Floyd Stops Being a Pro

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I've been slogging up the false flat hill of lots of other crap to do. But I think that I've got most of that taken care of now. And I should be back to posting on a little more consistent basis. Hope all is well and that you haven't forsaken me totally yet. Thanks to you guys that haven't.



Floyd Landis announced that he if quitting professional cycling immediately. He told ESPN.com that he was quitting because after months of trying he couldn't find a paying gig in cycling. And rather than keep beating his head against the wall (my words, not his) he was just going to throw in the towel.

A lot of you I'm sure know my stance on Floyd (if not, you can read it here). I don't think there are very many top level pro's out there that haven't touched the hot sauce as Jonathan Vaughters liked to call it. And there have been a lot of confessed dopers out there that have done their time and come back to the sport without much fuss. And maybe because of the level at which Floyd's busting occurred (I mean the Tour de France is pretty much the pinnacle of cycling's existence). It just put such a bad taste in everyones mouth that Floyd just was never going to be able to come back from it. Or maybe it just shows how strong the omerta in cycling really is. That if a guy dares to bite the hand that once fed him. That the backlash would be swift and permanent. 




I do know that when anyone brings Lance Armstrong into a doping conversation that he is a VERY polarizing figure. I've gotten in talks with people that were both really intriguing and completely disheartening when the subject of Lance's innocence comes into play.  I don't think anyone will deny all the impressive things he's done in cycling or for the cause of cancer. But when people's beliefs in something comes into the conversation it's no longer rational. Morality and rationality rarely play nice together.




So I guess what I'm trying to say with all that round about talk is that Floyd is just to hot to touch for anyone in the professional ranks. Which is to bad. Because I think he has a lot to offer a team. I don't really think he'd ever have made it back to the Tour de France. Not because of fitness, but just because of politics.  I believe he's still a wanted man in France. And that would certainly put a damper on any European campaign he might have wanted to do.




In his interview with ESPN.com he said he didn't want to come across as bitter about leaving cycling. And I don't know if it was how the piece was edited or not but it still seemed like he was a bit. Not that I could blame him on that front. It's got to be like seeing something that you once loved and adored broken to bits on the floor knowing that there was no way to put it back together again. Mostly of your own doing. Which probably makes even that much harder.



But with Sports Illustrated coming out with guns a blazing for Lance. Maybe Floyd could see the writing on the wall. And got out while the getting is good. Which ever way you slice it it's not good for cycling. If it's all true, it's damning and if it's not. Well then its just dragging cycling through the mud some more.



Floyd said he didn't think that professional cycling could be fixed. That the problems were to deeply ingrained. I hope he's wrong on that count. However I don't think racing will ever stop. As long as there are to guys and a finish line people will compete. Weather its an equal competition or not is certainly up in the air.  But considering cycling history. I kind of doubt it..

Good luck Floyd. I hope you find what you are looking for.



Rubber side down,

Big E

A Crash and The Basic Rule of Cycling

So Tuesday night I went out and did the usual Scott's ride. And besides figuring out my frozen foot dilemma.  It was a pretty generic ride.

We had decided to take the north loop, but backwards for something a little different (I know! You don't want to party with us. We're crazy!). I pulled as we were headed out of town. It was cold but dry and really  a pretty decent night to be out on two wheels. As we got to one of the regroup points I pealed off and went to talk to one of my friends in the back. We had one more regrouping area before we got back into town. All was right with the world. Until....

We were just coming into north Kiezer and I was towards the front of the main group. About five people had created a bit of a gap (maybe 20 yards). And one of the regulars was next to me and about to put in an effort to catch the back of the group ahead. I told him not to worry about it and we would catch (The consistency of people holding a high speed in this group doesn't last long.).

He started to explain that he wanted to get in a little sprint. And as he was doing that he started to drift to the center of the road. Simultaneously, another guy, who was across the yellow line (which I would have chewed his ass about had he not crashed. And I told him so later.) was coming up on his left.  This criss cross action. Not to be confused with these guys~



Caused an over lapping of wheels. And the guy that was next to me went down and then (after a serious death wobble) the guy who was across the line went down too.

