Monthly Archives: August 2011

Fog & drizzle doesn’t scare ‘em away!

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Another Tuesday, another pretty big group at the start of the ride. Names? No way. Anything over 10 and I’m lost. But we did see Kevin (the pilot) back at full speed, with plenty of other high-speed company including Jim & Marcus & Chris & Karl was beginning to look pretty strong again too! The other Kevin (that would be my son) was a bit off his game and probably would have benefited greatly from a ride yesterday to loosen up the legs after Sunday’s tough ride.  I don’t really know just how fast the fast guys were going; just before the first hairpin I dropped back to Kevin, who was struggling a bit, but before that we were climbing at about a 25 minute pace (which meant I wasn’t going to hang on too long anyway!).

We were joined at the top-of-Kings regroup by Millo, who said he’s going to be joining us on a regular basis again now that his kids are in school, and out on west-side Old LaHonda came across “Hill Slug” (that’s what she’s got on her bike’s top tube, but the reality is that she’s pretty strong) aka Lisa S, descending towards the coast in the fog. Did I mention the fog? It hadn’t been too bad except for parts of Skyline, but it was enough to dampen the road, and my speed, on the descent into Woodside. Didn’t slow Kevin down any though; from a distance I watched as he sped through the turns with Karl and Karen. Me? I got rattled pretty badly in one of the corners (for no good reason) and actually stopped briefly to make sure my tires weren’t flat. The weather forecast is much nicer for Thursday, and I’m looking forward to dry roads. –Mike–

A good long climb and you’ll feel better

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The lower parts of Highway 9 are not entirely without charm

It sounded a bit odd as I said it, and yet it made complete sense. Kevin and I were at mile 65 or so of our 114-mile round trip to Santa Cruz, on the least-fun part through the San Lorenzo Valley, battling lots of traffic, a not-very-wide road and little junk climbs that just wear you down. Basically, a ride without rhythm. Once you get a few miles past Boulder Creek you finally get to the good stuff, the long climb up Highway 9, first to Waterman Gap and then on to Skyline. About 10 miles of relatively-serious climbing and dramatically less traffic than the valley floor.

  Continue reading →

Subject: RE: Article on bicycle seats from NY Times

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The easy thing would be to ignore the various fear-mongering publicity-hounding press-release-and-book-writing crowd that wants to create waves by claiming that riding a bike is bad for guys. But of course, I can’t. This is a subject that gets me pretty annoyed, because is almost-always mistakes the bicycle seat as the problem (which in some cases it might be) and ignores the issue of proper fit to the bicycle, of which the saddle is, in fact, a subset… but more the location of the saddle, as well as handlebars and pedals. So below is my response when a very good customer sent me a link to the latest such story. –Mike–

> Hey, was curious if you’ve seen this, and what you think:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/science/28tier.html?_r=3&pag
ewanted=all>

—–Original Message—–
From: Mike Jacoubowsky [mailto:MikeJ@ChainReaction.com]
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 10:32 PM
Subject: RE: Article on bicycle seats from NY Times

Before getting into this, the full text of the study may be found here-
https://www.moonsaddle.com/Articles.asp?ID=136

“When I tried a no-nose model for my 16-mile daily commute, it was so much more comfortable that I promptly threw away the old saddle. But over the years I’ve had zero success persuading any other cyclists to switch, even when I quote the painfully succinct warning from Steven Schrader, the reproductive physiologist at Niosh who did the experiment with police officers.”

I have serious doubts that many, if any of the people with “problems” in the article had been properly fit to a bike or, worse, wonder how many were riding super-soft saddles that pass the “thumb test” but create serious problems because they are so soft that your weight pushes down on the front and back, causing the center of the saddle to push up, exactly where you don’t want it to. That’s the reason that softer isn’t usually better; you require a certain amount of support to keep the saddle from contacting areas that shouldn’t be stressed.

If someone wants to prove that bike saddles of a particular type are better than others, they should first make sure that the “inferior” saddles are properly set up and the rider properly fit to their bike, and perhaps do a before & after test of that, before trumpeting the marketing claims of someone wanting to sell a new type of saddle that, on the face of it, looks like maybe it would address the problem (and has a marketing campaign based upon fear).

