Catching Up

Hello again! it's been a while since I've made a post of substance, but I'll get back on track now. I've always got things that I can talk about cycling related somehow! I decided to put up a picture that Carolyn took of me and Bubba taking our neighbors trike out for a spin after doing a bit of maintenance. It really shows my serious side. Serious. No really, serious. Seriously, how many times do I have to say it? Serious!

I'll tell you what, those three wheelers aren't build to stop. With the freewheel, the only brake you have is the front drum, which is pretty much useless at anything above 3mph.

I've finally finished the Masi, and have managed to put about 300 miles on it in the past six weeks or so. It isn't a lot of miles, but it is enough to know that the Masi rides sweet! The responsiveness, and shock absorbing qualities is amazing! It soaks up impacts so nice, and weighs in full up under 16lbs. I can deal with that! I think if weight was a priority a sub 15lb bike built on this frame would be easily doable. Of course at that level it's probably somewhere around a hundred bucks an ounce to trim weight.

I'm really happy with the sensible build, giving thought to performance, cost, weight and by pure luck, comfort. My two favorite parts are the Easton EA90 SLX wheelset, and Sram Force shifting components. The Eastons, are very light weight, but strong and using good non exotic parts for easy servicing. Another thing is these wheels are straight as an arrow and hand built right here in the good old US of A! Very sensible wheelset. My race wheels are Older Lew racing wheels with deep carbon tubular rims and hidden nipples. I spent 700 bucks, used for those puppies, and maybe saved 300-400 grams over the Eastons. I picked up the Eastons new from Nashbar on clearance for $425.00 plus shipping! Smart use of discounts offered randomly netted me a 20% off on those puppies. As for the Sram Force shifters and deuraillers they work perfectly! I love the Carbon and magnesium construction on the shifters, and the carbon cage of the rear deurailler. The double tap shifting is very precise and intuitive. Plus weight compared to even Dura Ace is favorable, as is the price. I really would like to try Sram's next step up the Red Group, I really think they are giving some serious competition to Shimano. I would take the Force any day over Dura Ace!

I've got a million things to catch up on, but The Country Road Bob has racked up over 1100 miles since March, and 300 For the Masi. Including the Giant which went to "Chucky" a few months back, I'm easily at 1700 miles for the year. I plan on riding at least 400 miles a month from here on out though. I think I can make 5000 miles a year pretty easily. I've been tracking my rides on Mapmyride.com and have almost hit 400 miles last month without really trying. I'm working on getting a gadget working that will show everybody my daily ride and stats. I hope it works because that will be cool!!! That's enough for now I think sooooo Peace out Napoleon!

Back in action!

Okay, that's a silly title, but I couldn't come up with anything witty as a reason for staying away so long. In all honesty, it seemed silly writing all of these posts for people that I see and talk to regularly. I'm still not sure why I decided to do this, but someone talked me into continuing, even if it seems like a self centered thing to do.

Well I know I left off in suspense, but it really wasn't intended to be so long, although I really was waiting for something. In hindsight it isn't such a big deal, but I'll try to pick up where I left off. I will try to catch up as close to cronologically as possible. So, first off! I went to Paso Robles on Memorial day weekend for the Great Western Bicycle Rally. I was scheduled to run a ten mile time trial, which I ran rather successfully!

If you look closely at exhibit A you can see that is a first place award! Yes, I got first place in my class! Of course that was the 36-50 year old class. My time wasn't really any different than usual, but I guess since they took out the classified racers was why I placed so well. In all of the other races, I've been grouped in together with the categoried racers and that was keeping my placing down.

So, I was waiting for the medal in the mail. I had to leave the rally the day before the awards were presented, so I had to wait for them to mail this to me. Of course that was about a month ago when I received the package, so everything since has been because of my trying to figure out if I would continue writing my blog.

As for the rally itself, it was fun, but not really as organized or interesting as I expected. I don't think that I will attend next year. I also participated in the hill clinb. This was about a quarter mile climb for time up a grade ranging from 12% to 22%. I thought I would try it on the singlespeed Country Road Bob. I had a lot of poeple look at me like I was insane for riding with the singlespeed, and I in hindsight I was. I had to really work and after a lot of weaving back and forth at some points even turning back downhill for momentum, I was able to finish, and with a respectable time! It was a lot of work but it is always fun to prove naysayers wrong!

