Spoken

Posted by Daniel Sun, 31 Dec 2006 18:48:00 GMT

I’m not big on goals. I think I’ve made that clear.

I’m especially not big on cycling goals, for me cycling stuff (at least for now) is more health related than cycle related. So measuring cycling stuff induces behavior that my wife finds er, umm, disturbing, at the least. Health goals, on the other hand she can get behind with a bit more enthusiasm. Anyway, I went for a ride with a cycling buddy, the aforementioned “Jenni”, with whom I knocked back quite a few miles this past season. She’s always fun to ride with, and has a great attitude. She’s been calling herself an “ice pansy” because she doesn’t like riding in the cold, but she had a goal to reach 1500 miles this year, and that was that, cold or no. I met up with her to spin around the lake and polish off her last 8 miles. We did a bit more, but her toes were cold (she’s not entirely equipped for cool weather riding), and so at 12.5 miles she called it quits. As we rode we talked and during our discussion today, I told Jenni that I don’t have any goals, but I realized that’s not true. I do have one.

I want to take my son on a bike ride. Well, sort of. He’s not even two ‘fer gosh sakes! But we now have a trailer courtesy of All The Junk Glenn Ebayed (tm), and I can’t wait to take him. And a related, biking-with-my-whole-nuclear-family-unit goal, enabled by the trailer and the ability to take carry Noah inside., which frees my wife to join in the fun (whereas before we would have to take turns, and she was decidedly uninterested.

Sorry Jenni, I have one afterall.

And for the fact that I have a goal at all… I apologize to Seth. BTW, Congrats on the baby. Man is your life gonna change :~), And how incredibly wonderful of you both. I wonder if this is gonna kill our spring ride? :~)

PS Glenn of Piermont Bikes will EBay pretty much whatever you drag in there (with a few caveats on size and weight for the moment) for store credit. No percentage is taken off the top, and his prices are from decent to excellent. More importantly, he’s really pleasant and easy to work with… I have another more favorite shop, but Glenn has earned a lot of business from me because of this policy, and I’m on the verge of buying a second not cheap bike from him because of it. Recommended.

Posted by Daniel Sun, 24 Dec 2006 16:27:00 GMT

Posted by Daniel Mon, 11 Dec 2006 01:17:10 GMT

I broke out the rollers despite the beautiful weather today because I had no time to ride. Even in the relatively mild temps today, getting dressed, riding, and getting re-dressed was more than the time alloted.

The rollers on the the other hand, are very low ceremony in comparison. For example to lower the barrier of excuses to *not* ride, the pedals on my ‘cross bike have a bit of platform, so I don’t need cleats on my shoes. Any sneaker will do. Which means any sock will do. (Thicker socks are uncomfortable in my cycling shoes, but I wear thicker socks around the house all the time. No required cycling shoes means no need to change socks, and there’s a decent chance that whatever I’m wearing on my feet will be fine for a quick spin.) Another example is that since the bike doesn’t have to be carefully attached like it does to the trainer, it’s easier to grab the bike and get going. When it’s 7:30pm, you just got home from a long day, you haven’t had dinner… everything can be a barrier. Anything.

I did take some time to swap rubber around on my wheels so that there’s inexpensive road rubber on the heaviest wheels, and ‘cross rubber on lighter wheels, but that’s a one time thing (at least until spring). After that it was just relax, concentrate, and balance. The rollers are a different kind of thing from the trainer. The trainer is about pushing pedals. There’s no balancing involved… it’s just pedaling. Sometimes, hard and slow, sometimes fast and easy etc. but that’s about it. It’s boring and mind numbing, but it pays off in the spring. I use training audio to make it bearable (Pacing and music). It’s not cold enough out to warrant the trainer as of yet (at least with the limited time I have anyway).

The rollers (at least for me) require fairly constant attention. I’ll get smoother and better, but they’re never mindless. A few too many seconds of mindless and I will find myself crashing into a wall. You’re balanced on top of cylinders that you are spinning (because you’re pedaling). One has a belt attached so that the roller that the front wheel sits on will spin as well. In my case they’re about fifteen inches wide. It only takes a few (seeming) microseconds to run off one side. Which I’ve managed not to do… yet. Anyway, you pedal away balancing and gently steering to stay put in the middle of the rollers. Anyway, it should greatly help my control and balance by the end of the winter.

