Posts Tagged ‘Sunshine Cycle Shop’

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Hello, Max Heart Rate

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Today was Tyler Crotts’ last official Hour of Power ride before he heads off to Brevard College for the year.  I don’t think it will be his last Hour of Power for the year though.  I’m sure he’ll be coming back so his elders can help keep him humble.

I was still feeling the effects of Thursday night’s ride.  It was a tough one, and I didn’t sleep that well Thursday or Friday night.  I knew the alarm was about to go off before it rang.  After an inner battle, I finally rolled out so I could be there to kick Tyler’s you-know-what.

The first order of business was to pump up my tires that had been switched a bit.  I had taken my tires from my race wheel set and moved them to my training wheel set.  My regular riders were starting to show threads.  It seemed like a good idea to get some more out of the race tires while getting my race wheels all prepped with new rubber for the SC Road Race Championships.

Wouldn’t you know it… the tube exploded at 100 psi.  I didn’t have time to change the flat.  I just threw my front SL on the bike and headed for the shop.

Pulling up I found a good crowd ready to roll out!  There were several levels of riders represented.  Of course, the ones I noticed first were the number of Greenville Spinners Bicycle Race Team members.  Randy was bringing some reinforcements!

Hmmmm, John James was the only other POA guy there.  It would be just the two of us.  Oh boy, and there was Jeff Cash.  Tony was there as well, but he was riding his cross bike.  The sprints could be interesting today.  I’m sure Tyler would be gunning for one himself.

The first test came at the pee-tree sprint on Meece Bridge Road (click to see the infamous tree).  The Spinners started the train.  Looking ahead, I saw Jeff, Randy, and one other rider breaking away.  John was sitting holding a steady pace and letting them move.  I decided to bridge up so I could recover a bit before fighting it out.

I caught them and moved onto Jeff’s wheel.  He was the one I was watching out for.  The plan was to match his acceleration until we crested the small rise about 300 meters or so from the finish.  Then I would attack from third wheel.

It never happened.  John came flying around and Jeff jumped on his wheel.  I held my pace to let those two guys go for it.  I figured my chances were pretty good with John.  I might as well save myself for the next battle.

It came sooner than I thought it would!  Before I knew it we were pulling onto Grove Meadow Road.  This is the “pace-line road.”  It is a long stretch without stop signs.  We typically end up getting in a single line pace-line and move along at around 22 – 24 mph.

I got on the front first.  I figured I would get my pain out of the way early so I could recover before turning up the quarry road.  It worked like a charm.  As we turned onto Keller Road, I was about 10th and sat in for the next couple of minutes before we hit the bottom of the climb.

John started them up with a nice steady pace.  I stayed in my 53 and just launched a do-or-die attack from behind.  Looking back was not an option.  However, I know now that John picked up a “false” pace as though he was coming after me and others sat on his wheel.  It bought me some more time.

My goal was to stay in this attack mode until I reached the false flat.  I didn’t make it.  I had to shift down and recover about 50 meters from my target.  Later I noticed that my computer had me pegging 197 bpm at that point!

Once I did make it over the hump, I hazarded a glance behind and didn’t see anyone.  I was now moving at around 16 mph and trying to recover a bit.  Then I looked back again to see a lone rider coming up behind me.  It was Jeff.  He was just coming around this corner – this picture is from the vantage point about where I was.

No way was I going to give it up after suffering so much!  I grabbed some more gear and tried to stay over 20 mph. Thankfully, it worked and my go-for-broke attack paid off… but I’d say two matches went up in smoke at once with that one!

It took me until the State Park entrance sprint before I was recovered enough to give it another go.  Right away I messed up because I got separated from John’s lead out because I got caught behind some slower riders.  Things worked out though because the break came to a halt due to a car stopped in the middle of the road.

Seems that these folks stopped to talk to some people standing on the shoulder of the road.  As we came up on them and began to make our way around the stopped vehicle, we noticed that the people on the shoulder of the road were attempting to coax a pot-bellied pig to move out of the ditch.

The pig out of the way, we started ratcheting things up again.  I got on Jeff’s wheel as he was following Tyler.  Web Fitton and Randy Hutchison were also in the mix at that point.  However, as we hit the bottom of the climb… it was Tyler, Jeff, and me.

