The Desert Roadie: riding in Washington DC

It has been just over a week since my initial post where I promised to regale you with my experiences in the slums of McLean; where is that I hear you say? Before, we go there, a quick mention of the 2011 Tour De France is a must. It is hard to believe that it is possible to win Le Maillot Jeune without winning a single stage but that is just what Cadel Evans managed to achieve. I suspect that he will not be a popular winner amongst the French, or indeed the Europeans, because he carried on the stardom cult started by Lance Armstrong by reinforcing this perception of separation from the supporters using bodyguards. By contrast, Andy Shleck will come away from this year’s race with the lesson that you have to attack on more than a single stage. Such are the vagaries of bike racing. A good read on such vagaries is Tim Krabbe’s The Rider where he describes road racing as being the equivalent of “licking your opponent’s plate clean before beginning your own meal”.

So what of the slums of McLean? I was lucky enough to secure an overseas posting to Washington, DC in 2008 where my family and I would get the opportunity to live and work in the USA for 2 years. The price for such an opportunity: a 2nd tour in Afghanistan. So in February 2008 as I depart for Helmand province I am notified to say that when I return in August that I will be heading out to Washington, DC. I was incredibly fortunate to see the tour through unscathed and within 10 days of returning from the depths of Helmand, I was sitting at my desk and looking forward to 2 years of the American Dream. The fact that I had been in Helmand for the bulk of the Spring and Summer meant that my bike training had gone down the pan. Luckily, the austere conditions meant that my weight was well within range so I simply needed to get the miles in. So, when I got to DC, that is what I did. Contrary to some bad press, DC is not bad for cycling. There are plenty of trails and paths and I could ride the 20 km from McLean to Crystal City mostly on paths. There was a stretch of 5 km from our house to the trail but the rest was a pleasant ride along the Potomac river and under the flight path of the aircraft coming into land at Ronald Reagan airport.

About 4 weeks into our adventure, it was the 25 Sep to be exact. I was riding home and was almost there with about 800m to go and one more junction. There was a light drizzle and I was cruising along at about 38 kph when BOOM – I vaguely recall the lights of a car right in front of me and then it was over.

I awoke in the hospital as the CT-Scan was making a horrible sound and doing its thing whilst I slowly regained consciousness and caught my reflection in the polished white of this noise-making machine. What I saw was not a pretty sight. I could just make out puffed out eyes and lips and . . . . no front teeth. To add to my woes, I had 14 stitches across my temple and another 10 down the front of my shin. As it transpired a 16 year old female that “didn’t see me” was pulling into her drive without indicating and before I knew it I was part of the A-Frame of the car. I was incredibly lucky to have been wearing a helmet because that is what saved me from having much worse concussion. As it stands my balance is a little wonky in my left ear but I was thankful to survive.

The experience that I had at the hands of the US emergency services left a lot to be desired. Given that I was unconscious with no medical insurance (which was held as a group piece) I was provided with emergency cover only. So they stitched me up, put a few patches on there and sent me home. In fact, so cursory was the treatment, that a follow up session a fortnight later revealed that I also had suffered a fractured upper-arm. Suffice to say that I survived and managed to get back racing the following year.

The racing in DC and Northern Virginia was very good. Great teams, great weather and great support. So what of the slums of McLean. McLean is actually a very affluent area and we were very privileged to live there. A friend of mine nicknamed it the slums of McLean given the number of complaints that he heard from his neighbours on life, the universe and everything. Given that this friend had been born and bred in Limerick (think Angela’s Ashes) we used to laugh at the trials and tribulations of living in McLean and all those decisions that had to be made.

I will close by way of an excuse. I apologise for my tardy blog this week but this is due to the HDD on this laptop crashing earlier in the week which has caused a world of pain. I was tempted to forego my writing commitment and leave Richard to it but that would not have been the right thing to do. I will close for now. Next week, I return to good old Blighty before heading off to Ireland to see the folks and then the family holiday. This year we are going to France and, of course, we are bringing the bikes. That will be the next instalment of the Desert Roadie. Until then . . .

Now that’s a longboard for skating

Very nice although not sure it’s hugely practical – maybe for moving house

Bike Poster: Friday Drop the Bar

Soto 40’s – a class to watch ( and race if you have the money)

Watching the Audi med up I was amazed by the racing TP52’s speak for themselves but the smaller boats the soto40’s were amazing too although racing in a fleet of 4 was about 8 boats short of a proper fleet.