I really don't think the blame could be placed on either one of them individually. I think it was a mutual cock up.

Luckily both guys rode their bikes away from the accident. I'm sure they're sore and scrapped up. But it didn't appear any permanent damage was done.

In my mind this gets back to the basic rules of cycling in a group. More specifically the first rule~ Always ride in a predictable manner. As Muzzin says from American Flyers, "Hold your line man!"



It always amazes me how quickly a bike ride can go from a great time to a squirrelly mess in a matter of a twinkling (2.5 seconds).

So the lesson to learn here boys and girls is to  relax, have fun, but pay attention and hold your line.

Or Muzzin may try and push you off the cliff of cycling nirvana. I'm just saying...

Rubber side down,

Big E

Riding In Cold Weather

So this last weekend I got invited on a ride with a bunch of the faster guys in town. Which was both flattering and a little concerning. Because depending on the terrain and distance quite a few of those guys could drop me like a stone if they really felt like it. Not that I think they would do something like that. But it was still a concern to myself that I would get squirted out the back of the group never to be seen or heard from again.  I would have to start a new life in whatever fictitious town I was near. Places like Scio or Millersburg...

But happily I managed to hang on for the majority of the ride and didn't get dropped until Matt and Sage decided to up the speed to something I could no longer manage about a mile or so from where I turned off to go home. But it's all good. I had a fun time and it was a beautiful day. Now you are probably wondering if all this rambling has a point and I guess the short answer is yes. Gosh you're impatient!

You see this ride started out when the ambient air temperature was about 28 degrees Fahrenheit and finished at a balmy 34 degrees.  Now I knew all this before the start. At least that's pretty close to what the monkey that they have throwing darts at a board at the Weather Channel had to say.  So I got dressed up in what I would wear at that temperature. Figuring that everything would be fine.  But everything ended up not fine.



Unfortunately the ride started straight out of the house with about 10 minutes down hill.  So my extremities were already cold by the time we got to the meeting point. And I would love to say that it improved from there, but it didn't. My hands eventually warmed up some although there were several times when they would get cold for a spell and then they would be fine (Why do body parts do that?). I don't really understand why. But my poor toes froze on the way down and just got worse from there.

At about hour three I was getting concerned. I could still move them but I couldn't feel them. I had been using a pretty tried and true method for keeping my feet warm on extra cold rides. I have on wool cycling socks, my shoes, Defeet Slipstream over socks, and then a neoprene booties over the top of that. But one of my booties zippers died a couple weeks ago so I was trying a new Bontrager booty .  And I can tell you that while they do a pretty good job they certainly aren't as warm as the neoprene.

So by the time I got home after 4 hours on the road (about 3 1/2 hours of that with numb toes) I was a little nervous on what I would end up seeing underneath. Lucky everything was okay (I was going to put an image of some frostbitten toes (not mine) here but they're just gross. So if you really want to see. Look here.). I didn't jump straight in the shower though because I have felt that kind of pain before. So I let my toes come back half way to life before I made the plunge. And after a luke warm start all the way to an orgasmically scalding end I felt human again.

The next ride was last night for me. And the temps were still below the freezing mark (started right at freezing and ended at about 28).  So I wanted to try something different so I wouldn't end up with the same results. I tried some of those toe warmers on top of my shoe and underneath my over sock. And man, those things are awesome! I don't think they last as long as they advertise. But they helped keep my tootsies nice and toasty the whole ride. Big thumb up from me!



You maybe asking my why I just don't sit my ass on the trainer or go to the gym or something? And that's a fair question. But to me those things are unpleasant at best and completely unbearable at worst. So I try to avoid them as much as humanly possible. Kind of like ditch digging or wrestling alligators. Sometimes its necessary, but most of the time they can be avoided.

