Some days you just feel strong. Anyone who does any sort of training for any sport I am sure has days where you feel like you would blow away your usual efforts. This was one such day. Too bad I wasn't racing or anything.
First off, to set the tone, last weekend was not a great one so far as eating well. Basically for Sunday and Monday the wheels fell off the truck and it was ugly. Maybe not as ugly as it might have been on days about 3 or 4 months ago, but it was not good. I am guessing that I consumed between 3000 and 4000 calories each day, maybe more. I figured that I would be hard pressed to lose any weight this week.
Tuesday and Wednesday were days when I didn't get to ride as much as I had planned but I did really well diet-wise.
Today I left a little bit earlier and climbed up to Skyline before cutting over to my usual route. The climb up to Skyline added 3 miles to my ride--not that big of a deal--and also about 500-600 feet of climbing within the first 2.5 miles of the ride. Usually my first 2-3 miles are totally downhill, so this route is obviously more work. But man, I felt great. I mean it still hurt to climb up Barnes to Skyline before I drop down to the Sylvan area, geesh I felt like I could have just ripped the chain apart I was hammering so hard. After work, on my ride home I felt the same way. I had a bunch of energy, it was surprising.
I got home, it was nearly 10PM (we were busy again tonight and I got a flat on the way home which I had to fix--hooray for CO2 cartridges) and after hanging the bike I said hello to the wife and went into take a shower. I hopped on the digital scale and PRESTO the second digit was not a "9", but an "8"! Holy Cow! I had to have Bridget come in and witness the numbers on the scale. My weight was 189.6 lbs. Wow!
So I have touched the 180's. I ate right after the shower so I am no longer sub 190, but maybe tomorrow morning--we'll see. I never count my night time weights as official weights. It has to be after I wake up, before I eat to count.
Anyway, I felt great and if I seem to be patting myself on the back a little much--so be it. I am excited. I am planning on doing the Scoggins Valley Triathlon at the end of August. If I was trying to push myself I should do the olympic distance, but I am going to do the sprint distance instead. I did the sprint distance last year and so I want to do it again so that I can compare my time last year to this year at the lower weight. I finished that hilly course last year in a little over 1hr 40min. I would like to knock about ten minutes off that time. I feel like a hammer, and I hope that it is more than in my head.
So it goes to show that if you have a bad couple of days, don't give up. Get back on the horse and keep at it.
By the way, at 189 and change I am 6-ish pounds away from my goal. I still have a gut. Weird. I lean over and it is kind of ugly. Luckily I am thin enough that any shirt I have on hides it, but when I am naked--ugh. Those fat cells just aren't ever going to totally go away. I am resigned to this fact. I don't think I will ever have six pack abs. Not that those are a goal, but I do think that anyone that has been bigger and then has them later has had lipo. I could be wrong, but according what I have read and heard fat cells just get smaller, they don't go away totally. So I still have all of the fat cells that I did when I was nearly 240 lbs. Yuck. But I can't imagine doing something like lipo so they will just have to stay here with me.
Wow, 240 lbs. I am about 50 pounds lighter than I was in 2002. I have difficulty imagining it.
OTHER NEWS:
My White Brothers Rock Solid fork is gone. Sold it and I have the Manitou 29er fork coming to take its place. The order is supposed to take 2 to 4 weeks which means that I may not have a mountain bike to ride for that long. I only placed the order for the Manitou a couple of days ago. We are heading to Black Butte Ranch the middle of August and I would really like to have it by then, but I don't have any control over it so I ain't going to worry about it. There is some good road rides I can do so I am not worried.
I also ordered some Neuvation wheels. I got an employee/team deal on these wheels and the price was less than the price of a set of Mavic Aksium wheels, but they weigh the same as a set of Mavic Ksyrium SL's. I just want some light-ish wheels that I don't have to worry about. These fit the bill. The M28 SL5 wheelset weighs 1490 grams and according to a couple of guys that have them, they are pretty bomb proof. I can even upgrade to ceramic bearings if I want. If I like them I will pick up another set for the wife. I could buy a "cooler" wheelset, but why? I will save my wheel money for some Zipp 1080's for next years half iron man.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Retail Blows
I really like riding home after work. That is I like the feeling of arrive home on my bike after riding home from work. I feel a bit tired, it is a good workout and having ridden 13 miles to work and then the 13 miles home is a decent workout for a day when added together. I usually really try to push it when I ride home since I am not worried about sweating too much and then having to work stinky. Today though I rode to work as fast as I could because I was just sort of feelin' it. Plus, it was a cool morning so the ride was not going to make me sweat too much even pushing hard. I don't know how long it took me to get to work, but I held gears while going up a few hills that I have never been able to hold before. It felt great. I arrived at work in a great mood.
Then the job just started bringing me down. We were pretty busy and we didn't actually get the last person out of the store until 9:20 PM--we close at 8:00 PM. Staying that late to help sell $400 bikes is not my idea of fun. Riding home that late is also not on that list of fun things to do, so I had Bridget come get me. She came and picked my up last night too--which also bummed me out. It was raining and I didn't have my fenders, and I wouldn't have been able to leave until after 9PM as well because we were similarly busy. Maybe I am just a wuss, but I don't really feel like riding home that late when I have spent 10 hours at the shop. The darkness at that hour doesn't bug me, it is the lateness that does. Oh yeah, and riding in the rain when it is not cross season, but the middle of summer sort of bugs as well.
On the upside out store did a heck of a lot of business so the ones who do actually care about that sort of thing will be very pleased.
Anyway, I sit here now in my pj's feeling like I missed something because I didn't ride home. My day feels incomplete. Tomorrow I will try and get in an extra ride to make up for it.
