New Bike

Well I got the mountain bike.

I bought a Cannondale Carbon Rush 1. This bike was the demo bike that Ken from Bike Lane was riding.

The funny thing is I took my wife in to show her the Rush 6, the Aluminum frame bike I was thinking about getting. We have been riding road bikes which are much lighter, and she picked up the bike and said that it was heavy, then she went down the row and grabbed this bike and said this is the one you need. Who am I to argue with my wife when she says to upgrade to a better bike. Herb was happy to see that and said that they could make us a very good deal on that bike. The MSRP is $6000, but because Ken has ridden it, they sold it at cost.

Now that I have the bike, I am going to try my legs at a mtb bike race in a two weeks. I just registered for the BTU Power Peddle MTB race in Bryan, TX. It should be fun. I will get a chance to see how the bike handles and see what it is like to actually race.

Huntsville Classic Mountain Bike Race

Vanessa and I worked at our first mountain bike race the Huntsville Classic. The race was sponsored by Bike Lane. The first race started at 8:30, but Ken mentioned that things would get crazy, so we planned to arrive at 6:30. When we got there we were the second car in the lot. Ken was up and walking around.

It was still dark, so Vanessa slept in the car. I walked around to see what needed to be done. Ken decided that Vanessa and I could work the first road crossing to stop traffic while the race was going on. At this point on the course we got to see the riders right after the start and again just before the finish.

The race started off with the sport category and we knew a few people riding in that group. The sports did 2 laps around the course, so we got to see everyone 4 times. After most of the sports were done, the expert group started. They did 3 laps and we got to see the riders 6 times. Last for the day were the beginners which only did one lap. This group also had some very young kids racing as well. The last rider finished almost 2.5 hours after their start, which made for a very long, but fun, day for Vanessa and I. We finished up and headed back to the start area about 3:00.

After seeing what mountain bike racing is like. I think I may want to give it a go.

Tried Mountan Biking today

A couple guys from work were going to Huntsville State Park to ride the trails today. Luckily Matt had an extra bike and asked if I would like to join them. What a work out.

We got to the park about 8:00 am. Matt lead us through the route. Stopping every so often to allow me to catch up. The route was challenging for a first time trail rider. There were several places where I had to figure out how to climb a rut which required hopping the font wheel.

The entire trail was about 9.5 miles. We rode it twice. The second time Matt rode like he will for his race in two weeks. Chris also rode hard for the second loop. I just rode at the pace that I felt comfortable. I made sure that I could stay on the route, and tried to not stop or put my foot down unless I had to. I did pretty well, I only had to put my foot down 4 times. Once because I hit the soft sand, once because I turned right when I should have turned left. Another was because I could not get over the tree root that was about a foot off the ground. The last one was because I chose the wrong line and hit a small tree on the side of the route.

What fun. I don't know if I will buy a mountain bike or not, but it was fun.

Rode to Work at FMC

Work installed a bike rack last week. So I decide I would find a day where I was not going anywhere during the day so I could ride to work.

I did a partial commute. I parked at the Champions Forrest shopping center. I rode through the neighborhood to Veterans Memorial down to the neighborhood just past Antoine. I cut through that neighborhood to TC Jester, then ride down to the office. The ride was pretty nice. Great ride home too.

The next goal, try to find a SAFE route from home.

Hotter'n Hell Hundred

Well We just completed Hotter'n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls, TX. What a ride. Vanessa and I arrived in WF early on Friday so we would have plenty of time to check out the expo.

We found a few deals, but the most interesting part was Polar was demoing their new polar CS600 with power. They had a contest and were giving out a free Polar HRM to the person with the highest 2 minute average wattage. They start out with a 3 minute warm-up, then a 2 minute all out effort. I figured that I can do this, it will be interesting to see what my average wattage will be. I watched the guy in front of me give it a go, when he finished he was able to average 354. The previous high before that was 256, which I knew I could beat. I figured that I would fall somewhere between the two riders. I did my warm-up and when we started I had to quickly ramp up my resistance. I ended up getting into the big ring and smallest cog before I topped out. This put my wattage above 400. I reached the point where the only way I could increase the wattage was to increase my cadence. Since I trained around 90 RMPs that is where I topped out. When I finished I held a 2 minute average of 370 watts. Which held up for a couple hours but finally was beat by about 6 people. Most of them were racers even some pro/former pro racers.

Friday evening we met Michael and Chad who I worked with at McLeodUSA. They also brought Michael's neighbor. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. After dinner we met Sheldon and the rest of Team Spoken.

