Bicycle Law Blog

I did a ride over the weekend and was riding two abreast in places so I could chat with some of the other riders. I was curious what the rules where for riding two abreast on a bike and came across with this post on the bicycle law blog. It's a great blog by the way and my first stop when researching bicycles and the law.

First PIG Session

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would be increasing the intensity on my bike rides in an attempt to increase my sustained power output.  This is harder than it sounds.  Usually I just head down to the trainer in my garage and pop in a DVD, start riding.  The DVD makes the trainer ride bearable, but also distracts me from what I am trying to accomplish in my workout.

I think to get the full benefit of these shorter workouts I really need to dial in my wattage targets, so what I really need is a plan that specifies particular wattage intervals and times and gives me a clear target.  The problem is that it takes a lot of time to come up with a good plan, particularly coming up with specific wattage numbers.  If you're lucky you have a coach who can create that for you, but that is something I can't afford.

But I think I have come up with the next best thing.  The Computrainer PIG training plan.  PIG stands for Performance Improvement Guarantee.  Basically they guarantee that if you buy their product and follow their free program you will improve your functional threshold wattage by 10% (or something like that. I don't plan on buying a Computrainer.) However, you don't need a Computrainer to follow the program.  You just need any type of powermeter.  Theoretically you could even use speed so long as your trainer has a consistent speed/resistance curve that would allow you to translate power numbers into MPH.

The best part of the plan (other than that it is completely free) is that it downloads as an Excel file.  You simply input you CP30 wattage (the highest wattage you can sustain for 30 minutes) and it calculates all your workouts with power targets for the next 5 weeks.  Then you retest your CP30 and do it all over again. 

I did a 30min time trial last Saturday and held an average of 195 watts over the 30 minutes.  I think perhaps that is a little low because I felt I probably could have went a little harder, but it works as a starting point.  My first session was today with a Tempo workout with 15 minutes of warmup and 45minutes at 166 watts. I definitely worked harder than normal, so I think this is going to work.

 

Epic Ride #1: Calabasas to Pacific Coast Highway via Mulholland

So I have been preparing for the LA Wheelmen Grand Tour Double Metric Century Challenge and have been doing some incredible rides. I don't have time to do a very long ride every weekend, but I have been able to negotiate with my wife to get some long days in. I probably have done about 6 rides over 4 hours and feel pretty comfortable with doing the 200k next week.
Most of these rides were LA Wheelmen trainer rides, which they start in the spring with a new one each week. These ride slips are a great resource because I have really wanted to expand my list of available rides from the usual trek up Angeles Crest. Sometimes I am able to go on the regularly scheduled day, but usually I just print out the route slip from the webpage and go on my own.
The first ride I did with the LA Wheelman was a ride from Calabasas to the Pacific Coast through the Santa Monica Mountains. It was only my second chance to through these mountains. If you look at the profile of the route below, you'll see that the ride starts with a very steep but short climb in the very beginning. The climb is not very tough when you are fresh, but on the way back I was dreading that climb the entire way.

The first quarter of the ride was just beautiful. It was pleasantly cool with penty of shade through rolling hills with farms and ranches along the route. The next quarter of the ride started to get tougher. You had to climb up over the mountains to get to the ocean. I got a flat because there was slash in the sidewall of my tire. I felt pretty stupid about it because I had gotten a flat in the last ride I did and forgot to check the tire. I first tried to patch the tube, but it didn't hold. Then I felt really stupid because I should have just replaced the tube since I had one with me and now I only had one C02 cartridge to do it. It seemed like it took me forever, but I finally got it fixed by putting some cardboard separating the inside the tire and tube and replacing the tube. Now I had no CO2 left so I just crossed my fingers that I would make it through the rest of the ride with no more flats.

The climb was beautiful and there was still cool temperatures, but descending down to the ocean was just fantastic. It was incredible. You had to be careful to avoid stones in the road, but the views were spectacular.

Down along PCH the group stopped at a fish and chips joint for lunch, but I decided to press on back. First, it was only 10am and too early for me to eat lunch, but also I am slow and I figured I really needed that time to get back over the mountains, so I gobbled down a Balance bar and some Clif Shot Bloks and was off.

The way back was rough. First, it really started to heat up. It was probably around 85 degrees and I was pouring out sweat. Secondly, my bike keep ghost shifting out of my 29 cog onto my 27 cog. It was incredibly annoying. The route slip showed a different route on the way back. It was very steep, but incredibly beautiful. I wish I had my camera, as there was some incredible red rock formations and wildflowers out there.

The last fourth of the ride was just terribly painful. The ride had an assigned stop at the Rock Shop, and I should have stopped, but I was too concerned about making it home in the time I had told my wife I would be back. So I just pressed on. I guess I just took off more than I could chew with this one. I was stopping under every shade tree I could find. There was another rider that looked to be about 80 riding a hybrid and wearing sandals and I was doing everything I could just to try and keep up with him. It was so hot, and I ran out of water. I thought I was going to die so I stopped at a house, and when no one answered the door I just used their hose. I think I drank a whole bottle's worth of water right there.

I keep grinding slowly on, just dreading that last final climb. I don't know how many times I just thought of throwing in the towel and calling my wife to come pick my ass up. I knew that damn climb was coming up, and I just dreaded it. But I didn't call for the SAG wagon because I knew it would take forever for her to come get me, and I didn't want to wake up my four year old daughter from her afternoon nap. So I just pushed on.

Pretty soon I ached all over. My feet hurt. My hamstrings ached. My quads burned. My hands and shoulders were numb. But then something happened. I realized that I was at the peak of that very first climb. I was there and I didn't even know I was doing that last climb. I was so shocked and happy that I just powered down the last descent to my car with just a huge grin on my face. Sixty-four and a half miles done (GPS battery died on me so the profile above has the last few miles cut off), but how in the world was I going to finish 126 miles? I had a lot of work ahead.

