting and pedaling uphill hurts as I pull back on the handlebars for leverage. Still, I can tell that I am regaining some bike conditioning and that counts for a lot. Now, I just need to get the shoulder back to where it needs to be.

This past week, I underwent an MRI and next week, they will do yet another CT before I meet with the Orthopedist. Hopefully, it'll tell us that things are healing and more time is needed. Unfortunately, the PT seems a bit concerned about the movement and pain at this point in the process. I'll try to report in next week after I know more.

Shoulder Update....

2009-11-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, not great news. The Orthopedist sees no new healing of the fracture beyond what he saw last month. I'm also feeling more pain and movement in my shoulder than I had over the past month.

The doctor suggested an MRI over the next week and then a new CT in a month's time. Over the interim, I will be continuing physical therapy and using a bone stimulator to see whether we can stimulate more healing of the fracture.

Three months out and my shoulder still hurts and aches a bit. I still feel movement around the separation site. I am definitely gaining mobility and some strength, but it's hard to know what's going on. Some days I'm happy with my progress, others not so much. Riding my bike on the road definitely causes it to ache for extended periods of time.

When the injury happened, I didn't think that I'd still be dealing with the healing process three months later. Therapy yes, but not with the healing.

How much do you use your shoulder when you ride?

2009-11-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

The answer to the question posed above is...a lot!

You'd be surprised at how much you use the shoulder. Every little bump in the road that you used to absorb with ease can cause a jolt of pain in your shoulder if it's not right. Riding into the wind? Well, you hunker down and you pull back on the bars a bit to get leverage...and what do you know, you use shoulders for that, too. Standing and pedaling...yep...shoulders get used for that too. Climbing a hill in the saddle? More shoulders. To paraphrase Steve Martin: "Those shoulders...they get used for everything!"

I did get out on an actual road and did some actual riding. It was fine at first, but the shoulder started to hurt after about 10 miles. It still hurts now, some 6 hours later. I guess we'll have to keep up the work in physical therapy. I also see the Orthopedist next week. I'm sure it's normal to have some pain. I'm sure it's normal to be frustrated about it as well.

I'm 3 months out from the injury, though. I would have thought that I could at least ride for a few hours pain-free. I wasn't expecting P-B-P distances without pain, just a 30 mile jaunt. I'll post after the Ortho appointment. Maybe by then, the pain will subside and I'll get a few more rides in as well.

Shouldering my way...

2009-10-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last week, my Orthopedist looked at a CT of my shoulder and was pleased to see some healing of the fracture. Eight weeks in a sling and he was seeing SOME healing?! You mean this thing is still not fully healed? Arggghhhhhh!

The good news was that the sling was not necessary anymore. Yay! The bad news was that the sling actually helped keep some of the pain at bay. Since that time, my shoulder has basically ached 24/7. Sometimes a lot and sometimes a little, but continuously ached. It's been 9 weeks and I'm still not able to get a full night's sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night with discomfort and then can't seem to get back to sleep.

My experience has been that the shoulder will feel the same for a while and then will miraculously start to feel much better one day. I can definitely move it around a lot more without much discomfort. It will bear more weight than it did a few weeks ago. There is progress, I guess. It's just frustrating. At the beginning of this process, I really thought I'd feel better by now and would be merrily chugging down the road on my bike. Instead, I'm on my bike trainer, gritting my teeth, trying to get through a 40 minute workout before my shoulder makes it too unbearable.

I know. Patience. It's coming along. I just need to be patient.

Slingin' it....

2009-09-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

I was excited Tuesday when the orthopedist told me that everything seemed to be in place and the shoulder separation seemed a little less...well...separated. Unfortunately, he still wasn't able to tell me whether the fracture was healing. He did say that I could start my PT, which sounded great.

I made the appointment and went and realized that it wasn't much of anything. I can't lift anything or work on strengthening . All I can do is passive range of motion exercises. Oh, and I still have to stay in the sling. It's going on 6 weeks now and I'll likely have to stay in the sling through 8 weeks at least. At that point, I'll do another CT and meet with the orthopedist.

The lack of exercise is eating at me. I'm starting to do some walking. That's about all I can do. I can't ride the bike, or run, and I certainly can't swim, so walking is about all I can do. I can't even go hiking since I'd need a backpack and where would I carry it?

The One Armed Man

2009-09-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 5 weeks since I've been on a bicycle. I have 4 fully functional steeds to choose from, but all I can do is look at them. The broken part of my scapula requires me to keep my arm in a sling. I'm not really supposed to take it out much ,and I'm definitely not supposed to put weight on it. Riding would require me to do both.

The hope is that the sling will keep the shoulder in a position that will allow the fracture to begin to heal. It's hard to tell what's going on in there. The shoulder hurts and aches, especially at night and in the early morning. When I do have it out of the sling for brief periods, when showering for instance, the shoulder feels dead and weak. It just doesn't feel like I can use it.

It worries me that it feels that way. I go back to the orthopedist on Tuesday and he's supposed to take a look to see whether there's any healing of the fracture. I'm hopeful, but at the same time, I dread the results. What if it's not healing? More sling time, I suppose. Or possibly surgery. Who knows?

Be careful out there. Those car doors can do more damage that you'd imagine!

Pain

2009-09-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

I thought the pain was bad when I first injured my shoulder. There was some very sharp and intense pain that would hurt like heck, but it would go away until I moved a certain way or tried to do something I shouldn't.

