2009 came and went so fast I didn't have time over the holidays to publish any thoughts about the passing year. I might get to that, but don't count on it. Looking forward there are a lot of balls being juggled. New SJBC president role, expanded club race team, busy-ness with family stuff and general chaos.
On a tangent, it's been fun over the past month to watch my kids take up the sport of basketball. I'm not one of those parents that dictates what their child's sporting interests will be. I see lots of parents getting their kids involved in things based on the past history of success (or lack thereof) of the parent. I'm not expecting my kids to be Division I Pac-10 athletes (like their dad), but just seeing the joy in them taking up the game of basketball has brought back a lot of heartfelt memories of my own.
Last night a fellow parent asked if I would ever get into coaching basketball. Hmm, something to ponder, but at the moment I'm having too much fun watching. Besides, I can't give away all my secrets on how to play the game.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Need Route Advice for Solvang/Santa Barbara
I'm putting together some routes for myself and want to learn more from local riders in the Solvang/Santa Barbara area.
The first loop takes us out of Solvang and out to Jamala. The return back I've got us going through Lompoc, then Los Alamos: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/santa-ynez-valley/838126093664516876
The second loop goes up the dirt side of Refugio Road out of Solvang (not sure how good of a road this is, but I'm not afraid of taking the road bike on some dirt), then on to Santa Barbara and returning via the Gibralter climb: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/solvang/177126093828350408
Any feedback would be great.
The first loop takes us out of Solvang and out to Jamala. The return back I've got us going through Lompoc, then Los Alamos: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/santa-ynez-valley/838126093664516876
The second loop goes up the dirt side of Refugio Road out of Solvang (not sure how good of a road this is, but I'm not afraid of taking the road bike on some dirt), then on to Santa Barbara and returning via the Gibralter climb: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/solvang/177126093828350408
Any feedback would be great.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Blogging Low Point
Wow, November was a dismal month for postings on this blog. I guess that coincides with a few things happening with other priorities in life. Work has picked up significantly with a little known acquisition that's been proving to be more worth than initially scoped, and the onset of the holidays has its usual bevy of activities between Thanksgiving and Christmas (...or Festivus if that's your holiday of choice).
In the midst of all of this, I'm proud to say that November broke some new ground for things bike-related. I explored a lot of unexplored routes that I previously had dismissed. Many of them were dead end roads, but several gems were found (Weaver Road) among the duds (Aldercroft Heights Road). I found out how versatile a road bike can be on local fire roads where most traffic tends to be mountain bikes and hikers. I even explored the possibility of buying an old bike from one well-known CX racer who just happens to be very tall and a national champ (BTW, thanks to those that helped me get in touch with the individual).
To top it off, I did accomplish something of interest on the bike. For you Trainingpeaks WKO+ geeks like me, I had a five day block of serious volume right around Thanksgiving. Hit a new high for my ATL while driving my TSB down to -51! But what about the CTL? It came close to a high, but not near what I had back in July. That's fine, because I'm not really looking to put a peak together this off-season for our local weekend club races.
And speaking of those (SJBC Winter Series), I had a blast testing out my new Edge tubulars at the last crit. First time out on this wheelset and an absolute joy. I'd forgotten how much trust one can develop with a set of tubulars while your railing through a corner and laying down some power.
Thinking more about this, it's the first time in probably 2+ years that I haven't raced with a power meter. All my previous iterations of race wheelsets had been built around PowerTap hubs. With my intent to use Metrigear's future product (yes, I did order a Garmin Edge 500 on Cyber Monday...sweet discount too), I've decided to move away from the PT hubs. It was interesting in the crit on Sunday that I never found myself feeling the need to have the power numbers in front of me. Sure, when I hit the gas and cause the split and subsequent break to form, it might have been nice to see the data after the fact, but in retrospect I found it somewhat of a relief to just not have the power number in front of me being a distraction. I felt myself focusing more on the race, which was the object, and placing less focus on whether or not I'd blow up since these power numbers on the head unit were showing that I was going ballistic. This somewhat supports the idea I've thrown around in my head about riding/racing with the power readout display covered up with some electrical tape.