Saturday morning we got up early and went to breakfast at the hotel. As we headed to the start line about 5:00 am, we saw Bill we rode with from team BTX. Bill said Richard was at the start line. Like last year we were able to start first in line. I called Michael and told him where we were. Michael, Chad, Slade, and Marcos was able to join us. Sheldon and crew were a little ways back. The start was delayed a few minute while we waited for the fly over. Once the cannon went off I felt the shock wave before I heard the boom. We were off.

I rode with Michael and Chad to rest stop 3. Traffic was a little busy until we got to rest stop 2, after that it opened up a little. Rest stop 3 was our first stop. There I saw my old boss, Scott, from HP. He headed out a little before we did. Just before Michael, Chad and I left, Sheldon and Rick arrived to the rest stop.

Our next stop was rest stop 5. Once the rest stop was in view, I backed off a little and eased into the break. Again I saw Scott at the stop. When we were ready to go, I rode with Scott for a little bit. Micheal and Chad got ahead of me and I could not catch back up. So I rode by myself to rest stop 7. I saw Scott again at RS 7, but I did not see him once I got through filling up my bottles. So on to the next rest stop.

I was beginning to feel the effects of the heat by this time but it was not too bad yet. I still passed several people, but I was also being passed regularly. When I got to rest stop 8 I saw Sheldon and Rick. I rode with them until just before rest stop 10. We stopped briefly at rest stop 9 also. Between rest stop 9 and 10 I was really feeling the heat. I had to spray my legs down several times.

I stopped briefly at both rest stop 10 and 11. The stretch from Dean back to Wichita Falls was tough due to the wind. I would get passed and jump on a wheel for a while. I did this until I got into town then I just was happy to keep my speed around 15.

I finished with a total ride time of 7 hours and 31 minutes, with an average rolling speed fo 17.5 mph. On the way back to the hotel I stopped off for a short stay in the mist from the fire hose. Boy did that feel good.

We got our room and are ready for next year.

Katy Flatland Century

It started out as a nice, dark, early morning. We got up around 5 to go to the Katy Flatlands bike ride. It was a little warm but it actually like a good day to ride. We left around 5:30 and were about 10 minutes from the ride start when a thunderstorm rolled through.

We got to Katy Mills mall and there were several rides there getting ready in the rain. Since there was lightening I waited until after the lightening was gone before I got ready. The ride started about 7:15 am, which was a 15 min delay. We continued to wait because there was still lightening in the sky. Finally about 7:45 the rain nearly stopped and the lightening was gone. So we started on the ride. We were among the last probably 25 riders to start.

We were about 2-3 miles into the ride when it started raining again. At first it was just a slight sprinkle, but eventually the rain drops got much larger and hurt even though we slowed down. It stopped before we got to the first rest stop. After that point we had partly cloudy skys for the rest of the ride. Vanessa and I rode together until we reached the split for the 60/100 route. She decided that she was going to ride 60, while I was planning to ride the 100. I figure that with my late start I was the last person to begin the 100 mile ride. I did catch one rider who had a flat tire between RS 2 and RS3. I stopped to help and rode with him until RS4.

At RS4 we caught other riders so now I knew I was not the last rider on the course. I continued to make steady progression as the day went along. I felt strong, but I did not feel fast. I got back around to Brookshire and Fulshear as they were getting ready to close the rest stops. I continued to catch anyone in front of me who was in sight. Just as I was pulling into the parking lot after 101.6 miles, it started to rain again. Luckily it was only a short sprinkle. I think I will easily finish Hotter n' Hell this year but I won't set a new personal best record.

Campy Shifter Rebuild

Well my shifter was giving me problems on the ride to College Station
so I decided to try to keep shifting to a minimum. After the ride I
decided to investigate repairing the shifter or replacing it. After
much research, I decided I would try my hand at rebuilding it. I
ordered the parts as was noted on the www.campyonly.com website.

I was out of town the 23rd and 24th, then I had a head cold last
weekend. So I have not been on a bike but 10 miles on the 22nd.
Since I had not been on my bike but once in the last two weeks, I
decided it would be a good time to take my shifter off and give it a
go.

So Sunday evening I took my cables out of the right shifter and took
it off the bike. Gathered the instructions and tools and dove into
the project. Being this was the first time I tried something like
this I did not know completely what to expect. I ended up having to
take my shifter apart about 3 times before it finally went together
correctly. I ended up replacing the index gear and two small "g"
springs.

Being this was the first time to rebuild the shifter, I ordered the
parts from the first place I found them. I have since discovered
another location where I can order the parts much cheaper. All in all
I have spent about $100 to rebuild the shifter. Which is much better
then the $200 it would have cost for a new shifter.