Near the top of the climb to Toumalet we found a rather deep snowbank blocking the road about 100m from the top. I got to try my cyclocross techniques to get our bikes across this barrier. At the bottom of the climb we had been assured that the road was clear, bicycle accessible, but closed to cars. I am relatively certain that there will be no snow on the road tomorrow.

A corollary to the statement above is that there is just cyclist, not road cyclist, not mountain cyclist, not commute cyclist, etc. I am a cyclist. I ride on roads, I ride on dirt (a little less, perhaps), I ride on the track, I ride for recreation, I tour on a bike, I commute on a bike, and I use a bike as a transport mechanism for cargo as well as myself. There are too many labels to apply, but just one will do: cyclist.

As a cyclist, I ride where I have to ride to accomplish whatever task is appropriate. Most of the time I want to get from point A to point D, and the route chosen is bound to a large extent by those two points, the origin and the destination. I do not choose points A and D because of the type of route that connects them; point A is where I am and point D is where I want to go, and the route is then chosen to connect the dots as effectivley as possible.

The current issue of Momentum has an article on riding in cities based upon a limited survey done by a researcher in Vancouver, BC. The article hints that city planners and cycling advocates should work towards implementing the preferences from this limited study, bike-only paths and multi-use paths (MUPs), rather than focusing on accommodations in the current road infrastructure. The problem with that type of focus, towards paths, is that until the path network is more or less as dense as the current road network the use of such paths becomes a route-centric view of cycling rather than an origin and destination centric view. In other words, my trip now goes from point B to point C because a path exists, even though I really want to get from A to D. How do I get from A to B and then from C to D? How much longer is the A-B, B-C, C-D combination then a more direct road-based trip from A-D? Factor into this discussion the fact that MUPs are among the most dangerous places to cycle, so if the objective is safe carriage then we are really talking of bicycle specific accommodations (paths) if the objective is to create a ’safe environment’ to foster cycling rather than the illusion of one. Creating an origin-destination centric network of such paths seems to be a rather daunting, and expensive, task. So I have to ask, can we afford to insist on separate accommodations, fighting for scarce resources to create a limited network of routes that do not get us from our origins to our destination just so we can be separated from other traffic? Or do we accommodate, learn the skills necessary to share the roads, teach others those skills, lobby to get better driver education and testing, and work to foster a better environment with the resources currently available? I am a cyclist, and my answer is I want to get from point A to point D and I will choose the path that accomplishes the goal today. See you on the road, trail, track, or path, whichever is close and available at the moment.

On the geek equipment front I acquired a handheld GPS units once they became relatively affordable and small enough to mount on the handlebars. I use it frequently, with downloable ‘map’ sets that provide a lot of functionality. Stranded under an overhang in Pisa during a horrendous thunderstorm and I wanted to know how to find the train station so I can get back to our room in Lucca so I queried the GPS and it showed me two relatively close to where we were standing. Riding into Bolzano for the first time, a quick query helped me locate the Museum of Anthropology then another helped me find a hotel. Cool stuff.

Beyond planning rides, we often use maps, GPS data, and other GIS sources to analyze rides after the fact. It gets a bit tricky, what with sampling errors, incorrect data, and such, but occasionally it is useful. Sometimes the data just hints at possibilities; when I was injured in a suspected hit and run in 2002, one curious piece of data was the GPS interval showing a max speed of 45MPH near the site I was found. That was either a major error in the data, or I got drop kicked by something going faster than the 35MPH limit. As a mis-matched couple, The Wife being a non-climber and I more of one, there are ongoing discussions about hills we climb. For example:

her: that was a gruesome climb, had to be at least a 15% grade.

me: naw, not more than 10% max.

And back and forth it goes until we sit down with maps, software, etc. and get some reasonable, independent estimate of the grade in question. Old days it would have been a map wheel on a USGS topo map then some mental calculations (or a slide rule), with all the attendant problems of sampling error for the map wheel over short distances, interpolation error reading the topo map, etc. These days it is all software driven, either from mapping programs or using data collected by the GPS unit. And for the record, the truth in most debates is usually in the middle: The Wife tends to overestimate, I tend to underestimate.

So far there have been no debates on the gradient of our climb up Nacimiento-Ferguson road from Highway 1 last week. Easy to calculate the average grade for the climb from Hwy 1 to the summit; right around 2600′ of climbing in 7.3 road miles so 6.7% average. But we knew there were spots where the grade was a bit steeper, and some more slack spots. But nothing to tweak the usual gradient arguments. The recorded GPS data from that ride is pretty clean; had good satellite coverage, no major weather events, etc. so a lot of relatively good data. A quick look at the elevation profile shows that in the interior the barometric pressure rose slightly so equivalent ‘peaks’ are higher when we rode in the morning than in the afternoon but interestingly the summit and Hwy 1 elevations are relatively equal coming and going.

