Happy Buddy Day!

Most folks think of today, December 31st, as "New Year's Eve". For us, it's "Buddy Day" and today marks the fourth anniversary of Buddy -- our Cairn Terrier -- coming to live with us from the rescue.

It's only been four years, but it's been great. He's become a real part of our lives and we love the little guy, even if we do call him "rat dog" and "our little moron".

Happy Buddy Day, everyone! Oh, and Happy New Year, too. :)

This week's car fun

So I'm at home this past Tuesday, and I get a call from Grace. She says the car is riding like it's got a flat tire, but it doesn't feel like it or look like it, so she's not quite sure what to do. Since she's not far from home, I jump in the Integra and head out to check out what the deal is. I get out there, and the tire appears to be fully inflated. Using my light, I look around, and see a bolt head sticking about 3/4" out of the tire. Well, that explains the "thump thump thump" sound she described, thing's pretty big.

So, I swap on the space-saver spare... does anyone routinely check and fill the pressure on their spares? Yeah, well, I don't, do so. It was pretty damn low. Still, it was wickedly cold and only about 2-3 miles to home, so I decided to try it, and just take it slow.

Just as I'm lowering the car, Grace says "is that your car making that noise?" I don't know what she's talking about, all I hear is the motor of the Miata. Then, when I stand up, she asks again -- "is your car smoking, or just steaming?" Oh, shit, indeed, you can see *something* wafting through the headlights. And, now that I'm standing up and the bitterly cold wind has died down just a little, I can also hear what sounds like a cross between a low whistle and a kazoo.

Oh... shit...

I chuck her bad tire in the back of my car, and pop the hood. The whistling is coming from steam escaping from the top of the radiator, apparently where the plastic end tanks are crimped onto the metal. Well, damn. Not much I can do here, though, so I give her the Integra, jump in the Miata, and we drive home slowly with now TWO injured cars.

We get home, and I air up the spare. (Better late than never.) Despite the slow drive in blisteringly cold temperatures, it's warm to the touch. Oops. I bring the damaged tire inside, and check out the bolt. It might be big, but it's stuck in, and no air is leaking out. In fact, the tire's completely holding its pressure. Well, until I pulled the bolt out. Lost it pretty quick, then. (Bolt was surprisingly big, too. Check out the attached picture! Looks like it is a piece of a rusted out exhaust U-clamp.)

Thankfully, I've got a tire patch/plugging kit, and set about doing that. Got the hole plugged and holding air quickly, and just for good measure, I threw in the remainder of a bottle of Stan's Notubes tubeless tire sealant. This stuff does some pretty amazing things on mountain bike tires, and is actually rated for car tire use as well, so figured it couldn't hurt. Got the tire back on the Miata and we're all good to go. Rechecked the pressure the next morning, and it was still where it should be. Sweet.

The Integra, though... not so good. Once, a long while back, damaged the radiator when the car slipped off a jack as I was lowering it. The block of wood I was using as a jacking pad hit the junction between the plastic end tank and the radiator, and broke the seal. That time, I managed to fix it by pushing it back into place, and re-crimping the aluminum over the plastic. This time, trying the same thing, I couldn't tell if it worked. I took it out for a spin, the temperature came up, heat worked, all that, so I'm hopeful. Can't really tell the level without opening the radiator, and I worked with a guy who tried that. OUCH.

Today, Grace was going to take it to the studio, since that's only a couple miles away, it'll heat up but won't strand her if it has problems. Well, I go out to watch when she starts it up, and when she does, a bunch of antifreeze comes out of the area I "fixed". :P So, she takes the Miata, and after a phone call to Jeff Taylor, I'm in touch with a friend of his who has a new radiator on hand in Old Bridge. (still can't hear that town name without thinking "ahhh... hahahahah... raceWAY... PARK!")

Jeff, you rock!

French press notes

Notes for my own reference on brewing a pot of French press coffee at work. Based on a Bodum glass french press, 32 oz, a Krups blade grinder, and a 29.6cc coffee scoop.

• 5 scoops of Joe's House Full City Roast. (6.4 oz water per scoop)
  
• Grind, while shaking grinder, 3-5 seconds. (yes, really, that short)
• Dump grinds into press pot.
• Pour hot water over grinds
• Stir (optional?)
• Wait four minutes, press, and serve.
• Don't let it sit for too long in the grinds!
  

Truer words have never been spoken...

An instant message from a coworker:

"some day I'd like the only retard I work with to be you."

Unfortunately that day appears to be FAR off...

I wanna ride.

After the past two mountain bike rides being so much fun, I really want to get back on the bike, and ride! However, right now I'm really only able to get out on Fridays, so I'm left for the rest of the week doing nothing but wishing I was riding.

I think it might be time to get the rollers out. I'm not a fan of riding them, but with less and less opportunities to ride, I have to do something to keep strong so the Friday rides are still fun.

I just don't understand.

Went riding with Grace, Amy, and Ed today, and rode Pennypack -- my first time, finally!

Had shifting issues in Wissahickon last week, spent some time on the bike yesterday but apparently not enough -- had shifting issues again today. So, I wound up singlespeeding on the santa cruz- I found one gear in which I could leave it where it wouldn't skip shift on me, or anything.

Well, I spent most of the ride doing the singlespeed thing, and really wondering just WHY some folks do this on PURPOSE. It's not enough gear on the downhills, it's too much gear on the uphills, it's just too much work and so forth and so on.

However, what I REALLY didn't understand was how, after going through a tough ride like that (and having to work so much harder for the same ride than I would have if my gears were working) I came to the conclusion that no, I was not going to sell my Karate Monkey as I planned, but rather build it up again... as a rigid singlespeed.

It makes no bloody sense whatsoever... but I'm still gonna do it. Hey, I might build it up and realize I still don't like it. But, for some reason that I still don't fully understand, I'm gonna go back and try it again.

Quote of the day...

Truer words have never been spoken:

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell

By that logic, though, I must be a GENIUS!!

Cheap bike parts and more MTBing

Saturday morning, Dmitri, Lance, and I went up to the bike swap meet at the Lehigh Valley velodrome. (now called the "Valley Preferred Cycling Center") I brought a bunch of cash, not looking for anything particular past a set of cranks for the road bike. The Dura Ace cranks on the Giant are starting to look pretty rough, with the clear coat starting to crack, and the aluminum oxidizing. They're good cranks, but need to be refinished, and I know a guy who restores bikes who is interested in seeing what he can do with them. (or, I might try my hand at it)

So, early on, I found a pair of Ultegra external bearing cranks for only $75. Was pretty happy with that and bought them, but later realized I didn't bother to consider they didn't have a bottom bracket, and I also discovered they were missing the plastic tensioning cap as well as one of the clamping bolts. So, the price wasn't quite as good as I thought. Oh well, my bad.

Just two booths later, I found a pair of FSA SL-K carbon fiber road cranks which looked to be take-offs - they showed some scratches but no wear on the rings, and no evidence of pedals ever having been installed - for $90! Right now those same cranks are $450 - on sale - at Colorado Cyclist! That lessened the pain of my hasty purchase on the Ultegras!

After the swap meet, the three of us rode in Ralph Stover/High Rocks park. It's a small park, but very technical, so it's a challenging ride. I didn't ride nearly as well as Friday night's ride, but did decently. Both Lance and Dmitri rode strong, and Dmitri rode some really tough sections -- including one section that Lance tried multiple times without success! (I walked the whole thing)

We then went home, picked up four cases of beer, threw a couple beers in the freezer and worked on Lance's bike.

All in all, I'd call that a Very Good Day. :)

Great ride in Wissahickon

Tonight I got out of work and joined Grace, Amy, Ed, and Dmitri for a ride in Wissahickon. This will have to go down as the best MTB ride I've been on in over a year. We were all riding strong, and riding fast. Had we not lost light, we probably would have kept going, but since only Dmitri had a light, we bailed as it got harder and harder to see the trail.

My back started hurting a little bit at one point, but cleared up. This was also the first time that I felt the power I have on the road available to me on the mountain. Even at that, though, trying to keep up with Dmitri and Grace towards the end had me working, and working HARD. They've both gone and gotten seriously fast! (thank you, Amy!!) Towards the end of the ride, Ed was having problems with his back (oh how I can relate) but somehow still managed to be crazy fast.

Afterwards, Grace and I joined Ed and Amy at a bar in Glenside for beer and wings. Between the four of us, we ordered 100 wings and untold numbers of beers. Much fun was had, and although there were wings left over when we were all full, it wasn't as much as you might think! We all toasted to Amy and Grace... they've become good friends and have made each other far stronger than they had been before.

I just hope that ride is an indication of what's to come for me. Despite what Grace will make you think, I don't hate mountain biking -- when it's that good, I really, really love it!

