Scenic Route

Last week in the 2012 Commuter Cycling Century Challenge, a member lamented that he let his wife and the weatherman talk him out of commuting one day. “I think I need to take some lessons from some of you diehards and man-up,” he said.

As one of the diehards, I felt I had to reply. One line of that reply has been picked out and some folks are using the quote.

Here’s the reply in its entirety, with the quotable line highlighted.

For me it’s not a question of “manning up”.

Whether your belief system says we were created or we evolved, it’s an acknowledgment of the tremendous flexibility and adaptability that’s built-in to us, but seems to have been taken from us by modern society.

Beyond the conformance to societal norms, there’s the idea that conquering the weather means using machinery and burning things. I conquer the weather with what Mom Nature gave me—and a few well-selected items of clothing.

I’m waterproof. I’m adaptable to a wide range of temperatures. I can heat myself in the cold, and cool myself when it’s warm.

The proof that I don’t need all that extra stuff is the fact that I’m here at all.

With the exception of the last two generations, all of my ancestors did without traveling in a climate-controlled bubble. It shouldn’t be all that amazing that I can too.

That’s the gist of how I feel about bike commuting in all weather and all conditions. I don’t feel amazing. It feels entirely normal and natural to be out in the weather, four days a week, 52 weeks a year. The only thing that amazes me is that more people don’t do it.

Lest you think that since I eschew conformance with societal norms WRT transporting myself to and from the workplace that it makes me a non-conformist, doing so makes me entirely in conformance with Rule #9:

If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.—The Rules

Fridays have become my de facto rest day. I guess it’s actually rest days I hate.

I completely get how important they are. I know that if I don’t take at least one rest day a week my legs will explode and fall off. Then I’ll need three rest days in a row.

But that doesn’t mean I have to like them.

Since my bikes are my transportation, rest days mean I’m stuck home. Record-breaking temperatures all this week, today a little cooler—mid-60s—and all I could do was sit on the couch and look wistfully at the bikes and the day outside.

Sixty percent chance of showers tomorrow, the peak of the chances right at the start of the club ride, but today, kept home by the legs.

Last weekend it occurred to me that maybe I should try something different. Maybe go easy during the week, saving something for the weekend. That lasted until Tuesday morning. Three miles from home on the long loop to work, suddenly I found myself in the drops and the big ring with no idea how I got there. Couldn’t rein it in either.

Tried again on Wednesday. Had an 8am meeting at work. Took YellowBike. It was okay until we started running errands after the meeting. Meeting had run late, a half-hour delay at the first stop, sunshine, blue skies and 70s by mid-morning, and YellowBike was back to its usual frisky antics.

Blue was no better that afternoon going to work I thought the hills, parks, cemetery and trails route would help keep it in check. No such luck. And when we started hitting green lights on the way home that night, all bets were off.

Thursday was in the 80s again, YellowBike was still feeling frisky. ‘Nuff said.

So tomorrow, maybe only a grocery run again, like last week. And like last week, the Sunday ride starts way out west in Chili and goes further. Maybe we’ll try that.

And try again this coming week to ride a bike like a normal person.

I need new cycling shorts.

I have a pair of 2006 model Pearl Izumi Attack shorts I bought in 2007. They’re getting a little thin.

Last autumn I bought a new pair of 2010 model Pearl Izumi Attack shorts at the LBS on their end-of-season sale. But of course they’ve “improved” them and I don’t like them as much as the 2006 model. There’s a drawstring at the waist and the pad has gotten really thick.

The new thicker pad is not a good thing since they feel insulated and don’t seem to wick very well. In fact, on a warm day things get downright swampy down there. Arriving home today after 90 minutes at just over 70°F, I couldn’t wait to get out of them and dry myself.

So Bah! to Pearl Izumi Attack Shorts.

 
I have five pair of DeMarchi shorts I bought on closeout at Nashbar in 2008 that I use as commuting shorts. I don’t know the model, not that it matters since they were on closeout. They were really cheap, like $20 or $25 or something like that. I like them a lot, and not just for the cost.

