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Posts tagged with "cycling"

Great Cycling Equipment

Wednesday, 25. June 2008, 02:39:03

Okay, so I've been cycling a lot over the last year and a half. It's been really fun to learn how to cycle in a pack as well as improve in various skills (climbing, sprinting, spinning, etc.). I've also been commuting to work 2-4 times a week for bit over a month so far. As I've spent this time trying various pieces of equipment for both my road bike and my mountain/commuter bike here are the things that I've found most helpful:

  • Halo sweat band: this is both simple and ingenious. It's a dryfit sweat band that has a simple rubber strip on the front half of it that forms a solid seal against your forehead. That routes all sweat along the strip to where it ends on the sides of your head thereby keeping it from dripping into your eyes. I've tested it in my commute and on group rides and...it works perfectly! Now I don't have sweat dripping down my cycling sunglasses skewing my view. Excellent!
  • TransIt Epic Dx Paniers: These things are huge and seem to be very well made. Love the storage space as well as the thoughtful & expandable top pockets. They even include rear pockets for extra storage (I keep an emergency rain jacket in one with room to spare and a tire/tool kit in the other...with lots of room to spare in that one). They hang on to my Blackburn rack solidly and don't move at all. I've carried shoes, socks, pants, dress shirt, undershirt/underwear, belt in one side and a laptop, lunch, extra cycling jacket in the other side. Still have room to spare. I also like the fact that they come with rain covers that are florescent yellow. I use them all the time just for visibility's sake as well as for keeping them clean. There are only two things that I would point out as needing improvement: 1) taking them off the rack is a test in finger dexterity and strength. When those things are on there...they're really on there. 2) it'd be nice to have a top carrying handle or strap. Once they're off, they are awkward to carry. It looks like there are spots to clip a strap to the top...but they didn't come with any.
  • CamelBak water bottles: Both Jodi and I really like these new water bottles. It's nice because to drink from them, you just squeeze them and they automatically open and shut...kind of like a kid's sippy cup...but much cooler. The plastic is supposed to not impart any taste to your water/drink. Whatever. I've never really noticed that sort of thing from our other water bottles anyway. I also like how you can lock the nozzles shut when transporting them. It's nice not having to do the old chin- or hip-slap to shut the nozzle like on our other bottles. It's the little things that make the difference.
  • Forte Bar Ends: I put a set of these on my mountain-bike-turned-commuter and they really help eliminate any wrist discomfort for me. The allow me to put my hands in a position that is very similar to riding on the hoods of my road bike. The only bummer is that this puts my hands away from my brake levers...but they're still close enough.
  • Campus pedals on my commuter: I like these because one side is a clip for my mountain bike shoes and the other side is flat so I can use regular shoes/sandals. Very convenient.
  • T-Mobile Dash with Motorola S9 bluetooth A2DP headphones: I really like listening to mp3 books or music wirelessly. The only complaint that I have...and it's kind of a big one... is that after I sweat a bunch on the S9's, it knocks out some of the buttons until they dry out. Actually, my Play/Pause button stopped working altogether months ago after a particularly sweaty spin session. I think this could have been avoided if I had my new Halo sweatband from the beginning. The bummer thing is that the S9's are supposed to be for active lifestyles and sweat resistant. Too bad they're not sweatPROOF. I might just switch back to the stock wired mini-usb headphones that came with my smartphone.
  • CatEye cycling computers: it's great to automatically capture speed, duration, top speed & distance as well as cadence (on my road bike). I use the wired versions rather than wireless because I've heard that the battery life is better.
  • Timex Heart Rate Monitor strap & watch: it's just good to keep an eye on the ticker to see just how hard I am or am not working. It's also handy for managing my zone training.
  • Helmet mounted Rear View mirror: it's nice to not be surprised by a passing car while commuting or a passing rider when in a pack. In fact, in today's pack ride...it helped me fend off an attacking rider because I could see him coming and speed up hold on for the "win". :smile: Admittedly, it's dorky looking...but it's functional!
  • Performance Ultra Riding tights: the chamois is very comfortable and the 10 panel construction rocks. I don't know what the material is, but it's amazingly light, wicks moisture away instantly helping me keep dry, comfortable and cool.
  • Pearl Izumi Vagabond cycling jacket: nice jacket overall with good pocket layout. The distinctor is that I can unzip the sleeves and use it as a cycling vest with a mesh back panel. Very functional, comfortable & stylish (if I do say so myself).
  • MyCyclingLog.com: What a great site!
Well I could go on, but those are the things that jump to my mind at this moment.

