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Got out on the road bike for the first time today. Had some butterflies in my stomach, but it felt good at speed right away. The mountain bike SPD pedals helped; at least I wasn’t worried about learning how to click in and out. Maybe I’ll switch to road shoes and pedals someday, but that will be more of a cost issue.

As this was a “sorting” ride, we were being timed to find out what groups we’d eventually end up in. I selected a medium group because I had no idea where I would fit. Our 12-mile loop started out downhill, which goes against my personal preference (I’d rather do the uphill part first), but that meant had to go pretty hard from the start to warm up. By the time we hit the flat part of the route, I was up with the coaches. They dropped me when we started the gentle climb back to the meeting area, but I still finished pretty strong. So, I felt pretty good with the way I rode and the way the new bike felt.

Next up was the “skills clinic.” We had to change a tire, ride through some cones, ride a straight line while drinking from our water bottle (I wonder what the Camelbak users did?) and do a braking drill. After the braking drill, I noticed a really loud creaking noise coming from the front of the bike. Tom, a coach and honoree, tried to help me diagnose the problem, but after swapping wheels and checking the brakes, we decided it needed to go back to the shop.

After the ride, we met for brunch. I got there late because I was giving a teammate a ride home and she had trouble getting through the tire change test. Her bike has theft-resistant skewers and it was indeed tough to get the wheel off. Then, we had a hard time getting her tire bead set. Fortunately, I had my cheapo tire levers on me, so after four people gave it their best shot at the bare-handed method, including me, I grabbed them out of my seat bag and slipped the last 12 inches of the bead back on the rim.

The bike shop couldn’t get the bike to make the same noise, but they took the headset apart and reassembled it with a little more grease. Hopefully that will take care of it. We are doing our “climbing and descending” clinic tomorrow and I’m going to need to have confidence in the front wheel and brakes to get through it.

While I was there, I picked up a bike computer. I think I followed the installation instructions to a “T”, but it looks funny. I’m going to have the coaches check my work to see if I screwed up or not. I’d hate for a $50 bike computer to take out my wheel and/or forks.

The rain came down today and still I went out for hill repeat… I mean the “climbing and descending clinic.” I was one of two participants; the other three who showed up were Coach Patrick, Web guy Rick and Mentor Harold. Rick said it was too slick for a first-timer to go downhill safely, so he called the ride off. But he said if it were a training ride, we’d go. So I left without taking my bike off the rack.

When I got home, I pondered what to do next. I thought about going to the gym, but I’d have to change my clothes, get back in the car, blah, blah, blah. So I decided to ride the Coyote Creek Trail to get used to riding in the rain. It wasn’t raining hard when I left, barely a drizzle. And most of the ride was dry, except for the water already on the ground. I still think fenders are going to be essential. My tires kicked up a lot of water when I was using the big chain ring.

I rode south until I came to Bailey Road, then turned around. It started coming down hard when I was about two miles from home. Some kind of head or helmet cover will be helpful in that respect. Other than that, it wasn’t too bad. I had lights on the bike, a rain jacket and arm and leg warmers. I got a little cold at times, but I never thought about it much. The hot shower I took when I got home sure felt good though!

Kicking it down a notch.

About 3/4 of the way through the ride, I noticed a familiar pain in my neither regions and lower back. The Rocky Mountain was always a little big for me, but I usually just dealt with the discomfort. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought I might be able to fix it by tilting my seat forward. I think I was right, but will have to put more miles in to be sure. I’d always thought a shorter stem might help too. Mine’s a 120mm and the handle bars are a long reach away. Anyway, I guess other than the tuneup it got, I can’t be putting any more money into that bike. Gonna have to find a milk bottle solution for a front fender and deal with the back splatter.

The time had finally come to spin the cranks with my fellow cyclists. I got to McKenzie Park in Los Altos Hills for the first training ride of the season: a 15-mile jaunt through the foothills. There wasn’t too much elevation and I was able to keep up with everyone in my group. Considering I never exercise that vigorously in the morning, it took all of the uphill to warm up, but then the rest of the ride was easy. Mark, one of the mentors, and I were talking and pretty much lost track of where we were, so we added some scenery to the ride. Not sure if we cut the ride short or rode a little extra, but there you go.

Once back at the park, we chatted over some coffee (yay, Peets!), fruits and baked goods. Then we heard from two riders who were honorees. They both benefitted from one of the drugs Genentech had developed with funding from Team in Training, which was nice to hear. After the group split up, Eric, my mentor, and I talked bikes for a while. He really seems to think a carbon fiber bike is going to help me, so I’m going to look at my budget again and see what I can do.

From the park, I headed up to San Mateo to take care of Georgia, my ex-fiancee’s cat. Then I hit up a few bike shops on the way home. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to ride any because the ones I’m interested in weren’t available in my size. But I might make it back to Mike’s Bikes in Palo Alto if they get one in this week. I did pick up some arm and leg warmers at Sports Basement, though, because it will probably rain during tomorrow’s “climbing and descending clinic” (a.k.a., “hill repeats”). At least I get an extra half hour to prepare, including tonight’s time change.

Last night was the official kick-off meeting for the winter Team in Training season. It was really inspiring and exciting!

