Wasp Stings — A Cycling hazard

Today I destroyed about a dozen paper wasp nests in an old crumpled yard umbrella. I was not stung (praise the virtues of a water hose!).

In some kind of karmic revenge (maybe the Greeks had it right with all their cosmic denizens?), I was riding fast on my way home when I was smacked in my lower lip by an apparent wasp. The little bastard had his way with me and 20 minutes later as I arrived home, I couldn’t talk without slurring my words, as by now the right side of my mouth had swollen to an ugly and disfiguring welt.

As I felt no non-local symptoms (no swelling of throat or shortness of breath), I applied ice and this gradually brought the swelling down. I usually take 4-5 days to heal from such stings (perhaps a little tissue necrosis), a particularly annoying side-effect.

Lip stings from wasps rank right up their with the dentist’s drill, and are much worse than a sting in the ear, head, leg, or belly under the jersey, all of which I’ve received while riding. This year has been a bad one, for unknown reasons. Which makes riding at high altitude all the more appealing— no wasps or bees!

Summitting 14,232' White Mountain Peak, on the Moots Mooto X YBB 29er

While in the White Mountaons of California for photography, I put in some time on the mountain bike for the 2012 Trek to the Summit of White Mountain Peak, this year on my superlative Moots Mooto X YBB 29er.

From the Owens River near Bishop, CA at 4000' elevation to the 14,252' summit is quite a long haul, especially “fun” up the upper half of Silver Canyon, where grades hit 30% and average 17%.

Reader Allen Kost of Redding, CA was kind enough to send me snapshots that I could not take myself. I’ll be writing up my experience with many more photos and some video of descents, but these photos show the last part of the summit ascent. I rode 98% of the last 1400' pitch to the 14,232' summit— I felt very strong after acclimating for a week.

Pelting and stinging hail and a lightning bolt forced me down quickly, and by the meadow area at 12,800', 3/4" of hail made it look like an early winter storm (in August).

I was able to “clean” the entire route from the summit— no stopping, no foot dabs— stay loose on the bike and bounce over the rough stuff. Fast and fun and WAY better than walking down!

Pictures

The summit is visible at upper right in this self portrait. The clouds are building, threatening precipitation very soon, even though it remains sunny for now.

The visible streaks are hailstones.

Hail began pounding down hard just as I arrived. I quickly donned my winter tights, Coppi wool cycling cap, Mountain Hardware 'Nitrous' down jacket, North Face Diad rain shell and IbexWear NZM winter gloves.

Scarfing some food, I took some video and some snapshots until a lightning bolt reminded me that descending might be a good idea.

For about 90 minutes, I did not realize that my helmet straps were not fastened!

By the time I descended from the summit, so much hail had fallen in ~20 minutes that 3/4" of the white stuff covered the ground, pellets perhaps 4mm in diameter. It added a tremendous drag which could be felt in pedaling.

Trek to the Summit of White Mountain Peak, 2012 Version with Moots Mooto X YBB 29er

Off to the mountains for photography and the 2012 Trek to the Summit of White Mountain Peak, this year on my superlative Moots Mooto X YBB 29er.

In Praise of the Moots Vamoots RSL

I’ve been riding the Moots Vamoots RSL titanium road racing bike since March and it now has about 5000 miles on it.

The Vamoots RSL is easily the best road bike I’ve ever ridden.

It has a magic combination of comfort at distance, comfort on the rough stuff, razor sharp descending, stiffness under acceleration, stability at high speed, light weight (14.6 pounds as I ride it), as well as being durable.

Part of the magic is the fantastic Lightweight Obermayer carbon fiber wheels, but I’ve had those on a variety of other bikes also— and they ride spectacularly well with the Moots Vamoots RSL.

While carbon fiber frames come and go and are so ordinary these days (and also come with the expensive risk of frame replacement in a crash), the master-welded titanium Moots Vamoots RSL is the best road bike investment I’ve ever made. I can’t recommend it enough.

Fitness Gains — Fat Down, Power Up, Personal Best Times Beaten

July is a fascinating time of year for me when after months of hard training I really start feeling my oats. I believe that the May-August time period also involves hormonal changes, possibly due to sun exposure, length of day, etc. This has been my experience for years. I always feel great from May - September, and I do take Vitamin D and I think this is highly beneficial.

