That is truly the way my summer is going with respect to cycling. Last week was good...74 miles over four days, but more importantly my cycling legs are coming back. Another good thing about last week was that our spell of hot and humid weather was finally broken and that can make a world of difference to someone like myself desperately trying to get into riding shape at mid-season. Unfortunately, my history of nagging injuries leaves me no choice but to gradually build up my miles...otherwise I risk ignoring painful lessons from the past!
My weekly stats are up-to date in the side-bar on the right, including my weight. :)
Thanks to all those who left words of encouragement on my last couple of posts...it helps, it really does.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
My goal last week was 72 miles. I accomplished goose eggs.
You don't want to hear the excuses...trust me.
You don't want to hear the excuses...trust me.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
A Pathetic Factoid
I worked yesterday...came home late (25 minute delay on train)...and still went out for a 21 mile ride. Woo hoo!! My first after work ride in over 10 months.
I am sure this is my shortest post ever. :-)
I am sure this is my shortest post ever. :-)
Monday, July 12, 2010
5 Out of 9
Over the last 9 days I managed to ride on 5 days, but the thing about the last 9 days is that I was on vacation. Can I maintain a routine riding schedule heading into this first week back from work? That's the question on my mind...the one that will be answered over the next couple of weeks. Obviously I failed to accomplish that during the Spring riding season...so what will I do differently this time? Riding in the early morning will be key I believe...yet that is my biggest hurdle to overcome as I'm simply not a morning person. Can anyone help me with tips for rising early (other than go to bed early...I know that one!)? I'm all ears.
BTW, on the right side bar with my weekly stats, ??? = afraid to step on scale! But I will one of these days.
BTW, on the right side bar with my weekly stats, ??? = afraid to step on scale! But I will one of these days.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
He Rides Again...Slowly!
Yup, you read that correctly. I rode my bike this weekend...slowly, but twice!
Saturday I got in 16.5 miles @ 14.2 mph...Sunday I rode 20.9 @ 13.8 mph. Boy was it hot.
It's a fresh start. We'll see what I can do with it.
Saturday I got in 16.5 miles @ 14.2 mph...Sunday I rode 20.9 @ 13.8 mph. Boy was it hot.
It's a fresh start. We'll see what I can do with it.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Status
If I have any followers left, this is just a note to let you know I'm still alive and kicking. I'm not even sure how I got off-track with my riding, but I did...work/family/stuff (life!) got in the way yet again. I know I'm not the only one who suffers from this affliction...if only a day was longer.
Hope to ride this weekend and get back to blogging.
Hope to ride this weekend and get back to blogging.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
RoadID Giveaway
Run on over to KC's blog (140 Point 6 Miles). She's running a contest to win a RoadID bracelet. I've been meaning to order one so figured I'd enter the contest. If I don't win one I'll surely order one...and when I get it I'll post about it here!
Road ID gathered its group of brand ambassadors (Levi Leipheimer, Bob Roll, Dean Karnazes, Craig Alexander, Liz Hatch and Scott Nydam) to talk about their individual sports, the inherent dangers of each, and the roll that Road ID plays in being safe.
Here's the video:
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Speedplay Pedals
I may have only mentioned it a couple of times if at all here on the blog, but I'm a huge fan of Speedplay pedals. I credit them with saving my knees and allowing me to continue to ride big miles (relative I know, but at least for me).
Bike Noob recently posted a nice piece on Speedplays (Speedplay Pedals - Are They For You) in response to friendly recommendations he received when he was dealing with severe knee pain. Given my view on Speedplay pedals, I left a lengthy comment on his post as a result of reading through the comments and seeing what I thought were a few misconceptions floating around concerning these pedals. I am going to re-post my comments here.
I’ve weighed in before on Speedplay pedals but have no interest in converting others to switch…if you like the pedals you have I’d say stick with them. That being said, Speedplays work for me and I have what I like to call the perfect storm of bad knee conditions: ITB friction syndrome (proper stretching is the key to helping with this one), damage from previously misaligned cleats, a touch of arthritis, and mild chondromalacia (severe if I don’t get my base miles in on the small chainring). I was at my wits end about 10 years ago when the chronic pain became impossible to manage and the only solution outside of possible surgery was to stop riding. Enter Speedplays and result – my knee problems are mostly history. Sure I still deal with aches and pains, but the key is they are now very manageable. So yes, Speedplays work for me and I like to tell others all about them. :-)
With that in mind, there still seems to be a lot of misconceptions concerning Speedplays and I see them right here in the comments. A few need to be addressed:
1. Platform size and stability: the Speedplay platform is about the same size or larger than most other pedals…seriously! The key here is the unique design of the pedal system where the “platform” is designed into the cleat portion of the system. So if you’re looking at the lollipop-shaped pedals and asking how that can be stable, your logic is correct but you’re only considering one part of the pedal system…in this case, the wrong one. I find them to be quite stable and have never experienced the rocking sensation mentioned in Noob’s post (mine are old X/3s…now X/5s…so maybe that’s why). I’m in the market for a new pair…if those have the rocking sensation at least I know there is a solution.
2. Stack height: folks seem to be equating stack height with cornering clearance. It has nothing to do with cornering clearance. Stack height is the distance between the center of the spindle and the top of the cleat, and dictates the amount of distance between the bottom of your foot and the pedal’s spindle. Stack height affects pedaling efficiency, not cornering. Apparently, one can pedal more efficiently the closer their foot is to the spindle…meaning less stack height is better. Speedplays have relatively little stack height. The superior cornering clearance comes from the narrow profile of the pedal compared with others.