Ride on!

C.

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My Cycling Log

Monday, 26. May 2008, 12:51:11

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My Cycling Log

Cool website for logging mileage and other information for bike rides. It comes with some very nice reports for basic ride information.

C.

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Cycling in 2008

Tuesday, 20. May 2008, 02:49:17

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With the weather turning a bit nicer (and worse...then nicer...then worse...then nicer...then...sense a pattern here in the midwest?), it's been a lot easier to cycle. I remember riding out in January in sub-freezing temps and gladly enjoy the current weather SO much more!

It's been nice as the last few weeks, I've been piling up more mileage than normal: a couple of 100 mile weeks then 120+ and I'm on track to maintain it more easily now that I've started to bike to work a couple/few times a week. It's about 14 miles each way to the office, so 28 bonus miles each day that I do it added to the two 30 mile pack rides and probably a ride of some sort on the weekend. Fun!

Here's what I learned in the two times that I biked to work:
  • After piling up 80+ miles each in two separate 24-hour periods...a 14 mile commuting leg isn't a big deal. At. All.
  • Riding my MB on the Prairie Path is a whole lot slower despite being shorter and having WAY less stops. I just can't come close to maintaining the speed on my MB that I can on my road bike.
  • Cleaning up at work (a mini-sink shower and some fresh wipes) really isn't that bad. It's actually quite nice and I'm finding that I'm not sweating nearly as much as I thought I would.
  • Carrying my stuff (clothes, etc.) in a Trunk Bag/Paniers on my rack is much better than carrying that stuff in a bag on my back. It's nice to end a ride without "Sweaty-Back-Syndrome".
  • I forgot how nice the Prairie Path is...it's just so scenic and serene. Not having to stop every 5 minutes is pretty nice too. On my ride in this morning, I didn't have to bring my bike to a stop until after mile nine! My commute on the road last Friday, I found myself stopping constantly due to the road traffic lights & just traffic in general. Not to mention needing to stay on high-alert due to all of the car/truck traffic around me. On the Prairie Path, I just have to dodge joggers/walkers once in a while. Woot!
  • My MB (Giant Rincon - an entry level chromoly bike from the mid-Nineties) is an absolute TANK compared to my aluminum/carbon road bike. A tank, I say!
  • My MB seat is light-years more comfortable than my road bike racing seat. It's even labeled "Comfort" in big white letters on the back.
  • I'm really looking forward to saving on gas money now that it's hitting so close to $4 a gallon. Ouch!
  • I've had several conversations with other coworkers and there's about 3 or 4 that are going to do this regularly too. That's really cool!
So...commuting by bike to work: double thumbs up from me!

C.

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100 Mile Adventure

Monday, 27. August 2007, 02:01:06

We did it!

Jodi and I racked up 100 miles in five and a half hours on the Rolling River Ride in Yorkville. (We actually rode a total of 104 miles in the end.) We averaged a bit over 18 miles an hour. The ride was a blast. We hooked up with several other riders and our pack fluctuated between 3-12 people. After about 40 miles, we settled in with a great group that included 3 coach/athletes from Vision Quest Coaching. The main coach, Dan, and his two partners did a great job of coaching our group through the ride. For five of the nine of us, this was our first 100 miler. During the ride, we worked on single column/double column drafting & both constant & intermittent pull-rotation. He also coached us through things to think about when leading a pull (i.e. always pedal downhill so that drafters don't run up on you and ease up a bit after momentum fades on an uphill so that you don't drop the pack). The additional instruction really helped us pass the time and it made the ride seem a lot shorter than it was. They also offered lots of encouragement which is really helpful when you're working hard for that long.

