Bicycle :: Road
August 16, 2008 / Saturday
Mmm, Tasty Ride
After my 17 mile road ride a couple weeks ago, I said I'd go for 34 the next time around. 34 miles happens to be the approximate distance of the Portola loop from home, so Portola loop it was.
A couple miles into the ride, I realized that I'd forgotten to take my pre-ride Aleve. This was bad news, as my knees are wholly unable to go any decent distance without the aid of an anti-inflammatory. Aaron was smart enough to look for Aleve at shops along our route, and picked some up for me at the Walgreens in Los Altos. It got me through about 30 miles of the ride; my knees started aching a bit after that, but fortunately the pain subsided a few hours afterward.
We continued up Foothill, up Sand Hill, and then onto Portola. Even though I was eating, I seemed to be having trouble getting enough calories in me. But then, hallelujah, we came across a lemonade stand along the road. When we stopped, the girls at the stand sheepishly told us they were out of cups. Oh, but we had water bottles! They filled one of my bottles and one of Aaron's. "How much?" we asked, and after some confused discussion, they decided that two water bottles of lemonade was worth two dollars. Aaron handed them a five and told them to keep the change. They were surprised, and happy. So was I. Lemonade! Calories! Hoorays! Plus, kids and lemonade stands, super cute.
The lemonade energized me, and when we reached Alpine, I decided I wanted to ride up to the end where it turns into a dirt trail. I love that stretch of Alpine. Smooth pavement, few cars, a beautiful creek surrounded by trees for most of the way, plus a few extra miles and some climbing.
I'd noticed that the ice cream place at the Rancho Shopping Center had switched from a Dreyer's to Lappert's, so we stopped on the way back for some ice cream. I ended up with a super flavorful coconut sorbet. Sorbet! I never eat sorbet, but I guess coconut is different because it's fatty and creamy on its own. Good stuff.
When we got home, I managed to lock my keys (including both my copies of the garage key) in the garage. I ended up borrowing a ladder from my neighbor, climbing up to the balcony, and entering my apartment through the sliding door, which I had left open. Thank goodness! After some searching, my neighbor found her copy of my garage key (she's also something of an apartment manager), and I was reunited with my keys. Phew!
Total distance pedaled: ~43 miles. I can't download data from my Polar wrist unit until I get an IR adapter for my laptop, so no detailed data until then.
[ Update: I forgot to mention that we saw an Ariel Atom zoom by around a curve on Sand Hill near the Portola junction. Sweet! The driver had a full face helmet on. I wanted to offer to trade him my bike for his car, but he was gone before I could say anything. ]
August 02, 2008 / Saturday
Yay, Bike!
To be clear, that's, "Yay, Human Powered Road Bike!"
Went for a super easy ride today to Rick's Ice Cream and back. I was feeling mighty sore from the gym yesterday, but ice cream on a hot day is a wonderful motivator. I'd planned a slow ride, and thanks to an uncomfortably tight hamstring, rode an even slower one. Still, slow exercise is better than no exercise.
Popped an Aleve before the ride and made it home just as my left knee started to complain. The rest of me still felt pretty good, though. Logged just over 17 miles. If workout ramp-up goes well, I'll go for double that next time.
Wow, this was my longest ride since May. I haven't been riding nearly as much as I'd like this summer. Wasting two hours a day driving to and from San Ramon kills weekday riding, and training for Whitney killed a lot of weekends.
Or maybe those are just excuses, and I just need to be less lazy. Get on it, me.
May 25, 2008 / Sunday
The Insanity Is Now Complete
Yup, I did it. I can now check Mt. Hamilton off my list of things to ride this year. It took me forever to make it up that hill, but I did, and even had enough left for a victory lap around the observatory. Huzzah!
I decided last night that I was going to go for it today. Mostly, it was because I wanted to make some progress on the list. March was the half-century, April the metric century, and May? I didn't have anything to show for May yet. How about Hamilton, me? Hamilton sounds good, me. Tired hiking legs be damned!
Believe you me, my legs were not happy about the climb. They were tired, tired, tired. But whatever, I rode slowly and pushed on. I made sure to bring plenty of food this time, and ate almost all of it: 3 GUs, 3 mini Luna bars, and 2 bottles of diluted Gatorade. I kept track of the time and made myself eat every 20-30 minutes, whether I was hungry or not. That seemed to work pretty well; despite some painfully tired quads late in the climb, my body felt just fine.
Mt. Hamilton is such a long climb. I had a lot of time to play the same song over and over in my head (I don't really have a choice in the matter; it just happens) and think, "This hurts. Why am I doing this?" To prove that I can, of course. I don't just want to think I can, I want to know it. And now I do.
My quads really did hurt after I passed Grant Ranch, but fortunately I found that I could offload some of the work onto the glutes by changing my pedaling technique. A few miles into the hurt, I rounded a corner and caught my first glimpse of the observatory. I knew there was still a hefty amount of road ahead of me, but that sight just put a huge smile on my face. I'd come far enough to see my goal, and I wasn't going to turn back for anything. I was gonna make it! Yeah! *grin*
Finally, I made it, and I realized I should have brought myself a special snack as a mountaintop reward. Next time, I'll remember to.
The initial descent was cold, as expected, but I was pretty well prepared for it. I zipped on down to Alum Rock Road, where Aaron was waiting for me with a fizzy grapefruit soda and other tasty treats. I completed my celebration of the ride with a Krispy Kreme and some Ovaltine. Oh yeah, that's good stuff.
• • •
Almost forgot: 36.8 total miles and 4800 feet of climbing. Gotta make sure I get the 4800 feet on here; it's a new record for me! :-D
May 11, 2008 / Sunday
Hungry Half-Century
Can you say BONK? How about Major BONK? I set out to ride my usual easy ~35 mile Portola Loop and wound up tacking on an extra 15 miles plus a climb up Alpine Road. The good news is I did this because my knees felt great. (The glute still hurts, but screw it, I'm sick of babying it.) Unfortunately, I needed more food than usual and was hungry the entire ride. Total food consumed: two GUs, one mini Luna bar, and a soy latte from Peet's. The latte was too little, too late. The last 10 miles were torture, but I made myself ride them because I wanted the mileage. Final stats: 50 miles and 2041 feet of climbing. Alpine Road was super pretty. I feel like crap now, but it was totally worth it. ;)
Made myself a blackberry lassi when I got home. Now it's time for a hot shower. I'm so bonked I can't even keep myself warm. Brr...
• • •
Back from my shower. A couple other notes:
My HRM is working again. I did a final test to decide whether to send it in to Polar for repairs and it magically started behaving. Why am I not surprised?
