I welcome Cyborgs

Until about a week ago, I was really starting to get good at doing hills. Not great, but what used to make me hurt became almost pleasant. I even made it 9/10ths of the way up the wall before I fell apart. It was the first time I tried to ride up it, so I'm very pleased with the result. What I'm not pleased with is that my back went out again last Wednesday.

Unlike most cyclists, or even everyone else I know with back pain, mine is not in the lower back. I lift with my knees and do whatever I can to avoid lower back pain. My pain is muscular and right in the middle of my back and in my neck. Years of terrible posture and leaning over to hear shorter people talk has made my back and shoulders a disaster area. I'm now unable to ride the Lake Nockamixon Ride I had planned to in two weeks time. I'm really disappointed.

The only good to come from this is that when I was at the Doc getting checked out, they weighed me. When I started riding back in May, I was 176lbs. By June I had dropped down to 170 and I was happy. I didn't think that I had lost any more weight until I stepped on the scales and I came in at 164 with my clothes on. That explains why hills were becoming easier.

So here's my game plan. My Doc wants me to see a Chiropractor to get my back realigned (it is trash) and he thinks that will solve the problem. I know that my muscles are dead weak and need to be built up to hold my newly realigned back in place. My plan is to get my back cracked a few times and then switch to physical therapy for a month or so to build everything up and hopefully I will be set and I'll only have to maintain my back and not have to worry about it being a little bitch again. Until then, I'm off my bike for at least another week and hopefully that's it.

Wheels of Fury

About a month ago I talked to my mechanic (because I own him) about wanting to buy new wheels. The wheels that came with my bike (Shimano RS-10) are good, but they flex a little when I sprint, feel loose when I ride above 30mph for extended periods (fun on downhills!) and are a little heavier than I would like. So out with the imperfect and in with the most perfect I can afford.


I headed down to Highroad around 12p and John actually had the time to set me up with four different wheels to test. He was even kind enough to blow out both of my tubes and sent me home with brand new ones. I only paid one damaged ear drum.

I explained to John that I wanted a lighter wheel that spun up quickly to help my pansy-ass on the hills, but something that was also stiff enough that I couldn't feel a ton of flex when sprinting. All for less than a grand.

John doesn't even blink. He just starts pulling wheels off the wall and we get started.

But first, a basic lesson in no-shit physics. A light weight wheel is easier to turn and a heavier wheel will spin longer once it's up to speed. More important is where the weight is placed in relation to the center of the wheel. The further from the center the weight is, the harder it is to spin the wheel, and the closer the weight, the easier. So some wheels that have a heavier weight than others can be easier to spin because of where the weight is in relation to the center. So a lighter wheel isn't always better if that makes any kind of sense.

The first set of wheels he had me try were the Roval Fusse SL's. They're a a light weight wheel (1450g according to Specialized's site) but their engineers spent most of their time making the rim of the wheel lighter so a lot of the weight is kept near the center of the wheel. They spin up quickly and, on the little hill on my test ride, they felt noticeably easier to accelerate up hill. Plus they looked good on my bike. I liked them. The $1050 price tag was doable, but not optimal.

Next up was the Bontrager Race X Lite wheelset. At 1535g (again, according to their website) they're a lightish wheel. The apparently use the same hubs as the Fusse SL's, but the rim is heavier and it feels it. With the weight further out from the center I didn't notice any increase in spin up from my Shimanos, but they were much stiffer when I sprinted. They felt nice but they didn't "WOW" me. The $900 price tag wasn't terrible.

To give me an Idea of what a stiff wheel really feels like, John suggested I next try Roval's Fusse Star wheels. They have a unique hub that's, you guessed it, star shaped. At 1750g they're heavy, but they don't feel heavier than the Race X Lite's do because, again, most of the weight is close to the center. The ride is just silly. The bike respondes instantly to any aplication of the pedals. It felt like the bike couldn't wait to get out from underneath me. I liked them a lot and at $930 they were within budget.

A while back I had tried Niko's wheels to see if I liked them. They're Mavic ES wheels and they're damn stylish. When I rode them I liked them because of how stiff they felt. Today I had John Put them on my bike and I went out confidant that I would be leaving the store with them. Nope. Of all the wheels I rode today they felt the worst. At 1485g they were the second lightest wheel but they felt the heaviest. All of the weight savings went to the hubs (wheel center) and the rim (furthest point from the center) are pretty heavy. So they're light weight wheels that felt harder to spin up than my Shimano wheels. And they were $990. They're not the wheels for me.

So, after three hours of testing wheels I liked the Roval Fusse SL's the best, but they were the priciest of the bunch, and I honestly felt like they weren't stiff enough for me. So John and I started talking about custom made wheel sets.

Like anything I consider buying, I did a crap-ton of research on the topic of wheels before I showed up. I even researched making my own wheels just in case I couldn't find the "perfect" wheel set off the shelf. The one thing I definitely knew was that I wanted Chris King hubs. They're light, strong and beautiful pieces. Apparently, most hubs have 24 toothed cogs and King uses 72 teeth. They have a 5 year warranty and they're even manufactured in the most environmentally friendly way they can be. They're also pricey, but we'll get to that in a moment. 112g front, 264g rear and $160 and $340.

For Rims, John suggested I go with IRD rims. They're a Niobium/Aluminum alloy and at 390g each they're pretty light. $70.

For spokes John said he was going to use DT Revolution's. I don't have any weight or price numbers for you. But total, after tax, everything will run me $816. The hubs and rims weigh in at 1156g and I can't see the spokes and nipples weighing too much, so I think I might have a sub 1500g wheel set that's stiff enough for me for less than a grand. Just like I wanted. I'll keep you posted.

