Keep your shirt on...

Tonight we went to Nockamixon.  We had talked about going to Wiss, but Grace's concern about my ongoing issues with my left achilles' tendon had her decide Nox was better.  Sure... the place that I know so well that I almost always wind up hammering... the same place that I re-annoyed it on Monday.  Well, we figured we'd start out easy and figure how we felt.

Well, anyhow, we get there and are putting our bikes together and I hear a familiar voice.  I look over and see the EWR jersey and knew his majesty, the King of Nockamixon, Sir Bob of Eichlin, was just about ready to start a ride.  Grace sees him there and simply mutters "oh shit."

Ya see, Bob is fast.  Take a look at any of the Strava segments in Nockamixon, and you'll see Bob's name right up at the top, usually with a pervertedly large buffer over second place.  Bob's also a really cool guy and fun to ride with, when you can keep up.  So, our "let's start out easy and see how we feel" plan suddenly got scrapped for "let's hammer like crazy".  So, we meet Bob's buddy Jason, and the four of us head out.

Almost immediately I'm reminded of my lack of bike handling skills.  Don't get me wrong, I can do okay, but I immediately find myself in a cycle of braking for a corner that they didn't, then having to accelerate to catch up.  They're just zipping along and I'm already spending more than I should in the first mile or two of a ride.  I manage to settle in and catch back up to them, but am starting to realize that they are on a fast pace, and if I stick with it, my achilles will not be happy, so I make the decision to "do the smart thing" (aka preserve my sense of dignity with an excuse) and let them go.  I'm screwed when the tendon is all better, though.

With the evil rabbits out of sight, we settle into a good, enthusiastic pace.  I meter my efforts, keeping the stress off my heel, and manage to move up to third on two segments.  As usual, looking at it after the fact, I'm absolutely convinced that I can do better.  We did the south loop in both directions, with Grace in the lead.  I am firmly convinced that I ride better when chasing her through the twisty sections.  Hell, it was chasing her in Mercer all those years ago where I learned to do the tighter corners out of necessity.  Most importantly, I made it past the "stripper tree" twice and manage to avoid having my jersey torn from my back.  The 2009 EWR jersey lives to see another day.

We finish up with a reverse of the Cold Spot/Hammer loops, and I come to the conclusion that I much prefer the Hammer loop ridden that way.  It just seems to flow so much nicer.  I think it's the first time I've ridden it "backwards" since before it was actually open and we followed Kenny around it.

Running out of light -- and temperature -- we get back to the parking lot just after Bob and Jason, talk to them for a while, then head home for steaks and beer.  All in all, not a bad way to end the week. 

A nice, cheap alternative for bike GPS use.

I've become a big, big fan of the Strava ride logging site.  When bike GPS first came out, I was a big fan, and bought in with a Garmin Edge 305, and used it religiously for a while.  But, after a while, it dawned on me that all I was getting for all that datalogging wasn't much more than I could have done with a typical bike computer and a mapping site like "MapMyRide" or "Bikely".  Sure, I got neat little graphs of my speed and heart rate and cadence, but unless I did the same exact ride, it was almost impossible to compare my times and see some progress.  What I really wanted, and spent a bit of time looking for was something that would allow me to see my times on a certain segment, like, say, Tohickon Hill Road.  I couldn't find anything, so the usefulness of GPS logging lost its appeal to me, and I stopped using it as much.
A couple years later, I find out about this new site, "Strava".  Oh, goodie, another GPS logging service.  Well, here's what makes them special -- they have actually implemented the segment matching I was dreaming of all those years ago, and not only can you compare your times against yourself... you can compare against everyone else who's ridden there.  WHOA.  That's cool.

So I get into it again, religiously logging my rides, uploading as soon as I get home so I can see if I have any new KOMs, and go back through all my long-forgotten Garmin Connect rides so I can import them into Strava, because who knows -- I might have had a KOM long before I knew what those were!  At first I'm using my phone, but I quickly start looking at the newest Garmin offerings.  I'm a little tenative about that, because my old Edge 305 wasn't exactly problem free.  After the warranty expired, I had to send it back to them for a fix to the tune of $90.  I forgot what was broken, but not too long after, it wasn't finding satellites anymore.  I tried several things, then gave up and sold it to a buddy for a song.  (amusingly enough, he did manage to get it working)

But, I then had the great idea, and found Grace's old Motorola Cliq (MB200) phone, her first smart phone.  I loaded that up with MyTracks, and started testing it out.  Turns out, it works really well.  I tried the Strava app, but had some problems with that, so have been sticking with MyTracks, which is made by the Google team.  (I worked with the Strava support folks on the issues I was having with the Cliq, but since MyTracks worked and the Cliq is an older phone, I didn't push the issue.)