Oh, and on a different topic I swam 100 yards as fast as I could at the end of an easy swim class session. My time was just a hair over 1 minute and 40 seconds. That freaking rocks. If only I could do that for longer.
Then the job just started bringing me down. We were pretty busy and we didn't actually get the last person out of the store until 9:20 PM--we close at 8:00 PM. Staying that late to help sell $400 bikes is not my idea of fun. Riding home that late is also not on that list of fun things to do, so I had Bridget come get me. She came and picked my up last night too--which also bummed me out. It was raining and I didn't have my fenders, and I wouldn't have been able to leave until after 9PM as well because we were similarly busy. Maybe I am just a wuss, but I don't really feel like riding home that late when I have spent 10 hours at the shop. The darkness at that hour doesn't bug me, it is the lateness that does. Oh yeah, and riding in the rain when it is not cross season, but the middle of summer sort of bugs as well.
On the upside out store did a heck of a lot of business so the ones who do actually care about that sort of thing will be very pleased.
Anyway, I sit here now in my pj's feeling like I missed something because I didn't ride home. My day feels incomplete. Tomorrow I will try and get in an extra ride to make up for it.
Oh, and on a different topic I swam 100 yards as fast as I could at the end of an easy swim class session. My time was just a hair over 1 minute and 40 seconds. That freaking rocks. If only I could do that for longer.
Monday, July 28, 2008
How NOT to get your bike fixed immediately
At the shop we are backed up on repairs. We have one full time mechanic and another employee who performs repairs part-time. We schedule about 25 repairs/tune-ups per week. The rest of the time we reserve for building bikes and other stuff that needs to be done, such as warranty work. But we will try and help customers that need a little something done to their bikes--especially if the bike came from Performance. What kind of work will we do while the customer is waiting? There is not any set rule or set of rules, but I do have some suggestions on how NOT to go about getting us to help you out while you wait. I also have some recommendations on what you can do to get helped out quickly while others have to wait upwards of three weeks.
What NOT to do:
1) Be an able bodied male that only needs a flat tire repaired. If I am the one being asked I will teach you to fish if needed, but I am going to go out of my way to not do this for you. Doing this simplest of tasks makes me feel like I am your bitch for some reason. It is the worst sort of thing you can ask me to do for you at the shop. It more than bugs me. I would often rather have you ask if you can kick me in the shin with your Sidi Dominators (with the toe spikes in even) than that. To me part of the sport is being self sufficient when out on the road or trail and having someone else fix you flats is rediculous when you have a $2,000 bike. If you aren't willing to change you own tube you shouldn't be riding, or at the very least you should pay a penalty for your laziness. I have told people that the rate was $20 labor for a 5 minute job and they still won't do it themselves. Note: There is a gender bias here. I cut women slack for some reason, especially newbie women riders. I still would rather show them how to do it than do if for them.
2) Bring a bike in on Saturday or Sunday when we are busy. Sorry, not even if we wanted to help you could we do so on a weekend usually.
3) Have an attitude that expects us to drop everything just because your derailleurs aren't shifting as well as they should. The fact that you are doing the STP the next day is a you-problem, not a me-problem. Next time, plan ahead. This would be a classic DTP thing to do.
4) You were someone that was a jerk when you bought the bike from us. Yeah, I may be a lowly grunt, but this is when I get payback. it doesn't really matter how much you try to kiss butt now. Back of the line for you, jerk. Bring it back in two and a half weeks.
5) Call on the phone first. For some reason if you call you are going to get shut down automatically 95% of the time--at least by me. I don't remember names or voices and so it doesn't matter if we made a real rider-to-rider connection when you have been in--I don't care, I just want to get off the phone. I hate answering the phone.
6) Smell bad.
7) Acting like a know it all or that it is our fault that your bike won't shift when you haven't had it adjusted during the 2 years you have owned it. When you come in assuming that we are just going to drop everything to help you out then and there when others have to wait for their turn this can really turn us off to helping you. In fact a guy stormed out of the store saying he would never come back who did this to us last week. We told him we were too busy to do it right then and that we would have to schedule an appointment. After acting totally offended, then dropping some f-bombs he left us alone, thank goodness.
8) Ride in on a BMX bike.
9) Ride in on your bike that is held together by chicken wire. There is an exception to this rule for those that have obvious mental/physical difficulties or who are otherwise very much down on there luck. I still don't want to mess with your bike in this condition but my pity or empathy wins out.
10) Having a laundry list of things for us to do. There is probably a two item maximum at best, unless Joel, the manager is around and you are a moderately good lucking female. If this is the case then he will likely have us drop everything and do it right then and there even if it you want a complete tear down, clean and rebuild. See number 1 below.
Tips on how to get work done while you wait:
1) As per number 10 above, if you are even a moderately good lucking female and Joel is around, your ability to get something done right then and there depends upon whether you can draw a breath or not. Joel will do anything for any woman if she is under the age of 50, over the age of 18, and not obese. Yeah, pretty much anything that walks is of some interest to Joel. Not that he has any luck with any of them, but that would be a topic for another time and someone else's blog.
2) Be a kid that is humble and loves to ride his bike. Most of us will go out of our way for a pre-pubescent kid that needs help. Number 8 above applies if you are a kid riding in on a BMX bike and you are looking like a future crack/meth-head. However, even if you are a nice little Jonny or Jenny and you are on a BMX bike you may be out of luck because we have almost no BMX stuff laying around in the shop.
