Wedding Rickroll

Haven't posted here in a while, since most of my ride data & info is posted on bikejournal.com, but this one should be placed here, since there really is no ride data. This will be more of a rant. An obscenely irritated rant.

No ride today because I got new wheels. That's the good news. The Alex DA22s have been holding up well, but during the last training ride, they felt "shifty"...probably due to the fact that there's probably at least one spoke broken on the back wheel. Also, it may be due for a truing. So I took the wheelset to McCully Bicycle to have it re-trued, and I picked up a pair of Easton Vista wheels. Attractive, nice, 33mm rim, good weight, and oh so sexy. I also picked up a new pair of Conti Ultra Gatorskin Tyres and new tubes. So far so good. I am happy. And all of this is finished by 2:30pm, meaning that I had a lot of time to mount the tyres and get in a good amount of riding before the sun went down.

Then the bad news. Those Contis are a bitch to mount on the Eastons. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get the second bead to go on. First bead: No problem. Tube inserted: no problem. Half of the second bead: no problem. The last few centimeters of second bead to mount the wheel: PROBLEM. And not just for one wheel. Nooooo. After giving up in frustration working on the rear wheel, I tried the front wheel and met the same fate. All this time, the weather is really nice, the sun is going down...Grrrrrr...I finally gave up around 7pm (FIVE FREAKIN' HOURS LATER), as the sun was almost down and my tummy was growling in urgency. Maybe I could find ideas on the Net. I'm sure others have gone through this same dilemma. So I went over to my parents' house, had dinner with them, and went online to look up answers. Yes, I found posts by others bitching about how difficult Ultra Gatorskins are to mount on Campy/Eastons/Eurus/. But NOT MANY gave tips on how to mount it. One person suggested using soapy water or butter, kind of like how women use it to remove rings that get stuck on their finger. But I'm not too keen on putting soapy water on a new rim and a new tube. One person suggested throwing the tyre in the dryer and cooking it for 10 minutes. The idea is to heat the rubber up so it becomes more malleable and easier to manipulate. It's an admirable thought...but I can see Les furious that I had put a TYRE into the dryer. Another suggested leaving the tyre out in the sun...meaning that I'll have to wait until TOMORROW to mount the tyre. I guess I can wait, but I'm impatient.

So now, I'm stuck with two half-mounted tyres on wheels that are off my bike, sore blistering thumbs, and probably no chance of riding tomorrow if I can't get these damn things on.

The sad part is I really do like these tyres. But if I can't even use them, I guess I'll have to return them...

Ahh, that's my rant for the day. Hopefully I'll get some ride time in tomorrow...

Intense ride yesterday (Feb 6), both as an endurance effort and interval training. Most of the ride was spent at zones 3-4, cadence 90-110, with some interval efforts going to threshold and anaerobic. After a good stretch, started the ride off at the airport Starbucks, along Koapaka St, riding at a cadence of 70-90 to warm up the legs & aerobic system. From there, went onto Nimitz Hwy. When the bike lane started, began an intense interval at sustained zone 5/cadence 90-110 until the fire dept's boathouse near Aloha Twr. From there, recovered in zone 1 until King St. Pedal & cleat problems at Piikoi; difficulty in unclipping. At King St, took it easy for fear of not being able to unclip in time for at reds, and there were a couple. Stopped @ McCully Bike to replace the cleats, which worked. Rode to Manoa, up Univ Ave until Sinclair Library, then checked mail & and had a shot of gel. Rode back along Metcalf St, then intervals @ zone 5+ along Young St between lights (recovery @ zone 1). Down Pensacola, stopped @ Ward Centre for H2O & shot of gel. Backroads of Kakaako until Aloha Twr, then long intervals @ zone 5 along Nimitz until Houghtailing. Backroads thru Kalihi, then onto Kam Hwy. TT'ed along Nimitz underpass, one end to the other, zone 4-5, ave 18mph, with recovery @ zone 1 @ the reds. Nice wind tunnel effect produced nasty headwind both ways. Recovered 2 min after the full effort, then TT'ed the other way. Final efforts were TT's along Lagoon Dr. Going makai, full effort in zone 5+, cranking steady @ 90-100rpm, ave 20mph. Didn't realize how long that street is, but was suffering by the end. Long recovery in the parking lot, zone 1. Then TT'ed back, this time against a bad headwind, zone 5+, 42 chainring, 26 & 27 cog, ave 13mph. Recovered along Koapaka St, stopped to raise seatpost about 2mm, then back to the van.

Had trouble unclipping again, so I checked, and I think the pedal is the problem--especially the right underside pedal. Too much float, even w/ new cleats. Need to look at it again. Maybe it's the way I clip in & out? I've got a day to figure it out, as today (Feb 7) will be a recovery day after three days of intense riding.

