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	<title>Bike Noob</title>
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	<description>Adventures of a biking newbie</description>
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		<title>Bike Noob</title>
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		<title>Would You Build a Bike From Scratch? (Poll)</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/17/would-you-build-a-bike-from-scratch-poll/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/17/would-you-build-a-bike-from-scratch-poll/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 2012 01:28:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bikes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maintenance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[repair]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bikenoob.com/?p=5461</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My friend Tim over at An Old Guy on Two Wheels is getting close to finishing his latest project: He&#8217;s building a randonneuring bike from scratch. He had the frame custom built, and gathered together all the components for it. &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/17/would-you-build-a-bike-from-scratch-poll/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5461&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My friend Tim over at <a href="http://oldguy2wheels.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/custom-bike-build-of-men-and-steel/">An Old Guy on Two Wheels</a> is getting close to finishing his latest project: He&#8217;s building a randonneuring bike from scratch. He had the frame custom built, and gathered together all the components for it. In recent days, he&#8217;s been apprising us of his progress. It looks like he&#8217;s going to take it out for a serious ride sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>Tim is an accomplished bike mechanic, and I wasn&#8217;t surprised when he first revealed his build-from-scratch plans. I, on the other hand, have often thought about refurbishing my old Raleigh 10-speed, just to do it &#8212; not that I would make it my regular ride, or anything. I just don&#8217;t have Tim&#8217;s know-how when it comes to working on bikes. (Although I&#8217;m getting better &#8212; been paying a lot of attention to online videos and some repair books I have around the house, and have done some bike repairs to the Allez that I wouldn&#8217;t have tried a year ago.)</p>
<p>Anyhow, I think it&#8217;s a cool idea, to either build a bike from scratch as Tim as done, or fix up an old beater into something rideable. Believe me, I&#8217;ll get around to it.</p>
<p>How about you? Have you ever considered building your own bike? How about taking an old bike and modifying it into something different? For example, turning a 10-speed into a fixie, or restoring a vintage bike to its original condition?</p>
<p>Weigh in on the following poll, if you will.</p>
<a name="pd_a_6238736"></a><div class="PDS_Poll" id="PDI_container6238736" style="display:inline-block;"></div><div id="PD_superContainer"></div><noscript><a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/6238736">Take Our Poll</a></noscript>
<p>I&#8217;ll report the answers next week.</p>
<br />Filed under: <a href='http://bikenoob.com/category/bikes/'>Bikes</a>, <a href='http://bikenoob.com/category/maintenance/'>Maintenance</a> Tagged: <a href='http://bikenoob.com/tag/repair/'>repair</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5461/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5461&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">rainycamp</media:title>
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		<title>When Are Your Favorite Shorts &#8212; Not?</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/15/when-are-your-favorite-shorts-not/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/15/when-are-your-favorite-shorts-not/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 02:52:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Equipment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clothing]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Whenever I go on an organized ride, or a club ride, or a ride where I&#8217;ll be doing more mileage than normal, I have a pair of bib shorts that I always pull out of the dresser drawer. They&#8217;re by &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/15/when-are-your-favorite-shorts-not/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5563&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Whenever I go on an organized ride, or a club ride, or a ride where I&#8217;ll be doing more mileage than normal, I have a pair of bib shorts that I always pull out of the dresser drawer. They&#8217;re by Pearl Izumi, and I&#8217;ve had them for almost four years. The reason they&#8217;re my go-to short is comfort. The chamois pad just seems to fit my bottom well. I&#8217;ve been more comfortable in these shorts than in any of my other pairs.</p>
<p>But that&#8217;s changed. In last weekend&#8217;s Armadillo ride, I noticed some discomfort down there after about 25 miles. That hadn&#8217;t ever happened with the PI bibs in the past. At a rest stop, I made some adjustments and thought I had everything worked out. But after another five miles or so, the discomfort was back again. As I alluded to in the last post, I got to the point where all I wanted to do was end the ride.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, once the ride did end, the discomfort went away. Evidently, the pedaling motion of the thighs had something to do with the soreness during the ride.</p>
<p>The next day, I made sure to select my Sugoi shorts, because their chamois pad is the largest one I&#8217;ve ever seen. I rode 27 miles and had no complaints in the nether regions. It looks like I&#8217;m going to have to adopt a new favorite pair of shorts for my future &#8220;big&#8221; rides.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m still not sure what the problem was with the bibs. Maybe the fact that they&#8217;re four years old has something to do with it, although the pad is not noticeably compressed from its original shape. Still, I&#8217;ll chalk it up to age.</p>