The author says himself “Even if you didn’t feel any symptoms, even if you didn’t believe the researchers’ warnings, even if you thought it was perfectly healthy to feel numb during a ride – why not switch just for comfort’s sake? Why go on crushing your crotch?” The “comfort” reference is key here. Why isn’t someone comfortable, while someone else is? It’s a lot more than just saddle design. And it’s going to be different for different people.

And mountain bikes are, by far, going to be the worst offenders for landing sensitive parts of the anatomy where they shouldn’t land, or pressured where they shouldn’t be pressured, because of the more-upright riding position (putting nearly all the weight on the rider’s tail end rather than distributing some of the weight forward). And yes, the issues are going to be worse for people who are out of shape and jumping curbs and plowing through potholes in urban environments. Not that I’d put any officers I’ve seen in that category.

“Before the study, nearly three-quarters of the officers complained of numbness while riding. After six months, fewer than one-fifth complained.”
Let’s see here. 75% complained of numbness while riding. 75%???!!! And they kept riding? I would be interested in knowing what percentage of them filed for disability of some sort. Not that I’m cynical or anything. And for the truly-cynical, we are talking guys here, and given the opportunity, is a guy going to want to brag that his sex life has improved or that it’s in the toilet?

So no, I don’t have an opinion at all. :-)

This is not to say that there aren’t people who would benefit from different saddle designs than the norm. But let’s see some studies that are more-intelligently done, and include the following-

#1: Study people with issues and improvement, or lack thereof, that occurs from nothing more than attention paid to their fit on the bike
#2: Take those who still had issues after being fit and see what happens with the miracle saddle change. Does that subset benefit as much as group 1?

There are definitely people with real issues that need to be addressed, but the lack of adequate controls for these studies is alarming and causes one to wonder if the tests were designed to support a belief rather than to test it. –Mike–

Riding a bike is easy. Running is hard.

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"Running lady" on Canada Road

Sometimes I wonder why I would want to get up earlier than I have to so I can go climb a hill on legs that often protest “Why me?” right from the start. I’m reminded of pro cycling extraordinaire Jens Voight, who, when asked how he keeps going when he’s tired, tell his legs to “Shut up!” His legs seem to listen better than mine. Still, cycling is easy compared to running, where every step connects to the pavement and requires force to push forward. No way to “coast”, downhills as painful as uphill (or even worse if you’re clumsy on your feet like me), and if you ease off the pace for a bit to rest, it’s obvious, while on your bike, you still look like you’re going places. Continue reading →

Incredible morning to ride!

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Wow. A morning without leg warmers, big group for the ride, legs felt good (Lungs? One out of two isn’t bad), and Kevin (my son) is now getting up on Tuesdays and Thursdays as if it’s a regular routine, no longer complaining the night before that he wants to sleep in.

Big group at the start; after we arrived, they just kept on coming. 13 I think. Won’t even bother with all the names; easier to just say who was missing (Chris being the only semi-regular who comes to mind). Well, Kevin the pilot was there, but quickly missing in action as his ride-weary legs were just barely getting him up Kings. He did finish the same day, but just barely, and keep in mind we’re talking about a guy who can fly up the hill when he’s on his game.

Me? I’m Mr. Consistency. A bit slower in the off-season, a bit faster in the Spring & Summer. But until we’ve got Kevin’s (my son, not the pilot) seizures a bit more under control, I’m holding him back a bit on the climbs, so I really don’t know for sure what shape I’m really in… which is just fine with me, because I can fantasize that, unleashed, I’d be up there with the best of them!

Regrouping at the top of Kings

Kevin didn’t disappoint today, have his 3rd consecutive Kings climb with a seizure, although this was one of those super-fast ones where he never loses consciousness, and was down on the ground for maybe 30 seconds before breaking a smile, saying “I’m good!” and then he was back on his bike.

We did catch up to Frank and Ayelet a bit further up Kings, two of our customers who enjoy an adventure on a bike just like us, but at a bit more reasonable pace. Later on we met a couple more, Lisa and Mark, who were heading out to the coast. It was so nice this morning I’m surprised there weren’t more.

