Baby it's cold out side...

Oh man is it. There's been only indoor riding recently since the temperatures here in the northeast have dipped yet again into the sub-freezing realm, and we've been subjected to a couple more ice storms. It's bad enough to wake up to ice on the car, but it's further demoralizing when you were hoping for some good weekend weather to get out and have a nice, relaxing (but brutally hard) road ride. It really doesn't bode well when you can't walk down the side of the road without feeling like you're walking across the ice at a (insert your favorite hockey team)'s game.

On the other hand, it's easy to do structured workouts on the trainer. The Power To The Pedals program from Roadbikerider.com is a great program, and it's so easily done on the trainer as well. It's actually funny, when you think about it. We derive no joy from riding indoors on a trainer, since you really don't go anywhere at all, yet doing a workout program like that, in conjunction with watching some good TV (like last year's Giro) can make the hour go by incredibly fast.

Oh, and some good company helps as well.

Just think, mountain bike season is almost here.

Being sick sucks.

Yes, it's entirely true. It sucks to have a cold. It sucks even more when it goes from your head into your chest and you just feel like utter crap for a few days. Riding? Tuh, forget it. Doing anything involving coherent thought? Forget it.

Even better is the fact of having to move on Saturday. Should be a joyful experience. I'm tired, I don't feel well, and I just don't feel like fighting with the cable company anymore. Bastards. That's a post for another day.

Oh, and update. The Williams Lake Classic mountain bike race will be June 14th, 2009. And it'll be the first race in the Catskill Mountain Bike Race Series. I'll be planning to train for that, for sure. Hopefully the snow will be gone by then.

Oh the things you'll eat...

So for the past week or so I've been attempting to log my diet using fitday.com. Holy shit, says I. I can't believe some of the stuff I actually stuff into my face with just a casual thought of its utterly abominable dietary contents. Yet amazingly, since I'm polishing off chocolate mousse pie, cookies, soup and other sundry junk food that's leftover from the holidays, I've actually managed to lose the few pounds I put on since Thanksgiving. This is of course no small miracle considering my time on the trainer has been limited by things like finding a place to live and moving. Such is life.

In other news, the Wii Fit is actually a really cool little gaming item. I may actually use the yoga included therein, and I might actually be able to touch my toes by the end of the summer. That would be something I haven't been able to do since I was five. Imagine that.

Oh, and yet more snow here in the northeast. I'm really getting sick of this (and having to fight to break cars free of snow drifts). Show me sun! NOW!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle...bollocks.

Snow. Snow snow snow SNOW! I'm sick of the snow.

12 inches of the white powdery stuff makes it nigh on impossible to plan for a new year's ride (although my typical schtick of crashing and hurting myself would be significantly damped by a mantle of white padding) and pretty much restricts life to the trainer. Blargh. Although, there are some reasons to consider the trainer at this point in the year:

1: I've GOT to get rid of some excess holiday inches. I'd like to really cut the fat this year, so to speak. Since I'll be starting my job somewhere in the middle of January, I'll have to really make the most of the little bit of training time I'll have.

2: I need to relieve some stress, and that's a pretty solid way to do it.

3: May marks the return of the William's Lake mountain bike race. Not that I'm even expecting to come close to winning it, but I'd love to at least be in somewhat good shape at that point in the year.

4: What the hell else will I do with all this time off?

So that's about the half of it. Work, moving (we did finally find a house to move into, and it's a beauty) and the eternal struggle to pedal. What a life, eh?

Oh, and yes. The photos on the best of the year post are awful. Next time, I'll make sure to hunt for .jpgs instead of .gifs. Pieces of junk...

The best gear of the year...

(or, what to stick in your bike lover's stocking?)

So, as an editor of Mountain Bike Tales (mountainbiketales.com) I get a lot of opportunity to see the best and the worst of products out there. So, being the holidays, it's time to come up with a couple things that I would classify as standout performers in 2008. Without further ado:

Best of season, 2008:
SRAM X.0 Drivetrain (Front and rear shifters, rear derailleur - ~$450)




Again, it comes down to the most important parts of the bike to fill in my best of the season slot. I'll be accused of being a fan boy, and that may be. I've been there with Shimano's drivetrain parts, but the simple fact remains that they are more labor intensive than SRAM's gear. Shimano even copied the SRAM design when they introduced the Shadow derailleur, so that has to say something, right?

Why do I perennially pick SRAM drivetrain parts as my best of the season? Because they just don't fail me. I've racked up a lot of miles on those parts this season, and they've taken a load of abuse (crashes are a way of life for me, and all these east coast hazards don't help any) through they year and still just keep on ticking. There's something grossly satisfying about not having to replace parts every season, and never having shifting problems. Best...of...season. Period.