I think I will leave this blog at that for now, but I really do have a lot of catching up to do, so check back frequently!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Darren

Not A Post

Sorry for the delay, but I've been waiting for something. I'll put something up soon!!!

Way Late Update, Belmont Time Trial

Hello, and sorry for the delay writing an update! I will have another update on the happenings of the Great Western Bike Rally in Paso Robles very shortly! As for the Belmont Time Trial it went okay. I ended up about thirty seconds of my usual pace, but there was a stiff breeze slowing me big time on the way back. You would think that a tailwind on the way out would null the effects of the headwind going back, but it never seems to work out that way. I went with a friend from work, and I think he enjoyed it, and has plans to be back for next weeks run. I was running about 27-28mph on the way out and that was really fun, but I seem to get flying like that and end up running way past my max sustainable heart rate. My heart rate was running upwards of 96% of max which works out to about 182. With the headwind, and my lack of keeping my heart rate down, slowed my pace to around 17mph coming back. about 3/4 of the way back, you always ask why again, have I decided to torture myself again?

Carolyn came out to cheer me on, but didn't arrive until after I started, but she managed to snap a quick picture of my suffering at the end.

Of course you can't really see the suffering on my face, so with the help of top secret government image enhancing software previously seen only on episodes of 24 you can see what looks like a peaceful almost happy look. I can't figure this out, but it is how I seem to look in all of these pictures when I'm focusing on staying alive, and breathing without passing out. I don't get it. Check it out.

On to the bike build. The Masi is about finished. All I'm lacking is a cassette, pedals, and final assembly. It is starting to look really good. Since it was my birthday recently, and I received some gift certificates to Nashbar.com and splurged on a set of Easton EA 90 wheels which are very light hand built and sensible wheels with nothing exotic about them. This is a departure from the norm for me, but I'm happy with them none the less. I also put on a pair of red treaded Continental Ultra Race tires. It is definitely flashy in a confident Italian sort of way. You can be the judge though! Here is a few pics of the current state of the Masi.

I have another picture of me doing what I do best, thanks again Carolyn for capturing the true me!

Two Tme Trials One Weekend!

Well, I know it has been too long since my last post, and I've promised my loyal followers (all three!) to continue posting. This weekend was my birthday weekend (36th), and I thought it would be fun to schedule two time trials. Saturday morning was the Team time trial with the Fresno Cycling Club, and Sunday was the Fiesta Island time trial down in San Diego. The plan was to run Fresno Saturday morning then make the quick 6.5 hour drive to San Diego, spend the night, then run on Sunday morning, then just zip back to Fresno. Well I guess I'll get right to it!

So, Friday night after work, I switched out my chain, brake pads and wheels to the race stuff while watching a terrible French horror movie with English subtitles! Then I went to bed to get up at six on Saturday for the team time trial. Six o'clock may not seem terribly early, but for a swing shifter that usually gets to bed about two in the morning it is quite a feat! So, Saturday morning, I get up, get loaded up and head out to the meeting point. We were supposed to meet at a location removed from the time trial and ride in to warm up and get in the riding groove before to event started. When everybody else at the meeting point found their teams and rode away, I was standing there with nobody there to ride with me! I got a bit worried and grabbed my phone and noticed I had a voicemail. To make a long story slightly less long, we had a rider drop, and the rest had stayed home because you need all four. I just wish I would have got the word before I left the house! So, one time trial down and no miles on the bike! I guess that's why I like individual time trials better. I need only to depend on myself to show up! So, on to San Diego for the next one!

We made it to San Diego with just enough time for a late dinner and about five hours of sleep before we needed to be up for the time trial. This is a pretty big event that seems to attract some very fast and professional looking riders, so I was looking forward to it. Here is a link. http://www.fiestaisland.com/ I think I can let the pictures take it from here!

Warming up.....hmmm what's that noise??? I guess it doesn't sound that bad!

Some of those professional looking riders! Okay riders behinds (Carolyn took the picture)

Me at the start......

And awaay we goooo!!!!

Group at speed.

Me after lap one of three. Chain was making some noise, but I shifted around a bit, and it got quieter, so I kept motoring. Something else I notice in this picture is my belly! Gross! I've gained about ten pounds since summer, and after this next time trial, I'll start working on that. Hopefully I'll lose the ten pounds again before June.