New bike for Grace

While Grace is still riding and loving her Scott Scale hardtail, we were planning on rebuilding her Santa Cruz Juliana, arguably her first "race grade" bike -- and the bike on which she rode the 2005 and 2006 MTB racing seasons. When I went to assemble it, though, I found a crack in the rear swingarm. I contacted Santa Cruz, sent them the swingarm and some money, and had a replacement. When I mounted that, though, I discovered that there was a fitment problem and while working on that with Santa Cruz, we came to the conclusion that it would just be easier to upgrade to the new frame design, which is said to be lighter and stiffer.

So now, we're shipping back the rest of the frame, and will be getting an all-white 2008 Superlight. Since the new frame is designed around a 100mm fork, not the 80mm fork of the old frame, I had to get her a longer fork, and wound up getting a good deal on a 100mm RockShox REBA. So she'll now have her choice between a lightweight hardtail with an 80mm SID or the Superlight with 100mm travel front and rear. Should be interesting to see what she thinks of riding the Superlight again.

Gentlemen's Rides

Back on September 27th and 28th, I did the MS150 City-to-Shore fundraising bike event. I haven't written about it here because I wanted to do it when I had time to really do it justice... to tell all the stories that there were, the fun had with friends, the new friends met, the great riding that we did... but really you don't care about those stories nearly as much as I do.

I just came across this article about "Gentlemen's Rides" which so perfectly sums up not only the MS150, but all of my most favorite rides. Gentlemen's Rides are like racing, except it's far more social. There's still the urge to put your closest friends into the most hurtin' possible, but then you regroup, laugh, and do it again.

I always knew I wasn't a racer... but now I realize I'm a "Gentleman rider".

Congratulations, Amy!

On Sunday, while we were bouncing off of rocks in Connecticut, Grace's favorite riding partner, Amy, sealed up the overall title of MASS Sport Women 2 by winning the final race at Bear Creek ski resort. This, despite flatting three times!

Great job, Amy, and congratulations!!

Good riding in CT

Monica and Rich, Grace's sister and her husband, moved to CT a few months ago. I was concerned when I heard they were moving, because there was some *good* mountain biking in Greensboro, NC... but after visiting this weekend, I found my concerns were unfounded. They live just off of the Shenipsit trail, which despite the name which begs for variations, (sheep s**t, snippy s**t, conniption, etc) is pretty awesome. It's very technical, littered with rocks, and you really have to work for it, but it's amazingly fun.

I have to also say that the back issue seems to be completely resolved. I rode yesterday and today, and rode hard enough that I was totally wiped out at the end, but my back was fine. My back hurt a little when I was off the bike Saturday night, but was fine by Sunday and didn't bug me at all on Sunday's ride. I'm VERY happy to be done with that chapter.

We came across several other cyclists, and while thinking about it later, I realized nobody was riding a twenty-niner. Considering the rocky terrain, I was pretty surprised about this. In Wissahickon, niners are just about everywhere and taking over... and the rockiest sections of Wissahickon aren't anywhere near as tough as the average rock gardens on Shenipsit. Mind you, we only saw about 10-12 other cyclists while we were out, but the same selection of riders in our area would have netted at three or more niners.

Speaking of riders we met, we met up with a couple on the trails who were out riding with their dog. We asked about the trails, and they offered for us to ride with them since it was easier to show the trails than describe them. We gladly accepted and rode with them for a while. At one point when we stopped to regroup (and recover) and they mentioned that they are the president and webmaster for a local club, Eastern Bloc. Stuart and Laura were really cool and told us next time we come back to get in touch and we'll meet up to ride again! Gotta love the awesome people you meet while mountain biking!

I also had another first on this ride... I failed to clear a technical climb for a reason I had never thought I would use -- my arms gave out! As strange as it sounds, I realized several times while muscling through the rough stuff, I was REALLY cranking on the bars. On this one climb, I was slightly out of the saddle to give the bike more room to move over the ground, and to keep my position as well as push on the pedals harder, I was pulling back on the bars good and hard. My legs were fine, my lungs were fine, everything seemed good, but I realized that my arms were fatiguing from the effort, and had to stop before I lost my grip! Not having my gloves contributed, no doubt... my hands had gotten sweaty and the ESI grips had started to get a little slick after we started riding with Stuart and Laura.

I also should mention that all the riding Grace has been doing with Amy has been paying off bigtime. Grace has been riding VERY strong, and even having a hardtail with a road cassette didn't slow her down through the gnarly rock gardens. Returning to the house on a road climb, she dropped me like a bad habit. Yes, she's strong, and yes, I'm psyched!

Funny story about that... while we were riding with the Jensens, we were doing a prolonged technical climb, and the day's riding was starting to catch up with me. Stuart was starting to gap me up ahead, and I heard one of the ladies catching up to me. I took a quick glance back, and saw a green jersey, and thought it was Laura. She sat on my wheel for a while as I climbed, and at one point I offered to let her by. She declined, but was stuck to my wheel. I was fading, and figured if I couldn't clear a technical section, I'd get in her way. I considered telling her that it was okay to pass me, I didn't mind being passed by a woman -- since I wouldn't be able to ride with Grace if I did! Didn't actually say it (was gasping for breath anyway) and a little while later realized it wasn't Laura after all, but Grace sitting back there and apparently not even breathing hard!

My big, crazy, pointless project...

Recently I've undertaken the project of rearranging my digital pictures. One of the things I've done is renamed them with the date and time code in the filename, so they sort in chronological order, even if the sequence numbering out of the camera is screwy. (like what happened when the numbers "rolled over" from IMG_9999.JPG to IMG_0001.JPG on our trip to Bend, OR)

Of course, in order to include date and time info, you really want to have the date and time info be right. Although I usually keep the time on my cameras set and adjusted properly, sometimes it can be a bit tricky, like when we took that trip to Bend, and I forgot to adjust for the change in time between EST and PST. In that case, I was able to use a picture of a sunset along with the sunset data from aa.usno.navy.gov to figure out the proper time adjustment, which I then applied to all the pictures before renaming.

What gets really complicated, though, is our trip to Tucson, AZ for a Western Spirit mountain biking trip. Not only do I have my own pictures from the trip, I also have pictures from four other people who were on the trip! So, now it's a real detective job to figure out who's got the right times and the ones who don't. I thought my times were right, but a sunset picture shows that I never adjusted my camera for MST. Another guy who took pictures at the same time has the times set at 2:23pm the next day! Yet another doesn't have pictures at that sunset, but in one picture, you can read the time on my watch and see he's off by two hours as well... which is appropriate since he runs a bike shop in Montauk. A third, well, I still haven't figured out exactly what the adjustment is on his, because he didn't take that many pictures, and the only overlap I have is with the guy whose pictures appear to be 20 hours off. The last guy? His camera didn't timestamp the EXIF information, and the file time info is useless, so I'm more or less on my own. (Thankfully he only shot 19 pictures, and there's pretty good overlap with the others, so I'll be able to fake the time info so they sort in the right general area.)

If that weren't bad enough, there's the question of -- if it's wrong on this picture, can I assume it's wrong throughout the vacation? Sometimes I remember a little late, and then I adjust the time while I'm out there. Most of the time, honestly, it doesn't matter if I'm off a couple hours in either direction, but when I'm trying to put together the work of five different photographers, it's another story.

Okay, yes, the really important part is I have the pictures themselves, and getting the time right really does not matter a hill of beans, but it's pretty cool to have a picture of Grace and I taken by Jim, right next to another picture at almost the same exact time, taken by Mark, of Jim taking our picture. Plus, when viewing the pictures, it's nice to see them in order, and not wind up jumping around.

To be perfectly honest, it's not an important project at all, but it is fun simply because it is such a challenge, and a learning opportunity. Hey, before I started this, I didn't know that the Navy provides a site that can tell you that on March 16th, 2006, the sun set at 6:32pm in Tucson, AZ, and civil twilight happens at 6:57pm. (nor did I know that "civil twilight" means the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon) It's also a fun challenge to look at different pictures from different cameras to try to correlate what's happening... and the fact that the pictures are of a great vacation with friends and bring back good memories just makes it even better.

Beaten with my own stick...

I got out for a ride yesterday with Dmitri, a buddy of mine who is a dedicated singlespeeding mountain biker. He's decided to ride the MS-150 with us at the end of the month, but he doesn't have a road bike, so I put my old Airborne Zeppelin together for him to use. Yesterday was his first ride on the bike in several years. Back in 2004 or 2005, both of us entered a local time trial, and he rode the Zep back then... but hasn't touched a road bike since.

Well, I have to say, it's pretty interesting to see my old bike fading away on up the road. Apparently the preparation for a 100 mile MTB endurance race translates well to the road, even if he wasn't familiar with this whole concept of shifting, and having to pedal all the time. On one stretch of road, I was holding about 20mph, and he comes around and starts pulling at a steady 24mph. Yikes! Thankfully I kept the climbing to a minimum, as otherwise the ass-whuppin' would have probably been worse.