Robbie Ventura was on the ride too. For the rest of us that didn't know, Robbie was a member of Lance Armstrong's Tour de France team. He was really nice as he rode with Jodi and I for a few minutes early on in the ride. Jodi even got to draft behind him for a while...how cool is that? He offered some good advice and it was clear that he knew what he was doing, obviously. He wasn't a very tall or husky guy, but his thighs were huge. Clearly a cyclist's cyclist.

We also have to say that each of the rest stops were great. They had plenty of great food to keep fueled up (granola bars, bananas, peanut butter sandwiches, Clif Shots, Gatorade, water, cookies, watermelon and some other great stuff). I don't think I fully understood the importance of staying fueled up on a ride of this distance until this ride. I could totally see how a rider could easily bonk if they didn't keep eating well. Robbie advised us to make sure we're eating because most riders can only metabolize about 300-500 calories an hour (or something like that). On a ride of this distance, it's easy to blow through those calories and then some. According to a calorie calculator on the web that I found, someone my weight would have burned through about 4500 calories at pace & distance. So that just underlined the importance of fueling up during rides. There also were bands/musicians at just about all of the stops. The final rest stop was amazing: it was at a bed & breakfast in Plano that was beautiful. Due to the layout of the route, we were blessed to have to stop there three times before the end of the ride. What a treat!

We did have period of despair in the first half of the ride as it was unclear to our pack and some of the volunteers what color arrow we should be following for the 100 mile route. At first, no one told us which of the four colors were associated with our route. Then, a fellow cyclist told us one color. About 30 miles into it, a volunteer steered us away from that color to a different one. About 5 miles later, a different volunteer said that the last volunteer was wrong and that we were following the 62 mile route. At that point, I was trying not to get really ticked off. But thankfully, a few minutes later, we hooked up with some of the other 100 mile riders and they confirmed that we were on the right path. Whew!

We ended up riding 104 miles all together as the distances weren't exact. That stretched out the ride to about 5 hours and 45 minutes. The extra 4 miles threw our group a bit (i.e. Did we get lost? Do we know where we're going? Did we take a wrong turn?), but it just made the end a bit sweeter. The after ride cookout was much appreciated and we were able to spend some time connecting with some of the other riders in our pack. We'll probably hook up with some of them on a weekly ride as they're part of the Naperville Bike Club.

The effects of drafting in a pack were amazing. The lead rider(s) took turns on a "pull" -- it really does feel like they're pulling the pack forward. The riders in second position after the leaders get a 25% break. The riders from third position back get a 33% break on effort for speed. Jodi and I also found that at one point, we had an odd number of riders in our pack, so one person was alone in the back. It was great though -- if we nestled behind/between the last riders in the columns, it was almost like a vacuum that pulled you forward. We just had to make sure there was no gap between us and the pack. Any extra effort it took to make up the gap was worth it after getting in the right drafting position.

Jodi and I are both still a little sore (glutes and quads mainly), but all in all, the after effects of the ride weren't that bad. We'll definitely do more of these rides.

Looking forward to the long haul,

C.

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Rolling River Ride -- Century!

Thursday, 23. August 2007, 17:15:21

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Jodi and I are going to do the Rolling River Ride 100 miler this Saturday. We're both looking forward to it as it should be a lot of fun as well as quite an adventure. If we hadn't been riding regularly, I'd be really worried. At this point, I just know we'll be a sore (a little or a little more than a little) the next day.

Ken Delo just passed on the best advice I've received (okay, the only advice I've received) for this ride: just make sure we stand up regularly just to keep the blood flowing. That's really a conscious thing that I do now to minimize any numbness on our 18-40 mile rides. So, I'm looking forward to the "Century" experience.

One byproduct I'm hoping for is that it'll help make the 40 milers seem like no big deal comparatively. I know that when we do our 38-40 mile rides, it makes our 18-25 mile rides seem like a quick sprint.

Perspective, it's a good thing.

