Like the Weather

I have a small amount of momentum going with biking this year, but I also have new rules as far as what type of weather is suitable for riding. By that I mean, I'm 49 years old, I've acclimated to the heat of the south, so I am not riding in weather under 50 degrees. 

The upside of this is that I am back in the routine of asking myself almost every day "is it nice enough to ride?" That is a step in the right direction even though it is tough during the winter when the answer is almost always "no." 

Physically I'll never get back to previous "performance" levels. But mentally I'm beating the excuses that kept me from riding in 2019. I guess I am having "marginal gains" as Team INEOS (formerly team Sky) would put it.

Wednesday of next week I am getting a Heart Catheterization procedure. This is, from what I am told, a fairly routine procedure that allows the doctors to examine more closely what is happening with my heart by inserting a tube through an artery in my arm or leg, and injecting a special dye that will allow them to see blood flow blockages in real time. I have been told that if they detect blockages that are bad enough, they will install stents to open those blockages.

My first question was, "will it give me more energy?"
The answers I've gotten so far say no. These answers were from both the actual doctor that will be performing the work, and from a few people I know who have one or more stents in their heart having been through the same procedure. The way it will work from what I understand, is that my heart may work more efficiently after the procedure, which could extend my lifespan. In other words, with my congestive heart failure, my heart is only moving 60% of the capacity of blood it is supposed to. If I have stents installed, it most likely will still only move that percentage, but will work a little less hard doing it.

I am writing this based only on what I have been told, my next step is a deep dive into information about the procedure and its affects.

In other  news, I retaped my road bike bars with white tape. Stupid tape had no adhesive. Oain in the neck.

2020 Olympics Tokyo Cycling, BMX & Skateboarding Mascots!

Ladies and gentlemen, here are your 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Cycling, Mountain Biking, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle mascots!

BMX RACING

BMX FREESTYLE

ROAD CYCLING

TRACK CYCLING

MOUNTAIN BIKING

SKATEBOARDING

How freakin' awesome are these? I love them. Share this post!

Bruise Report

Last Sunday I bailed pretty hard on the single speed, and ended up taking the handlebar end to the chest with full momentum. I knew as soon as it happened that it was the kind of injury that hurt then, but would hurt worse and look worse later.
Day one there was no bruise at all.

Then by day three it reached the initial development "yellow stage"...

 

By day 6 it had fully developed. 

 

OUCH!

 

GIRO Privateer Cycling Shoes

 

Just got these awesome GIRO Privateer cycling shoes. This is my first pair of cycling shoes with the ratchet tightening mechanism. I had been wanting the white versions of these, which were Performance exclusives, but then I saw the black versions at REI and decided they would be a better choice. The thing is, I really wanted to wait until they dropped under $100. The suggested retail is $150. I watched and waited and they eventually popped up on REI Outlet for 69.00, and I had an outlet 20% off coupon. All told I got them for around $55 with shipping included. Yeah man I'll take it! I have done about 3 rides with them so far and they...are...awesome!

Product Test: HALO II HEADBAND (pt.1)

Last year I started using a regular old NBA style sweatband under my helmet during the summer months. It worked great....until you stopped for a rest. Of course the solution is to NEVER STOP TO REST, but I'm a regular cyclist, not a pro, so sometimes I stop. We all have to stop at stop lights (sometimes) right?

Anyway, the NBA style sweatband worked great at soaking up sweat, but stop for just a second and all of that sweat would come streaming down into my eyes. Then I'd take the backside of my glove and rub my eyes, which just made more sweat go in them. Then my eyeballs felt like someone was jabbing them with a red hot poker for the rest of the ride.But even that was better than no sweatband and having sweat run down into my eyes as soon as I started perspiring.

This year I'm going to give a new solution a try. While browsing REI I discovered the HALO II PULLOVER HEADBAND.

At first glance I thought it was just a reworking of a standard sweatband, with a little bit different shape, but the real difference is on the inside.

 

The yellow rubber strip is known as the SweatBlock Patented Seal (no really it is a legit patented) and it is the reason I opted to shell out the $16.00 price. The seal is pretty self-explanatory, but for those of you who don't get how it works, the seal creates a channel about an inch above your eyebrows, and is supposed to channel liquid back and away from your eyes and face. Think of it as a rain gutter for your mug. 

The HALO II is available in a wide range of colors and is made from Dryline® Visa Endurance Fabric which is a blend of 63% Nylon, 23% Polyester, and 14% Lycra. The result is an incredibly thin product, which is nice because the old NBA headband I was using was almost too this to get a helmet over. However, I am thinking that the HALO II will be more about moving sweat than absorbing it. I'm okay with that, but we'll need to see how it works in practice. The feature set says it is anti-microbial, odor resistant and quick drying. I'm hoping for excellent performance on all of these since they are all areas where the NBA sweatband fell short.

