A new era of running?

Nah, I don't think I'd go that far, but I will say I'm in for a definite adjustment in my running.

On Monday I used my REI dividend, 20% off coupon and an overly kind and unnecessary gift card from a friend (thanks Katie! and Aimee for letting me use it!) and picked up a pair of the Vibram FiveFingers for no money out of pocket. While trying them on I was one of 3 people in the shoe department and all of us were checking them out so I suppose the popularity is really starting to ramp up! It helps that REI just started carrying them; though they were already low on inventory when I grabbed mine...

Anyway, my initial impressions were good. Getting them on is a little weird as my toes kind of scrunch together a little bit and spreading them out to fit the toe holes was a bit of a chore. Once they were on though they felt comfortable and my little jaunt down the aisle of REI felt pretty easy and natural in them. It probably helps that I've been working over the last year plus on my running mechanics to use a midfoot strike (as opposed to heel).

Monday evening I put them on for a while just hanging around the house and then grabbed Cass and went for an easy 2 mile run around the neighborhood sidewalks. They felt great! Even more, I was cruising, and not on purpose either! I'd forgotten to wear my garmin so I was going by feel on pace, planning on a slower, easy run. Turns out I was down in the low 7's to mid/upper 6's for almost the entire way... Whoops!

Gave them a go at lunch on Thursday again for 2 miles, this time with the garmin and again had the same result! Though I didn't try to reel myself in when I noted a sub-6:30 pace, I felt surprisingly smooth and at ease with the high cadence running. Better yet, the running was down right, put a goofy grin on my face and laugh out loud fun!

Yeah, I got a few weird looks in general on this run...

Good times!

My only issue so far has been a sore left calf muscle from the slightly different running form, but that has been very minor in general. Otherwise, I can feel some additional muscles getting a workout but nothing hurts. Even running on the pebbles of the "trails" along the Mall was much easier then I expected. While large stones were felt, there was nothing that was outright painful. I can see the benefits of toughening up my feet but otherwise I think I'm in pretty good shape for using these "shoes".

For now I'll slowly build up my mileage to where I can do my usual entire 4 to 6 mile lunch run and see how things go. If nothing else the increased cadence work will benefit my speed and hopefully the focused form work will settle in permanently whether wearing shoes or not. Ideally I'll dial in my mechanics well enough that come fall I'll be able to start running in a MUCH more minimalistic trail shoe such as the New Balance 100's. Lightweight shoes that drain like a bathtub would be nice!

The New Balance 100's - Hopefully the new model out this fall will address the heel rub issue I've been hearing about so far.

Happy Feet

Frustrating: Over the last 6 months I log a few hundred miles training, both road and trail, run two 50k's and my feet come out roses. No blisters or any other significant issues to report. Yesterday I ran 16 miles home on paved hiker/biker trails and roads and I end up with a blister on each foot, one sore and slightly rubbed heal and somewhat raw forefoot on both feet. What's up with that?

I'm going to chalk it up as a function of a combination of wearing my trail shoes (Brooks Cascadia 4s which I haven't worn as much as others) on the paved surfaces along with the irritating wool DeFeet socks. While the socks have certainly worked wonderfully previously, they are beginning to wear pretty heavily so maybe the worn down defeats cause more abrasion then fresh less worn pairs might? Wishful thinking that I can blame it more on the socks then the shoes. That said, I may need to stick to more trail use with these Cascadias. Of course, 16 miles on roads is probably too much for any trail shoe I suppose even if they are reviewed well for use on the road sections of trail races...

The good news is my feet feel significantly better this morning then they did when I got home yesterday evening.

On another, though similar front, I'm finally reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Really, surprisingly gripping read. Much more build and suspense then I'd have expected out of it and a very motivating book; especially to really get out and do some real mountain/serious trail running. Combine it with the volunteer time at the Elizabeth Furnace Fat Ass 50k during which the trails were running streams and the "creek" crossings were raging rivers and our 10 mile training run the prior day on the same trails produced elevation gain of well over 2000' and I'm really getting the itch! If only I lived closer to the mountains!