It’s no where near riding, but for now, its far more compelling than the trainer, (different kind of workout too, but still), and it’ll really help my balance and control skills. Further, it’s easier to jump on for just a short while, so I’m hoping that I will sneak short sessions in more frequently.

I can save the trainer for the deep winter, when I no longer ride outside at all (between the weather and my schedule) Hopefully by then both knees will be in good shape, and ready for something harder than just the spinning I’m doing now.

Posted by Daniel Fri, 08 Dec 2006 13:46:00 GMT

Have a look. I really need to work on some of these skills this summer. I doubt I’d ever be this good, but I can get started anyway. Way cool!

Posted by Daniel Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:58:46 GMT

“Bicycles are going to be an integral part of our transportation network.” – Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), a former bike mechanic in line to chair the House Surface Transportation subcommittee.

“I think it’s going to be a very good session for cycling.” – Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), founder of the Bi-partisan Bike Caucus that includes new House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

Blumenauer, who may take a senior position on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee or the Ways and Means tax-writing committee, is sponsoring a bill that would give tax breaks to bike commuters.

Posted by Daniel Mon, 27 Nov 2006 02:00:06 GMT

Posted by Daniel Sun, 05 Nov 2006 20:42:00 GMT

So there’s this type of bike racing called cyclocross where folks take what are essentially road bikes, modify them a bit, and race them on courses made up of grass, mud, obstacles where carrying the bike is the only option, and jumping on and off the bike is common. All this leads many folks to get a ‘cross specific bike, and therefore companies that build them, which as it turns out is good thing for me.

There’s a bike store in my area with a savvy owner who is willing to place items on EBay for store credit. This is a good deal because he does not take a fee for doing this, he simply gives you his usual good price on whatever he sells you with the credit. Now a former pro musician who built and ran recording studios knows how to accumulate an odd or end that can be traded in for bike stuff—which makes everyone happy. The bike store is happy because they get sales. My wife is happy because I’m not kvetching about bike stuff we can’t afford and I’m emptying storage space of what has become clutter since there’s no time to use all this gear I’m now trading in. I’m happy because I can get bike stuff which is useful to me, to my son (His trike! A trailer to pull him around in!), and to my wife (who’s been waiting to get on her bike because Noah was too little). All the way around it’s a great deal.

Part of this found money has been turned into a bike I can ride on the multi-use trails, ride during the winter when it’s messy, and use to pull Noah around in the trailer without feeling like I attached a U-Haul to a Porsche. Not that my road bike is the bike version of a Porsche, but still.

Naturally, I started a gig in the city that leaves me precious little time for biking because of the long commute. No complaint, it is what it is (and the gig is totally cool), but that’s exactly when my new bike was going to be ready. So the bike’s been sitting while weather and schedule coalesced. This also happened when I got my road bike, so I’m used to passing them and sighing at this point.

But first, there was a minor wheel issue, since someone didn’t pack something right or whatever and there were scratches on the front rim. Boo. Thinking about wheels I decided to upgrade my road wheels, and use those to swap around. The store gave me full retail credit on the wheels that came with the bike, so the upgrade was reasonable. I took the oldest, heaviest (read slowest) wheels and put them on this bike, figuring I won’t be upset if I taco these inexpensive wheels trying to ride over something that I, with my, ahem, skills, should not be riding over. I can always swap the rubber over to the “old” road wheels if I need more snap. Shortly my road bike will sport some new lovely, light wheels.

After sending my wife and Noah off to music class (where he gets to play and have fun with instruments, music, and bond with his mother) I made a few fit adjustments, packed a water bottle and some layers and headed out. I road around the lake today because I figured there would be more adjustments to be made, and the loop means that every 3 - 5 miles I’m back at the car. I had new cleats on my mountain bike shoes (and new pedals on the bike) which I had never tried before, but they worked out great and some lessons I learned from my road cleats came in handy when I positioned the new cleats. (Technical notes at the end). I did have to change some clothes… I changed gloves to something warmer, and added shoe covers. Both of which helped make a brisk day comfortable on the bike.