The good part was that since we're about the same size, we were able to swap bikes so I could ride the old Zeppelin. Still a nice bike, but definitely different ride. Softer, yet more chattery than my carbon fiber Giant TCR. One thing I really liked, though, was the 46cm c-to-c bars. I've had the bars for a while, but hadn't gotten around to testing them. They're only 2cm wider than the Eastons on the Giant, but that little bit wider is noticable, especially when cranking out of the saddle. The extra leverage is really nice, and the flat tops of the bar is even wider. Of course, having the 31.8mm stem clamp area and being made of aluminum, they are also far stiffer than the carbon Eastons with the smaller 26.0mm clamp. Most bars only come to 44cm c-to-c, but if you're a big person, you might seriously consider looking for the wider 46cm bars. I'm considering getting rid of the two pairs of 44cm bars I have now and finding a carbon 46cm for the Giant.

My town is better than your town.

My town is better than your town.

What's my town? Doylestown, PA.

Why's my town better than your town? Is it because it's just a really cool place to live, and we can walk to all these great restaurants, and I can walk to the SEPTA train station to ride into the city? Well, that helps, but no, that's not why my town is better than your town.

My town is better than your town because we had one of the best pro bike races I've seen in a while. For the past two years, the second part of the Univest Grand Prix has been happening in Doylestown, but it was a low-key affair, with a simple, small rectangular course on side streets where it wouldn't bother too many people. This year, however, was different. This year, it was a REAL bike race, and there was TV coverage and everything. The course was expanded to cover more of Doylestown, had some really interesting corners, and actually encompassed the Arts and Crafts festival going on during the weekend.

The weather was beautiful, there was an incredible turnout for the race, and the race itself was pretty amazing. When there were only a couple of laps to go, we found a spot right on the rail and with each passing lap, the excitement level rose and rose. When the final sprint happened, everyone was going crazy and yelling and clapping and banging on the boards on the side of the course. I was surprised to see a McDonald's logo rolling across the line first - I can bet that nobody on that team actually eats the junk - but it was a solid victory and to a great race!

I brought my big camera to the event, and in the earlier laps, we walked around the course, with me stopping to take pictures whenever the racers went by. I'm definitely one to subscribe to the "shotgun" approach to photography, figuring if I shoot more, I'm likely to hit a good shot now and then, and Sunday was no different. I shot nearly 800 pictures, which I later narrowed down to around 500. I then weeded that down to my 21 favorites, which you can see in my gallery from the race. (or click any of the pix on this post)

It was just so awesome to see real professional cycling happening just a block from my house... and I hope that Univest keeps coming back!

Don't reinvent the wheel

I finally got around to installing the tubeless kit on my new road wheels. I watched the instructional video a couple times, then just followed his procedure exactly. The front tire wouldn't seat with the floor pump as it did in the video, so I just moved on to the rear, which seated quickly. Went back to the front, still wouldn't seat with the floor pump, so had to break out the air compressor.

All of my previous experience with tubeless conversions was with tires that weren't designed for tubeless use, so it was really nice when the tubeless Hutchinsons sealed up tight and didn't leak from the beads or sidewalls. I haven't had a chance to ride the new tires yet, but they held air perfectly overnight.

While I was doing the install, I realized something. Stan's recommendation for 2 oz of sealant in the road tires sure seemed like a bunch for such skinny tires, but he sure knows what he's doing, so I went with it. In the past couple of months, I've been experimenting with different things on the mountain tires, trying to come up with simpler or lighter solutions to the Stan's kits that we've been running for a while. Although I've had several instances of limited success, I keep going back to the basic Stan's kit when I want something that Just Plain Works.

What it boils down to is he's done all the work up front, and has come up with a great system which works without any major problems. Despite my best efforts to improve upon it, I keep coming back to use his stuff as designed. Although it can be frustrating to be unable to improve upon it, I've got to say, it's nice to see such well designed and implemented stuff available!

That said, some comments on the installation of the road kit for anyone who might be doing it:

• Installing the yellow tape - watch very carefully as you do it to make sure that it's even, side to side. I had to redo the front wheel when I got around to the second layer and discovered parts of the first layer which weren't well centered. Take your time and make sure it's installed right.
• He doesn't mention using a tubed tire to help seat the yellow tape in this video, but has in some of the MTB installation videos. I found it helped, but might not be absolutely necessary. It did help get the end of the yellow tape to stick fully, though.
• He suggests using a round file to open the valve hole. I've tried making the hole with other methods, and a round file is by far the best. Just don't file into the rim... use it just enough to separate the excess yellow tape.
• Mounting the tire - I managed to get the first bead installed by hand, but it's a REALLY strong bead, and I wasn't able to get anywhere near installing the second bead by hand. The video states "Okay to use tire levers" -- I can install almost any conventional tire by hand, but these tires were having nothing to do with it.
• The space between the valve stem and rim is pretty tight, so make sure the bead is actually down in that space before you try to inflate.

Aside from the difficulty mounting the tire, and needing the air compressor to seat the beads on the front tire, the kit was wonderfully easy. Of course, we'll see if the ride is worth it, but if our experience running tubeless on the mountain bike is any indication, it will be. I don't run any tubes in the mountain bikes anymore!

Knock, knock, knocking on bonkin's door...

Went out for the same ride as yesterday this morning. Felt pretty good, was happy with how I rode, but forgot one key item. I didn't have any solid food before I left. Wasn't a problem until about mile 34 or so, when it started becoming a major problem. At first I just started feeling very hungry, but by the time I was riding into Doylestown, I was starting to feel weak and by the time I got home, about all I could do was collapse in the driveway while Buddy ran around my head.

I didn't get to a full-fledged bonk, and after downing a pack of Clif Shot Bloks, then a big breakfast, I now feel almost human again. My time on the bike was marginally faster than yesterday's time... which is good considering I was in survival mode for the last three miles!

I've also discovered that on the prolonged flats, my cardio isn't the limiting factor. My legs, which have almost always been strong enough to deliver more power than my heart could keep up with, have been getting a slow burn, and that's turned out to be the limiting factor.

First ride, new road wheels

I spent a couple days this past week building up a new set of road wheels for myself. This morning, I finally got out to give them a test ride. I haven't installed the tubeless Hutchinson Fusion 2 tires yet. To give the wheels a test with tires I know, I just installed the Michelin Pro 2 Race tires I've been riding.

Well, considering this was the first road ride I've really done in like... three weeks... (ouch) I wasn't feeling tremendous. Still, I headed out on roads I knew, eager to see if I noticed a difference with the wheels. On one section of Point Pleasant Pike, where I've been able to hit 26mph on a good day, I managed to get the speed up to just a smidge under 29 miles per hour! Now, remember, I haven't been on the bike for three weeks, and wasn't feeling all that strong... and wasn't pushing extra hard. Are those three extra miles per hour due to the new wheels alone? I really doubt it, but I have to say, it was really sweet to be able to crank out that type of speed when I wasn't feeling strong.

The wheels are also stiffer than I expected, due in no small part to the much taller 30mm rim profile. The old Mavic Open Pros were maybe 20mm tall, so despite running fewer spokes and lighter spokes, the rim keeps the wheel nice and strong and rigid.

I was hoping to install the tubeless tires tonight, but just plain ran out of time. Maybe tomorrow night, and I can give them a test ride on Monday morning. If the things I've heard about the tubeless road tires are true, it should be pretty special!

Push couldn't find this leak...

A couple posts ago, I mentioned the problems I've been having with the shock on my mountain bike. To quickly summarize, it started leaking, so I sent it to Push for service and to fix the leak. I got it back, and four rides later, it was leaking again, and I missed out on a ride with Grace and BVL. Well, I shipped it out to them, and a couple days later, they shipped it back. Didn't say anything in the email, just sent an invoice marked as $0. I didn't read the invoice in detail, but assumed that they fixed the problem and I was good to go.

So, Thursday I was planning on riding with Grace and BVL again (cue the foreshadowing) and when I went to double check the pressure in the shock, I was a little surprised to find out that there wasn't any. Oh... yay. So I pump it up to 175psi, and before I pull the pump off, I watch the gauge for a couple seconds... and can clearly see the needle dropping. Well, I've already missed a ride with Grace and BVL because of this, and it's now been months since I rode the MTB, so I decide, I'm gonna try to ride this. Thanks to a flexible hose on the pump, I can leave the pump attached to the shock, and ziptie the pump body to the frame, so all I have to do is stop, get off, and pump the shock back up. I even wrapped some electrical tape around the frame where the pump body touched so it wouldn't rub through the finish.

So, we headed off, and did most of a normal ride, but I have to say, it kinda sucked. The bike rode nicely for, oh, say, 30 seconds... at which point the rear end started getting too soft. Soon after that, the rear was noticably sagging, and if I let it go for long enough, I could start to feel the shock bottoming out. When the shock sags, it screws up every single frame dimension... the saddle drops, the pedals move forward compared to the saddle, the nose of the saddle points up (ouch) and the head tube angle slacks out, making the bike handle even more oddly. Still, I managed to get through the ride, and all in all, it was good to be back on the bike. I'd been having problems with my back on the MTB, and have to say that although I felt it was there, it was never a problem -- at least, not compared to the problems with the shock!