The book is reinforcing a slight twinge of interest in trying out some barefoot/uber-minimal shoe running. The book touts the benefits of a strengthened foot, and rails pretty heavily against modern running shoes and Nike in particular. I'm not interested in losing the running shoes, especially for my trail running; but the interest in a pair of Vibram FiveFingers is certainly increasing. (I have to admit I'd expected a little more in weight savings from these then they have listed; 11.2 ounces per shoe while my Mountain Masochists are something like 11.8 ounces per shoe. If anything I think this could just further improve my stride from the heal strike style I've been moving away from over the last year or so. Have to say I've come a long way without the 5Fingers though on the other hand with my dividend, 20% off coupon and $30 gift certificate I'd get them few a few bucks out of pocket... Enticing.

Better late then never

Some things I've been meaning to write about for quite a while that I just haven't found the motivation to put down on (e-)paper.

First and foremost; Christmas was pretty good to me!

Jenny and Brian got me (combined as my bday gift also) the truck box I've been hemming and hawing over for the past year or so. I've yet to pick it out, though Brian and I went to Lowes last weekend and looked at what they had at the store. I think I've decided on a nice Craftsman box that has a better interior then the Kobalts at Lowes with some extra small storage areas and even some trays included. Thanks guys! I can't wait to get it and mount up some lockable fork mount brackets to it so I'll finally be able to secure my bikes to the truck AND have a bunch of extra storage space!

My parents got me a bunch of cool stuff including a few bottles of my favorite wine ("Sangre del Toro" or "The Blood of the Bull"), some emergency survival type gear (following a day of mis-information that appeared to leave them believing I was lost somewhere out in the cold during our super storm back in December) and some workout gear. A cold gear under armour top and fleece are both very welcome to my collection while a pair of Salomon 3/4 running tights offer a bit more versatility to my running options. Finally a pair of REI gaitors worked wonders for keeping the snow and mud out of my shoes during my two exploration runs out in Promised Land State Park a few minutes from the folks place in NEPA.

Better yet, the seem at the crotch of the 3/4 tights started ripping open after 3 runs. When I returned them to REI under warranty they didn't have any more so I got a credit which I used online to buy the same newly clearanced pair of tights for $20 less AND a $20 packable wind/water resistant Sierra Designs jacket. Sweet!

Aimee and I had discussed her buying me a fork for my mountain bike a while back and we'd decided that could be my xmas present from her. She, at some point decided she'd rather have something to give me christmas morning and since the fork won't be in till likely late February, pushed the fork back to be my birthday gift. Christmas morning I was surprised to find a new Garmin 305 with my name on it!

I'd been batting around the idea of getting a garmin for quite a long time but just had never really been willing to spend the money on it (I'm getting much more frugal as I age here). I took it, along with my new gaitors and trail knickers out for a test run that afternoon and again before coming home and found it to be pretty great. Running trails which I didn't know and had no reasonable idea of mileage, the garmin was very helpful. Further use has helped me to dial my mileage and pace information on my usual run reviews plus allow me to better monitor my pace while I'm out there. The elevation data is good too, mostly showing me how little elevation change I actually get in my runs.

I think it helps to motivate me in my quest to log more miles this year and gives me a bit more perspective as to exactly where I am in relation to surrounding areas (I get relatively lost running on trails) on my trail workouts. It's also got the heart rate monitor which so far has NOT told me I'm dead or my heart is going to explode soon. A big step up from my 4 year old Timex HR monitor. So far I'd have to say I like my garmin even more then I imagined I would!

While I'm at it, my folks got me a trainer (basic Ascent Fluid) for my Birthday which I got last weekend. I set it up and threw the cross bike on it (since that was at home and available) though the trainer doesn't have resistance adjustments so the trainer riding will generally likely be on a geared bike. It's also a bit loud for my far from sound proof wooden frame town home but hopefully a vibration dampening pad and smooth road tires (as opposed to my cross knobbies) should help me out there.

I picked up a set of Darren recommended Forte GT2 Kevlar tires for my winter riding for $11 per at performance bikes. So far they're pretty decent and the extra volume of the 28's lets me run them soft enough that they're not as bone jarring as I was afraid of. Hopefuly this will translate into some extra riding this winter and spring as I don't have to worry as much about flats.

SO far I've started off the year right for my running. Ramping up my mileage for the February 14th marathon has me steadily increasing my weekly mileage up to around 40 miles this week with a long run planned for the weekend of around 20 miles. The last 2 weekends I ran the marathon course, though poor night and morning before nutrition (read: alcohol and coffee) left me feeling a little worse then I would have liked later on, I think overall I should be in decent shape. Better yet I should be easily able to knock off over 20 minutes from my previous and only marathon.

