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monday’s ride.

January 9, 2012 in riding | No comments

I love deep sleeps.  my legs were trashed from the run last night.  the crit, not so much, only because the muscle groups used and the amount of load on certain portions of the legs is clearly different with running.  I was still eager to get out and ride though, only because I knew it’d be quiet out, and the legs needed a good spin to start the week.  I caught a good break in the weather, too.  it wasn’t too windy or cold out, which was nice for a change.

my luck ran a bit dry as I came down towards paradise drive though.  the 3 infamous school buses picking up kids, waving goodbye to their beaming parents.  it’s all so nice to look at when your face isn’t half frozen.  I calmly maneuvered past two school buses as they approached the stop (before they threw on the blinking red lights), and passed the the third one right as it was picking up 20+ kids.  some parents were watching their kids from inside of their cars, which I didn’t quite understand.  you’re watching your kid get onto a bus while you’re in a car…why not just drive your kid to school?  maybe they work in opposite directions.  I spent about 10 minutes thinking about that before just forgetting about the whole thing all together.

I’m hoping I have a restful day at work so that I can run later.  it’s just so fun…

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early bird criterium #1.

January 8, 2012 in riding | No comments

this year, the category 4 race is the first thing in the morning.  there’s no clinic to kick off the day like last year.  it’s definitely more convienient if you’re out just to race and not stay for the clinics afterwards.  I was just excited to be back out on the course, it’s been a while since I was last in the industrial park.  tim and I raced the easter sunday classic here, but it was only one l-section of the jelly bean, and it sucked…

anyway, I arrived early to get settled in.  the first “race” of the season.  I hadn’t ridden with a group this big for months, so I had a feeling my nerves might be a bit on end.  then the slow realization that other people hadn’t raced in a big field either, somewhat put my mind at ease.  there aren’t any points to gain at the early bird crits, just experience.  so with that, I threw down my $15, pinned my number, and jumped on the trainer to warm up.  it was a fairly cold morning, but as the sun started coming up over the horizon, the air started to thaw.

the race started at 8:30am, and by time I rolled up to the start line, there was already a big field waiting for the whistle.  there were probably around 40-50 guys out this morning, the most people I’ve seen on road bikes in almost half a year (scary concept…).  steve (chica sexy) was near the front, as was vidal, but other then that, I didn’t know anyone in the field.  I was amped to get the legs going.  we would have mentors shifting in and out of the laps to keep the back of the group in check.  it seemed as if we needed it as well, since a lot of guys seemed nervous and twitchy.  the whistle blew, and field was off.  I made my way to the front instantly, to see how the legs were doing.  after the first two turns, the field was several seconds behind me.  and for a split second, I thought that if I went all in right now, I could gain a lot of ground…but of course, I’d probably get caught, especially since it was only the first lap, and guys were just starting to warm up.

I eased up, and let them catch me, but stayed in front with steve to start pushing the pace a bit.  we were having a good time, but both realized that all the work we were putting in was kind of wasted, so we tucked back in the middle of the field for a while to let the legs rest.  coming into one of the laps, the wheel in front of me shifted slightly to the right.  I slowly brought my bike in line with his, but as I was slowly moving over, I felt an overlapped wheel on the rear.  a stream of shouts followed by a horrible crashing sound – I looked back to see 4-5 guys down.  on the next lap the road was cleared, a couple guys appeared to be coming back into the race.  one guy sat on the grass, clearly out of the crit all together.  I continued to hang back, but after the accident, riders were even more nervous.  cutting corners, braking hard, swerving off the front, slingshotting from the back – it was nerve racking keeping tabs on everyone’s movements in the group.

steve and I eventually made it back to the front and started drilling the pace again.  there was a small group of 3-4 guys kind of strung off the front, not quite working together, but attempting to get something started.  turn 1, turn 2, and then on the back straight, I was able to reel them in.  the legs were getting toasted with all the riding up front, so I eased up and caught some draft for a bit.  as the laps ticked down to 2, steve fell towards the back, and said he’d be sitting out the (inevitable) fast finish.  I continued to press on, staying as close as I could to the front.  on the last lap, I guess he had a change of heart, because we both came through the first turn, and I launched my final ditch effort to try and get away.  steve jumped on my wheel.  but on the back straight my legs no longer had anything in them, I pulled off, and steve took control of the front.  on the final bend, I looked ahead, and the sprint train was on in full force.  I finished almost dead last, but the fact I avoided an accident, stayed up front and did some strong pulls with steve, and finished the race, that’s enough for me.

it was also a good gauge for my fitness and my position on the bike.  I haven’t done any hard riding since my fitting a while ago, and I have to say, I’m riding much stronger and more bio-mechanically sound that last season.  still not quite cut out for crits, but I’m so glad to be back racing again.

