Proper Trainer Setup

I can think of someone who can really use this advice. Too bad it doesn't go into detail about how to ASSEMBLE the trainer. ;)

brrrrrr

Well, instead of getting a ride in on Fri or Sat, we waited 'till today to break out the bikes and hit the road. Timed it almost perfectly in that we were 2 miles from the car when it began to snow hard. We're talking white out too.

A quick meal at the Winking Lizard and coffee at Starbucks was just the ticket for warming up!

Everyone have a safe, wonderful, and Happy Holidays!

Getting some miles in

I was able to take Monday off and get 53 quality miles in with Sadie on the towpath. The weather looked a little iffy at first and throughout the day. We got started in the early afternoon, and missed the brief down pour just before unloading the bikes in the parking lot. There were a couple of other quick showers, one of which we stopped for under a bridge, but we pretty much stayed dry all the way to Akron.

The towpath had been extended about 1/4 mile further south and you could see where they are currently working on extending it further (within view of the First Energy building). Turning around, we had a slight tail wind and the towpath is downhill going north. Right before we got back to the car, there was a steady light rain for the last mile or so. Just enough for us to know we were pretty lucky to stay dry as long as we did.

Rick was bummed that we didn't drag him out (he's not a fan of the towpath). But he had his revenge yesterday; see the following link:

http://web.mac.com/blwmiller/iWeb/Brooke%20Miller%27s%20Official%20Cycling%20Site/Blog/CAC0904B-FAFE-4AF8-AF14-EA979F98F1A8.html

Final hours of the Fox 8 Hot list

Time is running out to vote for Bike Authority on Cleveland's Best Businesses Fox 8 Hot List:

http://myfoxcleveland.cityvoter.com/details.aspx?business=24464

You can view all the rave reviews here

UPDATE: The Current Standings are now secret for the final days of voting. Ahhh the SUSPENSE...



On a different note, I'm almost fully recovered from Liz's hardcore Spin class at the Omni in Middleburg Hts. I did several of her classes last winter along with ones taught by Tom Keller at Progressive Ins. Lets just say that I will need to take 2 x 28oz water bottles to her class, since I sweated what felt like at least 3lbs when picking up my wet clothes. Classes are Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:30pm. SPD cleats will work on many of the bikes. And remember 'more turn' = 'more burn'.

CX practice

We had a fun and productive CX practice last night at Edgewater. Since there was less daylight, we got started on the practice lap promptly at 6:15, but with sunset at around 6:31 we were barely able to get 1/2 an hour of good riding in. Hopefully the start time will get pushed up just a hair for next week, and then the time change on 11/4 will give us a extra hour of CX pleasure.

The course was short and quick this week. No run-ups on the monster hill by the lake and no single track. There was pavement galore spread out over 3 different sections and the only tricky terrain was the loose gravel near the picnic area. There were the usual tight turns, including one particularly nasty switchback from a downhill to uphill around a tree. Rick was having lots of problems following the course at this point, and kept going on the wrong side of the fence as we headed back along the road.

I had an issue with the barrier rope on the practice lap, which was kinda embarrassing. I tripped on the first barrier (tripwire), pulling the stake out. Then my bike hit the 2nd string as I struggled to keep my feet under me and not face plant. After fixing the barriers, I caught back on.

Rick and I definitely got to practice some CX tactics. A rider in a Nat City Points kit (don't know his name) was scrapping it out with us for most of the race. I had first caught up to him on the start of lap 2 and let him pull me through a fast, long, and windy pavement section. Once through the pavement, I attacked hard and caught up to Rick (almost to the point that I would have run into his rear wheel HARD as he was taking a corner). I stayed with Rick and the guy from Nat City was close on my wheel. He would usually attack in the grass section along the road and then we would pass him back around the 2 turns before the barriers. He would then attack again when we were along the road on the other side of the bridge, and we would get him in the turns and up the hill at the end of the lap. We were doing a good job of gapping before the long pavement section, but he always kept creeping back up.

At one point, the Nat City rider did get a really good gap coming toward the end of the 2nd to last lap. We traded positions a couple of time and I sprinted to catch his wheel (with Rick grabbing my wheel) on the fast pavement. We attacked again and probably traded spots as usual, but after crossing the bridge Rick shouted that I had a gap.