I was so low on heat I lost circulation to my fingers. They were numb and white. I stood under the hot water and swung my arms until my fingers looked normal again, then did it twice more because they kept draining back to white. I think they're finally okay now. And to think last weekend I was having trouble with too much blood going to my fingers. Hello? Circulation control? Where'd you go?
April 26, 2008 / Saturday
Consolation Ride
I pulled my glute during last Friday's race, and it still hasn't healed. Sadly, this weekend is Coe Backcountry Weekend, when they open up a park entrance that gives easier access to parts of the (very large) park we can't normally reach without considerable effort. I'd been planning to ride there today; I had applied for and obtained a pass weeks ago. But with my leg still hurting and trails at the park described as "steep to very steep to ridiculously steep," I realized there was no way I could ride there without injuring myself further.
Not riding is sucky in itself, but this was extra sucky because they open the Backcountry entrance only one weekend a year, and Coe is on the list of parks slated for closure. (*shakes fist at Arnold*) Way to go, fragile me.
To ease the suckiness (and to not feel like a lazy lardball on such a beautiful day), I decided to go for an easy road ride. I chose a fairly flat route and headed out. I was originally going to ride 15-20 miles just to keep my knees loose, but I didn't want to get off the bike so I ended up riding 30. Boy, was it hard riding easy. I don't want to ride easy! I want to push and zoom and mash and go go go go go! There was a little pain in the injured glute here and there, but for the most part I think I managed to get some exercise without doing too much extra damage.
The knees were a little tight the first 5 miles, but I didn't notice them at all for the rest of the ride. Once I heal up I'll start pushing for more distance again. I really want to do a century this season.
I remember when 30 miles used to be hard. I'm glad it's not anymore.
04:35 PM | Injuries:Road| Comments (0)
April 05, 2008 / Saturday
Cinderella Classic
After finally completing a half century last month, I turned my road bike attention to the next item on my list: a metric century (~62.1 miles for you imperialists). I'd originally planned to tackle this after the mountain bike race, but then last week at evals I was chatting with Lindsay and she mentioned that she was doing this ride. "You should come," she said, "it's fun." I figured since I wanted to do a metric century next anyhow, this women-only, tiaras-encouraged ride would be a fun choice. The ride was sold out, but Craigslist came through with a ticket as usual and I joined Lindsay and her roommate bright and early (7 AM, oof!) to head over to the Alameda County Fairgrounds.
I'd expected to complete the ride in just over four hours, but it ended up taking just over five. There were riders everywhere, and a lot of them were slow; it wasn't until the second half of the ride that we got clear of the crowds to ride at a decent pace.
They fed us well, we had random adoring fans along side of the road, and some guy handed out lemon drops at the top of one of the hills. Just before that hill, a speedy little chick with huge calves blew by me. I rode my ass off and caught her just after the lemon drop man. I turned around and saw that Lindsay had kept up with me the whole way, and she apparently didn't find it very difficult, because soon after that she took off and I didn't see her again until the next rest station. The only surprising thing about that was she didn't do it sooner.
As with the Solvang ride, my left knee started aching around mile 40. I popped a couple Aleve when we reached the rest stop around mile 42, but they didn't help much. Whatever. Screw knee pain. Onward! When we reached mile 50, I grinned a big huge grin; this was now my longest ride ever.
The last 10 miles wound us through the area near where I work. It was neat to see it from a bicycle.
Finally, we got back to the fairgrounds and rolled into the start area. 64.7 miles according to the course map; 63.1 miles according to my slightly inaccurate bike odometer. Either way you slice it, a metric century. Huzzah!
March 25, 2008 / Tuesday
More More More
Went for a ride up Piedmont with Lucinda on Sunday. I remember when I first did this ride back in July 2006 I was exhausted after I got back. This time, armed with a road bike and many more miles behind me, I returned feeling... warmed up. I'm itching to knock that metric century off my list. Then I can work on an imperial one. :)
But first, I need more dirt! It's been hard to find time to train on the mountain bike. Too much going on during the week. And what's this? There's rain on the way? Boos.
12:23 AM | Mountain:Road| Comments (0)
March 10, 2008 / Monday
Solvang Half Century & Central Coast Trip
Lots to write about from this weekend: sunset creaminess, Hearst Castle amazingness, central coast prettiness, Solvang kitschiness, and my first half century ride. In reverse order. And now, below, in chronological order.
Friday afternoon, we set out to sit in 101 traffic. Getting out of the Bay Area on a Friday sucks! Things cleared up once we got past San Jose, and we cruised on toward Solvang. I realized partway there that we'd be passing by Pea Soup Anderson's. I've been wanting to go to this place for years, mainly because they stick billboards all over I-5 without actually being on the 5. Makes no sense! In any case, they're right at the Solvang exit of 101, so I finally got to eat there. I expected kitsch, and I got it. Oh, and I don't like pea soup.
Onward to Solvang, where we had a reservation at the Viking Motel, run by a Chinese lady who didn't recognize my Viking hat (Aaron made me check in with it on) and charged us a bazillion dollars (event weekend rates, sigh) for what looked to be a sparsely furnished converted studio apartment. I've never been to a more bare bones hotel/motel/shack. And for $189 a night (plus tax), ouch!
Still, it was nice to have a place in town, as we got up the next morning and rode a few blocks to the ride start on our bikes. The ride was really nice; the weather was beautiful and it felt great to be out there. I was a little surprised by the ride demographic; I had expected stronger riders out there, but I found myself passing people left and right. Not that I didn't get passed too, but only by a handful of riders. One of those happened to be a girl, and despite my efforts to keep up with her on a long uphill, she pulled away as we reached the steeper section near the top. Darnit! I hate when someone my size beats me!
Being outridden by another girl aside, I have lots to be pleased about. This was my longest road ride to date, and I finished it with relatively little knee trouble. I felt a bit of an ache around 40 miles in, lasted another not-too-uncomfortable 5 miles, and popped a couple Aleve at 45 miles. I didn't *need* the anti-inflammatories/painkillers right then, but I didn't want to need them when it was too late. Ride stats: 50 miles and 1850 feet of climbing in 3 hours 19 minutes.
We went straight from ride finish to an ice cream shop. A few more blocks and we were back at the Viking Motel, where we staged a Viking hat photo shoot, cleaned up, and headed out to eat our way through town. It felt like a slightly less upscale version of Carmel with a cheesy fake Danish twist. Not cheesy: the tasty aebleskivers from the walk-up window at Solvang Restaurant. Can I have seconds?