<p>So what been your experience? Have you ever had a pair of good shorts go bad? If so, what caused it &#8212; if you know? Have you determined a maximum life span for your biking shorts? (Obviously, you get what you pay for &#8212; but the PIs cost over $100, and I still use a five-year old pair of cheap Nashbar shorts with a single-layer foam pad for rides of an hour or less. They work out fine.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Armadillo &#8211; Turkeys and Chickens and Skunks, Oh My!</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/13/armadillo-turkeys-and-chickens-and-skunks-oh-my/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/13/armadillo-turkeys-and-chickens-and-skunks-oh-my/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 02:01:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Rides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organized ride]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bikenoob.com/?p=5552</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Armadillo Hill Country Classic is the Austin Cycling Association&#8217;s main fundraiser every year. It&#8217;s a nice supported ride starting from Liberty Hill, northwest of Austin, and I like to ride it if my schedule lets me. I&#8217;ve done the &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/13/armadillo-turkeys-and-chickens-and-skunks-oh-my/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5552&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Armadillo Hill Country Classic is the Austin Cycling Association&#8217;s main fundraiser every year. It&#8217;s a nice supported ride starting from Liberty Hill, northwest of Austin, and I like to ride it if my schedule lets me. I&#8217;ve done the 50-mile version the past two times I&#8217;ve ridden it, and was looking forward to do the 60-miler this time around.</p>
<p>The day was darn near perfect. The 105-mile ride had to be shortened to 90, because two cattle guards on the long route were under water from recent rains, and those roads were impassable. The long riders set off at 7:30, a half hour in advance of the rest of us.</p>
<div id="attachment_5553" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 510px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/start.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5553" title="start" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/start.jpg?w=500&h=314" alt="" width="500" height="314" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The 105 and 85-mile riders get a 7:30 a.m. start from Liberty Hill High School, and I found myself in a poor spot to get a good shot.</p></div>
<p>Temperature was about 63 degrees (17C) at the start, and what wind there was wasn&#8217;t a factor. The day was sunny and bright. We started out on the familiar roads, and held together as a large group until the first rest stop at seven miles. I was surprised at the large number of riders who made a stop there, since our group was the 43, 50, and 60 mile riders. I wouldn&#8217;t expect anyone with the experience to go that far would need to stop so soon.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ve had some decent rainfall over the last week, which caused the route shortening, but the rain also is producing one of the finest crops of wild flowers I&#8217;ve ever seen. The roadsides were carpeted with them.</p>
<div id="attachment_5555" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 510px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/flowers.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5555" title="flowers" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/flowers.jpg?w=500&h=320" alt="" width="500" height="320" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The colorfully-named Mexican Hat (foreground) and Indian Blanket.</p></div>
<p>But in my careful preparations for this ride, I forgot one detail: to check the batteries in my camera. Right after snapping this shot, the camera died. You&#8217;ll have to use your imagination to visualize the scenes I depict.</p>
<div id="attachment_5567" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 368px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/dillo.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5567" title="Dillo" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/dillo.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Yours truly, caught in mid-ride by the on-course photographer.</p></div>
<p>Shortly after the flower pics, we turned onto County Road 284 &#8212; one of the worst stretches of chip seal it has ever been my misfortune to ride. It shook my jaw, rattled my teeth in my head, and sent irritating vibrations (not quite painful, but almost) to my feet and hands. That was the longest three miles I&#8217;ve ever ridden.</p>
<p>My first rest stop was in the only town the ride visits: Bertram, pop. 1300, about 23 miles in. The rest stop here is a good one, as rest stops go, and I was glad to get some relief, a quick bite of food, and to top off my water bottles.</p>
<p>Some miles past Bertram, the route split, with the 60-milers going to the right. This brought me onto a part of the course I&#8217;d never seen before. Maybe it was because this area was new to me, but it seemed more &#8220;rural,&#8221; with houses and small ranches spread far apart, and a winding narrow country road. I got to the rest stop at the &#8220;Dillo Door,&#8221; where the 105-milers had to pass before 10:30 in order to be allowed onto the long route. I passed the rest stop and turned onto the 60-mile route.</p>
<p>It wasn&#8217;t long before the road took a turn that surprised me. Even though this ride is in the Texas Hill Country, the roads are mostly flat, or easy rollers. But a real hill loomed ahead. It compared with &#8220;Hail Mary Hill,&#8221; that I have struggled with on rides close to home. I stood and pedaled in my 34 x 28 granny gear, and finally crested the top.</p>
<p>As I eased my effort and continued along, two wild turkeys flew onto the road ahead of me, stopped, and started walking in the same direction I was going. The huge birds finally realized I was behind them, and they flew into the underbrush on the other side of the road, where I could see them walking away as I passed.</p>
<p>Just a few minutes later, another varmint crossed ahead of me. This time, it was a skunk! He was closer than the turkeys, and I had to swerve wide left to avoid him. As I pulled even, he raised his tail and took aim. I pedaled for all I was worth. I don&#8217;t know if he got off a shot or not, but in any case, I was untouched.</p>
<p><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/oatmeal2.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-5557" title="oatmeal2" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/oatmeal2.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a>I turned onto the road to Oatmeal, and passed their iconic sign. The rest stop at the top of a nearby hill was a welcome sight, and it even had some chairs to relax. From here on out, it was back home on the roads we&#8217;d headed out on.</p>