Here I am coasting in at the end of lap two of three, defeated by a mechanical issue on the bike. The noise kept getting louder at an ominous clunking had started. so I bowed out unfinished. Looks like I was on pace for about 33 minutes for 20k. I was happy with the way my heart rate was going, as I kept it in control at right at 92% of max. what a bummer!

So here is the problem! When I put the chain on I somehow routed the chain on the outside of the derailleur cage. If you look closely the chain portion that is farthest right, should be routed to the left of the tab it is riding on. As I rode it was grinding away at the cage getting louder and louder, nearly destroying a Dura Ace derailleur in the process! What a waste of two time trials! We did like the Fiesta Island time trial for several reasons so we hope to get back, but they all seem to fall on Drill weekends! We'll get back pretty soon I hope! Thursday is the usual Belmont time trial again so I will make that and I will run good! I hope.......

Faster Than A Speeding..........City Bus?

So, riding home from drill on Sunday, I picked up a city bus about a mile from base. He blew by me and I took advantage of the draft allowing me to effortlessly pedal above average speed. Then he stopped and picked up some passengers, and I flew by him. I played leap frog with him before pulling firmly away at about the 5 mile mark. So it is pretty cool, that on a low traffic Sunday, I can at least keep pace with the city bus, without blowing signals, or unsafe riding. Just riding along stopping at red lights and cruising at around 18 mph. The funny thing is I ride past people with bikes at the bus stop waiting to take the bus! All the time I see bikes in the rack on the buses cruising by. If they only knew they could make better time across town just pedalling! If you include time spent waiting then switching and waiting again, trying to get across town, cycling is probably twice as fast.....and waaaay better for you....plus my bike doesn't smell like pee!
On another pathetic and sad note, today was international bike to work day. I was unaware, and decided to sit on the couch for an extra 20 minutes and drive in instead. In my defense, I had a long weekend with drill and riding to work, then having my annual fitness test, then a bit to time trial practice, all on Sunday, I just felt tired. So I drove. I did manage to pull off a 10:44 for my 1.5 mile run. I know it isn't the greatest, but it was good enough to be first in my group. Plus I wasn't the youngest kid in the pack either! Another point is that I have barely racked up 200 miles miles on the Boxster this year! Yes after four full months, I've managed to drive 50 miles average a month! So, the one day I don't ride is the day the rest of the world does! I'm such a tool!
So, I took the Giant Bowery over to "Chucky's" house this weekend so he can get started riding. Of course he proceeded to stick in the back of the garage behind cardboard boxes and Christmas lights. This may be an exaggeration, but I'm wondering how long before he takes it out for a spin. Maybe we should take a poll. Okay then, I'm out!

Another Boring Post

I haven't really had any big cycling news, so I guess I can fill in with some mundane stuff. I don't even have any pictures! I was supposed to do a little practice for a team time trial coming up on May 9Th. (My birthday!), but it turns out 50% of my team is out of commission at the moment. I have my doubts we'll make the date, let alone get a practice in. SO instead I went out on the "Golden Arrow" that's the gold Transition Expert time trial bike, and put 40 training miles on. Things went, well and I was able to keep the heart rate at 140 average, and run an average of 17.6 mph. considering traffic lights getting out of and back in town, I consider that a success. It also highlighted my need for a better pair of cycling shorts. If I have learned a thousand times before, you get what you pay for!
Progress on the Masi is going slow but good. My Reynolds Ouzo Pro all carbon fork came in and compliments the frame beautifully. I won a set of Dura ace 7700 brakes from Ebay. for 56 bucks with shipping! They are a bit older, but weigh basically the same as brand new Ultegra brakes (about 320 grams). When I add the Jagwire carbon cartriges with Ti hardware, they will probably weigh in at around 290-300 grams. I've decided to run the old standard of 26.0mm handlebars. After a bit of research, the smaller diameter is usually lighter and stiffer, and most likely what the bike came with new, although 26.0 bars are still used( my Country Road Bob has 26's). I've got my eye on a pair of Kestrel carbon kevlar bars that have yellow and red accents, that will match the bike perfectly! Of course when I cover all that with bar tape who will know! If I get the bars and a Syntace f-99 stem, the combo will weigh less than 300 grams! SO, I'm well on my way to finishing a very light high performance Italian road bike! Cost so far is $782.05. In that total is all shipping charges, and includes frame, carbon fork, ceramic bearing bottom bracket, seatpost, and brakes.
Well, Im out!
Darren

It's Here! Lackluster Time Trial.