So, before you go out and spend at least $150 on even the most inexpensive Garmin, or the fancy new Motorola that does MP3s as well, consider getting an old, used Android smart phone.  You might just wind up with something far cheaper which has far more features.

• A phone can have a very accurate GPS, especially with MyTracks, which allows you to modify the logging settings.  Nothing short of the ultra-expensive Garmin Edge 800 allows you to do that.
• If you don't like the interface of the MyTracks app, you can run the Strava app.  Or Velox.  Or a large number of other alternate apps.  With a Garmin, you're stuck with the interface they give you.
• In my comparison with logged rides in Nockamixon, my old Cliq with accuracy turned up has logged closer to the state-created trail maps (created with, I'm told, a $20k trail mapping GPS) than anything shy of a Garmin Edge 800, a $450 computer.  Better than an Edge 500.
• A phone has support for wifi, so if you use the Strava app, as soon as you have access to a wifi signal, you can upload your ride automatically.  However, I use MyTracks as it's more stable and precise, so I export to GPX and email the ride on wireless.
• Motorola's bragging about the MotoACTV having MP3 support.  Even old phones support MP3, OGG, and several other video formats, as well as having the ability to play videos.
• Most Android apps work on an old phone.  No apps available for bike computers.  Might not be a huge consideration, but it can be pretty cool.
• Without cell service, battery life is fairly fantastic.  I did a multi-hour ride and didn't even drop down to 50% battery with the Cliq.  If you had the display on, that would wear it down faster.
• Most importantly, an old phone like the Cliq MB200 can be had for as little as $50-70 used. You might even have one on hand already.  It doesn't need to be unlocked, you don't need cell service.

Things to watch out for:

• This is the biggest thing.  Some phones will NOT get a GPS signal without a data connection.  My old Motorola Droid X would not lock onto the GPS without data, no matter how long I let it sit.  I'm not sure the cause, but that renders it totally useless as a bike computer.  I've tried running it where I had a wifi signal at the beginning so it could get a lock, and then doing a ride, but the accuracy was pretty sad.  At this point, I can say that the Cliq and the original Motorola Droid both work without any data signal and make good bike computers.  The Droid X and the Galaxy Nexus both have issues getting GPS without data coverage.
• My Cliq is really particular about getting sweat on the screen.  Whenever I've done that, it gets kinda mental, and won't respond right to touch until I pull the battery, clean the screen, and leave it alone for a while.  I'm wondering if maybe the phone itself is dying, as other phones I've had don't act up the same way.  Still, worth mentioning.
• The Cliq does sometimes have some GPS madness where it doesn't follow the path too closely.  This ride has me riding through the middle of the lake, (pretty sure I didn't do that) but it was also before I tuned the precision in MyTracks.
• Handlebar mounts for phones aren't quite as slick as mounts for bike GPS.  I got this ugly beast.  I don't understand the point of the ball socket, and can't seem to get it tight enough to hold a position.  Most of the time I just put it in my jersey pocket, although accuracy does seem slightly improved on the handlebars.  Some phones also might not like the level of vibration they'll see on handlebars.
• Phones aren't waterproof.  Garmins are.  However, I've found that ziploc snack bags fit even the pretty large Galaxy Nexus with no problem, and are cheap.  I can still operate the touch screen through it, too.

So there you go, hopefully something to think about, and if you happen to have an old phone sitting around from after an upgrade, you might be able to give it a try!

Reviving the old dead blog

For some reason, I love to relive my rides after the fact.  So, I've decided to revive my old blog that I haven't done anything with for several years for that purpose.  I've already posted the hilarity that was my attempt at a full-speed lap of Nockamixon

Chasing the Nox full lap KOM

Last night I went out with the specific goal of giving my best go at Bob's ownership of the full Nox loop.

I had no expectations of coming in sub 50, much less challenging his time of 49 minutes dead -- but I figured I could put in something in the low 50s.

