your daily bicycle log

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.

another trip into the hills today for a couple of hours. roads were deserted since it was still frosty early in the morning.

climbing switchbacks alone is nice when youre not fit--you forget how slow youre going. and the views.

went running today instead of running....muddy, bloody, awesome

errr, instead of cycling

fuck running! ;)

i've started running again. it is unrelated, but mtb pals are sprogging or moving away :/

apparently its ride yr bike to work day at my building--racks are chockablock. the trees are budding out though.

yah everyone was riding today---it's gonna be sixty!

Seems like it. Racks are very full here. Had a meeting with the prof I might be doing some research for and it turns out she is a massive bike geek as well.

Comes a time in every cyclist's life when kit needs to be washed. That time has come.

Also, I have done that thing that I always think slightly contemptible in others - the sun's come out, and this means it's obviously summer, so I cycled to work in t-shirt and shorts. Now it is late evening and I've got to cycle home. It's bloody nippy.

I will be an icicle on a bicycle.

if ridin in a tshirt n shorts is wrong, i dont wanna be right. but ill wait for even warmer weather thx.

so ive done way more riding than usual this week, about 230 miles so far, and i cant stop eating. i ate 6 bagels tuesday. then i ate 5 barbeque sandwiches at my firm's catered meeting/lunch yesterday and got the O_o from people, with the usual 'how u skinny?' (i actually tried to be pretty discreet about my eating, but was starving an it got noticed).

You guys, I had my first ride on a fixed wheel velocipede!

I cycled the Bob Jackson back from London Bridge - 9 or 10 miles I guess? I have seldom if ever been so scared on a bike, and for once not because of traffic. My hands are stiff and sore, my bum feels tender in unusual places, and my mind is a whirr.

Initial thoughts, in no particular order:

- don't stop pedalling don't stop pedalling don't stop pedalling
- I did stop pedalling, of course, 4 times I think, once as I was almost home and subconsciously easing up. No-one told me that as well as the upward thrust you also get what feels like speed wobble! Thank god I was gripping the bars so hard...
- saddle needs to be slightly higher and pointing slightly further up, and if a quill stem's height can be adjusted - it can, can't it? - I'd like that slightly higher too. But no surprise as the bike wasn't set up for me
- why do people ride fixed gear bikes without the world's best front brake? The Vigorelli has a brand new Tiagra caliper and some strange, small lever with sharp edges which may be the nuts in the world of track (yes, I know they don't use brakes on the track) but is really not very user friendly. My fingers are knackered!
- man, I can go up hills quickly!
- I've never felt such smoothness in a bike
- I miss hoods!
- 48/18 is an excellent gearing combo for London, phew

and i cant stop eating

lol

you'll get used to it Mark!

and yeah, (short) hills are weirdly easier on my fix. it is a mystery

you can adjust yr quill stem. just loosen the bolt on top with an allen key, thwack it down with some kind of PADDED mallet (ie - rubber, or like use a book or something in between, you get the idea), and adjust to fit. make sure the neck is long enough, tho