It arrived! What a beautiful frame. I can't believe this is a five year old frame! The previous owner took such good care of this bike that it doesn't hardly look used. The Masi is an Italian bike manufactured with the precision and flair usually reserved for Ferrari and Lamborghini! Now the quest to get it built up will begin. It did come with a bottom bracket with ceramic bearings, FSA headset, and a really nice Thompson seat post, so I guess the next step will be to acquire a fork. I've got a couple in mind, but I'm eyeballing a Reynolds Ouzo Pro full carbon fork. It is going cheap on ebay because it is cut for a smaller frame, so there is little interest. The good part though, is it will fit mine perfectly! I typically under bid and get beat to the punch, but sometimes I get lucky! If I get lucky, I can have a frame and fork of this caliber for possibly less than 700 bucks! I know that seems like a lot, but Bought new, this set up could approach 2000 bucks! I'm hoping to get this fully built with at least Ultegra components for less that 2000 dollars. Now for the not so fun news.
I ran the first Belmont Time Trial of the season on Thursday. This time trial is put on by Fresno Cycling Club http://www.fresnocycling.com/, and has been great fun, if you can call 30 minutes of pure torture fun. Back in October, I ran my first one to establish a baseline time before I started training over the winter. Well I trained hard from October through February almost religiously, then I started slacking off in recent weeks. I figure I took off about 6-8 weeks with almost no training save for commuting to work, and weekend fun rides with Carolyn. For my first ever time trial I ran a pretty respectable 26:43 which works out to 22.45 miles per hour average. I was pretty happy with that, but there were lots of better times by people without time trial bikes, so I started working to better that time. So after everything I did this winter, including buying light, aero wheels and a pointy helmet I ran a dissapointing time of 26:39 averaging 22.51 miles per hour average. I meager 4 seconds improvement! So, That was pretty terrible, but when I do the calculation I beat myself by 132 feet. 132 feet over the course of 10 miles is nothing! I have nothing to blame but myself, and I'm going to do my best to shave 39 seconds from my time to hopefully run at 23mph. Of course that means beating my current time by nearly a quarter mile. When running at the ragged edge, it is hard to imagine myself pulling away and finishing 1315 feet ahead of my last time. At the end of my run I had spiked my heart rate at 95% which works out to 180bpm. I don't know, but I need to try and improve somehow. Well, I've got nothing to say, and It's time for work, so I'm out of here!!
Darren

New Acquisition, Miles, and Evil Master Plan!! Mwuhahahaha!!!

Hey all my loyal readers! Well both of you anyway! So, I have acquired a new, used road bike frame! It's a 2004 Masi Gran Criterium. This is an Italian thoroughbred made of some fancy type of aluminium. I am aware of the spelling of aluminium, but that's how the Brits say it, al⋅u⋅min⋅i⋅um. Go here to hear it! http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=aluminium&db=luna It just sounds so proper! Anyway it also has a really nice carbon rear that is supposedly magical in it's ride quality. I should hope it is base on the price! I won't tell how much, but I had a really tough time finding a good frame in my size for a reasonable sum. The plan is to build it up slowly over the next several months, entirely from Ebay, and Craigslist. We'll see how it goes!

We took the weekend to relax, and take care of a few errands. Carolyn was out of town last week on business so we thought we would stay home for Easter and slow down for just a second! This morning was beautiful and we took advantage of the weather and went for a ride. We actually left the house on our bikes instead of toting them to the park and then riding. This was really good because we got to put on some real miles and save some gas. It was a good idea too because Woodward park was packed with cars! On the bikes we just cruised right by and rode our favorite trail. All told, we rode a tick under 28 miles! That is a new best for Carolyn, and she did it without any trouble at all! Then I made her mad by announcing that the next mile stone would be 50 miles. She said I should let her enjoy this level for a while. Guess I wouldn't make a good girl, because I still have no idea what she was talking about!! So, like I was saying, 50 miles next!! Ha!!