Next time. . . the Terrible Tujungas!

How to destroy your bike

I've been riding quite a bit lately. I'm building up for a the LA Wheelmen Grand Tour Double Metric Century Challenge (whew, that's a mouthful!) in late June. So that means lots of long epic rides and mostly in the mountains. I have gone farther than I have ever imagined and still the longest ride I have done has been only about 75 miles, which is still a long ways off from reaching at least a century ride before the double metric century (about 126 miles.)

So I have a long ways to go, but I have a sprint triathlon coming up next week so I thought I would get a little more experience in the flats on my triathlon bike. Yesterday I took my Raleigh out for a spin along the San Gabriel River Trail. I started in Duarte and the idea was to go hard and fast to the ocean and back. Instead I destroyed my bike. Ok, maybe that is an overstatement, but I completely ripped the rear derailer off. The rear hub may be damaged, the cassette may be toast and the front big chainring may be bent as well.

So what happened? To understand how this could happen I have to explain about rear derailer cage capacity. The cage is the arm that hangs down from the derailer and holds the two pullys that the chain runs through. The job of the cage is to direct the chain onto the proper cog, but also it functions to take up the slack in the chain. The longer the cage the more slack it can take up and the more "capacity" it has. For the drivetrain to run properly the chain needs to be long enough to wrap around the two largest gears (the big chainring in front and the largest cog in back) and also have a cage that can take up the slack while the chain is in the two smallest gears (small chainring, small cog). The larger the difference between the rings in either the font or the back will increase the difference in chain lengths required in these two positions and thus will require a greater cage capacity. Campy rear derailers come in either short, medium or long cage. The longer the cage, the greater capacity, but also the greater weight and slightly slower shifting response. Generally people who are concerned with performance go with the lowest cage length required.

On my road bike I have a compact crank which requires an increased capacity and also I tend to run a 13-29 cassette for climbing, which also requires a greater capacity, so on my road bike I have a medium cage rear derailer. A medium cage will handle just about anything short of a triple crank with no problems. I wanted to get a medium cage for my tri bike as well, but when I ordered my parts I forgot to specify that I wanted a medium cage and was instead sent the more common short cage. The short cage will work for a standard crank and any cassette with the lagest cog of up to 27 teeth. I didn't want to do through the hassle of sending the thing back and I have a standard crank on the bike and don't plan on using it for climbing so I figured a shart cage would be fine.

Generally it is fine, unless I use my climbing 13-29 cassette. When I use that cassette the chain will jam when I am in the big chain ring in front and the large cog in back (every other combination shifts fine), but since I wasn't planning on using the tri bike for climbing why would I need to use that cassette. And if I did use that cassette then I just need to stay out of the big/big combo. I'm not supposed to shift into that combo anyways because it is cross chaining and bad for wear and tear on your bike anyways. So every time I ride the bike I either put on a 12-25 cassette or just be careful to not shift into the big/big combo.

So now it should be obvious what happened. I was too lazy to swap cassettes when I moved my powertap wheel from my road bike to my tri bike. Then about an hour into my ride I was powering along on the flats in my big chain ring when I can across a short steap hill. I didn't shift soon enough because I thought my momentum would carry me up most of the hill, but I misjudged how steep it was. Then I had to quickly downshift and while I was specifically trying to avoid shifting it into the largest cog I accidently shifted it one gear too many. There was his horrible metal crushing sound and the bike stopped instantly. I was fortunately able to clip out in time, but the bike was really messed up. The rear derailer hanger had been torn in two and my beautiful carbon chorus derailer was bent and mangled and jammed on top of the cassette. I was able to remove the rear wheel and pull the mangled bits out, but that was the end of that ride.

It looked like I was going to have to walk over 15 miles bake to my car barefoot, but fortunately my wonderful wife was able to pick up my sorry ass on her way to work. Looks like I'm riding my road bike in the triathlon next weekend.

Conquering the Big Tujunga Loop

Yesterday, I was up before dawn on my way to Angeles Crest for an epic ride. I road with the LA Tri Club up Angeles Crest to Clear Creak. Then we went north down Angeles Forest Highway. This is the route along which the final stage of the Tour of California took place this year (going in the opposite direction). There is a dark tunnel along the route and I am glad I had my blinkers, because it would be really easy to be taken out by a car in the dark. I heard that in the Tour there was a serious bike crash in this tunnel.

Then we turned onto Upper Big Tujunga. This was the best part of the route. There was some beautiful rollers along a pleasant forested stream. It was nice to have the rollers because when you ride in this area it is usually just up, up, up. There were two serious climbs though. They were not too long, but very steep. I was putting out 250 watts and it seemed like I was barely moving. Here is a elevation profile of the route.

On the way down I got a flat on my rear wheel. This is my second flat on the Angeles Crest Highway, were I never had a flat all last year. It seems that there is more rocks and gravel on the sides of the roads, perhaps because of the recent rains. It took me a while to fix the flat because it has been so long since I last used my CO2 inflator that I forgot how to use it. I finally figured out how to get it to work, but I could not inflate the tire to full pressure because I had used some of the CO2 to just get the tube partially inflated so I could install it. I had another CO2 cartridge, but I always like to have one in reserve in case I get another flat. I guess it would be smart to have small a backup pump for the time where you run out of CO2. Either that, or just hope you can beg a Co2 cartridge off another ride zipping by.

The total distance for the ride was just over 47 miles with over 5000 feet of vertical climbing. It took almost 5 hours to complete. Here is a Google Earth map.

Strangely enough I'm not that sore yet today.

