The “$695 MSRP for only $299!” bikesdirect.com myth

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Mike

On the internet, you can find virtually anything you want, but not all is as it appears. That on-line dating profile… says he or she is 39, but actually 43. Stretching the truth a bit. But what if they’re 56?. Today’s lesson- The “Grab yours NOW at our special price of $299 from $695 MSRP” road bike (Mercier Galaxy SC1), courtesy of bikesdirect.com. This is the 56 year old claiming to be 39.

Advertised as a $695 MSRP bike selling for $299, this is the internet, so anything goes! It never ever sold for anything close to $695, and would be worth, assembled, maybe, $400. It’s not spec’d anything like the bikes it claims to compare to.

This bike came to my attention when I received an email from someone, asking for assistance in setting it up for him, saying that the manufacturer says it should only take “25 minutes.”

If you pull it out of the box, throw on the pedals, tighten the handlebars and inflate the tires, yes, it might be just 25 minutes, and you’ll end up with a K-Mart quality bike with a few nicer parts.

But if you build it the way we (and most other competent bike shops) do, it will involve removing the tires & tubes to make sure the rimstrips in the right place and the tire & tube were correctly installed, lubricating all threaded surfaces (why they don’t come this way from the factory is something I don’t understand), truing the wheels laterally and inspecting them for deformities caused in shipping (happens more often than you think), making sure all bearings are properly adjusted, replace “factory” chain lube (which is often the consistency of light tar) with something that will allow it to shift better, ensure there are no kinks in brake or gear cables & housing and replace as required, and finally, the simple stuff like installing seat, pedals & handlebars. And then it needs to be test-ridden to settle things in, and checked again. And double-checked by another mechanic. That 25 minutes bikesdirect.com quotes just became two hours.

And the bike still isn’t fit properly to the rider.

Besides frame size (the easiest thing to figure out, but not as important to proper fit as what follows here), you’ve got stem length, handlebar height, handlebar width and handlebar reach. Because people come in all manner of shapes and sizes, and it makes a huge, not subtle difference, getting things right. Bar width should approximate shoulder width. Stem length should be set so the rider is in a relaxed position when using the brakes. Forward reach should be very short for those with smaller hands. Drop from seat to bars is determined partly by rider flexibility. All this stuff comes into play when a decent shop sells a road bike.

But the bikesdirect.com model has 40cm wide bars on the smallest frame (too wide for just about anyone who’d ever use a bike that size), and a 90mm stem (too long in nearly every case). Minor stuff compared to what comes next.

It “features” a standard, not compact, crank design with a 39/52 chainring combo. Exactly what a real racing bike has… which is great. If you’re racing. But if you aren’t strong enough to ride the Tour de France, and you’ve got hills in your area, that gearing’s going to kill you. Every legit bike company is currently spec’ing a “compact” crank with 34/50 gearing, far easier to get up hills with, on their entry and mid-level bikes. If it’s flat where you live, the bikesdirect.com model might be fine. Otherwise, it’s a very expensive change to get suitable gearing. How could you be expected to know all this stuff? You can’t. That’s how they get away with it.

And then there’s the pricing comparison. Aside from spec’ing the bike with parts that are often inappropriate and expensive to change, they also use a stem shifter. Yes, the same type of stem shifter you’d find on a K-Mart bike. Saving about $200 over the integrated brake/shift levers found on a quality bike in a local bike shop. Wheels? Cheap old-style freewheel, not cassette, leading to a very shortened lifespan.

They could reasonably claim their bike, fully set up, would rival a bike of approximately $400-$450 in a bike shop, but nothing close to $695 “MSRP.” Nor did the bike ever sell, anywhere, for anything close to that. But you still wouldn’t have a bike that’s been fit properly, nor a bike that has a local shop that maintains a sense of ownership of the bike if something goes wrong. No warranty except by phone and sending the bike back.

Can you save $$$ by buying a bike in a box on the ‘net? If you know what you’re doing, how to get properly fit, have the parts needed to make changes so it’s appropriate for the riding in your area, then yes, you can save a few dollars. But nothing like bikesdirect.com claims, which puts them into the category of misrepresentation, fraud or even scam.