3) If you are one of the guys that occasionally stops in to say hi and chats while you are picking the cheapest tubes in the nation, then it is possible that you are one of those that we also like to chat with. This may help you to make it to the inner cicle of our clientele. We will bend over backwards for you for some reason. We don't know why. Maybe you stroke our egos or something. Whatever it is, it works. I was chatting with Neal about this the other day. This one fellow came in and stood near the shop area and just chatted with us for about 10 to 15 minutes. He asked for some advice, talked about cyclocross and was very nice. After a bit I asked him if there wasn't something I could do for him other than talk about cyclocross--which I could do for much longer than that. He said, "Nope, I just wanted to stop by and say hello." That was cool, it brings me a little bit of happiness that someone would want to waste some time with us. I used to love to waste a bit of time in shops and I appreciated those who would spend some time chatting with me. I was loyal to them and they often went beyond the call of duty for me. I used to frequent a shop in the area and they gave me a heck of a lot of free labor and all I had to do was shoot the breeze with them and ask there advice here and there. Oh, going on a ride with them helped too.
4) Bring food. One time I needed to get a bike built for a trip. The frame arrived about a month later than promised and that put me in a difficult spot. I wanted to take it with me on that trip so I tried to use my connections at the shop to work for me. I couldn't do the build myself because I didn't have the tools and I didn't have the ability to do myself back then. Nope, the shop was just too backed up to help me out they said. I tried to offer a tip, to pay overtime, etc. Nope. I offered to buy all the employees in the store some gourmet pizza--not Dominos, stuff that costs over $20 per pie, and they willingly caved in. It was done the same day. They loved the thick steaming pizza and I loved the work they did--we were all very happy.
5) Have an obvious warranty issue--we feel bad that we sold you crap that broke so we will try to do whatever to get you back on the road. This is not always possible, but we usually try. Unless you are a jerk, then there is no hope for you.
6) Be one of the older members of our clientele. If you are over the age of let's say maybe 65, but 70 for sure, we will probably do what we can for you then and there. After all, we don't want to be stuck with your bike should you kick the bucket during the next two and a half weeks should we have to make an appointment for your work to be done.
7) Did I mention that if you are hot any of the single associates will do anything you want just to touch your saddle? It is sick, but true.
Then there are those who seem to fit into the group that get helped right away but have there bikes at the shop for weeks and months. You know who you are. And it is likely that one bald-headed mechanic is the one that promised to fix it or warranty it or order it for you. I am sorry, you are in purgatory. Nothing much I can do for you, nor anyone else since the gleaming domed demigod of the shop will instantly get wound-up if you ask him what is going on with any of the unlucky denizens of this realm. No one knows when they will be released from their prisons. And yes, sorry to say Brian, you are one of those unlucky ones. Let me know how that Lapierre of yours rides when it is ready to go around Christmas time.
What NOT to do:
1) Be an able bodied male that only needs a flat tire repaired. If I am the one being asked I will teach you to fish if needed, but I am going to go out of my way to not do this for you. Doing this simplest of tasks makes me feel like I am your bitch for some reason. It is the worst sort of thing you can ask me to do for you at the shop. It more than bugs me. I would often rather have you ask if you can kick me in the shin with your Sidi Dominators (with the toe spikes in even) than that. To me part of the sport is being self sufficient when out on the road or trail and having someone else fix you flats is rediculous when you have a $2,000 bike. If you aren't willing to change you own tube you shouldn't be riding, or at the very least you should pay a penalty for your laziness. I have told people that the rate was $20 labor for a 5 minute job and they still won't do it themselves. Note: There is a gender bias here. I cut women slack for some reason, especially newbie women riders. I still would rather show them how to do it than do if for them.
2) Bring a bike in on Saturday or Sunday when we are busy. Sorry, not even if we wanted to help you could we do so on a weekend usually.
3) Have an attitude that expects us to drop everything just because your derailleurs aren't shifting as well as they should. The fact that you are doing the STP the next day is a you-problem, not a me-problem. Next time, plan ahead. This would be a classic DTP thing to do.
4) You were someone that was a jerk when you bought the bike from us. Yeah, I may be a lowly grunt, but this is when I get payback. it doesn't really matter how much you try to kiss butt now. Back of the line for you, jerk. Bring it back in two and a half weeks.
5) Call on the phone first. For some reason if you call you are going to get shut down automatically 95% of the time--at least by me. I don't remember names or voices and so it doesn't matter if we made a real rider-to-rider connection when you have been in--I don't care, I just want to get off the phone. I hate answering the phone.
6) Smell bad.
7) Acting like a know it all or that it is our fault that your bike won't shift when you haven't had it adjusted during the 2 years you have owned it. When you come in assuming that we are just going to drop everything to help you out then and there when others have to wait for their turn this can really turn us off to helping you. In fact a guy stormed out of the store saying he would never come back who did this to us last week. We told him we were too busy to do it right then and that we would have to schedule an appointment. After acting totally offended, then dropping some f-bombs he left us alone, thank goodness.
8) Ride in on a BMX bike.
9) Ride in on your bike that is held together by chicken wire. There is an exception to this rule for those that have obvious mental/physical difficulties or who are otherwise very much down on there luck. I still don't want to mess with your bike in this condition but my pity or empathy wins out.
10) Having a laundry list of things for us to do. There is probably a two item maximum at best, unless Joel, the manager is around and you are a moderately good lucking female. If this is the case then he will likely have us drop everything and do it right then and there even if it you want a complete tear down, clean and rebuild. See number 1 below.
Tips on how to get work done while you wait:
1) As per number 10 above, if you are even a moderately good lucking female and Joel is around, your ability to get something done right then and there depends upon whether you can draw a breath or not. Joel will do anything for any woman if she is under the age of 50, over the age of 18, and not obese. Yeah, pretty much anything that walks is of some interest to Joel. Not that he has any luck with any of them, but that would be a topic for another time and someone else's blog.
2) Be a kid that is humble and loves to ride his bike. Most of us will go out of our way for a pre-pubescent kid that needs help. Number 8 above applies if you are a kid riding in on a BMX bike and you are looking like a future crack/meth-head. However, even if you are a nice little Jonny or Jenny and you are on a BMX bike you may be out of luck because we have almost no BMX stuff laying around in the shop.