So far my 2010 mileage is just over 90 so I'm well on my way to increasing my annual mileage so long as I can keep up the consistency.

Bull Run Run initial registration opens in 3 days! Can't wait!

My heart rate monitor apparently believes I'm super human... or dead.

I've had a Timex Iron Man w/ HR for a few years now, although it's been out of service with a dead chest strap battery for the last year or so. Recently I got a new battery for it and figured I'd start using it for some targeted training. You can set HR zones based on your estimated max HR and then let the watch remind you when you leave that zone. All seems fine and dandy, if it were only so easy.

Today I decided to get in an easy run, the first since my slight muscle strain from Nation's, and set myself up to keep my HR in zone 3 which is 137 to 156 bpm. Generally my normal running puts me in the low to 160's so I'd be going a bit easier then my normal pace. For the first mile it was going alright with me going over occasionally, generally a beat or two per minute. The next thing I know I'm rocking a 215 HR and the darn thing won't shut up. After about a minute of constant beating I gave up on it turned it off and proceeded to finish up my lunch run. Of course that means I ran the rest of my run significantly harder then I planned and my legs are now nice and tired for my ride tonight.

I'm curious as to whether this is just my HR monitor being a piece of junk, or if maybe I should be worried about a heart murmur or something. Maybe of course I really am just a super human with a max of 240 bpm like my monitor is fond of reporting to me but somehow I think that just isn't it. But seriously, is there anything to my fears here or is it really just a piece of &*^@! (horse poop).

The rate, even when seemingly working will jump around quite a bit. Say from 167 to 150 and back and even after telling me I was rolling at 215 for a few minutes, it next said something along the lines of 145. What is this all based on anyway? Beat to beat? The number of beats over the last minute? The last 5?

I guess maybe its time to start thinking a bit more seriously about one of them GPS/HR watches...

Dilema

Training Duathlon results are posted. All in all not too bad. The first run was a little slower then I thought due to the 3 mile distance as opposed to what I thought was 3.1 but nothing drastic. Everything else is pretty straight forward what I had give or take a little due to transition time which I didn't really mess with. I was happy to see I turned in a slightly faster run time on the second run then the guy ahead of me that passed me on the bike. On the other hand I had him in my view almost the entire run, felt I was catching up but just couldn't turn it on to really give it a go. I think I should be able to turn up my pace at that point in a race to pick people off in the run.

In other news, I bought a new helmet on Sunday and returned it on Monday. I was feeling rushed at Performance while they were closing and made a hasty decision to buy the Giro Atmos for around $140. By the time I got home I knew I was returning it. Only problem now is that I still don't have a helmet.



PBK.com is having a 10% off online sales, sale and free shipping to the US and they've got a Bell Alchera on sale for $50. Looks good to me though I of course was poking around and found a 2XU tri suit on sale for $100. I've been eyeing that suit up for the past year and knowing this year I want something other then the Zoot suit I was wearing last year I'm now tossing around my real desire for this suit.


I could always justify it by telling myself that by buying both items I essentially spend the same amount I got back when I returned the Atmos. That seems to me like the same kind of logic as saying you lose money by not buying things (you don't need) at a big sale.

Got Bike Lust?

Check it. OMG!

Oblivious case of the moondays

After my constant pestering and of course my gift with strings attached, Brian has got his review of the 53x11 The Early Break up on his site. Basically, B comes comes down to the same conclusion as I though he does a bit of a better job with the whole "knowing what he's talking about" thing.

Thanks B.

I've managed to start riding my bike to the metro here in Greenbelt lately; something I've struggled to find the motivation to do at times in the past year and a half. Basically my excuses are as follows:

1. I sweat pretty easily and it sucks to go to work all sweaty and nasty.
2. Which bike??? I'm not about to leave the nice road bike or one of my Mt rigs at the metro all day. The cross rig (finally dialed into the righ working gear works for that now).
3. Pedals. I don't own a single set of flats. WTF? So, I either ride my speedplays or spd's with regular shoes or bring an extra set of shoes to change when I get there.
4. It's cold.
5. I'm lazy.

