your daily bicycle log

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

Cheers gbx. Seems counter-intuitive to hit the stem DOWN when you want to pull it up, but that's what another friend told me too so I trust you guys! Not sure how long it'll take me to get used to it, and I really might have to look at the brake situation (it's a Paul brake lever, I discovered this morning - this one, to be precise (horse not included)).

The hills thing is presumably because, unlike on a geared bike where you can choose how much of a man to be when you're aproaching a hill, on a fixed you have to just go balls out all the way.

if ridin in a tshirt n shorts is wrong

Nothing wrong with ridin in t-shirts and shorts - I actually meant the sun coming out in March causing people to go round dressed like its summer. As you say - wait for the warmer weather! It actually wasn't too bad at the end - warmed up fairly quickly.

I've never felt such smoothness in a bike

This. It's really the thing I love most about riding fixed - along with the feeling of control and, er, one-ness with the road. You get used to it fairly quickly, I've found (I've only been riding fixed a couple of months now and feeling totally comfortable - there's no way I'd go back ).

Front brake is A GOOD THING though. Resisting too much to slow down isn't great for the legs, I've heard, although obviously its useful at slow speeds. Better as much as possible just to let your legs go heavy. Skid stops, once you've got the hang of them, great for taking off speed quickly but, well, the brake is a good thing to have! Also useful if you want to get the crank back up to where you want if you're going off from a junction - just apply the front brake and lean forward, pulling the crank up to the position you want (rather than lifting the saddle up, as I did).

The lower the gear the better with a fixed I think, especially for city riding. High cadences are no problem (you never get the feeling you are pedalling too fast, or are in too low a gear) and are easier on the knees and good for smooth cycling. Good also for getting away from junctions.

My 48/15 feels a little heavy truth be told, and I think I'll change it as and when.

Beautiful day today. Felt/feels like summer rather than spring.

And I luckily had a rare day off - hurrah!

I'm gradually easing myself back in after 10 days complete break following the disastrous calf-strain-at-end-of-race incident. A couple of 2-mile commutes in the week, a gentle 7-miles yesterday morning, and I've just done 17 miles. No problems yet, but I'm avoiding any major efforts for the moment. I reckon it might be shorts weather.

Damnit I'm gonna get a fixie. Any recommendations? I don't wanna break the bank.

Herne hill cycles always has a good bottom of the range fixie, £250-300 ish.

4 hours, 70 miles, 2880 kilojoules of energy

time to eat, shower, NAP, eat, eat, eat, smoke weed

2 hours 20 mins, 3300 feet of climbing, 40ish miles. time to go play miniature golf with my 5 year old, then powerwash the deck to prep for staining.

coming back down to town, all of the local club rides were going up the canyon in groups of 10, 20, 40. It was ON, with the nice weather.

also, i got passed while climbing the hairpins by the local mini club (about 25 cars), and a club of shelby cobra replicas (15 or so). i assume they were kit cars at least.

time to go play miniature golf with my 5 year old, then powerwash the deck to prep for staining.

sounds exhausting

just went on a short hike at over 10k in altitude, and was embarrassingly winded

5.5 hours, 103 miles, 3,654 kilojoules

that's about 15 hours and 284 miles this week

27 enjoyable miles in the unseasonable sun in the Essex countryside
Cutty - that's extreme

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2659814 Drove out to where I grew up and did a 1989-revival-ride

they bulldozed one of my favorite local climbs. it was a dirt road that went about 8% steady for 600m, then took a left and went 14% for the last 200m. a dirt wall, just fantastic, and it fell near at the 2/3 mark of winter rides, after which i'd mostly descend about a 1000 ft to home. now its a 2 lane highway that contours the hill at a steady 6-7%, paved obv., and drops into the luxe environs of castle pines. fuk u progress.

Damnit I'm gonna get a fixie. Any recommendations? I don't wanna break the bank.

― ledge, Saturday, March 21, 2009 10:42 AM (4 days ago)

I recently got a Fuji track, which is fine in one sense, at the cheaper end of the market anyway, but if you are going to go for something like that, you'll want to factor in pedals, obviously, but also, more importantly, make sure you get a low gear ratio - something like 48/19 I reckon. Track bikes often come with track racing ratios, which are too high for urban cycling - pressure on knees, accelerating and decelerating are more of a hassle.

If you're anything like me, at first it will feel too low after a road bike, but this is just a case of learning to spin fast, which looks ridiculous on a geared bike, but fine on a fixed wheel.

If you're in England, Condor I think do relatively cheap, fixed wheel bikes that you can customize. And local retailers who have experience of doing conversions and of building fixed wheel bikes may well be able to do you something even cheaper to your spec.

Sorry, that's all really obvious isn't it? I just wanted to stress going for the lower gear ratio, because I didn't really think about it when I bought mine, so I just ended up spending more than I would have done otherwise.