3) If you are one of the guys that occasionally stops in to say hi and chats while you are picking the cheapest tubes in the nation, then it is possible that you are one of those that we also like to chat with. This may help you to make it to the inner cicle of our clientele. We will bend over backwards for you for some reason. We don't know why. Maybe you stroke our egos or something. Whatever it is, it works. I was chatting with Neal about this the other day. This one fellow came in and stood near the shop area and just chatted with us for about 10 to 15 minutes. He asked for some advice, talked about cyclocross and was very nice. After a bit I asked him if there wasn't something I could do for him other than talk about cyclocross--which I could do for much longer than that. He said, "Nope, I just wanted to stop by and say hello." That was cool, it brings me a little bit of happiness that someone would want to waste some time with us. I used to love to waste a bit of time in shops and I appreciated those who would spend some time chatting with me. I was loyal to them and they often went beyond the call of duty for me. I used to frequent a shop in the area and they gave me a heck of a lot of free labor and all I had to do was shoot the breeze with them and ask there advice here and there. Oh, going on a ride with them helped too.
4) Bring food. One time I needed to get a bike built for a trip. The frame arrived about a month later than promised and that put me in a difficult spot. I wanted to take it with me on that trip so I tried to use my connections at the shop to work for me. I couldn't do the build myself because I didn't have the tools and I didn't have the ability to do myself back then. Nope, the shop was just too backed up to help me out they said. I tried to offer a tip, to pay overtime, etc. Nope. I offered to buy all the employees in the store some gourmet pizza--not Dominos, stuff that costs over $20 per pie, and they willingly caved in. It was done the same day. They loved the thick steaming pizza and I loved the work they did--we were all very happy.
5) Have an obvious warranty issue--we feel bad that we sold you crap that broke so we will try to do whatever to get you back on the road. This is not always possible, but we usually try. Unless you are a jerk, then there is no hope for you.
6) Be one of the older members of our clientele. If you are over the age of let's say maybe 65, but 70 for sure, we will probably do what we can for you then and there. After all, we don't want to be stuck with your bike should you kick the bucket during the next two and a half weeks should we have to make an appointment for your work to be done.
7) Did I mention that if you are hot any of the single associates will do anything you want just to touch your saddle? It is sick, but true.
Then there are those who seem to fit into the group that get helped right away but have there bikes at the shop for weeks and months. You know who you are. And it is likely that one bald-headed mechanic is the one that promised to fix it or warranty it or order it for you. I am sorry, you are in purgatory. Nothing much I can do for you, nor anyone else since the gleaming domed demigod of the shop will instantly get wound-up if you ask him what is going on with any of the unlucky denizens of this realm. No one knows when they will be released from their prisons. And yes, sorry to say Brian, you are one of those unlucky ones. Let me know how that Lapierre of yours rides when it is ready to go around Christmas time.
It is Official: I Have Pussed Out
Again. I am sure that there are numerous instances where I puss out, let this be on record as yet another time.
I put up my White Bros Rock Solid Rigid Fork up for sale on the Obra email board this afternoon ($190 if anyone is interested). This comes after nearly two years of owning no suspension fork at all. I have not been riding offroad enough to keep my handling skills up to where they were the last couple of years. I hope to go out to Utah this fall if Fish will have me (I would think so--I owe him prime steaks) and I don't feel like toughing it out sans-suspension. I can E.P. a Manitou 29er fork from the shop for cheap and so that is what will be going on the Curtlo MTB SS. Since I am still only running one speed on that bike I guess I am still sort of hardcore. Well, at least until someone looks at the wussy gearing I am running on that bike.
I put up my White Bros Rock Solid Rigid Fork up for sale on the Obra email board this afternoon ($190 if anyone is interested). This comes after nearly two years of owning no suspension fork at all. I have not been riding offroad enough to keep my handling skills up to where they were the last couple of years. I hope to go out to Utah this fall if Fish will have me (I would think so--I owe him prime steaks) and I don't feel like toughing it out sans-suspension. I can E.P. a Manitou 29er fork from the shop for cheap and so that is what will be going on the Curtlo MTB SS. Since I am still only running one speed on that bike I guess I am still sort of hardcore. Well, at least until someone looks at the wussy gearing I am running on that bike.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Curtlo Cross Bike 53T 1x9 Experiment Ends
I am switching the Curtlo back to a 39 tooth chainring instead of the 53 tooth I have had the for past couple of weeks.
I am not sure what the deal is but over the past couple of days the chain has been falling off the chainring to the outside of the crankarm, at least once per ride. This was not acceptable. I could have fashioned something to keep the chain on (perhaps even just installing a front derailleur without a cable and then just adjusting the limits to put the derailleur in the proper position to keep the chain from falling off) but with around a month to go until the first cross race of the season, I was only a couple of weeks from switching it back anyway if everything had been going smoothly. I will be putting the 39 tooth on the inside of the crankarm and a chainguard on the outside. I also have a Third Eye ready to go to keep the chain from falling off on the inside, but I haven't had that problem so it will remain off, just as it has been for the past year.
I really enjoyed the 53 tooth ring up front with the mountain cassette out back. If I had been able to keep the chain on it would have been sweeter still. Should I end up actually getting a job downtown soon I would not mind building up a beater bike with something like this set up and a chain retention device of some sort. I would do this for a couple of reasons--barend shifters are cheap and I have an extra set laying around, and they are durable. I have enough parts so all I would need is a cheap frameset, and maybe a few other smaller miscelaneous parts to put something together. It could be very cheap to put something together to commute on.