I heard a neat quip on the radio where a gentleman shared how while he was despairing over a wayward child to a friend, his friend said something to the effect of "Man, it's only the 5th inning. There's no reason to give up hope." I like that. In one sense, our lives are a 2 second slice of time in light of eternity and our time is short. However, in another sense, especially when things are hard, there's no reason to give up and lose hope -- as long as we're still breathing, there's time and that means that there's hope. To me, that just underlines God's immense and deep grace. It reminds me of a poem by John Piper:

Not grace to bar what is not bliss,
Nor flight from all distress, but this:
The grace that orders our trouble and pain,
And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

God will not always shield us from trouble and difficulty. Although, as I think back over my life, I think he shielded me from a whole lot that could have been much worse than it was. The gracious realization is that He's promised to walk with us through difficulty. We're never alone and that's a good thing. That helps me to keep plodding on. Gradatim Ferociter!

Striving to keep the long-view,

C.

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Jodi. Flying.

Friday, 17. August 2007, 17:22:26

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We picked up a cool photo from the Naperville Sprint Triathalon. Click through the link a couple of times to see it at full resolution.

Sweet pic of my beautiful babe!

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O.R. Chicks Rule the Naperville Sprint Triathalon!

Monday, 13. August 2007, 02:28:17

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The results are in . . . Jodi's triathalon relay team (The O.R. Chicks -- all three of them work in the Operating Room at the hospital) came in first in their category. Check the results page. They were in the "Female Relay with Under 50 Member" section.



Kellie did the 1/4 mile swim, Jodi did the 12 mile cycle and Erin did the 3 mile run. Kellie and Jodi came in with the fastest splits and Erin's split was third among the 10 teams. They did great! Kellie said she didn't really prepare for the race, but she still rocked. Jodi said she really was going at about 70-80 percent effort because she didn't want to bonk...but she finished with tons of energy to spare, so she could have dropped at least 6 minutes off her already slammin' time. Erin's run is amazing because she did a 17 mile run the day before as she's training for the Chicago Marathon - she hit her goal time...think about what she could do if she was fresh!

All that to say that the ladies did a fantastic job. Erin's husband Lawrence and I decided that we're going to do the whole thing next year as it looked like way to much fun to miss out on.

Way to go Jodi, Erin & Kellie!

(Check out the picture album from the event)

C.

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Scattante R660 review posted on epinions.com

Wednesday, 1. August 2007, 18:19:59


I finally got around to posting a review of my road bike at Epinions.com. Click this link to read the review. This is a great bike, BTW.

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Super Week: Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Grand Prix of Cycling

Saturday, 28. July 2007, 03:02:00

Last Sunday afternoon, Jodi and I took Gabs & Caleb to watch a criterium race (http://www.enhgrandprix.com/) in downtown Evanston. This race was part of Super Week, which, as I learned, is the longest series of cycling races in the world -- 19 consecutive days of racing. In this particular race, a lot of famous cyclists have ridden in it in the past: Lance Armstrong, Greg Lemond and many other world-class riders. The group from Bicycle Heaven was racing (Rob Kelly, Ara Oggoian & Ken Delo). That was really cool to watch. This criterium was 70 laps on a .9 mile loop. They were going down the home stretch around 30-34 miles an hour as there was a bit of a head wind there.

There were teams from Germany, Hong Kong and other international locals as well as various US based teams. I think there were somewhere around 120 riders. Several of the riders were world-ranked (Olympic champions, World Champions, etc.). So it was a high-caliber competition. Here are some pictures I took with my smartphone. I took a small movie but basically, since it's just my meager 1.3 megapixel phone, it was a series of blurred shots in quick sequence as the riders were _flying_ by.

Most of the race consisted of a breakaway group (anywhere between 2-10 riders) getting as much as 45+ second lead on the pack and then the pack pretty much just chasing them. They reeled in the breakaway packs a couple of times, but near the end of the race with just a few laps to go, there was a crash on turn 1 and that took half of the pack out of contention or any hope of catching the breakaway group. Still cool to see the strategy out there. Essentially, human chess moving at 35 miles an hour.

Fun stuff though.

C.

