"no mud, no lotus"

The other day I took my upgrade to CAT 4 for road racing after talking to some friends on a coffee shop ride. I had been hesitant to pursue it, and I doubt that based on my results anyone would force it on me. So I asked out loud at 22 mph in a paceline, "What do you think I should do?" One friend commented, "You better get that upgrade and get out there next year and win." This wasn't really what I expected to hear, nor was it what I was looking to hear! We laughed and talke

A lot of people have come up to me and asked me about participating in cyclocross, now that the road season has ended. Cyclocross season is a great time to look into something new and extend your season. I've been trying my best at 'cross for three years now, and I love it! Cross Bikes Rule! A cyclocross bike is a great choice for the next bike on your N+1 path. A 'cross bike is a nice complement to a road bike. In general, the bigger tire clearance and disc brakes make for a

I had an interesting observation the other day when checking my kids' Advanced Placement Language and Composition scores. I realized that the three students that I had who achieved a decent score of 4 were clearly in three different categories. One was a lifelong reader who read Vonnegut, Marx, and Dosteyevski. I could always find her with a new book every week. She was an avid reader, and mom and I always spoke about her interest in reading deep stuff. The second student was

It's time to get the cyclocross bike ready for racing. You better check your brakes. Here are some good videos to show you how to bleed those hydraulic brakes. If you are not so mechanically inclined, I highly recommend you take the bike over to Campus Wheelworks. They do tons of road, cyclocross, and mountain bike disc brake jobs. Many shops do not. Good luck. Sram Sram Shimano

Found this article in the car while sitting bored in the passenger seat trying not to be afraid of my wife's driving. Thought it was a good follow up to the articles I posted last month. From Carmichael Systems.... Heat Illness and Endurance Athletes: The Science of Staying Safe When It Gets Hot

Sometimes when you change tires, it gets confusing trying to find a starting pressure. The max pressures are way too high, and what works for 23c tire feels stiff and awful when you shoe your ride with 28c tires. Enter the Bicycle Tire Pressure app. The app allows you to input your bike type based on a few designs. For example, I created a profile for my Trek Madone as a "Race Bike." I entered the approximate weight, wheel size, and tire size. Then under the main screen I c

Okay, so you know that pedaling faster is a good thing, right? You know that a higher cadence will help you to utilize more of your cardiovascular system while lessening the stress on your muscular system, i.e., your legs! I also have to say that there is nothing that looks more pro than pedaling at a high steady cadence. And that's probably all that matters, right? Often, you hear the magic number of 90 rpm for a good steady cadence. You have heard that greats like Chris Fro

Yeah, I fully agree with this philosophy. Wish we had more gravel here, but I guess the closest we get in the city is bad streets.

It started on a whim. We had a rainy week, and I spent a little time on the trainer and Zwift. I have a really low tolerance for the trainer despite adding the rocker plate. After about an hour I start to feel a lot of discomfort. It is not that far off from trainer season, a few more months. and it will be almost a full time thing. I had to head over to the West Side to get some flea meds for the pups, and I thought I would head over to the shop to say hey. As I headed into

Here are some pictures from the century ride. For best viewing click on pics to open larger window instead of just using the arrows.