<p>My bottom was starting to protest, and I decided I&#8217;d stop at each of the remaining stops, if for no other reason than to get off the bike and walk around for a minute or two. But at the next to the last stop, as I wandered over to the food table and found to my delight that they had some nice salty pretzels, I also found some critters milling around my feet. It seems a small flock of chickens weren&#8217;t going to be bothered by bikers and tables and ride volunteers, and were intent on picking the ground for any stray Clif Bar crumbs. My cell phone camera doesn&#8217;t do them justice.</p>
<div id="attachment_5556" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 510px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/chickens.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5556" title="chickens" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/chickens.jpg?w=500&h=123" alt="" width="500" height="123" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Some of the chickens at the next to last rest stop. They&#8217;d walk right up to my feet and peck around if they thought they could get some goodies.</p></div>
<p>I knew I was 14 miles out from the finish, but my computer showed that I&#8217;d already traveled 49 miles. So the 60-mile route was really going to be 63 miles. No biggie, but now I just wanted the ride to be over. I had hoped to finish at about 12:30 p.m., for roughly a 15 mph average once rest stop time was figured in. Looking at my watch, it seemed that 1 p.m. would be a more realistic finishing time.</p>
<div id="attachment_5569" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 382px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/seeya.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5569" title="SeeYa" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/seeya.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">See ya later!</p></div>
<p>A nice tailwind let me cruise at 25-26 mph for several miles, and then the rollers &#8212; and that horrible chip seal on County Road 284 &#8212; slowed me again. On the outskirts of Liberty Hill, I passed some tired-out riders, then crossed the railroad tracks and turned into the school parking lot. I was done. The time was 12:49. That gave me an average speed of 14.4 mph, which I decided I&#8217;d be happy with.</p>
<p>Cars were sparse in the parking area, and I could change clothes in my front seat without risking anyone getting a look. A little glitch with the post-ride food caused me to wait a little longer, but I eventually got my burrito, a cup of iced tea, and hit the road home. The temperature was still only 75 degrees (24C) and I had been comfortable throughout the ride. A good route, with great support, and a mix of flora AND fauna &#8212; it&#8217;s no wonder I try to make this ride every year.</p>
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		<title>Misplaced Loyalty To The Local Bike Shop?</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/10/misplaced-loyalty-to-the-local-bike-shop/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/10/misplaced-loyalty-to-the-local-bike-shop/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 23:49:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Equipment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guest post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hemmel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LBS]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bikenoob.com/?p=5543</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Guest poster Jeff Hemmel liked his local bike shop &#8212; until he realized he didn&#8217;t.  We hear a lot about doing business with the LBS, or local bike shop. For the most part, I agree. These are businesses in our &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/10/misplaced-loyalty-to-the-local-bike-shop/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5543&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Guest poster Jeff Hemmel liked his local bike shop &#8212; until he realized he didn&#8217;t.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/hemmelsride2.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5545" title="HemmelsRide2" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/hemmelsride2.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a> We hear a lot about doing business with the LBS, or local bike shop. For the most part, I agree. These are businesses in our community, supporting our sport. Sure, I’ll get something online if it’s truly a fantastic deal. But for the most part, I try to keep things close to home.</p>
<p>Lately, however, I’ve been having second thoughts about which of those community shops deserves my support.</p>
<p>This isn’t about calling anyone out. Suffice it to say one bike shop is where I have bought two bikes, some semi-expensive wheels, numerous parts and accessories, and a decent amount of service over the years. They’re close and convenient. The other is where I have bought a few things at best, and gotten the occasional service. They’re neither close nor convenient, especially if I have to leave my bike or get there by car.</p>
<p>Seemingly it would be a no-brainer to keep going to Shop #1, except for one significant detail. With a couple notable exceptions, the staff is just not that friendly. And it’s not just me who thinks so. I’ve had both neighbors and friends share similar experiences. I don’t expect them to roll out the red carpet. But as a polite, friendly customer who has spent a lot of money in that shop, I do expect to feel valued when I go in there. Heck, at one time I figured I’d probably end up friends with some of these guys. Instead, I sometimes feel like I’ve annoyed them just by coming in the door. As I said, there are a couple exceptions, including one mechanic who always has a great attitude. The overall vibe, however, is just downright weird. Friendly conversation, beyond the basics, is rare. The quickest tweak usually results in a charge. The “friendly” wrench went out of his way and taught me how to do something several months back; the next time I came in one of the others made a snide comment about how much time I had wasted.</p>
<p>It would be easy to dismiss these negative encounters as the occasional misunderstanding or bad day. But sadly, I’ve come to expect it as the norm.</p>
