Category: Bike

Singletrack mind

There’s a rule of thumb around here that I picked up in the MTBR forums – don’t go ride singletrack if you wouldn’t ride in your own yard. Saturday and Sunday – absolutely no chance that I’d ride in my yard. This afternoon – four warm days; there’s been a decent amount of melt and runoff, so I figured it was marginal to ride. Given that there was a new bike to be ridden, the balance was tilted in favor of riding.

So, after work, I made it over to Arcadia, 14,000 acres (or about 75% of Rhode Island’s land area), for a little bit of off-roading. I stuck to the ridgelines, and the riding was wonderful. The sandy areas were extremely loose, but the new bike is sporting 2.1″ tires, which seem to float. I used to be a big believer in skinnier tires for off-road, but today’s ride seem to refute that.

Mostly I stuck to two-track – new bike, new disc brakes, and a long time since I’ve ridden off-road, but the couple of sections of real singletrack I tackled were wonderful – classic New England – babies heads, roots, fallen branches, and tunnels through rhodendron. There was still ice in some of the low points, and I wiped out a couple of times, bike sliding sideways from under me, damp leaves crunching under my shoulder. Nothing finer.

Tomorrow’s back to running – 3 miles easy.

Postscript: New England will get its pound of flesh for a wonderful late winter ride – my front tire was completely flat by the time I got home, courtesy of a thorn.

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Wow

Thursday, I got running again – outside, in real weather (mid 30’s and it felt warm). Towards the end of the run, though, I was winded something fierce.

If I’d done my usual and really pushed, I might have been concerned, but it was 2 miles at an 8:45 pace – shorter and slower than the 4 at 8:20 I’d been averaging before taking February off to deal with PF.

Note to the wise – rest appears to work with PF – now we’ll see if building slowly works to prevent it in the future. Oh, that and staying off of f’n treadmills.

Friday morning, I woke up feeling fine, except for some real soreness in my thighs. Figured it was only small tissue damage from running on real ground, testing the fine motor-control muscles that I haven’t exercised since December, as every step I took on a treadmill was exactly the same as the one before and after.

Boy, was I wrong.

About halfway into a conference call Friday morning, I started getting chilly. The lab runs cold sometimes, so I pulled on my jacket.

Then, the cold sweats and shakes started, and I knew I was screwed.

Made it through the call, and put out a fire (Oh, boy was it a fire – I will discuss over soda/beer if given the chance), and headed home to crawl into bed.

The drive sucked – the heated seats were cranked up to full the whole time, and the heat was on to the point it started to dry out my mouth. I stopped for one nap. Got home around 2 and crawled into bed.

Slept/shivered/sweated for 16 hours straight, getting up to pee and drink more water.

This morning, I felt nearly human again, enough to go drill. Drill was fine – starting a new job there that looks like I’ll fit perfectly. Made it home, and Jake, my oldest boy, says “Hey, daddy. Why don’t we go ride bikes?”

Hmmm, sunny, 50 degrees, I’m no longer feeling near death? Sure, I can keep up with a 6 year old on a singlespeed bike with 12″ wheels.

The ride was all that and a bag of chips. I rode my wife’s bike with the jumpseat for the little brother on the back. We tooled around the neighborhood, and even went a little bit on the farm road outside the ‘hood. Jake only walked one or two hills, and that’s more because his coat catching on his seat stopped him from standing up in the pedals.

Absolutely wonderful – there’s nothing more I can ask for than a boy who wants to ride with me. Now, to keep that enthusiasm alive.

And there’s plans laid – his birthday is at the end of the month, and there’s a bike on hold for him at Mystic Cycle Center.

Oh, and I’ve picked up a new mountain bike. I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, ’cause technically, it’s a department store bike, but I got a Forge Sawback 5XX from Target. Why did I go with the department store bike?

Mainly ’cause it’s got a complete Shimano Deore gruppo, disc brakes, and it’s less than $300. The exact same parts layout (likely with a lesser fork) would be $600 anywhere else. If the frame is a total wash, I can hang the parts on another frame, and come out ahead.