When time permits I hope to throw together a post highlighting some fun stuff from my own past year and give some 2010 predictions.
In the midst of all of this, I'm proud to say that November broke some new ground for things bike-related. I explored a lot of unexplored routes that I previously had dismissed. Many of them were dead end roads, but several gems were found (Weaver Road) among the duds (Aldercroft Heights Road). I found out how versatile a road bike can be on local fire roads where most traffic tends to be mountain bikes and hikers. I even explored the possibility of buying an old bike from one well-known CX racer who just happens to be very tall and a national champ (BTW, thanks to those that helped me get in touch with the individual).
To top it off, I did accomplish something of interest on the bike. For you Trainingpeaks WKO+ geeks like me, I had a five day block of serious volume right around Thanksgiving. Hit a new high for my ATL while driving my TSB down to -51! But what about the CTL? It came close to a high, but not near what I had back in July. That's fine, because I'm not really looking to put a peak together this off-season for our local weekend club races.
And speaking of those (SJBC Winter Series), I had a blast testing out my new Edge tubulars at the last crit. First time out on this wheelset and an absolute joy. I'd forgotten how much trust one can develop with a set of tubulars while your railing through a corner and laying down some power.
Thinking more about this, it's the first time in probably 2+ years that I haven't raced with a power meter. All my previous iterations of race wheelsets had been built around PowerTap hubs. With my intent to use Metrigear's future product (yes, I did order a Garmin Edge 500 on Cyber Monday...sweet discount too), I've decided to move away from the PT hubs. It was interesting in the crit on Sunday that I never found myself feeling the need to have the power numbers in front of me. Sure, when I hit the gas and cause the split and subsequent break to form, it might have been nice to see the data after the fact, but in retrospect I found it somewhat of a relief to just not have the power number in front of me being a distraction. I felt myself focusing more on the race, which was the object, and placing less focus on whether or not I'd blow up since these power numbers on the head unit were showing that I was going ballistic. This somewhat supports the idea I've thrown around in my head about riding/racing with the power readout display covered up with some electrical tape.
When time permits I hope to throw together a post highlighting some fun stuff from my own past year and give some 2010 predictions.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Exploring in the Back Yard - Soda Springs Road
Our local area is very blessed with the vast amount of terrain for on- and off-road biking. Over the past couple of months with the intensity low on my training radar I've done a few rides that normally I wouldn't have tried previously. Not sure as to the specific reason why I wouldn't have done these rides as part of my normal training, but it's probably because I've felt less in a rut around riding and more carefree about where my bike ends up taking me. That's a good thing and something I need to do more to counterbalance the demands of training and the impending slew of interval work I see on the horizon.
I recently decided to explore Soda Springs Road. The low-key'ers did this climb a few weeks ago and though I missed it, I felt I should at least make the effort to give the climb a go. What really prompted me to get my rear up to this climb was the announcement that the Los Gatos Creek Trail had reopened the upper part of the trail across the front of the dam. No more nasty climbing on the gravel road (I actually never did it, but it was a deterrence). I came down it plenty, but never found a reason to be joyous about climbing it. With the change in the trail in place, I figured it was worth heading up to Soda Springs.
The sign at the bottom is h
armless and gives no real indication of what was in store. As the climb began I was surprised at how this road meandered up through the canyon. For some reason I thought I'd end up with a nice few of the back side of Mt. Umunhum as I climbed but that wasn't the case. I did keep getting views of the trails in the Sierra Azul area where folks typically mountain bike.
I'm not going to go into too much detail, but I captured some interesting things along the climb that caught my interest. The autumn colors in the leaves on the vines aren't done justice by the iPhone camera, but they were ablaze in vibrant fall hues.
