Sean’s Blog

The view from the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse.

…or so it is for the seasoned randonneur.

I’ve ridden the first two brevets in the San Francisco Randonneur’s 2010 schedule. Being only February, I am feeling a lot better about my cycling fitness level as this is usually the time of the year when I let the shorter days and wetter weather dictate my cycling regimen.

I did my first century and rode AIDS LifeCycle in 2006 and since then I’ve tried to make it a habit to train for at least one century (100 mile ride) a year. Up until this point, I had only done one 200km ride. And honestly, I felt pretty bad ass after I had completed it. I just finished my second 200km of the year and I am feeling both proud about working toward new fitness goals and also really intimidated about what randonneuring offers.

Looking forward on the SF Randonneur’s schedule, the next two rides are a 300km ride at the end of this month and a 400km ride at the end of next month. That roughly translates to 180 and 250 miles, respectively. After about 80 to 100 miles on my bike, I have been feeling like the tanks are running close to empty and can’t help but monitor my mileage closely as we approach the finish. Not only that, but I have bonked (everything feeling a lot harder than it should be) at some point on both rides and have also had some sore areas that I wouldn’t notice on shorter training rides.

Moving on, I am pretty sure that I’ll need to make some changes in my preparation. I’ve found some really good reading material at Ultra Marathon Cycling Association’s site about training and nutrition. I really can’t call myself an ultra cyclist, but the idea of being one sounds pretty cool I must admit. From what I’ve read so far, it sounds like I have a lot of room for improvement.

I will probably sign up for the 300km and will have the 400km in the back of my mind. Wish me luck!

(One of the colder days in the Bay Area. I admit, we have it pretty good here.)

In the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s been pretty mild weathered for the most part this fall and early winter. We’re beginning to see the first signs of heavy rains and some are predicting an El Niño rainy season.

For the most part, I’ve only done rainy day bicycle commuting, but have limited my distance riding to fairer days and more likely to the fairer months of the year.

This year I’ve decided to try commit to train for some longer rides during the wetter, colder months. A friend introduced me to the San Francisco Randonneurs and they are one of the few organizations that hosts cycling events year round in fair and fowl weather. If you are not in the SF Bay Area, you can try to locate a local chapter by contacting Randonneurs USA.

This Saturday is the first brevet of the year. It’s a 200km loop from the Golden Gate Bridge through the Pt. Reyes area. Rain is in the forecast and there has been some discussion about what to wear and what to expect. I’ve picked up tips and tricks ranging from the absolutely best jacket money can buy to the joy of wrapping newspaper under your jersey to absorb moisture.

Read one of the discussions here.

Years ago, I was riding on a stretch of bike path outside of Hellyer Velodrome. I was returning to my car and was about two miles out when I got a flat. I kind of just stared at the flat in disbelief because I hadn’t brought along a tube, pump, etc. My friend stuck his finger on it to stop the leak, but this didn’t do me any good. Or so I thought.

This old man appeared out of nowhere with his wife, complimented us on our fixies, and offered to have a look at my flat (while doing so, his wife told us of how he was a bike mechanic in his younger days and how he once rode X number of double centuries in one year). He then spit what I can only imagine to be a sticky loogi into his finger tips and proceeded to rub it into my flat until miraculously it stopped leaking air. He said that I might be able to make it back, but that I better ride fast. I jumped on the bike and sure enough, made it back to my car just as the tire began to feel squishy.

I’ve had many flats since then and just about every time I’ve tried spitting a loogi into my fingertips, but have yet to even stop the leak for a second. I can only imagine this old man laughing at the thought of me trying to replicate what he did.

Has anyone else had success with the loogi flat repair technique?

Note: I asked on bikeforums.net as well.

I’ve been working on building up the bicycle frame I made for Kate and the plan was to use the old parts from my Bianchi road bike. Of course, I had a working road bike to start, but as I took off each part I ended up with a few things that needed work before reassembling.

My Bianchi came with Campagnolo Mirage shifters. They’ve seen quite a few miles and the distinct clicks between gears slowly became a gummy slide between gears over the years. I was really on the fence with these things. These shifters are on the lower end of Campagnolo’s product offerings, but the nice thing about all of their shifters is that you can rebuild them. If I had some nicer shifters, I probably would have sent them down to Santa Cruz to have The Spokesman Bicycles work on them, but since I like getting my hands dirty I thought I would try rebuilding them.

I own a copy of Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance and there is a really handy section on rebuilding Campy shifters. I also ran across a post on rebuilding shifters on www.campyonly.com. You’ll want to order new “G” springs from Branford Bike (super nice guys by the way) at the minimum. I also bought a replacement “G” spring carrier since mine had a visible crack in them. If you don’t have a light grease, you’ll probably want to add that to your order from Branford Bike. I happened to order the combo springs and carrier set and there was just enough grease in the packaging to get by.

Rebuilding them was a bit tricky, and I was a little nervous since I once took apart a Campagnolo rear hub only to bring it into the LBS in defeat. Getting the tension correct on the springs is hard to explain in text, but you’ll know you have it when nothings wants to stay in place. Zinn does a really thorough job explaining the process.

After several attempts, I had a nicely working shifter again. And with the money I saved, I’m going to buy some replacement hoods to make them look new again.