June 2010

short 4 hours on the bike today, just alpine dam and back home.  it was a bit brisk out today, but sunny – definitely back to the normal springtime weather that marin and san francisco are known for.  I had to be back earlier today for an optometrist appointment.  I’ve been needing a pair of cycling specific glasses, and I thought I had finally found the solution.  bicyclerx.com sells prescription oakleys and such.  long story short, my vision is about -6.00 in both eyes, which means I can’t get them without having a clip-on prescription layer.  it looks bad, and would probably add a significant amount of weight.

I ended up getting a pair of “old man” glasses, they share the same shaped bridge as aviators, but obviously they’re not aviators.  just imagine the typical gold set of large glasses an old guy would wear.  I’m getting the frames in black, with clear anti-reflective lenses.  it was significantly cheaper than oakleys (that I couldn’t get anyway, because of my prescription), and they’ll be here in a week and a half.  no transitions or tint at all, so I can wear them day and night.

stoked.

it was baking today in marin, 75-80* the whole ride, with heavy north winds.  I got sapped early on, and regretted it for the rest of the ride.  either way, it was epic out, and I’m glad I made it back home.

oh, guess who I saw on the way back.  yea, jonathan and gabe from mash.  jonathan was riding his red pinarello road bike, wearing a house of commons kit.  gabe was on his giant tcr in the new mash histogram kits.

yea, sick.  yeaaaaaa.

hit alpine dam today, solo.  I took the initial climbs a bit easier today, just didn’t want to blow out before 7 sisters.  on ridgecrest, approaching the rollers, I spotted a dozen riders.  they were in pairs of 2 and 3, cycling together, but obviously not together…you know what I mean.  I caught up to these 3 guys who broke off the main group, they seemed to have their stuff together, for the most part.  I passed 2 of the 3, and was pacing with a guy riding a blue and black orbea – no helmet (personal choice, but I’d highly recommend one!).  anyway, we were out of the saddle for almost the whole section, and then he sat down.  then I sat down, chatted for a second with him, and then geared up to finish the climb.  another short descent, then the last climb.

at this point, my legs are feeling it, but not too bad.  I’ve still got a little bit left for the last climb, but probably not legs for the climb out of sausalito.  it was going to be one of those spinny rides back to the golden gate.  anyway, blue and black orbea guy is now pacing with me over this last hill.  I signal left, and pass a broken group of 3, they were a bit strung out.  we’re out of the saddle, just jetting over the hill.  it turns, flattens out for a second, and then climbs for about 100ft more.  I shift up, and still out of the saddle.  then I shift up again, and I’m over the crest.  there’s no one over my shoulder, sadly.  they were quite nice guys, from what I could tell, it would’ve been nice to have some company.  then there’s the obvious point of slowing down to let them catch up.

but where’s the fun in that?

and then the sausalito climb hit not too much longer.  I could feel the tingle turn into a tense.  UH OH.  I geared down, spun it out, but the feeling wouldn’t leave.  and it pretty much stayed for the rest of the ride home.  needless to say, I’m a bit disappointed in myself.

I definitely need more hours in the saddle.

met up with ben this morning at the bridge.  I took a peek at the forecast this morning, and it said sausalito would be around 70* at noon – so I wore no warmers at all.  then ben rolls up in long sleeve jersey, and a wind vest, looking at me as if I were crazy.  and I just looked at him as if he were nuts.  awkward.  anyway, we were on our way soon enough.

I have to say, having gears and 2 brakes is ridiculous fun.  we bombed the sausalito hill, and were charging through to the bike path.  must be all that track bike riding we’ve been doing…either way, when camino alto hit, I ramped through my gears and was climbing at around 73 gear inches, which isn’t too far off of what my track bike is at.  it felt like home, again.  cruised through to fairfax, and began the climb.  I hit it a bit hard, was 2 or 3 gears up from what I climbed at several months ago (with no base).  the bike felt pretty good, for just being assembled yesterday.  things are starting to settle, and I’ll probably bring the bike back for a tune up in a couple weeks.  as a side note, the wheels just haul after about 25mph or so.  I noticed a big difference in speed…lots and lots of speed on descents, just splitting corners so perfectly.  unfortunately, I did notice some pawl play with the rear wheel.  it would stick about 30% of the time, and caused the pedals to kick down without engaging.  I was a bit disappointed, but I think it just needs to be serviced.

unfortunately, I lost ben on the initial climb, so I waited at the top, right before the short descent.  he said, “those 2 guys were pacing up the hill trying to catch you, but then you shifted up twice and were gone.”

that pretty much sums up how the rest of the ride was.  I still need to improve my lactic threshold, my legs started to tingle by the end of the ride.  either way, I’m stoked to finally have both bikes dialed.