HC Bike/Cycling Thread

[n_maher]

Chris, That looks like fun, but I'm not fond of throwing dirt climbs into rides like that. I don't mind hammering on my bike, to a degree, but neither your nor my bike are up for much cyclocross style riding. My brother and I are thinking about doing a ride this year called the Vermont Six Gap. It's 132 miles, 11,700+ feet of climbing. Sounds fun.

[Dreadhead]

Nate, I've actually did a couple mile (10?) gravel (not dirt but full on marble size gravel) section climbing up the back side of a Ceasar's Head with my Giant TCR with the Zipps and 23mm tires on a few years back in SC and it was fine. I'm ok with (or even a fan of) dirt etc though I may put some protective tape on the frame for the event if I do it. I'm thinking of trying to do the tour of Battenkill granfondo next year if I can.

 

That said the Vermont Six Gap does sound like fun in a hurty sort of way

[pigmode]

Here's a shot of the CAAD 10. I'm diggin' it, man.

IMG_0433 by pigmode, on Flickr

[c12mech]

^^^very nice.

 

I got in almost 10 miles today.  I'm not exactly sure why but the whole ride was a little uncomfortable today.  No matter what position I was in I just could not get into a groove while riding.  I guess some days are like that.

[guzziguy]

Update on my niece.  Apparently her ankle break is with the fibula.  She has a tibial plateau fracture.  She may have a fractured patella.  There is some damage to the meniscus.

 

The good news is that the orthopedic doctor decided to leave her in a walking boot and use an "upgraded" device to immobilize her knee.  So she has no cast and can remove what she has to clean her leg, etc.  She'll start physical therapy relatively soon, but I can't remember the actual time.  It's less that the 3 months she'd have to wait if she were in a full-leg cast.

 

There's other good news.  She destroyed the fork on her brand new Bianchi.  Her boy friend could easily fix it but the Bianchi sales rep will replace her bike and the repaired bike will become a demo.  I guess it doesn't hurt to be tall, athletic and reasonable good looking.  Also, her DDD's might have played a part.

[raffy]

DDDs really?

[boomana]

^ Now Raffy is interested.  My DDDs never got me a new bike....oh wait.....wrong letters.....Ken, glad your niece is getting better.

 

Nice CAAD, pigmode!

 

 

c12mech, that's how I was on Saturday.  I got out, but just wasn't feeling it.  Was home and happily back in bed after ten miles.  Sunday day was completely different story, felt great the whole time out, and I was feeling great doing intervals on Monday.  I have no idea why.  

[mrarroyo]

You guys/gals are too funny … DDD's! Really? 

[Torpedo]

So Ken, your niece not only isn't a child anymore (which I thought she was) plus is a DDD whose charms got her a new bike. Amazing. I'm glad she's not needing the cast that long. The tibial plateau fractures are bitches, but if she's not going to need surgery, will be OK.

[c12mech]

DDD's get you lots of nice stuff if used properly!

 

All joking aside, very happy that your niece is doing well despite the injuries. 

[guzziguy]

DDDs really?

 

You guys/gals are too funny … DDD's! Really? 

 

According to my sister, yes.  I would have guessed only DD myself.

 

DDD's get you lots of nice stuff if used properly!

 

All joking aside, very happy that your niece is doing well despite the injuries. 

 

So Ken, your niece not only isn't a child anymore (which I thought she was) plus is a DDD whose charms got her a new bike. Amazing. I'm glad she's not needing the cast that long. The tibial plateau fractures are bitches, but if she's not going to need surgery, will be OK.

 

While my niece complains about them being so large, she certainly knows how to use them.  Yes, she's 23 now and not a child.

 

The doctor says that he doesn't think she'll need surgery.  However, he also thinks that the crash momentarily dislocated her patella, so we'll see.

Edited April 17, 2013 by guzziguy

[MexicanDragon]

I've been talking to Troy (my wheelbuilder friend) for the past hour or so, and he has some ideas for some good quality kit. He's going to ask around and get back with me, so I guess now would be a good time to start buttering up Ed?

I think minimum order would be about 20, but not sure if that's pieces, or "sets", or each piece, or what.  I'll know more in a few days, maybe a week.  If it's 20 jerseys, I bet we could do that, right?  I think there's enough of us who'd be in.

 

**BRENT**

[boomana]

Thanks, Brent.  

 

Here's something maybe interesting for Brooks saddle fans:

 

http://www.bicycletimesmag.com/content/brooks-introducing-new-rubber-and-cotton-saddle

[c12mech]

Thanks for that Brooks info Vicki.  I like the looks of that new saddle.

[morphsci]

Here's something maybe interesting for Brooks saddle fans:

 

http://www.bicycletimesmag.com/content/brooks-introducing-new-rubber-and-cotton-saddle

Cool! Registered.

[Pars]

Same. A waterproof Brooks would be sweet!

