On Sunday, I rode down to Rose32 bakery with a bunch of guys from 7 hills wheelmen. The usual suspects showed up: don, kat, eric f, eric d, dave c, kevin, justin, marty, mike foley, joe. The pace down was good and my legs felt good. At every town line Dave had to sprint, which is fun and a good motivation. I kept a steady pace and stuck on Justin's wheel. As we climbed the last hill before Rose32, kat and mike had to sprint for it, so I decided to tag along.
When we arrived at the bakery, I looked at cyclemeter and noticed we had averaged 24mph from Paxton center school. That's a distance of 22 miles, give or take. Everyone worked together and took turns pulling. Eric D and Dave tended to take longer pulls, since they're stronger.
When I first started, I used to just ride by myself. That was mostly due to confidence in my skills and bike handling. Riding in a paceline felt scary and I didn't want to cause others to crash. It took me 18 months of riding to get comfortable with the road position. For the most part, I kept my hands on the hoods and tops. My friend dave tried to teach me pace line, and other important skills, but it took a damn long time for me to learn. I'm just not natural and don't handle the bike with any talent. When I see someone that is a natural, everything looks effortless. Their cadence is steady the entire time and rarely do they over spin or struggle to find the right gear.
When I first started, I would only shift the rear and then have to drop to the small chain ring. That usually meant over spinning. Sometimes I'd recover quickly, sometimes it would just throw me off. On bad days, I'd end up grinding to a crawl. As I got more fit, I was less focused on survival and more on cadence. Right around 18 months, I started to get a floating sensation. My friend dave said "you know the cadence is good when you feel like you're floating and it's like you're not peddling at all."
On Sunday's ride, my legs felt that wonderful floating sensation for most of the ride. On the final climb up to Paxton center it was hard. Marty and I worked together to pull each other up the hill. Even though I didn't feel "fast" going up long pond climb, I ended up getting a personal record (PR). With a few more great group rides, my legs will be back in shape.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Mavic Aksium wheels
Now that I've had 2 weeks of riding on the Aksium wheels, here's some thoughts. The first is that I can't tell any difference in speed. What I do notice is the bike is lighter than with the stock Giant PR2 wheels. I didn't think that mattered or that I'd even notice, but it is noticeable.
The wheels look nice and they've worked well. Breaking is about the same as before. On my regular lunch ride, I haven't noticed any appreciable speed increase on holden reservoir going south. The thing is, I don't even know how to compare, since I don't have a lab to isolate all the variables. On windy days I don't know it makes any difference. If there is, I can't tell.
One thing I did notice is the older giant PR2 were gentler on potholes and bumps. I usually inflate to about 110 and use 700x25. The tires that came with the Aksium are 700x23, so it's not comparable. Once I swap out the stock tires for Gatorskin hardshell, it will be easier to see if there's a difference.
The last few weekends I've done 40-60 mile rides and I haven't noticed any additional hand, wrist or shoulder fatigue. I can't attribute this to Aksium wheels being stiffer, since I haven't measured it. Even if it is, swapping out the stock tires and reducing the PSI to 105 would probably be enough.
Overall, I'm happy with the Aksium wheels.
The wheels look nice and they've worked well. Breaking is about the same as before. On my regular lunch ride, I haven't noticed any appreciable speed increase on holden reservoir going south. The thing is, I don't even know how to compare, since I don't have a lab to isolate all the variables. On windy days I don't know it makes any difference. If there is, I can't tell.
One thing I did notice is the older giant PR2 were gentler on potholes and bumps. I usually inflate to about 110 and use 700x25. The tires that came with the Aksium are 700x23, so it's not comparable. Once I swap out the stock tires for Gatorskin hardshell, it will be easier to see if there's a difference.
The last few weekends I've done 40-60 mile rides and I haven't noticed any additional hand, wrist or shoulder fatigue. I can't attribute this to Aksium wheels being stiffer, since I haven't measured it. Even if it is, swapping out the stock tires and reducing the PSI to 105 would probably be enough.
Overall, I'm happy with the Aksium wheels.
Funny haha
The last two weeks I've been using my new Polar H7 HRM to measure my resting heart rate during the day. I use cyclemeter to log and view the results. Right now, my avg heart rate is around 57, which is pretty good.
One day, I noticed a couple of odd blips in the heart rate. When I looked at the graph, I noticed 2 different times it spiked to over 80. For a few seconds I was confused, since nothing unusual happened. Then I looked at the time and realized it was when my wife came down to the basement to talk to me.
Both times the heart rate jumped was caused by her. When I told her that fact, she got a good laugh. Even though I make a point to tell her how much I appreciate her every day, often she thinks I'm just being overly mushy. Now that I have proof from my Polar HRM, she gets a kick out of distracting me and raising my heart rate.
On a different note, after 2 months of daily use, I've noticed the soft strap is starting to smell. I soak in water after each ride, since I sweat a lot. With my previous HRM from sigma sport, it was more resistant to odors. I don't know if it's because of the strap material or hard versus soft. I guess I'll have to start washing it with detergent and see if that helps with odors.