Unitard

So I bought myself a pair of Giordana bibs because everyone I talk to about bibs keeps telling me they're the second coming of sweet baby Jesus for your ass. They're weird. Not bad weird, but I'm not used to having built in suspenders for my shorts. Or looking like a 1920's German wrestler/weight lifter. The padding isn't as comfortable as my Pearl Izumi's, but it is comfortable, and the fit is unbelievable. It's like their leg skin with a goofy pad under my junk area. I dig'm.

As for my riding this weekend, It was good and bad. Friday and Saturday were "eh" days. I think I did 20 miles each day. On Friday Jen gave me her "I have to work" excuse. I think from now on I'm just going to part ways with her once she's done, and get more miles in. I figure if I can get 25-30 miles in twice a week and 30-50 miles in on Saturday and Sunday, I will be happy for the moment.

Saturday's ride was cut short because the sky looked like the "Nothing" from The Never Ending Story. No luck Dragons though. We did ride around Bridgeport a little bit on the way back home and did a few of the long, low grade hills. They'll come in handy in the coming month.

Todays ride wasn't what I thought it was going to be. We were going to ride up to Betzwood to meet other Team Tania riders to do the BAM-B (Betzwood to the Art Museum and Back. Yeah, it's the worst name for a ride anyone could come up with) ride. When we got there, it was so unorganized and sad that I couldn't really deal with it. A group of riders left and Jen and I just tagged on to the back of them to get going somewhere. That was fine for about... oh, two minutes before their 12mph pace got annoying. Jen and I passed them and never looked back.

Around Norristown we were passed by the Junk Brothers. Who are the Junk Brothers? Why they're two guys that have a hard time hiding their manhood in bike shorts. As hard as it is to hide one's banana boat in spandex, most gentlemen over 25 seem to have no problem. A bulge is inevitable, but acceptable. Seeing one's circular scar is too much. Most guys under 25 haven't figured that out. I don't think the Junk Brothers will ever figure that out.

Jen and I rode well together and passed the Junk Brothers at the end of the bike path. They had stopped, and we didn't. But seeing that we had passed them, they shot off after us. They're stronger riders than I am, but I have noticed that they just sprint at the start and drop everyone, then slow down to the same pace as everyone else. So I decided to not let them run from us and see how long I could hang with them. I knew that if I could hang with them, then Jen could keep up with them because she's physically a freak. If i decide to ride 25mph for lengths of time, she'll destroy her legs and keep up. I love it.

So the Junk brothers saw me behind them (you can't see Jen behind me because she's the size of a large child) and tried to take off. I just kept with them and sure enough they slowed to a pace where I could have passed them if I felt like it. I basically had them pull us though Manayunk and down to West River Drive before I slowed pace and let them ride off.

Funny thing about West river today. We got on (it's closed to cars on sundays) and no one said anything to us. That part wasn't weird because no one ever says anything to us when we get on it. Today there were cones set up everywhere. I thought it was from the time trials they hold in the early mornings down there. As we got further down we realize that there are people swimming in the water. Then I remembered the Philly Womans Tri was going on and we thought nothing of it. Further down the course nazi yells at us for being on the course. Completely flips out from inside her SUV. It got us thinking "why didn't someone stop us from getting on in the first place?" Philly sucks at organizing anything.

We found our way off the course and continued riding down to the Art Museum. We stopped for a bar and a piss and then headed down Kelly drive instead of heading back down W. River. The Kelly drive path is a nightmare on the weekends because everyone is out on it. We had to avoid runners and careless bikers for a few miles before it was clear. While heading back into Manayunk (I'm just going to refer to it as "the 'Yunk" from now on) we stopped at a light with another group who were heading back through the 'Yunk as well. Half of them were blocking traffic going the other way and even when Jen audibly called out when the opposing light changed to yellow, then red, they just stood there. The light turns green and we hear one of them ask if they had everyone, and they all just stood there. Knowing a bad situation when we see it, Jen and I hauled ass out of that intersection and just flew into the 'Yunk. We stopped at the new coffee shop Jen likes and had some food. We also stopped for way too long and when we got back on our bikes our legs were crap salad.

As you leave the 'Yunk to get back to the bike path, the road turns upward. Nothing too bad, but there are rolling hills that can be challenging when you don't have your legs. There's one hill in particular that is really tough if your legs are done and I really beat myself up getting over it. Some random guy started chatting with Jen on the way up and we rode with him all the way to Spring Mill. It turns out he's the general manager at Cadence (local high end bike store/training location). Nice guy. A little weird. Kind of like my bibs.

As soon as Cadence guy turns off, Eric passes us. Eric always wears a Columbia jersey. I've never seen him ride in anything else. It makes him really easy to spot when we're riding. He wasn't wearing his Columbia jersey today and I had no idea who he was until he caught us and said what's up. So we rode together until Norristown. And by rode together, I mean he was nice enough to pull us up there so we had enough energy to make it home. Big ups Eric.

So I officially rode the furthest I've ever gone today. 43.something miles in two and a half hours. I'm also only twenty-some miles away from reaching 1,000 miles total. I've only been riding since late May so we'll round that to two and a half months of riding. Not too shabby.

My work schedule is also completely changing starting tomorrow. I'll be working 4p-Midnight until September 7th. That just means I'll be waking up later, but I'll be able to go on morning rides just about every day. So I'm hoping to really kick my ass in the next month. I'm really excited about it.