your daily bicycle log

Whenever I ride something without a 53 I feel like I am missing out on some speed, I feel like I have long, slow, muscly legs though and 39 seems about right for the hills round here even if I am still getting used to the fact that there are some sustained climbs round here. Mind you I don't tend to haul heavy shopping up many of them, I might appreciate a compact then, but I might appreciate a granny gear even more.

i haven't counted the teeth on my crosscheck, but i think it's a std road double? either way, when i first got it i spent most of time on the inside ring, mostly because i was used to having a high cadence from my track bike.

the thing with both trackstanding and skidding is that you'll probably just have to go to a parking lot and try both for a while before you get it. unlikely to just happen while you're riding around on the street (dangerous, too). i "figured out" skidding on a very snowy day in chicago. by the time the streets were dry again, i'd gotten it down. standing took a bit longer (actually practiced), but i can do it on my road bike now w/o any trouble

I don't think I've had a bike without a 53 since I was 11.

just have to go to a parking lot

Yes, that. Rather than just half heartedly trying at some lights before going no way too dangerous. Do like the fixed wheel though - very, very smooth and relaxing to ride.

I have to say as well that I'm LOVING my early morning commute. 15 miles of London without traffic is just great. Even the evening rush hour commute isn't as bad as it was, although there's always a couple of close shaves.

Ed, if the inches are the same, then it doesn't matter how big your ring is. As it were.

^^^this

i get more gear inches out of my 50x12 then i do a 53x13, and not to be a weight weenie but for less grams.

I still can't trackstand or skid. Practicing the trackstands though, but only at lights etc. My tyres are too chunky and grippy for skidding.

went on a ride today and came across a herd of sheep grazing...had to stop a couple of times and walk my bike through the sheep

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3315825684_f80749e10b.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3442/3315824732_6c70a98cee.jpg?v=0

Lovely. I used to cycle in Richmond Park first thing in the morning, with the mist still nestling in the hollows and the deer sleeping, with their heads and antlers just peeping above the mist. Only took me an hour to get into work this morning - across London at about 5.30, some people getting up, some people getting home. Not much traffic. Great.

I'm getting up at stupid o'clock tomorrow morning to do a sportive in Sussex. Just under 70 miles and it's forecast to be raining. :-(
FWIW on my new bike I have 53/39 and 10-spd 12-25 on the back. This has proved OK around London/Essex, tomorrow will see what it's like on proper hills.

Re: skidding and trackstanding
Skidding seems like a good way to waste a perfectly good tire, and a bad way to stop. But that's just my opinion. FYI, I've heard that's it good to practice on a wet surface after it rains, and the trick is to shift your body weight way forward at first (crotch touching the stem). I'm not speaking from personal experience though.

Trackstanding is a useful skill and super fun. Try practicing on a road with sloped sides (for drainage or whatnot). Turn your front wheel so it's facing up the slope and gravity will help you keep your balance until you get the feel. You can also find a crack in the asphalt to kind of wedge the tire against. You want to find a way to plant that front wheel so you can practice shifting your body weight to maintain balance. I'm hardly an expert. I still suck at it, but a successful trackstand is quite gratifying.

if i had had to learn trackstands in england, it would have never happened

4 hours today up to bear mountain from manhattan, 70 miles of endurance

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bear+mountain,+ny&sll=41.303667,-73.991203&sspn=0.05429,0.086346&ie=UTF8&ll=41.303861,-74.004679&spn=0.05429,0.086346&t=h&z=14&iwloc=addr

Skidding seems like a good way to waste a perfectly good tire, and a bad way to stop.

Agreed Super Cub, although it's quite handy going downhill. I think I've got the knack of it in fact - you straighten one leg at the bottom of the pedal, which shoves you forward and up and pull up at the same time with the other pedal.

I think it's quite handy if you want to take a bit of speed off very quickly - useful if you're going fast sometimes. The number of wear patches on your tyre depends on the gear ratio, doesn't it?

Anyhow I like my brake - although I didn't need it this morning; another early morning ride into work, and Sunday's the best to do it. One of the good things at the moment is that its getting light earlier across my ride time, so each day, or shift, new parts of the ride have a different look. This morning it was cycling across Hyde Park, with the victorian style lamps still glowing softly on both sides of the Serpentine - an almost oriental effect - and with a silvery light, especially by the Albert Memorial, reminiscent of those early summer mornings when you've been up all night. Fantastic.

Cutty, that ride sounds magnificent.

Although what wasn't so fantastic was getting to work, having a shower and then realising I'd left my goddam towel downstairs. Obviously at home you can do the scamper of shame, but clearly this wasn't an option. I had to do a little dance to the paper towel dispenser, and a little dance back to the shower cubicle and then do my best.

74 miles today: 69 of them in the sportive. I managed to get 'Silver' standard by finishing in less than 4.5 hours. I was in soooooo much pain on the final climb (Ditchling Beacon) which seemed to go on forever. I could have done with a lower gear. I managed to grind my way up at about 7mph with my legs semi-cramping all the time, but it felt like hell.

Bear Mountain is a beautiful place, but that is one hell of a ride, I couldn't even begin to contemplate managing that.