Reminded me of a posting on sailing anarchy some time ago encouraging the soto 40 growth – just need all the Italians to start campaigning these boats instead of the big heavy farr’s.

big pimpin’

sex machine

Here it is… the Soto 40 OD. 40 foot of marine SEX wrapped up in a quality product backed up some passionate people who know their stuff. Check out the square-top main, the hiking wings, the enormous cockpit and all the good gear on board – this thing just wants to GO. And there’s nothing like it around. You were looking for a replacement for the aging Farr 40?

The Soto 40 is not an idea or a set of VPPs – the fleet are racing NOW and have been doing so for the past year. There will be ten Soto 40s fronting the start line at Ilhabella Race Week this July and there’s currently another five in the construction queue. And the whole Soto 40 story has happened in just 18 months, from idea to fleets in Argentina and Brazil. Torben Grael liked the Soto 40 so much he bought one for himself (Magia V) and will be a part of the fleet at Ilbabela.

With the ‘going global’ of the Soto 40 the builder, M Boats, is fixing the price at US $297,000 for the rest of the year… pretty good value if you compare it against anything new out there in the same zone. Add some water, sails and dials and you’re a part of the fastest production 40’s going around at the moment.

Now that it’s all go, go, go in South America the Soto 40 juggernaut heads to Australia and Asia with meetings being held in Singapore and Hong Kong this July to discuss the establishment of fleets in the region. You can register on the Class website if you’d like to attend and be involved in getting exciting OD racing back on the calendar in the region. There will be a few surprises and some special offers to those who can get along to the meetings.

Unlike your latest 40 ft IRC boat or box-rule flyer, the Soto 40 One Design is a yacht for 2010 and beyond. And definitely faster too. If you want to do a bit of IRC? ORCi? Performance? – all good, with the numbers and performance to back it up. It’s not a ‘rule’ boat and has simply been designed to be a light, fast, simple yacht built to strict one design guidelines.

Other exercise – chopping wood

Spent the day chopping wood yesterday and woke up this morning aching from muscles unused in a long time (since I last chopped wood in fact) but nice to have the next years wood sorted and another 2 cubic metres chopped up to season.

Off to France and italy sans bike but with running gear so looking forward to that ….

You going anywhere nice on holiday?

Cinelli Skate Shoes

Features

Collaboration with legendary Italian cycling company. Improved CT-C technology: now with dual stiffners for less flex. Custom hidden tongue panel that also serves as a lace protector. Cinelli branded foxing label, tongue label, and sock liner. Reflective foxing tape stripe, heel label, heel tab, and flag label. Classic Cinelli inspired colorways. Cinelli and Italian colors on lace aglets and heel embroidery detail. Super soft and comfortable full grain leather. Hidden Cinelli Vigorelli smiley face under tongue lace protector. High abrasion rubber outsole. Lower profile foxing tape height.

Beer and Running – in my dreams

This from active.com – ooh I want to believe it

If you’ve ever been to a marathon, you know there’s usually a big celebration afterwards, rife with beer and other spirits. This isn’t surprising—it’s not unusual to find runners who are also avid beer drinkers, and it turns out, all their beer drinkingmay just help their athletic performance.

According to a study by researchers at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen at Klinikum rechts der Isar, the compounds found in non-alcoholic beer—alcoholic beer—play a part in recovery and illness prevention in athletes.

The Research and Results

The study titled “Be-MaGIC” (Beer, Marathons, Genetics, Inflammation and the Cardiovascular system) was led by Dr. Johannes Scherr and followed 277 participants three weeks before and two weeks after the 2009 Munich Marathon. The study was focused on the effects of the rich and varied polyphenols found in wheat beer—a type of beer popular with marathoners and tri-athletes.

The participants were separated into two groups, the beer drinkers and the abstainers. The beer drinkers drank up to 1.5 liters of the non-alcoholic wheat beer each day, while the abstainers drank an identical amount of a placebo drink. The placebo drink looked, smelled and tasted like the wheat beer, but it lacked the polyphenols found in the true non-alcoholic beverage.

Researchers found that marathon runners experience an inflammatory response after running a marathon. This is due to the increased stress placed on the body when competing in such a strenuous event.

The inflammatory response causes the immune system to be suppressed temporarily, leading to an “open window” for cold viruses and other illnesses to get through. Researchers found that the beer drinking participants experienced a less pronounced immune response, and as a result, experienced fewer illnesses and infections than the abstainers.

Overall, findings showed that:

• Beer drinkers experienced a greater support for the immune system.
• Beer drinkers experienced fewer colds.
• Beer drinkers who experienced colds had shorter, more mild infections than the abstainers.