As you climb higher the road narrows and leaves just enough room for a cyclist and a single vehicle. This is probably one of my favorite pictures on the climb because it gives you a real sense of what the climb entails. Pretty steady 8% grade the whole way up. You just have to find that happy gear and mash out your feel-good cadence. Mine happened to be at at nice tempo pace on the day I took these pictures. I came back a week later and went a bit faster (sub-threshold) and shaved off three plus minutes from my previous time up the climb.
Higher up on the hill you come across less pe
ople and more outstanding views. There was some local valley haze in the area and it wasn't completely clear; the following week at the top it was much cooler and clear. I could see all the way to Mt. Tam, SF, Oakland and the foothills up near Sonoma and Napa Valleys.
I'm still surprised at myself for not making the effort to get up to this excellent climb sooner. From my house it's roughly a 1.5 hour ride to the top. Not bad considering that I'm only having to really deal with cars for the first twenty minutes of this ride from the house over to the LG trail head. Once you get up around Lexington and the climb the volume of cars is very low.
On the way home I decided to hop over and give Montevina a climb. I've cut across the dirt trail numerous times to descend Bohlman, but given my adventurous bent, I decided to stick to the dirt trail (on the road bike...25mm tires mind you) and descend into Los Gatos. Of course I took it easy on the descent because coming home in several pieces is not an option. Overall it was fun to explore some new parts of the hills and open myself to new adventures in the dirt descent.
I recently decided to explore Soda Springs Road. The low-key'ers did this climb a few weeks ago and though I missed it, I felt I should at least make the effort to give the climb a go. What really prompted me to get my rear up to this climb was the announcement that the Los Gatos Creek Trail had reopened the upper part of the trail across the front of the dam. No more nasty climbing on the gravel road (I actually never did it, but it was a deterrence). I came down it plenty, but never found a reason to be joyous about climbing it. With the change in the trail in place, I figured it was worth heading up to Soda Springs.
The sign at the bottom is h
armless and gives no real indication of what was in store. As the climb began I was surprised at how this road meandered up through the canyon. For some reason I thought I'd end up with a nice few of the back side of Mt. Umunhum as I climbed but that wasn't the case. I did keep getting views of the trails in the Sierra Azul area where folks typically mountain bike.
I'm not going to go into too much detail, but I captured some interesting things along the climb that caught my interest. The autumn colors in the leaves on the vines aren't done justice by the iPhone camera, but they were ablaze in vibrant fall hues.
As you climb higher the road narrows and leaves just enough room for a cyclist and a single vehicle. This is probably one of my favorite pictures on the climb because it gives you a real sense of what the climb entails. Pretty steady 8% grade the whole way up. You just have to find that happy gear and mash out your feel-good cadence. Mine happened to be at at nice tempo pace on the day I took these pictures. I came back a week later and went a bit faster (sub-threshold) and shaved off three plus minutes from my previous time up the climb.Higher up on the hill you come across less pe
ople and more outstanding views. There was some local valley haze in the area and it wasn't completely clear; the following week at the top it was much cooler and clear. I could see all the way to Mt. Tam, SF, Oakland and the foothills up near Sonoma and Napa Valleys.I'm still surprised at myself for not making the effort to get up to this excellent climb sooner. From my house it's roughly a 1.5 hour ride to the top. Not bad considering that I'm only having to really deal with cars for the first twenty minutes of this ride from the house over to the LG trail head. Once you get up around Lexington and the climb the volume of cars is very low.
On the way home I decided to hop over and give Montevina a climb. I've cut across the dirt trail numerous times to descend Bohlman, but given my adventurous bent, I decided to stick to the dirt trail (on the road bike...25mm tires mind you) and descend into Los Gatos. Of course I took it easy on the descent because coming home in several pieces is not an option. Overall it was fun to explore some new parts of the hills and open myself to new adventures in the dirt descent.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Hello off season & low-tensity
The last month and a half since my last race has been nice. Mellow rides, great scenery (thanks Granfondo!) and plenty of time to not ride hard. In fact, it's been nice to ride the same roads I hammer on during intervals and have time to view the surroundings. Amazing the amount of things you take for granted when all the blood goes to your legs and lungs and not your eyes and brain.
