Knoxville Double Century 2010

Executive summary:
202.15 mile
13,968 feet of climbing (Garmin 305, Ascent software)
16:12 rolling time
18:22 hours on the course


Trying to sleep the night before a double century is just plain hard. A strange bed, and the excitement of a kid the night before Christmas just does not make for a deep, relaxing sleep.

We'd planned to start the 2010 Knoxville Double Century at 4am, but Ron (spingineer) and Dan (Mr. LanceOldStrong), like me, were excited enough that we arrived at the start early and managed to roll out 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 3:45.

We were among the first on the route, and overtook the two earlier riders about 10 miles in. We'd gone 35 before the sun started to lighten the sky and a group of riders passed us. They turned into the first rest stop, which we ignored, so for a bit we were out in front. It's not a race, so it really didn't matter, and it wasn't a bother that we were passed a lot more as the day went on.

Sometime around dawn I could smell breakfast being cooked. The smell of bacon and coffee mixed with the morning air is a memory stirring aroma. Later, as the sun was going down, I'd find myself on the opposite end of the day, enjoying the smell of wood smoke and the fragrance of ham being prepared for dinner.

At mile 45 I got my first kiss of direct sunlight. It felt good after the coolish morning temperatures. It had been downright warm at our Holiday Inn in Vacaville at 3am, but once we hit the road away from the city I was glad I was wearing a light windbreaker. We knew the coolness wouldn't last, and indeed it didn't seem like long until we were baking. Dan's Garmin registered over 100 more than once before the ride was over.

Riding this long gives one time to be bizarrely philosophical. I found myself thinking about how a double century is a lesson about life. Whatever the conditions are, they'll change. Temperatures change, winds shift, when you can't go on somehow you do and have a burst of energy later. Uphills end and become downhills, Cool becomes warm becomes hot becomes cool becomes cold. Light becomes dark, and on and on.

By the first climb of the day it was already hot in the sun. We'd been warned about the poor road quality on the Howell Mountain decent, so I took it slowly, thinking I'd see giant holes in the road. Instead the road was a delight, with no problem sections and I wasted a perfectly good downhill hammering my brakes to go carefully. Oh well.

Berryessa Road was pleasant, but eventually it turns mean as it starts uphill. But before it got ugly I had a chance to ride along side Chuck Bramwell, the Executive Director of the California Triple Crown. Yep, the guy whose fault all my double riding can be blamed on. If it hadn't been for his neat-o jersey I'd never have been out there doing this ride.

Berryessa Road, once it starts uphill, is exposed to the sun, and somewhat relentless. The only relief is the all-to-brief tunnel and then the water stop shortly thereafter. I wanted to camp out in the tunnel, it was so cool, but we didn't. Seeing Princess Zippy and husband Thom at the water stop was encouraging. It's so good to see a friendly face as you are facing heat, hills, and the dreaded Loch Loman climb.

After a quick stop at the lunch area we started up toward Loch Loman. I'd been dreading it the whole ride. I'd attempted to save every drop on energy I had, hoping it would be enough. Two weeks earlier I'd had to stop twice while climbing it and lay my head on my bars, drip like an exploded radiator, and pray for my heart rate to drop. This time I just rode it. I even beat my group up to the top, no small feat as they are both stronger riders than I am. At the top I phoned home and while I waited for Dan, I noticed I had a flat. I got it fixed just as Ron rolled in.

At this point I'd achieved my major goal and thought the ride might as well be over. My other goal, however, -- finishing -- was still a long way away.

After a shortish climb up Cobb we all enjoyed a long, long, screaming decent at 11% plus into Middletown. What a blast.

After our decent we hit a long, straight flat road where Dan, for inexplicable reasons, decided to crank it up to 19+ and pull a long line of cyclists for miles. I managed to hang onto his wheel because he was careful not to accelerate too quickly, but we eventually rode everyone else off the back. I was relieved when we hit the rest stop and I got to grab a quick fist full of rest and fill up on ice.

