I spent a week ago with my parents near the small town of Bladenboro, NC. Actually, the homestead is almost exactly between the aforementioned town and Dublin, NC. Highway 410 runs between the two with long stretches of straight asphalt. Off of this road are many more rural roads winding through swamps, fields, and forests.

That is where I spent a good amount of time on the bike. I’ll tell you, it was pretty great! Other than the brief amounts of time I had to spend on Hwy.410, the traffic was nearly non-existent. Never had very windy days and the roads are just as flat as can be. Perfect conditions for some steady-state training.

It was funny to see the reaction I got out of folks. Riding through town I was enough of an oddity to cause people to stop and follow me with their gaze. Most times on the road as a car would come toward me I would get the obligatory hand wave from the steering wheel. Only rarely did I get a horn — and that was always a friendly (though misguided) “I’m coming up behind you” beep.

The most fun I had were those days where my training called for me ride for a couple of hours at around 200 watts for the duration. All I had to do was point the bike in the right direction, start spinning my legs at a consistent cadence, and let ‘er roll! This also meant that I could do some exploring.

So, even though I had spent 18 years of my life roaming around this area, I had never been to the town of Evergreen, NC. I had seen the signs for it on other rides. This time I made the turn off of Hwy. 410 onto Hwy. 242 and set the town as my goal.

Off I rode through flat corn fields. Then I wound my way downward to a black water creek that ran through swamp land on either side of the road. Back up to the flats and some more corn and soybean fields later, I arrived at the small hamlet of Evergreen.

The town was made up of a four-way stop sign with a convenience store on one corner. Tall water oaks over sandy soil stood in front of the few homes. One road was called “Evergreen School Road” and I assumed the buildings I saw between some trees was said school. It appeared that the school was the primary reason for the town’s existence — that and the traditional structure of the Evergreen Baptist Church.

As I passed through the town I made my way through yet another swamp. The black water lay still beneath the moss laden trees. It was as though I was riding back into time. Then I passed through a canopy of trees to find a new scene.

In front of me were large earth moving machines and a towering bridge that looked as though it would soon be a highway overpass. I had stumbled upon Highway 74. Traffic was heavy and the speeds of the cars passing were a stark contrast to the sleepy existence from which I had just emerged.

I turned to look behind me. All I could see was a tree line with a tunnel made of leaves and pine needles. Looking back toward the construction, I saw a man standing atop the huge mound of dirt created to form an on/off ramp. I could tell he was studying me. What was going through his mind? I’m sure he was wondering what I was doing there.

It was all pretty symbolic to me. The contrast of the seeming simplistic rural existence of my childhood and the bustling, high-speed world of my current life. Still, I had a few more days to enjoy the roads that followed paths first formed in the late 1600s – with not too much changing since then.

I turned around and rode back into the trees.

When I got my Felt AR, I had it set up with the numbers measured from the Giant TCR Advanced. The measurements matched up perfectly. So, I assumed that my body was positioned identically.

Recently, I had the Felt converted to a TT bike. While it was rigged that way, I was riding my Giant more regularly. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something felt different. I also found that my hip was — while still painful — not hurting as much.

When I got my Felt back in its road race configuration, I decided to see about getting a fit. If the bike was set up correctly then I would at least be able to rule that out. If it wasn’t, then that would give me some hope that making some changes to my bike would help me combat this pain.

I called my friend and chiropractor, Dave Mruz at Eastside Chiropractic, and asked him if we could set up a time for him to take a look at me — and my bike. As usual he arranged for me to meet him at a time when he could devote the time needed to give me the full treatment. I was looking forward to learn what he would find.

He was skeptical at first that the problem was the bicycle. He wanted to take a look at me. I explained to him how that I would wake up in the morning with my right hip nearly locked up. I described how when I tried to sleep on my left side my middle back hurt to the point where I couldn’t breathe.

“Come with me,” he replied and led me to an examination table. He ran some range of motion and resistance tests. I could tell I was failing. My right leg simply couldn’t resist the pressure. “You have problems,” he stated.