Although what wasn't so fantastic was getting to work, having a shower and then realising I'd left my goddam towel downstairs. Obviously at home you can do the scamper of shame, but clearly this wasn't an option. I had to do a little dance to the paper towel dispenser, and a little dance back to the shower cubicle and then do my best.

haha. Had you done the scamper of shame, your schedule would suddenly open up for all kinds of lovely mid-day rides.

Rode for a few hours around north San Diego county, through escondio and rancho santa fe. Saw a cool red-tailed hawk at the Lake Hodges dam. Weather was perfect.

http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=26961#

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32298823@N04/sets/72157614645910220/

Teh Movable Object - that is brilliant!

ridin my bike today for the first time in...almost 3 weeks?!

how's that feel

fat and happy i guess.

"rider" on cherry creek path on motorized bike today. ima hafta bust out hatcat on that. he was actually pretty cool about it tho, but still.

picturing hunt3r handing the motorized cyclist a citation w/hatcat on it

"sorry buddy, but"

(xxxxpost) Cheers, Mark

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3325423266_473909a7eb.jpg
This is me, clearly suffering, about 100 yards from the finish at the top of Ditchling Beacon on Sunday.

Now this quarter has finished I can really focus on the lovely weather we've been having. It's been t-shirt riding weather this weekend. The number of bikes on the road has gone up ten-fold. This is such a nice city to bike in, douche bags in an SUV in east liberty yesterday who yelled abuse at me because I was holding them up, they could've got to the red light 3 seconds sooner. I was trundling around revelling in the sunshine, exploring places I haven't been to yet because my range has been school, food coop, whole foods and REI.

I'm off to play bike mechanic with some local bike dudes tomorrow.

srsly i obviously have no idea from pittsburgh. (tho my dad and his people going back as far as a couple of great great grandparents are from there). food coop whole foods and rei sound like an amalgam of crunchy and glossy consumerist in a way that does not mesh with my preconceptions of pittsburgh or experiences in western pa.

glad to hear bikin tho

uh glad to hear bikin's good i mean.

I have just been introduced to bicycle heaven, Kraynick's. It's a little bike store here in pittsburgh that is an aladin's cave of old components and frames and all kinds of exciting things. Best thing though is that in the back the have six work stands and all the tools you could ever need. Anyone can drop in and use the facilities. I've spent a lovely afternoon cleaning up my bike from the ravages of winter. On the downside I have discovered that rolf wheels must be 705s because of the difficulty I had getting summer tyres on them.

did a sorta VO2 max test today....was the dummy for my physiology class. hit 52, which i don't think is all that bad, given that my cycling these days is limited to 10miles/day, to and from school. an incentive to train, i guess!

how bad did you hurt yourself for medical science?

"There are no miracles in cycling," (Lemond) said of Armstrong's return to the pinnacle of the sport after cancer. "There is always an explanation. To start with there has to be some innate talent. Hinault and Merckx won on their first appearances at the Tour. I was third on mine in 1984 and second in 1985." LeMond puts much of his ability down to a VO2 max of 93ml. He tells Le Monde that at his peak this was the highest level in the sport. "Today I wouldn't even be in the top 50," he says. "I've studied physiology a lot and I can tell you that no training programme can change someone who has not got a good VO2 max into a champion."

i had to ride home afterwards, so i didn't hurt myself too hard. also, the bike they had had an uncomfortable saddle and weirdo handlebars, so it was tough to settle into a comfortable/powerful position. still did better than my friend and former cat2/belgian racer, tho!

wow. start racing

for those wondering, the subtext of the lemond quotes above is that armstrong is alleged to have tested out below super-elite (and lemond) on the vo2 max, which supports lemond's suspicions that armstrong is not legit.

thing is, tho, VO2 max is trainable! also, my physiology prof dropped some anecdote about LA's first VO2 test and how it blew everyone out else out of the water

btw lemond is up there with bjorn daehlie in the o_O super-human category. pretty sure that other tour winners simply do not have the same kind of numbers

i think indurain was in the 70s?

i don't doubt it. i think most high-level cyclists are in that range?

Caught by the fuzz for running a red light (or two). The sneaky buggers were loaded into a Mitchells hire van, so I never spotted them till they pulled up along side me and asked me to pull over for a word.

Thankfully, my polite and apologetic manner got me away with a telling off, rather than an official warning or worse.

even tho it was 23 degrees, it felt really cold today. ive been spoiled by a warm february.

yeah, ditto. but, like, 10 degrees less than that. just ran to the story and it was pretty serious business

ur in like a whole nother level up there

i just broke my bike chain! while sprinting through an intersection! yow!

don't get any of delusions of grandeur now mr vo2 max

u guyz race (each other) i bring booz

bring it

mostly it was just a little alarming. the plate broke? i'm guessing because of corrosion. also cutty i will race you only if i get a head start

got in a nice 35 miler on the road bike, first time in months, up the canyon. crisp temps (40 deg), but the sky was flawless blue. saw old friends. too good.

yesterday: 65 miles through the mountains (3 stages of fairly intense 7-9% grade climbing), i got dropped after the last set and I was sucking wind pretty hard. the descents were fast and intense. extremely beautiful and picturesque views of the North Bay of SF.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/san-francisco/571657228

a buddy of mine used to live in san anselmo and he took me over those roads. really pretty.