Most of us didn’t have any clue about what was going on at the front of the group, where Nigel was doing a 24-something by hanging onto Marcus’s wheel, and I’m sure George was up there with him too. Ouch!

It would have been nice to get some group shots heading up west-side Old LaHonda, but this was a Tuesday, and on Tuesdays, all it takes is one person with a bit too much testosterone and things fly apart. Thursdays are a bit more subdued (and picturesque).

Darned good 70 mile ride starting in Woodside!

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It’s hard coming up with something new & fun after living and riding here since… well, pretty much since the dinosaur (I started doing longer bike rides around 1967). But today I think I put together a pretty nice one. As with all my rides, they start at the center of the Universe, that being Canada Road & Olive Hill, just north of Woodside. Why? Because it’s a couple miles from where I live and is the start/finish of the Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride.

You can view the ride on BikeRouteToaster here, and also download it from that site directly to your Garmin computer!

In a nutshell, this ride starts in Woodside, goes over Old LaHonda to the coast, then south on Highway 1 to Gazos Creek, north on Gazos Creek to Pescadero, Stage Road to San Gregorio and then Highway 1, and then Tunitas/Kings to get back to Woodside.

We started late (as usual), Kevin had one of his all-too-common seizures on Old LaHonda (again, as usual, although we were hoping that keeping his heart rate below 170 would keep that from happening), had a light headwind going out to the coast (as usual), and a pretty nice run south to Gazos Creek, where we ate at the Gazos Creek Grill (highly recommended!) before returning.

Not too many cyclists out on the coast side today, but those we did see were often on bikes we sold, and that always makes me feel good! But what really made me feel good was getting up Tunitas even faster than last week, despite, or perhaps because of, a bee or yellow jacket that stung me on the neck at the base of the climb. Kevin and I stopped for less than a minute to make sure there was no stinger to be removed, after which I flew up the hill with legs that felt stronger than they have in years. Maybe it was actually a radioactive spider that bit me, like Peter Parker (Spiderman)? More likely it was a desire to get back before any nasty swelling might set in. But whatever it was, Kevin hung on pretty well, and the 48:44 time was his best so far. More soon.

This page might be a bit messy right now as I’m trying some new things. Within a day or two it should be cleaned up. –Mike–

France is a great place to ride, but we might be a close 2nd

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A mild summer in Northern California… it doesn’t get much better than this. Sure, when it’s in the mid-50s at the start of the ride, you should be wearing leg warmers, but that’s not much of a complaint really. No jacket required, dry roads, spectacular views and good people to ride with. That’s what makes every Tuesday & Thursday-morning so nice.

Kevin entering the final part of the Kings Climb, just under 1k to go

Today was (obviously) no exception, which was why it was a bit curious that, at the start, it was just myself, Kevin (my son, not the pilot), Karl & Karen. We were soon joined by Chris, Jim & Marcus, although we didn’t see much of them as we were experimenting with Kevin, keeping his heart rate as steady as possible in an attempt to see if we could avoid him having his now-usual seizure on Kings Mtn. It worked!

As we rode across Skyline it became a ride of attrition, not from the pace but pre-planned early departures. That work & school thing I guess. We’re not sure when Jim disappeared, but on previous rides he just climbed Kings and went back down. Marcus likely dropped off at his house near Skeggs, and Karen, Kevin & Chris all headed down 84, skipping the west-side Old LaHonda loop. Which left… just me and Karl.

Karl on west-side Old LaHonda, with a fog-shrouded coast in the distance

Karl was kind to me today as we rode across west-side Old LaHonda and back up to Skyline, seeing a pretty large rabbit along the way and the usual beautiful views of the coast.

We’re going to do 4 more rides keeping Kevin’s heart rate steady and below 180, and if there are no seizures, the next step will be to go back to full-speed mode and see what happens. If they come back, then we can be pretty sure that adrenalin is a significant trigger for his episodes.

