#rideqride

[oldishtrichick]

PSI

Or pounds per square inch in bike-speak. I've always pumped my tires before I ride but it's always been a guessing game. My pump doesn't have a gauge so I'd squeeze the tires and pretended I knew what I was doing. I finally got tired of guessing and got me a pump with a gauge on it. Most pumps in the US of A are made for Schrader valves and both my bikes have Presta (or Euro) valves. Pump manufacturers these days have savvied up and include valve adapters with their pumps. Some pumps have both options built in. The most annoying thing about valve adapters is that they don't always latch on straight. Or that I end up deflating the tire completely when screwing on the adapter. Today's experience with my new pump was no different. It. Was. Frustrating. I have come to expect that the adapters shipped with pumps suck. This latest pump was no exception, unusable. First attempt...leaky valve AND leaky gauge! I thought it was a return for sure. But then I started messing around with it some more. Screwed the gauge on tight, used another adapter. Lo and behold, success!! Turns out my tire pressure was so low I was practically riding on rims. It's a wonder my rims weren't more warped than they were! My Quick 6 is fully primed and ready to roll. Tomorrow is another lovely sunshine day, Bethpage here I come!

[oldishtrichick]

Clippies

I eventually worked up the courage to install clippies on my racing monster. All the Youtube videos tell you that you’re going to fall, so just suck it up and deal. “You’ll forget that you’re clipped in when you stop, just go with it.” they say. Well ok then.

Once again, decisions to be made. Bike gear is, in my opinion, douchy at best. Between the crazy skin tight graphic jerseys and the shiny strappy shoes, it’s a toss up. Throw in Go Commando shorts and the space helmet and you have yourself the perfect outfit that screams “you’re simply trying too hard!" The shoes clack when you walk in them, the cleats that are installed on the soles to fit into the clippy pedals causes this. I really do not want clacky shiny shoes!

Fortunately, road racers have a cooler cousin known as the mountain biker. While the image conjured of a road racing team is of an F1 race car, it’s mountain cousin is that of an all-terrain jeep. After some research, I chose a pair of mountain bike shoes, black of course. The Shimano pedals and cleats that fit the shoes are cool and clack-free.

The learning curve was not as steep as I expected, even for someone my age. And I was completely paranoid about falling so I focused when I approached intersections. I haven’t fallen at a stoplight to date.

Fall I eventually did. In my own driveway at the end of a ride with my eldest. My driveway is an incline, my left foot was still clipped in as I step off on my right. Handlebar turned left ever so slightly when I braked, I felt my balance leaning left. I knew I was going down, said "oh shit!” and relaxed. I looked up to see my daughter’s jaw completely ajar and I started laughing. That didn’t help.

Now that that’s over with, we can move on!

[oldishtrichick]

It's all about the fit

As much as I love my Quick6, she wasn’t what I rode in the duathlon. Kids, don’t try this at home…4 weeks before the race, I bought the girl version of the 2014 Bike of the Year and rode her in the race! You can read all about the bike here…

http://www.bikeradar.com/us/road/news/article/cannondale-synapse-5-wins-cycling-plus-bike-of-the-year-video-40347/

I didn’t seek her out to buy her. I had read the article and felt “proud” that a Cannondale had won that accolade in a highly competitive market (like I had anything to do with it!). I’m always looking around for deals but Cannondales are rarely on sale.

The stars were aligned with me and her though. I was just browsing the website of a bike shop in my area that was named Best in Class for bike shops. I saw a line (no photo) for a Womens Synapse 105 ON SALE IN MY SIZE!! THERE WAS ONLY ONE!! Ok I know I’m yelling, but thinking about it still sets me off. My race was only weeks away, it was meant to be.

Unlike buying shoes, you cannot forgo a sizing and fitting session when you buy a racing bike. You also need to locate a retailer that knows how to do this. There’s no such thing as “off the shelf” and go. A great bike with a bad fit will cause you a lot of pain, especially in the body parts that you don’t want to hear me talk about! It will also cause you to doubt yourself, as you’ll constantly be in pain, even after you limp off. Luckily for me, my Synapse was waiting for me in The Best Bike Shop in my area. It’s Barry at the shop that makes it The Best. Barry is one of those dudes that knows everything there is to know about everything in that shop and yet, still knows how to talk to his customers. Top notch service with a winning bedside manner. Barry didn’t push, he advised. I took his advice and bought not just the bike but also a rack and a seat. No regrets whatsoever. My racing monster is so perfectly fitted that I can ride her without bike shorts. Now THAT’S a great fit.

[oldishtrichick]

My first and only Love

is a Cannondale.

It was love at first sight.

Being in my biz, I’m fortunate enough to know people with excellent taste. The friend that introduced me to my first love doesn’t even ride. She just loves the way it looked. And who can blame her, the Delta V1000 with it’s unpainted polished aluminum frame is to die for. Even after all these years, I get chills just looking at it. Here’s the entire catalog, feel free to drool.

http://vintagecannondale.com/year/1994/1994.pdf

I settled for the much more affordable H300. She’s was my first big girl bike, a large hybrid, solidly built. She was a deep metallic green. In low light, she looked black. I was in love. I carried her up and down apartment stairs. We toured parks and neighbourhoods, happy as a lark. She moved with me, twice. I kept her for 20 years. She became our only mode of transportation for 6 weeks after hurricane Sandy hit and our car drowned. Except for a few inner tube repairs (which I learnt from YouTube), nothing else fell apart.

But all things must come to an end. The older you get, the heavier everything seem to get. And my girl was HEAVY. She took effort to ride. It was time for other options.

Her successor is a Quick6 hybrid, matte silver. Cannondale has always done a fab job of innovating, without sacrificing hotness whilst keeping prices reasonable. My new girl doesn’t disappoint.

I kept my first love for a while, thinking that I’d hand it down to my girls. But after riding the Quick, it became obvious that she was actually the wrong frame size for me. She was too big!

I finally let her go and it didn’t take long before a buyer came knocking. I hope to think that her new owner is enjoying her as much as I did, and that she’ll see many more miles to come.