I particularly like the pad. It’s thin, not big and puffy like I stuffed a pair of Depends inside there. It’s covered with a woven cloth, then there’s a thin layer of foam, backed with some sort of material that reminds me of blanket insulation.

In any event, it’s thin, moves with me, and wicks away moisture. That’s all I ask of a pad in bike shorts.

This winter I began noticing that my commuting shorts all are either developing a hole over my left sit bone, or the pad is starting to come unstitched. Or both. And they’re all becoming a bit thin too.

I’d buy them again in an instant, but of course, having been a close-out, they are no longer available.

 
Over the years, I’ve heard lots of good things about AeroTech Designs. They’re an American company, located outside Pittsburgh, PA. That’s where they make the stuff. With a good reputation for product, price, and quality, and only one state away. what’s not to like?

I decided I’d try their product. The trouble is the dizzying array of different shorts and pads they offer. Which would be the right one? What is their perfect commuting short?

You can’t decide these things by the descriptions on the web. And I’m not about to fly to the factory to look them over. So I’m buying several different pair.

I took a stab at which ones I thought would be best, then chose two pair uplevel and two pair downlevel from those. In general, I prefer thinner pads and no gel, so the choices reflect that preference. Although I did step outside that with one pair having a 12mm thick pad.

I’m hoping ones in the lower end of the price range will work out for commuting, since ultimately I’ll be buying six pairs of them. I’m also hoping that higher end “rejects” will be fine for weekend club rides and that lower-end “rejects” will be fine in winter under my unpadded bib tights.

Here’s what’s coming in for the Five-Way Commuting Shorts Shoot-Out™:

$20 Basic, 6mm pad, 8½” inseam
$30 Classic, 12mm pad, 7¾” inseam
$40 Pro, 7mm pad, 8¾” inseam
$45 Black Pearl, 8mm pad, 8¾” inseam
$50 Top Shelf, 10mm pad, 8¾” inseam

Give me a month or two to try them all in different weather conditions, and on my several commuting routes. I have regular routes ranging from 4½ to 25½ miles.

Also ordered:

$60 Top Shelf Bibs, 10mm pad, 9¼” inseam
$65 Outlaw Bullet MTB Cargo Shorts, 8mm pad, 12” inseam

I’ve never owned bib shorts so I thought I’d try a pair. The MTB shorts are to wear shopping and on errands when I need pockets. I’ve been wearing regular cargo shorts over bike shorts, but the cargo shorts keep sliding down over the Lycra.

Fortunately, I came across a 10% off coupon on the Bicycling Magazine Forum, so I saved $31 on this initial purchase. The order should arrive at work this week, and testing should definitely begin immediately since wearing shorts with a hole in the ass is a major faux pas to begin with, then walking into work like that is a real no-no.

I set out to Scottsville at noontime with the intention of joining up with the RBC for ride #106, a loop from Scottsville to Avon along both sides of the river. A 31-mile ride with a 30-mile out-and-back would have put me right in the neighborhood of the first metric of the year.

Miscalculation 1

I didn’t check back in my ride log to see how long it takes me to ride to Scottsville. I figured about an hour. I figured wrong. With stoplights, headwinds, and that it’s gently upriver all the way, 1:15 is closer to the mark, and 1:30 would have met the requisite meeting at 15 minutes before the ride. So I totally missed the ride start.

Miscalculation 2

I overestimated my fitness. I was sore and off the bike on Friday. Saturday I was still sore, but did my weekly errands anyway. Today I was no longer sore, but halfway out my body began letting me know that there wasn’t a metric in there to be had today.

Miscalculation 3

The weather forecasters all miscalculated the start of the afternoon rains. Four o’clock was the consensus. One o’clock was the reality. When the sprinkles started, I turned around and headed for home.

Naturally with a tailwind and following the river gently downstream, the ride back was much shorter, and actually, quite relaxing, despite intermittently being sprinkled upon. All in all, it was a nice 30-miler. Not the ride I intended, but I’m quite happy with the ride I got.