Plus I still haven't found the reason for the "tick, tick.....tick, tick.....tick, tick, tick....." noise that is coming from the bottom bracket area. I figure it is either a pedal or something to do the the way I installed the spacers to get my chainring bolts to work right with the single ring set up. So perhaps when I go back to the two ring set up (39 tooth ring with the chainring guard on the outside) the noise will go away.
For now I am going to start riding my Fuji Aloha CF2 on the road again. Up until the end of April or so it had drop bars on it and I only switched to my aerobars for the purpose of the half ironman at the beginning of June. The bike has not been ridden at all since then. I put drop bars back on it and switched from an Ultegra/Dura Ace drivetrain set up to SRAM Rival in anticipation of going to SRAM Red shifters in the next month or so. Why the switch? No reason, the Rival drivetrain is off my Lapierre which is up for sale. If I end up doing the Scoggins Valley Triathlon I will probably install some aerobars on the drop bars and do it that way, rather than with the full aerobar set up I used the Vikingman half ironman distance event. The route for Scoggins Valley is fairly hilly and so aerobars will not be as advantageous. I would also like to get some long rides in this summer and it is my best bike for that purpose. I will go back to the aerobars for the Ironman California event next April. But I will obviously have to use the SRAM barend shifters if I stay with the SRAM drivetrain. I am ok with that. Fish has them on his bike and they looked pretty sexy.
I am not sure what the deal is but over the past couple of days the chain has been falling off the chainring to the outside of the crankarm, at least once per ride. This was not acceptable. I could have fashioned something to keep the chain on (perhaps even just installing a front derailleur without a cable and then just adjusting the limits to put the derailleur in the proper position to keep the chain from falling off) but with around a month to go until the first cross race of the season, I was only a couple of weeks from switching it back anyway if everything had been going smoothly. I will be putting the 39 tooth on the inside of the crankarm and a chainguard on the outside. I also have a Third Eye ready to go to keep the chain from falling off on the inside, but I haven't had that problem so it will remain off, just as it has been for the past year.
I really enjoyed the 53 tooth ring up front with the mountain cassette out back. If I had been able to keep the chain on it would have been sweeter still. Should I end up actually getting a job downtown soon I would not mind building up a beater bike with something like this set up and a chain retention device of some sort. I would do this for a couple of reasons--barend shifters are cheap and I have an extra set laying around, and they are durable. I have enough parts so all I would need is a cheap frameset, and maybe a few other smaller miscelaneous parts to put something together. It could be very cheap to put something together to commute on.
Plus I still haven't found the reason for the "tick, tick.....tick, tick.....tick, tick, tick....." noise that is coming from the bottom bracket area. I figure it is either a pedal or something to do the the way I installed the spacers to get my chainring bolts to work right with the single ring set up. So perhaps when I go back to the two ring set up (39 tooth ring with the chainring guard on the outside) the noise will go away.
For now I am going to start riding my Fuji Aloha CF2 on the road again. Up until the end of April or so it had drop bars on it and I only switched to my aerobars for the purpose of the half ironman at the beginning of June. The bike has not been ridden at all since then. I put drop bars back on it and switched from an Ultegra/Dura Ace drivetrain set up to SRAM Rival in anticipation of going to SRAM Red shifters in the next month or so. Why the switch? No reason, the Rival drivetrain is off my Lapierre which is up for sale. If I end up doing the Scoggins Valley Triathlon I will probably install some aerobars on the drop bars and do it that way, rather than with the full aerobar set up I used the Vikingman half ironman distance event. The route for Scoggins Valley is fairly hilly and so aerobars will not be as advantageous. I would also like to get some long rides in this summer and it is my best bike for that purpose. I will go back to the aerobars for the Ironman California event next April. But I will obviously have to use the SRAM barend shifters if I stay with the SRAM drivetrain. I am ok with that. Fish has them on his bike and they looked pretty sexy.
Friday, July 25, 2008
190.4 and the Taco Bell Diet
My obsession regarding my weight continues. My obsession with posting every detail on this blog continues as well.
I seem to be less, ah...regular is how I would put it here. I went a couple of days between payload drops and so last night's must have been a brick because this morning I hit a new low weight--190.4 lbs. Yeee Haw!
Only 6 or 7 pounds to go to hit my target weight. I feel great. It is so much easier to get out of the saddle and sprint/power up the hills. I have more energy which has been great as well.
Interestingly enough a large part of my weight loss has included a large amount of meals from fast food restaurants. The four days per week that I work I start with two fresco-style soft tacos when I arrive at noon. Then around 4pm I eat either a Big Burger with nothing on it but a little ketchup and mustard and a side salad with some lite dressing. Total calories for both meals comes to just a little less than1000 calories for both meals. Carl's Jr and Taco Bell are the two closest fast food places to work, but I eat similarly at other places. Including eating whatever I eat when I get home at night and what little I eat in the morning I end up eating between 1700 and 2000 calories per day for usually 5 out of 7 days per week. The other two days I probably eat around 2500 to 3000 calories. On days I ride I am sure that I use up around 3000 to 3500 calories per day. On other days is more like 2500. So it is not hard to see why I have been losing 1 to 2.5 pounds per week normally.
So is it possible to lose weight eating at fast food restaurants? Absolutely. However, I never order anything with mayo, sour cream, cheese or sauces/dressing that have unnecessary fat and calories. I try to eat a lot of veggies, some meat and not a lot of bread. It seems to work.
I seem to be less, ah...regular is how I would put it here. I went a couple of days between payload drops and so last night's must have been a brick because this morning I hit a new low weight--190.4 lbs. Yeee Haw!
Only 6 or 7 pounds to go to hit my target weight. I feel great. It is so much easier to get out of the saddle and sprint/power up the hills. I have more energy which has been great as well.