Initial fit seemed pretty good and after wearing it for a few minutes I forgot it was on. That works for me, but I'll be keeping an eye on the elasticity and hoping that it doesn't get loose. 

I'm ready for some summer torture testing. You can probably tell from the pic above, and will shamefully admit, that I probably get more sweaty than some of the super fit cyclists out there. That is one of the many reasons why this blog is called "Regular Cyclist" not "Unsponsored Pro". So this thing is going to get a proper thrashing, which I'll report back on in a month or two. 

I'm thinking that a replacement once a year would be cool with me, and I'd be interested in hearing what you think the lifespan of a product like this should be. Let me know. 

Strange Find on Fun Ride

The weather here in Georgia was incredible yesterday given that it is February. So of course I headed out for some miles on the road bike. On the back side of my ride, I noticed a green and purple duffle bag not too far off the side of the road in an industrial park area. I decided to double back and check it out. You're never going to believe what was in the bag:

When I first looked in teh top of the bad and saw all the glass, I thought, "Holy crap this is a mobile meth lab." But as I started to dig the stuff out it turned out to be weed and meth smoking paraphernalia. At the top there are two empty rifle bullet magazines.

There were two bongs, the large one was made from two pyrex containers modified to be comppressed together by a set of springs. The other was a smaller and still had weed in the hitter, The location was about .5 mile from a local bike shop, so at least 3 times while I was pulling this stuff out and examining it riders went past that asked if I needed help. Thank goodness I was able to wave all of them on without having them stop. Then it occurred to me that if a cop came by, the situation would be very difficult to may be very difficult to explain. I decided I'd better put everything back and get on my way. 

Before leaving I did grab a quick photo of the meth related irems, White stains on the stems are not from weed.

The rest of the ride was very rad for a while. Wind was heavy on the way out so it was all at my back for the return trip. Then I got to Buford and this happened:

Phone camera just would not let me get a shot of this in focus, but you can clearly see that its a safety pin. I had a patch kit, a new tube, and two c02 cartridges with me, First I tried to patch the hole, but I think I got over zealous with the little metal tool that you're supposed to rough up the patch area with. I put air in, it came right back out. I was about 6 miles from the car so I had to make sure attempt 2 with the new tube worked, or I was gonna have to call the sag wagon. Took my time since there was no reason to rush and the 2nd attempt went fine. 

The rest of the ride went pretty well and I ended with about 22 miles total (but only 600ft of climbing).

I wonder what I'll find out on the road next. I find stuff while biking all the time, The craziest thing I ever found was a working Nintendo DS video game. I still have it!

Shimano 2300 STI Shifter Wire Replacement pt.1

Took my first ride of 2015 today with my buddy Jay. About 3 miles into the ride my rear shifter "broke". It would only shift across 3 cogs and then only sometimes. My bike has Shimano 2300 STI shifters, which is a 3x8 system, the cheapest Shimano makes as far as I know. They are about 2 years and 4000 miles old.

Since there is a triple on the front, and we were just doing about 10 easy miles, I opted to finish the ride, and we had a pretty good time. Once I got home it was time to dig in and find out what was going on.

First thing I did was actually run my finger along the downtube portion of the inner wire. I could feel a channel spiraling through the length of the wire, which I thought was kind of odd, and it made me suspect that a single wire had unraveled. The thing is though, I am sure I would have noticed a single strand unraveling the entire length all the way up to the shifter, but I never did.

Next I disconnected the wire from the derailleur and sure enough, up inside the shifer, the wire had gone berzerk...

I have never actually replaced an STI inner wire, because this is the first one that has ever gone bad on me. With this particular set of shifters it doesn't seem too hard. The most difficult part of the repair so far was pushing the wire out of the shifter without having it break and get stuck inside. What I had to do was unravel some additional strands that were keeping me from sliding the end of the cable ferrule down the wire on the inner side of the shifter. A little work with some very small needle nose pliers and I managed to get the ferrule to slide about 6" down over the wir, so then I was able to push a few inches of the wire out the outside edge of the shifter. I left it partially in the shifter for now. I have my reasons for this. Also, in order to get access to the hole which the wire installs through, the brake lever needs to be pulled in pretty far.

While I was working on the inner wire, I did not notice that Lucy (my black lab) had decided to munch on the cable housing and ferrule from the rear section. This is what it ended up looking like by the time I caught her in the act.