There are reasons that companies like Trek and Specialized and Giant sell bikes only through local dealers. It ensures that you get a bike appropriate for the cycling opportunities in your area, properly assembled and fit, and a place to bring it back to in case something isn’t quite perfect (because yes, in the real world, there can be defective parts, and what seems to be a great fit at first might evolve a bit as you go on longer rides). A bikesdirect.com bike offers none of that. Which is fine, people deserve a choice. But what’s not fine is when they tell you it’s the same as buying a much-more-expensive bike, or that just 25 minutes work and it will be in great shape.

The bike of the future might not require as much expertise to assemble, might be more adjustable in fit, and more versatile in capabilities. But that bike isn’t here yet, and until it is, your local bike shop is offering you a whole lot more than what you find offered on-line. Better fit, better service, better components, longer life. –Mike–

PS: Bikesdirect.com even claims their sizing runs the same as a Trek, essentially encouraging people to find out from a local shop what size they take, so they can order their cheaper bike. But they do not size the same, nor do they offer any degree of customization that is standard with a local bike shop. Nor are the Mercier and Motobecane brands they sell in any way the once-great companies making them back in the day. Bikesdirect.com simply picked up expired trademarks and slapped them onto their bikes. Windsor too, but strategically that was a mistake; anyone familiar with Windsor back in the day would not likely have positive feelings about the name.

How to evaluate a road bike on a test ride

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Mike

Two great road bikes, which to choose? Traditional TREK Madone race bike, or the new Domane that seems meant for the dreadful road surfaces on our recently “repaired” roads? Click on the photo for our current bike road bikes!

Test-riding Road Bikes

So you’ve decided you want a new road bike, and plan to test-ride a couple. Here’s a few things that will help you get a fair comparison and make the right choice! Note that this article is entirely brand & material neutral, but altruism aside, we’d still like you to buy your next bike from Chain Reaction in Redwood City or Los Altos, California.

What the shop will require

There are entirely different styles of road bikes; Trek, for example, offers the pure-performance Madone series, and the new ultra-comfortable Domane bikes. Your shop will help you decide which bests fits your needs, but a test ride is essential.

First, a couple things to keep in mind. You’re going to be taking a spin on something that’s reasonably expensive, so assume the shop’s going to require you to leave something valuable that ensures your return. In our case, it’s a valid current California driver’s license and a credit card. This works because it verifies who you are and it’s something we can be reasonably sure you’ll return to get (even though some of us have some rather dreadful photos that we’d rather not see again!). We will also create a record in our computer of the bike being ridden. We used to be a bit more liberal and skip the credit card part, but we’ve had to tighten up a bit due to a string of test-ride bike thefts in the area.

Also, please note that most shops (including Chain Reaction) will not allow test rides if the pavement is damp or it’s even getting close to dark (assume you need to arrive at least one hour prior to closing or one hour prior to sundown, whichever is earlier). Your safety is more important to us than selling a bike.

What you should bring

Many shops, including ours, require helmets on test rides. We just think it’s a good idea to try and keep you alive, at least until we sell you the bike! And no, it has nothing to do with insurance. If you’ve already got a helmet, bring it with you…it’s probably already set up correctly for your head and will save some time.

If you’ve already got clipless pedals from another bike, bring your shoes with you! It’s much better to test ride a bike the way you’re used to riding. If the pedal system is something other than standard SPD (the typical mountain-style recessed-cleat pedal/shoe system), then bring along your pedals as well, and have them installed on whichever bike you ride. And if you’ve got cycling shorts (which you should, since they make cycling much more comfortable), bring those too. You want to be testing out the bike and not be distracted by uncomfortable clothing etc.

