Summer Nights
I know, it technically isn't summer.
Last night my wife and I rode down to a local eatery to enjoy the evening and nourishment. My cousin and girlfriend rode over from Minneapolis so they could enjoy the evening as well. We then all rode over to have some dessert and if you have never been to Izzy's, I suggest you go. By the time we were all finished, it was around 10:30 and time to ride home.
My first thought, as it was still extremely warm, was to ride over to Minneapolis and then home. But both my wife and I were tired and I wasn't on the best bike to keep up with skinny wheelers. So we just noodled the 2 miles home. It was gorgeous! The temperature was around 70, barely any wind, humidity was non-existent, hard to ask for a better evening. As I waited at the light at University, I had a memory triggered from when I lived in Florida. At that intersection, there is a lot more pavement and concrete and not much vegetation. It's one of the main reasons I could not continue to live in FL.
Leaving that road behind, we entered my neighborhood streets. Overgrown with many a great old tree, the smells and overall feeling of being closer to nature returned. Cruising on the bike, not wishing for different (especially more) clothing, great conversation, smelling life from the earth (which we are trying to kill to the best of our abilities), how could that not be one of the greatest things ever?
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Choices are Critical
Ken and I tried out one of our most relaxing ways to incorporate bicycles into other activities, with our second BGB event. That's Bike-Golf-Bike, laid back triathlon style. We were planning to ride up to Stacy to play, but as I was calculating the schedule for Saturday, I realized I couldn't be gone that long, so we chose a closer course near Stillwater. Out the Gateway Trail a ways Ken says, "take the gravel?". Well how can I say no to that.
Turns out I should say no when I am testing tyres I have a good idea are not designed for gravel. I put a set of Panaracer Ribmos on the Cross Check and in trying to encourage others to ride them (purely for testing purposes) I purchased them in 32mm width. Now why would I think we wouldn't be riding gravel? Somewhere in my brain, I know I was thinking I just have to confirm these are not the tyres for me. The most intriguing factor for me is that I enjoy so much of the Panaracer Pasela, (including T-Servs 6 of 8 700c bikes have them) and I figure if they can make that tyre so wonderful, maybe this one is worth a shot.
I have only run them about 50 miles but I'm sure they won't stay on my bike much longer. I think they could make an ok commuter for someone, but after riding Paselas for so long, I am extremely happy with them, and this tyre does not offer anything to improve my ride. The first is that they seemed very springy. Once we hit the gravel, I was bouncing down the road. I had them set at 60psi, which is a little higher than I run my Paselas, but they didn't absorb the bumps. It's a little unclear from the picture, but the tyres are actually pointed a little in the center. I don't think it reduced my rolling resistance, but it sure changes the compression. It also carves into the dirt. We hit a few softer sections of gravel throughout our rides and it was like riding through sand. I had no steering control and bogged down very quickly. Lastly, I did notice the less than smooth transition into cornering. I thought I was going to just feel this in my mind, but Sunday I hopped back on a bike with T-Servs (28mm none the less) and I was surprised at how well they rolled into the corners. So much so that I cased a pedal leaning into a turn, which I have not done for a long time (disclaimer: fixed gear + excited rider, not just excited, stupid rider).
I figure I will run the tyres a few more days on my normal commute to give them a little more of a chance. Then, off to another person to see what they think. Since a number of us at the shop have similar taste in rubber, I have a feeling these are going to be for sale pretty soon. Even with my lack of stellar thoughts for my bike's shoes, the golfing was great and the riding even better.
Turns out I should say no when I am testing tyres I have a good idea are not designed for gravel. I put a set of Panaracer Ribmos on the Cross Check and in trying to encourage others to ride them (purely for testing purposes) I purchased them in 32mm width. Now why would I think we wouldn't be riding gravel? Somewhere in my brain, I know I was thinking I just have to confirm these are not the tyres for me. The most intriguing factor for me is that I enjoy so much of the Panaracer Pasela, (including T-Servs 6 of 8 700c bikes have them) and I figure if they can make that tyre so wonderful, maybe this one is worth a shot.
