I just found this article about bicycle helmet safety on the Guardian newspaper website.
It basically says that using a bicycle helmet reduces the chance of a serious head injury by 70%. If you wondered why RUSA makes us wear helmets, now you know.
Those idiots riding with helmets dangling from their handlebars make me so mad! I just want to push them off their bikes and shout "Now you see why you should wear your helmet!". Probably shouldn't do that though.
Fact is, by the time your brain has degraded to the point where you think "I don't need to wear a helmet", there isn't much left for the helmet to save.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Sunday, September 18, 2016
2016 Night Audax
Yesterday I hosted the PCH Randos Night Audax 200k brevet from Huntington Beach to San Bernardino and back. As always it was a very interesting ride.
We started as a group of 18 riders (the largest group yet) but Willie rode off the front in his Velomobile and the rest of us held 18-20 mph with a strong tailwind to an impromptu bio-break at mile eight.
Darkness fell as we continued inland with a lessening tailwind. The SART was quieter than usual so we formed a double paceline all the way to Green River Road and climbed up and over the 91 freeway to a new regroup point at the sparkling new 76 gas station (thanks Stacey).
Fifteen minutes later we were rolling again through Norco and to the upper SART, regrouping as we pushed our bikes under the gate. It was chilly as we headed towards San Bernardino with the temperature dropping below 60F. We stopped again at Martha McLean park for RR and H2O. Why do they lock the restrooms, don't they know we're going to go anyway? The trail was open for the weekend but very rough for the next three miles.
The ride was timed for the full moon which rose magnificently over the low hills ahead of us as we cruised the last ten miles to San Bernardino and the only control at the In-n-Out burger.
As promised I paid for the food for everyone who got there with the main group, which was everyone except Willie. I fed 17 hungry cyclists for $130 - what an amazing deal. There was a lot of activity at the In-n-Out burger because there were a lot of students celebrating homecoming and they looked amazing. There was also an impromptu car show in the parking lot next door which got broken up by the police while we were eating. All very entertaining.
We left the In-n-Out about 12:15am and headed back out the way we came with no headwind this year.
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| At the start of the ride |
We started as a group of 18 riders (the largest group yet) but Willie rode off the front in his Velomobile and the rest of us held 18-20 mph with a strong tailwind to an impromptu bio-break at mile eight.
 |
| North bound on the SART |
Darkness fell as we continued inland with a lessening tailwind. The SART was quieter than usual so we formed a double paceline all the way to Green River Road and climbed up and over the 91 freeway to a new regroup point at the sparkling new 76 gas station (thanks Stacey).
 |
| New 76 gas station |
Fifteen minutes later we were rolling again through Norco and to the upper SART, regrouping as we pushed our bikes under the gate. It was chilly as we headed towards San Bernardino with the temperature dropping below 60F. We stopped again at Martha McLean park for RR and H2O. Why do they lock the restrooms, don't they know we're going to go anyway? The trail was open for the weekend but very rough for the next three miles.
The ride was timed for the full moon which rose magnificently over the low hills ahead of us as we cruised the last ten miles to San Bernardino and the only control at the In-n-Out burger.
As promised I paid for the food for everyone who got there with the main group, which was everyone except Willie. I fed 17 hungry cyclists for $130 - what an amazing deal. There was a lot of activity at the In-n-Out burger because there were a lot of students celebrating homecoming and they looked amazing. There was also an impromptu car show in the parking lot next door which got broken up by the police while we were eating. All very entertaining.
We left the In-n-Out about 12:15am and headed back out the way we came with no headwind this year.
All the energy from the food seemed to hit our muscles because we were cruising between 16-18 mph on the way back. We owned the bike path and streets all the way to the Arco in Corona which seemed like a good place to drink a Red Bull even though I wasn't at all sleepy.
As we approached the climb back over the 91 freeway we had our only mechanical - Joseph had a broken rear derailleur cable. David Nakai went back to help the rider and I waited for them both. The rest of the group went on but when they realized we weren't with them they spontaneously stopped and waited for us. We actually picked up a strengthening tailwind around here which kicked up our speed even further.
