Sunday, June 29, 2008

Impending disappointment of Olympic proportion?

This post may be premature as the Olympics are still six weeks away. The word now is that NBC will put the squeeze on online content from the games to keep people glued to their televisions. What concerns me is that, even with DVR, I won't be able to get wall-to-wall cycling. NBCOlympics.com and the official Olympics site appear to be intensely uninformative about what will be broadcast. Perhaps my anxiety will be for naught but I am waiting to be convinced. If you've got better information about anything from keirin to the road race, please share.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

On the road again

Of the 400-plus miles I've pedaled this month, the overwhelming majority have been cranked out in the privacy of the garage on the trainer. So today was something of a novelty as I was illuminated by sunshine, buffeted by wind, restrained by road resistance and humbled by hills. In other words, it was a real, normal ride. But enough has changed that I could tell it had been a while since I'd been out. Some roads have been repaved. Tobacco is maturing. The blazes for next Friday's Firecracker Ride are already down. That reminded me to practice signalling in case some group lets me catch a wheel — and to hope I catch a wheel to make some of the more inclined sections more tolerable.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Rained out

As prepared as I was for the time trial, it was no surprise that I arrived at Lowe's Motor Speedway just more than four hours before my start time. No shock, either, that I was the first person with any connection to the race to get there. So I changed a tire, set up my trainer, rearranged other items to maximize efficiency, checked messages and read for a little while. About 5:40 p.m. I went for a lap to see if my freshly purchased time-trial helmet would cause my head to explode. No, but the wind is loud when it can go between your ear and the helmet.

When I got on the trainer about 5:50 p.m. I could see from my garage bay that the big flag was blowing south. Hard. Fifteen minutes later it was blowing north. Hard. Ten minutes after that a race official told everyone to get in the garage and said a decision on whether to start would come at 7 p.m. Then the sky opened; thunder, but none of the promised hail. I stayed on the trainer for a few more minutes but only pedalled distractedly. The race was cancelled at 7:05 p.m. The latest is that race officials are working with the track to see if a makeup date is available.

The day was nothing close to a total waste. Even though I didn't get to learn the advantages of the helmet and shaved legs, I get more time to just get used to the helmet. Plus I got to eat at Steak n Shake and enjoy my monthly cheeseburger ration. I'll probably go out along Old U.S. 1 over the next couple of weekends and see if I have the helmet positioned and sized correctly.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Cycledork is coming to town

My race day No. 2 is Wednesday. Now, about 44 hours before the time trial, is when I need to start figuring out what to take. That's what the list is for. The list is comprehensive and meant to include everything that I normally would take for a ride or would not have in the car with me under normal circumstances. For instance, in day time I always wear sunglasses when I drive but since they're critical for the time trial, they go on the list.

It's a big, big deal for me to make a list. Some of you may know that I keep all my phone numbers, appointments and directions in my head and can drive myself crazy enough about work that I don't forget assignments. But the potential freakout-to-time-and-distance ratio involved with this exercise is too great for even me to trust to memory. In other words if I got to Charlotte and realized my skinsuit was in Cary I'd be fucked and very angry; I'd so much rather that didn't happen. The list I made a list before the last time trial that had 33 items on it. This time around, since I know a little more and circumstances are a little different, 34 items, a few of which are different, will go with me. They are:

1. bike
2. trainer
3. trainer wheel
4. skinsuit
5. helmet
6. gloves x 2
7. socks x 2
8. rules
9. seminar notes
10. aero shoe covers
11. shoes
12. iPod
13. shades
14. short hair ties
15. shorts
16. jersey
17. tools
18. torque wrench
19. pump
20. saddle bag
21. split sheet
22. allen bits
23. safety pins
24. fan
25. turn over watch
26. move up watch wrist strap
27. set watch to stop watch
28. lunch
29. fig newtons
30. water
31. pillow case
32. blue bin
33. CDs
34. list

New to this list are the aero shoe covers that I didn't have last time and the fan. The fan was a bit of wisdom shared at the seminar in February. It will help keep me cool on the trainer since it will be about 500 degrees at Lowe's even in the garage. Missing are zip ties, which I might throw in with the tools anyway, and a second stop watch, which I don't need since I'm going solo this time. The torque wrench and allen keys might seem to be tools (and they are) but since I store them separately from my bike tools I account for them separately. Some of these things are not things but directions, such as turning my watch (so I can see it when I'm in the aero bars). Every item has a function. The hair ties hold down the flappy parts of my watch and helmet straps. The pillow case contains all the clothes. The blue bin is home to the tools in the broadest sense, the pillow case and contents, iPod and papers. Why CDs if I'm taking an iPod? The CDs are for car use; the iPod and headphones are for the trainer.

