Seventy-Two

Deer In Headlights

Is he too stunned or stupid to understand
he doesn’t really have to stay there?

Or does he know full well
what he needs to do, is he wondering
why he can’t and what in the world
is the matter with him, does he reckon

he might deserve to die, if he can’t even do
a simple thing like jump aside

Jim Standish

Seventy-One

I've been resting more than I planned to, due to some patellar tendonitis in my left knee. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a Cho-Pat Original Knee Strap from a place called "Brace Yourself Sports Medicine". How fitting.

Seventy

Rebuttal

George's blog entry is very generous. He failed to mention that I was only riding from Long Creek to Prineville on Saturday and Prineville to Timberline on Sunday (half the course in two days). So "setting the pace" on the Keyes Creek climb isn't as impressive as the fact that Tom and Andreas, who were riding the whole course in three days - wasted no time chasing me down and were hot on my tail by the time we reached the decent into Mitchell. Hopefully, I've got what it takes to finish. But as far as being competitive with the rest of the field goes, don't bet the ranch on it.

That said, George has a way of setting expectations that you feel compelled to try to live up to. For example, when I first considered doing RAO "fixed" I sent George an email saying I might use a fixed gear and possibly a freewheel at times. Next thing I know, George had me in my own "fixed gear" subdivision and had even assigned me number 001. As anyone who rides a fixed gear will tell you, there's a big difference between riding a "fixed gear" vs. a "single speed". In fact, my original thought was to give myself the luxury of not one, but two gears by using a fixed/free 15/18 tooth flip-flop rear wheel. When I saw my name on the website, I said to hell with it and decided I better plan on doing the whole thing fixed.

Sixty-Nine

Last week I was in Malaysia on business. I took my old Nishiki, which I fixed a day or two before the trip, but didn't ride nearly as much as I hoped. Saturday, the day I arrived in Penang, I spent some time in the gym, rode a trainer for about 30 minutes, and then took the bike for a short spin around the hotel - maybe 30 minutes. Sunday was the best riding day of the week. I went from the hotel in Bukit Jambul about 3/4 of the way around the island to Batu Ferringhi via road 6. On the way back I took a different route from Balik Pulau up over a big hill that took me almost straight back to the hotel. The heat and the hill took so much out of me that I actually had to walk the bike for a while. I think that's only the second time I've ever had to get off and walk. The first time I was packing a couple of bags up an icy road in the middle of winter.

The rest of the week I was on the rollers for 10 minutes here and there. Nothing to write home about.

I landed in Portland late Saturday night. I was supposed to chalk up another 100 miles Sunday, but that didn't happen. It was raining (hard) off and on, and I was too busy catching up on chores around the house, trying to mow the yard, etc. Then Sacha sent me an email saying the Lemond was ready and I could pick it up, so I did.

This morning I broke in the Lemond before (ok, "instead of") going to work. I did 50 miles fairly easy. Besides the new fork, new brakes, new handlebars, and new stem, I also swapped out the 40 tooth chainring for a 42. My knees were talking to me a little, but the descents were a piece of cake. Hopefully, I'm not shooting myself in the foot... Speaking of which, yesterday I noticed that the ball of my left foot hurt. I took off my sock to see what was going on. It looks like athletes foot, so I've started to treat it with a fungicide cream. The pain has gone away, but it will probably take a while for the skin to clear up.

I've got all my supplements organized in zip lock baggies for the race, and I've started to increase my vitamin intake. I'm also taking REM caps and trying to get back to a normal sleep pattern as quickly as possible.

Sixty-Eight

Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 14:45:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: "John Spurgeon"
Subject: Long Events (was: Fixing a Nishiki)
To: ".David.Auker."
CC: fixed-gear at lists.davintech.ca

".David.Auker." wrote:

> I get the idea you're training for a long
> event? What kind of gearing are you using? Etc?
>
> David
> Portland (your neighbor!)

Hi David,

This is long winded, but since you asked...

My goal is to accumulate 12 difficulty points this year in the John Marino Competition on a fixed gear: Race Across Oregon, Cascade 1200, Ring of Fire (24 hr), and Furnace Creek - with a few long training rides mixed in here and there.

Most of my miles have been on my Country Road Bob using 38x15 gearing. That bike usually weighs around 35-40 pounds with panniers, gear, and water. I was going to buy a Vanilla fixed gear, but then decided to race on my Lemond instead. I'm taken the money I would have spent on a single and having Sacha build me a tandem fixie so I can train - and someday race - with my kids.