Now, that I'm gradually recovering, I find that I don't get those sharp pains as much. Instead, there's more of an intense ache. In a lot of ways, it's worse than those first few days after the accident. It can't be avoided as easily. It aches whether I move certain ways or not. Whether I'm relaxed or not. I know it's temporary, but it's also not a lot of fun. It gives me a little taste of what of what it's like for those who are constantly in pain. I'll be glad when it goes away. At least I know that, for me, it will eventually.

Restraint...

2009-09-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

The fracture in my scapula, according to the doctors, most likely won't need surgery. That's a good thing. Unfortunately, they want me to keep the should immobilized as much as possible to encourage healing of the fracture. If it doesn't heal then they might have to go in and do something about it.

For now, I have to spend another 3 weeks at least in the sling. By restraining the shoulder and showing restraint in using it, hopefully this will start to heal and I can begin PT.

Bad news, good news....

2009-09-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

The other day I was complaining about the lack of news about the CT of my shoulder. I was avoiding thinking about the fever and chills that I'd had for a few days. By that same night, I was breathing a little rough so I asked the "family doctor" to listen to my chest. My wife listened and then listened again and then told me that I have pneumonia. Great! What's next?!!!!

The following day as I was trying to get some work done from home I finally heard from the doctor about my CT. Apparently, the fracture is felt to be non-surgical. Finally, some good news! Also, that same day some of the pain that I'd been feeling in my left lower back and leg seemed to subside as well. Not completely subside, but I'm no longer afraid of trying to stand up. I view that as a good thing. Now, hopefully the antibiotics will take care of the pneumonia and time will help to heal up my shouder. And then there's that little problem of finding a new job....

Waiting on tests....

2009-08-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

CT on Tuesday and still no word. The results weren't back yet so I'm still walking around with a balky shoulder and no idea of what might be done to help get me back to normal. ARRRGGGGHHHHHHH!

Ouch...

2009-08-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted an entry. Last Tuesday evening a guy in a car parked on the side of the road opened his door just as I was about to pass him. I managed to not take the door squarely, but I still caught it with my right arm and foot. This sent me tumbling to my left.

I fell squarely on my left shoulder and hip. This all resulted in a fire engine and paramedic response and an ambulance ride to the hospital. My shoulder hurt badly and I couldn't move my arm without pain. My hip hurt, but not as bad as my shoulder.

Thank god for painkillers because it took several hours in the ER before they finally got all the x-rays done and got me cleaned up and ready to go. The end result was a separated shoulder and a fracture in the process of my scapula, a seriously bruised hip with swelling and numbness in the area, a cut on my right foot that required dermabond to seal up, and bruising on my right upper arm and wrist and on my right foot.

Headed out to get a CT of my shoulder to determine the severity of the separation and fracture...

How to drive a triathlete batty...

2009-08-11T10:31:00.001-07:00

Triathletes spend a lot of time thinking about their bikes. They want their bikes to be lighter, more aerodynamic, faster, have less rolling resistance. (Of course, this doesn't mean that they do maintenance on their bikes. Come on guys, ever hear about chain lube?) Once that has been worked out, they get on them and want to ride fast, usually while wearing some ridiculous one-piece cycling suit where the legs of the shorts are too short and the tops of the suit show every nuance of their fitness (or lack of).

Then there's their riding habits. Pace? Do they even know the meaning of pace? They just ride and if they drop or gain 5 mph every few minutes, then so be it. Riding in a straight line? Okay, some can, but we all know plenty of triathletes who'd flunk out of kindergarten for not staying within the lines. Draft manners? Real triathletes don't draft and really don't like it when someone else does, especially because they think they're so fast and work so hard to be that fast. Besides, who wants to ride right behind someone wearing that silly one piece outfit anyway? And what's up with those crazy racks on the backs of their seats with all the CO2 cartridges and water bottles and their tools and spare tubes strapped on? How many of us have seen a triathlete riding along, ejecting water bottles or other stuff from these racks? Come on people, is a seat back really that hard to use?

Here in Southern California, we have more than our fair share of triathletes riding along our roadways, resplendent in their skin tight one piece cycling outfits, pedaling along at ridiculously low cadences in ridiculously high gears, hunched over their aerobars like some sort of Quasimoto cycling savant. Most have tuned out the world as they labor over their aerobars, listening to their headphones, obviously too self-important to talk to any other cyclist that they come across. Besides, should another cyclist come along, they are someone to be instantly left behind by the triathlete.

Thus went my experience on my homeward commute last night on my newly wide tire- and fender-shod A. Homer Hilsen with the downtube shift levers. At a traffic light, I had the prototypical triathlete shoot past me as the light turned green. Mind you, I was stopped with one foot down prior to the green while he was speeding along and caught the green light at speed. I wasn't upset by this, at first, but as we rolled along, he would barely slow at stop signs while I would come to a stop or near stop. Even then, I kept catching up to him at traffic lights. Once green, he would quickly speed away, as if afraid that I might actually want to draft him (see above). I noticed, however, that he wasn't gaining anything on me. In fact, I would slowly reel him in every time he would jump out in front. I realized that this was bothering him because he would work harder to lose me each time, so it became a game for me. How long can I annoy the triathlete?