I don’t know that I’d recommend the Forge to someone who wasn’t already a decent wrench, though. The one that was shipped to me was pretty well built, with the following exceptions:
– Front disc rotor and calipers weren’t installed
– Bottom bracket was installed by f’n Godzilla
– Front derailleur needed adjustment.

The brake – not a huge deal. Discs rock – so much easier to adjust and install than anything else I’ve ever wrenched on. The front derailleur – again, not a big deal as they included documentation on EVERYTHING that came with the bike.

The bottom bracket, though? I’m a bit miffed about that one, as I had an LX BB and crankset that I was going to slap on the bike. I pulled the stock crankset (Truvativ, not a complete piece of crap, but slightly heavier than the LX), but could not, for the love of Pete, get the bottom bracket shell to move. AND I even read Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance before starting, so I remembered that the right side shell was left-hand threaded, so it’s leftie-tightie; righty-loosey.

I haven’t been riding other than down the street Thursday night after putting it together, but the bike seems to rock. It’s lighter than my 15 year old steel hardtail/hard fork bike, though not quite as sexy, and goes forward when I pedal.

The top tube seems a little shorter than I’m used to, but I’ve got about an inch I can move the seat back, so that’ll help. And, it might just be that I’ve been riding road bikes for the better part of the last decade, so I’m not used to the proper geometry. I do think that my original MTB was a skosh too big for me, too.

Other than that, it’s been a while since I’ve really ridden a MTB, so we’ll see how it goes.

So that’s it – sickness, love, and new wheels. Got to love spring. Really love the boys.

More thoughts on Doping and Jan

So, Neca got me thinking with this comment:

I don’t think the Tour will ever be quite the same for me. Not just because of his retirement (which saddens me), but all these rumors and accusations have gone a long way to ruining the sport for me.

Yep – the first week of August 2006 kind of soured me, too.

In a way, it would have been much easier to take if Landis were definitively positive, and if Puerto had conclusively taken down Basso, Ullrich, etc. The sport would have shown effective policing, and we could have moved on from the “Era of Doping”.

Instead, there’s serious questions about Landis’ test (which, coincidentally is the same lab that hung Hamilton out to dry, leading folks to wonder if maybe the Man from Marblehead was screwed, too), nothing substantial from the Spaniards, and a sense that the UCI and WADA are out of control, trying to get the peleton to look like they want it to. Woe be unto Levi Leipheimer if things continue as they are.

The amount of good will towards pro cycling that’s been burned with the fiascos of the last two years is incalculable. If the regulators had been able to control leaks, provide airtight cases against dopers (or at least plausible), and acted swiftly rather than dragging procedures on and on and on, there wouldn’t be much sympathy for the accused.

Instead, it’s March, and Landis won’t have a hearing in front of the USADA until mid-May, more than 9 months after his alleged positive test. For a career that might last all of 10 years, that’s an eternity.

Is doping an offense against sport? Most assuredly.

But a larger offense is when the folks who are supposed to be leveling the playing field use the rules to arbitrarily knock out competitors they don’t like.

So my question here

Saturday’s Dilbert looked like this:

My punchline would have been “From the French Butcher”. Scott Adams has done French jokes in the past, and I’m dying to know if he wanted to do one here.

In other news, I got on the bike yesterday afternoon, and it was good. Rode over to Pequot woods and did the mile or so singletrack loop in the slush, then rode home. Probably less than 10 miles total, but it was outside, and it was on the bike.

The legs are feeling pretty good – Friday, I couldn’t hold myself back from jogging between buildings at work – running feels SOOOOO good, but I’m still a bit worried about pushing myself back into injury. Here’s hoping someone keeps reminding me to stretch.

My lovely wife (who gets lovelier every day) finally shared her calesthenics routine with me this weekend. She does:

– 40 regular crunches (hands behind the head, arms parallel to the floor, work the muscle directly below your rib cage)
– 20 obliques on each side (Like regular crunches, except lift only one side off of the floor – the other elbow should stay down)
– 40 scissors crunches (alternate elbows and knees)
– 40 pelvis tilts (on the back, legs straight up, work the ab directly above the pelvis)
– Dumbell lifts straight out to the side (like you’re a bird with flapping wings)
– Dumbell lifts straight out front
– Dumbell arm extensions (Lean over the bench with your torso parallel to the floor.One knee and one hand on the bench. On the other side, extend your arm behind you from the elbow until it’s parallel to the floor, then bring the weight back to a 90 degree elbow bend)
– Dumbell lawn-mower pulls (Same position as above, except you’re taking your arm from straight down to a 90 degree bend
– Dumbell curls

I’m going to start doing it on Monday, along with trying for 10 miles next week, mostly outdoors.