I have used GPSVisualizer to produce maps from GPS data for a few years now, e.g. the route of our honeymoon tour. A relatively new feature is slope (i.e., gradient) analysis of a GPS track. They do have one slight problem with this part of the analysis: they labeled the Y axis as degrees of slope, but I am quite certain that we never hit a 24% slope [a 13.5 degree grade is 24.0%; for the mathematicians, the conversion is 100*tan(slope-angle)]. The 13.5 seems more reasonable if I assume it is a percent gradient number. Overall, the graph looks like a pleasant, but challenging, climb. A few tougher spots, some slack spots, lots of ups and downs. Now I need to run a few of my older GPS tracks through this analysis. The map geek lives!

Wednesday we started with a quick trip to Carmel, some lunch in the sun, then a quick bike ride north to Pacific Grove on the coast side section of the 17-mile drive and then back along the same route. I had been off the bike for two days at that point and it was good to stretch the legs a bit. The weather was gorgeous and clear, with temps running in the high 60’s low 70’s F along the coast. After dinner that night we walked down to the beach in Carmel where there was a large crowd enjoying the nice weather and clear view of the stars and a full or near full moon off to the east.

Thursday we woke up to clear skies but could see the fog bank lingering off-shore. By the time we ate breakfast the coast was engulfed in the gray mass. We drove down the Big Sur coast, in the fog the entire way except for the brief section along the Big Sur river, to the Kirk Creek campground. From there we took the bikes and started up Nacimiento-Ferguson Road into the Santa Lucia range. The road is a great climbing road, with some nice pitches and one long slack section on the middle (from mile 3.66 to 5.75 according to The Wife). The net elevation gain is almost 2600′ in 7.3 miles or about a 6.7% average grade, a nice warmup for the rest of the day. We broke above the fog at about the 1000′ elevation only to find a layer of high clouds. So much for views of the coast!

Just over the crest of the hill we stopped at a USFS fire station to refill water bottles then started the 20 mile trek to Mission San Antonio de Padua. A contrast in climates, the interior was warm with temps in the mid to upper 80’s under clear skies. The first part of the descent is along a (dry) creek through a forest providing some nice shade, but then it was out into open oak savannah with nothing to block the sun and provide relief. About 9 miles past the summit we entered the Hunter-Liggett Military Reservation and had to stop and provide identification to the guard in order to enter. Bet that was not possible for a period 6 years ago! There had been a couple of large grass fires in the area making the landscape look rather stark and bleak. Probably a better place to visit during the spring when everything should be green.

The mission sits near the main part of the Hunter-Liggett army base which has been built for the most part in mission style. It was rather quiet around the mission itself, with only a couple of workers and three cats around while we ate lunch then strolled around looking at the grounds before saddling up for the trip back to the coast. The ride out was a bit of a challenge; The Wife was tired, sore, and dehydrated and I was nauseous, presumably from something I ate for lunch (I suspect oats in the ostensibly whole wheat roll, and since I am allergic to oats …). To make matters worse The Wife got a flat just as we re-entered Forest Service lands from the military base. We persevered, stopping briefly at the summit to put on jackets for the descent into the foggy mist. Total riding for the day was 55.4 miles and the GPS listed it as 5950′ of elevation gain. A lot more rolling in the interior than we anticipated.

Friday was a transition day. We left the Big Sur coast and entered San Luis Obispo County, stopping just south of the Piedras Blanca lighthouse to watch the female and juvenile Elephant seals that had hauled out onto the beach before trekking over to the Hearst Castle visitor center. The visitor center was a stop recommended by The Wife’s parents. I had not visited the Hearst Castle facility since sometime in the early 90’s and the changes are not for the better in my opinion. Much of the space formerly filled with information packed exhibits is now filled with concessions. Sigh! Disappointed with that stop we meandered south to Arroyo Grande to spend time with The Wife’s family.

The main task for the weekend was to help shepherd, coax, coerce, and coach The Wife’s mother on her first metric century, in fact her first ride of over 44 miles. The ride chosen, the Lighthouse Century metric route, is a nice jaunt north from San Luis Obispo to Cambria on California Hwy 1 and then a return using the same route. The weather was excellent; clear skies, temperatures in the mid to high 60’s, and only moderate winds. The Wife and I had planned to do the 100 mile variant but altered our plans to help her mother achieve her goal. So we had a nice, gentle ride with a couple thousand of our closest friends while soaking in some beautiful scenery. What more can you ask? And in the end it was mission accomplished, pretty much on the time schedule we set out in advance.

The drive home to the Bay Area on Sunday was made interesting as we had to play ‘dodge cars’ on US 101 just south of Salinas as too many drivers were paying attention to the Blue Angels performing for the Salinas Air Show instead of the road. Fortunately I was able to avoid all the swerves and instant stops. Perhaps they should consider shutting down 101 as they did when the air shows were at Moffett Field. Now we are home and trying to avoid the thought of tomorrow, when the real world of work once again imposes itself on our lifes. Sigh!

For some time we have been wanting to do the route of the Big Sur ride, either as the event or as a self-supported tour. There was discussion of doing that loop this week but groans at the thought of doing two 80-95 mile days, with camping gear, back to back then doing a metric century within a day or two afterwards. The Wife does want some rest this week, after all. So we compromised, especially since the agreed upon route takes us towards her parents. We will travel down the coast, starting tomorrow, driving a bit, then riding a loop, then continuing on to the next destination. The one solid commitment for a ride is to cycle from Limekiln State Park up Nacimiento-Ferguson Road to Mission Road, and visit Mission San Antonio de Padua, perhaps the most remote of the California Missions. We are hoping for great weather, similar to what we enjoyed four years ago when we did a tour of the California coast and had awesome views like this moonrise near Lucia.