After that things went rather well until I rode the little hills. Either the front derailluer cable slipped or it stretched, but either way I couldn’t get into the big ring. Not a problem on the up, but not a joy for the down, especially since I put a compact double on this bike. (I you don’t know what that is, don’t worry, it just means that the chainrings are smaller (think easier, but potentially slower)). So I spun through another six or so miles and ran down to the bike store and had them make sure that’s all it was, and fix it.

I hadn’t been on a bike for two weeks, but I felt OK, and had a lot of fun trying things out. I swooshed through some mud, rolled over some loose gravel, blasted over some leaves and stuff. All things I wouldn’t do with my road bike. Fatter 700 x 35C knobby tires, a bike that is very stable at slow speeds, heavier wheels all add up to off road joy. Nice!

Now for the tech details for those who care. The bike is a Scott Cyclocross Team. I swapped/upgraded a few parts. The bike now sports a Chris King headset, I swapped the mostly Shimano 105 with a touch of Ultegra for the new Sram Rival with a 26/11 cogset. I left the TruVativ Elita Cyclocross crankset but changed the chaingrings from 36/50 to 34/48. I changed the brakes from Avid Shorty 4s to 6s. The cyclocross inline brake levers were removed at my request. For now I’ve left the saddle. If it causes me no grief it’ll stay. It was fine today, but my ride was fairly short because I got such a late start. The rubber was swapped onto my old wheels and so remains Ritchey ExcaVader Pro. The Pedals are Crank Brothers Candy SLs. I noticed when I looked at the Scott site to get the link that the price has been raised. Seems like I caught a break. Yeah me. (Not that I paid retail, but still.)

More catchup stories as I have time.

Posted by Daniel Sun, 29 Oct 2006 14:28:00 GMT

Momentum is your friend is a recounting of the summer Joe Kurmaskie spent pulling his sons across the US on a bike and trailer set up. If you like travelogues you will enjoy this one. It inspires me to try a longer trip with my son than I would have considered before, but it’ll be years before I could consider a trip longer than a few hours. But I wasn’t considering even a few hours before, at least until Noah could ride on his own.

Two quotes really caught me as I read it: “Either you glide over the road or you wear it.” Pithy. I’ve often found that to be true.

A page later Joe quotes Rick Reynolds, a comedian “of the highest order”. “He likes to stumble around Costco trying to spot people with real problems. It’s easy: ‘The more crap in your heart, the more stuff in your cart.’ ”

Can I get an Amen? Costco, in case you’re not familiar is one of those big box stores, that sells the huge size of everything in the name of savings (rarely true), massive consumption (always true), and fewer trips to the store (I don’t see this to be the case.)

Posted by Daniel Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:23:24 GMT

My last midweek group ride for a while covered the Alpine Approach. A beautiful park that hugs the Palisade cliffs and passes under the George Washington Bridge. It’s been on my list for a while, but I never made the opportunity to ride it. Today that chance was presented, and despite the fact that the ride has more hills than I’m prepared to ride at this point, I went anyway.

It was a great way to sort of close the season (although I’ll continue to ride) but the fun I’ve been having with the midweek, morning crowd, will be missed. The good news, my knee felt 90% or better. The bad news, everything else felt like junk. Part of that is because I haven’t been riding hills to protect my knee. That seems to be working. My knee felt good. The bad part is that I got a cramp in my left calf, and then a compensating cramp in my right (a bit later on). Then, I bonked a bit, despite having tried to keep my intake going. Maybe I didn’t drink enough because of the hill riding? Whatever. There were only four of us today, and everyone was kind enough to wait or slow the pace (in fact I believe the ride leader changed the route he had in mind to avoid even more climbing on the way home… he’s very gracious.)