<p>Contrast that experience with Shop #2. On the whole, I haven’t spent much money at all there. I’ve bought no bikes, and few parts. Most of my visits have been when I’m riding by and stop in for something simple. But when I walk in their door, I’m always greeted with a friendly, sincere hello. They ask how I’m doing, how’s my riding going, etc. On the occasion that I’ve mentioned a problem, they’ve immediately thrown my bike on a stand and given it a tweak. Simple, quick adjustments are never followed with a charge (I typically respond with a tip for their generosity). The one time they did do a more extensive repair — a bottom bracket replacement — they compensated for a delayed part by temporarily putting a completely different crank and bottom bracket on my bike, just so that I could keep riding rather than be left on the sidelines for a week. They’ve never asked for my long-term business. But their actions, and their friendly nature, show they deserve it.</p>
<p>For some reason I’ve felt some kind of strange loyalty to Shop #1. I’ve even gone so far as to defend them when others have criticized. But finally, I’ve stopped to ask myself why. Why do I support a shop that I almost dread going into? Why do I ignore a shop that always makes me feel welcome?</p>
<p>I urge you to support your local bike shop. But just because a shop is local doesn’t mean it deserves your business. You’ve got to feel good about where you spend your money&#8230;and they’ve got to earn it.</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-</p>
<p>By the way, here&#8217;s a special offer for Bike Noob readers. The concoction called Secret Drink Mix, which Jeff <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2011/11/20/a-secret-drink-mix-worth-sharing/">profiled</a> awhile ago, now has a new name. It&#8217;s called Skratch Labs. And they&#8217;re offering a 15% discount. Visit their <a href="http://www.skratchlabs.com/">website</a>, go to Products, and place your order. Enter Bike Noob in the discount spot.</p>
<br />Filed under: <a href='http://bikenoob.com/category/equipment/'>Equipment</a>, <a href='http://bikenoob.com/category/guest-post/'>guest post</a> Tagged: <a href='http://bikenoob.com/tag/guest-post/'>guest post</a>, <a href='http://bikenoob.com/tag/hemmel/'>Hemmel</a>, <a href='http://bikenoob.com/tag/lbs/'>LBS</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5543/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5543&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Ride Prep &#8211; Just As Important When Going Short</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/08/ride-prep-just-as-important-when-going-short/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/08/ride-prep-just-as-important-when-going-short/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 May 2012 04:10:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hydration]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bikenoob.com/?p=5538</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My friend Aaron West over at the Steep Climbs blog complains that he was ill-prepared for a major training ride the other day. He didn&#8217;t hydrate properly, didn&#8217;t eat right the night before the ride, and didn&#8217;t eat the morning &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/08/ride-prep-just-as-important-when-going-short/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5538&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My friend Aaron West over at the <a href="http://steepclimbs.com/2012/05/06/tour-de-cashiers-2012-cashiers-nc/">Steep Climbs</a> blog complains that he was ill-prepared for a major training ride the other day. He didn&#8217;t hydrate properly, didn&#8217;t eat right the night before the ride, and didn&#8217;t eat the morning of the ride. So he only managed to cover 100 miles with 9,300 feet of climbing in 6 hours, 39 minutes.</p>
<p>Well, Aaron is in a different league than I am. But I had much the same experience as he did that day. And what happened to me is a reminder that we all must attend to the necessities of prepping ourselves for our rides, no matter how tough or modest they might be.</p>
<p>I had ridden a brisk ride Saturday morning, and even added some bonus miles to my regular Saturday route. I felt great. Legs were strong, plenty of air in my lungs. I looked forward to a Sunday morning ride in the Hill Country with friends.</p>
<p>But at about 1 a.m. Sunday, a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder right over head jolted me out of my sleep. Lord knows we need rain around here. We thought we were recovering from last year&#8217;s drought, with decent rain in February and March, but April saw the dryness return. They&#8217;re already going to stringent watering restrictions in some areas around here, so we&#8217;re happy to get the rain.</p>
<p>Only trouble was, the lightning and thunder kept up their pyrotechnics show all night long, and I had trouble getting back to sleep again. I&#8217;m not sure if I ever did, really. Finally, at about 5 a.m., I couldn&#8217;t stand staring at the ceiling anymore, so I got up and made some coffee.</p>
<p>It was clear I wouldn&#8217;t be riding that morning. I emailed my friends to cancel. They were apparently up early, too, because I soon got a reply that they weren&#8217;t going out, either. I read the morning paper, watched a little TV, and finally decided to get something to eat.</p>
<p>Two pieces of toast with jelly took care of breakfast. I had a second cup of coffee and started surfing websites on the iPad. Eventually, the storm passed to the east, and I could think about riding again.</p>
<p>I hit the road at about 11 a.m. The streets were almost dry, the sun was out, and the air was so humid you could wring it out. I thought I&#8217;d do a modified version of my Friday night route, which keeps me on neighborhood streets, and can cover anywhere from 19-25 miles.</p>
<p>At about six miles into the ride, I do a couple of hill repeats on a residential street that&#8217;s really not much of a challenge. But this time, I knew I was in trouble. I couldn&#8217;t maintain the cadence I wanted, and found myself downshifting more than usual on this little hill. The second time around, I couldn&#8217;t even maintain a decent cadence one gear lower than the first time. I was huffing and puffing at the top, glad for the break.</p>
<p>I did a lap of the Veloway, which is mostly flat except for one short steep hill. But I decided I&#8217;d ridden the Veloway enough that week, and I headed out to add more mileage.</p>