She pretty much destroyed the metal ferrule, and there were some tense moments where we thought she had actually swallowed it. Thankfully we found it.

So...at the moment, I am -pretty sure- that the actual shifter is fine, and I'll try replacing the inner wire before making the leap to getting some new shifters. Also on the table is possibly upgrading ALL of the cables to a fancy upgraded set. The cables I have now are Jagwire, but I am considering some of the colored aftermarket Jagwire biz. I think it would look pretty rad...

Seat and Car Upgrades!

Not a lot happening ride and adventure-wise right now, but I do have a few upgrades to report. I grabbed a sweet new WTB saddle as part of the Performance Bicycle Black Friday sale. I know, I know...I should be supporting my local independent bike shop instead of the giant corporate bike biz, but first off it was 50% off, and secondly, I have had a bunch of great group rides with the folks at my local Performance, so I'm not really feeling the guilt on this purchase. You can see that the old saddle was also a WTB. It served me pretty well, and I really only replaced it because it started to rip near the top front. I have mentioned previously in my old bike blog that I have a tendency to bend seat rails but only on one side. I am hoping that doesn't happen on this one.

The other, and perhaps more exciting upgrade, is actually not on any of my bicycles...I got a new car! Well, a new used car. But at 20k miles it is practically new. Its a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta S (the base model) and this time around I made sure to get a 5speed instead of an automatic, since auto transmission problems were a big problem on my previous VW. Hopefully I'll be able to afford a roof rack some time in the future, but until then, the fold down seats and roomy trunk area allow me to stash the roadbike without taking off the wheels! I'll take it!

Atlanta 2014 Critical Mass Halloween

Although I cannot make it to every group ride that happens in Atlanta, I try to make it each year to the Halloween Critical Mass. It's always one of the more well attended rides. This year, Halloween fell on the last Friday of the month, so that was kind of a bonus. Unfortunately for me, it was kind of a mediocre ride, which was my own fault. I drank too many beers too early, and by the time we got to Little Five Points, I had to break off to find a place to use the bathroom. It also started raining, well, maybe heavily drizzling, around this same time. By the time I took care of business, I had lost site of the ride, so I ended up going my own way and syncing up with some friends. I like to ride at least 10 miles every time I get on the bike, but only logged about 7 via Strava. I did not factor in the actual ride from where I parked my car (right by The Spindle) to Woodruff though, so all told I was probably pretty close to 10.

Anyway, here are a few pics of some of the folks who wore costumes.

Every year there is at least one person who is dramatically under dressed, and this year was no exception. Crazy penguin man.

Swamp Rabbit Trail - Ride Review

I've been wanting to knock the Swamp Rabbit Trail in South Carolina off the list for a while, so Saturday I met up with a good buddy of mine so we could get it done. After a little preliminary research we determined that the smartest plan for us would be to start at the southern terminus and work northward, then back. The southernmost point of the trail ends unceremoniously at an intersection next to a shopping center type deal with a bowling alley in the lot. We parked next to the bowling alley and didn't feel stressed about the bags of exposed gear we left in the car, it looks like a pretty chill neighborhood. If you want to start at the southernmost point, the address is 740 S Pleasantburg Drive Greenville SC 29607. There were a few other cars with bike racks parked there as well, so we could tell this is a pretty popular spot to leave the car.

RIDE REVIEW

The Swamp Rabbit is a multi-use path, and it is not a ride you want to do if you want to go mash some hills. It's practically a pancake, but if you do the entire length you will log just under 1000ft of climbing.

The trail starts off easy to see as standard double wide multi path, but you quickly get to a part where you can either ride in the street or on the sidewalk. We actually lost our way and had to double back because we felt like we had gone waaay too long off the actual trail, and we were right. You make one turn onto a street and just a short way away the entrance to the continuation of the trail is on the opposite side of the road, and it is not clearly marked. Keep your eyes open for it, it is easy to pass.

Once you are back on the pathed path, the trail markings get a little better. You'll know you are on the right track if you keep seeing letter number combos painted on the ground every so often counting downward from the mid 360's, Example: SR357

Almost immediately the trail starts to get crowded as you head towards downtown Greenville. You'll do some interesting twists and turns to get through the downtown section, as you need to cross and recross the river a few times. Easy to make some wrong turns here, so it may be best to follow someone who looks like they know where they are going.