How the bikes should be set up

OK, you’ve figured out a couple bikes you’d like to ride. Remember, you want to test each bike under optimal conditions, so here are some things to make sure of-

#1: For the first bike, make sure the seat is adjusted properly…both for height and tilt. The nose of the seat should be level with the back, and even small variations here can make tremendous differences in comfort. Once you have the seat height figured out, have it measured (from center of crank to the top of the saddle) and set up each subsequent bike to exactly the same height. This is very important, as even small changes in seat height can have a dramatic effect on how a bike feels…and you’re testing a bike, not a saddle position! (For more info about saddles and bike fit, we have an article on line)

#1b: It may be possible for a skilled salesperson to take a quick look at your position on the bike, with your hands on the lever hoods (where you’ll be spending most of your time with STI levers) and notice that you’ll definitely need a shorter, or longer, stem (the part that holds the handlebars to the fork). In some cases, this change can be made very quickly, due to new stem designs that allow you to change the stem without having to remove & reinstall the brake levers and handlebar tape. It’s definitely in the best interest of the shop to make your ride as comfortable as possible, so don’t be surprised if this is done before you take your test ride.

Tires should be checked for proper inflation before each ride

#2: Have each bike’s tires inflated to appropriate pressure, right in front of you. This is as important, if not more so, than the saddle height. If you ride the ultimate carbon-framed bike with its tires carrying only 80psi, vs a much-less-expensive machine with its tires running at full rated pressure (120psi), can you guess which is going to have a faster ride??? I recognize that this is going to annoy a whole lot of salespeople, who will pinch a tire with their fingers and say it’s fine, but this is a really important point. A tire even 10psi low is not giving you the ride you need. Always test-ride with fully-inflated tires, period. (Exceptions? Yes, for someone under 130 pounds the pressure can be dropped a bit, as low as 100psi for a 23c tire width)

#3: Ask if the salesperson could run you through the gears on a stand, just to make sure you know how they’re supposed to work (which you probably do) and to ensure that they’re properly adjusted. There are a lot of reasons why a new bike might not have perfectly-adjusted gears (including kids playing with the levers when the bikes are in the rack), but we don’t care about the “why” for now. We just want to make sure things will work the way they’re supposed to on the test ride!

The actual test ride

Now you’re ready for your test ride. Question is, where? We have basically three types of test rides…the classic “parking lot” ride, the “around the block” ride, and the longer 4-mile “road” ride. The parking lot cruise is useful for having the salesperson check out your position on the bike and, in some cases, is as much of a ride as a customer feels comfortable with (because they don’t want to deal with traffic etc.). Usually, after graduating successfully from the parking-lot ride, you’ll want to take it on a bit longer spin around the block, getting up some speed on the straightaways, or maybe just feeling better because you don’t have a salesperson looking at you while you’re riding. [By the way, for the parking lot ride, it might be OK to use normal street shoes on clipless pedals, but for anything more, make sure the pedals are compatible with your shoes! We keep quite a few standard toe-clip pedals around for just this purpose.]

We’re still working out a “course” for our Los Altos location, but for Redwood City, we have a four-mile loop that includes good pavement, bad pavement, hills, descents and maybe even a combination of head & tailwinds. What more could you ask? We even give you a map showing the course, and ask that you stay on it. Why? Because if something were to happen to you, we need to know where to go looking! Remember, you’re on someone else’s expensive machine, and we have an interest in keeping both the bike, and you, safe.

At this point you may have fallen in love and confirmed your suspicions that this is the bike for you! But if that’s not the case and you want to test ride another bike, make sure that the seat height is set up exactly the same as it was on that first bike, and have the tires aired up, and run through the gears again. By the way, I should explain that tires in high-quality bikes have a normal tendency to lose a fair amount of air over a couple week’s time, so it should not be a surprise when they need air…it should be expected.

How to compare different bikes…what to look for

Afraid you won’t be able to tell much difference between two bikes? Even if you’re inexperienced at cycling, my guess is that the differences will be more obvious than you think!

And what should you look for? Check out for how each bikes accelerates while sitting and standing, comfort over big bumps, how it handles road buzz (vibration from “grainy” road surfaces) and any sort of emotional appeal it might have (how’s that for a vague quality?). For longer rides, we strongly recommend that you find a small hill you can charge up. Why? Because there’s nothing that separates a great bike from an also-ran like a hill. A really great bike just feels like it wants to go, even climb, even when you’re not in the right gear. An also-ran will have you constantly searching for that right gear, that sweet spot where everything comes together (hopefully). The really great bike just doesn’t care…it simply performs. If you’re in Kansas or Florida and the closest hill is 100 miles away, maybe an overpass will work…

For more info on the differences between one bike and the next, you can check out our articles on such things as whether a bicycle has a soul, how durable is carbon fiber, do you need a double or triple crankset, should you buy the cheapest bike with the best parts and many others in the menu section at the bottom of each page of this website.