Luckily for Push, I did not have their phone number in my phone, nor did I have a signal. Grace was pretty much ready to give them a piece of her mind, since it was the second time we'd seen the same problem!

So, I get home, pull the shock back off, and bring it to the sink. My plan was to take a video of the leaking shock and send it to Push. I had done this before, but didn't bother to send it because I figured they'd be able to find it. I pressurized it, then put it in the full sink, and sure enough, a nice stream of big bubbles came out of it. I opened up the paid invoice from when I sent it back, and discovered that the tech said he couldn't find a leak. Well, I don't know, I managed to, check out this video and tell me if you can find it:

Can you see it? You have to look REALLY closely, or you might miss it. :|

The funniest part is after looking at it more closely, I discovered the leak wasn't from the rebound adjuster knob, as I thought, but from the pressure valve. I pulled it out, cleaned everything up and inspected the parts for problems, and found none. I applied a little bit of pipe dope to the threads and the O-ring, reinstalled it, and repressurized it. Guess what? NO LEAKS. This was all on Thursday. It's now Saturday evening and I checked the pressure an hour ago and it was still where it was supposed to be.

Yikes. This doesn't say good things for Push! I don't know how they didn't find the leak, but all I know is I did, and should be able to have a proper mountain bike ride for the first time in ... jeez, MONTHS.

Not quite as good

Spent last night working on the new rear wheel. Was the same setup as the previous day, but this wheel decided it was really going to fight me and avoid getting both true and tension balanced. Finally got it to where I was content with the results, but it was definitely one of the tougher wheel build/tensionings I've dealt with! I had hoped to finish that one quick so I could also finish some other wheels I've been wanting to work on, but was unable.

Still, I got it to work, and the wheelset is gorgeous. All said and done, the wheelset comes in at 1478g, (642g front, 835g rear) which is really light, even moreso when you consider it's a deep section aluminum rim!

Tonight I'm hoping to put the Stan's tubeless rim strip on it, and I'll mount my Michelin Pro 2 Race's with a tube to seat the tape. Hopefully I'll get a chance to ride it, then, tomorrow, I should be ready to do the proper tubeless conversion!

This is the good stuff...

After thinking about it, nay -- dreaming about it -- for a year and a half, at least, I've finally gone and ordered the parts for a really, really slick set of wheels for my road bike. I have an older set of American Classic hubs (no, they weren't subject to the recall) with Sapim CX-Ray spokes and Speedcific Niobium 30 aero rims. If that means nothing to you, trust me when I say that this makes for an utterly swanktastique wheelset. CX-Ray spokes are over $2 - EACH. (and that was a really good price) They're an ultra-lightweight spoke that's formed into an aerodynamic blade, and this process actually makes them tremendously strong... so strong that they've been used in downhill mountain bike wheels. That's the last place you'd expect to find ultra-lightweight spokes!

The Speedcific Niobium 30 rims are a deeper aero section rim made with an aluminum alloy that uses Niobium to make it far stronger than normal aluminum, so it can be used to make surprisingly light rims. For most aero section rims, we'd be talking about over 500g each, but these were 457g and 443g!

Blah, blah, blah, words, words, numbers, words! Forgive me, I like this stuff... so I like to talk about it. The ultimate result is a light wheelset which will still be quite aerodynamic and strong.

The best part about it is that since I had the hubs, and bought the rest of the parts from Mike Garcia of Odds and Endos and now Speedcific fame... that means I have to build the wheels myself. Considering that's one of my favorite things, it makes the whole project even better!

Tonight, I got home at about 5:30pm, got to work on the wheels, and now it's after 9pm, the front wheel is done, and the rear is coming together. I really took my time building up this set, and hope it shows when they finally hit the road. Of course there are other things that I really should be doing with that time, but I enjoy this far too much to go and waste my time being responsible. :)

Bikes looking up again...

Well, biking's been a little rough there for a while, but it's all starting to look up again.

To summarize... in the past month or so:

• The rear shock on my Santa Cruz was leaking so bad it wouldn't hold pressure, even after having sent it to Push Industries a couple months ago for a rebuild. Result: no MTB for me.
• I've been having problems with my saddle on the road bike which I haven't been able to solve. Subsequently, I've been riding very sporadically in the past three weeks.
  
• When I cleaned up the frame on Grace's Santa Cruz, I discovered that the rear triangle had a pretty significant crack.

But now, everything's coming together nicely. I shipped the leaking shock out to Push, who fixed it up at no charge and shipped it back. I reassembled my mountain bike last night, and I'm borrowing a really nice wheelset from Lance, so we're ready to rumble again.

The saddle issue on the road bike is still there, but I'm getting new wheels... and a really swanktastique set, too. I have an old pair of American Classic hubs, and Mike Garcia of Odds and Endos/Speedcific fame just shipped me a pair of his Niobium 30 rims and a full complement of Sapim CX-Ray spokes, possibly the most swanktastique steel spoke available. I've been looking forward to building this very wheelset for at least a year!

Finally, I disassembled Grace's Juliana and shipped the rear triangle out to Santa Cruz, who will be replacing it with a new one, so hopefully soon she'll have her Juliana back together to go with her Scale.

Fun is on the horizon!

Classic margaritas

You may remember my "Excellent Margarita Recipe" from back in May. Although that has been a favorite, it's pretty far from a "classic" margarita, whose proportions are 3:2:1 tequila, lime juice, and triple sec. After having margaritas at a neighbor's party, and hearing it used a 3:2:1 mix, I recently tried the "classic" again, and had good results. As you can imagine, changing from a 3:3:4 mix with some simple syrup to a 3:2:1 mix makes for a STRONG drink... the tequila goes from slightly less than 3/10ths of the drink to 1/2! Grace didn't like it at all.

The next time I made it with a 3:2:1, it seemed unusually strong, and not quite as good, even though I was using the same 3:2:1 ratio and same ingredients. Screwed around with it for a while, but never did find something that tasted quite as good as my previous 3:2:1 mix.

FWIW, I'm using a Jose Cuervo blanco with a basic triple sec (haven't tried the 3:2:1 with Cointreau yet) -- this is what I saw in most recipes online. I know Jose Cuervo doesn't seem to have a great reputation with folks who like tequila, but I've seen several folks say that the lower quality tequila actually works better in a margarita.

So, I still think my previous recipe is good for a more "Americanized" margarita... but I'm still searching for the best combo on the "classic" margarita.

Black cherry mojito recipie

Back in May, I posted a Margarita recipe that we had come up with, since I had trouble finding a consistent recipe online. It's sweeter than the typical Margarita, (as Grace and Laurie like it) but it's still pretty good. Another drink we enjoy, that I've made in the past, but had no consistent recipe, was a Mojito. One of the problems with a Mojito is that it typically uses a carbonated drink of some sort, most typically Sprite. However, Sprite is all loaded up with high fructose corn syrup, which more and more studies are showing is just plain bad. So, we have been trying to figure out how to make a mojito without the HFCS.

One of our favorite variations on the mojito is to add pomegranate juice, or even Pama, a pomegranate liqueur. It doesn't solve our problem about the HFCS, but it sure does taste good. While Grace was drinking a Boylan's black cherry soda at lunch one day, she had a great idea... why not use Boylan's black cherry instead of Sprite?

Well, I thought it was an excellent idea, and that night I whipped up a batch. We sampled... and I whipped up another batch. We tested that one, and I whipped up a third batch. Was I fine tuning the mix? Nope... just enjoying it enough to keep making more!

So here's the recipe I used:

• mint leaves
  I use "apple" mint, which grows immensely fast outside our house. Any mint would do, but a peppermint would likely be too strong. I kinda wing it on the quantity, but you should at least cover the bottom of the glass, and the more the merrier.
  
• juice from 1/2 lime
• 1 tbsp sugar
  we use natural unbleached sugar... any granular sugar will do.
  
• 2 oz white rum, Bacardi is fine
• 2 oz Boylan's black cherry soda
• splash of triple sec

Put the mint leaves in the glass, dump the sugar in, then juice the lime onto this. Mull the mixture - in other words, crush it with some sort of blunt object - but don't get too crazy. If you smash it up too much it'll look like lawn clippings in your mojito. (ask how I know) I'll tear larger mint leaves in half or even quarter so the sizes are all roughly the same size.

Once the mixture is decently mixed (don't worry about dissolving the sugar) add the rum, Boylan's, and triple sec. Give it a stir, serve over ice. Make sure some of the mint leaves wind up in the mixture, it adds to the mint flavor.

Rode with Lance

I finally got to ride with Lance on the road, for the first time since last year's MS-150.