I've been using 40x15 on the Lemond (Specialities chainring, Dura Ace cog - both 1/8"), but just the other day I shelled out more $$ (my wallet's turned into a sieve) for a 42 tooth chainring. I think I'll appreciate every extra gear inch I can muster for the decents in terms of speed and comfort.

I used to be concerned about brakes, but as I've moved up to bigger gears and become more accustomed to spining at a high cadence on long mountainous decents (most of which aren't that steep), I've concluded that it doesn't matter that much what kind of brakes you have. People say two brakes are nice on long rides because one hand doesn't have to do all the work, and I agree. However, I also think a single cross lever is one of the best thing you can have to improve your comfort on the bike. I really like being able to sit up and brake with my hands on top. All that said, I'm still going ahead with my plan to install two front brakes on a custom Vanilla fork. I just hope I don't fall in the rain on a super slick section of road. The other day I fell for the first time in months on the bike trail at Champoeg State Park on my Country Road Bob. The path had some moss on it, my front wheel locked up (at maybe 5 mph), and down I went. Now I'm a little paranoid...

What else on the Lemond?... handlebars (Nitto), levers (Campy Record, Paul cross lever), tape (Bar Phat), hubs (ENO, Schmidt Dynomo), rims (Velocity Aerohead), tires and tubes (??), cranks, bottom braket, rim brake (original Ultegra components), disc brake (Avid mechanical disc), saddle (either Koobie PRS or AU Enduro), pedals (either speedplay X/2 or frogs), lights (E6 and DToplight), and for unsupported rides: rack (Tubus Logo), panniers (Arkel).

Whew!

John "is starting to taper" Spurgeon

Sixty-Seven

My rollers are a few centimeters too long for all the large luggage bags at our house, so yesterday I made a box to carry them on the plane. Julia says it looks like a coffin.

I found a few websites with information about riding in and around Penang:

http://pwp.maxis.net.my/kotrt/rides.html
http://www.theduh.com

Also, sbw told me to contact Darren Lee and Finian Lee for information about "road activities in Penang".

Sixty-Six

Right Horizontal Dropout Modified

Here's the right dropout after Denver cut it for me. That's the freewheel that came with the Country Road Bob. (My nice ENO freewheel is adding weight to the Lemond. Like a swimmer shaving before a meet, I'll proably take it off before RAO.)

Sixty-Five

Left Horizontal Dropout Short

This is the left horizontal dropout on the Nishiki. That's my free/free Surly. The cog isn't screwed on tight. That's just where I've been storing it, and I was too lazy to remove it before taking the picture.

Sixty-Four

Jones Counter

In case you've been dying to see it, here's what my Jones Counter looks like.

Sixty-Three

Nishiki

I've been thinking about what to do while I'm in Malaysia next week. I need to keep riding. Michelle says four hours a day: two in the morning and two at night. I'm told commuting from Penang to Kulim is not an option. Too far, suicidal traffic, and bikes aren't allowed on the 13.5 km Penang Bridge. I could ride a stationary bike at the hotel, but I'd rather be outside. Renting a bike may be hit or miss. Maybe I could take a bike. Of course, I'd be crazy to take the Lemond. Besides I'm dropping it off at Sacha's place before I leave. I don't want to take Bob apart. That leaves the Nishiki, which until tonight was broken. Fortunately, I had everything I needed to fix it.

The horizontal dropouts were a godsend. However, the right side required a slight modification. For some reason it wasn't cut out all the way, so you couldn't adjust the chain tension very much. My neighber, Denver, does a lot of construction and metal work, so I took the bike over to his garage to see if he could help me cut the dropout. Denver said it would be easy, but he was listening to the news on his headphones and said he would do it in 20 minutes. I asked if he needed me to hold the frame while he cut, but he said that wasn't necessary. Aprehensively, I left the bike with Denver and went back home to wait.

A while later I went out into the garage and found the bike sitting there. At first, everything looked fine. Denver cut the dropout like I wanted him to. It wasn't pretty, but it didn't really need to be. At this point, I was still resigned to using the rear wheel that came with the bike. I figured I'd have to use whatever cog gave me the best chainline and leave the others on as spacers. I'm not sure what the original dropout spacing was exactly, but it was less than 130 mm. I was horrified when I tried to put the old wheel back on and it wouldn't fit no matter how hard I tried to get it to sqeeze between the dropouts. Apparently, Denver had bent the frame for me at no extra charge. Since the bike isn't worth the price I'd have to pay to have a professional realine the frame, I decided to try bending it back myself. I grabed both sides and pulled them apart pretty hard. As soon as I felt the frame start to give I let up on the force.