So, lately I've been riding the speedplays while wearing my hiking shoes and just dealing with everything as I go. Finally this weekend I switched out the pedals for the spd's and just wore the old mtb cleats to work. They're black so I guess I don't look like that big of a dork. It works, I'm learning to use my clothing more dynamically to help keep me warm and cool myself off during the brief 2.5 mile ride (ie zipping and unzipping the zipper) and I generally reward myself with a mug of hot joe to sip during the long metro ride in. (Shhhh, don't tell nobody).

Where I was going with this story back from the beginning of this novel was that this morning I had a ridiculous encounter with a driver coming out of my neighborhood. I was riding down the road when a women pulled out from the left turning into my lane. She basically turned out right into me, not just ahead, not just behind but directly into the side of me while I rode. She didn't do in a fashion that really left me a comfortable space beside the curb as I've had cars do before and really it seemed like she didn't even see me.

I basically stopped and let her just go then caught up with her at the stop sign just ahead which she rolled through to make her right turn, effectively cutting me off as I made my right into the bike lane. After this one I accelerated and was going to bang on her window to yell at her, or at least make her aware I was there but she suddenly accelerated as if she knew I was trying to catch her. B*tch!

So we get down to the next light and she's stopped behind someone waiting for the light to change. I pull up beside her and stop next her her passenger side window. She's staring directly ahead not acknowldging me at all until I tap on the window and she looks startled and opens the window. At first I thought she was ignoring me on purpose; I was standing directly in her window staring at her yet she had no clue. I told her what she did and she apologized and said she had no idea and of course thanked me for letting her know...

Wow, just amazing how clueless a person can be. I'm glad I ride defensively and expect people to do stupid stuff most of the time. People are dumb.

Coffee and Bicycles... yum

Mike over at GamJams.net has been working extremely hard in building this local cycling media hub over the past year or two. It is really beginning to show, both in the network’s visibility and (over a million page views so far, which doesn’t include people like me are using rss feeds to get there gams) and some solid partnerships being built throughout the community. One thing that has been falling into line lately is the idea of GamJams Network sponsorship. So far there are 5 sponsors backing the organization including such common companies such as Rudy Project and Accelerade along with some very high quality lesser known companies such as Velo Vie Bicycles and 53 x 11 Coffee. Velo Vie makes some fantastic carbon frames at some even better price points. 53 x 11 on the other hand, well they sell coffee of course. With a bicycling theme and a cycling advocacy approach. Two things I personally love.


Naturally I had to try the coffee so I ordered two bags of it back around Christmas time and I’ve been enjoying it since (well I enjoyed it for a while though sadly it is all gone now). I actually kept one bag, the Big Ring brew and gave the second, the Early Break to Brian as a Christmas present. Brian has a more particular attitude towards things like coffee so I figured he could be the real test of the product and I told him he has to write me a review of the coffee.


The Big Ring on the other hand was excellent. One thing I do notice is high acidity in coffee. When it gives me heart burn while drinking it, it’s a bit too much for me. Generally that only happens with the crap at work. This stuff was perfect; a really nice balance of flavor and acidity. Great way to warm up after a cold ride or get ready to head out on one. One strange thing I noticed that I’ve never seen before was that it frothed up a couple of inches in my coffee press when I added the water. Not a bad thing, I’ve just never seen it before.

So, if you really like good coffee and are willing to pay for it, I highly recommend 53x11 both for the excellent coffee and the excellent company behind it. Unfortunately finding my general go to brand of 8 O’Clock coffee on sale at the Safeway for $3.50 the other weekend I won’t be making the full time switch to 53x11 anytime soon, though for a treat, I’ll always keep them in mind.

Forget the Litespeed!

Today it's a QRoo Tri bike for 50% off! Now THAT I really do want!



Oh and Chainlove has been displaying some pretty decent looking all mountain and downhill style bikes like the one today with 6inches of travel front and rear with full XT. Nice. Don't know anything about Commencal but it looks like a steal to me.

Seriously

This is for real...



That is 51% off a full Dura-Ace Litespeed, originally $8000. Damn! I don't really need or even want it that bad, but just dangling something out there like that is rough no matter what!

The holiday stash

As I've said before, since Jenny and Brian went to Disney World and Aimee and I went to TN over Christmas, my folks came down this weekend to celebrate our family Christmas and my birthday on Friday. It was a pretty full weekend, between getting everyone organized and together on Friday, last minute gift shopping and some much needed ride time the weekend mostly flew by. Today is now being absorbed by my Christmas gift from the folks.


