Closer to one of my goals

Yesterday, I hit a milestone of 500 miles for the season so far. As I’ve said before, one of my goals is to put 4,000 miles on my bike this year.

Most of  the miles are short rides of about 30 or less with my longest so far a little over 50 miles. I hope to get a 75 or 100 mile ride in pretty soon to make sure I’m ready for the Minnesota Ironman and a 200km brevet the following week.

I’m surprised how excited I am for this season. I’m feeling a lot stronger and faster on the bike this year.

Schedule of events I’d like to attend this season

So here is a short list of events around the area that I would like to attend:

 

Minnesota Ironman – Lakeville MN (Sunday April 25th)

200km Brevet – Rochester MN (Saturday May 1st)

300km Brevet – Waterloo IA (Saturday May 8th)

MS 150 – Duluth MN (Saturday June 12th)

400km Brevet – Rochester MN (Saturday June 26th)

600km Brevet – Rochester MN (Saturday July 24th)

Jesse James Bike Tour – Northfield MN (Saturday September 11th)

Headwaters 100 – Park Rapids MN (Saturday September 25th)

200km Brevet – Apple Valley MN (Sunday October 3rd)

 

Granted this list is very preliminary, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

 

By the way, did my first 40 mile ride of the season. It was cold and wet, but I had a great time. Here are the details from my Garmin.

First two-hour ride of the spring

It was just so nice today, I had to get a decent ride in. Took 2 hours but had a great time and saw I think 5 other cyclists out today.

I tried iMapMyRide on the iPhone for the first time and wasn’t impressed. It’s too early to judge…I’ll give it a few more tries, but it completely lost the GPS location for most of the ride. Good thing my Garmin worked like a champ.

Loaded the Garmin GPX file onto MapMyRide though so here is the route I took today: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mn/big-lake/156126800796553116

For a free service, it’s pretty nice, but a little quirky and not too polished but I’ll stay with it for a while and see how that goes as well.

The Trek 2.3 has some shifting issues with the rear sprocket…Wants to always jump two gears instead of one. I’ll have to take it back to the LBS and have it adjusted since I don’t really know what I’m doing and the bike is still pretty new.

Man that two hour ride took a lot out of me. I have a lot of work to do if I’m going to complete some distance rides next month.

14 mile ride

Just finished about a 50 minute ride. Kind of cool today but decent otherwise. A few notes on the Edge 500:

1) It seems to take about 30 minutes for the temperature to equalize with the ambient temp if the device was in a much warmer place before going on a ride.

2) Not sure of the altitude accuracy so far…It’s supposed to be quite accurate but it seems to jump around sometimes. Maybe it’s just so flat where I ride that it’s an unfair test. Time will tell.

3) I need to check the mileage…The bike seems a little too fast. I have the tire size on auto which I think it determines the wheel diameter based on the cadence and GPS, but I’m not sure on this either…Just seems like I’m flying out there this year.

You can check my latest ride here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26097544

This weekend, weather permitting, I’m hoping to put in a 20 to 30 mile ride. I can’t wait to get a decent ride in.

Garmin Connect – Activity Details for Untitled

Garmin Connect – Activity Details for Untitled.

First outdoor ride of the year. Was 38° outside and sunny so I figured what the heck. Man sitting on a trainer is definitely not the same as riding uphill against the wind.

Trek 2.3 on the trainer

Here’s the Trek 2.3 on a CycleOps magnetic trainer. This particular trainer is a little noisy and has some vibration (when the magnet poles pass each other) but nothing I can’t deal with.

As you can see, I’m not using a trainer tire…It just seemed unnecessary and becomes problematic when it starts getting nice outside since you can’t just take the bike off the trainer and take it outside. Worst case, I need to replace the back tire a little sooner this year.

Also, I have an Axiom Frame pack near the handlebars…After using it last year I can’t imagine riding without it. When on a long ride, I usually keep my phone, some power bars, gels, and some emergency money it for quick access.