About three miles from the end of the ride we saw a cyclist ahead of us riding flat out and wobbling from side to side of the trail with the effort. It took us a good mile to catch him and when we did we saw he was wearing a hockey mask. I'm pretty sure he was up to no good.
Fourteen of us got to the end at 4:40 with the last three arriving five minutes later (David and Mel stayed back with Joseph), Willie had left his paperwork under my wipers. We had a 7:55 hour ride time so we spent about 1:45 off the bike.
So a tight group, great weather, helpful winds, no flats, unexpected entertainment, and a psycho on a bike. Always interesting.
Thanks to Wei and Bobby for the photographs. If anyone else has any they would like to share with me, please email them.
Checkout Brent's photo collection from the ride here.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
New bike case
Amber and I rode the Anaheim - Oceanside 125k permanent on Sunday. Lovely weather. I rode my Trek 520 touring bike with rack, panniers, mudguards, etc. It weighs a lot more than the Serotta and it was really hard work getting it over Santiago Canyon.
Cook's Corner was extra busy when we got there because of the holiday weekend. We decided to skip the 30 minute wait for food and just grabbed some sodas so we could get the receipts. Because we are experienced randonneurs we both had food reserves with us. We split a gas-station danish, a Kind bar, and a large fig newton bar which was plenty to get us to the next control which is 30, mostly downhill, miles later.
Great ride as usual.
I ordered a Trico hard shell case from Amazon for my Crackerswamp randonnee in October and decided I should practice getting my bike in and out. It's quite a bit more involved that I expected.
I took the pedals off and also the wheels. I took the skewers out of the wheels and put them with the pedals in a large ziploc bag. The box comes with dropout protectors which are basically long threaded rods with butterfly nuts on them.
The next problem was the handlebars. I have a fairly large frame so I couldn't just drop the handlebars. They have to come off but they don't go very far because of the brake cables. The aerobars have to come off the handlebars and they can't go very far either because of the computer and light cables. I also have to remove the seat post and saddle after marking it with electrical tape. I can now just about get this all in the case without taking the rear derailleur off.
Now I can lay the middle foam pad on the frame, lay the wheels on that, and put the final foam pad and the top of the case over everything. Now I realize I have the case upside down. Eventually I manage to get the buckles snapped shut without having to turn the case over.
Great - now I have to re-assemble the bicycle. That takes almost as long. I can't imagine what will happen if TSA tries to inspect the case and then put it back together.
Cook's Corner was extra busy when we got there because of the holiday weekend. We decided to skip the 30 minute wait for food and just grabbed some sodas so we could get the receipts. Because we are experienced randonneurs we both had food reserves with us. We split a gas-station danish, a Kind bar, and a large fig newton bar which was plenty to get us to the next control which is 30, mostly downhill, miles later.
Great ride as usual.
I ordered a Trico hard shell case from Amazon for my Crackerswamp randonnee in October and decided I should practice getting my bike in and out. It's quite a bit more involved that I expected.
I took the pedals off and also the wheels. I took the skewers out of the wheels and put them with the pedals in a large ziploc bag. The box comes with dropout protectors which are basically long threaded rods with butterfly nuts on them.
The next problem was the handlebars. I have a fairly large frame so I couldn't just drop the handlebars. They have to come off but they don't go very far because of the brake cables. The aerobars have to come off the handlebars and they can't go very far either because of the computer and light cables. I also have to remove the seat post and saddle after marking it with electrical tape. I can now just about get this all in the case without taking the rear derailleur off.
Now I can lay the middle foam pad on the frame, lay the wheels on that, and put the final foam pad and the top of the case over everything. Now I realize I have the case upside down. Eventually I manage to get the buckles snapped shut without having to turn the case over.
Great - now I have to re-assemble the bicycle. That takes almost as long. I can't imagine what will happen if TSA tries to inspect the case and then put it back together.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Long time no post
Anyone following my on my ridewithgps.com account will have seen some posts of me riding in the ocean off of Alaska.