Most underappreciated item of 2008:
Jagwire RipCord derailleur cable kit (multiple colours ~$30)

Me. No, really. Me. Or cables. Yeah, that's it. Nobody thinks cables are such a big deal, but when something comes along that keeps your shifting smooth for a full year without being touched, then it's something worth mentioning. Sure, cables do need replacing, but only just. Dirt, grime and crap just DON'T get into the Jagwire sealed systems, which is awesome for us east coast riders. For the $30 spent, not only does my bike look kick-ass, it now shifts perfect in every condition I can imagine.

Most frivolous but cool bike part in general for 2008:
Spank Lock On Grips (Chocolate, White or Black, ~$25)



Yeah, there's only so much to say about something like a pair of grips. (In this case) they're mocha/chocolate in colour, they have gold clamps, and they stay locked down on the bar through the most gruesome conditions. What more can you ask, except for a pair in your stocking?

Best "technogeek approved" item of 2008:
Garmin Edge 305 with Heart Rate Monitor and Cadence Sensor (~$275)



Who doesn't like to know their heart rate, cadence, average grade, current speed, lap speed, and even sunset time with a glance at their handlebars? Well, the old coots that rode with toe clips and straps may not approve, but those of us who know where the 'on' button is on the front of a PC will love this. Pair this gizmo with Sport Tracks training software and you're set to get a wealth of very usable information that will keep your training right on track throughout the season. It's amazingly handy to have a breadcrumb trail map (for full GPS navigation, consider the 705, but double the price, at least) should you get lost and need to return to square one. It's probably one of the most expensive bike computers out there, but to the right person, it's worth it's weight in gold.

Best "My Ass Doesn't Hurt" gear of 2008:
Tossup: AssMaster Chamois Cream and Gore Bike Wear Contest Shorts (~$10 and ~$85)

The AssMaster goes on your ass, and the Contest shorts pad that oiled rear end. Gore's shorts come in the bib and shorts variety (I prefer the bibs) and have an amazingly non-intrusive chamois. It doesn't feel like you're wearing a diaper and it provides cushioning in just the right places to keep you comfy over multiple hours in the saddle. And with a price under $100, you can't really go wrong. Unless of course, you prefer the baggy look to the roadie-weenie lycra look. In that case, buy them anyway and put baggies over them. You'll love me for it.

Best Safety Gear of 2008:
Uvex XP100 helmet (~$95)



With so many vents, it's cooler than a lot of road helmets and has the full coverage of a skate helmet. It's stupidly light and has a nifty-as-all-hell buckle/release system that I just love. Thankfully, I've not had to test its crash durability, but I can say for a fact that this baby is comfy and reassuring like an young lady's bed on a cold night. If you're a drunk college kid anyway...

"Most confusing parts catalog on the planet" of 2008:
Mavic

Really...what the hell? How many axle assemblies can you really HAVE? And how many times do you have to send me the wrong one before I find the correct model? Really...what the hell...


Well, that's it for another year. What can I say? It's been fun, it's been a wonderful ride, and now it's a ride that goes nowhere with the emergence of the trainer (who wants to ride in snow?) That being said, keep the rubber side down, and we'll see how these things shape up for 2009.

And so it goes...

No, it's not just the title of a great Billy Joel song, one that extols the sadness of never letting yourself be heard (although sometimes mother nature forces that situation upon you), but it's also a simile for the march of time.

The past few weeks here in the northeast have been ultra-prime. Riding has been fantastic to say the least. With the fall leaf season, the soil has dried enough to become tacky and sticky, but not tire cloggingly thick, trails have been worn through piles of fallen leaves which now hide insidious roots, and a chill in the air forces the use of base layers, arm warmers, thermal gloves and long sleeved jerseys. Of course, the top of the first grinding climb is the place where everyone stops, strips and packs away their heavy layers before they start sweating too hard.

Yes indeed, fall is my favorite time to ride in these parts. While there is a hankering to get back to your favorite spots in the spring and see if you can still hit that kicker, ride that skinny or clear that rock garden, there's something absolutely magical about riding in the fall. The crunch of fallen leaves under the knobs of thick rubber, the brisk chill in the air that burns your lungs, stings your face and forces you to hammer just to keep warm, and the wonderful feeling of a season winding down, with no races or cares in the world is a nearly indescribable pleasure that's all too often unrealized until the fall ends.

In the northeast, we've suffered our first "nor'easter" of the season. Yes, that damnable word that brings chills to my very soul, the harbinger of winter, has slashed it's mark upon the fall season. Torrential rains, sticky, heavy, wet snow and gusting winds will quickly damp even the most dedicated fat-tired spirits. True, the snow won't linger and sunny skies follow a day behind, but there is a certain doom and gloom that follows the first storm of the year. Is it time to pull out the trainer? Is it time to send the bikes to their winter homes in the garage? That may well be the case, it may well not. Riding in the snow is great fun, if a little bit taxing on the body, and the easy access to studded tires makes light years of difference.

There is one positive thing about the winter's imminent arrival, though. Time to tear down the trusty steed, clean out the muck, lube everything up and shine it to a mirror finish, all in preparation of its next outing. When will that be? Who knows, but at least it'll be ready. And so...it goes...