Numeric data for this ride can be found at bikejournal.com.

I'm writing this because bikejournal.com has a limit on 2000 characters for the ride description, and it's going to take me forever to edit it down to under that number. Believe me, I tried, and took a good 40 minutes just writing and editing. So instead of continuing to put myself through the suffering (feels like I'm in English class again!!!), I'm just going to post it here, with a link from bikejournal back here. And the date of this ride was Saturday, Feb 4, not Feb 6 as the post says. Although I posted it on Monday morning, the ride actually happened two days ago...hey, it's been busy, with the Super Bowl, work, and all. Anyways, data on the ride can be found here. As for last Saturday's bike ride description...

HBL ride, and first time back on the bike in two weeks! Had a fabulous time! Paced myself well, keeping most of the ride in zones 3 & 4, with some zone 5. Going up Diamond Head wasn't too bad, and going down was pretty fun, but going along Kahala Avenue was pretty hard, as it was against a headwind without any riders to draft off. Most were ahead already, but I ended up latching onto C & G's paceline until the first rest stop. Had to massage my leg at that stop, since it started twitching and cramping; I didn't stretch before the ride, so that was the result. From there, we rode a nice tight paceline along Kal Hwy, with everyone taking 2-3 turns pulling, and rotations happening at every bus stop. It was great being able to conserve energy and ride in someone's draft. By the second stop (and after a shot of gel), we were re-energized and ready to attack Heartbreak Hill. Unfortunately a couple of mechanicals along the way made life complicated; G fell because she misjudged a curb, and I fell because I was coming to a light and couldn't unclip from the pedal. For some reason, my right cleat was having a hard time disengaging, and since that was my usual unclipping foot, it made the ride interesting since I had to unclip with my left foot at stops. Heartbreak Hill was hard; by the end I was in 30t ring & 26t cog just trying to crank away. The descent felt much better. The pace slowed going up to Makapuu. After resting a few, we headed back. Many of the group continued on to Kailua, and while I longed to join them, I had a meeting in the afternoon that I needed to take care of. On the ride back, the group splintered, and so I pretty much rode solo along Kal Hwy with no benefit of a paceline to share the effort. I did reconnect with C & G at Kilauea Ave, but by then G was winded, so we ended up just traveling at a leisurely pace back to the park.

After saying my formal goodbyes to the group (and getting a copy of "Inside the Postal Bus" from C to read), I headed out to Manoa, going along Date St, up University Ave, to UH. Intervalled the ride, pushing up to zone 5 for maybe 5 minutes, then riding recovery for 5-10, and repeating the process. On the ride back, I cut through the MU/bike path at Ala Wai, and then realized why I hated riding those things--too damn bumpy compared to the road. So it was back onto the road until I was at the van at Paki Park.

Got to my appt on time, was a great meeting.

Been updating the bikejournal blog. It's less colorful than this site, and there's not much in the way of graphics, but it serves its purpose. Read about my recovery week here.

First post. Using blogspot as part of my ride journal, with the other half residing at bikejournal.com. BikeJournal will be used to catalog ride data (cadence, speed, etc.), while comments will be placed here. BikeJournal has a 2000 character limit to their comments field, which limits these long writeups, so that's why I set this blog up, to get beyond 2000 character limit. If you're a sucker for a good story and have a fascination for cycling, you will find this blog interesting.

Having said that, here's the first post. (Accompanying ride data can be found here.

Yesterday was the Tour de Cure ride from KCC to Kailua and back. Several major hills, a few minor ones, and lots of happy flat land. Ride started with a downhill from KCC to Kahala Ave, and followed Kahala all the way to the road after Pueo St (forgot the name of the road--it's the long straightaway leading to Kalanianaole Hwy). Kept myself at a nice, relaxed pace for this first part--HR zones 2-3. At Kal Hwy, opened up the pace to zone 3, staying with the peloton for the most part. Around Niu Valley, the group began fracturing, and a breakaway group formed. I stayed with the main group right until the first rest stop at Maunalua Bay. Most kept on riding, but I pulled over. I had ridden the tour route solo last Wednesday, and at that ride I also skipped the first rest stop, but when you face Heartbreak Hill & Makapuu without adequate fuel, you will bonk. And last Wednesday, I bonked. Didn't want to go through that again, so I pulled into the rest stop for 10 minutes, had a gel, ate half a powerbar, drank some water, and steeled myself for the big push up the hills.

Pulling back into the flow of traffic along Kal Hwy and Lunalilo Home Road, I kept myself at a nice tempo, saving my energy for the upcoming hills. Right before the turn to head up Heartbreak, my cadence magnet got out of whack, so I adjusted it quickly.