King of the Mountain

At least that is how I feel. This morning I met up with a few members of my tri club to go for a bike ride up Angeles Crest. I went up many time last year, each time getting a little farther and farther. My goal was to eventually reach the top of Mt. Wilson. Here is what the profile looks like.


It is just up and up and up. I wasn't sure how far I wanted to go up this morning because this is only the third ride I have done outdoors this year. I basically spent all winter on the trainer and let the bike really slide in favor of my marathon training. I had allocated a three hour ride for today on my training plan, and frankly I wasn't sure if I could go for that long on these hills.

It was still dark when we started out a 6:15am. I don't usually ride in the dark, but there is very little traffic on highway two that early in the morning and I was with a group so I felt ok about it. I also brought along a high visibility jacket, red blinkers and a high intensity blinking LED headlight. Some of the others had no blinkers, no reflectors, no nothing -- and to make it worse they were riding in the middle of the road. Let's give ourselves a fighting chance here people!


Around 7:00am the sun finally came out and I started to sweat so I took my jacket off. Getting the right mix of clothing when cycling in cold weather has taken my a while and I still have alot to learn. I was wearing a Craft Windstopper base layer which I really like. It keeps you warm, but I never feel hot in it, and the windstopper material is great for the descents when it gets really, really cold. I was also wearing a pair of Castelli Primo bib knicker shorts. They have a fleece interior which really helps keep in warmth, but they are not full length so when the sun does come out you are not roasting. Other than that it was just a team jersey and armwarmers.


As I went farther up though it got colder and colder. There is actually snow up there. In fact, I was just up there last week for snow play with the family. We did some sledging and built a snowman. So it is definitely cold, at least in the shade. You went from being quit comfortable in the sun and then once you moved into shadow there would be this chill that just crept down into you bones. I quickly put my jacket back on. It helped, but it would make me sweat when I was in the sun.


This is a photo taken about an hour and a half in. You can see the road where I came up and in the distance you can make out the Los Angeles basin. At this point I was doing betting than expected, and so I decided that I would go for another hour and turn around, which would allow me to finish up in about 3.2 hours. I passed Clear Creek which is where I usually turn around and I felt really strong. A thought passed into my mind that maybe I could make it all the way to Mt. Wilson today.


Here is the view at about 2.25 hours. That is the way I came up. It is pretty spectacular in person. I decided that I was going to just keep going and see if I could make it to Mt. Wilson. I was not pressed for time which is unusual. This was because I had left extra early, and because I was not expected back until noon. So I thought why not. Let's go for it. I finally got to Mt. Wilson road and became very excited. It looked like it was going to happen. Mt. Wilson road is a little different than highway two. It is steeper in parts, but then has a few downhills and flat sections mixed in rather than just straight up.


This is the view about two miles from the top. There was lots of snow everywhere and it was getting colder and colder the higher I got. I finally got to the top at exactly three hours. That's 19.7 miles and over 5,200 feet of vertical climbing. Unfortunately the observatory pavilion was closed so I didn't get to see the view of the entire San Gabriel and Los Angeles valleys. It opens in April first so I guess I'll have to go back. But I do have proof that I made it to the top.


The way down was painful. Painful for my face and fingers. It was very cold and I was going about 30-35 mph. I had to keep my mouth closed or felt like my teeth were going to freeze and pop out. Every so often I had to stop and rub my hands vigorously to get some feeling back. I was pretty stupid to not bring my wind gloves. But I made it back. I got a flat a couple miles from my car. I was just thinking about how I had been up here many times and that I had never gotten a flat even with all the gravel. If you ever have those thoughts, stop! Here is a view of the path I took courtesy of Google Earth.

Precious Daylight

I was really looking forward to spring when I could ditch the trainer and ride outdoors. Here in sunny California weather is not usually an issue so what keeps me on the trainer is the amount of daylight. Due to my schedule I usually can only fit in a ride early in the morning, and I refuse to ride in the dark. I just don't think it is safe to share the road with groggy morning commuters in the dark.

So I was very excited to be out and about this Spring, but this year's earlier daylight savings time has put a serious kink into my plans. Looks like there's going to be another month of trainer rides at least.

This morning I did something a little different. I made my usual trip to the gym near my work, but took my bike. Instead of running, swimming, or using a spin bike at the gym I just got in a ride, and because I put my commute before my ride instead of after it I could ride just as the sun was coming up. It was alot of hassle getting all my bike gear packed up, and I always worry about someone breaking into my car and stealing my bike, so I don't know how often I will do this, but I really enjoyed it this morning.

Today I also decided to take the opportunity to do an outdoor Lactate Threshold test on the Ballona Creek bike path. It was the longest time I have ever spent in the drops. I think I may have spent perhaps a maximum if five minutes in the drops before, but this time I spent the entire 30 minutes of the test in the drops!

I never know how much credence to put into the results, but here they are. My new LT is 194 watts (a big jump up from 174). That actually seems about right to me just based on 30 min power historical bests I have recorded in the last few months, but the LT heart rate seems way too high at 164bpm. That is up from 146 and ten beats higher than my last running LT test. I'm skeptical of that number, but if it holds up that is an amazing increase.

My New Toy

I bought a new road bike last year, but I almost regretted not getting a triathlon bike. I always planned on getting one, but maybe two or three years down the line. Every time I saw a triathlon bike I would just love the look of the aero bars, the aggressive geometry and the aero tubing. Oh the aero tubing! How could I ever think of waiting that long. So I knew I had to keep the cost low so I knew I was looking at a used aluminium bike. I also knew that I wanted Campy components because my road bike is Campy and that makes it easy to swap wheels or cassettes. This is particularly important if you have a set of race wheels or a wheel integrated power meter like a Powertap, which I do. There aren’t too many Campy equipped Tri bikes out there. You see some on Ebay, but rarely in the size I would need. I have a long torso and short legs so standover height on bikes is a problem for me. I really like Cervelo frames but they have really high standovers. I would either need a bike with a long top tube for its size or something with a compact geometry.