Sunday, more Danish pastries (Danish danishes, yum!), then off to explore the Central Coast. Pismo felt like a less grand version of a SoCal surfer town. SLO had awesome gigantic rock formations along Highway 1. Morro Bay had a slightly less awesome but cool because it stuck out of the water rock. We continued on up to San Simeon to visit Hearst Castle, stopping along the way to check out random interesting stretches of shoreline.
I'd expected Hearst Castle to be grand (it's a castle, after all), but wow, this place is beyond grand. I had imagined a castle by the water, not a castle at the top of a set of giant green hills with zebras on its front lawn. We did Tour 2. I want to go back and do the rest.
I know I said I was going in chronological order, but now I have to back up two or three hours. We arrived at Hearst Castle just after 1:30, bought tickets for the 3:00 tour, looked at our phones, and realized the tour was starting in 20 minutes. As it turns out, we had forgotten to Spring Forward and had spent the entire day in my time machine car with the manually set clocks. Just like that, an entire hour of our day disappeared. Poof.
After Hearst Castle, we headed up Highway 1 toward home, stopping for elephant seals (video) and some nice sunset photos along the way. We made it home around 9 PM, totally beat despite the fact that it was really only 8 on our internal clocks. It's okay, I have five days to rest up for next weekend. :)
Full set of pictures here.
• • •
A decent enough action shot to share here, but unfortunately not to buy in hi-res:
Yes, I was totally posing for the cameras.
06:22 PM | Road:Trips| Comments (1)
February 29, 2008 / Friday
Iron Horse Trail
There's a big long paved trail that runs right by my office. Currently (it will grow in the future), the trail stretches from Dublin/Pleasanton BART all the way up to Concord. After talking about wanting to ride it for months, I finally brought my bike in today to do it. I rode from San Ramon all the way up to Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek (almost; I turned around at the high school), then back. Total distance: 21.4 miles.
I haven't taken any anti-inflammatory medication in about a week, and I didn't remember to take any before my ride. My left knee started hurting around mile 10 (always at the halfway point, hrmph!), but I pushed through and it actually stopped hurting a few miles later. Um, okay.
One of these days, I'm gonna ride the whole thing. Just so I can say I did.
February 12, 2008 / Tuesday
Ramping Back Up
I wanted to go for 50 miles today, but my legs were tired so I settled for just over 35. Ooh ooh, some excellent news: the knees felt great! No pain, no stiffness. WahoO!
Other good news: I upped the average speed by half a MPH and kept my average heart rate about the same. This, over a distance almost twice as long as last time, with over four times as much elevation change. (The last ride was relatively flat; so don't get too excited about the elevation.) Goodie.
I got my first front tire flat today. I was riding along, la la, and all of a sudden, pssshhhhht, rumble rumble rumble. I searched and searched for a foreign object/hole. Nothing. Finally, I found a split in the area where the tube wraps around the stem. Goodbye, year old tube. I'm surprised it lasted that long.
On the way back, I got passed by what looked like a really buff and speedy girl. I caught up with her at the next stoplight and realized it was actually a really fit and svelte guy. I guess he shaves his legs.
February 09, 2008 / Saturday
I'm Training For Something!
Well, sort of. I just like being able to say that. :)
Aaron and I signed up for the Solvang Half-Century next month, so I'm trying to get and keep my knees in bike shape for the ride. I'm thinking a good spin every two or three days should do the trick. This is also good because I went on a huge baking spree after Vegas and have since gained back the pounds I lost from my nine games in ten days at the end of January. Easy come, easy go; I figure all this upcoming riding means I can continue my baking spree.
Today, I went for an easy ride out to Sunnyvale Baylands County Park. 18.1 miles from home along the old work route, onto the San Tomas Aquino/Saratoga Creek Trail, down a little stretch of pavement to the park, and back. Aaron rode with me on the way out; it's part of his route home from my place.
Lots of Good Things to report on:
Good Thing 1: It was beautiful out! I got to wear my bike shorts (as opposed to bike tights) for the first time in months.
Good Thing 2: My knees didn't hurt at all the entire ride.
Good Thing 3: My HRM is finally working properly. I think I just needed to wear it more tightly. It seems a little counter-productive to do so; I feel that the tighter I wear it, the more it restricts chest expansion, and thus, breathing, which is kind of important for activity, no?
Good Thing 4: I raised my average speed by 1 MPH and dropped my average heart rate by 9 BPM from Thursday's ride.
Good Thing 5: Outdoor exercise is always a good thing.
Now, time to rest up for tonight's game.
February 07, 2008 / Thursday
Trails Are Nice On Weekday Afternoons
Haven't ridden in almost a month. Been a big lardball aside from hockey these last few weeks. Working from home hasn't helped because I wake up and sit all day at the laptop. Decided I'd done enough work this week to warrant a couple hours in the sun, so I went for a bicycle ride. Home to Stevens Creek Trail around Shoreline and back. Faced a decent headwind on the way out and saw a lot of things I wanted to take pictures of. Didn't bring my camera. Boo. Had my tunes, though. Hooray. Rode a total of 22 miles. Knees ached toward the end, but I can walk without pain. Probably has something to do with the Aleve I took before I left, which I took for my wrist, not my knees, but I'm okay with it working for my knees too. I need to ride more; the first few miles were painful. Must have been all that lard in my arteries.
Okay, not lard. Butter. I've been doing a lot of baking.
January 12, 2008 / Saturday
Spin Spin Spin
34.8 miles today and no knee pain! I made myself go to spin class twice last week to keep my knees in cycling shape, and it paid off. I'd hoped to go for 50 miles today, but I chose sleep over mileage and rolled out of bed at noon. Yawwwn...
Before the ride, we feasted on pancakes. By feasted, I mean, ate way too many. I had pancakes up to my throat the first hour of the ride. Ugh.
Other riders of note:
1. The guy I blew snot on. If you happen to read this, I didn't know you were there, and I'm sorry. That said, please let me know you're about to pass me the next time you decide to pass me. I promise not to blow snot on you if I know you're there.
No, I don't carry Kleenex. I used to, but now that I'm going for longer rides I need to carry food and pocket space is limited. Besides, snot rockets are better for the environment.
2. The guy who pulled behind me at the stoplight as it turned green, then didn't go even though I pulled away slowly to let him pass. Moments later, three other riders passed him, yelling, "Loser! LOSER!!!" Eventually, he picked up the pace to rejoin his group and sheepishly explained as he passed by that he'd blown through a stoplight farther up the hill.