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friday’s ride.

January 6, 2012 in riding | No comments

friday morning redemption.  no flats to speak of, no sketchy riders, and less cars that usual on a weekday.  there was a thick layer of fog that hung over the whole city, but luckily, there was a massive pocket of air that prevented the fog from sticking to the ground.  that is, until I dropped into sausalito.  along the bike path, the fog settled and at times, it was difficult to see where the bike was headed.  occasionally, the blindingly bright lights of the early morning commuters disorientated me for a second, since all I could see was just their light in the fog.  some people were courteous enough to shade their light with one of their hands, just enough so that the riders coming from the opposite direction weren’t blinded.  I’m still thinking about ways to avoid getting blinded in the fog…

more than half of the ride I spent paranoid about my tires.  if the road was smooth and I didn’t feel the jarring bumps of debris, I started growing concerned that one of my tires may be going flat, or that they’d be losing pressure.  luckily, nothing happened, and they stayed rock solid the entire time.  I definitely need to invest in more tubes and gatorskins though, I’m basically on my last set of spares.  the specialized mondo is still hanging up on the wall, and I don’t think it’ll be going onto any of the bikes unless a spare is really needed.  too gummy, if you know what I mean.  think soma everwear with a weird mushroom flared top.  crazy, right?

as I came back through sausalito, I saw maurice (and another guy) coming through.  and then I saw percy along crissy fields, wearing the high visibility, fluorescent defeet full finger gloves.  you really can see them from a long ways away, they’re so flashy and cool.  hope everyone had a good ride!

oh, and on my way back, I passed a guy commuting with a single speed with wide risers.  he tailed farther behind, rode up next to me at a light on columbus, and said, “thanks for showing me a new route!”.  he lived in the marina and commuted to embarcadero bart to work, taking the main streets to get there, and not through fort mason/ghiridelli square.  props to you, commuter guy.  I’ll be joining the risers club, soon enough.

happy friday!

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thursday’s ride.

January 5, 2012 in riding | 2 comments

and then about 5 minutes later:

quite possibly the biggest glass shard I’ve ever pulled from a flat tire before.  prior to this, the ride was going really, really well.  no near head-on collision, no brake shoe misalignment issues, etc.  on my way back, I saw daniel (I think) riding next to dylan on his new tarmac sl4.  and then about a second later, I saw maurice and carlos (possibly?) heading through sausalito.  to top it off, I was coming around the bend near the golden gate bridge and saw percy about to climb up the path.  good seeing everyone out!

oddly enough, the flat happened right along the marina greens.  usually, the path is pretty roughed up, but it doesn’t have any debris on it.  they’ve recently repaved the two walkway ramps that cut into the path – it’s smoother than ever.  but my plea for redemption didn’t sit too well, I guess.  the tire didn’t hiss as the glass went around, but it did feel like I ran over something.  and of course, when I pulled over to a nearby bench, I saw the glass chunk sticking out.  luckily, I fixed it without any trouble…now my issue is getting more inner tubes and possibly more tires.  I put the gp4000s up front to replace that busted one from yesterday.  the only tire I have left hanging up is a specialized mondo, and I really don’t want to put it on.  freewheel has been out of gatorskins for a bit, so it may have to suffice until proper tires arrive.

two flats, two days in a row.  until we meet again, thursday.  friday, redemption.

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wednesday’s ride.