No I haven't taken up ocean kayaking (maybe next year). I was on a cruise but I could get a GPS signal in the gym so I rode the exercise bike while recording the ship's movement on rwgps. Once the ship had covered the distance I planned on riding I closed the rwgps session and then completed the workout. As the ship was travelling slightly faster than I normally ride this worked out pretty well. The workout in Glacier Bay was spectacular.
I finally got to ride my real bike on Saturday evening with Amber and we did our old standard ride from Anaheim Amtrak station to Beachwood BBQ and back. As usual we had a strong headwind all the way out and a mild tailwind on the way back.
My all-night 200k audax ride is coming up in three weeks and I have nine people signed up already. If the last two years are anything to go by we will have an amazing ride. I'm really looking forward to it.
I have booked my plane ticket for the Crackerswamp and purchased my hard case. It's starting to feel very real.
So Much Fun!
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| Cycling in the ocean |
No I haven't taken up ocean kayaking (maybe next year). I was on a cruise but I could get a GPS signal in the gym so I rode the exercise bike while recording the ship's movement on rwgps. Once the ship had covered the distance I planned on riding I closed the rwgps session and then completed the workout. As the ship was travelling slightly faster than I normally ride this worked out pretty well. The workout in Glacier Bay was spectacular.
 |
| Glacier Bay from the ship's gym |
I finally got to ride my real bike on Saturday evening with Amber and we did our old standard ride from Anaheim Amtrak station to Beachwood BBQ and back. As usual we had a strong headwind all the way out and a mild tailwind on the way back.
My all-night 200k audax ride is coming up in three weeks and I have nine people signed up already. If the last two years are anything to go by we will have an amazing ride. I'm really looking forward to it.
I have booked my plane ticket for the Crackerswamp and purchased my hard case. It's starting to feel very real.
So Much Fun!
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Solo 400k
Yesterday I rode my Four Rivers 200k permanent twice back-to-back. The intent was to see how I did riding a flat, hot 400k because that's like the first day of the Cracker Swamp 1200k in Florida coming up in October. My target was to complete the ride in 20 hours.
I started at 5:30 am. My first problem is that there is nothing open at that time except the McDonalds drive through so I had to get my receipt by driving through and then find somewhere to park. The first half of the ride went well although it got hotter than expected when I got back to the start and it was over 90F. I ate at the Chick-fil-a - Meh.
I was drinking one bottle of Perpetuem with Endurolytes between each control. Seems it fills me up quite well. Didn't have any bonking or cramping issues.
The second 200k was very different. A strong wind set in from the north and I had a headwind for fifty of the first sixty miles of the loop. What was soul-crushing is the knowledge that the wind would die down before I could turn around and make it a tail wind. My time out to the around control at mile 58 was about five hours and I was exhausted holding even that pace.
I turned around and within an hour the wind died down from about 20mph to about 10mph. Still - at least it wasn't a headwind any more. Riding on the Rio Hondo and Los Angeles bike paths at night is a scary process. There were lots of people furtively standing by the bike path and groups of young men walking up it that looked very suspicious to me. One guy shouted angrily at me in Spanish. I have no idea what he said but just kept riding. I would not recommend doing this to anyone.
I finished the ride in 19:54. Very tired but not sore.
I wonder how long it will be before someone is killed while playing Pokemon Go? Perhaps it has already happened. I had a couple of incidents on the beach path with people running across the bike path in front of me while holding their cell phones up in front of them. It's just a matter of time.
I started at 5:30 am. My first problem is that there is nothing open at that time except the McDonalds drive through so I had to get my receipt by driving through and then find somewhere to park. The first half of the ride went well although it got hotter than expected when I got back to the start and it was over 90F. I ate at the Chick-fil-a - Meh.
I was drinking one bottle of Perpetuem with Endurolytes between each control. Seems it fills me up quite well. Didn't have any bonking or cramping issues.
