I was on my Saturday group ride last week and one of the ride leaders was riding behind me. One of the things we were working on was drafting last week, which means riding as close as you can to the guy in front of you as you have the nerve to do. The closer the better, but usually you want to stay within 1 tire length (ya I know, it's a bit scary, but if you trust the guy in front of you not to make any sudden changes, it's not that bad. But becuase we are all newbies I only trust a handful of the group so far). When you are drafting behind someone, they say you usually use 30% less energy than they guy who is on the lead. It's bizarrly true. Besides the actual incline of the road the wind or just wind resistence can truely affect your ride. If it's really windy, the wind itself can actually stop you in your tracks.
But anyway we were riding up the PCH and the ride leader behind me says, "Hey, you give good draft". If he wasn't actually bigger than me, I would be insulted, but since he is, we both kinda laughed. My bike is set a bit more upright than most road bikes, so I would give a larger draft than most.
It's my bike set up, ya that's it.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
THOR WINS!!!! THOR WINS!!!!
Thor Husovd the God of Thunder won stage 2 in the Tour de France on Sunday!!!
It was very close, there were a few riders nipping at his heels, but he held them off to take it at the line.
THOR WINS!!! THOR WINS!!!
(Insert Thunder clap here)
Have a nice day.
It was very close, there were a few riders nipping at his heels, but he held them off to take it at the line.
THOR WINS!!! THOR WINS!!!
(Insert Thunder clap here)
Have a nice day.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Oh it's on
The Tour started today and the first stage had an impressive end. Alejandro Valverde who is one of the favorites to win the whole thing made an amazing acceleration at the end of the stage to win it. It was like everyone else was standing still. It was quite impressive.
Kind of reminded me of my ride today. I was doing my Saturday training group ride and a few groups passed us like we were standing still. Man I still have a looong way to go.
We did 37 miles today and I felt pretty good afterwards. I could have went much farther if needed. I did manage to break my seat post today on the ride though. I was "dancing on the pedals" going up a hill and on the top of the hill I guess I just sat down with too much force (or ass) for my poor bike and I heard this load CRACK. I pulled over quickly and did not notice anything really wrong a the time. But as I continued I felt the seat getting a little bit looser, until with about a mile left I knew it was going to give at any minute.
So I cautiously finished the ride and luckily it never came off the post. I took it into Trek today and they ordered the new post from Trek HQ. Hopefully it will come in this week so I can ride this coming saturday. It will be by far our toughest ride, 4000 feet of climbing (mama mia) and I'm actually interested to see how I would fair.
Kind of reminded me of my ride today. I was doing my Saturday training group ride and a few groups passed us like we were standing still. Man I still have a looong way to go.
We did 37 miles today and I felt pretty good afterwards. I could have went much farther if needed. I did manage to break my seat post today on the ride though. I was "dancing on the pedals" going up a hill and on the top of the hill I guess I just sat down with too much force (or ass) for my poor bike and I heard this load CRACK. I pulled over quickly and did not notice anything really wrong a the time. But as I continued I felt the seat getting a little bit looser, until with about a mile left I knew it was going to give at any minute.
So I cautiously finished the ride and luckily it never came off the post. I took it into Trek today and they ordered the new post from Trek HQ. Hopefully it will come in this week so I can ride this coming saturday. It will be by far our toughest ride, 4000 feet of climbing (mama mia) and I'm actually interested to see how I would fair.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Good Stuff costs Good Money
Shoot riding a nice bike costs lots of money. It's kind of like owning a German or Italian Sports car. When everything is working right, there is nothing like it, but when they break, oh man...
Right now I really need new tires. My current tires (or tyres in Europe) are getting pretty worn, and the rear one is actually pretty scary looking with all the micro-cuts in it. It's just a matter of time. Minimum I'm probably looking at $60 for the pair (now remember, you can buy a new bike at Target for $80 or so).
THEN my garmin Edge 305 started acting up on Sunday. I rode my bike towing Crong to visit my parents on Sunday. Everything was fine going there, but when I went to leave my Garmin would not turn on. When I got home I looked on the website for how to reset it, and that seemed to work, but when I tried to download the data, it would not transmit. And now it's only turning on sporatically.......
I sent an email to Garmin, we'll see what they say. It's not under warranty anymore, so it will probably cost me $99 to fix it... Hmmm the new 705 would only be 499 or so... NOT.... Maybe I'll read the fine print again with my credit card. I think the one I usually used last year actually extends the warranty for a year on anything you buy. That would be sweet.
Right now I really need new tires. My current tires (or tyres in Europe) are getting pretty worn, and the rear one is actually pretty scary looking with all the micro-cuts in it. It's just a matter of time. Minimum I'm probably looking at $60 for the pair (now remember, you can buy a new bike at Target for $80 or so).
THEN my garmin Edge 305 started acting up on Sunday. I rode my bike towing Crong to visit my parents on Sunday. Everything was fine going there, but when I went to leave my Garmin would not turn on. When I got home I looked on the website for how to reset it, and that seemed to work, but when I tried to download the data, it would not transmit. And now it's only turning on sporatically.......
I sent an email to Garmin, we'll see what they say. It's not under warranty anymore, so it will probably cost me $99 to fix it... Hmmm the new 705 would only be 499 or so... NOT.... Maybe I'll read the fine print again with my credit card. I think the one I usually used last year actually extends the warranty for a year on anything you buy. That would be sweet.
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