I bent the frame alright, but this time the spacing was too wide for the old wheel. That's when I decided to try the wheel that originally came with the Country Road Bob. The Surly free/free 135 mm hub fit my new frame spacing almost perfectly! Miraculously, the chainline is almost pefect too. The free/free hub was missing a lock nut that I removed about a week ago to replace the one I broke on my other Surly hub (fixed/free), so I cannibalized the original Nishiki wheel to fix the Surly.

Finally, I had to do something about those silly biopace chainrings. Eliptical chainrings and single speeds don't mix well. I was stumped for a second until I remembered the Ultegras I took off the Lemond. That was the ticket. The sleeves for the double chainring bolts are just a tad too long with only one ring, but they should hold it in place for a while until I can get shorter sleeves (I'm sure they're called something else) or maybe some thicker washers.

Now all I need is a bike box.

Sixty-Two

Packing

Time to go home.

Sixty-One

At Timberline Lodge

Here I am in front of Timeberline Lodge around 6 PM Sunday.

Saturday we rode from Long Creek to Prineville, and on Sunday from Prineville to Timeberline. I don't completely trust everything my HR monitor says. Seems like it under-reports my speed when I'm spun out on decents. Nevertheless, here are the stats according to Polar:

Date: 5/7/2005
Time: 9:30 AM
Duration: 9:48:38
Distance: 138.9 miles
Ascent: 6841 ft.

Date: 5/8/2005
Time: 7:14 AM
Duration: 10:50:11
Distance: 133.5
Ascent: 9419

The climb up Timberline was a nice exclamation point to a weekend of great riding. My speed going up the hill varied between 6-8 mph until the last mile or so when it hovered just above 5.

There were too many great things about the weekend to list them all. But I can't finish without saying how neat it was to be out on the road at the same time the 3-day training camp was going on. I met George and Terri, the Llamas (Ken and Lisa), Tom and Andreas (two machines), and saw lots of other folks on bikes. So cool!

Sixty

Me

Here I am enjoying the ride. Note my pasty white Oregon legs. If you stare at them long enough you can almost see them burning. It was mid-afternoon before I wised up and put on sunscreen. By then the damage had already been done. A couple of days later my body feels great, but the skin on my legs still hurts, especially my left calf. VERY stupid of me.

Fifty-Nine

Overlooking John Day Fossil Beds

I wasn't in a big hurry Saturday, so I took a short detour and stopped at this overlook by the John Day Fossil Beds. The scenery is spectacular a few miles down the road as you ride through Picture Gorge along the John Day River. Here's a good shot of what it looks like as you enter the gorge: http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/johnday/html2/jd305.htm.

Fifty-Eight

Sarah McMillian

Sarah's a big-time athlete too. And tons of fun!

Fifty-Seven

Scott McMillian

Scott and Sarah came along for the ride. Scott's an awesome triathlete. Been to the big island a few times. He's also put a lot of effort into the Ironheads triathlon team. Check 'em out: http://www.ironheads.org.

Fifty-Six

Long Creek Lodge Motel

Friday night we stayed at the Long Creek Lodge. The rooms are huge and the service is top notch. Don't expect to buy gas at the station next door; it's closed. But if you're in a pinch, they might have a few gallons at the hotel. Paul, the cowboy who owns the place, is a great guy with some neat stories to tell. Ask him about his fly fishing trip with a bunch of secret service agents.

Fifty-Five

Friday

Took the day off to finish getting ready for the weekend. Met Scott and Sarah at 3:00 at Adidas. Sat in traffic for a LONG time before picking up speed for the journey to Long Creek.

Thursday

Started packing for the trip. Messed around with iTunes for way too long.

Wednesday

Got my HR down to 45 in the morning. After work, rode 44.3 solid miles with Dave and Ann Ciaverlla. 3340 ft. of climbing.

Tuesday

Wore the HR monitor again. This time my average HR was 55 bpm (6.5 hours of sleep). Rode the bike for a few miles to the library and to Barnes and Noble.

Monday (continued)

Sunday night I wore my heart rate monitor to bed (about 7.5 hours sleep). My average heart rate was 64 bpm. Rode a few miles to REI and back. That was it.

Fifty-Four

Oh yeah...

