I'm exhausted, in a good way. The day started with some cycling around the Chesterfield Valley/Wildwood areas. Nothing too extreme, just shaking out the legs. After some lunch, high-speed hiking (with an attempt at trail running thrown in to keep the heart rate up) at Lewis & Clark. Which, by the way, is in fine shape after yesterday's spotty rain. And to wrap it all up an evening paddle at Creve Coeur Lake, in my sister-in-law Amy's 12.5' boat, which has now replaced my 17' monster at the CC Lake Boathouse. Because she doesn't like my boat, and her boat is plenty capable in the placid lake environment.
I can't believe it's 8 o'clock already...where does the time go?
April 17, 2010
April 8, 2010
Quick Update
Wow, over a month since the last post. Oh, well, life gets in the way. So here's a quick update.
Still employed by the Great Pharmaceutical Juggernaut, for a couple more months anyway. Today the site was handed over to the company that bought it. Tomorrow should be interesting. Also had to say goodbye to my good friend and cubicle-neighbor Gary, though I'm sure I'll see him again soon; today was his last day of employment by the Juggernaut. Their loss, he's a legend in the small world of NMR.
Regular exercise, food moderation, and riding at Babler have been improving fitness quickly, as well as burning off the flab accumulated over the winter and at work. For some reason that job made me fat, but that's all over now! It's amazing how much easier it is to climb hills on a bike now...
The Trek and the Gunnar still vie for supremacy. I'm not sure there will ever be a final decision, they are both amazing bikes in their own ways. The Trek is stiff and fast, the Gunnar is quiet and smooth. If only the Trek was quiet, it could achieve outright victory.
With warm weather being more and more frequent, my legs are feeling the burn. It's tough not to ride when the weather is this fantastic.
Still employed by the Great Pharmaceutical Juggernaut, for a couple more months anyway. Today the site was handed over to the company that bought it. Tomorrow should be interesting. Also had to say goodbye to my good friend and cubicle-neighbor Gary, though I'm sure I'll see him again soon; today was his last day of employment by the Juggernaut. Their loss, he's a legend in the small world of NMR.
Regular exercise, food moderation, and riding at Babler have been improving fitness quickly, as well as burning off the flab accumulated over the winter and at work. For some reason that job made me fat, but that's all over now! It's amazing how much easier it is to climb hills on a bike now...
The Trek and the Gunnar still vie for supremacy. I'm not sure there will ever be a final decision, they are both amazing bikes in their own ways. The Trek is stiff and fast, the Gunnar is quiet and smooth. If only the Trek was quiet, it could achieve outright victory.
With warm weather being more and more frequent, my legs are feeling the burn. It's tough not to ride when the weather is this fantastic.
March 6, 2010
Trek vs. Gunnar: Throwdown at Babler
So at some point I bought a Trek Madone 5.2 Project One bike, tricked out in orange with Sram Rival component group and Easton Circuit wheels. Recently it was upgraded with a set of Red shifters I had lying around:
The Trek is a modern bicycle of bonded carbon fiber. The Gunnar is a "new classic" bicycle handcrafted from the finest of modern steel.
My curiosity leads me to constantly compare the two. Steel vs. Carbon. On flats and moderate inclines, I could tell little difference. Both transferred my leg power to the wheels effectively, both were silky smooth. The Trek has a lot more drivetrain noise - whether this is from amplification of noise through the ginormous frame tubes, or less exacting frame alignment I cannot say. Aside from the noise, though, both are comparable.
Recently, I took each to Babler Memorial State Park with the intention of comparing them on the brutal climbs there. Grades around 20%, where pedal mashing at VO2 max is the name of the game. I do not "spin" up those hills, I grind and slog up them as best I'm able.
In the end, I'd say the Trek is marginally more efficient. It was also noticeably more stable on the high-speed (40mph is common) descents. This is not to say the Gunnar is a slouch, we're talking very fine degrees of difference. Some or all of which could easily be in my head. Except the downhill stability, which was pretty obvious...but also could be attributed to wheel or fork characteristics and not just frame material.
So which is my favorite? That's a tough call. I prefer the Gunnar's quiet ride. And the steel bike does feel "springier", and "more lively". Traits that are hard to quantify or even describe, but there you are. For all out speed the Trek holds the edge. It also weighs a couple of pounds less, which makes a difference. For longer or more leisurely rides I'd choose the Gunnar in a heartbeat.