I have only run them about 50 miles but I'm sure they won't stay on my bike much longer. I think they could make an ok commuter for someone, but after riding Paselas for so long, I am extremely happy with them, and this tyre does not offer anything to improve my ride. The first is that they seemed very springy. Once we hit the gravel, I was bouncing down the road. I had them set at 60psi, which is a little higher than I run my Paselas, but they didn't absorb the bumps. It's a little unclear from the picture, but the tyres are actually pointed a little in the center. I don't think it reduced my rolling resistance, but it sure changes the compression. It also carves into the dirt. We hit a few softer sections of gravel throughout our rides and it was like riding through sand. I had no steering control and bogged down very quickly. Lastly, I did notice the less than smooth transition into cornering. I thought I was going to just feel this in my mind, but Sunday I hopped back on a bike with T-Servs (28mm none the less) and I was surprised at how well they rolled into the corners. So much so that I cased a pedal leaning into a turn, which I have not done for a long time (disclaimer: fixed gear + excited rider, not just excited, stupid rider).
I figure I will run the tyres a few more days on my normal commute to give them a little more of a chance. Then, off to another person to see what they think. Since a number of us at the shop have similar taste in rubber, I have a feeling these are going to be for sale pretty soon. Even with my lack of stellar thoughts for my bike's shoes, the golfing was great and the riding even better.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Garden Time
This past weekend my wife and I spent a whole bunch of time working in our yard. We put in a vegetable garden and planted a number of plants. The weather was absolutely perfect and I was only a little sad there was no biking. With the exception of the small ride for Joe's bachelor party. I think I am still partially dehydrated because of it.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Kids Again
(riding to the park)Sunday was our second wiffle ball game day and it was a lot of fun. We played a little harder due to the balls not being quite as wiffly, so they moved a little faster. We had an impromptu derby, but it wasn't the all out pandemonium that derby can be. People had other commitments, slowly reducing our numbers until we had to make a trade to keep things even.
(serious gaming business)Thursday, April 29, 2010
Putting the Fires Out
The bike shop has been bustling over the last couple of months with milder spring weather than we are used to. Along with one of our full timers departing, this has caused a few of us to work a little more then usual. It also tends to start working it's way under people's skin.
I am getting crankier the older I get. Most people don't see this side of me and I have kept it hidden in my youth to save it up for when I get older. My dream is to be a cranky old man, sitting on my front porch and yelling at the kids to not ruin my flowerbeds. Then fix up their bikes for them, I'm cranky not mean!
So there's tons of people needing stuff at the shop, lots of personal events happening, all sorts of personal projects not getting to, loads of everyday tidbits that never go away and to top it all off, my wife's purse was snatched from her office. Talk about a straw! As I was asked to talk about a few items during one of our work meetings last night, I couldn't help myself and I yelled a little louder and sharper then I like to. Cranky coming through.
Today was much better and there seemed a lighter air about the store. I can't say for certain, but we aren't as backlogged and there are a number of items that have been checked off the list...done. I thought it fitting, looking across the street as the fire department put on a demonstration for some folk. I wasn't fast enough to catch the car on fire (and it was REALLY on fire!), but I did catch them giving some people a try at the hose. I should see if I could get my hands on one of those to put out my own fires.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
My Trans Iowa V6
My good friend and fellow twisted cyclist Ken and I headed to attempt this year's Trans Iowa. This was my second try at this race and with a couple of confidence building rides under my belt, I felt good about the weekend. That didn't mean I wasn't scared silly, but sure that I could put forth a good effort.
Nervousness mounted right up to leaving the hotel 3:30 Friday morning. I was constantly second guessing what to wear, what to pack, where to pack it. Would my tyres work? Why didn't I leave the fenders on? What was I thinking trying this ride? Just the usual pre-race jitters.
The morning started out much warmer than I planned, so even at the start line I was changing things around. The nice thing is that my basket performed beautifully. Only very minor changes to make it perfection (I'm thinking of a custom bag). We rolled out a little after 4 keeping towards the back of the pack. We are no speed demons, so it didn't make any sense to be in anyone's way. Of course the leaders were off like crazy (those guys are insane!) but the rest of us were strung out in a matter of a couple miles. We quickly found ourselves on gravel and the mud started flying. I was wearing a pair of clear lens glasses and they were great since my tyres were flinging mud all over (as were all the tyres around me). Unfortunately, they didn't stay clear for long so into the basket they went and soon I was digging mud from my eyes on every downhill.
