your daily bicycle log

Haha wtf? I wear long-finger gloves, not matter how short the journey, if it's under 10 degrees C!

Floyd Landis was at the cafe (in north costal san Diego, CA ) at the end of todays ride. He was with some attractive woman in a pink kit and some dude in an Ouch kit. He had on a logo-less black jersey. Pretty wild.

Haha holy shit I just realized: the cafe I saw him at has an attached smoothie bar. Its name: "Juicers"

Did the Sportive. In the end, my brother decided he'd rather set off about half an hour ahead of me as he didn't want to hold me back and if I did catch him up and I'd be a bit tireder. I rode with another guy (who I didn't know) for most of the first half, then shortly after the feed station I came across my brother in a bus shelter. He'd had a puncture in his back wheel and for some reason his spare tube wouldn't inflate. He'd already phoned for a lift to get back to the HQ, so I set off again when a bunch of about 8 riders came past. I sat in with them for about half an hour, then it got broken up on a long, draggy climb and I worked in a group of four all the way to final brutal climb. My thighs were in agony the whole way up - I was genuinely worried they would just lock up and leave me unable to even walk to the finish. I coped with it by imagining that instead of going up a 15% hill after 70 miles I was actually just riding down my flat street - somehow this worked and I ended up sprinting past someone right at the top. The results are already in and I was the 55th fastest (out of 293 finishers and more than 309 starters).

landis, huh. whenever i encounter a pro cyclist i almost always am amazed by how slight they seem irl.

nice nbs.

i finally got an mtb ride in (my second), just in time to beat two snowstorms coming in tomorrow and tuesday. i only rode an 1.25 hours, but it was fun. i am having a hard time adapting dual suspension, i gotta say. the modulation on my lowish-end discs seems bad (grabby) to me, and i get this weird rocking horse feeling when i hit or release the brakes. i've got the sag set up as recommended, but maybe i need to have it set firmer?

Full on pain face alert!

They've put the official photos online, including the ones from the top of the hill right at the end.
Winding it up and hunting him down
Pulling out to come past
and the full-on agony shot Soaring past and heading for the finish line

Today was the Grand Swapping Over of the Bikes Day - heavy winter bike to be retired, and lightweight racer pressed back into action. I had it serviced a couple of weeks ago to make sure it was ready for the racing season. My first race is on Sunday (a two-up 25-mile time trial) so I put the tri-bars on this morning and took it out for a short training ride to check everything was OK. Everything *was* OK for the first 26 miles, except the front mech seemed to be getting slower at changing. Then, going up a hill, it kept clicking out of gear. I stopped and had a look and saw that the chain was actually coming undone on a rivet. I was still four miles from home so tried to see if I could just do little micro-pedals (a tenth of a revolution) to keep the wheels spinning and get me back, but no - within a few hundred yards the chain completely snapped.

Very pissed off. I had to walk more than three miles home, in cycling clothes and with cycling shoes on, through densely populated London streets, past my place of employment, all the while clanking along on my cleats and dragging a lengthy chain behind me. I'm going back to the shop that serviced now. I think they should replace the chain and investigate the front mech for free. Doubtless this won't happen: more likely I'll have to shell out a load more money and miss my race on Sunday.

sorry to hear this. otoh i heard training/racing on the heavier bike will make you stronger.

totes

otoh i heard training/racing on the heavier bike will make you stronger

So strong, in fact, that no chain can cope with my power.

I would like it to stop raining. Still haven't taken the BMC out this year and it's March already. I was hoping to benefit from this weekend's big wheel switcheroo* but I have this:

http://i51.tinypic.com/qzojky.png

I'm hoping chance of snow just means dry and bastard cold but I'm not hopeful.

*prompted by giving back all the things I stole off E's bike to get the Condor going I took the opportunity to get new wheels for the BMC and the aksiums go to the Condor

The weather broke and cam up sunny today so I had a good run out. I feel fat, unfit but oddly stronger after the winter.

My run by the winter was partially flooded and lined with cheering idjuts in green wigs.

fuck scotland, stupid cunty weather country

winter = river

First outing all winter: Astoria to Red Hook Ikea and back again. They've made some progress with lanes around there. Can pretty much do the whole trip along the waterline. So tired.

