The Virtual Cyclist

Shortly after New Years I came down with an upper respiratory infection that kept me off the bike for a week and the really cold weather following meant no more hot dates with Fat Amy. So, that meant back to the pain cave which I usually cannot tolerate but due to an unfortunate accident that befell me in the latter part of the prior year prompted me to get hooked on Zwift.

Then Mr Murphy showed up again while I was Telemark skiing at Mohawk Mountain on Martin Luther King Jr's holiday and I broke my right ankle! I felt like Joe Btfsplk from the Li'l Abner, the character with the dark cloud over him all the time. Right at the height of ski season, too.

Two weeks later the doctor gave me the all clear to start riding indoors on the trainer again and I have been going all out!  Riding Zwift, I went over 10K miles on Synapse and this month I am going to break 500 miles and I might even be able to take Fat Amy out again by the end of the month!

Discovering the world of virtual cycling

I try not to think to far ahead in my cycling activities at what future accomplishments I might achieve because you never know when Mr Murphy is going to pop up.

First Ride ... Sort of

I don't know if you can call riding the trainer actually riding but that's what I did tonight because of the rain.  I wanted to go sledding again with the boys but the rain made that a non starter.  I changed QR axles and hopped on the bike for the first time.  It felt really good!  Shifting was a lot like the SRAM Doubletaps that I put on the XS800.  Cockpit felt perfect, too.  On the XS800 I had a 130mm stem and on the Synapse it's 100 mm and feels perfect!  Can't wait to get out on the road and really ride!

Off Road Drops for the Bianchi San Jose

I probably mentioned this before but I wasn't jazzed about the drops that came on the Bianchi San Jose.  I prefer dirt drops because they are actually more ergonomic for your wrists.  With regular drops you have to turn your wrists out for riding in the hoods and down in the drops.  Similarly, like using a straight keyboard for a computer which is a known cause for carpal tunnel syndrome.  

These dirt drops are Pro Pulsion Alloy Gary-2 bars are flared 15 degrees outwards so riding in the hoods or down in the drops is a more natural hand position for your wrists and thus more comfortable.  I also have Salsa Woodchippers which I have had mounted on the Qball for the past couple of years when I was riding it as a Gravel Grinder, Monster Cross bike.  They have a 28 degree flare!  

The Cowbell 3 bars that I have on the Cross Check are there to stay, they have a 12 degree flare and at some point I am going to get ride of the bar end shifters and get Retroshifters and in fact I might even redo the whole drive train, and upgrade to a 10 speed and go crazy and get a triple in the front, or 180mm cranks.

Before I do the tape, the one thing that I agonize over is making sure the levers are exactly at the same height.  While riding the San Jose on the trainer after I put the Gary-2s on, I agonized over the left lever being a hair lower than the right.  I have tried measuring all sorts of different distances but nothing accurate because there is really no exact reference point either on the bars or the levers.  Putting the bike in the training, then laying a yard stick across the levers and putting a level on it works the best.

This BBC 'Shabbado' Black & Tan was a nice reward after spinning for an hour.  I didn't, however, feel like doing much after that.  I now have to wrap the bars.  I wasn't really a fan of the black tape but what came as a surprise was there was another layer of bar tape under that as well.  I was only able to successfully remove one side of the brown.  Got both sides of the black that I will recycle on some bike later down the road. After work, I stopped off at The Bicycle Center and agonized over what color to get.  I was thinking white but the guys talked me out of it.  I started fixating on Pink because it looks really good with Grey and could get me some Honey Attention but that is bold move that I am not sure I am ready for.  Blue looked OK but I already had that on the Cross Check, but yellow looks really good with the Grey frame, that in different lighting also looks blue.  In the end I went with ... (to be continued).

Fred, yeah that's me!

Leaving the office today someone wrote this on the back of my car.  I won't deny it.  In fact I am proud of it.  especially after watching this video from NSMB.com on now to be Road Biker.  At 0:30 you might recognize a brand of bike that I once owned and some guys from East Hampton, CT that had a piece of that action, I think.  Might explain why they went belly up.

Not only do I have the Fred covered, but I got commuter, ranndoneur, and gravel racer, too!  They missed hipster, unless coffee shop poser is supposed to cover that label.

Spent another evening riding the trainer only I gave myself a little more incentive, a blue ribbon incentive!  Some guys have training videos or watch past bike races.  I prefer watching the TV programs that I missed earlier this week on Internet TV.  Hopefully, this weekend it's going to warm up to over 20 degrees and I plan on getting some serious riding in.  Might event take the Qball out on a mountain bike ride!

Trainer Life

I have ridden in cold weather before, even as recently as last month, however, right now I just don't have any desire to in temperatures less than 15 degrees.  We saw mid twenties on Monday but I had to work.  I probably should have road my mountain bike on Sunday but the book I was reading was more interesting.  To fill the void I have taken to riding the trainer and in fact I have now ridden it more this year than I have in all the subsequent years I have owned it.

My trainer is a piece of crap and it's incredibly noisy.  I tried one at the LBS the other day when I was checking out road bikes and the really nice ones are really quiet.  I have seen quite a few Roller posts on Craigslist that have been interesting but I think I will stick with what I have until I have to replace it.  To make things more interesting I decided to watch a program that I missed on Monday on computer while I rode.  I had to use my amplifier through headphones to hear the sound, though.  Still, it beat starring at an unopened can of beer while pedaling.

This time around I went with shorts and riding socks and my feet got so cold I had to switch shoes half way through.  I put on my old Shimano winter riding shoes and they helped.  The garage was 41 degrees!

Riding fixed on the trainer

I have yet to take the Qball out on a real ride so in the meantime I have been putting some time in on the trainer.  Even on the trainer, it just oozes fun and as many of you know there is almost nothing fun about riding the trainer.  I know that's a big contradiction but it just feels so good pedaling this bike.  The only thing that could make it better would be to have a TV in the man cave.

Pedaling to Nowhere

What luck, first the new bike and now the trainer.  After learning the good news from the Orthopedist in that I should be able to start pedaling two days after the surgery (yet to come) I bought my first trainer.  I only spent around $100 and to quote popular cliche, "you get what you pay for."  Damn, it is loud!  I think I might have to try headphones next or ever pedal with the iPod but the beauty of pedaling in the mancave/garage is that I have satellite radio and can listen to Howard Stern, Liquid Metal, a football game, or a bevvy of other channels. 

DIY Bike Thong

The unit I got is from Gavin.  Never heard of them before but apparently they make bike parts, too.  I liked this one because it was a package deal and came with a wheel holder and a tensioner.  There was a spare skewer but I used one of me.  It took just a few minutes to set up and off I was pedaling like a gerbil in the Habitrail exercise wheel.

A little encouragement - the light at the end of the tunnel

There are 4 hand positions on the Mustache bars.  They are really comfortable and I plan on getting more for the next build, which will probably be a make over on the Ross once I get a stem that fits.  I worked out today with the car out of the garage but I think I can do with it in.  Which will be good when it's really cold and snowy out this winter.