your daily bicycle log

So today I discovered that being on a bike doesn't really make canvassing a town with flyers go that much quicker than on foot.

90 minutes this morning in the wind and rain - but at least a circular course means the wind's only a problem half the time. That said my extremities still haven't warmed up and I've been inside for 20 minutes.

MY LEGS ARE PAINFUL WET NOODLES.

MY BIKE THAT WAS STOLEN...I FOUND IT AND STOLE IT THE FUCK BACK. SHE IS MINE AGAIN. I WILL NOW GO RIDE HER SOME MOAR!!!

MY LEGS ARE PAINFUL WET NOODLES.

^^^ 4 hour ride with this guy on saturday. he gets the spirit award. i almost had to carry him across the 59th st bridge though.

NOTE TO SELF: EASE UP ON THE BIG RING...U R GASSING YRSELF BRO!

RPMs, EVER HEARD OF THEM?

what you pushing ddb?

i downgraded to 46x17 this summer and it was the opposite of rong

but my knee hurt today because i went RUNNING last night

I WAS ON THE ROAD BIKE, AND SPENT THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY ON THE BIG RING AND WAS WONDERING WHY I WAS SO TIRED...WENT TO THE SMALLER RING AND STARTED FEELING MUCH BETTER....MODERATE ON THE BIG RING.

THE FIX IS RUNNING 48 x 15...WHICH WAS RUFF ON THE HILLS SO I SWITCHED TO 48 x 16 AND FELT LIKE I WAS SPINNING TO FAST...SO BACK TO 48 x 15.

i'm going to change out my 49x16 to 49x15 when i hop on the track this summer

i've also vowed never to ride a track bike on the street for as long as i live

btw this morning i did 20x20secs uphill sprints at 90-100rpms, then rode z2 for 90 mins

Nicka nicka, I want to know how you stole your bike back!

I was walking home, waiting at a light, and there it was just sitting there across the street. It was chained up...with MY chain! Chained to a BUSH haha. I guess maybe they picked the lock or something? I unlocked it with the KEY and rode it home!

Odd turn of events: last night my bag got stolen. It had hat/gloves/jacket and snacks and cds and weed and CHECKS from my mtg co.

:-/

decent mileage today. drizzly rain was a bummer, but the temp was nice. then i went to the climbing gym (FABULOUS MUSCLES) and now i am debating going to a BAR to meet a GIRL

'debating', pfft., you are not the Don juan I thought you were.

Really frustrated by not biking to work. But have finally found a local place I can shower pre-work. I think I will try to see how much can be shaved off the TFL time of 67 minutes.

commutes are just getting better and better with more light and nicer weather.

dont go to the hangs or climbing gym anymore, since i go so infrequently that, when i do go, im in agony the next day-forearms so ravaged that i cant keyboard

this is my first post on this board, so hi everyone!

i rode my bike 5 miles to/from work, like i do every day. 20MPH headwind on the way home wasn't fun.

that's a great story about getting the bike back- i love hearing stuff like that. bummer about the bag, though.

hi, ytth.

Hi ytth! You're in Oakland, is that right? What's it like for cycling there?

90 mins including 3x12mins z3 + 8x20secs shprintz

i gotta get my wattage numbers up on the sprints :/

The bag really isn't that big a deal; I called and had the checks cancelled and resent. I love thinking about the look on the thieves face when they opened to bag to, rather than a laptop or something equally pawnable, a notebook full of shitty lyrics and a probably overripe orange.

After a month and a half on that shitty, tiny Huffy, it is like utter joy over the familiarity and comfort of my stolen back ride.

Between errands, joyriding, the to-and-from band practice, I logged about 5 hours total today! Jesus.

Then I DANCED to CRAPPY HIPPY TECHNO!