The second 200k was very different. A strong wind set in from the north and I had a headwind for fifty of the first sixty miles of the loop. What was soul-crushing is the knowledge that the wind would die down before I could turn around and make it a tail wind. My time out to the around control at mile 58 was about five hours and I was exhausted holding even that pace.
I turned around and within an hour the wind died down from about 20mph to about 10mph. Still - at least it wasn't a headwind any more. Riding on the Rio Hondo and Los Angeles bike paths at night is a scary process. There were lots of people furtively standing by the bike path and groups of young men walking up it that looked very suspicious to me. One guy shouted angrily at me in Spanish. I have no idea what he said but just kept riding. I would not recommend doing this to anyone.
I finished the ride in 19:54. Very tired but not sore.
I wonder how long it will be before someone is killed while playing Pokemon Go? Perhaps it has already happened. I had a couple of incidents on the beach path with people running across the bike path in front of me while holding their cell phones up in front of them. It's just a matter of time.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Oceanside ride
Amber and I rode my Anaheim to Oceanside 125km permanent again on Sunday. We started at 8am to try to beat the heat but it was pretty warm as we climbed Santiago Canyon. I was treating this ride as a stress buster because work has been pretty bad lately. Just before we started I had noticed a big bald spot on my rear tire that had me worried so I had to keep my speed down on the descents. The last thing anyone needs is a blow-out at 30mph.
I was trying to remember what might have damaged my tire, then Amber reminded me that last time we did this route I did a long skid because a car showed up at intersection at an awkward moment. That was a long time ago!
Anyhow we got to Cooks Corner and had our usual food. They were even slower than usual and we had trouble holding a conversation while we waited because someone was playing the jukebox and you just can't get away from the speakers. I have a brilliant idea - why not add a "Silence" spot on the jukebox. You put your money in and you get three minutes of silence. I would slap $5 into that no problem. Just think - no royalties, no wear and tear - it's three minutes of pure profit. How come no-one has thought of this before?
The rest of the route was pretty normal - headwind to the coast then a tailwind to Oceanside. We picked up a chap who followed us because he was not familiar with the Alisal Creek bike trail. When we got to Laguna Niguel he turned back north on PCH. I hope he remembered the trail because it's a lot of fun.
Next weekend I'm going to do some training for the Crackerswamp ride. I'm going to ride my Four Rivers 200k twice starting at 4am.
I need therapy!
I was trying to remember what might have damaged my tire, then Amber reminded me that last time we did this route I did a long skid because a car showed up at intersection at an awkward moment. That was a long time ago!
Anyhow we got to Cooks Corner and had our usual food. They were even slower than usual and we had trouble holding a conversation while we waited because someone was playing the jukebox and you just can't get away from the speakers. I have a brilliant idea - why not add a "Silence" spot on the jukebox. You put your money in and you get three minutes of silence. I would slap $5 into that no problem. Just think - no royalties, no wear and tear - it's three minutes of pure profit. How come no-one has thought of this before?
The rest of the route was pretty normal - headwind to the coast then a tailwind to Oceanside. We picked up a chap who followed us because he was not familiar with the Alisal Creek bike trail. When we got to Laguna Niguel he turned back north on PCH. I hope he remembered the trail because it's a lot of fun.
Next weekend I'm going to do some training for the Crackerswamp ride. I'm going to ride my Four Rivers 200k twice starting at 4am.
I need therapy!
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Inaugural Four Rivers 200k permanent
I rode my new Four Rivers 200k permanent today. It will be the first loop of my new 200/400/600 Triple Loop brevet next year. It is a fast route that makes very heavy use of bike paths and is very flat. It's an ideal summer permanent because it never gets that far away from the coast.
Today was hot and windy and I rode it solo but I still got my best time on a 200k since two years ago. If I had made better time through the controls and had a couple of riding buddies we could easily have shaved 30 minutes off my 8:46 time.
I can see this becoming very popular.
Today was hot and windy and I rode it solo but I still got my best time on a 200k since two years ago. If I had made better time through the controls and had a couple of riding buddies we could easily have shaved 30 minutes off my 8:46 time.
I can see this becoming very popular.
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