Heading toward Lake Henessey and one of the last rest stops is just a blur to me. I was losing my thinking ability at this point. I remember climbing, and climbing, and I remember a wonderful decent on a smooth road toward the rest stop. The rest stop featured, of all things, hot dogs. That's about the last thing I'd want to see on a ride like this, but for many, including my riding partner Dan, it was just the thing they needed. We were checked for proper lights. I switched out my dark lenses to yellow and we were on our way after being promised it was easy from here back. They lied.

We had several climb and decents. Perhaps they would have been easier if we hadn't already ridden 180 miles, but we had. And it was dark. And getting later.

There's something magical about riding in the middle of nowhere in the dark. With no light other than your LED headlight and the spill of other cyclists lights for miles it's hypnotic. You can't see where you've been, where you're going or off to the sides. Your whole world becomes that 50 feet in front of you. Maybe it'll go up, maybe down. You just pedal. Occasionally there's a road sign. During one climb I was sure that I'd had a major and important life changing epiphany when I realized that the most beautiful sign there could possibly be is "Trucks, use low gears."

At our last rest stop we were promised we had only 13 easy miles to go. I'd been sanity and health checked by several folks and had to convince them all I was good to go. I don't think they really believed me. I was deep inside my own head and just wanted to roll, not rest.

The last 13 was a pain that seemed like it would never end. It was too dark to see my bike computer so I couldn't take refuge in the readout that would confirm I was still moving. I was sure at one point we would never really finish. Eventually we made the last turn and were just a few hundred yards from the end. I felt like a cycling god. An old, tired cycling god, but a god none the less.

Dan, who had been a flawless navigator for 201.9 miles called the last turn wrong and sent me down a driveway costing me at least 20 feet of extra riding, but I got turned around and rolled in with Dan and Ron, exactly together as we had started.

Tricia greeted me as I just stood over my bike, unsure about what to do, or how to get off. Eventually I managed to dismount and Tricia hugged me and gave me the best beer I've ever tasted.

That night I was without a clue. The next morning I was still clueless, but added hungry beyond description. IIHOP was, at that point, an amazing culinary experience. Bacon, eggs and pancakes never tasted so good.

Monday I'm still a little loopy, but feeling better and able to speak in complete sentences most of the time.

Let me add this note: Quack Cyclists rock! They had the best support I've ever seen. Great stuff at rest stops, massive amounts of Hammer products, smiling volunteers that know what you're going through and SAG cars everywhere. At one point a guy ran from his car and tossed an ice sock on Dan's shoulders without Dan didn't even slowing down. They were great!

Now I just have to recover enough for the Bass lake double in two weeks….

Injuries: Not too bad. Slightly tired neck, tight Achilles tendons and a weird skin pull from the gripper elastic where my bibs meet my legs. Must have been from all the heat. Oh, and really bad helmet hair.

Voodoo nutrition

If you ride, you know how some days you feels like you have snap, and you look forward to every climb and sprint. You likely also know what it's like to just feel off; able to ride, but just not with any enthusiasm or energy.

I've had that low energy thing going for a while now. I've done long rides, short rides and commute rides and just felt blah. It's been making me nervous as I have the Knoxville Double Century coming up in 13 days.

On Saturday I told Tricia I'm willing to try voodoo, and that we should drop by the Vitamin Store and see what kind of snake oil they were pushing this month. I was ready to try anything.

I've been trying to drop a few pounds before this ride, and I've been very focused on my eating. I've not had a drop of calorie-rich alcohol this month, and I've been religious with my diet.

Apparently I've been over doing it. According to Doctor-My-Wife-Tricia and the folks behind the counter at the Vitamin Store I've not been getting enough protein. Indeed, when we returned home and Googled about for guidelines, I was way under everyone's recommendations.

So I bought a big thing of Gold Standard Whey. The sales folks said I should eat a giant jar every 15 minutes (that might be a slight exaggeration) but we figured just taking enough to get my protein intake up to average might help.

After drinking some last night, and again this morning, I went for a ride and felt better than I have in at least two weeks.

It may be voodoo, but I don't care. I'm feeling less worried about the Knoxville Double, and that's what matters.

I am down to 149pounds. I'm thinking every pound of fat I don't have to haul uphill will be a good thing. I'm hoping for 145 by the ride. We'll see.

