Fast pacing the MCR

A lot of Portland Velo members rode the relatively flat Monster Cookie Ride yesterday.  62 fast miles hanging in a chaotic pace line for the first 52 miles.  At Mission Hill, I got separated due to some bad strategic planning on my part.  I couldn't catch up with the front pace line and got dropped.  Six guys reportedly circle paced to the finish at about 26-27 mph.  VA and I made it in 2:45, average pace about 22 mph.  Fun and fast.  VA said her "brain was fried".  This kind of riding requires constant vigilance; watching the tire in front, people coming in-between on a double pace line, passing riders on the right......nothing compared to a video, Serious Drafting, of a bike drafting behind a 18 wheeler!

Single track MTB (not my thing!)

Today I went with a group of women to the Jones Creek Trailhead off the Wilson River to try single track mountain biking.  Shari, a bike coach, has been talking about taking a group of 'women only' for a ride.  She even sent me a little video of her riding up there:

Looked scary, but fun, and she assured me that I don't have to ride that fast!  Today was the day.  Only four other women showed and none were beginners.  I knew from the start I was sunk, especially as one woman flew up an incline, over rocks and roots and yelled "don't be afraid to hold onto trees so you don't fall!"  Huh???  Suffice it to say, all four were out of my sight in about two minutes and I was alone.  I simply could not get back on my bike on even the slightest incline, not to mention there were creeks to cross, rocks to hop, cliffs down to the river, all on a trail that can't be more than a foot wide - hence the name single track I guess.  Well, this is something I don't think I will try again which is too bad.  The forest setting is right up my alley!

It'd be one thing to have a 19 lb cross bike to carry over and around obstacles, but these full suspension MTB's are another matter.  This is similar to the 28+ lb Specialized Stumpjumper behemoth I rented:

Tomorrow the PV folks are riding the 60 mile Monster Cookie ride down in Salem.  I think I can handle that.

Ronde PDX

Sadly I did not ride it this year.  Can I blame my old Bianchi for right knee complaints?  Getting better, but had to ride a different route yesterday.  55 miles out to Rocky Point, down Johnson, up Beck, then home via Hwy 30.  A lot less gain than the Ronde.  We had beautiful weather yesterday, near 80 degrees.

Dave Roth Photos has posted pictures of the ride this year and I found my friend, Mark as he was going up Saltzman.  He said he's pretty tired today!

Had to add this one of a team coming up Saltzman.  

neighborhood food stand

Liège-Bastogne-Liège/RondePDX

Sunday, April 22 is the last race of the Ardennes Classics, the Liége-Bastogne-Liége.  Portland has it's 'unorganized' RondePDX and the paint of the lions marking the course was refreshed a couple of weeks ago.  The Oregonian has a cool article about it in today's paper.  Finally some press other than the old video from Oregon Field Guide in 2009, or my personal favorite, a video from 2007 (more typical rainy riding conditions for Portland!)

The start out of NW POrtland
BikePortland.org

So, what to do....The Cherry of a Ride up in The Dalles is this Sunday too!  Last year it was one of my favorites, plus the weather up in the gorge is forecasted to be in the 80's!  The RondePDX is more fun to do with a group however - the neighbors last year manned volunteer rest stops.  Kids had cookie and lemonade stands.  Plus the weather is going to be dry and the first climb up Saltzman shouldn't trash my bike too much.  The NW's ride season has started and our calender is full!

The Lion of Flanders

Biking in LA

Bike Kitchen, LA

I just got back from Los Angeles, actually Irvine, where my daughter is living and working....for the time being.  She just accepted an amazing offer as a digital traffic manager at Ogilvy in Culver City, a pretty darn neat advertising agency with offices in New York, London and of course, West LA.

Ogilvy, Culver City

I was amazed to see lots of road bikers out on the roads Saturday.  Seems like team rides are popular down here.  A quick google search turned up Southern California Cycling web page, listing all the clubs along with info about group rides.

Sunday we drove into LA, our first destination, breakfast at Square One, a popular restaurant in the Little Armenia section.

We drove around Little Armenia and then up to Silver Lake, where Andy eventually wants to live.  I was amazed to see lots of bikers; from groups of riders on road bikes, to a large group of about 50 venturing out on upright cruisers.  Apparently, LA had they had their Bike Film Festival last fall and a quick search on the net revealed some interesting info, including a blog by an Oregonian who moved to Hollywood, Hollywood Newbie.