So if I come across you on a ride this fall/winter I'm not likely to try and follow. I'm liking this pace and so is my waistline (down 9 pounds...watch out climbers).
So if I come across you on a ride this fall/winter I'm not likely to try and follow. I'm liking this pace and so is my waistline (down 9 pounds...watch out climbers).
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Interbike, Part III - Pictures
Been busy lately and totally forgot to get these posted. So here are some highlights of mine from Interbike:
I don't know who the Garmin rider is on the left, but Christian Vande Velde is pretty recognizable. These guys, plus Dave Zabriskie, just happened to be signing autographs at the Vittoria/3T booth.
Dave didn't want to emphasize the height difference so he decided to stand on his chair for the picture. You can't tell from this picture but DZ's shoulders are probably narrower than his waist; no wonder he's fast on his TT bike.
Lunch courtesy of Clif Bar...espresso from this guy.
The Ouch guys were hanging out at the Kuota booth. John Murphy (US Crit Champ), Rory Sutherland and Floyd Landis were all interested in the Metrigear product.
Hung out with Bob Parlee for a few minutes. He actually remembered when the order for my frame came through his shop almost two years ago. Bob was kind enough to spend time listening to my feedback on his frame and what I'd do differently with my next Parlee frame.
I don't know who the Garmin rider is on the left, but Christian Vande Velde is pretty recognizable. These guys, plus Dave Zabriskie, just happened to be signing autographs at the Vittoria/3T booth.
Dave didn't want to emphasize the height difference so he decided to stand on his chair for the picture. You can't tell from this picture but DZ's shoulders are probably narrower than his waist; no wonder he's fast on his TT bike.
Lunch courtesy of Clif Bar...espresso from this guy.
The Ouch guys were hanging out at the Kuota booth. John Murphy (US Crit Champ), Rory Sutherland and Floyd Landis were all interested in the Metrigear product.
Hung out with Bob Parlee for a few minutes. He actually remembered when the order for my frame came through his shop almost two years ago. Bob was kind enough to spend time listening to my feedback on his frame and what I'd do differently with my next Parlee frame.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Levi's Granfondo Carbon Clincher Failure on Meyers Grade
This past weekend I participated in Levi's Granfondo and had a wonderful time. Amazing roads, people, support and weather for a terrific ride that took me through parts of California that I would otherwise not have ever seen.
One of the sights I thought I'd never see was my beloved Edge Composite 68 carbon clinchers fail under me while riding. These have been a bomb-proof wheel set since day one. 20/24 spokes, WI hub up front, Powertap in the rear with CX-Ray spokes. An absolute dream. My 88kg's have had nothing but great times on these wheels.
I've learned with these wheels that under heaving braking on steep descents you must exhibit caution. You can't ride the brakes and just think you'll be fine when you get to the bottom. I learned this on a very short and steep 20% descent last fall when I had a latex tube blow out. Yes, I was on the brakes the whole way down and should have known better, but thankfully no harm was done to the wheel or myself. Lesson learned, at least I thought...
Some of the descents of the Granfondo were pretty steep and around blind corners. With being unfamiliar with the roads, I made sure I was cautious. Cautious, but also considerate of the fact that I didn't want to overheat the brakes. I didn't experience any problems over the first 60 miles. The rims weren't squealing nor were the rims overheating.
This all changed as I descended down Meyers Grade Road (photo from http://www.steephill.tv's route preview). The day of the 'fondo was just as perfect as this picture.
The descent was made a bit more technical from the 20+mph wind blowing from off the ocean to the right. The signs at the top warn riders that you're about to descend an 18% grade and caution is required. As had been the norm for the descents up until this point, I made sure I descended safely and with the goal of keeping all equipment in tact. To put this is relation to other riders, I was descending just as fast as others with the exception of a former MTB pro who kept bombing past me on descents (I would then pass him on climbs).