Knoxville Double recon ride

LanceOldStrong convinced me it would be a good idea to recon part of our planned Knoxville Double. Tricia came alone just because, and Ron came because he might ride the double with us.

We left Pope Valley at about almost 9 am and rode all day. It was hot, and seemed like uphill the whole way. We ended up at 89 miles with just under 7000 feet of climbing.

Along the way we got to ride through deer-hunting-territory, complete with lots of rifles and pickup trucks. We rode forever with no water stops, draining our bottles to the point where Lower Lake looked like an oasis in the desert.

I'm still stunned with how steep the back off Cobb Mountain and Loch Lomand Road are. Ouch. I can't wait to hit it 100 miles into our double....

Tricia gets some award. I'll post if I can figure out something grand enough to present her with. She rode with "the boys" again. I admit there were many section where I had trouble, or just couldn't, keep up with her. She's such a cyclist, she always claims to be slow, or having a bad day, then just rocks.

Dan did his usual great job navigating, even when the cue sheet went stupid. We all lived, and nothing broke on the bikes. A good time was had by all.


A rare photo of me on my own blog, stolen from Ron. Thanks Ron!

Marin Century volunteer ride

LanceOldStrong and I rode the Volunteer edition of The Marin Century. The route was great, with no stupid miles in towns with traffic lights. The whole course was beautiful, and it seemed like we saw about three cars all day. The only issue was wind, wind and yet still more wind, with wind. At one point Dan stood up to hammer and a huge gust just about stopped him cold. We spent and amazing amount of energy to blast along at 12 mph for way too long.

We just about got used to wind and accepted it, then we'd stop and think "Holy smokes!" as the wind whipped us about and blew stinging sand into our flesh. At one point we looked over at a small inland pond and there were white caps and waves. Really.

Still, somehow, it was a fun 103 miles, and will hopefully prepare us for our upcoming Knoxville Double.

And we still can't say enough about the Marin Cyclists Club. They are so nice, welcoming and organized. It's really been a pleasure riding and working with them.

Diablo and training for the Knoxville Double

Tricia and I rode with Joyce on Saturday. Northgate to the Diablo Junction, down the South Gate and out through Reliez Station Road in Lafayette and Pleasant Hill. Here's a photo of Joyce because she hasn't shown up here lately, and the clouds were just grand.

I'd ridden the junction with LanceOldStrong the week before, and also done a series of five hill repeats up Somersville Rd to Black Diamond Mines on Thursday. I'm getting in my climbing, but I think I'm getting slower instead of stronger. Here's hoping I'm ready for Knoxville. My goal there: Finish alive. That's all, just finish.

Volunteering at the Mt. Tam Double Century

LanceOldStrong and my own bad self volunteered to staff a rest stop in Point Reyes Station for the Mt. Tam Double. As part 4 of our quest for the California Triple Crown Thousand Mile Club we are required to volunteer at a double century. We picked the right one. These folks were great. As LanceOldStrong pointed out, they used our time well and gave us what we needed to be at our best for the riders. We showed up to a stocked van and a huge binder containing just about every piece of info imaginable. If you ever plan to volunteer for a ride, you couldn't do better than working with this group.

Our rest stop rocked, and we enjoyed greeting and feeding riders as they rolled in. Dan made about 12,537,736 PBJs and seemed to enjoy building every one of 'em.

Cycling Crater Lake

Here's the deal: A ride with climbing, in my book, is any ride that gains 100 feet per mile. This ride was a mere 41 miles, but with 4,412 feet of climbing. Not so bad, unless you factor in that it all happens between 6000 and 7800 feet. There's just no air up there, and if you live at sea level you really feel it. That said, what a ride. It was impossible not to stop every few feet just to gawk at the amazing vistas.

Click this image to see a larger image. I'll leave all the guidebook stuff about volcanic action and lava and such to real web sites. I'll just point out that if you ever get a chance to go here, don't think twice, just do it.

The cycling is grand. The roads are smooth as they are closed in the winter, and there are no big trucks chewing them up, because they don't go anywhere commercial. During the week there isn't even much traffic. Aside from the very real lack of oxygen, it's pretty much ideal.

And did I mention the scenery?