Another interesting thing happened on this group ride. But I think I leave that story for tomorrow (You see what I did there? That's called a hook.).

Rubber side down,

Big E

All The Booty I Recived For Christmas

Just a quick note: This will be the last post of the year. And I just wanted to wish everyone out there a truly wonderful New Year! I hope you all make good new year's resolutions and stick with them. Things like drink more beer, have more sex, enjoy friends and family.  I also hope one of those resolutions is to get out on your bicycles more often and have some fun! Cheers everybody! Now on to the post~


Almost every year my family and friend's have the almost impossible task of getting stuff for me for Christmas.  I'm sure all of you have somebody on your Xmas list that is hard to shop for. Not because you can't think of anything to buy them. No, far from it. The problem is that they are to specific. I mean they give you the make, model, serial number, and place where it was manufactured! I, am one of those people.

Me: Hi, my name is Earl and I have a problem...

Everyone else: Hi Earl!

I always thought this made it real easy for people to shop for me. I mean it seems logical. But then I discovered the undue stress that this puts on people. They want to give you the thing that's close to what you wanted that they could find easily. Or (This seems to be more the reason for me) the thing they found is cheaper.

However this year I am glad to say that my Super Hot Awesome Wife Who I Really Don't Deserve (SHAWIRDD for short) came through with flying colors!  It did however take some of the surprise out of the whole thing when she sat me down in front of the computer and said, "Is this the one you wanted?" And then just clicked the add to chart button. But what are you gonna do? :)

This year seemed to have a bicycle tool theme. Which I was very excited about. I normally do all my wrenching at my LSB (Local Bike Shop in case you've been living in a cave and hadn't ever heard that term before (Strictly speaking to the cycling people out there. Not everybody else. Hi everybody else!)) Scott's Cycle and Fitness. Where I can be under the ever watchful eye of Steve and Co. (I have been known to shear the outer bearing cups of bottom brackets without adult supervision). But there have been several occasions when I really needed a specialty tool and the shop is closed or it's to small of a tweak to justify driving/riding all the way down to the shop to do it.  So I asked my SHAWIRDD for a few specific tools that I use all the time when I'm down at Scott's.



The first is a pedal wrench.  I know what your thinking. You've been riding for how long and you don't own a pedal wrench!? And all I can say is don't judge me! Meany head...  I really don't own any bikes that can't be removed with an allen key but my boys do.  And there is always a time when those damn things are on to tight. Where some extra leverage comes in handy.


No they are not to scale here. Although I would be curious to see the rear wheel these two tools would work on...

The second thing is a chain whip and cassette lock ring tool. I know they are technically two tools but you can't really use one without the other (Unless you're into something kinky. I don't judge...)so I figure this is probably a safe combo deal.  I have several cassettes. And when a race course is particularly hilly and I need a 12-27 to get my fat but up the hills it would be nice to do this in the privacy of my own home.  You know. When no one is looking...



The third thing is a fourth hand (No, I didn't make that up). This a really nifty tool that is practically indispensable when doing brake or derailleur cables.  And I have mentioned here before how much I love mechanical things.


The fourth thing is a good set of cable cutters.  I don't know if any of you have ever tried to cut cables without a pair of these. But let me save you the heart ache and don't. It just flattens out and frays the wire into an unusable mess.




The fifth thing is a chain tool. You just never know when you're going to need one of these bad boys. Steve at the shop had a really pimp one but I'm not worthy of such awesome toys. Besides the Park one that I got is more tool than I'll ever need.

None of these things cost more than fifty bucks. But do yourself a favor and don't go cheap on any one of these tools (In other words stay away from the bargain bin in the Performance Bike or Nashbar catalogs.). They will just leave you with at best a rounded off tip. And at worst bloody knuckles and some damaged gear.

The higher the quality of the tools the longer they last and the better (generally) they perform. Brands like Park Tool and Pedro's are almost always a great bet for quality.

So if the next time you see me with bandages on my hands you will know that I was trying something on my own in the man cave.