I found this used Raleigh frame on Ebay for cheap. It has a really long top tube and just the right standover, so it works out great. It is a Kinesis frame made out of 7000 series heat treated aluminium. Very similar frames are sold under the brands of Kinesis UK, Jamis, K2, Schwinn, etc., but I have never seen one exactly like this one. Usually they have carbon seat stays, which this one does not or they have external cable routing. This one also has vertical dropouts while the Jamis Trilogy has horizontal dropouts. Any ways it’s a relatively low end frame, but what makes it cool is that it is a Raleigh. What’s cool about that you might ask? It has been a long time in the US since Raleigh was a cool brand. But I like the uniqueness of the bike, because Raleigh doesn’t make triathlon bikes. That’s right. They don’t make them. Well, Raleigh’s South African franchise makes one very similar to this with external cable routing called the 6000, but Raleigh USA does not make a triathlon bike. So how did this one come about? Raleigh sponsors a few cycling teams and made this one up custom for one of their teams. (Or more accurately ordered one from Kinesis in Taiwan and put their stickers on it.) I’m guess that it was made for the Recycled Cycling Team.

Another cool thing is that I think a Raleigh bike is the perfect companion to my Bianchi. These two companies are the two oldest bike manufacturers in the world and both have charted similar paths. Both made their mark in of cycling racing history, both have diluted their brand appeal by selling cheap mass market bikes and both have made a recent resurgence on the cycling scene as of late. They both also traditionally wear Campy. So there you go, a perfect match.

I built up the bike with new parts sourced from Ebay, ProBikeKit.com, Excel Sports and TriSports.com. let me just say that ProBikeKit is awesome. I went with Chorus components because I saved so much money on the frame I had extra money to put into the components. My favourite part of this bike is the crank. The new UltraTorque crank from Campy is so elegant in design that I just had to have it, even though plenty of traditional square taper cranks were available.

The hardest parts to find where the bar end shifters. It was not so much that you couldn’t find them, but more that you couldn’t find them for a reasonable price. They cost about three times the price of Dura Ace bar end shifters and for no reason other than they are less common.

For brakes I went with the Tektro R740. Lighter than Dura Ace or Campy Record. Another factor in the choice was that I wanted a quick release on the brake callipers because bar end brake levers never have quick releases. Campy brakes don’t have quick releases, and putting Shimano on a Campy bike is just weird – thus the Tektros. I also considered FSA brakes, but I found a great price on the R740s and couldn’t pass them up.

For the cockpit I wanted Vision. I never really considered anything else. It just looks so cool. I have always wanted Vision aerobars and now I’ve got them. The Vision carbon bars are not some much lighter than the aluminium ones so I just went aluminium with carbon armrests.

The wheelset is Zefiro K52 deep section carbon wheels. Nothing special here. A good solid wheelset that is a little heavy, but has an aluminium clincher rim so that I don’t have to swap out brake pads when I change wheels. They were also very cheap. I couldn’t even consider getting race wheels unless they were very cheap.

I tried a Profile Design Tri Strike saddle I had lying around, but there is no way I could get comfortable on that thing in aero position. In aero position you are crouched so far forward that you are basically sitting on your balls. I don’t know how anyone can do it with a regular saddle. I invested in an ISM saddle. It is basically the same shape as the Profile Design Tri Strike but with the nose cut off. That way my guys can hang free and I won’t suffer. It also has long rails so you can move the saddle forward or back as needed.

I love my new ride!

More Opinions on Bike Lanes in Los Angeles

I have to say I agree with them. . .

New Look Keo Sprint Pedals

Summer came early to SoCal this year with record tempuratures in April, but things have definately cooled down the last couple weeks, and we even had a light rain last night. I missed my normal Saturday morning ride this past weekend because my bike was in the shop and I picked up a new club cycling jersey over the weekend so I was really looking forward to my ride this morning. When I opended the garage door and saw the wet drive, I was thinking, "who has been spraying down the drive?" Silly me. I guess it has been so long since it rained last, that I just wasn't expecting it. The rain wasn't enough to actually bring me indoors, in fact, if you lived almost anywhere else in the country you would probably have been embaressed to even call it rain -- more of a light sprinkling. But it still makes the roads slick, and so I was extra careful.

Over the weekend I also installed some new pedals. The just look spot on fantastic on my new bike. I have been using Shimano SPD pedals for a while now. These are the style of cleats commonly found on most mountain bikes, and they were probably a good choice originally because I did much of my riding on the spin bikes at my gym, and the SPD cleats are compatible with most spin bikes. But now I try to ride as much as possible on my actual bike and lately the shortcomings of the SPD system have become more and more apparent. First of all they are pain to engage because the cleat and the pedals themselves are so small. I have never been able to engage them easily because I have to get this tiny metal thing somewhere on the bottom of my shoe to engage with this tiny metal thing on the petal all without actually being able to see it. The cleats are also metal and so you can slip on them really easily when you walk and they will dig a hole in what ever they get near (like your bike!). I have some rubber "pontoons" on the sides to help with walking, but they sometimes interfere with the engagement of the petal. I also don't like how much float the cleats have. For those of you who don't know, float is the amount of movement your heal can move in or out without the cleat disengaging. The SPD pontoon cleats generally come in two forms, no float or about 7 degrees of float. I want some float, because it is better for your knees, but 7 degress is too much. Moving your heel out that far is very uncomfortable so usually I move my heal in, but then with that much float my heal hits my bike frame before the cleat will disengage. It is very annoying. So I figured with the new bike I should get some real road pedals.