Now for the evil plan. I've been trying to get my best good friend to hit the road riding with me. Lets call him "Chucky". "Chucky" is reluctant to spend the cash for a road bike at this stage, but I just happen to have a nice, well used Giant Bowery singlespeed that is just his size I'll bet! So here is the plan. I'll loan the Giant to "Chucky" and we can go riding on the singlespeeds together, so he can get used to the road bike geometry. Then he can save some cash while I'm building my road bike, and we can both have new road bikes about the same time! Then he can give me back my Giant and I can Blow it up with dynamite or something. Nah, just kidding, but I'm sure I can find a good use for it somewhere. So, if my evil plan works, I can get "Chucky" into cycling and I can add him to the running list of people I've convinced or forced into cycling. If I can get "Chucky" hooked that will make the total converts to Five!

Yeehaw!

I love My Country Road Bob!!

I love my Country Road Bob (Van Dessel). I know I've said it before, but I have finally justified my purchase! First, here is a pic of the bike. She sure is pretty, huh? Can you call a bike like a Country Road Bob a she??

Now let me tell you a little story of why I love the C.R.B. I first started searching for the C.R.B. because when commuting in the rain, regular rim brakes would get all gunked up, and make some horrible noises because of road grime and water. This compromised the braking quality and the rim life considerably. I was very specific in what I was looking for, a road geometry frame with drop handlebars, disk brakes and singlespeed gearing. I figured this would prove to be the most reliable configuration and the theory was that disk brakes would keep out of the grime and stop normally during inclement weather. You know the only bike on the planet that had all these things? That's right the C.R.B. Well it's been a very dry winter/spring, and every single day I've ridden since receiving the C.R.B. has been dry as a bone....until last night.
It had been raining heavily for a couple of hours before my commute home last night. The rain had stopped but it was really wet on the road on the way home. So, there I am riding home at after 11:00 P.M. with no starlight, no streetlights with a shiny wet street ahead of me. I was enjoying my ride and the water from the front wheel would spray up in front of my headlight creating a rather beautiful reflection back in my direction. It was quiet out, and I'm pretty much mesmerized by the light show, which is keeping my attention straight down and not out in front of me! I know not smart, but that's what happens after riding the same route several hundred time! I catch something at the top of my vision rapidly approaching! Well I'm rolling along about 18-19mph, and about 20-25 feet ahead is a parked semi tractor where there is never anything parked! I wish I could have seen my face, but my best guess is that it looked something like this........

I immediately smashed the brakes and came to a very rapid, but easily modulated sliding stop rotating 90 degrees and pointing toward the curb with about 2 inches between me and the semi! I know I can't bring back the excitement of the moment, but it was pretty crazy, that I didn't go down, or eat the rear of that truck for a midnight snack! But, the brakes worked flawlessly, and I can guarantee that if I was that stupid on my last bike, I would have been dragging myself off the ground and looking for my teeth under that truck! Did I learn a lesson? Yes! Always spend as much time, effort and money to get exactly what you want, and you can always find a way to justify it later!!!!!

Tubular Trials and Tribulations

I thought I'd waste many hours of my weekend installing my new Tufo Jet Specials onto my race wheels. I guess that was okay, because I needed to fill time as Carolyn was busy getting herself ready for her first business trip at her new company. She loves her job! I wish I could say the same for myself. The only thing I like about my job is the paychecks.....and I could love them more!

Anyway, getting the tires off the wheels was easier said than done. After wrestling the tires off I was left with a sticky nasty residue that I absolutely had to remove!

Getting years of goo and crust off of the wheels was a combination of mechanical separation and chemical goodness brought on with lacquer thinner. The peeling back of layers was tough on the old fingers, but the thinner did a number on drying out my fingers, with an added bonus of taking the red color from the shop rags and transferring it to my fingers! They still aren't the same. As you can see the results speak for themselves. These are 8 year old Lew Composite racing wheels. Still among the lightest, if not the most aerodynamic wheels ever made!

Once cleaned up I tackled the task of installing the new blue and yellow very under the radar tires! Here is where I took a shortcut. I know that there is the argument that traditional glue is stronger and less likely to have the tire separate from the wheel. Since this was my first time, and didn't want to chance ruining these expensive tires, I opted to use Tufo Extreme gluing tape. The tape comes from the Czech Republic, so the box reads, LEPICI PASKA PRO SILNICNI GALUSKY! That must be good right? Actually, the tape went on good and was very easy to use and center the tire on the wheel. The most difficult thing was trying to stretch the tire onto the wheel. After stretching the tire a couple times and a bit of finessing they went on and seem to hold onto the wheel very nicely. I figure that time trialing is mostly straight line I'm not too worried about them peeling off the wheels. The best part is after three days, they are still holding air! As you can see they look quite fetching on their wheels when you add the SRAM red cassette, they are quite colorful too!

