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!!!!!