Finally, I had a chance to really get this guy. At a stop light, we both got caught at the red. As it turned green, I started out slowly, but noticed that he was having trouble clicking into his pedal. On the other side of this intersection was a short hill so I took off up the hill and then settled into a nice pace once on the flat. I was going to make him work to catch me. Sure enough, he couldn't. At least not until we hit another red light. At that point, he was bound and determined to lose me. He took off on the green and was really trying to pour it on. I decided that I'd try to catch him and I stood up and sprinted to make up the gap. I then settled back into the saddle and drafted him, even as he dropped and gained several mph randomly (see above discussion on pace). Finally, we reached a light and I think he had had enough. He slinked through the red light, leaving me behind to wait for the green. I'm sure as he rode along afterwards, he couldn't help but gloat about how he had dropped me like a rock!

A good time wth A. Homer Hilsen...

2009-08-10T14:44:00.001-07:00

A few weeks back I finally took ownership of some Jack Brown (Green Label) tires. These tires are listed at 700 X 33.3C and are nice and fat and hold a lot of air. I mounted them up on the A. Homer Hilsen and then got the fenders in place, thinking that it's always nice to have a fully-fendered bike in the stable for those wet days in the saddle. As I looked at the nice fender lines and those great big tires, I felt a need to ride them. But when? On most days, I tend to pull out the Davidson racing bike or the Rivendell Custom. Fenders and fat tires were reserved for days when I had a good reason for going slow, right? Um...well...no!

This morning I pulled it down for the commute. As I started off, I realized I didn't even have a computer mounted on the darn thing. Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to enjoy the ride, I thought to myself. As I settled into my ride, it was quite obvious that those big tires were soaking up a lot of the road imperfections. And they rolled along quite nicely. I hardly noticed any difference in getting them up to speed compared to my narrower tires. They just rode...well...nice! Grant Peterson and the rest of the Rivendell crew really hit a home run with this tire!

The lack of a computer was a revelation too. I saw a lot more on my commute this morning. The ocean, the waves, the bewilderment on other cyclist's faces as I rode along. Most were either amused by the fenders and big tires or the big silly grin on my face. Either way, it was a great ride!

Weekly Update (week of 7/27-8/2)

2009-08-06T14:41:00.001-07:00

90 miles last week
3765 miles for the year; 2905 on the Davidson; 370 on the A Homer Hilsen; 490 on the Rivendell
1927 commuting miles
Weight: 186 lbs

Commuted 3 days. Had Mom in town for the weekend so no rides over the weekend.

Weekly Update (7/20-7/26)

2009-07-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

151 miles last week
3675 miles for the year; 2815 on the Davidson; 370 on the A Homer Hilsen; 490 on the Rivendell
1837 commuting miles
Weight: 186 lbs

Mostly commuting this week. I did get a nice short ride in on the weekend. We have a bit of a virus that's lurking in the house and I think I'm fighting it off a bit since I feel a little achy and tired. It still felt good to ride, but I don't think a longer ride would have been a good idea.

Neuvation M28 SL Clincher Wheelset

2009-07-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I've made mention of these wheels before, but I thought a little update might be in order. These wheels are 20H in front and 24H in the rear. The rim profile is aero and the wheelset weights in around 1600 grams without skewers. I bought them based on positive reviews of many of the Neuvation wheels. I've had them now for about 9 months and have ridden them around 2000 miles or so. My major concern going in with these wheels was durability, given the number or spokes (or lack thereof). I'm no flyweight climbing specialist at 186 lbs so I want to know my wheels are fairly sturdy.

These wheels have performed well. They roll fast and have held up to rough roads and commuting pretty well. I popped a spoke a few weeks back on the rear wheel. This resulted in the wheel going out of true a bit, but I was able to open up the brake and get myself to work. I was surprised that the wheel didn't get so out of round that I couldn't ride it, given the low number of spokes and the higher tension in this type of wheel. It's nice to know that I wouldn't necessarily have to hitch a ride home if I break a spoke, but I'm not sure if I would have ridden more than a few more miles on the out of true wheel.

Neuvation supplies you with replacement spokes so I took the wheel and the replacement spokes to a local bike shop and they were able to put in the new spoke and the wheel trued up really nicely. Since the repair, I've put another 150 miles on the wheel without incident. I'm really impressed with the quality of the wheel and how it's held up so far. It's doubly amazing given the low cost of these wheels. If you're in the market for a pre-built, low spoke count racing wheel, I would definitely recommend Neuvation.

Weekly Update (week of 7/13-7/19)

2009-07-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

120 miles last week
3524 miles for the year; 2664 on the Davidson; 370 on the A Homer Hilsen; 490 on the Rivendell
1717 commuting miles
Weight: 186 lbs

Just commute miles this week. I've been feeling a bit burned out, but it's coming back around. Back on The Davidson. Right now, I just feel better riding it. I'll be making some tweaks to the Riv in the near future to try to get it to match up a bit better to the Davidson as far as my position on the bike goes.

For Sale Listings....

2009-07-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

I still need to clear out some stuff from my stash of stuff. Here's the first items (prices do not include shipping):

(1) Scott AT-4 Pro Handlebar- $25

(2) 2 Salsa Stems (as seen in pic above)-1" quill, 120mm extension, 90 degree angle, excellent condition-$25 each

(3) *SOLD*Mavic 631 Starfish Crankset (175mm)-some light scuffs but still pretty; shown with a 45T single chainring, but it's currently set up with a 52/39 combo. I can include the 45T and bolts if you would like it as a single-$100

(3) Trek 1000 Frame/Fork-aluminum with 50cm C-T seat tube with 51cm C-C top tube in great shape, 126 rear spacing, a few scratches here and there-comes with Tioga headset and unknown maker seatpost come with Ultegra Octalink crankset-165mm length with no rings-$75