Rubber side down and Happy New Year,

Big E

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

It being past the winter solstice technically the days are now getting longer. But just by looking out the window and seeing all the dark clouds and lack of sun makes me feel like we are still in the heart of darkness. Which I guess really we still are considering it was only a week ago.

But this seems like a fitting time to talk about lights. Lights are those wonderful things that let us blast a tunnel through the darkness of night to see where we are going. And they are also the things that let other's see us while we are out there on our bikes.



I have used several different light manufactures and at least up to this point I can't recommend Dinotte lights enough.  They are a "seeing" light. In other words if you are going out on a dark and stormy night and you need to be able to see where you are going these are one of the manufactures that I would recommend. All their lights use super LED bulbs and lithium ion batteries (either in a rechargeable pack or a group of replaceable AA batteries).  I have the 600L-Li which they don't make anymore. But mine is still plugging away after a few years of use and abuse. I've also used the 800L-Li which is a great light. And I guess they now have a 1400 (!) Lumen version. Which would be awesome! Especially if you needed to use Morris code to talk to astronauts in space. Or possibly blind an entire herd of elk. Not that I advocate that kind of thing. I mean really!? Who uses Morris code anymore.... Sorry, this is starting to sound like an advertisement for Dinotte. But I'm not getting paid. I just think they make a great product for the price.

Several other brands make very good "seeing" lights for people that neither have the means nor the desire to go after a Dinotte. NiteRider, Lupine (If you've got money to burn. Really cool lights. But retardedly expensive.) and Light and Motion  all make very good lights at (most) all price points.

I think the most important thing about a "seeing" light is to make sure that it puts out enough light so that when you ride down a hill at speed you don't "out run" (Why am I using so many quotation marks in this post?) your light. And what I mean by that is that if you are flying down a hill your light needs to cast a big enough beam for you to be able to see any obstacles in the road and react. Like a rock, a tree branch, furry woodland creatures, or naked people... You know, those sorts of things.

As far as tail lights go. I don't think you can beat either the~

Bike Planet Superflash. This thing offers a two light settings and is quite a robust little unit. It has a beam that could easily have you seeing stars if you stared at it to long. And it requires two AAA batteries.

 I really recommend using rechargeable lithium batteries for all lights that require them. They last at much higher brightness for a much longer period of time. And on top of all that it's nice to be a little environmentally responsible. Instead of throwing a bunch of used batteries in the land fill.

The second tail light I would recommend is the~


Radbot 1000 by Portland Design Works. This thing is kind of like the Superflash on steroids. The only real complaint I've heard about this light is when it's used on a group ride people want it pointed towards the ground because its so blinding! My son has one of these things on his bike. And it makes me feel better knowing that the drivers out there won't have the excuse of not seeing him from the rear.

As far as "being seen" lights go I think you can't go wrong with the Blackburn Flea. I think these handy little lights are the bee's knees. You can charge them up on any USB port. They are small, light (Huhuhu), and pack a lot of brightness for something so small.


They come in both front and tail light versions. And are easy to clip on and off.

The other "be seen" light I'm going to mention here because any fixie hipster out there would beat me to death with their chain wallet. Or even possibly there U lock that they keep ever so sutley looped in there belt (Which I don't think I could handle dying at the hand of someone who is wearing their girlfriend's pants). Is the Knog Frog~



They are handy cheap lights that are nifty design. One thing I will say about Knog product though is that I've had two of them break on me by just trying to remove them from the bike. One of them was on the third removal(!). I still think they are pretty cool little lights but fair warning on quality control.

I know a lot of people out there. Even some bike manufactures (No, really. Check out some of those warning stickers on new bikes sometime) warn about riding in the dark. But if you didn't ride in some kind of darkness around here there would be about an hour and half window to ride in (recorded fact...) everyday. Does that sound like much fun? I didn't think so....

Besides there is a lot of great things about riding in the night.  Less traffic, quieter, beautiful stars, more relaxed pace and rediscovering a piece of road that you've ridden a million times before.