It was then time for him to go to work. Within 30 minutes, I was felling better. You know how it is that you get used to pain? It becomes the new normal? Then you realize how much pain you had when you get relief from it. Sometimes that happens when you take pain medicine. You find yourself spontaneously chuckling as the relief floods over you.

“Okay, let’s take a look at the bike,” the good doc said. I sensed he still thought that the problem was mostly with me, but he agreed that we needed to remove the bike as a potential cause for my problem. I was really hoping that it was set up incorrectly. I wanted to think that I could pinpoint the root cause of my issues.

After explaining how I had the bike set up originally, we went to the Internet. Dave wanted to see if the geometry of the frames of the Giant and Felt were similar — primarily the seat tube. What we discovered was that the seat angle was different. So, that meant though the distances measured between the various points on the two bikes were the same, my actual position on the Felt was lower than the position on the Giant.

So, we started from scratch and positioned me on the Felt frame based on the angles of my body. That lead us to raise the seat a number of milometers. It felt good on the trainer. Now I just need to see if that translates into improvement on the road.

Dr. Mruz tells me that the change should also help me produce more power. That would be a nice side benefit to the process. Overall, though, I just want to find an end to the pain.

One of the other things I like about my chiropractor is that he is a cyclist. He is always thinking of the physiological aspects of the sport. For instance, before performing a particular procedure that would open my rib cage he had me breath into a lung volume analyzer. I registered a 5200 on the scale. When he was done he had me blow in the tool again. This time I registered 5700.

“Yeah,” I said, “but how long does it last?” He explained that this was something he surmised would happen based on what the procedure is attempting to accomplish — loosen the tension of the ribcage. Less tension there the more the lungs can expand. “I’m still compiling data,” he explained. “I only know that it creates an immediate improvement. I need to do more testing.”

It is that kind of thinking that attracts me to his office. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he is the chiropractor that many pros seek out when then are in town. Not to mention the fact that he is just a really nice guy! Thanks so much, Dr. Mruz.

It is based on a Felt AR frame set. It’s components are 2010 SRAM Red with Boyd carbon 50s. Saturday I took it out on its first real shakedown. I must say I am very happy with the results.

Understand, I really can’t tell that much of a difference from one top-line bike and another. I loved my Giant TCR Advanced, and I can’t say that the make of the bike is really better or worse. However, there is one significant change that does make a difference for me. It is the size.

This frame is much larger that the Giant’s. The way my body is distributed over the geometry of the frame makes me feel so much more stable and comfortable. The smaller Giant was nimble (to say it positively) or twitchy (to say it negatively). This one is just smooooooth.

Of course, I can’t go wrong with my SRAM components. They are the ones I had on the Giant TCR Advanced. I moved the Force set I had on the demon bike to my Giant. It is nice to know I have them broken in and using them is second nature.

So, really the unique thing about this bike is the frame itself. It has a road geometry, but with time trial aerodynamics. Does it really make me faster? I don’t know. However, my plan is to get a time trial cock pit that I can put on there for time trial competitions. I’ll just switch it out.

If you are interested in learning a little more about the creation of this frame, you can take a look at the below video created by Felt. While this is an older model, it does show the genesis of the design and creation. Not much has changed since that original design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8IFLRBsewY

Loaded with the heavier aero wheels, the bike weighs in at just a smidgen over 17 pounds. Of course, the S900 crank with the Quarq CinQo powermeter also adds a few grams to the weight. However, it is still under one pound difference in weight from the smaller Giant frame when it was set up with the same components. The Giant without the powermeter and running climbing wheels comes in under 16 pounds. I think I’ll be using that one for the Paris Mountain Time Trials this year!

It certainly isn’t a traditional look. I don’t think anyone else on the POA Cycling Team is going to be riding this frame in 2011.  Those riding the Felts will be racing the F series frames.