Interestingly enough a large part of my weight loss has included a large amount of meals from fast food restaurants. The four days per week that I work I start with two fresco-style soft tacos when I arrive at noon. Then around 4pm I eat either a Big Burger with nothing on it but a little ketchup and mustard and a side salad with some lite dressing. Total calories for both meals comes to just a little less than1000 calories for both meals. Carl's Jr and Taco Bell are the two closest fast food places to work, but I eat similarly at other places. Including eating whatever I eat when I get home at night and what little I eat in the morning I end up eating between 1700 and 2000 calories per day for usually 5 out of 7 days per week. The other two days I probably eat around 2500 to 3000 calories. On days I ride I am sure that I use up around 3000 to 3500 calories per day. On other days is more like 2500. So it is not hard to see why I have been losing 1 to 2.5 pounds per week normally.
So is it possible to lose weight eating at fast food restaurants? Absolutely. However, I never order anything with mayo, sour cream, cheese or sauces/dressing that have unnecessary fat and calories. I try to eat a lot of veggies, some meat and not a lot of bread. It seems to work.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
80 Year Old Women and Love Notes
First off before I start down this potentially hazardous/embarrassing road let me just state that I am very happily married. I am a lucky guy who caught a fish that was bigger than my line should have been able to reel in, so to speak.
A couple of days ago as I was rolling in to work on the Curtlo I pulled up along side some mid-size late model American-made car at a stop light. I can't remember what it was exactly, but it doesn't really matter. There were two old women in the car starring at me. I looked over at them and they started waving at me and I waved back at them because I thought that maybe I knew them from somewhere, like church or something. No, they were ogling me in my cycling bibs/jersey. Yuck. But now that I have lost some weight it is nice to have gotten slim enough so that some females to look twice at me I suppose even if it happens to be women that have more excess skin than a Chinese Shar Pei puppy. Though their flirting kind of grossed me out, I also found it humorous.
Today at work I was walking by the suggestion box at the shop and I saw that some dork had written a note that read "I (heart symbol) Devin." I thought that this was humorous so I asked who the dork was and no one would admit to it. Was there a chance that some female actually wrote this and thinks I am hot? Doubtful, but I admit it crossed my mind. After all, I am heading down to a BMI that is in the healthy or normal range for a guy my height and age. Maybe this happens to every guy that is in the normal BMI range for his age and height--I wouldn't know since I haven't been in the healthy/normal BMI range since around 1995.
Simon, who is another grunt at the shop like me, thought that it would be cool to see if there were any other cool notes that had made it from that note pad to the suggestion box. Upon opening it he found several notes. One was from some joker asking for pastel colored cycling clothing for men. Another said that Performance sucked. And there was another note that read "I (heart symbol) Chad" and it looked like the same handwriting as my love note. Chad, who is Chad? We don't have anyone named Chad at the shop. But there is a Chad who sometimes comes in, who also used to work there, but is now at another shop working part time. This Chad is someone who truly seems to love bikes and the lifestyle but doesn't ride much. But he seems to have plenty of time to ride, so I don't know what the issue is. He is only about 22 years old. These facts seem to put him in the poseur category to me, but that may be a bit harsh. He seems to be a good guy though. A good guy who is, um, a wee bit overweight. Now I am not talking big boned. No, this guy looks like he stuffed stuff a couple of pot-bellied pigs in his cycling kit. I am not bagging on him here, I am just trying to paint a picture. See he is trying to still wear the spendy cycling clothes that he bought for himself, oh, 50 pounds or more ago, from his pre-college days. His black bib shorts look charcoal grey because they are stretched so thin. It is scary. I try to wear eye protection around him just in case something comes loose and shoots off when it gives way. Frankly, I don't care that he is fat. I was pretty fat myself until recently. However, I had the sense not to wear stuff that was two sizes too small when I was bigger. I don't know how he does it.
Anyway, this guy Chad (which is not the actual name on this note nor his actual name, I changed it for this story) was just in the evening before. Perhaps he, or one of his crew that was in with him, wrote the notes--his and mine. Or if it wasn't him, maybe it was someone that knows both of us. If so, if this person has the hots for Chad and me, maybe that means I am hefty too. Maybe I also wear cycling clothes that are too tight and show too much belly/gut/butt or whatever. Hmmm....this is something to think about. Maybe time for different clothes? Am I a dork of the same magnitude?
In reality, I don't care--and neither does Chad by the look of it. Actually it is not anything worth thinking about, but it did keep my mind busy when I was trying not to go crazy by the sound my bike was making on every medium to hard pedalling effort. It is the same blasted "tick, tick.....tick, tick....tick, tick....." that I wrote about a couple of days ago. I thought it was the bottom bracket. Um, no. I installed a fresh bit of Italian goodness today in the form of a new Campy Chorus bottom bracket. This of course means that it was not the bottom bracket that is the cause of this noise and I just wasted my money. No, it is something else that is, as yet, undiagnosed (and seriously pissing me off). As a result, my obsessing about the note left for me on the way home was a welcome distraction. I have no answers, and I don't know who left it or if this Chad in the second note was the actually the Chad who needs some new larger cycling clothes. But, I do know that 80 year old women and some other mystery person (and this being Portland, Oregon means it could be anyone--man or woman of any age and intelligence) thinks I am hot, so at least I have that going for me. Geesh, maybe I shouldn't lose anymore weight I may be just too much for some folks out here to handle.
Please note--though the facts in this story are totally accurate, except for the guy's name, Chad, I don't think I am all that. I am a balding guy in this mid to late 30's--seriously, I am just trying to get in shape so I can have a good life with my wife and kids and have a little fun on two wheels.