I geared down and pushed harder. Meanwhile Rick stayed at the same pace, if not easing up a little. This forced the other rider to attack around him. When he did, Rick counter attacked hard and was able to drop him. He caught up to me right at the finish. I'm not sure how many laps we had got in at this point, but it was getting pretty dark and people had already headed back to the parking lot. I'll take a look at my Polar data to glean some more details later.

SBR Group Ride

The Saturday ride from Bike Authority went really well. We had 5 current members and 3 new members who were able to make it. Dave Steiner and Chris Belowich rode out to BA from the Cleveland Hts. area (into a strong headwind). Fortunately they were sporting their aero Cervelo rides; Chris with Flash Point wheels.

Depending on the weather outlook, we'll try to do another ride in 2 weeks.

Ride map

Link to map

SPIN CX practice

This week's CX practice had 3 times the attendance of last week due to the good weather and InterBike being over. The course layout definitely pointed out a weak point for me and for a few other people: bunny hopping. We did a similar course last year where we had to ride over a 4 inch curb. While I don't think I pinch flatted last year, I bashed my rear wheel so hard that I needed to replace my rim. I was running Tufo tubular clinchers at the time an they weren't inflated enough to really protect the rim.

I wanted to run the Tufo's to get some practice on them prior to racing with the set. It seems like they handle a lot looser in the corners and I want to get used to the drift. In hindsight, I should have changed wheelsets and gone with the trusty Ritchie Speedmax rubber. The first warning sign was on the warm up lap, where we went over a really small bump entering the parking lot. I bunny hopped, but not well and my rear tire still hit the bump (hard enough to knock one of my rear disc brake pads out). I had problems with a pad falling out on Sunday (which I didn't notice until we were done with practice). This time I heard the pad hit the black top and was able to back track and get it. Saved spending another $22 for a replacement.

After getting the pad put back in and just missing the start of the practice race, I was able to catch back on the end of the pack and start picking people off. The pace was much higher initially today compared to last week. I was doing well and made it past the point where I'd lost the brake pad (once or twice), when I came to the 2nd spot where a bunny hop was necessary. I again wasn't able to clear my rear wheel properly and immediately heard my tire pop and loose all its air. The rider right behind me made it through, but the person after him also pinch flatted at that point.

We were joined by Matt who had also flatted as we walked back to the parking lot. Here we found Tom Dominic and Matt Weeks who were also changing tires. Derek had also got a mechanical (front flat I think) earlier in the lap, so there were definitely people having issues.

I swapped out the rear wheel and after pouting briefly over the loss of a $50 dollar tire, I caught on to the back of the race. At this point I was just out for a work out and trying to practice technique. However, I still ended up taking two pretty good spills. I think my front tire might have been handling a lot looser than the rear (Ritchie), thus causing cornering issues. In any case I came away unscathed.

Definitely time for me to start practicing bunny hops. I need to be able to clear something bigger than a dixie cup.

Awesome CX practice

Kudos to John and Brent for putting on an AWESOME CX practice yesterday morning. Donny doned his PVC barrier sets and we had everything we needed to get the day started off right at 7:30am. The rectangle starts, dismount/mounting, carrying, and barrier drills will really help us out.

Please Vote for Bike Authority on Cleveland's Best Businesses Fox 8 Hot List:

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You can view comments here and current standings in the Bike Shop category here.

SPIN CX practice

Wednesday was a fun and really good CX practice out at Edgewater. Bart helped Zak layout the course and it was ripe with wet off camber turns.

After the intro lap we took off for the practice race. I stayed behind Bart and Zak because the course was long and I think we all wanted to be sure where we were going. The first lap wasn't a killer pace. About 1/4 way into the 2nd lap, I passed Zak and Bart going downhill heading into a long sweeping off camber section (Zak was unclipping his inside foot through there). I held the lead for almost 1/2 a lap where Zak put on a strong move after a corner on the open grass. Zak was slowly getting away from me and I got close to him after the other technical off camber downhill corner. Once we got up the hill on the road, he gassed it again at the parking lot and got a strong gap. I managed to keep him in site for the rest of the practice and was able to bring him back somewhat on the optional 5th lap.