I’m glad I went this route. It is versatile. I think it is great looking. I feel confident on it. I believe I’ll be riding this bike for a long time.

My setup works this way… instead of the two sensors (one for the crank arm to measure rpm and one for the wheel to measure speed), I use a Garmin cadence sensor that allows me to mount the unit in one location on my chain stay for both readings. This helps cut down on the “senor clutter” on the bike. Thankfully, the iBike Aero with the wireless base allows you to install firmware that allows the two devices to communicate.

I am using the wireless base for the iBike unit on my stem. The data collected from the Garmin sensor and the various data collection points on the Aero is then communicated to my Garmin Edge 500 that is mounted on my top tube near the base of my seat post. I could just as well carry it in my back pocket. I don’t plan to look at the Garmin, but I do want to keep my data collection consistent when it comes time to upload the ride information to WKO+. This setup allows me to keep using my Garmin to communicate with my coaching software.

So, what is the problem? The problem is I could not get my iBike to configure correctly. It all had to do with the “tilt” configuration. My understanding is that the iBike uses gravity as one of the important forces from which it calculates the power reading. Obviously, going up and coming down an incline affects the way gravity exerts its laws on you. In simple terms the “tilt” measurement helps calibrate the device’s awareness of gravity.

When setting up the device you are told to place the bike on level ground and mark where the wheels touch the ground. You then start the calibration process. The device screen tells you to HOLD STILL. The printed instructions say to hold VERY still. That capitalized VERY always played with my confidence. It gives you the impression that it is VERY easy to mess up this process.

You then turn the bike 180 degrees making sure that the rear wheel is now place where the front wheel was once. This done you push a button and once again hold VERY still. After another 180 degree turn that puts your bike back in the original position and another few seconds of holding VERY still, you should receive a message on the screen that says, “Good tilt.”

My problem is that it said, “Bad tilt.” I tried and tried again and again. I even set it up so that I could let the bike stand without me touching it. Unless there was some underground tremor I was unaware of that bike was VERY, VERY still. “Bad tilt,” the iBike continued to say.

I then took the iBike and placed it on the USB mount that connects it to my computer. FYI, the iBike only comes on when you connect it to the base. One base is the one used to connect to your computer, the other base is on your bike. Once I got the iBike on the USB base, I went through the process on a flat table. On the first try I got a “Good tilt ” message.

What on earth?! I went back to the bike and raised the spacers and flipped the stem in order to create a flatter angle on which to mount the iBike. Perhaps the device was on too steep of an angle on the bike.

Still no go.

I did notice the screen of the Aero was a little hard to read. Perhaps my problem was a battery issue. I had already replaced the battery in the Garmin cadence sensor because the iBike kept losing the connection with it. I thought for sure I had a new battery in the Aero, but I tried again.

Still no go.

There was only one other battery left. It was the one in the wireless base mount there on my stem. However, I didn’t see how that would be the issue. The iBike has its own battery and the battery in the mount only powered the wireless chip, right?

Anyway, I took another 2032 battery and dropped it into the mount with the + up. I knew something was different right away. The contrast on the Aero screen was greatly improved. Suddenly, I was full of hope!

Set. Hold VERY still. 180. Set. Hold VERY still. 180. Set. Hold VERY still.

GOOD TILT!

What a relief! I had almost come to the point where I thought I had broken one of the sensors inside the Aero when I wrecked back in May. It is a testament to the unit that it survived the hit it took during that race. What a relief that it was just a battery!

So, now I understand that the battery in the iBike mount does more than provide power for the wireless. It also helps to power the iBike unit. If you ever have trouble getting you tilt to work, be sure you replace the batteries in both your iBike unit and stem mount.

Now it is time to go out and do my first calibration ride on the fixed gear. That done, I’ll be able to train with power using both my fixed gear and my road bike (using the Quarq CinQo). Good thing because my training starts tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuTsQY9I1VY

Now, if I can just find time to ride it.