This place reminds me a bit of inner SE Portland with patrons to match, but .....what's with all the bikes? Turns out this Sunday was a ciclovias, first started in Bogotá, Colombia where streets are closed down every Sunday.  In LA, they call them, of course, CicLAvia and 10 miles of streets are car free from 10 am to 1 pm, no small feat for this populated city.  April 14th was LA's fourth and I was lucky enough to see some riders. Mostly cruisers in Little Armenia, but lots of road bikers elsewhere.  Hey, even Mexico City has a version, called Muevete en Bici.  Close to where we ate in Little Armenia, and a few blocks south there is a section deemed Bike District, off Melrose and Heliotrope.

I wanted to go over to Bicycle Kitchen, a non-profit repair educational organization,  but we still had scouting to do.  Check out their cool website.  Reminds me of Portland's Community Cycling Center on Alberta where VA volunteers every Tuesday night.

Want more LA bike info?  Go to LADOT Bicycle Services for more than you want to know about bikes and LA.

Back to Sunday breakfast - We met a charming young couple who lived down the street, originally from Coos Bay, Oregon.  Occupations; she is a dancer, trying to get established, he an accomplished pianist.  Both work different jobs to support themselves while pursuing their dreams. Nice kids.

Charming house in Silver Lake complete with Bougainvillea

Back to soggy Oregon yesterday.

My happy kid at breakfast.  We both love to eat!

Paris - Roubiax; Boonen again

Tom Boonen - no gloves
More great pictures on Steephill.TV

Tom Boonen had a good show again yesterday, winning 1:39 ahead of a 5 rider group (5:55:22).  There are some comments about the fact that Boonen rides this thing without gloves.  Also a few people are stating he has no bar tape.  (I think I see black bar tape in the pictures)  A TV commentator from Belgium states Boonen 'has a garden hose under the bar tape' to soften the cobbles.  Whatever, he's tough.

Arenberg Forest

Velo News has a very good article about the equipment and tires each team uses for Paris-Roubiax, yesterday's race.  A nice breakdown for each team is listed.  Seems most use tubulars, 25-28 mm's.

The Portland Ronde PDX is coming up - Sunday, April 22.  I sure hope the weather that day is dry.  

Flats from overheated bike wheels

H0t bl0w outs?  (I had to change the post title today, 4/8, due to hits from adult web sites! Therefore the use of the zeros).  Never heard of them, but I am a relative bike newbie.  My friend Dennis*, from San Jose, emailed me recently.  He had some good advice about tires and flats coming from personal experience.  First of all his vote is "for  23c Continental GP 4000s.... with Continental inner tubes... and cotton rim tape."  He adds, "I've had good luck by keeping them inflated to 120 psi... prevents pinch flats and thorn punctures here in the Santa Clara Valley and San Francisco Bay area.  They work very well climbing and descending the sharp gravely switchbacks of Mt. Hamilton.  Another must is the proper rim tape to prevent rim tape blow outs.  Most new bikes come with some sort of plastic or polymer rim tape, but most real wheel builders and experienced riders (those that have had rim tape blowouts) insist on cotton rim tape."  


His story:
I was riding down one of the greater than 20% grades here in San Jose over 10 years ago, thinking I was a pretty good rider and mechanic when I had a flat going down hill.  I was all set to do a 5 minute quick tire change so flipped the bike upside down on a relatively flat spot, ripped off the back wheel, grabbed the rim and was about to peel the tire off without prybars... next thing I knew... my hands were burning and I flipped the wheel about 20 feet in the air to get rid of the hot ....(did I say hot!!!!) tire and wheel.  I eventually got the tube changed... I couldn't find the thorn or puncture in the tire, but found the hole in the tube and didn't pay too much attention to the location in the tube.  Well I went through my other spare tube about a mile down the same hill then again another mile further down.  Couldn't figure out what was causing the flats.  I was desperate by now since I used my two spare tubes and had to patch one of those.  Finally after sitting by the road and thinking about it, looked at the rim and saw that the rim tape had a hole in the area where it covered the spoke access hole.  From there it was sort of simple to peel off the plastic rim tape and move it so the hole was over a solid part of the rim and not over the spoke access hole.  I made it home on the patched inner tube and the relocated rim tape.