I like it when I get home feeling invigorated instead of all tuckered out. I like it when I get home thinking, I could have done a few more miles. And I like that I won’t be heading into the commuting and work week sore and fatigued.

Sometimes, miscalculations work out just fine.

Somewhere along the line we’ll need to pay for all this.

The past week was fantastic for early March. It was the first four bikes, four-day workweek of the year. We did the long loop twice—once dead into winds sustained in the 20s and gusting to the 30s. My glutes killed me the next day after pushing so hard in the drops.

Even the rain on Thursday didn’t bother me.

Friday we went shopping for a hitch-mount bike rack for my parents’ SUV thingie. I wanted one that holds the bikes by the wheels rather than the top tube. Seeing hitch mount racks on cars going by, the top tube ones really sway.

After comparing two, I ordered a Yakima HoldUp, largely because I could get a better deal on it than the similar Thule and Saris racks. I had been leaning towards the Yakima StickUp, but after comparing the racks, I felt the StickUp stuck out too far from the car. The other three were much more compact.

So a HoldUp is on its way and will arrive next week Friday.

Also coming next week Friday is a new middle ring for YellowBike. My other three bikes all have a 39-tooth ring either in the middle (the Portland) or as the small ring on a standard double (Jeeves and Blue Steel). YellowBike has a 42 in the middle. It’s just enough different that it bugs me. After five years it’s about time I did something about it, so a nice new 39 ring is on the way.

I didn’t sleep well on Friday night and woke on Saturday feeling slightly sickish. There’s nothing I could really pin down, I just really didn’t feel well all over, I guess. This was disappointing because Saturday was the club’s first ride of the season.

The ride started at 2:30. I waited until 1 o’clock, then decided that sometimes I feel better after a little spin, so I showered, kitted up, and went. Blue Steel got the nod, BTW, but not before I swapped its 12-23 cassette for its 12-27. The route is moderately hilly, something I can easily do with the 12-23 and a standard, but feeling a bit off, I played it conservatively.

The ride went well enough, except Blue shook off its mirror and someone behind me rode over it before I could get to it. But the mount was fine and I had extra mirrors from previously broken mounts, so in the end it was just an inconvenience during the ride.

Feeling slightly sickish showed in my numbers. My average speed for the 20 miles including the ride to the ride and back home again was 14.8 MPH. I spent most of the ride drafting slow riders. The only time I really put out any power was climbing. Everywhere else, I was just sort of there.

After the ride, there’s a swap meet, pot luck dinner, and the awards presentation for last year. I wasn’t feeling any better, so I went right home. I laid down for a little bit, or intending for a little bit, an d woke three hours later. I made some rice and a stir-fry for dinner, set my clocks ahead and went to be early.

This morning I was a new man. I was up with the sun, full of P&V and set right to everything I’d meant to do yesterday. First Blue got its 12-23 back. Then the Portland got a bath, its three -season fenders, and new pedals. And a fresh coat of Bike Lust. The bed was changed, the laundry done and somewhere along in there, breakfast and lunch were made and eaten.

At 2 o’clock I took Blue out for a consolation ride. We went east through Ellison Park, north on Creek St and Bay Rd, west across the outlet bridge, took the back way through the park, then along Lakeshore Blvd. I nearly ran into two deer in the park—they were paying attention and stopped while I whizzed by nearly oblivious—and the swans are already out.

The day, BTW, was just as improved as I was. Where yesterday was overcast and it struggled to get above freezing, today was sunny right from the get-go. By the time we left home, it had already surpassed the forecast high of the upper 50s. By the time we got home, it was 65°F.

But it was windy.

Not quite as windy as during the week when I killed my glutes, but more than a bit on the blustery side. Down in the drops, Blue and I made reasonable headway before turning slightly across the wind for the ride home. I took residential streets where I could (Colebrook, Pine Crest, Winona) but from the zoo to downtown, we were pretty exposed and it was down in the drops all the way.

Turning back east from downtown, it was up on the hoods and an easy spin in the big ring all the way home. Even made all the lights.

Despite battling the winds, today I turned in a average speed just a shade under 17 MPH on a 27-mile loop with two pretty good climbs. I feel much better after that.