January 4, 2012 in riding | 3 comments

one lucky moment + one unlucky moment = ?  this morning’s ride started off a bit better than yesterday’s.  the fog had passed, and the skies were clear as far as I could see.  as I exited the bridge and started riding into marin, I saw the easily distinguishable brite sport kit.  of course, it was naveen out for his morning ride.  good seeing you out!  I dropped into sausalito and road out towards the bike path – everything was going well.  I passed by the lady that had her weird flat duffle bag early-ish on the path, so I had a feeling I was making good time.  a bright light from someone’s bike was up ahead, approaching slowly.  I didn’t think too much of it, more than half the riders out early all have high intensities on their bikes.  I hugged the side of the path and anticipated his pass, opposite of me.  as we both grew closer together, I saw something out of place.  someone was right in front of me…another road cyclist, pedaling dead on straight, heading right towards me, no lights, no reflective clothing.  all I remember seeing was a faint red jacket which was basically in the shadows of the high intensity, bright light guy.  they were almost neck and neck on the bike path.  I realized he wasn’t heading in my direction, yelled out towards him, and threw the bike off the path, into the compact gravel.  holy crap…that was a close one.

I eased up the pace, as the adrenaline kicked.  for a while I was still in awe.  if we had gotten into a head-on, I think we both would’ve been severely hurt.  I mean we’re talking mirror images – I was in the drops, he was in the drops, our helmets were perched exactly the same, and he seemed to be just about the same size as me.  god damn it, I don’t even care if you don’t have lights, but for safety, at least ride on the right side of the road.  I see people with k-mart special bikes riding with the craziest saddle, bar, and foot placements, no lights, and they still ride on the right side of the road.  it just makes sense.

as I came back towards sausalito, I heard the hiss of a flat tire.  the dreaded sound I thought I had rid myself of because of the higher pressure.  and it was true, the sidewall wasn’t technically what blew out this time.  the non-drive side brake shoe had tilted a bit somewhere along the way, and rubbed part of the sidewall casing on the tire, ugh.  a brand new gatorskin, now with a dime size sidewall gash.  I couldn’t pump it up too much because it would’ve bubbled, but I put enough air in to limp it the rest of the way home.  not ideally how I wanted to spend my ride, but I definitely feel grateful that the head-on collision was avoided, and that the flat was fixable.

wednesday, we will meet again next week…thursday, I will scream redemption.

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tuesday’s ride.

January 3, 2012 in riding | 3 comments

the first pre-dawn ride of the new year!  the challenge wasn’t really waking up early, as much as it was maneuvering through the pitch black thick fog that blanketed everything all the way into marin.  there were surprisingly a lot of runners out, you have to imagine that some of the people in the bunch set those pesky new year’s resolutions for themselves.  and of course, the barrage of e-mails from various groupon’s, coupons, google offers, amazon offers, and the like, were waiting for me at home – something to the degree of, “half off boot camp!”.  but, speaking of fitness, I’m actually going to take a visit to fleet feet here in san francisco to see if they have any insoles and shims to accommodate my leg length discrepancy and arch issues.  I’m planning on taking up a bit of running – more of an after work kind of thing rather than a competitive training of sorts.  the higher impact of running will (hopefully) work different muscle groups and yield a shorter/higher intensity workout than cycling.  plus, I think it’ll be fun to mix it up.

I’m also happy to report that I had no sidewall issues this morning.  in fact, I think I probably should’ve lowered the psi a bit since the ground was dewy throughout the whole ride.  currently running 100psi in the rear with a continental race, which I’ll be replacing shortly because the compound sucks, and 95psi in the front on a continental gatorskin.  it’s definitely more jarring up front because of the increase in pressure, but I’m hoping with the added air that it won’t flex as much on heavy braking.  so far, so good.  oh, and I forgot to mention that I saw maurice (+1 other person I didn’t quite recognize) coming into sausalito.  shortly thereafter, (I think) someone called my name in a group of 4 guys about to drop into marin.  hello!  hope everyone had a good ride.

back to work today, hope everyone has a great tuesday!

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sunday’s ride.