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Newbie Revelations on Cycling

Wednesday, 25. July 2007, 14:52:09

Last Thursday was a very interesting ride for me. We started out on the normal warm up ride that starts at Bicycle Heaven. The difference was that this time, Jodi and I tried to stay towards the middle of the pack. That made a huge difference and here are some of the observations from doing that:

  • It's way easier to go up hills quickly in bigger gears than I would normally. There are several hills in this ride that have totally killed me in previous weeks. That means that I have to downshift to a very low gear (i.e. single digit speed) and just endure the hill all while watching the pack power away into the distance (very disheartening, BTW). This last time, however, in order to keep up with the pack I was in, I was in a much higher gear and it translated into a significantly lower number of crank spins and a lot less time on the hill itself. We quickly blasted over hills, which for a former sprinter like me, is a lot better than going slower for a longer block of time.
  • Drafting rocks! The wind was a lot easier to handle while drafting in a group. There's obviously something about the wind dynamics over a pack vs. over just a couple of people switching back and forth.
  • There's something about being in a group that makes it easier to go fast. I'm not sure I can explain it, but just going that fast while that close to other riders is rather exhilarating. Seeing how other people are going that speed just makes it seem more possible for me to go that speed too.
Actually, the week before came with a significant realization too: for me, I need to approach hills with as much speed as I can. There's one portion of the ride where we hit a short road called Town Hall Road. That is a killer double hill: it has a steep incline, then a small plateau and then another steep incline. However, hitting the bottom of that hill spinning fast in top gear really allows the momentum to carry you far. That coupled with a larger gear means a lower number of crank spins which, I think, equates to a lot less effort to get up the hill. Doing this allowed me to expend a higher intensity of energy (than I'd been able to previously) and reach a higher speed on the second incline too. So, all that to say the obvious: more speed coming into a hill means less time and effort to get over the hill. It's common sense, but I hadn't been able to do it effectively until then.

It's good to see progress!

C.

P.S. We also met a guy named John that was riding a Scattante branded bike like ours. That was kind of fun since we're surrounded with people riding higher-end Isaac, LiteSpeed, Marin, LeMond, Campagnolo and Trek bikes. I don't think our Scattante's are any less capable, but we just hadn't seen any others until then.

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Blog Hiatus & Cycling

Friday, 8. June 2007, 11:50:25

Well, it's been weeks since my last blog entry. It's not because there's not been anything to blog about, but it's more that there's been so much going on, it was too hard to give any energy to blogging!

So, I'm back (for right now, anyway). Jodi and I just went on our first group cycling ride with the Bicycle Heaven shop in St. Charles. It was a bit of an eye-opener for me. It went pretty well considering it was our first ride with other cyclists. However, several of the regulars on this ride (there were only 8 or 9 of us) also do quite a bit of racing, so they were going pretty fast for us newbies. We kept up for a few miles, but then we turned into a HUGE headwind while going up a long, gradual hill. The regulars took it in stride, but it was pretty hard on Jodi and I. We totally lost sight of the main group, but were able to keep one of the regular riders (Jess) that was straggling in sight. We eventually caught up to him and had a good time of talking/riding at a less-intense pace through a short cut that trimmed the ride down to 25 miles from 35-40 miles. I think we could have done the full distance, but just not at the group's pace.

And then...

...the lead rider (Rich) came up to us a little ways into the shortcut. He said something about the main group going one way and him going another. When he joined us, the leisurely pace was abruptly abandoned. It was probably nothing to him, but it was a pretty good clip to us. Do-able, but just faster than we'd normally ride...which is really part of the reason why we wanted to go on a group ride in the first place: to learn.

The ride was amazingly hilly! I had no idea this sort of thing existed in the flatlands of Illinois. But it was really cool. The bigger hills were very challenging (moreso to me, than the others based on my lack of climbing speed). It was good to train on varied terrain. The downhills were fun and fast. I easily caught up to the group that had previously dusted me on the preceding uphill. This was sort of a pattern as it happened several times throughout the ride. Of course, they were probably waiting for me (i.e. coasting down rather than pedaling), but it was still fun to go so fast. Just call me a speed junkie!

So, we'll definitely do this again. It'd be cool to become proficient at it. With the first ride out of the way, we'll keep on improving. Like Jodi said after her first bike race:

I've (or in this case, "We've") got no place to go but up!

:D

Thankfully looking/riding forward,

C.

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Officially a Cyclist Now

Wednesday, 2. May 2007, 04:00:17

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Well, it happened. After going on rides of various distances over the last month or so, I finally experienced first-hand the initiatory baptism of all true cyclists: the Zero MPH Crash.