There is actually a guy from my neck of the woods who has invented his own style of pedal that looks really interesting, but they are too rich for my blood. So my choice was between the traditional Look style pedals, Shimano SPD-R pedals or Speedplays. Shimanos are out because it is just too weird to have a campy bike with Shimano pedals. That is probably just silliness on my part, but it doesn't seem to me that Shimano offers anything more than a copy of the traditional Look pedal so really, why go there? I seriously considered Speedplays for a while, but a few drawbacks kept me away. First is the cost. They are definately more expensive for the quality of the pedal. They also are a little heavier. Most people think the Speedplays are really light because in the reported stats the Speedplay pedals are around half the weight of their competitors, but that is usually because the cleat that attaches to the pedal is not counted. The cleat on Speedplays is a large brass plate which is rather heavy, along with a three hole shoe adapter (unless you have four hole shoes, which are very rare). So the whole package is usually the same weight or more than a traditional Look pedal. Speedplays do have the advantage of dual sided entry, but the float is not adjustable except on the high end models, and I have heard of other triathletes complain that they slide around when trying to walk on their bike shoes with Speedplay cleats. So for all of these reasons I figured I should just go with the tried and true Look pedals. I was thinking of getting some cheap generic pedals through Bianchi that had the traditional Bianchi celeste blue (while it looks green to me, Italians call it blue -- traditional Italian biking lore has it that it is the color of the Milan sky) to match my bike. But then I was looking at the Look Keo website and I really liked the design of the new Keo pedals. They are similar to the traditional Look pedals, but have some design improvements, such as more contact between the cleat and pedal, shorter stack, more turning clearance, a lighter weight and ease of engagement. So I pulled the trigger and go a pair of Look Keo Sprints. (I did not know it at the time, but I also just found out that they received the 2006 Editors Choice award from Bicycling Magazine for petals under $200) I wasn't sure about the bright red color on my black, white and celeste Bianchi, but actually it really brings out the red decals on the wheels, and looks really cool. I'll have to post some photos. Edit: Photos Added





This morning was their first test, and if they continue to perform like they did today, I'll be estatic. They engage easily with a solid snap, and feel really solid. Disengaging is really fast and simple and the 4.5 degrees of float in the standard cleats is just perfect for me. It gives me the float that I want, but not so much that I have to over twist my leg. So far a great pedal.

On to New Challenges

To say that it has been a while since my last post is an understatement. For a while there I think I slide off of the face of the earth. I actually wasn't sure if I was ever going to blog again. You see the first 4 months of this year were more about detraining than training. I was often sick with several nasty infections that my preschool age daughter brought home with her during the winter and then when I finally felt better it seemed that I could only get in a few days of training before some other crisis would occur and whip out another week of training. I was constantly starting my training and never building. I became so frustrated that I started to think that perhaps triathlon, and all three of its sports are perhaps too much for me to handle at this point in my life and that I should perhaps just focus on one or two.

The problem with this strategy is which sports to choose. As I got closer and closer to Wildflower my frustration built and I guess as a protection mechanism I decided to just not doWildflower. I needed a new goal. Something different and something realistic with the time I have available. So lately I have been focusing on cycling. My goal is to climb Mt. Wilson by the end of the year. Here is a nice 3D image of the over 5000ft climb.

(image courtesy of CalTech Velo)
And here is the elevation profile. Definitely an epic climb, but no extreme grades.

(image courtesy of CalTech Velo)

So far I have made it to about 3000ft. Other members of my tri club have been going up this route too, but I usually don't ride with them because I have to be back home at a reasonable hour (I couldn't keep up with them anyways), so I leave the house at five or six in the morning. The triple crankset on my Trek 1220 has been a life saver. I don't think I could move my 250lb body up this climb without a triple. I am usually in my lowest or next to lowest gear the entire way up. No standing, just spinning.

While I appreciate the triple I still am not happy with this bike. All this cycling has made me more sensitive to the fact that my bike just doesn't fit right. It is a 50cm frame which is the second to smallest frame they make and I am six feet tall. I bought a new seat post and toyed with the idea of a new stem and even a new fork, but in the end that would just be putting more money into a bike that will never be 100% right for me. This was hard to admit because I wanted my next bike to be a tribike. I also wanted to have a road bike in the stable, and at my level of skill a road bike is going to be more important than a tribike, because I am simply not fast enough to take full advantage of the aero position available on a tribike. So I started to look for a new road bike and pushed the idea of getting a tribike back for a few years. Who knows. Maybe I wouldn't be doing triathlons in a few years, but still cycling. Then I would really appreciate the choice of a new road bike. If I still am doing triathlons by then, then I know I have earned the tribike. At least that is what I keep telling myself. . .

So what to get. There are so many more options with road bikes than in tribikes, and I combed the magazines and internet for options. I was becoming obsessed. The problem is that no matter what bike you look at there is another "better" bike for a little more money. That is just the way it is. I did not want to regret that I could have gotten something better if I had just spent a little more money, and yet I have to cut it off somewhere. After struggling with the issue for a while I came up with a system. At the risk of revealing to everyone I am an incredible nerd I am going to share with you my system in case you have to make such a decision yourself.

First I selected the features that I cared most about, and ranked the factors. I then awarded each bike points based on how well they satisfied each factor. For me, I cared most about ride quality, because my Trek 1220 is just bone-crushingly stiff. The second factor was that I wanted a decent component group. I am a big guy so I need something that will work well and have good durability. The third factor was weight. It is not that important since I am rather heavy already, but for some illogical reason it mattered to me. The last was the brand name. I guess this makes me shallow, but the name Cervelo, Pinarello or Orbea it is worth something to me. Certainly less important than the other factors, but still worth something. I would be dishonest in my analysis if I left it out.