The disc brakes on my bike were really making up for their weight penalty. The Ritchey SpeedMax Cross tires I used held their traction very well. I did end up going down once heading into the single track on the 4th lap, but that was mainly because of mishandling on my part. I was pretty worried at this point because I lost some time on Zak and I saw Bart heading into the single track just as I exited it. The temp was perfect with the rain, not too cold, but warm enough that I needed to keep my jersey and vest unzipped at the top.

Upcoming weekend

Getting riding plans finalized for what promises to be a great weekend of fun-filled riding. Pictures soon to follow!

Update - Until I get my pic's uploaded, pics are available here

Westlake 8/28/2007 - the quick and dirty

There were 40 riders out, and all the teams were well represented including me, Rick, John, Dave S., and Chris B. from SBR. There were no breaks. I haven't downloaded my Polar data yet, but the average speed was a touch over 26mph (including the warm-up lap).

Everyone from SBR mixed it up at the front during the parts of the race; there was a ton of jockeying for position the whole night. I was not ready for them to ring the bell. I heard it ringing, looked up to see what the prime would be, and there was a '1' showing on the lap card. I was sitting about 30th at this time - NOT GOOD. I managed to find my way into the top 15-20, but I was more worried about getting in a crash than trying to be in position for the sprint.

Daddy Like...

So, I got to take the ride of my life (thus far) on this sexy mama tonight. Pics to follow - I know you can hardly wait!

UPDATE: Get your PEEPS HERE!!

I also hit the Spin ride for the first time in over a month. Kept toying with the idea of trying to hang with the A's, but it was probably better that I rode with the B group. As it is today, I'm a little sore. Didn't affect me too much tonight, though.

MS150 day one

Having been much lighter on the mileage (and suprisingly enough on the scale too??) for most of the past month, I was looking forward to the MS150 and getting to Cedar Point early so that we would be able to head out in time to see my mom and her new 'puppy' at my grandpa's (where we would be spending the night).

Got up at the butt-crack of dawn and got to the Berea fairgrounds JUST in time to make the 6:30am picture, which was fortunately at like 6:45am... Doned the new Cleveland Clinic Team Mellen jersey, which looks GREAT. It's made by Voler (www.voler.com) who also makes our racing kit. The new jerseys look a little like the Discovery Team's.

Still running behind, we missed the sendoff when Team Mellen got to leave early. When we rode out at 7:30am sharp there were 3 other guys from our team who missed the initial wave. It was a little congested as we were leaving Berea - one of the reasons for wanting to take off early. We had to be very cautious working our way past slower riders who were sometimes riding 4-5 abreast... Turns out that the 3 guys from Team Mellen were very good riders, even though they were new. (It was the first organized ride for one of them).

We were starting to make good time when we came across an injured rider. We stopped briefly as many other people did, but aid had already been called for and was en route. Not wanting to be part of a 1,000+ rider bottleneck, we continued on and signaled to approaching motorists to slow down & proceed with caution.

Soon after catching back up to Zack, Greg, and Jason, yours truly had a flat tire. Trying to squeeze 150mi out of a badly worn 175gr race tire ended up costing Rick and I 8minutes while I put on a new tube and a less worn tire. We didn't see the other 3 from our original pace line until we were in the cafeteria for our lunch rest stop.
Once we got past the congestion and were warmed up after lunch, it was back to our quick pace. My HR strap wasn't working at the start of the ride, so data from the beginning is a little sketchy (in addition to the 2 stops). For the 22.8mi leading up to lunch, Rick and I averaged 20.6mph. For the remaining 41.5mi we stayed consistent and would end up averaging 20.5mph. HR data was consistent as well with 177bpm leading in and 178bpm average after lunch.