The downtown section passes quickly. As you continue on, you'll notice that your bike suddenly seems like it is a bit heavier than usual. But what is really happening is that you are on a false flat - subtle upgrade for a fairly long clip once north of town. Nothing hard though, I only mention it because it is SO subtle that you may be inclined to think something is wrong with your bike. Also, there is a section where the path gets kind of narrow, but there is a rubberized section off to the side for runners. I didn't know what it was so I started riding in it and thought I had a flat. Duh.

The other thing I notoced about this trail is that there are A LOT of daybikers who don't even own a bike, but have rented a giant beach cruiser beast which they are struggling to keep control of. These people tend to REALLY want audible warnings of when you are going to pass. If you pass without warning, be prepared for them to go all trail boss on you. It never ceases to amaze me that the people who want to yell at you for not announcing that you're going to pass on the left are the same people who struggle to keep their bike under control and to the right. 

Guess what n00bs, you are breaking as much a rule as I am for taking up the entire fucking trail with your weeble wobble wackity wack ridiculousness! When I see you careening recklessly back and forth across the full width of the trail I'd rather sneak past you than call out that I'm going to pass, because when I do, you'll immediately steer in the same direction I'm about to pass you from. I learned the hard way about that one. So, I am going to ride in the way I think is safest for ME, not YOU. You're probably going to wreck anyway with or without my interference, my hope is to just get past you and away from you before you wreck into ME. I realize that this may not be a popular opinion, but riding defensively around people less experienced than me has worked well for 43 years, I'm not about to change it now because I "offended your bicycle etiquette requirement". For the record, my buddy was using his Incredibell AND I was calling out to other riders who we had to pass, but in general we would just sneak past any weeble wobblers. People we did call out to about passing usually gave us a "Thank You" as we rode by.

There is one section of trail where the double wide path stops, and then continue about 100 yards or so to your right, across a big barren intersection with lots of train tracks. This is a component of the trail that could definitely be better marked. When you get to this intersection, to continue, it almost looks like you are heading inside the gate of some sort of industrial complex. I should have taken a pic or video of this section. I could easily see some people get lost at this point, so be careful. 

Travelers Rest is a micro-town just a few miles from the northern terminus. If you are on a date-ride, Travelers Rest is a great place to stop for a bite, a beer, or to basically refuel however you need to. The actual trail continues a bit north of TR, and then ends abruptly.

The ride back is excellent, because all that upgrade you just worked through is downhill on the way back. Again, it is so subtle that you can barely tell, but you'll feel like you are really making time and having fun with lots of coasting on the return trip. Take your time, look around, have fun. Remember to slow it down through the downtown section. Most importantly, if you started next to the bowling alley like I described, then when you get back to the bowling alley, keep following the trail all the way to the top of the street/intersection, because it is the most climbing you'll have done all day and if you don't go all the way to the top, YOU HAVE CHEATED and not done the WHOLE trail. You'll thank me later for challenging you to go the whole way. It's only another 200 yards but it is a tough 200.

Overall I really enjoyed myself on this trail. There are enough things to look at along the way that you don't get bored, but you'll eventually get to sections where you can open up the throttle a little bit. I'd also say this is a great "date trail", and you could easily do more of it than you think you can even if you rarely ride. My Strava results for the ride were just under 34 miles out and back. You can always use the interactive trail map on your mobile device for help.

Now Go Get Swampy!

Terminus 5C 2014 Atlanta GA

Coming up this weekend, 10.4.14 in Atlanta GA

TERMINUS 5C

I did the Terminus 5C last year and it was definitely one of the most fun rides of the year. You get to make your own route to 5 different locations around town, each location hosting a challenge that earns you points. Sweet party at the end. You should go, and you should bring your friends. 

Flowery Branch End of Summer Half Century 3D VIEW Bicycle Ride

Are you using Strava?  I am, and I hope you are too.  Such a great way to quantify your stats, if you are into that sort of thing.  I know that stats are not for everyone, and that some folks just like to go ride, but I personally LOVE seeing my numbers.

Something I discovered which is very rad is the VELOVIEWER website, which offers a bunch of interesting visualizations of your Strava data.  Probably my favorite of all the available visualizations is the 3D view of your ride.  Today I did my longest ride of the year, an End Of Summer Half Century. I didn't really intend to do that kind of distance when I left the house, but the weather wasso nice I just kept going. Anyway, here is the 3D visualization of the ride elevation data:

Pretty Rad!

Broken Bottom Bracket Cup

I ride a 2012 Scott S 50 road bike, That is a perfect bike for a regular non-pro like me. It has a triple on the front but I try not to ever granny. Anyway, a few weeks ago the BB started creaking so I bought the tools, disassembled, cleaned and reassembled. I may have reassembled with a little too much gusto...

CRACK IS WACK