"What's that?" you say...well, let me tell you...

A Zero MPH Crash (ZMC from here on out) happens when you're at a full stop on your bike with one foot unclipped & on the ground while the other foot is clipped into the pedal system (I use a Speedplay system -- it's great). Generally, here's the sequence of events:
  1. For any of numerous reasons, you lose your balance :right:
  2. tip towards the foot that's firmly clipped into the pedal :sst:.
  3. It's about now that you realize :eyes: that you can't unclip your shoe from the pedal fast enough to stop
  4. ..."Timberrrrrr!" :faint:
  5. ...you hit the ground :ko:.

In fact, when Jodi had ridden her new bike for a few weeks, I mentioned it to our friend, Jeff Holwerda who is an avid cyclist (he even trained for the Olympics under Lance Armstrong's coach years ago). Jeff's first question was, "So, has she had any Zero MPH Crashes yet?" He then went on to share some hysterical stories of how he and other people he's known have had ZMC's. If you know Jeff, you'll have to ask him about his ZMC in front of the police car -- too funny.

Today's experience was sort of a slow-motion ordeal. It didn't feel like I was falling down, it was more like I was laying down in a semi-controlled manner. Jodi and I were out for a short, evening ride just to loosen up at the end of the day. We were heading home and waiting to cross a major five-lane street at a stoplight. When the light turned green, Jodi started off and I pushed off a little and started to clip into my pedals. However, I don't think I pushed off hard enough, so I came to a complete stop pretty quick and then began this sort of split-second epic of realization (I'm falling), struggle (my foot's stuck!) and acceptance (I'm hitting the ground and there's nothing I can do about it). :faint:

Thankfully, Jodi had mentioned that when she's had ZMC's in the past, it's generally best to take the brunt of the fall on a meaty part of your hiney, if you can, so that's kind of what I did without really thinking about it. Again, it felt like I was just slowly laying down on the concrete, so there wasn't really any impact, per se. So chuckling to myself, I just unclipped my shoe from the pedal, went to the side of the road, put my chain back on the cogs and looked up for Jodi. :confused: But she hadn't noticed that I had fallen as she was leading the way back...so she was long gone down the road.


When I finally caught up to her at home, she said she had heard me make an vocal noise like, "hup!" but just thought it was me getting started on my bike. :lol:

I've had a couple of close calls over the last months, but not an actual fall...until today, that is. Mostly, it's just getting used to using a clipless pedal system. Clipping in and out is still a bit of a conscious effort rather than second nature. In the past, I'd slowly be pulling up to a stop light intersection and forget that I had to unclip until the last second. The good thing about the Speedplay pedal system is that I've found it very easy to unclip when I want to do so and it hasn't unclipped unexpectedly when I'm spinning hard. It's a floating system, so there's about 30-degrees of side to side play when I'm clipped in. That's really great for me because my knees had some major trauma almost 20 years ago when a drunk driver came up on the sidewalk and tagged me as a pedestrian. That's a whole'nother story for another time. The point is, that Speedplays are great for people with knee problems.

Well, it's good to be officially "in" -- :headbang:

Looking forward to sweet rides and hoping that doesn't happen again, but knowing that it probably will,

C.

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Bikely.com

Saturday, 21. April 2007, 22:19:13

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This morning, Jodi and I took our first ride together on our new road bikes. It was a lot of fun. In preparing for the ride, I found Bikely.com. What a great site! It's basically a huge database of bike routes that people submit from all over the world. There were ride routes in Mexico City, London, Europe, Canada...just about everywhere. How cool is that?

It just confirms the long-standing fact: there's a subculture around EVERYTHING & ANYTHING. Paintball, cycling, pinewood derby cars, Windows Mobile Smartphones, running outdoors, spinning, acoustic guitar, Legos, LOTR, stunts...it boggles the mind.

Aaaaanyway, here's the ride we took this morning: Aurora-Naperville Double Loop

Beautiful day, beautiful company & a beautiful ride!:up:

C.