Lately I’ve enjoyed what I call “free flowing power”, a sort of “use the force, Luke” sort of thing; when things work right, they really work right. I have to laugh out loud sometimes; with weight down and power way up, even steep hills are just a gas, and I fly by 99% of the other riders as if they’re stationary. What an incredible positive feedback loop for staying focused on training. I’m not bragging here, just expressing what an wonderful feeling it is to see all the hard work pay off. OK, I’m bragging a little— about being successful at plumbing the limits of my own potential, which is all any of us can do.

In spite of fighting an E. Coli urinary tract infection (probable source of infection prostratis, now taking antibiotic Cipro for 30 days as 8 days did not kill it off), I have cut 3-4% off three different personal bests in the past week, and I would have easily beaten a 4th today, but I held myself back due to the infection and some right kidney-area discomfort (for a time only 10 seconds slower than my best, and I was not even working hard).

Body fat vs calories

Proving that calories in vs calories out can be meaningless in the body’s scheme of repair-and- build under intense training (the body has its own schedule for such things), my weight (fat) has plummeted following the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge.

The body scarfs up lots of calories to build muscle; the right diet encourages this. I think my body fat is down to about 8% again, but I need to have a new DEXA scan to verify. I’d like to see 5-6% prior to the 2012 Everest Challenge, as I am pretty sure that will allow me to win in the men’s Masters 45-54 category. But I have to kick that damned infection.

I have spent many a recent night drenched in sweat; while a nuisance, this for me is a sign that my body is metabolically active; for me it is associated with harder workouts and muscle gain. My deep reserves of aerobic fitness allow intense workouts more frequently, which is allowing me to press hard on my power development. I have also noticed that my carbohydrate fuel needs during rides are somewhat reduced— meaning that I am burning more and more fat for energy, essential to endurance events.

My real weight (morning) is now down to about 169; those 171 “bumps” are just a couple of pounds of fruit, tomatoes, etc.

Kona Coffee 10% Discount for Site Readers (and Peaberry Medium Roast)

I just tried the Peaberry Medium Roast. It’s a wonderful variant, with a special mellowness to the flavor, yet still complex. Otherwise, I think I am a black coffee dark roast guy most of the time, but I like the medium roast also. Maybe I’ll try blending the roasts for fun sometime.

See Kona Coffee and Ibex Wool and Coffee-Up Before a Ride?.

 

Kona Cloud Coffee Estates is offering 10% off for site readers, via a discount code.

View the coffee choices at Kona Cloud Coffee Estates.

When checking out, use to get your discount (type in those eight letters).

Tracking Body Weight for Training Insights

Cyclist looking to eke out performance gains should track body weight using an accurate scale. This can yield insights into gains or losses, including fluid loss before and after workouts and races, when changing training altitude, illness, etc. Here is one example of a steep weight loss trend that indicates physiological changes.

The Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge was June 30, after which I developed a urinary tract infection which took a week to recover from (with antibiotics).

The graph snippet shown below shows a very interesting downtrend (red is calorie surplus/deficit, blue is weight). Weight was stable in the 10-day period following the event, but observe the steep downward weight trend starting June 10!

Once-per-week weight checks (ill advised) lack context, and hide this kind of intriguing pattern, providing zero insight into physiology, dehydration, etc. A scale with poor precision is also problematic, because the patterns will be polluted with measurement “noise” (accuracy is not important, but precision / repeatability is what matters, usually both come together with a quality scale).

I was not dehydrated these mornings when weighing in. Rather, it shows that once the trauma was over (the event and the infection), the body had some business of its own to attend to (perhaps shedding excess fluid needed for recovery)— weight (fat) loss is like that; just when you’re ready to give up, the body suddenly takes phsyiological action.

Longer term graph shown below, click for more reading.

Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge Summary and Thoughts

I’ve updated my Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challange article to discuss riding conditions, fueling, how I wasted precious minutes that cost me 1st place, and a few other things.

I was the 1st finisher for the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challange and I basked in the limelight... for 30 minutes. But as it turned out, one fast rider had left an hour later than I had, pushing me into 2nd place by nine (9) minutes, according to race organizers.