I started off with a lap of the Cold Spot loop backwards, to warm up and to check out the downed tree that Bob had warned me about.  Returned to the parking lot, talked to some guys, then headed out for my loop.  The downed tree wasn't too bad, had to get off the bike, hop the tree, and get back on, but I don't think I lost too much time.  On the northern Hammer loop, my phone starts going off.  There was an upgrade happening at work, and the notifications of stuff being unavailable started rolling in.  No big deal except I have my phone set up to keep notifying me until I actually look at the stuff.  Super.  So, I had to pull off my full-fingered glove, dig out the phone, unlock it, view the messages, lock the phone, and stick it back in my jersey.  This happened probably four or five times on the Hammer loop, all while I'm trying to maintain a race pace.  Looking at the results, it did affect my time -- my best there is 7:15, and this lap went down in 7:42.

I kept a steady pace on the connector trail, then got to the south loop.  Was going pretty well until I cut it a little too close to a tree, caught my jersey on the remnants of a branch, and had it quite literally ripped off my back.

 

Click the photo for more pics of my wrecked jersey.

This wouldn't have been much of a problem (except for it being my favorite jersey and favorite base layer) except two of my rear pockets ceased to exist, causing my phone, keys, and multi-tool to fly all over the place.  Had to stop, pick the chunk of jersey off the tree (now hanging in my cubicle) and pick up my stuff.  Then, I had to figure out where to put all this stuff, since I now had significantly less room to put it.  So, I tried what seemed like the best idea... tucked the stuff into the legs of my knickers.  I spent a bit more time looking for my second set of keys, but couldn't remember if I left them behind at the car or not, so I gave up the search for them so I could keep riding.  (more on those keys later)

Well, the legs of my knickers wasn't such a good spot.  As I pedalled, the stuff would migrate down, eventually heading for the spot behind my knee.  I managed to get the phone stuffed into my last remaining pocket once I realized it was still usable, but fought the multi-tool and keys for the remainder of the south loop, all while trying to maintain a "race pace".

Got to the end of the south loop, and had to take a moment to relocate my keys and multi-tool to my already overstuffed seat bag (yes, the one that looks like a racoon) because I wanted a good run on the Eastern Woods northbound trail.  See, a couple days ago I made a run at that trail with two phones recording.  (I've had some issues with great rides getting "lost" due to the GPS getting mental, so now run a backup) At the end of the day, one recorded a time of 5:32, and the other recorded a time of 5:56.  So I was either well faster than Bob on that segment, or two seconds behind.  That's a pretty big gap, so I had to go back and do it again.  I figured if I could do at least a 5:4x time, then my 5:32 was legit. (that phone typically is far more accurate, too)  So, I wanted to have a good run on there.

Well, it was a little wet, but most of the trails were solid.  A handful of spots which were a little slick, but nothing too bad.  My time was slower, but not massively slower, so when I came in with a 6:04 time, I realized my 5:32 was bullshit. Too bad, but beating Bob by 20 seconds anywhere smelled far too much like bullshit, no matter how much I wanted to believe it.  On the upside, his 5:54 is only 2 seconds faster than I've gone, so I can get that.  Will it happen before he's in the 5:40s?  we'll see.

I finished up with the Haycock Run uphill, on which, only an hour or two before -- Bob set the new KOM... and came in only a little bit behind at 2:15 to his 2:09.  Weird that I run that section faster uphill than down.  I think a sub 2 is possible.

So, I was a little disappointed with a 57 minute time, but at least I came in sub 1 hour, and considering my two stops and having to check my phone, it's not too bad.  I figure it would have been a solid 54 minute run, maaaaybe 53 minutes.  Dry trails and luck, I might be able to drop it to 52 minutes.  So Bob's time is pretty much unchallenged, thanks in no small part to his phenomenal bike handling.  The one time I rode with him, I went from right on his wheel to 50-60 feet back in the span of a couple tight downhill S-turns.  That shit just adds up.

All in all, though, it was a fantastic ride.  It's not often I just focus on going hard for an entire MTB ride like that, and the challenge is so much fun.  Thanks to Bob for giving me something to shoot for!  I will get to a 49 minute lap, but I'm pretty sure Bob will be sub 45 by that point. :D

Oh, and I mentioned the second set of keys.  Got back to the car, gave a good search, and discovered that set of keys was not in the car.  So, that meant I did have them, and they were still laying trailside by that tree.  So, I loaded up the bike, and headed for South Park Rd, where you can park on the side of the road and access the trails.  As you can see here, the trail gets really close to South Park Rd, climbs up for a while, then drops back down, getting very close to the trail you just rode.  I took advantage of this, rode cross-country between the two chunks of trail, and got back to the scene of the crime.  Using the light on my phone (it's past sundown and I'm losing light fast) I managed to find my keys about six feet down the trail from the tree.