<p>I had plenty of water. The night before, I&#8217;d put two 24-ounce water bottles in the freezer. I only brought one on the ride, but that&#8217;s fine for a two-hour neighborhood ride, and I could always fill up at the water jugs at the Veloway entrance. I was drinking regularly, even a little more often than my usual three-mile drink intervals.</p>
<p>Water wasn&#8217;t the problem. Nourishment was. On Sunday mornings before club rides, I tend to make myself a hearty breakfast. Today, as I said, just toast. I don&#8217;t carry energy bars or Shot Bloks or anything like that when I&#8217;m riding in the neighborhood, and I could feel the energy drain from my body. By the time I reached the 20-mile mark, I was done in. But you can&#8217;t (<em>I</em> can&#8217;t, anyway) ride less than 20 miles on my long mileage day of the week. I took a couple of turns that put me farther from home.</p>
<p>But it was no good. I checked the bike computer and calculated that I&#8217;d have 24-25 miles under my belt if I turned around and headed back at this point. It was a slog. I was in a bike lane on a decent asphalt road, but struggled to keep up a steady pace. Have you ever felt relief when you pull up to your house after a ride? I did that morning.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s the takeaway? Prep for your routine rides much as you would your tougher ones. I should have had the same kind of breakfast I would have had if I&#8217;d done the Hill Country ride. Adequate sleep is important, although I did go back to bed and grab a catnap before I got into my bike clothes. I&#8217;ve stopped carrying any kind of electrolyte stuff on most rides. The right kind of stuff does help, I&#8217;ve found.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve got a little time off over the next two weeks, and I&#8217;ll be riding more than usual. You can bet I&#8217;ll get ready for each ride with more diligence than I employed last weekend.</p>
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		<title>Functional Power Threshold &#8211; Part 2</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/06/functional-power-threshold-part-2/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/06/functional-power-threshold-part-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FTP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bikenoob.com/?p=5534</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In part 2 of his account of his FTP test, guest poster Don Blount explains how it works.  Completing the functional threshold power (FTP) test opened a new world of cycling to me. I used to think of cycling as &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/06/functional-power-threshold-part-2/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5534&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>In part 2 of his account of his FTP test, guest poster Don Blount explains how it works.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/blountonbiking.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5535" title="BlountOnBiking" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/blountonbiking.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a> Completing the functional threshold power (FTP) test opened a new world of cycling to me. I used to think of cycling as an endurance activity akin to running a marathon. I had worked at building my endurance through time in the saddle and not through specific effort.</p>
<p>I learned that cycling is a power activity more like running a series of short to long repeat sprints with easy to hard recovery efforts in between.</p>
<p>Instead of focusing on endurance I needed to focus on building power and while building power, I would build endurance.</p>
<p>The FTP test provided me with a base number to work with of 162 beats per minute.</p>
<p>So I went to work on building power through interval training at just below or above FTP. From what I could find that would be an effective way to train.</p>
<p>I rode four to five days a week. Two of those rides would be some type of interval workout. I did efforts as short as 3 minutes with 3 minutes rest and as long as 20 minutes with five to 10 minutes rest. I also did fartlek (random change of speed), hard rides into the wind and high gear, low cadence and low gear, high cadence rides.</p>
<p>I could tell I was making progress as the weeks went by but knew I was making significant inroads when I was capable of doing intervals as part of a 40-mile ride.</p>
<p>These workouts were hard and challenging but the variety kept it interesting and gave me more purpose instead of riding for fitness or to keep up with a group. I was riding against myself. Since most of my riding is alone, that was perfect for focus.</p>
<p>After a few rides I noticed that I was getting stronger. After a few weeks I held my own on a group ride of 45-miles with 2,600 feet of climbing. Four days later, held my own again on a 40-mile group ride with just under 2,800 feet of climbing. I was not the fastest up any hill but I made it up them all without that: “What am I doing out here?” feeling.</p>
<p>The best validation I received was when someone who I ridden with before said to me “You sure are riding strong today.” He remembered my struggles.</p>
<p>And 10 days later on a 57-mile ride with 3,200 feet of climbing a different rider said the same thing to me.</p>
<p>I was obviously more fit and more confident in the hills.</p>
<p>At the end of the six weeks, I did another FTP test. My heart rate was the same, which surprised me as I thought it would be lower, but my speed was much higher. My guess is a power meter would show that I was producing more power at that same effort level.</p>
<p>Next I did a recovery week of moderately-paced rides but no intervals.</p>
<p>My disclaimer is I put my program together through books, talking to a few cycling people and scouring the Internet. I don’t know if it is correct for you but it is working for me and I am having fun. That is good enough for me for now.</p>
<p>And all because I took a test.</p>