I analyzed my ride and came up with the following time losses that I could have avoided with no ill effects whatsoever. Most figures conservative estimates.

• Unnecessary dump-stop (poop) on last climb. Lost 2:51 (exactly). If you’re in the lead, hold that stinker, especially a minor one!
• Very slow descending east Monitor: Lost ~2:00.
• Slow descending Kingsbury Grade: Lost ~1:00
• Route check, minor deviation errors: 1:00.
• Dallying at aid stations (no benefit): 15:00.

That’s about 22 minutes of time I could have cut out with no loss of performance.

With proper fueling, the climb up east Monitor Pass should have been 5 minutes faster, at least. So I reckon 27 minutes are possible with only a bit smarter riding.

Also, it had been a long time since I had ridden these passes, and I wasn’t quite sure of the aid station locations (or rather the distances between them). Some optimization could be made there in terms of skipping some and definitely not skipping others.

Leaning Out on Hold While Recovery Takes its Time.

My post-ride recovery from the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge was fine— happy legs. Not so the infection, which made for a miserable week. Cipro antibiotic seems to be killing it, but having only 10 weeks of training which I had targeted for the last few pounds and some serious VO2 Max efforts— well it’s not a lot of time.

I took a look at some self portraits after last year’s Everest Challenge and I’ve concluded that I still have 3-4 pounds of body fat to lose for race weight. Half of that was supposed to have disappeared during Alta Alpina (I believe it did), but recovering from this infection I made sure to eat more than enough, so I’ve undone the weight loss of Alta Alpina in eating to stay strong while beating illness.

Recovery from a Double Century (normally not bad, a virus is no fun)

I felt alert and just fine after finishing the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge. Finishing body weight was only ~2 pounds less than starting weight, so I did not experience significant dehydration. Slept normally, nothing unusual. Drove 4.5 hours home.

25 hours after finishing, I went for a 90 minute recovery ride and felt fine (other than moderately sore tired legs).

That night (~28 hours after finishing)... first I had severe shivering about 10pm, donning a heavy sweatshirt under my down comforter (also felt the need to breath fast and deeply), then I burned like a hot potato all night long, soaking my sheets with sweat, and losing 7.5 pounds of fluid overnight. I took some Enduroylytes (electrolyte capsules) just in case that was involved.

I’ve never experienced this severe post-ride trauma, and it is strange to see the pronounced onset ~28 hours after finishing, following no apparent ill effects other than some muscle soreness. I wonder what it means.

The sleep helped, but today (Monday, race was Saturday), I’m achy with a sensation of being a bit chilled, and with a mild headache.

Update July 4: the fever broke early July 3rd and I’m on the mend (ironically, leg muscles feel long since recovered).

Update July 6: didn't feel “mended” on the 5th or 6th, with pain that felt like a kidney stone developing on the 5th and continuing heavy night sweating (soaking 4 t-shirts per night) and the sheets. CT scan rules out grows and kidney stones, urine looks infected. Looks like internal infection, perhaps prostratitis. Very uncomfortable to painful. Down the hatch with the first Cipro.

Update July 7: modern antibiotics rock. What a relief to be free of pain after a week. Going for a ride today!

Physician JA writes:

One of my mentors always said, "common things are common".

Getting a virus from aid station workers not washing their hands properly is common. What is the pathophysiology of a virus like syndrome after extreme exercise? You've never suffered it previously after similar exertions. Scientific method suggests cause and effect.

DIGLLOYD: Such is life I suppose. At this point, it’s clear that it’s a virus: I’m running a temp; fever/chills, sleeping on/off all afternoon.

Never before after the prior three double centuries this year have I had any issues with recovery, and I felt just fine the day after (until 10pm where this all started in a sudden onset). All my prior people contact was with family members, none of whom got sick. In short, I almost certainly picked up the virus during the event, somehow.

To be fair, an aid station has a number of vectors for infection; other than aid station workers themselves (relatively few compared to riders), the more numerous riders allowed to self-serve food that puts them in contact with the supplies that other riders might then consume.

Which suggests that event support should ideally disallow self-serve of any food where contamination could occur, if at all possible. Sometimes this isn’t feasible, due to staffing and rider volume and arrival rate. Alta Alpina was very well run, but I self-served in some cases, and I know others did also. On balance, aid-station workers should be reminded to wash hands frequently (maybe not easily possible), and/or wear disposable gloves, just as any food-service personnel would.

Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge Double Century, 1st Finisher, 2nd Place

I was the 1st finisher for the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challange and I basked in the limelight... for 30 minutes. Boy, was I pleased!

But as it turned out, one fast rider had left an hour later than I had, coming in about half an hour after I did for the winning time (I’m unsure of his exact time, it’s self-reported), pushing me into 2nd place. Dang!

Well, I was pleased with my performance, except that dehydration on Ebbett’s Pass and fueling issues and a “nature call” half-way up Monitor Pass cost me significant time. But the important thing is that to always profit from experience for next time.

Ride stats

From my SRM PC7 with the SRM software.

Clock time (HH:MM:SS): 13:45:56
Roll time: 13:02:13 (on the bike)
Ascent: 20,319'
Watts: 185.5
Cadence: 63 rpm
Average Heart rate: 122 bpm
Max HR: 147 bpm
Distance: 197.48 miles

According to ride organizers, I was edged out by Robert C who had a time 9 minutes faster. That’s just a few extra minutes loitering at rest stops , and an unplanned “nature call” involving sagebrush!

Report to follow.

Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge Double Century, 20,300' Ascent on June 30

Update (July 1): 1st finisher, 2nd fastest time.

....

The Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge will be my 4th double century this year (Death Valley, Solvang, Devil Mountain Double plus the Sequoia Century 200K).

I am ready for it, having found that the 18,800' of climbing in the Devil Mountain Double was not all that tough.

With 20,300' feet of climbing in 198 miles with elevations up to 10,000', the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge is the toughest double century I know of, including possible extreme temperature swings (could range from freezing to 100°, same day, depending on weather).

Nutrition

This is what the organizers have to say:

Hammer Nutrition is a key sponsor. We'll have Perpetuem, HEED, Endurolytes, and Hammer Gel at the rest stops.

Excellent! My preferred stuff. But for this sort of endurance stuff, I greatly prefer Perpetuem over HEED (and I can’t stand lemon lime flavor of any brand). Perpetuem has some protein content, important to reducing the breakdown of muscle tissue for fuel.

Preparation

I’ll be going 5 days in advance so that I am fully acclimated by the day of the event. Although I need only 1-2 days to adapt to altitude to a meaningful degree, 4-5 days means I can just totally forget about it as a factor— though power is always degraded by about 15% by 10,000', just because there is much less oxygen per full lung intake.

Dehydration

The main risk in high Sierra riding is severe dehydration and hyponatremia (loss of elecrolytes which can make you puky and end up with an IV in your arm, or worse). The use of a product like Hammer Endurolytes is essential. See also Dehydration and Fluid Intake for Endurance Efforts.

Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge Route map

I did not have any turn by turn provided, so I plotted this roughly based on the course description; it is not exact.

Click to see a larger version, or see the map as a live Google map.

Kona Coffee 10% Discount for Site Readers

See Kona Coffee and Ibex Wool and Coffee-Up Before a Ride?.

 

Kona Cloud Coffee Estates is offering 10% off for site readers, via a discount code.

View the coffee choices at Kona Cloud Coffee Estates.

When checking out, use to get your discount (type in those eight letters).

The Best Ride (Wheels and Tires)

See yesterday’s Are 25C Tires More Efficient and/or More Comfortable?.

Today I went for a 4.5 hour ride on my time-proven combination: Lightweight Obermayer wheelset with Veloflex Record tubular (front) and Veloflex Sprinter/Extreme (rear)*.

What is “best”? Comfort and compliance, road feel, low rolling resistance, great grip, never lumpy, reliable!

I had been riding the Obermayers with the Schwalbe Ultremo HT tubular for the past 3 weeks or so (about 800 miles, the first Ultremo HT failed in 50 miles, Schwalbe support is non-existent— no reply to my inquiry, so what a rip-off). I replaced it nonetheless. The Schwalbe Ultremo HT is a ho-hum ride in terms or road feel, too much rolling resistance, and a demand for lower pressures to realize comfort. All with the result of a dead feel compared to my preferred combination (Veloflex Sprinter rear + Record front).

 

Claims about 25C comfort are from those who have never ridden a well-made race-grade tubular tire. Silly claims about comfort also come from those riding too-stiff wheels or wheels built in a way that makes them ride poorly in terms of comfort. Lightweight Obermayer + Veloflex Record = The Real Deal.

Fact is, I’ve been through 40-50 Veloflex tires and they are superb. No other tires or come close and the Lightweight Obermayer wheelset is outstanding (but don’t use the supplied skewers, which are race-day only, use a Campagnolo or Shimano skewer to clamp properly, especially on titanium frames).

* A Veloflex Record on the rear is even better than a Sprinter, but on the rear wheel it wears out in ~500 miles vs ~1800 on the front, so I usually run a rear Veloflex Sprinter.

Are 25C Tires More Efficient and/or More Comfortable?

I’ve got about 800 miles on a set of Schwalbe Ultremo HT tulbar tires tires now, mounted on a set of Lightweight Obermayer carbon fiber wheels.

Let me put it simply: the Lightweight Obermayer wheels ride like nothing else, but which tires?!

25C tires

There is a lot of hype about about 700 X 25C tires being more comfortable or more efficient, etc. There are some serious flaws in this idea.

“25C tires are more efficient” and “25C tires are more comfortable”

The claim of higher efficiency is at the same tire pressure.

I run 122 PSI in my Veloflex Record tubulars, and the ride remains supple (ditto for the Veloflex Sprinter, just a bit less-so). They are so supple that I’ve mistakenly thought I had low tire pressure on occasion, only to check and find them at ~120 PSI! The ride quality is better than any other tire I’ve used; the casing is just wonderful.

Now put 122 PSI into 25C tires (which by their size and nature must be designed with a much heavier and stiffer tire carcass) and what happens? At ~120 PSI with 25C tires, the ride quality become harsh, and is far less comfortable than the supple Veloflex Record. So for comfort, one has to drop down to 115 PSI or so, maybe even less for lighter riders. So much for comfort and efficiency.

What are 25C good for?

There is one thing I really like 700 X 25C tires for: descending. The extra rotating weight helps stabilize the wheels and the extra surface area provides a more confidence-inspiring grip than a 22C tires.

Moots Vamoots RSL Road Bike After a Few Thousand Miles

I’ve now ridden my Moots Vamoots RSL road racing bike for about 3000 miles.

It has become my favorite bike ever, offering an ideal blend of stiffness, comfort, responsiveness, durability, and superb handling. Highly recommended!

While I do like my LOOK 595 Ultra, the Vamoots RSL just brings it all together in a superlative way, and I’ve hardly ridden the 595 Ultra at all.

Everest Challenge 2012

I signed up for the 2012 Everest Challenge today.

The Everest Challenge is what I’ve been training for all year. For the 2011 Everest Challenge, I took almost 3 hours off my 2004 time and placed 8th in men’s Masters 45-54. This year my sights are 7 places higher. Which is why I am being so fastidious about dropping body fat.

BTW, EC jerseys are excellent quality and you can buy them on the signup form. I particularly like the design of the 2011 jersey, so I bought a few more.

Aggressive Fat Loss: Getting Down to Race Weight — PROGRESS REPORT

See my previous post and my ongoing Training Weight Loss: 2012 Case Study.

Dropping weight (fat) is never easy. For the past month, it seemed like no matter what, I would eat back what I had burned!

Today, well hydrated, it looks like the trend has been broken with a new morning-weight low, which I’m going to push on hard, as I’d really like to drop to 170 before the severe climbing challenge of Alta Alpina, where I calculate that 1 pound counts for around 2-3 minutes of time (e.g. lose one pound and total climbing time drops 2-3 minutes).

Specifically, I am switching to morning + evening workouts at 1000+ calories each for the next week. That allows about 6-7 hours of recovery between workouts, with a high calorie burn each day (2000+). Burning that much makes it much easier to generate a caloric deficit; recovery is the issue, hence two shorter workouts.

Body physiology

Body physiology has a mind of its own!

Meaning a caloric deficit or parity can seem to translate into nothing in terms of scale-weight change. But there are things going on:

• Changes in physiology to become more efficient at extracting every last calorie from food (very adaptive, but very frustrating too!).
• “Changes in hunger as the body tries to maintain its preferred weight.
• “Set point”— this effect can be frustrating; one has to persist and persist and persist until the dam breaks— that is until the body accepts that fat stores are goin' down. Then the body tends to choose a new and lower set point. Nutritious food helps here.
• Swapping of fat for muscle tissue (good), which does not show up as any weight difference. It does show up as a thinner layer of fat, which can be noticed.

At least that’s what my personal experience tells me.

Click the graph to read more, or larger graph.

Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge Double Century, 20,300' Ascent on June 30

The Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge will be my 4th double century this year (Death Valley, Solvang, Devil Mountain Double plus the Sequoia Century 200K).

I am ready for it, having found that the 18,800' of climbing in the Devil Mountain Double was not all that tough.

With 20,300' feet of climbing in 198 miles with elevations up to 10,000', the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge is the toughest double century I know of, including possible extreme temperature swings (could range from freezing to 100°, same day, depending on weather).

Nutrition

This is what the organizers have to say:

Hammer Nutrition is a key sponsor. We'll have Perpetuem, HEED, Endurolytes, and Hammer Gel at the rest stops.

Excellent! My preferred stuff. But for this sort of endurance stuff, I greatly prefer Perpetuem over HEED (and I can’t stand lemon lime flavor of any brand). Perpetuem has some protein content, important to reducing the breakdown of muscle tissue for fuel.

Preparation

I’ll be going 5 days in advance so that I am fully acclimated by the day of the event. Although I need only 1-2 days to adapt to altitude to a meaningful degree, 4-5 days means I can just totally forget about it as a factor— though power is always degraded by about 15% by 10,000', just because there is much less oxygen per full lung intake.

Dehydration

The main risk in high Sierra riding is severe dehydration and hyponatremia (loss of elecrolytes which can make you puky and end up with an IV in your arm, or worse). The use of a product like Hammer Endurolytes is essential. See also Dehydration and Fluid Intake for Endurance Efforts.

Kona Coffee and Ibex Wool

Mike M writes:

Thank you for advertising Kona coffee on your blog. I am an avid coffee drinker, and am also a masters bike racer, and really enjoy Kona coffee, especially the medium roast. I like a cup in the am's prepared w French Press, and it also makes a good espresso if used freshly roasted.

Thank you for advertising this good product and spreading the word about its delights.

I also wanted to give you kudos for suggesting the Ibex wool cycling gear. My winters regularly have me riding in high 20's/low 30's to get the base fitness miles in. Although I use the Assos and Columbia hats for these temps, I've found the Ibex thick cycling hat and liner to be excellent in high 30's/40's weather, since it breathes so well.

I also really liked the Ibex underlayer for a similar temp range, and for similar reasons.

Cheers. Keep up the good work.

DIGLLOYD: I’m temporarily out of Kona coffee, and missing it!

Yes, the various Ibex clothing can be really excellent. The pieces I have found most useful are on my Cool and Cold Weather Cycling Clothing.

See also Staying Warm, Dry, Safe over on my photography site.

Discount for readers!

See the discount details.

El Monte Personal Best (Cyclocross, MTB)

I’m wiping out old personal bests, so I must be getting stronger (Alpine Road personal best, Tunitas Creek personal best). One of these days I will try for an Old La Honda best to beat last year.

This one was on my Moots Psychlo X RSL cyclocross bike, but it’s little different than my Moots MootoX RSL mountain bike with Schwalbe Furious Fred tires in terms of ascent efficiency.

I wasn’t trying for a best and my legs were not fully recovered and I was ~5 pounds heavier, yet I took more than 30 seconds off my previous best time of 12:57, which was just prior to last year’s Everest Challenge when I was in peak condition (for 2011). So I am feeling pretty good about this effort.

Coffee-Up Before a Ride?

I’ve never really been a coffee drinker, but lately I’ve been enjoying the richly fragrant and mellifluous-tasting Kona Cloud Coffee in the morning and before vigorous cycling outings, which seems to perk me up and help with the ride. Caffeine is a legal and worthwhile stimulant for cycling, so why not?