(4) *SOLD*Nitto Quill/Ahead Adapter : One of the nicest quill adapters ever made. Cold Forged alloy for strength, with a nice brushed finish for good looks. 80mm length, 22.2mm quill fits standard 1" thread frames. 1-1/8" diameter, 70mm length knurled stem clamp area. Beautifully machined threaded bolt cover keeps the inside clean as a whistle. To see it is to believe it. See here for picture: http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=188_263_796&products_id=601
This has seen very little use and is in excellent shape-$40

(5) *SOLD*Nitto Periscopa Stem-25.4 clamp, very little use, excellent shape-$25

(6) *SOLD*Nitto Albatross Bars, Aluminum, 25.4 center section, little use, excellent shape-$45

(7) *SOLD*Wheelset-Ultegra 9s hubs (130 rear spacing) laced to Mavic MA-40 Rims (32 hole); very small knick in rear rim from a nail through a tire, only cosmetic damage; no skewers; only sign of usage is brake mark on sides, otherwise excellent-$120

(8) Assorted Chainrings: Blue=New or darn close to new; Green=used but lots of life left

74 bcd 34T Sugino - $15
110 bcd 50T Sugino - $20

130 bcd Shimano Ultegra 9s 53/39 matched set - $40 for the matched set

130 bcd 52T No ramp/Pins Sugino (I think)- $20
130 bcd 42T No ramp/pins Mavic (off a 631 Crankset)- $20
130 bcd 38T No ramp/pins QBP Engagement Ring- $15

135 bcd 53T 9s Campy Record - $25 each or $45 for matched set
135 bcd 39T 9s Campy Record

(9) *SOLD*Profile Stoker Bullhorn Handlebars (26mm clamp ; 47 cm width C-C) and Cane Creek Reverse Pull Brake Levers- both nearly new with very little use-$35 for the bars and $20 for the levers (or $50 for the combo).

(10) *SOLD*TA Zephyr 110 bcd double crankset (175mm arms)-arms have marks where a screw on my road shoes rubbed-there is a slight indentation-$60

(11) 16T Dura Ace Track Cog 3/32" (excellent condition)- $15

What does it say about me when...?

2009-07-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

This morning, I was about to leave for my morning commute, having just slathered myself with sunscreen. I was saying goodbye to the kids when my oldest son asked, "Why do you smell sweaty?" Confused, I asked him what he meant and he smelled my arm again and said I smelled sweaty. Apparently, my kids equate sunscreen with the smell of sweat. What does that say about me?

The Mid-Summer Slump

2009-07-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

It always happens. Summer comes and brings with it sunny weather and longer days. You've been waiting for it for months, thinking that you're getting sick of riding in the cold and/or the wet. You've been dreaming about how once summer starts, you'll be able to head out the door without planning for changes in temperature. No arm warmers, no leg warmers, no full-finger gloves, no shoe covers or wool socks. You wish you could just pull on a jersey and shorts and head out the door. Then one day, summer is here. Finally!

You've been riding diligently since last December, keeping your training consistent. Getting in those long miles on the weekend. Hitting the indoor trainer when it's too wet outside. Pulling yourself onto your bike in the mornings and evenings when it's dark outside, riding through the swath of light produced by your lights. You keep up with it, waiting patiently for the summer when you can just ride without all the difficulties, when you can finally enjoy that hard-earned fitness by riding on nice, clear, sunny, summer mornings.

You've been getting up morning after morning early to ride. You've been arranging your weekend schedule so you can shoehorn that long ride into the weekend events, without disrupting family time. After some weekends, you feel exhausted from trying to ride and still do all the "Dad" and "Husband" things. The next week starts and it's a mad rush, just the same as the week before. You're still exhausted, but you see the increases in fitness and it feels so good. You figure when summer starts, this will all pay off. I'll feel great on the bike and really just enjoy my rides.

Just one problem. You're tired! The weekend comes and you wake up to a gloriously sunny, summer morning, but something has happened. The mid-summer slump! All that training and planning and working around the schedules, and now, all you want to do is sleep in and take it easy on the couch, watching the Tour de France on TV. Either that or you find ways to distract yourself from riding. Hmmmm...I haven't torn down, cleaned every component, and re-built my bikes in a while. After all, once the Tour is over and the bikes are bright and shiny, it'll still be summer. And everyone knows, that clean bikes ride faster than dirty ones, right? Now, where did I put those Q-tips anyway?

Weekly Update (week of 7/6-7/12)

2009-07-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

113 miles last week
3404 miles for the year; 2634 on the Davidson; 370 on the A Homer Hilsen; 400 on the Rivendell
1590 commuting miles
Weight: 186 lbs

Weird week. Monday I broke a spoke on the Neuvation rear wheel (M28 SL) on the way to work. It was out of true, but not so bad that I couldn't limp into work, and it trued up fine after replacement. Wednesday, I got a nice big gash in my rear tire on the Rivendell (a Conti GP4000). Odd since this is a fairly rare event for Contis, at least for me.

I still felt a bit tired all week so I didn't push it much. I think the next week will bring more miles.

