Basket-less

Friday night as I was riding around with the ShowersPass team a little chainring bolt fell off. I didn't know this happened....and then this happened

The chainring just crumpled instantly, a good sign to lay off the EPO. Luckily I was only 2.5 miles from the ShowersPass headquarters which had beer and pizza. Home is only another 1.5 miles from there. I decided to turn this scenario into chance to finally get my commuter stripped and re-powdercoated.

Monday morning I dropped it off at Brooker Enterprises and I should have the frame and fork back in less than two weeks with a fresh new powdercoat on it. I got really used to the baby blue color so I went with a really close match. I also am going to use this opportunity as time to rebuild it with some new parts and fix things that were in need of repair. Here is what is going to be new on it:

• New chainring obviously and this time I am going to put on a carbon chainguard for style
• New pedals, the ones that are on it now are have been broken for years
• New Ruckus Comp. brakes (really a first prototype)
• New bar tape instead of the oury grips
• New bottom bracket
  
• New SS chain
• Replace the basket with a portuer style rack
• New Ruckus Comp carbon fenders
  
• I am in debate of paying for a new set of commuter wheels as well...really wanting to do it to finish off the package
  

In all I am really excited to get my bike back and rebuild it. This bike means a lot to me and is by far my favorite.

Limp arms and a smile

The past two weekends in a row I have put in over 100 miles each with some tough climbs on the road, I have also been trying to put on 100 miles or so during the week.

Yesterdays ride shook my arms into a spaghettificaion state (no black holes present). I got talked into riding 10 miles of fire trail (bumpy off-road) on my road bike. While rough on the body and the bike I loved it. I need to put my cross bike back together so I can do some fun rides on it. Every now and then I need to remember that bike riding is a lot of fun; all the base training miles have beaten my brain into mud.

Today was the lunch time lawyer ride, small group due to the holiday. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to have some fun.

First hot lap I sat 3rd wheel following a strong rider who was pushing it. I flashed Andrew a hand signal that I was going to pound it and that he should follow. I jumped hard and he followed perfectly. I pulled for a brief moment but it was enough to slingshot him into the lead finish.

The 2nd hot lap I was curious to see what would happen, so I attempted to pull the entire lap and just pound it out. I got a small gap on the group and held it for most of the lap, I knew they were reeling me in though. I tried to keep it going but I was spent and sat up. Not strong enough.

Still feeling fairly spry on the hill brutalizer I decided to pound into it and see what would happen. I held a large gap for awhile and then got caught by 2 guys that are really freakishly good climbers. They gapped me by a bit but then I started reeling them back in, not fast enough for the finish though.

Training rides are for dumb mistakes and trying/playing tactics. Today I figured out that I should sit in for a little more and then make a move towards the end more. I know this is obvious, but sometimes you just have to learn it the hard way.

A soild week

Really I should have wrote this yesterday on my rest day.

Right now I am watching cyclocross worlds, I wish I got to race on a course like that. Flat, fast, nice turns....sadly the organizers of the cross crusades intend to make every race a slug out between the riders and the pits of mud. I m not complaining at all, I just need to get a lot better at handling technical terrain.

I got in all my rides this week as planned and am no worse for wear. I am much further in training this year than I have ever been in my life. I feel in 2 more weeks I will be at my previous peak, which isn't much of peak but more of a gentle hill. This is making me really excited to start the racing season again. What I am not excited for is my road bike, it is in desperate need of a tune-up right now.

Currently I feel as though I might be on the verge of coming down with a cold. One of my roommates was sick this week, I tried to avoid it like the plague but who knows.

schedule update

So to keep myself on schedule I resorted to extremes, that's right I made a training schedule wallpaper for my computer. That way I will always feel guilty about not riding.


Image best viewed when listening to this

Lunch-time lawyer ride

Thursdays, the day when around 40 of Portlands finest lawyers, attorneys, rich guys, and masters go for a group hill ride from downtown.

This is the ride where you realize your bike is not worth enough, when some of them show up with their "B" bikes and it is a Pinarello. Interesting note a guy on a recumbent showed up.

It is about a 16 mile steep hill climb adventure with 45 mph winding descents through the west hills of Portland.

I am starting to feel good about hill climbing again, my 39:25 isn't very efficient for me, the new build will definitely have a compact crankset. Tomorrow is more base miles. Looking forward to the upcoming season.

Overall it is a fun time, everyone seems to string out up the hills and then regroup on the top. Some of these guys are fast and can drop the hammer. I usually finish about 3~5 on all the hill climbs, which is a good start for this early in the season considering I have a few more pounds to drop, a slow bike, and an endless amount of excuses on losing.

Side note: This is the Urban Dictionary definition of "dropping the hammer"

	dropping the hammer
	when sitting, you get up and fart on a persons head while they are watching tv, or playing a game, then you yell the name out

Training update 2

I have been putting on lots of base miles as of late. Around 200 miles a week

A good effort almost every day. When it is nice out I put on 30 miles of flat little-ring riding to Sauvie Island and back. Other days I have been riding the trainer in the basement for 45 minutes.

