Ass pain & commuting

I may have mentioned that the building where I now work, at Knorr Brake Corporation is only 7.5 miles from my house. As such, I could not wait to begin riding my bike to work. Riding to work always guarantees a great day. I always feel fantastic after spending a half hour or so, on the bike in the morning. I commuted to work in NYC a bunch of times which was really exciting; blasting up Broadway through the Bronx and into Yonkers. And years ago, from 2003 to 2007, when I lived in downtown Baltimore, I carried out my longest streak of bike commuting ever; four years. I was a machine. I was regularly racing crits and I rode my fixed gear to work in rain and snow; my body was über race-hardened. Very unlike my body today which is … über slug softened.

This week, my first week at the new job has been awesome. Though I do not have my own office yet (I’m waiting for the guy who I’m replacing to retire in June) my temporary cubicle is pretty sweet. The people I work with are awesome and professional. And I could not wait to top all that awesomeness off with the added bonus of riding to work. So, last night I prepped the fixie. Nostalgically, I prepared my bike the night before. I dug out my lights and mounted them to the bars and seat tube. I slapped my fender on; lubed the chain and aired the tires to 90 psi. I blew the dust off my messenger bag and pulled my U-lock from its shelf. After I ironed a set of clothes and packed them neatly in my messenger bag I settled into bed with visions of a chilly but fun ride to work; just like the good ol’ days of my hipster, in-shape youth.

In the morning I squeezed into my winter riding gear.  Over the years, my chamois have managed to shrink somehow, but I fought myself into them, like pork into a sausage casing.  I wrapped my feet in tinfoil, for an extra layer of wind protection & reflective heat on my piggies.  One day, I'll have to break down and buy a pair of booties.  As I pedaled out of the porch-lit driveway and into the dark and arctic 14°F morning, my ass and rock-hard saddle, "Rocky", were painfully reunited. “Mamma mia!” I sucked it up and pushed my 48 X 17T combo up the first hill where the road then leveled off gradually, and pleasantly descended through the darkness. Though my ass bones got sore quickly, I got used to it and I settled into a comfy rhythm. Under my face mask, a smile stretched across my already snotty, snorting face as I enjoyed my silent propulsion though the chilly dawn. The fixie is dead silent; no creaks; no chain noise at all. Total silence.

At about mile 4, reality struck; holy crap I’m out of shape. I wondered if any of the passers-by had a set of charged defibrillator paddles in their car. What I thought would be a 25 minute commute began its stretch into a 45 minute pain game. I had hoped to get to work well before my 7:00 start time so that I could hit the locker room, and shower before anyone got there. The goal here was limiting the amount of time I had to be naked in that locker room. The hills and my single fixed gear were working hard against me. They mocked me; laughed at me; became so vane in their very topography. Not only the climbs, which I attacked with all the speed of a slug on a salt lick, but also the descents. I flew down a long steep stretch of Route 27 with a death grip on the bars and flames shooting out of my quads. I thought my legs were going to jettison from my hip sockets and flail off into the bushes along the roadside. My tachometer was redlined as I tried to keep my RPMs down to a leg-sustaining cadence. Oh, how I wished for the freewheeling beauty of my road bike. To coast would have been divine. When I reached the bottom of the hill I was so exhausted, that I was already dreading the imminent Bataan Death Ride that would be my commute home. What have I gotten myself into?

Work ensued.  My ass bones taunted me all day.  BUTT, it was a great day, and I felt like a warrior for toughing it out on such a chilly morning.

The ride home, surprisingly; nay miraculously, was not as painful as I had imagined. Yes, I climbed the long hill on Route 27 at a walking pace, but I refused to quit. I have walked hills when mountain biking. This I will admit. But, I have never walked a bike on pavement. I couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't let myself be that guy on the side of the road, walking his perfectly functional bike home. I just put my head down and slowly pushed myself home. And, I made it! By golly, I made it! 

The road to fitness is a long one, I think I’ll take my road bike.