In the end, though, I'm quite impressed with the modern steel alloy. The steel frames of yesteryear were quite noodly and flexible beneath my enormous bulk, and I wasn't sure what to expect from the Gunnar. It is astonishing how competitive it is with the aerospace marvel of carbon fiber. The Gunnar craftsmanship is miles ahead of the Trek's mass-produced but advanced technology. In the end it comes down to your style of riding. If you're racing, carbon fiber hands down. Everything else, modern steel. Or if you're really lucky, one of each.
At some later point I bought a Gunnar Roadie frame in sparkly blue from my buddy TK. It was built up by yours truly with SRAM Force components and Mavic CXP33 wheels:
My curiosity leads me to constantly compare the two. Steel vs. Carbon. On flats and moderate inclines, I could tell little difference. Both transferred my leg power to the wheels effectively, both were silky smooth. The Trek has a lot more drivetrain noise - whether this is from amplification of noise through the ginormous frame tubes, or less exacting frame alignment I cannot say. Aside from the noise, though, both are comparable.
Recently, I took each to Babler Memorial State Park with the intention of comparing them on the brutal climbs there. Grades around 20%, where pedal mashing at VO2 max is the name of the game. I do not "spin" up those hills, I grind and slog up them as best I'm able.
In the end, I'd say the Trek is marginally more efficient. It was also noticeably more stable on the high-speed (40mph is common) descents. This is not to say the Gunnar is a slouch, we're talking very fine degrees of difference. Some or all of which could easily be in my head. Except the downhill stability, which was pretty obvious...but also could be attributed to wheel or fork characteristics and not just frame material.
So which is my favorite? That's a tough call. I prefer the Gunnar's quiet ride. And the steel bike does feel "springier", and "more lively". Traits that are hard to quantify or even describe, but there you are. For all out speed the Trek holds the edge. It also weighs a couple of pounds less, which makes a difference. For longer or more leisurely rides I'd choose the Gunnar in a heartbeat.
In the end, though, I'm quite impressed with the modern steel alloy. The steel frames of yesteryear were quite noodly and flexible beneath my enormous bulk, and I wasn't sure what to expect from the Gunnar. It is astonishing how competitive it is with the aerospace marvel of carbon fiber. The Gunnar craftsmanship is miles ahead of the Trek's mass-produced but advanced technology. In the end it comes down to your style of riding. If you're racing, carbon fiber hands down. Everything else, modern steel. Or if you're really lucky, one of each.
March 1, 2010
Post Cave Debrief
Saturday's ride was exactly what I was going for. Figure-8's around Babler State Park. Ride the ridge a while to warm up, then bomb down the center road and alternate veering left or right at the Y. The shorter climb to the left was manageable for me. The longer climb past the horse stables, that's the one that gets me. Past the "Y" there's a short, steep climb, then a short downhill, then the long slog back up to the ridge-top. I don't even remember half of the last time up that climb. Heart rate was close to max'd out, legs were dead, and I was thinking I should probably stop or my heart would just quit. Being an idiot, I just put my head down and thought about one pedal stroke at a time. Next thing I remember I looked up and was 20 meters from the top. Oxygen deprivation is a beautiful thing.
So beautiful, I think I'll go back on Tuesday. "Base miles" be damned.
So beautiful, I think I'll go back on Tuesday. "Base miles" be damned.
February 27, 2010
The Pain Cave
The Pain Cave is that place athletes go during particularly intense efforts. For me, the surest way to gain entry to the Pain Cave is by riding laps around Babler State Park.
The Cave starts innocently enough. "Hello, Brian, it's been awhile. Come on in." Clamber on the bike and start moving. After about 20 minutes, an eerie stillness settles in. That's the sign to start pushing it. Before long, the only noise you can hear is the roar of your lungs and the pounding of your heart. Your legs have transformed into searing, boiling lumps of lava. Your body begs, then demands that you stop. You fear your heart may just cease beating to end the misery. When you ignore all that - scream at yourself "Shut up, we're doing this" - and keep going, only then are you admitted to the Pain Cave.