3. The guy with the Santa Claus bike socks. Not really noting the guy; just wanted to note his socks.
4. The guy on Foothill on our way home who tried to teach me to draft behind Aaron. Getting within a foot of his rear wheel really does make a noticeable difference in the amount of pedaling effort required. While I did get more comfortable with riding that close, I'm still uncomfortable with how little time I have to react if something goes wrong. Plus, drafting feels a little bit like cheating to me. I know it's part of the sport, but I'm not competing; I'm just out there for a workout. On the other hand, I'd like to be able to draft safely if I need to, and the only way I'll learn how is to spend more time doing it. Huh.
That is all. I'm totally stoked that my knees don't hurt. Now I just have to find time to keep riding. I have 10 hockey practices and games through the end of the month. Oof!
December 31, 2007 / Monday
Pedaling The Holidays Away
Went for my first road ride since Thanksgiving day, and boy did I need it! Thanks to a birthday double cold and way too much holiday food, I've become a winter fatty. How do I know? My pants feel tight. My shoes do too. Oof.
We made an adjustment to my bike after that last ride. Namely, we flipped the stem over, which dropped the handlebars a good couple (or more) inches. Feels great, despite the fact that the front wheel now points slightly right. Woops. I'll have to remember to fix that.
The first 30 minutes sucked. I wasn't even going that fast on flat ground and my heart rate was somewhere in the mid 180's. I attribute that to clogged arteries. Eventually, my arteries cleared (or maybe I warmed up), dropped the heart rate, and picked up the speed. Then, as neared the turnaround point (a.k.a. the farthest distance from home) and my knees started aching.
Curse you, achy knees! Lame. Totally lame! Even lamer, I'm already on an 800 mg/day regimen of naproxen for my achy wrists. This shouldn't have hurt! Bah!
Still, I managed to make it home. 32.1 miles. Not a bad return from the land of sickie lardballs.
November 22, 2007 / Thursday
Mt. Hamilton Cheat
Kicked off Thanksgiving with a ride to the top of Mt. Hamilton... sort of. We actually cheated our way up half the mountain by driving our bikes to Grant Ranch, where we parked and rode the rest of the way up. Why? Because the entire ride is a bit long for me, especially because I haven't been riding much these last few weeks. Yes, we cheated. No, I don't feel bad about it. At least not bad enough that I couldn't pose for the following VICTOLY!!1! photo:
My legs were still sore from running around playing Ultimate on Monday, but they didn't bug me much once I got warmed up. I felt a bit flustered because we were short on time and I didn't want to be late for Thanksgiving dinner, but I also didn't want to turn around before reaching the top. All that stopped mattering, however, once we got close enough for me to see the observatory within reach. I had to reach it; I just HAD to!
And reach it we did. We were a little late for dinner, but it all turned out okay. Final numbers: 21.4 miles up and back, with 2979 feet of climbing. That's the most I've ever climbed in a single ride. Imagine what kind of numbers I'll pull in when I ride this mountain without cheating. :)
November 03, 2007 / Saturday
Page Mill Is Pain
Well, the original plan was to ride 50 miles today. I moved other plans around so we could start early enough to ride those 50 miles before the sun disappeared, but we ended up starting an hour late. Phooey. I'd really been looking forward to finally completing a half century, so for most of the ride out on Foothill I rode like meh.
When we reached the Alpine intersection, Aaron asked which way to go. Originally, I'd planned to ride the Sand Hill/Portola/Alpine loop both ways, but without the lure of 50 miles, that same old loop had little appeal. We eventually decided to head up Page Mill instead. I figured if I couldn't go for distance, I could at least try a new route. We headed back down Foothill and hung a right on Page Mill.
I've long heard that Page Mill is "steep", but I didn't understand what that meant until today. Apparently, "steep" means PAIN. Page Mill, PAIN. This was the first hill with sections I've had to climb standing because of the steepness. I found myself thinking, "This hurts. Why am I doing it? I could turn around right now..." followed by, "You're not allowed to quit, so just suck it up and ride. Besides, it's good for you. Steep hills means better hockey!" This exchange repeated in my head until about five miles into the climb, when I decided it'd be stupid to waste all the work I'd put in thus far.
As if climbing a steep hill wasn't enough, the temperature dropped quickly as the sun started to go down. My arms developed goosebumps, my hands felt stiff, and I grew grumpy. I also started to worry about running out of light. When we finally made it to Skyline, I didn't even celebrate. I stopped to have a brief chat with Aaron and simply turned around to go home.
From that point on, the only thought in my head was, "I just want to get home." What would normally be a fast and fun downhill ride felt like hours of chilly air torture. Things were no better back on Foothill; riding fast meant more wind, and more wind meant more cold. I realized as we rolled into Los Altos that I couldn't make it back before it got completely dark. Aaron had brought a blinky light, so I turned off onto Main St. and waited while he continued on home to get the car.
I tooled around downtown Los Altos slowly on my bike to keep moving, but called it quits on the official ride when I pulled off Foothill. Final numbers: 36.8 miles with 2720 feet of climbing. Most of that climbing was done on an 8 mile stretch of Page Mill. Now that I'm home and fed and finally warm, I can look back at the ride and say, hey, not bad! And my knees don't hurt!
I called home while I waited for Aaron to come rescue me and got to talk to my dad. It was great to hear his voice, and our conversation really helped take the edge off my grumpiness. Hooray for dad. :)
Not sure if I'll be riding up Page Mill again anytime soon. Looks like it'd be fun on my motorcycle, though!
October 27, 2007 / Saturday
Happy Knees!
La la, rode 35.3 miles today and not a peep from either of my knees. They felt great, and even asked for 50 miles. Too bad my legs felt like ass. That probably had something to do with the dim sum I ate before the ride; it left my stomach feeling grumpy, and when the stomach is grumpy, the rest of the body usually follows. Nonetheless, we did consider going for the half century toward the end of the ride. Although I figured I could probably squeeze another 15 miles out of my legs, we didn't have enough sun left to cover that distance. Just as well; I'd eaten half an energy bar during the ride and my stomach wasn't liking it. We picked up some cheese at Andronico's and headed home.
Good news! I set a new weekly distance record: 72.4 miles. It was actually pretty easy, since I commuted by bike to and from Milpitas on Monday, which started my week off with 26 miles. Too bad I'm losing my bike commute starting next week; San Ramon is too far to ride. (At least for now...)
When I got home, I treated myself with some recovery Ovaltine. I picked some up today on a rare visit to 99 Ranch. The jar's got Chinese characters on it and everything. Awh wah teen, mmm goy!
06:27 PM | Drinks:Road| Comments (0)
October 06, 2007 / Saturday
Hill? What Hill?
Earlier today, Aaron dragged me away from my laptop and made me go for a bicycle ride. I didn't want to go because I was geeking out over what I hope will be the mother of all human-error-reducing stats calculation Excel workbooks (to tide me over until I build the mother of all dynamic stats reporting applications, which will take a while), but he insisted, cited the fact that I'd been a lardball all week (it's true; I haven't ridden in 9 days and have been dining on trayfuls of bread pudding), then insisted some more until I relented. Boy, am I glad he made me go!
