West on 5th

A good friend of mine who lives in Austin created this video. His wife is the star.

Anyway, it totally captures the essence and fun of riding a bike.

New Bike

Scott CR1. 17.2 lbs with pedals

The new bike is done. I've been out town or the weather has been so poor that I haven't really been able to ride it since I picked it up, so I've only had a chance to do a couple rides. So far so good though. Carbon has a different feel than steel or aluminum, that is for sure, as does Campy. I've never ridden either.

Once again, the guys at Cyclepath did me right, as did my family members with their generous birthday gift certificates to the shop for my recent birthday.

Upgradititis

Upgraditis: A terminal condition, the main symptom of which presents as the insatiable desire to upgrade. Ex: I have a perfectly functional cross bike, but I really really need that carbon fork, handlebar, etc.

I know it is only spring, but I’m already thinking about how to upgrade my ‘cross bike for the coming season. First off, I need to get some minor frame damage taken care of. Once that is done, I’m thinking about a variety of ways to really pimp out my Kelly. I’d love to hear peoples various perspectives.

My upgrade options look something like this:

1) At the very least I will need to replace my right side STI. This isn’t really an upgrade – it’s more like necessity. Part of the perils of cross racing. In all honesty, It still functions, but barely, and not in a way conducive to racing. I can do one of two things. Replace it with a new 9 Speed STI and call it good, OR replace it with a SRAM Rival setup. PRO: SRAM is PRO. SRAM is also rebuildable. CON: This of course would require new a new front and rear derailleur and a new 10spd cassette.

2) I’m thinking about going single chain ring up front. Because of limitations to my frame (it was designed around mountain bike components), I can only run compact cranks. The problem with, is that the little 34 is a bit low for most ‘cross courses, and I very rarely put it into the big ring (except on those rare courses like Hillsboro). This means that I spin like mad most of the time. Ideally, I’d like to put a bit bigger of a ring up front and call it good. PRO: 1) My cadence would balance out over a majority of courses, I’d lose a bit of weight (single ring), no front derailleur, etc., If I do upgrade to 10spd (item #1 above) I’d only need to by 1 shifter. The left side brake is much cheaper (and lighter) than a true STI. CON: Not quite as versatile on the road. (Currently my ‘cross bike is also my road bike, though, I am thinking/planning on getting a road bike this year as well.

a. OPTION: I could just replace the right side STI (with another Ultegra 9spd Option) and still go single chain ring.

3) Fork: Upgrade the Kelly Steel fork for a carbon one. Unfortunately, my options here are limited as I have a 1 inch steer tube. My choices basically consist of either a Winwood Dusty (828 grams) or a Wound up (682 grams). The price of the Wound Up is cost prohibitive and the Winwood doesn’t really save me that much over my Kelly Fork (861grams), which has been claimed by some as one of the best steel cross forks out there. PRO: Carbon is sexy. CON: My steel fork is pretty sweet as well and not that heavy… Thoughts on this?

4) New bars – Sadly, the bars on my bike are pull offs from my previous bike. I used them along with a stem as a way to save a bit of money (I’ve replaced the stem with a Ritchey WCS). My thought is to upgrade the bars to a Ritchey WCS aluminum version (actually lighter than the carbon and about 1/3 the price). PRO: If I’m going to change the STIs anyway (which will require new bar tape), I might as well go all out and replace the bars at the same time.

The indignity of using bicycles in marketing

There's been a bunch of chatter around the bikey blogosphere about this particular advertisement:
There are so many problems with this advertisement, that it's hard to start:

1. Is this a bike ad or a car ad?
2. They are using bike Polo to sell an SUV. Bike Polo? I can't think of a sport where the typical players would disdain a giant SUV more.
3. The family in the picture insinuates that they are all out playing Bike Polo... "Hey Dad, Let's go play a family game of bike polo!" "Sure son"... Gee Dad, when did you get so cool.
4. The bike picture of the SUV itself is so small compared to the rest of the ad.

The next advertisement is actually right on the mark, and I like it quite a bit. This is the correct way to integrate bikes/bike culture into an ad.

Way to go, Kaiser.

Get some fenders already

It's October, the rains have started (alas earlier than most years). It will now rain until May. Please put some freaking fenders on your bike, and while you are at it. Add a courtesy flap!

I'm tired of riding behind you with your rooster tail.

Master As vs. Single Speed

I put cross tires on my mountain 29er a week ago and have been putting some miles on it (Forest Park, Tabor, Commuting, etc.). I loved the bike before, but am really loving it now. Skinny tires are fun & fast. The confidence of being upright and using disc brakes is so liberating. I feel like I’m pretty capable of at descending in the dirt on the cross bike, but when I do the same descents on the 29er, I absolutely slay them. I’m riding a 36x18, but need to test out 36x16 which I will try to swap out tonight for a ride on Thursday...

Which makes me wonder if I should plan on racing SS this year? Here is what my schedule is looking like right now.

Sept 30th: Battle at Barlow - Master As
Oct 4th: Alpenrose (Cross Crusade #1) – Master A’s
Oct 14th: Horning’s Hideout*: Single Speed
Oct 21st: Rainer High School: undecided. May take a by
Oct 28th: Astoria Fairgrounds: undecided: May take a by unless the family wants to make a weekend out of it…
November 4th: Barton Park: Master As
November 11th Estacada/ World Single Speed CX championships…: Undecided on which to race. SS might be more fun to watch
November 18th: Hillsboro Stadium: Master As
December 1st: PIR/ USGP of Cyclocross #5: Single Speed?
December 2nd: PIR/ USGP of Cyclocross #6: Single Speed?