We rode with a number of riders for about 10 miles and it started to become too much back and forth for me to stand. So at one of the risers I cranked into the pedals a little harder and put some separation from the rest of the folk. Ken and I were then more on our own when the mist turned to slight rain and he wanted to cover his saddle (it's almost always a good idea to follow Ken's advice when it comes to riding). Shortly after, we thought rain jackets would be wise. And they were. It rained quite hard for about 30 min (I really have no sense of time at this point) which at least washed off some of the mud. Unfortunately, it created a whole bunch more.
The rain subsided and things were rolling along quite well up until somewhere around mile 30. The first B-maintenance road came into view. I saw 4 riders scrambling to the sides of the "road" (see previous post picture). Tyre tracks and footprints littered the entrance, all veering to the grass ditches. I thought I would see how bad the mud really was and charged toward the edge of the road. I made it about 15 feet before the bike bogged down and I couldn't move at all. Nothing to do but walk. It was roughly a mile we had to traverse the ditches of this road. A few places we had to cross to the other side, causing mud to pack up around the tyres immediately if they were allowed to touch the road. But what did my bike in was the cornfield. Remnants of stalks are still plastered with mud all over the frame.
Now that we were riding again my legs felt like lead. There were some good rollers right away and I thought I was working way too hard to continue for 275 more miles. But I know how the long distance thing works and that it is possible to recover so I wasn't worrying about it too much. As I followed the cue sheets, I started calculating distance and time. It wasn't looking good. I knew we had to kick it up in order to make the cutoff. I marveled at the truth that was being revealed by Ken's comments the night before; "You know, there might be a chance we won't make the first cutoff if it's really soupy."
We were about 10 miles out when this stuff was rolling around in my brain. I felt pretty good at that point. I had eaten a tiny bit (thanks Carrie) and the adrenaline was pumping from knowing what we had to do to make the time. I mentioned to Ken that we would have to work to arrive in time. He told me he was working. As much as I wanted to take off and try to make the first checkpoint, I know that paying attention to Ken when it comes to riding is the smart choice. So we rolled along into Monroe about 10 minutes late. Jim and Kevin from Hiawatha Cyclery were manning the stop and it was nice to see some friendly faces. I think they were more disappointed we wouldn't be continuing than we were.
We moseyed up to the Casey's (a staple in most IA towns) and snacked out front, making the plan on how to get back to Grinnell. I realized I needed to drink some more as I had consumed about 4 oz of water over 45 miles. Another sign that continuing on would have been VERY bad. That surely would have come back to haunt me. A change of upper layers and we were ready to limp back.
For some insane reason, we decided to follow our route we had just come, back a ways to avoid some busier paved roads. It turned out just fine, but it does make me question our general thinking when it comes to riding bicycles. The route dumped us out onto a highway and we made our way via blacktop from there, stopping for some drinks about halfway. I felt the hinting of leg cramps and figured some chocolate milk was the ticket. I saw a quart container and almost bought it, but then chose a smaller bottle. After finishing it, turns out the "smaller" bottle was a quart also.
With the winds picking up, it was a slow ride back to the hotel. As this race is all about traversing the back roads of Iowa, the last 3 miles into town were ridden on gravel. By that time, the road was good and dry, but the wind in our face kept our pace low. Ken, always thinking, had cold beer ready for us when we pulled into the parking lot. A quick rinsing with a hose at the hotel, some fuel for the van and us, and we headed for home.
It was nice to rehash the ride coherently on the drive home. Mistakes were talked about. Plans were put into place in case TI V7 happens. All-in-all it was a great couple of days. Even though that was way too long of drive for a 81 mile ride.
Nervousness mounted right up to leaving the hotel 3:30 Friday morning. I was constantly second guessing what to wear, what to pack, where to pack it. Would my tyres work? Why didn't I leave the fenders on? What was I thinking trying this ride? Just the usual pre-race jitters.
The morning started out much warmer than I planned, so even at the start line I was changing things around. The nice thing is that my basket performed beautifully. Only very minor changes to make it perfection (I'm thinking of a custom bag). We rolled out a little after 4 keeping towards the back of the pack. We are no speed demons, so it didn't make any sense to be in anyone's way. Of course the leaders were off like crazy (those guys are insane!) but the rest of us were strung out in a matter of a couple miles. We quickly found ourselves on gravel and the mud started flying. I was wearing a pair of clear lens glasses and they were great since my tyres were flinging mud all over (as were all the tyres around me). Unfortunately, they didn't stay clear for long so into the basket they went and soon I was digging mud from my eyes on every downhill.