At home, all I did was change clothes and change bikes, and the Portland and I went grocery shopping—something else I didn’t get to yesterday.

Now everyone’s home, Sunday pot roast has been cooked and is being consumed, the windows still open a bit, and we’re all getting prepared for a week of forecast highs in the 60s. A little rain Monday night, Tuesday morning and on Sunday, but the rest of the week looks like May.

This has been a very challenging winter, and in a very surprising way.

I had thought a mild winter would be easy to cruise through. But I mess the challenges of an ordinary winter. My snow tires didn’t go on until nearly New Year’s, they came off a couple of weeks later, went back on a couple of weeks after than, and came off again a couple of weeks ago.

I wanted to get through this weekend just to be sure, but this afternoon, I took the snow tires down to the basement after looking at the 14-day forecast.

Whatever’s on the ground in the morning should be gone by the time I go to work just after lunch time. One day of winter tights and my Lake winter cycling boots, then by midweek it’ll be shorts weather.

I’m planning on Tuesday to swap the winter fenders off the Portland and put its three-seasons fenders on for the… erm… season. And I’ll take off Jeeves’ Crud RoadRacer fenders and put the mounts for its Bontrager Satellite QR fenders back on.

The club’s first ride of the season is this coming Saturday. I really can’t wait. I’m tired of riding by myself. The weather looks cooperative for this coming weekend too.

The past several weekends have been not good for cycling. We’ve had high winds and snow and this past weekend was no exception. Winds were gusting to 66 MPH on Saturday, and today, it got cold again and snowed on and off all day. I started my spring cleaning instead.

My spring parts orders will start arriving this week—spare 10-speed chains for both the Portland and Jeeves, new pedals for the Portland, spare bar tape for Blue Steel and new tires for it as well.

I put my spare Continental Grand-Prix 4-Season tires on YellowBike last November. It had been wearing the same set of Continental Gatorskins since I built it up in the spring of 2007.

I anticipated a mild winter, figured YellowBike would get more miles than usual, and I wanted something with better wet weather and cold weather grip. What I hadn’t anticipated was the change in ride quality between the two tires. Holy cats, it’s like an entirely different bike.

I’d tried the 4-Seasons on the other bikes for a couple of years and found them equally puncture-resistant as the Gatorskins. I’ve found them to be incredibly grippy in the wet too. At less than $4 more per tire—even after the 2012 price increases—it’s a no-brainer. The 4-Seasons are now my default tire for the commuting bikes, especially now that I know they ride much nicer than the Gatorskins.

PS: Don’t buy them in the US. Order them from the UK where they’re about half the price. I use Ribble Cycles UK, but the other big UK and Irish stores are also about the same price.

Anyway, this left me without spare tires. I’ve wanted to try Continental’s 4000S tires, but until last year they didn’t come in 25mm.

The 4000S has the same breaker as the 4-Seasons, but without the sidewall protection. It also has even grippier tread compound. Since Blue Steel is my fastest and sportiest bike, it should have the fastest and sportiest tires. So Blue’s 4-Seasons will come off and go into the cupboard for spares, and three new 4000S in 25mm are on their way for it.

I like the Fizik Microtex Dual bar tape I got for Blue last year, and I want to be sure I always have some. It seems like whenever I find something I really, really like, the manufacturer either discontinues it or “improves” in some way to make it so I don’t like it any more. So more is on the way.

I’m also thinking of switching all the bikes to Fizik Microtex bar tape as I run out of current stock. I like that it’s nice and grippy, and is only lightly padded. I hate that oven-mitt feeling you get with most padded bar tape.

The Portland is getting new A-520 pedals for two reasons. First, the tension adjuster screws have seized—no doubt from riding them through the salt—and I’ve worn the pedals enough that I need to tighten the tension. I can pull my feet out of them without turning my heel. Plus, there’s some slop in the spindle bearings.

I have over 10,000 miles on these pedals, and the replacements were on sale for only $34, so again, a no-brainer. Only this time I’ll try to keep the adjusters from seizing.