At the beginning of the ride, however, I was not so glad. My left knee ached before we even left my driveway, most likely from disuse. Up until the halfway point, Aaron kept offering to turn around, but in typical (stupid) fashion I refused. I refuse to quit, dammit! Not unless I can't pedal anymore. We continued on down Foothill, up Sand Hill, and around on Portola and Alpine. Despite the knee discomfort, I had a much easier time with the hills than the last (also first and only) time I rode this loop. I did the entire ride with several gears to spare, and had a good amount of fun mashing up a bunch of the rolling hills. Hill? What hill? :-D
I must admit, I cheated a bit by drafting behind Aaron. I'd never done it for a significant stretch before today, and now, having done it, I must say, what a difference! At times I even gained on him by simply tucking and coasting, even though he was pedaling. Drafting, very knee friendly...
After about 20 miles, I either finally warmed up or got into a groove. I discovered that riding harder actually made my knees hurt less. How strange! This made for a strong ride home; Foothill and Fremont passed quickly, and I rolled onto my driveway feeling really damned good about finally finishing the route that I'd unsuccessfully attempted several times earlier this year.
I put my bike away and walked up the stairs to my door. No pain. No pain! WoohoO! Once inside, I popped some ibuprofen, stretched, and sat down to bloggedy blog and ice my knees.
I'm not sure what makes me happier: the fact that I finally finished the route, or that this marks the longest distance I've ever covered in a single ride. 34.9 miles, and less pain than after the 31.1 miles at TdP a couple months back.
Yesh.
September 27, 2007 / Thursday
Pie Powered Pedalling
Woke up, downed a slice of pumpkin pie and some milk, and rode 12.9 miles into work.
That number used to sound big for a commute, but now, not so much. Hrm. Cool?
September 17, 2007 / Monday
Back On The Bike
Not wanting a repeat of lardball week, I rode my bicycle to my doctor's appointment this morning, and then into work. I've missed pedal commuting! I rode slow; my legs are sore from skating yesterday, but I figured it'd be a good way to clear out the lactic acid. My pants feel a little tighter than usual; I'm thinking that's last week's ice cream. Chocolate Peanut Butter Haagen Dazs, Mango Haagen Dazs, Dublin Mudslide Ben & Jerry's, Coco-Mango extra thick Palo Alto Creamery shake, and many mini servings of Strawberry Cheesecake Dreyer's at work. Wait, no Mango Zambeedo? Oh yeah, I was out, but not to worry, I've restocked my freezer with two more pints of the stuff. That should last me until at least Wednesday...
Okay, how did my post about riding turn into a post about ice cream?
11:29 AM | Ice Cream:Road| Comments (0)
September 08, 2007 / Saturday
Insanity++
Went for another ride up Mt. Hamilton Road today. We started earlier this time, so we were able to ride farther and return to the car without any sort of daylight emergency.
Last time, we turned back before reaching Grant Ranch. This time, we reached the Grant Ranch main entrance and continued on to the Twin Gates entrance on the other side of the park. Peak, valley, higher peak. Satisfying.
In all, we rode 25.6 miles with 2779 feet of climbing. The knees felt great; this is the longest ride I've completed without pain. It's also the highest I've climbed in a single ride. And, finally, I set a new weekly mileage record today: 65 miles.
Someday, when my knees and I are stronger, I'll do 65 miles in one ride, and follow it up with 35 more.
But tonight, my legs are tired! What a workout.
Rest up, legs, you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow.
September 05, 2007 / Wednesday
Idiots Pedal Around Too
I almost had a head-on collision on my bike today... with another bicyclist! The idiot was talking on his cell phone, weaving through a small crowd on the street, trying to get on a tricky uphill entrance to the pedestrian bridge I was coming down on. Idiot, idiot, idiot! He said sorry, but he doesn't know how sorry he'd be if he'd hit me!
On a happier note, I really like that my residential route home from work lets my nose sample several cuisines' worth of dinner wafting from houses along the way. Indian, Thai, Italian, Filipino... Hrm, what shall I have for dinner tonight?
06:53 PM | Rant/Whine:Road| Comments (2)
September 03, 2007 / Monday
Mt. Hamilton Insanity
For as long as I've known Aaron (and longer, I'm sure, but that's not for me to say), he's been riding his bike up Mt. Hamilton Road. I've always chalked it up to a mix of insanity and masochism and left it at that. Who would want to spend hours riding up a big hill? Sounds painful.
He's asked me several times to ride it, and each time I've flatly refused. That is, until this weekend. His left arm is in a cast, you see, and this makes braking difficult. So, he devised a plan: I'd ride up with him (climbing a hill doesn't require braking), ride back down by myself, and go pick him up in my car.
Not getting to ride has been driving him insane (more insane than whatever it is that's been driving him to ride up that road), so I decided to brave the hill so he'd get to ride. I also figured that having to ride one-armed might slow him down to a somewhat manageable pace, but I was wrong on that count, so never mind.
We didn't ride up the whole way. Actually, we didn't even reach Grant Ranch, but it was enough continuous uphill to give me a taste of what I needed to reach the top. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. Heck, it wasn't bad at all, once I got warmed up.
We got a late start thanks to a bit of mistiming on my part, so when we reached the turnaround point at 7:30 the sun was setting, and fast. I took off for the car, racing the sun as it dipped below the horizon. I caught up to a truck on my way down, and he kindly pulled over and waved me along. When I reached the bottom, I had a half mile climb to get back to the car in the Alum Rock Park lot. I kept the bike in top gear, stood up, and mashed my way up the hill. I was surprised that I had the energy to do that, but I guess I was trying hard not to get caught riding in the dark. I hate the dark. I have crappy night vision.
Loaded the car, drove up the hill, and picked up Aaron. As it turns out, he was able to ride downhill without too much trouble. All he really needs is a sag wagon to give him new wheels when his tires go flat.
As for me, I want to ride up that road again, farther the next time, and the next, until I reach the top. I'm not sure what exactly I thought was insane about the whole thing. Either I was wrong, or I've gone insane too.
12.9 miles, 1381 feet of climbing, and no knee pain. Woohoo.
August 28, 2007 / Tuesday
Tuesday Evening Fucktard
It's never, ever, EVER okay to run a red light on a right turn while accelerating your shitty bus like a madman for the sole purpose of pulling in front of me in the bike lane so you can slam on your brakes at the bus stop on the other side of the corner. I had to brake, swerve, and clip out to avoid slamming into the back of your mobile deathtrap, which, by the way, is badly in need of a wash. You, Mr. Bus Driver, are ten times the fucktard that Mr. Slow Ass was this morning.
