A Good Idea at the Time

I'm the type of guy that once I find something I like, it's kind of hard to convince me that something else is better. That being said, I've owned 3 pairs of biking shoes in my life:

2004 - Sidi Bullets - Basic 3-strap velcro mtb shoe... I rode the crap out of these things, until the velcro died enough to not hold on, and the sole had huge grooves in the bottom from the eggbeater pedals, so that the engagement is quite loose...

2005 - Sidi Dominator 5 Carbon - When I got my first road bike, I went with some higher end shoes since the Sidis had done me no wrong. Fit is great, pretty stiff, and tolerable all day despite the crappy paper insoles they come with. I'm still rocking these to this day.

2007 - Sidi Dragon - The mack daddy mountain shoe... I still rock these as well, by far the most comfortable shoes I've owned... They've been through many miles of heat, cold, rain, snow, and everything in between. The replaceable sole is nearly done, though I've yet to replace them yet. I've lost one of the techno-twisting middle buckles, but they're useless anyways...

So what would make a man change from shoes that work decently well? Reluctance to buy a $100 sole for a 3 yr old pair of shoes? Boredom? Distraction by shiny object? Drawn to B-Dot supremacy?

Take your pick, but I've ended up with not one, but two shiny new pairs of cycling kicks, with the new [new = last year release] Bontrager RXL shoes in road and mountain flavor.

As for fit, for both shoes I had to drop down a half size from my Sidis to get the proper size... and even then, I can only wear them with thinner summer weight socks. Not really a big deal most of the time, but sort of an annoyance. The next size up is too large to wear even with thicker socks. Beyond that, the derby cut works well to really let you adjust out the volume in the front of the shoes to get a snug secure fit, while the toe box is wide enough for comfort. The buckles work well enough, although I sort of miss the half click release option from the sidis for easy adjustment on the bike.

After a couple hundred miles [sadly, many on the trainer], I can say that the RXL road shoes are superb... A+. I've had no issues of numbness or pain, and they are noticeably stiffer than the Sidis. The eSoles insoles make a huge difference, and is easily felt while pedaling. The vents seem to work at pushing air into the shoe, but I've only had one outdoor ride without booties to go by. The heel locks in well, and no sliding around yet. Overall I'm super pleased...

The mountain shoes verdict is still in progress. I've done a cross race and a 2. 5 hour mountain ride with them so far. On the bike, they fit well and are night and day stiffer than the Sidis. Despite the extra roominess compared to the dragons, they don't slide or move around at all either. So far, I'm still debating on the off the bike performance. I have a little heel slide while running/walking, and the super stiffness could be an issue on longer walks... So it's gonna take a while to see where these will fit in, and whether they will hurt me in a longer race where walking is an issue... happens sometimes for a singlespeeder...

But overall I'm pleased with both pairs and can't wait for the weather to stay warm enough to get some more testing in!

I realized it has been some time since I've blogged... I guess with all those epic rides and all the long hours down in sunny Florida logging base miles, theres just not much time left for typing.

If only that were the case...

Instead, I've been working 50 hour weeks and riding the trainer every other day... I hate this damn cold, my appendages refuse to cooperate with me.

So instead I've been finding shiny things to occupy my time, like my christmas present to myself.

I decided to try and add a bit more structure to my training this year, and ended up getting a Powertap SL 2.4 hub from the fine folks up at Saris. My timing was fortuitous, as for 2010, Bontrager wheels were no longer paired spoke, which meant I could actually build the wheel into a nice rim.

I had batted around the idea before of getting some bombproof training wheels in the form of the Bontrager Classics. 32 spokes, durable hubs, puncture resistant tires, etc. But then I started to actually think, and realized that [1] I don't race road, so why do I need "race" and "training" wheels? [2] If I did do a race here or there, wouldn't I want the powertap? and [3] I like shiny things.

So instead I decided to replace my current RXL wheelset [for sale, $475] and just build up a lightweight all around wheelset. Since I like things that match I went with the new 2010 RXL scandium rims, and the DT Swiss Aerolite white spokes, which are flattened to be bladed, but are small enough to fit through a 2.5 mm hub hole without slotting. Rounded it off with the DT prolock nipples. I don't know much about them except being told they are the best, and carry a price tag to match.

After getting it all built up, the final weight for the wheelset was 1720 grams. Not bad at all with a 412 gram hub. This pushed the Madone up to 15.5 lb with the sensors/cages/pedals/everything. I don't think I can complain about that at all.