SE Bikes Draft on the streets of Austin

I got the bike a couple years ago. It was an end of the year sale at Sunshine Cycle Shop. I had done some work for the shop and Mike let me roll it out the door for $75. At that time it was a single speed with a free hub. I used the bike to ride to work on nice days when I didn’t have meetings planned in town.

Out of the box, the bike looked just like the one you see in the above photo. I happened across the above bike while walking through Austin. However, I couldn’t just leave it alone! It just didn’t seem to have enough character. The first thing I did was to add a fixed gear to the rear hub so I could flip the wheel if I wanted a “fixie.”

What I really wanted to do was put drop bars on the front and switch out the pedals from the meat grinders that came with the bike to a set of clipless pedals. I quickly discovered that it wouldn’t be that easy. Replacing the bars would mean replacing the brakes. I also learned that the threads on the single piece crank were too small to accept the SpeedPlay pedals I wanted to put on it. So, for a year the bike pretty much hung up in the back of my basement.

Then I busted up the “Demon Bike” and had a bunch of high end spare parts — like a seat, a nice stem and bars. Just for fun, I put the seat on the Draft. I chuckled because I realized that the seat cost twice as much as I paid for the bike! Then I turned my attention to the bars.

Taking the straight bars off was simple enough. Even replacing it with the drop bars was fine. However, I’m not a hipster and the thought of riding that bike without brakes does not appeal to me. First I tried to find a way to mount the original brake levers on the drop bars. I ended up breaking the brakes in the attempt.

So, at Sunshine, I bought some 20 dollar brake levers (I just haven’t gotten into the eBay habit) and stuck them on there. That also lead me to order some more solid brakes. The original brake calipers had huge gaps between the pads and wheels and once I put some skinnier wheels on there it was even worse. The new brakes were more for safety than looks — though they look better as well!

Drop bars with brakes – done. Now it was time to move to the crank. This got complicated real fast. First I tried to just screw in some clipless pedals. The higher end pedals were too large to fit in the standard single piece crank set. So, I decided to have a machine shop widen the existing holes and tap in new threads. After finally getting hold of the proper taps, I had the new threads bored in and I now had clipless pedals!

Clipless pedal on the right with platform pedal on the left

Then I took it for a ride. Hmmmm, this wasn’t going to work. It felt all wrong. First of all the crank worked okay for tooling easily around town or back to work, but actually taking it out at speed showed me 1) the pedals were not entirely straight, 2) the crank arms were not long enough for my comfort, and 3) I didn’t have confidence in the amount of mass left around the threads. I had been told of instances where people had done similar things with their cranks and had them snap.

So, now things were getting more complicated. I went searching online for a way to replace the single piece crank set with a three piece unit. I found one on the site by the late Sheldon Brown. I placed my order and soon received a bottom bracket adapter kit.

FSA single to three piece converter

At that point I busted the budget and sprung for a SRAM Omium track crank. You can see the bottom bracket caps screwed into the adapter in the picture above. Basically, the adapter is made of two caps that go in the hole left in the frame once the sealed single piece crank set is removed. Rods connect the two caps and once tightened create a standard style threaded bottom bracket.

New SRAM crank in the adapter

Then it was just a matter of sliding in the new track crank. Wow! What a difference. The bike was now a joy to ride. The biggest change to get used to was the gearing. The SRAM gear was larger than the original Draft front ring. I was now turning a 48 x 16. It allows me to get more speed, but when I took the 24 pound steel framed bike up Paris Mountain I ended up having to walk a couple times. I was able to climb all the way with the original gearing.

That isn’t a problem. It just gives me something to aim for — climbing Altamont all the way with the 48 x 16. The trade off of having more speed on the flats and not spinning out so quickly on the downhills is well worth it. Besides… doesn’t it look sweet?

SRAM Omnium crank

Taking my SE Draft single speed from this…

SE Bikes Draft - Before

To this…

SE Bikes Draft - After

It has been a blast. I’m not done yet. Wait until you see what I’ve done to prove I’m not a hipster.