Progress

I woke up this morning at 7:00 and decided to get the road bike out and try to put in a few miles before that giant, blazing ball of fire sheds its oppressive heat down on my out-of-shape, fatty, self. The longer I lay in bed, the less chance I have of actually following through with the thought of riding. ... And, so it was, that I aired the tires on the road bike, dug a water bottle out of the closet, stretched my heavy legs and set out into the morning light. Shockingly enough, it was not as hellaciously painful as I thought it would have been. It was a downright awesome little jaunt. 8 miles in total, which is nothing really, but it is something to me these days. The lack of riding I did this summer marked an all-time low for me. I haven’t ridden this little since… before I started riding. And it shows. A lot. But, things can only get better from here. When you’re at rock bottom you can only go up right? Right. Progress.

Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch.

Back in the saddle again (ouch)

I'm tipping the scales at a hefty 215lbs these days; my all time record high.  It appears that my strictly regimented diet of beef jerky and hoppy ales is not conducive to staying light in the pedals (not to be confused with being light in the loafers).  Albeit, a considerable amount of loafing has brought me to my current status.  So, I've committed myself to some type of physical activity each day, after work, be it running or riding etc.  Additionally, I will slather not two, but one modest helping of light mayo on my sandwiches moving forward; and of course, make similarly responsible dietary choices.  End goal weight:  190lbs.

Last night I put in my first 15 miles of the year.  My poor road bike actually had a thick layer of dust & ash (from the wood stove) which billowed up before my eyes upon blowing it off the top tube.  *poof*  I lubed it up, aired it up, and carried it up stairs and out into the evening sun for a reunion ride.  The Attendees:  My ass & my ancient saddle, which has a Rockwell hardness value of at least a billion.  Still, my pace was decent (14.5mph) and I enjoyed an hour of quiet riding through the countryside.  Stats from Endomondo are as follows.

Windy training ride - 15 miles

Super windy day here in Westminster, MD, but I need to get some miles in this week in preparation for the Michaux Trail Cup cross country endurance race this weekend. I'm still not sure whether I'll register for the 25 or the 50 mile version of this race. It will be my first race in over 5 years and the sensible rider inside me says woah now, take it easy tiger. You're just baaarely in shape! But the burly, hairy chested, quads-o-fire Guy inside me says You want that pain; you neeeeed that pain! Quads-o-fire Guy is a jackass. I will have to see how froggy I'm feeling in the next day or so. I've got a few more days to register. Regardless, today's ride was a good one, albeit short. I meandered here and there around my neck of the woods and passed three other LSV riders, though I don't know who they were (See meandering image below). I've gone and hyped up today's ride (in my mind) by Photoshopping a glorious 15 on to today's post-ride image for my own personal and necessary confidence boosting. Must... ride... more... I don't want to get shelled by a bunch of beginners at my first race.

Bike portraits

The other day I decided I'd wash all of my bikes. Living in the city without access to a hose has deprived me the luxury of scrubbing and hosing off bikes in the front yard. I washed all five and them and lined them up for portraits. I've been wanting to do that for years. I even added a new page to my blog which details the bikes and their set ups. You can see them all by clicking the my bikes link at the top of this blog.

Nuts - 20 miles

I happen to reach down and wiggle my rear wheel side to side this morning and noticed a few millimeters of lateral play. Damn; loose cones I thought. Actually, there are no “cones” in my Mavic Cosmos wheel set. Instead, theses pieces are called “fork support nuts”. Even when discussing the rear hubs. This makes sense though; since these nuts only hold sealed cartridge bearings in place and do not affect rolling resistance. They serve as more of a drop-out mating surface or... FORK SUPPORT. Traditionally, cones were used to hold ball bearings in place within a hub by sandwiching them between the inside hub flanges and the cones themselves. Each cone would be tightened inboard on either side of the axle until a firm, yet friction-free relationship is attained. Once this is established, thin serrated jamb-nuts are used to lock them in place. At any rate, I removed the cassette from the hub and noticed that my fork support nut on the drive side had loosened and migrated about 8 mm outboard. Yikes! I cleaned the hub, dropped some lube in to the visible cartridge bearing and then snugged it up using 13mm & 17mm cone wrenches. No more wiggle; only smooth operation. I snapped a few photos during the process, just for shits & giggles. More for giggles I suppose.

At 1:00 I headed out for a road ride. Threatening clouds made me run back inside and grab my arm warmers and rear fender. Rear fenders; great equipment for rainy rides. They help to mitigate the dreaded wet ass. Riding in the rain is one thing, but riding with a constant stream of chilly road muck spraying up your butt and back is another thing entirely. I was glad I used the fender today because two miles from home, the black sky cracked loose and dropped big fat rain down on me. Luckily I had nearly completed my 20 mile loop and only spent 10 or 15 minutes getting drenched. Tip o' the day: Ziploc bags are great protection for your phone on rainy rides.

Redneck road ride - 20 miles

Yesterday afternoon, I spun the cranks on the road bike and collected some paved mileage. I have a fantastic little route which begins at my doorstep, follows Dover road down to Butler road and then doubles back for a nice 20 mile loop. It was 4:00 by the time I had finished mowing the lawn and after some quick maintenance the road bike and I were headed for the hills. For the past several rides I've noticed some chain rub on the cage of my front derailleur. I kept forgetting to adjust it until I'd remember in the middle of a ride. So, before I left, I clamped the road bike in the stand and fine tuned the front derailleur. Somehow, the derailleur had shifted just a bit around my seat tube. I repositioned the clamp, snugged it up, checked my cable tension and high & low limits, then ran it through the gears. Voila! Problem solved.

Temps were in the low 50's and the wind was kickin' so I kitted up in bib-shorts, short sleeve jersey, and wind vest. Less than a mile into the ride I stopped and pulled on a pair of arm warmers. Arm warmers have to be my all-time favorite pieces of riding gear; closely followed by shoe covers with bib-shorts bringing up the rear. The warmers were just the ticket and kept me comfy for the entire ride.

I stopped a few times to take some pictures. My first stop, on Dover road, was to look snap a picture of a farm I admire. It's nestled down in a hollow with a little pond and a bunch of cows peppered around it's fields. The cows were incredibly interested in me and they mozied their way over to the fence slowly but surely. It was a little strange. I didn't know cows would walk right up to you like a horse would. I snapped a few pictures and was on my way, but here's the weird part... as I pedaled off, the cows began galloping along side me on their side of the fence... what's up with that? I'm just a likeable person I suppose. I shook my head and zipped off down the road. Fare well my bovine lady friends!

My next stop was further down Dover Road where a gate blocked the entrance to some Baltimore Gas & Electric property. The sign on the gate warning people not to trespass had, of course, been shot by the local rednecks. Classic! A nice shot pattern covered the center of the sign which was obviously shot from the window of a truck on the road, 20 feet away. “Good one Vern!” Rednecks truly must hate signs. Or do they love them? I don't know.

Dover & Dover & Dover

Yesterday was a pretty great day. I finished raking the side yard which was tedious because the leaves were few and far between. Still, I couldn't let them sit there with the rest of the yard looking as impeccable as the 17th hole at Sawgrass. And so I continued raking; raking to perfection. Standing with my hands layered on top of the rake handle; chin perched upon my hands; proud grin stretched across my face. I was done. Piling the leaves on top of the coals from the previous day's leaf-roast, they smoldered, caught fire and were nothing but ash a half hour later. I am loving this fire pit.

(above: iPhone photo of my road bike against the fence of a sheep farm on St.Paul Road)

With the yard work done (for now, more clean-up to come) I aired my tires, lubed my chain and set off for an 18-mile ride on my road bike. I can't believe I can just walk out the front door, roll down the driveway and be surrounded by great expanses of farm land. Sheep farms, dairy farms and even tree farms cover the rolling countryside that I now call home. I rolled down many familiar roads that I haven't set rubber to since 2007. Roads like Dover, Mantua Mill, Geist, Falls, Tufton and Butler to name a few. I know these names mean nothing to you guys reading this blog (both of you), but to any road racers and/or cyclists in Baltimore, they're well known and loved. They roll and wind and are beautifully paved. Memories came back to me of rides gone-by. Places where I've taken breaks to eat bananas, places where I've fixed flats, places where I've peed! Mostly memories of riding with my friend Mark who used to take me on long rides out to the middle of nowhere while I followed behind him with weary legs hoping he'd turn around and head back towards home! Marks even got about 15 years on me mind you; the animal!

I don't start my new job until the end of March. In the mean time I am going to love riding and exploring my new home. I miss city life. I really do. But I am getting used to this lifestyle out here. The only thing I can't get used to is the utter silence at all times. Without music playing, this place is dead quiet. Sleeping at night is terribly difficult. The silence is deafening. Hello darkness my old friend...

Relocating

I’m relocating to Westminster, MD, the suburbs (pronounced: [suhb-urbs]) just outside of Baltimore (my old stomping grounds and where I cut my teeth on all things messenger, urban decay and city life). This Saturday I will be driving a 17’ U-Haul truck down to the land of pleasant living. I’ll miss NYC. I only got to live here for four years, but a career opportunity that’s just too good to pass has been extended and I have to accept. I’ll miss so many things about the city; all of the local goodies and things that make living here so easy. I’ll miss the diversity of people, the good friends I’ve made, and my family. But I am approaching this new stage of my life with a positive outlook and in the spirit of adventure and personal progress. Although I won’t be able to step out my door and pick up a fantastic coffee at the bodega, (I’ll have to drive/ride miles into town) or order sushi, pizza, or Chinese (I’ll have to drive/ride miles into town), I do look forward to life in the ‘burbs. Bonfires, dirt bike riding, shooting my airguns from the picnic table in the back yard, raking leaves, working on bikes in a dedicated bike room and perhaps the most missed luxury taken for granted by suburbanites the world over: owning a grill. I can already smell the bbq burgers and feel the spattering fat stinging my forearms. “Beer me!”.

With the move comes a reconnection with some of the best riding I’ve ever experienced. Schaefer Farms for example. Schaefer is a Mecca of hard-packed singletrack that dips dives and lofts you into the air over and over. I can already hear the hum of my WTB’s as I zip through the piney sections and around the perimeter of those corn fields like a jaguar on roller skates. I’ll also be reunited with the Water Shed of Frederick. My All Mountain bike has no idea what it’s in for. It’ll be perfectly at home taking drop after drop, stunt after stunt, over and over as I shuttle the ‘shed with my old riding buddies I’ve missed so much. I’ll be stoked to be hanging on for dear life with the saddle in my throat and the back tire shredding fibers off my shorts as I get back as far as I can on those drops and mega-steep rollers! I’m not even mentioning the fun I’ve missed at Patapsco (Pronounced “Pa-tap-dat-ass-co” by the locals) and the luscious loops around Lock Raven Reservoir.

Need I even mention the use my road bike is going to get? Yes.

Where I’ll be living, 28 miles from down town Baltimore, is smack-dab in the center of where my old racing team used to train. Which bring to mind thoughts of getting back in shape and establishing some base mileage. I haven’t trained seriously in the last 4 years. I’d love to be racing at the level where I left off (Cat 4 road and Cat 3 CX). We’ll have to see about that, but rest assured, my skinny-tired friend will be rolling down some familiar roads once again; something I’ve missed while living in the big apple.

Saturday's road ride

Saturday morning I took the road bike out for a wet 26 mile ride. I rode across the George Washington Bridge, into NJ and then turned south down to Hoboken. My friend Dave just got a new road bike and he was eager to get out on a real road ride but the weather foiled our plans. After meeting Dave and heading north out of Hoboken, the rain let loose. Twice we took cover under overpasses and debated between continuing the ride and finding a bistro or cafe in which to eat brunch. We had just agreed to head back to Hoboken to find some breakfast when Dave's rear tire went flat. We were so close to his place that we just bagged the ride. All in all I had a great ride. I stayed dry all the way back to Manhattan. The rain held until I reached my place and I was surprised at how good I felt on the road bike. All that time spent on the fixie lately has really given me some power down in my legs. I can't wait to get out in the woods on the mountain bike!

I'm alive.

Wow, I haven't blogged since June 14th. I haven't had a gap open up like this since I was shelled in my very first criterium back in 2006! Nevertheless I'm back. I've been really busy and to be honest, pretty unhappy so I haven't felt much like reporting. I'm going to make this blog entry a quick & dirty overview of the past five weeks. That being said; onward with the quick & dirty:

Work:

I've been traveling a lot lately. Work has taken me to some pretty neat areas in the following states: TX, NC, SC, GA, IL, MD & VA. I really enjoy auditing the systems of different companies. The products and processes I see are extremely interesting to me and I really enjoy getting a close look at the state of the art technology these companies are utilizing. The project is now entering the final design stage and the car is going to look SHARP! At this point, it's a violation of company policy to release an image of the latest design, but as soon as the design is made public, I will be sure to post a few images; it's pretty sleek looking!

Hiking/Camping:

With all of the recent traveling, I haven't had that much time to get out in the woods. Two weekends ago however, my friend Jay and I hiked in to Island Pond at Harriman State Park in NJ. The hike in to the pond is only 1.25 miles of pretty brutal uphill, but the pay off is a refreshing pond. There are plenty of large rocks from which you can jump and there's a nice little island in the middle of the pond where you can lounge about and work on your tan. We had a really great time when we were there, to include cooking up some ribs and mac & cheese for dinner! The picture above was taken when I awoke in my tent at Island Pond.

Riding:

I don't know if I ever reported that the Lefty (suspension fork) on my Cannondale is busted. When I was out in Colorado, I blew the lock-out feature of this unit. It's a shame because I was really loving the Lefty's plush performance and the ability to lock-out the suspension on climbs and road sections. At any rate, my Cannondale is sitting in the living room until I get around to shipping it out to Mendon Cyclesmith (Lefty experts) in upstate NY for failure analysis and repair. In the mean time I have been riding my singlespeed (pictured below) whenever I get the chance. Last weekend my friend Dave and I rode at Sprain Ridge Park in Yonkers and had a truly epic ride! The trail conditions were perfect: dusty dry and practically empty. We didn't see another rider on the trails the whole time (3 hours). I was a bit hesitant to try out my tires (Kenda Small Block Eight's) for fear that a storm would turn the dusty trails to slimy booger-luge. But, the weather held and the riding was superb! I even busted out some trials moves from waaaaay back in the day. I was lazy enough NOT to post it on Vimeo, but you can download the QuickTime file here if you care to see me ride on picnic tables as if I were a 14 year old.

Lately, I've been getting out on the road bike after work. I get home from work around 5:15 which leaves plenty of time to skip across the GW Bridge and into NJ to ride north along the Palisades. Once in NJ, if you head 15 miles, or so, north, the riding gets very hilly. I typically turn around once I'm 12 or 13 miles out, making for a respectable (in my eyes) loop. There once was a time when I actually enjoyed riding hills. Those days are gone! So, these rides are pretty enjoyable! Also, I should mention that the fixed gear is riding like a dream. Ever since I gave the drivetrain an overhaul, it's been a tight and quiet ride. She's tip-top! I spent this past Saturday boppin' around Harlem and just really enjoyed exploring, getting lost and pretty much pedaling for the sake of pedaling (Sometimes I just head out the door without a destination in mind - spontaneity usually gets the best of me).

Picture of the day

Taken at 2:30 this afternoon on the boardwalk at Coney Island with my Canon S90. 1/1250sec @ f/2.8, ISO 80.

Liberato

Last night I spent a few hours over at my buddy Chris' place playing games with him and some of his wife's friends. We played Bohnanza for a quite a while, which is actually a pretty awesome game. It sounds kind of funny but it's a card game about farming. Bean farming in particular. Although the game was a lot of fun, the ride down at 6:15, was even better. It's been several weeks since I've ridden anywhere. Life's just been so chaotic that I haven't been getting up early enough to ride to work. Last night I finally committed myself to pedaling downtown. So I geared up with my winter riding garb and set off for Chris' place down on 89th street. Riding down from 190th street along Broadway is a lot of fun, and I always enjoy it. Broadway takes you through so many little villages and each one is different with abrupt transitions from one to the next. When I got to 125th street a 1 Train emerged from the tunnel parallel to me, and paced me as it headed south on the elevated tracks. I couldn't hear it's loud clacking rumble because I was listening to a Land of Loops album in my headphones. I was experiencing one of those "moments" in my life that I enjoy so much. Here I was, cruising down Broadway at night, under a nearly full moon, in Harlem, perfectly comfortable, flowing with traffic under the L, while I could feel the vibrations from the heavy subway cars above. I was thinking to myself: This is exactly where I want to be right now.