We would have really arrived early except that Rick had a spoke break a few miles before the last rest stop. He had to fully release his rear brake to keep it from rubbing. At the stop the mech from Eddy's was great. He just wrapped the end of the broken spoke around another spoke and tightened the neighboring spokes and the wheel was almost perfectly true. Pics can be found on Rick's blog here: http://inquintessence1.blogspot.com/
Professional photos can be found and purchased here: http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p/85/p2p_035837

Once in Sandusky, we parked the bikes, cleaned up, ate until we could eat no more, and headed to Cedar Point. We made good use of our limited time by riding some of the 'classic' rides like the Demon Drop which had 15min or shorter waits.

Caught a bus back to Sandusky High School where my grandpa graciously picked us up. Made it to his place just in time to meet Kayla for the first time.


Too bad they don't make a 'green eye' reduction feature for dogs...

Getting back in the saddle...

Lots has happened since my last update, so I'll give just the quick and dirty:

• Rode over 200mi from 7/12 - 7/15
• Didn't ride at all from 7/16/ - 7/20
• Felt like crap warming up for the Troy Crit with Jason and Rick on 7/21
• Wrecked HARD (27mph), was KO'ed, and got a trip to the ER. This happened 13.2mi into the 20mi Troy Crit.
• Didn't ride at all from 7/22 - 7/27
• Did 30mi 7/28 for a night ride on the towpath
• Did 57mi 7/29 during the 50mi Sweet Corn ride (with the 3 optional hills)
• Felt the sore ribs again and didn't ride from 7/30 - 8/3
• Rode 21mi on 8/4 and led a 54mi MS150 training ride on 8/5
• Having been in the 'habit' now of not riding during the week, took 8/6 - 8/10 off
• 33mi on 8/11 (took the pace up a notch) and 31mi 8/14 (felt like crap but kept a 19mph+ pace).
• Took the remainder of the week off (again new 'habit').

Recovery Ride

Took a quick ride on the towpath to unwind the legs from racing the last 2 days. Left from Rockside and went north to Harvard; the path's really nice since they've added bridges over the 2 busy intersections. Turned around and went south a bit past Rt 82. It was starting to get dark and the bugs were beginning to wake up. I had decided not to grab my glasses - I won't do that again... I hope we get some rain soon, the path is really dusty. Might be good for a run though.

Stats:

Time: 1:42:52
HR: 134avg 168max
Dist: 27.1mi
Speed 15.8mph avg 26.3max
Cad. Avg: 94 Max 118
Ascent: 140ft
KCal: 750

40mi MS150 training ride

Got up on time and fiddled around getting ready. I roll out at 8:40am; needing to be at the Canal Visitor Center at 9am sharp. I take it easy warming up until I get on Rockside, and then I hit the jets and get serious about making the start time.

Fortunately it's pretty much all down hill from Parma to Valley View. I have no problems keeping it above 20mph for an average speed. The CX bike rolls down the road a lot better on Conti Gator Skins then on Ritchie Speedmax Pro CX tires (imagine that). I see Christine at the corner of Rockside and Rt21 with 2 bikes on her car - hmmm. Right after turning onto Canal, I pass 3-4 guys going the other way on the Sunday Spin ride (I think).

Rolling into the parking lot, I'm there in under 20 mins and have plenty of time since Murray had to go home for his helmet. I hadn't gotten time to send out the reminder email, so there were only 6 of us: Murray, Christine, Allan, Linda, Khantie(sp) and me.

The ride goes well. No mechanicals, although Murray and Christine had some shifting problems. The eatery we went to last year wasn't open either on the way out or back, so ended up going to Starbucks instead.

We ran across a young couple who were 2 weeks into a bike tour from Chicago to Upper Maine. They were well loaded and with the head wind had to work pretty hard. The guy had just graduated college and the gal was DEFINATELY hard core as she was pulling up until the last time we saw them.

We passed Shaker Cycles on the way back and I met Mitch who gave my Cannondale CX a not so nice critique. I didn't talk to him long enough to explain that the bike was full Ultegra before yesterday, since we had to get going.

On the way back we rode behind Steel Yard Commons. Really nice to have a bike path back there, and Jennings road was repaved almost all the way back to Harvard.

I had another Ernesto sighting on the tow path just north of the rail road bridge. By the time I decided to try turning around to catch him and chat for a bit, he was long gone. Or had it been only a dream???