You’ve found the right bike…now what?

You’ve found your bike…it’s got the right features, feels great while riding, etc. Now you need to get measured for proper fit. The frame size on what you rode might be correct… then again, it might not. At Chain Reaction, we use the New England Cycling Academy’s FitKit system, which takes a series of measurements of the rider, to make sure we have not only the correct frame size, but top-tube plus stem distance (critically important and frequently ignored!), seat-to-handlebar drop, seat height, handlebar width and more. It’s not a matter of how much clearance you have standing over the frame! That might help get you in the ballpark, but since the front-to-back distance of a frame changes with size, your arm & torso measurements might dictate a frame size different than standover height might indicate.

Please note that, in the majority of cases, the stem length on the bike will need to be changed. This isn’t a big deal if the shop sells a lot of road bikes…they’ll have the various stems in stock and ready to go. I would suggest that any shop not willing to swap the stem for proper fit on a road bike may not be a good place to buy one! In many cases there will be no charge for a stem swap, but there will be times where you have to go to a stem that might cost a bit more, or perhaps because it’s a lot higher they might need to replace several cables & housings, which definitely takes a lot of time. Or it might be a closeout bike that came with a ridiculously-long & low stem that has no value to the shop. In those cases, you could expect to pay a small amount of money to cover the difference and/or the labor involved.

Fortunately, at Chain Reaction we have such a tremendous number of road bikes in stock that there’s rarely an issue getting someone set up with exactly the right size bike, right then and there. But Chain Reaction, with over 300 road bikes in stock at any one time, is not exactly typical, so don’t be surprised if getting the proper fit involves waiting for one to come in. It will be worth the wait, especially if the alternative is a bike that doesn’t feel quite right because the fit’s wrong. If your local shop doesn’t have a zillion road bikes in stock, that’s not necessarily an indication that they’re not serious about road bikes…could be they just don’t have such a highly-developed road bike market like we do in the SF Bay Area, and can’t afford to have a huge number of bikes sitting around, waiting for you. Not a problem for us…the number of road bikes we sell would make most shops heads spin.

After you find your new dream machine, you might check out our Taking Care of your Road Bike article.

Interested in our sale-priced bikes? Check here! And don’t forget to join our email-list so you’re up-to-date on our latest specials.

–Mike–

There are good reasons to stick to the plan (smart people don’t ride road bikes on dirt Montebello)

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Mike

The plan. Remember, there’s always a plan. Do an “ugly” ride, maybe up 92 to Skyline, then south to Kings/Tunitas, ride down to the coast, Stage Road to Pescadero, over Haskins, up West Alpine and back to Woodside via Skyline & 84. Not such a bad plan, but nobody wanted any part of it but me. Kevin didn’t think it sounded “fun” and Michael and Andrew from the shop didn’t look forward to riding up 92 with all the traffic.

So Plan B. Leave at 9:30am with Michael and Andrew from the shop and head over to the coast, maybe over Kings and down Tunitas (leaving out the ugly part going up 92 and south on Skyline) then the rest of the route from the first plan. Only it’s pretty nasty up on Skyline, with heavy fog coming over the hill, so Kevin and I opt for a later start. Plan C.

Plan C involves staying “low” for a while, giving the fog up on Skyline a chance to burn off. Ride south down through the foothills, up Redwood Gulch to 9, then north on Skyline, descend West Alpine and back over the hill via Tunitas Creek. Seemed reasonable, until, heading up Stevens Creek towards Redwood Gulch I got the idea of skipping the West Alpine/Tunitas section and doing an out & back up Montebello instead. I don’t even remember for sure if I’d ever been up there before; maybe 40 years ago, not sure. But I do know that it’s a heck of a lot steeper now than it was before!