A couple of days ago as I was rolling in to work on the Curtlo I pulled up along side some mid-size late model American-made car at a stop light. I can't remember what it was exactly, but it doesn't really matter. There were two old women in the car starring at me. I looked over at them and they started waving at me and I waved back at them because I thought that maybe I knew them from somewhere, like church or something. No, they were ogling me in my cycling bibs/jersey. Yuck. But now that I have lost some weight it is nice to have gotten slim enough so that some females to look twice at me I suppose even if it happens to be women that have more excess skin than a Chinese Shar Pei puppy. Though their flirting kind of grossed me out, I also found it humorous.
Today at work I was walking by the suggestion box at the shop and I saw that some dork had written a note that read "I (heart symbol) Devin." I thought that this was humorous so I asked who the dork was and no one would admit to it. Was there a chance that some female actually wrote this and thinks I am hot? Doubtful, but I admit it crossed my mind. After all, I am heading down to a BMI that is in the healthy or normal range for a guy my height and age. Maybe this happens to every guy that is in the normal BMI range for his age and height--I wouldn't know since I haven't been in the healthy/normal BMI range since around 1995.
Simon, who is another grunt at the shop like me, thought that it would be cool to see if there were any other cool notes that had made it from that note pad to the suggestion box. Upon opening it he found several notes. One was from some joker asking for pastel colored cycling clothing for men. Another said that Performance sucked. And there was another note that read "I (heart symbol) Chad" and it looked like the same handwriting as my love note. Chad, who is Chad? We don't have anyone named Chad at the shop. But there is a Chad who sometimes comes in, who also used to work there, but is now at another shop working part time. This Chad is someone who truly seems to love bikes and the lifestyle but doesn't ride much. But he seems to have plenty of time to ride, so I don't know what the issue is. He is only about 22 years old. These facts seem to put him in the poseur category to me, but that may be a bit harsh. He seems to be a good guy though. A good guy who is, um, a wee bit overweight. Now I am not talking big boned. No, this guy looks like he stuffed stuff a couple of pot-bellied pigs in his cycling kit. I am not bagging on him here, I am just trying to paint a picture. See he is trying to still wear the spendy cycling clothes that he bought for himself, oh, 50 pounds or more ago, from his pre-college days. His black bib shorts look charcoal grey because they are stretched so thin. It is scary. I try to wear eye protection around him just in case something comes loose and shoots off when it gives way. Frankly, I don't care that he is fat. I was pretty fat myself until recently. However, I had the sense not to wear stuff that was two sizes too small when I was bigger. I don't know how he does it.
Anyway, this guy Chad (which is not the actual name on this note nor his actual name, I changed it for this story) was just in the evening before. Perhaps he, or one of his crew that was in with him, wrote the notes--his and mine. Or if it wasn't him, maybe it was someone that knows both of us. If so, if this person has the hots for Chad and me, maybe that means I am hefty too. Maybe I also wear cycling clothes that are too tight and show too much belly/gut/butt or whatever. Hmmm....this is something to think about. Maybe time for different clothes? Am I a dork of the same magnitude?
In reality, I don't care--and neither does Chad by the look of it. Actually it is not anything worth thinking about, but it did keep my mind busy when I was trying not to go crazy by the sound my bike was making on every medium to hard pedalling effort. It is the same blasted "tick, tick.....tick, tick....tick, tick....." that I wrote about a couple of days ago. I thought it was the bottom bracket. Um, no. I installed a fresh bit of Italian goodness today in the form of a new Campy Chorus bottom bracket. This of course means that it was not the bottom bracket that is the cause of this noise and I just wasted my money. No, it is something else that is, as yet, undiagnosed (and seriously pissing me off). As a result, my obsessing about the note left for me on the way home was a welcome distraction. I have no answers, and I don't know who left it or if this Chad in the second note was the actually the Chad who needs some new larger cycling clothes. But, I do know that 80 year old women and some other mystery person (and this being Portland, Oregon means it could be anyone--man or woman of any age and intelligence) thinks I am hot, so at least I have that going for me. Geesh, maybe I shouldn't lose anymore weight I may be just too much for some folks out here to handle.
Please note--though the facts in this story are totally accurate, except for the guy's name, Chad, I don't think I am all that. I am a balding guy in this mid to late 30's--seriously, I am just trying to get in shape so I can have a good life with my wife and kids and have a little fun on two wheels.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
191.4, Swimming, and the Lapierre
Bad news first, the Lapierre is up for sale. I still don't have a good paying legal job yet, so I have decided that since we have another baby coming and I figure I don't need 4 bikes right now--two of which are cyclocross bikes. The Lapierre is one sweet bike, but the Curtlo is the better set up for me and this area so it stays and the Lapierre goes. It makes me sad so I am going to change the subject.
Swimming went ok this morning. I missed swimming on Monday, which I am totally fine with. Today I felt fairly fresh until the last set that he gave us. I couldn't make the times and the two women in my lane did. It pissed me off, not that they are faster than I, just that I was the only one not to make the times that last set. Both have had more swimming experience than I have, although I have had this class longer. One of the two has like 10% body fat and she is fairly ripped. I am not. So I don't feel particularly bad that they are faster than I am. I am still faster than I used to be by a long shot. But the competitive nature that resides in me would like to get faster and make the posted times he has for us. My problem again is that I ran out of gas. But just like last week, I forgot to fuel up before I got in the water. Next week I will change this practice.
I weighed in at 191.4 pounds this morning. That rocks. I wanted to hit 190 by the time Bridget gives birth, and that certainly seems like something I can do.