Sadly I haven't gotten to ride anywhere but the trainer and the boulevard, so I haven't been able to do a solid threshold test and get all my zones set up... But it is interesting to see all the little things like terrain, wind, cadence, etc that have such a huge impact on how much power you're actually outputting. But I think it's going to be a great training tool and I'm really looking forward to this damn cold going away so I can put it to good use!

The puzzle pieces are falling into place... Hmm, Fancy scandium rim, fancier and shiny white spokes, red nipples... Only one thing missing, what could it be?

As I was glancing through Picasa today, I realized I never posted up the last bunch of photos from interbike...

The Man himself... The suit legs are knickers.

Same picture with a flash on... Reflective Stripes!

Levi Leipheimer

Stage 17 Superstar Floyd Landis

Hawley/Storck rock star Andy Hale

My blogging seems to have fallen off a cliff lately... Just go with the usual excuse of busy or work or being tired or family or exhaustion or friends or riding. Choose your favorite.

Since my last posts, I've been up to a little bit of everything. Some racing, some spectating, fun rides, night rides, work, home improvements, animal rescuing, etc...

I ran the Ocho 8 Hour Race back on October 17th, which went really well. Not a huge turnout, but everything went smoothly and everybody seemed to have a great time. I think having beer and pizza makes everybody forget they rode for 8 hours on a wet and super windy day with a high of 45 degrees... Some new races are in store for next year, more details on that later.

I threw in some long training rides to get back in the lap race mentality before the local Haw Ridge 12 Hour race, but that ended up being a bust. We had downpours the three days before the race, and all morning before the race and as it started.

As people were looking like this after one lap [although, Phillipe doesn't seem to mind], I decided that paying money for the privilege of completely destroying every moving part on my bike and getting to buy a new drivetrain didn't sound so fun. That and riding 12 hours in that muck... No thanks.

To make up for it, Elizabeth, Ed, and I headed west to the Lock 4 6 Hour Challenge in Gallatin TN. I had heard of Lock 4, but never ridden there. I guessed that the SS with a 32x18 would be good since it was relatively flat. We couldn't have asked for better weather, as it was bone dry, and nearly 70 degrees... In the middle of November! The race went pretty well, and I started well. Having never ridden the course, a few rocky sections and dropoffs caught me off guard, but after a couple laps,I had it down. I rode decently, but was playing catchup all day. I managed to slot into 2nd with a lap or two left and held it to the end... SS was the tough class of the day, with SSers taking 3 of the top 5 overall solo spots.

The course was tons of fun, fairly flat, but with enough rocks, jumps, and techy sections to keep it interesting. It was really really twisty, requiring you to constantly accelerate. I think a 19 would have been a bit nicer gear since you had to spin it back up every 30 seconds... Overall a good fun day, 3 podiums for the car, and the longest day ever... We got up at 5:30 am, and made it home at 11:30 pm...

EDIT: I've just realized that today is LiveStrong day, so I guess this is kind of appropriate... who knew...

Even though he wasn't at the show, there was more than enough Lance randomness to warrant an entire post.

Sram had Lance's Leadville bike on display. Pretty sweet paintjob, nice and low key with the black and white. Shiny XX of course. Elizabeth and I bought our tickets to go see the Leadville movie on October 22nd, should be fun.

Sram also had Lance's TT bike from the Tour down Under. Pretty neat up close with how the numbers fade/dissolve from the grey to black in places.

Sram has also officially released all the posters they were making for Lance's return to cycling. I snagged the Giro one a month or so ago, they are pretty nice. They are kind of on the largish size [24x36]. I've been told I can get one more of them, as the house is not a cycling shrine... I'm thinking the Leadville one is quite cool.

If you want one, all you have to do is buy a Sram road or cyclocross bike, and then go here and follow the directions... Free!

Giro had all the Lance helmets on display as well. Hard to tell in the pictures, but they were kind of scratched up like they had been wrecked/ridden.

Some of you may know that I am a bit of a Sram fan. What can I say, it's just better... You do what you want though :)

But I did snap a few shots of some neat things they had at the show.

Colored Sram/Truvativ xo goodies. 5 Colors to match up your ride, and crank brothers even made matching eggbeater SL and candy SL pedals!