I do not want to die by running into the back of a bus. It's way too laughably inglorious for my taste.
06:18 PM | Rant/Whine:Road| Comments (0)
Tuesday Morning Fucktard
It's okay if you pass me because you're faster, but don't pass me for the sake of passing me and then ride like a slow ass fucktard. If there hadn't been traffic in the lane next to us I would have passed you back. As it was, I was trying my best not to bump your tire. Fucktard!
The fucktard must have pissed me off, because I then...
(1) passed another cyclist going up the Wolfe overpass. This was even a real cyclist, all wiry legged and in gear on a road bike, not one of those tubby dudes sporting baggy jeans on a little squirt Huffy. Hooray for mash.
(2) made it into work in record time: 13:41, 31 seconds faster than my last record. Riding to work usually takes me somewhere between 15-17 minutes. Hooray for new records!
If I come across the fucktard again I'm totally bumping his ass off the road.
09:28 AM | Rant/Whine:Road| Comments (4)
August 21, 2007 / Tuesday
The Mashical Number 50
Made it up and over the Wolfe overpass in 50 mashes this morning. It took 3 1/2 weeks and 125 miles of riding to get back to the condition I was in before last month's two week way too much Five Guys and hush puppies stay in NC. Granted, I missed a week of riding in those 3 1/2 weeks due to Tour de Peninsula knee pain and touristy fun, but even if we don't count that week, that's 2 1/2 weeks lost!
It's been a strange summer for me in terms of activity. My plan had been to do something at least every other day, but when I look at my HRM calendar I see large gaps all over the place. 2 weeks for Boston/Pittsburgh, 1 week for NC, 1/2 a week for food poisoning, 2 weeks for NC again, and 1 week for knee pain and touristy fun. Train, lose ground, train, lose ground, rinse, repeat.
This week, I hope to break my weekly mileage record. I just have to figure out how to do it without pissing off my knees.
August 20, 2007 / Monday
13 Mile Ride To Work
Not a bad way to start the week!
August 05, 2007 / Sunday
Tour de Peninsula
After years of wanting a Dirty Shirt, I finally signed up to ride the Tour de Peninsula. Now that I have a road bike, I figured it was time, although I'd originally planned to have more time to train for it beforehand. Work travel, not so good for training.
We started the ride about an hour late; we simply didn't want to get up early for it, and since it wasn't a race we figured we'd just catch up to people along the way. That we did; we started the ride on an empty course, but were surrounded by other riders most of the way after that.
I got to ride a lot of roads and trails I either had been curious about or had on my list. We rode up Ralston, along the Sawyer Camp Trail, and hit Canada Road's Bicycle Sunday. The view along the reservoir was great, too. I was really enjoying myself, until around mile 10.
Around mile 10, my left knee decided it was time to say hello. This really bummed me out, because my legs still felt great and I'd been hoping to ride the entire 33 miles at a decent pace. A few miles later, my right knee started hurting too. Fortunately, I found a medic at one of the rest stations and he gave me a couple Advil. This helped dull the pain a bit, and I finished the 33 mile course with a big grin on my face. 33 miles! Metric half century!
My odometer tells me differently, though. It tells me 31.1 miles, which at first made me say, "All that work and still no MHC!" A quick conversion on Google, however, tells me that I did indeed complete the MHC.
Yes!!!
I don't know what else to say. I'm going to go grin some more...
July 30, 2007 / Monday
Square One
Pedaled into work today. Mashed up the overpass, reached 50, and still hadn't reached the top. D'oh.
But hooray for pedal!
July 12, 2007 / Thursday
Commute Notes
Today's non-cafeteria lunch: Vietnamese sandwich. There's a place that makes pretty good ones on my ride to work. I'd better eat it soon, though; it's stinking up my office!
40 mashes today got me to the same spot that took 50 mashes the first time. My legs felt great, I shifted to the big ring for the descent, and the chain fell off. D'oh.
The chain is filthy. Time for a cleaning.
12:01 PM | Food:Road| Comments (0)
Mash Mash Mash
The Wolfe overpass used to be the most hated part of my commute to work. Now, it's the most fun. I used to sit and spin my way up, but these days I upshift, stand, and count as I mash on the pedals. One, two, three ... all the way to fifty. When I first started doing this, fifty got me almost to the top. Today, it got me over the top. Progress! As I'd suspected, the "hill" is nothing more than a big bump.
As a bonus, I get to count, and I just LOVE to count (to 50, double bonus!). I realize this is probably a symptom of my borderline OCD, but whatever works to get me over the bump faster is fine with me. :)
June 23, 2007 / Saturday
Yay, Ride!
My legs were still tired from lifting and mountain biking on Thursday, but it was a beautiful day out so I decided to take my road bike out for a ride. Aaron came along and very graciously rode at tired Viv pace for all 24+ miles. We hit Foothill from my place, rode to the end, then turned around and rode back. I considered doing the extra loop to give me the still elusive metric half century, but I think my knee doesn't like Foothill - I noticed (or imagined, perhaps) a slight pain in my right knee just after we merged on. In any case, I completed the ride without too much discomfort, got home, iced the knee, and stretched.
In all, I've ridden over 55 miles this week. That's nothing compared to what some people ride in an afternoon, but it's decent mileage for me. I missed my weekly record by 0.2 miles. I was tempted to hop back on the bike for another mile to set a new record, but by then I was already icing.
Oh well. There's always next week. :-D
June 13, 2007 / Wednesday
It Was A Great Ride Home Until The Last Two Blocks
So I'm riding home on my bicycle, minding my own business in the middle of the bike lane on Remington, and a minivan passes by, coming within less than a foot of me. ASSHOLE! I thought perhaps he was trying to scare me. As I watched it continue down the street, it swerved into and out of the bike lane a couple more times before it disappeared from sight.
While watching said asshole, I noticed that the driver wasn't looking at the road, but rather at his cell phone. It reminded me of that girl in Illinois who hit a bicyclist because she was busy downloading a ringtone onto her phone. He died, and she walked away with 6 months of probation, a $1,000 fine, and traffic school.
Rest assured, if some asshole doing something stupid like that wipes me off the planet, I'm coming back to haunt his ass until he's cowering in the corner of a padded room under 24 hour camera surveillance.
As for the guy who almost hit me today, I hope the next time you do that while driving you distract yourself into a pole. Have a nice day.
And to the bicyclist who ran a very solidly red light half a minute later: Quit it. Behave yourself. You're making the rest of us look bad.