 

The Takeaway

If you’re training for an intense event or you regularly put your body through the courses during strenuous workouts, don’t stress about throwing back a few beers. Just keep your consumption moderate and look at your beer drinking as a training tool. If you don’t like beer, consider trying wine or grape juice instead. These drinks are also known for their healthy polyphenols.

The Flying scot with Italia lugs

Jolene snapped these pics at the Merchant City Festival in Glasgow this past weekend. Met one of the school dads that was the very nicely turned out Flying Scot. The Flying Scot is Glasgow’s own bike maker having made many bikes post-war.

This one has been set up as a fixie – can’t make out the Reynolds stamp on the frame but guessing that it will be a Reynolds 531 frame the standard steel for frame making for the good part of 20 years.

The Flying Scot has a mystique like no other bike in the Glasgow area. Every man over 50 you meet either had one, wanted one or had a mate who had one.

Perhaps 10,000 Scots were made by Rattrays between 1935 and the late ’70s, so there are lots about. In their period they were regarded as good, but not quite as good as the top London makers. Today they are still good bikes, perfectly usable for commuting, touring and pleasure cycling.

This is a very beautiful take on an old skool bike modernised for urban living.

Sunday worship Monday morning

To celebrate the Tour de France and an Aussie victory. Old new fixie glam when any ride is a good ride

Running on automatic

Went for run this morning after 7am and it was already mid 30’s …. decided just to do a nice 8km+ easy run as I was flying later and didnt want to miss out on some exercise today.

I was running around one of the lakes almost on auto plot – the first and last km are on dirt so that slows things down. I looked down as my HRM beeped (I set my Suunto T6 to autolap every km when running on gps) it said a slow 4:52/km so I just relaxed and carried on. When I finished I was washing some kit then looked through my lap times … amazing in that 5 of the km laps are within the second. That really is cruising on automatic … if I tried to do it that steady there is no way I would manage.

look at the laps

Sunday Special – dreambike

For the Richard Dawkins lovers a bike to make you happy……

Reynolds Steel of a different variety

From the Kenobi Bikes Obywan Pursuit . Pretty funny Reynolds rip “Made in Hell”. 
Hell for your back!

 

 

 

 

Introducing the Desert Roadie – the new blogger

not really chris

I suppose that I have been a little bit like Andy Schleck in that I waited until to-day to make my move as the Desert Roadie on this Blog by kind invite of Rich Crawford. I don’t know how it will turn out but as Jens Voigt philosophises: “I know that I have no chance it I wait for the sprint; if I go with a break then I have a big engine and I have about a 10% chance; for me it is a no brainer”; so here goes.

My name is Chris and I am passionate about road racing. I must be honest and ask that you do not confuse passion with ability and prowess. Either way, I suppose that growing up in Dublin in the 80s and 90s when Sean Kelly was known as the “new Cannibal”, in reverence to Eddy Merkx, and Stephen Roche completed the Giro-Tour double with that memorable La Plagne stage in 1987.

It was very difficult for a kid from Dublin not to be taken along by the gladiatorial hubris that was created by two giants from a small Island taking on the European Campionissimos of their time.

So why the Desert Roadie? I have already outlined my passion for conquering the road without the need for an engine apart from the one that beats ten to the dozen inside my chest but the desert is a more interesting connection; as such places often are. I have recently retired from the British Army, an organisation that introduced me to many of the world’s deserts, particularly, those around Arabia and Central Asia. For myself and my family it was time to do something else and the opportunity came up to work in Baghdad but on a timetable that allows me to see more of my family and still maintain a healthy level of time on the road and to race.

The gyms in Baghdad are crammed with every type of machine and gradient of weight that will help you to embark on Operation MASSIVE, a term used to describe all those who get taken in by the lure of spending their hard earned $ on the latest protein shakes and eating 10 hard boiled eggs for breakfast in conjunction with building that body that will allow them to appear as extras in the next Conan movie.

Sadly, the roadie is not so well catered for. It is the LeMond Rev Master Sport (a slightly older and noisier version of this model or bust. So my regime tends to be a case of mixing some weights with the ritual of adjusting my Rev Master using its ample levers then getting up there and pedalling away.

I describe this situation because as the days pass and my return to the UK draws closer, an anxiousness sets in as I scan the British Cycling calendar for local races. Can I sign-on on the day? Have I put on weight since I have been away (those damned white chocolate cookies)? Have I done enough hard cycling to keep my form? However, like most things in life, the remedy to those questions is already in the past and all that I can do is make sure that I give it my best on the day; if only I had prepared slightly differently! We have all been there!