Nick get a new lock!

so yesterday a car 20 yards in front of me on 14th st blew the red at welton at medium speed and tboned another car, which promptly spun out at like 30 mph thru the rest of the intersection. that was it, no real carnage but it was just like bumper cars. i dont think ive ever seen a car accident from my bike before.

ha Mark, I did...one of those metal clampy dealies

did 4 hours with 3x30 in Z3 (142-150bpms)

my numbers are kind of ridiculous right now, i'm averaging around 250 watts and 148bpm during those tempo intervals

I rode in the snow yesterday (just stuff falling from the sky, none on the ground) - it would have been pretty apart from the blizzard. Note to self - if you forget to have dinner the night before, try having breakfast before you go riding.

riding in oakland is okay... the further east i go, the worse the honking and yelling gets (i work near the coliseum, near international and seminary).

today, i rode from the castro valley bart to some fire roads (and a couple little singeltracks) and rode them all the way back to downtown oakland. it was about 30 miles.

Sounds fun - certainly more so than my morning. I didn't learn from Saturday and did another 20 miles in snow/hail/sleet/frozen rain/snow, in that order. WHY WON'T MY BUTTOCKS WARM UP

Weekend in Wales, 3 days, 3 rides - Cwm Carn, and White's Level and Penhydd trails at Afan. Could have done another today but bad weather and aching limbs nixed that idea. About 90k riding in total, over 2k of climbing, max heart rate 179, average 131.

squiggly lines:
http://i30.tinypic.com/30kt8g5.gif

Last time I did these trails was two years ago on a hardtail. I found them sooo much easier this time - either I've got better or full sus just takes all the skill out of it ;)

awesome!

no riding this weekend, but plenty of vert climbing on bc gear, with other bike racers and former bike racers who kicked my ass. part of the view from the hill behind our hut:

pic of view

whoa, i swear i resized that. MODS HELP!

hunter that is ASPEN HIGHLANDS <3 <3 <3 <3

miss you

Holy shit what a view.

I want to be there RIGHT NOW

Gah. 14 miles into a ride this morning I reached the bottom of a hill and changed down onto the smallest ring at the front. As I put pressure on the pedals there was a horrible crunching sound and the chain seized up. I just managed to get one foot out the clips to stop myself tumbling over.

Somehow the chain has gone beyond the smallest front ring and got itself jammed between the ring and the....thing it's attached to (the bit of the frame that holds the bottom bracket). It's completely impossible to get it out. I think someone (not me) will have to remove the cranks and the rings to free it. Even then I think the chain is fucked and quite possibly the small ring is bent now. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if I have to replace all the rings / chain / sprockets / mechs etc. because they say they all need changing at the same time.

I spent half an hour getting covered in oil and breaking my fingernails desperately trying to sort it out, then weighed up my options. I didn't really fancy walking 5 miles home in cycling shoes, but then calling a taxi and abandoning my bike without a lock didn't really seem that appealing either. After about an hour I was able to get a lift off a friend of a friend who for some reason had a borrowed minibus. No matter how much detergent I use I can't shift the oil off my fingers.

eek. that sucks man!

I wore shorts today for the first time since I started riding again in the fall. My calves look weird and bulbous and not like they are my own anymore.

Got caught in a big hard rain this morning because I forgot to check the weather. Glad I have a waterproof bag because I was coming home from Kinkos with stacks of flyers.

removing oil from fingers: i keep on meaning to buy some swarfega but failing that, whatever girly exfoliating body scrubs i can find around the bathroom tend to do a pretty good job.

i am on call tonight from 11pm to 5am :-/

gmap-pedometer sez i did 40 miles today!

thanks, work!

...has only underlined and boldfaced my need for a new saddle, though. OW!

Haven't ridden for 9 days thanks to tonsillitis. Tomorrow, tomorrow...

Mark, what does your commute route look like?

tried to buy a bike yesterday to start serious summer biking, but of course it was the one day of the year that the bike shop is closed for inventory or whatever.

also, i don't have a bike rack = i have to buy a bike from somewhere i can walk to.

Or take the bus or any other public transit to. Or take one of the wheels off and put it in the back of a car from.