That is all.
May 13, 2007 / Sunday
I Pedaled Across The Bay Today
It was loud and windy, but now I can say I've done it. Hooray for the Dumbarton Bridge Bay Trail!
I also realized I'm now comfortable with sprinting on my road bike. I hadn't really tried it much since day one, which didn't really count because I was still getting used to the bike. I likes.
We stopped for ice cream along the way. I think we should make that a part of every road ride from now on. :)
March 22, 2007 / Thursday
Well, That Was Easy
Rode slightly harder (but far from actually hard) on my way home today and crushed all previous work-to-home speeds on the mountain bike. Okay, then.
My Office Looks Better With A Bike In It
Pedaled into today without any major knee discomfort. Dunno what the minor ache on the inside of my right knee is (why does the pain keep moving around?), but I'm not limping so hooray.
I took it easy on my ride in, but still came close to my mountain bike commute time and speed record. Hello, mechanical advantage!*
I can't believe it's been over 6 months since I last pedaled into work. Welcome back, DST!
* I'm told that "mechanical advantage" isn't the proper term for what I'm trying to say, but the person who told me that will only tell me that it's wrong and won't offer any alternatives. :( I suspect the "more speed for less effort" phenomenon is due to some combination of weight, friction, and gearing, so until someone who does know the proper term for what I'm trying to say pipes up, I'm going to rephrase "Hello, mechanical advantage!" to "Thank you, physics!"
10:31 AM | Injuries:Road| Comments (2)
March 17, 2007 / Saturday
Exit Srategy
Happy St. Patrick's Day! I decided to celebrate by taking the Lucky Charms jersey out for a ride. My hamstrings have been feeling much better since I started stretching them several times a week, so I figured I'd plan a route that allowed me to ride farther than last week if I felt good, but not get stuck too far from home if my knees started to hurt.
The route: 3.7 miles out on Fremont and back, a left on Wolfe, a right on Central, then a right on Bowers to head back toward home on some mellow residential streets. Total distance: 15.7 miles.
Despite the lack of saddle time, I'm still making some progress on the road biking technique front. I don't have to remind myself as often to bend my arms now, and standing up to sprint (usually for or from traffic lights) feels stable and natural. That pleases me greatly.
And now, the much awaited knee update.
The left knee is okay. Hooray!
The right knee is mostly okay, at least compared to how bad it could be. (The left knee pain from 3 weeks ago is still very fresh in my mind.) It feels better than it did after my shorter ride last week, so I'm not too displeased. I started off pedaling fast and light, feeling (or perhaps imagining) some mild discomfort on the inside of my right knee. After warming up, my knees felt good, so I pushed it a little around mile 7. That may have resulted in my overdoing it a bit, as my right knee then started hurting around mile 11, which, as it turned out, was the farthest head-for-home point on my entire route today. I'm not quite sure what to say about that relative to my now seemingly failed ride route exit strategy. In any case, the knee is sore, but I was able to limp instead of hobble up the steps to my apartment. Took some ibuprofen, stretched, grabbed a couple ice packs and settled in to write this post.
To follow up from last week, the doctor did give me a referral to sports medicine, who was supposed to call me, but I have no idea when that's going to happen. I guess I'll give them a call Monday instead.
03:36 PM | Injuries:Road| Comments (0)
March 13, 2007 / Tuesday
Wanted: Kickass Clipless Kicking Skillz
SoopahViv: some lady did that stupid accelerate from the stoplight to take a really slow driveway right thing to me on saturday
SoopahViv: i wanted to kick her car but i was clipped in
SoopahViv: phooey
aaron: just smack it
SoopahViv: just out of hand reach
SoopahViv: i didn't time my reacceleration properly
SoopahViv: besides, kicking is more emphatic
aaron: and more damaging
SoopahViv: yes
SoopahViv: i will need to practice clipping out and kicking and clipping back in and taking off
SoopahViv: and maybe work a finger in there somewhere
What is it with drivers who think it's okay to cut off a bicyclist in the bike lane (keyword, LANE) with a dangerously timed, slow ass right turn into a parking lot? They know better than to do it to pedestrians (lawsuit!) and they know better than to do it to other drivers (lawsuit!); why do they think it's okay to do it to bicyclists?
I kick you! Except that I'd probably fall over attempting the unclip-kick-reclip thing.
06:29 PM | Rant/Whine:Road| Comments (4)
March 10, 2007 / Saturday
Finishing What I Started
After staying off the pedal bikes (as oppposed to the vroom bike) for two weeks, I could no longer bear to sit and watch the beautiful weather pass me by. I geared up, stretched, hopped on the road bike, and went for a short ride. I followed the same route as before, choosing this time to turn around at Main St. in Los Altos, where I had to stop and wait for a lift home two weeks ago. Today, I was able to ride there and back without needing rescue. Hoorays.
The ride was a paltry 12.5 miles, but it felt good to be out there again. I passed about 10 people and got passed by 1. That ratio seems strangely high, but I guess I shouldn't complain. The one guy who passed me was all decked out like a hardcore cyclist atop an S-Works Tarmac, and I suppose I would have wondered what was wrong with him if he hadn't zoomed away.
Someone liked my Lucky Charms jersey. Hoorays again.
And now, the knee update. I know you're all on the edge of your seats.
First, the good news. My left knee feels fine.
Now, the sucky news. The back of my right knee felt tight from the very beginning, much like it did in the middle of my last ride. After about 6 miles, it started hurting in the same way my left knee was hurting (except that it was 20 miles before my left knee would start to hurt). When I turned around at Main St. I definitely noticed the pain. I was halfway out, though, and the pain wasn't unbearable, so I continued toward home. I made it, hobbled only a little up the stairs to my apartment, stretched, took some ibuprofen, e-mailed the doctor who promised me a sports medicine referral, and iced.
The pain is relatively mild and nowhere near debilitating like what I had last time, but geez, WTF, KNEES? I REST YOU, I ICE YOU, I STRENGTHEN YOU, I STRETCH YOU. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT? THIS IS CYCLING, NOT RUNNING! WHAT PART OF "LOW IMPACT" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? DO YOU WANT ME TO TAKE UP RUNNING? HUH? HOW DO YOU THINK YOU'D LIKE THAT? LET'S GO, YA PUNKS!
Okay, I'm done now. I just had to get that out.
03:39 PM | Injuries:Road| Comments (0)
February 24, 2007 / Saturday
Foiled Again
I was hoping I'd get to title this post "Metric Half Century Plus", but it was not to be. :(
I can't complain too much, though. At least I snuck a ride in before the rain returns. It was nippy out, but that made for an opportunity to wear my new tights and full-fingered gloves. Still love them. Superb temperature control.