The XX is quite incredible. The front shifting feels phenomenal, and it is crazy light. The cassette is especially cool, as it is milled out of a single chunk of steel like the red cassette. The weight of the 9 cog PC-990 [xo cassette] is 300 grams for an 11-34. The XX cassette weight 200 grams, with 10 cogs in an 11-36. Pretty impressive. Overall, I want it... I don't really want to pay for it, and don't ride gears enough to justify it... But it is the real deal. Lizard not included in group price.

I also filmed the internals of a Red Doubletap shifter. Pretty slick how the rachets slide around/over/under oneanother to shift one way or the other.

Other cool things were road brake levers only [For singlespeed, bar end shifters, whatever] in both alloy and carbon. The r2c [return to center] tt shifters were neat as well, and also came in a Zipp flavor that had a larger, nicer shape to them. They also had a great after party. Woo, beer!

Interbike coverage might as well start with some pretty pictures of cool bikes. First up, there were tons of shiny pro bikes on display:

Alberto Contador's Paris Madone 6 Series

Mark Cavendish's Scott Addict

Thor Hushovds Cervelo S2

[Still using Dura-Ace 7800]

Fabian Cancellara's Specialized Tarmac

I really didn't take alot of pictures of just stock bikes from random vendors, but snapped a few pics of things that were neat/cool/different.

Cool name for a track bike...

And I saved the best for last. The Trek District Carbon. This guy is basically a 5 Series Madone with a singlespeed belt drive, and some slick pivoting dropouts. I was super excited to see one of these in person since I didn't go to Trek World. Looks like the sweetest singlespeed commuter ever. Although at $3360 retail, this might not replace my $500 Soho S anytime soon... That and the whole impracticality of carrying anything on it. But who cares, it's a carbon bike with a belt drive!

Elizabeth and I headed west this past week to the city of sin to take in the behemoth that is Interbike. Having never been to Interbike, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. As for Vegas itself, well, it's Vegas... We stayed in the Imperial Palace. Great location, but the rooms look like they haven't been changed since the 60s... At least we didn't spend much time there.

The show ended up being lots of fun. Really great to see people from across the country that you normally don't see. Also great to check out all the cool new bike stuff. It's kind of disappointing in a way though, as everything you see at the show was on the internet weeks ago. The USA Crit and CrossVegas made for fun spectating as well.

But rather than throw tons of random pictures at you, I'm going to do 3 or 4 Interbike posts with groups of pictures and whatsuch...

Two weekends ago I headed down to the Ocoee Whitewater Center for the Black Bear Rampage. I have to admit I was excited, as the trails at Tanasi are one of my favorites. I had also done this race the past two years and enjoyed it. New for this year was a lengthening of the course for Pros and Experts from 40 miles to 60 miles. With probably 58 miles of the course being singletrack, you get more singletrack here than most every NUE hundred miler.

With a less than 2 hour drive, I headed down the morning of. Nutrition for the race looked to be interesting, as there were no SAG drops. Forgetting to check my stock of gels/bloks was a bad move, as I only had a ½ pack of Clif Bloks, and one Clif Shot. Luckily I was well stocked with Infinit, and decided to carry 2 bottles of Infinit, and then carry plastic bags with servings of Infinit so I could just refill with water and dump the powder in.

I have a history of not drinking enough at this race, as the first year I did it on 2 bottles, and died during the last singletrack section. Last year, I made it comfortably on 3 bottles for the 40 miles, but also had someone to hand me the bottles.

I ended up racing the pro/open class, and they started us off with all the experts as well. [That's right, I raced with gears...{insert gasp of shock}]The 3 mile road climb was not that great, and I entered the singletrack 15 seconds or so off of the front group of 8 or so. I rode with Shane Schreihart through all of brush creek and old copper road until we got almost to the whitewater center. We turned to climb up the singletrack, and my legs immediately hated me... I had nothing.

I suffered up to the top of thunder rock, made it down, and had some more less than awesome times going up the fireroad and singletrack climbs aftewards. I stated to feel better on the rolling sections, and finally felt good as I started the second loop of the Whitewater center section. Unfortunately, it was way to late to be “racing.”

I enjoyed the rest of the ride though, and finished up in 4:4Xish, for a nice DFL in the Pro/Open... Although, I guess I can console myself that regional stud Andy Applegate was only one place ahead of me... Maybe we had the same day.

But I can't complain at all about getting to ride 60 miles of rockin singletrack on a perfect Sunday afternoon...