3. Additional maintenance: I’ve done nothing, and I mean nothing, to my Speedplays except one exchange of cleats over a 10 year period and they continue to work fine. I admit, I don’t walk around in them a lot. If I planned to, I would buy the cleat covers. Some of my riding buddies have also mentioned additional maintenance as a reason to shy away from Speedplays, but I just don’t find that to be a compelling reason given my experience with them.
4. Dual-sided entry: no misconceptions on this feature, just surprised that no one mentioned it as a benefit. No fumbling around with the pedal to get it on the right side to engage the cleat…just place your foot on the pedal, push and you’re locked in. Very simple in and out.
For those of you not familiar with the Bike Noob blog, I urge you to check it out. He always posts on interesting aspects of the cycling world with well written pieces and always soliciting the views of others. As a result, the comments are also well worth reading. Plus he utilizes a couple of guest bloggers who write about their cycling experiences to keep things even more topical and interesting. Keep up the good work Ray.
Bike Noob recently posted a nice piece on Speedplays (Speedplay Pedals - Are They For You) in response to friendly recommendations he received when he was dealing with severe knee pain. Given my view on Speedplay pedals, I left a lengthy comment on his post as a result of reading through the comments and seeing what I thought were a few misconceptions floating around concerning these pedals. I am going to re-post my comments here.
I’ve weighed in before on Speedplay pedals but have no interest in converting others to switch…if you like the pedals you have I’d say stick with them. That being said, Speedplays work for me and I have what I like to call the perfect storm of bad knee conditions: ITB friction syndrome (proper stretching is the key to helping with this one), damage from previously misaligned cleats, a touch of arthritis, and mild chondromalacia (severe if I don’t get my base miles in on the small chainring). I was at my wits end about 10 years ago when the chronic pain became impossible to manage and the only solution outside of possible surgery was to stop riding. Enter Speedplays and result – my knee problems are mostly history. Sure I still deal with aches and pains, but the key is they are now very manageable. So yes, Speedplays work for me and I like to tell others all about them. :-)
With that in mind, there still seems to be a lot of misconceptions concerning Speedplays and I see them right here in the comments. A few need to be addressed:
1. Platform size and stability: the Speedplay platform is about the same size or larger than most other pedals…seriously! The key here is the unique design of the pedal system where the “platform” is designed into the cleat portion of the system. So if you’re looking at the lollipop-shaped pedals and asking how that can be stable, your logic is correct but you’re only considering one part of the pedal system…in this case, the wrong one. I find them to be quite stable and have never experienced the rocking sensation mentioned in Noob’s post (mine are old X/3s…now X/5s…so maybe that’s why). I’m in the market for a new pair…if those have the rocking sensation at least I know there is a solution.
2. Stack height: folks seem to be equating stack height with cornering clearance. It has nothing to do with cornering clearance. Stack height is the distance between the center of the spindle and the top of the cleat, and dictates the amount of distance between the bottom of your foot and the pedal’s spindle. Stack height affects pedaling efficiency, not cornering. Apparently, one can pedal more efficiently the closer their foot is to the spindle…meaning less stack height is better. Speedplays have relatively little stack height. The superior cornering clearance comes from the narrow profile of the pedal compared with others.
3. Additional maintenance: I’ve done nothing, and I mean nothing, to my Speedplays except one exchange of cleats over a 10 year period and they continue to work fine. I admit, I don’t walk around in them a lot. If I planned to, I would buy the cleat covers. Some of my riding buddies have also mentioned additional maintenance as a reason to shy away from Speedplays, but I just don’t find that to be a compelling reason given my experience with them.
4. Dual-sided entry: no misconceptions on this feature, just surprised that no one mentioned it as a benefit. No fumbling around with the pedal to get it on the right side to engage the cleat…just place your foot on the pedal, push and you’re locked in. Very simple in and out.
For those of you not familiar with the Bike Noob blog, I urge you to check it out. He always posts on interesting aspects of the cycling world with well written pieces and always soliciting the views of others. As a result, the comments are also well worth reading. Plus he utilizes a couple of guest bloggers who write about their cycling experiences to keep things even more topical and interesting. Keep up the good work Ray.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Sunrise...Sunset, Sunrise...Sunset
Here are some cool geeky sun charts I just found at: http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/providence-rhode-island.html
The chart below shows sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times for the whole year for Providence, RI. Start of dawn and end of dusk times are based on the definition of "civil twilight".
The next chart is a sun path diagram, which is a visualization of the sun's path through the sky. This path is formed by plotting azimuth (left-right) and elevation (up-down) angles of the sun in a given day to a diagram.
To find out the position azimuth = 60, elevation = 30, for example, imagine standing at the center of the diagram heading to the true north. To find the azimuth angle 60, you must turn 60 degrees to the right. Now the altitude angle 30 can be located by raising your head 30 degrees from the horizon.
It can be seen from the orange line on the diagram (Sun's path today, 3/18/10) that the sun rises from the East (azimuth = 90) in Providence at 06:52. Sunset happens at 18:56 when the sun is in the West (azimuth = 270). The elevation angle is approximately 48 degrees at noon.
Saturday, 3/20 is the Vernal Equinox...better known as the first day of Spring. So what is an equinox? Funny you should ask.
Far from being an arbitrary indicator of the changing seasons, March 20 is significant for astronomical reasons. On March 20, 2010, at precisely 1:32 P.M. EDT , the Sun will cross directly over the Earth's equator. This moment is known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Translated literally, equinox means "equal night." Because the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes.
And that is your moment of GEEK, brought to you by TOTW!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
