equipment upgrade debate

Over the winter, I mulled over which upgrades I'll make to my cycling gear for the 2010 season. As the sun started shining on a daily basis, I made up my mind.

Aerodynamic wheels would be a good addition to my arsenal. Last year, I bought a pair of Shimano WH7850 carbon clinchers. The wheels are pretty nice, but the front wheel is just too light for me to use. It goes out of true after every ride. The rear wheel is nuke proof. Too bad they didn't include a couple extra spokes on the front.

I mulled over a purchase of Zipp 404 tubulars. I figured if I'm going to blow that much money to try to obtain a performance gain, it doesn't make sense to get the clincher version. I know I would at first stash the wheel away as my race only set, but they'd end up on the bike all the time and I'd chew up several sets of tubular tires in a season. That's not so practical for me. Zipps.

Reynolds Assault carbon clinchers rose to the top of my list after some research. They're all carbon and spec'ed at 1525 grams and are reputed to be very strong. The front wheel has 20 spokes, a reasonable number for a heavy rider like me. I should be able to ride with those as my everyday wheel for training, and also race with them.

I think I'll also add a TT bike to the stable sometime soon. The main event on my calendar this year is the Tour of the Valley and riding the prologue Merckx style just doesn't cut it. Also, I'll make the trip out to Presque Isle this year for the TTs.

I've been looking at power meter options for a while. My only real complaint with the iBike is that it flakes out in the cold (under 40 degree) weather. It relies on tiny single use batteries, and the cold weather adversely affects their chemistry. Some people hacked a solution. On some rides the cold weather fail irritates me enough to want to get something new, but once it warms up, I won't care, so I'm going to stick with the iBike.

southern geauga ride

Hopefully I've closed the book on the skiing season. I skied about 25 times, a total of about 38 hours, and something around 150 miles. This year, my ski season started roughly the same time as last year, but lasted about 1 extra month. Last year, I was done in early February. This year, I packed the skis away just a couple of days ago.

I got out on the road yesterday for my first relatively long ride. I rode tempo down Auburn Road to Winchell and threw in hard efforts up most of the little bumps along the flat route. The weather was sunny and windy. The road wasn't too dirty. I only got blasted with road grime a couple of times by passing trucks.

The signs of spring were definitely there. The snowpack was melting fast around the LaDue reservoir, so the ice was already breaking up. Lots of birds were out. But, of course, the snow is still hanging on. I was feeling pretty cold by the end of the ride and my face got irritated by the cold wind.

i should be faster

Every once in a while, when I'm riding or, in this case, skiing, a clear thought will pop into my head from out of the haze of effort.

I realized yesterday, when I'm skiing around at Chapin, or at Girdled Road, I'm continually trying to go faster. For example, I'll vary my stride so I have a longer glide, or I'll shift my torso around so the poles are hitting the ground at a different angle. I do the same thing when I'm riding a time trial. I'll try alternating the effort from left to right leg, keeping my back flat, etc... During a crit, I'll try to find a slightly better line through a turn.

The persistent idea is I should be faster. It's probably an idea that every cyclist, runner, or skier has. That idea probably applies to several different endeavors. Someone might seek wisdom, for example, someone else might try to improve their craft. It's probably been there since the first person was unhappy with the performance of their wooden spear and made a stone point for it.

I guess that an idea can also become a delusion--the delusion is that someday by the force of will, or that the sum total of all my work will suddenly pay off and I'll be way faster than I am today--that there's an endpoint. I'd call this the apotheosis delusion--that there are no limits. In reality, the limits are pretty stark. I can just get a little faster every season for a while.

getting organized

next stop eBay

I've been doing home improvement projects for the past few months. I'm wrapping up the most recent phase and have been trying to get the house organized again after shuffling everything around from room to room.

I did the big purge of junk I've accumulated over the years during the summer and fall. Now I'm down to things that are borderline useful and valuable. I've got a good name for this stuff: pre-junk. I think that's the stuff that plagues most people's households. It's stuff you think could be valuable, but really, for all practical purposes, isn't. (unless you sell lots of stuff on eBay)

Everyone draws this line in a different place. Sporting goods, bike stuff especially, and electronics tend to pile up in this category. Since I've worked in high tech companies for several years, I've trained myself not to have illusions about electronic junk. Once I stop using it: goodbye. It's time to recycle it, or trash it. I've worked at companies that filled store rooms and offices with old PCs and monitors like some crazy person on Hoarders. Unless you're a professional recycler, for most people an old PC or cell phone is worth less than $0.

I haven't gotten that ruthless about bike stuff. I tend to think I'll sell it on eBay, or give it to someone, or build up a bike for a friend or relative. But I don't. So I have a bunch of old crap wheels and components and even frames. Frames and wheels occupy lots of space!

The problem with pre-junk is that it camouflages things that are actually useful and valuable--so it actually costs something to store it. I re-learned that lesson again last night when I was organizing my bike stuff storage closet.

I sorted everything and boxed it up in clear containers. In the process, I discovered things I didn't know I had. I thought I had maybe 4 spare innertubes. Turns out I have about 20 of all different kinds. I thought I had a handful of old tires (for emergency replacements) when I actually have a whole pile of them. I thought my only 120 mm stem was on my cyclocross bike. Actually, I have one on the cross bike and two spares. Did I order those in my sleep?

ice dancing

Ice Dancing Improved

flu

I've gone a couple years without getting the flu, but not this year. It caught up with me on Thursday night. I felt crummy on Friday, and spent the day stuck to the couch watching the Olympics. I even watched women's curling. I've got a pretty good crush on the Russian women's curling team's Liudmila Privivkova.

By Saturday, I wasn't sure if I was sore from the virus or from sitting on the couch, so I got out for a 30 minute ride. I actually felt pretty good riding out Bass Lake Road until I stopped at 322. Then I felt horrible, so I turned around and crawled back home. I tried again today and felt pretty good the whole time. I probably could have done an actual training ride, but played it safe and just did an easy hour.

Riding after the flu reminded me of how out of shape I was just a few years ago. I started riding and working out again in about 2003 after a few years break from doing any sports. I remember one of those first rides out Bass Lake Road. The little hill by Sherman Road felt like a mountain. Today, even with the flu, I motored up there with no problem.

Hopefully I'll stay healthy for the rest of the winter. It's time to start riding a lot more. The skis are going into storage.

megabonk

I've been skiing a lot lately. I'm also eating a lot to keep up with the energy demands, but since I'm trying to drop some weight, I'm not stuffing my face at every available opportunity. Apparently that's what I need to do!

I went skiing today at Girdled Road Reservation. I felt pretty good for the first few minutes, but then the engine sputtered and ran out of gas in the creek valley.

Bonking on the bike is pretty bad, but when it happens, you can muddle along at 12-13 mph until you get to a source of calories. On skate skis, it sucks. Walking pace on the skate skis is like a 20 mph effort on the bike. Uphill walking pace on the skis is more like a 80% time trial effort.

The 15 minute uphill trip back to the car felt like 2 hours and I stopped at least five times. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of m&m's and gatorade in the car. I went directly to the grocery store from the park. Every item with sugar or starch in it was screaming out to me from the shelves, and I could barely wait to make some pancakes for dinner.