Then things got dicey – and it had nothing to do with a pig.  Jeff and I had momentum taking us right onto Tyler’s wheel.  I could see Jeff was getting ready to move on Tyler, but I realized I could get the jump on him by pinning him behind Tyler while I moved up the right side.

I made my move, but Tyler must have been aware of Jeff because he moved to the right.  That brought Jeff over to me and for a moment the three of us were bar-to-bar with me tight-rope-riding the white line.  Thankfully, none of us touched and Jeff and I drag raced for the line.

After that, John played spoiler for Art and took Oak Leaf.  On Nature Trail Jeff finished strong by holding off John.  We all rolled into the shop pretty tired, but with lots of stories to tell.

It was such a beautiful day, I decided to put in some extra miles and did an easy spin down Chick Springs to Main Street.  From there I did a couple laps of Cleveland Park and then went home.  A very profitable 45 mile morning.

Speaking of beautiful…  If you get a chance, click on the links I’ve placed in the post.  They are Google Street Views of some of the points on our ride.  Of course, these were taken in the winter, but if you play around with the views, you can get a good idea of the terrain and scenery that we get to enjoy around here.

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What a relief!

Friday, July 10th, 2009

When I left the office and headed home to get ready for the Thursday ride, I was feeling pretty apprehensive and yet excited.  Excited because I was going to get to ride after being off the bike for two days and apprehensive because I wasn’t sure how my shoulder would react to the effort.  The ride would tell the story.

I stopped into Sunshine Cycle Shop to pick up my new helmet before heading out. Steve Baker came in while I was there to interview John James for a story he is putting together for GO Magazine.  I won’t give away his subject, but I’m pretty excited to read it when it comes out.

When I brought my bike up to the group, I was happy to see there were a number of riders there.  It was a good group of regulars.  It was good to see Rob back out.  Anthony was also there.  Speaking of Anthony, turns out he was the Barley’s rider that was telling me to pull through at the last Donaldson Center ride I rode.

We pulled out and I was feeling pretty good.  I had rubbed my shoulder down with some Biofreeze and it felt downright normal.  Word was we were going to go on the Hour of Power route.  That sounded good because there would be less climbing.  Then I heard that we would be tacking Paris Mountain onto the end of it!

The first test of my shoulder would be the Meece Bridge Road sprint.  As we approached the attack zone, John moved over and Anthony moved to the front.  I moved onto his wheel.  It was pretty much he and I as we neared the rise that starts the run in to the finish.  He shifted to gain more speed and I shifted two and jumped.  He let me go.

Then it was time for a little climb.  This would put a different strain on my shoulder as I would climb the quarry road.  I let the group go on ahead.  My plan was just to ride up steady at my own pace.  I had already told John that I wasn’t going to go for it.  He would have to fly the POA banner on this one.

Well, what do you know.  By the time we reached the false flat I was sitting on the wheel of Art who was in the lead at that point.  I just kept tapping out my cadence and moved to the front.  There was no doubt that John was back there and soon he would be coming around to take over.   My plan was just to keep spinning and keep the force in my legs and avoid pulling on the bars. Sure enough, John came around and took the finish.

Now I was toast. To say my legs felt like Jello wouldn’t be a good description.  Do you remember Stretch Armstrong – those dolls that you could stretch for unnatural distances?  Well, that is what my legs felt like – gooey but hard.  It didn’t help that Bob and I got caught at an intersection and had to chase back to the group just before we turned to go up Altamont Road.

Again the rest of the guys started up ahead of me.  I was about 30 seconds behind because I got caught up in some traffic at an intersection.  I figured some of the riders would come back to me, but there were several I knew I wouldn’t see again until the top.  Anthony had gone home, so I knew he wasn’t ahead.

Passing several riders I came up on Bob and Tyler.  I was surprised that I caught Bob just before the halfway point.  However, I couldn’t get past them.  They sped up a bit and I slowed some.  We continued this way for some time.

It was on this climb that the ache in my shoulder became more noticeable.  It was probably because my body was just getting tired.  I was also rocking on the bike a bit more causing me to pull on the bars.  It is a good training mechanism to cause me to focus on using my legs more instead of burning energy in the rest of my body.