Not Lance Armstrong, but in my world, close enough. Seems somehow Lance (Honer) and I have developed a rivalry that hinges around our Tour de France, the City-to-Shore MS-150. No, it's not a race, and there really isn't any point to the rivalry, but what's that matter amongst friends? Last year Lance trained hard... and I ... not so much. So, not surprisingly, he rode stronger than me and was the first one into Ocean City, and the first one over both of the tall bridges leading into town. So he got the polka dots and the maillot jaune! Granted, I was close behind, and having some tough muscle cramps, but he still got there first. This made me realize the gravity of the MS-150 (which, understand, there really is none) and decide to actually train for it this year. Everyone wants to be the alpha dog. :)

So, with that background, and hearing stories of Lance riding massive hills in Central VA and riding the 62 mile, >6000' climbing Livestrong route in sub-4 hours, I was curious to see how yesterday's ride together on my training roads would go. As I told Grace before the ride, I could see three things coming from the ride:

1. Lance totally embarrasses me on the ride, and we both step up our training.
   (him to open the gap, and me to close it)
2. I totally embarrass Lance, and we both step up our training.
3. We're painfully evenly matched... and we both step up our training.
   

So, knowing the outcome would be the same no matter what, I was still interested to see how we compared. Starting out from my house, Lance started *fast*... I mean, quite a bit faster than I normally ride, fast enough to make me start thinking... "uh oh." We hit the first hill, Old Easton Rd, and just as soon as it turns up, BANG, he's gone. Once again... "uh oh." He gapped me right off the bat, and I couldn't help but notice my legs weren't feeling good. Well, okay, he's strong, but doesn't know where we're going so just keep the pace and hope the legs warm up.

We get to the top, and ride towards the river, and my legs aren't bad, but they're not great. My plan was to bring Lance up Tohickon Hill, one of the better prolonged climbs in the area, and was not looking forward to the ass beating I was sure to receive on those slopes. In preparation, I told Lance the road to look for once he got to the top.

However, he didn't drop me on the climb. Matter of fact, he was right there with me as I led the way up the hill. He came around on a false flat, then as it turned up again, I came around him and rode to the top. Mind you, he didn't know we were at the top. I had home field advantage.

The rest of the ride was very similar, with us riding pretty even, although me abusing my home field advantage to know when to push for the top. Lance did open one massive gap on me when we rode up the short but brutally steep Old Ferry Road, which is only a quarter mile but AVERAGES 14%. I knew pain on that climb, knew it very well. Lance didn't exactly storm away but did gap me to the tune of at least 100'. 100' in 1,320... that's a gap! I guess it was his MTB singlespeeding experience that got him up that beast.

So, it was a good ride... no -- I would say it was a great ride. Because of work obligations, I had to keep it short and be back home by 9am, but we got in a fun ride just short of 2 hours, then had a nice big breakfast while I did my work.

A hard ride tormenting friends (and being tormented) for no apparent reason... that's what is fun about riding. :)

Another awesome ride!

Rode again with Dave last night. Wasn't really into the ride going into it, in fact I was a little worried because I felt pretty tired (have all week since the last ride!) and figured there was no way I could have a good ride. Still, I need to ride, and riding with Dave pushes me far harder than I could on my own. So, I went for it.

The start of the ride, I didn't feel too bad, except for a nagging saddle issue about which I won't go into detail. However, I eventually warmed up and started feeling better, and next thing you know, we're actually riding. One thing I had changed was the addition of Hammer's Perpetuem to my water, consuming a bottle before the ride, and a bottle during. I think it made a significant difference to my riding, as the only cramping I had was some light threats from my calves toward the end of the ride.

On Monday, we rode Route 29 in NJ, and I wound up sitting on Dave's wheel most of the time. Yesterday, I pulled for a couple miles out of Stockton, rolling around 24.5mph for most of the time. Nice to feel my flatland legs coming back. Plus, in the hills, I was still a long, long way from fast, but Dave noticed the improvement from Monday. I attacked Stover's Mill Road, the same hill that gave me that paralyzing cramp on Monday, and powered over the top on my 39/21. My heart nearly exploded, but my legs were fine. Got right back on that horse that threw me. :)

All in all, we added 5 miles to Monday's ride for a total of 43.7 miles -- 70 km even! And for all that extra riding, we only added 10 minutes to the total ride time, meaning we averaged just over 1mph faster, and that's with a couple miles of slower cool-down riding weaving through Doylestown at the end! For comparison, my longest ride so far this year was .1 mile longer and took over 20 minutes longer.

Like I said, I ride harder with Dave. I do have a pretty ripping headache this morning, but other than that I feel pretty good.

On the return home, I got another reminder why I no longer ride with CBBC. As we were heading back on Stover's Mill Road, we caught up to six riders. Two were in the back, riding in the center of the road, but we had room to get by. The remaining four, however, were spread completely across the road and oblivious to the world around them -- especially behind. As I approached, I called out "rider back!" once, then twice, and got no response. Finally they figured out someone was back there, and so began this disjointed and haphazzard response. I got past three, and was heading to the right of the lead rider who was on the left side of the road, but then, without bothering to look behind her, veered to the right directly across my path.

Sure, they were very nice once they realized we were there, but honestly, that's just why I stopped riding with CBBC. It's not uncommon, for a CBBC ride to spread out completely across the lane, even over, and make no accomodation for cars trying to pass, then getting annoyed when a car had to make a pass on a blind corner at a high speed because they got tired of waiting. I've never seen any ride leaders make any effort to change it, either. I got sick of being a part of that.

Oh, the pain...

Today I did a ride with Dave. Dave lives two houses away, and I always see him out on the bike. We've talked about riding a bunch of times, so I decided it was time to finally stop talking and start riding. He was open for a ride tonight, so we met up when he got home, and went for a ride.

Dave's a strong rider... really strong, so I was forced to work pretty hard. Not to keep up, he's very considerate and doesn't drop me, but it really did force me to work a BUNCH harder than I would have otherwise, and that's NOT a bad thing. We did 38 miles in the time it would have normally taken me to do 30-32, and included some fairly significant hills. Dave's 45 lbs lighter than me, and about the same height, so when we hit those hills, without even trying, he just kinda faded away into the distance up the hill as I struggled along in my lowest gear. Doesn't help that I'm coming back off a two week layoff, but it's gonna be a long time before I challenge Dave up a hill.

However, I got a measure of revenge going down Tohickon Hill road, the same hill I use for my top speed runs. I was sloppy through the S turns, and didn't get on the gas until I was fully out of the last corner, but still managed 52mph with cramping calves. (and a squirrel in the road) Dave, on the other hand, cut across the opposite lane and started pedaling earlier and still only did 48mph. HA! Gravity is my friend, if only while going downhill...

Heading back home, we were heading up Carversville Road, which is a shallow climb all the way, but no, I suggested take a side trip up Stover's Mill Road, which hits you with a short climb of approximately 15% grade. So, we're going up the hill, past a guy playing catch with his son, and a cute little girl standing by the side of the road, and right at the top, where it gets just a little steeper before it levels off, I stood to push through the end, and both of my quads cramped up - SOLID. I sorta fell down onto my saddle, and yelled out (it kinda hurt) but thankfully caught my tongue when I remembered the little girl -- didn't want her to hear what I was about to say!

I tried to ride through it, but it just wasn't working... I had to pull off to the side. Dave stood there holding my bike while sat in a ditch on the side of the road, pinched my upper lip (accupressure thing I've heard of to relieve muscle cramps) and tried to move my legs. Eventually, after a minute or two, I was able to remount the bike and start riding again.

Despite suffering like a dog, it was an AWESOME ride. I'm looking forward to riding with Dave again, as there's no way to get better than with riding with faster folks. He told me about a hill interval ride he does that he calls the "Six Sisters", and said nobody's done it with him twice. I need work on my hills, so maybe I'll be the first to do it twice? It's about an hour long, right in our backyard, and it sounds PAINFUL.

Oh, an amusing side note. While comparing the output from our bike computers at the end of the ride, our climbing was almost identical - 1716 feet to 1760 feet, but we did notice a significant discrepancy between our caloric outputs. While I, at 210lbs, burned 3200 calories, Dave burned only 1700! Damn skinny guys. :)

More speed...

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I've taken to making top speed runs down Tohickon Hill road, a local road which is ideally suited for the task. It has a couple of S turns at the top, but then straightens out and holds a steady 8% grade. Last time I tried, I spun up to 150rpm, and hit about 52mph. Since then, I've replaced my top two cogs, a 12 and 13, with an 11 and 12 taken from a mountain bike cassette. That raises my top gear from 116" to 126" (gear inches; the virtual diameter of a wheel that turns once for every pedal revolution) which means I go 33" farther with each turn of the cranks.

Having been off the bike for about two weeks, my Saturday and Sunday morning rides were not great, but on Sunday morning, I did take a run down Tohickon. Coming through the S turns, on the second to last corner, I saw a big dump truck coming up the hill, rounding the last corner. Since the truck was big, his tire was over the centerline, so I had to get on the brakes pretty hard and move to the right. This obviously lost me a bunch of speed, but I hadn't planned on making a full top speed run anyway.

I came out of the last corner going maybe 30mph, brought the speed up, got a good spin, but nothing crazy... saw about 47 or 48mph when I glanced down, figured that was good enough, and backed off.

However... when I got home, I was downloading the ride from the GPS, and noticed that it marked my top speed as 51.8mph -- the same reading the GPS had given for my last top speed run! So, without even trying, I've managed to tie my previous best mark.

