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So I open the iPad this morning then open the web browser and what do I see? Take a look for yourself.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/road/tarmac

7:17

That's the time I was awakened by a call-not the first-to pick up Rianman due to a flat. Ah blissful,Sunday mornings to sleep in.

How many is enough?

Since before winter started, Rianman started his quest for cycling glasses that would keep his eyeballs from freezing in the 24 degree (yes Fahrenheit) weather he loves to ride in. The Rudy Project mask (bottom right) didn't cut it plus he needed clear lenses for night riding. The top row left are his Native glasses and are about 6 years old and beside almost falling apart didn't keep the wind out.

We've been to Dick's to try ski goggles - too bulky and not enough peripheral vision. We went to the scooter store to see what they had. I think the top right is from there (note: not clear). We found a pair on Amazon - those are in the middle, rear. I kind of like those - they look like goggles that the first pilots wore. After pouring over websites with no luck, we finally drove to several local bike shops. What did he come home with? The Infrared Oakely Jawbones with transitions lenses.

 

Let's hope these work because I'm not about to keep looking. The first ride is tonight but it's above freezing so maybe it won't be enough of a test. Regardless, this TriSupporter has put her foot down. No more new sunglasses.

 

Christmas at the TriSupporter House

So I got Rianman's Santa list today. I guess in many ways if Santa just brings anything related to triathlon or especially cycling, he's sure to do well. Just a selection of things on the 2011 list are below. Notice a trend?

• Bicycle Dreams a movie about his latest obsession: the Race Across America. For those in  KC who are interested, Bike Walk KC is presenting the film in February. Get your tickets now. Rianman already has.
  
• Compression Tights--he actually asked for three different ones. I have no idea why.
  
• Winter Bike Gloves - He already has lobster ones but hey, why not try these?
  

If Santa is nice, we'll have a review of these and other things Santa might bring after Christmas.

 

Turkey Roll

Happy Thanksgiving to all the TriSupporters out there. Rianman is out on the inaugural Turkey Roll ride. It is a small ride...just him and Bob but who knows what this will lead to.

Roll on guys.

Too cold

Saw a cyclist on my way home from shopping today. The person looked like he was struggling up a hill..I mean this person was barely moving. I thought the bike would just fall over. It looked like the person might be having problems with the bike. As I got closer and closer I realized the cyclist was my husband.

I pulled up next to him and asked if he wanted to throw the bike in the car but like a trooper (idiot) he said no. He did admit maybe riding the fixie on a windy day was not a good idea. It was also 32 degrees when he left.

There is a perfectly good trainer in the basement...I'll remind him.

Whatever happened to simple tools?

As the sherpa bike mechanic in my house (that's not saying much), I have now been confronted with the third instance of instructions telling me to use a torque wrench. Who the heck has a torque wrench??? I'm already spending a lot of money on these accessories and now I need a special tool? Why can't these come like my furniture--with little allen wrenches and instructions to 'hand tighten'?

The first time I was instructed to use a torque wrench was when installing the XLab Carbon Wings. We gave up and brought Lola to the bike shop to have it properly installed--since I didn't have a torque wrench and we didn't want the whole thing to fall off on a long ride.

The second time was when trying to install a similar product on the road bike. Again, I said 'screw it. Bring it to the shop.' Not only did I not have the torque wrench but I couldn't get my tools into the tight spot needed. Let someone else do it.

Last night, I came face to face with 'using a torque wrench, tighten to 30 pounds'--UGH. This time I was installing the new XLab Torpedo mount which mounts between the aero bars so you can then mount a cage for a traditional water bottle.

Well installing the mount is easy...a small flat piece of carbon and four Velcro straps are all that's needed to get it on the aerobars. The torque wrench comes in when mounting the cage (we chose Chimp) to the mount. Needless to say, it was 8pm at night and although this product has been sitting around the house for over a week, it had to be installed. So, I hand tightened the bolts and told Rianman to hope for the best.

He's on his ride now. Let's hope my hand tighten is something close to 30 pounds of torque.

Huh? Huh? Is that the phone?

Rianman and Joe left at 5:30 am for a 75 mile ride. At 6:41 am I was slowly awoken by what took some time to realize was the phone downstairs ringing. I ignored it thinking it would go to voicemail. But then it rang a second 'cycle' and thought "Shit, this is it. This isn't good." and I ran downstairs. If you're a TriSupporter or a cyclist's spouse, you know what I'm talking about.

I got to the phone and saw it was Rianman's phone so I thought, "It's not that bad." It's amazing how much goes through your mind. Then I heard his voice. Whew.

So what happened? Rianman blew a tube on a manhole cover, and lost two tubes trying to change the tire - yeah who knows how that happened. He wanted me to drive down a couple tubes and a pump cause he was also out of CO2 cartridges. He was about 5 miles from home.

I rushed to brush my teeth and put some clothes on and grabbed three tubes, a towel, and the pump and was off. I was still a little fuzzy as I pulled out of the neighborhood and hoped I wouldn't hit the cyclists I came across.

I got to the guys about 20 minutes after the call and Rianman started on his tire. Notice how happy Joe looks. Can you see the pile of tubes on the ground? One was blown. One had a broken stem - who knows why. Not sure what happened to the third one--see below.

The best part was that Joe mentioned he gave Rianman his spare tube...but get this, Joe had a Shrader valve tube. He can't even use that on his tire! He has been carrying around a useless tube for who knows how long. Maybe it was like an umbrella and rain--it never rains when you have one. This is like dumb and dumber on a long ride.

 

After a quick test ride, and a pose with all those tubes, they were ready to get back to the 70 remaining miles of their ride. I learned that I'll probably need to plug the phone in upstairs.

File this under, Nice try.

So Rianman comes into my office and says, "Hey you know how my shoulders have been hurting? Well Kat says that the 404s are better for absorbing bumps."

me: "You have 404s."

Rianman: "Not in the front."

me: "No, you're not getting 404s for the front."

Rianman walks out of my office.

I call out after him, "Your shoulders hurt cause you ride one hundred and twelve effing miles in effing areo!"

Sorry Zipp - you don't win this time.

And Kat, you're not helping!

Madison Cycling

I didn't realize the Chicago Olympic planners were proposing Madison for the cycling. Guess it's not just loved by Ironman.

From the NY Times

Sports

Left Out of Olympics, Wisconsin Roads Still Lure Cyclists

By KEITH MULVIHILL

Published: July 27, 2010

A road course was part of Chicago’s failed Olympic bid, but riders know there is a lot of great cycling there.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/sports/cycling/28wisconsin.html