Garmin Edge 500

I’ve always been into data collection and how we can analyze that data to improve our situation or the environment we find ourselves in. I figured I would combine my love of cycling and data collection with a good bike computer. What would I want from a device? Here’s a list of things I thought I wanted on a bike computer:

1. Cadence sensing
2. Speed sensing
3. Heart Rate capture
4. Altitude sensing
5. Ant+ wireless for all sensors
6. Ability to change the layout of the display(s)
7. GPS receiver
8. Data logging

The trick was to find a device that would do all of this but not break the bank in the process. The Garmin Edge 705 seemed to fit the bill, but the $650 price was a bit too much for me. I know you can do a lot with an iPhone or an Android driven phone, but there is sill a disconnect between Ant+ and these devices.

When the Garmin Edge 500 was introduced, it seemed like the perfect option for me. Granted, the 500 doesn’t have the GPS mapping, but that wasn’t as important as the GPS logging for me. With the heart rate and speed/cadence sensor, the price is still $350, but that’s still a lot less than the 705’s price.

After purchasing the 500, I was planning on doing a whole write-up on it, but someone else had already done a more thorough review than I could ever hope to. Check out their Edge 500 review here. What I was mostly interested was the data and how I could report on my cycling progress and how it could help me improve.

After about 40 miles with the 500 now I thought it would be a good time to throw some data up that the 500 provided. One thing about the 500 is the way you download the recorded data stored in the device; you connect it with a USB cable to your computer, but instead of downloading the the data to your PC, it’s uploaded directly to Garmin’s site. I don’t really like some company having access to all of my cycling data, but it does seem to work quite well.

Here are some reports on an hour long spin I did:

Obviously, I’m not showing any GPS data since the bike is stationary, but these graphs help me to set some baselines for this year.

First 30 miles on the new Trek 2.3

Just thought I would write a quick update this evening on my first few sessions with the 2.3 on the trainer. I did three different sessions with a total of about 30 miles with a cumulative time of about 2 hours. Oh and my average cadence was about 70 rpm.

Initial reactions:

• The bike spins very smoothly and the fit is quite good. I feel more relaxed than on the Allez.
• The shifting with the 105 components is very smooth and sure.
• The handlebar stem seems a little long…I’m going to see if my lbs will swap it out for a shorter one.
• I have to agree with a bunch of the reviews I’ve seen for this bike in that the seat is HORRIBLE. I hate to go out and buy another one, but the stock seat has to go!

I’ve hooked up a Garmin Edge 500 to this bike and I’m putting it through it’s initial runs as well, but more on that later.

Back on the trainer with a new bike

We’ll we spent the weekend driving around the cities and hit 4 bike shops several times before I came to a decision. Although we looked at many bikes from Specialized, Cannondale, Gary Fisher, and Trek, I ultimately decided upon a Trek 2.3

We looked at the Madone 4.5 and the Trek 2.3. The 4.5 is an entry level carbon bike and the 2.3 is Trek’s top of the line aluminum framed bike. Although the 4.5 is a full carbon, it’s their older style carbon. That along with the fact that the 2.3 comes with a full Shimano 105 group as well as better wheels helped me to choose the 2.3. I know the carbon would help to reduce road vibrations but that’s never been a real problem for me. Maybe it will after I do a 400 or 600km ride.

Here’s the full rundown on the Trek 2.3 

And here’s a picture of the 2010 Trek 2.3

I guess I’m a little superficial in the fact that the looks of the bike sells me on it as well.

I’m planning to get it up on the trainer later today and put it though a good 10 to 15 mile workout. We’ll see how it goes.

On the hunt for a new bike

I just sold my road bike. I absolutely loved the bike but it was too small for me. I should not have been in a 52cm. The fact is I trusted my local bike shop (lbs) to know what was best for me and they didn’t. I have a lot of respect for this small chain of shops, but I will not visit that location again.

So, on with the fun stuff…

OK, I’m looking for a good frame but not a carbon, I’m still afraid of cracking over the long run. So it’s either aluminum or titanium and I don’t think I want to sell my firstborn for a titanium frame. So that leaves aluminum.

With the cheaper frame that gives me some room to get some better components like a Shimano 105 or Ultegra group or SRAM Force and maybe a better wheel set as well.

Haven’t seen anything on Craigslist lately, so I guess I’m going to start hitting the shops this weekend. Without a bike on the trainer, I’m gonna be missing out on some good training time.