One day, I noticed a couple of odd blips in the heart rate. When I looked at the graph, I noticed 2 different times it spiked to over 80. For a few seconds I was confused, since nothing unusual happened. Then I looked at the time and realized it was when my wife came down to the basement to talk to me.
Both times the heart rate jumped was caused by her. When I told her that fact, she got a good laugh. Even though I make a point to tell her how much I appreciate her every day, often she thinks I'm just being overly mushy. Now that I have proof from my Polar HRM, she gets a kick out of distracting me and raising my heart rate.
On a different note, after 2 months of daily use, I've noticed the soft strap is starting to smell. I soak in water after each ride, since I sweat a lot. With my previous HRM from sigma sport, it was more resistant to odors. I don't know if it's because of the strap material or hard versus soft. I guess I'll have to start washing it with detergent and see if that helps with odors.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Cyclemeter supports Stage Powermeters
Yesterday I sent Abvio feedback about cyclemeter suggesting they support Stage power meter. It turns out they already support it, but the website doesn't list it. I've been using cyclemeter for 2 years now and by far it's the best cycle computer app for smart phones.
This year Abvio added support for Wahoo RFLKT along with other bluetooth smart devices. I highly recommend cyclemeter to my cycling friends. I've tried several cycling apps and cyclemeter hands down beats all of the others.
This year Abvio added support for Wahoo RFLKT along with other bluetooth smart devices. I highly recommend cyclemeter to my cycling friends. I've tried several cycling apps and cyclemeter hands down beats all of the others.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
PowerMeters
I've been reading about powermeters the last 2 years and have been thinking of getting one. The thing is, most of them are WAY expensive and well over 1000. I did some googling tonight and found a new product that works with bluetooth smart.
Stageone power meter
http://www.stagescycling.com/stagespower-models-rd
This looks really intriguing to me. The cheapest Quarq powermeter on sale is still 1300.00, which is way too much to spend on a powermeter. I don't race and never will, but being a programmer and data geek, powermeters are interesting.
I might have to save up and get one. That's assuming it is compatible with my FSA crankset. There's an excellent detailed review of Stages by DC rainmaker
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/01/stages-power-meter-in-depth-review.html
Stageone power meter
http://www.stagescycling.com/stagespower-models-rd
This looks really intriguing to me. The cheapest Quarq powermeter on sale is still 1300.00, which is way too much to spend on a powermeter. I don't race and never will, but being a programmer and data geek, powermeters are interesting.
I might have to save up and get one. That's assuming it is compatible with my FSA crankset. There's an excellent detailed review of Stages by DC rainmaker
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/01/stages-power-meter-in-depth-review.html
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Castelli Nonflex Tights
Last winter I bought a pair of Nanoflex tights on close out at biketiresdirect.com. Although the material is thin, it does a good job of keeping the legs warm down to about 37 F. Lower than 32F, I wear my Pearl Izumi Amfib tights.
A few weeks back, I decided to get another pair of Nanoflex Tights, since the cheap Nashbar tights I bought 2 ago just don't fit well and don't keep my legs warm. To be fair, the Nashbar tights are about half the price. When I first started, I thought "Tights are tights, it's not going to make a difference."
Well, that's so wrong. The range of motion and warmth of the nanoflex tights are so much better that I can do a 3-4 hr ride in them. With the nashbar tights, 45 min is my limit with sub 40F temperatures. In march I did a few rides with 7HW members down to Rose32 bakery and my legs felt decent. The sweet spot for Nanoflex is right around 45F.
In terms of keeping the legs dry, it lives up to the promise. The chamois is solid and works well for me. Other people might not like it, but I find it works well for short, medium and long rides.
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/castelli-mens-nanoflex-bib-tight?ss=34897
The only downside with nanflex big tights is you have to be "in-shape". By that I mean "not fat". The tights fit like skin, so getting in and out of them is tough if you've put on extra pounds over winter.
A few weeks back, I decided to get another pair of Nanoflex Tights, since the cheap Nashbar tights I bought 2 ago just don't fit well and don't keep my legs warm. To be fair, the Nashbar tights are about half the price. When I first started, I thought "Tights are tights, it's not going to make a difference."
Well, that's so wrong. The range of motion and warmth of the nanoflex tights are so much better that I can do a 3-4 hr ride in them. With the nashbar tights, 45 min is my limit with sub 40F temperatures. In march I did a few rides with 7HW members down to Rose32 bakery and my legs felt decent. The sweet spot for Nanoflex is right around 45F.
In terms of keeping the legs dry, it lives up to the promise. The chamois is solid and works well for me. Other people might not like it, but I find it works well for short, medium and long rides.
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/castelli-mens-nanoflex-bib-tight?ss=34897
The only downside with nanflex big tights is you have to be "in-shape". By that I mean "not fat". The tights fit like skin, so getting in and out of them is tough if you've put on extra pounds over winter.
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