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		<title>Functional Power Threshold &#8211; Part 1</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/03/functional-power-threshold-part-1/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/03/functional-power-threshold-part-1/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 May 2012 01:41:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FTP]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Guest poster Don Blount tackles some heavy-duty training. In the first of two posts, he explains what it&#8217;s all about. It was an offer that was hard to refuse. It was a test to determine my functional threshold power. It &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/03/functional-power-threshold-part-1/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5494&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Guest poster Don Blount tackles some heavy-duty training. In the first of two posts, he explains what it&#8217;s all about.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/blountonbiking.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5532" title="BlountOnBiking" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/blountonbiking.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a>It was an offer that was hard to refuse. It was a test to determine my functional threshold power.</p>
<p>It would only take 10 minutes and it was free.</p>
<p>In short, functional threshold power, known as FTP, is a benchmark of the body’s overall efficiency. It is the effort a rider can sustain for about an hour before too much lactate accumulates in their system and their body begins to break down.</p>
<p>There are a number of ways to test it but Graeme Street, owner of Cyclo-Core and “Recognized Cycling Expert,” according to his video, was offering an opportunity to coach me through a 10-minute indoor test to determine my FTP.</p>
<p>You need a few things to do the test with the video: 1) bike trainer or rollers 2) power meter or heart rate monitor 3) speed/cadence sensor.</p>
<p>I used rollers and a Garmin Edge 305 bike computer with heart rate monitor and speed/cadence sensor.</p>
<p>I was ready. But the problem was that no matter what I did I could not get the video to play completely on any of the three computers in my home. Not a one. The video would begin and play for a bit, but after about 15 minutes, it would stop. I even emailed Street for advice but it still would not work. So I viewed the video on a computer away from my home network. I watched it several times and I took copious notes.</p>
<p>And then I tried it again.</p>
<p>I set up my laptop and rollers in my garage, let the video buffer and launched it again. This time it played, for a short time. The video went as far as the warm up before it froze again.</p>
<p>But by this time I was familiar enough with video’s content to finish on my own. It would have been more effective with Street helping me through it as I had too much left in the tank at the end. This was not a max test but still, I did not ride hard enough.</p>
<p>That test showed a FTP heart rate of 156 beats per minute. I used that in my workouts and it just seemed too easy. So a few days later I did it again and calculated an FTP heart rate of 162 beats per minute. I now use that figure for my riding.</p>
<p>If you are interested in testing yourself and have not done so before, let me warn you this test hurts! It hurts physically and it hurts mentally.</p>
<p>Click <a href="http://cyclo-core.com/CYCLO90/?page_id=196">here</a> if you would like to see this Graeme Street video. The site says you can take the test anytime within the next five days but the link has been up for about two months. The test itself is free but it also serves as a promo to Street’s training systems.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether you use this video or decide to do it on your own, an FTP test is well worth doing. I’ll elaborate in a future post on how it impacted my riding.</p>
<br />Filed under: <a href='http://bikenoob.com/category/training/'>training</a> Tagged: <a href='http://bikenoob.com/tag/ftp/'>FTP</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5494/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5494&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>A Fatal Rear-End Collision</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/01/a-fatal-rear-end-collision/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/01/a-fatal-rear-end-collision/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2012 02:58:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[crash]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fatality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rear end]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bikenoob.com/?p=5513</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like the rest of the Austin cycling community, I am saddened by the death of cyclist Verter Ginestra, 55, over the weekend. He was riding on the shoulder of Loop 360, a major highway on the west side of Austin. &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/05/01/a-fatal-rear-end-collision/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5513&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Like the rest of the Austin cycling community, I am saddened by the death of cyclist Verter Ginestra, 55, over the weekend. He was riding on the shoulder of Loop 360, a major highway on the west side of Austin. The shoulders on 360 are very generous.</p>
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<div>Television news stories of the crash show the car in the shoulder. Sound bites from police did not lay blame on the cyclist; in fact, they urged motorists to watch out for them because 360 is such a popular cycling road. It features long hills and few stoplights. The worst part about riding 360 is having to cross exit and entrance ramps, and being on the outlook for fast-moving cars in those spaces.</div>
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<div id="attachment_5521" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 451px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ginestra.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5521" title="Ginestra" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ginestra.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Verter Ginestra (From KVUE Television website)</p></div>
<div id="attachment_5522" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 475px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/screen-shot-2012-05-01-at-9-31-09-pm.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-5522" title="Screen shot 2012-05-01 at 9.31.09 PM" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/screen-shot-2012-05-01-at-9-31-09-pm.png?w=500" alt=""   /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Crash scene (From KVUE Television website)</p></div>
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<p>Ginestra apparently was not crossing an entrance or exit ramp. He appears to be the victim of a type of collision that is fairly rare &#8212; the daytime rear-ender. One statistic I saw (and cannot vouch for) says that only three percent of car-bike collisions are daytime rear-enders.</p>