January 1, 2012 in riding | 3 comments

the new year.  what a surprise, the world didn’t end – I don’t believe that it will, either.  my co-worker said it best (not verbatim): “2012 isn’t the year the world is going to end.  I don’t think the mayans could’ve predicted the end of civilization, they couldn’t even predict their own demise.  I think they meant that there’s going to be change in 2012.  change to society, the way we run our lives and take in information.”  to that, I agree.  I also feel like a new year, regardless of what number value it’s assigned, is not necessarily a clean start, but another chance to make (good) choices.  it’s more psychological, than anything.  the spikes in gym memberships, sales in running shoes, and all things slightly athletic.  and honestly, I do believe in setting goals for yourself, but depending on someone’s personality/body, keeping them within reach will prevent burning out.  my new year’s resolution?  that’s an easy one.  I just want to ride more, and I want to enjoy myself.

today’s ride was quiet.  I have a feeling a lot people had it rough last night, with it being new year’s eve and all.  my powertap battery must be dislodged, because it wouldn’t even register anything this morning.  when the battery was slowly dying last month, it would read for at least a couple sort segments before shutting down.  that being said, I may be parting with the powertap rear wheel.  riding with heart rate alone is enough awareness (for me) to tell exerted effort.  and since I don’t really have a set riding routine or coach, I figured it just may be time to let it go, and to stop racking my brain about batteries dying or dislodging.  I’ll be investing in a nice set of handbuilts to ride/race year round.  it’s already decided, but I’ll let the build speak for itself in about a month.

hope everyone had a safe weekend!

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saturday’s ride.

December 31, 2011 in riding | No comments

you’re kidding, right.  not one minute after leaving my house, a front flat.  I came down one block on broadway and heard a loud pop – the looping hiss faded, and before I knew it, I was riding on rim.  I rode back up to the house to pull another tube, and as I inspected the tire for any debris, I found a fairly big chunk of glass sticking out of the tire.  fair enough…time to swap on a new tube.  I remounted the tire with the new tube and pumped it up.  but something didn’t look quite right.  a bubble the size of a quarter was protruding from the sidewall of the specialized mondo tire, the one I started running at 90psi after all the continental blowouts a couple weeks back.  time to swap on that fresh new folding bead gatorskin I bought at the shop 2 days ago.  and here I was saving it for later, oh well.

taking connor’s advice, I pumped up the tire to 95psi, only a tad more than what I was putting in before.  I’m inclined to think that because there’s heavy load upon braking, weight shifts from the front to the back, thus creating more tire deflection up on the tire.  granted, I don’t think anyone has had really explored varying pressure on 23mm wide rims, since they’ve only gotten popular in the last year or so.  fingers crossed with a 5% difference in pressure.

so finally, I left the house (for real this time).  the sun was starting to come up as I rode across the empty bridge.  farther up ahead, I spotted a group of 4 guys, all wearing sparkling new black and green kits.  I caught up to them in sausalito, and what do you know, it was joseph, naveen, gabe, and jason wearing their new brite sport kits – new season, new team.  they were heading out to tam for some climbing, I figured I’d tag along since it’s been groundhog day for months now (with paradise and half paradise).  naveen was in for a 3×20 minute, joseph was doing a 2×45 minute session.  we rode up to 4 corners via mill valley and jason split off.  gabe and I tagged along for the ride.  joseph and I continued up towards east peak – we stopped at his 45 minute session, looping back towards a parking lot to wait for gabe and naveen.  cue photo above.

after regrouping, we descended down to stinson.  I haven’t really descended recently (maybe 5+ months?) so initially, going fast seemed a bit spooky.  I was unsure how the front end was going to handle on the wet pavement, with 5psi more, and a fresh new tire.  I’m glad to report that all the descents for the day went swimmingly, no blowouts, no squirrelly movements, and no loss of traction at any points.  only bummer part being my cassette – so while joseph and naveen were patiently climbing in 27t cogs, I was stuck in a 25t.  I rode up the road, farther ahead, as naveen split off to the ranger station to wait for gabe.  joseph tailed farther behind me, on his last climbing session of the day.  wish I had a 27t…sorry I couldn’t wait up more, joe!

we flew back down towards the ranger station, topped off the bottles, and started the descent back down into sausalito.  there were tons of people out, I wasn’t used to seeing so many cyclists, pedestrians, and runners.  we had a close call with a girl riding a mountain bike, swerving all over the place…is it tourist season already?  I split after the bridge as the others headed up towards the presidio.  glad I ran into you guys today, definitely fun to mix up the riding a bit!

oh yea, and as a side note, my powertap battery died (or got loose, or something).  what a pain.

