Thanksgiving Ride

We took a road trip to St. George for Thanksgiving. We had a nice dinner and football after we got there. We left Thursday morning thinking we'd miss the traffic. We missed most of it, just not all of it. It still took 7 hours to get there.

After searching for a route to ride and posting on bikeforums.com, I found the Tour of St. George route. It mentions a climb up Snow Canyon. After talking to Gary, Christine's brother, he said it would be a good route to ride. It was a great ride. The scenery was beautiful and the weather crisp. It was 27 miles of hills, about 1500 feet of climbing, all of it in the first 8 miles. There is a difference between sea level and 4,000 feet in altitude. My lungs felt it. After the climb, I got to bomb Snow Canyon Park at 40+ MPH. The road was fairly smooth without any switchbacks. Here are some pictures of the canyon. I went back with the family to show them the area and this is where the pictures are from.

After my ride, Christine and I took the kids and rode the bike trails around St. George. All told, another 16 miles of fun. We only rode on a small portion of them. Next time, we will know where to go and what more we can see by bike. In fact, we even talked about camping in Snow Canyon. There is a ride in St. George in early Spring. Maybe then we will campout a bit and do some more riding.

Final Words: Yes, the Steelers lost today, 27-0 to the Ravens. They are having a bad year. We still are the defending Super Bowl Champions. We are just trying not to be greedy. Another team needs to win it this year. Next year, well, that will be a different story - #6 on the way.

But on another note, BYU came back with no time on the clock and exercised a few demons by beating Utah 33-31 to finish the season 8-0 in conference and 10-2 overall. Nice! Check out this link to a slide show put on by photographers from BYU about the game. It has the call of the game as well. Here is the link - http://photo.byu.edu/markImages/Multimedia/BYUvsUT/.

Basso & Discovery Unite

Just thought to post an article from the Discovery team website.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel has responded to the critics over his decision to sign Italian star Ivan Basso.

Bruyneel's decision to sign the Tour of Italy champion caused a ripple this week in the world of cycling, which is fighting for its credibility after a season marred by doping suspicion.

The Belgian said Saturday he is more than happy to have signed the "world's best rider," who recently emerged unscathed having been one of many riders implicated in a doping investigation in Spain which erupted in May.

"I don't see how anyone can stop me from hiring the best rider in the world. I am very happy with my decision," Bruyneel said Saturday in an interview with the Belgian press.

"Once all the charges against Ivan were dropped (...) we consulted four specialist lawyers to really look into all the rules, and the (ProTour) Code of Conduct," added Bruyneel.

"They all came to the same conclusion: legally-speaking nothing can stop us from signing a contract with Basso."

Basso was one of around 58 top riders implicated in a Spanish doping investigation, dubbed 'Operation Puerto', ending his hopes of competing in the Tour de France. However the likelihood of sanctions hitting those implicated in the affair now appears slim. The presiding judge of the investigation ruled that evidence could not be used for sanctions, and most of those implicated have finally returned to racing.

Illegal substances and bags of blood were among the evidence discovered during Operation Puerto, however up until now Basso had refused to submit a DNA sample which could prove his innocence. Basso and Discovery finally agreed on Friday that the Italian would provide a DNA sample if required by the Spanish authorities.

Bruyneel added: "There has never been a DNA issue. Ivan agreed through his lawyer even before we signed to give a sample.

"He just wanted to make sure that the guarantees provided by the law would be respected."
However Bruyneel has refused to sign a far-reaching Code of Conduct that has been drawn up by cycling's elite league, the Pro Tour, in conjunction with the teams. In its search for credibility, Bruyneel said the code's far-reaching demands have "gone too far."

"In its search for credibility cycling is going too far," he said.

"I've got doubts on certain points (in the code of ethics). We believe that even an athlete is
innocent until proven guilty."

Bruyneel added: "A French prosecutor announced an investigation of Lance Armstrong in January 2005.

"Just this month, 22 months later, he announced that he was dropping the case. Under the Code of Conduct, would we have had to sideline Lance from the 2005 Tour?"

Can you say TdF victory for Discovery in 2007?

Bowling anyone?

With their victory over New Mexico, BYU secured the Mountain West Conference championship out right and an invitation to play in the Las Vegas Bowl. All that is needed now to put the cherry on top of the season is a victory over arch rival and nemisis, Utah, this Saturday. Since we will be in St. George this weekend for Thanksgiving, we will be able to watch the emotionally charged affair. So, for all y'all haters out there, Y'all betta recognize!!

Anyone seen Yoda out on the road?