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Great Cycling Information Resource

Friday, 6. April 2007, 17:52:49

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A few weeks ago, I noticed that I can experience some "southern" numbness while spinning at the gym if I don't get up out of the saddle every so often. This past week, I experienced the same numbness while using my bike on our trainer. However, I'm a lot less comfortable standing up while spinning on my bike/trainer combination as I don't want to put unnecessary stress on my bike frame (side to side forces in particular). So, I started doing some reading on bike seat technology and cycle shorts. As I looked around, I found a great article on the Fizik Arione saddle. Very interesting read, although, I'm sure that's a premium-ly expensive seat.

I also found a great source of general cycling information at The Bicycle Planet. They have lots of very informative articles ranging from how to pick a new bike to all about baggy cycle shorts & lycra cycle shorts to questions about accessories, components, injury prevention, training & fitness . . . and the list goes on.

Here's a link to their Frequently Asked Questions. From there, you can navigate to other detailed articles using the left-navigation bar on their website. As a self-confessed cycle newbie, I learned quite a bit just skimming over some of their articles.

Good stuff!

C.

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The nicest bike I've ever owned/ridden

Monday, 2. April 2007, 17:49:07

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Well, this past weekend I picked up a 2006 Scattante r660 road bike. Sweet ride!
Here are the stats:
  • Frame: Easton Ultralite 3 main triangle, w/ Carbon Seat Stay
  • Fork: Carbon/Aluminum 28.6 Integrated Steerer
  • Headset: 1 1/8” integrated 36/45 degree
  • Crankset: TruVativ Rouleur Double 53x39T
  • Bottom Bracket: TruVativ Giga X Pipe, included w/ Ultegra Crankset
  • Shifters: Rear: Shimano Ultegra 10 speed; Front: Shimano Ultegra Double
  • Levers: Shimano STI
  • Handlebar: Alloy 7075 Double Butted
  • Stem: Alloy #2014 + carbon, 31.8mm
  • Front Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra Double
  • Rear Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra 10 speed Double
  • Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 10 speed 12-25T
  • Brakes: Shimano Ultegra
  • Wheelset: Korso 700C
  • Tires: Hutchinson Top Speed Stop Puncture
  • Seatpost: Carbon, 27.2x300mm
  • Saddle: Selle Italia XO, Alloy Rail
  • Chain: Shimano 10 speed
  • Pedals: Speedplay X/2
  • Shoes: Pearl Izumi Viper Roads (Got these at 80% off -- Woot!)
So, I'm looking forward to riding with Jodi on her Limited Edition Scattante CFR (hoping to keep up, anyway :wink:). I'm also looking forward to learning something new (I'm a total newbie on road race/biking), building up my cycling skills and experience. I did go for a short ride this morning and was amazed at how quickly the bike responds to acceleration and/or anything else I do, for that matter.

I've posted some additional pictures in the "Reviews Images" photo album that I pulled down from the PerformanceBike.com website. I'll likely be posting a review of the bike and some observations/experiences along the way.

This should be cool!

C.

Update 4/11: Okay, I've ridden this outside once so far since I got this a couple of weekends ago. The weather turned very cold. This morning it snowed! The forecast calls for cold & snowy weather at least on into next week. Until then...I'm building base miles on the bike while it's mounted in our CycleOps trainer a few times a week. It'll have to do for now... <sigh>

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Photos

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December 2009
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things.Reality

things.Music

  • Worship Together.com

    Great site for new worship music. The New Song Cafe is truly a great guitar resource where you can learn how to a play a song from the original artists.

  • I Will Worship.com

    Ultimate site for worship music guitar chords & lyrics

  • Reverse Guitar Chord finder

    Seen a guitar chord, but don't know what its name? Here's how to find the name.

  • WorshipLand.com

    Independent worship music site -- best layout I've seen for learning!

  • Gootar's Guitar Chord Dictionary

    Read the name of guitar chord, but don't have the foggiest idea what it would look like? This site is for us!

things.Tech

  • The Gadgeteer

    Great site for tech reviews

  • Woot.com

    Good deals, some hysterical product descriptions . . . irreverently crosses the line at times, though.

  • Engadget.com

    Oodles information on cutting edge technology

  • GearDiary

    Newer site (spawned off of the Gadgeteer site) for tech news & reviews

things.Fun

Friends

things.Dash