FLASH-POINT BLOG ARCHIVE: Jun 2009

I ride a Trek 1200. I've upgraded it with aerobars and of course the Flashpoint wheels (aka "cheater wheels" as my friends call them), but it is still essentially an entry-level bike I've had for four years and it's time for something new.

I started my bike hunt late last fall, and it was the worst possible time. I went to at least 6 different bike shops, none of them had any of the bikes I wanted in my size. So they would send me out to test a bike that was too big or too small for me. Some of them were literally painful to ride. Time after time I was told I should just buy the bike and they would order the correct size for me.

I know many people will purchase a bike purely on spec, but that's not me. I'm willing to read the reviews and listen to advice for some general guidelines, but if I'm going to lay out a fairly large sum of cash, I want to have at least SOME idea what the bike is going to feel back. And coming back from a test ride with a sore back because the frame is too small is not a fair way to judge a bike.

I may have missed out on last year's clearance sales, but apparently the shops have better-stocked inventories now so I am back on the hunt. I have an Ironman triathlon in 4 months; I'd like at least 3 months of training on the new bike so I'll either get something in the next few weeks or wait until early fall.

The frontrunner based upon price/specs: Cervelo P2. If I can find a 51 to test, it may be a done deal.

Last summer, I had the most amazing legs.

I mean, really - I biked across the country (from Jacksonville, FL to San Francisco, CA), and by the time I had reached Santa Fe, NM, my legs were freaking awesome.

None of my pants fit, mind you (strong quads=big quads=pants not fitting up and over your butt), but jeez... I had some kick-ass muscles, and I liked wearing skirts.

Now, I put on my spandex to go on the first ride of the season (I know, I know - it's been WAY too long), and as I get on my bike and glance down at my legs, I can't help but feel a bit mortified by the lack of muscle tone.

Yeah, I taught spinning classes all year. Yeah, I went on a week-long biking tour over winter break. But the truth is that it takes a good month of solid biking to build up the kind of leg that makes you look like a real athlete. When am I going to have another MONTH to just. bike.? Ever? God, I miss it. Biking makes you feel so free, so void of problems and responsibilities and scandal.

But actually, what I miss most is the feeling that I was doing something great. I was biking across the US with a bunch of idealistic 20-somethings, and I was having the time of my life.

I'm happy right now (and my beautiful pink Orbea Diva with FP80 wheels is a lot easier to ride than the entry level bike Bike and Build gave me), but there is definitely a part of me that wishes I was still sleeping on church floors and consuming 5,000 calories of junk food a day.

And yeah, I definitely miss those huge biking legs.

I am Facebook friends with my riding group. This week was Holly's birthday, and her boyfriend Jerry bought her a very special present. These are some of their posts on Facebook (I'm the one they call "Wedgie", which is another story entirely):

HOLLY woke up to a beautiful black and white carbon fiber race wheel that is going to go on my beautiful black and white carbon fiber bike!!!!!! :)

HOLLY My 29th Birthday Present!!!!! It's beautiful!!!! (Or maybe you don't understand so just trust me... IT'S BEAUTIFUL! hehe)

JERRY It might sound lame, but it's a VERY pretty wheel (and elicited a few tears!)

MARY LOL! Heather if you and Gerald didn't have dogs, those bikes would be in bed with you. You're a little twisted.

ANDY Nice, you'll be fast now just ask Wedgie.....

WEDGIE Cheater Wheel! Cheater Wheel!



Some people are really passionate about their gear.

Living in Southern California, I am lucky enough to have a lot of interesting scenery during my bike rides: Sandy beaches. Spanish Missions. Orange groves. Ski lifts.

Ski lifts?

Ironman Wisconsin, my next big race, has a reputation for being hilly. But rather than training on rolling hills out here, we’ve been doing climbs. Big climbs. Climbs which I’m not used to doing. This weekend we did a 75-mile ride which started out with 35 miles of climbing.

Los Angeles is bordered by the San Gabriel mountains, and that’s where we went. There are long, winding, mountain roads that take you up out of the smog and into some beautiful areas. The air is clean and you can smell the pine trees and the views are magnificent. But all of this comes at a price; it’s all uphill. Over 6,000 feet of elevation gain with very few places where it flattens out at all, let alone turn downhill. It got to the point where the 1%-2% grade sections of climbing felt like they were downhill, simply because they were easier than the 6%-7% parts.

It was a little surreal once we started getting close to the top. That’s when we rode past the Mt. Waterman ski resort. The lifts weren’t running of course, but we did see large patches of honest-to-goodness snow on the ground. That’s how high up we were. Going for a bike ride in Los Angeles, at the end of May, and seeing snow? That’s just wrong.

We stopped at Newcomb’s Ranch for lunch, which is a very popular motorcycle hangout. Our flashy yellow spandex uniforms didn’t quite fit in with all of the leather chaps, but it’s a very accepting crowd. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan my nutrition very well and was dehydrated and salt-depleted. I got a MAJOR cramp in my leg, the worst I have ever felt in my life. The best way to describe it is that it felt like someone injected a baseball into my inner thigh. Killer plain for about a minute two until I was finally able to straighten out my leg.

You would think that 35 miles of climbing up would mean you’d get a great 35 miles of coasting back down the mountain, and it’s kind of true. But by this time, my back and arms and butt were so sore that I couldn’t truly appreciate the ride down. When I stopped pedaling, I could feel my legs start to tighten up so I tried to keep them moving as much as possible. It also didn’t help having motorcycles and trucks whizzing by us along the steep, narrow, winding road.

I probably was a little undertrained for the amount of climbing we did, but any ride that does not kill you makes you stronger. I definitely feel stronger now.

Here’s the route:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/duarte/956124387390645004