About 37 hours remain before I head to Charlotte. During that time, I will check the list twice. At least.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Chains of fool

I pulled the 2100 off the trainer yesterday morning so I could do two hours in the 100-degree heat. My chain squealed so badly after 3/4 mile that I turned around. The sad, embarrassing fact is that I'd rusted out the 113-link heart of my drive train. The 2100 went in the back of the car to The Spin Cycle. My hope was to have it back by Wednesday — no bike, no time trial. Carl was pedalling a beach cruiser outside the store. I sheepishly admitted my problem, expecting rolling eyes and a stern "maybe" for Wednesday. Instead, what I get is an enthusiastic $3 fix: a couple of chain pins and a pint and a half of kerosene. After all, I have all the tools, only needed a few dollars of parts, so why not? I left the shop as pumped as Carl.

I got home, used the chain tool on my Taco Tool to pop out a chain pin and get the chain in the coffee can full of kerosene. Popping out that chain pin all the way was a big, big mistake. Leave that chain pin in until you are ready to insert the new chain pin. The new chain pin, will, after all, drive out the old one and the chain will disassemble with the old one flush to the edge. Otherwise it's impossible to determine the orientation of the chain when it was taken off. That's critical so that you get the chain back on the drive train the same way it came off. Realizing this morning the magnitude of my error I went to the local Performance Bicycle and bought an SRAM 991 chain. Fortunately I had enough points on Performance Club card that I got the chain at a huge discount. Part of the SRAM magic: not only is it Shimano compatible (it mates with my chainrings and cassette) it comes with a manually assembled "Powerlink" so I don't have to drive another chain pin.

When I got on the 2100 late this afternoon I could not only hear but feel the difference. Ahhhhh. And should this ever happen again, I have a clean, clean, clean Shimano chain waiting — if I can ever figure out how it came off. Even a spare chain into the adventure, I'm ready to go for Wednesday.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

I guess he'd rather be in Colorado


Some of you may consider John Denver that sappy '70s guy but hey, if you've ever spent any time in Colorado with your eyes open, the title of the song speaks for itself. Especially when it comes to cycling. First of all, I've recently been in touch with the author of one of my favorite books, Road Biking Colorado: The Statewide Guide. Michael Seeberg is as cool, and as pumped about life and cycling in his state, as his prose suggests. The photo included with this post (near the top of Trail Ridge Road) is one of a few that he took for the book that he was generous enough to share with me. Having actually e-mailed this man and received a response is one of the highlights of, at least, my cycling life.

Seeberg is the man who exclaimed about Rist Canyon, "Near the top, you'll ride 12-percent grades!" As it turns out cyclists are invited to join the exclamation June 21-22 on the Ride de Rist, which is for everyone from pros to, well, dorks. The idea of being able to wheelsuck my way up Rist Canyon is remarkably compelling. Instead I will probably spend those days crunching my way through the hinterlands of Chatham County not far from my current home. My Rist ride will most likely wait until September.

As much as I enjoy and respect Rist Canyon, Independence Pass is a whole other kettle of fish. Independence Pass peaks at more than 12,000 feet and is one of the few (shit, maybe the only) roads that I'm scared to drive dry and in the light. I've gone over Trail Ridge Road (even confiding to some that I had "crushed it" and I plan to go over again during this year's annual Colorado Cycletacular), which Seeberg rates as even more difficult than Independence Pass, but I still believe Independence Pass takes more rider than I can offer. But here we have video of people apparently cheerfully racing up. Note the depth of the snow on the roadside and that most of the guys you see are in shorts. No doubt it's a ride that'll warm you up. Fun fact about Seeberg: he's gone over Independence Pass "some 50 or 60 times." Talk about separating the sheep from the goats.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

What sort of trouble would this cause

Like our friend Curt DeForest Jr., it may be that Bob Maddox is a man ahead of his time. He may also have provided a possible solution to my commuting conundrum. I'm still figuring whether this approach would reduce or increase my cadence.