35 (hard!) minutes up Montebello and we come to the end of the paved road. Time to turn back and take on Redwood Gulch! And here’s where we should have stuck to the revision of the revised plan, because instead of heading back down, we decided to try out the dirt “road” that supposedly connects up to Skyline and Page Mill. How tough could it be?

This is not what you want to see on a tire. Especially the front!

You don't want to see this on a tire either! This tire was clearly worn too thin long before we hit the nasty stuff.

Well, it’s one of those roads that starts out looking not-so-bad but, as you’ll see in the video, deteriorates into a tire shredder, something much better done on a mountain bike with big fat tires at 40psi rather than very skinny 23c road tires pumped up to 120psi. And while there were places we definitely would have felt more comfortable walking, that’s just not terribly practical with road-style cleats! And even if it was, it seemed like we might be many hours from civilization at walking speed. So ride we did, and somehow, miraculously, we avoided shredding our tires. Sort of. When we inspected them upon our return to pavement, we found Kevin was riding on casing material in several areas, rubber either torn or completely worn away. I fared a bit better, with just a few spots worn through, but at least mine were on the rear, while Kevin’s were on the front.

With Kevin’s tires on extreme borrowed time, we descended Old LaHonda instead of 84, wanting to keep our speeds down in case of a blowout. Fortunately we made it home without such an event, but by Tuesday morning, it’s likely all tires on both bikes will have been replaced.

Big group on the Tuesday ride

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Mike

Big group at Old LaHonda & Skyline. Left to right, Kevin J, Mike (not me), Kevin S, Chris, Eric, George, Karen, Todd, Marcus, Mike (not me again) & Karl. Missing (turned off earlier) is Jim.

So now I go to bed the night before the Tuesday/Thursday ride wondering how badly I’m going to get beat up… by my son. I knew this was coming, but I didn’t realize how rapidly he would progress. It was only a couple months ago (literally) that Kevin finally broke 30 minutes up Kings and could actually ride with our group without holding us up. And now, he can squeeze off a 26-something time more reliably than I can.

But today I never got to find out how badly he might beat me. Maybe a quarter mile before the start of the climb, one of my two computers came off the handlebar, without me noticing, but Karl let me know he’d seen if fly off and hit the side of the road. OK… I briefly considered whether it was worth sacrificing the climb for a computer… maybe it would still be there when I got back… but it might be tough figuring out exactly where it had landed later, so I watched the others head on up the hill while I made a u-turn and retrieved the computer. Did anyone offer to stay behind and ride up with me? Er, no, but Chris was a late arrival and was coming up behind, trying to catch the group. Yeah, sure, I can just have Chris pace me back up the hill. Right. For about 100 meters or so, and then he vanished. Poof. Gone. Didn’t see him again until the top of the hill.

Eventually I did catch up to Kevin, Todd & Karl. Yes, Karl, who’s recovering nicely from his latest collarbone/clavicle issue. They had been soft-pedaling for a while, actually having conversations, while my lungs are searching for every available atom of oxygen (I was going to say “molecule of air” but is air a molecule? Apparently yes.) I was dying; probably 27:20 or so, a lot of time to be thinking about everybody else already well ahead of me, riding faster, finishing soon.

Very big group this morning. 12 at least, given that there are 11 in the photo plus me, and there might have been one guy who turned off before then (yes, there was one more, Jim I think). A bit foggy at the top, fairly cool, and just damp enough to give me the creeps descending (Kevin doesn’t seem to have such trouble, but then Kevin doesn’t have the years of experience descending that I have, some of those descents ending up on my side instead of my wheels).

For the final sprint it was all Chris. Kevin wasn’t anywhere in sight; obviously, it’s time I get him back to sprinting again (since maybe emphasizing sprinting will slow him down on the climbs).

At 55, I’m scared to death that, if I slow down, I’ll never get back up to speed again!

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Mike

George, Karl, Leslie (pilot-Kevin’s friend), Kevin, Eric, John, Millo, Marcus, Karen… that might be everybody, or I might be missing someone. What wasn’t missed was a day that turned out so much nicer than expected! I put on the long-fingered gloves but really didn’t need to; it probably started around 54 degrees and was up to 64 by the time I got back home a couple hours later. No complaints!