Heartbreak Hill was not-so-fun painfest, although I consider myself lucky. Many people were dying going up that hill and had to walk their bike up. I stayed on, but I did half to pull into the halfway up street to recover for a few seconds. Was quite anaerobic at that point. Once past the peak of the hill, I coasted down, all the way to Sandy Beach/Kal Hwy.

I caught up to a peloton (led by "Specialized Guy") that had formed going up Makapuu, but the hill wasn't as bad as heartbreak, so I kept the pace at HR3. The peloton quickly passed a woman struggling with the hill. The descent was FAST! The group took the lane, and we all screamed down the mountain. During this time, many of the guys from the fast breakaway group had were on their return rides. Although some of our group kept on riding, most of us pulled into Waiamanalo Beach Park, the second rest stop, for some quick recovery & refueling. Had my second gel and some water. Restroom stop. Rested for 10 minutes, and then back on the road.

I left by myself, hoping to get a little more lead time away from this group and maybe begin catching some of the faster riders. It's very relaxing riding by yourself on a quiet Waiamanalo back road, but it can also be very unnerving. It really is quiet. Kept the pace at a nice tempo/subthreshold, although I think I was churning too big of a gear at one point and was wearing myself out prematurely. Then again, it was mostly flat land along the way. Passed several riders along the way.

Back on Kal Hwy and traveling toward Keolu Drive, the hill leading up to it wasn't as bad as it was last Wednesday, and I managed to get up it without dropping to granny gear. In fact, I even kept it in the big chainring. Turning right onto Keolu Drive, I kept the bike on the big chainring and smallest cog since I was traveling pretty fast at that point. Tempo was kept below threshold or in zone 3. Green lights all the way! The ride through the Kailua suburbs was nice; since it was all flats, I managed to stay in the big ring and keep the pace brisk yet relaxed.

Getting onto Kailua Road (after passing The Bike Shop), I passed some dude on a mountain bike and some dude on a road bike. Kailua Rd wasn't so bad, and I wasn't really out of breath by the time I got to the turnaround at Castle Medical Center.

At the rest stop, had another gel and some water. Then, back on the road. The hill leading to Waiamanalo wasn't that bad at first, but I lost some steam 2/3rds of the way up. The downhill was fast. Making the right turn back onto Kumuhau St, I joined two cyclists, and we took turns setting the pace. On Waikupunaha St, we dropped one of the riders, and from there it was me and this one guy ("White Jacket Guy On A Felt Bike") breaking away and giving chase. Great workout on the flats for me, especially when the guy broke into a sprint and I had to catch up. White Jacket Guy is a better rider than I am, so I spent most of that part at threshold or above.

At Waimanalo Beach Park, he kept on going, and I pulled into the rest stop for water and gel. There was a group of military cyclists there, and they were waiting for a few guys in the group to arrive. Their friends finally did, and they left the rest stop at the same time I did. They quickly attacked Makapuu Hill and disappeared from view. I had a hard time going up this hill last Wednesday, so I took it easy today, taking it at below threshold and staying for the most part in the middle chainring, finally dropping to the granny ring halfway through. But I did catch up to the military group, and finally passed them on the downhill. Going up the backside of Heartbreak wasn't too difficult; I kept chugging at a good cadence but had to pass two riders who were hammering their way through it. Had fun doing the downhill, and back onto Lunalilo Home Rd, where the group I caught up to was hitting some pretty good speed.

At the final "rest stop", the group I was with pulled over for a rest, but I kept going. Had a gel and some water on the bike as I kept going. Got onto Kal Hwy and headed West. Almost home! This is one of my favorite parts of the route because I was able to push the speed to about 25 mph without it really being too challenging. Kept the pace at zone 4, passing a couple of guys on mountain bikes and on a road bike. I was passed by a couple traveling really fast, but they weren't part of the ride and were just riding for fun/training. They were fast and were gone quite quickly. Finally slowed down right around Kalani HS, dropping to zone 3 and blending into traffic. After the left turn, traveled along Kilauea Ave, unfortunately catching all the reds along the way. Made a left at Elapio St, sprinted down to Kahala Ave, and took a right. Almost home! The slight hills leading up to KCC were pretty tiring, although I then I wasn't really trying to push myself. With the finish line in sight, I just wanted to relax. Caught up to one of the faster riders from the military group earlier, and we rode in together.

Popped the bike into the van, had some decent food (the stuff from Tiki's was pretty lame, but the Jamba Juice was great!), and rested for a little while before heading to IT&B to look at gear (which I didn't buy).

Overall, it was a good ride. Great weather, great riders, great times. Can't wait until the next charity ride in January. Hopefully Lesley can join this. We have to start training for that one soon!

This week will be my recovery week. No intervals, no rides in zone 4-7, no long 30 mi endurance rides. Just rest. Won't be able to make the HBL Ride next Saturday, but maybe I can do the Manoa ride on Sunday. We'll see.