After that,,, my smart bike shop mechanic kid told me... hey dad: "everyone knows you always change to cotton rim tape to prevent h0t bl0w 0uts".

So, I guess I was the only clueless (about using cotton rim tape) bike rider out there.

Glad the story had a good ending!  I thought of Art1 in Arizona with two flats back to back. His were probably pinch flats, but I for one will be checking the inside of my wheel rims from now on after a flat!  Especially on hot days.  

I had to google cotton tape/bike wheels/h0t bl0w outs, etc. and yes, there is a lot to be found about this on the Internet.  You can read more on h0t bl0w 0uts on Bike Forum.


*We will be riding again with Dennis on May 17 in the Carmel to San Simeon Century.  

Tires/Tyres

I've been corresponding with an Aussie via the comment section on Cycling Tips blog.  I questioned what kind of tires the Rapha group were riding on the switchbacks and gravel of Jacob's Ladder.  The response was "Can't say for sure whether these guys were riding 23's, but appropriate 23mm training clinchers (Gatorskins or similar) will cope with surprisingly bad dirt roads without too many punctures."

That got me to thinking about tires and all the flats we had in AZ.  Susan of PAC Tours recommended we ride 25's.  Many did.  Art rode GatorSkins, 25's, but had 3 flats.  Maybe just bad luck.  The other night I remembered a very good piece that DK of Portland wrote about tires from an informal survey he had conducted this past February.  With his permission, I put a few excerpts below.  The complete VeloCITY article The Way We Role, can be accessed on Portland Velo's site: 

DK writes, "If there is a conclusion to be drawn from this sample, it is that the Continental GP 4000, and the Conti GP 4 Seasons, have multiple strong supporters in several categories. Michelin Pro3s and Vitoria Rubino Pro’s are close behind. Honorable mention to Vittoria Pave Evo because, while not getting as many votes, those that use them REALLY like them."

A seasoned rider wrote, “During spring, summer, and fall, on training rides, I use supple, grippy, lightish clincher tires with a round cross-sectional profile and a puncture-resistant breaker. I like to use Vittoria EVO Pave CG clincher tires on bikes with limited clearances. Vittoria Pave CG clincher tires come in only one size, 700c x 24mm. Like other nice clincher tires, their casing is fairly supple, compound is sticky, volume is sufficient, and tire life is OK. Pave CGs are much more robust (particularly in the side wall), have a thicker tread, and last much longer than the race-oriented Vittoria EVO CX clincher tires. Pave CGs are much more supple, faster, and a little lighter than a good winter tire like a Continental Grand Prix 4-Seasons.



During the winter and early spring, I like to ride lightly-inflated 25mm or, where there is sufficient fender and frame clearance, 28mm Continental Grand Prix 4-Seasons clincher tires. These tires have a very grippy tread compound (even in the wet), reinforced side walls, puncture-resistant belts, and a Kevlar bead. They work well in the conditions that the Willamette Valley and adjacent foothills experience in the winter. However, their ride is much less supple than a good, summer tire. I try to ride the widest tires that will fit on my winter bike; wider tires can be inflated to lower pressures than narrower ones without risking pinch flats. Lowering inflation pressure greatly increases comfort and tire grip in the wet. Lightweight, narrow racing tires are not very suitable or reliable on the wet, gritty roads that characterize Willamette Valley roads for eight months of the year.


For racing, a very supple, hand-made, light, tubular tire has many advantages. It should be considered if a rider can afford a second wheel set, and tolerate the inherent inconveniences of a tubular (e.g., repairing, gluing, and replacement). Tubulars are particularly suitable for cyclocross competition, because they can be ridden at very low pressures to increase grip without the risk of pinch-flatting. They are also appropriate for road racing and time trialing. A tubular wheel set with tires is always much lighter, and can be spun-up faster than an equivalent clincher wheel set. Carbon tubular rims are lighter and much more durable than equivalent carbon clincher rims.”

For now, I'll keep riding my 23's, the Continental Gran Prix 4 Seasons that have been on since January and made it through the roads of AZ without problems.  Every night down there I used an old dental tool to pick out little pieces of glass.  Whenever I went through glass or other debris, I'd do a quick sweep of the tires.  These tires have little slits from all the glass and are slightly worn, but I'm not going to replace them yet.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  I do need a new dental tool though.