An oral adventure for the country bumpkin parents at Sticky Rice.

I could almost technically call this my best "cycling gift" for the GamJams Review. I mean it provides endless blogging capabilities for one thing, plus the ability to keep a closer eye on all the great deals on chainlove, the forums on MORE and all the other cycling specific shopping opportunities I can now get into. Alas, I'd probably be better off calling it the worst cycling related gift I recieved this year since it more then likely will keep me from actually getting outside and riding at least once over the coming months. I'm not complaining.

Jenny and Brian take the cake for providing the true best cycling gifts of the year. Yes I said gifts, there were two. I figure I had not only Christmas but also my birthday to build my experience on so it's allowed.

First, for my birthday they read my blog and went out and got me a cold gear mock neck Under Armour top. So nice! It may be even a little heavier then the one I had from years ago and it most certainly is a very welcome addition to the base layer collection. After one use the old one will hold a stench worse then most any I've ever smelled so I now will be less likel to wear a given top between washes.

Second, Brian went out to pick me up a new set of Michellin Pro Race 3's (once again from a blog post). The store was out of them but he managed to get some Vittoria's (the name of which escape me now) which are going to be stronger and better for all season riding then the michellins which currently are flat on the bike. I'll be mounting them today and giving them a test ride this afternoon if all goes as planned.

I believe I made out like a bandit this holiday. Thanks guys; you're all the best.

Follow up review on Castelli's Cardio Bib Tights

I mentioned these in my GamJams Review for winter tights a couple of weeks ago and said I'd post up some more once I'd worn them a few more times. I think I've now worn them enough to get a good feel for them and for the most part I'm pretty happy with their performance.

The tights are lined with a very nice and soft red fleece, my only fleece lined tights. They are moderately thick, mostly owing to the layer of fleece and the Large size fit me well. I generally wear a 31 or 32 inch waist and 32 inch inseam which will usually mean a Medium though for these the Large is the way to go.



The ankle cuff has the rubberized inner lining that keeps the legs of the tights down and your sock pulled up and a scorpion design one on the outside also in case you are layering or pull the socks over the outside. Of course there is also a sufficiently long ankle zip with reflective fabric over top for easy in and out and for visibility.



The chamois is pretty comfortable; comparable to what I have in the Pearl Izumi Attack bib shorts and Hincapie team shorts from my Racing Union team kit. I'm not sure I have the saddle time and experience to really be able to tell most chamois' apart though I'll say this one is no better and no worse then my other mid-level shorts. I find them perfectly fine.



My one and only complaint about these tights is in regards to the chest straps. I bought these because they were on Chainlove for pretty cheap and I really needed some riding tights (I was using my knickers for everything). The design it appears is to keep the straps off the nipples thereby eliminating any nipple chaffing. A good idea, except I have never had that problem with any of my bib straps. Instead these simply place unwanted pressure on my shoulders while leaning forward; nothing too serious but I'd imagine on longer rides fairly bothersome.

As for warmth these tights stack up wonderfully. I used them New Year's morning with the sub-freezing temps at the ride start and they were great. I never felt cold in them with just shorts underneath for some extra cover on the sensitive regions.

Overall I'd say these tights are great from the waist down. For the price I paid on Chainlove they are also very good all over though if you're not paying 60% off I'd avoid the style of straps offered on the Cardio Bib tights.

GamJams Reviews: Winter Tights - Under Armour Winter Gear and Castelli Cardio Bib Tights

This weeks GamJams review features winter riding tights. While I don't have a ton of experience with a lot of products I've got at least a couple of notable things to share. Be sure to check out the other reviews for more on GamJams.

Base layer - The all-arounder award goes to Under Armour! I know I know, it's grown to be a bit of a behemoth in the last few years but in all reality there is more to the company then their roided up footballin, pre-game pep talkin, "house protectin" commercials may lead you to believe. They make some really high quality stuff!

