Adventures in Bicycling

Oh and Brett, what's in the water in Arlington? I popped across the street to check out a McMansion and it was nice enough for an abomination. So I asked the price. . . $945,000!!!!!

They threw me out of the open house. lol!

 

dude...our condo is 1154 sq ft. $595K.

it hurts just writing it.

remember it's Ar-Bling-ton

 

anyone wanna buy my house in Charles Town? $369K 4bdr. 2 car. 10 minutes to Summit.

bleeding $$$ with two mortgages.

 

i have the old nike yuhas in the team GT colors to match my bike on some nashbar knock off SPDs. these is on a mountain bike though. get a little toe numbness after a while, but its liveable.

 

Joe,

Ya I heard you were in the shop. Look me up, I would love to go out for a ride. Right now I am riding about everyday so anyday you got free count me in. The Dolce is a nice bike, but I am partial to specialized. As For Hope Ann, it was pretty cool that she was invited to be on the worlds team. I just wish the race was not on the other side of the country, the timing is off to make the trip. She did however get a nice Team USA jersey, mabey next year we can plan on making the trip, she will have her pro card by then. E-mail me at [email protected]. Later

 

So I picked up some shoes and pedals today. I tried the Sidi shoes, but they were fairly narrow in the toe box, and weren't very comfortable. I ended up getting some Pearl Izumi Fast shoes. They were by far the most comfortable of anything I tried, and they were marked 50% off to boot. Downside is, they are ugly as hell. I got the Speedplay X/5 pedals, and so far I like having all the float. Clipping out is taking a bit of getting used to - I find I can do it easily in certain parts of the stroke, but other parts are a bit tricky.

Initial impression was that it felt a little better, but I noticed a HUGE difference on the substantial hill leading into my neighborhood. Whereas before I was struggling to carry 5mph up the hill, I was able to do 7-8mph today and wasn't struggling like I was before.

This weekend I'm looking to do a longer ride - by the time I get home from work there's not much daylight left and so riding time has been limited. I might try and do a test run and find a route from home to work - I figure it's roughly 12-14 miles - should be doable without any problems.

Further bulletins will be posted - thanks for all the advice guys!

 

I have the same!! HAHA.

And an older pair of Carnac's for the road.

I need to get back on the bike.........................

 

in cycling ugly=cool so don't fret about the shoes.

once you smooth out your pedal stroke, you won't have any accidental clip-outs. speedplays are great for their ability to keep you secure, but be super easy to get out when you forget at a stoplight.

congrats on the progress, Sean.:up:

 

How much foot numbness can be attributed to wrong saddle? When I get foot numbness on the MTB it ususally originates from my ass. Current saddle's a WTB Speed V that came with my first bike and I haven't tried anything else. Is the Specialized saddle fit thing any good?

 

I'd address saddle comfort before anything else. But here's the thing: you mold to your saddle. The longer you ride a crappy saddle the more you simply get used to it. That doesn't make it any better. There are a zillion different saddles because there is a place for all of them. My advice is to find a shop that will let you "test" a saddle on your bike for a ride. You can narrow in on a proper saddle by riding your typical style that way.

 

why do they build them like torture devices anyway?

 

Power transfer.

 

you mean not even daring to sit down the whole time?

 

What, you mean crushing your testicles makes you push harder?

 

You are supposed to be on your "sit bones".

Modern seats are a helluva lot more comfortable than the ones I rode on in the 80's. I guess alot of people were getting prostate problems. When I grew into a normal size person from my previous svelt cyclist physique my seat became really uncomfortable. Weight really does have alot to do with it. Anyway, I went on an expensive search for the right saddle and arrived at the Sella Italia Flight series. My new bike came with a Fizike (I think) which is completely different but is also comfortable. Go figure.

 

on a side note, i took a horrendous spill yesterday on my mtb. i'm tore up worse than any roadracing crash i've ever had. damn bicycles.

 

Give it about a month, and you'll be carrying 11-13mph up those same hills. I was averaging about 8-9 mph when i got started...Also, I recommend giving the energy gel packets a try (circa $1.50/each but well worth it). All of my top average mph ratings have come from using the packets...I ride on just over a 11 mile loop which is all I typically have time for (because of the same problem you have - running out of daylight)

Without these gel energy packets that are mostly electrolytes, i'll average about 15.5-16mph. I have one of those packets, suck it down 1/3-1/2 way through the ride, and you won't fade as much towards the end. My best average, and even 17 mph and 16.7 mph I've done both times after using those things. So it's a measureable difference.

Cycling is addicting....no doubt...you get a great aerobic workout and will loose all kinds of weight...I've dropped between 8-11 lbs from the spring by going just 2 times a week. I like it because I hate running and this is an activitity that really gets the heart rate up.

I gotta tell you though...it beats you down with no mercy on monday's after a weekend of beer and eating bad...your body sure does let you know you shouldn't be doing that stuff lol

Good luck with it sean...you'll really enjoy it!

 

<quote>
I'd address saddle comfort before anything else. </quote>


What side to you "dress" to? In other words, do your boys hang down your left or right pant leg? If you dress to the left, adjust your saddle one or two degrees to the right and visa versa. It releives alot of that numbness issue. Also, if you are doing any high or consistent mileage get some shammy cream and use it religiously. It helps too and will virtually eleminate any chance of getting saddle sores. I use the Assos. Its the shit but use it sparingly at first, it really wakes the boys up.

 

The foot tingle usually comes from your peddaling stroke. You are pushing down all the time. Its pretty common and what seperates the men from the boys for the most part. The pedal stroke is a circle (duh) and the good riders leant to pull up on the pedal from 6 o'clock through 11 o'clock, float over the top and then push down from 1 o'clock to 6 o'clock. Its what gives a fast cadence. When Phil (ligget, tour coverage) is talking about a guy still having high knees late in a stage, that is what he is refereing to because we tend to stop the pulling up part of ths stroke when tired. Anyway, we have a nerve that goes up the center of the foot and when you keep pressure on it by not doing the pull and float it causes the foot to go numb after about an hour.

You can learn to turn circles by doing isolated leg training, basically pedaling with just one foot/leg and concentrating on turining smooth circles. Best done on the trainer. I learned the old school way, my coach strapped me into a fixed gear bike and made me ride down a steep ass hill: pedal fast and smooth or crash!!!

 

Flite TT...black suede. shoulda bought one of the zebra striped ones too.:up: