Stronger

I am getting stronger. My personal testing hill is the Old Redmond Road. It is part of my commute and every time I climb it I beat my previous times. Nothing shocking but I am happy with my training and other workouts.

My ride home was also good. The ride on the SRT was nice and fast(for me) and then the hill to my house was also a PR.

Health.

My Friend pre-ride
My bike is my friend. Earlier this year my diabetes was uncontrolled and I had a high A1C. Now my blood tests came back and my A1C is normal at 5.5% indicating that my diabetes is under control. My blood pressure, cholesterol and other indicators are all good as well. This wouldn't have happened if I didn't change my lifestyle from the sedentary slump it has been in for the last 2 years. I improved my diet, I changed my schedule to improve control over diet and medications, and last but not least I started riding my bikes again. I am also working on my core and upper body to get better on the bike.

Yes I did this for my health, but I am not easily motivated by health concerns. I am doing this for the cycling, toward achieving goals on the bike. My focus today is PBP 2019 and completing it in good form and under 80 hours, ideally less than that. My immediate focus is training for a fast century in 2016. That means power intervals, aerobic intervals and endurance riding all focused on the target of a fast century in September 2016. Cycling goals have motivated me before and I did ride the 2009 STP at a good average speed of 16.2mph. I can better that next year on the scale of a century instead of a double century.

Cycling gives me satisfaction in multiple ways.

• The joy of physical activity.
• Exploring the world around me, by riding I explore the world.  I am not heads down on a computer.
• Social exploration.  I make new friends and acquaintances by riding and organizing rides. 
• Planning.  I enjoy planning activities and making plans a reality.
• Competition.  I enjoy competition.  I am not very fit at the moment but I will be and I will enjoy testing myself.

All in all I am happy to make these changes and I look forward to my new future.

tomorrow

anxiety is a tape worm
it hollows out your dreams
face your fears
push past your failures
your dreams will bloom

My diabetes follow up appointment is tomorrow. I am nervous. I know I did reasonably well but I can't quiet my thoughts. We will see.

Vendetta built and I have reset my goals for 2016.

First things first. My Vendetta named Vixen is now road worthy. I did a test ride commute yesterday and she is good to go.

So now that this is settled I am going to be commuting and training on my Vixen. The other story is about what my goals are for 2016. I posted goals here but my trainer Thom advised me to reset given my target of 2019 PBP and my current fitness. He recommended targeting a fast century late in the 2016 season. So I went looking for a century ride that I could ride at a race pace. I eliminated the Red-Bell 100 by Cascade since it spends too much time on bike trails which are very nice but have speed limits and other trail users. Because of issues like this I eliminated a lot of rides. Most of the Cascade rides are pretty crowded and descending past uprights on twisty Eastside roads gives me pause. The early seasons rides were all eliminated as well. So with that in mind I looked farther afield. I found a great century route in Coeur d'Alene called Couer d'Fondo. It is a 108 mile route with beautiful roads. It has ~5900 ft of climbing and follows the local ironman race route. It also awards medals based on finishing time.
Finishers Medals: 108 miles
5.5 hours = 1st
6.0 hours = 2nd
6.5 hours = 3rd

This intrigues me. I won't set my target time until I get closer to the ride date but tentatively I am aiming at sub-6 hours with that amount of climbing. With that as my target in 2016, I will keep my other riding to shorter values through the year as well. I will not do any 200k rides and instead stick to 100k Populaires. I want to be working on speed all year. I will be following my training with power, endurance and aerobic workouts each week. I am also adding in core work, lower back work and some upper body work. I don't want to bulk up but instead be lean up top. I am considering joining LA fitness, they have less of the bro culture there and a good selection of classes. That is all for now. Enjoy one more picture of Vixen.

Vendetta Build in Progress

I am still making progress on my Vendetta build the "Vixen". I wrapped the bar with yellow bar tape last night during the rain. The job wasn't perfect but I like it. I like the look. The next issue is the fit and seat. The stock seat doesn't work for me. I need to be a wee bit farther forward to reach the pedals properly without cutting the boom. In addition it is about 6 inches too short to hit my shoulders. So there is a solution

Volae Hardshell Carbon Fiber Seat Size L
I am going to follow Rick Youngblood's directions and mount this to my Vixen. This will achieve the following goals for me

1. Provide a seat I can ride on for hours without back pain.
2. By mounting it slightly forward of my current seat I will get 10mm or so closer to the pedals. Just the distance I need for comfort and fit.
3. This will solve the rear bag issue. I can easily mount a Bent-Up Aerobag to the upper part of the new seat.(note: link may break due to Bent-Up cycles redesigning their web commerce site, search by name in that case)

You can see how it will look on a Vendetta at Rick Youngblood's page I ordered the yellow version of course. I am also going to follow Rick's lead by mounting my mirrors to the hoods of my brifters
I am also going to install these iSSi pedals on my Vixen. They are nice light and supportive pedals that use SPD enclosures

iSSI trail pedals
What this means is that I have a bead on solving a number of issues.

1. Crank/Position and Bike Fit (seat)
2. Comfort (seat)
3. Storage for Brevets/Commute (seat, aerobag)
4. Hydration via water bottles in aerobag (seat, aerobag)
5. Rear Light and reflectors (Adem Headrest, Princeton Tec Swerve Taillight)
6. Be Seen red lights
7. Headlight
8. Mirrors (Zefal Spyx2)
9. Bike Computer (Garmin 520)

That is quite the list. I will be ready for anything from a social neighborhood ride to a commute to a 200k brevet.

My "Vixen" is home

So I got my bike back from the LBS. There was some confusion regarding the chain and some adjustments that I had to get them to revert since they changed the boom and handlebar position which affects the fit for my x-seam. But once we ironed that out I got the "Vixen" back home. They only charged me labor even though I know they must have used some new cables and housing so I can't complain. One of the guys tried to ride the Vendetta but that ended quickly as he had no experience and I didn't want him to get hurt or my bike.

My wife christened the Vendetta "Vixen" with a bit of alliteration and a hint of jealousy. She is awesome and the name is good. I got on the bike and did some rolldowns and tried to follow the script by ratz and Cruzbike on learning to ride a Cruzbike. (source). Soon enough I was doing 2 block out and backs turning around in the road and pedalling uphill, coasting downhill. I did this in loafers and after about 40 minutes I had to go inside and switch to cycling shoes. I changed clothes entirely and went back out in cycling kit. The loafers have no support and I needed a firm sole. I started clipping in and riding and it went well. So I did another 20 minutes with the garmin attached. Here are the results of that learning from strava:


After that I rested a bit and Kristin came home. She wanted to go on a ride so we did another 3 miles with more hills.


By the way, the Garmin 520 came with Strava Premium and I am enjoying it immensely. The nice embedding for blogs and social integration is fun and useful.
I will continue to ride my "Vixen" each evening until Sunday when I have a little meetup planned on the Centennial trail. I feel mostly ready for bike trails today so I should be ready for the trail. If I can do 2 miles of hills I can commute, and that is the near term goal.

Stressed and waiting

I am stressed on waiting for my bike. 2 weeks is forever and I keep stressing that something will get broken while it sits in the shop. Replacing the seat or something like that isn't cheap and would piss me off as well as wasting yet more weeks. Kristin and I have been riding locally which prevents me from having to transport bikes. I am doing well with my glucose levels and losing weight steadily but I need to train. I need my bike back.

I can't wait until my lease is up so I can get a pickup. Being able to transport the bikes easily and without danger will be a joy. /sigh.

Random thoughts, planning for 2016 and goals.

I recently got a new bike. A Cruzbike Vendetta, here she is being built up


Here is a picture of her built up by her former owner (picture removed and replaced with one of mine)


I have type 2 diabetes. I am changing my diet and using my cycling habit to get back into shape. My goal is 170 lbs. I currently weigh about 220lbs. Here is a nicely unflattering picture of myself at max weight of 230 or so


So I have had to reprioritize and reasses. My thoughts are:

1. I need to lose weight and get fitter
2. I like to ride and I was at my fittest when training for the STP in 2009.
3. I have lost weight before when training and riding.
4. I do well when I have a long term goal in mind.
5. I like long distance riding.

So this has me contemplating PBP 2019.  Paris Brest Paris is a 1200 km brevet.  It is an older ride than the Tour de France and has a great history.  I will be 50 in 2019.  On the face of it this is a good long term goal and I can work toward it starting now.

So with that in mind what are my short term goals.  They can be broken down into parts.

• Cycle Commuting.  I wish to ride 3 times a week to/from work.  I will work up to 5 days a week.
• Working out.  I will supplement my cycling with in-home workouts.  I will start with push-ups as they are good for upper body and core strength and won't interfere with cycling days.
• Diet.  My goal is 170lbs.  I have already made changes for diabetes but I need to get my weight down to be faster and a better climber.  

My 2016 plans at this point include a few cycling events:

• SIR Winter Training Series 2016 [cost $0] - This traditionally starts with 60km rides in early January and builds to 160km by end of February.  Climbing on each route is at least 2500 ft.  I will need to be working all Fall/Winter to be up for this.
• Chilly Hilly 2016 [cost $28] - 40 miles, 2200ft of climbing in February.  A good incentive to keep fit all winter long.
• Midweek Evening Eastside Training Series  - Cascade training series link
• SIR Spring Brevets [cost $15] - SIR runs a 100k populaire in March.
• SIR Spring Brevets  [cost $15] - SIR runs a 200k Brevet in March.
• SIR Spring Brevet  [cost $15] - SIR runs a 300k Brevet in March/April
• Cascade STP  [cost $150] - The Seattle to Portland event runs in June.  
• RSVP [cost $150] - ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party, which runs in August.

The rough cost for these events should be about ~$400 for the year plus transportation and food.  

Various other 200k permanents or brevets are also possible but I don't want to overbook.  I want to keep my stress level down and build up strength in 2016.  With this in mind I don't want to do any rides longer than 210 miles or so.  I also will work on strength training and hill climbing.  The Vendetta is my hill climbing secret weapon.  It is the lightest bike I have owned and has the best drivetrain and components.  I will endeavour to keep it light and to make myself lighter as the months pass.

If I get fit enough I may start various bike shop rides for training as well.

Mango Sport on the Road

I had taken the Mango Sport off the road for a while. She got hurt by some bollards and it took a while to repair her and I got a bit out of shape in the meantime. I allowed this to bench my mango. In April I was considering selling her but decided against it. Instead I have cleaned her up, got all the electronics working, horn, turn signals, lights, taillight, etc. I took her our for a short ride today, I am still out of shape and moving the Velomobile is harder work than my Raptobike. But I put 5 or so miles in about half of it up hill. The mango is such a great bike and I am happy it is on the road again. Once I get into commuting shape I will be riding her 3-7 days a week. I am super excited.

One of the nice things about the mango is how everyone smiles and waves at you. The energy is very positive and I could use more of that.

Out for a ride

So I tuned up the Raptobike and took her out on a couple of rides. I did about 15 miles on Friday and 18 on Saturday. Of all of my bikes I am most adjusted to the raptobike and so it was a breeze. No discomfort or real stress even though I haven't been riding at all. I am very pleased and am looking forward to the riding season this year.

Cruzbike Silvio

So I am making some changes in my life and want to get back in shape. This means getting a bike I will ride. I won't ride a diamond-frame or any non-recumbent. I gave it a whirl and it is just too hard on my body. The Raptobike aka White Rabbit is a great bike but it has some failings of my own design. I switched to disk brakes and a drum brake rear making it too hard to change any tire. It still has a 20" front wheel which has been difficult during road construction or any obstruction of my cycling route. I am also more fearful since a few people have been killed on my commute route. It also won't fit in any of the cars we own at the Watson house and I like having that backup if something goes wrong on a ride.

The Mango is difficult to work on and repair. I love the bike but unless I learn to be a better bike mechanic I will be selling it to buy a Cruzbike Silvio V30 or possibly a Vendetta V20 (both are approximate seat angles by the way, not versions). The bent online community is conspiring to have me choose the Vendetta and I do prefer a stiff frame but I get ahead of myself. The two Cruzbike models mentioned are both high end bikes that perform well in the road riding world. They have both been involved in record setting mostly by Maria Parker, who is an amazing athlete. They are Front-Wheel Drive Moving Bottom Bracket bikes, aka FWD-MBB. This means that the pedals up front turn with the front end. It apparently takes some getting used to though it has advantages in climbing. Various types of theorists may fight over that claim but anecdotal evidence supports the climbing benefits. I don't think I will have too much of a learning curve and if I just ride the darn thing then I will adjust. The level of comfort I have even now on the Raptobike is very high and I have had some interesting spills on it.

Given that the Vendetta has a lower seat height and other advantages, if I can get it into a Ford Focus Hatchback than I will likely make that my choice. At this point in time. I could change my mind. I also hope to buy a few new accessories with the mango money, lights, camera, gps, bike bags and a hard-shelled bike box for air transit. But that is more long term. At the moment I am cleaning up my bikes, doing the basic maintenance and riding. Lets see how it goes...

Cool car with 2 wheels - the C-1 by Lit Motors

Lit Motors has is coming out with an enclosed motorcycle with all the amenities of a car and an electric power train. It stays stable with built-in gyroscopes and control software that Lit Motors has been working on for 8 years. It does have a "kickstand" for parking. For anyone who has read this blog before it looks very much like some of the recumbent streamliners or velomobiles shown here before. In fact it looks very much like a sketch of 2 wheel velomobile that I have been drawing except that the wheels are unfaired.

The stats are impressive:

• Range: approximately 200 Miles
• Battery pack: 8KWh to 10KWh still working it out
• Top Speed: 120 mph
• 0 to 60: roughly 6 seconds
• Cost: roughly $24,000
• Motors: 40 kW Hub motors in each wheel, that's right an AWD motorcycle

The vehicle shown is a concept bike so there are unfinished details such as headlights, windshield wipers, etc. But production is supposed to start in 2013 with its launch price of $24k and a target price of $16k once it is mass produced. It gets roughly three times the range of the Nissan Leaf with roughly one third the batteries. Depending on how Lit Motors engineers the charge port this means that the range per hour of charge can be very high, up to 100 miles of range per hour of charging with a standard Level 2 charger. If they use the cheaper design it would be 50 miles of range per hour of charging. Either one exceeds the Leaf's charge times of 10 miles of range per hour. I don't believe they have any desire to support Level 3 fast charging at this time.

Space wise it fits driver + 1 where the one is relatively cramped. That same spot is for cargo, and could easily fit groceries, dry cleaning, a hiking backpack, my two small dogs (Casey and Lucy), etc. It is designed for commuting and light errands which most people do alone. It is also designed for safety. It will have airbags and the gyroscopic system is designed to detect impact and maintain stability. This means that if it is T-Boned it will skid to the side and remain upright. There are 1300 ft-lbs of torque available in the flywheels. The C-1 also drives like a car, albeit a car that leans into turns. They produced this nice video which has some interesting imagery as well showing the driver's point of view as she goes through San Francisco.

For me this is a great vehicle for a new college graduate living in an apartment. I assume that charging is something that apartment owners are going to have to deal with. Putting in L2 chargers underneath car ports seems a no-brainer to me. But putting that aside, this would have been great for me when I graduated. I could go to and from work, pick up my groceries, pick up a date, go on hikes, take a trip to Portland, drive out to Vancouver, BC. Heck you could pick up a TV or computer easily enough. Anyone single could use this as their main vehicle without much trouble. It is all weather and the range is great. The standard couple in the US has two cars nowadays. Replacing one car with a c-1 seems to make sense. It can do all the light errands, commuting and even be a date night vehicle.

Personally my wife and I had been considering an EV this year, either the Ford Focus EV or the Nissan Leaf looked like a good second car. But for my usage patterns the C-1 is better. The extra range opens up some solo excursions such as hiking in North Bend and trips to the Human Powered Challenge@PIR (Portland, OR). I could visit friends in Wenatchee and bring a folding bicycle as well. It is over $10,000 cheaper than the Leaf and Focus as well as having lower operating costs. I am strongly considering putting down a reservation at Lit Motors.

Here is a slideshow of pictures I collected of the C-1. Edited to correct specs based on emails from Lit Motors.

Testing and photo

I am testing the mobile blogger app.

What D&D Character am I?

This was fun. Somone posted this and I checked it out. I had some fun with the generator. When I have more time I might try to game it and see what results I can get.

I Am A: Neutral Good Elf Wizard (6th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-14
Dexterity-16
Constitution-13
Intelligence-17
Wisdom-16
Charisma-14

Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.

Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Sandy Earl's new 12/24hr Record

Sandy Earl recently attempted and pending ratification by UMCA broke the 12hr and 24hr cycling records in the female recumbent class. She broke the UMCA upright record as well but I believe it is spared by the category. I was an official and took a number of pictures of the event. Sandy is an amazing rider who has the endurance and determination to put the rest of us to shame. She is also very nice and a joy to work with.

The Officials were lead by David Bradley

As you can see he is a towering figure who made sure we did everything right. I had a great time and was honored to witness such an incredible achievement.

Sandy put together this great video of the event



I would love to work with any of the crew and Sandy again, I had a great time.

Politics are depressing nowadays.

I haven't posted much in the political realm recently. Mostly because I am depressed. The lack of any focus on jobs and recovery coupled with the deficit mania is infuriating. I also have a strong interest in environmental causes. I would love to see an investment in green technology and a carbon tax. Yet most of the news on these fronts is quite bad. I know that there was some progress on health care but I don't understand why I should be happy about moderate republican policies from the '70s instead of progressive policies geared to our current challenges.

I also have no confidence in our leaders to fight against the Republican suicide squad in office and in our media. I fear that riots and anarchy will end up coming to the US if we don't make some changes now.

Crashes and how it is always the cyclists fault

(Photo: Wash. Co. Sheriff)
A crash occurred in Washington County, OR. I used to live in that county. A pickup plowed into three cyclists from the rear on NW West Union Road about 1/2 mile east of the intersection with Jackson Quarry Road. Immediately the blame patrol works to blame the victims. Even with the picture to the right where one of the mountainbikes was embedded in the grill of the truck.

So we have a rear end collision. If it were a motor vehicle crash, the guy hitting from the rear is automatically at fault, but with bicycles it is all about how to blame the victim. Even though the pickup was going too fast for his headlights and driving too fast for conditions (by definition, he hit three cyclists). Everyone is already upset that the cyclists didn't have lights. Now sure, they probably should have, but they aren't required to and there is evidence that it wouldn't have made a difference. Because the driver hit THREE cyclists, one hard enough to embed the bike into the grill of his vehicle.

I understand why cyclists would want to review the situation to address what they could do better. But in no way should that have impact on who is at fault. The law is clear, cyclists are required to have rear reflectors. The bikes had those reflectors and studies have shown that reflectors are often better than lights in the cases where auto lights are very bright and wash out rear lights of the bike. With many cars running super bright LEDs now, it is important to have some reflectors facing backward. Reflectors are brighter under bright lights.

In the end the motorist outran his headlights or was not paying attention. Given the impact evident in the picture I suspect he wasn't paying attention. I am infuriated that the cyclists are in critical condition and paying the price for the motorists error. Additionally I can't abide how everyone wants to blame the cyclists who are the victims and give the motorist the benefit of the doubt. Our legal system posits innocent until proven guilty, but that doesn't mean that our outrage and frustration are required to wait for proof as well.


(source: bikeportland)

Tired but some thoughts on bikes

I am tired today, I have been slammed at work and kept chained to my desk by trying to support remote people via IM. My Mango is currently down while I deal with repairs and so I have been thinking about secondary bikes and fair weather bikes.

When I hurt my Mango (still a painful thought) I cleaned up and got both my Corsa and Raptobike road worthy again. The Raptobike process was basically filling the tires and adjusting the seat pad. The Corsa had been loaned to Doncl for testing and so I had to adjust the seat, change both tires and tubes. Then I had to get lights, seat bag, and all the accoutrements necessary for riding (water, snacks, keys, tools, pump) all set up.

The raptobike is still my favorite bike ever. It is just an amazing machine and now that I have the mango I am considering modifying my setup to be less commuter/tourer and more light and fast. I was thinking of changing the gearing from Rohloff to 65t big ring, and 9 speed cassette with 11-28. That is 42-108 gear inches, a bit high end but doable for a fast bike. Switch everything back to v-brakes and go as light and strong as I can with the wheels. I would put dacron wheel covers (home made) on the rear wheel too. I would strip off all accessories except the fastback bags. I would leave my tail lights on too (two on rear fork, one on headrest). I could remove the lights for racing. I could use this for sunny organized rides and group rides in the puget sound once I get my fitness back.

I am also considering the raptobike midracer.


Big wheels, fast bike, and it is a travel bike. Wow hard to resist.

Then Arnold at Raptobike also shows us his new prototype, the Raptotrike:




It blows me away that a tiny manufacturer based in the Netherlands has such a variety of amazing products. The raptobike lowracer is awesome and a great price point. I don't even see competition for the raptobike midracer, which is pretty amazing, and then the raptotrike tilting delta, wow. And Arnold wants to do a streamliner kit for the trike too.

Very impressive and I am a very happy customer of Raptobike.

Commuting in the rain

I just want to say, I commuted in the Mango today. It was raining and 40 degrees F. Yet I wore short and a t-shirt without using the foam top. It was a wonderful ride and great fun.

Deficit

It is pretty simple to balance the budget if you want to do it honestly. Cut military spending by withdrawing from Iraq, Afganistan and Libya, cut contractors from the military budget, reduce our military size and let the Bush tax cuts expire.

Now that we had our serious conversation can we stop trying to privatize Medicare and cut Social Security?