My high school football coaches who were all somewhat affiliated with the UMd program through which the brand was essentially introduced, gave us ordering information for this new brand of sporting goods. All very expensive but apparently some great stuff. I convinced my folks to buy me the winter gear tights and top; their heavy weight cold weather stuff. Truth be told I think we all liked the tight stuff cause it made you look bigger then baggy stuff, at least in the 16 year old high school football players' mind. (I tried to find the stuff I have but they have too many new fangled options for me to figure out these days!!! Men's Cold Gear UA Metal Mock!?!? You can see what I'm talking about there with the "built in" six-pack.)

Turns out the stuff was really awesome. Now close to 10 years later I'm still using the same two pieces as my core cold weather gear. It's versatile, I use it for running, biking, hiking/camping, outdoor cold weather sporting event spectatin' and anything else where some warm clothes are necessary. I've found that in windier conditions a basic cotton shirt over the top blocks the wind enough to keep me warm on long frigid (below freezing) runs. With the tights, basically I get a layer or two over the junk (a lesson from the longtime running Pops, a jock strap is perfect here) and my legs are good to go.

Basically, to sum it all up, the good stuff from UA, while expensive (I believe I paid around $60 per item) is completely worth the money. The number of times my stuff has been worn and washed would have completely destroyed any other garment but this stuff is tough. And, it just works.

Cycling tights: I picked up a pair of Castelli's Cardio Cycling Bib Tights off Chainlove for something like 60% off. Unbeatable in my opinion for the price. Fleece lined, and super nice and bib tights to boot. Unfortunately I've only had the opportunity to try them once so far so my report will stand as worth it for the low (relative) price though they were too warm for the 50 degree weather I wore them in. I'll try them out tomorrow (today, New Years day) if I make it out with Darren and will post an update on the sub-freezing performance of the tights. The chest straps are not the greatest but like I said, the deal was certainly worth it. Also, from my experience with another pair of Castelli shorts I sized up from my usual mediums to large and they fit perfectly.

The pre-obligatory winter riding post

Everyone seems to be hitting the stride of the winter months and doling out their expert (and I use this term in all seriousness since any cyclist who hits the road or trail in the winter months and has found something that works is truly an expert on the matter) opinions on winter cycling gear. For some, its just something good to write a post about while for others they really believe they have something to share that someone reading might not know. I feel like I fall into both those categories with this one, but again personal preference in the end trumps any expert advice. I still want to try out some new gear before I get my post up so you can eagerly await that one sometime around the new year.

For now a round up of some good winter cycling posts I've noticed around lately:

The Unholy Rouleur and the trusty winter rig. I call mine my p.o.s. cross bike; Jim has a shot of a Cervelo "rig" complete with fenders on his blog...

Dirt Rag Blog has a great winter clothing series starting with the feet and moving up, highly recommended. Be sure to read all four of those, plus the latest on studded tires, a bit out of my league there but still interesting.

Singletracks.com has a new post up about some new gear he just picked up at REI. I might be taking his words with a grain of salt though since he's talking about not wanting to ride North of Atlanta, GA because it's too cold.

MtnBikeRiders.com - Same as above but worse. Instead of telling people what to wear, they just tell us all to come visit them in SoCal and ride in shorts and light sleeves. Why did my parents move away from there when I was 2???

GuitarTed just talks about his general lust for a fat tire bike. A few posts in there about it though I also recommend reading some of his other posts as well while you're there. GuitarTed is the author of a few blogs I've found lately and I highly recommend all of them.

GuitarTed is also a Blue Collar Mountain Biker and recommends riding in your, gasp... regular street clothes! Read the other posts here too for more on fat tire snow tracks, crusted bike maintenance and our all time favorite winter treat, death cookies.

I believe the general advice coming out of Wrench in the Gears, while not stated directly would be to just drink some good beer to stay warm. Mmmmmm beeeeeer...

Bicycles and icicles would likely agree though he may add to throw in a trash barrel of fire to keep the beer warm enough to drink... Ouch. On the other hand Tim seems to have some other odd ideas about riding lately as well so I'm not sure where to put this one. Tim is one of those hardcore riders I wish I could be.

Oh and one more thing worth checking out: Indy's up in Canada making me jealous of his ice beard.

I think that'll cover it for now. Enjoy!

FYI: New GamJams Reviews today: Trainers & Rollers

Just a note that today's GamJams Review is up for Trainers and Rollers. I've never been able to convince myself to drop that much cash on a personal torture machine (especially when there is so much other, better bike stuff I "need") so I'm unable to offer an opinion. It appears to me that aside from the folks that return more to my feelings on trainers the general idea is Cyclops' trainers are pretty great.