We camped out, cooked out, fought mosquitoes, drank a bit 'o wine and had a grand time. We talked to Sacramento Wheelmen who had a group ride through where we were, and had a nice time chatting with a California Triple Crown jersey wearer we encountered on the rim trail.

We even managed to stop off at the Sundial Bridge in Redding on the drive home.


As you might know from my posts here, I recently lost my father. I'm going through the painful task of sorting through his possessions and getting his business in order.

My wife, Tricia and I talked with my father about our planned trip just before he passed, and my brother insisted we really needed to go, so we decided to go ahead with our plans.

A day before we left, as we were headed over to work on Dad's condo when Tricia asked "Did you check under your Dad's bed?"

I hadn't. When I did I found a small box labeled "Curtis Treasures"

Inside were a few small objects from my childhood, including a top, some beads, a peace symbol, and a few other items. Among them, my early 1960s Boy Scout camping silverware.

We took them on our trip and used them every day.

Thanks, Dad.

In an odd coincidence, my sweet wife had packed away her darn-near-matching girl scout version of the same kit, which she dug out and took along as well.

Blue Lake ride

Tricia and I are visiting Mariel and Keith on our way to Crater Lake. They live in the lovely town of Blue Lake near Arcata. We managed to sneak in thirty miles this morning, and we are so glad we did. We rode through redwoods, through fog, and through country lanes covered by the tree canopies. We rode over Mad River, worthwhile for the name alone.

Keith picked our route, and together we managed to build a circular route in Google maps using the bike feature and MyMaps points. It generally worked, though we're still puzzled over one odd turn it suggested.

Memorial ride for Glenn Corlew

I lost my father, Glenn Corlew, on Saturday morning. I needed to get tired and turn off my head, and at the same time, remember him. I decided to ride up Mt. Diablo as a memorial. Several of my supportive bikeforums.net friends joined me and my sweet wife for a wonderful ride. Thanks to you all.

Photo by Irene Hightower. I hope she doesn't mind.

The joy of hill repeats

When Dan (LanceOldStrong on Bikeforums.net) said we'd put a stone on the bumper every time we got to the top of the hill again, I thought he was being funny. But after three I had no idea how many we'd done and was glad for the pebbles.

As part of our assault on the California Triple Crown 1000-miles-worth-of-doubles jersey, we plan to attempt the Knoxville Double. We've got three doubles under our belts, but this one has a lot more climbing. To train we've decided to commit one night a week to pain, with no fun.

Our first effort was hill repeats up Avila Road in Bay Point, a dead end road that runs next to Highway 4 over the Willow Pass. Each .7 mile trip up averages just over 9 percent. We did eight. I tried to keep my heart rate above 90% max on each. During one silly "I'm in the tour" moment I was reading 99.

It sure wasn't fun, but I'm hoping it helps make my next double century a success. Because two weeks after Knoxville is the Bass Lake Powerhouse Double...

Mt. Hamilton

LanceOldStrong of Bikeforums.net and I had never ridden up the famed Mt. Hamilton. It's a classic SF Bay Area ride, so we figured we'd better get it done this summer. It was a stellar day, so sunscreen was in order. More is better, too much is just right.

The ride up is about 20 miles, with a couple of short downhill sections in the middle. The whole thing makes for just a bit over 5000 feet of climbing. Since the road was built to haul up huge parts for the Lick Observatory it never gets steeper than about a six percent grade. That makes for a very nice ride indeed. The observatory is old school UC Berkeley architecture. It makes you feel smarter just from walking through it. It's really a beautiful place.
The ride back down is a blast. It isn't as steep or as technical as Diablo, so you can feel almost like you're skiing it without thinking that you might miss a corner any second. The pavement was a delight, especially near the bottom, where it's baby-butt smooth. All in a all it's a very rewarding 40 mile round trip.

We're thinking about doing a future ride as a 100+ mile loop from Livermore, and up the back side. It's supposed to be a bit harder, and it's over 100 miles.

We were wearing our new Northern California gear. Our fans seem to love it.