Just to help all remember what he looked like, ready to ride. Here is an early photo:

Nice postal jersey. "Let's ride" was his motto.

This just in - Hot off the press. A Yoda sighting - he was last seen doing some IT support from home right after the birth of Cole Jr. Let's go to the photo:

Wow! A closet Steelers fan as well. Yoda, get back on the bike, cut that hair, and stay away from the cookie jar.

By the way, a great ride today - the bike is nice. 45 miles of hills, flats, and the beach. I continue to be amazed of how good the bike feels. I am liking the compact crank every time I ride the bike. It makes you stay out of the really low gears (because they aren't there) and get up the hills quickly. I like the stiffness. All goes to getting up the hill, not bouncing or flexing the frame.

The New Ride

After several years on the Trek, the hooptie was put to the trainer for a new ride - a Specialized Tarmac with a compact crank set (50/36) with a 12-27 rear cassette, carbon frame, carbon forks, carbon seat post, carbon crank arms, Look Keo pedals, and race seat. I picked it up yesterday at the bike shop. Last night was like Christmas eve for me, waiting to get on the bike and take it for a spin.

I got on it this morning and took it for a two hour spin. I learned some things today about the differences between carbon and aluminum frames. Here are the big hitters:
1) Carbon frames are much stiffer
2) Carbon frames are more responsive
3) There's less road noise and vibration
4) Better transfer of pedaling to forward momentum
5) A few pounds do make a difference

Also, the compact crank, a double, offered some distinct gearing. I was able to stay in the big ring most of the time due to the wider range of gearing. I was able to use all of the gears in both rings without the rubbing or "cross chaining" of a triple. This was nice as well. I had some fear about not having the right gears, especially for climbing. With the ride today, that all went away. I had plenty on both ends, the upper and the lower. I really liked the FSA compact crankset. For OB12OLD, it is the two piece crank with external bearings.

Another difference I noted was in the forks. On the Trek, there is a "sticking" point that helps to hold the forks in a specific place and aids in riding straight and steady. The Specialized did not have this. I believe because of this not being on the Specialized, I could ride easily without hands. I am a bit out of practice but I rode for a good ways at the end without touching the handle bars. I can remember as a boy being able to ride easily without hands, steering by shifting my weight around. I guess lack of practice and age brings some need to refigure out balance.

A note about pedals: I bought some Look Keo Classic pedals for the bike. I had heard good things about Look pedals so I thought to try them out. I like them a lot better than my Shimano pedals. They are easier to get into than the Shimano and I have less float. I have learned one thing about Look pedals that answer a question that Yoda had. There are there color cleats for Look pedals: red, grey, and black. Each color has a degree of float built into the pedal - red is 9 degrees, grey is 4.5 degrees, and black is fixed. So if you don't like the float, buy a different cleat. I got this information right off the instruction sheet. Hey, ya learn something new everyday.

The bike bottom line: I rode a route that I rode two weeks ago. I finished in a faster time and 0.6 MPH faster even with a flat (flat time removed except for slowing, finding a spot, and getting warmed up again) and going back to pick up a water bottle. I did not push real hard. I was more interested in getting a feel of the bike. When I was done, I just said, "wow, that's neat."

Maybe now I can understand Lance's quote a bit better. The quote is "It's not about the bike." Well, if you have always ridden a $10K plus bike, sure it is not. I can see the difference now. Granted, life is not about a bike. There are more important things and that is what I interpret Lance referring to but in the realm of cycling, the bike or tool being used is of vital importance. If I went out and rode the same route with some "ganas", I bet I could improve my average speed by even more. We will see how it all turns out as I get back on the bike to prep for another year of riding. This year looks a little like this: Solvang, Conejo, STP, HHH, and Coyote. There are two other that I am considering as well: Death Vally and Channel Islands. We'll see how it goes this upcoming year - where we are and what we are doing.

Here are some pictures of the bike. It has some nice lines on it. The rear stays are flared, the top tube rectangular, the down tube is shaped to fit the rear tire. I will have to get used to getting my water bottle off the down tube cage. It is a tight fit with a 24 oz bottle. It will work though. Just a thanks to Craig for helping me take the pics.

BYU's Back

Tonight, BYU walloped conference opponent Wyoming 55-7 to go 8-2 on the season, 5-0 in conference with only 2 games left in the season. With a win next week over New Mexico, BYU will take the conference championship out right. Also, the Cougars jumped into the AP top 25 at number 25 this week. They had been absent for several years. Although a win next week will be huge, a bigger and better win for all of us alumni would be to destroy Utah the last week of the season and make up for several years of pain.