Lots of good reviews this week so go check them out at GamJams.net

Let the music play

Tis the season and year for deals, frugality is maybe the word of the year?

In the spirit of saving money, I KNOW we all like no matter what the economy looks like (I don't think anyone who might read my blog would go for some shenanigan like this) I present to you my new favorite LEGAL music source!

GoMusic.RU

Over the last three years probably 90% of my new music has come from itunes. It's easy, they have a great interface for finding new music and hearing it before you buy and, well I have an ipod so I naturally started using it. That said, 99% of my music is over 3 years old. I have such a hard time bringing myself to click buy and toss out another $10 here and $10 there for an album so I tend to not really update my music collection very often. Pandora, aside from being blocked at the office, became my new best friend.

A strong dollar makes for a pretty sweet deal on music. Last night I went on a spending spree and picked up about 7 or 8 new albums all for the cost of less then 2 at itunes. Greatest site ever. Individual songs run at about $0.15 per song. Enjoy!

GamJams Reviews: Winter Training Tires - Specialized Armadillo Tires

GamJams.net is taking up a new product review feature involving the ambassadors program. Mike announced it a bit back to the ambassadors and today is the first installment. I’ll take part in as many of these as I can, starting with today’s “winter training tire” review. If you like this feature, please make sure to drop Mike at GJ a note to let him know so he can decide whether it is worthwhile and so he can pitch it out to prospective GJ sponsors as he builds the network. Also, make sure you drop by the rest of the participating ambassador sites to see what they may have to say.

Specialized Armadillos



First off I’ve got to admit, I do not have these tires on my Cannondale; actually I’ve still got the Michelin Race Pro 3’s from the season on there. I have however been running the All Condition Armadillos on my Fixed Gear for the past two plus years. In that time I’ve had 1 flat, after about 2 years on the tires, which was actually due to an unavoidable puncture at the hands of some of the neighborhood trouble makers. The rear wheel, which is covered with skid marks (fixed gear) is worn through to the inner red surface and should have blown a solid year ago, but it still rolls along no problem. To me that’s a sign of a truly tough tire (and a truly cheap rider).

While they may not be the lightest or cheapest tire out on the market, I’ll swear by the armadillos for general riding/training miles for their durability, smoothness and traction. Like I said before the armadillos are tough, lasting two + years on my fixed gear through all riding conditions, a few car on bike incidents and more then their fair share of skid stops. The durability alone proves these tires capabilities to me as high mileage training tires beyond any doubt.

As for the issue of comfort, I’d once again rate the armadillos as champs. Riding the fixed gear can be a bit hard on the body, obviously since coasting is not an option. While on a freewheel you can stand and coast over tough and bumpy road conditions on a fixed gear you still have to pedal. While standing is an option it’s not always as physically easy (especially at higher speeds/cadences) or easy to remember throughout a ride. The armadillos don’t punish you over rough terrain and in my experience the tougher tires leave open the option of relatively lower tire pressure for added comfort. On the other hand, when run at high pressure you can really get these tires moving quickly and comfortably in group, or traffic settings.

My fixed gear is essentially my beater bike so when the weather turns bad the fixed gear gets the call to duty. With armadillos on it I’ve never felt sketched out by wet and oily road conditions. It sticks to the roads in tight corners and I’ve never felt like I was going to wash out on them. I think traction like this in a sketchy crit race corner like the Reston Town Center Crit would be very, very comforting.

While I’ve never tried the Elite or All Condition Elite tires, I’ve got a strong feeling they’d be just as solid. And, while the price tag on these seems fairly high, I think the 2+ year use you can expect should alleviate some of the sticker shock associated with them. As specific winter training tires I think you could really stretch your dollar on these for a few years (assuming you don’t “NEED” new gear every year). They won’t leave you stranded with a flat 40 miles from civilization on your long winter training rides and you can feel good rounding sharp bends on them in your Saturday morning “training”/ass handing rides with local hammers. If I manage to get my hands on the Elite tires, I’ll let you know for sure if I think they’d make good race tires though, for now I’d go ahead and bet that unless you’re racing for Michelin or Continental, they’d do the trick just fine.