I suspect yesterday’s flat 50 miles had something to do with all this as I haven’t been out nearly as much or as often lately (weather, holidays, etc). 83 miles total back to back is more than I’m used to at the moment, plus the hills today. Worth every sore muscle though.

My weight has hit a new low, and I have plans I do for when I reach a certain number. That number isn’t the end of the road, but it is significant enough to warrant some attention from me.

(That’s me on the left… looking somewhat stupid as I try not laugh (and not look tired) as David ( Schloss (Founder and President of the club) who’s not in the picture) suggests I try to not look tired. Heh.)

Posted by Daniel Thu, 19 Oct 2006 01:05:09 GMT

Next week I start what should be a very exciting gig in the City. More about that later. It will take quite a bit of time and commuting, and so other than Sundays, an occasional night ride, and the trainer, my group cycling season may be over. I will try and find out about doing some of the commute by bike, but it’ll take some time to figure that out I suspect.

There’s been a midweek ride for the last couple of months filled with stay at home moms, consultants, folks out of work, and retirees. It’s been a really fun ride, because there’s a diverse set of folks and the ride is essentially flat (with occasional hills thrown in for fun) so there’s lots of time for conversation, joking around, and the odd sprint for a sign here and there.

Today was the last one of those I’ll be able to go on for a while, and while that’s cool, I’ll miss some of folks I’ve been riding with almost every week.

Today, I joined the pre and post who run up a road by the Hudson for an added 20 miles. That took the normal 30 miles and made it 50. There’s one more ride tomorrow that I hope to make, although there are hills involved, and while my knee continues to get better it’s still not 100%… but at least one other person will form a “groupetto” with me, so we should have fun regardless of the group pace.

Tomorrow will most likely be my last group ride for a while. So it goes. Allez!

Posted by Daniel Mon, 16 Oct 2006 13:01:00 GMT

Posted by Daniel Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:53:30 GMT

I rode about 28 miles yesterday, essentially free of shoulder and knee pain. My knee is better, but it still about 85% or so. I still think stretching around my knee is a big help right now. My shoulder is healing rapidly thank goodness. I’ve stopped the NSAIDs as of yesterday afternoon.

I was trying for a double dip yesterday, road riding in the morning, mountain bike riding in the afternoon… but my schedule and the weather didn’t allow it. I’m going to try again next week.

I have plans to ride the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, or whatever portions are accessible. I should pick a day and invite others.

Posted by Daniel Tue, 10 Oct 2006 20:36:08 GMT

The high holidays have come and gone, fall is here, and my cycling, while slowed due to the hectic schedule, continues.

Yesterday, I went to check out a bike sale and to drop some stuff off. I decided to try a bike, but didn’t notice a loose stem clamp (around the steerer tube). It was just tight enough that walking the bike out was fine. It was just loose enough that I fell over climbing on bruising my shoulder. Not just a flesh wound either. Ow! Darn that hurts, and was sooo unexpected. I can see how folks break their collar bones so easily. I was probably close to doing so *and* ripping my rotator cuff.

I massaged and took NSAIDs, and cleared up the minor road rash over the nice sized bruise. My wife checked my range of motion and made clucking noises about me killing myself. Today, more of the same, plus a light ride, to see how it was feeling. It was OK, and loosened up nicely while I was riding.

But as a warning… always thoroughly check out a bike before you ride it! I checked but not carefully enough. I presume the mistake occurred because they had built so many bikes because of the sale (they had already sold more than 50 bikes in the last two days) that a little interruption and the tightening was incomplete.

Anyway, I’ll be doing a nice group ride tomorrow morning, and looking forward to it. Then it’s a busy afternoon.

Posted by Daniel Tue, 03 Oct 2006 19:38:00 GMT

Posted by Daniel Thu, 28 Sep 2006 17:19:00 GMT

So my physical therapist wife finally stepped in, provided me with some stretches, and I’ve been taking NSAIDs before and after I ride… and things have definitely been better. Yesterday I did 31 miles and change without pain… and today another 13 (but a far hillier ride). That’s a nice switch from earlier in this week, when my knee hurt annoyingly. I’ve also been very careful to warm up slowly.

Allez!