When I checked in, I got my info packet and TnT cycling jersey. Mine’s a little tight right now, but I think it won’t be long until it fits better. There also were other goodies that I haven’t checked out yet. And I learned the name of my cycling mentor: Eric.

When I got to the main room, I sat with my mentor’s team. We got an introduction and a pep talk from a woman whose name I couldn’t hear, but I think she was a big-wig in the organization. She also turned out to be involved in the cycling team, so I’d see and hear her later. She introduced everyone who was in the organization by group: the Honorees (survivors who are participating in the program), each event’s coaches and support staff, and people who’d done a triple crown (three events) and people who’d done TEN events (forgot the name of that group).

Then we heard a heart-warming story from a mom and son who were dealing with his illness about how she found the LLS shortly after hearing her son’s diagnosis. They shared their tale of dealing with the disease — and how they are still dealing with it after several relapses — and thanked us for helping the organization. It was really moving. I think I had something in my eye, too 😉

Then we went into our individual event meetings. There were probably 30-40 people in the cycling room, so we were probably the smallest group — even smaller than the ironman triathlon group! But I think we are going to have the most fun! Patrick, the cycling head coach, introduced the other coaches and told us some of their impressive cycling accomplishments. I think we’re in good hands!

After describing the program and answering a few questions, we broke up and I wandered the vendor and fundraising tables. Got some coupons for Sports Basement and talked to the guy at the Chain Reaction booth about bikes and gear. Chain Reaction will donate a portion of your purchases to your fundraising total, but it’s less than the amount I’d save by going to Sports Basement, plus the closest one is a little far away. So I think I’ll be going to Sports Basement unless I find a bike at another shop that offers TnT discounts. That Synapse was pretty sweet!

11/5/10

Right before lunch today, I called Slough’s Bike Shoppe to see if my bike was going to be ready. Turns out they missed the note about me needing it by today. They pushed everything else aside and worked on the bike. It was ready when I needed it.

When I went to pick it up, I had to laugh. Pretty much everything I touched was done wrong. I installed the chain rings upside-down, the rear derailleur was completely misadjusted and the chain had one link too many. They replaced all the cables, fixed all of my mistakes and adjusted everything. I took it for a quick spin around the condo parking lot and everything seems right again. It’s been a long time since I could say that about this bike! I’ve probably only had it tuned up twice since I bought it. Part of me still wants to bring my beater, though. I kind of want to take it on a shake-down ride first, but I guess tomorrow is as good a time as any for that ride. I’ll have more experienced bike mechanics on the ride with me. Besides, the next day is hill repeats, so I’ll want the better shifting of the Rocky Mountain anyway. I’m looking forward to getting on the bike with the rest of the team, even if it looks like it might rain Sunday. Hopefully, I’ll post an update tomorrow about the first ride of the season!

Wanted to get more seat time, and the weather was unseasonably warm, so I rode to work: 7.5 miles each way.

The ride in was cold, but clear. I made great time, going from door to door in 35 minutes. That’s a new record!

I left the office around 5:50pm, so it was pretty dark on the way home. I used my yellow sunglasses lenses and lights. No real problems, but I did have a few close calls during the 45-minute ride. What can I say? People are idiots and way too many of them have driver’s licenses. I want to keep riding even after the time change this weekend, so I will have to invest in more lights if I want to have a chance of being safe on the road.

Went to Sports Basement in Sunnyvale today to test ride some bikes. Kevin, one of the bike shop guys, was very helpful. Tried a Felt F75, a racy aluminum bike with carbon fiber seat stays and fork. The ergos were all wrong for me. The crossbar was the only comfortable hand position. Trying to grab the drop bars was like trying to touch my toes! And the reach to the levels seemed too long. Even the seat felt (no pun intended) a little narrow. Then I tried a Cannondale Synapse Alloy 5, a “comfort” bike with an aluminum frame and carbon fiber forks. What a difference! I sat up much taller, which would work against me in head winds, but the reach to the bars and the levers was much shorter, which would help everywhere else. The seat was wider, too, which gave me more support. I was told by an experienced cyclist that the all-aluminum frame would be a harsher ride, but the seat must have made up for it.

Then Kevin gave me a short tutorial on pedals. They’re much simpler than mountain bike pedals, probably because roadies don’t have to worry as much about mud and dirt getting into the pedal/cleat interface. I’ll probably go with midrange Shimanos. We didn’t talk about shoes, but I’ll probably go midrange there too.

I’m going to look at some other brands before I buy, but right now, I don’t think I could go wrong with the Cannondale.

Dark clouds were threatening in the morning, but there was a break around noon. So I decided to get out and ride. I normally wouldn’t have, but I figured I am going to have to get used to riding in the rain if I’m going to do this century.

Took the day off from work to take my cat to the vet for some routine dental work. Made plans to have lunch with some friends and decided to ride there. About 16 miles r/t with a long lunch in between. Really started to notice how bad the pavement is around here and am wondering how skinny road bike tires will hold up under my 210lb. mass.

Thanks to some extra-generous donors, I’m now 11% to my fundraising goal of $2500. Thanks Grant and Susan!