Overall I think I am over-exerting myself with training and commuting. The commuter miles lately have been the worst, from towing many larges pieces of wood in the wind, to lots of wind miles in general have really been taking a toll on my recovery. The commuter miles will lessen up real soon.

I started jumping on the Thursday lawyer ride, I forgot how much more interesting riding hills can be. It is also fun to be riding in a group again. This ride is probably more exertion than I need for training, but it is more of a mental exercise than physical right now.

Training update

I was using my roommates rollers for a week and I must say rollers are much better than a trainer. At first they were awkward to ride but they really honed in my balance in only a few sessions. The bad part with these is that the drum diameter is tiny, approximately 1 inch diameter, so they are really hard to spin.

Taking advantage of this freakish January weather I have been outside every morning putting in 25 miles. Right now I am feeling slightly tired, so I am going to take a day off and then hit it again. It feels good to be riding outside again and is making me really excited for the road season. As much as I love cyclocross and want to peak for the season, I am really drawn to criteriums and road races.

I am still trying to get the body back into training shape, drop a few pounds, and generally get back my snap.

I am dreaming about building up a new racing machine for the road season. The Bianchi is heavier than most, the wheels are heavy, and everything is incredibly flexy. Great for training on because it is soft and supple but there is a lot of power loss due to the flex.

Lusting over the new Dura-ace as gruppo, use my carbon tubulars, and build up a custom carbon frame.

Start of the off-season

Back in Portland and about to officially start up the off-season base miles.

Off Season Training

Now until January (I ll be in Wisconsin for 9 days and this will disrupt my training) I am getting back into shape and laying some base miles down.  I am putting together a training schedule for the new year.  Hiring a coach is on my mind right now, I think it will really help me attain my goals.  Also I am going to document my riding more, with a brief synopsis everyday.  My wonderful girlfriend is also going to encourage me as much as possible and help me keep on track to help reach my racing goals of being a good Cat 3 next season on the road, and a good Cat A for cyclocross.

Last night I finished rebuilding my road bike and today I took it out for a 3 hour ride.  I forgot how much fun road bikes are.  Originally I had intended it to be a shorter ride to adjust everything but just kept going and going.  My bike is going to be a perfect off-season trainer for the upcoming road season.  It is heavy (compared to road bikes), super flexy (lots of energy loss), and outfitted with fenders/lights/saddlebags, this will make my eventual new race bike seem that much faster.

Portland is for climbers

not these guys



more of the cycling persuasion.

This morning Andrew and I took off around 8:15 am with the intention of heading west for some hill climbing.  Now being a recent transplant to Portland from the midwest means I haven't really experienced real hill climbing.

Once we got away from downtown, the climb began.   Steep switchbacks all the way to the top of a hill/mountain (?) for about 25 minutes.  I was in the small chain ring (34t) and my largest cog (25t) and crawling about 5~6 mph.  I would do various spurts of sit-down climbing and standing.  There were quite a few points where I wanted to get off and walk, but that isn't allowed in cycling.   My legs burned, but eventually we made it to the top and all those feelings were gone.

With every up there is a down (most of the time at least).  The downhill was fun and fast.  A 52 mph coast down winding roads.   This is why I love road biking, the pain and speed that are attainable by a single person powering this machine is incredible.

We got back to SE Portland and decided to do a climb up Mt. Tabor (bottom to the peak).  Which is still a pretty decent climb.  This last climb session tapped me.  We reached the top and spun home.

These hill climbs will kick me into shape fast.

Rough elevetation climb 1000 ft.

Vanilla Cycles Cyclocross Clinic

Speedvagens galore, well only really like 5.  But nonetheless they are a beautiful piece of bicycle machinery.

Tonight was night 1 of Team Vanilla Cyles cyclocross clinic series.  I was pretty excited to get out there and see who showed up.  While my High-Five is yet to come to america yet,  I was readying the On-One this afternoon.  I built up a single-speed tubular wheelset to race on.  Now there were a lot of little things I had to get done to transfer the On-One back into a racing bike and quite frankly I was running out of time.  So I took the "big girl" my 29'er mountain bike.  This isn't really that absurd because, the "big girl" is light (21 lbs) and has drop bars on it.   It would make a decent cross rig if I threw on a different wheelset,  I am keeping her in my back pocket for the cross series out here just in case it ever gets real crazy wet/muddy.

"Big  Girl" worked just fine all night.   The clinic was  mainly dealing with the technical aspects of mounting/dismounting/barriers/ect...  My mounts/dismounts and high speed turning are all in good shape, I just need to get into good shape.  Tonight was just the motivation I needed to kick my butt into gear.  Technical skill wise I was on par or slightly better than the group I was with (seasoned riders).  The first race is about one month and I am getting very very excited!!!

RITA

I have a new girl to ride, her name is Rita


Bianchi Rita 2007, White 29'er carbon fork, On-One midge bars, Cane Creek brakes.

She rides like a dream and is fairly light (23.5 lbs)

So far I have about 50 miles of river trails on her, and am still learning how to mountain bike.  I am going to switch out the current stem and put on a high-rise stem for better control and to push my center of gravity back a bit.

The only other parts I am going to switch out is the current bashguard, gotta have a Ruckus on there.  I am also going to put on a set of Ruckus Cog Collars.