Reasons to Love (or justify) Cycling.

I'd like to share the reasons that I love cycling. Please keep in mind that these can all be reasons to justify cycling to yourself or others. Some of these reasons may not apply to everyone, or the people you are trying to explain this to may not want to hear certain reasons, but you'll have to use your own discretion there. This list usually comes flying out as soon as someone asks, "How much did that bike cost?". You may be surprised to discover that even 500 dollars will be enough to start justifying away! I get this question at least once a week, and the more expensive the bike the more necessary it becomes to lengthen the list. So lets get started.

1. It saves gas! This reason to love cycling worked wonders when gas was nearly 5 bucks a gallon last summer/fall. During that time I usually could stop there. Now that gas is "only" around 2.25 you may have to continue. By the way, on my 14 mile commute it probably took less than 6 months to reach the 500 dollar threshold. Of course every body's calculations will be different based on length of commute, cost of bike, and fuel preference. If your car requires premium fuel you win!!

2. You get fit! This should be obvious to most people, but I still get the deer in the headlights look. So you may need to further explain that you get two thirty minute cardio sessions five days a week! This serves a double big purpose for me as I need to maintain a fitness standard as part of my job. Still, non cyclists will doubt your sanity when the cost of the bike heads toward 1000 dollars. So you may have to move to more reasons.

3. Losing weight! This closely related to number 2, but if the cost of your cycling obsession reaches well beyond the thousand dollar threshold, to will need to split this list as much as necessary. Personally, I've lost 30lbs inside of probably 6 months. I've gained about 5 back, but I call that muscle!

4. Keeping miles off the car! This may seem like number 1, but it is entirely different. It costs money to drive. Gas isn't the only cost to driving a car, there are things like maintenance, oil, tires, etc. Something to consider when regurgitating this list is remember the significance of the order. This reason may move farther up, if your car costs 100,000 and all those miles will depreciate the vehicle rapidly. You may also consider moving it down if you drive a 23 year old Yugo that costs less than a huffy. (It just wouldn't make any sense!) I haven't been keeping track of my miles but I'm sure I put less than a thousand miles on my car last year.

5. Saving the environment! Here is reason that you will need to consider the person that you are trying to justify your insanity to. Believe it or not, a lot of people refuse to believe that their cars pollute the environment! At my place of employment just uttering the word environment will classify you as an immediate outsider, possibly a spy for Greenpeace, or PETA. I'm not kidding either. Call it ignorance, or brainwashing, but there are people that think humans are pretty arrogant to believe that they can affect the environment for the worst. I'm serious! I've heard it in regular conversation at work more than once! Now I'm not the tree hugger type, but come on! So, consider your surroundings when mentioning this one!

6. Saves money! This reason can be the most difficult to explain especially when cycling costs climb into the stratosphere. But carefully worded this can become a valid excuse...er reason. Gas, oil, maintenance all cost money, but so do other things. Going out to eat for lunch is impossible on my 30 minute break with my bike. So, even fast food will cost 6 or 7 bucks a day. so over the course of a year you could save This is a 1500 dollar a year expense at 6 bucks a day 5 days a week and 50 weeks a year! Now you still have to bring a lunch and they aren't free, but you could reasonably save 750 dollars a year! That will get you a pretty nice singlespeed, or city bike! All told you can easily mentally write off 2,000 a year without thinking too hard! Now you are talking a really nice road bike, and probably equipped with Ultegra! Not too shabby!

I probably could go on, but I've got to wrap it up, So with all the money you save commuting to work, you could easily justify spending more on an otherwise prohibitively expensive hobby. I for one know I far outspend any savings bike commuting will give me, but when considering all the other benefits involved, this is the cheapest hobby I've ever had!!

The latest cycling happenings......

