Rants, Inc. » Biking http://www.subtleimages.com/blog ...because my life is just as boring as yours. Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:29:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 2011 Maine Lighthouse Ride 40-Mile http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/09/19/2011-maine-lighthouse-ride-40-mile/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/09/19/2011-maine-lighthouse-ride-40-mile/#comments Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:26:28 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/?p=759 One thing’s certain: I’m probably not doing this again. It’s too boring. I’m pretty sure there’s less than 50 of us for the 40-mile race.

]]> http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/09/19/2011-maine-lighthouse-ride-40-mile/feed/ 0 Bike New York: Things I’ve Learned http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/05/02/bike-new-york-things-ive-learned/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/05/02/bike-new-york-things-ive-learned/#comments Mon, 02 May 2011 13:34:53 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/?p=709
  • There are no official recorded times.  The race officially started at 8:30am (I think) but the “traffic” never moved (there are so many participants!) until around 8:45.  There are a couple of bottlenecks, notably the ones before Central Park and the one just before the Verrazano bridge, which accounts for about an hour of lost time.  My friend and I were at the finish line by 1:35PM…and my Garmin failed on me…so I would say we finished in about 4 hours including rest times.
  • I’m not taking my Surly again.  I love this bike but it’s so damn heavy.  By the time I was climbing Verrazano it felt like I was pulling about 3 tons of metal.
  • Using a Sigg bottle for rehydration was stupid.  I had to stop to take a drink.
  • While waiting at Central Park bottleneck, I overheard somebody saying something about pressure points to alleviate constipation.

    • ]]>     http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/05/02/bike-new-york-things-ive-learned/feed/ 0     Race! http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/05/01/race/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/05/01/race/#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:56:35 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/?p=707 I signed up for a few high-profile races this year:

    I’m a bit nervous about the AC and Philly Marathons…those would be my FIRST and SECOND Marathons, respectively, and just a month apart.  If I survive both, I’m going for NYC Marathon next year…and maybe the holy grail of marathons after that: Boston Marathon!

     

    ]]>     http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2011/05/01/race/feed/ 0     Biking Chronicles No. 17 http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/25/biking-chronicles-no-17/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/25/biking-chronicles-no-17/#comments Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:55:57 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/?p=368

    Max speed 31mph. WOOT!

    ]]>     http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/25/biking-chronicles-no-17/feed/ 0     Biking Chronicles No. 16 http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/18/biking-chronicles-no-16/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/18/biking-chronicles-no-16/#comments Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:30:59 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/?p=360

    On my last biking entry, I complained about wrist pains and thought about adjusting my bike (saddle height, etc.).  I changed my mind thinking that I’m probably just getting used to the road bike frame geometry.  I tried the advice from (the late) Sheldon Brown and tried to maintain proper posture while on a bike.  It seems to be working…there is much less pain today.  

    …or it could be placebo.  Whatever.

    ]]>     http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/18/biking-chronicles-no-16/feed/ 0     First Long Trip with Surly http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/12/first-long-trip-with-surly/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/12/first-long-trip-with-surly/#comments Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:33:12 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/12/first-long-trip-with-surly/

    I’m fairly certain i need further adjustments on the bike. My wrists kind of hurt a little and i found myself having the need to slide forward on the saddle. Maybe my posture is off.

    ]]>     http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/12/first-long-trip-with-surly/feed/ 0     Biking Chronicles No. 15 http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/09/biking-chronicles-no-15/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/09/biking-chronicles-no-15/#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:45:49 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/09/biking-chronicles-no-15/

    if you’re like me, you probably detest using Firefox by now (which has slowly turned into its ugly predecessor, Netscape). I could not stop using it because the Garmin communicator plugin is having problems with Safari 4 (used for uploading GPS data to trimbleoutdoors.com).

    That is until today: I found this forum thread on the workaround. Now I can finally ditch Firefox on my Mac.

    Speaking of GPS…DeVelMan pointed out yesterday about the GPS iPhone application, MotionX. In theory, this could be potentially a replacement for my trusty Garmin Edge 205. However, upon reading this one review by a presumed seasoned biker, it was deal-killer for me. DevelMan tested the trial version and pitted it against his 205 and found that there was a significant lag. At $2.99, it’s probably decent…but come to think of it, i don’t think i have the guts to have the iPhone exposed and mounted on the bike while riding, considering my “skills” on keeping my bike in balance, especially on trails.

    ]]>     http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/09/biking-chronicles-no-15/feed/ 0     New Bike: Surly Cross-Check http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/07/new-bike-surly-cross-check/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/07/new-bike-surly-cross-check/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:32:47 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/07/new-bike-surly-cross-check/ I just finished a (short) ride with my new bike: a Surly Cross-Check.  I probably did something right by choosing the bike because I beat my record for my “basic” 5 mile ride (usually with the Trek hybrid) by 2 minutes!

    As for the bike, I went with the stock complete bike in 46cm gravy brown frame through Halter’s Cycles, only replacing the saddle with my Brooks B17, and using a plain pedals (i.e., not “clipless”).  I did a thorough bike fitting with my LBS, I am 5’6″ (barely 30 in. inseam) and looking at the forums, I see people mostly going for 50cm…which made me wonder a bit if I got a size too small…but looking at the bike, my stem is standard, the seat is just in the middle of the rail…so I learned that bike fitting is *really* important when buying a bike.

    I should really post some pics of the bike…maybe later today.

    ]]>     http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/07/new-bike-surly-cross-check/feed/ 0     Today’s Trip http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/05/todays-trip/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/05/todays-trip/#comments Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:59:13 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/05/todays-trip/

    My new bike arrives tomorrow! :-)

    ]]>     http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2009/07/05/todays-trip/feed/ 0     Yet Another New Blog http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2008/09/29/yet-another-new-blog/ http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2008/09/29/yet-another-new-blog/#comments Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:15:32 +0000 dalegaspi http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2008/09/29/yet-another-new-blog/ Since I’ve managed to keep this hobby long enough to have fifteen entries about it here, I’ve decided to move my cycling adventures to a different blog. I’ll be moving the entries from this blog to the new one.

    (Does that mean this blog willl never get updated? :-) )

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