Don't let the nay sayers keep you off your bike or worse encouraging you to get on the trainer! Go out and enjoy the nights sky! Just remember to be packing some lights. Or I'll sick this guys on you~



You've been warned...

Rubber side down,

Big E

A Cycling Role Model

 


This isn't going to be a post about professional cyclists as role models.  I think that's just kind of silly.  I totally admire guys that have enough talent and drive to make it on any pro level. But unless you know one of these guys personally and he is one of your riding buddies that isn't the type of role models I'm talking about. I guess more of what I am thinking about is an individual(s) that points you in the proper direction when you first start to ride.

I'm sure these guys come in all shapes and colors for everybody. Maybe a Dad, Uncle, good friend or even just an acquaintance.

For myself it was a guy that used to ride with us on the local group ride named Canada Dave (I never did hear what his last name was.  But since everyone I ever knew always called him Canada Dave I figure it's a safe moniker to use.).

I had just started to ride with the group. I was green and I knew it. At that point I considered it a real accomplishment to not get dropped out of the "medium" group (high aspirations. And Dave was always a steady, strong wheel to follow. I'm sure he never really knew it but he taught me a lot about how to behave on a group ride.  As well as a ton of little tricks that made a lot of difference in being safe and conserving energy with in the group.

\
I once watched him push a struggling rider for 13 miles back to the shop. It was one of the more impressive things I've ever seen on a bike. Not just from the physical sense. Even though that was pretty damn impressive. I think the thing that got me was how unselfish an act it was. It didn't have anything to do with Dave showing off.  He just saw a problem and filled the need. A true example of being the sort of person (cyclist) you wish to see in the world.

Not that he probably ever noticed. But I made it a goal every ride for an entire winter to shadow him. Where  ever he went I went. And in doing so it made me more comfortable, confident, and competent.

I've often thought that if a person was new to cycling there should be some sort of big brother/sister program.  If you never commuted to work and wanted to but were afraid to try you could call up your big brother/sister and have them show you how to set up your bike. Find a safe route to and from work and get you comfortable to go out on their own.

Or if your new to racing there could be a similar program. Help you learn were to be and not to be. Drafting, echelon, sprinting all that good stuff.

Not that I'm volunteering for it. But I guess I feel like everyone needs a helping hand until they are comfortable enough to go out on their own.

Rubber side down,

Big E

Being Hardcore

Being hardcore on a bicycle can mean many different things.  You can be a poorly coordinated commuter like this poor bugger here riding to and from work in the rain. Or you can be a cyclist who rides in the rain in the dark for training (I am usually in this group.) Or there can even be crazy people who ride/race their bikes in the snow and ice .

But on a recent Scotts evening group ride as I looked around and only saw eight hardy souls standing around waiting to get the party started. It occurred to me that we are getting to that point of the year that only the hardcore come out to play. And even though tonight's group will more than likely have quite a few more people on it just because its suppose to be dry. Even on nice days in the winter we're still down the a third of the numbers we see in the summer.

I know a lot of people look at us as we are riding in or out of town (as well as a lot of summer riders too I'm sure) wondering if we have some sort of mental dysfunction or something. But as I have said before. If you are wearing the right clothes. And if you have the proper bike and lighting set up. Its actually a pretty fun and unique way to look at a world that you've seen a million times before. And I'm almost always glad I did it (there are a few where I just wish I was at home under the covers. But I'm sure that's the way it is for a lot of people). 

There is a real feeling of solidarity with the riders on these groups. We are all like minded in that what ever mother nature throws at us we can (usually) deal with it and still have a great time. I like that. It gives a feeling of belonging to the tribe. A real inner circle of a much larger one.

So the next time you feel like a ride. But then look at the weather report and see some unfavorable news. Before you slump your shoulders and head off to the trainer or the gym. Suck it up. Grab your gear. And come out and join us!

Rubber side down,

Big E