It is a strange place. The agony is brutal and immediate; something you can feel, touch, examine every nuance. Horrifying, yet soothing. It consumes you: nothing exists except you and the pain, but at the same time it is remote, something outside of yourself. Everything is burned away in the fire of suffering.
The only thing that makes the Cave bearable is that you know it will stop at some point.
Most days, you use the cave to get stronger. Some days, you need the Pain Cave. The burdens become too much to bear on your own. You enter the Cave with stress, anger, frustration. You leave it calm and rejuvenated.
Today, I need the Pain Cave. I'm going there now. See you on the other side.
The Cave starts innocently enough. "Hello, Brian, it's been awhile. Come on in." Clamber on the bike and start moving. After about 20 minutes, an eerie stillness settles in. That's the sign to start pushing it. Before long, the only noise you can hear is the roar of your lungs and the pounding of your heart. Your legs have transformed into searing, boiling lumps of lava. Your body begs, then demands that you stop. You fear your heart may just cease beating to end the misery. When you ignore all that - scream at yourself "Shut up, we're doing this" - and keep going, only then are you admitted to the Pain Cave.
It is a strange place. The agony is brutal and immediate; something you can feel, touch, examine every nuance. Horrifying, yet soothing. It consumes you: nothing exists except you and the pain, but at the same time it is remote, something outside of yourself. Everything is burned away in the fire of suffering.
The only thing that makes the Cave bearable is that you know it will stop at some point.
Most days, you use the cave to get stronger. Some days, you need the Pain Cave. The burdens become too much to bear on your own. You enter the Cave with stress, anger, frustration. You leave it calm and rejuvenated.
Today, I need the Pain Cave. I'm going there now. See you on the other side.
February 25, 2010
Recent developments...
Well the winter doldrums have struck...been a while since my last update. Since then I met a great girl, who then dumped me on my birthday. With help from my best friend Christy I'm over it, don't worry.
My good friend Marty joined Facebook, which is great. At first I was leery of Facebook, but it's become a valuable tool in keeping in touch with people, and reconnecting with long-lost friends.
Another friend TK got out of the eBay business, which means I will have to find another way to pawn off my unwanted cycling gear. But he's moving on to better things, so it's all good.
This year will be a good year for cycling. I've begun shedding the winter fat a month ahead of schedule, new workouts have increased my off-season speed considerably...and events at work and in life have provided excellent rage-fueled workouts. Rage may be an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. Anger, stress, frustration: all these can be exorcised with some exercise. I could well be faster on a bike this year than ever before.
Ride on.
My good friend Marty joined Facebook, which is great. At first I was leery of Facebook, but it's become a valuable tool in keeping in touch with people, and reconnecting with long-lost friends.
Another friend TK got out of the eBay business, which means I will have to find another way to pawn off my unwanted cycling gear. But he's moving on to better things, so it's all good.
This year will be a good year for cycling. I've begun shedding the winter fat a month ahead of schedule, new workouts have increased my off-season speed considerably...and events at work and in life have provided excellent rage-fueled workouts. Rage may be an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. Anger, stress, frustration: all these can be exorcised with some exercise. I could well be faster on a bike this year than ever before.
Ride on.
January 23, 2010
Reshuffling
If you look closely, you'll see I've reordered my bike list. The Jake the Snake still takes top honors, although I fear for its life. Many miles on that aluminum frame. The odometer reads ~13,000 - and it got reset at some point with new batteries. May be time to retire the old boy. Probably 90% of those miles were spent on epic rides on the Katy Trail. For the past year or so, the Jake has been neglected. Too many pedestrians have overrun the Katy Trail, and it just got too boring.
And the Top Secret bike has sadly plummeted to the bottom. I don't know exactly why. On paper, its geometry nearly matches the orange Trek. It should fit. But somehow I can never get comfortable on it. I've swapped stems, changed saddles, moved the saddle around, everything. I just never "settle in" to it. It baffles me, but there it is.
And the Top Secret bike has sadly plummeted to the bottom. I don't know exactly why. On paper, its geometry nearly matches the orange Trek. It should fit. But somehow I can never get comfortable on it. I've swapped stems, changed saddles, moved the saddle around, everything. I just never "settle in" to it. It baffles me, but there it is.
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