That will have to wait until another day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2uFsFs5_Kc

Sorry I didn’t have more time to get some extended video of the bike. It really is a pretty neat contraption. Because it is electric assist and not a motorized bicycle, you can even use it on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. It would make a neat urban ride.

Now, don’t get on it thinking that it is a moped or something like that. It does take some effort to pedal – just not as much as you normally would need. You must keep pressure on the crank in order to engage the motor. If you stop pedaling the motor will disengage. Also if you start rolling faster than 15 mph the motor will stop. You’re on your own at that point!

The Giant Bicycles Twist is intended for the urban commuter who needs a little assist getting up to the top of that hill without breaking out into a sweat. It doesn’t try to take the pedaling out of cycling. I would have no problem riding this thing to work in my suit.

Want to check it out? There is one for you to throw your leg over at Sunshine Cycle Shop. Give it a try. What I want to do it give it a try up Paris Mountain. If I could average 15 mph up Altamont Road…

I’m no Christian Vande Velde, but my broken bones hurt just as much as his do. My responsibilities don’t revolve around the bike and I have no aspirations finishing on the podium in the Tour De France — no one is going to miss me not being on the bike. However, I do have a family to take care of, bills to pay, and a job to do. As I lay there over a week ago looking up at the EMT who was putting my neck in a brace, I just wanted to crawl up into a ball and go away.

Consider this when you take up the bicycle. If you are fortunate, you may go your whole career with only a little road rash for your pain. Some experience the pain multiple times. Others go for years before the tarmac snaps up to bring them down. When it happens know that there is more at stake than your body or the bicycle.

First, there is the bicycle. I don’t think I asked it this time, but I don’t know what I said — and I don’t want to know! However, for the cyclist who has put his own sweat and blood into building up his bike, one of his first concerns after going down is the condition of the bicycle. For me… crushed front wheel, broken top tube, busted front fork, warped chain ring, and maybe some issues with the shifters. The bike is done.

Then there is the body. This one is pretty obvious. When you go down, be blessed to find if all you have is road rash. Probably the most common injury is the broken collar bone. For me it was a broken neck — ok, I say that for effect — a fractured C1 vertebra and fractured skull, fractured left thumb and ring finger, and two broken teeth along with a busted lip.

What you might not consider is time. This kind of goes along with the body. I have used up over a week of my sick time. I have already had the first surgery on my teeth and I have another one coming up on Friday for my thumb. All of this had me out of work for a week and now I’m only allowed to come in half days. Soon the sick days will be gone and I’ll be down to using my vacation days.

There is also the time at home. I can’t do much of anything. Sleep comes in amounts of 2 to 3 hours. I watch the grass getting higher, knowing I can’t do anything about it. The beautiful redhead has to put my socks on for me in the morning among a myriad of other extras that my injuries place on her.

Of course, this all comes to meet you at the wallet. I am SOOOO thankful for the health care provided by my employer. In many cases the hospital expenses are 100%. However, due to the time delays for me seeing certain doctors, I will have to pay 20% for some of the work. The loss of sick days and vacation days is also like losing money. Then there the money in the bike, etc.

These are some of the reasons I am mad at the bike. What makes me hate the bike? It is because my love for riding and desire to be out there competing on one has taken me off of it. Everything that has gone into this wonderful season seems suddenly like vapor. A couple weeks ago I was complaining about having to upgrade to Category 3 and messing up some of my goals for the year.

Now, I just wish I could ride.

I guess in my convoluted mental state I have to say that my love for the bike is what makes me hate it so right now. The thing is, I know I’ll start messing around and have a bike ready to move onto the trainer. It won’t be long before I’ll start spinning. Before the end of the season, I’ll be back out there. Perhaps I will have a different mindset, but I can’t see myself just sitting on the sidelines.

For now, I do feel like curling into a ball and  just make all the hard things that have come from this go away. However, as Christian went on to say, “I had my days when I was down but you just pick yourself up and dust yourself down. There’s no reason crying about it.” So, thank you for allowing me to whine. Now, I’ve got some dusting to do.