Now you may notice that I left fit out of the equation. Fit is really a do or die issue. Either it fits or it doesn't. Obviously I can't buy a bike that doesn't fit. But what I am doing here with a point system is really trying to establish a baseline of value, or at least the value to me of each model of bike. Then I go try them out.

So I ranked each factor and gave more points to higher ranked factors. 10 points available for factor one, 8 points available for factor two and so on. If the bike exceeded my requirements it got full points. If it met my requirements it got half points, and if it was deficient it got no points. For example, for ride quality I based it mostly on materials. Carbon, Scandium and Lightweight Steel bikes got full points, other steel bikes and lightweight aluminium got half points and regular aluminum bikes got none. Ultegra or Dura-Ace was full points, 105 was half and Sora or Tiagra no points. For weight, bike less than 18 pounds got full points, less than 20 half and greater than 20 nothing. Etc.

After adding up all the points I then divided each point total by the price of the bike. This gives me a value quotient or value for the money. Certain bikes came up as good values right way, particularly Felt, Jamis and Raleigh. They seemed to offer the best value for the money. But did I get any of them? Nope. This is what I got.

I found a great deal (40% off) at a local shop for a 2006 Bianchi 928 Carbon. It fits very well particularly because the size is 55cm which is actually a rare size. I have short legs relative to my height, and so I need the largest bike I can get while still having a tolerable standover. 55cm is the largest I can go with my legs. Most other brands offer a 54cm or a 56cm. A 56cm is too tall for me to standover comfortably and a 54cm will have a cockpit that is too short. Some compact geometry frames would also work, but they often have headtubes that are too tall, so this bike worked out perfectly.

The full carbon frame allows the ride to be really smooth. The component group is Campagnolo Veloce, which from all my research is very reliable and strong. I gather that the general concesus is that Veloce is between 105 and Ultegra in terms of quality, but that with Campy the lower end components share more in comon with the high end stuff than with Shimano, so it is difficult to compare the two. Really the only difference between component groups for Campy is weight so Veloce should be very durable. I was skeptical of the Campy system at first because I wasn't familiar with it, but after trying it out I like it much better than Shimano. The brifters fit my large hands better, and I like having two separate levers instead of one. I find that I can't mishift like I sometimes do on Shimano, and the cabling is much cleaner.

The bike is also just at 18 pounds. And the name . . . got to love it. I admit I go a little crazy over Italian stuff. It's not rational, I know. The bike was handmade in Bianchi's factory in Italy with Italian components and even Italian wheels. By the way, this is not true of most Bianchis, which are often made in Taiwan with Taimanese components. The bike got full points in every category and because of the closeout price, it was by far the best value of any other bike I considered. The only problem with the bike is that it doesn't have a triple like my Trek so going up Mt. Wilson my not be possible for me. It does have a compact crankset so I may be able to get the gearing I need by swapping out a cog or two in the cassette, so I am still considering what I want to do about that.

Now I have been riding this piece of art for a few weeks, and I am in cycling heaven. Now on mornings when I'm scheduled to ride I wake before my alarm goes off, and I haven't missed a single ride.

Inspiration from Harry S. Truman

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.

--Harry S. Truman

Another hump day, another struggle and another chance for success. I'm a bit tired, but also feeling pretty high in that I have just finished a whole week of training and didn't miss any workouts. I have this minor sinus thing going on that started yesterday afternoon, but it seems to be holding and not getting any worse so I am going to Press On!

It took me a while to come up with my new training schedule just because I was conflicted on whether I should use the spin bike at the gym or use my actual bike at home. I think using my actual bike prepares me better for an actual race where I will be using my bike, but it is difficult to come up with the time because of commuting issues. If I want to use my own bike I have to get up extra early. I am already getting up around five am, and would have to get up at least another extra half an hour earlier to fit in any decent time on my bike, and later in my training plan when I need more time on my bike I will need to probably get up at four in the morning. I don't really mind getting up that early. In fact I kind of like being up and about while everyone else is asleep. Everything is really calm and quiet and you get to see some beautiful sunrises.

But I am the type of person who really needs my sleep. I can survive on seven hours of sleep but I really need eight. During heavy weeks of training I could really use nine hours of sleep. When I don't get my sleep I am miserable the whole day and tend to come down with colds. The answer is to get to bed early, but of course, life being what it is, I can only go to bed so early. It is a struggle now to get to bed by nine and usually it is more like ten o'clock. But in the end I think I just plain enjoy being on my bike and am just going to have to suck it up, and just get used to being tired. I think this year it is all going to be about getting out side and try to avoid the gym with its treadmills, spin bikes and indoor pool as much as possible.

So here is the new schedule:
Monday: AM: Bike, PM: Swim
Tuesday: AM: Trail Run
Wednesday: AM: Long Swim
Thursday: AM: Bike, Transition Run
Friday: AM: Swim, PM: Run Track Work
Saturday: AM: Long Bike
Sunday: AM: Long Trail Run

I was happy with how everything is spread out during the week with recovery days between run and bike sessions, but you'll notice that I don't have a rest day. I think I'll try it out and see how it goes. I noticed that last year I would take a rest day and then one or two days later I would have to take a day off for one reason or another and then I really regretted taking the rest day. Rest days seem to happen magically one their own anyways regardless of our intentions. If I am actually able to complete a couple weeks of this schedule with no rest days then I'll allow myself to worry about it.

A Cold and Gloomy River Ride

This morning I went on my first long ride of the year. I decided to start slow with my training and limit it to 30 miles of flats, which made a river trail ride the optimum choice. I choose the Rio Hondo is the closest to my home and has the advantage that I can spend more time on the trail and less on the street getting to the trail. The trail is in pretty good shape with very few potholes, but there are large cracks in the pavement which can rattle an aluminum frame pretty hard.

Today's ride was thirty miles, and while it was cold and dark, my spirits were up. I am excited about training again, and excited about trying out new things. The new thing to try out today was winter bike clothing.

