Turning over

Not much exciting news this week - I started riding to work again for the year. The first day, as you can see by my previous post, was an eventful one but all the others were turning over the pedals up and over various hills in the area. The only day off the bike was Friday. This last week I put in most rides and hours yet this year. It should be about the average for the rest of the month - all one week of it. Next month the time kicks up a little bit more as we start to be within 10 weeks of the STP.

Saturday Cassie rode a few hours with me. It is always good to spend time with the family on the bike. We get to talk and have a good time. Craig rode on Monday night with me and we will do that again tonight. This will be the third of 7 rides he needs for the cycling merit badge.

On a technical note, I have increased my crank arm length to 177.5. I can tell I am faster on the flats but as I have read, since I am a "masher", I generated a lot more torque and the longer crank arms benefit me. The times on the hills are better as well, but I feel this is due to the 11/23 cassette and not having any where else to go. I just try and stay on top of the gear. I do stand up more often as I am trying to develop the leg strength. I am not having any real issues after going from the 175 to the 177.5. I have read a whole bunch about it and am not, as of yet seeing any of the issues that have been presented - even after almost 500 miles with the long crank arms.

I am starting to get real curious about watts and watts/kg as a target. The problem is that watt meters are too expensive. Anyone with one laying around that they are not using, feel free to send it my way. I'll be sure to use it.

Triple C

Triple C could mean a lot of things - Chilly C Cycling, Cold Chill'in Chris, Canned Corn Cauliflower, and the list goes on. But in this case, it means Corral Creek Craig. We did the second ride together for the cycling merit badge - another ten miles. So I decided it was time to check out Craig's climbing legs. We headed around Wilsonville road and up Corral Creek. On the way to the climb, I told Craig that climbing was in your heart, pointing to my chest. I asked him he understood. His reply is classic, " yeah Dad, you have to have good lungs to climb and be able to breath right." He was absolutely right but it wasn't what I was trying to convey. I laughed a little bit and said something like "you are right, climbing takes all that plus the heart to push through pain and keep going, even when it hurts."

Corral Creek is a 1.75 mile climb that is a steady 5 to 6% grade with a short quarter mile flatter part at the top. It is a good training hill for me and a good place to see how Craig would do. Let me say that he did well. I kept a moderate pace and he stayed right with me all the way to the top. It made a Dad proud.

Next up, a 15 mile ride and I am thinking heading up to Gibb Cementary with him. A little tougher and longer climb.

3 Dog Day

The weather for the most part has been decent the last few days here in Oregon. Enough so that I decided it was time to start riding to work again. So, on Monday, I loaded up the car with clothes and other needed toiletry items and hauled them to work for another season of using alternate transportation. Biking does a few good things for me - I get in my needed time on the bike instead of sitting in the car, when I get home, I get to stay at home, and it is good for the environment.

The first day back to riding to work was a 3 dogger, meaning I was chased by three dogs during my travels. The first was on the way up Haugen road. Of course, it had to be on one of the steep parts (some 13%) that the dog decided to harass me. He was up the road and saw me coming. Immediately the dog jumped to its feet, started barking, and running towards me. This was not a friendly dog my friend. In response, I started yelling at the dog. Usually the deep timbers of my voice is enough to dissuade any dog from coming in my direction. This dog must have been deaf. He was threatening enough that I stop, got off the bike, and picked up a large stick. The dog was probably deaf but not blind. So picture this, on this tree shaded and enclosed, steep street, I stand with my bike between me and the dog, yielding this broad sword of a stick. I am yelling, the dog stopped and barking at me. What to do? I couldn't get back on the bike and take off while holding the stick. This would be like a knight trying to get onto his horse without any help while brandishing his sword. We are at a standstill. I start to walk up the hill and the dog mirrors my movements. He is out of "sword" reach to give him a wack but menacing enough to me to not try and remount. Finally, after a few steps, the appearant dog owner drives out of their driveway and the dog follows, leaving me with my stick and thoughts. I get back on the bike and get to work in record time, even with the few minutes of dog/man face off.

The next dog encounter occurred on the ride home. I had made the Krueger road turn and have started up another hill, moving towards the green house. The dog surprised me. I turned, gave a loud yell. This dog was not deaf. It slowed down a bit, ran a few yards behind me for a few houses, and then disappeared after a few words of encouragement from me.