I’m not into coffee unless it’s really good, which is why I’ve never been a coffee drinker. But when I opened the Kona Cloud bag, I was impressed, and so I gave it a try. And if I’m going to drink coffee, it’s going to be the real caffeinated deal (just like full-fat ice-cream!), so it’s a great fit with my cycling.

The folks over at Kona Cloud Coffee have a great product, and they are now a new advertiser on this site— thanks for giving them a try!

Discount for readers!

See the discount details.

Tunitas Creek Personal Best

At mile ~100 in the 2012 Sequoia Century 200K, I set a new personal best on Tunitas Creek, though I know I can beat even that number with a well-rested serious attempt.

One of my ride goals for the Sequoia Century 200K was to show a strong effort on the last climb (prior climbs in the event were as strong or stronger)— in order to establish whether I could hope to do high wattage for the last climb of the Everest Challenge (Rock Creek) late this fall; last year I had stomach and legs cramps which I will avoid by taking proper electrolytes this year.

While the Sequoia Century 200K involves “only” 10,300' of total climbing, EC involves 15,465' the first day. Much harder, but a good preflight nonetheless. I’ll apply the same test to myself on the rigorous Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge Double Century.

Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge Double Century, 20,300' Ascent

June 30. The Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge will be my 4th double century this year (plus the Sequoia Century 200K). I am ready for it.

The Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge is the toughest double century I know of, even more climbing than the 18,800' Devil Mountain Double:

• 20,300' feet of climbing.
• 198 miles.
• Altitude up to ~10,000'.
• Half of the course above 7000 feet of elevation.
• Can be very HOT and VERY COLD the same day.

See me Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge writeup for details.

Sequoia Century 200K

I rode the 2012 Sequoia Century 200K yesterday, using it as a proxy for the 1st day of the Everest Challenge, which means I rode it hard, including doing my fastest ascent ever of Tunitas Creek at mile ~100.

The conditions were absolutely perfect— suny with temps in the 50-80° range (50° in the morning, 60° at the coast, up to 80° at lower elevations at the end). And today it’s raining. Now that’s good timing!

Next up: Alta Alpina double century — “world’s toughest”.

FOR SALE: Trek Project One Madone 6.9 SSL Frames (56cm), Pre-Wired for Shimano DuraAce Di2

I’m selling both of my Trek Madone 6.9 SSL framesets (silver frame is SOLD, white frame available). These were Trek’s top-of-the-line frame for 2011. $1200 .

BOTH FRAMES ARE NOW SOLD

The two frames are 15 months old (white, AVAILABLE) and 12 months old (silver, SOLD). NEVER crashed, NEVER put in a bike rack, ALWAYS treated with care.

These are the top-of-the-line Trek 2011 Project One frames.

Selling as shown.

• Frame (56cm) + fork
• Trek factory pre-wired for Shimano DuraAce Di2 electronic shifting (wiring harness alone as parts even without labor is $300 or so). Wiring can be removed for conventional cabled setup.
• A Similar Trek frame new is over $4000.
• Matching factory carbon fiber XXX-Lite seat post.
• Matching factory Race XXX-Lite Stem
• Matching factory Race XXX-Lite Handlebar
• Arundel carbon fiber Bottle cages (white frame only).

 

Click for larger image.

Spending Big Bucks for a Light Bike? Don’t Forget SHOES

Shoes are rotating weight. And they count every bit as much as the weight of the bike when grinding uphill, except that they are also rotating weight which makes them more important than static frame weight.

I weighed my current Sidi Pro Carbon Road Cycling Shoes with eSoles foot supports against the Giro Prolight SLX shoes.

238g difference = 0.52 pounds

That's over HALF A POUND, or 1/4 pound per foot. I can feel the difference, and my feet are happy, and my SRM power meter says I’m generating just as much power.

Cycling magazines go ape-shit over 1/2 pound savings on a road bike over another model, but can’t figure out that shorts and shoes and jerseys and water bottles add up to a lot more weight. And you’re spinning your feet in circles tens of thousands of times on a long ride.

So get real— 1/2 pound on a bike might cost you $2K or $3K for that fancy new frame, or you can buy a new pair of shoes. And the best place to save weight is on wheels and tires (shoes aside), not the frame.