This post is getting long enough.  There were lots of other things that I could write about – like the time Bob and I went into an unfamiliar corner way too hot and nearly came to grief together.  There was the race between Tyler and I to see who would be back to the shop first.  There were plenty of little odds and ends that make these rides so much fun.

I just hope that this time McPain will read this before Gunny calls him.

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A tale of two rides

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

I woke up before the alarm went off.  The light of the already rising sun was coming through the window.  Over on the dresser were the various items I would need for my morning ride.  After a bit of psyching myself up, I rolled out of bed to get ready to head out to Sunshine Cycle Shop for the Hour of Power.

Friday’s recovery ride had my body feeling pretty good.  The calf that has been giving trouble still hurt slightly, but not nearly as bad as the morning before.  I figured after getting a bite to eat, I would be ready for some fun sprinting.

As I pulled into the lot, I could see a good number of riders.  A quick glance showed that the normal sprinters weren’t around.  Luis was the only one I could see.  Bob sometimes mixes it up, but there was no John, Tyler, Tony, Peter, or any of those guys.  Hmmmm, this could be interesting.

Then Mike came out and announced that we were going to do the traditional route backward.  I guess there would be no need to have anyone there going for the sprints – we wouldn’t know where to attack.  Suddenly, my morning was taking on a whole different feel.

Turns out it was okay.  It was a pretty good workout.  You think that the route will be easier because there are so many long climbs going the traditional route.  However, what goes up must come down.  The difference is that the backward route has more short “popping” climbs.

The one negative was that our stops to wait for the slower riders were much longer.  It was much harder to get the feeling of a sustained effort.  Most times it was Luis, JWinn, Billy (who joined us after the ride started), and myself building a gap and then waiting.

I’m pretty sure that if we hadn’t had the down times I would have averaged some solid wattage for the entire ride.  What that means is that this route is not easier.  As a matter of fact, my average wattage was 189 watts for the entire ride.  Compare that with 162 watts of one of my recent Hour of Power rides.  The climbing?  This morning we climbed 3038 feet cumulative.  The traditional route takes us over 3020 feet.  This route is looking harder all the time!

Still, it just didn’t seem as fun and it didn’t seem to be as good of a work out.  For most part, though, it was good to mix things up.  I’m sure we’ll be doing it some more in the future.

Once back at the shop I hung out for a bit, but I was feeling like I needed to get a bit more in on my legs.  I mentioned to Bob that I was planning on getting in some more miles and he decided to go with me.  It was a simple ride, but it was a great one.

It wasn’t the route.  It was basically an over and back of Altamont Road.  The one change was that Bob decided to take us on Audubon Road.  Other than that we headed over to Furman to cool down in the shade before heading back up to the top and then returning to the shop.

First, it was fun to hang out with Bob.  It seems like a long time since the old crew had been together on one of these rides.  With just the two of us it was kind of like old times.  We were taking it easy, so there was time to talk.

After cresting the top, I started down at an easy pace.  Bob followed.  The air was cool because of the shade and the wind created as I descended.  Over to the right I could see out toward the mountains in the distance.  The bike shifted easily beneath me as I carved my way through the curves.

It was during this section that I got hit with that thought.  It is a sensation that every cyclist experiences.  It is that almost giddy feeling that comes to your upper chest and pops up on your face as a smile.  I call it the “everything’s right with the world” feeling.  You might want to call it a “Now THIS is why I ride my bike” experience.

Of course, we had to turn around and head back.  As we started up Altamont, I told Bob I wasn’t going to press my lap button to time the climb.  This one was going to go unrecorded.  We discussed what we thought our times might be.  I guessed it could be anywhere between 16 and 18 minutes.

What a difference it makes riding with someone!  The climb seemed to go much faster with someone to talk to and get encouragement from during the hateful sections.  As we neared the top, I saw a lone rider ahead of us.  It was an encouragement to keep my pace up and perhaps we could catch him before the top.

He must have heard us talking because he picked up his pace.  As we neared the wall I said to Bob, “He can have it.”  Then we turned onto that final climb.  I put my head down and just began to pace it up.  When I glanced up, I saw that the rider ahead was much closer now.  Then I went around him.  Whew!  He was suffering!