Since it was a Tuesday I knew it would be a bit harder than the Thursday version of our ride, but hard is really what you make of it yourself. Starting up Kings I’m now making sure to not set the pace at the beginning, since people complain that I go hard and then blow up. Not sure how that’s a whole lot different than what I’m doing now… waiting for Marcus and John and Karl to pass by, and then hanging onto their wheels for dear life until… I blow up! The end result is the same; no way can I maintain a torrid pace all the way up the hill. Yet. Working on that one! And I think my new life as a bike commuter is helping out in that regard, since my 15 minute ride home includes a stiff climb at the end, and no matter how tough the day has been, no matter how tired or hungry I am, I still punch it as hard as I can.

Once we get to the park I get a chance to rest for a minute or two, and then continue up the hill at a bit more moderate pace. It’s still tough seeing the fast guys head on up ahead though, and I’ll still try to get back up to them at least once, an effort that pretty much destroys me. As usual. But today at least I got in two hard sprints, with George

This is what tells me I've got it- when you see someone looking back at you. If it's a drag race, there's no point. The only reason to look back would be if you are thinking about cutting someone off (tactics) or shutting down if you don't like your chances.

pushing things each time. Looking at the video I shot during the ride, I saw something that I key on during the sprint, without thinking about it… George pulls ahead, takes a quick glance back and then takes off. It’s that glance that tells me I’ve got it. If you’re serious about a sprint and it’s going to be an all-out drag race, there’s nothing to be gained by looking back, unless you’re thinking about backing down, and if that’s in your mind, you’ve lost already. In George’s case, I think he’s just curious and wants to know where he is vs myself or Karl. If it were a tactical sprint, knowing exactly where the other guys are makes sense, but for either the Skegg’s or Sky Londa sprints, the tactics are played out well before the actual sprint (while you establish your position… basically, whose wheel to sit on).

The most-interesting part of the ride for me wasn’t a sprint though. George and Karl had gotten out ahead on the 84 descent into Woodside, with me in that no-man’s land between them and a few some distance behind. Normally I’d be inclined to wait for those behind if there was much of a gap to the front guys, but today? Today I wanted to see if I could run George & Karl down, in particular on the Tripp Road section where I normally run out of gas and am happy to sit on someone’s wheel. But today I managed to bridge the gap to them, after which Karl promptly attacked, leaving me behind. Good tactic on Karl’s part, since it took me completely out of the final sprint.

This is what I do for fun. Or is it, This is what I do for fun? To tell you the truth, at 55, I’m scared to death that, if I slow down, I’ll never get back up to speed again! –Mike–

The Tuesday-morning ride is coming up to speed, plus “Who are those guys?”

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Mike

We had some visitors from The City this morning; three guys who had taken the train down, arrived in Redwood City at 7:18am and quickly headed up over Jefferson to join us. And, bad as I am, I can only remember one guy’s name- “Space.” Eric might be able to give me the other two. Either all or some were Google employees, and yes, it would be nice if I were a better ride host and would carry on conversations with the new folk but I’m still feeling fortunate to finish the climb up Kings on the same day as the rest of the group!

Actually, I’m doing a bit better than that. While I had told myself I was not going to follow the first fast wheel up the hill, and I intentionally let Karl get a good gap on me at the bottom, it doesn’t seem to matter. I see that wheel in front of me and claim it as if it were my own bike’s 3rd wheel. Karl started out at a reasonable pace but then gradually increased it, such that the first timing point, the house on the right with a reflecting pool that we used to be able to see 20 years ago before, was fast but not blazingly-so, but the second timing point, the hairpin over the creek, came at about 5:33, about 25 seconds faster than normal. I held pretty tightly until we were close to the park entrance, where we (myself, George, Karl & Marcus) dutifully waited for the rest to catch up. I’ll admit to a bit of disappointment that the wait was relatively short, but the good news is that Eric’s making a comeback, knocking two minutes off last week’s time to the top.