Rivendell Road Spec Sheet

2009-07-13T14:39:00.001-07:00

There has been a lot of discussion about the new Rivendell Offering: "Roadeo", and what it's going to be like and what not. This made me start thinking about my Riv Road which was a custom built by Curt Goodrich. I asked for a road bike that was semi-relaxed for short reach brakes (at the time, the newer long reach brakes were few and far between and I wanted to make sure that I'd be able to get brakes 20 years from now that would work with this bike). I didn't want a lot of braze-ons, just ones for fenders should I want to put them on there. I also asked for horizontal dropouts (my one regret since fendering it with these dropouts requires more room in front of the rear wheel which ruins the aesthetics a bit). I've since had the bike repainted and I relaced the steer tube to make it threadless. You can see pics here, if you haven't seen them already. Also, here's the spec sheet that I received from Rivendell when I picked up the frame in 2001. I would imagine that the new "Roadeo" would be very similar, but might be spec'd for long reach brakes and vertical dropouts. Just a guess. If the new bike rides as well as mine, there will be some very happy Roadeo riders out therw!

Ponderings Post-Double Century...

2009-07-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about my ride and how I felt during it, especially on the hills. I felt like I was climbing especially well all day long. Even at the end of the ride, I still felt great. It's hard to remember having a day like that while riding 200 miles. I know I've felt good on these rides in the past, but it really has been a long time.

There are two things that I think are directly correlated to how I rode: (1) consistency in my riding and (2) weight loss. Since I've been riding my bike more on my commute, I simply get regular miles in. This, I think, is a key issue and probably related to the weight loss as well. My commute is relatively flat with a few rollers and only one climb, but if I'm doing it 4 days a week, it adds up both in miles and time spent climbing. I also get to ride with other riders who challenge me in various ways by giving me a pace to try to match or a person to try to catch on a hill, etc. If I add on a weekend ride, then the miles add up even faster. This, in turn, has allowed me to lose some weight. I would guess that I've lost 9-10 lbs since last year.

The weight loss and the increase in consistency has definitely helped me in my climbing. This is where I see my biggest gains. I'm a little faster on the flats, but I'm definitely climbing faster. I know from experience that being faster up a hill will lead to shorter ride times in a way that increasing your cruising speed won't. Then there's the energy savings of not pushing that extra 9-10 lbs up every hill. Over time, that energy savings pays off and you feel better as you go longer into a ride. Makes sense, I guess. I just hadn't given it much thought until now.

Thinking back, this is where my separation from Bill and Tim came from on the Grand Tour. Any little hill seemed to allow me to separate from them. I can't say that every ride will be like that since they've both shown the ability to do that to me in the past, but I was climbing better that day and the result was obvious.

Weekly Update

2009-07-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

93 miles last week
3291 miles for the year; 2619 on the Davidson; 370 on the A Homer Hilsen; 302 on the Rivendell
1477 commuting miles
Weight: 186 lbs

Post-double century week. I took it kind of easy. I was tired and the legs were a little heavy feeling, but rides later in the week felt much better.

June Mileage Total: 738 (biggest mileage month so far this year).

2009 Grand Tour Double Century Ride Report (Saturday, June 27 in Malibu, CA)

2009-06-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Before the ride:
We checked in the night before at the START/FINISH line at the Malibu Performing Arts Center, near the Pepperdine University Campus. After that, my brother Tim, his friend Bill, Tim’s girlfriend Kathy and myself headed to the hotel in Westlake Village (about 30 minutes away), stopping along the way to get some pasta makings for dinner. Once at the hotel, Kathy (thanks again, Kath!) very kindly cooked up some spaghetti and meatballs while we readied our bikes and gear for the following morning.

We all loaded up on carbs (mmmmm, pasta!) and then tried to settle into bed and get some sleep before the dreaded 3 AM alarm went off. Once awake, I popped some Pop Tarts (best pre-ride food ever!) in the toaster and started getting dressed. As we were all readying for the ride, Kathy once again put on her chef’s hat (Thanks!) and whipped up some breakfast burritos (flour tortillas stuffed with eggs, potatoes, and sausage-YUM!).

We started the drive toward Malibu, only to realize that I had left my fully prepared water bottles at the hotel so we made a quick return to the hotel to retrieve them. This time, we made it into Malibu with no further issues. We made our pre-ride visits to the restroom and checked in and managed to be on our way around 4:50 or so.

Miles 0 to 35:
The route started out going north on the Pacific Coast Hwy, a really beautiful stretch of road that hugs the Pacific Ocean. This section has quite a few rollers on it and after a few of these, I put some distance between myself and Bill and Tim. I was riding with a guy named Perry from my brother’s cycling club most of the way up the PCH, and I tried to maintain a nice comfortable pace, figuring that Bill and Tim would be catching up eventually. Tim usually has early “legs” and hammers out the first 40 miles or so, but this time around it wasn’t happening. I didn’t see them until the rest stop at Hueneme (pronounced "wy-nee-mee", of course!). At the rest stop, I re-filled my water bottles and ate a little food. I also packed my arm warmers, knee warmers, and lights into a bag to be transported up to Rincon for the return trip (the hills were coming soon and I wouldn’t need the warm clothing, or the extra weight for that matter). Tim and Bill pulled in about 10 minutes after me and I waited for them to do their thing before heading out again.

Miles 36 to 50-something:
From Hueneme, we headed east to the first big climbs of the day on Potrero Rd. During this section, I ran into Cheryl and Steve from the Western Wheelers club that I used to ride with. It was great to see some familiar faces and catch up a bit. They hadn’t done the Grand Tour before so I filled them in on the upcoming climb. This is, by far, the most difficult and steepest climb of this ride. The section leading in took us through neighborhood and then into farmlands, where it was relatively flat, but we soon made our way to the base of the climbs. The route sheet warns you about the climbs coming up, telling us that we had ½ mile of moderate climbing followed by a 1½ mile climb that was very difficult (topping out ~18% grade in one section). It wasn’t all pain as the view was great as we climbed on up. I managed this section well. I did the serpentine thing at the top, but realized I probably didn’t need to since I was so close the summit at that point. After that, we had a nice downhill and then a few short easy climbs into the next rest stop.