Superb. I love using marketing clichés. They make me laugh.
The plan was to ride just over 34 miles. Leaving from my house, we'd take Sunnyvale-Saratoga to Fremont to Foothill/Junipero Serra, do a counterclockwise loop on Sand Hill/Portola/Alpine, return to Foothill, and head back. I popped a couple Advil before the ride to try to head off any mild knee discomfort or inflammation. Like last time, my knee felt fine for about the first 20 miles.
Aaron had mapped out the route for me the night before, which included information on where the climbs would be. For some reason, I think that anything Aaron climbs on his bike is bound to be ridiculous, so when he said that the biggest climb of the ride was on Sand Hill Road, I fully expected to get my ass kicked there. As it turned out, it wasn't so bad. I managed to ride that, plus all the other hills today, without using the little chain ring. (No, I didn't power up on the big ring; I ride a triple.) Cool.
So, the dreaded mile 20. This seems to be my distance limit on the road bike. Actually, even before I hit the 20th mile I started feeling some level of knee discomfort, but at around 20 miles my knee pretty much had my full attention. The problem was, when it started hurting, I was approximately halfway into my ride. Turning around wouldn't have helped much, so I continued on.
After mile 20, my knee felt worse and worse. My pedalling slowed, and with it my speed and heart rate. It's pretty interesting to see everything on the graph drop toward the end. Eventually, I couldn't pedal standing, had trouble at stoplights (whether balancing on both pedals or clipped out of either side, both legs have to be straight), and couldn't sprint away when lights turned green. Aaron asked several times if I wanted to stop and have him return with the car, but I declined. I wanted my metric half century, dammit!
As we approached downtown Los Altos, I asked how many miles we had left. "About 10," I was told. Given my slowing pace, the amount of pain in my knee, its rapidly deteriorating condition, and a pestering little voice in my head (previously Aaron's voice next to my head) blathering something about further damage, I knew 10 miles was farther than I could ride. I was fewer than 3 miles from the elusive metric half century, but I had to stop. I accepted Aaron's offer to pick me up with the car and ended my ride on Main St. Total distance ridden: 28.5 miles.
I scoped out Main St. for some restaurants to try in the future, noted a crêperie and a pot pie place, and stopped at Posh Bagel for a coffee, where I had a nice chat with some random customer about my bike. Then I headed out to wait for Aaron. During that time, I did some pushing on my knee and discovered a sore spot along a tendon on the outside. (We suspect it's an ITB issue.) Finally, something concrete. It sure is easier to localize pain by reproducing it in a controlled setting than to try to figure out where it's coming from when the entire area is screaming.
Anyway, Aaron arrived, we loaded my bike into the car, and, because we now had a way of carrying stuff, stopped at Andronico's (I didn't know there was one so close to me until last night!) to trade a paycheck for some yumminess on the way back. :-* to Aaron for riding extra slow, stopping so many times for me to catch up, and picking me up when my knee broke down.
09:14 PM | Injuries:Road| Comments (2)
February 17, 2007 / Saturday
First Ride On The Allez
"We are doing a metric half century tomorrow," Aaron said, and it was decided. How could I turn down a ride that I could complete in 31 miles, yet still refer to with a slightly modified but still half-badass sounding form of "century"?
As half-badass as I'd like to believe it was, the ride was actually quite gentle. We rode the Coyote Creek Trail so I could get to know my new bike without the distraction and dangers of automobile traffic. There was virtually no climbing, and the weather couldn't have been better.
The verdict: I likes. As expected, it feels lighter, faster, stiffer, and more responsive. I don't ever want to road ride on my mountain bike again, unless it's to boing around on stuff.
I did note that I'm not trusting the bike and myself enough in corners. I think I'm still trying to get over my parking lot lowside from last April. I often notice myself feeling apprehensive in corners on all my bikes, including the motorcycle. Can someone please come and zap away the little part of my brain holding that memory? And while they're at it, please zap the resulting scar tissue on my right knee, too.
After last week's ride into work from Bugformance, I'd been worried about how my knee would fare. To my surprise, it felt great. Hooray, I thought, the mysterious cycling and scuba pain is gone! Around mile 20, however, I realized I'd thought too soon. The pain got a little worse on the way back to the car, but fortunately it doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did last week. I guess it's time to get to know my new doctor.
We ended up riding a total of 27.2 miles. I had trouble getting a speed reading with my Polar components setup, but fortunately I can borrow distance and average speed data from Aaron's bike computer.
In the end, no metric half century. Perhaps next time, if my knee cooperates. Maybe even a standard half century, if the terrain isn't too steep. Flat ground is so effortless on a road bike.
That probably just means I'm not riding hard enough. ;)
10:21 PM | Injuries:Road| Comments (2)
February 15, 2007 / Thursday
It Was Only A Matter Of Time
It's no secret that I like things with wheels.* I drive a kraut rocket (the dish, not the slur - think rice), I'm on motorcycle number three, and I've made 39 posts related to the boingy mountain bike I bought last April.
When I bought the boingy mountain bike, I thought it'd be suitable for both trail and road use. Shortly after I started commuting on it, I realized I wanted more. Or less, depending on how you look at it. I wanted more speed, and less weight. I was jealous of all the effortlessly speedy people zipping by. I wanted a road bike.
For months, I've drooled over the 2006 Specialized Dolce Comp. The black on white color scheme is sharp and clean, and the pink logo on the front fork is adorable. Although it's not super expensive, I couldn't justify the cost. Plus, I wasn't sure that the 51 cm bike at the shop near Aaron's house was the right size for me. It felt okay, but not great.
For months, I've subscribed to Craigslist and eBay feeds in hopes of finding a good price on that bike. A couple came on the radar, but fell off for one reason or another. I was okay with that.
Then today ...
aaron: you need to get a road bike soon so you can do a century with me
That some how sent off a new round of active searching, which included searches for similar bikes. I found a screaming deal for a 2006 Allez Comp Triple, which essentially is the non-gender-specific version of the Dolce Comp, with better wheels, and available in a larger variety of sizes.
I gave the store a call and headed over to try out the bike. I liked it better than the Dolce immediately, and even more so on a second ride clipped in. I was sold. I got fitted, bought some extras (bottle cage, saddle bag, extra tube, S725X speed sensor and mount, air pump), and handed over my credit card. The total, after tax, came to less than the pre-tax price for the Dolce Comp at the other bike shop. Sweet.
So here it is, my new toy. Now I just need to get the weather and my knee to cooperate!
* To be accurate, I like things that involve forward motion, and things with wheels just so happen to fit neatly into that category.