All right, let's all Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out (and back!!!).

A few miscellaneous items - Yoda, we still are waiting for the blog to be updated and see some updated pics of young Master Brady. We hope that Sam and Brady have made it home okay and are in good health. Stay posted to the blog, I am to pick up the new bike tomorrow. Smooth.

Yoda's New Padawan

Congratulations to Yoda!

He now has a new padawan. Teach him well the ways of the force, Master Jedi. May the force be with you, especially when changing some aromatic groin coverings and with the late night escapades.

One concept to master: night vision training.

Out.

10/2 Marathon & "7"

Lance ran in the New York City Marathon this weekend and beat his 3 hour goal by 23 seconds. Here is part of the article found at www.espn.com.

"NEW YORK -- His face twisted in pain, Lance Armstrong virtually walked the last couple of steps. He slowed to a halt immediately after the finish line and bent to the ground, his green shirt soaked with sweat.

No one's more familiar with how painful achieving goals can be. Still, not even he saw this coming.

Armstrong barely met his lofty goal of breaking 3 hours in his first marathon, but it came at a price. No Alpine climb on his bicycle had ever been as tough as Sunday's New York City Marathon, he said.

"For the level of condition that I have now, that was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done," said Armstrong, who finished 856th. "I never felt a point where I hit the wall, it was really a gradual progression of fatigue and soreness." Armstrong's time was 2 hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds. Afterward, he shuffled into a post-race news conference, his right shin heavily taped.

"I think I bit off more than I could chew, I thought the marathon would be easier," he said. "[My shins] started to hurt in the second half, especially the right one. I could barely walk up here, because the calves are completely knotted up."

Armstrong's build presented a stark contrast to the elite men's runners who preceded him on the course. The cycling champion's heavily muscled legs and powerful chest set him apart from the slender Kenyans who traditionally dominate the race. Even Armstrong compared the leaders' legs to pencils."

Thanks to Lance for providing us with some idea of how running beats up your body more than cycling. Most of us already knew that and that is one of the reasons why we ride!

Speaking of riding, Jens was down this weekend and we did some riding of our own. We talked a bit late Friday night after we all had converged on our home. They had come up from San Diego and I had flown in from SLC. We decided on a "7" type ride on a scale of 1 to 10 in difficulty. The problem is I decided on a "7" ride based upon a different conditioning time of the year.

We rode out Santa Rosa canyon to Point Magu and then down the coast to Mulholland. This was fun and powerful, flat riding. In fact, this is my HHH training ride route. We were cruising. We were catching folks. This all changed as we turned up Mulholland for the 1300 feet of climbing over the next 7.1 miles. The first two smaller hills were the indicators that this would be a challenging climb, definitely more than the "7" we discussed. Our hearts were pounding and the legs burning. We made it over the top and then hit the three "stingers" of Decker canyon and the wind picked up - the double whammy. I had to pull over for a moment because my heart was racing and my legs felt like a pair of rubber bands having just shot a few thousand spit wads. After taking a quick break, we bombed down Decker Canyon, rode into Westlake Village and found a nice shaded elementary school to meet the SAG. All told, the ride was more like an "8.76" on the difficulty scale over 55 miles of flats, hills, scorching downhills, and good fun. In hindsight, a better "7" would have been the Potrero Canyon ride with a Simi loop. This would have been a much better option. I have to remember that this is spring training time, not the middle of the season. Thanks again to Jens for the sharing of pain with me. Poor some out for the hommies!

After getting done, we hit Chipotle for some burritos and relaxation. It hit the spot, especially when you're starving. We had rode for over 3.5 hours and not eaten much. After the bite, we hit the bike shop in Northridge to check out my next ride - a Specialized Tarmac. I should pick it up next week. Here is a picture of it. It is nice and light weight.

I know I have quoted Lance as "it is not about the bike." But sometimes, to raise your game, you need to take advantage of the technology that is out there. Even Tiger Woods uses the best equipment he can find. He's not stuck on steel drivers, he uses some Nike secret metal alloy to raise his game. It is time to raise my game. I'd just like to send a shout out to the banker, "Yo Pops, thanks!" I'll let you know how it rides next Saturday.

Final note, you know you're having a bad year when the 49ers have a better record than the defending Super Bowl champions. Yoda, stay green. Could you please ask your wife if she has any friends that could help me with my depression. 2-6, I'm die'in over here. Hey, we can go 8-0 and still make the playoffs!

Only 9 months and 20 days to HHH 2007. Peace and I'm outta here.