When I left Chris' place around 10:00 I was exhausted. But as soon as I was geared up, I felt a spark of energy and was looking forward to exploring on my ride home. I pedaled west through Central Park while Sublime played in my headphones. I made my first stop in Harlem under the elevated tracks for the Amtrak Line. There is a beautiful trestle bridge here with large arches and impressive iron work. I climbed the embankment at the south end of the bridge and sat peacefully in the dark watching traffic pass through the intersections below. I was surprised that I did not run into anyone else hanging out under the bridge. I sat there in the dark for about a half an hour thinking about where I was in life and I found myself almost completely at peace; it was another moment in life I wanted to hang on to. When I started to get cold, I zipped up, cinched up, and climbed down and out; returning to the Big Apple's buzz.

Pedaling out of Harlem, along Broadway, I chugged steadily north enjoying the night. At 163rd & Broadway I saw a well lit sign for a place called the Liberato Food Market. A small helicopter perched on the front corner of the market advertised the market's delivery services. The empty sidewalk, locked storefront gates and well lit signage seemed photo worthy to me, so I pulled out the point & shoot to snap a couple of pictures.

My last stop, before continuing home was at 168th & Broadway. I was interested in the red globes on the lamp posts of the subway station entrance. Setting the camera down on the ground, I framed the lamp post against the night sky for a long exposure. I wanted to capture the lamp post suspended in the universe for a interesting, thought provoking image. I only wish there were more stars in the sky.

Wife's new bike

Today we picked up my wife's new bike. It's a Jamis Coda. She has been researching bikes for the past few weeks bouncing questions off of me from time to time, and I think she made a great choice by going with the Coda. We both agree that the small diameter steel tubing form sleek, attractive lines giving the bike a beautiful form, classic in nature yet modernly simplistic. When we got home from the bike shop, we got to work, making slight changes to the bike that she had envisioned. I let her do all the work and simply gave advise on how to go about doing it. She caught on very quickly and before long, she was adjusting the spring tension on the V-brakes and tilting her bars and brake levers to a comfortable natural position. Off came the reflectors, warning stickers and plastic pedals and on when a nice set of classic touring pedals I had laying around. She even removed her cassette, removed the plastic spoke protector and reinstalled it, taking care to align the cogs on the splined freehub body.

Above: My wife greases the threads before installing her new pedals.

When the bike was sufficiently dialed in, we set off for a few loops around the neighborhood and park. She hadn't ridden in a little over a year and was a little twitchy at first, but was soon zipping around with ease. She even sneaked past me just before we got to Frank's Market to pick up groceries for dinner. I caught a big grin on her face as she spun the cranks as hard as she could to leave me in the dust (I could only shake my fist at her!). I'm so happy she's happy. Let the adventure rides begin!

Half a century

This morning I woke up and just wanted to ride. The weather was beautiful. I knew that the forcast called for thunderstorms later in the afternoon but thought that if I could get out of the house by 8:30 (which I did) then I had a chance at a real challenge ride. I have been wanting to attempt a metric century (65 miles) for a while now and thought today could be the day. I was wrong. I got home with only 50 miles under my belt (half a century). Nevertheless, it was a hell of a ride and I can now say that I've ridden from my house in Washington Heights, to Coney Island, floated around in the ocean, and rode back home.

The ocean was cold but felt fantastic on my legs and after stretching in the water I soon found myself floating about on my back taking in the sights. Coney Island is so cheesy; I love it. Below is the route I took which I mapped on the ever so handy Runmeter iPhone app.

The stable

To a non-biker, having four bikes seems a bit excessive. But to me, I think it's completely within reason. I use these bikes equally and often. It's not that hard to understand, but I'll break it down for you anyway.

1. Fixed Gear: Used for grocery runs, spins downtown with the camera, bar crawling with friends and commuting to work.
2. Road bike: Used for long training rides out in NJ.
3. Single Speed Mt bike: Used primarily at Cunningham Park & Sprain Ridge when I need my back-to-basics nature fix.
4. Geared Mt bike: This is my woodland blaster, used for pure adrenaline on all trails.

Being a married cyclist, it's important that your spouse fully understand the necessity of several bikes. Especially when a new one may be joining the family. I got a reply from Mike Flanigan at ANT Bikes. Turns out that a Truss Frame Bike like the one I saw at the Museum of Art & Design will run me close to $4K. (yowza!) I'm going to see where I we can cut some corners on cost. He had some helpful ideas for shaving the cost down while still retaining the perfection that is, his work. Stay tuned...