Man, I can't wait to try that hill again while I'm fresh. 55mph? 56? more? We'll just have to see. I also noticed that since I wasn't pedalling as fast, the bike was far more stable, so I should be able to go far faster and still feel safe.

I wonder if I'll be able to beat 60mph at some point...

My comedy of errors...

This year hasn't been much of a mountain biking year for me, what with it causing me back pain and such. On the flipside, it's been a great year for Grace on the MTB, since she's found some new friends to ride with and she's been getting stronger and stronger. I've been riding the road bike and doing pretty well with it, but we both miss riding together, and since she doesn't really road ride anymore, it would have to be on the mountain.

I finally finished rebuilding her rear wheel (she broke a spoke which was previously damaged from an overshift) so she wasn't using my wheel anymore, and since I was working from home, we could get an early start and get a ride in together. So, we pack up everything, along with some bike parts I've been hanging on to for BVL, and head out. It even looks like we're running ahead of schedule, until we realize that with all the stuff we brought, we forgot both of our helmets. So, we turn around and head back home, adding 25 or so minutes to our trip. Thankfully, Brian got stuck in traffic and we wound up at the parking lot at about the same time.

We get our stuff together, and get ready to ride, and as we go to pull away, I realize the bike sagged WAY too much in the back when I sat on it. I look down, and realize that the rear shock had blown through more than half of its travel when I sat on the bike. Well, okay, it had sat unused for a while, and although I've left it for longer and didn't lose any pressure, whatever, I'd just air it up and we'd be on our way.

So, I pumped it up to 175psi, and we were off. Not even 1/8 mile on the trail, I realize that the bike is feeling soft in the rear again, and look down to see that the shock is sagging way too much again. I hop off, and pop on the pump, and the guage reads only 50psi... a minute or two after I inflated it to 175psi. Not a good sign! So I inflate it back up, and as I'm nearing pressure, I can hear the shock leaking. At this point, I tell Grace and Brian to go on without me, and I'll just head back to the car and wait.

So, I head back to the car, and grab my phone. Dmitri's aware of my MTB issues, and being a rider of a bike with no rear suspension, I thought he'd get a laugh out of the problems I had. But... my phone's battery had died! Well, I was on call, so I had my pager, so I started sending him an email... and the pager reset on me for no apparent reason. At this point, it's starting to seem that everything I touch breaks... and I'm a little worried because I sent Grace out on the trails with a new set of tires that were insanely light. Thankfully, BVL was with her, but I expected to hear stories of woe (and anger) when she got back.

Anyhow, while Grace and BVL rode, I hiked in the Andorra Natural Area -- bikes aren't allowed, and I had always wanted to check it out, so that much was good. It's a beautiful area, and I only saw one other person, which was nice as the shared main trails can be pretty busy.

When I finally got home, I took the shock off the bike, inflated it yet again, and put it in the sink, filled with water. Sure enough, it's leaking at the rebound adjuster dial, which is exactly where it was leaking before I sent it back to Push this last time. I specifically asked them to pay attention to that! Wound up sending them an email, we'll see what happens with that.

Oh, and Grace got back from the ride and LOVED the tires. *phew*... if there was one thing to touch that didn't break, her tires would definitely be it!

Project... 17?

Just for grins, I got a pair of Kenda Klimax Lite tires for Grace's bike. While the Karmas are light at 450g, the Klimaxes are deep into ludicrous territory -- 345g each!! They're listed as a 2.0, and although I haven't measured, they look more like a 1.8, maybe a 1.7. They're SLIM. There's also a bare minimum of tread... they look more like cyclocross tires than MTB tires... and I think most cyclocross tires are even heavier.

So, with all this in mind, I tell Grace that I'm putting them on so she can try them, and we both more or less expect she won't like them. One time we tried Racing Ralphs, which are another light race tire, and she hated them, and wound up crashing. So, with that in mind, she set off on a ride today. (I actually tried to join her, but that's a story for another post... soon to come.)

I nervously awaited her return from the ride, to find out what she thought of the tires, fully expecting something along the line of "get these $%&#ing things off my bike"... but when I see her, she's SMILING. Ask her how the ride was -- it was REALLY GOOD! The tires? She loves them. Had some problems on steep, loose climbs with insufficient traction (not surprising!) but beyond that, they were FAST and they accelerated like nobody's business.

So, it's all good, surprisingly. We won't leave them on for daily riding, but they'll be great for hardpack events like Fair Hill.

Oh, and with those tires on ... 18.06lb!

The Humbler Ride

Rode into work yesterday. Looking at the time when I arrived, I thought I had come within a couple minutes of setting a personal best time... and I was suitably tired. Uploaded the ride only to discover it was almost the same exact time as my last commute, nearly 9 minutes off my personal best. Worse yet, I was fatigued all throughout the day, and when I decided to skip the ride home and take an off-peak train, the train was PACKED solid and I didn't get to sit down with a place to put my bike until more than halfway through the trip.

Oh well, they can't all be good rides...

Speed!!

Today I had the day off, so I went out for a ride. I started out later than normal, and by the time I was on the road, the temperature and humidity had already come up, and thanks to a workout yesterday, my legs were feeling heavy. So, I figured it was going to be a simple out and back ride, but it turned into my longest single ride of the year, at 43 miles. (commuting is good for two 33 mile rides, so I've had longer days)

I got out and hit the old faithful roads of upper bucks to the northeast of home, and made a point to hit several good, serious climbs. I made it all the way up to the area we call the "Lost World" (where we used to go driving with the Miata to get lost) and found a new tough hill -- Cafferty Rd just past the Frankenfield covered bridge. According to my GPS, several hundred feet of this climb were at or beyond 20% grade. That is a serious climb, and it doesn't flatten out after that, it settles in to around 7-10% grade all the way until the top. Cafferty splits off of Hollow Horn Road, which stays flat, and as you climb Cafferty, you can see Hollow Horn off to your right, dropping far, far below. It's pretty cool.

On the flipside of the big elevation changes, I set a new personal speed mark descending Tohikon Hill Road. Friday I had tried, and due to damp roads and a heathly amount of fear, I could only manage 49.7mph. Today, however, the roads were dry and clear, and I went at it with gusto, spinning all the way up to 150rpm and hitting a speed of 52mph. I've spun faster, but at those speeds, the front end of the bike starts to get a little shaky, which doesn't inspire confidence.

Couldn't help but think... with the 12-25 cassette... if I swap out the 12t cog for an 11t cog... the same 150rpm would be good for just shy of 57mph. ;-)

MTB miles vs. road miles

One thing I've heard, and heck -- I've done it -- is comparing miles ridden on a mountain bike to miles ridden on the road. Just this morning, talking with a friend, he mentioned someone who did 14 miles in Wissahickon, and said "the guys say that's like 40 miles on the road". So, this got me wondering. Obviously, there are far too many variables, such as terrain and exertion to come up with a hard and fast number, but we could come up with an estimate, right?

Thankfully, I didn't have to wonder too much. With the Garmin bike computer, I've got detailed information on most of my rides this year. So, I decided to compare a road ride to a mountain bike ride in Wissahickon. I had to keep something consistent, so I looked for two rides which were approximately the same time duration. I wound up with a 11 mile ride in Wissahickon, and a 21 mile road ride from home. For the mountain ride, I covered 11.94 miles in 1:12:23, and burned 1660 calories. For the road ride, I covered 21.32 miles in 1:13:48, and burned 1751 calories. That works out to 139 cal/mile on the MTB, and 82 cal/mile road... but this is exactly what we expect. Riding the MTB is tougher, so you burn more calories per mile than on the road. However, the really interesting math is the calories per minute. The mountain bike burns up 22.93 calories/min, but the road bike burns 22.73 calories per minute. Almost the same!

So, based on these two rides, the conversion from MTB miles to road miles is 1.78x... so a 14 mile MTB ride in Wissahickon is about 25 miles on the road.

However, while I was writing this up, I noticed a couple problems. My Wissahickon ride isn't a round trip -- I forgot to start the computer, so if you look at the map, you can see I started it well into the ride. This way, I was "starting" the Wissahickon ride already warmed up. And, although I had 1000 feet of climbing in the road ride, it's probably the flattest ride in our area. So, I took a look for other comparable length rides and found the PMBA Rally in the Valley and my commute from work to home last week.

	MTB	Road
Time	2:05:40	2:04:25
Distance	15.65	33.44
Calories	2764	3082
Cal/mi	176	92
Cal/min	22.0	24.78

So again we have a calorie per minute number averaging around 23! This would give us a conversion factor of 2.1.

So, based on two far from scientific comparisons, you can ballpark MTB miles as 2x road miles. Funny, too, since I have used 2x in the past.

101 things I hate about Fedora

My server died last night... well, the OS drive died. Data drives are okay, and I've been way overdue for an OS upgrade for a while (Fedora Core 5 isn't current?? what?) so I wasn't too upset. Good opportunity to get migrated up to the current version, Fedora Core 9. Before anyone says "why didn't you use distro xyz"... I work with RedHat systems, and I've got my RHCE, so I'm really familiar with the RedHat-ish OS's. That's why I use Fedora.

However, it ain't perfect, and it has more than its fair share of annoying shit. While I'm sitting here trying to get it back up and running, let me go through some of them. Ok, so it won't be a literal 101 things, but it's some.

1. The default install is retarded. Even going through and deselecting a bunch of stuff (including all of gnome) I still wind up with 857 packages. Better yet, I deselected "printing support" but LOOK! Cups is still loaded! WTF?
2. I hate gpm, the console mouse thingy. Some folks probably love it. If I'm on a command line, I want just a command line. It's a little thing, and an "rpm -e gpm" fixes all, but I still hate it.
   
3. They've added this new NetworkManager thing which tries to windows-ify your system by making changes to your network settings. But gee, thanks, I set those a different way. Sure, there are ways you can work with it, and I'm sure for a laptop or something it's a nice feature, but this is a server, and I don't need it. Disabled!
4. SELinux. Oh, WOW this thing is fucking infuriating. Sure, it's probably essential to making your system very secure, but usually it seems to just be there to make working on the system unbearable. As I'm going through and configuring services to get the system back up and running like yesterday, EACH AND EVERY ONE runs into some wonderful new SELinux block. Maybe if I took the time to set it all up the right way it would be a good thing, but at this point it's just KILLING me. So, I disabled it altogether. A security tool that's this much of a pain in the ass to work with -- so that it leads folks to just plain disable it -- is no security tool at all.

All in all, I like working with Fedora. It's a good OS, it's stable and works well, just like most other Unix flavors, but just like any other... it's got some quirks which can be tough to deal with. The upside is I'm not trying to use Solaris. Now THERE is a quirky OS.

Bike Tools Etc

In my previous post, I mentioned Larry from Bike Tools Etc. I've been a customer of BTE for a while, ever since the Third Hand cut way back on their bike tool offerings. BTE has an awesome selection of tools from inexpensive to high-end shop-only grade, and their prices are quite reasonable.

However, that's not what made me a real fan of the outfit. I enjoy building bike wheels, and I like using good tools. So, when I saw that DT, a maker of arguably the best spokes out there (and definitely the best aluminum spoke nipples) had a spoke wrench, I really wanted to give it a try. At $48, compared to the classic $8 Park wrench, it was a steep premium to pay, but it looked like a good, strong design that would serve me well... so I finally decided to go ahead and order one. Initially, the spoke wrench worked very, very well, especially on softer aluminum spoke nipples, where higher torques needed for high spoke tension can result in rounded (and thus, useless) nipple flats. The four-sided design held on very securely, and the nice, heavy, chrome design felt good in the hand.

However, after about a year of use, I noticed that the DT was starting to fit a little loose on the nipples, and came very close to rounding the edges of a couple. Since these were all brand new DT aluminum nipples, and they still fit tightly with the Park spoke wrenches, I couldn't help but come to the conclusion that the DT either wore, or stretched. Looking at the design, neither made sense, but I couldn't argue that the wrench just didn't fit well at all. So, I contacted DT directly, figuring that any high quality shop-grade tool would have a lifetime warranty, just like you would find with S-K or Snap-On, or even Craftsman. However, the reply from DT was basically a brush off, telling me that I was out of luck.

So, hoping to get better results, I got in touch with Larry at BTE to see if he had any contacts I could speak to. It had been a year since I bought it, so I didn't even bother asking him to return it. However, he offered to take it back, even though I looked and couldn't find my receipt. Not only take it back -- give me a refund, not just store credit. That type of customer service will win me as a dedicated customer. Of course, to say thanks, I placed an order for double the price of the spoke wrench. Now, if there's anything I need, I try to remember to check and see if BTE has it first, and if the price is anywhere near where I can get it from elsewhere, I'll just go with BTE.

Moral(s) of the story:

1. Get bike tools (and some components) from Bike Tools Etc.
2. There's still no spoke wrench as awesome as the Park, except for the newer four-sided Park.
   

Problems can be opportunities!

Grace has found a new riding buddy in the form of another woman mountain bike racer, and they've been riding like crazy! They're getting along great, and having a bunch of fun. Just the other day, they went out and rode High Rocks (aka Ralph Stover) and found some new, technical trails. Riding some of these trails, Grace breaks a spoke in her rear wheel. When she tells me about this, I'm a little worried that she's getting into freeriding, something you don't necessarily want to do on an 18lb bike!

Well, turns out the broken spoke wasn't caused by her abuse, but instead by a mistake of mine... when we first got the wheels, her chain overshifted the big cog and wound up between the cassette and the spokes, which chewed up the spokes. The spoke that broke was one of those, and broke at the spot where the chain had chewed it up. So that's good news. Looking at the spokes, I realize I could just replace the damaged spokes, but what's the fun in that?

A little bit of research later, and an email to Larry at Bike Tools Etc., and I decided on the Sapim CX-Ray aero spokes. Aero spokes are ovalized to help them slice through the air, but on a mountain bike, the speeds aren't high enough for that to really be a benefit. No, the real reason for using the CX-Rays is that they are supposed to be incredibly strong, despite being among the lightest spokes out there. I guess the forming process which turns them into an aero spoke strengthens the metal. Either way, they've got a great rep, and will save almost 90 grams over the spokes I pulled out of the wheel!

When I rebuild the wheel, I'm also going to replace the Stan's rubber NoTubes strip with a valve stem and 3M Kapton tape, which should save about 50 grams. I also have a pair of new Kenda Klimax tires ready to go, which I fully expect won't get the Grace seal of approval, as they're only 345g and really have no real tread to speak of. Still, that's another 100g and it's at least worth a try!

With those changes, if I were to do them to the front wheel as well... we're nearing sub 18lbs on her bike... and aside from the Klimax tires, it should still be perfectly usable and reliable, not just a scale queen.

How to make a tremendously awesome steak

Summer is here, and thus, barbecue season is here. We have two grilles, a gas and a Weber charcoal... but we haven't been using either. When it comes to making an awesome steak, we've found a method that works far better and more consistently than using a grille. Credit goes to Alton Brown of Good Eats fame for this one -- using a cast iron pan and a combination of a hot oven and a big gas burner.

Here's how to do it. Let the steaks come to room temperature, or thereabouts. Lightly oil the steaks, both sides. Add a nice salt, kosher works very well. You can do the oil/salt when you take the steak out of the fridge, or just before you cook it. Take a cast iron pan (no screwing around here, cast iron is the ticket, and it needs to be properly seasoned) and put it in the oven which you preheat to 500 degrees. Once the oven hits 500 degrees, you pull the pan out and put it on the biggest burner you've got on the highest setting. The key here is HEAT and lots of it. Throw in the steaks, and don't move them for 45 seconds. It's at about this point that you realize the big downside of this cooking method - SMOKE. Better have the windows open and a strong fan.

After the first 45 seconds, flip the steaks, let them sit in the pan for another 45 seconds, then move the pan back into the 500 degree oven. Two minutes later, open the oven, flip the steaks, and wait for another two minutes. At the end, pull the steaks out and put them on a dish. (now is a good time to add some pepper. You can do it before cooking but run the risk of burning the pepper) Cover the steaks with aluminum foil (in a pinch if you've run out, a shiny pan that covers the steaks works like a charm) and let them "rest" for at least three minutes.

Once the steaks have rested, dig in. We always use a delmonico (rib eye) steak, about an inch thick, and wind up with a rare to medium rare steak which is incredibly tender and juicy. And, thanks to the incredible amount of heat we've thrown at it, it's beautifully seared with a nice crust. If you like steaks more well done, I guess you'd probably have to leave them on there longer, but I don't know. Since I kinda see that as a waste of a good steak, I won't be doing any experimentation, either!

As long as your cast iron pan is reasonably well seasoned, you'll have no problems with sticking, and I've found that the more steaks you do, the better the seasoning on the pan. After many, many seared steaks, our cast iron pan is now far less likely to have anything stick to it than even our best teflon pans! This is also a pan which spent several years in our basement, where it developed some pretty nasty rust. I cleaned the rust off, then re-seasoned it, and it's working like a true champ.

Ouch...

When I rode into work, I wasn't sure if I would ride home, just because the ride home is always really fatiguing... surprisingly so. Well, I was feeling pretty good in the afternoon, so I figured I'd give it a go. It took me 2:06 to get home, which isn't really all that bad of a time. I think the average speed was something like 15.6mph. Despite the decent average speed (which is slower on the return because there's more climbing) I was utterly wiped out when I got home. I got home, put the bike away, took off my shirt, shoes and socks (leaving them where they dropped in the kitchen), had three glasses of Gatorade (ran out of my bottle about halfway through the ride) and some leftovers, then went upstairs and just plain crashed. I even started this entry but didn't have the energy to finish it. Worse yet, I totally forgot to call my mother and wish her a Happy Birthday. OOPS!