While I have not yet ridden a Boyd frame, I have had the opportunity to try some of his wheels. Yesterday presented my chance to get rolling on some of the 50mm carbon clinchers he offers. I still haven’t been disappointed.

My only complaint with this wheel set was the fact that they weren’t mine! Nicole Johnson took them off her bike. That meant I ended up with Team Kenda green tags and hubs on the wheels. I overcame this slight issue by imagining the green was black. Yeah… that’s better!

Seriously though, I wasn’t riding the wheels to see how they looked on the bike. I must admit that they do look pretty sweet and with black hubs and tags they would be perfect. The point of this test was to see what I thought of the handling and ride quality. Ultimately, I would be deciding whether to put my own set on the bike.

I had talked with Boyd about the 38mm wheels. He suggested that I consider the 50′s instead. His reasons were that the 50′s made for the best all-around wheel set. They were not too heavy on the climbs, were not so deep that they became troublesome in the crosswinds, and they were deep enough to give some aerodynamic advantage.

So, that found me heading toward Paris Mountain on a beautiful Greenville day. Why the mountain? My training called for repeats. Maybe not the best test for the wheels, but it is what I had to do. Plus, it would give me an opportunity to test the wheels climbing and descending.

Turns out I had a very good chance to get a feel for the wheels on the CVS side of Altamont Road. There is some climbing, but also some rollers that allow you to get up some speed. Of course, on the backside it is just plain old grunt and grind. I would get the whole picture.

First, there is one thing all the Boyd wheels share: the hubs. I love these things. It is the consistent thread between all the wheels and regardless of which set you are on, you are going to love these hubs. They are as smooth as corn-silk powder on a baby’s bottom.

Second, you have to take a look at the carbon rims. I go with the clinchers because I just don’t see the advantage for a rider at my level getting into the tubular stuff. It might make them a tad heavier, but the aerodynamic properties are the same. Those properties were evident as I rode my test.

The word that comes to mind is “slice.” The wheels really seemed to slice through the wind. Once the mass got spinning, it was as though it was going to run off on you. The feeling was that I was getting more speed with less power. Indeed, I beat my normal time to the top on the CVS side.

Descending was a pleasure. The wheels are stiff and you have a solid feel. Even at descending speeds going into bends, I did not feel any push from the wind cutting across the rims and spokes.

The only thing I did not like was the fact that I must have gotten Nicole’s brake pads on the wrong calipers. The wheels were screeching so badly when I started to stop at the bottom that I was glad I didn’t know the guy getting ready to start his climb. I’m assuming that this issue will go away once the pads contour themselves to the carbon surface.

As for climbing, the weight of the wheel did not set me back so much from my current wheel set of choice (Mavic Ksyrium SLs). While not the optimum wheels for climbing, they do seem to fit that part of their description of being a solid all-around wheel set.

Would I buy a set? Let me take them out again today when I have the opportunity to take in some flatter and faster sections of road, and I’ll let you know. Only, if I do get a set, they won’t be green.

My repaired and newly built up 2009 Giant TCR Advanced

I love the bike. Calfee Design has it looking almost new. The only thing I did not have them do when they repaired my frame and repainted it was not to put the TCR Advanced logo along the front section of the top tube. I’m thinking about replacing it with a LowCadence.com decal.

The ride is smooth but nimble, just like my white TCR Advanced. The bikes are set up so well that when I am on the one, I don’t feel any different than when on the other. I do notice some difference when when it comes to the components. The SRAM Red components on the white bike do have a slight advantage over the SRAM Force components on the black one. However, to be honest, once I stop thinking about it, I don’t notice even that.

Rolling on that bike, especially after the solid finish at Fork Shoals this year, I felt that things have finally come full circle. The memory of the accident is fading. My mind is more focused thinking about the future than remembering the past. My bike is repaired and so is my confidence.

I’m back on black! It’s been too long and I’m glad to be back.