At the top I glanced at my computer.  Yes, I didn’t use the timer, but I couldn’t help but notice the time of day as we started the climb.  Turns out we covered the two miles in 15 minutes and 30 seconds.  That really wasn’t so bad for not trying.

Right there at the first turn from the top was a dad and his two daughters with a lemonade stand.  The Life’s Little Instruction Book says to always stop and buy lemonade from these young entrepreneurs, so we pulled up and got a couple of cups.  Wow!  That was some great lemonade!

From there is was an easy ride back to Sunshine Cycle Shop.  That second 22 mile ride took as long to complete as the earlier 28 mile one.  We climbed nearly as much, though we didn’t work quite as hard.  If I had to rate the two, I’d have to give the second one the higher score.

Overall it was a good day – and a good week.  I’ve finally started getting in some +100 mile weeks.  Yep, I haven’t had a 200 mile week in ages.  This month has been my biggest month yet for the year with over 450 miles.  In the past, July has always been a good mileage month.  I’m looking forward to it.

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Those Hour of Power rides can be so much fun

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

I had three pretty hard days of riding Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Thursday was a very tough POA Cycling Summer Series crit.  Friday was an unplanned 2+ hour ride that included a 12 minute push up Paris Mountain in 90+ degree heat.  Then I got up early on Saturday to do the Hour of Power.

Probably most riders from Greenville were in Athens for the racing or participating in the Meal for Wheels ride.  However, there were ten of us on hand for the 8 AM ride.  We rolled out for a fun morning.

I won’t spend too much time on all the action.  There were three instances that added a little more fun to the morning.  Let’s get started on Meece Bridge Road.

We were stretching things out a bit on the road.  Bob Rentz was leading the pack as we started the climb to the sprint zone.  I was sitting on his wheel when I saw Ed Buffington come up beside Bob to say something.  Then Bob slowed just a bit, but not too much.

Then Tony Warmuth came by and the sprint was on.  Bob jumped on his wheel and I stayed where I was.  We continued until we neared the traditional spot where someone tries to close the deal.  I decided to get a jump and took off a little early.

I pushed pretty hard and then looked to see if there was anyone on my wheel.  No wheel.  No shadow.  No rider.  I twisted to get a better view.  There was no one there!  I had killed myself and no one reacted to even make it interesting!

I wondered if this meant that the morning would be just a social ride – which is just fine – it is just that normally that isn’t the case.  We always regroup for slower riders, but typically it is all on during the sprint zones.  Socialize during the neutral zones.  Kill each other in the attack zones.

We pulled up to the stop sign to regroup and Tony had to head to work.  Ed left us at that point as well.  I learned that what he had told Bob was to slow because he was breaking up the field.  Well, that broke it up.

Now there were eight of us.  We rode on together talking and recovering from the move.  We were getting closer to the quarry road.  It all started in a pace line.

We neared the turn that would take us to the climb.  Randy Hutchison, John James, Rob Crouch, and I were on the front at this point.  Randy and Rob went ahead while John and I followed at a little slower pace.

I decided to turn this into a team deal.  My plan was to hold a steady pace knowing that we would probably catch Randy and Rob on the start of the climb.  Then when we reached the climb I would lay down a steady hurting while John sat back for the final move.

It was one of the most fun points of the day because it worked to perfection.  I just kept tapping out the cadence.  We passed Randy and Rob and then there were just a couple of riders on my wheel.  I could look under my arm and see the wheel inches from mine.

I picked up the pace some more.  I started to hear labored breathing.  Then I saw John going around me.  I kept my pace.  Still the wheel was there inches away.  John was going up the road.  I had the urge to drop the rider on my wheel and took off after John.

It wasn’t my intention to try to beat him.  I wouldn’t have been able to anyway.  However, he slowed and I did catch up to him as we neared the line.  He reached his hand back to do a track sling, but I didn’t have the strength to get a good hold on his hand.  I crossed the line just behind.

John returned the favor on the Paris Mountain State Park sprint.  We were chasing down Randy who had launched the attack.  John pulled me past him.  Then he pulled off.  I was now on point with a good amount of the sprint left.  I didn’t like that.