<p>On top of it, the driver of the car is 85 years old. So you&#8217;ve got a bike on a wide shoulder, in bright daylight, and still he gets hit.</p>
<p>What can a cyclist do?</p>
<p>Not much, apparently. Cyclists should always be aware of what&#8217;s happening around them. &#8220;Scanning&#8221; &#8212; looking behind &#8212; is a riding technique everyone needs to learn. But if you&#8217;re riding with traffic, and you&#8217;re on the shoulder, you&#8217;re not likely to spend a lot of time looking behind you. The most common advice for avoiding rear-enders I&#8217;ve been able to dig up is to wear a rear-view mirror. That idea has its pros and cons. It might have alerted Ginestra to the car moving onto the shoulder, but since traffic on 360 is fast, it might not have given him enough time to react.</p>
<p>I didn&#8217;t know Verter Ginestra, but Dan Colvin, who joined me on my <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/03/04/riding-my-age/">birthday ride</a>, rode with him often. Dan says Verter was the kind of cyclist you&#8217;d want to ride with: &#8220;He was strong enough to ride with most A groups, but was not one to force the pace if others weren’t as strong. Interesting conversationalist. Helpful with mechanicals. The whole nine yards.&#8221;</p>
<p>Cyclists plan to converge on Austin City Hall Thursday evening to urge tougher enforcement against drivers who hit cyclists. As I write this, the 85-year-old driver has not been charged in the crash.</p>
<p>The KVUE story about the crash can be seen <a href="http://www.kvue.com/home/Austin-Cycling-Community-remembers-avid-cyclist-killed-this-weekend-149598885.html">here</a>.</p>
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<br />Filed under: <a href='http://bikenoob.com/category/crash/'>crash</a>, <a href='http://bikenoob.com/category/safety/'>Safety</a> Tagged: <a href='http://bikenoob.com/tag/crash/'>crash</a>, <a href='http://bikenoob.com/tag/fatality/'>fatality</a>, <a href='http://bikenoob.com/tag/rear-end/'>rear end</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/bikenoob.wordpress.com/5513/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5513&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Steel vs. Aluminum</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/04/29/steel-vs-aluminum/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/04/29/steel-vs-aluminum/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:07:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bike fit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bikes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steel]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[A couple of weeks ago, my friend David mentioned that his steel Fuji was still available for me to test ride a while. David now rides a carbon fiber Giant Defy Advanced, and loves it. But he loved his Fuji, &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/04/29/steel-vs-aluminum/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5502&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A couple of weeks ago, my friend David mentioned that his steel Fuji was still available for me to test ride a while. David now rides a carbon fiber Giant Defy Advanced, and loves it. But he loved his Fuji, too, and thought I would enjoy comparing it to the ride I get on my Specialized Allez. So, I swung by his house to pick it up.</p>
<p>The bike is a Fuji Marseille from the early 2000s, and in some respects, is similar to the 2008 Allez. It&#8217;s the same size: 56 cm; it has a nine-speed cassette, although his is Shimano Ultegra and mine is 105. The Allez has more carbon fiber parts, with fork, seat post, and seat stays all being of that material. Only the Fuji&#8217;s fork is carbon. The Fuji&#8217;s top tube is horizontal, while the Allez&#8217;s slopes. David runs 25 mm tires on the Fuji, while I am currently sporting 23s.</p>
<p><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/fuji3.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5504" title="Fuji3" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/fuji3.jpg?w=500&h=300" alt="" width="500" height="300" /></a></p>
<p>Digging through some Road Bike Reviews from 2004, I found the bike variously described as comfortable, a good century bike, not fast or light, built for distance &#8212; not speed, a great bike for club rides, and smooth.</p>
<p>The whole point of my trying out the Fuji was to see for myself if there is a difference between an aluminum-framed bike and one of steel.</p>
<p>I had my answer after my first mile: Yes, there is. The steel bike rides smoother.</p>
<p>The difference was most apparent on chip seal roads. Those aren&#8217;t a lot of fun to ride on the Allez. The Fuji flattened out the rough spots. Of course, on asphalt roads, both bikes ride about the same, in my opinion. On really rough roads, that are pocked with potholes, or have uneven, patched pavement, the ride is just as bouncy and jarring in the Fuji as the Allez.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve taken the Fuji on several club rides, as well as rides in my neighborhood on my usual 15, 18, 19, and 27-mile routes. Besides the overall smoother ride, I noticed other things:</p>
<p>The steel bike is heavier. That shouldn&#8217;t come as a surprise to anyone, although the proponents of steel frames will tell you that the modern frames are only fractionally heavier than their aluminum or carbon fiber competition. I weighed both the Fuji and the Allez on Casa Niekamp&#8217;s bathroom scale (okay, you can draw your own conclusions about the accuracy of the measure!) and found the Fuji weighed a commendale 19.5 pounds. The Allez checked in at 16.5. However, I weighed the Allez without pedals or seat bag, since both had been moved over to the Fuji. So the weight difference might not be that much.</p>
<p>That heavier weight showed itself in two ways: Riding into the wind is tougher. I have to work a lot harder than I do when tackling a headwind on the Fuji than the Allez. But on the plus side, I can go downhill faster in the Fuji. On some favorites in my neighborhood, I noticed a 2 mph speed difference between the two bikes &#8212; the Fuji owned those descents. Curiously, I didn&#8217;t notice much difference when climbing up hills. The Fuji is responsive, and will answer the pedals promptly.</p>