So, before I wrap up my little introduction in the blogosphere, it would be slightly remiss of me not to give some reasoning as to why I have dipped my toe as it were. To be honest, I am not sure but it will provide me with a hugely different outlet to the other stuff that I am doing out here.

I will endeavour to entertain you with a weekly supplement and in true blogging style it will probably have that impetuous feel of whatever has come to mind or the last thing that has happened to me. As I have done here, I will try to share the odd entertaining story from my travels so far but in the meantime, stay safe, rubber side down and always remember to enjoy the ride

The Desert Roadie

Next week I will share my story about the dangers of the Slums of McLean in Northern Virginia but in the meantime, I commend you to watch this video. I can honestly say that one of these bad boys saved my life:

Glasgow Green Alleycat

Glasgow Green Alleycat – a treasure hunt by bicycle

I am missing out as I am off to Cambridge Folk Festival but for those in Scotland ….

July 31st 14:00 – 17:00

Start at Kings Court, outside Mono

King Street

The Glasgow Bike Station presents a fun ride around the city exploring some of the many green places. Visit checkpoints, complete challenges and gather clues to win prizes.

We’ll meet at Kings Court (outside Bar Mono) at 2pm on Sunday 31st July, finishing in the West End. Everyone welcome, just bring a bike! A map and a pen might help too…

BACKGROUND TO ALLEYCATTING

An Alleycat race is an informal bicycle race. Alleycats almost always take place in cities, and are often organized by bicycle messengers. The informality of the organization is matched by the emphasis on taking part, rather than simple competition. Many Alleycats present prizes for the last competitor to finish (sometimes known as Dead Friggin’ Last or DFL). The first race to be called “Alleycat” was held in Toronto on October 30, 1989 and continued, in its original form, around Halloween and Valentine’s Day for the following five years. In 1993, when Toronto messengers shared Alleycat stories at the first international messenger race (C.M.W.C Berlin), the name and the concept spread far and wide. Regularly organized Alleycats can be found in cities across North America, Europe and Asia. Many smaller cities with no cycle messenger population are also home to alleycats run by the burgeoning urban cyclist subculture.

Race styles

Alleycats reflect the personality, contemporary environment and level of competition based on the organizer(s). Races may be less competitive and designed to be enjoyed by the local messenger community around set holidays, such as NYC’s July 4 Alleycat, or they may be extremely grueling and designed to eliminate all but the fastest and best overall messenger.

Rules vary, but include:

• Checkpoints – The first checkpoint is given at the start of the race, and on arrival the next checkpoint is revealed to the racer. These work in much the same way a messenger would be assigned deliveries over the course of a day. The route to a checkpoint is left up to the rider and showcases a messenger’s knowledge of the area.
• Task Checkpoints – In some races upon arriving at a checkpoint the rider may have to perform a task or trick before being given the next location. This allows organizers to be as creative as they desire. Task checkpoints can involve physical tasks, such as climbing stairs, taking a shot of alcohol or hot sauce, performing a skillful trick, or can test the racer’s mind, such as reciting trivia or messenger related knowledge. Often there is not a task at all of the checkpoints in a race and tasks/checkpoints can sometimes be skipped (potentially at a loss of points) if a rider feels that time to complete a task is not worth the points they would earn.
• Checkpoints Up Front – A common format is for organizers to give the checkpoints/manifest 5–30 minutes before the start of the race. This allows the rider to choose the best route between stops.
• Point Collection – Some races use a scavenger hunt style race where each stop is worth a certain number of points. These are often races of the Checkpoints Up Front variety and a rider may decide to not stop at some checkpoints valuing an earlier completion time over the points a particular stop may earn them.

Riders do not wear conventional race numbers; instead, “spoke cards“, originally Tarot cards but now often specially printed for the event, have the rider’s race number added with a marker pen and are then wedged between the spokes of the rear wheel. Spoke cards are often kept on the wheel by riders as a souvenir, leading to an accumulation of them over time.

Bike Poster: Friday Bianchi

'tache tastic

Taking Filming to a new level – Radio Control Helicopter filming

A quick test of our new RC Helicam at the new Austin skatepark. Thanks to Mikey for getting up at 6am!!