Saturday we will ride in the Lighthouse Century out of San Luis Obispo, travelling back north along the coast. We had planned to do the 100 mile ride, but The Wife’s mother would like to try doing her first metric century and “has always dreamed” of doing such a ride with her daughter.  So we will take it easy and do one of the metric routes, instead.   That is a bit of good and a bit of bad. Good in that if normal weather patterns prevail we will not have to do that push into headwinds to Piedras Blancas, bad in that we will not get that long push back southward after the turnaround. Hope to have some photos of all this fun next week after we return.

• Valentines/President’s Day trip to Napa valley. We left with the weather forecast calling for a storm coming in the following week. We discussed cancelling/altering, but went ahead with plans for a bike trip. We monitored the weather forecasts all day Saturday and Sunday, weather folks kept moving up arrival time of the storm, but still we were supposed to be home long before the anticipated arrival. Then, early Monday morning the skies opened. We ended up riding to the ferry terminal in Vallejo in rain that was falling at rates up to 2″/hour. The Wife did not like it, not at all.
• Fall trip to Santa Cruz area. Again, we left with a forecast for rain after the weekend. We no sooner got settled on the Santa Cruz side when the skies opened. We waited out the brunt of the storm, returning on Sunday in light drizzle and heavy overcast.

In between these two trips we had a nice trip to Half Moon Bay for a wedding (see photo). Among items I carried in the panniers was a nice wool suit and dress shoes. Definitely a bit different than your usual tour. Despite the pleasant experience, the bad experiences shut down the planning of other short tours in the area for the past three years.

I am hoping that with some down time from training and racing that we can once again plan a nice, easy weekend cycle tour in the area. I have a few options I am mulling over, but no firm plan of action .. yet.

In the meantime, the only planned ride at this time is the Lighthouse Century out of San Luis Obispo. We have done this before, a pleasant ride along the central coast that we can combine with a visit to The Wife’s parents. The mother-in-law wants to try the metric version of that ride, so I got her a registration this week. If the weather cooperates could be a lot of fun.

The sandals have become something of a conversation point. Frequently, other riders will realize I am wearing sandals and ask about them. The usual questions are:

• Q: What about cleats?
• A: Any SPD (2 screw) compatible cleat can be mounted.
• Q: Are they stiff enough?
• A: Define ‘enough’; I have no problems, even on steep climbs.
• Q: Don’t your feet get cold?
• A: Sometimes, but they do in shoes, too. I use socks to regulate temperature.

A few weeks ago, when the Colnago came to live with us, I broke out the SpeedPlay X/2 pedals and the Sidi Energy shoes. That was OK, but on the longer rides my feet started complaining, as usual. Last week I put Frogs on the Colnago for the Sea Otter 100 mile Road Tour, mostly for ease in walking at the rest stops. Today I was conflicted as I went to the garage to go out for the ride: put the X/2 pedals back on and ride with closed shoes, or use the Frog/sandal combination. The sandals won.

I still have two pairs of closed toe cycling shoes. The Sidi Energy shoes I use with the SpeedPlay X pedals are now about six-seven years old, but still holding up. I saved them from the shears of the ER nurse after I got drop kicked (presumably by a motor vehicle) [WARNING: Graphic content if you follow this link] in March 2002. Her excuse was she could not figure out the release. The Sidi Dominators, now with Frog cleats (formerly with Time ATAC cleats), are embarrassingly new looking though they are four years old. Perhaps I should give them more of a chance, but the toes keep screaming that they want to be free.

Sunday afternoon I spent finishing the cleaning job on the Colnago drivetrain, then tore down, cleaned, and rebuilt the Chris King hubs on the wheels that had been on the Y-Foil.  I then swapped the old 9sp 12-25 cassette for a new 10sp 12-27 cassette and mounted the wheel on the Colnago. I added a new SRAM 10sp chain, and then realized I had no Campy derailleur cables.  Rather than file down the end on a Shimano cable, I ran to the bike shop and stocked up.  I replaced the right (rear) derailleur cable, adding a JTek Shiftmate Model 1 to handle the difference in spacing between Campy and Shimano.  On Monday morning, after adjusting the derailleur, I joined the wife on a 17 mile coffee shop loop to try out the new shifting; it all works great!

When we got back from the coffee shop there was a package containing the 291mm Wheelsmith 2.0-1.7-2.0 spokes needed to fix the Trek.  I sat down and replaced the 9 damaged spokes, carefully weaving them into position.  I pulled out the truing stand and ran through tensioning, centering, and truing the wheel.  When it was good enough I remounted the tire, pumped it up, spun on the freewheel, and prepared the Trek for the Tuesday commute.

I am now feeling less guilty.  I now have 3 operational bikes, and the 4th just needs to be sold off ASAP.  Anyone want a 56cm Y-Foil?