One More Week/Lent

So, the legs are feeling much, much better after a week with a total of 2 miles run.

My natural inclination, of course, is to strap on the sneakers and resume 20 miles/week, ’cause I’m dumb that way.

The weather is conspiring against me, too, with today through Thursday expected to be in the mid-40’s F (high-single digits Metric) after a long, long time of cold weather. Man, it’s nice out.

Instead – I’m holding firm and I’ve decided to give myself another  week of rest. This morning, woke up, forgot to stretch while getting out of bed, and was doing the morning business before I realized that I’d gotten up without discomfort. Again, this would be an indication that I should go do something dumb, like 10 miles on Jamestown on the ride home, but I’m fighting them urges.

Another week of rest…

Which translates to time on the stationary bike in the Gym, resuming Pilates (I hope), and hopefully getting in the pool for the first time in 2007.

Went to the church’s weekly men’s prayer breakfast this morning – good times spiritually, and also cycling-ly. Lots of bikers at St Andrew. So, keeping the running in check may not be as detrimental to overall fitness as I fear. Hopefully I can turn it into a weekly ride…

Lent: Jon’s  got me thinking again, and reviewing my past entries show that giving up fast-food for Lent is extremely effective from a weight loss perspective, and pretty effective from a deprivation perspective (I love me some Taco Bell). It’ll also make good with my lovely wife, who is continually urging me to “Take my darn lunch” on a budgetary basis.

So, fast food it is.

I’m going to make a couple of other ground-rules:

1) Fast food is defined as “crappy fast food”. Exceptions will be given, on a rare basis for:

  • Subway, provided it’s 6″, whole wheat, no cheese, no random pressed meats (salami, bologna, pepperoni)
  • Wendy’s salads, provided I get non-breaded chicken and don’t eat the tasty sprinkles

2) Included in fast food are things like:

  • Grinders, especially those from Jim’s Deli, which are the culinary equivalent of high-grade heroin – a thrill to eat, but so, so bad…
  • Any form of greasy burger from a chain resturant or “pub”.
  • Hot Wings
  • And the killer – the weekly dose of Domino’s. I will make a tasty spinach salad to accompany our weekly date with Tom Bergeron and AFV.

I think I’m pretty serious about this: I’ve been stalled, weight and fitness, since the last time I really dug down and reformed my eating habits. Plus, it’s all in support of a culture I’m viewing as increasingly toxic, not necessarily nutritionally, but socially, and I want to work on setting a better example for the boys.

So, why aren’t you reading Fat Cyclist’s Blog?

There’s no crazier mix of emotions than when you feel you just evaded death. You’re sitting there on the ground, alive. You should be dead, but you’re alive. So you’re elated and relieved. And then you realize that you should be dead or maimed, and you get freaked out and scared. If someone else was to blame, the rage and indignation kick in. If it was your own fault, the shame and humiliation have their say. And this whole emotional cocktail is amped up by more adrenaline than you usually have running through your veins in a month. No wonder you get the shakes and nausea.

Fat Cyclist » Blog Archive » How to Behave When You Know You’re Going to Die

Makes me want to jump on the bike and do something dumb.

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IN actual positive stuff about training and fitness

The guys from PezCycling News sum up FAQs for being one’s own coach.:

For those of you who have been following this “Be Your Own Coach” series for the last few months, there is still a lot we need to talk about concerning writing your own training schedule and designing your training year to fit your goals and your abilities. But with the racing season winding down in most parts of the country, and riders thinking about taking a break from the bike rather than designing a training schedule, I thought I’d skip ahead to what was originally intended to be the last part of the series. What follows below are some of the most commonly asked questions I’ve gotten over the last 6 years as a full time cycling coach.

How many times to I have to insist that you bookmark their site, or subscribe to their RSS feed?