We rode with a number of riders for about 10 miles and it started to become too much back and forth for me to stand. So at one of the risers I cranked into the pedals a little harder and put some separation from the rest of the folk. Ken and I were then more on our own when the mist turned to slight rain and he wanted to cover his saddle (it's almost always a good idea to follow Ken's advice when it comes to riding). Shortly after, we thought rain jackets would be wise. And they were. It rained quite hard for about 30 min (I really have no sense of time at this point) which at least washed off some of the mud. Unfortunately, it created a whole bunch more.
The rain subsided and things were rolling along quite well up until somewhere around mile 30. The first B-maintenance road came into view. I saw 4 riders scrambling to the sides of the "road" (see previous post picture). Tyre tracks and footprints littered the entrance, all veering to the grass ditches. I thought I would see how bad the mud really was and charged toward the edge of the road. I made it about 15 feet before the bike bogged down and I couldn't move at all. Nothing to do but walk. It was roughly a mile we had to traverse the ditches of this road. A few places we had to cross to the other side, causing mud to pack up around the tyres immediately if they were allowed to touch the road. But what did my bike in was the cornfield. Remnants of stalks are still plastered with mud all over the frame.
Now that we were riding again my legs felt like lead. There were some good rollers right away and I thought I was working way too hard to continue for 275 more miles. But I know how the long distance thing works and that it is possible to recover so I wasn't worrying about it too much. As I followed the cue sheets, I started calculating distance and time. It wasn't looking good. I knew we had to kick it up in order to make the cutoff. I marveled at the truth that was being revealed by Ken's comments the night before; "You know, there might be a chance we won't make the first cutoff if it's really soupy."
We were about 10 miles out when this stuff was rolling around in my brain. I felt pretty good at that point. I had eaten a tiny bit (thanks Carrie) and the adrenaline was pumping from knowing what we had to do to make the time. I mentioned to Ken that we would have to work to arrive in time. He told me he was working. As much as I wanted to take off and try to make the first checkpoint, I know that paying attention to Ken when it comes to riding is the smart choice. So we rolled along into Monroe about 10 minutes late. Jim and Kevin from Hiawatha Cyclery were manning the stop and it was nice to see some friendly faces. I think they were more disappointed we wouldn't be continuing than we were.
We moseyed up to the Casey's (a staple in most IA towns) and snacked out front, making the plan on how to get back to Grinnell. I realized I needed to drink some more as I had consumed about 4 oz of water over 45 miles. Another sign that continuing on would have been VERY bad. That surely would have come back to haunt me. A change of upper layers and we were ready to limp back.
For some insane reason, we decided to follow our route we had just come, back a ways to avoid some busier paved roads. It turned out just fine, but it does make me question our general thinking when it comes to riding bicycles. The route dumped us out onto a highway and we made our way via blacktop from there, stopping for some drinks about halfway. I felt the hinting of leg cramps and figured some chocolate milk was the ticket. I saw a quart container and almost bought it, but then chose a smaller bottle. After finishing it, turns out the "smaller" bottle was a quart also.
With the winds picking up, it was a slow ride back to the hotel. As this race is all about traversing the back roads of Iowa, the last 3 miles into town were ridden on gravel. By that time, the road was good and dry, but the wind in our face kept our pace low. Ken, always thinking, had cold beer ready for us when we pulled into the parking lot. A quick rinsing with a hose at the hotel, some fuel for the van and us, and we headed for home.
It was nice to rehash the ride coherently on the drive home. Mistakes were talked about. Plans were put into place in case TI V7 happens. All-in-all it was a great couple of days. Even though that was way too long of drive for a 81 mile ride.
"B"feated
Things to remember for my next attempt (if there is one):
1.) Coffee for before the ride - 2:30 is awfully early
2.) Breakfast for before the ride - oatmeal or the like
3.) Sleeping aid - it's REALLY hard to go to sleep before the race
4.) Mud guards - I am too used to riding with them to not use them
5.) Basket Bag - easier access to camera and stuff
6.) Gears
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