(The video above shows us descending Highway 84 into Woodside)

Regarding disappointments though, I’ll admit I was not at the top of my game for the sprints. Had I gone full-tactical and slowed down ahead of the sprint into Sky Londa, things might have gone differently, but it’s fun to just curl up into a ball and see how fast you can descend, never mind that it takes a bit to get yourself out of that ball and feel like turning the pedals again. Plus you’ve got a string of people on your tail, ready to slingshot in front of you at just the right moment.

Hopefully the three Google guys will read today’s report and leave a comment here. And hopefully they won’t think our group anti-social because of my lack of banter while riding. They did seem like very nice guys.

This ride marked the official start of the faster riding season, finishing at 9:22 (the Tuesday ride typically finishing in-season between 9:18 and 9:22am, while Thursday’s ride is typically 5 minutes slower). It didn’t feel like a take-no-prisoners event, so maybe there’s hope for me. –Mike–

This road ain’t going nowhere. Not. Let’s enjoy West-side Old LaHonda while we can!

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Mike

It’s funny the rituals you get into. When it was raining for months on end (or seemed to be), you get into the habit of waking up, opening the shades a bit and checking to see how wet the streets are. This morning, I knew it was going to be nice outside, but I still did exactly the same thing. Woke up, opened the shades a bit and expected to find wet streets. Thank goodness that’s over!

Just a few of us this morning, under bright skies with strong shadows, just the way I like it. Eric, George, Karen and, just for the run up to Skeggs, Marcus (that’s his usual gig; I don’t recall how long it’s been since he’s done the whole ride with us). A pretty easy pace up the hill, although I did try one hard interval, dropping back for a couple hundred meters and then sprinting back up to the lead group. I made it, but with nothing in the tank to spare (thanks partly to the beginning of a cold that I noticed coming on last night and can now confirm its quite real tonight).

This section of west-side Old LaHonda may not have much of a future

Road conditions were surprisingly good; most have held up well despite three solid weeks of rain. Most, not all. That crumbling section of west-side Old LaHonda is becoming narrower by the day, with a very soft, energy-sucking feel as you ride across it. There’s simply nothing supporting the asphalt they’ve dumped onto it, in a cheap attempt to keep the road intact. It’s not going to work; I got the feeling that a single truck driving over that section would be enough to do it in. There are many other areas where the surface is crumbling, but not in danger of falling away, as adjacent hillsides have slipped and basically changed the land the road sits on.

I doubt that the county has the funds to do much road reconstruction these days, and for the few homes along the road, it probably wouldn’t be too much of a hardship for them to have to either head up to Skyline or down to 84 if the road were split in two. The ideal situation for cyclists would be if there remained enough of a cow-path that we could still get through, but not cars.

I picked the wrong wheel to follow this morning!

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Mike

Today's West-Side Old LaHonda photo. Kevin, on the right, isn't exactly flying in formation here.

The first Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride under daylight saving time meant you wake up and it’s… dark! Hate that. At 7:05am, the world should be bright and the sun should be out and the roads should be dry and a tailwind in every direction!

Yeah, well, whatever. Thankfully the roads were just dry enough to rationalize taking my nice bike (after all, what could be worse than the soaking it got at the end of Sunday’s ride?), and the bike and I responded nicely heading over the hill to the start of the ride. Karen, John, Kevin, George, and a bit later, we were joined by Marcus. We started out at a pretty leisurely pace up the hill, with me being content to sit behind wheels. Funny how that changes the ride; if I go to the front at the start, things get moving too fast, too soon. If I stay behind, the pace remains pretty mellow. For a while. Just past the park, Marcus picked up the speed a bit, and, since I was on his wheel, I wasn’t going to let it go. Follow the wheel. That’s what I do. Just keep that rear wheel 6 inches ahead of your front wheel and stay there. Yeah, sounds so easy, but after a couple hundred meters I noticed everyone else had fallen back, and a hundred meters more and I blew a gasket and dropped back myself. Remember, this is what I do for fun.

