Week 16

Date
April 23, 2017

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 16

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Weather

Ride Video

Ride Report 
It was going to be a windy day, so I wanted to get an early start today. I had a few things to do to the bike and was generally slow to get going, so I didn't start as early as I wanted. However, I was still able to get my ride in without riding through the really strong winds all day. I think only the last 2 hours or so had heavy winds.

My new go-to windy day route was blocked off. There have been signs up for at least a week now that 338 is closed at the California state line. (Not sure why, but I'm guessing road damage from recent rain.) My plan was to ride there and back and do the extra 20 miles or so close to home. I made it to the Sweetwater summit and the road was closed right there. That's a good 9.5 miles before the CA state line. That meant I had to figure out what to do for an extra 19 miles.

I ended up just doing loops on Lower Colony Rd and Upper Colony Rd. That worked out pretty well because the wind was picking up by then and I was never riding into the wind for extended periods of time. I had the aerobars on and was feeling pretty good. I ended up finishing in around 6:15, which shows that I did time things pretty well. On to next week.

Week 15

Date
April 10, 2017

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 15

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Weather

Ride Video

Ride Report 
It was cold out there, but I'm getting antsy and wanted to do some climbing, so I went over to Markleeville and did the easy side of Luther Pass. There's still a ton of snow up there. I've never seen it quite like that before. I was thinking back to when the Tour of California came through here last year (Here's the report.). I remember that Tom Boonen came through behind the peloton and if you watch the last video you can hear me, in my dorky way, call out his name as he passed by. Here we are about a year later and his last race was yesterday at Paris Roubaix.

I think I started following pro cycling around 2004 or so, and Boonen was always one of my favorite riders. Maybe that's kind of lame because 2005 was when he did the Flanders-Roubaix double and won the worlds, so that's kind of like starting to watch football and being a Tom Brady fan. Either way, he was a lot of fun to watch over the years and one of the guys I always looked out for at the Tour of California. It's sad to see him retire. Like many, I was hoping he would win Sunday, but it wasn't meant to be.

Just for fun, here's a link to my 2012 Tour of California report where I saw Boonen in person for the first time. Here's a link from 2014 when he had a really nice custom bike. There's also a picture of GVA, yesterday's winner. Speaking of the Tour of California, it's about a month away and I should have time this year to watch 2 or 3 stages. I know I'll be at the first stage in Sacramento for sure.

Tubeless Update

It's been a while since I did a tubeless update. That's because things have been going great on the Hutchinson Intensive tires. They finally started wearing out. I just did the math and the rear tire got 3,979 miles. I would have done an extra 21 on it to get 4,000 if I had known it was so close. I got a few punctures on that tire, but never one that sealant didn't fix. I never had to stop riding. There was one larger puncture that I was a little worried about, so I patched the tire after a ride. That patch held up just fine. I was happy with the Intensives. The one minor complaint I have is that they say they're 25s, but they look and ride more like a 23.

I may do Ride America South to North on a new set of Intensives. I know they are durable and dependable. However, you know that I like to experiment with different tires, so I couldn't resist trying a different tire just in case I end up liking it better. I was going to try something in a 28 (maybe a Specialized), but I found a great deal on some 25s- Panaracer Evo 3 Tubeless.

I only have 200 miles on the Panaracers, but so far they feel pretty good. They feel more supple and faster than the Intensives, but I get the feeling that they won't be as durable. That remains to be seen. I can say one thing for sure. They are a real pain to install! I put them on my Ultegra wheels and they were super tight. That was one of the tightest tire/rim combos I've seen, and I've been riding seriously for 14 years now. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been great around here, so putting them out in the sun for a while didn't really do much. I had to just pry the hell out of them with tire levers. It took a pretty long time and a lot of F bombs to get them on. Once they were on the rim, the actual tubeless setup wasn't that bad. I got the bead to set with my standard practice of leaving a tube in overnight and using a ton of soapy water the next day.

We'll see how it goes. My one worry with taking these on my tour is that if I get a really bad flat and need to put a tube in, will they still be super difficult to get back on the rim or will they stretch out a little bit? As of today I'm leaning towards doing the tour on some fresh Intensive tires. I'll also be looking around for a deal on some 28s that maybe I can test out a little on my other bike.

Week 14

Date
April 3, 2017

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 14

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Weather

Ride Video

Ride Report 
I went and did the Spooner Summit climb for the first time since probably October or November. I was a little bit worried because there was construction at the bottom of the highway and it was one lane, but that didn't last very long and I ended up having a lot of fun on the climb. There's a lot of sand in the shoulders still, so be careful out there.

I ended up doing this ride with the aerobars on just to see how that felt on the climb. I didn't really miss not being able to ride on the tops as much as I thought I would. By this point I'm pretty much used to it and riding on the hoods is my new default climbing position. I'm also used to the extra weight in the front and climbing out of the saddle feels normal again. At this point in the year I'm so out of climbing shape that I definitely don't feel slower because of the extra weight of the aerobars. Look at the elevation profile. Today's route is a good example of a day where any time lost going slower on the climb will be gained back by going faster on the flats. There were plenty of flat roads for gaining back time on today's route. My Ride America South to North route in June also fits that description.

Speaking of Ride America South to North, I just bought a lot of small stuff so my bike will be ready. I got new bottom bracket, new cables/housing, a new chain, and some new tires. My Hutchinson Intensive tubeless tires finally wore out. I found a good deal on some Panaracer Evo 3 tubeless tires, so I'm going to give those a shot over the next 2 months and see how they perform. I would definitely feel comfortable just getting some new Intensive tires and using those for the ride, so it's no big deal if I don't end up liking the Panaracers.

Week 13

Date
March 27, 2017

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 13

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Video

Ride Report 
This was the second ride of a back-to-back. I felt pretty good. My legs weren't all that sore from the day before. Hopefully that's a good sign for June's ride. There is so much I need to work on between now and then. Now that this week is over, April is coming and that means I only have 2 months to get my act together.

How was March? I did 1018 miles, which isn't a whole lot but is the best for the year so far. I was able to ride every day in March. As much as I complain about the weather, I guess it couldn't have been that bad. I've been able to commute to work for the last 2 Saturdays, so that's a step in the right direction. Snow is still getting in the way of my MTB action a little bit, but that's mostly my own fault for choosing the wrong routes for this time of year. Live and learn, I guess. I'm still new to the MTB side of things.

Anyway, the trees are starting to get leaves and it's starting to feel like spring out there, so I'm optimistic for the future. I'm starting to plan my first big ride of the year, which will be a ride across Nevada from west to east. That's about 400 miles. My original goal was to ride it in 2 days, but I've been inspired by the Indian Pacific Wheel Race to the point that I'm going to try to do it non-stop. That was always kind of a goal in the back of my mind, but I would really want to finish in 24 hours and I just don't think I'm good enough for that, to be honest. I would hate to do the ride in 26 hours or something like that and feel disappointed in myself.

How do I get around the 24 hour goal? I don't have a good answer for that, really. I'm telling myself that as long as I don't stop to sleep it's a successful ride. But you just know that 24 hour number will be in the back of my mind the whole time. I guess the answer is that I just have to do the best ride I can and live with the result. It's a corny thing that people always say, but as long as you give it your best shot you can be happy.

I'm shooting for late April or early May for that ride. There are still some logistical issues I'm working on- boring stuff like how to get home from the NV/UT border.