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thursday’s ride.

December 29, 2011 in riding | 2 comments

yea, so I completely forgot to stop to take a picture while out on this morning’s ride.  it’s not like there was a plethora of scenery to show, anyway.  the fog was so thick and misty that I found myself wiping my glasses constantly just to keep the water at bay.  the weather continues to get warmer though, which is good.  I think the fog is the atmosphere’s way of saying, “whoa, it got all warm all of a sudden but I’m still cold in certain spots, chill out!”.  needless to say, I rode the bike through the gritty sand and twiggy shoulders, catching a ton of ugliness on every inch of the frame.  but I guess I’d rather have that, than a flat tire in the middle of no where land – quick, flashback to 2 weeks ago.  absolutely horrible.

as I made my way up camino alto, I started catching up to a familiar sight.  maurice was slowly making his way up in zone 1, and we chatted for a bit.  this is going to be his first season racing – he’s skipping the san bruno hill climb on the advice of dario (whole athlete), but he’ll be out racing the early bird criteriums all january.  he was keeping his morning ride brief, so we split shortly thereafter.  all alone on paradise drive.  minus a couple cars that passed with a few inches to spare.  love it.

no more road construction out of sausalito, so that’s a plus.  I saw 2 or 3 group rides heading out as I was coming back into the city – one of which was going a bit too fast, 2 abreast and slightly staggered on a section of path that wasn’t meant for more than 2 across.  people have a strange sense of spacial dimension if they think they can still talk to their buddy side by side with another cyclist coming straight towards them, hugging a rail on the opposite side of the path.  oh well.

I ran through my remaining ‘daily’ chamois cream this morning, and had to resort to some dz nuts.  I’m convinced that if I were a baller, I would only buy dz nuts.  it really is that good.  but I do think this is the day that I’ll finally be less lazy and ride one of the bikes to freewheel to pick up my chamois butt’r that’s sitting on the special order shelf.  hopefully they have 2, because it’s always good to have spares.  especially with the season coming up.  on the ‘buy’ list, there’s also tubes, a tire (probably a gatorskin), cycling cap (the plastic visors on all my caps seem to wear through the cotton over time…), brake pads for the road bike, sidi mtb cleat plate, and I think that’s it.  I need to write these things down so I don’t forget.

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wednesday’s ride.

December 28, 2011 in riding | No comments

sorry, the camera phone lens must’ve gotten smudged in my ziploc baggie.  the roads are slowly starting to fill up with more people.  there were a couple more cyclists out on the bridge, and a handful more pedestrians – not too big of an issue, since it was 10 times worse a couple months back with full on tourist season and all.  I definitely don’t miss those days.  seeing rent-a-bike tourists riding 2 abreast, one of which is always no-hands with a flip camera in the other hand, trying to capture the moment.  his eyes fixated on the video camera, and not the inevitable head-on collision with another cyclist about 100ft away.  le sigh.  I’m thoroughly enjoying the gap between summer and spring, definitely need to ride as much as possible before the impending tourist onslaught.

same quiet loop as usual.  I saw several marin residents heading out of their homes to ride around tiburon, but no road cyclists.  I’m assuming everyone is still out of town, or just coming out of holiday mode.  with new year’s eve/day coming up, I’m predicting more of the same kinds of road conditions next week.  and as a compounded upside, the weather has been slowly getting warmer – it may be because I’m leaving the house a bit later, but I have a feeling that the worst of our ‘winter’ has already passed.  hopefully the lighter clothes can start coming back out as racing season starts creeping up.  the first race of the road season is the san bruno hill climb on new year’s day.  a ~17 minute climb up to the top of guadalupe canyon/radio road, a race which I’m not keen on doing because of my horrible performance last season.  sitting in the frigid cue line for 10+ minutes was painful, but not nearly as painful as the climb to the top.  resting heart rate to anaerobic in 3, 2, 1…

unfortunately, I can’t attend the first early bird criterium because of my cinema 4d class, pretty bummed on that.  however, after that weekend, my schedule is clear for crits and circuits weekend after weekend.  getting excited for early season races, for sure.

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