New Northern California BikeForums kit

The kits I designed for the gang at the (take a breath) "BikeForums.net Northern California sub forum" finally arrived. With a lot of help from Tricia and daughter Erin I mailed out a bus load of USPS flat rate envelopes filled with jerseys, vests shorts and bibs. I ordered myself a jersey, summer jersey, long sleeve fleece jacket/jersey, bibs and knickers and was releaved when they came that I do indeed actually like the design.

Tricia got shorts and a jersey. I made photos of her after 25 fast miles in 90 degree heat and she's still talking to me.
Champion Systems did the work on the jerseys, and did a nice job. I particularly like their summer jersey, which has mesh bits that keep you cool, but doesn't look like mesh.

The kit is getting a pretty good review in the forums, and I didn't mail anyone the wrong size, so life is good.

Art in Antioch, part 1

I'm going to try adding a new feature to this blog: Public art that I see on my bike rides in East County, particularly Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood and Pittsburg.

When Tricia and I rode past the new sculpture at the corner of Rockspring and Mt. Hamilton in Antioch, I swear I thought Antioch had at last embraced a Dr. Seuss world view. The piece, by artist Robert Ellison, is both monumental and whimsical. It twists like the wind is about to take it down, and looks like... well, it looks exactly how it looks. If you don't smile, or even laugh, when you see it you're just missing out on life somehow.

As with much of the public art in Antioch, the problem isn't the art as much as it is Antioch. As fun as the piece is, it's dwarfed by the surrounding homes and light poles. I can't help but think how much more interesting this piece would be in a less crowded environment. Maybe it says something about Antioch that the largest pieces of public sculpture in the area are traffic lights. We're so used to them we don't see them, but they are amazingly large cantilevered light-emitting, sway-in-the-wind, big-dollar public monuments. This little piece has a hard time competing.

Judging from the newspaper web site comments, this piece seem to be confounding the citizenry of Antioch much as the delightful Sprint Poles befuddled the city of Concord a few years ago. I always fear we'll only get the art we deserve. I'm hoping this shows that isn't always true. This work is a step up from a lot of the trite, predictable pieces we have elsewhere in the city. I hope it's a trend.

Mt Diablo Hill Climb Time Trial 2010

Photo from Diablo Scott and his magnificent blog

It's now official: I am slow.
This isn't exactly news, but it the first time it's been 100% official, complete with numbers and statistics, officially timed and UCI certified.
My start time was 9:26. I know that because I wrote it in sharpie on my leg because I just couldn't keep it in my head.
I competed in the 55+ group. My single-day race license had me as 16 years old, but that got sorted out at the the registration table. As I pined my number on I saw zillion dollar bikes on wind trainers, ridden by the amazingly thin. I just rode around a bit to warm up.

The start was an official platform, just like the one ones at the races you see on TV. That itself was intimidating. I was worried I'd slip just walking up the ramp. There was a holder, and I was worried I'd fall over, or somehow screw up. I'd read that I should be careful not to start in too big a gear, so I didn't.

And BOOM, I started.
My plan was to start relatively easy and ramp up as I went along, saving a lot for the last third. But I was too too excited. I was at 95% of my max heart rate in seconds. I passed my first rider in about 3 minutes. Unfortunately it wasn't a racer, just a rather heavy cyclist out for a ride. Oh well. I was passed by some rocket lad at about mile one. Many others passed me before I finished. I lost count.

I was trying to keep my heart rate at 92-93%. Any more and I'd have died before I finished. I did have bursts of 95-96 and dropped down to the high 80's just for a moment when I lost concentration.
I saw Diablo Scott making photos, and, when I saw a small car-flattened snake I thought I should photograph it for him for his road kill report. But I had no camera, and it was, after all, a race.

Eventually it all ended about 6 miles later, right by the ranger house. It's now hours later and my chest still hurts from breathing so hard. I know I'm slow, but I can't believe how fast some people blow past me. It's just amazing.

I'm waiting for the results to be posted on the web so I can see if anyone was slower than me. When I looked at the sheets they had taped up, I didn't see anyone who was.
On the up side, I had thought I'd hit 50 minutes. I think my official time was 42-something, so I beat my estimate. And I didn't die, or screw up any one else in their attempt.
Still, it would be swell to be just a hair less slow — to maybe break 40 or something.

I guess there's always next year...