I really don't know why the ride home always kills me so totally... it's certainly one of the biggest reasons I don't ride in more often. Is it because it's in the afternoon, when I'm tired? No, some of my best rides happen when I get home after work and want to fit in a quick ride. I did 21 miles at a 19mph average speed on Monday and felt great afterwards. Is it that the ride is predominantly uphill? I don't think so, because the climbing isn't THAT bad... there aren't any really brutal climbs, and I've done longer rides with far more climbing and felt fine.

I think the real problem might be dealing with the traffic. There are far more cars on the road on my ride home. It's still pretty quiet when I'm heading in, but on my way home, it's pretty busy. There's a light at the intersection of Route 152 and Route 463 which backs up quite a ways, and I'm able to ride right by most of it. It's an uphill, but yesterday I counted 50 cars that I passed before I got to the intersection. (that's always fun!) But dealing with the traffic might just add to the fatigue.

I just don't know why the ride home can wipe me out so completely... Maybe I just need to do it more, like it'll be easier if I'm in better shape.

It would be easier if I could take my bike home on the train... but SEPTA doesn't allow bikes on peak hour trains. If I got in early (which would mean getting up even earlier) I could take the 3:25, which is the last non-peak train in the early afternoon, or I could wait until the 6:55, the first non-peak train in the evening. Neither appeals to me much. If I could just bring my bike home on the normal train, I could ride in, then take the train home every day.

BFT

BFT... as in: 'bout freakin' time!

Finally, I've ridden from home to work, for the first time this year. I've been threatening to do it for... sheesh -- MONTHS now... but I finally got tired of making excuses and just did it.

And? It was awesome. Riding in is one of those things that when I do it, I wonder why I don't do it more often. (the answer is usually "the ride home") Of course, it helped that it was a monumentally beautiful day, and when I was cruising down Kelly Drive, with the rowers doing their thing and the sun shining, I had a strong tailwind and was cruising with very little effort at just shy of 25mph. Life. Is. Good.

I'm also really happy with my time... 33.64 miles in 1:56 -- that's an average speed of 17.4mph! Considering I wasn't pushing at all (that ride was last night) and figured I'd be over 2 hours, that's pretty good. Especially considering I had to walk the bike *through* a fallen tree on Forbidden Drive, quite a trick while walking in hard soled bike shoes! I also stopped to help a guy whose crankarm was loosening up. I haven't decided if I'll make the return trip today... we'll see how I feel when the time comes.

The building I work in is nice in that they provide indoor bike parking behind a locked door, monitored by security cameras, and in direct line of sight of the guards. Still, I don't have a very good lock here, and partly out of curiousity, partly out of "it's better to ask forgiveness than permission", I took my bike up to the office in the elevator and have it in my cubicle. Safety wise it should be about the same, but this way I get to see my bike, which I think is very close to functional art. We'll see if anyone has any problems with it. *fingers crossed* As you can see, my cube is far from clean, so maybe nobody will notice it in the mess.

BE the squirrel!

Another tidbit from the "thought of it while riding" file.

One of the "fun" parts of road riding is getting to deal with cars. The most common interaction is when a car passes a slower moving cyclist. My approach to handling this has always been to stay to the side, and ride as smoothly as possible, so the motorist feels comfortable enough to pass safely. A couple months back, though, I read someone saying that a better technique is to swerve a little when you hear the car coming. At first I dismissed it, but the argument was that if you look a little unpredictable, the driver will give you more room.

I was intrigued, so I've been trying it. Now, the key isn't to swerve all over the road and be erratic, but just not keep a perfectly straight line. Having tried it, I've got to say it actually works. If I hear a car coming, I'll let the bike move around a little, usually just exaggerating my pedal stroke, and when the car goes by, they give me a huge amount of room. The driver is going to pass me whether they feel comfortable or not, folks are just too impatient to not pass... but if they aren't sure if I can ride in a straight line, they give me more room. That leaves ME feeling more comfortable... and safer.

It doesn't take much, just a little wobble that is visible to the driver seems to be enough. Heck, they might not even realize they're doing it.

Out riding yesterday, I was focusing on keeping my pedal stroke as smooth as possible as I was riding up a power climb... (1-3% grade) and wouldn't you know it, I was very close to mirror-slapped by the car that passed me. I hadn't heard him so didn't do a little wobble, and I guess he didn't feel the need to move over at all. Most of the other passes - the car will get almost to the other side of the road, leaving me with at least 4 feet of space!

So, while being a squirrel can be a very bad thing for drivers, it can be an excellent thing for cyclists!

Do, or do not... there is no squirrel.

Heading out for a ride this morning, I'm coming up to an intersection. The light's green, and three cars are coming the other way, all three have their left turn signals on. The first two go, no worries, I wasn't to the intersection yet... but the third one, this older Buick, can't figure out if he wants to go or not. He slows, then starts to go, then slows, then starts to go, then slows... then finally decides he'll stop. But see, the problem is he's now come to a full stop directly in front of me, and I'm doing about 17mph straight at his door. I hit the brakes, and yell something about "make up your mind!" and ride around the back of the car. I did get the entertainment of seeing that he was an older guy, and his wife in the passenger's seat was totally freaking out. That was funny.

Anyone who has driven and seen a squirrel on the road knows that they are totally unpredictable. Even if they are mostly across the road, nothing says they won't suddenly turn around and run right back in front of your car. There's no predicting what they'll do, so you can't prepare. So now, imagine a squirrel driving a Buick... scary, huh? When it comes time to do something or not do something... make your choice, and STICK WITH IT. If the old guy had just gone when he first considered it, okay, it would have been close, but I was prepared for that. If he had just stopped and waited, that would have been just fine as well. The start/stop/start/stop/start/stop that wound up putting him directly in my path? I couldn't figure out what he was going to do and he wound up doing the very worst thing he could have.

Well, okay, running me over would have been the worst... but you know what I mean.

What do you call two bike computers on one bike?

The diagnosis is in... I have acute infomania. I've always loved the Shimano Flight Deck computer, with its integration into the shift/brake levers. The control buttons are in the levers, and the computer can directly read what gear you're in. Enter the tooth count of each gear at setup, and it can even calculate "effective" cadence from the gear ratio and your speed. It's a really slick setup, and keeps me aware of my gear choice without having to look down at my gears.

However, I'm an even bigger fan of Garmin's Edge GPS computer. It doesn't need any setup at all, since it reads speed via GPS signals, so moving it from bike to bike is very, very simple and requires no recalibration. Plus, it not only tracks your speed, it tracks your position, and at the end of a ride, you can download the data to a computer, where you can view your speed, see the course on a map, see an elevation profile -- just tons of awesome information. With Garmin's Motion Based website, you can even do things like comparing several rides against each other, with a little dot representing each ride! Really, really cool stuff.

But, using only the Garmin, I find myself really missing the gear indicator of the Shimano... so I decided... why not just run both? Thankfully, the Garmin mounts to the stem, and the Flight Deck mounts in front of the stem, so they don't interfere with one another. Sure does look kinda funny, though!

Them's some weird shoes...

Over there on the right you'll see my latest pair of shoes, the beyond bizarre Vibram "Five Fingers" shoes. As you might have guessed, they're not called Five Fingers because I stole them -- as in "Five Finger Discount" -- but because each toe has its own little pocket, making these more like gloves for feet.

The "VFF" is designed to be as close as possible to walking barefoot... and that's why I decided to purchase such a goofy shoe. I've always loved walking barefoot, and would often take off my shoes and carry them just so I could walk around barefoot. On a hot summer day, I looked forward to getting home and taking off my shoes and socks so I could experience what I called "Happy Feet". Well, it turns out that there's actually some medical reasoning to walking barefoot beyond "it feels good".

The big problem with walking barefoot everywhere is it's typically viewed as "wrong". (Although, I have to say, having worn these around for a day, you'll get less stares walking just plain barefoot than you will in these arrest-me-red freak shoes) Then, there's also the problem of walking over very hot or sharp/irregular surfaces. So, that's where the shoes come in.

So, today, after buying them, I put several miles on them. They're interesting... they fit very close but not tight, so in that they are in very comfortable. The problem is, they feel like shoes, so I actually walk more like I have normal shoes on than I do when I walk barefoot, and that means more on my heels... so my heels hurt a little at the end of the day.

Still, they are very, very light, and work pretty well.

Update - I got a chance to do some very limited trail running with these shoes, and they were incredible! They protected my feet from the rocks and sticks on the trail, but since they were so light, I felt exceptionally light on my feet. (no, not light in my loafers!) I didn't go far (wasn't the time) but they worked really well and I hope to give that a try again.

Also, Grace has bought a pair (and not surprisingly, they look really cute on her, as opposed to absolutely goofy on me) and uses them often when she trains her clients.

I still go barefoot around the house most of the time, and in retrospect wish I'd bought a less obvious color scheme (like the all black "KSO") but they are a good shoe. I've even used them for working on the house, including standing on a slanted roof while we repainted the outside walls.