I don't clean my bike enough, ok? I know this. I'm changing a tube outside of a bike shop today when a guy that works there comes by. He looks all shocked and he's like "that looks like a mess! and there's grease on your face!"

Good lookin' out, dude.

the weather held and i finally got a road ride in. 43 miles, couple of smaller 700 ft-ish climbs, some long dirt sections. so so great. i rode some vittoria cx tubies for the first time in ages. i had forgotten the beautiful, riding-on-a-cloud excellence.

first three trips of the year on my commuting bike: #1, forgot lock. #2, forgot keys. #3, forgot helmet.

I went out to where my road race will be on 27th March and did some training on the course. It's a triangle of roads just under 10 miles long (9.92 according to my computer) and the race will be just short of 5 laps. I did 4 laps today. The first lap I just rode round relatively carefully, noting the bends and the potholes and the climbs (average 18.4mph), the second lap I timetrialled at 20.8mph, the third lap I did intervals and sprinted up the climbs in the big ring (20.5mph), and the fourth lap I did more of the same, but not quite so hard and with more recovery between (19.5mph). That felt like a good, hard workout but the actual race will be longer and much faster.

True, but you will be able to recover in the peloton. Stay aero and out of the head/cross-winds and you will be fine. :)

today- great but viciously windy ride up the canyon, descended at 45 mph with 60s in crosswinds. 8|
tonight- hunt3r's bike origami for 6am flight. no idea what my carbon cranks will look like after this, but it's all in the case. i srsly doubt that tsa can open that and close it back up.

Back on the road race circuit today, trying to repeat what I did last week (in advance of the real thing on Sunday). I've taken the tri-bars off my bike in preparation, so I wasn't quite as fast (riding on my own). First ten-mile lap at 18.7mph to warm up, second one time-trialing at 20.7mph, third one doing savage intervals and sprints until it hurt (with an average of 20mph), then on my first sprint of the fourth lap I realised my legs were now fucked so I decided to just pootle around for 6 miles. The pessimist in me says this is a clear sign that I can't possibly handle the race on Sunday, the optimist in me says it's a clear sign that I've had a good hard workout.

riding in south carolina between aiken and n. augusta has been awez y'all. if you choose the right roads, there are quite a few 150 to 200 foot hills at 6-8%. they don't do shoulders on the roads here, but not much traffic, and i've been surprised by the consideration shown by drivers on this side of town. (northeast side, not so much).

Nice! No Greenville?

no, strictly a parental quick visit w/ fam in aiken. the coupled bike was suuuuuuuuuper. no drama, $20 baggage, not a scratch on the frame or parts (yet). breaking it down and packing took me ummm, i don't know how long but 2+ glasses wine. reassembly was about 25 mins.

the lezyne floor/frame pump looks terrible, but it's really effective at getting shit up to pressure. pretty light, too. #coupledbiketravel

Inspected my bike for the first time post-crash. Discovered 2" long crack in carbon top tube, running parallel. From bad to worse :(

One of the most beautiful rides of my life.

60 of us rode from San Francisco to Santa Cruz which is 92 miles over mostly rollers with 4 major climbs (~6500 feet of total elevation gain). I averaged 19.1mph which is definitely my biggest effort to date for a ride of this caliber. the ride was casual but there were 3 competitive segments:
a 1.2 mile uphill "sprint"
a 3.3 mile climb over a mountain pass (1300 feet ascent @ 7.5% grade)
a 7.2 mile rolling, twisty and technical "GC" stage

I placed 3rd in the sprint (24.7mph), 12th in the climb (8.6mph) and 2nd in the GC stage (23.9mph). I won a cool computer bag, a winter beanie, and a cookbook. :o)

Not that it counted but I finished 3rd overall. I felt insanely great until about 85 miles and then my legs just started aching and I eased up which may have cost me my 20mph average trip speed.

We ended up at a gastropub in Santa Cruz with gourmet burgers and pitchers of beer in the sun... Then we loaded our bikes into a truck fitted for bike transport and boarded a bus back to the city.

Good times but I will sleep very deeply tonight.