Hello again!
I haven't had much cycling oriented stuff to write about lately. Actually since starting this blog I've come to realize that I really don't have much to say! That said, I've made my hotel reservations for the Fiesta Island time trial on May 10th. Which also happens to be my birthday weekend....whoopie. http://www.fiestaisland.com/. I also signed up for the Great Western Bicycle Rally in Paso Robles set for Memorial Day weekend. http://www.greatwesternbicyclerally.com/. I'm mainly going for the time trial on Saturday, but myself and a friend from work are heading out Friday and camping on site Friday night.
Closer to home I'll be attending the Fresno Cycling Club's monthly time trial on Thursday April 16th. Here is there website, http://www.fresnocycling.com/. I'll post my before training base line that I received this past October. I can't remember the actual time, but the average speed was 22.4 miles per hour. I'm hoping to best that and am hoping to break 25 miles per hour by the end of the season. I'm not sure that will be possible, because that is really starting to fly, but we'll see! Hmm, what has come in the mail recently.
I received my replacement chain and eccentric bolts from Van Dessel yesterday. I can't say enough about the Country Road Bob that I make my 14 mile commute or the company themselves. I'll try real hard to make my road bike a Van Dessel
if I can round one up cheap enough! Here is a link to Van Dessel, http://www.vandesselsports.com/. Oh, I also ordered a pair of race tires for the time trial bike. Hold on to your seat... they cost me 180.00 with the glue and valve extenders! That's a lot of cash! I know car tires that cost less than that! It is actually possible to get an entire bike for less than that, but I wouldn't want to ride it. Since I'm not the flashy type, I went for the blue and yellow Tufo Jet Special tires. I figure blue and yellow tires will blend into the background nicely.
Well, I've got to head to work which will be real fun after the intervals I did on the trainer this morning!
Darren

I Love Fridays!

Fridays give many people lots of reasons to love them. I'd like to highlight some of the reasons I love Fridays. There are a couple reasons that Friday isn't great, but they are far outweighed by the pluses.



1. Friday means getting off of work usually before the sun goes down, at least since the time change! This is good for me because I don't even have to turn on the lights on my bicycle commute. Of course traffic if the worst on Friday evening, but that's okay.



2. I go into work earlier on Friday, so the workload is shared by us night shifters, and the day shift. So, plenty of people for the amount of work. Plus you get to shoot the bull with day shift guys before they leave for the day.



3. Barbecue! Well this isn't a Friday given, but it can be a regular thing at work. Of course today will be a shop carnitas day. (also known as pork ball day).



4. The weekend is starting! Do really need to explain the merits of that?



5. I actually get to see my wife before she goes to bed! We work opposite shifts during the week, so getting home before her bedtime is the best!



6. Eating out! I can ruin my weight management for the entire week, by celebrating the weekend with pizza, or burgers, or Chipotle, or some other sort of guilty pleasure that I don't get to do during the week!



I think I could go on, but it is Friday and that means I have 3 less hours before work than usual...........ugh.....man, I hate Friday!!

Back in the saddle......on the saddle?

Well, I got back on the trainer today. I think I may know a small part of my motivation problem. I believe that the work involved in order to actually get going on the trainer may discourage me from working out. If you'll notice the first picture my workout space is covered with 2800lbs. of Zanzibar red Boxster. After I get decked out in my riding clothes minus the shoes, I have to go out and take the Boxster off the battery charger (that's how little it is driven anymore). Then hop in and pull it out of the garage, and set up the bike on the trainer. I have to check the air in the bike tires, set up the ladder, which serves as a shelf for various objects like kitchen timer for the intervals, water, and of course phone. I never hear the phone, because of the ear buds at such decibel levels, but I can see it fall off the ladder when it vibrates itself onto the floor. Of course I can't forget to set up the fan on the car wash bucket. Then it's back inside to grab Bonham's blanket and toys, so he'll stay occupied while I'm pedalling. Of course he's trying to bring me and the blanket down as I carry it outside. Back inside again to grab the Heart monitor, water, gloves, Ipod, and put on the shoes. Once all of that is done you get the next picture: Darren's Elite Full Service Time Trial Training Center! Of course you will notice that such a place requires it's own security force, the famous Bonham the Boxer mailman bouncer!

Well I guess the Point to this is, in order to train for 35 minutes minus warmup, I need to spend 35 minutes getting ready. Also everything that I did to setup has to be reversed before I can go in and take a shower! So, if I can come up with a way to streamline the process, maybe I'll be more apt to keep to the schedule, and not miss workouts! Maybe it's time to get rid of the Boxster!!