The next purchase will be bike shorts. I last bought everyday shorts in 2007 or 2008. After wearing them, well, every day since, it’s about time. I want six pair of identical everyday shorts. I can’t afford won’t spend the big bucks that most name brands are asking. Instead, I’m going to try Aerotech Designs.

The problem is that among their many models, there are four contenders, but I’m unsure which I’d like best on the daily commute. So I plan to buy one of each, try them for a month, then order five more of the winner. The others can’t be all that bad. I’ll just use them on weekends. Look for a shorts shootout later in the spring.

My parents threw me a curve when they bought a new car this winter. The bought some sort of Buick SUV thing that has a plastic spoiler/visor thingie along the top of the hatch. My trusty Saris Bones 3 won’t work with it. I need to buy a hitch rack. I prefer ones that hold the bike by the wheels instead of the top tube.

There are two contenders, separated by about $200. I’m leaning towards the cheaper of the two, a Yakima Stickup. I’ll use it only two days a year, it folds compactly for storage, and out of the box it will fit either 1½” or 2” hitch receivers, which keeps my options open. It’s also in stock across the street at Towner’s. Since it’ll attach to my parents’ car and my father is particular about these things, he gets a vote in there too.

There are other things to buy too, but I’ve reached my target word count and it’s nearly bedtime. It’ll keep for another day.

I don’t often go so long between entries here. I didn’t plan this hiatus. It just happened. After 14 years at this, I think I deserve a break every now and again.

Once upon a time a disappearance like this would have been cause for concern. If you’ve felt concern, my apologies. The truth is, I’ve been having fun.

After last winter’s record-breaking early snows, this winter’s record-breaking non-snow is a welcome contrast—in some ways. In other ways it’s driven home that, although I’m not fan of winter, it fills a need.

What I’ve discovered is that I like the changes in the landscape offered by typical winters. Last winter’s incessant snow, and this winter’s incessant non-snow have been completely boring. I find myself looking out the window hoping something has changed. It doesn’t. Every day looks the same. The landscape sleeps its sleep. The channel stays unchanged.

This partly explains why my miles are shockingly low given the mild weather. While it’s true I rode more in November than in August, December, January and now February have not followed suit. I took the four-day MLK Day weekend off the bikes entirely. I read four books instead. It was nice cycling weather, especially for January in Upstate, but I found the winters fulfill another need for me.

I had been looking forward to rest. Lots of it. The long winter’s nap. I’ve been spending the winter thinking I ought to be out of the bike. This is in contrast with other winters I spend thinking I want to be out on the bike. Ought vs. want. That’s the difference rest provides.

So this is a rest weekend. Mom Nature has kindly sent a cold front our way, so I don’t have to feel guilty about not cycling.

That said, I’m already two-thirds of the way towards my February mileage goal, in only one-third of the month. So I can take a break and still come out ahead.

And it snowed this week in the Mediterranean, forcing a snow day in the Mallorca Challenge Pro-Tour race. If the pros can have a snow day, so can I.

Even so, this winter has brought some memorable cycling moments. The week before the holidays was my latest four-day, four-bike workweek ever. Rain this week Tuesday put the kibosh on the earliest. Still, Blue got some miles in January, and it already has its February miles in the books.

The Portland didn’t get its snow tires on until the last week of December. (I’d been hoping to make until New Year’s.) And I took them off last weekend, although I may have to put them back on for Monday’s commute. Anyway, it got only 78 miles in January, and nearly 20 of those were on a hills training ride when the roads were clear, but it was below freezing and was afraid there may be some icy spots. You don’t want to discover icy spots on a descent.

YellowBike really doesn’t mind a little snow either. I pushed the forecast a couple of times, and pushed the conditions a couple of other times. One day taking the hilly route to work was a bit more of a challenge than I expected, and I actually walked the bike through a section of icy ruts and hardpack.

Arriving at the cemetery, the north gate was locked. They don’t plow the hilly section. I rode down to the south gate, entered the cemetery there and rode through the flat part of the cemetery to the Elmwood gate. Which also was locked.