[MexicanDragon]

http://www.active.com/cycling/cleveland-tn/habitat-for-humanity-of-clevelands-bike-to-build-2013

Thinking about doing this Habitat for Humanity charity ride on Saturday that I have virtually 0 training for.  I can do the 20k no problem, but I've been told I should try to push a little harder than I think I can, and do the 50k.  I've done a 50k on a mountain bike on the road before, but I was younger... but heavy steel bike on underinflated knobbies vs an old man on a CF bike with 23mm rubber.  Hmmm... we'll see.

Oh, my work does a 200$ quarterly incentive where certain things give you points towards the "all or nothing" incentive.  We have pedometers we wear.  450,000 steps would equal a quarter of the incentive, or riding 20k would do the same.  900k steps would equal the 50k option (half of everything I need through the end of June).  I figure riding in a group, I should be able to do 50k, no?

**BRENT**

[Pars]

Thats what, 31 miles? In a group, I would think you should be able to do that.

 

I'm supposed to go do a ~30 mile ride on Saturday with some peeps from bikeforums. Would be around 34-36 F starting, high is only supposed to be 50 for the day, but light wind, so we'll see  I have only done about 15 miles for the longest ride so far since winter seems to be hanging around.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Pars

[MexicanDragon]

Yeah, I've not even done 31 miles in a single ride in YEARS, though.  I think you underestimate my level of "out-of-shapeness."  Also, have a lot of back issues... maybe I'll give it a shot, though.  I figure that's maybe 2 hours in the saddle, or just a little over? I guess gross amounts of nerve damage will come in handy, there.

**BRENT**

[c12mech]

Brent, I say go for it.  If there is the possibility of a rest stop somewhere in the ride that should help.  I just did my first 20 mile ride last weekend and it hurt.  Mostly due to me being a fat guy trying to ride 20 miles.  I am going to try it again this weekend just to prove that I can do it on my 40th birthday(Sunday). 

 

Thanks again for putting me in touch with Troy.  He has given me a couple of unique options so far and seems genuinely interested in helping me out. 

[MexicanDragon]

Glad I could help. Troy's a really good builder, he "gets it", and knows how to tailor a wheel to suit one's needs.  If you're looking at custom wheels, he's someone people should probably at least talk to, even if they don't go with him.  Glad it looks like it's working out.

Still gonna be a "last minute decision" about the ride, should hopefully have a better idea tomorrow, though.

**BRENT**

[boomana]

Brent, my only concern for you is your bad back, and not yet having enough time on your bike to tweak fitting. I'd hate to see you set yourself back because you pushed yourself too early. Just outta curiosity, have you been doing any rehab/exercises to help get back some strength/flexibility since the surgery? My core was not strong when I first started out, and my form wasn't great because I didn't yet know my own body cues, and my bike also needed small changes here and there. I'd be fine for 10-20 miles, but then fatigue would kick in and my core would kinda collapse, my shoulders would start hunching up, my lower back and neck would suffer, and I'd put too much pressure on my hands as well. It took me two to three months of riding to figure out my form and fitting issues, and it was also a great motivator to get in some serious core strength work, which has helped with everything, on and off the bike. Underneath my fattage, I'm now damn strong and proud of it.

I cancelled my Computrainer session this morning, and went back to bed. I've got a workout at the gym this evening, and two rides planned this weekend, so f-it. I actually look forward the Computrainer sessions, since we got the new perfpro software. I'm kinda mad at myself for being lazy, since I love it. I'm using the excuse that my quads have been sore all week, but.......I really just wanted to hang out with my pillow.

Chris, you should really check this out. All the people I train with during the week, love it. I'm pretty sure they let you demo before you buy. http://perfprostudio.com/

[Dreadhead]

Vicki, you've missed my multiple raves about it in the thread already I bought it and all the sufferfest videos that it syncs up to.

 

If I could just keep my drive to work out up but work is really grinding on me these days and I haven't gotten in a workout all week and instead have been eating a lot.

 

Edit: I guess I only raved once:

 

Raffy I bought the 13 pack of the videos and will try them all gradually but I'll try There Is No Try next. I just ignored the attacks on the last few cycles though, dieting and those videos may not go wo well together and I'm not stopping dieting. I actually have the videos syncronized to my computrainer using PerPro sutdio (http://perfprostudio.com/) so it turns up the power to 120% FTP etc as the attacks happen etc. A friend of mine who's a coach recommended the setup and I must say it's pretty awesome as it runs the video and pauses it etc. It will even work with an ANT+ dongle, ant+ speed/cadene and your trainer model to give you a approximate power from your trainer so you can do it that way if you don't have a power meter.

 

Edited April 19, 2013 by Dreadhead

[n_maher]

Brent,

 

I'm with Vicki in thinking that your back is likely to be the issue.  I'd plan on a solid 2-1/2 hours of saddle time and probably more like 3-1/2 hours for the ride (with the inevitable stops).  If it weren't for your back I'd say it would be a non-issue but I think the wise choice might be to proceed with caution and get some medium length (15-20mi) rides in before launching into 30+ territory.

[aerius]

First offroad ride of the year from a couple weeks ago.  

I'm the one wearing shorts on a green hardtail.