Once again, Tim and Bill had fallen behind a bit. Tim arrived at the stop first, about 10 minutes behind me and Bill followed soon after. Once again, we re-fueled, availed ourselves of the facilities, and were on our way.

Miles 50-something to 81:
We still had several more small climbs to go as we continued up Portrero Road and curved around Lake Sherwood in Westlake Village, and then headed into Thousand Oaks. This section was a bit busy and full of lights, but not too onerous. Finally, we reached the next rest stop at Glenwood Park in Moorpark. I reached rest stop before Bill and Tim. I ran into Perry again and chatted for a bit and then started about my rest stop routine. I got my stuff ready and re-charged my water bottles and used the restroom. Tim and Bill reached the rest stop a good 20 minutes behind me, but they got their stuff in order and we were able to head out together. I had stiffened up a bit at this rest stop and it took some time to loosen up again. I was spending a lot of time at the rest stops waiting for Tim and Bill to get in and then get ready to leave again.

Miles 81 to 118:
As we left the rest stop, we headed north and went along Grimes Canyon. It’s usually getting pretty warm at that spot in the ride and this day was no exception. The part of the ride along Grimes wasn’t very trafficky and there was a nice, moderate climb in the middle, followed by a great descent at the end. The descent was full of sweeping turns with a hairpin in the middle. It was fast and fun, but I did get a bit of a scare during the hairpin, though, as I took it a little faster than I should, but the tires dug in and got me through.

The descent from Grimes Canyon ends near the tiny town of Bardsdale and puts you smack in the middle of a ton of orchards. This section is always windy and you have to plow through a headwind for about ten miles or so. A woman that had followed me down the descent had tucked in behind me for the haul into Santa Paula. I hunkered down and tried to keep my momentum and my cadence up. I wasn’t exactly speeding along, but I was maintaining a 15-16mph pace. At one point, I realized that I had dropped the woman behind me and I didn’t see her anywhere. I eventually caught a few other riders and we worked together to finish off this section, arriving in Santa Paula.

Santa Paula is a little run-down looking, but the inhabitants are mostly very friendly and warm. Fortunately, there’s a store in the center of town, which makes for a great impromptu rest stop. I ducked in to get a Coke, some Gatorade, water and a Snickers bar and went outside to top off my bottles and enjoy the snack while I waited for Tim and Bill. Once there, they did their shopping and topped off things before we headed out again.

After leaving Santa Paula, we headed toward Ojai for lunch. At the 100-mile mark, I checked my riding time (6:15 on the bike-not bad!). I had been dreading Ojai Rd. because it has a long climb of 8 miles that is always in the heat. The climb isn’t real steep, but the length and the heat often leave me cooked. It was here that I realized that I was having a great day on the bike. I had already done several climbs and was feeling good, but I found this section to be almost too easy. I really got up and over this section with relative ease. The heat took a bit of a toll, as I was developing a bit of a headache, but it wasn’t too bad. Once the climb was done, there was a nice 6-mile descent into Ojai followed by a few miles of flats into the lunch stop.

Once again, I had reached the rest stop well before Bill and Tim. I had pretty much done my re-fueling and eaten lunch by the time Bill rolled in, and it probably took another 10 minutes before Tim got in. Once there, Tim and Bill ate and re-filled. I was anxious to get out of there as I’d been sitting around for more than 30 minutes before Tim arrived, but Tim was still feeling off his game and it took him some time to get going again.

Miles 119 to 138:
When we left the lunch stop, we went through a series of turns that are hard to figure out. You go through a maze of streets through a residential area where the street signs are few and far between. I thought we might never get out of this section, lost forever. Finally, you emerge from this and find your way to Highway 150/Baldwin Road. It was hot, and we still had a 4-mile climb and a 1-mile climb ahead of us as we made our way around Lake Casitas and to the coast in Carpinteria.

Once again, I pulled away from Bill and Tim as the road started to rise. For a long time I was by myself, working my way toward the first climb. It seems kind of cruel as the promised 4-miler comes after a series of shorter climbs that they don’t warn you about, leaving you to wonder when to start your mental 4-mile clock.

Finally, I arrived on the promised climb and started my way up. It felt weird to be all alone as I started up since I’d had other riders around me all day. I continued on up, making good time. It seemed much easier a climb than I remembered and with about a mile to go in the climb, I literally caught and passed about 20 cyclists. I was amazed at how fresh I felt compared to the looks on the other riders’ faces as I passed. After this climb there was a bit of a respite before the final 1-mile climb of this section. Once again, I was catching and passing other riders as I reached the top.

These climbs were followed by about 5 miles of downhill with nice sweeping turns. There were a lot of cracks in the road that had been sealed up. I learned that this sealant is a bit slippery as my rear wheel lost traction briefly around one of the turns. Scary, but I stayed upright and took the rest of the corners with a bit more caution. After this section, it was a nice, easy jaunt into the Rincon checkpoint, where my wife and kids were supposed to meet me. They were running a bit late, but it was worth the wait, and it was nice to see their smiling faces after so long on the bike. In the picture, that's me with the kids and Bill on the left amd Tim on the right. My wife wanted to bring the kids to the finish to meet me so I promised that I’d finish pretty close to 9PM so she could plan for it. This meant that I had about 3½ hours to finish the last 60 miles or so.