The final dog showed up in my path on the way up to Gibb cemetary - the final climb of the day for me. The difference with this dog was it saw me, paid me no mind as I passed, and then decided I must be worth some effort so it jumped up and half-heartedly chased me up the hill. One "stop" yell sufficiently threatening was enough to discourage the beast. The remaining miles home were uneventful.

Why all the dogs I asked myselft? Maybe I smelled like a nice piece of steak, maybe the red of the bike is like the red of a bull fighter, maybe it was hot and the dogs were agitated and why always while I was on a hill did they decide to attack. Whatever it was, I was happy to be home and glad I road to work. I have a few more days to ride to work this year - maybe I need to get a can of mace or other dog repellant tool.

Riding in and out

This was a good week on the bike. I spent some time in Tacoma at Milgard's Tacoma plant to help prepare for a Kaizen event that is coming up in May. Since I was going to be there for a few days, I brought my bike and trainer so I could still ride. It is definitely colder up north than it is here in PDX so indoors would be just fine. The neat part of riding indoors is that OB12OLD could hang with me. We sat there a couple nights for a couple hours, watching Master and Commander and some funky 70's music videos. Yes, my pops owns some DVD with funky 70's music videos on them.


Saturday was to be a great day weather wise so I took advantage of it. I headed out early and rode for a little over 2 hours. I then met up with a few of the locals and we headed out for another 2 and a half hours. It was a good day on the bike - it was a good week on the bike. The 85 miles did not feel difficult and I could have easily put in another 30 to 40 miles without too much pain. I feel well ahead of where I was last year at this time. In comparing last year up to this point to this year, last year I had done more rides but for less total miles but for the same total time. This is exactly what I am trying to do - get in longer rides leading up to the STP. If I can keep this up over the next couple of months, the 12 hour STP will be a reality.


It should continue to be decent weather for a couple more days so I will get some more miles in. In about a week, it should be light enough to start riding in to work. I am excited as the miles will then continue to grow, leading up to the big July event.

Only a few more weeks to the start of the large stage races in Europe - the Giro starts on May 9th. I am curious to see who Astana will be sending to the race. I just hope Versus does a decent job to present the race. We will see.

Building

This last week was a busy one in the garage and with bicycles. Last weekend, we worked and organized the garage. We got all the bikes hung up on the wall, gave away not needed or unused items, threw away clutter and trash, put up some peg board, and organized the tools. It really made the garage look better and freed up space to walk through and work in. Here are a few photos of the results. Yeah, we have plenty of bikes.During the week, my dad came down and spent some time with us. I was glad he was here as Craig and I were building Craig's bike. I had almost all the components for a bike so I got a frame, forks, and the other smaller parts needed to complete the bike. A few nights later with some wrench turning, reading, and talking through things, we had a bike. The best part was working with Craig and my dad. I tried real hard not to turn the wrench and let Craig do it. Sometimes it worked and others it didn't but it was a great experience working together to get it done. The maiden voyage was a 10 mile ride through the neighborhood mixed with a little rain. We talked a bit throughout the ride. It was good to be out with my son, doing what I love, sharing some time. Here is the proud rider and his bike.

Here is to looking forward to many long rides and lots of fun on the bike. Next up for Craig is to tackle the cycling merit badge and the 160 miles worth of riding to get it done.

Time

This was a good week of riding for me plus the days are getting longer and the weather has been cooperating. All told, over 8 hours on the bike and about 140 miles of work. Saturday was the first longer ride with the new components. I didn't push any big hills, just ran the rollers and a few moderate climbs. With the slightly longer crank arms, my legs are still getting used to it but on the flats I am faster. It must be the gear combinations. On the hills I did ride, I didn't see much difference yet. I think I will as my body gets used to the changes made to the bike as I ride more hills.

I organized the garage this weekend and got all the bikes hung on the wall and organized my tools and made a work bench space. It looks much better. All the Kaizen at work is paying off. I will be adding one more bike to the wall as Craig and I will be building his bike this week. I look forward to the time building it with him. As an added bonus, OB12OLD will be along for the fun. My goal is to get Craig to build as much as possible - give him the wrench and guidance but he does the bulk of the work, at least that is the plan. We'll see how it works out. At the very least, it will be good times for three dudes hanging in the garage.

I just wanted to send a note of Congrats to Stijn DeVolder on winning the Tour of Flanders. My wall paper on my work desktop is of him on the cobles at last year's edition in route to the win. There is something about the grimace on his face, the tension in his legs, and the fans in close proximity that I love about the picture. I've posted it here to share.