I still have not got my wardrobe down for this kind of winter riding. I have tried different combinations of things over the last two months and have made improvements, but I still have much to learn. I wore some heavy weight cycling tights, but they have no wind resistance. At speed I am really cold, but while stopped at a light I warm up. On top I wore a long sleeve base layer, a short sleeve jersey and a wind breaker. It was probably too much, because I was soaked with sweat when I got home. I wonder if leaving off the short sleeve jersey would work better, or perhaps I need a windbreaker that breathes more.

On my head I wore a windtex headband, and a fleece muffler around my neck. The muffler works great because you can move it up or down to give you more or less ventilation as needed, but the headband did not work too well. It certainly is good when you start out the ride, because it protects my sensitive ears from the the wind, but halfway through the ride my head was starting to pound from the cold. I took the headband off, and I was actually warmer. I think the headband was causing my head to sweat and the sweat was causing my head to freeze. Ugh. It hurts just to think about it.

Here is a picture of the Rio Hondo. As you can see there is actual water in the river, which is only the case in the middle of winter. The rest of the time it is just a big concrete ditch.

The clouds were coming in and I thought it would rain, but then they broke and the sun finally came out. This picture was taken just as dark clouds were starting to break up. It is spooky in the gloom from the clouds, but the pond is the prettiest spot along the trail. The wildlife included some geese and a few homeless people. In the background you can see the outline of Mt. Wilson. That is where I am going next week.

Relegated to the Garage

When I first found out that I would be receiving a new CycleOps Fluid 2 bike trainer, I wanted to set it up in my living room so that I could ride my bike while watching DVDs. Biking on the trainer can get aweful boring and something to watch would certainly help. But now I realize that the living room is really not the right place (not that my wife would have stood for it anyways.) See, the living room isn't really my spot. It really isn't my wife's spot either, even though she decorated it to her specifications with a new leather couch and beautiful custom drapes. No, the living room is my daughter's. She has accumulated a broad array of accouterments and they all seem to end up in the living room. Basically the living room is her play area. I did not think it would be a good idea to put the trainer there because I don't want her fingers to get caught somewhere while she is having fun turning the wheels. So I put it down in the basement/garage.

There is a storage spot in the basement in front of where our cars park that I have basically converted to an office. I have a computer, bookshelves and a fridge for beer and wine. The only problem with it is that the ceiling is really low. I am six feet tall, and I have about a half an inch of clearance. In addition, right in the middle there is a large wooden support beam where I constantly hit my head.

Here is a photo of my setup. I had an old TV in the garage that has a distorted picture (everything in the top of the screen, like people's foreheads, are huge), but it will have to do. I'll get a cheap DVD player for $20 and be all set. Above it I have a fan to keep cool. On the left out of view is a large mirror, that I also had laying around. I can now use it to check my form and positioning. All in all, it is pretty sweet.

I was concerned that because of the low ceiling I would not have enough clearance, but actually I have enough room so long as I don't sit up. I guess that is just more incentive to stay aero.

In training news I ran 4 miles on Monday, swam 1500 meters Tuesday and today I biked for 32 miles today. I can tell that I have lost much of my biking fitness as my legs are very sore. Got to use that trainer!

Bike Fit

So I have been playing around with my bike fit lately. I have a Trek 1220 from 1994. I have never really been that comfortable on it. I used to think that it was an issue of conditioning, but am learning that it just doesn't fit right.

When I bought my Trek I really knew nothing about bikes. I had two bikes as a child. The first on was a small single gear bike with a banana seat. I always felt pretty stupid in that bike because my older brother had a cool BMX bike, while mine had an embarrassing banana seat. Not only that, but it has these weird handlebars that consisted of an L shaped metal tube that fit into a bracket attached to the front fork. They would constantly get loose. I even crashed a few times because they would come off. My second bike was alot better. It was a french steel racing bike with 12 gears I think. I think it may have even had campy components too. In any case the top tube was too high, and I would hit myself in the crotch during dismount rather frequently. I also stored the bike outside (stupid kid) and so the bike would get rusty and the derailleurs were always out of alignment. It would cause me to drop the chain regularly. So my experience with bikes has not been good.

But back in 1996 when I was looking to do my first triathlon I picked up an issue of Triathlete magazine (I think it was April) and in the back it had an article on converting a road bike to a tri-bike by adding a new seat post and aero bars. I think the bike in the article was a Trek 1200 or 1220. I wish I still had that article. Anyways, I didn't have much money so I looked for a used road bike and came across an ad for a Trek 1220. I think it was the first bike I looked at. The fact that it was very similar to the bike in the Triathlete Magazine article influenced me and of course I was very interested. The owner lived in a trailer park and was incredibly thin. I suspected (but didn't ask) that he had some kind of disease and that was why he was selling his bike. The bike was relatively new and in great condition. The first thing I checked was the clearance between my legs, and I had a few inches. So it fit! I paid the man and road off in my new bike quite proud of myself.

But of course now I know better. After having it a while I first noticed that I couldn't get the seat high enough. No problem. I wanted to buy a new triathlon specific seat post anyways. I would just get a longer one. I found a nice Nitto 66 seat post and that is what I have been using all these years, but I now think that even it is too short. (In the photo below I think I have the height about right, but it is raised above the maximum level marked on the post.)

Part of the problem is that I have freakishly short legs. I am six feet tall, but only wear a 30 inch pant inseam. Normally a person my height would ride a 56cm or 58cm frame, but I measured my bike (seat tube center to center) and now know it is 50cm. Because on road bikes the top tube and the seat tube are proportional I have a really short top tube even though I have a relatively long torso. Fortunately on the smaller frames the Trek 1220's have proportionaly longer top tubes. Mine is 53cm, but it should probably be around 56cm or 58cm for a bike that fits me.