But, that gate’s been bent some, and the chains were loose, so I was able to wiggle the bike through after taking off the panniers. Meanwhile, there were cars on both sides of the gate who wanted into and out of the cemetery. Too bad. Bikes win.

Jeeves is wearing its Crud RoadRacer Mk II fenders again this year. Which means it’s also wearing its smaller 23mm front tire to fit under them. There’s a noticeable difference in ride and handling, but I’m also pleasantly surprised it’s only noticeable and not glaring.

As of this weekend it’s one month to the first club ride of the season on Saturday March 10. It’s also only two weeks from the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, first of the Flanders Classics where the hardmen of spring race on the cobbles, sometimes in the snow.

In recognition of each, this past week I began my spring training. This winter I’ve gotten in the miles, but except for the one day of hills, they’ve all been easy ones. Even on warm dry days my times are way down as compared to in-season. I’ve been just cruising through the winter.

I rode my hills route to work twice this week. On Monday it was into headwinds of 20-30 MPH along with both panniers loaded. There’s a new pothole on one of my cobbled climbs in the cemetery. The front wheel caught in it stopped the bike. I had to walk the bike 50 feet or so until the grade flattened enough and surface firmed-up enough that I could remount and continue the climb.

I rode a different hill on Wednesday with Jeeves.

Wednesday night with Jeeves and in both directions on Thursday with YellowBike I pushed hard. I still felt it through Saturday. A couple more weeks like this and I’ll be ready for the spring rides.

Late afternoon Sunday, I’d just put away the mop and returned the furniture to its proper locations after a weekend of mainly chores.

I say mainly because I can’t for the life of me remember much about yesterday. I remember that I dusted then swept the floors in preparation for mopping today, and I goofed with dinner, making Sunday Pot Roast on a Saturday then suddenly realizing I had a whole ‘nother day to go on the weekend. But otherwise, nothing.

In any event, I hadn’t been on a bike since Friday around lunchtime when Jeeves and I got caught in a freak minute or two of snow pellets while out paying bills. It was in the 40s, yet little Styrofoam balls of snow pellets pelted us from above. They melted on contact, but still, it was the first snow.

“It’s just over an hour until sunset”, I told Jeeves. “Think we can make it around the loop before it’s dark?”

Just in case, I affixed a MagicShine before kitting up and heading out the door.

When we returned, I sat down at the computer to log the ride in BikeJournal.

Distance: 18.00 miles. Huh. How ‘bout dat.
Time: 01:00:01 WTF? One stinking second too long.

Almost perfect.

I’ve spent the whole of October working on my bike fit.

At the start of the month I had four bikes that each fit me slightly differently. If I rode any given bike for several days, everything was wonderful. But when I’d change to another, different groups of leg muscles would come into play, groups that were out of shape since the last time I’d ridden that particular bike. Soreness would result, but after a few days on that bike, everything was fine.

This bears out the old saw that bicycle fit is the marriage between a machine that’s slightly adjustable with a body that’s slightly adaptable.

I could adapt to any one of my bikes, but having to adapt and re-adapt was getting tiresome. I don’t have the tools, aids and facilities to do much other than tinker here and there. What I needed was a comprehensive look at my position and form, then make all my bikes conform to that new, more ideal position.

Fortunately, since mid-September I’ve been working Saturdays (Yesterday was the last one, hurrah!) so I had the funds available to do this. I made two appointments, two weeks apart, with Scott at Full Moon Vista Bike & Sport.

First I decided that Jeeves was the bike that came closest to the position I wanted. Something was still a little off but it was close. I shifted around on the saddle more than I wanted to, and on longer rides my shoulders felt bunched up.

The Portland had long been my gold-standard for fit, but I’ve changed as a cyclist over the past couple of years, since I bought Blue Steel and Jeeves. Those changes in me needed to be reflected in the Portland. As with Jeeves, it felt close, but something was a little off.

Blue Steel’s saddle-pedal relationship was pretty close to Jeeves’, but its front end was off. YellowBike was the outlier. At 58 CM, it’s the largest frame I own and it’s never fit quite right. (Jeeves is a 57 CM and both Blue and the Portland are 56 CM.)

