Dear Lance,

"I never took drugs" and "I've never tested positive" do not mean the same thing.

Summit and Skyline

On Saturday I drown my track-day sorrow on the bike with a visit to Lexington Reservoir, Summit Road, Skyline Blvd and Stevens Canyon. I was still a little sore, dehydrated and undernourished from Friday so I should not have been surprised by my poor performance. It wasn't a hard bonk, I just felt weak the while time. 58 miles and 5k ft in 5.5 hours. I crashed lightly trying to avoid poison-oak while descending the canyon. Next time, hit the plant.

Summit and Skyline

Tough track days

I've clearly committed some terrible deed and have offended the all-powerfull god of head-gaskets (GoHG). He first smote me two years ago but striking down my M3 at Pikes Peaks. Then a year later GoHG struck again at Pueblo. This spring I lost the third one in my car -- this time at Buttonwillow. Then last month GoHG struck the LTW during the Buttonwillow enduro costing us a likely podium. So it wasn't entirely unexpected that he struck yet again on Friday, this time striking the mighty S-14 powering the E30 M3 I was driving. The head-gasket failure probably happened the last time the car was on track and just showed up at this session but the result is the same -- a weekend at the track yielded just three laps. On the plus side I remembered at least some of the Thunderhill track even though it's been something like 10 years since I had lapped there. Also the E30 M3 fits me like a glove. I raced one for many years and find them to be among the most fun cars on the track.

Price Controls Suck

As you get older you begin to really understand the power of advertising and how it pervades, controls and to some extend undermines society. I have also spend most of my career in an industry that is largely driven by ad revenue so I watch the issue closely.

A couple of weeks ago I got an ad in my inbox from one of the many on-line bicycle retailers with which I've done business. It advertised a site-wide cycling shoe sale. Given the tatty condition my current shoes it was a timely arrival. I went to this site already dreaming about shiny new shoes. I added a pair of Dominator 5's in size 45 to the cart and applied the 20% off code and... wait, where's the discount? The discount code won't apply. Then I noticed the fine print in the as the said the the discounts don't apply to any Sidi products. In fact there were over 20 brands on the list.

I was lured into this trap again this morning, when the big pedal sale started. I got to thinking, hey, I actually have a nearly new pair of Sidis at home, but they are drilled for road pedals which are incompatible with the Egg Beater pedals I use. They have been i a box for over a year, but with a new set of pedals, I could use them again.

Then the disappointment that the pedals I wanted (Speedplay or Look) couldn't use the code either, and again the fine-print says that Speedplay, Look and many others were not eligible for discount. Instead that brands that are on sale are the off-brands or the house-brands.

Disappointment turns to anger as I realize these ads are just a waste of time, luring me in with misleading words and phrases and then not providing the expected value. Not a good customer experience. I'm not sure who I blame here, the vendor or the manufacturer but either way I be wasting no more time reading their ads.

BTW, the real irony here is that due to the vagaries of the value of the doller you can now buy things in europe and have them shipped here for very competitive prices. I recently orded a new Brooks Saddle from the UK for about $25 less than US prices.

The Giro on TV

The 94th Giro d'italia started yesterday with a Prolog TTT. It's a month-long suffer fest for pro cyclists that covers some pretty spectacular scenery and offers some epic racing. Eddy Merckx won five times (as did Binda and Coppi) and American rider Andy Hampsten won it in 1988, the only time an American has ever won. 1988 was my second season racing bikes so I watched Andy's achievement in awe

Obviously I'm pretty excited about the race, but since we are cable cord-cutters and don't pay for TV the chances of seeing these events are pretty slim without some sort of on-line access. You can imagine my surprise to learn that NBC/U is showing most of the race on their Universal Sports channel which is free over-the-air here in the Bay-Area as Channel 12.3.

The commentary isn't up to the standards of Paul, Phil and Bobke on Versus, but at least they pronounce the names right most of the time. Petacci just nipped Cav for the Stage-2 sprint. The Italian looked a little wobbly there and Cav is pissed but I think the results will stand. Petacci looks good, he's lost some weight from last year, but I'll bet Cav crushes him in the next sprint.

Ridin' update and saddle fit thoughts

In April I rode 631 miles -- It's been a long time since I have ridden that kind of distance in a month - especially this early in the season. But, this achievement is not without cost as I've been dealing with a saddle fit problem for a couple of weeks that is annoying but not a show-stopper.

I originally installed a honey-colored Brooks B17 on the Black Mountain Monstercross bike -- you can see it in the pictures I posted a couple of days ago -- and put about 500 miles on the rig. The B17 a bit wider than the Team Pro model I've had on my other long distance bike, but I didn't think it was a big difference. After a couple of long rides, I began to notice some recurring pain on my sit bones. It took a couple more rides and swapping saddles a few times, but I realized the the B17 is just too wide for me. I think I've also determined that the Brooks Swallow is a little too narrow for me. So like Goldilock's last bowl of porridge, the Team Pro is just right. Brooks also makes a B17 Narrow that may also work but I've not ridden one.

The B17 is a good alternative as it uses a thinner leather than the Team Pro and typically breaks in faster. Even though I weight nearly 200 lbs., I'll admit that I had to resort the Lon Haldeman technique to soften up the thick hide on my Team Pro. I put over 1800 miles on the damn thing, but it looked and felt as stiff and unyielding as a brand new saddle. I followed Lon's suggestion pretty much as written and now the thing fits like a glove. I had to soak it twice, the first time I soaked it for about 5 min but it failed to soften it enough so I did it again the next day and it was just right.

The outcome is that I now have 5 Brooks B17s for sale -- I'm going to keep my vintage 1977 version. I tend to lean my bikes agains things using the corner of the saddle so all these have very minor wear (typically just loss of color) on the rear corners. All are broken in and have been treated with Proofhide top and bottom once or twice a year since new.

Age and pain

Getting old sucks! Everyone knows this, but for me it coming home to roost now. For the last few months I've been writing extensively at work, churning out dozens of specifications, plans, diagrams, presentations and schedules. During the same time my lower back has started to ache so badly I was having a hard time sleeping through the night.

My doctor diagnosed it a age-related lower back pain and suggested that I live with the pain and accept that my back is aging and I need to take it easy. Yeah, that not gonna work for me. While looking for a new doctor, I researched some of the causes and treatments for chronic lower back pain. A number of papers sugest that people who sit for long periods or ride bicycles extensively can develop a chronic condition that maintains the spine in flexion. This is caused as the quadriceps shorten from prolonged sitting. The shortened quads (and other associated muscles) prevent the pelvis from tilting naturally and causes the lower back muscles to bear the weight of the upper body instead of the lower spine.

The treatment is pretty straightforward and involves stretching the lower back and hip flexors so they will allow the pelvis to tilt naturally. I've been stretching 3 times a day for 4 weeks and I'm seeing real relief now. I do 4 different stretches for the back and 3 more for hip flexors and they leaves me really sore after a session but the results are worth it. I've probably doubled the flexibility of my lower back by 50% or more and about a weeks ago crossed some threshold so I can now stand normally and tilt my pelvis enough to transfer the strain from muscle to spine.

More than anything the whole experience reminds me how important it is to stay physically fit as we age. For me physically fit means more than being able to ride a 20+ mph century or complete a 200k brevet. It means also maintaining the flexibility and core strength needed for off-bike activities. I'm renewing my commitment to stretch every day and adding a couple of new stretches just for this.