Once back to the parking lot, I debate riding the towpath and checking out the 'scenery', but it's been a long ride and I decide to head home instead. There will be plenty of riding later this week.

Bike work...

It's funny how things just cascade in these situations. I finally got around to measuring the chain on my CX bike. It was definately at the replacement stage with a measurement of 12 1/8th inches. I should have checked it and replaced it sooner, although the cassette and chainrings still look good.

The question at this point became, do I slap another 9sp chain on there? I've been intending to change over to 10sp for my CX bike. This doesn't really help me with compatability with my 10sp road bike, since my CX has disc breaks and 135mm hub spacing. In thinking about it after the fact, I didn't really have a compelling reason to go 10sp. But hey, why not...

And while I'm going 10sp, I also want to swap my handlebar and stem from my road bike to my CX. On friday night I get started. Cambria Bike Outfitters was kind enough to sent me out a spankin new EA70 stem for 49.95 shipped off eBay. I am still extremely bitter with Performance Bike for reneging on the EA90 stem I ordered from them (they refunded my the cost of the stem, but not the tax they charged on it).

I pull the tape and shifters off of my current FSA bar, pull the stem off the fork and slap the set on the scale; 320g. I mount the EA70 stem to the EC90 Equipe carbon bar and weigh it; 240g. I'm hoping the stiffness will be OK. The bar and stem aren't OS, hence the weight savings. The Easton parts go on the road bike and the tape goes back on OK. I torque everything to spec and it feels really solid.

On Sat at about 4pm I decide it's time to work on the CX bike, as I need to have it rideable by 7:30-8pm for the Century Cycles night ride. Rear derailuer comes off since it looks pretty ragged and in need of some cleaning and lube. Rear shift and break cables look reusable. Tape, shifters, bar, and stem come off.

I'd like to remove the bar top brakes at some point, but they'll stay on for now so I can reuse the cables. Bar and stem from road bike go on, and the reach is really good. I had been feeling pretty cramped on the 40cm bar and stem that was about 1/2 the length of the 120mm that I've moved to. I decide to use the old 105 shifter from my road bike and save the new Ultegra shifter for a Frankenbike project (more to come). The 105 RD, 105 25-12 cassette, and hardly worn Shimano 10sp chain from my road bike find their places on the CX.

I get everything back together and adjusted OK and realize that my roll of bar tape is over at Rick's. Oh well, that's what gloves are for... I head out to the night ride and like the last one realize I won't make it to Lock 29 in time.

This time I drive to an park at the Canal Visitor's Center instead of at Rockside. I run into and chat with a friend from work briefly and then am on my way. I figure if the ride is going north, I'll run into them really soon. If their going south, I've got some major catch up to do...

Turns out that they went south and I finally caught everyone at the Botzum Station, where they had stopped. After about 5 minutes about 10 of us proceeded to ride further south to Portage trail. We turned around to head back firing up our lights. A brief detour down Ira and to past Hale farm(?) and then back to the towpath.

Back at Peninsula, Brett, Cheryl, a guy from the RR Century store and I grab a bite at the Lizard. Afterward we part ways and I ride back to my car; getting there at 12am sharp and 58mi round trip.

9am start time for a Team Mellen MS150 training ride and more biking fun.

From SUN to SNOW

Got back from sunny Florida yesterday at 1pm. This was after 24 hours in a car and being up for 30 hours straight, so I was quickly down for a 7 hour 'nap'. The trip to FL was great. Flew down last Weds. and got several quality rides in:

Thrus. 3/29 102 miles
Fri. 3/30 40 miles
Sat. 3/31 38 miles
Sun. 4/1 42 miles
Wed. 4/4 23 miles
Total: 245 miles

If you want to read more, check out: http://inquintessence1.blogspot.com/

I'm being lazy, and not wanting to post more at the moment.

Getting back in the saddle

I've finally gotten back on the trainer the past few days and did a spin class tonight at Progressive. Feeling good.

If you're in the market for a Garmin Edge 305, there's a killer auction up on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200081459011

If it goes for around $200, I'll be the proud owner of a new toy. :^)