Fortunately, I didn’t completely fall apart (a concern I had since I’d missed last-week’s rides while in DC), and I managed to keep my heart rate up pretty high (as high as 177 at one point), an indication that my overall health is fairly good. I was also able to pull fairly strongly across Skyline instead of just sitting on wheels, so maybe I won’t lose as much fitness (or gain as much weight) this winter as I normally do. Let’s hope!

Millo’s ride report (while Mike’s away)

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Mike

Mike – just in case you think we all stay home when you are away. Quite the social day:

A balmy 46 degrees at the start. A light rain had passed thru around 6 so the roads were wet. By 7:45 we had a few “blue clouds” winking at us through the cloud layer. Kevin, John, picked up Chris on Skyline, two others whose names escape me. In honor of your absence we went up through the Park and found both bottom and top gates wide open for us. A brief stop at the entrance to disrobe. I was way off the pace and told them to go ahead and I’d catch them at the top of WOLH. While climbing up Skyline to WOLH I met Larry, one of the 9:00 ride guys, who had headed up Kings early and was clearing the road for your ride. He’s doing a TNT ride Saturday and looking forward to the projected 31 degree temperatures. After a word with him I headed off and met a runner who just happens to be the daughter of my parents’ college housemate. A quick word with her and then the guys were coming along Skyline so I bid a hasty adieu and hot footed after them – only to have my left shift lever snap off and go flying into the roadside bushes. So my 20 speed is now a 10 speed and I’m stuck in my 39 front chain ring. At least I still have 10 working gears! Fortunately the wet roads kept everybody tame so I could hang on down 84 and then peeled off and limped home on Mt Home where I met up with Steve Lubin and six of the 9:00 ride guys who were heading over to Alpine Rd. Quite the social morning as that’s a total of 14 people I chatted with. Try doing that in an automobile!

Be safe, Millo

That road’s gonna go… and what happened to Ludo & Eric?

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Mike

Cool, yes, but not raining! As I’ve said before, we can take rain, we can take wet, but the two together aren’t much fun. This morning, for the most part, was fun. Despite being a Tuesday ride (typically the harder one), the testosterone had been left at home, so Ludo, John, Eric, Nigel and I had a pretty civilized ride, with nothing getting tested until West-side Old LaHonda, and even that was pretty moderate.

Speaking of tested, I finally figured out how to shoot viewable video from my Contour HD1080 camera. Prior to this, everything’s been really jerky as each bump jostles the camera and causes it to vibrate. My solution was a bit unorthodox and definitely not very pretty, but the results were great!

I’ll post the results shortly; I’m uploading about 15 minutes of video to YouTube. It’s unedited and without audio, but you’ll get an idea of what West-side Old LaHonda is like, including the run through the forest which, until now, has been nearly unfilmable.

Regarding the “road’s gonna go” teaser, I’m talking about that section of West-side Old LaHonda where the road has been slipping away and they’ve done some cheap & temporary fill to try and keep things in place. Well, after last week’s rain, the pavement in the area is crumbling and it’s not going to be too long before the roadway won’t support a large vehicle. Our fear is that they might stop maintaining the road entirely, letting that section completely slip away because, after all, how many actually need to use it as a through road (other than cyclists)? Hopefully the video I shot today won’t have historical value in the near future.

I was having a bit of fun heading down 84, with the dry pavement letting me push through the corners a bit harder so I had no trouble keeping up with Nigel and John, but about halfway down noticed that Eric and Ludo were no longer with us. Sometimes Eric can be a bit conservative on the descents, so I didn’t think too much of it until we got to the bottom and… no Eric, no Ludo. We waited… and waited… John kept on riding for a bit but Nigel and I headed back up the hill, hoping we weren’t going to find them picking up pieces of their bikes from the roadway and admiring each others road rash. Fortunately, the more-likely and less-painful scenario played out. Eric had gotten a flat, and Ludo stayed to help (good thing, since Eric’s pump didn’t work). Unfortunately, Nigel and I had to climb almost halfway back up 84 before intercepting them on their way down!

But adding a few more miles and a bit more climbing on a nice morning with a friendly group of cyclists… there are a lot worse ways to start the day. –Mike–

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Ride reports & bike news from Chain Reaction's Mike J

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