I eased my pace just slightly so that hopefully a rider or two would come past me.  Here came John and Randy.  I jumped in behind them as we raced toward the bottom of the dam.  Then when we hit the climb, John attacked.  I followed him up.  I saw him look back and then say, “You’ve got it.”  I left him and churned up the climb.  “Keep going,” I heard John say behind me.  I picked it up a bit and reached the top first.

I’ve been doing Hour of Power for years.  This was the first one since I joined the POA Cycling Team. Back when I first started, I never dreamed that I would be doing stuff like this.  I really never thought I would be racing on the same team as John – who is someone I looked up to as a rider since the beginning.  It was really cool to have those two POA Cycling kits crossing the line on twin Giant TCR Advanced road machines.

Maybe someday we’ll be able to do that when it really counts.  However, the more I think about it, that IS when it really counts.  When you are out riding with friends and having these good natured competitions there is something you don’t get in a structured race.

Oh, I finally met John Davidson who, it turns out, lives about four blocks from me.  We rode back home together from Sunshine Cycle Shop.  Good guy.  I appreciate what he does for the Donaldson Center C ride.

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Time for the POA Cycling Summer Race Series

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Tonight is the first in a series of POA Cycling Team Summer Series races.  It will be my second criterium race in five days.  I hope the old legs will be ready.

Yesterday I was home with a sick child.  It was a stomach virus.  I don’t know about you, but when I am around someone sick like that I start having all kinds of strange feelings.  The day started out with me thinking I was getting the bug as well.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and the beautiful redhead returned in time for me to get out and stretch the legs a bit.  It was a fun easy ride that started at my house.  I headed down East North Street and Pelham Road to The Worthwhile Company offices.  I needed to sign a paper.

From there I started making my way towards Sunshine Cycle Shop.  I had no desire to ride on Pleasantburg Drive, so I cut through the backlots of the strip malls on that section.  That brought me nearly to Pine Knoll.  After a very short section on Pleasantburg, I was able to breathe again.

At Sunshine I had John check out my gears.  On Tuesday night I kept having some chain skip when under load.  I didn’t want that happening when I came out of a corner Thursday night.  After the minor adjustment and some talk, I headed out toward downtown.

I did this by cutting through neighborhood streets that ran parallel to Wade Hampton Blvd. until I reached Main St.  I stayed on Main because I wanted to swing by the new South Main St. location of Liquid Highway.  After finishing off a muffin and starting on a cup of coffee, I headed to Fall River Park.

It was time for a pit stop, so I rode my bike right into the elevator and dropped to the second level of the park where the bridge (and the restroom) is.  I left the Garmin on to see if it would pick up the elevation change.  All done there, I headed across the Liberty Bridge and then to Cleveland Park.

A nice urban ride

A nice urban ride

A lap later I was heading home.  It was nice to cover only about 17 miles in an hour and a half.  You (or at least I do) need to have those times on the bike when you can just look around you and take in the scenery and activities around you.  This ride was good for the body and soul.

Tonight that will change.  The good news is there is no chance of rain, the winds will only be around 5 mph, and the temperature will be in the 70s.  It is going to be a fun night for racing.

My objectives are: 1) keep the rubber side down and 2) get a top ten finish.  Hopefully I learned what not to do during Sunday’s race.  It would be nice if I could start learning what to do this evening.

If you have the evening free, head on out to the old Greenville Braves stadium (Municipal Stadium) and take in some of the action at the POA Cycling Summer Race Series.  I’ll be putting out there during the 6 PM race.  The real racers will take the course after that.

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Two fit Canadians in a Fit

Monday, March 16th, 2009

Saturday I went to pick up my Tarmac from Sunshine Cycle Shop.  While I was there, I met Craig and Greg.  These were two guys from Canada who were camping out at Table Rock and spending the week riding their bikes.  I sure hope the weather improves for them!

I was putting some air in the tires when I heard someone say, “Who has the Honda Fit?”  My heart dropped.  I was just certain that someone had run into the little car in the parking lot.  Mike pointed them to me.

Craig approached me and said that there was something cool I might like to see.  It turns out he had built a platform for holding bikes in the back of his 2007 Fit.  What do you know? I had done the same thing.

We compared notes about the two cars and then went outside into the rain to check out his design.  It was slightly different than mine.  He used a frame made of several pieces of wood while I used a single large board as a platform.  Looking at the bikes in the back (surrounded by loads of gear) the result was the same.