Last night I really pushed it riding back home from work. I made it back in around 52 minutes which is faster than my time going to work. Since the route coming back has about 800 feet more climbing total than my route to work I feel pretty good about it. Part of the reason for pounding the pedals so hard was because my bottom bracket on the Curtlo was bugging me. "Tick, tick.......tick, tick.......tick, tick......" that was the sound it made when climbing any sort of incline while seated. Every down stroke on the non-drive side of the crank arm.....it was like Chinese water torture--it was driving me crazy and it has been for the past few days. But I found that if I got out of the saddle and rode the bike like I hated it (as I did when I heard that sound) the noise would mysteriously abate. So apparently the bike has a masochistic side--the harder I rode it the quieter it was. Hmmm, maybe the bike is trying to help my training....making me ride harder to stay sane. Something to consider for sure before I replace the POS cheap Token bb for a real Campy Chorus bb in a day or two.
Swimming went ok this morning. I missed swimming on Monday, which I am totally fine with. Today I felt fairly fresh until the last set that he gave us. I couldn't make the times and the two women in my lane did. It pissed me off, not that they are faster than I, just that I was the only one not to make the times that last set. Both have had more swimming experience than I have, although I have had this class longer. One of the two has like 10% body fat and she is fairly ripped. I am not. So I don't feel particularly bad that they are faster than I am. I am still faster than I used to be by a long shot. But the competitive nature that resides in me would like to get faster and make the posted times he has for us. My problem again is that I ran out of gas. But just like last week, I forgot to fuel up before I got in the water. Next week I will change this practice.
I weighed in at 191.4 pounds this morning. That rocks. I wanted to hit 190 by the time Bridget gives birth, and that certainly seems like something I can do.
Last night I really pushed it riding back home from work. I made it back in around 52 minutes which is faster than my time going to work. Since the route coming back has about 800 feet more climbing total than my route to work I feel pretty good about it. Part of the reason for pounding the pedals so hard was because my bottom bracket on the Curtlo was bugging me. "Tick, tick.......tick, tick.......tick, tick......" that was the sound it made when climbing any sort of incline while seated. Every down stroke on the non-drive side of the crank arm.....it was like Chinese water torture--it was driving me crazy and it has been for the past few days. But I found that if I got out of the saddle and rode the bike like I hated it (as I did when I heard that sound) the noise would mysteriously abate. So apparently the bike has a masochistic side--the harder I rode it the quieter it was. Hmmm, maybe the bike is trying to help my training....making me ride harder to stay sane. Something to consider for sure before I replace the POS cheap Token bb for a real Campy Chorus bb in a day or two.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Meat, Sweet Meat
Vegetarians? Yep, if you are what you eat then count me as one...yeah, I know old joke.
I saw this and I instantly thought of my buddy Fish:
I saw this and I instantly thought of my buddy Fish:
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The Difference between Me and a Master A Cyclocross Racer
I feel pretty good about my training this week. I rode on the road a total of 91 miles. I rode 10 miles offroad. I went to swim class twice. On the whole that is between 9 and 9.5 hours of training total. Not a record or anything, but for me a pretty good load.
I was talking to Brian today(who owns a presently dismembered Lapierre identical to mine) and I mentioned that I had ridden around 100 miles this week and that today, mainly because of the singlespeed mountain ride, my legs felt sort of dead. He said something like "yeah a couple of weeks ago I did 350 miles in a week, I was toasted."
I immediately realized why he races Master A's and I have been in Master C's. He works much harder. There is just no way that I have the time to do so much riding in a week. I work four days a week. Bridget works two of the other days, and then there is church and other family stuff on Sunday. Plus the boys, I gotta spend my boys! I can see where I could get it up to somewhere in the 150's and still do my swimming class, but dang....you are the man Brian, what can I say.
There is another guy who comes in to the shop a bunch. His name is Robert and he is from Eastern Europe. The dude just rides. All the time. Last weekend he rode 215 miles in one day. It took him around 9.5 hours if I remember right. And he isn't training for anything. He just will decided to ride from Portland down to Cannon Beach and back. Or from Portland to Sisters, Oregon and back. No big deal to him. he just rides to ride. And he does it all with minimal stuff. He rides either his Campy C40 or C50 bikes with full Record groups and with just a bit of food, a tube or two and that is it. Crazy stuff man.
I don't feel too bad. I just have to train smart, and I know that I am continually getting in better shape. I am not discouraged by the fact that Brian can ride so much in a week, but I have a healthy respect for him and that amount of riding. I can see why he is able to hang with the guys in Master A's--and why last year I was in the back third of Master C's.
I was talking to Brian today(who owns a presently dismembered Lapierre identical to mine) and I mentioned that I had ridden around 100 miles this week and that today, mainly because of the singlespeed mountain ride, my legs felt sort of dead. He said something like "yeah a couple of weeks ago I did 350 miles in a week, I was toasted."
I immediately realized why he races Master A's and I have been in Master C's. He works much harder. There is just no way that I have the time to do so much riding in a week. I work four days a week. Bridget works two of the other days, and then there is church and other family stuff on Sunday. Plus the boys, I gotta spend my boys! I can see where I could get it up to somewhere in the 150's and still do my swimming class, but dang....you are the man Brian, what can I say.
There is another guy who comes in to the shop a bunch. His name is Robert and he is from Eastern Europe. The dude just rides. All the time. Last weekend he rode 215 miles in one day. It took him around 9.5 hours if I remember right. And he isn't training for anything. He just will decided to ride from Portland down to Cannon Beach and back. Or from Portland to Sisters, Oregon and back. No big deal to him. he just rides to ride. And he does it all with minimal stuff. He rides either his Campy C40 or C50 bikes with full Record groups and with just a bit of food, a tube or two and that is it. Crazy stuff man.
I don't feel too bad. I just have to train smart, and I know that I am continually getting in better shape. I am not discouraged by the fact that Brian can ride so much in a week, but I have a healthy respect for him and that amount of riding. I can see why he is able to hang with the guys in Master A's--and why last year I was in the back third of Master C's.
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