BREAKING NEWS:
The results are up. I was not last. There were five mens finishers slower than me. Sure, three were juniors. And I was last in my group. But I'll take what I can get.

Mendocino Monster Century 2010

The Mendocino Monster lived up to it's name. It really was a monster. Though it was billed as a century with 8000 feet of climbing, my Garmin reported it as
111 miles with 10,379 feet of up.

Tricia and I started the night before with a dinner in Ukiah at Patrona with a contingent of Bike Forum folks. The food was wonderful, but I don't know if I've ever been to a slower restaurant.

Sunday Morning we rolled out of the parking lot right at 7am. I wish the organizers would have planned for an earlier start, and hope they do next year. We left Ukiah and headed toward Mendocino and the coast in the cool but comfortable morning air.

Overall, this ride has fewer "junk miles" than any ride I've done. Lots of rides, though beautiful, have sections of city streets, traffic lights, broken glass and stickers, or high traffic. This ride was 99.9% unreal. The whole thing takes place in an unreal landscape. There are sweeping vistas, old-growth redwoods, wildflowers and wonderful aromas the whole way.

The ride is tough. I don't recall a flat spot the whole day. We either went up, or down. The ride starts with a tough climb, but having fresh legs makes it fun. The same hill, but a different route on the way back seems like it will never end, even though there aren't any steep spots, just a relentless 6% grade for miles.

If there was a downside to the route, it might be the road surface. A lot of the way the road is in ill repair, potholed and rough. In some spots it's merely gravel.
Oddly, it didn't bother me much. I think my magic Roubaix and the fact that I took my descents cautiously made my day less painful. I'd hate to try to get max speed on some of the surfaces we rode.

The feeling of an otherwise wonderful day was somewhat darkened by two crashes. On rider crashed right by LanceOldStrong. It appeared something happened to his bike. He was airlifted out. We saw another rider being loaded on an ambulance later in the day. I'd sure like to find out how they are, and what happened.

This was the organization's first effort, and they did a fine job. Lox and bagels at one rest stop, tri-tip at the post-ride meal. They marked the route well, and were just nice people. Tricia and I both won raffle prizes (Wine and a bottle of local apple brandy!)

My camera got a smudge on the lens part way through, so most of my photos have a weird dream-like look. I guess that makes sense for a ride with so many "tobacco accessory" shops downtown.

There's even a music a video!



In related news:

• With just a little pressure/encouragement from LanceOldStrong (shown below, hammering uphill) I've signed on for the Knoxville Double and Bass Lake/Powerhouse Double. We'll volunteer at the Mt. Tam Double. With luck we'll qualify for the California Triple Crown 1000 mile jersey.
• Saddle sores are a pain. After years of riding I finaly get to try one, and I do not recommend them, Yech.

Davis Double, 2010 and a ride up Diablo

Things I failed to post: (I've been a bum and haven't kept this up.)

Diablo Summit:
Fun ride up Diablo with Tricia, LanceOldStrong and Steve.
I think it's because I had camera issues and hate to post without art. But Steve provided me with a Diablo photo. (Thanks!)


Davis Double 2010: Complete! Alas, no ride photos...
Here's a quick outline of Davis:

I started with LanceOldStrong George P and Dante at 4am. I managed to hang on their hammer-fest until stop one, where I didn't stop. I rolled and they caught me again, and again I couldn't hang on. I rolled the second stop, just for water. I didn't dismount the bike until mile 95.
My goal was to minimize stop time, and I did. I was stopped altogether less than an hour, allowing me to finish at 15 hours 7 minutes. I got in a hair after 7 in the daylight.
A few thoughts:

• Riding with temps in the 70s instead on 100s makes for a nicer day indeed.
• Cobb is still steep.
• I'd forgotten the downhill just before Resurrection rest stop. What a blast.
• I had a headwind rolling downhill on Cashe Creek and was going really slow until I got behind a big strong guy and then hit 20 and 22 for a lot of it. What a relief.
• LanceOldStrong and I now qualify for the Triple Crown jersey.