Two bikes and gear in a 2007 Honda Fit

Two bikes and gear in a 2007 Honda Fit

I feel stupid that I didn’t get a picture of the guys to go along with this pic.  It is cool to think that they drove all the way from Canada to spend some time riding their bikes in our lovely hills.  Enjoy it, guys!

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This amputee inspires and innovates on his bike

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

Saturday afternoon I was enjoying my first ride back on the bike since my surgery.  It was raining just a bit.  However, I was so antsy to get back on the road, I just had to get out for an hour or so.  It turned out to be a good and inspiring ride.

I headed down to Cleveland Park just to do some laps.  My finger felt great at first, but by the time I finished it was pretty sore.  The pain seemed to come more from the cold.  My altered gloves I made to help protect the pinkie seemed to work great, so there was no real stress on the finger.

Of course, I couldn’t just ride around.  The first 30 minutes were actually quite hard.  My legs felt awful.  Finally, I just decided to blow out the crud!  So on two laps I launched up the Woodland Circle climb.  I got two 10 second peaks on those laps over 1000 watts.  Shortly after my legs started feeling more supple and I made it home feeling great.

As I was finishing up, I came behind two riders.  One of them was Bryant Young.  Bryant leaves on the other side of my block.  He is a cyclist.  The only thing different is that Bryant wears a prosthesis.

That fact is never anything to hold him back. I could go into the history of what has brought Bryant to this day, but I’ll let you do that at his Web site.  What I was interested in last night was Bryant’s new crank arm.

Crank adapter for prosthesis

Crank adapter for prosthesis

The above photo shows the crank arm that he has been using.  There are certain rules about how long a crank arm can be when you are competing in paralympics, etc.  On the other hand, you don’t want the crank arm to be too long or it throws the leg around hurting balance.  No, the rider gets no assist from the prosthesis.  Go ahead, try pedaling your bike around Cleveland Park with one leg — or climbing Alamont Road! Bryant’s done it.

New crank arm by Ed Johnson

New crank arm by Ed Johnson

Enter Ed Johnson.  Ed is a machinist extraordinaire. Basically, if you can think it, he can make it.  Ed is also a cyclist.  Bryant and Ed met through Sunshine Cycle Shop. In discussions about the limitations of his old crank system, it was decided to have Ed machine Bryant a new crank arm specifically measured to stay within the guidelines and yet give Bryant the best positioning.  As you can see in the above picture, he did a beautiful job!

I followed Bryant for about half a lap before he headed home.  By the way, he was out there riding after having competed that morning in the Greenville Spring Training Series at Fork Shoals.  You should have seen the smile on his face out there in the rain!  You can tell he loves the sport!

Bryant is out there competing with all the other cyclists in the Greenville area. His goal is to move from training with these guys to participating in some disabled sports races.  Knowing Bryant, he’ll be there… along with his new crank arm.

You can read more about Bryant’s adventures at his Web site: bryantyoung.com. We’ll keep an eye on him here at Low Cadence as well. Thanks for the ride, Bryant!

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Two lessons in a cycle shop

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Got me some gift certificates to Sunshine Cycle Shop for my birthday! Beat it for the store as soon as I could break for lunch to see what goodness I could find to help celebrate. I had already gotten one cool and unexpected gift from the shop – more on that later here at LowCadence.com.

While there I was talking with shop owner, Mike McMillan. It was the first time I had been in the shop since getting my big bandage off, so I was showing Mike my stitches. “Oh, but it isn’t the broken finger that is so bad,” I exclaimed. “It is this road rash on my leg!”

I think I might have turned red soon after I said it because sitting near by was pro rider for Highroad-Columbia, Craig Lewis. He was there getting some shoes fitted with the Shimano vacuum-baking-thingie. I suddenly felt very foolish making much of my wounds.

If you know anything about Craig’s history you know he has had more than his share of road rash, broken bones, and more. It is a miracle he is on the bike today! Consider this from a 2008 article on Velonews.com:

Considered one of the top young U.S. prospects, Lewis nearly died when he plowed headfirst into an SUV that had turned onto the course during an 18-mile individual time trial at the 2004 Tour de Georgia.