But what about France? It was only a few short weeks ago that I was thinking I’d take a year or two off from visiting France and the ‘Tour, but now I’m already thinking about getting in shape to do even-tougher rides than we did this year. We’d be in the Pyrenees in 2012 and now that we know we can knock off a 100+ mile ride with over 13,000ft of climbing, I can look at France in a whole new way. Previously, I’ve done rides centered around watching the ‘Tour come through, but now we can really see France at the same time. For so many years I was mostly self-limited to rides of maybe 100k, but no more. It’s time to step things up a notch. Just 11 months to go!

Back to School

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Hard to believe that the kids start school tomorrow, August 17th, barely halfway-through what used to be a full month of summer. How did this happen? Wasn’t Labor Day traditionally the last day of summer? Are kids actually smarter now than when they had a real “summer” vacation?

Scouting out Kevin's new school and it's whopping space for maybe 20 bikes (10 bikes each in two separate racks)

I’m reminded of this because Kevin and Becky start Canada College tomorrow. No big thing for Becky; she’s a “veteran” student, but for Kevin, it’s a bit scary moving from high school, where all the decisions are made for you, to college, where personal responsibility rears its ugly head.

But of course this is Tuesday so of course we rode. Just barely made it out to the start in time as we discovered Kevin had a flat tire before leaving, but we made it, with Eric there to make sure that we left precisely at the GPS-accurate time of 7:45am. Quite a few out today, can’t name them all, but we did have Eric & Jon & Todd & Marcus & George & Karl and several others. Kevin was under strict orders to keep his heart rate below 182, hoping that would prevent a seizure, but all it really did was ensure that the other guys were able to ride on ahead. I say that’s all it did because he still had a seizure about 4/5th of the way up the hill.

Easy to see why they're called "Turkey" Vultures

It wasn’t the seizure that caused us to shorten the ride a bit though. He’s apparently developed another kidney stone, thankfully not as painful as the last one, but enough that he’s got quite a pain at times and wanted to head back down 84. Since we had a bit of extra time, we made a detour off Canada to see his new school (Canada Jr College) and figure out how he’ll deal with a bike there… which doesn’t seem too easy. It’s likely he’ll probably walk half a mile and take the SamTrans bus. Strange that he’d think about doing that instead of riding, and yes, I did suggest that any worthwhile teacher would let him bring his bike into the classroom! That’s what I did back in the day (yes, I served my two years there way-back-when).

Heading back home over Jefferson I heard something loud near the road, looked over and saw the strangest monstrosity. Large Turkey Vultures look like any other big bird in flight, but up close on the ground, they look like… well, a turkey! Hard to believe they can even fly, and not sure why this was didn’t.

When the original plan goes to pieces, you can still get in a good ride

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Things didn’t work out the way they were supposed to; about the time Kevin was ready to ride he started getting some pretty nasty side pains, reminiscent of his kidney stone issues last year. Darn. 4+ hours at Kaiser dealing with pain management for something that’s likely transient; by late afternoon he was pretty much fine, but not ready for a ride.

A beautiful summer evening on the coast, best seen on a bike!

So at 4:30pm I set off for a quick run up Old LaHonda & out to the coast, returning on Tunitas. Met a nice guy on the way, Brent, who rode up Old LaHonda with me, and is yet another local cyclist who has never been on the backside of that road! Unfortunately I couldn’t introduce him to it today as he had to get back quickly.

Very few people out riding this late in the day, and I’ve never really been sure why. During the summer, the temps cool down just a bit, and the shadows add depth to our already-beautiful surroundings.

It was fortunate that I came across Brent, since it put me into semi-social mode on Old LaHonda and kept me from burning out too quickly. Good thing because I had a pretty stiff headwind going out to San Gregorio. A bit lonely being out there on my own, but also nice to be responsible only for myself and not have to worry about going too hard, blowing up and being left behind. I did decide to push things on Tunitas, and while far from a personal best, getting from the coast to Skyline in 49:15 was an indication that I haven’t lost too much of what I gained from the challenging rides in France a few weeks ago. I had some concerns that a 45 mile ride wasn’t going to be enough for a serious ride, but the way my legs feel right now, I think it was!