I averaged only 14.1 moving speed. Weak. I was faster last year in the heat. Heck, I was 15.1 at Hemet, and 14.9 at Davis in the amazing heat of 08. So I was a slow rider this year.
But...
I turned in my best overall time and speed: 15:07 hours. as opposed to 16:37 last year. That's a huge difference! My overall average speed, counting stops, went to 13.3 mph.
15:07 total hours, and a moving time of 14:15 means I wasn't moving only 52 minutes of the ride.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to approach this ride in the future. Go faster and rest more, or carry on with minimal stops.
I know, I should HTFU and do both. Like that's possible.

And, finely

• Carbon bike: 3K plus
• Davis Registration and two hotel nights: 300ish
• Having my sweet wife greet me at the finish with a hug, kiss and great big, perfectly chilled bottle of Lagunitas IPA: Priceless.

Tour of California Sacramento finish 2010

It was a tough race, but even wearing blue jeans I managed to nudge out Radio Shack's Armstrong in the end. Either that or Nissan had a booth with a green screen and a bike on a trainer where they'd photograph you and give you a print.

The "lifestyle festival" was fun, even though I can't say "lifestyle" without gagging just a bit. We drooled over 12 pound bikes and graffitti-decorated cruisers. Tricia got a Hincappie jersey and I bought super light tires at much less than half price at the Kenda booth. I really wanted the $300 Skinz bib shorts, but managed to talk myself out of spending that kind of money. We also picked up some carbon wheels (picked up, not bought) that seemed like a good deal at $2500.

Watching the Sacramento Grand Prix was amazing. It's really magic when the pelton blows past creating wind like a semi truck and sounds like a machine shop.

Bike to Work Day posters 2010

My graphic design class designed posters for Los Medanos College Bike to Work Day. Here's a quick slide show of the best ones. You can also look at it full screen.

Serious injury or death

I peeled eleven stickers off my new Specialized Roubaix Expert. Most were silly, but the "serious injury or death" is somewhat worrisome. But still, not as worrisome as the type choice Specialized made for these stickers. I went a bit nuts and rode the bike without reading all the instructions. I wonder if I missed anything really important?

Specialized Roubaix Expert

It's here! It's here! I finely got the bike of my dreams, and so far it seems to ride like a dream. From the first short test up a really beat up Antioch street to today's descent down Mt. Diablo it's been even nicer than I'd hoped for.

Details: Specialized Roubaix Expert. Full Ultegra 6700. Triple (52-39-30 with 12-28)

I changed out the stock Avatar saddle after a 30-second test and put a Specialized Toupe 130 on it, which fits me better, is lighter and as a bonus, just looks swell.

As much as I like the package, I do have a few quibbles. Why they put 42 cm bars on a 52 cm bike is beyond me. It seems like a mismatch. I've got 40s on order at the shop. Other than the width, though, the bars feel great. I really like the shallow drop.

I wish they'd have shipped reach spacers with the bike. The new Ultegra 6700 has reach adjust with inserts. I have small hands and like pretty compact shifters. I'd ordered the inserts online. They're only a couple of bucks, but it seems like they should have been included.

The wheels are very nice looking. Perhaps a bit more weighty than my American Classic 420s, but they look sharp. I'm already looking forward to the tires wearing out so I'll have an excuse to put on something I like more than the stock Specialized All Terrain extra-heavy-seeming tires.

But the darn bike looks so sharp I haven't added the second water bottle cage, the GPS, seat bag or pump yet. I know I need to so the bike will be really practical, but it's hard to hang all that junk on it when it looks so clean now. I'll just have to ride with Tricia a while and steal her tube and pump if I flat.

It may be uncool, but I am enjoying the triple thus far. The 52-39-30 chain rings seem to fit my riding more than the compact 50-34 on my other bike. And I have no ego about dropping into the granny. It just works for me.

Tricia and I went up Diablo's South Gate with BikeForum.net's RoboChem (Cliff) to shake out adjustment details and try it on a hill. He said he's never been in anyone's blog before, so here he is. The ride up was easy, and the ride down, even in the wind, was very stable. The way the bike sucks up vibration and bumps is confidence inspiring.

My sweet daughter has been in Italy in a study abroad program. She said she saw this jersey through a window in the back of a shop as she walked past and thought I'd love it. She was so very right. And it's even better because it came from her. Here's a photo of it.