Post turkey mumble and jumble

Thanksgiving is always good. Missed out on the good old Pre-Thanksgiving Day high school reunion this year with the trip to the poconos but I'd say thats no skin off my nose. (sorry). A few bottles of wine, some ever energetic dogs, (aside from the illness cause from too much turkey consumption for one) some excellent fare and a whole lot of relaxation and I came back almost feeling a little refreshed! Granted that all changed this morning when the alarm went off but it was good while it lasted.

I did a lot of web surfing while there (wifi and lap tops are the best things ever) and spent some quality time on my new favorite website, twentynineinches.com. Excellent reviews on all things 29'er including some very educational posts. I reviewed an entire series on 29'er frame geometry and while everything is not crystal clear to me now I definitely have a better understanding of the topic. I've also got a better basis to begin my upcoming research into a front shock for the geared build when I get around to it.

Based on some conversation on the MORE forums and some reviews on twentynineinches.com, I'm thinking I'll probably go with a set of Velocity Blunt wheels for now. Sound like a very solid set of wheels, especially for someone on a budget like me.

Unfortunately the rain kept me from riding once back yesterday but I'm pretty hopefull we'll be on for tomorrow night at Rosaryville. Hopefully the weather holds out for the weekend and I can manage to get out for a good longer ride on Saturday or Sunday with Aimee out of town.

Back in the Saddle

Sweet! Got the Jamis from the shop last night on the way home from work and then swung down 495 to catch the Rosaryville night ride at 7. Traafic was super light going south but I could see the hell brewing over on the outter loop. The guys got the Dragon 29'er set up with a singleater and it was set to roll. Unfortunately an inner bolt on the singleater taps a couple of my spokes but I['ll take that over not riding any day.

My initial feelings on the new frame were that it definitely had me on a shorter wheel base. I never paid too much attention to overall geometry and the bike's measurements since I really don't know much about that but I could automatically feel the difference. Not a bad thing, just a bit twitchier then the Exile had been. I think the headtube angle on the Exile sloped out more so the front end felt a little funny at first, also adding to the twithy feeling.

Out on the trails the group of 6 moved with a purpose and I quickly got the hang of the bike. On the inner loop I had some issues; whether they were more just me riding poorly or the bike behaving differently then I expected I won't say but I'd like to think it was a combination of the two... With a little extra suctitude on my part. I hit the handle bar at one point on a tiny handlebar hieght cut off sapling trunk and it flipped me over the bars. Totally unexpected and definitely my first relatively hard crash since Big Bear. Had some other minor issues clearing a few logs but otherwise everything was smooth.

At this point I'm feeling like I'll definitely need to be upgrading the frame to gears, I'll probably start by moving it over to a 9 speed set up. While it is great in that it's got me back out on the bike, the singleater slipped a good bit and isn't the ideal riding set up for me. The good news though is I really do like the frame and will definitely be able to build it up into a nice geared hardtail as time and money permits.

One other note about last night's ride; for the first time I used only the head mounted (performance brand 10 Watt) light as opposed to combining that with the bar mounted NiteRider set up. It turns out I think the two lower end lights combined were causing me more issues then I realized. I'd try to rely too much on the bar mounted light and would just throw myself off with the headlamp, not to mention the bar light turns with the handle bars, not my head. So the solo headlamp actually provided a far superior riding experience for me. That's good news since my bother in law is borrowing the NiteRider these days. Now to pick up a decent helmet mount light with an actual helmet mount. (Last night my black electrical tape was missing so I used white athletic tape. Talk about ghetto; my helmet looked like a head cast.

Forgot to mention the excellent first tasting of some home brew in the parking lot after the ride made by Eric and Paul. Best ride leaders ever! And an excellent scotch something ale Eric said came from a book of clone brews by a guy with a difficult name... I think I got it.

I know what the brother in law will be getting for Christmas on top of those bib shorts I already gave him... :) (I sense a very selfish agenda on my part, riding gear so he'll ride with me more and home brew recipes so I can get more home brew beer...)

Chainlove is a splitten?

From the Chainlove Forums from today:

by Grant Baron (82)

Those bikes I told you about should be rolling sometime in December. Maybe as late as January when the site splits into Road/Mountain so you might want to hold off until then. Unless you're getting super antsy to get a bike. It could very well be worth the wait.

Oooooo, I barely contain my excitement! And read up from that, bikes galore!