Toward the bottom third of this descent I felt a very bad pulsation in the front brake lever. I looked down at the front wheel to see if there was something wrong but there wasn't anything visibly bad. But it was scary to see the fork flexing back and forth under braking; it probably was oscillating at least an inch when I had the front brake applied heavily.
I got to the bottom of the descent and my teammate pulled over a few seconds later to see how I was doing. I spun the front wheel and it got stuck. It wasn't clear to me what happened. I opened the brakes up to let the wheel spin more freely. At this point I saw the issue. Initially it looked like the sidewall of my Rubino Pro had bulged out and was rubbing the break pads (yellow Swiss Stop). But to my surprise it actually was a deformity of the braking area of the rim! I had somehow managed to melt the carbon.
I was able to limp back through the rest of the ride, but took it very slow on corners and was only able to use about 10% of the braking power from the front. When I got home I took the tire off the wheel and noticed the damage was much worse. I thought only one side of the rim had melted. Come to find out it was on both sides. In the picture you'll see how each side of the clincher flares out.
Thankfully I kept the rubber down, but I'll be on the phone with Edge to discuss the details around the failure and what we can do going forward.
One of the sights I thought I'd never see was my beloved Edge Composite 68 carbon clinchers fail under me while riding. These have been a bomb-proof wheel set since day one. 20/24 spokes, WI hub up front, Powertap in the rear with CX-Ray spokes. An absolute dream. My 88kg's have had nothing but great times on these wheels.
I've learned with these wheels that under heaving braking on steep descents you must exhibit caution. You can't ride the brakes and just think you'll be fine when you get to the bottom. I learned this on a very short and steep 20% descent last fall when I had a latex tube blow out. Yes, I was on the brakes the whole way down and should have known better, but thankfully no harm was done to the wheel or myself. Lesson learned, at least I thought...
Some of the descents of the Granfondo were pretty steep and around blind corners. With being unfamiliar with the roads, I made sure I was cautious. Cautious, but also considerate of the fact that I didn't want to overheat the brakes. I didn't experience any problems over the first 60 miles. The rims weren't squealing nor were the rims overheating.
This all changed as I descended down Meyers Grade Road (photo from http://www.steephill.tv's route preview). The day of the 'fondo was just as perfect as this picture.
The descent was made a bit more technical from the 20+mph wind blowing from off the ocean to the right. The signs at the top warn riders that you're about to descend an 18% grade and caution is required. As had been the norm for the descents up until this point, I made sure I descended safely and with the goal of keeping all equipment in tact. To put this is relation to other riders, I was descending just as fast as others with the exception of a former MTB pro who kept bombing past me on descents (I would then pass him on climbs).
Toward the bottom third of this descent I felt a very bad pulsation in the front brake lever. I looked down at the front wheel to see if there was something wrong but there wasn't anything visibly bad. But it was scary to see the fork flexing back and forth under braking; it probably was oscillating at least an inch when I had the front brake applied heavily.
I got to the bottom of the descent and my teammate pulled over a few seconds later to see how I was doing. I spun the front wheel and it got stuck. It wasn't clear to me what happened. I opened the brakes up to let the wheel spin more freely. At this point I saw the issue. Initially it looked like the sidewall of my Rubino Pro had bulged out and was rubbing the break pads (yellow Swiss Stop). But to my surprise it actually was a deformity of the braking area of the rim! I had somehow managed to melt the carbon.
I was able to limp back through the rest of the ride, but took it very slow on corners and was only able to use about 10% of the braking power from the front. When I got home I took the tire off the wheel and noticed the damage was much worse. I thought only one side of the rim had melted. Come to find out it was on both sides. In the picture you'll see how each side of the clincher flares out.
Thankfully I kept the rubber down, but I'll be on the phone with Edge to discuss the details around the failure and what we can do going forward.
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