Miles 139 to 166:
Upon leaving the Rincon rest stop, you have to get on Highway 101 for about 5 miles (UGH!). I hate that stretch, but it’s just about the only way to connect to the rest of the route, I suppose. I got ahead of Bill and Tim again and caught up with a tandem ridden by 2 members of the OC Rebel Riders, a local group that I’ve been meaning to meet up with. They were an amiable couple and we talked as we rode along until they got the itch to go faster and I just wasn’t able to match their speed. Once off the freeway, you enter a bike path and then go through a busy area, eventually reaching Hueneme again. I had maintained a pretty good pace through this last section and was feeling pretty good, though I had gotten a bit of a chill. The coast brought cooler temps and I had failed to put on my arm and leg warmers before leaving Rincon.

I put on my extra clothing and re-filled bottles and ate some salty cracker and some chunks of cheese. That was the best cheese I’ve had since…well, last year at the same rest stop on the way back to the finish. As I was doing all this, Tim and Bill showed up. Tim was looking cooked and was non-committal about leaving anytime soon. Since Bill was staying with him, I made the decision to leave on my own with the goal of getting back to the finish around 9PM.

Miles 167 to 198:
I was making great time as I left and headed back toward the PCH and the homestretch. As I took off, I rode with another rider as we worked our way toward Point Mugu. We chatted about bikes and his recent trip to Amsterdam as we rode along at a nice clip. We were very please by the sizeable tailwind that we were getting as we headed southward. Once on the PCH, we had a bit over 20 miles left.

As we entered the PCH, I told the guy I was riding with that I’d soon have to make a pit stop, but not to let it stop him from going on. I started to pick up the pace, thinking he’d be on my wheel, but soon I was alone and looking for an outhouse. Eventually, I found one and pulled off the road for a quick stop. Afterward, I continued on making great time, riding comfortably in my big ring at 22-23mph. Soon I caught back up to the guy I had been riding with, but he had hit a wall and was unable to keep up so soon I was alone again.

This stretch is a bit difficult at the end of a double century as it has several rollers that are sizeable enough that you have to shift to the small ring and ride on up. On a lot of the smaller ones, I surprised myself and managed to just stand and shoot up and over just like I had in the morning. Only the tallest of the rollers slowed me down, as I made good on my promise to my wife, pulling into the finish right around 9:11 PM. I was amazed to see that my total time on the bike was only 12:02, which meant I had ridden the second half of the ride in less time than the first half. I had a great ride, and my wife and kids greeted me warmly. This, by far, was the best part of my day!

Epilogue:
The best decision I made going into this ride was to switch back to the Davidson and my old shoes. I was tired, but rode pain-free all day. I’m not sure that would be the case had I ridden the Rivendell and used the new shoes. Now, I can get those dialed in for the next ride.

I decided to use three water bottles all day rather than a Camelbak. I was worried, but the rest stops were spaced out almost perfectly so I was able to fuel up when I needed. I also saved the wear and tear on my back and shoulders of carrying that weight all day. Food-wise, I grazed at the rest stops, eating mostly bananas and crackers or pretzels along with a few Cokes and the Snickers. Other than that, I used Perpetuem in one of my bottles spiked with Endurolytes and some Hammer Gel. These, I had to carry with me since I knew they wouldn’t have Perpetuem at the rest stops. When I ran out, I used Sustained Energy instead and it worked just fine. For drinks, I used Camelbak Elixir and Nuun and the occasional bottle of Gatorade. I also downed 3-4 Endurolytes at each of the rest stops.

When I walked into the finish check-in, I ran into Steve and Cheryl again. I asked about their average speed on the bike and their finish time (16.1mph and 7:30PM). At that point, I realized that I had lost a lot of time at rest stops, amounting to more than an hour and a half in wasted time if I use Steve’s and Cheryl’s times as a guideline. That was likely the time that I was delayed by waiting on Tim and Bill at rest stops. Usually, we’re a bit more evenly matched, but I was riding and climbing really well this time around, and they had some additional issues to deal with. Fortunately, they both forged on and finished the ride despite the sour stomach for Tim and some cramping problems for Bill.

Ride Stats:
Distance: 198.8 mi
Total Time: 16h 10m
On-bike Time: 12h 2m
Average Speed
(on the bike): 16.5mph
Total Climbing: ~8500 ft

Weekly Mileage

2009-06-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

250 miles last week
3198 miles for the year;2526 on the Davidson; 370 on the A Homer Hilsen; 302 on the Rivendell
1447 commuting miles
Weight: 186 lbs

This was a vacation week, leading up to the Grand Tour. We were busy doing Legoland and Disneyland and other stuff before heading up to Santa Barbara last Thursday to visit friends. I squeezed in a 25 miler on Tuesday and Wednesday, along with a short ride along the bike path with the kids. Just enough to keep the legs fresh for the double on Saturday. Stay tuned for the ride report.

Weekly Update (week of 6/15-6/21)

2009-06-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

173 miles
2948 miles for the year;2276 on the Davidson; 370 on the A Homer Hilsen; 302 on the Rivendell
1567 commuting miles
Weight: 186 lbs

This is a belated post as I was on vacation. The next to last week before the Grand Tour Double Century. I was just trying to get comfortable on the Davidson again before the double. I had a good week of riding, topped by an incredible Father's Day with my wife and kids.

That familiar feeling....

2009-06-18T09:34:00.001-07:00

In my last post, I mentioned how I spent a few weeks on a different bike, using new shoes and how that was starting to cause problems. Yesterday morning was the first day that I had gone back to my old shoes since the switch to the new ones.