The impact left Lewis with two punctured lungs and 47 broken bones, and threw his cycling career into jeopardy. Incredibly, Lewis was back on his bike eight weeks later and won the U23 national championship in 2006.

Enough said.

I ended up with a pair of long fingered gloves to replace my ripped ones and a wife-beater underlayer for when the warm weather comes around. The cool thing is I still have some funds to spend! I think I’ll save it for something bigger.

What I didn’t get (though I was VERY tempted) was the Reynolds Assault carbon fiber wheel set. I had the opportunity to get in on the POA Cycling Team purchase at a greatly reduced discount. Unfortunately, it would mean a snap decision and the draining of any discretionary cash. My heart screamed “Yes!” while my head sternly said “NO.” I followed my head — at 41 it is about time I did that.

I learned two lessons today. One about finances and the other about true grit. The first I came to myself and the second I was taught by Craig Lewis without him saying a word.

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I already want my bike back!

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

I woke up a little sore this morning.  Nothing drastic, just enough to notice a little more tenderness in certain regions and stiffness in some of my muscles.  I think I can trace it back to two things: 1) Nintendo Wii and 2) my Specialized Allez with a “new” saddle.

Last week I made the decision to skip the Upstate Winter Bicycle League. It isn’t that the ride had lost its lustre for me.  It was simply a matter that with the race season starting for us next week, I wanted to be well rested going into that weekend after a long winter of riding.

By the way, the final points was extremely close.  Rodney and Yuan were only one half point from each other going into the final ride.  Rodney won the final sprint, but Yuan took second.  Because of the handicaps given in the various categories of riders, this gave Yuan the yellow vest.

Paul Mills easily held onto the green vest, which is awarded to the rider collecting the most points during the various sprint zones during the ride.  I like to think I helped Paul to his victory by helping him pace around Cleveland Park the night before.  Right!  Good job guys!  See you next year.

My plan was to ride with the Sunshine Cycle Shop guys on the Hour of Power.  However, I stayed up too late the night before trying to finish my vlog after a Wii party.  Saturday morning I ended up sleeping past the start time for the ride.  It wasn’t until that afternoon that I got out.

Shortly before lunch I dropped my Specialized Tarmac off at Sunshine to have a tune job done in anticipation of next Saturday.  I told them not to be in a hurry because I planned to ride my “old” Specialized Allez while the Tarmac was in the shop.  However, I would appreciate it if they could give me a used seat to replace the current one I had covered with duct tape.

The ride that afternoon was one of the best I have enjoyed.  After a cloudy rainy start to the day, the sun came out and the temperatures were in the middle to high 60s.  I easily worked my way toward Travelers Rest and headed toward the mountains.

I didn’t make it to the blue elevations before me in the distance, but everything seemed so right with the world, I felt like I could have kept riding to the Rockies!  I had stuck my iPod in my jersey for listening once I got out of town, but it wasn’t needed. This was one of those time when the thoughts in my mind and the sound of the rubber on the asphalt – swish, swish, swish – was the only music I needed.

So, why do I want my bike back?  Well, while the Allez is a very good bike, it just isn’t the Tarmac.  The steering geometry is different and I definitely missed my Specialized Toupe saddle.  My guess is I really need to get a bike fit on the Allez.  Some of the soreness I think can be attributed to that.  What I would like to do is take my old Toupe and put it on the Allez and get a new one for the Tarmac.

I’ll have to wait on that.  John texted me to let me know I was going to have to put on new rubber.  Seems I had all kinds of stuff embedded in the Michelins.  New bar tape to replace my current peeling grips also end up finishing off my budget for the month!

Enjoy the Tour of California.  I won’t be mentioning it much here.  You can find it all over the place elsewhere with coverage from people who are actually there.  I really don’t have much to add.

Thanks for reading LowCadence.com!

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One of my favorite Christmas presents

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

After handing out the presents to the kids today (Thing Three got his first nice bike), my wife and I exchanged gifts.  One of my favorite ones is a painting that she found at an art show featuring sketches and water colors of Greenville area buildings.  Low and behold, one of them was the unique Sunshine Cycle Shop hut.

Sunshine Cycle Shop

Sunshine Cycle Shop

Thanks, Sweetheart!  No, Sunshine guys, you can’t have it!  Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas day.  Merry Christmas from LowCadence.com.

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