I spent the first two weeks of the month riding only Jeeves and the Portland. I paid attention to every detail of my position and how I felt in different situations on them. Two weeks ago, armed with this information, I took the bikes to the first of my two fitting appointments.

How did I get two bikes to the bike shop? I carried Jeeves on my backpack.

I took off its wheels and strapped the frame to the backpack using the the pack’s top handles around the bike’s top tube, then it’s side load compression straps around the seat tube and downtube. A few zip-ties held the wheels to the frame.

Later I refined the method to keep the pedal out of my ass and the bars from swinging around and hugging my shoulder.

Other than that, it’s no different than carrying any other 17 or 18 pound load in a backpack.

At the shop, I rode Jeeves in the trainer while Scott watched from every angle and peppered me with questions. Nine miles later we started changing things.

First things moved were my cleats. Then we transferred that change to my second pair of three-season shoes. Next, it appears I need orthotics. We cobbled something together with wads of duct tape under my insoles.

The following day, on Scott’s advice, I went to a running store and got two pair of sports orthotic supports—one for my bike shoes and the other for my work shoes. I like them so much I’ll be getting more for my other shoes.

Back on the bike, we moved the saddle down and back a centimeter. With this change, everything clicked-in for me. It’s funny how I thought we’d have to change things in the front end to relieve my shoulder issues, when in fact, a change to the saddle took care of it.

In this new position, Scott says my spin is more even, that I’m spinning nice circles, and that my shoulder and elbow positions are excellent. Great!

Then we measured the Portland. The relationship between the Portland’s bars and saddle was the same as the new position on Jeeves. But both the saddle and bars were a centimeter above and behind relative to the bottom-bracket. So we lowered the saddle and bars by a centimeter and moved them both forward by a centimeter.

Now both those bikes fit the same—or as close to the same as it can be given they have different bars and levers.

In the drops they feel the same, but the Portland’s new bars are a short and shallow type, so while the drops are in the same place, the hoods are a bit lower, making its position slightly more aggressive. I actually think I like it, especially when dragging the panniers into a headwind.

I rode both Jeeves and the Portland exclusively for the next two weeks as well, in order to be certain that’s where I wanted to be on them. I think so. My cadence has come up on the Portland to match the cadence on Jeeves. My center-of-gravity changed on both bikes, making them handle better. And I can switch between them without having to re-adapt. That was the whole goal.

This past Friday, I strapped Blue Steel to the backpack and rode YellowBike to the LBS. It’s the first I’ve ridden it in over six weeks. It had collected cobwebs!

Blue’s bars were lowered by a centimeter, and its saddle went down and back by a centimeter. YellowBike’s bars went down and back a centimeter, it’s saddle came down by 1.6 centimeters (!) and went a centimeter back as well.

In the end, it seems that on my own I can get all around where I need to be. Some bikes moved forward a CM and others back a CM, with YellowBike’s outlier 1.6 CM saddle drop excluded. I seem to have been able to circle the area, but not quite hone in on it.

Riding home, YellowBike felt tons better. Riding Blue Steel to work yesterday, I like where my center-of-gravity is relative to the wheels. I can really push it into the corners now. I’ve always been my fastest on it, and with the handling improvements, that can only get better.

I’ll be riding YellowBike and Blue to work this week before I start rotating between all four again. I think everything will be just fine.

Too bad it’s the end of the “season”. But at least the long range forecast for November looks better than October turned out to be.

The Earth’s circumference measured over the poles is 24,859.82 miles. Measured at the equator, it’s 24,901.55 miles.

While checking my stats on BikeJournal today, my total since about six weeks after I got my first bike is 24,997 miles.

So sometime last week, I completed my first lap of the Earth. There were no flags or pennants marking the lap. No podium girls or boys. Phil Liggett had nothing at all to say.

Then again, easily 90% of those miles have been wholly within Monroe County, so where would you put the marker?

In any event, I’m on the second lap now. I’m keeping an eye out for things I missed the first time around.