Cycling

There is a new (currently beta) online route creator that shows some promise. The site is CyclistNexus. It is specifically geared toward cycling. The mapping function appears to be fast and the auto-routing to roads works well. There are still many functions not working or missing. Try it and see for yourself.

As some of you know, my daughter and I will be riding the Assault on Marion/Mt Mitchell in 2008. The date just in case anyone wants to know is Monday, June 9, 2008. We will be riding our tandem for the Marion portion of the ride. Once in Marion I will be switching to my single bike to complete the epic ride. This will probably be the last year I do Mt Mitchell as I want to try some other rides in the area about the same time. That decision is not final, if The Stoker wants to do Mt Mitchell on her own I will do it with her in 2009.

As some of you know, I have had the pleasure of dropping nearly 150 pounds in the last year (story in a future post). The thing I had the hardest time dealing with was finding cycling apparel that fit my round body (for years my doctor asked me to get in shape and I would tell her, “round is a shape”). A ‘Clydesdale’ is defined as any male rider that tops 200 pounds. I am still a Clyde at 200 pounds. Women have their own category as no one in the cycling community think it appropriate naming a segment of women riders after a horse. Women cyclist over 150 pounds are referred to as ‘Athena’, the Greek goddess, one of the most benevolent goddesses, strong, fair, and merciful. Here are some links to manufacturers that have clothes that fit ‘normal’ people, not racer-types. You racer-types know who you are…

Here is the first part of my fall bike project. I had an unused frame sitting in my garage, and a box full of various parts from various bikes. So this frankenbike will end up being my bad weather ride. This first gallery is what the frame was, and now what it looks like after Drake Coatings of Monroe, NC got done with it.

As the weather gets colder and hopefully wetter (we could sure use the rain), it might be time to think about indoor training. I have used the winter months in the past to build better technique. It is also a good way to help you not lose so much of the conditioning you gained over the summer of outdoor riding. It doesn’t always have to be a chore, sometimes it can even be fun. Here are some tips I have used in the past to get through those tortuous trainer sessions.

Here is a clip from last Sunday’s ride. It is the portion of the ride that is on Crow Road. The video is about 10 minutes long.

The actual video is clearer, but to save bandwidth it has been re-encoded to approximate the quality of a YouTube video