There I was on the Davidson in my old shoes and things felt better, but not perfect. I felt a bit awkward on the bike. Don't get me wrong, it was better. My legs didn't tighten up on me and my knees were happier. It just felt a little strange after riding with the new shoes for a few weeks.

This morning I felt much more in sync. I could spin at a higher cadence and my foot position felt more natural. Overall, I was simply more comfy. Things just felt more....well....familiar.

This showed itself as I climbed up my morning hill. It's not overly long, about 1.5 miles, but it gets the heart rate going. I usually time myself from the speed limit sign at the bottom to the flashing sign at the top. Up until now, my best time was about 8 minutes and 24 seconds. This morning I was feeling pretty good and figured I'd come close to that. Amazingly, I got up in 7:56. I actually broke 8 minutes. I was hoping to do that by the end of the summer, but I didn't expect that it would happen now.

It's nice to feel good on the bike again.

Upcoming Event (and don't fix what ain't broken!)

2009-06-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

A week from Saturday I hope to put my latest Davis Double disappointment behind me by completing the Grand Tour Double Century in Malibu. I went into Davis feeling great and strong. I rode exceptionally well for the first 80 miles or so. I came in more prepared than I had last year, and I was climbing well and had great legs all day. Unfortunately, the allergies and asthma got the best of me during the ride. I've had a miserable year with allergies and thought that I had put those difficulties behind me going into Davis, but as they worsened over the ride, I got to the point where I was breathing rough (despite my rescue inhaler), and it was time to pack it in. Hopefully, I can keep them under control for the Grand Tour.

When I returned from Davis, I had done two things that I probably should not have done with another double looming in a months time. I built up a bike that I hadn't been riding and started riding it regularly, and I bought a new pair of cycling shoes. At first, everything felt good, but I began to realize that I was experiencing some odd aches and pains. My knees were giving me issues and so was my back, and my legs were stiffening up a lot. I was worried that I had a big ride coming up and everything seemed to be going awry at the same time.

One day, I pulled down the Davidson which I had been riding more regularly this year and took it out for a spin. Soon, I realized that my back and neck and shoulders felt a bit more relaxed as I rode. Subsequent rides proved this to be true as well. Unfortunately, the knees and stiffness were still an issue. Finally, I thought to try to go back to my older shoes and of course, my knees were thankful for the change. Go figure!

As a trained scientist, you'd think I'd know better. Never change more than one variable at a time. A different bike with different angles and components is like changing a whole grocery list of variables at the same time, and I was only adding insult to injury (literally!) by throwing the new shoes into the mix. After the Grand Tour, I'll have some time to iron out the fit issues on the shoes and the other bike, but for now, I'll stick to the things that have been working for me.

See you down the road!

Weekly Update

2009-06-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

160 miles last week
2775 miles for the year;2103 on the Davidson; 370 on the A Homer Hilsen; 302 on the Rivendell
1447 commuting miles
Weight: 186 lbs

I'm now less than 2 weeks away from another double century. I'd been riding the Rivendell a bit more since I had just gotten it back, but I switched back to the Davidson late last week. I felt a lot more comfortable on the Davidson when I switched back. I decided that I wasn't going to have enough miles on the Riv for the double century attempt so I'd stick with the Davidson. The next double will be in the early fall so I should have more time to dial in the Riv for that ride.

I felt so good on my bike leading up to Davis, but I've been feeling a bit out of sync since. I took a whole week off the bike after Davis because of the allergy issues and have since had weeks of 87, 125, and 160 miles. This past week from Sunday through Saturday, I actually road close to 200 miles (I always report Monday through Sunday here, though) so I have been putting the miles in. Hopefully, this week will be a good one and next week I can relax leading up to the ride.

Tired...and Hungry!

2009-06-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

You ever have one of those mornings? You have a hard time getting out of bed and it's hard to get started. Most of you are saying, "Yeah, every day!" I know it's a stupid question. I meant it rhetorically so there's no need to get all snippy with me for asking.

I managed to get up and out the door this morning. It was my 4th day in a row of riding. I always seem to have trouble when doing consecutive days like this. I was tired and my legs were feeling less than enthusiastic about riding. The strong headwinds on the way home that past few days haven't been helping much. In addition to that, for some reason, I was starving. Every little cafe that I passed seemed to be cooking up some bacon or sausage or pancakes. I was tempted to just stop and have a nice breakfast.

I made it into work just fine. There are days like this where the mind and the body are at odds with each other. I'm glad I rode in. I know that tomorrow and Friday, I might not be able to ride at all so it's good to get the ride in while I can.

Lessons in energy useage, while climbing...

2009-06-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

This morning on my way into work, I reached the bottom of a climb a bit behind another rider. I let my competitive juices get the better of me and I set out to catch up a little too quickly. I wasn't able to maintain the pace that I started and was forced to shift down and fall back a bit.

Soon, the other rider had created a gap that was about the same size as that when we started the climb. And for the most part, it stayed that way. In the second half of the climb, I was able to make up a little of it, but it was too late.

I was feeling great and I actually climbed the hill well. I could have done better. I spent a lot of energy initially. I should have stayed more within myself. I would have caught the other rider later on the climb and more than likely, I would have been able to maintain my pace better, rather than having to back off and then try to catch up again.

Lesson learned. Don't expend energy unnecessarily. Pace yourself.

My kids love this scene...

2009-06-08T14:07:00.000-07:00