Ride Fast!

It's a Problem of Motivation

As an aspiring time trialist, I've spend a lot of time and virtual miles on the trainer in the garage. It isn't because it is terribly cold, but the training is terribly specific and most times can't be duplicated on the road. In the begining of my training regime, (October) I had no problem keeping to the schedule. During the winter months when steam would rise from my skin, no problem there either. Now that it is sunny and perfect weather, I can't bring myself to make it into the garage set up the trainer and get moving! Maybe it's because it is so nice out, and I'd rather be out enjoying the weather, then why do I not leave the house? The Ipod has helped for quite some time now, but now it does nothing. I was very motivated until my first time trial of the season, which was the PIRU time trial in southern California. http://www.uncletren.com/ This time trial attracted some very fast people and although I finished 2nd. out of four in my class (35-45 year old regular people without licenses). My "victory" was blunted by the fact that I was a full minute out of first, and only 2 seconds out of 3rd. So it was a middle of the pack run made difficult by watching the categorised racers motoring past me. What made it worse, was the 71 year old that bested my time by more than a couple seconds! So I'm wondering if I've given up so as to not be humiliated at the next time trial? I don't know. I promise to get back onto the trainer and keep it up for the next one which is April 16th. put on by the Fresno Cycling Club. http://www.fresnocycling.com/ Plus the bonus is even if I start my training with fury, I can always blame the couple weeks off I took this month! Yes! I have an excuse! Of course I'm sure it will be windy that day too......head winds really can suck the speed huh! Is that two excuses? All right! Good to go!

On another note, here's a picture from our shopping this weekend. That's a lot of water! I've got to figure out where to put 10 more cases of water while rotating stock to use the other 10 cases of water before these! What is it with bottled water? Well for me it's the taste. I can't stomach Fresno tap water. Also I'm pretty particular about the brands of bottled water I will drink. Odd I know, but I'm sure I'm not the only one! By the way, these pictures are all just snapshots taken with Carolyn's point and shoot and not the awesome D-300 that my best bud got me such a great deal on when Circuit City still was a store!

Speaking of my best bud, I'm really trying to get him riding with me even if it's just low speed riding. Maybe if I call him out publicly he'll get out with me huh?? Well until next time......Ride fast!

My first post!

Hello All! I'm not sure what to do, so I guess I'll introduce myself and my family. I'm Darren, a civil service technician residing in the great central valley of California. I'm most happily married to Carolyn. She is a professional business person and student. She is the best at whatever she decides to do and I'm grateful she picked me to marry! Here are a few pictures of us, and our two "children" Bonham, and Bubba. Bubba is the ferocious Chihuahua and Bonham is the happiest Boxer on the planet.

I'm going to try to keep this blog about cycling, cars and photography, but I'm sure this will ramble a bit based on my ever changing obsessions...er...interests. See I'm the kind of person that will pick up a new hobby or interest, and obsess about it singularly until one day, it becomes old mews in my mind and have to find a new obsession....er...interest. Cycling, sports cars, particularly Porsche, and photography are the most current interests, although the cars are quickly taking a back seat the the bikes. Even though I have a Porsche, I've managed to put at least twice as many miles in the bikes in the last year than the car! the worst part is I've also managed to put twice the money in the bikes as the car! As for the bikes, I'll get the pictures of them up soon, the fleet is growing rapidly including two single speed "commuter" bikes and a time trial bike. Hopefully soon I'll add a proper road bike, and will be looking for suggestions!

The first single speed bike I bought was an 06 Giant Bowery. It has proven to be a great ride and I managed to put about 3,000 miles on it this past year. The latest addition to the bike fleet is a Van Dessel Country Road Bob. http://www.vandesselsports.com/crb.html. This ride is awesome! I love the bike although there were a few teething problems. Broke the first chain commuting to work after about 20 miles on the odometer, but the nice folks at Van Dessel are sending a new chain out and it should be here soon. Last but not least is the time trial bike. This bike is a real kick when I want to fly, and it has helped me in my budding super amateur career as a time trial specialist. More on that later! Well this should be enough for the first post. I promise more cycling and non interesting stuff about me soon, so until then RIDE FAST!