― ✌.✰|ʘ‿ʘ|✰.✌ (Steve Shasta), Saturday, March 13, 2010 9:43 PM (1 year ago)

Doing this ride again tomorrow, but this time it's forecasted to pour rain the entire way down. Although.... they forecasted the same thing today and it's pretty amazing outside so there's that.

SLP, call your frame's manufacturer and ask about crash replacements. If you are racing in SoCal, it may be worth investing in a cheap stiff alum/steel frame as crits make up the bulk of racing down there. One of the 1s on my team rides a 2001 Guru Classic (Colombus Zonal tubing) frame specifically in crits that's put him on the podium about 20 times over the past couple seasons.

Sorry that was mashed together:

(1) Ask about crash replacements on your carbon frame.
(2) Look for a cheap metal frame for crits. Even entertain the idea of a crit bike with a cheapish gruppo (Ultegra 6600), decent wheels... But something that you won't be devastated about after crashing in a race (which is going to happen again sooner or later).

Yeah, I already asked. Can get a repl acement Giant TCR frame for under 800 from shop I bought it from. My team gets deals on cannondales from another shop so I may price out a CAAD frame. A crit bike was always part of my future plans, just didn't think it'd be so soon.

sucks so bad, sorry slp.

also any racing bike should be basically disposable or indestructible until someone else is paying imo.

lol tubulars. i made it to whopping 70 miles before i flatted. glasslike nugget imbedded in tread, it got through despite my regular hand sweeps during two rides.

i was setting up to do a shakedown on the tt bike yesterday and found the wheel flat. i pulled the core, poured in 1.5 oz of stans, put the core back, put it to 130 lbs, spun it a few times. no problems. then i did 26 miles on it, didn't lose any pressure at all. YAY STANS!

do i dare race tts on that?

i mean, if anything, i may be _less_ likely to flat with that stans in there.

I flatted on Sunday, hit a pot hole, then discovered I hadn't checked my jacket for my flat kit before leaving. A mile's walk of shame to the LBS.

Not sure what it is but the last few times I've been out I've cramped up in my right leg at the top of the calf. Don't think its electrolytes, well hydrated etc. I did just change my cleats but put them back in the same position as before and they are the same grey look ones so the float is the same. I do set the right cleat a little further back than the left one (originally in response to knee pain in that one).

I guess I should dick around with the cleat position until I find something that works.

Finally I did a fun ride! Only 40 miles, the London Classic's twin raison d'etre is to try and squeeze in as many sections of pavé as possible (we did 26, though even the longest ones weren't too punishing), and a few short sharp climbs for fun (of which there were 7, with the most challenging being the 700m, 17% Canobie Street). So although it didn't feel like a proper sportive, it was great, entirely non-competitive, relaxed fun on a gorgeous day.

i did my own classics-type ride on saturday - some on gravel, but mostly your ardennes-style bergs. pulled around this one hairpin and the road just went up like a wall! have worked out from strava comparisons that i have been living the fat mantis lifestyle a little too large!

Mark - can you link to the route for that?

I'm not sure I can! Let me see... Just found this on lfgss, hope it's useful!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78544902

I put our route on GPSies, I'll link to it when I get my computer back. Nb, I wussed out of the last hill as I was completely fuxored.

here you go - minus the first lovely descent into Dulwich from Crystal Palace. (not the nicest descent on the route though - that goes to Shooters Hill down into Lewisham, nice and steep, smooooth road surface.

http://www.gpsies.com/images/linkus.png

hmm that doesn't seem to work

http://www.gpsies.com/images/linkus.png

does this?

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=ymnsjenrxxtvngvw

fucking thing, try this. Failing that, search user ceepeebee on GPSies - there's only two routes of mine.

I think I recognise a stretch of cobbles near Shadwell on that route

doing this at midnight tonight

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=yjemjvkwowawpmyf

I'm totally at Hyde park corner, hopped up on caffeine laden jelly beans.

I ran into jaxon last night on an evening spin session. He is still a lycraphobe.

ha. one day...

dont make us repost forever in blue jeans

Did 26 miles before 9.30am today. Pleased with that. Set a couple of personal bests, too: 10 miles in 36 minutes, 20 kilometres in 47.