Got back on the bike yesterday after the storm. It has been some 2 weeks since my last ride, and it felt great to be turning my peddles again. A bit windy on the way out, and it was a cold wind, but it was great coming in. Mostly tried to spin free and easy, not pushing big gears today. My legs felt great afterward. Was awesome to be out there again. Going to ride again today, I hope.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
No Power, No internet, but...
I just keep rolling on. Since the early winter storm took down trees all over CT, there is no hope of getting power back anytime soon. So here I sit at McD's ordering coffee and recharging all my Internet connected devices. I love wifi enable restaurants with power. McD's might not be the healthiest place to eat, but it sure does things right for us internet junkies. Here I sit with my PC Laptop plugged in charging from 5%, now at 20%, my iPad connect to it via USB charging at 50% with my iPhone 4S on the other USB port at 35%, and my MacBook charging from 0% after coding all night last night on XCODE, (my new learning initiative). Soon I will be all charged up on all my devices ready to venture into another night without power.
The snow is quickly melting so the depression of early termination of my cycling may yet be halted. I haven't riding in a week and a 1/2, so soon I will have to hit the trainer. For now I am content to rest. I did get quite a workout in today clearing big branches from the driveway and the yard, and shoveling snow.
We went out once to find gas in Rocky Hill or Wethersfield, without luck, so I sent my son Ben to find it, anywhere. We found gas, in of all places, Hartford, about a 1/2 mile from my house...Nice! I knew since the gas station had power, that there must be power at McD's nearby. I headed to Ron's place fort wit.
I plan to finish editing my video on Windows Live Movie Maker, then do some downloading of movies to my iPad. Then start up my MacBook with newly acquire Lion, and begin my project with XCode again creating an iPhone/iPad App.
So here I sit waiting for the devices to charge...
The snow is quickly melting so the depression of early termination of my cycling may yet be halted. I haven't riding in a week and a 1/2, so soon I will have to hit the trainer. For now I am content to rest. I did get quite a workout in today clearing big branches from the driveway and the yard, and shoveling snow.
We went out once to find gas in Rocky Hill or Wethersfield, without luck, so I sent my son Ben to find it, anywhere. We found gas, in of all places, Hartford, about a 1/2 mile from my house...Nice! I knew since the gas station had power, that there must be power at McD's nearby. I headed to Ron's place fort wit.
I plan to finish editing my video on Windows Live Movie Maker, then do some downloading of movies to my iPad. Then start up my MacBook with newly acquire Lion, and begin my project with XCode again creating an iPhone/iPad App.
So here I sit waiting for the devices to charge...
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Made it---2000+ Miles
Well as of Sunday, I made my goal of 2000 road miles this year. Although I still have a few more to ride outdoors this season it feels good to have accomplished at least a bit of something, and here is the proof!
Well time to made a new goal...Just keep them wheels turnin' I guess.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
63.6 Miles to go to 2,000....
Checking Garmin Connect today I found that I had only 63.6 miles to reach 2,000. That is just miles on the road this year. If I including indoor cycling I would have more than 2500 this year. That is about 500 less than last year. This might be due to poor weather conditions, and my stint in the Hospital in June which laid me up for about 2 weeks all totaled.
Although I am not satisfied with doing less than last year, I am happy that I am finally getting back into form after a terrible spring. Last spring not only came late, but brought raining conditions and lots of pollen. I suffered greatly from some kind of setback that caused asthma like conditions. This in turn caused me to seek medical advice, which then landed me in the hospital for all kind of cardiac testing. This turned up nothing, but helped me feel more confident to work harder during subsequent workouts. Now I am feeling strong, and ready to ride, except that the season is winding down. No matter, I enjoy winter indoor training, and with a new year bring new hopes of speed and adventure...
Although I am not satisfied with doing less than last year, I am happy that I am finally getting back into form after a terrible spring. Last spring not only came late, but brought raining conditions and lots of pollen. I suffered greatly from some kind of setback that caused asthma like conditions. This in turn caused me to seek medical advice, which then landed me in the hospital for all kind of cardiac testing. This turned up nothing, but helped me feel more confident to work harder during subsequent workouts. Now I am feeling strong, and ready to ride, except that the season is winding down. No matter, I enjoy winter indoor training, and with a new year bring new hopes of speed and adventure...
Saturday, October 8, 2011
New saddle - the Romin Evo
The Specialized Romin Evo - "The Perfect Saddle" Improved...
Since I found the Romin for my R5, I wanted to change the saddle on my Tomasso. I went to Berlin cycle to see if they had the new Romin Evo that Scott had suggested when I was looking earlier. The nose of the Evo is a bit narrower and dipped downward. I decided to get the chromoly version that has a gel pad that adds weight. This I felt was a good idea for winter training, and the added weight on the Tommaso is not an issue.
Yesterday was the first ride on the Evo, and I was extremely impressed. The Evo's cutout continues to re eave pressure on vital area of the anatomy, while the dipped nose provides room for others. The raised rear gives support when extra power from the hamstrings and backsides are required.
The end result is added speed and comfort providing me with a personal best speed over a common course in complete comfort The perfect saddle improved!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Yesterday was the first ride on the Evo, and I was extremely impressed. The Evo's cutout continues to re eave pressure on vital area of the anatomy, while the dipped nose provides room for others. The raised rear gives support when extra power from the hamstrings and backsides are required.
The end result is added speed and comfort providing me with a personal best speed over a common course in complete comfort The perfect saddle improved!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Saddle Height Goes Up
Since I put the Romin saddle on my R5, I have felt that my saddle height was to low. So when my rear brake that wad out being fixed came back, I asked Dan to check it against my fit chart, and it was 7mm too low. Today was the first ride after the change and I felt like I had more power on the hills, providing me a better average speed.
When I first noticed the discrepancy, Dave, Scott, and Dan said that the saddle height from my Fi'zik Aliante and the Romin were the same. Lesson learned, always check saddle to peddle length when changing saddles.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
When I first noticed the discrepancy, Dave, Scott, and Dan said that the saddle height from my Fi'zik Aliante and the Romin were the same. Lesson learned, always check saddle to peddle length when changing saddles.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, August 29, 2011
"The quest for the perfect saddle" continues...
The perfect saddle - continued...
Being here without power and Internet, I thought I would continue my ramblings regarding the quest for a perfect saddle. here using my IPad to dribble down a rough idea of the current state of affairs.
Thursday I returned the Selle SMP Saddle to Central Wheel with some trepedations, as although I did not feel 100% comfortable on it, I did have added power, (More on this later). I then went to Berlin Cycle to find out that my Specialized Romin was not in yet, and that it would arrive on Friday. As it was raining I did not mind that much.
Friday came and it was a beautiful day for a ride, but I had to work. After work I again went to Berlin Cycle to find that my Romin was in. Not the SL model that I ordered, but the new 2012 version they called the PRO. The Pro has carbon rails that are 8mm thick, and would not fit on most seat posts. Scott asked me what seat post I had, and told him the Thompson Masterpiece. The Thompson clamps from the top so there was no problem. I then stopped off at Cycling Concepts to pick up my headbands that I had ordered the day before, and we weighted the saddle. The SL was quoted at 209 grams, but the Pro turned out to be only 162 grams...NICE! The only downside to all of this is that the carbon rails might not hold my large frame...but it gave me a lighter bike by some 100 grams...Ya baby Ya!
I took the saddle home and put it on my bike at my fit coordinates. The saddle is curved both in the rear and in the nose, so it is tough to get it just right. It was now nearly 5:30pm. I decided to ride toward CC, and adjust it there. On the ride to CC, the saddle felt good, no hotspots or pain emerging anywhere. It felt remarkably like the aliante from Fi'zik. The difference was that I could feel that my sit bones definitely were supporting my body on the bike. The Romin has very little padding, but I did not feel any discomfort.
When I got to CC, Dave leveled the saddle a bit, placing the nose downward a bit. I measured the SMP at 3in from rail to where your sit bones rest. Although I have not yet checked the Romin, my quess is that it is somewhat lower. Maybe if was fatigue from being a Friday after work, but I could definitely notice less power on the bike that with the SMP, so some tweeking is in order. I road back down route 3 to do a hill or two to see if the saddle caught upon returning from standing effort, but it nicely has a slightly downward turned nose that does not catch. On the ride, the best thing I can say is that I barely noticed the saddle. I forgot about it, and road comfortably. The only caveat would be that I only road 13 miles, and need a longer ride to judge better the long distance effects on my backside. For now though it looks promising...
Another adjustment that was made was that Daniel from CC road with me on Wedneday, and noticed that I need to go up on the steering tube to get a more relaxed position in my shoulders, as they were hunched when riding normally. Danny move the stem up 1 cm on the steering tube by moving the 10 mm spacer below the stem. On the ride I did notice more comfort, but think it may need to go do about 5 mm, and maybe get a 10mm shorter stem...We shall see.
The Specialized Romin Pro deserves a longer ride to truly test its medal, but with luck with be the saddle for me moving forward...For now the quest for the perfect saddle has landed on the Romin steps.
Being here without power and Internet, I thought I would continue my ramblings regarding the quest for a perfect saddle. here using my IPad to dribble down a rough idea of the current state of affairs.
Thursday I returned the Selle SMP Saddle to Central Wheel with some trepedations, as although I did not feel 100% comfortable on it, I did have added power, (More on this later). I then went to Berlin Cycle to find out that my Specialized Romin was not in yet, and that it would arrive on Friday. As it was raining I did not mind that much.
Friday came and it was a beautiful day for a ride, but I had to work. After work I again went to Berlin Cycle to find that my Romin was in. Not the SL model that I ordered, but the new 2012 version they called the PRO. The Pro has carbon rails that are 8mm thick, and would not fit on most seat posts. Scott asked me what seat post I had, and told him the Thompson Masterpiece. The Thompson clamps from the top so there was no problem. I then stopped off at Cycling Concepts to pick up my headbands that I had ordered the day before, and we weighted the saddle. The SL was quoted at 209 grams, but the Pro turned out to be only 162 grams...NICE! The only downside to all of this is that the carbon rails might not hold my large frame...but it gave me a lighter bike by some 100 grams...Ya baby Ya!
I took the saddle home and put it on my bike at my fit coordinates. The saddle is curved both in the rear and in the nose, so it is tough to get it just right. It was now nearly 5:30pm. I decided to ride toward CC, and adjust it there. On the ride to CC, the saddle felt good, no hotspots or pain emerging anywhere. It felt remarkably like the aliante from Fi'zik. The difference was that I could feel that my sit bones definitely were supporting my body on the bike. The Romin has very little padding, but I did not feel any discomfort.
When I got to CC, Dave leveled the saddle a bit, placing the nose downward a bit. I measured the SMP at 3in from rail to where your sit bones rest. Although I have not yet checked the Romin, my quess is that it is somewhat lower. Maybe if was fatigue from being a Friday after work, but I could definitely notice less power on the bike that with the SMP, so some tweeking is in order. I road back down route 3 to do a hill or two to see if the saddle caught upon returning from standing effort, but it nicely has a slightly downward turned nose that does not catch. On the ride, the best thing I can say is that I barely noticed the saddle. I forgot about it, and road comfortably. The only caveat would be that I only road 13 miles, and need a longer ride to judge better the long distance effects on my backside. For now though it looks promising...
Another adjustment that was made was that Daniel from CC road with me on Wedneday, and noticed that I need to go up on the steering tube to get a more relaxed position in my shoulders, as they were hunched when riding normally. Danny move the stem up 1 cm on the steering tube by moving the 10 mm spacer below the stem. On the ride I did notice more comfort, but think it may need to go do about 5 mm, and maybe get a 10mm shorter stem...We shall see.
The Specialized Romin Pro deserves a longer ride to truly test its medal, but with luck with be the saddle for me moving forward...For now the quest for the perfect saddle has landed on the Romin steps.
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