Music:

Fleet Foxes – Mykonos

Filmed on the Canon 7D

Canon 7d attached to RC helicopter at Austin SkatePark

Running & Heat = bad

How to make 5km feel like 10km…

Suunto (and Polar) needs to become fully ANT+ soon or be left behind.

Currently there are four major data exchange protocols used by fitness peripherals: Nike+, ANT+ ,Suunto ANT and Polar WindLink. There may be more but these are the ones that I know of.

When it came to Heart Rate Monitoring Polar was the name that everyone wanted to replicate and copy. Polar  had a grand four data transfer standards (Polar Analogue, Polar Coded Analogue, Polar FlowLink and Polar WindLink). Sigma and Suunto where also available but nothing had the software power that polar had.

But then combined GPS running came together and Garmin grew. Other HRM like Timex released early GPS units with separate monitors and GPS units that paired. Then Garmin stole a march with early Foretrex / Forerunner units that allowed you to upload to a PC (the lack of Mac compatibility esp with Suunto and Polar is a reason many chose to desert them)

Then in  2008 Nike introduced Nike+iPod for the Gym. With an semi-open standard (Nike+) it allowed for cardio-equipment (treadmills, bikes, and cross-trainers etc.) to exchange data with the Nike+ and iPod (and now also iPhone). How cool was that? Moreover Nike and Apple provided free assistance for companies on how to integrate their protocol into equipment and suddenly several large manufacturers of cardio-equipment like TechoGym and Star Trac was compatible with an iPod/ iPhone. (cleverly capturing the wanted 17-40 age bracket)

another ANT+ adopter

In the meantime Garmin was on its heels, keeping it’s ANT+ for it’s serious use, and Polar, Sigma, Suunto, and the others did the same. Now the funny thing is that most semi-serious and serious running- and cycling-entusiasts keep at Garmin, Polar, Sigma and Suunto, although there is no free training software that allows input from all of them.

But then Dynastream Innovations Inc (part of Garmin) who controls both the ANT underlying network standard(which is in fact used by both ANT+, Nike+, Suunto ANT and WindLink) and Garmins own ANT+ data transfer standard, created the ANT+ Alliance and opened up the ANT+ protocol. So then ANT+ wasn’t limited to heart rate, GPS and cadence monitoring but a lot of fancy things, and the alliance is now joined by Adidas, CycleOps, iBike, McLaren, Microsoft, Texas Instruments,Timex and Trek amongst others. I wonder what made this happen…

Suunto and Polar are in danger of being left out cold (but being Finnish maybe they like the bracing air) I have Garmin on my Bikes, as well as Suunto T6 for running (with a speed pod on one bike) but they dont talk to each other ….

So what happens next? Well since all these products are using similar hardware the obvious answer would be: They all now change to the complete open ANT+ standard, allowing for exchange between all equipment in every conceivable fashion. I doubt this is ever going to happen, but I think that something is going to happen. Because in the end people want to combine their cardio-watches, treadmills, maybe their music-devices and training managers in their own way. And these should be able to exchange data, and take input from all areas.

Stepping Out of my comfort zone

So I bike, Run, Surf, Kite  and Sail …. but recently been going to an hour long step class

Surprisingly I am enjoying it too – an hour to find my rythm use different muscles and join some pals. Wore the HRM and it seems to be quite a good workout too.

Step class Heart Rate through class

 

Worked it harder yesterday

Levis go a fixie gaga

If you are a bike commuter in the city, you might realize how binding and uncomfortable jeans could be when riding. You might also sweat and worry about being seen by other vehicle when your commute extends to after dark hours. Levi’s is always coming up with new ideas for their jeans with innovations you didn’t even know you needed until their here.

The jeans brand has come up with the 511 Commuter Jeans just for the urban commuter that come in four styles. Full length, cropped, denim and non denim are the styles picked to be commuterized with water and dirt resistant fibers that are sanitized against odor and made with a a reflective fabric that reflects light in the dark. The raised back construction hides your sweaty crack too and is reinforced with pockets galore for added storage, including your ‘swagger clink’ mini D-lock.

The jeans feature:

• Stretchable fabric
• Utility waist band for u-lock storage
• Higher back rise for additional coverage
• Fabric treatment to improve water and soil resistance
• Antimicrobial treatment
• 3M Scotchlite Reflective Tape on interior cuff
• Reinforced fabric in the crotch, back pockets and belt loop

We think it’s a good sign for bike commuting when a mainstream clothing brand like Levi’s starts producing products specifically for our market. Available this summer at $78 for the jeans and $128 for the matching jacket.

Photo snapshot: post ride time for coffee