<div id="attachment_5505" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 510px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/both-1.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5505" title="both-1" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/both-1.jpg?w=500&h=165" alt="" width="500" height="165" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Left: The Fuji Marseille. Right: the Specialized Allez.</p></div>
<p>I think part of the credit for the smoother ride goes to the tires. The 25 mm Michelins on the Fuji recommend a maximum pressure of 102 pounds. I ran them at an even 100. My Allez is currently running 23 mm Vredestein Fortezza SEs, with a pressure range of 115-140 pounds! I run those at 120. The combination of skinnier tires and higher pressures probably has a lot to do with the harshness I sometimes feel on the Allez.</p>
<div id="attachment_5507" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/dscn03201.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5507" title="DSCN0320" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/dscn03201.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">What I see from my standard riding position on the Fuji.</p></div>
<p>Now, because the Fuji is a borrowed bike, I didn&#8217;t do a lot of tweaking to make it fit me. David is about an inch shorter than me, so I did raise the saddle height. His arms are also shorter, and the Fuji sports a short stem. David threw in the original stem, which is about the same size as the one on the Allez, but I didn&#8217;t put it on. It turned out I really liked the more upright riding position the short stem gave me. As my time on the bike wore on, I realized that I could clearly see the front wheel&#8217;s hub ahead of my handlebars, so I probably should have swapped stems. And whenever I stood on the pedals to accelerate or climb, my knees tended to bump the handlebars, and I was too far forward to climb efficiently.</p>
<p>Overall, I really enjoyed riding the steel bike. For me, comfort is an important criterion for selecting a bike, and the Fuji was the more comfortable of the two bikes. I&#8217;m not ready to pull the trigger on a steel bike just yet, however. For me, it didn&#8217;t quite live up to its billing as an excellent bike for century rides, and I think anything that can be comfortable for that much time in the saddle would be comfortable for the shorter rides I more commonly do. But fit is everything, and if I could be fitted to a steel-framed bike for maximum comfort, it would certainly be an option to seriously consider.</p>
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		<title>Money!</title>
		<link>http://bikenoob.com/2012/04/26/money/</link>
		<comments>http://bikenoob.com/2012/04/26/money/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:59:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>rainycamp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Rides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bonk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[money]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I was reminded during last weekend&#8217;s ride that I&#8217;ve been negligent lately in attending to a detail all bikers should address when going out on a ride: carry money. It didn&#8217;t seem like a big deal. I had put three &#8230; <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2012/04/26/money/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=bikenoob.com&#038;blog=2901163&#038;post=5490&#038;subd=bikenoob&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/uscurrency_federal_reserve.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-5500" title="USCurrency_Federal_Reserve" src="http://bikenoob.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/uscurrency_federal_reserve.jpg?w=500" alt=""   /></a>I was reminded during last weekend&#8217;s ride that I&#8217;ve been negligent lately in attending to a detail all bikers should address when going out on a ride: carry money.</p>
<p>It didn&#8217;t seem like a big deal. I had put three bucks into a baggie, along with my cell phone. I had two bottles of water with me, which would get me to our rest stop, a convenience store where I could easily refill the bottles. If needed, I could buy some kind of energy bar.</p>
<p>We got there, as I reported in the last post, and I felt fine. I hadn&#8217;t drunk enough water, and one of my bottles was still full. I topped off the other one, and we started back.</p>
<p>My friend David was slowing on the return leg, and I let the other riders in our group go, to stay with him. We had maybe eight miles left to go, when I stopped at an intersection to wait for him.</p>
<p>&#8220;Do you want to stop at this convenience store?&#8221; I asked.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m all out of water, and I&#8217;ve got no money,&#8221; he replied.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well, here,&#8221; I said. &#8220;Take this, and buy what you need.&#8221; Not that three dollars would buy much.</p>
<p>But it turned out that this place priced Gatorade G2 the same as bottled water. David bought the Gatorade, and drained the whole bottle.</p>
<p>&#8220;I figured with the cooler temperatures today, I wouldn&#8217;t have the same trouble I have in the middle of summer,&#8221; he said. We started our ride at 55 degrees, but by now it was in the low 80s.</p>
<p>I decided not to buy anything, or even top off my bottles. I still had one full one, and could make it the rest of the way home on that easily.</p>
<p>We did make it the rest of the way back, but were moving slowly by the time we got within the last mile or so. After waving bye to David, I headed to Starbucks to rendezvous with other club members. Instead of going inside to grab a coffee or iced tea, I brought one of my water bottles to the outside table, and sipped at it while we talked.</p>
<p>Several years ago, I learned to pack money the <a href="http://bikenoob.com/2008/04/06/i-bonked/">hard way</a>. I was on a 52-mile ride, with no money at the halfway point. Even though I had an energy bar with me, I really needed some kind of electrolyte drink, and maybe more nourishment than the bar could give. I bonked hard on the way back and was lucky the ride offered sag support. I caught a ride back to the start. Ever since, I&#8217;ve made sure I carry money if I&#8217;ll be riding any distance from home &#8212; and even around home, sometimes.</p>
<p>I think it&#8217;s time to make a New Year&#8217;s resolution: Bring more money on rides. Three dollars won&#8217;t cut it. Ten is a more reasonable amount. And maybe, just maybe, I&#8217;ll pack a credit card along as well.</p>
<p>Do you have a preferred amount of cash you carry on the bike?</p>
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