My idea for a Oregon vanity license plate:

SBR2TH

Salmon, of course.

Fifty-Three

Monday

I had a very good meeting with Michelle. More about that later. I've gotta get some sleep.

BYE!

Sunday

Met with Alex, Joe, and Ed (my excellent crew). Blah, blah, blah.

Saturday

4:30 AM
I'm awake.

5:20 AM
I just miss the train.

5:40-6:30 AM
I ride the train from Hillsboro to East Portland. A guy sitting across from me is in a talkative mood and tells me stories about his backpacking adventures in Australia. Sounds fun, actually.

7:00 AM Saturday - 2:22 AM Sunday

400K

Marvin gives us the obligatory pre-ride speech, and then we depart a few minutes past 7. The lead group takes off like bats out of hell. I keep up as we head down 33rd Ave. and then let them go as we make the turn onto Marine drive.

I'm wearing my heart rate monitor, but I forgot to change the recording interval from 5 seconds to 15 seconds. To avoid running out of memory, I'm forced to stop the stopwatch and restart it after making the change. The altimeter is acting funny. The absolute readings don't make any sense (e.g. negative 180 ft. along the Columbia), but the elevations relative to one another sort of jive. Maybe it's because I've got the watch on my wrist instead of on the bike mount? Around 200 miles, the monitor strap gets really annoying so I yank the thing off and stuff it in my jacket pocket.

Mostly, I rode by myself. Someone passed me on the way up to Crown Point, but he only had one water bottle, so I knew he couldn't be one of "us". I caught up and we rode to the top together. He's also signed up to do STP in one day. It was nice chatting going up the hill. He coasted faster than I could pedal on the way down, though.

84 wasn't the best part of the ride. But the shoulder was nice and wide, there wasn't too much debris - just lots of road alligators, and it wasn't raining, so I couldn't complain.

Around noon I got off the bike for the first time at Burger King. A whopper, large fries, and a giant plastic cup that I used to fill up my camel back with Coke. It was an interesting complement to the two bottles of concentrated Perpetuem that I had been drinking/eating. After I got back on the bike, it took a while for everything to settle in my stomach, but basically all those calories seemed to work for me.

There were some great back roads around the Dalles. (Was that before or after lunch?) Then we were faced with a major climb up to Goldendale after crossing the Columbia River. At the checkpoint I made the mistake of buying three large bottles of Sunny Delight. I was not delighted by the taste. Especially when I combined it with some left over Perpetuem. Bluck!

The ride from Goldendale back West was nice. A few rollers, but you were going down a lot more that you were going up. Very beautiful and remote.

It was getting dark by the time I reached the checkpoint in Stevenson at 8:45 PM. I had a couple of slices of pizza before getting back on the bike. Up until this point I had been averaging 15-16 mph. That went to hell in a hand basket. I got rather annoyed climbing some long hills in the dark, and then all those crazy turns from Camus to the finished were the icing on the cake. I tried really hard not to make any mistakes, but still managed to make a wrong turn that cost me a mile or two.

2:22 AM - eternity

The cherry on the icing was waiting for Julia to pick me up at the park. I called her an hour before I expected to get there, but I still ended up huddled up on the ground waiting for about an hour for her to find the place. We were able to call each other on our cell phones, but that wasn't keeping me warm.

4 AM

After taking a hot shower, I'm finally back in a warm bed.

Friday

"When it's not a garlic, it's an onion." (An appropriate Spanish saying.)

I was getting things ready for the 400K when I loosened the track nuts so I could tighten the chain. Out fell some pieces of metal onto the garage floor. I knew that couldn't be good.

Somehow I managed to break one of the lock nuts on the infamous Surly hub. Maybe I torqued the nuts too much. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that the lock nut had come loose earlier and I had just tightened it by hand. Probably both.

I've never overhauled a hub before. I didn't have cone wrenches. In fact, I didn't even know what cone wrenches were at that point in time. Fortunately, The Bike Gallery wasn't closed yet (6:30 PM), and I had a spare wheel with a similar Surly hub. Sake (pronounced like the Japanese liquor), the mechanic who installed my Chris King headset, saved my bacon. We cannibalized my free/free Surly hub, and I picked up a couple of cheap Park cone wrenches while I was in the store. Disaster narrowly averted.

Thursday

I started organizing all the "stuff" I plan to pack in the support vehicle. It soon became apparent that I need fewer and/or smaller boxes. The van looks smaller and smaller every day.