Week 45

Date
November 8, 2016

Distance
107 miles

Strava Link
Week 45

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
The one good thing about being homeless for a while is that I get to ride some different routes. I've ridden all of these roads before, but never in this combination. It's mostly a flat ride with a 6 Mile Canyon loop thrown in at the end.

My work schedule changed and I'm going to have to ride early for a while. If you look at the weather chart, you'll see the pros and cons of riding early. The good news is that I beat the wind. The bad news is that it's cold out there in the morning this time of year. It was nice and warm towards the end of today's ride, though.

Morning fog

Quick tubeless update: I'm much happier with the new Hutchinson Intensive tire. It's definitely a tougher tire. I have almost 800 miles on it so far and I haven't had any noticeable punctures. The tire is still in really good shape. There aren't any cuts and it looks like it has a lot of life left. Riding the Intensive on the back and the Fusion on the front has worked out well. I get the nice, softer feel of the Fusion on the front where it's not wearing out so fast and there's less chance of a puncture. At the same time, I get more durability and flat protection on the rear. I think I can get 2,000 miles out of the Intensive. We'll see how it goes.

Week 44

Date
November 1, 2016

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 44

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
October is over. I only got in 818 miles for the month, but there's been a lot going on and I'm still within reach of 12,000 miles for the year. November's going to be another busy month, but I'm pretty sure I'll make it.

Meanwhile, today's ride was a simple out-and-back on US 50. I was feeling lazy and there wasn't much wind, so it was a good day to do this route.

Week 43

Date
October 25, 2016

Distance
101 miles

Strava Link
Week 43

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Weather

Ride Report 
Windy Day route. I rode on Franktown Road for the first time since the Little Valley Fire.

There were a lot of thoughts running through my head, but the main thing I came away with was the thin line between luck and disaster. Some of the houses were very close to the fire, yet somehow didn't burn down. What was the difference? Was it just the random path of the fire?

It seems like we're all so close to disaster more often than we realize. Just think about the simple act of riding a bike. One wrong move from a driver and we could be dead in an instant. One flat tire at the wrong moment and we could ride off the side of a mountain. Not to mention deer and horses. Yet somehow it all seems to turn out just fine. I've ridden over 125,000 miles and I've only really had one serious incident. Even that could have been much, much worse and for the most part I feel like I came out on the lucky side.

Keep on riding while you still can.

Week 41

Week 41

Date
October 11, 2016

Distance
102 miles

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Week 41

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
Foliage was killer this week. Check it out:

I even saw some deer. It was a beautiful ride today.

I'm officially "homeless". I'm not exactly out on the street, but I don't have a home, either. I'll be in hotels for the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll be all set by December. Right now I'm in Carson City, which isn't a huge change. My new place will hopefully be more of a change. Nothing's official yet.

Tubeless update time. My new rear tire is a Hutchinson Intensive. You may be wondering why I went with another Hutchinson. It all came down to price. I got a good deal on this tire and couldn't find as good of a deal on another brand. I don't have many miles on the Intensive yet, but it made a good first impression. It definitely has a more durable feel to it than the Fusion did. The Fusion had a more supple and grippy feel to it. That's expected. You're going to give up a little something in exchange for durability. So far there are no cuts on the new tire and it pretty much looks as good as new. That's already a difference from the Fusion. I have high hopes for this tire. We'll see how it goes.

Week 42

Date
October 18, 2016

Distance
101 miles

Strava Link
Week 42

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
It was quite a week as far as weather is concerned. It started out super windy. Then there were 3 fires in the area. Then it rained for a few days straight.

The biggest fire was the Little Valley fire, which burned near Franktown Road. If you pay close attention to my routes you'll know that I ride in that area very often. It's pretty popular with cyclists, and I see other riders out there all the time. I know cyclists can be annoying to local homeowners, but I've never had an issue with people out there and motorists give me plenty of space when they pass. I wish everyone out there the best.

You may notice that just one week ago I was whining about not having a home, but at least my home didn't burn down. Just another reminder that we should appreciate what we have while we still have it.

Anyway, this week's ride was a lot like last week's ride (super scenic), and this time there was snow to add to the scenery. It looks like the foliage is past its peak but it's still pretty damn awesome.

Week 40

Date
October 4, 2016

Distance
103 miles

Strava Link
Week 40

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
Sorry for the late posts over the last few weeks. There's a lot going on.

First of all, there was a little snow in the mountains, but most of it melted before I could get a good picture.

The best I could do.

The end (of the year) is near. It's October, there's snow, and the week number is up into the 40s. Summer is over and it's not coming back. We have to hope we made the most of it and try to do bigger and better things next year.

Quick tubeless update: The Fusion is officially dead. I got a huge cut in the rear tire descending Highway 50 and had to put a tube in. I'm not even upset at this point. I was riding the Fusion way past its useful life. The final mileage for the rear tire was 1610. I'm going to keep the old front tire on and get a new rear tire. Usually I would swap the old front tire to the rear, but I know it won't last long back there. Plus, I want to start testing a new rear tire and the only real way to test durability is on the rear. More on that next week.

Here's the biggest news: This was my last century from the home in Reno. I moved out on the 11th, which was a sad day for me. I'll focus on the cycling side of it since this is a cycling blog, after all. I lived right near the intersection of Mt. Rose and Geiger Grade. I could get to the top of Geiger in under 10 miles and to the top of Mt. Rose under 20. There was also an easy commute to Reno and almost all of the roads had bike lanes. As far as I'm concerned, it was the perfect place to live in Reno.

I'm not religious. I'm not even spiritual. But I do realize how lucky I am. The sad part is that it seems like I have to lose something before I fully understand. It happened that way with my hip. I never fully appreciated how lucky I was to be healthy until I broke my hip and all of the sudden that was gone. Luckily for me I was able to bounce back from that, so much so that I recently set a PR on Geiger Grade. Now all of the sudden I don't live in the perfect spot in Reno and I can better appreciate how lucky I have been for the past 4 years. I lived a fortunate life, and most of that had nothing to do with any of my own decisions, actions, etc. In fact, it was probably in spite of them.

But here I am, passing through a tunnel of life. I can't really see what's on the other side. I can only hope it's as good as the side I've been on up until now.

Week 39

Date
September 27, 2016

Distance
103 miles

Strava Link
Week 39

Route Map/Profile

Weather

 
Ride Report 
There was a high of 90 degrees today. That will probably be the warmest day of the rest of the year. I soaked up the sun and did an easier route with just 2 climbs.

How about another tubeless update? As mentioned last week, I'm not happy with how fast these tires (Hutchinson Fusion 5 Performance) are wearing out. I've put 1,425 miles on them and I should have thrown them out already. Here's one example:

Granted, Hutchinson never claimed these would be long-lasting tires, but less than 1,500 miles is ridiculous. They do have a nice feel and great grip. I will give them that. However, their puncture resistance isn't good (I stopped counting after 10. Who knows how many smaller ones I didn't notice.) and obviously their durability is lacking. I'm glad I got these on sale, but even on sale they weren't cheap. Like I said before, the big problem with road tubeless right now is that there aren't a lot of different tires to choose from, and most of them are expensive.

The good news is that I'm still happy with my tubeless experiment as a whole. I only had to stop one time to put in a tube during those 1,425 miles. That's better than I was doing on standard tires and tubes. Not only that, but I've been able to run lower tire pressure, which really does make for a more comfortable ride. If I can find a good, durable tire I will be very happy on tubeless. I don't see myself switching back.