I put on some Profile Design aero bars, but as I have mentioned many times in this blog, I cannot hold an aero position for more than a few minutes. When I am in the aero bars I feel really compressed.



The pink line shows where I currently am. I moved the seat forward so I would not feel so compressed. But now the angle between my legs and torso is a little open. It should be around 90 degrees. Also the angle between my upper arm and torso is too tight. It also should be around 90 degrees. To get the proper position I think I should be where the green line is. That puts me quite a bit in front of the handlebars. I could put on a longer stem to extend the handle bars out farther, but not that far. The bike would have much too much weight over the front and the steering would be very unstable. I think I may be able to compromise with the position represented by the blue line. I would have to get a new stem and lower my handle bars, but it looks doable.

The other option is to just scratch the whole thing and try to get it back to a road bike position. I am not in a financial position to replace the bike right now, but I probably could get a more comfortable road position by getting a new seat post. Then I could just train in road position until I can eventually afford another bike, hopefully a tri-bike. Decisions, decisions.

If anyone has any ideas. . . now is the time.

My New Fluid Squared CycleOps Trainer

I was excited to find my new CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer in the mail and thought I would give you some photos of me setting it up. My 2.5 year old daughter was my trusty assistant.

First off, I noticed that the box was pretty light-weight. I was surprised. I have discovered that CycleOps is very efficient in their design. Everything is very solid, but it doesn't weight very much at all. In the box was the frame with foldout legs, the resistance unit, some hardware and a CTS Time Trial DVD. My daughter wanted to pop that DVD in the player right away. She was pretty disappointed to find Chris Carmichael instead of Elmo, and gave it an overall review of "boring," but she still didn't want to turn it off. The TV is just that addictive.

The fist step in putting the trainer together is to place a pin in the welded tube of the frame. This pin will be used to tension the resistance unit.

The next step is to install a bolt to attach the resistance unit to frame. It is just one simple bolt. The head of the bolt recesses nicely in to the frame bracket to make it really easy to install.

It is so easy to install that I had my daughter do it!

The next step is to connect the pin on the frame to the resistance unit.

The bike is then placed on the frame. I found that the easiest way to do this was to first extend the right side, controleld by a lever, and place the right side of the rear wheel in it first.

Then tighten the left side. Remove the bike. Extend the left side a few more turns. Put the bike back on and then when the lever is extended it will make a nice tight fit.

The final step is to tighten the yellow handle on the resistance unit by rotating it until the resistance unit makes contact with the wheel.

When the wheel makes contact you lock the resistance unit in place by lifting the handle up.

I propped up the front wheel to make the bike level and gave it whirl. My daughter thought it was really cool.

The fluid in the resistance unit make progressively more resistance as the unit turns faster, so to increase the resistance all you have to do is adjust your gearing to get your wheels to turn faster relative to your crank speed. It is actually just like pedaling on flat terrain. If you want more resistance you just put the bike into a higher gear. Really cool.

My next step is to work on my bike fit. I still have hard time staying in the aerobars for more than a few minutes. I'm not sure why, but with the trainer it is really easy to change things around and try out new configurations while looking in a mirror or taking a photo. Goal number one for the pre-season is get aero!

PS: If anyone has an opinion on my bike position, speak now. I could use the input.

Sponsorship from Cycleops!

I am excited to announce that that I am the lucky recipient of a partial sponsorship from Cycleops Power through Team Race Athlete. This is very exciting for me! I will be receiving an awesome bike trainer called the CycleOps Fluid Squared. I can really use it, since winter is coming and it gets dark earlier. Now I will be able to train at night even after those long days at the office. Now I only have to convince my wife to let me keep it in the living room!

Thanks Cycleops and Race Athlete, you're awesome!

More great sponsorships will be selected over the coming weeks. Two very lucky people will be picked for full "race like a pro" sponsorships which include an incredible array of gear, including a BMC bike, Zipp race wheels, Cycleops Power tap, 2XU wetsuit and much more. For more information check out Race Athlete.com and sign up.

Back on the Bike

This morning I finally got a good bike ride in. It is about time. I have not ridden my bike since July 9th. I have been able to do a few spin classes, but that just is not the same.

I have figured that about 100 miles per week is a good goal for me and I have been averaging about 13-16 mph depending on how much climbing I am doing, so that would be about 7 hours of riding per week. If I spread that over three rides, I figured I would two shorter rides during the week at about 30 miles each and then a longer 40+ mile ride on the weekend. So today I had the goal of doing 30 miles in about two hours. I figured a trip up to the Rose Bowl and a few laps would do it.

It was just before 6:00am when I left the house. The sun wasn't up yet, so it was still a little dark out, so I was extra careful about cars and had all my lights on.

One of my favorite sites along the way is when I go under the Arroyo Bridge in Pasadena. You can see the beautiful arches in the photo.


Through the arch you can make out the old Hotel Vista de Arroyo, which is currently the Southern California home of the Nineth Circuit Court of Appeals. I always imagine what it must be like to work there as I ride by.

I did six laps around the Rose Bowl of which the last one was pretty painful. The thing is I never let myself recover on the downhills. I actually work harder. The grade is not that steep, but it is enough that on the downhills I move into my highest gear, lower down into my aero bars or drops and just pump the pedals as fast and as hard as I can, usually getting up to 27-30 mph. My heart rate goes through the roof, but it is just a blast. I can understand why cycling can be so addiciting, when you can have thrills like that. Then I have to go up again, which is not as fun, but I was able to leave it in the big ring today, which made it extra tough, but it hurt in a good way.

The best part is that I made my goal and in good time. I did a total of 30.5 miles, ascending 1040 feet, in two hours and seven minutes. According to my HRM I burned 1573 calories!