* I won at Hornings last year in the Bs. Supposedly the course will be mixed up a bit from last year, but still, there is no pavement, so definitely a mtn SS course.

'cross season is underway

Wow, it's cyclocross season already. I've been getting as prepared as I can by logging as many miles as possible on the 'cross bike via Forest Park and Mount Tabor. I've also been running (and running stairs) when I get the chance.

I'm excited to start but very nervous about the whole prospect of racing with the As. I feel like I am in pretty good shape, but pretty good just doesn't cut it with the big guys...

Also been thinking about what I should do about a pit bike. I'd love to have another bike to keep in the pit (and to use as a road bike the rest of the year). I go back and forth on whether or not I should get another standard 'cross bike or whether it should be a disc brake cross bike. I'd love to have a disc brake bike...

Summit2Surf, STXC, Tahoe, oh my

Lots of things have been going on since my last post. In particular, I've done a few notable cycling events - Summit 2 Surf (a fund raiser for the American Diabetes Association), The last Short Track race of the season and a trip to Tahoe for my big sisters wedding (Congrats Barry & Michele!).

I'll followup with a separate post on the last short track race, but will mention a couple of the other events here. First and foremost, the the Summit 2 Surf (S2S). Megan and I rode on the WebMD 'team' which consisted of a coed group of hardy souls that opted to spend a beautiful Saturday going up and over Mt Hood from Welches to Hood River (a couple of us also extended the ride by going to Timberline Lodge (where the outside scenes of the first 'The Shining' was filmed. The one with Jack's famous line: 'Heeeeeeres Johnnnnnny').




Let me back up a bit though.

A week before S2S I did a ride with a visiting coworker from out Boston office. I took him on an early morning road ride in the hills above Portland. It rained HEAVILY. Anyway, my Paul cantilevers on my cross bike are usually bombproof, but on this particular ride they were just not working very well so I stopped periodically to adjust them. In the process, I managed to strip the cable holding bolt on my rear brake which forced me to remove it and bring the brake into Cyclepath. There, Bill did a helio coil fix (rethreading the threads) and I was back in business. 3 days before S2S, I had my bike up on the rack and I was putting the brake back on. I got it on and decided to oil my chain. Unfortunately, I had hung my bike on the rack via the top tube and when I adjusted the frame position I did the following...

uh oh

Total rookie maneuver... Note to self - in the future only clamp bike stand to seat post...

Any, return to story. I had just catastrophically damaged my bike in a single maneuver... I freaked out, went online and found out that others have had the same issue (I love the Internets). I went ahead and JB welded the piece back on, let it set for 24 hours, added more JB Weld, let that cure and then went on a test ride the day before S2S! SUCCESS!

I was very close to riding the 68 miles with 6200 feet of gain and 7K of decline on my fixed gear (I really need to get a 'real' road bike... anyone out there have any connections????). Although that would have been a great story, I think I would be needing knee surgery...

Anyway, back to the story. On Saturday July 28th a group of WebMD employees, spouses and friends earned some cash for the ADA. Good times, extremely well organized and well worth it.

Andrew & I starting off.

The more beautiful half of team Porter

On another note, as mentioned above, the family converged on Lake Tahoe for a combo 'Granny Camp'/ Wedding celebration. I managed to sneak in a few rides as well. One on Mr Toads Wild Ride (my favorite trail of all time), and one on the X-mas Valley Trail with Megan and "Grandpa' Dave. Another epic ride in the area of my folks cabin. Speaking of which, if anyone out there ever wants to vacation in South Lake Tahoe, my folks have a great rental property, and my step dad Dave is a great mtn bike tour guide.

Fear and panic on the way to work

The other day I had one of the worst possible situations happen to a parent and a cyclist. The morning started usually. I was in charge of getting Kendall to camp and Megan is in charge of Simon. I asked both the kids in the morning "How do you want to get to camp today?". Kendall was tired and wanted to drive (some days we take the trail-a-bike) so I loaded up my bike into the car (I leave the car at her camp and ride the remaining part into work. Simon wanted to ride so I set up his trail-a-bike to Megan's bike and after breakfast, making lunch, getting the kids dressed we were out in front of the house ready to go.

Kendall saw Mom & Simon jump on her bike and decided that she too wanted to ride in. I was already running late, so I quickly grabbed the bike and connected her trail a bike to it. I locked up the house, closed the garage, got the two of us situated and we were off.

We made it about 3 blocks from the house when the worst possible scenario happened. I felt my bike suddenly lighten, I heard a scraping sound and looked behind me to see my poor sweet daughter skidding along he pavement tangled in her bike. I pulled to the side of the road, ran back to get her and pull her to the safety of my arms. I checked her out for broken bones and calmed her down. I cleaned her up and bandaided her scrapes as much as I could. She was a trooper and let me load her back on the bike to get her home where I did some more extensive first aid.

I eventually got her to camp (we drove) and she was ultimately ok (and I think she likes the attention she has gotten from all of her various bandaids). However I shudder to think how bad this could have been.

BTW: the trail a bike detached due to my error. In my haste, I didn't push the connector in far enough to get the pin to engage... I just hope I can get her to get back on the bike again..